The flames of Fiore.

Welcome to Burning Thorn

1203 , The outskirts of Magnolia. Tuesday the 9th of March , two days after the death of Thanatos

Looking down at the bustling city from a hill on the outskirts of Magnolia , a city surrounded by hills , Cain stood in awe as the sun ducked behind the horizon and burnt the sky. His father had told him of cities and town before , but the most people Cain had seen in one place his entire life was the small farmers village in the valley in which had roughly twenty five people living in it , but that was nothing compared to this. The lights shone brightly upon streets and roads packed full of people and stores. The sounds were incredible , all the conversations , laughter and shouting , People drinking and sharing stories. Then there was the color , the endless color , he couldn't name half of them. He was amazed at the diversity , But what really grabbed his attention , was the smells. Oh the smells. The scent of foods he had never encountered before , the smell of sweat , perfumes and deodorant. He stood there staring at the people in wonder. What were they all doing? And what were the strange sounds and the movements the people made to the rhythm of these sounds? He lost all interest in the reason he came here and became lost in the crowd , exploring the new experiences around him. Glancing around , he realized that everyone was wearing clothes with bright and vibrant colors and he suddenly felt very under dressed. Looking down at his own attire , he was wearing his usual outfit. It consisted of black , lots and lots of black. Black leather finger less gloves that lead up to his elbows with straps fastened with silver buckles , an unbuttoned black leather trench coat that had silver edges and buttons , with a high collar that reached his ears , that went down to his ankles and had its sleeves ripped off , no shirt , revealing his well muscled body , though the lower half of his face was covered by a black scarf , and he was also wearing his black jeans with silver stitching and a belt with a silver skull buckle on it , black leather combat boots that went up to his knees with the same straps as his gloves. He kept walking , unsure of where he was or where he was going. Soon , without realizing it , Cain stumbled into a circle of people , inside the circle there were people in pairs of a boy and girl , holding hands and swinging their bodies in time with the beat that a group of people on an elevated platform seemed to be making with some round shaped instruments , or at least , that's what Cain thought Thanatos called them. After a few minutes of trying to find a pattern in what the pairs were doing , someone suddenly grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him into the middles of the dancing couples. After getting over the shock of being dragged around by a stranger , Cain looked at who had grabbed him and was shocked. Holding his hands and laughing was a girl. she appeared to be around 16 years old , the same age as Cain. She had round brown eyes and matching shoulder length hair , round and soft looking cheeks and an adorable smile on her face with a slight red tin to her skin just under her eyes. "Come on , lets dance!" she shouted over the noise of the crowd and music. She was wearing a loose light blue singlet and revealing denim shorts. Cain had no idea what was going on , who was she? why did she grab him like that? and what was this dance? Soon he found himself doing his best to mimic those around him in an attempt to dance , he didn't know who this girl was but for some reason he didn't want to disappoint her. Now they were both swaying to beat and laughing uncontrollably , Cain couldn't remember being this happy before , it was as if all his problems and worries had vanished in an instant. Lost in the moment of the event , Cain and his new friend wandered all around the town , laughing and a few times they bumped into some people who seemed to know the girl , making Cain feel kinda left out. It was much later when the music finally started to die down and shifted into a slower , quieter tone. As the crowd started to thin out , Cain and his friend bumped into her friends again , and in the midst of the laughter he finally found the courage to ask for her name "By the way , um , i uh , never asked you what your name is." He managed to say , and was about to ask for it in a more formal fashion when she giggled. Caught off guard by this , Cain wondered if had said something humorous. "Are you alright? Did i do something out of place?" he asked , confusion written on his face. Her smile only confused him more "No , nothings wrong. Its just i only now realized I've been running around the festival with a total stranger. Um , my name is Samantha , Samantha Yuris." She said proudly. Then for some reason her face began to turn a light pink instead of the usual tan as she turned away slightly while twirling a stray curl of her hair and said "But you can call me Sam if you want." Cain smiled and reached out with his right hand and introduced himself in the only formal way his father had taught him. "It's a pleasure to meet you Sam , my name's Cain , Cain Grim." He said after a slight bow. After the introductions , Cain and Sam walked through the city , talking about any topic they could , although , Cain avoided his past. When Sam suddenly gasped and grabbed Cain's hand and started running towards a nearby stone hall. The construct was rather large and had big wooden double doors , and over the doors was a large symbol. It appeared to a burning rose with six thorns. Sam burst through the doors and announced "I'M BAACCKKK! AND I'VE GOT A FRIEND!" There were only a few people in the small hall the doors opened into. A couple of people sat at what seemed to be a bar to the left of the doors , and a group of five playing cards at one of the six large tables in the center of the room. All heads turned their way and everyone brought a finger to their lips "SSHHHHHHH" They all shushed Sam in unison then pointed to the far right corner where a big fireplace that had a rather small in proportion fire crackled away. Next to the fire was sleeping elderly woman sitting in a rocking chair with a blanket on her lap. Sam instantly became quieter in everything she did "Oh , sorry" She whispered , then dragged Cain off to the bar. After Sam ordered two pints of the strongest drink they had , (What that meant Cain had no idea) Cain asked "Where are we?" as he looked around. He had to admit , it was a rather cozy place. "This is the hall for the guild i'm going to join." She whispered excitedly as their drinks were served by the bartender , a man seemingly in his early twenties with short black hair and slight stubble. "Since i'm only sixteen , i can't become a full member for another two years. But in the meantime , i attend the guilds academy and learn to perfect my magic as much as possible." Cain had been taught about guilds by his father , they were made from groups of wizards , and could become very powerful. "So you're a wizard? That's cool." Cain thought aloud. Sam smiled a little and started to redden at Cain's comment. This caught his attention and he decided to sate his curiosity. "Are you ill? your face seems to turn red every so often. Maybe you have a fever?" At this , Sam's face turned a dark crimson and the bartender laughed while he dried a glass mug. "N-n-no , it's nothing" She suddenly found the grain of the wood that made the bench for the bar very interesting. A quiet laugh rose up from the other people at the bar. "A-anyway , we should drink up , it's getting late." Stuttered as she took a swig from her mug. The barkeep looked up at the clock on the wall of the bar. "But it's only eleven thirty..." he muttered , then shrugged , usually Sam stayed up till nearly sunrise during festivals. Cain stared into his cup then removed his scarf and lifted it to his lips and took several large gulps before he started coughing. "My throat!" He managed , everyone looked over , confused at first , then they all rushed over to help. "I-it burns" Cain choked out before falling back off his stool and onto the ground.