[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/DLGhcA0.png[/img] [sub]The Learner[/sub] & [h1]Split-Tooth[/h1] [/center] [hr] The unlikely duo, now riding atop a giant bunny, had skirted the edge of the vast Sandravii for days, going north through sparse shrubland towards the shadows of the Qiangshan mountains. Behind them was the Giant's Bath and with it, the Nanhe river. Yet they pressed on, letting Penelope lead the way. Arya, far too delighted with her giant friend, didn’t even question where the Jackalope was taking them. She simply told Split that they should trust in their noble stead and have faith in her ability to take them to the market, wherever it might be. The kostral was satisfied with nodding and plucking another fruit. That was many days ago, and now Arya looked at herself within the newest small stream they had found themselves next to. The stream had no name, but it’s waters were clear and undiluted. Arya thought Shengshi would like that. Meanwhile, Penelope was busy munching on plants downstream, and Arya did not know where Split had wandered off too. Instead of looking for her, she instead had donned the dress- [i]her dress[/i], that K’nell had given her. It was as comfortable as it was in the dream, and furthermore, looked amazing when she twirled about. Arya shut her eyes, K’nell’s advice coming to mind. She needed to practice in the real world, and what better time to do it before they moved on again? Her eyes snapped open and she began to step. Though there was no music, that could change. She let the memory of the Palace’s rhythm take over and the ghostly symphony resonated in her mind. She even began humming to the phantom melody. It was bliss, and also a wonderful way to get rid of stress. And so the girl danced. She didn’t know how long she danced, but her peace was interrupted by a distant explosion, mid twirl, causing her to almost fall, but she held her balance. Arya then spun around, trying to locate the source until her eyes fell upon the mountain of fire to the south east. It was but a blimp on the horizon, yet it burned with such renewed intensity. Even she could tell that it had erupted. The land that way was darkened by clouds of ash, and a certain terror filled her heart at the thought of the danger it possessed. Her mind spun with possibilities. Was it nature taking its course? Or an intentional act, brought about by a god? She did not know, but in the world they lived in, anything was possible. The small girl blinked, and turned to Penelope, who was sitting upright scanning the horizon. Her deep hazel eyes were impossible large as she sniffed the air. Arya quickly floated over to the Jackalope and began to give the animal comforting scratches on her cheek. She had found that Penelope responded best to a gentle touch, and she did love her scratches. Worried as Arya was, she didn’t want Penelope to be stressed, so the girl spoke softly to her, [color=ivory]”It’s okay. It’s okay girl. I’m here.”[/color] as she stroked the soft fur of the bunny. Penelope then slowly went back to eating, tearing into a nice leafy bush. With a sigh of relief, Arya then landed a top the jackalope’s back and scanned the area for Split. She looked upstream, then downstream, pausing briefly on the glow of the mountain on the horizon. Arya then turned around. There was thick, closely packed vegetation due to the stream, but further out the land was sparse, containing an abundance of splotchy shrubs here and there. Seeing as Penelope was enormous in her own right, she had a good vantage of the land. But this view only further worried Arya, for she did not see her tall, Kostral friend. So, she shouted, [color=ivory]”Split? Split! Where are you!”[/color] For some moments, nothing. Then the undergrowth nearby rustled and shook, and Split’s grey, rugged body crawled out of it on all sixes. “Sometimes you get me worried.” With a heave of her forearms, she propelled herself to standing on two legs and dusted off a few twigs and leaves clinging to the ridges in her skin. “I [i]said[/i] I’d go look around a bit. Were you asleep again?” She disapprovingly narrowed an eye at Arya’s dress. “Told you, that thing’s dangerous. Keep putting it on, and one day that-” a gnarled claw gestured at the fiery plume on the horizon, “won’t be enough to wake you up.” Her expression changed as her gaze followed the finger, folds of lip-skin curling up to bare pointed teeth in an uneasy snarl. “Better talk about that later. Whatever’s happening there’s not good.” In a couple of deft pulls, she was on Penelope’s back, and prodding the enormous rabbit to start moving again. “Last time I knew something like that happened, we got that desert. First thing we do is get away fast.” A silent sigh of relief rushed over Arya as she both heard, and saw Split. The Kostral’s words did not seem to affect Arya in the slightest, if anything, she was just glad to see her Kostral friend. Her eyes squinted into smiles as the Kostral climbed up Penelope. As they began to move, Arya settled down amidst the silken sheet, and looked at the fire mountain in the distance. Her voice suddenly took on a serious tone as she said, [color=ivory]”Yeah, that’s probably a good idea, if what you say is true.”[/color] she then turned around to face forward and said in melodic fashion, [color=ivory]”Come on Penelope! Give us a good pace, girl.”[/color] and the Jackalope responded by beginning to speed up. Arya had figured out that whoever held the bell, was able to command Penelope a bit better than those without. The jackalope was far more responsive with her. The small star bell had soon found a home around her neck, fashioned with the strands of hair from Penelope. Arya mindlessly caressed it, as she hoped they would find the market sooner than later. “We’d better find the hole that goes down or what Choppy’s got for it quick.” Despite the jackalope picking up pace, the kostral’s subdued alarm did not diminish. She shifted restlessly on the blanket, keeping one eye fixed on the pillar of smoke rising in the distance. Her teeth rhythmically grit together, a scratching sound Arya had not heard before. It was laden with apprehension. “There’s a god that lives in that mountain,” she said after a while, breaking the uncomfortable back-and-forth of the scraping, “or something like one. Don’t care to find out what. Nothing wrong about that, but it’s got a deal with the Fell One.” Her voice dropped into a guttural growl, and she paused, glancing around. Shrubs, bushes, grass not nearly tall enough. No real hiding places. “Don’t know what they agreed about, but if something big’s happening there, maybe it’s time. [i]He[/i]” she all but spat the word, “might be coming up.” The eye facing Arya winced nervously. “We’re far, but that doesn’t mean a spit. You think you can hide well if you need to?” Arya could see that Split was on edge, and that alarmed the small girl. Split was a giant, six-armed weapon of flesh and bone, if something was making her nervous, that terrified Arya. But she couldn’t be afraid, else her fear would control her. Just as Kalmar had once said. Arya took a deep breath, before saying, [color=ivory]”I… I could if I needed to, but I’m not going to abandon you and Penelope. I couldn’t do that.”[/color] She then walked over to Penelope’s head and grabbed onto both horns. She turned her head to look back at Split, saying, [color=ivory]”We have a quest to finish, now don’t we?”[/color] Arya then turned looked back at the fire mountain, and had to blink as she saw a tiny black dot coming from the mountain. It hadn’t been there before. [color=ivory]”I don’t mean to alarm you, but what’s that?”[/color] she asked in shaky voice as she shifted her body to point at the speck. The kostral turned up her head, following her gesture. Her eyes, by now used to the daylight, but still clearly not made for it, winced as they tried to make out the distant blot. “Can’t see any better than you,” her voice sounded almost hollow at that point, “But I know that the god of the mountain flies. If that’s it-” she broke off, blowing out air between her teeth with a whistle. “Nothing’s sure. Could be something else. I’d rather not meet that thing either way, but that’s not the worst.” She shifted to face Arya with a dim, disquieted and ever so indistinctly concerned look. “If you see something big come this way, run. Not just big, something-” she tried to gesture to indicate just how big, but gave up halfway through the motion. “I’ll tell you. Don’t mind me, I’ll be fine. She should be too.” A pair of fingers ran along the jackalope’s hide. “If he’s coming up, I don’t want him to see you. No telling what he’d do.” She produced the coffee flask and held it up. “You’d better take this, don’t want him asking questions. Hope you won’t have to, but-” She whistled again. She listened to Split speak, Arya’s expression softening as she saw Split wanting to protect her. Tentatively, the girl reached out and took the flask, then said, [color=ivory]”It won’t come to that, Split. Trust me.”[/color] she looked away briefly before sighing and looked back, [color=ivory]”But… If worse comes to worse… Okay. Okay.”[/color] Arya turned around again and began said, [color=ivory]”Alright Penelope! Lets-”[/color] but her voice was cut off as the world suddenly went dark. The sudden shift from dark to light was bewildering and Arya had to blink, before looking up where Heliopolis shone. What she saw, was a vast cloud of something dark. It blotted out the sun, then it was over. Arya looked back to Split with wild eyes, and then turned forward once more, shouting [color=ivory]”Penelope, run! Take us to the Market!”[/color] and all at once the Jackalope kicked her legs and the she was running. The wind blew through Arya’s hair as she clutched the coffee flask. She was spooked, to say the least. Something was happening on Galbar, and she could tell it wasn’t good. If the sudden cloud over the sky had startled her, its effect on Split seemed to be much the opposite. Whether it was the familiarity of the shadow or the acrid smell of smoke that began to waft down towards them, she rapidly shook herself from her unease, resolutely snapping her jaws and turning her head to the fore with a click. Four hands grasped at the long white fur, making the kostral look like a statue fastened to the creature’s back with evenly-tied ropes. “We’d better hope we won’t take another week to get there now.” Her voice had recovered its flat, raspy bite. “Good thing is anyone with an eye’s going to be looking at that first. If your eyes are as high as that-” she glanced upwards and chortled, “Sometimes being big isn’t all that good. Worst thing around for us now will be that other one, and he’s got to be busy doing all that.” She tapped Penelope’s flank with a free palm. “Still no reason to let up.” [color=ivory]”Whatever you say Split!”[/color] Arya shouted above the wind. [color=ivory]”I have a really bad feeling about all of this. I just can’t seem to shake it! Hopefully Penelope knows where she’s goi-”[/color] And then the Jackalope suddenly stopped, the force almost making Arya fly forward, but her grip was solid. She looked up, hoping to see the market, but was disappointed. All around them was still shrubland, broken by large rock formations here and there. [color=ivory]”Penelope! What are you doing?”[/color] Arya said disgruntled. The jackalope then raised her head, sniffing the air. She then cocked an air, as if she was listening for something. After a long, quiet moment, the Jackalope began to forage, much to Arya’s dismay. Grey fingers tapped on its hide with irritated impatience. “That Choppy looked like she had a loose head,” Split grumbled, “Could’ve warned us about the defective rabbit, though. Defective, that’s the word.” she added, more to herself than to either of her companions. [color=ivory]”Penelope, this is no time for eating! We have to go girl!”[/color] Arya said as she gently prodded the bunny. But Penelope did not listen, instead she paused again next to a bush, her giant eye peering down at it with curiosity. After a moment, Arya heard a small ‘peep’ and a bird flew out of the brush. Then all of a sudden, Penelope was running again. Arya lost her balance and fell backwards, landing against Split’s body. Several hands swung up to catch her, the kostral herself miraculously keeping her balance despite releasing most of her grip. Two uneven rows of dripping teeth over her head were superseded by a quizzical pair of eyes. Arya looked up at Split for a moment and said, [color=ivory]”What is she doing!”[/color] before scrambling back up to the top of her head, propped up by two arms from behind. She saw Penelope was chasing a small golden bird, with red plumage, and that it was leading them straight for a large rock formation. Arya’s eyes went wide and she began to panic, [color=ivory]”Oh no! Penelope! Penelope stop! Stop!”[/color] she shouted, tugging at the Jackalope’s antlers to no avail. Behind her back, she could hear a dissatisfied rumbling and clicking of teeth. As they got closer, the situation seemed dire. The bunny kept running. Arya looked back at Split and shouted, [color=ivory]”We have to jum-”[/color] As if the Jackalope could read her thoughts, with one mighty push, she had jumped in the air. Arya screamed, turning her head just in time, to see a massive hole in the ground, then darkness. [hr] [hider=Summarino] We find out heroes near a small stream having traveled north of the Giant’s bath, skirting the desert in the shrubland. Arya doesn’t know where Split is when she wakes up from a nap, so she decides to practice dancing. Her practice is interrupted by the distant explosion of Mt. Eldahverr. This worries Arya and panics Penelope, who she begins to comfort. Having dealt with Penelope, she calls for Split who arrives shortly after, having scouted the area out. Split climbs back on Penelope and is very concerned about the Volcano erupting, and they talk of gods and what to do in case of an emergency. They begin to travel, only to find the day turns dark briefly. This further scares Arya and she tells Penelope to run, which the jackalope does, for a short time anyways. Penelope then stops, prompting Arya to wonder why the Jackalope is behaving so strangely. Unbeknownst to the two heroes, Penelope is gaining them passage into the Route, much to their horror as she speeds off towards a rock. As Arya begins to say they need to jump, Penelope jumps, and they enter an oversized rabbit hole. We fade to black. [/hider] [hider=Prestige & Might] Split-Tooth: +9 Prestige Starting +1 For Minor Role +1 For Major Role +1 For Jolly Collaboration +1 For Following a Quest = +13 Prestige Ending Arya, The Learner: +8 Prestige Starting +1 For Minor Role +1 For Major Role +1 For Jolly Collaboration +1 For Following a Quest = +12 Prestige Ending [/hider]