The Chosen [IC/PG-16]

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"I'm alone and nothing about your world makes any sense to me!"

 

The words were confusing to Keres. What was there to understand? He wasn't asking any questions but he was clearly in need of answers. How could she answer what she didn't know? And how was she to make him understand that any better than she had already tried?

What was this all about being alone? Was that not a normal thing in this world? She had been alone for most of her life and it worked out just fine, didn't it?

Keres thought back to some nights, spent having conversations with her cat, and several dolls that her mother had left behind, likely old playthings, by herself. She compared them to now. There were people around, yes, but was that any better than being alone so far? At this point she wasn't so sure.

 

Gilly came soon after and did the unexpected. She hugged Reinaan. That...that was not a solution that Keres would ever have come up with. It just may be working though....

She gasped as the Draken dragged her in for a hug as well. Her entire body stiffened. The only time she had been grabbed by a Draken before was when...When they were trying to drag her back to the Mage Tower.

 

She didn't know how to react. Squirming, she let out a few meek words. "Too much." Her face was flushed, not from embarrassment, but from panic. She didn't know how to respond to this situation. Nothing had prepared her for such a thing. "Not good with contact."

 

Regardless of if she were released, Keres would begin to think. This indicated something akin to desire for a family bond, yes? Perhaps Reinaan came from a large family. If that were the case then perhaps what he needed from the group was a family, not merely companions. But how would they simulate such a thing?

 

"We should return...I'll...make food for everyone." Keres said finally.

 

She had made her decision. She couldn't afford to have the Draken leave. They needed to stick together. And to do that she would have to extend peace. Even to Lindow.

----

"Should I inform the outsiders?"
"No." The Elder said. "Not now. They plan on leaving soon anyway. Surely the bandits cannot be so close that they'd arrive before then."
"Are you sure, sir? You know they can move fast when they want to."
The Elder didn't speak. Yes, he knew that all too well. But if he told them about this his people would expect him to kick them out right then and there. And if they were to leave now they'd be caught by the bandits before too long.

Could he do that? Surrender them to the bandits for the sake of his city?
"I'm getting too old for these decisions."

[Andx]

Reinaan felt Keres tense up upon being dragged into the group hug with Gilly. And she was quick to voice her discomfort with the whole affair. At this the Draken released the two Chosen, his sobbing subsiding into sniffling. He wiped a hand at his eyes to clear away and tears and seemed someone composed again. "Sorry..." he said meekly in apology to the Water Chosen. He hadn't meant to make her uncomfortable and was a bit embarrassed about having done so. None of this was like him. Crying and being afraid were things other Draken did, he was supposed to be the reckless and brave one. Keres then offered to make a meal for the group which Reinaan didn't necessarily need but liked the sound of.

 

"We got a bunch of food ready. But we'll have to leave right after." the Draken added, not wanting to trouble the village more than they had to. He got back a top Kloqah in an almost smooth motion and pointed toward the shrine with some bravado. The boy was still sniffling some which lessened the effect but it was clear he was trying to put on a brave face. "Come on Gilly, let's get back to the others." he called out to the Ice Chosen. "Let's see if you can beat a dragon in a race!" he said with a sneer. In response Kloqah took off at a slightly faster than normal walk. Not quite what the boy had had in mind but it worked. Ziiyol lingered behind with Keres looking on affectionately at the sight.

 

"Thank you so much for coming. I feel you may have helped rekindle Reiny's flame. It's never quite been the same since he left his home. Ironic that the Chosen of Water and Ice should be the ones to do it. This world is so marvelous!" She said with a sincere and heartfelt gratitude to Keres. "You should have seen him back at the village. Such a passionate free spirit. The bonds the fire Draken shared there were truly, well, heartwarming!" she said, giggling to herself at her play on words.

[Sethera]

Gilly glanced at Mute Girl curiously after the hug ended. "Ehhh? What's wrong? Do you not like people touching you? Poke," she reached out and poked the girl in the cheek before backing away with a mischievous grin, waiting for some sort of retaliation.

 

Then the girl spoke. "We should return...I'll...make food for everyone."

 

"Whoooooaaaaa!" Gilly shouted exaggeratedly, but it was obvious by the excitement in her expression, by the way she waved her arms about eagerly, that she didn't think it exaggerated at all. "No way! Food time?! Man, I can't wait! My body is ready!" she cheered. "We're off to eat, we're off to eat, haha, we're off to eat!" she hummed a tune as she walked, fist pumping with every step.

 

"We got a bunch of food ready. But we'll have to leave right after." Reiny boy added, causing the halfling to droop somewhat. He got back a top his lizard thing in an almost smooth motion and pointed toward the shrine with a brave face, still sniffling. "Come on Gilly, let's get back to the others." he called out. "Let's see if you can beat a dragon in a race!" he said with a sneer. In response the lizard thing took off at a slightly faster than normal walk.

 

"You betcha!" Gilly announced, but then seemed to realize that Hob wasn't with her. "Hey wait, no faaaair wait up!" she shouted as she ran after the duo.

 

--

 

Meanwhile, Hob was observing everybody with his usual placid eyes. There had been a lot of shouting, a lot of tense moments, but now, he could see that one of them, the girl with the pink hair, had sunk to the ground, tears leaking from her eyes.

 

This wasn't good. She might not have been Nice Boot Girl, but sadness was sadness, and Hob didn't like it when people were sad. She could summon a goat, which made him a bit...nervous, since goats could be pretty mean, but she herself seemed nice. And she was sad.

 

Hob walked over to the pink-haired girl and settled down beside her, baaing at her in concern.

[Hälō]

"Before we continue on our journey, I demand a gathering between us all. I still have no reasons to trust you, but I would rather everyone is in a position to properly judge you, what happened earlier, and our current situation before we move forward.

 

Is that not reasonable enough for you?"

 

"Hm?" Lindow glanced back over his shoulder to meet the Nature Chosen's gaze. "Judge me?" He repeated whilst turning to face the woman. "If you're concerned that I plan to kill you all to just absorb your spirits, then you might wanna take a moment to look at the bigger picture..."

 

Lindow's eye narrowed and all traces of amusement had suddenly vanished from his voice leaned against the shine entrance. "I'm not here to make friends, and whilst I don't find myself with any inclination to get on your good side, I certainly don't intend to waste any time or energy plotting your or any of the children's demise, just so I have to lug around their spirit, and do their job for them." 

 

"In short..." Hearing the sound of familiar voice and footsteps, Lindow closed his eye and allowed the sun to warm the right side of his face. "I don't care what think about me, but you'd be foolish not to trust me. This journey is gonna be quite the undertaking, and if you haven't realized that we're going to need each other... then you're bound to be in for a rude awakening- or grizzly end, who knows?" 

 

When the other three chosen arrived, Lindow immediately sensed the shift in their demeanor. "Good see that you didn't get far, Reinaan." Having discarded any indication that he were just have a serious conversation, he greeted the chosen of fire with a smile whilst still leaning casually against the shrine's entrance with his arms crossed.

[Alaina]

As the girl had sat there, trying to figure out what to do next, she heard the Thunder Chosen talk about needing to get move on. He was right. They weren't supposed to stay here long as it was, and so getting prepared to leave was probably for the best. As such, as he and the nature chosen left the room, the pink haired girl went to start putting on her armor. In the midst of this, she was interrupted by a familiar sheep walking over and baaing towards her. She jumped a bit when she heard this, as she was not expecting it, and calmed down as she looked towards the culprit. "Oh. Hello there." She bent down, looking towards the creature. She wasn't quite sure what it was that it wanted, but it seemed to have a concerned look on its face. Thinking on it, she then realized what it must've been. Petting the creature she said, "oh, you must be worried about your partner. Don't worry, I'm sure they're, um..." She couldn't really say "fine" given all that had happened and given that halfling's nature in general. As such, instead the girl followed up by saying, "w-well, we'll go find them soon."

 

With that, the girl went back to putting her armor back on, after which finishing she had gone outside, sheep in tow. Once out there, she could tell the air between the Thunder and Nature Chosen was tense, but that was broken as the other Chosen had began to make their way back. The Earth Chosen didn't say much, simply waving to the trio. However, there was still something bothering her, somewhat visible by the expression on her face. They still needed to do something about the Light Chosen's body, she just wasn't entirely sure how to bring this up nor what they would be doing. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"I don't care what think about me, but you'd be foolish not to trust me. This journey is gonna be quite the undertaking, and if you haven't realized that we're going to need each other... then you're bound to be in for a rude awakening- or grizzly end, who knows?"

 

"Did you miss the reason why I'm asking you this? We need to set things straight if we want this group to continue. You already know that I don't trust you, but for the sake of this group I am willing to work with you? But what about the others? After the stunt earlier, who knows what is in their mind now.

 

We also had just lost a valuable party member and the reasoning for it are still up in the air although the assumption that the Council had to do with it holds the most ground. We also need to take care about our preparations before we leave this place. Right now, we're aimless and hopeless as a group, so please, understand why a talk is necessary.

 

If you just want to do things your own way then fine. Just suck up our spirits from our dead bodies later."

 

Anis turned around and walked away as the Thunder Chosen did the same. A lot was going on her mind, and she'd rather check up on her and Ileca's condition before gathering the rest for the talks she referred to earlier. As she walked she noticed the Earth Chosen though, and decided to talk to her.

 

"Sigh...To tell the truth I'm still feeling overwhelmed by all of this. Everything is getting more and more absurd and unreasonable...

What do we suppose to do to go forward?"

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres watched as Reinaan and Gilly ran back to the shrine. "But Draken aren't actually Dragons." Keres found herself thinking. She hadn't ever met a Draken who spoke so much before, did they all believe themselves to be actually Dragons?

The girl began making notes as she walked back to the shrine, herself.

 

"Thank you so much for coming. I feel you may have helped rekindle Reiny's flame. It's never quite been the same since he left his home. Ironic that the Chosen of Water and Ice should be the ones to do it. This world is so marvelous!" She said with a sincere and heartfelt gratitude to Keres. "You should have seen him back at the village. Such a passionate free spirit. The bonds the fire Draken shared there were truly, well, heartwarming!"

 

The Fire spirit was talking to her. Keres kept her pen on the paper as she pondered the words. "Thanks not needed." She muttered simply, looking a bit uncomfortable at the praise.

 

Keres arrived after the other two, and didn't quite catch Lindow's greeting. It seemed he was the only one out there and Keres wondered if he had been waiting for them to return.

She tried not to think of that as ominous but she couldn't help but be relieved when she went inside and saw Ryia and Anis.

 

Kha's body was still there, and she knew something had to be done about that. "Burial." She said. "I'll start food...will join after." She was going to prepare the food for them, while the others, whomever decided to take the task, went about preparing Kha's body. However there was one issue. The matter of culture. "Orcs...often burn their dead." She stated.

With that she began to sort through the supplies they had. Thankfully she had brought along a collapsible pot. She'd be able to make some sort of soup out of what they had. A few herbs, the meat that Reinaan found, it wouldn't be the tastiest but it would be something.

[Andx]

Reinaan hadn't accounted for the length of Gilly's legs or the fact her mount wasn't currently with her. There wasn't going to be much fun in that at the speed Kloqah was going so the Draken had the mount ease her pace some to let Gilly keep up. The two stayed mostly neck and neck as they moved quickly back toward the shrine. Ziiyol however lingered back with Keres who seemed to not want to join the race. The girl asserted the fire spirit had no need to thank her to which Ziiyol merely smiled and hummed to herself as they moved along.

 

The Draken's focus was on the other Chosen how had come outside now. Lindow gave him a greeting but the other two were largely quiet. "Good see that you didn't get far, Reinaan." came the greeting with a smile. Despite not knowing each other very well it seemed leaving as he had done had worried the other Chosen. They likely shared the feeling of being overwhelmed. The Draken dismounted but his left foot caught and to the ground he fell. He caught himself with his hands and the pain in his left reminded him of the state it was. Soft flesh was still exposed from the explosive rocks the bandits had used. Brushing himself off, he stood to return Lindow's greeting. "Sorry about all that..." he said somewhat sheepishly. Keres arrived and was quick to start working on the food she had promised but not before speaking to Kha's burial. Orc's typically burned their dead she said. The tradition was not unlike that of Reinaan's own people wherein the dead were laid to rest in the magma deep underground. Despite his frustration with the other's seeming lack of respect for Kha's passing he hadn't exactly gone and done anything about it. But that would change.

 

"I'll handle it." came the solemn reply. "I'll probably need your help to move him though Lindow" he said turning to the Thunder Chosen. The Draken was strong, but even he doubted his ability to move the large orc's corpse unaided. Regardless of the reply he went into the shrine and came face to face with the corpse, this time much closer than when he had returned previously. Thoughts of the few Draken who had passed on during his life time came to mind. But there was no real direction to the thoughts or emotions. They were simply present as he began attempting to move the fallen orc.

[Sethera]

There was a lot going on, but Gilly tried her best to keep up with it. Well, something about burning the orc guy, and then food. Or was it the other way around? Regardless, that was what the halfling chose to focus on. "Food food foodity food!" she chirped, hopping around Mute Girl, careful not to touch her by accident. Maybe Mute Girl was super sensitive to touch, just like Gilly was super sensitive to taste! It wasn't as if she would be of much use burning the orc guy anyway. She'd create the opposite problem, actually.

 

Hob had nudged its head closer to the pink-haired girl after she spoke. What a nice girl! So concerned about his master. But no, that wasn't why he was here. Gilly wasn't the one who had started to cry, after all. Sadness was bad, but he had been told that he was super fluffy, and the halfling told him that fluffiness was the cure to sadness. So, even after his master returned from wherever she had been, Hob stuck to the pink-haired girl's side like glue.

 

Snow studied the orc's body, including the emblem that seeped black liquid, with a mixture of fear and interest. "I would like to know a few things," the rabbit started, addressing the room. "First, how exactly did the Light Chosen's loss of sanity occur? From the symbol?" he asked the others. "And more importantly...is this going to happen to us? We need to figure this out before we burn the body," his tone was urgent. He didn't fancy his Chosen going crazy from the mark on her forehead, being slaughtered like a beast, nor did he look forward to what would happen next. His...annihilation. From him. He glared at the Thunder Chosen. There had been something wrong with him from the start, and the Ice spirit was getting more and more suspicious of him as time passed.

[Hälō]

"I'll handle it. I'll probably need your help to move him though Lindow" 

 

Lindow's body suddenly perked up at the Fire Chosen's words. His eye narrowed as he sighed at the prospect of lugging Kha's body anywhere after trading blows with the hulking healer. A fight was one thing, but manual labor? That seemed like a job for an or-

 

...

 

He pursed his lips upon remembering who he had just killed. Well s***.

 

Watching as Reinaan made his way over to Kha's corps, Lindow sighed dejectedly before following the boy. Moving past Reinnaan as the boy solemnly peered down at the body, Lindow blew a strand of hair out of his face as he lazily crouched down and grabbed Kha's upper half. "I guess it's only fair, right? Seeing as I left him here..." He sighed. "Let's lift on three."

 

"I would like to know a few things," Lindow glanced down to see the Ice spirit studying the body... 

 

Was it glaring at him? Having never actually seen a rabbit glare, Lindow was unsure of what emotion it was trying to convey with it's furry little face. "First, how exactly did the Light Chosen's lost of sanity occur? From the symbol? And more importantly...is this going to happen to us? We need to figure this out before we burn the body," 

 

"There's no way to tell." Lindow was quick reply as he returned his attention to the task at hand. "He was dead when he walked in here... Though I can say for sure that it's definitely the mark, whatever conditions needed to be met are anyone's guess." He paused for a moment to think, replaying the confrontation in his head. "He didn't look very stable after our battle with the bandits... I smelled death on him in the morning, but certainly nothing magical. His body had no wounds to indicate that he had killed himself either... but maybe the mark reacted to the fact that he had given up?" 

 

He turned to the witch of the group. "Sound plausible? They were pretty clear on what would happen if we didn't follow orders... this could have just been a little demonstration to keep us motivate." He addressed Keres without his usual smirk, conversing with her as an actually intellectual equal for the first time since they'd met. Though he wasn't particularly worried about the council's curse effecting himself, it would be bad if one of the others were to turn like that out of the blue... 

[Alaina]

As the Earth Chosen had gone to meet the others, the Nature Chosen seemed to be moving back, only to look straight at the girl. She seemed a bit exasperated by the whole situation, to the point of actually saying "sigh," and asking her what they were all going to do. The pink haired girl had no real idea as to what their next step was. They were still directionless. They knew they had to go somewhere in the desert and fight a demon. Where and how was completely uncertain. Furthermore, three of them had already died. Things were getting bleaker by the moment and the girl wasn't quite sure what their next step was. All she had managed to say was, "I-I'm not sure. W-we should just, um, wait for the others. For now."  The girl looked up only to then here that the group had then all reconvened back at the temple, which did a bit to get the heavy weight off of her heart. 

 

While the people were starting to get ready to handle burning the orc's body as part of his funeral rites, they then started to talk about what had happened to him. Everyone else had already seemed to move on and conduct business as usual. Then came the discussion as to what had caused the orc to go berserk in the first place. The girl's heart sank a bit as she started to fear if it could happen to her. Dying by itself was already a terrifying fate, but coming back and fighting the other Chosen was something that she couldn't think to bear. As she her head spun with worries, she looked down to see the sheep. She wasn't quite sure why it was still hanging around her, as the halfling had returned, but it seemed to look at her with concerned eyes. 

 

Then the words of the Thunder Chosen's theory came to her. This strange feeling of worry, concern and uncertainty was then replaced by something else. A sense of frustration for sure, but something else she couldn't quite place. If she fought, she was likely to die. If she ran, she was likely to die. If she ran, she would hurt those around her. If she fought, though - "Then nothing has changed." The oddly calm words just seemed to escape her lips, without her much thinking at all. She then realized what she said, only to then double back and say, "um, I mean that we just have to uh, not give up, right?" As she made this suggestion, she couldn't help but a feel a bit embarrassed due to how blatantly obvious an answer this seemed. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"um, I mean that we just have to uh, not give up, right?"

 

"That sounds quite easier said than done. At least with our current situation, where we don't even have much idea about everything. While of course we would need to prioritize surviving, I do find that our circumstances quite disheartening. It is not enough to push me to the brink of despair, but I understand that it would weigh heavily on people here."

 

For the most part of the cremation, Anis was silent. She was still thinking about what should the group do next, and what would be best for herself and Ileca right now. Ileca been really quite bloodthirsty lately and had been way more reckless in her fighting style, which didn't help her since she's a bird rather than a swordfighter. And the last groupfight they all had didn't really have good coordination either.

 

"On another topic, should we enter another combat situation, wouldn't it be best if we have a concrete idea of some sort of general battle plan? And I do believe that we would need to spend some time with combat training for some of us."

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres tried to focus on her task of preparing the food...a task made difficult by Gilly hopping around like mad. "...Want to help?" She asked tentatively. She'd have Gilly help cut up their food into small bits while the water boils and Keres gathered a few herbs to add to the water.

 

"First, how exactly did the Light Chosen's loss of sanity occur? From the symbol?" he asked the others. "And more importantly...is this going to happen to us? We need to figure this out before we burn the body,"

 

Keres shook her head absently, not that anyone could see if they weren't watching her. That wasn't how it worked from what Keres surmised. It sounded like she was going to have to speak more. To explain this to them. It would be difficult...

 

"He didn't look very stable after our battle with the bandits... I smelled death on him in the morning, but certainly nothing magical. His body had no wounds to indicate that he had killed himself either... but maybe the mark reacted to the fact that he had given up?" 

 

He turned to the witch of the group. "Sound plausible? They were pretty clear on what would happen if we didn't follow orders... this could have just been a little demonstration to keep us motivate."

 

Keres looked at Lindow in surprise. How did he know that? He managed to basically guess what the problem was. Did he know more than that? How much? Perhaps he had studied at the Mage Tower at some point as well...

"Yes." She responded simply.

 

"That sounds quite easier said than done. At least with our current situation, where we don't even have much idea about everything. While of course we would need to prioritize surviving, I do find that our circumstances quite disheartening. It is not enough to push me to the brink of despair, but I understand that it would weigh heavily on people here."

 

It was true. Though for Keres the thing that disheartened her was finding out her allies seemed to be much more fragile than she expected. Why did the spirits choose this group, including herself, one that lacked something...some sort of determination. It felt all so wrong, why was this?

 

"On another topic, should we enter another combat situation, wouldn't it be best if we have a concrete idea of some sort of general battle plan? And I do believe that we would need to spend some time with combat training for some of us."

 

"When?" Keres asked. They couldn't very well do that today, and training in the desert, beyond what would be needed to fight off monster attacks, felt...less than wise.

 

She turned her attention back to the water as she heard it bubbling. It was time to add the meat...which meant....

 

She looked at Reinaan. "We should...do it." Keres glanced at Kha for a quick moment. There was no use putting it off anymore. They should begin the...funeral. Everyone who wished of course could say whatever words they felt were appropriate. Keres herself was trying to think of what she could possibly say about a man she hardly knew.

 

And while they did this, far away, though too close for comfort, the sand stirred from the movement of a large group from the West.

[Sethera]

Gilly cheered after being asked to help. Brandishing a small ice spear, she broke off part so it...became an ice knife! Voila! She was sooo smart. Using that ice knife, she cut the food up into small bits. Thankfully, she wasn't too bad at this, having learned basic culinary skills during her travels. Otherwise she wouldn't have eaten nearly as well as she would have otherwise. "You can call me Iron Chef Gilly!" she told the others proudly.

 

Snow, meanwhile, glanced at Lindow curiously. What he said sounded...plausible. If that was the case, then he would have to make sure his Chosen didn't lose her motivation. Not that that was very likely, given her personality. No, probably out of all of them, she was the least likely to give up.

 

Gilly heard the old fuddy-duddy talk about combat training, and she perked up. "Oh pick me pick me!" she cheered. "The totally amazing Gilly volunteers! I'll teach you all how to fight like a real master!" she gave a thumbs up. She heard Mute Girl's later words of "We should...do it" as affirmation and quickened her enthusiastic chopping.

 

Hob still stayed by the pink-haired girl's side, though not quite as close after she seemed to regain a little bit of strength. From whatever they were talking about. He wasn't exactly sure, given that he was a sheep, but as long as nobody was crying anymore then that was fine.

[Andx]

With Lindow's help the young Draken was able to lift the orc's corpse and move it just outside of the shrine. Reinaan worked silently at the preparations for the cremation as the others spoke among themselves. Keres agreed they should proceed with the funeral at which Reinaan began digging in the sand some. He clawed at the ground attempting to move the sand aside. It was a little frustrating as sand didn't seem to move like normal dirt did. Making a proper hole was going to prove difficult. But eventually he cleared away a shallow ditch large enough to hold the orc's body. Before moving the corpse into the ditch the boy knelt over it and inhaled deeply. A burning sensation engulfed the entirety of his chest and face as he exhaled a powerful stream of flame aimed at the ditch. Upon contact the boy's breath began to melt the sand forming a blackened uneven glass along the bottom of the ditch. It took several large breaths and it pushed Reinaan to the limit of his elemental breath abilities but he had successfully melted the bottom and sides of the ditch into the rough glass material. It was a trick an older Draken had once taught him on one of their trips to the coasts of Blagos together. Given the lack of a ceremonial site it was the most the boy could offer.

 

This time unaided, the boy was able to push and lower the body into the glass structure. He straightened the body into a dignified position, the orc's arms straight down at his side. From here he didn't know what a proper orc cremation would include but he hoped what he did know of respecting the dead would suffice. There was a phrase in his village used before lowering a departed Draken into the magma of the volcano. He remembered it well from the one such funeral he had attended in his time. And so now he spoke the words in the ancient Draken tongue, audible to the other Chosen.

 

"Gein kiin do yolos, daal nu wah yol ahrk kos kiin ontzos." came the bizarre reptilian chant in a solemn tone. He gave no translation at the moment figuring the others would ask if they wanted to know. The boy close his eyes and bowed briefly to the fallen orc as Ziiyol approached, the same solemnity present even in her. The spirit opened the fans she carried in either hand and began slowly to dance around the pit. As she did so her power manifested actual flames which descended gracefully upon the body, igniting the clothes at first but soon too the flesh. As Ziiyol continued dancing the entirety of the body was engulfed. The flames grew brighter and hotter as they consumed the body slowly. Crackling and hissing sounds were all that could be heard. Reinaan watched them, captivated at the sight of another soul returning to the source of life. Memories of his fallen friend who had died saving his life came to mind as he stared in silence. The scent of burning flesh was strong and repugnant to the boy's sensitive nose but it wasn't his place to complain, just bare it.

 

After some time the flames died down. Remaining in the black glass pit was nothing but a pile of ashes, what had formerly been their companion and fellow Chosen. As the last flames extinguished, Reinaan turned back to the remaining group having only partially registered most of what anyone had been saying. Keres had been cooking as she had said she would and without much a word Reinaan retrieved a sizable portion of the meat he had purchased earlier from one of the bags on Kloqah's back and presented it to the girl. He sat down nearby her, admittedly curious as to how she was cooking. The group had spoken of some sort of training together but he had no comment for it given the circumstances.

[Alaina]

After the Earth Chosen said what she did, the Nature Chosen then seemed to reply with how they needed to go and formulate a better and more effective way to fight. It was true, they were mostly disorganized when it came to fighting and it was only due to both their surprise attack and the scattering of the enemy forces that they managed to pull off the fight as well as they did. Even then, one of them had still died in the process. Thinking about how worse their situation was now, the girl's attention was then brought back to those around her as the halfling seemed to want to go full force in training. "We should find a safe place first," the girl voice out. They couldn't very well train here, as they had to leave soon. And training in the desert sand in the wide open where any matter of bandits or creatures that lived below could ambush them.

 

As the girl was lost in her thoughts, it was soon that she noticed the draken boy had finished preparing the burial for the orc and had put his body in the pit. As he spoke some words that the girl couldn't understand, she saw the pit light ablaze as the fire spirit dance above it. The girl had a solemn look across her face as the flames burned, and she could not find any words to speak during the pyre. Though he had seemed like a kind and caring soul, she had hardly known him. And what little time they had spent together was mostly occupied with fighting and traveling across the barren wastes of the desert. Nevertheless, he had decided to fight against the demons and had been a valuable ally in the time he was still alive. The girl prayed that he might be able to find peace in whatever lied beyond life, and continued to stand there silently, with her eyes closed as the fires continued. 

 

When all was said, and done, there remained naught but ashes left of him. When that was done with, the girl walked away from the pile, wondering what to do next. It was then that she saw the greatsword that the orc had been wielding earlier lying the sand. Walking over to it, the girl bent down and examined it slightly, before hefting it up. As she did, she then stabbed the blade into the ground, leaving it standing up in the sand. The girl had intended to leave it standing there as a sort of grave marker for the orc, though, all the same she was unsure about leaving a large blade in the middle of a shrine, ruined or not. Regardless, she merely left it there for now, and observed the rest of the group. 

[Hälō]

Lindow watched Kha's funeral pyre with a mild expression. He knew a good person when he saw one, and Kha definitely had the group's best interests at heart since the beginning of the adventure. That and the fact that Kha was one of the main combatants in the group, as well their medic, made this a pretty brutal blow to the team as a whole. At least he was able to salvage some of the orc's powers... they would probably need them more than ever now.

 

He looked up to see the young Draken issue a chant in a reptilian language. Glancing around to see if any of the other chosen had planned to speak for their fallen companion, Lindow was reminded of the fact that more than half of his group had trouble even completing whole sentences, let alone giving a speech.

 

Take a step forward, Lindow spoke up to address the gathering. "I was once told that you only truly know what kind of person you are when you're at the end of the line." His tone low and he spoke in a manner that was rare for him. "From what I can tell, Khadba Dulaga was an honorable man... and like all honorable men, he had one hell of a right hook!" He smirked a little whilst lightly tapping his head at the point where Kha and struck him earlier.

 

Well aware that his joke would more than likely do nothing to ease the tension as intended, he continued. "I'd like to think that the big guy would find comfort in the fact that we managed to stop him before he could hurt anyone..." Lindow looked around at his fellow chosen, his smile returning to it's usual spot as he remember ed what they had discussed about Kha's cause of death. "Thanks to him, we now know that not only can the council not be trusted, but we need to maintain our will to fight. Not a bad final contribution to the team, eh? I'd say he can rest easy..."

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres wasn't sure what to do about Gilly. It seemed the sort of situation that one should praise another for helping. But how does one praise? The only experience with this was her cat...and so Keres patted Gilly's head. "Good...girl." She muttered.

 

And then it was time. The funeral. A solemn affair that, to the girl, seemed more awkward than anything else. He was a stranger, practically, as they only knew him for a day. But his loss was important to the group for many reasons.

"Gein kiin do yolos, daal nu wah yol ahrk kos kiin ontzos."

Keres recognized the language, but she wasn't sure of the translation. Her studies didn't really delve into that much at all. In the Mage Tower the students are forbidden to learn that language. As it allowed the Templar to speak in code if they needed.

 

And then Lindow spoke. A crude eulogy to say the least but it was at least something. It seemed that Lindow was the only one to speak out more about the man...and really, what would Keres add?

 

But even if she didn't have anything to add she had to say something. It would be...wrong to send him away just like that. She thought, waiting for everyone else to have their say, and then spoke up. "A kind man is gone today." She said and nodded to herself. That was that, then...

 

She waited for a time after this before indicating the food. They had to eat, and then get out of there. It was getting later in the day and soon would be the time they were meant to leave.

----

The elder let out a deep sigh. There was no more putting it off now. Not given...that. It seemed the situation was even more serious than he thought.
He headed for the shrine. It was time to make a decision. For all of them.

He couldn't imagine this ending in anything other than conflict.

[Alaina]

After everyone had said their part for the funeral of the orc, the Water Chosen had then finished the food they had been cooking. With that finished, the girl wasn't quite sure she felt like eating, her appetite not entirely being there after the day's current events. Though, as the others had started to get up and move towards the food, the girl had eventually decided that it was important she eat, regardless if she had to force herself. As such, lagging behind the others, the girl eventually got her own food, sat down and began to eat. Her expression didn't change from its solemn state as she ate, and she did not speak, merely lost in her thoughts. While she had said that what they had to do was simple, actually proceeding was a completely different matter. She wasn't sure which direction to move from here, nor what to expect, and wasn't exactly looking forward to treading across the sand again. Nevertheless, as she had finished her meal, the girl stood up and said, "we..." There was a slight pause before she finished. "We should start leaving now." They weren't supposed to stay here much longer as things were, and the she had no desire to stay in this shrine for any more time then they already had. 

[Sethera]

The burning of their orc friend went rather quickly but solemnly. Reiny boy ended up spitting out fire and saying a few words that Gilly could make neither heads nor tails of. Mr. Lindow spoke a few words as well as did Mute Girl. Gilly thought about saying something but for once she was silent. Honestly, she hadn't known Mr. Orc that well, and in fact his spirit was the one that had made more of an impression on her. But there wasn't anything to be done about that now. It was all in the past now.

 

Maybe it was cold but...Gilly knew if she let every little thing get to her then she would never be able to live. And wasn't that what life was about anyway? Living. And then dying. The orc dude had lived and then he had died, and that was it.

 

Hob, meanwhile, bleated at seeing the fire consume the orc's body. He knew enough to know that that man had just died, the one who had seemed kind and radiated peace and warmth. But now the man was dead, and it was a bit...sad.

 

Snow merely shuddered at the presence of so much heat so near to him. Entombed in ice would be a much better way. It would preserve the body and grant them an immortality of sorts. It was unfortunate that this wasn't the kind of climate that would allow for such an elegant funeral.

 

Gilly might have been the only one that truly enjoyed the food afterward. But she couldn't help it! It was so good. Then Pinky suggested that they leave, to which she could only say, "Oh yeah, where are we going again?" Honestly she had forgotten in all the excitement. She knew they were trying to destroy the demon gates but where was the nearest one again?

[Andx]

Reinaan sat calmly as Keres finished preparing the food. It smelled good enough. He didn't honestly need to eat for another day or so given his slower metabolism but at the same time it wouldn't hurt. Given their circumstances they likely wouldn't have much time to sit down for another meal for a while. And so Reinaan consumed his portion of the stewed meat. Ziiyol seemed fascinated as he ate. "Doesn't it bother you that it's lizard meat?" she said as the Draken downed the last bite. "Not really." he said after swallowing. "It's not Draken meat so no problem for me." he said simply. "So you'd eat anything except your own kind. Interesting." she said before turning her attention away from the meal. It seemed like something about the sky caught her attention for the hundredth time despite there not being much to look at.

 

As the others concluded eating they began to stir, the general knowledge they needed to leave seemed apparent. Ryia spoke to it and Gilly questioned where it was they were even going. "We didn't end up getting any info on the gate because of..." he trailed off looking to the ashes in the pit. The boy stood and moved over to the pit one more time. This time he buried the ashes with the dirt he had dug out before and patted the earth smooth before brushing himself off and making sure Kloqah was ready to go. "Let's get ready to move. Maybe on the way out we can ask the Elder and some of the others." he said suggesting a course of action. He finished packing up his things and securing the remainder of the food on the mount's back as the fire spirit twirled back over to his side.

 

"You know Reiny I've been thinking, have you noticed all the worst stuff seems to happen while you're clothed?" came the question out of no where. The boy seemed caught off guard by the question, perhaps by how random it seemed in the context of everything going on. "What are you talking about?" he said slightly irritated with his companion. "Well, when your neck was injured you were wearing that cloak from the council. And now today you put your jacket on and the situation with the Light Chosen arose." she began, it seemed she had really been spending some time pondering the ideas she was presenting. However Reinaan wasn't buying into the idea. "Yeah but I wasn't wearing anything when the Wind Chosen died or when we fought at the lake."  he said, not entirely sure why he was even playing along at this point. "Hmm, I suppose you're right, I hadn't considered those. Oh! But what about the ship? You slept terribly the night you kept your jacket on and also wore it when that monster attacked when we were departing Blagos." came the reply. Now Reinaan was fully caught in the game. "I didn't sleep well because the ship wouldn't stop moving, and the monster was going to attack regardless." he said.

 

The two continued the pointless back and forth for a moment which ended in Reinaan wondering if his spirit wasn't on to something. It sounded ridiculous but then he always had felt it unnatural to wear clothes, he just appreciated the look to them. It sounded more like an excuse for Ziiyol to get to see his back scales more than anything. But it'd stick in the back of his mind for now as he tugged at his sides some. With that distraction out of the way the Chosen of Fire politely asked his spirit to not bother him much more before they were on there way since they didn't have much more time here. She happily agreed and set about humming to herself again. With everything in place, Reinaan took a hold of Kloqah's reigns and began leading her on foot out away from the shrine. He quickly caught sight of the Elder approaching. The man seemed troubled. The Draken motioned back to the others to come forward to meet with him and then greeted the man from a distance.

 

"We were just about to start leaving. Sorry for taking so long." he said as he approached the Elder. He hoped they hadn't inconvenienced the kind man in some way.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Both Lindow and Anis were being silent. Likely due to their previous encounter. Ryia and Keres, naturally, weren't much of talkers, and Gilly, and this somewhat frightened Keres, didn't say much either.

 

They all were prepared to head out though and, soon after leaving, they ran into the elder.

"We were just about to start leaving. Sorry for taking so long."

 

The look on his face told Keres what would be coming next. "It is my fault for not asking you to leave sooner." His voice was flat, dejected, and tired. "I fear it may be too late now." He gestured in the direction he came, the direction of the gate. "They have arrived. In force. The bandits are already here. They are giving me a couple hours, until the evening, to give you all up before they break down the gate." He looked around at the group, a bushy eyebrow raising as he counted their number, then continued. "I have not told my people, except for those guards who were at the gate, and I wish to keep it from them as long as I can...For I know they will want to give you up immediately. I..." He now was looking at Reinaan and Gilly. "Do not wish to do that. But I must do what's best for my people. If you try and sneak away they will come through the city and then chase you down. If you fight and lose, or run, they will kill us all. I know in my head that the only option to for certain save my people is to give you up to them, weaponless, yet...my heart is troubled."

 

He became silent and Keres had to ponder his words. He came here, alone, to tell them this. Clearly he trusts them. And obviously he does not wish to surrender them to the bandits...But it also seemed as though he wouldn't toss out the idea without having some assurance that things will work out. Keres didn't know if they could handle a fight right now and even if they could, would they take that risk?

A decision had to be made, and fast, if they wanted any time to either make their escape, plan their fight, or whatever other option they could come up with.

[Alaina]

Once their meal was finished, the group began to make their preparations to leave the area. The Earth Chosen looked over to see that the fire chosen and his spirit seemed to be having some kind of back and forth. She wasn't entirely sure what the subject matter was on, but despite what looked to be bickering it seemed as though they were enjoying themselves. As if a bit envious, the girl then mumbled, "um, Ackrin."

 

"Yes?" The spirit replied. 

 

The girl didn't quite know what to say to start a conversation with her spirit, so she remained silent for a bit, before finally coming up with something. "Uh, how are you feeling?"

 

"Adequate." 

 

"O-oh, okay." The spirit didn't say anything further beyond that and the girl felt somewhat strange trying to make any further conversation, and so they simply remained silent. Once these had finished, the group started to walk out of the shrine as they were making their way to leave the city. When the halfling had asked where they were going next, the girl simply said, "um, somewhere in the desert...probably." The girl wanted to answer to halfling's question but she wasn't exactly sure herself and thus the answer was half-baked. The group then ran into the elder of the village, and while they were about to tell him they were leaving, the girl's heart sank at the news he brought along. 

 

She didn't realize just how terrible the situation had become, but it was clear now that they had managed to drag this city into a much bigger mess then they might've initially thought. Their options were surrender, fight and run. While surrendering was more than likely the best way to keep the people of this town safe, if they did then their quest to stop the demon gates was more than definitely over. If they ran, they were probably at their momentary safest. However, she couldn't just leave and do nothing as the people of the city were most likely in terrible danger, especially when it was caused from their involvement. So all that left was fighting. Fighting outside the city was likely going to keep the people safer during the skirmish, but was more than likely just going to get them killed and leave the people of the city to their fate. Fighting inside the city likely had a lot more problems associated with it at that. The girl couldn't quite figure out what to do, nor could she properly articulate her thoughts to the others, so instead all she did was look to everyone else. With both some kind of panic and determination, she said, "we can't just let the bandits harm them."

[Hälō]

"we can't just let the bandits harm them."

 

"So then let's take care of them now." Lindow responded in a casual tone.

 

Stepping forward towards the village elder, Lindow turned to that was facing both the man and the other chosen. "Look around, our bandit friends having been doing harm long before we arrived," He glanced around the town before allowing his gaze to fall on the village elder once more. 

 

"and they'll certainly keep at it when we're gone." Though it did in fact bother him a little that the bandits had such a strangle hold on this town, what was really important to the man was the fact that doing battle in such a location would lend them the upper hand. They would surely be faced with the bandits again later in their journey if they didn't deal with them now, and as far as Lindow could tell, this was their best opportunity. 

 

"I move that we prepare an ambush and crush them here and now." Lindow continued. "They don't know about our abilities, and certainly wouldn't expect anything of the sort from such a small group like ours..." Lindow began inspecting the area, his militant background showing as he started running calculations and toying at possible strategies in head. "This could be an opportunity to severally cripple their operation and weaken their hold on this area." 

 

"Of course, we'll be relying on you to get your people to safety, and present us with every resource we have at our disposal." Lindow calmly looked the old man in the eyes as he studied his expression. Even if he could convince his allies, it would ultimately be the town leader who had the final say on the matter. 

 

"What do ya say? You were gracious enough to take us in... now allow us return the favor." 

[Sethera]

Nobody seemed able to answer Gilly's question except Pinky, but she didn't seem to know either. "Um, somewhere in the desert...probably."

 

"Ehhh, that's no good!" the halfling responded. "The desert's super big! We'd need a map or something to find it then!"

 

The old man arrived soon after, bringing good news--the bullies were back! It was time to kick butt! He seemed to be having some sort of conflict though as he looked at Reiny boy and her, talking about giving them to the bandits and not wanting to do that and blahblahblah. He talked a lot but the halfling got the gist. The bandits told him to do a thing but he didn't want to do the thing! Obviously because he was one of the good guys.

 

"We can't just let the bandits harm them."

 

"So then let's take care of them now." Mr. Lindow then started talking strategy. He sounded just like one of the officers she used to fight under, but then that got boring so she quit but now she was here and he was still talking

 

"Aye aye let's go fight fight!" Gilly shouted in agreement when he was done. "Those bullies have done nothing but be mean and nasty and they wanted to take Mutey and Pinky and now they want to harm the town but no way will we let them! We're the Chosen, after all!" she pumped a fist.

 

In the background, Snow rolled his eyes while Hob blinked. Slowly.