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Merdok comes rolling into Barton on his quad, the engine roaring loudly. Judging by the looks he is being given as he searches his way through the bumpy cobblestone streets, he isn't very welcome. Then again, his quad can be heard throughout all of Barton.

Such a peaceful town. I wonder what a man like him would be doing here.

As he continues along a path, he sees a small beverage house. He pulls up to the building and whips the tail of the quad around, lifting the two wheels on the right side up, making the turn more sharp. He stops, and the wheels hit the ground with a thud. He steps off the vehicle and pulls out the key. As he looks up, the people around him gaze in awe.

He mutters under his breath, "It's not polite to stare..."

He continues his way into the building. He looks around, and notices absolutely nothing. Everybody is smiling, drinking... lemonade. Merdok chuckles under his breath, thinking of how hardcore this Cram` Skywhacker guy or whatever must be to reside in a town of pansies. He pulls the polaroid out of his coat pocket and looks at it. He then searches the area for this man with pink hair.

Where the hell can this guy be?

He slowly walks up to the bartender of this seemingly giant lemonade stand. His boots hit the hardwood floor with a loud thump with every step. When he reaches the bar, he pushes the stool out of his way and lays the picture down on the counter. The bartender is an older man, maybe around the age of fifty or so. He was balding, had dark gray hair, and wrinkles that when looked at in the right light, made him look like a bulldog.

"Have you seen this man?" He asks the bartender. The bartender takes a look at the picture, and shakes his head. "No, no, I don't believe I've seem him before." A look of uncertainty stained the old man's face. Merdok leaned in a little closer, grabbing the man by his neck. "I don't want to ask you again. So, you'd better answer me." The old man gasped out for air as Merdok began to loosen his grip. "H-He walks around the s-streets sometimes, at night. I c-can't guarantee you anything!"

Merdok lets go of the bartender and smiles. He turns around to walk out, but stops half-way. He turns back and reaches towards the bar. The bartender flinches in fright as Merdok's hand picks up the picture. Merdok smirks at the bartender as he puts the picture back into his coat pocket, and departs from the store.

He steps outside, and a few children are standing around his quad. He walks up to the kids, and they don't seem to notice him. "Ahem." He says, clearing his throat. The kids quickly turn to him, and their mouths drop. They scatter away in a matter of seconds, a shorter, chubby one waddling down the path in the back.

Merdok began to wake up, groggy and disgruntled. He pulled the blanket off of his body. He was covered in bandages. He tried to move his leg off of the bed to stand up, but as he began to move, the pain came back to him. He clenched his teeth and fell back onto the bed, grunting in pain. Where the hell am I? His eyes began to come into focus as calmed down. He had a minor headache that was getting on his nerves, though.

An old woman ran into the room. Her gray hair covered her eyes, and her frail body bent over to look at Merdok.

Old Lady: "Oh, you're awake! Good to see that you're getting better."

Mer looked at the old woman puzzled. He began to ask questions frantically, "Who are you? Where am I?" The old woman placed her hand on Mer's side and put a finger over her lips. "I'm Agnis. You're in my home, on the outskirts of Barton." Mer heard the words come from her lips, and he sighed with relief. I made it. Thank God.

The old woman smiled at him, and pat Mer's stomach. "Well, I'll leave you alone now. You need to get your rest--" Mer interrupted her, grabbing onto the hand that she pat his stomach with, "Wait! How did I get here?" Agnis just smiled, and slowly pulled away from his hand. "I'll tell you when you're rested." She slowly walked out of the room, hunched over as if she were curved. A few moments later, Mer fell back into a deep sleep.

Merdok's eyes slowly opened. It was dark in the room. Night time, no doubt. The smell of smoke filled the room, as if a candle had just burnt out. He slowly began to move, his body aching. Not enough to keep him down, but enough to annoy the s**t out of him. His clothes lay on a shelf across the room. A whole six steps sure does take a lot when you're this badly injured. He reached his clothes after a few moments. They were clean-- No blood or mud. A few holes, but nothing too bad. He began to put his clothes on, when the door started to open. He pulled his pants quickly up, despite the pain in his leg. It was Agnis.

Agnis: "What are you doing?" She seemed very scared that Mer was leaving. He continued to put his clothes on, not saying a word to the old lady. "... I see. You're leaving." Mer put his shirt on, and looked in her direction. "I appreciate your help, but I need to be going." She looked down, her neck cracking a few times as she did. Something was wrong though. It was an uncomfortable silence shared between the old woman and Merdok. "... You are not allowed to leave," the old woman said in reply to him, "There is no where for you except for here, now." Mer looked at her suspiciously, blowing off what she said. "Well I'm leaving. I'm appreciate the help, and I'm sorry I cannot offer anything in return, but I must be going." He took a step towards the door, and she quickly slid into the door way. He gray hair covered her eyes, and she was still looking down. "You're not allowed to leave!" She yelled at him, lifting her head. She pulled her arm out from behind her, carrying a large kitchen knife. She jolted towards him at bike-speed and quickly tried stabbing Mer. He dodged and grabbed her boney arm, putting it into position where she could not stab him. "What do you think you're doing?" He said calmly, pushing her arm down more. Agnis hissed in anger as her head twisted to face him. "You're not allowed to leave!" She twisted her arm out of his grip, and jumped back a few feet. She was no ordinary old lady, and she certainly had a large amount of strength. Such a frail body usually couldn't withstand such movements. She lunged at him again, arm cocked back to stab downward. Merdok moved to the best of his abilities, the pain searing through his body with every quick step. As she missed the stab, he grabbed the extended arm with the knife and twisted it. He used his other arm to put his bicep over the front of her neck. He tightened his grip on both arms and slowly put the old woman to sleep.

Her body dropped to the floor, and he sat down on the bed. His knee had been moved too much, and it hurt like hell now. He had to ignore the pain, though. He stood up, reached over, and grabbed his hat. He stepped over the old woman's body, giving her one last look. He should have killed her, but she isn't the hit. Plus, she's old. He exited the door to the room, and then soon exited the house. His quad was parked in front of the house. And by "parked", he meant it was crashed into a tree. Luckily, the front bumper was steel, and made for that reason. Afterall, it did say in the brochure, "If you crash, you'll feel bad for whatever you hit!" The keys were still in the ignition-- Good thing nobody stole it.

The lady was right. She did live on the ouskirts of Barton-- About five miles away from it, at least. He could barely see the walls of Barton. He must have steered off course when he passed out. He put the keys in the ignition, and he turned the engine on. The engine roared, and with that, he was off, heading in the direction of Isle De Gambino.

((Kata, you're evil. xp I thought I'd let you know that.))

Merdok once again had to climb another set of stairs to get to where he needed to be. This whole walking thing isn't working out for me. He ascended the stairs and reached the door. He opened it up, and it was just what he was looking for. A grocery store. He went through, isle to isle, and got the essentials for his journey-- Plus a few miniature pizza lunchables. He held the basket in his hand and reached the cashier. He rang up all the items, and looked up at Mer.

Cashier: "Do you have a Barton Grocery Goer's Card?"

Merdok looked at the man for a second and replied, "No... I don't." The cashier pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and basically threw them at Mer. "Well sir, if you sign up for the Barton Grocery Goer's Card, every item you purchase will blah blah blah..." Mer tuned him out and eventually said "Not interested." The cashier seemed a little offended, and very obnoxiously said "Your total comes to... 300g." Mer threw the gold onto the counter, grabbed his bags, and exited. What a d**k. He walked down the stairs and headed for the entrance of Barton that he came through. He had all the neccessary supplies for getting to Isle De Gambino. He had to visit an old friend.

Kelwyn smiled. "I'm sure it is. I actually do not eat meat, but I will eat with you. Don't worry, I have my own food. She sat down on the cool grass, unloading first a large napkin, and then onto it a pile of flatbread and dried fruits, large enough for at least two people. "You are welcome to some of my food as well, if you'd like."

"So," Kelwyn asked as they were eating, "would you like to travel through the countryside, or do you prefer to see a few more sights in the cities? I know this area very well, there's quite a bit to see."

((Sorry I haven't been posting! ;_; WoW is so distracting!))

"Well, Barton Town is pretty quaint. Not a lot of attractions there, it's just a quiet town... most of the time anyway. Durem has more museums and libraries and things like that. There's a lot of history there. And some of the trendiest clubs around in the downtown area, but I don't suppose that's anything you would like to frequent, since they can get pretty crowded.

As far as the countryside goes, we'd cross some plains before getting back into the wooded areas. We'll have to cross a stretch of mountains, but the trails there are fairly easy to follow if you're used to traveling. After the mountains we'll get into some heavy forests until we come to Celorn."