[Maruem]

Maruem beamed happily as he marched onward through the dense forest before them. They were close, and he knew it. They probably could have been at their destination by now, but it was an exceptionally bright day out in the world of Gaia, and while Maruem would have been fine in the sun, if a little warm for his own preferred tastes, his friend Dumah, a Nozgor, likely would have had an unpleasant time of it to say the least. With his present company's limitation in mind, he thus chose a path he believed would be most suited for the two of them.

This was a trip Maruem had planned only shortly after entering the world of Gaia. He had awakening with the powerful mountains glowing in the dawn light off far in the distance. The towering peaks stood like a jagged maw of stoney teeth on the horizon, and then and there he had decided that one day soon, he would go there himself.

His hope was to be the first adventurer there. He was a realist not a dreamer. He figured it unlikely that he would be the first individual there, as the People of the Land had seemingly been calling the world of Gaia their home for many centuries. For this reason he concluded that the chances of there being no settlements or at the very least expeditions into the mountains to their east were not only unlikely, but astronomically so. He felt encouraged with his goal to be the first adventurer there though. He had not heard any news of others making the journey yet, so his hope had little reason to wane.

Maruem spent a good portion of his free time in the offices and studies of several Romalian cartographers, as well as a few bookstores and libraries, trying to find what he could about the mountains and they path there. When he finally met with Dumah again a duration of time after Gaia had launched, he knew he had to bring him along for the journey. He had said to Dumah something along the lines of "Hey, I want to go on an epic adventure into the mountains! Come with me!" and here they were. The course they would take had to be adjusted to accommodate for the Nozgor race's innate sunlight sensitivity, but fortunately, with the thick Ciminian Forest between their home and their destination, the path would not need to be altered too drastically, aside from avoiding some of the wider clearings.

They left about an hour before dawn. a time Maruem was not the biggest fan of, but one which made it easy to reach the thicker deeper portions of the Ciminian Forest before the first rays of light could cause any discomfort. Mayhaps it was a tad unnecessary how far Maruem hadgone to prevent even the slightest discomfort. He'd even purchased a black sun umbrella to help keep the light off if his pathing skills ever failed them and it got too bright for Dumah's comfort. But so what if it was unnecessary? Maruem was simply that kind of man. He valued the comfort of others, and if he could help to accommodate it then he would do precisely that. He was not a push over, he was not going to carry Dumah's equipment for him or clear each pebble from the path before them like Frederick would in Fire Emblem, but he was a friend, and he would do what was within his sense of reason to make this as easy a journey as he could.

And it had been to his knowledge. As Maruem pushed aside a bushy bush in their path he saw it, the rise and fall of the mountains breaking out of the grassy expanse before them. They had gradually ascended to the peak of a tall hill without maruem even noticing the elevation change, but at last they saw towering peaks before them after breaking through the treeline. "We're here!" he shouted with glee as he ran through the opening he had created, unfortunately giving Dumah a face full of shrubbery as he released the bush behind him in his excitement. He turned around to see his friend with a few leaves and twigs in his hair and on his clothes. "Oh goodness, I am so sorry Dumah! I promise that was not on purpose." he apologized as he walked back to him to hep clear the debris from his person.

With that unfortunate incident behind them however, Maruem looked up and admired the mountains far above them. "Hey, Dumah, thank you for joining me for this, it means a lot to me that you decided to come with." He beamed once again as he looked to his friend. Here they were, standing before his goal, and there were no other adventurers in sight. a few mountain goats, some cattle, and even some vaguely humanoid figures far off in the distance, too far to cause trouble, but no adventurers. "Now, lets get up to that shallow cave in the mountain side and set up camp. I can gather some wood and you can hunt or we can do the inverse of that if you would like." It was still not even noon yet, despite his meticulous research, Maruem was still surprised at what good time the two of them had made. He was still getting used to the smaller scale of Gaia, but he appreciated that he had not been stopped by the simple appearance of great distance and had persisted for the sixteen kilometers to reach the mountain bases.

Maruem knew they would want for lunch, and for a break after the early morning march. it may even be wise to nap given their extremely early morning. He set about slowly making his way up to the concavity he had pointed out. A small cavernous room in the side of the mountain they could call home, at least while they ate and napped.

Word Count: 1000
Total Word Count: 1000

[Maruem]

Unfortunately, as the pair sat down, it slowly became apparent that their journey was not meant to be. The meal itself was quite nice. They two conversed a bit about how they had been doing in the world since the Apocalypse, and reminisced about the old days in Gaia back when it was just a game.

However, after sitting and talking jovially together for about thirty minutes, Maruem decided it was time for a quick nap. He woke up with wetness by the ear that was resting on the ground. It had scarely been more than three minutes since he had laid down to rest and suddenly a bit of rain had sprung from no where, the once relatively clear sky now rather grey and bleak, with a slow drizzle of tiny drops gradually darkening the ground outside their cave, and inside it as well.

As it turned out, the cave was a natural outlet of water that seemingly gathered about it quite well and then drifted through either cracks or porous rock and made its way into the cavelet, gradually forming a tiny wet spot on the ground which slowly grew into a small puddle, and then a larger one, and then regardless of there they placed their feet there was a slight splash as their boots made contact with the sky drippings.

Maruem peaked his head out of the cave and quickly retreated back into it. The rain was obviously heavier, he had seen that, but he wanted to see just how bad it was and his dripping hair was an indication that it was pretty intense rain. He looked at his friendly neighborhood nozgor and expressed how disappointed he was with the state of affairs. He also pointed out that it was better to just head home now. He reached into his magical pouch and revealed a heavy wool cloak. Dumah had already had his out to protect from the sun, but it would be just as useful here with the rain.

They stepped out into the downpour and began walking down the stone until their boots met with mud and began to slosh more and more with each step. Fortunately it was still relatively early in the rain storm and the ground had not had the chance to absorb enough of the water to be of any major concern.

They reached the treeline and broke through the bushes with a splash as the drops that had been trapped on the leaves burst off and sprayed both of the two men as well as the already wet ground beneath them.

Under the trees it was both better and worse than it had been as they tried to reach them. It was better because the dense canopy meant that tha ground just was not as wet, and there were less drops that reached them. It was worse though because the drops that did fall were much larger as they were given the opportunity to merge with one another on the leaves above, and more importantly it was just substantially darker down under all the trees.

It probably did not trouble his nozgor companion too much, but even as someone who had spent several nights in the woods of Gaia, there was something unsettling about it being rainy and dark during the day in these parts. As they were marching he began to think that it would be so nice if there was an easier way home, and then it hit him, or did it.

After this point it became a point of contention between Maruem and Dumah which of the two adventurers had realized they could just use Call of Home to skip all this weather and just get back to Romaia quick and easy. Maruem and Dumah counted down and used the skill at the same time. It was an odd sensation, as if Maruem's senses were severely dulled and yet he had the distant feeling that he was moving very very quickly, quicker than he had ever moved before.

The two men found themselves on the south western edge of Romalia with the safe zone just a short bit of a ways away behind them. The rain was just beginning to reach Romalia and Maruem quickly shook the now much heavier wool cloak to get what water he could off of it. He looked around himself to gather his bearings. It was an odd experience teleporting into town, and it was definitely taxing. He felt much more tired than he expected he would have. Both mentally and physically it was as if a part of his stamina had simply been drained. He needed something tasty to drink and something hearty to eat.

He invited his nozgor friend Dumah to go to a tavern that was not too great a deal of a distance away if he remembered correctly. They walked through the streets together weaving through the clusters of people until they finally made it to the doors of Caesar's Flaggon.

Maruem pushed the door open and walked into the warm interior of the brightly lit tavern. He took a seat at a round table and invited Dumah to join him. The location was a familiar one. not too long ago, he had held a meeting here with a few adventurers and a lander, and he remembered enjoying the location. It was quieter than it had been that day. Either the people were hidden away at home in anticipation of the weather or they would come here soon once it got started.

Maruem felt that the chances of the latter happening were pretty solid, so it was good that they had gotten their table already and were comfortably seated ready for their order to be taken before the potentially inevitable rush. A waitress came over and asked them what it was they would like to order. Maruem smiled at her, then he looked over at his companion and said "I hear the poutine here is fantastic!"

As Maruem settled in to enjoy the poutine, he awoke to find that he was sleeping on the counter at the tavern from his dream, dry and alone. He had never gone to the mountains that day, had he. Working hard through the day had made him more tired than he expected. Well, time to dig in either way. What had that dream been about, he wondered as he dug in to some delicious poutine.

Word Count: 1000 (+75 after claim)
Total Word Count: 2000 (+75 after claim)