The Forgotten Zodiac

"...yeah," Byrne said. "All in all, he... was an all right dad," he added, shifting slightly. "I mean... I'm not really sure what I mean."

"A good dad, terrible to everyone else. Makes sense to me," Sylas shrugged. "No hard feelings. I don't blame you for what happened," He smiled a bit. He had known Byrne for awhile before discovering who his father was. He was a good friend.

Byrne smiled slightly at Sylas, then nodded. "...do you want to give my lance a try?" he offered, holding out the slender weapon to the other human. "If you want, I could teach you how to use one. Always good to have something to fall back on, yeah?" he asked.

"Eh? I'm already pretty good with a knife," Sylas rubbed the back of his neck as he took the weapon in his right hand, frowning slightly. "I'd say I'm set if I can get my hands on a small blade, but I suppose it can't hurt to try." He leaned back, preparing to throw it. "Am I doing it right?"

"As long as it feels balanced in your grip," Byrne said. "It's supposed to feel weightless in your hand. The balancing point I found with this lance is about here," he said, indicating a spot a couple inches back from where Sylas had his hand, "But it could be slightly different for you, based on your grip," he added.

Sylas shifted his grip a bit, then tested a few different spots.. "Alright. I'm gonna throw it now," Sylas looked this way and that, making sure no running children could get in the way or anything of the sort. He leaned back and launched the lance forward, watching it fly straight into the center of the target. It hung there for a few moments, then slumped and fell off the target entirely. "Yeah...all aim, too little power." He chuckled. "Even light armor could stop a blow like that..."

"Well, practice does help. Maybe you should try some push ups," Byrne said, joking lightly as he retrieved his lance and came back over.

Sylas laughed at this. "If I'm strong enough to pull back a longbow string, I think I'll be alright." He patted his friend on the shoulder, shaking his head. "I've...thought about something, though. We'll be headed into those human cities...you and I, we're the most likely to blend in there. We might be sent to scout, or something...I'm not looking forward to it, but..." He sighed a bit. "How do humans...act, exactly? I know for a fact that it's not the same as us foresters. I don't want to stay there, either. But if it does come down to stealth and blending in, then we're the best bet. And I can't exactly go around talking and acting like a forester. That would be the opposite of blending in."

"Yeah, I could see where that would be a problem," Byrne said, crossing his arms. "Let me think, here... ...well, for starters, you could try to quit wrinking your nose every time you say the word 'human'."

Byrne had grown used to this habit of Sylas and L'arc. While it wasn't present in the other members of their group, the obvious disdain of these two for the race showed on their face whenever it was mentioned. He doubted that they knew that, so he decided to point it out. After all, as Sylas had said, it'd be a dead giveaway of where his alliances lay.

"What? I don't do that." Sylas frowned, crossing his arms. "Come on, I'm human myself. Even if I don't like it, I'm sure you're just exaggerating. Humans--" He stopped short as Bird put his rough hands over Sylas' face. The human spluttered and batted Bird away, who grinned teasingly. "Wha--Bird, I do not wrinkle my nose!"

Bird nodded furiously, holding his grin.

((xD You can actually do it fairly normally. Wrinkling your nose over the 'Hu' doesn't change the sound too badly.))

"Maybe you should practice in a mirror, Sylas," Byrne said, grinning also at Sylas' adament refusal of something he quite obviously did. "I mean, you could pass it off as a speech impediment, but then every time you used the 'hu' sound, you'd have to do it again. Getting rid of it requires less thought... or maybe just avoid saying 'human', if we ever have to go undercover."

"Do humans talk about themselves that often?" Sylas frowned, thinking. "I didn't think they were that self centered. Sure, they do a lot of stupid things, but that alone can't mean they don't think about others. That just means that they're stupid."

Byrne snorted as he laughed. "You have that right, but you might be more conscientious of who you say that in front of," he said.

"Yeah." Sylas nodded, then realized who he was talking to. "OH! Shoot, uh...not all humans are stupid, obviously. You and I have it good." He flushed a bit, rolling his eyes internally at himself. "I'm not offending you, am I?"

"No, no, not at all," Byrne said. "You just announced that opinion in the middle of a human town, though. That's all," he said.

Sylas promptly brought a hand up to his face. "Just...argh...this isn't easy, okay?"

"You definitely don't blend in," Tobias, who had been nearby, chortled. "I understand your situation, though. Don't worry about it." He gave them a sidelong glance, more offended by the fact that Bird moved so that Sylas was between himself and the human.

"Maybe you can help me out here with the 'blending in' lessons, eh, Toby?" Byrne said with a smile, leaning lightly on his lance. "Seriously, it'd be a big help," he said.

"Why not?" Tobias chortled. "I've studied a lot in human relations before leaving the major cities. I figured it would be important, as a leader of my own...and I can tell you quite honestly that the first impression people get of you involves your clothing, body language, and minorly, the way you talk." He smiled. "And the first impression I got of you when we first met, I knew you weren't just any human. And that's no way to blend in."

"Okay, so...what do I do?" Sylas frowned.

"Well, aside from getting a new outfit, you should try to work on your accent."

"I don't have an accent." Sylas blinked.

"Exactly." Tobias chuckled. "Most humans have an accent that sounds," He cleared his throat, and threw a little extra into his voice; heavy on the S and thick on the vowels. "Like this. I discarded mine to make travel through the forest a little easier."

Sylas shivered. "That sounds...exactly like Dysonius."

"I'm not sure who Dysonius is, but if we can shrug off an accent to blend in with the forest better, then you can pick up one or two to blend in, as well."

"Are you telling me that I lost mine somewhere along the way?" Byrne asked, surprised that Sylas had never commented on his. However, he had been with this group for a while. "I can help you out with that, Sy," he said.

"You're right, you don't have that accent." Tobais chuckled. "Perhaps you hit your head and just spoke like whoever spoke to you last."

"I don't think it works that way." Sylas frowned.

"True. But even the thickest of accents can be lost over time." He smiled. "Aside from the accent, I can give you some clothes. They're very simple, but...it should be decent enough for your needs. Now, another thing...your posture. Stand up straight! You tend to slouch when you're uncomfortable, I've noticed. But you must act confident and calm."