just so you don't have to double post if you wanna update or something. ^^
Thank-you. ^^
--------------------
Chapter 6 – “Newcomers”
The morning sun rose blazing through the sky, throwing orange and yellow light against the clouds high above. Din and Rad had rose early and were coming up on the gate through the southern wall of Castle Town. They rode through the large wooden doors into the city, giving a nod to the guards on either side of the entrance. The streets of the town were bustling with activity as usual in the morning hours. All the people were going about their business, getting a head start on the day’s activities. Din and Rad boarded their horses in the stable to the east side of the market square and walked into the center of the market stopping beside the center fountain.
Rad gazed around at all the faces of the people coming and going from the stores and wagons buying and selling various items. This was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. No, worse than that, it would be like looking for a hair in a haystack, and one that was able to run away extremely skillfully. Rad sighed shortly.
Din stood beside him also scanning the faces, she knew this would not help them get anywhere, but she had an idea to get them started.
“Rad, maybe we should go find Talon, the elderly man that I was working with at the cage matches. He has lived here his whole life, he might have an idea to help us out.” Din looked up at him.
Rad nodded, “Good idea. Lead the way.” He gestured with one arm to the town around them.
Din moved through the growing crowd of people toward the west trail of Castle Town. She moved down the allies, Rad following close behind. She came to very small wooden door hidden in between the panes of plasterboard and wood that created the back walls. Rad would have missed it if she hadn’t stopped. Din raised her hand and tapped her knuckles against the door. After a moment an elderly woman opened the door, only two inches, a door chain prevented a larger space. The woman peered at them through the space from behind the door, quite shyly.
“Yes?” Her voice was hesitant and quiet.
“Hi, I’m a friend of Talon’s, is he at home? I was hoping to speak with him.” Din smiled at the woman.
The lady eyed Rad and her eyes landed on the hilt of Rad’s massive blade. She seemed to become more uncomfortable. Her eyes shifted to Din and also looked her up and down. “He should be at Telma’s Bar. It is just down the street and down the set of stairs.”
Din nodded once, “Thank-you ma’am.”
The lady nodded politely and closed the door, Din and Rad heard her slide a deadbolt across the frame from the inside.
Din looked at Rad and shrugged. The two turned and headed down the street in the direction the woman had indicated. They came to a back ally that indeed fed downward as a set of narrow stairs. Din eyed them warily. The stairs lead to a dark corner, set low against the other buildings, and a door scarcely visible to the left of the base of the stairs. The mood between the two of them shifted instantly. Both of their fight instincts waved red flags at the isolation and dark nature of the space.
Rad looked back over his shoulder, there was no one behind them in the street. He nodded to Din and she descended the stairs, Rad followed close behind. When they reached the door, Din looked up and saw the small sign reading exactly as they had expected ‘Telma’s Bar’. Rad reached around Din and opened the door. He placed his other hand on the middle of her back and gently pushed. Din moved through the door quickly, feeling Rad look once again over his shoulder to the empty hollow and follow her into the building.
The room was very dimly lit and the wooden walls held a damp texture to the air, creating a musty odor. The room was shaped as a backwards ‘L’. The longer stretch of the room ran forward from the door, and the shorter arm stretched off to their left. That portion of the bar was almost completely absent of any light. The counter of the bar was to the right wall from the entrance, at what would be the base of resembled shape. Several tables were scattered about the rest of the open space. There were only four or five people in the bar, typical of an early morning bar scene.
As Din and Rad entered, a larger woman emerged from behind an archway on the back wall that led to another open room of the bar. She had wispy natural red hair that was pulled back off her face. She seemed to be in her early forties, but did not dress so. She wore a low cut black vest and a long flowing purple skirt with two slits up the sides of the material. The woman came toward Din and Rad with a curious expression on her face, as she moved her many bracelets and earrings jingled.
“Hello, can I help you?”
Rad spoke first, “Yes, we are looking for a friend.”
“Well, I can probably help you with that. Do they frequent my bar?” Telma asked.
“We were told he would be here…” Din’s voice trailed off as she looked around the bar. It was very dark in several of the corners, but then she saw him. Talon was standing over one of the tables about halfway back toward the left potion of the L-shaped room, away from the counter. The man wore a grey, capped sleeved shirt and black trousers. A blue rag was draped over his right shoulder, and he was using another on the surface of the table in front of him.
“Talon.” Din’s voice was friendly.
At the mention of his name the man looked up and saw her. An equally friendly smile appeared on his lips. He reached around behind him and picked up a large tray stacked tall with glasses and bottles. Holding it on his forearms, he came out from the dark space and approached them.
“Well hello Din.” Talon’s voice was soft.
She smiled back at him. “I have a question for you, Talon.”
The man’s expression became questioning and he slid the tray onto the bar. He looked back and forth from Din to Rad, “Yeah? And what would that be? I will try and answer it.”
Din looked around the bar briefly before speaking. The patrons that were present did not seem to be paying any attention. Two men in the room on the other side of the arch were leaned back in their chairs barely awake, Telma had returned to the back room, and the last man was far enough away into the dark corner that she didn’t think he would be able to hear, and he didn’t seem to be paying any attention anyway.
She spoke quietly to Talon, “We are looking for a man named Rishian. He is one of the last Sheikah around. Do you know where we could find him?”
There was a shift in the air as Din’s words came out but Rad pushed the gut feeling aside and concentrated on the man’s answer.
Talon’s friendly gaze hardened and became defensive at the mention of the Sheikah. Quickly, he tried to cover up the drop in his expression and place a straight face back into the wrinkles that lined his eyes.
“You are looking for a Sheikah? Hrmp. Good luck with that.” Talon crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “You really think you can find a Sheikah that doesn’t want to be found?”
Din was slightly taken aback at Talon’s reaction. He was always so polite and friendly.
Rad jumped in, “We realize it isn’t the easiest to attempt, but can you help us get on the right track?” Rad was suspicious of the man, and didn’t like the attitude he was giving Din.
Talon starred back at Rad. He shrugged his shoulders, “If you really want to go and hunt down a Sheikah, go to the Temple of Time and pray to the goddesses. Din, a Sheikah is more likely to find you, than you are to find him.”
Rad was becoming more impatient with the elderly man, his fist balled up unwillingly. “Look, can you give us any helpful advice? Or we will be on our way.”
Din placed a hand on Rad’s forearm to try and signal him to calm himself.
“I’d try the darkest, most isolated, and most intricate place you could think of in the town. That’s all I can tell you. I’m sorry.” With that, Talon picked up his tray off the counter and turned around toward the back room. As he spun he threw a direct glance in the direction of the man who had been sitting in the dark corner, draped in shadows, but he was gone.
Din and Rad turned and left the bar after Talon had disappeared into the back room. As they came out from the little entranceway into the hollowed out space between the bottom of the stairs and the doorway, Rad got another eerie feeling. He stopped where he was and looked around. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement on the ledge above them where the buildings became level with the ground. Rad turned quickly and surveyed the ledge and surrounding area, but saw nothing. Discomfort rose in Rad’s stomach. He placed his hand in the middle of Din’s back once again and urged her quickly toward the stairs, his eyes still on the spot where he had seen the shadows move.
“What? What is it?” Din stopped about half way up the stairs and turned her eyes toward the place where Rad’s were fixed.
“I don’t like the disadvantage of lower ground, and I thought…” Rad’s thoughts trailed off. Now higher up, Rad starred at the ledge, there was a grate in the wall, but it seemed to be completely intact. “I think I’m imagining things.” Rad threw a half-hearted smile at her.
As Rad and Din headed back down the street toward the center square, debating what to do next, a pair of emerald green eyes peered at them through the bars of the grating. The eyes belonged to a man. He seemed to wrap the shadows around himself, becoming almost invisible. The figure moved completely silently backward from the grate and up through a small crack in the stone, to the roof of the building. The figure backed against the stone stack that created a second story on the building and disappeared again from view. The shadow watched them: the man and woman who were seeking the Sheikah. The shadow’s single visible eyebrow furrowed downward. His other eye and entire left side of his face was covered by a white cloth-like material that seemed to resemble bandaging. Short strands of brown hair fell loosely out from under the covering. Pieces of stray bandaging blew in the light breeze away from the dark leather underlay covering his body. The white coving wrapped its way down his neck and around the tops of his shoulders and chest. Wrapped in the shadows, the figure squatted on the edge of the roof, listening to the man and woman from that far away.
“The water-system to the castle would be isolated, intricate and dark, but I doubt anyone could live down there.” Rad was almost whispering to Din.
“I have not been here long, so I can’t really think of any other place to look. Though I think looking during the day is a bit of a lost cause.” Din glanced back at him.
“You are probably right. We can go stock supplies and find somewhere to eat until sundown, then we will search?”
Din nodded in agreement and the two continued off down the street toward the main square.
The man hiding in the shadows let them go, he did not need to hear more or follow them further. With a hard expression he contemplated. Neither of them appeared to be of the royal family or the guard, nor did they seem like hunters or even historians. Why, after all this time would someone be looking for him? The figure wrapped the shadows tighter around him a disappeared completely into the town’s intricate rooftops and stone streets.
(Chapter Continues)
But here is one thing that would look better imo:
. Not that it is a bad thing, the story was great, and I am sure you will get to that part soon. It was good to see your friend Rishian appear, also, you keep your description going so well, the places, etc. I wonder what happens next. Again, I did not see any typos, though let it be known that I don't read simply to look for them, if I come across them it is when I tell you. So yeah, two thumbs up again, and with that, I am off to introduce Part 3 of my own story lol. Keep it up. ^^
