Adventures of Mabatsekker and Kat-Chi: Part 7

She seemed like a pale ghost when the doors opened. A thin face with beautiful looks in them were shamed by the fact she had such a pale skin. She adjusted her fold and stepped outside, to the full view of others. The party of four stood there, speechless. A moment of silence. "Tenchimar?", the small one broke out. "Are the people who were supposed to escort me here?" she asked. Tenchimar walked to her side, and replied her of their presence. "Ach, pardon me, good folk", she stepped a few steps down, led by her mentor, and the tremors of her walking stick. She gestured, and introduced herself "I am Tiria. Pleased to meet you, sirs!"

Zoliphian was the first to open her mouth. "Ahem, there are two sirs, and two of us fine ladies here too. The name's Zoliphian", she spoke with her voice in a proud sort of fashion. Tiria turned her head towards the speaker, surprisingly fast. Zoliphian's eyes widened: "What, you can see?"

"If you read your books right, having one sense dull makes the others sharpen, Zol." Zoliphian sighed. "As for me, I'm Mabatsekker, pleased to meet you too, Tiria." Maba continued, and proceeded shaking hands with Tiria. Her left hand, which he shook, was cold, and as pale as her face. "Your hands," Tiria started, "They're warm with.. something familiar? Sis?" Hearing this, Kat-Chi blushed, and made her presence known too: "Uhh, hi there. Big sis Kat would be travelling with you too", she said as she kneeled in front of the blind girl. Tiria stepped forward, sniffed the air and proceeded hugging her. "Now I know we'll get there just fine with Kat around", Tiria joyously proclaimed. Maba checked behind himself to signal Gar to introduce himself too, but was surprised: Gar's working eye was wide, and it looked like his forehead was covered in sweat. "What's wrong, Gar? I didn't know you were scared of children?" The giant shook his head and shrugged: "I might, if that child happened to be a dark-elfling like she just happens to look like.." Tenchimar, Maba, Kat and Zol all turned their head at Tiria, who stood there with her expressionless state, who seemed to fall back a few steps. Maba then asked: "Is it the truth? Is she a Dark Elf, Tench?" Tench took a deep breath, and explained the situation to the four.

"Tiria is a half-Dark elf. She was born especially sensitive to Sunlight, which is the usual weakness of all dark elves, it even happens with some half-breeds. Well, the thing is this; She was originally created, if you allow me to use such a term, to take advantage of the human half of her genes: The ability to see in daylight. Well, the human half is there, waiting to the plucked out, and to be engineered to a brew that would allow the dark kin to surface, and most likely take advantage of the chaotic state caused by the Goblin Hordes and their attacks. One thing though, she can see in the dark, but most likely, none of you can see in the dark, so it's kinda two-bladed whenever vision is in question. As Maba mentioned, her hearing, smell and other senses are sharper due to the fact she last saw sunlight when she came on the surface world from the underworld. Ever since that, she has been wearing a blindfold.. exactly 5 years ago.", Tenchimar spoke to the end. "Now Gar, because she happens to be the result of extreme conditions, she still needs your help to be delivered to the towers. If we can get her there, there will be nothing to be afraid of the dark elf threat lurking in the underworld." He added.

The tall half-elf spoke out again: "Very well. I will aid them, since we would not be able to withstand another war so fast." Gar moved in front of Tiria, and placed his hands on her shoulders: "I'll do my best to get you to the towers, Tiria. I'm Gar, and ask me if you need a hand in getting around places." Tiria seemingly got some color in her face, and thanked the man for the proposition. Tenchimar suggested they'd have a brunch as the guardsmen loaded their pony-cart full of whatever supplies they might be needing. the four started moving for the tavern, but Tiria was a bit confused, as everyone was just disappearing suddenly. "Wait, where are you?", she called out, and Gar turned back, said "Hold on", and lifted the girl on her shoulder. The other four were already at the tavern when Kat stepped outside to see what was taking the two the time to get there. She was surprised. The ironic combination of a tall, gentle giant with a frail, pale girl on his shoulders was quite the view for those who took a glance into their direction. Kat smiled, and so did Gar and Tiria when they heard her call them in.

As Gar stepped in, he went to a lower stance so he wouldn't hit Tiria's head in the ceiling. Doing so, he lowered the girl on the ground. As Gar was getting up, Zoliphian was there, with an uneasy smile on his face. "So, you two best buddies gotten to know eachother well already?" She asked. Gar stood silently with a blank expression, looking at Zol while Tiria moved for the table where the others were sitting. Kat helped her to sit down while Gar muttered to Zol's ear: "I dunno, but she kinda reminds me when you were young.." Zoliphian looked like she was gonna rip Gar apart, when he interrupted: "..in a good way, that is." Zol calmed down and put her left index finger on her temple, muttered something incomprehensible and sat down, next to Kat.

Kat was already chattering along fine with Maba and Tiria, as they ordered their 'usuals', which consisted of several Orange Juices, a few Meads and a teacup. Mead for Zoliphian and Maba, Juice for Kat and Gar, while Tench and Tiria had tea. As they started sipping their drinks, Maba asked: "So, what's so important that she needs a bunch of bodyguards like us to escort her to the towers?" Tenchimar answered the question as honestly as he could: "Well, she is going to be subjected to various enchantments, where they will be attempting to remove the day-light blindness curse, which would be thekey for the dark elves to see in daylight, and possibly restore her vision aswell." Kat stood up; "The cause is good, and the risk of another war is too great." Maba took a final chug from his drink and also got up. "True, the sooner, the better. She's still got a life and a world to see in front of her!" Tiria shrunk into herself and got some color to her face. "You're too kind", she whispered. As everyone was done with their drinks, the party got out, Kat leading Tiria by the hand. Tenchimar gave his last moment advice to Maba, as Kat lifted Tiria up to the cart. Zoliphian just stayed to herself, thinking about the happenings of the day: ("I already have a bloody rival, and now I get a blind sympathy magnet. When is this going to end!?") Gar walked along with the pony as they moved for the city gates.

It was afternoon, and they'd have several hours until evening. The journey was about to start. In the next week, they'd be travelling to Naltis Towers with the possible blind gamble of a war with them...