A Clash of Worlds (Taliesin&redblood)

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"Your arrival was pretty well timed. They were well away in either direction. We'll have to see if we can make it to a village before nightfall though because making a fire out here wouldn't be the best idea." Nai looked around through fully for a moment. "Ah, some thorn bushes, excellent. Go get familiar with those for a couple rounds and then we can start making for the village. Maybe get some extra dirt on you and rub it in your hair as well." Of course Nai wouldn't forget about that. "While you do that I'm going to check something out." He vanished into thin air and started scouting the area. He wouldn't admit it to Paris but he actually did not know the area very well at all. He knew there must be a village around somewhere but first he had to find the road so they could both follow and avoid it on the way to the village.

Luckily he could travel quite quickly when he went incorporeal but it was still going to take him some time and he needed to avoid running into any magicians that might see him. They would not believe he was sentient and free willed, and if they did that would only raise more questions.
 
As long as it didn't snow, Paris doubted he would freeze to death if he didn't start a fire. But considering he had never slept outside at night even in his own country, maybe he wasn't the best of judge for such things.

When Nai mentioned the bushes, Paris shoulders sank in disappointment. That little bastard just had to remember that. Before Paris could say anything about that idea, Nai was already gone. The prince had no idea what the small creature needed to do, but he didn't have much time to think about it either. He had to fix his appearance. "I do wonder how Nai expects me to be taken seriously when I'm asking for Adrian at the castle." Paris mumbled to himself. If he would present himself as a prince that knew Adrian, then he would probably not be taken seriously. Hopefully Nai had some solution to that problem. He wouldn't break into a castle filled with magicians. No magic in the world could help him with that.

Throwing away his dignity for twenty or so minutes, Paris carefully laid himself into the bushes and started to crawl around. Quite quickly he started to notice that nothing really happened when he were so damn careful, so eventually he just let loose and rolled around like a pig in the dirt. His dignity was down to a zero. Once done the prince sat down beside the bushes and sighed. He sighed at least twelve times. Being in love truly sucked if it led him to do such things as rolling himself in bushes. Adrian certainly deserved a fist in the face for what Paris was forced to be put through. His face had scratches, there was branches in his hair, and when he tried to pull them out his hair became awfully untamed. Without a comb it would be impossible to put it back to its beautiful straight position.
 
It took Nai just over a half hour to return, looking quite proud of himself. When he saw the state Paris was in even he looked surprised. He actually had been a bit concerned he would have to pressure Paris some more to get him to do it properly but it seemed he had pulled himself together. "Excellent." He beamed at Paris, ignoring the desire to hug him as Nai was a bit small for that. If he had doubted Paris's feelings there was none remaining now. "The village is to the northwest, if you move quickly you should hopefully be able to make it before the sun is down completely." He floated around Paris just to make sure there wasn't anything too off. Finally he nodded. Paris was as good as he was going to get. His clothing still had some odd stitching but so long as they were quick on their mental feet everything should be fine.
 
Pouting and not the least happy about the situation, Paris stood up and started to walk in a high tempo. "I hope that idiot appreciates what I put my hair through because of him." He murmured, not letting go of the feelings he had for his damaged hair. "Do you even know what hair color does to the hair bottom? I could become bald early in life because of it." That was probably an overreaction as it mainly affected people who frequently colored, or worse, bleached their hair. "Not to speak of how tangled up it has become. It will take an eternity to brush this out."

The prince continued to complain for the next ten minutes before he finally gave it a rest. He just had to get everything out, otherwise he wouldn't be able to get anything done once it was time to work.

"Is there any certain way the people here behave that I should know about? Do you have unwritten rules about how to act when meeting strangers and such." He eventually asked as they finally seemed to near a town. He probably should have asked about such things earlier, but it was first when he got closer to actually meeting people that the question came to mind.
 
Nai floated along making occasional sympathetic noises, making a point to stay far enough ahead that Paris could not see his wide grin. The normally mild prince's stream of complaining was about the best traveling entertainment he could ask for. He paused at the prince's question and pondered for a moment. Then something hit him and he almost sank to the ground in horror. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten one of the most important things. He was thinking too much like the man whom he was modeled after, a genius who picked up languages quickly and made a point to learn all he could get his hands on. He let out a stream of curses in his own language before swooping through the air to just in front of Paris's face. "You don't know our language do you?" The prince's expression was answer enough.

Nai floated around in circle for a few seconds while he thought fast. "Okay, that's fine. It will help explain my own presence. You'll be a mute and I will be your voice. Thank goodness you're a magician or we really would be in some trouble." He was practically vibrating with irritation at forgetting such an important factor. "All you need to remember is that when you greet someone you raise your hands like this." He put both hands out in front of him, palms outward. "It's to show you're not hiding some magic dust or the like. Or to show off all your magical rings in some cases."
 
Paris almost wanted to hit himself in the head when Nai reminded him of the most important thing of all. The language. Paris knew many languages, but all of those he had learnt was those which countries they actually spoke with often. Laesin was not on the list. They didn't want to communicate with Paris's country, except for in certain cases in which there always had been a translator from Lasein to help them.

"Great, I had completely forgotten about that detail. Why can't everyone just learn Enlin. We have an international language for a reason." Paris complained a bit, but knew it would be impossible for the more closed off countries to learn the international language. Heck, there were even open countries that openly refused it, which was one of the reasons he knew five languages close to fluently, and were still learning five others. Some of them was just for fun, others was necessary for political reasons. His own country was one of the first to get Enlin as a second language learned in all schools, thus it felt pretty much like a first language to him.

"Well considering I won't understand a word they say, I guess I won't have anything to answer with anyways, so shutting up won't be any problem." He sighed. How would it go once he reached the castle? Did anyone there know any other language? Asking for Adrian through Nai would probably look strange. Hopefully they would get through somehow. "If I get that idiot back, you'll have to help me with a revenge plan for all of this. Otherwise you'll be included in it." Paris didn't care that he sounded like a kid. After having rolled in thorny bushes, he deserved to be a bit grumpy until he finally got the chance to hit his lover.
 
"Of course." Nai responded cheerfully, still setting a solid pace. It was probably a bit of a strain on Paris but Nai may have been subtly using some of Paris's own magic to enhance his stamina so they could actually keep the time needed to get to the village before it got too dark. It was just after the sun had disappeared off the horizon when they arrived at the edge of the village. Nai stopped just before they really got near anyone. "There is probably an inn but they'll be expecting money. I suggest we try to gain some farmers pity for the night and then see if there's any work to be had around the village."
 
It did surprise Paris that he actually could go the distance with very little problems. Sure, he was exhausted, but considering how fast he usually tired, it was quite amazing that he hadn't rested even once before they reached the outskirt of the village.

The young prince took his time to catch his breath before continuing on Nai's suggestion of searching up a farmer. As they kept on walking, Paris practiced the hand gesture Nai had taught him some hours earlier, just to make sure he remembered it correctly. It wasn't the hardest thing to do, but it was so simple it was easily forgotten if one had never done it before. "I do hope I can remember to stay mute." Paris murmured. Though considering no one spoke his language, he would probably not have anything to respond to either way.

As they reach a farmers home, the brown haired man knocked on the door and try to prepare himself. He was far too anxious, but maybe that would be of help. His anxiousness could be interpreted as him being frightened after having slept many nights outside without food or shelter, and now might have to do another one. The door opened and a middle aged woman peeked out. Paris started with a bow but quickly changed to putting his hands forward instead. His head was still leaning forward and he hoped she would take it as him just being nervous and not as him having tried to bow respectfully towards her as they did in his country.

She definitely found his behavior slightly odd, but didn't seem to think of him as a suspicious person yet. "What can I help you with?" She asked. Paris looked up at her. All he could do now was to leave everything to Adrian.
 
Nai floated up to a polite distance in front of the woman's face and also made the hand motion. Nai's previous finery had changed and now he was instead a copy of Paris as he was now. "Ma'am I must speak through this as an accident many years ago damaged my throat. I was attacked by brigands on my way to visit family 3 villages over. They took everything I had and roughed me up terribly. I am a magician as you see but offensive magics are not something I am skilled in. I must beg your aid now, I will use my magic to aid you in whatever way you need in return." Nai had changed his appearance but he wasn't doing too well speaking like an average person. It could be passed off as an effect of the education one generally got even as a weak magician and a somewhat rehearsed speech made while he had nothing else to occupy his mind while working slowly through the forest.
 
The woman was only surprised for a few seconds when the little creature spoke instead of Paris. While the magic in itself hadn't surprised her, as that was normal, it was strange to see someone letting their magic speak for them. But she believed the explanation and immediately relaxed. Paris had no idea what Nai said, so he simply tried to look as pitiful as possible.

"Oh my, you poor child." The woman said, filled with sympathy for the young man. "You've been through such bad misfortune, please come in and rest." Luckily the woman put a hand on the young prince shoulder and gently pushed it, clearly showing that it was okay to walk inside. "I don't need help with anything, but you can stay the night anyway. We should help our fellow men when they're in need after all." The woman smiled gently as she led Paris to a chair at a lit fireplace.

"My husband might not like it, but one night won't hurt. Our crops has grown so well this year, we can very well afford to share our dinner and breakfast with you. Further than that, and my husband my strangle me for my generosity though. But I do know a few fellow farmers that needs some help with cleaning their stable on their farms. Since you're going three villages further, you must get some money on the way. If you want to, I can give you directions to them tomorrow. I cannot come with you though, as there's a lot to do at my own farm still. But it's just to tell them what happened to you and that Samantha Ivale sent you. I'm sure they'll give you some hours of work so you can support yourself on your journey home." The middle aged woman told him. Paris couldn't make any sense of the words she spoke. It sounded like someone had just smashed the keyboard over and over again until they had two pages of text, and then started to read it out loud. He just had to follow Nai's lead and try to smile during the appropriate moments.
 
"Thank you so much My-Ma'am." Nai was having a hard time trying to remember how the average person spoke in his country. The only set of manners he knew well was that of a royal prince but that was definitely not how the average person acted. "I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible tomorrow morning." Remembering that he was supposed to just be Paris's voice was frustrating as well. He kept wanting to say 'we' but he knew that would be quite odd. He did manage to make the appropriate smiles and gestures so Paris could sort of mimic him. "I'll make sure to remember your name and let everyone know of your kindness and generosity through the rest of my travels."
 
Paris mimicked some of Nai's gestures, trying to make it seem as natural as possible. The woman did not seem the least suspicious even though Paris felt as if he just clumsily followed Nai's movements three minutes after he had done them.

"You are such a polite young man. You can use our guestroom, though you will have to make the bed on your own. We only prepare it when we know someone will come over you see." The woman showed Paris to the guest room and left him with everything he needed to make the bed ready for the night. "I'll come by with some food for you when it's ready." She told him before leaving.

The young prince looked confused at the door for a few moments before looking at Nai. "What did she say?" For all he knew, he could have been sold as a maid for a week by Nai. Whatever could they have spoken about? Taking up one of the sheet he fast put up two and two. "Let me guess... I have to make the bed on my own, right?" He asked. If the woman had thought of doing it, she would probably done it immediately instead of just leaving the bed's clothing there. "This will be.. interesting." Paris sighed. "I guess you have no experience in these king of things, huh?"
 
Nai floated over the bed thoughtfully. "Nope." There was no reason either he or Adrian would ever have had to make a bed on their own. Even while in the past that was mostly left to Archer or the workers at the inn. "She will give us Dinner and breakfast however, and it seems we can find some extra work by throwing around her name so I think you managed to pick the right door to stop at." He tilted on his side in the air and settled himself comfortably as if he was already on the bed. "Good luck with that." Making a bed couldn't be that complicated right?
 
Paris sighed again. "I suppose this is one of my brighter moments today after the bush bathing and hair destroying." He admitted and started to do the bed. It shouldn't have been hard at all, but somehow it still was. First he put out the cover and thought that was it. But fast he realized that when he looked at his own bed, nothing really stuck out. So he tried to push it in between the bed frame and the mattress. Once he was done on one side, he went to the other and realized that he had pushed in too much at the other side so it had become too short to push in on that side. He tried to only pull out a small piece from the already done side, but instead everything flied out. The process continued for quite a few minutes until he finally made it.

"I bet our servants doesn't get payed enough for this." He said when he exhausted sat down on the bed. "At least the pillow sheets doesn't seem too complicated." He then said and started on the pillows. Of course he was able to put them with the wrong side outwards. "Don't you dare laugh." Paris mumbled to Nai while changing it. Eventually he was fully done with the bed. The old lady soon came in with his food and he let Nai speak their thanks and appreciation.

Right after dinner, Paris fell asleep. It didn't feel as if he got to sleep long though, because before he knew it there was a knock on the door that told him breakfast was done. It was probably because he couldn't remember any dreaming that night that it felt like he hadn't slept. But soon he seemed as alert as any other day.

After breakfast, the old lady gave them directions to some other farms where they probably needed help. Paris and Nai bid their farewell and got going until they came close to the first farm where one older and one younger man was working. "Make sure to get us a job now. I don't fancy sleeping outside." He smiled at Nai. So far Nai had succeeded well, so Paris was sure he could do his magic once again. They soon approached the men on the farm whom looked up at them as they came close.
 
Nai had made a point to listen in on the farmer and his wife's conversation, but he wasn't sure how much he would actually be able to put into practice. This whole affair was turning out to be far more stressful than he had imagined and the stress made him fall back on his more natural (for him) formal speech. "Greetings!" He called as they neared the men. He floated slightly ahead and recited the same story he had given the woman before, making sure to mention her name. "So as you can see, she sent me here to see if there was any aid I could lend you in return for some coin to get me home." He managed to sound properly pitiful yet hopeful on the last few words.
 
As Paris came close to the two men, he made sure to look as pitiful as possible so that he could get the sympathy needed for them to give him a job. It was quite embarrassing that he, a prince, the heir to his kingdoms throne, was acting like a simple beggar looking for a job. Never would he speak of this to anyone. Not even Adrian would get to know of his journey. That was as long as Nai did not tell him about it.

The older man sighed and scratched his thick beard a bit, while seemingly thinking of what use the boy might be. "Well, we are after in our work progress, and it will do no good if we can't catch up before autumn arrives. I can't leave my crops to a novice in the field of farming, but I if we take care of those, then we won't have time to pick the apples before they start rotting, and the same goes for the pears and berries. If you pick the ripe apples, pears and berries, and throw away those that has already started to rot, then I'll give you ten silver coins and a pouch with apples and pears. What do you say? Is it a deal?"

Considering the size of the farm, it would have taken much more than a day to pick them all without magic. But as long as one used magic, as people did in that country, it didn't take more than half a day, or a full day if one wasn't used to the work and had to get a hang of it first.
 
Nai had a feeling that was a pretty decent amount of coin and tried to not flutter around too much in his excitement. Instead he floated forward a bit and bowed. "Thank you so much Sir, just show me the way and where you want everything and I'll get started." Nai had to admit he was a bit concerned by the size of the task. Paris had the magic energy to do it but he would probably have to lean on Nai quite a bit to be able to last long enough to complete the task.

Once the farmer showed them where everything was he floated over to Paris and explained what was going on. "So, luckily we're doing something you've had a small amount of practice with but you're going to have to get better quick. I can help out some but the majority of the work is going to have to be you."
 
The older man showed them the way and told them where all the collected fruits and berries should go. Then he left the two alone to get back to his own work.

Paris could finally look over to Nai and get some information on what was going on. "Well, I understood that much." He said almost offended. Ever since they came up with that stupid plan the prince had known that he would have to do a lot of work mostly on his own. "Just tell me what to do and how to do it." Paris then said, wanting to get it all over with. At the very least he had magic to help him. There was no way he would be able to do what was asked of him in one day with that body without magic. He would probably exhaust himself within an hour. As he already had proven to Adrian, his stamina was bordering on being sickly bad.

With some instructions and help from Nai, Paris picked up on the spells needed to move all the fruits and berries to where they were supposed to be. It took time though, and it wasn't done before the sun had gone down. "I do hope my pay is worth it." Paris sighed exhausted. He had never used magic for so long before, and he could definitely feel the effects of it. It almost felt as if he had muscle fever, but in his soul, or magic, or whatever it was.

As they got the farmer, he inspected the work and agreed that it was well done even though it had taken the boy more time than most people would have taken. "You've certainly deserved this young man." The farmer said and handed Paris a small bag with coins and a few fruits for his journey. "Good luck with your journey home and be careful of robbers." He waved the young man and the floating creature goodbye before closing his door.

"I guess it's time to find a place to sleep now." Paris sighed relieved as he picked up an apple and started to eat it. He had gotten lunch from the old farmer, but after that he hadn't eaten anything.
 
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