<div class="floatleft">(http://imageshack.us/a/img6/3390/ucq.png)<br/></div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">Ralena Tharin</span><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Poulbelter Mansion ~ Leolt city streets<br/><strong>With:</strong>Alone<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Ralena waved Alice off peacefully while she rolled out to explore the town on her own, before she turned back towards Luca, both hands lightly pressed against the back of her head as she listened to Luca's idea. "Why don't we just split up for now? I'm gonna be roaming the streets though, so if you come across anything, feel free to come let me know and we can put our heads together to sort it out. Until then though, see ya at dinner!" With that, Ralena brought her hands down and gave Luca a bright, encouraging thumbs-up before turning around and taking her own leave of the mansion. None of the team would know it yet, but this little split up operation would end up complicating their situation significantly, even if all four of them would end up coming out of it unscathed for the time being.<br/><br/>In Ralena's case, she was walking down the streets when a young man (http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8476/x6f8.jpg) a couple years older then her passed her on the street. This man would come to a halt before turning around to face her, seemingly staring at the young woman for a few seconds before Ralena caught on to it, turning herself around as well. Just from making eye contact with the man, Ralena could feel the hairs on the back of her neck pick up a little bit, and she instinctively took a small nudging step backwards. However, the man approached, his stare cold and intimidating as she approached Ralena. When he got close enough, Ralena also spotted a few things that were out of the ordinary. This guy had the same hair color, same eye color, and even a few similar facial features to her... Who was he? And why was Ralena feeling this sickening feeling in her gut as he came closer and closer?<br/><br/>The man stopped a few feet from her, his gaze growing more harsh as he held his position.<br/>"Don't pursue us any more."<br/>"W-wait... What?"<br/>"You heard me."<br/><br/>The man extended his arm out, and Ralena stood shocked as bright red energy seemed to emerge from his arm, collecting in his palm before extending out into the form of a longsword, which he pointed in her direction. With the sole exception of the energy's color, his power seemed to be the exact same as hers!<br/>"Do not pursue the Shadow Crows anymore, or we'll have no choice but to crush you."<br/><br/>His threat would be replied to by Ralena taking a small step back, dropping into a defensive position as she extended her arms outward, channeling her blue energy into her fists to encase them in powerful looking gauntlets.<br/>"Not a chance, pal. As a matter of fact, I've got a couple of questions to ask you...<br/><br/>The fact that she had the same power as him seemed to shock the man, causing him to retreat a small bit and enter a fighting stance of his own.<br/>"Hmph... So you're a rejected too..."<br/>"A-A rejected? What are you talking about?"<br/>"..."<br/>"Answer me!"<br/><br/>The man looked around, noticing that the two of them were attracting quite a crowd. Upon realizing that this could jeopardize both his guild and his mission, he withdrew his sword and turned his back to Ralena "If you don't know, then it's better off that way. Forget we ever met here and go back home, that's your first and only warning." With that, the man started to walk off, dipping into a nearby alleyway with Ralena hot in pursuit. "Hey! Get back here! HEY!!!" Barging into the alleyway after him, Ralena skidded to a halt after realizing that the man was nowhere to be seen. Still, even if she wasn't out on a mission to bring him down, she'd need to see him again anyway. He knew something about her, her blank past. Now that she had this small lead, she wasn't going to stop until she got as much truth out of him as she was going to get, mashing it out of him if she needed to.<br/><br/>.................................................................................................<br/><br/>Just when Alice was on the verge of giving up on her hunt, she'd overhear a couple of guys talking about a resident card shark in town, some random newcomer who always seemed to master the table even when other people had hands that would be sure fire wins if they were up against anybody else. He seemed to be the kind of guy who knew<em>exactly</em>when to fold, when to keep, and when to put the pressure on his opposition. Since he was new in town, it wasn't likely he'd have much information on the shadow crows, but was Alice<em>really</em>the kind of girl who would be able to turn the other way after hearing a couple of gamblers complain about somebody who was too good for them to handle? Odds were extremely high that she wasn't.<br/><br/>Assuming she went and asked the two for more information, she'd be given directions to a nearby bar, where a group of card players were holed up in a corner table among themselves. Right in the dead middle, sitting around a mountain of jewels and game tokens, sat a red haired man (http://i.imgur.com/Blj66.jpg) with a hand of about three cards that he kept right around his chest level. Looking up at the blonde newcomer, he'd put on a little bit of a smirk while his fellow card players spoke out in outrage. "What the hell? Now some little girl wants to join the table?" "This table has become a joke ever since you joined, Red!" "We've become the laughing stock of every gambler in the city!" With all of their venting done towards 'Red', they turned towards Alice. "Sorry, little girl, there's no more free space for you to tap in with." "That's right, the pot's full."<br/><br/>It was at this point that 'Red' spoke up, his cool smile not faltering for a moment. "I'll cover her buy in." More outrage. "YOU'LL DO WHAT!?" "Are you done insulting us yet!?" "Who the hell do you think we are!?" 'Red', wincing a bit at all the yelling, shrugged and tossed Alice a small handful of jewels. "The table gets boring when it's filled with people who are too angry to think straight, it gets too easy to read them... And besides," He flashed Alice a confident smirk, his eyes glinting. "This could turn out pretty fun... And I'll win that money back by the time she leaves anyway... You in, little lady?"<br/><br/>............................................................................................<br/><br/>Whenever Luca headed out into the streets, likely a couple of minutes after Ralena left, he'd only need to ask a couple of people about the Shadow Crows, or look in a few too many places for information, before a grey haired man (http://moe.animecharactersdatabase.com/uploads/chars/5688-1132988491.jpg) with a sword on his belt started to follow behind Luca. He would continue to follow Luca until either the Fairy Tail mage finally detected him, or the two of them were alone... Or until Luca sensed the man's presence and then led the two of them to where they would be alone, which ever came in first. No matter what way it happened, once the two of them were isolated, the grey haired stalker would pick up the pace of his steps, stopping when the two of them were almost dead even. If Luca tried to retreat in any way, he'd find the Grey haired man right beside him all the faster, as though this guy had warped the fabric of space and time in order to appear right next to him.<strong>"Guild mage. You're not welcome here."</strong><br/><br/>Just as soon as he had appeared, the guy had vanished again, his body almost vanishing into the mist around Luca as he backed away several feet to where he had started.<strong>"Abandon your mission, or your entire team is going to die."</strong><br/><br/>..........................................................................................<br/><br/>The 'maid' (http://fireden.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/marie1.jpg.jpeg) that followed Lyuk into the bathhouse might have had an innocent, kind smile on before stepping inside, but once the two of them were alone her demeanor would change, if only in a subtle way at first. Whenever he settled into the water, her hands would find his shoulders, rubbing into them as she leaned in and whispered gently into Lyuk's ear. "And here I thought that all Guild mages were uptight, serious, and boring... I suppose I was mistaken. Still... Your kind shouldn't put your noses where they don't belong. You might find something<em>dangerous</em>." Even while speaking in such ominous words, her massage was<em>heavenly</em>... Wait... Was Lyuk starting to lose the feeling in his arms? It was probably too late at that point, but it was like this woman's massage was causing his entire body to go numb... No, it was more then that. Whenever Lyuk tried to move, it would be like his body had somehow been paralyzed.<br/><br/>The woman would gently wrap her arms around Lyuk, her forearms gently cradling his shoulders while her bust pressed a little bit into the back of his shoulderblades. With her lips only centimeters away from his ear, she continued. "Your kind is better off in the sunlight, fighting off big scary monsters... Rather then crawling through the shadows, looking for<em>the real</em>monsters, don't you agree? I mean, for most people the dark is so scary and unknown. But for the people you're chasing, it's home... Nobody would blame you if you just walked away, you know... If you went back to the world you know and love. I mean, who knows what sorts of nasty things could happen to you, if you keep chasing after shadows..."