An ancient city of stone buildings lies hidden between hills and trees. Destroyed and toppled by some unknown disaster and the ages of time, now this place is a maze to be explored.
Reed was successfully able to tug the lizard out from underneath Roxanne's grasp, holding it floating in the air. It duplicated its self several times which made Reed giggle as each of the duplications also remained suspended in the air. She looked to Matthias, hoping to see approval on his face at the ultimate decision she'd made, then down at Roxanne. She smiled warmly as the youth proclaimed her victory over the creature. Then, she released it, letting the creature plop down into the underbrush to skitter away.
Suddenly the cub was circling around her and inspecting her gear she wore. She smiled again, suddenly feeling shy at being the sole focus of attention. She could handle being a hero. That was easy. "Uh, maybe! It was my own ma' who taught me how to use my magic. Well, not my actual ma'. My adopted ma' did." Tallulah hadn't really even been her mother either. She'd simply been her guardian, helping guide her in the right direction while keeping an eye out on her. She could always count on Tallulah to have a bed and warm bowl of soup ready after a hard trip of sailing. The smile on her face momentarily lapsed as she suddenly missed her family and friends. 'Oh Balthazar, where are you?'
"We'll have to get ya a stick to practice with first. No blades til ya learn how to swing one, that is, as long as Matthias agrees of course." She lifted her head to look back at the lion, her dreads shifting with the momentum. "Some stories got creatures with made-up names in 'em. I ain't sure what it's actually called, but duplispozard seemed appropriate in the moment. Better than yellin' out monster! Sometimes that can get others worked up, ya see. I learned that one the hard way." She turned to look back at Roxanne, "Ya hear what I'm sayin? If yer gonna be a monster hunter like me, ya can't go out and about just yellin monster! Others get scared, they hear ya makin' a fuss of something and they get mad. If yer yellin monster!, it better be a real bad one!"
Reed shook herself, her beads and gems jingling in her hair and tails, and then let her fur settle down after the tense encounter and subsequent chase. "Say, am I the first one you two have met since gettin' here? You said you were new around here. Where ya from? Maybe I know the place!" Her short tail wagged, resulting in her hips swaying along with it. "I've seen alllllll sorts of crazy lands. Met hundreds of others. I've got so many stories. But ya know what i love more than' all of that? I love hearin' others stories. That's the best part about travelin'."
Yeah, it was fun, wasn't it? If he didn't have to worry so much about keeping Roxanne safe and feeding her, he could have more fun like that all the time. But no. He had responsibilities and all that jazz. Stupid.
He'd sit down, but horse legs aren't really made for sitting, and he wasn't keen on laying down, which was a more vulnerable position. So instead he stayed at a stand, raising one forepaw as he began to clean the dirt from between his claws, and then clean his face. As Reed offered to teach Roxanne how to wield a sword (which is cool as shit, by the way), Matthias would nod the affirmative, "Knowledge is power. If you're willing to teach her and she's willing to learn, I say why not," as he continued to listen to her anecdote about monsters, he thought about how sexy the accent sounded coming from her, and stole another glance or two at her body. ...If only,"Well, if these lessons are going to be a thing, it'd be good to know where we could meet up with you. Is there a current location you favor?" Nice one, Matt. Helping out your daughter while simultaneously providing an excuse to see Reed again. You're a genius.
"You are the first, yeah. We literally arrived here from a flash of light and fell from the sky," he'd then look to the sky, as if another poor sucker might suddenly spawn. It's getting cloudy, "We could be from the same place... Your accessories and hairstyle match what someone from my world could wear... Have you heard of the continent Wrunath?"
And then she spoke about stories, and that earned her a big grin from Matthias. Instinctive excitement causes him to raise up an arm, and it just floats there as he says, "Then ain't you a lucky gal, 'cause I got plenty of stories I could tell. Okay, okay, settle down --" the raised paw would motion along with the words, "-- let me tell you the story about how I managed to trick a dirty customer into drinking bath water," he'd chuckle just thinking about it. It was the kind of scenario that only happened once in a lifetime - and it had happened to him.
code by naboo, with alterations.
We could end the thread here and assume they shared stories & went their separate ways afterwards, or continue (then you'd owe me a story too > )
It hadn't occurred to Roxanne until Reed's words to consider... What happened to her own ma? A ma and a pa needed to be together for children to appear, right? At least, that's how all the stories went. Or... Sometimes it was two pa's, or two ma's... But she only had one!
Her thoughts about this are immediately broken when Reed offers to teach her. She'd practically bounce in excitement, going airborne for just a moment as she hops around Reed. They were going to practice using swords! And magic! She giggled with joy. It would take her a moment to settle down at father's request, but once she did she chose to sit right next to Reed, "Father tells the best stories," she'd whisper loudly to Reed - for no particular reason at all. And she'd never heard this story before.
Matthias agreed for Reed to show Roxanne the ways of the sword. Reed was delighted by this, her rump swaying faster now as she wagged her tail harder. To his question, she responded with, "Right now I'm pretty fixated on findin' my best friend. I suppose the shore by that muddy river is where I'll go back to in the West, just to see if he's shown up there." Matthias went on to describe how he and Roxanne had ended up here. Falling from the sky sounded terrifying, even if they did have wings. No thanks. She quite preferred her land and seas. "Wrunath? Hmm, I don't think so."
However, all thought and conversation of Matthias' and Roxanne's home were forgotten as they delved into talks of stories. Matthias shared his with her, which had Reed exclaiming 'No way!' and 'That's hilarious!' at appropriate points. By the end, she was laughing and shaking her head at the ridiculous situation. When prompted by both Matthias and Roxanne, she shared a story of her own. It wasn't as ridiculous as his had been, however. Hers was of a very real, very recent (albeit exaggerated) story of how she had recently washed ashore, and how she was searching for her lost crew. It came with an explanation of what Balthazar looked like. "I'm still on the hunt, so if ya see 'em, let me know would ya? Maybe next time we meet up for some lessons, eh Roxanne?" She winked at the lass, "Oh! If that one didn't impress ya, let me tell you about the Kracken I fought! It was with my First Mate Balthazar. It's where we met!" Without missing a beat, she fell into another story (again, exaggerated for dramatic effect and flare), excited to have such a captivated audience with her, and one who was equally as good at story telling, if not better than herself.
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