[Started] DT History 1 - Expedition from Mist Valley

[-Griffin]

EDIT: OOC: Sorry ~JG~, I was typing this while yours was posted. You can delete/edit as you wish, but I'm trying to move us a little forward, and it's pretty hard to edit what happened at the end to still fit in with your post.

 

Grace guessed that there was no objections and began to stride down the path into the forest, a quill and parchment within quick reach should she need to not anything down. Slowing her pace down slightly when Falke stopped beside her, she answered his question, "It should just be on the other side of this forest and through the hills you can see on the horizon - two or three day's walk, depending on how fast we can move through here."

 

She was possibly suffering from a bit of pride - that someone so young was leading an expedition instead of one of the elders. Well, no-one really was the leader, but she'd asserted herself early on as someone making decisions, so some form of leadership seemed to fall to her as they trekked through the Valley and up, over the south lip of it. "The tree cover is pretty thick here, so try not to fly, you won't be able to see us or get down easily," she added, placing the first foot behind the line of trees marking the edge of the forest.

 

Stepping into the forest, she noticed how different the feeling she got here was. Here, instead of the Mist and dead rocks she was used to, everything was bright, green and living. Without even looking for them, she'd seen beetles, flowers, butterflies and other small creatures of the forest within only seconds. The air had a rhythm of animals moving over the floor, the wings of small birds beating and of insects buzzing. It was a peaceful and relaxing melody, within which even the trees seemed to beat with an active life. The flowers filled the air with a revitalizing fragrance, berries and herbs filled her nose, reminding her of a huge festive feast. Looking around through the trees, the area was surprisingly spacious, with clear passages along the forest floor lit by spotlights from holes in the tree canopy. Nothing about the forest could be seen as dislikable, everything in a beautiful harmony, flowing with its own relaxed pace and shining with life, down to each spot of soil that could be seen through the layers of flowers.

 

"Remind me why we live in the valley, instead of up here?" Grace asked, stunned by everything she'd noticed about the forest, only remembering that the elders had mentioned that there was definitely a reason for them not often entering the forest, probably forgotten many years ago.

[JG.]

OoC: I'll just delete, make a new post now.

 

"Yeah, I think it was something about it being home to some deadly creatures. And more, which they always refused to tell me, those secretic moth..." Kaij cut off there. He knew he'd be in trouble if he'd finished that word. "But don't you think 3 days is too little? I mean, it'll take us a day to get through the forest, depending on how thick it is, and then perhaps 2 days to trek to the mountains, and then I don't know how far there is to the impact site from there. I mean, you're the wise guy, or should I say girl, but don't you think that 3 days is little to optimistic?"

[Aesirson]

Ser Frozt looked around the forest that they had just entered. Many of the things here did not exist in his homelands.

"Oh look! A blue flower!" He stepped two steps off the path and kneeled down before a blue flower. "I like blue... It reminds me of my homelands."

He picked the flower up and then walked back to the group, still holding and looking at the blue flower.

[JG.]

Kaij looked as Ser picked up the flower. "No, stop!" He didn't manage to stop him, but he did tell Ser that he should never do that again. "Are you freaking insane! There are all sorts of deadly creatures in this forest! Plants included. You're lucky that when you picked up that flower, it didn't unviel it's tentacles and eat you alive!" Kaij was really mad now. Even though he could be rather not-caring, he'd didn't like seeing people get hurt, unless he was the one inflicting the pain.

[Shadow Zero]

"Oh give it a rest Kaij. You know that when Suiga sees something blue and is away from home, all other thought processes immediately fly out of that head of his. Why do you think I've been so grumpy the past several days?" Dracmus aimed a glare at Suiga as he had many times before tried grabbing a hold of the shield that Dracmus kept on his back, causing him to become very upset to the point where he had at one time slammed the knob of his hilt into Suiga's head, knocking him out for several hours and causing a lot of trouble for the other members of the expedition.

[Aesirson]

OoC: His name is Suiga Frozt, Ser is just a title (equal to Sir) Also, I wrote this while Chaos Zero posted, so I'll also say that Frozt is too a very strong man, so knocking him out would be very hard :P

 

Frozt looked at the flower and smiled.

"Calm down, I've heard of these flowers, and they have healing abillities. I would never approach anything if I didn't know that it was safe or not." He looked at Kaij and smiled again.

He then looked deeper into the forest, but he didn't manage to see anything in the thick vegetation.

"Should we continue?"

[Shadow Zero]

"I still say that Suiga should be left behind. Honestly, someone who is as easily distracted as he is is only going to hurt the expedition. And Suiga, the flower may have healing abilities, but so too does the venom of a snake. Does that mean you should recklessly approach one, heedless of the danger that doing so represents?" Dracmus knew that Suiga wasn't foolish, but he did act it at times, and something like that was bound to get people killed if they were suddenly attacked by Flamvells. I for one shall not be held responsible if his stupidity gets the whole lot of us seriously injured.

[Aesirson]

"I know what you're thinking, Dracmus, but I asure you that if this expedition take greater injuries because of me, then I will take full responsibility for the survival of all of you!"

Suiga started to dislike Dracmus, but he knew that he was an important member of the team, so he better not get in a fight with him.

"And to answer your question, I'm an ophidiophobe." He smiled, which amd ehim look a bit unserious, but most of teh group knew that he was affraid of snakes.

[Shadow Zero]

Dracmus looks over at Suiga and sighs frustratedly, slamming the palm of his hand against his face. "That's not what i meant Suiga. Anyway, I think I am going to make myself scarce before you start trying to grab at my shield...again." Dracmus turns and walks away from Suiga, trying not to let the current situation bother him. Still, it was very difficult to do so since he knew that they were putting themselves in a very dangerous situation. If the Flamvells attacked now while we were in the forest, the chances of any of us surviving would become very small indeed. "Grace, isn't there an expeditious route that we can take that is less dangerous? If the Flamvells were to attack now while we are in the forest, the chance are very great of us being burned to death even if we managed to defeat them."

[JG.]

Kaij was really starting to like Ser, even if he was a little reckless. And he didn't like Dracmus' attitude. At all. "Give it a rest yourself Dracmus." he layed his hand on Dracmus' shoulder. "I'm sure Grace knows what she's doing, otherwise she wouldnt have been picked for this trip. And to answer your question, there is, but it'll add 3 days to our already trek." he smiled, and rmeoved his hand. "Ser, just ignore him. He appears to be a d*ck all round." The expedition proceeded into the forest.

[-Griffin]

Doing her best to ignore the two members who were squabbling like five year olds, Grace watched a large butterfly with bright yellow and red markings land on a nearby flower, almost seeming to watch her as it did so. "I don't remember anything about the forest being dangerous..." said Grace, trailing off as she began to lead deeper into the forest, looking at a compass to make sure she was heading in the correct direction for the impact site and determined not to slow down too much. Remembering to respond to Kaij, she gave the seer's estimates of the time from one area to the next, "I think it'll only be a day to the mountains, and a day to the site from there, or something around that long."

 

That sent her into thoughts about other things the seer's had told her. Mostly those about the forest. "We don't go there. We always didn't go there, and we always should not go there. Only small groups like you should be allowed to take the path through the forest, others must take the eastern path - through the desert," were the words of one such elder when they were explaining the reasons for such a small group. She'd asked, "why?" but his only response was, "its ancient knowledge that we should not. Ancient knowledge has a habit of being right and kicking you in the teeth when you ignore it."

 

"The best way to escape any Flamvells is to move quickly, so lets move on, shall we?"

[JG.]

"With the luck we've been having these first few hours, I wouldn't be surprised if half the Flamvell army is waiting round the next corner." Kaij muttered, half-sarcastically. "Anyways, Ser, you go with me and Grace up front, Dracmus' can stay round back. Falke, would you mind watching him?" The next part he whispered "I don't really like him. He's too much like..." He hesitated. "Me, when I was younger. An ignorant idiot."

 

"And Grace, I'm quite sure that this forest is dangerous. I mean, why else would they not want us to go in here?"

[Shadow Zero]

"Flamvells on the other side huh? Why am I not surprised that they would be waiting for us at the end of the quickest possible route?" Dracmus was irritated by Kaij's comments, but decided not to start a fight over it, as he usually would when he felt that his honor had been offended. Instead, he simply shrugged and said "Hey, if my trying to be serious makes me a d*ck, then so be it." Dracmus then fell into silence and started thinking about the journey that lay ahead and all of the possible dangers that could ensue as a result. Lost deep in though, he barely noticed a thick are of something like bamboo that was blocking the way forward on the trail before running into it. Glowering a bit as he reached over his shoulder he said "Well this is a real pain. why the crap are there these tall plants in the middle of the path?" Taking his five and a half foot sword and tugging on the hilt so that the sword would come out, he caused it to fly Dracmus caued it to shoot upwards and a little to the front and side, ending the movement in a single practiced motion so that a second later, his arm that was now aimed straight forward catches the sword, holding the tip of the blade a few inches off of the ground. Rotating the hilt of the sword in his fingers, Dracmus changes the position of the sword so that it is now pointing upwards instead. he then swings his arm over to the left while rotating the sword 90 degrees to the left vertically, but making it so that instead of going back behind him, the sword would stay pointed to the left as he moved his right arm across to the left side, preparing to take a swing at the huge stalks that stand in the way.

[JG.]

"Did I ever tell you that you do not want to start a fight with me? I obviously didn't. You may have a 5 foot sword, but that doesn't make you strong. In fact, the size of it makes you clumsy, so I advise you put it away, and let's do the cutting with this." He pulled out his machete. "It's much smaller lighter, yet just as strong. Size doesn't always matter. Well, here it does, but this time it's the opposite of what you'd usually think."

 

Kaij was really liking to annoy Dracmus. He always liked to annoy people. Especially if he didn't like them.

[-Griffin]

ITT: Anyone cares about the angle you swung at. Precis, mon ami.

 

"I don't know," admitted Grace bitterly to Kaij's question. As she drifted through the tall, strong trees, she noticed a small stream trickling through the forest, clear and giving a calm sound of the water running against the sides of the stream. She leaned down and put one hand into the water, splashing some droplets over her bare feet - refreshing after the hot rocks that were baked by the hot sun on the exposed rim of the Valley. "Does the forest really feel dangerous to you?" she said, looking around at the vibrant colours, each leaf shining with its own life, "it seems... too welcoming to be dangerous to me."

[JG.]

"I will give you that. But that's the whole point. It seems welcoming. Too welcoming." Kaij had the feeling that they were being watched. He scanned the immediate area, but he saw nothing, so he walked over to grace, and stepped into the river. Grace was right, the water was really refreshing after the rocks in the outskirts of Mist Valley. Then he felt somethign again, yet this time it was more powerful. He wasn't going to stay here a second longer. "Let's get out. As in NOW."

[Shadow Zero]

Dracmus hesitated and suddenly had the distinct feeling that it would be very bad to try cutting the stalks out of the way. Not able to explain the sudden feeling of foreboding, he heard Grace's question and said "Yes, actually. That said, I think we should just walk around these stalks instead." Dracmus brought his sword back in front of him and swung it upwards, releasing it so that it would do a single partial rotation on its own and land back in the sheath at the end of the partial rotation. Noticing the stream that Grace was at, he decided that it would be good to quench his thirst and cupped his hands before lowering them into the stream and bringing them to his mouth to drink the cool water. He repeated this process several times, then got up again and readied himself to continue the journey in silence for a while.

 

ooc: almost 5 in the morning here, so i need to go to sleep now. later guys.

[-Griffin]

OOC: Chaos, précis - work on more content and less words.

 

Looking at Kaji, she found herself agreeing with him, "Yes, we should probably hurry up. The faster we can get out the other side, the faster we can get on with our mission." Her compass pointed the group along the river, straight towards the treed hills in the distance and the more barren ones beyond that. "Just follow the river," she commanded before stopping her otherwise fairly constant walking, noticing something.

 

"Am I the only who finds it odd that northwards and to the west, there is the Valley and the Flamvell's dead mountains - to the east there is the volcanoes and deserts of the coast and to the south is a rocky wasteland behind some mountains... yet in the middle of it all, this forest is so alive?" her voice wasn't worried, but entranced by the way the forest stood as a green, powerful monument among lands of death and detestation.

[Aesirson]

"I don't like it here..." Frozt looked around in the forest. "I like cold places better, this place is too hot for a norseman like me."

He pulled the blue flower that he ahd picked before to his nose and smelled it. He smiled and then kept looking around, looking a bit more serious.

"And I can't get rid of this feeling that we are being watched..."

 

OoC: Sorry for the short post, gotta go.

[fenrir]

Falke chuckled through all the arguing. Right now though, he simply wanted to get back in the air. It was better than staying grounded with the rest of the group. Of course, if the arguing got out of hand, he could always pull out his sword and... Nah. It would be a waste of time. He brought his head slightly up as Frozt mentioned the feeling that they were being watched. Extending his wings, he coughed. "If that's the case, I'll go out and scout around us to see if your feelings are correct." Before Grace or anyone else could object, he pounded his wings once to give him a decent boost. In the air now, he pounded two more times and flew away.

[JG.]

"Wow, Falke almost as impulsive as me." Kaij muttered. He kicked his foot against the root of a tree, and instantly regretted it. But nothing happened, so the group walked on. Until they came to a huge lake. "Oi, Falke!" He yelled, but apparently he was out of earshot. He had wanted to ask what was in and around the lake, he reckoned Falke had a better view than himself. "Guys, I advise you not to touch that water. It may be hot and humid, and this forest was welcoming, sorry, too welcoming to begin with. So this lake... It's a suspicious convenience." He walked over to the lakeside. He almost thought that it was simply the heat playing mind tricks, but he knew that Valleyers were stronger than that...

[-Griffin]

As she stood on the edge of the lake, Grace looked around the area. In a tree, a mother bird was feeding its chicks, but stopped every now and then to look over at the group. Resting on a nearby tree, a lizards eyes suddenly turned away to focus on something else when she saw it. Some large fishes in the lake, happily darting through the water shot out of view when she began to stare at them, all hiding behind rocks with just enough of a view to still see the group.

 

In words so light the wind could have blown them away, Grace let her positive attitude towards the forest drop for four fragile words as she whispered to Ser, "not just a feeling." Then, louder to the rest of the group and to the forest, "don't be so distrusting Kaij, the lake's just a body of water, I'm sure its perfectly fine. The forest isn't a weapon - it won't kill us."

[Shadow Zero]

Dracmus looked around during the whole time that they were walking. When he saw the snake, his first impression was one of danger, but he noticed that the snake had no interest in them, and so dismissed it as just another inhabitant of the forest. However, he did notice that most of the animals seemed to be acting strangely. Reaching into his tunic, he grabbed a small mirror and made as though to be looking at the condition of his face, but turned the mirror at an angle so as to see over his shoulder. What he saw was a bunch of the forests inhabitants staring at him and the rest of the group. How unnerving. I wonder why the forests inhabitants are taking such an interest in us?

[Aesirson]

Ser Frozt stood at the edge of the lake and looked down into the depth. He wanted to touch it, but thought about what Kaij had said earlier. He had rarely seen such big bodies of water not covered by ice.

"I heard a story once, about a beast who lived in a lake located inside a forest..." He kneeled at the edge and closed his eyes as he held his palm an inch over the water surface. He then opened his eyes slowly. "I see something down there..." He raised from his kneeling position and then turned towards the group.

 

"The people of the Ice Boundary tells a story about legends and myths: There was once a boy who came up with many stories and lies. One day when he was out hunting he was attacked by a polar bear, but he survived and when he came home he told the villagers that he was attacked by a dragon made out of ice. When the people of the village heard about this they believed him and the village sent out a hunting party for the dragon. They returned home without luck. A week later the boy was out hunting again. Later they found him massacred, and above them flew a dragon made out of ice..."

Frozt looked around the group and smiled.

"That dragon still lives around the Ice Boundary, we call him Brionac, which means "Lies of ice" in our tongue. Anyway, sensomorale of this story is; the more people who believes in a story, the more real the story becomes..."

 

He sat lied down on the grass, placing his arms under his head.

"The sky is blue..." He tried to grab the sky with his right hand, without luck. He smiled.

 

OoC: I put some Ice Boundary history into this post, if it's okay.

[Shadow Zero]

Dracmus continued looking at the creatures that were observing him and the others as he listened to Suigas story and didn't comment at first. Lowering his mirror, he put it back where it had been inside his tunic and sat on the ground. he folded his legs in front of himself so that he could rest his chin on his knees and said "That makes me wonder if our thinking that the creatures in this story are observing us makes it a reality where it otherwise would not be so. Granted it seems highly unlikely that that is the case, much as i am sure that it did not seem all that likely with Brionac. Still, if there was a strong enough magic that could work on the thoughts of others, thereby making it a reality where it otherwise would not have been, then there's nothing that says we couldn't be subject to such a scenario right now." Dracmus was concerned, and not quite sure what to think at the moment. on the one hand, it seemed highly unlikely that what he had just voiced was a possibility. Yet even so.....I wonder if it could actually be that that is the case right now. After all, I felt that there was something different about this forest the moment we entered it, and the fact that it exists even with so many wastelands surrounding it tells me that there must be something more behind it then what it might seem to be.