The Hunt for God's Gem (Private Desert Warrior & PurpleDiamond)

Ayries Copper​

"All right, I'm heading off to work now. See you after Alyss." Ayries began to walk slowly to the door of the girls average size apartment. It wasn't anything luxurious but it was a place to call home. Money, frankly, didn't grow on trees so both her and her sister needed to make due with what they had.

"Hey wait! You promised to show me how to cast dispel today!" Alyss retorted getting out of her lazy pose on couch.

"I will after work Alyss, you know we need money to survive. And don't you have to go to work in two hours anyway?", Ayries spat back. It was a brutally long night and her legs were killing her after working a 10 hour shift the day before. She left the apartment a little annoyed, but slowly began to calm herself down. Afterall, nobody likes an angry employee right?

As she walked down the main street, heading for Sandy's Market, she heard some of the locals talking about a new person who had just entered town. A new person in Catara, what on earth for? Well I guess the shops around here are pretty nice... Ayries thought still walking ever more quickly to her destination.

She could already see the glossy new sign hanging from the pole bearing "Sandy's Market" only a few steps away. She took off in a sprint, as if that was going to save her some time, and bolted into the door.

"Hey Bert, sorry for being late."

 

Ayries Copper​

As soon as she entered Sandy's Market she got straight to work. Bert, the store owner, didn't seem pleased with her, but what could she do ? Alyss had been acting a little more peculiar lately and the shifts at work were becoming a little too hectic. It was starting to feel like too much to handle, but she had to keep going for her sister's sake.

Ayries made her way to the back of the store to check on the daily shipments from across the region. As she worked her way down the endless list of the food arriving that morning she figured that everything must be on task. From what she could tell, half thinking about the task on hand and part of her mind wandering on Alyss, it looked as if everything was coming in on time. Since it was looking all right, Ayries decided to start sorting the shelves and placing the new loaves of bread that had arrived only 20 minutes earlier.

It didn't take long before Bert began walking towards her with a hint of fustration present on his face.
"Ayries, where are the apples from Felatulla. They should have been here by now. Isn't it your job to check on the shipments ? Go look and see if they're arriving now !"

"Yes sir", Ayries replied dumbfounded.

 

Ayries Copper​

"What the-", Ayries proclaimed; Starting to become very aggravated. She got up, brushed off the debris from her pants and shirt and turned her attention to the guy who made her fall. It clearly was not her day.

"And what are you doing here ?" Before another word could be uttered Ayries finally noticed the gang of young men coming towards her and the random stranger. They better not think I'm going to let them just fly by here, she thought filled with irratation. She pulled together all of the rage and force that she could muster and began to yell at the top of her lungs,

"This is a shipment area! You better get as far away from here as possible because you honestly don't want to mess with me! I swear I'll take the broom to all of you!"

Like anyone who has ever been yelled at by an angry lady, the guys seemed to get the picture and back away. It didn't take long before they made their apologies and ran off in the other direction. Ayries again turned her attention the stranger still next to her and said,

"You shouldn't let the little boys scare you.", with a hint of a smile on her face.

 

Ayries Copper​

"My name's Ayries, pleasure to me you Gerik.", she replied back. He seemed a little different from most of the people who popped up in Catara, perhaps because he wasn't as rude as most of the travellers. Ayries then recalled that she had a job to do and Bert wouldn't be very pleased if she didn't come back with the apples from Felatulla. She had already wasted so much time and she was sure that he had noticed.

"Hey listen, I've got a job to do. I need to go now. " Ayries turned her back to Gerik and began to make her way to the shop once more, but then remembered something that he had said.

"Wait, before I go didn't you say that it would look bad if you got into a fight in the the 'first' town you traveled to? It's none of my business, but where are you heading? Strange things have been happening around the region you know ?" She said curiously.

 

Ayries Copper​

"God's Gem?" she said, scraping through her thoughts. She had heard of it before, she was sure of it. Raking through her brain as fast as she could she tried to figure out who had told her about it before, and then it came to her.

"Oh, my dad told me about that a long time ago, but isn't it supposed to be only a myth? Anyway, I'm pretty sure he said that from Catara it's best to head---" She was suddenly cut off by her angry boss Bert, who was walking towards her. He definitely seemed far from happy at this particular instant.

"Ayries, where are the apples? I didn't ask you to just fool around outside! You must have left atleast 20 minutes ago! Get back to the store right now or else you're fired!" he shouted, the blood rushing to his face.

"Yes sir. Sorry." Ayries then turned back to Gerik and said, "I'll be done work in a few hours, come by and I'll tell you about it okay? " She then turned around and followed Bert back to Sandy's Market.

As they were nearing the store Bert turned to Ayries and asked, "Hey, where's Alyss? She didn't come into work like she was supposed to..."

 

Ayries Copper​

Where could Alyss possibly be ? Ayries pondered on this thought. She had worked so hard to get her little sister this job and now she won't even show up ? Alyss was at the apartment this morning and everything; Ayries had even reminded her that she would be working that day. Oh well, not much I can do about it... She sighed.

She began to place the apples on the shelves and whatever was left was put in storage. As she was rummaging around the little market fixing up odds and ends while making sure the shipments were coming in on time she couldn't stop thinking about Gerik. Where did he even come from and why look for something that is believed to only be a myth. I guess it was really his business, but it still seemed kind of strange. Perhaps he just wanted to know if such a thing like God's Gem really existed ?

Ayries peered out a tiny circular window and noticed that it seemed a little dark and hazy on the outskirts of town. The weather had been acting weird for quite some time, but it really could be just a figment of the imagination. Thinking about this she finally realized something and blurted loud,

" I did tell him to meet me at the store, right ?"

 

Ayries Copper​

Her shift was done and it was starting to get late so she locked up the storage unit in the back and checked one last time for anything that might not have arrived on time. Other than the events that occurred that morning, her day went smoothly and the rest of the shipments had arrived on time. Bert had even calmed himself down once he was sure that Ayries was hard at work. However, her little sister Alyss hadn't shown up for her shift that day which was strange and she didn't call in so Ayries knew that she couldn't possibly be sick or anything.

She grabbed her coat from behind one of the desks' because she found it a little chilly and waited outside the front door of Sandy's Market. Ayries was a little anxious since she wasn't sure if Gerik would even show up and she also felt the need to run home to her apartment to make sure that Alyss was there. Wasn't it a big sister's duty to make sure that the younger one was safe ?

As she stood outside Ayries could see the glimpse of a person off in the distance. She couldn't be sure that it was Gerik, but she hoped that it was because she didn't want to wait outside for much longer. The shadow was most likely tall enough, however, it could really be anybody. Besides she was still unsure as to whether or not she told him to meet her outside the store.

It better be him or else I'm going to have to go. I need to make sure that Alyss is all right...

 

Ayries Copper​

"Oh it's all right, it's my fault really. I don't believe I told you to meet me back at the store.", she said a little nervously. Ayries was glancing down at her feet, slightly embarrassed for not being as well organized as she normally was. On average days, whenever she was going to meet up with someone she was always so specific as to when and where they would meet. Ayries also had an idea as to what she was planning on talking about, but today was different. Perhaps because this time it involved a boy ? "Anyways, I'm sorry."

She stood awkwardly for what felt like an hour, but in reality was only a few seconds. Ayries then realized that she really should be checking in on Alyss.

"Hey, I know I said that I was going to tell you about God's Gem and all, but I was wondering if we could head back to my apartment first ? Not for any weird romantic reason or anything like that, it's just my little sister didn't come into work today and I'm starting to get a litte worried, you know ? Besides, you must have noticed that Catara get's really quiet early which makes it a little weird to be staying outside when everyone else is in their homes. My place is small and cozy and we'll be able to talk about that myth there.", Ayries said, realizing that she's really beginning to ramble on.

 

Ayries Copper​

"That's normally the case isn't it ?" she said with a bit of a chuckle, staring down at her feet for half a second. "Alyss and I only have each other, you see, our parents passed away a few years back. The doctors weren't able to figure out what they came down with, you know ? She's my little sister and she means the world to me; she's the last person left that's truly apart of my family. I know she probably just missed work because she didn't feel like going, but I feel like it's my duty to make sure she's all right. I'm a little hard on Alyss sometimes and I really wish it wasn't that way, but work keeps stressing me out..." Ayries noticed that she was rambling on again to Gerik. He's going to start to think that I'm weird or something, she thought.

As they neared the door to the apartment, Ayries opened it up and took a peek inside. Lo and behold, she could already see Alyss on the couch of the tiny living room fast asleep with her work clothes on. She clearly had fallen into slumber shortly after Ayries had left for work and must have forgotten to set an alarm to wake herself up.

"Ah, she's just asleep. Sorry for dragging you all the way here Gerik. Might as well come in, we can talk about God's Gem inside."

 

Ayries Copper​

"You can honestly sit anywhere you like. I'm going to wake Alyss up so that there's more room on the couch." she uttered, walking over to her sleeping sister. Ayries kneeled over Alyss and began to whisper, "Alyss. Alyss. Wake up." Nothing. She didn't stir in her slumber or make absolutely any movements at all.

"Well I guess I'm going to have to carry her to her bedroom." she proclaimed. Ayries bent over and picked up Alyss and slowly carried her off. She wasn't as light as she used to be. Then again she was no longer a 14 year old girl.

"Anyways," Ayries said, re-entering the living room. "I don't think you'll need a weapon, especially in a place like Catara. Well then again it feels a little different theses days, don't you find ? Like some weird aura is floating around." she took a seat on the couch and invited Gerik over.

"Don't be shy, I don't bite or anything. Anyway, God's Gem is a mere myth that my dad use to tell me about when I was a child. It's supposed to bestow some kind of power, or something. From Catara you would have to head West if you wanted to find it. There's a string of villages out that way that you'd have to navigate through, plus a few rugged terrains. I don't think it would be a good idea if you were heading out that way by yourself though. Why are you trying to find it again ?"