Watch Your Step! [Hachen]

[Anonymous]

Rain crashed and whispered, rattling against the thick layer of leaves far overhead. Little of it actually fell through to the forest floor, but it made for a delightful whisper of sound in the background.

Kei'lar tossed her hair over her shoulder, savoring the feeling of the cool mist filtering through the trees and dusting her face - this tiny touch of cold was quite the relief after so many hours of searching through the thick jungle, the intense humidity plastering her clothes to her body. The conservative veil and robes had been peeled off and stuffed into her pack hours ago, shoved in alongside the myraid of tiny boxes and bags Kei'lar had hauled along with her to stuff full of her jungle bounty.

Kei'lar sighed. It hadn't been a completely useless hunt so far - she had found a few herbs and a handful of exotic fruits, but no big money-makers. And no flower.

"Ah, Lumie, my darling," Kei'lar ran her hand through her hair, shaking the heavy weight of the sweat out, the ends of her jet-black hair swinging below her hips. Robes and veil aside she was dressed simply, prepared for this dirty, sweaty work - a sleeveless tan shirt and loose dark brown pants, tied at the waist with a finely woven belt made from thick fibers. The belt was both a mark of her wealth and her weakness - even crashing through the jungle brush she couldn't go without at least one item from the racks of the finest merchants in all of Essryn.

Lumisa, beautiful Lumisa, would have called that decadance, but laughed all the same. Not that she wasn't entitled to a life of decadance herself - that is what Kei'lar was doing here, searching among the brush and animal tracks for traces of the rarest plants and jungle gems to take home. There was one plant in particular...

"Deep purple, traced with silver edges and spiraling, eh? If that is the plant you want..." Kei'lar laughed deep in her throat, running her hands down her hips as she stretched forward. "Then, somehow, I will find it..."

[Anonymous]

Finally, without the hot sun beating down, and with the rain to damped the smell, Hachen's pig didn't smell like bacon anymore.  If he had to go one more day with that smell, he actually might have eaten his traveling companion.  He rolled his neck and steched his back before turning to pig, "Told you I could find the jungle.  If you led we'd probably be in Connlaoth by now."  The pig snorted at him but he chose to ignore it this time.

Since the jungle canopy was so thick the forest floor wasn't well lit.  Hachen sighed, he could never get the light function out of his wand right away, but hitting the wand seemed to help before.  He took the wand from his coat pocket and tried to make the ball of light come from the tip.  It didn't work so he hit it against his other hand a couple times.  He closed his eye when he did this because he learned how blinding it can be.

This time though it shone more brightly than ever.  When the light came from the tip, it was like an explosion of white light that spread through the jungle for miles, the light even wrapped around the trees instead of getting blocked by them.  Hachen noticed the light was brighter than usual for a second through his closed eyes but when he opened his eyes the light had subsided and it was just a ball of light at the tip of his wand, like it should be.

He turned to pig and said, "I need to get this ting fixed, maybe Dad can take a look at it when we are done looking around here.  Until then, lets go find us something to do."  Pig snorted and to Hachen it sounded like an okie dokie.

[Anonymous]

Kei'lar snatched her rucksack up and tossed it over her shoulder, ready to continue her search through the dim undergrowth for any sign of flowers, spices, or useful herbs she could take back to sell. She chuckled to herself as she pushed her hair back, loosely wrapping it into a bun.

"Of course, it would be really nice to stumble on an old palace, abandoned with all its treasury intact, but that will not happen, will it?" Kei'lar shook her head at her wistful thinking - every good merchant knew that there usually came more trouble than blessing with sudden riches like that. "No doubt it would end up being haunted or some such nonsense. Or even worse, get tied up in legal papers over ownership, with nary a gold coin in sight!"

It was time to set out again - the search and gather party from her caravan would expect her shortly past sun-set, so there was no reason to waste precious hunting time. Far ahead she could see sunlight pooling through the leaves, no doubt permitted entry thanks to a river or stream cutting through the thick growth. It would be nice to freshen up at least - not to mention such streams usually began at caves, and caves had - perhaps, if one possessed just the right amount of luck - beautiful gems that made rich women frantic to set in their ear-bobs...

Kei jumped off of her tree-trunk resting spot, intent on her next target. Just as her feet left the mossy bark a brillant flash lit the forest, blinding her.

"Kyah!" Kei'lar lost her balance, slipping from the tree base and tumbling to the ground. She dug at the ground for a good grip, but the mossy undergrowth was unforgiving with its layer of dewy rain and her hands slipped, sending the rest of her sprawling down an embankment and crashing against a good number of rocks before finally coming to a rest on a bed of ferns.

Kei'lar moaned and stayed where she landed, too sore and shocked to move, her black hair tossed and tangled with sticks and bits of plants and what felt like several fresh brusies in the making. Some dim part of her mind, no doubt knocked a bit silly, reviewed the situation with humor - at least she could see quite well, now, as the section of forest she landed in seemed to be filled with light.

[Anonymous]

She had crashed close to where Hachen was but Hachen didn't hear her.  Pig on the other hand had better hearing and darted off through the jungle.  "Pig, ugh, you better not get us lost again."  Hachen shouted chasing after pig.

It was only a short time before pig crashed through the underbrush in front of Kei'lar.  About a minute later Hachen stumbled through and the surprise of seeing someone else in the jungle made him freeze up for a minute.  When he thought to move again he knew what happened, he thought the light had acted wierd, so he quickly put his wand away and held out his hand to help Kei up.  "Well, looks like you had a nasty fall there."

[Anonymous]

Perhaps she had a concussion - that was the only explaination for seeing a talking pig. That or some magic mumbo-jumbo that might get her in quite a bit of trouble. Then again, a talking pig could sell for quite a lot of money, or perhaps be put up on a circut to perform. Kei'lar moaned and blinked again, trying to clear her head of such silly thoughts. She looked up again and made out the clear figures of a man and a pig, which made much more sense even if it had less monetary potential.

"Oh, well..." Kei'lar laughed and patted the ferns she had landed on. "It wasn't too bad, just startling. Did a bolt of lightning just crash through here? I wasn't aware the storm was getting that bad."

Kei shook some vines off of her arm and reached up, taking the offered hand and pulling herself to her feet, winching as she shook out various leaves and clumps of dirt. The fall hadn't been too bad - just startled her. She darted a hand to her side, checking - ah, yes, her rucksack was still there. No doubt a few containers had tumbled out, but she hadn't had anything essential.

The important parts - her goods to sell - reassuringly still there, Kei'lar brought her attention back to the young man - and his pig? - who had helped her up. Young, scruffy-looking, but nothing to make her feel wary. Too bad I don't have a fresh set of traveling robes on me. I might be able to make a sell.

"Thank you, by the way."

[Anonymous]

"Not a problem, although you might want to thank pig too."  He waved his hand towards pig before continuing.  "He's the one that heard you fall."  He decided not to metion the bright light, it might set things off on a bad foot.

"Anyway, the name is Hachen Raine, traveler of the land and explorer of the magical world,"  Hachen bowed after his introduction and then continued with, "and this is my friend Pig."

[Anonymous]

Kei'lar raised an eyebrow - thank the pig, too, eh? Maybe it was more special than she had first thought. People often requested special treatment for that which they considered special, even when it appeared plain to everyone else. Kei'lar rubbed her nose, smiling to herself as she felt a familiar tingling as her curiosity and passion for the clatter of gold coins merged.

"Well then, thank you, Pig," Kei'lar pressed her hands together and bowed politely, winking to Pig from behind her loose black hair. "And you too, goodman Raine. Lovely name, it rather fits the weather, doesn't it?" Kei'lar smiled to herself and glanced up at the canopy overhead, where the storm still raged, though you could hardly tell with how little rain actually was able to filter through. Attention properly directed elsewhere Kei glanced down quickly, evaluating her newfound companions discreetly.

A traveler, hmm? Of the magical world, even? It would always be useful to see if he had some obsure item on him, picked up here or there and sold for a pretty penny along with a song, be it useful or not.

"Well, it is nice to meet you! You can call me Kei," There was no need to tack on a popular family name. Why borrow trouble with her body guard all the way back at camp? "A traveler, hmm? You wouldn't have happened to see a purple flower, shaped like a spiral, and edged with silver around here, would you? I'm on the hunt for it, but as you can see..." Kei'lar laughed and shook off a few more clumps of mud and moss. "I haven't had much luck yet."

[Anonymous]

"A purple flower, silver edge, and spiralled."  He said to himself looking up thinking.  "Nope.  Then again I just got here today."  Hachen shrugged, he looked around the ground and said, "I guess I can keep an eye out for it.  So, what're you doing in the jungle?  If I may ask."

[Anonymous]

"Oh, did you?" Kei'lar relaxed and smiled a bit - someone new to the jungle didn't seem like too much of a threat. Not too useful, either, since he most likely wouldn't have any detailed information to help her locate the goods she was seeking. Ah, well, at least he had helped her up onto her feet.

Kei'lar leaned forward, her shirt-wrap tugged in slight disarray on her chest, and peered up into Hachen's eyes. You never knew what a friendly smile - among other things - could loosen up from a lead that otherwise looked rather dull. She smiled and winked, already ready to continue on her journey. "Why, don't concern yourself over it. Just a silly passing fancy, that flower." A silly, passing fancy that would net her little wife's heart or a few heavy bags of gold. All the better to urge him to forget she had ever said a word. "Well, I'm just passing through. Looking here, looking there, you know? You never know what you may find here, huh?"

Kei'lar laughed and bowed again to Pig and Hachen, swinging her hips teasingly as she started away, still working out the kinks and bruises. She glanced over her shoulder, tossing a smile, her fingers itching to dig around for whatever little treasures the jungle may be hiding.

"It was nice to me- KYAH!" Kei let out a sharp scream as the ground disappeared from under her. She tumbled through darkness, crashing against rough rocks and experiencing a nasty sense of deja vu before landing quite abruptly on a pile of leaves. Kei'lar moaned and laid still for a moment, trying to figure out if everything was still attached. Thankfully the leaves had made for an unexpectedly soft landing, for falling through a pit in the ground. Unfortunately, other than the circle of light far overhead, she couldn't see a thing.

[OOC: Ha, now I see why you used that light-spell earlier. XD Perfect for exploring!  Could you perhaps let me know what Hachen and/or the Pig think of Kei'lar through RP? *random*]

[Anonymous]

Kei'lar didn't seem much different from a normal person.  She was pretty, she seemed to have good taste in clothes, and she had her secrets.  Although she made having secrets pretty obvious from how she talked.  The only odd things about her was the fact that she was in a jungle, looking for a flower, and she looked nothing like an adventurer.  The second thing he found odd, was that she didn't seem the least bit worried about finding strange man in the jungle.

He turned on his wand light, this time it worked right, and carefully jumped down.  It wasn't too deep, but still deep enough for Kei to trip.  Then one more thing about her came to mind.  "You seem a bit clumsy today."  He said with a smile holding his hand to help her up again.  The light was pointing down to give them enough light to see without blinding them.

[OOC: Pig doesn't think anything about Kei, it doesn't really understand personallity.  It is a pig after all.]

[Anonymous]

[Sorry about taking so long! I actually had a nice post written up, then left the computer for a second and my Mom had navigated away. DX< *was too upset to write it again for a while* Ah, also, I was thinking that she could have fallen into a hole that is linked to a series of caves that could link to underwater steams/lakes and then the ruins/temple perhaps - BUT please feel free to direct it elsewhere, if you have something else in mind. ;D I also apologize for quality - it was much better before it got deleted/rewritten.]

Kei'lar snorted and brushed off a few dried leaves, choosing not to reply to Hachen's assessment of her graceful movements. She had been skipping around the forest perfectly happy until the last ten minutes ago, thank you very much. Just because she tumbled down a cliff and fell down a hole meant nothing - no, of course, nothing at all. Kei suppressed a smile, amused by her own wounded pride. Just what would Lumisa have to say about this, after all? Why, she'd never let her leave the house without a thick padding of guards again!

"Well, thank you for your concern," Kei'lar laughed and rolled onto her side, getting to her feet carefully so as to avoid bumping into one of the large stalactites that loomed around her.  She glanced up at the hole overhead - and raised an eyebrow as her eyes caught sight of just where the light was coming from. A wand, hm? Useful, if it was in the, ahem, right hands...

Kei'lar opened her mouth, prepared to call out a request for a vine to be tossed down, and suddenly felt a cool breeze stroke the back of her neck. Startled she jerked away, colliding with one of the stalactites and scurrying to the side in a quirk, jerky motion. She squinted, grateful for the light pouring down from above, and moved forward warily, kicking aside leaves as she went. A moment's quick search reveled what appeared to be the opening to a small tunnel, just big enough to crawl through on one's hands and knees.

Kei'lar pinched her lips, rubbing her itching nose. She knew what that itch meant - this just might be worth exploring. Kei cast a quick glance up at Hachen, admiring his light-producing wand afresh. She pinched her nose and rocked on her toes for a second, going over the details. Was it worth it to risk having to split whatever goods may be found...?

"Well, without the light we get no where anyway," Kei'lar muttered under her breath, mind made up. She cupped her hands and shouted up to Hachen, hemming her voice with friendly curiosity. "Hey, Hachen! I found an interesting looking tunnel. Do you wanna toss a couple vines down and climb down for a second? It might be worth looking at, especially with that wand of yours."

Kei laughed lightly, tossing her hair over her should in a display of casual interest. "Besides, who knows? We might find some pottery or trinkets left over from a lost civilization? That would be a nice adventure for the day, wouldn't it?" Especially if she could take some of that lost treasure home, to redistribute among willing buyers. It was a stretch to try to tempt him down into the tunnel with babble about a lost civilization, but Kei'lar didn't feel comfortable trying any more... suggestive means in such close spaces.

[Anonymous]

There was an audible "Ooh" from above before he disappeared from the hole.  About a minute a very thick vine was thrown down the hole.  Then he appeared at the hole and instead of using the vine he just jumped in.  He landed with a  roll and got up unharmed.  He looked up just it time to catch Pig as it too jumped in.  "Sorry, he won't let me go anywhere alone."  Hachen said with a smile as he held pig in his arms.  He set pig down and pulled out his wand, still lit, and hit it against his hand.  This made it change from a ball of light to a stream of light.  He waved it around the cave they were in until he found the tunnel.  The light went far in but the tunnel went too far for the light to reach.  "I call..."  He was cut off by pig though as it squealed and ran into the tunnel first.  "Dang it, fine I'll be second.  When that he went to the entrance and waited for Kei to come by before he started in.

[OOC: I'm okay with whichever way you want to take the RP.  In your next post, if nothing happens in the tunnel of course, you can write what's in the cave after we get out of the tunnel.]

[Anonymous]

It was another day full of adventure in the life of the young Rafowi Syanga, happily he made his way to a part of the sea he hadn't yet discovered, a part where the land was only kilometers away. Swimming above the ocean floor he suddenly noticed what seemed to be a humongous rock, his curiosity drawing him nearer. He swam quickly, exploring the object to see what a rock the size of a mountain was doing there.

Swimming higher and higher he reached the surface, splashing meters into the sky with the speed he was working at. Falling down towards the water graciously he opened his eyes to spot a few seconds of beautiful view, seeing the giant rock was covered in moss and ended about three km above the water. He could also see it was near the land, only connected by more rock appearing to be a tunnel.

Back in the water he confirmed it was a tunnel, for he could swim underneath it while the giant rock was placed on the ocean floor. This could only mean the tunnel to the rock was made by an intelligent, strong, powerful, rich being! And that the inside of the rock would be some kind of palace filled with jewelry and treasure! Or a dangerous monster! Or maybe it was a secret hide out for a gang! Thinking over the possibilities Syanga got more and more impatient and desperately started searching the rock underwater for an entrance.

After searching continuously he finally got luck and stumbled upon a hole the size of a horizontal door. He rammed it a few times with his weapon to see if it was stable and safe enough to enter, only to find out it was not. The spot he had hit started to vibrate making a slight noise, it was now or never, in or out. Being an adventurous fool he chose in and swam into the hole as fast as he could, which was really, really fast. The entrance he swam through collapsing behind him as he swam, a really unstable entrance that probably wasn't meant to be an entrance in the first place.

The small collapsing underwater tunnel suddenly got bigger and stopped collapsing, Syanga turning around to see the small tunnel close completely and swam deeper into the cave, alert, and ready for action and adventure!