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Post by alexanderthegreat on Sept 5, 2010 22:48:02 GMT -5
"W-what?!"
Alexander's eyes showed all of his disappointment as he saw the hole totally covered up. Really, after a year and a half of this it really shouldn't have surprised him that someone found it. Though now Alexander was at a loss for what to do.
What worried him even more was that now that someone knew of it he wouldn't put it past him that someone could very well be nearby watching it. He let his paranoia get the better of him as he whirled his head around in every direction it was capable of turning towards, searching for guards. The pendant around his neck, tucked under his shirt glowed brightly and from it sprang the rather large fox-like beast named Foxy, her golden fur glistening in the sun outside of the bushes. She let out a high-pitched 'squeal' which made Alexander respond by grabbing her muzzle and hushing her.
"No," he spoke firmly, "keep everyone distracted from us." As he slowly let her go she stood perfectly still, registering her master's orders. Her puffy tail twitched as she turned and examined the area herself, keeping her ears and eyes opened for anyone else.
Foxy sat herself and remained on guard while Alexander turned his attention back to Zeke, looking up at the wall with a sigh.
"I've never had another plan out of here. Unless we can break through this. I don't know how deep into the ground it is, otherwise I'd say Foxy could dig us out," as he mentioned the fox her ears perked up while her body remained turned away from the two men, "I don't suppose you have anything in that crazy brush of yours to do away with this stuff, do you? If not then I've no real choice that doesn't involve some noise in some way or another."
He'd gone through, over, and under the wall in previous years. There used to be an old tower on the other side of the wall once that, for a couple of days, he had his own zip line system.
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Post by Zeke Omoihake on Sept 5, 2010 23:20:56 GMT -5
Zeke popped his head up suddenly, his face holding a grin that ran ear to ear. He knew this was his time to shine, and with any luck make up for squashing Alex earlier.
"I could cook a little something up." He whispered, and with a wink he turned to the wall as his brush conjured up a bottle filled with a translucent liquid. Looking side to side quickly to see that the guards had vanished from their outposts Zeke cocked his arm back, bracing the bottle to throw.
"Here goes nothing." With a snap of his wrist the bottle cracked against the wall, sending the acid it held splashing out against the wall. A first there was only the sound of light hissing, but with moments passed the stone began to erode. With a couple more bottles conjured and tossed Zeke had finally crafted a large enough hole for them to get through.
"Okay Alex, now we just got to wait a while so all that acid doesn't go dripping onto us. I don't know how the heck I'd be able to explain it if we came back and you had holes all over your clothes." He sidled close to him and watched, hoping no one would come by and spot the freshly made hole.
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Post by alexanderthegreat on Sept 5, 2010 23:26:21 GMT -5
Alexander smiled to himself as Zeke stepped close, his arms crossing as he said, "I could always tell them that you got hungry."
He watched as the wall was eaten away--even Foxy turned her head for only a brief moment to watch it--he couldn't say he'd ever seen anything like this before.
"It's impressive. How long do you wait for this to settle?" he dropped his arms and stepped forward, getting as comfortably close as he could to the scene without getting any of it on him. He figured it best to wait until it stopped moving entirely before he asked Zeke, "...is it ready?"
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Post by Zeke Omoihake on Sept 6, 2010 14:47:42 GMT -5
Zeke flashed a quick smile at Alex's joke. "It would add a pretty great bit of myth to my legend huh?"
All of a sudden a gruff voice could be heard approaching closer and grumbling to itself. "Damn mutt, where'd that thing come from anyways? I swear I... wait, what the hell?"
Nervous as could be Zeke slowly peeked out from the tall bush to see what the guard was looking at, only to see him looking past Zeke with a look of sheer bafflement. Whipping backwards as the brush rustled with his movements he looked to see the acid had done its job too well. The hole had grown out past the security of the tall green leaves and the guard was clearly wondering what had caused it.
"Hey you! You in the bushes! Come out. I know you're there." He drew his spear out and began to approach their hiding place slowly.
"Crap, no time. We've got to go!" Zeke snagged Alex's hand and pulled him along through the hole as he had begun to dash away from the castle. Looking for a quick escape Zeke's brush snaked ahead of the two of them and moved quickly to craft their daring method of escape.
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Post by alexanderthegreat on Sept 6, 2010 19:14:06 GMT -5
Alexander yelped as he was pulled through the hole. He gripped Zeke's hand tightly as they ran, Alexander pushing himself to keep up with Zeke and trying to figure out where exactly the other man was leading them.
"T-there's that shortcut from Lux Lucis, remember the one through those backstreets from the ocean? That abandoned forest leading to the city isn't too far from here," Alexander pointed out as they ran.
Foxy stayed behind, rising and then eagerly leaping up and down in front of the guard with the spear. She squealed happily, lowering herself into pouncing position and wriggling her behind playfully.
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Post by Zeke Omoihake on Sept 7, 2010 6:09:07 GMT -5
"Then that's where we're going!" Zeke twisted his neck to shout back to Alex.
"Hey!" A voice cried out from beyond the castle walls. "Get out of my way you damn... thing!" The guard tried to strafe around Foxy, but her attentive bouncing kept him well away from the bushes as Zeke and Alex made their way out of sight.
Ducking behind an old mill not too far from the castle Zeke stopped to at last catch his breath. His gasps were fused with deep sighs of relief as a quick glance revealed no one had tried to follow them. "That was way, waaaay too close." He managed to get out in between short bursts of wheezing laughter.
Turning back to see the path ahead of them Zeke realized he hadn't done any scouting around this part of the castle at all in preparation. He was by all means lost, with only the castle and the city of Lux Lucis in the distance to provide context to where they were.
"Well Alex, I'm afraid this isn't going quite how I wanted it to. But look on the bright side..." Zeke jerked his thumb out towards his brush just finishing a sketch of a two-wheeled cart filled with what looked like hay. "I guess we can skip your private carriage ride."
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Post by alexanderthegreat on Sept 8, 2010 19:30:13 GMT -5
Foxy waited until the guys were a safe distance away before speeding off through the hole herself. With a blinding flash of light she was gone from sight, hunting out Alexander and Zeke.
Alexander laughed in between the deep breaths he was taking from the run, especially when he saw the cart that Zeke's brush had drawn up.
"That's alright, I think I'm allergic to whatever's in there anyway," he stuck his tongue out playfully at Zeke as he spoke, "at least we're taking the more scenic route." Once he recovered he stood tall and looked around. He knew this area well enough, it was part of his hiding place for the last four years afterall. Alexander was just about ready to take the lead and take them out of here before he stopped in his tracks (as short as they were) and gave Zeke a blank stare.
"...W-where are we going?"
And almost as if she was listening for a cue, Foxy popped her head around the corner right beside Zeke, 'purring' in her high, squealing voice.
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Post by Zeke Omoihake on Sept 9, 2010 3:33:37 GMT -5
Zeke gave his head a scratch as he stood there puzzled. It had originally meant to be a journey into Lux Lucis, with the cart being the best way to get them past the guards. Now as he looked out towards the city he wondered how long it would be until the guards got panicked by the hole in the castle wall and really tightened up security.
Zeke debated how they were going to get into the city and his mind so far was coming up blank. He really didn't want to end up burning another hole in a stone wall, or any way that used his power in an obvious way, leaving most of his options pretty empty.
"This isn't going so well." Zeke grumbled. "If only we could get into Lux Lucis the rest of the trip would be a snap. Don't suppose you have a secret way of getting into the city too?" Zeke glanced between Foxy and Alex, wondering what, if anything, the king had up his sleeve.
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Post by alexanderthegreat on Sept 9, 2010 9:01:06 GMT -5
Now was Alexander's turn to think of an amazing plan. He looked off to the side and became lost in deep thought, zoning out and ignoring the world around him for the moment. They had to get into the city somehow and he could already hear the faint sound of the 'alarm bell' ringing back in the castle grounds. Holmes was going to have his hands full for a bit if he was going to keep them secret. It also meant that if they were alarming the guards around the castle of this then they'd send people out to hunt them down so even if they got into the city they would be far from safe yet.
Alexander finally broke from it and turned to Foxy with a big smile on his face. He knelt down and opened his arms out to her.
"Who's a good girl?" he coaxed and she immediately bounced towards him, huge tail wagging heavily in each direction as Alexander showered Foxy with all of the love and affection she clearly enjoyed. She licked his cheek and he scratched behind her ear as he said, "We need to get into the city and around town unnoticed. I think we need to look like different people; rich people so we get treated well and guards won't bother us because we won't have time to talk to them and we're too important for them to harass. You know where we find stuff like that, right? You remember?"
Purring again, Foxy nudged Alexander in her own way of 'hugging' him and then broke away, taking off in her speedy run out of sight. When she returned, she carried with her a few articles of clothing in her mouth and on her back, her tail trying to hang on to them the best she could without also losing her balance as she ran (it was a slower trip back than it was to get there). Alexander praised her again before he turned to Zeke with a huge grin.
"There we go. We continue to follow the path here into the backstreets of Lux Lucis, stick with Foxy to avoid a mugging and slip into the main streets as a lord and a painter discussing business! Or...something."
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Post by Zeke Omoihake on Sept 9, 2010 15:54:27 GMT -5
Zeke eyed up the fancy wear that Foxy brought back and with a big grin nodded to Alex before he started getting dressed. It was the first time Zeke had ever worn something nearly as nice as these vestments. "Oh it's so soft. This beats a cotton poly blend easily." He said as he slipped a long white robe over his clothes.
After a moment Zeke turned to Alex with his ensemble complete. In addition to the robe, he had on a plumbed hat and a pair of shoes much more fitting than his sneakers. "Hey check it out. Now I'm really ready to paint the town red. Just need a finishing touch or two." With a moment of his brush's design he slipped a pair of canvases around his sling and threw on a couple rings and a medallion just to look sexy.
"Alright then, let's party!" Zeke threw out a fist pump and waited to walk along side Alex to the capital as soon as he was ready.
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Post by alexanderthegreat on Sept 9, 2010 19:12:04 GMT -5
Alexander couldn't help but chuckle at Zeke as they threw the clothes on, seemingly so amused by them. Alexander of course was used to wearing such nice things, so it tickled him to see Zeke so enthusiastic. It was...cute, really.
As Alexander settled into his own satiny-red something-or-other as Jess is too lazy to look up an outfit he let out a laugh as Zeke added the 'finishing touches' to his own outfit.
"Now you're not only just a good painter, you officially look the part of a successful one," he smiled, somehow already feeling the stress melting away. Zeke had something that made things just seem better anyway...somehow. Cheerfulness, it was nice.
He started down the path into the town, very graceful movements of a typical arrogant aristocrat.
"Come, we'll apparently discuss your next big project in my great hall. Something showing off how apparently good-looking I am like most of us waste our money on," he announced with a laugh.
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Post by Zeke Omoihake on Sept 10, 2010 1:11:49 GMT -5
Zeke blushed at Alex's compliment, hiding under the wide brim of his artisan's hat. He felt silly, wanting to show off himself in the fine attire but at the same time the compliment had left him feeling self conscious. With a flash of a toothy smile he walked alongside Alex.
He watched how Alex moved, his stance upright and full of pride. He saw how Alex tilted his chin up, as if he was too good to look at the commoners. Zeke tried his best to follow suit.
As they neared the town's guards Zeke cleared his throat before giving his best at sounding snobbish. For once he was glad of his university's fine arts instructors as he did as best he could to imitate them.
"Oh, yes of course sir. My reputation is well deserved I assure you. Why I could hurl cow manure on a canvas and my name alone would make it a masterpiece." He followed suit with his own laugh.
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Post by alexanderthegreat on Sept 10, 2010 1:58:45 GMT -5
Alexander had the most insanely wide grin on his face listening and watching Zeke's acting, he had to fight to keep himself in character though.
"While I'm sure it would be absolutely one-of-a-kind, I won't be requiring cow manure hanging on my wall. I'm thinking more something with a lot of light, highlighting my facial features and really bringing out the nice colour of my eyes," Alexander laughed alongside Zeke as they strode right past the guards. As they made it to the main streets he dismissed Foxy and continued on in the town.
"Very well done, by the way," he said to Zeke as he lead them towards the fountain in the centre of the town. As they neared he increased his pace to get to the fountain, leaning over playfully to look into it before sitting down on the edge and saying, "...I missed this fountain. I fell in it, once."
He then turned his head to the east, eyeing a string of little shops as he added in, "...they also sell good wine down there."
His head then turned directly in front of them and with a grin he also threw in, "and down there was where that little old man hit me with his cane when I knocked over his flower pot!"
For a moment, he actually forgot he was pretending to be a stuck-up jerkface.
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Post by Zeke Omoihake on Sept 10, 2010 17:27:34 GMT -5
"You've had a lot of good times in this city haven't you?" Zeke looked around the bustling cityscape as he relaxed by the fountain. Splashing his hands through the water he looked down at his reflection. Staring down at it the smile faded, replaced with a look of contemplation.
"Let me ask you something Alex. How did it feel when you went with the Sumata to visit Earth? You guys were gone for at least a couple months, so I'm sure you had a lot of time to soak it all in."
"Me? I've been gone for so long, most of my life there feels like a dream. I remember it, but it doesn't feel real. Heck, maybe I just don't want it to be real." Zeke resumed smiling, but there was something in his eyes. Something sad, or maybe just nostalgic. He wasn't sure of it himself.
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Post by alexanderthegreat on Sept 10, 2010 17:49:32 GMT -5
"Yeah, I guess so. Lots of it was me running away from my life though. Kinda wish I hadn't been such a stupid kid and appreciated what I had when I had it."
Alexander let his hands fall to his knees and as he turned to face Zeke again he noticed that his friend had lost his goofy air. Asked about Earth, Alexander's own smile disappeared as he tilted his head to the side in thought, trying to remember everything he could about the odd excursion.
"Um...I guess it was kind of scary, really. I mean, despite being told it's just like Allorum it is still a world different from my own. Trucido was wrong, too, Allorum doesn't have those noisy, metal carts that try to run you over whenever you cross paths," he raised an eyebrow, "otherwise I found it colourful and bright. Almost like my own country here but not with as many disturbingly loud noises. The women are scarier there, too. So really...I guess it was a mix of things. Entertaining, scary...though I admit there were a lot of bad things that happened out there so most of all I became very homesick."
"Why do you ask, though? And what of it not being real? It's your life, right? Your home," Alexander kept his curious gaze on Zeke.
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