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INTEREST CHECK - Roads to the Heart

OOC - Roads to the Heart




The summons had been put out a while ago. Her father had called for anyone with skill to try and beat the Gauntlet. Anyone with skill. Not specific skills. Just.. skill. But then, her father was a strange one. He had told her his purpose for wanting anyone able to beat the Gauntlet.

"I want brains, my child. Not simply brawn." He had explained.

Brains. Not just brawn. She thought to herself. This task must be more dangerous than he is letting on.

She moved now with her father out to the pavillion, where those who had come to run the Gauntlet had gathered in the courtyard. The Gauntlet had been built a while ago, and she was still amazed at the task the people would have to preform just to prove themselves.

The Gauntlet was a long stage, perhaps thirty or fourty feet. Horses pulled up a long, heavy boulder in a basket. One man turned a crank, and before she knew it, heavy bags of patched leather filled with sand turned on large poles that held their weight and intertwined the bags to that they made a windmill that passed through one another. A moving bridge went beyond those, rising up and down as it swayed back and forth at the same time.

That bridge lead to long sword blades, easily the size of a man's body, that jutted up from the platform in an attempt to scewer the person on top of it. Once past those, a ladder lead to a hanging bridge that rocked and shook violently. Beyond that were axe blades of different shapes and sizes that swung back and forth in different directions. Once past those blades, the person had to cross a firm, unmoving bridge. However, the trick to the bridge was that it was made of different colored planks. One color shot a small flame, the other made the plank drop. And the third was a safety zone.

The flames from the bridge weren't enough to kill anyone, but it would hurt them, which was why those who participated would go one at a time in thick padded suits. After all, they weren't trying to kill anyone.

At the end of the sturdy bridge were three keys. When all three keys were gone, the trial would be over, and those who held the keys would be chosen.

Trumpets played as she and her father came into sight. Her father, a white haired man with sharp green eyes, helped her to sit down in her chair. Her golden colored hair was topped by a jeweled tiara, her blue eyes watching those in the crowd intently as they turned to listen to her father.

He stood at the front, his hands held out for silence, the arms of his deep blue robe falling long off his skin.

"My friends," He spoke loudly. "Today, you have come to run the Gauntlet, and recieve the rewards of your victory. At the end of the trial, only three of you will be chosen for the task of becoming my High Guard, and the guards of my daughter, Princess La'Runa. The rules are simple. You will pad yourself in the protective armor, and climb the stairs to the stage. From there, you will make your way through the Gauntlet to the end. If you fall off, you will not be chosen. The first three to obtain a key will be the ones chosen for this task. Take as long as you need, my friends. This is not a contest of speed. Let the race begin!"

Cheers went up, and her father sat himself in his seat, he and the guards that were behind him watching as intently as she was as those who had come to run the Gauntlet began taking their turns. Personally, she was curious to see who exactly would win the spots.

__________________


"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes"
"It was always you that I despised."
"I don't feel enough for you to cry."
"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes."
"Goodbye"

~Room of Angels: Silent Hill 4

Alumon steadily watches as man after man attempts the gauntlet and fails. The current idiot is clumsy and can barely walk in the pads let alone jump or move with any sense of agility. His electric blue eyes narrow as the man gets hit on the first obstacle and is thrown down almost knocking the air from his lungs.
He stares at the gauntlet, analyzing it for a weakness until he decides to just go for it. As if he hasn't a care in the world be begins strolling up tot he starting point of the gauntlet, a bear cub follows close behind him until he points a finger to the ground and speaks something unfamiliar to the normal world. His skin is tan from having spent much time in the sun. His hair is long and dark, flowing with the wind.

He steps up and begins leaving his weapons with the attendant, several small blades, a sword, and lastly a bow and quiver. The bow itself catches the eye of everyone in range as it is uniquely different from any other bow. The design is beautiful, almost a masterpiece rather than a weapon.

He bends his knees and lowers his head in a bow when he reaches the stairs to the gauntlet.
"Sir. I beg you to allow me to enter unpadded." Without even being on the stairs he nearly towers over everyone around him. Before the King can respond he dashes into the gauntlet wearing nothing more than his normal clothes.

Approaching the windmill he neglects to slow his pace and simply holds firm to the windmill, which spiins and takes him to the other side where the second windmill is treated in the same manner. He releases his grip and falls back to the wooden planks. Starting to run he moves swiftly across the moving bridge which barely seems to move as he dashes across it. Arriving at the giant blades, he simply times his forward movement as to evade any sharp contact.

He reaches the ladder and moves across the bridge without much effort. Once at the bridge with different colored planks he finally slows down. Each step is taken slowly and deliberately. He avoids flame for the first few steps but has a near fall when he reaches the halfway point of the bridge. Finally at the other side of the bridge, he steps on one wrong plank which sends flames shooting through him. Only singed he steps forward and takes a key and holds it high above his head in victory before returning to his weapons and bear cub.

__________________

Thanks to Genkai for the Sig

The king leaned forward, watching intently as the man with the bear cub completed the Gauntlet masterfully. Cheers rang up as he returned to get his things, the king clapping along with the guards that were there beside him and his daughter.

La'Runa rose a brow in amusement, her eyes watching the man who had gained the first key. He didn't look quite human, but then again, many people of different races were there that day. She applauded along with her father and the others, though she was more curious about the man than anything else.

The fact that he completed the Gauntlet so quickly, and with a skill that suggested he had been studying the contraption for quite some time, gave her the inclination that he was a thinker. And a good one at that. She smiled slightly at that thought. Somehow, she had the feeling those who gained the keys were going to become good friends of hers.

__________________


"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes"
"It was always you that I despised."
"I don't feel enough for you to cry."
"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes."
"Goodbye"

~Room of Angels: Silent Hill 4

Oberyn Madaes was simply fascinated by the mechanics of the Gauntlet's obstacles. The urge to just go over there, take them apart, and re-assemble them was as strong as ever in his tinkering blood, but he knew that would probably ruin his chances of competing. And he did like the prospect of winning, might give him the chance to look into the Royal Archive to aid in his future research. Oberyn shrugged himself into his brown cloak a bit more, trying to keep himself focused on his goal.

With a twang of regret, he moved his eyes to look at the actual obstacles instead of the machinery powering them, trying to figure out a way around them before having to be up on the stage. Lucky for Oberyn, a rather tall fellow was going through at the moment, actually making it through all the way and getting one of the keys. That atleast gave Oberyn a vague idea as to how to get through now. "But now everyone knows the trick with speed...I just have to hope no one else is that quick."

Luck seemed to favor him this time, for no one else managed to repeat the tall mans performance before Oberyn got his chance at the Gauntlet. He waved off the leather armor, "I would appreciate the extra protection, but sadly such armor would put a dent in my abilities. Besides, it can't be that bad, that other fellow got through this in one piece without armor, right?" He removed his cloak and layed it on the ground near the first stage of the Gauntlet, grimacing as he heard the clinking of his trinkets banging together as he did so, but stretched knowing he may have to run a bit like the first guy had. Oberyn gave the men a confident grin as he walked into the first path of the Gauntlet.

Oberyn watched the sandbags as they went round and round, trying to find a dent in the flow of their circular motion. To no avail. Though the motion itself brought another solution, they acted similarly to windmills. "And all a windmill needs is a little wind..." Oberyn readied his first spell of the day, a gust of wind, and aimed it at the outer side of one of the windmill-like obstacles increasing its speed. It took several seconds, but the speed finally threw off the sync of the two and tangled up the leather sacks, letting Oberyn pass without any difficulty. The bridge proved as little real trouble as the windmills, merely waiting till the bridge was down before throwing his second spell at it, a magical web, to hold it in place. While a difficulty in itself now, seeing as it would stick to whoever stepped on it, Oberyn went a bit wide of the bridge and got a running start and jumped. Catching one of the sides, he dragged himself up with plenty of difficulty, nearly falling off once. "I'm not cut out for this kind of activity..." Oberyn huffed as he got himself off the bridge.

"Oh bugger this, those things are bigger then I am!" Oberyn muttered as he looked at the platform with the swords sticking out of it. He kept to the sides, avoiding the slots that showed where the swords would come jutting out of, and tried to ignore how close they got when they were jutting up in sight. He couldn't help but sight as he came up to the ladder, but found a small solace in the fact it just shook. Oberyn decided to steal the first's idea to simply try and run up the ladder, that being the obvious way past. This proved to be more of a comical run then he had originally thought, tripping and nearly falling off with this method, catching himself was difficult, but again he got past it, cursing only the last 5 feet up.

Oberyn took a small break to get his breath back, all the while staring at the axes he has to pass through. "Maybe I should have kept that leather armor, would dull the hit more then my flesh would. Bugger me and my hind-sight." Several spells came to mind as to how to get past the swinging axes, yet each had their own drawbacks that he could see...and he wasn't sure if destroying the Gauntlet was a good idea in its own right. A more subtle idea came to his mind, so he loosed another gust of wind spell, putting the axes into a unified movement of towards and away from himself. That opened the way for Oberyn to pick his way carefully to the other side of the obstacle by keeping a distance from the swinging axes.

A grin crept onto Oberyn's face seeing as he was to the last of the obstacels, a colorful yet stable looking bridge. But he had seen what happens when you step on a wrong plank, flames or a fall would accompany it. Though he kept at the edge, testing the planks first to see which colors resulted in what action. With that bit of knowledge gained, Oberyn stepped lightly onto the bridge, picking his steps carefully. His center of balance stayed with him well enough, nothing waving his arms in the opposite direction didn't help fix, but he got across without falling or being burned. At the end of the bridge, Oberyn gave a look back almost half surprised he actually made it across in one piece. Oberyn took one of the two remaining keys and held it up to show he had it to the crowd, a relieved grin on his face all the while. "If this job is too much worse then this test, I may have to be worried about my well being."

__________________

There were dreams. I remembered everyone who had gone before me. I remembered the places and times. Cold places, hot places, weird places, always stressful times, swollen with unhappiness, pain and fear. Some died. Some did not. It makes no sense when you try to figure it out. Soldiers live. And wonder why.

Again, cheers went up, this time for the mage. La'Runa watched as her father and the guards applauded vigorously. She applauded as well, of course. A mage. It was a rare sight to see one in this part of the kingdom. She smiled slightly, sitting back in her chair as she watched him climb down to retrieve his things. One key left, and she couldn't help but wonder if anyone else would manage to get through.

Of course, before anyone else could go through, they had to reset everything and clean it off to clear away the mage's spells. But he did have a good idea. The thought of swaying bridges on their journey being held still by webs was intriguing to her. It was going to take several hours for them to clean off the Gauntlet, which left room for everyone to attend the massive feast her father had prepared for the event.

He stood, raising his hands for silence. "My friends," He spoke loudly again. "Let us break for now. Come! There is a feast in honor of all your bravery." He announced, getting more cheers as he stood to move down to the main hall where the feast was being held.

Two guards approached Oberyn and Alumon, asking them to follow. They found out soon enough why. La'Runa stood in one of the side-halls, waiting patiently against the wall. She smiled when she saw the two of them, giving a polite bow as she watched the two of them.

"You did well," She complimented, her voice gentle and low toned. "I thought perhaps it would be nice to get a chance to talk to the two of you before we go back to the crowds." She offered.

__________________


"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes"
"It was always you that I despised."
"I don't feel enough for you to cry."
"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes."
"Goodbye"

~Room of Angels: Silent Hill 4

Alumon watches intently as the little man makes his way across the gauntlet. He uses magic instead of making it through on his own, something Alumon frowns upon. Alumon saw magic as the easy way out and this little mage would have to earn his respect, something he wasn't doing well so far. When he reaches the last key Alumon looks back at the rest of the gauntlet which is a mess and will need to be reset or repaired. Some of the gears that moved the obstacles had been damaged due to the forced change in movement.

The man gathers his things not too far from where Alumon stands. his bear cub lowers his posture and growls slightly at the sight of the mage. Alumon holds a closed fist to the bear and makes a strange noise.
"Easy Kuma."
The bear stands straight again but keep the little man in his glare. Kuma and the man have about the same height, which would make it easy for Kuma to maul him. One of the King's guards approaches Alumon, asking him to follow, taking him to the Princess.

Alumon bows at the sight of her. As a half Elf she stands a good bit shorter than he and he looks down at her like a child looks at a new toy.
"Let us talk then good La'Runa."

__________________

Thanks to Genkai for the Sig

Oberyn gave a comforted sigh as he donned his cloak on, the familiar and comforting soft metal jingle of his belongings just adding to that bit of solace there. Though there were some glares directed his way by those who had yet to try the Gauntlet, a few from those who had to clean up his mess, and from the other contender who passed the Gauntlet. "Bugger, its almost like no one has seen a mage. Let alone going through a competition." Oberyn just shook his head at it all, thinking he had to show everyone a bit more magic and all its uses.

A low growl took his attention, Oberyn turned to see the apparent pet of the other contender. The bear seemed to have very little liking of him, a rather mutual feeling seeing those pointy teeth and the paws. 'Not even the animals here like me. Maybe I should have just stayed back with my master. But no, I had to say "I'm in my prime, I should go out, see the world, maybe answer the call of the king even." Well, I'm here and won a key, may aswell stick through it.'

The sight of the two guards was a comfort, knowing that if the bear tried to attack he would atleast have some help in this place. The askance to follow caught Oberyn a bit off guard, and maybe his luck was changing a bit for the better. The guard was gracious enough to keep some distance between himself and the other contender. When Oberyn saw who the guards were leading them to, he wasn't sure whether to gawk at the princess or what he himself was wearing as he was going to meet her.

'Not the best of first impressions I'm going to make.' Oberyn just wrapped his cloak around him, thinking the light and dark browns of it would strike a better image for himself then his tunic and breeches could. Oberyn gave a bow to the Princess when the guards had left them there, and let the other competitor, apparently a half-elf and half...something he couldn't put his finger on, but he let it go, figuring it was probably human seeing as that was the most likely of bloodlines to have mixed. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Princess La'Runa, my name is Oberyn Madaes, magician by trade, if that hadn't been obvious with me going through the Gauntlet. What is it you had hoped to talk to us about?" Oberyn put on his best smile, and just made a mental note of how the half-elf had not introduced himself, just leading to the thought that he was rude by nature, or not used to dealing with people.

__________________

There were dreams. I remembered everyone who had gone before me. I remembered the places and times. Cold places, hot places, weird places, always stressful times, swollen with unhappiness, pain and fear. Some died. Some did not. It makes no sense when you try to figure it out. Soldiers live. And wonder why.

She chuckled slightly at the formality of the mage. So proper. In return, she gave a bow of her head in recognition. "Please, just call me La'Runa." She said easily, motioning with one hand for them to follow her as she began walking down the halls. "Not only are you going to be my guards, but I am hoping we can become friends as well. It would be no good to have such formalities between us on the road."

She looked back at the two, giving both of them a warm smile that caused her features to soften considerably. She continued walking, leading them into a narrow hall that lead to secret door on the end, though other doors went along both sides. The tunnel through the door was wide enough, and as it slid back in place, she lit a torch and began carrying it down the tunnel.

"I had hoped to get to know the two of you better. I will do the same with the third possesor of the key, if we have one, later on. I must say; I was impressed with both of you. You, Hunter," She looked to Alumon. "showed me something I had not seen before. Not only do you have incredible speed, but you moved through the Gauntlet as if you had been studying it for a while."

She smiled at that thought. "I'm glad to see you use your brain as well as your muscle." She chuckled. "And as for you, Oberyn. Your use of magic was a treat for me to see. The quick thinking you did with your spells lets me know that you will be able to work out obstacles a different way."

She rounded a corner, leading them out a door and back into the sunlight. A pavillion sat in a secluded part of the castle gardens, set up with a table and food already placed on it, though it was still warm.

"I hope you don't mind. I thought it would be easier to speak in private if we ate here." She said lightly, a few butlers finishing off the last touches by pouring fresh mead into the goblets as she motioned for them to sit down.

__________________


"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes"
"It was always you that I despised."
"I don't feel enough for you to cry."
"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes."
"Goodbye"

~Room of Angels: Silent Hill 4

Alumon notices the unapproving look as the mage introduces himself. Alumon can see that their different styles of doing things will cause much friction if not resolved. With his bear waiting outside, he follows the princess into a courtyard where a table and feast awaits them. The hunter pushes his sword back in preparation to sit, and hovers for a moment waiting for the princess to sit first. Her hair glistens in the sunlight, holding Alumon's attention firmly.

"If I may your highness, why do you need more guards? It seems you have plenty in number."

__________________

Thanks to Genkai for the Sig

She paused for a moment before sitting down and leaning back in her chair, watching him lightly. "Please. Just call me by my name." She insisted. "As for your question.. My father has suggested that I take some of the guards here along as well." She sighed, shaking her head.

"The problem with that, is that the guards here are trained beyond belief. They refuse to call me by my name, and I'd rather not have to trust my life to someone who only goes because they are ordered." She explained. "With things like this, when journeying through the wilds and other dangerous places, it's best to travel with people you can trust. I figured it would be best to offer the chance to random people, try to befriend them, and go from there."

She smiled slightly, looking between the two of them. She could see herself that she was going to have to play as a peacemaker. "Friends are better trusted to save your life than guards any day. By the way," She looked to Alumon. "What's your name?"

__________________


"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes"
"It was always you that I despised."
"I don't feel enough for you to cry."
"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes."
"Goodbye"

~Room of Angels: Silent Hill 4