[Micaiah]

In the very end of summer, the dark figure of Micaiah trudged along up the hill-road under the blistering heat radiating from the glistening sphere above in the clear blue skies. With a bit of free time, or as much of a day off you could call it from the church and the orphanage duties. In this pleasant evening, she had envisioned in the Ciminian forest on such a ‘splendid’ day in the twilight of summer with such fine weather. But had so far turned out quite the opposite from those wishful expectations.

“I expected some discomfort throughout the trip in this outfit, but I must say this is da-… Quite ridiculous... The autumn leaves are just around the corner and the weather blasts off like this?” The dark fabric of her habit outfit absorbed each and every ray laid upon it and in turn, converted it into a sweltering sensation on Micaiah’s part. As one might expect, the veil usually located on top of her head were nowhere to be found. But had instead found its way into her left hand’s firm grip alongside a blanketed basket since some time earlier. Meanwhile on the other side she ungracefully wiped of the salty gathering of sweat which had formed into a droplet at the rip of her chin with the backside of her right hand.

While trying to ignore the building factors vexing her, the unseen yet aptly present wildlife insects were unbothered screeching back and forth between one another. But whether this was one of those factors was undetermined. As with their increase in frequency carried good an implication, as the forest were but a few dozen meters away. The shades laid by the still trees of the forest looked nothing less than akin to an oasis in the middle of a barren desert. And by some trickery of the mind, for a moment it felt as if she saw a lone roaming sheep standing between it all. Unmoving, steadfast, staring at her, scrutinizing her character and monitoring her... It took but the blink of an eye and the mirage had disappeared into thin air, making her question her condition. As she took shelter beneath them, the feeling was immediate. While the heat persisted in her clothes, the suffering she had experienced were considerably diminished. With the presence of the sun no longer looming over her, the gentle breeze who had felt non-existent only but a few moments ago blew her bad mood into the wind. “If fortunes were to favor me, maybe there’d be some clouds emerging to cover me on the way home once I’m done here. Lest I’d have to find something like those fancy umbrellas the rich folks use.” She uttered to herself with a bit of giddiness in her tone.

Even though the sunny day was a nice occasion for a trip, that was not the sole reason Micaiah had gone out of her way over to the Ciminan forest. While she was relieved of her duties for the day, it was somewhat difficult to come up with anything of her own unrelated to it to pass the time. And thus, she ended up with something work related, albeit something she was rarely able to do.
As the orphanage lived off a small part of the various donations received by the church, the food the children lived of off was anything but extravagant and frankly, quite plain. As to liven up the meal for them with some color and flavor, she had decided to solve this through a trip to the forest for some light foraging. A search for mushrooms, berries, fruit, herbs, veggies and other greens would surely please the children if but a little bit when mealtime comes around. And while she were here, finding a fresh water source would be ideal as well, given her waterskins contents had almost completely depleted throughout her way here.

Not far in to her path, a familiar brown and beige colored mushroom caught her attention next to a tree on a slope with a downward incline. It was an ingredient she was certain she had used whilst cooking many times before. Watching her step as she walked over uneven tree roots and thickets off the road, she stood above the patch of mushrooms she had eyed and held on to the tree trunk they had rooted next to for support. “Ah…” But as she finally crouched down to collect her prize and underestimated for how much the heat had really affected her, a wave of dizziness hit her but all at once, she held faintly held her head as the lightheadedness made her fall face first forward towards the ground.

---

WC: 789
Tags: Gwyddion , Maruem
Micaiah color: a58405
Note: Once again, sorry for the long wait

[Maruem]

The tail end of Summer had thus far been by most accounts rather mild. The various lander farmers and farm hands he had had the pleasure of working with generally noted how pleasant it had been to work out in the over-all mild Summer weather in the past months. Of course, it would have been less of note if not for the surprising change that had come only a few times over the past months with a day like today. Put simply, it was blisteringly hot. Some people he passed on his way out of the city of Romalia commented that they could cook an egg on the ground or other such sayings.

The north-eastern exit was the closest in the city to where he had been, and so Maruem made his way there. Perhaps it was the damned heat, but he felt rather aimless today. It was not yet the hottest time of the day, when the great ball of inferno "Sol" would be shining from on high, directly onto all those poor people below his radiance, and leaving little opportunity for any structure to offer shade.

Crossing through the old gates of the city he passed by a very overgrown old building. It stood rather tall at the entrance of the city, and Maruem had to assume it had once held some significance even if it had clearly long since been abandoned. "What a nice building." he though to himself. "It would probably make quite the guild hall... although I still have not confirmed if guilds are even a thing anymore. I wonder..." his thoughts continued as he drifted by the building and off into the wilderness that was the Ciminian Forest.

He wandered on for hours. The forest path he followed wound and snaked its way through the greenery and between the older of the trees present there. It was much cooler in the forest, the shade clearly did wonders to create a buffer and impede Sol's impact on the climate of the forest. Many times the path followed along the bank of what he was pretty certain was called the Aniene river. If his memories from the short time he spent researching for the launch of the game were at all reliable, than he was likely headed for the city of Tivoli, or perhaps it was more of a town.

Maruem took a short break as he leaned against a tree. He wore a simple cream tan shirt and darker but loosely fitted pants. His shoes were nothing worth admiring. His armor, a novice brigandine, was tucked away in his magic pouch. It was too cumbersome and hot for a day like today. Strapped to his back was his long two-handed novice lance, and his novice dagger hung loosely from his belt.

He pulled his shirt off and walked over to the river where he dipped it into the water to rinse it of the sweat that had gathered in the absorptive fibers. As he rinsed the clothing, he though he head the faintest sound of a sheep off behind him far on the other side of the path. Upon wringing out the cloth some, he took the cool and damp article of clothing and once again pulled it down over his head to cover his bare torso and shoulders. The wet shirt clung to his skin and left little to the imagination when it came to his powerful physique.

He made his way back toward the path but saw movement a ways off. The path was probably about fifty meters from the bank of the river at this point, and not far down the way he saw a woman, one who appeared to be a nun possibly based off of the clothing, crouching over a large brown mushroom at the roots of a tree. He noticed her begin to sway, and in an instant his mighty calves shot him forward. His lunge was just barely enough for him to catch her as she fell. He caught her head on, and as he braced her and balanced to prevent either of them from falling down the small decline at the side of the path, he felt her head press face first on the cold shirt that adorned his chest. He had been as cautious as one could be in such a short time to avoid hurting her as they impacted, and it seemed he had succeeded.

He would surely offer her water as soon as she was awake, but his mind was distracted for a moment as he thought he heard the sound of a sheep somewhere in the forest, the same as before, but closer now. Why was there a sheep in the forest?

Word Count: 789
Tags: Gwyddion , Micaiah

[Gwyddion]

William woke up the same way as the past few days: on the streets. Ever since that day, he never truly had any place to be yet. Mostly, he had just been wandering around the city, avoiding back alleys and hoping to find something interesting or someone in the same situation as him. Today would be different. Yesterday, he got a pop-up on his user interface: [SKILLS AVAILABLE]. As any good MMO demanded, the world turned out to still have a progression system. And now that he had finally skilled up, he might finally be ready to explore that forest the locals feared so much.

He played games before, and knew about going out of town. Normally, it would not be much of a problem. Sure, you might die in the grind to level two, but that is not much of a big deal if it only takes you a minute walk to get back from your respawn point. But he had seen people die, and it looked like it hurt. And maybe, in this world, you did not respawn. So better take it safe. Now, he should be ready for it. At least to make it back in one piece. Hopefully.

Walking through the streets of Romalia, he gradually saw the buildings become smaller, more room coming between them. He already passed the gate a long time ago, and was slowly nearing the edge of the last outskirts of civilisation, trees becoming more and more common. Most concrete had long ago been replaced by grass, and most buildings even had trees growing out the windows. 'Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all... who knows what's out there...' Skittishly, he was looking around. This is what would probably be defined as the edge of the forest, as it was here that the road ended, and a small path lead up a hill, a river flowing not far from it. Trees were even more common, and houses were nowhere to be seen anymore. Will came to a halt, and took a deep breath. 'I said I would go in here today, so let's go.' Head held high, he set foot on the small woodland path.

---

Listening to the flow of the river, the chirping of the birds, and the rustling of the leaves, William spent his hours walking along the little woodland path. It was nice weather for a hike here in the woods, and so far, the journey had been rather peaceful. But that could change any moment, and he still had his bow slung over his shoulder, arrows at the ready. It might not be a good idea to go this far into the forest. And just as he was thinking so, he saw something move just by the river.

Sneaking through the foliage towards the stream, Will caught a better glimpse at what was waiting for him there. A firm-looking man pulling the head of what appeared to be a nun into his chest. They should be just about in longbow range, but it did not look like either of them were any danger to him. If anything, it looked more like two lovers best not disturbed. No need to escalate, everything was still as peaceful as before...

And as he thought this, he heard it. An agonizing sound. A pretty "baaaa"'d sound. A horrible bleating came from right behind them. And you never know what monsters game developers throw in there, a sheep minotaur was not something unheard of. At once, he pulled an arrow from his quiver, and dashed over to the group.

Suddenly appearing out of the shrubbery right next to the two 'lovers' was a boy in a robe, longbow at the ready. "Sorry to disturb the two of you, but we've got company."

William was not quite sure why he did this. He did not know these people, and they did not know him. But if there truly was something out there, he could not just leave them to their fate. It would also be a nice time to grind some experience, he told himself. Because surely I am not doing this to protect the two of them?

A bush shaked. He turned around to face it. Several seconds passed. Now a twig snapped not far away. The sound again. "Baaaaaahhhh!" It must now only be several meters away. Rustle. Rustle. And then it appeared. From the leaves, a wooly ball jumped out. Fluffy white coat, black face, curled horns - by all accounts a regular sheep. With a sigh, he released the tension of his bow again. The sheep stared straight at him, and Will noticed something in its mouth. An elaborate scroll, a wax seal stamped into it.

"Baaahh."

---

Word Count: 789
Total Word Count: 789
Notes: What a wonderful color

Thought Color #1979e6
Talk Color #09b558
UI Color #ffffff
Sheep Color #baaaaa

[Micaiah]

It was a weird feeling. It was the first time Micaiah had experienced passing out, or at the very least as far as she could remember it to be. It felt as if she was aware and conscious, yet no thoughts went through her head. With her entire body feeling numb, she limply laid there, staring at the swirling dull colors that clouded her vision. Starting from the middle, slowly spreading outwards, the foggy colors gradually started clearing from her vision.
But while she expected to lie down in the dirt and greenery. With her sight regained, it was instead damp and dark. And she felt the slightly erratic thumping of a heart. She was leaning against someone. A painful sting alarmed her as she realized her eyes were still open and the cornea of her right rubbed in contact with the fabric.

Flinching backwards from the sudden pain, she felt as the dizziness crept back onto her from the sharp movement she exerted and had her hang on to the stocky man’s shoulder once more. Having somewhat separated herself, she could feel the part of her face which had been in contact with the shirt persisting through a bit of a ticklish feeling. Now with a source of stability, Micaiah took her time to look around her new surroundings. Starting with the very person whom had helped her out. It was hard to discern his actual age, though she found it difficult to believe he’d yet to reach into this 30s. With a burly physique and a soft smile plastered on his rugged face, he gave off the feeling of a gentle giant character. She suspected he was a man that was hard to be warry of even without the given circumstances.

Tracing her attention over to the second fellow she had scantly noticed until now, was a far thinner figure, looking almost gaunt if compared to the previous example. He was visibly younger than both her and the giant. Given the canine faunri ears that poked on top of his head, he exposed that the pair certainly were not related at the very least. Work partners maybe? Were they forest rangers? He seemed more skittish, with bow and arrow drawn, fervently searching his surroundings. Yet the only other presence seemed to be an ordinary sheep standing lonesome in the clearing. She could not make fathom their business for being here. Perhaps they were on an errand fetching a runaway sheep from nearby farm?

On the topic of business, she quickly started surveying the state of her belongings. With her basket resting safely unchanged in her arm even after the fall. Her habit veil had fallen out of her grip and laid crumpled just next to her, a sad sight to behold. But what happened to the mushroom? Her first prize of the day was nowhere in sight no matter in which direction she faced. An unpleasant feeling washed over her as she shifted around in her search. Looking downwards, her prize was found. Albeit it was hardly a ‘prize’ at this point, as the squished edges of the brown fungi poked out of her cloaked knee, crushed and flattened into the ground to be sure. And surprisingly to her, instead of being words of gratitude. The first words that were compelled out of her was instead “Ah... What a waste…” Letting out with a sullen tone, commenting on the wasted ingredient. Or maybe it just sounded that way since she was still a bit out of it after having passed out? She was not exactly sure.

The slow approach of a big waterskin tuned her groggy attention back to the man acting as her support, a kind gesture simply meant as to keep her hydrated. However, Micaiah rejected the notion which the man offered with a courteous gesture of her own. She felt a bit remorseful towards her benefactor, but she was not about to drink from whom god knows where it had been and used, offered by some stranger she just met.

As she had started to gather herself to an extent, she felt that it was about time she got back up no her feet and release these gentlemen from waiting on her action. Grabbing ahold of her wrinkled veil next to her, she put some strength and effort back onto the sturdy shoulder and slowly got herself back up to her own bearings. “I really appreciate you for helping me out. You have my utmost gratitude. May I possibly ask you two gentlemen’s name? And what brings you here?” She asked rather casually, trying to erase the focus away from the condition she had previously been found in and instead allowing for an introduction.

---

WC: 789
Total WC: 1578
Tags: Gwyddion , Maruem
Micaiah color: a58405

[Maruem]

Music

Maruem's eyes flicked to the sudden noise approaching them, and he saw the young boy before he landed, his weapon drawn. Maruem's muscles tensed momentarily before he even had time to process the visual data reaching his brain, as though he were an animal sensing a hunter approaching. If one could see his aura in that moment it likely would have appeared as a wolf bearing it's fangs, but that tension was almost immediately released as he saw what it was that approached him and any sense of threat was immediately dispersed.

The boy standing before him had large feline ears and a bushy tail which matched his disheveled shoulder length hair. Maybe he had not thought out his path very well, but the few twigs and scattered leaves sticking out from his hair spoke to either an unfamiliarity with wearing longer hair or poor planning on his part in going through the shrubs rather than simply going around them.

Maruem held very still so as to not disturb the lady at his chest. He was keeping his breathing steady and deep, but also managing to keep it subtle and slow. If the nun did not pay enough attention, it could feel almost as though he did not breath at all. The controlled breathing had the added benefit of slowing his heart rate and hopefully concealing the involuntary and quick spike in heart rate that had come with the sudden appearance of the kid, who was now almost completely out of the gladiator's mind as Maruem focused his attention on the girl.

He barely heard the words the boy had spoken, but he had heard them, not giving any acknowledgement at the moment. Whatever this 'company' the skittish kid was referring to was, it was not something Maruem perceived, unless it was the sheep in the clearing. It was possible that was the case. The shrubs the boy was in would block the kid's view of the fluffy animal from that angle. Whether he knew there was a sheep or fear some other animal, it mattered little to Maruem at the moment.

The youthful nun pushed off of his chest and he moved not a millimeter, serving as a pillar for her to support herself on as she flinched back and away from his torso, swaying momentarily before she began to work at regaining her bearings and composure. It was apparent that she was either dehydrated, overheated, or a combination of the two. She studied him carefully, and as she did he was given an opportunity to do the same quickly. She had a slender form though she was not substantially shorter than he from what he could tell, and from what he could see of her skin, though it was only from the neck up, she had a healthy and fair complexion if a bit red from the heat.

His eyes drifted up past her thin lips and slight nose before they were entangled by her own beautiful amber eyes. They were breathtaking. He smiled gently and reassuringly at her as she continued to study him, clearly being more thorough in her inspection than he had been, and understandably so as he was the stranger who had came from no where to help her, but he felt his cheeks warm at the sudden direct and focused attention between them. After a few moments of taking his presence in and surely judging the impression he left, she seemed to relax, with the slight tension leaving mostly through her shoulders. It was at the least reassuring that he had not scared her off by coming from no where and catching her.

She turned her attention away from him to take stock of herself and her possessions, and upon noticing what faintly resembled a mushed mushroom, the first words finally left her mouth. She had a soft gentle voice, and it was pleasant on the ears, despite the content being words of disappointment at the loss of a fine ingredient. Maruem opened his lips to speak as he lifted the water skin from his side to offer the girl a drink, but she made it clear she was not interested.

His offer of water rejected, Maruem almost turned his attention once again to the kid. The nun seemed visibly as confused and inquisitive as he felt in that moment, having no clue who this lost child was, or why he was battle ready in the presence of a sheep, as if it were some genuine threat. It would have almost been comical if it weren't so confounding. However, before he could make any action of speech or movement in regard to the faunri, he felt the nun's weight shift against his chest. She felt very light as she shifted her weight onto his shoulder with her arm and pushed herself up to her feet, seemingly letting the hand linger on him for a moment as if to make sure she was steady. She thanked him kindly for his help, almost to the degree of making him blush, and then asked for introductions from both him and the child that had come through the shrubbery.

Maruem raised one knee and planted his foot on the ground before he pushed up with his leg to rise from the soft soil. He brushed the loam from his shins and knees, his loose hair falling over his shoulders as he bent down to take some care of his pants. He straightened, and very deliberately gave a well mannered bow to the nun, with a forearm across the waist included. As his back straightened he ran his left hand through his well kept hair, bringing it back to its usual resting place against the back of his head. His fingers moved through the hair without snagging once in the well kept locks. He gave of the air of a laid back individual, and despite the odd faunri's tense entrance, seemed to not be very concerned with the circumstances surrounding the sheep.

He was more interested in keeping an eye on the gorgeous eye'd nun at the moment, making sure she did not have another dizzy spell and collapsing. "I am Maruem" he said with a smile. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance miss..?" he inquired for her own name. "I have to admit, I am here simply from curious wanderings. I had recently begun working as a laborer in Romalia, but as fate would have it this year's very mild summer has given way to a blisteringly hot day, and I made the decision to explore the region, something I've not had the opportunity to do as much as I would have liked just yet."

His weapons no where to be seen save for the simple dagger at his hip, his armor tucked away in his pouch of hammer space, Maruem had not the faintest clue just how much he could come off as a Lander in the moment. "And who might you be young man?" He asked the kid with the bow. "Actually, before you answer that, we're only in partial shade here. Why don't we move over there." He pointed to a section of the forest with denser foliage. "That way we can all stay a bit cooler, and we can talk while we walk over there, I am also curious what brings you both out here."

Word Count: 1234
Total Word Count: 1234+789=2023
Tags: Micaiah , Gwyddion
Notes: Hi hi~ Sorry that no 789, but I got another number progression so hopefully forgivable offense.

[Gwyddion]

Face to face they stood.

On one side, the Faunri. His ears pricking up in alertness, the longbow at his side ready for action.

Right in front of him, the sheep. Its eyes staring right at the boy in front of it, horizontal pupil bars of doom.

Behind them, a slender girl slowly getting up and a burly boy supporting her.

Seconds passed.

The girl looked at a flattened mushroom, now no more than a bit of mush on the ground.

The boy offering her some water, yet being totally rejected.

The sheep still stared straight at William. Yet it stayed right where it stood. Its ear twitched as it looked at the boy, and its tail was slowly wagging from side to side.

Much in the same way the tension had left the bowstring seconds earlier, the suspense was finally leaving Will too now. It seemed this particular sheep was not a hostile mob, so there was no need to stay so alert. It could still be neutral, of course. While not a monster, the sheep could still be a polymorphed wizard. Or the host to a parasitic mushroom. Perhaps even a mimic waiting for someone to approach it. But for now, it could safely be left alone. He backed off, and joined the two strangers. He obviously knew neither of them, and stood awkardly to the side of them, listening to the man apparently named Maruem giving his introduction. The man sounded casual, and from the way he spoke, William's best guess was that this was a Lander. As would the girl next to him probably be. They were both dressed in standard non-Adventurer clothing, the kind William still had not gotten around to buying yet. And neither of them appeared to be carrying any big weapons, magical staffs or heavy armor. Additionaly, they were talking like actual people, none of the gamer 'slang' most players used. But they still seemed alive. The NPCs in this world really were something else. Then again, everything had come alive.

Meanwhile, the sheep simply stood there, its yellow eyes still showing interest in him. But not just him. Every now and then, the narrow black bars flicked rapidly left to right, and the sheep seemed to constantly be aware of its surroundings. And as William was looking at the sheep, its pupils moved up, as if trying to remember something. It truly did look more intelligent than he would have expected from a simple sheep. Stop it! Enough with the sheep, there's two people here, and they are asking for your name!

Walking to a spot with some bigger trees, he finally introduced himself to the others. "You may call me Gwyddion, I suppose. If it was not obvious yet, I am a ranger patrolling these woods, looking for any dangerous creatures around." Once again, his eyes flicked to the sheep, which was still following them at a distance. "Actually, I'm not much of a ranger yet, that sheep really tricked me..." Embarassed, he scratched the back of his neck. "I hope I didn't... interrupt... anything."

Not knowing what else to say, he simply stayed quiet during the rest of the walk. The girl looked kind, and definitely reminded William of some sort of 'mom' character. Then there was the boy, Maruem, almost the exact opposite of the other one. Muscled, a cool face, yet still friendly. If these two were truly People of the Land, it was fair game to ship them, right?

---

As all of this happened, the sheep slowly approached the group. Its little legs swinging front to baack, baack to front, it caught up to the group. And as it caught up, one cud say it looked impatient. For a few seconds, it walked with the group, right in between the two Will considered Landers. But quickly, the sheep got tired of this. Hoofing it the speed of three humans rushing to get some shade is not easy when all you have are two pair of hooves!

A plan formed in its head, and it cast a sheep's eye at the two people directly next to it. The big man to its left woold be annoying to deal with if he went through with this plan. The girl, however... Yes, yes... That cud definitely work.

Its mouth moved a bit, getting a better hold on the scroll gripped between its teeth and its tongue. It shook its head, getting rid of a wild dancing pluck of wool dangling right before its eyes. And finally, it moved its head down at an angle, the curved horns now dangerously prodding out to the front. According to its calcewelations, this attack cud definitely herd the girl. That should give them the time to finally pay some attention to this woolly creature it had become.

It scraped its hoove once. Its tail bounced up. Its eyes blinked. And then, it started running.

It felt the air rushing through its fur.

Its hooves clattering across the ground.

Its ears flapping along.

An evil smile on its little sheep face.

Within a second, it cleared the last distance to the girl. Its horns came to contact with her kneepit with a small crash. But the momentum carried it forward still, and the girl tumbled right over the rest of its body.

Mission complete.

---

Word Count: 890
Total Word Count: 789+890=1679
Notes: I hope this word count counts

Thought Color #1979e6
Talk Color #09b558
Baa'd Puns Color #baaaaa

[Micaiah]

With the young faunri currently unresponsive and seemingly lost in their little standoff with the herbivore in the distance, Micaiah returned her attention back towards broad fellow in lieu from the sound of cracking sticks and shifting clothes he made as he rose back up from the ground. While observing him brushing the soil away off his now discolored dark pants, she felt a little bit less apologetic about it, knowing it’d be easily rinsed out unlike if they’d been of white or the same color as his shirt. Keeping that thought, she eyed said shirt discretely as to see any sort of similar dark discolorations could be found on his cream colored shirt. What if she’d been drooling while being out of it and left a mark? It’s not a lot she could have done even if that was the case, but wouldn’t have made her feel any less shameful about it if there indeed was any. That did not look to be the case however, alleviating some of her petty worries.

With his head high and his worn pants now somewhat soilless, the man returned her inquiry with a strange gesture. The man gave her a deep and respectful bow. It wasn’t one to express regret or to ask for forgiveness with which you commonly might get to see when a parent apologizes for their child’s mischief. The arm across his waist accompanying the gesture made it clear to be taken as a greeting. It certainly wasn’t something commoners would use outside the context of some performance. Was he some sort of noble perhaps? She found that hard to believe. Not for the way he is clothed. But from the thought of someone of such high status to show this level of courtesy toward some everyday country girl such as herself and in turn diminishing their own standing. Maybe he had the aspirations to be one? Either way it was an unexpected sight to be sure. Nevertheless, Micaiah reflexively tugged at the hems of her outfit in response in a fluster as to not disrespect the notion, hoping it were satisfactory.

“The name is Micaiah” she managed to respond as he asked her name in turn. From the sound of it, this person Maruem didn’t seem to have any aristocratic background working as a laborer. If anything, it sounded as if he either came from the countryside like herself or was some sort of foreigner, recently started working in Romalia. That would explain his unique mannerism. Though she didn’t feel it sounded like he had any form of broken accent… It was about this time the young faunri approached the duo, and as per suggestion by Maruem, the now trio made their way to the shade. The boy introduces himself as Gwyddion. Well. While initially described as ‘boy’, upon closer inspection he didn’t seem all too far away from her own age, so mayhaps that was an inapt way of doing so.

Hearing him conducting the work of a ranger came like music to her ears. While often overshadowed by stories of knights and guards of similar work in their flashier appearance, inspiring the younger generation in their playful games. The rangers are in a way equally valued fellow agent of god. By risking their own safety to keep the woods secure in cleansing whatever foul creatures defiling this mortal coil is a virtuous, honest and an evidently dangerous profession worthy of praise. “Thank you for your arduous work, keeping citizens such as myself safe from whatever might encroach from the woods.” Micaiah quipped in before the mention of the sheep, beaming gently with a high opinion. Following up with “That so?…” now instead in a somewhat awkward response, as she smiled all the same but not quite sure and trying to gauge if what he’d just said was in jest.

As for Gwyddion’s last remark. It took Micaiah but a few moments before clapped her hands together as the revelation came to her “Ah!” she chuckled a bit at the apparent misconception “It’d be rather strange for me to ask for both your names earlier if that were to be the case don’t you think? There’s no need for you to feel uncomfortable with your presence here. You’ll make it difficult for Mr.Maruem. He helped me out as I lost my bearings earlier. It’s our first encounter.” She turned towards Maruem amusedly, hands still clapped together and seeking some affirmation for the conversation “Isn’t that right Mr.Maruem?”.

In doing so, realizing she’d been so engaged in what the few lines the ranger brought up, she had yet to respond to the question he brought up earlier. “Right! As I mentioned before, my name is Micaiah. I work as a sister at a small church in a town not too far away from here.” Given the amount of different religions residing in Romalia, she doubted they’d really understand what a ‘sister’ is, but the mention of temple or church should at least make it clear enough that it was related to religion. Taking notice of the now sheer amount of shade that fell upon them, Micaiah reached into and under the blanket of her basket with the hand holding her veil and exchanged it for a milky white handkerchief with modest embroidery at its ends, patting away at whatever small amount of sweat that remained on her face. “As for the reason I found my way here today. We happen to be in charge of the orphanage in town as well. But given that the number of donations we receive tends to swing a lot, it leads to rather plain meals being served there. So given I was granted a day off, I figured it’d be delightful to see their reactions to a more varied and colorful course from whatever I manage to gather here today~” As she went into detail into her reasons for being here, with the rich ups and downs of her voice while doing so, it was clear as day that young woman was very into her own work.

“That said, I must say that I very much underestimated the undertaking of getting here in this weather. In my line of work, we don’t have many optio…” As she was going to complain a little as to why she was mostly clad in black on such a blistering day, the ever increasing rumbling of hooves growing ever close interrupted her line of thought. And before she was able to perceive its source, the nun was flung into the air from something speeding into her legs. A lump of dull pain could be felt from where she’d been hit, and Micaiah had a sneaking suspicion that a bruise would soon find its way there. Apparently, it would seem she was sprawled and had already hit the ground, making Maruems earlier efforts and goodwill all for naught. While one normally would focus on where they’d been hit or even try and locate the supposed danger. All she could seem to focus on as she sat herself up from the ground, with her blonde hair now in disarray, was the sheer unjustified shame she felt. It’d been but a few minutes since she met the observers standing next to her, and even though she felt plenty capable, she’d somehow starting to an image of some airy klutz whom seemingly couldn’t stand on their own between given moments.

The ground before her were littered with different things. Her veil had seemingly found its way back towards the soil. Food which she had gleefully prepared had fallen out of their thin wrappings. She wouldn’t be eating those now. Her empty waterskin, various containers brought to store her findings, her blanket. At least the handkerchief were still in her hands. If it wasn’t obvious already, the basket had fallen out of her armfold and was located on its side next to her. Some remaining salad-chicken sandwitches seemed to have remained safely. That’s more than she’d expected at least. The silence she kept after this strange occurrence must have been bizarre. As she collected the veil, to the waterskin, onto her containers and finally. A flail clinked and jingled as she took ahold of it. Out of frustration, the grip she clenched the hilt of the weapon with, was with such force the blood drained from her delicate fingers into a deathly white color underneath her white linen gloves. While the weapon was shining and well kept, the chips and scratches on the head of the weapon displayed that this wasn’t some intimidation piece for show and had most definitely seen use before.

Taking a look towards the culprit, maybe she imagined it, but it almost looked as if the sheep reveled in the experience it had afflicted upon her with a smug expression. The sight reminded her of one of senile old Father Nurt ramblings way back, as he ambitiously rang on how goats were in direct association with the devil. At the time she didn’t think much of it, given that was the sort of speeches he always pulled off to the nuns, but perhaps there held some weight with these creatures? Sheep and goats were close enough right? She vowed to re-review the scriptures on this topic back home at the church once all this were resolved. Now, peeking between the strands, if a gaze could kill this was it. She pondered if this wasn’t the sort of thing she’d come here for? The children back at the orphanage could definitely benefit with a bit more protein in their diet. Would give the meal some extra flavor to boot.

Realizing she was seeing red, Micaiah smacked herself lightly on the cheeks as she withdrew her degenerate ideas. What sort of sinful thoughts were she wallowing in? It was but an antsy lost runaway sheep likely belonging to some poor farmer living close by. And she thought of satisfy her own selfish desire and hurting someone else’s belonging? How shameful. How utterly sinful. Micaiah quickly rolled the rattling flail against the hilt and ultimately put it back into the basket before covering it with the blanket once again. Standing up on her own, she quickly brushed off whatever soil still stuck onto her dark outfit, and left the spoiled food on the ground to whatever wildlife who’d make content with it. “My. What a mischievous little devil. I wonder if I managed to aggravate it in some way.” While her thin lips curved upward and her eyes seemingly amused. Her face was not smiling.

---

WC: 1765
Total WC: 3341
Tags: Gwyddion , Maruem
Micaiah color: a58405
Note: I am so very sorry this took as long as it did. It started with a delay at first, into an extremely busy college period. While there were moments I had time to write, the writings of assignments and reports just made it that much less appealing to do so. Hopefully I can keep up better this time around.

[Maruem]

Maruem was gifted two names as they began to speak. The young nun he had caught was Micaiah, though it was intriguing how her polite curtsy did not totally match the less refined phrasing of her rather curt introduction. The boy with the bow was a ranger named Gwyddion. He was an adventurer like Maruem, it seemed. A portion of Gwyddions introduction made Maruem chuckle a little inside, though his face showed none of the inner laugh and simply the same friendly smile. IT seemed rather funny to him that the boy claimed he was looking for dangerous creatures and yet was stalking a sheep, but he did not laugh out of malice, it was wholesome that this player was innocent enough with the game he played and explored the world and despite having the tools and skills to easily annihilate the sheep, he treated it as a threat. As they walked on further toward more shade and he learned his temporary companions names, Sister Micaiah seemed to take the lead in the conversation.

The poor woman had endured her thick black clothes through the heat and gotten this far from town in spite of that blistering handicap, and now she was showing herself to be quite charismatic. It was admirable how strong and capable she could present herself as. She had even refused his earlier aid, beyond him catching her, and there was not much time for her to refuse that part at the time.

Micaiah was respectful of the ranger's station and role in society, even if he himself seemed to have lost some of the pride in his tracking upon the realization that he had been deceived by a sheep. "Aye, it is a truly great thing to serve one's community with such enthusiasm. You need not be disheartened the trickery of a mere tup who is too puffy for their wool. Take pride in your station and aid others with all your being if that is the path you have chosen, Obstacles are just there to be overcome after all, are they not?"

He contemplated for a moment trying to remember the quote from the movie he had watched for the first time only shortly before the launch of Gaia. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. Quite fitting that it speaks of shepherding given the context of our situation."

The conversation continued on to Gwyddion questioning if he had interrupted anything and Micaiah correcting his misinterpretation of their relationship. "Aye, Sister Micaiah and I are simple strangers, save for that brief encounter mere moments ago where she lost her footing. You need not worry about having interrupted anything." Maruem spoke as he admired the light beams slicing through the gaps in the leaves as they shifted in a light breeze. The sister wiped some tiny beads of sweat from her brow with a small white handkerchief from her basket. And then she continued her lead on the conversation, explaining why she had come out into the woods on this hot day. Apparently she was a nun at an orphanage in town and due to how they were admittedly low on funding, she went out into the woods on her day off to gather something more flavorful for the children. It was a very wholesome thing to hear, and Maruem followed her words as he stared off into the sky, watching birds fly far above.

"That is very admirable work. Those orphans are lucky to have a Sister who cares for them so much." He said with his arms crossing behind his head. Her passion for her work was clear, and Maruem could only hope he could find a line of work he was as passionate about as she was with hers. As she began to explain further and get to the part in the timeline where the weather interfered with her work, Maruem was too focused on her words and just how peaceful the sky was to process the sound of hooves, until it was too late.

There was a hard thump of horn on nun, and the sister tumbled over the sheep as the smirking wooly devil turned and stopped. Maruem began to step forward and reach down to help the nun up, but the look on her face as she glared into the Sheep's soul told him his help would be unwanted at the moment. He instead went about gathering some of the scattered belongings that had been flung from the Sister's basket as she was flung into the air.

She was already reaching for the veil as he grabbed some of the further things. The water skin, some containers of various styles and sizes, a blanket which was now dusted with dry dirt. He handed them back to her as she picked herself up and then she picked up her flail and he stepped back. The weapon seemed well used and heavy, its worn inscriptions glittering in the sun.

Maruem felt like a fool for letting himself drift off into a false comfort and stare at the sky instead of being more alert to their surroundings. His eyes now passed between the sheep and the woman, who now showed herself to be even more capable, having just taken a hard hit and already being back on her feet and ready to fight.

The sheep looked maliciously gleeful, like it had enjoyed causing them trouble and charging through the nun. Looking back at her he saw a similar malice. One of hatred and hunger. He could not blame her if she decided to take down the sheep. Quickly however, she smacked herself lightly, but enough to knock her back into reality. She lowered the weapon and placed it back into her basket before brushing some loose dirt from her clothes.

She spoke of the sheep lightheartedly as if it had been mischievous and not malicious, before deflecting the blame onto herself with a question. Her expression made it clear she was not happy with the creature though, and Maruem had a tool for the job. The sheep was not far, and he was a capable athlete. "I think that was malice, not mischief. It's possibly you were more capable in your judgement than you though, Gwyddion."

He closed the distance to the sheep in a couple long strides and before it had time to bear it's horns he activated Unus: Gigantes, burying his feet into the ground as it did the same just about ready to charge him in retaliation. He was quicker though and his shoulder slammed the sheep in the forehead, a black shell like aura surrounding him as he performed the motion. The sheep looked dizzy from the impact as it stood there stunned. "Stay." He said firmly, looking down at the frozen sheep.

Word Count: 1171
Total Word Count: 1171+2023=3194
Tags: Micaiah , Gwyddion
Notes: Maruem Color: 5c0086

[Gwyddion]

As they walked, the young nun introduced herself as Micaiah. She seemed like a nice woman, and with the enthousiasm with which she talked about her job, Gwyddion was sure she took good care of those kids. What did take his notice was what she said about this orphanage. A low number of donations, collecting food in the forest... This was the setup for a quest, was it not. As she went on and on, Gwyddion's mind drifted off to the quest this would result in. Staring off into the distance, he thought up the different possibilities. "Collect 10 mushrooms", "Kill 5 birds", something like that. Probably an easy, low-level quest for a starting ranger like him. Today, he would complete his first official quest, earn more skill points, loot more gold, maybe even obtain an item or two. He couldn't wait to get started with the game he had been sucked in to. His day would turn out to be a lot different.

It all happened rather quickly. One second, the three of them were moving into the shade of the forest. The next, a clattering of hooves erupted and Micaiah flew through the sky. Gwyddion didn't have time to react and just stood there, watching the nun scramble up from the ground. The sheep looked rather smug with all of this. But not for long. Right after Maruem told him he might have been right about the sheep after all, the man became surrounded by an intimidating, black aura. The sheep's smug look disappeared like smoke in the wind, and its mouth fell open, dropping the object it was carrying. If sheep could display fear on their face, this must be what it would look like. But the sheep would not let itself be defeated that easily. It buried its hooves in the ground, ready to charge back. But Maruem was quicker, and like some sort of video game character slammed his shoulder straight into the sheep's face. "Stay." Gwyddion doubted the sheep would be making any moves anytime soon. Even he himself stood frozen in place.

Just as quickly as the fight had started, it ended again. It was as if Gwyddion woke from a trance now that it was over. He shook his head and looked around. The forest was still peaceful, and only the sheep seems to have taken any damage. The action is over for now. And he did not have any chance to act in the entire fight. He could not even stop a single sheep from head-butting a nun. He was not even quick enough to react before Maruem slammed it, and froze entirely from the power Maruem displayed. This was what fights were like in this world. The conflict he witnessed in the city went the exact same. One moment, nothing happened. The next, that dooming knight appeared and slashed someone straight in half. Combat seems to be quick and one-sided in this world. If it ends this quickly, how would there ever be time to position a sniper like him, if the rest of the party would already be taken down before one could even draw their bow? He looked at Maruem in awe. That man was able to act immediately when a fight was about to start. Then again, if he truly was a computer controlled character, he knew this would be coming. If this was a cutscene, it would make sense Gwyddion could do nothing. This world was still a game. Gwyddion convinced himself of this. It was not his fault he had been unable to do anything the past few times. It was all the fault of this stupid game.

That reminded him. The first rule of video games. Loot the bodies. Right before it was brutally knocked out by Maruem, the sheep had dropped something. As he walked over to the sheep, he started talking again. "That was some impressive moves, Maruem. The sheep oughta have learned its lesson now. Let's see..." He picked up the item besides the K.O.-ed sheep. A roll of parchment, most likely some form of scroll. He was not sure what to do with an item like this. He wasn't a mage, and knew nothing of item-activation rules in this game either. So instead, he handed the thing to Micaiah. "Appears to be a scroll of some kind. You might know better to do what it than I." The sheep had nothing else of use, except maybe its wool, but stealing its wool as it was lying there seemed to be too much of a mean trick. Why would a sheep have been carrying a scroll around anyway? He shook his head. Game logic...

---

The sheep was getting rather fed up with this group. Why would they not take notice of him, and what he was carrying in his mouth? Even after the drastic measure of headbutting the girl, still none of them would even look at it! They could not help without at least taking that important item, absolute imbaaciles!

As the sheep was thinking up its next plans to attract the attention of the group towards the item it was carrying, the larger man of the group started approaching it. At first, the sheep looked smug someone had finally taken an interest in him. Not for long. The man planted his feet firmly in the ground, and a black aura expanded around him. The sheep opened its mouth out of fear. This was not what the sheep bargained for! In a last effort to make the man reconsider, the sheep stamped its own hooves in the ground. That seemed to have rather the opposite effect, as the man now launched himself straight at the fluffy ball of malice. Before the impact even hit, the sheep's mind already left its body. This was too much action for it.

He heard talking. Someone said something. Sunlight shone right into his eyes. _{"—a scroll of some kind—"} The talking sounded distant, as if he was watching the world from through a crystal ball. He could make shapes out again. The young figure appeared to be handing an object to the nun. Was that— was that the scroll? At last, now they could finally understand him...

With that last thought, the sheep fell asleep once more, sleeping like a lamb yet now snoring like a pig.

---

Word Count: 1063
Total Word Count: 789+890+1063=2742

Talk Color #09b558
Maruem Color #5c0086
Horri-baa-le puns #baaaaa

[Micaiah]

After she’d once again recovered herself up from the ground, the oldest member of the group Maruem, already seemed well intent to retaliate back towards the quadrupedal with aggressive force. Declaring that the sheep in fact, was acting with the intent to hurt her, backed up by the ranger’s earlier suspicion. Though. Now with a clearer mind and some healthy skepticism, Micaiah instead felt it’d be far more likely for the runaway sheep to be stressed in the absence of its flock and in turn, gotten agitated as a result. Especially likely so given that it was a ram. Even though she admittedly felt it looked like the sheep felt proud of its work from its presumed smile, by the same logic, cats could be said to have a mean or angry expressions without any further meaning behind it wouldn’t apply.

It seemed clear for her to judge Maruem like the kind of person whom act first and think later, which is likely why he was able to help her out in time with her earlier predicament. As he stormed the fluffy creature, closing the distance with at an alarming rate and ultimately crashing his weight into the poor things head with a skill. Supposedly shocked from the action, the nun covered her mouth, hiding a slight crooked smirk behind her slender fingers before disappearing leaving the small feeling of guilt through the sensation of a lump rooted in her stomach. After perceiving everything that played out, rather than feeling gratifying. It vexed that for all her holding back in the first place, if it still ended up yielding the same result. In that case she might as well have...

Contrary to herself however, the ranger Gwyddion barely seemed fazed from what transpired. Instead, assumingly scouting further upon the surrounding by looking around. It was actually rather relieving that the faunri hadn’t decided to double team the ram in the spur moment of Maruem’s call. Given the outcome that already came after him going in alone. After having approached the downed creature next to a somewhat confused looking Maruem, Gwyddion returned back to her with what seemed to be some sort of scroll. She furrowed her brows at the unexpected sight. She could but assume the item was somehow related to the sheep? Had it been carrying around the parchment? It was a bizarre turn of events to be sure.

No. That wasn’t really important. What puzzled her was the gesture in handing it to her and assumption that this was somehow a subject of her forte. Though she brought forth miracles from her beliefs and her faith, that didn’t necessarily translate into a proficiency in the arcane arts. Although in the eyes of infid-… In the eyes of disbelievers, its significance were likely to in the realm of potayto, potahto. It was really quite insulting in the grand scheme of things. It’d be one thing if it been of more sacred origins, she was well versed after recapping whatever available in their sanctuary, but she doubted some ram would possess anything of such origin.

But then it dawned on her. She took it all so much for granted but. The ability to read was the exception, not the rule wasn’t it? She’d gotten far too used to the inevitable learning process for the children at the orphanage as so they could properly learn from their holy scriptures. His proposal and reliance on her made all that more sense if based on a subtle hint of their disability to read and turning to a religious figure to read it out for them. The lump grew a little bit bigger in her stomach. How shameful of her to thoughtlessly accuse someone she barely knew like that. She still had a long way to go as an impartial holy woman people could confide in. With newfound enthusiasm, Micaiah gracefully accepted the roll handed to her with a genuine smile “It’s never too late to learn you know?”

Before she could take a first look on the scroll however, Micaiah took note of the now crouching Maruem trying to bring forth the ram’s psyche starting with some light slaps to its face. While what he was doing wasn’t exactly harmful with the strength exerted currently, it wouldn’t hurt with her presence being there just in case right? Though even with her now overlooking the procedure next to Maruem and the sheep, it’s not like any of her healing miracles would snap it out of its slumber. Upon just a glance, it didn’t seem injured to begin with save from whatever bruise could spawn from the previous impact. And so, she shifted her attention back to the scroll.

As she’d expected, without proper arcane knowledge or context of the contents, the varied sigils and runes accompanying the written language made it rather hard to grasp of its purpose. Even with the quality craft of the parchment, she’d hoped on the slim chance it was something as mundane as a written location or a directive to some sort of owner in vain. Everything just seemed written to be cryptic, was this the sort of work magicans put out or were deciphering in their tall towers? Truth be told, the only detail that really stood out to the nun was the word ‘articulate’ stand alone at the very end of the page in a more elegant style compared to the rest which had been inscribed into the material. “All I really gather from this, is that they hold some significance to the word ‘articulate’? Whether they want us to…”

She didn’t get to express her thoughts much further as while not immediately taking notice of it, upon the mention of the written word, the very ink upon the parchment gradually shone of a pallid blue color at an increasing intensity. As the one holding the scroll, she alone could feel the temperature of it rising and soon enough stung enough to lose her grip as to escape. In freefall, the thin object burnt up in an instant and a similar blue light as before shone upon the party despite situated under the shade of the trees. Indescribable feeling washed upon Micaiah. Given what just occurred, the feeling originated from what was very likely some sort of magical effect cast upon those nearby.

As if on que, the shocked silence between the three people were interrupted by a series of coughs from what sounded like a fourth voice which didn’t quite seem to fit the tone Micaiah’d describe the other two to possess. Given the only other company nearby other than Maruem and Gwyddion, her gaze slowly traced back upon the downed ram which seemed to be wriggling. It’d clearly already awoken from its abrupt slumber but. But did sheep cough like that?... The sheep’s rested head snapped up in a quick motion off the ground, frantically looking back and forth as to discern its location “Uwaiughwu! Where am I!?” the air felt cold in response to the sudden revelation of an apparent talking sheep. No… Creature? Now recognizing the presence of its surrounding onlooker, the sheep seemed less agitated than just a few moments ago and returned to resting its head on the soil. “Ahh yes. It’s abaaaut time you took note of the scroll.” The awkward mood returned as the sheep reaffirmed its ability to fluently speak their tongue, albeit with some weird quirk accompanying doing so. “Excuse me, but wha-“ “I said it’s aBAAAut time you took note of the scroll. Do you realise how long I’ve BAAAn walking out here with that accursed thing? You wouldn’t ewen know. Don’t make me repeat myself.” The sheep cut her off short as his clear annoyance with the situation was evident to anyone. Whether it was for some completely different reason than the reap he sowed was beyond her.

“Well. Before anything further I’ve got to ask.” It was such a childish curiosity that had eaten away at her in the short interaction that was clearly consistent. “Does all of your kind communicate to each other in those horrible sheep puns? It doesn’t seem quite normal for any species to make themselves a laughingstock as a norm. Are you trying to make fun of me?” The nun stared down at the aggressor whom’d swooped her off her feet but just a few moments ago with cold indifference. The same silence which had been consecutively repeated ever since the retrieved scroll had turned into cinders returned once again. As the ram simply looked long and hard with its one upturned eye towards the nun it uttered in a somewhat bashful tone “No well… I just wanted to ram the point home you know?” … … … a beautiful last response to her brief inquiry. And Micaiah held back the slight dark urge in the back of her mind, hiding such wicked thoughts with a gentle smile.

WC: 1489
Total WC: 4830
Tags: Gwyddion , Maruem
Micaiah color: a58405
Sheep Color: #graze
Horri-baa-le puns #baaaaa

[Maruem]

Three seconds did not last long while outside of the adrenaline and rush of combat. Not long after Maruem slammed the sheep with his imposing aura, the stun effect ended. He had expected that it may leave the stunned state with a counter attack or for it to back down and be more passive. He had not expected it to faint from shock.

The pitiful creature fell to its side in an unconscious stupor, its fluff covered torso rising and falling in rhythm with its breathing. It did not take long for the young ranger to take advantage of the confusion and the defenselessness of the pitiful creature at Maruem's feet.

The boy with a mess of long hair came over and began to speak before he reached down and grabbed up something the ram had dropped as it had been slammed by Maruem, a parchment scroll of some sort. He spoke in admiration of Maruem's moves, but the boy betrayed his inexperience with the complement, not that it was unappreciated. Activating a skill on its own was nothing to sing praises of though, in Maruem's eyes. The things that were truly admirable were the ones that came from technique. Using auto attacks and skills in creative and unexpected ways to create openings or shut down tough foes. Simply hitting a foe with a stun to stay its hand for a moment was exactly what the skill was meant for.

Maruem, a veteran of combat in Gaia across several iterations, was perhaps a bit too analytical about that aspect of the game now that it was a reality. He smiled to the ranger and thanked him for the praise. "It was nothing really, a simple ability used for its intended purpose. Nothing more." The boy took the scroll and brought it over to the nun.

Maruem was not entirely certain why Gwyddion had given it to her, other than that he said she may know what to do with it better than he. Whether it was a gesture meant to appease her after the thing had attacked her, or if he just was not familiar with magical items, which was also possible, they were not the most common thing to encounter, and trying to deal with them in person instead of through a console could not help matters too much. She seemed to take it differently, and told him "It's never too late to learn you know?" though what she was referring to Maruem was not too certain. Regardless of what she meant, she seemed graceful and kind when she said it.

The young ranger dug into the sheep with his eyes for a moment longer, as if looking for buried treasure, before shaking his head and looking away from it. Maruem knelt down at the sheep's side and lifted its head. It would probably have a lump on its forehead from the impact, but it did not seem particularly hurt. He felt around its legs to see if any of the joints or bones seemed in any way injured but it seemed in perfect health. It's breathing felt and sounded steady, its joints did not seem swollen, its bones were all intact. It really must have just been the fear that caused it to faint.

He lifted it's head so it faced the warm sun above a bit more directly. He patted it's cheek lightly to no avail. Checking its eyes by spreading open the lids, they reacted to the light. He gave it another couple pats, but still nothing. A bit more firm then. He wanted to make sure it woke up soon so that he could be certain it was in good health outside of his own inspection of it before leaving it. He gave a firmer slap and its eyes sprung open. It rolled onto its short legs and shook itself, some dust and dirt falling from its fluffy wool in the process, before laying back down seemingly unharmed and unbothered as it rested its chin on the ground with a small huff of air escaping its nose and displacing a bit of dry dirt in front of it in a puff.

Micaiah began to speak. “All I really gather from this, is that they hold some significance to the word ‘articulate’? Whether they want us to…” No sooner had the creature begun to regain its life force than Maruem felt an unusual aura washing over him. He looked up to catch the tail end of the scroll burning up in blue flames mid air. There was a silence in the air, unbroken by any of the three as they processed what had just occurred. Suddenly the silence was broken by the most unlikely of individuals.

Just next to him, the short fluffy figure began to speak after a very brief fit of un-sheeplike coughs. After regaining it's bearing it looked to the person it had attacked with its horns and the one who had activated the scroll. “Ahh yes. It’s abaaaut time you took note of the scroll.”

Micaiah was the first to respond, or at least to try to. “Excuse me, but wha-“ “I said it’s aBAAAut time you took note of the scroll. Do you realise how long I’ve BAAAn walking out here with that accursed thing? You wouldn’t ewen know. Don’t make me repeat myself.” The sheep rudely interrupted the nun, though manners certainly were not something that came to mind when Maruem thought "sheep". The ram's annoyance with the situation was quite obvious to any onlooker. Maruem cringed at the sheep puns as he looked down at the fluffy menace.

He rose to his feet as the nun began to question the ram a little. “Well. Before anything further I’ve got to ask. Does all of your kind communicate to each other in those horrible sheep puns? It doesn’t seem quite normal for any species to make themselves a laughingstock as a norm. Are you trying to make fun of me?” She said to the annoyed sheep with a cold glare. “No well… I just wanted to ram the point home you know?” Said the sheep in an uncharacteristically aloof tone.

Maruem, witness to the weirdness that was encountering a sheep with attitude while under the effects of a speak with animals scroll, was unsure of what to say. He looked at his companions in confusion before looking back down at the sheep and deciding he might as well say his own part and make peace for retaliating against it.

"If I may. maybe you have been having a BAAAd day, but that does not excuse poor behavior. You attacked Sister Micaiah without any provocation, so I retaliated against you on her behalf. Let us leave the physical conflict at that. Can you promise to keep those horns to yourself, ram?" His instinct was to apologize, but it felt unearned here. The sheep had been the one to cause conflict, not he, and humility would be a good lesson for the mutton before him to learn.

Word Count: 1175
Total Word Count: 3194+1175=4369
Tags: Micaiah , Gwyddion

[Gwyddion]

"It's never too late to learn, you know?" Micaiah smiled at him. Sure, Gwyddion could learn magic some day. This was a new world, after all. But for now, learning how to live in this world should come first. Learning magic was not a priority for a ranger. And it quickly became clear to him that it was not the priority for this nun either, as she looked rather puzzled at the scroll filled with glyphs. But understanding was not what magic was about. Just thinking out loud was enough to activate this particular scroll. The sheep drew a breath, and coughed. As if it prepared itself to say something.

And sure enough, it spoke. Or should we say 'he'? The sheep told them how he had been wandering around this forest for a long time, waiting for someone to notice the scroll it was carrying. It did all of this with an surplus of bleating. Will shook his head at the stupidity of it all. They found a talking sheep, making sheep puns. Might as well go along with it.

"If I may. maybe you have been having a BAAAd day, but that does not excuse poor behavior. You attacked Sister Micaiah without any provocation, so I retaliated against you on her behalf. Let us leave the physical conflict at that. Can you promise to keep those horns to yourself, ram?" Maruem asked the sheep a question rather on-point. Why did the sheep attack them?

"Ah. Yes. I am terribly sorry abaaaaat that." The sheep, still lying on the ground, rolled onto its legs. It tried to stand as high as it could, something that looks rather hilarious when done by a tiny sheep. "I simply noticed you were not paying me the baaaattention I should get. Or is a sheep carrying a scroll around normal, where you come from?" You would expect a talking sheep to be humble before the group of adventurers who just knocked it out.

"Well, I'm sorry mister Sheep, but we were rather... busy. Just minutes ago, I had not even met these people yet! And just as we were befriending each other, you rudely butted in!"

"Did you just... did you just call me 'mister Sheep'? Egregious!" The sheep sounded outraged. How much arrogance could you fit in one sheep? "I will have you know that I am the wizard known as Finethir Shinebright, a master of transmutation, mystical alteration and sheepshifting, through baaapplied usage of the poly-planal transweave theory as described by F. Shinebright, tri-fold winner of the Sobel Prize for Arcana and Alchemy, wouldn't ewe know it!"

Gwyddion wanted to make a counter-point. Something about a sheep not being able to become a wizard, or how this ram could really do with some humility. He opened his mouth, but his instincts told him to stop. You do not simply talk back at someone claiming to be a powerful wizard. Even a small little sheep might be able to turn him into a bunch of wheat. He was not ready to be grazed on just yet. So he held his words, and simply nodded along.

After giving everyone some time to let this sink in, the sheep continued. "Anyway. Today, I am not here to do magic. Nor is it time for me to impress you with my knowledge. Although I must add, if it were, I am sure I would succeed. I see you are adventurers, is that right? I am in dire need of your help. I wish for you to reclaim for me an extremely powerful magical artefact. It is currently in the possession of a dangerous wizard, possibly driven insane with power. Let me explain..."

Gwyddion felt the exitement build up. This sounded like the start of an epic adventure. His first official quest. He looked at his two new companions. He was excited to do this, but how did they feel about it all?

The sheep continued. "Until two years ago, I was a powerful wizard teaching my apprentice the ways of transmutation, while developing new theories myself. But everything changed when..." A noise in the distance disrupted them, and Shinebright virtually bounced a foot from where he was standing. The sound of howling came deep from the dark, green forest. Accompanying it was the sound of angry yells, and the occasional barking. While the sounds were faint, they were quickly approaching. Shinebright the Sheep was shaking on his legs. "I think I herd something."Gwyddion drew his bow, and scanned the treeline. A box of text popped up in the corner of his vision. [Quest Started: Protect Finethir Shinebright]

---

Word Count: 768
Total Word Count: 789+890+789+768=3236

Talk Color #09b558
Maruem Color #5c0086
Micaiah Color #a58405
Sheep Color #graze
UI Color #ffffff
Puns we've all herd before #baaaaa

[Micaiah]

It didn't take long for Maruem to chime in after her own exchange with the sheep, and she couldn't help but shoot off a look of disapproval as he readily accommodated the rude fellow in the nonsense of its puns. At least she wouldn't have to watch her back in expectation to tumble over back towards the ground if one could take what the ram said were to be truthful. That said, its justifications for its actions against her came completely groundless. A lone sheep in the woods possessing something that goes against the norm, and her lack of involvement in that therefore leads to a reason to strike her? As one could expect, Micaiah held her ground in complete disagreement. If it wanted her attention, tugging at her hems or nudging against her were just a few less violent methods she came up with on the fly. Not to mention the vile enjoyment the ram had drawn from it all were being so obviously brushed under the rug.

As the boy ranger Gwyddion now were to take his turn with interacting with the newcomer, leading into an aggressively retaliated response from something so meagre as what were percieved to be a dissatisfying honorific. The nun quickly became disinterested in what sort of monologue the anomaly were inevitably about to tangent on. Whatever the reasons this sheep were to provide for going out of its way to make contact with them, Micaiah remained rather unthrilled to in turn go out of her way to lend a helping hand to someone with such an condescending attitude towards the group.

With her attention drifting away from the ramblings of the self-important entity, her gaze returned back to the surrounding forest, looking into the shadows other than the one they took shelter underneath. What instead caught her attention was what looked like a small colony of brown boletus poking out situated at the roots of a particularly gnarly and mossy oak tree located but a couple strides away. With this beimg the reason as for why Micaiah found herself at the forest this day in the first place, the nun simply detached herself from the group for the short distance, straw basket safely cradled in her arm.

Micaiah found herself unable to finish this newfound task of hers however. A long and distinctly loud howl timely sounded from the same direction as she'd approached the grouped fungi. A well awaited silence finaly followed the interruption of the sheep, as Gwyddion then pointed out the obvious and this time, with a horrible pun of his own imbedded into it that made the nun keep down another sigh.

As a fast paced pattering that skipped through the rustling of leaves were closing in from further down into the forest, Micaiah were swift to put her basket down to the ground, rattling leting out as the chain of her flail dangled in her right hand after being taken out. Homing in on the movement in her peripheral vision, Micaiah brought forward a small weathered leather tome out of a pocket with her left and dexterously started flip through the pages with her thumb. A golden light kindled forth from her tome as she skimmed its contents in her head, alarming the pair of beasts that had been charging towards her. The beasts stopped dead in their tracks when a golden bolt of magic shot out from the lightsource, sparking away a small hole into the ground in front of them. It served as a warning shot from the nun, prompting the wild agressors as to not come any closer to her.

In front of her stood a pair of sizeable grayish wolves eyeing her from head to toe. Steamed breaths hoarsed painfully from the two with their sharp bared teeth and wrinkled muzzles. The reasons very apparent to be the iron collars they wore, stuck so cruelly tightly around their neck that it looked more like that of a metal noose than a collar for the pitifully mistreated and agitated beasts. The hold-up brought from their hesitation didn't last for very long, as the first started circling to Micaiah's left and the other other pouncing straight towards her with maw agape. Hearing the heavy thumping steps closing in from behind, the nun commited her focus towards the more immeadiate approaching threat in front of her, and left the other in the hands of her recent company.

Micaiah whom couldn't picture herself being more agile than the canine, firmly planted her feet into the ground, gripped the head of her flail with her left hand and shoved the strained chain deep into the beast's maw. "Kuh..." Micaiah gritted as it crashed against her. As expected, it was just that much heavier from the sheer momentum alone. But her brace for impact had left her standing despite the recoil from the pounce. With the beast now leaning its mass against her, saliva sprinkled against her as the flail kept its violent gnashing inches from her face at bay. Having prevented the wolf's attack, Micaiah retaliated back forcefully, digging a piercing knee into it's exposed abdomen. Flinching with a vulnerable whimper, Micaiah instantly acted upon this brief moment of weakness. Letting go of the tome and the flail head with her left, she firmly gripped the handle of the weapon with both her hands and swung the flail with her entire body. "Nn... GAH!" it was an admittedly unrefined grunt. She smashed the wolf whom still stubbornly bit onto the chain of her flail into the ground and left it tumbling across the ground, slamming into the trunk of an adjacent tree.

Panting softly from the action she'd pulled, observing the wolf which shakedly tried to get back on its four feet from the impact it had experienced now gave her a moment of respite to check on how the others were doing. "Are the two of you doing alright!?" she quite purposefully left out a certain someone from her worries.

---

WC: 1002
Total WC: 5 832
Tags: Gwyddion , Maruem
Micaiah color: a58405

[Maruem]

It did not take long for the sheep to respond to Maruem, though it did not let up with the puns, and took its sweet time rolling onyo its legs from its previous position sprawled out on the lush grass which grew in the sunnier patches of their shady grove. "Ah. Yes. I am terribly sorry abaaaaat that." Maybe he was being overly sensitive, but it almost seemed like the sheep was mocking them as it looked like it was trying to stand as tall as it's stubby little sheep legs would let it. Gwyddion seemed amused by the whole display, seemingly unable to hide the smile that stretched over his cheeks at the tiny sheep's expense.

"I simply noticed you were not paying me the baaaattention I should get. Or is a sheep carrying a scroll around normal, where you come from?" No surprises here. Of course the sheep was an arrogant entitled prick. Of course it couldn't have possibly been able to approach them by any other method then attacking. Of course it expected that just by carrying some old paper it was suddenly worth something to them.

Maruem respected that Micaiah held her tongue and in so doing, her dignity, by insisting on silence in response to the apology, the sheep had been shown how wholly in the wrong it was. She could have explained just a few of the ways in which it could have garnered their attention without resorting to barbarism but that would have done little to sway such an arrogant creature, sometimes silence was truly what spoke loudest.

Gwyddion made the mistake of apologizing to it for it's own folly, no doubt further fuiling it's ego. It wouldn't hear any of the explanation he gave. And as Maruem suspected the sheep soon validated him. "Did you just... did you just call me 'mister Sheep'? Egregious!" There it was. The inflated ego he had just caused was coming to bite him in the baaaatt. The sheep was furious with Gwyddion over his misuse of honorifics, and it was at this point that Maruem's attention shifted to the young nun unstealthily sneaking away from the group toward some brown things in the distance, after a moment of focussing on what they could be he realized they were some beautiful boletus mushrooms, ones just like he had used to gather at his grandparents home.

He heard some vague ramblings about from the sheep about a wizard named Finehair Something or other but zoned back in when it started trying to sound smarter than it actually was. He listened casually, not interrupting and giving the sheep plenty of time to say its peace. "...through baaapplied usage of the poly-planal transweave theory as described by F. Shinebright, tri-fold winner of the Sobel Prize for Arcana and Alchemy, wouldn't ewe know it!" Gwyddion seemed to want to respond, but held his tongue.

The wizard's pet sat in silence for a while and Maruem's attention returned to the cute nun gathering mushrooms. The white noise of a wizard's sheep familiar chatting away with an over-enthused and submissive ranger made for an odd bit of background to the serene visage before him, but it did not last long anyway. From the direction both Maruem and Micaiah were facing came a low, powerful howl, like a wolves but bigger, the sound itself carrying the weight and force of the beast who siced it upon them.

Gwyddion turned to face the sound and oblivious to his companions reactions informed them of the obvious. "Seems we all did friend" Maruem said to him with a firm but supportive nod, having completely missed the pun in the comment. The kid was learning, the world was scary when dangers such as these could loom around every corner and creek. He was here to teach him now, whether he had signed up for that or not, and the kid would benefit from positive reinforcement, he had a lot to learn but he had potential. his instincts were good, clear communication is the core of tactical approaches to combat after all, but it was too late for tactics now. The sound of shouting came from further behind the sound of the wolves, and suddenly the grey maned beasts appeared with a flash of golden light.

Nay, not with a flash of light, the light was an attack. A warning. But from whom? And then he saw her. The nun he'd thought of as 'cute' just moments ago stood now, tall and proud, basket at rest on the ground. Her flail hung loose at her side, and her tome glow with radiant light. He needed to be quick with his words before any more happened, their time was very limited with two foes directly in front of them and at least one more on their way. "Gwyddion, we appear to have been blessed with an ally in touch with the divine, with any luck she'll know how to heal your wounds, don't let that be a reason to be reckless." And then he turned his attention to the sheep.

Maruem reached down and grabbed the sheep by the scruff of the neck and lifted it with little effort. "poly-planal transweave theory is just fancy pants speech for points on opposite ends of the fabric of multiple dimensions. Very basic stuff you silly sheep! The Gate spell does exactly that, as do several other abilities which let users jump forward one or several meters at a time, there's even rumor of some that work backwards. This stuff is already accessible to the people of this land, you're not special for bragging about it, you're just infantile." It could be seen as dumb to waste precious time on lecturing a fool, but that fool was scared, and needed to hear the harsh truth, that being the smartest in the room didn't make them any less of a fool. He didn't care if this sheep was going to claim next that he himself was a powerful wizard and not just a familiar, he needed to be put in his place and no thread of magics was going to change that.

He heard the charge and turned just in time to see the first wolf impact on Micaiah's chain and the small lady held her ground against the ferocious beast, her legs certainly fully flexing to keep her planted. She no doubt had an impressively muscular physique under that stiflingly hot gown. Cute had most definitely been the wrong word to describe his new nun companion, this woman was badass.

With the attack blocked she turned to the offensive and swung toward the wolf that had pounced at her. She did not seem to have noticed the second wolf moving toward her from the side, it was bending it's legs to build tension before it could spring into a pounce. "Alright sheep familiar, now it's your turn." And with that, Maruem lobbed the sheep at the second wolf before shouting "Hey asshole! Catch!".

The song of screams the sheep released as it flew through the air, almost in slow motion, was enough to easily grab the attention of both wolves, confused at where this incredibly loud sound was coming from and why it was getting closer to them. It could easily have turned all the heads in a kilometer radius, if not further. As it slammed into the second wolf, who'd stood there dumfounded in shock at the source of the noise, "Lesson one kid, don't get stuck on using conventional weapons" Maruem smirked toward Gwyddion as he released the Frigid Blade he had been charging up in front of him. From his outstretched hand, it flew true, stabbing the second wolf in the shoulder.

His left hand had in the meantime been reaching into his pouch and from it he pulled his lance. He was already charging toward the beast by the time the ice shard had impacted and he lept into the air as he drew nearer to his target. As soon as his feet left the ground he activated his next skill. His jump was angled to the left and he found himself with the second would he had already injured and the one in combat with the nun both lined up just as he had planned. With the impact of his feet on the hard dirt ground,
Full Gain was ready and his spear tip swung forward from its position behind his left ankle. It slammed though the wolf he had injured with his ice spell and shot a wave of force into the wolf attacking Micaiah, it's damage boosted by his first stack of Forma.

The wolf directly before him snarled and shot up toward his face, completely ignoring the sheep at its feet. Maruem needed to show off a little. As it tried to close its jaws on his head and shoulder, he wedged his left forearm vertically into it's maw. Its bottom teeth sunk into his elbow a little, but its mouth could not close any more than it already had, and in an instant he reached in with his right arm and release a shotgun blast of destructive ice shards to its throat. His Accelerate and dual Forma boosted Hailshot wreaking havok on its insides.

Maruem pulled his arm from it's throat just in time to avoid it getting covered in a gout of blood as the wolf went into a gagging fit. Its teeth were painted with its own crimson as it poured out from its torn and devastated throat. A few drops of his own blood dripped slowly from Maruem's elbow as he held his lance in his left arm and without turning back towards his new student, gave his second lesson as the wolf fell to the ground at his feet, now merely a fluffy shell without a soul. "Lesson two, don't give your enemy time to think."

Word Count: 1656
Total Word Count: 4369 + 1656 = 6025
Tages: Micaiah , Gwyddion

[Gwyddion]

Within seconds of the message popping up, they appeared. Two large wolves came running through the shrubbery towards them, and another creature behind them. Out of nowhere, sister Micaiah whipped out a flail, and conjured up a golden bolt of light shooting towards the wolves. For a second, the wolves froze in their tracks, and Maruem took the opportunity to deliver a quick lecture.
"Gwyddion, we appear to have been blessed with an ally in touch with the divine, with any luck she'll know how to heal your wounds, don't let that be a reason to be reckless."
The advice seemed obvious to Gwyddion, but he was thankful for the lesson nonetheless. He was teaming up with a senior here, and should pay good attention now that there was an opportunity to learn how to fight. "Gotcha! Better to not get hit in the first place!"

He quickly observed the battlefield. Micaiah was struggling against one of the wolves with her flail, as the second one was swerving around. Gwyddion was already drawing an arrow when he heard Maruem yelling "Catch!", and the man hurled the sheep towards the wolf! "Lesson one kid, don't get stuck on using conventional weapons." Gwyddion stood there dumbfounded, but Maruem was already making the next move, charging up a blade of ice before him and throwing it at the beast. And he did not even wait for the dagger to hit, pulling out a long lance from the tiny pouch at his hip and charging after the blade. Maruem shot from one side of the forest clearing to another, and Gwyddion's eyes could just barely keep up. Meanwhile, the nun fiercely took care of the other wolf, and both beasts were taken out before Gwyddion had managed to pick a target, let alone launch an arrow.
Pulling out his arm from the maw of the wolf he just destroyed, Maruem turned around like a hero in a cutscene. "Lesson two, don't give your enemy time to think." But as cool as Maruem seemed in that moment, the image was quickly disturbed by a giant silhouette rising up behind his back…

Gwyddion's body took action before he knew it. He instantly pulled back his bow, and the arrow started glowing a faint green on the string before being launched straight at Maruem. But before the arrow could hit his newly acquired mentor, it vanished into thin air. The large brown bear that was just about to slam into Maruem screamed out in pain as the arrow struck him. But before giving the animal time to recover, Gwyddion put the advice he just got in practice. "Duck!", he yelled at Maruem, before turning on the skill he had found in his menu some time ago: Auto-Attack. His hand immediately reached to the bandolier across his chest, and threw three throwing knives at the bear. And while his arms took over the attacking, he started to run away from the bear. As Maruem said, better to not be reckless.

While taking his distance from the bear, he spotted a second figure out of the corner of his eye. A half-orc was holding the sheep up by its scruff, and his right hand held a greatsword threateningly towards the three of them. "This sheep is master Noke's and he desires to have it back!"

---

Word Count: 556
Total Word Count: 3792
Talk Color #09b558
Maruem Color #2c00bd
Half-Orc Color #c8785c