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Post by Strangers and Travelers on May 24, 2017 16:50:37 GMT -8
Evelyn walked casually across the water, glancing back to make sure the little halfling was on her back securely.
"A tree dragon? Really? What was that like? Did it breath fire? That sounds awfully difficult for a dragon made of wood. How did you kill it, did you use an axe? What's it like living inside a dragon? It sounds awfully cramped. I don't really fight much of anything, although sometimes we get lake monsters trying to move in. I usually shoo them away. As for the Boneman...no, he doesn't give me trouble. He likes me, so he's awfully nice to me. Sometimes he brings me flowers and jewelry from the land. I can't go on land myself, so those are always nice. He's scary, though. Especially when he's mad. One time I was talking to him over by the shore, and someone came by and said that he was there to kill him. He had a sword and everything!"
She shuddered, recalling the scene. It had been quite traumatizing at the time.
"Have you ever seen someone get their spine ripped out from the front? It's not a pleasant sight. It was self-defense, so I didn't get too mad at him, but still. Scary."
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 16:58:07 GMT -8
Wyssal chuckled as Evelyn asked her questions but listened to her when she described the Boneman.
"Interesting....how come he's so protective of you?"
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Post by Strangers and Travelers on May 24, 2017 17:15:01 GMT -8
Evelyn shrugged.
"I dunno. It's not just because of my looks, he's torn ribcages out of girls prettier than me. I've seen it happen. I didn't speak to him for a week after that. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure why he likes me so much. Still, I'm not complaining. I'd rather not have my pelvis ripped out, so it works out for me. It's a shame about everyone else, though. At least he brings me basket-weaving materials when I ask for them, which is nice. I get tired of weaving them out of reeds sometimes, so he brings stuff that I can't reach from the water."
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 17:41:00 GMT -8
"Hm....."
When the reached the edge of the lake Wyssal hopped off Evelyn's shoulders.
"So is he cool with you talking with other people then?"
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Post by Strangers and Travelers on May 24, 2017 18:13:41 GMT -8
"I suppose...people only really come talk to me when they want swords, though. Nobody ever really comes to just chat. Like I said, I don't really go near shore very often because kids throw rocks at me. I really don't talk to people all that often though, so who knows."
She glanced back, and gasped. Coming towards them from the edge of the lake was the decrepit boat that Wyssal had just been riding a few minutes ago. Standing at the prow was...a very normal-looking man. He wasn't particularly tall or muscular, and seemed like the sort of person one would see selling turnips at a market. He wore glasses and a scarf, and looked extremely harmless.
"Hey! Hey, Evelyn! Where are you going?"
Evelyn broke into a run, sprinting across the water away from the boat.
"It's the Boneman! He'll tear out your femur through your stomach!"
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 18:22:07 GMT -8
Wyssal looked the Boneman up and down and shrugged.
"Meh." She said to herself. She looked behind the two and waved to him.
"Hey, Bone Daddy!" She called, "I was just talking with Evelyn. She's a pretty nice lady!"
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Post by Strangers and Travelers on May 24, 2017 19:01:54 GMT -8
The Boneman looked up at Wyssal curiously.
"Evelyn, who's this? Since when have you begun carrying children across the lake? I thought you didn't like the children."
He sailed up alongside them, standing up on the few remaining beams of the boat. Standing there in his plain white shirt and brown pants, he certainly didn't look like someone who could tear people's bones out of their bodies. However, Wyssal would feel Evelyn shaking beneath her.
"She's just someone I met. She's not a child, just a...um...very small person."
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 19:06:47 GMT -8
"The word you're looking for is halfling, cutey." She said with a wink, turning to face the Boneman. "I was wandering around here and came across your wet friend's lake. We got to talkin' and she thinks you're going to rib my ribcage out. Now, I won't say you can't because I'm certainly proof you can't judge a book by its cover, but you seem like a pretty nice fella. Hows about we all hang out by the lake edge and get to know each other?"
She looked down to Evelyn.
"RIGHT, Evelyn?"
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Post by Strangers and Travelers on May 24, 2017 19:29:58 GMT -8
The Boneman chuckled. His laugh didn't sound particularly cruel or evil at all. In fact, it sounded incredibly calm and mild, like a parent laughing at a joke their child told that wasn't very funny.
"Heh...Evelyn has always been a worrier. Haven't you, Evelyn? I suppose going to the edge of the lake wouldn't be that bad of an idea. And a lot of people say I can't tear anyone's ribcage out...usually just once. You know what they say, seeing is believing after all. I was just curious about one thing...why was my boat in the center of the lake, hmm? It's almost as though somebody used it." Evelyn nodded, biting her lip nervously. The Boneman stared at Wyssal. He wasn't glaring exactly, just...staring at her.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 19:36:03 GMT -8
"Oh yeah, my bad! I smacked the bell out of curiosity and the thing appeared." She said with a chuckle. "Hey if it makes you feel better, Evelyn snatched me off before I could even redock it."
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Post by Strangers and Travelers on May 24, 2017 19:45:35 GMT -8
"Y-you called it? You rode it out to the center of the lake?"
The Boneman's eyes widened behind his glasses, and his hands clenched the front of his boat. The wood flexed under his fingers, threatening to splinter and shatter, before Evelyn held out her hand.
"She didn't mean to, she didn't know. She's not from around here, you know. It was an accident, that's all."
The Boneman's hands relaxed their deathgrip, and he let out a sigh.
"Yes, I suppose it was. It doesn't look any worse than before, so no harm I guess. Just don't do it again..."
The boat turned and began to float back towards the pier. Evelyn followed nervously, walking alongside. She kept glancing at the Boneman, then turning away when he looked up at her.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 19:47:06 GMT -8
She casually waved it off.
"Yeah, yeah, didn't know it was yours. So, Bonelord, you got a proper name?"
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Post by Strangers and Travelers on May 24, 2017 20:31:05 GMT -8
The Boneman looked surprised that she asked, and hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Why...my name is Stephen. Not many people ask that, for some reason. Probably because the people who actually know my name insist on calling me the Boneman. I wonder why."
He glared at Evelyn, who blushed. It was odd, finally seeing some color in her face. Her life at the bottom of the lake had resulted in an extremely pale, almost ghostly pallor.
"You'll always be the Boneman to me, Boneman. You've done things that I can't ever forget. Besides, the name suits you."
The Boneman chuckled again.
"I suppose, if you say so...what's your name, halfling? I don't think I caught it earlier."
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 20:43:09 GMT -8
"Yeah, I bet you would be the Bone Man to her, big guy..." She muttered to herself. At the question she raised her voice to normal.
"Wyssal! Wyssal Bantamweight, adventurer extraordinaire! Found my way out here by accident but that's just the life of an adventurer."
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Post by Strangers and Travelers on May 24, 2017 20:50:20 GMT -8
Luckily for Wyssal, neither Evelyn nor the Boneman heard her little comment.
"It's very nice to meet you, Wyssal. You ought to be careful, wandering around like you do. A lot of people wander into dangerous places accidentally and don't wander out. I've, uh, seen it happen to a lot of people. You should be careful, this world is a dangerous place sometimes."
Evelyn rolled her eyes.
"It's a dangerous place because of you, Boneman."
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 20:57:36 GMT -8
She let out a bellowing laugh, her hands on her hips.
"Oh, my dear friend, I have seen and fought things far more dangerous than you can imagine! I fear not this one lake. Nay, I relish the opportunity to delve into danger! It gave me a chance to meet you, after all." She proclaimed in her dramatic voice. She returned to her more casual stance and voice after.
"Don't worry about me, man. Hey, so, what do you do for fun? She makes baskets, what's your thing?"
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Post by Strangers and Travelers on May 24, 2017 21:03:53 GMT -8
"Well, as long as you can handle yourself, I suppose I've got no business worrying about you. That's good to hear, at least. Too many people think they can just buy a sword and go out to kill monsters, and end up splattered across the side of the road."
When she asked what he did for a hobby, he grinned happily. Evelyn rolled her eyes again, sighing loudly.
"Me? I'm a gardener. I like to grow vegetables and flowers. The ground isn't very good out here, though. Not enough nutrients in the soil. That's why there's no farmers around here. To grow my plants, I have to use an awful lot of fertilizer. How about you, Wyssal? What do you do?"
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 21:05:33 GMT -8
"Well, I've always wanted to bake..." She said wistfully, a smile on her face.
"So what brought you out here? Did you want your own sword?"
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Post by Strangers and Travelers on May 24, 2017 21:21:58 GMT -8
Evelyn groaned, and the Boneman laughed.
"No no, I didn't want a sword. Did you? A lot of people come out here looking for swords. No, I came out here to be a gardener. I thought that it would be easy to grow plants out here, and that I'd have a lovely view of the lake. Well, the view was there, but nothing would grow. Everyone laughed at me, and told me that nothing could grow in this barren soil. They told me that the amount of fertilizer I would need to grow anything was ridiculous, and that I'd never succeed. They kept laughing and laughing and laughing...well, I just couldn't take it anymore. So I made them stop laughing."
He paused, recounting the experience in his head.
"You know, my garden is quite nice now. It just takes a lot of fertilizer, that's all. Lucky for me, I've got plenty of that. Why did you get into adventuring, rather than baking? I've heard it's quite rewarding."
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 21:31:01 GMT -8
"I always had a knack for adventuring, I suppose. Never really had a need for school and, let's be honest, halflings are just....worthless. We're short, we're weak, we're stupid, we can't live longer than even humans, we're not known for anything other than eating too much food and playing terrible lute music.....Like, the only thing we're good at is being used as food for wild animals or being kept as pets."
Wyssal wandered in a circle as she spoke. She sounded more serious than normal.
"I wasn't like that, I was always good at stuff like fighting, magic, exploration, dungeon-diving, all that. I was wasting my time if I stayed in my home. So I decided to travel and explore and go on adventures. I guess I'm the same way as you. People laughed at me, call me a child, treat me like an animal, think of me as weak. Well, then I show them otherwise. I think the only difference between us- well, other than the height and the naiad friend- is one of us has to hold in anger while the other just doesn't care enough."
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