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Not long after their call was finished Mike rides his car towards to appointed place. A look in the rear-view mirror confirmed that Pete ( TeethLikeCandy ) was still following him.
16 out to Grant Line, double left... Sheldon Lake, then a right on Cresthill, all the way down and it dead-ends...
He steps out and crosses his arms, checking his environment. You could easily see he is curious to see what West (The Mage) place looks like.
Bruce carefully steers his truck down the road behind Mike, lugging his streamline behind him. Slowing to a stop as Mike pulls up to what must be their destination Bruce breaks and slips the gears into neutral, before stepping out pulling the E-break to be sure (can never be to careful with an old car like this, especially when his home was attached to said old car). Closing the door behind him the young Mage takes one look at his stream line, wondering if he should change into something ells before shrugging and making his way to join Mike at his car.
"So this is the place then?"
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The road dead-ends at a sorry looking mailbox, perched atop a post leaning to one side. Closer inspection might reveal a long dent the width of a baseball bat. From the mailbox, a gravel driveway extends 100 yards to a smallish house with a porch. To the side of the house is a small aluminum barn and a sprawling stable and paddock. Every now and then the sharp, sweet stink of animal droppings wafts by.
A weatherbeaten tractor with a spear mounted on a front-end loader and small trailer are parked next to West's truck.
The Acanthus is carrying a long coil of chain, which he drops onto the trailer with a crashing sound. As he rolls his shoulder from carrying the weight and flexes gloved hands, he spots the other two.
"Howdy."
He looks perfectly comfortable in well-worn jeans, plaid shirt, and dirty Stetson.
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During the first minutes of driving on the driveway and seeing the place Mike was completely speechless. The last time he spoke to West he already noticed the Magister wasn't some deadly serious veteran commander from WO I, or whatever one might expect. But this was really a surprise. The Moros smiles shortly to Pete, 'I guess this is it, yeah.'
Then they come nearer to West, but Mike has no idea how to react. He couldn't just say 'hey' to a man of his position, then what else? A military pose wasn't really something for a farmer? Hobbyist gone crazy? Perhaps cowboy was a good description.
'Hello there, Magister West.' Before saying 'magister' he shortly looks if no sleepers are around, it was a bad way to screw this up from the very first moment. What he said came out as forced informal, because his tone is quite still formal and with respect.'Thanks for seeing us, please, meet Pete.' With an open arm he points to his fellow Arrow.
From what the other was saying it sounded to Bruce as if Mike was just as surprised as he was at the surroundings. For someone who held such an important position in the local area he had somehow expected something different. More... well, he wasn't sure but much less rustic. Hell he felt right at home here, this was his kind of place! Lots or room to breath, nice barn, privacy, and lots of peace and quiet. It was very comforting to see the head of the arrows here was so down to earth.
Nodding in the direction of the guy carrying what appeared to be a large length of chain Bruce follows mike as they close the distance to the stranger. "I take it this is him?". He was instantly glad to see that he had made the right choice in not changing into something more formal. His jeans, boots, and button down yellow shirt with the sleeves rolled up seemed much more in place here than it had at the book store.
Stopping alongside Mike Bruce waits as he is introduced to the Magisters, who's name appeared to be West. Nodding his head in kind to the rustic greeting Bruce extends his hand, "A pleasure to meet you Magister, Im glad we could meet so soon. Some beautiful land you have out here".
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"Hey."
West pulled off a glove that was probably once tan, but had dark streaks interspersed with discolored white streaks across the back of them, and offered it to each man in turn.
"This just a 'go-see', or y'all need something?"
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'Well, Pete has a couple of questions I cannot answer,' Mike shortly glances at Pete, expecting some sort of agreeing nod, 'and I thought it would be good to let you know we have a new Arrow in Sacramento.' After that he nods himself, to West.
The Moros still gets distracted by the background, all that is around them suddenly gives him many things to think about. I wonder if Stevie would like it here, although I'm not sure how animals react to ghostly manifestations...
Nodding in agreement as Mike spoke Bruce began to think back to what exactly it was he had come out here for. In retrospect it all seemed rather unnecessary, wasting the gas to come all the way out here to waste the magisters time with questions he could have easily gotten answered with just a little more effort back in town. The last thing he wanted was to look week to the head of his order, but as long as he was out here he would at least ask a few questions, introduce himself, and try his best not to make a horrible first impression.
Bruce was always thankful for the lessons of his teacher but at times like this he really resented that he was never really schooled on proper behavior when it came to things like this.
"I wont take to much of your time Magister, I'm just new In town and want to clear a few things up so I don't step on any toes while I'm here, and of course I wish to be of assistance to the order".
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Well, that's awkward.
After standing there a moment longer with his hand held out, West wondered if both men had something against handshakes. With a slight shrug, he pulled his hand back and put the glove back on it.
"Well, come on, then," he said, stabbing a thumb toward the small trailer as he climbed up on the tractor.
"Get on. You can ask your questions while you give me a hand."
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'Alright!' Mike grins when he follows West and extends his hand as the Magister asked for it, so they could sit on the tractor after being pulled up.
'Pretty cool place you have. In all honesty, not what I expected, yet very nice.' The Moros speaks with a sincere tone, still gazing through the area around them.
Quiver of Arrows
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