Nostalgia }{ Open

[†Fate]

The sun bore down hard overhead, though not in its full force, because the season was not yet right. It was pleasantly warm, starting to border on uncomfortable, outdoors, and there was not a cloud in the sky, so the robin-egg blue of it was unmarred except by the peaks of the Ularian Ridge

It was here that Anitole found himself walking. He wasn't sure why his legs had brought him here, or why they took him anywhere without permission, for that matter. But this was the one place that--he thought--he had absolutely forbidden him from taking him. Apparently his lower body did not take orders well.

Sighing as he realized where he was, Anitole bit his lower lip. This was where Cresten had been murdered, and had died in Anitole's arms. It wasn't something he exactly enjoyed remembering.

Folding his legs and lowering to the ground, Anitole had an idea. If he was going to break his own rules, why not break most of them? Closing his eyes, he set his hands out before him, his palms turned up. Letting a small stream of unfamiliar tongue tumble from his lips, he then opened his eyes. The youth was relieved when it was only a small, harmless dragon's head peeking from the disturbance in the air. Ever since Anitole had destroyed his village, he had almost completely refrained from summoning a dragon in fear of what could appear.

The dragon began to flit around Anitole's head, darting through the air in small bursts, until finally it slowed and drifted to the ground, curling up next to its summoner. Anitole grinned at it, then proceeded to lay down himself. His eyes got lost in the sky, so he closed them, replacing the blue of the empyrean to the red of his eyelids. Eventually he drifted off, dozing lightly in the grass.

[Brophy]

Brophy made his way causally down the mountain path in an almost lazy swagger. He hoped he had lost them, for it was only a day or two ago that he had been held prisoner to a band of goblins that called themselves the Lekete Bandits. If it wasn't for some smooth talking and a little persuasion from Zantiki he wouldn't have made it out alive. He glanced down at his war-club/ walking stick, its massive twig like body clutched tightly to the glowing green stone at its end with a fistful of roots. Zantiki was truly a gift from the Great Spirits.

In an unusually cheery mood he walked along the path enjoying the spring sunshine, today was going to be a good day he thought silently. Up ahead in the distance he spotted the shape of a man and something else he couldn't quite make out lay down next to a group of small trees on the side of the mountain path.

His curiosity getting the best of him he made his way down towards the sleeping pair. As he grew closer to the couple he noticed that the unrecognizable figure from a distance was indeed a small dragon. Wonders of the world! What was a dragon doing sleeping with this strange little man. As he approached their makeshift camp the dragon flicked his eyes open and stared at the approaching stranger.

"Hello friend dragon," Brophy cooed quietly careful to not wake the sleeping master "perhaps I could rest here with you two for the night."

The dragon continued to stare for a moment but then sensing Brophy meant no harm snapped his eyes shut once again and drifted off to sleep.

Sitting a few feet away from the unusual pair Brophy began to dig a wide but shallow bowl in the brown mountain clay. Once the shallow basin was complete he closed his eyes and bent down on all fours, he then leaned over and blew a kiss into its center. When he opened his eyes a small black hole sat inside the larger shallower bowl. Raising his hands to the sky he whispered a few words to the Great Spirits before putting his hands once again to the earth. It was only moments before the basin began to pool with lava.

Radiating a heat that would keep them uncomfortably warm for the rest of the day and let them sleep soundly through the night the lava pool glowed even in the spring sunlight. Saying a quick thanks to the Great Spirits Brophy lowered his antlered head and drifted off into a deep sleep next to the unusual duo.

[†Fate]

Hours later, Anitole's eyes fluttered gently open. He noted that the sky blue of the expanse above had deepened a bit, edging toward a more royal hue. Rolling over onto his side and also shifting his vision, Anitole let his eyes run over the golden-scaled dragon, almost adoringly. It had been so long since he had seen one of his summonees... and then one eye twitched up, just long enough to catch sight of something unfamiliar. That was all Anitole needed.

Turning his head all the way up to get a better look at the figure, Anitole figured out that it was another man, also resting peacefully. A gnarled staff lay by his side, glowing oddly on one end. However, the strangest thing about the other man would definitely have to be the antlers. Anitole wouldn't complain; he couldn't say that he'd seen weirder, because he truthfully had not, but oddities were becoming more normal as of late.

Looking elsewhere, Anitole discovered yet another surprise. There was a pleasant warmth radiating from a hole in the ground. He didn't dare touch the contents though. Is this from the stranger? he wondered, looking curiously at the gently bubbling lava pool. Grateful, he placed his hands over the waves of warmth that drifted lazily up. The little dragon awakened as well and crawled sleepily over to Anitole's side, pulling itself up onto his lap and sitting back on its haunches. Anitole, in response, ran his finger up and down its snakelike neck, to get a rumbling purring as a reply.Sorry... lots of rambling about nothing. :P -

[Brophy]

"Uhhh! Good morning pardon my rudeness." Brophy said sitting up. "I've been running from a band of goblins for the last couple of days and needed a place to rest. I didn't mean to barge into your camp and invite myself but feared I had little other choice. The names Brophy." The large man held out his hand. "And who might you you two be?"