Roleplaying Adventures
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
Roleplaying Adventures

Come here to experience the magic of text roleplaying.


You are not connected. Please login or register

Do you trust me?

2 posters

Go down  Message [Page 1 of 1]

1Do you trust me? Empty Do you trust me? Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:20 pm

Friendly Local Witch

Friendly Local Witch

Abel huffed as he reached the top of the hill, calloused hands leaning heavily on the wood walking stick he carried with him. Strong, tan arms and legs tensed and relaxed and tingled with the after effects of strenuous work; he'd managed to walk halfway across a country. He'd bested a rough mountain pass, a small strip of beating hot desert, and cut his way through thick woods -- he did all of this and fought any monster that stood in his way, too. Which, honestly, he rather despised. Abel loved monsters -- he loved all creatures. But sometimes when a monster with a sinful heart is looking for a meal, a man has to do what a man has to do. The deep pinkish-white scars across his shoulders and back and calves and everywhere, really, was proof of that.

A loose white cloth shirt, soiled with sweat and dirt and spots of dried brown blood, whipped around his torso in the heavy breeze atop the hill, a purple cloth tied around his waist to keep it down. Brown cloth pants whipped around as well on his legs, also being loose, him having obtained them for desert travel. A hand was run through greasy yet fluffy brown hair as he squinted down at the valley town, leaving it sticking up oddly in a way his mother had always found endearing when he was small. His lips were slightly parted in shock, breathless puffs of air leaving him as he admired the metropolis. So busy, so expansive; an awe-striking sight in a country boy's eyes.

Abel quickly got over this enamored wonder when his light brown eyes flickered up to the sun traveling down across the sky; he sighed deeply and continued his tireless walking, soon reaching the entry way into the town's public marketplace.

And he was immediately hopelessly lost.

2Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:34 pm

zombifiedzanie

zombifiedzanie

Chetana probably should have been at home. Actually, she was definitely supposed to be at home right now. After all, what they had planned was, technically, for her. A few foreign quests had likely arrived already and she was likely called down to meet them by now, a maid already making excuses. Her father, while pretending to believe she was still dressing, likely realized she wasn't upstairs. After all, she wasn't his first child, even if she was the only one around any more.

What he likely didn't realize was that she didn't dress her part. Where she was usually supposed to wear richer colors, satin and silks, extravagant patterns and eye catching tops, she now wore plain traveling clothes. While she still appeared to belong in the city, she seemed more of a run of the mill citizen. Her pants were rougher, though they looked as though they received... very limited wear and her shirt was plain, looking as though it would be good for riding if it were just a bit more worn in. The outfit was completed by, besides shoes, the short cloak. It was meant to simply cover the upper body, stopping it from receiving too much sunlight, and was made of thin materials. Her hood was up, the patterns on the side stretching attractively, and only her arms and what showed through her sandals were fully visible to the sunlight. She dressed to hide her rank, to hide herself, to avoid special treatment and to avoid merchants trying to impress her with gifts, as though her family would ever allow them the chance.

But as she walked through the stalls, simply trying to get a day of peace and some shopping done, she took notice of a stranger. Admittedly, she didn't know everyone, especially those who might dress as he did, but he seemed so out of place. This was due in part to the way he walked, but mostly due to the stains. Most who might dress like that didn't do much of anything, their appearances more similar to her own. They were ready for travel, ready for something, but that was a something that they knew would never come, and they enjoyed it that way.

So when it came down to it, she couldn't help her curiosity, following him for a moment. She had continued to stop at stalls, but always eyed him, just from the corner of her eye, growing anxious about the dried blood. It would be this concern that drew her to close the distance she had enforced when tailing him, prepared to show concern she would be unable to follow up on.

3Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:03 am

Friendly Local Witch

Friendly Local Witch

Abel earnestly wondered if he could pick up a map somewhere. You'd think they'd have some out for travelers, brochure maps like the one he'd bought in the star-studded casino town of Fortuna -- that town was small, but had lots of dangerous back alleys but also good hideaway shops that were worth the detour for. Now that, that had been helpful. But... here, in this town, with so many carts and people buzzing this way and that and merchants calling out to him, ringing bells, pushing through with barrels and boxes, children running, dogs barking after them...

He felt lightheaded; a bit sick.

Bumbling around through the crowd, he easily found his way, being so tall, but either way that didn't matter because he wasn't sure where to even go. Trying to keep himself closed in, trying very hard not to bump into anyone or bonk anyone or anything of that sort, he very timidly inquired to anyone that got vaguely close where he could find the Khaye residence. Of course, someone had to know, though it seemed his socially shy tendencies got in the way of that; being so quiet and stuttering made sure that no person replied, much less took note of him. The city didn't fit Abel's soft spoken personality -- too loud, too quick.

He tried mumbling an "excuse me" to a very busty woman in a corset that passed by him, and he just continued to turn and follow after her in exasperation when he again went ignored; his eyebrows furrowed, he was about to cry out in upset when he ran right into the body of a different, hooded woman.

"Oh, I-- I'm sorry, miss," he blundered, reaching out and back and out and back, unsure if he should brush her off or steady her or something. Talking to people wasn't really his forte, obviously, but women especially.

4Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:31 am

zombifiedzanie

zombifiedzanie

The city bustled all around as she had followed him along and she lost sight of him three times while looking at finery, being sure to pay for the simple headscarf in full before hurriedly sidestepping around a couple to regain sight of the boy. As her eyes came to rest on him once more, Chetana hurriedly folding the fabric and placing it in the large bag strapped to her side, she thought back to her books. She of course read mostly informational texts, as was expected of her, learning about plant life and heroes, but that wasn't what her mind had jumped to. Instead, she thought to the fables. Surely, if he were the center of one he must have learned whatever lesson was meant for him, whatever had caused the stains was surely not an experience worth repeating.

If she weren't so curious, she'd have gone a hunting for one of the stores inside the large buildings. She'd have instead pursued something interesting, perhaps trying to figure out if there were any fables about men. She had bought a few more small items before deciding to close the distance, to perhaps offer assistance she could not personally give. As she grew nearer, she noticed he was speaking.

With how quiet he spoke, she was unsure if he was even attempting to get anyone's attention. That is until he tried talking to someone, turning around on his heel and about to follow after her. Chetana, however, had stepped too close at the wrong moment, not getting a chance to step back before he bumped into her. She froze, just a moment, watching him try and decide if he should touch her, before speaking. Whereas he had spoken quite quietly, her voice was silvery and orotund, used to having to speak loudly enough to be heard above the crowd.

"It's.." She paused, but then she offered a bright smile. It was difficult to tell whether or not she was truly cheerful or this was simply a pleasantry, but she offered a quiet, fruity chuckle "It was my fault." The response was simple, but she continued to eye him curiously from beneath the hood, her thin frame all but engulfed by the cloak. The blood still worried her, of course, but she was willing to put off her questioning, as always.

5Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:46 am

Friendly Local Witch

Friendly Local Witch

Abel was instantly enamored with this girl.

He cleared his throat; don't stare, your mother taught you to be more respectable than that. Even still, whatever reply he had on his mind refused to come out his mouth, and he continued to awkwardly bumble his way through another "I'm sorry" and a "It really wasn't, I should have watched where I was going." He crossed his arms, then remembered that was rude body language, and uncrossed them again to hang them limply by his side with his fingers wrapped very loosely around his walking stick.

"Um, so, since I've got your attention now, I--" Okay. Breathe. Direct eye contact. "I was uh-- Wondering-- Um-- Could you direct me to the Khaye residence, at all, please?" Surely a local would know exactly. Though, his mind had drifted away from his mission and reason for visiting the sprawling city. His thoughts focused primarily on making sure he remembered every detail of this young lady's face and stature and voice.

...You know, just in case.

6Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:09 am

zombifiedzanie

zombifiedzanie

Chetana waited, watching as he tried to get the words out. She watched his movements fumble and wondered how often it was he went to a city as big as her home. She let him get all of his words out, interrupting only to restate that it wasn't his fault. "I walked too closely" She told him, shrugging slightly "It's fine, really."

Maybe the size of the city unnerved him, maybe his nervous behavior had something to do with the blood. Though, he did seem quite unaware of it.

"The Khaye residence?" She repeated, clearly familiar with the name. Her lips pursed gently, her brow moving downwards in thought as she considered the request. "I could even lead you there, if you'd like, but..." She paused again, thinking "Can I ask what you're headed there for?"

7Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:00 am

Friendly Local Witch

Friendly Local Witch

Abel grinned ear to ear, teeth an off-white and somewhat crooked every which way. She could lead him there? Great! He was positively horrendous at following directions given to him, so having someone to simply follow after was a blessing straight from the Goddess. Perhaps she worked for them as a maid, or a cook or a handmaid to the lady of the house. He knew there was one Khaye daughter left in the house due to word of mouth, but this lady before him being her didn't cross his mind in the slightest.

"That would be great, thank you very much," he hurriedly thanked her, standing up straighter with excitement. Finally, after all this traveling, he would be able to obtain the legendary Loftian Shield. How he would be able to haggle the priceless family heirloom from the most economically powerful man alive was also something that did not cross Abel's mind. When asked his reasoning, he hesitated; should he tell her of his quest? This woman he just met not half a minute ago? He had told only few, only when necessary, but... she intimidated him a bit. And it couldn't hurt, he supposed.

"Well," he said lowly, in a heavy half-whisper that did little for keeping him quiet and was more funny in an odd way, "I'm on a quest, continuing the work of my... ah, late father." He sounded very uncomfortable saying that, feelings about it stirring in a stinging way. But, he cleared his throat and continued. "He was a collector of legendary armor. His best prize, something he'd been after for decades, is the Loftian Shield. I heard it belonged to the Khaye family. I'd like to obtain it in honor of him." He sounded like a hopeless idiot, speaking so confidently that he could get his hands on the heirloom. More like a poor child talking about how he wants to be a king when he grows up than anything.

8Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:07 pm

zombifiedzanie

zombifiedzanie


Chetana felt a pang of quilt when he mentioned his father, feeling like she shouldn't have asked, but she wouldn't stop him. Because she was curious and, for her at least, words were a beautiful commodity. Secrets were nice too, though few were willing to share, so whatever information the boy would share would be wonderful. There was only so much of interest one could get from ink covered pages, most would have to be learned this way.

Hearing that about someone's father, however, certainly wasn't what she was going for when she sought information. But, he had moved on quickly and she, though she still felt bad, didn't stop him.

Hearing he was after the shield was quite interesting, however. If she were an animal, her ears might have perked at the mention, but instead she gently folded her arms. After a moment, as he continued, she rested her elbow on her other arm casually, her hand coming to a rest nearby to her own face as she considered this all.

"That's, well..."  She had mimicked, in a rather good natured way, his own whisper, though it was so much quieter in comparison to her previous speech that she had to lean in slightly, moving closer so she could still be heard. "It's a worthy cause, admittedly, but," She paused again, thinking about how to word it. She doubted the Loftian shield would be easily won. Now, she didn't want to go around assuming people didn't realize this, but she had to make sure. That and she had to say she wasn't very keen on it being handed off willy nilly.

While yes, it was an heirloom, she was less attached to it. And if there were someone deserving, she might plead on their side, but currently what she thought of it didn't matter. Even when it would be passed down, it would technically be her husband's property and unfortunately the prospective future owners, from what she'd seen so far, weren't very promising.

"How do you plan on getting it, is all?"

9Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:35 pm

Friendly Local Witch

Friendly Local Witch

Abel's grin fell entirely.

As aforementioned, he hadn't really thought about that.

"I... Hadn't really thought about that," he mumbled sheepishly, glancing down at his feet for a few seconds in lamentation while chewing softly on the inside of his cheek. If it were someone else, they'd probably feel totally embarrassed to admit that. But no, while Abel spent maybe a second feeling bad about himself for not considering that, his thoughts very quickly moved onto the answer to her question.

He had quite a large sum of gold in his possession from his adventuring. If he could find a bank around here of the same company, he could withdraw from it. Although, he supposed a meager hundred thousand coins would be only a drop in the ocean to the multibillionaire. Stealing it came up in his mind for a split second before it was crumpled up, lit on fire, and tossed off Abel's mental bad idea cliff. That would be very hard to accomplish, and either way, he was much too good-hearted to commit an act like that.

Abel shifted his feet, swallowing before raising his green eyed gaze up to the dark brown look of the woman. "...that's a bridge I'll cross when I reach it." Very confidently he said that, with a small smile, and I return to my previous analogy of the poor boy wishing to be king to describe the look on his face.

10Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:27 pm

zombifiedzanie

zombifiedzanie

His reaction made Chetana feel bad once again, but it had been a question worth asking. Especially if he had yet to consider it.

"I only meant to warn you," Her voice slowly rose to it's normal volume throughout her sentence, but she didn't move back to her own position as if she hadn't noticed her volume. Even with all this talk of some stranger trying for the Loftian Shield, which she wasn't so sure would work out well in his favor, her mood remained upbeat. Her voice had taken on a sadder tone when his father was brought up, but as the seconds inched away from the topic her voice returned to what one might call a charming manner. If she wasn't so chipper and upbeat, she might've made a brilliant merchant, but with that childlike rhythm a customer would never take her seriously. "The Khayes aren't likely to sell it, truth be told."

This was something Chetana knew for sure, such as she knew that if they were to sell it, her old man would ask for some ridiculous price.

"Well, just know that they're more impressed by actions than words." She said and then, with a light chuckle, she added "Just make sure you don't set the bridge aflame instead, alright?"

11Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:47 pm

Friendly Local Witch

Friendly Local Witch

Abel's bright, childish grin returned at the pleasing sound of her own high, lilting voice. It reminded him of church bells in the breeze mixed with the tweeting of early birds -- though he supposed that was a pretty dramatic romanticization of simply her tone. Still, he quite liked it; he liked any upbeat person because they'd always seem to mesh well with his own similarly optimistic yet quiet personality.

He considered her notes carefully, nodding as she spoke, before giving one finally firm nod in answer to her question. It was his somewhat weak reply to such a relevant, intelligently brought point. He was a charismatic guy, right? Maybe? Okay, or, not at all, but like she said, he may have better a chance at obtaining it through actions than words. Perhaps he could find a way to work off the debt of it! He could be a gardener, as he was good with plants. Or a stable master or animal tamer; he was good at that, too. He was very strong and well built, so maybe a hand on one of the family ships would suit him! There's lots of possibilities.

"Thank you," he said as a simple pleasantry with a polite bow of his head, contradicting it by giving her a very kind, goofy grinning look afterwards. "I'd like to see if I could have an audience with Mr. Khaye. You said you could lead me to their house?"



Last edited by Friendly Local Witch on Sun Aug 02, 2015 8:10 pm; edited 1 time in total

12Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Sat Aug 01, 2015 9:13 pm

zombifiedzanie

zombifiedzanie

Chetana nodded, the action a simple bounce that made her waves do the same. She turned slightly, but dramatically and playfully, and extended her arm in the direction she had come from.

"I can't promise you'll see him today, but..." She coughed, clearing her throat to force a more formal tone "I would be delighted to escort you to his home." The idea even forced a smile. Almost entirely because she was quite sheltered, she had trouble imagining anyone needing an actual escort within the town.

Actually, she wouldn't be shocked if it took more than one visit to get in. But she didn't really mention it, showing him the way an excuse to extend the time wandering.

Gazing down the way she had pointed towards, her face crinkled in thought, brows lowering slightly and biting a lip. It would probably be the better thing to take a shortcut, but then again. She wasn't entirely in the mood to go home right away.

"Hey, you want the scenic route? So you can find your way around later, I mean." Well, at least she gave him option to ask for a short cut. That was slightly more honest, right?

13Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:20 pm

Friendly Local Witch

Friendly Local Witch

Oh bless the Goddess, he's so excited!

To be entirely candid, this will quickly become the most at length Abel has spoken to anyone in quite a good while. His last extensive conversation had been with a very lovely server at a bar in Fortuna -- and not to pander to her for a certain sort of favor, mind! The young man was, in all honesty, rather innocently minded; though he knew of such shady deals in the dead of night, it wasn't a concept he'd ever been able to entirely wrap his brain around. No, not only had she been beautiful, but she'd turned out to be a very intellectual conversationalist. She'd certainly had Abel wrapped around her finger- and not even through libidinous dances! Through her pure scholasticism and sharp, intriguing wit. They'd become fast friends. Though this anecdotal digression will soon end, Abel makes a quick mental note to send the girl a letter as soon as he can.
This means, 'as soon as he can find someone with a better understanding of grammar to dictate it for him.' Abel has not received very much schooling, unfortunately, and words come to him with difficulty.

Moving on-- he was just about to begin his bounding steps off in the direction the woman directed - he makes another mental note to ask of her name, if she doesn't inquire first - yet she'd paused, offering to show him around the town on their way. This impressed him as purely a gesture of kindness, because yes, he would undoubtedly need something to help him find his way about the sprawling place! A mental map, while unreliable, is better than nothing.

"Oh, hm?" Abel's head tilts slightly to the side in an admittedly endearing way, "Ah, sure! This seems like a lovely town, with a lot to see! A tour would be fun!"

14Do you trust me? Empty Re: Do you trust me? Sun Aug 02, 2015 11:17 pm

zombifiedzanie

zombifiedzanie

To say Chetana was pleased by his agreement was an understatement, eyes crinkling as she beamed out at him. Yes, this was perfect indeed. The longer the walk home, the more time she got to go without someone getting after her for sneaking off at like that.

Not that they hadn't figured it out by now. No, she had left without permission many times. Permission meant company, company meant she didn't get to glow in the lie she told herself, that no one recognized her. She got quite the lecture when she went home, was watched after closely for a while. One would have trouble believing how annoying it had been to do so today.

Though, she had to admit. This would be the first time she led a lost puppy dog of a boy home. The idea amused her, now she was bringing people home with her. What would her parents think. Well, she'd certainly find out soon enough. She had to keep from giggling, as it would probably be best to avoid giving her father an aneurysm.

"Ah, this really is a delightful place." A small shrug followed her statement, her looking towards Abel as she began to walk "Though, I'm biased, aren't I?". As she spoke, she found herself eyeing him again, curious about the stranger she was now leading through the market. All in all, his upbeat behavior, while similar to her own, seemed almost contradictory to his appearance. To an extent, she was worried the blood was his. Perhaps she should check if he was hurt?

No, instead she offered a pleasant smile and gestured around them slightly, playing into the role of a tour guide. "As you've probably noticed, we're passing through the markets." Detailed history she could've mentioned aside, which she certainly was willing to bring up, mostly the market seemed to be a place for honest merchants and seedier ones to sell the same goods for different prices.

Which Chetana mentioned, albeit in a much more charming manner. She did a far better job of selling it as a swell place than I have, at least. Likely this was because she saw it as a swell place, bullshit prices and all. "Of course," She spoke, mostly to herself "The latter tend to earn more..."

Sponsored content



Back to top  Message [Page 1 of 1]

Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum