Welcome to Desamarai

[Lyra]

It was quite the lovely day, the water stretching out wide before them all mirror-like with the white towers of Deida on one side and all the white crumbling ruins on the other. In its waters was the empyrean above, cloudless and bearing a yellow-white sun.\
Red smiled- the sun was soaking into his leaves so he felt well, and he had a friend so her felt even better. His red eyes took it all in, a sight he had never seen.
There was not a human anywhere in this place- they were hidden away in their homes, waiting until the night fell. Then they would come out with brightly coloured lanterns and by then Red would be asleep and would like any other apple tree and Tetroneaque would likely be asleep as well.
He paused his step to look at the majesty of this, a satisfied smile upon his face.

(Lame. I apologize.)

[Tetroneaque]

"Pretty isn't it?" Tetroneaque said as he stretched a bit. He'd just woken up from yet another nap and still felt groggy. It had been an interesting journey up north with Red. Tetroneaque hadn't really had time to socialize with any of the locals for more than a little while, mostly to buy supplies... or steal from them and use their own money to pay for said supplies if you wanted to get technical. Either way, Tetroneaque was is in a good mood.

"We're getting pretty close to our destination. Only a week or so more of travel, if the weather continues to stay this pleasant." Tetroneaque pulled a small wrapped object out of his pocket and opened it. It was a piece of sausage, he happily wolfed it down and licked his chomps and fingers afterward.

The kitsune also went toward the lake and took a long drink from the crystal clear water before stripping down and wading into the shallow water. He hated deep water, but he was a bit a of a hygiene nut. The fact that he hadn't been able to stay at an inn and take a nice hot bath had finally pushed him to bathe in this lake. His clothes and belongings were nicely folded on a rock near the water.

"Brrrrr, I forgot how cold the water gets this far north." Tetroneaque stated.

[Lyra]

Red watched and listened to the kitsune with a sort of adoration, so grateful for him to be there. He didn't say anything, only smiled cheerily and watched the small man eat then wade into the water.
He realized he was starting to feel a slight discomfort up to his knees, the beginning of a crise. He needed water and there it was in front of him. She stepped forth into the water, arm-branches swinging and stood there just at the edge.
"It feels good," he said simply.
Cold water, for whatever reason, always did, sent a nice chill up his body as it shot up his body. He let out a contented sigh and looked up to the sky above.

[Tetroneaque]

Tetroneaque smiled as the gentle ent took a drink from the lake as well. The kitsune found the ent odd, but a nice enough fellow which was a rare thing in the world it seemed. Tetroneaque recalled how violent people could get around others different than themselves. The fact that Red simply wanted friends regardless of race spoke volumes of the ent's character. Tetroneaque hoped Red never lost that innocence.

After thoroughly washing himself off in the lake, Tetroneaque got up on shore to dry himself. He shook himself out, and once again his fur got all poofy. He pulled a large brush from his stack of belongings and began to smooth his fur down, taking extra care on his large, bushy, tails. He started to sing a little song in his kind's tongue as he brushed, simply enjoying the day. It was kind of nice to have at least one non-kitsune friend who knew of his racial heritage. He idly wished he didn't have to be so secretive all the time.

[Lyra]

Red looked out to the line of hills at the horizon, bordering the northern edge of the placid lake. They were quite the lovely thing to be looking at, these distant, pale green hills against the blue sky.
He looked over to Deida and wished that he could go in, see all the people and the wide marble streets of the city. He turned around to see Tetroneaque with his fur all fluffed up and laughed, eyes closed with the mirth of it and his body creaking as he bent and moved.
His laughter died down as Tetroneaque combed down his fur and he said after moment, "What's it like in Deida?"

[Tetroneaque]

Tetroneaque stopped his song when Red spoke so that he could answer.

"Well, I haven't been there for years. However last time I was there it was a nice enough place. Very interesting architecture and the people seem to enjoy the night more than the day. They also worship the moon goddess, which is why they're so nocturnal I suppose. I was planning on visiting there again later." The little kitsune stated. He didn't say he'd probably be visiting the city after he had helped settle Red in Hyosald forest, trying to avoid mentioning when they'd part ways.

"The people were nice enough, at least as long as they didn't see my fur. People tend to overreact when they see me without my disguise most of the time. They fear what they don't understand, and tend to destroy what they fear." He shrugged after that remark, not letting how others felt about him bother him much.

"The city is very beautiful though. Especially at night when all the lights and lanterns are lit. It's like the place simply comes alive! We'll probably be miles away by then though."

[Lyra]

(It's 5:30 in the morning! I'm so hungry I could eat a kitsune! *leer*)

Red smiled to imagine it, though about walking through beautiful streets. It was only imagination though, he was not accepted. An outcast who wasn't even aware of his isolation.
He knew these people worshiped somebody but it wasn't until now that he knew what they stood for.
"The moon goddess? What's she like?"
A naive question, of course, but nothing less could be expected of Red.
He continued to stand there- so strange-looking. A tree sticking straight out of the water. He would begin to flower soon, and then he would bear heavy red fruit. But he didn't know this, he wasn't even remotely aware of the cycles within his own life. He checked for apples, drawing his arm branch away with a sigh when he didn't find any. Too bad, he wanted to show Tetroneaque how delicious they were.

[Tetroneaque]

( Despite our appearances, we taste quite terrible by all accounts. )

"Who knows what a goddess or gos is like. I would judge the being by how their followers act. So, I suppose the moon goddess is nice enough as long as you're not a sun follower. Those two religions seem to hate each other from what I can tell. Really I find all these religions a bit odd, and they aren't even the oddest I've come across in my travels. But I think I'm starting to get off track." Tetroneaque finished brushing out his fur as he spoke. He wished he had a mirror to make sure his fur was all in place, even if he was about to cover it all up.

"Short answer. I have no idea what the moon goddess is like." Tetroneaque let out a slight chuckle at that.

The kitsune began to get dressed then. Soon it was impossible to tell what race he was, as his clothing and mask covered him completely. He was wearing his gold gauntlets again. He found himself used to the weight already and felt like something was off whenever he removed them. Tetroneaque had all his gear packed up into his robe's many pockets and was good to go.

[Lyra]

Red climbed slowly from the water, showering from his root-feet and thudding to the ground.
"I'd like to meet her some day," he said and waited for Tetroneaque patiently. Once he was all dressed and ready, Red bent his knees to make himself shorter, proffering his branches to Teroneauqe. "Ready to go?" he asked even though the answer was obvious.
He know idea what a god or goddess was but he decided that he would like to meet one. He decided that he'd do that one day- go looking for this moon goddess. What did she have to do with the moon, he wondered, and why did everyone worship her?
Such questions...they made him unhappy. He frowned and decided to ask Tetroneaque once they started walking.

[Tetroneaque]

Tetroneaque stretched a bit before nodding and climbing up into Red's branches, a content smile hidden behind his mask. He couldn't help but think how nice it was to not have to walk everywhere for a change. Once he eventually parted ways with Red he knew he was going to miss that particular perk, not to mention the constant shade. That was always nice too. Made it so easy to nap.

"You know, you have to be the most active ent I've ever seen Red. Of course I haven't really met all that many ents to be honest." Tetroneaque let out a little chuckle at that as he got comfortable in Red's branches.

[Lyra]

Red began to walk with a lumbering (LOL PUN) step, swaying from side to side, the breeze rustling through his leaves. He thought a moment. He'd met only a couple ents- a pine once, and a very strange willow tree. The pine had been a very sleepy type and he could hardly understand a word of what the willow had said.
"Am I?"
He's always assumed the pine was just sleepy, but...
He stepped around the edge of the lake, heading for the ruins to the west, stepping through the water every now and then because he liked the feel of it.

[Tetroneaque]

"Yep, you sure are." Tetroneaque replied from his perch. He took a small loaf of bread from his robe and started to gnaw on it. He hated travel food, it was always so hard and bland. It was better than starving though. It didn't take long for the bread to vanish down the kitsune's greedy gullet.

"Those ruins over there look interesting. Want to give them a look?" Tetroneaque asked, not really caring one way or the other if they went. He left the choice up to Red, mostly since Red was his primary mode of conveyance at the moment. Tetroneaque was in no real hurry, he was simply enjoying the trip.

[Lyra]

(Sorry about the wait. Things have gone awry! Real life takes over! *screaming noises*)

Red kept his sights ahead, on the horizon all slippery with the slopes of hills. It was only every now and then that he got distracted by the little things beside their road- the face of a white daisy, a brown grasshopper staring up with pinpricks in brown glass eyes, the scuffling of a running squirrel into the undergrowth.
At Tetroneaque's suggestion he smiled a little and said "Yes, why not?"
He'd much rather go through Deida but he was too timid to ask after it. Maybe some other time, after they'd visited these elves he talked about.
He'd seen the ruins before, he thought. His memory wasn't the best but he seemed to recall something about crumbled marble buildings all about.
He plodded forth, looking ahead now to the ruins, just above the next rise.

[Tetroneaque]

(Sorry for the delay, Real life and what not... )

Tetroneaque hopped down from Red's branches and trotted up the path the rest of the way toward the ruins. He always enjoyed looking at historical sites of the other races. It was a pity that they never seemed to preserve these sites though. It saddened him to think of knowledge that might have been lost in such a fashion, but then dismissed the thought. No use dwelling on things you couldn't change.

"Oh these ruins certainly are old." The kitsune stated as he ran a hand over a carving. It was so weathered and timeworn that it was impossible to tell what it might once have been. The further he went into the ruins the older things seemed. The whole area was pretty quiet. All he could hear was his own breathing and the creaking movements of Red.

Tetroneaque continued to move deeper into the ruins. Luckily there were enough holes in the walls and structures of a large enough nature for Red to easily pass through.

"Kind of interesting here, isn't it?" Tetroneaque asked rhetorically.

It was then that a certain carving caught his eye. It wasn't anything spectacular, it just seemed out of place. It was surprisingly well preserved. It was a large bird carved from stone, and it almost looked as if it had been carved recently, but that wasn't so. It was just as old as everything else here was. Tetroneaque advanced toward the statue and started to look at it closely. He ran his hands over it, feeling each little nook. Every single feather on the stone bird was carved with obvious care by some master craftsman. It was a work of art really.

It was then that his hand ran across what he thought to be a small imperfection. That was odd on such an obviously well crafted statue. Tetroneaque removed his glove to get a better feel, tucking his gloves into his robe. He felt the statue again and what he had first thought an imperfection actually turned out to be a tiny switch. Before he had realized that he had tripped the switch.

The stone bird's wing sprang out, as if the bird was about to fly off. The kitsune hopped back, somewhat startled. Before he could do anything else the statue's eyes blazed a bright blue, the glow becoming brighter than the sun it seemed. Tetroneaque let out a surprised cry and then. In a flash of light he was gone, leaving Red to ponder what had happened it him.

Elsewhere...

Tetroneaque had to wait for his vision to return after such a bright light. When his eyes adjusted again he was not in the same place he had been. His fur was standing on end and he had that tingle running down his spine that he associated with powerful magic.

"Whoa. What just happened? Where am I?" He asked aloud, but there was no one around to hear him. He was in an entirely different set of ruins. There was a similar looking stone bird on a pedastel nearby, but it's head was missing.

"Guess I won't be going back the way I came." He stated and went off to check out his new surroundings.

[Tetroneaque leaves the thread, and the general area.]

(OOC: I hope ya don't mind me leaving Red like that, but I wanted to move Tetro to a new location in a somewhat speedy fashion. )