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"What on earth is that smell?" |
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Aramis lifted is arm and sniffed. It was definitely time for a bath. "Damn, how long has it been since you bathed?!" Bre exclaimed, pinching her nose and waving away the odor. "I could ask you the same thing," Aramis sneered, stuffing the remainder of his belongings into his bag. "You don't exactly smell like a bouquet of roses yourself." Bre stuck her tongue out at the young man and hoisted her bag over her shoulder. They'd pretty much run out of funds and could no longer pay for another night at the inn if they planned to eat at all the next day. And so, in the dull, pre-dawn grayness of the new day, they prepared to depart on their next journey to whatever town they could come across. But first on their agenda would be to bathe.
"It's been too long since either of us had a decent bath," Aramis muttered, his shoes clomping loudly down the wooden stairs of the inn. "We need to find somewhere where we can clean up. Sooner or later we're going to start attracting flies." The morning was blessedly clear and cool, providing a small measure of comfort to both travelers. As they made their way along a winding dirt path out of Jugaar's Fort City, they passed a fellow vagabond who told them of a natural hot spring in the woods where many a weary transient would stop by to bathe and rest up. Aramis thanked the man whole-heartedly, and he and Bre headed for this temporary pit stop. Although Aramis greatly disliked the idea of stripping down in front of a group of strangers who would gladly run off with his things and leave him there with nothing but the skin he was born in, the need to rid his body of weeks' worth of sweat and blood far outweighed the possibility of being robbed. Besides, he and Bre could take turns, and she'd watch his belongings (hopefully) while he rid himself of his accumulated filth.
After finding a suitable site to camp out for the night, Aramis dumped his belongings with Bre and headed towards the pool. "Don't take your eyes off of my stuff," he warned, narrowing his eyes at the girl. "If anything comes up missing, I'll take your body parts as compensation." Bre waved him off with barely a nod in his direction, focusing her attention at the contents in his bag. He hated it when Bre looked through his stuff, but if it kept her eye on his belongings at all times until he returned, he could deal with it. And so, he followed the low hum of empty chit-chat until he came upon the aforementioned pool, already occupied by two other men. Aramis tried to still his trembling and quell the uneasy feeling brewing in his gut as he peeled off his shirt and lay it on the ground beside him. He watched the other two occupants finish up their conversation and nonchalantly exit the pool as if they didn't realize he was there. In any case, he was more than relieved to be alone in this situation. After he'd stripped naked, Aramis eased himself into the delightfully frigid water, a series of wonderful little chills rippling through his body. A deep sigh of relief slipped past his lips as he leaned back and stared up into the night sky overhead. He hadn't learned much about constellations and things of that nature, but he could find Kijika's Bow, the Adramalech Cluster and the constellation Kasvatigagaten (named after a living god whose enormous temple was located somewhere in Shaudrey). He made a mental note to visit that temple someday and see this living god whose legendary wisdom and beauty spawned many a legend hymn of worship. But how could anyone be sure of this flawless beauty? Do gods let mortals such as himself gaze upon their divine forms so casually? Perhaps this wasn't the case at all. Maybe this Kasvatigagaten was a notoriously rare site. Perhaps this god was only moderately good-looking, and the rarity of it all simply exaggerated the claim.
As Aramis pondered this theory, a soft, glowing green orb passed in front of his eyes. He blinked, unsure if he'd imagined it or not. He sat up straight and noticed another pulse of bright spring green over to his right. Soon, the lights were blinking everywhere, miniature strobes drifting aimlessly around the pool.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" a voice asked suddenly, causing Aramis to nearly jump out of his skin. "Who's there? Where are you?" he asked, his eyes scanning the darkness. There--a dark silhouette sat just across from him, almost lurking in the shadows of the rocks and trees. He thought he was alone in the pool; he hadn't even noticed this eerily silent person sharing the space with him. It was obviously a male (perhaps Bre was the only female traveler here, or if there were any other women, they were smart enough not to get into the pool), the outline of his broad shoulders visible even against the notoriously dark background. His deep voice seemed to echo through the woods, making Aramis feel slightly vulnerable. He hated that feeling.
"Well, you've obviously noticed me here, so there's no need to explain where I am," the man said. "And, you don't need to know my name. After today, we most likely will go our separate ways and will never see each other again, so why bother with formalities?" Aramis struggled to ease his savagely palpitating heart, sinking a bit lower into the water. "All right," he muttered. "If you don't want to tell me your name, that's fine with me. Now, what's that you said before?"
"The fireflies," the stranger replied. "It's their mating season. The males are the only ones that light up, you know. They just flit their little wings, glowing with all their might in a desperate attempt to find a female to mate with." Aramis shrugged his shoulders. "Fascinating," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "That it is," the man continued. "Sometimes, they even try to attract other males."
Aramis raised an eyebrow. "Ah--I think I know where this is going," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm not interested in men."
"The hell you aren't," the man replied with a soft laugh. "You may be as intricately constructed and beautiful as a stained glass window, but a stained glass window is still made of glass, and I can see... right... through... you." Aramis narrowed his eyes at the man. "You don't know anything about me," he sneered, lifting himself out of the pool and hurriedly putting his clothes back on. "I never even knew you existed before today and I'm sure my life will continue to be splendid without you. You're just another actor in this sick play the gods force us to act out for their amusement, and now that your pathetic little walk-on role in my private production is done, I'll be on my way." He turned his back to the man and quickly made his way back to where Bre was undoubtedly rummaging through his personal stuff.
"You still smell like the s**t room of a tuna boat," Aramis muttered, snatching his bag back from Bre. "Go take a bath." She brushed off the insult and stood up, clinging onto Aramis' arm desperately. "Who else is there?" she asked, watching as her friend looked through his belongings. "There was some guy there, but I guess he's gone now," Aramis yawned, noting that everything was perfectly in order. "Come with me, then!" Bre exclaimed, clinging to his arm desperately. "What if he's still there and just waiting to attack me?!" Aramis calmly reached into his bag and pulled out a kife. "Then you open his throat," he answered, handing the knife to Bre. "NO!" she whined, shoving the knife back into the bag. "Just come with me, please? I don't want to be there alone!" Aramis yanked his arm away from Bre and arched his back a bit. "Fine, fine, I will. Just don't take forever, all right? Get clean and get dressed as quickly as possible. This place is giving me bad vibes." He took a quick look around, as if he expected the mysterious stranger from the pool to appear before his very eyes, as he seemed to do before. He suddenly felt very small and frail, like a cornered rat trying to fend off a snarling, rabid Doberman. However, like a cornered rat, Aramis would fight tooth and nail to secure a sucessful escape.
As he walked Bre to the pool, he was glad to see the stranger had gone. He wasn't much in the mood for a fight. Besides, he'd already made up his mind to see this living god, this... Kasvatigagaten. And one couldn't present himself to a deity wearing bloodstained clothes.
 Bleeding Apocalypse · Wed Jun 22, 2005 @ 08:31pm · 6 Comments |
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