| Welcome to Imythess, the border between dreams and reality. We hope you enjoy your visit. Imythess is a creative writing board where you narrate the story of a character in the medieval land of Imythess, on the planet Chaon. Each topic is an opportunity for your character to interact with the world and its peoples by cooperatively writing pieces of a story with other members, one post at a time. We call this role-playing, because you assume the identity of your character as if it were your own. In order to play, you must register an account for each character you would like to write about, and begin their tale by filling out their basic profile information: Race (human, elf, demon, etc.), class (warrior, mage, etc.), physical appearance, and any other personal details you would like to describe. You are also encouraged to come up with some background history information for what your character's life has been like up to the point at which their story in Imythess begins. There is no approval process or application required to join, so long as you follow the rules then you are free to write whatever character details you choose. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Create a character now! If you're already a member, you can log into your account below: |
| Beach Bums; [P] Sebastian | |
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| Topic Started: Thu Jan 5, 2012 5:25 am (151 Views) | |
| Shan Orison | Thu Jan 5, 2012 5:25 am Post #1 |
 
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Shan stepped barefoot along the sands by the Moonsea, boots in hand, a line of wet footprints stretching behind. This stretch of beach was desolate and grey, as were the skies and the sea itself. It was a day that looked as though it would rain, holding that threat over the head until it was barely noted. The waves of the Sea were low and choppy from the wind, and the beach was bare except for the detritus left by the tide and a line of thin, scraggly trees covered in small leaves making a living in the sand above the tideline. Shan was all alone by the Moonsea, his only companions the scuttling scavenger birds, a few hermit crabs, and that damn owl that's been following him for days. He didn't know what its deal was. He just looked up one day in the forest and realized that the owl in the tree was the same one that he'd seen the last few days, staring blankly at him with big, yellow eyes. Right now, the owl was settled in one of the coastal trees, eyes closed in slits as Shan looked around the desolate beach, noting how very bare and alone he was. He kicked at the sand, grey and still wet from the tide. An idea began to germinate in his mind. Well, his second thoughts said. It's not like we have anywhere to go today. Shan smiled, knelt in the sad, and got to work ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Mwahahaha!" Shan said, jiggling a small piece of jagged driftwood wrapped in a seaweed cape. "Now that I, the Sorcerer Verribaad, possess the Dark Shard, there is nothing on Chaon that can defeat me!" The driftwood that was the Sorcerer Verribad danced on top of a turreted sand castle. Small leaves threaded with twigs hung listlessly as flags on the towers and broken bits of shell decorated the walls as windows. The Dark Shard stuck out of the very top, the black gem Shan received from the slaver Not Gehrin. Shan knelt beside his creation, moving the designated pieces of driftwood about at will. "Not so fast!" he pantomimed for another piece of wood, this one shifting from side to side as it approached the sand castle. "I am the noble knight come to stop your evil plan and save the princess!" "Oh, noble knight!" said a third piece of driftwood draped in a seaweed dress. "I believe in you!" "A silly girl's endorsement isn't enough to stop me!" The Sorcerer laughed atop his sand fortress. "As soon as the Dark Shard is charged, I will be unstoppable!" "Have at you, evil mage!" yelled the knight, shooting small pebble arrows at the Sorcerer. "Haha! Your tactics only serve to amuse me, stupid knight and oh! Oh! I am slain! Blerg!" "Hark! Who struck the evil Sorcerer down?" "It was I, noble knight!" "Who are you?" "Do you not recognize me in my sultry yet impractical battle outfit, Knight? It is I, the princess. I used the distraction you provided to strike him from behind, and now my kingdom is free from the Sorcerer Verribad! I will make sure you are richly rewarded!" "Wait, you're a Rogue Princess?" "More than that, noble Knight. I am the Rogue Queen!" "Then I must slay you, as well!" "Why?" "Rogues are evil, and my rigid code of honor won't allow me to let these people to live under the heel of a tyrant!" "I'm a rogue, not a tyrant!" "Makes no difference to me. Have at you!" "Hah! Hah!" Shan said, the two bits of driftwood clashed, butting against each other. The owl floated down from its tree to settle on Shan's bag. "Oh, no!" Shan said, shaking the Queen piece at the owl's arrival. "The Sorcerer's dread dragon has arrived to exact vengeance for its fallen master!" "Then we must put aside our hatred for each other to slay it, Rogue Queen." "I don't hate you. You just started attacking me!" "That is because you are as evil as you are beautiful." "You think I'm....beautiful?" "However, my heart can't be swayed by simple beauty, for I am pure of - Hey!" Shan ended his make believe as the owl flew up, grabbed the gemmed necklace, and flew up into a tree. "Give that back!" Shan shouted, standing and running over to the base of the tree. "Owlcifer, that's not yours. Hey, hey! Don't chew on it!" Shan said, as it brought the gem up to its beak and started nibbling. What do you think'll happen if it bites it straight through? his curiosity said. Don't want to find out. his second thoughts said. "Owlcifer, give it back," Shan said, tapping a foot. "I mean it, you damn bird. Give it back." He scowled. "Fine, keep it. See if I care." He turned, walked away, then ran back and began climbing the spidery tree at a surprising velocity, spreading his weight over several branches to keep himself supported. Finally, he drew level with the owl, panting and clinging. Shan looked up...and saw Owlcifer in the next tree over. Shan stared, then groaned. "I know how this'll go," Shan said. "I climb down, climb up that tree, and you've flown back over here." Shan flopped his head on a branch, watching Owlcifer. "You're nocturnal, aren't you? Why aren't you sleeping?" Owlcifer stared at Shan, then turned its head upside down, big eyes never leaving Shan's own. "Yeah, yeah," Shan said. "You're adorable. Frickin' owl." Edited by Shan Orison, Fri Jan 6, 2012 2:53 am.
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| Sebastian | Thu Jan 5, 2012 10:56 pm Post #2 |
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Sebastian had been sitting on the beach, his feet playing with the sparkling seawater while his backside was planted on the wet, sandy beach. There was something stellar and pristine about the seemingly undisturbed white sands of the eastern shore, nothing but the tiny footprints of seagulls marking up the smooth beach; anything the tides washed up was quickly dragged off by hungry seagulls and either swallowed, hidden in some horde of shiny ocean treasures, or redeposited into the ocean. The expanse of white sand reminded Sebastian of the fresh blankets of snow in the North, a place where the tracks of an animal or man could be hidden beneath new snowfall in hours. For this reason, the heat of the setting sun didn't bother him. He was adjusting to the temperatures of the south. The genasi was dressed modestly, wearing a pair of black-gray trousers, rolled up nearly to his knees, and a white cotton shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows and the top several buttons undone, revealing a number of silvery chest hairs and a large purple burn scar painted across his left breast and the left side of his neck. Around his neck was a threaded necklace, a single blue feather dangling off of it. Hidden beneath his shirt was a frozen dagger, encased in a sheath of cold. His face was at peace, his brilliant azure eyes were closed as he leaned back against his hands, buried several centimeters into the moist sand. His hair was tied into a loose ponytail, but long white strands of his hair still hung limply around his face and neck. His jaw and upper lip harbored patches of tidy, silvery stubble. As he lounged, his pointed ears perked up at the sound of a commotion in the distance. Somebody along the beach sounded distressed, and somehow, the voice was familiar to him. "-the Dark Shard is charged, I will be unstoppable!" was what Sebastian could make out of the cry in the distance, and already, his curiosity was peaked. The genasi rose from his dormant state, and began wandering down the beach. He wouldn't run; the sensation of the cool sand between his toes was too savory to waste. Perhaps contrary to his intuition, the swordsman took his time walking towards the voice, and every now and again, he would hear more broken bits of conversation, always spoken by the same youthful, tenor voice. When Sebastian reached the source of the commotion, however, he was perplexed to find Shan, the boy from Balefire, up in a tree, mumbling to himself. A rather impressive sand castle lay near the tree, and the genasi found himself wondering if Shan had built it himself. "Shan..? What's going on?" Sebastian asked, unsure how else to phrase his hello. |
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| Shan Orison | Thu Jan 5, 2012 11:32 pm Post #3 |
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"I see your primary feathers, bird. Drop that necklace now or so help me-" "Shan..? What's going on?" The sound of another voice speaking so suddenly after all he'd heard were seabirds, waves, and his own voice startled Shan. Trying to simultaneously flee, jump, cower, and cling, he ended flipped upside down on the main bough he'd been resting on. Dangling, he decided to actually see who called out to him - with his name, no less - before making any more movement. He blinked at the blue figure below, dressed in casual wear with silver hair bound in a ponytail. He stared up at Shan with a look of confusion. "Sebastian? Is that you?" Shan asked. "Um..." Shan thought quickly, now more than a bit embarrassed by his private reveling in his inner child. "How long have you been there?" An ominous crackling noise brought Shan's attention back to the bending branch, which would never grow to be thick enough to fully support his weight. "Oh, dear," Shan said, choosing to let go in a controlled if painful fall rather than wait for it to break and send him into an uncontrolled drop. "Oof!" Shan said, finally landing on the sand of the beach. "Um, hi, Sebastian. It's good to see you. I'm fine." Shan said, standing and wiping sand from his breeches. "That damn owl stole my necklace and now it's taunting me." "Hooo?" "Yes you, Owlcifer!" Shan turned and shook his fist at the bird. "Give that back now! It's mine, dammit!" He realized he was being witnessed yelling at an owl, cleared his throat, and tried to compose some dignity. "It's been following me around for a few days, and now it's chosen to be a nuisance. Nothing to concern yourself with. It has to drop it eventually. Or maybe I'll catch it and eat it." "Hooo..." "There's good eating on an owl, Owlcifer. Don't think I won't consider it! Ahem...So, what are you doing here, Sebastian? Seems kinda out of the way, this beach." |
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| Sebastian | Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:42 am Post #4 |
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The first thing Sebastian noticed was the lack of fear Shan showed when confronted with him. Back in Balefire, the boy had been entirely mistrusting of the necromancer, and probably with good reason, but here, Shan seemed to understand that the genasi regarded him as an old friend, that or he had seen worse enough to understand that Sebastian was really quite a tame threat. The second he noticed was how much older the boy looked, not necessarily in his physical appearance, but in maturity. When Sebastian left the child to rest in that tavern in Balefire, he was just that--a child in the body of a young adult, but now, there was something in his voice, in the way he held himself, in the nervous twinkle of his eyes, that told him that Shan had matured through boyhood very quickly since they met. "So, what are you doing here, Sebastian? Seems kinda out of the way, this beach," Shan asked, after violently threatening the owl that had apparently stolen the lad's necklace. "That's why I'm here," Sebastian answered, shrugging, "Didn't expect anyone else to be here, but then I heard someone shouting and thought I'd investigate." The genasi paused and turned his head, scanning the area, his eyes suddenly narrowing in confusion. "Say, there wasn't someone else here just a few moments ago, was there? Or have you just been talking to that bird?" Was he going crazy? Shan had certainly said something about a "Dark Shard", something about becoming unstoppable. Sebastian was certain, but why? Had he been talking to that owl? Did the necklace have something to do with it? The genasi needed to get to the bottom of this. |
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| Shan Orison | Fri Jan 6, 2012 11:22 pm Post #5 |
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"Someone else?" Shan asked, eyes darting. "No, there's just me here. I was um..." Shan stalled for time and thought furiously. It was one thing to play make believe on a deserted beach by yourself, but to do it with a witness was, well... Embarrassing, that's what it is, his pride said. This is Sebastian, though, his common sense said. You know, the scary necromancer that instantly fried a man and then raised him from the dead. The one you panicked and fainted in front of? Not a lot of room there to feel haughty But it's been months since we've seen him, his pride pointed out. It might be nice to make a good impression, since the first one was, well, disastrous. It was, at that, Shan's common sense nodded. Shan didn't want to give the impression that Sebastian exercising his necromancy wouldn't be upsetting, but it might be nice to give the idea that Shan wasn't the same naive bard he'd stumbled upon in Balefire. "...practicing a new tale. That I'm working on. Since I'm a bard and all," Shan said. "That's why I'm out here. It's not ready yet, you see, and needs a lot more work before I tell it publicly. I'm sorry if I got a bit too, um, enthusiastic. Strong emotions make a strong performance, after all." Shan glanced over at the owl, who'd managed to loop the steel chain of the necklace around its foot like a tiny bracelet. "Hoo," He said, balancing on one foot and cocking its head to the side. "You're going to choke on that thing and die, and it won't be my fault," Shan told it. "So, yeah, that's all that's happening here, Sebastian. Sorry about ruining your holiday, I suppose." |
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| Sebastian | Sun Jan 8, 2012 5:05 am Post #6 |
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"...practicing a new tale," the boy said, Sebastian's head piqued in curiosity at the unusual pause in the middle of his sentence. A strange prick on the sorcerer's shoulder, as if he were being prodded by the point of a needle, told him that there was untruth to the boy's excuse. Sebastian raised an eyebrow and gave the boy a sort of crooked smile as he spoke his next few sentences. "Ruining? You haven't ruined my holiday, Shan," Sebastian assured the boy, laughing a little as he said it. In fact, he didn't get the chance to express it often, but the genasi was a great supporter of the arts, and for him, a good bard's tale could beat a tall glass of ale in any tavern. He vaguely remembered Shan saying something about being a bard back in Balefire, and he remembered the boy's violin, of course. Besides his sandwich and the clothes on his back, it had been his only possession. However, Sebasitan never had the chance to request a performance of the boy. He supposed that now was the perfect time for an impromptu show. "You know, Shan, I'd love to hear it as it is. I do enjoy a good tale, and the best way to perfect something is to put it before an audience. What do you say?" he asked, an unusual glint in his eyes. He was reminded of something Shan had said to him the first time they ever met: "Um... To tell the truth I'm not really that honest. The letters I write home to my mother are almost complete fiction, for instance." What works of complete fiction can you conjure, I wonder, Shan Orison..? |
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| Shan Orison | Sun Jan 8, 2012 6:11 pm Post #7 |
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"Uh...um....Well..." Shan sputtered, his cognitive process moving from linguistics to emergency bullplop stations. He began to rifle through his repertoire of bardic tales, anecdotes, myths, and stories, trying to find something that could work. However, he was far too familiar with all of them, either through practice or simple familiarity, to give the rough performance he'd promised the tale would have. He probably could have stumbled his way through a performance, acting like he was uncertain about what was to come next. However... Yeah, you were being bit loud, his second thoughts said. You don't know how much he heard. If he heard a princess and knight bickering when he approached and got a story about bringing down a counterfeiting operation, he's going to wonder what's happening. "Are you sure?" Shan finally got out. "I mean, it's very unfinished, and I don't have all the characters named, and really, I usually don't make up my own tales, so I'm rusty on that front. I mean, the best placeholder name I have for the villain is the Sorcerer Verribad. It's very bland, very generic. I could tell you one that's much better, really." And I refuse to tell a tale about someone with the name "Verribaad," his bardic pride said. And what we have isn't a bardic tale. It's just an improvised mess! It makes no sense and wasn't meant to! There's no way to get an actual tale out of it! Really? asked his competitive nature. That sounds like a challenge. That's not going to work this time, his inner bard sneered. "So, what about something else? Pirates, maybe? Or facing the drow in their own caves? Perhaps dragons, or a more classical myth? I promise it'd be far more entertaining than watching me stumble for the next word." Now that's a lie, laughed his inner critic. |
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| Sebastian | Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:41 pm Post #8 |
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"I already said I want to hear the incomplete one," Sebastian explained. "You won't be able to get it into working shape until you've had the chance to present it to an audience, right? So present it to me. I'm a fair judge." All the while, he wore a broad grin. To Shan, it might have been just a friendly smile, and it was, but there was a hidden meaning behind the grin. As much as he liked the boy, he got a twisted sort of pleasure out of watching him squirm. Shan was clearly hiding something. "Besides," he went on. "I think Verribad is a very good name for an evil sorcerer. It sounds very powerful. I'd respect a sorcerer with a name like that." Sebastian sighed, his smile suddenly vanishing as he plopped himself into the sand. "But I guess, if you really don't want to, you don't have to. I was just looking forward to seeing something raw and fresh." Sebastian had never been much of an actor, but he thought he was putting on an excellent drama for Shan. OOC
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| Shan Orison | Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:23 am Post #9 |
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Shan kept his face blank, but inside he seethed. You know as well I I do that it's a horrible name, his second thoughts grumbled at Sebastian. Jerk. Well, Sebastian at least gave him an out. He could simply say that he couldn't dream of stating such a rough tale, i.e. one that didn't exist. He could simply share something else - Or you could tell the truth, his pious self said. - Or he could...well... He asked for a specific tale! What sort of bard are you if you can't keep up with requests? his inner bard said. Besides, he's a necromancer! his paranoia shivered. He could just kill you and ask your corpse. He's not going to kill us, Paranoia, his second thoughts said. You don't know that! He could kill us, ask our corpse, revive us, and make us play violin as his undead minstrel forever! ...Shut up, Paranoia. Do you want to explain why you're unable to tell even a rough tale to someone? his inner bard asked. Or do you want to prove just how talented a bard you are?! "Um, well, um, the basic premise is a kingdom was holding onto a, um, an artifact of potential evil, The Dark Shard. That's another placeholder name. It was kept in the royal courtyard along with other landscaped statues that looked just like it so the ruler only needed to look out their window to see the Shard was still there, as well as confounding any who'd heard of the Dark Shard and its location, for, in its dormant state, it was no different than any of the other great crystal statues in the courtyard. Things were at peace and the evil artifact free from evil hands and...um...well, um, that's when the Sorcerer Verribad comes in and learned that to learn which was the Dark Shard, one only had to...um...cast a small bit of magic on it because none of the other decoys could hold a magic charge, but the Dark Shard could hold one all too well. Then...um... "Really, if you want something else, all you have to do is say. I won't be offended. At all." |
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| Sebastian | Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:35 am Post #10 |
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Curiously, Sebastian didn't sense anything untruthful. The story Shan told was sound; it was truly something he had conceived, and it was truly the plot the boy had been enacting when Sebastian overheard him. However, it hadn't been a bardic tale. Perhaps it was a fantasy, or a game. The sand castle certainly was pristine. The genasi wouldn't have doubted if Shan had only just recently constructed it. "Shan," Sebastian began, his voice strangely warmer than usual, almost human. "If I'd wanted something else, I'd have asked for something else. Now let's hear it belted like a true bard. I know you've got it in you." A grin came to his face, and he wasn't sure if it was a mischeivous one or a legimate, friendly smile. Something in Sebastain wanted to catch Shan in his fib, but at the same time, he was legimiately interested in hearing a story, or helping the lad to develop it into one. And that valuable necklace the owl had stolen... it certainly intrigued the sorcerer. There was a sort of mystery around it that led the genasi to almost believe it might be important to Shan for reasons beyond simple face value. |
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| Shan Orison | Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:53 am Post #11 |
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"Alright..." Shan said, "But I can't really belt it out since I don't have this story exactly polished." Or made at all, his inner critic said. "But, um, then he, um, managed to steal the Dark Shard...probably by teleporting it...to another kingdom that would be easier to conquer. He held its princess captive and the small kingdom in his thrall, the entire place forced to help fuel the Dark Shard by rituals both diabolical and heinous. "Quickly seeing the Dark Shard gone, since it was, well, right there in the garden so they could easily tell if it was being tampered with, though I guess Verribad snuck in or bribed one of the gardeners or something...Anyway, they sent their bravest knights out to locate the Shard, and it was the lone knight-errant, um Sir....Loin?" Sorry, that was me, his id said. I'm getting hungry. Might as well roll with it now, his inner bard sighed. "...who found the kingdom enslaved and the princess imprisoned by the Sorcerer Verribad. Sir Loin challenged the Sorcerer to honorable combat, because he's stupid like that. The sorcerer only laughed at the knight, for the Dark Shard's return to full power was nearly complete, and then no silly knight or an army of knights could thwart him. He mocked the knight, thinking he had won, when he fell over stone dead, a knife in his back. Using the distraction, the princess had taken advantage of her, um, advantage, and killed the Sorcerer, stopping his dread plan once and for all. "'Thank you, Sir Knight,' she said to Sir Loin. 'I am not a princess, as I pretended, but the Rogue Queen...um....Shimila. Without your appearance, I would have never been able to stop this man from ruining my queendom for all time.' "'A Rogue Queen? How evil!' said Sir Loin, for he was stupid like that. 'For the sake of this land, I must remove you from your evil throne!' "And then...um...that's most of what I thought up. There was some idea about the Sorcerer's dragon swooping in at some point, but, really, that's all I've got." |
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| Sebastian | Tue Jan 17, 2012 7:29 am Post #12 |
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Sir Loin? This stuff is brilliant. "Well, it's not a bad start," Sebastian mused, biting his bottom lip and furrowing his brow in thought. The boy had a knack for thinking on the spot, and for conjuring wild tales. It was no wonder he had taken occupation as a bard. "I so would have liked to have heard it recited, though," he said, shrugging as if dismissing his disappointment. "What if you have Verribad's dragon come in, and carry away the princess?" Sebastian suggested after a short period of gazing at the ground. "Then, Sir Loin, the brave knight, could travel to the dragon's hoard, not because he wanted to rescue her, but because the dragon had stolen his opponent and dishonoured the brave knight's challenge." Sebastian was surprised. It was harder to come up with this bard stuff than he had expected. He certainly had a lot more respect for bards after this, namely for Shan, whom he was forcing to recite a sort of children's fantasy on the spot. |
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| Shan Orison | Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:05 pm Post #13 |
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"Hmmm, that could work," Shan said, the original motive of deception lost in the rush of creative brainstorming. "Hmmm...That would suggest that it had some sort of instruction from the Sorcerer in the even of his death...or maybe he's not dead. That could be it. Alright, so, the dragon, lying in wait and signaled by its master's death, swoops in and captures the princess and....no, no, the sorcerer's body and the Dark Shard! Yeah, take him and the instrument of his eventual power back to their fortress. "Then, the Queen would be compelled to go and stop the bastard who messed up her kingdom and make sure he stays dead and doesn't mess up her kill count, and the knight would go to ensure the Queen doesn't try anything....oh, yeah, and to get the Dark Shard back...That was why he was out there, wasn't he? And so they set out toward the...horizon...after...the dragon...." Shan's speech slowed. Owlcifer, during their discussion, had flown down and landed on the sand castle, turning his head this way and that as though he was listening and not actually just pecking out the seashell windows. Shan slowly eased backward as he spoke and lunged, trying to grab the bird. Instead, Owlcifer easily evaded him, Shan landed face first in the castle, and Owlcifer fluttered a bit, landed on Shan's head, then flew back up to the safety of the beach tree. Shan surfaced, sputtering sand and curses. The castle itself was now just a pile of wet sand and beach detritus. "....Damn owl," Shan said, rubbing sand off his face and shirt. Again, he suddenly recalled he had company. "Um...sorry....Thought I had a chance of grabbing it there..." he said, blushing. Shan extracted himself from the fallen castle. "So...yes, um...They set out after the dragon..." Shan said, trying to move past his failed attempt of getting his necklace back. |
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