An Ordinary Oddball
Matilda Wormwood
Matilda accepted the apple from Seras with a muffled "Thank you," as she was already biting into it. But then Shoto has his apple eaten by his horse. "Sir! Oh dear!" she exclaimed.
She would have asked if Shoto wanted her apple, but Matilda was distracted by the well, and, being a bit thirsty herself, reached for the jug.
It drifted away.
Matilda frowned.
She reached for it again.
It drifted away.
Matilda screwed up her face in abject bafflement. She said, "Well, if somebody lives here, I really do want a drink from this well. I'm very sorry for what I'm about to do, if it offends you." (It was always wise to be polite and apologize in advance, you see—you never knew where fairies lived or if you were accidentally offending them.)
Standing to the side of the well, she reached out a hand and tried to drag the jug over with her mental powers, concentrating very hard.
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
The Ice Queen
Caitlin takes advantage of the fact that they'd stopped, and tries to touch some of the people who'd joined the party; first Shoto, and then Mario. She's pleasantly surprised by how much of a warm rush she gets from Shoto, and briefly wonders why. She frankly wasn't sure how to react to the much larger woman who'd also decided to tag along.
Noticing Matilda's struggles with the jug, she moved in a bit closer. "I have an idea for how we might be able to handle that...I'm not sure if it will work, though. And I need to know if I can trust you people, otherwise it's out of the question."
Smiling as sincerely and calmly as she could manage, she added "Well? Any takers?
Kled grinned as Matilda expressed interest to hear her tales, boy will she be in for a treat soon enough to hear some wonderful, bloody, violent tales. Skaarl meanwhile still was pretty happy to meet some fellow mount friends, still giving some dumb smiles to Bernadotte, Shoto's horse, and Biscuit. Eventually, the group found themselves near a well, the kid seemed to apparently be a wizard type, as the jug that didn't want to be grabbed by Matilda slowly started to shake as she reached out to it. Huh, that's a new one. Meanwhile, the weird woman who seemed to REALLY but REALLY like getting into people's personal space for some reason was asking if they could trust her before she was gonna do something.
He looked over at Caitlin, his eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Well, human, it's kind of hard to trust you if ya like a lot to be near a person's personal space and touch them like they're some kind of dog to be pet. And let me tell ya that I don't like when people try to sneaky sneak into my personal space. It comes from long experience in the war ya know. Hy-Brasil's battlefields and the horde of enemy Atlantleans attempting to get close to you to gut ya apart will do that to ya."
Kled would plant his axe to the ground, while crossing his arms and still glaring at Caitlin. "Now if you told us why ya like touching people, then I wouldn't mind what is it that you're gonna do, as long as the explanation is good."
He might seem paranoid, but who knows if that human might be working for the Atlantlean Empire wanting to capture him, or worse, the brain weasels! God knows that he doesn't need those damn varmints attempting to take him down and turn him into their mind controlled slave.
Road to Gdonya
Kanae continued on her merry way until she stumbled upon a well. It seemed a small human girl was having trouble getting water, poor thing. But before she could address that, she had a strange feeling that she was being stared at. Though the yordle was minuscule in comparison to her and would ordinarily escape her notice, she seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to detecting when a pair of eyes were on her. It was that feeling that motivated her most of all.
She slowly turned to Kled with a grin.
"Oh, a yordle!" she said, surprised and intrigued. "My, I almost didn't see you there. Seems you've noticed me just fine though, teehee~! Oh, but where are my manners? My name's Kanae, and its a pleasure to meet you all!"
She gave a curtsy, then looked over at Caitlin.
"Trust me? No need to worry, I don't bite. What is it?"
The smaller races were fearful of her kind, that much she knew from experience. Therefore, she would need to be on her best behavior. She didn't want to be chased out by a mob with torches and pitchforks.
The Ice Queen
Caitlin spoke to Kled first. "This is hard to explain, but I need to steal heat in order to survive. I was involved in a magical accident in Hyperborea and it made me like this. So I've been touching each of you to absorb enough heat to keep me alive without hurting you."
Her expression is pained; clearly it hurts to talk about this, as if maybe there's some sort of guilt behind it. "If I don't steal at least a little bit of heat each day, I will die. I've tried sitting in front of a fire, but that only helps for a few seconds."
Glancing at Kanae, she added "But that accident also gave me magical abilities. I can create ice. I can freeze things, make things out of ice, that sort of thing." Gesturing at the jug, she added "I might be able to freeze that thing in place and keep it from moving on us, and we'd be able to catch it that way."
Edited by Spottedleaf on Feb 8th 2019 at 2:04:03 PM
At first, Matilda's strange trick seemed to work. The golden jug skimmed across the surface of the water, as if lifted by a string, coming closer and closer to the little girl. But suddenly, something grabbed the jug from beneath, and yanked it under the water.
Mario - Road to Gnoya
Mario was awed by the truly gigantic women cheerily walking on the road, and thus gave an impressed whistle. When Kled introduced himself as a general, he promptly responded. "Oh, you're a general? I'm honored to meet you, then. I myself am a bit of a hero in some places." There were even more people arriving on the dirt road, but he didn't mind one bit.
He gave a weird look at Caytlin as she began touching his face. "Heh, do you need something?" He was relieved when she explained her needs to survive. "Oh! Well, if you need it that much, I guess-a I can let you take a little heat."
When he saw something grabbing the container from the water, the adventurer approached the fountain and promptly yelled at it to be sure to be heard. "Hello? Is this your pond, Mister thingie from the water? If we disturbed you, we're sorry!"
Gdonya Docks
It wasn't difficult for a ninja to find a way to cross the ocean if he needed to, and for a fox spirit, it was child's play. Stowing away on a ship didn't take much thought from Naruto. Simply disguising himself as a crew member and walking on board was all it took, and then he sat with the cargo and ate free food without having to pay anyone for the ride. Could he have afforded it? Yes, but why pay and draw attention to himself? The ship eventually dropped anchor again, and Naruto ducked inside an emptied barrier until it was carried down the plank and set on the docks. With his hearing, he could tell when he was outside again, and he peeked his head out to check if the coast was clear. He could see some official looking guy harassing a boy and his talking dog beast about putting a name on a list, and then a huge warrior guy talking to some pirates. No one seemed to be paying him much attention though.
"So this is Gdonya..." He should scope the place out, at least. He went back into the barrel, which shook and let out a hiss of steam as he used his shadow clone technique. "Hey, make some room, idiot!" he whispered to the clone that was now half crushing him.
"Who are you calling an idiot, stupid?" it said back, but it complied and turned into a much smaller rat a couple of seconds later. The transformation was perfect, except for the fox's tail it still had. With an insulted squeak, it squeezed out of the barrel and ran through the dock area to enter the market place.
"Ugh, it smelled like fish in there..." the real Naruto said, finally hopping out on the docks. He kicked the empty barrel into the water and stretched.
Long Market
It was hard to miss a woman asking for help, and the fox-tailed rat from the harbor stopped his exploration to see what was going on. Naruto knew what escorting was, he'd done that at home. That's when someone paid you to throw your weight around and scare criminals away from them. He could do that better than anyone! The rat scurried over to the panicking woman and then burst into smoke, reappearing in his normal form.
"Hey, what's up lady? You need something?" Naruto asked her.
That One Gal
Ah, Gdonya. Peter hadn't heard of the place before he left New Oak - it's a small port town that doesn't do much to get on the map - but a port that didn't draw much attention usually had a certain flavor of visitor: pirates. In his many travels across Foteinigi under the guise of the Man-Spider, Peter always looked to the coast, hoping to get in on the pirate-hunting action and swash some buckles with those criminal sea-dwellers. What enterprising vigilante doesn't want to fight pirates?!
That's why Peter was a little disappointed when he actually got to Gdonya.
"Squreeee!"
"Hey hey! Calm down! You're fine!" A red-clad, masked stranger bustled through the market crowds, a squealing pig trying to wrestle its way out of his arms. After drawing more than enough eyes towards himself, Peter finally reached his destination, and planted the hog firmly on the table of one of the shops. "There you go, Miss. One prized pig, returned without a scratch."
"Oh! Uhm, thank you, Spider guy!" The woman manning the shop gave the rescued pig a few pets. "But, what's all over him?"
"Ah. That's nothing, it's just a little webbing."
The woman stared at Peter and slowly scooted the pig away from him.
"Wait, no, it's not like that," Peter said. "It's, it's not like it came out of me! It'll just wash off, honest!" But it was too late. The woman gave him the cold shoulder, and the finder's fee slipped through Peter's fingers. He turned away with a sigh. "You need to lead in with the web talk, Peter."
Before he had time to properly mope the lack of payment, the panicked voice of a woman in need sounded out from across the market. Being the do-gooder he was, Peter couldn't ignore it. In retrospect, a weirdly dressed man rushing at a person in the midst of a panic attack probably wouldn't help calm them down, but he wasn't thinking that far ahead.
Just as he approached the panicking woman, a kid in an orange suit poofed into existence. Peter heard about polymorphs and shape-changers, but not ones that poofed.
"You were a rat," the bewildered Peter said in greeting. Smooth.
An Ordinary Oddball
Matilda Wormwood
Matilda let out a startled "Ah—" as the jug was pulled under the water.
She stared after it morosely.
"I wonder what's up with this well...Oh well, I have water in my canteen," she murmured, continuing to stare into it.
"Miss, if you need extra heat, I can donate a bit. I'm rather warm from walking so far in the sun. That's why I took off my cloak earlier," she said to Caitlin.
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Strongest In History
Long Market
Geese smirked as The girl spoke, stepping slightly out and mildly ahead in case the brute tried anything stupid.
"Hey, let's not get out of hand. I like a good tussle myself, but this might not be the place to do it."
That's when Geese heard shouting, and turned to see a man in red and a boy in orange talking to a very distressed woman.
"I say we all cool off and investigate what's going on over there."
He motioned in their direction.
"DIO is the ultimate being! The being of the future! Dare you not to rival me!"
It took Shoto a little bit to get his horse under control and not stealing all of the apples the woman had on her. He was hungry too, but he wasn't offered enough food to completely fill his belly. Not that he had even eaten anything himself.
When the group had come across the well, the others seemed quite interested in it. He wasn't sure why, there was probably water in Gdonya, so the well wasn't anything interesting. Or perhaps it was, he hadn't been to many (read, any) towns before leaving to find a cure, so what did he know?
He almost started walking towards the town again, when the woman who had entered his personal space earlier admitted she needed body heat to survive. The fact that anyone could benefit from his left half sent his mind spiraling for a good few seconds, to the point that he almost missed the jug disappearing under the water.
Completely nonchalantly, he said to the others, "that's either a monster that would like to kill us, or some sort of animal. Either way, it's probably relieved itself in there, making the water undrinkable."
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
"Huh?" Finn blinked and regarded the round-faced man sizing them up, with a look that suggested that he was more interested in trying to find a way to make a profit off the two than anything else. "Oh. Right. I'm Finn. That's my brother Jake." Jake waved at the harbourmaster by way of introduction.
"I'm a magic dog," he explained as a pair of white-haired kids came running onto the dock. "You guys heard of magic, right? There's magic in this place... in..." He craned his neck to look at the sign. "Go-do-nee-yah?"
Stop Killing My Titles
En Route To Gdonya, Magic Well
"Grand crossbow, special bolts, a convenient place to shoot from. I'm afraid it's nowhere near as exciting as it may seem." Seras laughed sheepishly when Caitlin asked about the manticores, conveniently omitting the fact that she had to punch the hardiest one a couple of times. The missing teeth and the mangled jaw could be explained by falling off a height.
The burned boy's horse was happy to have a bite off the apple, but luckily Seras still had one more for the boy himself. "Been running for a while now, huh?" She reached over to idly run her fingers through Shoto's horse's mane, only to stop herself with a frown. Right. She didn't want to spook the poor thing. Hesitantly, her hand retracted. Before they could discuss any further however, they found themselves by a well with a golden jug in it - clearly enchanted to tease the thirsty travelers.
Caitlin meanwhile explained the reasons for her neediness, and was - much to Seras's surprise - generally accepted by the group. "Well, you're being honest about it, if nothing else... but if that's fine by you, lassie" She looked at Mathilda with some worry as she hopped off the wagon, approaching the well. "try not to be too hasty with giving it out. You need lots if you want to grow." And even if Caitlin was well-intentioned, the thought of being mishandled by a heat vampire had Seras shuddering in fear.
"Way to rain on our parade, Mr. Fugitive." She shook her head when Shoto offered his commentary on the golden jug, grabbing a sizable wooden bucket from the wagon. "I'm good on the water, but the horses could use some either way." She wasn't going to let some minor curse stop her. Throwing the burned boy another apple, the fledgling approached the well. "And you eat too. The jingle on you could probably buy you another wagon like this, but it's not gonna help any if you're too weak to spend it now, innit?" Then she leaned over, trying to grab a bucketful of water (that hopefully was cleaner than Shoto surmised).
Edited by FergardStratoavis on Feb 9th 2019 at 12:00:35 PM
grah
sword of promised halp
Gdonya; Long Market
Despite his quick temper and quicker sword-arm, Conan's sense of humor did still exist, though it was harsh and dry and far from gay. He gave a snort of disbelief, frowning down with an incredulous stare.
"I've sailed in my time, lass, and more than a month, too. You have a sharp tongue. If you can find a man to knock the legs from under me, I'll give you this horse."
It was not an empty offer that Conan made; the Cimmerian was as honest as a rock, and the sailor girl, when measured up against him, was about the size of a pebble. He cast a sharp glance back at the smirking, golden-haired man, sizing him up with a warrior's eyes; a fighter, clearly, with his build and stance, and the wiles of the Far East in him.
Conan respected fighters, but detested wiles. He decided to keep this man at arm's length.
"A good tussle?" he remarked coldly. "You have the wrong man, if you think me enough of a coward to stoop to fighting girls."
Muscling past Tetra, nag in tow, he made his way through the gathered onlookers and approached the woman. The two youths barely received a glance; conjurers or thieves, no doubt, and not to be trusted. The people around him looked up, then thought better of it.
"I am Conan, a Cimmerian. If an escort is what you want, then you won't find a better in this city."
His arms were folded. His voice was blunt, but lacked any hint of pride. It was as if he were saying that the sky was blue.
"Calm yourself, woman, and tell me what you need."
Edited by troydenite on Feb 10th 2019 at 12:35:27 AM
'Being around you guys makes me go "wtf" instead of pondering the ever increasing dread of time' - EchoingSilence, 2023
Transcender of Gender
Gdonya, Long Market
The threat of a physical confrontation passed, but Tetra was left unsatisfied as the wolfish man bore past her and to a distressed woman further along the market. Perhaps it was the notion that fighting girls was cowardly, or instead that her retort did little to phase him. Likely it was both.
She hmphed to herself and then followed Conan to where the woman had pressed herself against the wall. A cry for help in itself may not have been enough to grab Tetra's attention- particularly because three other men had already answered the call- but Conan had set her a challenge that she couldn't hope to beat with physical strength. If she couldn't take his horse, then perhaps she could take his work instead.
"Now now, lads, give the lady some room." Tetra stood herself next to the woman, waving a hand at the group dismissively. "You even aware of how terrifying you must be, with your magic and masks and muscles? Shame on you all."
Tetra grinned a grin that started smug and then dressed itself as sympathetic as she turned to the woman, whom she held her open palm up to. "Here, why don't you take my hand and we can find somewhere to fill you with food and drink. You can get some air and tell me all about your problem along the way."
they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob
The harbourmaster's eyebrows raised a tad when Jake started speaking, but considering he was a boat just now and was currently walking on two legs, being magical would explain a lot.
"Oh, well, of course we have magic here! We're not completely backwards here in the Land of Three Kings, after all! Now, let's see here..." He took out his registry book and started scribbling in names "Finn...Jake... Any surnames, young man?"
As he quibbled over the bureaucracy, the harbourmaster hardly noticed another galleon sailing in to dock. It was a rather cutesy looking ship, with a figurehead of a cheery lizard-like thing, sails with smiley faces on them, and a curious looking hoop sticking out of the stern. Disembarking the ship was a motley crew, seemingly comprised mostly of short looking fellows in striped head scarves, lead out by a rather lovely looking captain.
◊
The woman was rather startled by the sudden poofing appearance of one teen, followed by a masked man who accused the first of being a rat. But before she could dwell too long on the strangeness, a strong and imposing man came straight up and offered his services. A look of relief washed over the woman's face, yet soon she noticed the crowd around the man. Nervous of the audience, she trotted up closer to Conan of Cimmeria.
"Grazie, Conan, sir," she went. "My name is Christie, Columbia Christie. I, um, I have important news and cargo for..." Just then, Tetra came up to her and extended a kinder hand, with an offer of food and drink. "...Yes...that would be...very appreciated." Moved by Tetra's words, she allowed her to lead her away, eyes still darting between the various bypassers now giving them all odd looks.
Nothing prevented Seras from submerging her bucket into the water. But then the bucket seemed to snag on something below the depths. The harder she tugged, the more it seemed to pull back, bringing her hands closer and closer to the water. Then suddenly, it happened. A crablike claw shot out of the water and grabbed her by the wrist. On the other end, deep below the water, was a dark shape that hadn't been there before. Green eyes glittered like diamonds, a massive row of teeth spread between a hooked nose and chin, and a hoarse voice began to chuckle with cruel delight.
Edited by LizardOfAus on Feb 9th 2019 at 1:15:11 PM
"I'm not running," Shoto said (like a liar). He couldn't clarify, though, since the group was still fascinated with the well. At least the woman with the cart had a different solution to the problem.
Unthinkingly, he glanced up at the sky, looking for the rain that was falling on their parade. There wasn't even a parade, right? Did the group count as a parade? He'd never seen one before, but he thought there was more involved. That still didn't explain what rain she was referring to.
Because of that, his next statement was a little slow. He looked back down at Seras as she threw him another apple to reply, "I'm not a fugitive; I'm searching." He wasn't ready to go explaining the whole messy problem, but he did want everyone to know that there wasn't a bounty on him (that they'd get) so there wasn't any need to look into it further.
Also, he didn't have time to clarify, as the horse immediately tried leaning over him to get at the snack provided. Shoto had to put one hand on its snout to keep it away from his food as he started eating, until his assumption about something trying to kill them proved to be true.
Springing into action, he dropped the half of the apple he hadn't eaten yet (which the horse was very eager to take advantage of) and sprinted over to the well.
He placed his right hand on the water, aiming to freeze most of it solid.
Edited by Skooter910 on Feb 9th 2019 at 12:46:03 PM
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
Stop Killing My Titles
En Route To Gdonya, -angry cockney sounds-
"You're not taking the scenic route, that's for sure." Seras laughed, but the laugh quickly quieted down as she frowned. Something was in that well, and something was keeping her bucket away from being pulled up. "And it seemed you were right." The ugly showed up by grabbing her by the wrist with a huge claw arm, grinning from the depths like it's already won.
"Tosspot." An ordinary human hunter would be having a terrible time now, but Seras wasn't exactly the ordinary kind. Unfortunately, she couldn't just shoot it in the eye - the water would slow down the bolt to a non-issue. Judging by the crablike appearance, trying to stab it with a knife would only get the edge blunted. Thus, it was time to cheat a bit. She dropped the bucket and then grabbed the claw with the freed arm and pulled the trapped one with her superhuman strength, aiming to get the crab fiend out of the water.
Ideally, that would mean that Shoto's ice magic would freeze the monster somewhere along the way.
grah
The Ice Queen
Caitlin steps next to Shoto, placing one hand on the water's surface as well. "Here. It might work better if we do this together."
She looks over her shoulder at Seras. "Thank you for being understanding. I'm sorry if my...condition...made things awkward for any of you. I managed to drain all the heat from a squirrel yesterday, but it's easier with people. I can drain a little bit without hurting them. Can't say the same for the squirrel." Seeing the creature grasp Seras, she quickly decides it isn't the right time for heartfelt conversation.
Next she turns to Matilda. "Thank you, miss. It means a lot that you're willing to help me through this. Is there anything I can do to return the favor?"
She's still pretty freaked out by the creature in the water, though. Maybe if she could drain enough heat to weaken it?...
Quickly, Caitlin readies an icy blast, hoping that if she fires it in just the right position the creature will be stuck in place, ready for her to leave it drained...
Edited by Spottedleaf on Feb 9th 2019 at 12:59:36 PM
Well, now he knew why the lady was so touchy touchy, apparently she was some kind of heat sucker! Now that explained why she touched every person she seen. I mean in one side, that girl could turn her into a ice block, but on other side, he heard the body gets some pretty good combined effects if they were cold along with being on mushroom juice. More hallucinations and better taste?
Well, guess he'll let that pass.
...For now at least. Now if she were to fully suck her dry, he will have to teach her a lesson.
"Eh." Kled shrugged. "Long as ya don't try to kill me with that, I'll let it slide."
Some kind of crab thing attempted to grab one of the humans, while some of them attempted to freeze the well it was in.
"Cmon, Skaarl, you'll get some nice crustacean for a meal, and we will get to kill something!"
"Greeflarg!"
Kled quickly grabbed his axe that was planted in the ground and The duo approached the well and were near Seras, Kled raising his axe ready to cut the crab monster apart if it were to come out and attack them as Seras attempted to pull it out of the well.
Long Market
"Yeah, it's called a disguise," Naruto said to the masked rogue that was approaching his potential job. He was pretty sure that magic wasn't rare here. "Keep up, Spider-Breath!" Unfortunately for him, even more people jumped onto the opportunity. The guys from the docks, coincidentally.
"What? I'm not terrifying!" he said to the pirate girl. She had a lot of guts, telling them all what to do. Somehow, she got the woman to follow her though. He wasn't going to give this chance up that easily, and he trailed after them with only some grumbling. "I could've handled it..." Whatever. He was still gonna help Christie with her cargo.
Gdonya Docks
Seeing another ship approaching, Naruto was quick to get out of their way as they disembarked, heading over to the boy with the sword, the talk dog, and the two white haired travelers with blindfolds. Naruto had seen people that walked around with their eyes covered before, and it was almost never because they were actually blind. It was usually to hide something, though he didn't care what was being hidden at the moment. That didn't matter unless they were fighting.
"Hey, you need my name down too?" Naruto asked the harbourmaster. "Is that the rule here?"
King of Anime
Pitter patter. Pitter patter. The sounds of footsteps were lost in the roaring water of a fountain installed within the Long Market of Gdonya, Lekhitia. The footsteps as they were belonged to a small figure, one with a mushroomlike top for a head. If a certain pair of plumbers were here, there was a chance they would recognize the figure of one Captain Toad. In his hands he held a map, his body pacing in front of the fountain. He seemed to be held back by his backpack though as his body moved along slowly.
Eyes scanned the map, not paying too much attention. With one hand, he traced a path from the fountain to the Topos Pier. Scratching his head, he let his eyes wander from his position in front of the fountain. Maybe there was something of interest around here? Not bothering to check his surroundings, he sat his backpack on the ground in order to pocket the map. Surely that wasn't too dangerous...right?
Road to Gdoyna
Kanae merely shrugged at Caitlyn's explanation. Leeching heat from other people to survive was an odd concept, but it didn't sound like she was going to harm anyone if that ability of hers was kept under control. She gave the well a curious glance as a crustacean creature grabbed Seras' hand with its pincer. Well, this is why you don't go for a drink at just any source of water you find, really.
"Looks like you all have this under control," she noted as she walked toward the well. She could try to grab the creature and crush it in her hand, but that probably wasn't a good idea while everyone was attacking it with ice magic. "Let me know if you need me to squish it, though~!"
The sight of an orange boat arriving and turning into a dog would be enough to turn anyone's head. It was certainly enough to give the harbourmaster some pause before he came to his senses and hurried over to the duo, now a quadrio. "Przepraszam!" he cried, "E-Excuse me, young man, the price for docking your ship...well, never mind that now, but I'll at least need to know your name for my records."
As an argument brewed towards the end of the market, a shrill desperate voice with a genoan accent could be heard piping up towards the middle of the crowd. A woman with auburn hair and tattered and stained dark clothes was running about, begging for the help of anyone who seemed big and strong.
"Please, someone," she cried "I need an escort! Es-cort!"
"You want escort? Try the brothel!" scoffed a stubbled brute as he shoved her aside.
"No, no, is not what I meant, I-" The woman tripped on the hem of her dressed and stumbled onto the side of a wall, leaning against it as she struggled with a panic attack.
The long stretch of road, such an unlikely spot to make new friends, wound its way past a thick dense forest. Soon enough, they came past a large stone well, with water that looked as clear as crystal. A good spot, perhaps, to rest and take a drink. There was a gold jug bobbing about on the bosom of the water, which curiously enough, always seemed to drift away whenever you reached for it.