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 Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 5:09 am
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 5:10 am
Reserved for: Spider Bits Solo
The mood that Chalcedony was in when he returned to Sol was one that was rather mixed. He was still quite displeased with the one that had sent him out to find the menzuri and harvest their bits via a bounty hunting poster. Sure, he'd gotten the hunt down, he wanted to get paid, but that didn't mean that he was going to go so easy on the one that had sent him out once he finally found said person. The one that set up the poster needed to learn that what he'd done was both foolish and dangerous, that people, young people, could have been killed by the order to go out and hunt something so dangerous as menzuri.
Upon entering Sol, and after a while of asking around he was given directions to where he could find the one whose name was on the bottom of the bounty poster that Chalcedony stilled carried. Upon seeing the unhappy look on the face of the Fortress the one that was giving him directions said, "Heh, so Jinan finally did something stupid, did he? Well, not stupid... stupider then what he does on a daily basis I mean." There was a slight amount of exasperation in the man's voice, as though the one callled Jinan had been quite a hassle to a lot of people. It was odd, Chalcedony hadn't heard about the guy himself but then again from the sounds of it the man was new to the village. He was here looking for menzuri, or so the exasperated man said, and Chalcedony was the one that had gotten dragged into that hunt for them. Something that had him sighing a bit more.
"Getting too old for this." He murmured to himself as he headed on his way, along the path that he was pointed down, following it out of Sol, to seek out where the one called Jinan was located... and upon finding where he lived Chalcedony couldn't help but to stare, his eyes going a bit wide. The place was... a wreck. There were strange things, plants and pieces from various beasts and bugs, hanging everywhere seemingly drying in the warm air of Jauhar. He looked at it for a moment before he started forward again, taking in everything that was hanging up on shelves, from branches of trees, before looking toward the house. The one that he was working for was quite strange, wasn't he? That only added a bit to his frustration. So he was some sort of strange collector? Was that why he wanted menzuri bits? To just hang them up around his house like the rest of his strange looking decorations? He really hoped that wasn't the chase or else he was going to be tempted to grab Jinan by the neck and shake him...
"Hello?" Chalcedony called out toward the strange house, hoping that whoever it was that lived here was actually present or else he wasn't quite sure what he'd do. It was hard to scold someone or shake them if said person wasn't even home he thought to himself, eyes narrowed slightly. There was a long moment of silence that started to make the Shifter thing that all of his hard work had been for nothing, that the strange man called Jinan wasn't even home, and that the spider bits were going to go to waste. It wasn't a thought that he relished since it meant that he would need to get rid of the spiders bits somewhere far from town, not wanting the scent to lure in other menzuri, before he went to scrub his bag clean.
It was a moment later that a man came rushing out of the house toward him. The man nearly tripped over his own feet in his rush to get to Chalcedony, something that instantly caused the Shifter to reach out his hands, catching him in mid-fall, and held him there for a moment before putting him back on his feet, "You alright?" Chalcedony asked, then shook his head, "No! No... look, are you Jinan? I am here to talk to you!"
The man took a step back, starring up at Chalcedony with expectant eyes before he started to circle around him, looking him over closely, before asking in an excited tone, "You were the one, huh? The one that took the poster? Does that mean that you hunted down the menzuri? Were you able to get all the pieces that I asked for? The legs? The fangs? The webbing?" The words were all in a rush that had Chalcedony at a loss for words himself.
"I... umm... yes? I mean... look! I took the poster, yes. Don't you know how dangerous that thing was? You offering a reward that was quite hefty, one that could have gotten all the wrong people hunting dangerous menzuri! Someone could have been killed trying to fulfill your request!"
The man blinked a couple times then nodded, "I know how dangerous they are, I know. It's why I want their bits, I want to study them, learn about them, figure out what makes them so dangerous, and neutralize that danger! I need their venom, their webbing, and pieces of their bodies. That way I can best figure out how to deal with them!" He explained in a rush, bouncing from foot to foot, his eyes locked on the pack that Chal carried, "Is it all in there? Can I have it? I will pay ahead of time if that is what you require, Mister Hunter."
Caught off guard again it took him a moment to find his words before he thrust forward the stick that he'd used to gather as much of the menzuri webbing as possible, "Here is your webbing, the rest of it is in my pack. Yes I want to be paid, I didn't do this for my health. In fact I did it for the health of others. You can't just go around putting up such dangerous requests. No matter what it is that you're doing out here it's going to be for naught if you kill someone!" The elders would deal with him, put him out of work, and any desire to 'neutralize' the menzuri would be ended along with said work.
"Hm... I suppose, I just needed to get my hands on some menzuri pieces and I am no warrior myself. I am a healer... sort of, as well as an alchemist... sort of... it's hard to describe what I do. A lot of it's tests and theories, plots and plans... can I have the rest of the pieces? Oh wait, payment first!" The man scurried off, reappearing a short time later with a pouch in hand, holding it out to Chalcedony.
The Shifter, feeling a headache coming on, took the money pouch, checking the contents to see if it was what was offered. Finding that it was the sum that was offered and then some he tucked it away into his pocket before he said, "Lead the way to where you want me to put all this stuff... and know that you need to figure out a way to mask its smell so that you don't attract any other menzuri. The last thing you want is a horde of them coming here because they are likely to eat you and cause problems for Sol." The latter of which was the most worrisome to Chalcedony though he didn't exactly want to see Jinan eaten either. The man was strange and bothersome, not seeming to think ahead, but his heart seemed to be in the right place... not that it should be free reign for him to get away with what he'd done of course.
"Yes, yes, I have ways of masking the scents of the pieces that I get. Come with me and I can show you where to put everything! Oh, I am so excited to get to work. You know I meant to figure out how to neutralize the menzuri and this stuff is going to help me to do so!" He was repeating himself, something Chalcedony seemed to notice, but the strange man didn't seem to. As such the Shifter let it slide, following the man into his strange house so that he could unload all of the menzuri pieces.
The legs went into a box that seemed to seal well once closed, not even giving off much in the way of a scent. Next were the fangs and poison glands which were put carefully within corked clay pots, and last but not least was the webbing which he merely scrapped off into another clay pot before the stick was discarded, "Wonderful, wonderful! Now I have everything that I will need! You have no idea how much help you've been to me! I hope you can continue to be of help too. You see I have a lot of research to do and I am going to require more menzuri pieces then what you have brought me today I am sure. Do you think I will be able to hire you in the future?"
More rushed words and the headache seemed to be setting in faster, something that had him sighing a bit before he said, "Yeah, yeah... so long as you don't dare to just put up random posters again!" He said, crossing his arms over his broad chest, "If you were to do something like that I would be forced to come back here and deal with you in a manner that involved giving you a swift kick in the backside." He didn't much like threatening a healer, not when Jinan seemed a bit on the breakable side, but he wanted the man to know that he was serious when it came to this particular matter. What the man had almost done was foolish at best and dangerous at the worst, he could have gotten someone killed and it was only by sheer luck that it was Chalcedony that took the poster and not someone young and desperate for coin. Just thinking about it made his temper flare up a bit and had his teeth gritting slightly.
Jinan turned to look at him as he poked at the menzuri webbing with one of his tools, giving a nod of his head, "Yeah! Yeah, of course. I will keep you as my exclusive hunter and I will be sure to pay you well to make sure that you remain as such. No reason to go find anyone else to do these hunts for me when you already proved to me that you're the best man for the job!"
The way that he chirped out the words made Chalcedony regret the decision a bit but at the same time he knew that this was for the best. Better that he dealt with this man and his strange schemes then someone who wasn't ready for the hunts that said schemes included. He'd never ask another person to take on menzuri in his place just because he found the man a bit abrasive due to how excited he seemed to get over the little of things. No, he would deal with Jinan so that others didn't have to deal with the dangerous creatures that Jinan wanted bits and pieces from he thought to himself as he let out the breath that he didn't realize that he was holding until this point.
"Fine, so long as you promise that you won't put up any more of those damned posters and instead seek me out then I see no reason why I can't do the occasional hunt for you from time to time." Chalcedony said, feeling as though this was the sort of contract that might come back to bite him in the backside. So long as others were kept away from Jinan's schemes then so be it.
"Excellent! The next time that I find myself in need of something then I will seek you out... um... though I would need to know your name and where you live. My name is Jinan by the way, though I guess you already knew that?"
Giving a nod he said, "Yes, I already knew that. As for who I am, my name is Chalcedony and I live in Sol." The fact that the man didn't know who he was or where he lived bothered him for a moment... but he decided that since he didn't know who Jinan was or where he lived either it meant they were on even footing in that respect. No reason to get upset when the man didn't exactly seem like the sort that go out a lot at first glance, "I need to get going home, there is a chance that my sons will return home, and I want to be there if they do. A good day to you, Jinan." With that Chalcedony headed out, needed a bit of space between himself and Jinan. The man was exhausting and he would definitely need breaks between visits with him, of that much the Shifter was certain.
(( Word Count: 2174 ))
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 11:20 pm
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 4:45 am
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2016 8:51 am
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 10:19 pm
A Lonely Moment
Chalcedony was sitting outside of his place, starring out over the village, a somewhat severe look on his face as he considered what it was that had just happened... and was still sort of struggling with it. His son had left him after yelling at him and he found himself second guessing everything that he'd done, everything he'd said, and everything that he hadn't said... but what else he should or shouldn't have added he didn't know. He hadn't wanted to dredge up old feelings after all, didn't want to explain in more detail then he had about Takoda because... that was the past. Not to mention that he was certain that Takoda was happy so why should be bring up such things when they could get back to him? He didn't want such a conversation to bring harm to the guy after all. Things were awkward enough between them without having to explain his old feelings for the healer in detail to his son. Especially since Chandra was training with said healer to learn magic. The last thing that he wanted was to make things between Chandra and his teacher anymore strained then they might already be.
Describing it in the manner that he had, saying that it was simply a case of 'two people falling in love with the same person and in the end only one could ending up with his heart' which was the truth. It was just a shame that it was Chalcedony that had ended up alone. At the same time he supposed that it was a good thing in a way as well because it meant that he had been blessed with his two sons. Had he ended up with Takoda he wouldn't have Chandra and Aysun. He was happy to be a father, was happy to have a pair of sons that carried his blood, and it wasn't something that he'd of had with Takoda. He'd loved him, sure, but he had to admit that there were things he'd of missed out on things had gone differently.
Takoda was happy with that idiot of an archer, something that Chalcedony was glad for. Sure, he was younger he'd hoped that maybe Takoda would leave Jacinthus for him but these days he wasn't so cruel. He no longer wished for the healer to have heart break just so that he had his chance with him. That he was happy, it was a good thing... he supposed that he was a bit saddened though that they stopped being friends the time that he'd lost the 'battle' against Jacinthus for Takoda's heart. Not that there had been a battle, had there? He hadn't wanted to risk hurting Takoda back then either, didn't want to fight for him when the healer had made his choice. He'd lost him in that instance without even trying to win him over. His foolish words that day though still stuck with him, asking Takoda why it couldn't have been Chalcedony himself instead of Jacinthus... selfish words. He should have just congratulated him then he might still at least be his friend... though maybe that would have been too painful?
So many things that came to mind when thinking about the situation, so many things that he couldn't really have told his son. He didn't want to bother Chandra with such matters after all since it was all 'ifs', 'ands', and 'buts', but nothing more then that. Just as back then though it seemed he was just as weak now, he hadn't been able to find the words now either to try to keep himself from losing another person that he cared about. This time around though it was worse, because it meant that he he would be losing his son. Chandra was his son, his first born, someone who carried his blood... and Chandra seemed to be done with him. What he he never saw him again after the argument today? A thought that made his heart skip a painful beat in his chest causing Chal to lift a hand to clutch at his chest.
The idea that Chandra might have actually left him behind for good did hurt... it made his chest ache a bit. He felt a bit... stupid to be honest. He thought that things were fine, he'd been going around telling people all about his sons, bragging about them like a proud father might, but it seemed as though the truth had been lost on him. His son was angry, to the point that it had be something he was thinking about for a while now. He wouldn't have had so much to say if he hadn't been thinking on it for some time or so Chalcedony felt. It could easily be since the boy was young since one of his main points had been Keilana. The boy was so mad at him for not staying with his mother, not seeming as though he understood why it was that he couldn't. It wasn't meant to be a slight against the Leaf Tribeswoman, she was a good, strong woman after all, but while they'd spent a night together it wasn't love. He found himself wondering for an idle moment if they would have stayed close if they hadn't ended up with the twins. If it had just been a night of drinking and nothing else, would they still chat?
He'd like to believe that in such a situation that they would be at least friends, maybe allies during the various wars that had come after their time 'together' since he did care for her even if never had a great romance between them. If he had to fight it was someone like Keilana that he wanted at his side, she was skilled, the sort one wanted at their side. The problem being that having Keilana as an 'friend and ally' wasn't the same as them staying together as a couple, which was what Chandra seemed to have wanted of them. Something that saddened him a bit, to think that he couldn't do what his son wanted so badly of him. He couldn't force himself to love someone though, at least not in the manner that Chandra wanted him to love Keilana. He loved her in his own way, but not in what he felt was the right way in Chandra's eyes.
It made him wonder though, since she spent so much time with Chandra, seemingly more then Chalcedony, would she know what it was he should do? A thought that had him pushing to his feet, moving side, followed by the brightly colored radaku pup, "Come, we are going to Tale to meet with someone." He had to find Keilana, to talk to her, and maybe she could help him... and if not so be it. He wanted to see if she was alright, to see if she was as lonely as Chandra claimed her to be. He hoped that wasn't the case, not wanting her to be as sad or lonely as he felt himself feeling some days. He'd let Rajani know where he was going and ask her to watch the house before he headed out to meet with Keilana.
(( Word Count: 1203 ))
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 3:13 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 4:49 pm
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 3:30 pm
Alone at Home
Chalcedony walked into his home, shrugging off his heavy shield, and put it on some hooks on the wall meant to keep it out of reach of anyone that might otherwise accidentally tip it over on themselves. It was something he'd first done when his boys were little, always wanting to mess with it, trying to see if they could lift his shield just as they tried to lift their mother's shield. It was something that caused him to give a slight smile just thinking about it before he headed inside, eyes scanning the the house room by room. It would appear as though nobody was home save for a small radaku pup that came running up to him, tail swishing. Leaning over he gave the beast a scratch under the chin, "At least you're here to welcome me back, Syndan." He murmured before standing back up right, heading into the kitchen to work on making himself a simple meal.
After making his meal had been finished off he found himself wandering through the house, Syndan at his heels, taking everything in. It was so very quiet, almost painfully so, and he found himself wondering if Rajani might come back tonight or if she'd be staying with her friends in Andile. He also found himself wondering about Aysun and Chandra, about Aysun's next visit and if he'd have another chance to try to talk nice with Chandra. A line of thought that had him sighing again.
It was quiet today and that was quite lonely, wasn't it? He'd always thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd find someone of his own one day, but such wasn't the case. He had his son, then he took in Rajani, it was nice raising children, something he'd think himself good at were it not for the strife between Chandra and himself. He hadn't really considered the idea of getting together with someone else, having perhaps wasted his youth on a love that wasn't meant to be. If he'd acted more mature, sought someone out, but it seemed a bit late for it now. He worried that he wouldn't be able to find someone his own age, and the idea of dating someone younger was a bit odd. What if the one he ended up with was younger then his children? If he thought that he had problems with Chandra now he could only imagine if that were to happen.
He really did like the idea of having a full house, one full of voices, like what his parents had in their youth. Chalcedony had many, many siblings, more then most, and it would be nice to have something like that again. He couldn't think of ask Keilana for such a thing though, feeling that their twins were as much as he could ask the Leaf Tribeswoman for. The encounter that lead to their sons being born was one whose path was paved by hurt feelings and too much booze. That wasn't really the best way of going about having children so he'd scratch that. There were other ways, like the idea of a surrogate, but he couldn't say that he had a whole lot of interest in women in general... so the idea of sleeping with one that he didn't even know, didn't care for, just to have a child with her... it didn't seem right. So what other choices were there?
Not as though more people like Rajani were going to just fall out of the sky. Just being able to take her in, to raise her as his own daughter, it was a blessing from Seren for sure. So what was a man to do? He supposed that there was always the option of adoption, but did he dare? There was so much danger at the moment that maybe it would be best to just leave things as they were so he could wield his various skills against those dangers. If he had another little one to look after, one too young to wield a weapon, it would mean his attention would be divided between the little one's safety and the threat at hand. Given the threat of the Dretch there was so much, almost too much, that a person had to think about these days. Perhaps instead of thinking about another child he should consider the safety of Sol and its residents instead? There was a lot he was doing and could continue doing with the skills he had as a shield barer in these trying times.
Blowing a breath through his bangs he turned and headed back to the front of the house, out the front door, and leaned against the outside wall, gazing out over Sol. Perhaps his mind was just running around the idea of kids again because of his meeting with Maeztli and her father. He just found himself thinking back to when his sons were little, raising them, back when they thought only good of him. Back before they were aware of his many flaws. Aysun and Raj didn't seem to think poorly on him for some of his decisions but Chandra had shown him what the worst case scenario could be when it came to facing results of said flaws.
Not to mention that he would really need to talk to Rajani about such things. If he were to consider the idea of adoption she also lived here, she'd be the little one's big sister, and as such he needed to talk with her about it. He should talk with his sons as well, provided he could catch up to them, about the thought. What would they think? Especially given that Chal was far from being a prentice these days. Thought caused Chal to give himself a once over before giving a half shrug, deciding that his age wasn't that important. He was only as young as he felt he was as opposed to being as young as his actual years he told himself before heading back inside. He should see about neatening up in case any of his children appeared and then maybe see about a nap. Even if he was 'only as young as he felt' he currently felt like a nap. Something that made him sound a bit old in his own mind but it was a thought he decided he'd ignore for the time being.
(( Word Count: 1061 ))
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Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 6:24 pm
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Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 6:25 pm
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