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From the desert to the Isles ((Kai_Fox))

Started by CastlesInTheSky, January 28, 2012, 08:33:52 AM

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CastlesInTheSky

The past three months had been like any other for the young Caelan Edwards; lots of travel, hot desert sun burning on his skin, the sand flying every which way in a storm. He liked all of it very much in its own way, even the inconveniences appealing to his sense of adventure.

When his father had announced that he planned to sail to the Yoreiq Isles to see if he could find anything business-wise there, Caelan begged to come along. And, as usual, his father agreed. Though the sail was two months and Caelan had been rather miserable on the ship, having never sailed before and unaware of the possibility of sea-sickness, he was ecstatic to finally arrive.

On the first day, he had looked around wide-eyed, unsure of what to think about any of it. He was forced to stay near to his father, as the man assumed that Caelan would clearly get lost somewhere or otherwise stir up some sort of trouble whether he meant to or not. Caelan stayed up very late into the night, very interested by all the new things to see.

However, on the second day, Caelan managed to sneak off on his own, wanting to explore the jungle. Little did he know that it was quite easy to get lost in a jungle.

Hopelessly he wandered about, unsure which way he had come from. Where was the port? Wouldn't it be obvious where such a large village was? He wandered in circles without knowing, every tree and plant looking the same to him. Eventually he sat and took a rest next to a large tree, crossing his arms and muttering to himself.

"Hopefully I'll eventually find someone that knows where I am."

He yawned. He had no idea what time of day it was, either. Noon maybe. In a few minutes he fell asleep without wanting to. He was now a figure laying on the ground, sleeping surprisingly peacefully considering his current situation and the place he was.

Anonymous

A light but leisurely stretch preceded an equally light jog, after a little wave to the parents, of course. No time to waste, after all; a search was on! New people were here, so decreed the sight of the ship that had apparently arrived to harbor a day previous. Alas, Lyss had somehow missed the sight of any of them, and was forced to concede defeat after looking around for some time for the oddly elusive visitors.

Not today, though. No, this time she was certain to sate some curiosity about the mainland she'd never yet managed to visit. Sure, she had tried, but people always seemed to want particular skills; skills she did not have.

As for today's hunt, however... it seemed rather futile. None were to be seen, presumably having gone elsewhere, though the ship was still there. How odd, that they would... unless they were on it? No, that surely couldn't be right; a ship was a ship, not a home. Unless it could be...

So lost in thought, she found herself wandering off elsewhere, to the wooded area nearby. Barely a notice was granted anything nearby, until she blinked once and glanced off to the side. That was... yes, it definitely wasn't an islander. Finally, the hunt fulfilled! Even though they appeared to be sleeping... odd.

So she wandered over, carefully and quietly as could be. Her eyes, too, carefully wandered, lest there be any others around. Soon confident that there were not, in fact, she picked up a relatively long stick and began to prod at the figure's shoulder, affording herself a bit of a distance.

"Hey, hey... what are you doing out here? The forest isn't really for sleeping."

CastlesInTheSky

A tiger was following him. Its eyes glowed with a frightening passion as it loped after him, as he ran father away but not getting anywhere. It was about to pounce on him, almost got him-

Suddenly, he was awakened from his dream. He opened his eyes in a flash and felt something prodding him. Dazed, he looked up and sat upright quickly. "Uh..." He rubbed his eyes. What was he doing, anyway?

"I was...exploring." He began to look at her more closely. Hm...she was probably from the islands. "Are you from the village out there?"

Anonymous

"Exploring? You were sleeping, though..." Lyss replied, quite matter-of-factly. Seeming to drift into thought for a moment, she soon shrugged and carelessly tossed the stick she'd been using away. It had served its purpose, after all, and was no longer needed.

"Well, anyway, yeah, I'm from the village kinda nearby. So what are you doing here, then? I know a ship just came in, but I'm sure it couldn't have just been you on it, and people usually seem to come to tr... trave? No, trade? Whichever it was. So... yeah, what do you need out here?" she inquired.

CastlesInTheSky

He shrugged as well. Well, he had been exploring before he slept. He couldn't even remember falling asleep. It irritated him.

His expression turned from sleepy to curious as she spoke to him. So she was an islander. He'd be sure to ask her later how it was to live there. He couldn't imagine living surrounded by water. It had baffled him to no end how large the ocean was when he had first seen it, and it baffled him as well that there were actually tiny little pieces of land with people on them.

"My father has come here to trade. I'm just along for the ride and to help him out when he needs it."

Anonymous

"Hm... so I guess you are just 'killing time,' as they say, or something like that, then?" she asked, a little plainly curious. It wasn't always she saw an outsider wander into this area, least of all alone. They always seemed to insist on bringing along 'enough to defend themselves.' From what, she wasn't always quite certain.

"Oh, right, and I am supposed to introduce myself, I think... I am Lyss, and you are?" she inquired, holding a hand out for a gesture she'd seen a number of times.

CastlesInTheSky

"Yeah, you could say that."

He wondered if she had seen many outsiders before. From what he heard, it wasn't often that a ship made its way to the isles, due to the sometimes rough journey and distance to get there. The more that he thought about it, he was surprised that she spoke his language.

"Oh, I'm Caelan. Nice to meet you, Lyss." He stood up quickly, almost tripping over his own feet, and shook her hand. He wondered if islanders shook hands when they met all the time. Of course they did at the mainland, but he never thought they would do it too.

"Hey...your top, what animal's pelt is it made from? I've never seen something with stripes like that before." He was curious, as usual.

Anonymous

"What? This?" she inquired, giving a slight tug at said top to make certain it was known what she was talking about. "It's from tiger skin. Quite comfortable and easy to move around in, usually," she explained. "Not quite like that odd... wool, was it? Whatever it was that the things you people wear was called," she shrugged, fairly certain she'd gotten the word right.

"So why out here in the jungle, anyway? There is usually more to see in the village, I believe, and I rarely see people coming out here alone. Usually they have a few more with them, and weapons."

CastlesInTheSky

He eyed it for a moment before looking back at her face. "I've never heard of a tiger. Sounds cool enough." He studied her some more. He wondered quite a few things about her but managed to keep his mouth shut for now.

"Oh, well, I don't have jungles where I live on the mainland and I wanted to explore one for myself. As for why I'm here alone, my dad probably wouldn't want to come in here, or for that matter he'd make me follow him around in the village."

Anonymous

"Huh? How could there be no jungles, or forests? We always need wood for a lot of things, so I am not really certain how people could get along without having any nearby..." she inquired, inevitably showing how oblivious she really was about the mainland in general. Oh, she'd read a lot about it, sure, but it was hard to picture it as much different than what she knew.

"Hm... must be hard..." she muttered thoughtfully, becoming just slightly uncertain about the mainland. "So I suppose you are trying to get a little away from your parents as well? Though... not that I am, really, except that I want to visit the mainland sometime and they want me too, too. What is it like, anyway? People always say strange things about it, and always something different, so I am never certain..."

CastlesInTheSky

Caelan listened carefully to what she had to say. Hm, wood for lots of things? It seemed strange to him to build things out of trees, because there was an apparent lack of them in the desert, but when he had seen the huts when he first came he realized they would probably be a convenient and strong building material.

He was happy to answer her questions about the main land. As much as he loved hearing about other places, he liked to talk about his land as well. "The mainland? Well, it's huge. I've only been to one part of it because that's where I live, there are many other parts of it. Let's see...it's very hot in the day, and cold at night. The sun is always shining and it doesn't rain often. There are giant expanses of sand, like on the beach, but everywhere and very little water. There aren't really many trees."

Anonymous

"What? How are you supposed to live there, if there is not much water or trees?" she inquired, plopping down to a seated position and subsequently lifting herself up slightly to remove a branch that quickly became annoying. For her, 'twas storytime, of a sort, so best to grant her full attention to yet another account that did not wholly match up with what she'd heard previously.

"Unless... well, no, building places out of sand probably would not work; it would not hold together. Unless you have some way to harden it, or something of that sort?" she asked, quite genuinely curious as to whether such a marvel existed upon the mainland.

CastlesInTheSky

"We build houses out of stones," he replied, "but we can also harden sand. Though that doesn't make houses, that just makes cups and decorations and those things; glass." He appeared thoughtful, leaning against the tree and looking up through the branches as if he was reading his words from the sky.

"We get our water from the ground."

Anonymous

"Hm... I have heard of glass, a little, but that really comes from sand? They are nothing alike, though..." she observed thoughtfully, quite uncertain how that could be. The world carried many mysteries and oddities, to be certain, but such a grainy thing into something solid and clear? How odd indeed.

Houses out of stone, though... that was the one thing she could wholly understand. It made sense, after all, in terms of structural stability (not that she thought about it in quite as complex terms as that).

"It certainly does sound quite a bit different from here. We have water and wood whenever we need any, and enough dirt to heat into cups and such things. It may be fairly simple, but it works for us, though I am no craftsman, so I do not know much about it. What about you? People are always asking for 'useful skills' when I try to get a ride to the mainland, so I am certain everyone that comes must have at least one."

CastlesInTheSky

He shrugged at her comment. Honestly, he had no idea how someone made glass, he just knew that it came from sand.

"Oh, well..." He felt a bit useless at that time. Special skills? Of those he didn't really have any. No matter how much he wanted to show off, he really didn't have much to show, besides his little carvings and his minor magic.

"I can use a little magic," he replied.

Anonymous

She blinked in surprise at the merest mention of 'magic.' 'Twas the prime thing that eluded her, that the mainland was presumably full of. Ships that ran on magic, transports that ran on magic, whole cities that ran on magic had she heard of! Such a thing was almost inconceivable, but all she was going on was stories; she still had to see it for herself.

"What, really? What kind? I have heard a lot about magic, and how it seems to be mostly everywhere, though I have never been able to make any, but mother says I should be able to if I learn, and..." With this she was forced to pause for a breath, even her trained lungs only able to get out so much. What came next after that quick, forced breath was a mere two words:

"Show me?"

CastlesInTheSky

Caelan was pleased and it appeared on his face as he heard her speak excitedly, his emerald eyes aglow. It was a shame he didn't know more magic, but what he had was good enough to show he figured. He was quite proud he could do anything.

"Sure. Watch."

He held up his arm and made a sweeping motion. A gust of wind that seemed to come from nowhere stirred up some twigs on the ground. He said, "It's a shame you can't actually see wind, huh."

Anonymous

"Yes... but you can still see what it does. And... because you cannot see it, it would make it that much more useful against people, would it not?" she considered thoughtfully, sifting through the possible applications she could think of, of which there were not many.

"Still, it must be quite useful to even be able to do that much. I do not have any particular talents, except maybe reading, which not many people here seem to do. So is it true that most everyone on the mainland can read? And that magic is often set in written form?" she asked, continuing on that general train of thought.

CastlesInTheSky

"I guess you're right," replied Caelan. She did have a point. It was better to have something in that situation that people couldn't see.

"Huh? Not really. I'm sorta surprised you heard that. There's quite a bit of people who can't read, and getting your hands on books can be pretty hard. Lots of people who use magic either speak it rather than read it or just sort of...use it?" He didn't know how else to describe it. Using magic to him was like lifting his arm; how would one explain such a task?

Anonymous

"Can't they? That seems odd. I have been able to find a new book easily enough, from time to time at least, so it surprises me that there are not many to spare. Though I am sure a lot of things on the mainland would surprise me..." she said, trailing off in thought again before snapping herself out of it.

"Well, I still do not consider it much of a usable talent. Nor would I consider anything else I have to be sufficient, I believe. But... ah, you have not even been shown around, have you? Come, there are a few places to see in this jungle," she offered, already picking herself back up to her feet and beginning to walk off.

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