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Nolah de Fanel Vice Captain
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 Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 9:32 am
This is where travellers, not quite in Dark Haven or another place yet find themselves. Journeymen (and Journeywomen) welcome. ** I will make a better intro than this, I promise, this is just to get the thread up and running
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 9:48 am
They'd been travelling for the better part of the day as per Rien's instructions. Finally, around sun-down they decided to set up their camp for the night. They had found nothing but desert and nothing but sand. No one wanted to be reminded how cripplingly cold it became when dark descended.
"Good luck starting a fire. There's no wood around here." Waru said not unlike a petulant child. Lyra rolled her eyes.
"Yee of little faith Waru." And she knelt next to her bag, where it sat on the sand. Her hand went into the front pouch where Waru had stashed the various articles he'd found on the night-stand. After a moment, her slender fingers withdrew the orb that he'd admired earlier. The lights, all colors of the rainbow, sped about their glass prison, the glow playing beautifully across her features.
"Okay." She said after a moment. " Everyone stand back a little but not too far. Make sure you are at least within fifteen feet of me." Everyone did as told, though skeptically. Closing her eyes, Lyra placed the orb in on the sand and cupped her hands over it, covering the lights. In a low hum of a voice she spoke words no one understood.
The light was blinding and Waru found himself blinking back spots, arm thrown up to shield his face. "What the ******** was that-" He began, cautiously letting his forearm drop back to his side.
This must be a dream. It couldn't possibly be real.
The foursome were now standing in a forest, a lush green forest with grass beneath their feet. Impossibly large hammocks strewn with intricately embroidered pillows hung from willow trees that looked as though they'd been there a thousand years, while violets, forget-me-knots and clover carpeted the grass. Blossoms of impossible color hung from branches just out of reach and a fire crackled merrily near the center of their new oasis.
"Lyra...what-"
"It was given to me so that I would always have a bit of home with me." She said with a glowing smile. The orb was now surrounded by thick, green blades of grass.
"It's roughly thirty feet in diameter...and it's an inpenetrable shield. No one need stand guard tonight, this is old magic and not even the Reaper himself could get through." She smiled again, serenly and hefted her bag up onto her shoulder. "You boys get some food going, I'm going to wash up. This place comes with a stream convieniently hidden by trees to hide from prying eyes." This last comment was directed at Waru who only stared at her in amazement. A million questions were zooming through his head at lightening speed. He wanted to know everything about her.
"Rien, would you care to join me?" Lyra asked.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 1:43 pm
Rien chuckled at Waru's expression and gladly followed the fascinating faerie. "You'd better be busy when we get back," she joked to her brother and Waru, as they wandered into the forest.
Everything that Rien's eyes touched filled her with joy and happiness- it was as though this were here own home too, and she had only just returned in years. Every colour seemed normal to her, and every touch was just as she'd felt in her dreams- though better. The place just seemed to welcome her, and she didn't want to leave.
When they reached the stream, the water was equally delightful and Rien felt no embarrassment as she took off most of her clothes and splashed water on herself. Normally she would have shied away from other's eyes, even female ones, but she felt so at ease that it was perfectly fine.
"I wish I had magic powers like everyone else," she said to Lyra. "I recently discovered I can throw fireballs with my hands, but I haven't discovered quite how to work it yet and it's all so destructible that I'm not so keen! I'd love faerie magic," she said jealously but with a friendly tone. "I presume it's nothing you can teach?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:09 am
Waru watched the girls weave through the woods, acutely jealous of Rien for the time being. He wasn't sure how to handle this knew development. Was Lyra a storehouse of power?
"Erm...yeah." He replied instead and then glanced at Elure.
* * * * * *
" No...not unless you're of faerie blood." Lyra said with a hint of disappointment. " Most of our magic deals with protection, illusion and healing instead of war. We're so good at hiding ourselves and our homes that we needn't worry so much about it." She dipped her hands in the water and just let the current run past. It was so relaxing.
"I'd like some powers that could actually be at use when we're in danger you know? That's why I was glad when Waru said he'd teach me how to fight." She pulled her hands from the current and quickly began to unfasten her dress. She had a shift on underneath of forest green. She too was unsufferably shy and hadn't felt this open since she'd met Nolah. Carefully she folded the embroidered dress and set it down on a mossy patch of grass and then gently dipped her toes in the water. Satisfied with the temperature she slid in. The water reached just above her knees.
"As for your fire power, you'll figure it out. Everything I've learned has to do with concentration-focus. I'm guessing it came out at a time of great anger or turmoil?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 1:33 am
"Um yeh, it did," replied Rien. She paused for a moment, remembering the incident and chewed on her lip as she did so- debating whether to tell Lyra or not. In the end, she chose to. After all, that was how she presumed you grew closer to someone- in all her life she'd never really made a friend who she trust, and was thinking it was about time.
"Athos had shown up, and we were underground with Shi, Nolah, Tank and a few others. Athos mentioned killing my sister, so I lunged at him but he vanished just as the fireballs shot from my hands. I then, I'm afraid to say, used them on Shi. I was stressed and worried and didn't know what to do especially as I'd just seen Tank vanish with that horrible man again.
"Oh Lyra, I'm so worried about Tank. I refuse to call him Theonidas now- after my initial maddness and confusion, when I'd just found out he'd killed my sister, I realised that he's still Tank and... I still..." she gulped, afraid of going on and spilling her secrets, "... love him," she whispered. Splashing her face with water, she busied herself with washing to hide her embarrassment.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 9:35 am
"I see..." Lyra replied after a moment of silence. She'd only met Tank once before his transformation but he had seemed like a kind person. She felt innate sadness at her new friend's predicament. Friend? It had been so long since she'd made friends and despite the confession, she felt a smile come to her lips.
" There's always a chance you know...how long have you known you loved him?" She asked softly, thoughts drifting to Waru. She'd only known him a matter of days and was already feeling that pull, that connection, Rien must have known Tank longer than that.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 10:40 am
"A few days. I've known him a while, and couldn't help smiling everytime he was near... Well I've never been in love before- which might be surprising to you, as I'm well over two thousand years old- but I've kept myself to myself. I didn't realise what all these feeling were, but.. well you know?" The smile on Lyra's face told Rien that she certainly did, and so the elf continued.
"But how can I love someone who killed my sister? I keep telling myself he's not the same person, but... if he ever DOES change back to Tank, who's to say he won't become Theonidas again? Hmm, tough isn't it?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:41 pm
"Yeah it is...but you have to remember that the person you fell in love with wasn't the person who killed your sister. That was one point Nolah was clear on from what I understand. When Theonidas was put out of comission, Tank came out and it was Tank that you fell in love with. Not the Reaper." She cupped some water and let it pour over her hair, which she'd undone before going in the stream. It raised goosbumps across her flesh but she relished the feeling anyways. "And don't worry about little experience. I've only been in love twice...had a fling inbetween but otherwise nothing. I'm not much more experienced than you...which is a little worrying because I figure Waru..." Her voice trailed off and she blushed. "Eh...what do you suppose the boys are up to anyways?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:42 am
Rien raised her eyebrows, waiting for Lyra to continue about Waru, but she was too embarrassed and stopped. The elf smiled, trying to stop Lyra from becoming uncomfortable, and answered her question.
"Well hopefully what we told them to," laughed Rien. "I fancy chicken or fish for supper, but I doubt we'll be so lucky," she grinned. She'd finished washing and dried her damp skin with her cloak, then started dressing again- leaving the cloak off so that it could dry. "Are you almost ready?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:30 am
"Yeah, just gimme a minute." Lyra replied and waded out of the water. She flashed Rien a smile and then disappeared behind a tree, bag in tow.
When she next emerged, she was clad in a comfortable pair of embroidered jeans, a silk tank and a zip-up sweater. Her feet were bare and her wings sparkled behind her back as she moved. "Now I'm ready." Her hair was still damp and hung in lank curls about her face as she and Rien made their way back to the middle of the little oasis and the fire.
"Good timing, it's almost ready." Waru said in greeting as the girls appeared.
"I'm starving." Lyra admitted, going to hang her shift on a near-by branch. Waru was crouched near the fire, poking with a knife at whatever was in the pan. She went and settled herself beside him, legs folded beside her. It smelled like pork.
"Sweet and sour." He said with a grin when he noticed her looking.
"Smells delicious."
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 3:52 am
"Hmm I second that," agreed Rien. Once the meal had been dished up, she blew on a piece to cool it down, then slid it into her mouth.
"Wow, it's brilliant! Were you a cook in a past life?" she joked. "Do I want to know what the meat is? Because it tastes good, but I'm not seeing any pigs around..."
She looked at Elure, who had a grin on his face- but he left it to the chef to say what was in the meal.
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Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:04 pm
"It's pork." Waru said, slightly affronted. "I brought a bag of food from the inn as well. If you know how to do it, meat can keep when you travel, and we've only been traveling for what...a day?" He gave the meat another stir, the red glossy color hightened by the flames. " Did you girls enjoy your bath?"
"Yes actually, it was great." Lyra replied, getting her own serving. She sat back a few paces and crossed her legs, "So...this is a Chinese dish right?"
"Yeah, a good friend of mine taught me." Waru replied. His own place was hot to the touch as he crawled over to where she was. "But enough about food. Someone have another topic?"
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 1:10 pm
"Aaah well it's great," replied Rien. "We didn't bring any meat- mainly stuff that won't go off for ages! OK new topic... um..." She looked to Elure for help.
"Well we could tell each other a bit more about ourselves- like our magic powers, our interests, etcetera... because we don't actually know so much about one another!" suggested Elure.
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 10:47 am
"Okay...I'll go first." Waru replied, shifting his back against the log. "Like I told you guys before, I'm an immortal. Not just immortal, an immortal. There's a bunch of us around the world...universe of whatever you want to call it. Legend decrees that in the end there will only be one surviving Immortal...so we're kind of...at war with each other. There's only one way I can truly be killed and I won't be revealing that." He took a mouthful of food before continuing.
"I'm not sure exactly how old I am anymore but the first time I died, which is really the most important was in the 1100s...I was a samurai in Yoshitsune's army. I don't know if any of you are up on Japanese history but he's an amazing man. He's always been...well I won't go into it but I was run through the back by some ******** and I felt myself die, everything went black and then when I woke up I was still on the field, I could see the other bodies around me and I asked the gods what kind of trick this was, why were they keeping me alive to suffer but when I tried to move...there was no pain. I knew the others had seen me die, my comrads and so I ran. I knew if I showed myself to them they would kill me...they would think me an evil ghost.
"I continued to wander, afraid and confused as to what had happened to me. I had no idea what I was and I didn't know what to do and then I found my way into a small village. I was starving and lied to the inn keeper about being a wounded soldier on his way to rejoin his army. When he heard I was one of Yoshitsune's men he immediately gave me free room and board. When I went into the diningroom I felt it. I don't know how to describe it but my whole body tingled and all my senses hightened. There was another one there...
" When I looked around the room he was staring at me, dark eyes glittering in a face that seemed ageless. He looked no older than thirty but I could see years beyond that in his gaze. He immediately bought my supper and a bottle of sake, invited me to sit with him. He knew I had no idea what I was and I became...his apprentice for lack of a better word. He explained it to me, told me about the threats, what it meant to be an immortal. I wondered why he didn't kill me and he said that chances were we'd be killed by seperate people and there were enough of us that it wasn't unusual to befriend another once and while. From then on I was his. We traveled the country and he trained me in all arts of fighting. He's the one who gave me my sword...
"We eventually separated after a century and then not twenty years later I'd heard that he'd been killed-in his sleep by some god-damned coward who couldn't have killed him otherwise. When one immortal kills another they absorb that ones power. My master had been very powerful. I hunted down the b*****d like a dog and I killed him. I took no pleasure from the fight, I only wanted revenge and the only satisfaction I gained from it was that I'd absorbed my master's power as well and I knew that if he'd wanted anyone to have it, it would be me. From then on I've always been a wanderer...my latest adventure was a rock band. I was the vocalist...that broke up years ago and I've just been wandering since then...I came into Dark Haven, met Lyra and then you know the rest." He gave a thoughtful pause, eyes boring into the flames.
" I'm really eccentric...or at least that's what I've been told. I have a fascination with blood and I write poetry...obviously I'm not naturally blond or blue-eyed but I like the way it looks...I've studied every kind of martial arts, sword/spear/knife/pole etc...and I'm pretty good in a brawl. I'm a mercenary sometimes...and like I said, I could die a million times and still come back ten minutes later..." It was a weird way to end his explanation and he hadn't opened up like that in what seemed like ages. It disturbed him slightly that he was so honest with these people but a part of him knew it was Lyra, he wanted her to know who he was, what he was and what he was capable of, he wanted to be honest with her. He hadn't mentioned that he'd probably killed enough people to amount to the population of a country in his lifetime...that was a story for another day.
"Sorry...um...next?"
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 1:45 pm
"We'll go," volunteered Elure. He chose to speak for the both of them, for the most part, as Rien remained quiet. "We were born in a small village miles from here- very well hidden and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't find it unless the people there let you!
"Up until I was one hundred or so, we led a normal life- much as many humans or elves do- but then some people found us all. Whether someone led them there, or they used the strongest and darkest form of magic to find us, no one knows... though many presume it was the former. Anyway, they burnt many homes and killed lots of us.
"We had to flee, and nowhere we went could we find refuge such as we'd had before. Because we were no longer safe, we all began to argue more and more. Father would teach me to fight better each day, and Rien got jealous and eventually ran off, taking father's sword. He wasn't pleased Ri," laughed Elure.
Rien smiled, remembering her father's anger when she returned many years later. "Yes, but he forgave me quickly when I finally came home! I left to explore and live the life that father wanted for Elure!! In the end we both lived it- though for Elure, it was when our parents were killed.
"I'm sorry, but I don't really talk about my past much... so I'll gloss over it- I explored, I fought, I did what I had to to stay alive. Then I arrived here, thought it was nice and settled down."
"Well while you were gone," picked up Elure, "Elen and I had a visit from the Reaper and Athos. Elen fought bravely and injured Athos- she was so pleased. They flew off, and we thought we'd won... but a couple of nights later, while I was out, they returned and killed her then left to look for me.
"After that I was on my own, and thought it was time to find you again Rien. Didn't take me too long- I felt I knew where you were, and a few questions helped too!" He paused, then looked at Lyra expectantly.
"That's us... so what about you?"
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