Graterras Chapter 4: Shattering Realities. [IC]

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

"That's because the local Dwarves here don't know what common decency is. Oh, yes, and they drove out my father and mother from their home," Helze snapped. Sighing, she continued, "Anyway, since we've digressed from the straightforward path to circle around Wounded Knee, if we hurry without any further delays, we'll be lucky to reach Hawk's Roost by nightfall. If all goes well, and if we prepare properly, we can get to Farreach in two days, and then the Forest of Knives in two days, again."

((lol thank you Kuna-sensei XD))

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

((it would take at least 5 days actually, since you are a day out from Hawk's Roost, but it takes 2 more to get to Farreach from there, and then 2 more to get to the edge of the Forest of Knives from Farreach. The more you know. ))

[Notus]

"No Oarloff, on the contrary: always ask and question whatever you want! I´m new to this teaching stuff, so it will be good to give me some pointers. Besides, I´ve got my fair share of boring teachers who just speak and don´t listen in the City of Eternal Ash and I think you wouldn´t like one of those, right?" the Templar sad, giving the Ogre a friendly punch in the shouder.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

((wrap up any talking stuff soonish. I assume the training will take place on the trail after reaching Hawk's Roost. We will get to the town super soon. ))

[Supernovae]

Oarloff barely moved from the punch and thought it was quite funny. He in turn responded with a punch to Marcus's soldier, though not knowing his own strength likely would be far more forceful than Marcus' punch.

[Notus]

Oh crap, bad ide-

Marcus was sent straight to the floor as Oarloff returned his little gesture, and for a moment stood there with his head spinning. Then he quickly got up, face flushed for obvious reasons, coughed once, and kept walking as naturally as he could along with the group. "Very good Oarloff, that was a great test to measure your strenght!" The young man spoke out loud, hoping someone would believe that (but highly doubting it). "Now let´s go, we don´t wanna take all day to reach the camp right?"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Nice hit Oarloff!" Jupiter said giggling. "Also I didn't know you liked eating dirt Marcus. How's it taste?" she said teasing the Templar playfully.

A lot of the Old Farts starting laughing as well, as the Marcus recovered from his little trip.

[Supernovae]

Oarloff smiled at his new teacher, "Does you really mean it Misturr Marcus! Oh me is so happy. Me was never a good test taker, but maybe me did good because you never tolded me it was a test." Oarloff suddenly stopped, raised an eyebrow at Marcus and smirked, "Oh ho ho Misturr Marcus you sure is tricky..." Oarloff then pulled in his pants and sucked in his gut, "But you isn't going to trick me with a test again, no, no, no you isn't! This is a test of fastness isn't it Misturr Marcus!"

Suddenly without warning Oarloff charged forward. He wasn't fast by any stretch of the imagination, but his ability to stay upright would have impressed just about anyone there. He wobbled too and fro, almost appearing to move faster from side to side than he was forward. The half-ogre barreled over anyone unlucky enough to get into his path, which may have included just about anyone since his path wasn't exactly straight.

[Chevaleresse]

Xavier dove to the ground, rolling to avoid the careening half-ogre. "Oarloff, slow down a bit! You'll run Odin over at this rate!" He almost barked off something a bit more caustic, but for some reason he felt compelled to treat the ogre more nicely than he did most. Perhaps it was his simple mannerisms, but Xavier felt protective of the fellow.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

It was too late, the Dwarf father was sent sprawling. He took a tumble down a little hill in the road, rolling to the bottom. All they could see over the hill bank was an arm giving them a thumbs up. "I'm good!" Odin shouted. "Haven't been punted before, guess even old dwarves learn new tricks."

[Notus]

Marcus flushed way more when Jupiter commented his fall, his face now as red as his shield. "Uhmn, no, really Jupiter, I did that on purpose. He is just a bit stronger than I thought and... NO OARLOFF THAT´S NOT A-"

Too late. Marcus could only watch in awe (and thank Pyron for being out of the way) as the Half-Ogre teared through the group like a wrecking ball. He blinked twice, not quite believing in the scene that was happening before his eyes, and then burst into laughter. "ENOUGH! Enough Oarloff, you did great, just make sure there´s no one ahead of you next time OK?" He managed to tell his new pupil, though it was quite hard to do it between chuckles. Damn, this is gonna be fun!

[Supernovae]

Oarloff stopped when he heard Marcus yell out to him, suddenly realizing that he may or may not have knocked over quite a few of the group members. He hadn't ran for long, but he could easily feel a higher difficulty in breathing. Oarloff bent down to his knees and began panting, trying desperately to catch his breath.

"Oh..." the half ogre managed to spit out in between gasps for air, "Did ... did me knock Misturr Thunderbrew over?"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Marcus, it is cute when you are all flustered." Jupiter said teasing the Fire Templar a little more.

""It is quite alright Oarloff, I am okay." Odin said as he walked back up to the group. He was dusting off his waistcoat, and the rest of his clothes. A few tiny flowers were stuck in his beard that he didn't seem to notice. They were Baby's Breathes, tiny little white flowers. They dotted his Fiery red beard, and made him look quite silly.

[Supernovae]

Oarloff couldn't help but turn his panting into chuckling after seeing the dwarf. "Misturr Thunderbrew, you never tolded me you was a dwarf flower."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

There were sounds of retching and coughing followed by laughter. When Helze turned, she saw the human Fire Templar on the ground and reached for her bow and arrow. Immediately, however, it turned out that Marcus had gotten the big hulking fellow to punch him, somehow. That's a funny way to teach a Half-Ogre to fight.

And then Oarloff charged forward without any direction whatsoever-- and crashed into Odin. "M-Mister Odin!" she cried out, running to the hillside in worry. When the dwarf-father signaled that he was okay and returned to the group with Baby's Breaths somehow weaved into his fiery beard, however, she couldn't help staring, unsure about whether to be upset at Oarloff for being, well, an oaf, to be understanding since it seemed to be his first time out on an adventure like this, or amused at how funny Odin looked.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"What?" Odin replied. Then he looked down at his beard. "Hmm, i guess I have a better sense of Fashion then I remember." He said, pretending to be a model. He did a little whistle and his best attempt at a come hither look. The Old Farts all laughed at the scene in front of them. Chauff and Bjorn could barely contain themselves. Their faces even started to turn bright red.

"Work it Odin, you got the stuff!" Flint shouted, laughing up a storm while giving a few wolf whistles to boot.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Straight-faced, the ranger blinked once. Then blinked again.

"Er... um... Yes. At least you're not too hurt. Uhm. S'cuse me."

Speechless and with her head bowed down to hide her face, she went back to her place at the front of the group now that she was certain Odin hadn't broken any bones, pushing back the idea that the fall might've hurt his head.

[Chevaleresse]

Xavier practically doubled over in laughter at the dwarf's antics. After fighting for a bit to find air to breathe, he shouted out a suggestion. "Come on then, show us a little leg! You have to strut your stuff!"

[Flux]

Nero stood back with Abraham, arms crossed as he watched the scenes unfold. He didn't smile like the others, instead giving a bored expression.

"We're wasting time being fools when we could be moving..." he muttered quietly to himself. His foot was tapping impatiently, and he would have stopped himself had he known that he was doing it.

[Notus]

"Marcus, it is cute when you are all flustered."

Luckily the young man was already red as an apple from laughing out loud at Odin's little modeling act, or Jupiter would have achieved that in no time. "Uhmn, well, thanks I guess." He answered after he recovered himself a bit, but still a little thrown off by the woman's teasing. Then he decided to try and change off the focus of the conversation. "But I guess I'm still no match for Odin, right?" He added with a smile, pointing at the dwarf with his thumb.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Try not to remind me. Kinda feel like I did when my pa tried to embarrass me in public." she said with a small chuckle. "Though he never went this far if I recall well. I wonder if Odin was a model in a past life, he seems like he knows his stuff." she said, it was obvious she was trying to skirt away from talking about her father, Marcus could easily hear how unsettled she was in her voice with that last comment. Now that Marcus thought about it, they never did met her old man, even when going around town or working with the militia.

"Alright, show's over boys. Anymore and I will have to charge you lot. We entertainers don't work for free ya know." Odin said chuckling. He picked some of the flowers out of his beard. Ones with sharp eyes would have seen him put a few in-between the pages of a small journal. He laughed and had a beaming smile.

Abraham looked at Nero a bit concerned about the boy. "Even if this isn't your type of thing Nero, keep this in mind. These are the moments we are fighting for. We fight in this world so that others can have those moments and not have the burden of worrying. Joy and happiness aren't a waste of time, if we want to keep sight of our goals. How can a Hero fight to maintain the happiness of others if he can't be happy and enjoy life himself?"

The group was getting close to Hawk's Roost now, they could see it in the distance not to far off, it looked beautiful against the auburn red sky of dusk. The Sun sank, and gave off it's dying breathe for the day. It would not be long until the dark of night would wash over the land, and the moon would rule the sky for a while. They would reach the small village by the time the darkness hit, so there wouldn't be the need to camp tonight. A nice soft bed and a warm home cooked meal would be appreciated after the travel.

((we will soon be at the village, this is the final warning to finish up the interactions before we get to town. If you feel you left off in a bad place, there will probably be some time on the roads in-between the other town and the Forest of Knives Entrance.))

[Flux]

So they were heros? Nero almost laughed. These moments may be what the rest of them were fighting for, but he was here for one reason and one reason only -- to get his revenge on the Gentleman. He would have been happy to die back in Brinestar. He'd had nothing left to live for. The world was cold, empty, and cruel. Hope was a thing for fools. When he was cut down by the Gentleman, he believed that he could finally be freed from his binds in this world. Instead, he was saved by one of the very beings he'd never put faith in -- the gods. It seemed that even death couldn't save him from the pain of this world, at least as long as the Gentleman was a threat to the gods. Now he had a singular purpose in killing Gentleman, and he would see it through. When that was done, he could return to the dull monotony of the world, wandering and awaiting his death. The rest of them could fight for their ideals.

[Chevaleresse]

"Oh, honestly, Nero, don't look so grim. I can't say I've ever seen you smile." Xavier had noticed the sorcerer's lack of expression. "You act as if this was a funeral, not, well, not a dwarf with flowers in his beard strutting around like a tavern maid."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Having sent Hunter to scout ahead for threats, Helze kept quiet. It was true that they were to arrive in Farreach before the night ended, but she couldn't help feeling her stomach turn in worry. It would still be a long journey to the Forest of Knives, and, gods forbid, another day of tracking down the enigmatic cave of legend. Although her face was hooded and still obscure to anybody behind her, Jupiter or Dru, if they were walking closely enough, could easily see the anxiety on the usually stoic half-Elf's young face.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Or the worry in her mind. Blue.....not being able to help himself was hanging around in there again. The worry had obscured his presence in her mind from the time he popped in again. She heard his voice in her head again. "You shouldn't worry, Miss Helzebeth. If it is your father that worries you I am sure he is fine. You may ask why I think this. Well, knowing what I do of your father from your memories.... we both know he can handle himself. He taught you afterall, to live in one of the most dangerous places in the world. It is going to take more than one of those Silly Death Angels to do him in, because there is surely nothing in the Forest of Knives that can kill him."

As Blue finished talking in her mind, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It wasn't Blue's, but it was Jupiter's. Though she was having a bit of fun messing with Marcus, she saw the pain in her sister's face. She moved to try and give her at least the comfort of somebody being there with her. She didn't say anything as to not draw any attention to Helze. She didn't want to draw all that attention on her when she was feeling this way, it would probably just make Helze shut down, or react in an adverse way. But her firm yet gentle grip gave Helze the same message as Blue had just said.

After a bit Blue talked again, clearly flustered. "Oh and uh....sorry for being in your head again.....I kinda just like it here...it is calm and reminds me of myself sometimes. I lived on my own most my life,though, being an avatar I never had family of any kind. Seeker's other avatar, Wave.....he kinda ignored me, he was almost as aloof and cold as Seeker himself. It makes me wonder how Wave is regarded as the Best Scholar Knight to have lived if he was that cold and calculating a person. Unless, that is what Seeker is looking for. Devotion to knowledge above all else. But, what good is knowledge if you don't have someone to share it with? What good is it if you don't use it? At least you saw eye to eye with your father. Mine has never even acknowledged me, other than my creation, and my creation was regarded by him to be a mistake. Yet he makes me tend his library of useless facts and terrible anecdotes. I hope we find your Father Helze. he is a good man, and I know he is out there. I just wish we had some kind of sign, someway to know where he was right now. I don't even care about finding the Titan's Skin, I want to find him, he deserves to see you again, and you deserve to see him too."