The Tiran Wars: Liberty, at all Costs

DeletedUser28032

“Red, I am fluent in two foreign languages and can speak three more, including really bad Elvish…Honestly I enjoy it” Mei had said with a smile in response to Red’s comment about Maurangerian being difficult to learn. She wasn’t trying to boast or anything but was merely trying to convince him that she was up to the challenge of learning his language, and although she didn’t actually know what science was she would be more than happy to discuss magical theory with the mercenary, though she suspected he’d be bored to tears by it in next to no time.
It was at this point that Red had left in order to set up the new camp, closely followed by her and Joshua with one final anxious look at Glasya’s tent, wondering what could have happened to her and whether it could simply be the case that she’d decided to leave her tent where it was and has already left. Only time would tell.


For the remainder of the day the camp was mostly deserted save for a small band of armed men that may have belonged to either faction hurriedly passing through the remains of the camp and thankfully overlooking them in the process.
Save for this single incident Sync had the entire campground to himself, allowing him to search through both the farmhouse and the abandoned and forgotten baggage left by the rebel group in order to furnish himself with enough food to keep him and Glasya going for this day at least, though attempting to feed the Ifrit in her current state was a complete waste of time. By using a damp cloth Sync was just about able to get her to drink some water before using what was left to cool her down a bit.
It was sometime during the night that Glasya’s fever broke; bringing an end to her constant shivering and chattering teeth, along with her temperature finally dropping to something approaching normal allowing the pair of them to get some sleep and it would be around mid morning the following day when she finally awoke; asking for a drink of water in a dry voice.
Taking small sips from the cup with trembling hands she slowly took in her surroundings seemingly as surprised as Sync had been that her tent had reverted from its previously lavish form to a rather basic A-frame barely big enough for some bedding and a small battered travelling chest “I feel disgusting…how…how long was I out for?” she asked in a weak voice; nodding her head in understanding when she was given an answer. It was about what she’d expected, in fact it was probably a little better than what she’d expected considering how quickly she’d gone down hill the previous day though despite her fever having broken she still felt very weak and light headed “Could you find me some clean clothes please?...I’d like to bath but I don’t really feel up to it at the minute” she spoke, feeling a little silly for having to ask her lover to help her get dressed like a child. A quick look through the travel chest would reveal a simple nightdress lurking in amongst some of her more exotic garments or at least those that hadn’t evaporated along with the tents original form.
It was as she was about halfway through stripping off her sweat drenched clothing that she suddenly seemed to notice that her normally tanned skin was now a coppery colour and covered in a mass of swirling tattoo’s; the Ifrit staring in horror at the offending limb before then nervously probing the inside of her mouth with a fingertip to find the fangs lurking inside “oh no, no, no this can’t be happening….how…how long have I been like this?” she asked in a trembling voice. However before Sync was even able to answer her question she had burst into tears; burying her face in her hands as she sobbed “no, no, no you’re not supposed to see me like this? I am a monster!...I am surprised the others haven’t had me burnt at the stake already!” she sniffed miserably, though to be honest that was perhaps a bit of an over statement as she still possessed the same hourglass figure and attractive facial features; only slightly marred by the blood red eyes and fangs she’d recently gained. But all the same she had gone to pieces, fully expecting the boyfriend she’d only just acquired, her first ever boyfriend, to leave her the moment she was well enough to look after herself once again.

“Can’t I be going with you?” Leilani asked in a hopeful voice from where she was sat by the campfire reading a series of scrolls that Mei had given her to study; hoping that her friend wouldn’t leave her alone with a group of strangers again. Sure Edward was nice enough to her; making the effort to actually talk to her and tell her jokes she really didn’t understand, but Arnold was just continuously sweet talking her in a blatant attempt to get her to sleep with him and as for everybody else, she didn’t know them and they all seemed to regard her as the girl that swapped sides and so barely spoke to her like they expected her to be some kind of spy “Please…I could be…” damn it! How do you say “translate” in this infernal language! Leilani silently cursed.
In between teaching her the basics of magic Mei was also in the process of teaching her common Tiranian stating that if she could learn that then she could learn to speak anything. Not to mention the fact that half the world spoke it therefore allowing her to better communicate with others from outside of Khitai Stupid barbarian tongue! “…making of words you to being understanding” there…that was close enough.
The village was about an hour or two’s walk away down the mountain meaning that the residents of the camp and the village wouldn’t be getting in each others way, however they would be close enough for them to form a relationship of sorts if they so desired “Please…I be needing of winter clothing” Leilani said hoping that her need to acquire something warmer than her dress would be a good enough excuse to abandon her studies for a short while and go for a walk. That and like she’d tried to say, Red may need help with the language though whether or not she was allowed to come would be down to Red and nobody else.

Hearing Joshua’s breathless inquiries as to the magical properties of the mountain, Mei couldn’t help but giggle as she placed her arms about her fiancée’s neck and gave him a quick peck on the lips “no sweetheart, the mountain isn’t magical the air is just really thin up here…you’ll need to take things easy until you get used to it” she said in a gentle voice suspecting that he would have a hard time in not helping others quite so much, though he wouldn’t be alone in that as more than a few of the foreign mercenaries and fighters from Khitai’s lowland villages were also struggling with the sudden increase in altitude.
The journey hadn’t been too bad, with the magi trying her best to teach her young apprentice the art of magic in the few breaks that they’d had, as well as showing her how to turn the ingredients she’d been sent to collect into a paste to rub around her newly acquired gemstone to reduce the itching sensation that would be surely driving her mad by now.
It had also become clear that teaching Leilani would be a long process as although she did possess some rudimentary knowledge she was far from being a competent magic user which more than explained why Red hadn’t been killed on the day that they’d first met. Mei also suspected that along with Gwyll; who had seemingly grown rather attached to, and protective of Khalid, that Leilani would become yet another surrogate daughter with Mei, only a few years older than her playing the part of mother. She’d already caught the girl staring at Khalid and Gwyll twice now causing her to wonder whether or not she’d developed a crush, though having heard and fully understood Leilani’s forced confession of intimacy Mei wasn’t entirely sure who it was she was crushing over, though seen as Gwyll and Khalid seemed to be in some kind of relationship with one another neither were ideal choices. Then again maybe the girl was just trying to pluck up the courage to try and talk to them; after all they were all of a similar age to one another.
Removing her arms from about his neck so as to take his hand Mei led Joshua back to where their tent was and sat down beside the small campfire “Come on Joshua, sit down before you fall” Mei said with a chuckle; wanting to have a little alone time with him whilst she could.
She’d been dead on the money when she’d said that they probably wouldn’t have another chance like they had back at the farmhouse. Their first night had been spent sleeping under a wagon as they had had neither the space nor energy to put up a tent and the next two nights they had shared their rather small and cramped tent with Leilani after they’d found her looking very lost and alone, which was becoming something of a common occurrence for the girl, we need to get the poor girl some friends Mei thought to herself once again conjuring up the image of Khalid and Gwyll.
Gently nuzzling Joshua’s neck Mei, quietly contemplated how to broach the subject that had been on her mind for the past two or three nights; hoping that a little affection would put him in a good mood “Joshua…I…I’ve been thinking” Mei cautiously began; her voice already beginning to stammer slightly before she’d even started “…I…I know you don’t like them and…and…I…I am not particularly fond of them either but…nobody has seen Glasya and…and Sync for a couple of days now….and…and…well….erm….I was thinking that…maybe we should go back and…and look for them?”

“Gwyll, Honestly I am fine…you don’t need to fuss over me” Khalid said to the girl that had taken it upon herself to look after him, even when it wasn’t required. They’d had this conversation before but it’d done little to persuade her that he didn’t require her, or someone else constant attention. Which if it wasn’t for the fact that he suspected that everyone thought she was sleeping with him wouldn’t be doing his image much good. Though truth be told she was sleeping with him, what she wasn’t doing was having sex with him, over which he had mixed feelings because although the idea of having sex with the attractive blonde was more than a little appealing he also knew that she didn’t want a significant other as she termed it and simply wanted someone to cuddle up to at night, an act that Khalid had come to find rather soothing. And so other than the gentle kiss on the forehead he’d given her one night their relationship was purely platonic and Khalid was content to leave it at that for the time being at least.
Finding himself a comfy looking rock Khalid sat down so as to survey the earthworks currently being dug around two sides of the camp; the others being safely blocked off by either the lake or the cliffs.
For some reason he found things took him far more effort since he’d arrive at this place than before and was often having to stop and rest for things he wouldn’t normally even have to pause for breath, which he was sure wouldn’t be helping his cause with Gwyll “So Gwyll tell me, you’ve spent more time out in the local countryside than the rest of us, anything interesting out there?”
 

Deleted User - 819397

Sync's administrations took a while to show any improvement, but eventually Glasya's fever broke, allowing both of them to rest more easily that night. The construct had just been about to go look for more food when the Ifrit finally woke up, asking in a voice cracked from disuse for water. It was a simple affair to get a cup of it, sitting down in front of her afterwards to inform her she'd been out for about two days. She seemed to accept this fairly readily, then asked for him to help her change clothes, saying she wanted to bathe but didn't feel up to it. A quick grab of the item least likely to cause either of them trouble later, and he turned back to help her finish undressing, only to witness her panicking over her appearance, saying he wasn't supposed to see her like this, and that she was surprised the others hadn't killed her.

Returning fairly rapidly to Glasya's side, Sync put his arms around her, not sure what response he could give to her outburst. After a moment, he murmured, "We already explained neither of us were human…I'm a copy of someone else, and you're not from our…plane?" Not being sure of the terminology, he rushed on. "You're the only one who's been kind to me from the beginning…and I meant what I said before, about the whole beginning relationship thing. So you're not looking necessarily human right now, so what? The way I see it, I'm honored you're showing me, even if you didn't mean to." He pulled back enough to smile a little at her, then let it fall. "As far as why the others didn't do anything…they left. Probably didn't realize they were even leaving anyone, seeing as someone plopped an incredibly realistic illusion of a tree on top of us. Wouldn't have been able to find the tent myself, if I didn't know it was here already." The construct shrugged. "We're alone for now, just the two of us…haven't even heard another soul since yesterday shortly after I used the well for the first time." He leaned forward and kissed the top of Glasya's head. "I don't know if this is your true appearance or something you slid into for self-defense. I do know you're hardly less beautiful because of it." He smiled again, then reached for the nightdress he'd placed next to him. "Now how about we get you changed so you don't feel gross?"


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"Thin…air?" Joshua looked at Mei skeptically as she tried to explain why he'd gotten so tired so fast. His first thought was his fiancée was trying to make a joke…how could air, which didn't have substance, be thin? What did that even mean? Still, she didn't have a mischievous look and hadn't cracked up at him even considering it as truth, so…apparently that was actually the answer. Mountains had thin air somehow. He had no idea how the structures were capable of achieving that feat, but they were. Did they produce air that pushed the existing atmosphere away? Did they suck part of the air into them somehow? He had no answers. However, the air being thinner would make it harder to breathe, which would explain why he got so tired…breathing was excessively important in these things.

Mei guided Joshua back to the campfire by their tent, telling him to sit down before he fell over. He did so gladly, still marveling over how much more of an effort it was to recover from exertion. He was glad Jehanna didn't have any mountains…this was almost scary how hard his lungs were working. The fire mage took the opportunity to snuggle close to the Swordmaster, which was really, really nice…they'd not exactly had a quiet moment the last few days…it had been a little frustrating, but he'd known it was necessary to move and hadn't made an issue of it. Besides, they'd have years and years to relax after this was all over…

Mei then turned the topic to Sync and Glasya, who hadn't been seen since they'd broke camp. Joshua couldn't help but scowl slightly at the thought of the copy of him who could've done anything he wanted pretending to be him, if he hadn't been in a coma, and the Ifrit who had nearly gotten Mei killed by forcing her to commit horrific acts. However…Glasya had definitely tried to save him before they knew that actually wasn't him, Sync had seemed truly remorseful of his prior actions…and he had promised to be nicer to them…kramen kayle…"I…you're right…if nothing else we owe Glasya for her help keeping what you both thought was me alive…do you think just the two of us will be alright though? We do have the chance to run into the enemy on the way, seeing as we'll be returning to the last place they knew we were there…" He smiled. "Still, I trust your judgement…sure, let's go try to find them." He didn't really want to, but if nothing else it'd give him and Mei some alone time, and even if they didn't find them he could probably count this as filling his promise to try to start over…even if he felt guilty about not truly doing so…
 

DeletedUser13682

Before Red had taken more than a couple steps towards the village, Loolayannie called out and pleaded to go with Red to the mountain village. Her justification was aborted partway through, a look on confusion that Red recognized as one searching for the proper word. Red paused and walked back to the group, shifting weight between both legs while waiting for Loolayannie to produce the required word. A minute of struggle later didn't generate the required result, but a close analogue was found with a short phrase. Red understood immediately; Loolayannie wanted to act as translator. "The word is translate," Red explained. "Speaks the village Khitain?" Arnold stepped in at this moment to put in his two mark. "Well, I don't think this region speaks the same language as the girl. I'm sure she could stay here, and help cook something." Red glanced at Loolayannie, who didn't seem very enthused with the prospect. She couldn't cook very well, could she? "I think it'd be better for her to go with you, Red," Edward said, pounding another tent stake into the ground. "Teach her a few jokes, too. I don't get these Khitain ones." Red looked to Daniel for his opinion, but he seemed disinterested in the conversation. He seemed much more moody since Loolayannie had joined them, prompting Red to keep a closer watch on him, in case he was planning something against the magician girl. "Come with me," Red said, motioning to Loolayannie to follow. After a couple minutes of silent walking, Red spoke, attempting to make the journey feel shorter. "Have you difficulty breathing? Know you the reason?" Red waited for a moment before answering. "The air has lessness here. Air is a fluid. It occupies space. It occupies more space at smaller heights. It occupies less space at higher elevations. Air pressures air. More air presses more air. Air compresses. Understand? I can a diagram later to show you." It was a simple thing to demonstrate. Several paper rings were placed on top of each other with a pointed dowel holding it together. "Water is a fluid. It compresses not. It bursts pipes; it shatters vessels. It performs movement. It can actions to perform. It has much usefulness. Have you questions about science?"
 

DeletedUser37114

"If you were not breathing so hard, I would be more reassured," Gwyll replied to her companion's third attempt of the day to get rid of her. It was actually quite discouraging, being told that he did not need her when he was obviously having trouble with simple breathing. He should be doing better now, the wound had not been too serious and his healing had come along well, though slow. But he still had trouble with even the simplest of things. Frustrating did not begin to describe the situation. Gwyll herself felt nothing to that extent, though she had noticed her endurance was a little lower, likely due to the cold. After all, she had not experienced temperatures like this since she had left her mountain home. But she had been making sure that Khalid was adequately dressed, had been making sure he ate enough, he just tired so easily and healed so slowly... Thankfully, he found himself a place to sit before Gwyll found him one, overlooking some men working to dig holes and pile dirt. A baffling idea, but one that she had seen enough of on her travels. She sat down beside him as he asked her if she had seen anything "interesting" out in the countryside. Three days ago, she would have needed to ask him what he meant and they would have needed a whole conversation over the term. Now, however... "There are several water sources within ten-ish miles of the camp. Wood is plentiful-ish, but prey is scarce, especially with winter on its way. There is a small-ish group of people nearby, though you can see them from here. There are no other signs of the enemy." Gwyll smiled as she spoke, pleased that she could work in some of the new terms she had heard from soldiers talking around her. "What are they doing down there?" she asked, changing the subject and pointing to the men digging holes and piling dirt. Her questioning had gotten a lot less shy too, and she had learned quite a lot as a result. Now would be a wonderful opportunity to learn more.
 

DeletedUser31931

It as like something out of one of the stories that used to be told before bedtime as a child in the guild. There was a story about how tow brothers had warred for the palace after their father's death and one had slipped in during the night with an armed force. In the story they had both ended up dead. Daner didn't think there was as much chance of that happening here. He showed little to no emotion as they walked through the palace, Brahmoth helping to ensure that his face remained a mostly impassive mask. Both of them bristled, however, at the treatment of Lucy and Brahmoth made a note to leave the disemboweling of the man in question to Lucy. As the man explained the story, however, both Daner and Brahmoth pieced things together at about the same time and both had a similar reaction. You've got to be kidding me... They're not seriously going to... Daner went to open his mouth and warn them of the inherent dangers that a dragon posed. You've seen the thing that leads them. I'm not sure that they're too worried about a dragon. That said, we've got nothing on them right now, so I suggest that we play along for as long as needs be. Daner, unfortunately, had to agree with Brahmoth's assessment of the situation. There was no way that they would be able to fight their way out of the situation, even if they had been Joshua and Khalid which Daner and Lucy were certainly not. He made a note to himself that the moment he got the chance he should really start sparring to be a better swordsman... Maybe if he ever managed to meet up with the others again he could get them to teach him. For now, he nodded. "You bestow upon me a great honour. I gratefully accept the gift with which you present me." Not bad kiddo. I was never that great at speeches, always left that to Sarita [the deputy] as you'll likely remember. Since he had said yes it was now simply a matter of waiting for news of the key and planning, planning and preparing for their next move. Daner wasn't quite sure what it was yet, the whole thing was still a little too reactionary for his liking but he knew that whatever it ended up being, he was going to have to pull something special off to turn this situation around. Already the wheels had started turning in his brain, examining everything they knew and searching endlessly through his repository of information for anything that might help them in this situation. That said, he certainly wouldn't be coming up with any answers quickly.
 

DeletedUser28032

“You can’t really mean that…how can anyone find this attractive?” Glasya replied in a sceptical voice, unsure as to whether he really meant what he said or was just trying to spare her feelings. It was at times like these that she wished she could read auras as well as he could so that she could discover the truth behind his words; but then again did it really matter? Because surely if he was going to the effort of lying to spare her feelings then he meant what he said about wanting to be in a relationship with her?
Mindful of her fangs, she slowly leans in and carefully kisses him before screwing up her eyes and grabbing his shoulders as if her life depended on it “oh by the gods, that just started the world spinning… and not in a good way” she muttered; leaning her head on his shoulder with an anguished moan, desperately hoping that she wouldn’t be sick in his lap and ruin the moment completely.
Thankfully after a minute or two everything settled down and she was able with a little help from Sync to change into the simple cream coloured nightdress he’d found for her before lying back down onto the ground where it was safe. You couldn’t fall off of the floor when all was said and done “Are you sure there’s no one else here? Because…It’s not me casting that illusion on the tent, I can’t even sense it at the moment” Glasya asked as she pulled the blanket back over herself with just a touch of concern in her voice; patting the space beside her in silent invitation as she did so. If neither she nor Sync were casting that illusion, then who was and more importantly, why?
The idea of there being another magic user powerful enough to cast such an illusion nearby was kind of worrying especially with her unable to defend herself.
Nestled within the blankets Glasya slowly drifted into a light sleep, deciding that later on she would try and eat something before getting Sync to help her walk down to the river to bathe, where he would no doubt enjoy the experience far more than she would though for now she was happy enough to simply rest “I can’t believe they left us…I know we’re not exactly popular but you’d have thought somebody would have said something” she said feeling just a little hurt, though maybe that was down to how vulnerable she was feeling at the moment. She still wasn’t a hundred percent sure that Sync wasn’t lying to her and would disappear the moment she closed her eyes.

Translate! Yes, that’s the word I was looking for! Leilani thought to herself, relieved that Red had managed to get the gist of what she’d been trying to say; repeating the word quietly under her breath in an attempt to memorise it for later.
It was at this point that the rest of the strike team decided to voice their own opinions with Arnold stating quite accurately that she didn’t speak the same dialect as the village did and so should stay behind and cook something; the suggestion earning him a dirty look from the mage girl. It wasn’t that she couldn’t cook but rather that she couldn’t cook the things he wanted her to cook. He also seemed to be of the opinion that women only served three functions; cooking, cleaning and warming his bed. And although those views fit in rather well with the local views and traditions Leilani would be damned if she was going to run around after him on top of learning both magic and sword craft “They still speaking of Khitain, mountain…” Damn it not again! Leilani mentally cursed as she struck another wall, resulting in yet another long winded attempt at the word she wanted “peoples of mountain talking…is being close enough for me to be understanding of” unlike when I try and speak this stupid language she silently added, whilst wondering how Mei managed to speak so many languages with such apparent ease.
With Red agreeing that she could join her, Leilani wasted little time in following her; glad to be away from her studies if only for a little while and explore an area of Khitai she’d never seen before.
They’d only been walking for a little while before Red asked if Leilani was finding herself short of breath, with the girl reluctantly agreeing that she was. Unlike Mei, Leilani was from the Khitain lowlands and so wasn’t used to being so high up, but hadn’t wanted to say anything lest it made her appear weak or a liability in the eyes of Red and the others and resulted in her being sent away. However Red didn’t seem to be overly surprised or concerned about this confession as she went on to explain why Leilani was so short of breath, with it being something to do with air being like water or something. She wasn’t overly sure to be honest and suspected that her lack of common wasn’t helping matters either.
Upon being asked if she wanted to ask any questions about science Leilani hesitated fearing that she’d be thought to be stupid before timidly asking “What is…Science? It being likes magic?”

As Gwyll sat down beside him, Khalid was mildly impressed as she delivered her report on the surrounding area without a single mention of strange shaped rocks, pretty flowers or funny clouds she’d seen as had been the case the first time he’d asked her that question around three days back “Well…we have plenty of food with us and I am told there are fish in the lake so the lack of prey shouldn’t prove an issue, though knowing the locations of other water sources is always good” Khalid spoke after a few moments of thought; quietly wondering whether he should send Gwyll out looking for the enemy so as to have an idea of what they were doing. It wasn’t that he doubted her ability to find them but rather what she would do once she did find them.
His thoughts however were drawn away from such matters by Gwyll asking what the men were currently doing “They’re digging earthworks…at the moment the easiest routes for the enemy to attack us are there and there” he said pointing to the open if rather steep countryside before them “By digging earthworks the enemy would now have to cross a ditch and a mound of earth before they can reach us, all the while we’re shooting at them from the other side …does that make sense?” he asked knowing that sometimes answering one question led to a dozen or so follow up questions in return “To be honest I doubt the enemy will bother attacking us up here, but its better to be safe than sorry” he confessed with a shrug before moving the topic of conversation on to something a little less militaristic “so tell me Gwyll, what do you make of Mei’s new apprentice? She seems a little…odd…to me”


“Thank you” Mei said; giving Joshua a quick kiss before continuing in a quiet voice“…I know I am asking a lot but…she did come when I asked her for help so the least I can do is see if she’s alright” she said snuggling in closer to him as he asked whether they should go alone. Mei considered the idea of them spending three days alone in each others company briefly before discarding it. This wasn’t like when they’d gone to see her parents, they weren’t going somewhere safe with a bed waiting for them at the end of the day, they were returning to the camp they’d retreated from and where there could be an entire army waiting for them “As tempting as that is I think we’d be better off asking Red and his team to come with us…I mean I’d ask Khalid but he’s stilt not fully recovered and I doubt Gwyll would want to leave him to come with us either” she didn’t want to bring Leilani with them either as she was nowhere near ready to go anywhere where a fight might happen, let alone against her former allies. No, better she stayed here with Khalid for a few days and brush up on her Tiranian.
Sitting in front of their tent, Mei watched as a group of soldiers hauled yet more wood into the camp. Already several of the tents had been converted into more substantial turf huts though for the time being they were still warm enough within the tent at night so as not to worry about it just yet, speaking of which “Joshua…I’ve just realised, we’ve got our tent all to ourselves…I don’t suppose you’d be interested in taking advantage of the fact…or are you still too out of breath?”

“Excellent! For a minute there I feared you’d say no, I know we haven’t been entirely honest about our masters…nature…but I assure you he greatly rewards those that serve him loyally” the smiling man said funnily enough, with a smile and one that spoke of the great wealth, power and privileges waiting just around the corner for him and his cronies.
It was at this point that the door behind them opened and several, armed, black clad men entered the room “The key is gone!”
“You are certain of this?”
“Yes, we searched the museum thoroughly master and searched and spoke to the men that entered through that side of the building…they say that the only people to set foot within the room were these two”
“ahh…I see…so there is a thief amongst us?” the smiling man said before bursting into laughter over the ludicrous nature of there being a thief within a thieves guild. However the smile quickly vanished; replaced with a cold calculating look “interrogate her, find out where it is by any means necessary” he said jabbing a finger in Lucy’s direction much to the messengers surprise and Lucy’s horror “Master are you sure? There were two who…”
“Are you suggesting that the head of the Tiranian thieves’ guild would steal from us? When it is quite obvious that this low born, illegitimate, half-breed before us is the culprit? Take her away…oh and be sure escort our honoured guest here to a room where he can relax, he must be exhausted after tonight’s events” the smiling man concluded, prompting two me to seize Lucy and a further four to surround Daner; making it impossible for him to intervene as his friend was dragged away screaming “I do apologise Daner but we do attract some unsavoury types within the guild, but for now, may I wish you a pleasant night”

True to his word the room was comfortable, albeit with heavy bars on the window and an armed guard on his door who was more than happy to have someone bring Daner anything asked of him other than news of his friend or allow him to leave of course.
Time passed slowly within the room and it was after several long boring days with limited contact with the outside world that the door to his room was finally opened and Lucy was shoved inside; the girl falling to the floor in a heap the moment the men that had carried her in released their grip on her arms.
It was clear that she had been heavily beaten, with the girl clutching her hands to her chest in obvious agony as she softly giggled to herself “I am sorry Daner, I couldn’t help it…” she spoke through split lips “…you see after the fourth one I told them everything…and then they pulled the other six because I’d lied” she said before bursting into loud hysterical laughter as she revealed her hands and their missing fingernails to him before continuing in the same hysterical tone of voice “You need to give them the key Daner…the one we stole because…I don’t know what they’re going to do to me next…”
 
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DeletedUser13682

As Red was waiting for an answer, the mind was made to wander back towards those thoughts concerned with science. It had been a while since Red was able to think back on those halcyon days of Akana's youth, where her twin pursuits of science and swordfighting were capable of being studied with no hinderance. While Red was still able to pursue better and better swordfighting, science in general was forced to stay asleep for a majority of the time. Whenever there was down time, Red was forced to expend the majority of that time performing bureaucratic work concerning the war effort, or enacting damage control for slights that the strike team had performed, or leading horse and pony shows to rebellion leadership to instill confidence in the strike team's ability. Or interacting with those comrades to facilitate good will and foster better teamwork between the strike team and the other teams. Of course, there was interacting with the strike team, in order to make them more willing to obey orders, and less likely to perform poorly when not in battle. Only during those times between first sleep and second sleep could Red manage to think about matters of science. Unfortunately, the past few years had been nearly completely devoted to how to improve modern weapons of war, and utilize Oak Village insights into the human mind in both tactical and strategic warfare. Red had partially designed a repeating ballista called a mehrskudd, and improved its effectiveness by replacing nearly all organic parts with suitable metallic substitutes, utilizing Maurangerian knowledge of organic decay, metallurgy, and various materials sensitivity to local weather conditions. Unfortunately, until the rebellion transitioned into a regular standing army with need for siege weapons and field artillery, the requisition to even acquire resouces enough for a prototype were denied. Though devices such as these advanced science in some way, these machines of war were against the principles of young Akana's mentor in maintenance and science, Heer Vannkoker.

Before Red could advance any more into quiet nostalgia, the present warrior was drawn back into the local world by Loolayannie asking what science was. Red thought about that for a moment. What was the best way to answer a question as basic yet as complex as that? The answer would have to be understandable for a local of a prescientific society, who only knew magic and its barbaric ways. After a moment of thought, some of the first words that Heer spoke to Akana came to Red's mind, and were repeated here for Loolayannie. "Science has method of thought and a library of knowledge. Science has a basis in experiment, old dogma, the real universe to desire to intend to challenge to observe." Red stopped and turned to face Loolayannie, a strange sort of fire burning in those gray eyes. "Both science and magic have a desire the workings of the world to know. However, I have in no place students of magic the underlying mechanics to experience to desire to know. Magic students ask only what. The students of magic desire effects, true understanding not. They lack desire for the basic mechanics of the world. Science has similarities to magic; howerver, science desires the methods of the universe to understand. Science is deep understanding over magic. Magic can amazing feats to perform; however students of magic can their feats explain not. My knowledge of science has comprehension of magic currently not. I will knowledge of magic to learn. I will science magic to use to understand. Have you more questions?" Red asked, before moving on again. The village was getting close; they would arrive soon and it was hopeful that this village would offer a peaceful welcome to the rebellious army's first unofficial delegation.
 

Deleted User - 819397

Glasya didn't seem to believe Sync when he told her she was still attractive, and he wasn't sure how to convince her otherwise. She did though kiss him, only to almost collapse as her head didn't appreciate the motion. She recovered after a moment, enabling them to get her changed, when she asked if it was actually safe, saying she couldn't even sense the illusion protecting them, much less cast it. "There was a lot of movement for a short time yesterday, but otherwise we've been left completely alone. I don't know who put up the illusion though…I have no aptitude for subtlety like that, and this is a work of art. Still, I'd assume it's a benevolent force since it's protecting us, when with that amount of power…" the construct trailed off, unwilling to say that he'd stand no chance against someone as strong as they both seemed to think their ally was. He sank into the proffered spot as the Ifrit moved on to wondering why the main force had left them. Hesitantly, Sync replied, "I…I don't know when the illusion went up…for all I know, they didn't realize there was a tent here when they packed up…there're a few trees of the same kind as the illusion around the farmland…it would've been easy to overlook a new one." He didn't want to consider the alternative, that the others had left them…he knew they weren't accepted, weren't liked…but he knew the kind of man Joshua was, and didn't think outright abandonment was something his original was capable of. Though…he had to admit, the Swordmaster had never had to deal with anything like this before…maybe that was the breaking point.

Once Glasya fell asleep, Sync would proceed to exit the tent to scrounge up more food…he was hungry, and figured that the Ifrit would need to eat something soon to start building her strength back up. The illusion was still fully in place, not a visual crack to be seen. Who had managed to make something that strong, and why were they protecting them, the outcasts of their group? Unable to discern any answers, the construct spent some time collecting whatever he was able to grab…a forgotten dried berry pouch on the ground, an overripe apple on a tree, half a loaf of bread from the farmhouse itself…nothing substantial, but he didn't know how to cook. Joshua did, but there was enough nuance in it he'd need to delve further into his original's memories to figure out what to do than he was comfortable with. Besides, it wouldn't be safe to light a fire in what could be enemy controlled territory anyway. A little disheartened by his findings and continued fear that they'd been truly abandoned, Sync returned to the tent to eat some of what he'd found and wait for Glasya to awaken.


-------------------------------------------

Joshua frowned a little as Mei discarded most of their options for traveling companions before suggesting Red and his company. "I'm concerned that too many people would be more noticeable…Khalid said the enemy were too numerous to fight head on, right? Bringing over a half dozen people wouldn't do us much better than making it easier to spot us without giving us the advantage of numbers…I was thinking more one other person, preferably someone who'd help us avoid any enemy camp that's between here and there, but at the very least someone who could make it back here to get help if something goes wrong." The Swordmaster had been personally thinking Gwyll, whose ability to get in and out of places without being seen was rather impressive, and who was better than any of them at locating people and things. He agreed with his fiancée that it'd be somewhat difficult to separate her from Khalid, whom she'd definitely grown rather close to, but he did feel it was the strongest option. He relayed this train of thought to her, adding, "besides, if Glasya and Sync moved somewhere, we'd likely not be able to find them…Gwyll could track them by scent, no matter how hard either of them tried to cover their tracks." If he was being honest, part of his reluctance to work with Red was just not knowing the man. He knew Khalid, knew Gwyll…Red was an unknown. He trusted him since Mei did, but there was a difference between trusting someone and relying on them to watch your back in a dangerous situation. The wild girl had proven to be a fiercely loyal and devoted protector, as well as a skilled tracker and an expert at moving unnoticed…if there was any in the group Joshua wanted along with them, it was her.

The monarch's reasoned arguments were more or less scattered from his thoughts as his fiancée pointed out they were all alone, asking him if he'd regained his breath enough to take advantage of that fact. His face went a little red, though not as scarlet as it did when he was embarrassed by something. "…If I'm being honest, I've kind of been hoping for something like this…ah, well…" his blush deepened to more of its usual glow, though it seemed to be more focused around his lack of articulation than anything else. "Um…ah, I…I've definitely regained my breathing, so…if you'd like…" Kraemen kayle, he was bad at this. "Ah…yes, I'd like that," he finally managed, still thrown by his inability to convey his desires on the subject. Still, as he bent to kiss the love of his life, he had to admit he'd improved from where he'd been only a week before...
 

DeletedUser37114

"Fish..." Gwyll pondered out loud. She had eaten fish, they were a good source of food from a river, if it was deep or wide enough. They were, however, also awful hunting for any animal except a bird, a larger one than a kestrel. "I can eat fish," she said, realizing that Khalid might have been wondering what she was thinking. She would talk to him about hunting later, it would sadden her not to be able to hunt anything at all for a long period. The activities of the men did make more sense with his explanation, however, a secure place to make a den was as important for humans as it for other animals. "What you are telling me, is that we are establishing a den here by changing the land instead of searching until we find a good place, correct?" More complicated than she would have been willing to do, but she did see some of some advantages. Somewhere close to water, high up, and near other people, yet still with the kind of advantages a cave typically enjoyed. "And I think Mei's new apprentice is a girl and a mage. Her ability to speak is not great, she is not the most quiet hunter, and I have not seen her do anything yet to help the group, but I trust Mei's judgement." Why Khalid thought she would have some idea that he didn't in regards to Mei's apprentice she had no idea.
 

DeletedUser28032

“Joshua Jehan, I can’t believe that you are still blushing after the things we did together the other day…several of which were your suggestions!” Mei exclaimed with mock severity as she watched Joshua’s cheeks turn red as he rather nervously accepted her offer “…it’s equally infuriating and charming at the same time” she finished with a laugh as she pulled aside the tent flap and beckoned him to join her with a look in her eyes that promised he would enjoy what she had in mind for them.

Glasya awoke slowly from her nap to find Sync still sitting where she’d left him; the mere fact that he was still here and hadn’t abandoned her lifting her mood no matter how rotten she still felt “You’re still here” she said with a slight darkening of her cheeks; a gesture if her aura was anything to go by, that could be interpreted as a blush “I take it our mysterious new friend hasn’t made an appearance yet?” she asked eyeing the tents interior warily, as if someone was actually capable of hiding within such a tiny space before then cautiously pulling herself up into a sitting position.
Once she’d achieved this feat without causing the room to spin around or to lose what little remained in her stomach Glasya took a moment to examine her hands or more accurately their colour with her grimacing when she discovered that they were the same shade of dark orange as before “I was kind of hoping that it had been a fever dream” she spoke in a sad and extremely disappointed voice, knowing that for the time being at least that she was stuck in her current form “Could…could you help me down to the river please? I’d like to bathe…if that’s alright? There should be a cloak with a hood in amongst my things” it wouldn’t help her once she was in the water but it would at least hide her appearance from any prying eyes, not that there should be any since they’d both been abandoned. But all the same she wasn’t comfortable with leaving the tent in her current form without someway of concealing her rather noticeable appearance.
Once the cloak had been produced the Ifrit would waste little time in draping it about herself. Despite what Sync said about her looks the desire to hide was almost overwhelming, and it was only after the hood had been pulled over her head; hiding her face within its shadows that Glasya would even entertain the notion of leaving the tent.

Leaning heavily on her lover, Glasya took a moment to admire the illusion as it descended upon their tent; seamlessly replacing it with a solitary tree just as Sync had described it. It was good work; it even felt like a tree which prompted her to hope that they would be able to remember exactly which tree their tent was hiding within when it came for them to return.
The river was only a short distance away from where the camp had been, with the surrounding foliage providing the area with plenty of privacy meaning that Glasya was by no means the first to bathe within its slow, shallow waters.
Reluctantly shedding her cloak and nightdress Glasya carefully lowered herself into the water gasping slightly at the water’s chill as it lapped about her long, copper coloured legs before then lowering the rest of her body into the water until was just above her waist “You know baby boy I’ve been thinking….” She quietly spoke as she began the process of washing herself with a thin bar of scented soap “…seen as they’ve all ditched us maybe we could go visit Jehenna? Or Southern Tiran…you know just the two of us, its not like its our war anyway” she suggested, curious to see what the construct would make of her suggestion that the pair of them just go travelling and enjoy themselves “…unless of course there is somewhere you’d like to visit? I mean now that they’ve left us behind the world is our oyster…or at least I think that’s how the saying goes?”

As Red endeavoured to do her best to explain what Science was the pair of them carefully traversed the steep and winding track down towards the village. From what Leilani could gather science was a method of getting answers for questions and explaining things including the inner workings of magic though even Red confessed to having little actual knowledge on the subject “The Council of Magi being schooling of elements: Fire, Air, Water, Earth and Spirit…we be using of elements to be making of spells” Leilani explained cautiously with the look on her face saying that she didn’t yet possess the words needed to explain anymore than the most basic of concepts “…it is being different for other schools but we is using of elements…Mistress Sun be explaining of this better than me” She finished with an apologetic shrug to show that she’d gone as far as she could on that particular subject without switching to her native tongue.
With no further questions on the subject or at least none that she could properly ask without sounding really foolish Leilani shook her head in response to Red’s final question as the pair of them came upon the outskirts of the village.
The village was much like the one that Mei had grown up in and had the girl been present she would have felt right at home in amongst the clusters of small wooden buildings and animal pens. Whilst stretching out below the village, fields of mainly wheat and root vegetables could be seen with the ground too dry and stony to grow the usual crops of rice in any kind of abundance.
It didn’t take long for the presence of strangers to be noticed within the small community of farmers with a delegation led by an elderly Khitain man coming to approach the pair “He asking who we are and what we be wanting…he also say they having no coin” Leilani translated, frowning at the strange dialect being spoken by the village elder who was clearly unsure as to whether she should be addressing the girl or the foreign barbarian “I no thinking they speaking of common Red, you wishing me to be translating of questions?” Leilani asked as the elder and his delegation anxiously awaited an answer.

“That wasn’t quite what I meant” Khalid replied; scratching the back of his neck as Gwyll delivered what sounded like a report concerning Leilani’s abilities “…what I was more aiming for was whether you liked her or not…you know…as a person” the girl was a little strange and very, very quiet though admittedly some of that was down to the amount of time she spent either studying or training with a sword. Though from what Khalid had seen of the latter she had a very long way to go before she could even be described as being a competent swordsman.
Aside from that little mishap, Gwyll seemed to be getting a better idea of the way people behaved as she correctly surmised that they were essentially building a den up here “yes that’s the general idea, we’ll get some people out hunting and fishing so as to get enough food stored before all of the game has moved on” Khalid continued though if Gwyll was struggling then perhaps it would already be a little too late for them to find enough fresh meat to last the entire winter. The thought of having to survive on salted fish and rice was a little grim but it beat starving to death “So Gwyll tell me, what’s it like being a bird? It must be incredible being able to fly”
 

DeletedUser13682

Unfortunately, Loolayannie revealed that she too held one of the oldest incorrect beliefs in the history of the world, that of the five element existence. Almost every community had independently fabricated a conecept of all matter being comprised of a various mixture of four elements, usually some variety of earth, wind, fire and water. Many of these communities believed in a fifth element, usually some kind of aether or spirit. Its purpose was varied, some stated that it was what held the elements together, the prupose varied. A few cultures included a sixth element, again with varied reasons of existence. Oak Village, it seemed, was one of the few areas to have a people that recognized the existence of real elements, and was the only place to recognize more then a dozen. "I know of five and fourty Stoffs," Red spoke. SHe waved her hand around as she continued. "You speak element; I speak Stoff. The air has Leblostoff and Lebstoff. The water has Lebstoff and Wasserstoff. Earth has many Stoffs. Fire is Stoff not. Fire is energy transfer. It changes things. Spirit exists maybe. I know how Stoffs not to connect. Spirit has the possibility that function to perform. I may the force of connection in the future to discover." Red shrugged and continued walking down the path, a fairly simple one and easy to navigate, at least compared to some paths that one could find in the mountains surrounding the former site of Oak Village. Presently, they arrived at the village, a wallless collection of wooden structures and animal enclosures. At a slightly lower elevation, grain crops and evidence of roots and tubers spread out as far as the eye could see. This was a very good location for a village, and these people were very lucky to have such a fortuitous spot. They were soon recognized as outsiders, probably owing to their peculier dress and Red's stormcloud eyes, a rarity in these lands. They were all but swarmed by village people, fronted by the oldest looking male in the group. He spoke in what Red recognized as Khitainian, though containing different sounding words then what many of the Khitain in camp spoke. Despite the difference in speech peculiarities, Loolayannie was able to provide an analogue in Common. It seemed they thought the two were some sort of bandit group and demanded monetary payment, of which the village could not provide. They kept looking back and forth between Red and Loolayannie, obvious looks of confusion playing on their faces. Loolayannie's offer to translate was met with a nod from Red who pondered for a moment about what to say. Despite offering to go on this delegation trip, Red didn't exactly have much experience with representing an entire army. "Ok; translate this," Red said before pausing another moment to compose the proper words. "I am Red. She is Loolayannie. We are a delegation. We belong to an army. We fight for the liberation of Khitai. We have ourselves nearby to establish. We wish a mutual relationship to establish. We wish your village to help. We request supplies for exchange. We wish normal relations between you and us to establish." Red grew silent, a feeling of awkwardness beginning to grow under the stares of the village people. Red couldn't offer up a smile, or some other facial expression to try and put the natives at ease, not through the scarf. All Red could do was use eye expressions and hope that Loolayannie could accurately convey their mission's intent of goodwill to these people. It wouldn't do well to accidentally turn an entire village against the rebel forces; another enemy was very undesirable.
 

Deleted User - 819397

Glasya seemed surprised and touched that Sync was still there when she awoke, eliciting a smile from the construct. "Wasn't planning on leaving, still not. Afraid you're stuck with me." She asked about their mysterious helper, causing his grin to fade. "No, can't say I have…the longer we're here though the more I believe they're truly fearsome…they've not been around to bolster their illusion, meaning they're capable of not only making something as complex as it, but make it long lasting…maybe even self-sustaining." Sync shuddered. "My f…Riev taught me a lot about magic…something this complex should need touching up fairly frequently…" He shuddered again and stopped talking about it…no sense worrying them both about things they most likely both knew.

Glasya then suggested they get her bathed, though due to her appearance she wouldn't hear of going out without being fully hidden, despite Sync's protests that they were alone. He helped her to the nearby stream, then sat with his back to a real, actual tree as she started to bathe. He considered helping her, but decided against it for the dual reasons of it possibly being interpreted as an attempt for more amorous moments, which he didn't think the Ifrit was in a state for at the moment, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to NOT bring it to that point if he did help. Instead he watched from a safe distance, though close enough to help her if she stumbled or something. As she cleaned herself, Glasya suggested traveling, leaving Khitai behind and enjoying themselves. It was a good picture…neither of them had any real reason to stay and help Joshua and Mei fight their war…and he hadn't had a time where he'd been able to enjoy himself without fear of dying soon thereafter…but…he was indebted to both of them…Mei for working to save him, even if she didn't realize who she was keeping alive, and Joshua for deciding to not kill him. He didn't want to throw that away…leaving now would probably burn that bridge fairly quickly, and he had precious few. And that meant…"As much as I like the idea…I don't think I can leave…not yet." He grinned slightly again, a little ruefully. "I think I inherited too much of Joshua's sense of honor…at least until the debt to him and Mei is repaid, I'm likely going to be stuck with them." The construct became a little more hesitant, his aura flashing through worried, afraid, and resigned. "Of course, if you're done with them, I…can't exactly force you to stick around. I'd like you to, of course, but I won't try to strong arm you into it. And don't get me wrong, I love the idea of traveling the world with you, having fun together…I'd really enjoy doing that…but I need to pay them back first." He really didn't want to let Glasya leave, but it would be far crueler to try to force her to if she didn't want to stay…he'd be losing his one friend…his first shot at love…but neither could he turn his back on the ones who had given him the chance to have those in the first place.
 

DeletedUser37114

Gwyll pondered for a moment as Khalid changed what he was asking her to how she liked Mei's apprentice or not. She had not spent much time with the girl, only seeing her when she would visit Mei. On top of that, she did not make any real attempt to talk to her, as attempts to do so were confusing and awkward due to Gwyll's gaps in understanding combined with the other girl's difficulty with the language. "She..." Gwyll began before reconsidering. "I do not know her well, as I have not spent much time with her. If I were to get to know her better, maybe I would be able to find out if I liked her or not." The answer was something of an avoidance: she did not particularly want to answer, but she had learned early on that such questions could not be ignored. Thus, a dodge. She kept quiet after that until Khalid asked her what it was like to be a bird and fly. "It is... something I cannot really describe. It is very high and free, but dangerous. There is very little room for error." Her mind flashed back to all the times she had almost died the last time she had flown. "But I enjoy it. It is... wonderful."
 

DeletedUser31931

As they were escorted to their cell and roughly placed inside Daner underwent a near full panic attack. As the guard let him into his room and left him to his own devices he sat down on the bed and tried to not hyperventilate. He began to curl up inside himself and as he felt Brahmoth take control he fled into a crevice of his mind. It had been several days since Daner had gone missing. At first Brahmoth hadn’t been particularly concerned, he figured the boy would come back, after all. He’d started doing magic experiments with the body, to see if it had any magical potential beyond the basic life force. As it turned out, the answer there was a resounding no, with the body incapable of doing anything beyond the most basic magic. Daner still had yet to return to his own mind though and as Brahmoth spent more and more time in front controlling the body, he had questions which he wasn’t likely to get answers to anytime soon. As Lucy was roughly hurled into the room and the extent of her interrogation was revealed, Brahmoth maintained a cool exterior, hiding the revulsion he felt towards their captors. He ran through the mental inventory of things that they had in their possession one last time. The smoke bombs would come in handy for the first move but every single time he ran through the options he came to the same conclusion and he did not like it. There was no way out. He had thought through every scenario he could possibly imagine, every escape route. Short of a miracle there was no way that he saw of them making it out alive. He looked down at the bruised and battered body of Lucy as she lay below him. Life, he couldn’t help but think, was a precious thing and this girl had deserved a better life than this. He muttered a few words under his breath in the language of the ancient ones. They had no power with magic behind them but they were a blessing, a traditional ritual to bring warriors luck in battle. Stepping up to the door of his cell, he spoke to his guard. “I’d like to see the contact from the shop, the man who brought me here. We need to have words, especially about what constitutes acceptable forms of information gathering.” Since Daner didn’t seem to be coming back anytime soon, it looked like Brahmoth was in this fight on his own. As he looked down at the battered form of Lucy on the floor he made a promise to himself. She will not be harmed any more for my mistakes. On this I swear. As he awaited the arrival of his captor, he readied himself for what might well be his final battle.
 

DeletedUser28032

Daner’s request to speak with somebody had barely left his mouth when the smiling man; clad from head to toe in expensive black garments entered the room, with the mere sight of him causing Lucy to cringe and whimper “I see you’re friend has delivered our message, excellent, then there is no need to waste any more of our time” he said moving over to stand beside the still quaking Lucy “The key. We know you have it so hand it over and don’t get any foolish idea’s about denying it as it won’t be you who will suffer…though perhaps a demonstration is in order” Reaching down the smiling man roughly seizes the girl by the hair and hauls her up onto her knee’s; a quick flick of his wrist causing three long and very sharp blades to spring from out of what had appeared to be an ordinary leather bracer.
With his eyes fixed on Daner’s face he drags the blades across Lucy’s cheek with a deliberate slowness; prolonging the agony as she screamed “you see? Now first you will hand me the key and then you are going to tell me everything about your friends, especially Joshua Jehan we want to know all about him…oh and someone toss this out onto the streets with the rest of the rubbish” he finished absently prompting a pair of guards to drag the human wreckage that was Lucy out of the room.
Flicking his wrist once again in order to return the blades to the hidden recesses of his sleeve the Smiling man fixes Daner with what could be considered to be a sympathetic look as he continued to speak in a softer tone of voice “Look at yourself Daner; you’re alone and you’re friends have abandoned you, but that’s ok because you see, this is your chance to join the winning side; our armies are already in position and will soon crush those loyal to the usurper and it will only be a matter of time until we release the dragon so you see it is in your best interest to join us…so what do you say?”

With her shortness of breath having nothing to do with the altitude, Mei lay beneath Joshua and gently kissed his cheek before whispering into his ear “If my mother ever finds out what we’ve been doing she’ll skin us both alive” she said with a giggle as she toyed with his long red hair only to then have a frown crease her face as an unwanted thought entered her mind “it…it doesn’t look too bad does it?” she quietly asked, fingering the tiny gemstone upon her forehead “…mother said it made me look like a courtesan” she said revealing the source of her latest source of self-consciousness. She still wasn’t keen on Joshua seeing her scarred shoulder as it was and still did her best to hide it whenever she could. Even now with them both completely naked she made sure that the offending limb remained covered by the single blanket they had, with Mei knowing for a fact that they would be needing more of them if they weren’t to freeze come winter.
Gently caressing his side Mei lay within Joshua’s embrace, simply enjoying the afterglow and feeling utterly content with her lot in life “I suppose we ought to get dressed and talk to Gwyll” Mei would eventually say, though there was no real conviction in her voice as she said it meaning that if Joshua chose to simply stay where he was she would quite happily spend the rest of the day with him. It was a nice idea, but somehow she didn’t think the rest of the world lurking just beyond the canvas walls of their tent would let her spend all day naked with her fiancée, not whilst there was still a war to fight.
She would remain in this state of bliss for a few minutes longer before giving a weary sigh “ok…we need to get up” she said giving Joshua’s rear a playful slap before moving to retrieve her clothes with a giggle. Although neither of them had wasted anytime in getting one another undressed there had been none of the desperate urgency that they had experienced during the first time back in the cabin, meaning that there was no need to scour the area for scattered garments.
Once dressed Mei would then take a few moments to brush her hair; humming to herself as she did so with her giving Joshua one final passion filled kiss before the pair of them left the tent to go in search of Gwyll.

“You be careful, it was stuff like that that caused our little…disagreement…with the Djinn” she said with a raised eyebrow and a smile to show that she wasn’t being entirely serious about her warning. Though how anyone could describe a millennia long civil war as a disagreement was a mystery.
With Sync going on to give her permission to leave without him if she wanted to, the Ifrit hesitated for all of half a second before shaking her head “No…it wouldn’t be the same without you” she said wading over to join him on the bank; draping her arms about him in an embrace despite being soaking wet “…besides what sort of partner would I be if I upped and left you? As you said you’re stuck with me” she said before leaning in to give him a kiss that she clearly intended to lead to more as she pressed her body against his and caressed his cheek. Alas although her mind had been willing the rest of her apparently wasn’t with Sync soon discovering after only a few short minutes that not only had her amorous intentions towards him had stopped but she’d also fallen asleep within his arms.
It was with the still naked Ifrit sleeping within his arms that Sync would hear the snapping of a branch signalling to the construct that they were no longer alone.

Frowning in concentration Leilani did her best to translate what Red was saying though some of the points required further clarification on her part so that the village elder could fully grasp the situation and message she was trying to convey.
Once she had finished the elder turned to speak quietly with several other men within the delegation before turning back to speak with the strangers once a decision had been reached “He saying they being happy for fair tradings but wanting no part in war, they saying you causing trouble they no want, you no luring of their young men for killing in battle” it had also been clear by the way that the elder had spoken that he didn’t approve of them going against the emperor but was too afraid to voice such a concern in front of an armed foreign devil.
Leilani couldn’t really blame him. Before joining up with the rebellion she had believed that she was within the right and it was only afterwards that she learnt of the blood magic, the mass executions and other atrocities perpetrated by the Yaoguai wearing the emperor’s skin. With time they may be able to persuade the villagers that weren’t the enemy but for now it would perhaps be for the best to keep that particular piece of information to herself.
With the message delivered Leilani waited to see how Red would answer the elder.

As Gwyll answered his question on what she thought of Leilani, Khalid couldn’t help but get the impression that she was trying her best to avoid the topic altogether though he couldn’t fault her answer. Truth be told he should probably make more of an effort to get to know the girl himself though with Leilani neither speaking Tiranian or Jehennan at anything but the most simplest of levels holding a conversation with her was some what problematic.
Soon however they had moved on to the topic of flight with the shifter telling him that despite the inherent dangers of flight that she still enjoyed the experience with her whole face lighting up at the mere mention of it “I am glad that you enjoy it, I noticed that you’ve been spending a lot of time with Isolde and Kes...they seem to have taken a shine to you” he said; not overly surprised that Gwyll and the Soldevi got on so well as they seemed to hold a similar view of the world. That and Isolde had practically adopted the girl as her own you’d best be careful Gwyll else she’ll have you married to one of the clan before you even know what’s happening he thought to himself, barely suppressing the bark of laughter that threatened to escape his lips “it must be nice to be able to see world through a birds eyes” Khalid said in wistful voice wishing for the first time in his life that he could experience such a thing for himself.
 

Deleted User - 819397

Joshua laughed softly as Mei stated her mother would kill them if she knew how they'd spent the last while. "You know...I'd say it's worth the risk," he replied, a bit of a roguish grin sneaking across his face. She then got a little more self-conscious, asking if her gem looked ok, saying her mother had criticized it. "Mei...you're beautiful. Gem, no gem...scar, no scar..." he gently rubbed the shoulder she'd been so careful to hide the moment they'd moved to relaxing to prove his point. "The only reason I have to dislike it is the threat that's hanging over your head for having it." The Swordmaster was of the firm opinion that the lack of trust shown by the magi in their own people would only serve to hurt them in the long run, and once the war was over he was going to get them to at least free Mei of the deadly spell, if not everyone on the right side.

This wasn't the moment to think about that though...the two of them simply enjoyed each other's presence and warmth for a moment before Mei claimed in an unconvinced tone they should return to the business of preparing to go find Sync and Glasya. "We should, yes..." Joshua agreed, though he made no move to release his fiancée. They returned to a companionable silence, and after a moment he shifted so that he was even closer to her, hoping they didn't need to go. Unfortunately, it couldn't last, with the mage declaring they had to, then playfully hit his rear before standing. "Hey! Don't do that," he mock complained. "Especially not when you leave yourself open to retaliation!" He swatted her back, grinning, then moved to start dressing as well. A loving kiss later, and it was off to ask Gwyll to accompany them to find his copy and Mei's formerly malicious headmate.


---------------------------------------

Fortunately for Sync, Glasya didn't take long to decide to not leave him in favor of exploring the world. Relief filled him at this confirmation...he really hadn't wanted to need to separate from her. She approached and embraced him, soaking him in the process...though he couldn't really complain, especially not when it was accompanied by a passionate kiss. "Can't say I'd rather be stuck with someone else," he replied, leaning into her touch. The Ifrit fell silent after this, and from how she was hugging him he could do little but rub her back. It took the construct a little bit to realize she'd fallen asleep in his arms, a discovery that sent a rush of affection through his aura. Sure, there wasn't going to be more amorous activities now, but she was comfortable enough with him to nod off. Sync gently guided them both so that they were laying down, though he didn't release her.

The construct was in the process of losing consciousness himself when a branch broke behind him. Jolting to full alertness, he kept his eyes closed and extended his senses, feeling for the intruder's aura. He got a wave of confusion, fear, and pain...and yet, the person was moving with purpose, determined despite the other emotions. The muddle was preventing him from making out their intentions, unfortunately. Sync opened his eyes, looking down at Glasya, still completely naked and asleep. He didn't want to leave her alone in this state...weak, tired, exposed...that meant attempting to reason with whomever was behind him. In a low voice that he hoped wouldn't wake his lover, he muttered, "I know you're there. State your purpose." If there was no response, he'd have to resort to more drastic measures, and quickly. He reached for his magic, just in case...


(Sync's aura findings cleared with Braet)
 

DeletedUser13682

Red shifted around while listening to Loolayannie translate her words to Khitain. It seemed to have a slightly confusing effect on the villagers, as Loolayannie repeated quite a few similar sounding words several times to the confused looking residents. Eventually, through several attempts of translating between two Khitain dialects and Red's unique version of commom, the message finally got through to the villages, and after another series of hectic confusions, the collective response was made clear to Red. They seemed to believe that the mission was here to recruit men for the fight against the current ruler of Khitai, and they were not pleased with that. Though they were willing to trade with the rebellion, they did not support the cause, though they weren't willing to say so openly. Their body language revealed their discomfort with having the rebellion nearby and their willingness to trade was probably fueled by nothing more than fear of reprisal if they didn't cooperate. This would be a difficult thing to work around, if they were to get what Red truly wanted, mutual cooperation and improvement of both the villagers and the rebel army. Perhaps the best course of action was to attempt to contribute as much as possible to convince this village that the rebellion meant nothing but the best for the village and its people. The village itself was fairly primitive, bringing to mind the ancient history of Red's old home. A collection of farmers, living in wooden houses, keeping their farm animals next to their houses, and not a single attempt at an observatory. They probably didn't even have full literacy. Perhaps that's where Red should start with the general education of the villagers. "Ok; translate this," Red said to Loolayannie, allowing an extra moment to ensure that there would be a minimum of confusion. "I can you many things to teach. My home had much knowledge to possess. I would like that knowledge with you to share." If they were allowed to help teach these villagers, it just might be possible that the villagers would be more willing to trust Red and Loolayannie, and by extension, the rebellion. If they could gain that trust, they would be able to convince the village that they weren't there to harm them, and they might be more willing to help out of generosity.
 

DeletedUser31931

Death arrives when life has finished its course and all that can be done has been done. Since we humans cannot know when that moment is, we must strive forward in the eternal belief that death lies beyond the horizon, striking forward into the unknown adventures of life. Brahmoth had had plenty of time to reflect on death and life the past couple of days, and a phrase from his time in the living sprung to mind. He had stolen a large supply of grain, in order to help alleviate starvation in his home district which was poor and unable to afford food in times of famine. During his escape he had been shot by one of the guards with a crossbow. The bolt had pierced his chest and Brahmoth could still feel the pain of running with the bolt embedded in him, even in this body. He had collapsed at the doors of a monastic temple and had been taken in. One of the brothers had tended to his wounds and when he awoke, he was given shelter and hidden from the guards until he had recovered. On the day before he left, he finally asked the brother who had found him bleeding out why they had rescued him. That was the answer he had received and the brother had advised him to live by it. Brahmoth had done so to this very day and as he stood in the cell, he knew that though today he might die, the gods would be the judge of that and it was his duty to carry on, fighting with the last of his strength until they decided that his day had come. They had already seen fit for him to cheat death once, why not make it a second?

As the Smiling Man drew his blades across Lucy’s face, Brahmoth remained impassive. He drew himself up to his full height and his arms went behind his back. What the Smiling Man could not see, however, was what he was doing with his hands. Silently, as the Smiling Man spoke, he opened up the small container concealed in the back of his robes. He pulled from it the fire mine, one of Daner’s few possessions. His fingers ran over the ancient runes and he pressed in the commands. The mine began to shine, a red tinge covering it as it came to life. A small section of the mine detached and slid into his hands. Brahmoth had set it to remote detonation. As Lucy was dragged from the room, Brahmoth muttered a few words under his breath, the words imperceptible. They were an apology. He could not save Lucy, not today. The guards were too many and her state too weak. He would return though, and he would right the wrong that he was about to cause. As the Smiling Man made his offer, Brahmoth fixed his gaze solidly on the man. Daner, I might not be able to sense your presence right now but I hope you’re watching. These are the words and the actions of a leader. This is the role to which you aspire. With full imperial majesty and a voice of far more commanding authority than Daner’s usually insipid tone, he spoke. “I, Daner Risert, Leader of the Mainland Guild of Tiran say… I’d rather die.” As the final words left his mouth he made his move.

The mine span outwards, bouncing off of the open door and into the cluster of men waiting outside of the room. As the Smiling Man’s gaze followed the object through the air, Brahmoth wasted no time. His right hand was already moving forward and time seemed to pass in slow motion, the adrenaline rush giving him heightened reflexes. The knife flew cleanly out of its sheath in his right hand and as it plunged forwards, he pressed down on the mine activator and it crumbled into pieces of stone, triggering the runes on the mine itself. The explosion disintegrated the man standing closest to it and sent the rest of the group flying, the force of the flames burning through everyone that stood outside the door. The knife, meanwhile, plunged itself in the throat of the distracted Smiling Man and the shoulder charge that followed it up pulled the knife clean out again as well as sending the Smiling Man falling to the floor with Brahmoth on top of him. Brahmoth plunged the knife into the man’s heart, finishing him in a far quicker fashion than he deserved. In a matter of seconds, he had grabbed the leather bracer that contained the hidden blades, using his knife to cut it free. Stashing the bracer in his clothing such that it would not accidentally activate and stab him, Brahmoth exited the room. The small explosion had no doubt drawn a fair amount of attention but thankfully the fire was beginning to catch on the wooden flooring which would give the Black Lotus a definite distraction. As he fled the room, he found himself in one of the corridors that they had been in on the night of the attack. Quickly and silently running along the path he kept a dagger in hand, and turned again, entering the room where him and Lucy had picked up the Star key. Running straight ahead Brahmoth opened the window and slipped outside, beginning the climb down as quickly as he dared.
 

DeletedUser28032

Despite everything happening so quickly, time seemed to crawl for the former guild leader and with every sensation heightened and etched into his over stimulated brain; the heat of the explosion, the feel of the knife plunging into the mans flesh with his warm blood flowing over his hands, the sound of his feet on the floor as he ran and the squeal of the poorly oiled window as made his escape.
Not expecting an attack to come from within the walls of the Forbidden city the guards didn’t notice the thief running across the rooftops until it was too late; with the handful of crossbow bolts they shot at him sailing clean over his head as he dived into the moat below.
To say that he was free would be wrong as what was to follow would be several weeks of him playing a deadly game of cat and mouse as both the Emperor’s soldiers and the Black Lotus hunted him down. He worked odd jobs, he stole and he begged, sleeping wherever he could and always moving on the next day lest they found him.
He witnessed the brutal executions of the Emperor’s opponents within the main square and the rise of the new army as men willingly volunteered to fight the rebels that sought to destroy their way of life, all the while unknowing what kind of master they unwittingly served.
Eventually Daner was able to sneak out of the city hidden within a wagon destined for the tanneries that lay outside the city walls; the guards despite their orders being none to keen to investigate the wagons contents too closely.
Lucy was also gone. Where, he did not know and nor did any of the people he questioned about a blonde Khitain girl with a scarred face. It was possible that she’d been murdered as a reprisal for his escape or had simply vanished within the mass of people living within the crowded streets of the city. But with such a distinctive look you’d have thought somebody would have seen her?
Finally free of the city he would wander the countryside going from village to village in search of a way of finding his friends or failing that the rebellion; picking up just enough Khitain to speak some very simple phrases to the uneducated peasants.

It was as he was walking down a narrow dirt track that he would come to a deep, fast flowing river spanned by a narrow wooden bridge in front of which sat two young men wearing swords at their hips. Considering that it was illegal for any man not within the Emperors army to bear a sword it made for an interesting change to see someone armed in such a way.
Catching sight of him the two young men smile almost excitedly as they got up and moved to intercept him. When their first attempt to speak to him in Khitain failed one of them started to speak in halting Tiranian, yet another peculiarity these young men possessed “this is our bridge…you must be paying to cross” he slowly spoke with a broad grin appearing on his face as he achieved the task; holding out his hand clearly expecting Daner to pay him as a result of his child like attempt at robbery. When this didn’t result in any money changing hands the two men rapidly conversed with one another in Khitain clearly confused as to why this hadn’t worked with the first man once again speaking to Daner in Tiranian again “This is our bridge, you must be paying us to cross…please

Confusion swept through the intruder's aura momentarily dominating the mess of emotions warring within its fragile mind. It was clear to Sync that who or whatever it was, was currently trying to decide whether to flee into the trees and abandon its mission or to push on despite its unexpected discovery.
It was with that tiny yet oh so bright core of determination that the latter finally won out and a figure cautiously staggered out into the open.
Dressed from head to toe in filthy rags there was no way of telling whether the figure was even male or female though it was clear that it was scared and in a great deal of pain. Eventually a woman's voice; hysterical and on the verge of madness would come from out of the hood it wore after studying Sync for several moments, seemingly oblivious to the naked Ifrit lying just behind him and only partially blocked from view by his body "I found you!" it giggled clearly elated that she had succeeded in doing so "I found you Joshua and now you can save Daner!" it giggled madly before collapsing to the ground in a heap as exhaustion and weakness finally took her over.

As they walked across the makeshift campsite Mei mentally made a list of what they would need in order to make the three day journey back down the mountains and search for their missing comrades; Food, water, bedrolls...it wouldn't be the most comfortable of journey's with Mei having gotten used to sleeping in tent with a proper bed with lots of blankets in it. But if they were to get anywhere and more importantly not get discovered by the enemy then they would have to travel light and hope that Sync and Glasya hadn't wandered too far away.
They would eventually find Gwyll sitting with Khalid watching the earthworks being dug at the camps perimeter, with the pair of them happily chatting away as they often did; the girl seemingly unwilling to leave him alone for even a few minutes “Hey there Gwyll, Khalid, how are things?” Mei asked as they approached, quietly listening to their replies before forging ahead with what she wanted to ask “Gwyll, Joshua and myself are going to head back to the old camp and see if we can track down Sync and Glasya; nobody has seen them in days and I’m worried that something may have happened to them…we were wondering if you’d come with us?” she asked the pretty shapeshifter as a scowl creased Khalid’s features “why would you want to find them? They’re trouble makers and borderline traitors…leave them, we’re better off without them” the young swordmaster retorted before Gwyll could even think of responding causing a scowl of her own to appear on Mei’s face “That may well be…but when I needed help she came! So I owe her this much” Mei spoke in a tight voice that Joshua would recognise as her being on the verge of anger. A short temper being a common side effect of using fire magic and one that she’d previously admitted to Joshua so that he hopefully wouldn’t take her blowing her top too personally “…besides it is not your decision to make, it is up to Gwyll as to whether she wishes to help us or not” she said before turning to look at the girl in question as she waited to see how the girl would respond. She hoped that she would agree to come with them as they needed a tracker if they were to have any chance of finding the trouble makers as Khalid had termed them, and as well as being a friend and someone they could trust she was also one of the best around. Though considering the amount of time she’d spent within the jungle that wasn’t overly surprising.

Listening to message that Red wanted to convey to the villagers Leilani hesitates several seconds before cautiously translating what she’d been told. The young girl clearly finding the concept of teaching the villagers to be highly suspect in her view.
After delivering her message there was more discussion between the elder and the other men within the delegation before the elder started to speaking to Leilani once again with the girl starting to get a headache as a result of the varying languages being thrown her way “he saying what sort of knowledge? They no wanting magic or…um…foreign devil tricks…or at least I thinking he said tricks” she said wracking her brain for the answer to her question before giving it up for a lost cause “Red you sure you be wanting to be doing of this?” she asked remembering how stuck in their ways some of the peasants back home had been, not to mention of how untrusting of foreigners they were. However it wasn’t her call to make, she simply assumed that Red had something mind as to what she wanted to achieve.

 

DeletedUser31931

The last three months or so of Brahmoth’s ‘life’ had certainly been interesting. But, as he walked down the bare dirt track with only his thoughts to accompany him, he supposed he ought to start at the beginning. Time slowing. The feeling pumping through his body as battle commenced. The heart pounding run through the palace. Scaling down the side of the window. Rooftops. His feet pounded across, carrying themselves as fast as possible. The whoosh overhead, death on a stick passing him by. The wall. The jump. The moat. The way he’d landed the splash had been almost imperceptible but that hadn’t stopped several crossbow bolts finding their way into the moat after him. A short swim later he pulled himself out. Dripping, he set his way back towards the main city. The escape had gone according to plan, which was always nice. The next few weeks, however, he hadn’t had a plan for and sometimes it felt just a little close. Third night. He’d stolen enough food to last him the rest of the week. He also knew how the hidden blade worked, the mechanism hadn’t been too hard to figure out. He sat on the floor, his clothes roughed and his face masked in the shadows. A Black Lotus member walked down the alley where he lay. They barked something at him in Khitain. Brahmoth had no idea what the man had just said but this was unimportant. He just muttered in his best impression of a Khitai accent what he’d heard the beggars say before. As the man leaned in to get a better look at the thief, kicking his leg, Brahmoth stretched out both hands. One twist and drive later and a surprised Black Lotus member slumped to the floor, his heart pierced. The man had been so surprised he’d forgotten to cry out. Brahmoth had raided the body for anything useful, just a few coins, and had continued on his way. The game had continued for another two weeks in this manner. Brahmoth hid himself somewhere in the city. The Emperor and the Black Lotus sent out those patrols to look for him. Often those patrols returned with one less man. Sometimes two. Depends whether they split up into pairs or not. To say that the weeks had been hard would have been a lie. To say that they had been the hardest Brahmoth had ever dealt with though? That would be a lie as well. And so he planned. And prepared. And then he made his move. Under the cover of nightfall, he slipped into the tannery cart. He’d noticed that none of the guards particularly wanted to investigate the cart and he provided an added incentive by finding some animal excrement and lightly running it around the edge of the cart. Nothing enough to be seen but enough that the smell was certainly more off putting than usual and ensured peace and quiet. It was as he lay under the pile of carcasses that he felt the first sign of Daner in several weeks. The escape had gone successfully.

Once they were outside the gates Brahmoth had slipped out and made his way across the country. He slowly picked up a basic grasp of Khitain, enough to get him pointed in the trail of destruction that was left by the rebels and those that opposed them. Throughout his journey, however, he heard nothing of Lucy and though he could live with the guilt, it could feel it eating away at Daner. The two had become fairly close over the past several months of wandering, stealing together and Brahmoth had even taken up meditation so as to mentally spar with Daner. By now he was fully able to control the body and had even managed to integrate its muscle memory with his own, expanding the repertoire of techniques he had available to him. He had even been able to get the body to do basic magic, making a spark and such, though his lack of progress beyond this point despite a large amount of effort seemed to imply that no further progress was to be had. Daner, for his part, was now vocal again and the two spent their time in front together. This was overshadowed, however, by the fact that Brahmoth was now seemingly unable to relinquish control of the body back to Daner. The fact that neither party was really sure how to go about this though probably hinted to the pair of them that rather than it being an impossible feat, perhaps they were merely just incapable of the correct method. At some point, and he was rather uncertain now as the days had begun to blend into one, he had, nestled in the comforting embrace of a tree branch as the rain drizzled down on the body, contemplated his existence. Technically he wasn’t actually Brahmoth but rather a copy of him and this left him with a quandary as to what his purpose really was. Deciding that such questions were for the mages and philosophers of the world, Brahmoth resolved that his duty was to continue the legacy of the previous Brahmoth and to work with Daner to re-establish the Thieves’ Guild.

Now, present topics of conversation exhausted, Daner and Brahmoth continued together along the road. A small footbridge came into view, sitting above a large set of rapids and with two armed men seated in front of it. As Brahmoth wearily approached the structure the two men rose from where they were seated and approached him, calling out in Khitain before realising he didn’t speak enough Khitain for “Give us your money” and thus switching to Tiranian. Sighing, Brahmoth pointedly ignored the first request causing the man to repeat the request, adding a please on to the end of his sentence. “Before I give you anything of mine you’re going to answer my questions. Who is the we? Who do you serve?” Brahmoth was half tempted to bash both of their skulls in and carry on his way, the way that they acted seemed to imply that they were not hardened mercenaries but rather junior fighters desperate to prove themselves. If it always came to aggression he would act the moment before they did, striking the man on the right with the hidden blade before drawing his knives and finishing off the second. Daner, however, was making noises to the tune that this would not be a good idea, especially if they were rebels. Brahmoth, for the most part, was inclined to agree but even so, the temptation to just end it and carry on his way was immense. For now, however, he’d just have to settle for asking questions and hoping that this might lead him back to Joshua. If not, then he could kill them and be on his way.
 
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