Wrong place, wrong time. [closed]

[Vincent K]

Vincent had no business being here. This wasn't his kind of place. It wasn't anyone's kind of place. He typically didn't go to the city for anything, because he'd learned that it was full of the cliche bullshit that gets people killed in alleyways and robbed in broad daylight. The city was harsh, and you were either a victim, a thug, or a cop, or all three given special arrangements.

Vincent waited in the coffee shop for one of his friends. His friend insisted they meet in the bar, and Vincent had to remind him that he didn't have any kind of fake ID, or the knowledge with which to use one, so his friend finally agreed to meet in the coffee shop.

It was getting late and his friend was nowhere in sight. It was as he had either forgotten or said to hell with it. He wasn't the closest friend Vincent had, and he was definitely not the most reliable. He wanted to discuss some kind of school project that he needed someone's opinion on. Why he didn't go to a super genius, Vincent will never know, but that's not really the point. The point was that he wasted Vincent's time when he had his own stuff to do.

After five more minutes, which seemed like forever, Vincent walked out of the shop and started to head to where he could catch a bus back home. He was interrupted, however, and noticed two men running down the street, chasing some random guy. The two men were very big and wore something that you would expect to see on the FBI. The random guy looked like a typical nerd who had gotten himself into trouble with a little too much hacking.

This wouldn't have bothered Vincent much except the trio was running straight at him. The nerd was in front with a look of determination on his face, and out of nowhere, he grabs Vincent's arm and gets him to start running along with him.

"You look like the guy. Are you the contact I wanted to meet!?" he asked, confusing the hell out of Vincent.

"Wait, what!?" Vincent responded, looking at the two men behind him. "THe hell are you talking about!? Who the hell are you!? Wait, forget all of that, what the hell did you do!?"

"HE'S GOT AN ACCOMPLICE!" one of the big guys yelled into a walky talky that he pulled out of his jacket.

The nerd drug him into an alleyway in an attempt to lose the two people in pursuit, but unfortunately, it was a dead end with a small rickety wall in front of him. Vincent was never an acrobat, but the nerd was smart and used some not so obvious footholds to get over it, leaving Vincent behind with the two big guys.

"Caught ya, didn't we?" one of them said. "Where did the other one go?"

"He went over this wall. One of you could probably still catch him. And would you give him a good beating for me for dragging me into this mess?"

"First rule of conspiracy. Never recruit someone you can't trust," the second big guy said, cracking his knuckles. "We'll have to take you in for questioning. Sorry."

The next thing Vincent knew, he felt a sharp pain in the side of his face and then he couldn't feel anything at all. He was out cold.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Clang, clang clang!

That sound was like a symphony. Dyne Corona was in the Sleepy Willow as he was on any typical day. When he wasn't at the smith shop, he was at Lodge Bladestorm training his combat skills. He trained everyday concentrating on his skills and attempting to become a necessary asset to the House of Sora's military wing. The sound was the noise of a well crafted Liviol hammer smashing against bars made of Iron. The whole shop was in a heightened state of activity since a huge order just came down the pipeline. A third party beneficiary needed an entire shipment of weapons and armor in one month's time. Master Karxen gave out the assignments to every one of the smiths present in the shop. It was a big work period because the Civil War provided new battles that were constantly taking place.

With lines of skirmishing drawn, Corone was in an uproar. Battles were erupting across the land. Blacksmiths like Dyne Corona were trying to keep up with violent time period in Althanas' history. That's the whole reason that the shop was hyper active this season. Shipments were coming in much faster than the orders could be processed. Dyne worked night and day at the forge attempting to keep up with the orders that were coming in. As a student, he was overworked nearly to the point of death. Sheer determination kept him going.

He didn't stop in order to catch a breather. Instead, he continued to work at the pieces of equipment he needed to build. He already had 4 of the Iron Swords complete. Broad swords were popular these days. The big guys wanted to wield weapons like Claymores and Buster Swords, but those weren't specialized in the orders yet. Thankfully for Dyne. He knew that the Senior Apprentices were building massive weapons and were overworked with stress. Everybody was on edge with the Civil War.

And so, whilst Vincent went through his ordeal, Dyne Corona went through his own ordeal. Hammering away at the weapon he was currently forging, Dyne looked at the remaining bars of Iron ore. He made approximately 20 bars in an earlier session and new that there were still six more swords to go. Each sword cost around five of the bars to make into a razor sharp edge. Once Dyne had shaped one of the current bar he was working on to the molded shape he wanted, he took a quick stretch. Taking a drink from a nearby mug that was constantly filled with liquids, the man drank his juice. He sighed with pleasure as he felt the warm substance fill his body. His muscles were bulging with the stress he was putting on them constantly. He felt like they were on fire. In some ways they were. After the momentary break in rhythm, Dyne went back to work.

[Vincent K]

Vincent awoke in what appeared to be a scientific lab. The walls were white, and there was advanced equipment running all around him. The most noticeable thing was the giant laser looking device pointed straight at him that seemed as if it jumped straight out of a James Bond movie.

"The subject is awake, let's begin!" a voice came down over the intercom. "Good evening, I hope you had a good rest?"

"Not really. my face hurts," Vicent responded.

"The brawler was disciplined for his lack of control. Now, I want you to stare directly into this white panel, would you?" A panel lit up right above the laser and Vincent looked up at it, not wanting to piss anyone off.

"Good. Now, let's see if we can do anything about that mess of a mind of yours, shall we?"

"W-wait, what?" Vincent asked, worried that someone was mentioning brain surgery in a cheeky way.

"It's all very simple. We're going to straighten your mind out so that you forget everything that's happened here, and then we send you on your merry little way."

"Oh, is that all? I'd be happy to forget this crap. And if you would, could you make it so that I think I slipped and fell into a wooden fence to get this nasty pain on the side of my face?"

"Well...forgetting memories is much easier than making up new ones, but we'll see what we can do."

"Thanks."

"Now, fire up the trans-polar generator! Lock the magnet uplinks into place, we don't need another water balloon scenario. Now start up the main laser generator."

The laser clicked on and a bright blue light could be see at its tip. It was directed straight at Vincent and was burning very bright.

"Now, fire up the laser!"

"Are you sure this is safe!?" Vincent asked just as the laser hit him square in the head. He blacked out completely, and the next thing he knew, he was in some kind of fuzzyness. The fuzzyness started to get clearer and clear and before he knew it, Vincent was able to make things out clearly.

As far as he could tell, he was in an alleyway leading to a dead end. The side of his face still hurt and he assumed he was just left in the same alley that he was knocked out in. It made the most sense. I mean who ever heard of polite evil scientists.

As Vincent got up and walked out of the alley, he noticed that something was different about this city. It was…old style. The people walking around were wearing clothes that reminded him of a different place. It was different…very different. Vincent didn’t get shocked easily, so the setting didn’t bother him much. What DID bother him, was the large lizard he saw walk right past him. He covered his mouth to keep from screaming and found himself backing up into what he thought was the alley…but instead, he passed through a door, and once inside he found that it was a bit warmer in here than in the outside.

He looked around and saw that it was some kind of shop. They sold what seemed to be old antique swords, spears…whatever the hell you would call those pointy things, knives, daggers, and various other killing instruments. This was a medieval lover’s dream come true.

There were many other people looking around, most of them fully dressed in armor and holding onto their own blades while looking at the new ones. There was a large man with horns coming out of his head, not his helmet, but his actual skull and Vincent tried to shy away from him. Just what the hell kind of place is this?

"WHERE THE HELL AM I!?" he shouted out loud, finally losing it.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

"You're in a shop called the Sleepy Willow. Clearly you didn't read the sign outside before you made your way in here." Came the sarcastic response of a man working behind the main counter. There were several other people behind the counter working alongside him, tending to costumers or working on various projects that were out of visible sight. Behind the counter was another intricate array of weaponry and armor stands, and a few large shelves that contained displays holding ornate equipment. These pieces of equipment were labeled Excellent quality or Masterwork quality.

"If you haven't realize it yet, we sell Weapons and Armor here." The response solicited some laughter from a few of the gathered customers. The man wore a smile on his face. His eyes were looking down as he was writing some sort of ledger for the day. His feathered pen dipped into a bottle of nearby ink from time to time. The main had a stragely angular face that had sharp features pointing downwards to a thin chin. He wore spectacles that were round and his nose was large, well defined. His upper lip was adorned with a simple and straight mustache.

He wore a suit tailored out of Vlince. It was a gray and pinstriped in an old Victorian style of tailor ship. The tip of the man's sleeves had cuff links in them that were made out of pure gold. He had stately, arrogant air about him as he worked the ledgers trying to keep the books clean. The other men and women around them wore other goth and victorian dress of different styles. Some wore plain cloth and cotton whilst others wore different fabrics and fibers. A big man showed up that wore a simple worker's suit. He was tall and well built. He had a stately beard. This man was Karxen, the Master Smith of Sleepy Willow. Karxen eyed Vincent strangely. His sharp eyes picking up a strange vibration from the way he was acting. Also, his manner of dress suggested that he was from a different land. He'd seen such a matter of dress once or twice before in his tenure in Althanas. These people that dressed so lavishly and strangely were called Off Worlders by the old sages of Althanas. Karxen decided that he would handle this situation himself. Placing a hand upon the man writing the ledgers, the other man nodded towards Karxen. "He came in just now. Started to flip out." The man with the stately mustache said.

"All right. I'll handle it."

Immediately. Some guards that were stationed about the Shoppe gathered their weapons and prepared to act against Vincent's person. Karxen stepped out from behind the counter and raised his hand in a closed fist. "Do not attack him under any circumstance unless I say so." Clearly, Karxen wielded some influence in this town of lumberjacks and skilled workers. Karxen walked over to the strange customer. "Sir, are you well? You look like you've just seen a ghost." The soldiers positioned themselves at ease but kept their weapons ready just in case the alien stranger attempted something funny. Customers of the shoppe eyed the situation out the corner of their eyes as they hurriedly moved to take care of their orders.

********************

Dyne continued to work at the iron bars before him. The work was stressful and arduous but he was used to it by now. He knew that the life he'd chosen for himself wasn't an easy one. Indeed, it would be one of many hardships and troubles. Suddenly, the psionic boy sensed something strange happening outside. He felt a tremendous surge of energy as he worked, it was so tremendous, that Dyne dropped his hammer upon the floor nearly crushing his foot in the process. The surge of energy gave the lad a headache, as if the air itself was being ripped apart by something. Nearby blacksmiths noticed the boy drop his hammer with a start.

One of them walked over to Dyne and placed a hand upon his shoulder. "Are you okay Cormyr?" The other smith wondered. Dyne touched his temples in pain. His cloth bandanna covered the entirety of his forehead hiding behind it a terrible scar. Dyne felt an oppressive pain jolt through his head for a moment and then caught a vision of a doorway opening up through a place in between places. A place of doors. A place known as the Phantaria which was a realm of doors. Dyne screamed out loud as he saw this place in between places. The scar on his forehead burned strangely adding to the migraine headache. And just when the moment couldn't get any stranger, he saw an individual pass through one of the many doors in his vision and enter the realm of Althanas. The door was the portal that he'd saw just moments earlier, he somehow knew that to be the truth. Tears flowed down his eyes as he suffered the momentary agony, but he knew the truth. A stranger had arrived just outside the Sleepy Willow. Something strange this way came...

Dyne stopped his work for the time being as if in a trance. He looked at his companions and nodded to them. "I must speak to Karxen. Something terrible just happened." He said, seeing into the truth of the matter at hand. They nodded to him and allowed the House of Sora member to leave the forge area for a short while. Taking breaks during large orders was viewed as a bad habit for the most part, but they were allowed to from time to time. Otherwise, people could die working the anvil. Stepping out into normal air, Dyne took a deep breath of the fresh air.

He moved to the front of the building after placing a simple cloth shirt upon his person. When working, Dyne was simply a worker. He didn't want to wear the dress of a noble while on duty. He saw the familiar form of Billy working the ledgers and manning the counter area. Several other familiar faces nodded to the apprentice smith. Dyne smelled of sweat and dirty air. His hands were heavily calloused from intense physical labor. He was incredibly muscular and a handsome lad. He stepped from out of the counter area and nodded towards Karxen. Karxen nodded in return. "Dyne I'm glad you're here. I think he's an Off Worlder." Karxen said calmly.

"He is." Was how Dyne responded. "He just arrived not too long ago." Dyne said calmly looking at Vincent's person. Dyne sensed that Vincent was not an evil man, for he had True Sight and could see the truth in things. Dyne had a worried look on his face though. "He doesn't know where he is." Karxen said. "Well how do we explain to him that he's on an another world?" Dyne asked in a half-joking sort of way. Then he turned his attention towards Vincent. "Sir, I don't know where you came from but you're on Althanas now."

[Vincent K]

A big guy that looked like he could punch out a horse came from a room in the back and addressed Vincent, telling him he was in a different world. For a moment, Vincent didn't want to believe it, but then it was kind of obvious. His mind gave a half-assed attempt to reject what the man had just said but then gave up and got back into the flow of things. He wasn't one to try and believe things aren't real, especially when it was far too obvious that it wasn't some wacked out dream. He knew weird things happened, which is probably why he'd be on top if zombies ever tried to take over the world

"Another world? Another universe or another planet? That's all I want to know. I've seen enough Sci-Fi to know what to ask in this scenario." You try not to ask anything that would upset them in case they are living in some backwards ass society where the smallest insult could get you hung. Vincent kind of forgot this part. Vincent said, starting to snicker, but then burst out laughing. "I suppose there's dragons and stuff here and that guy over there really has horns coming out of his head?" Vincent started laughing some more.

"W-where's the evil magician's club?" Vincent said, unaware that he was sounding like a lunatic, but then a thought dawned on him and he got a serious look on his face.

"Wait...you all don't hate Off-Worlders...do you? I mean I've seen lots of movies where Off-Worlders in these situations are treated like garbage because of some superiority mindset in the other world."

Vincent was starting to lose it again. As much as he tried to cope with what had happened, no matter how many crazy movies he'd seen, he just couldn't really grab hold of what the hell just happened. Maybe it was the fact that the scientists promised to clear his mind but instead sent him to another world. Bastards.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

He started asking questions, far too many. Philosophically thinking, Dyne looked at Karxen and felt at a loss as to what to do next. Universe? Planet? Sci-Fi? Dyne picked up a few things he DID know about but these were lost in the man's gibberish. Dyne could tell that the man was having a hard time dealing with the situation at hand.

Before Dyne could say anything, Karxen stopped him from speaking by placing hand upon his chest. The young apprentice stopped himself from speaking. Karxen met a few Off Worlders in his day and knew that they often wielded strange powers that didn't necessarily follow the natural balance of Althanas. He was trying to be cautious in a very serious situation.

"You speak of concepts we do not understand. But perhaps the Old Sages located in town might be able to explain things on Althanas better to you. But for now, just understand that you are on another world. Things are much different here than the place you just came from. You are having difficulty adjusting to this basic truth. We are going to help you out as much as we possibly can. For now though, you must be very tired. I'll let you stay in one of the rooms back at my house.

It is near here. Dyne, escort this gentleman to the house. He looks like he could use a week's rest in my opinion." The man said. Karxen had made up his mind and things were final once he gave an order concerning the Sleepy Willow. "All right. I wanted to go back to my work, but I guess it can wait for the time being. Come on Mister. I'll take you to my Father's house." Dyne walked over to Vincent's position extending his hand for the man to shake. "I'm Dyne Corona. Pleased to meet you, what's your name?" Dyne wondered.

[Typheus]

((This post was made by Vincent K. I think my internet decided to fart out while I was logging back in and put me up as Typheus instead. Sorry about that))

"I'm uh..." Vincent started out. Come on, think you idiot! Vincent looked around in his head for a fake name, but couldn't find one. Then use a real one they wouldn't have seen yet!

"My name is Will Smith," he finished, fumbling a bit on the name. "I almost forgot my own name for some reason. That would have sucked, eh? But anyways, pleased to meet you, Dyne." Vincent stated kindly as he reached out and shook the man's hand.

You're an idiot!

Why?

Why the hell did you make up a name? I mean what possible reason would you have? They're just going to get suspicious when they find out it's not your real name.

Relax, what are the odds of them knowing of an actor from my world when they probably don't even know what a movie is?

Vincent looked around the room and was a bit relaxed now that he had someone on his side, whatever that side may be. Whatever side indeed...for Vincent had the strangest urge to start doing certain bad things. An urge that he'd never had on his own world. Speaking of which...

"Is there any chance of me going back to my own place? I mean, am I going to have to find some kind of ancient artifact, super power, portal, deity, god, demon, technology, wise man, or rift in order to go back to my world?"

Good going. Now they probably just think you're nuts.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Dyne listened to the poor man's rants very carefully. Looking at him for a moment, he stepped outside of the building and into the cool afternoon air. The sun was shining brightly overhead. Dyne felt the cool wind caress his flesh while the double-tail tips of his bandanna flowed with it. Dyne walked with his hands clenched tightly and his face deep in thought. He looked back at the large building that represented the Sleepy Willow. His heart longed to be working back on this smith project or that. But Karxen had given him a direct order, and so he had to obey that order.

Making small talk was not one of Dyne's strongest points. He was used to working on his own on various endeavors for either himself or the House of Sora. For right now though, this stranger had literally fallen on his lap from out of the blue sky. He looked up and saw clouds in various shapes flowing steadily towards the west. Returning his gaze back towards the confused man named Will Smith, Dyne tried to address him the best he could.

"I'm taking you to my Step Father's house. You'll have free room and board there for as long as you like. It is provided by my Step Father. The man you just met back at the Sleepy Willow. I imagine you're pretty hungry right now? You must be after your long trip here. I'll have the cooks at the house prepare you a meal."

He walked in front of Will. Dyne's step was confident and true. Looking at the structure the large house near to the Sleepy Willow Dyne walked towards it. He listened to Will as the man spoke and let out whatever strange questions he would ask next. It was the first time that Dyne met an Off Worlder and it probably wouldn't be the last. Metaldrago was the first he'd met. Turning his attention back to the man's questions, the blacksmith lead them to the front of the house. A simple courtyard awaited them with lots of people working around the courtyard and some of them lounging. The house was big and seemed to be four floors tall. It had a traditional slanted roof and was made of red brick. Dyne smiled at Will.

"This is it Will. I'll take you to your room." He motioned for Will to follow him. "I don't know if you can get back home. I'm not very knowledgeable about such things. I'm just a blacksmith."

[Vincent K]

"Well, who knows." Vincent said, having to go to great lengths to stop himself from snickering every time the man said the name "Will." A small part of him giggled at the thought that he was actually being sneaky for once, but another part of him scorned him for it.

Why the hell?

Why the hell what?

Do you REALLY want everyone here to call you Will Smith?

Hey, being named after a famous actor? Brilliant! You just gotta learn some common thief logic.

I'm not a thief!

That'll be your little secret.

Vincent was admiring the house. It was really big and didn't seem to be shabby at all. This guy's stepfather must be loaded...and maybe he was as well. Blacksmithing seemed to be a big business in this world if you knew what you were doing, but a small part of him knew that he would go no closer to this trade than he already is.

This is the kind of place where spare change would go unnoticed.

Don't tell me you're thinking of actually...

Yep!

Ooooh boy...

Vincent, quickly trying to take his mind off what he was planning, oddly enough, tugged on Dyne's shirt. "So, I take it you all are some rich blacksmiths? I mean, come one...look at this place! I bet you all have some of the best sword in the world. I mean how else would you make so much money?"

That's the ticket! Find out where he keeps them too!

"I've always liked the medieval style weapons...could I see a few of the cool looking ones?"

What the hell am I doing?

Lying...very good I might add.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Dyne suddenly felt uncomfortable. He couldn't quite explain why he felt uncomfortable, but he did feel uncomfortable. The man tugged at his shirt and he looked down where the man had touched him. Then he looked back up at his face a little annoyed. However, he chose not to voice his opinion on the matter. Instead, he tried to enjoy the now familiar setting of his Step Father's house. He listened to the line of questioning and responded.

"Well the best swords we make are back at the Sleepy Willow where I should be. As far as gold works, I've worked long and hard for mine. I earned my sword a while back, a friend gave it to me." A shadow passed his face as he thought about the old butler, Reeves. "My stuff is back at the shop. I keep everything safe. I wouldn't want any thief to attempt to steal my stuff. I'd feel sorry for one if they ever did try." Dyne said the threat with a calm inclination to his tone.

He wasn't accusing Will of being a thief outright, but something in his gut told him to be cautious. He stopped by an empty bed room. The hallway had a simple earth tone carpet that was well embroidered. Dyne opened the door. "There are other rooms but you can stay here if you like. If you want, my Step Father can put you up in a trade as a Blacksmith. You seem like you could use some steady money."

[Vincent K]

"Well the best swords we make are back at the Sleepy Willow where I should be."

Damn!

Woohoo!

"My stuff is back at the shop. I keep everything safe. I wouldn't want any thief to attempt to steal my stuff."

Double Damn!

Thank God!

"I'd feel sorry for one if they ever did try."

Yeah, but they wouldn't feel sorry for you!

Dyne led Vincent through the house and towards an empty bedroom. The room was quite nice, especially for just a spare bedroom. The looks of it made him feel comfortable, contrary to most hotel rooms back on Earth. It was actually kind of strange. In movies, the hero who gets transported to another world usually can't stand being there, like it's some perversion of his own world, but none of this was bothering Vincent. It was as if part of him belonged here.

"There are other rooms but you can stay here if you like. If you want, my Step Father can put you up in a trade as a Blacksmith. You seem like you could use some steady money."

HELL NO!

I agree on that one.

"Sir, thanks for the offer," Vincent said, bowing his head a bit, "but I'm not a blacksmith kind of guy. I'd be better off as the guy who quietly sorted everything out. Ever heard of Robin Hood?"

You might want to rephrase the story a bit.

"He was this guy that took money back from barbarians attacking a secluded village in Sherwood Forest and gave it back to the people. VERY good with a bow and VERY good at quick attacks. But listen to me going on like I'm some kind of hero. I couldn't be sneaky if my life depended on it-"

Nice!

"-and to be honest, I'd screw up and shoot myself with a bow." Vincent finished, starting to laugh. "I mean I've been here for around half an hour and I'm already romanticizing becoming a great hero."

Or villain.

Or not.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

I don't think I like the way this Robin Hood fellow sounds. He sounds like little more than a thug or a barbarian himself. He'd fit right in with the Bandit Brotherhood. Dyne listened to the man's weak answer. He doesn't know how things work here. He is going to be poor for a long time if he wants to live the life of an Adventurer.

"Well your heart is in the right place. But I'd be careful who you choose to idolize. I don't know what kind of place you come from but here, we obey the law. Here we work hard for our money. There are no shortcuts to success. If you do try to take shortcuts you often get burned." Dyne said trying to keep his voice calm. Dyne really wanted Will to become a smith along with him, but if the man didn't want to...so be it. "If you ever need a job, the Sleepy Willow is always looking for fresh talent. My other advice for you is to become a member of the army here in Corone or join the Corone Rangers. I'm a member of that outfit, it pays well." Dyne said.

"But right now, you should rest and get some food in your system." Dyne waved to a Maid that happened to be passing by. She paused and walked over to him with a smile on her full lips. She had blue eyes and long, black hair. "What can I do for you Master Cormyr?" The servants always used Dyne's real name. It made him flinch to hear his last name. But he responded anyway.

"If you haven't guessed Dyne Corona is not my real name. My real name is Alberdyne Cormyr." Dyne said. Then he turned his gaze to the Maid. "Give this man anything he wants to eat and drink. Let him rest. I'll be back to check in on him later." He said and started to go down the hallway. "Hey Will? Don't wander off at night. You don't want to know what lurks out there at night. Things are dangerous in the day time but are far worse at night." The boy warned then left Will to be taken care of by the Maid. Dyne had to complete his work anyway.

[Vincent K]

"Well your heart is in the right place. But I'd be careful who you choose to idolize. I don't know what kind of place you come from but here, we obey the law. Here we work hard for our money."

He must be talking about HIS kind. Just ignore him.

"If you do try to take shortcuts you often get burned."

Being a thief isn't a shortcut...it's a way of life!

After hearing Dyne's real name, he was kind of pleased that he had acquired knowledge of it before Dyne did of his own name. Alberdyne Comyr...yeah, definitely rich sounding.

Dyne brought the maid over and started to leave when Vincent shouted out "Thanks again for letting me stay here!" before he turned to the maid.

"Hello, Mrs. my name is v-" he started, but then let out a loud coughing noise. "My name-" He let out another cough to increase the effect. "Wow, that was bad. My name is Will Smith. Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise, would you like anything to eat, sir?" she said in a little too cheery voice.

"Err...I'm not really hungry, do you all just have anything good to drink?"

"Sure. I'll be right back with your drink then," she said before walking off, leaving Vincent alone. He had no idea what to expect. He as unsure if soda even existed around these parts.

He decided to walk into the room and check it out. It was better on the inside than on the outside and he was really sure these people were loaded.

Hey, want to know what's scary out there in the night?

W-what?

....ME!

Oh shut up.

He laid on the bed and started looking up at the nicely designed ceiling. He started wishing he had a house like this and that voice suggested that it wouldn't be any big deal to get the funds for one. Vincent then heard the maid coming back and he rose out of bed and stood with a pose that was a little too polite for him.

"Here, this should be good," she said with the same fake smile as before, carrying a wine glass and a bottle of such. "Not the best in the house, but it's definitely not half bad either."

Let me handle this.

"Thanks, but before I do something impolite, would you like some?"

"E-excuse me?"

"I mean, you all work so hard and so long, I figure that it wouldn't be below you to take a sip of win that's about to be drunk anyways."

"W-well I guess I could," she said, pouring herself a drink of wine and downing it quickly.

"Thanks for that, but I really must get back to my chores"

"You know, if you ever happen to walk back down this hall, you could slip in here for a minute and have another drink on me."

"I'll...think about it," she said, this time with a true smile on her face as she walked out.

Ah, the seeds of corruption are sown with a simple glass of wine

You're scaring me man. What if Dyne gets pissed?

And who's going to tell him? The maid? Working while intoxicated? A big no no.

REALLY scaring me.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Meanwhile--

Dyne walked downstairs and pondered going back to spending some more time with Will Smith. Will was an interesting individual, if a fake liar. Dyne amused the stranger's attempts at lying right to his face but let them slide. Walking down the staircase back to the first floor, the apprentice greeted several people along the way. Most people were either busy working with various chores around the house or just lounging about. Some were conversing amongst themselves about various matters of Karxen's estate. These tidbits of gossip touched Dyne's ears but the young master pretty much ignored it. He didn't want to involve himself in such sordid dealings.

Stepping outside again, Dyne felt the gravel road beneath his shoes. It crunched beneath him. The wind had picked up for a long moment making his long hair dance with the breeze, an perpetual waltz. Walking back towards the Sleepy Willow Dyne was deep in thought. He had more in common with Will Smith than he cared to realize. The apprentice was also orphaned recently and abandoned by his original family. The House of Sora became his new family. Dyne arrived at the Sleepy Willow and he saw his Step Father awaiting him. Arms folded across his broad chest. "So how did everything go?"

"Will Smith is resting right now. I don't believe that to be his real name, he's a terrible liar. But I have to respect his wishes to hide his identity from us Father." Dyne said, still getting used to the idea of having a new dad. "I see. Well either way it goes, he's now lodged at the estate. Hopefully he won't try to cause too much trouble. Did you offer him work?" Dyne nodded a response. "And what did he say?" Dyne sighed. "He's going to have a difficult time getting used to how things are run here. I offered him the job but he turned it down for now. I'll offer him it again whenever I get the chance to just to make sure that he's clear that he'll need a job." It's an unwritten rule of the Estate. If you stay here, you work. Plain and simple, you work your ass off. "He showed interest in the military so he may join Radasanth's army." Dyne said. "Well that's good. Anyway boy, get back to work." Karxen said, his voice suddenly getting serious. "I want that new order of yours done by the end of the week. You're progressing with your speed and accuracy. If Will Smith comes calling for a weapon, I'll be sure to add it to your back log." The older smith said calmly.

"Understood Father. I'll build him any type of weapon he asks for." With that, Dyne walked into the Sleepy Willow. His feet guided him to the back area where he worked at. His body had cooled down somewhat from the afternoon breeze so when he stepped back into the forge area, it was like walking face first into an inferno. Dyne took a moment to allow the heat to touch his flesh, and then stepped in. His face cringed as he smelled the terrible smell surrounding now. This was the smell of an active forge. Dyne walked over to his work station, gathered his hammer, and began to get back to work. He removed his shirt during that process. After a few moments of introspection and prayer to Philemon, the man went back to work. He took several more Iron bars from his batch and prepared to forge another series of blades for himself.

[Vincent K]

Well, what are we gonna do?

I have an idea.

Yeah?

Give that maid enough wine so that she takes off her-

NO!

Just a suggestion...

Vincent had been laying there, taking occasional sips of wine, and wondering what the hell there was to do in the world now that he wasn't in his own. He knew that he was supposed to do something. His alter ego was telling him something that wasn't put out in words. It was telling him...what? He was in a world where he could probably do anything. Magic existed here...it had to. It was obvious, but he didn't seem like the kind who would use magic. Being a warrior was an obvious choice, but he didn't want to be constantly fighting big blundering baboons that didn't have a neck or a brain. No offense to Dyne, who looked like he could give Arnold a run for his money.

Yeah, that’s not the life for us.

Agreed.

Vincent knew he wasn’t a big bad warrior, but he knew he was something else. Something…not quite as noble, but not really all that evil either ways. Something big was going to happen, but what was it? His mind was working anew and now he thought that he had the possibility of doing something great.

You know…that guy never believed us.

Right.

Don’t worry. We’re going to get better.

Should we? I mean really?

We should become the best.

Sometimes I wish this were all a dream.

Nah. It’s not a dream. It’s a new life. You’re getting a chance to start over. You’re getting a chance to do something besides some boring ass day job.

Vincent got up and walked over to a window that overlooked a little bit of the town. This place wasn’t so bad. The streets were clean, the people seemed nice. The houses weren’t so bad, and the guards looked nice enough. The rooftops looked climbable, the windows looked loose, and the alleyways looked dark.

The maid came in a couple times and got some more wine. Vincent didn’t really care anymore. His thief ego had left him for the time being. For right now, he just wanted to get home. This place was nice, indeed, but it wasn’t home. He also wanted to find out how he got here, and why those scientists did it under the ploy of erasing his memory.

“Dyne, sorry I can’t stay, but I’m going to be leaving soon, one way or the other.”

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Karxen had a feeling that Will Smith was going to be trouble. He didn't know why at the time, it was just a feeling. With Dyne back at work where he should be, Karxen could speak to Smith in private. Walking towards the house, Karxen finished up his business and made sure that he left the Sleepy Willow in good working order. Moving quickly back to his house, Karxen frowned as he made his way inside. That gut feeling was bothering him again, he didn't know why. Heading upstairs, he'd received word from Dyne moments earlier which room he was staying at.

Karxen found the room easily enough. Looking at the room number, 204 the elder blacksmith opened the door to allow himself in. He didn't even bother knocking first, he was that impatient. Karxen walked over to Will Smith seeing him standing by the window.

"Something catch your eye Mr. Smith?" Karxen's sudden voice came, filling the room's air. "My Step son knows when people are lying. He can see the truth in things and told me all about what happened Mr. Smith. It's okay that you don't want to reveal your real name to us, but I want to know why you don't want to stay here with us? We're offering free room and board and the possibility for work. Is something else swaying you to leave? Or is there something else bothering you? You don't have to answer my questions if you don't want to." Karxen added waiting for Will Smith's response.

***********

Dyne was working on the swords. Many hours passed. He completed the batch of Iron swords with minimal set backs. His five high quality weapons stood alongside him. He'd only messed up three more times and created a few lesser quality weapons. There was one attempt that was a total failure which bothered Dyne a lot. But not enough to prevent him from working through the endeavor. Dyne sighed as he looked at his finished project, he was done for the day. He wanted to go check on Will Smith, but thought better on it. There was nothing left to do but prepare to call it a day. Dyne left the Sleepy Willow and made his way back to his Step Father's house. He had rest on his mind. He was tired and deserved a good few hours sleep.

[Vincent K]

Vincent was bothered by the man that came in. At first, he thought it was Dyne, but then he saw differently. When he walked into the room so suddenly, he gave Vincent a start, but he soon settled down and hoped the voice in him would lead him once again.

Who is this guy? He thought to himself with no witty comeback from the inner voice.

OH! It's the other man from the shop.

"Sorry, didn't recognize you." he said, looking back out the window.

He listened to the man's questioning absentmindedly. He had a funny feeling that Dyne knew. Heh, he had funny feelings that could probably match Dyne's lie detection if used right.

"You want me to be perfectly honest? I don't know why I gave you a fake name, and I don't know why I wanted to lie to you in the first place. I truly do appreciate your offer to stay here, but it's not just this building that I want to leave. It's this whole damned place. At first, I thought it was really fun, but things got quite boring and now I am having trouble coping with this world."

Vincent thought for a moment before letting the man in on this next bit. He didn't want the man to think he was crazy, but he thought it would be best if he let him know SOMETHING was up.

"Do you believe in realizing that you have potential for something you could not even comprehend before?" he said slowly and a bit darkly. "The moment I came into this world, my mind had two voices. One voice, kept me on the path that I was on before. The other voice, told me that I was going to be the greatest thing since Al Capone, and I think it's best if you don't know who he is."

Vincent drew a heavy sigh and thought a bit before continuing on with his truth telling to make up for all of the lies he had said earlier. He wasn't about to tell the man about the maid, because she would get into trouble and it wasn't her fault that he persuaded her to do such things. His damned second voice was guiding him towards a path of darkness while his first voice was trying to keep in the light.

"I'm turning into something besides the good person I've always been. Whether it's a demon or a hero, I have no idea, but I'm changing. The voices don't exactly argue, but they don't get along that well either. One of the voices is me, but the other is me as well…and it’s hard to explain. The first voice told me there was no point in lying, but the second voice made it sound as if it was setting up for something. Maybe the second voice wanted to rob you and have an alias to go by. By the way, Will Smith is a godamn actor from our world in case you’re wondering. I think the second one is a mastermind thief, but I can’t be sure. The worst part is, the longer I stay here, the more he starts to win. He’s already taken control of my thoughts when…you know…I lied to you all in the shop.”

Please don’t let him find out about the maid. I’d rather her not get into trouble.

“That’s partly why I want to go back. Who the hell knows what will happen if I stay here much longer.”

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Karxen listened very carefully to the man's words. He suddenly realized that they'd never formally introduced themselves. He knew Will Smith's name, but the lad didn't know his own. Karxen nodded. "Well just so you know who I am my name is..." He hesitated for a moment. After all, the boy admitted he was lying from the beginning. Karxen couldn't say he blamed him. After all, the Master Smith had a reputation to maintain. "Karxen Deourouge. I am the owner of the Sleepy Willow and this entire estate. Whenever you need a place feel free to use any empty rooms that are available at the time here. I make it a habit to help those in need. Insofar as those voices you're hearing goes...don't talk to people about them. It makes people suspicious understand where I'm coming from?" Karxen said.

"Another thing. You're getting urges to do bad things. I suggest you be careful cause what you're talking about sounds like [i]law breaking things. We are a simple folk maybe compared to the place where you come from, but we are an honest folk for the most part. This land is torn by Civil War and strife right now. You best be careful. As far as going home goes, I've never heard of an Off Worlder getting back to their world once they've come here. I don't know if the doors swings both ways. You'd have to talk to a Sage about that one." Karxen paused and looked at Will Smith very carefully. "You're not armed that's another thing. When you see Dyne ask him to make you a suitable Weapon of your choice. It'll be on the house this time." Karxen grinned. "But the next time you need weapon repairs or new pieces of equipment, it'll cost you. I have a business to maintain after all."

*************************************************

Before walking back to his room, Dyne had the foresight to go towards room 204 where Will Smith and Karxen were. He walked there in a state of deep thought considering the entire situation quite carefully. Dyne had his eyes closed as he walked, trusting his instincts to guide him through the building. Dyne finally made it to the room after a short walk taking his time.
Dyne saw the door and saw that it was opened. He noticed the massive back of Karxen and smiled.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." He said audibly enough for both of them to hear.

"Oh, Dyne you're here. Very well I'll let you two talk for a while." Karxen said and took his leave. Dyne entered the room and took an empty chair sitting himself near to Will Smith's person. "So how did everything go?"

[Vincent K]

Karxen made a lot of sense. This voice was probably just Vincent going nuts. Great, that’s so much better than a voice that’s actually something else entirely telling you to break the law. At least now he KNEW he was screwed.

Vincent DID like one thing about Karxen, which is the fact that he offered him a free weapon. A free weapon…what the hell would he want? A sword? Too cliché. How about an axe? Too barbaric. What about a spear? Too ordinary.

Then the thought came to him. He didn’t know where, but it did. There was a weapon he saw a long time ago that was sort of like a knife, but sort of different. It was an assassination weapon designed to deliver a single unsuspecting blow. Yes, this would be the perfect weapon for Vincent, but would the fact that he wanted it make Karxen think he was even more of a thief than he thought?

He was suddenly relieved to see that Dyne had walked in and had finally given him someone to talk to other than Karxen who was probably regretting letting Vincent stay in his own house. It kind of struck Vincent as a slap in the face from fate when Dyne asked him if everything was going good.

“Good.” Vincent said, laughing. “I'm hearing voices in my head and I'm thinking about breaking the law against my will. Oh, and I’ve learned that there may be no way for me to get back to my own world. I would have some good news, but you all wouldn’t understand the Geico joke, so it’s useless. But other than that, I’m fine.”

He turned back to the window and suddenly remembered what Karxen had recommended. “Oh, hey, Dyne, Karxen here said to ask you for a weapon since I didn't have one…you don’t think you could make me a pair of Katars could you? Or even one, I’m not picky. I mean I hear two is the best number to ha—wait…you know what Katars ARE, right? I mean they’re not exactly mainstream…or in your world, they’re probably not very widely used.”

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Karxen patted Dyne on the shoulders as he left. Dyne in return, smiled brightly to his instructor and Step Father. The man cautiously returned his attention to Will Smith while he sat down on that chair. The chair felt comfortable to his sore body after many straight days of working the forge. Dyne suddenly realized with a start, that he was hungry but would deal with that later. Looking out the window, even from his position, Dyne could see the busy city of Underwood. Many people moved to and fro from the various business that decorated the landscape at Underwood. Underwood was a lumberjack's town and a busy town at that.

"Katars huh? Yeah, I could build you a decent pair of those. Would be my first attempt at such fancy daggers though. I could attempt to make them from Steel if you wanted to. Might take a couple of tries though. You could come back to the Sleepy Willow with me for that though." Dyne said. "It'll take sometime for me to build those things for you though. Probably a full day's work depending on the size of the blade and how many attempts it takes me to get it right." Dyne had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Say do you want something to eat Will Smith?"

[Vincent K]

"First off, my real name is Vincent Karington. Will Smith is some actor from my home world." Vincent said, now tired of the small joke that he himself started.

"Second, I don't want anything fancy. You're doing this for free, so I'd just want a blade about as wide as an average forearm, and probably about as long not counting the fist. I don't need any of that fancy crap where it opens and closes to reveal a bunch of smaller blades inside. Even IF I was paying you to do that, I wouldn't even have the skill to use it that well."

He then thought for a moment and started to wonder what they would do if they later found out that the maid stopped for a drink, but didn't bother to tell the truth. I mean if this guy knew when people were lying, she was screwed.

Vincent started to scratch his head and spoke in a jumble of words that seemed to trail off towards the end, "I kinda, you know...gave your maid lady a glass of wine. But you know, everything’s ok because it wasn’t me exactly, it was my alter ego.” Vincent kind of stopped speaking with a dumb look on his face and his hand still on his head. “…SO! About that Katar!”

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

To say that the alien was strange was an understatement. Dyne kept getting all kinds of conflicting emotions when it came to Will Smith. Finally, the young man told Dyne his name. "Vincent, huh? Pleased to make your acquaintance. I feel a little better about you knowing your real name. Since my Step Dad made the request, I'll be working your Katars into my next batch of work. It might take sometime. I might mess up at least a few times. I'll have to sell those poor quality Katars that pop up if any do. Blacksmithing is one of those arts that's hit and miss sometimes. You're not guaranteed to get it right on the first try no matter how many times you've built something or repaired something. You know? I guess there are many trades where you are from."

Dyne said all that with a calm expression on his face. Some of his tension felt alleviated when he heard the young man's name. Dyne remembered when he was the same age as the youth, he was so green back then. I can't believe how far I've come. Would my Father be proud of me? Dyne wondered to himself. At the mention of giving the maid drinks, Dyne shrugged. "Don't worry about that. It's not that big a deal as long as she's not screwing up her job." Dyne said. "It'll be our secret. Now let's get you outfitted with some proper weapons. This may take sometime Vincent." He said emphasizing the last word. "I suggest you stay here, unless you want to wait at the Sleepy Willow." Standing up, Dyne waited for the boy's response.

It did feel nice being around someone neat to his age group...

[Vincent K]

"You know something, Dyne, I'd rather wait somewhere where I'm within eyesight and earshot of you. I don't want to be left anywhere by myself. I mean...please don't make me repeat the whole story I just told your dad, because It sounded screwed up enough the first time.."

Vincent looked back out over the city and already his mind went back to thinking up ways he could scale the buildings, run across rooftops, and move undetected in the shadows. He wanted to meet these sages...BADLY. He couldn't take this alter ego anymore. It had already made him so unsure of himself.

"Dyne, let's just go ahead and get going before I do anything that I'll regret. I just want to meet these sages as soon as possible, get my ass BACK to my world, and then take enough pills to make me think this is all just a big dream."

It was like this a lot in his life. He would try to do the right thing, miss that small universal detail, and would eventually end up cursing the universe. He guessed the universe got sick of him cursing it and just finally decided to kick his ass out and then slam the door in his face. Yeah, that's a big "Screw you" coming from the universe you were born in. Trying to get back was like a big "I won't do it again" from Vincent and then another big “GO TO HELL!” from the universe.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Dyne noticed that Vincent seemed conflicted about some things. He was mainly conflicted about himself. Dyne was worried that the "alter-ego" messing with the lad's mind might be something notorious or devious. Like one of the Thaynes perhaps? After a moment's thought he grew eager to return to the Sleepy Willow and get started on Vincent's Katars. His batch of stuff for this particular job was already rapidly growing. Dyne looked down upon the ground for a long moment and then looked at Vincent.

"I can make sure that the employees here at the estate keep an eye on you. Crafting your pair of blades is at least a day's work considering all of the preparations I have to make and the calculations. Smithing is an exact science that requires a lot of foresight and careful engineering. Plus I don't want to make you crap that'll fall apart during the first battle you get yourself in!" Dyne chuckled after that trying to imagine Vincent fighting. "If you need some combat training I know a place that'll do it for you." Dyne was going to introduce the lad to the Citadel. Then turned his head away to stare into thin air for a long moment.

"Anyway you should stay here. I can't have you wandering about the Sleepy Willow in the state you're in. People might react harshly if you were caught doing...things. Some of the things I THINK you're planning to do anyway." Dyne sighed. Vincent had all the potential to be a great hero of Corone. But instead he was preferring the life of a Bandit. The man couldn't understand his friend's choice of habits. Standing up, Dyne grinned at the youth for a moment. "Okay man if that'll be all then I'm going to go straight to work. I'll make you the finest pair of Katars that I can possibly make!" He said and raised a closed fist in the process to emphasize his enthusiasm.

[Vincent K]

Vincent watched as Dyne, a little too whole heartedly, declared that Vincent would receive the finest pair of Katars to ever leave the shop. Vincent smiled awkwardly and turned back towards the window. Oh HELL this was going to be a long night. How was he going to sleep if he had to worry about stealing stuff in some kind of sleep walk mode? Then something odd, but obvious at the same time occurred to him.

Wait...why DID I want katars? I barely even know what they are…this is weird, but then so is everything else that's happened in the past day or so.

He wished Dyne could help him more than he is now. He wasn't ungrateful, but answers are what he truly desired. Although it was probably nice to have a friend who looked like he could wrestle a brown bear. At least Vincent didn’t have to worry about people messing with him. Speaking of which, he KNEW he was going to receive hell back at home from his parents wondering just where he was this whole time.

There was nothing to be said anymore tonight, however. The solution was probably locked away in the minds of these “sages” that he was going to meet. Sages…in his world, Earth, they died off long, long ago only to make way for arguments that use no logic and go on for ages with the same exact words fashioned in a new way. The real truth behind the world was that nothing was absolutely true. Good and bad were relative, true and false was relative, and the laws of the land were not some God given jurisdiction, but rather a set of rules crafted by the people who were just as flawed as those who they persecuted.

So what if a single man could stand up to them. All Hell would break loose, that’s what. A single man goes against what he has been told. A single man breaks the chains that binds him and does something different in the world. THIS is what is forbidden. It’s what has always been frowned upon, because the world is believed to be concrete by so many, when it flows like a river. One could either abuse this knowledge, and use the ignorance of everyone to rule the world, or he could rise above it, view it in its entirety, lay it out like a map before him, and understand the course of nature and culture and could find ways in which to make his own ideals known.

What the hell am I saying!? Vincent thought to himself.

You finally understand that we thieves aren’t demons spawned from hell, or those who just simply believe themselves above the law. They…WE are the ones who transcend the rules of culture set before us, set a boat on that raging river and navigate its waters. WE are the ones who see more than what is in our hands. WE see more than what is in front of us. Don’t forget it!

You talk as if I’ve already decided to become a thief.

You talk as if you haven’t.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Dyne simply nodded and took his leave after that. I have to trust him not to try to steal anything too valuable. Hopefully he uses some common sense.

Taking his leave now, Dyne decided it was high time to get back to work. That same carpet that was laid out throughout the building was stepped on by his boots. He noticed the fine Raiaeran embroidery in the carpet. It was an interesting thing to have in a building that was meant to be an orphanage.

The walls were brown colored and the ceiling was pretty high. Dyne could barely see it when he looked up. The tiles underneath the carpet were finely polished wooden tiles. Apparently, they were fine Oaks from the depths of Concordia Forest. Dyne wondered what the building might look like if the furnished wood were made from pieces of brick and Liviol? That would be interesting indeed.

Pieces of furniture were kept several paces apart from one another that served as stands for vases and other decorative works of art. Some of them reflected native Coronian artwork and others were from lands like Raiaera, where the art community was very sophisticated. Dyne longed to be able to make equipment with the level of skill that the Elven blacksmiths put into their craft. Dyne was still an amateur, at best, and required a lot of training to get that sort of level.

So for now, he was content with practicing his craft at the current level. He walked back towards the Sleepy Willow. Karxen was nowhere to be found, that wasn't unusual though. Moving to the areas behind the counter, Dyne noticed it was evening already by the time that he returned to work.

He meant to get some rest since he'd finished an earlier project, but now that Vincent had challenged him to make something new, the apprentice decided to call him on the challenge. Moving back to the anvil area, Dyne had the process in his head. In order to make a pair of Katars, he would have to work with the basic molds of daggers he had available. Then it was a case of modifying the mold to the basic shape. He'd stepped back into the forge and grinned once he smelled the familiar smell of the strange air in the forge.

He no longer needed a face mask. But the goggles protected his eyes from flying debris, that was needed. There was also a stinging particles that sometimes bit with the strength of a hornet's needle. Dyne felt prickly sensations against his skin which were now familiar by this time. Taking up the hammer, Dyne twirled it in his hand for a few moments. Then, he proceeded to go to work. A long night was ahead of him. Dyne knew that Vincent hadn't specified a Metal, but he was going to work the Katars from steel. That should be good enough.

[Vincent K]

"LISTEN! NO MORE DRINKS! I TOLD DYNE, AND HE SAID YOU'RE FINE AS LONG AS YOU'RE NOT A DRUNKARD, NOW QUIT IT!" Vincent was yelling, trying to convince the maid, who had come back for a large number of drinks, that she should stop before she gets into big trouble.

"But, you said-" she began, putting her hands together in front of her in a desperate attempt to win him over with an innocent look.

"I'm not going to have you getting thrown out so that you can drink some wine, now get out. This is for your own good!"

The maid stormed out and shut the door behind her. She was already being influenced by the drink, or else she would have understood that Vincent was just trying to help her out. He wondered if she even noticed when Vincent told her that he had already informed Dyne about the whole thing. She probably didn't, and he just hoped that she would run back to her quarters and sob instead of doing her job wrong and screwing something up.

He ran over and grabbed the wine glass, poured himself a drink and gulped it down. He repeated this about four more times until he felt a sense of relief wash over him. Apparently this is what getting buzzed felt like, or perhaps he was fully drunk, either ways, he wasn't as stressed as he was moments before.

He started thinking about all of the things he would miss from his own world if he couldn't get back. There was his house...that was a big thing, but not too bad. There was the school he went to, good riddance. He seemed incapable of feeling too bad about everything, but brushed it off as the drink talking.

He then tried to think of things he did every day. He thought of video games and a sudden impact hit his stomach. He thought of fast food and the impact got harder. He finally thought of the internet...and then passed out.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Working on Vincent's katars was a chore of a process. Daggers were easy enough to make on their own, often costing no less than two bars a unit. Yet, the katars were more complex daggers and the youth wanted a pair of matching katars. That was going to make the situation a bit more complex than normal.

He'd stepped into back into the forge area moments earlier and investigated his stash of Steel bars. He'd prepared bars of every sort of material he could currently forge which weren't many choices. Knowing the costs of the Katars, he went to prepare himself a single practice design.

This process took less time than a blade would normally take. Daggers were typically smaller blades built for warriors who relied more on agility and speed than raw strength. They were ideal side arms. Katars were daggers that were curved and slightly longer than normal daggers, often reaching a foot long in length. Dyne had to carefully measure the blade out in conjunction to Vincent's forearm. He wanted to make sure that the katar could easily be wielded by the alien.

Once he was complete with his "sketch" he prepared himself for the real work of building the actual pair of katars. As a process, the chore took a lot less time than Dyne would have normally thought. Was I getting faster? Dyne considered that a possibility. He completed both of the daggers in under five hours time. Just enough time for his companion to get a good rest. Completing the scabbards took an extra hour a piece. Finally, he put the finishing touches on the designs upon the blades and placed the daggers in the appropriate cooling tanks. That took another half an hour to complete.

Once the job was finished, Dyne dried off the newly forged weapons and placed them in their scabbard. The steel was lightweight and easy to handle by a skilled knife fighter. Taking up the two daggers, Dyne returned back to the house without incident. He found himself staring at Vincent's door and knocked on it a few times.

[Vincent K]

When Vincent finally awoke, he was wondering what the hell he was doing on the floor of his house. Still groggy with sleep, he didn't even think to look around and find his bearings, and he was still in the belief that he was in his own home just as he heard the knocking on the door.

He pushed himself up, regretting falling to sleep on the floor, and lazily waltzed over to the door to open it, not noticing much until his hand was on the handle, opening the door.

When he saw the huge figure on the other side, he fell backwards onto his back, suddenly remembering who he was looking at. It was Dyne, coming back from the forge, and this brought everything back to him. The room, the world, the event that started all of this with that nerd getting Vincent caught by those two guards.

"I forgot where I was, sorry about that. I expected to open the door and find the UPS guy standing on the other side trying to fend off my dog...but you wouldn't know who the UPS guy is, so don't worry about it."

Vincent noticed the two katars that Dyne was holding and felt amazed to see the real thing for once. "I take it that your forging went well? Thanks a lot.." he said, holding out his hands for the katars. "I wish I could pay you...but...you know...I'm one hundred percent broke."

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

"Don't worry about it. The chance to work on something that I rarely get to build was exciting enough. I hope you like them and put them to some good use."

Dyne handed the pair of katars over to Vincent. They were placed inside intricate looking scabbards. They were the length of an average pair of Katars and Dyne put some artistic touches to the blade. A dragon was etched upon the blade along with the symbols for A/C upon the pommel. The unique signature of the blacksmith that worked on them. Dyne handed Vincent his daggers pommel first.

Standing around for a while he conversed with Vincent a while longer. There was very little that needed to be said. Finally, Dyne realized that sticking around would solve nothing. Figuring the Vincent probably needed some space to sort things out, the Apprentice decided it was time for him to get some shut eye as well.

"If you require some training with those I can help you out." Dyne finally said and walked away, heading to his own room. Once inside the room, Dyne sat down upon his bed and stared up at the ceiling. His head still hurt from the commotions and stress that the week produced for him. But now, he made a new friend, or at least he thought he had.

Thinking about what Vincent was telling him was a dangerous affair. The voices he was hearing could be Phantoms or worse. They could be the Thaynes themselves talking to Vincent directly, or perhaps some other form of deities. Althanas had many pantheons of gods and goddesses. Thinking about the situation now, Dyne wondered what would come of the rogue now? Would he join the Syndicate? Would he join other Thieves' Guilds? It was a possibility. Dyne feared for his newly found friend, but a part of him knew that Vincent could be great. Only if he stayed on his toes...

...Until they met again.

The End.

****Spoils****

Four Excellent quality Iron Broadswords for sale at the Bazaar. Excellent quality scabbards included.

[Vincent K]

The moment Dyne disappeared from view, Vincent pulled out his katars, held them in a cool looking fashion and practiced a few thrusts and quick jabs. Finally realizing just how heavy metal was, he placed them back in their scabbards and managed to string them around his waist...and then realized to avoid cutting his hands off if he drew both at the same time, he would either have to draw them slowly, or draw them like pistols. Something told him not to do either, that it would be too slow in a fight...but something else told him that he shouldn't even GET into a fight, and then yet another thing told him always to be prepared.

It was a headache just to decide where to holster these things, but he finally decided to holster one on his left hip and another behind his back on his right shoulder like a claymore. That would let him draw both without worrying about chopping his limbs off, and wouldn't slow him down.

He realized that even after being unconscious just a moment ago, he was still dead tired. The bed in his room hadn't even been used yet it seemed and so he decided he would simply lay down on it and go to sleep. He hoped that the sages would find a way to get him home, or else he would end up going insane in this place. These thoughts invaded his sleep as he finally drifted off, but he found himself awakening not long after.

Sliding out of bed, crossing over to his TV, he thought something was amiss. He'd have to go see the sages today, he thought as he turned the TV on, and turned it back off realizing there was nothing good on anymore. It wasn't until he thought about school did he realize that he as finally back in his own room.

He took a quick look around and intinctively reached for his katars, hoping to hide them from his parents. They were nowhere to be found, and he was left in his normal attire, in his normal world, with his normal life.

Apparently it was just a dream.

"OH! Finally awake!" His mother said, standing in the doorway. "Those nice men brought you back to this house saying that you passed out from heat exhaustion. You were out for about a day. I knew it was hot out, but then again, it's hotter in the city than around here! Oh, you poor thing, come downstairs and have something to drink."

Nice men?

She ran down the stairs leaving Vincent standing there dumbstruck. It wasn't a dream. Apparently, he was here and there at the same time. This was a good thing, because he didn't have to worry about people missing him, but apparently he also had a time limit of how long he could stay there. Normally, this wouldn't matter, but for some reason...he wanted to go back now that he knew he could come back.

Walking out of his room, he felt for his katars one more time and, realizing they weren't there, let his hands fall limply towards his sides. He couldn't wait for the next mishap to happen so that he could go back to that world.

One question plagued his mind...

Who the hell were those scientists!?

Fin.
**********SPOILS***********

001. - 2 plain steel katars, arm length, and of basic design. They also have a neat dragon design on them.

002. - Alter Ego: A voice that helps guide him along the road to becoming a thief, which is, as far as he can tell, his ultimate destiny. He and the voice may not agree at times, but he will listen to it in a dire situation.

003. - Evolving Thief Skills: He's slowly gaining the basic abilities on the road to be a master thief.

[Call me J]

Well guys, I like seeing threads where people work on their characters and have events that are more "everyday" than epic. I feel those test writers more and can lead to stronger character over time. Well done.

Total- 53

Continuity- 6. I liked how this thread started for Alberdyne with him at work. Many times, players forget that their characters do anything other than adventure, so this was a welcome change.

Setting- 6. The setting here was more talked about than interacted with. Still, the nature of the thread suggested that you had to be fairly involved with the setting, if for no other reason than the setting was so unique for Vincent.

Pacing- 5. I felt this thread did lag a bit generally, though there was really no specific moment I could point out as unnecessary, except perhaps for Vincent’s discussion with Alberdyne’s stepfather.

Dialogue- 8. This was a strong category for both of you. Alberdyne really shows his character best in his monologues, and they all sound quite natural. Vincent, I really like the second voice in bold. You use it well to advance the story, bring in more character, and also interject humor every now and then. This is something you should definitely keep.

Action- 3. Some of Alberdyne’s actions bordered on metagaming, though I’m sure they were not intended that way. I had no idea why Dyne thought Vincent was going to be a thief, especially because you didn’t explain Dyne’s reasoning. If you had told me why Dyne was thinking that way, I wouldn’t have considered it metagaming.

Persona- 5. I know its hard sometimes when you’re starting out with a new character, but Vincent’s personality seemed to be all over the place. I don’t think you have really figured out how to play Vincent yet, but that’s okay because it’s a new character. With time, you’ll become just as comfortable with him as you are with Gideon and Typheus. Right now, both split personalities make sense, but not how they aggregate. Alberdyne did a much better job here, especially through his use of dialogue.

Mechanics- 5. The word “stepfather” should be written as such, and not as “Step Father.” I saw this mistake a few times, so I wanted to point it out specifically. Also, both of you could benefit sometimes from separating your larger paragraphs out into smaller paragraphs.

As for specific comments, Alberdyne, you need to work on making sure the right words are capitalized.

Vincent K, you need to be careful of your tenses.

Technique- 3. Alberdyne, be careful with your descriptions. Describing something on Althanas as “Victorian” makes little sense, seeing as there is little reason for Althanians to know of Queen Victoria.

Clarity- 8. The thread generally read easily.

Wild Card- 5. This was a rather simple thread. It didn’t have all that elaborate of a plot, but seeing as its purpose was to introduce the world to Vincent, it did that task.

Spoils
Vincent K receives 660 EXP and 170 GP
Alberdyne_Cormyr receives 1225 EXP and 165 GP
Other spoils are approved.

[Witchblade]

EXP and GP Added!