Wayward

[Tobias]

The cool, brisk gust of wind snaps across his cheeks. His hat is pulled down deep over his eyes, shading them from the high-noon sun. His coat dances in the wind behind him, his shirt flapping in the small gale-force.

Tobias takes his hands out of his pockets and gets into an inquisitive look...wondering which way to go. He never knew where he wanted to go...just that he wanted to go somewhere. Maybe everything would just go away, and he could wander back to where he was from. Maybe he was already there, but he didn't know it.

All he wanted to do was just wander.

And so he did. He took a left at the fork, and began to walk. Trees with red, succulent apples filled his gaze, tempting him to reach up and grab their ripened-red flesh. He pulls one off of a nearby tree-branch, much like a boy takes from his father, and nods a silent thank you to the tree.

He was down the road, about as far as it took to chew through half of a miniopian apple. He felt a bit of calm for a change. He knew that nothing was near him...maybe he was alone for once, able to take a break, take a rest, and just enjoy himself just this once. It had been a long time since he'd actually taken a load-off...he reckoned the last time was maybe a year or two ago. All he ever did now was go from place to place, country to country, in hopes of figuring out something. What he wanted to know, he couldn't even remember...all he could see was a face in his mind.

The core of the apple had a good sight of Tobias's feet as they trailed away slowly. The floating wayward continued onwards down the path, eyeing a new fork further down.

Strange was the big word here. He felt it in the pit of his stomach like a jar of birds fluttering about. All the sign had were two arrows: one pointed to the right, and one to the left. Both forks looked the exact same. In fact, if it were up to his judgement, he thought they just ran side by side. It took a keen eye to see that they did diverge a bit of a ways further down.

So which way did he go?

[Ok guys...it's late tonight, and I felt like getting the muse up and running for the first time in a long time. Whattaya say? Tell me which way you want me to go, and I'll take a walk. Feel free to interject your characters or what-not into his path...whether it be for a fight or for whatever necessity. All I ask is that you guys keep it real, and keep it fun. Lets see where this goes.

But before anything...i need a direction. That's up to you. PM me with a direction, and I'll walk it. I don't need a reason why, just let me know when.]

[EDIT: Also, i'll be leavin this open for 2 or 3 days...i'll pull together the results then and get moseying along.]

[Damion]

Damion sat up in bed, slowly brushed a brown lock out of his eyes to peer through the gloom. In a way, he had been awake for some time...it was that kind of dream. He checked the position of the moon through the window and then closed his eyes and thought back to the fork in the road. Dreams of allies didn't come often, in the best of times, and had been non-existent of late. To balance the scales, a dream of an old friend often ended up in trouble. All the same...

Norwind and Miniopia were still renegotiating trade connections, after a barely averted war almost a year ago. No warning dreams then, oh no. No, in that particular episode, the perpetrator had been...prisoner. For a long, long time. Safely locked away again, now. He hoped. It was the sort of personality who could be...difficult to dispatch. Still, all the work now was done by aged (and healthily corrupt) politicians from both sides. Not much for a cynical, hermetic druid to do but move along, and wander on. Maybe it was time for a vacation. He checked the moon again, and rolled over.

Number-heads said it was always morning somewhere, but it certainly wasn't here.

[Dantrel Rayne]

Rayne had fashioned himself a molded hunk of glass from the sands around him. On top of it, two smooth indents that lay beside one another, like two giant fingers had pressed into a block of clay, were there for Rayne's comfort. From far away, it had looked, to the few passer-bys, that Rayne was sitting in midair. The onlookers were either drunk or a couple looking to be romantic on the beach. They had come from Weif, a Miniopian port, which lay North along the beach.

The sound of the constantly crashing waves in front of him, Rayne had discovered, subdued Azurel. This gave Rayne something he hadn't had in years: a thought to himself. He was deciding where to go next. He could think about all the things he knew were important, without Azurel jumping in and saying wherever the best food or tournaments were. Weif , although sharing a few ships that went to other countries, was not an extremely bustling port. Rayne could go most places from this port, and travel the rest of the way to anywhere.

He had decided. Rayne hopped off the smooth, glass rock, his feet sinking into the sand. He was annoyed by the sand on his shoes and, like most times, opted for a magical solution. As Rayne took a step, the sand that had fallen on his shoes rose into the air and part to either side of his shoe, dropping back down into their masses on the beach. Rayne's better-than-normal nose, a genetic trait he despised right now, began to pick up the rank odor of dead fish as he neared Weif. Rayne's head began to hurt. The scent was causing the demon to stir, as if Azurel had been sleeping this whole time and recently fallen out of bed from the cry of breakfast from his mother.

[Tobias]

[5 to 2]

So the vagrant decided.

Tobias dusted himself off and began to the left side path. He continually looked to his right, noticing that the opposite path seemed to follow almost parallel to the path he trod on. He felt the air get a bit more humid, becoming thick to breath and hazy to the eye. He could feel the moist earth under his feet. The rain had passed by here not too long ago, he figured. He could smell the storm swaying through the fuzz all around the air, when he felt the ground begin to shift.

His body began to sweat as he found himself high above the right-side path. The path sharpy turned, and lead him now opposite of the opposing path, as if fleeing at the sight of a predator. Suddenly, more trees began to emerge, ranging in diffferent Miniopian Pines and Furrs to thick, powerful oaks and maples. The air began to thin a bit more, yet the humid veil floated just as strongly, making the upward trek a bit aggrivating.

He wandered into an opening, where the air was crisp. The trees opened up to a drop which lead to a beach. Tobias stared down at the crashing waves, watching them methodically lop the beach-front gently. He peered from under his hat-brim at the sandy drop below, seeing that the drop was rather sharp and long. He checked the sword on his back and took a big step forward into nothingness.

He landed on the sand with a thud, leaving a small crater where he had his first and knee firmly planted. Standing up straight, he brushed himself off once more, and began to continue up the beach. The humid air around him vanished, being replaced with the calm breeze of the fresh air around him.

That's when he could smell the fish. A man sits on a jedi nearby, casting his reel and bait, hoping for the early-catch. A bit of excitement buzzes through his heart. It had been three days since he had last spoken to someone. He wondered if maybe this gentlement could tell him where to go next.

But should he even ask? Tobias wasn't aware that another man also smelled fish...who was not too far behind. He had yet to notice him.

[Ok...the next juncture: Is the guy gonna be friendly or not? This can be interesting...maybe he's a nice-fisher...just wanting his catch of the day...maybe he's a neruotic fisher...afraid that everyone is after his catch. Maybe it's a cover, and he is an evil menace about to kill bunnies...or even stranger, an virtuoso of truth and justice taking a break and enjoying the good things in life.

So what's it gonna be? Black or white? Good or bad?]

[Dantrel Rayne]

Rayne could see the jetty, and could barely make out two figures. As he got closer, Rayne recognized the clothes on one of them. Most people in Miniopia had their own style, a way they liked to look all the time. Yet, there was a never-changing, casual look about this man.

It's Tobias!
Thank you, I had not recognized him.
I know you're old, but when did your memory start slipping?
It figures that a rare thing like my sarcasm gets lost in your stupidity.
I should have known! You never thank me for anything
You never do anything to deserve it. You are nothing but a burden.
Nuh-uh! I'm informative!
I do not even want to know how you came to that conclusion.
I can tell you that you're hungry!

Rayne sighed. He had taught himself to not even think things like why he had to be cursed with Azurel. Such things were heard by the Demon. And, to Rayne, a pouty demon was far worse than a stupid one.

By then, Rayne had gotten close enough to talk to Tobias. Though, he only vaguely rememebered walking that far. He slowed down, the people of Miniopia liked to talk. Rayne's ego never let him think of anyone on the same level as himself, but Tobias was someone he viewed as being among the next tier down. He bowed his head, but said nothing.

[Tobias]

"Hey...you wouldn't by any chance know where i'm going, now would you?"

The old man finished reeling in his fishing line and turned to face Tobias, "Well, you seem to be on the way to a fishing town called Weif. That town is my home town, you know!"

Tobias gave a warm smile. The old man continued to talk about the marketplace and the vast amount of ports. He spoke of his home, and the reverence and nobleness in the art of fishing. Tobias was joyfully pleased when he gave his goodbyes to the man.

Then he could feel it. At first, it felt like a cold breeze coming from a long ways across the beach. The cold breeze turned into a gale, and then he felt it: Void.

Tobias had very little appreciation for Void...it had been something that he had fought against for a long time...a collection of shards that were broken a long time ago by "Thing."

Some people learned to manipulate this negative force, using its forces to battle Void on other worlds, much like his own, or of another one which he had once traveled to. He generally associated Void though with bad.

That is, until he turned around and saw the man in front of him. He recognized the face and pale complexion.

"Hello...Voidmage."

[Dantrel Rayne]

There was some irony in the title, "Voidmage". Rayne had become such a mage at one time, feeling that harnessing the intangible powers of void and shadow was the ultimate power. However, recently, his other powers no longer responded with the same no-choice obedience that they once had. He had decided to start using as wide of a variety of his talents as possible, so that he may stay in top form.

"I am a mage of many things, wanderer. The void is just one of them."

Rayne had almost kept walking by before the thought crossed his mind. Incidents seemed to be attracted to people like Rayne and Tobias. It would be smart to know where he was going.

"To where are you heading?"

[Tobias]

"Probably going to follow the beach further upwards. The stories of the port town up ahead seem friendly enough, according to the fisher"

Tobias points up the jedi towards the old man whose still casting away, giving a pleasant wave ahead.

The next question felt like a loaded one. Every question was, really...they all have a bullet of action tightly packed within a casing of words. Best not to leave them unused.

"And yourself?"

[Dantrel Rayne]

Rayne's eyes shifted down Tobias' arm to the fisherman. They snapped back to the wanderer's face when he asked the question. Rayne's decision had been to listen in at the various bars and docks for any stories he may find interesting enough to investigate. However, it seemed now that his plans had changed. The incidents surrounding these certain men and women, they were usually more exciting than anything any normal bar gossip had to offer. Though, Rayne wouldn't ever let anyone know that.

"I, too, am going to Weif. I shall find my next destination there."

He began to walk away but added, over his shoulder: "I may just become a pirate today."

[Tobias]

He shook his head.

Pirate...why am I not liking the direction of this?

Tobias shrugged and began to walk aside him.

"So...what do you plan to accomplish by being a pirate, aside from the usual 'piratical activities'?"