forum The Castle Under The Hill // O/O // Closed

Started July 06, 2020 by @MarDeColores this is not it kids

tune

"Hhmph, it was a joke, Nova, you aren't the only one who can make one of those. . ." Kelton trailed off realizing that Nova had gotten the joke and was just playing along, "Well, then, I guess I might not be going with you then, I mean, I am horrible in mornings, I'm just being nice to you, because well I feel like I should be, we'll see how long it'll be." He yawned and stretched his arms, "Yes, she was amazing, while she was alive she was at least, but she passed a while ago, but no need to dampen this mood." As they began to enter the forest he closed his eyes just taking in the sounds of the forest, "Isn't it nice here? I could just live here for the rest of my life." He sighed happily and began to make his way through the trees weaving in and out as if he had been there before."

Nova smirked at Kelton, amused that he'd thought they hadn't gotten the joke. "You'd better work on that, then. You will want to come with me. It'll be even more fun than this adventure." Their lips turned down slightly when Kelton said he was just being nice to them. They'd known that, kind of, but they didn't like it when he admitted it. "Oh, sorry." They stayed silent until they both entered the forest. Nova's mood immediately improved– the forest looked amazing. "It is nice. And cool, too." Nova waved their hands in the air and took a deep breath. The air smelled wonderful, and the sounds were delightful. Birds singing, wind whistling through the trees, a branch snapping somewhere close to them– wait. Nova was instantly on alert. It might just be a regular forest animal… or it might be a bandit or a monster. "Did you hear that?" They breathed, glancing towards Kelton.

Kelton nodded, "It was probably nothing." He muttered as he continued through the woods. He would know if something was coming, "If anything it might be a deer." He wasn't sure though, he wasn't getting any off feelings or something along those lines. They turned to look back at Nova making sure they were alright, "And uhm, I. . .about the whole nice thing, I guess it's just easier to be nice to people who are generally friendly to others as well and to me." he began stammering a little, 'But, y-you are really nice, so I t-think that it will be rather easy to be nice to you then." As the two continued to make their way through the woods the cracking of the sticks followed them, Kelton tried to pretend as though it was nothing, but in the back of his mind, he was worried that it might be something. Although he had convinced himself that the forest didn't speak to him, but somehow always knew that he always knew what was going on whenever he was near. "So, uh, Nova, what do you think you'll do with the gold once we find it?"

(I just want to let you know, I'm not going to be on at all this weekend.)
"Probably," Nova agreed, their hand drifting towards their sword. "Well, that is true. I mean, I'm always friendly to everyone, but that's just me." Their face brightened a bit. "Thanks, Kelton!" Nova thought it was kind of funny how flustered Kelton seemed to be getting. It was also kind of cute, though. Their thoughts were distracted by the sounds of sticks breaking. Whatever it was seemed to be following them, which didn't bode well. Unless the deer was really friendly. At Kelton's question, they looked back over at him. "I think I'll use it to travel around and see as much of the world as I can," Nova said enthusiastically, momentarily forgetting about the imminent danger. "It would be really amazing to see everything that there is to see. Imagine all those views, and architectural wonders, and the people! Hearing all their stories must be amazing." They sighed dreamily. "What about you?"

(Don't worry about it, I probably won't be either)

"And that's nice, and something that I need to work on. I guess I am polite most of the time, but normally more friendly to people I have grown to trust, and c-care for." He sighed softly, gazing out into the trees, "But I guess for some people it is easy to be friendly rather than being rude, which I think is how it should always be." He sighed, realizing that he must be droning on again, "I'm sorry, I sound too boring, please let me know, I wouldn't want to annoy you with my incessant chatter." He ran his fingers through his hair again rather awkwardly. He sighed softly, he wasn't used to carrying such long conversations with people, but, he sort of liked talking to Nova, they just were nice and fun to be around. "Ah, that sounds nice. I would probably send some of the money to my family, then perhaps use the rest on myself. Maybe I would continue to adventure, or maybe I would settle down, get married, and begin a family." At least, that was what he was expected to do, but he wasn't so sure of that himself, he knew he wanted to marry, but maybe not the beautiful bride his father had always envisioned for him and his brothers.

(Alright, cool!)
Nova nodded. It made sense to them. Not everyone was friendly to everyone like they were. In fact, a lot of people they knew were more like Kelton than themself. Polite to strangers and friendly to people they knew. "No, you're fine. Sometimes incessant chatter can be comforting." They reassured him. The sound of a human voice could be nice to hear when one was in the middle of the wildness. "That's a nice thing to do. This gold could really set up anyone for a wonderful life." Nova knew that eventually, they would stop moving around, but they couldn't imagine stopping so soon when they still could travel around. But Kelton could have his own dreams, they reasoned. By now, they had almost forgotten about the maybe-danger. But not enough to write off a faint whisper sounding from somewhere close to them. It didn't sound like something natural, though. It sounded like someone's voice. "I think we're being followed, Kelton," Nova whispered, glancing around the forest. It was a pretty good place for an ambush. Lots of trees to hide behind. "And it had been so peaceful so far!"

"Hhm, thank you, I'll try to take that as a compliment, although it is still incessant chatter." Kelton nodded reaching for his broadsword, he could tell that something was off, and although he'd prefer to not fight at the moment he knew that that could happen. "Here, follow me, up this tree." He muttered weaving in and out of the thick foliage until he found the perfect hiding spot. He began to swing up the tree from branch to beach towards a heavily leafed area, "Come on Nova!" He whispers shouted, "Quickly!" He hoped that they would be able to see from here if anyone was indeed following them."

(Oof, another shorty)

(Me too… you're fine!)
Nova was slightly confused as to why Kelton wanted them to climb a tree but followed him anyway. Getting caught in an ambush wouldn't be very good for either of them. They watched him for a few seconds, marveling at the ease with which he climbed the tree. He must have done that a lot. They'd never really been the tree-climbing type unless it was absolutely necessary. Which, it seemed, was right then. Nova managed to grab the first branch, then climbed after Kelton. They weren't nearly as graceful as Kelton– in fact, it was a miracle they didn't fall out of the tree. "What's the plan?" Nova whispered, a death-grip on one of the branches.

Kelton groaned, "Before we get to plan, let's get you into the tree, how's that sound." He grumbled a bit pulling Nova onto one of the larger branches before swinging up to a higher one, "I'm gonna look and see if someone is indeed following us, and, perhaps instead of them attacking us, we get to them first? Huh?" Noticing that Nova was about to slip again, he dropped back down onto the branch, "Look, just hold onto another branch tightly and let the leaves cover you, and you'll be fine, I doubt that they would be looking for us here. Most people can't really climb this high, so I'm sure that they wouldn't even try to." He said as leaned against the tree, "Do you have another idea? Or if you'd like, we could stay up here til they think that we are gone."

"Thanks," Nova sighed. They really were too small to be climbing trees, at least in their opinion. "Yeah, you do that. If there is someone chasing us, we need to attack them first." After all, they had made Nova climb into this tree. They couldn't take out their rage on Kelton since he was their traveling companion. But they couldn't care less about some annoying bandits wanting to rob them or murder them or something. In fact, if it was a bandit, they really wanted to rob the bandit first. It would be hilarious. "Yeah, I'm included in most people," Nova grumbled under their breath, adjusting their grip on the branch. "Nope. I like your idea of attacking them first." They curled their free hand into what they hoped was a vengeful fist. "Can you see anyone?"

"I think so, I'm not sure if it's a deer or a human, but I know that I'm seeing someone." Kelton called down as he swung up to a higher branch, he stepped onto the branch and heard it crack. He panicked stepping back, and jumped down to another, "Mm, yeah, there is definitely a human down there, so, I guess we wait until they get close enough, then drop down and attack? Or what if it is just someone who just happened to take the same path as we did today? Should we make sure that there was no malintent before we just rob them, then run? For all we know it could be a child," He looked back over at the person, "A really tall one."

Nova nodded, not able to see much from where they were. Maybe they could if they stood up, but they didn't want to fall out of the tree. They looked up at Kelton quickly when they heard the branch crack, their heart skipping a beat. Kelton falling out of the tree wouldn't be good either. Luckily, he stepped to a different branch and avoided an embarrassing and painful fate. "Oh, okay. We should probably check to see who it is first. I really don't want to give an innocent person a heart attack. And I don't want to turn into a bandit." Nova laughed softly. "Attacking a child, even if they are really tall, wouldn't be good either."

"Alright, that sounds fair to me." Kelton said as he sat down next to Nova, "If they are bandits, do we just attack and steal? Or do we, well end them and their thievery? Or is that a bit too harsh?" He sighed softly playing with some of the leaves in front of them, "Or do you just want to get down and continue on? I'm sure we've lost them at this point, so perhaps we could take another route to find the river. Which I'm sure won't be too hard, hopefully. . ." Of course, he could always ask the forest to help him, but he doubted that he would, he knew that magic wasn't real, whatever happened would just be pure coincidence, after all, magic just couldn't be real, it was just too. . .unreal. He shook his head stubbornly, "You know what, I want to find that river, and if robbers or children who rob are going to stand in my way, I'll just take them down. Come on Nova." Kelton said as he jumped down from the tree, "You with me?"

"Well, I'm going to attack them. Maybe knock them out. Ending them is a little too harsh… unless, of course, they try really hard to kill us and it's the only way we make it out of there," Nova said, shrugging. They didn't like killing people for no reason. Even if they were bandits. The person really had to do something terrible, or it had to be an accident. And they usually didn't have accidents like that. Nova snorted at Kelton's 'children who rob' line– he was getting better the more time they spent with him. "Now, that's what I like to hear." They grinned and carefully made their way out of the tree. If they jumped out, the likelihood of them breaking something was enormous. "I am with you!" Nova's feet touched down on the ground and they drew their sword in anticipation of a fight.

"Hhm, that sounds like a nice plan, I like it, and I guess it'll be nice to shake them up a bit, just to get a laugh and also, maybe teach them a lesson, or something?" Kelton called up to Nova, "Come on, it's not that hard, you just let yourself drop to the ground, and try to land on you feet, it's better." He shook his head slightly annoyed that he had to wait for Nova. But he plastered a small smile on his face when Nova finally came down, "Alright." He muttered as he pulled out his broadsword, "Let's kick some butt." He chuckled brandishing his sword,"Not seeing anyone he sighed and murmured a quick request under his breath to the forest. Immediately a path opened up leading to the robbers, "Alright, I think we need to go this way Nova, alright?"

Nova huffed angrily at Kelton. It might not have been too hard for him, but climbing slowly out of the tree was their only way to get out. If he didn't want to wait for them, then he shouldn't have brought them into the tree in the first place. Nova looked around the forest, ready to "kick some butt" as Kelton had said. Unfortunately, they couldn't find where the bandits were. Nova looked at Kelton to ask where they should go, only to see him mutter something. The forest changed almost immediately, which was… weird. They'd ask about it later. "Okay." They nodded, eyes narrowing at the path. After all of this, they really wanted actual bandits, not a really tall child.

Kelton turned back to look at Nova, "I'm sorry for forcing you up and down a tree, next time, how about we try a smaller one?" Noting the death glare from Nova he rephrased his statement, "How about I try a smaller one, and you hang out at the base? Does that seem fair to you?" Not really getting any reaction from Nova he turned back around letting the forest lead them to the people. He quietly whispered a thank you to the forest, before turning back to Nova, "So do you want to see if they really are bandits then begin the attack? Or should we start together?"

Nova listened to what Kelton said, nodding slightly. "I guess. I like the last option the best," They said softly, following Kelton down his weird forest path. "I can go ahead," Nova glanced over at Kelton. Sneaking up on people was fun, and they were pretty good at it. They gave Kelton a big smile, then slipped further down the path. After only a few steps, the path turned into a large clearing. A group of people were standing in it, talking among themselves. As Nova watched, a tall man burst from the underbrush, looking disgruntled.
"They've disappeared! Into thin air!" He exclaimed. The circle of people opened up to let him in, bringing the total of people up to four. Not bad odds. Not the best ones, either, but at least they each only had to take on two people instead of more.
"They looked like adventurers, too, and those guys always have the best stuff," another bandit complained. "Are you sure you checked everywhere?" The bandits started arguing among themselves and Nova turned back to look at Kelton. They waved him over, then pointed at the bandits with a murderous look on their face. Finally, they gave him a thumbs up and an excited smile. Hopefully, he would understand that they were trying to say, come over, these are bandits and we're going to wreck them, okay? and not anything else.

Kelton nodded quickly brandishing his sword, he was ready to have a bit of fun with this. He quietly stepped over towards him making sure not to step on any branches or twigs for fear of giving them away. "Alright." He whispered quietly into Nova's ear, "I think that we can easily take them down, but I have a bit of an idea." He pulled away for a quick second and checked on the bandits again, making sure that this could even work out. "So, we could sort of do it from behind, begin to fight them one by one, and them not really know what is happening? Or we could just flat out attack." He knew that this wasn't the best idea to discuss their plans like this, but he didn't know what else to do. "What do you think?"

Then he got an idea, he knew that Nova didn't want him to kill the bandits, but at least getting them a bit disoriented would be a bit nice. He murmured another request to the forest and soon a few vines came down from their trees. Soon Kelton heard some nervous chuckles and soon angry words as the bandits began to argue among each other. Kelton turned Nova, "Go ahead, and I'll follow your lead."

Nova leaned towards Kelton a bit, not wanting to miss whatever he had to say. "Hmm…" They stared at the bandits, who were still arguing rather loudly. "I say we do a surprise attack! Jump out of the bushes, scream a lot, make them jump out of their skins, you know?" Nova looked at Kelton out of the corner of their eye, not really wanting to take their eyes off the bandits in case they moved suddenly. Kelton whispered something to himself again, strengthening Nova's curiosity even more. "Alright, let's scare them out of their skins!" Nova took a deep breath, then jumped into view of the group.
"Hey!" They screamed, a wild grin on their face. "You were the guys who were following us! You made me climb a tree!" The bandits turned around as one, surprise written all over their faces. Nova didn't wait for them to react and launched themself at the nearest bandit.

Kelton sighed happily seeing the men run off, knowing that they had truly defeated them. He leaned back against a tree cleaning his sword, " Now, shall we finally find that river? It sounds as though it is near." Without him asking, this time the forest opened another path leading to a brook. "I think that we should maybe take a bit of a break when we find it. Maybe eat something? Or just rest for a little, I don't know, but it would be nice to just be able to close my eyes and maybe take a quick nap in a tree? What about you?"

Nova grinned after the men, shaking their fist after them. "Ha, those guys weren't even challenging. Good fighting, Kelton." They nodded at him and sheathed their sword. "Yeah, let's. I agree with taking a break. It will be nice to relax after that, even if that fight wasn't that hard." Nova's eyes narrowed slightly at the path opening in the forest but decided to ask him when they both got to the river. "Yeah, you can nap in a tree. I'll stay firmly on the ground and keep watch, if you want. Watching the river rush by would be rest enough." They smiled at Kelton and skipped ahead a little bit.

Kelton sighed happily watching Nova run ahead, "All right, you do that. But don't come whining to me when you see how comfortable I am up in my tree!" He called after him as he ran after him. Soon they made it to the river. Just seeing the river calmed him, but he wasn't going to jump in or splash around in it just yet. He looked around for a nice tall tree and when he found one, hopped up and into it. Now he had a clear view of everything going on. Or well, the swaying of the trees. Feeling completely calmed and relaxed he closed his eyes and began to doze off.

"That will never happen!" Nova glanced over their shoulder, giving Kelton a teasing smile. "I guarantee it." The sounds of the river grew closer, and they soon made it to the banks of the river. It was perfect, with clear water rushing over smooth stones. They didn't even have to wander too far down the banks to find a nice little beach. While Kelton was sleeping in a tree, Nova planned to dip their feet in the river and throw rocks into it. Nova watched Kelton climb into a tree with a laugh, then sat down on a big rock near the river. They listened to the river for a few minutes, then started pulling their boots off. The river was freezing, and they gasped a little when the dipped their feet into it. They could only stand it for a minute or so before they had to take their feet out and rest them on a rock. But it was really nice all the same.