Ethereatix

Didn’t know there was a road?! How off course did that compass put her?!

“…”

“Well I’m sure we’ll find our way before too long. We have a nice land mark to follow at least. It’s a pretty stream.” There’s another big thump as the cart shakes and everything rattles. Yet there was no bump. Confused, Raguna turns to look behind him and–

“WAAAH!” There’s a huge beetle standing on the cart. It’s vibing.

Raguna is currently keeping the buffamoo back with the reins. It almost seems inclined to waltz into the water to get itself a nice drink. As if it hasn’t been given water or things already.

He’s giving Keelin a somewhat incredulous look… she really didn’t remember? How she got here? Wasn’t it just the other day?? She laughs and, hell, so does he because it seemed as if the situation didn’t call for much else.

“Haha… a shortcut? Well, I guess we could try and find another way across… maybe there’s another bridge upstream, or a place we can forge across with the cart…” Though that seemed ill advised. The water was still fairly high from last nights storm. And the banks were sloshy.

Raguna reins the buffamoo into action, turning it to the right and beckoning it to continue.

“Does none of this area look familiar to you?” The rides a little bumpier now. There’s the rattle of swords in the back and bump of boxes as they shift around.

So she’s accustomed to walking long distances then. That was reassuring in a way, that at least she likely hadn’t overexerted herself or similar. Raguna smiles and nods at her words, it was good to see her in higher spirits! Things were going great!

……………..

Some small talk and some time later however, the pair and their cart rattle around a bend. Around it on the other side is where usually a nice wooden bridge would carry travelers across a river. Unfortunately the bridge was… gone. Just gone. No planks no wood it was as if there had never been a plan for anyone to cross.

Raguna stares at it, then turns to his companion. She…. she had come this way, hadn’t she???

“…..uhm, Keelin, there was a bridge here when you came this way before, right?”

It’s not long for the Earthmate to finish last preparations. He’d already sent a letter along with Anette to Mist, who would be coming by every few days to make sure all the animals were fed. They would handle the fields in his absence, perhaps not optimally but they wouldn’t die out if there wasn’t rain.

He locks the door to his homestead, fiddling with the key before turning back towards his awaiting cart and the girl who was– hm?

He’s coming to help!!!

Ah, good, she managed on her own.

“Sorry! I’d been meaning to add a step at some point…” It’s mostly due to him not having issue hopping up inside, and the matter that little to nobody else used it aside from him. He takes a look as well across the fields and scenery of home. Completely devoid of anything strange and unnatural as far as he could tell. Just your typical pleasant farmstead.

But wait, over there behind one of the barns, was that- no not the chickens, the other barn!! Did she see it?! There was a tail, a big scaly tail just slid around the back of the building! And then there was a ‘sploosh’, like something just went to take a bath in the river?…

Huh… well… at least they were out and about now! Don’t have to worry about it anymore, right? Either Raguna didn’t notice or didn’t care. A flick of the reins and the cart was off.

“I’m still impressed you walked this far.” He says, passing a glance to the girl. He leaves out that he’s also impressed she walked over a day in the wrong direction, but that wasn’t totally her fault, right? The compass had been broken!

“We’ll reach Kardia by nightfall. And then start heading south towards Sharance.”

From hands akimbo on his hips the ‘farmer’ turns back to facing towards the homestead, expecting the young witch to still be standing there with interest, maybe questions? He looks ready to answer them…! To nobody. Where’d she go?

“Keelin?” He sticks his head back inside, looking about. “It’s a friendly orc, I promise!” Was she scared? She really shouldn’t be! Oh well. The food and ‘just in case’ arsenal of weapons were loaded into the cart. He was about ready to set off.

“Do you need any more help getting ready? Did you find uh- your leggings?”

Yes. All that power and bizarre influence. And yet he’s the friendliest fellow.

Raguna follows her finger out the door as if that were necessary, and yet he too seems a bit perplexed when he spots the orc out in the field water an already saturated field. His brows knit loosely and he shakes his head.

“Oh uh, yeah he’s new… Jek!” Raguna calls out to the field, waving them away and gesturing around. “I appreciate your efforts but you can take the next day or two off!” His voice is laced with an ancient magic, and thanks to it the monster comprehends his speech, regarding him curiously, looking at the field, back to Raguna, then setting down the watering can where he stood and heading back towards another barn that was back on a distant hill. Raguna sighs. A mutter of I’ll get that later it should be fine.

Everything is fine.

…her stockings?

His mind (reluctantly) flips back to the night before as he tries to recall what had ha–oh, right. The stockings. Those things that looked like mud snakes after everything that had transpired. They had been in the sink but he set them aside when he had gotten into cooking and washing food. The question then was finding that basket.

“Oh, yeah. I had washed them a bit last night. They should be around here somewhere… there’s a basket. Check in the back.” He gestures with a hand towards the storage area of the ground floor before re-shouldering the weaponry he had grabbed. They were certainly impressive looking swords imbued with elemental power, so it didn’t surprise him she was curious.

“It shouldn’t be that dangerous, but I just want to be prepared.” More like he’s not taking any chances with his luck. Better safe than sorry if monsters came upon them. He’d rather not waste magical power while out and travelling and food was harder to come by. He didn’t want to resort to eating random grasses out in the woods. That was when you know you hit rock bottom while adventuring.

“I actually go out exploring a lot, so I’m used to preparing supplies and rations. This area of Norad has a lot of unmapped territory and… well, you’d be surprised about the number of ruins and caves around here. There’s one right next door if you can believe it. An old stone stairway that takes you deep underground.”

The muttering goes unheard by the man who probably could have done something to help the predicament. The chorus of birds trumping a fair bit of sound before the offending runner is cornered and the core torn to pieces by some of the larger hens. At least then the bickering is just a low monotonous garble.

Raguna sets a few things in the cart behind the bench and heads back into the house and around the corner to the kitchen where Keelin was. He pays her.. half a mind, a polite smile before opening the oven, grabbing a mitt, then moving whatever wrapped food items where in there into a wicker basket. Just gotta grab some fruit and…. done!

“Everything ok? You sure you slept well?” Something seemed off but aside from the obvious he wouldn’t make any assumptions. He tilts his head curiously before making his way across the homestead to the forging area where he grabs two swords, one fit for two hands and the other a typical short blade along with their respective sheaths from the shelves. With those slung over his shoulder he makes his way back towards the door, and Keelin.

Raguna isn’t going to bother with Nutmeg. If she wants to be out of the pen and around the fields and house than let her. As he watches the chicken flutter out of the now open window he can’t help but consider her a prime suspect for who let in the chipsqueek last night. He scrutinizes the bird with a wary look while they strut about scratching at dirt and pecking for worms. She finds one and finds the need to let the entire region know this with a loud RRRRRRRRRR RR RR RR.

She’s joined by the flock in a flurry of feathers.

The Earthmate goes back to hitching the wagon and ensuring the straps hadn’t worn down. It’d been awhile since they had seen any good use and well, recent events remind him that double and triple checking is a time tested smart choice. A nice big yank and the leather proves itself sturdy. He nods at it then turns back to Keelin.

“I’m sure, but we definitely needed all that rain. I wouldn’t mind another storm like that coming around in the next few days while I’m gone. How’s the breakfast?” He asks, smiling over at her. Determined to pretend the vast majority of yesterday and this morning and… he’s pretending a lot hasn’t happened. It helps that she looks completely different than she did the previous day. Her outfit no longer soaked through and muddied she actually did look more the part of a witch as she claimed to be.

There’s a swishing of a tail as the buffamoo gives the young lady a cheery glance with a twinkle in its eye. Ever the amicable and amiable friend in contrast to the bevy of birds still making a slaughter of the nightcrawlers along the nearby paths and roads.

“It’s not fresh, but I didn’t really have much time to prepare something.” The oven was already in use, the fire crystal magic thrumming as it heated up a series of something or others in there. Probably rations for the trip.

Maybe, just maybe, his gut had been right. From the moment he met this girl it seemed like everything unlucky that could happen did in fact happen. Whether it be the storm which came along with her. The mishap when she tried to bathe herself and he saw h- he…. ehem. Then a chipsqueak broke in overnight and, not satisfied with just eating food out on the counter, left a muddy poopy mess on the floor which Raguna slipped in after getting off of the couch he slept on. It’s been a rough morning as one could imagine.

But he gave her his word! He told Keelin that he would help her make it to Sharance! And he wasn’t about to let a bunch of weird occurrences stop him. He’s dealt with worse before after all! So what if things were now even more awkward! And she woke up to see a skidmark on his rear when he was cleaning up! She believed him when he explained it, didn’t she?!

The safest way to finish the morning before they departed, after he made sure there was breakfast for both of them to grab from the kitchen, was prepare the cart and monster for the trip outside. Let her do her things inside! He wouldn’t interrupt! This was foolproof! Besides, it was looking to be a gorgeous cool summer day in the aftermath of the storm. Small puddles were left behind and the nearby streams were muddy, but aside from that the air was fresh.

“Good morning, Trampoli.”

Northish is rather vague indeed. From his knowledge of Norad he knows that Between Two Dragons, the capital, is north of Kardia, perhaps a little further west, and that further still is the kingdom of which Roland speaks. He feels a bit frustrated that his travels have only taken him to the south and west, as if skirting the border of the Sechs Empire is something he’s fated to do for his entire life. Fitting, given how they stole his last one.

Chomp. Fish could have used a little less seasoning…

Eyes lift from the plate, watching the gi–no, back to the plate. Lets stop that thought right there, thank you.

“I see… hmm…” This conversation felt dead end, and any moment of silence sucks him back to his horrible social faux pas. His expression tightens as he chews another bite, trying to remain more composed than he actually is. Like he hadn’t just been complaining to a cluckadoodle.

“This isn’t your first time leaving though, right? Trampoli isn’t that big, but I bet Kardia felt like a bit of a shock if you lived in a little community. I guess I can’t blame you getting a little lost.”

He has to worry about it. Because if he doesn’t…

“Good. I’m glad it came out well. I admit I didn’t do anything too exciting with it. But well. Uh. Anyway. I’m glad.” Good job. Good job at not following that up with anything as well. A fork of trout followed by a fork of hot potatoes. Rinse and repeat. A few times.

“So uh. What’s your home like, Keelin? Where did you say you were from?”

Wait. She hadn’t said she was from anywhere. Oh well. Smile anyway.

Nutmeg was an excuse, really. A reason to remove himself from the house with far too conductive walls for sound. The storm is in a lull, sure, but still provides the pleasant rumbles and rainfall that reminds you that nature was still running its course. Consequently enough it also covers his groan of frustration while  traversing the muddy trail up to the next hill. Not from the weather, mind, but from this as of yet unresolved situation… 

Nutmeg does not like being used in such a way. Like some tool or excuse. Nutmeg is a proud cockadoodle thank you very much. Who has been robbed of her bed in the big warm house. She also doesn’t care how the Earthmate who has tamed it has lifted her up once they were inside of the monster barn’s mud room.

“…..I don’t know how to face her!!” He blurts out, with the zeal of a man unsettled enough to converse with a tired chicken. “First I invite her, a stranger, into my house. Then I see…. I see her… and oh she’s so cute oh geez. And now I’ve just left her in there. What am I doing. How do I fix this?!”

“Brrrrrrk brk brk.” You could set me down to go to bed. Then go to bed yourself, human.

“I can’t ask her to talk about it! She’s… what if she just runs away? Should I have taken her to stay with Mist? Maybe that would have been le–” A very quick flashback to how she had treated him as a stranger comes to mind. The image of Keelin being put to work on a farm with a cheap hoe and watering can thrust into her hands comes to mind next… nobody benefits there.

Nutmeg has removed herself from the situation during his miniature nightmare. To Raguna’s disappointment.

The return to his home leaves him more dejected and less resolved than when he left. But he puts on a bright face when the door opens! A wipe to his face and hair with a cloth pulled from the closet nearby, before moving to sit himself across from Keelin at the table.

“Sorry about that. I wouldn’t want you to have to share a room with her. She can be… a lot of things. Among them bossy and noisy. Haha.” He grabs utensils and starts cutting into the trout. Trying. Very hard. To stay casual.