Eludrest City

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Eludrest City

His song kept him company for most of his journey. The soft melody rang out in the air around him as he walked. The gentle breeze brushed the cloak that surrounded one shoulder brushed it back to reveal his well toned frame beneath. Kiyu wore no shirt, it was far too restricting in his mind. Besides, the air was always warm, he never felt cold.

As he walked, the scenery changed abruptly around him, though he didn't notice at all. He was too much into his own thoughts to think about the change. He'd left Tinker Tocker far behind, traveling quite some ways. All the while his song followed him, chasing him even. He did not sing the words, only the melody. Though the melody was sweet enough, he felt that the words to it were much darker.

When Kiyu had sense enough to look up and see where he was, he noted that he was not where he'd wanted to go. There were no fields of grasses, no flowers like he'd wanted and no tree to sit under. However, at the back of his mind there was a stronger wish to be around people instead of alone. Being completely alone was a bad thing. Even so, getting far to close to people was bad too. So he had to find a balance.

Before him was a sprawling city. If one could call it such. Rather than people around, they seemed like walking sticks of paper. Most were merely black in color, holding no faces, no details. Some were detailed, but roughly so. Kiyu, though, felt a little better now that he was no longer alone. Though they weren't really people, they felt better than having nothing at all.

He wouldn't have to worry about getting close to these people for he figured they didn't talk much. Nor would he be without company, for he figured they were just enough to enjoy. Kiyu left all thoughts of finding a solitary field behind him as he walked into the city. The colors around him were of darker hues, gold and orange to be exact. Some browns and greens here and there. The houses were carved out of the earth, popping out of the hillsides.

Up ahead was what seemed to be the main portion of the city, carved streets into the dirt with houses and shops sprouting up from the earth. Many of the structures, however, were not whole anymore. There was quite a bit of rubble laying around, but it didn't seem to bother the inhabitants. Kiyu made his way through the wandering sticks of people.

He wasn't really sure where he wanted to go, but checking out this new city was on the forefront of his mind. Every sight was greedily accepted as he turned one way and then another, his eyes shifting all over to view it all. He'd certainly wandered into a pretty place, at least he thought it was pretty. As he twirled around and around to gain as much a view as possible, he bumped into one of the people that ambled about.

Turning, Kiyu looked directly at the being, an apology on the tip of his tongue. However, his eyes settled on partially detailed stick walker and his heart clenched tightly. The breath in his lungs left him entirely and he found it difficult to pull air back in. Before him was a figure that resembled himself, except a bit younger than he was. To add to it, there was a darker light in the others eyes that terrified Kiyu.

Something writhed inside the paper thin being as it stared at him, unmoving. It was like looking into a mirror, except what you saw reflected back was something harbored deeper inside, a darkness one never wished to have awaken. Kiyu backpedaled then, stumbled backwards away from the thing as it turned away from him. The paper walker disregarded him completely, continuing on it's way through the destroyed city.

Kiyu's stumbling resulted in his falling to the ground where he stayed in the midst of all the ambling people. It was quiet there, except for the rustling of the paper stick beings that moved about slowly. What was once beautiful to Kiyu turned to something rather horrifying. He wasn't sure he really wanted to be there, especially after meeting his mirror image, albeit it was much younger than he was right then.

Slowly he got to his feet and turned away. Starting back down the path he'd climbed up, he had every intention of leaving. Once again the solitary fields, grasses and flowers, a singular tree to sit under, was beginning to sound appealing. His lips parted and his voice hummed ever so softly, wavering a bit from his nervous fear. Lost in his music, he worked his way through the throng of silent paper beings, his voice the only sound around.

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Khalimandaria’s soft lips formed a broad, warm smile and spread across the visible part of her face, hoping to assure the young girl that it was not seeking to harm her in any way, but even though it was glad to have come upon such a friendly sight, something did not feel right. This was definitely not the presence it could feel earlier, the one which had been watching it for so long and it had sought out in return, just to stumble upon this frail child with the strange, clattering bones from which she seemed to speak. The angelic being had crouched down when the girl turned her head downwards, hoping not to dwarf her with its much larger size, something that seemed to be proving rather intimidating to the poor girl, and hoped that she was not frightened by its presence. It tilted its head to the right slightly at the sound of the girl’s soft, wispy voice and the accompanying clatter of bones.

“Erixianti, a pretty name for a pretty girl, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The girl seemed so anxious and frightened, maybe she was unaccustomed to one such as Khalimandaria, or merely disliked the company of strangers, but when she spoke of searching for her protector it seemed to make much more sense to it. A slight frown formed across its face as it pondered this occurrence, and when it spoke next there was just the slightest hint of a contemptuous snarl in her voice, “Searching for your protector? A protector who loses track of their charge might not be worthy of such a title little one. Do not worry though Erixianti, I could always accompany you until we come across this so called protector. May I ask to where you travel young one?”

Once again there was that soft, wispy voice and clatter of bones as Erixianti spoke through a strange skull, only one piece from an assortment of bones of all shapes and sizes, a rather curious preference of accessories for such a small, timid child, but there were stranger sights to be seen in this world. The voice was much clearer and firm this time, something that relieved Khalimandaria quite a bit, enough so to bring another soft smile to her lips again, especially upon hearing the child’s request. The thought that there was someone else located somewhere within the desolate, lonesome city where Khalimandaria felt that piercing gaze staring down upon it was almost too much for it to believe, and immediately a protective and curious instinct kicked-in.

Khalimandaria nodded curtly as the girl’s voice quieted down, the skull seeming to quiver and quake with urgency, and she lost the girl’s gaze once again. A delicate hand reached out towards the young Erixianti, stopping just shy of lightly grasping her thin shoulder, not wanting to frighten the girl any more than she seemed to be at the moment, and the angelic being stood back up, stretching its wings just slightly as it set its gaze upon the city. “We should hurry Erixianti, there is a dangerous aura about that city, and a young one such as yourself should not wander in there alone. Come now; let us retrieve this ‘someone’.” Khalimandaria set a quick pace back to the city from which it had wandered, in search of someone or something which it had not found just yet. Maybe they were this “someone” Erixianti wish to retrieve, or even her so-called “protector”?

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Once again time passed by in an indistinguishable manner, as they crossed over the threshold into the city itself and began wandering the ruins aimlessly in search of this other stranger, with Erixianti still seeming so anxious and in a hurry to find the person for whom they sought. Khalimandaria decided to stop in what appeared to have been a fountain-area at one point in time, now toppled-over and reclaimed by some form of vegetation unknown to the angelic one. It turned around to face the young girl, as it tried to stay somewhat in-front of her should anything jump out to surprise them as they traversed the ruins. “Let us stop for a time Erixianti, the one for whom we seek might just wander by this way whilst we rest, and if not we can at least reconsider how we are searching. Now, tell me, what does this person look like? Are they male, female, or something else?”