Given what's happened, I shouldn't even be here. Though my loyalties are to no one person or kingdom, roaming through these lands almost seem taboo. But perhaps the rumors are true and here I can learn more about...Devotion. Oikawa moved quietly along the path. Death seemed to blanket the area. Offering nothing short of dead grass, trees, and barren wasteland carved from the rumored use of blood magic. The brunette had heard from some NPC's in Astorea of a land plagued by the gods. One such rumor went into detail how one Tora God in particular ravaged this place. Elwora He mentally repeated the name. A subject of interest for him as he wanted to learn more about this God. As such, his journey landed him here. "I wonder if this place is just as uninhabitable as they made it out to be, or if there is something more..." @Jomei
Brown leather boots pounded against the dead grass of the area, moving as quickly as he could. His left arm reached up over his head, grabbing hold of one of the feathered ends of an arrow, quickly bringing it to his front and placing it along his bow. Once his fingers were in place, the pointed eared Yladian quickly spun on the ball of his foot and yanked the tightly wound string back, launching the wooden arrow at the large beast that followed him. The large salamander-like creature that followed him, took the arrow in the shoulder and let out a pained yelp, though continued its approach, snarling at the archer who had hurt him. "Shit." Jomei cursed under his breath as he quickly spun back around and continued to run. The pursuit was caused by Jomei's attempt to practice his Hunting abilities, his trap setting in particular. A simple bear trap was what started it all, which was currently dragging along behind the salamander, the bloodied teeth of the trap dragging along in the dirt. The last thing Jomei expected was for a beast that could pull the metal clamp from the ground to get stuck in the primitive trap. The chase ended up in some unknown area, where all floral-life seemed to decay, and the ground almost seemed stained a brownish red. As he ran, the man spotted a brunette player walking alone off in the distance. Should he ask the, hopefully kind, stranger for help? A quick thought in his mind, he decided to take the beast out on his own. "Here goes nothing." Jomei thought as he grabbed two arrows between his fingers, nocking them both at the same time, both in line with each other, a slight angle formed at the tails. Quickly turning, the man dropped to a knee and aimed his weapon towards the beast, releasing the arrows, sending them whirring through the air. One of the arrow missed its mark, simply scratching the underside of the oversized lizard. The other one, made a direct hit in its knee, causing it to stumble and crash into the ground, its front leg paralyzed. With a sigh of relief, Jomei rose to his feet yet again and pulled out last last arrow, lodging it between the eyes of the creature, ending its life.
The ground rattled and rocked as dust quickly shrouded the brunette from behind, causing him to whip around to a sight he wasn't quite prepared for. Hunched over and panting, a green figure notched an arrow and bulls-eyed the enormous salamander like creature sprawled out in front of him. With how colossal the beast looked, a concern washed of Oikawa. How could something that large not catch my attention sooner? Furthermore, how did this archer take it down with only his bow? Either the beast didn't provide much a threat, aside from size, in the first place; or that marksman is more than he appears. Either way, it would be wise to approach the lad carefully. Golden eyes shifted about as Oikawa called out to the wooden sniper. "Oi, I suppose that beast didn't fare much a challenge for you?" He'd offer the guy a drink but given his newbie status the brunette didn't have any and upon checking his vitals, he realized he would be due for some form of sustenance soon. Shaking the thought loose, he turned back to the newcomer and offered his name. "The name's Oikawa. Oikawa the Faint. Pleasure to make your acquaintance," he mused. Offering out his hand, he hoped the stranger wouldn't take offense to his forwardness. However, the brunette would certainly need help in finding this temple so maybe this guy might have some information regarding the area.
With heavy breaths, Jomei stayed in his spot, waiting to make sure the giant lizard did not stand back up. Once he saw the beast had been killed, Jomei rose to his feet, and placed the bow back on his back. Lucky for him, the beast was merely big, yet its challenge rating did not prove much of a threat to the hunter, who's skills had been improving every day since he started. From behind, he heard a voice, causing the man to turn around and look at who spoke up to him. It was the lone soul who had been wandering the land, the one whom he considered asking for help with the salamander. Jomei smirked and brushed the dust off of his tunic, "Guess not.. really wasn't as strong as it looked." he said with a chuckle, knowing fairly well that it gave him a bit more trouble than let on. The man then introduced himself as Oikawa the Faint, a name that caused his long pointed ears to twitch, as if it were familiar to him.. yet it was a mere feeling that came and went as if carried away by the small breeze. Returning the gesture with his own gloved hand, Jomei took Oikawa's hand in a firm grip. "Jomei.. Jomei the... Hunter?.. Eh.. nice to meet you." he said with a chuckle, giving himself a title himself, merely making friendly jokes with the man. One he had retracted his own hand, the elf's arms crossed at his chest, "So what're you doing all the way out here? Usually there's not much to find in these dead lands.. or at least I've heard. First time being here myself."
What the noirette hadn't originally noticed was that the ginger man was also that of another race. Yladian was it? The elven-like race? Intrigue came and went from his features as the man firmly returned the handshake. Looking past Jomei, Oikawa confirmed the death of the creature mentally before returning his attention to the hunter before him, his question snapping his focus back. "Ah just the faintest of rumors have brought me here. Something along the lines of a particular Toran God roaming about and a temple to be found. Its all hearsay but here I am trying to further indulge in what is more than likely to be a false hope." Crimson eyes gazed around them. Not another soul in sight, let alone deistic temples. Shifting his gaze back to Jomei, he prodded. "What about you? What brings you out here?" Surely there was something that brought the man all the way out here to no-mans land.
"A god?" Jomei questioned, crossing his arms at his chest. It was the first time he heard of someone speaking of deities in this game, though it did not surprise him with the amount of lore that backed every little detail. Searching his surroundings, Jomei did in face notice multiple structures off in the distance that seemed to serve as some sort of old temples. Was there a specific one that Oikawa was looking for, he wondered. "Well.. I can't say I've heard anything about a god.. especially not any Toran ones." The question was rebounded to Jomei, wondering what the man was doing here as well. Jomei shoved a thumb over his shoulder, "I was chased here by that thing actually.. I was practicing placing traps in the next forest over.. though they were meant for something a lot.. smaller. This guy decided he wasn't too happy with that, and chased me all the way here.. I honestly did not have any plans of visiting this place."
Fingers parted a few ink colored hairs from his face as Oikawa listened to the Yladian. He admitted to having not heard of the Elysid Court, let alone its Toran subset. The same set of fingers soon rested on his chin. The red-head's explanation for being in these parts proved to be more comical the objective based. A soft chuckle escaped the noirette. "Well that would certainly be the luck of a budding hunter," he chimed. His crimson eyes danced over the horizon, spotting out the silhouettes of buildings Jomei had no doubt spotted earlier. Shifting to face them, Oikawa asked aloud. "Though you originally had no business here, perhaps you would care to delve into something more...ominous." He had to choose his words carefully. Despite the notion of the Gods being a rumor, they are still in fact Gods and Goddesses and if lore held true, they weren't exactly safe for seeking them out. More importantly, the Tora weren't necessarily the good guys of the Court and are the most dangerous of the panel. Oikawa glanced over his shoulder to the hunter. "Dare to hunt the best hunters?"
