(Open) Wandering Lanes

[Blaze]

89th day of Fall, 511AV Blaze wandered the streets of the city of illusions aimlessly. She had no purpose and no thoughts in mind. She missed her freedom in her horse form already and she had only entered the city moments ago. Her long brown hair was tied back with a piece of grass she had encountered just before entering the city. It annoyed her greatly but she kept it long in the Drykas tradition. Following her father's teachings. Why did I come here in the first place? She thought to herself in boredom, she didn't even own a house here, and didn't plan to. A stray twig fell out of her wavy brown hair and she watched it as it fell to the ground. It landed with barely a sound ans she looked at it, tilting her head slightly. She wondered if she was ever going to encounter another living being. Her chocolate coloured eyes flicked from side to side as she walked down her lonely lane. She glanced back then frown, she was sure there hadn't been a turn in the road back there. She pulled her long brown cloak closer to herself and pulled up the hood. I suppose it's called the city of illusions for a reason then she thought to her self smiling as if it were a joke. Blaze reached into her pocket and gently stroked the little wooden horse that lay there. She traced it's stone eyes as was her habit and kept on walking. It was her lucky charm of sorts, a momemto of her short childhood. Though she still had something of the mind of a child, her physical self looked to be around the age of 16. She stretched her arms getting rid of the stiffness out of her muscles as she strolled on at a leisurely pace. Looks like I'll be sleeping on the streets tonight, she thought to herself a trace of her smirk appearing on her face. It wasn't something she was cared much about, it had happened to her many times before. Blaze's determined eyes trailed across the walls on either side of her before they finally found what appeared to be a door. She appraoched it slowly and stood starring at it from outside wonderng whether she could be bothered to enter or not. 'What could this lead to?' She asked herself quietly.

[Royjeck]

"I wouldn't go there if I were you." Perhaps she had not noticed Royjeck, which would have been hard to believe since he was only slightly under eight feet in height, and roughly a hundreds pounds for each foot. The Jamouran, who unlike most of his brethren that resided in the frosty woods of Taldera, in the Spires of course, was dressed in casual, if not dreadfully common clothing, which was only uncommon because of its enormous size and shape, meant to fit him specifically. He moved slowly down the street that seemed to almost shrink around his enormous size. A hundred years old and still he was but a child among his own people. Yet, then again, he wasn't among his own people. Royjeck moved his large eyes away from Blaze for only a moment, long enough to look up at the night sky and point to the moon, which was large, glowing orange, and seemed much to near to be where it should be. Was it falling to Mizahar? Sometimes, it looked so. "Good afternoon. You must not be familiar in this place? Yes? No? Well, regardless, I feel you feel like a mere child among the maze of turns and... doors. I wouldn't go in there though. It's dark inside, not that it isn't dark outside. Well, perhaps that is outside and it truly is dark outside and only, not as dark inside. Ah, apologies stranger. And I say stranger in the most unoffensive way I can. It's not that I don't know you, but you do seem strange. Bah, there I am again. Rambling to younglings without a care for their own busy schedule. You have bottomless, dark, possibly dangerous outsides and insides to explore through doors you do not know of. You can call me Roy, everyone else does after I grant them permission. Some do it even without my permission. Does that make them rude? Or am I rude for considering them rude, if they aren't rude? So many questions one can ask, and none can answer. Intriguing, isn't it? Well, I must be off, when Alvadas turns midnight dark in midday hour, it's hard to grasp what interesting things might happen on the streets. Why, just yesterday I found a road that only went backwards, took me until next morning to find my own home, and even then I was afraid to walk forwards again. I dare say, my dreams might have also held the same fears. Have you ever been trapped in a dream that only moves backwards? I have, it's fun, but lasts too long." Royjeck shrugged his massive shoulders and tapped his thumb against a small book (only small because of his large size that is) that was trapped in his hand. It was a book without words, or titles, or names, or dates. Still, it held great value to Royjeck. The Jamoura began to walk past Blaze when he stopped to dig into his pocket and reveal a long aged piece of parchment. "It's a map of Alvadas. I'm using it at the moment, but if you need to look at it, I can share. Well, it depends on where you're going, but yes, I can share some."

[Blaze]

Blaze turned on her heel, scraping her boots against the rough stones of the street, when she heard a voice behind her. She listened intently to the words of the big man then thought to herself, he seems to be a nice enough guy. She wasn't normally one to judge another based on appearance but she had an awful habit of asking alot of questions, which normally ended with an very annoyed person who had began making conversation with her in the first place. 'That is very kind of you, sir,' She began in her light bouncy voice, 'I am indeed new to these parts but I know something of them, atleast from my dad's tales and stories. Why is it you tell me not to open the door?' She questioned examining it as if that would make it reveal it's secret. To her it seemed to be pretty ordinary but then again, it could just be an illusion. Like so many other things in the city. 'Do you mind if I ask how you got so big sir? My dad always said that if you eat alot you grow really tall. Did you eat alot of food when you were younger sir?' She babbled on until she realised she must be beginning to get on his nerves. She really didn't want to lose a person she had just met. 'Sorry about that.' Blaze sighed before looking up at the big man's face. Why was she always so childish when she was nervous? She questioned herself annoyed with her outburst. She wrapped her hand tighter around the little charm in her pocket and stroked the wood. She decided to pull down her hood so she reached up and tugged it off, letting her soft, dusty brown hair stream out. The piece of grass that had been holding it up must have broken. Then for the second time in that conversation she sighed. This really isn't my day, she thought to herself starting to feel down. She looked up what she was sure had been a straight street and frowned. It was now windy and bendy. What good is a map in a city of illusions? Where the streets change and even the sky isn't the same? She glanced around with her deep brown eyes and thought to herself, well this is going to be fun.

[Royjeck]

Royjeck chuckled lightly as the young girl, or child as he now considered her, questioned him about his height, his size. Yes, he had to take a lot of food, but that was natural, not illusionary by any means. He was a Jamoura, they grew tall, they grew thick, and they grew strong. "It might seem rude to some to question Roy's physique, but he am not troubled by it, not today. No, well, yes and no. Roy is alive to be such a large figure because Roy sustained Royself on large amounts of food, but is this height because Roy is a Jamoura. Have you never met his brethren? Of course not! A Jamoura is not forgotten. Minds as accurate as a book filled with words, and twice as interesting. Come, walk by Roy's side, child. There is a story that must be told from this lips and heard by those ears, and from these words Roy assumes you will understand why he will not enter mysterious doors." A story, how could that hurt? Royjeck shrugged his massive shoulders (perhaps in response to Blaze shrugging her own?) as he folded his map and tucked it inside his pocket. It was just as she wondered though, a useless map entirely. Why, the only locations marked were the entrance, and the lone building that stood near it, which never moved. What use was a map that covered a distance of ten yards? Not much, but for some Jamoura, it was an anchor to a sane world that existed somewhere outside of the city. For some Alvadas Citizens, the outside was only a fairy tale, and the city was natural. As Royjeck looked back at the street, he observed with his own eyes as the road, or perhaps the entire world, appeared to twist. Later on down it would look at though he might stumble off the world and plunge head first into the sea of stars above... or below. "You have no shelter, do you my dear?" Royjeck pulled his eyes from the winding alley ahead as he questioned the girl, an almost nervous tone to his voice. "Walls are limited shelter here, but the streets, they eat people. If you need a place to stay, Roy has a little room and he will share. It should keep you restful. Roy must go though, these streets want to play and he is not much in the mood for their games, not this afternoon. No, Roy prefers stargazing in the morning, and puzzles. Roy very much enjoys puzzles." Royjeck started to move down the street again, the offer of his home to her lingering in his footsteps as he moved, slowly counterclockwise through that winding street. From afar, he would appear to defy gravity, but from his own view, he was the only one obeying it. If he had anything less than decades of experience here, he might have panicked at the sight, but he was a century old after all. "Tumbles the Jamoura, my favorite story. You know, my father made it for Roy, a gift meant not for keeping, but for giving again, and again. Mayhaps, Tumbles will be known by all somedays. Other days, who knows."

[Blaze]

As Blaze listened to the Jamoura she began burning with curiousity. In all her 2 years of life she had never encountered anyone quite like him. She smiled, he really did seem like a nice person, atleast he was nicer than alot of other people she had encountered before. As he began walking down the street she decided to take up his offer of his room. It would be better than staying outside on the ever confusing streets, and the tale of them swallowing people up? She shivered at the thought. She didn't want to get eaten, she was to young to die, her mind added the thought for pure dramatics. 'I would be happy to take you up on your offer of a room.' She said happily. Blaze quickly skipped after Roy, as he called himself, when she noticed he had started moving and made it so she was walking exactly beside him. 'My name's Blaze.' She said cheerfully to her new friend of sorts. 'And I can turn into a horse. Isn't that cool? Can Jamouras turn into anything, sir?' She questioned him truly curious in the childish way of hers. Though she looked to be around the physical age of a 16 year old human her mental self was still very much a child at heart. 'Please tell me one of those stories, sir.' She said eagerly. Blaze loved learning new things, from tying knotes to drawing in dirt, as long as it was something she didn't know. She flicked her brown hair, that had cascaded over her determined eyes, out of her face. You never know when something might benefit you later in life, she thought to herself. The offer of a shared room to Blaze still lingered in her mind, it sure beat sleeping on the hard dirt outside the walls anyday. Her eyes trailed down the walls surrounding them as they walked down the lane. If she concentrated really hard she could see them moving ever so slightly. Interesting, she thought to herself storing the information away in her mind. To her this city was just one big adventure. As an afterthought she added, 'Do you know how to read and write, sir?' It had been one of her lifetime goals to disipher those squiggly lines people called worlds. She started skipping again to distract herself from the fact that she wasn't in her hoof bearing form, she missed so much.

[Royjeck]

Cobblestone walkways, it was typical for cities of humans these days. The small patternless grooves and coils and cracks between smooth rounded stones, making sometimes an appealing piece of art you walked on. Yet, it could be treacherous as well. Alvadas could be treacherous. The longer you lingered in illusions, the deeper you indulged your curiosities with their tantalizing taunts the more you found yourself unable to escape them. Some days, a walk through the city became a careful stalk where a single misstep meant death. Even now the stones called out to Roy, as if trying to convince him they they were moving underneath his large bare furry feet, rather than his feet dragging him along the cobblestone road. "Happy to accept? Interesting. You are very trusting, but you have naught to be concerned of. Jamoura are notorious for being gentle giants, and Roy is no different. Perhaps your instincts are well guided, or perhaps it is just coincidence that Ionu brought you to Roy. He cannot understand why, but he understands better than to question gods. They work in mysterious ways. Ionu most of all." Royjeck felt an odd jolt of chill as she mentioned her name was Blaze. An odd name, one that didn't particularly comfort the giant. A blaze, a large uncontrolled fire. It made him draw mental images of angry mobs, or even the wrath of Ivak himself. In one of his past lives, he was a devout follower of Ivak, a firedancer even, but fire unsettled him now. Some things were still a mystery to him. "Blaze, a devouring flame. One cannot help but be curious as to why this name was chosen, or given. But, Roy will not pry. Roy does not wish to know. Fire brings bad dreams. Difficult to say, but reminds him of a song his mother was fond of. 'Fire Eaters'. This is for another time perhaps. Roy has no voice for song, not like his mother. Nor stomach for violence verses." Jamoura Roy continued his walk as his eyes continued to scan the area. He was looking for landmarks to guide him, or more specifically, a small house with the odd painting of am upside-down hand with fingers coiling sideways like earthworms on a door. It was his home, and though he didn't understand the deformed hand (possibly it was only local children defiling his property for fun), it served as a mark he used to pick his home out of a dozen. "Ah, a horse-woman, you are a Kelvic then. Royjeck has met many of your kind in the past, but it seems most domestic Kelvic are canines and smaller felines. It's a shame your lives are so short, even in comparison to humans. Why, Roy can't imagine what it would be like to lose a friend in less than a fraction of his life." Royjeck shook his head slowly without so much as considering whether his words might offend or torment her. Death, a dreary subject. Yet, it was something Roy had to think about. Already he was a hundred years old. His family has passed (that's what happens when you are adopted by a species with a drastically shorter lifespan) and their children have passed. Only grandchildren remain, and their concerns do not include sharing life with their gentle adopted Jamoura-Uncle. Relationships were difficult to have when you outlived everyone. "Ah, no. Roy is a Jamoura, and Jamoura is just Jamoura. Kelvic, you are an animal that can hold this form of a human girl, but a Jamoura is just this, and always will be this. Roy is Roy, nothing more. Royjeck nodded slowly to himself as if to confirm his words. "Ah, yes, storytime is always a good time, but time is of the essence. The evening sky grows darker still. Perhaps Alvadas will see a night sky this night. Night skies are Roy's favorite." Roy had to stop moving when Blaze asked him if he could read and write. His ape-like face had yet to glow like it did when he looked at her. Could he read? Yes! He had done little more than read in that water-flooded library for the past seventy years! Could he write! His fingers were large and had difficulty with finesse, but he could write for hours and still never tire of it! Royjeck lifted his hand to show the book he had been holding. It had no symbols, no words or numbers, no titles or names or stories, but it held something. Potential. Potential was potentially the greatest power anything could potentially have! That's what Royjeck saw in an empty book. It was not void of life, but contrarily, it was able to be anything! Like a newborn child, the book could become whatever destiny chose of it. "Royjeck adores Cryptography, reading and writing is necessary for such hobbies. He would stop and show you, but the midday-night sky does not permit visibility. In his home, he can light a candle. Come, we mustn't tarry much longer. He believes the city is vengeful tonight. Feelings, they make no sense but are so often to be trusted. Curious indeed. Ah! We are close, see? There's your door again." Royjeck grinned as he directed his index finger towards the door. "Ah yes, not a chime has passed and we've already known each other half a bell. Today is destined darling, today is destined. Doesn't it feel good to follow your destiny?"

[Blaze]

Blaze followed him keeping pace with his strides. She enjoyed the conversation they were having and smiled the whole time. Some sixth sense told her that she could trust Roy almost immediately. He wasn't like most people and seemed to just as he said, 'a gently giant.' When he spoke of her name she frowned then responded, 'I was named after an old horse that once belonged to my father. He said I had spirit and a fiery personality.' She tried to remember everything else she had been told by her dad but in that moment it was lost to her. She had seen fire eaters before when they came to Endrykas as traveling performers and she had always sat down and watched them for hours. Fire was a wonderous thing to her the freedom it seemed to have and the way it moved enchanted her. Blaze looked up at Roy again. 'My dad said there was kelvic in my blood and that made me dirty. I suppose I do age fast after all I'm only 2 summers old.' She thought about it but dying didn't frighten her. As long as she made her life worth what it was then she couldn't care less. Friendship was a new thing to her and Roy was the first person who had come close to that position in her life so far. It filled her with joy at the thought a such a person. Someone she could talk to and not be shunned by. She had always been missing something in her life and she still didn't know what it was. It was like loneliness but more intense like she was reaching out to try and grab something but it was to high for her to grasp. She changed her thoughts to try and distract herself. She looked up and saw that the Jamoura had stopped moving. Blaze stopped herself just in time to keep herself from bumping into him. She wondered why he had stopped all of a sudden. She gazed at the book in his hand hand tilted her head to the side to get a better view, her eyes lighting up with excitement. He began speaking again and she couldn't stop herself from feeling a tingle of joy run through her. Learning to read and write was something she really wanted to do. It was her motivation to hang onto his everyword like a starving child suddenly given a feast. As Roy began speaking about destiny she frowned. She had heard it spoken of many times, with awe, fear, happiness and sadness, did she really want to know what her's was? She decided she might as well find out what it was at the very least before she made any kind of assumtion. 'Sir, what is destiny?' Blaze questioned quietly, standing completely still. She gripped the little wooden horse in concentration her hair swung loosely behind her as it trailed down her back, like a horses tail twinging from side to side. Her leather boots made not a sound as they rested on the cobbled street. She barely noticed the door because she was completely transfixed by her question. What must destiny be if it could provoke so many emotions from others? In the back of her mind Blaze longed to leave the city and return to the simpleness of her life trotting around Mizahar. Why did people have to make life so complicated?

[Almech]

Almech was in an adventurous mood today, walking randomly through the streets of Alvadas had become his most favorite pass time. Streets would shift, buildings would move around, like the hospital, which would find you when you needed it, every building was like this. He listened to the people's words as he'd pass by, he would also watch them, take in all the scents that were ever changing. He truly enjoyed this city, he'd finally warmed up to the idea of having friends and that not everyone was out to get him, he had met two men here. They were what he recently found out were considered to be his 'best friends'. Miro a powerful mage who'd been so generous as to allow Almech to stay in his manor. Then there was Kale the skilled brute warrior, he enjoyed Kale's company and Almech often found himself thinking about how Kale was doing whenever they weren't together. He walked slowly, with a slight grin across his face, yes, he'd finally mastered smiling.

There were several other skills he needed to pick up on that were the norm for most other bipedal sentient beings. He watched a man hand a woman a red flower, it had thorns along the stem, the woman tried to take it carefully but still pricked her finger. The man chuckled, that was something Almech needed to learn, laughter, his laugh was awkward, even when it was genuine, he wasn't used to, laughter. He walked by and the man hearing him say "I love you" just as Almech passed "love?" he wondered. Of course he knew what love was, but he wasn't familiar with the one word which described such a complex emotion. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he walked, he knew when he next opened his eyes he would be seeing something completely different, he liked surprises.

He simply walked, but the man from earlier, his words, he tried to understand them "What is love?" he thought outloud, his mouth moved on it's own as he was in deep thought, he'd said this just before bumping into something large, and hairy. The scent of which was alien to Almech's nose and yet, there was a separate, pleasant scent as well. He opened his eyes, to see a creature much taller than himself, which was quite the rarity for the huge man. "S..sorry about that", what a curious sight, his face turned from surprised to a 'what is that?' kind of look as he cocked his head and looked at the Jamoura with innocence in his bright eyes which shined in a way that made them seem to glow, without a thought of how it would make him look, his puppy like curiosity took hold, Almech moved his face closer, his eyes closed as he sniffed. No, the pleasant scent did not come from the beast, and his nose followed the trail of the pleasant smell and he ended up taking a few steps in it's direction. Unknownst to him, his nose was nearly about to prod the woman in her head.

[Royjeck]

Roy replaced his "Book of Extensive Potential" into his backpack and heaved the small bag over his shoulder before nodding for a moment. It was obvious Blaze and Royjeck had varying interpretations on this name of hers. "Then it is not your name. It is the name of a horse, and you have adopted it as your own. Roy wonders then, why this horse is named after a burning destruction, and why you are suitable to carry it. Perhaps your destiny is greater than Roy originally suspected." Spirit and 'fiery' personality she claimed. It wouldn't be too difficult to assume a human would name a child without much thought. Naming a daughter after a horse... Royjeck had seen worse. It was nearly impossible to live a century, and not find the oddest names ever. "Ah, Kelvic blood. It is still a mystery why all of the humanoid races today will, occasionally, give birth to a Kelvic. Roy has to think the gods are at play here. Kelvic, it is not a dirty word, nor a dirty thing to be. No, you are just Kelvic. Your life is short, then you will return to this world as someone new. Perhaps a Jamoura? That would be wonderful, then you could remember this conversation in your next life." It did bother Roy how alone he truly was. To think of it like this. You share your knowledge one day, only to see your student pass away the next. Even if they passed on said knowledge, your student's student was still going to die of age before you, the Jamoura, even felt a hint of senility. "Concern yourself not of who you are, your destiny had handpicked you for something, something nobody else can be." Royjeck chuckled heartily when Blaze continued to probe his mind with question. Little curious fingers swimming through his thoughts like worms trying to dig into a fine piece of dirt, a comfortable shelter. It was pleasing that he could share, but still displeasing because he learned so little in return. "What is destiny? Yes, that is a question, now isn't it? Roy does not know your destiny. He does not know his own. Destiny is not meant to be known, until you just know it. Eh?" Roy turned around slowly to see yet another newcomer. The Jamoura smiled and nodded, allowing rude accidents to pass by without a hitch, yet this man lingered. Was there something he wanted? Had to be, what other reasons were there for lingering. "Love is Ionu's greatest tool, the ultimate illusion. Cheva would disagree, but then again, what god doesn't see the world from their own eyes?"

[Blaze]

Blaze sighed as the book vanished from view she was having fun just imagining what could be written in it. All the possible wonders of wavy lines that could be written down on it's marvelous pages. It got her imagination going but as soon as the little book vanished from her sights her mind cleared itself of thought. She thought about the words Roy said about her name and began her greatest story. 'It was the name of a fierce stallion that no one could tame.' She finally said in a dramatic voice, as if she were telling a great legend. 'Everyone tried to but no one could break his spirit. I was named after him because my dad wanted it to be, so that no one could ever command me.' She stopped, trying to think of was to make her tale better but she was lost for words. Why do I always ruin a good fairy tale? She thought to herself sighing again. Blaze tilted her head in curiousity as he spoke about kelvics. She wasn't much of a believer but she was willing to take in what he said to heart. It seemed to fit in true enough and it was a comforting thought that she would be able to come back after she died. She smiled at the image it conjured in her mind and there it was, destiny again. Blaze shuffled her feet in her boots, they were starting to annoy her so she squated down on the ground. Her hands reached down and pulled them of and she chucked them in her pack. Much better, she though to herself stretching her legs. She jumped to her feet again and liked the feel of the cool uneven coblestones beneath her toes. She frowned at his explanation of destiny, she would rather have never asked. SHe was just getting more and more confused by the term. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to know and the more the knew the more frustrated she got. 'Complicated people, life as a horse is so must easier,' she whispered out loud without noticing. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice when something appeared right infront of her. Blaze leaped back with a yelp that sound like a horse's neigh and landed in a defensive crouch a few feet away. Her eyes locked on to the boy and her expression was fierce with determination. Who is this person? She thought to herself slightly panicked as she examined him. 'Who are you?' She said, all cheerfulness gone from her voice. It was mostly a defence mechanism that she had developed over her years spent outside city walls. She mostly gave out a happy demeanor to cover up her inner turmoil but when she was taken by surprise she couldn't help but tense up.