Misty

Oh dear... ~ As she pants in her run, she eyes the surroundings somewhat dismally ~ I'm sorry, dear tummy... but, I didn't mean it. ~ An involuntary gasp for air ~ I didn't know there weren't any taverns around now, did I?

The sun is smiling upon her, however, and she beams back, shielding her face with her right arm as she addresses him.

"You wouldn't happen to know where I can find a decent meal, would you?"

Turning a full round, she blinks rapidly. ~ Why does everything look so... similar? ~ She walks on, clutching her short bow and half-fighting the wave of doubt washing her heart ~ How am I going to find adventure in all this greenery?

Overhead, a flight of ravens passes and she swallows a gulp ~ Don't be a baby, Misty. You know this is what you want. ~ Yet curiously, she finds her vision slightly blurred by the film forming over her glistening eyes.

This is ridiculous. Getting all so sentimental just because you're hungry. ~ Rubbing her eyes peevishly, she continues on her brisk walk, ignoring all other thoughts that seek to pervade her mind..

Golas

The forest floor was rising almost imperceptably as Golas shuffled on. If the scenery were changing now, he didn't notice. His mind felt numb, and it was all he could do to place one foot in front of the other and keep moving.

He almost bumped into the tree before he spotted it. It was a really, really big one, all silver and white instad of brown. The gnome rubbed the tears from his eyes with his fists, so he could see what colour the top was.

Golas took the break as an oppertunity to look around, and discovered that it was actually a lot different from where he was before. At first he was alarmed. This wasn't the way home! Now he was lost too!

But then he realised what it really meant. There actually was a big world! He had to laugh at the big people now. They thought they were fooling people when they told their stories of a really big world, but there actually was one! He could hardly wait to go back home and laugh at them right in their gnomish faces, but first he had to explore the world. He would be the first gnome ever to discover the world, and everyone would remember the name Golas. Mommy would be ever so proud as well!

Feeling much better than mere minutes before, the young gnome bounded off into the new directions the woods were taking him.

<font color=thistle>The hours have passed with a pleasant swiftness today. There is a mild warmth about the air and an understated brightness about the sunlight. Indeed, so pleasant has the morning’s walking been that he scarcely feels the need to rest. He smiles. Indeed, he could easily press forward but he has grown old past the point of such relentless purposefulness. No, far better to simply be purposeful and to leave the relentlessness to those with the energy for such things. Leaving the road he seeks out a small copse of trees. He pulls a book out of his pack and that he might read a little while as he eats a simple lunch.</font>

Misty

<font color=gold>Food... food...</font>

She grimaces as the hours pass, reluctantly pulling a berry off the nearby shrub and popping it into her mouth sadly ~ <font color=gold>This isn't exactly very filling...</font> ~ As if on cue, her tummy begins to roar indignantly, making her half-jump with its intensity.

<font color=white>Take your ration for the day, dummy.</font>

<font color=gold>I don't want to, don't want to!</font> ~ Her ruddy face creases for a moment ~ <font color=gold>I don't want to keep eating the same old thing two times in a row and besides... I might need it in an emergency.</font>

Another growl, followed by a snicker. ~ <font color=white>Oh, so this isn't an emergency, eh?</font> ~ <font color=gold>Oh, shut up!</font> ~ Sighing resignedly, she lowers herself onto the ground and opens the knapsack. Moodily eyeing the ration, she sighs again and begins to chew on it thoughtfully and slowly, letting it last for as long as it can.

<font color=gold>Just when am I ever going to bump into other adventurers out here, anyway?</font> ~ Her eyes darken for a moment ~ <font color=gold>It's no fun travelling alone... not for long.</font>

<font color=white>Well now, that depends, Misty dear... no, don't shake your head or glare at me so. Consider the situation. IF you did meet a BOSOM COMPANION, then yes, t'would be a great bonus, making merry and fighting evil together for a worthy cause...</font>

<font color=gold>Exactly what I meant! Now where do I...</font>

<font color=white>Please, Misty, let me finish! *Cough* *Cough* Where was I?... Right... but if you were to meet a BIG GROUCH or a DEVILISH COMPANION, that wouldn't be much fun, would it?</font>

<font color=gold>Well, some company is better than none...</font>

Finding herself yawning, she tries to shift herself into a more alert position. But strangely enough, the sky seems to darken and a mist form before her very eyes.

<font color=gold>Wha...</font>

Less than a minute later, the halfling lass has huddled into a heap, snoring softly in her sleep.

[ 11-03-2002, 09:27 PM: Message edited by: mistral4543 ]

Golas

He was now running beneath the strangest trees he'd ever seen in all his ninetynine years. Many of the were the silver-grey of the one he'd bumped into earlier, and they had really big leaves which looked almost like hands. Some of them were so silver they seemed almost to shine with a pale blue light.

Other trees seemed more normal, the bark coloured brown. Their leaves, though,
were almost certainly magical. Black on one side, and white on the other, it seemed to the gnome as if they were the coins of fate. Each time a gust of wind hit one of these trees, some leaves would come loose and fall to the ground. Which side faced upward in the end was impossible to predict.

Just between these two types, they left the forest floor covered in a chaotic mosaic of greens and blacks and whites. Golas paused on more than one occasion to examine it closer.

Eventually, the trail he followed steepened as it crawled up a hill, one of the highest points in the region. Golas figured he could see more of the world from up high, so he charged forward.

It was steeper than he thought, and by the time the young gnome reached the top, he was too tired to look around properly, or find a safe place to rest. He just curled up near the foot of a really big tree and fell asleep, one thumb in his mouth.

<font color=thistle>His hour of rest passes quickly and with a sigh he closes his book, shoulders his pack and walks back to the road. The hard soles of his boots strike the packed earth of the road and begin to move in the vigorous but unhurried pace of legs that have walked many miles and that have many more yet ahead of them.</font>

Misty

<font color=silver>"Be good, Misty!"</font> ~ Her mother's face was crumpling and she impulsively threw her arms around her, hugging her. ~ <font color=indianred>"I will, Mummy... don't you worry..."</font> ~ She broke into a bright smile ~ <font color=indianred>"Think of all the gifts I'll be bringing back to you!"</font>

She heard the sniffle as she began walking away, never turning back. Heroines just moved on, they didn't wait for things to happen, and she was sure that if she looked back, this would certainly be the result. ~ <font color=indianred>"Bye, Mummy!"</font> ~ She repeated, her big silly feet shuffling along and the short bow swinging precariously from her shoulder...

In reality, a goofy grin had crept onto the halfling's round face, and dimples appeared on her cheeks. She stirred slightly, then turned to her side and drifted on in her siesta.

<font color=yellow>"Is that all you're doing, Misty Burrfoot?"</font> ~ The disgusted voice could be none other than Bearnshaw's ~ <font color=yellow>"Sleep and eat all day? Why, you could do that back here at home!"</font> ~ <font color=indianred>"Aww... stop it, Bearnshaw, stop your grumbling! You're just plain jealous!"</font> ~ She stuck out her tongue at him, then gave an involuntary scream as he grabbed her and gave her a big hug ~ <font color=indianred>"Hey, put me down! Right now!"</font>

<font color=yellow>"Why can't you be a good girl and marry me?"</font> ~ The equally chubby boy sulked ~ <font color=yellow>"Why do you have to leave me and you Mummy and everyone you love on an adventure? It's not fair!"</font> ~ Gingerly, she pulled away from him, her eyes nevertheless twinkling ~ <font color=indianred>"I want to see the world, you silly boy. And just because you can't, you want to tie me down. Well, no way, Bearnshaw... no way!"</font> ~ And she skipped away merrily, ignoring his rants.

<font color=yellow>"One day, Misty Burrfoot... one day, you'll listen to everything I say, so there!"</font> ~ To which she laughed, running away, running off to her heart's delight...

In reality, she began to giggle softly, her eyelids now on the verge of fluttering open. Bearnshaw did have a point, despite his little tantrums.

Too much sleep and food didn't spell well for heroines.

Golas

When he finally woke and sat up, the small rodents who'd been sitting around watching him scattered in all directions. His tummy rumbled as Golas rubbed the crust from his eyes. He was still too sleepy to notice though.

He got to his feet and took a few uncertain steps. He couldn't figure out why, but he felt a lot less energetic than yesterday. Nonetheless the little guy was determined to see the world noone in his village had ever seen before.

But the view from the hilltop was wonderful. Looking from left to right, Golas could see the trees shift from one type and shade to another. He saw a few giant puddles spread out between them, and was pretty sure they were called ceans in the stories. There was also something of a road cutting through the trees, several in fact. On the one nearest to him, he thought he could see something move.

Golas half tumbled down the hill trying to hurry down. It felt like he ran for an hour when he finally spotted the road ahead of him. It was more of a path really. He paused to catch his breath before he'd step out on it. It was a pretty long pause.

He walked alongside the road for a time, until he spotted the figure he'd seen before further away. From where he was, it looked like another gnome. Someone was trying to beat him to it and discover the world first! He knelt down behind some low brush to wait and watch this other person.

<font color=thistle>The afternoon sun is bright and warm and the heat of its yellow light proves to be a pleasant companion as he walks. The end of the day shall find him much closer to his destination. Indeed, with luck, he can make the verge of the wood by the falling of the sun. Absently his hand reaches to the pouch at his waste which contains the letter of title. The life of a forester will suit him well after these long years of wandering. He smiles. The world is indeed a broad and mysterious place, but he has seen his fill of it. And while, as the saying goes, one cannot go home again, one might perhaps make a home for oneself at the end of his travels</font>

Misty

Her pink tongue characteristically sticking out from the left side of her lips, she now strides forward, a sense of purpose hugging her tightly so that she almost gasps for breath.

Bearnshaw must NEVER have an excuse to mock me when I return... why, I'd just love to see his lower jaw hit the ground and maybe his eyeballs kind of pop out the way my wooden doll did... and what would he say if I oh-so-casually mentioned I'd killed a LICH singlehandedly?... Oh, boy...oh, boy, oh, boy...

The round face is positively beaming at the prospect of danger and death, and the feet no longer seem as silly as before. The sun is waving at her, the birds are cheering her on... what a difference that siesta had made!