Post by Ninmast on Mar 8, 2007 1:57:21 GMT -5
The young man in the teal dress clothes made his way down the path with his left hand in his pocket as usual. Mother Dearest, as the Queen of Eternal Night made Zachary Corgan refer to her as, sent him to this backwards world on a whim for something or another. Until she decided his "time-out" was over, he'd have to look for a way out on his own.
A teenager in a white tunic hacked away at dandelion heads, swinging his silver sword most carelessly. Severing a flower from its roots, he chopped again, brooding over his sister's bossiness. Catching the teal color in his peripheal vision, he sheathed his sword, but kept his distance. Strangers were rare in these parts.
"Hello!
The man nodded in recognition of the boy's words, but waited until he came closer to speak in a rather detatched, unemotional tone. "Where am I?"
"You're in the kingdom of Kirea, but you probably already knew that." He looked over his shoulder, placing his hands akimbo. "And this village is called Found. What's your name?"
"Zach," the man answered without further explanation.
Suddenly, lighthearted singing can be heard from behind the group, a short distance away, growing louder and louder as it got closer.
Surprised, the teen shot another glance over his shoulder. "What? Another traveller?" He looked back at Zach. "Zach, then. Is today a holiday?"
"Not that I know of," the young man answered as he, too, looked toward the sound, though with a more detatched look than the boy.
"La, la la la la, laaa la la la laaaa, heeeeyyyy hooo bloowww the man down" A very large mound could be seen wadling towards them, a bald fat man wearing a vest, and pants held up by a belt and rope. His skin tan from heavy sun, his cheeks and nose a blushing red, he walked with a stumble, a slight odor could be sensed as he approached, from a lack of bathing. He was not that attractive either, but he appeared friendly. In one hand, was a mug made of a strange metal, and filled what smelled of cheap ale. He approached the group, burping in greetings. "Well allo thar!" He said in a very friendly manner. "Why, 'tis a good a meeting you a two... wherever we may'a be." He said with a sloppy bow. Closer inspection, the belt that held up his pants, seemed to be strange, foreign perhaps of oriental descent. "Wha brings you ta a fine place like dis?" The man said, taking a gulp from the mug.
"Then I suppose it's a coincidence..." He folded one arm over his chest, covering his nose with the other at the odor. Two travellers in one day was like a solar eclipse. "Hello."
"Great, just what I needed," Zach muttered. "Fat, Drunken Albert."
The teen took a step back from the road. "Uh, I live here." Then he shook his head quickly. "Not HERE, like, right here, but, you know. In the village. What's your business here?"
"Oh, yes, o'course *hic*, I live here to! Wait..." The mans narrows his eyes, as if looking at the village in the distance. "Nao I daunt, thas roight, I think I'm lost *Burp* T'was sailin' with me Cap'n, fell overboard in a big battle I did, and... 'ere I am."
The young man unconsciously brushed off his tunic, as if the burp had gotten dirt on it. "But there isn't a sea for a hundred leagues..."
"Roily?!" The man suddenly looked around then back at the young man "Musta been wander'n longer, than a thought *hic* An anotha thin." The man said taking another drink from the mug. Strange since it should be empty by now. "Ma name ant Albert. tis Brudo! At your service!" The man said, taking a deep bow.
Zach tucked a strand of his messy hair behind his ear out of the way of his face. "I don't care."
The young man bowed awkwardly in return. "My name's Judas Magick. This is Zach."
"Ah ha ha! Tis a fine pleasure friends! If it isnt too much... trouble sir Magick, can ah ask of you a fayvor?" the man said, still sounding as friendly as ever.
"Ah..." Judas looked over his shoulder, into the forest behind him. Apparently that was where the village lay. "If you wish. If it's lodging you seek, there are better accomodation in the..." He paused, considering the traveller. "...Tavern."
"*hic* taverns, be fine an dandy, but there be more taym for that layter, I was wondern if you could help me find mah way home... an exchange in services maybe? I halp you with what yaou want, youa help may... so what da ya want?" The man said with a friendly smile, displaying yellow teeth and an exhaust of bad breath
"Uh." Judas forgot himself at the sight of the rotten teeth. "I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to leave the village. Father would have my hide. But I'm sure we could find you a guide."
"Unless you know a particularly powerful demon queen," Zach answered inflectionlessly, "I doubt you can help me any."
Judas suddenly looked shocked and slightly offended. "Demons?! What association do you have with them?"
"Daemon Queens..." Brudo tapped his chin thinking. "Daemon Queens... I knew this one lass on da ship, She was a real daemon, queen of daemons ya could say ha ha ha ho ho" Brudo said and began laughing, but saw the two werent impressed, and calmed himself. "Oi could help ya though, ya gonna fight this, daemon queen?"
"My plans and associations are none of your business," he answered both of them. "She sent me here, and she's my door back. That's all you need to know."
"Perhaps she be wantin' ya to make some friends, and it never hurt to have too many friends das it sir Zack?"
This drew a growl from the man, the first emotion he had really shown. "Listen, Blimpo," he said, though it was hard to tell if the mispronunciation was deliberate or accidental, "if I think I need friends, I'll find ones that won't cut my head off swinging around a sword or aren't in danger of losing their yellowed, rotten teeth in their mug of booze."
"It's not MY sword." Judas grumbled defensively.
"Naow Naow, let's not get so voilent, I'll have ya be knowin' I neva lost any teeth in a mug o booze... though I did lose one in a cupa wine, to light it was, and twas roight after a rousin' bar foight." The man said, taking another drink.
Zach shut his eyes, falling quiet for a moment as he clearly struggled to regain his composure. Finally, he stood straight again, pulling away from the fat, little man, and back in his monotone voice, he spoke again. "Do I look like I'm looking for friends, Bubble?"
Judas took a breath, looking from Brudo to Zach and back to Brudo. "Ohhkay then! Why don't you two be on your way?"
"Oi dunno, you tell moi." Brudo said, still in a friendly tone, taking another drink of ale. Then turning to Judas. "You sure sir Magick? Nothing I can dao for ya? I aint only good for drinken ale, I am also, the distinguished cook aboard da ship!" Brudo said proudly
"Psh," the young man muttered. "Probably only knows how to cook beer-battered fish and lard broth."
Judas sighed, ignoring Zach. "Well, this may come off as an odd question, but do you have any, ah, fighting skill? Could you take on-... Well, I suppose, a Demon Queen?"
"Oi'll have yew know, I've been banned from using ale in ma recipes!" Brudo said in his defense.
"Alright, just lard broth, then."
"It aint lard, tis good! Swear it I do!" Brudo said then heard Judas' question. "Foighten? Well, I try an avoid as much foighten as I need, too many hurten I do. But if yew need a foiter, Brudo is at your service!" He said, taking another bow.
"Alright, then, I'll bite," Zach answered. "What can you cook?"
"Waddya wont?" Brudo asked.
"Nothing, I just don't believe you."
"Suit Yoself" Brudo said taking another drink of ale.
Judas scowled, focusing on the flask and blinking once. His right eye changed, becoming entirely purple before he blinked again, and the flask disappeared from Bruno's hand.
Zach arched an eyebrow, but showed no other response to the disappearance of the mug.
The flask began to fade, but reappeared in Bruno's hand
Judas' jaw tightened. This was a first. "Say, Brudo..." He scratched his head casually. "Where did you get that flask?"
"Flask? Oh? You mean ma uncles mug! Tis' special it is, said to be indestructable it is! Fits real well in my occupation, real good for smashin 'eads on to!" Brudo said letting out a chuckle, as he took another gulp of ale.
Judas smiled, too, amused at the stranger's antics. Then his smile widened at a thought. "Could you take on a Demon Queen with THAT?"
Zach scoffed again, crossing his arms and looking away. "I greatly doubt he could take out more than another drunken oaf with that, much less Mo- ... Queen Elime."
Judas' face blanked. "Who's Queen Elime?"
"Queen Elime, a name... neva 'eard it befour"
"Queen of Eternal Night," he answered. "She's the one who sent me here. Who knows why. She said something about her daughter wanting to see some bird, but I think she was just rambling."
"Eternal Night, huh?" Judas's brow knotted. He'd had bad experiences with night. "And she's a demon? That makes you...?"
He raised an eyebrow. "That makes me what?"
"..." Brudo was silent... for once... Suddenly burst out. "Well it dont make yew a daemon hunter." He said, then took a swivel of ale "Though... I boi wonderin..." Brudo said tapping his chin...
Judas gaped at Brudo, half caught between guffaws and weirding out. "No... I don't suppose it would! But if you happen to know a Demon Queen," he looked back at Zach. "would that happen to put you on friendly terms with her?"
Zach turned a glare on Judas. "Kid, I'm not on friendly terms with anybody, but that doesn't make it any easier for me to stay away when she just zaps me there whenever she's feeling maternal."
"So... yo'er pauppet?" Brudo said raising an eyebrow...
Judas' eyebrows went up. "That IS a most interesting choice of words."
"Sure his *hic*" Brudo agreed, taking another gulp of ale.
"She's not my mother," Zach shot back vehemently, his voice raising.
"Did ah say motha?" Brudo said with a smirk, they were getting somewhere...
Judas' hands went up defensively and he took a step away from Zach. "Okay, let's PLEASE not anger the demon, Bruno, sir."
Zach turned as if he was going to unleash more than words on the boy, but instead, pushed past them. "Forget it, I'll find my own way home. I don't need this."
"Naow Naow, Brudo neva said anyone was a daemon," Brud then took a step towards Zach. Then spoke. "Listen..."
Zach stopped, but didn't turn back to Brudo. He did glance over his shoulder, but listening was clearly the extent of his intentions.
Brudo steps in front of him, but sitll out of reach. "Now just one minute, Brudo got one las thin' ta say, then ya can be on ya way"
"I'm waiting."
"Brudo don care if you ah human, elf, daemon... or even cambion, Brudo does care, if yo' intentions are pure, and fo yoself. Brudo wishes yo luck wherever yo may go... you mah go" Brudo said then stepping to the side, taking a swivel of ale...
Zach remained there for a bit, as if he were almost about to change his mind, but then, "My intentions no longer matter."
"Den Mak'em Matter." Brudo responded. "Mah offa still stands... stroings can boi cut..."
Judas covered his face with one hand, as if exasperrated, but he was blinking very quickly, and if either of the strangers looked his way, they'd see different colors flashing through his fingers, though he was fairly sure they wouldn't. Finally, the color became green and he waited silently for the outcome.
"Strings are for puppets," the man answered. "Slaves wear chains."
"Don matter, can still boi cut, just need better pliers"
Zach sighed. "There's a story where I come from. It's about a man that can save you from anything, no matter how bad or irreversable it is. A wonderful story. It really is."
"Tell ya whut, you share me yo story, I share yo mine" Brudo said taking another gulp of ale, not noticing Judas yet...
A breeze came through, ruffling the young man's clothes a bit, and he stood there in silence without speaking for a time. One might almost think he was refusing the offer, until finally, he began.
"Supposedly, he came thousands of years ago, and that he grew up a man, but he wasn't really a man. He taught all these things that were really good lessons, and then, as the story goes, he offered himself as a pure, divine sacrifice for all those that would believe in them, so they would be cleansed of all their wrongdoings and be made whole and pure again, free to spend eternity in paradise."
The boy fell silent again after that. It would seem he had finished his story.
Brudo was silent, then spoke up. "Be that all?" He questioned.
"Just that it's all fake," he answered.
"Oi see. So you given up hope then?" Brudo questioned.
"What, exactly, would you have me hope for? Salvation? Freedom? Justice?" The young man scoffed. "Pipe dreams for those lucky enough to still have them."
"You can still hope for the justice part..." Judas mumbled.
"So you just gonna boi a slave then? Not gonna try and break da chains?"
"I've tried, and I'm not quite ready to believe again in fairy tales where the hero always wins and there's always a happy ending, thanks. I'd rather help where I can while I still can than try to break a supernatural contract already made. In case you're unclear on those, they don't end easily."
"heh, as'o matter of fact, oi'm already in a contract, whole ship and crew... eva eard o Aboleths?"
"I haven't!" Judas piped up, happy for a change of subject.
Zach looked over toward Judas, but didn't answer for himself.
"Nasty things... intelligent though an interdimensional traders... cap'n made a trade... didnt pay on time... now everything he owns is their property, includin' us. They be sending thar umber hulks afta us, all da time... and umba hulks, huh, they can take a poundin... so, while you may not be free, your life, most loikly not on the loine... I howeva, be very free... but them umba hulks can from nowehre, and pop ma 'ead off" upon saying that he looks around, just in case there was one around the corner. "Coincidence? Oi thoink not." He then took another gulp of ale
"These 'umba hulks'... They couldn't really, pop up here, could they?"
"Oi dunno, ever see a big beatle man 'fore?"
"A b-? I can't say I have... I have seen a wolf man, though. Are they the same?"
"Nao, thay be different"
Judas winced, forgetting that his eye was still 'on'. "Different... in size?"
"Oi dunno... wuzwrong with yo eye sir Magick?" Brudo questioned...
"My-? Oh." Judas finally blinked again, turning it 'off'. "I was- It's- I have magical powers." He concluded proudly. "Do you want to see?" He stated quickly after, a little too excited.
"Oi would love ta see!" Brudo said with a big grin.
Zach seemed to lose interest again, and he turned away, the left hand still in his pocket and his right crossed over his chest.
"Oh, good! I never get to show anyone and the villagers are so tired of it... One second, let me find it... It's a bit like rolling a dice..." He explained, blinking again. His eye flash through different colors. Purple, blue, purple again, then red. "Okay, watch this!" He grinned boyishly, staring at a branch in the road. After a second, it caught fire with an audible 'woosh!'.
Zach watched with a scowl. "That's it?"
"Oi! Tha was quite amazin! I can dao almost somethin just loik dat!"
When Zach made his comment, Judas frowned. "Like you can do anything better." He glanced at Brudo. "...Can you really?"
"Well... loik ah said, something similar, but not exactly... care ta see?"
"Sure!" Judas blinked again to turn off his eye.
"Olright! Stand back!" Brudo said taking a few steps forward. He took his bottle of ale, and began to drink. After a moment of drinking, he stopped. Then spoke. "Bloimy, thas some good ale... naoh da trick!" He suddenly oppened his mouth, and a jetteson of flaming ale burst out like a flamethrower in a long range. He then closed his mouth, burping. "An that be just one oh me many tricks!"
"Whoa!" Judas' eyes widened at the display.
"Hmph," Zach almost seemed to smirk. "It was better than Tinder Boy, that's for sure. Is it my turn now?"
"It aint a contest, just be sharin tricks!" Brudo said with a big smile.
Tinder Boy sighed. "Yeah, go ahead."
Zach raised his right hand, as if to chop, and pointed it toward the branch that Judas had set to burning. Turning to the side slightly, his eyes seemed to darken as red lightning rushed down his arm in pulses, gathering speed until the blast launched itself from his hand and crashed into the ground. In its wake was a good-sized hole, and no sign of the branch.
"Heh, oi seen that before, only, if it were da same, woulda gone branch ta branch, now that, woulda been something ta see!" Brudo said taking a guld of ale.
Judas gaped. "Wow. You know, my father is obsessed with controlling lightning. He'd get a real kick out of you."
"Couldn't help him, sorry."
"But you just-" Judas blinked at the still slightly smoking hole. "Well, whatever you say."
"Yaou know what... oim gettin 'ungry... lets soy we go an get somethin' ta eat?"
Zach didn't seem to feel like answering that with any explanation, and when Brudo spoke, he shook his head. "I'm not hungry."
No sooner were the words out of his mouth, however, than his stomach called him a liar.
"Well, I dont care about you roit now, just that rumblin' in ma tommy! You mentioned a Tavern Sir Magick?"
"Oh! I'm sorry, where are my manners?" Judas turned on his heel, stepping into the forest. "This way's the village! Just watch your step, we had a... Well, just watch out."
Brudo began walking... er... wadling to after Judas, with his drunken sway...
"Hmph, a bunch of idiots," Zach muttered, but then he looked up and watched a little golden bird flutter from one tree to another, and his face seemed to soften.
Judas silently wondered how Brudo could see the ground over his stomach, but kept walking on a faintly worn path. "Coming, Mr. Zach?"
Zach glanced back toward the two of them. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to travel with them for a while. He took a few steps forward, but then disappeared into nothingness.
Not hearing a response, Brudo turned around to look, noticing, that Zach was gone. "Bloimy! 'E dissapeared!"
"Did he really?" Judas looked over his shoulder. "Wow, I guess lightning control wasn't his only trick... Never got his last name."
"Maybe we'll see'm gain later..." Brudus said than thought to himself, then muttered, inaudibly. "Hurry and cut your strings pauppet..." then turned back to Judas. "Now then, sure he'll join us later, about that food?"
"We're almost there. Right on the edge of the village. Convenient, really."
A teenager in a white tunic hacked away at dandelion heads, swinging his silver sword most carelessly. Severing a flower from its roots, he chopped again, brooding over his sister's bossiness. Catching the teal color in his peripheal vision, he sheathed his sword, but kept his distance. Strangers were rare in these parts.
"Hello!
The man nodded in recognition of the boy's words, but waited until he came closer to speak in a rather detatched, unemotional tone. "Where am I?"
"You're in the kingdom of Kirea, but you probably already knew that." He looked over his shoulder, placing his hands akimbo. "And this village is called Found. What's your name?"
"Zach," the man answered without further explanation.
Suddenly, lighthearted singing can be heard from behind the group, a short distance away, growing louder and louder as it got closer.
Surprised, the teen shot another glance over his shoulder. "What? Another traveller?" He looked back at Zach. "Zach, then. Is today a holiday?"
"Not that I know of," the young man answered as he, too, looked toward the sound, though with a more detatched look than the boy.
"La, la la la la, laaa la la la laaaa, heeeeyyyy hooo bloowww the man down" A very large mound could be seen wadling towards them, a bald fat man wearing a vest, and pants held up by a belt and rope. His skin tan from heavy sun, his cheeks and nose a blushing red, he walked with a stumble, a slight odor could be sensed as he approached, from a lack of bathing. He was not that attractive either, but he appeared friendly. In one hand, was a mug made of a strange metal, and filled what smelled of cheap ale. He approached the group, burping in greetings. "Well allo thar!" He said in a very friendly manner. "Why, 'tis a good a meeting you a two... wherever we may'a be." He said with a sloppy bow. Closer inspection, the belt that held up his pants, seemed to be strange, foreign perhaps of oriental descent. "Wha brings you ta a fine place like dis?" The man said, taking a gulp from the mug.
"Then I suppose it's a coincidence..." He folded one arm over his chest, covering his nose with the other at the odor. Two travellers in one day was like a solar eclipse. "Hello."
"Great, just what I needed," Zach muttered. "Fat, Drunken Albert."
The teen took a step back from the road. "Uh, I live here." Then he shook his head quickly. "Not HERE, like, right here, but, you know. In the village. What's your business here?"
"Oh, yes, o'course *hic*, I live here to! Wait..." The mans narrows his eyes, as if looking at the village in the distance. "Nao I daunt, thas roight, I think I'm lost *Burp* T'was sailin' with me Cap'n, fell overboard in a big battle I did, and... 'ere I am."
The young man unconsciously brushed off his tunic, as if the burp had gotten dirt on it. "But there isn't a sea for a hundred leagues..."
"Roily?!" The man suddenly looked around then back at the young man "Musta been wander'n longer, than a thought *hic* An anotha thin." The man said taking another drink from the mug. Strange since it should be empty by now. "Ma name ant Albert. tis Brudo! At your service!" The man said, taking a deep bow.
Zach tucked a strand of his messy hair behind his ear out of the way of his face. "I don't care."
The young man bowed awkwardly in return. "My name's Judas Magick. This is Zach."
"Ah ha ha! Tis a fine pleasure friends! If it isnt too much... trouble sir Magick, can ah ask of you a fayvor?" the man said, still sounding as friendly as ever.
"Ah..." Judas looked over his shoulder, into the forest behind him. Apparently that was where the village lay. "If you wish. If it's lodging you seek, there are better accomodation in the..." He paused, considering the traveller. "...Tavern."
"*hic* taverns, be fine an dandy, but there be more taym for that layter, I was wondern if you could help me find mah way home... an exchange in services maybe? I halp you with what yaou want, youa help may... so what da ya want?" The man said with a friendly smile, displaying yellow teeth and an exhaust of bad breath
"Uh." Judas forgot himself at the sight of the rotten teeth. "I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to leave the village. Father would have my hide. But I'm sure we could find you a guide."
"Unless you know a particularly powerful demon queen," Zach answered inflectionlessly, "I doubt you can help me any."
Judas suddenly looked shocked and slightly offended. "Demons?! What association do you have with them?"
"Daemon Queens..." Brudo tapped his chin thinking. "Daemon Queens... I knew this one lass on da ship, She was a real daemon, queen of daemons ya could say ha ha ha ho ho" Brudo said and began laughing, but saw the two werent impressed, and calmed himself. "Oi could help ya though, ya gonna fight this, daemon queen?"
"My plans and associations are none of your business," he answered both of them. "She sent me here, and she's my door back. That's all you need to know."
"Perhaps she be wantin' ya to make some friends, and it never hurt to have too many friends das it sir Zack?"
This drew a growl from the man, the first emotion he had really shown. "Listen, Blimpo," he said, though it was hard to tell if the mispronunciation was deliberate or accidental, "if I think I need friends, I'll find ones that won't cut my head off swinging around a sword or aren't in danger of losing their yellowed, rotten teeth in their mug of booze."
"It's not MY sword." Judas grumbled defensively.
"Naow Naow, let's not get so voilent, I'll have ya be knowin' I neva lost any teeth in a mug o booze... though I did lose one in a cupa wine, to light it was, and twas roight after a rousin' bar foight." The man said, taking another drink.
Zach shut his eyes, falling quiet for a moment as he clearly struggled to regain his composure. Finally, he stood straight again, pulling away from the fat, little man, and back in his monotone voice, he spoke again. "Do I look like I'm looking for friends, Bubble?"
Judas took a breath, looking from Brudo to Zach and back to Brudo. "Ohhkay then! Why don't you two be on your way?"
"Oi dunno, you tell moi." Brudo said, still in a friendly tone, taking another drink of ale. Then turning to Judas. "You sure sir Magick? Nothing I can dao for ya? I aint only good for drinken ale, I am also, the distinguished cook aboard da ship!" Brudo said proudly
"Psh," the young man muttered. "Probably only knows how to cook beer-battered fish and lard broth."
Judas sighed, ignoring Zach. "Well, this may come off as an odd question, but do you have any, ah, fighting skill? Could you take on-... Well, I suppose, a Demon Queen?"
"Oi'll have yew know, I've been banned from using ale in ma recipes!" Brudo said in his defense.
"Alright, just lard broth, then."
"It aint lard, tis good! Swear it I do!" Brudo said then heard Judas' question. "Foighten? Well, I try an avoid as much foighten as I need, too many hurten I do. But if yew need a foiter, Brudo is at your service!" He said, taking another bow.
"Alright, then, I'll bite," Zach answered. "What can you cook?"
"Waddya wont?" Brudo asked.
"Nothing, I just don't believe you."
"Suit Yoself" Brudo said taking another drink of ale.
Judas scowled, focusing on the flask and blinking once. His right eye changed, becoming entirely purple before he blinked again, and the flask disappeared from Bruno's hand.
Zach arched an eyebrow, but showed no other response to the disappearance of the mug.
The flask began to fade, but reappeared in Bruno's hand
Judas' jaw tightened. This was a first. "Say, Brudo..." He scratched his head casually. "Where did you get that flask?"
"Flask? Oh? You mean ma uncles mug! Tis' special it is, said to be indestructable it is! Fits real well in my occupation, real good for smashin 'eads on to!" Brudo said letting out a chuckle, as he took another gulp of ale.
Judas smiled, too, amused at the stranger's antics. Then his smile widened at a thought. "Could you take on a Demon Queen with THAT?"
Zach scoffed again, crossing his arms and looking away. "I greatly doubt he could take out more than another drunken oaf with that, much less Mo- ... Queen Elime."
Judas' face blanked. "Who's Queen Elime?"
"Queen Elime, a name... neva 'eard it befour"
"Queen of Eternal Night," he answered. "She's the one who sent me here. Who knows why. She said something about her daughter wanting to see some bird, but I think she was just rambling."
"Eternal Night, huh?" Judas's brow knotted. He'd had bad experiences with night. "And she's a demon? That makes you...?"
He raised an eyebrow. "That makes me what?"
"..." Brudo was silent... for once... Suddenly burst out. "Well it dont make yew a daemon hunter." He said, then took a swivel of ale "Though... I boi wonderin..." Brudo said tapping his chin...
Judas gaped at Brudo, half caught between guffaws and weirding out. "No... I don't suppose it would! But if you happen to know a Demon Queen," he looked back at Zach. "would that happen to put you on friendly terms with her?"
Zach turned a glare on Judas. "Kid, I'm not on friendly terms with anybody, but that doesn't make it any easier for me to stay away when she just zaps me there whenever she's feeling maternal."
"So... yo'er pauppet?" Brudo said raising an eyebrow...
Judas' eyebrows went up. "That IS a most interesting choice of words."
"Sure his *hic*" Brudo agreed, taking another gulp of ale.
"She's not my mother," Zach shot back vehemently, his voice raising.
"Did ah say motha?" Brudo said with a smirk, they were getting somewhere...
Judas' hands went up defensively and he took a step away from Zach. "Okay, let's PLEASE not anger the demon, Bruno, sir."
Zach turned as if he was going to unleash more than words on the boy, but instead, pushed past them. "Forget it, I'll find my own way home. I don't need this."
"Naow Naow, Brudo neva said anyone was a daemon," Brud then took a step towards Zach. Then spoke. "Listen..."
Zach stopped, but didn't turn back to Brudo. He did glance over his shoulder, but listening was clearly the extent of his intentions.
Brudo steps in front of him, but sitll out of reach. "Now just one minute, Brudo got one las thin' ta say, then ya can be on ya way"
"I'm waiting."
"Brudo don care if you ah human, elf, daemon... or even cambion, Brudo does care, if yo' intentions are pure, and fo yoself. Brudo wishes yo luck wherever yo may go... you mah go" Brudo said then stepping to the side, taking a swivel of ale...
Zach remained there for a bit, as if he were almost about to change his mind, but then, "My intentions no longer matter."
"Den Mak'em Matter." Brudo responded. "Mah offa still stands... stroings can boi cut..."
Judas covered his face with one hand, as if exasperrated, but he was blinking very quickly, and if either of the strangers looked his way, they'd see different colors flashing through his fingers, though he was fairly sure they wouldn't. Finally, the color became green and he waited silently for the outcome.
"Strings are for puppets," the man answered. "Slaves wear chains."
"Don matter, can still boi cut, just need better pliers"
Zach sighed. "There's a story where I come from. It's about a man that can save you from anything, no matter how bad or irreversable it is. A wonderful story. It really is."
"Tell ya whut, you share me yo story, I share yo mine" Brudo said taking another gulp of ale, not noticing Judas yet...
A breeze came through, ruffling the young man's clothes a bit, and he stood there in silence without speaking for a time. One might almost think he was refusing the offer, until finally, he began.
"Supposedly, he came thousands of years ago, and that he grew up a man, but he wasn't really a man. He taught all these things that were really good lessons, and then, as the story goes, he offered himself as a pure, divine sacrifice for all those that would believe in them, so they would be cleansed of all their wrongdoings and be made whole and pure again, free to spend eternity in paradise."
The boy fell silent again after that. It would seem he had finished his story.
Brudo was silent, then spoke up. "Be that all?" He questioned.
"Just that it's all fake," he answered.
"Oi see. So you given up hope then?" Brudo questioned.
"What, exactly, would you have me hope for? Salvation? Freedom? Justice?" The young man scoffed. "Pipe dreams for those lucky enough to still have them."
"You can still hope for the justice part..." Judas mumbled.
"So you just gonna boi a slave then? Not gonna try and break da chains?"
"I've tried, and I'm not quite ready to believe again in fairy tales where the hero always wins and there's always a happy ending, thanks. I'd rather help where I can while I still can than try to break a supernatural contract already made. In case you're unclear on those, they don't end easily."
"heh, as'o matter of fact, oi'm already in a contract, whole ship and crew... eva eard o Aboleths?"
"I haven't!" Judas piped up, happy for a change of subject.
Zach looked over toward Judas, but didn't answer for himself.
"Nasty things... intelligent though an interdimensional traders... cap'n made a trade... didnt pay on time... now everything he owns is their property, includin' us. They be sending thar umber hulks afta us, all da time... and umba hulks, huh, they can take a poundin... so, while you may not be free, your life, most loikly not on the loine... I howeva, be very free... but them umba hulks can from nowehre, and pop ma 'ead off" upon saying that he looks around, just in case there was one around the corner. "Coincidence? Oi thoink not." He then took another gulp of ale
"These 'umba hulks'... They couldn't really, pop up here, could they?"
"Oi dunno, ever see a big beatle man 'fore?"
"A b-? I can't say I have... I have seen a wolf man, though. Are they the same?"
"Nao, thay be different"
Judas winced, forgetting that his eye was still 'on'. "Different... in size?"
"Oi dunno... wuzwrong with yo eye sir Magick?" Brudo questioned...
"My-? Oh." Judas finally blinked again, turning it 'off'. "I was- It's- I have magical powers." He concluded proudly. "Do you want to see?" He stated quickly after, a little too excited.
"Oi would love ta see!" Brudo said with a big grin.
Zach seemed to lose interest again, and he turned away, the left hand still in his pocket and his right crossed over his chest.
"Oh, good! I never get to show anyone and the villagers are so tired of it... One second, let me find it... It's a bit like rolling a dice..." He explained, blinking again. His eye flash through different colors. Purple, blue, purple again, then red. "Okay, watch this!" He grinned boyishly, staring at a branch in the road. After a second, it caught fire with an audible 'woosh!'.
Zach watched with a scowl. "That's it?"
"Oi! Tha was quite amazin! I can dao almost somethin just loik dat!"
When Zach made his comment, Judas frowned. "Like you can do anything better." He glanced at Brudo. "...Can you really?"
"Well... loik ah said, something similar, but not exactly... care ta see?"
"Sure!" Judas blinked again to turn off his eye.
"Olright! Stand back!" Brudo said taking a few steps forward. He took his bottle of ale, and began to drink. After a moment of drinking, he stopped. Then spoke. "Bloimy, thas some good ale... naoh da trick!" He suddenly oppened his mouth, and a jetteson of flaming ale burst out like a flamethrower in a long range. He then closed his mouth, burping. "An that be just one oh me many tricks!"
"Whoa!" Judas' eyes widened at the display.
"Hmph," Zach almost seemed to smirk. "It was better than Tinder Boy, that's for sure. Is it my turn now?"
"It aint a contest, just be sharin tricks!" Brudo said with a big smile.
Tinder Boy sighed. "Yeah, go ahead."
Zach raised his right hand, as if to chop, and pointed it toward the branch that Judas had set to burning. Turning to the side slightly, his eyes seemed to darken as red lightning rushed down his arm in pulses, gathering speed until the blast launched itself from his hand and crashed into the ground. In its wake was a good-sized hole, and no sign of the branch.
"Heh, oi seen that before, only, if it were da same, woulda gone branch ta branch, now that, woulda been something ta see!" Brudo said taking a guld of ale.
Judas gaped. "Wow. You know, my father is obsessed with controlling lightning. He'd get a real kick out of you."
"Couldn't help him, sorry."
"But you just-" Judas blinked at the still slightly smoking hole. "Well, whatever you say."
"Yaou know what... oim gettin 'ungry... lets soy we go an get somethin' ta eat?"
Zach didn't seem to feel like answering that with any explanation, and when Brudo spoke, he shook his head. "I'm not hungry."
No sooner were the words out of his mouth, however, than his stomach called him a liar.
"Well, I dont care about you roit now, just that rumblin' in ma tommy! You mentioned a Tavern Sir Magick?"
"Oh! I'm sorry, where are my manners?" Judas turned on his heel, stepping into the forest. "This way's the village! Just watch your step, we had a... Well, just watch out."
Brudo began walking... er... wadling to after Judas, with his drunken sway...
"Hmph, a bunch of idiots," Zach muttered, but then he looked up and watched a little golden bird flutter from one tree to another, and his face seemed to soften.
Judas silently wondered how Brudo could see the ground over his stomach, but kept walking on a faintly worn path. "Coming, Mr. Zach?"
Zach glanced back toward the two of them. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to travel with them for a while. He took a few steps forward, but then disappeared into nothingness.
Not hearing a response, Brudo turned around to look, noticing, that Zach was gone. "Bloimy! 'E dissapeared!"
"Did he really?" Judas looked over his shoulder. "Wow, I guess lightning control wasn't his only trick... Never got his last name."
"Maybe we'll see'm gain later..." Brudus said than thought to himself, then muttered, inaudibly. "Hurry and cut your strings pauppet..." then turned back to Judas. "Now then, sure he'll join us later, about that food?"
"We're almost there. Right on the edge of the village. Convenient, really."
