| | | Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) |  |
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Eldarwen
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|  Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen)  Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:11 pm | |
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Zeke raised a curious eyebrow at the man’s exclamation. ‘Piss down my throat?’ Now that was a vulgar expression he had not expected to come from such a man, who seemed to be rather good with words – how else would he have managed to have so many people follow and believe him blindly? But his demands were simply outrageous, and Zeke’s face said so as well.
Unaware that he was still holding the wooden pole in his hand, Zeke began gesticulating as he reacted to the man’s nonsense. “How dare you make such a request! Do not make me point out again what has already been said, which you know as well as we do. Now, I may not be keen on making people realise who owes whom, but you cannot in all honesty believe that you are getting anything from us! This is outrageous!”
Taking a deep breath, the young man tried to calm himself. He had never been prone to outbursts such as these, generally more the quiet type but it seemed that this man knew exactly how to push his buttons. Somehow, he reminded him a little of his mother, maybe that was why he lost his temper so quickly around this stranger.
“Ixas, no!” he called out as his companion reached for the rope and he put his hand over his friend’s grabbing the rope. “If he is telling the truth, then he will only be creating more mischief if we let him go now. Do you really want that to happen? After everything we’ve just been through and after what you have accomplished?”
Zeke shook his head. “I do not know what to do with him but I do know that we cannot just give him our things because he thinks we owe him that and that he can make ridiculous demands of anyone he comes across. No, we cannot let him out here.” He looked at Ixas, hoping his friend would understand, hoping that he would not go about playing the white knight again. They needed their things for the journey that lay ahead and they both knew it, especially since they did not have the means to make a lot of money in a brief amount of time and after this man’s threat, lingering around after freeing him would only get them into more trouble.
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| | | | Zay
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:48 pm | |
| Ixas's eyes looked up and met Zeke's, he listened to him the way through without interrupting before reclining his hand from the rope. "Maybe this time you are correct, and maybe it is not so wise to let him back in where he can cause trouble so soon..." It was quite a thing for Ixas to admit somebody else being correct when he'd already set his mind on one thing, but this time, there was a very real reason. The man on the other hand, was hopping mad and quite literally now rocking the boat.
"Go on then, just carry on down the river, you've already sunk me, now I'll sink you too you hear!?" He waved from side to side, hollering nonsense out loud. He looked drunk more than anything.
"Calm yourself Sir." Ixas said, gripping onto his unsteady legs. He nodded to Zeke, he wouldn't be letting the man take them for fools. Ixas then pulled him back sharply so he dropped from standing and roughly was now sat back in the bottom of the boat. "Stay put. You'll be out of here soon enough..." What a handful...
It was early the next morning, perhaps 5am, that they reached a slowing in the river. Out of Didienne now, the river was slower, calmer and most important of all cleaner. Ixas was "in charge" of the boat for the moment. Zeke was sleeping, and fortunately, even that plague-maker. To his relief they could finally offload themselves from the boat...Clean their garb and send the man back...hopefully to start a new and honest life. "Zeke.." Ixas whispered, looking about in the darkness of dawn for a good enough space to moor. "...I think we're done now..." He shook his arm, then using the paddle-pole as an anchor to pull their faecal boat to the bank.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Tue Apr 24, 2012 3:19 pm | |
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Relief washed over Zeke when Ixas gently woke him when they had finally reached the outskirts of Didienne and the river had begun to calm into a slow rocking in slightly clearer waters. The ride had been bumpy, to say the least. He was glad however that Ixas had taken his words to heart earlier in the night and refused to give in to the man’s ridiculous request.
Zeke nodded without saying a word and helped Ixas dock their little boat without too much of a fuss, in hopes not to wake up the man so that he would not make any more outrageous demands or even try to steal their possessions from them.
As it was, they now set about to clean exactly those belongings the man had demanded from them and Zeke made sure that everything was still there. Maybe the man had gotten a stupid idea into his mind while he had been dozing. With people like him, one never knew and it was never safe either. All the while their appendix kept sleeping and actually started snoring a bit.
“Maybe we should just leave him in the boat, let the boat drift along the river. Sooner or later he will arrive somewhere or wake up and get himself out of there. It would be a little lesson for him without being evil,” he made sure to add the last part while looking at Ixas. He didn’t want Ixas to think that he wanted to harm the man, but he definitely wanted to make him pay for his ways and this might be an idea. It was harmless little voyage, with maybe just a hint of seasickness involved after a while, maybe.
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu May 24, 2012 10:23 am | |
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Ixas wasn't sure how to take Zeke's idea...They certainly couldn't take him with them, but he would feel bad to leave the man there in the boat on his own, at odds with whatever would cross his watery path.
"In my conscience I am not sure I can do that...He is just a simple man, like us..." Though it would obviously be impractical to keep him with them, Ixas was that kind of a man. "Though, maybe you are right. However I don't want to simply leave him without anything..."
Ixas scrounged in his pouch a little, for what it was worth anyway. By the standards in Dragons' Cove, he might as well have been a Bolarvian pauper. He stood up in the boat slowly so as not to wake their cargo, then placed a few coins to his side, hopefully where they would not be simply forgotten. "Now we may move on..."
He tentatively hoisted himself onto the bank while offering Zeke his hand, sparing himself a moment to look ahead.
Ixas was suddenly aware just how cold he was and reached to his (still very damp) clothes, but was quickly distracted by the sight of the cliffs not too far from them. The river had sidled them close to the mighty Shayenne cliffs. Or Didienne cliffs, depending on your politics.
"I have never been here before, so I have heard these are the largest in all of Dragons Cove?" He smiled like a child at the novelty, now having stepped away from the bank to look at them with a clear, full view.
"In my home country, we had no such thing, only plateaus, downs...Your land is truly blessed to have a visage like this.."
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Fri May 25, 2012 8:44 am | |
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Zeke looked at Ixas sideways as the man began rummaging in his pouch to leave a little something for the dirtbag in the boat but he didn’t argue about it. If Ixas felt the need to show mercy to the man in this manner, then so be it; he was not about to tell him he was wrong, but he would do no such thing himself.
More than happy to finally move on, Zeke gave the boat a shove to get it floating in the water again, before accepting Ixas’ helping hand. Just as he wanted to look back to make sure the boat was really well on its way, Ixas mentioned the cliffs and immediately, the man, the boat, their recent experience, everything was forgotten in the sight of those cliffs.
“Wow,” he breathed. “I’ve never seen them from this close by though I’ve heard many stories of their breathtaking beauty, and yet they still did not do them any justice.” When Ixas mentioned his home place being so different, it struck real interest up in Zeke, probably for the first time, he thought with a hint of guilt.
“This must really be quite something for you then! I could not imagine a land that seems so…,” he raked his brain for the right word for a bit but seeing it was of no use, he continued, “…flat as yours seems to be. Can you tell me a bit more?”
He was generally interested in hearing more about where Ixas came from but his attention span was fairly short at the moment, especially since they were moving closer to the cliffs with every step they were taking.
Soon, even though not soon enough for the young man, they were standing at the foot of the impressive cliffs and the view presenting itself to them was quite simply extraordinary. “This is truly amazing!” Zeke exclaimed as his eyes took in the view, roaming over the face of the natural built as he strained his neck to see upwards, trying to find the upmost edge. “Have you ever seen anything like this?”
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:07 am | |
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Zeke seemed quite excited to be so close to this, and Ixas was too, though less visibly so. He smiled quietly, waiting for Zeke to finish. "No, no I have not..." Ixas then took a chance on his companion's attention span, speaking fondly of what he could recall, even if it seemed Zeke would be anything but listening..."Flat, yes, we only have dark forest, light forest...plains. Desert." His voice seemed quite soft, completely lost against the wind that was rushing past them. It only now occured to him just how chilling it was. There was some vegetation here, though it reached far lower than in the more southern and lush parts of the east.
However, now there was a problem. To go north on foot would be both dangerous and long, they could hardly turn back, and the cliffs were inhospitable...Though etched into its sides were caves, crags and narrow, precarious paths.
Ixas did not fancy their chances too much in this, and his tone turned more serious, though never losing that slight optimism.
"Beautiful as they are, we must carry on north, we should follow these cliffs north as far as they stretch..."
As far as he could see, they did not disappear on his horizon.
"It is going to be a long journey, certainly, I believe we should set off now...we should make good time for what it's worth by foot."
That was that, Ixas nodded decisively, he had shown his awe to the cliffs, but now they had to be going. "So Zeke, let's go."
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:37 am | |
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Most of what Ixas said was indeed lost on Zeke, who had only eyes for the cliffs, and seemingly that also meant that his ears did not pick up any words addressed to him during that time. His hands were still roaming over the surface of the cliffs as he was admiring them in all their glory. Not quite understand himself why he was so extremely fascinated with them, he did not fight the urge however. His eyes kept going to the very top of the cliffs, a whole different sentiment overcoming him whenever he did.
“Yes, yes,” he suddenly realised that Ixas had been talking to him, though he had only heard a let’s go. Frantically, he tried to recall some of the others words which had simply been stashed away by his memory seeing that he had not been all that interested in listening in the first place.
“Wait,” he suddenly asked, frowning. “Did you just say leave?” His eyes and voice were incredulous and he could not imagine himself parting from these cliffs any time soon. Maybe he could climb them? The stone was not so soft that he would constantly lose footing and it was not so flat on the surface either that there would be absolutely no hold at all. However, as soon as his brain rattled back into motion again, the young man realised that he was just being silly.
“Ah, sorry, you meant leave here and keep walking,” Zeke felt like an idiot, needless to say, and his cheeks were suddenly feeling were warm, as well.
“As you can see, I’m not used to cliffs and I have never been near a rock as fascinating as this one. I don’t know why but...” Dreamy eyes went back to the cliffs before he managed to get a grip again and began walking along the cliff line so they could continue their journey north.
After all, many more interesting adventures were awaiting them.
And the next one was literally only a few steps away. “Oh wow,” Zeke suddenly breezed. “Ixas, look!” Running towards the mark he had spotted, Zeke gestured at Ixas to come see.
“There is a path leading up! Look!”
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:56 pm | |
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Ixas halted all at once, turning back to look over his shoulder, at first not paying much thought to what Zeke had said, until it dawned on him.
He didn't immediately respond, he looked back up to the path Zeke seemed to be implying, then back to Zeke...and then the cliff...Words tried to form from his lips, but instead puzzlement crossed him, until he finally spoke.
"But Zeke, we are heading out to the north, the cliff will only slow us down...this is no clime to be taken lightly, my friend."
There was a silence then, as if his words had once again been swept up with the wind and dust rolling past the great cliffs.
A small lump formed in his throat, because this man was serious...Ixas was not a risk taker of any sort and he sighed a little.
"Come now Zeke, we should, we should really be on our way...the safest path...the,"
Once again, his words dissipated the moment they escaped him, because Zeke still seemed so bewitched at the prospect of laying his life on the line unnecessarily.
"I, I suppose we might travel up for a while...for the sake of experience, but, not far..." Doubt crept into him, now he was giving way to Zeke as much as he did not want to do this in the slightest.
He then stared straight toward Zeke, as if this might help settle his little internal conflict.
"Okay. Yes, we shall, but only as long as the path is sturdy and wide..."
Ixas slowly walked back to Zeke, glancing up to their path...This was so foolish and yet, a part of him wanted to do exactly the same. Finally he stood next to him, folding his arms as he looked up, then he licked his lips, quite obviously feeling nervous.
"It, it can't be too dangerous I guess...I am sure travellers might use it often to..."
No, they didn't.
"Lead the way, friend."
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:08 pm | |
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Zeke turned towards Ixas, curiously conscious of the fact that the man had once again been speaking without him hearing a word of it. Except for the last bit, which obviously was the most important part anyway, namely Ixas agreeing on following the path upwards for a while.
“Yes! Let’s do this!” His enthusiasm and excitement were hopefully enough to pull Ixas along, maybe even further than the latter seemed to intend to go.
It was amazing, the feeling that surged through him within the first few steps. The exhilaration of being on a completely new adventure again, of exploring unknown terrain, maybe even a place not many people had ever visited before. The path definitely looked like it had not been threaded on for quite a while, making it all even more interesting in his eyes.
“Imagine what we could find on our way up, Ixas! Isn’t this wonderful?” Zeke’s cheeks were flushed bright red in his excitement and his eyes were sparkling with joy.
“Come, come! We shall conquer the world!” Alright, maybe he was overdoing it a little but he was just so very excited and he wanted Ixas to be happy about his choice as well.
“Maybe we will find an undiscovered cave somewhere along the way, a place of mystery nobody has ever known existed. We could turn into real explorers! We could become famous!” Not that he was really interested in fame, it only lead to trouble. Well, more trouble than he generally already got himself into anyway.
The trail was fairly easy to walk on at first, steadily rising up along the cliff but still in a fairly slowly ascending slope, winding its way this way and that to facilitate the climb. When they were quite a fair bit upwards already, Zeke stopped to survey their surroundings.
Gleaming eyes turning towards Ixas, he asked, the glee of a little boy reflected on his face: “Isn’t this absolutely amazing? Look at that view!!”
And then another thought popped into his head, the adrenaline rush of the idea making him all jumpy. What if they could find a river somewhere close by they could jump into? Just for the sake of it? Just for the fun of it?
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:07 pm | |
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As they climbed further up the path, that was ever growing narrower, Ixas felt himself growing increasingly anxious. A side glance over his shoulder told him all he needed to know; this had been a mistake and he should never have allowed Zeke up here in the first place. One wrong step and they'd be churned up like the froth of the river below them against the vicious crags.
"Please understand Zeke, I have my doubts, conquering the river is one thing but...I wish for us to now return to the land..." Useless words as there was no way down now, only up apparently, unless they turned back. Another thing he was positive Zeke wouldn't do unless he took him by the arm quickly. Least of all could he try that...no that would end in a stained river. Ixas felt a sudden pang of guilt, already considering his companion and himself quite near death.
Ixas was the most surefooted of his brothers, the most nimble, quick and probably the most willing to spend a night in a tree happily, but this was a wholly different animal. The gloominess of dawn was no help.
"Ahm...maybe this is the path to, to Shayinn..Shay...Shayn? Shayenne..." Ixas chattered, covering for his wavering confidence with his lacklustre knowledge of the area. Quite suddenly a small flock of scroll dragons squealed and screeched, flying like a small cloud of bats from a crevice to his right, causing him to falter forward onto his knee with his view downward, watching them race down the cliffs in flight, chasing falling pebbles. That could have been him, without wings.
He recollected himself.
"Zeke, we have to stop this, it is not wise to play with one's life..."
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:28 am | |
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“Oh, you really think so?” Zeke asked, looking towards the tops of the cliffs in contemplation. “I hadn’t even thought this might lead to Shayenne. That would be quite a good idea actually, don’t you think? We might have to get to Shayenne one way or the other anyway to continue North. At least I think so, but I’m not really sure.”
He matched Ixas’ chattering tone, though for quite different reasons obviously. Zeke was in no way scared to fall to his death, even if the path was indeed turning out to be rather slim at present. They merely had to watch where they stepped and neither of them seemed to have a problem with that - at least not for now - so why worry?
As the scroll dragons flew up, Zeke almost squealed in fascination. While Ixas fell to his knee, Zeke thought he was merely bending down so as to better see, thus the young man immediately imitated the move and let his eyes follow the dragons downwards. “Wow!” he breathed, absolutely amazed by the agility of these small dragons.
“Did you see them? Scroll dragons! That could mean we’re close to the library! Oh, we really should go see the library! Have you seen it yet? It is a sight for sore eyes, or so I have been told. Let’s go there, shall we? Just imagine! Seeing the library, in all its glory with walls and gates hewn into the cliffs themselves. It was created especially to accommodate dragons! We have to go see it! And scroll dragons are rumoured to be everywhere!”
Zeke continued talking nonstop, fantasizing about the library, turning gleaming eyes towards Ixas every now and then, not even noticing the gloomy shadow over his companion’s face. He knew Ixas was a more cautious sort of fellow but he waved away any doubts the man might have and simply continued onwards. “The library! Just think! Do they have such impressive libraries where you come from, Ixas?”
Of course, they could be miles away from the library for all Zeke knew, or they could be going in the completely wrong direction to end up at this milestone but the young adventurer did not care in the least. “Come, come!” he waved to Ixas as he had gotten a handful of paces ahead already. “Let’s see what lies behind the next bend in the path!”
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:51 pm | |
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Ixas didn't know how far Shayenne might be, forward or upwards. The scrolls however, Zeke had to be right on. Ixas had never seen a scroll dragon until now; which would not make him all that different from many more rural Dragons' Cove natives, they clustered to the cities where the libraries were kept.
The most famous ones (that Ixas, regardless, knew nothing of) were around the Didienne area, several of them dedicated to different collections.
Some were stacked with records dating back many years, some were full of all known information at the time and were updated, revisited and cherished by the Capitals greatest scholars.
"Oh, in Surahnia we had the greatest libraries in the world my friend. Collosal, the greatest was kept by the old royal family, but they were not so splendid as our temples." A brief feeling fondness floated within him. He might as well be talking to the mighty Shayenne cliffs themselves, but the nostalgia was something he had come to both long for and love. To even be able to talk to a native here without them baying for his blood, was reassuring.
His nerves put aside, or at least being distracted for the while, he suddenly halted and looked directly upward. Another cluster of scroll dragons stepped away from the rocks, allowing themselves to be taken by the current of wind, whimsically riding it off to who-knew-where.
"Look there!" He called out, one hand gripping to the nearest handhold. "You may have been right Zeke. That is no accident of nature, they've built this place into the rock..."
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 7:09 pm | |
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“Temples? What were they like?” He briefly thought of the Dragon Temples on Dragons’ Cove but having neither seen nor heard much about them, he didn’t swoon over going there just right now. The library, that was where it was pulling him. Of that at least he had heard things and knew that it was just as impressive as people had always said, maybe even more!
Nothing Ixas’ nostalgic tone, he shot his travel companion a smile but unable to properly understand the feeling, he didn’t quite know what to do with it and decided to leave Ixas to it. He seemed happy enough, and that was far better than the nervous wreck he had been ever since they had begun climbing up this pathway.
When Ixas suddenly grabbed his arm however, his heart was in his mouth for a brief moment but then he saw what the other man had meant, what had excited him so much.
“More scrolls!” Zeke whispered as his eyes roamed upwards, slightly distracted by the dragons when his glance flitted back to where Ixas was staring at. “Oh wow! The library! Just look! It’s even better than I thought it would be!”
Without further ado, Zeke grabbed at Ixas to drag him upwards as he himself began making his way up the path, trying to cover the remaining distance between them and the epic building as quickly as possible. He wanted to see this so badly, and they were so close!
“We’re almost there!” he called out and in his excitement he missed a relatively large stone which had snuck its way underneath his feet.
And before he knew it, Zeke was flying onto the ground, face first into the dirt. However, the worst part was not that his face was squished into hurtful little pebbles. No, it was that gravity was starting to pull a fast one on him, trying to drag him down into the endless depths below the cliff-walk.
Frantically ruddering with his arms to try and grab hold of something, Zeke was gliding further and further away from the actual path and headed towards the abyss below them.
Far, far down, he could see the glitter of a small river meandering its way through the landscape.
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 7:39 pm | |
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"Oh what were they like? Like nothing I've ever known...large and without any walls, resting on columns, so all of nature could enter...With the most magnificent of sculptures for our Willow Mother, Spear Father and Lion Father..." He had spoken quite comfortably, periodically glancing back at his partner to check he was there, until the moment he stumbled and Ixas's heart skipped a beat in that moment.
His right leg by reflex jutted back as he twisted sharply left to extend a hand to his companion to help him up, but not before Zeke had already begun to slip away from the path.
"Here!" He called out quickly, eyes wide, as he open his hand wide and clamped it around Zeke's wrist with his right hand. Now stuck in an awkward stalemate. Ixas did not command much body weight or raw strength at all, and yet he simply had to do this. Everything was going as he had expected.
In his struggle to heave Zeke up, he could see glimpses of the river below and felt his heart leap into his mouth as he stubbornly dug his body into the backing of the cliff, but was running out of room and felt himself begin to buckle. Ixas's face twisted into shock as his legs gave way and it was as if the tension made sent them into a spiral, rebounding away from the cliffs edge.
From this way up, he could see the water, then the sky, then the rock and some of Zeke as they all became a frenzied blur. Letting out a cry of pure shock, he, they, tumbled down toward the river.
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 7:55 pm | |
| HIZACKING
(Like hijacking, but with more style)
Ahh, the library was good, fabulous, fantastic, and so many other scroll dragons were around; it was like something out of a fairytale for Zack. He could come and go as he pleased from the big library at the top of the cliffs, taking a flight with a pack of other tiny dragons (for once, he wasn’t ridiculously small in comparison to everyone else), or just sitting and reading for hours and hours on end. And nobody cared!
Today, flying with a group of his friends was what he wanted to do, and investigate the cliff face a little. The weather wasn’t too bad, and although rain might be on the way later, now was a good time to fly. He couldn’t help but hang back behind the others as they flew up the cliff face, looking like a little flock of birds (albeit strange white ones, with rather long tails), busy being detained as he looked for a little excitement. Boy, did excitement greet him! Looking down at the path up to the library, he saw two people on it, walking- until one slipped and fell! Oh my, oh my, how terribly exciting!
Abandoning the rest of his group without even a moment’s thought, he dove down to where the pair were, sliding inevitably towards the long drop down the cliffs. Quite messily, all over the place. It was all very dramatic indeed.
“STOP!” he shouted at the top of his tinny voice, in what he thought was a commanding tone, waving all his paws frantically at them through the air. He was quite close, only a metre or two above their heads. “Stop, stop! You can’t slide off the cliff! I don’t have any ink at the moment to write with! This’ll make a great addition to one of my stories, but you’re not allowed to fall off yet.” He squealed, wishing he had something to write with. | |
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 8:07 pm | |
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“Nonononono, don’t!” Zeke yelled but it was too late, already Ixas was grabbing him but being the light-weight that he was, he had no hold to pull Zeke back and the dirt almost immediately gave way under both of them – or rather shoving Zeke off the final edge that had been separating him from free falling – and suddenly they were flying tandem.
Out of instinct, Zeke grabbed onto Ixas in turn as the world was all of a sudden spiralling around them and it felt like an eternity before their fall steadied into a somewhat straight plummeting. For now.
And then suddenly there was an annoying squeaking reach his voice, and to his utter surprise a scroll dragon appeared by them, yelling at them for their current insane activity – as though this one had been voluntary.
What? “What?!?” Does he really think we’re doing this for fun?!
It had already taken him long enough to even hear the squeaky voice over the rumble the stones were making as they happily bounced down the face of the cliffs.
And even though Ixas and Zeke were nowhere near the cliff anymore, or at least for the time being not close enough to crack open their skulls, the small avalanche they had created caused quite the ruckus!
“Ixas! I think the river is coming closer! Are you ready for another swim?” Where he took the nerve from to make a joke, mid-air, presumably falling to their death, he did not know, but the words were out before he knew it and he stupidly began giggling as soon as he realised what he had just said.
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| | | | Zay
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 8:23 pm | |
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As they levelled out from cartwheeling into, average, straight plummeting Ixas made eye contact with Zeke and he felt confused, his face looking bemused, what did Zeke even...?
No time to even think; the river surged into view and it came like the bite of an ice dragon as he, they, shot through into its depths together and all over he felt the grip of cold claw at his body.
Frantically he thrashed his arms in an attempt to make sense of his surroundings, bubbles, foam, movement, sky or dirt...At last after floudering about like a haplessly shocked animal in water, he broke the surface and vainly gripped to the edges, searching for a hold. Spluttering water from his mouth he called out at the top of his voice, though fractured by coughs and rasps.
"Zeke!...Zeke!"
It was now as the chaos subsided he was aware of just how cold he was and that, it was a fluke he was even in one piece. The river was narrow, deep and strangely slow...Fear coursed through him; had his partner been so lucky.
Ixas scrambled to the edge of the river and forced himself to cling on, and painfully gradually pull himself away from the suck and pull of the river. Easing himself out like an earth worm on his belly, he searched back in the relative quiet.
"Zeke?" He called again, more uncertainly...Ixas looked up, the light was showing through more, it was not the dark dawn of earlier...Sunrise...and, a silhouette of something fluttering above.
Ixas refocused himself and knelt to the edge, looking hopelessly at the water...feeling defeated and horribly guilty...
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| | | | Rogue
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 8:41 pm | |
| Zack clutched his little paws to his head as the two humans disobeyed his order and just went ahead and fell off the cliff anyway. For all the stupid, stubborn things to do… He zoomed down in the air after them, beating his wings like anything to try and keep up with the falling pair. They were much heavier than him, and apparently that made it easier for them to fall at speed. But they were also bigger, which he would have thought would slow them down a bit…
For all of the scroll dragon’s annoyance however, he couldn’t help but laugh at the joke that one of the men made, just catching his words before the wind whipped them away. Madness! He really was regretting the fact he had no ink, but maybe he would be able to remember this- flapping clothes with a snap sound, hair flying everywhere, and messy shapes that meant the two had no idea how to make an aerodynamic shape in the air. Zack had to make sure he didn’t get whacked by one of those limbs, because it wouldn’t have been a fun game- and unlike the two humans, he wouldn’t come out from the river in one relatively-whole piece once it had caught them. No thank you!
He came to a fluttering halt above the water’s surface as the two finished their spontaneous BASE-jump (minus the parachute, what were they thinking?), squealing as they made a big splash and zooming to a safer spot in a bush on the river’s edge. He tangled his paws into its branches as he watched one of the men struggle to the edge nearby, a very distinctive wet-cat look going on now with his hair.
“No no, Zack,” said the little dragon as he mistook the man’s companion’s name for his own, shaking his head. “Look, you did that all wrong, and I’m going to forget the little details now. I’m not pleased.” He fluttered his wings shut, pouting. “You’re going to have to rescue your friend and I demand you do it again!”
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 8:47 pm | |
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The water crashed over his head like a freezing wave and he felt as though he had just hit an ice block. It hurt, it was unsettling and most of all it was immensely scary! It was the first time in quite a while that Zeke felt profound fear seep through him but when he, ages later, finally pushed his head through the surface, gasping for air, he instantly felt better again and all fear was forgotten.
Except for... Where was Ixas?!
Before he could even call out himself however, a voice broke through the hissing noise in his ears.
“I’m here, I’m here!” Zeke called out as Ixas’ panicky voice reached his ears once more. So full of water, he was not quite sure what he had heard or what Ixas had said but at least he had managed to distinguish his friend’s voice – or maybe not friend anymore after this adventure. He was pretty sure that Ixas, were he not so peaceful, would want to accomplish what the fall and the river had not, namely kill him.
Seeing the sad expression on Ixas’ face however, maybe he did not want to kill him, at least not quite yet. “Hey now, it wasn’t so bad, was it?” His voice was resembling a rasp more than anything and he was still spluttering water, but he felt as though he needed to comfort Ixas a little, feeling rather guilty himself. After all this really had been his fault, but he wasn’t too keen on dwelling on that right now.
As he pulled himself to shore and spread his weary body out onto the ground, a shadow fell over his face in the rising sun. “Oh look! A scroll dragon!”
Noticing the agitated flutter of the small animal – wow, scroll dragons really were small, even from close up! – Zeke blinked and lifted his head up enough to shake some more water out of his ears. “Wait, you want us to do what?! That is complete and utter madness!! How can you even suggest something like that!” However, after a moment’s consideration, he cocked his head to the side as he squinted at the dragon. “Although... maybe that’s not a bad idea... What do you think, Ixas?”
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| | | | Zay
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:01 pm | |
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He panted again, still regaining his breath until at last he could see Zeke, now relatively safe.
"Oh! Oh thank the Mother on high, we are delivered..." He smiled openly, but it faded fast.
At first he didn't grasp what the little creature was saying, do that again? Falling to their near certain death? But it was such a small thing, a scroll dragon he could now see through his, admittedly, still very blurred vision and shaky movement. Only just passing those seconds that had flashed by, churning in the water...Though he couldn't have hoped for a better outcome.
He finally spoke, "No, no it is my error. My shortcoming that allowed this to happen, we should not try the patience of the great lady again, next time the earth may not be so gracious with our good fortune...and you, little dragon, you must carry so much darkness in your heart to wish for the pain of others."
He coughed again, then tried to straighten up a bit more. "Maybe you are in need of my own assisstance? One of your kin surely can not be so misguided inside..." And there, Ixas precisely missed the point the little dragon was making, yet his genuine nature was obvious in the simplicity of it all, there was nothing canny about him. "We are not going back up there, it is as simple as that. We are well thanks to a great occurence, but next time, perhaps we will be the debris on the riverbed."
Ixas didn't want to imagine that, to have his body left in a river until it floated out to sea, let alone the others, and with no rites...
"That is final." He swept back his long hair, wringing the water from it as he recollected himself. His voice like a cold stone, dropping amongst them, the others looking quite a length more optimistic than he was. Even if the dragon was, rather, just irritated.
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| | | | Rogue
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:21 pm | |
| There wasn’t much in the way of rescuing on the Surahnian’s part, but the other man managed to crawl out of the river well enough on his own, which was a pleasing result. Now both of them had survived to be asked questions, and remember, and add to whatever story Zack could write that included the little adventure. Of course too, them being alive was very important, for being alive’s sake. That would have been a rather bitter ending!
“Oh look, a soggy human!” said the scroll dragon in reply to Zeke’s exclamation. He took to the air again, hovering over them, not getting too close in case they flicked water onto him and got him wet. Then he would be irritated. Why was it they both sounded so hoarse? Wasn’t water supposed to restore you? That thought had to hold it though as both men complained bitterly to him, making the dragon sniff haughtily.
“Well, you needn’t be so huffy about it, I was only asking,” he said, flicking his tail this way and that. He perked up again as Zeke agreed with his suggestion though, mistaking his sarcasm for honest approval. His ears rose hopefully at the sides of his head. “Oh yes, yes! It’s a good idea, isn’t it?” Approval gained, he turned to the now-named Ixas, who sounded a lot less pleased.
His ears drooped again, paws bunching in front of him. He hadn’t meant his words like how Ixas was saying them like now, this was all wrong. Rubbing one paw across his chest at the mention of insides, he tried a chastised look on the pair. “Oh, but… I wasn’t wanting you to get hurt, that would be of no use, see, and I would be no use either. I think I’m a bit small to help,” he looked sheepishly at the end of his long swinging tail. “But I wanted to write it down. That’s what we scroll dragons do! Words are the greatest thing around.” He tried a little smile on them, but he didn’t feel hopeful against Ixas’ stony tone.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:30 pm | |
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As the tiny dragon replied in almost the exact same manner, Zeke merely huffed at him as he sunk back fully onto the ground. The dragon sure was rather peculiar. What were they made of anyway? Was that really parchment? He was rather interested in seeing what would happen if a drop hit the little guy, but he was in no way evil enough to actually do anything like that.
Feeling water and bile rise in his throat, Zeke lifted himself up a little again to suppress the nausea and looked at Ixas as he began swinging words at the dragon. Cocking his head to the side to listen more closely, his forehead creased into a frown. Ixas really was serious about this near-death business and them only having been spared because this mother meant well, whoever she really was. He remembered Ixas telling him about her but he had not paid all too much attention because he was not a big believer in anything but his own fate, created by himself and the beings immediately surrounding him and nothing or no one else.
The sideways motion of his head brought the uncomfortable sensation of water flowing around in his ears, thus he eagerly began fiddling with his ears, trying to get out the remainder of the water, which stubbornly decided to leave some residue after all, which he could feel sloshing about inside.
“Well, I’d rather be debris on a riverbed than rot away of boredom somewhere,” Zeke pouted though he didn’t resent Ixas for sticking to his opinion in this. “So what now?” A small voice somewhere deep inside was whispering that maybe this man had more sense than Zeke himself would ever have and that it might not hurt him to listen from time to time.
“Anyways, I wouldn’t really want to try this again any time soon. I think my stomach is not really agreeing with this sort of adventure,” he muttered as he rubbed in stomach in an attempt to appease it a little. “And do not worry yourself, little dragon, we didn’t expect you to suddenly lift us out of the air anyway. Though I do like the idea of this being written down, but maybe you could make it sound all a tad more heroic as it really has been. Nobody needs to know it’s the result of a clumsy step. And no names either. Although... we could become famous.. but no, no names.”
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| | | | Zay
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:47 pm | |
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Ixas frowned with concern, how could he not be worried? Yet this dragon seemed to light hearted about it all, it was quite unfathomable.
"No, it is not a good idea, and I have decided we aren't doing that. Not now, nor again in the future..." He was serious, but softened up a little as he heard more of the scroll dragon's talking. He seemed to have a sweetness about him that implied, although lacking any sensibility, he was a kinder hearted dragon than Ixas had first suspected.
Sighing ruefully, he dismissed Zeke's passing comment. Zeke would learn sooner or later, Ixas had wisdom to share afterall.
"However," he began, looking back at the scroll dragon. "I for one, am very fond of a well told tale. From what I hear, scroll dragons are fine writers, artists...a well made story would not be so bad now. A good way to finish off a not so well formed plan." Again he felt a small stab of guilt, he shouldn't have allowed Zeke to go up there.
He sat back on the grass of the bank and seemed to stare off into the distance of the sky, thinking. "Actually, we have a good tale or two to tell you already if you'll be willing to listen. While Zeke is recovering, maybe you'd like to hear of how this journey came to be?" Ixas smiled, "That too was a stroke of godly luck."
"I'd say as much that, Zeke, stealing will never benefit anyone. Least of all when one steals from the midst of a wild bear, faith can guide us even through a city of the sick, be good to your foe as the mother will remember it and...look before you leap."
It hit him then like a thunderbolt of realisation. "It's all connected my good friend, we sent the plague-man on his way in good stead, so we have been preserved for our kindness. Dragon I hope you can remember this, it is all very important!" He seemed a long ways happier now, happier that he was able to express his optimism despite the mistake he had made.
While Zeke may have liked a heroic tale, Ixas was quite content to make a fable of sorts. "I know Zeke will be content to tell you all the more about it..."
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| | | | Rogue
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:01 pm | |
| Zack nodded along with Zeke’s words- yes, why die of boredom, when you could have an exciting time of it? That was the one thing he didn’t quite understand about some of the more studious types in the library that he had come across; they were all about learning and gathering and sorting knowledge, but when it came to getting some proper experience of the thing, they were very against it. That, in the scroll dragon’s eyes, was a boring way of going about life.
He decided he was going to rather like Zeke, at least. He nodded along to his requests, making sure to remind himself later that he would need to change any names that they say, or he referred to them by. Maybe he could just call them the “soggy ones”, they certainly were wet enough for the meantime! Ixas, he wasn’t so sure about. He had an odd way of talking, and as he told Zack his and the other man’s tale, it only did to confuse him. The dragon had a lot of experience with tales and exciting retellings of stories, but he had never heard anyone tell a story quite like Ixas did now.
Nevertheless, he tried hard to listen, duly noting the most important bits of the man’s story, and glowing inside at the praise that Ixas rewarded. Yes indeed, he was a fine writer! He just hoped that he would not forget anything important. Well, he would just have to pester the two to come back to the library with him, so he could write things down, and they could correct him. He sidled across the grass to Zeke as Ixas talked (landing, as his wings were starting to tire), whispering in a stage-voice, “What is he talking about? I don’t understand any of it, and I’m good with stories.” He flicked his wings, settling them more against his sides. He just couldn’t see the connection between a bear, a plague-man, kindness and a mother, and then all ending in the pair of them jumping off a cliff!
Turning a questioning look at Zeke, he hoped that whatever he came out with wasn’t as cryptic as Ixas’ story. The both of them talking about seemingly unrelated events would have his head twisted in knots, as well as spinning already.
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| | Subject: Re: Out On A Whim (Zay X Eldarwen) Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:12 pm | |
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“Now, now,” Zeke grunted, feeling his cheeks blush slightly. “I wouldn’t quite put it that way. I mean, I wasn’t stealing from the bear. I was merely providing myself with some well-deserved honey. Of course, the bear was not so very fond of that idea and thought instead that it might be a good idea to start chasing after me.”
Shaking his head with a grin, he added: “And as for the city full of sick people, well. That really was a stroke of luck – you almost got us killed in there.” Of course, now, Zeke could laugh about it all, even if back then he had not at all felt the same way about their rather desperate situation. “Stroke of luck indeed,” Zeke shrugged with a crooked smile on his face as he looked at the scroll dragon.
“I’m sorry, I’m rambling a little. It happens a lot when I’m excited or nervous about something,” he explained. Though scratching his head at this vague statement, he admitted: “Which is rather often.”
Once again, he was stroking his stomach a little for comfort, the rebellion within slowly beginning to die down again, but he could still feel the nausea hanging over him like a shadow, not to mention the water in his ears.
Zeke looked up, curiosity plainly written all over his face, as the scroll dragon came closer to him, and of course he happily agreed to explain the whole situation a little more.
“It really all did begin with me borrowing” – with a pointed but amused look at Ixas – “some honey from a bear, and as it began chasing me through the forest and slowly catching up with me to rip out my throat, Ixas killed it and thus saved my life. Actually, yeah you did save my life back then, I almost completely forgot about that part of the story. Anyway, from then on we decided to share a bit of the way together and found that we were both quite interesting in going north towards the Guardian’s Peak because we absolutely wanted to see the place and maybe even see a Guardian – imagine that! We then got sidetracked into a city to stock up on supplies and that was where we stumbled across the plague-man’s ploy of making people believe there was a plague. It was all quite confusing but the drift of it is that Ixas thought he could heal them and managed to get us both to almost be burned at the stake, before we could escape. Ironically, our escape was by jumping into a river...”
He couldn’t help himself but laugh at the summary of their brief encounter. It had been quite a journey already despite them not having known each other for all that long yet!
“Now, is that something you’d be wanting to use for a story of yours, my dear... uhm... well... I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”
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