Tales Told [Open]

A casual day in Radiant Garden was about for all those in the town. School had finished and the township was bustling with kids and teenagers of all kinds, along with the adults about to finish work but not quite. Walking alone was the young Julian, reading a book as he walked to the book shop around the corner. His face was nearly buried in the book as he read about these crazy things called 'gates to other worlds'. He had been obsessed with these sorts of things lately and his parents told him to get over it.. But he hadn't.. He had discovered things about other worlds, weapons and even a little bit of magic. He raved on about it to his class friends but despite how cool it really was, they didn't seem to care.

Bringing his book down only for a moment the kid's face was shown, revealing bright yellow eyes behind a pair of thick rimmed glasses. He looked around for anyone, no one was there. He took the chance to sit on the side of a small fountain garden. Getting a few more pages in before he'd end up at the book shop at home to be approached by his insufferable parents. His appearance seemed quite calm. Despite enthralled in this book the teen looked quite approachable. He wore his typical black jeans, red sneakers and a button up shirt with a loose, overly long cardigan draped over top of it and an interested smile on his face.

Kyra sighed as she walked along the streets of Radiant Garden. So far the day had been rather uneventful. She'd done some walking, some people-watching, and had stopped to say hello to a few strangers, but overall the last few hours had held little excitement. Now the day was almost over, as she could tell by the amount of kids and teens running through the street. School must have just let out. She smiled slightly as they ran by in packs, chatter and playing with their friends.

Kyra wondered for a moment what it would be like to have a life like theirs: a normal life. To go to school every morning and come home every evening with a few close friends by her side. To move carelessly through the town, her greatest worry being an upcoming test. Part of her longed to be like them. She wanted to be able to chat about whatever it was normal teenagers worried about. More than that though, she wanted t run home every evening to a happy family. She pictured her father, back from all his adventures, smiling as she returned from a long day of studying. Beside him was her mother, and her younger brother trailed behind her. "Hey kiddo," he would say in that typical parental fashion. "How was school today?"

Sometimes the young warrior wished she had a less vivid imagination. None of these things would happen for her. Those people, and the chance for that sort of life, were gone. Thinking about it could only cause pain. She pulled herself from her thoughts, realizing suddenly that she had wandered away from the crowds. She appeared to be in some sort of plaza, surrounded by flowers. It was a beautiful place. She'd passed it before on her patrols, but could never remember stopping there.

In the center of the plaza sat a large fountain, and atop that sat a boy. She guessed he was about her age. He had his nose buried in a book. Kyra chuckled slightly. This kid reminded her of someone she knew, always reading. As she moved closer, she found that she could read the cover of the book. It was on the Passageways that linked the worlds.

"They're real, you know," she commented. "The Passageways, I mean. Lots of people don't think so, but they exist."

The portal opened up, in all places it could, mid-air. Alexander hadn't really nailed that portion of travelling yet, due to his lack of practice. He'd only ever opened portals up in places he could see to play catch with himself, so despite running through it he was now falling out of the strange, technicolor space. The instant before he heard the splash, there was a brief moment where he could clearly see the area below him. "Water?" His question answered as he suddenly felt cold and wet. The fountain Alexander found himself in wasn't terribly deep. It was only a foot of water, with all kinds of coins and munny littering the bottom. However there was enough water that Alexander was soaked.

His light-blue nightgown was now soggy and dripping, his raven-black hair hung in wet strands off of his head under the nightcap. He immediately splashed towards the edge of the fountain, hanging over it for a second as he took in his surroundings. The first and most immediately striking thing for him was that it was daytime here. "Weird," he said flatly, almost as if he weren't impressed.

As his eyes scanned the environment, he quickly came to see that he had found himself in what appeared to be a public Garden. Public, obviously, because while it was serviced regularly and looked nice there was a distinct lack of a castle wall anywhere within visible distance. Nor did there seem to be any building nearby that would indicate ownership of an understandable sort. There were buildings in view, but they all seemed rustic, similar to the buildings found in the castle of dreams but what were those strange, metal things sticking out of the sides? They looked like small pipes where chimneys should be.

Alexander wordlessly crawled out of the fountain, water sloshing behind him as he displaced it. He looked down at his clothes in frustration and frowned, before tugging at his garments as if to confirm. "Dang it, I didn't think I'd get wet or dirty here..." he looked around, before having a slow realization that he might in fact be in Radiant Garden. His mother had brought him here a few times when he was younger. He recalled some of the world but not much, and quickly decided that soaked clothing wouldn't stop him from exploring.

With renewed resolve, he began to march away from the fountain, wet nightgown trailing behind him like a sort of cape.

The young blue haired boy was indulging so much in the words he read he barely noticed anyone talking to him or let alone just being there for the moment. Finally realizing that someone was talking to him the boy pulled his head out of the book to look at the person talking to him. His full interest given in his body language as he listened to the young woman speak of the passageways, saying they're true. Julian's face was screaming joy and confusion with a strange look of one eyebrow raised and a massive grin across his face. He shut his book and placed it next to himself to give his full attention to the blonde before him.

"Really?! I mean, I've always had a feeling and truly known but, really?! How do I get to other worlds?!" He asked, his tone clearly excited as he leaned in forward just waiting for a response.

Just at that moment Julian heard a large splash, causing him to fall off the edge of the fountain however catching himself but, he was wet. His excitement keeping him happy despite his wet shirt.. and book. The boy stood up and looked over to what caused the splash, it was another boy who was dressed in a night gown and night cap... "What the hell?" Jules explained as he looked back to the blonde then back to the kid in a wet nightgown..

"Hey! Where did you come from?! Why are you in your pyjamas?!" Julian laughed a little at the whole situation but was really quite confused. This girl had told him that the passageways were real and.. some boy in quite old fashioned nightwear had appeared out of no where to land in the fountain.

---

ooc: sorry about the wait, busy weekend.

"Told ya so!" Kyra grinned, motioning toward the point in the air where the new arrival had appeared from. She figured he had come through the Passageways, though his landing left something to be desired. This new guy looked a bit silly, walking away from the fountain in his dripping wet nightgown. She felt sorry for him, seeing as it must have been cold, but part of her couldn't keep from laughing. She attempted to wipe the grin from her face, but to no avail.

Still, she was a bit concerned. As the boy looked at his surroundings, apparently figuring out where he was, She watched to make sure he was unharmed. It seemed that he had suffered no damage, though he did not appear to acknowledge the presence of the other two people yet. Perhaps he had yet to fully regain his bearings.

The blue-haired kid, significantly more startled by the whole ordeal, had begun to spout questions faster than she could come up with answers. She nodded mostly, still trying not to laugh at what was becoming an increasingly peculiar situation.

"Weird" the new boy had said. That would certainly describe the situation, although she got the feeling he was talking about something else. She turned her attention to him once more, this time waving. "Hey you! Are you okay?"

Two voices caught Alexander off-guard, and he wheeled around on a heel to face the source, his wet garment flapping with a liquid smack as it slid along the ground and collided with itself. As he turned the nightcap slid off of his head, and he stumbled to the side attempting to keep it from hitting the ground, recovering somewhat quickly in spite of his lack of coordination. He looked at the two awkwardly- a young lady, and a young man. He must have looked a sight to the both of them!

"Because I'm supposed to be asleep," he replied to the first one. "Why else would I wear a night clothing? And to you, miss, yes I am fine!" He grinned as he twisted the hat in his hands, wringing water out of it before placing it in a soggy pocket for storage. He ruffled his hands through his hair, freeing it of some water but not nearly enough to make a notable difference. Were these commoners of this world? Possibly. He didn't remember much of Radiant Garden, so maybe their civilians looked different than those from the Castle.

"Hey, are you civilians?" He almost stumbled and said commoners, but he recalled that people thought that was rude. No point in potentially offending strangers. "Can you show me around? Sorry to be so direct, but I want to explore before everybody else realizes I'm gone!"

Julian scratched his noggin for a moment just to take the whole situation in. This girl said 'told you so' just before this guy fell pretty much out of thin air into the fountain. His night clothing was a bit outdated too, it wasn't often you'd see a male in a full night gown these days and the cap was just a bit more ridiculous.. He definitely wasn't from this world and it was confirmed when he asked if they were citizens and could show them around... before they found out he was gone? Jules looked at the girl once again in confusion before forming a smile.

These people were travelers it seemed and Julian wanted so desperately to learn more about it. He knew for sure the boy wasn't a citizen but wasn't so sure about the girl.. He hadn't seen her in school at all but she looked like she could have been a local. "I'm a civilian, not sure about her." The water mage slapped his forehead lightly, he sounded a little rude to the girl.. "I-I'm sorry, I'm not sure if you're from here. I mean I've never seen you at school..." He paused again with an apologetic smile. "I'm Julian and I'd be happy to show you both around if you could tell me about other worlds.." He offered.

This was a chance to make friends and find out about other worlds.. Both of which were a bit difficult for Julian to achieve due to his quiet moods and often being ridiculed for his beliefs of other worlds. As it turns out he was right though. He'd laugh in his mind at all of those people that mocked him, even his parents.

He had to admit, he wasn't sure about the kid's choice of attire. That scarf looked hideous. How tacky! Still, we can't all be as stylish as the Gambler.

Speaking of which, in he came, strolling like a peacock out of the space-time rift. He walked carelessly past Kyra and gave her a devlish wink.
"Hello darling. Don't mind me, just borrowing scarfy over here for a bit. You won't even notice he's gone!"

*CLICK*
With the stroke of a fingersnap, time itself froze. The Gambler shrugged, clasping a hand around Julian's scarf as he dragged his frozen form back to the portal.

"You ought and mind the sweets there...you're bloody heavy."

---

Julian has been transported!

Kyra blinked a couple of times, startled by the events that had just occurred. "Who... what... huh?!?"

This day was getting more exciting by the minute. What the heck had just happened. The sudden appearance of the boy in the nightgown was weird enough, but now this new arrival had snatched away one of her new acquaintances. A local of the town, and an innocent boy. What the heck could that guy possibly want? And who was he? And what kind of a jerk did he have to be to wink at her in the middle of a kidnapping!?! She gritted her teeth as she slowly began to realize the reality of their situation.

Whatever had just happen, she certainly didn't like it. Everything was so sudden. One moment they were standing there, and the next they had just vanished! What was going on? She had no way of following the boy, but more than anything, she desired to save him. She looked around frantically, eying the book that he had been reading: the book on dimensional travel. Perhaps it could be of some use. Or perhaps the other boy knew something. He had arrived by portal, after all.

She turned to the boy in the nightgown with sudden realization. If he wasn't involved with that other dude, maybe he could help. "Do you know that guy?"