D'iala nodded. "You can have your own rooms if you want." he smiled again. I'm doing that a lot tonight. It wasn't like he didn't smile, but normally he didn't do it this much in one day. That kind of went hand-in-hand with very few visitors.

"I had thought it would be handy to have multiple rooms available in case they were needed. But they've mostly been empty the whole time. Feel free to pick what ever room you want, though." He pointed down the hall to a door decorated similarly to the one he held open. "See that door? To the right of it is my room, and through it is a set of stairs that lead under ground to the dinning room, kitchen, library and bathrooms."

Wow. He was talking a lot more then normal too. Probably just because travelers didn't normally stop by here, especially demons. But why would they stay at the temple of an unknown god when there were fancier, nicer taverns in town? He was just enjoying their company before they moved on, that was all.



Right?

((*cackles*))

Nami, for the first time, gave D'iala an actual, full-blown smile. "Thank-you."
Raie raised an eyebrow, but (much to Nami's atsonishment) kept whatever comment he intended to make to himself.

Nami started to open the door to a room, but when Raie opened the door to the one across from it, she closed it again and sampered down to the end of the hallway, unintentionally picking the room across from D'iala's instead.
Raie turned and looked after her, letting out a booming laugh, "Aw, Nami, you serious?"
Nami blinked once, the tossed her braid over her shoulder, opening the door to her newly selected room. "Yes," she replied, slipping in to set her pack down.

((*gigglelaughsnerkchuckle* XD We are manipulating theeeem~))

D'iala smiled, but made no comment. "What do you two want for dinner?" he asked, looking first from Kairune to the open door of Nami's room, "I might have to run into town real quick, but it won't be any trouble," then he nodded at Kairune's pack, "I can also pick up anything you'll need while I'm there, I don't want you two to be being bothered by the townsfolk," he smiled.

While some of what he said was your normal generous priest... normal stuff, virtually all of it was what he honestly felt. He liked the company of these 'demons' and didn't want the townspeople to bother them because of what they are, like they did the scarce few demons who lived in and around the town.

Kairune looked taken aback. "You would, really? Gee that's- I mean, you don't have to, I have no prefrence for food and I don't think I need anything... As far as I know, Nami doesn't either-"

"Can I come?" Nami cut in, stepping out of the room again, "If you go into town, can I come? I don't mind if they bother me a little."

"Don't worry about it, it isn't any trouble," another smile.

When Nami spoke up about wanting to come, D'iala looked a little surprised. "Well, if you want to... I mean, I try not to tell people what they can and can't do..."

"I want to come," Nami insisted, "I can just ignore them. I want to see the villiage. I didn't get to very much when we were trying to find a place to stay."

Raie looked between the two. "Well, I'll be staying here if no one has any objections to it... I could use a bit of rest. Nami, are you sure you'll be okay?"
Nami dismissed his concern with a flippant wave of her hand, "I'll be fine."

D'iala nodded. "Alright, then." he spoke to Kairune next, "If you want to poke around - not that there's much to see - feel free to look around, nothing's off limits,"

He really wanted to tell him not to worry about Nami, that he would make sure none of the villagers did her harm. He didn't think there would be any trouble, but... the human inhabitants had been feeling threatened since the forest demons had moved in, and you couldn't tell what they were going to do.

But he was still unsure how to speak to these two, so instead he bowed. "It isn't a long walk to town, so we should be back soon."

Kairune still looked a bit unsure, but nodded. "Alright..." He scratched the back of his head, the gold ring on his left hand breifly glimmering in the torchlight as he did. "If you're sure. ...I'll come looking if you're not back in an hour and a half, just incase."

Nami rolled her eyes, "You never worry about anything I do unless you won't be there with me."
The grin returned to Raie's face, and he cluckled a bit. "That's because I'm there to fall into whatever hole you dig yourself right along with you."
"You dig more holes than I do," Nami retored haughtily. She looked at D'iala, shifting her weight from foot to foot, restless as she was. "We should go, before it gets much later."

D'iala looked thoughtful, thinking for a minute. Then he reached up and released the clasp on the chain around his neck. After lifting it away from his neck, he re-clasped it again, and handed the necklace to Raie. "Could you keep this safe for me while I'm out?" he asked, "It's important to me, and I don't want to risk something happening to it," a smile.

Instead of the normal charms or beads on the chain, there was a sky blue gem shaped like a drop that sparkled and glittered in the torchlight, and if one looked close enough, you could almost make out what looked like birds soaring, diving, wheeling- then disappearing from view behind a patch of sparkling reflected light. A hole drilled through the drop's tip let the chain run through the gem, instead of through a loop or design attached to the gem.

"Of course I can, no problem." Raie carefully took it from him, almost fearing it would break as his fingers wrapped gingerly around the chain. He looked at the gem with what was almost awe, marveling at the craftsmanship. Even without it being important to D'iala, he could see that it was something precious that should be handled with great care. It wasn't just the value, of it, though... Something else about it tugged at Raie, but he shrugged it off, figuring it only seemed so important to him because it was special to D'iala. And even though they had just met, Raie did like D'iala, he was a kind man, friendlier towards them than most humans. Of course he'd want to look after something D'iala entrusted him with. It wasn't like the chain-or more specifically, the gem- could make him feel that way. At least, he didn't think so...

Nami looked like she really wanted to ask about it, but in her eagerness to leave, she kept quiet.

"Thank you very much," D'iala bowed to Kairune.

When he straightened, he turned to Nami, "We'd better head over to town before it gets much later,"

After making his way over to the front door, he held it open for Nami. When she stepped outside, he followed, allowing the door to swing shut behind him with a creak of it's hinges. The two of them stepped out onto the path, and set off towards town.

~

It looked like all of the buildings in town were made out of wood, except for the occasional spire that punctured the night sky, candles shining out from windows carved in some sort of black material. Despite the time of night, the shops were still open, spilling light onto the cobble stones and dirt, people walking between the shops, talking to one another and calling out greetings.

Very occasionally a person with pointed ears - not an elf, no, they were too short to be one - and an odd coloring of hair would walk by a shop. When they did, people talking by the shop would go quiet and glare at the person until they averted their eyes and ducked their head, running off with a look very close to a combination of embarrassment, anger, and fear.

When they'd been walking there, and even in the town, Nami's pace continued to pick up to a brisk trot before she'd realized she'd gotten several feet ahead of D'iala, at whch point she would turn back and fall back into step with him again, only to speed up once more not two minutes later. "Sorry," she mumbled the fourth or fifth time it happened, "Kairune's legs are longer than yours, and I'm so used to having to keep up with him..."

She scowled and flattened her ears upon seeing a demon hurry away from the people who looked at it so angrily. "Biggoted snobs," she scoffed, "What did he ever do to them but walk by?"

The priest sighed sadly, watching as the same demon switched to the other side of the road, only to duck into an ally to avoid the glares from the people shopping. "They're scared of the demons, and they express the fear through anger at them."

He watched as two of the people who had glared at the demon began muttering to each other. While he couldn't hear the exact wording, D'iala definitely heard what sounded like '...why don't they go back to their stupid forest?'

"I don't know why they're afraid of the demons, though. The demons have more to fear from the humans then vice versa. "

Nami thought a moment, "Well... No, I don't know if that's true... Humans have alot to fear from demons, this coming from one." She wrinkled her nose, "But they shouldn't treat them... us, so terribly. We're just the same as all of them," she waved her hand to encompass the town, "Some demons are wicked and twisted, but so are some people. A few is no way to judge the whole, especially just because of stories. Even if some of these people have actually had bad expriences with demons, they shouldn't blame that on all of us... My brother, Iru, lived with humans when he grew up, and people threw rocks at him because he had wings. Wings! He looked exactaly the same as any of them, except for he had white hair and wings. He's an angel- I mean that literally, he's of the angel race, not metaphorically- and they still tore him down."

She made a huffing noise, "And instead of holding a grudge, he turned around and got engaged to a human! So these villagers here can take a hint from him, and learn that it's the individual, not the race!" Then she paused in her speech, suddenly seeming uncomfortable, as if she shouldn't have brought it up. "I mean... well, they ended up not being able to get married, but... it's still applicable to the situation..."

D'iala nodded, "I completely understand what you mean. Someone shouldn't be treated different because they have 'supernatural powers'" (here he made quotation marks with his fingers for the duration of the words) "or have wings or animal ears or something. It's unjust and down right cruel. But..."

He looked back at the entrance of the ally the demon had gone down, "But I did mean what I said. The demons here," he looked back at Nami, "The demons here used to live a bit past my temple in the forest - the townsfolk call them forest demons because of it - and, well, things haven't been looking to great for them as of late,"

"A while back, maybe five years or so ago, the forest demons had to move into or near the outskirts of town because of repeated attacks by a group of humanoids called Lizin - they're direct descendants of the dragons who use to live in this area,"

A few townsfolk glared at Nami as her and D'iala walked by, stopping at a store to pick up several rolls of cheese and spice covered bread. "When the demons first moved here, there were probably about a hundred of them. In those five years that have passed, nearly all of them have been killed in Lizin attacks, leaving twenty of them left. It's not that their weak!" he shook his head.

No, they weren't weak at all. In fact, they were probably fairly strong. "It's just that the Lizin are stronger then the demons - far, far stronger then them,"

Nami glared right on back at the townsfolk as they passed. Though she felt slightly guilty for it, a sort of feindish delight gripped her when they looked away. Ha, they were not used to their looks being turned back on them! ...And also not used to eyes as unnatural as her icy, pale blue ones, but she did like to entertain the first notion.

She looked startled at D'iala's descriptions of the lizen, "How can they be descended of dragons?! All the ones I know are so... so benevolent, except for a few rouges... Have no adventurers been to stop by to look at the problem?" She then sighed, "No, of course not, most adventurers are human, and if the lizen are only bothering the demons..."

"Exactly. Until a year before the forest demons moved into town, the Lizin didn't bother the human village so no one cared. When the demons did move in here, it was because they honestly didn't have a choice. It was relocate or be wiped out. So even though it was in the best interest for both parties, and even though the demons tried to become allies with the townsfolk, they were only treated with harsh words and the absolute minimum amount of tolerance," D'iala too, sighed, "As for the Lizin, all I know is that something had to have happened to make them so violent, but it was long before either of our races could have found them,"

The priest looked up at the night sky as he spoke, "I've only heard of one Lizin that wasn't as violent as the others. His name was Lyt and he led them for a little while, but he had to go into hiding when they revolted against him,"

Another demon walked by. This one was a few inches taller then D'iala and had a long braid of dark purple-red hair that looked a little off next to his deeply tanned skin. While people glared at him the hardest yet, there was also traces of grudging, reluctant respect.

Nami looked very thoughtful- moreso than her natural expression, one could almost see her mind working. "There is a teacher at the academy, Rhöda... They teach adventuring. They aren't human, and I wonder if they would be willing to leave the academy and come investigate these Lizen... They've said their adventuring days are over, but-" Nami had been about to say more on the subject of the Lizen, and this Rhöda, whoever she or they were, but the demon distracted her. "Who's he?" she asked D'iala, watching the demon as he walked away, "He looks... important. Do you know him?"

D'iala looked over at the demon for a moment, "Yeah... I think that he's Rolian. I don't really know him personally, but I have heard of him," he looked thoughtful for a moment, like he was sorting through his thoughts, "He's the leader of the forest demons,"

"Rolian," Nami repeated the name, trying to commit it her her memory. She began asking D'iala questions about him as they resumed walking, her helping him to carry some of the food he'd bought. "What else have you heard about him? What's he like? Is he like the Lizen, or nicer? How did he become-"

She abruptly stopped herself, realizing how much she was asking at one time. She muttered an apology, but still looked at D'iala expectantly, waiting for answers.

D'iala grinned happily. He enjoyed answering her questions, and had no qualms about the amount of them she asked, "Well, I heard that when he inherited the leader ship he was only about seventeen, after both his father and elder sister had been killed fighting the former Lizin leader, Aaron. About what he's like, judging from the bit I've seen of him he's really quite a kind and a fair leader- and he's never seemed interested in attacking the townsfolk like the Lizin,"

As he was answering that last question, the two of them had turned a corner. D'iala walked face-first into someone, falling backwards onto the ground from the impact and the speed at which the other had been walking, clutching one of the cloth bags of food to his chest. He pushed himself into a sitting position with one hand, "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention-" the priest cut his apology off.

The person he had run into glared down at D'iala with hatred. Dressed in the blood-red robes and cloak that signified a priest of Doriki, he seemed to be practically breathing hate and death, "Watch where you're going next time, whelp!" the priest's glare deepened, examining D'iala's robes, "Because judging by your robes, you're a priest of Kirechk. Meaning..." he bent over, bringing a gray skinned hand quickly toward D'iala's face, who closed his eyes shut and flinched away at the incoming contact.

The hand stopped inches from his face, and when the hand never came, the priest cracked his eyes open. The hand grasped D'iala's chin, roughly moving it up so that his wide, light blue eyes looked into the Doriki priest's own red ones. "Meaning that next time you might not get away with your life,"

He removed his hand and straightened, laughing along with several other Death Priests who had been behind him. Still laughing at the fear in D'iala's eyes and how weak he was, they walked past and up the street that Nami and D'iala had just left, completely ignoring the demoness.


((Bwhahahah! >D Hope you don't mind that little encounter... I just really wanted to write that~ :heart:))

((Oh, I do not mind one bit. I love that little encounter. <3))

Nami knelt down beside him. "Are you alright!?" she cried, "That... he had no right to- he shouldn't have- that son of- I can't believe he just...!" Her bewilderment and worry for D'iala very quickly turned to fury as she looked over her shoulder in the direction the preists had gone. "Hold on a moment, please," she said cooly, setting what she carried down next to him. She got back to her feet and walked back around the corner in the same swift motion.

Spotting the preists walking down the street, she muttered two words under her breath, and a sphere of water, about eight inches in diameter, formed in her hand. She hurled it towards them, allowing herself a smug smile when it hit the one who had tormented D'iala in the back. It wasn't enough to hurt him, but drenching him and splattering some water on his compaions did give her some satisfation.

"You shouldn't treat people like that!" She called after them, placing her hands on her nonexistant hips and leaning slightly to the side, her feet shoulders width apart. She furrowed her brows and pulled her mouth into a disapproving, mimicking the pose Raie's wife used when she was unhappy with someone. She, like Nami, was a small and did not appear very formidable, but the pose she adopted when displeased sent a very clear 'I-am-angry-with-you-and-when-you-face-my-wrath-you-will-run-screaming-for-your-mother' message that made people reluctant to cross her.

Nami only hoped she had imitated the look well. "You would do well to leave innocent people alone altogether, you flea-bitten, foul-smelling, small-minded, gutless wretches!" Now, she worried she had gone a bit too far with that one, but... it had already escaped her lips, and there was no sense in just backing down now.

((<3))

With a shaky breath and very small nod, D'iala acknowledged that yes, he was alright. He was frightened out of his wits and shaking, but he would live. He could still feel the other priest's hand on his chin, like some phantom tormenting him, and still felt a ghost of the icy heat that had accompanied the touch. Before he could say anything, though, Nami had set down what she was carrying with a "Hold on for a moment, please," and had ran around the corner and on to the street they had just left after the Death Priests.


D'iala's tormentor slowly turned around to face Nami, water dripping from his cloak. Every single person on the street held their breath, save for the priests and Nami, both humans and demons onlookers waiting in scared anticipation for the rebuttal, if there was one. "What did you just do?' his voice was quiet, barely a whisper, but carried across the empty space between the two with a deathly chill clinging to each word.

The other priests were no longer laughing, but their eyes held an uncertainty that bordered fear as they watched, "Do you know what I did for you, not acknowledging your presence? I specifically made sure that you would not be brought into this. Even though you are a wretched demon, I chose to spare you. But you have chosen differently, so I shall leave you to your fate," he glared at Nami from the shadows of his hood, his eyes narrow slits of icy hatred.

And with that, he turned on his heel and walked briskly up the street, continuing on his way. After a moments hesitation, the others followed, shooting looks back at Nami that weren't hate filled, but rather apologetic and sympathetic. Turning up another street, D'iala's tormentor and the others disappeared.

Nami let out an angry breath and turned sharply, walking back to D'iala. "Spineless curs," she sniffed, tossing her hair. "I'll be content if I never see them again as long as I live! Hmph! What wretched men... no, creatures!"

She picked up the bags she had left on the ground, "Let's go back. I have no desire to see their stinking faces again! Oh, no wonder you live outside of town, bah!"

((I was hoping to have Nami intimidated by them... but apparently I can't write intimidating while I'm laughing. XD))

D'iala pushed himself off the ground, managing a weak smile as he did so, "It probably has been nearly the hour and a half that we said we would be back in. Hey, mind if we stop at this store real quick?"

With that, he ducked in side a store they were walking by. A few minutes later, he came back out holding two chains in his free hand, "Here, this one is for you,"

He extended his hand and gently slid one of necklaces on to Nami's hand. It was a simple gold chain with a charm made out of silver, designed to look like a a winged wolf, it's wings flaring bravely behind it's back, tiny rubies set where it's eyes would be. "Do you like it?"

"I also got Kairune one - it's a dragon with sapphire eyes, but I'm not sure if he'll like it..." D'iala looked down at his feet sheepishly. He was still pale, but he had a blush on his face, like he was unsure how Nami would react to his gift.