Flashback Serendipity (Arvo)

[Piraen Saneka]

17th of Spring, 510 AV

"This could be a..." Piraen was laying on his back, swinging his feet casually over the side of the branch he had perched in. Above him, he held a bizarrely shaped leaf in both hands. He twisted and flipped it between his tiny fingers. "A broach." The boy held the leaf to his chest, examining it in it's new job.

"Or a hat." Delicately, he moved the leaf to his head. He frowned, disappointed that he had not brought a mirror before he had left. It was a boring life, living on your own. There wasn't too much to do in the woods, and Pi was getting tired of playing flying games. Catching falling leaves between his talons was losing its entertainment value pretty fast.

Even worse was the fact that there was no food anywhere nearby. No markets, no restaurants, and no mothers to supply him with food...it was beginning to irritate Pi. When people talked about how big Kalea was, Piraen pictured a day or two--three, tops--of travelling. That was, unfortunately, not the case. Pi wished people had been more accurate in their descriptions; Kalea wasn't big, it was impossibly gigantic.

"Maybe...glasses." Piraen pushed the leaf against his face, then attempted to stretch it across both eyes. His face wasn't that big. It could fit under the leaf, definitely.

Riiip.

Piraen dropped his hands over the sides of the branches, took in a deep breath, and let out a long, exasperated groan. Of course the leaf had ripped. Now he would have to find a new leaf that suited his needs, and that would take forever. As he threw the leaf halves down in disgust, he groaned once more.

Piraen sat up and squeezed the branch between his legs. He threw his tiny body to the left, causing him to hang from the tree. Thankfully, he didn't weigh much, so there wasn't a lot to hold up. Nevertheless, he went about his task with a sense of urgency. Pi picked through a patch of nearby leaves carefully. If he liked a leaf, he would pass it to his free hand. If he didn't like a leaf (which was often), then he would drop it with disdain.

OOCToddler-Pi, for your reference.

[Arvo]

Travel, especially travel by himself, was definitely not fun. Why was he still in Kaela anyway? Sure it had been two years since he’d killed Kaya, but that didn’t mean he was 100 percent safe. The only advantage he had over Turrin was that he could not leave windreach, being an Endal. Now that he thought about it, he was glad none of those ridiculously large birds had ‘chosen’ him. He did regret never managing to put an arrow through their feathered necks.

The hunter sighed, and stopped to look through his pack to take note of how many supplies he had left. He was dismayed to find that he was going to have to stop in Alvadas to get some more. He didn’t know much about the city, only that it wasn’t a good idea for him to stay their long, for fear of getting lost in it’s colourful changing streets for much longer than he wanted to. Though he had heard it was a place where artists thrived, Arvo could sing, anyway. He had no control over his voice, and lacked any sort of skill in the area, but he’d been told naturally his voice was at least pleasing to the ears. Maybe the skill wouldn’t do him any good but one never knew. Maybe it’d impress beautiful women?

His thoughts tended to wonder while he was alone. He didn’t like having no one to show off to, irritate, or charm. Despite has abnormities, Arvo was defiantly extraverted. It was actually a huge pain in the ass, because generally he disliked other people, and other people usually felt the same way about him. Just as he was thinking this, a child appeared in front of him like a monkey, dangling from a tree branch by his legs and picking through leaves. What was a kid as young as this doing out in the unforgiving alone? I mean sure, he might be independent enough, but physically he was dead at the first sign of danger. They were close to Alvadas, maybe he lived there.

Whatever, it was his problem, not Arvo’s. But at the same time, there wasn’t anyone else out here to talk too, and Arvo was bored out of his mind. So he approached the dangling boy and peered down at him “Uh, you alright there, kid?” Arvo asked in an accented common tongue furrowing his brow. “You alone out here?”

[Piraen Saneka]

Piraen's obsidian eyes snapped around to meet the man. He hadn't heard him approaching. Actually, he had heard him, but he just didn't care enough to process the sound as a threat. Being stalked wasn't something he was used to; when he heard footsteps, he just assumed someone was walking by.

"Yeah, I'm fine. How are you?" His mother would have slammed him for saying 'yeah', but, other than that, Pi still held onto the etiquette his mother had taught him. He pulled himself back onto the tree branch, leaves in hand, and sat facing the stranger. Pi was low enough to converse with the man, but still high enough where he could fly away if need be.

"If I say no, will you leave?" Piraen puffed his chest out. His mother always warned him about the savage people who lived outside the walls of Alvadas. She had told him that the only person he could trust was himself out here. "If I say yes, are you going to eat me?" Pi narrowed his eyes, sizing up the man. One could never be too sure; this stranger could be that kind of person.

"Why are you asking?" Pi crossed his arms across his chest, and pursed his lips. His eyes continued to scan the man, lingering on his bag. Though his chief concern was being eaten, what to eat came in at a close second. There was a strong chance this man had food on him. Now Pi just had to figure out how to get some.

[Arvo]

The kid’s head snapped up to look at him as soon as Arvo opened his mouth, and responded right away with a question of his own. How was he? Tired, mostly. But he didn’t say this, instead he chuckled. “Not to bad.” He responded, in a friendly enough manner. The boy went on to puff his chest out like someone mimicking a bird. It was a gesture he’d seen many times back home. Then he said something truly comical “Eat you?” Arvo scoffed “Where the petch d’ya get that idea?” The kid narrowed his eyes, sizing him up suspiciously. Unlike the boy, Arvo wasn’t to be considered polite, after all, the Inartens had little use for social niceties, and so he hadn’t exactly been taught manners.

Arvo caught the kid looking at his traveling pack and reminded himself to be careful about leaving it within his reach, thought it was unlikely the kid would be able to steal from him anyway. Crossing his arms across his chest, the kid looked at him accusingly. ‘why are you asking?’ he said. Arvo laughed again “Cause it’s dangerous out here, though in hindsight, I suppose It aint none of my business.” He corrected himself “My apologies. I’ll just be off”

The hunter said, stepping back from the branch. He paused for a moment as though a thought had just struck him. He really knew nothing about the city he was entering, maybe the boy could help him out. “Though, I am about to enter Alvadas. Be nice if you could give me a few pointers, if possible, as to how to navigate my way to a marketplace, then maybe some sort of Inn?” Was worth a shot, and he supposed asking this child was better than going in blind. He was going to stock up on food, spend the day there, and then get the hell out, hopefully before he grew old and grey trying to figure out where the exit was.

[Piraen Saneka]

Piraen nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm," He wondered if this man was just backpedalling. Pi might've just called out the stranger on his cannibalistic ways and this was his way of trying to cover it up. That's what they all say . . .

"My mom," Pi dropped his eyes as he trailed off. If there was one thing that he, as a kid, was good at, it was guilt trips. "She used to look out for me like that before..." Tears formed in the boy's eyes. He sniffled pathetically, then looked away.

"It's bad in there, too." He said when he turned back. "It changes all the time, and people are gonna take advantage of you." Alvadas was never the same city twice. Everybody knew that. What everybody might not know, Pi thought, was the predatory instincts some of the Alvadasians had. It was easy to pick on confused, turned-around visitors. When times were hard, there would definitely be residents there that wouldn't bat an eyelash at stealing from or manipulating this stranger. It was just an instinct the city itself had. His mother had it, and Pi knew full-well that he had it.

"You have to watch your own back." Piraen added, shifting his arms in front of his chest.

[Arvo]

oocBetter late than never right… aha..haha.. yeah I’m sorry. I lost track of my threads for a while because University is kind of stressing me out right now, and I forgot about this one. I’m sorry about that!

The kid suddenly grew all soppy, which didn’t really strike Arvo as something he should care about. Still, it surprised him enough to make him stop walking away. It felt more like some kind of ploy that real tears. This kid seemed smart, he didn’t seem the type to cry about whatever depressing childhood losses he’d suffered to random strangers. Arvo raised an eyebrow at him “Whatever, kid.” He said, his voice dead beat and unimpressed. Arvo was the wrong person to try and win over with sympathy. He’d never even experienced having a mother either, so there was no feelings there to tap into. “Well, it seems you’re attempting to guilt trip me right now, and considering you say the locals are manipulative, I’m wondering what exactly you want, and how you can help me.”

He moved slightly closer to the boy. This kid was from Alvadas, meaning maybe he could help him find the supplies he needed to replenish. But then again, maybe it wasn’t worth it. He was running low on arrows, and his knife was getting blunt, but he could still hunt and skin animals. Some salt would be nice, to preserve meat for a little longer, but he could go without it. He could make it to the next city. It wouldn’t be fun but he could make it.

How did this kid get around the city if it always changes? How did anyone live in a city like that? It was a ridiculous place to live, more claustrophobic than wind reaches tunnels. “So, how do you navigate the city on your own then?” He asked “Is there some sort of local trick?” he asked hopefully “Or do you people just stumble around clutching onto your belongings tightly sniffing out outsiders to manipulate whilst hoping you’ll find what you set out to find?”

[Piraen Saneka]

Piraen shrugged, his eyes still averted. "I want the same thing you do." Though vague, the boy's response was most likely still true. Nobody stopped in a foriegn city--especially when that city was the city of illusions--just for shoots and giggles. This man needed something. Whether that be a place to stay or food, or just some company. No matter what it was this man sought, Pi was looking for the same thing.

"Mostly the last one." Piraen shrugged again to the man's questions. It wasn't a joke. When he and his mother travelled through the city, they really were sniffing out prey. Outsiders were the usual meal, but sometimes aristocratic tightwads were on the menu. They didn't hope to find what they set out to find. To them, it was more of finding what you set out for; the city just seemed to give you what you needed, when you needed it.

"Don't think about it too much." Pi said, looking at the man. He shrugged away slightly as the man moved closer. This stranger didn't feel right to Pi; he didn't like his mood. "If ou go in with a plan, it'll just take longer. Just walk in, keep walking, then eventually you'll get there."