Blackfridayrule

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne laughed. "Good morning. I wondered if I'd find you here." A voice made her turn, and some part of her was prepared to start going off on the guy, when she realized who it was. The Council were smart, and they could not have sent a better messenger. And yet the idea of having someone babysit them irked her, too, regardless of who they sent. Darin didn't seem to mind, though Ridahne took a little longer to come around to the idea. It wasn't Mrixe she was worried about, she like him well enough. It was the subterfuge.

"I see. Someone to make sure the assassin does not assassinate anyone else." Ridahne thought it unwise to add that she would very likely defeat him if it came to an altercation between them--she hoped there never would be. She didn't want to give him the impression she didn't like him either, because that wasn't true. "I suppose it's as much to cover our tracks as much as theirs..." she admitted with a sigh. "Don't take it personally, Janeel," she said in a kinder tone. "If I could have chosen anyone as an escort, it would have still been you, and I think my companion would agree. But I've been at the mercy of the whims of powerful people for too long, and came out of the experience with too many scars. Naturally, I'm wary of meddling. And while there might be wisdom in the Council's decision, it feels to this poorly-used eija too much like meddling. A wound of my past that has yet to heal, it seems." She was willing to admit that her feelings on the matter came mostly from her own bias and not from any instinct of wisdom. Ridahne had come a long way in healing of her old wounds, but she still had far to go.

But Ridahne joined them anyway, taking one of the proffered pastries. Any wild beast could be coaxed and soothed with food, and Ridahne was no exception. She studied the pastry. "So this is pie? We do not have pie in Azurei," she explained to Mrixe. "Martin has been trying to explain to me what it is for a while now." She took a bite and her eyes widened. "Oh. Mm, the cinnamon! I never thought to put cinnamon with apples! Give the chef my thanks and approval. I understand why it is one of your favorite things now," she told Darin with a smile.

She smirked at Mrixe. "I wish I had that philosophy when I was an apprentice. My master was very hard on me, but it made me what I am today, and that is just the Azurei way. We have a belief that when you are comfortable, you cannot grow. To grow, you must be stretched. But I hope to be a better teacher than mine was, and to learn from her mistakes. We do need to resupply, and we both wanted to go to the archives. Martin had something he wanted to look for, but I have something I'd like to research myself. If you have a section on Azurei ojih and its history, I would very much like to see it. But I don't imagine those two things will take all day..."

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne was not usually one for sleeping in late, but today, she did. The sun that filtered through the thick trees was already bright, and it felt like she'd been asleep for an eternity. It took her a moment to figure out what happened last night, but when she did, she looked for Darin. The bed was empty. A spike of panic leapt up in her, but then a bit of wisdom soothed it. Darin never stays in one place, and if anything happened to her here, the trees would likely tear Lihaelen down to save her. Ridahne chuckled at that thought, but got up to go find her companion anyway. She took a handful of apples from the kitchen downstairs and, eating one of them, she made her way towards the stables. There was some chance Darin went to go see Talbot, but either way, their two horses would not begrudge a snack.

Tsura and Talbot saw her and whinnied; Tsura tossed his head like he was begging for a ride. She spoke to them in Azurian. "Good morning. I brought you something." She offered them each an apple, which they took graciously. Mitaja was there too, and she rubbed her face on Ridahne's thigh. There was dried blood on her whiskers, so Ridahne knew that her cat had fed herself sometime in the night. She just hoped it was nobody's livestock. Mitaja didn't usually do that, she knew better, but once or twice she'd been known to slip away with someone's chicken. "Hope you've behaved yourself. Have you seen Darin?" Mitaja gave a deep throated mao sound and rubbed her body on the gate of the stable. "Oh, you have, then? Hm." Ridahne peered over the gate to find Darin and chuckled. Ridahne lifted her last apple, aimed, and dropped it into Darin's lap with a chuckle.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne smiled, reaching one arm over Darin's shoulder as the girl hugged her. Ridahne wasn't sure how to say it, but it felt so good to be loved. Hadian and Ajoran loved her, of course, but they were so far away, and Darin was actually here. And honestly, having Darin's unwavering approval gave her the confidence to not need to seek it from others. Even if she wasn't the most important person in all of Astra, it still just felt good to know someone backed her, and there was someone with her whom she didn't have to constantly win over. These thoughts made her miss Ajoran terribly, and she couldn't wait to introduce him to Darin.

The elf considered the idea of traveling openly. It did seem like they were simply more and more known the further on they went. But then again, they were in the heart of Eluri. It was only to be expected that a large portion of people would know due to visions. "I don't know," she said at last. "Something to consider is that we are in Eluri, the land of frequent visions. When we get to Orosi, no one there gets visions. Some in Azurei do, but less. The Sols and all their court will know who we are, but the public won't necessarily. Not you, at least. But a condemned traitor displaying the token of the favor of the Sols is going to raise some eyebrows, too. And nobody in the Siren lands knows anything about either of us. Personally? I think having even the option of plausible deniability will help us, though we don't have to stick to our ruse as tightly if we're found out. But I leave that decision up to you. You can also share what you want about who we are from town to town. Because you hide in one place doesn't mean you have to hide in another. But if we go the route of openness, we also need to employ misdirection. Spread false rumors about our destinations, whereabouts, and intentions to throw off the trail of anyone hunting us."

They made it back to the inn, where a couple bleary eyed visitors were having a little nightcap to ease the pain of the night's events. They looked up and watched them curiously, but one look into Ridahne's eyes made them turn their attention back to their glasses again. She wasn't in the mood to deal with any more strangers tonight. They made it back up to their room, and Ridahne practically launched herself back onto her bed with a sigh. She might have been piss and vinegar a moment ago, but as soon as the blankets wrapped around her, she faded fast. But before she did, she muttered, "I'm proud of you, you know..." Then her breathing deepened and she fell asleep.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Just when she thought their point had been made and they were finally in the clear to go slink back to their beds for a bit before sunrise, someone had to ask that question. Ridahne was at all times irritated by and expectant of that question, and though she had long since accepted its constant inevitability, the judgement in his tone made her boil. The shift in expression did not jump right to an explosive inferno of anger, like she was sometimes prone to. It was colder, quieter, more calculated and more controlled, and all the more dangerous because of it. She stood rooted to her spot on the floor, even after Darin turned away. A cold fury was storming in her amber eyes.

"Wait." She had the look of a cat about to pounce. Ridahne didn't always feel up to explaining herself to strangers, but it bothered her somehow that the leaders of Eluri thought her a wretched monster, or at least some of them did. "You should know the truth, and unlike the rest of what was spoken here tonight, this you can spread as far and wide as you like. Khaltira," she said, and the lack of the suffix 'Sol' was obviously marked by the Council, "was a corrupt, lying bastard who thought her whims and desires were more valuable than the lives of the people she pledged to govern and rule and protect. She was a murderer and I was her tool. But no longer. Those who wield sharp swords without knowledge of how to use them often get hurt by their own reckless stupidity. I did not apologize to the Sols and I do not apologize now. Know the truth and judge me as you like, but until you understand what really happened, I'll hear none of your condescension. I am Ridahne Torzinei and I have spoken!"

Ridahne pivoted on one heel and stormed away, some of her usual fire showing through the collected mask she made for herself. She did not give the Council a chance to speak after her, though she did nod at Mrixze as she passed. Once outside, and the cool air of night touched her hot cheeks, Ridahne huffed a final breath and tossed her hair back as if trying to shake something off of her and leave it behind. And as they walked a few paces, she admitted, "That felt really, really good to get that out. And did you see their faces?" She laughed like one who was free of a burden. "Absolutely worth it."

As they continued to make their way back to the little inn they were staying at, and as Ridahne gave sharp warning glares to anyone who stared too long at them, Darin asked a question that Ridahne had never put into words herself, but had in some way thought about before. The warrior got very quiet. She understood her point immediately. She could be whoever she wanted in her own heart, and in the heart of Darin, but tonight made it all too clear that her own redemption had not become an external thing just yet. Ridahne reached out a hand and held Darin's, squeezing it once. "A story of dark deeds, ambition, and betrayal. Nothing good, really..." she said with a soft sigh. "For so long, it felt deserved but...well, it doesn't feel right anymore. Perhaps...I should give more thought to that, shouldn't I?" And then with resolve she added, "Okay then. Before we leave Lihaelen. I'll come up with something by tomorrow night and I'll make it happen."

Of Blood and Bastards

So, he was immune to fire. Rohaan had a feeling, but he couldn't help but be disappointed a little anyway. Fire consumed all, and this bastard had the cheek to defy that truth. Hmph. If Thoburas thought he could throw off Rohaan with some assurances he'd killed one of his own in the past, and that he might like to try eating him, then the delusional elf was quite mistaken. As a cyradan, he could not speak in words, or he would have answered, "Tell me, who hasn't? You might have killed a few abused wretches with no fight in their souls, but you've never met one like me before." Instead, a rumble resounded from deep in the dragon's chest, and it almost sounded like laughter. He'd seen the shadow stealing closer to Thoburas, even if the elf hadn't noticed it. Rohaan knew he was out of range, but he snapped his sleek head forward, dark gray teeth sliding together like so many pairs of scissors, and let out a short roar.

Ash got to him then, and Rohaan's focus shifted a little to the cultists that were either just now working up the courage to engage, or had just joined the party. They mainly focused their attention on him, like Rohaan expected. The thing about dragons of any breed is that they were powerful and extremely destructive, but at the cost of becoming everyone's favorite target. He liberated one man's head from his shoulders with one powerful bite, and plowed down three others with one sweep of his tail, but there were enough of them that he couldn't manage them all. One got close enough to slash at him, and though his light scaly armor eased the blow, it could not keep the bite of the blade out completely. A disappointingly small slash of silver blossomed on the shifter's foreleg near the shoulder. Rohaan roared in fury, and the cultist responsible was torn nearly in two by Rohaan's teeth for his insolence.

He looked back and saw Thoburas on top of Ash, choking her with sick glee. Damn, she should have just killed him when she had the chance. He wanted to scream at her in frustration, but he neither could, nor was it the time for it. Thankfully, she gouged out the elf's eye and freed herself from his grasp, but that didn't seem to daunt him. Rohaan had just torched a pack of four cultists to death when some of the bodies on the floor began to move and shamble up.

Damn! He'd heard of necromancy, though he'd never seen it before directly. But he did know that dead bodies were still bodies, and they were held together with sinew and flesh. Rohaan moved fast, coming up behind Ash like a liquid shadow. He'd done this maneuver before, and though it usually worked best when the other person knew what to do, he went ahead anyway. The shifter snatched Ash's upper arm and pulled her in towards him, and then as his body lowered, it inexorably pushed her down to the floor. His black wings wrapped around himself and her like a tent, and he kept her pinned to the ground without actually pressing her. And, staying low so as to form a body shield around Ash, he drew in a deep breath, and when he exhaled, it was an inferno. He sprayed fire in an arc around him, consuming anything in the room that was not steel or stone. Even shielded by his fireproof body, the heat in the room was intense.

The blaze receded, gnawing at specific objects rather than filling the space around them, and Rohaan backed off, letting Ash up. Rohaan reverted to his natural shape wearing a dark grin. "I can do this all day, elf. You want to be the one to kill the infamous Rohaan Ja'aisen? Then come and get me. But I'll warn you, I taste like shit." He laughed, picked up the axe of a fallen cultist and hurled it at Thoburas. In the same moment, he shifted to a wolf and charged, aiming a bite at Thoburas' leg. If he could actually kill him, that would be a bonus, but he really just needed to hold his attention long enough for Ash to plunge that knife of hers into his back.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

The softly pulsing and glowing uloia drifted lazily from Darin's hand onto Ridahne's nose and settled there as though it meant to have a nap. Ridahne's face was priceless. She was still a warrior, and still could be a terror when she got serious or angry, and though she'd been holding herself with the proud dignity of a daughter of Azurei, the uloia was just big enough to tickle horribly. Her face contorted into a squinting, frowning mess of ink, and it was clear she was trying not to laugh. That was, until the rest of the little flying insects settled in her hair, and behind her ears, and all over her face. Her whole face screwed up then, and she gently blew a few puffs of air to try and shoo enough of them away that she could see properly--the glow was starting to glare against the gentle dim lighting of the room.

Muttering in Azurian, she breathed, "leave me alone, or Taja will eat you!" He clearly had no intention of doing so, and was more occupied with grooming Ridahne's wavy hair. It probably did need a good brushing. "Ai!" She waved a hand across her face, gently ushering the creatures away, though they still lingered about the pair in the air around them.

The elf grew serious again as she nodded to Darin. "You speak as if you believe we have not been found by evil people, but we have. Not tonight, maybe--we can hope--but we have. A few weeks ago, when wen entered into the borderlands, we were ambushed. A group calling themselves the Red Hand knew we were coming, because their leader and a few among them were Eluri, and they had Seen me and knew that I was with the Seed Bearer. There was another group we met some time ago who were human, and I believe they are also part of the Red Hand. They were thugs, and they were not prepared to deal with me. But this second group, they were. They knew exactly who they were dealing with. Not one of them made it out of that encounter alive, but I nearly was counted among the dead. If Darin had not acted quickly and gotten me to help, I would not have survived." Ridahne lifted her shirt, revealing not only the hidden blade harness she always wore, but the ugly red scar where the hurled sword had bitten in deep. "I've got more than just that to show for it, but I don't think I need to."

The implication that there were people out there who both had ill will towards the Seed Bearer, and were capable enough in combat to nearly kill an Azurei eija-alihn, was not lost on the council. A soft murmur rose among them. One man spoke up quietly. "But you said they were all dead, yes? Does that not solve the problem, then?"
Ridahne shook her head. "No. This is bigger than any one band of rogues, however capable they might be. There's more of them out there, in all the nations of Astra. That includes Eluri, and that includes Azurei. Though," she added with a dark chuckle, "they'd be fools to show themselves there. We all know how much Azurei detests traitors." There was a lot of venom in that word, though whether it referred to her own experience as a perceived traitor, or to the sins of the Red Hand was unclear. "They'd been harassing a small village up north, knowing we'd pass through there. The elders enlisted two eija and their apprentice to sort out the problem, but they had no luck tracking them down until we came. They are intercepting messages, and since they have Azurei and Eluri in their ranks, they also receive visions. I urge you to be on your guard, and to act quickly on any reports of roving bands of thugs or missing messages. And..." she added as an afterthought, "It would be helpful to sow disinformation on our plans and whereabouts, when you can. If we leave here and go south, say we went southwest. Any way you can help keep us concealed would be a great help to us."

Ridahne sighed, suddenly feeling very worn out. "Is there any part of this discussion that can't be continued tomorrow? You've had your theatrics, and now you know what you need to know. We are guests in your home," she said with a respectful bow, "but we are guests and not servants. We are not here to answer your call, Council. I respectfully ask your leave to go back to bed, but I assure you, my asking is merely a polite gesture..." There was a warning tone there. If they did not release them, and if Ridahne did not feel there was anything important left to discuss, then she would march right out of there with Darin in tow, whether she was released or not. "Besides, you might find me less testy after a night of sleep and a bit of breakfast as a peace offering for keeping us up..."

Of Blood and Bastards

Rohaan kept close behind Ash through the tunnels. It wouldn't do to get lost in there, though he suspected he'd eventually find his way out with the help of some animal senses. This wasn't how he'd planned this day. He'd wanted to get her, bring her back, and go back to his life instead of being pushed around by all these royal idiots who had agendas and messes for him to clean. He wondered what kind of ruler Ash would be someday, and he didn't think she was the debutant sort. She didn't look like the kind of girl who spent her time making lace doilies and pining over rich merchant's sons. There was some chance she wouldn't be so horrible a ruler as her father. One could only hope.

Rohaan leaned one ear to the broken door; he heard multiple voices, one loud and sonorous. Probably the villain in question. There'd be a handful of lesser fools to deal with, but there was no agreement that dictated he couldn't kill the others, and if they were cultists, he had no qualms seeing it through. "Okay, just be fast about it." His voice was barely a whisper, a mere breath. "You get a clear path, you stab that bastard in the back." He took a steadying breath like he was about to plunge into cold water and shifted into a rat. The rat skittered through the bashed door and out of Ash's sight.

Rohaan kept to the shadows and the corners so he could assess the situation a little before engaging. There were indeed a handful of cultists deeply entrenched in some horrible ritual that made every part of Rohaan sensitive to magic reel and prickle. A gruesome pile of bodies lay on the floor like discarded corn husks, and somewhere hovering above them was a shimmer of distorted light. A...portal? Rohaan had never seen a portal, but it looked like what he'd pictured one to be. Damn, they were further along than he thought. Thoburas was at the other end of the room, wrapped in whatever dark magic he was conjuring. If Rohaan had more time, he might have snuck over and tried to just kill him from behind, but he needed to move fast and he also wasn't sure if Thoburas had any kind of wards or anything about him. So, thinking quickly and in an attempt to test his defenses, Rohaan shifted in a flash from a rat to a cyradan, and the slim black dragon appeared to materialize from thin air to those who had not been paying attention.

His black jaws snapped outward, grabbing a now screaming cultist with a wet crunch before hurling the body at Thoburas with a vicious flick of his neck. Well, he'd gained their attention now at least. One unfortunate soul took Rohaan's heavy whiplike tail to the gut and crashed into the wall. He did not get up. Two more were consumed in a jet of flame and lay screaming and writhing as they burned. Rohaan let out a roar, a loud rumble laced with a high, shrill note, and sent another blast of fire directly at Thoburas.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Aw man, feel better!!

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne supposed she should be used to strange happenings by now, traveling so far with Darin, but when she declared who she was, there was a shift in the air of the room that left her in awe. It was an electric feeling, a chill that was not unpleasant. Mitaja had somehow made her way into the room, and Ridahne absently reached a hand out to pet her as she paced between them affectionately. Ridahne was aware of a sensation, something she couldn't identify exactly, tugging at a corner of her mind. She had felt it much more strongly when Darin had made her Seed-Chained, though at the time she was too emotional to pay any attention to it. She'd felt it again when it had rained in that little village, and even in her sleep, Ridahne could sense something powerful happening. The moment she became Seed-Chained, she had a fraction of a connection to whatever was happening with Darin's power and the Seed. It wasn't much, a mere breeze in a storm of magic and power. But it was there.

A voice spoke with a tone Ridahne knew down to her core. They did not know if it was their place to speak, and it probably wasn't, but they had something to say anyway. Ridahne knew that feeling. It was one of the guards, and he was so overcome with love and conviction that the oath just seemed to burst out of him. Ridahne felt a connection with him, and she swore that if she got the opportunity, she'd buy that man a drink. She made eye contact with him when he'd finished his oath and finally looked away from Darin, and she nodded to him slightly in deep approval. He seemed to regard that as a high complement, and Ridahne could see how much he beamed after that. She had noted Darin's reply, and the modifications made to the traditional one. Right over Honor. Ridahne guessed that she and her story had influenced some of that thought, and it made her proud, though she might have argued that there was no higher honor than doing what was right. Not now though. It was a mere philosophical point that had no bearing on the oath itself, and would undoubtedly ruin the moment.

One by one, the members of the meeting took their oaths, all with honest sincerity. When Darin asked Ridahne to do the same, she felt no resistance in her own heart. The elf smiled. "I asked for their silence, and you're right, it's a bad example to ask for things you yourself will not give. I will give my oath." Ridahne straightened with an air of ritual and pulled out both of her blades from behind her back, dropped to one knee with her head bowed, and presented the blades to Darin. The point was not that she would take them, not physically, but they were presented to her hilt-first as a sign of submission and good will. She spoke loudly and clearly for all to hear.

"I, Ridahne Torzinei, daughter of the Night Sky, eija-alihn, Sol-Slayer, Oathbreaker, Guardian and Seed-Chained of Astra, do hereby swear a vow of silence regarding words spoken here tonight, unless express permission be given to me by the Seed-Bearer herself. I swear by my honor, by the stars, by my ancestors, by my steel, and by the Seed of Astra. May the Moon bear witness to this oath."

She rose, bowed in the Azurei fashion, and sheathed her blades. Some of her air of ceremony dropped for a moment as she reached out one slim hand to give a gentle squeeze on Darin's arm--a gesture of nothing but love for her friend. "I'm here," she said softly to only Darin. She wanted to give Darin the opportunity to speak, but also to remind her that if Darin no longer wanted to, or was unsure of how to deal with such high people, Ridahne would be there to back her up in an instant.

In Dark Seas We Sail

"Parts...?" The sound that came out of Uban could almost be called a squeak, and from a long haired, scruffy pirate missing a finger, it seemed out of place. The more Yawar talked, the more Uban's eyes widened in a steadily growing horror as he first envisioned a human woman pushing out a disembodied leg that then got collected and put in a basket like a bushel of wheat, and then pictured the pale, sickly dragon suddenly producing more and more of those hands in an endless stream. He actually went pale a little. He'd been in need of more sleep, but he wasn't so sure he wanted that anymore. Needless to say, he was glad of the change in subject, and hopped onto that train of thought like it'd save his life.

"Ah, yeah, we've got erm...six." In that moment, too distracted by birthing parts he didn't consider six to be a small number for a ship, even for a caravel. And he'd become so used to it that he didn't think it so odd. He gestured around him. "This is literally all of us. But you probably heard the captain say we're not exactly normal blokes. The boy is worth at least three topmen since he can move between rigging so fast, and it's not like he can really fall, you know?"

He looked back at the black cat to find his blue eyes still fixed on Yawar. "He's not really looking to kill you, you know. It's your glasses he's after. He's never seen them before and I'm sure you know with shifters, the eyes are what give them away. He's looking for a chance to take them. If he were a little less...uh, feral, he might have come and ask you where you got them. But he's not good with strangers and he's a far better thief than a conversationalist so...don't put those down anywhere. You'll lose 'em that way."

Uban felt the need to continue conversation as best he could, mostly for his own nerves, so he said, "Hana and I were just working on some real specific grenadoes that I can light up with my uh, my lightning. I'm still kinda learning what I can do with it, but we're working with runes and I guess I can arc to stuff with runes on them?" He took one of the scribed bullets Hana had made for their small-scale experiment out of his pocket and tossed it a couple feet in the air. When he did, a line of bluish purple electricity streaked after it like a comet's tail. He didn't put much power into it--he didn't have much energy to spare--but his eyelids looked just a little bit heavier, and his irises just a little more of a golden green shade than they had been. "Cool huh?"

--

Berlin sensed Kaga-Met's irritation or disappointment or something in that slight shift of expression, so he clarified, "The rest of my crew would understand completely. But he can be...difficult sometimes, though I wonder how we all would have fared if we'd had the same cards dealt to us. I will probably talk to the lad about it myself--it's an important lesson for him to learn--but that information should come from me first, and I wouldn't expect him to be friendly to you in the meantime regardless."

Berlin gave a casual, humble shrug and a bit of a laugh. "Truth be told, Kaga-Met, I've never seen a ship like yours. I don't know what it's capable of. I barely know anything about dragons beyond what the lad has taught me, except that not all of them breathe fire, and not all in the same way. But I'm assuming, then, your attack will be primarily aerial?" He frowned lightly. "In that case, you might be working more closely with the lad. His name's Rio, and you've already seen his favorite form. My loose plan was to have him get me onto a ship from underneath at first. I was going to use my ability to reap chaos and quietly sabotage one of their ships, and...convince its members to ram into other ships, probably the largest one. Might possibly try for a second ship if our cover isn't blown, but at that point I was going to start engaging in earnest with what firepower we have, sending in my berserker for some up-close damage, and letting Rio rain down fire and fangs from above. My gunner and mage will stay behind on the ship, but Uban is flexible. I'm thinking I'll keep him back at first though and work with Hana and Pieter..." He was partly talking to himself at this point, but eye contact with Kaga-Met told him he wasn't completely forgotten.