Advertise/Affiliate Other Forum Main Page The World Before You Play

High On Life (And Also Drugs) [Armorend]

Started by Eckhart_Von_Musel, June 04, 2017, 06:59:09 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

The boy brought Taza her medical supplies without question. Taking a long look at her protege, she had him lay on his back. "A broken nose, a missing tooth, and some bruising. He'll be fine." she assured herself as she poured some medicine on a cloth and began to dab at Randal's nose. The boy squirmed a bit, but he didn't complain. "The people who did this to him, though..."

As if he had read Taza's mind, the other boy asked if she would take care of the people who had hurt Randal. She looked at him slowly, a dark expression on her face. "Yes. You won't need to worry about them anymore. What was the name of the restaurant you went to?"

Excited, Randal spoke up. "Aw, sweet! Are you gonna murder them? Can I watch?"

Taza rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Randal, we don't use the "M" word. Do you remember why?"

Randal's ears went red. "... It leaves a bad taste in people's mouths." he said, embarrassed. "Sorry."

Taza sighed. "It's alright." She ruffled the boy's hair. "You're still learning." Turning back to the other child, she smiled. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe I've properly introduced myself yet. My name is Taza, I'm Randal's guardian. What's your name?"

Armorend

Kartuun looked at the pair while appearing rather stunned, unsure of how to react to the casual manner with which they discussed the presumably fast-approaching deaths of other people. "U-uh. I'm Kartuun. Nice to meet you." His hand clutched one of the corners of the makeshift mantle on his shoulders.

Though he didn't desire wish to show concern, a worried look had formed on his face. "Are you... Actually gonna... Well... Kill those people?" The unseemly, unreasonable, though not entirely impossible thought ran through his mind that what he says might lead him to a place that the cook and waitress would likely visit soon, if Taza had anything to say about it.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal looked over to Kartuun, his face bright despite his injuries. "Yeah! Me and Taza are bad guys, remember?"

Taza sighed. Randal, while a sweet kid, was too overenthusiastic for his own good at times. Shaking her head, Taza attempted to do damage control. "We're not 'bad guys', Randal." she said, making air quotes around the boy's terminology. "We're just not 'good' in the traditional sense."

She gave Kartuun a sympathetic smile. "Look. These are people who are willing to attack kids like you for no good reason. We could call the guards on them, but there's always the possibility that they have an alibis, or that they have the money to pay them off. Even if we could get them in trouble for something like drug possession, at most they'd be in jail for two or three years- and when they're released, they'll go back to being a public menace." Taza placed her hand on the boy's shoulder, as if to comfort him. "Arca will be a safer place for kids like you and Randal if those two disappear."

Taza, of course, didn't really care about justice- this was about revenge, plain and simple. Kartuun didn't need to know that though, and Taza really didn't want to scare away anybody Randal considered a friend- not when her protégé had no other friends to play with back home. "Can I count on you not to tell anybody? It can be our little secret."

Armorend

Kartuun continued to frown as Taza explained the situation to Kartuun, giving a soft "Okay." when she finished explaining. When she asked him not to tell anyone, he was silent for a second, being asked to make a decision he wasn't entirely sure about. He said "Yes" in the moment, firmly only in sound but not in intent. She seemed sincere, and her logic was fair.

But Kartuun's parents were always opposed to killing. Relying more on magic to stop and subdue rather than eliminate, they saw no reason to steal away what was irreplaceable, and conferred that to the young boy. Of course it didn't help that he was brought up to respect what others thought, causing a clashing within his mind he had no idea how to resolve.

While he felt it hard to get away from, he turned toward Randall. "Are you doing better now?" He walked to his hurt friend. "You already look a lot better." A cheery grin spread across his own face.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal watched as the his friend agreed to keep Taza's actions a secret. He nodded in approval. Kartuun seemed a bit shaken, but it would be all right- after all, it's not like they were making him kill the waitress.

When Kartuun changed the subject to Randal, the injured boy sat up and grinned. "I think I'm gonna be ok! My mouth still hurts though..."

Taza gave him a concerned look. "We'll need to get you a new tooth. You can't live your life looking like that." She shook her head. "What was this restaurant called?"

Randal thought for a moment. "Um... I think it was 'The Angry Bear'. It was a few blocks down the street."

Taza nodded. "I'll be back in an hour or so." She gave the two boys a sympathetic look. "We'll need to head out when I get back, the locals were... Less than enthusiastic about my businesses proposal. Why don't you give Kartuun our address, then you two could be penpals!"

Randal looked dissapointed, but he waved Taza off. After his guardian left, he gave his friend a smile. "We still have an hour. D'you wanna see my marbles now?"

Armorend

Kartuun nodded solemnly at Taza's words, unsure of how else to handle what she was saying now. Randal and her...  They seemed so nice. But they were also bad people. But they weren't raised the same as Kartuun; they didn't have his values, or his parents' teachings. He wanted to respect their ideals, though being young he unconsciously found it hard to do so, feeling more loyalty to what his parents and the law conveyed was "right" moreso than what these two said.

By the same token, however, he wasn't just going to sell them out. As he looked to Randal, who spoke up, he wondered if he could really betray his new friend's trust.

"Sure!" He had actually wanted to see these marbles Randal possessed, and wondered if they were related to the drugs he had tried to sell earlier. Taking a seat on the bed that Randal was resting on, Kartuun awaited the other boy's 'fabled' toy that he had desired to bring out again and again.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal grinned and sat up. "Okay! You're gonna love these!" He pulled a small leather pouch out of his back pocket and poured it's contents onto the sheets in front of him. The marbles made small clacking noises as they bumped into each other. Randal quickly got to work separating them by type.

"Ok, so these ones are aggies," Randal said, pointing to a few stripey brown marbles. "They're made of rock. Then these are bumblebees..." The boy mentioned to a small pile of yellow marbles with black stripes. "Oh! Here they are!"

Randal picked up two marbles that, upon close inspection, seemed to glow a bit. The inside of the marbles seemed to swirl around of their own accord, like a crystal ball. "These two are enchanted!"



Randal beamed. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Armorend

Kartuun watched as the marbles tumbled out of the bag, not touching the precious objects that Randal seemed to pride himself in immediately, unconsciously wishing to leave them "pristine".

He listened as Randal listed off the different kinds of marbles; it was the kind of novel information one is told, that they think is interesting, and they really want to hold onto, but they subsequently forget about fifty percent of it not five minutes later.

Though once he got to the last pair, the ones that glowed, Kartuun's interest was piqued. "Enchanted? Enchanted how?" He eyed up the enchanted ones, now quite curious. "D'ya know who enchanted 'em?" He was no expert on the specific workings of enchantment, but his parents had at least provided him an effective foundation for whenever his powers would be awakened, along with information that the son of not one but two artisans of the form would be expected to know.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal scratched the top of his head. "Um... I think it's just, like, an aesth..." He paused, trying to remember how to pronounce the word he wanted to use. "Ae-sthet-ic. An aesthetic enchantment." Suddenly realizing that Kartuun might not know what that meant, he quickly explained it. "Like, the enchantment doesn't do anything practical, it just changes how the marble looks." Randal gazed at them, smiling. "And I'm not really sure who did it. Lady Hildegarde gave them to me for my eleventh birthday, but she doesn't have that kind of magic."

Randal looked back up at his friend. "They sure are pretty though, huh?"

Armorend

"Oh." Kartuun responded with a rather neutral expression on his face.

"... Huh." He was deflated somewhat by the response. Not that he was upset, especially not at Randal, but enchantments were generally this mystical thing. Yeah, they did have their mundane uses like lighting or securing a house, but to just make marbles glow? Though he really couldn't deny what Randal said. "Yeah, they actually are pretty nice. So what do you do with them? Do you just roll them in your hand or toss them around or?"

Just from that alone it might've been more than obvious to Randal that Kartuun wasn't well-versed in street games. It wasn't something he had ever gotten involved in, or even really taken notice of.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"No, I play marbles with them!" Randal said indignantly. "The magic ones are my shooters!" The young drug dealer looked at his friend quizzically. "Don't you play? It's, like, the most fun game ever!"

Armorend

"... Shooters?" Kartuun raised an eye. "What are those?"

He listened to Randal's question. "Nnno, I've never played marbles. Howdya play? Is it hard to learn? And you're sure there's no enchanting involved in the actual game?" He sounded hopeful but at the same time looked at Randal understanding it might not be. It'd still be neat to learn a new game, either way.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"It's really easy!" Randal exclaimed, sliding off the bed. "You don't need to enchant anything, but it'd be cool if you did!" The boy began to rummage through Taza's bag, pulling out a sharp looking knife. "Normally you play this outside in the dirt." he explained, using the knife to draw a circle in the hardwood floor. "But since we're inside, we gotta do it this way." 

Standing up, Randal grabbed the marbles off the bed and placed them in the middle of the circle. "Okay, so you gotta take your shooter," The boy held up one of the large marbles. "And shoot it like this!" Randal knelt down, and flicked the marble out of his hand using his thumb. It rolled into the circle and collided with the others, and a few of the marbles rolled out of the circle. The young drug dealer pointed to them. "See? Those ones are mine now. And now you go, and whoever has the most marbles at the end wins!"

Armorend

"Huh. Okay..." Kartuun replied. It was simple, but that didn't mean it was bad. He knelt on the floor next to Randal, grabbing the other glowing shooter.

"So you just flick it, right?" He toyed with the orb in his hand for a little bit, not wanting to break or hurt it, but at the same time enjoying its smooth surface and feel. It was almost like a gem his parents would use for a focus at times. Curiosity toward the small ball at the moment, he held it in preparation for flicking it before doing so.

The ball whirled its way into the circle, hitting others and creating a chain reaction that sent a few more of them out of the ring. Kartuun picked up the ones that had come out. "Wow. Was that good or bad?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal nodded excitedly, scooping up the marbles that had rolled out of the ring. "Yeah! That's five points!" He handed them to Kartuun. "That's more then I got..."

Randal picked up his shooter carefully. This is where the game got really fun- with the marbles scattered inside the circle instead of being in a large clump, one had to aim properly to knock out multiple at once. Closing one eye, Randal put his head to the floor so he could see the marbles at eye level. Sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, the young drug dealer made the shot...

...And missed his mark completely. "Aww, man!" Randal cried as his shooter rolled out of the ring without hitting a single marble. "I was so close too!"

Armorend

Kartuun sent the shooter flying into the circle, managing to take one out. "Ooh, I got one." He grinned, scooping up the shooter and his next "point". His head turned toward Randal.

"So, uhm... Why are you two -- I mean, you and Taza, in Arca again? Just to sell those drugs?" It would make sense if Randal couldn't, or didn't want to, say. Playing marbles could only be so engaging, though. There was a mildly uncomfortable silence in the air, at least for Kartuun. Plus, he was curious to learn more about this other boy and his mentor.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal scratched the back of his head. "Um..." he began, his voice uncertain. "She actually didn't tell me why we came here." He grinned sheepishly. "Haha, last time we did something like this I ruined it by telling a few people..."

The boy crossed his arms proudly. "But I bet she's here to find a market for her tea bags! She's doesn't even need drugs to get you hooked on those!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Charlie? Charlie, snap out of it!" The waitress shook her boyfriend frantically. "Come on! This isn't funny!" The addict moaned, drooling out of the corner of his mouth. The waitress grimaced, standing up. "I-I'll get you another glass of-"

Something whizzed by her face, a panicked yelp escaping her lips. Looking around wildly, the waitress was shocked to see another woman in the previously empty diner. "Who- who are you!" she asked, beginning to panic. "What do you want?" 

Taza stepped forward, making a small *tch* with her tongue. She sheathed her crossbow. "Darn it, I always miss." she mused.

Pulling a gardening trowel out of her back pocket, she grinned nastily. "Right, I suppose there isn't a family resemblance, huh?"

Armorend

"Oh? She sells tea? ... It's not like, poison or something, is it?" Kartuun asked, quickly adding on the second part. He surprised himself at the inquiry; it was slightly worrying to him that he was already catching on to the questionable wares of his friend and their guardian. "If you can't say, you don't have to."

Kartuun watched as Randal flicked the shooter into the circle once-again, then did it himself, the two quietly passing the time with not much common ground between them beyond being young, male, and lacking parents.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Nah, not poison." Randal said cheerily, watching as Kartuun scored another few points. "It's just really addictive! Everything she grows is, I think it's magic." The boy scratched the back of his head. "What about you? Do you have older friends? What do they do?"

***

"F-family resemblance?" the woman squeaked. She raised her hands, fingers crackling with magic. "Wait... You're with those two boys? I'll kill you for what they did to- urk!"

Taza had lunged forward, slashing at the waitresses neck. The woman staggered backwards, then fell to the floor. She clutched at her throat, hands covered in blood. She looked up at Taza, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Pl-ea-se..." she managed to sputter, blood beginning to pool onto the floor. 

"Please what?" Taza said, kneeling down next to the woman. "Spare you?"

The woman said nothing in reply, her eyes having gone blank...

Armorend

Kartuun frowned. "I... Don't have any older friends who travel with me. I mean, back home, the tavern owner took care of me. He's grumpy to a lot of people but never acted that way toward me, unless I got on his nerves."

After reminding himself of his old companion, he perked up some. "I mean, at least I've got Finniss. He doesn't talk but he understands what I say and can answer questions. Mostly simple ones. Uhm... What kind of magic does Taza use? Or... I guess, her magic plants. Do you know what kind they are or how they work?" He had little knowledge of flora, albeit a bit more when it came to magical flora, but at least his parents' occasional discussions about a couple magic herbs might come in handy now.

This could be something else Kartuun could relate to Randal and his guardian with!

Tags: