Life of Green

[Teki]

Rupee

In a Shadowy Wood

The world of magic, gods, swords, arrows, kings, nobles, and adventurers was a bit of a hard knock world. Between monsters, bandits, disease, and the simple daily struggles, modern life was a bit tough. But, that didn’t really bother people; it was life, after all. Most people had their place: the farmer cut the wheat, his daughter milking the cow; the apiarist gathered honey, his son repaired buildings. And her? She brought life to the sick. Fought back the unholy creatures of darkness. Nothing too special.

Calla, the green-haired cleric of the goddess of life, was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of chewing. Her pale emerald eyes narrowed, her staff making a slight jingle as she brought it to a defensive position, readying herself for battle as she turned to the noise. What she saw was not a pack of wolves growling at her, like she had come to expect in woods such as these; there were wolves, a mother and a small gathering of cubs, it seemed, but they were much interested in the deer body that they were feasting on. She watched them for a moment, wary, but when they paid no attention to her, she relaxed, closing her eyes and putting her hands together, offering a small prayer for both the deer and the wolves, thanking the former and wishing well the latter.

Letting out a soft sigh through her nose, Calla relaxed again as the spirit of battle left her, turning her attention back towards the sky, or what bits of it that filtered through the foliage. She let her mind wander again as she followed the trail to the next town, her staff, holy symbol affixed to the top, dingling ever so gently, decorated near the end with wind chimes.

[Rupee]

Rupee had been traveling the better part of the morning and the sun was rolling over it's highest peak. Whew she exhaled with a bit of a huff. Though the hills were gentle and rolling the pace she moved was not that of a leisurely stroll. No, she was on a mission to get to the next town before Happy Hour at the Pub started. "You're not exactly helping." her strawberry eyes shot down to the tuft of meat and feathers jammed under her right arm.

King, since around 11 a.m., which mind you was about 3 hours ago, decided that it was beneath him to walk. Faack! He honked out at her in reply making her upper lip curl and expose her teeth in confusion. It was like he had a lisp or something, she'd never heard a duck or goose make that sort of noise before. Then again maybe he was possessed or something.  "What is wrong with you?" She asked and attempted to shift him to the other side of her under the opposite arm. "If you just lost a little weight you could probably fly you know." Faack Faack!  "It was a suggestion! Don't chu sass me I will EAT YOU." An empty threat by the way, and just for the record he was a goose. In case you didn't know. She's not a cannibal or anything, at least not that she's aware of. He's just a very special goose. Who had a penance for being silly. So, he was a silly goose. Get it?

She snorted a bit through her nose at the pun she made. She was so clever sometimes. Rounding the foot path through the thinning trees she crested the hill. The speckling of strange white stone suddenly made sense, as her eyes swept over the remnants of a ruin of some sort. "Huh," she mused pausing in her stride to take in the sight. There wasn't much left of whatever it had been, the starting of a mote or something maybe? Whatever it was be it a small lake or an over saturated spring was on her right, and the serenity of the place could only mean one thing. "BREAK TIME!" she announced and without warning proceeded to run over to the water and with both hands over her head holding King up like an offering proceeded to pile drive the goose into the water. A resounding GOOSH! and splash was heard followed by the indignant flapping an rush of barking obscenities from her spoiled fowl. "Oh get over it, not like you could drown, you can't even get wet really."   Rupee dropped her butt onto one of the white stones and proceeded to pull her boots off plopping them down beside her as she padded her feet into the water like a child encountering a mud puddle with caution. Pap Pap Pap She played with the surface before scrunching her toes and pulling at the grass that grew under it's shallow depths. "This place isn't so bad", she spoke aloud to herself as she leaned back on her hands looking up at the sky and tree line. Her head resting on her shoulders as she glanced around the peculiar glade. "Wonder what the story is behind this place?"

Teki

[Teki]

Gentle dingles of the wind chime of her staff accentuated her steps as she calmly took the path one step at a time. She kept her senses open, but let her mind wander nonetheless, letting the fresh winds and the sounds of nature flow through and around her. Before she knew it, she was in a clearing, and her very peaceful train of thought – or more accurately, lack thereof – was interrupted by the sound of a very loud splash, pulling her entirely to the material realm again, forcing her to jog just a little bit faster, coming into view just in time to see a pink-haired girl speaking aloud to, apparently, no one, as she stood in a pool of water.

Mysterious Cleric of Wind and Life

“These would be the Ruins of Kard,” Calla said, her voice gentle, effortless, and casual, speaking as she confirmed her suspicions with a relaxed look around. The green-haired young girl approached, the dingle of the noisemakers on her staff making soft notes as she sat down, letting out a soft sigh as she relaxed her weary legs. Her hair was a shade of green, evoking neither the leaves nor the ponds, but calling to one’s mind the essence of the green winds. It was very long, framing her face to her chin, two parts resting on either side of her neck on her shoulder, the rest flowing down her back in a ponytail, controlled by a gold band. She wore a similar gold choker, and a necklace underneath that of much lower quality, something more than likely handmade and personal. Beneath her cloak, which was a faint celadon, she wore a black shirt, which hid away her armor between softer fabrics. Her brown belt wrapped around her hips several times, holding several pouches for her carrying needs, an extra symbol of her deity hanging for all to see as well. Her shorts covered her upper legs, with leather greaves covering the rest. Her staff was silver, like most metal, and while the length was unremarkable, the top was; affixed to it was the holy symbol of her faith, holding a small stand that allowed four metal pieces to hang, the objects that made her movements so recognizable, as well as three ribbons of varying greens.

All in all, she easily matched the vision of an adventurer and a cleric of life on top of that.

Calla brushed a fallen leaf off her shoulder, closing her eyes and leaning back slightly. “In olden days, this was a mining town. But the mine dried up, and eventually this place became a haven for monsters. You know how it goes.”

[Rupee]

'Well it's not like you look any better not carrying me. At least now you look like you have a purpose of some sort instead of flailing your arms about in a swing that looks like a scarecrow flailing in a storm. . . . Go AHEAD! GO AHEAD AND EAT ME! DO IT! I WILL TEAR UP YOUR INSIDES SO BAD I will - NOH! I Will CURSE YOU! YES! YOU will lay EGGS! An-An you'll be in labor pains for a WEEK! An-You-You know what?! You'll FEEL LIKE YOUR DYING!! YEAH! RUE?! Yousea gonna die!... Rue? ...Rue what are you doing? Why am- OH Yes! Break is excellent I could use a good.' GADOOSH! That bubble gum headed bitch was DEAD! 'You hear me!? DEAD! YOU HEAR ME PEE-PEE LINA! You are DEAD TO ME! I will NEVER speak for you EVER AGAIN! You can just FORGET about using this Royal two way voice activated talk line!' 

Unbeknownst to the royal ripping she was receiving or perhaps she just chose to ignore it all together Rupee went about her own business of watching the leaves on the trees and listening to the wind as it passed over the glade. Her bottom lip pouting out a bit as she lulled her head forward and lifted a wet foot up watching the water drip from her heel. A voice interrupted her spoken thoughts causing her head to snap over and lean on her other shoulder. A voice broke through King's cries of discord and Rupee shifted from her lazy sprawl to sit up and pulled one of her legs up resting her jaw on the side of her knee as the Priest?...No, not male. Sea witch? Ehh, coloring was right but Rupee thought she looked more like a tree or some lake water weed then anything. Ooh! Botanist! Yes. Her eyes glanced to the weapon she carried, and her lips pursed like a lemon. Hmm, maybe she was one of those high end Botanists. One of them tree keeper types. The woman seemed to know the area, or at least a bit about it. Kard huh? Hn, she thought she heard a bard sing of that once in a pub. Something about, If yer down on yer luck an in need of a buck just find a drunk an play fifty-two pick up~. Or something of that nature. 

Rupee looked down to the white stone under her foot that she sat on. To think this place was a gambling town. Hard to believe there was nothing left of it. Someone must've gotten pissed and razed it to the ground. At least that was her train of thought until Greeny finished off her history lesson. Rupee's face fell into a pensive stare having caught the swindler in her lie. Mining towns can't dry up. "HA!" she boasted suddenly pointing her finger at the tree-me lady. "I'm onto you and your games thief of Greenbacks! Mining town's can't dry up. They're made of dirt and rock. So ha!"

She shifted her weight slightly and begun to flick her big toe against her index toe as if trying to snap it like fingers. The sound was mute but didn't stop Rupee's suspicions from growing. Just who exactly was this swindling Botanist? Was she cursed to stay there or something like a ghost? Was she the reason the town of Kard met it's end? Did she find out her husband was there mining their wallet on trying to make it big and just put and end to everything? The flashback to her first encounter with a wife's rage came vividly to her mind and made her shudder. No thank you.She'd rather not experience that cluster fuck of landslides and estrogen again. Still that didn't stop Rupee from pointing out that the jig was up. "And you are, I'm guessing...the card keeper er Keeper of card?" she questioned the woman unaware of the chaos lurking beneath her other foot. "If this is your gig you're not doing a very good job at it. No offense, just saying."

Teki

[Teki]

Silence. That was Calla’s response to the pinkette. Dumbfounded silence. She was genuinely taken by surprise by the accusation, so surprised that she genuinely wasn’t sure how to respond. She couldn’t even figure it out where it was coming from, let alone how to respond, and the fact that she was trying to... snap her toes, by Calla’s best guess. Her eyes honestly couldn’t help but stare at her foot, impressed by the sheer attempt, let alone the sneaking suspicion that she might have succeeded if her toes weren’t wet.

She blinked, shaking her head softly, pushing the odd sight from her mind. “No, Kard hasn’t needed a keeper for quite some time, as you might have guessed.” She looked up at the girl’s face, a brief insight suddenly filling her before smirking softly and letting out a quiet chuckle. Calla understood now, and she couldn’t help but be thoroughly amused. So easy it was for her to forget that people weren’t as educated as her; monks and acolytes had so many more means to learn than the common folk, though she had honestly thought a term like that was more commonly known.

“I am no swindler, liar, or cheat. I am Calla, conduit of the great goddess of Life and Wind, Evoro.” She leaned her staff forward, closer to the pinkette, to show the symbol of the church. “In other words, I am a cleric. A pleasure to meet you.”

[Rupee]

OH GAWD! She was so dead. It was a Mama's girl, a Fabu flunkie, a G-shipper, a hostess for one of the most-est. And she was named after a flower. Faaaaaack! “You said it King you said it." she whispered ever so quietly. She could feel her hair slowly fluffing up and standing on end as both her legs came up and squeezed to her chest. She was in so much trouble right now.
 “I am a cleric. A pleasure to meet you.”  

"Shit." came the most smothered and indignant squeak she could ever muster. For you see Rupee was a Valkyrie, she dealt with the warrior women of the clouds. Or that's what the developers and writers of her backstory said. It was rough, she couldn't remember much of it, probably because the trauma of training was so great she chose to bury it in the deepest, darkest, coldest corners of her mind to forever be forgotten but like a catchy old show tune would never truly leave her brain. "Nice!" she yipped before catching herself and clearing her throat trying again. "Nice to meet you, I-I'm Rupee." Her hands clapped together in prayer and rose above her head as she bowed it in submission.  

Teki

[Teki]

Though her introduction was casual, speaking about her rank, well-respected as it was, as easily as she would the weather, Calla kept her eyes focused on the girl’s reaction. The corners of her mouth twisted ever-so-slightly upward, almost unnoticeably so, as the other girl started panicking; Calla had expected a very uncomfortable person the moment she had accused her of being some sort of trickster; someone that would call the likes of her such a thing was either very confused or very ignornant.

It was cruel, perhaps, to take amusement in the mortal fear that the pink-haired one felt, but she had so few sources of it, particularly on the ground. Nevertheless, Calla did not let her suffer long; as Rupee bowed, she let out a soft huff, a half-hearted attempt at a chuckle, reaching forward and patting her head gently. “Relax, Rupee. Evoro has little concerns for petty accusations, as do I.” She smirked again, her lips curling upward just slightly. “Now if I were a cleric for He Who Calls The Storms, we might be having a different conversation. But, alas, you do not get your chance to take up arms yet.”

She pulled her hand back, gently grasping her staff again, mild amusement still on her face as she looked away, admiring the flow of the spring as the water went from one pool to another. “What brings you to Kard? Training against monsters? Or just resting on your travels to the town?”