Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen)

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Fri Feb 17, 2012 2:00 pm

The sea of people began to part for them, well, Ixas as he swiftly cut between the bodies. Eyes started to watch them with great interest and uncertainty. They were becoming like a herd of nervous deer, white eyed and even more fearful than before, prepared to stand their ground or scatter at a moments notice.
Ixas sensed the growing discontent and shook his head taking a second to talk back to Zeke.
"Look at this, all this pure fear. It's to be expected, I guess Didienne hasn't been looking out for the real needs of it's people lately. They wear those white wreathes, but I'll bet those can't do anything for this kind of soul sickness, if you will. They all seem sick, if you ask me."
Eyes set dead ahead, ploughing through, he then stopped quickly, feeling a sharp prod in his left ribs.
A man with a long stick had jabbed him, a gnarled expression on his face.
"Where is your wreath plague rat?" He looked to Zeke as well then taking the opportunity to give him a quick prodding as well. "And you, two plague rats?"
Ixas smiled calmly. shaking his head ruefully to Zeke.
"Sir, we have no such plague, if you would allow us to continue..." He spoke humbly, with a bow of the head. The gnarled face of the crooked, yet bulky man remained unphased. He was not fearful like the others, and he had a large white wreath, even a beautiful one, emblazoned around his thick neck. "See how he talks, he certainly has the plague!" The man called out to the crowd, receiving an eager agreement from the people in the way they fell silent, straining to listen to his words of wisdom.
"Hmm, I guess we'll have our work cut out for us Zeke. Curing this lot..." Ixas smiled, as if this was all by the by.
"We all know what must be done to cure plague rats!" The man continued, and the people this time cheered. The man shoved them both with the stick and a path of people parted for them. Nobody would dare step closer to them than the length of the man's stick.
"Forward!"

OOC| Do as you wish Eldar, if not, I have something of a backup plan. But I'd like to give you the chance first.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Fri Feb 17, 2012 4:30 pm

The tension seemed to grow by the second, at least it was the way Zeke felt about the whole situation and all he wanted to do was pick up his feet and run, run as far as they would carry him or until his lungs simply burst into oblivion from the exercise.
Zeke grew more confused by the second. What was Ixas doing? And the young man didn’t understand what the other one kept talking about. Of course they were scared! They thought the two newcomers had the plague! They would be lucky if they could still get out of this alive. These people did not look like they would contend themselves by merely chasing them out of the city, oh no.

The thought was not even finished yet when Ixas was addressed and not in the most friendly fashion. “Hey!” Zeke called out when he suddenly felt the man prodding him as well. He was almost outraged now because he simply did not know what to make of the situation. Ixas was behaving like a missionary and the man was probably going to break their necks soon.

Yet when the man replied to Ixas’ words, Zeke’s mouth almost fell open. Since when was talking politely and in a dignified manner a sign of the plague?!
“Are you kidding me?” Zeke growled at the man as he got viciously poked in the back and involuntarily had to take a few steps forwards in order to regain his balance again but then he turned around on the man.
“Who do you think you are? Treating us like we were some kind of…” he hesitated for a second as he realised he had been about to say something along the lines of plage, before continuing, “dirty bastards, unsuitable for the likes of you! We have just as much the right to be in this place than you!”

He wasn’t quite sure where he took the courage from to talk back to a man almost twice his measly size but he was a little annoyed at this moment in time. He was not used to being treated like this and he did not like being in this situation, feeling like a caged animal. Turning on Ixas, he hissed, so the big man could not hear clear words: “What on earth were you thinking? How is this going to make our ‘work’ any easier? I don’t even know what you want to do!”

At least he got the time to finish his sentence before the man rammed the stick into his back once more, his voice pressing hard on his vocal cords: “Forward, I said! Come on, move it, move it!” The colour in his face was brightening a little and the crowd around their little trio was starting to chant something that made Zeke pale. “Burn them! Burn them!”
“I hope you’re pleased,” Zeke said, his voice gone cold. He was actually in a sort of panic-state and he didn’t even mean to be an idiot towards Ixas, but it slipped out. He didn’t know what else to do. There were too many people and even if they were scared of touching them, they would not let them escape. Not anymore.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Fri Feb 17, 2012 5:33 pm

Ixas was in a state of strange calm. Even a hint of expectant happiness. When the crowd started baying for their blood, when Zeke turn on the man and then gave Ixas a piece of his mind too, Ixas didn't flinch. Though, it was never good to aggravate dragon like men, either. Something Zeke seemed inclined to do, he had a lot to learn, really.
"Don't trouble yourself, Zeke, the Willow Mother will protect us both. These people are ill with a different kind of disease, so we can't blame them either...so don't fear them, for that matter." His voice was suddenly inappropriately smooth and optimistic, when contrasted with the horrified people all gathered in a frenzy for a burning procession.
"Clear the path, protect yourselves." The man went on, playing to the people...eager to see their city cleansed a bit more.
Ixas stretched himself up, trying to see ahead over the the people that were splitting into their walkway. At the other end of this huge market square was the gallows, but they were empty and all but completely ignored.
So where did these poor people intend to turn them into human pyres?
His eyes caught something strange in the distance.

"Hey! Psst, Zeke, found something." He sighed a little with a hint of pity. "Look, a whole corral of people there." None of them had wreathes, they were all huddled close, slumped on the ground, being guarded by similar men to the one that enjoyed shoving them along with his stick, albeit, less intimidating.
"Please sir, there's no need for violence. If you'll just listen to me." The man ignored him entirely and before long they were at the corral of martyrs to be made. The protective ring of...plague guards...parted to allow the two specimens in.
'LOOK! See how they are so diseased, below peasants! What a fine job we have done just to catch them before they could catch us!" The man immediately made a point of highlighting Ixas, on top of this. "And him, the man believes he is well, yet look how sickly he is and how dirty his rags are. Can we tolerate this kind of man that is so out of his mind he believes he is well?"

"Don't worry Zeke, this will pass. Look, I think I have an idea on what we'll have to do." He whispered, having been kicked to the floor to be among the others. "Hehe, they're a little rough aren't they?"

"Burn the filth! Cleanse the Capital! Burn the filth!" The people called.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Fri Feb 17, 2012 7:19 pm

‘Can’t blame them?!’ Zeke thought he wasn’t hearing correctly when Ixas tried to actually excuse the behaviour of these people. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly want to be roasted,” Zeke retorted to Ixas’ unbelievable and inexplicable calm. How could this man not be throwing a hissy fit while people were screaming for their blood? Or scorched flesh in this case.

His eyes for now searching for whatever it was that Ixas had discovered in the distance. As happy as he sounded about it, Zeke already began to dread that he had reason to fear it, given the recent development of Ixas’ enthusiasm.
When his eyes finally fixed on what he had spotted, the young man froze in his tracks, earning him another harsh poke in the back – he would definitely have a few bruises the next day, should they get out of this horrible situation alive, which Zeke currently really was not so sure about.

The men and women were pitiful to look at, huddled up in a corner as if they were cattle and not human beings. What was worse though was that they were all sitting there, hopeless and without a spark of fight in them it seemed. Zeke refused to end up like that, yet he was unable to prevent being shoved into the make-shift corall with another hefty push in the ribs.
“Are you all insane?” Zeke addressed the captured ones but they all evaded his glance and looked away as though they were afraid to catch some sort of disease off of the two new comers. What was with all these people?!

“How can you be laughing at this?!” Zeke suddenly exploded full out as he crashed to the floor next to Ixas, his mouth suddenly filling with dirt and making him cough. Driven by fear and anger, Zeke jumped back onto his feet and without thinking rammed his shoulder into the big man’s stomach – having aimed a little lower but having slightly miscalculated.
The uproar this caused amongst their audience was unbelievable and the shouts turned even louder, demanding an immediate execution of these unruly filthy plague bearers. “You are INSANE!” Zeke shouted as he flew back into the other victims, the man shaking him off and punching him in the face with a shocked expression on his face. “How dare you touch me, plagued rat!”

The shouts suddenly turned a little lower and confusion seemed to spread through the masses when they suddenly realised that they’re self-proclaimed leader might now have been infected himself as the rat had dared touch him.
Before the man knew what was happening to him, the people in the marketplace were screaming for him to be burned with the rest of them and immediately his protective wreath was ripped off his neck by means of a stick and he was thrown in with the rest of the ‘plagued’ lot.

”Oops,” Zeke thought, having completely forgotten about Ixas for the time being, as he saw the big man’s fist again approaching his face with high speed.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:46 pm

Ixas watched with great interest as the people revering their plague guard earlier were suddenly upon him like dogs, ready to seal his fate at the drop of the hat. The craziness of the widespread fear was amazingly hysterical, it only affirmed Ixas' first presumptions. He did not, however, approve of Zeke's use of violence on the Plague Guard.
See? Violence always lead to more evil. The man was now in the same situation as them. It was now up to Ixas to try and guide these people out of their own darkness, he wished for the safety of them all.
Ixas placed a firm hand on Zeke's arm.
"Zeke, calm down. You shouldn't act like that, you'll only taint yourself, okay? We must never be aggressive." He said collectedly. Ixas was no longer smiling whimsically, but rather, was mildly serious, as if thinking of a plan. If you could call it that.

He turned his attention to the sorry lot they were keeping for company until their public burning.
"I have a cure for this, you know. It's free, it's for everybody." They barely acknowledged him, but he continued. "I am serious. If you will listen, then we will have a better chance of helping everybody else too. Faith will make peace in your heart. Peace in your heart will cure a sickness like this. For certain. See, I wear no wreath yet I am as well as one."
They looked at him with curiosity, like a strange animal.
"Those poor ones out there; they believe they are safe with those white wreathes, but /they/ are the sick ones. Look how nervous they are."

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Feb 19, 2012 2:11 pm

For a moment, Zeke was utterly confused when Ixas suddenly spoke to him, still tasting the blood on his lips. Briefly, he wanted to throw himself at the man for having gotten them into this mess in the first place and a ferocious roar almost bubbled up in his throat. Somehow, however, Zeke’s panic began to recede a little at his companion’s calm and composure and it finally hit him that he might really have been behaving a little rashly, if not stupidly.

“You’re right, I need to calm down,” Zeke muttered in between deep breaths. “I’m sorry.” It probably helped that Ixas did not have that half-crazed expression on his face anymore, even though he was still babbling about a cure, which Zeke still did not understand in the least. He was all for “we” but did he really have to be implied in this “we”?

A few of the so-called plagued ones were restraining the larger man who was still ogling Zeke as if he wanted to personally rip his heart out with his bare hands. The looks he was sparing for Ixas were no less fond.
When Ixas addressed everyone else, Zeke quickly took back all of his previous thoughts. The urge to punch Ixas just to make him shut up was growing by the second and he had never been the violent kind, heck he barely had a weapon on him.
“Ixas,” he hissed through his teeth. People were looking at them weirdly, with or without wreaths. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?!” His whispers were urgent, yet, they still were only whispers as Zeke was now almost hiding behind Ixas, all the while tugging on his clothes to catch his attention. “This is not going to work! They won’t listen. Look! They’re already looking at us like we’re their next meal, whether they’re on... well ’our’ side or the other!”

“I say: burn them straight away!” someone from outside the coral called. “Burn them before they can speak any more nonsense and try to actually make you believe that they are really unaffected by the plague. They do not wear wreaths and they call us sick! Burn them before anything worse happens! Burn them before they attract more plague bearers!”

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Wed Feb 29, 2012 8:57 pm

Ixas heard what Zeke had to say, maybe he was a little right, this was not quite what he had in mind. Maybe he'd spent one too many nights sleeping in the forest trees...away from people...So this was the consequence. He'd returned to a mass of lunatics eager for others blood to protect themselves. The plague guard was of small consequence now compared to this hoard of angered people.

"I guess there's nothing for it then Zeke!" Ixas stood up from the group and walked forward to the plague guards ringed around them.
"Back!" They called abruptly shoving at him with their sticks, but Ixas persisted wrestling with them somewhat, before breaking past them just enough to lay hands on them. They jumped back like startled cats and the crowd grew even more frenzied.
"Look! The plague is spreading. It's moving through them! That EVIL wretched man!" A woman called above the crowd.
So, he had to find a way to stop this craziness. "Zeke, come here." He said, gesturing with a flick of the hand as he made his way toward the burning stakes, already laid out with the kindling. He didn't really fear them, they didn't even want to touch him, much less could they use sticks to force him into a fire. Poor, frightened people.
Ixas sat down in front of what must have been his designated dying stake, assured for his safety, nobody dared come within a few metres of him.
"Then, what makes you see that I am sick!? Or any of my good friends here?" He called out, speaking to them all. More speaking that appeared reckless. A jumble of hateful responses ensued. "I wish to know, who is the one who offered you this divine protection?" His voice laced with a thing he rarely used; sarcasm.
He looked back at Zeke. "You must know, there are only a few great ones that can assure you full protection."

Ixas was doing what he had to to prevent himself dying; stalling for time, drawing out the culprit of this heinous misleading of people and of course...preaching.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:24 pm

Zeke felt a little uneasy as he considered following Ixas’ request. The last time he had followed the man, he had ended them in the mess they were currently not even out of and he was not sure it was a good thing to do as he was asked. On the other hand, there wasn’t really much to lose for them anymore anyways. If the people got their wish then they would be ashes soon enough. Could Ixas really make the situation any worse than it already was?

Deciding that the answer to that particular question was no, the young man followed his companion, but unlike him tried to avoid touching the people himself, tried to avoid their sticks as much as possible, before sitting down next to Ixas in front of the huge pyre the people had created. The construction was rather impressive to behold, especially since they had put quite a bit of effort into it, making enough room for more than just one person per stake – there were a handful of them.

“Calling out the source of all this?” Zeke was surprised. “You seem to still be in possession of your brain after all,” he muttered. “I would not have thought of this.” It was a good idea indeed and Zeke hoped that it would bring them some luck in their rather desperate situation.

Sure enough, the man Ixas had called for didn’t take long to actually make his appearance. He was not at all what Zeke had imagined him to be. Rather than be an imposing man anybody would automatically look up to when he entered the room, the man whom the crowd suddenly parted for was someone Zeke barely would have noticed under normal circumstances.
He looked like he was about to wither away like a dried out plant, despite his relatively young age, but there was just literally no meat on his bones. He looked like a stick, walked like an insect and had an awfully arrogant stare. Instant dislike on Zeke’s behalf.

“And who are you? Thinking you can just waltz in here, upset my people and tell them that they are sick when clearly you are the ones who have brought the plague with you from outside the confines of this city. You would have my people think that there is something wrong with them when it is you who are not thinking clearly. Your mind has been affected by the plague and your thoughts are scrambled by its effects. But do not worry, I shall help you. I shall relieve you from your suffering.” Turning towards the people surrounding him, he called out: “They shall not suffer for very much longer. The disease has already spread too far in them and they may not be saved anymore. Let us release them from their pan. Bring me the torches!”

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:48 pm

While Zeke appeared to already be underway on their eulogies, Ixas remained unfazed by the withered man before him. "To burn us would to be burning your own morality, though, I fear even that is but a smouldering ash in your heart. However, nobody is irredeemable my man." Ixas was not playing mind games, he was an incapable liar on every level, through decision and through nature. "Calm yourselves, you are all so eager for our blood, is it out of the sadness in your hearts too?" This actually provoked the crowds, they handed torches to the man now, one for each claw like hand. The man who would not even so much as give them the grace of his name. Ixas rose again to his feet. So maybe his gods were true, to give him such admirable courage...or recklessness.
"You, you shall burn for your own good. Don't worry, a stake is not required, we shall cleanse you now." The hollowed man taunted as he moved closer to them, he was deliberate and composed and the crowd parted to behold him as he thrust a long-pole torch out to Zeke's feet to let the flames lick and dance on them

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:12 pm

As the man moved closer with the torch and Ixas remained so completely not worried about what might happen to them, Zeke was starting to lose his temper more and more. For a brief moment, he actually wished he was more like his sister, who probably would have fainted from rage or panic by now and would thus miss the whole thing. It would save him the painful moments of desperately trying to figure out a way out of their situation, which Ixas did not seem inclined to do.

At first sight, the man who had started out as his companion in this adventure – and who apparently was now intent on getting them killed, a thought that played around in his mind over and over again – had not struck him as being a sort of priest, or whatever it was he seemed to try to personify. He was just about to pull Ixas back a little to try and get him to not provoke the man any more when said man got handed a few torches and decided it was a fun idea to throw them at his feet.

With a terrified screech, Zeke jumped back, trying to grab a hold of Ixas to keep himself upright, as he suddenly stumbled over another prisoner sitting on the floor and went crashing to the ground, his pants legs feeling oddly warm and uncomfortable.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:35 pm

The man hadn't quite caught Zeke well enough. "See how he dances! The plague demon inside him fights to stay contained, but we must raise him up and out through our true fire!" The crowd cheered and Ixas' eyes widened. He may have been ridiculously brave, but he was not without shame. His companion would not die on account of his words in the crowd.
As the frail man took the strongest lunge such a man could, the torch aimed to singe Zeke's face entirely, Ixas stepped forward sharply and embraced the man. Whether he was restraining him or sharing some feeling of warmth, was quite hard to tell.
They all seemed to freeze, as if in a tableaux. So Ixas was not completely without sensibility. The man was thinking over what had just happened, the only thing moving in the sudden stillness was the flickering of the flame and the only sound was its' crackle.

Ixas shifted his right arm and with a strong tug managed to pull the long-pole torch from the bony fingers. He turned it upside down and promptly smashed the head of the torch on the stone floor."As I often say, I shall never be responsible for the shedding of another man's blood, whether direct or not. It will not be my doing, nor will it be yours, Sir. Besides, this man is my good companion, how could I do such a thing?"
There was a sudden great confusion, if a touch could spread the plague, how much more so an embrace.

"No, no...it is not like that!" The man suddenly hissed, looking to the people for support, as it was dissolving quickly. The plague was out of its' makers hands.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:59 am

Dancing?! Zeke would have snorted if he would not have been frantically trying to get rid of the small flames licking at his pants. Luckily for him it was nothing very life-threatening and wildly flapping his bag at the flames somehow did help to douse them. He could live with the blisters this little adventure had produced but for the time being there were other things to worry about.

Like for instance Ixas who threw himself at the man wielding the torches, for what reason exactly, Zeke could not understand but the reaction was overwhelming in any case. His brain seemed to kick in again after a few heartbeats of staring at the pair in utter confusion and he quickly kicked the torch out of reach of the man after Ixas had extinguished its fire.

Suddenly everyone was backing away from their so-called leader, their mouths agape and their eyes staring wildly at the man who had told them what the plague could do them and who was now presumably infected himself. They did not understand what was going on and neither did Zeke but he knew that this was their chance to walk away freely.

Despite himself, he began to pick up on Ixas’ own words and now addressed the crowd. “Do you see now that my friend has been right all along in trying to tell you that neither of us is ill? Look at your master, he is still standing as healthy as ever before you, even though he has been embraced by one of the so-called infected ones.”

Looking from a few faces to the next, the incomprehension was slowly dissolving on some of them but they were still sceptical. However, their focus was now less on the people they had been herding like cattle but on their leader and Zeke saw impending doom hanging over all of them, including Ixas and himself, like a dark overbearing cloud. If they wanted to get out of this unharmed – apart from a few bruises and blisters – then they would have to act.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:26 pm

Nothing hit people quite like a realisation did. They demanded death and they had been given none, there was nobody for them to kick from their pedestal now that the plague had been so publicly dispelled. Well, some of them now believed their leader to be infected, others were just angry for having been cheated, others simply were caught in the frenzy that now followed.
The crowd started to hiss and bubble; some threw off their wreathes and others were grabbing them supposedly for more protection. In any case, Ixas could see they needed to make a move. But not before they saved the plague-maker from certain doom.

"Zeke, there." He signaled quickly to a thinning in the crowd that lead to a back alley and then he did not wait for Zeke to respond; as he would surely follow. Grabbing the old man he began to walk with determination away from the people but not yet run so as to stir them too quickly. "Sir, you should really watch how you guide people. People depend upon you to provide for them. The moment you cannot you break their trust...Trust is valuable you know?" He spoke quite quickly, constantly looking for a way away. The people were actually following now.

"Leave him be good people. Find the kindness in your souls to see a man in need; he has no plague, he has illness of another kind." He paused, frantically searching back for his companion within the waxing and waning crowd. "Zeke! Zeke come with me now, quickly!" That would be terrible; to lose either of these people he had somehow come to entwine his fate with. As he had said; he would not have the blood of either of them on his hands.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:38 pm

Zeke didn’t need long to figure out what Ixas was pointing at and he gladly followed his companion out of this mess with quick steps. With an uncertain glance over his shoulder, he took in the crowd in the people’s respsective states of helplessness and fury. It was an unsettling view in all honesty and Zeke urged Ixas to move a little quicker still once he finally properly caught up with him.

“Why are you taking him along?” he whispered to his companion, but at the same time he could understand why without needing an explanation. The crowd was steaming, almost literally, and they wanted the man’s head, for various reasons probably but they wanted his head on a stick all the same.

Shoving the man and Ixas forward, Zeke tried to block them from view but he was neither big nor tall enough to cover both of them but he was doing his best and hoping they would get away from the crowd before...

Too late. “Get them! Get him before he escapes! Get all of them!” The outcry was spreading quickly through the crowd and all of a sudden, it seemed like people were rushing at them from all sides, with barely the slit into the alley still open as an escape route.
“Run, Ixas, run!” Zeke yelled, pushing into both their backs once again as the previous leader of the wreath bearers wanted to turn around to plead with his ex-followers.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:52 pm

Ixas barely had time to respond but he just graced Zeke with a quick glance and a nod. He would knew why he had to be saved.
"Sir do not slow!" He tugged the withered man sharply, "They will not hear even great wisdom now, though yours is far from it." He added. Ixas may be saving him, but he disapproved his acts greatly. Their opportunity was closing but not quite gone. They made it into the alley now, dirty green-brown muck and puddles stained the ground. The passage was narrow thank gods, which helped stem the tide of rage and rags pursuing them. But what now, where could they run to?

Then it struck Ixas clearly. "The district river!" He called out to Zeke. The man suddenly looked at him suggesting how absurd his idea was by the whites of his eyes and even some anger. "Gracious gods you are a fool! To save me and now to do THAT!?" Ixas then realised Zeke wouldn't understand. They were very close, he would then. There was a mountain river that flowed to Didienne all the way up from Shayenne (and one huge waterfall) it was quite a wonder in it's own right. It was the river that marked the divide between the haves and have nots, though the bridge itself was beautiful and strong, the river was far below it, deep and who knew what kind of substance it carried. One could argue the river was less water and more...
Such things didn't bear thinking about.
"We'll choke before we drown you fool." He jeered again, still trying to keep pace.
They were there now and a single railing separated them between people and river, certain death and good-chance-of-death.
"Willow Mother, may you guide us to safety with your fine judgment." Ixas recited quickly then various other mumblings. "She will see who of us is good, Zeke."

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:08 pm

A small wave of claustrophobia washed over Zeke as they entered the small alley and the crazy crowd followed suit but he shook it away. He was not the kind for that sort of phobias and he had never had it, so he easily rationalised it away and followed Ixas. He was just about to ask the question that had been in Ixas’ head as well when his companion mentioned the river. He was clueless but followed him nevertheless, confident that they could not end up worse than they had been.

When the man suddenly spoke up against this idea, even Zeke did not know himself what was going on, he finally graced him with a proper look. “Well, yes, you are absolutely right about that one, he was a fool to save you.”
He didn’t want to get into a longer conversation about this however and urged the other two onwards again as the clamour of the crowd following them began to grow louder in the alley they had emerged out of mere moments before.

“That’s genius!” Zeke replied with excitement when he saw what Ixas had meant by the river, his adrenaline kicking in again fully now and he was back on track for completely being himself. “This is our ticket out of here!”
He didn’t pay much attention to the muttering of either of the two. There might be many things in the river other than just water but he was sure that they would be just fine. They had just escaped being burnt alive, he was not going to think about any possible casualties.

“Woohooo!” He cried out and then he jumped.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:47 pm

The man doubted them both hugely at this point and looked at them with utter disbelief. Ixas, empowered by the boldness of his comrade, followed suit. Just to be sure, he grabbed the clothing around the withered man's and hauled him in alongside them. The three of them disappeared from the peoples' view promptly, each in turn greeting the river with a swell of froth and a high, mighty, splash.

Ixas held his breath as tightly as he could, this was terrible as it came. He flailed his arms through the disgusting feel of water that was not really water and fought his way to break the surface. During the dive he'd lost his grip on the man, it was up to him now. Ixas had saved him from a certain death, but the man would need to try if he was going to live; some things Ixas couldn't help with. His head broke the surface of the water and gasped deep for air, aware of the silt all over his face and the fuzziness of everywhere through his watered vision.
"Zeke!" He called out hoarsely.
The current was now taking them away, they had to stay above the surface and keep breathing clean, then they might just make it. This had to be the fastest and least pleasant tour of Didienne possible, near drowning in the river of...water...while watching the buildings and swell of people around the banks watching them. Some in horror and others taunted by their inability to spike them right then.

This was not how Ixas planned on being back in the capital but, he felt a good man all the same for what he had done.
"Zeke, are you with me?" He shouted again. He spied an abandoned boat, roped loosely to one side of the towering, stone, river banks. "Grab the boat!"

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:26 pm

Eww! What is in this river? Zeke shuddered as he pushed away this thought, not wanting for even a second considering what he might currently be dipping his head in as the waves crushed together above him. The jump had been fantastic, if a little stupid seeing that he did not quite know what he would be landing in or on, but nevertheless, Zeke enjoyed the pump of the adrenaline.

Just as he was getting a bit of a feeling for where he was about in the river, he heard Ixas voice call for him and he quickly responded: “I’m here.” Spurting out some more dirty water – it really was disgusting! – Zeke tried to swim over to his companion, who was still somewhat dragging their fifth wheel along with him. The good thing about this was that the cries of the angry crowd were dwindling away pretty fast.

The boat which suddenly presented itself to them as a way out of the the river was a little glitchy, but Zeke soon managed to get a hold and helped Ixas get the man to grab the boat as well. “This is pretty nasty,” he muttered as he looked at Ixas, but as he looked back to where they had come from, he added: “But it got us away nicely. Are we all unharmed?”

Zeke didn’t particularly care about the plague leader’s health but he wanted to make sure that Ixas was fine. He himself did not catch any more bruises or scratches but his burn blisters were beginning to itch like hell in the dirty water and he was beginning to worry about maybe catching an infection.

“Let’s get out of this dirt-canal before we get attacked by rats or something,” he muttered as he clambered along the side of the boat towards the river bank, trying to angle himself up onto dry ground but utterly failing. "So ehm, we're not really getting out of here by climbing up there and the boat doesn't really look all that useable. What now?"

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:04 pm

Ixas was still holding tight onto the boat, and now, the man was holding onto his waist too with the remaining wisp of his strength. "We seem as well as we can be..." He looked up to see faces staring down at him, some were even throwing things now. "Do you think it is fair to make the mother save us if we choose to be unwise...Zeke...anybody would think...you're scared." He grinned a little and hoisted himself next the boat, pulling himself up the side.
"Sir." He said simply,
"What? I can't let go NOW I'll be gone, dead, and it'll be YOUR fault." Ixas sighed, the man was not cooperating and they were running short on time. He grabbed at the top edge of the shallow boat, and pushed the man over to Zeke, before lugging the man's deadweight body with a heave of strength that was uncommon for him.

He finally fell into the boat on his side, then kneeled and clasped the older man's hand who gripped it with surprising purchase for a man that should in theory be dying or dead.
After jostling, balancing and near falling out, the man was settled in the boat too.
"Zeke, quickly!" He rasped, coughing on some more of the dreadful water.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:13 pm

“Scared? Me?” Zeke laughed, grabbing a hold back on the boat a little uncertainly. “What are you talking about?”
Truth be told, he was a little scared but a little less of the boat than drowning in this. Drowning in a river after taking a crazy dive would not be so uncharacteristic for Zeke but it was the fact that this was not even a nice river, but it was dirty and smelly. However, he was not going to admit this to Ixas so he merely brushed his companion’s words aside as though he had not even said them.

“Why don’t we talk less and get this thing going?” Zeke asked, pointedly looking at the man, who was still clinging to the side of the boat, rather than trying to get into it as Ixas and Zeke were trying to get him to. The man was getting on his nerves but for the sake of Ixas, who clearly wanted to save this man, though he didn’t quite understand why, he did not say anything more.

When the man was finally settled in the boat after he almost shoved his behind into Zeke’s face, the latter followed up on Ixas’ urge and clambered into the boat himself. The inside was a little wet too, but unlike Zeke had feared, it was not showing any sign of sinking and the young man was very relieved to see this. “Huh,” he grunted, “looks like this is intact after all.”

Seeing that the water was quite dirty in the boat as well, Zeke couldn’t detect a rudder, but as it had to be there somewhere, he began touching around on the bottom of their wooden vehicle until he finally found something that slightly resembled a rudder. “We should be able to use this.”

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:48 pm

Sure enough, Zeke took the bait and now they were well on their way to freedom, he could not wait to be back where the water was clean and feel his body free of the muck that clung to him. But first, to get them all to safety.
"That'll do, now...Where was it..." He scanned the bottom of the boat before spying the inconspicuous pole. "This, will be our paddle." Pfft, paddle. It was a long-ish stick of the same wood as the boat, that had it's actual paddle missing. "I suppose I'll just have to use it to keep us from the edges..." Wasting no time now, he gained a slimy grip with the pole in a crack of the brick wall and used this to haul the boat forth from their platform. Oh, the rope.

"Excuse me.." He worked his hands on the sodden rope, thick and stubborn. Despite the pressure he seemed completely beyond tension. "And that does that..." Ixas let it drop lankly into the river and then, without so much as a push required, the boat slipped from it's resting spot and started a hasty journey down stream, away from the vengeful people that pooled about the edges like hungry predators.

"Yes, we will be fine now." The current was even now surprisingly strong and seemed to taper down as if on a slope...They were heading for the outskirts of North Didienne, if they saw this through..."Oh my, Mother see us well, thank her graciousness that is over." He rubbed more muck from his splotched face and collected his long hair onto his back. Now their immediate ordeal was over he chanced a smile in Zeke's direction. "Apologies, I had no idea they might want to kill us."
The man snarled a little, but said nothing, he was festering with anger, set at the back of the boat

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:06 pm

The rope was a bit annoying but once it was loosened, the boat was floating along the river as easily as they had when they had jumped off the bridge. The water might be dirty and full of things that were not exactly normal components but the current was relatively strong, doing most of the work for them. Luckily for them as well as their paddles were nothing more than a few sticks of wood which at least kept them from bumping into the walls on either side of the river.

At Ixas’ innocent words, Zeke burst out laughing. “Don’t worry about it. I was a bit surprised by how you suddenly turned into some sort of priest but all is well that ends well, no? And what would life be without an adventure every now and then?” He wanted to ignore the man snorting in the back of the boat at their conversation but he couldn’t. Thus, he turned towards him briefly, while trying not to miss any close calls to his side of the brick walls surrounding them.

“You know, we could have just left you to the dogs, or left you in the water trying not to drown, or just simply throw you over board right about now. But we didn’t and we won’t. And even though you probably don’t know how to do this but you could thank us, or mostly my friend here, for this generosity instead of sneering at us like that.” When it came down to it, Zeke was not a violent person and he was not very keen on seeing someone get hurt either but he also did not like people being ungrateful after a good deed had been done for them, which was the case for this man.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:37 pm

Ixas said nothing to calm Zeke down when he spoke to the man. He required no thanks, but he saw no reason to scold Zeke either. Quite content with just having his life safe and sound inside him. "Well, what choice did I have? I follow the path I am destined to take and...we have done a good thing today. Those people are free from foolery and lies." He heard the plague-maker grumble a bit, but he said nothing, he hadn't so much as flinched even when Zeke had put him in his place. Silence for him it was then.

Ixas now enjoyed the soft ride down the river, the people seemed a mile away and had given up on their chase...so what would they do now? The Guardians peak was it?
"All of this behind us...I look forward to the end of this river...The water is clearer north of Didienne. We can take care of our clothes and selves better there. Until then..." Ixas began to remove the saturated tunic, exposing a completely white chest and leaving him far more naked looking than he actually was. Ixas disapproved of unmodest dress though, so no problems there, which left him in leggings. His belongings were on his lap, the tunic now in a bundle. "It would not be wise to catch a chill after all this, so best to remove that thing. You too Sir." He nodded, though the man seemed very reluctant to say the least, before deciding to just ignore Ixas altogether. No surprises there, either.

So he left him alone, again.
"Thankyou again Zeke, you are an excellent travelling companion." He said without any frills or trills. Truth was what Ixas did best.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:23 am

“I suppose you’re right,” Zeke replied and he actually did see the truth in Ixas’ words. If there was any good to be taken away from this than it was the fact that the plague myth was lifted and quite a few people’s lives were saved, and probably a few minds too. Of course their appendix didn’t seem to think the same but he did not reply to anything either of them said apart from a huff here and there. Zeke was just as content ignoring him.

Seeing that the ride down the river was getting smoother now, Zeke didn’t see a problem with leaving the boat to do its thing for a while as he followed Ixas’ lead and took off his disgusting clothes.
“I hope we can still save them somehow, I don’t think I have enough money to buy new clothes, yet again,” Zeke grumbled as he began to take off his pants, turning his naked back to the man at the other end of the boat. His body was neither toned nor coloured like that of a farmer but he was most definitely not as pale as Ixas.

Once his trousers were down, Zeke took a closer look at the ugly blisters on his leg and the dirty rims forming around the wounds. “I better get this cleaned soon before it gets infected.” He usually carried around some sort of cloth for emergencies but seeing that he was wet from top to bottom, there would be no dry and clean cloth anywhere on him now. He didn’t want to go at it with his fingers either so he just let the leg be for the time being, hoping for the best.

At Ixas’ statement, he looked up at the man with a smile. “Thank you. You are too! And I’m not just saying that. Minor hiccup aside where I thought you were going to get us killed, it’s been quite fun so far!” Zeke didn’t even consider their earlier adventure as all that perilous anymore. They had gotten out of it and thinking over it now, it had been fun despite everything!

“How long do you think until we reach a cleaner part of the river?” Zeke asked as he straightened up again to take his make-shift rudder and fiddle with the water a little. “And what is your plan for our companion back there?” He didn’t look back at the man but merely indicated him by pointing over his shoulder with a thumb.

Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:05 am

How long was a good question....who knew, really..."Perhaps a day, perhaps not. We will be in good water soon enough though...and as for him.." Ixas thought for a moment before deciding to just ask the man himself.

"Sir, what are we to do with you...?" He asked softly, voice as hushed as it was before.
"Psh! Slit my neck, piss down my throat for all I care. You've ruined me." Ixas seemed quite concerned so pressed him further, however riled he may have been.
"I won't argue on what has already been done, though the ahead is more important than the behind so...At least tell us what would be good now so we do not make things difficult for you."

"OH the irony, you want to make things easy for me? Well..." He huffed, deciding to at least be a little more easy on them. "Then you can give me those things." He said, eyeing up Ixas' pouch of belongings, Zeke's too. "Give me all of that, and I'll make sure if you ever come back around here you won't be taken straight to the stake with plenty a guard to keep you from escaping. Because, that's what will happen." Ixas looked at him, mystified.
"Sir, I cannot just give you my belongings...I depend upon these to survive I..."

"And that, I'll have your bow too. It's that or never come to the Capital again." Ixas looked to Zeke, unsure what to do altogether. The man was so much more vocal when he was making demands that couldn't be met. Yet Ixas would be the last person to point out how he had saved his life. Besides, Zeke had already done the honours.
What a way to rock the boat without moving an inch. "Aaaaaah." He sighed wth satisfaction. "Get that rope and tie it to the ring there, my home is here. I guess you'll be giving up your things too, then."
Ixas reached for the rope...

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