Going on a Journey [Aleph's Introduction; Open]

In the Aldmerrian capital of Estermount, a young boy with spiky brown hair wearing a pink feathered hat strolled down the road through the city, taking in all the sights that the capital had to offer. There seemed to be lots of things to do here! There was a festival, and guilds, and a local Carta university! Of course, the boy didn't have much need for Carta, anyway. He already had all the magic he could ever need. But that wasn't important!

Aleph was on his own personal quest. Well, two quests, actually. The main quest was finding his real parents and reuniting with them. He had been left on the doorstep of an Enkidu's household when he was an infant and he had been wondering all about them ever since he was 12 years old. While Hiroko was always nice and caring, he always wondered what his real parents were like. Were they Walpurgis too? Did they also have a magical guardian spirit following them? Did they like puppies?

And of course, the other quest was to travel to the land of Eisleyn and seek out the currently reigning princess. He had recently caught wind of all the horrible, horrible things happening throughout the land, and how the princess was not only doing nothing to help, but she was making everything worse! She was treating the people like trash, raising taxes to astronomical heights, and if that wasn't horrible enough, she was killing suitor after suitor. And for what? Failing to answer dumb, made-up riddles that nobody knew the answer to?

All of this and more just made Aleph really mad. Someone had to do something. Someone had to stop her. Someone had to save the poor people of Eisleyn from their miserable lives and their atrocious leader! And by the gods, that someone was going to be Aleph! But first, he was hungry.

Aleph looked around as he walked through Estermount, searching for a place in which he could acquire food, beverages, and other nice things that offered nourishment. He had been travelling for a good while, and now he needed something to eat. Of course, a short rest wouldn't be bad either. He walked up to one of the buildings and leaned against the wall. He then sighed.

"Phew, how long have I've been walking?" He asked himself as he looked around. "It'd be great if I could find someone to show me around right now."

As Aleph walked along the path, he'd find a spot of sunlight pouring down on a rock where a young, olive-ivory-skinned woman with wavy black hair sat. The girl had what appeared to be a huntress' attire. She wore a dark green tunic with a belt across the waist, long, tight tan pants that disappeared into long, high-heeled leather boots, and a long dark blue cape that was torn at the edges. It was hard to make much of the girl's facial features since she wore a black eye mask, revealing only bright green eyes, a little of her nose and her lower face.

The girl didn't seem to be doing anything at all except staring at the leaves above her. As Aleph approached, she gave him a small glance, but then returned to what she was doing.

Aleph sighed as he looked around. It was a pretty nice day, as far as it seemed. However, he immediately noticed a young woman dressed in hunting clothes that was staring up at the leaves. Hiroko had warned Aleph to be careful when it came to talking to strangers, but in this case, Aleph was in need of help. Plus, she seemed harmless enough!

Aleph smiled and walked up to the woman. "Hello." He said, smiling. "I need some help getting through town. Can you show me where the nearest inn is?"

Upon being greeted by Aleph, the girl slowly turned to look at him. There was no hint of change in her expression nor did she bother greeting him. When he asked about the inn, she closed her eyes and rolled her head from one shoulder to the other.

"If you keep walking along this path, you should be able to find a small inn," she said. "There are no turns until you pass it, so you probably wouldn't get lost."

The girl straightened up and looked at him directly.

"However, there's been a little corrupted beast activity in these parts," she said. "Rumors about a moira , too. If you don't mind, I'll escort you to make sure you make it there safely."

The girl didn't wait for a response. She hopped off of the stone and pulled up a tan hood. On the side of the rock, she picked up an ebony long bow and a quiver full of arrows.

"You have a name, mister?"

Aleph listened and nodded as the girl gave him directions to the nearest inn. Now he felt grateful for finding her, because now he could get some rest, and a decent meal too! Aleph smiled at the thought.

Of course, his smile wavered upon hearing about corrupted beasts and Moira. He remembered Hiroko telling him all about how various monster-like beings roamed Esterelf, attacking people and wreaking havoc. However, this was the first he had heard about the Moira, whatever they were. Nonetheless, the girl then offered to escort him to the inn. Well, that was nice of her!

"Why, thank you! Also, my name is Aleph. It's nice to meet you!" He said, smiling. He then scratched his head. "And...what's a Moira?"

The girl swung her bow over her back as well as her quiver. She nodded at his name.

"Aspen," she said plainly. "Like the tree. It's nice to meet you. We should start walking. It's a bit of a long way."

The girl walked slowly, her eyes staring at the road ahead and her face void of emotion. Keeping her hood up, she looked at Aleph and remembered his second question.

"You don't know what a moira is?" she said. "Where you from to not know? Moira are one of the most dangerous things around these parts. They're Walpurgis...at least they were. When a Walpurgis strains his or her energy too much or do anything that might corrupt their anima profusely, they turn into monsters. Even the weakest kinds are strong enough to take whole villages out. I suppose it's why Walpurgis are oppressed and monitored as much as they are. Normal people are helpless against those kind of things."

Aleph smiled as he walked and followed Aspen towards the inn. He listened as she explained the details behind Moira, and how they affected the general population at large. He bit his lip as she explained how they used to be Walpurgis, only to become corrupted.

"Oh...I guess that's why people don't like Walpurgis all that much." He said, frowning. As much as he was afraid of encountering an anti-Walpurgis mob, he was even more afraid of becoming like one of the Moira that everyone had feared. "Does this happen often? Surely, people don't think that Walpurgis become corrupt all the time, do they?"

Of course, chances were that he would probably be wrong. Hiroko had told him about how Esterelf was full of dangerous, horrible, and selfish people who weren't afraid to hurt others for their own personal gain, and how those people often turn out to be even worse than any corrupted beast or hostile Incantus. But despite all of that, it never hurt for Aleph to have a little faith in other people, knowing that everyone was always capable of change.

Well, almost always, but still.

Aspen shrugged.

"I wouldn't say often," she answered. "Most Walpurgis are sealed at birth. Can't use your Cantus, can't corrupt yourself, right? That said, let's hope those rumors are only rumors."

As they continued, Aspen would pull search her cloak and pull out a wooden flute. It seemed to made out of a light colored wood and had strange rune-like carvings on it. Aspen lifted it up and started playing a small ditty little tune. She then glanced at Aleph.

"So, what brings you to these parts of Aldemerrow?" she asked. "Trading? Hunting? Something else?"

Aleph looked at Aspen in horror.

"At birth?! That's just horrible! I mean, I know that probably makes sense, but...Cantus is like a part of them, isn't it?" He said, frowning. He couldn't stand bearing even the mere thought of losing his Cantus, after having it for so long. He loved using magic and he didn't want to give it up. He sighed. "Though, I suppose it can't be helped."

After that, Aleph smiled as Aspen started playing music. It was always nice hearing music. He enjoyed listening to Hiroko sing to herself at home and had hoped to find an instrument so that he too could play music as well. He beamed as Aspen asked him about him being in Estermount.

"Actually, I'm just passing through." He said, smiling. "I'm travelling to the land of Eisleyn, you see. And I plan on seeing the Princess!"

Aspen made a small shrug. She didn't seem to particularly care for the situation of the Walpurgis.

"That's just how the world works, I guess," she said. "And I don't know too much about the Cantic folk. I always thought Cantus being 'a part of them' was some sort of sentimental boar dung they made up so others would pity them. So I don't know if it's true."

As the two made a second turn, the trees would clear and open up to the sky. Aspen paused for a moment and took off her hood. She stretched her arms out and tilted her head heavenwards.

"Mm...I love the sun," she said. "Gives me warmth."

She still had no distinguishable expression on her face, but she did look relaxed. She somewhat looked like a cat trying to sunbathe. Once she put her hood up again, she arched an eyebrow at Aleph.

"You tryin' to get killed, pink hat?" she said. "Little Miss Queen-to-Be of the North's executed traveler after traveler that appeared in her palace. You're not trying to do something like court her are you? Because if you are, you're making a death wish."