Ever Searching [Past]

[Castor Phecda]

Location: A secluded part of the coast near Tiburon.

Castor stared out at the gentle curve of the ocean horizon. It seemed perfect. No boats or clouds. No islands. There were islands out there, beyond the horizon which was over thirty miles away if he remembered his lessons correctly. He didn't care about most of the islands. Only one. It was nearly a year ago that he had set sail with a bearing that he thought would lead him to Orl Island. He had sailed for three days. But it wasn't there. He hadn't believed the rumors about the island where a group of pirates made their base. That it moved. But he had seen it with his own eyes. Or rather, not seen it at all.

How was he supposed to find an island that moved? He had been developing his technique of locating things he had a mental image of. He had come a long way. But it seemed like every time he tried to locate his... anchor... it was in a different place. When he closed his eyes, he could see her. Often she was lying down. Other times standing or walking slowly. But always surrounded by blackness. He couldn't see who or what was around her. Nothing that could give him a clue as to how to get to the island. But he knew, at least, that she was still alive. That being the case, he would never give up trying to get to her. 

He sat down on the large rock he had been standing on, one of many along the coast. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wooden flute. Bringing it to his lips, he began playing. It was a familiar melody. One he had played many times for his fiance. He wasn't sure what he hoped in playing it. There were many things he didn't understand in this world. But he thought it possible that the tune could reach her and give her something to hold on to; something to tell her she wasn't alone, abandoned.  If that was all he could give her, he would stay in this spot and play this song until he couldn't anymore. 

OOC Note: This thread will take place before Trip to Slant Rock Isle.

[Cassie]

Castor feels a small hand poke his back. "I like your song!" The speaker, a little red-headed girl with more scars than sense smiles broadly at the man. She had been playing in the distance earlier, laughing while piling sand onto something (or possibly someone).

[Castor Phecda]

Castor stopped playing and turned his head quickly at the touch. It was a little girl with red hair. She was smiling, some of her teeth gleaming with metal. She also had numerous scars and stitches covering her face. Her smile disarmed any of Castor's wary feelings. And her compliment set him completely at ease.

"Oh. Thank you." He said, giving the little girl a smile in return. "It's just something I learned a long time ago." He responded. He wasn't sure what to think of the girl's appearance. But she seemed friendly enough. "Where did you come from? I swear I was the only person on this beach a minute ago." He said with a laugh.

[Cassie]

Cassie points towards the mound of sand in the distance "I came from over there!" The mound starts to move in response, prompting the child to lightly stomp the ground. "Stay in the sand papa! I haven't made it into a castle yet!" The mound grunts but otherwise complies to the serious-sounding child.

The girl looks back up at the music-man, pausing to eye the cloths wrapped around his head a bit before responding. They looked pretty neat! Like a head-cape! Maybe papa should wear a head cape... "Where did you learn it? Was it a school?"

[Castor Phecda]

Castor looks up where the girl is pointing and sees the mound. He sees some movement but the girl yells toward it. He laughs at this. "You buried your Papa in the sand?" It eased his slight discomfort, knowing the girl's father was nearby. Talking to a little girl alone can get an adult man into trouble.

He looks back at the girl to answer her questions. "Sort of. My mother taught it to me, along with how to play the flute. She taught me almost everything I know actually." He wondered if the girl would understand. He hadn't attended a school in the formal sense, but his mother had kept him on a strict regiment of learning as a child.

[Cassie]

Cassie raises her hand in excitement "A mother is like a papa, only she's a girl, right? I know that one!" She nods to herself before continuing. "Papa teaches me everything. Do you have a papa? Papas are great!"

[Castor Phecda]

Castor smiled at her enthusiasm but gave the girl a confused look on top of his smile at her comment. Did she really have no other basis for understanding what a mother is? Maybe she never knew her mother. But surely her father had told her about her mother. Or she had learned of the existence of mothers in the world. This girl must have been six, seven years old? 

He decided to ignore his own questions for the moment, in favor of answering more of hers. "Of course. Although, I haven't seen him in a long time." He explained. "He was great." He agreed. "He taught me everything my mother didn't." 


Wanting to understand this odd girl a little better, he decided to throw a question of his own into the conversation. If the girl's enthusiasm gave him any clue, she would answer it readily. Whether or not it would really answer his question, remained to be seen. "What sorts of things does your Papa teach you?" He asked conversationally. It was a rather normal question to ask a school age child.

[Cassie]

Cassie had started to ask a question about Castor's father, but the thought was clearly discarded in favor of talking about herself. "Papa taught me magic!" proclaims the child in what was probably her most dramatic voice. The girl spins around, her flailing hair turning a greenish-gold to emphasize her point. "I can make things move by thinking about them too!" The girl raises her hands into the air, a quick spell whisking a nearby pebble off the ground. The captive rock begins a little dance above her head, pulled to and fro by an unseen force.

"See! See! He also taught me about the voi-OW" The pebble, forgotten as quickly as it had been moved, bounces off of the fledgling mage's head. She rubs the spot with a sniffle.

[Castor Phecda]

Castor watches as the little girl displays her magic abilities. Her hair changes colors. Castor knows this to be a Body Magic spell, one he had never learned. She then displayed a feat of minor telekinesis, moving a pebble around briefly before dropping it on her head. He chuckled slightly. So she was a mage and just happened to be trained in the exact same fields as Castor was. 

He decided he would share this coincidence with the girl as soon as he found the answer to his next question. "What is... that?" He asked, not even trying to pronounce the last word she said. He had no idea what word she was even trying to say.

[Cassie]

"Is what?" the girl looks at the rock, and back to Castor "Oh! The voices!" Cassie clears her throat before continuing in a somber tone "They spoke to papa, and he became their vessel. In.. um.." She looks back towards the mound in thought before suddenly remembering the rest of the line. "in that way, I too am their vessel. Both in earth, and in sky. I will not hesitate, nor show undo mercy, for this life I live, I live for them."

The girl grins wildly at the completion of her utterance "I said the whole prayer papa!" The mound responds with a mildly annoyed grunt. Cassie whispers to Castor "He's happy on the inside. Papa doesn't talk about the voices to other people, but they're reeeaaly important. When papa was little they told him he was special. And he is! He's a special papa!"