Taking in the Day (OPEN)

Another day and he was free…that was something to look at and it being a happy thought. Only it didn’t end up that way. Draven was so messed up in the head that it surprised him at times that he didn’t just find a cliff and jump. He didn’t want to think that way so he pushed the thoughts away and left the small room he had rented to head into the woods yet again to find wood. The art didn’t create itself and he needed to find good pieces to do the art. Maybe he was losing his touch or maybe he was just a little off today. With that thought he flung his bag over his shoulder and headed out.

The sun was high and hot on his back when he entered the forest. The sound of animals near him stopped as they took in the man entering there domain. After a few moments they went about their day and so did Draven. It was another one of those days that he couldn’t seem to keep the nightmares from entering his mind. After what seemed like hours Draven found his way to a small river. He let his bag slide to the ground and he went with it. Sitting on the soft moss by the tree side he looked out over the river. A deer took water from one side of the bank and on the other he could almost make out a house. He didn’t think anyone lived that close to the water.

Well maybe a water elemental would, but he pushed that thought away too. His minds was in a whirl of feeling and lose, something about today was bugging him. It wasn’t a day that he wanted to think about though so he pushed his thoughts away again. It didn’t really help that last night the dream had come again. Draven had woken up drenched in sweet and screaming for help. Thankfully the keeper of the room didn’t come running. The last time Draven had almost burned him to death. The man had soiled himself and run for the heals, that made Draven snicker under his breath. Calm came over him when he looked at the water. It was nice to be out in the open and not have to listen to someone tell you that you aren’t good enough.

A few moments went by and Draven decided he needed to clean up a little. So he pulled his shirt over his head and entered the water. Thankfully today it was warm so he didn’t freeze; it was nice to just feel the water splash against his legs and then his bare chest. Deeper into the water he went and soon found himself chest deep. Taking a breath he dipped his head and broke the water’s surface a moment later, pushing his hair out of his eyes. It took him a moment to notice that he had gone further from the bank than he had intended. With little effort he swam back to his bag. Out of the water he went letting the water slide down his chest and soak into his pants.

Draven went back to his moss bed and lay looking up at the sky. A simple sound of a twig braking had him looking around, but when he seen nothing he look back at the sky. Truth was that he knew someone was there, but wasn’t sure who or WHAT they might be. Look harmless is the first thing he learned when he ran from his master. Moments passed and Draven let his eyes slide shut, listening to the forest around him.

There was a road that ran the coast all along the western length of North Terra, curving around with the landmass and crossing three separate mountain ranges before coming to the great port city of Haikar. Before the war with Ignis, the road had been given many names: Tropical Trail, Spice Road, The Road to Sera; essentially it had stopped at many little ports that imported all manner of goods from the Plant Kingdom, but everything had changed when Ignis attacked. The island nation had done everything within its power to destroy the trading road and all of her important villages in order to cut Terra off from its best ally, and now the road to Sera was little more than an overgrown trail.

Yet Haruna had made use of it in the past year and a half, firstly with other guerrilla fighters to spy on the movements of Ignese ships, and after the war was done, to traverse the otherwise inhospitable terrain of the continent. Now she was on the road south, heading for Lushan. She'd received a letter from an old friend only a few days ago, and reaching the single functional port city that might take her to Ignis was her only priority. According to the letter, he'd made it back from the war, but he was in need of Haruna's assistance... how had he managed to find a runner who'd been able to reach her? Well, she and her friend had spent a long time working together against Ignis. They'd both made their own connections within Terra.

There was one problem with her plan to barrel straight across the strait between Lushan and the first island of Ignis' empire. Both she and her horse were not infallible, and both needed rest. When Haruna came across a path that led to an old, somewhat familiar house, she decided to turn off of the main overgrown trail. The path was covered with plant-life, roots curving treacherously from the beaten down earth in such quantity that the young Terran decided to dismount, to lead Meito by the reins. The earth here was richer than much of the rest of the continent: land near Ignis had always been coveted for its fertile qualities, but the river that poured out from between the Shanmar and the Karakurr ranges carried the silt of half a continent with it -- even little tributaries like the one near the rest house held a healing power that most of the rest of Terra lacked.

Because of this, Haruna was out of her boots in mere moments, slinging them over Meito's dusty saddle and sighing in private bliss as sore, bare feet touched on the soft moss that had crept over the trail.

The girl decided to stable her horse first, so it was some time before she finished with her duties to ensure the house didn't have any unexpected squatters, and that Meito was settled and had browsing options. It seemed as though the house was empty, as was most of the architecture this close to Ignis. Relieved by the break from humanity, Haruna soon returned to the river -- only a handful of minutes after Draven had really settled into his hiding place. Walking barefoot still, the long-haired Terran approached the river's edge stripped down to her skivvies, her glaive-like spear held loosely in one arm. For all intents and purposes, the Terran had no idea that Draven was present, let alone a few meters away.

She looked up and down the bank, paying less attention to imminent threats than she was to a good rock that jutted out of the water. When she found one to her liking, she leapt atop it, using her spear to balance herself as she watched the riffles in the water. It took some time before she moved again, but when she did, the weapon shot into the water, blade first. Before she'd even retrieved it, she was letting out a string of colourful curses -- Terran words, though Draven was more than likely familiar with some or all of them. Haruna hadn't caught her quarry... but she looked as though she was persistent enough to keep trying.