Chapter 1: Riverside

The water glittered in the light of the afternoon sun, as the river flowed in a calm, serene way. The dusty barren path close by – separated from the river by but a few meters – stirred ever so slightly, a gentle breeze causing small sections of dust to swirl, rise, fall, and as it did so too did the grass sway gently to the rhythmic movements of the wind. The silence of this beautiful scene was to then be permeated by the banter of travellers – a trio of friends, slowly moving along the path in a jovial and carefree manner, passing under the shade of a tree overarching the path as they did so.

The eldest of the three was a young Caucasian girl. She had straight, shoulder-length brunette hair and was slender in appearance, and had a beautiful face that could make heads turn – something which offset her somewhat underdeveloped frame. Though she was the eldest she was not the tallest, and she was heighted between her two friends – so too did her appearance differ to her personality, since her observant and kind nature seemed to clash somewhat with the sarcastic and snarky retorts she gave to her friends. She was dressed in what many would define as a casual manner, wearing a faded cyan tank top that hung loosely from her figure and knee-length sandy brown shorts – both of which were complimented by her short, sturdy brown hiking boots.

A small boy was the youngest of the three and the shortest of the group also, the top of his head reaching only to the height of the girl’s chest area. His hair was scruffy and unwashed, something which was less noticeable due to the shortness of it, and he was dressed in a somewhat odd manner. A scraggly, marred, torn grey shirt – presumably another colour once upon a time, but now filthy and dulled beyond recognition – adorned his torso, while a pair of overly long trousers clung tightly, perhaps uncomfortably, to his waist. He had on his feet nought but a pair of surprisingly well-kept sandals, and a small, rusted battleaxe was clenched tightly within his hand. His youthful exuberance and energetic grin were clear evidence of his eccentric personality, as he continued on about his excitement towards the journey the group was partaking in.

Lastly there came the tallest of the three, yet middling in terms of age. His face was not ugly nor was it handsome, simply average and uninteresting to a glancing eye – yet upon further inspection his eyes gleamed with what seemed to be an unending cacophony of wisdom. Though young he was knowledgeable, his personality calm and collected, emitting what one could say was an aura of respect and a presence of ease. Unfortunately, however, his great knowledge was conflicted by the pain of memories – though he could remember his childhood and younger years he always complained of how they unusually seemed unnatural, unseemly, almost as if the memories had been placed there, even though he was sure of experiencing the events himself. In appearance he wore somewhat standard adventurer fair; a dull blue leather tunic, similarly coloured shorts and knee-high brown boots – he had a murky brown belt wrapped around his waist, attached to which was long, silver blade, currently tucked neatly within its sheath. He was slightly more serious in appearance than the other two, though not much so, with short, simple brown hair and a faint scar just below his knee on his left leg – a scar which was obscured by his boots.

The three of them walked together in a straight line down the road, scuffing up dust and planning out their next move cheerfully as they did so. The conversation was mostly between the older boy and the girl, with the younger lad gleefully listening in and making brilliant yet oft-ignored suggestions to them at varying points. One such exchange was carried out like so:

“So, where are we heading to next?” the youngest asked. The girl paused in mid-sentence and rolled her eyes, turning to face the young boy.

“Kyle, you know where we’re heading. We’ve been through this at least six times now,” she sighed.

“Yeah, but we’ve been to so many places I keep forgetting their names. Where are we going, Renee?” he replied, again repeating the question.

The girl looked back towards the older boy with a hint of frustration within her eyes. The boy nodded with a wry smile and stared ahead, replying “We’re heading towards the village of Ordell. It’s on the way to the temple, and we could stop there for the nigh-”

“Temple, Lawrence?” Kyle quipped.

At this point, Renee placed the palm of her hand firmly against her face and shook her head, while Lawrence turned to face Kyle and raised his brow.

“We’re heading to the old, abandoned temple of Deepmoor to steal the rumoured masses of unclaimed treasures that lie within. It’s the reason we’ve been on this journey for the last half a year, remember?”

Finally satisfied, Kyle beamed happily and nodded, turning his head away to stare up at the faint clouds in the azure sky above. Shortly after, Lawrence and Renee picked up their conversation where they had left off, while Kyle gazed off dreamily into the far distance. It was not long before they had moved much farther down the path, allowing a beautiful silence to once again adorn the area they had just passed through.

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