Welcome to Gaia! ::

Eidos laid a hand on the front door's doorknob. "Mother? I'm going to go visit Tory, be back in an hour."

"Alright honey, have fun, and don't kill yourself!" his mom called cheerfully from the living room. Eidos nearly rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't." With a slight shake of his head he stepped outside his green-roofed house and glanced down the street. At this time of day, Tory would probably be home working (like he should be), and he didn't want to actually disturb her. He'd just wander around for a little bit.

Just incase his mother was watching, he headed purposefully down the street that led to her house until he turned the corner, then slowed his pace to an aimless ambling, letting his feet choose the path for him. It was a pretty enough sunset - brilliant, warm, and framed by the Arch - but he was a tad too busy trying to figure out what was bothering him to notice. It felt as if it should be obvious, and yet he couldn't quite grasp it... Eidos thoughtfully climbed up the steps of white marble and leaned again a stone column, brooding.

She led him out to the Reclamation Facility and pointed along the north path. "There! They threw it that way!"

Wow, that's blinding. Eidos blinked and turned away from the pool, the sunlight sparkling dazzling white off its surface. "Alright. Stay here, I'll bring it back," he instructed. The last thing he needed was to lose a kid while searching for her brother's football.

She nodded. "OK, but I think it's behind the big twin pipes," she added helpfully.

"Got it." Eidos strode up the north path and easily climbed over the rust-dusted metal, keeping a sharp eye out for any stray objects. There were a few scraps of litter and a little graffiti scrawled over the pipes, but no- oh, never mind. There it was.

He stepped a little ways off the path and picked the ball up before taking a measured glance of the way he came. With quick flick of the wrist, he tossed the ball over the pipes and waited. He could hear it hit the ground with a muted 'thump'.

"That it?" he hollered.

"Thank you!" the little girl yelled gleefully. "I'm gonna go take it home right away before Wes finds out it's missing, bye!"

Eidos nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Bye!" He could hear her feet running off as he peered at his surroundings. For some reason, he didn't want to leave just yet...

Though he wasn't certain why, Eidos followed the path north into the forest.


{ Exit to Outside the Crystal Temple }

((Tagged along with Dune...))

Roger nodded slowly, his hands prying themselves from Dune. And as he feared, it took only a breath after he let go of Dune, that he started to slide to his left, and fell off the horse, landing hard on his a**, bouncing once, and flopping down on the pavement of the Durem streets.

"Ow..." he muttered, feeling sore just about everywhere, not to mention the nice little bruises he imagined he'd be getting from the ride. The thought of those marks seemed to fill him with dread, as he scrambled up to his feet. "Um... thanks Dune..."

"um... okay... thanks..." Roger said as Dune walked off. He instead, stuck to the main streets, rather than the alleyways, knowing quite well enough just what sorta scum and villiany lurked there.

His stomach was rumbling loudly, and the man laughed a little to himself, as he had forgotten about lunch, with all the excitement and oddity of the day. Now that Dune was away, and the events far out of hand, that hunger struck back with a vengeance.

His hand reached into his pocket, frowning slightly, feeling the few coins in his possession. He almost didn't wish he had given up the coins he 'won' from Dune. He could use them now, after all, you can't eat pride and honor.

He walked slowly past the well to do section of Durem, restaurants and bars that would be far out of his meager means. Instead he started drifting into the run down, older, and poorer neighborhoods, looking for a place to eat.

Finally, at the end of his journey, he found an appropriate place, an open air stand, serving up simpl chicken and rice bowls. That was more than enough for Roger however, and before he knew it, he was sitting at the stand, his gold on the table, and ordering up the largest portion he could.

Roger ate in calm silence, slowing down after going halfway through, and managing to savor the food. It was something he never really understood. The rich ate things that well, tasted like garbage, and were made of the garbage part of the food. Something simple, and cooked right, almost always tasted better.

And the best cooking, was almost always found in small, humble, back alley places like this.

He finished his food in silence, fetching his last coin, and leaving it as a tip for the cook behind the cart. With that he pushed away, and started walking down towards the alleyway. Where had Dune said to meet her? Now that he was full, more or less, his left ear started to itch, and with that itching, came an old, desperate question he longed to ask her...

Unfortunately the man Roger, was searching the back alleys for Dune, and thus, completely missing her, as she ended up back into the well lighted, well to do sections of town. Instead he was poking his head into random taverns, looking for the unnamed one that the rogue could have possibly been refering to. It seemed an impossible task. There seemed to be more bars and taverns in this damned land then there were people! The burning sensation on his left ear, continued to grow, and thus Roger's search became more frantic.

Finally, Roger just crashed, running out of steam, he leaned up against the front wall of one of a bazillion taverns in this city. He slid down, sitting slumped over. He could feel the burning in his mind, and knew that sooner or later, it would happen. Was the few little moments, and the dream, really worth it?

He shook his head, never able to figure that out. Nothing was really left to do but wait for him.