[PP-F6] Ocean Eyes

[Shi 0]

"This is the spot." A voice called out to Shi.

The noirette scanned the area. It was dark, but not to the point where he was unable to see his surroundings. Stone statues lined the earthy floor around them. He stepped towards the nearest one and placed his hand on it's dirt-covered base. It took him a moment, due to the deconstruction of the body, but after inspecting it he was able to conclude that it was a Greek soldier. In fact, they were all soldiers. Shi stepped back. "I'm starting to understand why we were lead here."

"Why's that?" Cain, his blonde friend asked.

"This is a graveyard."

Both players froze in their place as they heard the soft rustling of leaves behind them. Shi dared to turn his head in the direction of the noise, but saw nothing. He wanted to speak, but could not find any words to use. His body stayed suspended to the ground, nearly as unmovable as a boulder. Suddenly, he heard another noise. This time, it came from a spot closer to Cain. "Shi," the blonde spoke, "They are here."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shi's eyes flew open. He lifted himself up from the cold, wet spot on the grass where he had managed to fall asleep and leaned up against the stone outer wall of Nimbus. Although it had felt like an eternity, he had only been out for a matter of hours.

The moon was still high in the sky, giving him quite a lot of time before he'd need to once again begin his training. This gave him two options: Either he could try his best to fall back to sleep or he could not. Shi went with the latter.

His mind was elsewhere, still trapped in the dream that he had roughly awoken from only moments prior. The noirette was glad that he woke up when he did. He wasn't sure he'd be able to take traveling further down that unpleasant memory. The man's gaze autopiloted to the moonlit sky. The bright orb illuminated the grassy, mountainous land below, creating a dim and peaceful atmosphere.

It was the perfect environment for Shi to cope with a loss.

@Teion

[Teion 0]

"Are you alright?" The voice that cut through the quiet of night wasn't quite as gentle as its words would suggest, but rather somewhere in the realm of cautious and curious rather than caring and concerned. Teion stood, one hand hovering in front of her torso where her subconscious naturally brought up the barrier between her and the stranger she gazed upon, while the other hung at her side and she resisted the urge to fidget with the patterned hem of her deep purple tunic.

Nowadays it was rare to see anyone outside of the settlements at night, and more often than not those nocturnal players were none too friendly. But even more rare was to see someone dozed off so close to the invisible barrier that separated the safety of the city from the dangers of the wilderness. Teion's head tilted slightly when her cobalt eyes finally met Shi's. He didn't look like someone that needed the basic rules of the game explained to him. Which meant that he knew exactly where he was and what he was doing. 'But why not go farther out? Or get a cheap room?' The irrationality of the situation was what pushed her to stand there, inquiring about a stranger when his circumstances were absolutely none of her concern.

She almost said something else. Anything to drop the level of tension that she felt building in her shoulders. But she never was any good at starting a conversation, cracking a joke, or being friendly. Sticking her nose where it doesn't belong seemed to be a trend, at least.

[Shi 0]

At first, the fields were ghost-quiet.

However, this changed quickly as Shi heard the inquisitive voice of a violet haired woman who had engaged in conversation with him. "I'm okay, thank you." He lied, giving the stranger a smile as she stood at a careful distance from him.

Just by looking at the girl, the noirette could tell that she meant no harm towards the man. This caused him to become confused, as he could not figure out what it was she would gain from this encounter. It only took moments for the atmosphere around the two to become awkward and uncomfortable. For some time, no words were exchanged between them. It wasn't something he was used to. Shi lifted his hand and scratched the nape of his neck.

"Uh," the man started, "My name's Shi."

On another day, perhaps the conversation would have gone more smoothly. Maybe it wouldn't have felt as though he was forcing the words out of his throat. After the unfolding of the previous night's events, however, he was not in his right mind. Maybe this is good for me. I could use a pick-me-up.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Shi