|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:09 am
This Quest is for Oulixes who aspires to become a Swordsman.
OOC
||. Oulixes must do this on his own. No other NPCs may be used.
||. Respond to the prompts given as you would any other RP.
||. Your responses may be as long or short as you feel necessary.
IC
The family that Oulixes has been staying with has been out today, and nobody is around.
All is quiet.
Even the jungle outside seems to have dulled it's incessant noise.
It's like being back in Sauti, except instead of echoing sounds back the lush foliage dulls every sound.
Its almost too quiet, actually. Only the sound of raindrops can be heard. The animals are all quiet.
Perhaps there is trouble in this warm, wet land.
A child's sob-filled, terrified wail breaks the silence, the words just barely intelligible to someone with Oulixes keen hearing.
One word in particular is clear:
"Help!"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:57 am
Chal's family was out today, something that he was thankful for as he really didn't know how he was supposed to deal with those people. His mother was the weirdest of them all... a doting woman that was always trying to chat with him, pat him on the head, giving him praise for work he did, as well as treats. She was a weird one... and then there was Bomani, a hulking mountain of a man that was a father to a brood of children and he was... well, good to them all. Sure he raised his voice on occasion when the mass of kids got loud or overly rambunctious but otherwise seemed nice. It was... foreign, making him wonder if it was just something that was normal for the Shifters. That or maybe it was just normal in general when it came to those who weren't him. Maybe he was dirty and cursed, just like his father always said, it was why he was the one living the way he did.
A strange cry tore through the forest and his thoughts, causing him to jerk upright from where he was laying, looking around in a manner that was both confused and on edge. He was certain that something horrible was nearby and he was of a mind to just run... he had to save himself! He was instantly on his feet about to do so when someone called for help. It was a sound, a word, he hated. How often had be called for help only to get none? Stupid kid should learn the way that he did that there weren't heroes in the world, that nobody was coming to save you, that you had to save yourself... but at the same time he realized that it didn't have to be that way. Maybe he could do it? He could help?
Bah... probably not, he wasn't the hero sort, he was the sort that was trying to get stronger so that he could be the villain. Still... with the rest of the family out who else was there? Sighing he set to moving along the branches of the tree that he had been perched in, moving toward the sounds of the child. Just a peek... he'd figure out what was going on and decide from there...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:33 pm
"Daddy?" the voice is full of tears, barely held back, "Daddy... Daddy wake up..."
The silence of the jungle helped the child's voice carry- he was a ways away from any settlement and any help. Oulixes had to travel a bit to catch a glimpse.
But the lush foliage blocked the sound enough so that the travel wasn't so much that he would give up.
"No... Daddy... Please... Please wake up..."
Oulixes was close enough to hear the child start his cries again, and perhaps close enough to catch a glimpse of a burned-out clearing through the leaves.
"Help! Please... Someone..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:49 pm
Hearing the kid whining about his father seemed to get Oulixes's hackles up, wondering even more what might be going on. The moment his feet touched the ground he crouched down and set to creeping forward to get a better idea what was going on. He could see the burnt up area, smell the scent of smoke and char, it was something that caused him to make a face before he was back to searching for the one that was making all the ruckus. Didn't he know better? Didn't he know that making so much noise was going to alert all the dangerous monsters that seemed to enjoy creeping about Jauhar? Apparently the kid's father was actually important to him though, enough so that he was willing to risk all the dangerous creatures showing up if it meant help.
"You really shouldn't yell so loud, you are just going to get eaten." Oulixes told the kid once he got close enough. That wasn't quite what he meant, he had meant to ask what was going on, where the loud mouth's father was, and various other things but it always seemed to be that the worst possible thought escaped from his first. Sighing he then added, "What are you yelling about anyway?" Best to feign nice, just in case the kid knew the ones he was staying with at the moment. He didn't need it to become a whole thing after all or else he'd be forced to leave before he was full recovered from the various things that he'd been told were all wrong with him. He had to question that though, wondering if half of it was made up just to keep him from running off.
That was neither here nor there though, what was here was a mystery and he didn't much care for those... or much else for that matter he silently added to himself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 5:07 pm
It was quite a scene that Oulixes walked into.
The man was definitely dead, without a shadow of a doubt. The shifter was burnt and bloodied, a hole burned through his side. He lay on the ground, one of his swords still in his hand, the other stuck in the soft Jahuar ground.
The clearing was definitely burnt- the fire hadn't spread far along the wet forest, but where it was it was clear that it was unnatural- magic had started this fire.
The man's bag looked rifled through and, in some places, torn- some miscellanious contents spilling out onto the ashen and charred ground.
An odd-looking youngling knelt by the dead man's side. He was dark-skinned, like the shifter, but he had both pink and blue crystals and when he looked up at Oulixes it was with silvery-green eyes brimming with fear and confusion.
He nodded, obeying the stranger- the stranger who might make things okay, right?
"My dad..." he whispered. If the stranger didn't want him to be loud, he wouldn't. "He won't wake up..." He looked at Oulixes pleadingly, as if the man could do something about it.
"He's got to wake up. He's bleeding, and... and..." the boy sniffled, wiping his eyes.
It was clear that he didn't understand that it was already too late- his father was already gone.
"Please help..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:24 am
Giving a glance around Oulixes found himself taking in all the signs, realizing what it was that had happened here. He'd done something similar himself, stealing from others. He was a lot better at it though, at least he'd like to think so, and he sure as hell didn't leave a giant charred spot behind when he took things. He looked around, to the boy, to his father, then gave a bit of a sighing sound. Damn it, why did he have to say anything? He could have just taken a peek, seen that there was nothing that could be done, and he could have just continued on his way. The last thing he wanted to do was to walk headlong into something like this.
"There is nothing to be done save to dig a hole." He told the kid instantly before he seemed to realize what he'd said, paused, thought about it, then sighed, giving the soot covered ground a little kick, "Look, you got other relatives about? They could help out more then I can in a situation like this." It was hard to sympathize with someone over the loss of a father, especially when Oulixes wanted to murder his own father. He was struggling with what it was that he should do, especially since a part of him just wanted to leave. Not like the kid could keep up with him, right? It was tempting, but he'd refrain for the moment, "You got a mom? Siblings? Something like that?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 9:19 am
"A... hole?" The kids's eyes widened with realization as it finally got through that his father wasn't waking up. He would have started crying again, but his red eyes had run dry for now. He stood up.
"I... I can't go to grandpa... not without dad..." he said, sniffling.
He nodded.
"Mama." he affirmed, and his face contorted, "I want my Mama." his voice began to rise. "I wanna go home...!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 2:12 pm
Yeah, that probably could have gone better he thought to himself before he gave a bit of a sigh. Oh well, it seemed to get through the wailing child and that meant that they wouldn't have stand here waiting for something to come after them because the boy was making too much noise. As the kid stood up Oulixes merely starred at him, not sure what he should do next. Should they start digging a hole? Should he just bring the body with them so the kid's family could deal with it? Leaving it here was sure to just lead all manner of carrion eaters here for an easy feast and even putting him in a tree wouldn't assure the safety of the body.
The kid spoke of how he couldn't go to his grandpa, not without his dad, which left them with... what option? The kid finally gave him that answer, his mother. He was barely able to remember his own mother and she was a person he resented, she'd given him to his father after all, but his time spent with Chal's family did show him what a real mother should be like. So... this kid's mother, she must be more like Chal's mother then his own he decided, "Alright, we need to move your father first, it's for the good of what is left of him. I figure if I drag him over there, into the soot, and cover him with it, the beasts won't smell him. I will bury him for you later." He said, moving to catch hold of the dead man's hands, surprised by how cold he was already. It was a thought he shoved aside quickly, not wanting to consider it for even a moment.
Instead he merely pulled the man along into what was left of the burnt out area, tossing some of the black soot over the man, sure that the strong, burnt smell would cover the scent of blood for at least a time. Hopefully long enough that he could find the kid's mother, drop him off, then come back here. It wasn't that he was a nice person, he just figured since there was actually a father out there that hadn't been a absolute failure like his own, he should at least see him given a proper burial. Once he was done he wiped his hands off on his pants and returned to the kid's side, "Alright, then. Lead on, we will bring you to your Mother."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 10:30 pm
The child nodded, feeling numb.
Thank goodness the stranger knew what he was doing. He was so brave, so strong... The kid wished he was like him.
He reached out for Oulixes hand before thinking twice. He didn't want the stranger to be lost or lose him, but he also wanted to be a bit more growed up and shoe that he would be okay. He put his hand down and clasped it behind his back, fidgeting.
He had to be grown up now. Dad was... ... He would be the only man in a family of women. He had to be big now... Otherwise he would break down crying and he didn't want to do that until he reached mama.
"This way..." he said, moving slowly but surely... away from the settlement, and even away from the outskirts of the settlement.
"M.." it was obvious that the kid was trying to make smalltalk to not cry- the tears were just below his voice. But the stranger had wanted him to be quiet and was helping him. He would do it. "Mama says I shouldn't go into the Shifter settlements, even if Da...Grampa is a Shifter. She lives away from them..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 10:50 pm
Oulixes starred down at the boy for a moment as he told him which way it was that they had to go. He glanced back in the direction that he'd come from originally, then back to the boy, listening closely as he started to talk about his mother, how she said that he shouldn't go near the Shifter settlements, and that she lived away from them. Giving the kid a once over he supposed that it made sense, there were those that weren't fans of those that weren't pure blooded, just look at Oulixes's father after all.
"We will do what we can to get you back to her quickly then." He said, picking his words carefully since it seemed that the kid was on the verge of tears, something that he didn't want to deal with since really... he had no idea how. Where he came from tears of loneliness, hunger, and pain were all ignored and when they weren't ignored they were met with hostility, insults, and his father taking more swings at him. Tears weren't something he knew how to react to because he wasn't raised in the kindest of manners, "I am sure that she will know better what to say." He muttered, half to himself. The moment he was able to do so he meant to dump the kid off on his mother and then he'd run as quickly as he could, wanting to put space between them, and then after that... well he'd returned to this charred up place and do as he already said he'd do. It was a simple enough plan, he could only hope that it went smoothly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 1:15 pm
The boy nodded. Getting back to Mother quickly- he really wanted to. So badly.
The way was rough and rooty, with the occasional boggy sinkhole- it was difficult terrain to cross, but the boy seemed to know a safe route... until he tripped over a small sinkhole. He tried to stand back up, wincing as he did, before ending up back on the ground.
He had to have hurt his ankle from that tripping.
But he would not cry. The stranger didn't want him to.
"I... I can't get up" The tears, for now, were gone, but they threatened to return as the boy's eyes widened with pain. It was really not his day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 1:49 pm
On the trip toward... well, wherever the mother was staying Oulixes lapsed into silence as he found himself thinking over what it was that he was going to be doing once he got this kid home. It was a strange thing, knowing that he was about to bury a person, stranger still that it wasn't his father but someone else's father that he was going to be putting in the ground. The idea didn't sit well with him but that was likely due to the fact that it appeared as though the kid actually liked his father. It reminded him a little of that Alkidike Youngling he'd met, how her mother seemed rather ill, it almost seemed as though the gods and spirits of this world were laughing at them, killing off the good parents and letting the abusive ones continue on. He'd even the odds soon enough...
His dark thoughts were interrupted when the kid next to him seemed to suddenly pitch forward, face planting against the ground, and a soft growl escaped from his lips before he could stop it, "Really?" He asked, starring down at him, waiting for the kid to get back on his feet... but it appeared as though that wasn't going to be possible. The kid couldn't get up he'd said. Oulixes starred down at him for a long moment, opened his mouth as though he wanted to yell at him for not watching where he was going, then snapped it shut. No, no... he couldn't yell at him for getting hurt. He hadn't done so to Natsu after all, well much anyway, and given the difference in the situation he had to try to stay calm. He couldn't yell at a kid that lost their parent, he could yell at a fool that cut himself on a bunch of stupid shells he told himself. After making that deal with himself, and taking a few deep breaths, he finally turned his attention back to the kid.
"Fine, but you need to show me where we are going then." He said as he scooped the kid up into his arms and started in the direction that they had been going, a bit slower now, and seemed to be waiting for direction. The day seemed to have started off so well and now it was just tumbling end over end into being a bad day he thought to himself sourly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:47 am
The kid nodded and gave him directions through the bog, occasionally stopping him from stepping in some places and telling him to walk on others.
Eventually, what looked like a mound of plant material slowly revealed itself in the marshy forest ahead. It looked natural, until a woman came out from a flap in the mound and looked at them for a moment. She looked much like the boy, her skin was dark like his, her eyes green like his. Her crystals were pink and her hair was brown.
Another halfbreed?
Her eyes widened.
"Ikamos? Ikamos... but you..." she walked, briskly with purpose towards them.
The boy looked up. "Mama..." his voice filled with tears, and he wiggled his way out of her arms to limp to her.
"Mama... I..." He hugged her, the tears he had held back streaming down his face.
"Ikamos..." she looked at the youngling, then back at Oulixes, "Ikamos... where is your father?" Her eyes closed, once, realization hitting her. "Oh..." She looked at Oulixes.
"Stranger. What happened."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 3:13 pm
Maybe it was a good thing that he was carrying the kid he found himself thinking as they started their trek through the boggy area. It wasn't the most welcoming of places making him wonder why anyone would live out here... upon seeing his mother it made sense, the woman was a halfbreed, of course she would hide out here. How he wanted a place so out of the way and inhospitable to live in he thought to himself idly. As the woman called out to her son, calling him Ikamos, he realized that maybe he should have asked the kid's name sometime during what was happening? No matter, he had gotten him home and it wasn't as though he meant to make friends with the two of them.
The moment the kid set to squirming out of his grasp Oulixes released him, watching him hobble over to his mother, getting hugs from her. He starred a moment before he crossed his arms over his chest, looking away as she started to ask her questions. His cue to leave he thought to himself... though she seemed too curious for her own good, asking him questions for which he didn't have an exact answer, "Look... I could make a guess at it but I won't. It will just make it worse." He told her, not wanting to hazard a guess as to the logistics of it all. It was likely a robbery gone wrong, maybe just them killing him for having a halfbreed brat, or something else, inter-tribal warfare, who knew the cause exactly. All he knew was the guy was dead, his stuff rifled through, and the area they were in was burned to the ground. None of that was stuff he should say out loud since the kid seemed traumatized enough. Best that he didn't make it worse of Ikamos was going to end up like Oulixes was, broken.
"You two should... do whatever it is you mean to do... hug or whatever, I am gonna go take care of things back where I found him." He said finally, not wanting to actually say 'I need to go dig a hole' since he'd so stupidly told the kid that he was going to need to do that earlier. He'd just let them do their thing and he would do his.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:55 pm
The boy squeezed himself into his mother as Oulixes mentioned 'taking care of things'. He knew what that meant now.
His mother hugged her son back, quickly, before the stranger that had saved her son could disappear forever. "Wait. Stranger. You've done so much for my family already. So much more than I could have hoped for, bringing Ikamos back to me... but..." Her eyes darted to Oulixes' body, seeming to be searching. "Did you... happen to see swords... back there?"
Her son looked up at her, his eyes darting back and forth between the two. "They were back there mama. I saw them... They didn't... take them..."
The mother looked back at Oulixes, her eyes pleading. "Please sir. If I could ask just one favor of you... When you go back... to take care of things..." She swallowed, the idea hard on her tongue. Please... take the swords with you. They will do us no good here, but they shouldn't be left to rust in the Tale sun." She hoped it was easy enough. Payment, if he wanted to think of it as such, for taking care of her husbands resting place.
[Oulixes must return to the scene of the incident. His journey there may be as long or as short as you like.]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
