Private Moon river blues

[Herculean Drakecon]

Herculean path during his rather long time landed him in many places and meetings from all walks of life. On this path, he met a songbird of sorts and had plans to make a group. Things fell apart on his end so he went on a hero's journey that took him to the very world of terrasphere. He finally turned his online status after a year or so in the game. He had visually and mentally changed while walking this path. Now he had to reconnect with Songbird and Ruby after all this time. He was sure they would be furious with him just up and leaving. It was important that he at least check up on them.

He wound a beautiful moonlit valley to set up camp and started making a soft meat stew. His camp was made at the mouth of a cave with a mangled cave bear. It didn't take much to kill it but cleaning up the mess was a bit much, Cleaning up the mess as well taking as a bath before cooking. Putting on casual clothes and as his food finished cooking. Opening the menu before scrolling down and clicking both ruby and songbird. He made a joke about two birds and one stone that made him laugh to himself.

Message:
Well I am sending this message because I am here to check up on you guys. I have sent coordinates to my position and i have made camp here. Beautiful night as well so figured it was good to catch up with a hearty meal and conversation. If you don't want to show up I understand.

Sending the message he would go back to cooking the meal, The soft meat with spices mixed in gave the camp a comforting smell. The hulking warrior would be sitting quietly on a stump cooking and in his thoughts.

@Tarkya @Chanlye

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby opened the message with a curious tilt of head. It took a moment for Ruby to call back that name- Drakecon... Herculean... @Herculean Drakecon.

Her ears perked up when she reminded who it was. The large lizard man that was with them during the Red Fever expedition, and that somehow had remained calm even after the hellish situation that had occurred. Her tails swayed, and she briefly responded with a 'will be there soon-' before setting down her UI.

Curiosity tingled her mind, however. Who were 'you guys'? Did he invite Jin as well? She wondered. Or perhaps it was just the others that got stuck into the expedition with her.

The desire to know, added to the fact she had already confirmed her presence, made her hurry her steps, blasting off at the speed she usually could handle, fast forwarding herself to the coordinates in Hylands, a place that thankfully she was already venturing in, so she wouldn't get there too late.

Whenever she would spot the lizard man on a stump, she would speed up her sprint just a bit more, before braking abruptly as she neared him, swirling her tails to slow down her rush.

"Hey!" She said, chest heaving as she tried to calm her breath down after the rush, adjusting her cloak and smiling at him. "Has been a while."

 

[Bluebird]

How long had it been since she'd spoken with Herculean? The last Bluebird remembered, it was for a proposal, but nothing much had come on that front. Or perhaps it was simply the fact that things had become hectic shortly after...

No matter. Bluebird smiled at the message before sending a response of her own.

Mail

It is good to hear from you again, Herculean. I would love to speak again. I shall be there shortly!

The coordinates weren't far, especially with the wind on her side. Bluebird never tired of flight, and the night air was cool and refreshing. Her whistle trailed behind her as she skipped from tree to tree. It wasn't long before she could smell food on the air, and she dropped below the treeline to make the rest of the trek on foot.

She paused briefly as she reached the cave. First at the sight of the bear, then at Herculean, and then-

"Ah, Ruby, I didn't think you would be here too!"

Bluebird smiled, then gave Herculean a polite curtsy.

"And good evening to you, Herculean. It's good to see you again."

@Herculean Drakecon @Crimson Ruby

 

[Herculean Drakecon]

They had both arrived and he was very revealed they did die or worse in the time he was away. He would get up from his seat and tone down the fire to simmer. He greeted them both with a huge hug with a big smile on his face. It had been so long since he had seen them and they seemed stronger and more excited than ever. Standing at seven feet tall he would give one soft squeeze before putting them down. Revealing a scared big toothy warm smile.

"Oh, it's so glad to see you both in person for the first time in a while. Sorry, i have been on a whole hero journey thing. I will admit I did feel bad that the whole group thing fell through and all."

He would make his way back to his seat seeing the food is ready pulling out bowls from his backpack. Setting up a side table with spoons and bowls on it in case they were hungry. Another thing crossed his mind before sitting down. They didn't have another to sit and he didn't want them sitting on the ground around the fire. Excusing himself for a moment and got up to pull fitting-sized stumps from the area of the camp. Picking them up and placing them around the fire. He would help himself and blow on it to cool it down.

"Not to scare you guys but I actually died for the first time, it was pretty intense. One of the most painful things to ever happen to me. Other than that i have training hard slaying mostly goblins and doing ya know me. How have your paths been going since we last saw each other."

@Crimson Ruby @Bluebird

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby's face colored surprised when @Bluebird suddenly appeared, catching her off guard and making her perk her ears up. "Birdie! You-" Her tails swayed, smiling back warmly. "I didn't know you knew him." She gestured to @Herculean Drakecon with a tail, with her a hand going for her waist and the other resting on the pommel of her sword.

"The world is sure small, and Terrasphere feels even smaller- Wha?!" She blinked suddenly being hugged and feeling the lack of firm standing, but eventually softening her stiff muscles and giving his side a pat before she was set down again.

"I guess you were really missing us, huh." Her tails swayed, and she tilted her head.

"So that group you were trying to make didn't really work, hm... I think it is hard to commit into being a hero, and anything of the sorts. Especially considering how dangerous this game is." Ruby crossed her arms, side glancing to Bluebird.

Herculean's reveal brought a concerned expression to Ruby's face. "You... Died..? You need to be more careful." Her lips frowned, reminding herself of what happened in Red Fever, but not allowing it to crowd her mind too much. "I have been trying to explore the world a bit more. Enjoying it before bad things happen again." She summarized it as much as she could, because the true interesting stories would be better told whenever they sat down to catch up completely.

 

[Bluebird]

"Ah, Herculean-!" Bluebird froze as she was suddenly gathered into a hug, and remained stiff and ruffled looking even after she'd been released. It was a disconcerting way to start off their reunion, but she knew he meant well.

Still, she made sure she had a comfortable amount of space between herself and the others before she nodded to Ruby. "Ah, yes. We spoke during that first expedition, and another time shortly after." She smiled towards Ruby. "I suppose he spoke with you, too."

Bluebird made her way over to the fire, wide-eyed as Herculean tore stumps from the ground for the simple purpose of seating. She took a seat, relaxing a little as she watched the flames simmer.

"So death found you? You seem to be well despite that." She kept her hands folded on her lap, ignoring the bowls set aside for food. "But I should not be surprised, I suppose. You have always seemed strong of spirit."

@Herculean Drakecon @Crimson Ruby

 

[Herculean Drakecon]

.

.

Herculean would be stuffing his face as they talked slurping down the last broth in the bowl. Wiping his mouth with a crude towel from the bag. He would first address their worries about his death and dying."I don't fear dying at all. While being crushed to death was something I would never personally want to experience. I recently upgraded to natural armor and healing so I don't feel as bad." Herc would casually break one of the fingers and show it healing to them, waving off Ruby's comments about the game being dangerous with a happy laugh."Everything is dangerous if you take but there should be steps taken for safety."

His mood would grow somber for a moment while taking in the moment. The beautiful moon in the sky reminded him that he needed to stay grounded." its important to stay in high spirits @Bluebird even when faced with death. You know before terrasphere i tried to kill myself in real life." His moods would change from sad to happy again clenching his fist tightly."Something always kept me going after that a fire in soul I guess? Terrasphere is a beautiful place ya know. Enough about me for a moment how the hell have you too been."

@Chanlye

@Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby nodded to @Bluebird's words. "Yeah..." She followed, taking a seat as well, not trying to invade the personal space of neither of them. Gesturing with her head to @Herculean Drakecon, she added:

"He was there with me and the others, when you saved me with the rescue group." A bittersweet smile crossed her lips. The reminder that her friend went to save her was a nice memory, but what followed up was something that was always going to sting her heart.

She glanced at the bowls, sniffing it for a moment before picking one up, with a grateful nod. "Thank you for the meal."

As she went for a bite of her meal, she nearly choked at the reveal, that made her eyes open widely at the croc man. He had tried to kill himself? Ruby could only wonder what was happening in his real life for him to go as far as that... Truly, Terrasphere was a game of people that escaped real life with everything they could. "I'm sorry to hear that." She frowned her lips, for a moment side glancing at Bluebird.

She wondered once again, if her friend had gone through anything in her life to make her willing to keep going in this game.

Those thoughts were interrupted, however, and she adjusted herself from her hunched sitting. "Like I said before, I've been exploring more places. I've been getting higher ranks at the League, and that means even more funky places to map out... So far, I've been working on mapping out an island at Ilmea's Lament, and I've been tasked recently to go to Tangleweaves to try to pick up an... Uhh... It is supposed to be a secret, but I don't think it is bad to tell the two of you."

She tilted her head. "It is a spore from a Godshroom? Apparently a colossal mushroom infested with a myconid colony. Impressive, really."

 

[Bluebird]

Bluebird folded her wings, ruminating over the dark memories that had been invoked. But her smile didn't falter as she picked up her own bowl of stew. She began to pick past the meat to focus on the thick broth, but paused as Herculean brought up his life before Terrasphere.

"...I'm sorry, that you suffered so much in the other world," she said, setting her spoon down against the edge of the bowl. "But I am glad you found your way here, first. It truly is a beautiful place, is it not?"

A paradise, despite the suffering and pain. Because at least here, there was a meaning to it.

"I've been doing all I can to help the Landers, after what happened in the west. There is always more need for messengers, or those to guard the caravans bringing them to the safety of the east." There was something oddly... angry in Bluebird's voice as she spoke. But it didn't last long as she changed subjects. "But I have also been spending time in a place called Oflainn! It's a village on the shores of Lake Horatio, built entirely within the boughs of a massive tree! It's a lovely place. You should both visit it some day!"

The sparkle remained in her eyes as Ruby detailed her mission. "Like the mushrooms of Ilusus? That sounds exciting!" Bluebird clasped her hands together, wings fluttering. "You must tell us all about it when you return!"

@Herculean Drakecon @Crimson Ruby