town chatter [r]

[Reuben]

"Oooh..." Wide, starstruck gray eyes gazed at the activity happening all around him. There were horses being led by the line, their owners tugging at the bit in order to get their steed to move faster. Trailing behind these animals were cartloads of merchandise to be sold in town. The marketplace was located down the road of the one the boy was traveling. He was sure to find even more activity upon arrival to the central part of the town. It was good to see a place so busy, it meant that everyone must be living a very happy and healthy lifestyle.

Tightly holding the brown bag hung over his shoulder, Reuben broke into a run down the road, pushing past tightly packed areas of the crowd. Occasionally he'd get yelled at for brushing by merchants, to which he would quickly reply with an apology. Typically he was a rather shy boy, and doing something like this was not normal for him. In crowds like this back at the home, he was always milling about in the background, not only because he was ignored, but also because he wasn't supposed to be around anyway. The excitement of seeing a normal town, though, was getting to his head. It would likely wear off soon enough once he got used to the atmosphere of the town.

At the end of the street, the view broke past neat lines of small homes to an open square of stalls and storage buildings. Loud men and women tried to advertise their wares, their voices's volumes increasing as they tried to drown out the other competition. Children were walking around, hands filled with vegetables and loaves of bread that would be taken home to their families. The boy stared at a pair of children, apparently brother and sister, who were laughing as they walked. Was that how a brother and sister relationship meant to be? He wished he could have been a part of that.

"Hm." Now his attention was directed toward the wooden buildings off to the side of the square. They seemed to be nearby some inns, but weren't actually part of the facilities. Was it meant for storage? Weaving himself into the crowd, he made his way over, wanting to take a peek at what was inside. Widening the opening of a wooden door, he poked his head in. Greeted by the sound of nickering and the smell of hay, the boy realized he had found the stables. They were all such large animals, he thought as he glanced over them. Hopefully he wasn't disturbing them. When he caught sight of the horse with wings, he just couldn't leave. A real pegasus right here! Leaving the entrance of the doorway, he walked towards the creature. "H-hey," he said softly, staring at it. It seemed to stare back at him. "I wonder who your rider is...Maybe I can ask if I can pet you."

Isolde
ooc: tell me if anything needs fixing

[Isolde]

And there was the marketplace that she had been looking for, but also she was actually looking for her pegasus. The poor thing was probably lonely without her to care for her and she did remember leaving her steed in the stables somewhere. Some of the shopkeepers asked her if she wanted to buy some jewelry, but she declined politely. She might have to come back to that later after she gave her steed a visit anyway. Fortunately, the stables were not very far and she could actually take a stroll over there. Once she entered through the doorway, she heard the sound of nickering as it came from the horses themselves. She was not really alone however as a young man was also there, talking to her winged steed. Approaching the pegasus, she stroked her steed's mane before speaking softly to her. "Sorry, Peggy. I had to go do some errands for my family. I hope you're doing okay at least." The Pegasus neighed softly as she bowed her head to her rider. She turned to the young man and spoke. "And who might you be?"

Reuben

[Reuben]

Sunlight spilled on the floor of the stables as the door opened further. Someone else had come inside, but Reuben was rather occupied in admiring the pegasus in front of him. It seemed to be in good health, and rather docile. Though he had never come into contact with a real one, he thought of them as not much different than a normal horse. Even more curious to learn about the behavior of pegasi, he was tempted to bring out his notebook and begin writing. However, such thoughts momentarily disappeared when a young lady walked into his view, apparently coming from the side. Startled, he took a step away from the newcomer, at a lost for words. She didn't seem to take notice of him just yet till after she had some words with her steed. Oh, it seemed that he had found the rider, just as he hoped. His shoulders hunched up visibly when the young lady asked for his name. Yes, it was normal for her to inquire so, but it still made him a little nervous. When was the last time he got to talk to a stranger? In reply to her question, he looked to the side, not quite meeting her eyes. "I'm, uh, Reuben." There. He'd done it without too much of a stumble. There was a pause, then he asked, "Sorry...am I allowed to be here?"

Isolde

[Isolde]

Ah, so the young man's name was Reuben... Was that name familiar? It certainly seemed like it, but she wasn't too sure. The boy seemed to have written something on a notepad and it was probably something about observations on her steed. "It's nice to meet you, Reuben. I'm Isolde and this is Peggy, my Pegasus. I think it might be okay for you to be here. The horses here don't really mind anyway." The Pegasus neighed softly as she turned to look at Reuben. She seemed to have an interest in him as if she was really curious about why he had come here. Perhaps, he might have some kind of reason as to what made him interested in the Pegasi all of a sudden. The boy seemed to be younger than her, judging by his looks and personality. The horses seemed to be waiting for their riders, but she had wondered what kind of person rode them.

Reuben

[Reuben]

It wasn't until after the lady had said his presence wouldn't be causing trouble did he feel himself let out a breath. He didn't even know he had been holding it till now. Being so jittery when it came to interacting with people was not a good sign. His social skills with people in general were subpar, but he was willing to learn. His handy notebook was already getting filled with notes on how people interacted with each other, and he had marked off a section all about meeting new people. What was next on that page? First introductions, and then... He couldn't remember. His hand twitched involuntarily for his notebook, as he wanted to flip through its pages to find that section again. But that would seem rude --he'd go with whatever his gut was telling him. Right now, some nagging feeling told him that this person seemed familiar. It was right there at the edge of his memory and with some kind of trigger, he may be able to recall it. Reuben was sure.

His lingering thoughts on the memory faded as the pegasus softly neighed. His attention on the winged horse, he didn't notice the young lady looking him over. If he was allowed to stay, he planned on sticking around just to talk to and maybe play with the horses. Technically he should be looking for the leader of the Halidom's forces, but that could wait. What was more important was getting to know the world around you. His hand clenched the fabric at the front of his shirt, as if restricting himself from laying a hand on the pegasus. The expression on his face didn't hide the curiosity churning within him. "You're its rider, right?" Or maybe she was a caretaker. No, that wouldn't make sense, considering how familiar she seemed to be with her steed. "Are you a knight for Ylisse? Have you traveled far with each other? How long have you been with your pegasus?" Questions flew from his mouth before he even realized it, and he blushed slightly upon realizing he hadn't given any time for the young lady to answer.

Isolde

[Isolde]

The young man seemed to be curious of the Pegasus itself and then the questions came. She would have to answer them one at a time though and the boy had blushed upon spouting out so many questions about that matter. ""Well, I am Peggy's rider, so yes." The Pegasus neighed in affirmation as if she understood that this was her rider. Actually, she could double as her caretaker if she had been raising it for about three years or so. "And well, I'm not really a knight of Ylisse. I'm actually set to become a future duchess of the Althaus Duchy. I suppose I've been adventuring with her for about three years and I had been to places with her." For a moment, the boy might ask what places she had been to, so it might be best to remember where she had been for the last three years. Maybe it would be a good idea if she kept a journal about what she had done for all those years.

Reuben

[Reuben]

He had expected her to chide him for asking so many questions like that. Back home, he would definitely have been glared at for talking in such a way. His mentor, though, was never bothered by this. They would just spend warm sunny days together outside and chat about the most trivial things. That may not be the same way when talking to new people, but he didn't seem to have messed up yet.

When the young lady began to make her reply, he was intent on drinking up every detail. Listening to other's stories was always interesting for the young boy, since it was the quickest way to expand his knowledge base. His head tilted to the right slightly, confused at the initial part of her answer. Not really a knight? So she wasn't part of an army? Was she more of a lone hero then? Then came the rest of what she said, and he felt the name of the Duchy was familiar. Had this family come to visit his family in the past? There was no point in milling over it even if her family ever did visit. Children of nobility don't speak with an illegitimate child. At least now, away from the rules of his home, he could speak with whoever he wanted. They didn't need to know his background.

"T-three years! Amazing!" That was a lot more experience than what he had. He had only left his home for several months now. His stories wouldn't be able to compare to three years of traveling. "Where's the farthest you've traveled?" His gray eyes gleamed with excitement. What had she seen? The deserts of Plegia? Or the great mountains of Ferox? Perhaps she'd even managed to fly over the oceans dividing this continent from foreign lands.

Isolde

[Isolde]

Oh, well there's an interesting question that the young man asked which was how far had she been to other places. "Well, let's see... I've been to Pyrathi before since the countryside is quite beautiful and I think I had been to parts of Plegia." Possibly, she had felt confident that she could at least see the sights that are going on in different places which included the Plegian desert, but then the desert was so barren that it barely contained no food or water. The countryside was a bit nicer though as she had seen many farms and houses which had families there. Reuben was certainly curious about her adventurous exploits as expected from a teenage boy. Peggy seemed to be doing well during her time in the stables as she was content just standing there with her rider. Though she might've missed being with her family occasionally, it was for the best if she trained more rather than stay cooped up in a manor.

Reuben

[Reuben]

Whoa, that really did seem far. Not as amazing as what he’d imagined, but he didn’t want to sound rude. It must have been easy to travel, since she was able to just jump on the back of her pegasus and fly. He just had his two feet to go somewhere, and it was extremely hard to walk to Plegia and suddenly want to go somewhere else. As he tried to imagine just how far the knight had travelled, he also considered buying himself a map in the market. It’d be useful for when he began to widen his area of travel. He could even mark it up and record where he went. Then he’d have something to show off.

"I've only travelled through the larger towns. But it's a nice experience." Visiting new towns let him see new people. This very town was one of the places. As he remembered some of the places he'd gone to, Reuben noticed how close he still stayed to home. Perhaps it was the thought of really leaving behind his family that bound him to the northern part of Ylisse. For the boy, he felt that he should still express some type of fidelity. A tight ball of emotions settled into his stomach at the thought of his blood family. He didn't have the words to describe it, but he didn't think that it was normal to feel that way about family. "It's nice to be away from family," he mumbled, not knowing that he'd spoken loudly enough for the young lady to hear. It was unlikely she would agree with him. For all he knew, she probably had some nights when she couldn't fall asleep because she missed her family. The thought of himself doing that seemed impossible. When Reuben tried to recall images of happy family moments, the time he spent with his tutor were the only ones. Being around family was lonesome.

A quietness dragged out momentarily. Save for the quiet shuffling of the horses in the stables, it seemed the boy was caught up in his thoughts. A hard look in his eyes suggested they weren't particularly happy ones.

Isolde

[Isolde]

Ah, so he's been through larger towns. There might be some towns that she hadn't flown over to yet and it made her journey sound like a courier delivering mail on a Pegasus. That is until an offhand comment about missing a family was enough to actually start thinking of her own family. "Now that you mention it, I...sort of miss my family, but my grandfather is very strict, possibly due to following our family's traditions for a long time." It was possible that the family had been following the old traditions since a long time ago and it only made it harder to decide if she wanted to go back home or not. Still, it was her own decision and besides, she was certain that her mother and father probably missed her by now. It was actually better to leave when things get worse during her stay at the manor anyway.

Reuben

[Reuben]

The words the rider spoke didn't quite register with Reuben. Not paying attention, he missed most of what she said. Only the few words that registered included the description of the young lady's grandfather and his adherence to tradition. His gray eyes glanced at her with curiosity. Her words may have suggested that she didn't appreciate her grandfather, but from her tone, he had a sense of how she missed her family sometimes. The same couldn't be said for Reuben, but he did admit feeling sad about leaving behind his mentor. His teacher was more of a father than his real father. Technically, the head of the Daltrey Household wasn't even his true blood father. He didn't carry the name of the household, he may as well not consider himself part of the family.

"Your grandfather...was he still a kind man? Did he care about you? What about you father?" He found himself asking, perhaps to see if she had experienced any of the neglect from a father figure in his home. With a sudden realization, he looked down and with his hands waving, as if trying to clear away the questions he had just asked. That was an odd thing for him to do, he had only met the lady after all. Despite her seeming familiar to him, he wondered if she had ever even visited his home before. "S-sorry! I shouldn't pry."

Isolde

[Isolde]

The Pegapony Princess of Love Truth and Justice!

And ah, more questions about her family which was kind of disheartening to hear about it. Still, she had to answer what she would have to give anyway. It was not like her family didn't care about her, but rather she resented her own grandfather for no letting her to become who she wanted to be. And most people did know her for the most well-behaved girl that she was in her household and school. Perhaps, she would have to make amends with him someday, but she'll have to face the fact that he would always be strict no matter what. And her siblings did worry as to her whereabouts too which tempted her to go back home. Maybe she should tell them that she was okay and that she would be home sometime to visit them from time to time. She did want to comfort most of her family if they had missed her terribly, but she had a goal to plan out. A goal that would change the way that Ylisseans would live during the turmoil of the homeland.

"It's alright to pry, I don't mind. Well, I think he used to be a kind man, but he seems to take on a strict demeanor nowadays. My father still loves me though my grandfather hadn't approved of my decision to become a Pegasus Knight yet."

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