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Post by kentaro on Mar 12, 2010 2:27:03 GMT -6
One whole month...that's how long it'd been since Kentaro had been away from his home village. Although to him, it had seemed like a lot more, what with all the stops he had been making in other local villages and such to see what possible information he could obtain. In fact, it were almost as if a year had gone by to him. It was only a matter of time before that became a reality.
"Man," he began as he wiped the sweat that began to trickle down his brow. "I know everyone said that I should go out and explore the world a bit, but this is ridiculous," he thought aloud, being as he was by himself as usual. He was given a map to help him locate certain points of interest and areas that might be of some sort of help in his other quest, but as luck would have it, he wasn't too keen on directions, hence the reason his brother would accompany him on deliveries 9 times out of 10.
"I could also do without all the excess animals that I find out here in the wild." He twirled his lance stylishly around a bit and then jabbed the dull end into the ground. "My weapon is growing weary." Despite it being a common lance, he treasured it quite a bit, as he had had its length, as well as other specific customizations done to it with some of his earnings.
"If there's one thing that I have noticed on my travels, it's that people fare better when they are with an army of people, or even just a merry little group of people, possibly no bigger than 5. Perhaps it's time for me to make friends of my own. But all they do is run away from me." He shrugged his shoulder and sighed heavily as he proceeded to cut down a fruit from a nearby tree and take a seat at it, looking out into a nearby ocean. Perhaps if he stood still for a bit, someone else who was traveling a ways would stop and take notice of him, and not put up too much of a hassle for him if anything. And besides that, he was actually kind of beat, although he wouldn't admit that to just anyone. It wasn't in his nature...
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Amelinde Forss
Pegasus Knight
Posts: 18
Affinity: Fire
OoC Alias: Empfindsam
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Post by Amelinde Forss on Mar 12, 2010 22:16:49 GMT -6
As Amelinde flew over the Etrurian countryside, she couldn't help but compare it against the landscape of what she considered her homeland, Ilia. This was a country of rolling hills decorated with patches of deciduous trees - something not commonly seen in Ilia - and was altogether a lot softer and warmer in appearance. Amelinde liked seeing all the lush, warm green, especially from up here in the sky. But part of her was still more accustomed to the harsher landscape of Ilia, with its frozen fields and majestic evergreens, where all the colors were colder and all the edges sharper and more hostile. Maybe it was just a familiarity thing, or maybe she just enjoyed the (admittedly erroneous) feeling of pride she got from the knowledge that she was a product of a harsher environment and therefore could say she'd had it rougher and was all the stronger for it.
Initially she had tended to stick to the routes traced out upon the land by the many paths and roads that connected the villages and cities as she soared overhead, finding it the best way of navigating unfamiliar lands, but by now she'd passed over this part of Etruria enough times that she didn't have to. She was doing so now, however, because she knew a little spot just off this particular road where there was a little pond enclosed in a patch of fruit trees that was ideal for resting and rejuvenating both herself and Alcyone, her faithful mount, with a little nap and a relaxing bath. She was coming up upon it now, and gave a little whistle to get Alcyone's attention. "Here's the spot, girl. Time to give your wings a little rest and your feet a little earth to tread." With that, the couple began their descent.
As they neared their destination, Amelinde noticed a lone figure leaning against one of the fruit trees on the outer edge of the little orchard. He'd probably spied her by now and was casually following her descent. More than likely, he was just a harmless traveler taking a moment to rest, just like she was, but her past experiences had taught her to be prepared for conflict. She redirected Alcyone to land near the boy instead of in the center of the trees near the pond so that she could make her presence known while simultaneously giving him a once over. Also, she had to make sure he wasn't some kind of pervert who would spy on her while she took her bath!
In a few moments, she had touched down just off the road and dismounted from Alcyone. She saw that the figure was indeed a boy, and a young boy at that, probably three or four years younger than herself. He wore a ragged light blue cape and a matching headband, and his brown hair came down over the headband and swept down a little past his eyes. He had a lance with him, so he wasn't just an ordinary defenseless traveler (if he had been, it would have been silly of him to travel by himself). She approached him confidently and barked out a quick greeting. "Ho there, traveler! I see you're enjoying the shade. You traveling on your lonesome, then?"
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Post by kentaro on Mar 12, 2010 22:58:55 GMT -6
As he began to take a bite out of his fruit, he couldn't help but notice a giant shadow soar over him. And usually a shadow of that stature had indicated something giant. Be it animal or steed. In this case a flying steed. It wasn't exactly an uncommon sight. Pegasus' could indeed be seen coming through the air from time to time, especially during times of war. Even though there was no current war going on. At least that he knew of. Then again, he hadn't really had much diplomatic contact, as all he had done was deliver simple letters.
The figure who had just been seen flying overhead had apparently taken the oppurtune to land somewhat closeby. It had turned out to be a female, and from what he had judged at first sight, it seemed as if she were friendly enough. All he could do was hope that she wouldn't just randomly and hastily attack him like a lot of others seemed to do, especially when for some reason they had found him to be some sort of threat.
He pointed to himself for a few brief moments trying to determine if he was the one being spoken to. But of course, as it had just been the steed, herself, and him around. "Well, yes. For the time being, I am traveling by myself. In search of a lost...something rather. Kentaro Tsubaki, from the land of Etruria. Pleasure...," he introduced himself. "You're not from around here, are you? Your pegasus is well taken care of, I can see it from the way it's groomed. We don't get those too often if even at all around here," he began.
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Amelinde Forss
Pegasus Knight
Posts: 18
Affinity: Fire
OoC Alias: Empfindsam
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Post by Amelinde Forss on Mar 12, 2010 23:16:46 GMT -6
"Look, friend," Amelinde said the word sarcastically, slightly amused at Kentaro's eagerness to chat with her, "I wasn't looking for your life story. I was just making sure you didn't have a bunch of perverted friends around who were going to try to take advantage of me while I bathe in the pond over there." She gestured towards the center of the trees. "Of course, even then, that would be a mistake." She smirked at him and twirled her lance as if to let him know she could take them all on by herself. "And don't you be getting any funny ideas either! You try to peek and I'll have Alcyone here trample you to death! Alcyone! Keep a watch on this guy here, will ya? You know what to do if he gets any bright ideas."
With that, she passed by the traveler into the patch of trees, hiding her mirth the best she could until her back was to him. Of course she'd been needlessly brittle, but it was so fun to tweak people so! And besides, maybe he would try something. A little rabble-rousing could provide an interesting change from her current task of trying to scrounge up information about her past - the trail was getting cold now, with no new clues in weeks.
After Amelinde had disappeared from sight, Alcyone trotted over to the opening in the trees the girl had passed through and sat down facing Kentaro, eying him suspiciously. It must have looked comical, a Pegasus sitting with her hind legs tucked under her, blocking the path and staring down the young boy as if challenging him to try to pass her.
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Post by kentaro on Mar 12, 2010 23:36:58 GMT -6
"Oh," he said rather abrubtly after her snappy response. Well, he guessed the old saying was true then. You really couldn't judge a book by its cover. "No perverted friends here, I can assure you that. For as long as I can remember, it's just been me and my family in one household, and well, I think you can see where I'm going with this..." Perhaps she did understand what she was getting at. Or maybe she would've if she had still been standing there when he went off on his little rant. He hadn't noticed the absense of her presence until her giant winged horse had wound up next to him, doing what had seemed to have been like it blocking his view for some reason.
"Huh? Oh, well, hello there," he began to conversate with the flying steed. Or had at least tried to, but it showed absolutely no interest in giving him its attention. "I take it you're her partner then? I'm Kentaro. Kennnnntaroooo. It's a pleasure to meet you." Again, no response. "Oh come on, don't be like that. Here. I brought you some food." Kentaro had always carried horse food on him as a habit from his ranch. But the pegasus took this as more of a bribe to grant him access to a "show" although he had no idea of exactly what he was being cut off from anyway. So he stood up and advanced towards the flying horse in an attempt to show it the food in his hand. "Here ya go." Without a wasted moment, the flying steed headbutted Kentaro in the gut, causing him to keel over where he stood. "AWWWWW!!!," he cried. "I guess...she must be getting...changed or something." As almost if in a delayed sort of reaction, he jumped up in excitement. "Ah! She'd actually do something like that in public?! What if somebody came by and saw her? Okay, I'll just have to get naked too!" As he began to take off his cape, the pegasus headbutted him yet again. As he cringed in pain, the pegasus seized that oppurtunity to nibble on the aforementioned offeratory food that was now spread out across the ground in happiness.
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Amelinde Forss
Pegasus Knight
Posts: 18
Affinity: Fire
OoC Alias: Empfindsam
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Post by Amelinde Forss on Mar 12, 2010 23:58:51 GMT -6
Amelinde was really not worrying about Kentaro at the moment. She had just stripped down and gotten into the pond, enjoying the shock of the cold water against her skin. One of the things she loved about Etruria was that she could bathe outside in natural bathwater instead of in tiny, sterile manufactured bathtubs. (bathing outside in Ilia was simply out of the question!) Even the baths in Forss Manse were a little cramped and uncomfortable - at least, she thought so, even though they were considered luxury baths. What would be even better would be if there had been a waterfall cascading into this pond which she could let spill over her hair and down her back! Anyways, this cold, frigid water reminded her somewhat of Ilia, and she liked the way the coldness sharpened her senses. She took her time, splashing about in the water and ducking underneath to see how long she could hold her breath.
In the meantime, Alcyone was positively having her way with Kentaro. If her master wanted the kid kept away, Alcyone would see to it that he was kept away. She didn't warm up too kindly to strangers - she'd once been a somewhat timid mare, but she'd taken a cue from her master and learned to quickly establish dominance. So when he tried to approach her, she headbutted him hard in the stomach. She casually nibbled at the fruit the lad had dropped upon impact and watched as he tried to catch his breath. What had been doing there, anyways, taking off his cape? Was he so clueless as to take Amelinde's warnings as an invitation? If he tried that again, Alcyone would really let him have it. She had no desire to see a human male naked - not now, not ever.
(OOC: Wow, Alcyone is more of a character than Linde kekeke)
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Post by kentaro on Mar 13, 2010 0:21:46 GMT -6
( OOC: Hah hah. Oh man )
"Okay okay, you win fair pegasus." He squiggled on the ground a bit more before he finally had had the strength to fixate himself upon a nearby tree that had had no overview of what was going on behind the scenes at the moment. He sat up, sighed heavily, and then grabbed his lance and proceeded to throw it up above him, knocking yet another fruit down for him to consume, as he had just lost his other one.
He proceeded to cut his newly cut fruit in half and hand it to the pegasus, this time without getting up, or even looking in that general direction for that matter. "Here." He left it up to the pegasus to come get it if it had wanted it. At first it hadn't accepted Kentaro's offer yet again. This pegasus was smart. And from the looks of it, this wasn't the first time that it had ever dealt with this sort of scenario. "Fineeee." He layed flat on his back and put the slice next to him for it to pick up on its own if it were still hungry.
"You know, sometimes I wish I could understand you," he directed at the pegasus. "But I guess that'll have to wait. For now, the sky..."
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Amelinde Forss
Pegasus Knight
Posts: 18
Affinity: Fire
OoC Alias: Empfindsam
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Post by Amelinde Forss on Mar 13, 2010 0:40:06 GMT -6
The Pegasus waited until Kentaro had averted his gaze towards the clouds before she trotted up and nabbed the fruit with her teeth, quickly returning to assume her position between the trees. Humans were silly, thinking that they could win a Pegasus over with treats. And yet... the fruit was tasty! She secretly hoped the lad would offer her more fruit. She could have easily gotten some more out of one of the trees herself, but she didn't want it to look like he'd gained any ground with her, so she waited patiently for him to start feeling generous again...
Meanwhile, Amelinde had finished up with her swim and had emerged from the water. She realized, however, that she had left her towel in her pack, which was hanging from Alcyone's saddle. Hmm, this might get a little hairy...
She whistled softly, hoping only Alcyone would hear it. The Pegasus' ears quickly perked up, and the noble beast quickly went to her master, who was ducking behind a large rock to avoid a possible curious glance from Kentaro. On second thought, she let her head and a bare shoulder come up above the rock just a little, providing a little view while leaving the rest to the imagination. Part of her wanted to see if Kentaro, like most other boys, would become extremely bashful and flustered, or if he was the type to play it cool.
When the winged horse arrived, Amelinde snatched the towel from her pack and dried herself off as best she could. Then she donned her clothing again and led Alcyone back to the spot where Kentaro was before. "Was Kentaro a good boy, Alcyone?" she asked loudly, a teasing grin on her lips. "Or did he succumb to the temptation of my voluptuous form?"
(OOC: oh god, I wasn't planning on Amelinde being this flirty)
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Post by kentaro on Mar 13, 2010 1:07:10 GMT -6
( OOC: Talk about a mood swing lol )
After pointing out a few clouds in the sky to the pegasus who could care less, he took a quick glance to the side to notice that the slice of the apple that he had left for it had disappeared. "Ah, so you are hungry after all huh? Here." From his seated position on the ground, he had thrown his lance up again to knock down a few more fruit in sucession. He had been skillful at this kind of thing because back home, him and his brother would have all sorts of skill challenges with their respective weapons, and knocking down objects from awkward angles/positions was one of them.
"Tasty, aren't they? Here, you can have a whole one this time. Don't be shy." He turned to his side to face the pegasus and held out a whole fruit to the pegasus who now had a wing extended to block his view again, as well as purring a bit angrily. "Now now, don't be like that." He turned back to his other side, arm still extended so that the pegasus could take the fruit. "See? Now I'm back to my original viewpoint again and..." before he could finish his sentence, the pegasus chomped on his hand, causing him to keep a great bif "MMMMMMMMM!!!" sealed away, as he had been aiming to give the owner the impression that he was getting along just fine with her steed.
Within the bit of silence from him holding his pain in, he heard a sharp little whistle, although he couldn't quite tell which direction it was coming from. Not quite paying attention to where the pegasus had gone after it had released its vicegrip on his hand, he began to twist and turn his head up and down and side to side to find out where that noise had come from.
"Huh? Now where did that pegasus go?" Hard to believe that he couldn't spot a gigantic flying horse. Although he did catch sight of it eventually, with it cocking its head back and forth to check on him. "What's the matter with it? It keeps giving me this dirty look. The only reason I can think of is..." He took a quick peer in a direction he hadn't quite checked yet, taking notice of what seemed to have been a conviniently placed rock, hiding what he made out to be some sort of figure. "N...n...n...n...no way. It can't be..." A little bit of blood began to trickle from his nose. "GAH!!!" He did his best to hide it as he turned around and began to properly fasten his loosed up cape back around him. How on EARTH was he going to get out of this one?
"Please, excuse me," he said after heavily clearing his throat. "I knocked a fruit out of a tree and unintentionally hit myself in the nose with it. You see, my reaction time is a little bit off and..." thinking the pegasus would definetly rat him out for its own amusement, he quickly retaliated, "Please don't hurt me!" He was so scared of her and the possible wrath that she had held within her that the fact that she threw in a tiny joke about her own body in there. Not that he could've reacted to it anyway, not having all that much experience with females to begin with. Although he was sure that his answer surely wouldn't havee been the right one...
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Amelinde Forss
Pegasus Knight
Posts: 18
Affinity: Fire
OoC Alias: Empfindsam
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Post by Amelinde Forss on Mar 13, 2010 1:24:43 GMT -6
Oh dear. He was a bleeder. There was something unsettling about that, all right. Never mind, now, her business here was done. Although all this talk of fruit had reminded her she was sort of hungry. She lanced an apple out of a nearby tree and caught it in her hand. Then she rifled through her pack until she found some bread and cheese, grunted satisfactorily and proceeding to slice the loaf with a small knife she carried on her person.
"Kentaro, was it? Listen, boy, you've nothing to fear. You didn't see anything you weren't allowed to see, but even if you had, I wouldn't want to dirty my lance with your blood. I might give you a good slapping though." She had spread some of the cheese out on the freshly-cut loaf and now she took a bite.
"And listen," she continued, "A kid like you who can't even handle himself properly around a woman... and so naive! What in the world are you doing traveling by yourself like this? You're gonna get yourself killed at this rate." She chomped down on the apple, crunching it in her mouth and enjoying the flavor. She offered the rest to Alcyone, but the mare simply snubbed her nose at it. "What's the deal here, 'Cyone? You're not full, are you, after that long flight?" She turned to Kentaro, slightly irritated. "Hey, you, kid - you been feedin' my Pegasus?"
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Post by kentaro on Mar 13, 2010 21:17:54 GMT -6
After he had attempted to explain himself, she had sliced an apple down from a nearby tree, as he had been doing for quite some time. Either she had noticed him doing this once before and had just wanted to show off, or it had just been really common to knock a fruit out of a tree in that sort of manner. He hoped for the former, as he had secretly thought it had made him look kinda cool, as people back home had usually found it entertaining.
He stared at her hand as she pulled out a sort of pocket knife to cut open the fallen fruit. "Man, she's handy," he thought to himself. "It's a lot more efficient than running the risk of cutting your own hand open I suppose..."
Within a few moments, she reverted to her snappy way of talking. And yet again, he wasn't quite sure of how to respond. What he had gotten out of her was that she had reluctantly resolved not to kill him should he make a wrongful move on her. However, despite not yet experiencing one for himself as of yet, he was pretty sure that a slap was going to hurt too.
He began to rub the back of his head a little before he answered her question. "Well...I'm not exactly traveling with myself because I want to. It's because people tend to avoid me. Either that or just attack..." As if her attention quickly waivered, she began to talk to her steed, who ignored a fruit offering from her own master. She seemed to get a bit angry again. "I uhhhh...," he struggled as he looked for a way to quickly change the subject. "You know, you havn't quite told me your name yet." He sighed a quick breath of relief on the inside.
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Amelinde Forss
Pegasus Knight
Posts: 18
Affinity: Fire
OoC Alias: Empfindsam
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Post by Amelinde Forss on Mar 13, 2010 22:47:12 GMT -6
Amelinde let her face soften a little bit - a little, not much - at his story, and the telling way he had changed the subject. "I'm sorry. If Alcyone did accept food from you, than she must like you, or at least she doesn't see you as a threat." She said the last bit somewhat sarcastically. "But anyways, you're right. I haven't given you my name yet. I didn't see any reason to before, but I see now that I may as well, if only so that you can remember me as that one beautiful Pegasus Knight who wouldn't give you the time of day. The name is Amelinde." She intentionally left out her surname.
"Anyways, young loner Kentaro, the time has come for me to fly away. Good luck to you in your endeavors... And, uh... Maybe if people tend to avoid you, maybe you should try harder to track them down and corner them so they can't. Don't be such a wimp, and maybe you'll actually be able to hold people's attention for more than a second."
She of course had meant that last bit as a glimmer of sage advice, though obviously it had come off as an insult. She lifted herself into her saddle up on Alcyone's back and gave the kid another look, wondering if she'd remember him or not a day later. He had been particularly awkward and easy to mess with. She didn't run into someone of his particular level of social finesse every day.
(OOC: Yeah, she's leavin' unless Kentaro stops her. kekeke)
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Post by kentaro on Mar 13, 2010 23:49:41 GMT -6
"Like me? She must have some sick, twisted definition of the particular word in question here," he thought to himself while squinting his eyes incredibly hard in disbelief. "That one beautiful Pegasus Knight who wouldn't give you the time of day huh? Hmmm...has a sort of ring to it," he said in a very monotonous, non-chalant voice In his very own way, this came off as a sense of humor for/to him.
"Well, it's not so much that I'm afraid of them. It's funny that you should mention going after those who reject me, for that is precisely what I do. But they in turn proceed to further the distance put in between us. It's a rather big nuisance." He stood up, twirled his lance around a bit for show, and then placed it on his back.
"Hey listen, are you on some sort of business? I'm actually on a journey of my own. And I've never really talked to anyone for this amount of time before, even during my message delivery runs. If you've no other companion at the moment, then how about we travel as one? I have no particular leads for the solution of what I am searching for. So if you plan on traveling the continents, or anywhere away from here for that matter, that would be convinient for me as well, as I've no idea where to scope out in particular anymore."
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Amelinde Forss
Pegasus Knight
Posts: 18
Affinity: Fire
OoC Alias: Empfindsam
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Post by Amelinde Forss on Mar 14, 2010 0:01:12 GMT -6
Was she hearing right? Had he asked to come along with her? She almost laughed, but she stopped herself, instead simply grinning and staring at him in disbelief. "You're asking to come with me?" She asked incredulously. It as no surprise he wanted to prolong their acquaintance - he was a young, lonely boy and she was probably the first girl who had paid him any attention in a long while - but really, wasn't this a bit bold of him?
"Look, Kentaro, no offense, but from the little time I've known you, you don't exactly seem like the kind of guy who can fend for himself, much less carry his own weight as a partner. When I do work, it's mercenary business, and even when I'm not on assignment I tend see my fair share of fighting. What's to say you wouldn't just be more dead weight dragging me down?"
She stopped railing at him long enough to think it over for a second. On the one hand, everything she'd just said about him was true, far as she could tell. But on the other hand, it was getting a little lonely traveling by herself, and dead weight or no, she might find a use for the boy. Suddenly she hit upon an idea.
"Hey, here's what we can do. You have your lance there; I have mine here. If you can prove to me you don't just carry that thing around for looks, then maybe I'll let you come with me. Understand?"
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Post by kentaro on Mar 14, 2010 0:23:53 GMT -6
"What? Was it too soon? Should have waited until we met again somewhere?," he asked while rubbing his head in a bit of bewilderment. "People run around all the time asking other people to join them you know? That's just the way the world works nowadays, at least I think it is..."
"Well, it's not exactly like I havn't seen my fair share of battles either. I get people chasing me all the time, for one reason or another. Although sometimes I do get the feeling that they're just picking on me because I seem pretty defenselss, as you've pretty much deemed me already I suppose."
"Although I tend not to prefer it, this lance isn't just for show you know?" Slowly sliding the lance from his back, he began to twirl it, and then shortly after, throw swift jabs at a nearby tree, leaving several smooth carvings within the tree. He then proceeded to twirl the lance a bit more, leap up and twist a bit to the side, cutting a fruit out of a tree, and then proceeding to stab it when he landed on the ground with it. From the tip, he got the fruit to slide off, and he proceeded to tear it into shreds until there was nothing but miniscule pieces left, and then took up a sort of battle stance after all was said and done.
"You're not suggesting that we spar, are you?" One would have thought that he naturally would have boasted about his skills after a display such as that one. Or even tryed to escape the fight due to her being a female. However... "I find it a bit unfair that you have a flying horse and I don't. Although I could have had a horse myself, but it severely messed with my Spear-play..."
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