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Week 2.
WEEK 2. The new week begins with new surroundings. The city you've been growing accustomed to over the past week is now well behind you as you set out on your journey proper; the terrain still seems rocky and steep here as you move downhill and to the south, dotted here and there with small ponds to the east and rocky outcroppings that you can climb on to the west. There are also large expanses of tall grass here, and the entire route is flanked with tall trees leading off into the forest a short ways. You're more than welcome to explore; just don't stray too far from the group - you wouldn't want to be left behind out here, for any reason. Wild Pokémon are abundant here, as anyone venturing into the tall grass will discover; they aren't inclined to attack you, however, simply watching with dull, dead eyes as you stumble through the area they've come to call home. The trip is difficult, and it's a lot of walking, but it's not unmanageable; fortunately enough, the route you're on should lead you directly to Valor Lakefront, assuming there are no complications along the way. From Thursday and beyond, the route takes a sharp turn west; in front of you lies what's clearly the ocean, large rocks jutting out just offshore tempering the waves. It's safe to go in the water if you so choose - assuming you can swim, that is - and the forested terrain has given way to a large beach with patches of tall grass here and there. Interestingly, there's a house located on the beach; whether it's inhabited or not is difficult to tell. Of course, exploring slightly north of the beach will reveal a path. Maybe it leads somewhere important... POKEMON AVAILABLE: NEAR WATER SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week two of Azume; feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget that a write-up is due next weekend!] |
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Nope.
It sure did sound like it, huh?
[ And in some other universe, he probably did. ]
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[He reaches out for a marshmallow; let's do this]
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So basically, if you don't know how this works, you stick your marshmellow on the end of the stick, heat it up a little by the fire, and squish it between two pieces of cookies. Then there's some chocolate in there too, but since I grabbed the chocolate chip cookie ones, so it's all in one.
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Doesn't this usually involve graham crackers?
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[ He's not wrong. ]
It turns out I managed not to grab any, so cookies it is. They're kind of close enough anyway.
[ ...So he's been definitely saying it's "cookies" for now, though he's looking a little sheepish. ]
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[He can think of a million different ways they aren't close at all, but that's really not worth getting into. So, okay, let's roast this marshmallow.]
You said stories are also traditional?
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Yep. Usually at times like these, people tell some good stories -- a lot of them are either funny or kind of spooky, but anything else is fine too.
Do you have a story you're thinking about?
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[He just wants to get a feel for the tone of the evening. Most of his stories are not exactly appropriate for all settings.]
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[ Oh, he has the perfect one... ]
Once there was a place called 'The Silent Forest'. Not many people went through it, and not because they're heard bad rumors about it. It's because the trees in that forest are pitch black with black leaves. They were also said to be cursed by a sorcerer who was looking to make it hard for people looking to take a shortcut through the forest. Why? Because he was a jerk and he could do it.
Also, it was said that anything that touched the trees were automatically cursed and it'd spread whatever terrible things it had to the thing that touched them. So that was another reason not to go in there.
But anyway, one day a knight from the castle town noticed that it seemed as if the dark forest had somehow gotten closer to the town, but thought he was just seeing things. On the second day, though, the knight definitely knew nothing was wrong with his vision when he noticed more black trees closer along the road. So, he alerted the King and Queen of this problem.
They decided that the best thing to do was to have every tree from that forest burned down. So, they did -- it didn't take very long for the forest to burn to a crisp and luckily none of the good trees nearby burnt down. Once the fire ended, the knight went to double check all of the trees from that forest had been cleared. Then, he went back to town.
The castle town partied long and hard, finally rid of the terrible cursed forest and avoided any disaster that might have fallen them.
When the knight returned to his room, though, you wouldn't believe what he saw next.
[ Ventus takes a dramatic pause as he takes his sufficiently roasted marshmellow away from the fire and puts two cookies one each end of the marshmellow. ]
There was a single black tree in his room and it was so tall that everyone in the town could see it. Also, his roof had a big hole in it now, and that wasn't all either. When he looked closer, that was something there that really made him mad! What was it, you're wondering? It was some note left behind in fancy handwriting that read: "For you."
The End!
[ ... ]
I bet you didn't expect that one to end the way it did, huh?
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[Wow, okay, so that's a no on "anecdotes from Hell". Michael puts his own s'more together, mentally running through what human stories he knows.]
Okay. How about this?
Once, there were three apprentices. They were all good friends, and they agreed to always work in the same town, so they'd always be together. But one year a hard winter came, and there were no jobs to be found. The friends got poorer and poorer, until eventually they agreed that they would have to split up, to go out and seek their own individual fortunes.
But as they started on the road, they met a well-dressed man, who asked where they were headed. "We're leaving to look for work," they said. "Up until now, we've always stuck together, but if we can't find jobs, we're not gonna be able to anymore."
"Don't worry about that," the man told them. "I have a job for you. If you do it, you'll never have to worry about money again." But the first apprentice was cannier than the other two. She didn't trust this mysterious benefactor coming out of nowhere. She was right not to, because when she reached out to yank his fancy robes away, she saw that he had hooves underneath instead of feet. He wasn't really a man, you see - he was the Devil. But the Devil said, "Relax. I don't want your souls - there's another soul who's half mine already. That's who I want. We can help each other out here."
So they agreed to work for the Devil, and he told them what their job was. Whenever they were asked a question, the first apprentice was to answer "All three of us,"; the second was to answer "For money,"; and the third was to answer "And quite right, too!". They couldn't say anything else to anyone else at all, only those three things, one after the other, or else all their money would disappear. As long as they kept their promise, though, they would have all the gold they could carry. Then he gave them a bunch of money and told them about a fancy inn nearby that they could stay at, just to get started.
They went to the inn, and lived there for a while. Since they would only say those three phrases, everybody thought they were crazy. Didn't pay them any attention at all. But the three friends were always there, and they knew everything that went on under that roof.
One day, a rich man came to stay at the inn. He had a chest full of gold with him, which he left with the innkeeper for safekeeping. Stupid thing to do - of course the innkeeper killed him in his sleep and stole the gold. In the morning, he acted all surprised, and said that it must have been those three crazy people living in the inn. When the police went to the apprentices to ask if one of them had killed the man, the first one stuck to her guns and said "All three of us!" After that, of course, the others followed her lead. Why did they do it? "For money!" They must be terrible criminals, to confess so brazenly. "And quite right, too!"
So the three were arrested and scheduled to be hanged the next day. In prison that night, they were understandably concerned, and considered breaking their promise. How could they know that the Devil wasn't just playing with them? But the first apprentice, the smart one, had already decided on her path, and she always could convince the others. They decided to take a - a leap into faith, if you will, and trust the Devil's word.
The next day, as they were about to be hanged, a glittering carriage raced up. A nobleman jumped out, and only the apprentices saw him for the Devil he was. As they'd been faithful, he released them from their vow, and they told the townspeople what the innkeeper had done, and showed them where he had hidden the bodies of other guests over the years. The innkeeper was hanged in their place, and the Devil took his soul down to Hell. Afterwards, the apprentices remained rich forever, and they were all four of them good friends.
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His eyebrows shoot up a tad at the mention of 'hooves' and for all his lighthearted storytelling Ventus might have thought this could turn into 'and then they were swindled' or at least he thinks that it might because it sure sounded like it could.
At the mention of the guy getting killed and the three getting blamed there is a small "Oh no..." that escapes him, most definitely.
...And guess who isn't expecting it to end like it did? The bad guy got caught too!
Ventus is going to now be clapping with a grin on his face (along with some crumbs.) ]
Wow, that was great! Has anyone ever told you that you're pretty good at telling stories?
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Thank you. You're a fun audience to tell one for.