Varian pressed his fingers into his sides. Whatever he had done during the training sessions over the past few weeks he had probably ended up hurting himself in the process. His side felt stiff, and there was a slight purpleish tint to the side of his skin. That fight last night must have done some kind of number on him, but at least he had ended up winning, it was shame though, that man had some power to him and Varian had considered him a formidable opponent even if the man had ended up losing in the end. It helped that Varian ended up having a partner like Vega. She had made a deep connection with him and the two were completely in sync, and they were able to, not only outnumber the man, but also combine their powers to create fluent, effective attacks.

Varian went to the closet where he stored all his clothes. Rummaging through his clothes he managed to find something that would be comfortable. He pulled out a loose black T-shirt. After that he changed into a pair of gray sweatpants. They didn't hug his legs or were to baggy, they managed to be just right and do exactly what they were meant to do, be a comfortable tightness while keeping him warm. Then he pulled out a green jacket which felt similar to tarp on the outside, but had a fuzzy lining on the inside that was sure to keep him warm when he went outside. Then as a last addition to his lazy straight guy outfit he added simple brown combat boots so he could climb rocks. By the time he had walked out of the bathroom Vega was just beginning to wake up. He smiled and gave her a morning pat and said a few words of encouragement about their day before he went back into the bathroom to wash and comb his green hair. While he was doing that he noticed the curse mark on his chest had begun to go down at least a tiny bit, which was interesting. Taking his pointer and middle finger he brushed slightly across the fading mark. there was still the familiar chill. But whatever it had been was now either finishing what it was supposed to be doing, or it was dying. He had no idea what the weird poison demon thing even was but he hoped it was dying. That thing that had entered his body had been weird and terrifying, like some kind of thing dying from the inside out. Nonetheless he had something to do today so he might as well go get it done and just be over with it, he needed the money. Grabbing Vega, he set out the door with a friendly nod to the secretary who sat there. Her face was friendly she smiled back. Her blonde hair was gentle and she had a motherly look to her face, the kind that would never, ever turn her back.

The wind outside was bitter cold and filled everyone with miserable dread. There wasn't even a tiny bit of warmth or forgiveness in the wind. It was like a shrill knife piercing through you. There was no break in the wind, there was no subtle warm hug, just unrelenting cold that made everyone miserable. The sky was a morose mixture of gray and blue. The sun was barely able to pierce the clouds. The warmth of the sun's yellow light couldn't manage to get through the soupy thickness of the clouds. It was all together just one big mess.

As he continued to walk down through the village, Varian's eyes drifted through the bits of people that stood huddled in doorways and in front of market stands. Almost all of them wore some kind of heavy down coat. Even though Winter was living out its last few months of life for this year, it was still cruel and unforgiving. Leaving everyone frozen both on the outside and inside. Looking back down at Vega he smiled and she looked back at him giving him a little glimpse of warmth. With a crash he stumbled into a tall man, who somewhat resembled Varian in build. His skin was a dark tan and his hair was a chocolate brown. His eyes were a piercing emerald green. The man quickly apologized and leaned down, and gathered the books he had dropped.They were in mass selection, some were on the logistics of magic and others were on the recently edited version of Fiorian history. especially after that fiasco with the coup and the brand new king coming to power. Varian had no idea how that would go and how long he'd even be in Fiore to witness it. He had heard of interesting happenings in the other countries around Fiore, and maybe a trip abroad didn't sound so bad.

But currently he was on a quest and he should get back to what he was doing and that was finding some mutant rat that someone had accidentally made and was terrorizing people. His job was to take it out and dispose of its body, and the notion of that felt all to familiar, which became something he chose to ignore about who he could have been before he was himself. Shaking that terrible feeling away he walked into a medicine store where a short girl sat. Her hair was pitch black and her skin oddly pale. she looked up from her mixing bowl. her eyes a mysterious blue. Her questions were quick and short, but yet she held an affinity for Varian. Varian asked a few questions about seeing a mouse. The woman said no and directed him to the market lady next door who was old, her skin a dark brown, darker than the first man who Varian had bumped into. The lady thought for a little bit. She was very on task and calculated her words perfectly, pinpointing the mouses's residing home location

500+500=1000
1000/2000

Varian waled down the street pathways. The old street was made of cobblestone. A multitude of gray colors. Some of the visibly older ones were of a darker gray that had bits of dark green moss growing on them. And the lighter cobblestone was less common, and came in small clumps. you could tell where the city of crocus had decided to build more houses and lacked the room and just shoved their oddball houses into interesting areas. Sometimes on top of another, other times filling up an alleyway. All together it was a slap shot job probably that didn't hold much impression or stability. All of its structural integrity probably existed because of the houses around it and any existing supports of the structure. Varian even spent the time to watch one of the construction workers do their jobs. He was tall and buffer, probably more so than the others. He had red hair like there was no tomorrow and his beard was just as red, and it was a scraggly mess. His co-workers seemed not to notice him not working, in fact they never acknowledged his existence. The red haired man turned around and waved, giving a little salute hello. Returning the gesture Varian waved and saluted back before continuing on to see if he was any closer to catching the rat. Peering at the description that the farmer lady had given him he looked around the street he had entered. It was old and had begun to crumble.

The many houses were of the darkest gray and the moss had thrived here creating a sanctuary where animal life would have thrived and probably did. He heard a squeal and saw a rabbit jump through a hole in a house and a giant rat head stick through and get stuck. After a few terrifying moments where it snarled and spat its own saliva all over the ground. Varian stepped forwards with vega by his side. He didn't want to fight it long so he smashed the old rotten door. The Obese rodent snarled and turned on its haunches and launched at Varian who was prepared, and faster. He slid under the jumping rat with surprising speed and grabbed it by the tail midflight, smashing it into the wall as they went. The rat squealed before coming back once again, but was thrown back against the wall by Vega who once again appeared from no where like a magician of her own. Varian walked over to the kitchen droor quickly, retrieving a knife he put the poor animal out of its own misery. HE did it quickly and quietly, he felt bad for the poor animal, being in such pain, he had no idea what kind of chemicals were running through its own blood. He prepared the body for whatever kind of burial he'd give the poor creature. He gathered some blankets from a nearby house and the house that he was in. Swaddling the poor rat to sleep.

Picking up the big rat he walked outside to a small moss grove, where he had dug the hole for its burial. He placed the animal into the hole and filled it back up. making sure to place moss back over it. And by the time he was done the hole was completely unnoticeable and no one knew what had existed. A lady peered into the grove. Her face was gentle, but still had a face determination. Her hair was dirty blonde and she commented on how he had done well saving and being gentle with the dead rat, even though it was an abomination. Varian thanked her and left the place. Today had been a long day and he wanted to go home and curl up on his bed with vega. He'd read something and look out the window at the morose sky and cold wind, and someway, somehow, in some, unknown method. He needed to find the good, if he didn't there wouldn't be anything good in life and just like everyone he needed something. He walked across the west side of crocus, fortunately his inn wasn't to far away. As he walked back he saw a pair of twins selling artwork. Something about it was enticing, and it seemed to represent so many things at once. Varain gave some of his money to a beggar man, who in return gave him some form of advice, that somehow held amazing prevalence to his life. Deciding to get some cream for his side he stopped by a store where a petite blonde woman with soft hands handed him something to help him. She was probably one of the nicest people he'd ever met. She seemed to be like one of those people who acted like you'd been best friends his entire life. There was also a man who was recruiting new members to the emperor's guard. Overall he had seen some interesting people today. But in the end he was just quiet and ready to go to sleep and do something other than do this quest and out his money away and go back to living his life. He enjoyed being a mage and all but doing quests sometimes was tedious, but such was life and he had to do that now more than ever, he had no idea where the economy was gonna go with the new emperor and all.

Once back in his room he tore off his boots and and placed his money in his private vault. Taking a few last breaths he wrapped himself up in blankets and pillows and some mass of humans and blankets and went to sleep. His breaths were subtle and everything was calm in his room. All except Vega who looked around and smiled. she looked around and chirped a few times and a white snake slithered out. They momentarily touched foreheads before it slithered away, back into the white light where it had come from. Vega got up and went to sleep on Varian's chest.

2005/2000