No rest for the weary [open]

[Anonymous]

Marcos's slight smile turned considerably more cheerful with Senka's thoughts on that particular phase of his past, and it became even more cheerful when she redirected his thoughts to the destination at hand. It had been a long time since he'd thought about his past, and it seemed that time does, indeed, heal all wounds. As the intervening years ticked by, the physical and mental injuries ached less and less. He turned his thoughts more toward the present. Now wasn't really the time for philosophical meanderings along the myriad paths of thought he often found himself on. Making the most of the opportunity for sightseeing was more important, at least for the time being. Soul-searching and the continued healing of his mind and body from the ordeal he'd been through as a teenager was something that would take a long time and a lot of energy, and he'd learned that it was better to let some wounds heal on their own over the course of time.

Pausing for a moment at the next intersection, he looks in each direction, and spots the ordered hedges and trees of a large garden to the right. He smiles and looks over to Senka before turning in that direction.

"Looks like we may have found it."

He leads on down the boulevard, moving around the encircling hedges toward the ornamental gate. Leading the way at an even slower pace, he slowly scans around with a smile. If the entrance was any indication, it seemed that the gardens were going to be as beautiful as he'd heard.

[Anonymous]

Senka beamed at the sight of the garden. It looked lovely. And it was such a treat to see so many interesting and varied plants. She was so used to the islands back home. There wasn't much variety there. So it was always a treat to see new ones.

Wrapping her arm around Marco's arm, Senka walked next to him, occasionally pointing out plants and asking if he knew what it was called. Or just to draw attention to a particularity pretty one.

It was something she didn't really do very often and she wanted to enjoy it. "It's really lovely. I hear the ones inside the castle are even lovelier." She teased one of her lip rings with her teeth, "I like flowers. And there are so many different kinds here."

Tilting her head, she gave a small laugh, "I am surprised that you wanted to see the gardens. It seems so....girlish and dull." She gave another small chuckle, "Or do you like those things after such a strange life?"

[Anonymous]

Marcos was certainly enjoying this walk along the canopy-shaded path. Between admiring the layout and overall natural beauty of the gardens, it was certainly having an energizing effect on his travel-worn body. He would occasionally comment on the different plants that Senka would point out, naming what they were if he knew.

When she asked about his reasons for enjoying the gardens, he found that they had arrived at the center of the gardens, and led the way to one of the benches set around the small clearing that was dotted by a few scattered sculptures.

"Well," he began as he sat down, "I suppose that could be part of it. I think mostly it's just my way of finding balance. All things considered, I suppose keeping the memories of places like this helps me stay centered when I have to fight. Back when I was in the arena, I would always think about my mother's garden before and after a fight. She had one of those rosebushes with the white blossoms at the center, and several different lilies and other perennials planted around it."

He motions around at their surroundings. "This is one of the main reasons I travel. Seeing and absorbing what other people and cultures have created for the sole purpose of beauty for beauty's sake. Meeting new people and getting to know their language, customs, and mannerisms, at times just seems like a nice bonus. Getting to try new food's nice, too."

He smiles a little as he points out one of the sculptures in particular. It stands about six feet tall, and is of a man and woman, holding each other, looking into each other's eyes with broad smiles. The woman is wearing a long flowing dress, her hair left loose to lay over nearly half of her back. The man is wearing what looks to be leather armor, with a quiver and bow strapped to his back. Several scars seem to mar the man's face, and his demeanor seems a little gruff, almost in spite of the smile. The woman, on the other hand, is quite beautiful.

"For example, I know the story behind that statue, despite the fact that almost no one outside of a small city that lies right on the border between Adela and Serendipity even knows the names of those sculpted. I also know that neither chisel nor sander touched it in the making."

[Anonymous]

Senka was more then happy to listen as Marcos told her about the plants. She tried to remember all the names, but often had to ask about the same plant more then once. The orchids were by far her favorites and she liked the verity of them.

And the large man was pleasant to talk to. Well mostly she tended to listen. Flopping down on the same bench, Senka leaned back, looking around the small area. It was rather pretty in a very controlled sort of way. Nice. Much better then most of the places she ended up at.

Goodness. He was a talker. Senka didn't really mind though. It was always fascinating to learn about people. Turning her attention to the statue, the entropymancer tilted her head slightly, "Really? What is the story behind them? Some tragic love story I'm sure. Were one of them had to go off and die? That's how all those stories seem to go."

[Anonymous]

Marcos smiled at the question, and took a moment to think before answering.

"Perhaps that's why the tale is so memorable. It isn't like the others, where one or the other has to leave to go fight in a war or some other such event."

He leans back in the bench as he looks at the light of the slowly sinking sun playing along the canopy of the trees, along the petals of the flowers around them. Here, amid the living beauty of the garden, as it was whenever he was in the deep woods with naught but the trees and animals, his heart was at ease. In small towns and in the woodlands was he ever at ease. In the large cities, he was far from comfortable. Discomfort was something he had learned to live with as he traveled and infrequently ventured into large cities.

"Well, for the short version of the story. The two met when they were children, but he went away to live with relatives when his parents died. He became a travelling woodsman. By the time he was eighteen, he'd been a Ranger and Guide. Most of his time was spent simply as a hunter."

He pauses again before continuing.

"He saved her a couple times during their late teens and early twenties. About a year after the second time he saved her, he warned the town of an impending raid by a roving band of brigands, and helped fight off the attack. Right after that, she started pursuing him. He wasn't all that easy to catch, and her father was constantly trying to foist off a rich suitor on her."

He chuckled a little about that.

"Eventually, the suitor got tired of having competition, and challenged the woodsman to a duel. The fight lasted an hour, with the noble's stamina having quickly worn out. The rich fop conceded defeat, and went home in disgrace. The woodsman conceded defeat in his own fight, and married the girl. They settled on the edge of town, and raised a family."

He looked over at Senka and shrugged.

"Not much else to the story, I'm afraid."

[Anonymous]

Senka crossed her legs, getting comfortable on the bench to listen. Well, as comfortable as she could get in a corset. Style over substance. One should always look amazing. And Senka was a bit of an adventurer, and really, how embarrassing would it be to die wearing some ill fitting...brown pants with black shoes or something. Image was always important.

Closing her eyes, Senka pictured the story in her head. The people in it didn't actually look anything like the ones from the statue. But it was a cute, sweet story. If somewhat disappointing in its lack of blood, excitement or danger. Romance stories weren't generally her thing.

When he had finished, she opened her strange eyes and looked over at the statue, "That is a cute story. Sweet." She waved her hand at the plants around them, "It suits this place. Sadly, I don't really have any stories about any of the statues here. Or I would share it with you."

She stood, stretching, "Let's head back. We shall have a long day tomorrow and I want to be well rested."

[Anonymous]

Marcos stood as well, and took one last look around the gardens. He noticed that the sun had gone down below the level of the treetops, and he nodded.

"Yes, I suppose going and getting some rest would be best."

Once more he offers his arm before he leads the way back to the inn. The sun has finished setting just as they reach the inn, and Marcos holds open the door for Senka. Once they're both inside, he looks around the inside. The inns that could be found in large cities were never what he preferred, but he didn't exactly have much choice. It was either stay in a semi-warm bed in the city, or camp outside the walls. Considering the shady dealings that happened to occur outside the walls of large cities at night, camping wasn't really much of an option.

Marcos turns to Senka, smiling slightly.

"Well, I'll see you in the morning. I'll be down here just before sunrise."

With his intentions stated, he can't really help but take one more appreciative look at his latest partner in adventure before turning to the stairway. He really wasn't in the mood for some supper, and the weariness that always came of arriving at a destination was finally starting to catch up to him.

[Anonymous]

The walk back was pleasant, but Senka was actually rather glad to get back to the inn. She wanted to prepare a bit for tomorrow before it got too late. She was a bit of a ritualist at heart. She liked her candles and seals and patterns. Made her feel better and she was rather convinced that it made her powers stronger.

Smiling, Senka gave a small bow, well aware of the mans look. She liked to be admired, flattered her ego, "I shall look forward to it. Let's meet for breakfast then set out." It was just silly to start a big day without a big breakfast.

Heading up the stairs to her room, Senka set up her tools, channeling her energy and generally making a bit of a mess. But it made her feel better and she slept like a baby.

Arriving downstairs the next morning, Senka looked rather sleepy still, yawning and stretching her arms over her head. She needed something to wake her up a bit. Nice cup of tea of whatnot.

Taking a seat, she ordered a mug of tea and whatever was being served for breakfast as she yawned again, waiting for Marcos to arrive.

[Anonymous]

The first hint of a glow on the eastern horizon found Marcos seated cross-legged in the clear area of his room. His eyes closed and his hands resting palms up on his knees, at first glance it would seem that he was only meditating. After a couple seconds, something began forming in his hands. Within seconds, it became apparent that it was a set of leather armor being Shaped into existence. After about four or five minutes, Marcos opened his eyes, and held up the dark gray armor that he'd become very accustomed to wearing when he needed it. Nodding to himself, he went through a few exercises and stretched before actually donning the armor.

Once on, it seemed to be akin to a second set of skin, resembling the skin of a large reptile with the way the scales were shaped. Marcos stretched a little more, settling the armor into place. Stretching out his right hand, a hilt of a sword quickly forms, soon followed by the blade itself. With runes down both sides, and the edges razor-sharp, he carefully slides the sword into the sheath at his left hip. He looks over at the chair where his cloak was draped over the back, and considers whether or not to bring it. Finally settling on leaving it there, he makes his way downstairs.

Considering that the only parts of his body not covered by the armor were his fingers and head, it wasn't much of a surprise that his appearance drew a few looks from some of the other customers in the room. He ignores them and makes his way over to Senka's table settling in a chair across from her. He ordered some breakfast as well.

"Good morning, Senka."

Just about then, the food and drinks arrived, and Marcos began quickly eating. It wasn't exactly the best breakfast he'd had, but it was far from the worst. Besides, there was a crypt to raid and zombies to slay. He was eager to get it over with. Even if they were finished by noon, it would probably take the rest of the day to scrub the ichor out of their clothes and hair.

[Anonymous]

The sight of the strange armor had Senka lifting an eyebrow, but she made no comment. She hadn't really ever seen anything like it before, but at the same time, it was a little early in the morning for her to feel like a talk of armor.

As she ate, Senka started to wake up a bit more, the sleepy expression leaving her face, "Well, alright then. So far, the plan is that you hold the front lines and I'll handle the back row. Undead are pretty easy to rot into non existence, as they are half way there anyway."

Scraping her bowl clean, Senka drained the last of her tee and grinned, "Let's get going. I really don't want to be down there at night. Everything just always goes wrong when you fight undead at night."