Overture for a Journey

[Djute]

It was a brand new day for Djute. He had risen early, having had a hard time sleeping the night before, and gone for a light jog around Arcadia’s guild district. The city was still so foreign and exciting to him. As a simple village boy from the middle of nowhere, the very idea of a giant floating city overwhelmed him and every day he saw something that simply amazed him. It had been several weeks since he had arrived with the merchant caravan and after many difficult sword lessons and days spent practicing cartography, he had been cleared to go on the next expedition. At last, the day had arrived and, as Djute jogged around a merchant guild unloading their wares, his mind raced about all the wondrous things he was sure to see in the lands beyond the Lycian Divide. He had heard all sorts of rumors about the dangers that waited out there and any number of them could be true. Mere weeks earlier, Djute probably would have laughed at such things, dismissing them as stories. Now, though, he found himself in a giant floating city filled with dragons and powerful mages. For all he knew, anything was possible.

Djute rounded the final corner of his route and slowed to a halt in front of the Arcadia’s Eyes guild hall. It was a decent sized building, though it was smaller than most of the other guild halls in the district. It suited him just fine. He was used to living in a one room cottage and he was sure he’d get lost in most of the larger guild halls. His sword instructor was waiting for him at the door, a reassuring smile on his face.

“Mornin’, Harold,” Djute panted between breaths.

“Djute,” he responded with a nod, “I wasn’t counting, but that may have been your best time yet. Your endurance has really come a long way. That should help with your defensive stance. Remember, if you can wear your opponent out, you can gain the upper hand on them. Always work to your advantages.” Djute nodded and Harold patted him on the shoulder. “Good, good. Now, go get geared up. Garoche will want you to be on time. And don’t let Hammond bother you too much on the road. He can be a real grouch.”

Djute thanked his teacher and dashed inside to prepare his gear for the journey. He had laid it all out on his bunk before leaving for his jog, but he would be sure to double and triple check it before reporting to the guildmaster, Garoche. He poked his head into the small room he shared with another boy about his age, and found it empty. His roommate, a strange boy named Zacharia who had only joined the guild several days ago, was nowhere to be found, probably eating breakfast before their journey began. Djute held a slight bit of animosity towards the boy, mostly because he had only just become a guild member and was already being allowed on the expedition, where it had taken him weeks to prove himself. The two hadn’t spoken much since his arrival either, as Zach liked to keep strange hours and Djute was often off training. He felt as if he was overreacting, however, and had decided to take an effort to get to know Zach on the expedition. Moving to his bed, he ran a cursory inspection over his gear, making doubly sure that his inkwells and parchment were secure, before loading it carefully into his pack. He continued to his armor, first strapping on the worn chestplate before attaching his lone pauldron, then donning his gauntlets. Lastly, he unsheathed his sword, running his hand down the blade’s smooth iron surface. It was no fancy sword of legend, but it would keep him alive, granted that he use it correctly. Djute replaced it in its scabbard and at last buckled it to his side. Throwing his pack over his shoulder, he threw open his door and made for the main hall.

[Zacharia]

Staying up late was a terrible idea, which was why he did it just about every night. Zach had woke up terribly groggy before the break of dawn, but quickly snapped out of his stupor when he realized what day it was. Grabbing his things he jumped out of bed, stumbled down the stairs, and was just about to raid the kitchen for breakfast when a particularly meaty grasp clamped down on his shoulder. This was about the time the fat man named Cook woke up as well, as Garoche mentioned in passing. So far as he could tell, he was downstairs to start breakfast for the rest of the guild. After Zach was done squealing in terror, the chef brushed him aside and motioned for him to climb back upstairs. The boy did as he was told without another peep, and hustled right back into his room.

Good first impression Zach, you really sealed the deal.

Too tired to fall asleep, but too terrified awake to fall back into bed, the mage did the only sensible thing: climb out the window to watch the sun rise. Silently he raised the frame and climbed out, before scrambling up the side of the slanted tiling and coming to a rest over top of the protrusion the window was placed in.

Bursts of orange and pink dotted the horizon like fireworks, and the sun's fledging rays pushed back against the stars, bringing with them the life of the city. Zacharia felt a sentimental pang deep in his chest, thinking of the last time he'd spoken with Father Karpath. That man was something above the rest. "..You've got a long road ahead of you if you want to get in with those 'Eyes. So fare well! and go with Gaea, kiddo." Zach could close his eyes and picture the scene perfectly as the holy man pressed a rosary and letter of introduction into his hands. The boy had no clue just what Karpath had done to be in such good graces with the Guildmaster, but he wasn't complaining one bit. Although, he wished he was as chummy with the rest of the guild. Some of them saw him as another mouth to feed, and a couple in particular made sure that Zach knew of that fact. Even the kid he roomed with, Djute, seemed a little on edge whenever the mage was around. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done about it except to prove himself.

As his excitement started to die down and he felt his eyes sagging on the rooftop, he heard the banging of pots and pans from down below. The sun had already risen! He must've dozed off or something for breakfast to be ready so soon.

Soon enough Zach was scarfing down a bowl of polenta at the counter by which Cook left breakfast to cool. The rest of the gang slowly but surely started to shuffle in, some nodding to the kid, others ignoring him. For the umpteenth time that minute Zach checked through his essentials. His spellbookwas in order; his cloak was tightly wrapped; his satchel was fully packed with everything Karpath had lended him for his trip. And not a minute too soon, because Garoche stepped into the center of attention right as Zach drained the last of his bowl.

[Djute]

Djute hurried down the stairs, his feet barely connecting with each individual stair. He reached the landing and immediately bounded into the kitchen, where the guild’s chef, a large simple man who only went by Cook, stood waiting with a bowl of lukewarm oatmeal. “Late,” he muttered, tilting his head toward the door to the adjoining main room. Djute thanked him for the food and headed for the door. “Careful out there,” Cook added, to Djute’s surprise. He stopped short and craned his neck to look at the man. He had a small crooked smile and was giving him a small thumbs up. Djute returned the smile and nodded reassuringly. Cook, satisfied, waved him off and he dashed through the door, hoping the briefing hadn’t already started.



Unfortunately, Djute did not account for the stool that waited in his path and as he burst into the main room, he ran straight into it. His feet were knocked out from underneath him and as he fell towards the ground, he tucked his bowl in towards his chest. He landed noisily on his pauldron, his sword whacking loudly against a chair leg, but at least the oatmeal stayed in its bowl. Djute hurried to his feet and, much to his embarrassment, he noticed all eyes were on him, especially Garoche. His face flushed with shame and his eyes went straight to the floor. “Sorry, guildmaster,” he mumbled, not lifting his gaze.



“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Garoche teased, chuckling heartily, “I’m sure you’re just excited. Grab a seat. We were just about to get started.” Djute nodded rapidly and quickly hurried to the nearest open seat, next to his teacher Hammond. The older man rolled his eyes as Djute joined the table. Hammond was a droll man who was constantly deriding him for all his various mistakes. Some of the other members said it was just tough love. Djute preferred to think he was just a jerk. Whatever the case he was sure he would hear about this sooner or later. "Alright, everyone," Garoche declared to the assembled members, "We've got a new sponsor with a new commission. He wants us to take a small team into the Divide and beyond. We’re to check up on and chart paths to several villages in the Divide, and investigate a number of rumors our sponsor and his associates are concerned about. We will also make several stops in towns we are confident will supply us to restock. Now, I won’t lie to any of you. You’re all trained and certified for this expedition. It will get dangerous out there. Much of what we have to go on for most of the Divide is rumor at best, and it only gets more dangerous in the outer reaches. But, if you’re careful and we all remember our training, we’ll do just fine and everyone will make it back to Arcadia alive. I’ve paired each of you off. You’ll be bunking down with your partners and you’ll be responsible for keeping an eye on them. Hammond and Bernard,” Garoche called, gesturing at the two more senior members, “You’ll be leading the expedition. Harold and Zarra,” he continued, pointing to the sword and archery instructors, “ You’re together. Nina and Jerol,” his finger trailed to Bernard’s two students, “and finally, Zach and Djute, you’re together. Gather up your gear and get with your partner. We leave to meet up with our sponsor in five.”



Djute drained the last of his oatmeal and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He was eager to get out into the Divide and start mapping the unknown. Rising from his seat, he waved to Zach and made his way over to his roommate. “Looks like we’re together again,” he mused, not meeting Zach’s eyes. “You ready for this?”

[Zacharia]

At last, the final member of the guild was here. Or at least, what was left of him, as he lied shattered in pieces on the floor. Cause yowch, that couldn't have felt too good. But Djute took it in good stride, gathering himself up out of the dust and sitting down next to his master. Zach's heart went out to him; he knew the pains of tripping over mundane objects all too well. At the same time, he was amazed not one person laughed. Not even a snicker. Arcadia's Eyes must've been more tightly woven than Zach thought. He hoped to be able to reach the same level of trust that the rest of the guild members shared.

As they were paired off into groups, Zach silently scribbled down the pairings in the margins of a spare sheet in his book. Just for good measure, the boy jotted down a note to never confuse Hammond's name with Harold's. From what the boy had seen in his few days with the Eyes, the man Djute called 'master' was quick to pluck any misgiven comment from the air and never let it go. The last thing he needed was to get on his bad side, especially if they were to be exploring together. Another thing that concerned him was how strange it was that Garoche seemed to pair the others with peers of equal skill level, instead of balancing out the equation of four masters with four students. Maybe he was trying to see how well the trainees could adapt without their masters' help?

Zach would've pushed the train of thought further along, but it came to a crashing halt when Djute came by. "Oh," a flustered Zach began, slapping his book closed. "Yeah, I guess we ARE together again. ...Great!" Dang, what should he do? Was there like, a secret handshake that guildmates had? He raised his hand in a half-hearted attempt at a handshake, but Djute wasn't looking his way. Okay, maaaaaybe later then. The teen took a deep breath in resignation that this might not end as well as he had hoped. "Am I ready? Yes, I've been ready for months! Don't get me wrong, I love it here. Arcadia's a beautiful place, but it's um... I want to go out and see the Divide. There's a whole entire world out there." He chuckled nervously. Unfortunately, with all the powers he'd been born with, being a mind reader wasn't one of them. If Zach didn't know any better, the armored boy was about as uninterested as he was anxious to end this conversation and never continue it again. "..I'm a little out of my element up here in a floating city. Soooo, um, have you known these guys-" The mage paused and motioned around the room with his hands. "- for long?" Djute did seem like a pretty fresh kid. Maybe not as new to the business as he was, but his motions around the house seemed awkward and unsure, and not just because he was a teen. It was like Zach; they were both still accustoming to where all the furniture was placed.

[Djute]

Djute swelled with excitement to hear that his partner was anticipating this journey as much as he was. For a moment, all of his reservations about Zach fell away. Djute's pent up energy came spilling out of him. "Oh man, I'm excited too!" He gushed, thrilled to have someone to chat with. "I've been cooped up in this city for a while now and I've been dying to get out there and just breath the fresh forest air. I can't wait to see all of this unexplored territory and put it down on the map! I've been waiting my whole life for this moment! This is gonna be-," Djute stopped mid-sentence, realizing he was rambling and had completely skipped over Zach's question. He felt his face flushed and his eye fell from Zach's back down to the floor. "Sorry," Djute mumbled with a nervous chuckle, "Guess I'm just a little excited. I... yeah, I'm pretty new here. I only arrived in Arcadia about two months ago. I grew up out in the middle of nowhere, so this big city thing is pretty jarring. Most of the other guild members give me some space, say I'm kinda weird. It's fair, I guess," he admitted, "I am a little strange. Can't help it, I suppose. I'm pretty close with Harold, the sword instructor, though. He's an alright guy. And Jerol and I share dinner together sometimes. Jerol's an odd one too. Birds of a feather I guess." Djute chuckled again. He wasn't used to talking for so long.



He was saved by a whistle from Bernard, who was gathering the group around him. Djute took that as a their sign to get going and threw his pack over his shoulder. He motioned for Zach to follow and they joined up with the expedition. As they filed out the door, Garoche stood nearby, offering nods and words of encouragement to each member as they passed by. He waited in the doorway, a confident smile on his face, as they made their way down the street and out of the burrough. Soon he was out of sight. Bernard and Hammond led them through the winding streets of the guild district to a sky dock where several balloons were tethered and dragons came and went, some carrying passengers, others carrying goods, some simply traveling to other districts. As they approached, a man dressed in an incredibly gaudy and pretentious outfit waved them down, the many rings on his fingers jangling together. The wings poking out from the back of his shirt marked him as a dragon. From the moment they caught sight of him, Djute was suspicious. Something about the man screamed bad news.



Bernard stepped out in front of the group and introduced the man. "Everyone, this is Magister Veronious Galetia, the financier of this expedition. He'll be flying us down to the ground and from there, we'll be investigating some sites that are of interest to him."



The magister made a show of bowing to them. "It's so lovely to meet all of you and I'm sure you're all charmed to meet me," the words rolled off his tongue. He seemed to play with each syllable as it came. "I do hope your adventure will be a fruitful one. After all, I am paying for this little venture. I would hate to be disappointed." Djute ground his teeth. It took all of his effort to keep from mouthing off to him. If this was how their sponsor was going to treat them, he almost didn't want to be a part of this. "Very well then. We mustn't tarry. Let's be off." In an overly theatrical movement, Veronious grew in form and shape into a glorious golden dragon and was attended to by a small herd of servants, who saddled a small litter to the dragon's back. The group piled into it and after some last minute checks, they were off, soaring into the sky.

[Zacharia]

Djute responded. Oh boy, did he ever. By the time Zach finished compartmentalizing everything the young man had to say(never getting a word in edge-wise, mind you), they were already being pushed out the door and into the great unknown. As Zach pulled up the rear of the line with Djute in front, he turned back to look at Garoche, standing in the doorframe. "Hey, Zacharia," he called. "Y-Yeah?" "Do my man proud," he finished his thought definitively, pulling the priest's rosary from the inside of his vest. "But that's..." The man chuckled for a brief moment, and the mage almost joined in with him. "I know what it is. Now get going, boy! The group's leaving." Oh. Right. Zach glanced behind him and they were already turning down the lane. Without him. "Thank you, Guildmaster!" He yelped as he ran to catch up with the group. And as he jogged, from far behind Zach came a faint response.

"That's 'Garoche'!"

Soon afterwards, while the sun still hung low in the clouds, they were in the sky on the back of a particularly... flamboyant dragon who jingle-jangled with every flap of his wings. He seemed like a kind, if not a little out-there fellow, having made a great deal of his introduction to the guild. Whatever the rest may have thought of him, he was a show-off when it came to flying, through and through. Twice already he'd warned them of "incoming turbulence" and to "hold on tight, loves" as he pulled an entire theatrical performance around his supposed drafts. Zach didn't mind the height, but he was by no means a frequent flyer. If master Veronious didn't stop soon, Zach's cloak wouldn't be the only thing looking green.

"So Djute," Zach scooted over to the swordsman. "You said you're new to Arcadia, right? Where are you from? I'm guessing... you're a pretty big guy for a kid, so my guess is... what's it called again? That fishing port - Garretia." But really, with a non-descript farmer's build like that, he could've been from anywhere. And Zach only knew of the big three cities: Arcadia, Garretia, and...

Well, that third one wasn't really important anyway.

And for a moment he sat in silence, partly listening to the chatter of Djute and the rest of the passengers, partly staring down below at the scenery. Occasionally they passed tiny cottages or stone mills, with the ant-sized specks beneath them being what Zacharia could only assume were people gawking at the dragon.

"Man, I forgot just how far up we are from the rest of the world, living in Arcadia. They say the Divide's a big place, lots and lots of small cities down there that we just haven't come in contact with. Heck, I've heard a couple members of the youkai tribes say that they aren't even from the Divide! Makes you wonder just how many towns are really on the map if we tried to list all of them. Do you think they'll ever figure out where everything is?"

[Djute]

The flight from Arcadia was rough and turbulent. Djute clung to the side of the litter, doing his best to keep his eyes on the group and not how far they were from the ground. For a brief moment, he caught Hammond’s gaze. His teacher looked especially grumpy. He kept attempting to lean over the edge if the litter, a small scrap of canvas in his lap. It looked as if he was attempting to draw a rough lay of the land. However, every time he put his quill to the canvas, Veronious would dive, or take a sharp patch of turbulence, and Hammond would be forced to abandon his attempt and grip the litter, lest he be thrown from it. Eventually, he gave up entirely and sat hunched, grumbling under his breath. Djute would have found it funny, were he not in the same position. Mercifully, Zach scooted closer to him and started up a conversation, giving him something to distract him from his terror. “Garretia? No, no, I’m from nowhere big like that,” he articulated, “I lived alone with my ma, actually. We were about a mile from the nearest village. Barbas, I think it was called. Really nothing memorable, if you ask me. They didn’t like us very much. Ma said it was because I didn’t have a dad, but I never got why that’d matter. I did everything he woulda done. Chopping wood, hunting, doing the labor. Of course, Ma passed a couple of months ago and… well….” He trailed off, not sure where to go from there. He was past the point of tears, but the wound was still fresh enough that he didn’t want to talk about it.

Zach’s comment about how high up they were prompted Djute to look over the edge again and he immediately regretted it. He was struck with a bout of vertigo that drove him to curl up in the litter. As he lay there, gripping his legs close to his body, he swore that he’d stay just like that until they were firmly on the ground again. “Dunno,” Djute mumbled at Zach, “Hope not, though. I’d be out of a job, then.” He knew Zach would probably expect him to say more, but between the thoughts of his mom and the dizzying heights, he honestly didn’t feel up to conversation. It would be several more minutes before they finally arrived on the ground again. Djute was the first out of the litter, thrilled to be back on solid ground again. He would have kissed the very earth itself were he not afraid of embarrassing himself in front of the others. They had arrived at a small manor surrounded by farmland. The main building was constructed from various woods and stone, neither of which seemed native to the area. Most of the farmland was currently being used to house livestock rather than grow crops. Obviously, Veronious was more fond of meat than vegetables.

As the group climbed down from the litter, another team of servants emerged from the manor, frantically rushing around Veronious, removing the litter from his back and welcoming him home. Their sponsor barely seemed to notice them, phasing back into his human body and disdainfully brushing off his robes. He snapped his fingers and the servants dispersed, retrieving a pair of mules from one of the fields. They were already loaded up with supplies and seemed ready to depart. Look’s like we won’t be staying long, Djute thought glumly. He wasn’t surprised. Veronious hardly seemed the charitable sort.