[Jaykobell]

It wasn't very often that he felt like going anywhere. He had no sickness or physical disability, no; it was just a feeling sort of thing. Sometimes you feel like drawing, sometimes you feel like cooking, sometimes you feel like watching television. Today, he felt like taking a walk.

Living alone — literally alone — you eventually get bored of minding your business. He didn't want any human interaction, really; if he wanted to be in a crowd, surrounded by folks with a rather challenged IQ, as well as others sweating from the heat... and not to mention, the ones who didn't care and were just there to be there, existing and talking about the most idiotic things the world could offer. If he truly needed this interaction — he would be taking a stroll in a park, or in a city, or he would visit something like a museum or an art building.

He would not, in fact, be taking a stroll in a forest.

Truth be told, he did do some research. That was the only thing that tamed his disdain for human interaction: research. If he could obtain information and countless sources for learning and research, in exchange for a wave or a verbal greeting, and by bearing the physical presence of others; then so be it.

Of course, it was never really that bad. Nobody ever talked to him, nobody ever tried to get in trouble with him; but it really felt like a chore. It felt harder than it truly was. He didn't mind them, but his mind was unable to realize that the odds of someone interacting with him were slim. It always had to inflate things, it always had to make him think it would be the most horrible hours of his entire life.

Which, speaking of, would most likely end up being rather long. Considering he had control over his own death, among other things.

But that was another subject altogether. His mind was digressing now.

His reason for being here, rather than at the typical library he usually visited? It was after a trip to the library that he learned Roraldi supposedly had hot springs; which was something he had never seen before. He had heard of them, but he had never seen a real hot spring. To have the opportunity to actually see one; he figured it was worth his time.

He somewhat stood out in the forest with his long golden hair, but beyond that, he looked like your regular human being. His clothes ranged from yellow to brown, and some shades in-between the two. Even if he did stand out on the background; what were the odds of someone interacting with him?

Mind, stop making it sound terrible.

[Fallen_Snow]

It wasn't that Francis felt too overly normal, it was that her life had reached a low point on the normalcy scale that had driven her to do something completely out of character. And so, for the first time, she dragged her half sister with her to the Roraldi Forests, hoping to do something interesting within their deep brown trunks. Maybe she could learn something from the Demon, who had inherited an interesting quality from her father-- with the ability of telekinesis, it wasn't as if they were unguarded. It was like having an everything magnet at your side.

"Frannie... wait up!" Elli was jogging to keep up with the odd girl she called her half-sister. "Why did you drag me here?" asked Elli, tugging at her white shorts. She adjusted her purple and white baseball style tee while Frannie plowed on, not answering.

Elli could barely look at her relative without cringing at the sight. Francis had not tried to make herself look nice today-- her light brown hair, usually worn flat, was in a crazy, lopsided bun sticking out the side of her head, her socks were odd and the only thing on her feet, and her shirt and skirt were on backwards. If this girl was trying to make their family look bad, she was succeeding.

Frannie could see the look Elli was giving her out of the corner of her eye. "Look, I know I look funny, but I think it might change my... perspective." Frannie said, not without a hint of coolness to her tone. Elli frowned. "Couldn't you have at least put shoes on?" she asked, looking at the socks that were browning in the dirt.

"Nope. Wanna know what walking around with only socks on feels like," Frannie said cheerfully. Elli was sure this girl had gone off her rocker. She really had to watch these Lord Baal children, most of them seemed fairly insane. "But can't you at least tell me where we're going?" This seemed to catch Frannie's attention. With a look of dawning intelligence, she pulled a folded scrap out of her pocket and carefully peeled it apart. It was a hastily drawn map from one of the many atlases she had found at the library. "I've been curious about the hot springs around here." said Frannie, her eyes darting over the crumpled bit of paper.

"Hot springs? I didn't know there were hot springs here." said Elli, pulling her hair back in a ponytail and looking over Frannie's shoulder at the map. There were about seven red X's on it, and none of them looked close. Or maybe they were right near them. Elli frowned at the map, trying to decipher their whereabouts from it, but before she could figure much, Frannie had already folded it up and shoved it back into her pocket.

"C'mon, this way..." said Frannie, a hint of uncertainty in her voice as she guided Elli in a northern direction.

[Jaykobell]

He had to admit going on a walk was completely different from taking a walk to go to the library. When he made his way to the library, he could think about what kind of books he would look for, he could think about ways to avoid being social. There were many things he could think of, many of which he would use and apply once he got to the library.

This time, though, his mind didn't really have anything to think about. He had never seen a hot spring, so he didn't know what to expect. He could think about hot springs, perhaps, in a deeper fashion. What was the purpose of a hot spring? Why did they form? Why is it that they have hot water, and not cold water instead? Why are they called hot 'springs'? Yes, there were a few things he could definitely ask himself. The only problem with these questions is that he wouldn't get any answer once he found a hot spring. Hot springs don't talk, for one, and for two, information isn't written all over them.

So if anything, thinking about all this would only make him realize that turning around and heading to the library would be better. And once he got there? He would see a real hot spring, certainly... and then what? He would be without answers to his questions, and he would be displeased at the fact he could have been reading some interesting books in the library instead.

So yes, thinking back about this, why was he here? While curiosity is overwhelming and hard to ignore, fact remained that this would be a waste of time more than anything. And nobody liked wasting their time, right?

He was actually considering going back when something interesting caught his attention. He stopped in his tracks and listened carefully. Some ways away, he could hear a sound he was only but too familiar with: the faint sound of young ducklings quacking. Instantly, this stroll became a necessity. No longer could he simply turn around and go back home. He had to find those ducklings. Now that was how overwhelming curiosity could be.

His footsteps became slightly louder, and he didn't pay attention to the big leaves and branches that hung around, rustling them as he walked past.

[Fallen_Snow]

Now, Elli didn't get out much. Neither did Fran, though Elli was sure that her outings were a lot more frequent than Frannie's. But when Francis checked her map for the third time in five minutes, Elli feared what Frannie had realized.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Elli asked, her stare boring into the back of Frannie's head. Frannie wilted. "N-no..." she said warily, pulling the map out again. This time she took out a blue pen and seemed to be trying to trace a route--their route--through the forest. It went around all the X's.

"Yes we are." Elli said firmly. Frannie stopped and clenched her fists. "No, we're not." she said forcefully, and quickly began scribbling heavily on the map. She looked up and around a few times, and then said, "This way!" with such gusto Elli could only assume the girl was pretending now. Elli rolled her eyes and followed, hoping that she didn't upset the psycho too much. But the way she was acting... Elli hoped it wasn't contagious. The last thing she wanted was to go insane like Frannie apparently had and start dressing like... that. Gross. If that's what her half-sister was going to drive her to today, Elli would have to work hard to keep her sanity.

It was when she started hearing "Quuuaaackkk. Quack-quuuaackkk." that Elli got nervous. "Frannie... are you making those noises?"

"No. What noises?"

Elli imitated them, and Frannie stared. Then the recognition set in, and Frannie laughed. "Oh, you mean ducks?!" she began excitedly. "Where?! Where'd it come from? Did'ya see 'em?! Did'ya?!" Elli paled at her sister's excited chatter. "Uhh..." she mumbled, pointing in a westerly direction. "Hhhh! Come on!" she said, grabbing Elli's wrist and tugging her towards the ducks.

"Homigosh, I hear them!" she shouted loudly, and ran faster, oblivious to the many twigs and burrs that caught on her socks. It was then that they barreled into the man who was also seeking the ducks. Elli started, while Frannie just got even more excited. "Oh wow! A person! Hi! Who're you?" she asked quickly, each statement in quick succession to the next.

[Jaykobell]

[[ Sorry for the... painfully late reply. .__. ]]

Even as you chase things, you come to wonder all sorts of scenarios and things. Some people might imagine themselves in a movie, a book, a video game, chasing a monster or an evil creature. Some might be thinking about simple things, like what's it going to be for dinner. Others might be entirely immune to the event, only set on their goal. In this case, he liked to imagine that, at the end of the road, there were ducks. He didn't imagine a movie scenario, nor did he try to have some epic music 'play' as the 'scene' unfolded. No; he just wanted to find the ducks that were happily quacking about. No worries about being lost, either; if it came to that, he would just walk around until he found his way out. Things, in his head, were really that simple, and very anti-climactic. Why worry about getting lost? Being lost only meant that you couldn't move about your surroundings. However, once you find something you can recognize, you become 'found.' Those who panicked because they got lost, clearly had no life experience. Or they were just cowards.

But now he was digressing, wasn't he? Focus on the ducks ahead.

Or rather, that's what he wanted to do... but in his lapse of daydreaming, he couldn't even see the two young girls barreling straight into him before it was too late. He was sent toppling over and straight on the ground, shutting his eyes closed as it happened, as a reflex. And if he'd known he would be opening them to two strangers — hyper strangers — he sure would've kept them closed. Very tightly. And he would've played dead.

Getting lost? No need to panic. Socializing? That's worth panicking over.

Unlike the two girls, he wore clothes that were rather stylized, and that might remind me of a uniform of sorts. A light beige for a general color, adorned with strange pale tan patterns. The one thing that stood out was the thin black scarf around his neck, which popped out on top of the nearly-white attire; and along with the black scarf was a pair of black gloves, the opening trimmed with orange.

Now, running into someone was one thing; but when the someone insisted to socialize with you... that was a completely different story. How was he supposed to deal with this? Not only was he not expecting anyone to be here; he also didn't expect those 'anyone's to actually barrel into him.

What he did know, however, was that most people were put off by his general coldness and refusal to socialize. He got up from the ground, patting his clothes a bit to get rid of dust, dirt, and any other kind of dirty things that could've gotten stuck there. Once that was done with, he glanced at the two sisters with indifferent eyes. "Look where you're going," was all he replied, with a a voice completely unlike his stare. He seemed to be in his early — maybe mid- — twenties, but his voice was young and gentle, even if slightly uncaring. Not quite feminine, but definitely not masculine; some sort of in-between.

Leaving the two girls with those parting words, he hoped that it would be enough to keep them away from him. No one wanted to socialize with an indifferent guy who didn't seem to care, right? Hopefully, the 'rule' would apply to those two girls.

Hopefully being the keyword here.

[[ And Kee got a redesign, too. Yaaay. ]]

[Fallen_Snow]

Frannie laughed. "Oh, sorry about that," she apologized, helping him brush his coat off, "I wonder—might you have heard the ducks?" she asked, her eyes flashing expectantly.

Elli, on the other hand, was not so ready to just jump into conversation with this man. She stared at Francis as if she was crazy. They just ran into this oddly-dressed man in the middle of a forest! That wasn't regular! Sure, sometimes Elli was slow on the pick-up, but this was just... weird. Out of the ordinary.

Not. Normal.

She observed from afar, not joining in on Frannie's question, staring at the two in disbelief. How could her half-sister be so open towards him, so quick to try to befriend this man who obviously didn't want to continue chatting? Frannie had made it into the 'Weirdest Person I Know' spot in Elli's mind. But as Frannie continued to intrude on the man's personal space, Elli decided to intervene.

"Frannie, leave the man alone. Let's go; I think the ducks are back the other way—"

"Hey, why don't you come with us?!" Frannie shouted excitedly, completely ignoring Elli.

"Frannie, no!" Elli growled, tugging on Frannie's shirt sleeve. Frannie shouldered her off.

"C'mon, it'll be fun! Who doesn't like ducks?" Frannie asked with a smile. Elli huffed and stomped away. Frannie watched, and said, "Here, come with us. Elli knows where the ducks are!" and grabbed the man's hand, dragging him through the forest with her without waiting for his reply.

((...I like his coat. o3o))

[Jaykobell]

Leaving the scene and the two girls behind did not go as planned in his head. One of them didn't seem interested at all; which was wonderful. On the other hand, the other one was painfully stubborn and seemingly refused to let go of him. Literally.

He tried not to react badly when Frannie helped brush debris off his coat. If there was something he despised, right after socializing, it was physical contact. But clearly, Frannie didn't care as much as he did. Because she seemingly didn't want to let him go, keeping up the conversation as much as she could. She did bring up something interesting in her exasperating stubbornness: ducks. While he still didn't want to really answer her, he did stop for a moment to think about this whole thing. They didn't seem so interested in him, but in the ducks, just as he was. Which way to go? Keep trying to ignore these girls, or go along with them? His mind begged for him to go with the former; but something told him life wanted to go with the latter.

It seemed like the two girls couldn't even reach an agreement. One clearly didn't want to get with him; while the other thought it'd be hilarious. In the end, though, the hyperactive one won the argument; but instead of giving him time to answer, Frannie just grabbed his hand — shudder — and dragged him along through the forest.

Well... he figured... if it brought him to the ducks. This... was rather awkward, hmr. He was a quiet one, however, so hopefully his 'boring character' would be a proper joy killer.

[[ ... I like it too. 8D; ]]

[Fallen_Snow]

"You know, you don't talk much."

Frannie followed Elli through the forest diligently, ears pricked for any sudden quacks or peeps to be heard, and any quiet rustlings in the bushes that swept around their feet. Elli, on the other hand, was not aiming for ducks, or for staying with Frannie, even. She wanted out, and she wanted out now.

But finally, Frannie stopped, still holding the man's hand. "Elli! Can you hold on a mo'? I wanna check where we are." she said, fishing around in her pocket for her hand-drawn map. Elli stopped, but the look on her face showed that she would rather keep walking. But she stayed, mostly to make sure Frannie didn't get into any trouble with this odd man who they had found alone in the middle of the forest.

Frannie looked over the map, turning it this way and that, trying to figure out which way they were facing. She dug into her pockets again, but came up with nothing.

"Hey Elli," Frannie began, "did you happen to bring a compass? I think we're a bit turned around." Frannie said carefully, trying not to let Elli know they were completely lost. Elli shook her head, but didn't speak. Frannie supposed that she was getting the cold shoulder for dragging their new friend along.

She turned to the man, hoping to get his opinion. "Hi... mister? Unless you have a better name? Might you know where we are?" she asked, shoving the map into his hands. Maybe he understood maps better than she did. It was then that she noticed the die on a string around his wrist. "Oooh, cool..." she said, plucking it from out of the air and looking at it with curiosity.

((Sorry. I think I'm torturing Kee more than my own characters. XD;;))

[Jaykobell]

[[ I can feel Kee dying inside... XD Pfft. xD It's so hard to RP him here, I've never put him in a situation like this. Sorry I'm so painfully slow. ]]

He had to admit, taking a closer look at these two girls, that they looked fairly harmless. Granted, not much was more dangerous than he was — but that was another subject altogether — but the thought of being assaulted in a forest wasn't very pleasant. If anything, he could use these two to reach his goal. He doubted force would ever be needed in this case; first, what could inexperienced, gullible, childish girls do to him? Taken, that Ellie girl seemed a bit more sane, but this clingy one that absolutely refused to let him go seemed a bit more... easy to manipulate, perhaps one could say. And already, an idea began to form in his head.

And fortunately for him, the opportunity came when Frannie admitted that they were lost. While he hadn't visited Roraldi that often, he could get around new environments relatively easily. Using landmarks and general knowledge opened the way for one to get around new places. In the light of these two girls being lost, he probably stood out as the 'savior' that could find a way out and around the forest. He didn't fancy being indebted to people, but getting people indebted to him was quite interesting, in some situations.

He blinked slowly when Frannie shoved that map in his hands. He couldn't make much out of it, admittedly; it looked like a kindergarten's attempt at producing a believable treasure map. He blinked again when Frannie asked for his name. He never quite understood the concept of a stranger asking him — or anyone's, for that matter — his name. They would most likely never meet again, so why bother asking him? He looked back down at the map as he answered. "Akakios," was the reply to the name inquiry, said fluently and without any stuttering. Unless you knew him, you'd never believe Kee had a fear of socializing with strangers.

Now, everything was fine and dandy — or, rather, as much as it could be in such a situation — until Frannie went a step further and noticed the die hanging from Kee's wrist. Nothing was more important, right then, than for him to get the die away from Frannie's hands. He reacted by pulling the string away and turning his upper body away slightly. He looked from the map to Frannie as he did so; his eyes didn't betray any emotion, but his tone wavered. "You don't touch what doesn't belong to you," he replied with irritation, keeping his wrist away from Frannie. However, from Frannie's touch, the die's blood red dots had already started to glow...

[Fallen_Snow]

((S'alright. I'm kind of playing it by ear too. o3o;; They have barely been out at all, so... ))

"Akacka-whuuut?" Frannie said. "What a funny name! It's cool though," she said, recovering. He didn't seem like the one who would joke--he probably didn't want to, now that she thought about it. She quickly shrugged the thought away; so he was a serious person, no big deal. She liked serious, they usually balanced out people like her.

But as soon as he snapped at her for touching the die, she wilted. "S-sorry..." she mumbled, backing off a bit. Elli rolled her eyes. "Figures," she muttered, "you let a crazy kid lead you around a deserted forest and we come across a nut job obsessed with... what was that you had, Frannie?" she asked, only mildly curious.

"It was a black and red die," she said uncertainly, watching Kee for any sort of irritated response, "and I think it started glowing..."

"Dice don't glow." Elli said matter-of-factly. "This one did." Frannie responded with a shrug. Elli stared at Kee's turned away wrist, tempted to see for herself what Frannie was talking about. She wouldn't have to touch it of course... she could use her telekinesis... Kee wouldn't even have to realize...

She stopped herself before she attempted it. No, she thought, I will wait and see what this stranger does.

[Jaykobell]

The fact she supposedly couldn't pronounce his name wasn't funny. And, indeed, he didn't find it funny. He tried not to voice his groan. Truly, this was why he couldn't stand others. They mocked and messed around whenever they got the chance. No respect whatsoever.

And that other one wasn't any better. Anyone who thought Kee was moody had never met this girl, clearly. As for the other, he wondered why she suddenly seemed taken aback, and almost afraid. He hadn't felt like he'd snapped at her; his tone usually remained flat, even if blunt. But, hey, someone misunderstanding him wasn't anything new. He wasn't actually that evil and malevolent, as most people tended to see him; he was just really hard to talk with, and there was just an intimidating air to him. He just shrugged lightly when Frannie apologized, hanging the little map back to her.

Kee had pulled his wrist away, but just enough so neither of them could actually touch it. The die was, in fact, black and red, unlike the typical white-and-black ones. Frannie's claim wasn't a lie, either; although faint, the die was, indeed, glowing. Kee was busy giving that map back to Frannie to notice it, but as seconds ticked by, the glow got brighter and brighter... until, right out of the die, came out tan smoke. It didn't seem to be anything at first, but as it slithered out of the die, one could start seeing the smoke take the shape and form of a cobra.

It hung there, tan smoky body floating in the air, empty eyes looking around...

[Fallen_Snow]

"Thanks," Frannie muttered as Kee handed the map back. She quickly looked over it a few more times, turning it this way and that, trying to understand where exactly they were headed. It was almost as if they were walking in circles... but they couldn't be! She had a map!

Elli stared at the two of them, amused but at the same time annoyed. Frannie just had to go see the weird man out in the middle of the forest. She just had to invite him along. And then this whole thing was just odd. They were searching for ducks in a forests. Did ducks even live in forests? The last time Elli checked, ducks usually only resided in fairly open areas and the most fauna covering they ever got into was some brush near a lake to lay eggs and sleep.

As Elli watched the two of them, she began to notice something odd that seemed to be emanating from Kee's wrist. She couldn't see it exactly at first, as it was tan and all around her was brown and tan and green, but it became more defined as she watched. She stared at it, somewhat startled. "Um... is that supposed to happen?" she asked quietly, pointing at it. She wasn't exactly sure what to say to seeing that just appear out of thin air.

Frannie looked up from her map and stared at the tan snake. "Woah! That's new." she commented lightly. "...what is it?"

[Jaykobell]

Akakios didn't notice the glow until the cobra was already out and about, body floating from the die and curious eyes looking this way and that. "Tsk..." was all he said as he noticed the spirit-like creature, but he wasn't taken aback or scared. This was actually common, and he wasn't displeased because of the snake; he was displeased because strangers weren't supposed to meet this cobra. "Yes," he replied to Elli's question simply. He didn't deny it like most idiots would: "Of course not, it's only a coincidence!" It wasn't a coincidence, and while this turn of event didn't please him, it wasn't unusual. "It emerges when it senses a soul," he bothered that part only for clarification. Someone touching the die caused their soul to come in contact with cobra, since the die, really, was the cobra's soul. If you touch a box with a cat in it, the cat will wake up or react in some way to your presence. Same concept applied to the cobra.

Going back to the cobra, the reptile slithered away from the die. It came out entirely, its body slithering up and coiling around Akakios's neck casually; this added to the fact that, yes, this was normal. The snake stared at the girls in front of it, curious, wondering which one between the two had touched the die. When it caught Frannie's stare, it returned it with its own, uncoiling and floating forward to get closer to Frannie. The movements were slow and calculated, so one could assume it wasn't vicious. Still, maybe mommy's advice would be useful here: "Don't touch it, it might bite you or have rabies!"

When Frannie spoke, the snake floated away from her abruptly, surprised by her voice. This was a new voice, and it hadn't expected Frannie to speak to suddenly as she stared. After it got over its little scare, though, it slithered towards her again, tan ghosty tongue flickering a little.

While he didn't protest, Akakios still didn't like this turn of event. He groaned a little as the cobra took interest in Frannie, and when she asked what it was. "A spirit," he replied for simplicity's sake, although that wasn't all. Explaining what the cobra truly was, though, was out of the question. It was complicated, uninteresting, unbelievable, and strangers weren't supposed to know about it. The fact these two girls had seen it was more than enough.