Things haven’t been going all that well for Silver recently. Well, maybe it has. It was hard to say. On one hand, Fiore was pretty cool compared to Sin, so he was happy to be here. On the other hand, the last remaining member of his family had died. But then it turned out he had more family in Fiore. Whom he had to inform about some rather bad things. While looking for his not-so-dead sister. While earning money to live. Which currently resulted in him being stationed in Crocus waiting to hear back from his half-sister Phoebe while doing some odd jobs. Technically he had already got a mailbox for her to send letters too (which he checked frequently) so there was little reason for him to stick around Crocus. But it had good business so whatever.

But the building of all of that made the usually cheerful young man a tad grumpier than usual. Which meant that while he was out drinking with some other freelancers one night at a bar and some jerks started heckling them, he didn’t take as kindly to it as usual. Which even usually wasn’t very kind at all anyways, so he had pretty much jumped at the chance to fight. Which resulted in a rather epic bar one-sided bar fight with Silver showing his skill as a swordsman that sent the jerkasses fleeing with their tails between their legs.

But it turns out that they were jerks with older brothers in the Rune Knights or something. Which resulted in Silver being cornered after he left the bar in a nearby back alley, surrounded by some rather strong looking bullies who were probably going to arrest the swordsman after they finished beating the crap out of him.

“Aw’ c’mon guys this is hardly fair.” Silver drawls out, hand on his katana as he faced one end of the alley with the leader, knowing that the other end was blocked by more of them. “Six against one? Aren’t you knightly types supposed to be honorable or something?” He knew he was screwed, a foreigner with nothing and no one to his name didn’t have any backing against the word of several Rune Knights. This was technically his fault for causing a scene and assaulting people so they had legitimate reasons to arrest him, though they were definitely going envoke some police brutality that they would definitely get away with. But being caught here would make things much too complicated for him. And he didn’t want to cause Phoebe any trouble. So Silver would fight as much as he could and try to escape or get beaten and hope for the best. After all, he was alone with no allies and no way out.

As much as Alice wanted to say she was okay, she wasn't yet. She wasn't back into shape yet, which wasn't strange after like nine months of pregnancy and only giving birth a month ago, no one would be back in shape that quick. Not many things were an option yet, she had worked hard, travelled already and not without pain. Only she hadn't said it to anyone yet, it would go away when time was ready, there sure wouldn't be any problem at all. The red head waved it away when Hecate had pointed it out but she would still go on her daily walks throughout the day, when the twins were asleep, she could. When she caught up with her own lack of sleep in Hargeon. She was now ready to weak every couple of hours in the middle of the night, if it wasn't them both, it would be one of them.

Right now she had taken most of the day to sleep some more, when the babies were asleep; so was Alice. Happy that she was back in Crocus to be able to be with them as well as with Kon. She felt tired and a bit dizzy perhaps but that would go away. She walked passed a bar, wondering if she would drink a cup of camomille tea and feel better, when she heard noises, heavy grunting noises. So instead of walking into the bar, Alice took a few steps next to the door and stared into the ally. She sighed, great, work to do. She coughed loudly enough to be heard by the first three men that were near her, the other three were already fighting so it seemed. She heard some whispers;

Uh oh, it's the lieutenant.

Well yes she had been the lieutenant but people seemed to not know she quit about four months ago, she didn't care at this point, "And you better explain yourself quickly." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and as the three stepped aside, she could see the mess of four others a little away from her, further into the alley. "Anyone cares to explain why six knights are fighting one man? Is he that big of a criminal?" The last part of her question was with a heavy intentional amount of sarcasm. Glacing upon the fourth person, she took a wild guess that he was a tourist in the town of Crocus and just made a wrong or poor choice to get into this trouble, perhaps he drank too much, although the steady hand on the katana made her aware that he could think clearly and that his hand wasn't shaking from too much alcohol.

She looked from one to the other, waiting for an explanation from anyone of them. But they seemed to be lost for words now that the red haired lieutenant showed up.


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Things weren’t looking so good for the freelancer. While they knights did seem to agree that six against one was honorable, they decided three against one was completely okay. It meant that one end of the alley didn’t have anyone guarding it so that was Silver’s current escape route but he was getting the crap beaten out of him. It wasn’t an entirely one-sided fight, Silver was always a natural with the swords and he’s had years of training, but he’d never had a formal teacher in years and the odds were against him. ‘Stupid freaking Rune Knight armor!’ He growls internally as another katana slice bounced off a plated chest. He was glad the fight distracted him from drinking too much otherwise he would have already been out with drunkenness taking away the finesse in his usual style.

Suddenly the fighting stopped, leaving the Sinian grasping at his sword in one hand and wiping the blood off of the side of his mouth with the other while the men scrambled away from him and moved into what was probably an often used salute. Taking the time the idiots used to get themselves orderly Silver took a look at this lieutenant, checking just by appearance whether they seemed like an ally or not. And holy crap was he grateful for that look, this lady was hot! Hosting a perfect hourglass figure, wonderful long legs, beautiful golden eyes (at least in this lighting), and gorgeous waves of silky orange hair Silver was probably gaping like an idiot. Or drooling like one.

“Sir! This hooligan is guilty of disturbing the peace, drunken disorder and assault, on my younger brother no less! When we attempted to arrest him he resisted, so we were in the process of restraining him! We have it under control, sir!” Their leader barks out in a military fashion, eyes straight ahead but not able to hide the vindictive victory dancing in them. The men around him echoed their agreement and while Silver was rather positive he was screwed the injustice of it had him straitening his back in a strong stance and glaring daggers of the so-called-knights.

“Bullisht!” Silver growls out, distraction via beautiful woman over, causing the nearby ones to round on him, though they dare not touch in front of the gorgeous lieutenant. “That stupid brother of yours started the fight when he called me a dirty foreigner and mocked my friends! Do you think I’d take that laying down?! And you guys didn’t even try to arrest me you just started to beat the crap out of me!” The swordsman protests while knowing it was probably in vain, but is honour urging him on to defend himself.

“Shut the hell up!” Th private nearest to him yells, grabbing the lapels of Silver’s vest and pulling him close. Silver just glares at the man with defiant grey eyes, knuckles white around the hilt of his katana but not moving to swing it at the jerkass.

WC: 948/???

Her eyes still looking at the stranger, he seemed to be.. heavily hurt? She wasn't sure, where she had first let her eyes glide over him, he seemed to be fine, but he stared at her, perhaps it was just a grateful something as she came to help him. No matter what he had done, six knights, where three were fighting him was a tad too extreme. She turned her golden eyes towards the person that was talking and crossed her arms underneath her chest, waiting for this explanation to make sense. She noted down in her mind that his little brother was involved, making him biased. She made a hmmm sound as the knight said that they had him under control. "He doesn't seem drunk to me." She lifted up her eyebrow and looked back at the stranger, "After all, he is standing upright, not swaying around and seems to be able to handle the katana that he is holding very well. So.. go on." As she had said to go on, the stranger had said that it was bullshit and she tried to hide her smile, keep a neutral mask on her face as she eyed them all now. One by one. Listening to the foreigner, as she had made that assumption too, as she had thought or well, she had guessed. "We aren't teaching children, they can't run to their parents and tell that they are being bullied. The bartender as it seems, didn't kick them out. You waited until he finished and left, Knight Roland, I think you are being too much focused on a family bonding here and I think you would understand if a random stranger would call out on your brother and call him names, wouldn't you?" She only watched, didn't want to hear a word so when he opened his mouth, she lifted up her hand, "I want you to all apologize and report to the barracks here, I will let the Lieutenant there know what to do with you." Because if they wouldn't be punished by unsensitive behaviour, they might do it again and if she remembered correctly, his brother wasn't even in the Rune Knights mids, so it was a family brawl and the knights couldn't afford to that. "Oh and Roland, remind your brother about the words of our new emperor would you. Everyone is welcome in Fiore and you better show your welcome here instead of the opposite." to which she allowed a small smile and watched the six knights apologize to the foreigner.

Just as she was about to step into the small street, Jupiter showed up by her side, "Took you long enough." He muttered but she ignored him, watched the six leave and walked towards the foreigner, "Are you alright? Should I take you to a healer?"


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Silver couldn’t believe his eyes, ear, or well, any of his senses. Was this really happening?  Was an authority figure, a lieutenant no less, actually standing up for him? Wow, he might actually have a crush and he didn’t even know her name yet. Was she single? Or even within his age range?

But those were questions for another time. For now Silver was simply gaping with shock at what was unfolding. Ever since those horrible events six years ago. The power that came with high position went to people’s heads and they would take advantage of that power over those of lesser position. It was just a fact to him, a sad one but one he also has seen put to sue far too many times. Today was supposed to simply be another example but it seems the gods decided to throw him a curve ball. Not only did this woman use her brain but also was also unhesitant, though impressively subtly, in standing up for some random foreigner.

Silver did his absolute best not to smirk as all of the big bad knights apologized to him in unison, though judging by their furious looks he was unsuccessful. The Roland guy even bowed, though that was probably to save face and hide the murderous glare he shot at the young man. “It was nice meeting you gentlemen.” Silver really did grin at that one, which probably wasn’t a good idea, egging on people never was, but he really couldn’t help himself. This was a rare victory for him after all.

Finally, they saluted to the lieutenant and make a hasty retreat, causing Silver to let out a sigh of relief as he sheathes his sword. Looking up at his savior he blinks in surprise at the newcomer and wondered if he’s been here the entire time. His usual lights up his face as the calm beauty starts to question his state of health, causing Silver to take a moment to take stock of himself. A small cut in his mouth from biting down too hard and a lot of bruises, though nothing felt sprained or broken. “Nope, just some bruises and cuts, nothing that won’t heal up after a good night rest. Could probably go for a few more round too. Thanks for the offer though.” He chirps at the bright duo then approaches them, about to bow in greeting before remembering that they shake hands in Fiore. “Silver’s the name and I can’t thank you enough for your help Ms. Lieutenant. I honestly wasn’t expecting a Rune Knight to side against their own like that. Best knight in shining armor I’ve ever had.” He says with an outstretched hand, practically beaming at this point despite his bruises and the unpleasantness that just passed. In his head being saved a gorgeous, competent lady made all woes into blessings. Or maybe he had a concussion.

She turned her face to Jupiter as she kept an eye on the knights that would have to apologize, or well the corner of her eyes. "What do you mean long enough? I didn't have a meeting with you here." To which the blonde shook his head and turned his face towards the knights as well as crossing his arms in front of his chest, "You think this is a good decision?" She shook her head this time, she wasn't sure but she had not agreed with the handlings and as they were knights, they should have known better, if it only had been Roland for the sake of his brother, she might have just stopped the fight. She would have to see about that punishment, but considering the new emperor and his words, the Rune Knights would even be more pressured into giving a right example, as well as just that for the citizens as also to keep their spot, their ability to stay around or else he might have their heads.

She heaved her head a little, showing the authority when the knights walked towards her, saluted and left. She would see about that punishment but as she didn't want it to happen again, there better be something. Cleaning the barracks, with six? That might even not be too harsh. She walked towards the foreigner as they were gone to ask if he was alright or if she should take him to a healer. "That's alright, glad to hear you aren't badly hurt. I do apologize for their behaviour, I must also blame it on the situation of Crocus, everything has been very tense and well as you see it takes its toll on everyone from time to time. That's no excuse though" Jupiter seemed to stay away at the point still, she should probaly introduce herself. But he was first and she smiled and couldn't help but laugh a little, "I wish we would have met by other circumstances but I'm glad to help, I'm Alice Baskerville and this is my companion Jupiter." She took his hand to shake and looked shortly after that at her companion, who simply walked a few steps towards them. "What brings you to Fiore?" he asked rudely and Alice tried her best not to sigh or roll her eyes, really? And here she had wanted to complement him on his sword fighting. Three against one and he was still standing.


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Silver grins a little bigger as the woman introduces herself and her gruff companion. Alice and Jupiter, huh? Both very nice Fiorian names. “No sweat, it ended up all right in the end so I’d give it a pass. No point in sweating in ‘what if’s.” He says in return to Alice’s comment of better circumstances. Honestly, if those guys weren’t such jerk and he wasn’t in danger of being arrested he would have completely enjoyed that little brawl. He usually did.

Blinking a bit at the abrupt question Silver scrambled for an answer, not because it was a hard question but because it caught him off guard, usually someone would start with a bit of small talk before asking that. Though if they were officials they would probably want to know that right off the bat, so he didn’t blame them. Thank the spirits he had his papers on him if they asked for it. “Aw, Sin had too much war-mongering going on. Technically that’s good business for a freelancer like me but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Plus I have family on my mom’s side here.” He says with a casual shrug. There was still war in this country, most recently a civil one, but it was briefer and smaller scale than the ones he experienced in Sin. They really liked to wage war there, at least in the last few years he found. The family part was definitely not a lie, he just left out stuff they probably wouldn’t be interested in. It’s not like they were asking his life’s story after all.

The adrenaline was still pumping through his veins from the fight and the scare and Silver found himself eyeing the weapon Alice carried, interested. He didn’t see guns around that often, blade weapons were rather popular even with the non-magical folk like him so he’d never fought someone with one. “You any good with that?” He blurts out then curses at himself in his head. She was a Knight-Lieutenant, of course, she was good with it! “I-I mean-!” Silver splutters, not really sure what he meant. “I wasn’t trying to say I thought you were bad with your weapon I just was wondering…” His words drift off into a mumble, face flush with embarrassment.  

She took a deep breath, almost without a sound as she was glad that he let it pass, how else would she have to explain, sometimes she should stop getting herself in trouble, after all she wasn't even a Rune Knight anymore, thank god most people recognized her as the lieutenant but the red head had not been in the Rune Knights for four months about now. How long would the lie be able to continue? Apart from that how long would the Rune Knights ask her for help still, it surely wasn't that they were running low on good knights? There was Hatsuharu, Akira, Xandra (who she had only met briefly but still considered), soon to be Asura and who knew how many more people. "I wish more of the knights had such a mind set, that would work out great, as for your skill for weapons."

To which Jupiter came with the very rude question of why Silver was here and Alice tried her very best to keep her face neutral, the best thing she could have done, but she didn't was step on his foot and press as much on it but she didn't. Jupiter could be so short in sight sometimes. "It's a shame we can't help each other as a country." she wasn't going to point out again that they were having issues as Fiore, not that they had a full fled war, it had been basically several attacks that would have been over now, "As for family in Fiore, Fiore is a big country, if you need any help feel free to ask the Rune Knights." Hopefully they would be willing to help, that's what she told Judina ages ago but she had actually not informed if her friend had found any information about either of her brothers. She had been rather selfish when it came to asking Judina for help and only related to her own.

As the conversation about why he was here ended, she eyed Jupiter shortly to see if he was satisfied, the jerk, she got a question that made her look at the holster that she carried at her hip, that is if she was mostly alone, most of the time she hid it, "I wish I could say yes, I prefer the blades over the firearms but my boss offered me this, can't say no to that of course." she had only used it in Baska which had been nice as the crazed people kept far away from her thanks to that but still it was a too definite weapon if you asked her. She grinned at him, "I used to fight with spears and katana's."


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Silver was honestly pretty flattered. First, she compared his words to a knights virtues, saying that knights should be more like him of all people. Then even offering the aid of the Rune Knights to him if he should need it and while he’ll probably never take up the offer it was touching of her to do so. All while being hilarious that a punk like him was being compared to knights and offered their aid. All he could do was mumble some thanks and general denials of his knightlihood.

The complement to his swordsmanship skills was actually what he focused on, to the point that he actually blushed a bit at it. As the youngest son even as a child it was expected that he one day become a soldier so he had a sword in hand for as long as he remembers. Bt even then Silver realized that his childhood timidness and the unfortunate developments in later years made him unable to truly hone his abilities. Hearing that his edge hadn’t gone completely dull was very nice to know, mostly since he suspected that this woman was quite the warrior herself.

“That’s a nice boss you have.” He chirps, admiring what he realized to be a fie weapon, if not as perfect as a sword. But when Alice mentioned that she used to fight with a katana (and spear he guessed) Silver’s eyes lit up, his grin following soon after. It was just the feeling some warriors got, intuitive feeling of the lion behind the guise of a cat that greatly skilled people gave off. This Alice Baskerville gave off the exact feeling and with adrenaline still running through his veins, the young man was eager to see how much bite this beautiful feline had. But how to broach the subject? “A katana, huh? The night’s still young, so uh, you up for a spar Lieutenant Baskerville? As thanks for saving my lucky butt? Swords, spears, guns, anything’s fine.” Well, bluntly asking worked well enough. The other two could probably see the eagerness practically dripping off of him and to Silver offering to spar was a perfectly acceptable way to show ones thanks.

WC: 2,171/???

Jupiter didn't seem to agree on her mindset but than again perhaps she lost the idea of the mindset, being a Holy Knight now. It was interesting to see how long she could play the 'lieutenant'-card but than again the Rune Knights had begged her to help out and stay for the newer members that she still tried to train or keep contact with. For as far as possible. Alice shook her head lightly to get out of her track of thoughts and tilted her head to look at Silver.

She laughed shortly when they spoke about weapons and she said she got Vash's white from her boss. She got it from Midas, together with the armour that had not fitted at that point. Perhaps it was scary that he knew her sizes when she wasn't pregnant. But she didn't want her mind to go that way. She was a bit surprised by his next question, perhaps that was the thing with swordsmen and she looked shortly at Jupiter who simply shrugged. She had been looking for a moment to train with Vash's but she wasn't sure how to train and thus wondered if it would be a good idea, "Oh why not, I should get better with this thing anyway." Perhaps she could use her Castor spell again to see how it would go as she had done in her training with T.K. but she would see first.

"Let's not do it here. There is an area in town where you can train safely. Let me show you." and if Silver agreed, she would bring him (together with Jupiter) towards Domus Flau. On one hand it was a perfect thing to check his power out, as Kon had done for her, who knows maybe this guy had the right potential indeed to become a knight, to lose the moments to start a brawl, even if she wasn't sure if it was him alone (she doubt it at this point), it would be good to have the right person around. She could vouch for him.

Exit.
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