Not a cloud on the sky, not a soul on the beach—save for a certain red-haired berserker, looking only to enjoy himself, and another man who, Kale was certain, had no soul. He had been asleep not an hour earlier, beside his good friend Gnomey, the petrified gnome whom he'd met in a prison of the abyss. He'd been dreaming of a lazy ride down some river, during the morning, atop the back of a hippopotamus (a creature he'd actually never seen before), when suddenly The Guardian of Water emerged from the liquid road and pulverized Kale and his mount with a massive tidal-wave. Or whatever giant waves on rivers were called.
What had prompted this end to a most wonderful dream was no doubt the man who now stood beside him, humming to himself, strumming a tiny guitar. The instrument's neck was adorned by the carving of a long, healthy-looking carrot, inlaid with faint white gems, giving it some sort of holy demeanor. Kale was not impressed. The man knew this, and quickly picked up lines to a new song.
“Red-haired man ain't haaaappyyyy! No-no-no! Strummin' and-a drummin'!” He quickly moved his hands to beat a bongo at his side, “But red-haired man ain't haaaappyyy! Oh man! YEAH!”
The berserker's eyes thinned. He didn't particularly dislike bards; in fact, he enjoyed their company on occasion, but this guy was an idiot. That, and he had interrupted the half-demon's sleep. Maybe if he ignored him he'd go away. Kale laid back down, clawing at an itch near his bum as he did.
The bard picked up on this immediately.
“Ooooooh yeeaaaah! Red-haired man ain't happy, no-no! Got an itch, yeah-yeah! Gots an itch, aint that a... pain! Oh-oh! Yeah! Strummin', an drummin' – to an itch! An itch, oh oh! Red-haired man's got an itch, an itch he's gotta fix! Bum itch! Oh, oh – no, no! Bum itch, where-where, oh-oh! He's got an itch on his-”
Kale's foot connected with the man's stomach, but not before smashing through his tiny guitar, holy carrot neck and all. The force sent the man tumbling back, and into a rock, where his head hit with the resounding 'clock!' of a coconut. The berserker rose, picking up the man's unconscious body with one hand. “If a man's got an itch he wants to...” Kale paused. “Itch, then he'll damn well itch it! But he don't want no song about the itch! 'Cause it's only an itch, after all!” He dropped him, then, hoping that he never did that again. Others were not as friendly as Kale!
“Could'ja believe that guy?” He sighed, standing over an extremely life-like statue of a bearded gnome. “Yeah, I know.” Kale continued, waving a hand in front of his face. “Days off from BADI don't happen ev'ry day—ah! I'd better get swimmin' afore the sun sets.”
Stripping himself of all but his undershorts, Kale bolted down the beach and dove into the warm waters, scattering shallow water fish, and completely drenching himself.
Roja Bloodbane could hear a horrid noise that sounded like a mix of yelling and music playing from several hundreds of yards away. When he arrived to the scene he saw a man laying on the ground near a broken guitar. Roja chuckled before picking the man who was apparently a bard up by his throat. Now the man was awake and Roja stared into his eyes. The man scremed, not because he was fearing of the beserker, but because this particular bard was from Lomedor, and was a frequent spectator at the Battle Stand. "Please don't kill me! I didn't know he was your friend! Please don't kill me!." The man shouted and pleaded, he was on the verge of soiling his pants.
"I won't kill you.." Roja stated blandly as he afixated his foreboding eyes into the bard's. "Oh thank you mister Bloodbane! I swear to the gods I'll never--" The bard was interrupted by Roja. "I won't kill you, if you tell me who you thought was my friend." His voice was low and on the verge of demonic proprtions and with tears the man pointed to where the beserker had laid, all that was there was a statue of a gnome. "You live... for now." Roja stated before tossing the man behind onto a grassy flatlan. The man took no time at all to leave the area in tears.
Roja sat down by the statue and looked out to the ocean, he could see something red out on the waters. It wasn't long before Roja realized it was a man out in the waters. That was probably the man the the cowardly bard was talking about, and the gnome statue was also probably his. Roja looked it over and could see nothing too odd that would lead another being to be carrying it around, but than again Roja didn't care for such trivial things either.
The shimmering water was cool and refreshing, though Kale made sure to stay close to the shore, in a shallow portion of the beach, as he couldn't swim very well. Neither could gnomey. Of course, his companion had an excuse, being made of stone and all. The berserker emerged from the water, shaking his mop of red hair back and forth—much like how a dog would. This was when he noticed the newcomer to his relaxation spot: a minotaur! As if the bard wasn't bad enough!
“Feakin' hell...” The half-demon gawked, watching the furry beast exchange words with the bard. Apparently satisfied, it tossed the man aside like a rag doll. Hmph. If the beastie's lookin' for a fight, I'm gonna need my sword. He made his way out of the waters, glancing around the beach as he did. Where the heck was his massive weapon?
Something jutted from the sand at his feet. Minotaur safely watched in his peripheral vision, he reached down, tugging, soon pulling an oversized two-handed sword from the sand. It was five or so feet long, and very wide, so much that one would have thought it made for a larger creature as a wicked longsword. It held barbs down its blade, and was snapped at the end—only furthering the notion that it was likely not a human-made weapon. Kale heaved it onto his shoulder effortlessly. The question of what the hell his weapon was doing in buried in the first place never crossed his mind; though, if it had, he would have immediately blamed it on the bard. The man made a good scapegoat.
Still brandishing his sword on one shoulder, he approached the minotaur. “Don't s'pose you got a thing for bards either..?” The berserker commented, walking up beside the creature without an ounce of fear—even with it being as large as it was. Kale was a little unnerved, but he could hide his feelings well enough. He scooped up gnomey with one hand, plopping him in the sand beside his new relaxation spot, several feet from the newcomer and, more importantly, out of his reach. He sat down beside his companion, staring out into the sea. “I'll bet ev'n a big fella like you feels small nexta th'ocean.” The berserker commented, scratching the back of his head.
Roja shook his head no in response to the first question. "Bards are nothing more than petty musicians too poor to play anywhere they are wanted." Roja growled in response. The man had picked up the gnome statue and moved it aside before sitting next to it. The red haired man than seemed to stare out into the endless blue of the ocean, “I'll bet ev'n a big fella like you feels small nexta th'ocean.” The man said before scratching his head. Roja looked out to the blue waters with a sense of nostalgia, it had been where he spent his childhood in the past. "Nothing but the gods can truly compare to the size of the ocean, it's endless waves make you lost in thought, perhaps even something you would never think of." Roja growled once more as he stared into the open waters himself. "Red haired man, what is your name?" Roja asked as he peered to the man, his head still facing the ocean waters.