The Village of the Boyagers

[Ringo]

So the party left for the badlands with the morning sun on their backs and fresh aspirations. Amongst them, Hiro, Wise and quiet he stood amongst them with compass and map in hand as a guide. Clair, whose soft words could turn even the most hardened heart soft. Socks, ever ready with a temper to match his steely will. Sam, whose innocent cunning saw solutions often concealed from so many others. And Steal, prepared to protect even if it cost him his life. These five set off in search of an army. What they would create was nothing short of a nation



With satchel in hand Clair watched the unwavering hand that held the compass as it's holder followed with unquestioning obedience. Hiro had been sent to guide the party to their first destination. His abilities at navigation had gone unmatched back at Boyah. A bandit port known as "Outsider". The Outsiders were led by their leader Che Carello, who's deeds alone had made him infamous throughout Nsider. Anyone wishing to join their crew had first need be inspected by the council there. When the hearings were finished you were either admitted, or left to wander the desert. It kept all but the hardened from entering. Losing her footing for a split second Clair tumbled back before landing squarely on her back in the scorching soft sand. She began to gain a healthy loathing of it. It was coarse, prying, invasive and ever present. Much like some of those she had known back at Nsider. She smiled at her own joke before her dry split lips gave her a quick reminder of the situation. They had little water to begin with, and now they had less. What little food there was at Boyah had been compiled into several satchels they now carried. It was doubtless they'd starve in a short time. She blew the though off like a nagging insect, they would have starved anyways. It would have simply taken longer. Hiro adjusted his steps slightly to match the compass's needle to due Northeast and continued onward. Feeling the pangs of hunger she resisted the urge to consume what little was left of their rations. Steal's head perked up. At first it sounded like nothing more than the monotonous drone of the wind. Seconds passed and the faint sound of an engine began to grow louder, bringing with it the promise of destruction.
"Get down!" Steal hissed. Without hesitation they dropped instinctively, allowing the sound of the engines to eventually fade away before carefully rising yet again.
"How'd they know we were here?" Hiro pondered aloud.
"I wonder if you could be a little more conspicuous, maybe they didn't quite see you on that run." Socks glared back at Hiro
"They were already looking for something long before we arrived."
"Or maybe they saw some idiot wandering half dazed through the desert and decided to check it out."
Hiro continued unphased by the remark "There's nothing here of value to Raven, it's doubtful he would have sent a patrol out. Unless..." Hiro's sentence trailed off as began to chew the lower half of his lip
"Is there anything you'd like to share with the rest of the class? " Socks chided
"Unless they already knew we were here." he finished. Clair felt her heart sink. They had barely gotten into the desert and now this.
"I think we're missing another possibility."Clair interjected "They're expecting an escaping convoy or a large caravan of travellers, not some half starved nobodies crawling through the desert. We should be fine as long as we don't attract any attention".
"I'd say we're well pass half starved." Socks snorted " If the riders don't kill us the heat will. We've got to do something."
"Well then what do you suggest?"
"Through the eastern hills, gray and cold. Lie there memories, dead and old" The conversation came to a sudden halt as the party turned back towards Sam. Her eyes lay vacant and fixed on seemingly nothing, whispering dark sayings as she trembled. watching Sam deliberately Hiro addressed the party once more
"The eastern hills will provide us some relief from the heat."
"And it will take us two days longer! We're running low on food as it is" Steal snapped
"Well then we die in the heat? Which is it?!" Hiro's face turned a bright red as his trembling fists clenched at his sides. The distant howls of a nomad gave testament to another all too familiar danger, nomads. Flesheaters. Clair had seen the bleached white bones of travellers lying in stark comparison to the burning sand, a grim testimony to this harsh deserts inhabitants. Clearing her throat Clair spoke
"Frankly, I'd rather starve then end up somebodies lunch. And JMV did say the tribes in the east may be willing to help us. They may have food.".
The party fell silent as all eyes fell on the east. The decision had been made. A foreboding sensation filled the air as the dark eastern clouds watched them from a distance.

[Ringo]

Meta-Knight bustled past a motivational poster and up a flight of stairs. Nsider 2 had been experiencing a lot of changes lately, some people felt Raven's actions justified him as a tyrant. That these changes were made for no other reason than to stroke his own ego. Meta knew EJ was nothing short of a visionary, a mastermind whose brilliant work had united so many Nsiders for the common good! Yes the signatures had been revoked to remove unwanted advertisers, yes the protective barrier had been placed to prevent members from leaking secrets to the outside and yes troublemakers, and occasionally their family members went missing for extended periods of time. In the end it didn't matter how they did it, as long as they got it done Making a sharp turn Meta could hear the sound of broken glass accompanied by several inebriates declarations. EJ had gotten into the bottle again. This meant he would be especially moody. Peeking his head in through the office door Meta could see EJ caressing a half empty bottle of J&B.
"Meta-Knight" EJ chortled "Just the man I wanted to see!"
"Sir, I brought the progress report on the background checks you req-"
"Never mind that boy, come. Sit down." EJ could see a map of the badlands. EJ's expression turned from a drunken grin to an incredibly sullen scowl.
"You see this?" he poked at a small valley on the map "Why don't I own this?"
Meta stammered at the sudden mood change "Sir  I-I don't-"
EJ leaned forward, mere inches from Meta's face. His face reeked of alcohol
"Why don't I own this?!" he glowered down at Meta, his eyes filled with a building fury
"I don't know."
EJ lept from his chair and sent Meta across the floor with a backhand
"Then you're just as useless as the rest of them! " he bellowed "I should own it! I have the money, I have the URL but I don't have the forum. They won't give it to me and I want it!"
Trying to pacify Raven Meta gestured towards the map "You have so many other forums. Why is this one so important? "
Raven snatched the map off the table and shoved it into Meta's face
"I want this one" he roared, by now his face a deep magenta as he paced the office floor. Meta felt a pang of terror as EJ's eyes turned on him
"You did this didn't you? You told them I was coming! "
Meta desperately grasped for an answer "I had no idea you were even-"
"You're all in this together! You! The administrators! The members! I give you a forum and you all hate me! I bet you just can't wait until I'm gone!" his foot came down on the floor as his tantrum began to build.
"You think I'm insane? 'Oh he's just a waning old man' ! They're all conspiring against me" EJ waved his hands wildly as screamed, by now fully ignoring Meta's presence. And as quickly as it came, it left. Still staggering he knelt back down and spoke to Meta in an all too soothing tone.
"Meta, I want you to get this for me. I don't care how, it doesn't matter why. Just get it for me. Now you had some progress reports for me on those background checks, I'd like those delivered to my desk". With that EJ quietly made his way to his desk, straightened out his pants and sat down. Scooping up the scattered papers with trembling hands Meta carefully organized them neatly on EJ's desk before briskly making his way to the door. Steadying himself he began to turn the door knob ever so deftly to the left. A soft voice from the back of the room echoed into his ears
"Meta"
"Yes, sir?"
"If you fail to get that for me, I'm going to find you. I'm going to find whoever you're with. And I'm going to kill you both. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good boy, you'll do fine."

[Hiro]

Damn, that was the shit son.

[Selkie]

Incredible

[Blaze-Senpai]

And to think all of you just sat here and complained about stuff lol.


I don't think I'd be considered in the group though, I don't fit in

[Himu]

And to think all of you just sat here and complained about stuff lol.


I don't think I'd be considered in the group though, I don't fit in

You can be the dark steed I arrive on. caterpie;

[Blaze-Senpai]

You can be the dark steed I arrive on. caterpie;

No you stupid silly fairy.

[Hiro]

You can be the dark steed I arrive on. caterpie;

I could see you like joining our party when we meet you in Outsider. 

[FAMY2]

 Very interesting. Lots of thought put into the characters. I like how you descibe things.

[Socks]

Shit, I'm in the scouting party... Nice. 

[Sam]

Shit, I'm in the scouting party... Nice. 

Do you know where you'd be without me?

DEAD. THAT'S WHERE.

[Socks]

Do you know where you'd be without me?

[Ringo]

The Mideastern country was a dark place, mystic and threatening with little known about it. The air was a dry cool, tasteless sterility that left the lips parched and the soul shriveled. Nothing survived in these quiet spaces. Year ago, during the Nsider years prominent IF forums would often hold ceremonial battles in hopes of attracting members. Those who perished in these battles were buried in these lands. Used by the nomads as a sort of elephant burial ground, generations after generation's bones lined the topsoil. The ground was a lifeless ash grey. Thin dead forrests covered the landscape, leaving sparse tunnels of trees to overlap above the narrow roads. Sam couldn't tell whether it was night or day, the air felt uneasy to her. The dead silence in the air reminded her of the static noise during a thunderstorm. It frightened her, but not as much as the images. Since Wrench's death she began to feel pangs, flashes of light, a sentence here and there before utter silence. She stared off into the thinning grey forest and felt a herself being watched. She heard a strange hum through the darkness. The trees. Something was crying in the trees, soft at first, like an infants cry. Beckoning her to come closer into the dark abyss. Another voice joined the first, adding an unsettling harmony to the first as several more joined in. The wailing began to get louder as the voices soon began to surround her. The multitude of voices seemed to penetrate her very mind as she squeezes her eyes shut in an attempt to drive out the voices. When she opened them, her blood turned cold. The trees had turned a luminouscent white, glowing brightly in contrast to the deadened landscape.
"Steal!" she whispered hoarsely
"What is it?"
"The trees." she continued in terror "The trees are weeping blood". She suppressed a scream as rivers of crimson flowed down the sides of the gnarled plants, pooling at the side of the road and flowing forward as they wailed in anguish. Gnarling together they seemed to writhe in absolute agony. They were bleeding, and they were screaming.
Steal watched her with concern before dismissively moving on "I don't see anything."
And with that, they were gone. The voices, the blood and the white trees. Leaving nothing but the empty sound of the howling wind. But she never lost the sensation she was being watched.
Hiro continued through the winding road, stopping occasionally to make a small navigational correction here and there. Sam tried to think back to happier times, back at Nsider. She remembered the cave, the awards, the conversations... she remembered hearing about the split, and dying a little inside. Clair clutched the satchel to her chest, sharply inhaling before quickening her step.
"I don't like this place, where are we?"
"That's what I've been trying to figure out." Hiro remarked scratching his head "According to the map we're in a lush green mountain pass roughly twenty miles short of the eastern nomadic territory."
"I don't see any lush or green" Socks simmered "Something's happened here, something nasty. Keep alert."
"It's odd, this map's only a few years old. How could everything just have gone off and died?" Hiro shook his head "It just doesn't make sense".
Sam's head turned sharply, fixating on a rustling through the thicket. She could hear a voice. It seemed garbled as it spoke.
"How much further is it? This place doesn't feel right" Steal grimaced.
The voice seemed to clear a bit, something familiar in it.
"About 16 miles more and we'll be out"
As they came upon a clearing she stared in wide eyed wonder, in front of them stood a castle quite fitting to the landscape. Mortared with ash grey brick and roofed with a dark red plating it stood erect against the night sky. The main building held three towers in place, the tallest of which held a spiraling staircase that descended to a side room of the main floor. In the distance she could make out the faint glow of a fireplace
"Well it looks like somebody left the light on for us." Clair laughed uneasily
Suddenly that voice in the back of her mind became all too clear.
"RUN!"

[Hiro]

Christ ringo write a book you got talent. That was some demented shit

[Wrench]

These are amazing, Ringo. You and Andrew need to team up and make the ultimate fan fiction.