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 Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 3:30 am
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It was some number of weeks after the Valentine's dance, and the teenager found himself completely at a loss for what to do next for this 'quest' or whatever he was given from that Harveer person. He'd gotten the token from the faun, he'd gotten the cup from the naiad, but where was he supposed to get a wooden rod or a sword? All of it seemed so silly and made up; maybe it was?
"No... I think what he said was true..." a small voice rang out him his mind, stopping his footsteps.
Looking over his shoulder, he stared blankly at the dense jungle all around him; how long had he been walking and contemplating it all? Ten; thirty minutes; an hour? Sighing, he looked to his mellon and gave her a shrug. "Sorry about that..." his mind replied. "...you know how bad I want my voice back, and we weren't really given much direction."
"That is true, but perhaps it was because he could give no more? Perhaps he told us all he was aware of himself." A giggle. "For all of that big talk, the boy didn't seem to know as much as he claimed. At least his heart was in the right place, though."
"Better than nothing I suppose then, right?" After receiving a nod, he looking around again. "How long have I been walking?"
"Some number of hours by now I think."
"Hours?!"
"Y-yes...!" the mellon's voice was timid and cut off. "I-I'm sorry, I thought it would be good to let you get your mind off of stuff and you just kept walking and you walk away from home quite often and--"
"It's fine, it's fine!" He cut her off from her ramblings, "But, if you were keeping quiet for so long, why stop me now?" It didn't quite add up, unless she finally thought that he'd lost his mind and needed to start heading home before it the sun was past its highest point. The teenager didn't think that this was a good place to be past nightfall.
A sigh of relief passed through his mind. "Oh, well, about that..." A pause. "I sense strong magic nearby, and we needed a magic stick, right? I thought... maybe... you could check it out?"
A magic place in the woods? How... Strange... Still, there were stranger things that he'd seen, such as this little creature that spoke directly with his consciousness and his power with the shadows. That he could possibly just happen upon something wished of him by the Guardians, they who had cursed him without a voice and blessed him with such a companion...
Might as well go check it out. |
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Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 4:40 am
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Motioning for the mellon to lead him where to where she felt the magic, Malek found himself weaving through various vines and thickets to keep up with her. Seriously, how had he managed to just happen upon such a place without paying mind to his surroundings? It all seemed far more complicated to move now that he has his sense upon him that it had been before. His breathing has certainly sped up by some bit by the time they stopped at the edge of some clearing.
Looking up to her, he watched silently as she returned to behind his head and pressed a hand to his neck.
"We are here... There is much magic in this place."
Just from looking at one edge, there didn't appear to be much of anything special around. Perhaps just more flowers than normal? "Alright then, I just need a stick from here to make a rod or something, right Tihsenka?" Taking a few steps in, the teenager looked around beside him for anything discarded in the clearing.
"Yes... That's right I think." A pause. "Shall I help you find one?"
Motioning with his head, he returned a nod and she took off flying away.
While there were a number of sticks around him, nothing seemed to strike him as being good enough to make something for the Guardians. Too thin, broken, bent... It must have been some time that he was looking around on the ground by the time he looked up again.
The mellon had been trying to get his attention for some time by the time he noticed her. He was mute, not deaf! Sighing, she waved him towards her as she fluttered away.
Malek was quick to follow once he did catch sight of her motions, speeding his stride to come behind her to where she stopped.
As he did, she flew around his head once before settling on his shoulder. A hand touched the side of his neck this time. "So... Is it good enough you think?"
Before him, near the edge of the clearing some 50m down from where they had entered, was a branch about a meter long and two centimeters in diameter. It had clearly been larger at some point, but had been broken on either end by others stepping on it. He reached down to pick it up, shifting the weight in the palms for a few moments before nodding once. "Yes. With a bit of cleaning up on the ends, I think this will do."
"Yay~!" A cheer and a giggle. "Well, in that case..." she paused, looking up at the sun. "Can we please go home? I don't think we should spend more time here than we need."
His eyes followed hers to look at the sun, and he laughed hoarsely in response. "Yes, let's go home... You do know where that is, right?" Flipping his new stick in his hand, he laughed again. "I'm completely lost."
Sighing, the mellon reached up to tug on a tuft of his hair. "What am I going to do with you?" Standing up, she flew in front of him a few meters before turning around. Her hand reached ahead of her to motion to follow before continuing on again.
And, by such a coincidence of happenings, he had his third item: the branchstaff. Only a sword remained, and if he would manage to find such a thing only the Guardians knew. They had already led him to three of the items they sought, however, so it wasn't entirely an impossibility. More importantly, at this time he needed to return home in one piece. Couldn't hope to finish this otherwise, now could he?
Only one question remained; what on earth was he going to tell his parents to justify keeping a stick with him?
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