Learning to Walk (Cora, Gian)

[Warden Thrice]

Fall 25th, 511 AV Eorar slithered over the rough stone, making his way towards the cliff on the shore. Most of the time this place would be a multitude of tide pools, but at high tide there was maybe a foot of water above them that allowed him to move with his preferred method. He quickly found his way to the sand and crawled to the sheer rock face on his hands and knees. Yesterday’s encounter, though enlightening, had illuminated just how out of practice Eorar was at walking. He leaned heavily on the cliff and stood slowly, keeping both hands on it for support as he slowly started to sidle his way to the right, in the vague direction of Zeltiva.

[Gian Marco]

Fall 25th, 511 AV Gian Marco cinched the leather straps on his pack one last time before placing it atop the rump of his trusty steed, Baron. The horse huffed impatiently and kicked some loose stone down the mountainside. "Hush," the Isur replied, but in his heart he felt just as compelled to visit the Bay one last time before Winter's return. He spent the remainder of the morning stowing his belongings deep within a cavern that had been his home for the last few years. The last belonging to be put away was an enormous slab of ore that bore the natural shape of a crude anvil. Gian Marco lifted the stone gracefully, as though he knew its weight and girth well and enjoyed the exercise of stowing it last. When all was put away, he spent a few deliberate moments extinguishing any trace of his existence: covering the entrance of the cavern with a makeshift screen of vine, leaves and brush, scattering leaves and branches over the clearing that had served as his work area for the warmer months. The ride took the Isur and his horse the better part of the day, weaving through an initial set of switchbacks and then along the more trodden ground of the Mirahil Pass. Gian Marco passed the time listening to the cadence of Baron's breathing and hooves and lost in thought. As the Pass opened up below them, Gian Marco steered Baron to the north east of Zeltiva's city gates. He had no need for cities or their inhabitants and rarely entered the city proper. As dusk began to fall, Baron led them to a shoreline crag east of the city. Gian Marco began to survey the rocks for suitable shelter from the winds that whipped the Bay at night. He dismounted and led Baron carefully along the rocks. Before long he noticed an unusual looking creature making its way carefully along the crag. Gian Marco sheathed his Spontoon alongside Baron's saddle and knelt slowly between a pair of larger rocks. He sat motionless as the creature continued to move ever closer, staring straight ahead and controlling each breath. It looks injured, he thought, then thought better of signaling it.

[Cora Greenberg]

Having spent a majority of the day on her feet in the city, Cora was longing for some time alone, somewhere she could quietly sit and rest and be away from everyone. She knew about a perfect place for this, but it meant that she had to spent some more time walking. Once she got home, she ate diner, which consisted of a vegetable salad her mother made that day. Then she slowly walked out of the house and made her way to the shore with a small bag on her back. The bag was empty. She was carrying it only for some nice seashells if she found some on the beach. She would spend hours looking for seashells of a different shapes most of the time which she spent on the shore but now she felt like laying down on the sand and sleeping. When she got near the shore, she noticed a figure walking slowly towards her. Towards the city. She started to feel a bit uncomfortable. The figure seemed to be walking in a strange way. Cora thought that maybe it was some drunk person. Or maybe the person was hurt? When Cora got closer, she realised that the figure was not human. It had blue skin. She had never encountered a creature like this one, but from the books she knew that it must be one of the Charodae. She was very near to the Charoda watching him cautiosly. She was so close that it was sure he noticed her too but she decided to go on and do nothing. If the Charoda wanted to hurt her, she would run. In fact, she could run very fast.

[Warden Thrice]

The sand usually made things very quiet, at least next to the ocean, so it was by pure chance that Eorar turned his head, looking to see how much further the rock face lasted, and caught sight of the young woman. He jumped violently, then tried to back away. Unfortunately, his land left the crag, and he toppled backwards, arms windmilling. He crashed into the sand, swearing in Char, and floundered. After a few moments he calmed, remembering that on land, waving about would do not good. Slowly, and with great care, he crawled back to the rock face, keeping a cautious eye on the woman, and pulled himself to his feet. "Who?" he asked. "I not wish to fight. Do not fight." .

[Gian Marco]

Gian Marco watched the calamity with some amusement from his spot between the boulders. The windmill effect had even drawn Baron's attention and the horse stamped the sand enthusiastically, casting its head from side to side while snorting. Gian Marco cast a sideways glance at his steed and whispered, "Fish do not belong on land." He was intrigued and perhaps even respected the young girl's courage in approaching such a strange looking creature. Although he could not hear their conversation, he assumed she was in no imminent danger. The tide had since drawn away from the rocky landscape and Gian Marco began to notice an army of large crab scuttling and falling over the rocks. He set about gathering those unfortunate enough to land on their backs and placing them belly side up under Baron, all the while keeping a stray eye on the action. The Isur shed his bearskin overcloak and draped it over the pack atop his horse. The sun was beginning to set on Mathews Bay, half of its fiery orb descending below the horizon. Firey hues of purple and magenta painted the remaining clouds and, in that moment, Gian Marco felt truly blessed to be a part of such a presentation. He offered praise to Izurdin in his native tongue as he gathered the last of the overturned crab and deposited them in his ever-growing stockpile beneath Baron. The horse's ears twitched periodically, eyes fixed forward on the nearby pair. At last, Gian Marco dusted the sand from his calloused hands and set off in their direction. He held his hands at his sides, palms facing forward to indicate no ill will or hidden weapons. "Hail," he shouted above the sounds of lapping water and gulls. When he was nearly upon them he gained a better perspective of the Charoda whose hands were held up as if in defense of some unknown assailant. The creature was babbling in broken tongue and Gian Marco made sure to keep some distance between them and himself. He looked at Cora and spoke deliberately, "What is it?"

[Cora Greenberg]

Cora was quite startled, when she saw that the Charoda stumbled and toppled to the ground, when he saw her. Apparently, he was as scared of strangers as her. She heard him say something, but didn't understand him. She watched him, as he crawled to the rocks and stood up carefully and with bad Common, he told her something about not fighting. Cora sighed in relief. She looked at him and lifted her hands slowly, to show that she was unarmed. "No fight." she pronounced carefully and nodded, still looking at him. She hoped that he would understand. She turned her hands to show there was nothing in them. "See? No weapons." Besides, she didn't know how to use any weapon, but she wasn't going to tell him that. She nearly jumped out of her skin, when another person came near and greeted them and asked what was happening. He was making the same gesture as her, with hands turned upwards, showing he meant no harm. But who knew? What if he knew that she and the Charoda were harmless and went to attack them? Or maybe he was the Charoda's friend and he thought that she was going to hurt him. Or the Charoda was faking his illness and this was his friend and together they wanted to attack her. The possibilities were endless and she knew that she would hardly be able to defend herself against one opponent, but two? She decided to wait and see what would happen, but she was planning her escape in her mind. She greeted him too. "Hello. I-I was going to rest by the sea, when this creature surprised me, that's all. I think I startled him too. Do you know him?"

[Gian Marco]

The light of the setting sun refracted through the Charoda's skin, manipulating and morphing the appearance of its blue hue. Gian Marco decided that this was truly a beautiful, if inept, creature. He wondered how it survived at all. "I've never known a talking fish," he replied. "Do you think it needs water?" The Charoda had since stopped moving and Gian Marco wondered if it was dead. He leaned over it for a better look, then picked at the sole of one of its feet. Nothing. "My name is Gian Marco," he said. "I come from the mountains." He dropped to his knees beside the Charoda and bent over its mouth to listen for signs of breathing. His left hand came to rest on the creature's chest. "It seems to be breathing, I suppose it isn't dead." Gian Marco sat back on his heels and sighed, then looked up at Cora. The last remaining light of day was fading quickly and he knew they couldn't leave him exposed and alone. "Can you cook?" he asked Cora.

[Warden Thrice]

oocRemember, I won't be able to post as quickly as you two for a few days. Talking fish? Eorar sat on the ground, rather irritated by many of the occurrences in the last minute. He turned his back to the rough stone, looking pointedly away from the two and did his best attempt at pouting. What? Water? No. Eorar was determined to not react. Wait, the strange metal-human was approaching. No. Ignore him. Something like a bolt of electricity shot up his leg, making him screeched loudly and jump nearly a footlength into the air. He twisted and landed on his rump, again, and scrambled backwards as the man touched his chest. "What the chrrra you doing?!" he shouted, voice descending into a string of clicks, chirps and whistles. Gian Marco apparently was his name, this strange red-metal-man. Eorar staggered onto his feet again but kept a wary eye on this Gian, starting every time he showed even a hint of approaching. He slowly found himself easing towards Cora, trying to get her between him and this Man From The Mountans, and only vaguely realized that he was leaving the stable support of the cliff to do so. He crept towards her cautiously, trying to keep one eye on her and the other on Gian, which didn't really work and left him cross-eyed. "You?" he whispered once he had sorted his vision out. "What your name?" ooc2So I guess Eorar is really, really ticklish.

[Cora Greenberg]

Cora was watching the man, who introduced himself as Gian Marco, as her looked over the creature on the ground. She was worried that since it stopped moving, it could be dead, but she didn't come nearer because she was still suspicious about the two of them. She nodded, when he seemed to find out, that the Charoda was alive. At Gian's questions, she looked at him. "I don't if it needs water. Maybe we could take some out of the sea and give it to him. Well, I can cook, but not much. Also, I didn't bring any food from home, but if you have something..." she shrugged. She jumped at the same time the Charoda jumped, when Gian touched him. She laughed. He seemed to be ticklish. She stopped smiling, when the Charoda shouted at Gian and scrambled towards her. On instinct she took one step back, but the Charoda looked so weak, that she doubted that he would be able to harm her. Finally, she crouched near him. "Hi. My name is Cora. And you?" OOCNot my best post, but it's at least something And Gian, wait for Eorar to post first. The posting goes like this: Eorar, Gian and Cora

[Warden Thrice]

"Eorar. Eorar Nevenon." Walking didn't seem to be as difficult as he had thought, now that he had a decent reason for moving fast. He was more than a little uneasy with the red giant, but he slowly started to relax once Cora was in between them. "Why you here?" he asked. Almost immediately another question answered it. "Do many people come here?" He straightened completely and looked at Gian. "Not dead or dying. Perfectly fine. Would like not to be touched, please."