Most of Lambastia's city life can be found along the southeastern coast of Norrega, where settlers feel they are safe from Nori Volcano at the northern tip of the region. Warm gulf winds ensure this region is the most habitable on the continent, though travelers are warned of the disappearances of many venturing too close to the Whisper Forest. Species from all over are housed at the Evelon Preservation Zoo.

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On Arrival [Self]

Postby crow » 04/03/2014 5:08 AM

ImageImage


"Aaaaaand we're heeeeere!"

"Augh!"

Their voices arrived before they did, proper. Then, out of nowhere, two figures appeared, holding hands. The one on the left, a young man who looked to be in his twenties, had a white-knuckled grip on his companion. He rather looked as if he was going to throw up, faint, or both. Hopefully not both. That would be wretched on his constitution, and on his clothes. His blond hair was in woeful disarray, and he hunched over slightly as soon as he realized that they had come to a halt.

The girl on the right seemed to have fared much better than he did. She had a great big grin on her face, already looking eagerly out at the place before them. Her eyes shined brightly, and she broke the hand-hold to put both her hands on her hips, nodding to herself. "Well, well, I think they're giving us a proper welcome! Sure beats turning up in some bit of backwood, eh, Ezzy?"
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Re: On Arrival [Self]

Postby crow » 04/03/2014 5:13 AM

'Ezzy', who was currently caught up in the effort not to lose his lunch, could only wave his hand at her weakly. Larkin looked over at him and rolled her eyes. At this point, his nausea wasn't exactly a surprise, but it was definitely getting old. "Oh, come on, Ez. It's not that bad."

"I'm sure you're right," he replied, while looking not at all as if he actually was. Cold sweat beaded his brow, and he dabbed at it with the back of his hand, which got him another roll of the eyes from Larkin. Always such a stickler, and so dainty about it too. Figures.

"The least you could do is be a little excited. I mean, this is more to your tastes than mine," she said, motioning at the bridge. "No battlefields, no zombie platoons, no giant spiders, no bears... It's kind of a boring entrance if you ask me. I thought you'd be happier about it."

"Larkin?" Esmond's voice wavered precariously. Larkin squinted at him.

"Yes?"

"Please stop moving. If you pace any more I might actually- urk!"

"... Gotcha."
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Re: On Arrival [Self]

Postby crow » 04/03/2014 5:18 AM

It took Esmond a few minutes to get his bearings. Nevermind that he'd done this dozens of times before, taking the jump was always incredibly disorienting. He had no idea how Larkin managed it with as little hassle as she did; in his case it was still a small miracle if he didn't fall over. He rarely threw up anymore, but that was almost entirely self-discipline.

When the world stopped spinning, he sat down hard, and immediately regretted it. Well, the stone here was hard as it was anywhere. He'd discovered that much. He closed his eyes for a moment; when he opened them again, Larkin was peering at him. If she had been anyone else, he would have jumped back at such close proximity, but he was used to this from her. He only closed his eyes again and sighed a little.

"I'm... sorry about that," he said. There was a pause.

"Oh. Oh, uh... No, it's no big. Really." Larkin sounded uncertain, and perhaps a touch contrite. Esmond blinked at her. She shuffled her feet and rubbed at the back of her neck, before apparently seeing something very fascinating over yonder. "Hey, so, if you're feeling better, we should-"

"Get going? Yes, by all means."
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Re: On Arrival [Self]

Postby crow » 04/03/2014 5:27 AM

Esmond heaved himself to his feet. Now that he was mostly recovered, moving was no longer the effort it had been. He even had enough of his mood restored to smile a little at Larkin, who grinned back at him slowly. This was the way it was supposed to be, the two of them as stalwart companions, ready to face whatever came their way! That was what Larkin told him. Frankly, Esmond wasn't so sure that their escapades painted them in such a flattering light, but it would have been nice if it were true. It would have been nice if he were more... stalwart.

Presently he took stock of his surroundings. They seemed to be held upon a great platform, with bridges leading off every which-way, though he couldn't properly make out where their destinations were. Below them yawned a view of the land below, stretched out like a sprawling pastoral painting, or a map. He could make out what might have been a desert. Larkin stared at the other side, obviously enraptured by something else. After a moment, he looked over at her. "Where do you think we are?" he asked.

She gave a shrug. "Heck if I know." Esmond realized belatedly that it had been a futile inquiry; many of the realms they ended up in didn't have proper names, and those that did didn't exactly have road signs pointing them out. But then, it might have been one Larkin had chanced upon before, prior to her meeting him. She had been doing this longer than him.
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Re: On Arrival [Self]

Postby crow » 04/03/2014 5:39 AM

Evidently, however, this was a strange place to them both. Esmond was starting to warm to the idea of being here though. Larkin had been right. This was the sort of starting point he liked, without the various hazards they'd materialized into before. The land they saw before them looked beautiful, and as far as he could see, peaceful as well. It was difficult to tell one way or another from here, and he might be proved wrong later on, but for the moment he was happy to think that it would be.

"I see a city down there," he said. Larkin followed his gaze, and made a wordless noise of agreement. "Why don't we visit that first? I think one of the bridges leads down to it."

"I guess that's as good a place as any," Larkin said. She was about to say something else when she paused with a frown, her nose scrunching up slightly and the crease at the corner of her eyes deepening. She fished around in her pockets and felt around her neck before her hands snagged on something, and she drew a pendant out from where it had been tucked inside the front of her shirt. At the end, wrapped in leather cord, was a splinter of something that looked like glass, glowing softly gold.

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Re: On Arrival [Self]

Postby crow » 04/03/2014 8:58 PM

The glow caught Esmond's eye too not long after. Wordlessly, he extricated his own shard from where it was stored on a similar cord, in his pocket. Larkin had always protested this, for in her mind that made it too easy to steal, but Esmond had argued that nobody would know the true value of it. For all anyone could tell, it was merely badly-made fake jewellery. Normally the shards themselves looked like glass, but strangely enough, his shard was glowing too. That had never happened before.

The two of them exchanged looks. They both made as if to speak, stopped, and motioned for the other to go first. In the end, it was Larkin who broke the silence. "Weird. What do you think it means?" she said. Her brows were furrowed, and her gaze was still fixed on the shard itself, swinging gently from its cord.

Esmond could only shake his head in reply. "I have no idea. But you have to admit, there's a lot we don't know. I don't suppose you remember where you got yours?" he asked.

"Pff, that's easy! Filched it off some sucker on the streets! Er, I think I did, anyway," she said, looking suddenly uncertain. The crease between her brows reappeared. "I... can't remember who I stole it from, now that you mention it..."
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Re: On Arrival [Self]

Postby crow » 04/03/2014 9:10 PM

Larkin was quick to turn the question back on him. "Who did you say you got yours from, again?" Esmond was quiet for a moment.

"I think my father bought it at an antique shop... Why he would take an interest in something so plain is beyond me, though. Since he gave it to me, I guess he didn't know what it was." And now he'll likely never see his father again. Esmond didn't think that was what he had intended with the gift... He certainly hoped that it wasn't. As far as he knew, his father had always been fond of him, even if they weren't particularly close. But his memories of anything before his travels were faded with time, and he didn't know if he could rely on them anymore.

Larkin closed her eyes. Esmond could hear a low humming begin, and startled. "Larkin, what are you--" he said, reaching for her, but just as abruptly, her eyes snapped open and the humming stopped.

"Oh, just checking to see if it still works. And it does, see?" She took stock of his alarmed expression, and grinned winsomely at him. "Don't worry, Ezzy! I wouldn't leave you behind."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind," Esmond said, closing his own eyes and rubbing at his forehead. "I'd like it better if you promised to warn me about things like this too, though."
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Re: On Arrival [Self]

Postby crow » 04/03/2014 9:32 PM

"That," Larkin said with a sober expression, "would take all the fun out of it." Then she broke into a smile again and nudged Esmond with an elbow. "You know what? I bet this is a good omen! We're going to have good luck this time around. I can feel it."

"Well, that would be a first," Esmond said sourly, but he smiled in return. Not that they needed luck, considering what they could do, but it would have been nice to have it on their side for once. Jumping about in time wasn't as disorienting as jumping through dimensions, but it was always a struggle to try to prevent fate from moving the way it was inclined to do. Besides that, after a while, it got hard to keep track of what had happened on which timeline. He always tended to look a little bit insane to the natural denizens of a realm after he'd been there too long.
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Re: On Arrival [Self]

Postby crow » 04/03/2014 9:42 PM

Larkin stepped away from the rail, taking a short turn about the platform. There were signs corresponding to each bridge, and she was able to make out some of the script, though most of the names had no meaning to her. Hopefully they wouldn't have too much trouble communicating. It was particularly unpleasant if they wound up somewhere with a new language and had to pick it up. Esmond was usually better at it than she was too.

"So, which one should we take?" she said as she arrived back at the center of the platform. She made a grand motion to all the paths around them. Esmond turned to look at her and tapped his cheek with one finger, head tilted to the side.
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Re: On Arrival [Self]

Postby crow » 04/03/2014 9:47 PM

"I'd like to go to that city we saw earlier, but I don't feel very strongly about it. Was there anywhere that caught your fancy?" he asked. He pushed himself off from where he leaned on the rail, walking over to join her. Larkin's attention was no longer on him. She was rereading the signs, likely trying to see if there was anywhere she absolutely had to visit. At length, she shook her head.

"I can't make heads or tails of these things. If you can figure out which one leads to your city, then let's go for it," she said. Cities weren't a bad place to be, though she found the more rustic places more interesting, having grown up in a big city herself.

Esmond looked around, and then wandered back to the overlook. He had to trace the likeliest-looking bridge up to where it connected to the platform, but at last, he figured out which one he wanted. "I think this one should be right," he said, though he didn't sound too confident.

"Alright, this one it is!" Larkin declared. Then, with a devilish grin, she sprinted for it. "Race ya! Last one down pays for dinner!"

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