A Day to Remember (Talyafera)

[Anonymous]

The fiery, orange sun was about to expire as it neared the horizon. Up, high in the sky, light gray, cirrus clouds lazily walked, higher than all the others, as a light breeze shook the trees, the grass, and cooled the people of Arca as they all worked their way to a specific place or person. A lone leaf was knocked from its perch at the top of an olden oak tree and began to saunter vaguely downwards.

Though it fell in no particular pattern, it seemed it was closing in on one particular human who was wearing all black. The figure was strolling leisurely towards absolutely no where. The leaf was naught three meters above when the man brought a hand above his head and with two fingers, caught the single leaf, without even looking. It was something he did a lot of, after all, he did have control over the wind.

Waving his hand in front of the leaf, it changed magically into a deck of cards. It was something he did a lot, fake magic. It wasn't to do anything but entertain people. It was also something he loved to do, it was one of the things that kept him calm when he was angry. It was his deck of cards. But today . . . he did not want to use them, he sprung them into the air and continued walking. No onee noticing that after he had sprung the deck of cards, they had not come down, all 52 had vanished. It was also something he did, he made things vanish . . .

Drauis Hethryn was repeating himself by going to the same place had the day before, and before and before. But, it was probably the best place for him to just relax. As he past the city border, he headed toward a small cluster of trees and stopped at one in particular farther then all the rest. He sat down, leaning against the tree, trying to relax.

"The perfect day, a perfect place, at least from the castle." Dris sighed.

[Tally]

"I'm going to have to sleep in this tree."  When he was alone, as now, Zephaniah took to talking to himself.  Better than just talking into your own head he reckoned.  The sound of his own voice soothed the restlessness that silence set into him even if there was nary a person around to hear.

He peered down the length of the trunk.  The branch which he straddled was just a tad too far up for him to jump down without breaking something, but it was as low as he'd managed to climb before he ran out of branches.  The rest of the way down was just straight, vertical trunk, and he was running fresh out of options.

"Don't know how I'll balance in my sleep though," he added.  And the bark was rough on his hands and sitting like this, with an unyielding tree branch between his legs, was going to get uncomfortable fast.  He scooted forward until he had a clear view through the branches at the city.  "Could scream for help," he muttered, "but that'd be a might embarrassing.  And I'd still be in the same predicament in the morning."

Ah, but what was this now?  A lone man, approaching Zephan's leafy prison.  Yes, good.  His pride couldn't suffer a crowd gathering, but asking for help from one man wasn't overly pathetic.  Maybe...maybe he could ask for a ladder or they could manage something with a rope or...something.  Magic would work, though after the mistake that had landed him up here Zephan was loathe to go trusting in magecraft at the moment.  He'd take whatever he could get, though.

He stayed stone still until the man had settled down at the base of the tree, then piped up.  "Hi."  He gave a little wave.  "Pleasant evening, eh?"

[Anonymous]

It was a nice day. A really nice day. It was, just leaning there against a tree, as cards slipped out of his sleeves and he began to manipulate them. Drauis had some very strange meetings and occurances, but when a voice appeared from above him, he very nearly jumped out of his skin and his cards almost scattered, Luckily, Dris was quite quick, and had very nimble hands, and caught them all before they touched the ground. Leaping away from the tree a few feet,

Drauis turned around and kneeled down and put his hands up to get ready to protect himself just in case. He had done all these movements almost simultaneously, but it was for naught, for he saw a blue-haired man waving at him. Taking a deep breath, Dris unclenched his hands, but still held them at ready for a few more moments, nothing ever came from being catious.

Dris's genius mind worked on many angles to why there might be a man sitting in a tree waving to him and with blue hair. Not many of them seemed to fit what he saw in front of him there and now. He sighed and stood up straight before running his hands through his hair. "Now now, Hullo there," Dris nodded. "Yes indeed, it is a pleasent evening, but might I ask what you are doing up there?"

[Tally]

"Ey, that's a nifty trick."  Zephan's eyes had followed the cards as they flowed with a magic he could not see.  His attention grew sharp, as it always did when confronted with magic he had never encountered before.  He hungered to learn and sometimes felt as though he would never know contentment, not so long as there was mystery out there to master.  He tried to puzzle out the card trick but found himself blind to it.

It soured his mood and he pouted down at the man.  "Made an outstanding discovery I did!  I created a vertical teleporting spell!"  Though he'd been trying to teleport himself horizontally, but this fellow didn't need to know that part.  "I'm pleased to say the spell executed with nary a hiccup, but ah...I'm stuck up here now."

Legs swinging, he scratched the back of his head and let out a sheepish little laugh.  A sensible mage would question why he didn't just teleport himself back down and indeed that possibility had crossed his mind, but as with most spells still in the tinkering stage, he wasn't quite sure if he could duplicate the process in reverse.  He could end up even higher and fall to his death—which would ruin his whole day—or phase back too far down and end up buried alive—also not the optimal result.

"So I was wondering...might you have a ladder on you?"  Clearly the man did not have a ladder, but perhaps between the two of them they could think of something.  "Or...anything?  The view is lovely up here but I'd appreciate being on the ground again."

[Anonymous]

Drauis nodded. He could see the common sense of what the man was saying. Interesting it was. To get up to a certain place was easy, even if you had no idea how far you go. But to get back down from an incomplete spell, you could go and get yourself buried alive, or even higher up then falling to your death. Nodding to himself Dris pondered how to get this man down.

"Yes, yes I see your point about the spell and getting back down." Drauis said. "While I kind of fail to see why you would go up there in the first place before figuring out how you would have gotten down I shall do what I can to help you get down." His cards seemingly vanished into thing air and Drauis thought carefully. "Well I could use my wind abilities to get you down." he paused. "Would that be all right with you . . . Mr . . . ?"

[Tally]

Zephan didn't miss the politely-phrased jab at his common sense—or rather, it's lack.  That he did lack common sense he would never attempt to deny, for he could scarcely imagine a more obvious failing of his personality, but the man didn't have to go and call attention to his deficiency.  A charitable man wouldn't have brought up the magnificent idiocy of teleporting oneself up a tree without first ensuring a way down.  Rude.

"Wind magic!" Zephan exclaimed, putting the sour thoughts behind him for now.  He still needed the fellow's help, and he rather suspected he was more frustrated at himself than the man below.  "How excellent.  Never had much bent for wind mastery myself. A challenging and enigmatic craft it is!  You must be a mage of both talent and renown, sir!"

If this man were competent at all, a bit of wind magic should indeed be sufficient to lift Zephan out of the tree and deposit him safely on the ground.  He could not have managed such delicacy himself—gusts and gales roared at his will but subtlety eluded him still—but a wind mage of even passing knowledge should find it simple enough a task.

"Ah, my name. Regrettably I cannot utter my true name, for it is an ancient word of primal, chaotic power.  It is the First Word, the One True Word that birthed the stars and sun and moon, and if I were to speak it aloud—truly, were I even to whisper but a syllable of it—I would unleash such arcane might as the world could not withstand.  Its utterance would tear the sky asunder, rend the mighty Terrins themselves into dust!  The seas would boil away, the earth beneath our feet turn to flame, all the beasts of the land go crazed...!"

He stilled his tongue abruptly and stopped his hands from their oratorical gestures as he reminded himself he was supposed to be talking his way down out of this tree, not entertaining some sheltered milkmaid. "So, ah, folk around here just call me Zephaniah.  And I have utmost faith in your skill, sir! If you are prepared, I am ready."

[Anonymous]

"Well Zephaniah, I must say, your expression there at my comment seemed a bit sour." Drauis said. "It was not supposed to be an insult or anything like that, is just that I thought that when creating a spell, you had to be sure that you know how to counter it, know how to in a sense, reverse the spell." He tilted his head slightly. "I apologise if I was rude at all."

"I must also say that I am NOT a wind mage, just one who is able to control the wind with my mind." Drauis said. "That is slightly different is it not?

"Now then, since you are ready to get on down, we shall get started." Dris said. With a slight gesture of his hands, he lightly lifted Zephaniah off the tree and slowly to the ground. " I hope you are fine, Zephaniah, because being trapped up there, unable to get down could be the end of some people." There was no sarcasm, no mocking to it. "I have seem men starve and die because they could not get down of some place." He coughed slightly. "Probably not the best thing to be talking about, how about we get a drink, you and I?"

[Tally]

"No no, not at all!  No offense taken!  Thank you for the advice. I will surely remember that next time I prepare a spell!"

You cheeky bastard, Zephan added to himself, trying not to let his smile transform into a snarl.  The man was talking to him like he was some drooling halfwit.  Zephan bloody well knew he should have prepared a counter spell! He wasn't an idiot!  He'd just chosen to ignore that particular course of action in favor of immediate gratification.  It had all worked out in the end hadn't it? He was out of the tree and on his way to a much needed drink. Hardly a resolution worth complaining about.

When his stomach had stopped turning over itself from the...precarious ride down, Zephan stretched his stiff limbs let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Oh don't be so dour. I wasn't up there long at all!"  He clapped the fellow on the back and grinned. "Thanks to you, my friend!  A drink is a fine idea.  Can't think of anything I'd rather do after that ordeal."

Zephaniah struck a pose, one hand on his hip and the other pointed toward the city gates.  "To Arca, where we shall avail ourselves of the finest mead in all the land!"

[Anonymous]

It was odd, this conversation. Not much of a conversation actually. Whether or not it was, it was fun. Kind of. One such as him did not get enough fun and too much paperwork.

This man probably thought a bit bad of him. Even while he had spoken as politely as he could. It was a man thing. Too proud. They wanted the feeling of satisfaction of their spell. Perhaps later he could take back what he said in a way that did not sound . . . as if he was being a bastard. He tended to do that a lot. But then again, there were a lot of bastards walking around. It didn't matter much. Whether or not that this man despise him for mocking him, it had all worked out in the end.

"All yes I can tell." Drauis grinned. "Drinks always help with recovering from any type of . . . problem." He almost laughed at the man's strange . . . pose. "Let's go shall we?"

[Tally]

"Indeed, let us depart!"  Zephan led the way down the road into town, walking backward most of the way there so he could talk while he walked.  Arca was the grandest city in all the world and he told the fellow so, expounding at length on the unrivaled beauty of her architecture and the romanticism of her history.  And Arca's scholarly pursuits!  No kingdom anywhere could boast of the brilliant minds and brave innovators as resided in Serendipity's capital.

"I have traveled the land far and wide," he added.  "I have ventured where no other mortal man dared to tread, seen wonders  dire and glorious and walked the streets of cities built entirely of gold and silver and yet I say to you truly nothing compares to the elegance, the splendor, the very magnificence of our beloved Arca!"

The last part was said rather loudly, with overzealous gesturing that drew stares.  Zephan calmed himself down and cleared his throat.

"Anyhow, have a place in mind?  That place over there's not bad.  Good music usually, food's not bad.  Kinda cheap, don't know if it'd be to your taste."

[Anonymous]

He nodded slightly at Zephan and allowed him to lead even though he was the first to depart. Drauis cared less where they had a drink, as long as it was decently . . . well with decent people. He listened to Zephan explain how Arca was the grandest city in the world and its architecture was unrivaled. His friend also said that the city was by far, filled with the most romanticism. Dris rolled his tongue silently over the word. Never heard of it before, romanticism, somehow, it sounded fake, even while he knew it to be real. Life was strange these days. The rest he knew already. In fact, he knew most of what Zephan had said, but he stilled liked the way that Zephan talked about it so.

"I see . . . " Drauis nodded to himself. "That is indeed great words you have for this city, and I agree with you," he paused. "I for one, cannot leave too far without getting into some kind of trouble . . . it must be because I hold a position of power right now." Drauis sighed. "Whatever the matter it is, I must someday travel the world without getting attacked."

"It really matters not, you can choose to your hearts content, as long as there is no man in where are to go that wants to kill me." Drauis said.

[Tally]

"Uh huh," Zephan said, far less interested in hearing of this man's life and his supposed troubles than in telling of his own largely fictional but nonetheless much more exciting exploits.  His savior, unfortunately, was retaining an annoyingly muted response, so Zephan gave it a rest...for the moment.

"I can hardly answer that without knowing who would want to kill you and why," he said, wondering of the guy weren't putting him on. Being fond of...embellishing the truth himself, he was naturally suspicious of anything others told him.  In his experience, men who went around announcing things like that were looking for attention more than anything else.  And he should know—that was the exact reason he did it.

"It's a fair enough place, though.  Got some lovely barmaids."  Zephan grinned and nudged the man in the ribs.  If he was on his game tonight, he might even be able to win over one of the lass's affections for the evening and get them some free drinks.