Chapter 3: On the Road.
Jirke walked along the road from Nexus, no hitches, no bad spills, and the day was perfect for walking. There were plenty of trees for shade when he decided to sit and eat his stolen spoils from passing caravans, and the river that ran down from the mountains provided clear, cool water. He could see the tips of the peaks just over the horizon. "That's where I'm goin'," he thinks aloud.
A gruff, scraggly voice next to him suddenly says, "Where to, son? Don't think I heardja."
A scream and a jump from the Thief, and he pulled out his kukuri knives in reflex. He was awake this time, and it wasn't dark. "Woah there, kiddo!" It was an old man, squatting right next to where Jirke had stopped to let his mind wander. He now held his hands up in a surrendering fashion. Jirke relaxed, letting his arms going limp at his sides. The old man obviously proposed no immediate threat to the Thief, what with the simple clothes and the frail figure that the man displayed. There was a boy behind the man, and his eyes were bugging out of his head in fear, and clutching his father's robes. The man pat the boy's head in reassurance and let his hands down slowly.
Jirke grinned sheepishly and slipped his kukuri over his shoulders and into the bag's flap. "So, hey there, kid. Where you headed? You seemed kinda out of it there. You were talkin' to yerself, too."
"Oh, right. I'm actually headed towards the mountain range there. Big money, I hear. Some little town called...Wankler's Knob? Shankler's...er...no, I'm thinking of that old man again. Uhm...something like that."
"Wangler's Knob?"
"Yeah! That's the one! I'm headed there."
"Well, that's quite the coincidence! We are too! We live up there, and this new rush for treasure's catchin' quite a price on th' open market! Hey, kid, I have an idea. Why don't you come with us? You seem a little lonely."
Jirke had been walking a while, and a little bit of hitchhiking seemed very appealing right then. "All right. You've got a deal!"
"Good stuff, kid. The wagon's right over here." The man slapped Jirke's back heartily and laughed. Jirke joined him.
"You really scared me there."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that...Say... D'you got a daughter?" Jirke inquired slyly.
"She's over at the carriage. Why?"
"No reason."
Jirke lay uncomfortably in the merchant's carriage, sprawled over his belongings and wares, bent in ways most people's bodies would complain about. Facing the sun, his eyes were wide open, not bothering him at all, but forcing him to blink a little more than usual. The old man who had introduced himself as Jeht was in front with the little boy, who's name turned out to be Cherryl. [Jirke was curious about that one.] Jeht was a fairly portly man with a greying beard that was just as red as the sky at sunset. The boy, Cherryl, had the same color of hair as the old merchant, so Jirke assumed he was Jeht's son. The merchant named Jeht's daughter was perched above Jirke, somewhere off in the general direction of his right. [He wasn't too sure. After throwing himself into the cart and waking up once or twice got him a little disoriented. He was never good at waking up right.] Her name was Petal. She was a rather striking girl, not of exceptional note, but it wasn't hard to look at her for long periods of staring.
She sat above him flipping through his notebook admiring his sketches and notes. "You enjoying yourself up there, Petal?"
"Hm? Oh. I really like your drawings...they're very good."
"D'you know anything about any of the notes in there?"
"I've never learned how to read."
"Oh...I'm sorry." He said haltingly.
"Don't be. I've just been busier helping my father with his sales."
"Do you enjoy being a merchant?"
"Do you enjoy sex?"
Jirke faltered at that.
"Wh...uh....excuse me?"
"Do you enjoy sex?"
"Wh...why of course I do!" He lied horribly.
She giggled. He seethed. "Don't laugh, it's not that funny."
"I think it's cute."
He replied defensively, "I'm only 19."
"I'm only 18."
He thought about that for a moment and pulled his tinted goggles over his eyes. Keep his eyes from drying out so fast.
"What?" Her tone donned a bit of an incredulous edge.
"My eyes hurt." he said matter-of-factly. "You ever stare into the sun for an hour? You'd feel the same."
"Oh. So you don't mind that you've never done it?"
"Course not. My real passion is Artifact Collection. I've only got one or two really fantastic pieces, but...I'm not going to complain." He sat up and let his body pop and creak it's approval before standing up and stretching out.
"I think I'll make do with my absence of love for now." He winked at the girl, and turned to face the front of the wagon.
"Hey, pops. Is this the fastest we can go? How much longer till you think I can start cookin' dinner?"
"Not too much longer. We've ridden for most of the day, and looks like a good spot to water the horses is comin' up soon."
Jirke sighed. There were plenty of places to water the horses. They were riding parallel to a river. He flopped back down into the carriage part of the wagon, and made himself a little more comfortable this time. Tapping his fingers, Jirke let the ride carry on, it's little bumps and jolts rippling the soft flesh of the girl's bosom. Luckily, the goggles prevented evidence of ogling, so Jirke didn't recieve any appropriate slaps or kicks. He smiled to himself.
Night fell, without a difficulty "Like purse cutting," Jirke speculated. The carriage stopped with a little jolt and a thud, and Jeht hopped down. "Hey, kid, we're up. Let's camp it."
Jirke whooped and bounded out of the carriage ecstatically, grabbing his pack and tossing it as far as he could in no real pre-discerned direction, following it and pulling out supplies. Petal followed him. He slipped a rather large frying pan from the pack and threw some jerky into the pan. He focused for a second, and the pan flared to life, the jerky sizzling and popping fatly. Jeht and Cherryl set up a tent near the streambank as Jirke wolfed down jerky and replaced it with another piece as soon as one disappeared.
Petal was astonished. Jirke looked at her. Jerky was hanging from his mouth, and grease dripped off the tip of it. His cheeks reminded Petal of the squirrels near home. "Yeff?"
"Where's the fire?" She tried to reach into the pan to touch the base, but Jirke pulled it away.
"Woah, no. Not a good idea. I did the same thing. Couldn't use my hand for a week. Besides, it doesn't need fire. It's one of my favorite...um...finds, let's say for now."
"Where did you find it?" She was enrapt with Jirke. He didn't complain. He lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Well, I didn't exactly FIND it...I stole it. I'm a thief."
"No way. You're so clumsy. You couldn't steal the shell of a snail."
Jirke smiled. She's given me an excuse. He invoked a little bit of Essence, and with ease and without seeming to move, he removed the girl's shirt. He hid it behind his back. His grin widened. "What's so funny?" She was getting annoyed.
Jirke held up the shirt on his index finger and chuckled a little. Petal's eyes widened and she looked down at her now virtually bare torso and chest. Jirke tossed the clothing to her and raised his hands innocently. "Don't worry, I didn't look."
"Okay, okay, so you're a competent thief."
"I could've stolen your whole carraige by now. I think that's a little more than competent." He spoke sternly and raised an eyebrow at Petal.
"Well, whatever. Just tell me where you got the frying pan."
More jerky appeared in his mouth. "It was sometime a few months ago. I was wandering around through some forest, a kind of small one, and I saw this old man squatting over this pan." He held it up. "I watched him for a bit, and saw how the thing worked, and I'd never seen anything like it before. I wanted it. So I took it. I did what I did just now to your shirt, except he did end up noticing. I slipped it into my pack and kept running. I was moving so fast, I didn't really hear it all too well, but the old man yelled something after me, but it was probably just some inappropriate curse or something." He waved his hand in a little circle, a little impassively, as if it were nothing special.
"Wow...that's amazing. How does it actually do that, though?"
"Just takes a little bit of magic. I guess you could say I'm a little bit of a sorcerer."
She recoiled. "You're not a warlock, are you?!"
"Dear heavens no!" Jerky. "I'm just a traveling, thieving, Artifact Collector! No harm will come from me. I assure you."
She relaxed visibly. "All right. I believe you." Her father approached at this point and let his hands rest on his daughter's shoulders. "Hey, you. It's gettin' late. Think you should hit the sack."
"Lemme help." Jirke picked up his bag and held it up. "Go ahead. Hit it. If you won't, I will." You could tell he was smiling, even in the pitch dark.
She smiled and punched it playfully and stood up. Jirke smiled back and made a little wave goodnight as Jeht and Petal meandered over to their little makeshift home. Jirke called back "I'm not goin' to sleep for a while. This stuff gives me such a buzz. I'll keep watch for any dangers." Jeht waved over his shoulder his approval. Jirke nodded in achievement and slipped everything back into his bag, cleaning the frying pan and moving back to his own camp. He pulled himself into his pack, and lay on his stomach facing the tent to keep watch over the generous merchant's family. He smiled and thanked them silently.
Hours later, Jirke woke up from a half-slumber. It was the middle of the night. He grimaced and moaned as he rolled over onto his stomach. This always happened at nights with clear skies. He just could never really sleep. "Throws my whole damned body clock off." he seethed. It was a new moon, so there wasn't really any light at all, just a multitude of shadows. Still rubbing the sleep from his eyes and propping himself up, he wondered Should those be moving? I'm probably just seeing spots. He shook his head and looked again. People were moving around, sifting through the casrgo and peeking into the family's tent. His eyes snapped open and he was now wide awake. Jirke then proceeded to stand up as slowly and quietly as he could. He reached back into his back and pulled out his right-handed kukuri knife. He winced at the scratching noise of metal upon metal as he pulled on the knife. He pulled back into an almost starting-block position, and braced his feet into the dirt. Just before he sprang forward, an explosion of light leapt out from behind the carriage, and a short-cut scream could be heard. He grit his teeth together and squinted, his eyes not ready to focus that quickly. All of the shadows leapt up and seemed to focus it's attention on the light, which now swirled and burst like sunspots. The explosion sped towards a group of three shadowmen and made quick work of them. Two more tried to dash towards him, catching him from behind, and holding his arms. The explosion brought up what seemed to be it's legs, and caught the 2 capuring shadows in the kneecaps. Jirke could distinctly hear the burst and crunch of the shadows' legs exploding from their flesh. "Oof." He exhaled lightly, pitying the poor souls. There was one shadow left, and it hesitated, backing away, one step, two, before finally making up it's mind and turning to run [a wise choice, Jirke discerned.] The explosion watched and waited for a bit, then crouched down and exploded from the ground. It flew through the air, 50 feet to where the shadow was still running, panting and pleading to nothing for his life. The explosion landed directly on his head, sending him to the ground, and sending his head into pieces...
The explosion was much closer to Jirke than it was before, and he could now clearly see a body taking shape inside the explosion. The light-man stood still for a moment, as if it were contemplating it's next move. As it came into sharper focus, Jirke could now see eyes glowing brightly, along with a mark on where it's forehead would be. The light-man's head snapped up and looked directly at Jirke, burning eyes piercing through him. Jirke recoiled, pulling his leg up and shielding his face with his arms, letting out a little shout. Jirke knew it was looking at him. He just didn't know who he was looking at. He swallowed visibly and began to sweat profusely, dreading the light-man's future desicions.
The light-man turned toward him, and began to walk towards him, it's eyes searing two holes through his flesh and into his soul.
A gruff, scraggly voice next to him suddenly says, "Where to, son? Don't think I heardja."
A scream and a jump from the Thief, and he pulled out his kukuri knives in reflex. He was awake this time, and it wasn't dark. "Woah there, kiddo!" It was an old man, squatting right next to where Jirke had stopped to let his mind wander. He now held his hands up in a surrendering fashion. Jirke relaxed, letting his arms going limp at his sides. The old man obviously proposed no immediate threat to the Thief, what with the simple clothes and the frail figure that the man displayed. There was a boy behind the man, and his eyes were bugging out of his head in fear, and clutching his father's robes. The man pat the boy's head in reassurance and let his hands down slowly.
Jirke grinned sheepishly and slipped his kukuri over his shoulders and into the bag's flap. "So, hey there, kid. Where you headed? You seemed kinda out of it there. You were talkin' to yerself, too."
"Oh, right. I'm actually headed towards the mountain range there. Big money, I hear. Some little town called...Wankler's Knob? Shankler's...er...no, I'm thinking of that old man again. Uhm...something like that."
"Wangler's Knob?"
"Yeah! That's the one! I'm headed there."
"Well, that's quite the coincidence! We are too! We live up there, and this new rush for treasure's catchin' quite a price on th' open market! Hey, kid, I have an idea. Why don't you come with us? You seem a little lonely."
Jirke had been walking a while, and a little bit of hitchhiking seemed very appealing right then. "All right. You've got a deal!"
"Good stuff, kid. The wagon's right over here." The man slapped Jirke's back heartily and laughed. Jirke joined him.
"You really scared me there."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that...Say... D'you got a daughter?" Jirke inquired slyly.
"She's over at the carriage. Why?"
"No reason."
Jirke lay uncomfortably in the merchant's carriage, sprawled over his belongings and wares, bent in ways most people's bodies would complain about. Facing the sun, his eyes were wide open, not bothering him at all, but forcing him to blink a little more than usual. The old man who had introduced himself as Jeht was in front with the little boy, who's name turned out to be Cherryl. [Jirke was curious about that one.] Jeht was a fairly portly man with a greying beard that was just as red as the sky at sunset. The boy, Cherryl, had the same color of hair as the old merchant, so Jirke assumed he was Jeht's son. The merchant named Jeht's daughter was perched above Jirke, somewhere off in the general direction of his right. [He wasn't too sure. After throwing himself into the cart and waking up once or twice got him a little disoriented. He was never good at waking up right.] Her name was Petal. She was a rather striking girl, not of exceptional note, but it wasn't hard to look at her for long periods of staring.
She sat above him flipping through his notebook admiring his sketches and notes. "You enjoying yourself up there, Petal?"
"Hm? Oh. I really like your drawings...they're very good."
"D'you know anything about any of the notes in there?"
"I've never learned how to read."
"Oh...I'm sorry." He said haltingly.
"Don't be. I've just been busier helping my father with his sales."
"Do you enjoy being a merchant?"
"Do you enjoy sex?"
Jirke faltered at that.
"Wh...uh....excuse me?"
"Do you enjoy sex?"
"Wh...why of course I do!" He lied horribly.
She giggled. He seethed. "Don't laugh, it's not that funny."
"I think it's cute."
He replied defensively, "I'm only 19."
"I'm only 18."
He thought about that for a moment and pulled his tinted goggles over his eyes. Keep his eyes from drying out so fast.
"What?" Her tone donned a bit of an incredulous edge.
"My eyes hurt." he said matter-of-factly. "You ever stare into the sun for an hour? You'd feel the same."
"Oh. So you don't mind that you've never done it?"
"Course not. My real passion is Artifact Collection. I've only got one or two really fantastic pieces, but...I'm not going to complain." He sat up and let his body pop and creak it's approval before standing up and stretching out.
"I think I'll make do with my absence of love for now." He winked at the girl, and turned to face the front of the wagon.
"Hey, pops. Is this the fastest we can go? How much longer till you think I can start cookin' dinner?"
"Not too much longer. We've ridden for most of the day, and looks like a good spot to water the horses is comin' up soon."
Jirke sighed. There were plenty of places to water the horses. They were riding parallel to a river. He flopped back down into the carriage part of the wagon, and made himself a little more comfortable this time. Tapping his fingers, Jirke let the ride carry on, it's little bumps and jolts rippling the soft flesh of the girl's bosom. Luckily, the goggles prevented evidence of ogling, so Jirke didn't recieve any appropriate slaps or kicks. He smiled to himself.
Night fell, without a difficulty "Like purse cutting," Jirke speculated. The carriage stopped with a little jolt and a thud, and Jeht hopped down. "Hey, kid, we're up. Let's camp it."
Jirke whooped and bounded out of the carriage ecstatically, grabbing his pack and tossing it as far as he could in no real pre-discerned direction, following it and pulling out supplies. Petal followed him. He slipped a rather large frying pan from the pack and threw some jerky into the pan. He focused for a second, and the pan flared to life, the jerky sizzling and popping fatly. Jeht and Cherryl set up a tent near the streambank as Jirke wolfed down jerky and replaced it with another piece as soon as one disappeared.
Petal was astonished. Jirke looked at her. Jerky was hanging from his mouth, and grease dripped off the tip of it. His cheeks reminded Petal of the squirrels near home. "Yeff?"
"Where's the fire?" She tried to reach into the pan to touch the base, but Jirke pulled it away.
"Woah, no. Not a good idea. I did the same thing. Couldn't use my hand for a week. Besides, it doesn't need fire. It's one of my favorite...um...finds, let's say for now."
"Where did you find it?" She was enrapt with Jirke. He didn't complain. He lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Well, I didn't exactly FIND it...I stole it. I'm a thief."
"No way. You're so clumsy. You couldn't steal the shell of a snail."
Jirke smiled. She's given me an excuse. He invoked a little bit of Essence, and with ease and without seeming to move, he removed the girl's shirt. He hid it behind his back. His grin widened. "What's so funny?" She was getting annoyed.
Jirke held up the shirt on his index finger and chuckled a little. Petal's eyes widened and she looked down at her now virtually bare torso and chest. Jirke tossed the clothing to her and raised his hands innocently. "Don't worry, I didn't look."
"Okay, okay, so you're a competent thief."
"I could've stolen your whole carraige by now. I think that's a little more than competent." He spoke sternly and raised an eyebrow at Petal.
"Well, whatever. Just tell me where you got the frying pan."
More jerky appeared in his mouth. "It was sometime a few months ago. I was wandering around through some forest, a kind of small one, and I saw this old man squatting over this pan." He held it up. "I watched him for a bit, and saw how the thing worked, and I'd never seen anything like it before. I wanted it. So I took it. I did what I did just now to your shirt, except he did end up noticing. I slipped it into my pack and kept running. I was moving so fast, I didn't really hear it all too well, but the old man yelled something after me, but it was probably just some inappropriate curse or something." He waved his hand in a little circle, a little impassively, as if it were nothing special.
"Wow...that's amazing. How does it actually do that, though?"
"Just takes a little bit of magic. I guess you could say I'm a little bit of a sorcerer."
She recoiled. "You're not a warlock, are you?!"
"Dear heavens no!" Jerky. "I'm just a traveling, thieving, Artifact Collector! No harm will come from me. I assure you."
She relaxed visibly. "All right. I believe you." Her father approached at this point and let his hands rest on his daughter's shoulders. "Hey, you. It's gettin' late. Think you should hit the sack."
"Lemme help." Jirke picked up his bag and held it up. "Go ahead. Hit it. If you won't, I will." You could tell he was smiling, even in the pitch dark.
She smiled and punched it playfully and stood up. Jirke smiled back and made a little wave goodnight as Jeht and Petal meandered over to their little makeshift home. Jirke called back "I'm not goin' to sleep for a while. This stuff gives me such a buzz. I'll keep watch for any dangers." Jeht waved over his shoulder his approval. Jirke nodded in achievement and slipped everything back into his bag, cleaning the frying pan and moving back to his own camp. He pulled himself into his pack, and lay on his stomach facing the tent to keep watch over the generous merchant's family. He smiled and thanked them silently.
Hours later, Jirke woke up from a half-slumber. It was the middle of the night. He grimaced and moaned as he rolled over onto his stomach. This always happened at nights with clear skies. He just could never really sleep. "Throws my whole damned body clock off." he seethed. It was a new moon, so there wasn't really any light at all, just a multitude of shadows. Still rubbing the sleep from his eyes and propping himself up, he wondered Should those be moving? I'm probably just seeing spots. He shook his head and looked again. People were moving around, sifting through the casrgo and peeking into the family's tent. His eyes snapped open and he was now wide awake. Jirke then proceeded to stand up as slowly and quietly as he could. He reached back into his back and pulled out his right-handed kukuri knife. He winced at the scratching noise of metal upon metal as he pulled on the knife. He pulled back into an almost starting-block position, and braced his feet into the dirt. Just before he sprang forward, an explosion of light leapt out from behind the carriage, and a short-cut scream could be heard. He grit his teeth together and squinted, his eyes not ready to focus that quickly. All of the shadows leapt up and seemed to focus it's attention on the light, which now swirled and burst like sunspots. The explosion sped towards a group of three shadowmen and made quick work of them. Two more tried to dash towards him, catching him from behind, and holding his arms. The explosion brought up what seemed to be it's legs, and caught the 2 capuring shadows in the kneecaps. Jirke could distinctly hear the burst and crunch of the shadows' legs exploding from their flesh. "Oof." He exhaled lightly, pitying the poor souls. There was one shadow left, and it hesitated, backing away, one step, two, before finally making up it's mind and turning to run [a wise choice, Jirke discerned.] The explosion watched and waited for a bit, then crouched down and exploded from the ground. It flew through the air, 50 feet to where the shadow was still running, panting and pleading to nothing for his life. The explosion landed directly on his head, sending him to the ground, and sending his head into pieces...
The explosion was much closer to Jirke than it was before, and he could now clearly see a body taking shape inside the explosion. The light-man stood still for a moment, as if it were contemplating it's next move. As it came into sharper focus, Jirke could now see eyes glowing brightly, along with a mark on where it's forehead would be. The light-man's head snapped up and looked directly at Jirke, burning eyes piercing through him. Jirke recoiled, pulling his leg up and shielding his face with his arms, letting out a little shout. Jirke knew it was looking at him. He just didn't know who he was looking at. He swallowed visibly and began to sweat profusely, dreading the light-man's future desicions.
The light-man turned toward him, and began to walk towards him, it's eyes searing two holes through his flesh and into his soul.