WhiteAngel25

The Paradox

I normally don't post a thread for a specific 1x1 idea, however, this idea has been on my mind and I can't shake it.

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The Paradox

"The Fox has escaped, sir." A nervous, 30 or so-year-old man announced as he wrang his hands together.

A man with salt and pepper hair looked up from the letter he was writing on his desk. "What do you mean she escaped? There is no way she could just disappear."

The young man got even more nervous as a figure came into view. "Well, she did, and worse yet, her tracker has been left behind. We can't even begin to think where she would go or what she would do," he admitted as the older man sat up and looked at the figure that came into the room.

"You were right. She was getting antsy. We should've kept her better under lock and key. Bring her back, Hound and your reward will be great," the older man ordered.

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The idea is that my character is the Fox and yours will be the Hound. They were raised in an assassin/thief guild that prized themselves for ending wars before they began with their efficiency. The Guild picks orphans who seem to show promise for blindly following orders yet have the drive to finish their jobs. Our two characters are some of the best members of the Guild that the elder members have seen in a long time.

Growing up our characters were always in competition with one another. Constantly trying to one-up the other. As they got older, it was more of a teasing game and light flirting until my character came back from a job, completely shocked with the information she learned. This leads her to dig up information that your character advises her to stop. Their job is to complete the missions given, not to question the Elders. My character is put on house arrest, thinking that isolation will give her time to think but the scene above starts.

We will start after this scene and do flashbacks to fill in background details and whatnot.

This world setting is fantasy with a sprinkle of the Medieval era, a little DnD inspired.

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Here are my thoughts on partners.

1.) Must be 19+
2.) Must post at a casual length (2-7 detailed paragraphs)
3.) Must be willing to have mature scenes from Low-core gore to heavily romantic.
4.) Be willing to help contribute to the world-building and development.
5.) Must have romance within the story.
6.) The story will be in PMs. I'm not the biggest fan of threads or Discord.

The Dark Beyond

@Lexisheeps@Estylwen

Stella smirked softly at Nick's comment about not acting like his spouse. "I was mainly teasing earlier. I could see that if someone loved another, how they wouldn't want their spouse to work for HiveMind. I am Stella. Thank you for the jerky distraction earlier." She said as they got closer to the crypt. Stella's blue eyes began to glow slightly as her eyes started to spot differences in the environment.

"This is incredible. Pieces of a lost culture, preserved by the forest." Stella commented as she paused when they got to the crypt door. She put #3 down as Nick tried to offer the pup in exchange for the mask she held. Stella began to sketch and take notes of the symbols and what she saw. She gently picked up a mask that was similar to #3's.

"Nick, I don't think you need to trade your new pet. Look at this. There are a few dozen of them within a ten-meter radius," Stella said as she handed him one of the intact masks, careful not to disturb the graves too much. She heard #3's comment about how the orb feels sad. The young woman looked at the orb and her mouth dropped open in slight shock at the realization.

"That's because it's a memory AI. Someone preserved their consciences in that orb. Incredible." Stella murmured as she walked towards the stairs in a cautious manner. "This place seems to be like what was their tomb mausoleum. Basically, everyone that passed away in their culture was buried here," she explained while she walked further into the crypt towards the stairs.

Stella's eyes flickered to the steps of the stairs to determine which path had been the most traveled. While both paths were well used, she chose to go to the right.

The Dark Beyond

@Lexisheeps@Estylwen

Stella raised an eyebrow when #3 admitted that she stole the artifact in her hands. She also found it interesting that this girl didn't wince or attempt to scream while she sewed up her arm. This girl is definitely not a normal human being, she thought to herself. Stella stood up and dusted off her knees when the white orb appeared. Her hands itched for her rifle with how fast the orb appeared but she quickly pulled out her tablet and drew the symbols for later.

"Well, #3, I think it wants you to follow it. I say that's what we should do." Stella said as she put her right glove back on. She looked over the edge of the outcrop as the young man spoke to them. "Which means we have to go back down. I think we should be okay, Pew-Pew-Shooter-Man seems to be completely fine to take these wolves head-on. He even adopted a runt by the looks of it," she explained with slight disbelief and shook her head.

Stella knelt down to be at eye level with #3. "We're going to piggyback again, okay? I don't want you using that arm until it is completely healed." She said as she didn't know why she was so motherly towards this young girl. This girl was down here left alone to defend herself, it reminded Stella of her own childhood.

Once the two were back on the ground, Stella kept #3 on her back. It would be faster to catch up with Nick. "Do you not have a sense of self-preservation? You walk straight into an unknown forest with your newly adopted pup without fear?" Stella asked Nick when they caught up.

The Dark Beyond

I laugh because I see the wolves as these really nasty creatures. Lexi sheep is all like “PUPPIES!” 🤣

Stella is more cautious than scaredy cat. She saw the injury of #3 to be like “yeah, that’s a no for me.”

Welcome to Vradia

Faline shrugged at Toren's comment about birds and their songs. She just hoped that she wouldn't have to use her song. While she was a rogue by trade, the redheaded half-elf was very much a bard. Inheriting her mother's abilities to commune and connect with nature through music. She took a deep breath and focused her listening.

While Simbel flew overhead, a series of arrows would try to shoot her. Faline smirked as it was enough movement to be detected. She threw her daggers, and several cries of pain followed the sound of steel slicing flesh. The painful callouts echoed out mixed with the war cries of bandits. A few dozen soldiers charged at Faline, Toren, and Dorothea, headed under Amandine's perch in the tree.

Faline quickly drew her bow and began to fling arrows at as many men as she could. She knew that she was only slowing down many of the attackers. Faline didn't want to take anyone's life if she could help it. She kept walking backward as she about tripped over a passed-out Dorothea. Poor girl, probably hasn't ever seen this kind of action before, she thought. Faline fired a few more arrows as she kept a defensive stance over the mage on the ground.

"Simbel, are you okay? What do you see?" Faline called out to the druid, however, to Amandine and Toren it would sound like eagle screeches. She needed to get Dorothea to safety.

Welcome to Vradia

For the fight scene, I'm going to have @Mechromancer's character pass out considering Mechromancer has been ill lately. Everyone else feel free to write up a fight scene after I post. :)

The Dark Beyond

@Lexisheeps

Got it! I don't think I had her call him out. I wrote it this morning and sometimes I forget what I've all put in for details.

Welcome to Vradia

How is everyone doing? :)

The Dark Beyond

@Lexisheeps@Estylwen

Stella rounded the corner of the cavern and saw the young girl with the man who must have fired the gun. Her plan was to get to the safety of a ruined building. The man threw jerky and the dozen wolf creatures stopped their chase and she stopped running. Before Stella could even thank the man for distracting the hungry creatures, the man threatened her as a target. She frowned and wondered what his problem was as her augmentations were hidden under her jacket and gloves.

"I was wondering what those buzzing sounds were," Stella muttered as she saw the drones that buzzed around. The young man mentioned her being a medic and pointed at the young girl who clutched an artifact. "I used to be. I can see what to do once we get somewhere safer."

Stella picked up the young girl with ease. She was careful to not disturb the young girl's arm. This also allowed her to get a good look at the artifact the girl was holding. "Your jerky isn't going to last them long and I really don't want to be dog chow. So, thanks but I choose life," she said to the man as she made her way to the tower in a cautious, quick manner.

Once they got to the rope, Stella gave a good strong tug as she was going to have to carry the young girl up if this was the way to safety. When the rope stayed, Stella let out a breath of relief and knelt down in front of the young one. "With your good arm, I want you to wrap it around my neck to hold onto the left side of my jacket while your legs will be wrapped around my waist. Then I will take a look at your arm, okay?" She said with a gentle smile and had the young girl get on her back piggyback style.

"Okay, here we go," Stella said as she used the rope to assist in climbing up the outcrop. She was nervous, however, she refocused and got to the top.

Stella stood up and carefully helped the girl get off her back. She had the young girl sit on an old-looking stone bench. "Let's take a look at your arm," she said as she gently handled the arm. There were a few deep punctures followed by the tearing of flesh. "You pulled your arm out. You should've waited for one of us to pry the wolf's jaws open. You made your injuries worse," Stella explained as she took off her right glove and got out some antiseptic and bandaging materials.

"What I'm going to do is sew up these deeper wounds and just bandage the others," Stella explained with a soft smile as her eyes flickered to the artifact in the girl's hands. "Something like that is very dangerous. How did a young one like you find it?" She asked, mainly to distract the girl from her pouring a little antiseptic on the girl's wounds. The needle appeared from her thumb as she began to sew up the girl's arm.

The Dark Beyond

Posted! Let me know if I need to change anything. :)