A tale in the desert

[Dracos]

"Yes.  For Sixton is a land far, far away.  And you would be as old as me before you would walk there."

The eldest looked at Liao.  "Liao, you must tell no one of where you are going.  You will leave as soon as you have grasped teleportation.   While we must act, we must not allow a panic to go through the village."

"Now, come with me." Hiu rose, leading the way outside, heading all the way out to the desert outside the village with his slow pace.

Dracos

[Brian]

Liao noded, understanding the value of keeping calm.  Rising, he padded after Elder Hiu.

[Dracos]

In the desert, Elder Hiu turned.  "There's enough room here, I suspect.  Now, Liao, tell me what you know of travel."

Dracos

[Brian]

"Put one foot before the other, and continue until your destination is reached," Liao says, looking at the mirages on the horizon.

[Dracos]

"Good.  Now though...  how long must a journey take?"

Dracos

[Brian]

"As long as it takes," Liao says.  "But ... the traders say it takes nearly a week to reach the next village."

[Dracos]

"For them, it shall take a week.  But what if there was a way to shorten the journey...to make each step longer and longer...until you could step from one place to another?  The journey would be near instantaneous, understand?"

Dracos

[Brian]

Liao nods.  "I suppose.  How do you take longer steps, though?"

[Dracos]

"When you run...your body moves faster and faster...your steps getting longer and longer until you reach your limit....with the power of the spirit, PSI, you may surpass this limit and continue to increase.  Watch."

Hiu, the ancient, started to walk....moving faster despite seeming to not move his legs faster....before vanishing, leaving Liao alone.

Dracos

[Brian]

Liao stoped, and looked at Hiu's footprints in the desert sands.  How nice it must be to be able to move like that.  "Power of the spirit," Liao murmurred to himself, thinking of the star he had recieved yesterday.  Taking a cautious step forward, he tried to imagine himself following Hiu's footsteps, following the elder forward.

[Dracos]

It took a few tries, the footsteps already warming back to desert temperatures before he managed it....slipping through the spaces between the world and traveling before stopping, finding himself staring at the elder's back on top of a great mountain, the rising morning sun before them.

"Good job, Liao.  You are a swift learner."  The elder turned, handing him a bag.  "You must find another in Sixton.  He will be a child.  Your age.  He will also bear a crest and will have a strange talent for tools.  There is one more as well.  Go now and godspeed."

Dracos

[Brian]

Liao looked at the elder, and then across the distance, towards where his home was now hidden in a sea of mirages.  Looking back to the Elder, he nodded.  "I'm ready," he said.  "Which direction do I go?"

[Dracos]

The elder handed Liao...a map.

Liao gains world map!  Sixton is marked clearly on it.

Dracos

[Brian]

"Thank you, Elder."  After carefully pocketing the star, and studying the map (and putting it safely away, too), Liao bows to the elder, and begins the quick trip through non-space to Sixton.