Unearthed Legacy

[Nayt]

And at the end of the day, Xibtrae sat upon the blanket for a bit, while Garv worked on the whole fire thing. They'd eaten their full-- and that was good. It wasn't so dark out that they needed to go straight to sleep yet, but there was still a persisting silence amongst them. It was kind of getting to Xibtrae. She didn't know much about Ryuku. She didn't know much about Garv either, though, except that she could trust him. Ryuku, on the other hand, she didn't even know that about. If she could trust him or not, she simply didn't know. Knowing at least a little something about him might help-- or just talking to him a little, even.

"Ryuku?" Xibtrae asked, at first to get his attention, before asking, "From where dost thou cometh?"

Maybe her way of speaking Common would be awkward to him. It was to Garv and everyone else she encountered, it seemed. It was a combination of her own language and the Common language spoken by practically all human beings. It didn't matter too much in the end if he thought it awkward or not, though. She particularly liked combining the two languages into one.

Likewise, she wasn't particular curious where Ryuku Obsedian came from. It was a good way to make small talk, though, and break the almost day long silence amongst them-- which wasn't discovered by Xibtrae until only recently, as she had a conversation with someone else. A conversation that no one else but she and Val heard, or even knew about.

[Shin]

The long walk didn't bother Ryuku in the slightest, the silence allowed to enjoy the sounds all around him. More then that though he got to once again 'feel' life around him like he hadn't in many years. The wilderness, nature, was so much more interesting then a cave. Then again just about anything was more interesting then a cave Ryuku mused.

The silence was lost on Ryuku and if there was displeasure in any of his traveling companions he missed it. Even when they stopped and Garv started up a fire Ryuku mindlessly reach into his own rather small traveling pack and took out some dried meat and berries that he chewed on.

It wouldn't be until Xibtrae spoke that Ryuku came back to the here and now, now longer immersed in his surroundings. Appreciating them only as someone who had not seen them in many years could. He stared at her a moment, not because he didn't know the answer but because he wasn't sure how to answer it. Surely they wouldn't believe the truth, would they?

"I'm from Xexoria." He said with a smile, the way she talked wasn't so foreign to him. It reminded him of how queens and nobles liked to talk. It was pleasant, and a bit refreshing even. "But, I have been traveling in the far north for many years so the current .... situation is a little overwhelming to me. And yourself, where do you call home?"

It was only polite to continue the conversation and it wouldn't hurt to learn a little bit more of the people he was traveling with. 'Who knows,' he mused, 'I may even begin to like them.'

[Zach Kaiser]

While Garv wasn't terribly interested in where Ryuku was from, he had pegged him from Cizok judging by his name; Xexoria was especially surprising, and he was about to ask whether he was from New or Old Xexoria, but realized that he could only be from Old--he most certainly didn't resemble any New Xexorian he'd ever seen.

He didn't have anything to add to the conversation, but his ears did perk up a bit at Ryuku's question. He, too, was curious where Xibtrae was from, though he'd refrained from asking as he figured he wouldn't get a straight answer. So while he expected her to dodge the question, he didn't want to miss what she said if she actually did respond honestly...

[Nayt]

Xexoria-- odd. She'd never heard of that place. But then again, she had never heard of Greoul, either. Or any of the places Garv talked about. When she was in the know of the goings on of this world, these countries either did not exist, or fell under a different flag or a different name. But no matter-- that was to be expected. Whatever response to Ryuku's question she had, however, was not to be!

She should have expected that sort of question, really. Asking a person about himself entailed that he was going to ask the inquirer the same question. Perhaps it had been foolish to attempt making small talk with such an outward question, one that she particularly didn't want to answer herself.

"Thou wouldst have heard nothing of my home," Xibtrae replied with a confident, yet rueful smile. Confident that she was correct-- and rueful for the same exact reason, "Tis a faraway land."

It was unfortunate, but it was for the best. Her home was just a long forgotten memory, a memory she, herself, had a hard time recalling sometimes. She always had to be reminded of it somehow-- always. Sitting and brainstorming, and trying to remember all the lost faces . . . it just did not work.

[Shin]

Ryuku didn't press the issue on where Xibtrae was from, she was dodging the question politely enough. He was curious however, she had to have been from an extremely distant land or not even from this realm. Perhaps an angel of sorts? He mused over the thought for a moment but quickly dismissed it as nonsense.

"And our fearless leader?" He asked as he turned towards Garv, a smile clearly showing he was simply having fun. "Where do you call home Garv?"

It had been sometime since Ryuku had this sort of interaction with anyone, he missed it. Sitting around a campfire, enjoying what nature had to throw at them and enjoying one each others company. However. Ryukus head tilted towards the sky, his eyes skimming what he could see through the trees.

"When does it...get dangerous?" He asked after Garv answered him, if Garv answered him.

[Zach Kaiser]

Xibtrae's answer didn't surprise Garv, but it did disappoint him a bit. He hoped at some point he could get her to talk a bit more about herself; despite the fact that he should have known how much trouble mysterious women could bring, he couldn't help but be intrigued by them anyway.

"Heh, there ain't any one place I'd call home, but I'm originally from Ulster; haven't been back there since I was a tyke, though." Which was prompted him to realize that, while his accent wasn't nearly as thick as others from the country (mostly because he left it at such a young age), nearly anybody in the world--and certainly anyone who was decently traveled--would have recognized it.

Well, he had his suspicions on why Xibtrae didn't, but Ryuku, on the other hand, he thought would have known. Well, maybe he really is just a bumpkin.

"Soon as the sun goes down; that's when the shades come out, and they'll devour anything they can find." It was probably for the best that they didn't talk too much, he reasoned, as chances were Ryuku would be shade-food by morning and the less reasons he had to miss him, the better.

[Nayt]

About that . . .

Xibtrae wasn't one to leave a person high and dry like that. She looked from Ryuku to Garv, with a skeptical, almost sort of rueful, if not worried, expression. Ryuku didn't seem like a bad person. He didn't seem like the kind of person that should be left to die.

The woman had a question of conscience to deal with. She'd been thinking about it the whole time they were walking, at least when she was not occupied with Val, but dodged it regularly-- dodging subjects that she was bringing up in her own head. It was kind of horrible.

"Garv Phibrizzo," Xibtrae had a habit of using a person's full name, rather than just their first or last name, "May we speak in private?"

Whatever connotations that might have, she didn't know-- nor did she care, really. Xibtrae just didn't want to leave this guy to die, but she also didn't want to commit something like mutiny in public. If she could speak with Garv in private, maybe she could convince him to do something to alleviate an oncoming disaster?

[Shin]

"Ulster..." Ryuku thought on the name for a moment, his memorey was horrible. Not that he could be blamed for it really, it had been hundreds of years since he had to worry about something like country names. "I vaugely remember it." He said weakly.

"To be honest with you I am not very good when it comes to geography. It is not something the elves stress so much, they care very little about humans." He chuckled lightly, obviously he made some sort of joke. One that would probably be lost on Garv, unless of course the man had experience with Elves.

"By all means.." Ryuku bowed politely to Xibtrae. Were the two an Item? He wondered. It didn't seem likely.. if anything Ryuku thought maybe he was escorting there. The two didn't talk the entire time, so lovers was highly unlikely and as it was there personalities didn't seem to match in the slightest.

Ryuku walked away from the camp allowing them to talk in privacy. He didn't feel polite sitting in on a conversation, especially since he was starting to like their company. He didn't go far though, walking fifteen or so feet away and simply staring out back the way they had come, arms crossed just relaxing.

[Zach Kaiser]

Garv didn't really understand Ryuku's response--either he was making some kind of joke that he didn't get, or he was just plain loopy. He was leaning towards believing the latter.

Xibtrae's interruption was both a good and bad thing; good because Garv was getting the feeling talking to Ryuku for any length of time would only get him a headache for his trouble, and bad because he had a nagging feeling he knew what she wanted to talk to him about. She was a much nicer, better person than he was, after all.

On top of Ryuku moving away, Garv also had Xibtrae move several feet in the other direction. He may have disregarded Ryuku's existence, but he didn't necessarily want him to know that.

"Yes, love?" he asked. He wasn't terribly bothered her using his full name, though he was a bit surprised she pronounced it correctly. Most people stumbled over it, and looking at it written on paper tended to cause people to go cross-eyed.

[Nayt]

"I thank thee," Xibtrae stated to Ryuku as she bowed slightly-- while still sitting down.

Xibtrae stood from where she sat upon the blanket, and followed Garv a bit-- as far as he wanted to go. It may have been for the best. The further they were away from Ryuku, the less likely he was to hear them. If Garv was going to seriously deny this man sanctuary, then it might be best for him to be ignorant to Garv's absolute refusal. Xibtrae did not know why she felt that way-- but she did.

"Art thou certain we hath no accommodations?" Xibtrae whispered, "Be it so dangerous-- it wouldst be cruel to leave Ryuku Obsedian to die."

She could only hope that would get the point across. She was blunt enough, at least. Unfortunately, there was little she could do to truly convince Garv to go along with her wishes. If he genuinely wanted to do nothing for Ryuku, then there would be little that she could do for Ryuku just as well.

[Zach Kaiser]

Garv sighed--he was afraid of that. "Sorry, love--there's nothing I can do. I mean, look at the size of 'im; I doubt he'd fit under a blanket by himself, let alone with the two of us."

Truthfully, he didn't really want Ryuku to die. He may have been the kind of person to take gems off a dead man, but he wasn't the kind of person who'd kill the man for his gems.

"I warned him. All we can do now is wait, hope he's not just blowing smoke when he says he can take care of himself, and pray he doesn't get us killed too if he is." It was a practical approach, if nothing else.

It seemed that would be that, but there was suddenly another person who had an opinion. W-W-Wait! the voice in Xibtrae's head stuttered almost comically. What are you talking about? Someone's going to die?!

[Nayt]

Just as Garv feared that Xibtrae would want accommodations to be made for Ryuku, Xibtrae feared that Garv would say no-- because truth be told, there was nothing she could do about it if he so desired to tell her no. Even if he had no reasons, it wasn't like she was going to rebel by sleeping outside intentionally. She couldn't even make that bluff! As much as she wanted Ryuku to be all right, she owed her current existence more to Val than she did anyone else. Above all else, Xibtrae needed to live, so that she and Val could switch places, and Val could return to her normal life.

"I . . . see . . ." Xibtrae sighed.

Perhaps . . . Xibtrae thought regrettably.

Of course, Val was well informed about Xibtrae's current situation. She knew who Xibtrae was traveling with, their names and their relationship to Xibtrae. Naturally, she hadn't much to say about Ryuku, but quite a bit about Garv. Maybe a little more than a person would normally say about a person they'd only known for a week, especially considering how little she really knew about him. But no matter! Val knew the situation of shades and all the like, too; Xibtrae had explained it all to her during the day, whilst she, Garv, and Ryuku walked silently.

This, fortunately, reduced the amount of explaining Xibtrae might have to do in a situation like this, when there was little daylight to be had.

Garv Phibrizzo says we hath no accommodations for Ryuku Obsedian. I fear he cannot last all night . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

Garv looked quizzically at Xibtrae as she seemed to zone out--much like she'd been doing all day, really. It worried him a bit, as he was the one with the head wound, so if anyone was out of it it should have been him.

Not that Xibtrae would probably notice, with what Val had to say next. No! That can't happen! It was the kind of declaration that only someone very naive and unused to the world could give.

That wasn't to say she had no ideas how to prevent it, though. The problem...uh...it's the blankets, right? The one got destroyed, and there's not enough purple to go around, right? She had the intonation of someone speaking as they were thinking, as though her mouth was ready to move before her brain had finished the thought.

Do you guys have anything big enough to cover him?

[Nayt]

Naturally, Xibtrae didn't notice Garv's odd look. When she was talking to Val, she had to really concentrate on it, or else she wouldn't be able to hear her all that well.

I . . .

For a moment, Xibtrae thought about that. She pictured, briefly, Ryuku laying upon his back, with Garv laying on top of him. And then, Xibtrae was laying beside of them, somewhat snuggled up to both men simultaneously, but laying upon the ground either way. Then, Garv would luck out a little, in having something softer to lay upon than the ground. A human body felt a lot more comfortable than the ground. Garv was also big enough person to cover Ryuku a bit, and then with the blanket over all of them, there'd be no problems at all!

That was just silly.

I haven't the slightest, she replied awkwardly, hoping that Val did could not see images in Xibtrae's mind or anything like that-- that, well, she could just hear directly worded thoughts and the like.

But regardless, Xibtrae figured she could ask Garv. She would seem attentive again right before she spoke to him. "Garv Phibrizzo, hath we anything large enough to cover Ryuku Obsedian?"

[Zach Kaiser]

Fortunately, Val could only hear Xibtrae's specific thoughts, and even then unless she was deliberately trying to communicate with her she was difficult to hear. Her silly mental image would go unnoticed, though all it would have garnished from Val would probably have been a fit of giggling anyway.

Garv would probably have been less amused, but even he could not have guessed at that particular image. "Something to cover him? Probably, but nothing purple, so a fat lot of good it'll do. And no offense, but I'd rather not have one of my better blankets get shredded if I can avoid it."

Ah...ah! Val exclaimed, grasping some kind of victory. Have him get it out! I can--I mean, you can cast a spell to change something's color!