a day out [open]

[CORDELIA T. FAYE]

she ducked, barely able to get out of the way before the ball sailed past her head, a crowd of rowdy children running after it. her lips turned up in a small smile as she watched them kick it back and forth before she turned and continued her trek down the street.

she was dressed in inconspicuous clothing and her hair was pulled up and hidden under a simple bagboy hat that she had taken from one of the stable boys. she didn't want to be caught outside of her home by anyone who might know her and so she was taking some... measures.

she was surprisingly cool in her clothes as the sun was high in the sky and barring down on the marketplace, the clothing thin and light compared to what she was used to. this only made a spring appear in her step and she would've started skipping if skipping wasn't such a noticeable thing.

[BLAKE CRYSTAL]

It had been a long time since Blake stood on Illusian ground and he knew that this was what it felt like to be banished. He had gotten used to living his life in seclusion and being without friends or acquaintances. The slightly built man had a white shirt with an unzipped brown leather jacket, his hair was in ruffles and even through the heat he had a black scarf on.

He had gotten a tip by a local inn owner in Thriller Bark that there was some trouble in Illusia and the strange innkeeper mentioned Blake’s family. Even if he was banished, it was his duty to protect Illusia and his family no matter the cost or the reason. Therefore, Blake was roaming around the kingdom, searching for hints about the trouble. He looked rather disguised walking through the streets; no one had noticed him to be the cunning fighter he is. It was true, there were little to none left that didn’t know who Blake Crystal was. They either knew him by his skill using a sword or his treachery. As such, he was quite infamous around the area.

He asked a few innkeepers, but so far all was calm. Blake came across a young woman supposedly in stealth with discreet clothes and tied-back hair. She was quite pretty, but there was something similar about her, she resembled like someone he knew. His eye twitched and he noticed a bandit coming from behind her with a knife. The nimble man rushed up toward her and wrapped his hands around her to block the knife. To some onlookers, this looked like some sort of surprise hug, but the knife dug deep into his arm and blood started pouring out. He punched his arm out and knocked the bandit backward some distance and he scrambled off the ground to run away. He unfolded from his hug and grasped the wound, examining it. It was almost like he fought someone every second of his life in Illusia.

"Are you okay?" He asked slowly in a light, but very shy tone. He looked away from the woman in front of her while he talked and his cheeks reddened slightly, he wasn't used to talking to woman, pretty woman especially.

[CORDELIA T. FAYE]

cordi had noticed the bandit sneaking up behind her, but she didn't think that he meant any harm. i mean, why would she? she had never meet bandits before and the only things she knew about them were from books and the one who had been sneaking up on her looked nothing like how she pictured them.

so she was surprised when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her and she couldn't help the yelp that escaped, her eyes widening in fear. what if someone noticed who she was? what if it was another kidnapper? the thought caused her to freeze, her entire body stiffening in fear but she relaxed when the arms disappeared and a quiet voice asked,

"are you okay?"

she blinked and turned, looking up at the man who had hugged her out of nowhere and she could only stare for a moment before she answered.

"i, uh, i'm fine. why wouldn't i be?" she asked, tilting her head to one side in confusion before she noticed the wound on his arms. "but you're bleeding! what happened?" she asked, reaching for his arm so that she could examine it.

she wasn't a doctor but she had read enough medical books she read anything when she was bored to know that a wound could get infected if not treated properly. so she easily tore off a strip of her shirt, not caring if it caused her to show more skin than necessary, before reaching up to tie it tightly around the man's arm.

"i hope this works," she muttered quietly.

[BLAKE CRYSTAL]

The young man took a few deep breaths and focused his attention away from the blood. First rule when cut or bruised, ignore it entirely so the said fighter may not be mentally damaged through the pain. He listened to what she said but chose not to answer for a few seconds. He wasn’t sure how to respond, this was the deepest he had been in a conversation since many a few moons and let alone a girl at that. It was almost ridiculous at this stage especially for him.

His eyes widened slightly when she tore off a piece of her shirt to wrap it around his arm, he let his arm stay while she did it, but the soft touch of a woman’s hand was unfamiliar to him. He took his arm away right after the woman tightened the piece; he wasn’t used to contact and didn’t like it at all. His memories always came haunting him when it happened. He showed little to no emotion except shyness at that point, his heart started beating faster and his face became hot. It was about time he answered the woman.

“We-” he had second thoughts about talking, but decided to go ahead with it since she was being polite to him “Well, umm, I’m not sure if you noticed, but the bandit behind you was trying to kill you. I’m not sure of the reason and I am very sorry for abruptly hugging you.” His voice started to shake at the end and his insecurity around people was showing itself again.

A few people had taken notice of them and started murmuring as they passed around him, he had completely destroyed his discreet look and hers at that. His mission to find out about the trouble was the last thing in his mind; his intelligent brain was racing with ideas on what to do at that point. He felt flustered and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry for the unwanted attention.” He muttered finally, he hoped that she would do something but then he didn’t want her to do anything. It was like half-and-half in his brain. He wasn’t used to being the center of attention and having to talk so much, but it felt pleasing. Like it was meant to be.

[CORDELIA T. FAYE]

she couldn't help the small amount of hurt that appeared when the man pulled his arm away but she quickly covered it up, used to being treated in that manner. she waited patiently, though, while he gathered his thoughts and listened quietly while he answered her question.

"oh," she said, eyes wide with shock. "and you got hurt because of me? i'm sorry. i should've noticed that the man was a bandit. i didn't think..." she trailed off at the end, eyes downcast for a moment before she spoke. "but, thank you. i would be dead or worse if you hadn't jumped in."

she could her the people around them muttering and she closed her eyes, hoping that no one would recognize her as they were all now giving her closer looks. if anyone found out the heiress of the faye family was out-and-about that would be the end of her freedom. her parents would probably lock her in her room twenty-four-seven and just the thought of it cause her eyes to tear up.

"i’m sorry for the unwanted attention."

she jumped at the man's apology, looking up at him with startled eyes. "o-oh, its fine. don't worry," she replied, rubbing at her eyes. "i can handle unwanted attention."

she really couldn't, but she wanted to seem brave in front of the man who saved her life. she didn't want him to leave her alone for being afraid of attention or being a crybaby as she hadn't spoken to anyone outside of her household in so, so long.

"i'm, uh, cordi," she said, figuring that she should introduce herself but not giving away her full name. no one called her cordi and she liked the sound of it. it made her sound like she wasn't some heiress locked away in her own home. "who are you?"

[BLAKE CRYSTAL]

His eyes looked up as she spoke, but then started gazing at the street again, his eyes wandering off. He was still unable to take looking at a girl straight in the eye. The pain from his hand was almost not even there as he put his hands into his pockets and took a glance at the people around him one more time. It wasn’t a problem that he had saved her life, but he didn’t exactly like being in a situation where he had to do what he couldn’t. He could sense a lie a mile away, he sniffed it out from her the instant she said it. Dealing with information brokers, marines, and treacherous innkeepers, Blake was accustomed to figuring out anything in an instant when it came to wordplay.

He took a moment to analyze the woman in front of her, quite pretty, long hair, and a pleasing personality. He couldn’t get over his emotional insecurity, but he didn’t want to burden the girl, named cordi any longer. “I’m Blake, hello C-oor-dii.” He wasn’t used to calling people by their name, as he wasn’t used to talking so personally. He may have sounded a bit of an idiot and immediately his face flashed with redness, his heart beat rising.

He didn’t want to bother her anymore being in such a public place so he took a deep breath and gathered up his courage. “Would you like to go to somewhere less public?” He felt flustered and his voice was low almost to a mutter. He then remembered that he couldn’t be caught either, Illusia was still a place that he wasn’t welcome to. He couldn’t have Cordi following up on his scheme if she knew about him which was very likely. He still felt like there was something about her, some kind of warmth that was like a magnet. Half of him wanted to just walk away, while the other half wanted to stay and talk even more.

[CORDELIA T. FAYE]

cordi furrowed her brows in confusion. the name blake sounded familiar and now that she thought about it he looked familiar as well. "hello blake," she greeted. "have we... have we meet somewhere before?"

she blinked again and tilted her head to one side when he asked to go somewhere less public. now, if she wasn't so naive she might've been wary at the words, even if he meant her no harm, but cordi was naive and so she smiled, saying in reply, "alright. and i think i know just the place."

without thinking, she grabbed him by his hand and started walking towards a more secluded part of the market, back towards where the faye family lands were. she knew that it was risky, but she'd rather be caught a step outside of the walls than in the middle of town.

[BLAKE CRYSTAL]

Blake mimicked her actions and also furrowed his brow, she was very familiar to him, but not in a sense that they had met. However, it was in a sense that she resembled someone he knew in the past, his unforgettable past. He bit his tongue at the daunting thoughts of his past; he never liked thinking about his family, it always led to anger and useless partition with others. He still didn’t know if he should tell her about himself, but he decided to learn a bit more.

“I do…I don’t know. You may have seen me before...” His voice trailed off at the end to arouse no suspicion, it wasn’t his greatest forte, talking to girls. He didn’t mean to kidnap her or anything, but he didn’t want to burden her any further with being in such a public place. He then took notice of the girls skin showing, it was his fault that she showing more than needed skin “Here” Blake said as he gave her the scarf wrapped around his neck. “It’s not much, but I can understand that you don’t want to be seen.”

His face was fully showing now, he didn’t like it at all, but it was needed. No matter what he had been through, Blake was still an honorable man getting nothing without giving. The young man was so far lucky as no one noticed that he was the Blake Crystal. As she grabbed his hand, sudden warmth went through Blake. He had half a mind to rip the hand out, but he didn’t. Somewhere deep inside of him, he liked it and never wanted to let go.

[CORDELIA T. FAYE]

"well, seeing you around would've been impossible unless you worked for my family or something," cordi said, grinning slightly in amusement. "i don't really get out much these days."

she accepted the scarf with a quiet thank you before tying around the place where she had ripped up her shirt for a makeshift bandage. she smiled up at him in thanks but it turned confused after a moment. now that she could see his entire face, she recognized him.

she remembered hearing about the whole incident from her mother, who always spouted nonsense about how the crystal family was full of idiots, placing violence before anything else. she remembered agreeing at the time, but now she took her agreement back and steeled herself for asking.

"you're blake crystal, aren't you?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

[BLAKE CRYSTAL]

Blake didn’t respond to her comment, he was still in a daze, remembering old happy memories. He wanted to talk more, but he couldn’t figure out how. The words that came out of Cordi’s mouth knocked around in his brain. He immediately stopped moving and his eyes widened enormously. His red eyes thickened and he furrowed his brow, his entire body was shaking.

Old memories rushed forth and he was half a step away from killing the woman in front of him for speaking about him, but he couldn’t do it. He took his arm and crossed it over his body to grip his other arm. Blake stared down and decided to answer her without harm. “I was Blake Crystal.” His voice was shaking and hushed by his mixed emotions.

“I’m not anymore.” He said in the same voice. He was still Blake the fighter, but the name was worth nothing after banishment, and nearly everyone in this cruel world knew that. He couldn’t even think straight anymore, but something inside him wanted to change. Blake looked up and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.