Castle Shyr

More stuffs. :)

Man.... I know it\'s necessary, but I\'ll be so happy when I can cut it with the cutesy Rhin and Kyin stuff... Glag. Love \'em both to death, but at every turn they\'ve gotta make sure they know they\'re there for each other.... *SIGH*

Anywho... Big player at the end there, but you don\'t care about that yet. Things are finally getting a move on thanks to him though... and Rhin and Mordecai are about to meet... (sorta)



-A Guide To The Shyriol-

The knocking had been going on for at least an hour now, even Rhinwyn was a bit annoyed. He rolled over slowly and sat up, being careful not to disturb the still sleeping Kyin in the process. (Though he had no idea how she’d managed to block out the noise for this long.) Bitti had announced to Austly the moment she found his door locked that she would continue to knock until he opened the door - and apparently she was one to make good on her threats.

“Austlinion! If you don’t open this door..” She rasped, and Rhin could hear the exhaustion in her voice. He shook his head and carefully slid to the floor, moving the sheets around so that Kyin’s back was covered. He stood and stretched for a moment before pulling his long pants on, followed by his headwrap. The white was almost gone, but they still had another few days before they would be able to go without them.

Tying the cloth into a messy knot he gently opened the door and stepped into the hallway, making sure it closed completely behind him. He watched Bitti for a moment, surprised almost by her vigilance even after an hour, and started towards her.

“Austlinion, you have taken this far enough.”

“Bitti.” Rhin started, reaching out to touch her shoulder. She started, and turned to look at him, smiling through the bags under her eyes.

“Oh - I’m sorry, dear, did I wake you up?” She moved her hand quickly from the door and began busying it with her apron, apparently trying to hide her raw knuckles. Rhin nodded, looking a bit dazed.

“Uh, well-”

“So sorry. Austly’s just being a bit stubborn this morning.”

“Bitti-”

“He should give in -in the next few minutes.”

“For the sake of your hand, I should hope so.” Rhinwyn said, in what he hoped was a soft tone. Bitti gave him a strange, almost offended look and he took a step backwards, holding up his hands. “I- I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that you’ve been going on for at least an hour now, and I think that if he was going to come out or say something, he would have done so by now. He probably just needs a little more time. I’m sure if you leave him alone he’ll come out when he’s hungry enough.” He wrapped his arms over his chest and fidgeted - frightened for a moment that he was in for a lecture, if not a smack or two - but Bitti calmed soon enough and nodded, turning away from the Nanion and the door.

“Yes - I guess you’re right.” She admitted softly, and Rhin knew she’d been thinking the same thing all morning. He sighed and stepped forward again, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I didn’t mean to impose or anything.”

“No, dear, you’re absolutely right.” She turned to look at him and gave him another smile, this one a bit more genuine than the first. “I’m just a little worried about him, that’s all.”

“He just has to sort through things - then he’ll come out.” He smiled back as the woman turned and started for the kitchen after a short nod.

“I’ll go ahead and start breakfast then, that should bring him out.” She muttered over her shoulder, rubbing gently at her knuckles with her other hand. “You and Kyin have any plans for today, Rhinwyn? It’s nice out - I’m sure you two could use a trip to the shore, get in a bit more sunshine before the cold season locks us up?”

“Well, um, actually,” Rhin started, taking a seat at the table in the corner as Bitti put her back to him and started pulling out supplies.

“Actually, what?”

“We- we talked about it last night and.. Well - decided that we’re probably going to-”

A loud knock at the door startled both of them, causing Rhin to pause and turn in his seat.

“Bitti? Bitti are you in there?!” It was a woman’s voice, one Rhinwyn vaguely recognized. She sounded upset and desperate.

“Tardone?” Bitti said, sounding more than a little shocked as she unlocked the door and ushered the hysterical woman in.

“Yuhin is - go-gone!”

“What?” Rhinwyn asked, standing and joining the duo.

“He didn’t come down for breakfast this morning, and when I checked his room it was empty! He’s gone and he’s taken all his things with him!”

“Bitti,” Rhinwyn whispered warningly, looking back towards Austly’s room. The woman suddenly cursed and balled her hand into a fist.

“I forgot about his window!” She snarled and wrapped an arm over the sobbing woman’s shoulder. “That means Austly and the other boys are probably gone too.” Rhinwyn cocked his head confusedly to the side and started to speak - Bitti seemed suddenly all too casual and calm about the situation. “Rhinwyn, you and Kyin are on your own for breakfast this morning - terribly sorry. The boy’s have, apparently, decided to run away from home again.”

“Wh-what are we going to do?” Yuhin’s mother whimpered, hardly able to stand upright she was shaking so bad.

“Tardone, remember what happened the last four times they did this? They always hide in one of two places - and they are always fine. They just need to feel as if they have a little more freedom than they do. It’s nothing to worry about.” Bitti gave Rhin a strange look as she pulled on her jacket, shaking her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about this earlier. It makes sense now. That little brat.” She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and again wrapped her arm over the other woman’s shoulders. “Come on then, let’s go find our boys.”

As the door closed behind them Rhinwyn blinked, completely speechless. Fordwych never ceased to surprise and amaze him - if something like that had happened in Crawyn, the whole village would have been in an uproar, while here it seemed commonplace, and Bitti even seemed relieved. It was as if knowing her son had tried to run away was more reassuring to her than thinking he was locked safely in his room.

As he plopped down in one of the softly cushioned couches he realized that maybe that’s why it was a relief. Remaining locked silently in his room was very uncharacteristic of Austly, and Rhin knew this only after a few months of living with the boy - Bitti was probably relieved to hear that the other boys were missing because it meant there was nothing seriously wrong with her son. He was up to his old tricks. Rhinwyn shook his head and tilted it back against the couch.

“Ah!” He shouted, looking at the smiling face suddenly staring down at him.

“Morning!” Kyin shouted cheerfully, leaning down to kiss Rhin on the forehead. She walked around the couch and sat down next to him, bouncing a little as she looked over her shoulder into the kitchen.

“Where’s Bitti?”

“She left with one of the other women to go find Austly and Yuhin.”

“To go find them? Are they missing?”

“Apparently - though, Bitti didn’t seem too concerned. They’ve run away four times before already.”

“O-oh.” Kyin muttered, folding her hands in her lap and looking down for a moment. “Did you tell her?”

“Didn’t get a chance to - Yuhin’s mom interrupted in the middle.” Rhin leaned forward and shrugged. “We can leave her a note or something - I don’t want to wait too long, Suhayl keeps a strange schedule.” He turned his head to look at Kyin who was giving him a strange look herself.

“Well - ok. We should probably get dressed before we go - it’s kind of chilly outside.” She stood and started back down the hallway, smoothing down her night gown a little as it stuck to the back of her legs. “And we’ll take some money too - so we can have a picnic.”

Rhin nodded and yawned as he stood, following Kyin down the hall groggily. He had the nagging urge to just fall back into bed and stay there - things could wait - but he shook his head, answering himself with a resolute ‘No.’ If he started giving in now he’d never have any resolve. He needed to get into the habit of going through with his decisions, instead of putting them off for another time.

He did a shoddy job of making his bed before fishing around in the mess for his clothes. He found his them in a surprisingly short amount of time, and sat on the bed to pull on his boots. Hopefully Suhayl wouldn’t make them wait too long, Rhinwyn wanted to be out of Fordwych no later than the end of the week. The sooner they left, the sooner they could finally set things right, the sooner Rhinwyn would feel he was actually doing something with his life. The whole thing made him feel a bit selfish, but Kyin genuinely seemed as eager to go as he did, and it eased the guilt a little. Perhaps she was just excited to be out - to have something to do besides the household chores she so despised, despite how well she hid it. Rhinwyn smirked a little, she was tricky when she wanted to be.

He pulled off his nightshirt, laying it on the bed in an attempt to be neat as he unfolded the mass of knots that was his day shirt. He paused, however, and laid a hand on the upper left part of his chest with a frown, dragging his fingers in a bit to trace the scar. It was a jagged, horrific thing that ran from almost mid-way down his chest to up and over his shoulder where it ended abruptly. The beast would have taken his arm completely off if Kyin hadn’t stepped in.

Feeling solemn and almost gruesome he slowly moved his eyes to rest on the end table at the head of the bed, where a necklace lay. It was the gift Kyin had given him weeks ago, well, it was the gift she had intended to give him - a nasty reaction to the lunfish scales saw to it that she never gave it to him properly. It was a tooth, a gigantic hollow dagger strung from a leather string - the tooth had come from the beast, it had been lodged in Rhinwyn’s shoulder. Kyin had taken it from Suhayl and made it into a necklace for Rhin, as sort of a heroic reminder of what he’d risked for her. Rhin smiled in spite of himself and picked up the slightly heavy object stringing it carefully over his neck. The grayish fang hung right down the center of his chest, stopping a few good inches before his stomach.

“Are you coming anytime soon, Rhinwyn? Or do I have time to wash my hair?” Kyin taunted from just outside his door, giggling a little afterwards.

Rhin snickered and pulled his shirt over his shoulders, standing and opening the door.

“I’m ready - no need to get mean about it. I’m no worse than you.”

“I’ve gotten better.” Kyin pouted, poking Rhin in the chest as he started to button his shirt. “Is that going to be warm enough for you, Rhin? The wind has really picked up.” She asked as she carefully scanned his outfit. She had dawned a thick wool skirt, light pants underneath, with a long sleeved and long necked shirt on top. Rhin gave her a quick look over, and then shrugged.

“This should be fine.” He pulled back and made a slight face upon seeing the look Kyin gave him. “The scarf and hat Bitti made for me are by the door, I’ll put them on too if it’ll make you stop looking at me like that.” She moved away and walked, almost stubbornly, into the other room.

“Pardon me for wanting to make sure you don’t freeze to death.” She grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him make his way into the room.

“Kyin, the harvest season has just begun. It can’t possibly be cold enough to kill me yet.” He sighed as he grabbed the hat and scarf, looking at them a bit disdainfully before putting them on. The hat was a dark, murky gray in color with a lining of black thread to match the scarf, a tattered looking black line of various cloths, tasseled with a soft gray string.

“I know,” Kyin whispered softly after a minute, her tone rueful, “it would take a lot more than even the dead cold of winter to kill you.” Rhin turned to give her a funny look, cocking his head to the left. “I-I just worry, you know? About stupid things - because.. Because I want to feel like I’m at least trying to protect you, even though I’m not strong enough to really do so.”

“Kyin,” Rhin fretted, walking towards her and wrapping his arms over her shoulders, pulling her against his chest, her head resting at his collarbone. “You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. And you can protect me, the proof is right under your chin.” He felt Kyin start and could see the confused expression on her face as she reached down to touch his chest through the fabric, pressing her palm against the tooth. She let out a light chuckle.

“Oh, that.”

“Don’t you ‘Oh, that’ me, miss.” Rhin said sternly, pulling back and taking hold of her shoulders so that he could look her in the eye. “I don’t ever want to hear you doubting yourself again, Kyin, you understand me? You’re one of the strongest people I know, if not the strongest. You’ve survived things that most people will never know - that makes you strong.” His face took on a serious expression as he looked away briefly, and then back at her. “I’ve saved your life, and you’ve saved mine. So as far as I’m concerned we’re equal in strength. How about that, mm?” His lips curved into a smile as she fought to keep back her own, giving in and sticking her tongue out at him as she pulled away.

“In that case I guess I’m too strong to do the dishes- I’d just break them.”

“That’s not what I meant..”

“Sure it is. Now, let’s go find Suhayl, and hopefully Bitti won’t see us ‘talking with the enemy.’” She said, giving Rhin a look that let him know she was only half-joking. He shook his head and slowly opened the door, stepping out with Kyin in tow. He brought his arms up to wrap around his torso, frowning slightly as he licked his lips. It was cold - unseasonably cold. He heard Kyin click her tongue behind him.

“See. I told you.”

“Just hush-up and get going.” Rhin muttered, lifting a foot as if to kick her down the stairs of the platform. She let out an offended scoff and took the stairs at a jovial pace, swinging her arms to the tune she began humming. Making sure the door was closed firmly behind him, Rhin followed her down the stairs, pulling the hat a bit further down on his head, wishing he had ear-cuffs too.

He kept pace easily with Kyin, even as she began a strange sort of skip, weaving in and out of the road like she was dancing. His eyes glazed over slightly as he watched her, recalling the last time he’d followed in her light footsteps- they’d been on their way to retrieve Alric’s items, right before the attack. He felt his joints become stiff, his breathing shallow as his heart sped up, thumping in his ears like the sound of advancing hooves - like war-clad horses hauling blood thirsty Tev, inching closer and closer, faster and faster-

“Uh..”

Rhin blinked quickly and turned his head, scanning the area for a moment before lowering his eyes and raising his eyebrows. A young boy stood at his right, scarf wrapped so tightly around his neck and face that only his reddened nose and bright eyes could be seen in the space between the wrapping and the hat. He blinked at Rhin, bringing a finger to his where his mouth was, a slow smile starting in his eyes.

“Um, hi.” Rhinwyn began, leaning down and putting his hands on his thighs as he put himself closer to the boy’s eye level. “You lost?” He asked, as it seemed like an obvious first question to ask a lonely child.

Up ahead Kyin stopped, twirling up onto the first step of Suhayl’s platform, to look for Rhin. He was back up a few houses, leaning over and talking to a young boy. Kyin blinked and cocked her head to one side, stepping off the platform to start over when she heard a click above her, and looked up.

The boy didn’t say anything, all he did was rock back onto his heels, then to his toes, and again, staring at Rhin’s face in a highly unnerving manner. Rhin rubbed the fabric of his pants for a moment, breaking eye-contact with the child to look around for any sign of an adult to claim him. The streets were eerily empty - Rhin shuddered, a chill running up his spine he knew wasn’t entirely brought on by the cold weather.

“There you are!” Rhin started and stood up, looking over his shoulder and across the street as a dark haired Nanion woman rushed over and grabbed the boy’s hand, giving it a light smack. “What have I told you about running off while mommy’s talking?” The boy muttered something in response, but Rhin couldn’t understand it. He pulled a quick smile to his face, closing his gold eyes briefly as the woman stood up and looked at him. She seemed about to thank him, for what Rhin wasn’t sure, but stopped about half-way through and took a step back.

Rhin’s heart stopped momentarily, the look reminiscent of one he never wanted to see again, but the steady beat started up again slowly as the woman looked away and scuffed her foot against the ground.

“S-sorry, I-if he troubled you, that is.” She muttered, refusing to make eye contact, as if Rhin were some kind of royalty.

“N-no problem.” Rhin said curiously, knitting his eyebrows together as the woman gave him a nod that was more like a bow, then took off down the street and onto the platform she’d just come from, casting one more quick glance over her shoulder at Rhin.

Rhin stared after her for a moment, then blinked. The people of Fordwych were… unpredictable. Yes - he thought, shaking his head, - unpredictable was a good word.

“Rhinwyn!” Kyin shouted, her voice a combination of fear and exasperation. She trotted up beside him and grabbed his sleeve, pointing back viciously at Suhayl’s platform - where the old map-maker swayed in the wind, narrowing his eyes.

“He says he won’t take us!”

“He- wha?” Rhin stuttered, walking up to the map-maker with a rather serious expression. “Why?”

“Because I’m not a tour-guide.” Snapped Suhayl, crossing his arms over his chest. Rhin noted that he looked skittish - like a cornered animal.

“We’re not asking you to show us the sights, Suhayl, we’re asking you to show us the way to the Shyriol.”

“I’m not an escort either.” Rhin narrowed his eyes in return to Suhayl’s glare, and fished around in his pocket for a moment.

“We’ll pay you.”

“We will?” Kyin asked slowly, looking at Rhin.

“You will?”

“Yes - it’s not much, but it’s all I’ve earned since I’ve been here.”

“Rhinwyn, you can’t do that..”

“Yes he can.”

Kyin looked up and over at the older Nanion, giving him a stern look as she put her hands on her hips. He held up his own, staff dangling on the railing.

“Don’t lecture me, girl - you’re the ones who need my help, after all.”

Rhin frowned deeply, not liking the idea of Suhayl thinking he had some sort of leverage over them. He tightened his fist around the small amount of coinage in his pocket and turned his head away, opening his mouth to speak.

“Fine. I’ll take you.” Suhayl muttered, picking up his staff and stepping back up onto the railing.

“Really!?” Kyin gasped, clasping her hands together and looking hopefully up at him. He sneered.

“Yes. But we’re leaving now. I’ll give you a few minutes to go get whatever you want to bring along, but I’m not waiting long!”

“Now?” Rhin echoed, pulling his hand out of his pocket to touch Kyin’s arm gently, holding her back from an oncoming lecture. “Can’t you at least give us until tomorrow? Let us say goodbye, have a good meal and get a good night’s rest?”

“No. Now. You can eat on the way and it’s your fault if you’re not running on a good night’s sleep. As far as sayin’ goodbye, it’d be easier on them if you just vanished.”

“You’re..” Kyin started, balling her hands into fists, “You’re just plain mean!” Suhayl let out a loud scoff and thrust a hand to his chest.

“Me, mean? I’m not mean - I’m just a working man. I have a job to do - a schedule to keep, and I’m already late for this trip. It’s out of the goodness of my heart that I’m letting you two tag along. I wasn’t even planning on going to the Shyriol this year! I’m making double detours for this.. You make me angry and I’ll just flat out refuse to be your little ‘guide’.”

Rhinwyn narrowed his eyes and met Suhayl’s gaze, stiffening every bone in his body as they locked eyes and began to stare each other down. Kyin rolled her eyes a bit and crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot impatiently against the ground.

“Fine. If we don’t come with you this time, when are you leaving next?” She snarled, trying to break the duo apart.

“Ha! Like I’d offer to take you anywhere after this little fiasco. If you don’t have the resolve to pack up and go now, I’m not gonna risk assuming you’ll be coming along in the future. It’s now or never -and it shouldn’t even be now.”

“Fine.” Rhin spat, turning and breaking contact first, putting his back to the old man. “Give us fifteen minutes.”

“Rhinwyn,” Kyin whispered, ignoring Suhayl’s snort.

“Fine.” He growled back, stomping noisily back up the platform, grumbling all the way.

“Rhinwyn are you serious? We can’t just leave like this.”

“We don’t really have a choice, Kyin.” Rhin said with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck under the scarf. “Trying to make this trip on our own, even if we somehow got directions, would be practically suicide with the way the Tev are - running rampant throughout Nanio. And even if we could convince him to take us later - I - I don’t want to wait.” He paused and scanned the ground for a moment before moving his gaze to her’s, a strange sort of mature distance in them. “You don’t have to come with me, Kyin. I would hate to make this journey on my own, but I have to go. I’ll understand if you-”

“We’ve come this far together, Rhinwyn, I won’t let you go now.” Kyin replied, squeezing his arm with a soft smile. “Maybe he’s right, about the just vanishing thing. The longer we stay, the longer they’ll try and make us forget about the whole thing - the longer we’ll want to stay. You know?”

Rhin blinked for a moment, and chuckled softly.

“I was thinking the same thing earlier.” He wrapped his arm over her shoulder and started slowly back towards Bitti’s house. “We’ll - we’ll leave them a nice letter, how about that? A nice, long letter. And we’ll send back word to them whenever we get the chance.”


Suhayl fumbled for a moment with the doorknob, shifting his staff from one arm to the other as the lock continued to give him grief. With a grunt he finally managed to pry it open and he quickly darted inside, closing the door with a slam behind him.

He heard the scuffing of a heavy boot and sighed, turning to put his back against the door. He left his eyes on the ground, not daring to meet the figure in the corner of the room.

“I’ve agreed to take them with me.” He muttered under his breath. “They want to go to the Shyriol.” He paused, waiting for a reply. There was nothing. He took a breath- “How far should they-”

“Just worry about keeping them on the right path, Suhayl.” The voice replied suddenly, cutting off the old Nanion’s words. “We will handle the rest.”