Black Veil

Devon pulled her jacket around herself tighter, shoulders hunched as she looked around.

This wasn't home.

Although it was a foolish notion, she could only describe her surroundings as almost medieval--almost as though she had gone back in time. The twenty-first century technology she was accustomed to seemed to be nonexistent. Rather than a sidewalk, she walked along a dirt path, which led toward a village on the close horizon. There were no roads nor buildings, merely grass to either side of her lonely, dusty trail.

She tried to remember how she had gotten here, and she couldn't. Her mind was fuzzy and she drew a blank every time she tried to think of it. She did remember walking home, and taking a shortcut through an alleyway to another road, but that was where her recollections ended. There was nothing else, except for waking up in the grass by the path she now followed. For awhile, she'd wondered if it was potentially a dream, but dreams had never been this vivid.

Devon sighed heavily and ran her fingers through her long brown bangs, slumping her shoulders in defeat. "What the hell do I do now?" she moaned, looking to the sky. "I don't know where I am or what this is or . . . anything!" She yelled and kicked at the dirt angrily, then defiantly shoved her hands back into her pockets so she could scowl ahead at the village.

At that moment, she had an epiphany. She couldn't go there. Who knew who --or what-- resided there, what the culture was like, or even if they spoke English? Those worries aside, she knew she would stick out. A sixteen-year-old girl dressed in baggy jeans, a black t-shirt with a sarcastic saying printed on the front, and a game-related hooded jacket would most likely be extremely noticeable among whoever lived there.

She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "Today really is just trying to tick me off," she muttered as she continued walking. Even if she shouldn't go there, she had no choice. She needed to know what was going on and she would not find out by running around in the wild until nightfall. She ignored the fear-induced nausea that was rising in her throat and continued on, hoping whoever she ran into would be friendly.

Jhenezra stretched out lazily against the rugged fountain at the entrance to a village, allowing the sun's rays to warm his already tanned skin. The small villiage really wasn’t much to look at compared to the city adorned with a castle and bustling people miles down the road. But it graciously made its business and economic value from the many tourists that had to travel through the village to reach the main city. Of course there were many cons that played into that little feature but he didn’t like to focus on such things. It was a lovely day and for once he was in solace. Moments such as this had turned rare nowadays, especially since he was forcibly enrolled to be part of the never-ending battles as a soldier. Consequence of being a male and very low status he suspected. Only those at the tippy-top of the social ladder got out of fighting and hunting. He thought to himself. The thought always came to mind daily or even hourly. "And free food." he mumbled to himself, licking his lips at the thought of that. What he wouldn't give to have such a thing as free food. It really was such a lovely and joyous thought. If only it was truly reachable.

He scratched his face, picking at a strand of blue hair. Apparently it was bad to look different then everyone else. Then again he was already considered a dire lunatic and monstrosity for turning his once blond fluff hair to a lovely shade of blue from a berry concoction. He just couldn't stand the pale color any more and blue was such a beautiful color, not that all colors weren't beautiful.

He yawned widely and shifted against the fountain. He rested his hand behind his head and watched the clouds roll along the sky above him. He hummed for a bit, enjoying the fact that his parents were probably searching for him to have him hunt out their next meal or some other random chore to "get him off his lazy rump" as they would say. No, today would be a day of laziness. Or at least some of the day be such as that. He was determined of it. He continued to hum as he closed his eyes, not even noticing the figure approaching the village he called home on the horizon.

Devon continued to glare downward at the dirt path, as though it were the source of all her troubles. It wasn't, of course, but she couldn't let herself be anything but angry. If she started letting herself feel as afraid as she subconsciously was, it would only make things difficult. The last thing she needed was to start acting pathetic in the middle of a complicated situation. Anger, at least, did not lead to stress and mindless panic.

She finally reached the entrance to the village, where she hesitated to go further. Not many people seemed to be out and about that day, which was probably best for her. The fewer who knew she existed, the better. Just before she started to step forward again, she noticed someone sitting in front of a nearby fountain. He seemed insignificant in every way, except for the very noticeable crop of blue hair that adorned his head. Devon couldn't help but to be amused. Even in her time, a full head of blue hair would be considered unusual.

Knowing that she needed to speak to someone, she approached him, keeping her hands in her pockets in an attempt to seem casual. As she went, she figured out her lies. If he asked where she was from and why she looked strange, she would just say she wasn't from there. Hopefully he wouldn't ask questions at all.

"Hey," she called out, stopping a few feet from the boy. "Could you tell me where I am?"

"Hey," she called out, stopping a few feet from the boy. "Could you tell me where I am?"

Jhenezra gave a grunt when an itch plagued the back of his neck, waking him from his very short nap. It annoyed him but obviously he wasn’t meant to fall asleep just yet for every time he closed his eyes and relaxed something pulled at his mind and forced his attention away from drifting off to sleep. Figures this would happen. Why did it have to be so hard just to sleep on such a lovely and nice day that was perfect for such lazy actions? He groaned again and finally reopened his eyes. He might as well do something. There was bound to be something little he could do so he would have the excuse that he had worked today and avoid too much of a scolding.

His gaze shifted from his feet to that of a figure standing not far from him. He had heard her speak but had ignored them at first, figuring it was just another annoying tourist but by the looks of this one she was different then the other tourists. Her clothing was differently of an odd fashion, especially for a woman.

“Well, aren’t you an odd sight.” He mused as he climbed to his feet. He couldn’t help but circle her for a second, examine her appearance. He had never seen a woman wear trousers out in public. It really was a sight to behold. He shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the rim of the fountain.

“You are in Encantry.” He finally replied to her. He might as well tell her, she clearly was still a tourist. “Heading toward the main city?” he asked out of curiosity.

Devon tensed up when she caught the boy looking her over. She knew it was only because she looked strange, but she had to keep in check the urge to hit him. She often got strange looks from people for no reason and it had gotten old in her lifetime. She managed to control herself, though. Scowling at him and making threats would not help her cause at all.

"Not really," she replied slowly to his question. "I really just sort of stumbled over here, to be honest. Didn't know that I was near any particular city, but I guess it's helpful to know that I am." She wondered if she could get some more answers by going that city he had mentioned. It wasn't likely, though.

She shoved her hands in her pants pockets and casually looked toward the village. She ran over her options in her head, trying to do so quickly so she could ask this kid more questions if she needed to. All she could think of, sadly, was to explore further. Perhaps she could find somewhere with books and read up on the area, perhaps learn how she had gotten there in the first place. She looked back at him and asked, "Is there anything like a library in this town or would I have to keep going for that?"

Jhenezra frowned a bit when he took note that the strange girl had tensed by him looking her over. Was it considered rude just to see who someone was back where she was from? He really did want to ask her the question but bit it back. He didn’t want to accidentally start an argument over something so little. He wanted today to be a relaxed day, not a tense one. And so he decided it was best to just go with the flow and not linger over certain actions. Besides, he may learn the answer later on in time anyway.

“Is that so?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow. Now that was interesting. A tourist that didn’t even know where she was, he had never run in to one of those before. Let alone one that actually talked to him for longer then a few moments before deciding he was of lower status then vermin and pushing him aside to find someone of higher status to talk with. He had grown used to such a fate and was wondering why this particular young woman wasn’t following the routine. Maybe she was crazy too. Yes, that could explain a few things.

“Library?” He asked, puzzled by the question. She didn’t look like a scholar. “No, there are none here.” He scratched his head for a moment, allowing his pointed ears to poke out between his blue locks. “You’d have to go to the main city if you want to visit one. I could take you, I guess. It’d take an hour though.”

He was still perplexed by her question but didn’t let it linger as well. He really did need to focus more on the present then the past. It would give him a headache if he didn’t.

"That would be incredibly helpful," Devon said, relaxing a little bit. "If you're not busy, anyway. I wouldn't want to make you drop whatever you're doing just to help a random stranger." She mentally swore, not in the mood to walk for yet another hour. But at least this time she would have a destination, rather than hoping that she would run into some kind of civilization as she had been doing before.

She just happened to notice his pointed ears at that moment, and found her gaze lingering. She quickly looked away. Now she knew she was in a mess. Apparently the locals weren't even technically human. At the same time, that made her feel self-conscious. If she was even different from them physically, she was bound to attract attention.

She sighed a little to herself and tried to maintain a casual facade. She needed to do better. She couldn't afford to start raising questions by acting like everything was so weird. Devon had to wonder, though, if he had the same questions about her concerning where she was from. He seemed a little curious, too--of course, Devon wasn't about to start telling anyone anything about herself until they specifically asked.

“Alright then.” Jhenezra stated as he stood back up and dusted off his pants. He really might as well take the lass. It was something to do and could easily serve as his excuse. He’d rather be walking to the main city and back then doing whatever chore his mother thought up for him to do. Usually such chores were tedious and time consuming. It was no question as to why he hated doing them. His dark eyes looked to the girl again and he gestured for her to follow him. The village was rather empty today due to practice for the soldiers and both a perfect harvesting and hunting time. So only a few other people was dilly-dallying about their homes. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or not, the thought barely crossed his mind.

“So, what is your name?” He asked curiously. He might as well know her name at least. He’d need to know how to address her if the problem did come up. As thought before, he didn’t need arguments and trouble. “I am Jhenezra but I get called Once a lot. So you can call me either really.”

It was rather true, he was called by his nickname more often then he was by his real name. He wasn’t entirely sure as to why though since he couldn’t even remember how he had squired the odd nickname. Probably since he didn’t enjoy doing many things more then once. That could be it but it probably had a much different meaning that he was too lazy to trace.

He looked to the girl again, he hadn’t realized how he was a few inches taller then the girl. From what he saw, she was also human. It made him wonder even more why she was putting up with his company. Humans had always been rather stuck up when in the presence of his race. But humans were that way with many of the races, his own just happened to be the lowest of them all.

The scenery flowed in to rural fields as the walked along a dirt street that lead through the village and in to the farmlands. Nothing would change much until they were closer to the city.

"Devon," she replied. Her lips twitched a little as she repressed a smile when she heard his name. It sounded more like a name given to a character in her favorite sort of books instead of something she would call somebody. Then again, this entire world seemed like something from a book. Complete with pointy-eared people and a lack of technology.

"Also, why do you keep looking at me so oddly?" she asked, raising a brow at him. "I understand I'm not exactly native, but you look more surprised than I would expect. If you have questions, you can ask. I won't bite unless you make a particular effort to annoy me."

Of course, there wasn't much she would be able to say. Devon thought about it and realized most of her answers to anything he said would have to be pretty vague. She ran a finger lightly along the edge of the cell phone in her pocket; it was useless here, but she would have to make a particular effort to keep that hidden, along with a few other things on her person. It would be kind of funny to show things like that to people who weren't used to them, but also a bad idea. Still, the reactions she imagined were entertaining.

Jhenezra smiled at hearing her name. It was rather nice compared to many of the human names he had picked up over time. They were always so silly sounding or hard to remember. Not to mention they were either too short or too long, never perfectly in between. However, this one seemed to be and that was a nice factor. “Shall I call you Miss Devon then or would you prefer a higher title?” He asked out of routine more then anything. Besides, it was an unwritten law to do so really. Especially since she was human and he was not.

“Hm?” He looked to her at hearing her question, a bit puzzled by it. “Sorry for that. It just isn’t common for a human to talk to me and you look a bit different then the ones I have run in to. Not that that is a bad thing of course. Just different.” His tone was rather plain as he spoke. He wasn’t actually in much or a sad or joyous mood. His expression was blank as well as he walked. What mood should he be in?

He shrugged his shoulders a bit before deciding to ask her a few questions. Why shouldn’t he? It wasn’t really rude id she had said she could. “Alright, are you from the West? I heard they dress differently out there. But if you are, why do you know English so well?” He was quiet for a short moment before deciding on a much better question. “Actually, you can ignore those. Why are talking to me? You are human, right? So why don’t have your nose up in the air like all the others?”

So that was a bit rude. He bit his lip at the idea but decided not to take them back. He truly wanted to know the answers to the simple questions.

"Just . . . Just Devon. I don't need a title. It makes me feel old." Devon laughed a little bit. Nobody ever gave her any sort of honorific title at home and it was strange to think it was custom.

She looked up at the sky to think about the next question he had asked. "As for that . . . well, yeah, I'm human. Am I supposed to be treating you differently?" She looked back at him again, genuinely curious. "I don't understand why . . . You've done nothing wrong so far to earn being treated like a lower class or anything, so I don't see a reason to do so."

That knowledge actually bothered her a bit. That meant more customs she was going against in this place. Granted, Devon had very little intent to try to blend in by treating other people like dirt for no discernible reason. She was sometimes known for not liking to be around other people and did feel a lot of them didn't deserve kind treatment, but that was a judgment she didn't pass until she had reasons. To do so on race, as Jhenezra said was normal, was disgusting.

“Just Devon? No Miss or anything? My, you really a different one. Never heard of doing such a thing, at least with strangers.” He mused to her. It was true, none the less. He had never been told such a thing before and so it was a queer thought. It might even take him a few tries to learn to do as she asked and not place a honorific in front of her name. He just prayed that he wouldn’t have to address her at all while they were in public at the main city. He was already beginning to wonder if he would be allowed in to the city. He could pose as a servant for the time being and they would have to let him through. That could work.

He tilted his head as she questioned his words. “But I am a lower class.” He said matter of fact. “You’ll be causing trouble if you think of me any differently.” He shrugged his shoulders again and looked ahead as they continued their walking. “You must be from really far away to think any differently.”

He turned around for a moment and walked backwards so he could face her. “Do you even know what I am?” he asked her curiously. He truly did need to know. If she didn’t even know what he was then there would be a dilemma. They would both have a difficult time getting in to the city then, that was for sure. He just prayed that she could answer correctly.

"I . . . well, no. I don't know." Devon's very slight smile disappeared again and was replaced by a concerned frown. "Sorry. I can't exactly explain everything about my life but I will say I don't know much about anything. Frankly, since you display sentience and intelligence and have yet to try to kill me, I can't say I care much."

Devon was beginning to worry that this was a problem. She hadn't figured her ignorance would cause any real problems. Maybe it wouldn't, but there was something about the way he reacted that made her concerned. She would have to make an effort to blend in, it seemed. Of course, she also had no intention of staying here long enough to need to blend in much.

"Sorry . . . I am from kind of an obscure place," she added, rubbing the back of her neck nervously with one hand. "That's kinda why I wanted to go to a library in the first place, to learn a little more, but I didn't count on there being as many cultural differences. This won't cause any problems, will it?"

Jhenezra watched Devon as he walked backwards, soaking in the words she spoke. He had never heard someone think in such a way. It confused him almost, but he didn’t show it. He didn’t want to look both inferior and dumb at the same time. He didn’t need such an appearance. He tilted his head again as she continued on. So she really was from somewhere far away? The idea intrigued him. He wanted to bombard her with questions on the subject and pry her of stories but he knew better. It was always best to work slowly at such matters. It would turn her away if he tried to ask so many things from her at once.

“Well, I guess we better get to the library then.” He said, a smile twisting on to his lips. He could tell she was growing worried and he didn’t like that. He was the one that should worry, not her. “It should help you and I can tell you everything else you should know over in this country.”

He finally turned to walk normally but slowed so he walked alongside her. “We should be at the city soon and since you don’t seem to know much about our differences, I have to be your servant while in the city. I am not allowed in if I am not and…well; I can’t quite take you to the library then, now can I? You really wont have to say much other then I belong to you if anyone asks. I can say everything else.”

Devon frowned slightly, but didn't argue. "Alright. I suppose if I have to." She sighed a little bit, then smiled again. "You seem to be going a bit out of your way for a chick you just met. Do you not have anything else you should be doing?"

She looked back ahead at their path and silently thought over her situation. How long was she going to be here? She doubted she would be back before the end of the day, so that would mean having to find a place to stay. Perhaps even getting some clothes just so she wouldn't stand out as much. She hoped she could get away with wearing pants instead of a skirt . . . Although the whole idea would be out the window if she couldn't get them free, considering a lack of money.

"Also," she added, before Jhenezra would have a chance to answer her first question, "Know of anywhere I could stay? I think I'm going to be here for awhile, at least in the area, but I have nowhere to stay and frankly, no money either. If not that's fine, no need to go through the extra trouble, but it's worth a shot."

Jhenezra grinned at hearing her question. “Of course I do but the real question is if I would rather be doing chores or going to a city I am usually forbidden from and unable to see. I think I rather take part in the ladder then the prior.” He mused in a matter of fact tone. It was all in truth really. He really would rather be helping a complete stranger then taking part in the tedious chores that everyone would normally force him in to doing. And so here he was, doing just that. “Why should you worry over such a matter anyway? Isn’t it best for yourself to have someone so willing to spend their time with you?”

As for her last question he had to think for a moment. He was rather hesitant over the matter. He could give her his home for the night but he wasn’t sure if she would actually accept it. He was a male after all and many females feared spending the night in an unknown male’s home. Wouldn’t she be just the same as them? Surely, she was very different then the usual but she couldn’t be that different. It was near to impossible.

“You are welcome in my home.” He finally replied after a small amount of silence from himself. “I do not have much room but it is shelter none the less. That is what you are in need of, no?” He looked to her, hoping not to be yelled at for the audacity of suggesting such an idea. It was worth a shot.

His silence returned as a large brick wall appeared on the horizon. He hadn’t expected it but he was growing rather nervous as they approached the gate to the main city. He wasn’t welcome there and surely that would be made known by its residents. He just prayed that they really would think of him as the odd girl’s servant and not give him any other trouble. He didn’t want to lose his head just from showing the stranger kindness.

His eyes fell to the ground as they reached two guards standing outside the gate. He bit his lip, almost scared to speak up when the guards asked their business of arriving to the city.

“Miss Devon wishes to pay visit to the library to view records.” He said to them, daring to look up to their faces as he spoke.

Devon was going to answer him, but found herself interrupted as they approached the entrance to the city. Immediately she shut her mouth, stood a little straighter, and tried to make herself seem a little more imposing. She wasn't sure it would work. She could tell the guards were looking at her strangely, most likely eying her foreign clothing and accessories. She tried to remain impassive, only giving a slight nod in agreement to what Jhenezra said.

What would she do if she couldn't get in? He had offered her shelter, and she had no choice but to take it. Maybe she could press him to tell her more about the culture and where she was. He seemed to gather how ignorant she was but had yet to react poorly, so rousing suspicion wasn't much of a concern. She had a feeling she wouldn't like what she would hear, though. Just what she knew so far made her wince.

She mentally shook her head and refocused her attention on the situation. The guards had to let her through without trouble. She ran through the words she would say if they tried to refuse her. It sounded like, as a human, she had some influence, but then again, she was foreign. It was all luck as far as she knew.