Spiria of the Stars

Going to Richard about the Mask of Barona would be the smartest thing to do, considering they were one in the same– not that Richard would ever admit to the fact. Though it sounded like Shing was one of the few that could not see through the kings fairly obvious disguise. “I don’t think you’ll find much answers asking him. I stopped trying a long time ago.” oh, Jude knew. Jude was certain that Richard was well aware that he knew of the truth, but any of those talks went around in circles. Even if he managed to catch him in the act.

“I’m not against exploring, Shing.” Jude might come across as more of the indoor type, because he was, but he had nothing against seeing things with his own two eyes– outside of the pages of books. “And doing so with a friend is so much more fun, right?” the fact he had such friends in these times. It was more than he could ever ask for, and he treasured any and all of those moments.

Shing made a good point, though he had a feeling that he wouldn’t find answers to whatever questions did come up, inside of that library. “They might end up being questions that would be better answered by Richard, or at least have him point me in the right direction.” a thing he learned very quickly is that while the king could satisfy most of his queries. If he wished for even greater detail or knowledge on certain matters, he had to seek it elsewhere. “I’m not going to blame you for anything, Shing. And you know plenty of things.” Hisui, as always, just sounded like he was being a bully.

The ‘maybe’ to his rather crazy idea was not reassuring in the least, but it wouldn’t be the first time he had tried something like this. Jude was more concerned if Shing could manage it on his end. “No maybes, if we mess this up he’ll end up getting away.” no rewards without risks… Though he had that sinking feeling he was going to have a lot of explaining to do to Richard later. Well, performing a linked arte with only of side having the allium orb made things more challenging, but here goes nothing. “Just time it right and aim in the right direction, I should be able to do the rest.” hopefully Jude doesn’t screw it up on his end either.

When Shing requested that he jump on the shield part of the Asteria, he nodded as a signal that he was going to do this now, as he made a jump straight for the shield.

Shing frowned a little. Wouldn’t Richard know for sure who the Mask of Barona was?! But he couldn’t do much if Jude already asked the king about it, more than once from the sound of it. “Aww... I thought Richard would know all the people here.”

There would be no end to Shing’s questions for the king, but Jude somehow always knew how to satisfy his endless curiosity. Or, hold it off for a little bit. “Well maybe Richard can join us next time! We’ll be alright for now.” Shing only smiled at how supportive Jude was, in contrast to Hisui’s... bullying.

The Soma User was always happy to explore, especially with a friend. “Right!” He was quick to agree. Friends made everything a million times better! It’d been a while since he had the chance to hang out with Jude, so he wanted to do as much as they could today. Unfortunately, exploring would have to wait.

Shing was determined to take this guy down, so he nodded. “Right, no maybes! Because he’s not getting away!” As his friend knew, Shing always acted first with whatever his Spiria thought was best.

“Hm, let’s see…”

Cheria was poking around her cupboards, looking through a pile of recipes her mother had left. Shing had stopped by and asked if she had anything on miso-based dishes–he didn’t specify why he needed one, but it was obvious it was for Kohaku.

I really ought to organize these later, this is a mess!

She coughed a bit as dust suddenly filled the air, waving her hands in front of her wildly. Finally, she found something that had miso in it, and jumped off the stool she was standing on to show Shing.

“About what?” Jude knew all too well that the others mind liked to wander, there was always so many things on his mind it could put his own overthinking to shame. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious about what occupied his friends thoughts, if Shing was willing to share that is. “Mm, well… Richard is busy right now, so I was using my time here to study more about Efinea. I never really expect to cross paths with any of Richard’s friends– or my own, let alone others from different worlds like myself.” definitely a lucky crossing here.

Though he had to laugh at Shing’s simple way of tracking him down. “I don’t think I can argue with that one.” the researcher did surround himself with books and papers whenever he ended up sitting down anywhere for long. He couldn’t even use the researcher excuse for that one as he had been this way his whole life. “So to find Shing, I would just need to keep an eye out for Kohak, right?” he teased back. It wasn’t like Shing kept his feelings for her a secret, more the opposite.

“I was thinking the same thing… Although… not hearing the details about some places is a little disappointing.” it might be exciting still, though missing out on all the knowledge would be a shame if they cant discover it. “Ah, but we need to be careful! I’ve made a promise to not reveal my origins or draw attention to them. So if we do any exploring, we need to be careful if we ask any questions. We can’t do too much that will draw attention to ourselves.” or they would end up giving poor Richard more work than he already had. The last thing he wanted to do to his kingly friend was give him more stress.

Wait, everything!? Then again… Jude could sympathize with those feelings completely. “S-Sure? I suppose it’s the same for me too.” perhaps not as much as when he first came to Efinea and Barona, but it was still pretty up there. There was alway something new he found, something that quickly became fascinating and Jude’s curiosity was easily peaked.

Jude was expecting Shing to go off on a tangent about what excited him so far, but there was a brief moment that his friends expression turned serious, before shouting and chasing after someone. Who, of course, ran away just as fast. What did he just say about not drawing attention? But Shing had a good heart and was surprisingly sharper than you would expect… He must have caught something while they were talking. It was enough to chase another down, so it couldn’t have been good. No sense in dwelling on the particulars, he should probably help Shing out.

With that decided, he quickly ran after his friend, until he had managed to catch up with him. Something that might have been easier if they weren’t in such a busy city. “Shing, I’m fast but I don’t have a lot of free movement with so many people in the streets.” if he used any abilities or artes there was no guarantee he wouldn’t accidentally hurt a civilian in the process. “Unless we can get close enough or cut him off, I can’t do anything.” it was frustrating, though Shing likely had a similar problem. Using a sword here with people nearby would cause more problems for the both of them.

That was when he had an idea– a bad idea. Talk about not drawing attention to themselves, they were already in the thick of it, but this would certainly add to it. Still, all this and if they got away? Might as well give it your best, right? “I… don’t know if you would be able to do it, but do you think you can launch me?” that would be one way to clear the distance and avoid the people. A sure shot at victory. Jude was confident and held enough artes of choice when it came to the air so he could land where he desired. “Then we can stop his escape.”

“I was thinking about the Mask of Barona! He’s so cool. I wanted to ask Richard about him!” Shing replied right away. Even if it was something serious on his mind, he still would have told his friend. The Soma User was rather open in general, but even more so with Jude. He pretty much knew everything already, yet didn’t judge him for the things within his Spiria.

Shing was beginning to feel bad that he interrupted Jude’s free time. He knew how much he found enjoyment in studying other worlds, so he thought of an offer. “As soon as we’re done exploring, we can go back to studying! But for now, we can put the studies to the test.” It was their first time on their own in another world. But Shing was confident they could make it through this!

Shing laughed when Jude even agreed to his way of finding him through locating the nearest book. Though he didn’t expect a counter. “Mm! That--that would be a good way to find me.” There was no denying it.

“Maybe if we find things we want to learn more about, we can study them when we go back to the library?” That way the researcher wouldn’t completely miss out on the things he wanted to learn due to their lack of a guide. The books were bound to go into more detail about the things they’d see today, and they’d know what to look for. Shing understood Jude’s worries, as he tried to keep his origins secret too. When he remembered to. For some reason the truth might cause panic, even though it was exciting to meet others from other worlds. “If we ask a question we shouldn’t have, you can blame me! That’s what Hisui always did. He said I was a ‘country bumpkin that didn’t know anything!’” Shing tried to reassure, though when a thief reveled themselves and was trying to hurt others with their horrible ways, Shing couldn’t help himself.

He was so determined to catch the thief he almost didn’t realize Jude caught up. With Jude’s speed, he could easily catch the guy! Before Shing could point that out, his friend was already making a plan. Fortunately he had someone to keep him thinking ahead of what was only happening in the moment. “Oh, right... everyone else.” They couldn’t just start using artes in the middle of a crowd, especially with a sword...

@spiriaofthestars

Finding a few days to visit Barona was never easy. True, he could just spend a few hours in the world of Efinea, but a few hours was just never enough time to actually enjoy it to the fullest. Unfortunately not everyone was always available, but he could still enjoy what the world had to offer, even if he was alone. Though spending that precious time reading in a castle library was a rather bad habit of his. There was just so much to learn, and he liked to be somewhat prepared before going into things completely blind without any help.

Strangely enough he wasn’t the only otherworldly visitor in Barona on this day, and said otherworldly visitor knew just how to persuade him out of the books and into the city streets. Then again, Jude could never say no to a friend. Despite his love for reading, his friends always came first in his mind. Exploring the city together without a guide? With what knowledge he held and what the other held. There was something exciting about that! What they could both discover together? What they could learn from their experiences?

“How did you know where to find me?” it couldn’t have been that easy tracking him down… could it? The chances of Jude being in Barona at the same time were not likely. “Or did you find yourself in the wrong room and got lucky?” which was probably what had happened. But that was a good stroke of luck if that were to be the case. Jude could have missed him completely, it had been a while since they had crossed paths with each other.

He REALLY wanted to ask Richard about the Mask of Barona, but that changed completely when he stumbled into his close friend in the library. This was perfect, as he didn’t know if Richard was busy today anyways. Now they were walking the streets, exploring the city. Shing found it exciting since everything was pretty new to him. Then again, he found almost anything exciting.

Shing laughed lightly at the researcher’s questions. He knew him too well. “I was lost in thought and just kinda walked into the library. Then I saw you!” He took a moment to look at their surroundings and almost got sidetracked. “But if I knew you were here, I would have checked the library first thing.” His friend loved books almost more than anything else. “If you need to find Jude, find the nearest book!”

The Soma User turned to Jude with a smile. “I’m happy too! This will be fun! It’s alright if we don’t have a guide. It kinda makes it more exciting this way.” Having Richard with them would have been great too, but things would be great either way! 

Shing paused, trying to find an answer to the question. “Can I say everything is catching my eye?!” Everything was so cool! He had a million questions, questions he was about to blurt out before his eyes landed on a suspicious person standing near a small shop setup. He watched as they pocketed a few items, clearly having not paid for them. Then they reached for some more and tried putting them in their other pocket. This was definitely a bad guy! “HEY!!” Shing suddenly yelled and took off in a dash toward the person who was now running for it.