The world outside had its own rules [open]

[halfheartedmagician]

Who: Asra Alnazar and who ever feels like joining him
When: Throughout July
Where: Various locations
What: Wandering Magician gonna wander in the Wilde and do quests (Cartography and Lucky Ingredients)
Warnings: None currently


A journey begins with a single step
It's almost midnight when Asra set out from the Western Residential District, where he'd made a bed for the night to avoid the snow and cold that blanketed much of the rest of the city. The heat was never a bother for him and Faust needed it, so he spent quite a bit of time there lately.

Right now though, he had the white and lavender python tucked securely under his scarf, a hat with a long, elegant feather topping the outfit off. He'd packed what little he expected he needed for his journey in a brown satchel that swung by his side as he walked through the near-empty streets, the sound of his footsteps sometimes the loudest noise around. He purposefully chose the emptier streets, habitually wanting to avoid attention as he left the city, but sometimes it seemed that fate had other plans. Another set of footsteps drew his attention and his gaze shifted until he noticed the other figure in the street.

"A good night for a journey," he said quietly by way of greeting. "Are you leaving too?"

---

Riddle me this
It was barely morning, the light only just beginning to filter through the trees and dapple the ground in golds and greens. It seemed to almost gild the few feathers in Asra's hand as he stood still as a statue in front of a huge creature that seems part bird and part lynx, his face tipped up to meet its eyes fearlessly.

The moment stretched out, then he spoke.

"If you break me, i do not stop working. If you touch me, I may be snared. If you lose me, nothing will matter. What am I?"

The adar llwch gwin shifted and fluffed its wings before settling again. "Your heart."

Asra nodded and waited as the next riddle came. This was starting to worry him a little, he wasn't quite certain what would happen if he couldn't answer.

"Marking mortal privation, when firmly in place. An enduring summation, inscribed in my face. What am I?" the creature asked, and Asra blinked paling a little. He glanced back at his companion and lowered his voice.

"Are you any good at riddles?"

---
Here in the forest, dark and deep...
He was deeper in the forest now, curiosity pushing him on further, and although Asra was aware of the danger, he was certain that he could manage it. Any protests raised by travelling companions were met with remarks that he'd encountered worse than a dark forest before, but that they were welcome to turn back if they liked.

He was perhaps pushing himself further than strictly necessary, considering he'd come out here to gather herbs and materials, but Asra was stubborn and continued pushing on until he became aware that there was a strange, sickly sweet scent to the air. The plants around them seemed larger, a deeper green than before, and Asra opened his mouth to suggest that maybe it would be time to turn back after all, when he found himself staring at pair of shining, white eyes that seemed to stare at him from a pitch black form.

"What... is that..."

Comments

[gallowsbait]

It's a fair walk to get them out of the forest, but all the while Greyjay remains quiet and professional. He keep the boltbow up without complaint until they're roughly halfway home, then slings it back. They'll be able to move a little faster that way and if anything does come, he's confident that he can hold it off long enough to rearm himself.

He had told Asra the truth: he was very good at his job.

[halfheartedmagician]

When the weapon is tugged away, Asra slows his pace, lightheadedness starting to effect him more than he likes. Even with the makeshift bandage, he can't help but feel that the wound is taking a toll on him, and he isn't quite certain what to make of that. But what he is certain of is that he can't leave just yet.

"Wait, I still need to get some plants."

[gallowsbait]

"I'll share what I have, but you really shouldn't stay out here. I don't know how well these things can track or how much blood you've lost." Quite frankly, he doesn't want to stay. He doesn't have all he needs either, but there's no point in dying over a mushroom or two.

"Tomorrow. Come back tomorrow and I'll stand guard. We can both get what we need and I won't need to try and guess what your world does for burial customs."

[halfheartedmagician]

Asra looks for a moment like he wants to argue the fact, but he can admit that it's stubbornness that makes him want to fight back and he swallows the protest.

He's a touch surprised by the offer as well, and it admittedly goes a long way towards his considering what Greyjay is really saying.

"You would?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. He can't resist adding a barb: "Even if I'm not paying you?"

[gallowsbait]

"If you want a formal contract, we can do that, but I don't think you'll care for my terms." Greyjay takes a swig of water from a skin at his side and passes it over to Asra - he'll need to replace the fluids he's lost. It's not ideal, but it should help with the lightheadedness.

"But I thought that both of us getting what we needed and getting out alive would've been fair enough." He bites at his bottom lip, considering his words before speaking again. Should he poke at this particular wound? Eh, why not. "I hate to tell you this, but I've heard every variation on that particular sting. I know what I am. I was born into the field and it's been my calling for more than a decade."

"If you wanna try to hurt me, wait until we're back in the city and you can slap me, but you don't know what'll bite my belly."

[halfheartedmagician]

He didn't argue the offer, aware as well that the water would help and honestly grateful for it. A slim trickle of water escaped the corner of his mouth as Asra drank, and he wiped it away before holding the skin back out to Greyjay.

"Ah..." Asra had the decency to flush at the other man's words, glancing away again. As much as it frustrated him and annoyed him, Greyjay hadn't been anything but open, honest, and civil about what he was. He didn't like what that seemed to be, but he had met worse people.

"Alright," he grudgingly murmured. "I don't agree with what you are or like it even a little, but I won't say anything more out here." For now anyway.

[gallowsbait]

"You don't need to agree. I wouldn't dream of asking that from anyone that's not Gallowsbait." The people of his own world generally hold similar opinions to Asra. Soldiers and other mercenaries tend to be a shade more understanding, but not always. After all, they too need someone to feel superior over.

Capping the skin, he gestures that they ought to begin moving again. "And, I certainly won't say it's better or more just to do what I do because it's my job. I have no hate, no rancor in my heart, but those I've killed are just as dead."