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[ Every story has a beginning... ] :: Finding The Bottle

Much like he'd often did at the time of the year, Silver didn't even bother to set up his tent when he finally found a small hill to sleep on. It was drawing on to be a bit late, as the moon was up in the dark sky, but crossing the Whi Forest was one thing - actually sleeping there was another new level of completely crazy, and the white-haired man considered himself quite sane, thank you. In fact, if he wasn't such a light sleeper, he would not even dare sleep like this, in the open and under the stars. In fact, even as a light sleeper, he probably should not... but the temptation was hard to resist.

The dark-skinned man let his backpack tumble on the ground before he sat, leaning his back against a large tree, one hand blindly going through his bag for a water jug and a small clay pot - he poured some water inside the pot, then slid the jug back in his backpack. And then he waited - Jiro was probably off, hunting some small rodent for his own dinner, and the feline would definitively like the easy access to fresh water upon his return. In fact, food wasn't a bad idea, but he would have to start a fire first. Silver allowed himself to be lazy a few more minutes before working himself up and leaving to gather firewood.




He did not wander far - only to the outskirts of the Whi forest, gathering the dead branches that had fallen off the trees there. They where always plentiful, which was a good thing, because chopping up one of those thees without knowing what it was would probably earn him a bunch of angry fruit gatherers. Daring bunch, these ones.

A small shadow followed him, but he did not worry, if only because of the small point of light in the darkness that it emitted, and the mewling sounds that it also did. Jiro was done with his hunt, it seemed, and was only waiting for his human to be done before going back. The crafty feline had more than likely found the clay pot by now, and thus found their staying spot for the night. It was a system that worked well.

Silver was about to turn and head back when another sparkle in the darkness caught his attention, making his head tilt. He let the tied-up bundle fall on the floor and went to further explore. It if it had been something dangerous, the cat would have reacted by now - bless his instincts - so Silver gave no hesitation as he crouched, eyes widening a bit when his hand came in contact with smooth glass. A bottle ? What was a bottle doing there ? It required further inspection - most likely with a full stomach first. One hand gripped the bottle, the other reached for the bundle, and he started to head back, cat in tow.




The fire was now crackling, he had eaten, and thus his attention went back to the bottle. It was a very odd bottle, in lack of better words - something he hadn't ever seen in his lifetime - not even in his parents' manor. Rainbow glass - he hadn't known glass blowers could do something like that. It seemed like there was something inside, but all attempts to uncork it was met with failure, and he was not willing to use too much strength and end up breaking the fragile thing instead. It was almost maddening, and he decided to keep it. Maybe he would find the one who lost it in his travels. Or maybe someone would know more about it's crafter. Who knew.

He carefully nested the bottle in his backpack, and curled up to sleep, letting the flames die to embers, and finally to nothing.


[exp gained]

[ Searching, Searching... ] :: And finding nothing.

Silver had dedicated the day to finding more about the strange bottle he had found a few days ago, laying on the outskirts of the Whi Forest. And yet, he'd found no answer at all.

The dark-skinned man had spend the day wandering the artist alley, looking for the craftsman that had created it, and he figured that with that, he might find answer. Yet, the more he prodded, the more he searched... The more his mind seemed to get attached to that strange object that was now constantly occupied his mind. He refused to let anyone see it - this probably was not helping his search any, but on the other hand it kept any unwanted attention at bay. After all, how many glowing bottles with swirling waves did one see around ? Too much attention was a bad thing.

So he'd left the bottle home, under lock and key, and had left to the alley with his cat nested on his shoulder. A familiar sight - some artisans had recognized him, especially those he'd worked for before. Silver had gone through all the shops and tents there, every single one of them - along with all the chatting that followed, that task had taken him the whole day. He's inquire about glasses bottles with rainbow-like colors. Almost always he got a negative. No one's ever seen one, no one's ever sold one. There was only one shop that had one, but the bottles where completely the wrong shape, and the rainbow was well... sloshes of color. Nothing like the seamless gradient of his own, clearly of inferior craftsmanship. Not that he said it to the artist's shape of course, at least he managed to dodge his way out of having to buy it by pretending he was gathering information for a friend. Some had told him a seamless mix of colors like he was describing was near impossible.

And how did that explain the presence of the glowing bottle on his night table ? In no way, or course. Once the night started to fall and the shops started to close, he had to retreat and give up for the day. This whole mystery was incredibly tough to crack, and it seemed to only motivate Silver more and more.

But where to go now, however ? This was what he was pondering at the moment, as he stared at the glowing bottle. Maybe he was going about this in completely the wrong way, maybe the answer laid in the Whi Forest itself, yet the idea of straying away from the main path did not seem like a smart one. All the contrary in fact. Maybe the answer laid at the outskirts, where he had found the bottle itself ? Maybe at the hill ? Maybe...

Silver finally felt asleep with such thoughts still rushing in his head.


[exp gained]

[ Mysteries Finally Revealed ] :: Clearly not what he'd expected.

Silver was quick to return home after his meal - ignoring the happy passerbys who tried to drag him into their games and parties. The dark-skinned man had a whole hell of a lot to think about right now.

He'd wanted answers, sure, but the answer left him almost as confused as he was when he's began. He got home, closed the blinds, and flopped in his bed, doing nothing but to stare at the calling for a moment.

The words that the man... no... Aren, had said still ran trough his mind.

________ "Those bottles are the ones who will protect you."

He suddenly panicked and one hand reached for his backpack, only allowing himself to calm once he felt the familiar leather with his palm.

________ "They are dusts or the new life. The ones who will save humanity."

The young man didn't even need to look in order to undo the cords that held it closed, watching as the bottle rolled out and finally nested itself against his midsection, glowing all the more brightly now.

Since it was finally free of it's prison, the swirls started anew.

________ "Take care of yours well and maybe your race has a chance."

How was he supposed to take care of a -bottle- ? What kind of special needs did it have ? How was it supposed to save anything ?

He'd gotten more questions than answers, really.

The bottle was alive. Was it why he'd gotten so attached to it ? Was it why he'd gotten so protective of it ? Why it never would truly leave his mind ?

________ "Alive, yes. And take care of it when it grows. "

________________"Treat it as if it were your child."

Fingers reached to touch at the glass softly. In despite the dim darkness he'd created when he closed the blinds to block out the sun, he could see the swirls shift, curl to dance around his chocolate-colored hand.

He couldn't help but smile, even if he could find the start of a headache settling in.

"If this is all true, what will you be, then ?"

Of course he'd gotten no answer, and Silver couldn't help but laugh. Now that was a whole new level of crazy. He was... talking... to a bottle. That was a new one. Maybe his mother had been right when she told him he was nuts. That was probably the only way one man could surrender a whole dynasty and never-ending riches for a life of wandering.

He would not notice it until the next day, but he eventually would fall asleep with the bottle nested against his chest, arms curling around it possessively - as if to protect it from whatever would seek to harm it during the night.


[exp gained]

[ Getting To The Bottom Of This ] :: Is in no way a simple task.

..here

[ Dear Diary ] :: Thoughts Of A New Father

Silver sat at the table, glancing toward his bed. Or what used to be his bed, at the very least, as it was now occupied by the little girl he had named Sitara. His little girl. His brain was still in shock, really. That, and he's been sleeping on the floor for the last few day. He's been keeping busy with making the only free room in the tiny home into the girl's room, but had not found a suitable bed yet. And like hell she was going to sleep on the floor.

The candle on the table flickered, but it gave him enough light. He reached for one of the books at the corner, opened it on the first page, and started to write.



The white-haired man allowed the ink to dry before flipping the book shut.




[exp gained]

[ A Taste Of Their Own Medicine ] :: Bullies.



[skill gained]

[ S t a r l i g h t ] :: I will be chasing a starlight...

In all honesty, Silver wasn't quite sure if he had ever seen a child be so suborn. And he had seen, and watched over quite a few after he started his travel and took on off jobs to pass the time. He'd met some extreme cases, but not as extreme as Sitara.

Putting her in bed wasn't so bad. The hard part was getting her to STAY in there. Which rarely ever happened. It took a turn for the worst once she had figured out that there was a pathway to the roof in the attic. He would need to get a way to lock the access to the attic later on.

Every night, it was the same thing - Sitara on the roof, staring at the stars. It didn't matter if there where clouds, or if it rained - each and every night, she went there, like clockwork. Nothing Silver did would stop her.

Almost as if something was calling her. It was odd, impossible to explain, and frustrating to all those involved.

But perhaps it was the most confusing for the little dust herself. She couldn't understand what brought her here every night, even if she knew that it made her daddy angry. She couldn't even find the words to truly explain it to him, this feeling she had been getting once the stars came out. Some sort of... longing, that she could simply not explain.

At the same time, it made her feel even more different than the kids in town. It was hard not to let it get to her, when she was the only one she knew with such quirks. Maybe she WAS the only one. Yet, she was too proud to allow it to come out to the surface, to talk to her father about this. He wouldn't really understand, wouldn't he ? Of course not.

On the flipside, Silver wanted to badly to understand, but he could not really do so unless the young girl would open to him. And thus the circle repeated, each and every night, neverending.

Sitara sent one angry glare at the sky before following her father back inside, knowing full well she would do it again the next night.

[exp gained]

[ Aches ] :: Sitara's first solo trip to the market takes an unexpected turn.

..Here