[PP-F5] Start of an Arc <<The Traveler>> (Teion and Ryo)

[Ryo 0]

The sun had begun to rise as the hours ticked by. Ryo's Health and energy were at full, but he felt drained. Escaping from a wyrm like that took a lot of effort, and apparently a lot of time. Ryo could feel his virtual muscles ache, as they buried his boots into the sand. The carriage was harder to move in the sand alone, and the wheels didn't distribute the sand very well. The cart weighed a ton or at least felt like it as Ryo dragged it across the desert. His hair was a matted mess, covered in sand, dust, and sweat. His clothing was torn and tattered, and his jacket whipped in the wind, or what was left of it. He covered his eyes, the sun beating down on him and blinding him. He squinted as he could make out the city ahead.

A few moments later, he could notice two figures heading towards him. He covered his eyes from the sun again trying to make them out. When he realized who they were, it was too late for him. "Awh [censored]." He muttered out, knowing full well he was going to get an earful from Teion. His spine received a chill. Oh god, what would he get from Spencer? Whatever it was, whatever the two decided to yell at him, he would deserve it. A bettered looking Ryo carried the cart with him and gave his companions a wave. "You guys left the cart behind." He said, still struggling to move it along.

ID:95663 CD:3

[Teion 0]

Teion's teeth grinded together with each step she took further out into the desert. Spencer's words reached her ears, but she didn't have the want to register them or formulate a response. All she wanted was for this to all be over. The quest, the PKers, life in this miserable game. It was too much.

And then she felt something jerk her back. Teion blinked in surprise, snapped from her blinding emotions. Her chin pulled up to see Spencer standing across from her, still holding her in place while he demanded an answer from her. Her jaw tightened, if only to hold the swirling feelings inside of her a while longer, and her gaze dropped. She couldn't keep looking at his face, or else the pressure might have been enough to break her.

"I don't have to tell you that those guys weren't friendly." She started after several seconds of silence, her voice just loud enough to carry through the desert winds. "A few weeks ago...? I dunno. I guess some of her lackeys showed up. They...want to get to someone I'm close to." She left her explanation only as clear as it needed to be. "I... That person showed up, and helped me then. Got rid of them." Her choice of words grew shorter as she continued to fight to keep her impassive tone. "I thought that was it. I guess she got pissed enough to try herself."

"Look, I--" She felt a catch in her throat that forced her to stop short. She started again, though her choice of words changed drastically. "I'm not going to yell at him. I...I know he basically saved us there." Knowing she had to continue with her original thought, her chin fell to her chest. "I can't get into all this. Not right now, and with...someone I hardly know." She felt a sting of guilt paired with her last few words, despite the truth behind them. "No offence." She tacked on weakly, as if that might somehow make the situation sit any better.

The amount of walking they had done at this point left Teion's legs aching, and a heavy weight of exhaustion resting on her shoulders. Night had already crept by, and it was already sunrise by the time the duo managed to find their purple-haired companion. The wave of relief that washed over her at the sight of his safety was welcomed, and the nonchalant greeting that he called out almost made her want to laugh.

She approached Ryo without scolding him, hitting him, or hugging him, despite the inexplicable want to do all three. Instead, the violette simply pushed the man aside to distance him from the cart that he pulled along while she positioned herself at one corner, her cobalt eyes turning to Spencer as she silently asked for his help.

[Spencer 0]

Spencer listened to the woman talk, she had fire in her eyes, but that slowly started to dim down. She seemed to feel shame for what happened, like it was some how her fault. He didn't want her to feel that way, but he knew that no amount of convincing at that moment was really going to change that fact. He sighed a bit internally and shook his head when she said the comment about the two of them not really knowing each other. "You're fine, we really don't." He didn't want to hate her anymore, she was going through her own stuff and it was affecting her just like how his stuff was affecting him mentally and how he reacted to things. He sighed and continued to walk.

He tensed slightly when he saw Teion and Ryo interact, but he was happy to see that he was healthy, even though he looked horrible, but he was also happy that Teion didn't attack him at all. He gave a sigh of relief and saw Teion make eye contact with him, and he nodded, moving forward to the load and started pushing it, the three of them making progress as they started to move across the desert. Wow... These days have been pretty... eventful that is for sure. He sighed and shook his head, looking at the sand. Spencer stopped for a moment, and opened his umbrella, sitting it in the load of supplies for it to be able to block the sun for the three of them. He nodded and continued to push.

The silence was deafening to him, the two of them were not talking, and Spencer was going to scream. "Oh my god this silence is going to kill me please for the love of god someone talk." He sighed and looked at the two of them. "Last night sucked, yes, it was no one fault. We all dealt with the situation the best we could, no one should be yelled at, we should all be friends." He sighed and rubbed the back of his head

ID: 95674 CD: 6

[Ryo 0]

Ryo grunted as he moved the cart. The load was a lot lighter with a company. He smiled as he pushed it along. But nearly jumped when Spencer called for someone to break the silence, doing it himself unknowingly. "No. Last night was someone's fault." He said, looking ahead. His eyes fired up, and his pace quickened. "I let those assassins live. And in a brief moment of false security, I trusted them to take care of you two." He said, angry at well everything. He hated himself, he hated the assassins, and he was just angry. "I shouldn't have done that. They could've-" He cut himself short, taking in a deep breath before letting it out. The anger had subsided, but frustration was still there. "And then I ran off to face danger head-on, and most likely die alone, and that would've left you all alone with the assassins. Some hero I was then, leaving you both in the hands of strangers while I left prepared to throw my life away." He said. "I'm sorry. I made you all worry needlessly." He finished.

ID: 95676 CD: 8

[Teion 0]

Silence was something Teion was used to, even when traveling with others. For a bit, she was lost in her busy thoughts, and during several other minutes her mind went blank. When Spencer called for conversation, however, the woman blinked back to the present and she cast the blonde a sideways glance. Her eyes were quick to turn back forward as she listened to him speak, but it was Ryo's answer to him that caused her stomach to suddenly drop. For a split second, she expected him to voice every negative thought she'd had in the past few hours.

Instead, he was blaming himself. Teion didn't know whether she was more stunned or angry. Eventually, the latter won out. "Oh quit it." She growled after his apology. "Like we had any better options? I mean, I was fine with giving them what they wanted, but that didn't seem to be going over well." She almost had to bite her tongue to keep herself from spilling out more venom-coated words. Just as Ryo had, Teion stopped, closing her eyes for a couple of silent steps through the shifting sands. She wanted to argue. She wanted to say that if she just hadn't involved herself with them they wouldn't have gotten caught up in all that. Because of her, who was to say that they wouldn't encounter more trouble with that group of players, with or without her?

But getting heated wasn't making things any easier. She wanted Spencer to be right. If no one was at fault, they could move on and talk normally and eventually they could pretend like it never happened. And so she swallowed the rest of the unsavory words that lingered in her throat. Pushing them back down. "Just... It worked out, okay? I'll take it."

[Spencer 0]

Spencer was happy that the two of them were talking now, but he was still a little annoyed by how they were talking, which caused him to stop talking and stop walking. "Okay, Lets stop for a second and just break down the entire night." He said and looked at the other two people. "You Ryo," He pointed at Ryo, "Yes, didn't do the most intelligent thing in the world," He held up a finger, "But that does not mean we are grateful for you leading away the monster, and helping subdue the bandits, thank you for that." He gave the man a look that basically said 'Don't Argue with me'

He then turned to Teion, looking at her intently. "And you," He said and walked towards her, "Also did nothing wrong. You had no pull for those people to be here last night. This is not your fault, they are messed up people who do messed up things," He got even closer, grabbing her shoulder, "AND, we are both glad they did not get what they wanted, you are a great woman from the little time I have known you, and I don't want you getting hurt over some reckless thing you think you owe the both of use for the bandits coming at us to get to you." He then gave the woman a similar look he gave to Ryo.

He sighed and put his arms down. "Okay? You both know that you two are beloved and special people? Because you guys are. Ryo, you are a dear friend of mine, and Teion, you are a good girl no matter how your exterior gives off." He then went back to pushing the cart.

ID: 95722 CD: 9

[Ryo 0]

Ryo chuckled, before laughing outright. He couldn't believe his luck. After all of what he had done, all that he did they still forgave him. Said nice things to him, tried to cheer him up. What in the world did they know? "You guys," Ryo said, having tears stream from his face. "You're both the most delightful bunch of idiots that anyone could ever ask for." He said, using a free hand to wipe at his face. They were both so, special to him. Teion was the most amazing woman he had ever met, and Spencer just had to be the better man than he. They both deserved better than him. But Ryo pushed on. One foot digging into the sand after the other. They both loved him, and he would die before he disappointed them. "Thank you. Both of you." He said, his eyes stopping their damned leaking.

[Teion 0]

The cart lurched slightly when Spencer suddenly stopped walking, causing Teion's balance to falter for half a step. It did well to catch her attention, though, and so she straightened up while her eyes focused themselves on the sandy blonde.

She was taken aback for a moment, surprised by Spencer's straightforwardness. She even flinched slightly when his bright blue eyes locked with hers, and the woman stiffened a bit as he drew closer to her. Teion's chin tilted upward to continue meeting his stern gaze until he would finally break away and resume his position pulling the cart along after his speech.

Teion stood for a moment longer before her shoulders dropped with a short exhale, and her mouth pulled up into a crooked smile. Her eyes then darted to Ryo, where she spotted the man rubbing away the tears from his face and she scoffed lightly, a hint of playfulness in her tone. "Who're you calling idiots?" She didn't expect an answer, and she took up her end of the cart again as the desert city came into view.

[Spencer 0]

Spencer bit his lip, he was nervous on how his little lecture would actually turn out with the two of them. He ran a hand through his hair and waited, but luckily Ryo said something so Spencer wasn't pulling his hair out. Ryo basically talked about how he was happy with they two of them, calling them both idiots in a playful way. He rolled his eyes jokingly and smiled. His heart kind of lifted and dropped at the same time. He groaned mentally and shook it off.

He smiled and almost laughed at what Teion said about who he was calling idiots, and Spencer put his hands on his hips. "Yeah, it's not like we ran off and got chased by the Alaskan Bull Worm or anything." He rolled his eyes and hit Ryo playfully.

The group finally got back to town, and he was so ready to be done. He was now not liking sad a whole lot anymore. He turned to the group after they turned it in, and waved to them. "Well, it was nice meeting you Teion, And good seeing you too Ryo. Take care." He smiled and waved to them. His depression was gone for the moment.. but how long would that last?

COMPLETED
+3 SP (Ryo, Spencer. Completing the Quest)
+2 Sp (Teion)
+266 Col Each
+ Survival Skill (Ryo, Spencer)