Open Into the Wild [Zephari]

Door thread; this thread focuses on wilderness survival.

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Built into the cliffs overlooking the Suvan Sea, Riverfall resides on the edge of grasslands of Cyphrus where the Bluevein River plunges off the plain and cascades down to the inland sea below. Home of the Akalak, Riverfall is a self-supporting city populated by devoted warriors. [Riverfall Codex]

Into the Wild [Zephari]

Postby Kyo on June 16th, 2015, 4:01 pm

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5th of Summer, 515 AV
morning

The coyote had been looking for the girl. The one that had been smiling and dancing, going around and around, though he still didn't know where he knew that from. The one that had fallen into the river.

It had been some days since he'd seen her, and he had that feeling in his belly that told him to look, to find, to make sure she was okay. To make sure she was good now.

He picked up her trail outside the city. First he had gone to the riverside where he had dragged her out, knowing that the mud would have held some fading trace of her scent. He could have gone other places, but he had already been outside the city, and the riverside was best, he thought. It was difficult to find her smell in the mud and fish and reeds, but he picked up something that he thought was her: a sort of earthy, rocky scent, one that sparked in his nose like the flash of what the human-forms called glass. He followed along the ground, going the way they had gone when he had helped her walk, and she had fallen, and he had gone to get help. Then the scent lead in through the gates.

After that he followed it back and forth. Following a smell in the city could be harder than outside, where everything was far apart. Within the big walls all the smells mixed together. There were many many trails by the same people, some old, some new. Sometimes other people's scents clung like pollen to the wrong person, if they had been where the one lived or worked or if they had been near them. He could smell the girl here and there, and followed her trails around, up stairs and down stairs, into this building and out another. Finally he picked up something fresh.

Here the coyote stepped into a side-road and shifted, dropping the pants from his mouth and pulling them on. This latest trail was strong enough that he would be able to follow it even with his human nose; it was from not very long ago at all. Kyo didn't understand the human-form way of calling time
--something having to do with the loud bells that rang within the city-- but he understood time from scents. This one was from after the sun had gone up in the sky. He turned and followed it.

Eventually he found her, and was surprised by what he saw-- or, more like, by what he had not seen before. He had not looked at her the last time, really looked, because he had been so frightened that she was too badly hurt. Now he noticed the little things, which helped form a more complete thought of who she was in his head, something that combined with her scent to say who she was: the strong arms and build, the strange two-color eyes, the marks scarring her hands. She looked okay, strong he thought, good. He was glad. If he had still been in coyote-form he would have wagged his tail.

Even after all this time in the city, listening to the human-forms speak, the word for their greetings slipped from his mind. Instead he jogged up to her, smiling widely, and said, "Friend!" He wanted to touch her, to touch her hand like the ones did, to shake, just so that he might be near, might feel that yes, she was strong and healthy. He didn't, but he wanted to very badly. It was another way of making sure she was still here. Still living, and well.

"I want to know," he said, making his best effort to speak clearly now that he knew how important words could be. He had spent long nights trying to remember the sounds and shapes, trying to form them with his mouth. Some of the words had come back, but most of them were ones that the Akalak in the blue city did not seem to understand very well. He trilled off some of those now, light, flowing-rolling words that sounded much like what was called singing, "How are you?"

In his mind these words looked different than the usual ones he spoke, though he didn't know why. They were longer, smoother. 'How are you' was not like 'how are you' in the usual words. When he said it now, it had one exact meaning-- like 'how' {polite/caring/asking-about-person}, 'are' {person's-wellness/person's-state-of-being}, 'you' {anxious/hope-person-is-well}. The other kind left out much of that, leaving the question as something more broad, so that much of it was lost, gone.

But, knowing that she probably did not understand --something that confused him, because if even he knew the words then shouldn't other people know them too?-- he continued on in the plain-language. "I'm interest in you... you good, yes? You rib, no hurts? I worry for you. I come to see." After having thought about it for a while now, he knew his words were not right and he could almost see where, how some were missing, probably a lot. He was resolved to pay close attention to try to figure out how to put his speaking together. To ask about words, if he could figure out how.

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Into the Wild [Zephari]

Postby Zephari on June 17th, 2015, 11:37 pm

The season had just started, but something had already gone sour. Zephari had just a few days earlier renewed her contract with Kenin at the Coalinga mines, securing her work for the summer. It was a job she thoroughly enjoyed, and was planning on trying to get as much work done as she possibly could over the coming season, as she knew this was a great chance to improve her skills.

She had only yesterday been able to get back to the mines after her accident in the river, her muscles only now recovered enough to deal with the effort required for mining. She of course had taken to it with a fervor, wanting to make up for lost time from her recovering. It was a fair normal day in the mines, until she shattered her pickax. She didn't understand why it had happened, but it annoyed the heck of of Zephari.

So the very next day, today, she went looking for a replacement. Now she could have very easily just gotten another run of the mill pick made of cheap iron, or even gone slightly higher quality and gotten one made of well smithed steel, but she wanted something really nice. Sine she knew that as she got permission to go deeper and deeper into the mine, she would need a tool that could hold up to to being bashed against extremely hard rock for long periods of time.

So knowing that she would not find what she was looking for at any general market she want to the Zhongjie Warren, Riverfall's Bazaar. This was the place you could find literally anything you needed, even if it wasn't exactly normal. Zephari had been through here before, though she had never come here specifically to buy anything. The market was fair spread out, and parts of it were in between other buildings, so Zephari was forced to zizag and wind through the market, peaking into each stall for just a moment. The Bazaar evolved from day to day, so no stall was the same for long. Where she remembered to be a fried food stall was now a carpet salesman. What was once a pervayer of fine clothing was now, a fried food stall.

Her path twisted and looped several times before she found what she was looking for. A stall filled with unusual tools, from shovels with serrated edges, to knives that had hooks on the back of the hilt for gutting fish. This type of place must have what she is looking for right?

"What can I do for ye miss?" the Akalak manning the stall questioned, looking her up and down, seemingly a little surprised by Zephari's bulky build. "Something to do some beating with?"

"No, unfortunately I am looking for something a little more humble today. A pick ax, though one of very high quality" Zephari answered, grinning at his impression. Putting her hands on the stall's front table she looked around, trying to find anything that would even possibly look high quality. Most of it just looked like normal tools that had addons, but were normal otherwise.

"Ah so you're a miner are ye? You work at the Coalinga mines do ye?" he asked, turning around to rummage around in the pile of stuff, looking for something.

"Yes I do, and I broke my old normal one on the hard rocks you find in the lower levels." she explained, tilting her head to left left trying to see what he was looking for. The Akalak pulled out a big cloth bundle that had many lumps in it, and place it on the front table with a heavy thud. he unrolled it, revealing a selection of shiny tools, some that even shown different colors. There were chisels and ax heads, even a set of small hand drills that had a redish tint.

But there was also a pickax. It was entirely metal, handle and head, and it was a bright, ghostly blue. It had tons of tiny sparkles in it, making it seem like stars were forged into the metal it's self. Zephari reached over to examine it, but was stopped by the Akalak, who picked it up himself.

"Here is the only thing I have that fits that you need. This is Isurian Steel, one of, if not the strongest metals around. It fits your needs, but does it fit your coin purse?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the benshira. "Eighty gold mizas."

Eighty!?!! I've herd to legends of how crazy good Isurian Steel is but he can't be serious! Its still just a pick ax, even if it is made from something that is much harder than iron, its still just steel right? Just bring made in that city gives it crazy value I guess. Lets see if he's willing to haggle. She looked down at the pick, her eyes slightly widened with shock. She looked into her coin purse. It only contained 62 gold mizas. She also had a couple of small crystals she had collected outside of work.

"How about fifty and these Agates?" she countered, pulling out two thumb sized green Agate crystals, which she had found during an outing.

The Akalak examined the crystals carefully, looking at them under a magnifying glass for at least fifteen ticks each. "Sixty five and the crystals"

"Can you do Sixty?" she said, adding some pleading to her voice unintentionally.

He grumbled for a moment, but then folded under her gaze. "Fine, but in the future you should bring me more crystals like this, and sell 'em to me for for cheap alright?"

"Gladly!" she said, smiling wide. That smile faded as she handed over the mizas and the gems, but returned as she picked up the pick. Despite being entirely metal, it was far lighter than her old one, and looked incredibly strong.

She quickly left, noting the location of the stall, for what little that was worth. She headed off into a side street, meaning to head home, but she was instead greeted by a wonderful sight.

The Kelvic Kyo running towards her, shouting his greeting in the few words he knew, making him sound like a very young hyper child. Some of his words were almost musical, and not quite normal common, but that wasn't exactly what was on Zephari's mind as he came running up to her, asking if she was ok and things like that.

Rather than answered with her word, she just reached out, grabbing Kyo's shoulder and pulling him into a tight hug, making sure her pick did not gut him. She help him tight for multiple ticks, grateful for the feeling of a friend's embrace. Once she let him go she said; "I'm great Kyo, its so good to see you! What are you doing looking for me?" she kept her hand on his shoulder without realizing it, subconsciously not wanting to let go.

"Don't you normally like to stay outside the city? Why didn't you wait for me to make one of my hikes outside the gates?"

Sorry!Ok maybe I went a 'little' crazy long with this one, but I've been wanting to get her a nice pick anyway, and it gives a very good reason for Kyo being led on a wild goose chase for her on the scent trails. I leave it to you to lead us to the door. This is gonna be so much fun!

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Into the Wild [Zephari]

Postby Kyo on June 18th, 2015, 11:32 pm

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His heart nearly leapt out of his chest when the girl --he still didn't know her name-- suddenly grabbed him, wrapping her arms around. He had seen others do this before, in fact knew what it was called because he had paid attention: hug. It was a hug. He thought he remembered, from long ago... he remembered this. He remembered the closeness. Too happy to do anything else, he wrapped his own arms around, holding her too, though he didn't squeeze her like she squeezed him. He would have, but he didn't want to hurt her if her rib was still bad.

Too soon she pulled back and he let her go, though he wished it might have lasted longer. His head was almost buzzing. Why didn't people do this all the time? Why did they say hello to one another when they could offer their arms in this way? Why just shake hands?

The girl started talking, and he had to blink and focus, moving past the glow of feelings that had welled up inside. He lingered longer than normal on her words, trying to remember each one. Maybe it helped him that they were not entirely separated. Her hand still reached to touch his shoulder.

At her questions, he concentrated harder. "I like the city. I like the people, I like belong. I stay outside for... for friends. Dogs, Sister." He said the last in that music-language, that ice-language he had learned long ago and forgotten, and was now beginning to remember again. Like before, he knew the other words were not right. His dogs were not friends, but family. They had been his pups that he'd found, and they had grown into his Brother and Sister. But he didn't have any words for that now, not ones she might also know. None of the blue-men in the city, and none of the others, seemed to understand the ice-words from the ice-place.

"It's great you don't hurts." He picked up the words she was using, testing them. Bringing them into his mind to use for himself. Every time he did this he felt he already knew them. He just didn't remember until they were said. "It's great you are good. I come to see you. I worry, I fear the hurts stay in you, in you rib. I don't know you 'make hikes outside the gates'. So I come to see." For the first time he noticed the strange thing in her hand, some kind of weapon? It was shiny like a weapon, but strange-shaped, with two big pointy-sides. Not like a knife or what was called a sword.

Curious now, the coyote-man looked up, trying to figure out why she would need such a thing here. She said she went outside the gates, right, on 'hikes'-- a word he was not certain he knew, but which meant she had to go outside to do it. Maybe this was for that, then? He turned to look towards the front of the city, and stopped completely still. His heart leapt in his chest, something that had happened when the girl had hugged him, but this was a different kind of leap. This was like it might never come down. Like his heart was stuck somewhere far far away.

His boy. He could see his boy.

There. At the end of the alley. Watching him. The boy looked different, but Kyo would know his face anywhere. He was older now, taller, still skinny, but now almost pointy. He was not smiling. His black hair had been cut so short it was just a fuzz. It left him looking smaller than he had been before, even though he had grown. So did the missing smile. Lost. His eyes, usually bright colors, were dark. Still color-shifting, but different now. Blues and blacks and deep purples like bruises, lined in silver. Sad. Somehow Kyo knew what that meant. Sad. Or worse.

He had not realized he had stopped breathing when he stopped moving, and so when the black fluttered over his eyes he was startled and took a sharp breath. He went a step forward, towards the boy at the end of the alley, and almost fell on his face. His legs tangled together beneath him.

The boy in the alley turned and vanished down a different street, and Kyo nearly fell again trying to follow him, tripping over his own feet. Without the boy there, taking up his sight, he was suddenly aware again of the girl beside him, and he turned and grabbed her hand from his shoulder in both of his, holding it tight. She would be able to feel his hands shaking.

"The boy," he said. "I need... I fear. I fear." He was afraid. He didn't know why. He should be happy. He felt not good. Those colors in his boy's eyes.

"I-- I need to find. I see him. I see him. Oh help." Kyo couldn't stand there any longer. The boy was getting away. He would be lost again. He would be lost. The coyote-man staggered towards the end of the alley and around the corner, bringing the girl with him if she would come, one of his hands still wrapped around hers.

There he was. Down that way. Heading towards... towards the front of the city. The gates. "No. Please, please!" But the boy didn't seem to hear even though he looked back once, over his shoulder. Kyo shambled into the best run he could manage. He felt... not right. Not right at all. Bad, bad, bad.

He had to go. He had to find his boy.

OOCDraaaamaaaaa

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Into the Wild [Zephari]

Postby Zephari on June 19th, 2015, 5:45 am

All Zephari could see was a shimmer. It was as if there was a sudden increase in heat at the end of the alleyway. This didn't concern Zephari at all, though It sent Kyo into a panic. He said something about a boy, his boy, but he slurred it worse than he normally did, making it even harder for her to understand the panicked kelvic.

She gave no resistance when Kyo grabbed her hands and dragged her along with him to the end of the alleyway, and looked around wildly to try to find what was causing him so much grief. But still she saw nothing. Just a small glimmer in mid air down a street to their left. The shimmering spot bobbed slightly then disappeared again. Kyo rushed after it leading Zephari behind her, nearly dragging her at his breakneck pace. While she did not try to stop him, the entire time Zephari yelled things like "Whats wrong!?!" or "Kyo what gotten into you!!" in between each burst of speed where she could catch her breath.

I've never seen anyone just take off like this, he must have seen something that he either really wants or something... Something about a boy? His boy? If only his words weren't so jumbled... Was he... singing some of them? So many questions rattled around in Zephari's head, but she couldn't ask any of them as she was dragged around the city by the crazed Kyo chasing thin air.

OOC NoteOk so I made a little bit of asumtion that you kept on running after him, but I wanted to move this part along since there is VERY little for me to actually do during the chase, since I am just following along, literally.

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Into the Wild [Zephari]

Postby Kyo on June 19th, 2015, 10:46 am

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No matter how fast he ran he could not catch up. There were blue-men in the way. There was the girl dragging on his hand, shouting things that he could barely hear. She sounded confused or afraid, but he was more, more. He would have let her go, she probably wanted him to stop pulling her along, but he couldn't. His hand wouldn't move. He was too frightened. He was afraid. He did not want to be alone.

In all the time in this city, in all the time he had spent searching through and through, every place, every building, he had not caught one whiff of scent that meant his boy had been here. This morning going around and around searching for the girl he had not smelled him. Even now. Where had his scent gone? Had it changed? But no. It wasn't that. There was no smell for the person they were following. No scent-marks he left behind, just by being there. Only Kyo's eyes could see him, not his nose, not his ears. Other people went around the boy like he wasn't there, never touching him. The boy looked back again, turned another corner. Kyo pushed harder, panting.

When they were young this would have been a game. Hiding and finding. Jumping out to surprise. Laughing. Now it was something else. Bad, bad.

By the time they got to the gates the coyote-man was so busy looking for the boy --there he was, passing out through the city into the open, into the grass-- that he didn't even notice that the entrance --and exit-- to Riverfall had changed. Where the gates had been there were big, big doors, strange, huge and wooden, carved with odd symbols and pictures, cracked with age. There were no guards. The doors stood open to the world, and it was only after they had plunged through --Kyo still pulling the girl behind, he couldn't let go-- before the coyote realized that something, something else, was wrong.

The land outside the city was... different. There were no roads. There were no bushes that had been put down by the Akalak, planted in rows for harvest. There were none of the buildings outside that usually sat and no smell that anyone but animals had been here.

It was too quiet.

For an instant the coyote-man saw a flicker, still running, leaping away. His boy. Vanishing into the grasses which were too tall, taller than normal, and thick. He was gone. Kyo took a few final steps towards him, not able to stop, too confused to go on. Then he turned, realizing that he should have been in the shadow of the walls.

He was not. The city was gone.

It didn't make any sense. Even though most things the human-forms could do did not make sense to him, this was way too much to understand. He turned to stare at the girl he had brought with, and a new feeling of panic rose up. "The city," he said, voice low, a whisper, and then looked the other way. His boy. What should he do? He didn't know. Look for the city. Help the girl. It was not safe. He could feel it. Anywhere away from the city was not safe, especially for someone who would not turn into a coyote.

Help the girl or follow his boy.

"I don't-- I don't know," he said, much too late to answer one of the questions she had been yelling at him as they ran. Now, belatedly, he remembered her words: What's wrong?

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry."

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Into the Wild [Zephari]

Postby Zephari on June 20th, 2015, 1:33 am

As Kyo's pace sped up, Zephari was forced to force her hand to turn in his, so that she wasn't being dragged sideways. Once she was able to get her hand straight she was able to match Kyo's speed, almost a full run. He kept this pace up all the way until near the city gates, forcing Zephari to push herself pretty hard. She was no runner, not even close. Her strength was carrying heavy rocks and swinging a pick, not sprinting. After only five or six hundred feet her lungs began to burn, but she was able to keep up with the kelvic all the way out of the city.

But something was wrong. That gate wasn't heavily guarded like it usually was, the gate doors themselves were different somehow, but Zephari wasn't able to tell exactly how as she was dragged through them, out towards the ferries that cross the Blue River.

But as they crossed the threshold of the gates, something changed. The world seemed to shift slightly, followed by a slightly blurring of sight. The forced Zephari to close her eyes in trying to regain her focus. When she opened them again everything was changed. The grass was taller around them, and the well worn pathways that lead out of the Riverfall gates like a spider web had vanished. Zephari closed her eyes, and tried to refocus again. What on Semele is happening!!?! Ok I must just be over exerting myself... Gonna open my eyes and everything is gonna be back to normal. Three... Two... One...

Opening her eyes, everything was still different. She slumped her head. Her hand was starting to get a little numb in Kyo's iron grip, but she could still feel his hand was shaking rather violently. When Kyo quickly turned around a looked back toward the city, Zephari raised an eyebrow at his shocked reaction.

Her reaction was almost exactly the same as she turned around. The walls were gone. The gate was gone. Everything was gone, replaced by rolling hills and a cliff leading down to the ocean. But what was worse, rather than the crowds of people, there was not a single person in sight. They were in the middle of nowhere. The grass was longer, and the trees in the area were much more dense, as if the forest had never ever been logged. More noticeably the river was smaller, and the banks were MUCH steeper. Rather than the gentle muddy beaches that made of the banks of the normal Blue River, they were steep four or five foot dirt and rock cliffs. The river was barely two thirds the size it used to be, but it flowed much faster and muddier, suggesting it was deeper. I don't understand! How can a city just disappear! Did Kyo somehow... Drag me somewhere else? What?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the kelvic apologizing profusely. Did he know what happened, did he cause it? She tried to respond but between shock of the event and her mouth being completely dried out from running for so far, she just let out a slurred mumble. Realizing that she could respond, Zephari just stood up straight and took five deep breaths through her nose, to let her mouth re-hydrate. Her throat hurt at first, burning from hyper ventilating, but it eventually soothed as she continued to breath.

"Kyo what is so wrong? Did you drag us here? Where if Riverfall?" she pleaded, while looking around for any sign of anyone. Her hand was beginning to get numb from Kyo cutting off blood flow. She tried to pull her hand away, but not forcefully so.

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Into the Wild [Zephari]

Postby Kyo on June 23rd, 2015, 5:15 pm

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Something was wrong with the girl.

His boy had gone again and he needed to follow... but something was wrong with the girl and he couldn't leave her.

It was hard to focus on what to do. His boy stayed in the back of his mind, sitting and watching everything out of the coyote's eyes. Kyo rubbed his knuckles to his face, trying to make that thought go away, trying to make himself pay attention to the right things right now. The girl. Mind the girl.

She couldn't speak. She was breathing hard, and immediately Kyo had a flash of memory: the girl lying on the ground, pulled from the river, not breathing. Now his hand wanted to grip hers even tighter, and some bad feeling pricked in his stomach like a thorn. She was breathing hard. If she got worse... last time she couldn't breathe she needed a doctor. Her rib, what if her rib was bad again? The city was gone. There was no doctor here.

He was in the middle of trying to figure out how far and fast he could run at one time to find help, or how well he might be able to do doctor things --not good, not good-- when the girl caught her breath and spoke. Kyo could have hugged her he was so glad she was okay.

She asked what was wrong and if he'd dragged them here and where the city was. But he didn't know. He wanted to tell her, but his mind was blank. "The boy..." he said, stumbling. He didn't want to to think about his boy too hard. But it was hard not to, and even harder when she moved her hand from his. He forced himself to let go. His hands gripped each other instead, so tight his fingers creaked. "The boy come to Riverfall. The boy I look for. I look look look. I look for him. I don't find." He stopped, started again. "The boy come to Riverfall and I hurts great, in Kyo. I hurts. I need to see him. The boy..."

The words wouldn't come. Why had his boy run away? Why had he looked like that, no smile, those eyes, too thin? Kyo swallowed, trying to talk. "T-The gates... I don't know what happened. I don't know where Riverfall is. It is wrong. It is wrong."

"I don't want to drag you here. I don't know what the place here is. Wrong... no city... danger," he said, squeezing his hands together tighter. "Danger is here. No city is danger for you. You... I worry for you. Great worry." He couldn't let her get hurt. Not out here, wherever they were. Not away from help.

"The city," he said again, this time muttering low and anxious, and turned and stepped back towards where the walls had been. Maybe the walls were there still. Maybe just... just they couldn't see. But no. When he stepped back there was empty air. The ground had no marks. There was no scent. No one had been here but them. How was that possible? How could this happen? How?

The coyote-man turned back towards the girl, peeling his hands apart to hold them up, shoulders falling, something he thought meant I don't know. He ran a hand through his hair, looking up towards the sky.

There was something up there.

Kyo's mouth popped open. His wide, wide eyes watched above. His body moved into a crouch, deep in the grass, motioning towards the girl to do the same.

There was a... bird... flying in the sky. It was large with a white-grey underbelly like a cloud. It was big as a cloud. It flew nearer, high above, and the wind came with every flap of its wings, brushing against the coyote-man's upturned face. Kyo had never seen a bird like this before. It was too big. He felt small, small and weak as a mouse. His skin crawled, and he watched the great bird soar above them, holding as still as he could. A great shadow passed over the ground.

When he spoke it was very quietly. "Danger." They needed to do something. They needed to find someplace to hide, maybe. Someplace the girl would be safe.

There was the bird and the bird would fly away if it didn't see them... but the danger would not be gone. It was early now. The day would pass and the night would come and it would be dark. If the city didn't come back...

It would be dark and his boy would be out there somewhere alone. His boy would be lost in the dark. They all would be lost in the dark.

Not good. His hands squeezed back together.

OOCSorry if this is crappy. It feels... disjointed to me somehow, I don't know.

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Into the Wild [Zephari]

Postby Zephari on June 28th, 2015, 2:31 am

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Zephari's panicked face softened as she heard Kyo apologize profusely, her expression going from stern and worried, to only slightly concerned, and slightly curious about the boy. Who is this boy to Kyo? An old friend that he lost by the sound of it. I didn't see anyone but maybe coyote eyes can see more than I can

She looked around, and saw a shadow moving slowly along the ground from their left, about the size of a small house, moving parallel to the two people standing alone in the grassland. Zephari looked around for the source of the shadow for about fifteen ticks, but eventually did look up, and was shocked by the creature she saw. He vision was blurred by looking up at the sky so near to the sun, but she could still easily tell it was a massive flying creature, with at least a forty foot wingspan. Luckily it didn't seem to be paying her or Kyo much attention, and was just leisurely gliding towards the coast.

Kyo crouched when he saw it too, sitting low in the tall grass like a predator poised to sprint at a moment's notice. If Kyo, thinks it's dangerous it must be a bird of prey! she thought, her muscles tensing with adrenaline. She crouched down next to Kyo as best she could, though she wasn't exactly a stealthy person so her stance was still pretty tall, her head poking slightly over the long grass.

"Danger" he whispered to her as she crouched next to him. She crept over closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder for reassurance. She could feel the kelvic shaking under her hand, obviously very shaken up by all the craziness that was happening. Can't say I blame him, this is bad, and is almost certainly magic. We need to find somewhere safe She crept along a slightly trodden pathway in the grass, what was most likely a game path, though Zephari did not know this. She grabbed Kyo's hand and pulled him along with her, wanting to head for the southern area of the wilds around riverfall, as that was the area she knew best.

While she at first took the game path for a a couple dozen strides she eventually angled towards the river at a big bend where in normal riverfall was the rock crossing she usually used. The same one she had broken her rib falling from, when she was saved by the kelvic. "We need to find somewhere safe to figure out what is going on. I know some cliffs to the south that provide good shelter." Zephari offered, pointing across the river, towards the tall cliffs that made up the southern coast.

She stopped dragging the man a few feet from the river's bank, and examined the crossing. Normally it was a collection of dozens of smallish, boulders dotted throughout the river at this point. Instead, because of the river's increased speed and decreased width there were only four rocks, with a tree across two of them in the middle. All of them looked liked jump-able distances, but they would not be easy, and they would have to scoot across the fallen log.

"What do you think Kyo? Can we make it across?"

Sorry For the WaitMy old boxcode is malunctioning for me, so I wanted to wait until I got a new one, and I got this beautiful one from maddoch so I can get back to my normal daily posting speed. Also that wasn't that bad, a lot of good content. The flow was a little sharp ended and janky, but really not bad. Also, really? pterodactyl/roc? I guess we are really in over our heads now!
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Into the Wild [Zephari]

Postby Kyo on July 8th, 2015, 4:40 am

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The coyote was still trying to make sense of the bird when he felt the girl sink down into the grass next to him. Hiding, like he was. Watching. His eyes didn't leave the gigantic form as it swayed lazily overhead. It didn't see them... it was going away, towards the water, the glimmer of the sea.

He was only able to look away when he felt the hand touch his shoulder. The girl was right next to him. Her face looked scared or confused, maybe. But not a lot. More than that she looked like she was thinking. A thinking-face, like she was trying to figure out what was happening, what to do, where to go.

His own fear was choking him in his throat so it was hard to think. His heart was thudding too hard and fast, like he'd been running for days, and his eyes kept wanting to look back to where the giant bird had gone. He didn't understand how this could be, why he felt this way. He didn't usually feel like this.

All he knew was that it had to do with his boy. Thinking of how he was close now, but still alone. Still lost. Fear because Kyo couldn't think about it or he would start to run and look and then the girl would be alone. The coyote-man swallowed, and grabbed the girl's hand when she reached it out towards him. And he stayed close.

She was moving now, following a trail, and the smells out here were very crisp and easy to take, not muddled through with all the strange and foreign human-smells that the city usually brought to the land. The trail belonged to something familiar, maybe a sort of deer or antelope, though his head was so distracted he couldn't think quite what. The deer-things were not a danger. And they were not his boy. Those were the only things he needed to know.

They angled out of the path, and Kyo tried not to drag too hard on the girl's arm, and also tried not to run too close and trip their feet up together. He found he was panting though he didn't need to, and his eyes were flicking around. Looking. Looking. He was distracted again. The girl spoke. He looked back to her.

"We need to find somewhere safe to figure out what is going on. I know some cliffs to the south that provide good shelter."

She had said south and human-form words that meant direction did not make much sense to him... but she also said cliffs, and he thought he knew what she was speaking of. Better than that, she had said good shelter and that was important. Good, good. It helped when she pointed, and yes, he thought he knew at least the place --the area-- she was talking about.

He was watching her now, and so when she turned to look he looked too. The river. They were where the river twisted to the side. The water was different than usual. Angrier. Faster. Splashing up with little white waves. And the bank wasn't right either. There were none of the marks he was used to. The whole shape was different.

It had to do with the city. No city, different river. Different place. Bird, huge and white in the sky. Wrong smells. What was this? How could this happen? And there was his boy...

He shook his head, eyes flicking around again.

"What do you think Kyo? Can we make it across?"

He was glad to have something to look at. He turned his face back to the river, and her words finally came through to him, slow in his mind. She wanted to cross? A new fear pushed away the fear for his boy, and he started to shake his head, this time harder. No! She could not swim, and she would be hurt again. He wouldn't let her be hurt again.

He was about to try to tell her not to go when his eyes picked out what she must have been looking at all along. There were rocks in the water, and a dead, fallen tree. Like what the human-forms would call a bridge, except this wasn't human-made, this was wild. The rocks were close enough they could be reached, and the tree was in the middle, helping to cross the most dangerous, deepest part. He understood now. She didn't want to swim. She wanted to balance and jump and chance.

He didn't like that either. If she fell...

He had a glimpse of something like a memory, only it wasn't, something that was made-up in his head like a picture. The girl falling in, thrashing, drowning in the fast water. And somewhere in the middle of it all her face changed, and was his boy's face. A shudder ran up his back. He squeezed the girl's hand a little, to make sure she was still right there.

No. Jumping was not right. They would find something else. Except what? He didn't know. This was not the Riverfall from before. This place was not the same. He knew hiding places there, but not here. The cliffs might be different too, the places the girl remembered might not be the same... but cliffs were cliffs. Tall and strong and there would be caves no matter what. The girl was right when she said that was the best place to hide, to shelter.

They had to cross. They could look for a better place to do it but they might not find one. And the sun would keep lowering in the sky. And the bird might come back. Or something else might come.

Finally he said, "I think we need to. We can make it. I trust."

Yet he didn't want to go. Or no, it wasn't that. He didn't want her to go, and maybe slip and maybe fall. He didn't know if it was better for him to go ahead, to test to see if the way was safe, if the rocks would slide or the tree break. Or to go after, so he would be able to see her if she fell.

OOCI did the whole 'big bird' thing because there was something similar last season, about a giant bird that swooped down into a park and snatched up some kiddies. Kyo probably heard about that, at least in rumors or murmurings, and so I'm thinking that's why such a bird showed up here. ^_^

Also he didn't do much in this post but think, urgh. Sorry about that. I figured it would get too long if I started hopping stones, so I guess Zephari gets to go first!

Also also sorry for the wait, really haven't been feeling my best. :/


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Into the Wild [Zephari]

Postby Zephari on October 9th, 2015, 9:32 pm

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It was rather ironic that this was the place that they had to cross. It was because Zephari had fallen into the river at this very spot that her and Kyo had met. Well not this exact spot, because it was so very different. Everything was, and that was really bad. Normal riverfall was a dangerous place, but it was even worse now that there was no actual riverfall. No roads or trails that had been worn by the blue giants, no great towers and walls to use as a point of reference.

Her heart races as she peered over the steep edge of the river bank, into the churning water below. There was about a foot and a half of muddy shore before it seemingly dropped off into a deep channel. Don't slip this time, I don't think Kyo is a strong enough swimmer for this river... And i really don't feel like owing him my life twice!

Taking a deep breath she squeezed her hand out of the kelvic's grip. He grabbed a tuft of tall grass and gave it a hard tug, testing it's strength. Seeing that it had stayed firmly in the ground, Zephari lowered herself down the wall, her muscles feeling the slight burn of holding her entire weight for a few seconds. Her feet eventually found traction on the gravely slope, giver her arms enough freedom to find handholds. A few larger river rocks lodged in the side of the bank allowed her to take the last step down onto the muddy shore. The thick clay quickly tried to claim her bare feet.

The first jump was about four feet away, but also slightly up. Placing her right foot back against the gravel, Zephari drew herself into a low crouch to leap. "Don't slip on the mud friend." she warned, pushing off the bank with a big effort. Luckily the gravel she had placed her back foot against was solid enough to let her jump full force, so she flew smoothly over the first gap and onto the jagged rock. Her landing wasn't exactly graceful, but she was able to stay on her feet and one hand, letting her callouses shield her from the sharp rock.

Looking back at her companion, it wasn't difficult to recognize that look of fear and worry. Can't say I blame him, what with my history and this river... Heck how we met. Rather than saying anything, she just gave him a simple, but strong nod of affirmation that she was ok. She figured that would comfort him better than anything else, since language wasn't his strongest suite.

The next rock was slightly closer, but it was slanted sideways, which would make the landing harder. Scooting herself to the far side of the rock, she leaped again, this time arms outreached for the top of the rock. She was able to plant one foot, but the other slipped, forcing her to grab the upper edge of the rock with both hands to keep her from falling. Her one foot was a good enough base to let her stabilize, and start moving up towards the log. Her heart truly racing now, she knew this was the point of no turning back. Rather than looking back at her friend and worrying him more, she simply went right up onto the lock. The log was a good three feet thick, and solidly lodged between her rock and one about twenty feet away. Her weight didn't even cause the slightest shift, so she stayed on her hands and knees, and slowly scooted herself along the log. Having to occasionally partly stand to make her way over branches, she was forced to look down into the water. Her lack of swimming abilities really scared her, as she knew she had basically no chance if she fell into that.

The reaching the end of the log was a great relief, until Zephari looked at the last jump she had to make. It must have been around eight feet away from her, and the rock was very wet, only a few inches out of the water. This caused her to freeze in place on the rock, her left foot still on the log. "That didn't look quite that far from that side..." her breathing was getting really harsh, making her slightly light headed. Zephari shook her head, trying to wipe away the panic. Taking three slow, deep breaths, she gathered herself for the jump. There was the advantage of she was several feet above the other rock, which meant she had some amount of distance to let her fall. Adrenaline surged through her veins as she leaned forward and jumped with all her might.

She was right on target, and landed hard. She had so much forward momentum that she felt herself falling forward towards the remaining channel between her and the other side. In a split second decision she leapt again, clearing the small gap between her and the shore. She made it, but her forward momentum carried her into the gravel bank hard, knocking the wind out of her. She slumped down on her knees, holding the side of her chest that had hit the bank, her breast throbbing slightly. "Ow... Rivers suck..."
This is the color of speech.
This is the color of others speech.
This is the color of thought.
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