The Road to New Beginnings

[Roejaster Rallands]

The sun was high over the rolling hills of Fiore, the sky was clear with just a couple clouds, and birds were singing in the crisp early fall air, as two characters came over the closest hill. Roejaster stretched hands out to his sides and popped his knuckles, one finger at a time, using his thumb to overlap the chosen finger (a side effect of years of pulling triggers). As the popping was over he clasped his hands together and stretched his hands forward, palms out. "How you holding up kid?" He asked the little Dragon Slayer next to him.

Roe pulled up his personal interface for his pocket dimension, giving the look of a home screen on a desktop computer. He clicks the "Arsenal" button and thumbs through his weapons looking at different ammo or possible combinations of dual wielding. Finally closing the window, as his hand started to glow and Mercy appeared. The large silver Magnum fit perfectly and Roejaster looked at it like an old friend. He popped open the revolver and check the energy casings he used to transfer his magical energy into bullets. Basically just doing some cleaning to pass the time as the two traveled the land together.

Word Count:204

[Kotone]

The girl who had come to be known as Spell Breaker followed nearly right beside Roejaster Rallands. Her left hand idly held onto the strap of her backpack while her right rested in her coat pocket. Her cat-eared hood had blown down a little while back and she hadn't replaced it. Behind them, Sid followed with the occasional mewing. He too was used to travel.

"I'm holding up perfectly fine, thanks," she answered. Not grumpily, but it was obvious she didn't necessarily like being called kid out loud. Sure, she was a kid, and she didn't consider herself an adult, but she did prefer the respect you would give one. After all, she'd done more than most kids her age could have ever hoped to do. And a lot of it was things you'd never wish on a kid. It was a downside of being one of the dragon slayers.

"How about you?" she asked, her cocky grin returning. "You holding up alright? We've been doing quite a bit of walking after all that swim I made you take earlier." She blinked her blue eyes as her gaze returned to the long road ahead. It had been a long time since she went to Magnolia. She preferred to avoid large concentrations of humans. It was hard enough getting along with a small town like Hargeon.

Behind her, Sid mewed. She stopped long enough to let him jump into her arms to carry him for awhile. His short kitty legs preferred to take a rest more often than she did. Luckily he was light and fit nicely in her backpack.

Word Count: 269

[Roejaster Rallands]

Roejaster snapped his revolver shut "Don't worry about these old bones... I'll be fine" He said with the best old man/ grandpa impression he could muster, before breaking character and smiling at Kotone "That water actually felt pretty nice" as he let out a chuckle, he spun the gun backward on his finger and rocked his hips back, letting his long trench coat wave off of his right hip, he quickly changed the spin of the gun forward and sunk it into his holster. He looked back at the happy cat tailing closing behind as the little cat Meowed "Sid makes a good point, we should find a spot and grab a bite before we tackle the last half of our trip." Roejaster pointed out a nice little hilltop between two tall trees.

Roe brushed his hands off as the fire he started sparked to life. "Fire. Check! So what'll it be Ms. Hoshino? Fish or Fowl? I want to see these Dragon Slayer hunting skills in action!" Sid was stretching near the fire, Roe reached out and scratch behind the little cat's ears. Roejaster then slid off his long coat and hung it from the nearest tree limb. He was wearing a black button up shirt, with gold buttons and grey trim, he undid his sleeves and rolled them up past his elbows.

Word Count: 427

[Kotone]

Kotone nodded and helped Roejaster set up a spot to cook and eat some supper. She stretched her arms straight up behind her head, locking her hands together and cracked her back. "Fish? Fish is no problem!" she told him. There was a stream nearby. She could smell the spring water. There would likely be sea creatures to capture and cook right there. Not that she minded iced sushi either. It was kinda how ice dragons ate.

She took off her own coat, leaving her with a short-sleeved blouse in the slightly chilly air. The funny thing was, she didn't wear the coat for warmth. She couldn't get cold. The coat itself was a special material. It breathed quite well and she could wear it in all but the hottest weather without overheating. She adjusted her skirt slightly and led Roe off towards the spring. "This way. I smell water. And its fresh enough to drink," she added semi-enthusiastically. In less than five minutes, they found the water. She could even see some fish darting underneath. She bent down and took a quick sip before standing back up and grinning at Roejaster. "Never challenge an ice dragon to a fish catching contest," she said, revealing her fangs again.

With a deep breath, she took off her boots and long socks and waded into the water. The fish were alarmed, but not so much that they swam far away. Bending down, she stuck a hand in the water, freezing the water around her. The fish nearby froze in the ice quickly, and she plucked out the fish cubes, handing them to Roejaster to carry as she got out of the water, her wet skin dripping as she attempted to dry it off a bit with a sock before sticking it back on. "And I think we still have some time for some fowl, if you think you can nail us some quick enough," she told him as she brushed off her hands.

Word count: 600

[Roejaster Rallands]

The Little Dragon Slayer had a very VERY sharp sense of smell. Roejaster had heard rumors and stories, but either way he was still impressed. Kotone led the way, following her nose, to a babbling stream that was quite clear. Unusually clear for a stream running at the foot of a valley, looks like it was their lucky day. Roe walked a little downstream of Kotone as she took off her boots and socks. He took the moment to kneel down and gaze into the clear reflective stream. He rubbed a hand on the newly growing whiskers, before he dipped his hands in the water and splashed a brisk refreshing bit of water in his face. He wiped off his face with his red bandana as he looked back at the little Dragon Slayer who had insta-froze the fish in place, mid swim “Handy little trick” He said gathering the fish from her.  

When they got back to camp, Roejaster set the fishcicles next to the fire to thaw. “The fishing round definitely goes to you, but when it comes to birds…” He slowly lifted Mercy from it’s leather holster and extended it straight into the air. He glanced at Kotone and gave her a wink, he then spit a round off into the air. As the gun shot thundered through the valley, birds took off from the pair of trees their fire was nestled between. He spun on his heels and let eyed a batch of five birds right above them, as he continued to spin he cracked 5 shots to 5 birds in a matter of a moment. As he finished his spin and dust kicked into the air, the birds came thudding to the ground one by one a moment later.  He flipped  Mercy back into it’s holster “Well looks like dinner is ready to go. “

Word Count: 600

[Kotone]

The dragon slayer nodded at Roe, grinning as she eyed the birds and the fish. A meal of meat was her second favorite meal. Next to snow cones. She could actually live off of those if they weren't formed from her own magic. the girl sighed and got to work making sure everything was nice and presentable. She'd learned since she'd stopped being raised by a dragon the way humans were supposed to prepare meals, and attempted to show off her skill helping Roejaster ready the food for dinner. She was starving.

When the meal was finally done, she nodded happily, handing Roejaster roughly half of the food (her portion may have been a bit bigger), before digging in hungrily. It was hardly lady-like, but that was probably unsurprising. "Delicious! It's been awhile since I got to have such fresh food," she told Roe with a grin. "And bird and fish meat makes for a pretty hardy meal!"

She didn't ask much of Roejaster or his past or anything. She wasn't used to being around people, so getting to know him properly didn't cross her mind. She just found out what he brought up himself, which so far wasn't much except that he used to actually be a criminal, but now he was a nice guy. One of the few she could stand. When she finished eating, she flopped back onto the grass with a contented sigh. She supposed they should finish their journey today, but was ready to relax after the meal.

word count: 853

[Roejaster Rallands]

Before Roejaster could start preparing the food, Kotone jumped on it herself. He stuttered in an awkward movement for a moment, then just smirked and sat against the nearby tree. She seemed pretty apt at it, despite the whole raised by a dragon thing. It made him think of the make shift meals you’d throw together in the outlands, which consisted of realistically anything you could find that moved and wasn’t either human or a flying fish (nasty deceptive buggers..). She handed him his share, which he nodded in return to the notion and started at his food. He took a moment to size up the portions, it seemed a little one sided in Kotone’s favor, but he just laughed to himself and shook his head, then started to pick apart one bird wings. Kotone went at her food a little ungracefully, though Roejaster wasn’t sure what else to expect, because in all realism that made sense. She was a Dragon Slayer after all, and yet again considering she was raised by a DRAGON, this all added up.

Kotone finished before he did, but he wasn’t too far behind. As he swallowed his last bite he responded to her statement as he started using a small bone as a tooth pick “My compliments to the chef.” He tipped his hat to her “I’ve gotten pretty used to this whole hunt and cook thing. I can’t remember the last time I ate at a nice restaurant….” He tailed off, honestly trying to remember. “It’d be nice to not have to take down my grub for a change.” He shrugged “So little lady, you feel like wrapping this trip up before the sun sets?” He stood up and picked up his large trench coat from the tree limb and slung it smoothly onto one arm to the other. “Magnolia is just over those hills” he nodded to the eastern horizon.

-EXIT-

Word Count: 918

[Kotone]

Kotone made a "hmph" noise when the man known as Wild Arms expressed a wish for eating at a restaurant. She grinned, thinking how she preferred the meals that weren't near people. Things always went bad when she tried to talk to the species she cared about protecting. They were unappreciative selfish jerks, and she was a highly proud, highly defensive teenage girl. The second part was more fact than anything she actually thought. "Maybe sometime I'll treat you, Mr. Rallands." she told him as she sat up. She jumped to her feet, brushing the grass off of her backside and grabbing her jacket. "Alright, Let's finish this trip!" she nodded with a grin. "I'm ready to see what adventures come my way this time."

She wondered what she would think of Magnolia now. She was as used to people as she'd ever been, but it was such a big place, especially compared to the likes of Hargeon. Even a dragon slayer like her might go unnoticed among its crowds. She liked fame, but it hadn't been all that pleasant as of late, so she was hoping for some relaxation.

Finally, they arrived in Magnolia. "Well, it's been unusually pleasant, Roejaster," she admitted to him slightly reluctantly. "We'll meet again. And next time be ready to see who's actually stronger, alright? I don't want to win too quickly." The teenager gave her a thumbs-up as she raised her hood over her head and disappeared into the gathering darkness to find a place to stay for the night.

Word Count: I've been there 2.5 times and I'm tired of counting.

-Exit-

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