Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Isabella remained silent at Cid's question, remembering a phrase her mother had told her a very long time ago... never answer a question if you aren't sure of the answer.

The group continued moving north, since apparently no one knew where to go next. They soon met a group of travellers, one of which who spoke. The strange man had asked where the group was going.

Why, Isabella thought, is everyone so hung up on knowing where we are going?

She looked around uneasily at the rest of the people in her party, hoping someone would be brave enough to answer.

"Our business is our own, worthy traveler," Phalan spoke up, matching the man's northern accent, "But who art thou to inquire of whither we go?"

(Sorry all, been gone awhile. I'm back now)

[Argh, everyone is busy during school time. I'm going to Thailand tomorrow (9th) and returning on the 16th. Packing so currently can't do much about role playing. Hopefully this won't be dead when I return.]

[This won't die as long as I am here.]

Elily kept quiet, as Phalan and the traveller spoke. There was nothing for her to say. Instead, she focused on eyeing all the travellers. An amusing thing she realised were that both the Guardians' party and the travellers' party were looking very...out-of-shape. Hehe. So, apparently the wind had also taken its toll on them.

[Crap, I know. But it's all I can do to boost this up.]

(I wonder what Lillie had in mind for this traveller?)

No sooner than he had spoken the words, Phalan flinched, quite visably. His claw slowly moved to clutch his side, to the casual eye it might appear he had an itch and was attempting to scratch it. In truth, the dragon was exerting every ounce of his will to suppress the terrible pain that once again shot through his ribs and into his chest. The pain had beset him as soon as the orbs had lost their power. Phalan knew what it was, but it would be best to keep it from the group, at least for now. His eyes glazed as the pain almost over took him, and then, just as suddenly as it had come, it was gone again. He took a moment to internally regather himself and awaited the man's answer.

Cid glanced at the high-and-mighty young teacher. Some teacher who had to rely on a dragon to answer. But then again, they all were relying on Phalan.


The traveller shifted in his seat. Although he had not moved much, the stance was unmistakably different. He was certainly on his guard now. The rest of his pack followed him, making minute changes in posture to be wary of this strange, and unfriendly group of travellers the Guardians appeared to be.

"Merely one who goes on his way open to friendly news," the leader replied coolly. "We go on our way to Ashling for protection from these winds only, and to receive news of what has happened to have caused the changes in the weather. We shall not tarry longer upon your presence and will go our way; night is coming." He bowed stiffly in his seat with an air of scorn.

The windswept strangers shuffled to one side of the road and passed the Guardians without a second glance. Before long, they were a distance away. The last that was seen or heard of them was a call from the last of the straggling group: "Be advised to find shelter soon for the winds at night are the worst of all."

[Rather inconveniently, I came back yesterday and seem to be going away to Beijing tomorrow (see sig). I hope I can access PPT but I might not be able to.]

Phalan frowned as he watched the travelers leave. Ashling would give them few answers if any. Unless these travelers were more than they seemed, the Headmaster would not reveal the true severity of the situation. The dragon's scales prickled along the back of his neck, he didn't know why, but he didn't trust those travelers. But he knew there very well might be some truth to their parting words. After a moment of thought he turned to the group.

"So what say you?" he inquired, "Should we press on and make camp at nightfall, or heed their warning and seek shelter?"

"There are not a lot of ways to hide from the wind. Why don't we just keep going on our way, and stop if we find something? There's no reason we should spend hours going far off our original path just to find shelter we might not even need", Isabella replied.

Phalan nodded, "Agreed, such a detour will cost us valuable time. But what will we do if the travelers are right? We are approaching the Plains of Trub, and I had hoped we would reach them by nightfall. But once there, we will have little refuge from anything except the high grass."

[Firstly, I would like to apologize for my absence this few days. I'm having problems accessing PPT on my computer, and I'm currently typing this from a school computer. I may not be able to post during the weekends, so my character(s) are freelance when I'm gone unless a miracle happens and I suddenly get to access PPT again.]

[Swiss says she won't be on for who knows how long, so Alazira will be under me a while? ]

Alzi growled to herself. Those travellers looked mighty familiar. Where had she seen them before? She tried to trace their faces in her mind, but she couldn't place a memory to them. Shaking her head, she knew she would remember it later. A nagging feeling told her it was important that she remembered it soon.

"We'd best be on our way then," she said aloud. "No use in loitering around wondering what to do and wasting time. Time is what we can't spare." So saying, she urged her mount to move again in the direction they had been heading for previously. After a moment's hesitation, Elily moved to do the same and Cid followed.

[Whoever makes the next post is free to make it nightfall and we have reached ... whatever you think we have reached.]

Phalan sighed, and followed started walking, catching up to Alzi.

"I don't trust those travelers," he said to her, "I don't know what it is but I don't like them. And I like even less that they're going to Ashling."

[I'd love to do the speedie for you, but I do need to know where they are supposed to be heading.]

(Hehe, me either, we're waiting for Lillie, we follow the flower)

[Whoops, sorry! Since I'm home with bronchitis, I shall make friends with the role play board. Feel dah lurve (and the germs).]

The Guardians and their guardians went on their way. Little was said as they struggled against the winds. For some reason, the winds were picking up in strength instead of dying down and the journey became progressively slower.

An hour or two before nightfall, they were in sight of a barren hill. Beyond that were the plains that Phalan had spoken of, but they would take a few hours yet to reach.

Cid shifted in his seat uneasily. He didn't like how the winds were getting stronger by the moment. What would they be like that night? The idea of being exposed to the wind's mercy all night long was not something he anticipated with pleasure. Unable to hold back any longer, he called out, "Let's find shelter by that hill. The winds are bad; we're not going to get any further tonight."