Exploring the Town (Open)

Groaning, Steve looks at the clock above the desk in his little room at the inn. It is 5:30 in the morning, however dispite being up until 1am the night before Steve was awake and could tell from his body that he would not be getting anymore sleep anytime soon. Slowly Steve pulls hiumself out of bed, stretching and groaning at the continued kink in his bank. "Well I'm glad I am not working anywhere which requires manual labour at the moment. I think I have spent too long traveling and sleeping on the ground and on beds which were barely more than sheets over a board, my body seems to be rejecting the confort of a proper bed." Steve mummbles to himself as he walks to the stairs in the pre-dawn light. Making his way down the stairs slowly as not to fall or make excessive noise Steve climbs down to the ground level, heading towards the door.

Opening the door, steve steps out into the chill of the night air, despite being earliy summer, the strong winds off the beach and the lack of the sun's warmth at this hour leaves it feeling little warmer than early spring when Steve first came to this town.

Steve pulls his light coat closed in front of him, and steps off the deck on to the road. Looking around he ponders "Where is there to go at this time of day... I could go to the beach again. Or maybe I can find a ranch in the area, Cows and sheep have always been so relaxing." With that Steve heads off down the road to the right. Coming to the fork in the road, steve is unsure which way to go. He recalls "I passed a farm on the way into town across the river, but it didn't look like they would have many animals." Not sure where to go Steve decides to just sit on the near by bench watching the fish in the river until the rest of the town wakes up.

Arwan walked down the hill to Forget-me-not-valley in the early morning light. He was making his way to the Valley where he was hoping to find a place to stay. He always enjoyed the Valley since he was a kid, he had positive memories of time with his family here. Now he was hoping to find a teaching job in the area or in Mineral Town. He reached the bottom of the hill and began to walk into the village, he pushed his glasses up a bit, as he looked around the Village. It is just as he remembered, it really had not changed in the last ten years.

Early morning was the best time to jog, well according to Cody. He had been up since five and had been running for awhile now. The summer air was cool and crisp if you got out early enough in the morning, otherwise it was hot and sticky. Not much fun to run in that is. The hotter it was the more miserable Cody was when he ran.

It was probably around five-fourty-five when he approached the river. He must have gone around three miles by now. Recalling his drill sargent he chuckled to himself thinking how mad he'd be at Cody for his time. Sometimes Cody hated that man for pushing him so hard and he couldn't help but laugh like he was getting away with something horrible by not running seriously in the morning.

In the distance he saw the clear blue river, his favorite break spot. It wasn't too wide of a river, but it wasn't quite a stream. Maybe later the river grew wider or was surprisingly deep. To his surprise though someone else was there. He sat on the bench staring into the water. His hair was brown like Cody's and his eyes were green as well.

"Woah," he noted. "Most people don't bother waking up here till later you know."

Steve looks up from the river, noticing the outline of a figure cresting the hill which marked the entrance to the town. At this distance Steve can not make out any details in the dim light of the early morning.

Steve shakes his head, clearing the last of the fog of waking up. Looking into the river Steve's eyes follow a fish slowly swimming up stream against the current. The scene makes Steve musing about the endless struggles of life, thinking maybe it is time for him to stop running from his past and make a new life. Steve had been in Forget Me Not Valley for almost a month now, and it seems like as good a place as any to create a new life.

After a few minutes musing, Steve got up slowly stretching again, groaning at the renewed stiffness in his back. Turning back to the intersection, Steve notices a young man jogging along the road towards the river. Smiling Steve waves at the individual. "Good morning". Steve notices the surprised look on the stranger's face, "I see I am not the only early riser in this little town."

As the fog lifted Arwan got a good glimpse of the Valley, "It really has been to long since I was here." He noticed a few more people going about their business in the morning. "Hello there!" He said as he crossed the bridge, "Gotta enjoy the mornings eh?" He asked as he neared the group of people, he noticed someone was jogging in the morning.

Steve turns to the new comer as he strides across the bridge. "I don't know if enjoy would quite be the word I would use today. But it is a lovely morning." Offering his hand to the Starnger "I'm Steve Wolfe, and you?"

"Arwan Dusksinger." He said taking Steve' hand giving a firm handshake. "True I am merely having an off morning being this bright. Normally I won't be up till after nine." He said with a grin. "But it is good to be back in the Valley so that has cheered me up greatly. It has been years since I have been here. Hoping to open a school as well, I have studied to be a teacher and want to help out." He pushed up his glasses. "I thought the Valley would be the perfect place if they didn't already have one."

"Welcome to Forget Me Not Valley, Mr. Dusksinger" Steve says. "I personally would have like to still be in bed... however that is not the case this fine morning." Looking Arwan over Steve noticed the large suitcase he is carrying with him. "So What brings you to Forget Me Not?"

The other two guys started a conversation as Cody quickly took his pulse, he was taking a break here to introduce himself to the, so he had to stop running by testing his heart rate. "I'm Cody," he said adding himself into the conversation as he wiped away some of the sweat from his forehead. The morning was cool and crisp, but he had been working so hard that he already broke a sweat.

Steve turned, so as to be able to talk with both Arwan, and the jogger who has introduced himself as Cody. "Good Morning Cody, I am Steve. Do you jog often? Steve asks, looking Cody over noticing the sweat despite the chilly morning air.

"Arwan is fine Steve." He said causally, and he introduced himself to Cody. "Currently I am a traveling teacher, I was hoping the Valley had some young minds I can mold." He said and chuckled, "I used to come to the Valley as a kid with my parents and siblings, I have some good memories here." He set the suitcase down. "So that is what basically brings me to Forget Me Not. How long have you two gentlemen have lived here?" He asked.

Elizabeth had been out for a nice stroll with Neon befor she had to go abckl to the academy and give dissobeidiant kids a scolding they wont ever forget. She sighed at the thought of giggles and whispers behind her back. Neon was so far the only thing she was comnfortable around...exept little Riss she was easy to be with.

Elizabeth bumped into a man with glasses after hearing the words open school. she fell to the ground and sat there rubbing her rear end. "A school you say? Well I own one if you are looking to join one...." She said staring at the three men befor her feeling out of place.

"Yep," Cody smiled at Steve.. "Every day for atleast two hours. Most of the time it's three and a half though."

"You seem nice for a teacher," Cody commented about Arwan's proffesion. To him teachers were always yelling how important it was to know the information and that all of the students would die without knowing it one hundred and ten percent. "Then again I did go to a military academy, so the teachers were paid to be sort of mean though."

"So you've been here before?" Cody asked Arwan a tad bewildered. He shouldn't have been as filled of shock as he was, but not often did people return to the small town that they were living in before. The again, Arwan did say come too. Perhaps it was a vacation place. "Uhh... about a season now," Cody admited shrugging his shoulders.

A woman had run ito Arwan as he was talking and overheard their conversation. By the sounds of it he might have just found a job or something. Cody, being Cody walked toward the woman and offered her a hand up. "You okay?" he asked holding out a hand for her to grab on to.

"Why thank you Cody." He said and chuckled at the military school joke, he was suddenly bumped from behind. He caught his balance and turned to see a girl on the ground. "Are you ok Ma'am?" He asked and offered his hand to her as well. "My name is Arwan Dusksinger, I just graduated college for teaching and was looking for a job." He said and fixed his glasses. "And you are, if I may ask?"

Elizabeth took both hands and pulled herself up. "The name is Elizabeth Stone...pleasure to meet you!" she said bowing and having Neon sit. Neons droopy skin had drool running out of it. He shook his head and started barking at them. "This is Neon...my loyal companion." Elizabeth said patting him on the head.
"So you want to be a teacher huh? Drop by my office anytime and I will have you fill out some papers if you like." Elizabeth said brushing some dust off her dress.

"I will definitely stop by in the near future." Arwan said and grinned at the dog. "After I am finished exploring the Valley a little more, to re-familiarize myself with it." He said, "Umm, where is the school located?" He asked and lightly chuckled. "It would be helpful if I can know the directions to it, wouldn't want to get lost now would I?"

Steve watches with surprize as a young women, who awas walking a dog, bumped into Arwan. Steve moves to offer her a hand, but Arwan and Cody were closer and both got to her first. Letting Arwan and the lady, who said her name was Elizabeth, fionish their discussion about employment, Steve steps around Cody, "Good Morning Elizabeth, my name is Steve Wolfe" offering a hand to shake.