Tal-rasha and Markus }{ an epic quest of epicness.

[mianst]

Markus was meandering through the town streets as he seldom did. But today felt like a good day to walk and listen to the people around him scurry about their busy lives. There were the usual assortment of meaningless talks: a man short on his taxes trying to talk his way out of a just punishment, a servant being beaten (presumably for the owner''s enjoyment), and the random gossip of the day. Of course it always felt nice to feel invisible as people ran here and there past him, not giving him so much as a second glance. Though that was probably because his hood covered his face. For if it didn't, as people usually do upon seeing him, they would recoil from his sickly and pail complexion. And so, on he walked.

[skimaskkass]

Tal-rasha was a street beggar, trying to gain some money earnestly. He had small chicks, that were in decent shape that he was blessed with from the two parents that were recently sold. In retrospective from vagrant to a poor merchant, he felt that he was finally hitting it rich compared to his old life. Even though he got a pity sale here and there, he was hardly making anything. He looked upon the small chicks with compassion, but still knowing that he would forcefully resist the urge to eat them even if he starved. He was a changed man. A year ago, he would have eaten the parents without a thought.

A thin man with a long coat passed on by. A usual citizen would ignore the man. There were always new looking strangers that passed by town or stayed a while. In modern days everyone accepted most of the passerby, as long as they didn't cause any trouble. But this stranger was very familiar to Tal. Even though the face was covered, when he looked at him an image flashed through his mind, a face that he saw years ago. A face he attacked. Tal-rasha wanted to flee, to sink away. He thought that he had killed that man, along with many others that he happened upon with his wild brothers.

He looked at his chickens one last time, and left them in the box they had. Surely someone would pick them up... Or... I could even come back when he leaves... As the stranger continued walking on the path, he was closing the distance between him and Tal. Tal quickly stood up as if he stole something and started to run away, hopefully before he was spotted. He didn't want to face his past, he never thought he would. He thought all those he harmed were dead, including this man.

[mianst]

Markus jumped, always ready for the worst, when he saw a man suddenly jump up from his spot and run. Intrigued as to what might have sent this man into an all out run, Markus pursued him. Thinking: 'If nothing else, I might want to ask to buy one of his chickens.' But as he began to get a better look at him, a voice whispered in his mind 'We know him from somewhere.' Deciding he must know, and that a single yell would draw much less attention than two men running down the street, he yelled "Oi slow down a bit there."

[skimaskkass]

Clearly there were a second set of running footsteps, and the sound never dimmed down. Someone was chasing him, and he assumed it to be the stranger he was trying to avoid. He's spotted me! I'm done for, he's going to kill me! He hurried down different streets, trying to lose him, with panicked breath. Even though Tal-rasha was a wanderer, it didn't mean he had the streets of any given town memorized. He eventually came to a halt at a dead end.

[mianst]

"Alright you finally stopped, now what are you running fro-" Markus stopped dead when he saw the man's face, he could see it clear as 'that day' several years earlier. 'I knew it! ah hah hah hah hah! Fate brings us together in the most perfect ways doesn't it Markus.' 'Don't do anything you'll regret.' Dumbfounded, he exclaimed "You..." for that was all he could say. He didn't know weather to set him ablaze, with the powers he was given as a result of this man's beating, or to cower in post-trauma induced fear. To his frantic mind, both seemed reasonable. 'Kill!' 'Run!' all sides of his fractured mind blindly proclaimed their preferred action. Markus stood deadlocked upon the brink of action, unable to move.

[skimaskkass]

It was as if time stood still for the both of them. Tal wasn't sure what to do, he didn't want to hurt anyone-- not anymore. "I'm a changed man!! H-h-honest!" He said in defense while he took a step back, even though he could not flee any where. "I was a savage back then, but I assure you I'm not any more!" He needed some way to prove it, the only idea he had was to drop his only weapon in front of him. But he couldn't do it, he was still living life only to survive it-- and if the man did want to attack him, he needed to defend himself. His knife was his life.

[mianst]

'I know you can sense his fear, can't you Markus, you should strike while you can.' Thought the entity Markus like to refer to as Hel. "You say you've changed, and I think I believe that." Feeling a twinge of remembered pain, then calmly releasing it as he came back to himself. "I can see the fear in your eyes, and can only imagine how you must feel seeing me again." Breathing slowly to calm himself he said, "I desire no revenge from you, and believe me when i say, I could take it more easily than you know." Markus could feel the entity known as Mercury breath a sigh of relief.

[skimaskkass]

Tal-rasha's hand shook, surely this man was joking. How could he possibly forgive him so easily. He almost killed him! It wasn't Markus that needed to be reassured, but Tal himself. He needed to do something more to know that he deserved such compassion as forgiveness. This must have been a blessing from above. If anyone else had come back surely they would have killed Tal without a thought. Tal knew this would be an opportunity to prove to himself that he was a changed man.

"Sir, please tell me your name!"

"I-if there's anything I can do for you! Or-or... maybe I can accompany you! I want you to know I've really changed!" He said in an enthusiastic tone, as if Markus would be the spokesmen for all those he had wronged in the past.

[mianst]

"My name is Markus." Raising his hood slightly to reveal his pale face. 'What ARE you doing?!' thought Hel. Searching for something to say so as not to create a prolonged silence. "There IS something I am wanting to find...First though, as my unlikely benefactor, To whom I am eternally grateful. I request of you, your own name." 'you're going to get us killed one day with how easily you trust others' Pouted Hel.

[skimaskkass]

It was somewhat hard to see his entire face without cringing at the image of his face covered in blood. Uneasy as he felt he gave his name.

"My name is Tal-rasha."

He was uncertain of what he meant by eternally grateful. It was Tal that was grateful to him. Tal wanted to quickly throw his past behind him.

"What is it that you're looking for? I'm sure I can hel--"

A thought quickly poped up as the fear ubsided.

"My chickies!!" He exclaimed in a panic. But he didn't want to leave his new found friend. He looked at Markus, as if to ask for permission to see them.

[mianst]

Memory came to Markus at the exclamation, made by this, Tal-rash. "those WERE yours..." Thinking for a second before gesturing back down he street they had come. "Quickly before they're stolen!"

[skimaskkass]

They scurryed to back to the location in which he was trying to make a small living from. He found that they were safe-- untill he counted them. Four out of six of them were missing. Tal-rasha picked up his box and look disapointed.

'Some street kids must have stole some,' he thought.

Any parent wouldn't let a kid take a street animal even if it was free, and any adult would rather buy some of better quality. He sighed. It felt a bit comforting knowing that a street kid, like he used to be, would be using it for whatever purpose, even if they were to be eaten.

He turned to Markus, in an attempt to be comedic. "Wanna' buy one?"

[mianst]

"How mu-" 'You truly have gone insane Markus!' Exclaimed Hel. 'You shouldn't criticize him so much.' Cautioned Mercury. Pinching the bridge of his nose Markus thought 'Would you shut up? I could do without the commentary.' Then suddenly realizing he had taken nearly half a minute to mentally sort himself. He, almost blurted "Sorry, h-how much do you want for them?"

[skimaskkass]

Tal-rasha noticed Markus struggling with his thoughts. He didn't want to feel as if he was pressuring him to buy them. "I was kidding. What are you going to do with these guys anyways?" For some reason Tal thought of them traveling along with two chicks sitting on the top of their heads like hats. He shook the thought off though.

"Though, I do have to get these guys off us sometime." He picked up one of his empty traveling bad that was next to other small bare boxes at his cheap stand. He put them into the bag, it had a solid, hollow inside so it was hard to loose it's shape and get squished. With good intention he placed the chicks in. They were quiet chicks, unlike the usual chirpy ones. The bag was also lined with air holes not big enough for them to escape, and had a cross hatched bottom for any droppings to drop farther down into the bag. The bottom could be zipped open for easy cleaning. He had made the bag himself in his spare time-- for he had way too much of it.

[mianst]

"I was prepared to buy them at your asking price, then give them to the first stranger who would accept them." Markus reached from within his cloak to produce a handful of gold coins, individually wrapped in cotton strips, so as to reduce the normal clanking noise. "But please don't think me generous, as illogical as it may seem, when compared to what I think you know about me, I am quite grateful to you."