On The Road Again

Descending Water 14

Aden arrived at their meeting point outside the southern gate early so that he would arrive first. To the east, light had begun to show over the horizon, but the sun had yet to show itself. Although it was clearly spring when the sun was high in the sky, winter could still be felt early in the morning and late at night. A light frost covered the fields to the west and south of the capital. Even at this early hour, not long after the gates were first opened for the day, traffic was getting heavy going in and out of the city.

Aden had staked his horse, Lady, in a field to the southwest of the city gates. Lady was a reddish brown mare plenty strong enough to carry Aden and his supplies but no war horse. Aden stood beside her going through his saddle bags making sure that nothing he needed was left behind. A red jade daiklave was strapped to his back, and a pair of red jade bracers were on his wrists. Both were gifts given to him by his parents for his graduation and trip abroad. Aden's trusty straight sword, the one he carried throughout his time at the House of Bells, has on his hip. Aden wore light linen clothes despite the cold. Heavy clothing took a lot of room, and he would not need them once they reached the South. Over his clothing he wore his father's old breastplate. It was an old piece of armor that had been in his family a long time. His father wore it before he had jade armor and so did his father before him. Over the linen and armor he wore a heavy wool cloak to keep the cold off him while still here on the isle.

After deciding he had not forgotten anything, Aden paced near his horse to keep his blood moving and to kill the time before his companions would arrive. Aden didnt normally like to arrive early, but he felt that since this was all his idea, he should be here to take charge when the others arrived. Glancing eastward, Aden noticed that the sun would be rising soon and his friends wouldnt be far behind.

---

Unsurprising to Aden, Udo was the second of the companions to arrive that morning, the Cloister of Wisdom graduate looked wide awake and fairly energetic for this early in the morning. He was dressed in a simple hemp robe that was likely a bit thin for the mornings winter chill and looked as if it might be a bit warm in the deserts of the south. Across his back Udo was carrying what looked like a fairly heavy canvas pack, his jade powerbow was unstrung and attached to the pack along with several quivers of arrows and the semi-disassembled pieces of his breastplate. Unlike the rest of his companions Udo did not have a mount of any kind with him, instead he would rely on carrying his relatively modest belongings on his back and keeping up with the horses on foot. It sounded like a daunting task, but Udo had been trained for such endeavors at the Cloister and the perfected boots that Willow Rose had given him as a graduation present would undoubtedly come in handy.

Udo blended into the crowd of people more than most Dragon-Blooded would, his appearance relatively unspectacular compared to how some of his brethren chose to present themselves. As a result Aden didn't spot him approaching until he was rather close, despite Aden eagerly awaiting their arrival and keeping an eye on the crowd for their approach. Though it was worth noting, and perhaps brought a bit of a smirk to Aden's lips that Udo's approach was anything but stealthly, quite the opposite. Carrying a heavy pack with two quivers full of arrows, an unstrung bow, and the makings of a breastplate gave each of Udo's steps a rather distinct rattle one would expect of a loaded merchant more than a traveling monk.

Udo broke into a notable smile when he spotted Aden waiting for them to gather at the southern gate, greeting his companion with a cheerful greeting.

"Good morning old friend! Am I the first to arrive?"

--FyreFly 21:02, 25 August 2011 (EDT)