On a lukewarm Summer night, a man of dark and crimson clothing contrasted by ashen white hair could be seen outside of a small barracks in the town of Era. A simpler lad, fiddling with a golden cross that hung around his neck, looking left and right to ensure no suspicious activity. The church would know him as Shura, a wandering priest working under the Lamia Scale guild. Some may see it as a strange contrast - but after settling in, the devout worshiper could only see such a turn of fate in a positive light. His instruction under the tough as nails wizards and warriors within the guild was such that he felt confident that there was much to be learned under their tutelage.

The first mission came soon after his recruitment, and while it sounded daunting at first, it was nothing to be anxious about. He merely had to keep watch outside of a small Rune Knights' barracks. With the recent chaos of demonic invasions, the Rune Knights have had little in the way of staff to go on the defensive for their "less important" structures. Night was when such beings loved to strike the hardest, thus Shura's duty was to watch through the night and alert the sleeping knights within if anything went amiss.

Shura's briefing also mentioned the potential for another to join him in the task, which was something that reassured the priest, clutching at his cross in prayer that no harm would come to the innocent tonight. With his eyes closed for a short prayer, he mouthed the words - and yet no sounds would follow. He continued, unhindered, as the night sky's clouds rolled by overhead.

---

WC: 281/950

The first mission Aegis got assigned upon coming into Era was explained to be a relatively simple one.

After speaking with the guard who had given him the briefing, he begin to walk over as his shift was about to start. The guard had informed him that there was another that he was going to be guarding with that night, but he had not met them beforehand, so the introduction was going to be an experience in and of itself. Luckily the night was shaping up to be clear, and the temperature seemed like it was going to be pleasant as well.

Everyone in the town seem to be a little on edge due to the recent activities in and around the area, but aegis was assured that it was going to be a standard watch position over the night as nothing had happened inside the town. Even so, he was a little on edge, though you wouldn't know it, as this being his first actual night in the Era as well as without knowing the area very well.

The walk over was pleasant enough, a light breeze blowing air warm enough but yet cool enough to be pleasant. As he turned the corner to what he had been instructed was the knights guard barracks, he knows that there was another man standing in front of the door, and offered a slight wave as showing not just a pleasant hello, but also not to startle anyone.  "Hello there friend! he said as he came up to the stranger. "Are you to be my watch partner for the night?"

WC: 275/950

Shura heard a voice of greeting approach from his side. The crimson cleric kept his eyes closed in a serene, trance-like state; finishing his prayer to Illumin as uninterrupted as was allowed with the proverbial bubble of absolute concentration now popped. Throughout the entirety of his prayer, from beginning to end, his lips were moving yet no sound escaped. While some might see this paradoxically muted utterance as some kind of ancient curse, it was nothing quite so sinister or complex.

At the end, the priest had finally opened his eyes and acknowledged the other man's presence. Before him was a reasonably dressed and eloquent looking sort - not the kind one would typically expect to see on guard duty, in Shura's eyes. The irony fell to him, however, upon reflecting on his own situation as a man of God amidst the ruffian culture of Lamia Scale.

Raised aloft from the silent man's hand was a golden cross, gestured in the newcomer's direction. In response to the other man's question regarding guard duty, Shura nodded twice. In his experience, repeating a gesture multiple times solidified his intentions beyond a shadow of doubt, and that was always the most important thing to him. He extended a hand in greeting, tucking the cross back underneath his cloak after having visually revealed his occupation to his new job partner. A welcoming smirk ran across Shura's face now, feeling relief knowing he wouldn't be alone the entire night.

Regardless of the man's response to his formal greeting, he would turn the other direction upon his ears picking up sound on the wind. Behind him, a solid half a block back approaching their direction was a man. He was dressed simply, and appeared to have a bottle in his left hand, stumbling further down the street and growing closer. Shura's inexperience with such people, his expression went from a warm greeting aura back to the more neutral face he wore before his fellow guard had shown up. Shura's golden eyes steadily observed the man as he moved closer, unsure of whether this would count as "suspicious activity". Regardless, one thing was clear - the stench emanating off of the bottle-wielding man was immense.

---

WC: 647/950

Aegis accepted the silent acknowledgement the man had shown him, and assumed as he had thought before that this is his partner for the evening. As Aegis approached him, he was aware that his red dyed friend was watching an acutely aware of someone coming down the street. The men seem to have consumed way more alcohol than he probably should have, and look a little worse for wear considering it was still rather early on in the night. Although the stranger he was with seemed more on guard then Aegis seemed to be as he was honestly more concerned for the individuals state of health than the threat that they could have posed to the two of them. They both kept an eye on this strange man walking down the road, just to make sure that there was no odd intent or anything that he could pick up on. For if this man was trying to be stealthy he was definitely not doing so as the smell of grog and liquor would assumably alert anyone to his presence down before he was even visibly seen.

While keeping his eye on this person of suspect, he maneuvered himself to take his place on the opposite side of the door leading into the barracks. Aegis tried to look somewhat formal while standing at the door more or less like a soldier, but as he leaned up against the wall next to the door, almost in slow motion using his staff to slow his descent after realization, he slid down on the ground as the wall seemed to be a little slipperier than he had thought. He used his staff to slowly get back up, but eventually he gave up on that posture and relaxed slightly. That this isn't really his style as even though he can get serious when he needs to be, he likes being more relaxed and open as he finds more people are open to him when that is the case.

"They don't seem to be hurting anyone, keep your eye on him but remember the most eye-catching can be the easiest distraction." he said, almost a matter of factly to the red-clad comrade, while standing up and dusting himself off from the light coat of dust now on the bottom of his jacket.

WC (668/950)

Shura gazed down at his guard partner as he slid down the wall against the barracks, and gave a look that contained a mixture of pity and concern. He was about ready to ask if the man needed assistance, but thankfully he recovered without incident. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he turned back towards the approaching drunk with a look of dignity, hoping at the very least that the man would choose not to interact.

The drunk was now close, walking by the pair of guards without a look of acknowledgement, shuffling like a corpse. It seemed as if there wouldn't be anything to worry about from that person, at least. The thought relieved Shura. Or at least, it did right up until the man stopped in his tracks and was heard making a hiccup-like noise. The priest's fist clenched subtly at his side, ready to deliver a trademark "haymaker" as it was termed, taught to him by his allies at Lamia Scale.

That was until liquid began seeping from the man's face! No, more specifically, from his mouth. Merely a few meters away in the middle of the street, the drunk had unleashed what was very likely his entire day's calorie intake all over the road. Shura checked his footing to make sure there was no splash damage, and gave his cloak a brief tug to ensure no chunks had reached him. The man continued his purging onto the ground, muttering incomprehensibly in between his projectiles.

Shura's head turned towards his guard partner now, shrugging his shoulders. The priest withdrew a small notepad and pen from his pocket and began to write hastily on it, before handing it over to his fellow guard.

"What exactly is wrong with him? Was he cursed?", the note would read if his guard partner were to take it.

---

WC: 950/950

They just leaned over and grabbed onto the note that his fellow guard had passed over. He was a bit confused as to why he was handing him notes, but he decided to just answer the question. "No, he's not cursed my friend. Drinking too much alcohol if I bet anything"
Aegis took a few steps over to the man in question. "Are you alright my friend?" He asked after the man head finished emptying the contents of his stomach. The man didn't do much but grumble in response, whether or not he was trying to or not was a different question.

Aegis put his hand on the men's shoulder and had white wisps come from it, slowly enveloping him. After a few seconds, the man stood up looking quite a bit better in mind, although still had a bit of a wobble in his step. "uhuh, t..thanks.. I guess" the man said still not facing the two. "That's all right my friend, do you know your way home?" "Yes, I should be fine... I think" in response Aegis said nodding towards the barracks, "We cannot leave our posts here, if you have any more trouble please see a guard to make sure you get home safe." The man waved sheepishly towards them as he used the wall to hold himself up as he it started to walk by further into the town. Aegis walked back across the street to the barracks door, giving a slight nod to his friend. "Given what's been happening recently, some people just need a helping hand to get them through. And while we can't do too much at the moment, why not do what you can?"


WC: 950/950

A pair of yellow eyes observed the guard's interactions with the puking drunk. Shura's golden gaze followed the motions and took mental notes on how to handle such people. With his time invested deep in scripture and stories growing up, the social aspects of life still required adjustment. He saw the man's understanding of the drunk and his ability to ensure his safety at a reasonable pace. Not too slow, or too fast.

By the time the guard had returned to his post, Shura had cracked a small smirk. He held his index finger up to signal for his guard partner to wait for a moment, and then began writing on his notepad from earlier. After a few seconds of swift and dexterous scribbles hidden from view, he ripped the small script away from the main body of the notepad and handed its imperfectly-torn self to the guard.

"Sorry. I'm not experienced in this line of work. I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves. I'm Shura, who are you?", the note would read in finely penned Fiorian if it were accepted.

Almost as if a light bulb went off above Shura's head, he began scribbling further on a new script from his notepad. His scratchings were equally as fast and focused, and like the wind he had produced a new note.

"I'm not really capable of speech. I do my communication through messages and gestures, really. Apologies if that might grow to be annoying. My friends say I'm a good listener though!"

Regardless of the man's responses to his notes, Shura would focus once more on guard duty, ensuring that his job was finished without issue. Assuming his guard partner was open to conversation, he would switch between listening and responding through notes, and making small talk to pass the time.

Then, when the time came for their duty to end as the knights began to emerge from within the barracks and rub the sleep from their eyes, Shura relaxed his shoulders and let loose the built-up tension through the night. Guard duty was not something to be taken lightly, as simple as it was.

The priest collected his payment from the employer, gave thanks, and left after also saying farewell to his guard partner.

WC: 950/950

~EXIT~

Aegis once again accepted the letter from his guard partner, holding it up to what little light they had currently. "I'm Aegis, and i'm glad to have met you this fine evening." his smile showing genuine care. After the fervorous writing for the second time, he takes the second note that is being passed to him. He just smiles slightly when he's reading the note."That's all right, and don't worry there's nothing to really feel sorry for. Uniqueness is never something to apologize for!" he just finds himself chuckling a little bit at the last statement written down but contains it as well as he can not to appear rude.

They ended up doing some small chat throughout the rest of the night, if not to pass the time quickly, to get to know each other a little better. The rest of said night was very uneventful but at least pleasantly set as the temperature and scenery of the sky never really changed.

Several hours later, they heard a bunch of movement inside the barracks. They just glance through the window, upon the guards getting ready then returning to duty from inside the barracks. If you took a look at either Aegis and Shura, you could tell both of them were very tired. They both slowly wandered over to their employer in unison, not only to grab payments, but also to give thanks for the job and work.

WC: 950/950
-EXIT-