William's house on the river

[LotusCalm!]

William's house is a small log cottage made by him.
The inside has three rooms, a kitchen/dining room/living room, a bedroom, and a study. It's small but a very comfortable place to live.
Behind his home is a forest. In front of it is a river that moves just slow enough that a boat could travel both up and downstream.
Nobody lives around him.

[LotusCalm!]

Arkha moana shlap.
Arkha moana shlap mra klap.
Shlap ar la klap.
Arkha, croaka, ar las klapes de la shlap.
ARKHA, croaka, ar las klapes de la shlap.
ARKHA, CROAKA, AR LAS KLAPES DE LA SHLAP, LALAK!

William finished writing the spell, thinking. The day before, when he was fingering his amulet, he had been talking to himself. (Like many lonely people, William did that all the time.) He had said jump in the language, which he named Egaugnal, because a frog was in his way.
The frog jumped.
He tried it again and again, and got the same result. He tried it with other things, and other words, and they always obeyed his commands. He planned to use this power.
When he said sentences they weren't as responsive, but sentences were what he needed to be more descriptive.
He decided that he needed to write spells, of sorts.
The one that he had just finished meant,

Fly to the heights.
Fly to the heights of the tree.
Fly to the tree.
Fly, rock, to the heights of the tree.
FLY, rock, to the heights of the tree.
FLY, ROCK, TO THE HEIGHTS OF THE TREE, LALAK!

Stretching, William stood up. If this spell worked, and the rock flew to the top of the tree that William had named Lalak (he had discovered that the language obeyed with what HE named things) then he would be successful.
He could then turn his attention to the idea that had been swimming in the back of his head.
A few years before, he had written a book for the heir to the throne about the history of the planet.
Although he never met the girl, he thought darkly why nobody ever wrote books for him. To be teaching something to her, he must be smarter than this girl. Someone as smart as HIM should be respected.
What if he took her place?
The idea seemed wild at first, but less as time went on. William could master the language-- and the magic-- and then go to the palace and show them that he was a force to be reckoned with. If they didn't listen, didn't make HIM the heir to the throne, than maybe he could take it by force.
Or maybe he could kill the girl. It was only one person. It wasn't that bad of a crime.

His head spinning with ideas, William walked towards the door, eager to try his new spell. Oh, if it worked... and it WOULD. He'd MAKE it work.
He turned to behind his house and went near the tree, Lalak-- but not too close.

"Arkha moana shlap," he said. Nothing happened, yet.
"Arkha moana shlap mra klap." The branches of the tree rustled, seeming to pay more attention to the world around them.
"Shlap ar la klap. Arkha, croaka, ar las klapes de la shlap." A rock gently lifted off the ground and started wobbling towards the tree.
"ARKHA, croaka, ar las klapes de la shlap," he repeated, more loudly and forcefully.
"ARKHA, CROAKA, AR LAS KLAPES DE LA SHLAP, LALAK!" The rock zoomed upwards and hovered over the top branches of the tree, then found a stronger branch and set itself down in it.

Yes, William thought. YES! It works! I am a genius. Everybody will admire me. And someday, someday I will be KING!

[Oh, great Cracker!]

Saverio had left his home a few days before today, and was following a river he had come upon. Travelling was slow for him, as he was enjoying taking in whatever sights were around him. He would admit that he missed his family, but it was good for him to change his lifestyle. He was twenty now, he couldn't rely on his parents forever. And he wasn't all that interested in farming anyway. He had relatives that could take over the farm in later years, and, after a while, he would go back and visit them all.

Right now, he had no idea where he was, but the area was quite beautiful. He continued travelling next to the river for some time before he thought he heard a voice. Someone yelling something, but he couldn't understand what it was they were saying. He moved on, until he came upon a small cottage. 'How curious! I didn't think anyone lived around here.' Who ever it was that lived here sounded somewhat angry, as he was still yelling things Saverio couldn't understand.

He stood still by the river, admiring the house from there. It seemed nice... peaceful. He envied whoever lived there.

[LotusCalm!]

William smiled. "Success," he said aloud. There was no point in being quiet, since no one was around. He had long ago decided how foolish it was to worry about talking to himself. It wasn't insane. It was simply thinking aloud. William decided that the true reason to not talk to yourself is because he didn't want anyone hearing him. After all, the things in his head were his deepest secrets. He didn't want them revealed. But, since he wasn't near anybody, there was nothing to reveal, so he was fine.

Looking around him, he froze. There was a person! On his property! Nobody EVER came near his house. The man looked to be about his age. He was staring at his home in what paranoid William thought was a rather predatory way. He seemed to have been traveling, but, of course, that was no surprise. Anyone who came near William on anything but a horse must have done some hard walking, perhaps even camping, to reach him. Nobody would bother with that for William. That was why he liked the place.
But there was something different about this man. He didn't look purposeful, like the other people William had known. Of course, the only people William really knew were his father, scholars, and people on the street. Other than with his old lover and her friends, he never did have much fun.
He didn't need it, either, he thought dismissively.

He approached the man in long strides, putting an angry look on his face. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "This is MY property. And unless you're mad, you've only come this far away from civilization with a purpose. Would you please tell me what it is?" He advanced threateningly, enjoying himself.

[Oh, great Cracker!]

After a moment of simply looking at the house, a man came into his vision, startling Saverio. And after that, the man proceeded to chew him out. 'Geez, this guy needs to take a nap or something...' That's what he would do if he was grumpy. That's basically what anyone in his family ever did if they were in a bad mood... needless to say, they weren't a particularly unhappy family, so Saverio wasn't used to dealing with people in bad moods.

But whatever. "I was just passing through and I saw your lovely house~ So I decided to admire it before continuing on. And I do have a purpose. I'm travelling!" He wasn't specific, mostly because he didn't know where he was traveling to... he was just walking and hoping he'd find something or some place of interest. "I don't even know where civilization is~ My home isn't in a very populated area." He said with a smile.

[LotusCalm!]

William sighed. "Sorry," he said. "You interrupted my....uh.... work." He glanced up at the tree where the rock balanced precariously in the upper branches. The flood of excitement passed through him again. He was successful! Twisting the amulet around in his fingers, he analyzed the man. His clothes were worn and dirty enough that he clearly had been traveling. Not fancy, so he wasn't extremely rich. Obviously not too bright, either. William wanted to smirk. HE would always know where HE was if HE was traveling.

He didn't show his arrogance when he spoke. "Nobody lives around here," he said. "It'd be at least a full day's walk to the nearest town. Hard work without a horse." He gestured to his small stable.

His plans to become the heir needed magic, of course, but wouldn't some allies be useful? He should befriend this man. Besides, he was lonely. He could use a friend.... "Do you want to come in?" he suggested, gesturing to his house.

[Oh, great Cracker!]

"Eeh? Doing yard work, then?" He didn't know what other 'work' the man could be doing outside. "I'm sorry I interrupted!" Even though he hadn't actually done anything, but... his doing nothing had disturbed the man.

Saverio thought for a moment. "Just a day? That's not too bad." He didn't bring up the subject of horses. He wasn't fond of the creatures. Not even the ones that lived on the farm at home. He'd rather have a long trip than take a horse with him. "I'm not in any hurry...."

He was surprised when the man offered to let him inside. Quickly he shook his head, throwing his hands up. "No, no! I don't want to be any more of a bother to you!" He exclaimed. It was best to let the man get back to his work, right?

[LotusCalm!]

William shrugged. "It's fine. I was pretty much done anyways." He WAS. He had just been annoyed at the trespassing idiot, that was all. "So don't feel bad." William wouldn't mind if he did, but whatever.

William shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose so. But by a day I mean a DAY. 24 hours." He frowned. "Where are you going, anyways?" he asked. "For that matter, where do you come from." He grinned. "Sorry," he said. "Personal questions."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't mind. Really." Was that true?

[Oh, great Cracker!]

"Oh, well I've been travelling for days already... so one more doesn't make a big difference. I'm pretty slow, so I guess it'd take longer than twenty-four hours for me anyway." Saverio laughed, scratching the back of his head. "I have enough food, so it's no problem." It was true. He packed more food than he probably needed, but hey. You could never go wrong with too much food, right?

Where was he going? "Hmm, no where in particular. Just travelling." he said without much thought. He didn't have any destination, after all. Hadn't even contemplated where he wanted to go. "I came from a farm... a good distance away from here." Like he actually knew how far. "And it's fine. I don't mind the questions~"

He considered the man's offer. He was a bit tired from walking. A short rest would be nice. "I... suppose. If it's not a problem."

[LotusCalm!]

Nodding to everything he said, William replied, "No problem. I could use some company. It gets lonely out here, alone." He walked into his house. The wooden walls supported many important scrolls, showing that he was clearly a scholar. Most of his house was relatively clean, but his desk was complete chaos to anyone but him. Above his quills was an accurate drawing of the amulet, as well as what he thought it was made of. He had been trying to decide if he could make another one.

"Do you like it?" he asked, moving towards the kitchen area. He gestured to the table. "Sit down," he said. "Want anything to drink?" He wasn't used to being a host of any kind, but it isn't something that's extremely hard to learn.

[Oh, great Cracker!]

Saverio followed the man into his home, gazing curiously at everything inside. It seemed so peaceful and clean compared to his own home. But also it seemed kind of lonely. He wondered if this man ever thought that... Saverio doubted it. If he lived so far away from people, then he most likely preferred being alone. Himself, he could never be away from others for very long. He'd feel much too sad...

In fact, he was starting to depress himself by just thinking about it! 'Enough of that!' He distracted himself by looking around more of the cottage, following the man into his kitchen. "A drink? Sure! I am really thirsty!" he said with a smile. He took the mans offer to sit at the table. "Anything is fine~" even water would be enough for him.

[LotusCalm!]

William decided to experiment. He pulled two mugs out of the cupboard, filled them with hot chocolate powder (this medieval land happened to have that) and poured water on top of the dusty brown powder. He put his hands on both mugs, murmured a few words under his breath, and then pulled his hands away when they suddenly grew warm.

William smirked. Once again, he had proved himself to be so much smarter than the rest of the world. He would show them all someday!

Moving over to he man, he wondered if he had noticed anything strange. He shrugged and sat down. Did it matter? "What's your name?" he asked, amused that he hadn't yet thought to ask.

[Oh, great Cracker!]

After sitting, Saverio's eyes began to roam again, taking in all the sights of the kitchen. He wasn't looking at the man as he prepared the drinks, but he did hear him muttering something as he did. The cheerful boy didn't make too much of it. He kind of figured that the guy was a bit off.

His vision did settle on the man, though, when he also sat at the table. "Oh! I'm sorry, it was rude of me not to say earlier! My name is Saverio. Saverio Vargas."

[LotusCalm!]

"Ah," William replied. "Where did you come from, that you traveled so far?" He eyed Saverio's dirty travel clothes. Very far, he added drily to himself. The overambitious wizard didn't think he would be OVERLY useful, but he might be worth the time.

William wondered if befriending people really was the best approach. After all, if there were troops of people talking positively about him, then why couldn't somebody see him as a better heir to the throne? It was sheer logic!

[Oh, great Cracker!]

"Just... my home." His farm had been in no particular town or village. It was practically in the middle of no where, and Saverio wasn't sure what the actual address of it was. "I've been traveling for four days now. I've been a little slow, though, so I probably could have shaved a day off easily, but..."

He noted that while he gave up his name so easily, he hadn't gotten one from the man. "Er- by the way, you never told me your name." It was starting to bother him to just consider the other "the man" in his head.