The Call to Adventure (PM FOR ENTRY)

[Aura]

"Hey! Aura! Aura! AURA!"

"Hah! Wha!? What is it!?" the sleeping healer shot awake dropping the book on his face into his lap. Swiftly he wiped away drool with his massive sleeves and bleary eyed looked around. "Oh, its you. Can I help you Anna?" His gaze fell upon a young woman with a turban and cloak that covered her entirely. "And why won't you ditch that raggedy thing yet. I'm sure the church can give you something better."

Anna stamped her foot in response, "I told you to call me Alter!" She tossed the dirty and torn cloak about herself defiantly, "And the cloak is because it helps play the part, thank you!"

Aura sighed and laid back in the grass enjoying the shade from the tree above. "Ya know, I have to wonder what role you're referring to because-" He stifled a large yawn. "-It looks like you mean to be up to no good. Like a uh, thief or something. As for names, I'm Aura, you're Anna, and you want to be called Alter, do you hear it? Do you hear all the A's? That is confusing."

"Maybe if you're unintelligent." She pouted.

"No... well maybe, I'm sure it would be, but Alter, "He drew the name out for emphasis, "What are you here for?"

"Oh, right." She brought herself back to the original point of going to him. "There was this group of soldiers in the village asking about you. They said something about a false inquisitor coming through and then they mentioned you by name."

"By name? What? What name!?"

"Aura..." She looked away from him as she said it. She knew how much learning who he was meant to him.

"Oh, right, of course." He slowly stood and brushed himself off. Taking the time to button his sleeves closer he retrieved his reading material and sighed. "This is going to be a massive headache isn't it?"

[Bryn]

Did all cities in Etruria have such belligerent soldiers? Bryn watched under the eaves of a from afar as a the two soldiers stepped away from the frightened peddler and continued down the cobbled streets. He wasn't at a distance to make out what was said, but the conversation didn't seem to be related to the man's wares. He suddenly felt acutely aware of the tome in his satchel, and stepped away from the building at a measured pace towards the merchant.

"Excuse me, could I purchase a... excuse me, an apple?

Happy to engage in business the peddler eagerly produced one ripe, slightly off-color fruit and Bryn let a few gold drop from his hand. The clink of coins told a much higher cost as they fell into the surprised merchant's palm.

"Are the guards really all so invasive in Etruria? I've just arrived you see, and I would hate to get into trouble with them for simply being an uninformed outsider."

A bribe was a universal concept. In lieu of friendship or respect, gold could purchase favors. The trouble with a bribe was that the trouble brought upon by the favor had to be outweighed by the gifts laden on the individual. The merchant very briefly examined Bryn's worn out boots and hair color before lightheartedly closing his hand around the gold in his hand.

"Not all of our guardsmen, no. Those two aren't from around here. They're looking for somebody named Aura. White hair. As long as you keep your hood down you should be fine lad."

Thanking the peddler for services rendered, Bryn walked away from the stall with a more jaunty air about him. He took a large bite from the fruit in his hand, the semi-sweet juices dripping down his chin a bit as me munched happily. He felt sorry for this 'Aura' fellow, but what was one to do. He was probably a crook or a rapist. It was probably best for the town if those sour-natured soldiers found him quickly and saved them all quite a bit of trouble.

[Garrett]

Garrett looked around the city. He sighed when all he saw were nothing but merchants selling stuff and soldiers patrolling the streets. "This is why I prefer living in small villages Krystal...don't you agree?" he said to his horse. The horse only gave a slight snort as she moved by Garretts command toward the city exit.

He then commanded Krystal to slow down. Pretending to not be interested, he could overhear some guards conversing with each other. "How did they not find him yet?" "Well, if they find him, we won't have to put up with those people. After all, I'd rather get my pay without having to deal with too much trouble. Besides, who was it that they were looking for again?" "Its just some guy named Aura, something about false inquisitor or something." "Well, if were me, I'd just say we found him dead and get our pay for free"

Garrett then commanded Krystal to speed up slightly. "Aura huh? I've never heard of him...but I'm somewhat suspsecious as to what those guards meant...what did they mean by "false inquisitor?"he said to Krystal. He then shook his head and then said No matter, it's not really my problem at the moment. Who knows, it might just be a rumor. Lets just get out of here, I really don't like the cities"

Outside the city, Garrett looked around and smiled. "This is better, no city, no noise, and certainly no risk of getting attacked by bandits...sure theres the off chance of a single ruffian trying to mug you, but..."he looked at his sheathed sword and his lance that he has strapped to Krystals side. "...they learn very quickly that trying to rob a single person by themselves is never a good idea...especially if their armed."

He then stopped. He could see some people by themselves under a tree. He petted Krystal on her head. "Might just be some travelers, just like us Krystal...lets stay here for now" he said, waiting and observing to see what their doing.

[Aura]

Aura and his companion walked cautiously through the streets garnering more than one passing glance. "You remember what you were learning right?" Alter asked.

"How to punch and throw people you mean? Yes?" He had received a few lessons but he always found them to be not only odd and exhausting but he never imagined he would have need for the application of such force.

"You don't sound confident." The thief chided.

"You two! Halt!" A guard called out with one arm raised and a hand on the hilt of his blade. Aura looked the man straight in the eyes before getting pulled along and down another ally by Alter.

"Woah! Wait!"

"Wait!? Do you want to be taken and questioned by them?" Alter asked rhetorically. "You may think you have nothing to hide but when you don't remember squat about yourself then how do you know that is true? Huh?"

"Well... I guess I don't." Aura mused straining to keep pace. "But shouldn't I face whatever trials I must for what I may have done?"

"NO! You run dimwit! You don't remember it so it was not you okay? It was another person entirely!" Aura listened and while he could not bring himself to agree with such a perspective he decided not to argue it, it would do him no good.

His chest feeling fit to burst at this point Alter pulled them back into the man street. "Alter..." He leaned on his knees gasping. "Can we... can we stop now?"

"Hardly. We need to get you out of Etruria."

"Out of Etruria!? Are you mad? It is just some questions." He pleaded with her.

"Inquisition is never JUST questions. Trust me." She looked around and noticed several soldiers with a poster talking to people and then a man with an apple. "Come on!" Urging Aura on she passed the shaman and deliberately shoved him to make him fall. It was intended as a distraction however...

"Are you alright!?" Aura stopped and offered a hand to the boy.

[Bryn]

It seemed like everything in Etruria had a strange aura of grandeur to it. Even the buildings were designed with a distinct flair compared to the short squat things that were constructed in Sacae. This town wasn't the epicenter of Etrurian culture by any means, but Bryn was no less engrossed in the differences in culture he observed all around him. Perhaps too engrossed, because a sudden force hit his back and Bryn tumbled to the ground, the snack falling from his hands as he threw out his arms to save himself from a rather embarrassing face-plant. He was just getting to his knees when a concerned voice called down to him and Bryn brushed his palms across the front of his pant leg before grasping the offered hand and pulling himself up.

"Thank you, I'm no worse for wear. I suppose a street isn't a fine place to loiter, even in Etruria."

Smiling at the man who had so kindly helped him to his feet, Bryn was struck again with fascination. This man had the most peculiar eyes and hair as if he were an albino of some sort, though that wasn't the sort of thing he would feel comfortable questioning a stranger about. Perhaps it was an Etrurian quir-... Bryn's smile became a bit more stiff as his flustered mind processed the white hair the man had on top of his head.

"Oh dear. Erm, you wouldn't happen to..."

He stopped in mid-sentence as his eyes caught the figure of a pursuing soldier dart out of an alley behind the man. And the very agitated woman at his side. The situation had explained itself and by the Nether he wasn't going to interrogated and put on trial for his arcane inclinations just because the wrong man bumped into him.

"Dammit, this wasn't how my day was supposed to go!"

Bryn pulled his hood over his head at this declaration and started sprinting away from the approaching guardsman. Hopefully he could simply cut through an alley or two and he wouldn't put up a strong pursuit after catching 'Aura' and his friend.

[Garrett]

Garrett looked at the scene that transpired nearby. "What in the world is going on there? What do you think Krystal?"he asked Krystal. She merely replied with a snort as she shifted slightly. "Yeah your right, its just nothing. Though I can't help but think that priest with them...he looks quite gifted, but he seems pretty nice. You think this is the Aura person those guards back there were talking about?"he said as he stroked Krystals side.

He then saw the guards and immediately went silent. When he thought they were out of hearing distance, Garrett sighed. "I don't know about you, but I really feel uncomfortable about Etrurian guards in general. Shouldn't they be more concerned about handling their problems with the occasional bandit and monster attack than looking for some guy?" he said to Krystal. Krystal then suddenly went forward slowly, slowly toward the priest and the shaman that was knocked on the ground. "Gah, Krystal, what are you doing?! You don't just head toward strangers like that!" he said with slight concern.

Looking at the priest and his friend along with the shaman, Garrett sighed. "Please forgive me, I don't know what my horse here is doing...She usually doesn't go to complete strangers like that" Garrett said as he rubbed Krystals side lightly. He got out a gold coin and handed it to the priest. "Please, as my apologies, accept this from me. Its not much, but it should be enough for whatever disruption my horse here may have caused..." he said with another sigh. He really felt uncomfortable being in town, not to mention talking to a complete stranger!

[Aura]

The shaman seemed to have a quick wit and recognized the unnecessary risk of associating with the priest and his friend. In fact he declared as much as he hid his face away and made his way out of the picture. Aura felt his heart sink into his stomach as he went. If he knew what he had done maybe he could accept this but as of now he had no idea. Not knowing ate at the edges of his mind.

Aura considered calling out to the shaman to wait. He was not a bad guy, he thought anyway. "Well, that is certainly not a good sign," Alter commented darkly distracting Aura from his gazing. Suddenly a young cavalier approached the two putting Alter back on the defensive. Despite being far shorter than Aura she still pushed him behind her drawing her dagger on instinct.

As the rider spoke Alter began to calm herself but she still retained her shifting eyes as she watched the various guards and their movements. Suddenly the rider handed a golden coin to Aura to both their bewilderment and surprise. It was as if the world had converged on that one coin. The two could not bring themselves to look away from it. He just gave him a gold coin? Freely? How well off was he?

"I uh. Oh wow. Thank you very much for this!" Aura clenched it tightly and bowed in gratitude. Aura, still so easily distracted really needed Alter as she returned them to the pressing issue.

"Hey, if you want to make up for it lend us your horse!" Alter more demanded than requested.

[Bryn]

As Bryn took off away from the white haired man and the trouble he was bringing with him he heard a shrill warbling cut through the air. Sparing a glance behind him, Bryn noticed the guardsman had made his way out of the alleyway and was blowing a whistle, most likely to alert other soldiers in the area about the fugitive. It felt a bit hypocritical to feed the young man to the wolves, but Bryn wasn't the one with his face on a poster. Whatever he had done, 'Aura' had brought this upon himself. Now if he could just evade... Oh no.

Bryn skidded to a stop, his eyes going wide. The pair of soldiers he had first lain eyes on were sprinting to aid their comrade and were drawing their blades as they advanced. Sadly enough, his fall must have disoriented him enough that he had ran the one way where there were other soldiers. What were the odds of that? One of the men stuck out a chubby finger in his direction and screamed "Stop, you!"

Doing an about-face, Bryn started running back towards the other street, hand delving into his bouncing satchel in search of his tome. All he needed was to slip past the whistle-blower into that alleyway... or continue down the street until he found another intersection. He'd draw the guards back to 'Aura' then... they'd just leave him be! They'd all gang up on the crimson-eyed man and his girlfriend and he'd be able to get out with them all non-the-wiser.

The whistler had closed the distance in between himself and Aura, but the man seemed a bit hesitant to charge in as Aura seemed to have gained a new friend. A purple haired horseman with his mount by his side seemed to be making small talk at the increasingly panicked-looking pair. Bryn felt his face pale a bit. If they mounted up now, he'd be the one the soldiers dog-piled on. There was no way he could outrun a dang horse!

[Garrett]

Garrett hesitated at the "request" the thief asked. He knew Krystal was quite strong and was able to take two people, but he didn't think that she would be able to take him, the thief, AND the priest all at the same time. "Umm...alright I guess, but your priest friend gets to ride, I'm afraid that's all that Krystal here is capable of" he said as he looked at the priest. He knew that holy men deserved to be treated with a certain type of respect, so he thought it would be just about right to have the priest have the privileged.

Garrett was about to say something when he suddenly saw a shaman head past them with a bunch of guards running at him. Well...Etruria is really against dark magic here, but I think it's really overkill to have that many just for a shaman Garrett thought.

He turned back at the pair that stood in front of him. "So...I assume you want to get out of this place? I really have no other business here in this town at the moment unless you two need something" Garrett said as he stroked Krystals side. I just hope they don't want to head back to Lycia...I still feel stiff from the battle that I fought in over there Garrett thought. He then sighed silently to himself. He knew that if they wanted to head to Lycia, then he still would take them over, even if it meant facing more monsters. He was just thankful that he and Krystal were able to survive that battle that they fought in there...

[Aura]

Aura and Alter exchanged overjoyed looks before the reality that he could only fit one of them set in. The two shared a wordless glance that said everything, the two were parting ways from here. "Alter, I-"

"Don't say it. I am going to stay back and slow them down, okay?" Alter smiled at Aura, a big wide grin. Looking at the rider she added more sternly, "You get him caught or killed and I will kill you, understand?" There was no hint of a joke in her voice.

The two had no time for any further goodbyes, especially as the shaman came running back frantically with a host of soldiers behind him. "Well, get going you two!" Alter did not look back, instead opting to trust them to go. She drew her daggers and readied for the soldiers to get there. "You really have a way about making this messy there shaman boy!"

As Aura ascended into the saddle he gently patted Krystal's side telling the horse that she was a good horse and complimenting her mane. Aura inhaled and readied for one heck of a trip. "I don't care where you go, just so long as it is out of Etruria, is that all right?" Aura had to confirm before leaving.

"Stop you little street rat!" One of the soldiers shouted at Bryn. All the parties were now converging in the intersection. The soldiers recognized the look of Aura as their target, but there was a girl glaring at them with daggers and a boy that ran from them when he saw them, most certainly up to no good. This gave them three targets to pick from and only so many guards. Who were they kidding catch them all!

[Bryn]

The situation was deteriorating. In St. Elimine's name, why did it have to end up like this? Skidding to a stop a few feet away from the horseman blocking the narrow street, Bryn was just in time to watch the woman from earlier draw a pair of daggers to block off the alley-guard's route to the horse. The woman shouted an indignant quip at him as he stopped and Bryn would've ignored it. Even as he heard her offhanded remark, it would've ben better had he not responded to it. But this wasn't the first time he was ousted for his particular magical inclinations and good sense be damned because he wasn't calm enough to shift attention or obfuscate the truth.

"Wait, how did- It's not like I run around with a sign attached to me or anything! How do people keep guessing it!?"

The soldiers behind Bryn caught up to the group and took stock of the situation, cautiously advancing with blades drawn. One called to the solitary guard by the alley, "Hobble the stupid horse! If he gets away it'll be our heads on a pole. We'll take care of the girly and the dark mage."

Gulping as the two soldiers advanced, Bryn backed up a step with his right hand coming forward in a supplicating gesture. His left hand dove nervously into the satchel by his side, brushing past hardtack and tin canisters in a panicked fumble for his tome. Despite the cold sweat going down his back, Bryn tried to crack a disarming smile at the approaching swordsmen.

"Look, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot here. I'm sure you all have much bigger fish to fry than little 'ol me, so if I can just step out of your way..."

[Garrett]

Garrett nodded at the Priest. "Best hold on tight, its going to get rough" he said as he pulled his sword out of his sheath. He made Krystal run ahead past the guards that tried to grab at Krystal. Garrett swung his sword at the guard with a glare. "Don't you DARE touch Krystal!" he yelled at the guard. Krystal kept running, but then she suddenly stopped right at the gate.

There looked to be only a handful of soldiers at the gate, but they blocked the way out. "We'll try escaping to Sacae, but if that fails, we'll try heading towards Ilia. Theres no way they'd try to chase us across the Ilian borders without running into an Illian ambush there" Garrett said to the priest. He then looked ahead and gripped his sword, glaring at the guards ahead.

One of the archers at the gate loosed an arrow at Garrett, hitting him in the shoulder. He clutched his shoulder with his free hand as Krystal ran ahead. We have got to get out of here, there's no way we'd survive like this he thought to himself. He then swung his sword at a Knight only to hit him in the armored area. The knight tried to grab the priest only to be knocked back by the hilt of Garretts sword. I just hope the thief back there will be alright...I'm sure she will be though. After all, she has a Shaman helping her...or at least from what it looked. Not sure how long they'd last in the heart of the city though Garrett thought as he kept trying to push the knight away from the priest.