Run, boy, run.

[07:07] Holly Hargrave says, "Greetings, Jericho."
[07:07] Jericho says, "Oh. Hey, Holly."
[07:11] Lion lets out a white puff of breath out her mouth:maybe in Jericho's face. They seemed to be on slightly different wavelengths, but Lion does not look entirely confused. She knew her condition was rather different from his at the moment.

"No, no... I have always found the cobblestone even easier to travel through. Stumbling through the brush and vines isn't something I miss for the world." Lion has been forming clear preferences for her abode of choice, something that becomes quickly apparent upon knowing her...

And then she shuts up. Two added eyes were too many. Lion freezes up.
(Lion)
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[07:15] Holly blinked a few times as she'd apparently stumbled upon the midst of a conversation about, well, possible civilization and seemingly the forests in comparison. It brought a curl to the corners of her lips to hear.

Even as Lion freezes, Holly tried moving the conversation forth with a warm smile.

"Well, 'stumbling' through the wilderness has always been quite pleasant to me. You're reminded of just how... alive and thriving everything may be." She spoke, strolling closer as to not raise her voice for compensation of the distance.

"Well, who's your friend here, Jericho?" The young lady inquires, looking for an introduction.
(Holly Hargrave)
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[07:22] He turns to Holly, blinking. Once he registers that this woman was...well, who she was, he waves, being quite polite about her wandering nearer.

And then he steps to the side, flourishing with his arms as if to present Lion to Holly, knowing full well that she would be uncomfortable with it. He's grinning like the Chesire Cat - he doesn't know how much of what they'd just said Holly'd heard, but he doesn't seem to mind, and if he does, it isn't immediately evident.

"This is Lion. She's very important to me, but pretty shy. Lion...this is Holly." Alive and thriving...hmm. "I wish I were thriving. Unfortunately, I'm just alive," he deadpans.

The boy's hands return to his pockets after his theatrics, and he swipes underneath his nose.

"Holly's kinda famous 'round these parts, yep yep."
(Jericho)
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[07:30] Truthfully, if Jericho hadn't introduced her as Lion, she might have gone back to an old habit and use her fake alias... Tiger. For situations like these.

Lion didn't look her greatest as Jericho presented her. Her eyes looked distant, clouded over. ...The morning dew of the grass becomes crystalized in faint frost.

"That is me," she murmurs, "Except for the shy part. I cannot afford to be shy or get picked up by a prosperous noble whilst hating their class." Well, that was an accidental bit of sass... and she meant to just talk about her clothes with him instead.

"Famous around these parts: does that mean Osrona, Osrona's outer walls, or--" Lion was rather out of touch with the people, "But you do look familiar... like someone I have seen in the Bazaar dozens of times."
(Lion)
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[07:39] "Oh? Lion? What a wonderfully unique name you have there. I don't believe there's any other I know who goes by it. I am Holly Hargrave." Holly notes with her smiled sustained throughout the entirety of this conversation.

She's seen one other Holly around, which always irked her secretly. "Ah, you dislike the nobilities and such? Not an uncommon opinion." She spoke, not fazed by that.

She wasn't a noblewoman after all.

"A-...ah?" She chuckles a little awkwardly. "Famous? I wasn't aware of that!" It really was a first.

As for... The bazaar? If she recalled correctly, that must've been the marketplace in Messaris.

"Ah... Mayhaps you've seen me passing through - or my twin. We co-own a business, one of our stores resides within the underground marketplace."
(Holly Hargrave)
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[07:45] "My namesake is shared with symbols-- it seems." But Lion thought that it was much too late to change it. Lion just had to shoulder through with being Lion.

"I am-- not from Osrona. The significance of Leonaus and even the Lion Knights only became apparent when I stepped in the city..."

With that, she does wave her hands around rapidly. A Lion, she does not feel at this moment. Even Lion would disdain herself if she saw this display from afar... un-Lionlike.

"But I do not... dislike nobles," she has a large urge to clear up the air. Lion barely had experience with any beyond a woman named Lady. "Cicero is even more generous than I am."

Her jab at Jericho seems to have been misconstrued.
(Lion)
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[07:53] "I've never quite seen you anywhere until now however. Do you just happen to frequent outside of the walls, rather than the more populated areas of the place?"

And then a faint memory snapped into her mind which evoked the raising of her brows. Before they'd lower to neutrality once more.

"Nonetheless, are you a part of a guild or organization of any sort - maybe a craftswoman? I'm just curious about you, I suppose. You do seem pleasant enough." Holly spoke, offering a nod.

"More-so than that, mayhaps you possess magical capabilities? Do you?"

By this point, Holly was resting her back against the tree - practically reclining in casual conversation.
(Holly Hargrave)
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[08:00] Lion's eyes slide toward Jericho, even during the conversation with Holly. It looked as though she had some meaningful words for him later.

"White does blend in, with the buildings and the many Clergy: so-- sometimes I do see people, before they might see me.

So mostly, I do practice magic by myself, and make things to sustain myself off of, nothing to sell. Nobody... would buy reed-woven coverings or twig huts in the marketplace."

... Lion is silent for a moment, but her mouth was still opened. There was something she wanted to say to Holly now, quite badly.

Will she miss her chance--? No, Lion is more than a vagrant. Lion is... Lion is...

"I am the Drain Gang," she declares!
(Lion)
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[08:07] Holly arched a brow with the mention of her being in the 'Drain Gang'. She couldn't help the compulsion to ask her own question at that statement. After all, that was synonymous with the sewers and the notorious individuals rumoured to linger within its depths.

"Ah... Now I'm curious."

Holly aims an index towards Lion as her lips part.

"Are you a part of the Syndicate?" Holly asks on what almost seemed to be a baseless accusation, but her careful observation just made her curious.

"Reina did mention she had a score to settle with someone named 'Lion' whilst on I was on patrol with them - and going on about how she'd been attacked by the Syndicate in the past."
(Holly Hargrave)
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[08:08] Paca Kuma says, "..."
[08:11] Elijah suddenly perked up with that, glancing around the tree he was leaning against.
(Elijah Soleis)
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[08:15] Lion stops. The cold morning air only grows colder, yet her body grows warm, red spreading over her face like a burn.

"Drain Gang is not Syndicate. W-We are just... Drain Gang. We want to live free and happily..." she starts out mumbling. Everywhere, she sees more and more eyes of morning stragglers passing her by.

Her calm words stop completely. "Who the fuck--" Lion growls, and her face grows ugly. "This 'Anderson' that accused me... Jasper on patrol... and who the fuck is Reina?!"

Her voice just booms. No regard to public is taken as her voice ripples the water.

"I have never even been near one of those Cloaks. If she wants to fight me so bad, just saying that is enough of a start!"
(Lion)
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[08:21] His eyes narrow.

Holly was definitely asking questions that were just downright invasive, and the implications of those questions were ones that he'd be asking about later, but for now? His gaze is settled on Holly, the lad seeming unenthused, now - if not downright disdainful. A deep frown mars his facial expression.

Ah. A façade from the start, an invasive line of questioning praying on deception. He genuinely wasn't sure whether or not Lion was involved in any wrongdoing, but he does know the last time that the knights were involved in questioning someone he cared for...

Their head had wound up rolling at his feet.

"Right. So..."

His head cranes back and forth between the two women. Around the corner, he can hear Elijah's voice, as well...

The Code, Jericho.

"Speed up the accusation here. This is boring. An' make sure you're sure." The polite tone he's taken with Holly in the past is absolutely absent at the moment.
(Jericho)
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[08:22] With the chocolatey boy's approach and panicked, rambling murmur, Elijah's focus drifted Paca and the sudden rise in tensions nearby. The blonde's index finger centers against his lips with a 'shush gesture' and a slight smile, then he steps forward and pats the boy's shoulder to get a closer view of the potential confrontation.

Lion's roar, for lack of a better word, has him watch intently, emerald-green eyes thinning out with a focused look. "..I like the girl's spirit, if nothing else," he added quietly, but he falls to silence soon after to allow Holly to continue uninterrupted.
(Elijah Soleis)
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[08:27] Paca Kuma whispers something.
[08:28] Holly partially expected a reaction as volatile as this - though it similarly felt quite out of character in comparison to how Lion carried herself up until this point. Holly's head cants to the side a few degrees whilst observing her.

...Why did she begin to name those within the Order with a growing venom to her expression and tone. Jasper and Anderson…

"...Oh?" The Cadet murmured, taking a moment or so to articulate herself to this sort of situation.

How... angry.

"Such an outburst..." Holly murmured, the interest in her expression having grown, albeit a little. She could've just said it's a misunderstanding.

"What do Jasper and Anderson have to do with this? And, if you don't know Reina by name, she does your own and not only a score - but 'official' business to settle." Reina's tone was what made her especially take this serious, even if there were two individuals named 'Lion' by chance. Holly only knew one; right here.

She didn't seemed dissuaded at the moment, and she'd continue as normal - despite Jericho's request and the slow flocking of others.
(Holly Hargrave)
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[08:28] Paca Kuma whispers something.
[08:28] Akira Kurokaiyo whispers something.

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[08:38] When the brief quiet and the calmer words follow from Jericho, Holly, and the strangers alike, Lion looks... ashamed, maybe perplexed.

Lion somewhat knew to try diffusing the situation before Jericho attempts to make someone else's head roll. If Lion knew him as well as she thought she did, she figured that he'd be worse with authority than she was... but she wasn't thinking straight, was she?

"Jasper-- a knight of some sorts came down to the sewer," she huffs, "It was... quick, but he heard word that I was a spy for the Syndicate."

She shakes her head, "Like 'Gan says, we have not seen those Cloaks in a long, long time. And I was too afraid to go in for one of their meetings that one time..." And that took her years back.

Lion wonders if talking to knights was always like this: where no matter what she said, she only dug herselfinto a deeper pit. Was this how Osrona was kept rigidly standing.

"And Jasper said that the man who accused me was an 'Anderson...' Do you know how it feels, to have people coming out for you without even meeting them? Even this Reina: who has 'official business' but wants to just beat my head in, and..."

Lion stops talking. Her head bows down, and more puffs of cold hair rise out as she takes deep breaths.
(Lion)
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[08:43] There's nothing for him to do here but to wait. As soon as she begins rambling, he's familiar with what this is - there was a tendency for her to do this, in crowds, whenever seclusion was broken. Dealing with the knights, he just has to hope they don't take it as some kind of admission of guilt.

He can't help but feel bad, too - his own eager attempt to introduce the two of them, his friends, had led to a questionable, rapidly escalating verbal altercation that has him feeling downright unpleasant.

But his emotions are difficult to track, behind a stone face. It's not too different from Kirai Kurokaiyo's very own poker face - some things were passed, and not by blood. They were taught, by the only father you ever knew, even if he wasn't really your father. His expression, guarded as it was, said nothing of how he felt.

But he stands aside Lion and let her say whatever she'd say, not unlike what Elijah was doing.
(Jericho)
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[08:43] The pleasant facial features of Elijah softened some with Lion's explanation, a look of understanding with a touch of sympathy. The tall knight leaned towards the Cadetm, quietly speaking a few words.
(Elijah Soleis)
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[08:44] Elijah Soleis whispers something.
[08:45] Jericho whispers: Whatever they say or do, I'm here for you. Be calm.
[08:46] Lion says, "I-- guess so..."
[08:48] Holly notes the approach of Elijah without glancing in his direction, the entirety of her attention had been aimed Lion at this moment. Things were all-too-convenient at the moment, or, well... Just a very odd situation as a whole.

When it came to details, Holly was excessively pedantic to almost a fault - which could be seen as a good thing most of the time. But, was it right now? Lion mentioned having near been one of the Syndicate, now saying she just hadn't seen one in a long time.

"...'Gan'?--" She cut herself off as Elijah leans in and whispers - her gaze finally breaking from the girl as it shifts to the Exarch.

She gave a nod, whispering back to the man before glancing back towards Lion.

"Well, that'll be all in that case." Holly spoke, seemingly disengaging the miniature investigation.
(Holly Hargrave)
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[08:49] Holly Hargrave whispers something.
[08:50] * You have been awarded 1 Roleplay Points! *
[08:51] Elijah Soleis whispers something.
[08:51] Elijah Soleis whispers something.
[08:52] The smile that is then directead at Holly is appreciative and has the softness of a boy not quite yet having escaped adolescence, a small bow of the head following his quiet words. Afterwards, his gaze drifted to Lion and he straightened out some before slipping away. He's done his part - as subtle as it was.
(Elijah Soleis)
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[08:52] Holly Hargrave whispers something.
[08:52] Elijah Soleis whispers something.
[08:52] Lion feels... guilt, and it might show in her strained expression. She would wish for her oversized hood to replace Melora's, now.

She does shuffle closer to Jericho-- the one thing that feels familiar, even if Lion is not exactly comfortable around her friend.

And was willing to smack him until Holly showed up.

"'Gan is one of my best friends... he knows all the ins and outs of the sewers where I stumble in the dark."

Lion shrugs petulantly, then says nothing more. Seems the conversation is done.
(Lion)
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[08:59] Holly would dip her head lightly - in clear semblance of a nod - towards Elijah as he'd slink back around the treeline and out of sight for the time being. She'd extend this gesture towards Jericho and Lion respectively.

"Ah. I see, I see." She spoke, maybe finding herself in thought for a moment before smiling ever so lightly.

"Nevertheless, farewell you two. I'll be off now." Holly announced, pivoting on her heels to continue on her way at a leisurely pace.

Unless anyone else needed her attention and interrupts, that is.
(Holly Hargrave)
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[08:59] Lion says, "Whatever, I'm leaving too."
[09:00] Jericho raises his arms up behind his head, sighing exasperatedly. What a bother.

"Later," he deadpans to Holly.
(Jericho)