|
Post by Destiny on May 4, 2009 16:01:15 GMT 5.5
It was almost evening, with the first stars just visible over the horizon. Drea was travelling eastwards from her western hometown, eager for some new adventure. She had heard troubling tales from the east, about some spirits from an old sorceress, believed long dead, and she had to look into it. If she did not protect her people, who would? Certainly not the invaders. They had just exiled the Prince and destroyed the royal family, without caring one ounce about the feelings of the Arysians. They could not do anything. Her blood boiled at the thought of them.
"We should stop here," said Joerm silently, but he had been listening too, and she was sure he agreed. "Sure," she told him, out loud, and then stopped where she was, not too far from the bridge that would take her to east Arysia, and then laid up a little camp.
It was as hot as a summer day, with little of the cool breeze that evening generally brought. She went to the shores of the river, the river that watered almost all of Arysia, and then fell on her knees in front of it, taking up the cool icy water in her cupped hands to put over her sweaty face and hands. Some of the water turned a murky brown due to the dirt that she had carried with her, but it did not matter, it flowed down the river. She gazed at that murky patch for as long as she could follow it, then turned back to her reflection. The large, red scar from her left eye to the hollow of her cheek was rather prominent. She touched it subconsciously, then turned away as her red dragon, Joerm approached, carrying in his mouth some kill that would make fine food for that day.
She was going to start a fire, when Joerm made a sort of gurgling sound. She turned to him with a little bit of alarm...was he sick? Hurt? Was something wrong? He continued the sound for a while, enhancing her alarm, and then just as she was going to read forward, let out a small flame that immediately ignited the sticks that she had laid on the ground. She fell back in shock. Joerm's first fire! She couldn't help but grin cheesily, then she took out a small cooking vessel, put in the meat, and put it on the fire, made by Joerm. She hesitantly added a few spices, mainly just some salt, and stirred the food. She wasn't very good at cooking, not yet, and Joerm just ate meat raw. She stirred once more, and then turned to Joerm.
"Thank you," she murmured to him. She thought he smirked, but she wasn't sure. "I'm going to eat too, today," he thought to her in an almost embaressed manner. She tried hard, but couldn't conceal her grin.
|
|
|
Post by Roy Foxheart on May 6, 2009 2:21:07 GMT 5.5
Cool winds of dusk brush through the trees along the River Tonhes as the stars begin to poke through the once light blue sky, now dies red and yellow by the setting sun. The trees loom above in a shady and eerie symphony of creaks and rattles. Thunderous splashes can heard in the distance, moving closer with the darkness. The once clam waters becoming torrid with motion.
“You are mine little one.” through the waters raced the two, the turtle and the hare if one could say. Bounding after the fish was a man, Roy Foxheart, trying to grab the fish with his bare hands. Failing terribly, tripping on the rocks hidden in the shallow waters, going head first into the once refreshing, now cold water. “Ah, live another day then you..” his voice stops as his jaw nearly touches the river bed as nature slaps him in the face with the spirit of irony as a hawk sweeps down and snatches the fish out of the water in a single try. One fatal dive and ascension. Only in turn to be caught by a bob cat hidden in the tree, carefully biding its time for the moment to leap at the bird.
Unsuspectingly attacked the hawk's beak thrashed open, too late to gawk its last crows as it plummets into the cool earth. “Oh dear.” To Roy's surprise the said fish glided through the air and planted its self into his lap. “Well, that is irony for you. I would have never guessed for suck great luck!” Taking the fish from his lap Roy made way for dryer ground, noticing a small animal scurrying around for a meal. He approached it cautiously and offered his hand for identification. “There now small, hungry, meager-looking, starved dog.” Her rubbed its neck and looked into the dogs eyes. “Oh, alright you can have it.” he said with a heavy sigh as he gave the fish to the anorexic animal. “Would you be happy now, enjoying my diner you little mutt?” he said playfully.
He soon noticed voices coming from distance. The timber of it gave him the image of a woman and another in her company, maybe sick making that yucking sound. “Well, I couldn't ask a sick person for food.” his stomach rumbled as he spoke, making the dog perk his ears. “But if one is sick, I must help.” he looked down at the feasting dog and smiled. “Be good boy, ok? Enjoy the gourmet meal.” hopping up to his feet he shook some of the water out of his clothing and began to make his way through some of the woods, following the yakking sound. “Hello? Someone dying over here?”
Breaking through the fence of branches and shrubby that blocked his way. “Good morrow”
|
|
|
Post by Destiny on May 6, 2009 10:22:24 GMT 5.5
She was still too proud of Joerm's first fire to notice anything else, so she started cooking slowly, a rare smile on her face. She took more care than usual with the food - she would not have cooked with so much care for herself but she would do it for him. She added a little more salt, and then tasted a little bit. She had probably made too much, but it was better than her usual cooking...by a little. Joerm ambled up and tried a little too, and then ambled away from her. She could not discern what he meant by that. He walked a few feet ahead, seemed to look in some direction, and then came back, almost as if he was puzzled.
"What's up, old fellow?" she asked him in concern. He did not answer. She had to bond with a moody dragon. She shook her head and went back to the cooking, if it was something dangerous he would warn her. She looked at the knife on her belt, making sure that it was secure and easy to reach. She did not like being taken by surprise. She stirred a little more, raising her head every few moments to see if anyone was coming, but even Joerm had relaxed now, so she relaxed as well.
"Drea!" Joerm's mental shout was clear and very loud. It was a sound of alarm, he had immediately lifted up in the air a little bit. She reacted quickly as someone made their way to the small clearing where she and Joerm were sitting, pulling out the knife with her left hand. She was left handed. She took a glance at Blood's Fate, but did not pull it out immediately. A man came out from the clearing, and then wished her good morrow. She looked at him suspiciously, but he seemed harmless. Just some kind stranger, who too, had thought, like her, that Joerm was sick.
"Oh, hello..." she said uncomfortably, then looked at the knife in her hand. She lowered her hand but did not sheath her knife. Joerm, on the other hand, seemed to like the stranger immensely, and having come back down on the ground, was observing the stranger with his beautiful red gem-like eyes. He darted forward a little quickly. "Joerm, no!" she said to him, and then to the stranger, she said, "Don't worry, he...uh...he doesn't usually do that. He's not being threatening, it means he likes you." She stepped forward a little bit, and then said, "Joerm come back." She hoped the man was not scared. "Ummm...I'm Drea, and this is Joerm." She looked at the cooking pot and then said, "So...would you join us?" She had made too much food anyway. And if Joerm liked the guy, so did she. Joerm was a good judge of character, and he had been alone too long.
|
|
|
Post by Roy Foxheart on May 10, 2009 0:59:44 GMT 5.5
The sight of the dragon made Roy shift a little, it was rare he saw them this close and even rarer that it was on good terms. He watched the dragon with a smile though and gave him a bow to show respect to the beautiful creature. “Ah so few time do I get to see such a glorious bastion of strength with out being attacked. Yes I would love to join you.” Roy said turning to the woman with the dagger. He looked down at it, then gave her body a look. Her tan face held a scar but her lean body was was rather attractive. His eyes drifted back down to her dagger. “You can put that away, I mean you no harm.”
He raised his hands in the air and showed that he had no weapons drawn. From the woods you could hear the barking of the dog he had given the fish to growing closer. then burst from the brush and onto his back, sending him face forward into the dirt. “Hey boy, thanks for the warning.” He rolled over and nudged the dog to the side, “I hope you don't mind another joining us, he just won't leave me alone.” Roy gave a small chuckle and pushed himself off the ground, moving closer to the fire and sitting down with his legs crossed.
“I'm Roy, it is nice to meet both of you, Drea and Joerm and this is.... Cyrus, yeah that is what you how you shall be know.” he reached to the side and gave the dog a good head scratching. “Do you like that name, Cyrus?” He was answered with a bark and lick to the face. “Ahh, smells like fish.” His kind smile looked up to the red dragon and then to Drea, “So what is on the menu love?”
|
|
|
Post by Destiny on May 11, 2009 10:03:40 GMT 5.5
She looked up at the strange traveler, clearly not quite at ease, even with his pleasant and mild-seeming demeanor. "Joerm?" she asked him mentally. "It's alright Drea..." he told her, also mentally. She grinned at Joerm, realising that they were looking like idiots, since they were looking at each other and not at the stranger, and not really saying anything audible. She shook her head at him and said, "You're just flattered. 'Glorious Bestion' indeed." It was just a jest, however, she trusted Joerm. Joerm looked at her and snarled playfully. She smiled at him and looked again at Roy, and then at the dagger in her hand, which she sheathed reluctantly when he showed her that he had no weapons.
She heard the barking, and saw Joerm lift his tail slightly in the air, then drop it back again. She looked up to see a playful little dog. "No, I don't mind at all, though I'm probably not a very good cook." She looked back at the pot, which was simmering on the gentle fire, and she stirred it a little more, then tasted just a little bit of it. She looked at Joerm, and then at the others and said, "It's not bad. Surprisingly enough." She stirred it some more as Roy and the dog came near the fire and sat down.
She grinned as Roy started scratching the dog's head. "How come you don't do that?" said Joerm, following her gaze. She looked at him sharply, and said out loud, "You would want me to?" She blushed, well, not exactly, but she looked embaressed when she realised that she had said that out loud. "Sorry," she told Roy. "We're too used to communicating mentally and half our conversations don't make sense sometimes." She shook her head. "Hi, then, Roy and...Cyrus, it's really nice to meet you both too." She grinned. "It's deer, I think. You'd have to ask Joerm for confirmation." She saw Joerm dip his head. "Yes, deer. They are found in plenty in the areas around here."
|
|
|
Post by Roy Foxheart on May 12, 2009 5:20:10 GMT 5.5
He licked his lips as he was informed that it wasn't bad, not that he would have minded. “Ah a good meal is what I need.” Letting out a small laugh as Drea explained the communication between her and Joerm, and how it was done mainly through the mind. “That is rather handy, mental speaking is great for hunting.” He gave Cyrus another scratch and reached for the venison, but stopped before his hand could touch the meat. “Where are my manners? I should let the cook cut the first piece of meat.” He pulled his hand back to his side and smiled.
“So, how long have you two been partners in crime?” Roy's jovial tone radiating from his body. He looked from the young dragon to his lovely rider. “I've been working with this dirty mutt for a good... 20 minuets now and boy do you need a bath. Cyrus, you are going from a nice swim in the river after dinner.” As the smell of venison rose in the air Roy's mouth started to water, he hadn't eaten anything since the day before. Roy's stomach started to rumble as the time passed on. “That smells great.”
|
|
|
Post by Destiny on May 12, 2009 11:59:42 GMT 5.5
She frowned at him doubtfully. "I hope you'll like it," she said, quietly, while Joerm made a odd sound like laughter. She had as poor an opinion of her own cooking abilities as Joerm did, and even though that day's meal was better than most days, she had no doubt it was not fit for someone who ate well daily. "Well, we don't hunt together that much, Joerm always hunts, he finds it easier than I do at any rate, and I do all the gathering and cooking and stuff." She smiled at him, a slightly cynical smile, but it had been many years since she had smiled a fully happy smile and no doubt he should be content with that. She quickly dished out pieces of the meat for all four of them, there was more than enough for all of them to eat, and then put her food on the side for it to cool. There was still a big portion left for anyone who wanted more. Joerm started eating immediately, and not very daintily, cutting the meat with his claws and eating it, exposing his sharp teeth.
"Hmmm...partners in crime? A few years now. Joerm?" She looked at her proud red dragon but he was too busy eating. "Three years. We've been mainly in the army, but we left it recently. What do you do for a living?" she asked him, bluntly. She was not one to ask questions with some sort of exagerrated tact. She handed him the plate, he looked hungry, as was she, it had been a long day.
|
|
|
Post by Roy Foxheart on May 13, 2009 1:33:26 GMT 5.5
“Thank you for the meal!” Roy said, excited to finally have food in his stomach. He happily took the meat and bowed his head in respect. Cyrus snatched the piece out of his hands and licked it throughly giving Roy a cheap yet childish look. “Then I get your piece you little mutt.” Roy took the piece that was originally intended for Cyrus and took a bite into the salty meat. Chewing it around for a moment and then taking another small bite.
“This is rather good, best food I've had in days.” he said, never loosing his charming smile. Giving a quick look to Drea and another to Joerm, who was devouring his food, “My profession would be that of nothing, I walk the lands searching for knowledge. I'm but a mere wanderer. But the army, that is a scary profession if you don't have the heart for battle. It is my guess then that you have left because?” he asked, trying to gather more information on something he had heard another day. If Mortia had truly returned.
|
|
|
Post by Destiny on May 13, 2009 15:00:37 GMT 5.5
He puzzled her. Why was he being so nice and cheerful and all? What the heck was wrong with him? A meal was only a meal, after all, nothing more. "You're welcome..." she said, her doubt coloring her voice heavily, making it sound soft and puzzled. Joerm looked at her sharply and then went back to his food, leaving her to wonder if she had just gotten too skeptical of people. She touched the scar on her cheek lightly, almost subconsciously. If she had, it was with more than enough reason. She watched Roy and Cyrus play together, and for a moment she was insanely lonely...what was wrong with her? Joerm looked at her again, he could feel some of her emotions through their tie. He had finished his food by then, so he was looking at the dog, and then he growled playfully at the little mutt.
She could not see how the mutt responded, since Roy had started speaking again. She looked at him, then returned his smile with a half-smile, which ended up looking rather distracted. "Uh...thanks, I'm glad you liked it." If her cooking was the best food he'd had he was probably not eating very well. "A wanderer...looking for knowledge, huh? I guess at the moment we are wandering too, but we don't know what we're looking for," she was talking to him, or rather herself. "That's...uh, good. Really good." She looked again at the river, then bit her lip, and came back to the conversation rather suddenly when she heard what Roy had said. "No, it's not that we didn't have the heart for battle. In battle - you do what your duty is, there is nothing more or less than that...but no, we left because of the invasion. I do not plan to join the army with the very people who have invaded us and stolen everything from us, and run over our lands." That came out a little more strongly than she might have liked.
|
|
|
Post by Roy Foxheart on May 14, 2009 5:15:20 GMT 5.5
Cyrus finished the last few bites of his food and looked at Joerm puzzled for a moment on what he was doing. With a quick lick of his muzzle in thought he began to growl back, for a slight moment at least before returning to his tongue hanging out his mouth. “I guess you want to play boy, go ahead.” Roy said giving the dog a push on his rear. Cyrus got down into a hunting crouch and began to growl playfully, a little paroxysm of barking escaping his muzzle before jumping at the dragon.
Roy let out a sigh and looked at the two playing “Don't hurt him too much!” he called playfully not sure if he was talking to Joerm or Cyrus. He looked back to Drea and nodded. “Yes, we are all wanderers and that is the glorious part of it. You don't have to be searching for anything or nothing, you just wander. Then the answer comes to you.” It was what had happened to him many times. Most recently was his meeting with Cyrus, who then caused him to meet Drea and Joerm and have a full stomach of food. “So, you didn't wish to aid the invaders? That I respect with my full being.” He started as she spoke of why she had left the military “You have loyalty, or you hate them but that is not my place to infer or judge, yet still it is my guess that the country will get much worse and war ravaged before it get better.”
Roy looked up into the now dark and star filled sky. “So do you plan to find the Prince?”
|
|
|
Post by Destiny on May 15, 2009 12:08:16 GMT 5.5
Joerm looked at the dog, with a slightly patronizing expression on his face, but she didn't think the dog could guess that, since she only knew it because of the emotion sharing stuff. She grinned at him. Joerm looked back, and made a playful pounce on the little dog. She hoped he would be careful - he could really hurt someone if he was not. She glanced at the scar on her hand, and said out loud, "Be careful Joerm." He had seen her gaze, apparently, because he looked at her and then said, in her mind, "That's not fair Drea, I was just a little babe then..." She looked at him and shook her head, and then said to Roy in a reflective sort of tone, "Did you ever feel that scars can tell the story of a lifetime?" She lifted her hand slightly. "They've become like friends now, reminding me of my mistakes and my triumphs, always merciless, and always humbling."
Joerm made a rumbling, laughter-like sound. "He says to ask you whether you're talking to him or the little pup..." She smiled, and then whispered conspiratorily, "He has a rather arrogant notion that nothing can harm him, so you'd better say the puppy and take him down a few pegs." Joerm made the rumbling sound again and this time he snarled at her before turning back to puppy and starting to play with him. "Nah, the threat didn't work old fella, I know you'd never hurt me." But Joerm was busy playing, so he didn't hear her, or chose not to respond. She turned back to Roy.
"Yes, we're all wandering, our lives are composed, more than anything else, of a desire to know our own path - sometimes the knowledge of what we really want, and at other times the knowledge of what our duty is." She looked in the distance. "I do not hate them personally, but rather as a group, they've shattered Arysia. That too just before the winter. It's going to be a hard, hard winter." She shook her head. "I was planning to find the Prince, but I have been sidetracked by a rumour too awful to ignore - of some great evil rising in Arysia." She frowned. "Perhaps you have heard about it." She lowered her voice. "The rise of Mortia?"
((OOC: Might be some time before I reply again, I hope you don't mind.))
|
|
|
Post by Roy Foxheart on May 16, 2009 8:36:42 GMT 5.5
With a smile Roy pulled off his coat, then undid his tasset's belt, dropping it onto the dirt behind him. “I would agree with you. Every scar tells us a story, but most scars people care about are those that are skin deep. Only on the ones either easy to see or hard to hide.” Roy held up his arms, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. “I have no skin scars, luck has granted me that. But in my psych I have many. The price knowledge as I call it. Each of my mistakes and triumphs are etched up there, and some are hidden or lost.”
As the dragon rolled his laughter around in his throat Roy got a shiver. It reminded him of an event he didn't remember, like a flash or a movie (not that those exist in this time) that played for a second, just enough so you almost remembered what it was about. He didn't notice what Drea had said, his mind was locked in on his flashback, wondering what it was he was seeing. Drea's whisper brought him back to reality causing his head to span up and look around confused for a split second. 'This confusion is happening more and more ofter as I get older...' he thought for a moment.
'I meant the both of you, silly.” He smiled before breaking into laugh. “Ok, I'm sorry, it's wrong to lie. I was talking to Cyrus.” he gave another short laugh before lying onto his back and looking up into the sky. Listening to what Drea had to say about the invaders. “The winter will indeed be hard, but Arysia is harsh to invaders, they may just be gone sooner before you know it.” Her next few words sent a large shiver down his spine. “I pry your information is false, and that she hasn't returned. That can't be possible, are you sure your sources are reliable?”
((I don't mind it))
|
|
|
Post by Destiny on May 29, 2009 8:47:18 GMT 5.5
"No one is invulnerable to either scar - physical or emotional, but there are armors you can wear for both," she said softly. "There's no need to get hurt without cause." She bit her lip. "I think I wear many such armors, to prevent myself getting hurt. I suppose Joerm is one too...both physical and mental." She smiled suddenly, a little sourly, "Wouldn't stay sane without him, I guess. But sometimes I think these armors block out too much of what I'd like to feel as well as what I wouldn't like to feel."
She watched him sharply as he seemed lost in his own world, in some other abyss. "Are you alright?" she asked him, but he seemed to have recovered before the words were out of her mouth. She shook her head and then looked at Joerm, who had heard Roy's remark and looked extremely upset. He waddled over to Roy, and then butted his head against Roy's leg. "Joerm, be careful," she said quietly, and then laughed and said to Roy, "He's asking what happened to 'glorious bestion'." She smiled. "This is what happens when you end up flattering a dragon with an already inflated ego." She gave Joerm a playful push before returning to the much more serious topic.
"I hope so," she said about the invaders. "At any rate Arysia's rightful prince must be restored to the throne. I will be travelling south very soon, to join the regrouping of the Arysian army. But even a soldier's first duty is to protect their people and I can't leave with such rumors flying around." She bit her lip. "It's not that I believe them due to my trust of the sources, but there have been too many rumours of odd kinds, of bat like creatures and beautiful men and women who are great sorcerers and from too many different people to dismiss it as fiction. I must check whether they are correct."
She shivered slightly, as she looked at Roy from her sitting position. "And if they are, I have to figure out what to do about them." What could she do? "I don't even know magic. But maybe I can alert the Arysian army which went down south. Something must be done."
|
|
|
Post by Roy Foxheart on May 30, 2009 1:17:05 GMT 5.5
With a refulgent smile on his face Roy took the beating from the dragon. “Ah, don't get angry now. I'm bias towards my own partner in crime.” Seemingly on cue, Cyrus walked into arm's reach allowing Roy to reach out and take the fur into his hands with rhythmic scratches up and down Cyrus's neck. “Besides, I never said anything about a glorious bastion being the perfect defense, which doesn't exist.”
With a smirk on his face he looked back up into the starlit sky. Looking at all the stars that filled the night sky like a sick game of connect the dots, but each told a story. It seemed to Roy like if you were willing to listen then stories jumped out all around you but to those with blinders like the stallion it would never happen. “Humm, I will too look into the arise of Mortia but for the time being may remain a slight skeptic.” releasing Cyrus, Roy rolled over and sat up, now a foot or two away from the offended dragon.
“You don't know magic, I'll have to teach you something sometime. A simple fire spell maybe?” lifting his finger up into the air he drew a magic circle. After the drawing was completed a small light shone from the invisible circle, and above it was a small fire. “This is very useful for getting a fire started, not offense or defense though. Do you wish to learn?” with a flick of his wrist the fire disappeared into the night. Smoke rising slightly from his finger tips.
|
|
|
Post by Destiny on May 30, 2009 8:05:14 GMT 5.5
She watched Roy scratch Cyrus, and then looked at the ground below her. Her hand were hurting, her having rested all her weight on them had made them red and lined in the shape of the coarse grass below her. She sat up straighter, and left her hands at her sides, where hopefully she would not be able to rest on them. Her legs folded beneath her, she looked at Roy, who was sleeping on the ground. She would never have been able to sleep on the ground, even when awake, with someone watching her.
"I'm not sure either," she admitted. "But still the rumour is troubling enough to make me go and check it at any cost. Have to do something..." She smiled. Was she going because of the believed threat or because she really needed something to do? She supposed that it was the former because she could always go south, but she knew that in the back of her mind this was no more than a quest for glory. Joerm growled, low in his throat, like he always did when she thought of Mortia. She looked at him and half-smiled. He settled down beside her, huge and red and warm.
She looked up from his gorgeous scales suddenly when she heard about Roy's offer to teach her sorcery. "What, you can do magic? And teach it to me?" She stopped as she saw the brilliant flame. Joerm got up and sniffed the flame, and then settled back down. "I would love to learn that!" She observed the smoke coming out from his finger tips, and the air from which it had appeared. "I don't know if I have the talent though." Not that she wasn't ready to try.
|
|