This is a summary of Greyashe Episode 43.

OP: the dropouts.

ED: Take a long walk.

Chapters Covered: 98-99

As per Ancasta's instructions, Van, Kani and Guy head northward in hopes of finding Van's people; the farseers. Not really having a destination makes things all that much more difficult, as does the North's warm climate incline. The farseeing boy is used to snowy climates, and has for the most part been treated to experiencing warmer temperatures at a gentle incline. Now however, the temperature pounces on the group and grabs them in a bear hug with no intention of letting go. Guy seems to be the least bothered by this, as he continues to profess how warm it was back where he came from in the city. Kani and Van glance at each other irritably before realizing how little they actually know about the fighter. Kani whispers to Van, asking if it's okay to trust someone he had met in prison, and Van after a long pause shrugs his shoulders and replies that Guy hasn't done anything to be considered untrustworthy so far has he? Though he would like to ask him some questions to get a better idea of what kind of person he is. Kani raises an eyebrow and asks why he just doesn't use his eye? He'd probably learn a lot more that way than asking questions that someone could obviously fabricate a response to. Van puffs out his chest and states as a matter of pride that he doesn't peek into his friends. Enemies and others who haven't proven themselves are one thing, but he'll never poke into a person who is important to him. Kani admires his pride, but points out that he's still blindly trusting people when he has a built in lie detector. Van shuts his eyes and shakes his head, once again proclaiming his intent to not peek. Though he adds, almost sadly that she doesn't understand how it feels to look at a person and instantly know things about them. Maybe other farseers whom had grown up learning about their heritage could take it, but he who only came into his power merely a few months ago is overwhelmed every time it happens. It becomes impossible for him to trust other people if he continuously walks around with his eye on high alert, so he's made the decision to only use it when necessary, and let people's actions be what gains his trust and not their actions.

Kani makes a sour face, but nods begrudgingly. She sorta gets it, even if he is being a bit contradictory. Farseer's claim to fame are being able to look beyond actions and words to the 'truth'. She gets how that can be overwhelming, but considering how many dangerous things he's seen, being on the side of caution makes a lot of sense. Though maybe she's just a worrywart. The two stop suddenly, realizing that the third member of their party has been very quiet. They had been whispering, sure, but they weren't making any effort to seem less suspicious so it would make sense that he'd be watching them and want in on their conversation. Instead, it seems like he's completely disappeared somewhere. Van and Kani look around for him, and for a while it seems the fighter has gone up in smoke. Van climbs to the top of a hill to get a better look around when he notices what seems to be dilapidated buildings down below. With the sun beating down on him from above, the boy yearns to be in the buildings and their comforting shade. He then realizes that Guy might have had the same idea, and beckons for Kani to follow him. He tells her his hypothesis, and she groans in annoyance though the idea of getting out of the heat seems to at least entice the witch to follow Van down to the buildings in hope of seeking even temporary solace from the merciless sun above.

Upon getting closer, the two realize what they were looking at aren't dilapidated buildings, but dilapidated ruins. Kani examines them for a moment, and while she can make out what seems to be ancient messages she can't understand what exactly they mean to express. Van on the other hand is just happy to be cool, and tells Kani to chill out, both literally and metaphorically. Kani frowns, but she sits beside Van nonetheless, sighing in relief. The two sit quietly for a moment, before Van realizes that they had in fact come here to look for Guy. He turns to Kani to remind her as well, but she has  fallen asleep beside him, leaning against the farseer, and keeping him from moving. Van's face turns red as he realizes she's been forgoing sleep for the sake of the group. Guilt ransacks him, and he decides to let her sleep for the time being. Guy can take care of himself for a little while, right? It's one of the many reasons he had been able to trust him despite knowing so little and besides, Kani might be a little less irritable if she gets a little bit of sleep, he reasons.

True enough, Guy had come to the ruins because he was hot. He noticed Van and Kani talking in whispers to each other, and after (incorrectly) deducing that they are talking lovey-dovey matters that do not include him, decided to forge on ahead and find somewhere cool to chill until the two were done their cavorting. He had found the ruins, and went ahead to check them out. Inside he had inadvertently found a hidden staircase, and out of boredom decided to go upstairs and explore. Guy had been wandering around in the dark for a little while before he stops and glances around for a moment. The fighter smells something in the air, and after taking a minute to process what it could be, figures out that this scent in the air is blood. Squinting in the darkness, the fighter can make out someone moving in the darkness, and the footsteps to prove it. Guy goes after the shape, though this isn't a folly on his part, but a well informed decision. He can tell from the footsteps escaping from him that the person he pursues isn't very big, and from the scent of blood that they are the the source, so therefore the person must be injured. If that's the case, he shouldn't have a problem if the person he's following ends up being hostile, he's got the upper hand in more ways than one, and who knows, they might even be a chick in distress! Though that doesn't explain the running part, or the being in ruins part, or well...anything. Despite that, Guy pursues the person until they both round a corner and he loses sight of 'her'. Guy sighs and leans against a wall that immediately gives way and causes him to fall down what seems to be an oddly specific series of tubes and pipes back to the bottom floor.

Van could swear he hears someone falling and landing in the walls beside him, and despite being scared he decides to remain beside his friend, allowing her the sleep she needs. He's got a funny suspicion that Guy is behind all of the thumping and falling, which means things should be fine....right? A shiver travels up the boy's spine, and he feels with his soul -not eyes, that someone is watching him. He quickly turns to his left and is greeted by silence, which strangely enough, only heightens his sense of apprehension. A door adjacent to where the pair is sitting opens slowly, and a very dusty and annoyed Guy Cowan steps out, slamming it behind him. Van stares at him for a moment before asking the fighter if he's okay, which gives Guy a shock. He apparently was so miffed that he didn't even notice Van and Kani sitting in the room, and upon calming down gives the two a knowing grin. Van blushes and nudges Kani awake, and as she yawns and looks around at the situation she too begins to blush. The three sit in silence for a moment until Van perks up and asks the fighter if he saw anything? Guy recalls the person he was chasing and mutters about how ungrateful they are. Kani chides him in response; obviously they're hiding here for some reason, and upon being discovered by someone as big and threatening looking such as himself decided to run away. To her at least, that makes perfectly logical sense. Guy is taken aback, and asks Kani if he's really 'threatening looking', which she confirms. Van smiles sheepishly and stands up to comfort Guy who has begun to sulk. He then asks Kani what they should do? If there's someone injured here, they should help right? Or at least find out why they're hanging out here alone rather than seeking help. Kani ponders this for a moment, and shrugs since it's not like they have a concrete location to go to, or a time to be there by. Besides, considering how cryptic Ancasta had been when she told them to go North, maybe this person has something to do with their journey? Though on the contrary, if they're running away from the group rather than asking for help, perhaps it would be better to leave them on their own. No sense in wasting energy trying to help someone who doesn't want it, right?

Van frowns and asks Guy what direction he had come from. Guy points to the secret staircase, and Van asks Kani to stay behind while he looks for the mysterious person. Kani crosses her arms and asks Van what he intends on doing alone? With a grin the boy replies that he wants to be a busy-body and help this person out, until he's satisfied.  Kani groans and asks if the other party's feelings had ever crossed his mind, and he shrugs and adds that he'll think about that after he's satisfied. Van darts up the stairs and out of sight before Kani can object again, and just as she begins to follow him, Guy holds her back. He explains that she should let him be independent this one time, since he's probably still upset over not being able to do anything about Claire. He asks her to think for a moment...has Van ever been this outgoing before? Especially when it comes to traveling into something unknown? Thinking for a moment Kani realizes he's right, and stands at the foot of the secret staircase. Guy asks if she knows where they are right now, and not hiding her surprise Kani affirms this. Guy then replies that he'd like to know more about it, and with a small pause Kani begins to explain.

Van walks through the dark as Guy did before him. He can smell the blood in the air as well as hear something moving in the halls before him, and as such he rubs his eyes to 'activate' them, a precaution against dealing with a stranger. He told Kani the truth, that he had never tried to peer into Guy, Claire and herself for the simple fact that they are his friends, and the more complex fact that he is very afraid of what he might find if he does. It feels to him unfair that such secrets that people die trying to hide come to him as easily as blinking. Although he doesn't hate his heritage or anything like that, Van does wish he could have been born as someone more 'normal'. Wait...he had been normal before meeting Claire right? So does he hate Claire then? If she hadn't entered his life he could have gone on blissfully ignorant of the world around him, and the eyes that tell him so much whether he wants to know it or not. He'd be...normal.

Shaking his head, Van asks himself if normalcy is what he wants....or is it acceptance? Guy, Kani, Claire and the other people he's met thus far have treated him as a farseer first, and Van the boy second. Though with his three travel mates, he knows that they don't mean any harm by it, in fact the world in general is simply acting in response to how rare his people are. He knows that because of who he is, and what he can do. Still it would be nice to be...

Van notes a small light coming from a corridor and makes his way over to it. Upon coming around the corner he finds himself eye to eye with a girl. She is cupping one hand over a small light source and looks up at him as he makes his way into the corridor. She appears to be wearing merely a sundress with a blue and black pattern, along with a necklace that has what seems to be a stylized sun hanging from it. On her side, the sundress is darkened from blood, and she has a pair of boots sitting beside her instead of housing her bare feet. She has huge coke bottle glasses on, and her barely shoulder length hair is white on top and red beginning from her longest bang and from the sides of her head. The two stare at each other for a long time before the girl lifts a boot and throws it at Van's crotch. The boy recoils in fear and pain as she darts down the hall, and only allowing a moment for himself to recover, he dashes trying to explain while running that he isn't here to hurt her.

Kani meanwhile explains that these 'ruins' are more like 'fun houses' than anything. They seem ancient to people now, only because there are a group of magicians and people who are able to mirror past civilizations using a combination of alchemy and agape based magic. She couldn't make out the writing because it's not actually supposed to say anything coherent. For the most part, these were built by tricksters who either want slaves or to show off their talent in being guileless fakes. Hense all of the traps and the lack of people investigating these ruins. What they ARE is a great place to hide out once you know the terrain, which of course takes more time than glancing overhead would permit.

Van continues to call out to the girl and chase her, running into cobwebs in the process, blinding him and causing the boy to come to a stop. He hears a crrash! noise just as he manages to pull the cobwebs out of his eyes, and looks around to find the girl who has seemingly disappeared. Van realizes that the whole time he's been chasing the girl, he hasn't been able to get a 'reading' on her. Kani had been the same way when he met her, but she promised that she doesn't use those blockers against him now, but had this girl somehow managed to block his eyes out as well? The boy stops upon seeing a huge hole in the floor, and after a moment of pregnant silence he shrugs and begins to turn back the way he came when he hears a cry for help. Van stops and crouches peering over the side of the hole until he sees the girl hanging on for dear life. He gasps and grabs her arm, pulling her up, though he's not prepared for how light she is, and how strong he's gotten and falls backward with the girl, the two landing in a heap; the girl on top of Van, and he lying on the floor of the ruins. After a moment, Van asks if she's okay, and with a gasp she buries her head in his chest before nodding 'yes'. Van's eye brow raises slowly and he takes the girl by the shoulders and sits her up, or at least he tries to as she offers a bit of resistance. Finally the two look each other in the eyes and for a moment are dumbstruck.

Their eyes are perfect mirrors of each other, meaning their heritage is the same. Ancasta's words echo in Van's mind, and it takes all of his strength to suppress smiling and cheering. He had finally found someone like him, one of his own people! The girl tilts her head curiously and reaches out to his eyes, watching her hands in their reflection, in this moment of silence, Van realizes this is the first time his eyes have been 'on', and he can't read the person in front of him. Eclipsed in the pure silent beauty of the moment, he doesn't even take offense or stop the girl from looking deep into his eyes.

To look into another and not know their innermost thoughts....grants him a contrary sense of relief that nary a man would ever comprehend.