::She had intended to just sneek into the Inn and use the place to get cleaned up. But when she rounded the corner and moved into the back alley, she stumbled into a fight between mega beings of some sort. Little did she know one of them was responsible for pretty little cloak. She had been on her way to dash through the back door of the Inn when she heard the one call the other, Bob. She turned to see a figure she had no words to describe and that was when she passed out cold as night::

::The two fighters popped in and out everywhere, changing form, lights flashing blinding to the core. Cadence passed out a few more times before she finally reached the door. She never caught the woman's name, but she seemed almost as bewildered by the fight as Cadence was, except stronger of constitution, which was no surprise. Cadence hadn't had a descent meal in weeks. STill, she wasn't halucinating when the blanket met its way round her, as if protecting her from everything. She felt safe and warm. How could Gabe acuse Bob of all those things? She had seen nothing but kindness since....well, before they'd met or at least before she'd met him. But when Gabe turned his own weapon on himself and drove it through his own heart, Cadence couldn't take any more....she dashed into the Inn::

::Oddly, no one was alarmed about it. Though a kindly woman, whom Cadence heard called the Governor, gave her a shot of whiskey to calm her nerves. She was thankful for the gesture, which the Governor kindly placed onher own tab. Cadence had very little to give. It was the Governor who explained the daily ritual of the one called Gabe. She was semi distracted by the splash of a balloon filled with watered down collection of dung. It didn't really register about Gabe until he walked in through the door, alive and well. Cadence had passed out again::

::As she came to, her first thought was that of those left in the Alley. She darted to the back door and peered out, only to be relieved by the sight of no dead bodies and she thought she saw Bob and the woman talking in the distance. Either way, she felt satisfied ....no, relieved that Bob was all right. He'd been so kind to her and she wanted to do something for him. She had no idea what, but just....something::

::She hadn't intended to go back to the hut except for a few items she had been given from Nana. They were old and warn out books, but books that had seemed important to her mentor. They were locked away and Nana had never given her the key. It wasn't a normal key, but a magical lock anyway that bound the books together and locked from prying eyes. Not even Nana had ever been in them, but she always told Cadence that she would be the one to do it someday::

::She missed her Nana, who had taught her everything she knew. Cadence barely remembered anyone else but Nana taking care of her and there was no way now that she'd find out who. Nana died ten years prior, just after the pig farmer Jake Smarthy died in a fire. He had given them the job to clean his place and it had been their only income, as little as that had been. But it kept them out of the city and hidden, Nana would say often.....but she never would say from what::

::The light was dim inside the hut. It never hit her until now just how filthy she'd been here. A short time away from it, and she could tell the difference immediatley. What a mess she must've been to others, but it was unavoidable then. She was careful as she picked through the items in the makeshift chest, pulling out the books tied with magic. They were heavy and she put them under her cloak to hide them::

Bye Nana....Be well. I miss you, miss you lots.

::she wiped a tear away as she looked down to the place in the hut that she had burried Nana. The woman was too heavy for Cadence to move her, so she just burried her right there where she had laid in her poor excuse of a bed....now covered in dirt. She remembered that night and how Nana made her promise to get out of the dump, learn magic better, open the books and fulfill a destiny but remain hidden;:

Only thing is, I can't hide much any more Nana...or I'll never get 'em open. Wish me luck.

::Turning away, she noticed the note and the bar of soap left on the table. A smile brightened her face reading the note from Bob::

Aww....how thoughtful.

::she tucked the soap and the note away in her cloak and then left this part of her life behind her. It was time to step out in the world a little...::

::The voices! Bob told her the voices would come. She ignored them as best she could but they were there, slowly getting louder as time went on, the cacophony echoed in her mind, discorded moans, desperate pleas, harsh words, curses and blessings all grabbed at her very core. He'd warned her, hadn't he"::

STop! Just Stop!

::she woke up in the middle of the night screaming and suddenly stopped realizing she wasn't in her bed at Ravensheart school but in the bed she'd left behind in the dump...next to the mound of dirt that was her Nana's grave. Tears glistened in her eyes and she wept deeply. She didn't want this, but she was powerless to stop it. Or was she"::

Theys don't want yous back, Bob. They say yous is bad, that you'd eat me that yous a destroyer and ...and...other bad stuff. That's what Theron said, and Ryo and Kyo ...who used to be Gabe. Remember him' You's always fighting with him and he's different now, too. He's bad but he says you are" Not true, is it' Not true! I saw good in you....but theys won't believe me. Is there no one else that does" Am I the only one you were good to"

::her voice ended in a whisper. Pretty blues, marred by tear soaked bloodshot eyes, shifted her gaze to the place where Nana had kept the books. Oddly, they were there and the voices began a chant of some kind that she didn't understand, though the urge to open up those sacred tomes sent shudders of anticipation through her body.....yerning for some kind of fulfillment::

"I know this is hard to take all at once..."

::she heard his voice as if he were right there beside her, whispering in her ear. She closed her eyes, but the sound of the cupboard opening cause pretty blues to flash open wide. There were the books glowing strangely with dark blues, greens and black. Yes, even the black shone with a shimmer like stars ina night sky::

"Never fear anything..."

::she held tight to the amulet, still trying not to succumb to its power, it's pull, its lure....but the books. Was this how she was suppose to open them' Her hand reached out to them and the intensity of the glowing increased. She could feel the heat and power radiate from them. The closer she came to them the more she felt the lure from amulet, until she touched one and a sense of euphoria washed over her.....and the fingers on her hand desintegrated::

Aahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! STop! Just STop it!!

::she woke up in her bed at the dump. The pain was gone in her hand, that was now reattached to her....and the books were not on the empty shelf. They were no where in sight. It was as she had left it yet what was she doing here"::

Dern Nightmares...

::She got up out of the bed and wrapped a cloak round her sweat soaked body. Seh was drenched, exhausted and yet exhilerated all at the same time. Whatever happened she didn't know, but she felt a renewed strength within her..................so she took the long route back to the school::

::a laugh of hope turned into a laugh of delirium::

Where there's a blessing, there's a curse. Hope is born from hopelessness, and where there's a weakness there is always a strength to to protect it........or a weakness to be bypassed around the strength. It all depends on prospective.

::Nana had said those often to Cadence::

I don't know what that is, Nana. not any more. do I?

::a somber whisper through swollen lips that had gotten that way from biting and chewing on them so nervously. It was hard to concentrate on anything. she felt like her sanity was slipping away.........::