Great, now what? (Juno)

[Anonymous]

It was hot. No...it was too damn hot and it was almost night time. Weston honestly thought that it was a bit rude for the weather to stay this hot and not even cool down during the night. 'I guess this is normal for islands though. Why the hell did we come here?' He said to himself and then asked the same question out loud to Charmaine, his partner. "Why the hell did we come here again?"

Charmaine was wearing as little clothes as decently possible, but she thought she was about to die from heat exhaustion. She had on shorts, well they use to be pants, but she cut them short after being here for a few days, and a short sleeved shirt which she had tied up so her stomach could catch the breeze. She wiped her head as she looked around where they were. The island they were on wasn't a big one, but it was large enough that a person could easily get themselves lost there. Right now they were standing next to a small stream in the middle of a rain forest. "You know why. That map we bought from that vendor led us here. So here is where that ridiculous treasure must be." She answered.

"And exactly why again are we looking for treasure? We're thieves not treasure hunters. We could be back in Arca robbing people and not here dying from over exposure to heat." He said logically. Weston and Charmaine still weren't on the best of terms since the whole Bresthra incident, but both of them refused to discuss any more on the situation. So they were at a stand still and it was starting to affect their friendship. Weston finally took off his shirt, sun burn or not he couldn't stand the feel of the fabric against him any longer.

Charmaine sighed loudly and rolled her eyes at him. "Because it's a lot of treasure. Too much to pass up on. Besides this probably won't be as dangerous as robbing a big place. This should be a fairly easy job, that is if we can find the damn thing." She answered and with a huff started to walk again in an easterly direction. Weston, not having more to say, silently followed. He was still very awkward around her after that argument they had had. He was starting to regret telling her how he felt and getting so angry about it, but then again he was glad it was out in the open. The ball was in her court now, so he wasn't going to mention a thing until she did. He was actually amazed they were still managing to act like everything was fine between them.

They walked for about twenty minutes, the sun was starting to go down. In the distance fire lights could be seen. Looking at each other they headed onwards until they reached a small village. It didn't appear to be a native village however, it just looked more like a small outpost of sorts. Already they could see people from different nations walking about. "I guess we should find a place to sleep here the night." Charmaine said.

"Sounds good to me." He said and then followed her into the village. Weston couldn't help but still be a bit sad about the whole ordeal. He wanted him and Charmaine to be how they use to be, but right now it just didn't seem like that was going to happen. He just prayed to whatever gods there were that he hadn't ruined their friendship. By Charmaine's perspective though, it was Wes that was being the stand offish one. Granted she wasn't quite sure how to take his outburst which ended in him telling her how he felt, but she didn't want that to change them. Now though she had to figure out if she wanted to stay just friends with him and if that was even at all possible.

[Anonymous]

He loved places like this, such easy prey.

Successfully isolating himself from the small groups here and there, he felt it offered him a better vantage point, Ganon settled down next to his fire as he began a routine check of the contents of his pack and saddle bags. Of course, nobody had ever bothered to try to steal from him so the act was nearly pointless, but he preferred to not sit around bored and he liked to keep things organized. After he was done he heaved a sigh as he looked up over the flames to the various people scattered around; it was amazing to him how easy it was to end up where a decent meal might be and this small little community seemed content with him setting up his tent on the outskirts of their land, which pleased him enough.

Chuckling, he stood and patted his mare on her neck, whispering a gentle assurance to her before walking away to have a look around. This place was indeed small, a true tight-knit group he hoped it was not, though. As he went about he noticed that the population was quite diverse for something so small and this was promising to him because it meant that there might not be as much resistance if...something happened to one someone, by chance of course. Once satisfied that he knew the surroundings well enough he made his way back to his little tent where Delphine stood on guard and at attention. Smiling as he neared her, he praised her before sitting back down on the ground but noticed soon enough when she did not relax. Snapping his head around, he wondered what she might be seeing. "Someone there, girl?" he whispered, eyes searching the surroundings but seeing nothing too peculiar. "Easy, there isn't anything, is there?" His horse, though, still stayed tense and alert while he felt a bit helpless if she would not listen to him. "Suit yourself, I don't see anything."

[Anonymous]

Charmaine had gotten a ways ahead of Weston. That's the way it normally was and the way they both preferred it. Weston wasn't a clumsy fool or anything, but he was no where near as quiet as Charmaine. So she stayed in front to scout ahead and make sure that there was no one waiting in ambush. She was about ready to step out of the jungle area when she caught out of the corner of her eye a fire. She looked back to see where Weston was and gave him a signal to follow behind silently.

Charmaine debated whether or not to just sneak up on this man, steal what she could and leave, or just walk up there silently and startle him. She decided for the latter one since this man might be able to help them figure out where the hell they were. Quietly she left the underbrush and walked towards the fire, but she approached from behind him and waited till she was less than three feet away to say, "Hi there. Nice day isn't it? Perhaps you could help me?"

When Weston heard the sound of Charmaine's voice he started walking out after her. Apparently she had decided to not steal from the unsuspecting man. That was fine with him, he just wanted to find out where they were and find a place to sleep for the night.

[Anonymous]

It was never good for Ganon when he did not heed warnings from his horse. Tonight was no exception, this time earning him a good startle from a woman that managed to sneak up on him. He did not jump, that would have been too embarrassing, but he did flinch away from the sound of her voice as he snapped his head around. Glaring at her, not liking that he had been frightened for a brief moment, he jumped at the chance to correct her. "Night. It's night now and yes it is quite wonderful," he grinned in the most unfriendly nature possible for him and then blinked, sure that he saw motion somewhere behind the woman before him. Sure enough, it took him but a fraction of a second more to detect the shape of a man coming out from the trees. "Hope that's a friend of yours...but yes, I could probably help you depending on what it is."

He stood and brushed himself off before patting Delphine along her neck. "Good girl...I won't doubt you again, my dear," he praised quietly before turning back to the woman and noting quickly that she was considerably smaller than he, much more so than he had thought while sitting. "Anyway, what can I do for you?"

[Anonymous]

Charmaine rolled her eyes visibly, "Well it was a nice day. Technicalities don't really matter." She said and then turned to see whom he was pointing at. "Oh yes, that's my friend. We've been wandering around for awhile now, a bit lost if you couldn't tell." She figured he could tell by the way they were so dirty, exhausted looking, and generally looked like they had been run through the mill. Charmaine was pretty quick when it came to reading people and she could easily tell that he was being rather unfriendly with her at the moment, but it didn't bother her. Small though she may be, she had no problem with taking care of herself.

Weston came staggering up, he was in no rush since he was so tired. He looked the man over and determined that he could be a threat if he wanted to be. Since there was two of them however, Wes thought the odds would be for them. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, it did seem that he was willing to help them.

"First of all I believe introductions are in order. My name is Charmaine Tosscobble and this here is Weston Thorngauge. We're from Arca in Serendipity." Charmaine said in a cheerful voice, but she didn't offer her hand in introduction and neither did Weston. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My question has to do with treasure, lots of it."

[Anonymous]

He continued to watch the figure move closer, wondering exactly what this other person looked liked. As he finally came up, Ganon nodded to acknowledge his presence though he noted how the man was eyeing him, as if he had done something to earn the caution.

Still, he found the pair to be quite interesting, at least from their looks. It was a rare chance for him to see new people that were openly cautious towards him, which he found quite amusing. Usually his looks earned him some slack in that department, often making for an easy meal in the end as well. These two were a bit different, though. The female, he thought, felt quite confident in herself and the male confident in her as well...there was something he had not yet seen from them, perhaps something that would be best left unseen.

His train of thought was brought around when she spoke her introductions and he nodded to acknowledge that he had heard. "Ganon Halden, from nowhere," he said proudly, grinning inappropriately for the moment for he knew it held absolutely no humor. His attention was further drawn in by the mentioning of treasure, his smile fading and his eyes focusing sharply on the woman.

"Ahh...treasure, hm? I take it that you two are quite fond of expensive, shiny stuff, hm? I know a thing or two of treasure, but what would you like to know exactly? Or have you been following one of those silly rumors?" He ended his words with a knowing smile, finding amusement in those who might be lost for taking the word of someone they should not entirely trust.

[Anonymous]

Charmaine grinned right along with him, but she had no idea what in the world was so funny. Better to get along with the person you were seeking help from instead of not getting along with them. She felt better now that Weston was by her again. Not that she couldn't take care of herself, but it was always nice to have the backup of Wes' sword arm. "You could say that, yes. The shiny stuff is what gets you things in this life. Weston you want to hand Mr. Halden here that map."

Weston walked up, while digging in one of his pocket for the map she was talking about. "Here you go. Sorry it's a bit wrinkled. It's been a bit of a hard trip so far." He said handing the map over to Ganon.

"We got this off a man back in Arca. Looked pretty important so we figured we'd take us a bit of a vacation down here to check it out. We're not normally treasure hunters, but we figured what the hell. A change of scenery would be nice for a change." Charmaine explained to Ganon. Even if the map turned out to be a hoax at least it got the two of them away from...well everything that had been going on.

[Anonymous]

He took the map in his hands and held it carefully so he wouldn't rip it. Studying it for a moment left him with questions that he knew could probably not be answered, and some of the markings were strange and foreign-looking to him. After a few long, silent moments however, he finally got a feel for what the map meant...or so he thought so. Nodding his head a bit before looking up from the map, Ganon cracked a seemingly knowing smile but mostly for his own benefit because he truly didn't know a damned thing about where the map was really guiding to. "Well, it sure is interesting and I recognize some of the landmarks that are on this," he told them, giving the map a shake for good measure.

Being overly confident, he settled himself back down on the ground to be nearer to his fire as he looked over the map yet again. "If you don't mind my asking, what kind of treasure are you looking for, exactly?" Ganon knew without even giving it a second thought that he would find a way to either go with them or follow after them - treasure was too good of an idea to pass up! "Any...relics? Anything well-known in general? I know of a few stories about some particular items that have been hidden away..."

ooc: ._. I'm pitiful...*wags tail*

[Anonymous]

(aww..*pet pet*)

Charmaine walked around to the other side of the fire, opposite Ganon. She was heartened to hear that he knew a few of the landmarks on the map. "We're not really sure what kind of treasure it is. Could be the regular kind, gold, gems, diamonds, what have you. Or it could be something else entirely, maybe some artifact of power." Charmaine answered him.

Weston followed Charmaine around the fire then knelt down next to it. The fire was warm and surprisingly the night air was somewhat chilly. Weston would have figured that the night would be as hot as the day had been. "The man we got from didn't say much of anything. In fact he seemed almost happy to have the map out of his possession." Weston added.

[Anonymous]

(aww..*pet pet*)

Charmaine walked around to the other side of the fire, opposite Ganon. She was heartened to hear that he knew a few of the landmarks on the map. "We're not really sure what kind of treasure it is. Could be the regular kind, gold, gems, diamonds, what have you. Or it could be something else entirely, maybe some artifact of power." Charmaine answered him.

Weston followed Charmaine around the fire then knelt down next to it. The fire was warm and surprisingly the night air was somewhat chilly. Weston would have figured that the night would be as hot as the day had been. "The man we got from didn't say much of anything. In fact he seemed almost happy to have the map out of his possession." Weston added.