A Walk in The Forest of Blossoms and Death

Thestalos gazed up at the sky the sun shining through the thick canopy into the holes in his empty skull filling it with a gentle warmth he had long since forgotten in his eternal rest. With a raspy sigh he began to rise his bones creaking and cracking with the sudden movement of laying stagnant. With a jeering twist left and right his neck gave way to a much louder crackle as he rose to his full height. The insects buzzed past his face and catching a glimpse he stared at a small bird for some time before starting to walk. He didn't have a direct place to go to for he was a wanderer. Nothing more then tarnished robes and cloak draped over his frail body. The only thing on him that shined was his trusty swords on his left hip always kept clean and sharpened he would never let his only treasure be tarnished by time.

         It wasn't long before he came across a river flowing through the trees like a great blue serpent. He knelt before it, his bones whining once more, as he unwrapped his hands and arms and placed them into the cold water the feeling barely registering to him but his soul knew it would be cold and still sent a rattling shiver up his spine despite lack of nerve endings. He washed his hands and arm bones for a time before sitting back and repeating the process for his legs unwrapping them carefully discarding the wrappings into his bag. From within he drew a fresh set of wrappings and began the process of mummifying himself to cover his bones from sight lest he have another incident he had a few months ago where someone saw his form and he was ran out of town thinking to be a necromancers thrall.

         Finally another sigh as he threw back his hood and unwrapped his skull dislocating it from his neck he dunked it under the water and began cleaning it thoroughly making sure to get all the dirt and bugs out from many nights laying on the ground as well as leftovers from being beneath it for so long. He ran his finger bone along a thick crack that had poorly healed along the side of his skull a mark from a battle long ago. It was not the wound that killed him though that one lay towards his side where a sword had ran him through the edge scraping his spine. He still remembered how the blade felt and lost in memories sat still halfway through wrapping his own skull.


(438)

Though the forest had served him for a very long time, Solmar knew that it was time for him to leave the place behind, at least for the time being. After his run-in with a Necromancer and his undead wolf, whom had been responsible for at least forty deaths that he was aware of, a few things had come to his attention. While he knew how to use his gladius and bring out his magic when he was in a life or death situation, there was still quite much that he needed to learn if he was to actually become a potent mage. True, he had never really considered himself as a mage as much as he considered himself to be a hunter and a fighter, learning how to better utilize his magical prowess would make him into more than just that, it would make him a survivor. It was with that thought in mind that he had started packing up his belongings, however few there were of those, and made plans to head towards the mountains to the south of the forest.

Leaving the coziness of the abandoned bear den he had come to call home for the past few months behind, he picked up Fellis and placed him inside the hood of his thick fur coat. Relaxing inside of the warmth of the hood, the Exceed continued sleeping as if nothing had happened at all. Taking his duffle bag that contained all the things he needed, he put his sword back in the scabbard hanging from the left side of his belt. Double checking the place once to make sure he hadn't left a single thing behind, he smiled a bit as he looked upon the place one last time. With that, he turned around and started walking, heading south. The place called the Phoenix Mountains had a great deal of stories surrounding it, most of them being nothing more than folklore and old wives' tales, though that did not make them any less amusing. Having heard stories of Yeti living up in the highest peaks of the mountains, wolves the size of bears and bears the size of elephants, it was the cold frost of the mountain that he sought.

If he was to train his magic and push it to a higher level, he had to do it in a place where doing so would be restricted heavily by the elements. As things would have it, his fire magic would likely be under quite a bit of stress when he had to use it in a place as cold and having much "thinner" air than down in the forest, making it the ideal place for him to either increase his level of mastery, or to die trying. Though the very thought of dying did not mean a whole lot to him personally, there was also Fellis to think about. Being all the flying feline had in life, there was no telling what might happen to him if Solmar was to pass away, especially up high in the mountains. If nothing else, it was an additional motivator for him to try harder, do better and stay alive longer in the process. If things did turn out for the worse, at least he had taught Fellis how to catch fish and cook things over an open fire, meaning he wasn't entirely helpless without Solmar anymore.

Following the same stream where he had been doing so for the past weeks, with some modicum of success, his heightened senses picked up on something. His nose was the first to pick up on it, an odd scent that did not seem to originate from something human, though it wasn't an animal either. Being reminiscent of the undead wolf he had beheaded not too long ago, he placed his right hand underneath his thick coat, resting it on top of the hilt of his gladius. When next he sensed a source of magic and heard the sound of something dipping in and out of the water, he wandered out of the treeline so he could see what he was dealing with. Spotting the skeletal remains of what seemed to have been human once upon a time, he considered making his move and destroying it on the spot. After all, there was a very large likeliness that this was one of the remnants of the Necromancer's raised dead, meaning it was to be eradicated just the same as any undead, specter or demon.

"Solmar, what's that guy doing over there… is he washing his head?"

As Fellis peered out of Solmar's head and looked over his shoulders, it had seen the skeletal figure doing what it was doing, most likely not understanding what was going on. Knowing about as much as Fellis about what it was that he saw, he figured that it had most likely figured out about their approach by now. Still being about ten meters away from it, Solmar continued moving closer until he got to a range of about six meters. Feeling it best to keep some distance between them in case the thing turned out to be hostile, as he assumed it would be, it would allow him to defend himself and do what needed to be done.

"…It would seem so."


(884)

Thestalos had sensed the man's presence as he finished cleaning his head sighing to himself as he quickly finished he rose to his feet pushing his skull back into place and recovering himself with his hood. His weapons were off to the side out of immediate reach so depending on how fast this person before him was he would be in for a bit of trouble. He raised his hands in front of him and in a raspy voice that one would describe as dusty he spoke in a rattled tone. " I mean you no harm you have seen my appearance and I understand what you might think. To answer some questions no I am not a spawn of a dark mage or necromancer I am my own being brought to life by magics beyond my own understanding. I am a wizard and a swordsman in another life I was a samurai under the service of a lord but I died in battle many years ago. My name is Thestalos Ryutenshi and although I may lack eyes my sensory abilities give me a sight of my own I am sure traveling in this forest you must be armed so if you would kindly remove your hand from your weapon I won't make a move for my own."

         Thestalos looked the man up and down he was tall well built probably a swordsman himself. He was followed by an exceed although Thestalos had heard of them he had never seen one before in person but had seen pictures. Thestalos could sense a power like a burning fire inside the man and upon a deeper search he could sense another entity within him a darker entity which put Thestalos on edge but he wouldn't let it be shown mainly cause he couldn't express any kind of emotion visually.  It was a very tense situation where they were on one hand the man had the upper hand he could easily overpower Thestalos and end him on the other if the man wanted to attack he probably would've done so already.

(357)

"Fine with me, just don't try anything funny. Wouldn't want you dying a second time."

Though he spoke in a serious tone, there was only a slight hint towards him making such a statement as a means of a joke. Not being used to being around people, the past few weeks had made him into a bit more of a person. The amount of interaction that had gone into taking on jobs, helping people out with their daily lives and taking care of their problems had, after all, been quite sizeable. Even for someone as detached from modern society as Solmar had seen no other option than to try his damndest in order to make people open up to him. Given some of the jobs he had taken on so far, simply doing things on his own without asking around and hearing the people out would have meant that he'd be working on things a whole lot longer. Removing his hand from his gladius, Dyrnwyn would go without shedding blood yet another day, though that wasn't inherently a bad thing. When heading up the mountain, he would be needing every ounce of his strength just to make it back alive, so he'd rather not risk tiring himself out here if he could help it.

Spreading his small wings, Fellis flew out of Solmar's hood and started hovering about a meter above his head, getting some altitude so he could get a better look at the person in front of them. Refering to it as a person, he figured that just because it was no longer alive did not mean that this Thestalos guy was any less human. The way he saw it, as long as there was some kind of a soul present, that meant that no matter how it looked, there were feelings, thoughts and choices involved when it had to do things. This had not really been the case with the things brought back to life by the Necromancer, who seemed to only bring back the deceased body and imbue it with magic in order to make it fight for him. Starting to circle up and around the skeletal figure, the flying feline started eyeing every inch of the guy, sniffing the air around him and placing his paws over his nose and making his way back to Solmar.

"This guy smells pretty bad big bro."

"You know, there are some things you should probably say with your inside voice, Fellis. Also, what did you mean when you said you were a "Samurai" serving under a lord. I've never heard of such strange things before, though it sounds… foreign."

Due to him not having grown up as most normal people did, there were many things he simply did not know about. Though he knew what many of the words meant, the greater meaning behind them often eluded him, which was why he had only recently come to find out that there was a council of mages looking over the country, or that one needed a passport in order to travel across invisibles lines people called "borders".


(518)

Thestalos eyed the exceed as it circled him with a careful patience even at the comment of his aroma. As the man removed his hand from his weapon Thestalos seemed to relax a bit more. When asked about his past Thestalos thought on it for a moment. " Ahh I must've been dead longer then I imagined. Long time ago around the time of dragon wars eastern lands functioned differently than I assume they do today. There was many kingdoms in a land the land was ruled over by a Shogun and the kingdoms by a Lord or Daimyo. The Daimyo would command legions of samurai who were a group of well trained soldiers wielding a pair of these." He gestures to his daisho pointing to the larger one. " This one is the Katana, the other is the Wakazishi. They are very sharp sturdy but also flexible and made by folding the hard metal outside over a softer metal core which gives the blade flexibility without sacrificing a cutting edge or stopping power." He laughs rattling as he does slightly. " There I go babbling more than I should. Anyways you never did introduce yourself what is your name traveler."

         Thestalos tightens his outfit around his frame and begins re-strapping his weapons to his hip taking great care when he handles them to avoid dirtying them on the ground Thestalos pulls out a small bottle from his pouch and uncorks the top a natural flowery aroma escapes it and he gingerly applies it to most of his bandages before corking it and returning it to his bag the flowery aroma surprisingly covers the smell of old bones while not being ridiculously overpowering. The feeling he was getting from the man seemed well enough but with that dark force inside Thestalos couldn't be sure if he would randomly attack so he kept his mind focused on any movements of aggression.


(335)

Dawn had sat in that tree for several minutes eating an apple with one hand and flipping a book with another. However, the girl with the katana would soon be interrupted at the presence of seeing a skeleton. She'd see him dip his head in the water and clean it out.

What a disturbing sight. One that would make Dawn question what was going on. Now, she was curious. Then she'd see another male come across him as well. Dawn would be about to speak but stated nothing. They'd begin to conversate. The new male to the scene was harsh and mean to the skeleton who'd she call Thes for short. His name was harsh on the tongue.

Then she had an idea. She had finished her apple. Maybe she could get him to stop or knock it off by throwing an apple. It was a spontaneous thought. Not one that was polite or a good one at all.

Nonetheless, it was just apart of her personality, however, to fight meaness with meaness in response.

If she tossed the apple, alright, it would be a linear path that'd hit Vetis first, but if he somehow dodged would hit the body of the skeleton man crouching down at the river. Her intention was to hit Vetis, but if he dodged she may end up hitting the skeleton instead.

So, after a moment of watching the two carry on their conversation. She'd throw the apple core at Vetis's head with perfect lining and perfect throw. It would hit if all went well for the girl. She'd then hop down from the tree regardless, her white hair flowing behind her in the air, and would begin to walk over.

"Hey.....Knock it off! You look like a pale demon yourself. You know?" she'd say honestly with an odd smirk at him discriminating.

Listening to the skeleton as he told his story about the eastern lands that he was apparently from, he brought up a lot of rather interesting names and concepts that he had never heard of. Speaking of the "time of the dragon wars", part of him wanted to ask what a dragon was, though now did not seem like the right time to bring up such things. After all, it wasn't exactly what they were discussing at this point. No, the words such as "Shogun", which seemed to be similar to what a king or an alpha was were far more intriguing. It never ceased to amaze him how people would lob around titles just to feed their own vanity and force others to recognize themselves as somehow being better than others just because they possessed said title. At least in the wilderness, which he had come to know quite well due to a lifetime of wandering around on his own with only his exceed companion to keep him from losing his humanity altogether, a title meant something. In a pack, there were two titles that meant something, these being Alpha and Beta, where the Alpha was the stronger and the Beta obeyed their Alpha to make the pack function.

Continuing to listen to the story when he spoke of lords and daimyo, which seemed to be some kind of sub-title between Alpha and Beta, and sounded rather pointless to him, he figured that these lands Thestalos spoke of were probably so big that this Shogun person needed these Daimyo people in order to oversee them for him. Solmar knew that an Alpha who had a massive territory could never be in all places at once, so this line of thought at least made some sense to him. Doing his best to let everything sink in, he was about to ask a question when the skeleton continued talking about how the Samurai, which was something it had classified himself as, was apparently what he considered to be Betas, doing what their Alpha told them to do. Showing him the weapons these men apparently used, he could honestly say that he had never seen anything like them before, finding their shape odd. Still, he believed the words it spoke when it brought up flexibility and cutting power as they were potentially more useful in those regards than his own blade.

"Hmm.. those sound odd to me, though it also seems quite interesting at the same time. And you’re right, I'm not used to talking to people this deep in the forest, so you'll have to excuse me. But my name is Solma-"

At that moment, his senses registered something small approaching quickly. Instinctively, his body turned ever so slightly as his hand reached out to it. In that instant, the pupils in his eyes narrowed to mere slits reminiscent of that of a lizard as he peered into the direction of the sound. While his magic sensing abilities were not that well developed, Solmar possessed an incredibly heightened sense of smell, sight and hearing, with which he noticed what seemed like a partially eaten apple. Momentarily catching it in the palm of his hand, he crushed it to a pulp as he tightened his fist. Staring into the direction it had come from, he noticed the girl that had thrown it leaping down from her spot in a tree. Realizing that the apple had not exactly been a threat to him, his pupils returned to normal as he took a deep breath.

"As I was saying.. my name is Solmar."

Momentarily continuing his sentence that had so rudely been disrupted by this girl, he turned his attention back to make sure she would not try assaulting him in some other way such as tossing a shoe or a partially eaten tangerine, just to switch things up. Watching her smirk after she called him a pale demon, he felt somewhat hurt by her words, though he figured that she had no idea what she was talking about. Remembering the "Pale demon" that had murdered most of the town he had grown up in, being reminded of it or in any way linked to it was enough to put him into a foul mood. But for Fellis' sake, he would do his best to keep himself contained, doing his best to remember that this girl was just saying things as she had no way of knowing what his connection to the actual "Pale Demon" might be. Figuring the best thing he could do now was to reiterate by making an observational joke of his own, he smirked a bit himself as he replied.

"When compared to your complexion, I imagine I might be quite pale, apple girl. Also, you might want to be more careful when jumping down trees wearing such an attire or your breasts might come plopping out."


(817)

Thestalos peered past Solmar as he was about to introduce himself spotting the apple core his hand instinctively moved to his sword hilt but Solmar seemed to have a good reaction time as well catching and crushing the core easily. He then finished his introduction and turned to face the newcomer a younger girl with a interesting outfit to say the least. In his time woman who weren't concubines would never dress so provocatively but this wasn't his time so nothing he could do about it but avoid staring. He offered a slight bow to the woman as she approached the comment Solmar made towards the womans breasts irked Thestalos but he bit his figurative tongue so as to not cause a fight. " Well I have introduced myself, Solmar has introduced himself so what of you miss? Will you not also share your name?" Thestalos now having finished packing up his things jumps with a certain amount of strength and grace you wouldn't expect from a bag of bones and lands with little more then a faint clatter of bone and supplies rustling as he lands now on the same side of the river as the other two visitors. He keeps at the ready but leaves his hands off his weapons. The situation was tense enough without people drawing weapons.

         Thestalos did notice she called him a pale demon at least visually and he wondered if she herself could sense the darkness within Solmar and know just how right she was. Thestalos adjusted his robe top for a moment revealing the orange glow within his core the center of his being his soul so to speak. Although it wasn't just his soul but the souls of the Eastern Warriors in fact Thestalos used his inner reflecting time to communicate with the only warrior he knew by name, Tomei the wandering monk. He spoke clearly through his soul to Tomei's asking for guidance the old man replied softly and wisely. " Never can you know the true intentions of a stranger until you sit with him in tea or prayer. Only then can you know if they would slip you poison or stab you in the back." Thestalos nodded inwardly and waited to see what the others had to say if they weren't busy he would see if they would share with him a cup of tea after all it couldn't hurt to know.


(420)

As she began to walk over to the strange pair of people(well person and skeleton), she'd see that the "Pale Demon" caught the core then crushed it.

Whatever.

She'd shrug it off as if were nothing. He probably was much stronger than her, but she wasn't the type to care about such trivial things at the moment.

They both piqued her interest in different ways.  

He'd state his name as 'Solmar'. What a lovely name!!! Yeah no, she wondered what were the origins of such a name like that.  It was interesting to say the very least. It wasn't 'lovely' per say, but she was curious about the origin of the name. She was tempted to question it in a polite manner. Then he'd catch her off guard after she had given her rude comment.

He'd acknowledge the fact that he was pale. Ok. Then she looked a tad bit surprised at his next set of words. Of course, he had to say something about the size of her breasts. It'd seemed like a lot of men of this generation did such things nowadays. It was inconsiderate and rude to say the least.  She'd arch a brow clearly studying him for a moment then responded:

"Well aren't you just a lovely pervert for noticing that right off the bat?" she'd bat her eyelashes and hold her hands together as if she lusting after him sarcastically.   "Look you can save the 'your a whore' comments for another girl. I'm not that type of a bitch.  I don't let guys like you touch me. You can save it for another day with another girl." she'd say sharply to Solmar her face cold now. Then she'd scrunch up her face at the thought that the first thing he noticed about her was the fact she had large tits.

Yeah, she was sexy for sure. But he didn't need to say that.

Distasteful! Distasteful!

Then Thestalos, or skeleton man, would ask her name, "My name is Dawn. Yep, Dawn.  I don't do surnames." she'd explain and offer Thes a hand for him to shake if he'd let her. If he hadn't she'd let her hand down a few seconds later and frown.

Rubbing his dirtied hand over his slacks as a means of getting the crushed paste that was left of the apple off of it, he listened as Thestalos spoke to the woman first, after which she in turn erupted at him in a rather vulgar manner. Not being used to people in general, he raised an eyebrow when she unleashed words such as bitch and whore, things he did not really know about aside from the fact that a bitch was the name given to female wolves. Figuring they were probably not meant as positive descriptions of herself, judging by the tone in which she said it and the body language accompanying it. Truth be told, her body language was all over the place as he couldn't really tell when she was upset, delighted or just angry. Scratching himself behind his ear as he looked over to Thestalos while the girl was going about her tirade, he was hoping to see whether or not he could make sense of it all, but figured that he wouldn't be able to tell since the skeleton man had no facial features to read either.

"…Right."

"I think she's angry you broke her apple."

Listening as Fellis gave his input by blurting it right into his ear, Solmar frowned a bit as the flying feline's input wasn't really adding much to the actual conversation. Just as was the case with him, Fellis did not really understand most people as it had spent most, if not all of his time in Fiore with Solmar. And since Solmar was not like most people either, the winged cat did not have a whole lot of material to reference to, meaning his guess was about as good as any had Solmar not known it to be wrong. Bringing up the fact that she wasn't about to let Solmar touch him, it made him wonder as to why he would have to touch her, unless she had originally planned to fight him but talked herself out of it. Feeling that things had just gotten more confusing since she joined in on things, he turned his attention back to the skeleton. Normally, a walking talking skeleton would probably have been the weirdest thing one might encounter on a day such as this, which just went to prove how odd the girl was to him.

"..So, you were talking about the time of the dragon wars, mind telling me what that was about? I've never heard of a dragon, or why one would fight over it… or against it?"

Uncertain as to whether a dragon was something to fight over and own or something to fight against, he figured that Thestalos would be able to tell him of such things. Truth be told, one of the things Solmar enjoyed about not being around people and spending his time in the forests and, soon also the mountains to the south, was that there was no drama and things weren't overly difficult. Sure, one had to brave the elements, best wild animals and keep oneself from dehydrating, getting malnourished or freezing to death during the colder periods, though these were things he understood and could combat by being prepared. People were often unpredictable, and if there was one thing he did not care for much, it was unpredictability and confusion. Regardless of that though, he was genuinely interested in learning more about this dragon war, and wasn't altogether bothered by the girl being around. He wasn't angry or upset with her, he just didn't understand her or most of the things she said, so he'd stick to what he knew and tried to learn a thing or two from the encounter.


(616)

Thestalos listened to the girl's small tirade and smirked inwardly at Solmar's clear confusion in the whole thing. The girl approached as she introduced herself as Dawn " Ahh a name to represent the coming of day a beautiful day matching a beautiful young lady." Thestalos bowed deeper as she reached out to shake his hand he grasped it and gave a shake however on the second shake there was a popping sound and his arm fell off leaving it in her hand and he looked down at it then back up at Dawn. " I'm... sorry about that.....uhh shit...." Thestalos sits down and removes his robe top down revealing a scratched up skeletal frame the center of which where his heart would be a small glowing orange and yellow orb of light surrounded by a white aura and a green ring spinning within. Thestalos gestures with his available hand towards his shoulder socket. " Do you mind putting my arm back in just shove the ball joint back into the slot if you don't mind or I can do it myself albeit with some struggling. "

         Solmar had asked him about the time of the dragons not knowing what they are. " Ahh dragons well they were something to fight surely. Although some people have magic that they gained from good dragons for fighting bad ones. Specifically Dragon Slayer Magic I've heard of a few in my travels have yet to encounter one. Dragons are very very large reptilian creatures with wings that have a breath matching their element such as fire or ice even light and shadow. They were numerous and dangerous and many many people died fighting them. I believe I have a scale around here somewhere. " Thestalos rummaged through his bag with his off hand and pulls out a large green scale from his bag it shimmers in the light and seems to emanate an innate magical energy. He offers it to Solmar to look at. " There you go take a look that was one of the ones I managed to chip off extremely tough the higher ups would make cloaks or armor out of the scales which would also give them elemental resistances to the dragons breath attacks. "

         Thestalos couldn't help but wonder in of himself why these two people who were strangers to each other and to him would be wandering in the forest alone. Not that he doubted anyone's combat prowess or skill but he was told these forests were as dangerous as they were beautiful which is why he came here because he knew the chances of him running into someone else were slim yet he was caught literally with his head off and then someone else showed up not soon after maybe he made a mistake going to the river or maybe he was on a popular path through the forest he couldn't really be sure but he hoped that this was a rare occurrence since he wasn't akin to talking to people or socializing with strangers oddly enough though neither of them seemed bothered he was basically a corpse.


(549)

Upon being ignored, Dawn would shrug again. Her reactions weren't too different from one another. They all correlated to one action:

mocking.

Dawn would proceed to shake the skeleton's hand. But as she felt to let go something would catch her off guard once again. She was now holding the man's bony arm. He had let go, but she had taken his limb as she let go. Perhaps she had shaken his arm too hard.

"Well now.....ok. Interesting...." she'd say aloud. She was judging Thes's and her situation. But decided now to do anything that'd seem out of the norm. For example, like screaming in shock. Dawn would then be asked to put it in him for him. She'd give a girlish giggle filled with genuine happiness and humor. Something, she hadn't done that often. The laugh was unexpected in her mind and as realization her mouth with cold as ice once again.

Dawn would proceed to do as he asked, "No problem," she'd say as she would fulfill her task. She'd walk over and grab the other end of the arm. The bone maybe loose from the socket, but itself felt rather dense and not easy to break. Otherwise, Thes would be in shambles like Humpty Dumpty. Right?

Hopefully, she wouldn't break the arm shoving it back

She'd hold the man's upper shoulder, and chest. She then held the end of the arm(not near the hand), then eye the hole. She'd slowly near it as too not hurt him by entering too far and too quickly. Then, she'd enter with a loud pop back into the socket. Holding it, she'd move it back and forth for a moment as to ensure it had actually gone the way in it was supposed to.


She'd then look to and from Solmar as she was currently in between them. She decided to move a bit off the side and there bodies if lines were drawn between them, made a small triangle. They were now in a huddled group of some sort, Dawn would note. Dawn was interested in the skeleton's story. He seemed to have no problem with sharing with them why he was a skeleton.

Taking the scale in hand, he rolled it around between his fingers as it was rather large, but not so large that it had to be held with both hands. Judging by the looks of it, it resembled some kind of reptilian scale, which just made him wonder even more as to what dragons actually looked like. Trying to bend it with both hands, he felt that there was a lot of resistance to his action, making him understand why some would try to make armor out of it. While on one of his brief visits to the cities, he had seen how some blacksmiths had tried to sell him armor made from the scales or hides of monsters that had been slain specifically because they possessed certain qualities described by Thestalos. It was true what people said, one could learn from their elders if they chose to listen, and considering how long the skeleton had been dead for, he was about as much of an "elder" as one could get in his opinion.

While Fellis flinched a bit at the notion of an arm popping off, Solmar himself did not share a similar reaction. The way he saw it, he had just seen it pop off its own head and wash it in the stream, so an arm popping off was not nearly as strange or awkward in his opinion. But, as he had been in contact with other undead beings before, things like that did not really bother him as much anymore. Taking a look at his dominant arm, he could feel a slight tingling in the area underneath his elbow sleeve, which was currently also covered up by a fur coat. Wearing the elbow sleeve as a means of covering up a certain tattoo that had formed when Solmar took on the mantle of fire demon slayer from the Shadow Isle, he had always been able to tell whenever there was some kind of undead creature, a spirit or a demon nearby. More importantly, judging by the gravity of this tingling sensation, he could more or less make out whether the origin of it was malevolent or not. Continuing to ponder, he handed the scale back to the still-attached of the two arms.

Since the purpose of his magic was to keep what remained of Vetis at bay until it eventually perished and to fight other demonic or unholy things that should not be, part of this conversation also helped him figure out whether this guy, this Thestalos, was something he should put back to rest. Though he did not seem violent in the least, the fact that he himself had no idea as to how he had come back to life was somewhat concerning to the young black haired magus. For the time being, he would just keep an eye on things and make sure that, if he was to let the guy walk around freely, he would not end up regretting it later when the skeleton ended up losing it and started killing people. Up until now, what stood out the most was how the girl suddenly giggled, which seemed to really break character as she had been semi-aggressive up until this point in time. Taking a step back, he sat himself down on a flat rock by the side of the stream. Having wandered for a while now, getting some rest wouldn't be the worst thing.

"So these dragons, are they reptilian? It seems like it, though the size and density of the scale would suggest that it came from something big, much bigger than most of the reptiles I've seen so far. Most over here are around the size of my shoe, though I've heard there are much larger ones living in the rainforests to the east."

"We ate a reptile once, didn't we big bro. It tasted better than the fishies, but worse than the deer."

"Aye, we sure did."


(658)

Thestalos nodded in thanks as the girl popped his arm back in he gave it a few full rotations and was certain it was in correctly. When the girl had giggled it reminded Thestalos of his youth for a moment before he quickly remembered where he was. Solmar had asked more about the dragons and Thestalos thought for a moment. " Yes they were reptilian and yes they were rather large when they would first hatch they could dwarf men at full grown they dwarfed cities. They were both marvelous and terrifying at the same time. Now that is enough about them I believe for I am no expert I only speak of experience and what I've seen or heard in travels." He sighed to himself as he fixed his robe top once again covering his core and tightening it against his body again and tightening the bandages around his arm so it was fully covered again.

         Now with two arms and the others beginning to sit he sighed to himself and reaching on the side of his pouch there was a slung teapot and cups he also withdrew a small table from the other side setting it up he began removing small jars of herbs some sweet some bitter in smell and a small grinding wheel and rut. He drew water from the river in the pot and made a small fireplace setting it over top. He began to grind some of the herbs down into a fine powder and mixed them together placing it in the pot setting out 3 cups. He then began to start a fire underneath and turning to the other two he gestured for them to take a seat around the rather small table if they wished. " I am making some tea if you two would care to partake?" The fire flared into life as he stoked it and fed it a little just so it was enough to make hot coals. He watched the fire flicker for a bit before turning back to the others to see their answers he also picked a flower off the ground and drawing a book from his hip he placed the flower within and withdrew a brush and inkwell and began to write in calligraphy about the flower and its colors before letting it open to dry and returning his attention to the other two.


(405)

"You are dumb...." Dawn would tell Solmar rudely at the response of Thes informing him of what a dragon was,"They are a very commonly known creature. Rare, but people know about it. I'd advise you read up on some books Pale Demon Man." she'd cackle lightly to Solmar. She couldn't help but tell him, "I haven't seen a Dragonslayer in forever. You know what a demon is?" she'd tell him, "Because I kill them. People that look like you. I guess I won't have to go so far at the moment." she'd look down Solmar and his little bobble headed pet as if she were judging them and scrutinizing them, "But I'm not going to do so today." she'd say, "You're ok I suppose." she'd then verbally decided of Solmar. She'd stopped messing with him if he'd stop messing with her.

Maybe.

Despite the strange vibe, Dawn was giving off to Solmar and Fellis she'd tilt her head at the moment as if analyzing the situation. Clearly, skeleton man was a magical creature who wasn't human. Weird, but interesting. At another thought, she wondered if Solmar himself was human. He was so pale..... It'd looked so inhuman and so creature like. Perhaps, that's why she thought he was non-human just as like the skeleton were. Not the same breed, but something about how dumb and inexperienced he was showed it.

"Do you even understand emotions? Do you know what sarcasm is?" Dawn would ask Solmar a few seconds later. She wasn't on a tirade as like before but instead was adding quips in every few seconds with responses.

She was being very talkative however, due to the interesting circumstances she currently was in. Usually, she wasn't. She just observed.

Then Thes would offer her a seat at his fire. He was making tea and wanted to offer her some. Her and Solmar.

Dawn would plop across from Thes leaving space for Solmar if he'd choose to sit next to her and Thes. She didn't feel like touching him. Especially since, he thought she was a harlot of some sort. For someone whose physical appearance was so frightening and gross, he was friendly and kind, just showed how you couldn't judge a book by it's cover.

Once again, it was as if he were forced into raising an eyebrow as another verbal assault came his way when the girl straight up asked him whether he was dumb or not. Looking back over at Thestalos, who had just gone about explaining what he could about dragons from apparent firsthand experience, the girl told him he should try picking up a book after claiming that dragons commonly known, but incredibly rare. Figuring that since the girl seemed to be roughly his own age, that this meant that she had never actually seen a real dragon aside from books either, it made him wonder where all of the feistiness came from. Momentarily addressing the notion of dragon slayers who apparently gained their abilities from "good dragons" to use against the bad ones, the conversation suddenly switched over to whether or not he knew anything about demons. Ceasing to breathe for a while as he listened to Thestalos offering to make him a cup of "tea", his ears were more keen on following what the girl had to say about the matter.

All things considered, he did not much care about whether or not people thought he was dumb or not, believing everyone had their own path in life and their own things to contribute, though the matter of demons had always been a rather touchy subject for him. Continuing on by telling him that she hunted and killed demons, he placed his hands on the side of the stone he was sitting on as if bracing himself. The moment the girl brought up how she killed demons, and creatures that looked like him, his hands just seemed to move on instinct, crushing a portion of the stone he sat on and reducing it to rubble between his fingers. Still having enough space to sit, he looked up from the ground to look at Dawn before looking at Thestalos, after which he returned his gaze back to the ground again. Though he had retained his control, this situation right here was why he had never spent too much time with other people, knowing what might happen if they somehow triggered him. In spite of his magic and the fact that he couldn't feel it anymore, Solmar knew better than to think that Vetis was actually one hundred percent gone.

"You ask if I know what emotions are, what sarcasm means. Yes, and no, though I imagine the latter is another human invention by which to make themselves seem superior to the animals they believe they are somehow elevated above. So in response to whether or not I'm dumb and know what having emotions feels like, I'll ask the two of you something else entirely. Have either of you ever heard the local folklore regarding to the children of the eclipse?"

Asking them both in a cold and emotionally void tone of voice, he wondered if they had ever heard anything related to the matter. Nodding his head at Thestalos as a means of accepting his offer at having a cup of tea, he hardly even saw what else the skeletal man was up to, getting lost in thought as his mind raced through images of a time that had long since passed, but gnawed at him most of every night of every day. It was said that one would never forget the first body they saw, just like one would never be able to go back after they killed their first person, and they were right. Maybe he did lack emotions, maybe he was uninformed or just straight up dumb, though he somehow doubted that the three of them had all been through the same kind of ordeal when they were children. If they did not know what he was referencing to when he spoke of the children of the eclipse story, he would not hold it against them, as it was just some old wives' tale from a village that probably no longer existed now. Still, if they did, it would make discussing the topic that much less annoying to bring up.

"Oof, you've done it now…"

Flying out of Solmar's hood and into the air, the white haired cat seemingly left the conversation before things turned out a whole lot darker than they had been before. Part of him hoped these two knew about the subject so they could quickly get past it, and maybe skip some of the personal attacks from that point on, though he would not shy away from bringing up a small portion of it. After all, so far, all he had done had been asking them questions and getting answers, so it would only be fair for him to provide them with some information next.


(792)

Thestalos sighed inwardly as Dawn continue to quip at Solmar but at the very least she sat down for tea which Thestalos began to slowly pour. At the mention of demons he sensed a change if ever so slight in Solmar and as the man crushed part of the rock under him Thestalos brought his weapons closer to him just in case things went crazy. Apparently the young woman slayed demons a feat Thestalos was sure wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Then Solmar mentioned if we had heard of the children of the eclipse. Thestalos regretted that he had never heard of such a group in his travels however it was apparently, according to Solmar at least, a local folklore and since he had only recently come to this area it would make sense why he hadn't heard of them before. Firstly he turned to Dawn and spoke " If I may ask Dawn-chan perhaps sometime you could tell me of your battles and exploits I would love to hear them. " He sighed as he then poured Solmar some tea and gestured again to take a seat. " Please Solmar sit, free yourself of your stresses for the moment at least. " Thestalos finished pouring the tea and returned the pot to its place and sighed staring at his own empty cup for a moment.

         Thestalos held his cup staring into it as he stared his mind faded away his vision to black when he openned them again he was staring at a cup of tea across from him sat his master he was home and he was himself again tan toned skin he hadn't seen for years was before him. His master bowed and offered praise for the tea and Thestalos for a moment felt that maybe he was in heaven when a sudden jostle to his memory which was the sound of flapping snapping him back to reality he watched the exceed fly off and he looked back down at his wrapped up hands and then looked back at the others. He felt for a moment he might never enjoy such a moment again in his life for the bond between master and student is unique and very hard to emulate even among friends and these two were strangers to him.

       

(396)

Dawn would cock a brow at Solmar's response. She wasn't at all scared of Solmar. If he wanted to beat her up, or event to the brink of death, there'd be consequences for him even if he hid her body. She could always report it to the Magic Knights. Besides, Thes was there so, he'd have to kill them both to get away assault or potential murder. People from various places that her father had known, other relatives, and people who were in Rune Knights, have visited and asked about her well being since her abusive father's suicide.

Dawn would always say the same thing when they came to visit, with a straight face "I'm fine. " And that would be the end of that unpleasant visit. But in reality, there would be an investigation if she was hit to the point of a comatose state or death. People would think she would've tried to harm herself after all that has happened.

She had no desire to fight at the time being. She only wanted to drink tea with her new friend.

She didn't know precisely what she had said to trigger the reaction of him feeling the need to break a rock to crumbles. He used the rock as if it were a squeeze ball.

"Ok.... So you're angry..." she'd comment aloud to herself. For a moment, she'd grow tense and worried that'd he hit her. Seeing as he hadn't, she'd roll her eyes and give a light sigh of annoyance.

Dawn would see the pet run away somewhere far in the galaxy. Who knows where he went and she'd watch. Solmar seemed ready to go on a tirade himself to combat hers from much earlier. She didn't care.

He just seemed like an emotionless dumb dick.

"Are you even human? And no I have no idea of this eclipse thing you speak of? Tell me," Dawn would say nonchalantly, rolling her hand and eyes in a circular pattern, and appeared to be uninterested as if she were just playing along with story time. Ironically? She was very interested in what he had to say and just wanted another reaction since he already has given her a few so far.

Not caring much for the attitude of the girl, Solmar turned his attention towards Thestalos, seeing as he actually seemed interested in the conversation. Taking the cup of tea from him, he placed it by his feet as he waited for it to cool down a bit while he thought about how he was going to put things to words. Since Fellis had already flown off somewhere, he figured that there was no real point to making things sound less bad than they actually were. The feline had never really liked hearing these kinds of stories from him, which had only been strengthened when it got to see what a real demon was like in action. Had it not been for the wings on his back, Fellis might not even have been around anymore, so the black haired man understood quite well why he had chosen to put some distance between them while Solmar shared a story with the others.

"In my town of birth, superstition was a really big motivator for some awful witch hunts. They believed in a lot of things that brought bad luck or misfortune, and one of these tales was that of the children of the eclipse. They believed that a child born during an eclipse brought a second entity into the world with them, that of a demon."

Taking a momentary break, he took a sip from the tea, finding that it had cooled down enough to slowly drink. Not being as refined as most people, seeing as he had no time for such things while in the wilds, he went about drinking it the same as one might work down a cup of water. More or less finishing the whole thing in three gulps, he shrugged his throat and continued.

"Though I don't know much about it, seeing as it has been about eleven years since the incident, I was there when this superstitious nonsense turned out to be true. My family, neighbors, as well as other relatives of mine were slaughtered in their own homes and on the streets while only a select few of us survived."

Thinking back on how everything had transpired that day, he was having trouble believing that this girl who seemed so very full of herself could ever hope to stop such a creature. When he looked at her, he figured that he himself was already quite a lot stronger than she was, and even he would have stood zero chance against the thing. After the day of the incident, he had never been back to his place of birth, and wouldn't be able to even if he wanted to. Due to the fact that he was only a child when he had to run away from that place, he had completely forgotten where it was that he came from or what it was even called. This was also the reason why he had chosen to live his life as a wanderer, moving from one place to another in hopes of leaving these places a little bit better than they were before he had arrived. It was one of the few things he could do to keep the bad thoughts and nightmares at bay, allowing him to feel a little bit better while also doing something nice for someone else.

But in spite of that, the amount of times where he would not end up dreaming about the ivory white demon that had murdered everyone he knew and destroyed everything he loved were minimal. The demon he had come to know as Vetis, or the Pale Hunter by others, would always be there to haunt his thoughts and plague his mind, even though Solmar hadn't seen it in a very long time. Thanks to his anti-demon magic, he would at least be ready for it if it did show itself again, or so he hoped. Placing the cup near Thestalos so he could take it with him once he was done here, Solmar stopped talking for a bit, wondering what the others had to say about it, if they had anything to say about it.


(690)

Thestalos listened as Solmar explained what the children of the eclipse were. It seemed like an interesting and dark story one that Thes would say is not too far away from his own dark past though he would replace demons with dragons. He thought about how it must've felt to watch family friends and neighbors be slaughtered like that. At least when it was his life the people were usually incinerated instantly and did not suffer much. Thes took back his cup and returned it to the pouch he carried them in. He left Dawn's cup go as he wasn't sure if she had finished with her tea or not. He then quickly reached into the river and pulled out a long flat stone setting it in front of him on an open cloth. Drawing his sword slowly he set it on the cloth along with a small container of a stone and liquid. Dipping the stone in the liquid he began working it along the blade edge carefully and slowly making sure each part of the blade edge was honed to perfection. The blade shimmer like silver in the light. The tsuba was forged brass forming a snake coiled in an overlapping triangle in the center. The tsuka was wrapped in alternating red and black patterns over white rayskin. The pommel was brass like the tsuba and formed an open mouth of a snake grasping a small green orb in its mouth his wakazishi was of similar design only smaller and had a red orb.

Thestalos would normally spend hours working his blade to perfection every day but this was more a touch up cause he had used it to cut through some heavy brush earlier. Taking the sword in hand he placed the sword edge along the back of a finger bone and in a small jut shaved a thin sliver of bone off testing the sharpness. Satisfied with his work Thestalos began cleaning his blade with a clean cloth taking care to polish the brass portions and the orb. What many did not know was that although they looked nice and clean and new the swords were hundreds of years old but just had been cared for exceptionally well over the years. Thestalos sighed and looked at these two people who he had met. " Although I have not know either of you long I wish to offer thanks for...well to be honest not attacking me at first glance. I have been traveling for many years and rarely do I encounter people so understanding and not attempting to kill me for being what I am...so thank you to both of you." Thestalos took his book he had set out which was now dry and closed it firmly pressing the flower into its pages to save he fingered through the last few pages and mumbled something about needing another book soon.


(492)

Dawn would stare blankly and confused at Solmar as he shared his story. She was truly unsure of what the point of the story was. Then she finally realized it.

Solmar, was born on the eclipse and his family were slaughtered by a bunch of demons. She'd sigh and close her eyes downward as if thinking and attempting to resonate with his childhood. Perhaps, that was why he was such an angry individual when it came to the 'Demon' nickname she had bestowed on him. Or perhaps, he wasn't. Her guess was weak, but he wasn't at all very specific about it.

"Were you the child born on the eclipse or was it someone else? And if you weren't, did you know the individual who was born on that day?" she'd ask curiously. For a moment, she considered to apologizing to the man for talking so, carelessly towards him but she decided it wasn't the best thing to do. Maybe if she'd stop using the nickname he'd figure out she meant no ill feelings towards him in that regard anymore.

However, she still thought he was kind of dumb and judgemental towards Thestalos(like she wasn't....).

Her backstory wasn't the most pleasant either, but she had no intentions of sharing the hardship she endured as a child with her father or her bullying backstory. It wasn't the most cheerful, but it was nothing as unique as his she supposed. Her father was simply an angry and ill man who put all of his hatred on her. With her eyes still shut, the sun would begin to set. It was growing dark outside slowly as the conversation between the three figures went on. Dawn would see best she'd have to depart at some point as a young woman who needed to get towards her hotel for the night. It's not like she had a home anymore since her father had committed suicide as she had no stable career to help her move forwards financially.

She'd open her eyes once again upon hearing Thestalos's masculine voice, "Look, I never considered harming you in the first place. You don't have to thank me for anything," the mysterious girl said. She'd then eye Solmar as she remembered she had intruded on their harsh conversation in the first place. She had defended Thestalos's in a strange, throwing partially eaten food at Solmar, but he seemed to have calmed down over time with the skeleton man.

That was always a good sign.

Truth be told, he hadn't imagined either of them would figure it out when he told the story, or at least a partial story regarding his youth. To him, and likely to a lot of others who had miraculously survived that night, the events that transpired that day felt like they had just happened yesterday. Whether the skeleton figured it out but simply did not respond to it or not, at the very least the girl had picked up where he had been going with his story. Whether it would make her stop using that nickname she had for him or not, in the end, did not matter a whole lot, seeing as how the name and his past were entirely unrelated. On the other hand, he couldn't say that he either hated or loved hearing someone calling him a demon, though he figured he might've looked the part. As a young mage and hunter who was mostly unknown to the rest of the world however, he figured having a nickname like that might make people bugger off when they heard it or linked his appearance to said nickname. In that sense, he imagined things could have been much worse.

"I was, and I have been paying the price for it ever since. For years, I've felt the very thing that murdered everyone dear to me gnawing and clawing at my sanity, trying to get out and go on another murder spree. But since I've grown stronger myself, it has grown weaker. Soon, there will be nothing left of him but the memory of what he's done.. of that I'm certain."

Though he was in fact entirely uncertain as to whether or not the demon would ever truly be gone or not, there was no arguing as to how Vetis had gone into recession ever since Solmar started learning more about his demon slaying magic powers. Aiming to learn more about it and become stronger by heading up the mountains to the south, he imagined Vetis would only grow weaker the more he himself grew stronger. Looking away from the two others, he got up from his seated position and took a few steps away from them before bringing his fingers to his mouth. Releasing a sharp whistle, he called Fellis back to them, not wanting him to be out on his own while night started descending upon them. Waiting for the flying feline to return to them, he looked back at the girl and the skeleton, feeling that they too were on the verge of leaving.

"You know, the forest gets quite dangerous at dusk, getting worse the darker it gets. If you start moving now, to the northwest of here, you'll find an abandoned bear den where you can spend the night. I've lived there for the better part of two years, so my scent should linger enough over there so the wild animals will know better than to come for you. Don't try to be a hero and brave the woods at night when you don't know the way."

Speaking to both the girl and the skeleton, he figured neither of them were looking forward to dying in the woods, figuring the skeleton would know what it was like to die once already. When Fellis finally came soaring in on their position, it went inside of Solmar's somewhat oversized bear fur coat for warmth and protection, not liking it when he was outside in the darkness. Due to his enhanced hearing and night vision, the little cat could pick up on most of the same things as Solmar, meaning he too knew what was out there. Putting on the hood of his coat that fell over a good portion of his face, he placed the rugged duffle bag over his shoulder while holding his arm over his abdomen, supporting the small feline inside of his coat so he could get some rest while the demon slayer himself continued along the path. Nodding at the two, he could only hope that they would take him up on his offer and headed over to the den, figuring neither of them knew the place nearly as well as he did.

"Later."

"Laters Potaters!"

With that, both he and Fellis said their goodbye to the two, and with a gesture of his hand, he started trekking onward. Heading further south towards the Phoenix mountains which were already quite visible from Sakuramori, part of him was feeling somewhat anxious about it, not knowing the mountains nearly as well as he knew the forest. After all, when one spent enough time in one place, they started becoming like part of the furniture. For as much as he had gotten to know the forest, the creatures living in it, the plants growing in it and how to survive there, he knew now that doing such things took time. By heading into the mountains as he was planning on doing now, he would need to figure out all of the things he had done in Sakuramori at a highly increased pace if he was planning on making it back down in one piece. As he put more distance between himself and the troop, the looming shadow of the mountain grew increasingly closer, almost as if beckoning him to come and meet his end. But whether he would or not would remain to be seen.



-Exit-

(900 // 5875)

Thestalos nodded listening to Dawn conferring with her guess. It seemed like that was the most logical guess given the info and Solmar's clear frustrations towards it. Thestalos noticed that everyone was preparing to leave and he himself decided that was probably best as well. He cleaned up his things and restrung his weapons sighing he watched Solmar walk off and turned to Dawn who was also preparing to leave. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small ancient coin one of only a few he had. He gently grabbed her hand and placed the coin within and closed her hand around it. " May it bring you luck on your journeys and if we ever shall meet again I hope you will share in a cup of tea with me again Dawn she who rivals the sunrise in beauty. " Thestalos gave a deep bow and strapping his own sack over his shoulders he walked off deeper into the forest. He knew the dangers of the forest but his direction of travel lied deeper into that danger whether he emerged or not would yet to be seen but Thestalos was confident in his abilities and as he trudged off he waved goodbye to Dawn and Solmar and disappeared beyond the trees and bushes as night began to fall.

Thestalos had many placed he needed to visit and several guilds to check out to see if they might be a fit for himself who knew who he might meet on his journeys but he knew that he would do his best to make friends and allies along his way so that even without a guild he wasn't alone.


(Exit. 284// 3676 )

Dawn would blink a few times at Solmar's story. He'd confirm her theory was correct. Her theory was soon an unfortunate fact of Solmar's life. How sad. She was trying to sympathize for him without physically showing it. She was doing it awfully well.

Deep down she felt semi-bad for name calling but knew she could never dare show him her softer side.

Soft sides were for the mentally weak. Something her father always said she was, but not today!

Deep down, she figured he was having some sort of inner issues with this story. She was unsure why he was telling her the story. She wasn't big on expressing personal information to others. Nonetheless, the petite girl would nod as if she were listening- neutral in the face showing no ill or positive emotions.

Then his cat friend would pop back into the scene. Still, Solmar looked rather unhappy compared to his cat friend. No wonder why, she gave him a flashback.

Hey! She hadn't known.

He'd say his goodbyes and Dawn would say nothing in return. She'd give a small nod in acknowledgment but not a single word breathed out from her lips. It'd then leave her with the skeleton. He would get close to her and pull out something for her to keep.

He'd gently place a small ancient symbolic coin in her palm. It was something that reminded her of an artifact. Technically, it was. It was a piece of history that had been long ago in the past. She'd then look from the coin and into Thestalos. He'd give her a compliment. She was unsure if he was flirting as she had no interest or if he was being very kind/friendly. She supposed it was an offer of friendship.

Dawn would light up from the gift "Thank you Thestalos. Have a good night. I hope to see you again someday."

And with that, she'd watch Thestalos stand, begin to walk away, and while waving as well. She'd give a small smile and study the coin for a moment before putting it in her black leather satchel so, she'd not lose it.
Dawn would be left to herself still comprehending on the two new relationships she had founded.

One was a friendship with a skeleton.

The other?

She had no idea. She felt her Solmar were still not on good terms,but even with his story she felt she didn't know him. Not yet at least.

The girl would stand up and sigh, knocking nearly invisible dirt and dust off on the Earth floor.

Dawn would turn just as the sun was setting above her and head onwards to seek a new journey for the next day.