Welcome to Gaia! ::

Paul nods as he slides the coins into his palm. He hefts them once or twice with a practiced hand to estimate the percentage of gold in the coin. Using this, he calculates out their worth in current Gaian currency in relation to the gold market...hmm. Not too bad. The dwarf would get several refills off his payment. With little ado, Paul scratches down the figure on a small pad of paper kept behind the bar for such things and returns to the tapped keg of ale to draw another draft for the customer. With a gentle shove, Paul sends the mug sliding across the bar surface to rest in front of the dwarf.

Paul: "Did wanderlust seize you, or is there a reason for your journeying?"

Picking up a bar towel, Paul begins to polish one of the dustier mugs behind the bar, as most barkeeps are wont to do.

Paul nods attentively as he polishes the mug.

Paul: "Glad the Firebrand could be here for you."

He gives the dwarven traveler before him a quick scrutinizing glance before continuing. His overall impression: well-traveled.

Paul: "You mentioned abilities that gave you an excuse to travel. If you don't mind my asking, what sort of abilities?"

Paul nods thoughtfully as he refills the mug with ale.

Paul: "Useful ability, that."

He slides the filled mug back to its owner as he thinks further.

Paul: "You probably would have the most trouble moving things not of the earth element, like streams or lakes. I'd imagine things that combine the elements would give you trouble as well, like lava or forged metals."

He ticks off a tally on the small yellow notepad behind the bar as he speaks, and idly wonders when Owle and Rage are going to return...

"Stop here."

The road had become a dirt trail, leading through some trees toward the sands of Gambino shore, and Kalis would likely have been forced to proceed more slowly than on the highway. From here, Rand's cries were almost audible, the sound of a little boy yelling himself hoarse.

"HELP!"

The minute Kalis stopped the bike, if he stopped rather than simply driving it through the trees, Owle would dismount, jogging through the woods towards the sound of the little boy's voice.

The scene was much unchanged from what it had been previously; the boy was up at the top of the tree, clinging to the uppermost branches, while something paced beneath. It was large, powerfully built, and almost big enough for a full grown human to ride on. It looked exactly like a wolf, but its fur was black as pitch.

The predator turned toward Owle and Kalis, its attention distracted by their approach.

"Mom! Help!"

((Not at all, this was just an excuse to get Owle and Kalis away from the time freeze in the stadium. biggrin Good to have you, Random Stranger #36. (Hilarious name, by the way.)

I'm a gonna let Fish post before I respond IC, though. Only seems fair.))

"Huh?"

Owle turned, glancing away from the beast toward the boy who spoke so strangely, thinking it was her he was yelling at. Light brown eyes looked over him in confusion as long, messy blue hair whirled to frame her face.

"What the..."

But it wasn't a question as she turned back to look at the large creature, who was seemingly obeying this calm stranger. Her body tensed, and the tiny wings on her back lifted, red-brown feathers quivering in an age old response to trouble. If anything bad happened, it was a bird's instinct to take to the sky.

Her face slid back to the no longer teenage boy.

"Did you...?"

By the way her scaled shoulders were raised, he could tell she hadn't relaxed yet. She didn't know who this stranger was, and even if he had just saved her son's life, she didn't know what his purpose was here. Sometimes coincidence was only coincidence, and sometimes people sought you out.

But this guy didn't look like a threat; he was relaxed, his posture nonhostile, more bored than anything. Owle sighed, and forced her wings to lower, brushing a few strands of blue hair over the hard, ruddy brown scales that covered her shoulder. They shone where the light hit them, and looked hard enough to be classed as armor of a sort. However, it didn't seem to be very good armor, if it was that, since it only covered both shoulders and, from what the stranger could tell, her feet. Owle sorely missed wearing shoes, but the blunt digging claws that sprouted from her toes made that impossible, now.

Scales, wings, and the color of her hair aside, Owle looked wholly human.

"Thank you," she said at last. She watched from the corner of an eye while Kalis helped Rand down from the tree. She wanted to rush over there, lend another helping hand, but she trusted Kalis. Somehow, she got the feeling she'd be more in the way, than doing anything useful. No, the best thing she could do right now is find out who this stranger was and make sure he intended no harm.

"Do you speak common Gaian?"

Even if she was feeling awfully antsy about Rand...

Rand leaned down, peering over the tree's budding leaves at Kalis. "I can do it on my own!" he declared, then proceeded to scramble, slipping and sliding, down the tree. The wolf boy's speed was breakneck, hurried, and it was small wonder that his sneaker missed a branch, sending the boy tumbling down towards Kalis from about ten feet up.

The boy did not change in age, did not morph in any way... He had merely... plopped, as teens are wont to do. He ran a hand through his hair, combing it sloppily to clear any bugs that had crawled into it, before he brought his hand over his face, palm first.

"Yeah.... And yeah, I did."

He'd sit up with those words, frowning at her.

"It's not really a language... It's just what I... say. It comes unbidden." He'd yawn again, scruffy chin seperating from a hairless upperlip smoothly. "I think the general message was Get the ******** outta here... I know..." He paused, thinking on what he had said, looking for that word while it was fresh from his mouth.. "Tak, Tak is a base word. All animals must respect Tak, if it's spoken on the true tongue. Tak alone will not work." Digging in the pocket of the hoody, he'd pull forth a rabbit, stuffed and old, a "Mimzy". Propping this against his leg, he'd forage a bit more, producing a wrinkled brown bag, crumpled up small around it's package, a heel of bread. He'd pull this out and chew on it thoughtfully.

"I'm Luke, by the way." A smile, revealing pointed canines. Yes, like Owle, the boy was something human, but not entirely. Those ears, at first, might seem elvish, but on a closer look, with his various other features, it was apparent he was something of a wolf... Sans the fur. He could, quite possibly, be Half-Demon. Speculation. What was he? He really didn't know.

He'd chew more on the heel. "I was sleeping in the bushes." He says, as if it's a simple, common affair for people to do. "Rather comfortably. Then Little Red and your boy woke me up. Little Red was obviously being a naughty girl, So I told her off. Couldn't tell you what she was doing for the death of me, except that she's gone now."

He'd scratch the side of his nose, before fishing in one of various pockets on his pants, and bringing out an almost empty bottle of water, the water it's self murky, obviously from a stream. It does not, however, stop him from gulping down the last few swallows and putting it in the bag, and from there into hoody pocket. Food gone, he licks his lips, almost ferally, dusts off his hands, and stands up, having broke his fast.

"What're y'all doing out here?" Dialect was not southern, despite the drawl... Urban, at the most. A neat six foot two of scruffy, undecided twenty year old male. Where the sleeves rode up, he wore vambraces, leather and steel, one wrist bearing quite a few hospital bands. Courtesy would have had them cut off. Randomness had let them stay.

Chatterbox moment over. He now strikes a cool pose, hands in hoody pocket, hood down, and observing, as if suffering from an awkward moment.

Luke bound forward, much as a wolf might, as he heard the boy's shoe crunch as it slipped on the bark. From the hoody, through a flap made for such, spindly, long, strong legs whisked him through the tree branches, the limbs a dark, dark green. Arms too were used, to push him off of branches, catching the boy before he hit a second branch. Fast, this one, very fast. He manuevered the boy neatly, spider limbs resting outward on branches like pin needles.. Yet he was sturdy, did not wobble nor waver.

"So you're the one the big bad wolf was after, huh?" His eyes were hazel, passionate behind his glasses... Adrenaline had surged at a moment's notice, and it was.... noticible. Dilation of his eyes was a hint, his pulse was racing.... He'd secure the boy in his arms before needling his way outward. Once the outer boughs had been reached, the man-boy would jump straight from the tree, down to the ground where he would collapse in reflex to one knee, easily setting the boy down. Spider limbs, an abberation to most, pulled back beneath the baggy hoody, folding close to his torso. If the woman had still offered her name, even as the humanesque creature had pulsed forward, He would nod towards her. "How about you go to your mama, boy-o? I'm sure she's worried." Though the voice was given at a low whisper, conspiratory.