"If you're looking for anyone in there mister, your a few years too late. That place closed down years ago. I remember some brothers and a sister owned it, some well to do family or something. Used to be a school of some kind, or something. Anyways, they ran out all the sudden and never looked back I guess, cause no one has been around since. That was.. Uh, I'd say three, maybe four years now."

Brian remained where he was, and quietly regarded the old building front. It's face weathered, and in somewhat ruin.. The only real evidence on the outside that lent credence to the words of the woman who had spoken to him was the sign atop the door that read "Rav-n-l--k D--o", with it's missing letters and secerely cracked surface. Brian's eyes slowly panned back and forth a moment, as he then closed them a bit. He recalled they day they had first opened this place, their second and last business venture before he left.

"I wish I could remember more, I was a bit busier back then, but I recall it was a school of sorts.. They taugh-"

"Fighting..."

"Fighting? What do you--"

"I mean they taught fighting here, this was a 'Dojo'.. The Ravenlock Dojo. That is exactly what this place was."

"That's the name! You're right! Anyways, I'm surprised I forgot that name, especially with how their names are in the papers, especially the gossip sections. I remember the lavender haired one, what a cutie, and then that older one.. That was an angry boy, if I ever saw one. Such anger and rudeness, I swear! But the sister, she was a gem if I ever saw one, such a pretty girl. Hard to believe she was related to them. But hey what can you do--"

"Family is a mind set, not a right.."

"Huh? What's that mean, mister?"

"It means they were related, more than any family by blood. And still are no less. Anyways, I am off track. Please forgive me. This place looks decent still, no one ever moved in at all.. That's good. squatters are a pain to deal with.. So-"

"Squatters? Wait a minute, you are taken this place?"

"I can't take what is already mine, my dear."

Taking the steps a bit, Brian produced a key and slipped it into the keyhole and turned.. Rather tried to turn. Nothing happened.

"Your eh? Fat lot a bad key will do for ya, mister."

A friendly snicker came forth from the woman, as Brian produced a small can in hand, and sprayed the key hold a few times. Then said can was tucked into his coat pocket once more, and the key tried again. This time, it gave way and the lock turned as the door opened with a loud creak, and shuffle of paper on the floor as piled letters, and such were shifted from their multi-year rest. Dust kicked a bit, and could still be seen in the air, as the darkness gave way to the invited light from the door way. The woman quietly stood there and watched, as Brian turned to her and offered a friendly smile and hand.

"A pleasure to meet you, ma'am. I am Brian.. Brian Ravenlock, the angry one. The cutie is my brother Alexander, and the gem is my sister Jewell."

"It IS you! The bounty hunter no less? Oh, you have to tell me about those stories about you in the paper, was it all true? About the shooting at the dance? The rumor mills and what not? I mean.. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't, but I am not working and have a lot of free time while the mister is at work, and just love that oracle paper! You used to write for them too, so what happened? And your marriage and divorce, oh wasn't that your second marraige and now you have that pretty little-- I mean, oh I'm sorry! My mouth runs alot with me. Please forgive me. I'm Missus Whitaker, I live on the corner, 2nd floor. My husband works at the forge. And again I'm sorry, it's just they talk about you all a lot , so I can't help but be curious, I mean I'd do the same if that Longden Fellow showed up."

"You mean Talomar? I could arrange a visit if you like, my family and his are 'tied' in a sense with my sister and his wife."

A smirk offered, as Brian pondered a Tara type visit to this woman, and the possible heart attack that would more than likely result from it.

"Oh no, that's alright! I saw those posters of him, for Guv'ner and what not. So what are you doing here, Mister Ravenlock? I mean this place. You guys left this years ago."

"I don't know yet Mrs. Whitaker. But when I figure it out I will let you know. I promise."

A warm smile offered, as he took the stairs once more and stepped into the darkness that was the empty building. Mrs. Whitaker nodded and shuffled off down the road, grabbing the first person she knew and gabbing away, making no effort to hide her gossiping. Brian stood in the darkness a moment, and closed his eyes once more.. His thoughts ran with him, as he recalled years ago and the present at the same time. Words that came and went, love and anger. Rage and sorrow. This place housed a great deal in it's time, and after 4 long years Brian had returned. The real question he had was why.

She lost herself in memories, sometimes. It wasn't a condition solely particular to Jewell Ravenlock by any means. As a young girl, visiting The Lands for the first time, she had met her great-great-great grandmother on her mother's side. She was a very old woman, a faerie, who still looked fairly young (according to mortal standards) and absolutely stunning unless you happened to look into her eyes. It's a cliche in many cultures to say that the eyes act as the windows to the soul, but they do; when Jewell had looked into her great grandmother's eyes for the first time, she had been looking into a very old soul.

Her great-great-great grandmother had been the first person she had clearly seen get lost in memories. Since then, she had noticed it in her other relatives and eventually in herself. Most usually had control over it just as any other person would, visiting good times in daydreams and during the retelling of stories. Sometimes, though, a person could lose that control and find themselves in a waking dream. It happened so rarely to Jewell, she was still more than young for a fae, but it did happen.

Her body took over this time as she reminisced about old family stories, resurrected by the most recent interactions between Brian and Alex. The past took over and she retraced the steps of yesteryear as if she was living there (then) again; how many times had she walked the familiar route to the Dojo in those days? It wasn't the first time she had visited the Dojo since it had closed; when she had first returned to RhyDin and sought out the past she had come here often, trying to hold on to a family that seemed lost in time.

Now, though, she woke as if from a pleasant dream to find herself standing just down the street from it. It was one of the many lucky coincidences in her life that she saw a figure disappearing into the building--Brian, retrieving his lantern, going back inside for a look-see. She withstood a moment of confusion as past and present melded together: the past said it was natural for someone to be going into the Dojo, it was still open for business afterall, while the present saw the broken down sign (an indication that it had been closed for years, now) clearly.

She shook her head, frustrated and trying to clear her mind. The figure was probably just a looter, a few years late and in broad daylight. The past urged her feet onwards, though, to follow that figure inside just as she had followed Brian, Alex, and many a friend inside over the years. She stopped with her hand against the door, wondering wildly what she was doing. She reasoned that, even if it wasn't a looter, she shouldn't allow someone to just enter the old Dojo, to desecrate such an important place in her life.

With an annoyed grumbling to herself, she was obviously starting to lose her mind, she stepped into the dusty old building. She tread carefully, eyes dancing wildly over the familiar set-up. Tears stung her eyes, and she knew they weren't solely from all the dust and dirt. A floorboard creaked under her feather light steps, disturbing her reverie and obviously alerting the other person (so quickly forgotten by her with the onslaught of memories) of her presence.

"Is someone there?"

She grinned upon hearing his voice, this was too much--perhaps she really was still in a dream. "A fairly bad dream," she remarked quietly to herself with another look around before she answered Brian's query. "Whoever you are, come out with your hands up where I can see them before I kick your ass for trespassing!"

She grinned hearing his laughter, knowing it wasn't just a sad echo of days gone by. It was sometimes still hard to believe that they were all in RhyDin again, that her brother had come back into her life after so many years. She clearly remembered coming home and finding herself in want of a family that didn't seem to exist anymore, grasping at loose ends and trying desperately to rebuild what they once had. All that work was for nothing without Brian.

This building could be filled with their laughter once again, perhaps. They were rebuilding their ranks, surrounding themselves with those that knew what it meant to be a family, why not rebuild a place that was part of their home?

She poked her head around a corner as she saw the lantern light. "Is that a challenge? It may be a little dusty and all in here but I think we could...manage..." she broke off at seeing her brother and, more specifically, what was in his hand.

The blood drained from her face as she gaped, images flying through her head: meeting for the first and feeling the cut of that blade, crazy half sisters, buried alive with no way out, the broken blade that probably saved her life on that occasion. It took her years to stop being afraid of the dark, not to wake up gasping in fear, not to be somewhat claustrophobic after that incident with Merille in which, as she understood, Tyrsis had been originally broken.

Her mouth worked soundlessly, she couldn't even think of the correct question to ask first so she just gestured, in want of an explanation.

His hand shook lightly, as he stared at the sword.. He wanted to let it go so badly, yet he couldn't. His hand clenched and would not yield to what he wanted, as memories crashed into him.. Merille.. A half sister, a true sister to Midara Munsettar-Ravenlock, who came into their lives and in the end buried Jewell, and Midara alive in her insane ambitions. Brian recalled that night on the cliffs, when Midara's 9 tailed fox guided them.. He, Alex, Kat, and Myst.. to that cliff, where she had intended to kill Jewell and Midara.. Buried alive.

He recalled the fight.. The first time he had fought anyone like that. The beating he took, cut after cut, pound after pound. No one could get to her edgewise, and everyone suffered at her hands. She was a mad woman and she had each of them in her grip, and played each with the skill of a well tuned musician. Brian recalled, her strikes.. gods he felt them now.. His knee, the stabbing.. His thigh and calf throbbed, remnants of the cuts she delivered, the wounds far more emotional than physical, apparently.

She died that night.. Tyrsis in a sense died that night.. The blade that Brian could swear, would not break did exactly that.. It was broken, and left as a hilt with some of the blade. Brian used that bit of blade to end the life of their half sister, Midara's blood sister. Jewell and Midara were saved that night, as everyone did everything they could do end her madness. Honestly, Brian could not remember everything that happened, he did recall Jewell and Midara were trapped, and the way to free them was to kill Merille, sister or no. He recalled Alex, Kat and Myst.. The breaking of the sword, tossing the sword over the cliff into the sea, and someone driving beaten lot of Ravenlocks in an old cart down the cliffs.

Brian knew there was more, he knew that was one of the worst times they had ever had, and somehow it was a forshadowing of what was to come. Finally his body reacted as the sword dropped to the floor with a resounding clatter, as he looked to his hand once more and to the Empress, the look on her face told him everything.. In the end Merille had left her mark, on each of them. No one was the same after that moment, and that was a definite reminder that the world was a hard place, and would get much harder as time progressed.. Brian walked foward and simply took Jewell into his arms, and held her closely as he buried his head into her hair and said something he had wanted to say for years, something that needed to be said and that had been skirted around so many times.. He said something that he dreamt of saying so many times, and yet was so scared to say in real life, to her face, to his own face.

"I'm so sorry..."

Brian remained where he was a moment, his eyes were closed as just quietly held Jewell. His a soft tremble in his body gave way to something so long overdue, that to finally say it.. Well he didn't know what else to do.

It's true, the sword.. This place.. It all brought memories good and bad back to the forefront, as it should. Not all of their life was much of what the public had seen. Honestly, that was the way they did things. Similiar to the scars on Jewell's body, or Brian's past, Alex's previous life.
Hell, all of their previous lives for that matter. A strong front was placed, and behind that they did what they could do to keep the bad in the fold.

But there were some bad that each of them just had to deal with, and whole Jewell may have forgiven Brian. Or more importantly thought there was nothing to forgive, Brian on the other hand felt some things needed to be said, and seeing Tyrsis one more time in that matter brought it all to a head, and he acted upon it. It wasn't a self pity deal, it wasn't a victim like deal, Brian honestly felt the need to finally and truly apologize to his sister, his first sister.. His most cherished sister by far, the one that had stood by each of them for so long, being without her was like not being able to breath in a sense..

Brian felt Jewell shift, and moved back a bit to see her better. His eyes
somewhat welled, as tears were contained to just that, as he would not see fit to break down, not again. He had done that once with Rosie previously and finally let it out to an extent, this wasn't about that right now. This was about finally having the chance to honestly say he was wrong. So very wrong. Brian has simply run away. For all that strength, and all that bravado. For all those laughs, and care free acts, Brian was
in the end of all things a scared boy, that simply ran.

Midara had left them.. Cher died.. Darkin.. The family had begun to drift, and Brian did little to help the situation. Brian left them when they needed him, and he never looked back. And it was more than his family, it was friends and more so. He left them all, for all those years and then returned to the realm and was welcome back by most as if he had never left, and that to Brian is what cut the deepest.. The fact that they looked past all of that, and simply were happy that this prodigal family member returned to the realm. It was not that easy for him, despite all the growing he had done, and all the things he had finally learned about himself, the toughest lesson was to learn to forgive himself.

That was until 'she' came into his life.. Such wonder and wisdom that was the force of nature, known as Jenai. She opened his eyes to what was truly important, and showed him where he had erred. Simply widsom, direct and to the point and it carried such an impact that he snapped out of that somewhat self loathing rutt.. She showed him he could regain what he had lost, those 'pieces of him' that were bound to others, and he did just that.. He sought them out and took them back bit by bit, and was a much better person for it, yet the work was truly not done.. There were still little things, things that carried a deep impact, and this moment.. This was indeed one of them.

Brian needed to say this to Jewell, more than she would ever be able to comprehend possibly, had it not been for her arriving, or for that mis-summoning of Tyrsis-then, had it not been for those memories drudged up, or for the fact he and Alex had after four years made up, this moment might have never come to pass.. And while Jewell was more than happy to have Brian return, to have them all together again after all this time, Brian simply wanted to admit how wrong he was, and apologize. He was incredibly happy for this new incarnation of their family, of their new found sisters and brother, of his love for Jenai, and his sister's and brother's loves in turn, Brian still had a piece of him that was left from all that time ago, and it needed to be addressed. And Brian knew for a fact he was nothing without his family, and love. And the man he became was because of their love and concern for him, in effect they made him the man he was in so many ways, and he needed them all. gods he needed them all, and would never fool himself into believing otherwise again. Some may find that foolish, some may say he is weak.. Let them say what they will, he doesn't care anymore. They can easily find out how strong he can become, when family, loves or friends are in need. So there it was.. For whatever it was worth. There it was.

Dust in his eyes, of course. Such a display of emotion from her older brother was touching. This was a man that had always been strong for her, pushing her to be stronger herself, and supporting her when she couldn't be. And sometimes...sometimes she had to be strong for him.

When he kissed her forehead she felt like a like a little girl again, she always did. It wasn't a demeaning feeling by any means; she felt cherished, special, loved. Her smile was even stronger now--the eerie light of haunting memories was simply snuffed out.

"I just had to say it, Jewell.. I had to."

Perhaps she didn't even know it, but some little part of her needed to hear that apology, needed to hear that he didn't take all of their love and acceptance of him again for granted, that perhaps he had erred at one time. His apology could be the final step in putting the past behind them, all of them, and the first step in moving forward. They were always moving forward, every day, but this time there were no strings attached--none of the old bitterness and resentment would be there. It felt good.

She looked around the room as he put his general idea out there, trying to get a feel for what they could do with this very important building. They were the Ravenlocks, and in her mind, the possibilities were endless. "A school of sorts would be nice, kind of like the Dojo, maybe? Briarius has his school for the gifted, but what about those not so gifted that need to survive here as well?"

She nibbled on her lower lip, a grin growing as she built off that thought and his idea of a community center. Her whole demeanor became animated. "Or what about a first stop for those just arriving in RhyDin? Somewhere to get a helping hand, a tip or two on where to go and how to survive...how to protect oneself and against what. You know...kind of like how you took me under your wing and made sure I survived," she flashed a smile up to Brian again, her hero, "not everyone is as lucky and fortunate as I was."

"Or what about a first stop for those just arriving in RhyDin? Somewhere to get a helping hand, a tip or two on where to go and how to survive...how to protect oneself and against what. You know...kind of like how you took me under your wing and made sure I survived. Not everyone is as lucky and fortunate as I was."

Snapped back yet again, Brian looked to Jewell and was a bit puzzled.. The first portion of what she said was incredible, and truth be told was perfect in his eyes. That is exactly what this city could use. A community center of sorts, some place for new arrivals to simply come to. To get direction, simple advise, maybe even job placements too eventually.. That portion, the job part... that came from Charlotte, as she always was looking out for those who needed a hand, and also drove Brian to do to the same, which was exactly what they had done with many people. So why not try it again, on a larger scale. With the size of their family now, it could be a true reality. Brian liked it and was confident Alex, and the rest of the clan would see to like it too.

Brian smiled to his sister and reached for her once more, wrapping her in a warm hug, which turned into a bit of a lift and twirl. After a moment he set her back to her feet and released her once more, the warm smile on his face remaining as he nodded once more and looked around the room once more, and finally spoke.

"I never made sure you survived.. I never did it alone, we made sure we survived, all of us in our ways together and apart. It was never an I for any of us. It was all done as a family, the way we survived here, the way we loved and fought, the way we helped others. As a family. You helped me just as much as I helped you, if not more so. I would have been so lost had it not been for you, Alex and the others. I love you all, more than I could ever say.

This idea, I love it. I truly do. I think we need to find Alex, and fill him in and see how the others would possibly like to assist as well. We can do this, Jewell. Once again your words lit the path sister o' mine, and you're right not everyone is as lucky and fortunate as you are, or as I and the others are as well, but we can do our part to see that they at least have that chance. So, wanna find Alex with me?"

The enthusiasm evident, as Brian stretched a bit and knelt a moment. Lifting the broken sword in his hand, Brian eyed the blade a bit and nodded to himself once more.

"I think it is time to put this thing back together again, and to bring it back home. Seems like a circle, sis. Here we are at the beginning again, ready for one more go round.

Tucking the broken sword into his belt, Brian smiled to Jewell once more and took another look around. It took a long time to get back to this one spot, this one place that was so special to each of them in a great many ways. Like a circle, they had come right back to there they had began all those years ago, yet this time it was so much different. And that.. That was cool.

"I can still hear you saying, we will never break the chain.. The chains, keep us together."

Find Alex.. sometimes that was as hard as a finding a needle in the worlds largest haystack. And other times.. it took nothing more than saying his name as many times as it did to get Beetlejuice in the mirror.

Alex had been wandering just nearby. For some reason, his senses had been on the verge of exploding. He was under the impression that something terrible had gone on that was creating the distress, which is what forced him to slow outside of the old dojo. He dug his sneakers into the ground a moment as his head rose up to examine the exterior of the building, inspecting it as though something terrible had gone on. Reaching out before him, Althena's Sword was drawn into his grasp from seemingly no where, the blade itself gleaming a faint golden color. Within, he could feel several presences, but was caught entirely unaware as to who it was. "Who in their right mind would come here...?" He asked himself, quietly. Silently, he moved towards the doors, the blade held close to him in case someone, or thing, was ready to pounce out from within.

Along with his quick, stealthy movements, he could hear the sounds of two voices, that of a male and female. .. and laughing. "..oh, enjoying yourself, cretin?.. I won't have you stomp around on my memories.." He continued, piercing emerald eyes flickering as he wound about, away from the door and off to one side. Continuing on, he'd move about to one side of the building, itself, and slide on up it, using the several bits of wood and otherwise building material that rested against it to make his way up onto the roof. "..alright. Let's see who this is.." He muttered, as he quietly stepped along the roof, avoiding any unnecessary steps that may create a sound or six that could possibly be heard from within. Tip-toeing, he moved over in the direction of a small window skylight that he had originally asked to be put in to provide some natural sunlight during the morning hours. He wouldn't quite make it there, though, stumbling on a dragging foot that wasn't working quite with him, and fell face first towards the brittle roof, plummeting through it without much strain and heading face first towards the ground. He'd brashly land, with the obvious bits and pieces of wood thumping quietly next to him in his disastrous wake.

He quietly groaned, but quickly found himself rolling to one side, fumbling onto his back with the glimmering blade held out before him. .. he's going to attempt to make this look like it was planned. "Freeze, intrud-.." He cut himself off, just then, realizing who it was that was within the dojo. .. fingers moved to part various draping lavender strands from his flickering emerald hues, looking between the two.

Oops!