Hello! Sein here! Starting a new book now and I hope you all enjoy it!
ïªïªïª
As the young hume man walked swiftly through San d'Oria, many people stared. He was a short hume with blonde hair and dark brown eyes that were almost black. He wore a plain black travelers cloak and underneath wore a dark black tunic, his chest covered by black armor. He had on a gigantic great sword, its blade a dark blue, lashed to his back. At first glance, most would think he was a Dark Knight, but on closer inspection, you could see him for what he really was. He was a Paladin. You could tell by the hard but kindly glint in his eyes. As the young hume walked slowly along, he was suddenly rammed in the side by a little Tarutaru.
The little Tarutaru bard/white mage was even small for his kind, but his plump body made up for that. He wore a blue traveler's cloak, blue robes, and a pointy blue hat. His boots were blue too, as well as his gloves. At first glance, you'd guess him a large blueberry. The little Tarutaru looked up and a wide grin appeared on his face. "Hullo, hullo!" he exclaimed, standing up and dusting off his trousers. "How nice to see you at a time like this, Ares, my dear friend. Hey, have I told you how much I respect you? You know, I really..." "What'd you do this time, Riki?" the hume interrupted, crossing his arms. Riki smiled and held up his hands. "What'd you mean? I don't want anything!"
Suddenly a large group of men came charging toward them, shouting and pointing at Riki, calling him a thief. Riki's face paled and he scrambled behind Ares, holding tightly to his leg. The men came to a stop before Ares, seeing his face as well as his giant sword. "Sir, that little Tarutaru behind you has taken some of our money," the lead man said, "and we want it back!"
Ares shrugged. "You want him," he said, taking the Tarutaru by the back of his collar and holding him out to the men. "Take him." Riki gasped and kicked the air, trying to shake out of Ares' grasp, but he hume held firm. The lead man reached forward to grab the little Taru but Ares quickly pulled him away. "You want him... take him... if you can."
The men shouted and drew their weapons. The lead man, snarling angrily, yanked his long sword from its sheath at his side and held it up threateningly. "Boy... if you don't give that imp to me I swear I'll..."
"You'll what?" Ares interrupted. "Kill me? How can you do that without a weapon?"
The men looked confused for a moment, but soon shook off the comment and at the lead man's signal charged forward at Ares, Riki standing beside him. There was a quick flash and a black blur swung downward before the lead man. When the lead man looked up, his sword had been sliced in two. Ares held his sword in his right hand nonchalantly, waiting for something. He grinned brightly when it happened. The group of men dashed away and disappeared in moments.
Ares swung the sword around a few times and sheathed it on his back in one fluid movement. He then turned on his heel and glared down at Riki. "Why do you always have to do this kind of thing? It always turns out in us fleeing from the city! Now we'll have to move to Bastok," he said with a defeated sigh.
Riki looked up at Ares with an even more confused expression. "Why don't you likey-wikey Bastok? You were borny-worny there, weren't you?" he asked.
Ares nodded and brusquely walked away. "That's why I don't like it," he muttered under his breath as he walked swiftly away.
As the hume continued to walk, Riki following close behind, he looked about him to make sure they weren't being followed. When he saw that nobody was looking at them, Ares snatched Riki up by the head and disappeared into an alleyway, then, still not letting go of the pint-sized Taru, he dashed as fast as he could go down the back roads until he reached the gates, at which point he sprinted through into Ronfaure.
Riki, having now been dropped to the floor, hurried to keep up with the hume's long strides. "Why are we running?" he called out to the Paladin. Ares didn't answer but rather kept on going until he reached La Theine Plateau, and even then, after a three minute break, continued to run as fast as he could across the land. Riki sand every energy giving song he knew just so that he could keep up with the hume.
Ares never ceased his running past then until he and the Tarutaru had safely reached Gustaberg, where he led his companion to the top of a large rock formation, underneath a small ridge facing away from their previous road, hiding in silence. When Riki tried to stand up, he quickly grabbed the Tarutaru, covering its mouth with his hand, and pressed up as close as he could get to the wall. It was nighttime and one could hardly see five feet in front of him.
There came a sound from behind the rocks, a strange sound, almost like some strange animal sniffing the air. He had chosen wisely to hide himself beneath the rocks, for when he look up, he saw a great metal hand clamp down on the edge of it. The strange noises continued and Ares saw that whatever the thing that was there was, was about to climb down. He quickly snatched a large rock and chucked it as hard as he could off to the right. It hit the earth below with a resounding crack and whatever was once above them, vanished in the direction of the noise.
Ares quickly scrambled to his feet, snatching up his companion by the head again, and dashed away toward Bastok. He leapt into the air and landed halfway down the rocky hill, then slid the rest of the way until he reached the floor. As stealthily as he could, his giant sword hindering him, Ares made his way across the open land and to the gate of west gate of Bastok. He silently acknowledged the guard, who, at the sight of Ares, gaped in surprise and awe, and ran on by.
As the two finally made it through the gate, Ares dropped Riki and leaned against the wall in the corner of the Bastok Markets, beside the glowing pylon that stood as a checkpoint to transport the adventurer back if he was incapacitated, breathing heavily. As he looked up, paying to heed to Riki's angered comments and spiteful glares, and sighed deeply. I'm home.