[IC] Wings Askew

[Tombprince]

Blin "Brytag" Alborse

Blin cowered in the library, the tremors finally passed and he rushed outside. The few people there were either peering over the edge of the island down below or gawking at the ruined bridge to the main island. Blin had no idea what had happened, he went to the bridge and found the sky-knights had already managed to clear the bridge before anybody was hurt. It turned out that two of guards had flown down when an unlucky man fell over the edge. blin looked down as they bought him back up, seeing a dim light that was quickly fading in the clouds below was all that remained of the sight that Blin missed. He just had to know what had happened, nothing like this ever occured in Heron.

Blin returned into the library and collected the school's order of maps and scrolls, he quickly tied them to his glider and took off. All his thoughts were on the events, so most unlike him he dropped off the delivery with a quick bang on the school doors and flew of to the market and castle.

The market district was abuzz with gossip and the king's messengers, proclaining the forthcoming quest. Blin got all the details quickly, and spent the remaining afterrnoon walking about in a daydream as himself as a member of royalty, and somewhere during this he managed to purchase three rolls of light blue thread in different shades. It didn't even register on his mind that he had bought them.

---

---

That evening was maybe the worst and best in his life that Blin ever remembered.

For maybe an hour at dinner, his mother dispaired of Blin taking control of life and being responsible. Blin was ashamed that he had totally forgotton to get his mother's lunch to her at the farm. His father was so infuriated that Elspath had to beg and share lunch from other farm hands. The meal ended up in silence as everyone steamed in their own thoughts. As the last morsel pased their lips, Blin blurted out "The king offered a reward for delivering the fallen to him. It's something I can do...so I'm going to do it." He stood up and cleared the dishes away. His parents sat there stunned.

Elspath muttered "No" under her breath and Jared reached over to hold her hand while he whispered in her ear. Blin had tears running done his face as mind tried to sort out if leaving was for the best or trying to undo the mistakes he had done. When both his parents hugged him as he attempted to wash the dishes, he simply broke down and let his emotions run free.

"Blin, you're always the biggest dreamer in this house," his father said gently, "so if you're absolutly sure of this. Go with our blessing. Everybody has to leave at some point and you actually lasted years longer than me before I left home." Now Blin was stunned, but he thought of the rewards that were offered, "Ti do this and one of us becomes an heir and the rest as royalty. Even with the lower reward we would all be set for life. I'm doing this and sticking to it till the far end."

"Just remember to keep yourself safe, came back win or fail, this house is always open to you." Both his parents hugged him and only his mother had nothing to say as she quietly wept. Blin finally finished washing up, with help from his parents, and feeling emotionally exhaust he turned in.

---

---

Day of the Quest

Blin's eyes opened, the light outside was non exsistant when he looked through the window. He was well rested and so quickly got up to check the time, he slowly opened the door to peek at the small clock at the end of the hall. "A full three hours early," he went back inside shaling his head as he went to wash and get dressed. Elspeth, his mother, would still be asleep and Jared, his father would be as well.

He crept out into the main living room, as quietly as possible, wincing at at every squeaky floorboard that sounded with each footfall. The table had a package on it. Blin lit a small candle and looked it over, a small neat label read "Come home safe, Love, Mum and Dad." He partly opened the plain wrapping, a blanket, a tarp, some dried food, something else under it. He closed it up and went back to his room and fetched a pouch. All his savings since he started his delivery service. He took out ten coins and left the rest in place of his gift.

His family hardly ever wasted anything, and though he wanted to take the small label with him, he turned it over and wrote on the back "I will thank you, love you both, Blin."

Blin loaded up his tools and package onto his glider, checked it one last time, before taking off in one of the most dangerous timeslots on Heron. The stars gave a little light and Blin was wide awake for once as he headed to Heron island for the meeting. He did the only thing he knew and just landed on a close island he knew well, just realising as he took off that the kings message had no meeting place arranged. He found a tree, it seemed familar to him and in moments he dreamed and dozed.

To Dream perchance to Quest

Lord Brytag the Mighty flew across the night sky that was slowly being lit by an orange light, beneath him glowing in a dark orange in the strange light was the great sky-dragon Kalikorix. "It's nearly here, we must hurry Kal." The sky lit up as if it was in daylight as the pair dove down towards the surface far below.

The night sky was quickly turning into shades of orange and red, a faint roaring was heard above and behind the pair. It sounds painful to their ears. Faster than ever the sky-dragon plummeted to the ground, only at the last possible moment did it open it's wings wide to slow the valiant pairs descent. As soon as Kalikorix touched the ground, Lord Brytag was off the beast and facing the clouds above.

The roar became deafening and he shouted, "This is not going to work." the clouds above parted and a collossal meteor hurtled towards them both. Brytag was a warrior and he knew only strength of arms, perhaps it would be enough to stop this, he doubted every word he thought. "It was nice knowing you Kalkorix." He braced himself as if he had the might to catch it with both his hands and behind him, Kalikorix spread it's wings and breathed a fine multicoloured spray over his friend.

The gigantic star struck the ground and burnt every living tree for ten miles around the impact, the shockwaves toppled trees for another forty miles. In the centre crater where the light was brightest.

A young man awoke under the tree with daylight steaming onto his face, way past dawn and the weaatherman's balloon was flying in an unusal place. Blin stared at it blankly before using a phrase said by farmhands as he gathered his gear.

[chukklehed]

Blank/Nikki Colab

The falling stars that evening were beautiful. Even Nikki was too busy watching the streaks of light that shot across the sky to cause trouble, though she’d made a quick flight right after they started to locate Blank. The young woman’s mouth hung open in amazement, reflected starlight shining in her eyes. Blank was similarly mesmerized, but the stars had failed to keep his attention, and instead he tried to suppress a smile as he watched the girl next to him.

“I wonder if you can catch them,” she whispered, stretching up a hand as if to try. “Wouldn’t that be cool? A star to keep?” Her expression wasn’t quite the same as the raw excitement that indicated she was coming up with some wild new adventure, but this was a bit more subdued and awestruck.

“A star… to keep…” Blank muttered to himself, raising his hand toward his head, but halfway there, he forced it down, letting the feeling slip away. Right now, it didn’t matter if he got his memories back, that could wait for tomorrow. For now, he just wanted to enjoy the moment.

Suddenly a meteor far brighter than any of the others blazed overhead, and Nikki gasped. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “Look at that one!”
Blank was already looking, and as he stared at the bright white light, that light burned through his eyes and into his mind, finishing the connection that had just started. In his mind’s eye, his memories, he felt the rain on his skin, hammering wherever his glider didn’t cover, and he barely saw the glider he was pursuing ahead of him. A gust of wind blew him up, and up, and farther up, and just before he passed from view of the other man, he saw a flash of light and then nothing.

Snapping back to reality, Blank put both hands to the sides of his head as it throbbed with a pounding headache. Staggering to his feet, he tried to stumble inside, but only managed to trip himself on the doorstep.

“Huh? Hey, you okay?” Nikki stood up as well, managing to tear her eyes from the falling stars when her friend lurched about. Based on the way he was holding his head, she figured it was some almost-memory, but he’d never gotten off-balance like that before.

Blank spun around to face the stars again, almost falling over as he did. A moment later, he had oriented himself and was pointing at the horizon.
“There,” he said, emphasizing the word by shaking his finger, “that’s the key. That’s where my memories are. I need to get there!” He turned again, making his way into the house more steadily, going for his glider.

“Whoa, whoa!” Nikki trailed after him. “I’m all for chasing it down, but it’s dark. We can’t really fly at night, especially somewhere unfamiliar like down there. Plus if we don’t at least get some supplies and so on, we’ll be in trouble. Even I don’t go in completely unprepared, you know that.”

Blank stopped, turning to look at Nikki. “I can think of a few times I’ve had to chase you down with a pack,” he said, obviously amused.

“Well yes, though I never thought it’d be my turn to try to get you to think something through~” She was grinning fit to split her face. “We’ll go, absolutely. But this is going to be our biggest adventure ever. I mean...the surface! ...I really should have suggested going there before this. So we’ll get together what we need, and leave at first light.” Her eyes shone just as bright as they had in the light from the falling stars at the thought.

Blank sighed, obviously defeated, and didn’t even begin to try talking her out of coming. There was nothing he could say that would stop her, and all he could do was try and keep her out of too much trouble. “Alright then, first light. Are you sure you’ll be awake?”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” she promised.

The next morning, Blank rose early and gathered his gear. It was mostly standard supplies; food, water skins, clothes, rope and some firestarters, but his glider was anything but standard. It was more like a giant umbrella than the hangliders on the island, and he had to carry it out over his shoulder even folded up. He said his goodbyes to his surrogate parents and set off, knowing a good place near town to launch from. It took more time to get there carrying his gear, but it wasn't long after dawn that he made it to the cliff overlooking the town. He sat and watched as most of the townsfolk gathered around a smaller group, apparently those the king was sending to get the star for him. He felt a pang of guilt, but squashed it down. He needed his memories back, he knew there was something he needed to get done, and he wasn't going to let someone else stand in his way for some silly succession game.

[tex]

Gaius Stronurr

_{The Meeting Point}

Gaius let out an embarrassed huff and nodded. A series of light clinks from his helmet tapping his breast plate's collar was the only retort he had for Sera's comments. His armor tended to defend him from the occasional tease more than he'd ever bothered to himself! Without it, he might have been completely silent in the face of mockery. Then again, what harm was a little jest at his expense, now and then? People like Sera were the only ones keeping him well aware of his faults! As Sera turned towards him, Gaius pointed his face-guard towards her and listened intently, careful not to take her words to heart. Abandon his king? Of course not!

"I suppose you could call me that, but I'm an envoy of my own will! It's my sworn duty to uphold his highness' wishes. If I were not to see this mission through, it would be akin to abandoning the very principals that this kingdom was built on! I'm not keen on tossing aside my responsibilities as a knight," Gaius maintained, his voice practically seeping with an obnoxious amount of charisma. "The king would support my decision, and I'm confident that my guards will be fine without me- Perhaps better! Ha-ha!" Gaius had never been one to let the icy daggers of spite rend his armor and stab at his confidence. He was persistent! So persistent that it was rather unhealthy. His failures were the only wounds that stung, and to be reminded of his shortcomings so thoroughly was the ultimate torture. Gaius then turned his attention to Lee and Kelari, who'd arrived as he'd spoken with Sera, and waved his mighty shimmering arm with a smile that burned through his metal head-cover. "Ah, Lee's here too! And Kelari as well! And-" He paused and turned around to witness Blank ascending the hill. Him too? Gaius thought to himself, as he closed his waving hand into a loose fist and pulled it back to his waist. Shall I be met with a hat trick, Tivo?

[shylarah]

Nikki opened her glider and leaped into the air. It wasn’t easy, flying at night, but it could be done if one was careful, familiar with the area, or foolish. Nikki was some of the second but mostly the latter, though she didn’t try any reckless stunts in the dark, aside from flying in the first place. She landed in a sprint in front of her house, nearly knocking her father over as she dashed inside.

“Excited about the proclamation, I take it?” he called after her retreating back. The young woman stopped dead. “Proclamation?” she asked, puzzled.

“Everyone’s talking about it.” Jasper ran his hand through his graying hair. “I can’t really imagine you as queen, though. Or an adviser. I’d leave the country.” He smiled at his daughter. While the girl far surpassed him in terms of energy and how far she’d take things, the foundation of her sense of humor she’d gotten from him.

“Huh?”
“You were planning on going after the star, weren’t you?”
“I -- but -- how’d you know?”

---

Not long after, Nikki was off again, heading back for Blank’s home. It took a lot of convincing to extract a promise that he’d go with the group since he didn’t like lots of people around, but she managed to wear him down. Certain that he’d keep his word, she took off, this time going to find Eli and Rahna. She didn’t see Blin, but if these two went, Blin was sure to be informed as well, and would probably join in too. They didn’t take nearly as much persuading as Blank. Eli was on board when she mentioned the reward, which was interesting. She’d thought he’d be intrigued more by the adventure. Whatever, they were coming. That was good enough for her.

Filled with restless eagerness, the young woman was up several more hours preparing for the next day’s journey. But despite her late night, when her alarm woke her in the morning, she was wide-awake at once. “Today’s the day~” she whispered to herself as she scrambled to grab breakfast and get dressed. “The surface! This is going to be the biggest adventure of my life!” She kissed her dad farewell, trying not to squirm away when he hugged her longer than she would have liked. Nikki knew she’d likely be gone for a while, so it was only fair to have a proper goodbye. “I’ll come back. You can’t get rid of me~” she assured him, a broad grin on her face.

“I know -- I’ve tried.” Jasper smiled at his daughter, but his eyes were serious. “You be careful down there. Nobody knows exactly what’s there, and it might be dangerous. Stay alert, try to think ahead, and for the love of all that’s holy, /listen/ if someone says not to do something.”
“Yes, father, I will.”
“You mean you’ll try.” The man sighed and shook his head. “Go on. I know you’re dying to set off.”
“Love you, Dad. I’ll have so much to tell you when we come back, just you wait!” With that she grabbed her pack and glider, dashing off and leaping from the nearest launch point, her glider soaring upward into the faint light that preceded dawn.

There were already a few people gathered below the Weatherman’s balloon, but Nikki was far too twitchy to be happy landing yet, and instead set to spiraling overhead as more of them arrived. She doubted all of them would be going, but she figured the tomboy ruins-crawler might be one of them. She’d be fun to have around. And...Gaius? No, surely not. Well, maybe, he had all sorts of stories after all. So he must have some interest, right? At least it’d be fun pranking him, but he was sure to try to make all sorts of rules, and that would be a bother. Eventually she caught sight of Blank’s distinctive glider, and swooped to join him.

“Blank!” she called, landing not too far from him. “You’re here!” The young woman collapsed her glider and slid it through the straps of her backpack. She couldn’t carry much, but she had some supplies and her usual adventure kit of things that might come in handy. “I’m so excited~ I could barely sleep!” She danced around him, unable to stay still. “This is going to be /amazing/. The surface! I can’t /wait/ to get going~”

[Rekaigan]

Rahna/Eli Collab

(Collab with @LostBrotherGrimm)

Rahna grinned at Eli’s response to her suggestion, promptly following after him so that she wouldn’t be left behind. It was a race afterall! Unlike Eli, she quickly put her goggles on before jumping off the edge, her glider unfolding. She felt an updraft push her glider upward, giving her a little more altitude. She glanced downward to see a wave of starlings swirl and loop from below. It was an impressive sight, a sight which disappeared quickly into the trees of the island nearby.

Eli smiled as he moved his glider out of the way. He did get a slight head start, so there was no surprise that he landed on the island a bit before Rahna. His knee did bump into the ground - his landing skills not being on par with his racing skills. “Slowpoke,” he stuck his tongue out, as he leaned onto his glider, watching as Rahna made her way towards him. He could modify the wings on her glider, only a bit - would definitely give her more control. Eli made a few mental notes to himself as he waited for her. Hopefully he wouldn’t forget them.

He ought to get a notebook.

She heard him call her a ‘slowpoke’ the moment she landed near him, letting her gliding skid across the ground like she was surfing on it. She didn’t even bother folding up her glider, carrying it over to him. “You got a head start!” She retorted, but of course, she wasn’t very angry to begin with. In the end, she just gave him a shrug and a chuckle. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“I…” Eli tried replying, but in all honesty, it was a hell of a question. What do people usually talk about? “How about you choose a topic?” If that was the best he got, no wonder he wasn’t carrying the title of the most charismatic talker in the world. Or Heron, at least.

Rahna couldn’t help but laugh. “We could talk about how silly you are~” She replied in an amused, mocking tone. “Geez, you suggest we talk, but you don’t even know what to talk about~!” She continued, giggling away. “How about this, I’ll teach you about different plants while you fix up my glider! It’s boring, I know, but it’s probably less boring than what you’d come up with.” She said as she rummaged through her bag, pulling out a oddly thick notebook. She look at Eli with a cheeky smirk on her face. She knew he wasn’t going to enjoy this, but it was going to be amusing for her.

The idea of him fixing the glider wouldn’t be bad in itself, but learning about plants? This was probably one of Rahna’s ways of teasing him. She couldn’t possibly be serious? It took him a few moments to notice it, but upon seeing the notebook, a dreadful expression replaced Eli’s usual grin. For a split second, he actually thought of modifying her glider to go even faster, as payback. But then again, this was his idea, so yeah, had he came up with a simple topic, all of this would’ve been a lot easier.

Besides, she loved talking about plants. The signature grin came back as Eli decided to let it slide this time. “Hit me with your best plants!” He proclaimed while approaching her glider.

Rahna half expected Eli to make a run for it, but she was glad that he didn’t. She took a seat in the patch of grass that was next to her, opening her notebook to a seemingly random page. “Let’s learn about a wonderful plant, named ‘Chusanor’!” she began. She started describing what it looks like in excruciating detail, talking about how to grow it and what it does when mixed with certain liquids or other plants.

All the while, Eli could do little but sigh.

---

“The 'Eesramire vine' needs constant sunlight and lots of wood to consume…” Rahna continued, as she had been for the past three hours or so. She wasn’t even close to finished. These notebooks have been organized from A to Z in plant species and everything about them, although most of her notebooks were still in her bookshelf at home.

During these three hours, Eli had managed to fix up her glider, modify it, give it some more spin, doze off a bit, watch some sky, think about food, eat some food. And Rahna barely scraped the surface of her notebook. He was currently laying next to her on the grass, watching the sky and trying not to go all Blin on her. Cocking his head to the side, Eli tried to figure where the hell was she able to write down all that information. Witchcraft, surely. It was the most plausible explanation.

What was that about watching the sky? He turned his head back, light of the day long since faded from its peak. Or was it long? Eli lost the track of time around the letter D. As he inhaled, taking in the breeze, he started drifting off again. A light dream, barely even recognizable. The sky… slowly becoming a smudgy canvas. Canvas filled with flashing lights. What were they called again…

Lights? Flashing lights? Eli sprang up like a cat. “Flashing lights?! Hey Rahna, tell me - am I crazy?” He asked as he watched one light flash after the other.

“If you grind it up--” Rahna stopped mid-sentence when Eli piped up for the first time in three hours. She glanced at his expression before looking at whatever he was looking at, which happen to be the sky. Flashing lights indeed. She slowly closed her book, placing it beside her. Her gaze staying on the light littered sky. Small streams stroked the darkened sky. “If you’re crazy, then I must be crazy too…” She replied in awe. It was such a beautiful sight.

It was definitely one of those moments when Eli didn’t regret not going off on some adventure of his own. The day turned out to be quite memorable even without it. Simply stunning. And it didn’t seem as if it would end in a matter of seconds, for a moment it seemed as if it would never end. Not that Eli wished for it to end. “Two crazy people watching the sky doing crazy stuff,” Eli blurted out, before scratching his head. At what point did this turn into a scene right out of a romantic play? “Eli, you idiot,” he mumbled to himself.

What Eli said didn’t really register in Rahna’s mind until a few moments later. She felt her face go a little red. Was this straight out of a romantic play or something? “Y-you really are an idiot.” She responded with a slight nervous laugh. She tried not to think about it any further than she already had and tried to focus on watching the sky.. Doing crazy stuff. She mind had already gone back to thinking about what Eli had suggested, but such thoughts were interrupted when a single, huge stream of light hit the mountains in the distance, followed by a thunderous rumble. She was speechless. Not that she had said much during the meteor display, but even more so now. It piqued her curiosity. She wanted to know what it looked like, what is was. “Eli.. I want to go see it.” She said quite plainly, her expression still quite stunned by the sudden event.

“Em… Y-yeah, definitely,” Eli mumbled, not quite sure what had just happened. This was one of the most intriguing moments to ever happen in his life. To ever happen in Heron. “Like… wanna go… now? Or do you wanna wait ‘till the morning, tell our parents and stuff like that. Whatever you choose, I’m with you, y’know that.” He said, staring in the distance. This seemed like more than just a simple adventure. And his heart was racing - this was the real deal.

“I.. think we should tell our parents first.. And y’know, be prepared to go down there. I also need to pack some fresh notebooks. I’m sure there’s a lot to learn down there.” She replied in a serious tone. This wasn’t something they should take lightly. She had no idea what was below Heron so she felt that she needed to prepare for it.

A couple more moments had passed before Eli finally moved his gaze away from the mountains. “It’s settled down,” he beamed Rahna a smile before moving away towards his glider, stopping only to ruffle her hair a bit. “Why so serious? It’s going to be okay. No - it’s going to be awesome!” Considering Heron wasn’t that big, Eli wasn’t surprised that he caught onto the commotion coming from almost all sides. This falling light certainly caused quite a bit of ruckus. “Maybe we should check out what’s happening over there,” he pointed in the direction of all the noise. “Then head home for the night, whatcha say?”

She couldn’t help but smile back at Eli when he ruffled her hair. “Y-yeah you’re right.” She replied in an uncharacteristically soft spoken voice. She took in a deep breath, regaining her usual composure. She had also heard all the commotion, thus she nodded at her friend. “Let’s go check out what’s going on~” She agreed as she packed up her encyclopedia and picked up her glider.

--

The pair had moved closer to the source of all the noise, only to hear about the ‘Exploration party’ that was to form at dawn. Rahna smiled at Eli, “Well, looks like we’ll be meeting up with some other people too? I’ll see you tomorrow!” And with that she gave him a quick hug and sprinted off in the direction of her home.

And just like that - she was gone. It seemed that Eli managed to cheer her up a bit from that serious persona she adapted every time something completely piqued her interest. He didn’t quite expect a hug, though - not at all. Eli felt his cheeks reddening a bit. “I really am an idiot,” he stated as he slapped his forehead.

That evening, Rahna had rushed into the house to prepare all the things she'll need for her upcoming adventure. It'll probably take a long time to get to the mountain and back, but surely it wouldn't be too much of a problem? Probably. In the midst of frantically packing fresh notebooks, bottles and so on, her mother opened her room door with a knowing look on her face. "I knew this would happen the moment that thing landed." She said as she interrupted her daughter's packing, bringing her into a hug. "Mom, I--" Rahna began, but stopped mid sentence as her mother continued, "I know you're curious about the world, and I'm not going to stop you from going. But please, stay safe. Don't do anything too crazy, okay?" Her mother said in a soft voice, an slight expression of worry on her face. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll be fine. Besides, it's an opportunity to learn and write about the surface." Rahna replied with a smile on her face. "I knew you'd say something like that."

--

The sun hadn't even begun to rise when Rahna was packing her backpack with the various items she'd need. On top of her already quite sizable sling bag, she had packed quite a lot of things. However, most of the contents in her sling sack was a mix of empty bottles and bottles filled with salves, medical equipment and a gratuitous amount of fresh notebooks, with plenty of charcoal to write with.

Of course, she didn't need to bring her plant encyclopedias around, since they were so cumbersome and she had already memorized at least three quarters of the contents from A to Z. Remembering the more important things like what mixes well with what and what it does.

When she had double and triple checked all of the contents of her packs, the sun had begun to rise. Rahna immediately thought she was going to be late, thus she rushed out of her room. "See ya Mom! I'll be back soon!" She shouted as she ran out the door, grabbing her glider as she left.

When she flew in quickly, landing near the Weatherman's balloon, where some other's had gathered already. Being the Herbalist's daughter, she pretty much knew everyone here, except for a few faces, but they looked familiar anyway. It was interesting to see everyone gathering in one place for once.

"Morning everyone! Fancy seeing you all here~" She called, greeting everyone cheerfully as always. She wouldn't be surprised to see Nikki here, nor Blank, even though they weren't here yet. Gaius was a surprise though. Lee and Kelari were also a slight surprise, but she didn't know them very well to begin with. The last person she spotted was Sera, who seemed to be a dwarf among the giants, so to speak. The contrast between her height and Gaius' was always amusing.

[Pacha]

Thema/Tivo Collaboration

Thema watched as the boy tossed his belongings to the ground and made it apparent that he was going to stay a while. Before she could ask the boy's name, the boy rattled off a question.

"That's pretty interesting, I gotta admit. Can you play it well?"

Thema opened her mouth to speak, but again, she was interrupted by many questions more.

"Oh, can you sing, too? Written any songs yet? Can I take a look at some you've written down? I mean, if you've written some down."

The boy had been asking questions faster that Thema could even think of an answer. After a short period of silence, Thema answered each of the questions.

"I can play it, though, I'm no virtuoso at anything, not by any means." She said. "And I can also sing, though, I'm no grand singer. And to what songs I wrote, I don't quite have my song notes with me. I guess I could play something, if you really want to hear it."

Tivo gave a curt nod in response to each answer that Thema delivered, a simple grin plastered on his face signifying his content with the way this particular conversation was going. He was quite pleased that the bard was willing to share some of her own songs, and he gladly accepted her offer.

"That sounds pretty nice, yeah. Go ahead! It's been a long time since I've heard from a genuinely amateur musician," he honestly opined, eyes gazing up at the woman with a tinge of eagerness behind his expression.

Thema nodded after she heard what the boy had said. She sat on the ground in front of the man, pulling her lute off of her waist. She held the lute rather carefully as she hummed a quick tune while turning the pegs that held the strings tight to the wooden frame. Occasionally, she would pluck a string, giving either a note that sounded pleasant or a note that sounded rather dull.

This went on for a rather short while, but once each string gave a pleasurable noise, she began strumming a simple, melancholic tune. She hummed along with the notes in order to get a feel of a song. Not before long, she began to sing a morose song.

Time may cheat, but I know why
Cause what I need, I can't buy
But life goes on, and so do I.
I'm trying to fly...

And I don't even know why
I still feel like a rat in a maze.
Even though I stared at the sky
I should have found a method to fly...

The song sounded sorrowful and incomplete, however, it was sang quite well. Though, the song did feel quite empty, as if it was missing something.

"Well, that's what I have so far. What do you think?

Thema asked quickly, dismissing her own thoughts about the song. She had felt as though her song was empty. It sounded nice, that's for sure, but it didn't feel right. It wasn't what she herself had thought. It was just something that someone would sing from time to time.

Lowering his stature further by leaning forwards some, Tivo listened intently to the song. While Thema strummed the sequence of strings on her lute and sung, he closed his eyes and nodded his head until she had finally finished. He had to admit to himself that she was quite decent -- not that he had any doubts about her ability, really.

After letting out a content sigh, he opened his eyes once more. "That was nice. I don't really understand the words all that well, but, uhm . . . Good job!" Tivo's expression quickly acquired a grin. "The only thing I didn't like about it was just how short it was!" he added.

Tivo was about to delve into a more in-depth conversation with Thema when a streaking, minuscule object ran past the peripheral of his vision, which immediately prompted him to divert his attention away from Thema and towards the particular area above him. However, after finding nothing in his short perusal of the sky which invoked great interest, he turned back towards Thema. He simply dismissed it as being an incredibly fast, white bird of some sort.

"Sorry," he began. "Just thought I saw something weird. Anyway, like I said before, your songs are sort of short in length. Then again, I'm no musician, so I don't know too much. No need to take my advice. You've got talent, though!"

Tivo suddenly became aware of how far forward he was leaning towards Thema and decided to readjust his posture by tilting back a bit, resting the palms of his hands onto his knees. Didn't want to invade her personal space or anything. Common courtesy.

"So . . . Those lyrics. What do they mean? Is it a story of some sort? Does it have a message?"

Thema was taken aback by his question. Did her words have a meaning? She never had thought too hard about it. She knew it wasn't a story, but what was it? It was certainly something she wrote, but for what reason?

"I don't know," Thema said as she rose from her seat, "and I think that's what I'm trying to figure out." Thema looked towards the sky. Occasionally, a dull white streak ran across the sky, but was nigh impossible to see due to the day's light. It didn't look very nice, however, it was still a neat event to witness.

"Anyways, I think it's time for me to get going." Thema said, returning her lute upon her hip. She then turned away from the boy and wandered forwards, with no real destination in mind.

Thema Absher

---

As Thema's wandering continued throughout the evening, an interesting word crossed around the town. The king was looking for volunteers to retrieve a fallen star. Thema, who had previously wandered across the entire city, had nowhere else as inspiration for whatever she wrote. None of what she wrote in the city had any meaning. Impulsively, she ran to her home, which had been a small house in the city.

She packed some of her belongings in a thick leather bag that had been shaped into a cylinder. Odds and ends of various jewelries that she couldn't possibly leave behind, strings for her lute, some changes of clothes, and whatever dried foods she had at the time. She grabbed her glider, an old one that she had had since childhood. It had been destroyed and rebuilt dozens of times. It was a miracle that it still even worked. Despite this, it was still the choice glider for Thema.

She left her house, and made her way towards the meeting spot that she had only assumed was the meeting spot. Such a guess would be fairly accurate, as for the event of leaving their home, the vast majority of the kingdom had been there to witness. She walked through and past the numerous crowds, finally reaching the large balloon and group of would-be adventurers. Most figures there, she recognized. Most, however, she did not know of, despite this passing recognition. There was a large and intimidating man in armour which instantaneously gained Thema's attention. However, upon glancing at everyone else, there was only one other that Thema really recognized.

A rather sullen looking woman who Thema had met in a library a long time ago, and had infrequently met numerous times throughout the years. Thema knew this woman as Kelari. She had been the only person that she actually recognized out of everyone.

She then began hearing everyone talk to each other. They must have already known each other for a while. Thema, not wanting to intrude on this, stood on the outskirts of the group. She did not speak, nor did she do anything to gain the attention of the rest. She just waited patiently for the next step.

[LostBrotherGrimm]

Eli Wyn

Night before The Dive

That night was a hard one - too much energy, too much excitement to fall asleep. Too much unknowns. "It's going to be okay..." Words that Eli said to Rahna slightly prior to them parting ways echoed in his head. The question remained... was it really? It's not as if he was getting cold feet, but all of his stunts combined couldn't get close to the magnitude of this endeavor. This was the real deal. Full of elements and parameters he wasn't able to wrap his head around. Objectively, the worst that could've happened to Eli so far was to hurt himself in the process of being a jackass. But no one can tell what is the worst thing that could happen to him on the surface.

To make the matter worse, it wasn't just him. Something could happen to Rahna as well. In a way, he felt obligated to go, whether he liked it or not. The fact that he actually wanted to go was a minor detail in the train of thought that was currently on the tracks of his mind. Eli felt that a part of Rahna's eagerness to go, besides being a curious girl, was because of his influence. He did get that before, people telling him to steer clear of their children, as they knew one was more probably going to end up in trouble if one was hanging out around Eli. Whether that was truly the case with Rahna or just a figment of Eli's imagination, was up for debate, but he still felt responsible. Thus, it was as if fate decided that Eli would go by default.

"Huh," Eli proclaimed, as his gaze traced the night sky. He was sitting on the steps in front of his house, trying to clear his mind. Unsurprisingly, his sister was both the first one to find out about his intentions and the first one to object. She really did think that Eli was about to do it just for the kick. As did his parents, too. As did every single person that probably knew Eli. Knowing that, however, they also knew that there was no way to stop him from going. Not a sane way, anyways.

For the most part, people were right, yes - the adventure would be exciting as hell. But there was more to it. The promised reward.

His family may have been in an okay place for a while now, but that didn't mean that okay place would last. One day his sister will have a family of her own. If there was any luck, he would be an uncle. Eli's family would prosper from the reward, but that wasn't all. Should he really become royalty, he would be able to provide for a better life of his friends as well. What was the point of him reaching the sky if he wouldn't be able to pull other people along?

"... and the kick is going to be the best one yet," he grinned before closing his eyes. Only for a second. Or two.

Three.

Morning before The Dive

A light bump prompted Eli to open his eyes. The bright sky was shining above him, clouds cheerfully playing with the wind. ".. Wha?" he barely muttered out before someone pushed him off the steps and onto his feet. It took him a few more moments to realize what was happening, where he was and who he was, "Eli Wyn, check. My house, check." He turned around to face his house, meeting a dumbfounded expression on his sister's face. One would think that his family had gotten used to his antics by now.

One would be wrong.

The two stood there, neither one breaking the ice. He had said goodbye to his parents last night, but his sister refused to do it. She was definitely against it, but knew there was nothing to be done about it. After all, Eli was her little brother. She felt compelled to protect him. After a few moments, she sighed and pointed towards his glider, "You do realize you're going to be late?" Then it finally dawned on Eli, what he was supposed to do today. "Look, sis..." he begun, but she cut him off by approaching him and giving him a hug. Only did then Eli notice a backpack on her back. She took it off and handed it to him. "I packed you something to eat and drink. I knew you wouldn't pack yourself on time. Or at all." She rolled her eyes, before they settled on the backpack again. "There is one more thing in it, consider it an early birthday gift."

Eli felt her eyes tearing up a bit and, to be completely honest, he was not far from it either. Opening the backpack, Eli notice a pair of aviator goggles. They didn't look brand new, but they were polished and seemed sturdy. Now he definitely wasn't far from tearing up. "You shouldn't have," Eli said, but she just smiled at him. It lasted for a mere moment, but it was more than enough to convince Eli that she was going to be alright with the fact that her little brother was growing up. "Go, before I change my mind!"

The Meeting Point

The glide towards the meeting point was one of the swiftest ever. Mostly due to the new goggles he had on his head, they helped Eli so much when getting to those crazy speeds his glider was capable off. Although, as a black bird crossed his path, a thought popped into his mind. If this was the swiftest glide ever - was it a possibility that the glide to the surface was going to be the worst one?

He shook his head as he landed - prompting a group of people to move away and make room for him and his glider. He got there on time, but landed with the elegance of a rhino. "It's alright, I'm alright! No need to worry." he spoked as he folded his glider and looked around the crowd, hoping to spot Rahna.

Hoping not to spot Nikki.

He also didn't see Blin anywhere, which imediatelly stung him. Eli hoped that, since Blin didn't meet with them yesterday, he got around to seeing that event himself and decided to go too. That is, if he didn't sleep over the meteor shower. That would be vintage Blin, but would also majestically suck.

[shylarah]

It wasn’t long after she joined Blank on the high bluff above the meeting point that Nikki spotted a distinctive glider. Eli, flubbing the landing as usual. “C’mon, we should get down there,” she told Blank, but the young man outright refused. The cliff was a perfectly good launching place, and it didn’t have all those people. She pouted but to no avail. “Well, fine, you stay up here if you really want to. I don’t want to miss it if there’s an announcement or something. But you better not go too far without me, got it?”

With that, the excitable woman pulled out her glider and opened it, plunging off the edge of the bluff and sweeping downwards toward where the crowd waited. She aimed for Eli -- the younger boy would doubtless gravitate toward Blin and Rahna, if she’d missed their arrival. A grin spread across her face as she noted where her shadow lay -- approaching her friend, it trailed behind. Perfect if she wanted to give him a scare -- and why not? Nikki chuckled to herself and changed her angle, dropping down a few yards earlier than her initial intention. The rest of the distance she covered in a quiet dash, until she was /right/ behind Eli. “Yaaah!” With a shout, she jumped him, completely disregarding the backpack in the way. It’d mean finding purchase for an impromptu piggyback ride would be difficult, but knocking him over would work just as well.

[Ookawa]

Sera got up and leaned on her self-made halberd and then stuck out her tongue and made retching noises and motions. "Byah! You're disgustingly obnoxious with your insufferably chipper morals..." Exasperated Sera huffed and turned her back on Gaius and walked away.
The short girl didn't get very far before greeting Rahna, who had just arrived as well. She knew that girl had the heart of an adventurer, but her knowledge of medicine, even if she was only a trainee, would certainly come in handy.
She was in the process of waving her over when she spotted something happening.

The girl that perpetually had annoyed her, to a degree, when she was scavenging for salvageable items in the ruins from time to time pounced on a boy she had seen around Rahna a lot. However, he didn't seem to be able to handle the impact and toppled over and both, boy and girl, fell into a heap of limbs.
For a second, Sera managed to control her self, her hand pressed onto her mouth, but she just couldn't stop it for long.

"Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha bwahahahhahah!" With a loud clang her halberd landed on the ground, because she just couldn't physically hold it anymore and Sera went down kneeling over in laughter.
"Gahahha! You two look so stupid! Bwhaha!"

[Tombprince]

Blin "Brytag" Alborse

Blin shook the sleep out of his eyes with a quick shake of his head, it wouldn't do to be this late especially as he got up in the middle of night to be here. A quick look still showed him that gliders were arriving around the area where the balloon was floating. He checked his glider and gear, giving them the quick once over and took off to join the launch. He hoped it wasn't too late, almost wishing his glider was sleek and swift like Eli's, but then it wouldn't be able to carry the goods he would normally transport.

Still out by a good five minutes, he spotted a crazy glider taking off from a buff and speedily heading straight into the gathering crowd. Just at the last second the glider folded, Blin hoped no-one was hurt, but it looked like that Nikki's glider. The girl could be so much more nicer if she wasn't always cusing trouble to those around her. He hoped the were no injures there, that would be a bad omen for the quest start. he took a slow descent, landed well clear of the people gathering, tethered his glider (since it didn't collapse) and made his way to see who else had gathered.

[Alina13]

((OOPS!!))

[tex]

Gaius Stronurr

_{The Meeting Point}

Gaius shook his head with a faint smile. You can't win 'em all! Not immediately, anyways. Surprisingly, not everyone was a fan of Gaius' do-gooder attitude and charismatic demeanor. He thought it was preposterous! Why would anyone find him obnoxious? Well, aside from the ever present 'clanking' of his armor, and his deep, hearty voice- Hmm... Maybe he wasn't as charming as he thought.

Moments after Sera told him off, two guards approached the meeting point and alerted Gaius to their arrival with a pair of loud shouts. "Sir Gaius! We've brought it!" They uttered, heaving what appeared to be an oversized glider. Except, it wasn't really a glider? No, it most certainly was, but not in one piece. They each carried a disjointed wing over their shoulders, with a strange pipe-like latch that bent front their undersides. This was it! A pair of wings stretching a full 3 meters when assembled! The ultimate heavy-duty flying appendage, aptly named the 'Gaius Glider' for its hardiness! What a stupid name.

Gaius waved the two guards over with a creaking swing of his right arm. "Ah, there you are!" He called out. The both of them positioned themselves behind him and began the preparation to make their over-sized captain airborne. The glider he used was far too hefty for most to handle, given its sheer size. It couldn't even be carried around properly without splitting it in half. "Careful around my pits, fellas!" Gaius warned, raising his arms up. The soldiers folded the under-side bars out and attached them to Gaius' shoulder joints until they clicked into place, tightening them with several bolts, both at his shoulders, and where they met the wings themselves. "E-Easy!"

When they were finished, Gaius was fully equipped with a massive set of iron-set wings that sprung from his soldiers, turning him into a variable Gaius plane. His personal glider was far from agile, and he fell much quicker than most others, but the fact they he was able to get off the ground at all whilst in his bulky set of armor was a feat in and of itself. "Thank you kindly, gentlemen! Now-" Gaius turned towards the edge of the cliffs and made his way over. "I don't suppose everyone is here yet?" He roared, turning back to the crowd behind him.

[Acromantula]

Lee was just waiting for Kelari to respond when she heard two men approach the group with a large metallic machine. Her brows lifted at the sight of such a large object. But then she realized it'd be carrying Gaius and it all made a little more sense. It reminded her that soon, they'd be heading off to the surface and she licked her lips nervously. Stepping away from Kelari with a soft smile, Lee padded toward the man, disregarding the loud shout. She didn't answer the question because she assumed he was competent enough to see who was here for himself. Rather, she approached him wanting to ask a question. Seeing as her own glider had been collecting dust in the back of her house in the shed for the past three years, she was hoping Gaius would provide knowledge of a different way of getting to the surface.
"I'm sorry, Gaius? I don't have a glider and I was wondering if perhaps you could--"

[tex]

Gaius Stronurr

_{The Meeting Point}

"Give you a ride down? Of course, Lee!" He blurted abruptly, quickly positioning himself in front of her and bending forwards. Before she had a chance to react, he'd already grabbed hold of her calves, and yanked them up towards his waist. Hopefully she had the mind to latch on to his shoulder-guards, lest she fall backwards and crash head-first into the hard ground. "This sturdy contraption can surely handle a few extra pounds! Besides, I could use somebody to help me scout ahead of everyone else, I reckon its dangerous down their with only one set of eyes," He inferred, immediately turning towards the cliff-side once again. He smiled under his helmet, almost too excited to restrain himself from hopping ahead of everyone else without warning.

"We're heading out first!"

Gaius shouted his announcement with intense vigor, not even turning back to confirm whether or not anyone had heard him. He slowly backed away from the cliff-side, preparing himself for a running-start...

[Acromantula]

The minute Lee heard those first few words come from Gaius, she felt her breath hitch. About to politely decline Lee opened her mouth and tell Gaius that's not what she wanted, she got the breath knocked out of her as he just grabbed her. If her instincts hadn't kicked in, she would've bent backwards at this point and cracked the back of her skull on the hard ground. Possibly killing her. Lee's brain reeled, not understanding what was going on and what Gaius was doing, her nails scratching against armor and her fingers barely finding purchase at the man's shoulders. There was a thin sheet of sweat already forming on her brow and along her neck, her heart beating loudly in her chest as she tried to understand what was going on. Her voice seemed trapped in her throat when she made an attempt to call out to Gaius. To anyone for that matter. Her anxiety only increased as she realized that the man was going to jump off the edge. Jump off the edge with her in-tow.

[Tombprince]

Blin "Brytag" Alborse

"No, no,no,no...." Blin was at first amazed at the guards bringing the individual wings into the crowd and then shocked when he heard what he thought was a battlecry.

"We're heading out first!"

All thoughts of "Naughty" Nikki's crazy dive left him as he rushed back to his tethered gilder, "[color=bc8dbf]Why did I have to doze off....again. Come on, don't be last to leave." Blin tore at the ropes, freeing his glider and ran to the cliff edge before he could change his mind. He forced the glider into a dive, faster than he was used too, and surprisingly caught up the monster of beast that left first. He wasn't the last to leave, but he actually managed to pass someone before he spotted Lord Gaius and then his mouth dropped open.

The blood drained from his face as he saw Lee holding onto to Gaius, he could have carried her, he could have got her a glider, he could have done something. He pulled up, straining the glider and slowing his descent. He heard something snap behind him, the glider slowed but he frantically started to look about it to see what had happened.

[Rekaigan]

Rahna Altema

---

Everything was happening so quickly, but it was all quite amusing. Rahna really didn't know what to react to first. Perhaps the bellowing of Gaius who boisterously stated that he was heading out first or maybe the fact that he turned into a human glider. 'The nerve! How dare you he start having fun before everyone else!' is what Rahna would've thought if she was a selfish person. Fortunately, she wasn't. 'As long as they're having fun, right?' was often the thought that crossed her mind. She didn't like holding people back, unless it was Eli, to make sure he didn't get ahead of himself. Speaking of which, she noticed that he pretty much crash landed near the group and was quickly assaulted by Nikki who came leaping out of nowhere.

Rahna watched as Nikki pounced on Eli, grounding him.. literally. She couldn't help but smile, especially when Sera was laughing her head off at the sight of it. Rahna giggled as she settled some of her belongings next to her folded glider. After making a quick jog over to the tangled pair, she gave Nikki a knowing look and a smirk. "As expected of you Nikki~ Making a ruckus at any hour of the day." The young girl slowly helped the two get back on their feet, helping dust the dirt off their clothes. Her eyes made a quick scan for any injuries on either of them, "I'd rather we didn't get injured before the adventure even starts~" She stated in a lighthearted tone.

In the corner of her eye, she spotted another figure jumping off the edge of the cliff. It was Blin. "Soo.. Blin just left us behind." She added, pointing over to the spot where Blin took off.

[chukklehed]

Blank saw things starting to move at the Launching Point and got to his feet. He wondered briefly if he should have borrowed a normal glider from somebody as he stepped up to the edge of his own spot, but this was the way he had arrived. The bizarre glider had to have something to do with his past, and somebody on the surface might recognize it.

Blank didn't hesitate after that. As he had done so many times before, chasing after Nikki, he stood on the edge of the cliff with his glider in one hand, looking for all the world like an oversized collapsed umbrella, and faced back toward the castle. He took a breath, closed his eyes, and tilted backwards unafraid, kicking at the cliff face to distance himself from the unforgiving stone.

He plummeted, like he always did, and as he fell he slipped his foot into the stirrup at the end of the glider, a small metal divot in his boot locking it in place. Pulling at the top until it slid out to twice his height. Finally ready, he wrapped his arm around the center pole and released the canvas, the whole thing springing open and bringing him to an almost dead stop in the air, swinging forward faster than most normal gliders could go as his downward momentum shifted to horizontal. He pushed forward on the bar, levering it between his foot and arm to keep it from penduluming backwards. He was much lower than everybody else now, but he knew at least Nikki would catch up to him, just to show off if nothing else. As he glanced backward and up, he could just barely see the island hiding behind his canvas awning, and said a last silent farewell. This could be the last time he ever saw his home.

[shylarah]

The eager young lady grinned at Sera, adding her own giggle to the tomboy’s. When the other girl collapsed with mirth, it only made Nikki laugh harder. She’d mostly subsided by the time Rahna came to help Eli up, untangling herself and rolling to her feet. Her head jerked up at familiar shout, and she caught sight of first Blin, then Blank overhead head out into the sky. “Time to go~” she caroled. “C’mon Eli, Rahna -- you too, ruins-crow -- last one past the clouds is a muddy duck~!” Without waiting for a reply she scooped up her folded glider and ran full tilt for the edge of the island, diving neatly over the side.

The wind rushed past her ears as she picked up speed, free hand dragging her goggles into place. Gaius and his massive glider moved at a snail’s pace ahead of her, then above, and Blank quite a bit below. The reckless woman pulled her arms in to streamline herself. The most daring of her tricks brought wild intensity, but freefall was a simpler and far more relaxed joy. She could see the odd shape of Blank’s glider opening below her as she drew closer, and as he let the the canvas snap into place she dropped passed him, laughing gleefully. Spreading her arms and angling them to roll herself over, she waved cheekily to the young man now above her. He shouted something scoldy at her, but though she heard she didn’t appear to listen, her eyes shining with unrestrained glee. And then she was flipping back over as she plummeted downward, adjusting angle and drag. Blank hollered again, and she didn’t bother to reply. She’d heard the first time, and of course she wasn’t going to dive all the way to the surface. He could be so silly at times! But carelessly opening even the strongest glider at speed was more than reckless, it was downright suicidal. She’d done this before, and knew what she was doing. First a little, then a bit more, Nikki kept a tight grip on the handstraps as she started to spread the wings and check her speed. When she’d brought it to just a fast dive, she let the wings snap open the rest of the way, and tilted the nose back hard. She leveled out with a joyous whoop, then started climbing so she could circle back again to the others.

[LostBrotherGrimm]

Eli Wyn

"You crazy woman!" Eli yelled after Nikki as she rushed towards the clouds. Without even saying sorry or something to that degree. He brushed the dirt from his clothes, before clearing his throat and seemingly getting his cool back together. For the time being. He ain't going to forget this. "Eh.. thanks for helping me out, Rahna. That girl is nothing but trouble, I tell you," Eli grinned as he realized exactly what he was saying, "Coming from someone like me, that's telling you a lot." He let out a small laugh before his face stiffened as his eyes traced Rahna's finger. Then it turned to a confused expression, before an even wider grin appeared on his face. "Blin? My bro?! You sure about that, Rahn?!" He was practically jumping from excitement. Of course Blin wouldn't pass out on this opportunity. Eli had taught him well.

The crowd slowly became nothing more than a few people standing on the cliff. He knew couple of those that had remained, not yet plunging themselves into the abyss below. This was it... the moment of truth. If there was any doubt left in Eli's mind, all of it faded out in the matter of seconds. People that he knew. Nikki, Blin, probably Blank too - amongst others, all disappeared from the sight. What was the point in staying back now?

"Hey Rahna," Eli said as he put his hand on her shoulder, "Be careful, alright? No injuries this early on." The more he waited, the farther other people had moved towards the surface. And that was fine, with Eli's glider and technique, he'd have no real trouble catching up to some of them. Maybe even catching up to Blin, he didn't have the fastest of gliders. Stable sure, but far from a racing type.

"So... yeah, wanna go? Not getting cold feet, are you?" Eli joked around although on the inside, he wasn't as calm as it had appeared. His entire body was tense. Was it fear? Possibly.

Excitement?

"Hell yeah."

@Rekaigan