Tarae - The Neutral Territories IC

[Shadow Vixen]

There was a gentle breeze out today, the leaves barely shook all around Soul, but what wind did cross Kiyara’s path was very refreshing compared to the average heat of the sun as it sat high above the town. Other than the temperature it was an average day in Soul for the early months of the Fire season, the beautiful plants of all shapes sizes and colors had been in full bloom since the middle of last month which marked the end of the Season of Blossoms. It was almost noon and being such the main roads of Soul were packed with people of all shapes and sizes. Children were running home for lunch, parents who were under prepared were out rushing around from market to market in order to gather lunch for their kids, and merchants were shouting and herding people to their stands or buildings to hopefully get some business.

Kiyara however didn’t have much of a problem finding her way through the crowds of people, as most tended to avoid her. She had always assumed people were frightened of the way she always walked, with one hand constantly on the hilt of her katana. She assumed it was a very menacing stance in such a crowded town, but she never wanted to be caught with her guard down. It wasn’t uncommon for some of the back alley bars in Soul to be packed with trouble makers, and as Kiyara often had to walk through such areas just to find an Inn cheap enough for her and her companion to stay at she felt it was better to be safe than sorry anyway.

Raising her right arm she scratched the side of her head. Kiyara wasn’t very hungry, but she was almost certain her little companion would be starving by this time. Just the scent of food in the air seemed to make the tiny Feralen’s mouth water. Reaching back down from her ear she made sure to snatch up the small leather pouch she used to store food from under her tail feathers, and quickly opened it up. Kiyara sunk her head and sighed at the contents of the small pouch, just a few crumbs of bread scattered the bottom hiding in nooks and crannies in the leather, “I don’t even think we have enough coins to pick up stale bread…. Ugh…”

Kiyara tossed the food bag off to Ni’al, and grabbed her coin pouch that was shockingly light. She turned her head refusing to look into the bag at first as she opened it and instead sifting dumping the contents into her open palm, and only a single coin fell out. She sighed again and examined the coin, “Only a single ten piece coin… I thought we had way more than this just a week ago…”

Crouching to eye level with her, Kiyara cupped the small metal coin in Ni’al’s tiny hand, “This is all we have and we’re going to need food. Go around town and find the most amount of food you can get for this.” Standing back up she took a quick glance around town, “Thankfully we still have that room for another night… I’m going to go try and find some work, meet me back at the inn at sunset okay?” Kiyara turned and started to walk off, but stopped and turned her head back towards the Feralen, “I shouldn’t need to tell you this, but don’t steal anything.”

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

The weather here was so much different from the rest of the Empire. Rarely would Lauren be wearing anything less than a heavy coat back in the capital at this time, and she would only set foot in water if it had been heated. The warmth here was a nice thing she supposed, definitely a change from what she was use too, and it was nice to feel flowing water on her skin. She sighed, “Yet even here I can’t bathe without being bothered…” The bushes began to part as Lauren turned, covering herself with her arms as a man stepped onto the bed of the creek.

“I apologize General… I can come back.” He was already starting to turn away, clearly feeling uncomfortable. Lauren was sure it was less because of the fact she was nude, and more that it was one of the few times she’s ever been seen by her men without her armor on.
“Stay soldier. If you have come this far from camp there must be a reason.” She spoke clearly and calmly, not embarrassed at all. She stepped out of the small flow of water coming down from the rocks above her and made her way towards her clothing as the soldier stopped in his tracks, yet still refusing to turn towards her, “Well what is it? Speak.”
He cleared his throat and kept facing the opposite direction, his voice reflected how awkward he felt as it was almost uncontrolled and shaking between different pitches, “Ehum… Well… Advanced scouts have reported back in. There’s a vast amount of land to cover here, many small villages are scattered about, the closest is three days march north-west and appeared to have been an agricultural settlement.”
Lauren had just finished pulling her white linen shirt of her head as the man finished, “Good, a chance to bolster our food supply.” She began to pull on her pants as a thought crossed her mind, “What of this… Soul… the locals have made mention of?”
“All we know is that it is a large settlement much further north. No scouts have reported seeing any towns of the reported size or population density. Although one scout has yet to report back, it’s been several weeks.” His voice had steadied, it took him long enough.
She stopped and sat on a fallen tree as she put her boots on, “I want more information as soon as it’s available. As for now head back to camp and send word that I want five cavalrymen to accompany me into this farming town. We’ll ride at sunset, I want them prepared.”

The soldier turned to her quickly and saluted before sprinting back off through the brush. Lauren gave one last look at the creek, and the water coming down from the hillside above, and envisioned a large home here far from the cold of the capitol. She assured herself it would happen soon, all that stood in her way was this boring campaign. Slaughtering the locals was barely a challenge, few of them have wielded more than pitchforks and sickles. She stood and made her way back toward camp, this farming village would just be another pile of corpses to burn.

[Rtron]

Zanix walked into Soul, easily navigating the large crowds, as they parted in fear from both his looks, and the reputation Celchin had. He kept a hand on his war club at all times, as he was getting more then one dirty and unfriendly look, most of which Zanix returned and forced the person to look away. He was in this town for one reason, and one reason alone. He needed armor, as battling in the clothes on his back wasn't exactly smart, especially if one came across a moderately skilled warrior. Zanix scanned the area when he entered Soul, looking for an indicator of a blacksmith or armory. Seeing none, he shrugged, picked a random direction, and began walking.

Scanning around, he nearly stumbled as he thought he caught sight of pure white feathers of a Toyla. Zanix scanned the area once more, heedless that him stopping in the middle of the pathway was causing people to go around him, like a giant boulder in a stream. Seeing nothing to indicate that he had seen the Toyla from that town, so many years ago, Zanix gave a sigh. Getting overly agitated. Probably was a trick of the light. He thought to himself, before resuming his wandering, searching for a smithy.

It took a few more minutes, but he found one, stationed across the street from a food stall that sold cheap, if slightly aged bread, fruits, and meats. Ignoring the racks of shining armor and weapons, Zanix walked straight to the Blacksmith, ducking slightly as the roof wasn't made for one of his heighth. "I need armor." He rasped. The man barely glanced at him. "There's racks of it right behind you." Zanix chuckled, a gravely sound. "I somehow doubt those will fit me." The man actually got a look at him this time, and paled slightly.

"I'm going to need measurements then." Zanix produced an old breastplate, horribly damaged. "Just go off this ones measurements." He rasped once more. The blacksmith nodded, losing some of his nervousness as he expertly viewed and measured the breastplate. "It'll take some time, but I can get you your new one today." Zanix nodded, and after a small amount of haggling, produced his coin pouch, and emptied out the agreed upon amount. "I'll return." He said, before lumbering out of the Smithy, and looking around.

[Rumiko]

Kenit squatted in the tall grasses that surrounded Soul munching away happily on hoppers which she'd caught rather quickly,
Many would have looked upon her squirming feast of insects and had their stomachs turned but as a wandering priestess she had less refined tastes, in fact she rather enjoyed the sweet crunchy flavor.
Once more she shifted the chest cover which she wore to not offend the civilized town's people. She giggled as she considered the misplaced shame of the townie, even in her own lands they were the same.
Finishing off her meal Kinet stretched briefly her lovely form an object of desire in the open plains of the Lynsera.
She'd wandered as was the custom of water priestess to expand her contact with the mother world and in her journeys had come to realize that most except the farmers that toiled the land had little respect or reverence for her.
Kenit relaxed humming a hunter's tune as she felt the father sun soaking into her coat.
Her voice was sweet by Lynsera standards and she' found that the others for the most enjoyed it as well
She'd once been told she could become a minstrel but the thought only made her laugh. Her voice was not for sale, it was the mother's gift which Kenit used to raise the spirits and to guide the dead to the
afterlife
She could have also charged for her services as a water dowser and in these parched lands have made quite a fortune but that as well would be wrong. Water was the mother's greatest gift and as she gifted Kenit with a lovely voice she'd as well blessed her daughter with the ability to find water as well.

[ShadowoftheMist]

Kin had finally arrived in the large settlement of Soul. What a gay name for a town. Soul. Who's the genius that came up with that name? He'll need to remind himself to piss on their grave when he resupplied on the bare essentials. That bandit raid he was assigned to netted him a hefty amount of coin, which hung by his side in a small bag by his hip. He was feeling rather festive today, so some wine and freshly cooked fish would be absolutely sublime right about now. Now which one of the bazillion shops here sell that precious combo...

"Ehh... This is annoying..."He muttered after five minutes of wandering around. "Hm... Not like I'm dying of hunger anyway... Maybe I can find myself a brothel first..."A sly smile crossed his features. "If I find a place that sells good fish and wine first, I'll eat, but if I find a brothel first..."He proceeded to wander around town, the small yet hefty bag of coins hanging by his side as he looked around. He felt like getting it on with a Toyla. A Lyncera came to a close second. He licked his lips at the thought.

A pleasant smell suddenly filled his nose. A smell of fish... Freshly cooked, delicious, fish... Before he could make his way towards the source of the pleasant smell, his ears suddenly twitched as they picked up the sound of a women... Moaning. In pleasure at that. A brothel wasn't too far off. But neither was the fish... And possibly wine... He looked at the direction where the fish lay, and then at the direction where the brothel lay. His stomach growled, but already pleasant thoughts began to fill his mind. "Hm..."He muttered before fishing out an old coin from one of his pockets. "Heads, I go eat. Tails, I go get kinky." With that said, he flipped the coin and waited for the outcome as it slowly fell back to the palm of his hand.

[Bevolerian]

Thiannon woke up in the soft bed of hay that he had slept in for the night. He had his small "house" in the loft of one of the stockpiles, one of the farmers had let him stay there, rent the loft for a small price. It wasn't really a palace so it was not really that strange that it was cheap. He had gathered the little belongings he had on the shelves around the small hay pile and there was a crude wooden cabinet over at the other end of the room. He gently rose to his feet and walked as gently as he could over the floor, the animal that was below him. Were probably still asleep or not yet totally awoken, he didn't want to wake up the entire village just because he woke. It was about five am in the morning, it was early for a guy like him. He opened the door of the cabinet as he looked inside, there was his double sided halberd and his sword. Also there was a leather armour that he had been made specially for himself, it was three layers of leather with one chain mail layer implemented between the second and third one. It was almost impossible to penetrate with a arrow, but a sword could easily slash open the armour and his skin. He grabbed a farmer cloth shirt hanging on the side of the inside of the closet, and a pair of cloth shorts.

He pulled them on himself as he slowly and gently made his way down the stairs, he pushed open the side door of the stock pile house. He smiled as he saw the sun rise over the horizon, over the beautiful green hills. He actually liked going up at this time just for the sake of seeing the sun rise. He stood there admiring the sunrise as he tightened the cloth pants with the rope that was sown onto the shorts. Tying a tight knot when he was done, making sure they would stay firmly around his waist. He began walking on the stone paved ground, down towards the small centre of the village. The village was small, but it was big enough. It was isolated in the sense that it was not near any castle, but the nearest village was about twenty minutes away if you really legged it.

The town centre was empty now, but later when everyone awakened the town square would be filled with people trying to sell their various objects. Food, vegetables, fresh baked bread. Oh that fresh baked bread, he could already smell the bread being made. He could feel the sweet smell dance in his nostrils, that smell of fresh baked bread. Another good reason to wake up this easy was the fresh baked bread. He was always the first to get a loaf, of course it was not really expensive.. He could afford it. Even when he wasn't in service, he still got a small amount of money that he could live off. When he was not in service.

He quickly made his way over the town square, it was not really that big anyway. He made his way a bit outside of the small village, he smiled to himself as he came to the small pond. It was about five minutes from the small village, and almost no one but him knew about the small pond. It was quite beautiful, clear blue water and there was little waterfall leading to the pond. And there was a quite big rock in the middle of the pond that had a flat surface so you could sit down on it. And that was where he was headed, Thiannon slowly tread into the knee-deep water and climbed up onto the rock. He sat himself down on the rock and crossed his legs. Closed his eyes and lowered his ears.

[Nailah]

A heavy sigh escapes Ni'al as she weaves her way through the crowds, "No stealing... no stealing..." she grumbles, "How are we supposed to survive on nothing but a ten piece?" she growls to herself, tail flicking in annoyance as she enters the market district. Her eyes kept snapping to every stall she passes, just staring at all the goods left out in the open... How easy it would be to just grab a steak and take off... How little attention the merchants seemed to be paying to their stalls... She shakes her head, trying to rid her mind of the thoughts... She wasn't alone anymore, it's been four years, she had other ways to survive now,she had somebody to help her... Yet... The urge was still there... All these fat cats -not necessarily a metaphor, as the thought passed through her mind as she passed the stall of a very well fed Lynsera merchant- didn't need all of this stuff... they had more than enough money, they wouldn't even realize their good and gold were missing.

But no, Kiyara's word was law... Ni'al wouldn't even think of directly disobeying the Toyla... She respected her far too much, and owed her far more...

"She said no stealing... well then fine... I won't steal anything..." she hisses under her breath as she comes to a stop, eyes locking on a black brown haired Feralen female and her pups. Just from looking at her, the runt could easily tell that she could be manipulated by the way her pups begged and pleaded. A grin crosses her lips as she ducks into a back alley and sets the food pouch and pack down, doing her best to hide them, before falling to the ground and rolling around in the dirt, her fur matting down giving her a scruffy appearance, the dirt covering her face. By the time she was done, the small feralen looked like nothing more than an abandoned pup. Even with her healthy appetite, the runt still looked like she was starving, which just added to her disguise...

She slowly makes her way out of the back alley, scanning the crowd until she located the mother and her pups... They weren't that hard to locate, as the pups milled around her feet, barking and yapping excitedly. Ni'al was barely any taller than they were... only an inch or two taller, and they couldn't have been much older than eight years.

Ni'al makes her way towards the mother, blinking repeatedly, face contorting into multiple expressions of emotion, sniffing heavily until tears finally fill her eyes, and she comes to a stop beside her, sniffling pathetically as a small sob escapes her.

"Oh you poor thing.." the mother says, her pups moving out of the way as she crouches down to Ni'al's level and looks into the runt's tear filled eyes, to her the runt just looked like a helpless pup, "Are you alright?"

"S-so hung-hungry" Ni'al whimpers back, blinking away tears as her stomach releases another loud grumble. The pups just stepped back, watching her warily... But the runt's charade was obviously working on the mother as she watches the runt with pity in her eyes. "M-mamma... Said she'd be right back... I miss mamma..." she sniffles, just adding more to the pity.

"You poor dear... here..." She says, digging around in her coinpurse, pulling out two gold pieces, causing Ni'al's jaw to drop in surprise... She barely expected to get more than a few copper... she was hoping to at least get a few coins... But a gold piece? It takes every shred of self control she had to keep her tail still as she looks up at the woman, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Thank you, oh thank you so much kind woman... thank you thank you!" She says, voice quivering and cracking as she gives the woman a tight hug, sniffling and burying her face in the Feralen's shoulder to hide the grin that was fighting to spread acros her face, but she managed to regain control at the last moment as she lets go and steps back.

"There you go dear... go get yourself something to eat, you're nothing more than skin and bones" The mother Feralen says as she stands, reaching down to scratch Ni'al's ears before turning to her pups, "Come now children, it's not polite to stare!" she chastises them, and they all look away... And Ni'al was already back in the alley, recovering her supplies before the woman turned back around.

"Now THAT'S spending money" the runt giggles as she drops the two gold pieces in her coinpurse and washes the dirt off of her face in a basin of runoff rain water before starting off towards the other end of the market.

[Bevolerian]

A couple of hours had passed since Thiannon had sat himself down on the rock, he usually do this. Meditate that is, once a day, a couple of hours a day. He slowly made his way down towards the town square again. His large body slightly leaning to one side as he took a step, and to the other side when he moved his other feet. This was because of his height, even for a Feralen he was extremely tall. He towered above most of his kinsman and that he was proud of.

He slowly made his way down towards the square as he begun to simply begun to push his way through the crowd. Well, most of the people got out of his way, I mean he was not really hard to miss at all. He looked down to his belt as he grabbed into his leather coin purse and weighed it in his hand as he stopped in the middle of the beginning of the square. A small pup ran up to him and hugged his leg, clinged around it for it's life. Thiannon placed the coin purse around his belt once again as he sighed.

He grabbed into the arms of the pup and gently bended them off his leg as he lifted the pup up to his head level, it yelped out in joy as he did. "So what are you up to you little rascal? I thought you grew past the hugging the leg thing." Thiannon said to the pup as he spoke with a bit of joy in his voice.

"B-.. But uncle Thi, I never grow past anything." The pup said as he looked at Thi with his puppy eyes, those big and watery extremely cute eyes. He knew that Thi hated it and it could make Thi almost do anything for him. "Can you get me a sugar apple uncle Thi?" He said with a cute voice along with the puppy eyes.

Thi sighed as he put the pup onto his shoulder, it always came to this when he had to do with pups. A suger apple was a simple apple you put sugar on and put in the oven, it was extremely good. It was one of the rare delicates that this age could offer. He carried the boy over to the nearest stand he could see selling these apples. Flinged off a gold coin to the small man behind the table like cart. And soon received the sugar apple. He handed it to the pup on his shoulder as the pup shined up like a sun. He set down the boy with the apple as he said, "Now run home to your mother, she is probably wondering where you are." And with that he turned around and walked over the square again, towards the bakery.

[ShadowoftheMist]

"... Eh... Fish and wine it is then..."He grumbled before stuffing the coin back into his pocket and heading towards the direction where the delicious scent of freshly made fish lay. On his way towards the shop with the fish, which was actually much farther than he imagined, he noticed several odd figures wandering about. Not odd, but... Figures with some sort of purpose that stood out from the normal crowd. He could careless, but they were interesting people to look at nonetheless. Like that one huge burly fellow standing outside the blacksmith shop. No doubt he was one of the feared bandits that heiled from the mess of a territory, and a pretty strong one at that. He wondered if there was a price on his head... Ah, what did it matter to him now. He had his money and he was certain that would satisfy him. For now. Aside from the large fellow, there was also this tiny Feralen pup, barely bigger than 4 feet. He saw what she had done, and he couldn't help but crack a smile at her sly antics. Survival of the fittest, after all. He sure loved to enforce that rule.

"Hey, you, mercenary!"Called out a devilishly handsome old man. Despite his handsome features, the rest of his body looked crippled and old as all hell. He leaned on a wooden cane that seemed even weaker than he was. "You saw what I saw, right?"Asked the old man. Kin looked back to where the young Feralen pup was before turning back to the man.

"What's it to yah, old man? She's just getting by is all."Kin said, rather annoyed as he started to make his way for the fish once more. The old man smirked.

"Nonsense! Little brats like that need to be taught a lesson! I'll pay you ten gold pieces if you can find me that brat and bring her back here!"Called out the old man. Kin's ears twitched at the thought. Ten gold pieces... That'd be ten more gold pieces that he didn't have now... Of course, he had plenty on him right now...

"I'll keep an eye on her."Was all he said as he departed for his meal once more. Jobs would come later, for now, he needed to eat.

[Rtron]

Zanix walked around the market, as he had time to kill, when he saw the runt. He stopped dead, barely even breathing as he watched the runt steal money off of a kind Feralen female. The runt....the runt...the runt might mean the Toyla... he thought as he watched the runt get rid of her disguise. Zanix lumbered off after her, barely keeping her small frame in sight as he followed. Eventually, he caught up with her, walked in front of her, and rasped, "You...I remember you..."

He kept a hand on his war club, as the mace would be unusable in such a crowded area. "Where's your little Toyla protector runt? Where is she?" He rasped again, staring down at her. "Where is she runt? I've got unfinished business with her." He continued, briefly bringing his hand up to rub across the scar on his throat before returning to it's original position on the war club. "Where is the Toyla runt!" He roared, earning him the attention of a small crowd.

[ShadowoftheMist]

Finally, the stall with the delish scent of freshly cooked fish. And just his luck! A rare brand of wine to boot. Ahhh wine... Natures wonderful delicacy... He placed down his small yet hefty bag of coins on the counter top and waved the stall owner over. "Hey, guy, I'd like some of that fish, with a side of wine to boot."He requested. The stall owner, who was looking at the comotion not too far from the stall, glanced at Kin before turning back towards the small crowd that had gathered. Kin's ears twitched in irritation. "Hey! You've got a paying customer here! I have money! I'm hungry! You have food!"Called out Kin.

"Not now punk. Can't you see there's this massilve hulking beast of a man assualting a little girl?"Said the stall owner, still looking at the crowd that began to grow slightly larger.

"I don't see how that's our problem. Now feed me dammit!"Yelled out Kin as he slammed his hands on the counter. The shop owner merely shrugged. Kin gritted his teeth. He was hungry. This prick of a man wasn't giving him his food. All for what? For a little fight that was going on?

"Alright fine! If I help the brat will you give me my food?"Asked Kin. The stall owner finally gave him his full attention, and, with a smile that threatened to tear his cheeks apart, began to work on the fish.

"Help out that little girl and it's on the house!"Said the stall owner. Kin sighed and turned towards the small crowd. He didn't like fighting on an empty stomach, but duty calls... Leaving his bag of coins on the counter, he began to walk through the crowd that had gathered until he was able to see what was actually going on. That girl he saw earlier was being confronted by the giant ogre thing he saw not too long ago. What a coincidence. If anything, he'd rather sit back and see how this would have turned out. But alas, he was hungry...

"Alright alright big guy, give the little brat a break. I'm sure whatever she did was for a good reason."Said Kin casually as he approached the two, the crowd growing silent.