A Mountain's Tears (Open)

[Firax]

((This thread is open to 1 'companion', and 1 antagonist, I would like antagonists to contact me before posting.))

Tuth C'meva had traveled a long road to come to where he was now. A year ago he had emerged from his long self-imposed exile in the deep woods of Concordia resplendent with his training, and the wisdom and magics of the deep druids. Since then he had worked as a caravan guard, which was dull eventless work in this case, and had participated in a small tournament in The Zirnden. He hadn't taken first prize, nor second, nor third, but fourth; however, his fantastic weapon had captured the imagination of the crowds, ensuring him a place in the next tournament. The scarred man grinned at memory of the crowd cheering his name, many shouting encouragements, or loud bets on his victory. He'd lost to the big man that used only his fists though. He'd grabbed Tuth's whip-blade's chain and yanked him clear off his feet and into the man's fists, cracking his ribs and blacking him out. Despite some lingering pain in his chest (the healers had used magic, but that had cost Tuth nearly all his purse form the meager win, and the rest he spent on food) but Tuth relished the memory. I had felt, for a moment at least, well and truly alive. The scarred man had promised the fight club's scouter he would be in town for the next tourney for his class.

It was that fight had resolved Tuth his goal. It was good goal, he thought; I will experience life to fullest. I will seek memories worth remembering. And that was why he was on this road, the city a few hours behind him, the great lake Valeena ahead of him. He had heard, in the city, that the lake was of surpassing beauty, but it was only a stop on his greater journey. His ultimate goal was Mountain-Tear Falls. He had heard of the fall's beauty from a map seller in Scara Brae and had resolved that he must experience the place himself (and bought himself a map). Consulting the map, he could see a road to the falls that wound through the forest. However, that was hours north from where Tuth was now. The ranger didn't much like traveling roads; they didn't give properly and hurt his feet. Plus, the traffic kept the small game away, which made foraging more of a challenge than it should be. Instead, he traveled a short a road to the lake, and then range through the forest following the river until he reached the Mountain-Tears.

It was nearly high noon by the time Tuth came to Valeena Lake. On the lake shore, he took siesta from the noon-day sun under a stand of trees and built himself a fire. He discreetly 'borrowed' a fish's rib from another fisherman's pile of discarded bones (Tuth did not know the fishing laws, so this did no take him as amiss), broke off a green branch, and twisted some tree bark into a fine, if over stiff, line. Baited with a worm he dug up with his bare hands he cast out a line and waited for something to bite. As he fished and relaxed from the morning's journey, Tuth was struck by the beauty of the lake. It was a clear day, with a slight breeze that made the trees sing their leafy song. So struck was he, that he resolved that make this moment a Memory. The druids of the deep wood had taught him, along with his wind magic and other things, a technique to create a clear and vivid memory that would last for a lifetime. A Memory had seven components: for taste, for touch, for hearing, for sight, for scent, for mind and for spirit. For taste, he popped into his mouth a morsel of cooked fish that he had caught. For touch he remembered the woodiness of his fishing rod, and the hard feel of the rocks he sat on. For hearing, he focused on the leafy song of the nearby forest, the water lapping on the shore, and even the distant sounds of the fishermen on the other, more developed, side of the lake. For sight, he remembered the look of the just-past-noon sun shining off the water, making it shimmer. For scent, he took in the smell of his cooking fish, the familiar scents of the nearby forest, and the scent of a lake of freshwater. For mind, he meditated on his day thus far. For spirit, he focused on how he felt, so at ease and at peace.

He caught 2 more small fish to spit and cook before his line snapped. While they cooked and the sides charred, so that would keep for longer, he simply sat and enjoyed this moment of serenity. The journey before him would be long.

[Mathias]

There was definitely a reason he came here, to this lake. There should be, atleast, he thought. When Mathias first stepped off the boat into Scara Brae, he knew immediately he'd not reached his destination, and though for months, it seemed like it had been okay that his misdirection in course took him off whatever goal seemed viable at the time.

For now, he knew one thing ; The flow of time would yield whatever prospect he hoped for, should he only believe that it would. With this in mind, he made his way through the docks into what seemed like an alien world ; although it burned in the course of his mind with such a familiarity that he thought his eyes may burst with a spout of fire. The streets seemed like he'd known them intimately, if once a long while ago, and maybe he had. He should've, at least. Although, he couldn't ever recall anything other than the stories Joshua Fencer had told him, back in Antioch, back in his lover's arms.

Mind, now, that it was past and the need to move on was now. A bit of reminisce for recent events couldn't hurt, not especially, Mathias hoped, if they might lead him onto a track that recovered the well of his old memories.

As the young planeswalker moved throughout the town, he spied a map as he came to the square in the deep center of the hub, and various boards with various assignments from various people with such dubious rewards and trinkets. Mercenary work, or just plain househelp. But upon the map was the isle of Scara Brae, and the names of the waters on any side of the land became possessed by Math's mind, quickly taking in all the marks upon there.

Today, however, he knew was not going to lead him very far in his search. Some prospect of destiny, some aspect of fate, and some gleaming of the cosmos told into his soul that he was just not meant to find whatever it was he may be looking for. That ambiguous Answer to the clouded Question, or maybe some obscure Solution to a misty Problem.

The objectives that everyone has for moving forward. The insatiable drive to perpetuate themselves ahead.

That's what brought him here. To rest from all that. Mathias, coming up over a small hill, looked out into a vast pool of azure and knew it at once to be Lake Valeena. The grasses that swayed over the plainscape and then so bravely impeded into the shallow lakebed were brushed downward for a moment by an onset wind, one that propelled the adolescent forward in his steps.

Taking in stride, he moved near an elder man who'd started up a meal of his captured fish, and, not enough to make it appear as an obvious, outward attempt to contact him, casually strolled up to the edge of the water, sitting with one knee brought up to his chest. With the short distance between them, Mathias decided to break the ice, to keep a sense of awkward from setting in, and declared his presence with an honest and softly spoken,

"Well met, my friend. How do you do?"

[Firax]

It was well that the stranger hadn't been silent as he approached Tuth. Years in the Concordia would make a man jumpy. The scuffle of a leather boot against a stone alerted him. At first, he tensed, not truly moving but the muscles in his body simply tightening up. However, no hand moved toward his weapon, a strangely large-hilted knife. No need to threaten whoever approached.

However, it was soon clear that the stranger meant not to attack him. The tension finally ran out of Tuth when the stranger hailed him, "Well met, my friend. How do you do?"

The casualness put the ranger in an odd position. Do I know that this man who calls me his friend? Studying the man...nay, he couldn't be much more than a boy in truth, he took in the appearance of him, asking himself if he knows this person. Blond hair, hazel eyes, tanned skin, thin for his height of six feet with a longword belted at his hip. I do not know this man.

All this was taken in in a moment, with Tuth's strikingly blue eyes. "I do well, he who would call me friend," he said with a small smile. The words were accented heavily with the speech of Corone, with undertones of the speech of the druids, who often spoke in metaphor.

Ruing that this Memory was over, Tuth got up and dusted himself off as the boy made his answer.

[Mathias]

"He who would call you that would be named Mathias," returned the young man, reclining slightly and wondering if his new acquiantance, howevery contemporary their relationship may be, would depart any time soon ; he longed for company, and with the foreboding (and quite daunting) sense that he'd not make it very far into his quest, today was a day better spent in good care. "I would hope you sit a while, or atleast, give me a small, cordial conversation. I myself am just recently arrived here in Scara Brae, and stricken by wanderlust whilst distracted from my purpose, I've happened upon here of all places."

He gasped a short intake of breath through his nostrils, the scent of dandelions and daisies, fields sprawling out under the mostly clear sky, save for the greycast coming from the far west, arising through his cavities and embedding itself in a pictograph of all the senses in his mind.

"May this Mathias implore your name and, mayhaps your company, as well, my friend? Whatever purpose you may have this day, I'd be glad to assist in... if your trust is easy to be had, that is - and especially, oh so much - if I were not imposing. I'd say... it's a lonely isle for some, and I believe there's a philosophy that whatever vagrant makes a camping fire, he is assumed to be hospitable to all other vagabonds. I tend to agree: Why not let others bask in your fellowship, if I am correct in assuming our predicaments align."

With his speech said, a polite smile, somewhat innocent and boyish, spread across the child's face, and he tilted his head, letting blonde bangs cascade over his forehead and slash his vision with splits of thin, straight hair. Looking through them, he looked over his companion in wait for reply.

[Firax]

The boy spoke Tuth went about what he stood to do. The fish were done (well past done, in truth, Tuth was in his trance longer than he realized) and charring them anymore would only serve to blacken the taste. He lifted the spits from the fire and set them against the rock to keep the dirt out of his food. By the time he had done this, the boy was finished speaking.

"You may call me Tuth. I mean the range up that river"- he pointed to the river's mouth to the lake not far away- "up to the Mountain's Tears and then to the summit, or as near as I can. I have a campsite in mind and, truth I tell, I am already later in the day than I had intended to put this place behind me."

"I would not mind a traveling partner in this, but I will warn you; I keep a brisk pace, and that being only large body of water in these woods, we may run accross some of the larger of the forest's folk. If you prove a burden I will be forced to leave you behind," he said, in truth intending to do nothing of the sort. "But if you think you can keep my pace and that sword at your hip is for more than show, then come. There will be plenty of time for talk on the leaf-roads, if you have the breath for it."

Tuth tucked the spits into a pocket of his pack, and then shouldered it. "I would like hear more your philosophy on campfires and vagabonds, but on the leaf-roads."

Tuth's campsite was almost broken, but he would wait until Mathias decided if he was coming before he put out the fire.

[Mathias]

Mathias smirked somewhat dubiously - a reaction that came to him with an almost surprising ease of nature that he found himself wondering about how truely sly he may be, had he a full grasp of all his being. His sarcastic amusement was twofold, in that he'd been challenged and that he'd plan to prove himself to his ally whom he'd yet to commit fully to.

"Well, I'd like to think myself able to keep in step and stride, and I hope that you will not be disappointed with my progress alongside yours. And as for this blade, I am fairly certain I can hold my own, given a situation needed. We may take, then, to the highroad when you are quite certain you are ready. I, myself, am confident I will be able to take with you. You need not worry about me, nor any burden you fear I may impose."

He adjusted the knapsack around his shoulder as he stood up, and tightened his brown belt a little. He slid up and off over his head his white turtleneck, which had proven to be a bothersome in the somewhat arid weather of today. He adjusted the collar of his vest which had been laying beneath his shirt, and tucked the legs of his ebon pants into his boots. After a quick stretch and a running of his hand through his thick, messy blonde hair, he was cracking a sly grin and obviously ready to embark on whatever adventure awaited him.

He started to walk slowly towards the direction of the mountains, prepared to pick up his pace as his companion started to lead their trek. With innocent curiosity, he posed his question, "What would be at the top of those Falls, then?"

[Firax]

Tuth grinned as he scattered the coals of the fire with his boot. As he jumped water from the lake to the fire with his hands he said, “Well, I'm glad you think you yourself able." He grinned again. "Confidence is a virtue, so the druids say, though watch that it doesn't turn to arrogance."

His tone, however, turned serious as he said, "If we run into trouble, do as I say. I have lived in the forests for many years, and know its ways and that of its folk. Injuries fester in the wilderness, and I have only so much herb to dull the pain. Avoid them and use your head."

The fire was out and smothered, and the camp was fully broken now. Adjusting his straps, Tuth walked past Mathais and pointed ahead. "We'll be following the leaf roads, keeping the river to our left. Hopefully, we may find a deer trail to show us the easiest path, but if not we can expect to do some climbing, so the map says. We should reach the falls by next afternoon so long as neither of us does anything stupid."

He started a slow pace to signal that he was leaving, but then stopped cold when the boy posed his last question. For a moment, Tuth considered lying. Can I truly tell him that I doing this for a Memory... he will think me a sightseer. But he could not do that. In the future, he may be sharing a fire and blood with this one. The deep-ranger and lash-knife expert sighed, and shuffled his feet, embarrassed. "A few days ago I decided that I wanted to gather Memories worth remembering. Things of great beauty, or fights that make me feel well and truly alive.” He repeated,” Things worth remembering. I heard that the Mountain's Tears were of unsurpassed beauty and the mountain summit will present a perfect view of this isle." He tilted his head back to look his companion in the eye and finished, "That is the only reason. I can understand if you do not want to waste your time."

[Firax]

...

[Mathias]

(Sorry for the delay, mate.)

Turning around, walking backwards, Mathias tilted his head in blatant regard for his new friend. A thought drifted across the forefront of his mind, I'm not arrogant, am I? Posing himself a somewhat current situation of self-consciousness that he felt need be restrained for a later date when he was ready to confront what virtues he did and did not possess.

"Well, regardless the insignificantness of the reason, I would have to say, you'd be hard pressed to turn me away now. I'm somewhat lost here, and also somewhat the antithesis of you ; I seek not to make memories, but instead find those that I seemed to have already made, and misplaced amongst time and identity," he said, his secret and rather embarassing weakness coming unto the field of their formality, to let be batted around by the elder man, and thus subjecting Math to his social tribunal.

"Although... I wouldn't say I wouldn't want to forge a new memory that someday, amongst the fortune of them I hope to find, I can roll it around in my head. So, I suppose, our purposes and goals have aligned, have they not?"

He really couldn't say, himself, that they had. A burning stream of fire seemed to coarse through his mind as he tried to recall events that hold a seeming glimmer of similarity to this particular situation, but alas, he could not conjur anything. When was the last time I saw a waterfall, or met someone like this? Whatever blazing, metal sheet covered his heart, it covered him well.

[Firax]

Tuth guffawed loudly as he pulled himself up over a boulder by a small sapling. "Oh! Aren't we a pair then? One looking for his past, the other looking for his future," he said, grinning. "This is the kind of pairings bards sing about." He laughed again. "Indeed! This trip may have far more beauty to it than just views of Nature's pretty bosom." A though crossed his mind. Normally, it would have been quickly pushed aside, but Tuth was in a talkative mood, and now greatly amused.

"The woman who taught me the Flows and the Leys had lost her past as well. I remember her well," he reminisced with the kind smile that a man only got when he thought of someone fond with whom he'd slept with. "I was quite in love with her..."-he turned back and offered Mathais a hand over the boulder, still bracing himself on the tree- "She had, she said, been born at the bottom of a ravine, covered in blood with her head hurting. That was when she was born. I knew her years after that. I was also there when she remembered it all.” A nagging in his mind halted the story’s momentum. He looked embarrassed again. "Anyways..." A pause. "Perhaps I will tell you this tale..." Another pause. "Another day."

[Taskmienster]

This thread has been sitting for a full year. Since no response has been made to create activity I am going to be moving this. If you would like it to be reopened please feel free to PM myself or another admin and they will be able to move it for you back to Scara Brae.