Funny thing, how life works. Small things, like jewels, jobs, and rank get noticed, but that which is most obvious is frequently ignored. The ocean, the sky, the road - especially the road - generally means little to casual eye. Quite sad, since these are truly the only things you can ever really depend on when you need them.
This is one thing that Alkinae had learned to be true, a hard lesson taken to heart ages ago.
Once, he too chased the minute details of the mortal realm. Little stood in his way if he had a goal. However, every ambitious heart soon meets a more ambitious soul, and Alkinae was not one to let another be king of the hill. It cost him, and anyone who ever fell to ambition's venomous touch knows the price too well. He lie in the street, the ground concencrated with crimson rain. He cried, as dying men are ought to do, to any god, demon, or passer-by who would save him from fate. He waited on that road for an answer that was not to come.
But this was a different road, a seperate time. He felt the cool breeze pass, and trembled as the wind caressed him gently. Downhill, one could see a small town, precisely what he was searching for. Cities may be grand, but close groups have a soul. A steady pace, the occasional brief pause, and soon his trip was at a close. He walked into the local tavern, and the air escaped the room.
His answer had, in fact, came - just not as expected. His saviour actually expected him to keep his word, which is quite unusual with death-bed pacts. His job was simple; give up his lust for things and live for life itself. Protect life and nature with all the drive you once chased wealth. The forces of life themselves answered; they said "Be a druid or die." Not one to take death lying down, Alkinae accepted the offer. After a few near-fatal lapses, it became quite clear that he really would have to keep his end of the bargain to live. "What a shame," he said, thinking of the life he was forced to leave behind. The old path had died and a new door opened. With a sigh, he stepped through the door.
With a sigh, he stepped through the door. It was always the same now. At first, it wasn't so bad. Druids do exist, and they like to drink, too. But that was aeons ago - about three by now actually. Nature had given it's thrall a long life to do it's bidding, but some changes had to be made. Slowly, he came to resemble the trees he fought to save. Where once fine brown hair sat, a large, leaf-like crest rested. Leaf plate armored his chest and forearms, leaving exposed muscles of twig and branch in the gaps. A small, winglike leaf rested on either shoulder, and a series of vines and roots served as his legs. But he had grown accustomed to it, much as he had to the response it invoked in others.
"Wha, What.." A startled elderly gentleman arose from his seat. "I've seen a bit in my time, but I must say, you're new here. But," he grinned, "a customer is a customer. What can I get cha?"
"Any wine will do." The old man fetched his closest (and cheapest, because the stranger didn't look terribly wealthy) wine and poured a decent amount in an old glass. "Here ya go," he weezed through yellowed teeth as he placed the drink on the table. Alkinae smiled, took the brew, placed it on the floor, and put a root in it. "So, what is there to this little villa?"
The gentleman, watching the root suck up the liquor, almost missed the question. "Oh, not much here. The next town has a writing community, if yer interested in that sorta thing." A thin line drew where Alkinae's lips once were. "Thank you for the info and the drink." With that, he got up and proceeded out the door. "HEY!!!" He turned. " You didn't pay for your drink!"
"You shouldn't worry so much about the little things." He left for the next town, truly content for the first time since leaving his home plane (the maps had his forest right but his name wrong - hopefully other planes had more competent cartographers).
After reaching his destination, the Mighty Pen was fairly easy to find. An application later, smiled inwardly. Maybe things will finally change.
Maybe.
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