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 Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 3:50 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:36 pm
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"Nika?color] Radan's still-weary voice found Anika's ears, and she looked up from cleaning her axe to see him standing in the doorway. The underground camp was leterally that--underground--and was dimly lit by the heated glow of Feya's enchanted firestones.
"Ray, I'm not for you moving around so much. Can't you sit down for five minutes so your wounds can close?"
"Don't think so, not with the orders we just got." He crossed the room to the table and sat opposite her, resting his head on one hand and resting his other arm on the table. "Aw dangit, where we goin' now?" Anika answered, going back to the work sitting in her lap.
"South. They're needing reenforcements--fighting off drow and dragons."
Anika cursed under her breath. The one thing she hated was fighting dragons. She used to fly with them as a child, and still had up until the start of the war. More than often she--along with her brother--was accosted for trying to free the dragons from Drow enslavement instead of killing them.
"I know, sis, but we're needed there as soon as possible, which means we'll probably be there by dawn. Hey, maybe we can free a couple dragons. You know you'd love that. "
"Yeah well...I don't wanna fight no drow. Them's crafty little weasles." She was sounding more and more like a dwarf with every battle.Radan smiled his warm, comforting, familiar smile and rose from the table.
"C'mon sis. Pack up." He said, slapping a hand on her shoulder on the way to the traveling gear in te corner of the small room. Anika grumbled to herself, snatched her cloak from the back of her chair, and joined him in packing.
They were gone by dusk--alone.
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 2:21 pm
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As dawn set in, Sarkra felt that she was close to her destination. Familiar landmarks zipped by as she continued her supernatural pace. She had been thinking about the rebels along the way. It was a long trip, so she had a lot of time to think about it. As she was about to completely solidify the thought in her head she saw the borders of her home village appear before her.
Truthfully, Elven village borders or other means of seclusion didn't exist if it was a forest village. They were one with nature and therefore hadn't the need for separation from it. The forest also protected them to some degree with its ancient spirits bound to the trees and the earth. At any rate, Sarkra knew she was within the boundary of her home and finally stopped her incredible bounding leap means of locomotion. She landed softly in the grass that was a little past ankle high.
There was a phenomenon that happened at all Elven communities. This phenomenon was the little specks of light that zipped through the air, some leaving trails that faded as the speck continued on its way. The Elves pondered as to the meaning of these benign occurrences, but knew little about it. It seemed that the magic that flowed within the Elven settlements gave rise to them. It mattered little, as the Elves believed that the specks added beauty to their places of refuge.
As of yet, Sarkra had not seen any of the buildings of the village, but she knew exactly which way to go. After 2 minutes of walking, she spied a structure, poorly lit in the dawning light, in the midst of an ancient tree with gnarled branches that embraced the dwelling. The tree's branches did little to obscure the viewports and doorways of the Central Hall, either because the elves built the structure so carefully and precisely as to do so, or they used their magicks to form the tree to their liking. Both were possible, but Sarkra did not know which was true for this particular building. She made for the Hall and mounted its stairs (the stairs were there for those that could not get to the building otherwise). Sarkra knew she could have just floated to the door using her Alteration magic skill, but she felt like using less of her magic for the moment and liked the sensation of rising up some stairs into a tree (odd place for stairs, wouldn't you say?)
As she opened the door to the rather small structure, (only two stories tall and 30 feet by 50 feet) and turned to close it after she had gotten inside. After closing the door, Sarkra turned to face the inside of the building where a silent Elf Matriarch clad in a white, fitted, yet flowing garment, sat in an ornate throne filled with carvings of vines and leaves. The throne was actually modest compared to the thrones of the higher populated cities. Sarkra came to within ten paces of the Matriarch and lowered to one knee, her gaze shifted to the floor in respect, her long, blond hair slipping to the floor as she did so. Finally the Elven Matriarch acknowledged Sarkra.
"Welcome, ranger," The Matriarch pronounced in a voice seemingly made from silken fibers, "What news of the northern territories?"
The Matriarch had, of course, known of Sarkra's coming via the sight of her owl sentries that were stationed in varying places in the forest.
Sarkra unfolded the news of what was going on with the rebels and the projected path of the war.
"We have reason to believe that the war will soon rage its way into the Elven territories and destroy us," Sarkra reported, " The latest engagement happened just north of the Elven border last night."
The Matriarch considered this with bewilderment, her cyan eyes glowing with a flash of fear.
"This is grave news indeed, ranger... what is your name?"
"Sarkra, Milady. I was born in this very village."
"Sarkra, you are to be commended for bringing this information to our attention so quickly. Please, stay in the area until we have further orders for you."
"Your will be done, Matriarch."
Sarkra stood up, finally, and retreated to the door of the Hall and exited as silently as possible. Sarkra made for her home in the central area of the village, which was actually very near to the Central Hall. Most of the buildings in this village were somehow suspended in a tree like the Hall was. Sarkra floated up to her home's door when she arrived and knocked lightly on the door...
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 2:22 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 3:50 pm
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((lol thats ok i write a bit much sometimes too))
Anika yanked on the strap of her messenger bag, hoisting it higher so as not to drag it along the ground. The bag was squirming with the motion of her fox--more a freind than a pet--by name of Chase. He poked his head out of the bag and spoke to her canine tounge--yes, all creatures of the forest could talk, in thier own way.
"I'm sensing a life force at our backs, thirty meters behind. Watch out for an ambush--or more likely trackers." He reported, then curled back up inside the bag to catch the sleep he had been deprived of all week.
Anika swiveled her ears around. Radan put his nose to the air. If there was anything back there, they would know of it.
Anika looked up at the sight of buildings, noting tiny flashing specks dancing lines in the air. "Elven city ahead. Better make absolutely sure we're not leading anything here." She announced, and Radan nodded and turned around, facing the pa behind them in a defensive stance. Anika went on, stopping at the village to sit against a randim tree on the outskirts. Radan was out of her sight, but far from out of earshot. She dumped her traveling gear on the ground beside her, laid down sideways with her head cushioned on a random bundle of cloth, and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and eyes. She controlled her sleep and kept it light, so that any sound would wake her.
((gonna ditch the colored dialogue XP its a pain to keep up with))
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:14 am
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Sarka waited for a few seconds before her mother answered her knock on the door. Eluna looked at her daughter not sure weather it was truth or not. Sarkra was then embraced by arms that had not felt her presence for a long time now. "Dear, I thought I'd never see you again!" Eluna said. People had told Sarkra and her mother that they looked almost exactly alike and confused them often. "Come in, come in!".
Sarkra sat on a chair magically molded from the tree that the house was situated on. She had felt a little home sick on her time away. But now she was here, and she had something on her mind.
"Mother," Sarkra said, "I have some news."
Eluna kept doing what she was before her daughter got here. She was cooking a stew full of herbs that made the entire house flood with the aroma. Without looking at Sarkra she replied, "Oh I'm sure I'll hear about it soon enough on the community board."
Sarkra smiled a small little smile and looked at her feet before continuing, "What I mean is the war is coming in this direction, it seems. The Drow and their masters will sweep through these lands and destroy all who are in their way, namely the rebels."
Eluna stopped for a second and then returned to her cooking. "Drow are our cousins, but none the less accursed. I'm not surprised by this."
"I want to join the rebels, mother."
Eluna dropped her stirring spoon in the pot she was working over. Nothing and no one moved for what seemed ages except for the clock in the corner which happily ticked away with its pendulum, not knowing anything of the world and its happenings. She finally looked back to her offspring.
"You can't be serious, Sarkra."
"I am, mother. If the rebels are not successful we may all be under Drow rule, among others, and I cannot stomach that."
"And if the rebels are successful, they will still have a battle that will destroy this place! In any event, what do you think you will possibly accomplish!? There is nothing but death for you in the rebel army. As an elf that should be painfully obvious to you. We were supposed to live as long as we could, One hundred and three years is barely scratching the surface of life for you!"
"If I join, I may be the one soldier they need to turn the tables in the rebellion's favor!. And if I am not, and I die... then I will have died for something that I have never felt so much importance over."
Eluna huffed. "This is rediculous! Sarkra, I will not allow you to go! If I have to chain you to that chair to rot for a natural millennium or two, then that is what I will do, but I will not send you to your death."
"What makes you so sure I'm going to die?! I am not without skill. And I am going with or without your approval."
Eluna had tears spring from her and walked to embrace her daughter tighter than ever. "Your father's defiance I see in you... If you are to go into battle, you must take him with you."
"But my father is dead."
"Come with me." Eluna released her grasp on her child with difficulty and lead the way into another room in the house that had no light in it save for the little amount of light that filtered in through sheets on the windows, and even that was little because of the early morning time. They both went into the room and felt the nostalgia of it. This was where her husband, Sarkra's father, spent some of his time, sharpening blades or stringing bows, or planning something or other for an effort for the community. Eluna came to a dusty old chest and peered at it for a few seconds before bending over to open it. It opened with a creak, but Sarkra couldn't see what was in it because her mother was in the way. Eluna straightened back up with something in her hands. She turned and Sarkra finally saw what it was. A majestic bow with elaborate curvature and structure. It's entirety was colored a lacquered black and had a silver leaf motif painted on to the relief carvings of the corresponding subject on the bow. It hadn't been strung for some time now, but one wouldn't know that by looking at this masterpiece. Eluna also carried matching short swords. Each one had the same black lacquer and silver leaf motif, but didn't have any relief so as not to distract the wielder handling it. Each blade was slightly curved and had no guard, and the blades were 1.5 feet in length. Elven letters adorned the length of the blades. The inscription read "I shall cut my own path, against the flow of the river if need be."
Eluna tearfully, but with a smile, outstretched her arms with the armament in them. Sarkra slowly reached out to them.
"What's this" Sarkra asked
"These are your fathers weapons that he forged himself, they outperform any standard issue armament by a long shot. If you are to go into an uncertain battle, you shall have your father watching over you. You'll have to restring the bow, of course."
Sarkra accepted the weapons and was crushed by another hug from her mother.
"Be safe, Sarkra. May your father help keep you that way."
"Thank you mother. I will find you after this is all over. In the mean time you must stay with the community and move if they do."
With that Sarkra left her old weapons with her mother and took the string from that bow and put it on her father's. With a fond goodbye, Sarkra headed out the door and into the morning light. She contemplated the scene for a moment...
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:15 am
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:30 pm
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Alone on the dusty trail, Radan surveyed the scene before him. His eyes narrowed, he looked mainly to the bushes alongside teh road. They had done thier best to choose a path with little ambush cover, but considering the forest that surrounded htem, that was no easy task. Seeing no movement that wouldn't be more than a rabbit or squirrel, Radan closed his eyes and put his naturally developed sense of smell to work. There was something different about the foxwolf siblings, as there had been since the time of thier birth. Not only had they shown exceptional skill in battle at an early age, but each child bore special gifts unpossesed by the like of thier kin. Some, like Anika, were beyond the reach of halfbreed magic. Others were regular abilities, enhanced somehow, such as Radan's smell and Anika's hearing. That mystery had never been solved.
Radan was glad now for his birth-gifts, seeing as the wind brought to him the all-too-familliar scent of cabran stench. A grin of its own accord spread on the old battlerager's lips as he drew the shining, newly-cleaned dwarven greataxe from its holster on his back. He brought the blade forward, clenching the handcarved handle with leather-gloved fists.
"Come on then, ye stupid puppies." He spat, in his best recount of the old canine language--the only tounge primitive enough for the savage beasts now crawling out of the undergrowth. Five black masses of evil slithered onto the path--they never traveled alone. They were of canine build, poison-clawed, with a double-split tail ending in venomous barbs. Enlongated, razor-cut fangs jutted from thier snarling mouths under pairs of glowing, yellow-red eyes. Not one creature's fur was different from the others, black as deepest abyss and matted with many victims' blood.
Radan didn't care to imagine what sort of innocent races' blood was mixed on those monsters' hides.
He only knew he wanted them all dead.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:32 pm
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 10:33 am
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:32 pm
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 3:07 pm
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:54 pm
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A flying swirl of black fur had Radan into a series of dodges, though most of them were merely to avoid direct hits. Every tackle hit him or grazed him, but one way or another, he stood his ground. He didn't stumble, he didn't step back, just squared his feet to meet the next charge. His axe sprang to life, glowing a bright yellow-blue mix. The closest cabran sprang forward and met the glowing blade; the unlucky creature blasted back by a sparking streak of electricity. It fell, smouldering, to the ground ten feet back. Its companions--though they could hardly be called 'companions' at all--simply trampled it into the ground in attempts to get to Radan.
The lone axe weilder swung again and again, swatting aside the hulking forms as if they were bugs. But his advantage didn't last long, as it hardly did, when faced with cabrans alone. The cretures were stubborn, stupid, or perhaps both, and simply refused to die. Every time Radan swatted one aside, it was back on its feet again and attacking from another angle. He felt a slight sting in his left leg, followed by a sharper pain in his back. But he had no time to think on it, for three more of the disgusting creatures were slithering out of the undergrowth. The halfbreed warrior knew that if he could not stop them, the cabrans would advance to reach his sister and, pssibly, invade the elven city.
He simply could not allow that.
Radan gave a low growl, planted his feet squarely under him, and fought on.
*~*~*~*~*
A few windswept leaves grazed Anika's face, but she did not wake. The distant sound of lightning and canine snarls reached her ears, but she did not wake. In her weary and battle-worn state, she had allowed herself to fall into a deep, healing sleep. That might be good for her physically, but it could prove disastrous for her valiant brother. ore importantly, it could prove disastrous for the elven city at whose border she slept.
She knew not of the predicament she allowed to pass her senses.
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:36 pm
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Sarkra was heading to the northern path as the owl sentry had proclaimed she do. She faintly sensed 3 other Elven rangers going in the same direction at the same running pace as she, but she could not see them, besides, she was more focused on what was ahead. Suddenly she stopped, along with all the other elves, when an unknown slumberer was happened upon, resting her head upon a tree. This must have been one of the intruders. Sarkra looked to the other elves, 2 men and a woman all wearing matching cloaks, and they congregated. Without words all of the Elves, including Sarkra, drew their bows with notched, highly adorned arrows. All the Elves leveled the weapons at the intruder about 5 feet away. They waited for a response. When almost a minute had passed and the sounds of battle came from the northern direction one of the Elves said "What do we do?"
"We leave this one be for now," one of the Elven men said, "There are more pressing matters apparently."
All of the Elves withdrew their weapons and continued on northward. They arrived to see several black shapes and a lone combatant. The Ranger lead stopped the group. They all leveled their bows again, this time choosing their own targets. They waited for the order...
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:00 am
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Radan was faintly aware of three more figures behind him, and instincts propelled him to act accordingly. He moved to turn and face what he thought was a set of three more targets, and he would have, had it not been for the lucky cabran who weaseled his way in for a sideswipe at his head.
For the first in thiat particular battle, Radan stumbled. The blow knocked away his hat, revealing hid face fully. He was distracted from his previous intentions, instead bringing his axe down hard on hte head of the cabran who had hit him. That one fell, and Radan moved to the next one.
*~*~*~*~*
Anika woke to a series of frantic barks and growls, and opened her eyes to Chase standing on her chest. She groaned and rolled over, Chase jumping off to avoid falling. He began scratching at her arms, which were now covering her face. She growled at him, not realizing where she was, being half-asleep. Finally, the determined fox stepped back, crouched low to the ground, and pounched on her head.
"Get up, dangit! You forget where you are??" He snarled at her, in the canine language, causingh er to give up.
"Oh, what do you want, Chase?" He gave her an incredulous look that told her it should be obvious, and she was about to protest when the sounds of battle caught her ears.
"Oh...oh ok...wait, Radan!" She scrambled to her feet, leaving all her traveler's gear behind, running at a dead sprint down the road.
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