Arrival

The sun shone brightly upon the land as the birds sang from under its rays before flying majestically away into the sky. The leaves swayed in the forest breeze as the rustling hum they produced could sooth to anyone's soul. But within the forestry, a man walks through the lush green grass as his boots crunch the grass beneath him with every step. The man wore what could be a brown jacket that covered his outfit beneath which was a red top with yellow dividing his chest from his neck like a star with the wrists of it having the same concept as well. His pants matched his red long sleeved top as it was all red from waist to legs.

The man aimlessly walked the emerald green forest. But was he really doing so without purpose? The fact of the matter was, he had a simple goal. A destination to be precise. To wherever this place must be, must've been close by as he looks up in front of him after not having done so in a while to see what was in front of him. Though faintly, he could make out what seems to be an archway that led to a town of sorts. His expresses his feelings on this revelation with a smirk on his face as he rubbed the stubble on his face with his fingers.

Once he got close to the archway, he was then stopped by two individuals who were clad in iron armor as they pointed their steel tipped spears at him. "Halt! State your business!" One of them shouts. Questioning the intentions of this mysterious traveler. The traveler raised his hands up casually to make a note for them to know he wasn't dangerous. After doing so, he then spoke to them. His voice being a little bit gruff.

"I'm just a simple traveler. I come in peace." He tells them. His hands still up in the air for them to see. The two guards look amongst eachother as they size up the traveler. Carefully determining whether or not his words were as true as he said them to be. After a moment or two, the guards then back down as they lower their weapons which signalled the traveler to do the same with his hands as well, seeing as they don't see him as a threat anymore.

"Very well. You may proceed traveler!" The guard says as they step aside for the traveler to pass through the archway. The man casually takes this offer of theirs as he walks through the both of them, walking with his hand waving back at them as he passed by. "Thanks fellas!, I'll make sure to treat you guys to some beer whenever I see you around!" He promises before heading deeper into the town that stood behind the archway entrance.

Once he was in a good spot, he stops in his tracks as he takes in the sights. This town he had now found himself in was no ordinary town- but was a city to a very much big Kingdom. This was the Kingdom of Veridia. A kingdom nestled inside a deep emerald forest. The kingdom had a lot to do with anything nature as seen with its scenery outside and inside the kingdom premises as the streets were lined with a lot of trees and bushes which contrasted the concrete buildings and roads as well as the kingdom's emblem being plastered on banners hung up on light poles.

"Pretty nice city they got here. The greenery really livens up the place." The traveler comments as he looks around the place, seeing all the people go about their daily lives within the city. Though, he knew he couldn't stay in one place for too long. "Now then-" he clasps his hands together- "where do we start?" He asks himself. For him, this wasn't much of a new experience seeing as he was a traveler. But with every new kingdom he visited, there is always a change of culture as well as the attractions that come with it so it was hard to just choose something right off the bat.

But with little thought, he already found the first thing he wanted to do. So he went deeper into the city in search of something. The place was certainly bigger than most he's visited so maybe roaming around aimlessly this time wasn't gonna help him in the slightest. So he decides to ask someone for help. But even though he could've just asked anyone on the street he passed by, he felt like looking around for a bit. Perhaps he wanted to find someone interesting, or someone he knew? The latter part was highly doubtful since this was a kingdom he hadn't been to yet until now so the former was most likely a good assumption.

With that in mind, his short little search was definitely not gone unrewarded as from a distance he saw a person a few years younger than him scouring the sidewalk for something. Now this intrigued him a little bit because the person didn't seem all that poor. In fact, he looked like he was well off. He noted that the person wore a brown vest over a black long sleeve with a piece of felt draping over his chest from his collar. He also had orange gloves and brown pants but what really took center stage from his peculiar outfit was his head piece. More specifically, his eyewear as he was seen wearing metallic goggles with 3 sets of eyes which were tinted green.

The traveler watches from where he was. observing the strange fellow intently searching the sidewalk for who knows what while people give passing stares at the individual. Not wanting to be involved in whatever he was doing. "Ha! Ha! I know I saw it fall somewhere here.... Aha! I found it!" The guy finally found what he was looking for as he grabbed it with his two fingers and raised it up high to reveal... That it was just a tiny piece of gold scrap. Now despite the value of gold which can go for lots even with just tiny scraps he found, it was kinda underwhelming seeing as the scrap of gold wasn't any bigger than a rock, let alone a pebble.

Now his excitement for this find might come with some criticism. Which it did but was very much not correlated to the gold but more so their entire character as he received a very rude hit to the head by a rock, which bounces off his forehead and lands somewhere else. Now the appropriate reaction to this would be to yell out "who done did it!!?". But surprisingly, the person didn't react in such a way at all. In fact, he addresses the perpetrators with a smile.

"Hey there kiddo's! Seems like the rock slipped by your fingers! Ha! Ha! No worries though! I can get it for you!" The guy certainly did not seem bothered by it all as he just smiled at them. Then not even a second later, another rock comes flying on over but luckily misses him this time around as it lands behind him. "Oh? Man, you kiddo's have some real slippery fingers! Have you guys considered wearing gloves?" He now suggested to the group of children. The traveler watches this unfold with a confused look on his face. Was this guy just gonna let them wail on him like that with a smile still on his face?

"Beat it weirdo! We don't like you! You're freaky and crazy!" The children now started heckling the man in front of them. Talk about rude, the traveler thought. At this point, it was now very hard to not notice as a select few people who were only passing by were now watching from the sidelines as this unfolded before them. None wanting to intervene for whatever reason. "Yeah! We don't like you! So get lost!" One of the kids shouts before throwing yet another rock which misses again.

"Ha! Ha! Silly kids! Always dropping stuff..." The man says before going to go grab the rock that was just thrown as he presents it to them like an offering. His smile, still wide on his face. But his friendly gesture was ignored as they threw yet another rock. This time, it looked like it was Inline for the guy's head again. But luckily, the traveler from before decided to intervene as he swiftly appears at the guy's side and then casually catching the rock before it hits their face. "Oh?" Was the only thing that guy could muster as the sudden arrival of the red wearing Samaritan was a bit of a surprise.

"Okay, that's enough. You brats better scram before I make you! Rah!" In an attempt at scaring the children away, he yells at them to get lost as he finishes it with cry which definitely did the trick as he watches the children run away in fear of his arrival. "Man... Kids these days huh? No manners." The traveler mutters as he looks over to the guy he saved who was now looking at him as well. "Uh... Sup?" He greets them awkwardly as he didn't expect the guy to be staring so intently at him even though he couldn't see his eyes at all because of the tinted lenses their goggles had.

The man, without any more questions. Shoot up from the ground like a rocket as he starts getting all up in his face. No regards for his personal space. "Hey there stranger!" He says before things fall into silence. this was the first time the traveler met someone like this. Someone so.... Energetic with their mannerisms. Then again, he was still the same old guy from a few years ago, the only difference being his hairdo and the stubble. Maybe he wasn't that far off from how he was back then. Still a bit of a whiplash for him nonetheless.

"Uh, yeah. Sup. Anyways, you gonna do something about.... All that?" The traveler asks as he gestures to the guy's face as it looked to be bleeding. The guy seemed to be oblivious to it as they only noticed the blood running down their face after he pointed it out. "You're bleeding a lot. Like... A lot, a lot." He says. Worried about the amount that's gushing from just a wound from a rock w high was thrown by a child.

"Oh! Ha! Ha! It's no biggie! Can't even feel it!" They reveal. The traveler didn't know if he meant that in a metaphorical sense or in a literal sense but seeing how the guy acts, it probably was the latter. "The name's Derrick! Derrick Barnes! Nice to meet ya!" Derrick finally Introduces himself. He extends a hand over to the traveler as he takes it with a hint of hesitance. Not out of fear, but out of awkwardness since it had been a while since he met this kind of energy from someone.

"Oh, uhm. Tetsuga. Tetsuga Katsugoyo. Nice to meet you too?" He introduces himself to him as well as they shook hands. After breaking away. An awkward silence befell them once again as neither of the two knew what to talk about. But fortunately, Tetsuga still had something to do so he decides to break the silence as he excuses himself from their introductions. "Anyways, I gotta go. So.... See you around?"

"Oh! Ha! Ha! No worries! I also have some stuff to do myself!" Derrick says. After stating their plans they awkwardly break off from each other. Tetsuga leaves with a million thoughts in his head while Derrick leaves with only one. That being what to do with the little scrap of gold he found. And while the two walked away from each other, Tetsuga slowly remembered something else.

".... Aw crap. I forgot to ask for directions."