((OMG, we've had four different spellings of 'shepherd'. XD))
Smiling, you shook your head. "I can stand to be away from you a little while. Besides, it might just be an old friend...of a sort."
Thoroughly mystified but still with enough presence to look hurt, Tara stalked off, leaving you to talk to the shepherd yourself. Fortunately, he saw you easily enough. Remembering something, you raised your right arm up straight, waving it in a slow circle. The shepherd responded as you'd hoped: raising and lowering the staff.
Tara noticed this and raised an eyebrow whilst looking over her shoulder. "What was that about?"
"Tara, my life may have been uneventful, but it has been very, very long. I still remember a time when humans were not so used to these locales, though where they were displaced from, none would say. Back then, they feared people like me...but I learned a lot about them, nonetheless. In those days, a shepherd was someone to be respected. That was the way you greeted one you met on the road. I figured he'd know it. Seems I was right."
"How did you figure that?" Tara asked, now curious enough to stop and look at you.
"Today, there would be three reasons to be a shepherd. One, because you're an idealistic fool. While he may be idealistic, and may turn out to be rash and foolish, he is clearly good at what he does, so that seems unlikely. Two, because luck made it your best option. But this person is clearly not a desperate one, and his clothes are of relatively good quality. And he could certainly make a killing by selling that staff of his. Which leads us to the third reason: Tradition. It would explain why he held on to that thing. Not to mention that if his parents taught him, and their parents taught them, and so on, he could be very, very skilled quite easily. Plus, the other two make no sense. And if his ancestors passed down their knowledge through the generations..."
"...they would have passed down that greeting along with it," Tara finished, smiling. "You really do still have a brain after all those years."
"And I thought calling you your name earned me a few points..." you said, sighing in mock exasperation. Tara just winked at you and walked off, leaving you a tad confused, but happy enough nonetheless. Chuckling, you walked to the shepherd who had already crossed half the distance while you were talking.
"Well met, shepherd. I am but a humble traveler. As divine will has brought us together, would you give my companion and I a prayer for our safety on this journey?"
She smiled and said, "I know a pagan prayer, actually. It's fresher in my mind, so I remember it better. I believe it was a prayer of the dark elves, but it seems fitting." Wait, she?
You merely raised an eyebrow and nodded. The old humans had also been quite religious to their 'one god', carrying a strong belief that they were 'a chosen people'. The experience of meeting the dark elves had been a strange one. Their own spirituality was centered around the worship of elements and their aspect: ergo, beings like yourself. Unlike the moral creed of humans, the religious creed of dark elves was one of personal self-betterment and skill. They had said that those who truly mastered an element or craft would be reborn as an embodiment of that thing, a great honor for any dark elf who accomplished it. Morality, though, came from other things.
"Let me hear it. After all, the lord said that hope is a holy thing no matter where it comes from, correct?"
The girl smiled and took off her hood, confirming that she was, in fact, a girl. Her large blue eyes looked into you, full of curiosity, and her blonde hair lay across her shoulders in neatly combed strands. Most strikingly, she looked like she was very, very young: eighteen years, you supposed. Perhaps one or two less.
"Correct. Anyways, here goes...
To the fellow pilgrim on the path to mastery, may your education be fruitful and your work be successful. By the good grace of the gods and masters, let it be that nothing and no one stop you on the road to perfection. May your skills stay sharp."
You smile and nod. "It is a nice prayer, I suppose. It's not just about safety, is it?"
She scowled and shook her head. "No! Bah, I am too young for all this theology. Especially when I have so many questions to ask you! I've never seen a real elemental before!" She looked you up and down, almost dancing about you in her excitement.
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Topic: Steampunk Metal Elemental!- Mine for reboot (Read 38550 times)