The small south breeze played with the grass upon the ground, as he walking down a stone paved path. Apparently it lead to the Great Stables that he has heard so much about. Great tales of their strength over other horses brought a smile to his face as he continued his walk. His leather boot's tips dragged upon the ground as he began to slowly approach the stables. His eyes slowly rose gazing up at the wooden arch above the door, untill he could not see it any longer from inside. Instantly the smell of horse dung filled his nose and made him shake his head a few times to overcome it. With a deep breath through his mouth he took his first few steps into the stables. He was greeted by the horses, behind their paddlocks. The sounds of their hooves hitting hard upon the ground gave him no intention on touching them. These horses were different from the ones he had been used to. Of course though, these horse had never seen him before.

His legs brought him to the back of the stables where a small colt was kept behind a low wooden fence. He slowly approached it, his hand extended out before him, so that he might be able to pet it. The horse, was calm awaiting for him to touch it's head. As soon as the hand connected the horse bucked, it's head colliding with his own. Sekuda was sent flying back into a pile of hay, while the horse hit the ground with it's hooves. Near by guards luaghed at Sekuda's misfortune as he slowly arose from the hay. His fist went down into his shirt pulling out a small bundle of hay.

Nearby, Kain saw the guards laughing at the enterance to the stables. He wondered what the big deal was; as if it really mattered but he was in the mood. He took his time in walking to the "Great Stables" as they called them. Smelled like manure and Kain smelled the reeking stench as he got close. Kain supposed it was because he had never been to a stable before. If he had, the smell probably wouldn't have caught him off guard. Nevertheless, Kain continued his approach on the stables. As he came closer, the guards that were there took the time to stop laughing and look at him. They just kind of stared at him for a moment.

Kain smirked, "Uh, is something funny...?" They shook their heads and continued to stare. Kain didn't know what they were staring at but, he didnt care. Maybe he had a cow-lick in his hair. Didn't matter, he continued to walk past them and took a peek in the stables. He noticed a man that was about his age lying in a bundle of hay. Kain raised an eyebrow and turned back to the guards, "Oh yeah, this is really hilarious, I walk all the way over here to see what you two are snickering about and it's just some guy who fell in some haystack."

Kain looked back at the man as he was gathering himself from the fall. Kain shook his head and scratched the back of his head, "You alright? Looks like you took a pretty nasty hit to your head."

Sekuda's hands went to work, pulling out hay and brushing off some dirt from his pants. Then stretched his lightly. "Stupid horse...." he muttered staring at it. His face then suddenly turned to the other man who had addressed him. He expected him to luagh at his misfortune as well. He blinked a few times before replying, "Uh..um..nothing bad really...Just a bump.." he said his hand reaching up to his head. He rubbed it gently feeling the edge of a large goose egg to come along. He blinked twice before walking up to the other man. "Hello, Name's Sekuda!" he said his hand extended out to shake. A large smile was printed on his face, as he awaited for the other man to shake it. The Guards just shook their head and wandered off through the barn, but kept a close eye of them incase any stealing of the horses were to take place.

Kain made a blank stare at the outstreatched arm. Kain waited a moment as if confused about this greeting, but shook it off and grabbed the mans hand and shook it. Kain looked up; Kain thought that he was tall, being about six foot three. This guy stood about seven feet tall! Kain answered with a polite response, "Nice to meet you Sekuda; I'm Kain..." He almost included his surname, but held his tounge and let those words go off into the night air.

Kain let go of Sekuda's hand and watched the guards walk off. He knew they were still paying attention, they were paranoid that one of the two would take a horse. Kain didn't even know how to ride. Thinking about this brought up Kain's question, figuring that he mind as well find out more about this tall character, "So, do you ride much?"

Sekuda kept on his big smile, "Yes, horses are my life.." he said looking around the stable. It was true, horses were his life. He remembered small bits of his child hood come back. Being in the stables with the horses alone in his old town was the best times during his life. The sounds of thier hooves while riding always filled his ears. He shook his head lightly, coming back to reality.

"I never was able to get use to the smell though.." he started with a small chuckle, "Gets me every time I come into a stable". His eyes followed after the guards as they took a seat ontop of a small pile of wood before returning his attention back to Kain. His smile slightly slid from his face, but still kept on as he asked the question back, "So Kain how about you? Do you like to ride horses, or is it just not your thing?"

Kain made a sidelong glance at the horses in the stable. Never rode a horse in his life and had always wondered what it was like. He'd probably fall down and get himself killed. "Nah, I've never rode a horse; I'm just a ruroni, wanderer..."

Kain waited for Sekuda's reply and as he waited he walked over to a pile of hay. He was about to sit down but as he did, he thought better of it. The smell of this place was getting to him and he was about to lose it. He looked down and realized that his sandle had found it's way into manure.

"Curse it all!"

Sekuda's eyes followed Kain towards the hay, then down to his footwear which had taken a liking to the brown pie, left by the horses. He managed to hold his laugh back, grabbing a rag from one of the support beam's hooks. "Here, wipe it off with this.." he said tossing him the dirty rag. He then turned around looking for a bucket of water. He then spotted one out of the corner of his eye.

He reached out with his arm, and snatched the bucket up. The bucket was heavier than it looked, truely meaning there was water inside, but he still looked inside to see if the water was clean enough to be used for washing. A smile came to his face meaning that it was indeed clean water. HIs looked back at Kain then put the bucket down infront of him.

"Here use this to clean your sandel, he said before taking a step back. He waited for Kain to clean the manure off of his sandel. "So........what brings you to the stables?" he asked him, trying to spark another conversation. "I mean, if you never ridden a horse before why would you whant to come here?"

At this point, Kain sat down and proceeded to perform the disgusting act of cleaning manure from his sandle. Kain heard Sekuda's question and thought about it for a moment. There was no particular reason for his coming here, but if he said that to Sekuda, that would sound like he was lying. He raced through ideas for a response, perhaps he was looking for a teacher so he could learn to ride or perhaps he was just curious. Curiousity would have to do for now, he didn't want to be sucked into a lesson on how to ride a horse.

"Curiousity; just walking around Kellen, stopped when I heard the guards joking and figured I'd stop by." Kain finished his task of cleaning his sandle and put it back on, twisting the heel into the dirt. He tossed the rag into the water as he finished and just left it there. Finally Kain asked the usual predictable question as a response, "So... I suppose you were here to get a horse or did you just happen to pass by?"

Sekuda's eyes watched Kain do the chore of cleaning off his sandle waiting for his response. When he did recieve it, he shrugged. He was hoping he could give Kain a lesson, or even just a few tips. He gave a small smile looking around at the horses for awhile before back to Kain. "I was just coming to look at the horses at first....but now I'm drawn to buy one...unfortunatly I do not have the money to a horse at the time..." he replied with a frown upon his face. His eyes watched some of the horses around him longingly. It had been such a long time since he has ridden a horse. Even though his life had been devoted to them.

"I guess, I'll have to wait...maby I'll get a job here in Kellen...maby even here..." he sniffed the air once. "I'll probly get the job of clearing out the manure though" he let a small chuckle pass, before looking over to Kain. Now it sounds like I'm begging for some money... he thought to himself luaghing inside. His mind scrambled around trying to think of something to say to keep the conversation moving, but nothing came to his mind.

Kain listened to the response and perked up a little when the subject of a job came up. Kain actually had gold for once, he hadn't spent it all on alcohol, but, there wasn't a reason to hire anyone. He had no specific job that needed to be done, no quests to run off and complete. Nothing... He frowned and looked down at the stable floor, thinking of what to say. There honestly was nothing to say or to do. He looked intently for the words to say and finally, they came to him, "A job?" he made a sidelong glance at the gaurds who were off a bit, not paying any attention, "I hear that working patrol here'll get you some money."

Kain looked back around at Sekuda, "But the last person I told that to was an wanted man..." He made another glance to the guards who were still talking amongst themselves and had stopped paying any attention to Kain and Sekuda. Kain reached into his pack and grabbed a flask from within, "Hope you don't mind." He lifted the flask to his mouth and drank in some of the Sake, his favorite alcoholic drink...

He looked over at the guards for a moment. ME? A guard.....seems like a boring job, I mean really just standing around all day, not like there is actually thieves around here....but then again..I'm at the stables and I'll be near the horses.... he thought this over for a few minutes. His eyes watching the flask lifted to Kain's mouth so he could drink. His mind riddled in the back of his head what liquid it was while he continued to think the job over. "Well...I guess I could see about that...I would be around the horses and it is much better than cleaning up manure" he said finally with a smile.

"What is that anyways?" he asked pointing with his extended index finger at the flask. "Drinking isn't that great of a habit...." he said with a short frown. "Then again I shouldn't be talking...I drink alot too..." he said with another smile on his face.

Kain continued to drink and then pulled the flask away from him and raised an eyebrow. Drinking wasn't all that bad to Kain, he used it to his advantage. He thought it made him a better fighter, making him brash, unpredictable, and irrational. However, he screwed the cap back on and then slipped the flask back into his pack. He looked at the pointed index finger and smirked. "Well then, let's go check out that job... I mind as well tag along... there isn't exactly anything better for me to do." He chuckeled to himself, "I wouldn't be in a smelly stable if I did."

Kain pivoted and began to walk towards the open doors of the stable, carefully checking every step, to see if there was anything there before he let his foot come down. He wasn't about to step in anymore of that mess. He expected Sekuda to follow but made a backwards glance at Sekuda just to make sure he was...

This is definantly going to be interesting and fun... just the way I like my life... Kain thought to himself. He put another smirk on his face and then added aloud, "You comin'?"

He smiled to himself thinking about spending his day hours with the horses. The sounds of their hooves and mouthes filled his head now, or maby it was just the fact he was in the stables now. He snapped back to realality, Kain speaking to him. "Yeah coming!" he said quickly. His ran after Kain catching up to him within miliseconds. "Where are we going anyways?" he asked with a blank stare. "I don't asactly know who to ask for the job, probly the owner of the stables" he said looking around.

His mind danced around thinking of who the owner could be. An image of a fat old man, with a cooked chicken on his lap filled his mind, making him shake his head with light horror. "I don't even know who that is anyways" he said, looking over to Kain. "If you don't know I'll go ask the Guards quickly.." he said now glancing over at them.

Kain realized that the only way they'd be able to get a job here was if they worked in the day. The night guards were happily talking over by the open stables and Kain really didn't want to take their job unless of course that was the only option. He weighed his options for a moment, they could just walk up to the door and ask for a job or they could ask the guards about where to find a job. Kain figured it'd be best if they didn't pull any punches and brought their proposal straight up to the guards first before looking into it further.

"Sure, that'll probably be for the best..." Kain nodded and fidgeted, "I'll be here when you return." Kain simply stood there in the night, waiting for his new found friend to ask about where to find a job. Kain breathed in the cold night air and sighed. All of this for a horse, he wondered to himself, seems like a loyal purpose for a job. Kain wasn't greedy, honestly he was just looking for something to do, while at the same time earned himself some money; which he would try and save, instead of spending it on his precious sake... He smiled... precious, nothing precious about it...

"Alright I'll be right back!" he said with smile and new found energy in his voice. He ran off towards the gaurds, stopping from a distance to approach slowly. "Hello there!" he said with a smile and a small wave at his side. The guards looked over at him blankly. "Wot do ye whant?" one of them asked standing up straight. Sekuda held a luagh back as the man sucked in his stomach trying to look stronger than he really was. "I was wandering if you could point me in the direction of a good job? Maby here?" he asked waiting for a reply. "A job eh? I don't know where you could find one for someone as clumsy as yourself!" the same guard said with a luagh. "Just tell me where I can get a job..." Sekuda shook his head awaiting for them to answer his question.


"Go to the tavern, maby you can get a job there.." they said getting bored of him instantly. Sekuda nodded with a thank you then ran back to Kain. "At the tavern I guess...doesn't look like there is a job here" he said letting out a deep breath.

Kain watched Sekuda go over but paid no attention to the conversation between him and the guards. Instead, he looked up into the night sky, watching the stars as they twinkled in and out. The moon shed a bright light down upon him as he stood there, just staring into the sky. The silence was haunting, he was out of hearing range of Sekuda and the guards. He continued to watch the moon until a flash caught his eye, a star burst into a bright light and skidded out of the sky, headed towards the earth. Before it reached it's destination however, it disappeared into the dark night sky. Kain jumped when Sekuda came up to him.

Kain listened to what Sekuda said and then smiled, "To the tavern we go, if there isn't a job here." Kain knew exactly where this tavern was. It was not the first time he had been to Kellen's Tavern, as a matter of fact, it was one of the first places that he came too after... those times. He took in a deep breath of night air again and sighed, exhaling it into the night. His breath was a cloud that disappeared soon after it came out of his mouth.

Kain raised his hand, "Well," he said, nodding, "Off we go then..." he walked down the path that headed into the heart of Kellen, assuming that Sekuda would follow...

Sekuda looked up at the sky, watching the moon intentively before following after Kain. He wandered about some of the jobs that the Tavern may offer him. Probly some dead end one, giving a cup of beer to a fat man in the corner. He shook his head reminding himself it was for the horse. He smiled while imagining, himself riding on a horse, through fields. The air rushing past his ears, and the sound of the horse galloping through the grass. He closed his eyes smiling continueing to think about this.

"So, Kain...how long are you going to be here in Kellen..?" he asked continueing to follow him. "I'm just staying till I can by myself a horse......unless of course I hear about a better job somewhere else..then I'll head there" he said, before closing his mouth, staring up at the night sky awating for Kain to reply to his question.

(You can start the Topic in the tavern if you whant.)