The people above me are insane... (unless I'm up there of course)

The person above me just hasn't read the update on Zy's last post on the subject

The person above me is just dying to meet the clowns.

The person above me is just sooooo nice!

The person above me is a sword... man the uses I'd have for a sword...

It. Was. Finally. Over.

Tyosh and Dilora were slowly making their way to the peddling wagon. It was going to feel so good to just sit and eat and enjoy not having to actually hunt or produce or chase after food. It would just be there, waiting to be devoured. The only good food was cooked and dead food. Yum! His mouth was watering at the thought of ripping at that warm crispy chicken skin. But besides all that, it was a nice thought of enjoying a nice meal with a human being again, instead of just Arrow. Great mount, horrible conversationalist. It’d be good to just talk about nothing, he’d been around Dilora all day but there had been scarce words shared, it’d be nice to officially catch up.

She really didn’t seem in a mood to talk right now, probably just as exhausted as himself, so Tyosh kept quiet to not ruin the mood. He did however start humming a nice relaxing tune to lighten up the general ambience. He was surprised to hear Dilora pick it up, and so it went until they reached the wagon, both humming, probably remembering different times, different places and different people, all connected by a single tune. And this walk another memory to add to the power of the song with no name or words.

And all of a sudden there it was, the wagon, just as he remembered it from a few weeks back. He didn’t expect for it to change, but it just felt like it had been such a long time. It wasn’t exactly home, but it was like a close relative’s bed, just as comfy, just as homey only not exactly home, it’s a shame his home burned down, he could never go back. For now he’d just enjoy the comfort of family. But before he enjoyed anything he really needed some water, a bath was necessary if he was going to interact with people again.

Tyosh was glad the chicken run was over. He’d have dreams about for a long time still he thought. But his next duty was nothing close to simple, you’d think vegetables were a copper a dozen on a farm, but no. Whoever the owners were had done a good job at hiding any and all green life or taking it with them on their journey. The dotted line was that Tyosh was one hungry, tired vegetable hunter with no vegetables to hunt.

Considering he was still on the outskirts of the farm, he decided to check out the more homely of the edifices in hopes of finding the coveted hoard of goodies. The place really was nice to be in. Even with the looming rain clouds, there was peace in the air, as if you could really just be here with no worries about the past, present, future or any other time, place or thought. It was a farm where you could really just live to live. Nice peace and quiet, it was really an underappreciated quality in today’s lifestyle, where people were all after the gold andoran or the curviest courtesan. It felt good to get away from it all, maybe his journey through the wild lands with no company, scarce food and even scarcer rest had helped purify him. Perhaps he had cleansed himself of his past misdeeds, elevated his status in the Great Wheel, become an entity closer to true knowledge and enlightenment. His black and gray period had ended, he was now on the brink of his time in white and his time of true well being. The cleansing of his soul and mind had cleansed his senses he felt more in-tune with the vibes of the world than ever.

Just living to live, it’d be his new philosophy let go of all the superfluous things in his life. The things he did were just in vain, all in all, the only thing that mattered was to be in peace. Why even look for vegetables? Couldn’t chicken be eaten as plain chicken? What was the use of herbs or accompanying vegetables? They didn’t feed, they only added taste, taste which didn’t help to live. It was an effort, a pressure, a stress that only helped to add exactly that, stress. Stress for vegetables you wouldn’t remember in the morning. Dilora would see reason in his logic once he explained it, maybe she’d even join his school of thought, the first follower of “The Way of the Un-gathered Herb”. She’d be sure to spread the word, make the world see the truth of peace and living leisurely and plentifully.

The thoughts running through Tyosh’s head would’ve been productive and lead to somewhere significant if he hadn’t found himself with a wine cellar. All thoughts of letting go of worldly possessions vanished as he rummaged through the hoard, taking only the best of the best, and yet still managing to take a good gulp from most of the dozens upon dozens of bottles. The red, the white, the darker, the lighter, the sweet, the bitter, it was a frenzy of colors and tastes, where beverages of some kind were involved Tyosh wanted all his possessions safely in his mug. Upon more investigation of the place he found some left-over vegetables in a pantry on the above level. They were scrawny but they’d do well enough with the hunger, and a few spices here or there would compensate he hoped.

On his way back he tried to remember something about “The Way of…” something about an herb, to no avail, not that he cared of course, he was heading for a grand meal which was bound to fill his mind and belly.

The two people above me scare me sometimes.

The sounded.... wow... the person above me is very naughty :P

The person above me ruined my post... from a few post backs... and now I feel... :(

The person above me chose some lousy last words!

The person above me is soooo selfish... and a pizza lover

The person above me doused paint thinner in the person above above me's drink

The person above me doesn't actually know

The person above me stole my thoughts!

The person above me liked whipped cream

Tyosh’s luck had started to change, but not abruptly, not at all. The tending of his wounds tonight was going to be quite a hassle, probably a little painful, or maybe a lot painful. Warriors didn’t know about war wounds until they fought chickens. His peck pains were stored in the back of his mind for now, he needed every ounce of concentration he could muster to dominate the next bird. There was only one chicken death on his hands for now, but he planned on having at least 4 more. But that one chicken taught him much in the manner of hunting nervous buck wild animals. It wasn’t about strategy or patience or anything else normal hunting related, it was all about becoming an animal, a raving beast that snaps chickens necks!

His next prey looked feisty enough, but proved to be all cluck and no peck. Tyosh recovered his humanity for a few moments as he held the chicken’s neck in his large hands. The eyes looked pleading, almost screaming for release from the hand made shackles around its neck. There was a pang of sympathy for the little bird, all white and fluffy, almost like a living cloud… with beady eyes. What did these chickens ever do to him? Did he really think he could just kill for his own survival? Was it ethically correct? What if the chicken had family? Would Tyosh like being hunted? Well, those were questions for when he was hunted, and with that thought he snapped the chicken’s neck with ease and stuffed the chicken in the sack with the rest while he flashed a smile to his peddler companion. They all looked really plump; they’d all give meat for a few days easily. Which was exactly why he agreed with Dilora’s thought of collecting only a few more chickens, anymore and they’d be swimming in feathers and bones.

As soon as he straightened himself up from his contribution to the sack he saw it. The help he needed to finish collecting his part of the chickens and finally get some rest, the shovel… the world renowned chicken slaughterer. He’d be batting chickens left and right, and after they were knocked out chasing after them would be much easier. He grabbed his weapon of choice and went straight to nearest chicken…

WHACK!

“One down, three to go.”, Tyosh said with delight.

Well that's easy. *hands over a kajillion dollars* Keep the change sweetcheeks. *flips a coin towards rey*

The person above me is going to tell me the price.

The person above me totally took away my high... :(

The person above me said I was right! I like her, she's nice!

The person above me attacks people on a daily basis with tacos.

Tyosh still hadn’t fully shaken off his lack of rest and it showed like a green leaf on a dead tree. All in all he wasn’t all too inspired for scrambling around in a pen for eggs, in his state it would probably end up in scrambled eggs on the floor, but hell, for Dilora he’d do his best or die trying! Except that’d come later, right now he was concentrating all his might onto actually moving. He was pretty sure his lethargy had taken on solid form and was holding him back from any productive movement other than staring blankly, yawning and stretching. But his blank staring had won him a definite prize, the scrambling of his fellow egg-hunter. If only there were someway to record everything that was happening with something other than writing or paintings, only the true movement in the crazy chicken evasion jig could capture what was happening. She was all over the place!

There was indeed grace in all the jerky movements, Dilora hadn’t completely avoided the pecks and scratches but she had done a hell of an effort. All the eggs were retrieved with minimal damage and apparently not noticing that Tyosh’s only labor was to commit every single detail of the chicken ballad to memory. And now it seemed she was onto the second phase of the operation, collecting the actual chickens. This was a new challenge all together… or so Tyosh could gather by looking at Dilora’s fruitless efforts. This time her strategy was completely dedicated to offense, she was about an inch away from strangling them all after, the dedication it took to chase after a pecking-scratching-running-feather ball, was immense in Dilora and even fall after fall she’d get right back up, after a regenerating chant of curses, for her next try.

This moved Tyosh deeply, he’d help his masochist companion in her labor, together these chickens would go down easily, he hoped. He decided against going after the same fat chicken Dilora was chasing and eyed a nice apparently tranquil one. He thought it’d be just like hunting, a bit of stealth, not walking directly toward it and he’d be set for some chicken breast later today. His walk was steady, his eyes planted firmly 4 inches above the actual chicken and hands in the capturing position, he was ready for anything the bird could throw at him. Except maybe what the chicken actually threw at him. At the very worst of scenarios he thought the chicken would run away, but this one was a fighter. Or possessed. Or a bull born in the body of a chicken? Probably. The beak served as the non-existent horns and the two little feet had enough power for four strengthened bull hooves, all this incremented by the power of flight, it was a terrifying bull-chicken. For a second he was sure the brown eyes of the chicken had flashed red in symbolism of its thirst for blood which was sated with a nice Saldaean herbalist/hunter blend.

Once Tyosh had safely retreated from the bull-chickens territory the chase was over, it was on to a more stable and chicken-like chicken. And there was the perfect specimen just waiting for him in the center of the pen, clucking and bobbing its head, just like a real chicken! None of the hunter lessons for this one, it was back to square one, the real square one, with pre-historic men and barbaric rituals. Tyosh dove for it with primal instincts and had come within an inch of it when it just stepped back. Not even flying away or running, no, it just stepped back and let Tyosh fall face first into the ground. These were no ordinary chickens, too smart. Light! Too smart. He spat the bit of dirt that got into his mouth, rolled up his sleeves and gave chase to the next closest chicken.

Tyosh was worried somewhat. He hadn’t seen any indication that the owners of the barn were in fact not here, everything seemed in order. He had just thought they weren’t in because… Well there must be some reason he thought they weren’t home. But Dilora seemed very cozy and homey here. Maybe they weren’t “the” chickens, maybe they were “her” chickens. So she was the owner of a nice farm, who would’ve thought? Who knew what else the rich and the famous did to quell their quimsical interests? Tyosh knew for sure he wouldn’t peddle wares around the land if he could afford to have farms all around the land instead. But the wealthy had their own way of living, he could be no judge of how they lived.

Dilora didn’t seem to have that wealthy high-born attitude of the nobles, she seemed really down to earth. But he had heard nobles tended to be good with expressions, years of practice had made her a perfect imitation of a peddler! Yes, that had to be it! He was about to catch some chickens with a high born lady, this would be a story to tell, maybe she’d even let some of her true self shine. It’d be an interesting conflict of personalities to observe, who knew maybe he’d even get some kind of title of sorts, or being able to open up his tavern again under royal protection and production. That’d be stretching it a bit, but stranger things have happened, people did get lucky sometimes. He’d even heard of people falling off buildings and surviving or plates forming into interesting patterns.

The owner of the farm seemed to look around for something. Odd, she should know the place better than anyone. It’s probably been a while since she’s been around, and when the cat’s not around the mice will play, so hard to find good help these days, poor Dilora and her mice servants. While Tyosh went about looking for the container Dilora asked for he wondered if she was good to her help or not. He finally found a nice little straw sack which he promptly took to Dilora for the start of the egg hunt!

Tyosh was glad to see his peddler friend once again but there was just something in her gaze that reminded him of a elephant wary of a mouse… an insane mouse. Did he really look all that orbited? Maybe giving himself a royalty was a bit too much, but she was sure to understand, peddlers were always great storytellers with ample and exaggerating imaginations. Oh well it was something to ask later on when they were in their cups and she’d be honest. Speaking of honesty why in the world was she hugging Arrow instead of him? He was a sturdy horse but had he really caused that much of an impression on Dilora? Mystery after mystery plopped on Tyosh’s doorstep…

He eagerly answered Dilora’s questions with: “I’ve been chasing you all like there’d be no tomorrow. In fact I was pretty sure I’d lost you for good, especially with the rain that’s bound to arrive, maybe you had decided to press on to avoid a good soaking. I’d just about given up a few hours back, but lucky me I found the party”

“Well, Tyosh, King of the Herbs, I suggest we either get inside, or get rained on. We can catch our dinner when the rains gone, if you like. Or, we can stay out here and chitchat and slip around in the mud. What do you say?” As good as rolling around in the mud with a woman like Dilora sounded, he was bone tired and just wanted to rest a bit maybe a bite to eat stolen off the wagon before a nap. But before he could answer he saw a look of indecision in Dilora’s eyes. She was seemingly making a decision, a life altering decision at that, or something she really desired. At one point she even gave a little tug to her shirt, Tyosh could only guess at what her planning entailed. He certainly didn’t expect what he heard though.

Dilora quickly fixed her hair skillfully with one hand and said: “We can talk while we catch chickens, Tyosh. I do hope your noble self doesn’t mind getting dirty. I rather fancy an omelette…” Omelettes? He missed the notion of warm, comfy, dry wagon all too soon. But he wouldn’t make himself seem like he couldn’t do it. So he found himself trotting after Dilora’s retreating figure. Noble self? Tyosh had a feeling that the Royal jokes wouldn’t end all that soon.