RPG To Celebrate Life [PG-VSL]

[Frankie]

There seemed to only be a few men left most of the others were dead or running away. Nait fell to her knees. At this point she didnt care if she died or not she was just so tired. She normally used healing powers once every other day or less. The same with her water magic and yet she had used it several times in a row in one day. Magically speaking she was out of shape...

She stared at the battle and realied now that Alno'dra was right... they could handle it. She shut her eyes and began to meditate. To most it looked like she was just sitting there with her eyes closed but inside she was doing a bit more than that.

She heard the footsteps of others nearby and even though she felt like sleeping she payed attention to how close they were. The lighter footsteps had to be lynn and some others she could notice as some of the men. She opened her eyes slowly to see two men with daggers coming at her. They were sneaking untill they noticed she saw them. They both noticed though that her sword was no longer in her hand. They ran at her.

With the last bit of energy she had she held both hands up at them a large spear of water formed and they stared at it for a second. The next thing they knew it had split into two snake like spirals and each one flew into their mouths and down their throats. One drown a few moments later the other however had managed to cought up what she put down. She had lost control of the water past the throat so the man just gasped and coughed it all back up. Nait took this moment and grabbed the sword next to her. The man lept at her and she thrust her borrowed blade right into the mans mouth. The blade shot through the back and she dropped the sword and his body onto the ground next to her. She crawled a bit away and lay down.

"Happy Birthday my ass, mom..." She muttered.

She closed her eyes and hoped no one bothered her but partially didnt care if they did. With her eyes closed and barely able to move she figured they would either take her for dead or passed out. She felt both. She just hoped the ones she was with didnt just think she was dead and leave her behind. [i]Wake me up when its over[/i]. She thought.

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]For some time the battle seemed to be deadlocked but Eso's group had finally seized the advantage. Their enemies' morale had finally broken and their confident attacks were turning more desperate mainly due to the fact most of them had been rendered unarmed by Alno'dra's skillfully aimed magical attacks. Some were already deserting out of fear of death, leaving their comrades behind to save their own hides. Overall, their ranks were thin enough that some optimism formed in Ashwin's mind- they would live to see another day yet.

Lynn pulled up along side him and the two of them dispatched with his current opponent rather easily. A few seconds later, Vincent killed the man he was fighting with too.. and in that fashion they mopped up whoever was brave[/stupid] enough to fight them for a few minutes on. Tesera and James returned from their elimination of the archers to help with the clean up- with their help they finally routed the armed band. The remaining men finally lost even their idiotic courage and whomever was left sprinted off, leaving their pride behind them. Silence overtook the area and with it came a surreal stillness that was relieving to the old necromancer. Ashwin let out a sigh and sheathed his bloodied cutlass. He finally felt the fatigue of all the days running, jumping, fleeing and fighting.

"Is it over?" Lynn asked. Her breathing was fast, her voice was nervous and her knife shook in her hand as she spoke. "Is.. is it over, father? Did we.. win?"

"Can't be too careful but.. I think we did it. We're a pretty good team if I say so myself." Ashwin said as he looked at the bodies around them. For the first time he spotted the dead-looking Nait just outside of the cave, several defeated foes around her. He shook his head, "She pushes herself too hard."

"Yes.. it's over.." Lynn muttered to herself. She let out a long sigh and sheathed her dagger. She dusted off her black dress and rubbed her arm nervously. "I.. I think I did well but.. it was very.." Her voice trailed off as she eyed the bodies around her.

"Hey." Ashwin patted her on the head. "It's alright, it's over. I didn't mean for you to get involved with dragons and deranged armed men at such a young age." He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "You'll have to forgive me, okay?"

She nodded. "Uhmm.. I'll be fine it was just a bit.." She shook her head. "I'm okay. But.. I want to check on Nait. James is.. already over there. So is Kira.. we should join them?"

Ashwin nodded and they made their way over towards Nait, carefully avoiding the gruesome remnants of their battle.[/color]

[Zephyr]

After the battle wound down Alno'dra found a moment to walk away from the group without being noticed. A brief walk took him to the edge of a small line of trees. He turned his back to one, leaned against the coarse bark, and looked into the air. It took a great deal of effort to maintain a look of calmness, when in truth his mind raged out of control.

In the back of his mind two seperate parts of his conscience argued over recent events. On one end was the belief that anyone willing to kill an innocent child deserved more than a faceload of metal shards. The other side rebuked it's counterpart with the belief that such actions would be no better than those of the warrior. Slowly Alno'dra regained control, and the torrent within his head came to rest.

Alno'dra slumped to the ground as the weight of the battle finally hit him. The physical and emotional weight was bad enough, but he had also overdone things with the use of his magic. That was one of the worst parts of his temper. By the time he got it back under full control he felt quite drained. Still staring into the blue sky, Alno'dra let himself drift to sleep, still sitting against the tree.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

For the first time since Tesera'd come on stage, things had stopped happening. Sure, they still had some walkig to do, but they were likely out of danger. Even that last battle had been nothing more than the result of bad luck. No, there wouldn't be any more danger.

Eso saw Nait on the ground. Inspecting her, he determined that she was still alive, just completly worn out. Eso could understand. They'd been through a lot, and while he'd been trained for endurance, the others had not. In fact, he was surprised that Nait was the only one who'd collapsed like that, though Alno'dra was slumped against a tree and appeared to be sleeping.

"Well, we made it." Tesera said. "Now what?"

"We need to find everyone else," Eso said. "By now, the people've probably been gathered in three seperate locations outside the city. The nearest location shouldn't be too far from here. I'll have to join them, meet with some of the other soldiers and find out just what's been happening while we've been running for our lives. I recommend that you accompany me. We're most likely out of danger, but there's still a risk. Besides, after the evacuation, it'll be hell getting things back into any kind of recognisable order, and we don't need random groups of people who knows where doing who knows what to complicate things. It's really in both of our best intrests. Any objections?"

There were none, though James looked a bit uncomfortable at the idea of going to where the soldiers were. Eso knelt down beside Nait. "Ashwin, give me a hand with Nait, will you? We'll have to carry her, because she's clearly too tired to walk. Lynn, go wake up Alno'dra. We can't just leave him here."

When Alno'dra was back with the group, Eso and Ashwin lifted Nait up. They carried her between themselves as they led the group towards where Eso said the soldiers would be gathering people. While they walked, Eso motioned Tesera to come up beside him. "What is it?" she asked.

"I'd like to know what you did earlier," Eso said. "No, I'm not talking about the dragon battle. I know that wasn't your fault. I'm talking about when you called them to the city. What exactly did you do?"

"The end of a process," Tesera told him. "What I did was nothing more than a signal. I'd been planning this for a couple years now. It's not something I could do quickly. I had to travel all over the place, find each dragon individually and talk to him or her about coming here. Fortunatly, many were dragons I'd met already, and weren't difficult to persuade. I'm a familiar figure among dragons, and I've never met another human who can truthfully claim that. Dragons tend to know me, though of course, not all of them like me. Which is understandable. Nobody's going to be liked by everyone."

"True," Eso said. "Anyways, so you talked to each dragon individually. How'd they know when to show themselves? They can't have been too close to the city, or somebody would have seen them. So, how did you ccall them?"

"Well, they were all near Alsoto by early this morning, keeping out of sight. When I played my song, that was the signal."

"How'd they hear the song? I mean, I know dragons are supposed to have much better senses than humans, but sound can travel only so far."

"You're right there, but you're missing one piece of information," Tesera said. "The dragons most certainly didn't hear what you heard, ut that's not all there was to hear. My flute may look normal, but I had it custom made to produce additional sound that's outside the human range of hearing. That's what the dragons heard."

"One more question. A friend of mine saw you play your flute yesterday. Why didn't the dragons come then?"

"Part of it is because they weren't all here yesterday," Tesera explained. "The other part is because they didn't hear it yesterday. I'm sure you noticed the jewel attached to my flute when I played earlier today."

Eso nodded. "I did."

"People call it the Dragon's Jewel. People say it gives me power over dragons, but that's not true. However, it does have a role in how I call the dragons. When he jewel isn't attached to my flute, it's just a normal flute, producing only sounds that humans can hear. When the jewel is attached, it reacts with the flute to produce the additional sound, the sound that humans can't hear."

"Interesting. A lot different than what people say, but then again, since when can you trust what people say?"

"I know," Tesera said. "People say a lot of things about me, and they're always completly wrong. I don't have anything that gives me special powers over dragons. I'm just skilled where they're concerned."

"But it's a skill that very few people have. I've seen it before. Somebody comes along who knows how to do something that nobody else can do, so they say that person has a special power of some kind. People never like to admit that they there's something they can't do, so they attribte it to luck. 'Oh, he's just lucky that he has that power. If I had it, I could do the same things he can'. People hate admitting that others are better than them at something. Know what I mean?"

"Like I said, I get it all the time," Tesera replied. "It's all about the jewel with them. there's nothing special about the jewel. I found it in the lair of one of the first dragons I befriended. There's nothin special about it, or me. I don't rely on any powers. Sure, I have some ability. If I reach out, I can touch a dragon's mind, but only to a limited extent. Calm it down a little, make it so that it's willing to let me live long enough for me to talk to it, but nothing more than that. And that's nothing that only I can do."

"Yeah, sounds like it wouldn't be too hard if you have the ability. Some form of telepathic ability, clearly, but not something most people think of when they hear the word 'telepathy'. Yeah, that's something others could learn, clearly."

"Any more questions?"

"No," Eso said. "I'm out for now. I'm sure you gave me the quick and simple version, but that's all I wanted." As the group kept walking, he replayed the morning's events in his head. Somethiing was up. The man he'd interrogated had said that whoever hired him had known that the dragons would fight. That this man had known that, and far enough in advance to go about hiring a large nuber of people to try and kill Tesera, indicated that something was going on. He just didn't know what.


[color=cyan]He had been unsuccessful. She knew this well before he returned. Well, she didn't actually know it, but she anticipated the news. She'd never believed that Tesera would be killed. However, things were not a total failiure. The primary objective had been completed; the traitors had perished. Tesera, however, wouldn't have been so easy a target. Even though Tesera was generally well-known among dragons, most dragons would not be able to pick her out of a crowd. They had trouble telling individual humans apart, just as humans experienced difficulties in telling individual dragons apart. If Tesera panicked and ran with everyone else, which was almost undoubtably what the woman had done, the human would survive. If not, Tesera would die.[/color]

[color=cyan]As for the humans pursuing Tesera, well, if one got the woman, then that was good, but in the panic and confusion, it would be difficult even for other humans to pick Tesera out of the crowd. Plus, security would probably get most, if not all, of them, but since human lives were generally unimportant to her, she allowed him to go ahead and do it. However, dispite his attitude towards the woman, Tesera was not yet a very important figure. She might be, eventually, but not yet, and if Tesera did become important, the human could be easily dealt with at that time. He wanted Tesera killed as soon as possible because of what the woman represented in his mind, but she was willing to let Tesera live. The woman would die eventually, but despite his attitude, Tesera didn't need to be killed immediatly.[/color]

[color=#00ffff]She again found herself contemplating his attitude. He was very arrogant, beleiving in his own superiority, not only to humans but to most dragons as well. He didn't think that anyone besides her could ever pose a threat to him, and he was pretty much correct. She knew of no dragon besides herself that would stand a reasonable chance of defeating him in battle, but that was not do to any superior power he naturally possessed. He was actually just about average in that regard. He was stronger and more powerful than other dragons only because of his age, and he would not have lived to that age if it wasn't for her.[/color]

[color=#00ffff]She remembered the first time the two of them met. It was on the island where she'd lived for most of her life. She'd always been among the most powerful of dragons. Her superior power had made her dominant abong dragons of her age, and even many that were older than her. After reaching full maturity, she'd begun the search all newly matured dragons undertake, the search for a place where she could make her lair. She'd located a large island chain, one the humans had no knowledge of and that was home to no dragons. She'd made her lair on the biggest island in the chain, where she'd remained throughout her life.[/color]

[color=#00ffff]It was about 1,500 years later that he showed up. He was a few hundred years old, young compared to her, and of average power for a dragon. She could immediatly tell that he was badly injured, maybe even fatally injured. He had discovered the island chain completly by accident, and was surprised to discover that she had made her lair on one of the islands. He immediatly feared that she would think he wanted to fight her for her territory, but she could tell that that was not why he was there. After he'd calmed down, he'd revealed that his injuries had been caused by human mages. He didn't know why the humans attacked him, but it wasn't the first time he'd had a bad experience with humans. He'd had one bad encounter with them after another, causing him to develop a deep hatred for the entire race. While her own dislike of humans was rational and reasoned, based on numerous objective observations, his was irrational and obsessive. Still, she'd recognised that he could be useful, so she'd healed his wounds and accepted him into her lair as she would a mate.[/color]

[color=#00ffff]Over a thousand years had passed since that day. He'd grown stronger with age, but no more powerful than any other dragon his age would be. He, Kaenosetek, was more powerful only because he'd lived longer than most dragons, and that was only because of her protection. On the other hand, she, Lesarioth, was extremely powerful, even for a dragon of her age. Kaenosetek's greatest strength was physical, wheras she was extremly powerful in all areas. Kaenosetek had his uses, but she would be the one who decided the outcome of the chain of events that he had set in motion.[/color]

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OOC: Hey, even the enemies need a backstory, right?

[Frankie]

Nait shook her head slowly and moved a little. She was being carried along. She growled in her mind and firmly planted her feet on the ground. She pulled away from both guys carrying her.

"Im fine now. I... I just feel tired. I can walk though."

"Are you sure?" Eso asked as though suddenly brought out of deep thought.

"Yes. I am fine. Dont worry about me. Lets just get to where we are going... "

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OOC: and get moving alone... dont want this thing past page one now do we

[Outlaw]

The group made its way though the woods outside of town. Those who were uninjured or in good health walked infront and behind the wounded and tired. Though the battle was over, everyone was still on their toes, scanning the forrest for any threats. The only threat was a small pack of wolves which passed nearby, but a quick flash of pyromagic from Alon'dra and they scattered.

Finally, they reached their destination, a large camp of evacuies from the city, most of whom where without any form of food or shelter. With the evactuation happening as quickly as it did, only a few people had the foresight to grab tents and medicine. At the center of the townsfolk was a large tent which seemed to be the command center.

"So, I guess thats where we're headed huh?" asked James to anyone who would listen.

"Yes," replied Eso. "At least, thats where I need to go. If you all want to look through the refugies for any friends or family, feel free to. If you need me, I'll be at the tent." Eso headed toward the command tent, with Tesera in tow. James, however, decided he might be safer avoiding that area. Plus, he still had a responcibility to Nait.

"Come on Nait, lets get you over to the medical tent." James put his arm around Nait to help support her. Nait shrugged it off, trying to show her own strength. But in the act of doing this, she lost her balance and began to fall. James, still very close to her, was able to catch Nait before she hit the ground. "Hey, you don't need to prove anything. If it wasn't for you, most of us would be dead. Now let me help you like you helped me."

Nait nodded in responce and gave a faint "Alright..." She sank into James's arms as he lifted her up and carried her towards the medical tent.

Minutes later, Nait rested comfortably on a small cot underneith the medical tent, while James rested against a nearby tree. The others had come to the tent aswell, both to rest and have their own wounds looked at. Ashwin seemed especially worried about a gash in Lynn's right sholder, despite Lynn's assertien that she was alright.

"So, what now?" asked James. "I don't know about you guys, but I want to find out why the hell this happened."

[Frankie]

Nait felt a little better and had energy enough to move around a bit without feeling weak. She turned over and stood up. Some protested against this action but she ignored them.

Once outside James stood up and stared at her, "Hey now... you should be resting."

"Do I hear a bit of concern on your voice?" She smiled.

Even though he could tellshe was still quite tired he could see she was in much better mood. She smiled and everything. "Well sure. You were pretty beat..."

"I'm to nice..." She said with a slight smile.

"So I have been told that you have been told." He replied.

"As I have been told..." She smiled, "I wonder if we kept that going ho many people we could confuse? Anyways I need to go somewhere."

"What for?" James asked, "Your weak. Why not rest?"

Nait frowned and shook her head, "No... I must find my parents. I knoew they dont like leaving the Inn so thats the first place im checking. With all the people needing aid im sure i can get back into the city without being noticed all that much. If they are anywhere they would be in my Inn."

"Well if that is the case iv been around town enough... I can help you sneak around. As long as you tell me where the Inn is."

"Near where Tesera's stage and near Ashwin's shop... Kinda inbetween. You think we can hurry in and not get 'escorted' back out?"

[Outlaw]

[COLOR=Sienna]James was nervious to head back into town, but figured he'ld be better off there then by all these guards. He new Koja and Eso, but if he came across the other large guard who had chased him, James knew there would be trouble. "Alright, but I'm not sure the others would approve of us heading back in."

"So, I guess we better not let them find out," Nait said with a sinister grin. James just smiled and put his right arm over her sholder. Seconds later, they were deep in the woods, with noone back at the camp realizing they were gone. "What....what did you do?" Nait asked. Even she didn't realize how they had gotten all the way out in the woods so fast.

"Trade secret." Was James' only responce. He didn't know any real magic, so he loved wowing people with his theif tricks.

The two made their way to the outskirts of town. There were already guards posted at the stations outside town. However, most were still at the evacue camps. This made it easy for James and Nait to sprint from the cover of the forrest into the town and around the corner from the nearest station. "Alright, that was easy. Now they're probobly going to have guards patrolling the streets to prevent any looting or thefts in the confusion. And these buildings are pretty well bunched together, so if we get on the roof tops and stay low, we sould get by without any trouble. You doing alright there?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Nait responded. "But how do we get on the roofs?"

James looked down the street and smiled. Still grinning, he turned to face Nait. "Just hold on tight."

"What?" questioned Nait, confused by the request.

"Hop on my back and hold on tight." James insisted.

"Okay..." Nait agreed hesitantly. She wrapped her arms around James' sholders. Once she was set, James sprinted down the street, quickly reaching a wooden fruit stand near a small green awening. He kicked off the fruit stand, launching the two of them up onto the awening, which acted like a trampoline, catpulting them up the two story build. The bounce only got them halfway over the edge of the roof, but James was able to get a good enough hand hold to pull them up the rest of the way. Once ontop of the building, Nait let go of James' sholders, a little shaken by their quick assent.

"You know I could have gotten up myself." said Nait, figureing she could have just climbed up the stand and awening.

"Yeah, I know." responded James. "But that wouldn't have been as fun. Hehe. Now, where's this Inn of yours?"[/COLOR]

[Frankie]

Silently nodding to his question she turned and looked around. She knew where she was but it still looked strange from the rooftops. She knew they had a bit of walking but she was fine with that. She took off running accross the crooftops. She was quite fast for someone who was tired and in a dress but james kept up and quiet.

After a bit of ducking and being quiet to avoid a few people they had reached the Algorin Inn. Nait leaned over the edge of their roof and looked for the closest window. Frowning at the fact it was closed she moved on till she found her window. She remembered leaving it unlatched and partially open to let air in.

She pushed at it and it swung open. She swung down and landed on her feet next to her bed. She quickly called James to join her and once he was in she closed the window quietly.

"I dont need to say this but i suggest we be quite."

Nait entered the hall and opened each bedroom door but found each one empty. She headed towards the stairs and went downwards toward the bar. James had lingered in the hallway to look at the many pictures that were on the walls. Paintings from all over.

"No..." He heard Nait say quietly.

As he went down the stairs to join her he laughed, "I wasnt going to steal anythi-"

He stopped before he ran right into Nait and realized she had said no not because of him but because of what she saw. The bar was in decent condition but a few kegs had been emptied and broken. Beer seemed to flood part of the floor and a few tables were broken. Laying at the Inn's door was an older man who was not moving. It was visible from their position that he did not make it.

A few random men lay on the floor around him. It was clear that her father fought to protect the bar and anything else in the Inn but in his older age was unable to deal with it. There were most likely a few more than he could handle.

Nait stared all around the room and her eyes stopped at her mother who also wasnt moving. It was clear that whoever it was they didnt care who they disposed of. Nait felt suddenly empty. She figured it could have been those bandit guys searching for Tesera... or just some random guys who beleived with the dragons running loose they didnt have to pay. She had seen those kinds of people before but she couldnt figure out exactly what happend.

There was silence for a while but soon Nait turned to face james. Her face was quite blank and pale. She didnt know how to feel. The fact she wanted to be angry and sad and confused all at once seemed to create this empty space in her mind. She couldnt even think much. She looked up at James who was a few steps above her and sighed. "Somehow I already knew this was what I was going to find... Lets go."

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Eso led Tesera into the command tent. There were a few soldiers inside, and a couple other people. Eso immediatly located Branit, his immediate superior. "Nice to see you made it out alive," he said.

"And I'm glad to see you'r still alive, Eso," Branit replied. "And... is that who I think it is?"

Eso nodded. "Branit, meet Tesera Shilu. Tesera, this is Branit."

"Nice to meet you," Tesera said to Branit.

"Nice to meet you, too," Branit replied. "Um, do you perhaps have any idea what the hell just happpened?"

"I'm afraid not, sir."

"Yeah, she doesn't know any more than the rest of us," Eso said. "She called the dragons, but she intended only to put on a show. She was just as surprised as the rest of us when things started happening. Of course, she does seem to have some role in all this."

"And what would that be?" Branit asked.

"A target," Eso replied. "See, a dragon battle wasn't the only thing that was happening. There were people trying to killl Tesera. A lot of them, too. Somebody wants Tesera dead very badly. Also, that somebody knew that the dragons would fight."

"Are you sure?"

Eso nodded. "Yes. I was able to question one of the attackers. He was proomise a substantial reward if he killed tesera, and way too many other people were promised this reward, as well. He didn't know who hired him, but he said that the mysterious employer knew that the dragons would come, and that they would fight. Which tells me that there's a connection between the dragons and the attempts on Tesera's life. that, and the fact that that huge dragon was deliberatly pursuing us."

"Well, I'm glad you managed to escape it."

"Yeah, me too. It was close, but we made it out alive. It was me, Tesera, and several others. The others are outside somewhere, though probably dispersed into the crowd by now. No reason to stick together after we made it here, after all. Now, I'm sure you have a lot more questions for me and Tesera, but we've kinda had a rough time of it, so is there any chance you could hold off on grilling us for at least a couple hours?"

Branit chuckled. "I know how you feel. I could use a break myself. I can't take one yet, but I could use one. Sure, go do whatever. Just don't think you're getting out of anything!"

"I know." Eso said. he and Tesera left the tent.

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OOC: Okay, action's done (for now, at least). Feel free to have your characters go their seperate ways. Don't worry, they'll all see each other again (After all, it wouldn't be a good RPG if everyone just went back to their everyday lives, now, would it?).

[Outlaw]

James had no words to comfort Nait. His mind raced at the sight of Nait's parents lieing dead. He recalled the death of his own father, which sent him into a drunken depression that lasted nearly a year. Nait's ability to just stay standing was amazing to him. As she made her way back up the stairs, James stopped her with a hug. "I'm sorry," was all he could say. Nait returned the embrace with James.

"It's okay," she said, holding back her tears. "I'll be alright. I'm just glad to know that they'll be going to a better place."

They turned to head back upstairs, James' arm still around Nait's shoulder for support. As they made their way up, James reached into his pocket and picked out a silver coin. He looked over his sholder and quickly tossed the coin onto the chest of Nait's father. "Give that to the ferryman." he said softly. The gesture of respect was so quick and subtle Nait didn't even notice it.

They made their way back onto the roof tops. Nait stretched in the warm sun, releived to be outside again and away from the destruction of her former home. James was just glad to be moving again, and that Nait was so calm about what they had just seen. They made their way back through town with few words, James not sure what to say, and Nait remenicing about her parents and the inn they ran together. Finally, James broke the silence, "Hey Nait. I know this must be hard for you, and I want you to know I know what your going through. So if you need to talk about anything, I'm here."

[Frankie]

Nait turned to him and for the longest moment she stared at him. A moment later she nods, "I thank you for that." She paused, "I just want to scream, cry, throw a fit, and hurt things but i was raised learning that that is not always the healthy thing to do. Understand that I am not heartless... Its just that i feel blank and empty right now. "

"I already know you are not heartless..." He replied, remembering all those things she did during all that trouble. Almost knocking herself out to keep everyone else healed. It was amazing what she had done and with energy to stand up to what she just saw... It all amazed him.

"Lets get outta here..." She said quietly.

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OOC: i will be gone till tuesday...so leave nait and return to her later or something... control her if you like outlaw... I cant get on very often to post. I can occasionally but because this computer is odd AND this chair is hell to sit in i cant get here often enoiugh to post each day, so think of something

[Outlaw]

It didn't take long for the pair to make their way back to the city limits. Now that they were simply trying to get out of the city, they did not need to worry about the guards finding them, as they would just be escorted back to the camp anyways. Still, rather than having to deal with the guards, they stuck to the rooftops, but no long had to stay low and out of sight.

As they passed over a small market, they could hear the sounds of shattering glass coming from the street below. Pearing over the edge of the building, James and Nait could see a band of thugs looting the local shops. James' first instinct was to just keep moving. However, as he got up to keep moving, he noticed that Nait wasn't budging.

"Nait, come on. There's no need to risk our lives fighting those punks." said James in a hurried voice. But Nait would not budge. She just kept looking at the theifs as they continued to hoot and holer as the ransaced the market. James could hear Nait faintly mumble something to her self, but couldn't make it out. "What was that?" he asked.

Nait shot up from the edge of the roof and shouted at the top of her lungs, "WHAT IF THAT WAS MY PARENT'S INN DOWN THERE!? HUH? wHAT IF THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE DOWN THERE!? THESE THUGS WILL KILL THEM! AND YOU JUST WANT TO IGNORE THAT!?" Nait let go of her emotions in one sudden ourburst that not only shocked James, but gained the attention of the thugs below. "Oh god, I'm sorry James. Its just..."

"It's alright Nait. But right now we have more pressing matters." James and Nait could here the shouts from the street below as the thugs, drawn by Nait's outburst, began to climb up to the roof top. James and Nait nodded to each other, James drawing his dagger, and Nait her sword.

As the first thug's head rose above the roof top, Nait lunged out, cleaving the man's skull with her blade. As the thug's lifeless corpse fell to the ground below, James too lept over the side of the building, landing softly on the ground behind the thugs as the scrabled up and down a stack of crates leading to the roof. Two of them continued up to Nait while two others came down after James. James pulled one of his throwning knived from his belt and hurled it at one of the thugs, catching him in the thigh. As the man doubled over in pain, James dashed towards the other. He rolled under the man's clumbsy sword stroke, allowing him to get behind the thug. A quick slash of his dagger sliced through the tendines on the back of the thugs knees, leaving him crippled on the ground, rithing in agony. James stould over his fallen enemies and gave them a warning. "Just know that I could have killed you this day, but I'm trying the hero thing today, and so I'm gonna give you guys a second chance. Keep your scars as a reminder that you owe your lives to me."

With that, James scalled the side of the building he had started from. He felt empowered, like some noble warrior. Once he got to the top, he found Nait standing over two thugs who were not quite as lucky as their friends below. Nait was breathing heavily with the intense look of a rabid animal on her face. James approached her slowly and took her hand. "It's okay Nait. It's done. And don't feel bad about the way you acted. Hell, its only natural to be upset. Now, lets get going back to the camp. The others have probobly figured out this whole dragon thing by now."

[Frankie]

Nait dropped her sword and sighed, "Now im just as low as some of these brutes..."

James frowned, "No your not."

Nait didnt want to argue the point but she still felt she was. They silently made hteir way back to the campgrounds and soon were back among the other people. She noticed ashwin and approched.

"So um... Did you learn anything?"

"First off... Where did you and James run off to?"

Nait looked away, "It is best not to speak of it right now."

James looked around, "So did anyone figure anything out about the dragons or anything?"

[GuyYouMetOnline]

After leaving the command tent, Eso and Tesera had just relaxed for a while. they'd had a rough morning, and needed some time where they jsut weren't doing anything. Then they returned to the command tent, where Branit squeezed every last little detail of the morning's events out of them. After enduring that, they once again left the command tent. They noticed James, Nait, Ashwin, and Lynn, and walked over.

"So did anyone figure anything out about the dragons or anything?" James was asking.

"Nothing," Eso said. "Nobody has any idea what happened."

"Not ever your people?" James asked?

Eso shook his head. "No, not even the soldiers. Of course, that didn't come as much of a surprise. I mean, we all know that even Tesera here has no idea what happened, and she's the one who called the dragons to the city in the first place. No, the only thing we know so far is that there's some connection between the dragons and the men who were after Tesera."

"What kind of connection?" Ashwin wanted to know.

"Well," Eso explained, "Whoever hired the men to kill Tesera apparently knew that Tesera was the mystery performer, and that she'd call the dragons. This mystery man also knew that the dragons would fight. Oh, and he hired a very large number of people to kill tesera, and offered a substantial reward. So, someone wants Tesera dead very, very badly, and that person is connected in some way to the dragons. that's all we know."

"Not much," Ashwin remarked. "Well, can't be helped, I guess. What do we do now?"

"The soldiers are preparing to lead everyone back into the city," Eso said. "After we're back inside the city, it's really your choice. I just hope we won't find any nasty surprises waiting for us."

As everyone began moving back into the city, Eso said, "Well, here we go."

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]The group meshed into the crowd of people who were slowly flowing back into Alsoto. Most of the people around them appeared rather worn from the day's events and rightfully so. Ashwin himself was weary from the draining activities of the day and yet he knew there was a good chance that it wasn't over yet. He glanced down to Lynn. Her right shoulder had bandage on it and he recalled her continued insistence that her wound 'wasn't a big deal'. Kira was taking a nap on Lynn's left shoulder and he grinned at her. He turned back forward and watched as they passed through the gates of Alsoto.

A young soldier just inside the gate yelled loudly, "The city is presumed to be mostly secure! Any thieves or thugs will be dealt with as soon as possible! Please remain orderly as you return to your homes or otherwise!"

"Presumed, huh?" James said with an arched eyebrow.

"So much for optimism." Ashwin looked on at the soldier. His face was sweaty, his movements were marred with fatigue and he was visibly jarred by the entire situation. "I feel sorry for all of them. They are probably the most overworked people in the city now."

"Even more overworked than us?" James asked with a slight grin

"Probably not us, no." Ashwin shook his head and ignored his own lingering fatigue. He continued to wonder about Nait. She had been taciturn ever since she had returned with James. The conversation carried on, ignorant of her troubles. Ashwin avoided asking about it again. He wanted to respect her privacy but he figured it had something to do with her parents. His eyes traced around the scattered destruction and he shook his head. A good number of people had lost something today- property, loved ones or even their feeling of safety. It would take some time for things to be 'normal'. As a testament to this, they passed by a rather large church dedicated to the Goddess of the Sun. It had been struck by a stray dragon's spell and left mostly in ruins. At the front, a statue of the Goddess was shattered into pieces. It was a powerful image that did not do much to lift anyone's spirits.

"Father.. Uhmm." Lynn pointed down the road. "Here's.."

"Oh." Ashwin snapped to attention. "Yeah, sorry. Lost in la-la land for a second. This road is a shortcut to my shop, so this is where we part ways." He looked over them and nodded with a smile. "Get some rest, you guys."

"It was nice to meet you.. uhmm, I hope we meet again." Lynn bowed to them, sending Kira falling to the ground. She caught herself and hovered up sleepily, yawning.

"We will." Eso nodded to her. "I've got a feeling we'll be seeing more of each other."

"Good.. I hope so. Uhmm, take care of yourselves, okay?" She bowed again.

"We're.. leaving? Awww~ Well it was GREAT meeting you all!" Kira gave everyone one of her resounding bows and seemed genuinely sad at leaving.

"Thank you.. for your help." Tesera said and shook her head. "This entire thing has been.."

"Don't worry about it, Tesera" Ashwin shook his head, cutting her off.

"I think all of us were glad to help you." Eso said.

"I'd agree. Well, I better get going. Later on, kids." He smiled at the last part of what he said, turned and walked down the road. Lynn gave a hasty good-bye and chased after him, Kira in tow.

"Thus departs the great Necromancer Ashy! The crowd goes wild. Hsssssshhhhhh!" Kira smiled as she talked.

"Shhh! Blast it, if anyone hears you I'll be put on trial!" Ashwin glared at her.

"Necromancer?.." Lynn asked with a questioning gaze.

"Nothing, don't mind her. Little daft in the head, you know. Fairy insanity. Common problem for their kind." Ashwin nervously chuckled.

"I am NOT daft in the head!" Kira stuck her tongue out at Ashwin. "Nehhh! See if I ever proclaim your greatness again!"

Ashwin rubbed his forehead. "I hope none of our friends heard that.."

The three continued down the road and approached Ashwin's shop..[/color]

[Zephyr]

OOC: Sorry for the long disappearance. Things have been hectic between classes and work.


As the crowds of people dispersed and returned to the city Alno'dra walked in the opposite direction, heading toward the nearest patch of forest. Unlike the others who sought asylm in the camp, he had nothing to return to in the city, and he knew the mood would be too somber as everyone worked to rebuild. The thought occured to him that helping out would be good for a job, but now was no time to expect someone to pay out for help. For now it would be best to make himself scarse.

[i]At least this area survived the damage,[/i] he thought as he walked into the treeline. A short distance in he stopped and made his way onto a branch about fifteen feet from the ground, sitting with his back to the tree's trunk. A glance to the left would allow him to see the city, which would give him warning if anything else happened.

A flash of sunlight caught his attention as it glinted from the crystal around his neck. Grabbing ahold of the top of the crystal, just below where it was attached to the string, he held it up to the sky. As the light danced though its interior, the face of a young woman came to his mind. [i]What would you have done in this kind of situation, Calest?[/i]

Calest was one of Alno'dra's friends from back home, and the owner of the crystal. On the day of his survival trial Alno'dra had recieved it as a good luck charm, on the condition he would return it at the end of the trial. He intended to keep that promise when he found his village again. If Calest was here right now he knew what she would be doing. Chewing him out for not going into the town and helping. Even though she was normally sweet and charming, she was known to be quite persistant about reminding others of their responcablity to help those in need. It must have been her upbringing in a family of village medics that gave her that trait.

Alno'dra looked toward the city and wondered if he should have gone back to help. After all, the threat was still out there, and the group he had traveled with would need assistance in rebuilding too. He really had no idea what he wanted to do.

[Frankie]

Nait walked on quietly and james folloowed as well. After they said their goodbyes to Kira, Lynn and Ashwin she continued on. She had several things go through her mind as she walked. Her parents, how she was going to keep the Inn going now that they were gone. Things were hard enough with only the three of them. Now there was only herself and little money to hire helpers. She needed what she had for repairs and restocking.

She figured now that things had quieted down James would soon move on. Mostly to avoid the guards and to get back to thieving. She shook her head when she thought this and remembered she did not judge people like that.

She arrived in front of her Inn. Some of the beer was draining out onto the sidewalk. She remembered this was the beer that flooded part of her floor. It would take a bit of cleaning but she would get it done eventually.

She stared in and noticed the bodies were missing. She knew they were probabbly collected by the guards and taken out to a spot where all the fallen were most likely going to burried or burned. She sighed and stepped in.

She turned to james. "I guess now that everthing is calm again you no onger need to protect me or anything like that."

He listened and noticed she sounded even more down than before.

She turned and headed for the stairs that led up to her room and all the other rooms, "Thank you James."

[Outlaw]

As Nait reached the top of her stairway, she heard a call coming from behind her. "Nait....hold on a sec." She turned around to see James still standing in the door way. But for the first time since they had met, James' face mask, which had covered his nose and mouth through their entire ordeal, was pulled down around his neck, revealing his true face to Nait. "I was wondering if, well, your gonna need some help with rebuilding your inn, and I was wondering if maybe I could stay...here...with you. Now, I know I may have a bit of a checkered past, but, I donno...maybe I could change that."

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

I wanted to let you give a responce to this Frankie, as Nait is your character.

[Frankie]

Nait stood there for a moment. She stared at him. For all this time the only things she could see were his dark redish brown eyes and now she saw the whole face. She had visioned something a little more harsh but what she saw had a soft kind look to it. He had a nervous smile. She continued to stare and then her mind processed what he had said. She paused a moment and smiled.

"Checkered past or no... You are welcome here. You may stay" she nodded with another smile, "as long as you like."

She waved for him to follow her upstairs and down the hall and he did silently. She opened a door with a black horse painted on it. The door creaked open and she stepped inside the doorway a bit.

It had a desk next to the window and a couple comfortable chairs by the door. The large bed had soft dark green blankets folded at its foot and a large shield above the oak headboard.

"You may use this room." She stopped for a moment as he looked around, "It was my parents. They have gone to a better place now. They wont be needing it."

"Nait..." James started.

"I will be in my room for a while. I need to think for a while. I need to plan out the repairs..." She turned around and walked a few steps down the hall and turned into her room.

She shut the door behind her but did not latch it. She sat at the edge of her bad and stared at the floor. Soon though she was leaning against her headboard curled up on the bed. Her face in the pillow and tears silently flowed from her eyes. This was all just so much. First destruction then all of the things that happend through the day and then finding her parents. The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming but the tears were mixed. She was sad about her loss yet she couldnt help feel better knowing someone cared enough to stick around to help. She knew she wasnt all alone.

-----
ooc: You know sometimes its interesting to do this kind of thing. I dont want my character to seem like the one whos always got problems boo hoo... yet i didnt want her to seem heartless about her loss... Kinda complicated... Anyways its someone elses turn now.

[Sakura]

[b]OOC: [/b]Sorry I haven't posted in so long.

[color=navy]When Tesera was led into the tent, she was slightly nervous because she didn't know if these people would blame her too. She stuck to Eso as he moved to the back where another man was, she had seen him at the festival.[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]Tesera was introduced to him, his name was Branit. She was asked about what happened, and she had to answer the same as always, that she didn't know. She wished she knew more, she wanted to understand what happened.[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]As Eso started to tell Branit of the battles they had faced, she unconsciously brought her hand up to rest on her waist where the sword was. [/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]Branit let them leave, so they slipped out of the tent and relaxed for a bit.[/color][color=#000080]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080][b]"Thankyou." [/b]Tesera said as they walked beside each other.[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]Eso looked over at her. [b]"You've put your life at risk to protect me since the beginning, without hesitation. So, thankyou." [/b][/color]

[b]"Don't worry about it, glad to help." [/b]Eso replied smiling.

Soon enough, it was time for them to return to the Command tent again. They told Branit the entire story, when they were done, they were allowed to leave again.[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]The first thing the two of them noticed were their travel companions and escorts walking over to them. The group talked for a while, seeing if anything new had come up, which nothing had.[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]They walked back to Alsoto together, Tesera was scared of everyone's reactions toward her. When they entered the gate, a soldier yelled that the city should be secure, so that took a weight off her shoulders.[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]As they walked through the streets, Tesera felt terrible, there was destruction everywhere, and people were still weeping and mourning for the loss of loved ones. As she walked past some, they stopped their crying and glared at her, but did nothing else. [/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]Soon it was time to say goodbye to Ashwin, Lynn, and the cute fairy creature; Kira. She was glad for their help and thanked them. She watched them walk down the road, with Kira floating around.[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]As they walked further into the city, they passed a shortcut to Nait's inn, so her and James said goodbye and left. Tesera thanked them too, she was so grateful for all of their help.[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]Now Tesera was left with Eso again, they walked through the ruined city, tears pooled in Tesera's eyes.[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080][b]"It's all my fault." [/b]she whispered. Broken families continued to glare at her with red, puffy eyes. A tear slipped down her cheek with sorrow.[/color]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Eso remained alert, searching for any potential danger. He could see the pain in the eyes of the people, and could see the hate on their faaces. Eso knew it was incorrect for them to blame Tesera, but he had to admit that he understood, in a way. He, too, had experienced personal loss, and he understood it better than most. These people were looking for someone to blame for their loss, and Tesera, who'd called the dragons to Alsoto in the first place, was an obvious choice.

Eso expected trouble. These people were tense, upset, afraid. There would be trouble, eventually. Someone would snap eventually. And he was right. Someone did snap. A man threw himself in the path of Eso and Tesera. He had a sword, and it was drawn.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming back here after what you did, bitch!" the man shouted. "Do you have any idea how many people died because of you? Or how many lost their homes? Do you know how many lives you ruined?"

Eso could see how much the man's words hurt Tesera. He stepped forward, drawing his own sword. "It wasn't her fault," he said. "She didn't know what would happen any more than you did."

"Bullshit! Do you actually expect me to believe that? And why the fuck are you deffending her andways, soldier? She's a mass murderer! You should kill her now, before she can do it again!"

"No," Eso told the man. "I will not, and no other soldier will. This woman has done nothing wrong."

"Fine, then. I'll do it myself." The man charged at Tesera. Eso stepped into the man's path and engaged him in battle. It was a brief fight, as the untrained man was no match for Eso. Eso was easily able to disarm the man and bring his sword to the man's throat. "I recommend you leave now," he said. The man got to his feat, shouted a few more obscenities at Eso and Tesera, then stormed off.

"Sorry about that," Eso said to Tesera.

"Don't apologize," Tesera replied. "He... he's right. It's my fault."

"Oh, don't give me that. you didn't know what would happen. This wasn't your fault, Tesera. People may blame you, but you can't let them decide what you think. You know you couldn't have done anything to prevent what happened. And I think these people are starting to realize just how foolish they've been."

What Eso said was true. Many of the observing people were walking away, heads hung low. others were whispering amongst themselves, and there were a few who came right out and apologized to Tesera. Some still glared at her with hatred, but not many.

Tesere didn't understand what was going on. "What... why..."

"Why have their attitudes changed so suddenly?" Eso finished.

Tesera nodded. "Yes. Why have their attitudes suddenly changed?"

"Well," Eso explained, "that man showed them just how irrational they were being. Nothing tells people how crazy thay are like someone crazier than them. That man shared their feelings, but unlike them, he took action, and when he did, everyone else saw how irrational they were being."

Teseranodded in understanding. She seemed to be feeling better already. The two of them continued onwards with the other soldiers. The soldiers would protect Tesera until she decided what to do next. Eso wondered if he'd be rid of her that easily. He'd become involved in whatever was going on with her, with the man who wanted her dead. he, as well as Ashwin, James, and all the others, had been seen with Tesera. Eso didn't know who this man was, bt he was clearly determined to kill Tesera, and those who'd help her escape would now be targets themselves, if only for information on Tesera's whereabouts. No, it wasn't over yet. Not even anywhere close.

[Outlaw]

James relaxed on a wooden bench outside of his new home, Nait's inn, having changed out of his theifing outfit. He was happy to finally be able to relax. There was a calm about the town after the disaster. In fact, the street around the inn was almost completely diserted. At first this didn't bother James, but the quiet started to make him a little uneasy. With so many people left stranded and homeless, you would think that the inn would be swamped, but it wasn't.

After a few minutes, James sat back into his bench, content that he was just being paranoid. But his sense of calm was broken when he felt a large hand grab onto a tuft of his hair, just as another hand brought a wet rag to his mouth. He struggled for a few seconds against the iron grip, but the fumes from the chemical in the rag quickly took effect, making his whole body weak. Within seconds, James' body went limp and the world went black.

James awoke in dark room, his arms and legs bound to a wooden chair and his mouth gaged with a dirty rag. He looked around the room was made of damp stone walls and a large cast iron door, with nothing else. The only light came from the cracks above and below the door. What the hell had he gotten himself into.

[Frankie]

After a long while she finally seemed tired so Nait got up and dried her face. She walked into the hall and knocked on James's door but got not answer. She went downstairs otthe bar. He wasnt there either. She snick through a back door in the wall and he wasnt in the kitchen either.

"Hmm. I guess he went out for a while." She said out loud. [i]I wonder if he is out stealing stuff...[/i] She thought. [i]Oh quit that Nait. You trust him. Quit thinking like that. [/i]

She wandered to the back of the kitchen and grabbed some assorted vegtables. She got a pot and poured some clear water from a small container on a counter. She lit the fire inside her old stove and let every thing heat up. After a bit of chopping and such she set the greens aside. She got some seasoning and mixed it into the warming water.

After a while she had a pot full of boiling soup. She smelled it and it smelled sweet and tangy. She smiled and tasted it. It needed some salt but aside from that it was quite good.

[i]Hmm I figured he would be back inthat amount of time. I wonder what happend... [/i]She thought.

[Zephyr]

The ground rose up to meet Alno'dra as he dropped from his perch in the tree. With a grace born from years of hunting he landed softly, and turned toward Alsoto. After much arguing with himself, his conscience had gotten the better of him and made him realize he should have gone back to help in the first place. All of the years of wandering alone had made him forget the basic teachings of his village. The most important of which was to help others when they were in need.

Throughout the city the scene was as somber as he had expected. Families stood weeping in front of the remains of their homes, while others looked mad enough to take on the dragons barehanded if they ever had the chance. Scattered thoughout this were the few that where working their hardest to rebuild anything they could salvage of their lives.

Alno'dra noticed a family nearby struggling to lift a damaged stone statue from the ground. Even with three of them it took all they had to move it a few inches. Without hesitation for thought Alno'dra walked over and grabbed the statue. The extra set of hands was enough to stand the whole thing up after a minute of strain. Once the stone statue was upright once more the family sat down for a rest on a bench. The father of the family looked up. "Thanks for the help, stanger. We have been trying to get our store's mascot back up for a while now."

"It is only too bad such craftsmanship had to be ruined in the attack." Alno'dra looked the various cracks and missing pieces on the statue. Before the damage the statue had been a carefully crafted stone soldier, complete with armor and a lance standing at attention.

"That doesn't matter," the gentleman spoke calmly. "This guy has seen years of the elements and it took a group of dragons to even chip it. He will continue to stand tall for years to come if he can survive that." Alno'dra noticed that the man's wife and daughter, who had helped with raising the statue, regained their energy and beamed with pride at his words.

"So then," Alno'dra spoke as he looked at the stone soldier, "is there anything else that needs fixing?"

The father looked up half surprised. "Are you sure you want to stay? You don't have a home of your own to fix?"

"No, not here, anyway. That is the upside to being a wanderer. I go where I want to. There is only one thing I ask in exchange." The man looked at him, somewhat sceptically. Alno'dra merely held out his left arm. "Have you ever seen anyone with a tattoo similar to this one?"

The man examined it and shook his head. "Afraid not. I would suggest you speak with the hunters and traders in this town. Many of them have seen parts of the world I can only read about." Alno'dra nodded, and the family stood up to return to work.