Varian awoke on the floor of the inn, with Ruddiger curled up beside him. Looking around for Iris he realized she was gone. Thinking on where she could be he realized that she might have gone looking for the river; he remembered her mentioning her enjoyment in swimming. Slowly sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he noticed Chess talking with some customers. "Hey! Did you see Iris leave this morning?" He asked, making his way over, hair still rumpled from the night before. Chess looked up, "No, Did she leave without you?! Pfft- and I thought you two were meant to be!" The server began to laugh. Face flushing, Varian's shoulders slumped. "I think she went down to the river you mentioned. S-She likes to swim, sooo..." He told him, trying to ignore Chess's comment. Chess thought for a moment "She did seem really excited yesterday..." He agreed. "The river is behind the tavern about a ten minuet walk." He told the alchemist who thanked him and turned to leave before skidding to a stop. "Um, could I actually ask a quick question?" He inquired
Chess cocked a brow. "Sure, shoot."
"Uh, heh where'd you get that gemstone?" Varian asked, pointing to the deep, blood red stone pinned to Chess's chest. The young adult furrowed his eyebrows, "Hmmm, I think I found it just laying here on the counter one evening, asked around and everyone refused ownership to it... so I kinda just took it for myself... Why?" He asked, Varian feeling a stronger desire to bring him along on their quest, "Oh you know, no reason, just curious I guess!" Varian chuckled, not wanting to say too much until he had talked to Iris.
Chess shrugged to himself as the alchemist bolted out the door, heading for the river.
It took roughly six to seven minuets for Varian to reach the river. The excitement of his churning thoughts sped him along in a jog. As the trees thinned, the river came into view. There was a decent ten yard perimeter of clearing between the river and the forest. Large rocks provided a beautiful river bed, the water splashing up in some places, kept at bay only by the raised bed of stone. The boy climbed the rocky river sides to get a better look around.
He was not the only one there. A small hand full of other people and creatures were gathered, spaced decently apart along the edges of the water. Most of the clear stream flowed at a slow and calm pace, the surface practically invisible; none the less a loud roaring of the water filled his ears. Incredible, colorful reefs and coral lined the canyon-like walls down into the ever darkening depths. It looked almost as if there was no water at all with how clean and clear the stream was. Starstruck, the alchemist couldn't take his eyes off the gorgeous view; fish and sea creatures of all sorts could be seen calmly darting about, some humanoid figures swimming about as well deeper down. The water was a clear sparkling blue. Most of the river was open and quite visible from any stand point along its wide banks. only a few plant or rock covers created any kind of hiding place.
Remembering why he had come, Varian shook himself from his trance and searched for his friend. As he trailed the uneven bed, he found Iris's top, decorative shirt, bag, towel, and leather sash. 'Well now i at least know she's somewhere near by!' "Iris!" He began calling her name.
Iris darted through the water. She was delighted by the stunning and fantastical scenery of the giant river and inhabitants. Despite this, she swam alone far below the surface; the other merfolk keeping their distance because of not only her specie's darker nature, but her abnormality to take a human form. None the less she enjoyed herself. Her white and silver shining tail glistened as bright as the sun against the water's surface; her long blue and green fins helping her to glide gracefully along the chasm walls.
Whilst she enjoyed herself, she quickly remembered her companion whom she had left asleep in the inn. "Crud! ah, I totally forgot!" Iris abruptly stopped in her tracks, darting upward toward the water surface.
Breaking the surface of the water, Iris found herself a little ways away from where she had dropped her stuff. The siren looked upstream to the spot she had left her belongings and pailed.
"Varian?!" She cried out loud, seeing him standing near by, looking over the river and calling her name. 'He could have seen me! How did he not?!' she quickly thought, her legs quickly returning before he spotted her. Iris climbed up on the rocks, her teal undershirt and her much darker teal pants clinging to her body tightly as she dripped water. "Hey Varian!" She called to him as she walked over, doubting the reliability of her voice to not give her inner worry away.
"There you are! I knew you'd be down here!" Varian grinned as she made her way over to him. "Yeah!... How'd you know?.." She asked, still nervous and startled by the close call. The alchemist smiled, "It wasn't very hard to figure out, heh, but you mentioned that you like to swim so I figured I'd find you down by the river!" Iris nodded, mentally noting to herself that she'd have to be much more careful.
"So uh... are you ready to go or..." Iris asked, feeling nervous and awkward, wanting to change the subject. "Yeah! I also wanted ask you how you felt on bring Chess along..." He too began to feel uncomfortable and embarrassed for asking, he didn't entirely know why though. "I recall last night that you wanted him to join us,.. why?" She asked, grabbing her things and walking with her companion to return to the tavern to grab the rest of their belongings.
Varian sheepishly rung his hands, "Well, hear me out, but I noticed last night that he has a gem similar to yours!"
"That's why? You realize that anyone could have a random glittery rock, right?"
"Well yeah, but his has a symbol from the same ancient language inscribed on it..."
"A-a what?..."
"An ancient symbol, I-its from an ancient hieroglyphic language used by The Guardians!" Varian continued to explain and make his point, eyes lighting up with excitement and passion. Iris listened intently, something burning at the back of her subconscious. "Guardians?..."
"They were a group of people who used to protect these five stronghold kingdoms! You see, there's this lege-"
"No, what did you say about a symbol?! Where!?" Iris startled the alchemist by pressing her finger against his mouth, stopping him in his tracks. "You never noticed?" Varian looked at her, confused, gently pushing her hand away from his face. She quickly handed him her gemstone, eager to see.
Taking the stone in his hands, he turned it over twice, searching for the symbol. Then with a dorky grin, he showed her the grooves that glowed gently at his touch as he traced his fingers along the etchings. Eyes widening, Iris starred at it for only five mere seconds before stumbling in place briefly, clutching at her head as it unexpectedly throbbed. Visions of a foreign multicolored expanse and the same symbol filling her mind. 'this symbol will help guide you, be weary of it as it also leads to an impending doom...' The words echoed in her mind.
"Iris!? Are you okay!?" The startled boy tentatively reached a hand out towards his companion as she wobbled slightly, the pain from her abrupt migraine fading. "Iris!?..."
"I'm ok... I'm good!...sorry!..." The siren apologized shaking her head gently and carefully opening her eyes. "What happened!?" Varian asked her, still on edge. "I-...i don't know," She exclaimed, a hand still carefully against her forehead. "I've seen the symbol before... I think... Yeah, lets invite Chess along, but lets talk more about the guardians till we get there." she told him, truly baffled at had just happened.
"Oh um, ok... Uh, heh, what do you want to know about?" Varian asked, unsure where to begin. "Ok, Who are these 'guardians'?" The siren asked, still gently rubbing at her temples. "Well, there's an old legend that Xavier, the blacksmith back in Corona, told me, so I did further research into it," The alchemist exclaimed, getting excited to tell her about his work. "Anyways, back to the point, The legend goes that there were once five guardians who were each in charge of a magical stronghold kingdom!"
"One of the guardians betrayed the others, killing them and some of their apprentices. No one has heard from this guardian in over a thousand years, so he pretty much died. But no one knows where he put the keys. I did a lot of research on it, and from what I can tell its true! But there is also a prophecy that five new guardians would one day be chosen," He continued. "I think you and Chess may be two of the guardians to be because of your gems; it was said that each keeper had a special gemstone that marked their alliance and such with a symbol of what they protected!" He told her, to which she listened like before, intrigued.
"So whats mine say?" Iris asked eagerly, allowing him to inspect the object further. He refused though, handing the stone right back despite her disappointment. "Sorry, my translation script is written in my journal back at the tavern. I can do it when we make camp... speaking of which its getting pretty late into the day..." He told her as the building came into view.
Iris shrugged, "We'll be fine, we can't expect to constantly be going day and night toward the mountains, we obviously have to take brakes and breathers," she smiled, "Speaking of which youv'e seemed kinda tired, not only did you sleep in for like ever, but we've been traveling non stop for a while." the siren explained.
"What do you mean?" The boy asked, as they rounded the front corner of the structure, going through the entrance. "I mean that we're gonna take it easier!" His companion beamed at him, turning his cheeks pink.
Now that it was later in the morning there were more travelers coming in and out, or even just hanging around. Iris and Varian made their way through the decently sized groups of people. "Hey... I noticed that we didn't have to pay for our night's stay..." Iris commented as the two of them made their way up the stairs, passing a person or two. "You're right!... Think our keys are the only ones that can unlock our bedrooms?..." The alchemist replied, his heart skipping a beat at the thought of them being robbed. "Probably not... make sure you check for everything... We can always ask Chess about it." she muttered as they marched down the hallway to their rooms.
Upon reaching the rooms, Iris jiggled her knob to find it locked, just as she had left it... hopefully. She turned to watch her companion jiggle his rusty brass handle as well. "Welp, time to find out!..." The girl grimaced, pulling out her key and inserting it into the lock, Varian following her lead.
They both turned their keys at the same time, a satisfying click hitting their ears. Turning the round handles they entered the rooms, both seeming exactly how they had left them. "Looks alright... But I'm going to check my stuff before we leave." Iris decided, her companion agreeing and doing the same.
Iris paced the room gathering her things and triple checking that all her belongings were accounted for. "I think I'm good to go!" She declared, exiting her room, admittedly more suspicious now then before. "Me too!" The boy chimed, joining her only moments after.
"Shall we get going?" Varian asked, securing his pack and rubbing his gloved thumb against the wooden staff he held. "Yup! Lets go grab our newest member!" The siren chuckled, walking beside him as the headed for the bar where they had seen him before.
Sure enough the young adult was rubbing down the counter where another customer had just left. "Hey, Chess!" They called to him, jogging over and perching themselves on two stools near by. The shaggy haired man looked up, his blue eyes glittering as he grinned, surely about to make some flirty joke.
"Well well, you found her!" He greeted them, leaning against the counter as he always did. "Found me?" Iris asked, "Yeah, I told him you were gone and asked him where the river was when you were missing this morning." The alchemist explained.
"You two love birds need breakfast?" He asked, and just as expected, there was the joke. "More of a brunch at this point I must say." He still grinned, grabbing two glasses and pouring them some orange juice.
"Yeah thanks! But uh, hey, I noticed we never paid for the food or rooms the night before." The girl apologized, to which Chess only smirked. "You did." He assured her, holding up a tiny brown sack that jingled gently with sound of a few metal pellets inside. "Wait what?! I don't remember giving that to you?!" She furrowed her brows in confusion. "Probably because you didn't." Chess casually admitted, not even looking at her as he brushed his nails against his vest, having a sudden interest in them.
"Wait, so you stole?" Iris asked, upset her suspicions had been correct. "You can't just take people's money!" Varian tacked on.
Chess only smirked wider, pouring the money onto the counter for them to see. "I didn't take any more than what you owed." He told them. "Don't blame a professional thief for picking your pocket! I may have wicked mad skills, but I only use em for good!" He snickered. Iris counted out the missing money and what was on the counter and they both added up to what they owed.
"Still... just ask for the money in the future!" She scolded. "Professional thief or not you can't just pick people's pockets..." Varian softly glared. Chess laughed a little more, still particularly chipper, finding their disgruntled reactions amusing. "Tell you what, because you guys came up and were gonna pay, even when you could have walked out without doing so,... and because you caught, me I'll give ya a discount!" He offered still with that same cocky smile, shoving half the money back toward them, pocketing the rest.
Iris saltily snatched the currency from off the counter and tucked it back in her belt pocket. "Anywho," she audibly huffed, "We were gonna ask you if you wanted to join us on our adventure..." she told him.
"Oh? Why me?" He asked, cocking a brow, juggling their conversation and orders from other people.
"Well, you mentioned an interest going on your own adventure," Varian continued. "And we don't mind having another person join us." Iris nodded in response to Varian's explanation.
"Well I don't think I'd typically just march off into the unkown with a couple a strangers, but I've had a decent conversation with you two and you seem like good enough people,... and I may or may not have coincidentally had a conversation with my boss last night about heading out on my own." Chess admitted, referring to his father. "Not to mention I thought I'd head toward the lake given I'm not all too familiar with what lies beyond it and if you two are heading that way then I'll just join ya!" Chess gave another reason for his joining them. Before he came out from behind the counter, he grabbed a saddle bag from tucked away under the bar and began to fill it with food and cooking supplies. After doing so he came around the counter, easily taller than the both of them by a foot to two feet. "I don't need much else besides what I already have on person, plus there's a river side town not far from here about halfway to the lake so if I decide otherwise Ill just grab somethin from there," He told them, "Other than that I do have one or two other things I need to snatch before we get going." He told them, going up the stairs while Iris and Varian waited.
Waiting for the used-to-be waiter, Iris just looked around the tavern, purposelessly inspecting the people around them. She came to notice a guy wearing a hood in the farthest back corner from them talking with another random traveler... only the were both looking at her and Varian, one even pointing. Concerned, she was about to let her companion know before Chess came back down the stairs, saddle pack much fuller and swung over his shoulder. "I'm ready!" He announced, brushing off his vest.
"Oh! ok then!" Iris grinned, a little surprised at how quickly he was ready to leave with them. "Do you have any goodbyes to make?" She asked, remembering his dad. "Nope, I made them this mornin!" He replied, walking with them to the door. "Looks like we're back on the road again!" Varian smiled.
Chess glanced behind himself at the tavern which he had called home for so long, he didn't know when he'd see it again... all he knew was these two kids. But who was he to complain, he had spent most of his life cleaning up and serving people that now that he was the one calling the shots he had to admit it would take some getting used to. None the less he looked forward at the road ahead with great expectations.