N-ice to finally m-eat you. (Private - Kihia)

It must've been around midday by now judging from the central position of the sun in the sky, sending its burning rays down upon the port town of Hargeon. This was the peak hour of business here with the early morning arrivals now thriving while newly arrived merchants hurried to set up their stalls alongside the harbour. The sounds of chatter, laughter, ship horns and general hustle and bustle was a welcome site to a town that, until recently, was nothing but rubble following some destructive event that, in all honesty, Bliss didn't give two hoots about. In fact, she cared not for anything that was happening around her. If anything, it was far too hot and bothersome for her liking, having grown up in a land where there were perhaps a tenth of size of the population wandering the streets around her. What was more, she wasn't exactly fully recovered from that gods-awful ferry to even get to this blasted place. Yet despite her qualms she was here and, with any luck, she would have no regrets over the decision.

As the young huntress passed through the crowds her eyes would dart from side to side, up at people's faces and then back down again as she scanned as many people around her as her brain would let her. If anyone were paying full attention to her then it wouldn't take a genius to work out that she was looking for someone. A person who had taken up residence here and whom she had heard a lot about, yet had never actually had the opportunity to meet. A man whom had tales spoken about him regularly, so much so that even those who resided in the icy seclusion at the far side of Fiore had gotten wind of his accomplishments - and before long, his heritage. There were many molding mages for sure, and many were able to mold ice too. But there was a particular signature to the magic this man used, and it was this man and his signature magic that had drawn Bliss here this very day.

Finally her eyes caught sight of him. He didn't look particularly extravagant, although there was something about him that caused him to stand out from the crowd; perhaps it was his hair, white as snow and reaching down to around his shoulders. It certainly reminded her of some of the men back home. Or perhaps it was his clothing that was far too dark to be wearing in the midday sun; could he not feel the heat melting him through those layers?! Regardless of what it was, he was too far away from the young maiden for her to attract his attention through regular methods. She needed to catch his attention in another way. Carefully so as not to cause alarm, Bliss ducked out of the way of the crowd and kept her eyes focused on the man as she placed her left hand out in front of her "Ice Make; Shiva's Bow." she spoke softly. In an instant the bow was formed within her left hand, while her right hand was already in mid motion towards it's string, an arrow forming in midair and following it as it moved. "Hello there...Mister...Avoa." she chuckled softly as she readied the arrow and steadied herself for the shot. As soon as the line of fire was clear she loosed the arrow, watching it soar through the air and embed itself into the wall beside her target. If that didn't catch his attention then he was stupider than he seemed.

Kihia had been walking through the streets of Hargeon, doing a few errands that he needed to do as well as making sure no trouble was a foot. He had finally been able to sit down and rest since his return from Desierto, and was trying to further relax by doing a simple patrol around the town. Everything seemed to be normal, ships had been coming in and out of the port, dropping off goods, picking them up, as well as a few passenger ferries. I am glad it has been a peaceful day so far… Kihia began to turn onto the street of the Mercantile district, when suddenly an Ice Arrow flew by and imbedded itself into the wall of the nearby building.

Kihia froze and glared at it out of the corner of his eye, he then turned and followed the direction where the arrow came from and saw a young, silver haired Girl holding a bow made out of ice. Kihia stood there for a moment and then extended out his right hand(it is uncovered, showing the ice) focusing in on her bow, he then extended out his fingers and angled them downward. The bow of ice then warped downward slowly trying to wrap around the girls hands and bind her legs.

(this next part happens regardless of the result) Kihia then reached around with his right arm and unsheathed Icarus and walked over to her and pointed his weapon straight at the girl, “What business… did you have trying to hit me just now…” Kihia had said this in a calm voice, staring coldly at the girl waiting for a response while the surrounding people took notice and looked at the two.

Well the arrow had definitely caught her target's attention that was for sure. Unfortunately he really did seem to be as stupid as his clothing suggested, as he stood up and seemed to glare at Bliss, before raising his arm and...wait a minute, was that thing made of ICE?! Bliss' eyes stared straight at his arm, a small amount of drool escaping her lips before she was snapped back to reality as her bow seemed to feel odd in her grip. Looking down, she dropped the bow in shock as she realised it was warping, changing shape and threatening to tie her up. Before she could fully register what had happened, the Winter Huntress became painfully aware that her target was now approaching her with his weapon out, and that the townsfolk were all beginning to take notice of the two of them. She put her hands to her head and stamped her foot. This had not gone to plan at all.

"BAKA! BAKA BAKA BAKA!" she screamed out as she attempted to approach Kihia...before extravagantly planting her face into the ground as the bow had finished wrapping around her legs. Ow....dammit...now I look like a baka too... she thought in disdain as she slowly turned her head to look up at the now towering figure of Kihia Avoa. “What business… did you have trying to hit me just now…” Bliss glared and attempted to push herself up to her feet, to no avail. "BAKA! If I wanted to hit you then I WOULD'VE hit you! A huntress never misses her prey." she replied bluntly, before rolling onto her back and trying to pull the wrapped ice from around her legs, again being unsuccessful before a thought came to mind and she simply dispelled the bow, freeing herself. By now the pair (and particularly Bliss' shouting) had drawn quite the crowd.

"That arrow has the Crest of the Frozen Sword. You should've known it wasn't meant to kill." she growled, before her stomach growled again and her eyes began to slowly move down towards his arm again.

No! Don't get distracted!

Her eyes darted back up to meet his. "Kihia Avoa...you're not as awesome as they make you out to be."

Kihia coldly glared at the young girl before him, his glare intensifying from her calling him an idiot, he watched as she tried to walk forward and fell flat on her face from her bow being wrapped around her legs. He watched as she struggled to get the bow off her legs, before eventually just dispelling it. When he heard her next outburst, he frowned and continued listening to her, trying to find the reason of firing the arrow where she did. After she finished talking Kihia remained silent for a while, while still pointing Icarus at her, Crest of the Frozen Sword….?

Kihia retracted his right arm and Icarus with it and rested it on his right shoulder. He sighed and studied the Girl, she didn’t appear to be anyone he knew, he shook his head and said, “I am sorry… but… What do you mean by the Crest of the Frozen Sword?... and I care not for what people say about me… so why don’t you please calm down… You shouldn’t cause a ruckus in the middle of the street…”

If Bliss' jaw opened any further then it would have probably dropped straight off. How was this possible? How could a member of the Avoa clan not know about the House of Sword and it's respective Crest of the Frozen Sword? Bliss had always been taught about the House of Shield after all, so surely it made sense that Kihia had heard of their counterparts? Bliss finally came to, uttering a single word; "Baka..."

As she spoke she took another step forward and scanned Kihia's eyes carefully for signs of whether he was faking his lack of knowledge. But no matter how hard she looked, there were no signs there. In the end she simply tilted her head to the side in confusion. "You really have no idea...do you?" she asked softly, fighting the urge to look down at his arm again. She should've eaten before she looked for him. Wait, but if he didn't know about the House of Sword then...

The silver-haired girl jumped back suddenly in horror. "W-wait! If you don't know then...does this mean you're not Kihia Avoa? BAKA BLISS! BAKA! I should've just waited to hear someone say your name or something! BAKA!" she shouted again as she dropped to her knees in panic, causing yet more people to turn around and see what was causing the such hysteria. "I'm sorry Master, I messed up! BAKA BLISS!" she bawled, seemingly ignorant to everyone around her - including one Kihia Avoa whom she was now convinced was someone else.

Kihia watched as she examined him after he spoke and then started to seemingly fall apart over something not apparent to him. He listened to her cries and sighed, she came looking for me… having no idea what I looked like… or keeping mind of proper manners either… Kihia sighed and then looked to the crowd and motioned for them to continue on, they did and went on with their business. Kihia then sheathed Icarus and placed his right hand on his left forearm. He then whispered, “Frozen Armor… Creation…” Kihia watched as the gauntlet from his Ice make Knight spell quickly formed on his left hand. He then reached down and picked up the girl by grabbing her shirt just behind her neck.

Kihia lifted her up off the ground and turned her to face him, “First off… my name is Kihia Avoa… although no one often comes looking for me specifically from outside of Lamia Scale… If I am supposed to know what the Crest of the Frozen Sword means… I apologize… I don’t… I have heard no mention of it since joining Lamia Scale.” Kihia stood there holding the young girl in front of him, “If I may ask, who are you…?”

Before Bliss could fully calm down she suddenly found herself lifted off the ground by the man who was now wearing a rather delicious ice gauntlet STOP IT! You can't eat yet!. Her eyes turned back to Kihia, who now began talking for what Bliss felt was the longest time. So he WAS Kihia Avoa, but he still had no knowledge of The House of Sword. This was still problematic, albeit not as problematic as the predicament she now found herself in; Should she try to take a bite of the gauntlet holding her? It did look rather nice after all. It'd be a shame to see it go to waste. On the other hand, doing so could just make the situation first. It seemed Kihia was willing to listen and speak to her, and eating his arm would probably not go down well right at this moment.

It was only now that she was calming down and close enough to Kihia that she noticed the pendant around his neck. The pendant was clearly that of the House of Shield, so this was definitely the man, no question about it. She was about to make a point of it when she realised his mouth was moving. Had he been talking all this time? Either way, she zoned back in just as he asked who she was.

"My name...is Bliss Avoa, The Winter Huntress and proud warrior of the House of Sword, one half of the Avoa clan." she announced proudly.

Kihia stood there for a moment processing what Bliss had just said, his mind was drawing an absolute blank as he stood there holding her still. Bliss…. Avoa….? He stood the for a moment spacing out, ever since that dreaded day, he had never heard his last name associated with another person, he thought he was alone, the only surviving member of his bloodline. He suddenly released his grip on Bliss dropping her to the ground, “What…” Kihia stood there in the same stance he was in before he had dropped her. Tears slowly began to form in his eyes, he was unsure how to react… it had been fifteen years since he had any contact with any blood relative of anykind.

He stood there for a moment, a tear started to roll down his face, he looked at the ice gauntlet on his left hand, “What do you mean… by other half?... I never knew… there was another group out in the world…” He stood there, shaking slightly, he was doing his best to withhold his emotions, for the knowledge of his past had never been revealed to the public… lest it draw their attention to Hargeon and the rest of Lamia Scale.

Well something had caught the man's tongue as he stood there with a vacant expression for a moment, seemingly taking in her words before...dropping Bliss to the ground with a thud, her face meeting the floor for the second time. What was that about?! she grumbled mentally as she pulled herself out of the dirt. "Owie....why would you do that?" she moaned, dusting herself off before looking up at the Knight. His expression was not one she had expected; was that a tear trickling down his cheek? Suddenly the girl was wondering if she'd upset him and, for the first time in this meeting, she felt bad for him.

"Um...K-Kihia? I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to upset you..." she spoke softly, her eyes glancing up at him as she was kneeled on the ground before slowly but surely looking downwards to the floor in guilt.

Once again the pair had drawn attention to themselves, although this time it was more out of confusion. One moment they looked to be fighting one another, then within the blink of an eye the scene had flipped completely. Still, with Lamia Scale around nothing was ever truly 'normal'.

Kihia stood there for a long moment, still recovering from the shock of what he just had found out. He stood there for a long moment trying to recover his normal state of mind. He suddenly snapped back into reality when Bliss apologized suddenly apologized for the thought of possibly upsetting him. Kihia then quietly spoke up, “It isn’t your fault…” He then wiped the tear from his face and looked towards the center of town, seeing the top of the Lamia Scale Guild Hall rising above the rooftops, “So Bliss… what is the state of your family… and for what reason did you come looking for me specifically…?”

Bliss almost immediately cheered up as Kihia announced that she hadn't upset him, before asking more about her family. Finally they were getting somewhere! She looked up at him and jumped up to her feet with a smile. "Well...my family is busy as ever. It's coming towards the really chilly season at home where food becomes scarce, so they're planning ahead for that. As for why I'm here..." she began, then hesitated. Dare she tell the truth? Perhaps. But perhaps not. Not yet at least. She didn't know if she could trust this man yet, regardless of the name they shared. "I was sent here...to train. They thought I'd get rusty over the silent season and they'd rather I kept honing my skills. Apparently there are jobs and all sorts here, so this is the ideal place for me."

Kihia sighed in relief knowing that she still had some family of her own alive. However he then cast a sideways glance at Bliss at her explanation for why she came to Hargeon, That doesn’t add up… but if she refuses to tell me the truth… I will not pry… for now… Kihia then turned to Bliss and studied her for a second more, “It is true that those things lie here in Hargeon… you can find most of them back at the Lamia Scale Guild Hall… however it is up to you how you make use of the facilities we have there…” Kihia paused for a long moment thinking of the time, Speaking of the Guild Hall… I must return soon to make sure no trouble is afoot there…

Kihia then turned to walk down the street, “You can walk with me if you wish… I still have a few errands to do before I return to the Guild Hall myself… just make sure you don’t cause a scene… We try and make sure not to cause a ruckus in Hargeon when we can… We are the protectors of the town… we don’t have any more rights than the rest of the townsfolk here…” Kihia then started walking back towards the Mercantile district, whether or not Bliss followed him, wasn’t on his higher list of concerns at the moment.

"Lamia....Scale..." Bliss repeated under her breath. She'd forgotten all about these so called 'guilds', but now that Kihia had mentioned it she remembered part of why she'd come here. The idea of joining a group separate from the Avoa Clan, to gain her own experiences and meet people who used different kinds of magic to what was always around her...this was enough to make her heart sing. For a brief moment she wondered what a guild was like. Then she realised Kihia was walking away and so she quickly chased after him. She hadn't come this far just to lose sight of him now.

"So you asked about my family. What about yours? And what is it like being in this 'guild'?" she asked sweetly, looking up at the taller man in curiosity.

Kihia had been walking at a peaceful state of mind when Bliss asked a two part question… one of which hit a nerve. Kihia slowed down a bit a looked at her out of the corner of his eye… He remained silent for a moment before seeing a shop that he needed to buy his usual stock of bandages from. Without Answering he went in and bought a dozen rolls of bandages and walked back out thanking the shop keeper, “Being in Lamia Scale… its an interesting experience… full of ups and downs… challenges as well as plenty of people to consider your friends…” If there was a reward for someone failing at avoiding a topic the worst, he may of just won first prize, he had no intention of answering her first question, hiding his emotions that were slightly brought the surface, as well as protecting the possibility of it becoming a rumor… He then looked up at the sky to get a fix on what time it was, seeing the sun was getting lower in the sky he knew he needed to get back to the Guild Hall, "I am afraid I must head back to the Guild Hall now... you can join me if you wish..." He was doing his best to avoid the first question, and he thought he was being successful for the most part....

From what Bliss could gather the Lamia Scale guild seemed to be a reasonably good place to go, at least for the time being. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to stay - she'd forgotten to plan that much - and this way she could keep tabs on Kihia and perhaps learn a little from him. "I would like to see this guild for myself. It sounds interesting." she replied with a smile.

One thing did annoy her though. Kihia had omitted saying anything about his family. Given how she'd answered his questions, it was only fair that he answered hers, right? "You didn't say anything about your family. That's kinda mean. I told you about mine."

Kihia pretended not to hear Bliss’s protest about him not answering her question about his family. Some questions… should never be answered… As he weaved in and out of the crowds walking a steady pace to the Lamia Scale Guild Hall, he tried not to reenter conversation with the young girl, for the possible risk of her asking about his family again. He looked at Bliss out of the corner of his eye, unsure about so many things, the chief one among those thoughts, being, Why did no one ever tell me there was another family…?

He'd ignored her again! That was just downright rude! Bliss contemplated all the many ways that she could get Kihia to open up. Did he just not like his family? Had something happened between them that put him off talking to them? She couldn't imagine anything like that occurring within the House of Sword but maybe the House of Shield were more different. Afterall, they hadn't taught their family about the House of Sword so it was possible that there were many more differences.

CHOMP!

Without even being aware of it Bliss' hunger had gotten the better of her. Her draconic canines sunk themselves straight into Kihia's frozen arm, the mouthwatering taste causing her to drool as she clung on with almost supernatural strength. "Itff fo goooooof...." she muffled as she sighed happily. Okay so maybe this wouldn't get him to talk, but DAMN did it taste nice! She could always get him to talk another day.