A day in his story. Recruitment

It was a peaceful afternoon on Silvermoon Avenue. The sun was shining, and people were moving up and down the road. It was a normal day. In particular a bell rang as the door to one shop in particular opened and a couple stepped in. This shop wasn’t one that had a grand appearance on the outside, or some big sign that drew people on. It was simply one of those types of hole in the wall in the middle of other shops. On a glass window the words “Kolt’s Book Emporium” were labeled with a book beneath them. Through the window one could see shelf after shelf of books. For Kolt, this was paradise. For others, it might be hell. He loved his book.

As the couple entered the shop they gazed around before separating. The woman slipped off towards the romance section while the man moved towards the history. He skimmed over the books on the shelf before pulling one down. The sound of the spine cracking filled the area just around him. It was obvious that the book hadn’t been opened many times. Regardless, a book was a book. “History of Fiore?” The question caused the older man to jump as a figure that was taller than him seemed to just appear. At the height of 6’10, he didn’t seem like he belonged in the shop there. The man was wearing a black and red suit with long hair that slipped down to his shoulder blades. His eyes were dark and red. It was as if someone had fashioned his eyes from ruby themselves. On his side was a leather holster that seemed to hold a weapon of some kind was secured there. It had seemed out of place, but for that matter so did Kolt in the shop.

“Why, you nearly gave an ol’ timer like me a heart attack.” The man exclaimed with a bit of a smile on his face as he looked back at the book. “It’s a good book. I used to be part of the Rune Knight before they broke down. This is one of the few books out there that had recorded their better times. Tis a shame it’s so expensive.” The man said as Kolt tilted his head some. His hair fell off to the side some as he did so.

”Well. I have to agree. It was a good book, and good thing I have several copies. You can have it. Also tell the dame you walked in with she can keep one book she likes also.” Kolt said with a smile. The old man was silent for a moment. The book he had was in fact one of the more expensive copies of ‘History of Fiore’. It was a first edition. ”I’m Kolt for the record. The owner. Come again sir. Perhaps you could tell me of stories from when you were a young man.” The large man said before turning to head towards the back of the store where the counter was. It was devoid of customers, and that was to be expected considering the couple were all that were in there. They were old, and nice. He didn’t worry of them being left to their own devices. In the back of Kolt’s mind something was bugging him. A new business had opened up down the way. He wasn’t too nosy, so he hadn’t really looked into it, but they were being a bother. He was going to need to go check them out soon…

As the events unfolded within the shop Kolt had taken to step from behind the shelves of books. His brow twitched as not only did she break a hole in the roof of his shop, but the material that fell caused several shelves of books to topple down. His fingers twitched as he slipped down to run his finger across the leather holster of his trusted lance. There was silence from the large man before he heard her talk. He couldn’t exactly make her out either at the moment due to the dust.

”You’ll cover the damages? I assume you must have a nice bit of change on you. Kolt spoke. His tone wasn’t the kind one he had just used with the old man just before, but one that was annoyed. His lips curled into a frown as if ignoring her for a moment he moved and lifted a bookshelf that was taller than him back up with one hand, settling what books he could back on the shelf, making note of the damages.

He flicked his eyes back to her as the dust cleared, giving him a good view of her. “So you look like a Tanuki. I’ll be sure to go with you to a bank for these funds.” He said as he approached her. His hand that was free, and currently not playing with the leather holster on his side pulled a cloth from his suit, and tossed it to her. “My name is Kolt Xenophilius. You are?” He spoke to her. He had a feeling that this wasn’t going to end well at all. At least in the form he was in, he smelt like a human. Anything else, and he might as well be screwed.

OOC: Pardon the intrusion, I might be a little rusty.
IC:

One does not normally see someone fall ceiling of a large book store very often. One also was not normally in a bookstore, wearing a cloak, and wondering how to pay for a book very often, while looking kind of bored at it. Especially not wearing a scarf to cover her neck inside, and with the hood up. Her clothing a bit ratty, and her hair kind of frazzled. Her form was slim, slimmer then last time people saw. If truth be told, she was hungry, but for what? She had not seen food in ages, but books were food for the heart, the soul and the mind. This book especially. She wanted this book greatly... if only she had money.

She would hear the crash, and then the discussion between the bookstore owner and the person who fell through... someone with a fluffy tail. She had been about to approach them both, when she heard something that made her blood run cold. "Black...Rose..." her eyes were wild and blank at the same time. She turned around, and tried to hide the feeling she had. She had kept herself away from it all, she had no idea of the current going on, but she knew that there was a new Guildmaster apparently. Unconsciously she rubbed the scarf, just over the marking she still had. She did not have the magic to remove it herself to what she knew, lacking the talent, but she had been tempted to do more than hide it. She shivered and then walked back to the book, dragging it into her cloak. It was a book on those who have changed, seemingly a documentary type.

She had been wandering, alone for months. She had brief interactions, but those interactions only reminded her that she had lost the ability to trust. Mages? Who needed them. What about regular people? She was not regular at all, she was half human... half something... She could not recall, she just knew that she lost her connection to her mother, what ever she was. She did not let the influence matter, but she wanted to know. She wanted to understand how she had changed... why she had changed. How does one cope with change, when they have been alone so long... Was she alone? She could not remember.

Her stomach would decide to growl loudly then. It was obvious she was hungry from the way she shook, she was more than a little bit needing a bath, not one of those dives into a river or pond or lake, but an actual bath. She was definitely someone who has remained in the weather. It was surprising what she had now still suited the likes of covering her, yet it did. She wanted to approach people, but was uncertain how. She had forgotten it, the time away had done it to her. She wanted to meet with her friend again, the Marshmellow man... was he made of Marshmellows? That sounded delicious!

Still, she would try to sneak past them. She did not know why, but she could not bring herself to face the person from blackrose, nor the guy with the strange energy. Even if he was the owner of the book she now carried. Loosely... until it dropped from her arms. She looked down, uncertain how to react to it, as she stooped down to pick it up. She just stared at the book, almost not recognizing it as the book she had picked up in the store. She opened it, and started reading it, trying to remember what it was, but her eyes were blank.

This day was getting better and better for Ol’ Kolt. First she crashes into his roof, and now he finds out she’s a guild master. At least she could pay him back. He was silent for a good bit, and caution about the girl. Guildmasters tend to have access to some ancient voodoo normally. While it was all well and good that it wasn’t the guildmaster of fairy tail with their freakin’ holy this and that, he was still unsure about the Tanuki that was before him. His nostrils flared for a moment as he watched her. ”Of course….

He turned away from her as he mentally noted that she let the clothe that he tossed her fall to the ground. It was kind of an insult to him, but he was rather used to people of this age being that way. In the process once again of lifting another bookcase from the ground to it’s upright position. It was going to take a bit for Kolt to get this safe for others. His eyes gazed around to looking at the people in the shop. Prior to Jato dropping the book, he’d taken to motioning the couple out and had already been on his way to her when he heard the thump.

At first he’d thought the girl of just being one of the book worms that visit him that care only of their library, and not of themselves. That all changed when the fire nation attacked when his eyes began to pick up the smaller details. The state of the clothes, the overly unhealthy amount of hang her skin had. What made it worse was when his ears picked up the sound of her stomach rumbling. She was suffering, and she didn’t seem to care…? Times like this were the reason Kolt felt humans should stay in bubbles. ”Mizz Izayuki, since you’re guildmaster of the roses, I can say helping people around here is somewhat your job.” He said, and he was going to be blunt in this case. ”It’s hard to believe I’m going to say this, but would you mind giving me a hand? He said before he finally reached the girl before him.

He looked down at her from his towering height. Watching as she nearly soullessly turned the pages in the book that she’d obtained from his shelves. Another of the first editions he’d obtained, and not one he really cared about. What bothered him really was how she was. ”Ello dear. If you’re willing to listen to a man older than that book, I can get you something to eat while you listen.” He said as he began to kneel down. His hand came out to touch the book she was reading, his finger placing itself along the inner spine to hold her place. ”How about it?”

The voice of the man as he had gotten close to her caused her to jump visibly. She had not been expecting anyone to notice her, nor had she remembered that people existed around her for the moment. She was obviously in her own head, as blank as that seemed to be for now. She would look at him, before trying to speak up, but her voice caught in her throat as she only motioned to the book. She would then push it to him. She would give up on trying to speak, and look into his eyes, before nodding. She had decided to take him up on the offer of food... what was it like? She needed to know again, to learn what it was to eat something.

Her eyes would shimmer to a more demonic look for a moment, before going back to the hungry and soulless look of someone who had been with out for too long. She did not even realize she might have currency somewhere, that was how off she was. She had not registered that the black rose person was still there. She would slowly stand up, looking at the person who owned the shop, yes, that was who he is, that was who it was that she was being spoken to from. She had lacked her senses for a while, but she realized she needed to find them, but how did one find such a thing?

She then remembered what the book was about, and offered her hand to the man, hoping that he would hand her back the book, or maybe that he would guide her to food. She did not know which just now, but she hoped that he knew, so that she could rely on it. Her moment of clarity was already gone. She just knew that she had changed, and wanted to find out about it, as well as find a way to continue living. Still, how could she respond to him and make sense? She needed to.

Finally, she would open her mouth again. "Bood..." she would accidentally confuse herself by mixing the word book and food, trying to say both at one time. She did not know why she did that. "Book...food....?" she would try again, a bit more successfully this time. Her voice was slightly on the dry side, from lack of proper use, like someone who had gone back to a feral state for a while, dry, cracked throat, needing of moisture, and being used only for simple noises, probably to scare off things trying to harm her.

She looked up, her eyes still in a state of blank confusion, the purple in it still cloudy. "Know....ledge?" she would ask after that. She was realizing she could speak, as long as she kept it to short utterances, single words or syllables seem to be manageable. She just hoped she was able to get her point across. Her teal green hair, ratty as it is, hung low, and her shawl hiding the mark of BlackRose was feeling a little itchy suddenly. She did not have the strength to scratch it though, so tried to ignore it.