Journey. (Ask before joining please.)

[Hexa]

((Hi folks, how are you all doing? Well, Shani and I decided to do a little random rping. As said in the title, please ask both of us before joining it. If you do, your character has to fit in the setting; we’ll adjust it as needs to and as we go.

Basic summary: The world is mixed with Magic and Advance technology, filled with many cities of Kingdoms. Many species are known but the majority is humans, each with their own monarchy. A subtle peace has developed between neighboring Kingdoms and from those a friendship with the people had sprouted. Even then, there were still avid and distant Kingdoms. Creatures that are too monstrous live far away from the cities. A strange and eccentric people even more so, was the Kingdom of the Witches and Wizards. Long ago, these very powerful people had separated themselves to another plane, perhaps not wanting to meddle in the affair of the state of humans, which is to why they rare, if ever leave their home plane.

The plot line: Ambushed and separated from their family, a wayward kind wizarding family, disguised as humans, search and travel to find a way back to their home plane. They must do so without the aid of magic. If they do use their talents, hunters of unknown origin and purpose will track the little family down. For now, they journey from town to town, needing all the help they can get, and this is where our story beings…))

---

The little village of Cerri sat on the boarder of a grand sized Kingdom. Filled mostly with humans, this town has seen its share of visitors. With a bustling market place, it was a sight for business just before closing for the night. Walking out of a shop, near a fruit stand, was a human woman dressed in a warm dress and cloak for the crisp air of fall. Though her clothes looked a little raggedy, it didn’t detour the woman’s kind attitude and straight posture. About five feet nine inches in height and appearing thirty years old, the woman had brown hair and a beautiful face. Odd thing about her was she had an eye patch to her right eye and a monocle to another. Other thing was despite her thinness, she was quite pregnant. Some people with strong senses could tell that something was different about this mother to be.

Victoria Taylor smiled, waving to the shop keeper before walking down the main street of the village, placing a pouched item into her bag. Next, she stopped at the fruit stand, greeting the owner, “Harold, good evening!”

A mild aged man glanced up from packing his fruit carts and grinned. “Ah, Miss Victoria. Out for a light night stroll, I see.”

“Yes, I need the exercise and a few things.” After gathering a few fruits and a green apple gift from the seller, Victoria slowly made her way to the next store. She bit into her apple after hearing a complaint from her stomach and her unborn precious cargo.

[Shani]

A small figure wandered through the street stands, browsing for something, and gathering looks from the human inhabitants. It was a goblin who emerged under the cover of the evening's dimming light, wearing nothing on his person but a pair of tattered pants and a long protective cloak, of a suspiciously minty condition. Besides the hood shadowing his face, his eyes were covered by thick visor goggles with dark shaded glasses.

Pushing through to a shop that was about to close, the goblin casually reached his gangling hand for a stick of hard salami, sniffed at it, and ducked out of the crowd of customers. Of course this was immediately followed by a "Stop, thief!" along with shrieks from the women, and the shop's owner, along with two other men, started in pursuit of the unwitting goblin.

After a momentary shock, the goblin armed himself with the salami, taking a few clumsy swings at the men, and made a run for it, screaming. At four foot eight, he was taller than average for his species, but he wasn't particularly strong or adept at fighting. Practically tripping over the long cloak, the goblin didn't see the woman before him as she left the fruit stand, and was flying straight down a collision course with her.

[Hexa]

Hearing the ruckus, Victoria stopped and turned right to view. Right eye patched, she didn’t see the charging goblin in time to get out of the way. Only enough time to gasp and scrunch up her face to prepare for the pain.

The collision wasn’t too hard but the ground was unmerciful to the unexpecting victim. Victoria landed with a throaty grunt onto her left side, apple rolling out from her outstretched hand. Many of the shop keepers had over looked in horror and rushed over for aid. It took her a few moments to collect her thoughts and open her eyes only to find herself in a daze. The mother to be propped herself up only to find herself slowly laying back down the ground, too dazed to try again at the moment. Victoria did, however, reach down and rubbed her hand cautious over her bulging stomach, checking on her unborn carriage.

She smiled weakly and muttered, “Thank goodness…” as Harold and a few other shop keepers got to her side, asking if she was alright. They glared hard at the goblin. “Yes, I think we are…” said Victoria, a bit hesitantly. Her vertigo was disappearing and she sat up, with Harold’s help, and glanced to the Goblin, with sadness and worry.

[Shani]

The goblin, who had also fallen over but was quick to pick himself up, was quickly surrounded by the people who came over to help. Now standing over the woman along with the crowd, he looked troubled by the predicament he'd caused; he never meant to hurt anyone, and running away was far from his mind now.

All at once, he felt a heavy hand rudely bear down on his shoulder. It was the owner of the meat shop. Wide-eyed, the smaller goblin looked up at the towering figure behind him, hairy and fat and pink - an ugly sight to goblin-kind. Then the goblin noticed that this "butcher" was wielding a cleaver the size of a small car – as it seemed to him. "Now I got ye! Return that salami that ya stole, or I’ll turn ya into one!" he spat.

[Hexa]

“Moby, no!” shouted Victoria, eyes widening at the sight of the large meat cutter in the butcher’s grip. Help from Harold and others around, she got to her feet. “Leave him be, I’ll pay for the salami.”

Harold looked questionable. “Why would you pay for his stolen meat when it was he that harmed you and your child? Especially the likes of him,” he tilted his head toward the goblin, shooting a glare. Most of the other town folk agreed with the fruit seller.

Victoria rubbed her pregnant stomach, helping the children she carried settle, muttering, “It’s twins actually.” She glanced over her shoulder to Harold. “I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm. Hunger probably drove him to desperation. Isn’t that right, deary?” she asked the goblin, smiling a little.

Town’s people began to quietly mutter around them at the words of the mother to be. Harold shook his head. “You have a good heart, Victoria. I certainly would have never done this.”

She giggled, smiling, “Thank you.”

Watching the others walk away, Harold turned to Victoria. “Now, are you sure you’re alright and the child… children too?” He corrected himself, smiling just slightly. “Congratulations by the way.”

Victoria had dug some money out of her coin pouch, handing it to the butcher. “Here, this is all I have left. I hope it should cover, if not, tomorrow I’ll pay the rest.” She turned to Harold and nodded, “Quite and thank you, Harold.”

Harold nodded solemnly and bid them a good night before walking off.

Near the goblin, she whispered to him out of Moby’s hearing range. “Please don’t go anywhere. I would like to talk to you.”

[Shani]

When Victoria said that she would pay for the salami, both, the goblin and the butcher, turned to look at her with puzzled looks. The goblin nodded his head in agreement to it being hunger that made him take the food; Moby just grumbled obscenities directed towards the goblin under his breath, but he was content with the money he'd be getting. "Yer too trusting, Victoria. The moment you turn your back on a goblin, it'll stab a knife in it," he said and took her money, counting it over and stuffing it in his pocket before leaving to close up his shop.

The goblin could hardly believe how nice this human was to him. If another goblin was in his place, he'd be suspicious of her intentions. No human would treat a goblin this way. But he believed this woman for some reason and waited for the butcher to leave before finally speaking up. "I am grateful to you, madam," he said with a bow. "What would you like of me?" he spoke in a strange dialect, polished and stylized, where everything was hinted at and nothing was said directly.

[Hexa]

“Perhaps,” Victoria shrugged and smiled, waving the butcher off. “I’m a good judge in character. Good night.” Turning toward the goblin, she rubbed a spot on her stomach where she felt a kick or a punch; a reminder that her growing children were getting stronger. She too waited for the butcher to be out of earshot before speaking. “You are quite welcome, young man.” She said with the best curtsy she could manage and a bow of the head for respect. “Would you please walk with me?” she asked, turning in her original direction, up the main road.

While walking, Victoria stayed close to the goblin, keeping her voice low so only he could hear. “A word of advice, a donation is better than becoming a thief any day. Moby, the butcher there, he has his six children, his wife, and himself to feed. Thankfully, his family owns the meat processor but that doesn’t mean he isn’t struggling in his own way as you are and many others. Hmm...I wonder what your tribal leader would say about your actions today. Certainly, nothing well, I think.” Now how would a common human, peasant woman know about that?

Having an idea come to her, Victoria stopped and smiled, gazing to the goblin. “How would you like to save your salami for another meal and join my family for dinner? You must be starved. I will take no for an answer, we usually make a lot anyway for leftovers. And…if you like, you may stay the night and have a hot bath. That is, if you don’t have a place at all tonight. We have an extra room.” Victoria paused, blushing in embarrassment. “Oh my goodness, please pardon me. That was simply very rude.” For some reason, she’s been hiding posh mannerism and perhaps regality, letting it slip that once. “I am Victoria Taylor, and you are good sir?” she asked, curtsying and bowing her head again.

[Shani]

The goblin complied and followed after this woman, Victoria; he somehow felt indebted to her. Listening to her speak, he was at first quite confused, but walked on in silent thought. A donation? Becoming a thief? He honestly had no idea he was stealing something - not that stealing from humans was wrong in the eyes of a goblin in the first place. Why, back at home, he could waltz into the food storage and take as much as he could eat, and the other goblins wouldn't so much as blink at him. And a meat processor? -surely, a marvelous invention. That meat-slicing machine revolutionized the way people prepared food all over the world. As the gears in the goblinoid's head turned, his ear suddenly caught something he didn't expect to hear! She knows of my tribal leader? He thought to inquire, quite naively. I wish to learn of her whereabouts.

Before the goblin could gather the courage to ask this person about her knowledge, she turned to him with her invitation. Of course, how could he refuse? Indeed, he was very hungry, and he no longer had a place worth staying at. And a bath! Oh, how he loved baths. It was probably one of the most fabulous things in the whole world. Eagerly accepting her offer, he bowed low and introduced himself in turn. "I am called Leer Mikhaanek Fabins." For the first time that evening, the goblin showed a smile. It was a discreet smile, showing no fangs, but in truth, it's been a very long time since Fabins smiled at all.

[Hexa]

"Mikhannek Fabins of the Leer tribe a pleasure to meet you,” Victoria smiled. “As for my words before, human ways are somewhat different from what you’re use to if you haven’t experienced it already.” She returned forward than glanced back to him, thinking of something. “Though, I've not heard of the Leer tribe. Is it new or not well known as the Taachneern or Khembrayuu?"

By now, the night had fully overtaken the skies above, showing the last light on the horizon line. Little dots of stars came into view, showing the twinkling display. The town’s walkway lit up, showing the path by lantern’s fire light. “Oh, we better keep moving. We still have to get through the forest and it is a little bit tricky but do not worry, you’re quite safe.” As long as the hunters do not show..., Victoria added in thought. “We’ll need to stop at the tavern to retrieve a lantern.”

She continued to walk, keeping her track somewhat slow and steady to conserve energy. At the edge of town were the tavern and the forest. The wood looked uninviting, too dark to see anything pass ten feet. A white mist layered the bases of the tree trunks, giving an eerie sight. Thankfully, the crescent moon was out to guide the way. Victoria stopped, facing her new friend. “You’re welcomed to come in. I’ll only be a moment.”

A few paces before the mother-to-be reached the tavern front door, she froze, hearing something. It was a loud cry, a meow of a cat. Victoria stopped, smiling as she turned around, “Ebony?”

Across the way was a large tree, at the roots was a lit lantern and on the lowest branch was a little black cat. The kitten lied on its tummy, wagging its tail back and forth, looking as content as can be. Its front right foot was tipped white and weird thing was it had silver eyes, if you go close enough to notice them. It answered Victoria’s question with a reassuring sounding meow.

Victoria’s face brightened. She nodded to the goblin and headed over to the tree. Once Victoria was there, Ebony hopped down from her perch, echoing a trill. She purred, rubbing herself against the human’s leg while Victoria returned the affection with a few body length pets. The next few words that left Victoria’s mouth sounded alien, almost as if from a made up language. She kept them barely audible if the goblin would happen to hear. Ebony returned with another meow before her ears perked up, focusing on the goblin. The kitten became alert, shifting into a defensive position.

Victoria giggled. “Ebony, it’s alright. He’s a friend. This is Mikhannek Fabins of the Leer tribe. He’ll be accompanying us tonight. And Mikhannek Fabins,” she directed to the goblin, “this is Ebony. She came to meet us. Oh, want name do you prefer to go by?”

Ebony cocked her head curiously, giving off a cute sight. She walked on over to the goblin with her tail twitching to and fro, and sniffed his leg. Finally, she gave a happy meow, content with this person just as Victoria reached down and picked up the lantern. “Shall we journey on?” She directed to a path, and by the light of the lantern, guided the way into the dark forest.

[Shani]

Indeed, Fabins had already experienced the ways of the humans back at that marketplace. He felt ashamed for not knowing such things about the "over-world" for someone his age. He peered up from under his cloak's hood at Victoria and thought a moment before answering her question. "There are many tribes in this world; not all tribes are well known."

As night fell and blanketed the edge of town in cozy darkness, the goblin felt safer. He pulled down his hood, revealing skin of a sickly, pasty white, and pulled up his visor goggles, securing them at the top of his head, where he had equally white hair pulled back into a ponytail. His red pupils and pink irises had taken on a violet hue in the dim, cold illumination of the sliver of moonlight. Opting to stay outside of the tavern and away from any more humans, Fabins waited for Victoria to come back with the lantern. The wood looked inviting, dark enough to see without squinting. A white mist layered the bases of the tree trunks, giving an awe-inspiring sight.

The meow snapped Fabins out of his reverent state and his eyes searched for its source. Ebony gave the goblin quite a surprise, and an even bigger surprise was the foreign tongue that left Victoria's lips - of course, with his large goblinoid ears, he couldn't help but have heard it. Now he was a knowledgeable goblin, and he knew that humans were hard-pressed to know more than two common tongues, and as far as he knew this was no ordinary language. This peaked his interest, but also made him wary of the woman. Mimicking the kitten's defensive position, he looked from it to Victoria and answered hesitantly, "Oh, just Fabins will do."

When the cute little cat went up to Fabins to sniff him, the goblin flinched and held the salami between them like a barrier. He was half-expecting the cat to talk, but that was nonsense, right? Confirming that Fabins was just being paranoid, Ebony meowed in reply. Snapping his head back to Victoria, he nodded briskly, "Yes, we shall," and ambled after her, tucking the salami under his cloak.

[Hexa]

An albino, just like Grandma Agatha. Victoria smiled warmly at his estrange features. “Fabins it is,” she nodded to him. “I suggest you two stay close.” Ebony didn’t go too far, a few paces before Victoria.

The light of the town behind them dimmed as they went deeper into the forest, where the thicket grew heavy. Little moon shown down between the growths of the tall trees, leaving Victoria’s lantern to be the only light to show the smooth path before them. Unlike when they entered, there was no noise of insects around them. Not a chirp; it was unnervingly silent. The haze of mist had thickened while they continue.

Victoria stopped, placing a heavy hand on a tree, steadying herself. “I need to rest for a moment.” She set down the lantern and rubbed her back and side of her stomach. “Carrying two little ones isn’t an easy job,” she mused. “Do you have any family, Fabins?” Victoria sat down on a fallen log, glancing around curiously. “Something to walk with…”

Ebony padded off with a trill in her throat, poking her head through the bushes. After searching several, she paused and jumped into one. Victoria placed a hand to her chin, wondering what was up with her little cat. At the point, the light from the lantern exposed the sight that Victoria had extra long, sharp-looking nails.

Before Victoria called out to the kitten, Ebony gave a victorious meow followed by the sound of something long rolling around. The bushes gave a rattle and out came Ebony pushing with her nose a long thin tree branch, perfect for walking. The kitty meowed, giving what seemed like a happy grin toward Victoria.

“Ebony, that’s perfect,” smiled the woman, getting up from her spot. She approached the cat and gave her a few pets before examining the branch. “Yes, this will do. Thank you dear.” Victoria stood, and going over, taking hold of the lantern. “Next stop is home with a nice home cooked meal and an extra treat for Ebony.” The little kitten gave a lick of her lips before following after Victoria.

“There is a legend,” stated Victoria, “of a hideous witch that has taken refuge within the shadows of this wood. It is said that she captures unsuspecting people that enter unknowingly into her part of the forest, eating her victim’s flesh, especially children. The legend says she is an ugly, toothless vengeful spirit with a wart filled, green face, and a long hooked nose. It also says that the witch has only one eye…”

A playful smirk lined Victoria’s lips as she looked to Fabins. She then busted out laughing. “Ohh…ohh, I’m just having fun to lighten the mood, my friend.” She smiled warmly to the goblin. “I meant no harm.” Victoria continued on, beginning to hum and sing with a beautiful voice like an angel.

[Shani]

As Fabins followed her deeper into the forest, trailing a few paces behind Victoria, he pulled out an underground map with a path charted straight to the food storage room. "I'm sure we had overworld maps and magnetic compasses somewhere, but I needed those like a butt-wart and a brain tumor," he said in a slightly comic tone. Clearly, they were his most important body parts, since he spent most of his days using them both. All this walking was tiring him out as well, since he was unaccustomed to long treks.

When they stopped to rest, he sat down on a nearby rock and took the pose of Rodin's The Thinker. "Family? Uh, I suppose... brothers and sisters. Don't know where they are now, however. If you mean progeny, then no, I don't." Deciding it was his turn to ask a question, Fabins, being the goblin intellectual that he was, intellectually inquired, "There is this rumor I heard - Is it true? If you cut off a human's head and count the rings, can you tell his age?"

He didn't think anything of her long nails - he had claws himself - and for all he knew, some humans might've had the habit of growing them out long and sharp. Particularly those humans who didn't work themselves and had servants cater to them. But was she human? He would soon begin to doubt that as they set off again, and the woman started telling her story of the witch. As wide-eyed as he looked, he wasn't all that scared by Victoria's story. When she finished it and began to hum and sing, he plainly asked, "You're not a human, are you?"

[Hexa]

To the goblin’s first question, she giggled and said, “I’m not quite sure on that one.” To his second question, Victoria gasped, stopping in her track. That question completely caught her off guard. Wide-eyed, she turned to face him, keeping a foot behind her to firm her stance.

Why did he ask that? Could he be a hunter in disguise or one of their minions? They never associated with goblins before. There’s always a first time… Have I offered my compassion to one who hunts me? To the hunter, who has proven his case to harm me and my kind before? The horrible thoughts plagued her mind.

Finding her voice, Victoria spoke up, “W-what? Why do you ask?” Slowly and hopefully unseen by the goblin, she reached behind her back to a blended pocket in her cloak. She pulled out a corked vial of bright green liquid, retaining her thumb close to the stopper in case for a quick opening. The liquid was an acidy poison, a precautionary if someone or thing would do her harm. She reserved it behind her back and out of sight.

The little cat back tracked when she knew Victoria and Fabins weren’t behind her. Ebony was almost to Victoria when she sensed something she never had before. The kitten redirected the way she had came, ears perked and eyes wide open. She couldn’t tell if it was friendly or not, it was strange but it or they were moving fast, coming in their direction. Deciding, Ebony leapt before Victoria defensively, lowly howling. The kitten’s fur stood on end, tail vertically straight up, and claws extended as a warning to whatever came near.

[Shani]

Not paying much attention to Victoria's suspicious reaction towards him, Fabins went on to explain why he asked her that question in a most matter of fact way. "Well, you see, from the rumors I heard about humans, they are nothing like you. They are more like, how should I say this... that Moby person. The raiders would usually tell me that a human is ugly and hairy, views goblins with suspicion, racial prejudice and hatred, and would bite a coin given by his own mother, and shave it by half to pay for her funeral. Although, they are not as bad as the elves: their food is weird, they are cruel without the least compassion against life forms they regard as worthy only of derision, and they have a superiority attitude... despite their long glossy hair, slim forms, and pointy ears..." Fabins trailed off, hoping that his companion was not an elf either. "Excuse me, I really didn't mean to ramble. Let us press on?" He gestured for her to go on ahead and lead the way.

Coming ever closer to the small unsuspecting group was a creature conjured up by the forces of darkness. And it wasn't alone. Concealed by the murk of the trees and the haze of the mist, only their pale green-tinted eyes were visible upon their shadowy forms. They had sensed intruders on their newly established territory and they wanted them gone. The apparent leader of these wolf-sized beasts stepped forth, raised two dragon-like wings high over his head and screeched out at them in a raspy, high-pitched voice and, oddly enough, in human tongue, "I am the terror that flaps in the night..."

[Benny the Bear]

"You are the mushroom that plagues our digestive tracts, you are... the defect!" screeched a particularly nasty high-pitched voice from behind him. An even shadowy-er form conjured up by the forces of darkness, known as Kiling, stepped in front of the leader, while still concealed by the mist.

Facing the "intruders", the abomination from the pits of hell itself fired a "warning shot" of bone-shattering sonic reverberation in the general direction of the yowling feline creature, as a way to tell them to get off their properteh. Moments later, sensing a witch among them, the winged chimera realized her grave folly.

With the immediate urgency to shift the blame to the nearest living creature, Kiling snapped her head toward the inept leader, and spat at him, "Gem, you idiot! How did you not sense the Ejen that is clearly right in front of you?"

Turning, further still, toward the deeper part of the wood, she called out in a calmer, yet still bitter, tone to a third, "Come on out from on up in under there, Cetear!"