Another random quest, (GAY) (O/O) CLOSED

"Alright. Let's see if I can do this." Oci glanced at the photo one last time, then closed his eyes and raised his hand. "Salire." For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, golden portal swirled into existance, mixed with a bit of sea foam green and bubblegum pink. "Oh, gods, it worked. It looks like my hair!" He gasped, dropping his hand. "In you go. I'm not sure how long I can hold it open."

Oci jumped through the portal right after Marco, and just in time. The portal fizzled out as soon as he was through, and Oci crashed into a pile of dry leaves. He pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself off. "Oh, gods, we're here." He turned around. Just visible through the trees was a cheerful-looking village. "We'll need to make a stop there first." Oci said, pointing towards the buildings. "For food."

"Come on." Oci started for the village, keeping his eyes on it for as long as he could. He didn't want to get lost in here without the proper equipment, because that would mean certain death. The only sounds he heard was the crunching of leaves between his feet and the whisper of leaves falling from the trees. It was quite eerie.

(boop)

(It's okay! I probably won't be on during the later evening, but we'll see. :)
It seemed to take an eternity to reach the edge of the forest. As soon as Oci stepped out of the shade of those pale trees, he let out a huge breath. Everything felt different now– the sunshine was warmer, the air lighter, and he could hear birds singing somewhere in the long grass. "Gods. That place is terrible." He shook his head slightly, then started walking through the pale green knee-length grass towards the village. "What did you think of it? Is it just like the stories said it would be?"

"Yeah, I think they toned the stories down for the kids." Oci shook his head and glanced over his shoulder. The forest loomed at the edge of the field, making him shiver. "They shouldn't have." He glanced at Marco. "Well, we can only hope we don't go insane. And if we do, it's hopefully only after we've killed the king." Oci grinned at Marco.

"Well, I'll try and make sure you don't go crazy." Oci reached the edge of the field, the ground turning from spongy dirt to paving stones. "Is there anything you can do to stop the Death aura?" He asked, scanning the street for a store.

"That's a shame." Oci spots a store a few doors down and picks up the pace. "Will you be fine, though?" He pushed the door open and held it open for Marco. "Also, what do you want to get?"

"Good." Oci nodded quickly, then turned to the shelves of food. "What do you think of apples and bread?" He asked, pointing to a basket full of pale pink apples with one hand and to a shelf of lilac bread with the other. "They should provide enough energy, shouldn't they?"

"Okay, then." Oci started grabbing apples. "Can you grab some loaves of bread? Oh, and if you see something you want, just add it to the pile." He gave Marco a strangely soft look. "And I understand if you don't want to, because of debts or whatever, but… I'm not keeping track." He shrugged and started walking towards the counter, arms full of apples.

Oci paid for the food– giving Marco a pleased smile when he saw the muffins– and carefully packed them into a backpack he'd also bought. Slinging the backpack over his shoulder, he headed out of the store and back towards the Woods. "Just as a warning, there might be a person at the true entrance to the Woods. So… be ready to be talked out of going in there. And just ignore them."

“That’s what we’re going for,” Oci said, shrugging. “Are you okay with taking turns carrying the food?” He asked, putting his arm through the other strap of the backpack. “Actually, probably not. It’ll interfere with your shifting, won’t it? Actually, I don’t know.” Oci shook his head slightly and stepped back into the grassy field. “If the guard tries to physically stop us, just let me take care of him. You save your strength.”

“… Right. But still, save your mental strength. And your physical strength. You’re going to need it to fight whatever magical creature we might encounter.” Oci turns and starts walking parallel to the woods. After a few minutes, they come to what looks like an old road made of paving stones, leading directly into the woods. “The only path that still exists into the woods. Hopefully, it hasn’t broken up too far away from where we need to go.” Oci whispered to Marco, turning onto the path and walking towards the woods. “Oop, there’s the guard.”

"Well, what's our cover story? Hopefully, we can get past her without fighting. To save our strength and all." Oci whispered, slowing his pace. "How about a dare? Kids do it all the time on this road. Who can get the farthest, who can pick a leaf and get out alive, all that fun stuff."

"Oh, why not the truth?" Oci looked at Marco. "Oh, hello there, we're just gonna pop into these woods and grab a deadly staff to kill the king. Have a nice day!" He snickered. "To on, tell the guard that. I want to see what happens."