[Verlyna's Emerald Pool]Picnic by a Pond[Eridanus]

[Ssafirsotibones]

47 Winter 511AV Once again, Bones found himself wandering around the outskirts of Alvadas. Truth be told it happened often, but he had long since stopped questioning were Alvadas brought him. But a small rumbling in his stomach reminded him that he needed to fill his belly... It had been a bit since he had eaten a decent meal... Bones reached over his shoulder, feeling the hilt of his blade sticking out of its sheath, which was strapped under his robes. As usual when he was hungry, he tended to have more trouble controlling his temper... But taking a deep breath, he kept a hiss at bay.... Bones tilted back his head, darting out his tongue, and tasting at the air... Surely there was something around for him to eat... He tasted something on the air... But he was not sure what... Maybe he could find something easier if he changed from his human form...

[Eridanus]

Day 47, Winter of 511 AV

Eridanus sat at a distance away from the pond, his back against a palm tree as he studied the location. It was not new to him, and as one who had lived in Alvadas earlier he had no doubt heard of the stories. It all reeked of magic, and honestly he was pretty wary of all things magical, for magic seemed too mysterious for any accurate predictions to be made. And unpredictability often meant danger when one could not adapt and manage one's expectations properly.

It was still a tourist-y spot and sometimes young and daring couples liked to date here, for despite its tragic history it was a pretty scenic and calm spot. Honestly, the serenity of the place led Eri to liken the pond to the Stone Gardens in Syliras, and if the air did not contain traces of magic that led to his senses tingling uncomfortably upon his arrival he would most definitely use it as a place for meditation and contemplation away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

There was a rustle as a figure approached from the bushes. Eri was not interested in this new arrival for people often come and go, and so he continued lazing in his sheltered spot, people-watching and simply enjoying the scenery, all the while trying to calm down his frazzled nerves that got fired up whenever magic was in the vicinity.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones was walking closer to the pool of water, searching for something to snack on, when he saw something off to the side... He made a slight rustle of the grass as he dropped to the ground, wondering if it was perhaps some small animal that he might eat... Crawling low to the ground, in a way reminiscent of a snake hunting, Bones sneaked closer to whatever it was... Perhaps it was a habit carried over from his other forms, but he still found this the most obvious way to go, even though he was in human form... Moving he slid his body over the ground, first one side, pushing with his leg and pulling with his hand, and then switching and doing the same with the other side... Luckily for him the grass was reasonably long here, and whatever had moved was on the other side of a bush... So he was reasonably sure he could not be seen... Though sneaking was not a skill he had ever claimed to be an expert at.... As he got close, he slowly slid his hand back to take the handle of his gladius, sliding it out an inch so he could easily take it out all of the way. He would wait until just as he reached his prey, and then he would take it out all at once, stabbing his blade in to run through whatever animal lay there... If he was lucky he would get something big, with lots of meat on its bones... oocJust to be clear, you are what Bones is stalking, though he has not seen you yet, since he is coming were you are blocked by the bush, and he is in human form. You can rp me getting to you, and react to me trying to stab you before realizing you are not a animal... You should notice him, he has rather low skill in sneaking.

[Eridanus]

The rustling sound got louder and it seemed to Eri that this new figure was heading towards him. However, one strange thing that got his attention was that this rustling was softer than usual as compared to a normal person striding. Also, the rustling sometimes stopped, then continued, and all these signs pointed to a person moving slowly, sometimes stopping for a while before moving again. The fact that it gradually got louder meant that the person was either heading towards Eri, or Eri's position, or something behind Eri.

He could only see a general figure due to the shrubbery in the way, and to fulfill his curiosity he began to slowly overlay an image of his body's djed streams while keeping his eye on the general outline of the approaching figure. Gently nudging his a handful of djed streams to his eyes, he could feel a slight tingling in his head as his vision began to slowly blot out all other images except the one he was focusing on. The leaves and tall grass in the way began fading out patch by patch as the figure grew in clarity and he soon found himself looking at a tall and broad-shouldered young man with short black hair and distinct silver eyes.

The vantha could see the man's aura lazily oozing out of his physical form, begging to be studied closer, but he ignored the temptation to do so, instead choosing to focus on the physical present. It was the man's actions that intrigued him, for he was crouched and his behaviour wary, as if trying to escape detection. The man furtively glanced at where Eri was but as they made eye contact Eri almost jumped as he waited for the stranger to realize. There was no reaction, and he almost hit his own head for remembering that he was looking through the shrubbery through his magically-augmented vision. He might think that he was establishing eye contact but the man was probably looking at a piece of grass or something.

As the stranger got closer, he slowly drew a short sword - a gladius by the looks of it, similar in size and form as Antar Noth's favoured close combat weapon - and continued to approach Eri's position. Danger bells began ringing in the vantha's ears and he unconsciously began to grasp on the ground beside him for one of the long swords that he had laid out beside him earlier so that he could lay his back comfortably on the trunk of the palm tree.

Time seemed to get slower as Eri almost held his breath, his white-knuckled hand grasping the hilt of his nearest long sword tightly as he stared at the figure through the shrubbery, waiting for the stranger's next action. He probably could have just moved, but something told him that sudden movements might be a bad idea, for he had no idea what the capabilities or intention of this new arrival might be.

The vantha spotted a sudden flash of color in the stranger's aura, and he instinctively knew that it indicated a shift in intent. Unknowingly, adrenaline began filling up quickly and it could be said that the vantha had began to shift into 'combat form', his perception of things changing from a relaxed and appreciative one to a coldly efficient and observant one. Almost immediately after the shift in the aura the stranger jabbed forward with the gladius.

Hardened by combat experience as well as the advantage he gained from the moments of observation, Eri instinctively raised the hand gripping the long sword, the steel weapon forming a line of defence against the incoming danger with its tip in the ground, pushing the blade away from its intended path and sliding harmlessly to Eri's left.

There was a noticeable clang as metal struck metal when that occurred, and having realized this stranger's plan the vantha quickly grabbed his other blade. Using the steel sword that protected him earlier as a crutch, he quickly got up and stepped slightly backwards, raising both blades in a practiced stance that could only belong to an experienced swordsman.

"State your reason, stranger! I bear you no ill wishes and do not wish to fight. Let us talk with words instead of reasoning with violence!" Eridanus boomed to the silver-eyed man. By then he had already shut down the flow of djed to his eyes for there was no need for him to utilize the ability of auristics to look through things for the man was close enough for him to make out most of his shape without the help of magic.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones had crawled closer, and moved to strike... But one thing he had not expected to hear was the clang of metal on metal. As his blade moved in to slide into flesh, it jumped up, sliding along the length of a weapon blade... One thing was for sure, this was not an animal... Quickly popping onto all fours, he moved and did a back roll, landing on his feet standing. He was only somewhat surprised to see a person standing there, yelling something which Bones only half heard through the adrenaline, and his blood pounding loud in his ears... "Ah.... My bad... I heard movement in the busssh... And believed it to be an animal... I did not know it wasss a human..." Taking a step back, he put away his gladius, to show he was not going to attack again, though still keeping his distance in case this other person did attack him in retribution for his mistake. "Ssso... What are you doing hiding out here? I wasss just trying to find sssome food to hunt.... But what are you doing?"

[Eridanus]

Eri's assailant suddenly realized that his gladius would not be entering warm flesh upon the collision of steel, and he tumbled backwards gracefully in a single acrobatic maneuver. As a combatant who liberally makes use of unorthodox acrobatic techniques in his fighting style, Eri could appreciate the natural ease at which the stranger extracted himself from impending doom from Eri's blades.

The stranger seemed genuinely surprised with his explanation and his confounded expression served to emphasize his words. He followed by putting away his weapon, and after staring at the stranger critically for a few more moments Eri did too likewise, sheathing his blades behind him on his weapon harness. It was courteous to do so after all, though he continued to keep his guard up in case of treachery.

"Observing the air, appreciating the scenery and all that. Main city's kinda hard to find the calm within yourself, know what I mean? At least this place is relatively quiet and serene, well it was until you almost skewered me," the vantha remarked, making light of his brush with mortality to ease some of the tension between them.

Silver eyes had a strange way of speaking which sounded a lot like hissing, and even his form and manner reminded Eri strongly of a snake. He knew that sometimes kelvics adopted some of their animalistic traits even in their human forms, and this person might be a snake kelvic. Though Eri has never seen a snake kelvic before in his entire existence on Mizahar.

"Strange way to hunt for food, especially in a commonly visited destination like this. You might wanna buy some grub if you're hungry, or go out into the wilderness if you're looking for game," Eri offered. If Silver Eyes were a kelvic it would make more sense.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones wondered a bit about the mans response... Which was kind of odd... Who had the time to just sit and watch air? Not many people. This if nothing else told him this was an odd individual. Then again he himself was considered odd by most humans, so maybe it was just a normal oddity about humans he had not yet encountered. Though he could understand wanting to get away from the city, since it was so full of humans... But he doubted that was the mans reason. But regardless, that was one reason he so often left the city, and went out into the wilds. He had actually been on his way to the wilds, but had ended up here instead. But he usually figured the city brought him to places for a reason. "Well, I usssually do go out in the wildsss for food... The city doesss have meat, but it isss rarely fresssh.... And people tend to... Overcook it to my taste... Plusss it is usssually old and pressserved and sssuch, making it tassste off..." Turning away for a moment, he looked around, inspecting the view himself, which was rather quiet, besides the gentle splash of the waterfall nearby into the pool of water. "Ssso you live in Alvadasss to? What do you do ssere? I myssself fight in the colissseum, have for yearsss now... I am quite proficient in ssskill of arm, and with my blade... Ssough you probably realized ssat when I almossst ssstabbed you... What do you do in the city?"

[Eridanus]

The stranger did not pronounce certain words properly, though with a bit of guessing Eri could figure out what he was trying to say. The hissing that was quite evident in his speech further served as evidence to the vantha that he was a snake kelvic. That would also explain his preference for fresh - and possibly raw - meat.

"A gladiator, then?" Eri queried. He had been to the Colosseum a few times, but had never actually met and talked to the combatants in the arena like now. He had always seen them with a distant air, the same way one viewed performers at a concert. Just a source of entertainment.

He did not doubt the man's skill with the blade, not if his claim as a gladiator to be true. The fact that he still survived as a regular meant that his skill was enough to keep him alive so far.

"Nothing much," Eri replied truthfully. He was in Alvadas generally to seek the keys to his personal quest, and a bunch of other reasons that converged to this city. It seemed that somewhere in his destiny - if one's destiny is predetermined - Alvadas was the crucial convergence point of all his actions and deeds.

"When will your next fight be, gladiator?" Eri asked, "If I have the time I might come and watch."

[Ssafirsotibones]

If Bones had known that the man believed him to be kelvic, he would not be surprised at all. In fact, he might even laugh, well if you could call what he did a laugh... he had trouble getting such human expressions as that right... That and smiles, which came off as grimaces... But of course he did not know that, as he could not read minds. Of course the next bit would also have been interesting, as Bones often found the viewers paying to watch him fight in a similar manner, something far off which was disconnected to him, and willing to pay to watch him do something he might do without being paid... Well if there was a need for it... But he found it funny that they would pay for such things, but humans were just odd in that way... But he knew he would never pay to watch another fight... "My next fight? I never really know... I go by the colissseum every ssso often, or when Ssshale calls for me... It isss usssually a sssurprissse..." Turning to the man, he recalled his blade, and wondered about his skill in it. He said he was not all that good, but he seemed reasonably good if he could defend his blow as easily as he had... Though he had not even really gone full force... "What of you? Of your ssskill in fighting? You ssseem to have sssome... Asss I already sssaw wiss your weapon... What of wissout it? How are you in fighting with your body? I myself prefer usssing it, over foreign bladesss ssat are not a part of me... I alwaysss enjoy a friendly ssspar to ssshow my ssskillsss and to learn of my partnersss..."

[Eridanus]

Silver Eyes seemed curious in Eri's own skill with the blade, and implied that he would probably like to spar with him. The vantha generally enjoyed a friendly spar or two as well, and the chance to exchange pointers with someone who actually made a living from combat was too good to pass up.

"I know a little bit here and there with the sword," Eri replied modestly, for he was not one to boast as he generally felt that empty words are pointless when used to describe skills that can be actually tested. "I've been in a brawl or two, if that's what you're asking. I wouldn't mind exchanging pointers with you, though, whether it be armed or unarmed."

"How would you like to do this?" Eri asked, unsure if the gladiators had their own code of conduct or protocols regarding spars and whatnot. It would be best to clarify before beginning. "Also, what do I call you? I am known as Eridanus."