The Demon in the Corner [JackieCat] [Open]

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr turned his head back to the path and chuckled at the small dragon's genuine enthusiasm. "I don't think anyone in that tavern shares your sentiment." He shook his head, a small smile cracking his face. "In fact, they probably think you're insane for coming with me."

[JackieCat]

Jimine shook her head at that.

"I just don't get it," she said. "just because you keep to yourself and look different, they treat you like you will jump up and kill one of them right there, or steal away their children!  Just because you look like a demon!  And even if you were completely a demon, they still don't know who you are!  I think it's completely narrow-minded and awful of them to shun you just because of a few physical things and because you don't talk to them!"

Jiminie huffed and landed heavily onto Rylzyr's shoulder, though heavy for her wasn't very heavy at all.  Then she added, almost as an afterthought. "And a lot of people think I'm insane, anyway."

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr thought for a couple seconds about what the dragon said, processing her words and turning them into an answer.

"People have a hard time accepting something that's different from what they're used to." His smile disappeared and returned to his stony expression. "Instead taking the time to learn and understand something that is different from their own perception of reality they frame it as unnatural and wrong. It is simply more comfortable for them this way. My own people are guilty of this as well." He paused for a minute, bringing his finger to his chin in contemplation. "The people in city, especially in Serendipity, tend to be more open minded. They are more educated and therefor have an easier time challenging their perspectives. Oh, and about being perceived crazy... don't mind them." He waved his hand dismissively. "Some of the best minds tend to come across as... eccentric. "

[JackieCat]

Jiminie nodded at his words, then laughed when he said the best minds sometimes seem eccentric.

"Speaking of eccentric, there was this one time I was in Essyrn, just flapping around some guys head, minding my own business," that would probably be hard to believe, "when suddenly. . .!"

And she proceeded to launch into a very long and detailed story about how she had been chased through the streets of Essyrn after, as she put it, 'only trying to get the man to tell me what exactly was the strange thing was on his head' (which turned out to be a very bad wig).  And while, from Jiminie's point of view, she had been simply asking an innocent question, most listeners would have agreed that asking about the terrible wig was not a wise move.

"Anyway, he finally gave up after I dove into the river.  But then I got swept away out of the city, and it took me three hours to find my way back to Essyrn through the hot sun.  Boy, was that fun!"

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr chuckled and shook his head. "How are you still alive, little dragon?"

The two of them continued on for a while, crossing over a few rivers and passing by a couple of small hamlets. It was about midday once they finally reached the base of the moutain range.

"Things will probably become a bit more difficult from here on out." Rylzyr stopped and examined all of the sheer cliffs. "It might be a good idea to rest and have something to eat."

[JackieCat]

Jiminie shrugged and smiled. "Luck, I guess," she said, and took flight.  For the next stretch of their journey, Jiminie transitioned from flying to running on the ground, to flying, to running, and on and on.  Chasing after bugs and pouncing on grass like a cat, not seeming to tire, even when the sun got high in the sky and Rylzyr suggested they stop and eat.

"Ooh!  I'll catch some mice!" she said hopping excitedly on the ground. "What do you eat?"

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr gave the small dragon a vaguely disgusted look. "Certainly not mice," he said as he sat on a fallen log, digging through the belongings of his satchel. He pulled out simple wooden box and opened it. It was large enough to fit a decent ammount of food, yet compact enough for ease of travelling. Rylzyr took out a piece of dried meat and while he was munching on it he gazed into the woods, a look of deep contemplation painting his face.

[JackieCat]

Jiminie started for the trees, there would be more mice and little animals there, but she froze, in mid-stride, and sniffed the air.  She dropped down into a crouch, and slowly, slowly, crept forward.  Then she froze again, and pounced.

She popped up from the long grass with a mouse dangling from her mouth.  She flapped back over to Rylzyr and plopped down on the log next to him, starting to devour the mouse.

She was finished rather quickly, and she saw Rylzyr looking into the woods.  She was going to say something, but stopped herself, he looked like he was thinking, and probably didn't want to be interrupted.

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr glanced down at Jiminie after she had finished her mouse. "I know you're a dragon but would it kill you to practice at least some form of food etiquette?" He shook his head and continued to gaze into the trees, ingoring anything Jiminie had to say.

"There's a ruin hidden within the mountains," he said, breaking his prolonged silence. "It's supposed to be filled with magical artifacts, but it's probably extremely extremely dangerous."

[JackieCat]

"Oh," Jiminie blinked, it hadn't even occurred to her that he could be somewhat disturbed by her eating habits. "Sorry."

She jumped up when he mentioned the ruins. "Cool!" she said. "It's not fun if it's not dangerous!  It's boring!  Unless people get hurt, then it's sad. . ." She perked up rather quickly. "But we'll have fun!"

[Fukurou]

"Ancient magic can be very unstable, so," he turned his head towards Jiminie, his instense stare burrowing into her eyes. "Don`t touch anything." He put his belongings back into his satchel and pushed himself up from the log. "We should probably get going. There's a small village nestled amongst the mountains. It would probably be best if we stopped there for the night and go over our game plan. We'll head into the mountains the following morning." Rylzyr sighed and crossed his arms. "I hope I drew this map out right..." he muttered under his breath.

[JackieCat]

"I won't touch a thing!" Jiminie chirped, flapping in a small circle as he started to put his things back into his bag.

Jiminie nodded at his plan, but her eyes widened when he mentioned the map.  "You drew out the map yourself?" she asked. "How did you know what to write?  Where did you get the information?  It's a map of the cave, right?  That's so cool!"

[Fukurou]

"Well, sort of. This ruins aren't well known and there's very little information recorded about them. I did as much research as I could and simply marked the whereabouts on my map. ... Or at least the approximation of where they might be." Rylzyr paused and looked to the side, placing a hand behind his neck in a contemplative stance. "To be completely honest, I don't really know what to expect."

The terrain became increasingly rough as the two of them ventured through the valley. They continued on for several more hours until they came across a decent-sized village nestled between the mountains. The sun was hanging low in the horizon and the people of the village were dashing from place to place as they finished their daily errands. These people were a bit more used to seeing things out of the ordinary due to the magical nature of the surrounding mountains, but they still held weary looks as the two passed by. Close to the entrance, a blacksmith was at his forge hammering away at an ax.

"I'm very sorry to bother you, sir," Rylzyr said as he approached the man, his tone formal and somewhat friendly. "But is there by chance an inn or a place I can rest my head for the night?"

"Hrm... Damned travelers always botherin' me at me work..." the blacksmith muttered, his eyes fixed on his work. He glanced up at the adventurers and nearly jumped back as his beady eyes swept over the imposing creature. "Ah, erm, very sorry 'bout that, sir." His bearded face held a mixture of surprise and nervousness as he spoke. "There's a small tavern close to the other end of the town. Has a couple of rooms fer travelers wantin' to go into the mountains."

"Thank you." Rylzyr gave a slight nod and headed to the tavern. The tavern was quite small and had less than a dozen patrons. How this establishment manages to stay open was beyond Rylzyr, but he was nonetheless thankful that it exists. The two of them walk up to the bartender and Rylzyr sets a fat coin purse on the counter, a small gesture to show that he means business.

"I would like a room for my companion and I. I am willing to pay more in order to make it private," he said to the bartender.

As he was wiping down a pewter mug, the bartender eyes the coin purse. He looked up at Rylzyr and have him a quick nod, his expression hidden behind a mass of curly black hair in which one may hazard call a beard. "Far door on your right. It's all yours." He maintained solid eye contact, unfazed by strange man standing before him.

"Thank you," Rylzyr said as he untied his coin purse and fished out the money for the room. "Oh, and I have one more question. Do you know anything about the Ruins of Reihander?"

The room tavern went silent and the bartender froze, his cool black eyes widening at the man's question. He leaned in closer to Rylzyr and said in a hushed voice, "do not go into the Ruins of Reihander."

[JackieCat]

(OOC: Sorry about the wait! :P)
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IC:

Jiminie very much enjoyed the rest of the journey to the town, and when they got there she zipped around, looking around at everything.

She followed Rylzyr into the tavern after he asked for directions and landed on the bar.  She was quite distracted as she looked around the room until the whole place fell silent at Rylzyr's question, which she had just barely heard.

"Ooooh!" Jiminie looked up at the bartender as the man whispered his hushed warning, her voice disproportionately loud in the now quiet room.  "What's so scary about that place?  Are there monsters here?  Have people gone in and never came out?"

[Fukurou]

(OOC: No worries! ^ ^ I'm not going anywhere)

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The bartender looked at the dragon, his beady black eyes cold and grave. "The only man to come out of that cave went mad." He shook his head. "Even with the likes of you, I wouldn't dare go up to those ruins. You'd best quit askin' those questions."

"Sir," Rylzyr tapped on the counter by his coin purse. "I understand your concern, but it's unwarranted. I'll be headed up to the ruins regardless of your help."

"I'm not sayin' no more." The bartender pulled his eyes away from the couple and poured some ale into the pewter mug. "Not even coin can bribe more outta me."

[JackieCat]

"Why?"  Jiminie asked. "Will just talking about it hurt you?  That doesn't seem realistic."

"There's somethin' wrong up there," the bartender said. "Somethin' very wrong, and we don't want anythin' happenin' to us because we gave some darned treasure-hunters information."

"We promise we won't tell on you," Jiminie said. "We won't tell anyone you told us!"

The bartender shook his head. "I'm not sayin' anythin'.  We don't want to suffer their wrath. . ."

[Fukurou]

"Okay then," Rylzyr said dryly as he nodded to the bartender and gathered his things. "Thank you for your service." He turned on his heels and headed to their private room.

The shabby, dimly lit room smelt like dust and long-forgotten tales. There were a couple of beds and one round table in the center of the room. One would conclude that it would cost a decent amount of money to privately rent a place like this.

Rylzyr made a beeline to the table and dug out a tattered map. He spread it out across the table and began to study it while muttering to himself under his breath.

[JackieCat]

Jiminie zipped after Rylzyr and into the large private room.  She flew around the room a few times, very quickly, scouting it out and looking for anything interesting.

"Nothing but dust and spiderwebs and more dust!" she chirped, landing heavily right on the center of the map Rylzyr was looking at, seemingly unaware that he was looking at it.  "I was hoping there'd be something interesting in here, even a dropped coin or a few mice would be nice, but nope.  Though there is a huge spider in the corner, but he just said he was passing through, so I didn't eat him.  Besides, he was kind of poisonous-looking, so that's another good reason not to eat him.  Though I suppose it would be kinda interesting to get poisoned.  I wonder what it would feel like," she trailed off, thinking. "Not good, probably. . ."

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr stared unblinkingly at the dragon as it rambled on about the spider, keeping his gaze stony and unwavering. As her voice started to trail off, he gestured at the map and said with a firm and forcefully patient voice, "Jimine. Would you please."

[JackieCat]

For a moment, the little dragon didn't know what Rylzyr was talking about, and she cocked her head to the side.

"Wha-?  Oh!"  She grinned, realizing what he meant, and then jumped off of the paper to land beside it.  She peered at the map. "Ooh!  Cool map, where are we?"