WHO: Presto and Allison WHAT: A meeting of acquaintances in the woods, on a run WHEN: Recently WARNINGS: None. STATUS: Closed and Complete
Presto loved to run. He had been forced to run for his life so much in the past that you would think he would hate it, but, the truth was… he loved it. He loved the feeling of stretching his legs and ground being eaten away by it. He loved how he could move, and speed past things, change his scenery by sheer will and power. He’d never been athletic before the Realm. He’d never known there was a way he could be. He had been a computer geek.
But in the Realm, it was do or die. And so he ran, and ran, and eventually, he got really good at it.
Now, today, he ran again, his body moving efficiently, his mind cracking along as his feet hit the ground below him, the woods moving past at a good pace. He hunted sometimes, and he ran, on his own, and he sometimes made a game of it, to use his magic on the way, but sometimes, he just ran, and loved it.
Today, the whole world seemed perfect, and he felt at one with the woods. That was why he felt someone else running nearby, felt the impact and heard, deep inside, the way they moved, skillfully, fast, strong. Without thinking, his body reacting, he moved in their direction, his running becoming lighter and faster both at the same time, more instinctual.
***
Allison always liked to run. You hit a certain point and your mind stopped working leaving you nothing but the skilled movement of your body. It put you on an entirely different level of thought. Of course she also continued her running for other reasons now, like knowing that there were things out there she hunted that were stronger and faster than she was. Stamina was a good plan.
She saw Presto on the path ahead of her and smiled. It had been a while since she’d seen him and it was always nice to have company on a run.
“Hello Presto, long time no see.”
***
“Allison! Hi! Yeah, it’s been awhile. How are you?” He matched her pace, settling in near her switching his glance from her to the terrain and back. He liked Allison. She was pretty cool, and seemed smart and well put together. There was a moment some time back when he had considered even asking her out, but things had gone serious with Erin, and now he was content there.
BUt he always needed friends, especially smart and strong ones like her.
***
It was a good thing he’d stuck with Erin since Allison was already dating Isaac so that wouldn’t have gotten anywhere. But she liked Presto, he seemed like someone that would be a good friend.
“Pretty good. Especially now that it’s not hot enough I feel like I’m having a stroke after five miles.” She laughed and managed to gesture at the shirt with sleeves and the fact she wasn’t wearing shorts for once on the run.
***
Presto was happy, and he would be glad she was, as well. Friendship was cool.
“Yeah. I got used to running in robes back in the Realms, but I’d much rather run in comfortable clothing, in comfortable weather.” He chuckled.
“I don’t recall if I ever asked, but how long have you been here?”
***
“I can’t imagine running in robes, it would be like running in a dress.” Which didn’t sound like any fun at all. Not in the woods with all the things for it to catch on and tear and slow you down. Not to mention the trail you’d leave behind.
“I’ve been here a little over a year and a half now.”
***
Presto grinned. “I didn’t have much choice. The robes were protection against harm, and i had no armor, nor any way to wear it or buy it. Despite being hot, the robes were easier to wear than learning how to wear armor, earning it, and then learning how to run with that extra weight.”
He grinned, listening.
“Wow. I would be glad to stay here, frankly, and not ever leave.”
***
“I’m happy enough to never leave. There’s not much to go back to for me.” Allison would like to avoid going back to die. She was proud of what she’d done to save her friends but that didn’t mean that she wanted to be dead.
“Learning to run with encumbrances and dealing with the weight and discomfort was part of my training.”
***
Presto nodded. “That makes sense. I guess? I mostly just did it to survive, and then eventually realized I liked running.” He chuckled. “Now I do it because…” He paused, and shook his head.
“Because sometimes, I think this isn’t real, and any moment I will wake up back there, or be whisked back there.”
***
“In my case it’s to survive too, it’s just practicing ahead of time.” Allison grinned at the concept.
“It does seem like a dream sometimes. I could be really morbid and point out that the brain is supposed to have vivid hallucinations as you die when it happens with some fast trauma.”
***
Presto grinned. “Makes sense, and that’s smart, too.
Presto chuckled, “Yeah, ah, I thought about that, too. Me and my friends were fighting a demon when this happened. I was sure, at first, that I was dead.” He shivered. “Now exactly the best thought, and another reason for wanting to stay.”
***
“I was dead. I remember dying but I didn’t remember it until after I’d been here about a year so I don’t think I can blame that.” Allison didn’t think you could classify the Oni as demons but their grinning masks certainly gave them that aura.
*** Presto winced. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep you from going home, then.” He paused, and added. “Or to make sure you don’t stay dead.”
If he followed her, he could rectify that situation.
***
“Thanks.” Allison smiled then shook her head. “But I’ve had a while to get used to knowing what happened. I know this is my second chance and I won’t waste it but whatever happens will happen. I just want the ones I leave behind to be okay.”
Isaac, her father, Lydia.
***
“A good wish, for sure.” Presto nodded. This was kind of pleasant, running and chatting with a friend as they ran/jogged. The woods were peaceful, and quiet, otherwise, and he was enjoying this.
“How far are you running today?”
***
“I was going for six or seven miles. Midweek longer stretch.” Allison tried to do a couple miles on the off days and ten or more on Saturdays but then added in a middle distance in the middle of the week. The change up kept it from getting stale or your body getting too used to it.
***
Presto nodded, thinking and glancing ahead. “Sounds good to me. Mind if I run alongside? Running with a friend seems a lot more fun than running alone, to me.” He offered a smile and a raised eyebrow.
“Hey, do you ever go hunting out in the woods?”
***
“No, I don’t mind.” Allison didn’t have anyone to run with her nearly enough. She ran with her dad when he had time and Isaac didn’t mind running but she couldn’t keep up with him very well and it didn’t push him at all to keep up with her.
“Sometimes. I take my bow out, not always to hunt, a lot of times just for targets.”
***
“Cool! I like to run, and I do it all the time. I just seem to not run into anyone, most of the time.” Which was odd, when you thought about it, since this place wasn’t huge. But, whatever.
“I’ve been going out and doing a little bit of hunting myself. Either alone, or working with Malia, once or twice. It would be cool to try hunting with someone else, too.” He raised his hands, wiggling his fingers, as he glanced over at her. “As long as you don’t mind magic.”
***
“How do you use magic to hunt?” Allison was curious about that. She didn’t hunt that much since she could get food in the grocery store but occasionally to keep her skills sharp was a good thing.
***
Presto grinned. He had slowly built up a large group of tricks he could use. “I can make myself invisible, and very light, so I make no sounds and can’t be seen, and remove scent as well. I can also fly, and I can hit animals with lightning bolts or fireballs. Or I can use sound magic to scare or drive them in a particular direction.”
He nodded.
“Magic is like any other tool. Study it enough and you can apply it to almost any situation.”
***
“Useful but isn’t it kind of overkill with the fireball and lightning?” Allison was trying to picture it and just sort of remembered the cartoon someone had made of hunters using fully automatic assault rifles on a deer. They were holding up a hoof as all that was left as a trophy. The rest of it sounded pretty useful.
And not just for hunting for dinner.
***
“Well, I can control the intensity of them, so I can just hit them with enough force and power to kill them, or even to gently roast them, as is. “ He chuckled. “Most of the time, fireballs and lightning bolts are nothing like the movies. Finesse matters more than power.”
He held up a hand and spoke as they ran, and then flicked his hand, and a ball of fire oddly blue and almost disc shaped flung forward, clearing out low-hanging vines from ahead of them without ever touching the actual tree of the ground.
“I spent a lot of time not being good at this, but I began to learn as much as I could.”
***
“Could you do something like put the fire on an arrow without it burning the arrow but it would still burn the target?” Allison was now interested in the magic with nothing to do with hunting dinner. Fire arrows had to have something on them that held flammable material and enough mass to keep them from blowing out when you shot them. That made them super awkward and not very accurate over long distances.
***
“Sure. It wouldn’t last forever, but it could last long enough for that. And better, it could be set up ahead of time. I could set the spell on the arrow so that a specific word, or action, like say, loosing it from the bow, would light it.” Presto nodded, eyes lighting up. Battle magic, that he could handle.
***
“Well maybe we should sit down and talk about that sometime.” Allison liked the idea of having new tricks that they could use just in case something like the dinosaurs came back. That could be very useful.
“But if we can talk this much we aren’t running hard enough.” She grinned at him before she took off through the woods.
***
Presto laughed and chased after, grinning. This sounded like fun!
As he ran, he made plans to contact her and to continue this while not trying to not die.