[Log] Only What You Make Of It
Who: Shams, Sieg
What: Talk of home and their findings in Budehuc
Where: By the lakeside
Shams gave a small sigh as he sat on a large rock overlooking the lake from the beach. He had gotten settled in his room at the manor, had tried to speak to the chef, but she was rather busy, so he had eaten food, that while he was sure good, he couldn't enjoy it. He missed Taj, and he missed Manaril, and he ached to be with his people again. The words of Watari were haunting him; the idea that he wouldn't be able to return home bothered him.
The possibility that they wouldn't be able to return back to their world was not something Sieg allowed himself to think about. It was easy for him to distract himself with everything else around their new surroundings, however. There were plenty of new people and it wasn't like familiar faces were completely absent. That was some cause for concern though. It was a small number that had shown up from home, and yet it only seemed like that number increased slowly as the days went on by. What if their world started merging with this one? Why would this be happening?
Those were the questions that were circling his head as the boy made his way along the path along the lakeside. He wouldn't be able to deny the slight pang of homesickness from such similarities to their own castle, but he wasn't about to let it get the best of him. Besides, if he started getting all distraught about stuff, where would that leave his fellow Company-members? Speaking of which, he saw one of them there, sitting by the waters. Sieg smiled a little, heading over towards the large rock. "Hey Shams!" he called.
The call made the young king turn, catching sight of Sieg. He smiled and waved at the commander of the company he once served in. "Lord Sieg," he greeted, "Out for a walk?"
Shams always had a high opinion of Sieg. The older boy always managed to see the bright side of things, even if he had to bash his way into it. Sure, he sometimes thought the young commander's manners left something to be desired sometimes, but those were something Shams could over look. He scooted over on the rock, "Care to join me?" he asked.
Grinning, Sieg waved a hand. "Hey, come on, I'm no lord! You can drop the title," he laughed. "But yeah, just wandering a little." With a nod at the invitation, the boy vaulted up onto the rock, clambering over to plop himself down beside the young prince. "It's a nice view of the lake from here, huh?" He leaned back on his hands, looking out across the waters before he glanced at Shams.
"So how're you holding up?" he asked. "Having any problems here?"
"You're the commander of a Company that saved the world," Shams said smiling, "And you own a castle, I would think that makes you a Lord, but if you wish I will try to refrain from using the title then." He settled back, hands behind him, legs streched out in front and returned his gaze back to the lake. "Yes, this is a beautiful view, it reminds me of the beaches back home.
"As for how I'm fairing here at Budehuc... I suppose I'm doing as well as I can. Though being told I can't go home is very... hard."
"Didn't do it alone. We saved our world because of everyone's effort, because we wouldn't give up. And that castle's as much everyone's as it is mine." He smiled, leaning his head back to glance skyward. "I think it's kind of the same with the people here, and this castle. Sure, it has a castle master, but without people here, it wouldn't be much of a place to stay."
Sieg looked over at Shams again, his smile sobering a touch as the prince shared his concerns. Slowly he sat forward again, folding his legs to sit cross-legged, resting his elbows on his knees. "Up until recently no one here's even heard of people coming from other worlds, but look- we're here now, right? So there's no guarantee that we won't be able to go back. I don't care if people are saying it's definite or not- we're proof that it's possible.
Shams gave Sieg a small smile, "I suppose you're right." He let out a breath, "Speaking of which, I had a chance to talk to that Bishop-General, Sasarai. And I learned some rather... interesting information from him." He frowned slightly, recalling the conversation he had with the Bishop. The man had seemed pleasant enough, but the way he described his country reminded Shams too much of the Order.
"He spoke of a rune, a True Rune, that might have the power to send us home, but he said it was split in two, and that the women bearing the two halves were... well, he made it clear that he didn't trust either of them." He looked over at Sieg, "It seems the True Runes are similar to our Chronicles."
"Oh, so you got to talk to him then? I was thinking of doing the same- but it's probably better you did." Shams had a better understanding of magic after all, being from the Magedom. That look was hard to miss, and the boy had to wonder what had come up in conversation that would make Shams frown so.
Blinking, Sieg folded his arms, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "...True Runes..? Hey, maybe that's why Geddoe didn't wanna touch the book I had...?" Did that mean that the man had a True Rune? "Are they really that different from regular runes? Or are there such things as False runes like there were the True and False Chronicles..?"
"I'm not sure. He said there were 27 True Runes, and that when bore by someone the True Runes sometimes showed their bearers memories of previous bearers." He looked at Sieg. "He also said these True Runes had a will of their own. He also said that his nation, Harmonia, was interested in collecting the 27 True Runes. He himself bore one, though he did not give me it's name." He looked back over at the lake. "How he spoke of Harmonia reminds me too much of the Order."
Was it all coincidence? It was way too similar to what they'd learned about the Chronicles and the Order back when they were fighting them. He felt a chill go down his spine at that thought. "Wow... I see what you mean..." Sieg scowled, not liking the idea of having to deal with another Order. But there was nothing mentioned about the belief of predetermined futures or anything of the sort. He could only hope that Harmonia's desire to collect such power was as far as similarities ran between their country and the Order's goals.
"...might need some more looking into... But maybe that's what this world has instead of Chronicles. Or maybe this world didn't even get threatened by the One King... Aaagh, this is a lot to think about." He ran his hands through his hair and then abruptly lay back on the rock with a sigh, slipping his arms beneath his head.
Shams looked down at the older boy, "I agree. There is far too much we don't know about this world. All the other worlds that we encountered were similar to ours, but this one is so different." He brought a leg up and wrapped his arms around it as he rested his head on his knee. "I'm not comfortable with talking to his Holiness again. He seems like a nice enough man, but his country..." he trailed off. The Order and what they did to Janam was still so fresh in his memory. So much so that it was almost a physical pain.
"Perhaps we can talk to that one man again. The one you showed Shining Legacy to."
Sieg stared at the sky again. Was this world really so different then? Just what kind of place was this? The boy held back another sigh, listening as Shams spoke up again, but he kept his gaze at the endless blue above.
"...I don't blame you. It might be better not to get too involved with him if he reminds you that much of the Order." Sieg knew what the Order did and he knew it must be hard for Shams to be reminded of such. Brow furrowing, he shoved himself to sit upright again, draping his arms over his knees. "...it might be better to do that, yeah... But he looked like he was having his own problems. Still, I think we can trust him. I'll keep an eye out for him." He flicked a glance at Shams. "He's an older man with black hair and an eyepatch over his right eye- his name's Geddoe. I guess he's been in and out of the castle recently."
Nodding, Shams drew his other knee up and hugged them both to his chest. "That sounds good." He paused, thinking, trying to recall what Sieg said about the man earlier. "Didn't he also tell you not to show the chronicle to someone? What was his name again?"
Did he say something like that? "Oh, that's right- um..." Sieg scratched his head. "Luc. He said not to let him have it. Wish he woulda told me what he looked like but I didn't think to ask him at the time..." Otherwise he would have realized he'd already talked to the guy, although he hadn't been very helpful and didn't mention much specifics about the runes when Sieg had asked.
"Well, at least it's something." He looked out over the lake, "Chrodechild suggested we started with some of the rune shops and buy some of the "lesser runes" as His Holiness called them." He gave a thoughtful frown, "Though I wonder if we can bear the runes." He thinks on the reaction that Sieg said Geddoe had had and wonders what would happen if one tried to bear a Mark of the Stars and a Rune. He hoped it wouldn't be serious. If the two magics over reacted to each other... it could be messy.
That sounded like a plan. "That might be a good idea," Sieg agreed. "Geddoe did say that anyone could buy runes. I'm... not sure if they'd work with us." He looked at his hand, thinking about the rune the man had bore on him. "...well, we'll never know until we try!"
That got Shams to smile, "Indeed we won't." He looked back over the lake. "Let's hope for the best."
Sieg grinned broadly at that. Much better! He nodded, turning his head to look towards the lake as well. "Not just hope. We'll make it happen."
Shams didn't share Sieg's optimism, but there was always something about the other boy that made him believe that anything was possible. He stood, and jumped off the rock, kicking at the sand. "I for one, will be most pleased when we return home. Budehuc is nice, but it's a bit of a culture shock."
The boy watched as Shams hopped down, and he tilted his head, quirking a brow at him. "Heheh! It is, isn't it? But there's still lots of things that I found similar to here and the castle at home." He grinned, rubbing at his nose. "Marica'd probably yell at me for disappearing on her again."
"At least you haven't been ogled," Shams huffed, pouting a bit, thinking about the encounter with Lu. "Or told that your customs are 'weird'," he added, thinking about his conversation with Lo Hak. He felt out of place here. Back in their world at Sieg's castle it hadn't been so bad. Probably because he had Taj and Manaril with him. It had also helped that they had all been working towards a greater goal.
He sighs, "I'm sorry," he told Sieg, "I shouldn't complain so much."
At that, Sieg frowned, looking concernedly at the prince as he shifted to face him better. "Really? They told you that?" That was upsetting! He thought the people here were nice and understanding! But then he probably didn't know a whole lot of Janam or Salsabil's customs, but nor was he ever bothered about what was brought to the castle. There were so many different peoples there that it was unthinkable to have had a certain set standard. Or maybe that was just him being accepting of such differences.
He shook his head. "No- well, I'm not saying it's okay to complain, but it ain't right for them to be saying things like that! There's probably a whole lot of stuff we don't know about their customs and we're not complaining about it any! So you shouldn't have to put up with that, Shams!"
"There were only two... such encounters," Shams clarified, "Otherwise most people hear have been pleasant, well, perhaps not Sir Seed, but that's understandable as he thought I was being too forward with his Queen." He folded his arms and looked down at the sand.
There was a thump as Sieg had lept down to join the prince down in the sand. He lifted a foot to shake his sandal out- sand between toes was annoying. "Oh... well, still..." He supposed two wasn't bad, but he wondered if there just wasn't a place in this world like the Magedom. He frowned, thinking. "You gonna be okay though? If you want, I can talk to those people," he offered.
"I'll be fine," Shams said, offering a smile, "One was a girl who I expect wasn't all there, have you encountered her? Lu? The other I can handle on my own." He turned and stepped to the edge of the beach, allowing the water to lap at his toes. "Thank you for the offer though."
There was a slight twitch of his brow before the boy grinned crookedly. "Oh, her," he laughed. "She thought I was talkin' about her when I mentioned Liu and Jale- and then she went off like I was crazy or something when I said I didn't know her. She's the crazy one if you ask me!" Shrugging, Sieg stretched his arms out over his head before folding them behind it again. "Eh, you're welcome! But if you have any problems, you let me know, okay? I won't stand for anyone treating my friends badly, even if we're the strangers here." He grinned again.
Shams had no intention of telling Sieg if anything else happened. He was a king, he couldn't go running to Sieg every time he was upset, he had to be strong, to properly represent his country. If he hadn't been a king, if had been a normal thirteen year old then he could have, but he wasn't and he couldn't.
Giving Sieg his brightest smile he said, "Of course."
Sieg was probably aware of the fact that Shams wouldn't tell him anything. Even if he was a kid, he was also a prince, and Sieg knew that with that title had to come a certain amount of pride. It wasn't something that Sieg would dispute either, and he hoped Shams would be able to handle things fine himself. Still, he did mean what he said, and even if the prince wouldn't consider it, at the very least he'd know that he had the support of someone.
Nodding, Sieg smiled back.
Shams opened his mouth to add something, but a yawn came out instead. "Oh, excuse me," he said. "It's late, and I suppose I should turn in."
"Heh! Yeah, okay then," Sieg replied, chuckling at the yawning prince. "Guess I'll see you around then? I think I'll stay out here a little longer."
"Have a good night," Shams said, bowed his head and headed to his room.
What: Talk of home and their findings in Budehuc
Where: By the lakeside
Shams gave a small sigh as he sat on a large rock overlooking the lake from the beach. He had gotten settled in his room at the manor, had tried to speak to the chef, but she was rather busy, so he had eaten food, that while he was sure good, he couldn't enjoy it. He missed Taj, and he missed Manaril, and he ached to be with his people again. The words of Watari were haunting him; the idea that he wouldn't be able to return home bothered him.
The possibility that they wouldn't be able to return back to their world was not something Sieg allowed himself to think about. It was easy for him to distract himself with everything else around their new surroundings, however. There were plenty of new people and it wasn't like familiar faces were completely absent. That was some cause for concern though. It was a small number that had shown up from home, and yet it only seemed like that number increased slowly as the days went on by. What if their world started merging with this one? Why would this be happening?
Those were the questions that were circling his head as the boy made his way along the path along the lakeside. He wouldn't be able to deny the slight pang of homesickness from such similarities to their own castle, but he wasn't about to let it get the best of him. Besides, if he started getting all distraught about stuff, where would that leave his fellow Company-members? Speaking of which, he saw one of them there, sitting by the waters. Sieg smiled a little, heading over towards the large rock. "Hey Shams!" he called.
The call made the young king turn, catching sight of Sieg. He smiled and waved at the commander of the company he once served in. "Lord Sieg," he greeted, "Out for a walk?"
Shams always had a high opinion of Sieg. The older boy always managed to see the bright side of things, even if he had to bash his way into it. Sure, he sometimes thought the young commander's manners left something to be desired sometimes, but those were something Shams could over look. He scooted over on the rock, "Care to join me?" he asked.
Grinning, Sieg waved a hand. "Hey, come on, I'm no lord! You can drop the title," he laughed. "But yeah, just wandering a little." With a nod at the invitation, the boy vaulted up onto the rock, clambering over to plop himself down beside the young prince. "It's a nice view of the lake from here, huh?" He leaned back on his hands, looking out across the waters before he glanced at Shams.
"So how're you holding up?" he asked. "Having any problems here?"
"You're the commander of a Company that saved the world," Shams said smiling, "And you own a castle, I would think that makes you a Lord, but if you wish I will try to refrain from using the title then." He settled back, hands behind him, legs streched out in front and returned his gaze back to the lake. "Yes, this is a beautiful view, it reminds me of the beaches back home.
"As for how I'm fairing here at Budehuc... I suppose I'm doing as well as I can. Though being told I can't go home is very... hard."
"Didn't do it alone. We saved our world because of everyone's effort, because we wouldn't give up. And that castle's as much everyone's as it is mine." He smiled, leaning his head back to glance skyward. "I think it's kind of the same with the people here, and this castle. Sure, it has a castle master, but without people here, it wouldn't be much of a place to stay."
Sieg looked over at Shams again, his smile sobering a touch as the prince shared his concerns. Slowly he sat forward again, folding his legs to sit cross-legged, resting his elbows on his knees. "Up until recently no one here's even heard of people coming from other worlds, but look- we're here now, right? So there's no guarantee that we won't be able to go back. I don't care if people are saying it's definite or not- we're proof that it's possible.
Shams gave Sieg a small smile, "I suppose you're right." He let out a breath, "Speaking of which, I had a chance to talk to that Bishop-General, Sasarai. And I learned some rather... interesting information from him." He frowned slightly, recalling the conversation he had with the Bishop. The man had seemed pleasant enough, but the way he described his country reminded Shams too much of the Order.
"He spoke of a rune, a True Rune, that might have the power to send us home, but he said it was split in two, and that the women bearing the two halves were... well, he made it clear that he didn't trust either of them." He looked over at Sieg, "It seems the True Runes are similar to our Chronicles."
"Oh, so you got to talk to him then? I was thinking of doing the same- but it's probably better you did." Shams had a better understanding of magic after all, being from the Magedom. That look was hard to miss, and the boy had to wonder what had come up in conversation that would make Shams frown so.
Blinking, Sieg folded his arms, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "...True Runes..? Hey, maybe that's why Geddoe didn't wanna touch the book I had...?" Did that mean that the man had a True Rune? "Are they really that different from regular runes? Or are there such things as False runes like there were the True and False Chronicles..?"
"I'm not sure. He said there were 27 True Runes, and that when bore by someone the True Runes sometimes showed their bearers memories of previous bearers." He looked at Sieg. "He also said these True Runes had a will of their own. He also said that his nation, Harmonia, was interested in collecting the 27 True Runes. He himself bore one, though he did not give me it's name." He looked back over at the lake. "How he spoke of Harmonia reminds me too much of the Order."
Was it all coincidence? It was way too similar to what they'd learned about the Chronicles and the Order back when they were fighting them. He felt a chill go down his spine at that thought. "Wow... I see what you mean..." Sieg scowled, not liking the idea of having to deal with another Order. But there was nothing mentioned about the belief of predetermined futures or anything of the sort. He could only hope that Harmonia's desire to collect such power was as far as similarities ran between their country and the Order's goals.
"...might need some more looking into... But maybe that's what this world has instead of Chronicles. Or maybe this world didn't even get threatened by the One King... Aaagh, this is a lot to think about." He ran his hands through his hair and then abruptly lay back on the rock with a sigh, slipping his arms beneath his head.
Shams looked down at the older boy, "I agree. There is far too much we don't know about this world. All the other worlds that we encountered were similar to ours, but this one is so different." He brought a leg up and wrapped his arms around it as he rested his head on his knee. "I'm not comfortable with talking to his Holiness again. He seems like a nice enough man, but his country..." he trailed off. The Order and what they did to Janam was still so fresh in his memory. So much so that it was almost a physical pain.
"Perhaps we can talk to that one man again. The one you showed Shining Legacy to."
Sieg stared at the sky again. Was this world really so different then? Just what kind of place was this? The boy held back another sigh, listening as Shams spoke up again, but he kept his gaze at the endless blue above.
"...I don't blame you. It might be better not to get too involved with him if he reminds you that much of the Order." Sieg knew what the Order did and he knew it must be hard for Shams to be reminded of such. Brow furrowing, he shoved himself to sit upright again, draping his arms over his knees. "...it might be better to do that, yeah... But he looked like he was having his own problems. Still, I think we can trust him. I'll keep an eye out for him." He flicked a glance at Shams. "He's an older man with black hair and an eyepatch over his right eye- his name's Geddoe. I guess he's been in and out of the castle recently."
Nodding, Shams drew his other knee up and hugged them both to his chest. "That sounds good." He paused, thinking, trying to recall what Sieg said about the man earlier. "Didn't he also tell you not to show the chronicle to someone? What was his name again?"
Did he say something like that? "Oh, that's right- um..." Sieg scratched his head. "Luc. He said not to let him have it. Wish he woulda told me what he looked like but I didn't think to ask him at the time..." Otherwise he would have realized he'd already talked to the guy, although he hadn't been very helpful and didn't mention much specifics about the runes when Sieg had asked.
"Well, at least it's something." He looked out over the lake, "Chrodechild suggested we started with some of the rune shops and buy some of the "lesser runes" as His Holiness called them." He gave a thoughtful frown, "Though I wonder if we can bear the runes." He thinks on the reaction that Sieg said Geddoe had had and wonders what would happen if one tried to bear a Mark of the Stars and a Rune. He hoped it wouldn't be serious. If the two magics over reacted to each other... it could be messy.
That sounded like a plan. "That might be a good idea," Sieg agreed. "Geddoe did say that anyone could buy runes. I'm... not sure if they'd work with us." He looked at his hand, thinking about the rune the man had bore on him. "...well, we'll never know until we try!"
That got Shams to smile, "Indeed we won't." He looked back over the lake. "Let's hope for the best."
Sieg grinned broadly at that. Much better! He nodded, turning his head to look towards the lake as well. "Not just hope. We'll make it happen."
Shams didn't share Sieg's optimism, but there was always something about the other boy that made him believe that anything was possible. He stood, and jumped off the rock, kicking at the sand. "I for one, will be most pleased when we return home. Budehuc is nice, but it's a bit of a culture shock."
The boy watched as Shams hopped down, and he tilted his head, quirking a brow at him. "Heheh! It is, isn't it? But there's still lots of things that I found similar to here and the castle at home." He grinned, rubbing at his nose. "Marica'd probably yell at me for disappearing on her again."
"At least you haven't been ogled," Shams huffed, pouting a bit, thinking about the encounter with Lu. "Or told that your customs are 'weird'," he added, thinking about his conversation with Lo Hak. He felt out of place here. Back in their world at Sieg's castle it hadn't been so bad. Probably because he had Taj and Manaril with him. It had also helped that they had all been working towards a greater goal.
He sighs, "I'm sorry," he told Sieg, "I shouldn't complain so much."
At that, Sieg frowned, looking concernedly at the prince as he shifted to face him better. "Really? They told you that?" That was upsetting! He thought the people here were nice and understanding! But then he probably didn't know a whole lot of Janam or Salsabil's customs, but nor was he ever bothered about what was brought to the castle. There were so many different peoples there that it was unthinkable to have had a certain set standard. Or maybe that was just him being accepting of such differences.
He shook his head. "No- well, I'm not saying it's okay to complain, but it ain't right for them to be saying things like that! There's probably a whole lot of stuff we don't know about their customs and we're not complaining about it any! So you shouldn't have to put up with that, Shams!"
"There were only two... such encounters," Shams clarified, "Otherwise most people hear have been pleasant, well, perhaps not Sir Seed, but that's understandable as he thought I was being too forward with his Queen." He folded his arms and looked down at the sand.
There was a thump as Sieg had lept down to join the prince down in the sand. He lifted a foot to shake his sandal out- sand between toes was annoying. "Oh... well, still..." He supposed two wasn't bad, but he wondered if there just wasn't a place in this world like the Magedom. He frowned, thinking. "You gonna be okay though? If you want, I can talk to those people," he offered.
"I'll be fine," Shams said, offering a smile, "One was a girl who I expect wasn't all there, have you encountered her? Lu? The other I can handle on my own." He turned and stepped to the edge of the beach, allowing the water to lap at his toes. "Thank you for the offer though."
There was a slight twitch of his brow before the boy grinned crookedly. "Oh, her," he laughed. "She thought I was talkin' about her when I mentioned Liu and Jale- and then she went off like I was crazy or something when I said I didn't know her. She's the crazy one if you ask me!" Shrugging, Sieg stretched his arms out over his head before folding them behind it again. "Eh, you're welcome! But if you have any problems, you let me know, okay? I won't stand for anyone treating my friends badly, even if we're the strangers here." He grinned again.
Shams had no intention of telling Sieg if anything else happened. He was a king, he couldn't go running to Sieg every time he was upset, he had to be strong, to properly represent his country. If he hadn't been a king, if had been a normal thirteen year old then he could have, but he wasn't and he couldn't.
Giving Sieg his brightest smile he said, "Of course."
Sieg was probably aware of the fact that Shams wouldn't tell him anything. Even if he was a kid, he was also a prince, and Sieg knew that with that title had to come a certain amount of pride. It wasn't something that Sieg would dispute either, and he hoped Shams would be able to handle things fine himself. Still, he did mean what he said, and even if the prince wouldn't consider it, at the very least he'd know that he had the support of someone.
Nodding, Sieg smiled back.
Shams opened his mouth to add something, but a yawn came out instead. "Oh, excuse me," he said. "It's late, and I suppose I should turn in."
"Heh! Yeah, okay then," Sieg replied, chuckling at the yawning prince. "Guess I'll see you around then? I think I'll stay out here a little longer."
"Have a good night," Shams said, bowed his head and headed to his room.