Life Stone

[tangletail]

Leo thought about the idea of training that Korius had mentioned. If anything it didn't sound quite as tedious as Korius may initially have thought it to be. The expression that the thief wore did show his growing puzzlement. The cat could understand that you don't want to start with anything that is absolutely destructive. But the very notion that a small amount of time to be removed from it's intended schedule just sounded... to easy. Almost a complete let down when you expect the first training from your party leader to be rather demented. Especially when he himself is possibly able to lift a tree with his tongue.


"Uhm... well," Leo began, not quite sure how to put his own thoughts into words. After all, he believed his stamina was decent enough to last him for the trip. "That.... sounds... easy enough."

[Suzumibachii]

Suzumi simply shook her head, she knew full well that she was no where near ready enough to tackle a big task yet, not after the last time. Clenching her fists tightly and cursing under her breath at her own weakness, she didnt know what hiking that fast would do, she was a mage, not a warrior but perhaps the extra endurance she would pick up would allow her to stay in the fights for longer.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana was kind of disappointed that they wouldn't be going through the Plains. The idea of doing a lot more training didn't really bother her since she enjoyed it. When she heard the plan to turn a two-day trek into one and a half, she thought it was a little odd. She saw that it could help with endurance, but really, the only way she could see them making it was if they didn't rest in any way or sleep. She expected that they would have to eat on the move, if they ate at all. Shrugging her shoulders, she adjusted the quivers and her bow on her back while she waited to get going with the group.

[Vosur Aekira]

She didn't respond to either choice, simply just following the lead since there wasn't any input needed from her on mention of where to go, so Karina just quietly followed along, this time putting her bow on her back as she reached into her pack to grab out some of her dried provisions to eat a little while her other hand went for her water-skin to grab it. She finished her bite before she took a swig from the skin, doing a mental check on everything before she put the skin back.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

As Korius was moving forward, he looked back, "Since you all are still new to this, let me give you a small bit of information. When professionals like Kallow give you a travel time, it's based on the assumption that you don't sleep or stop for breaks. If you wanted to sleep, the city is over 3 days off. We're going to be making this trip in a day and a half. I'll give you 1 minute to stretch your legs. It'll be the only time you'll be doing it." The old wolf looked up into the sky as the morning sky slowly reached towards high noon. "Get ready for a scorcher, kiddies. Looks like no clouds today." He began a slow walking pace, letting the others get their short bit of preparation. When the 1 minute was up, he sped up to a moderate walking pace. After a couple hours, he sped up to his traveling speed that he used before he met this group. To some, it might be seen as speed walking.

[tangletail]

“... wait... what,” Leo asked immediately after being told the difference between their typical travel pace, and a “Professionals” pace. If the professional was to walk from point a and point be with no breaks, Then he must be insane or immortal. Or likely a just a random hero that has been over hyped through bards tales. “A forced march!? Professionals gauge travel distance... by forced march,” Leo asked still highly confused after taking a moment to stretch his legs, as recommend. The feline did know some form of military jargon, but only because it's a common phrasing.


"Well, scratch out the term sane from our leader's list of descriptions," The thief thought to himself after adjusting to  match his pace. This brisk walking speed was familiar enough to him, but he knew better than to believe it would be just a cake walk at this point. The terrain for a straight shot didn't look to bad from the gondola, but he was already doubting that Korius would keep them under such nice conditions for long. The weather that was said to be a scorcher, wouldn't be to much of a problem for Leo. His body being built for much hotter and arid conditions made this feel as if it was a very nice day in the spring. And to help him keep his mind off any pain or burning sensation, he began to allow his mind wonder off to much different times.


"So... where is everyone from," Leo asked aloud. They had about three days walk in just a day in a half. If to help time go by faster, he felt now would be a great time for everyone to start building some form of trust in one another. Or at least get to know each other before anyone else decides that now would be their time to just leave.

[Suzumibachii]

Suzumi stretched as much as she could making sure that she was as ready as she would ever be for what could only be a mad mans march. Looking at the sky for a second she pulled her leather cloak away from her body, kicking up a little dust as she shook it out and started to fold it up tightly, neatly placing it into her rucksack. The green scales of her body glittering a little in the sunlight as she soaked up the sunlight.

"Best catch up to Korius...hes not going to wait." She said softly as she made her way towards him Her black pants were a little more loose fitting to allow the most freedom of movement possible without getting in the way, her shirt was a little tighter, the black cloth more fitted over her upper body, sleeveless and with part of her back exposed. The strange tattoo on her back only slightly visible.


Looking towards Leo she took a deep breath "Mages collage...ever since I can remember. I wasnt born there but I grew up there, its my home. Always will be."

[Vosur Aekira]

Karina kept her silence, trying to avoid speaking her mind right now. Her pace was easy to keep up with Korius's though she wanted to state her thoughts on him making them go for so long without any rest. She kept her hand close to her bow during the start of the walk, letting out a mental grumble to herself on how they were going to endure over 36 hours of constant walking, along with the addition of the heat as a mentally-degrading obstacle.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana wasn't very surprised when Korius gave them the information on the trek since it just confirmed what she had been thinking before that. When he told them they had a minute to stretch their legs, she immediately plopped down on the ground, putting her legs straight out in front of her and stretching her arms out to touch her toes. After that she spread her legs and stretched out to each side in turn, not worrying about the position since she had leggings on. Once she was done, she hopped back up to her feet and immediately started walking, making sure to catch up to Korius quickly while trying not to think about the fact that he had just called them "kiddies" a moment ago.
When Leo asked where everyone was from, Kiana looked over at him then at Suzumi when she answered. "Lokridge City at the edge Central Spanse." Kiana answered after Suzumi was done speaking and it didn't seem like Karina was going to say anything. "It's extremely crowded and, basically, the perfect place for my rich, stuck-up, Hiro-worshiping, purebred parents to live and for me to have left." Looking up at the sky from beneath her hood, she contemplated how long she would be able to keep her cloak on with their fast walking pace and the rising temperature. She was definitely going to keep it on as long as possible.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Korius merely spoke without turning around, "Sorry, Leo, but even the lowest grunts of any kingdom's military has to be able to do this. There are times where emergencies dictate endless pacing or running for days on end. Also, there are areas that you just can't afford to sleep and lower your guard. The sooner you all can build up your endurance to such conditions, the better. Just be glad we're not in the Northern Tundra. It's usually cold enough to turn your breath into ice instantly at this time of year, and kills improperly equipped travelers in less than 5 minutes." He waited for the others to introduce where they were from before he did, "I was orphaned in the west coast town of Kriole, just 3 kilometers from the Amazon border."

[tangletail]

Once everyone went through their own long delayed introductions, leaving only two who hadn't actually said anything. Himself and Kariana. “I grew up in Vil. A military country made of forest, mountains and desert,” Leo began after thinking over some small details of his home land. He paused momentairly to adjust his footingHe then later added onto it with a much sourer note. There was also a tinge of sarcasm the moment he started,“Nice place though, too bad it's plagued with a tribal civil war. It's so far into the collateral deepend, that if you are not paying attention to the horizon or what's around you outside of cities, you'll find yourself the next pin cushion for glaives and spears... even if you are civilian. Be it death by soldiers, radicals, assassins, slavers, what have you. Generally all of them are part of either side's military in some way."

[Vosur Aekira]

Karina felt a bit on-the-spot due to all of this, after having cooled-off enough mentally to be a bit sociable. "You all know where I came from. Guess I'm rather sheltered in the way of the outside world..." she spoke, letting herself cut off her own discussion. This was going to be a rather arduous walk for her mentally due to the heat and the sheer duration of it, on several thoughts she wanted to take off in a run but she stopped herself because she knew that it would only wear herself out rather quickly if she were to attempt running it.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana listened to Korius explain the trek more to Leo and listened to everyone else's answer to Leo's question after her own. "Definitely glad we're nowhere cold. I hate the cold." She thought when recalling Korius description of the Northern Tundra a few moments before. In some form or another, Kiana had heard about the places that each person was from to some extent, but of course she had never been to any of them except for Karina's home. She never knew the extent of the civil war in Leo's place of origin, just that there was one. After hearing about it, she didn't make any comments about it, just kept her thoughts of how pathetic civil wars were to herself. Her mind went back to trying to figure out how long she could last before having to remove her cloak, determining she had another hour or two at best, but she'd take the shade of her hood while she had it.

[Suzumibachii]

Suzumi kept moving as fast as she could without breaking out into a full jog as she tried to keep up with Korius. Her mind mulling over where everybody else came from, each had such a different past,every single one of them had lived though different experiences, not much common ground...Except that each had lost someone dear to them, and each was on this quest to try and bring them back. Once more glancing up towards the sun she smiled and let out a soft sigh, she preferred hiding her face but the sun was refreshing. She could feel her entire body warm up, her energy levels slowly increasing.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Korius wasn't surprised that Leo didn't feel like disclosing what village or town he came from. Vil was one of three Amazon territories that declared independence from the civilized nations. Even though there was trading, Amazon territories were in constant wars, struggles or some kind of tribal feuds. But this would not be too much of a surprise for some people who know about the societal states of these territories. Only Amazons, Beastmen, Thieves, Barbarians, Witch Doctors and Berserkers could survive in those kinds of living conditions. It would be a good 8 hours before the sun finally fell, and the area cooled down significantly to around 60 degrees. He was sure that the others would be feeling it by now, particularly with their heated muscles now being cooled stiff. For almost all inexperienced adventurers, this is the 2nd hardest and 2nd most painful part of this kind of traveling.
By high moon, he looked back at the others. Though he was feeling the same conditions, Korius's years of training has allowed him to endure and not be much affected by the "hike". "You all doing okay over there?"