His thought that fae were greedy was correct, but this fae had learned the difference between what she needed and what she wanted the hard way. And had no intention of needing to learn again. His mention of recompense did, for a moment, interest her however. Her eyes seemed to flash purple, but perhaps that was imagination, and she leaned forwards slightly. Then, catching her breath, she shook her head.

Thank you, but I have no need of coins or valuables. I will be fine.

She hesitated for a second, thinking of the one thing she did need, but this man was unlikely to provide it. Looking quickly away, she slipped past him, moving quickly on bare feet towards the entrance of the alleyway, pausing before stepping out onto the wider street beyond.

As she looked to the side, checking the direction she intended to take, her long silky hair rippled, revealing a strange absense where her shoulder blade should be. Her wings in this form could not be seen, and so there was no hole, no wound to show her wing had been hurt. Just a nothing there on her back. Then her hair rippled back into place and she stepped out to make her way through the city.

She wandered along the street, if you could call it that now. There was rubble everywhere, and no one seemed to be living in any of the houses. All looked empty and broken, and she shivered as she passed.

Wrapping her arms about herself, she paused, standing near a broken wall. From above it was pretty easy to navigate through the city, but down here she was completely lost. Having just recently arrived, she had no idea where anything was, and she did not know the way out.

The sound of some explosion echoed from the battlefield, and she looked around quickly, nervously. Wrapping her arms around herself, she sighed. There was no where to go, she knew no one, and even the inns were shut up. Glancing back the way she had come from, she tried to decided what to do.

Seeing the strange man standing near the entrance of the alley she had just left, she hesitated. He was the only person she knew here. She didn't know him very well, true, or even at all, but she had at least spoken to him. She didn't believe that he had hurt her on purpose, so she also trusted him more than anyone else in this city. This trust may well be misplaced, she knew, but it was something.

Ducking quickly behind a wall, she watched him as he looked at his bit of leather, wondering what he was doing. She had never seen a map before and so had no inkling of what he might be looking at. He began to move away, and she made a quick decision. If she stayed here, she was lost. If she wandered off alone, she would get even more lost. But he seemed to know where he was going. If she followed him, then perhaps she would find where she was going as well. This was odd logic; fae-logic.

Slipping out from behind the wall, she began to follow him, keeping well back and close to the wall. If she kept him only just in sight, her keen faery eyes able to see further and clearer than most, then hopefully he would not realise she was following.

AS of yet he did not know he had a giant Fae follower. But even if he had he would have kept on walking at that pace… Richter it seemed was NOT in a rush. And was very accepting of the fact that things either would or would not wait for him. His gait did not fit into a ruined city with few people in its streets. Nor did his clothing fit in with their rags and dirty things… he was truly quite the oddity. But odd as he was he was moving nearly South and away form the alley he had shared so recently with the pixie.

He said something to himself as he rounded a corner headed away form the waters and further into town. But it was not in the common language of the ream so it would not be known what he said. But important or not his words were lost long before they got to the heightened ears of his personal stalker. And He was now getting further into a more business like district…

Well it ONCE was a business district. Now it was very well ruined and crushed. There were only a few stalls still open and they were doing very dismal business since no one had any money. Though Since Richter did have coin when he managed to get some FAST information about what was going on ..and how recently the town had been attacked. Before he was back on his way towards the city proper….. It seemed his boss had a penchant for being an asshole this trip .and he had a few days hike to go to get to his targets…….. Oh well… … …

He might think of her as a 'giant' fae now, but this was actually her true size, and so she was able to blend in much better than as a wingy firefly thing. She was better at blending in than him, as well. She was as thin as many of the undernourished inhabitants of this town, and her dress was as ragged, although its pale colour was rather different to the drab browns that people seemed to be wearing. Only her silver eyes, bright blonde hair and palely transluscent skin caused her to stand out, but with a little effort in toning down the glamour and enchantment she habitually kept around herself she drew only a handful of glances and little curiosity.

She followed him to where the little cluster of mostly empty stalls represented what used to be a market place, and watched as he moved through asking people things in exchange for coins. Few paid her any attention. She had no bag, and her dress had no pockets or pouches that would attract the interest of any beggars or pick pockets, and she took no notice of the sellers near her.

Her pale eyes followed her quarry through the area, seeing him turn into the city proper. She stood still, staring after him, trying to make up her mind. If she remained where she was, she could ask someone in the market place for directions and leave the city quickly for somewhere else. Or she could continue to follow this intriguing man and find out what he was up to. Her natural inquisitiveness was beginning to kick in again.

He had not really hurt he, she reasoned, and he had not tried anything once he had realised that she was apparently harmless. Perhaps if she offered to help him in some way he would help her in return. And she could be very helpful to him as a spy or carrying information. Her wing was healing quickly, the 'hole' in her back gradually closing up, and she would be able to fly again before the end of the day she reckoned. If he did turn out to be scarier than she thought, she would be able to fly away then.

Tucking her hair behind her pointed ears, much to the interest of a small girl seated under a stall, she began to follow the man once more.

He continued on deeper into the city, he needed a few supplies, and was unlikely to be able to get then near the actual docks. However a small girls chuckle made its feint way to his ears and that caused him to pause in his stride. And he almost turned around. Nevertheless he didn’t. he triggered his All Seeing Eye and focused behind him so turning around was actually an unnecessary thing.


It was easy to see the sprite behind him, and that just brought a grin to his lips and he was soon back under way. It was interesting to know that a creature that claimed to want nothing to do with him was now seemingly following him. So with mortal eyes facing forward and guiding him deeper into town and towards a needed stables, his extra sensory ones were now going to be on the look out for her behind him.

SEVERAL blocks later he made another turn in his path but this time once he knew she couldn’t see him he used his powers and blinked to a roof top to wait. He did not bother really hiding because he was fairly \certain she would keep to a horizontal slope while tracking him so he just sat there on the roof with his legs crossed Indian style and he leaned against a chimney that would block her from being able to see him till she had rounded the corner.

It was time to find out more about this Pixie

She slipped through the city, still following this intriguing man, keeping close to any walls and pausing every now and then to keep her distance from him. She was not as far back as she had been originally, but did not want to get too close. For a second she thought he would turn around: his stride slowed and his head truned slightly. Swiftly, she stepped backwards and became transparent, almost invisible in the mouth of a convenient alley. But he didn't turn and after a moment she was following again.

He seemed to be intent on going further into the city, and she wondered why. Did he know someone who lived here, or did he need to find something in the city? She suspected that if it was something he wanted to buy he would have little luck. The war going on just outside the city walls soaked up most available resources.

She was caught up in her thoughts for a moment, and almost missed him turning a corner. Barefeet skimming the paving, she sped up and peered around the corner herself, expecting him to be just a short distance away. But he was gone. Hesitating a moment, she looked further along the road, but could not see him. She knew he would be hard to miss in this city where people seemed to avoid walking on the streets, but she was sure he was gone. With a sigh, she stepped into the street herself, looking from side to side just in case. She had lost him.

Reaching behind herself, her fingers traced the edge of the 'hole' on her back delicately as though it hurt a little. Then with a shake of her head her long straight hair hid it from view once more. Her silver eyes glinted as she shivered slightly. It was strange that she had lost him so suddenly. She did not often track people like this, but she was usually pretty good at it. And in a city it should be easier thand through the woodland she was used to. What would she do now? She wondered if she could find her way back to the market place easily, to ask someone for directions out.

Turning to face the direction she had come from, she glanced back over her shoulder one last time, checking that he had not magically reappeared before she left.