Dec and Sery's Excellent Adventure, No time travelling phone box required =P

As Serylis left the cave and walked southwest, she was walking towards the river, but it didn't lead straight to Lindblum as she'd implied. Rather, it cut a path west before abruptly turning south to empty into a bay east-northeast of the Lindblum Plateau. Once she reached the river, she would actually have two choices: she could continue along the river and follow it all the way to the bay, then follow the shoreline south; or she could cross the river, and cut southwest across the King Ed plains, cross the river again at its mouth, and cut straight across the Eunorus plains to Lindblum.

Each choice had its pros and cons: the river was easy to follow, and following the shoreline south after that would take her to the far side of the plateau and, if she kept along the shore instead of climbing, to Lindblum harbor; while cutting across meant potentially less travel time, and the added bonus of being able to enter via the Dragon's Gate instead of having to choose between climbing the steep-sided plateau and following the narrow beaches between the cliffs and the ocean all the way around to Lindblum harbor.

But with the thick Mist, the more direct-seeming route could actually end up taking much longer if she got lost. Which was, of course, why she'd gone for the river in the first place: Serylis remembered what the world had been like before the disappearance of the Mist, and so she knew of the difficulties associated with travel through it.

Regardless of her choice, however, she would soon need to stop for rest and resupply. She was exceedingly fortunate that there was, indeed, a village nearby. Situated on an old flood plain, the small community consisted mainly of farms, but also had a tavern and inn for travelers. It was the farms that were first visible to the dragoness - and it was likely clear to her that she would not reach the place before dark. Not in her condition. Serylis was making a dangerous bet, gambling that there wouldn't be anything between her and the village that she couldn't defeat, even in her severely weakened state.

(OOC: Title changed on request

And indeed, it wasn't long before the dragoness' adrenaline rush began to taper off, and the day's events began to wear on her. Cursing softly, she slowed her pace, looking for a good place to sit and rest. There was no path, so she didn't have to wander off it. She had merely to find a small clearing in the underbrush - which she did, and it was complete with a few stumps convenient for tables or seats.

Exhausted, Serylis dropped her pack on a stump and slumped against its side . . . or started to. She yelped at the sudden, sharp pain of the tree bark against her still-tender wings, and whirled to snort a few short tongues of flame at the offending stump. I should never have even left home . . .

She shook her head slowly at her predicament, and curled up next to the stump, resting her chin atop her arms, which were in turn crossed atop the stump. With her battleaxe beside her, the dragoness felt pretty good about her ability to respond to threats. Anything that could beat her in her present state before she could grab her axe was likely strong enough to subdue her in the end, anyway. And so she sat there, resting with her eyes closed, taking in the sounds of the forest around her and taking some small comfort in the fact that something was still the same.

It wasn't long before Declan made it to the river, stopping momentarily for a quick breather as well as to decide on where to go next. The nezumi magic knight looked around the area he was stranded in. The mist surrounding him wasn't very helpful, as it only just limited his vision. "Ugh... Nothing but mist everywhere. I can't see a damned thing in this fog!"

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Declan started to walk along the shoreline, taking a careful look around the shoreline and any nearby clearings to see if there were any traces of Serylis around.

Just as he looked, he saw what appeared to be a short burst of fire glowing in the distance. Just as soon as the orange glow appeared, it immediately disappeared again. "W-what's that, I wonder?" Declan said to himself as he started picking up the pace, running towards where the glow went.

And by luck, he came across a few conveniently-made tree stumps in the clearing - not to mention Serylis slumped against one of the stumps, her axe laid next to her. She's probably asleep... Maybe I should wake her up, or something? He then approached Serylis quietly, but making sure to keep his distance in case she did something drastic.

"Serylis! Are you okay?" he asked in a low tone. "Can you hear me? Are you awake, even? What happened back there? Why did you leave the camp all of a sudden, without telling anyone?"

Serylis growled at the unwelcome interruption to her peace, and snapped, "I told the-" she cut herself off, and lay her head back down. "I told the damned mute. Ugh." A moment's pause, a heavy sigh, and she opened her eyes as she turned to face Declan. "In short: I heard you, I was awake, I saw the negotiations with Yaesu from a crappy shooting position, and that's pretty much why I left. Mostly. 'Scuse me for a sec, this stump sucks."

The dragoness stood up with her axe, and with a grunt and a great swing she levelled a portion of the stump, chopping off the sharp points that had been poking up from where the tree had, long ago, broken off. Resting her battleaxe against the stump again, she took a seat on it, facing the magic knight. "Better." For a brief second, a smug half-grin flashed across her face at her creation of an improvised seat; but then it was gone.

"Now, in spite of that bit of swinging, I'm tired, but otherwise fine. If you just wanted to check up on me, consider your mission accomplished. But if you really want to know why I had to leave, had to leave, I'll tell you. Might wanna get a seat yourself, if that's the case, and plan on staying the night with me at 'yon village, unless you feel like trudging back to the dark cave after sunset by yourself." Resting her chin in a cupped hand, she watched Declan, waiting for him to make his choice.

She wasn't happy with us letting Yaesu live, huh? Declan basically summarized in his head as he heard her reasons for leaving. But it does sound rather vague for a reason. As the dragoness sat down on her improvised seat, he can't help but wonder if she had any more to say to him. And his suspicions were confirmed.

No! I'm not satisfied! I'm stuck here, so I might as well get it out of her. Besides, I can't go back in this condition, not with all this magic pea-soup that's floating around. Choice made, Declan nodded and sat down on a stump across from where Serylis sat, hands gripping the edge as if he was on a bench with no backrest.

"Okay, so, tell me - why did you really leave? Was it really about letting Yaesu go like that, after what he did to you? Or was it... something else? I can't help but feel as if you're holding something back from me, Serylis."

Serylis was silent for a few moments. When she finally spoke, it was in a quieter voice than she usually used. "Isn't that reason enough? If I'd stayed, I would have killed someone. Period. And knowing Tristan, as much as he probably wants to see that slaver dead, he'd defend the jerk. And, y'know, I don't wanna have to fight a traveling companion or force him to defend someone we both hate. So I left. It's just not worth it. Yaesu's not worth it.

"But Asa is . . ." She shook her head slowly. "I had a shot, Declan. He didn't see me, but I was there, and I had a good shot at his back, but I didn't take it. Would've meant risking skewering the kid, too, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't do anything. Hell . . ." She opened her mouth as if to speak again, but said nothing.

After another bit of silence, she continued, "She's just a kid. A little girl . . . too bad I'm not still a Centurion. We used to clear out scum like this from their hidey-holes in the countryside. I'd pick a good squad, and we'd go raiding . . . but now . . ." The dragoness shook her head again, but slowly; she was still not feeling well at all, her very near brush with death not far behind her.

Declan just simply clutched his pants at the knees as he sat there and listened to Serylis' story. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her, after what had happened. The nezumi magic knight just took a deep breath and sighed again after she had finished.

"So, you couldn't do anything... You wanted to save Asa, but you didn't want to kill her by accident, so you stepped down." He sighed again quietly as he finished that last sentence, feeling some sympathy for the dragoness now.

"Serylis... I'm sorry to hear that. I know it's hard not being able to do anything. I was there myself, when I was stuck running a tavern that was already low on customers. Those two years I was stuck there, I should've spent them looking for my father. Every day, I silently prayed that the landlord would sell the place, so that I could leave and finish what I started. I wanted a second chance, and I got it after waiting for so long."

Declan took a short pause before he continued. "There's always a second chance, Serylis. Even if you didn't save Asa just now, you can still find time to make amends for your past mistakes and show everyone that you can still protect someone from harm."

With a bit of surprise, Serylis realized I don't know if I wanted more to save Asa, or to kill Yaesu . . . "Bah!" she scoffed with a snort of flame. "I'm a worthless guardian. All I'm good for is attacking. It's all I've ever been good for; why do you think the Regent always had me out on patrol? Can't even protect myself . . ."

She stood up suddenly; and, still dizzy from loss of blood, the dragoness quickly lost her balance. The fact that one of her feet tripped on the shaft of her battleaxe didn't help, either. If the stream of curses that poured from her mouth had been made of water, she'd have landed in nice, soft mud. Instead, she fell towards the ground, arms flailing wildly (and almost comically) as she tried to regain her balance.

This post has been edited by Serylis Fireheart on Feb 17 2007, 01:07 AM

Clicking his tongue at what happened just now, Declan immediately hopped of his little stool (or big stool, if one wanted to be percise) as he immediately dashed over Serylis as she tripped and fell, wrapping his arms around the bantam only just catching her before she collapsed onto the floor... though he did feel a bit of a strain as he tried to pick her up.

"You okay, Serylis? You shouldn't push yourself like that in your condition. If you can't look after yourself, then at least let someone do it for yo-" The nezumi magic knight cut himself off as he realised what he just said then. Wait... that's it! I've always been there when she needed help. It's weird, but I never imagined someone like her to be such a damsel in distress.

"Serylis... I'll take care of you. I promise you, I'll be your guardian angel. It's the least I can do for you, after how we first met."

"Ack!' Startled by being stopped short of the ground, the dragoness breathed a small sigh of relief. He's stronger than he looks . . . I thought I'd just end up pulling him down with me, or break his arms.

'In my condition' . . . Unbidden, an image of her own blood filling the cracks in the cavern floor came to mind. Some dragon I am. Dragons are supposed to EAT damsels in distress, not become them! But as they say, 'c'est la vie' . . . I've never been any good as a farmer, either, for that matter.

The bantam fighter put an arm around the nezumi's shoulders to steady herself as she regained her footing, and cackled. "Declan, you've long since been forgiven for the time we first met - I think I pretty much just forgot about it the second time you saved my ass!"

Once she was standing again, though, she wondered: wait . . . is he serious? He can't be serious . . . can he? Serylis idly rubbed the base of one of her horns with her free hand, and removed her arm from Declan's shoulders. Well, he doesn't look like he's joking. Plus I think he knows me well enough to know better than to joke about something like this. But does he have any idea what he's getting into?

With one scale-ridged eyebrow raised in a quizzical expression, she asked in an almost uncharacteristically soft voice, "You sure about that? Not only am I something of a mess right now, I don't have a clue where I'm going or what I'm doing after we get to Lindblum. I'm sure my cruddy little farm's overrun with Mist monsters by now - not a huge loss, I hated farming anyway. But I just don't know. Are you really willing to just throw yourself at the mercy of all that uncertainty . . . for me?"

"Of course I do! Ever since we've been together, I feel quite close to you. Like... like a bond between a mother and her son. I already lost my real mother... I don't want that to happen to you, Serylis. For once in my life, I want to protect someone that's dear to me."

Declan took a deep breath as he came to a rest at that point, his heart pounding like mad and his limbs felt numb and tingly as the adrenaline rushes through his body. It's true, isn't it? I... I really do care for her. Maybe a bit too much for my own good, even. Declan opened his mouth to speak to her again.

"Serylis... I need to ask you. If you don't know what to do, then... can you help me find Jecht, my father? I know that you might think he's dead, but... I'm not easily convinced. I won't believe it, not until I see his body. And, uh... it would be great if I had you traveling with me."

Serylis' eyes widened. "Mother? Oh, God, no! Haha, I'd be a terrible mother! Probably wind up eating rather than feeding the brat, heh. My parents used to tell me my 'biological clock' would start ticking at around 50 years and I'd - well, it hasn't." Not for the first time, though the dragoness' mind was by no means slow, her mouth had been faster. I'm dear to him? she realized with some surprise.

"Seriously now; I'd rather you saw me as a close friend than as a maternal figure. I know you've never served in the milit-well, not that you know of, at least. But I guess I still see you as . . . not quite as simple as a comrade, but we have each others' backs, you know what I mean?"

Eyebrows furrowed, Serylis yet again shook her head. "As you well know, I'm no diplomat, and I'm not sure how well I'm saying this . . . but I care about you, too. Nobody's ever stuck their neck out for me as many times, or as willingly, as you have. In my book, that means something.

"And about your father . . ." She put a hand on his shoulder, and assured him, "I understand. Hell, I quit the campaign and rushed home when I got news of my parents, not really believing it until I'd felt their spirits in the ashes. I'll be happy to come with you to look for him, and hew some necks in return for saving mine.

"Like I said, we'll look out for each other, though I'm no angel. More like a guardian demon, if anything." As she said the last part, one side of her mouth quirked up in a wry grin at her own oft-violent nature. "So if that all sounds good to you, let's find someplace with roasted flesh and chilled drinks to sell us, eh?"

"Sery... Thanks," was all the Nezumi magic knight could say, smiling brightly for the first time in years. Though he did blush slightly as Serylis placed a hand on his shoulder. She's right... I should really see her as a close friend... But, we have been through a lot, together or not. So, I can't help but relate to her in some ways.

"Okay! Sounds good to me. It's been ages since I had some real food and slept in a real bed." Declan would go rushing off, had he already know where to go. "Um... So, is there a town or tavern anywhere near here?"

"Yeah," Serylis replied. "Ought to be one in that village across the river. It's not too far away, though we probably won't reach it by dark." With only a couple of winces due to being sore, the dragoness put on her pack and snatched her battleaxe from its resting place - this time, she was careful to rise slowly.

Thus prepared for travel, she started walking, talking as they went. "Only trouble I can think of is crossing that damned river . . . but we'll figure that out when we get there, I guess. If we're lucky, might even be a small bridge or ferry."

"Across the river... Got it." With a satisfied nod, Declan started to walk alongside Serylis as they began making their way towards the next village. "Yeah. What if there is no way of crossing the river? Guess one of us will have to be a makeshift boat then, Heheh."