Chimera Fields i'm not shy, i'll say it

the thin, desiccated bone of some unfortunate creature now hung between the nomad's teeth like a toothpick. he'd picked it up somewhere along the near lifeless barren stretch of dirt and damn all. he'd spent his time twirling it in his mouth like a farmer would with a strand of hay with the hopes of fighting off boredom during his trek across the desolate fields, but as per usual, his attention span was short lived.

he spat the bone to the side as his pace quickened and his mind slowed. it felt hotter out here under the ruthless sun than it truly was, and the only thing the vagabond had on his mind now was quenching his thirst.

out again, out again —
searching for asperas as summer slowly cooled into the first trickles of autumn.
today was no exception. today merrick went further than he had thus far. silvertip reared lone and silent behind him. he was ungrateful to leave it behind, but set about searching for his wayward snakeling at once.
the pretty figure in the distance went unadressed for now.

he trudged along, feet dragging as he drew near to the looming silhouette in the distance. ah, to approach or avoid. to speak or be silent. so many options, so many decisions. an indecisive little thing alphus was, and if given the choice, he rather not make choices at all. where was a coin to flip when he needed one?

the wayward yearling continued to press forward, his intention of finding a cure for his thirst slowly fading as the possibility of entertainment offered a different sort of refreshment to the extroverted wanderer.

merrick looked up. a gossamer and milk-cream figure was approaching, gilded by the stubborn, hot light of summer.
the single eye watched as the stranger drew close. "a fine place to wander," merrick commented pleasantly, though the unyielding flame of his gaze was anything but.

as he drew nearer and the details began to reveal themselves, alphus let his body slow at the sight of the horrors the stranger had lived through. he was accustomed to seeing wounds and scars, but a missing eye was something the whimsical wanderer had not yet seen in his lifetime. it was gruesome and made his stomach roll had the thought of the pain it had caused, but oh what a tale it must be on how he'd lost it.

intrigued, by both appearance and the earthly man's words, alphus let himself stop a ways off and glower in the foreigner's direction. "ha...", he let out in sigh of disbelief. "you're joking, right?" the barren landscape had been nothing but a waste of time up until now, and even this chance encounter wasn't enough to bring his interest back here once he'd escape the field's clutches.

he laughed. "maybe i am. or maybe i'm completely serious." his voice was warm, dashing, marshmallow-gooey above and below the writhing history of his torn-up face.
the ragged ears flicked toward his guest.
"you don't think ugly places can have secrets?"

alphus' face contorted to an awkward expression between confusion and amusement. if he had to choose between serious and not, which one would provide the most amusement? no matter, he wasn't left much time to wander on the choice as the stranger tossed an unexpected question at him.

"no secrets worth digging up," he calmly responded back, honeyed gaze glancing off to the left to stare down the wasteland he'd just wandered through. he didn't know what had ravaged the wasteland, but whatever it was, alphus knew he wanted to be clear of the area should it ever come back to finish off the rest of the field.

the other had made himself far more intriguing.
merrick sidled closer, though not so near as to be assumed invasive. he knew the outer ring of space he must keep in this contentious galaxy. "what sort of adventures can you ever hope to pursue then?"
a glitter of yellowing ivory.
"and why wouldn't you stumble back out?"

the other did well to hide his approach, so well, that alphus had taken no notice to the shrinking distance between them. "all these questions," the vagrant let slither from his lips as he turned his focus to rest solely on the hollow, macabre socket of the serpentine shadow. "i'll trade one of my hopeful adventures for one of yours," he offered with a intrigued glint in his golden stare. 

appearances could be deceiving, but at the very least, alphus was confident the stranger could dream up some eccentric tale and weave it to him like a spider weaves a blanket for mindless insects.

merrick pretended to wheel and to scoff, but returned to their telling with an amused smile. "once upon a time, a boy was taken and carried up a mountain by a bear and a blackbird. they threw him from the rocks, and later killed his father. now they have come back, this bear and blackbird, back to the mountain."
he grinned.
"which of these is the truth, and which are lies?"

an interesting tale, if not a bit grim.

"i think they're all lies," he guessed with a click of his tongue, honey eyes gleaming with amusement as he slowly paced back and forth awaiting to hear if he'd guessed correctly. not that it'd truly matter if he had, but the satisfaction that came with being right always left one feeling confident in the end.

"i supposed i owe you a tale too, don't i?"

merrick glinted as if he were the edge of a knife. "all truths." his tone was glib. the tattered ears lifted, and the terrible scarring stretched into a rictus of laughter. 
"i suppose you do," the bearwolf agreed, beginning to drift toward the beginnings of a hard-packed and open path, cut there by who knew what during who knew when.