Welcome to Gaia! ::

Among the sounds of creatures chirping and calling, came the repetitive mantra of black leather shoes scraping against the path.

He had been walking for what felt like hours now, without food nor drink. His hair curled at the edges from the humidity, and a throbbing headache was beginning to develop. Everything in his mind felt cloudy, muddy, with bubble gum added to the mix. Thus, he focused only on putting one foot in front of the other, and continuing along his path. Hopefully, he'd either find a city, or someone along the path that could help him.

But for now, he simply kept his head down, focused on the singleminded task of movement.

Hearing movement nearby, he stopped for a moment, listening, the cloudiness in his mind briefly going away with something else to think about.

His own curiosity and boredom taking over, he slipped into the bushes, following the sound as silently as he could as he slid past the overgrowth, able to see a green cloak, but nothing else.

Hunter? He wondered. Or perhaps...something worse, considering the bags that the man clutched. Knowing the best thing to do, he remained following silently, until a protruding root caught his foot, and he crashed to the ground, gaining several scraps and bruises in the process.

Briefly forgetting his quarry, and cursing to himself, he dragged himself back to his feet, brushing the acquired twigs that had situated themselves in his hair and clothing.

"That's what they always say," He grunted without thinking as he completed brushing himself off as he walked up to see the man better. Secretly, he was wondering what kind of poor part of the world he had landed himself into in order to see a person with such archaic belongings.

"Think you could help me out?" He hazarded, knowing that this man obviously knew the region better than him, and wasn't the kind of person to just wordlessly walk away, "I don't have an inkling to where the hell I am, and you seem like a person that obviously knows what to do. Think you can get me to a safe place with food and drink? I'll return the favor as best as I can."

He turned as the man walked by him. Looking at the bags, he wondered if the guy might be some kinda ominous ye olde drug trader. He definitely had the attitude and the...well, not really the appropriate weaponry.

As his mind went out on a crazy limb, he asked the oh-so-forseen question.

"Why not?" He asked, wondering if it was some sort of ghost town.

"Unless there's another town within ten or twenty miles," Rick offered, coming to a stop beside the man, "I don't have much of a choice. It's either that, or starve to death. And preferably, I'd rather get into a bad town than perish," He reasoned, his tanned arms crossed over his chest.

He frowned, "Even if I'd have stayed on the path, huh? Then tell me---I apologize in advance for this---but where exactly is this place?"

The way that the man had said such a thing was startling to Rick, especially since it didn't look at all like he was being screwed around with. He was nearly wondering if he was hallucinating the whole ordeal, and had really just passed out in his apartment.

"That's not a stereotypical warning in the least," He flatly said before turning back towards the town, "Tell me, where would I have the best chances of survival: the scary ominous woods, or the nondescript town?"

He paused for a moment, wondering if his searing sarcasm had gone against him once again, like many times before when he couldn't control his cynicism. Until he got a straight answer, though, he wouldn't make any assumptions. So for the moment, he followed, head down, hands jammed deep in his pockets, looking up to make an occasional glance at the scenery.