A Walk in a Forest (Adv. Open)

Balendin flew high up in the air on his Ironite named Iro. His pink dragon had caused quite a stir amongst his subjects when he had flown it over Saronia and into the castle courtyard earlier that day. At first it had been fear thinking a monster had come flying over the walls and Balendin had no doubt he had almost been shot from the sky. Once they had noticed him riding the dragon, they had let up a cheer. Balendin had no doubt that he was all ready being called "Dragon Tamer" or "The Dragon King" and bards were creating tales of how he had fought and forced a dragon to obey his will against all odds. In his subjects eyes, he was a mighty hero and everything he did they seemed to twist into some epic and amazing feat. Word had come to him that bards and story tellers were already telling tales that suggested he had practically ended the civil war by himself. It was getting quite annoying in all honesty. He was not some sort of great hero. He was just a man. He wanted to tell them to all stop with this nonsense, but it seemed that the people believing him to be a hero was good for moral and kept his subjects spirits up in these bleak times. Many people were still forced to live without a roof over there heads and consumed barely enough food to keep them nourished. If him being seen as some sort of hero king would make the people happy, then who was he to take that away from them.

Balendin was flying northwest of Saronia following the cost. He had wanted to go out exploring the world a bit and to get to know the surrounding environs better since he was now a king here. He did not know how far he was going to go, but if he stumbled upon the village called Replito that was suppose to be in this direction, he was going to spend the night and meet the people. The town was said to have evokers or summoners in it and Balendin was interesting in meeting such folk. In his homeworld of Gaia, there were only two known summoners in existence as far as Balendin knew; one being the Queen of Alexandria and the other being the adopted daughter of Regent Cid of Lindblum. He hoped to form an alliance with this town if he could.

As Balendin flew over a forest he decided to give Iro a rest. He had the pink dragon touch down in a small clearing. He dismounted and scratched Iro behind his neck frills. The pink dragon nuzzled him contently and then went to sleep. Balendin found a path and followed it. There could be something interesting in this forest, but then again it could be just an average forest. Whatever was here, there would likely be monsters so Balendin was wary. If something attacked him he would not be caught unaware.

As trees loomed ominously overhead, masking the sun from reaching the forest floor, the creatures went about their lives, making various noises. The ground was saturated from the dew that never saw sunlight. A figure remained silent, hidden behind a large oak. He had silver-white hair that would fall below his eyes, if it wasn't so messy and didn't have deep curls. His eyes were a deep bright brown, and his features were child-like, with a hint of emptiness. He stood little above five feet [Five Feet Three- Five Feet Four], and was wearing a white tee shirt, a pair of unusually short black shorts, black socks, and a pair of brown and off-white boots that flared out and remained open until the actual shoe part. This was covered by a sleeveless overcoat, with only the top three buttons done. The remainder flared out, or when still, dragged the ground slightly. A brown leather band was protruding from each side of the coat and winded around the boy. It then winded down his arms, attaching independent bracer-esque sleeves. The overcoat had a hood, that had two protrusions resembling ears, and the hood was reluctantly down. He also had a long fluffy silver tail.

Faulklin remained still, terrified, as a dragon landed around twenty meters in front of him. The trees shook in its wake, and its wings produced a small gale. From it stepped a man. Faulklin knew not who this man was, but found him intimidating as he placed his hand upon the dragon. However, this put Faulklin at ease with the beast. He stepped from the treen, his tail drooping timidly.

"Um... Sir?," stammered the Genome, "I-If you don't mind, could you maybe not let the dragon attack me?" He took a timid step closer. "Please?" he added.

Faulklin had come here to explore the cave hiddin amidst the forest. He had heard about it, but never had been interested. Now, he actually had a reason to venture inside. It was the only place, so he was told, that a certain plant grew. He was collecting ingrediants that was needed for a special item. He was going to give this item to a friend, as a gift.

The Genome took a closer look at the man. He was fairly tall, and wore earthy colors, with a green cloak. The material appeared to be made of a sturdy substance, and the man had an overall simple look to him. His brown eyes were the same shade as his hair.

The pre-teen gasped as a green monster lept into the small clearing created by the dragon. On all fours, it was a little smaller than Balendin, and it had a couple horns adorned on its body. It hissed and growled, stomping forward. The Genome pulled his staff from behind him, but staggered back and fell onto his bottom. The creature looked as if it was about to spring forward and attack.

Balendin faced and studied the youth before him. An odd looking youth to say the least. If his clothes were any indication, he was not of this world in the literal sense. The youth's clothing did not match that of Balendin's homeworld Gaia or of what he had seen in the royal city of Rabanastre. Maybe his outfit was of a style in the other world of Gaia, the one with the advanced projectile weapons. Then again, it was possible that Balendin was wrong on all accounts. He had only visited a handful of worlds and in those worlds he had only seen a fraction of them. Even on this world, he had seen little outside of Saronia except for what he had seen on the maps stored in the castle. Maybe this youth was indigenous and people living outside Saronia's borders simply dressed much differently.

There was one feature about him that stood out more than his clothes. He had a tail. A fluffy silver tail to be exact. Other than that he appeared human. Balendin guessed tails were not really that odd. Balendin's entire adopted family had tails, but they had also been anthropomorphic rodents. One of the heros of Balendin's homeworld apparently had a tail if the stories could be believed. Balendin had never met that person himself so he could not confirm those claims.

As the youth spoke, Balendin glanced towards his pink dragon. Iro was fast asleep sprawled out on his back in a very un-dragon-like way. Balendin had heard that most dragons curled up when they slept, but Iro rarely did. Balendin, though, was pretty convinced that Iro did not know that he was a dragon. As to the youth's question, it really need not be asked. The youth had a better chance of being attacked by a kitten then by Balendin's gentle dragon. No reason to let this information be known though.

"I assure you, my Ironite is well trained. He will not attack anyone without my leave unless you mean him harm."

A monster jumped out just as Balendin had expected. Monsters were quite common in Gaia and seemed to be a common theme in all the worlds he had visited so far. It would be strange for him to visit a world where they were not. Balendin watched the monster calmly. He held out his arm and his glaive appeared in his hand. The youth reacted in a much different way. He seemed to fall back out of shock and landed on his bottom. It was strange that one so easily surprised would walk in the wilderness alone. The wilderness was a dangerous place and not for the weak or negligent. Balendin had learned that lesson the hard way. He had ran away from home with nothing but his father's sword when he was just a teenager. Had Sir Fratley not found him when he did, Balendin would surely have died that day.

The green beast leaped towards Balendin and his glaive met it in the air. Balendin smacked it with the shaft of his glaive knocking the monster off it's course and causing it to smack into the ground. Instead of continuing it's attack, the monster turned to the youth apparently deciding to go for easier prey.

Faulklin timidly watched as the beast leaped at the man, but was cast aside. Knowing that the man was more than when it could handle, the creature turned toward the weaker, and charged, leaping towards the Genome's throat for the kill. He staggered back in fear, drawing his staff, but when it had been taken from the inside of his cloak, Faulklin tripped and fell back on his bottom. The basilisk landed in front of him, but proceeded with another leap for the throat. The boy was able to move just quick enough to place his staff between himself and the monster. Its teeth collapsed down on the magically strengthened wood. It snarled and struggled, pushing the child across the ground. He struggled not to give in, bending his knees to support himself. The monster punched him against the bottom of a tall oak tree. It grew wise, and jerked the stick out of the Genome's hand. It flew into the air and clattered to the earth a few feet away. The boy could only stay there trembling in fear.

The basilisk leaped onto the boy, but when it landed, nothing was there. A few feet behind it, he stood, limp but standing. His arms fell lifeless in front of him, and his back was arched. Silver-ish blue wispy smoke rose from him as he stood there with his back to the abomination. His pupils were gone, and he was completely empty in every aspect. It leaped again, and at the same time as it looked as if the monster was going to sink its teeth into the soulless's back, Faulklin was standing five feet away, facing the basilisk which attacked two more times, each of which failed. Now, the Genome was standing upright, and as the monster leaped for his throat, instantly appeared directly below the monster. Laying on his back, he pushed upwards with his hands, sending a double kick into the airborne monster's stomach. It fell to the ground, dazed, but not out.

It stood, slashing five times, leaping with each, but all of them were avoided in the same fashion. On the last movement, a kick was sent into its jaw, and the basilisk slammed into a near-by tree. It fell to the ground, and scurried away.

"Wh- What happened? Everything disappeared." the Genome thought.

Faulklin grew limp again, as the wispy smoke left him. He almost fell, but landed on his fist and one knee. Air infiltrated his lungs for the first time since the duration of his feat. He stayed that way for a while, but stood afterwards with a pleading look towards the man.

"That was a weak one, and I don't even know what happened for me to survive. I'm not a warrior. Could you, um... accompany me in the cave, in case there's more? If anything happens, I can heal you. Please? It won't take long." he said, picking up his staff and returning it to the inside of his cloak.

[Class Ability Used]

The creature left Balendin and lunged at the tailed youth nearby. Certainly the youth was more than he appeared, for one did not walk through monster infested lands without the means to defend themselves. Balendin watched closely, curious to see the boy in combat. Things did not seem to be going well for the boy from what Balendin was seeing. Balendin could not tell if it was an act or not. When he glimpsed the youth's eyes, he knew that this was no farce. There was genuine fear in the boy's eyes.

Balendin moved to put himself between the monster and the tailed one, but then stopped short. Something strange was going on. Balendin really could not explain it. The monster tried to attack the boy, but it simply could not. It was as if he was there, yet not there at the same time. At times he disappeared and appeared in different places.

The beast snarled in its frustration. The noise it was making woke Iro up and he scanned the clearing. Seeing the monster, the Ironite took to the sky. Balendin's pink dragon was a gentle creature although he certainly would defend himself from other monsters if cornered. His usual habit, though, was to avoid conflict. Balendin did not mind at all. His Ironite's loyalty was unquestionable and would follow him anywhere. All he needed to do was call and he knew his draconic companion would be at his side in an instant.

The monster apparently decided that this meal was not one worth the effort and began to scurry away. Balendin leaped into the air. He sailed through the air and landed on the creatures back. His glaive came down with him and Balendin's full weight came with it. The blade pierced into the back of the creatures neck and came out the other side burying itself partly in the ground. The creature jerked once then went still.

Balendin pushed off its back with his legs leaving his glaive behind. He landed some 8 feet away and his glaive appeared in his hand. He wiped the glaive off in the grass. He then waited as the kid caught his breath. An impressive power the boy seemed to have. If he could hone his skills; he could be a fearsome foe for any warrior or monster.

The boy asked Balendin's assistance in traveling through some sort of cave. It was really not his plan to explore caves with a strange youth, but he figured it would not be to much of a hassle. Since the boy claim ignorance as to knowing what had just happened, it would be unwise for Balendin to allow him to continue alone. He had planned to explore the area anyways, so it mattered little if he allowed the youth to tag along. Before they proceeded forward Balendin would need to know one small piece of information about the lad.

"I can accompany you, but first your name. It would be rude to ask someone their name without introducing themselves first so I shall tell you mine. Balendin is what I am called."