RP:Every Day Is Not Exactly the Same
Summary: This is not a happy reunion between two long time friends.
Characters: Trent, Meri
Location: Cenril
Date: June 26th, 2017
Merchant Street
Here appears to be the beginning of the western half of Merchant Street, and already it seems to be too busy for its own good. To the north, a secure-looking stone building sets, with two short, goblinlike creatures stationed at the heavy wooden doors. Their gazes simultaneously fall upon you, and each reaches with one gnarled hand for the hilt of a sword at its side. Somewhere inside, there must be something of great value-gold perhaps, or gems. Such a heavily guarded building can only be a bank. From the south, aromas of food drift toward your nostrils, combining with the other scents of the road to form a pungent odor.
Trent made a slow approach from the west. His hood was drawn over his head; gaze lowered toward the earth at his feet. He seemed lost. Deep in thought. His steps were aimless and with no other purpose than to just push onward. Coming to a sudden stop, his eyes begin to first traverse the streets ahead, and then with an almost paranoid quality, he turns to look over his shoulder. Something was quite off.
Meri was exiting the building immediately to the south and stepping out onto the street. As Trent is likely aware, it is Ms. Mallard's Bakery and what Meri is doing there is obvious for she steps out onto the streets of Cenril with a tasty pastry in hand. It has been some time indeed since she has seen Trent and so the man is not immediately recognized -- especially since his hood is drawn over his face. In fact it means that unless Trent greets her, she may very well not recognize him. Then again, he might need to stop her from walking right into him as she is a little preoccupied with devouring a treat from the bakery and is not exactly watching where she is walking or who she might be walking into.
Trent reached down to his hip, that wretched gauntlet of his wrapping its devious fingers around the hilt of the blade he happened to be carrying. Something had him on edge- Yet, he made no motion to unsheathe his weapon, lest the locals figured him for some sort of raving lunatic. Instead, after some time of making sure the coast were clear, Trent turned once more to continue his journey east, not having been paying much attention to any that passersby that had been coming in and out of the local shops. A sudden force stopped his progression, a resounding OOMF echoing from his lips as he nearly tripped. Luckily the man would manage to regain his balance fairly quickly. "My humblest apologies!" he declared, removing his hood. "I was not wat-" His words fell as he recognized whom he had collided with. "Meri?"
Meri loses her pastry in all of this mess. It goes thudding against the dirty streets of Cenril and there is little hope of getting a replacement for the hour is late and shortly after Meri exited the bakery, they threw up that 'closed' sign and locked the doors. Go away, customers. No matter, Meri all but forgets about her carb and sugar loaded snack once she realizes just who she has walked right on into. A heavy frown weighs at her lips, the woman looking not at all pleased with the man who stands before her if only for the reason provided in a grumpy tone, "Where the heck have you been?" A rude collision and a bit of a harsh tone are not the only things that Trent is greeted with. Meri goes right ahead and stomps on the toe of his booted foot with the heel of her own boot. Good thing she is not a high heels sort of gal, eh? How is that for a hello, welcome back? Hmph.
Trent seemed confused. For just a moment. That is, until Meri decided now would be a good time to stomp on his foot! Like a fool, the blonde haired man begins to hop about, a deep grunt replacing the slew of loud cursing he wanted to release. Through a wince of pain, he glares at Meri. "What in the seven hells, woman?! What was that for?!" It would take him a moment or two to regain his composure, toes within his boot wiggling around to make sure nothing was broken. "I was at home. Where else would I have been?! I mean, we just parted ways the other night. Did I forget something?" It seems as though he does not understand how long it had truly been since their last encounter.
Meri can't -exactly- recall how long it has been since their paths have crossed. A year? A little more? A little less? But certainly longer than just the other night. What had they even talked about....Her mind soon travels back to their last conversation, though it is not so quick to recall those details. If the event she recalls is correct, their last encounter was an awkward one. Why was that? Oh yeah...Meri takes a casual step away from Trent and regards him with a bit more of a cautious look. "No. It's been some time Trent...Which means that it is happening all over again. How many times is this cycle going to repeat? I think it has been a year....Do you even still have a home in Gualon? A job?" Questions Trent himself likely did not have the answer to quite yet, all things considered.
Trent narrowed his gaze. "That's not funny, Meri. Of course I still have a home. That's where I woke up this morning.And no, I lost my job. You remember? Cenril was in...." he stops to look around himself. It was then he sensed something was amiss. "...vaded. Wasn't it?" Had it really been a year? Another year? "Come on now. If it had been a year, why hasn't the food in my house rotted? How is my steed still living? Surely it should have passed by now had I been gone so long." He was sure he had caught onto her little prank. "I see now. You're pulling my leg. A little 'ha ha got you!' before your trip to Rynvale, right?" He smirked.
Meri may joke about a lot of things but if Trent has learned anything about Meri over the years, it should be that the woman is looking awful serious right now. There is not even a hint of mischief on her expression, just a frown weighing at her the red lips that she still favors. "I am going to speculate that you just have not been back long enough to make it home to really see what state your home may or may not be in...Fresh out the oven, so to speak." Meri turns her gaze away from Trent and lets her blue eyes fall toward the ground, shoving tattooed hands into the back pockets of her jeans. The woman was half tempted to rip out her cigarette tin and puff away in thought and eventually she would give into that urge, but for now she just kicks her dirt-covered pastry further away from her and down the street. "It'd be nice if I was joking around, wouldn't it, Trent? But I'm not. It happened again."
Trent 's smirk faded. His gaze locked on Meri with a newfound sense of worry; Accepting that perhaps she had been telling the truth. "It happened again?..." he echoed. Movement amongst the streets caused the male to once again give chase with observation, yet nothing seemed to be quite out of place. "I don't know what to say. I am sorry that this has happened again. I am sorry that I do not recall my previous whereabouts. I am sorry, as a friend, to put you through such an ordeal. I am happy that you at least recall who I am, given our... first reunion." The street began to grow eerily silent, most citizens seeming to have disappeared into their homes for the night. A cool wind ripped through the alleyways, causing Trent's hair to gently wave in its passing. "Have you been well, at least?"
Meri continues to frown, the reasons behind this gesture only increasing in number and currently includes Trent's apologies amongst their ranks. "I don't see why you are apologizing to me?" It's not like it is within Trent's control. The woman's tattooed shoulders rise and fall in a shrug, her gaze transferring from her feet back to Trent in that same suspicious and skeptical way. She recalls a lot of details, but most notable in her mind is still a trip to a cave within the Xalious Mountain Range. It's hard to shake that incident from her mind, especially with Trent standing just before her. "I have been doing well enough..." she says, it's hard to say if that was true or not. It could just be the tone of the moment mixed with less than pleasant memories. Strange how quiet it was tonight, especially for Cenril and despite the hour. It was one of those cities that rarely seemed to sleep.
Trent didn't exactly know why he was indeed apologizing. It was just that he did not know exactly what to say. It was evident that Meri was bothered by this. He distance, her body language- she seemed uncomfortable. "I'm glad." he managed to spit out in response to her latter statement. He stood still, hands coming to fold over his chest while he contemplated what this all meant. Why had he once more gone absent? Why could he not remember? In fact, why did he remember anything at all? The first awakening transpired left him without any memory whatsoever. If the events were connected, shouldn't all memories be lost? There were too many questions that needed answers. "Look Meri... Maybe this is for the best? Perhaps... We should go our own way? After what transpired in Xalious... After this second incident- Just.. perhaps it is safer for each of us to not be around one another. I can not promise this would not happen again."
Meri opened her mouth to speak but she wasn't sure what to say. On the tip of her tongue were both words of agreement and words of protest. The protests were selfish, or at least so she felt. How much time had they spent trying to uncover these answers and getting to know one another in the process? The answers that they were finding did not seem to bode well for Meri, but come on Trent? How important are those answers really? Perhaps fairly important, or else they would not be talking about how he had been gone a year. Again. Which brings about the part where Meri is inclined to agree -- fine, Trent. Go get your damn answers. What the hell ever. That does mean that if he does get his answers, Meri is -should- stay far away from the guy if anything she learned in those mountains were supposed to be true. None of this his voiced though. It might look like Meri is going to say something but in classic Meri fashion, communication is not her strong suit. Red lips shut and are pressed together tightly. Instead the woman seeks to walk wordlessly past Trent, continuing on her way so that he can continue on his. Because fine.
Trent felt ashamed. He did not really want to lose a friend- Practically his only friend, but he had no other answers. To put Meri through this stupid cycle of loss? It just wasn't necessary. Not one bit. Maybe in the end, it would just be for the best, no matter how much it hurt now. Still, there was a part of the man that did not want to let go. As Meri pushed past Trent, he sighed deeply and turned to watch her wander off. This was it. This would be their last encounter. This realization made the man reflect on his decision, and in doing so, he would come to offer some sort of protest. "Meri, wait! I'm Sor-" Whatever words were about to leap from his lips would never be spoken. Past Meri's head the sound of swiftly moving objects would fly- three in total- their destination to be firmly lodged into the chest of the man she had been walking away from. Three shadowed figures would then make their revealed entrance from the east; Slow, militant, garbed in black. Trent 's gaze went wide as he then fell to his knees, deep breaths taken as he tried to remain conscious. By time Meri would have a chance to turn around, two more figure would appear behind Trent, one grasping at the man's shoulder with long bony fingers and pulling him backward, while the other took a long blade and shoved it through Trent's chest, pinning him to the earth below. From beneath black hoods, decayed undead faces stared out at Meri, eyes burning with an unholy fire.
Meri heard the sound of something vaguely flying past her but in the darkness it was hard to make heads or tails of exactly what it was. It was actually Trent's interrupted apology that would cause the woman to give pause in her step to actually turn around and look at what was transpiring behind her...but by then it would be even too much for a psion to try and stop. The blade was already sliding into Trent's chest...and Meri could only watch frozen in horror, not fully processing what she was witnessing before her. Or maybe it was the ghastly faces of Trent's assailants that kept her from recklessly rushing to his aid. Regardless, her boots stay secure in their position, neither advancing forward nor further retreating away. She was just sort of shell shocked. In her mind she was shouting Trent's name like a banshee, as if someone might come help, but the reality was not a sound was ever uttered.
Trent lay there, eyes open, barely alive. The entity that had pushed Trent to the ground unsheathed a machete then and walked to the man's left side; soon bending down to lift that gauntleted arm and pulling the sleeve back as far as it would go. "...You were told to keep distance..." a gravely voice would say unto Meri. The three that had been approaching from the east, gently pushed past Meri to lay witness to the scene unfolding. "He is... danger. His.... burden. Punishment." One of the entities turned to look over Meri. A jawless creature not unlike the one the pair encountered in Xalious; It was evident that its voice were the one speaking to Meri. A few resounding whacks rang out as the brandished machete was brought down upon Trent's flesh, severing the gauntlet from man. As if a hunter showcasing its trophy, the undead creature lifted the metallic garb above his head and commanded. "Dispose of it." The jawless creature that focused on Meri would speak again. "Punishment. Go. Live. Forget this abomination." With these words, it lifted it's nearly skeletal digits toward Trent, using its arcane powers to ignite the blonde man's body in a blackened flame that would quickly turn the human to ash. With nothing further to say, the entities made their exit into the shadows to the west.
Meri stood there in confusion, long after Trent and the other figures had vanished from view. She had just been minding her own business, getting a snack, having had no expectation to see Trent. For all she knew prior to this point he had just run off to chase the answers to the questions he had wanted? She did not believe he was going to ever listen to her plea to abandon the search...as she had been warned the cost wold be her own life, that he would try and kill her? This was an encounter she had not anticipated, though she had of course often thought about how he was. The end result was what she had least expected, it would take time before Meri would be able to compose herself well enough to even move from this point...and even once she did it would be more of a listless wander, too shocked to really pay attention to where she was going.