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Clive
Chapter 5 Life
can come and go quickly. One day a small seedling can sprout a delicate
leaf capable of growing into a majestic tree. And the next, the newborn
tree could die, becoming food for a hungry, plant-eating mammal. One
could have wondered though…If the tiny sprout, without almost any
strength, inspiration or intelligence, was given help to fight
back…would it? As
the sun reached it’s point where hypothetically no shadow could be
cast, Clive sat pondering his next move in the desolate corner of the
ship. People were all around the vessel, engaged in a variety of
conversations. The air was heavy with the smell of fish, and seabirds
were becoming more plentiful, which could only mean that Clive had
almost reached his destination. “If
Elza is not in Kuskus, than I am at a loss as to where she could have
gone. I was told that a woman in white took a boat south. If she is not
in Kuskus, then she could either be in Sou-…” Clive’s
thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of a soft, high-pitched bell.
He looked up and noticed the increased gulls soaring elegantly in the
cloudless sky. Then looking towards the front of the ship, he saw the
port town of Kuskus becoming closer. Standing up and dusting off his
tough traveling cloak, Clive walked over to the exit and leaned against
a cabin wall, waiting for the boat to dock. As
the ship started to pull up, more passengers began to head closer to the
boarding area. After about another minute, Clive noticed a giant crowd
of people in a rush to get off the boat. An assortment of individuals
ranging from opposite ends of the spectrum was ready to trample each
other in order to enter the fishing based community. However,
a single duo stood out in the crowd, like a solitary island in the deep
blue ocean waves. A small girl, who seemed to be around eight or nine,
stood amidst the people with her head below her shoulders, staring
intently on the ground. It was the man that was accompanying her is what
made her stood out. A
tall, thin man was holding her hand…no wait, more like grasping her
firmly, almost as if he was holding her hostage. The man was as tan as a
dark leather vest, and he wore out of place clothing, not common in the
Jowston area. In fact, Clive had never seen any Highlander or Harmonian
wear that style of clothing as well. He guessed the man was from the
uncharted Grasslands, or maybe from one of the island countries. Now
that the vessel had docked, the tall foreigner tugged on the young
girl’s hand, seemingly almost dragging her off the ship. The rest of
the passengers got off as well. Clive took notice of the girl for a
moment, but pushed away any intentions of curiosity as he made his way
off the ship and to the item shop. As
the door was pushed open to the general item shop, Clive’s nose was
met with a variety of aromas, ranging from the pungent smell of an
antitoxin to the delightful smell of a medicinal tonic. Clive purchased
a couple medicines from the pasty storeowner, and then proceeded to exit
the store and head to the tavern to question the locals to find out if
they had seen Elza. After
a quick questioning of the townsfolk, Clive came up empty. Leaving the
tavern in deep thought, he failed to notice a stranger about to cross
paths with him. The stranger saw Clive about to get in his way, and
decided to blatantly shove him in the opposite direction of his current
path. It succeeded, more so than expected, as Clive traveled backwards
and hit his arm off a nearby metal post, which caused him to silently
curse in pain as the stranger continued to head out of town. As
Clive held in his arm, he turned to see who had done the deed. He was
quite surprised to find out it was the tall man from before. He was
still holding the girl, who looked back at Clive with a frightened look
on her small, delicate face. Seeing
this girl’s scared look and the fact that the man decided to
physically attack him, Clive felt now was a good time to get involved
with this man. Standing up, completely forgetting about the pain just
recently acquired, he walked quite a distance behind his new target,
keeping pace with him. As they reached the town’s exit, Clive began to
quicken his pace. Just as they left Kuskus behind, Clive had caught up
to the man. Making sure Storm was holstered tightly on his back, Clive
quickly grabbed hold of the girls hand with his left, and forcefully
shoved the tall stranger from behind, sending him careening to the
ground. The
girl gave a small jump when he grabbed her. Looking up to see Clive’s
face looking at her, he held up a finger to his mouth, instructing her
to keep quiet. Although scared of the newcomer slightly, the young girl
seemed to realize that Clive was not there to harm her. Even
though the man was surprised by the quick attack, it did not seem to
injure him as he got up rather easily and looked at Clive intently.
Realizing that he had pushed Clive out of the way earlier in town, he
smirked as he looked down upon him. “You
have some nerve. Trying to be a hero?” the man inquired as he advanced
towards him, pulling out a giant scimitar. Clive
then let go of the girl’s hand and unholstered Storm. He then pointed
the gun at the man, who stopped dead in his tracks. “A
rifle? Only a member of the Howling Voice Guild carries those
weapons…” the man stated as he stood like a statue, staring down the
gun barrel. “Aren’t
we a well traversed foreigner?” Clive stated, about to cock the gun. However,
the young girl chose to run under the protection of Clive’s cloak.
This caused Clive to drop Storm out of his hands and lose his balance.
Sensing that he was about to fall on her, the girl ran out from
underneath Clive’s charcoal cloak as he landed uncomfortably on the
ground. Sensing
his opportunity, the man advanced on Clive “Who
knew being a hero would cost you your life?” the man stated. The
girl stood there frightened. She pulled on Clive’s cloak, trying to
pull him away but to no avail. Clive
turned and yelled at the young one, seemingly holding up his right hand
while trying to push her away with his left. “You
have to get out of here. GO!” he yelled. All
of a sudden, a strange thing happened. As he said those words, the
Blinking Rune on his hand glowed, and the man about to deal Clive his
deathblow disappeared into a cloud of blue smoke. However,
Clive hadn’t seen his adversary disappear because he was too busy
trying to get the girl to escape. So when he turned his head back
forward to see nothing but a large scimitar lying on the ground, he was
quite puzzled. “This
makes no sense. One moment he was here, I turn my head for a moment, and
then he disappears.” Clive
then decided not to worry about it. Looking at the girl, he decided to
find out who and where she was from, and getting her there quickly
without a lot of useless speech. “What’s
your name?” Clive asked, trying to sound has gentle as possible, which
was quite difficult. “L…Lori…”
she replied. “Well
Lori, do you need me to escort you back to your home? Where do you
live?” he inquired. “I
live…in…South Window,” she answered. “Well
then, allow me to escort you there,” Clive said, holding out his hand
for her. Hesitating
for a moment, the little girl gave a slight smile, and took his hand. Finally
reaching the gates of South Window, the girl looked up at him with a
smile. “Mister
thank you!” she exclaimed as she let go of Clive’s arm and ran away
from him. Clive
could not help but smile as he saw the girl run happily through the
city. Deciding to look around South Window, he first stopped at a
mysterious magic shop that was nestled in the corner of the city. Opening
the door to the small store, Clive cautiously entered the dimly lit
building. There seemed to be an aromatic smoke floating around the room,
but it was not that noticeable due to the poor lighting. Suddenly,
light bathed the room and Clive noticed an obese, tan woman was sitting
behind a desk with her head down. Clive could now see that the smoke was
coming from some sort of incense burner. On the desk lay a deck of cards
with many pictures on them. Clive,
startled to see the lights suddenly turn on, was even more shocked when
the fat lady snapped her head up like a whip and started speaking in a
high shrieking voice. “WELCOME!
Did ya enter for your free tarot reading!?” she exclaimed. Jumping
back, Clive looked surprised for a moment, but the shop owner took no
notice and kept speaking. “You
free tarot reading will reveal much about your future young man! For
example, the Queen of Runes says your wife will have nice soft hair, and
the King of Swords says…” That
was the last Clive heard as he hurriedly exited the shop and slammed the
door. “THAT
was scary,” He
thought to himself. Looking
down, he saw that the Blinking Rune inscribed on his right hand seemed a
little different. The insignia was all black. Clive wondered about this
as he headed towards the center square. As he sat down on a bench, he
remembered the Blinking Rune book he purchased. Pulling it out of his
cloak, he cracked it open and flipped through the pages until he found
something that caught his eye. Spells
of the Blinking Rune Although
the Blinking Rune is mainly used as transportation, there are also three
select spells that can be cast with it: The
spell Ready! teleports a person far away to an unknown place, Set!
Teleports random objects onto enemies, while Go! Is the same as Ready!,
but it can teleport more than one. Clive
made a mental note of the earlier battle. “So that’s why the man
disappeared. I had used my Blinking Rune. But that doesn’t explain
why…wait a minute of course!” Clive
continued to flip through the book until he found what he was looking
for. A picture of the Blinking Rune insignia that looked just like it
did on his hand. Sometimes
the Blinking Rune, or any other rune for that matter, can burn out if
overused too much or if it used too long by a person that does not have
high magic power. When this happen, the rune becomes useless and must be
removed in order to use another rune. Although the burning out of a rune
is very rare, it happens most often with a Blinking Rune, which is why
it is stated here. Clive
slammed the book shut and looked at his hand. “Damnit!”
he
thought looking at his hand. Clive
then reached into one of his pants pocket and pulled out a pink crystal.
“At
least I still have my Resurrection Rune.”
He thought as he left the center square and headed towards the Rune
Shop. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The
next morning after a quick breakfast, Clive resumed his trail on Elza.
Having heard that a white-cloaked woman was headed towards Radat, Clive
quickly left South Window and headed towards the port town. |