To Change Time

[Kaisaan]

Ah, the past.

He loved the past. Or well, most of it. But 1840 was a good time, a very good time. Mostly. Good enough in any case. Calmer. Simpler. Sometimes. Hm, it really depended on where you were, actually, but for the most part good! Very good.

Ronin chuckled to himself as he walked down the cobblestone streets, the sound of wagons and the clopping feet of horses, smiths hammering away in the forge, children running after a ball, men arguing over the price of an item and drunks trying to tempt the women for hire all swirling about him.

He loved it. Every minute of it. Really, how many people got to see this? He grinned at his own question, amending it. Rather, how many people from the future got to see this? Ronin only knew of one other, but he also knew Karen didn't appreciate it, not quite like he did. Where he saw the potential to learn, to help, she saw the chance at mischief and power.

Which, Ronin supposed, was why he was here at all. It wasn't a random stop. It rarely was. Eh, better get to work then. It wasn't going to do itself. Never did. Very inconsiderate of it.

He chuckled again, earning a studying glance from the man beside him before the gentleman in question hurried away and Ronin grinned, tipping his hat in amusement to the man, though, the other never saw it. Just as well. The last thing Ronin needed was to be remembered by someone. Not with the havoc he knew he was going to cause.

It was time to put a stop to Karen's work here, which meant he had an underground organization to visit. Oh, the fun he was going to have!

 

[redblood]

Anya hurried down the street, not certain where she was going. Anywhere was fine, as long as it was far away from home she thought. The whole morning had been about nothing but discussions of marriage, her marriage, a marriage she strongly disagreed with. And still they were acting as if it was completely set in stone by this point.

It wasn't like she disliked him. Edward were a wonderful guy, and they had been friends for ages. But marriage? Devote her life only to him? She knew her life would become no different if she married him. She would still stand in a kitchen, she would still take care of the house duties, and the men would still go out to work in town. The difference might be that she would get pregnant, which she actually had no desire for. That was all her older sister was talking about, as if it was natural for every woman to have a child and she could not wait until she finally could become pregnant. But Anya just didn't want that. A child would take away the small amount of freedom she still had. Maybe one day she would have the desire for a family and a child, but that was not where her mind was at the moment.

Lost in her thoughts, and in such a hurry to get to nowhere, Anya rounded a corner of a building without looking where she was going and ended up bumping into someone. She stumbled backwards and embarrassed apologized.

"I am awfully sorry sir, I didn't pay attention to the road." Looking up she saw a a young man, he couldn't be more than a few years older than her, if he wasn't younger. It looked as if he could need a little bit more food than what he got, a few more pounds wouldn't hurt. But it could be his length that made him seem slightly underweight. At least he had a healthy skin color, so he shouldn't be sick.

 

[Kaisaan]

Instinct had made him catch her arm as she fell back, but curiosity kept his hand there longer than was socially appropriate. It wasn't her looks that kept him captivated, though, she was beautiful with long blond hair done up in a braid and a slight figure any man would desire, but rather it was the look in her green eyes, a shade much darker than his own. Eyes spoke to him, and oh, her's told a tale that made him smile even as he released her gently.

"Why would you pay attention to the road? Nothing interesting there!" Ronin replied with a laugh, waving his hand around a bit. "Much more fascinating things around you, wouldn't you say?" He tipped his hat to her and winked. "No adventure was ever found while watching where your feet stepped."

Before a proper response could be made, a commotion behind him caused the dark-haired male to grin and he looked back at the blond before him with dancing mischief in his gaze. "If you had to hide or run, which would you pick? Me, I prefer running. Good for the heart, circulation and whatnot, but the choice is yours, it's not for everyone."

And with that, he took off, smile never leaving as a few men started to shout in the distance, catching sight of their elusive prey.

 

[redblood]

It took her a few moments before she noticed that the man's hand was holding her arm. Her mother would probably have jerked her arm free if he held her for that long, but Anya didn't mind. It wasn't like he was hurting her in any way by holding her. His words was unexpectedly poetic though not very accurate. If anything fascinating had ever been going on around her, then she must have missed it with a mile.

Before she had been able to reply to his strange words, some commotion seemed to catch his attention. And shortly after he asked the oddest of questions before running. What might he have done to make those men so angry? Had she met a thief? An incredibly fascinating thief in that case.

Anya ran, not because some men were chasing him, and they might try to get information out of her about him if they saw them speaking to each other. But because he was fascinating, mysterious, different. There was something in his green eyes that the rest of the world seemed to miss. She didn't know what it was, but she would find out. It was good that she had not chosen high heels for that particular day, catching up and keeping his tempo would have been impossible otherwise.

"What exactly did you do to offend them?" She half shouted, running a few steps behind him.

 

[Kaisaan]

Ronin laughed, both equally pleased she'd followed him - as he'd suspected she might - but also highly amused by the question itself and he glanced to the woman over his shoulder, hat flying off without a care to reveal wayward brown hair that seemed more suited to a life of running and mayhem than it did to hats and tame domestication. His pale green eyes glittered with mirthful delight.

"I haven't the faintest idea! It was only a bit of flour poured on their heads!"

And indeed the men chasing them WERE covered in flour from head to toe, coming off them in a flurry of powder every time they ran into something of jostled someone. It didn't seem to be the flour that had them so upset, though, but rather the police that were chasing them even as they chased Ronin.

Seeing them, the dark-haired male shrugged to his new companion, panting as they continued to make their way down the street, avoiding people and carts, stands and carriages and everything inbetween in their bid to escape. To where....well, only Ronin knew that.

 

[redblood]

Flour. What a childish idea to pour flour on people. Turning her head she were able to see what she had not noticed earlier. Indeed they were pale as ghosts on certain parts but not others. Childish indeed, but still she laughed. "That is awfully improper for a gentleman." She said while trying to keep control of her breathing, which became increasingly faster together with their steps.

It seemed as if he had a goal in mind, at least she thought he had a safe place he was aiming for. If she was wrong then they would most likely just keep running until they suddenly would come to a halt when no one was chasing them anymore. Or until they were caught which also was a possibility. But if it was a simple prank, then she would probably get away either way as she had no part in it. "Where are you running too?" She asked, feeling her heart almost jumping out of her chest.

It had been a long time since she ran so fast and for so long. Not since she had been a small child and escaped with her brother had she been doing something like that. Though at those times she had done the pranks while her brother had become a forced accomplish. It was definitely a nice change to be a kid for a few minutes again. Though it should bother her that she was chasing a stranger without knowing where they were going. Still she didn't care. At the moment there was not a single care in the world. Anya simply followed her instincts for the first time in forever.

 

[Kaisaan]

"Ah, but you only assume I am a gentleman!" he shot back with more laughter that seemed nearly impossible with how much they were running, but Ronin managed it. After all, this wasn't his first mad dash through unfamiliar streets. No, he'd gotten rather good at sudden and dangerous sprints to safety. Much more exciting than walking, that was for sure!

Rounding a corner, he just caught the last words of her sentence, but that was enough and the male merely smiled, looking ahead and up the road where a carriage without horses stood alone. Giving his companion a glance, Ronin simply pointed. "There."

Oh, it wouldn't make sense, not for one bit, but it wasn't supposed to.

He sprinted for the thing and nearly fell over when he stopped before it, breathing hard, flushed, but his pale green eyes as happy and excited as ever as he reached out and caught a hold of the woman's waist, helping her halt as well, keeping her from stumbling as he chuckled again breathlessly, pulling out a key even as he released her again.

Unlocking the door, he moved up the step to go inside, speaking as he did. "I would say ladies first, but we both know that won't work." So saying, he went all the way in and then reached out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up after him even as shouts sounded in the alleyway. They were lost to their ears as the door shut behind them, though, entirely of its own volition and Ronin grinned like a cheshire cat as he pulled the woman the rest of the way into the carriage...that was not a carriage at all.

What should have been cramped space had widened into a whole room of swirling colors over the walls, pulsating to some unknown beat and a long half-circle console that flashed with lights and switches, holograms and numbers. A large window where the front of the carriage would have been showed the outside world clearly and it was to this that Ronin moved toward, though, his dancing eyes looked back to the blond who'd more or less gotten dragged along with him.

"Told you more fascinating things were around you."

 

[redblood]

A carriage without horses awaited them as they rounded a corner. That seemed like the worst hideout ever, though he had said that he was more for running than hiding. But why get a horseless carriage in that case? There was no sense to make of it, but if they stopped in that carriage, then they would certainly get caught. But she had nothing to loose in this situation as she weren't the one whom had done the prank. And she were far too curious to turn around now. What could this mysterious man be up to?

He caught her as she stopped, and she could barely hear the angry men behind them above the sound of her heart that tried to keep her alive. As he unlocked the carriage, she took her time to catch her breath even though she only had less than seconds to do so.

"You must have lost your mind." She told him just before he pulled her into the carriage. "How are you supposed to get away in he..." Anya stopped dead in her tracks as she saw what she stepped into. She could not even explain what she saw. The room was far too big for the carriage they had stepped into, and there were numbers and lights everywhere.

"What a peculiar carriage you have." She said, almost in a daze as her head slowly turned around so that she could get a glimpse of every corner, every strange device. "What is all of this?" Anya asked him as she turned to look at him confused. It was as if she'd entered a different world. A strange place only spoken off in books. It would probably frighten most, but she was excited. It was something different, something she had never laid her eyes on before. Something she had to explore.

 

[Kaisaan]

You must have lost your mind.

Well...yes. Somewhere along he way he seemed to have, Ronin would admit, but the way he saw it; what use was a mind that never did anything but the most mundane routines anyway?

He kept the question to himself for now, though, and instead leaned back against the console, arms crossed and looking a bit smug indeed. It really couldn't be helped. He did love showing off his baby, though, in all truth he didn't rightly know who it belonged to. He supposed him now since no one had tried to claim it, but...eh, details. The male grinned at her question. "Why, it's a time machine!" Another chuckle for Ronin did like to laugh, and he pushed away from the console, spinning about to start flipping switches and pressing buttons.

"Now, before you ask anything more, hold on to that railing. She doesn't really fly smoothly."

And with that, the room started to rock and shake, what seemed to be an invisible wind whirling about and there was a flash before all went quiet again and the machine felt like it landed with a thud. Ronin made a thoughtful sound and looked to the hologram displaying information, eyes scanning the data before he smiled again and looked back to his companion. "Don't worry, we've only skipped a day and traveled five miles. Still within the city. Thank goodness, too, she's been a bit testy lately. Never quite know where she'll end up."

 

[redblood]

Anya were not sure if she should think him mad or be amazed. Before she had gotten the chance to even think about it, he continued to speak and pushed a few of those buttons. Instead of obeying she just stared confused, trying to come up with something to say that would sound intelligent and not like a child whom just had found a cool toy outside of their house.

Then the thing started to move very much like when an earthquake struck, though still very different. Never did she think that they actually traveled in time, instead she was certain that it actually were an earthquake and maybe a lightning bolt stroke down from afar and thus the thunder was not heard. When the man spoke again, Anya was still holding onto the railing which she had grabbed as fast as the shaking had started. That was all one could do during an earth quake, hold on to something and hope nothing would fall down and kill you.

Slowly she let go as she realized that there would be no after quakes. "Skipped a day?" She asked slightly confused. It couldn't be that they had actually traveled in time, that was not possible. No such technology existed. And magic had since long been refuted as myth and fables. But if they indeed had skipped a day, it would mean that her family would be worried sick for her. Never had she ever been gone for a whole night before.

"You can't seriously think that this strange carriage can travel through time. Only a fool would believe such a thing." She told him, maybe trying to reassure herself that she hadn't been gone for a single minute as there was no such thing as time traveling. But still, if there were, just think about the adventures to chase, and things to see. If only it could be true.

 

[Kaisaan]

Ronin merely smiled, a closed-mouthed, secretive smile as he said nothing at all, merely walking to the door and beckoning for the woman to follow him. He didn't need words or explanations or arguments. He need only show her that he was right. So he opened the 'carriage' door and stepped outside into brisk morning air that was still chilled enough to show his breath. It had been late noon when they'd stepped into the time machine and pale green eyes looked back into a shade darker than their own.

"Go on, look around."

No longer were they in the alley but rather they were near a fountain, in the middle of a busy town square and Ronin smiled as he drew the attention of a passing man. "Excuse me, sir, but might you tell me the date?"

The gentleman looked at him as if he were a bit daft, but obliged. "September 13th, 1840. It's a Saturday."

A dark-haired head dipped. "Thank you." The man nodded and was on his way and Ronin looked back to the blond, folding his arms and casually shrugging. "I would have thought the machine itself would have convinced you, but to each their own."

 

[redblood]

Anya stepped out of the machine, quite baffled over how fast the weather had changed. Though it didn't take her long to realize that the weather wasn't too different, it was just the air and the position of the sun. How could that be possible? The sun didn't just jump from one place to another within some minutes, it took hours for it to walk its way in the sky.

The second thing she noticed was that they weren't in the same place as when they walked into the carriage. A carriage that could travel without horses, that was definitely odd.

The third evidence was the man whom her dark haired stranger spoke to, asking for a date. It had been a Friday last she checked, and now it was suddenly Saturday. How in the world could such things be. It could still be a trick. Like those magicians that performed their little shows on the street and did seemingly impossible things, but they could in the end be explained. It could be a magic trick in a bigger scale. The people might just be actors, payed to say that it was another day. But it could also be true, they could have traveled in time.

"A horseless carriage that travels through time." Anya mumbled astonished. It was far to unbelievable, still it was right in front of her eyes. One of her hands stroke the carriage, almost as if to see if it was something other than an illusion. Of course it was still there. She turned her head to the man, not letting her hand leave the machine.

"Who are you?" She finally asked.

 

[Kaisaan]

Ronin had to hide his amusement at her first soft statement. If she thought that was amazing, she'd be flabbergasted at the world he'd grown up in. Horseless carriages were the least of the wonders he could show her...and that was just the thing, he did want to show her. It was an odd desire, something he'd felt fleetingly after meeting a few people, but never had he done more than amaze them with small trips like this.

Never had he thought more about whether or not he could actually take someone with him, but with this woman, for some reason he couldn't quite grasp...he was doing just that.

Odd.

Well, odder than his life already was and that was saying something!

He tilted his head to her question, dark hair falling into his eyes, left there without care as he smiled a bit, not grinning this time, expression far more...quiet in a way. "Ronin Belnoro. I'm a Time Traveler. And who might you be, adventurous one?"

 

[redblood]

"I do not think one is adventurous when their whole life has consisted of being trapped in a kitchen." Anya corrected him. She did not see running from some men to be very adventurous as they were chasing them. That was simply a normal reaction in her opinion, even though she knew she could stop at any time and just let him be chased by himself.

"Running from a few men doesn't earn you such a title Mister Belnoro." He certainly had an odd last name. Maybe he was from abroad, or maybe those names were normal in his time period, wherever that was. He must be from a far off future, at least a thousand years. Never could such a thing have been created close to her own time.

"I am Anya. Anya Rietzler. And I do not posses such a grand status as time traveler, but instead I do have an honorably proper title as a soon to be wife and a slave to my home and husband." There was no hiding what she thought when she said that sentence. Ridiculous. She just hoped she would have her sisters bad luck and not being able to conceive a child, at least that would save her some of the burden she would face in the near future. She would gladly give her sister her healthy body that might be able to conceive a child as long as she did not have to give up her own dreams for marriage.

 

[Kaisaan]

Ah, she was a feisty one with a sharper tongue than she let on to. It interested him. There was true spirit there, bravery that not many possessed. Oh, many claimed to, but when the real danger came, when it was time to make the hard decisions, they shrank away and their courage failed them. This woman, this Anya, seemed different. She was truly brave if he was any judge of character. He knew she wouldn't see that, though, not with the way she spoke now.

But maybe in time...

"Oh, but having adventure in your heart certainly does earn you the consideration of the title, Miss Anya." he corrected back with a faint grin before tilting his head as a dog who'd heard a peculiar sound might have and a brow rose under his mop of unruly hair. "A house, marriage and children? A life of cooking and cleaning, and rearing the young ones? Surely that is not what someone like you desires." Her words had already confirmed it of course, but Ronin spoke his words anyway and then leaned against the carriage, arms still crossed as he gave the blond a pointed look.

"It sounds to me like you could use an escape. Perhaps more time."

Well, he'd stepped into it now, no going back unless she herself refused. Strangely enough, he was more eager for her to accept than he was for her to deny, wise as the latter might have been.

 

[redblood]

Surely it was not her desires indeed. And her father could only blame himself for that. After all those stories of his own adventures, could he truly blame her for wanting an escape? Simply because she was a woman didn't mean that she wouldn't want the same as any other man. Her dreams of adventures had always taken her to places like the ocean, far across lands, sometimes even impossible things like dragoons. But another time period had never even been considered in her mind, even though that was the only escape she would get that no one could ever notice. She could disappear for years and still be back minutes after she had left.

"Only a fool wouldn't wish for more time. But a bigger fool is the one whom follows a stranger into the unknown." She told him, knowing exactly how mad it was to go into that time machine with him. A proper lady should not do that. But she wasn't a proper lady, not in reality. She had only faked it for twenty two years, and she was tired of it. It was time to stop being proper and start doing what her heart desired.

"Though the foolish ones tend to get the best adventures in life." She added as she made up her mind completely. "I've already been gone a day, no one will notice if I disappear for a few more minutes." Which certainly could translate into years when traveling in time.

 

[Kaisaan]

Ronin said nothing, not one thing to her first comment, merely waiting. She'd not yet made up her mind. There was no set of the jaw, no determined light in her eyes, not backing away or resigned sigh. No, there was no sign she'd actually made a decision and so he waited until she did. And only when she had done so did he show any kind of reaction, pale green eyes strangely serious as he studied her face, her eyes, weighing the truth and conviction of her words for he knew that if she didn't truly mean what she said then this would end very badly.

"You won't be the same." he warned softly, though, a slight smile sat on his lips for he knew in that moment that what he said would not dissuade her. But he said it anyway. Never let her think she could look at him one day and say he'd not warned her.

"It will change you beyond anything you ever thought you could be and it will test you to the brink of what you can handle. You won't come back the same person." If she came back at all.

Ronin pushed away from the carriage then and unfolded his arms, giving a light shrug. "But if you want to come, here." He pushed open the door to the carriage and merely waited. If she was coming then she was coming. If not, then he'd be leaving either way.

 

[redblood]

His words did nothing but fuel her curiosity of his world. Her mind was made up and she would not go back. Not before her mind was satisfied with whatever adventure awaited her. Maybe she would change, but what of it? People changed all the time, she might just change a bit faster. Changes didn't have to be bad. On the contrary, changes showed how much you grew as a person, or how you fell to the bottom of the social and mental ladder. Anya was determined to grow.

"Everyone changes. No one can stay the same no matter how hard they hold on to their past. I will simply change a bit faster than everyone else." She told him as she passed into the machine. "So mister time traveler. Where are we going?" She asked as she looked around at all the buttons. It would never stop to amaze her, of that she was sure.

A carriage that traveled through time, letting them see history with their own eyes. So much to see, so much to learn. That was every historians wet dream, and she was about to live it. Breath it. Be it. The thought in itself gave her shivers. How could anyone say no to such an amazing journey. And still she knew far too well that most people wouldn't dare to even touch the subject ones reality struck of the situation struck them. Most people didn't have the spine to leave their comfortable life's. It was sad. She could not help but pity them, because they would never truly feel alive when they never went out of their own comfort zones.

 

[Kaisaan]

Her words made him grin and he followed Anya into the machine, shutting the door behind him and then passing her as she stopped in the large room again. A chuckle answered her question as he went to the console and started messing with the controls there again. "Anywhere. Everywhere. Past or future, the beginning or end, whenever we want." The spark of flare was back as the machine started to shudder and shake again and this time when the bright flash came and went there was no thud to say they landed again. No, there was just the colored, pulsating walls and the 'wind' that was starting to die down even as the rushing kind of feeling one got going down in an elevator stayed present, humming in the background.

The sensation of flying through time.

A curious and yet teasing smile settled on the blond as Ronin turned back to her, leaning back against the console again, relaxed and confident as anything. "So tell me, in all of time, where would YOU like to go first? We have all the time in the universe to explore, but that first destination..." He shook his head, seeming to remember something and then focused again, raising a brow.

"You only ever truly travel once. When will it be, Anya?"

 

[redblood]

The earthquake like shaking became more and more pleasant now when she understood what it was. It was the feeling of traveling. The sound of excitement and adventure. Never did she want it to end, just like she wanted it to disappear quickly so that they could arrive. Then it was silent. But they hadn't landed anywhere, because it was not the same as last time. They were somewhere in between.

Anya watched him as he spoke, curious of his words. Which time had he chosen first? She already knew her destination.

"You are asking me to choose from the billions of destinations that could be explored." Anya said as if to remind him what a great number of possibilities there were, and still there must have been even more than that as the number probably was unimaginable. "From the long lost animals of a long forgotten time, to the end of all life. From somewhere in between should a date be chosen. I might not know much about the old times, but it's so much more than the times of which I don't know anything. What does the future hold? The future I and my family won't live to see." She walked along the walls of the room as she spoke. Unable to stand still for very long when something interesting was happening around her.

"I want to see your time, the future that is the now for you and you can explain to me." She eventually told him. "I want to see the world that has wonders beyond my imagination."