Good Turns Bad.

by **Archailist** on February 26th, 2014, 7:58 pm

59th of Winter, 513.

The streets of the city were bustling that day. He wasn't particularly sure why, but it seemed to be the weather - the many odd colours and clothes that the citizens of Nyka wore were brighter, and looked shorter than usual. If one could even call such things a style of summer, since they never seemed to follow any style that the squirrel had seen anywhere else. At least they seemed appropriate given the sweltering heat that had the squirrel literally baking - he had to constantly keep to the shade in order to stop himself becoming a statue or stiffening his joints at the very least, but there were the few times he found himself needing to at least catch a glance over Nyka's streets. Not for any particular reason.. but it seemed that always, while looking over the streets from a rooftop perch, he found himself thankful that he never needed to wear clothes. Though even if he did, he wouldn't - a squirrel, wearing clothes? If it meant he had to, to become a knight, then he could learn to eventually ride a dog around.. although wearing clothes just seemed ridiculous. All people, whether humanoid or not, had their dignity and every time they put on clothes, they chipped a little piece away. Until eventually, they ended up like the monks. Bald, grey, wrinkled and never smiling - all former dignity abandoned until they looked like very cross living statues. Some of them knew how to muster at least a bit of honour but most of them were just funny. Not like the knights. At least they had armour.

Not that the squirrel would wear armour either. It restricted movement. Without armour, he could do all of the things that no other human could. And on that very thought, he decided it was time to move to a better spot. Perhaps do a bit of shopping and see if he could find some weapons of good use, or anything else that might turn out to be particularly useful. Perhaps he could make a friend, find out something new to do... he'd been stuck to a pretty boring routine anyway, these past few days. Running about Nykan rooftops had its moments but when you did it every single day as a basic mode of transportation, it soon became monotonous.

He quickly stood up from the ledge and slowly leaned over it - his tail often worked as a counterweight to let him lean pretty far over these ledges without tipping. This time, it didn't, though. It pressed tightly against his back and his balance tipped, sending the squirrel toppling straight over the edge of the roof head-first.. until his arms spread out and caught the top ledge of the first window on the way down. Unfortunately, he'd over-swung his balance and instead of catching all of his weight and leaving the squirrel balancing perfectly n place, he only caught half of it. The other half continued on its way and swung the squirrel around unexpectedly so that, instead, his feet went down first. His arms hadn't been expecting this sudden change and his grip soon faltered - leaving the squirrel plummeting straight down. If only up until the window-sill just a short drop down, that the heels of his feet caught and tipped back onto, stopping the squirrel where he stood.

He found himself breathing out a sigh of relief, even though he knew that he could survive such a drop. A quick roll at the bottom would have made such a thing far easier to survive than it looks, considering it was only a two-storey drop at best. And he'd even managed to push that done to a mere single-storey or less. With the panic over, he hopped down the remaining storey and quickly rolled over his shoulder to shift most of his momentum forwards and the stress over his back, rather than his legs taking most of the stress and the momentum pushing directly down from above. They took some, of course, but the amount was minimal.

by **Archailist** on June 14th, 2014, 3:36 pm

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

As the squirrel rushed across the boundary of the roof, balanced precariously upon the apex of the slant, he found the time to glance out over the city landscape and the many people that wandered around it. They all seemed to be gravitating towards one spot in particular - the Fourth Day Market. A place he'd rarely seen, but... who knew, maybe he could find some interesting things inside. A weapon of some sort, or something similar at least. Although it was a fair deal away - the squirrel would have a lot of the Celestial to cross. It was a good thing then, that he knew about all of the rooftops and could work out a suitable plan to make it across as quickly as possible without having to worry about all the traffic ad whatnot that already clogged many of the streets. Even the monks amongst the crowds of multi-coloured citizens seemed to be struggling to push between the various different people that stood patiently by.

But to the squirrel, it was all a mass of stepping stones. Some happened to be a bit hairier than the others but none of that fussed him. As he reached the end of the roof, he ducked down and prepared himself.. before leaping straight off the edge and landing on the roof opposite, on the other side of the rather narrow street connecting the larger ones. There, he could turn on the spot by whipping his weighted tail around in a find half-circle to bring his momentum to a sheer stop. After that, it was a sharp turn around to line himself up with the thin column of houses nearly touching one-another that led all the way down to the square inside which stood a collection of stalls so vast that even the birds high above would be able to distinguish it from the rest of the city itself. Mostly because it stuck out like the sorest thumb of all - none of it was red. And considering everything else in the city was red, from the doors to the red walls and the red roofs. If they could have red windows, I'm sure they'd have those too.

When he begun his run, he found himself faced with a problem - he couldn't build up momentum again, once stopped. He shouldn't have stopped in the first place but the turn was too sharp for his liking and slipping straight off the edge of the roof would have been a painful and embarrassing situation. Then again, a squirrel trapped on a roof would be even worse. The roofs in front and behind were both significantly taller than the one he currently stood upon, and had very little in terms of an actual ledge to climb. The roof was also pretty damn narrow.. there wouldn't be enough room to make a decent run up to the tallest ledge. It was the first time, and only time, he'd been faced with such a problem and the best solution he could think of, would be to just jump down off the roof and try and find a different route to get to that marketplace. Jump over the citizens and the monks, or use a different line of houses to make it through the city.

Or. Wait. The squirrel glanced from one wall to the next and back, calculating the distance between the two and thinking it over in his head. It'd be an unorthodox method but.. he could jump from one wall to the other and back, like a strange ladder, in order to make it all the way up to the top. It'd be difficult, even for one that was so skilled in acrobatic talent as him. But it might be able to spare the squirrel the trouble of finding a different route. And the shame of finding a roof in all of Nyka that he could not reach. Which was really the most important thing of all for the squirrel, who often prided himself on his acrobatic ability. What would any self-respecting squirrel be, without their climbing ability, after all? Nothing, that's what! Nothing at all!

by **Archailist** on June 14th, 2014, 5:30 pm

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Since there were only two walls - the first one, belonging to the building that he wished to climb, and the second belonging to the building opposite, there were very limited options on where to begin. The second wall was the only one with any significant ledges that the squirrel could use effectively. Which was why he started there, and made what little run-up he could manage before pressing one foot onto the wall, along with both paws, and pushing up against the wall. It gave him a minor head-start but that was all. The rest was a good climb and a half, with little to use but the thin spaces between the bricks and mortar. His claws struggled to fill enough space to provide adequate grip but he resolved this issue by moving as quickly as possible from one grapple point to the next, never staying long enough for the strain to overwhelm his poor clay fingers.

And, surprisingly, the plan worked. Eventually he reached a slightly deeper ledge where a brick had been set a little further from the rest. He could use this to relax on, with his arms finding relative ease holding the rest of his body in the position. It also meant the squirrel could get a good look around at where he was supposed to be going - the first wall, now directly opposite him. The largest ledge he could see would be just a little bit above where he was now. It wasn't a very large ledge at that, but it was about the best out of all of them that he was going to find. The first thing to do was make sure that he had a decent grip on the brick that acted as his current ledge - that meant disfiguring his claws and spreading them over the smaller gaps, like the roots of a plant trying to burrow through stone. Then, his legs found a better position where the soles could press flat against the wall, before condensing down and forming a pressure around his knees and thighs. It may have been short enough of a distance to cross with one good jump but only barely.

Finally, it was time. He took a deep breath, strained all the way down his back until he could feel the very grip on the stone breaking away, and then he released himself and was soon propelled through the air backwards. His tail swung in mid-air and his entire upper body twisted, causing his entire body to make an adjustment so that when he finally slammed into the opposite wall, he could at least grab onto the wall with his paws and feet. And.. it worked, just about. There was a bit of scrabbling and scraping as his feet struggled to find the right place to settle, and his paws were slightly squished from the impact and therefore took time to reform and settle. But, he was there. It wasn't much of a difference in height between where he'd just been and where he was now, but it was something. If he could manage to do it a dozen more times then he might actually be able to make it up to the top again. And in time for the market, too.

He'd almost forgot about the market. He needed to get there quickly, after all, if he wanted to get a good look at all the merchandise before the monks and citizens found all the best offers and ran away with them. Immediately, the squirrel sighed and pressed his feet against the wall, preparing himself for another jump across the boundary to the next spot - just a little higher, but again, it was something. The ledge was also a bit shorter, and narrower by the looks of things, but he could make it. If he squished his paws again, just like the last time, he could create suction between himself and the rock. And then, he wouldn't even have to worry about the ledges. Just the imperfections and the dimples in the hard, red stone would suffice to keep the squirrel in place.

And indeed, the next jump became even easier than the last. A quick spring across the gap and a rough impact into the second wall, and he was there. Both of his paws had taken most of the impact this time and when they'd squished in place against the wall, they'd pushed all of the air out of the way to make way for the tiny pieces of clay that could press into and over every available space like a liquid.

by **Archailist** on June 14th, 2014, 6:52 pm

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The trek was going along well. Better than well, even! He knew that he could do it by now, and soon prepared himself for the next leap with one leg hanging off the edge of the slight ledge that had been made out of a stone cut awkwardly, leaving a great gash over its surface that his claws could press inside to provide adequate anchorage. Regardless, he prepared himself and pressed one foot firmly against the stone and extended the other one out. He wanted to try something - he wanted to see if he could get this done even faster than the pace he already had running. He didn't need to spend so long preparing each jump, if he could make it more efficient and keep the constant pressure along his back and legs. When he finally did spring, his tail swiped around again and his body turned in the air.. only to find that when he reached out and tried to grab for the next ledge, he couldn't find an adequate grapple-point.

He'd messed up, big time. His claws bent and squished against the wall, and his fingers couldn't find a good place to dig themselves in. His feet scrambled and scraped along the stone beneath him but it only gave the same result - he couldn't find any purchase and ended up beginning to slide down the wall, fumbling all the way. Damn it all, if only he hadn't of been so overconfident in his own abilities, he would have never ended up in such a horrible mess like this. He should have stuck with the routine, should have just kept going the exact same way. It could set him behind - and the drop by now was significant. He'd never be able to climb the thing now. He'd be lucky if he made it out alive, considering that if he landed on the floor the wrong way, he might end up being squished into a pancake. The wall would only hold out for as long as his arms and legs could scrape on it, trying and failing to make purchase - but just about making enough to keep him cemented to the wall while he descended.

Suddenly, his foot found a purchase. A small ledge of sorts - the one just beneath, the first one he'd used. Except, his foot couldn't provide an adequate balance and he nearly tumbled backwards right off the wall itself. Eventually he lost the footing again, but when he continued to slide down the wall, his right paw grabbed on tight and held in place. Thank goodness... he wouldn't be squished after all. And with just enough room to get the other paw onto the ledge as well, the squirrel was secure again, hanging off the very edge of the wall and looking about himself to try and find out how much ground he'd lost. It was a lot, it turned out - he wasn't even that far off the ground. Barely a quarter of the way up the wall. But, this was time that he could use to really think about what he wanted to do.

He needed to get up again. The same way as before, without trying to cut any corners. Just jump from one ledge to the next, back and forth. Make sure to look for the suitable ledge before leaping this time.

Once he'd finally set himself up, he turned and begun to climb again. Each time he prepared himself, and pressed both feet against the wall in preparation to jump, he turned his head and really studied the wall opposite - looking for every single ledge or imperfection in the wall that could be used as a grapple point. And from that, he picked out the largest and the highest, respectively. He didn't want something so high that he wouldn't be able to make the jump, but he wanted to make distance. And he wanted something that was reasonably wide. However, he never really found what could be called the 'perfect ledge'. Which meant, he had to go for the best that he could manage. When he finally did jump, it was much easier than he'd thought. The ledge was sturdy, if not that high.. although, one thing he hadn't taken into consideration was the next jump from that ledge.

When he looked back to the wall he'd just jumped from, to find the next point to jump towards, he realized that there were many greater points to jump towards, but they were all too high. If he'd have gone for a higher ledge on the first jump, the second jump would have been easier. Because he'd not taken that into consideration, when he finally did make the second jump, it was significantly shorter than he'd have liked. It looked like it was actually going to be a pretty damn long journey up those two walls - on top of the near-fall he'd made earlier. Damn it, if only he'd taken time out to think things over, and not just plan - actually think, and use the right tactics to scale the walls. Oh well, he'd learned his lesson. Of course he didn't have to think about those things all the time - he was competent enough in scaling the majority of walls in Nyka to be able to climb them without a moments hesitation. All it took was a good window, or a small ledge, or a balcony, or a door. All of them were pretty damn frequent. But... when put into these situations in particular... it paid to have a level mind on the matter.

by **Archailist** on June 15th, 2014, 10:47 am

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The remaining climb was long and monotonous - and most of it wasn't really a climb at all. He leaped back and forth between the two walls over and over like it was a strange sport, and he was the ball. However, thanks to preparing each time before a jump, he managed to make it to the roof with a heavy sigh of relief - at the cost of wasting a lot of time making the 'climb'. Most likely a bell, at least - if not a bell and a half. He'd missed most of the market and most of the best items were long gone, but there was no point in turning home now when he'd spent so much effort trying to make it there. He could at least get a look over what was left, get in a word and a chat with a few of the citizens and maybe a monk wandering about the market stalls - and he could ask around about riding dogs. He'd need one soon enough anyway, if he was ever going to make it back to Syliras. Of course, on the way from Syliras to Nyka, he'd had a borrowed mount.. but he didn't have that any more, unfortunately. So, he'd have to make do with what he could find, and what he could use. Hopefully at least a small dog.

That was if they had dogs at all. After a breather and a break, lying on the edge of the roof to conserve himself, he stood and begun his run once again. Although for the remainder of the journey it was much slower than before - and thankfully there were few leaps to make and all of them were relatively easy because the buildings were piled together at around the same height, like a pathway of its own. As he glanced over the edges of the buildings at the wide streets below, he noticed that the crowds had also thinned out a lot. Most of the monks had dispersed to do their own things, and those that were left were citizens mostly milling about the stalls, not really buying anything.. more there for the conversation. The stalls themselves were mostly empty of items and some of them were empty altogether, with the merchants long-gone or in the process of cleaning up the last of their items into their long carts and saddlebags.

Eventually the squirrel reached the end of the line of houses and hopped straight down off the end, to a balcony on the lower floor. From there, it was a short jump from the ledge to.. a Nykan citizen's shoulder. "Oh... hello." The citizen certainly look surprised but, remarkably, she kept her cool. Or at least, as cool as any person would be when a squirrel made out of clay dropped down onto her shoulder. He felt like he should at least make an introduction, considering that she'd not thrown him off the shoulder straight away. "My name is, aha..."

"Archailist, yes. I know." She'd stunned the squirrel into silence within a matter of seconds, leaving his jaw hanging loosely and his eyes boggling - not that it was a surprise, because whenever he looked anywhere, his comically-large and completely pupil-less eyes gave him a very alien look - or so he'd been told by others whenever he asked how he looked. It was quite horrible usually. "You're the one that beat up the cultist quite bad. The squirrel, that beat up the cultist quite bad. You don't do something like that without other people hearing about it, especially in broad daylight with lots of people watching." He'd never known that so many people would know about such a thing but now that he did, he truly began to wonder just how many people knew. Did they all know, or just some of them? Was the girl there, during the attack? Did she see him, or had he met with her before, just through different means? It wasn't exactly uncommon for the squirrel to take to using peoples heads as stepping stones. In fact, he'd intended to do that mere moments ago to find the best stalls, although now he'd decided he'd much prefer the company of the person who knows everything about him, and yet he knows nothing of in turn.

"So... you saw me there, then?" He had to know just how far it spread, after all.

"No, but gossip spreads quickly. It's not everyday that a squirrel turns up, let alone a talking one made out of clay that can beat people up. I wouldn't call it being a celebrity but you're not unknown." Strangely, the woman seemed to be a bit too formal for the squirrels liking. But, he dismissed it quickly as nerves. Or maybe aftershock of the whole situation. He wanted to focus more on this whole 'celebrity' business, although she'd already told him not to think of it in that way. He couldn't help it - people were recognizing him. He might even be respected a little, by now. If only he could find more cultists to beat up.. then he might be able to persuade some of the monks to do some training with him!

by **Archailist** on June 15th, 2014, 11:17 am

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

As they continued on their way through the various remaining stalls, he couldn't help but wonder where exactly the girl was heading. And more importantly, "So what's your name, then?"

Abruptly the girl seemed to loosen a little. Yes, it looked like it had been all nerves. There was even a bit of a sheepish smile cresting over her face - although she hid most of it by turning her head discreetly towards a stall, for a second making the squirrel believe she was just searching around for something else. The corner of her mouth was a pretty dead giveaway though. "My name is Shalara." An odd name for a human, but he nodded regardless in thought as he scanned briefly over the few merchandise left out. Silks left out in little squares and larger bundles hidden away behind the merchants back, and various little trinkets of specific interest. Pots, pans, jugs and ceramics; foods, crops and fruits, exotic and not; small weapons and projectiles like arrows and slingshot-pellets. Nothing of particular interest, except for perhaps a little blowpipe displayed that the squirrel was sure he could use with his diminutive paws anyway. They soon passed it but he made a mental note of the store owner and the location of the store - a balding human with Windmarks on his bared arms, and a glorious stallion waiting patiently further back. It reminded him of that one girl, Sayren...

"Where are you heading, then, Shalara?" Perhaps he should have asked that question first, since he was quickly becoming lost amongst the stalls and the new area. There were so many oddly-dressed citizens catching his eyes that he could barely see through the blends of strange colour to beyond. Shalana's dress caught his attention as well - a short, green skirt that seemed to ruffle just a little before spreading down to the knees with a bell. And a top that couldn't decide what shade of green it wanted to be, so it just seemed to encompass all of them at once - in various places, like the patches of a cow.

"Oh, I'm just window-shopping. Looking for anything that might catch my eye, that sort-of thing. Nothing of interest for you, I'm afraid, but if you'd want to join me, I'd be happy to have you." She seemed so affable, he could hardly resist. Why not, after all? It wasn't like he had anything specific to do that day anyway. He might end up making another few rounds for his courier job, but apart from that, he was a free squirrel. Free to go wherever he wanted, do whatever he wanted - or, at least, do the things a visitor was allowed to do in Nyka. And go to the places that weren't prohibited by the monks. Which actually left few places otherwise that he could go. No matter.

"Why, it'd be my pleas---" He was forced to stop as Shalana jolted beneath him and nearly screamed, although it came out eventually as a yelp of surprise and disgust. The squirrel wheeled around to try and find the cause of the problem - and found it immediately. The skirt suddenly blew up with a gust of sharp wind, that seemed extremely strange for the calm weather and sunny sky that had been dominating the entire day up until that moment, until he saw a strange man positioned behind them. He'd never even seen the man's arrival and for that he cursed himself. He was the most suspicious of all he'd seen that afternoon, after all. Balding with just a few hairs forming a line around the back of his skull, and a few scars here and there over his face, puckered and rather ugly. Greying, wrinkled, slightly hunched.. and with his hands clenched, sending... wind?

This was the first and only time he'd ever witnessed Reimancy. Or any type of magic for that case. The concept was foreign to the poor squirrel and watching the man manipulating the air itself in order to send it tumbling down in a river, pushing up underneath Shalana's skirt made him more curious than outraged. It was, after all, a strange and very unique power to have at ones command.. one that could prove to be very useful, if not for the horrible uses that the man was currently putting it towards. Even as the skirt rose higher and the air cupped it around the edge, he could see the gleam in his beady little eyes. Disgusting, truly. "He's behind you!" the squirrel shouted out, but as Shalana turned around with a fist ready to punch the shyke out of the strange little pervert, he turned and fled as fast as he could manage. And with the skirt still falling, Shalana could only watch.

For a little man, he could surely run fast - hopping and weaving around the stalls and the crowds before anyone else could make a pursuit. Although, the squirrel had a better idea on how to catch the little pervert. "Shalana!" The girl quickly looked down in confusion and stared at the squirrel for the few moments it took for a smile to grow over his face. "I want you to throw me at him." Immediately, he could see her mouth rise and confusion spread over her face, about to object. But he was a Pycon - he could manage such things. After all, it was the same way he'd dealt with that cultist, so it was a tried and tested theory. "Look, I know it's weird but I promise it won't hurt me, so pick me up and throw me at that guy as hard as you can." There was still a lot of confusion and a bit of nervousness on the girls face but she nodded her head and reached up with one hand, picking up the Pycon gently and holding her within her palm.

by **Archailist** on June 15th, 2014, 3:27 pm

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The balding man was escaping quicker than the Pycon had expected - and by weaving around the few stalls and surprised citizens, he was making good ground. Unlike the Pycon himself, who was being cradled in Shalara's hand like he was a delicate little flower. He could tell it was an awkward experience for her - after all, it wasn't every day that you made a new friend and within the same bell, got told to throw said friend across the market place. But, this was life, and surprises were bound to happen sooner or later. He needed to give her a good push. "Look, he's getting away, and you want to get him just as much as I do. It won't hurt. Just throw me, as hard as you can at him, and trust me." It was a very cheesy line to pull, and there was absolutely no reason for her to trust a Pycon she'd barely met a few chimes ago. But it was his health that was on the line here, not hers. He could take the damage.

Thankfully, through some miracle, she nodded. Suddenly he felt her grip become much tighter, and her arm reeled back as far as it could. He could tell that she held a damn impressive physique beneath that god-awful dress, because her grip was like iron - nearly compressing his arms against his own torso. Which was a good thing.. after all, streamlining and everything. Plus he knew he'd build up plenty of speed. And he was right. When the arm came around in a full circle, he could have sworn he felt a crack as the air burst with sound, and immediately he was flying. He was flying faster than he could even calculate - possibly by the sheer wind or a natural reflex, his head begun to meld into the rest of his body, until he was more in the shape of a fat arrow than a squirrel. His head long gone, and the point of which all of his life remained pushed all the way back to where his toes would have once been. And it was in this form that he struck the man straight in the center of the back.

The balding man in question was immediately shoved down onto the floor with a heavy gasp of breath, all the wind knocked out of his lungs and the marbles lost from his skull in the process. The squirrel wasn't much better though - such wrenching impact left him careening off to the side, spiraling through the air comically until he plopped down to the floor and rolled off a few metres. And it was around the point that he finally stopped, that the squirrel realized that the world had at least stopped spinning by now. It took a while to reform his body.. remake his arms, legs, head, tail.. pretty much everything about the squirrel. He'd lost it all during that. But when he finally did, the man was still on the ground. Only now, he was covered in bruises and had two black eyes from where he'd been repeatedly punched by other citizens, a few monks, and Shalara too. Somewhere along the way, she'd picked him up, because he found himself regaining 'consciousness' while cupped in her palms, looking straight up into a familiar smiling face.

"Hah, you were right... thank you for stopping him Arch." The girl seemed much happier now than when he'd saw her at first - her cheeks were red with exertion and she was struggling to get air into her lungs. Most likely because she'd just finished her latest round of beating the shyke out of the balding pervert that lay unconscious in the street.

"Hah.. you're the one with the good aim. If it wasn't for you, he never would have gone down.. I was just the rock that got thrown." In truth, he was. There was nothing else he'd done but tell the girl to throw him, and since she had, they'd managed to bring down the pervert. It was mostly her, not him, that was responsible. But to hear the words coming out of his mouth only made Shalara smile even brighter. He had a feeling that he'd see the girl more often now, beating up people that tried to get a look under her skirt. He could only think of one piece of advice for her, since he was pretty sure that would happen. "But.. in future.. get a longer skirt?"