Nalen sat quietly under the waterfall, any sound he may make being droned out by the roaring water. He stared straight ahead, unfocused. His attention spent elsewhere, on more pressing matters. Water dribbled down from his head and into his eyes. He never flinched when it contacted, totally concentrated on his thoughts, something he had honed from many years with the monks.

(OCC:Sorry so short.)


Loud violent splashes roared near Nalen as Thobos sprinted through three feet of water along the bank of the falls. The brutish looking man held a enormous scimitar above his head in each hand, he began crossing the river. He had crossed here before many times, and he knew that the water was only seven feet deep and he could easily cross it without having to swim. With the roaring of the waterfall and the rushing of the water not far from him, Thobos never noticed the small man sitting just twenty yards from him.

Nalen's gaze twitched into focus at the stimulus. He looked at the brutish man charging through the glistening water. He watched the man run back and forth, his scimitar raised high. Nalen stood slowly, the pounding waterfall slowing him slightly. He jumped over to a grassy bank, and turned to watch the man. He watched with curiosity, though it was easy to figure out what the act was to some extent.

The water rushed past Thobos forcing him to sway, with even his strength a raging river is a humbling power of nature, even at the shallow end. After a few more moments of struggle with the steady current he made his last step on the dry bank of the opposite side of the river. Stopping to take a short break, he sat on a large stone next to the river bank. It took a minute for his breath to slow to a normal pace, but as soon as it did he glanced up at the man standing on the dry bank. A sudden feeling of shock gripped Thobos as he realized he had just been in a dangerous situation. Luckily the man had not attacked while the Barbarian was in such a weakened position. He shouted towards the man, just loud enough for him to hear his words over the sound of the waterfall.

“Aye, not following me now are you?”

"I've been here before you got here I think," Nalen crossed his arms, his gaze shifting about. "Have you been following me?" He stepped closer to the water with his thoughts hanging mostly elsewhere. "Or have we both just stumbled upon this situation without any relevance to anything else," He walked along the lake with thoughts unfocused on anything in particular. He rolled his shoulders to loosen the tense joints. "Hmm?"

Thobos stood staring down the human before him. He was small, and didn’t look like a warrior, and he could sense that the human was going to harm him. Thobos grinned, and laughed lightly.

“Or, maybe these times make people a little to paranoid. What are you doing here?”
Thobos leaned down, sitting back on the rock. Gripping his cloak tightly with his hands, he began wringing water from it. The massive piece of spilled small streams of water down into the dry ground.

The waterfall pounded into the otherwise quiet water below, causing a large sloshing and splashing to flow from the site. Nalen looked the barbarian over, sizing him up, to see if he would be attacked. The possibility was ever present and Nalen would have to work about that.
A lone leaf fell to the ground at Nalen's sandaled feet. He lowered down and picked it up. He twirled the red leaf between his fingers. "Yes, I am here for meditation. Nothing more, nothing less." He gazed up to the barbarian, "Why are you here?"

Thobos looked up at Nalan, listening to what he had to say, and then he began to speak.

“This is an easy spot to cross the river, I’m just passing by. So, you’re a monk of some sort I take it? Don’t know much bout that sort of thing.”

Thobos stood up and wiped his long hair form his eyes with his right hand. The Barbarian had been in the wilderness for some time, so he hadn’t bothered to shaves for weeks. A great blonde beard fully covered his cheeks, chin, and neck. The smell or general perception of him wasn’t completely repulsive, since he had been around water for a while. He had pretty of time to bath the last few days, and also clean his clothing.

Nalen nodded, "Yes I am." The water lapped at the shore where they stood, more leaves drifting down. Nalen casted the leaf into the water. There it rested, drifting slowly away, trapped on the current. "I take it you are some sort of mercenary?" Nalen's focus was still not centered on any one thing. He only became focused when he meant to.

Thobos grunted loudly and pointed at the human.

“I’m not a mercenary! I only help people who need it. I defend poor merchants trying to make a little coin and having to get through a rough part of town. I never killed man that didn’t try to kill me or an innocent around me. I’m not a murderer!”

This was a point the man was extreme avid on. He did not just kill people for money; he defends weaker people from those that would have harmed them anyway.

Nalen stood, unaffected by his out-burst. He was calm, like the water that lapped the land. The 'vigilante' was angered, like the waterfall that raged down the cliffs. He crossed his arms and watched the man's fuming temper. "If I were you, I would calm down. Anger is an overbalance, which leads to chaos." He nodded, the sound of his clothes rustling silenced by the power of the waterfall.

Thobos’ angered face quickly flushed with amusement. A deep laugh escaped his throat and he lowered his hand. The roar of his laughter was only matched by that of the great rapids around him. With a small hint of a smile he began to speak.

“You monks, you really are a special breed you know, I can respect that.”

The large man quickly walked over towards the Nalen, reaching out his bulky right hand.

“I am Thobos, a bit of a fighter. I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

Nalen, somewhat uncomfortably, shook his hand firmly. He was used to just bowing, not shaking hands. However, he could adjust, unlike some of the other monks. He stood straight, almost imposing if it weren't for the fact that he barely looked threatening in every other way. He was built, certainly, but mostly everybody else was for that matter. The only people that weren't were those that didn't need to be, and those too starved to have any. He nodded, "That we have, best to start over." Nalen stepped back to a more appropriate distance for conversation. "I come from a monastery dedicated to the Goddess of Balance. Have you any particular devotion?"

"Aye, To the Wind, but i don't know much of the gods. No one has ever taken the time to teach me things like that. Although I’m sure you could tell me a great deal."

Thobos stood speaking firmly, but almost wanting the monk to continue about his beliefs. He had never learned anything about the gods of the world. Sometimes he would cross paths with monks and other religious men, and they would tell him of their devotion and the gods. That always caught his attention, and it always left him wanting to know more.

Nalen nodded, understanding his desire for knowledge. He thought of what to say for a moment, not quite sure where to start. The waterfall's steady noise was of little problem to his focus. "Yes, balance is everything. If the balance of this world were to be displaced then all chaos would break loose. I follow the path of balance, I must always balance an act with its opposite. To save a man means to kill a man. It must be done to save the balance in life. There can be no peace without equal chaos." He watched the large man's reaction to his words before adding in, "That is why I remain so monotone, as I would like to avoid juggling acts of balancing as much as possible."

Thobos scratched at his beard lightly thinking about the man’s words. They had confused him, living a life under such constant care over what you did. Well he couldn’t imagine how much control you would have to have over yourself to do that in such a way.

“Sounds like a difficult way to live. I don’t understand how some people can devote themselves so much.”

His eyes moved to the river, and the waterfall. The roar of size of it was immense, even making Thobos feel minute in comparison. Every so often a few drips of water from the fall would make it to his face, cooling it.

Nalen nodded, "Many cannot handle the restrictions and are driven mad, or go rouge, trying to accomplish it. Its a sad thing to see happen." He looked down at his hands, almost as though each held life and death respectively. One could not outweigh the other, if so, there would be chaos. He devoted his life to removing chaos, that was what he would continue to do. "Yes, chaos is the true foe. Not good, not bad, but chaos and all that it causes."

“Hmm, that’s interesting.”

Spoke Thobos while surveying the land around him. As quickly as the subject had caught his interest, it was lost, and he began to not pay very much attention to the words of the human. The tribe that Thobos was born in didn’t know that much about the gods. For this he was rather ignorant to the idea of balance and chaos on a real spiritual term.

Nalen nodded, turning towards the waterfall. "The sun will set soon." His eyes traced a path up the waterfall and to the sky. He watched the sun slowly begin to set into the distance. He turned back around, "I wonder what sort of creature would find something as yourself or I a delicous snack, that lives in the surrounding forest, would come out." He stated it as though he already knew the answer. Nalen grabbed his bag and half-bowed, "I best be going, farewell."