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A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/20/2016 1:11 AM

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The man was tall and bulky. He held his head high and stood upright, the sort of man who can kill anyone just by his stature alone. His eyes were dark and intimidating, sharp enough to kill, if you're not so far beneath him, if you cross his line enough. His hair was black, long enough to cover his ears, but not enough to cover the fact that he was past his prime. He was handsome once, but with the scars and the wrinkles and the streaks of grey, he looked more like somebody's godfather. A dangerous godfather, but an older man nonetheless.

Next to him was a young girl. Not too young that you'd start calling the guards if you see her wandering alone in the forest, not that young. But young enough that you'll be moved to be at her side yourself. Miss, may I help you, the sort of girl. But when you have a closer look, if you fortitude is not strong enough, if you're the type who only look at what you can see, you might regret ever having anything to do with her. She looks pretty from the back, with her petite figure and her shoulder-length green hair. But her face, as it were, was a mess. Crooked teeth, slanted eyes,  you'd wonder why she wouldn't wear a mask.

That is until you hear her speak, and you heard the voice of an angel.

"Father," the girl said, helping the man manoeuvre through the jungle's dense foliage. "You should have stayed at home. I can get one of the boys to accompany me."

"One of the boys? Pah! They're useless next to you." The man spat to the trees next to them. "Besides I haven't been trekking for a long while. It'll be nice to have a change of pace."

[[OOC: I have some vague idea of where I'm taking this, but I'm open if anyone wants to jump in. I'd prefer if you PM first, though.]]
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/20/2016 1:57 AM

The girl opened her mouth to object, but then closed it back down. Her father had many men under his command, and even if you only counted the dozens of his most trusted underlings, they were younger, stronger, and much more capable of chaperoning her through a dangerous jungle like this one, hunting for something that might or might not even exist. But after that little incident at the fair, Father had been a lot more protective of her, so far that he's willing to leave his post back at the city to be with her.

She wanted to help her father up another bump on the trek, this time made by a giant root of a tree, but he jumped easily on top of it, as if he was still the spry adventurer he once was, and instead held out his hand to help her up.

"Are you sure you're all right, Father?"  she asked as she took his hand.

"'Course I am. I'm not an old man yet, and even then so what. Didn't I tell you I used to be an explorer? I still got all the exercise in my bones." There was a wrinkle of a smile in his face as he slid down the giant root and back into the dark, leaves-covered earth.
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/20/2016 2:11 AM

The girl smiled and leapt down the root next to him. She made a move to hold his hand, but then decided against it. When she was young, she used to hold his hand all the time. But back then it was clear that it was him protecting her. If she did it now, he might thought it the other way around. And she knew how her father doesn't want, doesn't need, will never admit to having, someone else doing the protecting for him.

So instead she walked next to him, trying to follow his pace. He had a slightly uneven gait, the result of both his past and his line of work, but he could still walk very quickly. Perhaps it was the tall build, the girl thought, as sometimes even she had problem following him. Or maybe it was just that silly obsession of his to always be at the front. Even the heavy bags they were carrying didn't seem to impede his movements. She couldn't help but feel a bit worried that he might trip over something, though, considering how active and lively the jungle's floor was.  

"You should be careful, Father. The forest can be dangerous."

"Oh." Her father blinked, as if only then noticing. "Yes, of course. I know that, I've been here before."

"How long ago was that?" the girl said, poking his arm.

He smiled. "Well. Years, I guess. As I said, now it's a good change of pace."
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/21/2016 2:32 AM

The two walked along for a bit, avoiding bumps in the road, passing multiple trees and roots and countless vines-covered rocks. Even knowing what she was told of his past, the girl was surprised at how easily her father moved through the jungle. For as long as she had known him, and that was all the way back since she was a homeless three-year-old at the shore of the Nodia Sea, he'd always lived in the city, being the best at what he did. The urban people she knew, and especially those who weren't her father's boys, wouldn't survive long outside of its comfort, but here her father was easily cutting away the vines in his way and squashing any of the bugs that dared pass their way.

"How long ago was it, Father, when you were last an explorer?"

"Hmm." He looked up to the trees, as if thinking about it. "That'll be right before I started the business. That's, ten  years before I found you. So about thirty years, I think." He slashed at another vine in their way, this time with a little more swing, as if he was showing off. Or enjoying it.
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/21/2016 2:40 AM

The girl made a little snorting noise. "I'm not twenty yet, Father."

"Oh, well. Give or take." He gave her a little smile, telling her that it was all fine and dandy for him. "Now you're curious about your old man's exploit, aren't you?"

The girl's reply was a small sing-song giggle. "You never say. You don't talk much about anything, you know, Father. Always out there giving orders and playing tactics. We don't talk as much as we used to."

"Well." He gave her a look, the sort that was an apology, an I-still-love-you note, but also a stubborn can't-help-it message. He always had his mask on, but he knew that his daughter could see right through it. And that's fine, that's good, because he couldn't take it off. "It's a good thing that we're here together then. Anything you want to know, ask away!"

[[OOC: Ooh wow this is a mess.]]
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/21/2016 11:37 AM

"Hmm." The girl squinted her eyes. It didn't look pretty when she did it; nothing she did ever look pretty, but she didn't care. If anything, it was to taunt him. She did have questions, so many questions. The questions that she'd never thought of for the first years that she was a daughter, but had recently surfaced as she aged. She wound her thoughts around and decided on a simple one.

"So what is being an explorer like, Father? Was it harder than," she paused, gave a little knowing wink, "the current business?"

The man shuffled a bit, showing that he was not at all disturbed at her wink. She knew he was. "It was, I s'ppose I can say that it was exciting. We went to places, we traversed worlds that other don't dare visit. It's definitely a lot more, hmm," he paused to swerve around a termites-covered rock. His daughter did the same, but with a little more elegance. "We move around a lot more. And there's a lot more risks. Not to say that there aren't any risks, now. But they are, should we say, not in front of my face."

There was a movement right under their feet, and then a creature jumped out of its hiding place, a sort of tiny rat with sharp little teeth. It moved quickly as if to bite, but the man was quicker. He stepped on its head, hearing the crunch of its broken skull.

"Or can be squashed away as quickly."
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/21/2016 12:42 PM

She smiled at his tough act. She had always smiled at and accepted his tough acts. It was the least she could do, after everything that he'd done for him. She knew he was acting, and he knew that she knew. That was enough, so they walked on for a bit, passed through a couple more trees and natural obstructions, before she went on with her, how should we call it, interrogation.

"What do you usually do, when you're exploring?" she started. "Was it just for the thrill of it? Or were you looking for something? Treasure-hunting? Hunting-hunting?"

"Depends. Hah!" He chuckled to himself. "I guess when I was young I did it just for the hell of it. But later on, yes, we did some hunting works. We looked for treasures, where you can find them. Don't get fooled by those stories. Folks don't usually bury their treasure underground. Especially not here." He hacked away at a branch that was in their way. "But there's always some ancient temples or others lying around here. Most of the obvious ones are probably raided dry already, or protected, but if you look there might still be something. Someplace untouched."
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/23/2016 12:01 PM

"Some ancient temples in an ancient rainforest," the daughter repeated, tying her words into a melody. "I suppose there'll be a lot of them hidden away." She sidestepped an anthill. "In a place as dense as this. I wonder if we'll find one."

The man chuckled. "You won't see much of them if you're just walking around. They're well hidden. When I didn't have some expert tracker with me, I had to walk around for weeks. I had to hunt for food. I slept in trees. I've fought off beasts more savage than you might have expected." He snapped a branch under his feet. Another tough act. "There might still be beasts around here. Be careful."

The girl smiled. "Of course, Father." She jumped on top of a giant stump, then wound her way around a thicket of vines which her father later cut away. "Savage beasts, hmm. I wonder how savage they are compared to the people you deal with these days," she murmured. Loud enough to hear, quiet enough that it could be mistaken to be a thoughtless mumble.
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/23/2016 12:22 PM

The man turned stiff when he heard what his daughter said, but then quickly found his composure back. He went on walking, pretending not to hear her. He knew that she knew what his job was, what his business was, what he told his underlings to do everyday. To anybody else, it was something he was proud of, something he used to lord over anyone who dared cross him. But to his daughter, he was ashamed. For one thing, he was ashamed that she managed to grow to be a fine, clever young woman who could see right through his ruse despite how hard he had tried to shelter her from it.

He watched her swerved around the trees and life of the jungle, more nimbly and with more elegance than he could ever muster. She looked so innocent, as innocent as the day he found her orphaned and alone nearly ten years ago, but he knew, by now, that she was too clever by a half. No longer a child. He wondered how much longer that he could be of any use to her.

"Hey, Father," she said in her angel voice, turning to face him with those crooked eyes of hers. "Tell me more about your past adventures."
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/25/2016 10:07 AM

Lazarus was an explorer before he was a mobster king, and before that he was a little boy running errands in the salt-smelling seaside city of Jawan. How he went from one occupation to another was not a pretty story, but what happened in-between them, he had cleaned up into quite an interesting narrative. So he told her stories about how he dared the desolate plains and deserts of Lambastia, how he boarded ships and discovered uncharted islands off the coast of Jawan, how he swum and dived and found secrets cavern in the depths of the Nodia Sea, and, of course, his own adventures in this jungle.

"We were hunting for treasures," he said, with a gruff pride, "for some amateur archaeologist. He ended up being eaten by the jungle." There was no further elaboration on how exactly the archaeologist was eaten. "But we found the treasure eventually. There was a tribe of people out here who built their shrines out of gold, can you believe that?"

"Shrines out of gold, Father?" his daughter said. "Hmm. They must not realise how rich they were."
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/27/2016 11:52 AM

The girl listened as her father told his fantastic tales, nodding along, humming to herself. She sung sometimes; took out some of her father's words and repeated back to him as a poem or a song, something that can keep anybody's spirits up. It could be that she was making fun of him, but he didn't mind it much as long as they were both enjoying themselves. It could be that he was making some things up--parts of that tale was certainly exaggerated--, but she didn't mind it much as long as they were both happy with each other. What does it matter whether the tales are true or not? He's the best at lying and she's the best at seeing through the lies.

They went through the jungle at a relatively quick pace, constantly outpacing each other while at the same time slowing down, just a little bit, so the other can catch up. He hacked at countless vines and branches and must have stomped on a million organisms of various sizes. On her part, the girl helped him up, helped him move ahead. He wouldn't admit that he was weak, but that was fine because she's got his back.
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 06/27/2016 11:53 AM

After they'd been at it for an hour or so, and the sun had risen up to its highest position, hidden behind the thick canopies of the forest, the man started to slow down. He turned at his daughter more often, waiting for a sign. She turned to him. She met his eyes and smiled but said nothing.

He sighed, and finally decided to ask her the question that had been bothering him. "Marian," he said. "What is it that you're looking for, here?"

The girl gave him a little trickster smile that was no answer. If anything, it was a bait.

"Honestly, dear. I don't mind spending time with you, and I'm sure you're having a grand time listening to my stories, but I don't think you're going to be out here just for a trek, are you?"

"Mmm," she hummed and walked on ahead, a tease. She cut through some thick foliage and her hum became more excited. "Oh! Is that one of those shrines you've been talking about, Father?"
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby .:Random Event:. » 07/03/2016 12:58 AM


The pair had already noticed a few shadows swooping overhead as they moved through the forest. However, they were indistinct enough that they could have been anything, or possibly even nothing. As they went on, though, they were suddenly distracted from the shadows by movement on a tree next to them. Looking closer, they noticed a Spiked Shell attached to the tree. When they reached out to touch it, though, it moved onto their hand and seemed to stick there. Apparently the creature wanted to come home with them.
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 07/03/2016 2:26 AM

"Oh who's this?" Marian said, petting the little creature on her hand. It came out of its shell as she pet her, a slimy green Snicky. Most girls of her stature would bail at the sight of all that slime, but Marian, ready to destroy stigmas, said instead, "Ooh. Aren't you just the most adorable thing!"

"Careful with it. It could be poisonous," her father chided from behind her, mimicking the tone she had used on him. A jab here, a jab there: familial relationships.

"Oh, nonsense, Father!" The girl laughed. "You should already know that I know my poison. And this thing here," she put the creature higher up her shoulder, where it could stick undisturbed without the threat of falling off, "is not dangerous at all. In fact, it's one of the most useful creatures of this jungle."

Her father opened his mouth to say something, but then thought against it and smiled instead. "You've got that gleam in your eyes again."
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Re: A Change of Pace [Open]

Postby PseudoMon » 07/03/2016 11:19 AM

The girl's reply was the happiest grin he could muster. "They're really very nice. Snickies like this consumes dead leaves and rotten fruits, the sort of wastes that the predators can't clean up. They basically keep the jungle clean, so people like us can throw banana peels all over the place without feeling a bit guilty about it." She gave him a trickster smile. "Ooh, did you throw away your wastes right when you were an adventurer, Father?"

Lazarus gave a playful frown. "Now see here, when you're being attacked by taigras or are poisoned by carpetfangs, you don't usually care where your waste are going. They all disappear in the morning anyway."

"Thanks to these guys," she tapped the Snicky on her shoulder. It seemed to be happy where he was. "Anyway. What's important is that I heard these little guys are immune to the most common poisons, so they might be handy to disinfect tools, actually."

There was a nonchalant pause, and then the man said,"So is that what you're looking for, then? Snickies?"

Marian's smile didn't fade. "Maybe? Oh! Don't forget that shrine we just found. I want to see it."
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