It had been a day since that awful mess in Estolad. Oh, what a horrid mess. At least it ended, and at least he ended up with some money at the end of that day. t was a shame, though, just as he made that money...he lost it. When in a mask shop, trying to get a replacement, he broke a few of the ones on display. After that, and purchasing his new one and dinner, he was broke yet again.

To make things worse, he had the strangest feeling that someone was following him. He knew nobody was, of course, but maybe it was his paranoia. Ever since he set out from his home, strange things kept happening. He'd not even really been able to do any good things for people! It was always just minor things and the occasional good deed. They were nice and all, but he left his village to make a REAL difference. not a minor one.

So why was he in the woods? Well, he was broke, as stated earlier. He lacked a bedroll. He lacked money for an Inn. So he was here, hoping to make a temporary camp using leaves as a mattress, his cloak as a blanket, and MAYBE hunt for food for the day. It was still daylight, and wouldn't get dark for a while. It might be smart to get a head start.

However, he decided against that. He sat up against a tree, feeling his new mask. How horrible...his mother's handmade mask was completely destroyed, and he had to wear this strange thing. Why did that thief have to break it? Meglumar sighed, and shook his head. Could not be helped. He managed to make money from the skirmish, so who was he to complain?

Still, he wasn't happy with the NEW mask. By the GODS it was itchy, and air could not pass through it well. They eye holes were also not made well. He could see out of it, but it wasn't perfect. He might have to make them bigger later, using his sword. He looked up at the sky. A shame the gods could not drop a new mask, perfect for him, out of the sky. Oh well. Still, at least he had his cloak!

You are to set before dawn. No more delays are allowed!

While the words of her teacher echoed in her head, the cleric-in-training found herself in a mess of the woods before she even managed to lose the sights of her village. She had, in reality, lost the sight of her village long ago, but the image of it lingered in her mind for long, before this overwhelming mass of green rushed into her mind, crashing the images of her cozy feelings into pieces of a glass.

"Even so, can't we just delay the departure for a day or two? Why does it have to be today?"

The elf muttered in complaint, as she dragged those feet over the roots of the trees and into the deeper part of the green, disregarding the fact that she had delayed her departure by three days since her teacher sent her off on a journey with the assignment of studying different races, languages and culture.

It was always nice to stay at home. There are far more than enough race in the village itself to study from. Why does it have to be a journey around the world? Why can't it be some interviews from travelers that comes and goes everyday in the villages? Why does it have to be her who was sent off to journey, of all people?

The girl kicked up a rock from the ground, as she continued to mutter to herself about how unfair this is. Her teacher was just a stubborn, old lady who doesn't like her around, because she's unattentive in class, can't sit still to listen to her, and grabs her weapon too quickly. She probably hated her for so long, that now that Sibyl is finally less dependent, she immediately set her off to a "journey". To heck with this, that old lady probably only wanted her away from the village!

*THWACK*

Meglumar suddenly felt a rock hit him in the head. He groaned. What now? What tossed the rock at him? He began to look around, pushing the mask up closer to his face. He then spotted what he assumed was the flinger of the rock. An young elf girl. Joy. He pushed his back to the wall more. Maybe if he pretended he was not there, she would not see him?

Of course, though, after a moment, he realized the futility of this. He could not turn invisible, he was but a paladin, really more of a paladin in training. Such feats were above him right now. He sighed, again. What sort of madness would happen today? Would an army of undead attack? No, that would be too fun. Likely just some horrid event that would leave him even more penniless than he was now.

"Excuse me...could you PLEASE watch where you throw your rocks?" The masked paladin said to the young elf. He should have expected elves, now that he thought about it. Elves and woods went together like Orcs and axes. It was just natural. And as he HAD wandered into woods..... He could not help but wonder how many OTHER Elves might be here.

Great, and now someone complain about her kicking rock, too! What's wrong with people and their controlling nature! Seriously, it's just not her to sit still and listen! She has to DO something in order for her to stay in focus, for example, kicking rocks when the teacher is demonstrating the casting of the healing spell on an open field.

"Can't you see I KICKED my rock!?"

The annoyance got the better of the hot-blooded elf, as she yelled almost instinctively towards the voice that she heard. Honestly, if it's another of those voices that complains about her, she would kill it with this brand new journal that she got from the teacher.

Wait. A voice...?

Oh, it was a person?

The elf looked upon her, only to find a man, or creature, sitting on the tree in front of her, his face covered with a mask, a new, cheap mask as well. She frowned. Is there any normal person who would wear a cloak, a mask, and have himself covered all up at dawn? Shouldn't it be the best time of the day to just sit down, lay back and enjoy the sunshine casting on you?

"Tsk, a weird person on the first day..." The elf muttered to herself, blaming it all on her bad lucks.

Nevertheless, the sense of reasoning and judgment is far from gone from the mind of the girl. Who on earth would stay in a forest at this time of the day, if they're not one to live in the forest? Traveler? Well, he does seem to be a traveler, but he's far from one to be a traveler that is actually prepared enough for his traveling. He should at least have the money to stay in an inn at night, as for the forests at night would be extremely dangerous. Or is he one of those wanderers that bring no cash with them, sleeps wherever they wander to, and never take a bath? That would be extremely unfavorable if such was the case!

Wait, if he indeed is a traveler, she might not have to travel as much as to complete her assignment and can return to the village soon. No, even if he's a wanderer will do. All she has to do is to know about different race and then record it down. She doesn't have to do extensive studying on the races, right? That means, if she has a few little facts about this person's culture, language and race, then she's going to be done with the information for a whole entire race! How did she not think of that earlier?

Splendid! This seem to start out well.

"You a traveler?" Trying to oppress the joy upon her sudden realization, the naive cleric-in-training asked.

Meglumar looked down. She seemed to be...annoyed. Well, maybe that was why she was throwing-No, KICKING- rocks around. He then heard he muttering, and he definitely heard the word "weird" in her speech. He felt a tad bit annoyed at this, but decided to let it go. Not the paladin-ey thing to do, holding a grudge. And over something as small as a minor insult? It would be silly.

Just as quickly as she seemed annoyed, she seemed neutral. She asked if he was a traveler. He nodded. "Yeah, I'm a traveler. A traveling Paladin." He said, standing up, showing his sword beneath the cloak, then covering it with the cloak again. "Just out, wandering around, trying to help people, save the lives of the innocent, and bring peace to the land. That whole thing."

"And what might be you?" He asked, curious. It was strange, he Why would an elf be out in plain site in the woods? Weren't they typically nimble stealthy people? Walking out in plain site, was odd. Then again, this one WAS young. Maybe a student or something? Maybe an apprentice? Did that mean there was more than one of her kind here?

He looked around as he waited for the girls answer. He could not SEE anyone else, but then again, Elves were elves. If they didn't want to be found, they'd not be found. They were like assassins, except without the killing. Except for the elven assassins. They were on a whole different level. But still, was it possible this young elf was here alone, without a teacher or master? How...strange.

The sun now coming down from the sky, slowly returning to its home below the horizon. The daylight turned into a light of orange and red from a light of white and yellow, and so are those rays that passed through the shades of the trees. The night is settling in, and the time for those creatures in the darkest part of the green to lurk around the woods is soon to approach.

Yet, it doesn't seem like the elf can finish her traveling through the forest in time, nor can she back out from the green in time. She traveled so much into the woods, that she was too far from entrance, but too far from exit. That left her one option: she must spend the night in the forest.

That isn't the most pleasant idea that the elf have in mind. The forest, as far as what she hear, is far more than dangerous. If one is not cautious enough while walking through the woods, this place of green land can become the death site of many people, let alone to actually sleep in it. She might lose her life in this place, if she dare sleeping in this place alone.

To such thing did her mind wandered off to, that she didn't hear half of what was being said by the person in front of her, though she did hear about helping, saving and bringing peace to the place. A giggle escaped her lips when she heard it. She didn't even have to think about it twice, before she was convinced by herself that this person is one of those rumored "paladins", though he doesn't really look like one. Instead of those rich, shiny knights that she saw and imagined, he looked more like one of a poor, worn out knight that has no success in his trainings. Well, sh e might as well just bring out one of those infamous quotes by her teacher.

She cleared her throat, gesturing her finger like her teacher, with her right index finger pointed toward the sky and drew two circles with it as she closed her eyes and said, "Youngster, it takes far more than this to do what you really want to do. You still have much to learn."

No, that just sound too wrong. When her teacher said it, it was annoying. But when she said it, it was just... wrong in every sense. A little laughter escaped from her, as she broke that pretense of hers, and reverted back to the original elf girl.

"That's what my teacher would've said, if she heard you. But this is after all no good. When I says it, it's just unfitting in every sense."

Well, now that he told her what he is, shouldn't she tell him what she is as well? Besides, being a cleric-in-training is nothing that anyone should be ashame of. Even though she's about the worst student in the class when it comes to text book knowledge, because she can't sit and study, she is still fairly dependable on her spell casting.

She recomposed herself, this time in a more serious manner. She brushed her clothing with a little wave of her hands on the surface of her shirt, then on her traveling dress, and stood up straight. She then cleared her throat a little, making it sound more serious, as if she is about to announce something important.

"I'm a cleric-in-training under the Goddess of Order." She raised her head towards the tree bark, and introduced herself. "This is the first day of my journey to pursue more knowledge about different culture, races, customs, and languages around the world. It's my pleasure to meet you."

Finding it tiring to keep up with the chat going back and forth from the tree to the ground, the elf added. "In fact, may I ask you to come down?"

"You may ask. But since you have asked to ask, I might as well just come down before you ask." He said, hopping down, landing on the ground. So this elf was a cleric in training, on a mission to learn about other races. He hoped she'd not ask about HIS race and the like, but...not likely. If she was on this kind of a journey, chances are he was going to be her first victim....err, rather, interview.

He looked up at the sky. Great, it was getting dark. Had he spent too much time in the tree? Maybe he fell asleep and did not realize it. Likely, considering how tired he still was from the day before. He couldn't help but cringe at the entire mess that had occurred. He was grateful nobody died, but still, it was too tiring for his own good. That girl knew how to fight....

".....Let me guess.....you plan on asking me about my race and what I do and things like that?" He asked the elf, stating his thoughts. What was he going to do now? If she asked, he could not lie about anything, due to his code. Still, though, there were some things he would not like to talk about. It could not be hlped, though, now could it? He was at the Elf's mercy.

....There was something scary about realizing that.

The girl responded with a nod, and a grin on her face, upon the question of the paladin.

This fellow sure is an understanding one. She doesn't even have to bother about phrasing it into more polished words to get information out from him, urgh, no, ask for his "biography".

Now only if everything else is running just as smooth as this, everything would be as wonderful as being blessed by the Goddess. Maybe it's a divinity decision that she will return to the village, her mission completed, earlier than she thought it would take.

If she manage to get home earlier than the teacher expected her to return, then she would be able to make herself proud in front of her teacher, and her fellow cleric trainees, and she will be able to make the teacher realize that she has laid the wrong judgment wrong about her. She might even make other cleric trainees in the class jealous, when she flip open the book full of information that she took during her journey. She can just imagine how the faces of those around her would look like. Some would be mad at her being able to travel. Some would be disappointed to see her smiling face of success instead of her sulking face of failure. Her friends will be happy for her on her great success in completing this task of hers in time. And her teacher... Oh, just how much she wants to get this done and over with right now, to return and actually see all their faces!

The elf start humming a little cheerful tone, as she went into her leather bag and dug out a feather pen and a journal. She opened up a page on the journal, and had her pen ready. A fresh white page.

Realizing how they're both standing, the elf took a seat against the tree, her back leaning on the trunk of the tree that the paladin just jumped off from.

"Suit yourself. This would take a while, after all."

"If you are ready to begin, please tell me something about your occupation. What's a paladin, in your opinion, and why do you choose to become a paladin?"

Meglumar also took a seat, on the grass. No need to stay standing forever, after all, and he preferred relaxing as he was interrogated. It made it much less painful. He saw her pull out a journal and a pen, and prepared himself for the inevitable doom that would come from this, eventually. He prayed she would not be overly curious on Naiad culture. He himself was not exactly the best person to talk about on this.

Her first question was what a paladin was, in his opinion. He thought for a moment, back to when he first learned of paladins. When was that again? Oh, right, back in his village, when he was 12. Some merchants traveled into town! They had a paladin with them, and the paladin was rather kind. He was working to protect the merchants from bandits, and claimed to be doing so simply because it was the right thing to do.

When Meglumar had asked the paladin more information about paladins, the paladin simply laughed, and gave him scrolls on paladin lore, paladin training regiments, and paladin honor codes. He read them, and found it to be a better way of living than being a farmer. His father WAS a ranger, albeit retired, and his mother did teach him some healing skills, so it was only natural for him to want to go into further study.

He had to argue about it, certainly. It took months, but they finally agreed to it. For the next 6 years, he trained against his father in swordsman skills, and his mother taught him of any healing skills she could. Of course, he also read the lore and honor codes, and made them into his own code. He took one thing, though to heart: Paladins fight for those who can not fight.

He snapped out of this flashback, and returned to the present moment. He would answer her first question, and the second question, which was why did he become a paladin. "I met a paladin 6 years ago. I asked him who he was, and he told me he was a paladin. When I asked him what that meant, he simply answered with "A paladin is a warrior who fights for those who can not fight for themselves." I took those words to heart. I guess after hearing that, it made me feel envious of such a person. I too, wanted to be a paladin. I wanted to become one who would fight for those who could not."

Ah, so it's a childhood influence? It's not unusual to find people that takes on a job that someone that they admired had. She, too, thought that cleric were very holy and sacred, knowledgeable and kind. However, only after she started to train as a cleric, that she found out that cleric was also a boring and strict job.

Now she doesn't really hate this job that she's aiming for. In fact, the more she learn, the more she likes the job. However, no matter how much her passion of such knowledge weigh, she couldn't just sit still, read, and learn those materials on the books. Also, she's frank, straightforward, and she doesn't render her speech, like what excellent peacemakers or diplomatics does. Instead of resolving a fight, she tends to get involved in the fight and worsen the situation. Even though she tried really hard on her studies, she just doesn't seem to see success from her efforts.

This is probably, however, the fault of the teacher. If a teacher is good, no matter how much trouble a student has on her studies, the teacher would always find a way to solve the student's trouble and help her through. That's what she believes in. Therefore, it's a failure in her teacher's part when she can't learn her lessons properly. This she firmly believed in.

Reassured this in her mind, the elf nodded twice to herself. However, it was unknown as to the fact whether she nodded to herself, or to the paladin's words. Nevertheless, the pen starts to write on the piece of paper, marking the beginning of her journey in acquiring knowledge of different classes and jobs.

Paladin: She wrote, those who fight for those who can't fight.

"Well, what else can a paladin do? Can you elaborate on that?"

She seemed to note and write down his statement, in a summary. Well, to be expected. He did not expect a verbatim writing on his words. That would be expecting too much of this. She then proceeded to ask him to go more in depth about what he meant by this, and what a paladin could do. "Hmm, where to begin....." He muttered, as he scratched the back of his head...er, hood.

"Well, Paladins are always different. No two the same. Each one has their own motivation and goal. Most, if not all, follow a sort of honor code. Usually it's the typical "I swear to protect the people and uphold the law" code. Others make it more personal, adding things like "I shall always be honest," or "I will help those in need no matter what." He said, throwing out 2 parts from his own Paladin Oath.

"When it comes to WHAT they do...well, again, that depends on the paladin. Some stay in one town, and protect a village along with soldiers or militia men. Others might train people to become paladins. Others, like me, travel around trying to help people. Others still, are questing for a purpose only they know of. Others still, sadly....are corrupt, and fight for their own interests or for evil." He said, frowning behind his mask.

"A true definition of a paladin is hard to come by. I suppose, the definition that most often is true is a warrior who uses blade and magic to help people and do good. The exact jobs, the reasons why, the methods of doing so, they are all different for each one."

The elf nodded a few times as she tried to attentively listen to the paladin. She wrote down another sentence on the page: follow code of honor, but code differs from person to person

So what paladins do differs from one to another, huh? It seemed like their way of approaching what they vowed in their code of honor are also different. Some might stay at one place and fight to protect villages, as he said, when others might travel around.

take different approach in living up to code

There, another quote down.

Corrupted paladins? Wait, aren't paladins, rich or poor, all fighters of justice? Hmm, this is another good thing to write down just to keep in mind. Corrupted paladins... Well, it's better to put it in another term. What about this one?

Dark paladins - corrupted paladins

The feverish writing of the elf came to a halt when she heard that there was no true definition to the job paladin. She frowned. Now how is she supposed to know when she's allowed to stop on writing about one job, or one race, or one culture? If there's no true definition to it, then this might just go infinitely long and the task would just be a never ending assignment! Well, the paladin does give her a generic definition, so that should do for now.

The elf drew a dash and wrote the definition down besides the name "Paladin" on the top of the page.

A good warrior who wields blade and uses magic

Since a while ago, the girl's feet has been tapping on the tree roots nonstop. Now that she finally finished one sentence, the elf immediately stood up, her book and her pen dropped to a side. She gave a little stretch, and frowned.

"This sure is boring." She talked to herself out loud. "I can't believe she wanted me to do this. This will just be a never ending cycle of boredom! How does she expect me to sit down quietly and listen to someone speak and take notes?

Meglumar blinked, as the girl finished writing and stood up. SHe then seemed to complain about her job. How odd. Well, it seemed like something he might be able to help with. "Perhaps you're just going about it the wrong way, then. If you want something to not be boring, you have to mix some of your own interests into the job." He said, trying to give her a suggestion.

"For example, in my village, there was a farmer who HATED dealing with the livestock on his families farm. He despised animals. However, he was very interested in the plants of the area. After dealing with the animals for so long, he grew sick of it. Eventually, he decided to mix his interests of plants into dealing with the animals, by determining which plants they ate, which were poisonous to them, and which could possibly make them healthier."

"After this, he found his work with animals to be a great deal less annoying and boring. Perhaps you can do something similar when dealing with the people you have to interview?" He said, explaining his idea to the elf. It was an interesting thing, that young farmer's dislike of animals. Still, though, though his obsession with plants, he DID manage to make the animals healthier and he could stand to be around them more. If this girl could do the same, maybe she could enjoy her job more?

But, then again, what did elves like? What did this elf like? How could that possibly relate to other people? It would likely be a great deal tougher than his example, but maybe it was possible. "First, though, what are your interests? And how can that be used to relate to people?" He asked. He was completely unable to imagine what they could be. She was an elf, a young one, and a cleric. COMPLETELY different from him in almost every way. It would be interesting, though, to learn what elves were like. maybe it could help him help elves later! Perhaps the gods were finally helping him help people! And NOT dropping flaming metal death traps at him!

"Boring, boring, I say BORING!"

The elf girl threw a ruckus about how boring this job was, when the paladin besides her start speaking about completing the task through something that she's interested in.

Something she's interested in, heh? Of course she has! She has a lot of things she's interested in doing! For example, reading, casting spell, drawing, kicking rocks, basically anything! But the problem is, after three minutes, she finds it boring, and she move on to something else. She can't sit still for more than an hour without getting bored and start moving around. Well, if she start playing some type of sport, or do some exercise, she would less likely to get bored, but then, there's just no way for her to take notes when she's exercising and moving around, right?

Therefore, this approach doesn't work.

"That wouldn't do... I just can't stay still. Maybe if I start playing around with something, it would be better." As she speaks, the girl took out her small staff, and start to fling it around, just for the heck of it. She doesn't really know any harmful spells just yet, so nothing, if any, that flies off from the staff would hurt anyone. It's better than kicking another couple pieces of rocks and perhaps hit some other creatures on the head, right?

"Let's see... my interests, huh? Something to do with moving around, like games and sports, I guess? It's just impossible for me to sit still to read, listen or study for longer than an hour. It's just boring."

"Actually, let me do this."

The girl caught the staff still on the air, put it back in her bag, and she picked up a small tree branch, about the size of the pen, and start spinning it on her left hand, while her right hand pick up the pen again. She sat back down, and went back to her writing task.

"As I thought, better, though not the best."

"Well, let's continue. Can you tell me a little about your race?"

"M-M-M-My Race?" Meglumar stuttered. Oh well, he knew it was going to come to that eventually. Better just get it over with, right? RIGHT? "Well, um...I'm actually of mixed races. My father was a human, and my mother a Naiad. I was raised in a human settlement, and I'm pretty sure you know all about humans. Weak, frail, mortal, and violent at times, while at other times, kind, compassionate, and willing to throw away everything to help others. Just like any other people, I suppose."

"As for my Naiad half, well...I must admit, I'm not knowledgeable as to much of the lore and the like. I just know the basics. Such as my mother's race's "gifts." The reason I wear this mask is....well, Naiads enchant others with their looks. Most control it, but I, a half breed, can not. If I ever remove this mask, bad stuff happens. VERY bad stuff."

"....I dislike talking on this, so would it be possible to just AVOID this kind of thing, please?" He asked, trying his best to remain polite. Just the other day, with that thief, was a horrible reminder to him about why he hated this gift. He did not want to attract that much attention! The thief HOPEFULLY would be completely over it by now, thank the gods. But, then again, knowing how much the liked to make things insane, it was also unlikely.

Ah! Humans! How come she didn't remember to write down the facts for Human, the most prominent race on the continent? That's really dumb of her to forget about this, indeed.

The girl flipped the paper of her journal over, and came to another page, titling it "human"

Fragile mortals with strong emotions

Hmm... does that even sound right in the first place? If a mortal is fragile, how can he hold strong emotion within him? But that's the best generalization that she can come with, so she might as well keep it as that.

And there's another race name now. Naiad. That's one fresh new name for the young elf cleric-in-training. She has never heard of that name before. On top of that, such race can enchant the people that they encounter merely by appearance? That's a thrilling thing to know!


Her pen went down to the half of the page, writing down another line:
Naiad - enchantment spell on opposite sex upon appearance

She was about to ask more, before the paladin decided to suspend the question himself. That sure was a pity...

"How shameful... but that's good. I'll just have to find out more about this race myself. So, is there anything about other races you've encountered that you can tell me about?"

Meglumar shook his head. "I'm sorry to say my travels have been...mostly uneventful. Save for yesterday in town. That big metal object that crashed into the nearby town and that weird demon lizard thing that popped out has basically been the highlight of my travels. I've just seen elves and humans on my travels so far, otherwise." He said, with a sigh. "But, to be expected, I have only been working as a paladin for a month or so, I imagine I will see more and more as time goes on."

"Until such a time, though, I'm afraid I'll deal with all of the small misdeeds that I see and can correct." He said, with a small laugh. "After all, in this world of ours, the next great event is but a sunrise way. And every one of us has the chance of having our names written down in the history books as a savior of our world, no?" He said, musing. He wondered, could he ever be one of those names? Only with a lot of work.....

"Speaking of names, I am Meglumar Odai. A pleasure to meet you, Miss." He said, realizing he had not given the elf his name. It was the polite and Paladin thing to do, right?

Upon the words of the Paladin, the elf's optimism dropped. He was only traveling for a month or so? She expected to hear more from him! Well, it only means that she has to work harder on gathering her information together into the journal on herself. The time plan for her to complete her journal just stretched a little longer, again.

Why does her teacher need these information on the first place? Isn't it all good when they find those information on the textbooks?

The girl gave a little growl, as she blocked the words of the paladin outside of her ears until he gave her his name.

She looked at the Paladin. So his name is Meglumar, huh? That sure is a weird name. Is it a name from the Human side? or the Naiad side?

"Name's Sibyl, Sibyl Conpazidale, your not-so-ordinary cleric-in-training." The girl grinned, as she registered the name accordingly to the appearance.

" I see! Again, a pleasure to meet you, Miss Conpazidale." He said. "Do you have anything more to ask me, or is your job done for now?" He asked, curious. He answered the 2 most important questions, so any other questions would probably be small cliff notes, at most. Still, such a curious mission she was on. Probably to make her learn about diversity, and possibly to help her grow up and out of her impatient state, if he had to guess.

He wondered though, where she would go from here. It was late, and going any deeper into the forest might not be good. Neither would going back. Was she going to try to stay in the forest as well?! He hoped not. He did not like working with other people in camping situations. Possibly because he always ended up breaking something due to his bad luck.

"....Would you mind if I ask where you are going from here?" He asked, wanting to find out for sure. Maybe HE should try to leave the forest...but, then again, danger, of course. Ugh, he hoped the elf would not stay. nothing against her, of course. He supposed if worse came to worse he could live with it. unless something bad happened.

....This was going to be a bad night. He could feel it. Gods...if you can hear me...please stop with the bad luck. I can't take it anymore. Please? Pretty please? Wasn't a monster and a thief bad enough? And a broken mask? A broken HOMEMADE MASK I CAN NEVER GET REPLACED!? GIVE ME A BREAK! He thought/prayed. Maybe this time they would do as he had asked? Maybe they would show him mercy? Only the short amount of time waiting for the elf's response would tell.

"Hmm, let's see... not that I can think of..." The girl looked up in the sky, trying to find something she can ask, but she can't. Instead, she noticed that the sun has almost set completely, and the night has fallen on the land. This is when the beasts of the night starts to lurk around the forest. Danger might be slowly approaching. It might even be approaching already.

"As far as what I'm going... I was planning of getting through the forest today, but judging from the sky... probably have to sleep overnight in the forest. Thankfully I got a cloak that I can treat as a blanket, and if I sleep on a tree, I should be away from danger for the night...In all honesty, I have no destination." The elf answered, half muttered, as she plan for herself along the way.

"I see. Similar situation for me." He said, simply. "I planned on gathering some leaves and using them as bedding, with my cloak as a blanket. I was going to hunt for a dinner of sorts, but, well, your questions kind of nullified doing that. Oh well, though." He said, standing up, and moving over to some bushes, and yanking out several leaves, 100% sure they were not poisoned or dangerous.

He placed them on the ground, and then lied down on them. "As a matter of fact, I'm tired as it is." He yawned behind his mask. "I'll probably just get sleeping early, and wake early." He thought this, of course, for that reason, as well as the smaller reason of not dealing with more social interactions. He did not want t be rude, be he couldn't really handle any more questions. Thankfully, though, she mentioned no more.

"If there is nothing else, Miss Conpazidale, I bid you good night." He said, removing his cloak, yet keeping his mask on. Thank goodness the mask was all that was needed to stop the effect of his powers. He placed it over himself like a blanket, then sighed as he began to relax.

Ah, so she's not the only one who's traveling aimlessly. Knowing that fact made her more secured. If they're both traveling aimlessly, that means there's more that travel aimlessly. And if that's the case, she might just be fine even when she travel alone. Well, she's not that good of a spell caster, and she doesn't know much about battling, and that was a major set back for a while. But if she now know that other people are traveling alone aimlessly too, that means somewhere out there she might find someone who has the same goal as she is, and might be just... as well.... as in a horrible situation as she is! That thought just gave her a little more confidence.

But that doesn't mean that she can rest assured and not worry about anything. First off, she has to worry about her current situation. There's a lot of beasts lurking around the forest, as the elders in the village claimed, and she was by herself. She has to somehow convince the paladin to cooperate with her to keep themselves alive. Well, the paladin probably can keep himself alive. It's only she who has a problem of living through the night.

She frowned a little, upon such realization, that she didn't clearly hear what the paladin told her.

"Oka... wait, you're going to sleep already!?"

The elf glanced over at Meglumar, only to find that he's going to sleep already, not even offering to do some protection for each other, and on top of that, not on a tree.

"What're you doing, sleeping like this? What if some creatures attacks you at night? You might get killed while asleep!"

Meglumar yawned. "I lack your elven balance, I'd fall out of a tree." He said simply. "I've got bad enough luck that, as I fell, I'd probably land on my head and snap my neck. Otherwise, I'd be all for it." He sat up, though, and looked at the girl. "I'll be fine down here, though. I think. Maybe. Ugh, I think I'll just not sleep, on second thought." He stood up, and re-donned his cloak.

"Besides, as you said, monsters and the like. I'm the paladin here, so I SHOULD be awake to slay them if they come here. You are the young cleric in training, not the young barbarian in training, after all." He said, sitting with his back against a tree, pulling his sword and sheath out, holding them in his hands. "And hey, maybe if there are some good wild animals, I can make a decent meal." He joked.

Upon his answer, Sibyl giggled. He offered to be the one on guard for the night. That's a noble thing for him to offer to do. Knowing herself, Sibyl doubt the possibility of her watching guard and able to stay awake for the whole entire night. Even though she can't sit still, she can't resist sleeping, either. She love sleeping just as much as she loved moving around.

"Thanks a lot Meglumar. That would help me a lot. As you see, I'm only a cleric-in-training, so I can't fight really well. Especially that I can't be easily awaken by anything, it would help a lot by you watching the guard."

Sibyl frankly admitted that she appreciated the action Meglumar is taking, and the fact that she can't fight well. He was being honest to her, so why should she hide those weaknesses from him? After all, they ARE going to spend the night camping at the same place, so there's no point of hiding things from one another, no?

"Well, then, if you would please excuse me."

Upon those words, the elf pulled a little of her clothing together, put her pen and journal away, and decided to fall asleep right where she is. Well, she can't really climb that well, and with the paladin watching guard, it isn't needed for her to climb up the tree and sleep on the tree, right?

Meglumar sighed, and removed his cloak, placing it over Sibyl as a second blanket for the elf girl. This was going to be a looooong night. That much was for certain. Oh well. He was a paladin. He had to do these things. It was quite simply something that came with the job. Besides....it was a chance to get some food, if any animals came by.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As the dawn approached, Meglumar could be seen working on a fire, with several pieces of boar meat by him. The beast had tried to attack, but after a few good slices, he had breakfast meat ready. he did take a wound to the side, but that was fixed with his magic. At the moment, he was cooking it up. "Nothing like boar meat to get rid of hunger." He said in a slightly drowsy voice.

He gathered some large sticks, and placed them on the fire. Making it earlier was very difficult. He used a rock and his metal sword to try and make a spark, and succeeded after 15 minutes of rough work. But it was ready now, and he could not be more grateful. The boar meat, mounted on other sticks, was just about done. Now all that was left was waiting for the Sibyl to wake up. He could not help but wonder where the young elf girl was off to next on her little mission. Chances are, she'd run into many unique people.

He couldn't help but laugh. This young Cleric....she certainly was going to be in for an interesting trip, if his traveling experiences were any indication. But, he had no doubts she wound find any and all of the answers she was going to need. Well, ok, maybe some doubts. She was rather hyper.

The night went by quickly as the young cleric slept, and before she noticed, it was already morning.

Warm gaze of the sun shone through the leaves and the gaps between the shades of the trees, and gazed onto Sibyl's body, warming her up. She woke up, partly from the warmth, partly from the light, but also partly from the smell. She brought her arm out from the cloak that covered her like a blanket, and rubbed her finger against her eyes. Even though people tells her that it's bad for her eye sights, it's just something she does whenever she wakes up.

She looked at herself. Two cloaks, huh? Her eyes moved from the cloaks to the man that is cooking right now. That other cloak must be his belonging. She grinned. That paladin sure is a kind hearted one.

It's there again.

Sibyl sniffed into the air a little. She looked around her, and then at the paladin's cooking. So that's where the smell came from, huh? It sure smelt nice. Upon thinking that, she heard her stomach growling. That reminded her, she hasn't eaten much ever after she left the village, even though she still has something in her bag to eat.

Oh great, thinking of that makes her hungry.

Meglumar's ears, despite not being anywhere near elven in capability, heard the noise of Sibyl's stomach. He turned, and saw the girl awake. "Good morning. The food's just about done, you can take whatever you like." He said, grabbing a bit of the meat. Using the stick to hold the meat, he took a bite. It was like eating corn on the cob, except it was meat on a stick, naturally. Hmm, just a little bit over cooked, but still, good for an empty stomach.

"Only one beast tried to attack last night, this fella. The tusks were a pain, but otherwise, a safe night." He said to the girl, trying to make small talk. He grabbed another stick of meet, and held it out to the girl. "At least the beast gave us a good meal for the day." He said. It was a shame that they lacked water to drink, but it could have been worse. the meat could have lots of salt in it. THAT would have made it much worse!

He then began to look around, wondering which direction he would go once he took care of this "base camp" he'd set up. He also wondered where the elf girl was going to head off to. Well, from what he was told about the area, the east was the safest path, and led to a large city. The path to the west led to a different wooded area, of mystery and danger. The path to the south led to another set of woods, mystical in origin. Finally, to the north, was......well, ocean. Where would he go from here?

He shrugged, and decided he'd just go a random direction. Any path he took would be good, in the end. It's not like he was headed anywhere in particular, after all.

"Ah, thanks a lot."

The girl heard her own stomach growling, and she was embarrassed about it. Seriously, she should've eaten something before she sleep last night. This is just so unladylike for someone to hear this. Very unladylike. Even though she might not be a perfect cleric, she is still a girl to being with. Meglumar probably heard it, too, hence he's offering her food.

The girl took one of the sticks that was being set up. She took a little bite on it. This really does taste nice. Is it because she was starving, that the food was tasting better than it really is? Or is it just that those boar meat really taste so nice, that it rivals those steaks that you buy in town? Well, either way, it's really tasty, and it didn't take long before the girl dug into the food.

After the stick was half gone, the girl went into her bag and dug out a little bag of water. She opened the cover for it, and drank a little from it. Noticing how the paladin didn't have any, the girl offered.

"Do you want some?"

Meglumar smiled behind his mask as he saw the girl eat. Seemed she was hungry as well. he made sure to keep himself at an angle so that she could not see his face as he lifted his mask to east the meat. Even though just his mouth was exposed, and not his whole face, he dared not risk a reaction from his naiad blood. That was the last thing he wanted.

She then pulled out some water, and drank from it. She then turned to him and offered some. "Oh...yes, thank you." He said, taking a sip from the container. That hit the spot. "Just what I needed, thank you." He said, handing it back to Sibyl. He too continued eating, until at last the two finished the meal.

Meglumar stood up, and stretched. He grabbed the cloak he gave to the girl, and thew it on, and began to smother the fire with some dirt. "So, Miss Sibyl, where shall you be heading off to now?" He asked, wanting to know. If she was heading off to a dangerous path, he'd have to giver her some of the advice he got from the villagers in town.

Hah~ this is extremely filling, indeed. Now she feels like she can continue to walk for another few hours without getting tired. That was all thanks to Meglumar's hunting. If he didn't manage to kill a boar last night, she wouldn't even have any meat to start the day off with.

"Thanks for the treat, Meglumar." She smiled, and gave her thanks.

"Where I'm going, huh?" The girl repeated the question to herself. This is one tough question. She doesn't really know. She set out east from here, so she should continue to head west, shouldn't she?

"I don't really know, but probably somewhere towards the west for now...?" After thinking for quite a bit, the girl replied.

"It's no problem, Miss Sibyl, just doing my job." He said when she thanked him for the meal. It was his job to help no matter what. Granted, a paladin wasn't usually doing so by cooking a meal, but hey, whatever worked, right? She then began to think on his question, and said she was heading west. "Hmm, well, be careful out in that direction. I hear there is a forest there filled with fog that even elven eyes can not see through." He said, doing his bets to warn her.

"As for me...I don't know where I am headed. Maybe to the east. I need to check on some thing, and I hear there is a large city there, where I can probably buy some good armor and such." He said, stating where he was likely headed. "But, as I said, not 100% sure. I'll probably just start walking and won't stop til I get somewhere interesting."

"Heh, maybe while you are in those woods, you can run into an interesting person. You never know, in this world, who you will run into next." He said, finishing with the fire. All that was left now was burnt wood.

So he's heading east, huh? It seemed like he's not heading towards the village, but to a bigger town in the map. Well, that sounded like a good idea. Maybe she should go there instead.

But then, it's where she came from, and it's going to look bad on her to return to the village this soon. There's just no way that she would back down from this this easily. She must find more information and write more things down on her journal before she goes home.

"So I guess this is a goodbye, huh? Well, Thank you for everything, and good luck in your pursue of the road of the Paladin! May the Goddess of Peace always be with you."

Finally, once that the girl acted like a cleric.

"Same to you, Miss Sibyl. Good luck on your journey." He said, waving to her as she headed off. Such an interesting elf, that one was. He could only imagine what sort of adventures she would have doing this assignment, and how much she would learn. That teacher of hers....she probably meant for this to be a coming of age trial.

Well, it was time he was off as well. He turned to what he thought was the east, and headed off. What would he face next? He could only imagine the dangers that would await him next. However, he also looked forward to helping people, and simply hearing the words of gratitude they could give. Money was nothing, compared to that.

Well, OK, maybe not. Thank you couldn't give you a bed and food, could it? But still, it was the one thing he wanted most, with money second. After all, those thank yous were from a person's heart, and that made them all the better.