The typical roar of the Memphian Falls echoed powerfully throughout the area, bouncing off the stone walls of the cliff to syphon outward over the lake and surrounding wildlife. The tremendous weight of the falling liquid seemed to punch a hole through the lake's surface, the event only hidden by hazy mist drawn up into the air.

Past the foot of the falls, the water slowly calmed and evened itself out so that it was once again uniform and graceful. It held a current that went unseen beneath the surface of the river, as if only the reflective topside and the sandy bottom were the only pieces left in existance: the middle seemed to simply disappear.

Within this part maelstrom part lazy river, there was something different. The typical forest dwelling creatures remained in their respective and common habitats, but something new had arrived. His body glimmered gracefully in the sunlight as he stood in the water. He was motionless directly beneath the heaviest drop of the waterfall and was unphased. The water passed straight through him like he was not there.

The front of his body was fairly visible when the falling water directed itself toward his back, making a very curious spectacle.

Angredon rested peacefully on top of a water-worn stone, keeping his golden scales safely above the quickened water. The sun had beat down on his back for a few hours at this point so the lizard had become entirely content simply laying on the rock. It had been an abnormally cold night and he was appreciative of the day's warmth. His reptilian eyes scanned the edge of the lake from time to time, moreso out of passing disinterest than being on watchful guard. It was not his place to be paranoid; his master was particularly good at finding trouble before it found him.

Sargoth had taken advantage of the peaceful and warm day as well; he stripped off his leather armor and tunic so that he only remained in his black pants so he could wade into the tumoltuous waters beneath the waterfall. He had not washed in a long time; while stone skin did not tend to smell, there was always the questionable spot of moss that needed to be dealt with.

While scrubbing at the violating spot on the underside of his upper-arm, he looked up idly at the waterfall, only to see a strange figure within the confines of the water. The guardian was extremely surprised, not only to be with such stealthy company but also because the water passed right through the creature.

Sargoth held out his right hand and summoned forth Mekki-Maru so that the blunted end was consumed by the river water. Angredon instinctively looked toward the shimmering figure at the waterfall as Sargoth bade, "Step closer so that I may know you. What is your name and do you mean harm."

The Watcher's voice seemed to echo outward just as well as the raging waterfall, but it commanded an eerie soothing quality that the water would never be able to master at that volume. It almost sounded like he was soothing the water itself with his graceful and elegant tone, like a mother explaining dreams to a child.

There is no harm in watching the progress of the world. The only malevolency that guides action is opposing action, which there is none of here.

The Watcher stepped forward from his watery home and moved across the riverbed to approach the man he had been analyzing. He had little reason to remain hidden in a world that, ultimately, did not matter. His presence was of no impressionable importance, nor was the presence of his subjects around him. It was the fate of a Watcher to stare into a world with no apparent meaning in the hope of finding one.

His gaze shifted slowly between the pseudo-dragon sunning on the flat river-rock and the guardian standing in front of him. With no apparent emotion he held his right hand slightly less than perpendicular to the side of his body and waited as an exquisite greatsword appeared out of thin air. It seemed as non-substantial as he did; the tip of the blade pierced the river but let the water pass right through it.

As you have acted with that weapon I have opposed with my own. This can ultimately lead to a dark path of anger and hatred. Then again, it would be entirely pointless to walk that path under the premise of conflict that does not exist. Please dispose of your weapon if you wish to talk, guardian.

At the end of his speech, the Watcher allowed his golden sword to fade back into the nothingness from which it came.

Sargoth really had little option but to comply, in his mind. The being's argument was sound and made true sense to him. It almost made too much sense, like his reaction was magically induced, but Sargoth could usually differentiate between logic and magic tricks. He allowed Mekki-Maru to return to the seed of power without any arguments, feeling the return of some of his life force flowing throughout his body. All the while, he could not help but look at the half-visible spectre of a person just slightly upstream of him, trying to make a judgement about whether to trust him or not. There was something undescribeable about the man's words and actions that screamed trustworthy, but Sargoth could not quite decide.

Angredon had woken from his half-dazed state of sunbathing by this point and had turned his full attention toward the ethereal man. His curiosity ran rampant, as it usually did when the pseudo-dragon was in a good mood, and he decided that he wanted to play. With a few overdramatized groans and some stretching, Angredon lifted himself into the air by a few feet and landed on a half-sunken log next to the ghostly stranger. He looked up at the creature's face and gave a few playful yaps.

Sargoth was distracted momentarily by Angredon's actions, just enough time to regain some of his senses. He realized that he had not been answered. "You have yet to tell me your name, and I do believe that you now owe me an explanation of what you are. You seem to know about me so I deserve the same insight."

Sargoth really was interested in talking to this man now, at the very least because he knew what Sargoth was by simple glance. As far as his travels had spanned, he never met anyone who knew his race unless he told them, and even that was limited knowledge. While he was intrigued and excited by the information this creature possessed, he also knew he was not going to become subservient in the conversation. He still had a code of respect that he required be upheld, so he remained adamant about issuing orders when it was really not his place to do so.

Nearly invsible eyes looked over the man who stood so defiantly in the water. The Watcher was impressed by his capability to remain forceful under the given circumstances. There would be nothing detrimental to let the guardian continue in the manner he felt most comfortable, so he let the direct comments flow through him, just like the water and air. He had planned to discuss his own part in this world anyway, so the answer's the animated statue sought were easy to impart.

I am the Watcher. I am an observer of this world.

The Watcher stopped speaking momentarily to follow the path of a bird crossing the sky above. There was almost a smile on his face as he looked back down to the guardian.

You now speak to an ethereal walker; it is a rarity, just like having a conversation with a guardian. There are simply not many left. May I ask your name, guardian, so that I may say I have met you appropriately?

"I am Sargoth," he responded, his name was of little consequence at the moment. He did not realize that he neglected his typical subtitle, "Guardian of Laneer, magus terrainus." He inwardly figured that it was unimportant who his master was while speaking to a creature who could impart great knowledge. Sargoth had sought answers for hundreds of years and he was now closer to them than ever before.

Sargoth continued, following his train of thought which led to ultimately childish questions. "I have never heard of an ethereal walker, even in my studies of the Ethereal Plane. How is it that you managed to come here, Watcher, if that truly is how you would like to be addressed? And how is it that you know of my kind? Have you met others like me?"

He had simply not been this curious and anxious since his first years alive. He had it set in his mind that this creature, this ethereal walker, contained within his brain the information he had been searching out for centuries.

Angredon was becoming slightly irked after receiving no attention from the Walker and had begun to yelp louder to make sure he was being heard. Failing to draw a glance from his new playmate, Angredon decided he would initiate the wrestling match he wanted to participate in. With a quick leap off of the log, he headed toward the Walker's leg, only to strike air before landing in the cool water. Angredon yapped in his annoyed state as he bobbed his head into the Watcher's leg a few times to make sure of what just happened. With a pitiful groan of despair, the drenched lizard made his way back to the log and began the long process of drying off.

The Watcher glanced down at the soaked pseudo-dragon and allowed an amused expression to creep across his face. The tales of exquisite beings alive in the ethereal plane were proved true as the ethereal walker stood within the confines of the material plane, smiling at at baby dragon.

I am sorry, young one. You will be dry soon enough, and perhaps then you can befriend a small family of rabbits that lives just beyond that boulder, near the shoreline.

The Watcher returned his gaze to Sargoth, allowing his joyous expression to slowly fade with the memory, fated to be locked away in the back of his mind forever. He regarded the living statue once again, reevaluating his analysis to double-check his conclusions before continuing with a response.

Your questions are valid, guardian, so I shall answer you as I deem appropriate. As to my presence, I simply am here because it is my fate to be here. I am an observer, and an observer must have a way to observe. It is the way of logic.

The Walker began. He sounded like even he was confused about the details; he might not even have considered the question before.

I have seen others like you, both within the elemental plane and the material. The latter experience happened once many years ago, and he was only recently created. He was born within the forest amongst many ruins but was yet incapable of communication at the time. The guardian in the elemental plane was of similar capacity, except it was a few hundred years before that, and he was still being imbued with the elemental magic of life. It was a spectacle very few have been afforded.

Sargoth could only help but stare in absolute shock. The ethereal walker had apparently seen him before, a little over three hundred years ago. This was absolutely amazing and scary at the same time; the guardian wondered what had happened so long ago and why the Watcher had observed him. He was awe-struck but slightly saddened, the Watcher knew of his birth into the world, but according to his confession, he had not been present during the years Sargoth spent in a visionless sleep. He would probably not know anything that could help him to decipher the mystery of that fated slumber.

"I might dissapoint you, then, Watcher; it seems the newborn guardian you saw so many years ago was probably me. You have not met another but rather the same. I believe that makes two that you have watched," Sargoth admitted. He kept the thought of at least another like himself in the back of his mind. He knew there had to be at least one.

Sargoth stared at the faded figure as he seemed to consider the information. He shifted slightly, causing a sunbeam to bounce off the orb in Sargoth's chest and reflect through the Watcher's stomach.

I see.

The Watcher looked somber after hearing the news. Some would have been impressed to run across someone after so many years, but he had seen too much in his life to make this anything of interest. His purpose for observing the area was primarily to evaluate the guardian he thought he had just discovered, so now he felt there were better events to witness.

His image began to fade and melt away with the breeze, dragging his body off into the forest in tiny strands. Within only a few moments, the Watcher had left entirely, leaving the world looking exactly the way it would have if he had never arrived to begin with. The last echos of his voice seemed to carry off into the distance before being drown by the tumbling waterfall.