Dub I Dub
Viator soared alone, through the clouds. She closed her eyes, and enjoyed
the cool air currents rushing against her face. She had no clue where she was
going, she was just following the direction that felt right. Over hills, valleys,
and lakes, she was losing track of time, and focus. She spun quickly in the
air, catching an updraft, and gliding forward with a sudden burst of speed.
Suddenly, she felt a twinge of essence.
"Hmm…" she silently questioned it, but sped forward to land. Extending her
feet, and scraping up a bit of dirt on the landing, she folded her wings, and
took a look around.
All around her, nothing but trees. Large evergreens, pines, oaks, pretty much
everything except palm trees loomed around her, and the noon sun caused small
slivers of light to filter through, making weird patterns on Viator.
"Typical," she muttered aloud, closing her eyes in an attempt to concentrate
on the source of the energy. She felt the distinct presence of earth essence,
and pictured the small ball of glowing green light. She held her eyes closed,
and pointed a finger in the air. She leapt, and landed with a thump, and began
spinning. When she stopped, she opened her eyes to see her finger pointing deeper
into the forest.
"Better be off then!" she laughed, starting forward towards the large trees.
After a few minutes of walking, she began to hear odd noises. She could hear
a young voice yelling, and the sounds of a fierce battle. Viator blinked quickly,
and started forward, in a brisk run. To her surprise she came onto a clearing,
she stopped in the bushes around the clearing, and stared at what was going
on inside.
"Get READY!!!" yelled a shadow Shoyru, to a small blue Krawk perched on a
rock opposite the clearing.
"GO!!" yelled the Shoyru, dashing forward. In his hands, he held a large metal
sword, around his waist was the dirty leather sheath. His wrist was clad with
iron wrist braces, and he wore iron shoulder pads. His sheath clanged as he
rushed towards the Krawk, that just stood on the rock, staring at the attacking
Shoyru.
"TAAAAAAAAH!!!" yelled the Shoyru, dashing at the Krawk, which leapt into
the air over him at the last moment. The Shoyru yelled again, and sliced upwards
with its sword. The Krawk merely back flipped out of the way, and shot towards
a tree.
"FIREBALL!!" yelled the Shoyru as his swing ended, and he held out a hand.
In a flash of light, a small ball of fire appeared, and zipped after the blue
Krawk
The Shoyru sat back to watch his mastery, but to his dismay, the Krawk rebounded
off the tree, which caught the fireball in an eruption of flames. Like a blue
bolt of lightning, the Krawk sped back towards the shadowed Shoyru, thoroughly
head-butting him when he landed. The Shoyru made a surprised noise, and collapsed
onto the ground, with the Krawk standing on his head, grinning broadly.
Viator chuckled quietly at the pair, who were obviously adventurers, in their
secret training place. The shadowed Shoyru stood up, rubbing his forehead, and
the Krawk jumped back onto the rock he had been perched on at the beginning.
"Ugh," mumbled the shadowed Shoyru, as he rubbed the spot of impact. "Good
job, Aqua... I guess you win today."
The Krawk said nothing, but grinned smugly. Again, Viator chuckled, but this
time it caught their attention.
"Who's there?" said the Shoyru, snapping its head up, and looking into the
surrounding trees.
Quickly, Viator closed her eyes, and pictured the green light again, when
she opened her eyes, she wasn't at all surprised to see the light surrounding
the young trainer. Without a doubt, the Earth Sage.
"I am!" yelled Viator, pushing the shrubs out of her way, as she entered the
sunlit clearing. The shadowed Shoyru backed away, and raised an eyebrow.
"And who are YOU? Spying on us like that??" he asked.
"I am," she said, as she struck an odd pose on the surrounding rocks. "Viator!
Dragon Knight to the Great Elemental Dragon of Fire!"
This odd display only caused the Shoyru to back away faster, but he stopped
when his Krawk hopped onto his shoulders.
"Oh yeah. I've heard of you," said the Shoyru, after a moment of thought.
"I'm Kargupi! I'm actually aspiring to eventually challenge you."
"Just what I need," muttered Viator sarcastically.
"What?" asked Kargupi, sheathing his sword.
"Nothing!! Training here I see?" said Viator, stepping forward into the scorched/slashed
up clearing.
"Yup!" nodded Kargupi, enthusiastically. "M'krawk Aqua and I train here everyday.
I think I'm getting better."
"Heh, wait till you hear this," said Viator, stepping forward, and motioning
for him to sit down.
"What?" asked Kargupi, as he sat down on a nearby rock. His Krawk hopped onto
a perch on his head, and blinked curiously.
"Instead of challenging me... why not work with me?" started Viator, as she
sat down and made herself comfortable.
A few minutes later, Kargupi sat, bright eyes in awe at Viator's story. His
Krawk had fallen asleep in boredom.
"REALLY? ME?" yelled the shadowed Shoyru excitedly.
"Yup. Earth Sage." Nodded Viator, a grin on her face.
Kargupi stood up suddenly, raising a fist into the air. Viator sweat dropped,
and stared at his enthusiasm.
"What're you WAITING for Via???" he yelled, jarring his protesting Krawk out
of sleep. "We have evil to vanquish!!"
"Eh... I suppose… we do?!" laughed Viator, standing up. "Like I told you,
you have to point in the direction of your fellow Sage."
"I know that!" said Kargupi, waving a hand at her.
"So… get to it," said Viator, raising an eyebrow.
"R... right!" he mumbled, closing his eyes.
After a few minutes, Viator's foot tapped impatiently on the rocks. Kargupi
opened one eye, then quickly closed it again when he saw Viator's annoyed look.
Jumping suddenly, he drew his sword. He leapt into the air, in a back flip.
He landed, his sword pointing deeper into the forest.
"There!" He yelled triumphantly, opening his eyes. Viator sighed, and rubbed
her eyes.
"Then let's go," she said, starting forward, annoyed that she wouldn't be
able to fly. Kargupi looked up at his blue Krawk, and they nodded in agreement,
and started after her.
After a few long hours of walking, Viator sighed, and sat down on a nearby
rock.
"This is taking FOREVER!!" she whined, lifting her feet up, and leaning back
under the shade.
"Don't wimp out now! We're getting closer! I can feel it!!" cried Kargupi,
pointing into the woods.
"You go then," mumbled Viator, resting her head in her hand, and closing
her eyes.
"Don't give up now," said a mysterious voice, emanating from further in the
woods.
Viator's eyes popped open, and she blinked quickly, before grimacing.
"Mythril?" she yelled angrily.
"Who?" asked Kargupi, blinking twice.
"Yes? Who?" said the voice, getting closer.
"Stay back!" yelled Viator, jumping to her feet. Kargupi blinked again, and
reached for his sword.
"Relax Via," said the cool familiar voice of Ghwely. The cloaked starry Shoyru
walked into the sunlight around them, and bowed quickly.
"Phew... Ghwely... I thought you were," panted Viator.
"Mythril?" he finished, raising an eyebrow. "Who's your friend?" he asked,
nodding towards Kargupi.
"He's Kargupi, a lil guy I picked up on my travels. Wants to challenge me,
yah know?" laughed Viator, turning her head, and smirking at the cloaked Shoyru.
"I am not!" yelled Kargupi, stomping his foot.
"Relax. Viator has always been like that," grinned Ghwely, waving a hand
at the angry shadowed Shoyru, and shaking his head at Viator. Viator merely
closed her eyes, grinned, and shrugged her shoulders.
"You two are weird," said Kargupi, backing away from them.
"Again, relax." Said Ghwely, holding up a hand. "You all seem lost. Allow
me to offer you some food, and a warm fire."
"Yes please!" said both Kargupi and Viator enthusiastically.
"Very well," smiled Ghwely, as he waved a hand quickly. A shrill wind passed
by quickly, and a large tree appeared in the center of the small clearing. Kargupis
jaw dropped, and Viator just blinked.
"Eh? When did you learn to do that?" asked Viator, raising an eyebrow at the
cloaked Shoyru.
"Just something I picked up on my travels," sighed Ghwely, as he stepped
towards the tree, his cloak swishing. "Hurry up!"
Viator turned to Kargupi, and shrugged, and they followed. When they got up
to the tree, Ghwely knocked twice, loudly, on the wood, and a large hole appeared.
Ghwely smiled to himself, and stepped inside. Viator frowned, and Kargupi heard
her mutter something to the like of "show off" before she stepped in.
As they walked through a long, dank hall, the torches on the wall lit as soon
as they came to them.
"Impressive," mumbled Viator.
"Travels," replied Ghwely.
As they reached the end of the hall, a series of torches lit up, revealing
a huge circular room. A few pieces of furniture littered about, and a fireplace
quickly lit up in one corner of the room. In the center of the room, was a large
circular rug, and on the wall, tapestries hung, depicting various scenes of
triumph.
"Roomy," said Viator, staring up at the domed ceiling, a large mural painted
on it.
"How," mumbled Kargupi, scratching his head. His Krawk was equally in
awe at the surroundings.
"And you haven't even seen the library yet." Said Ghwely, grinning at their
confusion.
"You have been busy traveling, haven't you?" said Viator, raising an eyebrow
as she swept a finer across the wall, leaving a long trail in the dust.
"Did I not say that?" replied Ghwely, rolling his eyes. "If you'll excuse
me, I'll be back with some drinks." And before Viator or Kargupi could reply,
he had disappeared without a trace.
"Agh... He'll never change," sighed Viator, flopping into a nearby chair, and
coughing from the dust cloud that flew up.
"You know him?" asked Kargupi, following her example. His Krawk sneezed at
the dust.
"'Eah, he's a family relation, you could say. It's a really long story, that
I don't feel like getting into," sighed Viator again, meekly waving a hand.
"But I will say that he leaves to travel and study abroad a lot. He's the one
who gives my sister Admantine various texts to translate."
"Oh," blinked Kargupi, turning to look at the fireplace.
Before either of them could get in another word, Ghwely reappeared, holding
a tray full of various foods, and small tea glasses. Kargupi immediately sat
up, and reached for a chocolate as Ghwely walked over. His Krawk did the same,
but only managed to fall onto the floor, and look supremely disgruntled.
When Ghwely got to Viator with his tea glasses, she stared at them for a moment,
and looked up at him with a wide grin.
"Teeeea?" she laughed, smirking.
"A new brew, I found on my journeys." He frowned, rolling his eyes at her,
and flinging the glass in her general direction. Viator barely managed to catch
it, and almost dropped it again when she realized how hot the cup was.
After a few moments of idle chatting, Viator set her tea glass down, and leaned
back to relax. Ghwely had also sat down across the room, becoming interested
in a book he had randomly found. Kargupi kept staring at him. Before Viator
could close her eyes for a nap, she felt Kargupi tapping her shoulder.
"Um. Viator?" he asked, blinking his large eyes at her.
"Wha," she mumbled.
"I... think Mr. Ghwely is the other Earth Sage," he replied, wringing
his hands nervously.
"You sure?" asked Viator, closing her eyes.
"Yes…I've been watching him for a while, and it just seems like he is," said
Kargupi, scratching the top of his head.
Ghwely looked up at the two of them, and raised an eyebrow.
"You don't have to call my Mr. Ghwely," he said, grinning at Kargupi.
Kargupi only blinked, realizing that Ghwely had heard what he whispered.
"Mah... I didn't really doubt that for a moment. I kinda had an inkling all
along." Grinned Viator, her eyes still closed. "But I suppose now, you'll both
want to see the Earth Dragon. And I was just getting comfy," she sighed. She
began to pull herself from the comfortable chair, with much effort.
"The EARTH DRAGON!! Did you hear that Mr. Ghwely?" yelled Kargupi, grabbing
Viator's hand, and tugging her up faster.
"Uhm, I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me Mr. Ghwely Didn't I just say
that?" mumbled Ghwely, frowning as he put his book away, and stood.
"Yes, yes. Mr. Ghwely," replied Kargupi, pushing Viator out the way they
had come in. Ghwely grinned at the enthusiasm, and followed. All the while,
his cloak flying out behind him.
To be continued... | 
