The Chosen [IC/PG-16]

[Andx]

After conversing among themselves the Elder of the village appeared. Reinaan was surprised at his size given the stature of most men he'd encountered so far had them standing at or above his height. The man questioned them to which Keres responded simply with the word Chosen and her spirit partner's appearance at her side. They were alarmed and then voiced some of their thoughts on the Council. It was clear there was some friction present but despite that the man offered them a day's rest in their village. Reinaan vocally thanked the man as they began heading into the city, the threat to turn them in should they harm anyone notwithstanding. It only made sense. If this man was like the elders of his village then he would want to keep all of his people safe too. Granted the guards seemed to be keeping their distance. But not really from him. More from the mount herself. She didn't seem particularly bothered by anything but did seem fairly tired from the day's events.

 

Once inside the structure it was surprisingly dark. They had really managed to block out the sunlight effectively. It was awfully quiet too. It must really have been close to midnight then despite the Sun still being high in the sky. The group were brought to a hill with an old building that seemed like it might fall over at any given moment. The elder informed them it would be their resting place and that he would send them bedding soon. But before departing he requested to be able to speak to some of the spirits to which Ziiyol agreed she would gladly do despite not having made herself visible or audible to the men yet. The Water Chosen was the first to enter. She had gotten off the mount to do so of course and Reinaan was slightly concerned to see her moving around given the shape she'd been in. The mount shook some with the girl off her back and the Draken led her inside after the girl. He brought the mount over to a corner of the room to keep out of the way of the others and without much instruction she lied down on the spot. She got comfortable quickly then watched Reinaan as he the boy moved about attempting to remove the equipment from off of her. First he removed his own belongings from the saddle and set them off to the side. His jacket he removed from the bag and unfolded it and laid it out over the rest of his things. No point in putting in on now given he was close to sleeping. Shifting focus back to the mount, he then got the bit out of her mouth after some prompting to open it. Last was the saddle which was strapped around her stomach. The mount swatted at Reinaan's tail with her own as if in protest of the boy touching her belly but at last he removed the saddle from her as well.

 

"There ya go. You should be plenty comfortable for the night now. It must be hard wearing that stuff all day." he said quietly to her. She turned her head aside signalling to the boy she wouldn't be thanking him for the effort. "Thanks for the hard work today." he added which seemed to surprise the creature. Ziiyol and the lizard mount now both seemed to be looking at Reinaan as the boy was deep in thought. "Hmm... what to call you..." he muttered. Then a flash of inspiration. "I've got it. Kloqah. That's your name now girl. You like it?" he said with a smile. He was clearly impressed with himself. The lizard however simply huffed and laid her head down to begin resting for the evening. "Definitely didn't say no you punk." Reinaan said with a chuckle. Kloqah it was. Ziiyol was overjoyed with the addition to the group's name and also the information this used to be a shrine to a fire spirit.

 

"Reiny, the pedestal, the pedestal!" she said excitedly. She wanted to go examine it which Keres was already in the process of doing. Kloqah was quickly falling asleep and given how tired he was Reinaan figured he'd be joining her soon enough. But looking at his companions as they entered the room he realized just how very little he knew about them. And so as a means of checking up on her and also in hopes of perhaps establishing a friendship, Reinaan approached the Water Chosen from her left side. He wasn't entirely sure how to go about this but he sat down near her to start.

 

"Hey, looks like you're doing better..." he started before trailing off some. Things were getting a bit awkward for him for whatever reason. "Don't think we've really had the time to talk given everything that's happened. And it seemed like maybe you'd wanted to say something when we first met at the tower. But uhh, I'm Reinaan, it's good to meet you." The girl who ever spoke in small statements spoke, "...Keres. Hello." she said. Not much to work off of in terms of conversation but it was something. She didn't have to just be the water chosen to him anymore.

 

"Keres. That sounds nice. Doesn't sound like old Draken, do you know what it means?" he said curiously. But the girl seemed uncomfortable with the question and Reinaan as well. She shifted away but eventually responded "...Evil spirits". Definitely not what he'd been expecting. "Oh uhh... that's interesting. Reinaan means the one who roars at anyone." he said trying to muster something of a laugh. He had a hand on the back of his neck unsure if this was helping anything. "A-anyway you seemed like you were really in control of Kloqah over there." he said motioning to the sleeping mount. "I figured she'd be a bit more stubborn. You think maybe you could teach me how to ride her right while we're travelling?" he said hoping this question would get away from the seemingly unpleasant subject of her name's meaning. Keres simply stared at the mount for a few moments before answering "Books at home".

 

"Wow! You got all that just from reading a book?! That's impressive. I can't even hardly read. Guess I'll just have to wing it then." he said with genuine energy that broke some of the boy's awkwardness. He stood up at this point and stretched his arms and tail out some with a grunt or two. A large yawn quickly followed. "Sorry to bug you, I know you must tired. I uh... I hope we can get to be friends during all this. Unless that's not allowed. I still don't know much about what humans think of us Draken. I'm not breaking any rules talking to you like this am I?" he continued a bit of a panic setting in. Her response was simple. "No rules...You're odd. Different."

 

"Huh? Different?" he said looking over himself. Did she know he had an unusual amount of black scales for a fire Draken? Was this a reference to his height? "What you do you mean different?" he said not entirely sure what she was commenting on. The girl had no further comment on it. However a certain spirit did. "I believe she's referring to your fashion sense Reiny." the spirit said giggling as Reinaan looked himself over again. The light from the flames flickered and danced on his scales as he did. "But I'm not wear-" he started and then realized that was what Ziiyol was referring to. Irritation flashed across the boy's face for a moment but it passed. He was too tired to play any more of this game with her. But just in case that was what had been making Keres uncomfortable Reinaan wished the girl goodnight and went back over to Kloqah's side. She was already out. The elder had said bedding would be coming but Reinaan didn't see much of a need for it. The bed at the tower had been quite the experience but this now would be something like sleeping at home. He sat down close by the sleeping lizard and pressed his back against her side leaning back into the creature some. The scale on scale contact reminded him powerfully of his friends and family. And with them came tears.

 

He hadn't even been gone for much over a week. He missed his family and village terribly. Everything outside the village was so different. And now death followed him everywhere he went. The Chosen, the shark, the bandits. It didn't seem to matter much what it was, death was always hanging over their heads. Quite literally given the curse from the Council. No where felt safe and the boy felt all alone among this group of strangers. He held a hand over his mouth and tried to hold the feelings back however unsuccessfully. And so the Draken sat there quietly sobbing and hoping not to disturb the others with Ziiyol looking on concerned but silent. How he wished he was home.

[Sethera]

Gilly watched as some old guy came out and started talking. She started fazing out brushing Hob's wool though until quiet girl did something which caused the guards to get all surprised or something. "Wha-what's happening? Is it somebody's birthday?" she asked, coming back to earth.

 

"Spirits. Of all the things I've seen I never thought I'd see a group of those at my doorstep."

 

"Oh, huh, you know about the spirits then, old ma--I mean, sir?" Gilly asked, correcting herself quickly. It was then that she remembered that her own spirit was still tucked away in her bag. "Ack! Snowy! I completely forgot about you! Are you okay?!" she asked, tearing open the flap and startling the drowsy spirit within. "Oh wait, do you even need to breathe?"
 

"I do not," the rabbit sniffed. "However, I would appreciate you giving me more of a warning before opening your bag," He was hovered protectively over the stone from before, keeping it out of sight.

 

"Come into our city, stay the night, but by tomorrow night you'll have to leave. Do what you will in the city as long as you break no laws. If you do anything to endanger or harm my people, however." He spoke the last part with grave certainty. "I will turn you over to the bandits myself."

 

"Ehhh, like we'd wanna do that. Unless they decide they want to bully us like those bandits did. They were going to kidnap our two quiet girls! the halfling pointed dramatically at both Ryia and Keres as she spoke. "For some reason. So unless you guys are going to kidnap any of us, you should be good."

 

Once inside the city, Gilly looked around curiously. It was super quiet, but that was probably because it was the middle of the night. Eventually, they were led to a ruined building. "You will be able to rest here. This once was a shrine to the Great Spirit of Fire, also known as the Sun, before...the curse. No one will disturb you here. I'll send for blankets to use as bedding shortly. Also...In the morning if I could...speak to some of the spirits myself, I would be gracious."

 

"Yeah, sure!" Gilly replied. She would've offered him to speak to Snowy right then and there, but the rabbit was acting like a grumpy gus, and nobody liked to talk to grumpy guses. So she'd wait till he got some more sleep.

 

The quiet girl was the first one to go in, Reiny boy following soon afterward. Gilly was the third to go, whooping in excitement as she entered. "Wooooow, it's super cool here!" she said. And not just cool as in awesome, but cool as in cold. Actually, it had gotten pretty cold after night fell, though Gilly hadn't noticed it that much. It was still warmer than the mountains, after all.

 

Poking her nose around, she didn't discover much. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of the same stone as the outside, which made sense. Pillars in fairly good condition were holding the roof up. Then there was this weird pedestal with steps leading up to it. It curved inward like a bowl, but a large crack ran through it.

 

"Awww, this place is kind of boring," the halfling pouted, sitting down, head lolling against one of the pillars. Nearby, quiet girl was talking with Reiny boy, and in the bag, Snowy was poking at that blue stone from earlier. Hob sat down beside her, baa'ing quietly, eyes closed in near-sleep. "Anybody in the mood for...dun dun duuun! Ghost stories?!" Unlike the ram, Gilly seemed wide awake.

[Alaina]

The group had thankfully been allowed safe passage and sanctuary in the city, no matter how temporary it might have been. Breathing out a sigh of relief, the girl walked alongside everyone else as they made their way into the city. They were to take up an old abandoned shrine to a fire spirit as their lodging for the night, and upon reaching it the man who had been escorting them told them that he would fetch the proper bedding for them. Giving a small nod and saying a soft "thank you," as the man departed. As he did, the group had dispersed a bit, walking through the ruined shrine, with the Earth Chosen herself simply wandering and looking about the area. Getting closer to a wall, the girl had realized that now they were finally in a place where they would be able to rest, and so she did her best to prep for such time. While still quite in plain view, as there was no real place to hide within it, the girl had started to remove the armor that she had over her, revealing a more casual yet ragged set of cloth clothes underneath, placing it down on the ground as she did. 

 

Once that was taken care of, she turned around to face the rest of the group, and saw that the water and fire chosen were speaking about something. The girl hadn't been paying attention to the contents of it, and her attention was more taken up by the young halfling who seemed to be bounding around the shrine. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the halfling's apparent limitless energy, but couldn't help but look a bit concerned as the halfling asked if they had any ghost stories to tell. The idea of ghost stories themselves weren't what made the girl seem uneasy, though she was not particularly well-versed in them. What was concerning was what it reminded the group still hadn't done, though, she figured she could ask in the morning, once everyone had rest. 

 

However, she looked to the halfing and said, "I um, don't really know many stories to share like those." Generally when she had spent more than a day's time outside of city walls, it was not her that kept the spirits up with stories within her group. Though she could probably remember a story or two if given time, the Earth Chosen still didn't feel as though she'd do justice to them. However, the girl still asked, "what about you? What kind of stories do you know?" 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres was satisfied that her talk with the Draken had gone well. She was unsure why this Draken acted the way he did but it was a good change from the Templar she was used to. He didn't even once try and gag her and tie her hands or threaten that if she seemed about to cast a spell she'd be skewered.

Still she had to be on guard. She wouldn't get her hopes up that this young man would be her friend.

 

"Anybody in the mood for...dun dun duuun! Ghost stories?!"

Perhaps the lizard ride had been too exciting for the Halfling, she seemed to be even more energetic than before. She considered that everyone likely wanted to sleep. The others have been pretty silent so far but the Nature Chosen seemed to be ready to sleep already.

Keres was worn out still but having a mount had done her good. Thus she was open for more conversations, even if her throat was a bit sore.

 

"I um, don't really know many stories to share like those."

The Earth Chosen had responded. Thankfully Keres knew some stories, stories were her specialty, though she was unsure how she'd go about actually telling them.

Not to mention.... "what about you? What kind of stories do you know?"

She wasn't speaking to Keres anyway. She didn't want to intrude or put herself out there. That would lead to an awkward encounter and possibly put a target on her back as a nosy person. It would be better to just observe. As she did she broke out her notes and began to write away their experiences today.

 

Though the pedestal did draw her attention. She stood and observed it. There certainly was something taken from it, though how long, and what, was impossible to tell.

"Leftover magic." She said, unintentionally out loud. There was traces of magic here, though, it felt more like something magical had broken the pedestal. Whatever magic the object here was long gone. Perhaps she could discern the magic that had broken it however....

 

Keres poured a bit of water over the pedestal, and there was a brief moment of pressure that the people nearby could feel as she activated her magic. It was tricky to draw out something like this but she would spend some time attempting.

 

A thought tickled in the back of her mind, however, as she remembered Lindow. Paranoia overtook her and she glanced over at him, making sure of what he was doing. It would be obvious but she didn't consider that until she had already turned towards him.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

Anis and Ileca was barely able to follow the direction that the group was going next, relying mostly on Shirin's help to guide her way through her disoriented state of now. Reaching a shrine, the group seemed to have dispersed and looked around the shrine, while Anis chose to find somewhere comfortable for her to sleep on. However, despite her fatigue, falling asleep was quite hard, and she watched as the others started to huddle around not long after.

 

"Anybody in the mood for...dun dun duuun! Ghost stories?!"

 

Was that Gilly? Probably Gilly.

 

"Big talk, but you'll probably get too scared to sleep once this ends, heh."

 

Delirium made Anis' self control looser, although she was barely able to register most input to her senses anyway. She saw Keres walking towards somewhere else. The pedestal? It was hard to see. Ah, she wanted to walk around the place and see what the others were up to. But she's just too tired, so tired.

 

"At the end of our journey, I am willing to bet that our story will be much scarier than anything we'll have now."

 

And with that, Anis fell asleep, still having an odd grin on her face.

 

---

[Sethera]

Gilly was kind of disappointed by the lackluster reception she got. Wow! She should've known better than to suggest ghost stories to a bunch of boring adults. She perked up when a voice spoke, though.

 

"I um, don't really know many stories to share like those." Hey! It was Pinky! One of the girls the bullies wanted to take away, for some reason. She continued speaking, "what about you? What kind of stories do you know?"

 

The halfling leapt up and was about to announce that she knew tons of stories, when one of the boring adults piped up. "Big talk, but you'll probably get too scared to sleep once this ends, heh."

 

"You take that back!" Gilly put her hands on her hips. "Me, scared? Never! The great Gilly never gets scared. I was born awesome, grew up awesome, and became so totally awesome that fear isn't even in my word-book!" she had forgotten the word for a book on words, but that didn't matter much. What mattered was how awesome she was!

 

"At the end of our journey, I am willing to bet that our story will be much scarier than anything we'll have now."

 

"Well, that's probably true," the halfling mused. "People will be terrified of my awesomesauce power! Even the demons will cower before me! Muahaha!" she laughed, hands still on hips, chest puffed out.

 

"As for scary stories," she continued. "I'll tell you the best story! The tale of the spooooky sheep!" she glanced around the room. "It was a night just like this one, and people were gathered around, telling ghost stories, just like now." She continued on a rambling tale that turned out to be more comedic than scary, especially considering the person telling it. Mentions of missing carrots and hoof prints in the snow eventually culminated in a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing who would lure people in and then...horror of all horrors, eat them!

 

"I've almost scared myself telling this," Gilly put a hand on her heart dramatically. "Almost."

 

Meanwhile, after burying the blue stone a bit in the bag so it wouldn't be seen, Snow leapt up to observe the pedestal as well. Keres spoke at that instant. "Leftover magic." Snow could feel it too. Traces of magic, as if there had been something here, something magical, that had...probably broken the pedestal.

 

The girl poured a bit of water over the pedestal, and Snow could feel the pressure in that instant as she activated her own magic. Soon after, the girl looked back, almost fearfully. The rabbit took the time to observe the magic that thrummed in the air, hopping up so he was more visible. It wouldn't do to fright the girl in this state, in the midst of a spell. "Most interesting. What do you think caused this?"

[Hälō]

Lindow watched his fellow chosen settle into their new quarters with a drained expression. Glancing over to Keres after sensing a sudden magical pressure, the man caught the young mage's gaze as she glanced backwards at him. 

 

Lacking his usual energy, Lindow forced a small smirk to appear on his face as he began to move towards Keres, his single eye never breaking away from her gaze. It was clear that she still feared him, even if she had bothered to hide it, Lindow could smell it on her. "It would have already been done..." He addressed Little Keres causally as he glided past her. There was truth in his words...

 

If he truly felt the need to kill the tiny witch, be it out of a sense of duty or on a whim, Lindow would have done so without hesitation. "You'd think you'd be grateful." Glancing back the girl as he stepped into the shadows behind a nearby pillar. "I did spill blood to save you today after all..." The Lightning Chosen's voice slithered through the air like a serpent before he vanished from sight. 

 

Sliding down to the floor and propping his back against the pillar, Lindow removed the weapons from his belt and began cleaning their blades with a cloth. He let out a soldier's sigh as his body settled down from the constant battles of the day. When he was finished, he rested his newly acquired scimitar against his chest and closed his eyes for some much needed rest.  

[Alaina]

While the Ice Chosen seemed to be thinking of a story to say, the Nature Chosen had spoken up, saying about how they were likely to only encounter much scarier things then whatever the halfling could tell at this time. The girl briefly felt a bit dismayed by this, knowing it to likely be true, her spirits were somewhat lifted as the halfling seemed none too bothered by it. The Earth Chosen then went on to sit down and listen as the halfling went on to tell her scary story. Or rather, "scary" story. While she was enjoying the story and the halfling's attempts to spook her, she did her best to try and not smile at it and instead look both invested and as though the tale sent shivers down her spine.Once it was over, the girl simply nodded at the halfling's comments and said, "it was quite scary for me as well. I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep well tonight." There was something about the child-like attitude of the Ice Chosen that gave her both a nostalgic feeling and put her at ease. Though, this only brought her back to the terrible reality that they were actually in, causing the girl to feel a slight bit of sorrow that someone with a demeanor quite like theirs was subjected to this kind of fate. 

 

Regardless, the time was getting late, and the Earth Chosen let out a yawn as she realized that she was feeling quite tired. "Thank you for the story I'd love to hear another but I'm going to go to sleep now, so goodnight," she said to the halfling with a small smile on her face, before finding a place to rest. However, as she went to rest, her eyes couldn't help but fill with some fear as she saw the one-eyed man approach the Water Chosen. Remembering her warning about him, she briefly watched their short exchange, wondering what was going to happen, yet the conversation seemed to end with the man simply slinking into the shadows. When that was all done with, the Earth Chosen kept a concerned eye out for the Water Chosen before finally feeling her tiredness take her over and go to sleep.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres didn't listen in on Gilly's story. She was too focused on what she was doing. She had to. Magic wasn't something to be trifled with. Even a spell as simple as this, with loss of focus, could result in devastation...

"Most interesting. What do you think caused this?"

 

She couldn't respond before finishing the spell. But once it was done she looked at the spirit. However Lindow approached her first.

"It would have already been done..."

He then went on to say they should thank him for his actions. She shook her head in distaste. "Could try." She said. Having lived in the swamp for so long she had gotten quite good at surviving. If Lindow thought she'd be an easy target he would be in for a surprise. She was now convinced that the man would eventually try and eliminate them all. She just would have to be ready to face him when that happened.

 

To Snow she gestured at the swirling magic that had formed above the pedestal. To the uninitiated it would mean nothing but... "A curse. Fire." The magic that had done this was the same magic that caused the curse to befall this land. She was certain of it. It had to be something powerful. And something related to fire magic. What kind of being had such control of fire they could make the sun permanent?

 

It would have to be solved later as it seemed that most were getting ready to sleep. Keres, too, would need to sleep especially if she were to keep a watch on that man.

She moved towards Ryia, opening her mouth to ask if it would be okay to sleep near her, then closing it and settling in near, but not too near, the other girl.

---

Light blossomed in the morning, as the cover was lifted around 9 AM. There was sound coming from the west of the ruins. People were about, kids were playing, musicians were performing, and there was a general feeling of life that Keres didn't expect.

She'd thought that a cursed land would be more muted than this but it looked as though the people living here were doing all they could to keep their spirits up.

 

She stretched and began to comb her hair, as per her normal habits, using a small puddle of water as a makeshift mirror.

 

It wasn't long before the elder returned, with half a dozen guards alongside him. "I hope you all rested well." He said, glancing over towards Kha. The Orc had failed to sleep the entire night and was clearly affected by this. He had stayed up, standing vigil over Ayden's blanket wrapped body. "I will have someone show you to the graveyard." He told the Orc somberly.

 

"As for the rest of you. Gather what supplies you need, we have few but can spare some. We won't be able to keep any gold, the bandits would take it, but if you have some way of paying that would be unable to be taken feel free to buy what you need."

He let out a sigh, and it seemed clear that he didn't like what he had to say next. "You can't stay here long. If the bandits find you they will punish us. But feel free to explore our city for now. Before nighttime you'll need to be gone. I already told my people about you all as there was no point hiding it. We're not a large enough community that a group of strangers could blend in easily. No one will harm you while you are here. As long as you do the same for us."

 

He went on to explain some features of the city. It seemed that they kept time through several giant hourglasses that were kept around the city; with markings for each hour that passed after midnight.

 

Keres didn't know what to do. She wasn't used to cities so she was clearly uncomfortable. So she looked to the others, hoping they'd have their own ideas what to spend their small amount of time on. There was something she considered discussing but, upon looking at Lindow, decided against it.

[spoiler=OOC]Note. Renegade. If you do not post by my next post Kha will suffer a sudden cause of dead. Hollow, Nai, both of you are on a short leash for now but if you consistently post it'll be relaxed.

If anyone wants further information about anything in the city ask me.

 

[Andx]

The Draken was distracted in part from his sadness as the others talked some about the pedestal. He heard something about ghost stories and Lindow but wasn't paying good enough attention to make specifics. It was enough that in his tired state his mind began to slip out of consciousness and in the process put together what he had heard into Lindow somehow being a ghost. That might have worried him were he fully awake. But for now it seemed fine that Lindow was a ghost. As sleep began to take him he leaned back further into Kloqah's side. It was reminiscent of home sleeping in contact with another scaled creature. This further eased the boy as he eventually fell asleep.

Reinaan was awake in time to see the darkness of the city change into the bightness of noonday sunlight. Or rather he had been woken up in time to see it. His sleep had been restful though full of various dreams. Some of home, others more abstract, many of them were still fresh in his mind as he began feeling a nudging at his side. With a bit of a grumble and a large yawn the boy opened his eyes. He saw he must have moved in his sleep because he was on his stomach leaning into Kloqah's side. For that matter the mount was rather forcefully nudging at his side with her head. She was huffing all the while, expressing her discontent with the little lizard having slept up against her all night. After the light filled the place and with a few more prods Reinaan stood up and muttered a quiet apology to the lizard while Ziiyol rejoiced at being reunited with the light of the sun.

 

The young man began stretching with a series of yawns to see the rest of the group beginning to stir, Keres in particular was already up and moving about. Before much longer the old man from last night had returned to them. He expressed hopes that they had slept well which for the most part Reinaan would have to say he had. A little stiff but not exhausted. After addressing what might be done with the chosen of Darkness' body the man mentioned they could gather supplies but reiterated that they needed to be leaving before dark tonight. He ended with stating they would be safe in their stay so long as they did not attempt to harm anyone in the village. The kindness of the man for a group of strangers impressed Reinaan. As he continued explaining some things of the town the draken attempted to take a mental inventory of things he could possibly need. He determined it was likely just food and water, and more for Kloqah at that as she no doubt had a much faster metabolism than he did.

 

After stretching out sufficiently the boy went and donned his jacket which covered his arms and back though his tail did poke out from underneath the coattails. Satisfied with this half-dressed state the boy turned back to Kloqah who was now sitting up and seemed to be looking about. "Hey girl, how's about we head to town and get you something to eat?" he said to the mount. It seemed to catch her interest for a moment and she stood and allowed Reinaan to put the gear he'd removed from her the night before back into place without too much protest. Reinaan then began the awkward process of getting on the mount figuring he'd begin learning how to ride her in a safe place like this. His legs weren't nearly so long and detached from the rest of himself as human legs were so that made swinging one leg over the saddle to get into place much more difficult. Eventually he scrambled up on top of her closer to her neck. She didn't seem appreciative of the process. Reinaan then slid back onto the saddle and was notably embarrassed at the prior feeling of another's scales on his underside. But now he was sitting somewhat comfortably on the leather and had the reigns in his hand.

 

"Alright Kloqah, I don't entirely know what I'm doing here so if you could be nice like you were for Keres that'd be great." he said as he pat the lizards side and made sure all of his belongings were securely in place. Another huff but she seemed cooperative. Ziiyol hovered nearby, giggling to herself at the sight of a Draken riding a lizard larger than himself. Her partner mostly ignored her not bothering to guess what she was up to. The mount began slowly walking toward an exit to the shrine when Reinaan pulled back a bit on the reign causing her to stop and turn around. Leaving without a word would be bad and the boy wasn't certain leaving on his own was the best idea anyway. He addressed those who were up with an invitation. "I'm gonna see what food and water I can get together if anyone wants to come. Think she can carry one more too if you dont wanna walk around." he said motioning that someone could sit with him atop Kloqah. The mount seemed to protest the idea but ultimately did nothing about the proposal.

[Sethera]

In the morning, both Gilly and Snow, were, strangely enough, pensive, as they woke up. The halfling looked around herself as if only just now realizing where she was. Her mood didn't last long, however, as she perked up when she saw the other members of the group. "Heheheh, good morning, everybody!" she chirped. She didn't seem to care whether it was actually morning or not.

 

Meanwhile, Snow had decided firmly that he would talk to Keres today. He hadn't had the chance to last night, interrupted by that man who felt...wrong. Why his Chosen seemed to look up to such a being he could only guess, rolling his eyes while she bounced around him. "Hey, hey, Mr. Lindow, rise and shine, wakey wakey eggs and bakey!"

 

It didn't take long for the old man from before to return. It was then that Gilly noticed something was wrong with the orc man. He seemed...depressed, which wasn't good, and unresponsive to most that addressed him. The man continued talking about them exploring and leaving before dark and such, before leaving.

 

Snow glanced after him. He wouldn't have minded talking to the man about what was going on here. The curse that had befallen the land. He had mentioned it before when leading them to the shrine. It most probably had something to do with the fact this place was once dedicated to what they called the Great Spirit of Fire, or the Sun, before said curse. There was a mystery shrouded about this place, and it might be in their best interests to learn more about it before they had to leave. To that end...

 

He hopped up onto Keres' shoulder, uncaring as to whether anybody reacted. "I need to talk with you, privately if you wish," he muttered, glancing back at the man who felt wrong. He nodded a greeting at Flux soon after.

 

Gilly, meanwhile, was trailing behind Reinaan. "Oooh, something to eat? Hey, that's a good idea! Why don't we all go get something to eat?!" She looked at the others. "Cuz food is really, really good and I'm really, really hungry oh spirits I didn't realize how hungry I was man you know I mentioned eggs and bakey but I really could go for some toast and butter. Butter mmm. And some sausages and cheese and milk and maybe some eggs and bacon too but I might get some pancakes before then because pancakes are sooo good and especially with butter and a dash of syrup. But you know green eggs and ham might be good too I've actually tried it though the eggs tasted a bit weird and you know I felt a bit weird after that and mother told me not to eat them but then I was as good as new the next day and oh boy, food here we come!"

 

Snow looked a little embarrassed from his perch on the witch's shoulder. "My Chosen...does not need to be part of this, if you seek isolation."

[Alaina]

As the canopy parted and light flooded into the city, the Earth Chosen was roused from her sleep as she slowly opened her eyes. Feeling somewhat groggy, the girl let out a small yawn as she sat herself upright. Rubbing her eyes a bit to get them more alert, she felt troubled and confused. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it, nor how to proceed. While trying to assemble her thoughts, her train of thought was broken by loud halfling's voice resounding throughout the whole of the shrine. Feeling more awake, the girl went to observe her surroundings, feeling slightly odd having woken up not only in a foreign building, but also in a completely different island then she had been merely a day prior. She had some strange sense that she had gone through so much, yet it had barely been twenty four hours, if that, since they had arrived here. It gave her worry for the hardships that were clearly yet to come, yet she attempted to push those thoughts aside for now. 

 

Looking to her side, she saw that the Water Chosen had slept near her for the night, slightly surprising her. As the girl had woken up, the Earth Chosen merely gave a small wave with a smile on her face as she said, "oh, good morning." The man from earlier had come to greet them as well. The man had been kind enough to allow them to stay until night, and be able to gain provisions from here as well, provided they had some means of purchasing without gold. Nodding as the men said his piece, leaving the group to their devices, she had gotten up, running her hands through her hair in order to roughly trying to fix it before looking at what everyone else had to do. 

 

Her eyes tried to dart away from the fallen body of the Dark Chosen, seeing that the Light Chosen was showing clear signs of exhaustion and fatigue. While concerned for him, she wasn't able to check out how he was doing as he had gone to aid in burying the Dark Chosen's body. Then the Ice and Fire Chosen had both decided to go and search for food and water throughout the city. While she would've enjoyed aiding them in that, she didn't quite know what the Nature Chosen would be up to, and she was uncomfortable with the idea of leaving the Water Chosen alone with the Thunder one. She let out a small "eh," in surprise as the Spirit of Ice hopped onto the Water Chosen's shoulder. While the Earth Chosen had something she felt like sharing with the pointy hatted girl, yet she would feel rude interrupting whatever it was that the Spirit needed to speak about. As such, she kept to herself, and looked to the Draken and Halfling, waving and saying, "g-good luck you two." Feeling slightly awkward, not wanting to just sit around do nothing, she decided she would attempt to fold the blankets and sheets that they had been provided. As she attempted to do this, it was already proving to be an unsuccessful venture. 

[Hälō]

"Hey, hey, Mr. Lindow, rise and shine, wakey wakey eggs and bakey” Lindow’s eye opened upon hearing Gilly’s voice. Poking his head out from the shadows, he smiled at the ice chosen. 

 

“Ah, why am I not surprised that you’re a morning person, Gilly…” 

 

“hm?” Without warning, his gaze darted to the side. There was a faint whispering. A voice, one he had never heard before...

 

Glancing around, he quickly dismissed the possibility of foreign presence in the room, before narrowing his gaze slightly. Certain that he wasn’t mistaken; Lindow casually brought himself to his feet before returning his sword to the side of his hip. Whatever or whoever had just spoken to him… they desperately wanted him to run for some reason.  

 

As the Elder guided Kha to bury Ayden’s corps, Lindow watched the light chosen with an inquisitive expression. He knew the face Kha brandished all too well… 

 

Soon afte that, the Ice and Fire chosen departed in search of food and water. Confident that the two could handle such a simple task, Lindow brought his shoulders back against the nearby pillar and looked over his remaining comrades with a bored expression.

 

He felt great for the most part. With his strength at new heights after absorbing the Dark Spirit, there was only one thing that troubled him…

 

“Has anyone else been having interesting dreams lately?” Though the man’s voice maintained it’s usually tone, his eye carefully watched his fellow chosen.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

It seemed as though Reinaan would be the one to get their supplies. Keres was fine with that. The Light Chosen seemed...off, and the Thunder Chosen couldn't be trusted.

Which left her with Ryi-

"I need to talk with you, privately if you wish,"

There was a bunny on her shoulder. How curious.

 

Flux emerged at that moment. "Hey this is my Chosen you know? Course I can't go on her shoulder, with this form, very well, but, you get the idea."

 

Keres shook her head at Flux. "It's okay." She stated, coughing a bit at the soreness of her throat. She took a drink and responded to the spirit. "Can she...do private?" she said, referring to the excitable Halfling.

"My Chosen...does not need to be part of this, if you seek isolation."

As it seemed the girl would go with Reinaan that seemed to have solved itself. Keres glanced at Ryia, who was straightening up, and smiled, at least she thought she had, it was more a thin waver in her mouth. "Housewife?" She said, curious. She didn't know much about anyone here but Ryia certainly seemed like the 'wife' type from what the stories she's read has said.

 

“Has anyone else been having interesting dreams lately?”

 

Keres didn't want to answer the man. Her face was just as expressionless as usual but she didn't look at him. What did this man know? What could he do? She glanced at Ryia, hoping she'd be fine with the man, and nodded at the Ice spirit. They moved farther from the group, and Keres just looked at Snow. She didn't have to say anything more, not until the spirit spoke.

 

After Reinaan and Gilly responded to Lindow, if they moved onto the city itself they would find it to be a lively place. They'd get to see jugglers, magicians, and musicians, roaming the place that had been a marketplace, likely a bustling one, before the days of the curse.

The shops were still opened, as the elder had decided to try and keep as much a semblance of normality as he could, and people still bought wares. Though it looked like they used some kind of stone, with numbers carved into it, as some kind of improvised currency.

 

As the lizard walked through, people gasped, and stared, and pointed. One younger man, around 13, yelled out. "Why's a lizard riding a lizard?"

and another, somewhat older, started to panic about how the bandits must have sent someone.

The older folk tried to keep everything calm but the younger populace seemed to be getting worked up at the sight.

 

Kha grunted as he lifted Ayden's body. It seemed none of the others were going with him. So be it, this was his duty, he would bear it himself. He was led off to a surprisingly, or perhaps not as it was close to a place that had evidently been a temple, close location. It wasn't anything special but there were dozens of stones that had been placed in a pattern that made it clear what was under the stones.

Kha was told the graves were shallow, as they had to be in the sand, and the stones kept any scavenging predators that crept inside from taking the bodies.

 

He was left on his own with condolences and set to work. It took a bit of time but with his strength he was able to dig a large enough grave. Laying Ayden down Kha gave a simple prayer.

 

On the outside he seemed stoic, passive, but inside he was reeling.

 

This didn't have to happen. This young man shouldn't have died. All of this was so wrong. And he had done nothing to stop it. He had intended to protect these people, it was his duty, his honor, to save the lives of others. Yet he couldn't do anything to stop this. It was sickening, painful, and Kha wanted to scream.

But he couldn't scream. He couldn't do anything. Not anymore. He was nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.

 

As his desperation grew so did the mark of the curse on his body. It spread over him, without his notice, until it covered his entire body. He realized he was in pain, but, strangely, he felt detached from it. Absently he noticed the Light spirit in front of him, calling out to him, desperate. Kha reached up and grabbed the creature and the light vanished.

 

When he stood he was no longer a living creature. He had become something different. An undead, Witch creation, with only thoughts of despair and pain. He wanted vengeance for the boy in front of him. But how would he get it? The bandits were dead.

But, it was not just the bandits who caused this.

His mind replayed the battle from before. A memory came to him. An archer, with much skill, felling bandits like it was nothing. Effortless, it had seemed, to Kha. Why had she not saved him? Why had she let him die?
 

Vengeance would be his.

 

He turned and traveled back to the shrine, the cursed mark retreating and giving an impression nothing was different. But as he approached Anis he drew his blade and slashed across at her.

[Sethera]

"Ah, why am I not surprised that you’re a morning person, Gilly…"

 

Gilly grinned. "Well heroes should never sleep in! That's always been my motto!" she pumped a fist.

 

Soon after, she and Reiny boy entered the marketplace. There were jugglers! And people waving cards! And people singing and playing instruments! Oh boy, this was fun! The halfling soon forgot her quest for food, hopping from place to place, asking questions of people she met. "So, so, how do you play that instrument, mister?" or "Wooow! How do you do that? The stone was there, and then it wasn't! Ooh, ooh, do you want to see some magic tricks too? Wait, where's my magic bunny? My magic bunny's gone! Aww, never mind, mister, guess I'll just watch some more of this."

 

Eventually somebody pointed out Reiny boy, and then things started getting even louder, except it wasn't the good and nice kind of loud, but the bad, ugly kind of loud. Gilly moved to Reiny boy protectively. "Hey, hey, don't worry guys! This is one of the good guys! A hero! He has nothing to do with any icky bandits," she stuck her tongue out at the thought.

 

Meanwhile, Snow watched the man who felt wrong carefully. He asked something about dreams, but the rabbit wasn't entirely sure why. Had he been having weird dreams, and that was why? Either way, it was none of his concern, and he was honestly, more preoccupied with talking with the Water Chosen. He nodded belatedly at the Water Spirit. He had nothing against liquid water, though in his opinion, ice was the superior state.

 

"There is something going on here," the rabbit wasted no time in getting to the point once they were far enough away. "This curse...has me worried. What could have caused it, and why? The longer we stay here, the more likely it might affect us too. Not to mention, my Chosen found a strange stone out there in the desert, in the mouth of that sand shark. I would like you to inspect it later, and see what you can sense from it." He looked a bit embarrassed. "I would discuss it with my own Chosen, but while she has talent, she lacks discipline. In addition, she was not raised to recognize magic like you have."

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

That night, Anis slept as soundly as if she was dead, yet a clear expression of discomfort was on her face throughout the night. She woke up later than everyone else due to how much she overexerted herself the night before, yet even after that, she still felt completely terrible. Her age was catching up on her, perhaps. She elected to stay on this place while everyone else left to explore the town, trying her best to gather as much strength as she could to herself, all while recovering her hazy mind about everything happened the night before.

 

In her still disoriented mind, she noticed a large figure coming towards her. An attack? No, Anis managed to retain enough focus to see that it was Kha. But something was amiss. Something about him had clearly changed. He went towards her in a way that was unlike how he usually did, and as his hand went to reach for his blade, Anis realized the situation she found herself in. Perhaps it was wrong to trust him so far. Regretting about her choice slightly as she was helpless in avoiding Kha's strike in her current position, Anis then closed her eyes, hoping that it would be quick and that he would spare Ileca after he's done.

 

Yet a familiar voice rang loud as a sound of heavy objects impacting each other happened. Anis opened her eyes to see Ileca ramming herself towards Kha, before standing back. Anis' short sword was on her beak.

 

"Kwaaaaaaa! (Ally or not, you will not lay a hand on Anis!)"

 

The bird followed it with a battle cry on her own, somewhat muffled with the sword on its beak, before charging again at Kha before he could initiate on her. In the meantime, Anis still lie motionless on the side, trying her best to figure out what happened to Kha and what would this mean to the group.

 

"...Kha, did I do something wrong? What happened to you?"

 

It was at this time that Shirin finally chimed in, noticing something was very amiss.

 

"Wait...I can't sense his Spirit with him. Did he...?"

 

In the meantime, Ileca continued her attacks on Kha. She was aware that Kha was supposed to be Anis' ally, but in a time like this, there really was only one thing she cared about - protecting Anis like how she protected her. She cared little of anyone else in the world, and so, no matter who it would be, Ileca would still stand in their way.

 

And perhaps, an Orc would taste pretty nice?

 

---

[Hälō]

It didn't surprise him in the slightest that Keres chose to simply ignore him, but Lindow's gaze hung curiously on the Earth Chosen as he watched her tense up and glance at him before returning to her cleaning. Did she know something? 

 

Though he was tempted to investigate any connection she may have had to the dream he had last night, he opted against it. Instead choosing to lean further back against the wall and simply watch over the others whilst they waited for the children to return with their supplies.

 

After an hour had past, Kha reentered the room, and as the Orc moved past him, Lindow could already tell something was amiss. Whilst he watched Kha make his way towards Anis, Lindow heard the whispering again, telling him to run. In that instant, fighting broke out amongst his fellow Chosen. 

 

BMG

 

Taking a swing at Anis with his massive blade, Kha was quickly intercepted by her mount, which proceeded to engage him with it's rider's sword in beak. However Kha was much stronger than the bandits they had faced yesterday, and easily batted the weapon away from the bird in a single stroke. 

 

"You know..." Having already brought himself up from the wall, Lindow dashed towards the Orc's flank as the Light Chosen moved to attack Ileca. "I was just thinking about what I could do to pass the time!" The Lightning Chosen chirped as he drew his scimitar and slashed at Kha's sword arm with a two handed slice before the Orc could complete it's attack on the bird. The blade bit into Kha's hide, but there seemed to be a lot less blood than one would expect... 

 

Taking note of this, Lindow's eyes narrowed slightly. Just then, Kha turned to face him before grabbing onto his wrist with massive hand. Though despite the fact the Kha's grip had already begun to tighten, Lindow found his attention drawn to the dull glow of light that was now hovering where Kha's fist had been. "Is that..?" Lindow pondered for a moment before shifting his gaze back up to Kha's. "So what do ya say, big guy?" Lindow said with a smirk as he realized that Kha wasn't there anymore. Having faced all manners of evil, the man knew a broken soul when he saw one...

 

"How about you and I try to tear each other to shreds for a bit?!" The Lightning Chosen's smirk grew wider as he released his grip on his blade, only to catch it again with his free hand. Thrusting his weapon toward's Kha's face, he inhaled deeply whilst focusing in glow of light, causing it to tremble slightly. Reacting faster than expected, Kha tilted his body backwards, narrowly avoiding Lindow strike but releasing his hold on the man's wrist in the process. 

 

Rolling to the right to avoid a heavy swing from Kha, Lindow caught himself on his knee and drew one of his daggers. "That's the spirit, Khadba Dulaga..." He cooed over to the looming threat before dashing towards the Orc with both weapons drawn. Though Lindow was ready for round two, he couldn't help be think about how unfortunate this situation was. He actually sort of liked this one... 

[Andx]

Gilly seemed to be the only one expressing any interest in going with Reinaan for supplies. Well really it sounded more like Gilly just wanted something to eat and perhaps wasn't thinking of gathering food and water for the next leg of the journey. Regardless he appreciated the company however odd and energetic it was. Kloqah turned about and exited the Shrine and the rays of the desert sun shone down upon the lizards and spirit of fire once more. The trio together seemed to take in a deep breath and enjoy the moment. It seemed like the others were beginning to talk about something or other as they departed to which the Draken figured he'd be told about if it was important when he returned. After they were some distance from the ruins Ziiyol spoke up. "Reiny the old man had wanted to speak with me didn't he?" she said happily. Reinaan remembered the elder had made such a request. "We'll have to have you talk to him after we're done getting stuff." he said. The spirit seemed satisfied with the response and awaited what the town held in store for her to observe.

 

Reinaan was impressed at the sights of the town himself as they moved about. There were people all about doing various things. Some were even putting on shows. The mixing of musics and calls from these others all sort of blended together in the Draken's ears. Atop Kloqah he had a good view of what all was going on around him. He was quite enjoying riding her. Ziiyol was energized by the music and dancing about and couldn't contain herself. Thankfully still invisible to all but the Chosen she spun about Kloqah as the mount continued moving as Reinaan directed. He found guiding Kloqah rather simplistic. Perhaps because she was being cooperative with him. As he looked on he saw people buying and selling things in various locations. Hopefully they'd accept the cards the council had given them. The Draken looked around to pin down where Gilly was, a difficult task, to tell her to head over to the shops but then something interrupted him.

 

"Why's a lizard riding a lizard?" a young voice cried out. Ziiyol couldn't help but giggle at the comment as she had pondered the sight some herself. It probably did look really weird now that Reinaan thought about it. Initially he was angry at being called a lizard himself. Tongues of flame escaped his nostrils for a moment as he collected himself with a deep breath. "You're not in a position to get angry at anyone." he told himself. It still didn't do much to help. But then others around seemed to be distressed. And it was then Reinaan realized what it was. It was Kloqah that was bothering them not him. Her kind were the trademark mount of the bandits who terrorized this town and the surrounding desert. They must have thought him a member of the group.

 

Gilly in her innocent enthusiasm came to the young Draken's defense. Reinaan laughed a bit at her display. "Thank you Gilly," he said as he began dismounting Kloqah. That too proved to be an adventure and he half fell off of her but managed to get his footing after a moment or two. He took the reigns in one hand and decided to lead her about from this point on. "It's best I just show them I don't mean them any harm. We'll get our things and get out of their way quickly." he said managing to stay rather level headed despite the outburst from the villager earlier. It reminded him something of his village's response to outsiders. They were naturally distrusting simply because they had their own survival in mind.

 

Reinaan worked his way over to one of the shops, those Kloqah passed close by to getting noticeably more nervous as he did so. Eventually he came to stop in front of a stand that seemed to be selling meat. If there were other things on sale Reinaan took no notice of them as he didn't register other things as being food. The man attending the stall seemed to be busy checking his wears. But he looked back to Kloqah every now and then. The supply seeking entourage came to a stop and now Reinaan was left to try and do business with this human. It was an interaction he'd only seen done a number of times but it couldn't be that difficult.

 

"Umm... hello there. We're uh, looking to buy some food." he said hoping to gain the shopkeeper's attention. Surprisingly the man did respond rather quickly. "Don't know how much I can give you, friend, not much to go around" came the reply. It sounded honest enough to Reinaan who figured food was hard to come by in a place like this. "That's okay, we'll take what we can get." he said as he began digging through his bag. He produced the silver card from the council and showed it to the shopkeeper. "Assuming we can even pay you with this that is." Reinaan said still somewhat confused at the idea of paying for things in general. The other people seemed to give the shopkeeper rocks of sorts. But how did rocks help anyone? The idea of everyone agreeing to everything being worth a certain number of rocks seemed odd.

 

"Ahh I know that symbol...Strange pair to have something like this." the man replied. From a human's perspective a Draken and whatever Gilly was, a halfing Reinaan thought it was, must have been the odd sight indeed. "So this will work then?" Reinaan said hopefully. "It might be one of the only things that would work... No way those bandits can take away that." came the reply. It seemed like things were going somewhere. "We have two of them," he said motioning to Gilly to produce her card as well. "We'll take as much as you're willing to part with." he said to the man. Seemingly satisfied at that the man produced several bags of dried meats. He was told it was largely vulture or lizard. The idea of eating lizard or feeding it to Kloqah didn't seem to much bother Reinaan. Regardless, it seemed sufficient for the group for the next few days. Reinaan was visibly relieved that the transaction had worked and his body finally relaxed some as he piled the supplies onto Kloqah's back. She seemed fine to carry it all and then some which was good to know he could still ride her while she was carrying things.

 

"Does anyone sell water here?" Reinaan questioned as the man returned to his inventory. "That's a no go there I'm sorry to say. The bandits give us our water from the lake they control. Needless to say we're usually in low supply. Isn't really something we can afford to go selling." the man replied. Reinaan nodded understandingly. They weren't particularly low on water after their stop at the lake before coming here. But seeing as they had no idea how far they would be going it would never hurt to have more. But it seemed the lake was the only source in these parts and it was far too dangerous to return there. Reinaan thanked the man one last time as he guided Kloqah and Gilly away from the stand.

 

"We'll we're good on food. Anything else you wanna do around here Gilly? I've gotta find the elder again at some point but other than that we have until the evening to explore some." he said admittedly curious as to what else went on in the town.

[Alaina]

While the Earth Chosen had kept to her attempt at housekeeping, as the Fire and Ice Chosen had made their way away from the rest of them, she could only sigh at her first botched attempt. Despite starting over and trying a few more times, she finally gave up and sighed as she looked at the awkwardly and crookedly folded sheets. Nevertheless, she kept going about this and piling them together. As she went about this routine, the Thunder Chosen seemed to have gotten up as well, and gave out a question to the rest of the people there. She tensed up a bit and stopped what she was doing as he had wondered aloud if anyone was having strange dreams. Was he...Almost as if by instinct, she looked to take a quick glance at him, not even sure what she was trying to find out, yet as soon as she realized what it was she was doing she snapped her head away from him. Praying that he hadn't thought anything of it, she then simply went back to her work. 

 

As she did, though, eventually her work was interrupted by the reappearance of the Light Chosen. She went to wave to him to acknowledge his arrival, though he seemed to not quite pay attention to her. With a concerned look on her face, she stopped what she was doing and attempted to get up to see how he was doing. As she turned around to get up, though, she heard the cry of the bird mount that the Nature Chosen had. Startled yet alert, the girl sprung up and turned to see an incredibly confusing scene. The bird seemed to be in an aggressive state and the light chosen...had his blade drawn. Worried, the girl started to attempt to ask what was going on, but before she could the Thunder Chosen leaped into action. Watching the resulting conflict begin, the girl's eyes went wide as she started to mumble, "no no no no." 

 

Knowing that this was only going to end in more bloodshed, the girl rushed over to her gear. Picking up only her shield, she ran towards the Nature Chosen, as they seemed to be in a slightly frazzled state and stood guard by her. Looking to her with genuine concern in her eyes she asked, "a-are you alright?" She then looked back to the two dueling chosens before shouting out, "wh-what are you doing?" A more panicked kind of worried evident in her tone. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"There is something going on here," the rabbit wasted no time in getting to the point once they were far enough away. "This curse...has me worried. What could have caused it, and why? The longer we stay here, the more likely it might affect us too. Not to mention, my Chosen found a strange stone out there in the desert, in the mouth of that sand shark. I would like you to inspect it later, and see what you can sense from it." He looked a bit embarrassed. "I would discuss it with my own Chosen, but while she has talent, she lacks discipline. In addition, she was not raised to recognize magic like you have."

 

Keres hadn't expected such a flood of information. She nodded in response. "Don't know why. I can look." She responded. She wasn't sure what else she should say. If she had the stone there it would be easier but without it, there was no point in discussing farther...

Kwaaaaaaa

 

Keres turned in time to see Ileca attacking Kha, and the latter knocking the blade the bird had...for some reason been holding, away.

He then saw Lindow attacking him. What was going on? Did Lindow finally decide to outright kill one of them? But then why did the bird attack as well?

 

There wasn't enough information to act. There was clearly something wrong with Kha but could she attack without knowing the situation? After all the only thing she had seen was Kha being attacked.
Keres decided to prepare. She pulled some water out of her large flask, preparing to use it like a whip on whichever it turned out was the enemy here.

 

The being formerly known as Kha didn't react to Lindow's words. As the man dashed towards him, however, he swung in a horizontal arc. If Lindow continued forward he would be cleaved in two, as the Orc was aiming for his waist, too low to duck under, too high to jump over.

---

The civilians seemed slightly less on edge with Gilly's words. She very clearly was not a bandit of any kind. There was still some level of discomfort with Reinaan and, more specifically, the mount. But no one seemed to be hassling them now.

 

"We'll we're good on food. Anything else you wanna do around here Gilly? I've gotta find the elder again at some point but other than that we have until the evening to explore some."

"If you want to talk to the elder he's probably over by the garden." A helpful older woman spoke up.

[Alaina]

While the girl was confused as to what was going on, it was very much evident that the two had no intention of ending their fighting. Despite asking for answers of the two, she noticed something about each of the dueling Chosen. The Thunder Chosen had the usual devil may care attitude about him as he seemed poised to attack the orc. The Light Chosen, however, didn't seem to be reacting all that much to well anything. He simply had his weapon prepped and seemed ready to battle as well. While the girl wanted to stop them before they killed each other, she only had the one shield and trying to put herself in between them would likely get either herself or the one she blocked very injured. And so, as the Thunder Chosen seemed poised to move forward, the girl did the only thing she could think to do to stop them. Summoning a wall of earth between the two combatants, likely halting both the momentum of the Thunder Chosen and the blade of the Light Chosen, she then yelled out, "would you both please stop this?!" 

[Sethera]

"Thank you Gilly," Reiny boy laughed, stepping down from his lizard mount, though it took him a couple tries to do it right. He took the reins in a clawed grip. "It's best I just show them I don't mean them any harm. We'll get our things and get out of their way quickly."

 

"Ehhh, if you're sure about that," Gilly pouted. "I was ready to knock some sense into them if they didn't believe you!" she held up an arm, proudly flexing it, though as she wasn't really bulky it didn't have much of an effect. Either way, seems the townspeople realized they were good guys after all, so all was good.

 

Reiny boy started talking with some merchant person, showing his card as well. Gilly still didn't understand the effects of the cards entirely. "I still don't get how they work exactly," she admitted. "The person told me that it works to buy things, but it's not like we're giving you the card, so..." she scratched her head. She had seen a few different ways people paid for things, such as bartering, but showing a card was something new.

 

"We'll we're good on food. Anything else you wanna do around here Gilly? I've gotta find the elder again at some point but other than that we have until the evening to explore some," Reiny boy asked.

 

"Nothing in particular aside from, you know, everything," the halfling grinned. "After all, new place, new things to see! I bet we'll find so much cool stuff it'll be awesome! And then, and then, maybe we'll end up doing something heroic and everybody will see and we'll be the town heroes! But if you want, then yeah, let's go see the old man!"

 

"If you want to talk to the elder he's probably over by the garden." A helpful older woman spoke up.

 

"All right! See? Perfect! Let's go talk to that old person! I wonder if he'll give us food..." she mused. "Or maybe he'll tell us that he used to be some warrior and he'll instruct us better on how to fight! Or maybe he could tell us where the thingamajigger is. Or if there are more bullies around!" She walked as she talked, head brimming with thoughts.

 

--

 

"Don't know why. I can look."

 

Snow nodded. That was all he needed. Later, when Gilly returned, he could show the stone to Keres. In the meantime... He was about to hop off her shoulder when he noticed the Nature Chosen's avian companion...attacking the orc? What? And why was the Chosen who felt wrong joining in as well? There was something going on here.

 

Keres took out a flask of water, seeming prepared to use it as a weapon. The orc swung his sword in a horizontal slash toward the man who felt wrong, which would be lethal if it hit. This is no mock fight, the rabbit thought.

 

The Earth Chosen chose that moment to intervene, conjuring an earthen wall between the two fighters. "Would you both please stop this?!"

 

Snow watched. Depending on how they reacted, he could figure out what exactly was going on, and how he should react. Thankfully, he was at full health after that extended rest he took, so if need be, he could manifest and hopefully distract one of them with his powers.

[Hälō]

"wh-what are you doing?"  Lindow heard the Earth Chosen cry out. Paying the girl no mind, Lindow watched Kha's movements as he continued to dash towards him. Realizing that the Orc intended to cleave him in two, Lindow began to prepare one his new tricks to counter, only soon find there was no need...

 

Sensing a shift in the ground ahead of him, Lindow quickly halted his advance as a large wall of stone was suddenly erected between him and Kha. Unable to stop his strike in time, Kha's blade bounced off of the rock structure, sending chips of stone flying into the air, and causing the orc to stumble backwards before regaining his stance and grabbing his blade with two hands. 

 

 

"would you both please stop this?!" The Earth Chosen spoke pleaded. 

 

"Ladies, just watch..." Rolling his eye, Lindow addressed the other chosen whilst casually walking out from behind the wall of rock. He was immediately greeted by downwards slash from Kha, to which he responded to by rolled forward so he was just past the Orc's side. As Lindow landed, his shadow would begin to darken in appearance, and soon after it would solidify, manifesting as murky black figure that dragged itself up from the ground to impale Kha with it's weapon. 

 

With his shadow's attack striking true, Lindow quickly pivoted to his right and slashed at Kha's back, opening up a large gash from the top of the orc's shoulder to his side. Seemingly unaffected by the two major wounds, Kha continued his assault, striking Lindow in the back of the head with a surprising quick backhand. 

 

Sent tumbling forward by Kha's strength, Lindow caught himself on his hands and knees before spitting a small glob of blood down to the ground. "Ta-dah~" He glanced at Ryia before slowly bringing himself to his feet and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. As he did so, Kha slowly turned to face him, the hole in his chest and gashes on his back and arm showing very little signs of bleeding despite the seriousness of the wounds and his constant movement. 

 

"The big guy checked out. He's already dead." Lindow tone was slightly less chipper after being backhanded by their former comrade. "Which means you either need to help me take his head off, or take little Keres so you're not in the way, and leave this to me and the bird..."  He smirked whilst nodding towards the mount that had engage the Light Chosen with a blade a few moments prior. 

[Andx]

Gilly's usual energy continued which was somewhat comforting to Reinaan. The people still eyed him somewhat suspiciously though the halfing's outbursts had calmed their fears some. "Nothing in particular aside from, you know, everything. After all, new place, new things to see! I bet we'll find so much cool stuff it'll be awesome! And then, and then, maybe we'll end up doing something heroic and everybody will see and we'll be the town heroes! But if you want, then yeah, let's go see the old man!" came the excited response to what it was she wanted to do. Maybe he wasn't looking hard enough but it didn't seem like her spirit was with her. At least they had Ziiyol. Then again all they had was Ziiyol. The young Draken wasn't sure what the elder might think of her. Now came the issue of finding the man. With a perplexed look on his face Reinaan began looking about. But an older human woman passed by and informed them the elder was likely near the garden.

 

"All right! See? Perfect! Let's go talk to that old person! I wonder if he'll give us food..." Gilly replied excitedly. "We just got a bunch of food though." Reinaan responded back with a mixture of a laugh and awe. It seemed all this one thought about was eating. The girl continued pondering aloud what the elder might actually do for them. The Draken did his best to keep up with the girl and respond where he could but he found it somewhat difficult. Kloqah seemed content moving about with the new supplies on her and moved along with the two without much complaint.

 

The walk to the garden was pleasant enough. The sun really never stopped beating down. Reinaan appreciated the warmth, but even he liked a little variety to the weather. How did the humans put up with this he wondered. They were so much more susceptible to the elements than his people. The group approached the edge of the marketplace and saw three distinct places. To the left in the distance was the shrine they had spent the night in. To the right was a large structure that the boy couldn't think of what its function might be. Straight ahead between the two lied the gardens where the Elder was said to most likely be. There seemed to be all kinds of plant life being cultivated here. It must have been quite difficult given the environment. Regardless the young Draken couldn't help but almost gag at the thought of fruits and vegetables. Whatever it took to survive he supposed. There were a few people about tending to the plants but one stood both in sight and scent. The village elder was busy working hard to nourish the plants they had growing. He wore a large hat to keep the sun off his face and neck which made it a little difficult for Reinaan to identify him initially. But it seemed to be the right person.

 

"Hello sir." the boy called out as the group approached the edges of the garden. He didn't want to get particularly close to the plants both for his own stomach and the off chance he might hurt something the village needed for food. Ziiyol stopped dancing and humming to herself long enough to realize what was about to happen and excitement began to build. The man started grumbling some but soon enough straightened up to turn about to see who had addressed him. Upon seeing the two chosen and their mounts he responded, "Hello, I see you rested well enough". Reinaan thought it best to treat this man like he would the elders of his own village. That is, when he actually respected them of course. "Yes, thank you for helping us. We were so quick to get up and go this morning we almost forgot your wish to speak with the spirits." the draken explained.

 

The man seemed interested and leaned in on the tool he had been working with. He looked around perhaps wondering if he could see them. "Are they here?" he questioned. "I know mine is at the least. She was excited at the id-" Reinaan began. But Ziiyol could contain herself no longer. With a joyful shout and a burst of sparks flying out in all directions before fading away appeared the spirit. "Hello kind sir! I am Ziiyol, spirit of fire!" she said gleefully. The draken groaned to himself at the display. The elder was of course surprised but perhaps not so much at her materialization but her appearance. "I hadn't expected them to be so...similar to us." he said in response. "They come in all sorts of forms. We have a goat, a rabbit, a snake, a .... fish thing, a cat and a little fairy with us too." Reinaan began explaining while struggling to describe the jellyfish. "This is the form that matched my desires! The elegance of the human form as it dances, ah how like a burning flame it is!" Ziiyol said as she twirled about. It seemed odd to Reinaan that the human form was what matched her desires given how much attention she had supposedly paid to his village before manifesting.

 

The man nodded with the two as they spoke. "I was taught, long ago, that the spirits were to be honored. That they gave us the world we live in...I always wondered what I'd say if I ever got to meet one. Now that I have, all I can think of is...Why was this world created?" the man said. So that was why he had wanted to speak with them. The question stumped Reinaan. It wasn't something he had thought about. Thinking of why he existed was something foreign to him. He knew he did and for the most part hadn't felt to question it. But this man felt some yearning for a purpose in everything. The boy looked to Ziiyol hopeful she would have an answer for the man as the question sounded interesting to say the least. Ziiyol placed a finger over her mouth and hummed audibly as she thought.

 

"Why indeed. I feel as though I should be able to tell you. But all I remember is searching. And then I found Reiny and my search was over. And then suddenly here I was like this." she said. Apparently she knew nothing about the purpose of creation. All she had talked about initially was chosen and a mission so perhaps it was true. The spirit lowered her hand and grabbed her other arm with it. She hunched over some, a bit sad at not being able to answer the man's question. "A fire exists purely for itself. To dance and burn away it's life in a beautiful spectacle and then to be no more. Perhaps it can be said the world you live in is the grandest of blazes. Since travelling with Reiny I look all around and see the beauty your world holds and marvel. Beauty existing for the sake of beauty would not be so bad for me." she continued. This was admittedly the deepest thinking Reinaan had yet seen out of his partner. "If there is some grand purpose to creation, I'm afraid I do not know it. But surely in your life you must have found an answer all your own." she said smiling again at the man.

 

The man seemed deep in thought as the spirit gave her answer. "This...sun, this everlasting sun. Why would this have happened? Do you know...did the spirits do this to us?" came the follow-up question. The people viewed the eternal sunlight as a curse and rightfully so. How hard it must have made their lives. And yet at this too Ziiyol had no answer. At this she again saddened. "I wish I could tell you. I know my own power could never have caused this to happen. And I do not know what the other spirits are doing now. If one with far greater power than my own exists it could be possible. And yet it escapes me why a spirit would feel the need to curse you in this way." Ziiyol explained. At this Reinaan could observe the man's hopes begin to crumble. His posture slouched, at least in his shoulders. ""So there's nothing you can do?" the man said. "I know of nothing I could do..." Ziiyol replied in a defeated tone.

 

"Didn't you say the building we slept at was once a shrine to a fire spirit?" Reinaan said injecting a thought into the conversation. "Ziiyol and I didn't really inspect much of it. But maybe there's some magic there." he said hoping Ziiyol would follow him. The fire spirit lit up at the suggestion. "Ah yes! If there are remnants of the magic used to curse you, there is a chance I might be able to burn them away!" she said once again excited. Reinaan turned back to the man. "We can head over and look. But first could you tell us about this Great spirit and the curse? Do you know anything of how or when it happened?"

 

"The Great Spirit was the ancient name for the sun. It was worshiped in this land long ago by people who believed they needed to please the Great Spirit for it to rise and fall. Nowadays the people here just worship the spirits in general, like many others. The curse happened....I believe it was 15 years ago. There was something that happened in the shrine, someone stole the orb that was said to be a piece of the Great Spirit. We never thought it was true, most believed it to be ceremonial, but, after it was taken...." he waved towards the sun. And so the eternal sunlight had come upon them. Something about it sounded familiar. An orb. It felt like they'd seen something like that.

 

"Hey, Gilly. Didn't we find something weird on the way here? I can't remember what it was." Reinaan said as he tried to search through his mind.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

Ileca's attempt to continue her attack failed, and she had been disbeaked, her short sword clanging somewhere else. It was then that another combatant entered the battle, the odd and suspicious man Lindow. As the man attacked the orc, Ileca went on to pick her sword and continue attacking again, but the yell from the Earth Chosen halted the battle temporarily...well, actually it's more due to the wall erected between the combatants. But the suspicious man didn't relent, and in a showy manner than would sure to make Anis feel disgusted if she saw it, he went and used the moment to do some admittedly pretty impressive moves and dealt the finishing blow to the Orc.

 

Or...well, it's actually not. The orc was still standing and seemingly unfazed even with the big gnashing hole on his body. Ileca readied her sword again, grumbling to convey her annoyance. Seems like they had to mutilate him to keep him down. She could hear her stomach growling, a sign that she hadn't eaten her breakfast. An Orc limb ought to make a good one. The orc was taller than her, and so reaching his head would be quite an issue. Pushing him down would be hard for now too. So, Ileca decided to rush forward and duck, and swiped the sword towards the Orc's legs. One of the first rules of hunting - it's best to disable your prey first instead of just aiming for a fast kill. Whether it's successful or not, she used her wings as brakes, and utilized the remaining momentum to kick at the orc's legs as hard as she could in hope of knocking him down.

 

In the meantime Anis, who had regained some of her focus but still mostly dizzy, had Shirin pick up her bow and arrow in the midst of the chaos. With his help, she wielded the weapon and started to aim, fully on the snake's guidance. The snake wrapped itself around her arms to keep her from shaking the aim, and whispering the direction to her, it guided her to start pulling the strings, and fire the arrow towards Kha's head.

 

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