Day One - Part 2

[Gildarts]

Finally, he heard it. The immediate prance in Karl's beckoning voice, whose delighted tone mixed halfway between a soothing melody and a soft snicker. It sounded like the game master was having fun, and had Gildarts been given the opportunity to see Karl's face during the announcement, he was sure there would only be layers upon layers of the same.

Half of the announcement didn't make sense. There were too many numbers, letters, and names, and the out-of-the-loop Prime couldn't find the significance in any of them. The "fallen" was the only sliver of news that transcended past his current situation and a curve marked the corners of his thin lips. He hadn't heard her name. Even in this inferno of murder, with the delivery of death, there was good news.

Danger-zone? The severity of the threat transcended from the sputtering speaker, his ears had filled with rain and by now he felt his joints rusting. What's that?

The crackle of thunder erupted overhead and the only answer he received came from the gentle pattering of water that poured in great streams to the ground. The taste of dewfall hung in the air and Gildarts soon found that he was no longer thirsty.

Lastly, Hurricane Karl was announced to bombard the gulf, but the soaked Gildarts thought the meteorologist was a little late on the weather forecast.

"Couldn't have mentioned it sooner?" His own voice responded as yet another wet splash of mud greased between his soggy toes. It had been sunny when Gildarts was on the beach and didn't need shoes, yet now that he had set out on his lengthy trek, there was an oncoming hurricane aimed at him. The experienced mage wasn't one to complain, but it certainly seemed like the bloodthirsty spiders were less of a problem than this.

One bare foot squashed into the rain-soaked ground and the unrelenting lone wolf lead on, surpassing every obstacle Karl could throw at him. But first, he would have to step out of this slop Karl called a storm.

An incessant gurgling followed and the oblivious Gildarts, for one reason or another, could no longer make out the sound of Karl's praising remarks. Bits and pieces of a jagged, ever-incomplete puzzle remained loitering in his still mind all while the pounding of rain forced his arctic, drenched body to its breaking point.

His slick-backed auburn hair was frazzled, his soft yet harnessing gaze remained dampened, and the stubble of his beard bubbled with chilled drops of drizzle.

Very... Eventful. He told himself before slowing his pace, and raising his staunch shoulders. "Well, well, what do we have here?"

The man had followed the gravel road into the town he didn't know existed. Each step brought him closer and closer to destruction, there was only a question of whether he would be assigned the destroyer, or the rubble that would be crunched underfoot.

...

Eager to get out the rain, his joints creaked as he approached the nearest building with intent to take shelter from the imminent storm. Danger hung in the cautious air around him and yet the flood of relief had never been a better reward.

On the floor, he dripped streams of water that splashed in fresh puddles that had accumulated from an open window and a leak in the ceiling. Copper wires flicked with stray bolts of static and dangled dangerously close to the pools below the two board-less leaks. He made a mental note of where not to step and kept a keen eye on the electrical wiring as he shed his drenched cloak and smiled at the remaining warmth of the room.