[It's been two weeks since the incident with Arietta, and there was still no sign of Anise in the village. They never even had a chance to speak before she left for a mission, likely in an attempt to put some distance between herself and Ion after their argument. It's strange to think that the last time they went this long without speaking to each other by choice was around this same time last year, though for a very different reason. He's been so caught up in dealing with all of this that he actually let the anniversary of the day he first confessed his feelings for her pass by without a single thought!]

[It was strange to think so much time had already passed. He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it really.]

[But sometime in the late afternoon, he opens his journal. There's no need to bother with a filter while Anise is still out of the village, and it isn't as though Arietta is the one he's trying to reason with here. Her anger is easier to understand and deal with. There's an uncharacteristic hint of exasperation in his voice when he speaks, having spent the last week and a half mulling over this without any obvious solution coming to mind.]

How do you stop two people who hate each other from continuing to hate each other? [Not a very eloquent way of asking, but it's the simplest way he can think of to explain the situation.]

Though this isn't the sort of problem I'm expecting an easy answer to, I was hoping someone might be able to offer some suggestions. Or perhaps if anyone's had any experience in dealing with a situation like this, it might be of some help.

[And regardless as to whether he's heard any solutions to this problem or not, he'll be spending the remainder of the evening in various places around town. He spends about an hour at the library, not quite able to concentrate on his reading. Giving that up, he goes for an aimless walk, lingering on the various bridges around town for a few minutes before moving on again. He probably looks more spaced out than he usually is, and the cold chill in the air probably isn't helping matters. By the time he arrives back home, it's been dark for awhile and he's shivering quite a bit. He probably should have worn his winter coat today.]

[After being flung into countless numbers of trees from the third party's traps during the last draft, Ion swore to himself he'd never climb another tree for as long as he lived. Obviously, he didn't count on finding a baby bird having fallen out of its nest when he made that declaration. And with the mother bird calling for her child overhead, Ion couldn't just leave the poor thing there to die.]

[Thankfully, getting to the top of the tree where the nest was had been surprisingly easy! Getting down... not so much. He didn't notice the lower branch breaking until after he stepped off of it, and now that he was on his way down, he found himself stuck. He wasn't too high up, but this particular tree had quite a few thorn bushes around it. He'd been able to avoid them going up for the most part, but if he were to try jumping, the chance of him falling into one of these bushes was rather high. He wasn't too far off the path, just a ways north of the village, so hopefully someone will spot him.]

[Though, in restrospect, today was probably a bad day to wear green.]

~

[Assuming the princess is eventually rescued, Ion will be spending the remainder of the day at the library in search of a few new books to read before eventually returning home, his clothes still looking a bit worse for wear.]



[[ooc: Feel free to break time and space for the first part, or run into him walking towards the library looking... well, like he fell out of a tree.]]