Flames of Darkness (Started- Still accepting)

Shady · 2012-11-25T21:18:27Z

A mighty warrior assembled behind him a massive, skilled army. He led his army across the countryside, devouring small villages, crushing rebellion- until none remained but he and his followers. He declared himself King and few were living to dispute his claim. He wasn’t faithful, and soon found himself with many infant sons. Advised to name an heir, but uncertain which of his sons would be most suited to the crown, he split his kingdom into eight parts, and named each son heir to a throne, with intentions to amend his decision once his boys’ personalities were fully formed- to restore his kingdom to a single fortress. He died before that day came, and his kingdom was broken. Four short decades later only three kingdoms remained- the others conquered, crushed, forgotten: Neko, Atra, and Genor. Genor had withdrawn all contacts from the neighbouring nations, and shut itself deep within the protection of its mountainous ranges. Neko and Atra, both aggressive nations, reached an agreement- that the Prince of Neko and the Princess of Atra would wed, and that the nations would become allies. The Princess of Atra had no desire to marry her cousin, nor did the Prince want to marry her- and fresh, civil battles were waged. Messengers carried forged letters. Spies reported false information. Atra and Neko’s leaders were killed in the battles. The newly assumed thrones, their pride injured by the other’s refusal of marriage, declared war on each other. Who will you side with? The Queen of Fire? The King of Shadows? The Lord of the Mountains? When nothing is certain but fear and death, and no one is what they seem... Atra- Kingdom of Fire Roles in society: Women- Women are to birth and raise warriors. A prized woman will be silent and observant, respected by her children (though not often her husband), and possess ample strength to run her household and give her sons basic training. Women are to be seen and not heard. If a woman ventures to speak out against a man- or against a man’s abilities- she had better be able to defend herself and be prepared for a Test, because other men won’t come to her rescue. A woman who can defeat a man in battle, or simply requests one, will be given a Test, and, if she passes, she will be placed in the Fire Queen’s ranks- to be treated, in all respects, as a man of equal rank. A woman, once she has proven herself, is given an equal opportunity for advancement, though is not given a handicap because she’s a woman- if she can’t earn something, she can’t have it. Girls- Girls are given only the most basic training in arms, typically in whatever Craft their mother learned—they only learn enough to be able to train the sons that they are expected to bear one day. The age of their training varies, depending on the capabilities of the girl, but is typically completed by the time they’re nine. Girls learn their basic figures, reading, and writing- and then begin mastering the things women commonly do, cooking, cleaning, caring for children, etc. Men- Men are prideful and possessive, often brawling if they feel they’ve been done wrong, or that their woman has been slighted (outside the mild condescension to be expected). From an early age (commonly four winters) they cease to be babied by their mothers, who eventually become their first tutors. From age 4 to 7 they are Stage One, from 8 to 10 is Stage Two, when they are 11 and 12 they are Starters, and ages 13 and 14 are Apprentices. Stage One- The boy will begin to learn independence. He will master dressing and bathing himself, as well as begin to keep his Father’s or older brother(s)’ weapons cleaned. He will begin to learn a Craft- typically the one his mother learned. He will learn to read, write, and perform basic math computations. He will begin to learn horsemanship. Stage Two- He will know how to fully groom himself, and how to maintain weapons. He will be proficient in the Craft his mother decided to teach him, and will begin learning the other Crafts- usually from an older brother or older friend, but sometimes his mother. His reading will be fluent, his writing legible, and an older man will teach him more advanced mathematics. His father will observe him as he trains, and will discourage any weakness he displays. His father continue to teach him horsemanship. Starter- His education will be fully taken over by his Father, who will now be familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of his son. His time with his mother will be significantly restricted, and all sympathies lost. He will practice his Craft- his shortcomings punished more severely- and practice the Crafts that he’s unskilled in, though the majority of his time will be spent honing his skills in his Craft, and the Craft of his father. Apprentice- The boy will take up residence with a Master of the Craft he wishes to pursue. His Master will hone his skills in the Craft, and teach him things beyond the common knowledge (see the list of Crafts). In return, the boy will care for h is Master’s arms, cook meals, keep his Master’s house and stable, and accompany his Master wherever he goes. Test- When a boy is 15 years old, or whenever his Master deems him ready, he will be tested in the Craft of his choice. The Test is intense- taxing mentally, as well as physically- and different, depending on the Craft. All Crafts require the Apprentice to survive for a fortnight in the wilderness, with nothing but their weapon, a knife, a flint, and some steel. Neko- Kingdom of Shadows Roles in society: Women- Women have two options- become a Yulaki or a Citizen. Yulaki are women the mild type, treated gently- in word and deed- behaving as perfect ladies. They are ever available to keep a man company, and only speak when they’re spoken to- excluding talking to other Yulaki. Often if a man finds a Yulaki who he is particularly fond of, he will take her into his dwelling, providing her with food and shelter, in return for her services. Women who decide to become Citizens are decidedly more opinionated and express their opinions more freely. Women who pass the Citizenship Test are treated as a man, being allowed to freely converse with them, and, if she feels she’s been slighted, she can brawl with men without bringing any disgrace on her or her household. Men- Men are raised to be warriors. Every man is a Citizen, and therefore a soldier in the King’s army, which is his first profession. Men often prefer swords to any other weapon, leaving archery for women- not out of disrespect, but because women tend to have better aim, and seem to prefer long-distance fighting over hand-to-hand combat, though all weapons are welded by both genders. Men tend to be arrogant and prideful, but usually keep their opinions private, unless they have a score they wish to settle. Few men speak empty threats- and fewer still live long enough to speak them twice. Any insult is taken on a highly personal level, and typically settled before the night is through. Children- Children are raised from birth to be warriors. From the time they can walk, boys begin to spar with their fathers, who aren’t gentle in their lessons- backhanding, punching, and slapping boys, sometimes no taller than your belt, when they err in their form. Girls receive somewhat gentler lessons until they’re five years old, when they choose whether they’re going to become a Citizen or a Yulaki. A girl can change her decision to be a Citizen until she takes her Citizenship Test, a Yulaki may apply for Citizenship at any time, though it’s far harder for a girl who didn’t receive the training as a child. Children training to become Citizens receive a crude education, reading, writing, their primary figures- and intense training with swords. Every Citizen must be somewhat capable with a spear and a bow, but only those who choose those as a primary weapon receive extensive training. Yulaki, having more time for leisure, learn to read more fluently, and more advanced mathematics. Yulaki study poems and practice their elocution, learn to sew and embroider, and learn to play an instrument- usually a harp, lyre, or piano. Yulaki that are talented masseuses tend to be the most popular, as do Yulaki who are skilled in the kitchen. Citizenship Test- Every winter, a faction of young Nekoites, typically in their twelfth year, apply for Citizenship through an Audition, in which they must prove themselves stronger than their peers. They are taken to the bottom of a steep mountain, and put in one end of an arena- in the other end, there are several Nekoite Citizens. The Citizens are armed with clubs, as are the initiates. The initiates must fight their way out of the arena, and up the mountain- battling against each other, for the honour and ranks that come with being in the first ten to arrive back at the town, and against the conditions. Genor- Kingdom in the Mountains Little is known about the people of Genor. They typically keep to themselves- allowing few people to enter their country, and fewer still to leave it. They’re considered Rebels, resentful of both the ruler of Neko and the ruler of Atra, but neutral in the war- rumoured to be waiting for the two to exhaust their resources, and thus be easier to defeat once the other throne falls. Crafts Archery- Soldiers who choose a different Craft recieve minimal training, making them accurate at only a very short distance. Soldiers and Citizens who chose this as thier Craft, however, recieve detailed instruction. They will learn to shoot different types of bows, different types of arrows, learn how to make their own weapons, learn to make arrows and re-fletch them, and learn tricks to make them lethal at a further distance-- such as a countering cross-winds and tweaking arrows. Magic- Magic comes in many different forms. Wizards have the furthest range- at least they rumor themselves to. They have tendancies of making interesting things happen when they come around, and are generally a better thing to have as an ally than an enemy. Enchanters can charm nearly anyone into spilling thier secrets or helping them out of a pinch. Magicians come in many different facets- from magicians who can control the Elements- Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, to magicians who can only control smaller things, such as items or situations around them. Swordsmanship The Craft favored by Nekoite Citizens, and an art practiced by all, swordsmanship requires a good deal of strength and discipline, speed, and finesse. You have to be observant, as to see the weaknesses in your opponent's guard, and quick enough to use the opening. Staffsman Few people use staffs, finding them harder to wield and even harder to maim someone. It takes a great deal of strenght and endurance for this Craft. Spearman A more popular choice than a staff, few people use spears either. They're useless in hand-to-hand combat, and, being projectile, are usually only good for one enemy at a time. Hand-To-Hand A somewhat popular choice, people who pursue thier crafts in Hand-To-Hand combat will be trained extensively with thier hands, and a few other select weapons, depending on the Master that teaches them. Someone who choses this as his Craft will learn the pressure points and lethal areas of a human body, and no longer be under the socially accepted rule that a Challenge must be answered. Few people are willing to fight with someone of this Craft, and for good reason. Other If your character wants a different Craft, let me know, and I'll add it. :) Character Profile: Name: (First and last names required) Nickname: (A personal title, if you have one, or what people call you) Age: (Age range is from 15-45 *Kings should be in their teens or twenties*) Gender: Class: (wizard, enchanter, warrior, ranger, rogue, peasant) Race: (human, dwarf, elf, shape-shifter *specify which shapes you can take*, other commonly known creature) Rank: (Apprentice, Graduate, Citizen, Lieutenant, Captain, other- see below) Skills: (choose three: speed, strength, endurance, intelligence, dexterity, magic, accuracy, camouflage, stealth) Weakness: (choose one: speed, strength, endurance, intelligence, dexterity, magic, accuracy, camouflage, stealth) Allegiance: (Nekoites or Atraians) Appearance: (Pics are optional. Try to avoid Anime) Personality: (Minimum 50 words. Be descriptive.) History: (Be descriptive. At least two paragraphs in length, and none of this "don't remember" nonsense. Even if they don't, explain why, and besides, each character has a story.) Up for love: (Yes, no, and what orientation.) Other: (Anything forgotten.) Character Slots Queen of Fire- ShadowVyper Fire Advisor-Trinity9001 Fire War Chief- Megsug Fire Master of Spies-DudeMcGuy Fire soldiers- -Payne -Thelios Apprentice- - Graduate- -ShadowVyper King of Darkness-Impaired Dark Advisor-thestorygirl Dark War Chief- Dark Master of Spies-Dawnpath1 Dark soldiers/Citizens- -SidereaAquila -Trinity9001 King of Genor-Megsug Rebel Advisor- Alvarin Rebel Master of Spies- Rebels- - - - - - Rules (Gotta have 'em) Don't kill off another character without the creator's permission. Keep romance to kissing and holding hands. Fade out if it goes much further than that. Try to post fairly regularly, please. Have fun! :)

Alvarin

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Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:27 am

Alvarin says... · Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:27 am

Spoiler

Name: Yngve the quick one

Nickname: Snabb among his people, Quick among anyone else.

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Class: Wizard

Race: Human

Rank: Apprentice

Skills: Magic, speed, stealth

Weakness: Strength

Allegiance: Genor

Appearance: He has pale skin. Blond hair tied back with a leather strap. 6'1. Athletic. Big dark eyes, straight nose, powerful jaw.
Wears light dark clothes that easy to move in. Carries a bow and quiver that his father made for him, and a knife with a hilt made out of horn from a caribou inscribed with symbols from his tribe. Always wears a necklace with wolf-teeth.

Personality: The cold mountains, as well as the constant competition from his older brother has taught him to be tough. His survival skills are high, like the rest of the people in his tribe, and he can survive in places where most people would starve or freeze to death.
He doesn't talk much, and when he does it's in his native tongue, since he doesn't know any other language.
He tends to be a bit grumpy, even in situations that should make him happy, and can have quite a temper. In a way he's the average moody teenager, but since he's so quiet it is hard to notice.

History: He grew up as a member of the mountain tribe in Genor. He got his nickname when he was a kid, since he always outran everyone else.
For a couple of years he and his older brother has been trained in magic by the tribe's shaman (Hunter's mother). Quick is the weaker of the two and was therefore chosen to go to the capital of Genor and finish his training with Hunter, and to assist Hunter later on.
Quick is not happy about this. He barely knows Hunter, and he doesn't speak English (or whatever language the people Genor speak) which makes the whole thing even worse. He is also not sure on how to behave among 'outsiders'.

Up for love: Yes, bi.

Quick
I was waiting just outside the pass. I'd never been outside Genor before, and it didn't feel right. I didn't belong here, and I did definitely not belong in the city. It was wrong. All wrong. Our shaman had told me that it was my fate, but I knew better. She only wanted someone to help her son. The son she had with an outsider. I had seen, we had all seen, how tired he looked when he reached us. He was overusing his powers, and he needed help. I didn't want to go, but had to anyway. It wasn't fair.

Soon the people from the other two countries would arrive, and I was supposed to escort them through the pass, all the way to the city. Then I was supposed to stay there.. And learn from one who did not belong to our people. I didn't know any of their language, so the only one I would be able to talk with was Hunter. Fantastic.

I could feel his damn magic here, even though I was outside the pass. Someone was trying to remove the constant storm that engulfed the pass, and Hunter was fighting back. He was skilled in our magic, I had to give him that, but that didn't make him any less of an outsider. He had no right to know such things.

I sighed. There was no point in going over and over it in my head. I just had to patiently sit here and wait until the two leaders showed up.

“Are you looking for sympathy? You'll find it in the dictionary between shit and syphilis”
― Thomas Harris

Shady

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Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:44 am

Shady says... · Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:44 am

Mikhail Carter

Eira watched me for a long moment, her hand placed petulantly on her hip, tapping the fingers of her other hand on her lean abdomen. "So...this can go a few ways." She started towards me. "All options are going to involve some of your blood being spilled."

She grinned even bigger, like a wolf, about to kill something. Someone.

Damn you Sik...every other guy my age would be able to fight her, no problem- and they might actually be able to survive...damn you, and your old-fashion 'boys shouldn't hit girls'... I darted around her, nearly breaking past her- when she slid her foot into my path, making me stumble forward. She landed a solid blow on my ribs, making me fall, bashing my already thobbing head on the stone floor.

"Now, I'm going to try again, and this time, hopefully, we won't be interrupted." She kicked me again, hard, in the gut as I curled into a ball, and rolled away from her. She knelt behind me. "And I won't care who sees you get beat up by a woman," she whispered in my ear. At least she's stopped yelling. "Who are you."

I clenched my jaw and looked away from her. I didn't care if I couldn't hit her- no woman was going to beat me.

"Good. I wouldn't want this to be too easy." She slammed her foot down between my legs, and I whimpered, despite myself, my eyes watering. "Bitch," I squeaked, my voice several octaves too shrill. Damned, cheating bitch.

I struggled to my feet, and leaned against the wall, hoping that the throbbing in my head, and well, there would subside, so I could leave before the crazy bitch came back with something- probably sharp- to hit me with.
Before I could move, however, she appeared once more—with fire poker. Damn.

She practically skipped towards me and bashed in one of my knees, making me fall against the wall, trying to support my weight with the other leg. “All I need is a name.”

I glared and leapt towards her, awkwardly, clawing at her neck, but she sidestepped me and whacked my shoulder-hard. I howled, annoyed, and in pain, and desperately wanting kick the shit out of her, but keeping myself from fighting back- even as she slammed the poker into my elbow.

She began poking and prodding me, and whacking me all over with poker- cracking several of my ribs, I was sure, her eyes dancing with glee. I was fed up. I didn’t give a shit what Sik might say, I wasn’t just going to take any more of it. I grabbed the end of the poker.

“Finally going to put up a fight?” She twittered mockingly.

I snarled and jerked on the poker, but she pulled back on it. She twisted it to the side, making my hand slip off- and the poker came back and hit me squarely on the bottom of my chin. I stumbled backwards, my head aching terribly, my world spinning- and then darkness.

I woke to hear her cursing, and from the sound of it, her rant was still in the early stages. I cracked my eyes open, glaring.

“Why go through all this effort?” She sneered.

"Anything to piss you off," I snarled, considering adding a ‘sweetheart’ after it, just to scorn her- but didn’t.

"Shit!" She shouted, falling backwards, slamming the poker into my hand-nearly running it clear through, as she pinned it against the wall. I screamed as I heard the bones in my hand snapping.

She stepped on my hand and stood, grinding her heel into my hand. “All this for little old me?”

She looked into my face, almost imploringly, nearly wincing. “Just give me a name. You’ve lost.”

I looked away, my pride choking me nearly as much as the pain that seized my entire arm. I made my voice far too deep, scratchy, to keep it from squeaking. “Mikhail…Mikhail Carter.”

She nodded, then whistled. A guard came trotting up, and she turned her venom on him. “First, you have three weeks stable duty…for letting this one slip by.” She started to kick me, but had mercy, and nudged me instead. “Now take him back down and actually try to watch him.”

The guard yanked me up, by my mangled hand. I clenched my teeth and glared at Eira’s back until she was out of sight. Finally I turned and, rolling my shoulders, I jerked on my tunic, straightening it. “I can walk on my own,” I snarled.

“Shut the fuck up,” The guard, obviously bitter at his misfortune, snarled, as he grabbed a fistful of my hair and shoved me forward.

I lost my temper. I wouldn’t fight a girl- even a girl like Eira, who would’ve been my match- but I had no problem beating the shit out of petty peons. My only trouble would be fighting after Eira had messed me up so badly.

I turned and drove my elbow into his face, making him stumble backwards, face spewing blood- surprised at the ferocity of my attack, since I had been limping the entire way he’d been escorting me, and slouching in a rather pathetic manner. I followed the attack with two more lefts—as I kept my right tucked safely to my chest.

I kicked him between the legs- knowing how staggering a blow that was. He made an even girlier noise than I had- something I noted with some satisfaction- as he slumped to the ground. I kicked him several times for good measure, landing a few hard blows on his head. You should wake with the same sort of headache that I have.

I slipped out of the dungeons, slinking through the palace until I found the infirmatory- not that any of the royals bothered to go there anyway, when they could get waited on in their rooms- and stole pain medicine and rags-- bundling my hand tightly.

I took a few extra rags, decided to slip the rest of the bottle of pills into my pocket, and snuck to the stable. By the time I had gotten there, the pain in my hand and head had dulled to steady throbbing aches. I burrowed down into a pile of hay, and...soon was fast asleep, in a corner, out of the way.

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]

AlmondEyes

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Points 2179

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Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:43 am

AlmondEyes says... · Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:43 am

methirr, would you mind moving your profile to the SB or putting it in a spoiler? It's a bit distracting.

"What is dead my never die, but rises again, larger and stronger..."

*Ride like Lightening, crash like Thunder*

"Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies..."

megsug

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Points 12208

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Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:10 pm

megsug says... · Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:10 pm

Balik
A small, discreet bandage on my arm where I burned it under my shirt, I hurried down a hall and finally found the correct doorway. I opened it without knocking and forced myself to smile at a boy.

Hunter wasn't there yet, though I was sure he was soon in coming.

"When Hunter told me he would have an apprentice, I didn't think he meant at this moment."

The boy just stared at me with huge eyes and remained silent.

I waited for a moment, standing at the door, and nodded when he said nothing. I walked across the room, pushing back a curtain to peer outside and watch servants run about.

"I think you'll like it here. There's a bit more excitement here then there would have been in your village." I glanced at him and saw that he was still just staring at me. I nodded again and ran my finger over several spines of the books sitting on shelves. "...Do you like to read? I've got a fairly academic lot here." Silence... again. I picked up a book and fell into an armchair, swinging my leg over the arm. Glancing at the quiet boy once more, I waited.

Test

Alvarin

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Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 pm

Alvarin says... · Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 pm

Hunter
I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I had fixed the field, and then I had slept for a while, I wasn't sure how long. When I woke up a servant had told me that the boy from my tribe had arrived. Yngve, but everyone called him Snabb.. That'd be Quick here, wouldn't it? Honestly I felt a bit sad for him. He didn't even know the language.

I entered the room where I was told that he would be and saw the king, speaking to Quick. Well, there was a conversation that would ad up to nothing. At least the king looked comfortable enough.

"...Do you like to read? I've got a fairly academic lot here."

"Your Highness," I said with a slight bow. "He doesn't know what you're saying." I turned towards Quick. "Välkommen hit. Jag hoppas resan gick bra." Quick just glared at me, and the king looked terribly confused and a bit amused. "Det där är kungen av Genor, Balik Kache." I gestured towards the king.

Quick
I glared at the man who supposedly was king over Genor. He didn't look very special. In fact, even Hunter seemed more impressive in his worn out, bags under his eyes, limping form.

"Hello," I said mockingly. It was one of the few words that I knew in their language. Hunter suddenly grabbed onto my hair and pushed my head down, forcing me to bow. It didn't hurt or anything, but it was humiliating.

The king said something that I couldn't understand. Hunter answered and let me go. "Gå nedför trappan som du kom från och sen till höger. Dörren till mitt rum står öppen. Din träning börjar om tio minuter."

I stormed out of the room. I wanted nothing more than to go home. I didn't belong here.

Hunter
"Hello." I couldn't believe my ears. Why was he acting like that? It was rude and.. Well, that rebellious expression didn't suit his childish face.

I grabbed the back of his head and pushed his head down, making him bow. I wasn't going to let him embarrass himself, not more than he already had.

"Hunter, there's no need for you to be so harsh on him."

"If I'm gonna be his teacher I might as well start with learning him some manors." I let go of Quick and told him where he would find my room and that his training would begin in ten minutes. He stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

"You've certainly got your hands full. Sure you can handle him, with all the other things going on that is?"

I sighed. I couldn't really see how this would work out. I wasn't teacher material, and I highly doubted that Quick even wanted to learn. "Hopefully he'll get over it once he gets used to the place and learns the language.. I don't remember ever being so rude, not even as a teenager. His name is Yngve by the way, but I guess you could call him Quick."

The king smiled and sat up straight. "Quick and Hunter. You people sure have funny names."

"Would you rather call me by my given name?"

The king frowned. "I thought Hunter was your given name?"

I couldn't help but laugh at his puzzled expression. "No, it's not, and no, I'm not telling you what my real name is. Hunter's much better." I glanced towards the door. I was a bit worried that Quick might return home. Rude as he was, I still needed him. "I'm gonna go make sure that he hasn't run away. If you need me I'll be in my room.. Or possibly up in the mountains trying to track him down."

With a small bow I left and went back to my room.

Spoiler

I didn't feel like reading up on any made up language, so I used Swedish. Hope no one minds ^^

“Are you looking for sympathy? You'll find it in the dictionary between shit and syphilis”
― Thomas Harris

megsug

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Points 12208

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Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:58 am

megsug says... · Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:58 am

Balik
"Hello."

I raised an eyebrow at the insolent tone but took no offense. I doubted I would act any different in a strange place, despite the fact that I had gone out of my way to be friendly... though that didn't mean much if he couldn't understand what I said.

How hadn't I known there was another language in Genor? Had my father known, my brothers? Or had my family ignored any people that didn't complain?

I leaned back when Hunter grabbed a fistful of the boy's hair and forced him into a bow. "Hunter, there's no need for you to be so harsh on him." ...For now. I couldn't go about letting a child disrespect me forever.

"If I'm gonna be his teacher I might as well start with learning him some manors."

Hunter released him and rattled off some- what sounded like- instructions at the boy.

I blinked as he slammed the door and nodded, smiling a bit. I could think of a sullen child like that who would have slammed doors just a few years ago. I studied Hunter. "You've certainly got your hands full. Sure you can handle him, with all the other things going on that is?"

He looked even more tired. "Hopefully he'll get over it once he gets used to the place and learns the language.. I don't remember ever being so rude, not even as a teenager. His name is Yngve by the way, but I guess you could call him Quick."

I straightened with an easy smile. "Quick and Hunter. You people sure have funny names."

"Would you rather call me by my given name?" he asked with a raised brow.

I frowned, surprised. "I thought Hunter was you given name."

He chuckled. "No, it's not, and no, I'm not telling you what my real name is. Hunter's much better." There was a pause as he glanced worriedly at the door, and I smirked at his enigmatic reply. "I'm gonna go make sure that he hasn't run away. If you need me I'll be in my room.. Or possibly up in the mountains trying to track him down."

I nodded as he bowed and sat, tapping a finger against the arm of the chair.

I felt as though I wasn't a proper ruler. How could I be when I could communicate with some of my people? What if there were more people in the mountains than in the cities?

I worried my lip and finally shrugged to myself.

I supposed I had a new project.

Test

Shady

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Points 3330

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Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:02 am

Shady says... · Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:02 am

Anaki Shadowflame (Queen of Atra)
I was on my feet, blade in hand, before I even realized I was awake-before I even realized that I hadn’t been awake- before Ankinseth could spring forward to grab me. I crouched- low to the ground, ready to spring, back in the corner, as I glared at the entire room.

“Queen-“

“What’s going on?” I interrupted as Ankinseth started forward cautiously.

“You’ve been ill, My Queen,” he said softly, gently stretching his hand towards me slowly, like he would a wounded animal.

“Anaki,” I corrected, recognizing my Master of Spies through the haze that clouded my mind.

“Of course,” Ankinseth smiled. “Just making sure.”

I scoffed and shook my head, smiling, the haze starting to life. “Just because I get knocked out doesn’t mean that I’m going to get amnesia and behead you for calling me by my given name.”

“Better safe than sorry,” he said, smirking. I couldn’t blame him- he’d seen many people reduced to sniveling piles of nothing for calling me ‘Naki’, or even ‘Anaki’, if I didn’t like the person- and every time I was knocked unconscious, he was sure to check before getting too informal with me.

“Granted,” I agreed, decidedly keeping my hand at my side, though my throbbing head begged me to rub it.

“Would you mind replacing that dagger to its sheath?”

I grumbled something that not even I knew the meaning of, and looked at my dagger—I had no idea where I had gotten it from. I felt the sheath on my back- which still had the blade in it, and then felt the sheath on my hip, which still had the dagger in it. Grumbling something else indistinctly, I jerked the pillow up—but there was still a dagger under it. I lifted the edge of my mattress, and finally found an empty sheath—so I replaced the blade and arranged it in a way that would make it easy to get to quickly.

“Good lord,” Ankinseth muttered, looking at me-and my arsenal- disapprovingly.

I smirked, but my mood quickly went sour once more. “What’s happened, Ankinseth?”

“I thought I was Sethie,” he muttered, as he pulled out a chair and ushered me into it.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly. “You fought with Cordel Silva-”

“You mean-“

“Yes, a flat out brawl. He Challenged you and you accepted.”

I winced as a fresh wave of pain struck my head, and I finally gave in, and rubbed it. “I remember…and then that little punk came up and punched me-“

“And you blacked out, yes,” Ankinseth finished.

“Hmm…alright,” I stand and start across my chambers briskly, even though my world was slowly spinning.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked, starting after me.

“To, the, erm…kitchen- I’m hungry.”

“Liar.”

“Yeah…” I rubbed my neck. “Just…don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”

He narrowed his eyes, but knowing that arguing with me was futile, merely sighed. “Alright—but Eira will be severely pissed if you kill him. I think she was looking forward to that.”

I grinned. “I know.”
~~~

"Don't...shout."

I turned into the corridor leading to the dungeons, only to find my prisoner laying on the floor under Eira. “I’ll shout if I fucking want to shout!” she put her mouth to his ear and yelled so loudly it hurt my head. “And I’ll scream, and I’ll fucking sing if that’s what I want to do!”

He yanked and arm free and decked Eira, sending her tumbling off of him. She deserves that.

He was on her in a second. "I said...don't...shout."

She deserved it, but this wasn’t okay. I decided to intervene.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?"

The boy scrambled to his feet, looking at me guiltily—Eira sprang up half a second later, and was advancing towards the boy.

"Eira!" I said sharply.

She kept up her charge- a blade in hand. "Eira, enough!" I grabbed her wrist, wrenching the dagger from her hand. She whirled around, fist raised. She froze when she saw me, as I hoped she would.

"Are you quite through?" I asked coldly.

"Naki! Wh-what are- when did you wake up?" She looked at me suspiciously. Her concern- and her decision to leave me behind while she beat the prisoner up- annoyed me.

"Recently," I growled. "What's going on?"

"I was going to...interrogate...the prisoner." Eira grinned like the lunatic she was.

"Oh...right, okay," I said dismissively, my world spinning once more."Have you seen..." I pressed my hand into my forehead, trying to collect my thoughts.

"...Are you okay? How are you feeling?" Eira put her hand on my arm comfortingly- something that made the prisoner gape like a fool.

"Like shit," I answered simply."I'm dizzier than bloody hell."

"Do you want to sit down, then?" She offered somewhat hopeless.

I shook my head, which hurt. “No..."

Eira glared worriedly. "What are you doing?" I don’t remember... I couldn’t-wouldn’t-say that.

"If I bloody well knew, I'd tell you," Anaki spat. "Something's not right. I've got this feeling."

The prisoner, who had been edging past us, had gotten far enough. I stopped him in his tracks with Eira’s dagger, glaring at him out of the corner of my eye."If you value your neck, I'd advise you to get your ass back over there."

"Most sound advice, My Queen," he said, quite eloquently, as he retreated.

"What do you mean?"

I sighed, my energy nearly expended from my journey down here, and leaned against the wall.

"I don't know...but something's going to happen. I can feel it-" It sounded stupid, but I had learned to trust my gut.

"Q-Queen!" A messenger scrambled towards me, his voice hurting my head. "I've been searching everywhere for you!"

I was on my feet in an instant, my back rigid, my fists clenched, and looking at the messenger imperiously.

"I haven't been hiding." I growled, but took pity when the messenger looked abashed. "What is it?"

"A-a letter, My Queen," he panted, offering a piece of crisp, folded parchment.

"From who?" I demanded.

"K-King Balik Kache, of Genor."

I narrowed my eyes. Just what I need—another bloody cousin vying for my attention.

"I know bloody well who Balik is...a letter from cousin dear...how interesting..." I took the letter and started to tear it open, but stopped myself. What am I doing? There’s that scum and the messenger both here, watching, and I can hardly stand. . "Eira."

"Yes?"

"Don't kill him," I said carelessly, glancing at the boy. "I wish to speak to him later."

"Yes, My Queen."

"And be quick." I pecked the letter against my palm absently."This might be interesting."

"But of course."

"I'll be in my room," I smirked at the prisoner, who had blanched. "Have fun." I wiggled my fingers mockingly.

I start up the stairs, and, panting and barely managing to trudge up the last of them, get to my office, which adjoined my room.
...
What the hell was Balik playing at? Inviting me to Genor? Inviting Korhel to Genor? At the same time? To meet him? That was suicide—but for whom, it was hard to tell. I had nothing against either of my cousins- it was Korhel who was pushing the war. It was he who seemed to want to run a blade through my middle....well, it might’ve been more appropriate to say that I hadn’t had anything against them.

Ever since our fathers tried to push us together, and I refused him, and he I, I hadn’t had much use for him. It was probably just my pride- it probably would’ve blown over- if we hadn’t had armies at our disposals. If we hadn’t been raised in different cultures. If- the damnable ifs never ended.

I pulled my dagger out and started fingering it. Balik obviously had something up his sleeve. I didn’t think he hated me- he obviously didn’t hate me as much as Korhel did- but he didn’t seem to quite like me either. Was he trying to kill Korhel, but needed me to blame it on? Or my assassination, maybe? No, he wouldn’t do either of those... Balik’s not the type.

“Of course,” I muttered to no one, “Getting Korhel and I together, in neutral territory... that sounds like a very good situation for one- if not both- of us to get a blade run through us...maybe that’s his game...trying to get Korhel and I to kill ourselves off...well it’s not going to work. I’m not that stupid.”
There was a rap at the door, and a man came running in without waiting for permission. He fell on his knees before me, panting for breath—my spy.

“What is it?” I ask sharply.

“I-My Queen,” he bows his head. “King Kor-“ at my glare he stopped. “I mean, Korhel, received a letter from Balik, offering a meeting to discuss peace negotiations.”

“I know,” I say.

He looks puzzled. “My Queen?”
I wave the letter. “I know. Balik offered me the same, and mentioned that Korhel would be there.”

“Ah...”

“Is there anything else?” I ask, the throbbing in my head finally starting to subside a bit, as I carelessly threw the letter down on the desk in front of me.

“Well, ma’am, Korhel accepted.”

“He did what?” I bellowed. “The bloody fool accepted?”

“Y-yes ma’am,” the spy said, slinking backwards a bit.

“Fuck!” I slammed the dagger down into my desk, running it through the letter.
The spy seemed a bit startled. I never got that ruffled, and everyone knew it. Muttering curses under my breath, I took a fresh sheet of paper from the desk and quickly scratched down:

To my dearest cousin, King Balik Kache, Genor-
I accept your most generous invitation, and look forward to visiting your domain. Most sincerely, Anaki Shadowflame, Queen of Atra.

Not that he needed the formality- he knew who I was- but old habits die hard, especially when one was pissed. I quickly sealed the letter, addressed it to Balik, and half-threw it at the spy. “See that that gets to a messenger.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Oh, and, um, Ankinseth would like to know about this, I’m sure.”

He quickly excused himself, and I fell back to brooding what Korhel’s game was. He knew bloody well that we couldn’t get within a day’s ride of each other, without having to sleep with our eyes opened, and our hands on swords. He couldn’t kill me. We both knew that—unless he brought more of an army than I did...but he wouldn’t do that...he’d want it to be personal...

By the time Eira came to my room, I’d simmered down—well, down to the point of formulating my plan, rather than brooding. I was tapping my pen on the desk absently when I looked up to find Eira smiling at me. I wonder how that boy is holding up if she’s that happy?

“Was it as interesting as you thought it would be?”

I waved for her to close the door, which she did, as she strode towards my desk.
I looked at her carefully, considering what her reaction would be if I told her what I was thinking."More so." I tapped the letter with my pen. "Balik is inviting us to attend his courts, offering to host a peace meeting."

We both frowned. "What are you going to do?"

“I’m going.”

She looked at the letter- or maybe at the dagger. “But you’re not happy about it, I see.”

“He invited Korhel too.”

“You’re surely joking.”

“Alas, I’m not.” I said, smirking. “I’m going to have a sweet little family reunion with cousin dears. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

I stood and started across my office, towards my chambers.

“It sounds interesting,” Eira muttered, following me. “It also sounds dangerous.”

“Granted,” I agreed, and then turned towards her, teasing. “Does that mean you’re not coming, then?”

“Of course I’m coming, you idiot,” She snapped.

I chuckled. “I thought as much.”

I pulled a blanket from under my bed and laid it across my mattress, before I began laying trousers and tunics and underclothes on it.

“What are you doing?” She asked, her voice betraying that she knew only too well.

“Well if we’re going, we’re going.”

“And of your guard?”

“They’ll follow tomorrow.”

“Anaki,” Eira started warningly. “You’re in no condition to be acting like a fool.”
I crossed my arms petulantly. “If you’re too scared to go, just say so.”
Her face flushed crimson and she glared at me fiercely. “I’ll meet you in the stable in half an hour. I’ll get the food.”

Last edited by Shady on Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]

Alvarin

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Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:48 am

Alvarin says... · Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:48 am

Hunter
Quick shook me until I woke up. He looked annoyed, big surprise, but also kind of.. Proud? That was a new one. I sat up straight and pulled a hand through my hair. I must've fallen asleep.

"Done," Quick said with a ringing accent and pointed at the pot on the table. In it was a large blooming hyacinth. When I fell asleep it had been a plain bulb.

"That's amazing!" It really was. It had taken me a week to master the growth spell, and he had done it what, five, six hours? Oh I couldn't remember the last time I had slept for so long. I noticed that Quick was frowning, and remembered that he still hadn't learned more than a few words of the Genorian language. "Otroligt."

Quick smirked. "Fyra timmar." Really, it had only been four hours? A suspicion took form in my mind. I had told him that it had taken me eight days to master it, so maybe he tried hard so that he could beat me? Well, if all I needed to do in order to motivate him was tap into his competitive spirit then I was going to be an excellent teacher.

"Försök ta näring från luften och för ner den i jorden."

"Hur?"

Oh. I had never really explained how this spell worked. "Ehm.. Om du känner efter, med din magi, så känner du att jorden har något gemensamt med luften, och när du hittar det så drar du ner det i jorden." That was the worst explanation ever. Quick sighed, but whent over to the pot again and did as he was told. "Det tog mig tre veckor." As soon as I told him how long it had taken me to master it, he seemed to be trying harder.

A sudden knock on the door startled me. Quick ignored it, so I went to open the door. A servant waited outside, and he look terribly exited. "The king needs you by the entrance."

I frowned. "The entrance?"

"Apparently the queen of Atra is making her may into the city right now."

"Already!?" I glanced at Quick who was glaring at me. "Fortsätt tills du har lärt dig." He sighed and continued practicing the spell. I turned back to the servant. "Tell the king that I'll be there in a minute."

I hurried to change into my formal clothes, Genor's symbol on the cloak and everything. The sight of the symbol seemed to make Quick want to hurl. I glared at him, pointed at the pot and then hurried as fast as I could towards the entrance.

Spoiler

I took the liberty of jumping forward a bit, since I don't want this to die.

“Are you looking for sympathy? You'll find it in the dictionary between shit and syphilis”
― Thomas Harris

methrirr123

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Points 728

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Thu Dec 20, 2012 8:27 pm

methrirr123 says... · Thu Dec 20, 2012 8:27 pm

Rovaalian
The archers had dissapeared. He was walking through when he was distracted by a large stand coated in arms, armor, bows, arrows, and other such pointed objects, and before he could stop himself, he was lost in the crowd with nobody to follow. He wasn't too worried though. His attention span didn't permit worry. Instead, he took a small wooden dagger out of his pocket, and hid in the armor, pretending to look intrested. As soon as the vendor turned his back to do something, he turned around and prodded him sharply in the back with the wooden blade. "That makes one!" Said Rovaalian. It was time for some quick thinking. He often found that lying for no reason was harder than when it really counted. But he was good at what he did. His past as a cuthroat assassin for Rovaalian Suraad senior ensured that.

"Oi!" said the vendor, as Rovaalian had poked him none too gently.

"My apologies, sir," he lied. "My friend and I, we were playing hired blade."

"Hired blade? What an awful game to get muckin' about in. What'd you do that for, anyway?"

"I had to kill you," lied Rovaalian. He was on a roll with this man. "It's part of the game, see. I'm normally not good at it, though..." This was an absolute lie. And he kept lying. And lying, and lying. He lied so long, that after a while the two were laughing. The vendor, who's name was Burdaa, was rather interesting. Eventually they parted, Rovaalian taking with him several daggers. He kept his swords, though. Those swords were speciall...

After much food and drink, all stolen, he decided to take a walk to the place where he saw the strange woman who told the archers to go to the palace. He had asked Burdaa what her name was, and discovered that she was called Aelicine Selinnine. Perhaps he would pay her a visit.

~':'~

He found here in what apeared to be a training arena. He could just see her over the walls that seperated the two. In a few well placed bounds, he was on the roof of what might have been a small armory for the trainees, directly above her. He promptly dropped an acorn on her head. She looked up and whirled around, shouting at the trainees that if she found out that one of them had thrown this, she'd have his hands. Rovaalian waited five minutes before dropping another one. She simply fumed at this, looking slowly at her trainees. She couldn't find which one had done it, because they all were wearing the same mischievious grin. She drilled them on archery. They would take aim and fire at targets. the accuracy of the archers was to be comended. They always hit in the center circle, or the outer ring. One fellow, a young soldier, visibly fatigued by training, shot volley after volley at the target, and landed each time in the dirt in front of or behind the target. As he watched, he saw the woman, Aelicine, Shouting at him.

"Your enemy will have run you down and beat you to death a hundred times over in the time it takes you to hit him! Focus, or die, coward boy!" She shouted. Rovaalian, seeing this, felt pitty for the boy. He took out his own crossbow, and three bolts. As the boy pulled his string back, Rovaalian quickly loaded his crossbow, and at the perfect time, stood erect on the roof and fired at the target. As the arrow flew into the dirt again, the bolt from his crossbow stuck itself in the perfect center of the target. Rovaalian loaded another bolt, and again the boy fired. At the same time, Rovaalian put a bolt in the same spot, shattering the previous bolt. The boy looked at his target, to his bow, and too his empty hand, then back to the target, all the while a mask of wonder and awe shrouding the exaustion on his sweaty, dust covered face. The third time he fired, Rovaalian did the same thing, putting a third bolt in the target. After this, the soldier next to him exclaimed.

"Runi! You're an expert! Your even better than..." he started, but he was cut off, as Aelicine marched over.

"Soldier! How did you shoot like that? You're shaky coward hands could have never put a hole in that target." She said, shocked. She called a cease fire, and strode briskly to the target. "Wait a minute..." She said. "Wait one bloody minute..." She pulled the remaining bolt out of the target. "This is short. This is no arrow. This is a..."
But she was cut off, for at that moment, another crossbow bolt had hit the boy Runi's target, in the same hole they all hit. She started, and after a glance at the bolt, stared daggers in the direction the crossbow bolt had come from.

And their stood Rovaalian, a smirk on his face, a crossbow in one hand, and tossing an acorn up and down in the air with the other.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

Shady

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Points 3330

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Fri Dec 21, 2012 1:13 am

Shady says... · Fri Dec 21, 2012 1:13 am

Anaki Shadowflame (Queen of Atra)

I paced back and forth-- I had beaten Eira down to the stables, even after preparing a letter ordering my guard to set out first thing in the morning, and to take the most direct route to Genor, if they wanted a hope of catching up with us, which I knew they did.

The Captain of my Guard hardly let me venture into my own gardens without at least two guards accompanying me- and here I was, about to set off with no one to protect me but Eira.

I grinned when I thought of the lecture I was sure to get once the guard caught up with us. A slight rustling in the hay room (a supposedly innovative idea, in which hay was placed in a ground-level room, making it far more efficient for the stable boys to feed my mounts, supposedly, but something that I counted nothing but extra gold out of my treasury) caught my attention.

I moved towards the sound cautiously as Eira came trudging into the stable with a bed roll and saddle bags tossed over her shoulders. "What're you doing?" She asked, when I failed to answer whatever she had said in greeting--I hadn't been listening.

"I thought I heard- aha!" I grabbed the front of the prisoner's shirt, and slammed him into the wall as he scrambled to his feet. "Who are you?"

"Carter. Mikhail Carter," he said breathlessly, looking startled, but not fighting my hand.

"How'd you get out of my dungeon, Mikhail?"

"I..." he looked down guiltily. I slammed him into the wall once more, wincing in sympathy as I bashed his head into it. "I beat up the guard."

"How'd--"

"My Queen?"

"I ain't your damned Queen," I snarled, thinking. "Why do you look so good? I thought Eira interrogated you."

He raised his hand, which he had bound in a bloody rag. "She did. I--I..."

"You what?"

"How the hell did he get out?" Eira snarled, starting towards him angrily.

I raised my other hand, stopping her. She, surprisingly, obeyed, but I knew that I'd have to stop doing that-- Eira was complacent for only so long, and I knew that I didn't want to be her enemy when she snapped.

"I needed to talk to you, Queen Shadowflame."

His quiet bravery that was visible through his apparent fear impressed me. "Well? You've got my full attention."

His flace flushed red, embarrassed. "Er-well, I..." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, evidently collecting his thoughts. "My name is Mikhail Carter. I am a Ranger-in-training, and I wanted to work for you." He said in one breath.

"Why in the bloody hell should I let you work for me? You just decked me!"

"Er, well, yes...but...that proves how close I can get to a target-"

"Which means that Naki was your target," Eira growled.

"Precisely. I could've killed her-- you-- but I don't want to do that. I merely want a job."

"Don't look so proud of yourself," Eira snarled. "She didn't even have a guard."

"You were there," he threw back.

I darted between them just in time for Eira to slam into my back, running me into the prisoner, who was pinned against the wall. As she pulled back to swing around me I whirled around, "No." Her arm flew anyway, her fist aimed to the side of my head, aiming at Mikhail's. I caught her arm. "Eira, no." I scolded.

She yanked her arm free and stood, red faced, snarling at the prisoner. He's so dead...just as soon as I take my eyes off of him...

"Get down!" I hissed, as I heard someone lumbering into the barn. I pushed Mikhail onto his face, and did my best to knock Eira down as well- but she evaded my arm...then laid down, giving me a warning look.

I peeked through a crack in the wall, watching breathlessly as the Captain of my Guard came strolling through the stable, looking perplexed. "Queen? My Queen, are you in here?"

I gave Mikhail a look that told him that if he so much as rustled one piece of straw, I'd kill him in an instant. He lay perfectly still, and soon my Captain passed. Breathlessly I stood and brushed myself off.

"Come on, let's go," I muttered, turning, walking out into the aisle.

"I'll just kill him then-" Eira murmured murderously.

"No, Eira," I say tiredly. "You'll have to find a Nekoite if you want to kill someone today."

"You're surely not letting this scumbag bastard-"

"Yes, he's coming," I said tersely, bracing myself for the explosion.

"Ha-" Mikhail started.

"But, Mr. Carter," I said icily. "You set one toe out of line, and I'll lift my protection..." I glanced at Eira, who was grinning at the boy, who had yet again blanched, murderously. "And I don't think you'll last too long if I do."

I saddled my horse, Reb, in silence-- often glancing at Eira and Mikhail, to make sure that Eira hadn't killed him yet. From the condition of his shirt- which had dirty hay sticking to it, and the green stain on his neck, it looked as if they hadn't been getting along too well, but he was alive.

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]

Dawnpath1

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Fri Dec 21, 2012 1:25 am

Dawnpath1 says... · Fri Dec 21, 2012 1:25 am

Aelicine Selinnine

The archers seemed to acknowledge their mission. It didn't much matter to me, the trainees were to be practicing again. If I had to save one more from their own stupidity... She practically had to catch one from falling on his own knife. She remembered his punishment fondly; he had to wear a safety vest with "Idiot," plastered on it, until he could wield his weapon. He learned fast. She entered the arena and sighed. Archery was something taught to most kids at an early age; unfortunately one of her spies seemed to wield it like an Ox with a twig. She hissed, displeased, and yelled, "Your enemy will have run you down and beat you to death a hundred times over in the time it takes you to hit him! Focus, or die, coward boy!" She frowned, thinking it came out a little harsh, but if the idiot didn't start trying, he would fall on his bow in such a way that it would kill him. Not to mention every time he shot the darn thing, he looked like a fish. Maybe she should start a class for the more... special, kids. She turned her back to him for one second to help out a different, more built trainee with his larger bow, and heard a mysterious twang. That was not a bow, that was something much more taught. She turned around, watching the... trainee, try to work his bow, and then saw something hit the middle of the target.

That was not his arrow, all trainees had red feathers. This one looked like it came off the streets. She silenced a different trainee, walking up to the boy. "Soldier! How did you shoot like that? You're shaky coward hands could have never put a hole in that target," she said, putting a hand up to stop the other archers. "Wait a minute... wait a bloody minute, This is short. This is no arrow. This is a..." she glared upwards in the direction of- Lovely, she'd heard of this one. "I hate mercenaries, think they can do what they want. This one isn't even under payroll. His... insolence won't be tolerated. Not in front of my trainees." She grabbed the trainee, the cowardly one, and gave him a low order to get him, and his classmates of the field. It didn't take long. It took her less time to scale the wall, grab the mercenary by the front of his clothing. "Your reputation proceeds you," the spy master said, pulling him with her off the battlement and purposely letting go mid flip, landing with her fans out, and him on the ground. "What brings a hired blade to my kingdom. Better yet," she adds, closing a fan so it was one solid blade and pointing it at his prone form, "What makes him think he can disrupt my trainees?"

methrirr123

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Fri Dec 21, 2012 3:51 am

methrirr123 says... · Fri Dec 21, 2012 3:51 am

"What brings a hired blade to my kingdom? Better yet, what makes him think he can disrupt my trainees?" She said, brandishing what looked to be a shiny metal fan menacingly. What brought him here? He could lie. He could say some very intricate lies, some very believeable lies. But somehow, he thought, the most unbelieveable truth would be more satisfactory.

"Boredom." he said, nodding as though this was the correct answer on one of those multiple choice exams. This, evidently, was a knew answer for the drill instructor. So new, that she allowed him to get up. He didn't move. This wasn't boring, after all.

"...boredom." she repeated.

"Boredom." he said again.

"You are lying!" she said. Rovaalian had the perfect, most irritating answer he could think of.

"If I were lying," he said. "you would think I was telling the truth. Goodbye." and with that, made to walk away.

"Come back here, insolent boy!" She said, whirling around to grab him by his neck.

"I don't respond to boy. Call me Rovaalian." said Rovaalian."Rovaalian Junior, not senior. You may know him." And she made a face, a mix of grim and arrogant.

"He was a bandit, and a low one. No loyalty to anyone, just like you. So he was your father? I heard he was killed by a twelve year old boy!" she said, with a taunting tone. Rovaalian cursed.

"If that's what you heard, than it is because I was rushed and left a survivor. I was twelve at the time, yes. And no, he's not my birthfather, though he did train me, and make me who I was." Rovaalian said. He had never spoken the truth for so long. It was much easier. Perhaps he would do it more often.

"You said was." said the drill instructor. "Who are you now?" she asked, daring him to say something.

"Me? I'm whoever I want to be" And he deftly took the fan, and pushed it to his chest untill it drew blood, and in a single deft movement broke it from her grip, cutting his fingers deeply as he did so. She tried to strike with the other fan, but he had dodged out of the way. He didn't draw his weapons though. He didn't want to fight.

"Boredom..." he repeated slowly. "Ah, but you are not boring!" he said cheerfully. Rovaalian walked over to the boy who had the bow, who had hanged back to watch. "Put your elbow up, pull with your chest as much as your arms, don't lean back so much, widen your stance, breeth deeply, and stay steady, will you?"

And with that, he turned to the drill instructor. "You are not boring, Aelicine Selinnine. No, you are... interesting." he said.

Spoiler

I'm gonna try not to control other peoples characters so much from now on. I try to study up on what the characters would do, but can never quite figure out what the creators want them to do.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

Payne

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Points 425

Reviews 158

Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:47 am

Payne says... · Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:47 am

Ulric

Still rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I staggered into the dining hall and took a seat, grabbing food from dishes without bothering with a plate. Stephen gave me a dirty look, as usual, to make it clear that my slovenly ways displeased him. The poor idiot didn't understand that I now did it just for the simple pleasure of irritating him.

A few minutes later, there was a commotion from the stairwell, and a young maid came running into the dining hall, arms flailing in an admittedly comical fashion. Ahhh, a damsel in distress. My favorite kind. And then Stephen was out of his chair and at her side before I could blink. "What's wrong?"

She stammered for a few seconds before finally getting hold of herself. "The Queen...she..." The girl waved a scrap of paper.

I got up and took it before she could mangle it further. It was a letter, and the Queen's signature immediately caught my eye. "What is this?"

~~~~

"Okay, everyone, shut up!" My voice echoed satisfyingly around the hall, and everyone fell silent. Scores of alarmed faces turned to me, food completely forgotten. "Yes, the Queen has left without her guard. Not a great development, but at least she has Eira with her. Now it'll do us no good to panic; I'd suggest everyone just sit back down and finish their meals until we're told otherwise."

Truth be told, I knew that things were going to devolve into chaos now, and it did not please me. As I took my own seat, I glanced back over to where Stephen was consoling the maid, a gentle arm over her shoulders. Sly bastard.

Too bad the world couldn't have waited until after breakfast before it fell to pieces. I only hoped someone in authority would show up before anyone got spooked and started a panic.

I aim to misbehave.

Is it weird in here, or is it just me? --Steven Wright

megsug

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Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:54 am

megsug says... · Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:54 am

Eira
I hurried around like a chicken with her head cut off. I gathered two sacks of food, a bed roll, and some other choice items that I felt were necessary, one of which being my worn staff that I left in my room unless I thought conflict impending, and I wasn't about to take my chances with the scum over any of our borders.

I trudged into the barn. "Hey, I think I got enough to last us for the journey there. Hopefully Balik doesn't kick us out of his kingdom." I chuckled. "I promise not to be the reason for that if you aren't."

...And she didn't reply... at all, which is strange. Normally I would have been gifted with a glare at the very least.

"What're you doing?" I asked, a bit louder and a bit closer.

She was staring at a haystack. "I thought I heard- aha!" She bent down and pulled up a man, making me blink and then scowl. "Who are you?"

I knew exactly who he was, and I wasn't very happy about this. I obviously needed to keep a closer eye on my guards.

"Carter. Mikhail Carter," he said breathlessly, eye large, but strangely still.

"How'd you get out of my dungeon, Mikhail?"

Again. That's what I wanted to know.

"I..." he looked down guiltily. She slammed him against the wall, making me smile coldly. "I beat up the guard."

How the hell did my guards get beat up by a man I had crippled just moments before?

I was going to have to have a long, looong talk with a few select men.

"How'd--"

"My Queen?"

"I ain't your damned Queen," she snarled and paused. "Why do you look so good? I thought Eira interrogated you."

He raised his hand, which he had bound in a bloody rag. "She did. I--I..."

"You what?"

"How the hell did he get out?" I growled, holding back no longer, and began to approach. I'd make sure he couldn't walk out by the time I was through.

Naki raised her hand, and I stopped grudgingly, sulking ever so slightly as she returned her attention to Carter. Being still chaffed; I just wanted to smash his face in, properly this time. I would give no mercy. My hand was tight on my staff.

"I needed to talk to you, Queen Shadowflame."

I rolled my eyes at his obvious sucking up.

"Well? You've got my full attention."

A blush crawled up his neck to his face. "Er-well, I..." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, evidently collecting his thoughts. "My name is Mikhail Carter. I am a Ranger-in-training, and I wanted to work for you." He said in one breath.

I blinked several times, not quite comprehending.

...What?

"Why in the bloody hell should I let you work for me? You just decked me!"

"Er, well, yes...but...that proves how close I can get to a target-"

My lip curled in disgust and offense. What exactly was he saying? "Which means that Naki was your target," I accused.

"Precisely. I could've killed her-- you-- but I don't want to do that. I merely want a job."

"Don't look so proud of yourself," I spat, trying not to acknowledge his meaning. I had done everything I could. This little fuck had just gotten lucky. Any other time I would have beaten the snot out of him before he hit her. "She didn't even have a guard."

"You were there," he sneered.

And that was that. Obviously, this guy hadn't learned his lesson when I broke his hand. I'd just have to beat the shit out of him now.

I charged and ran into... I looked down through the haze around me to glare down at Naki, already moving to sidestep her.

"No."

I heard that loud and clear but ignored it, throwing a punch.

And Naki- damn her- caught my arm. I slowed it so I would hurt her by accident.

"Eira, no," she scolded which made my jaw clench. If she wasn't... Queen... She would never make the mistake of speaking to me as if I was a dog again, but alas, there were some circumstances where we were not truly friends but a better and her loyal follower.

I jerked away from her, my face feeling too hot, and glared at Mikhail, deciding to blame him since he was the only person available that couldn't execute me with a snap of her fingers... Not that Naki would.

Footsteps rang against the packed dirt.

"Get down!" she hissed, pushing Mikhail onto his face. She shot out an arm to push me down as well, but I backed away, avoiding her touch. I waited a moment and finally laid down, giving her a sharp, warning look.

"Queen? My Queen, are you in here?"

We waited for several moments in complete silence, heard the Guard Captain leave, and finally her Highness stood again.

"Come on, let's go."

I watched Mikhail hungrily. "I'll just kill him then-" I murmured.

"No, Eira," she muttered. "You'll have to find a Nekoite if you want to kill someone today."

I stared at her, unable to comprehend. "You're surely not letting this scumbag bastard-"

"Yes, he's coming," she hissed.

I stiffened, not believing my ears. I turned a dark glare on Carter as he made a sound.

"Ha-"

"But, Mr. Carter," she said icily. "You set one toe out of line, and I'll lift my protection..."

And that made me feel a little better though not forgiving. I smirked.

"And I don't think you'll last too long if I do."

No, you son of a bitch. You just wait, you bastard. One wrong step, one wrong word, and I'll get you.

We saddled our horses, mine being a chestnut mare I had yet to name. Naming animals served no purpose for me. It made no practical sense.

I tormented Mikhail when I could- when her Highness wasn't watching as if we were children. Did she really believe I would kill him now? I would have to do it too quickly. I settled for throwing hay and- occasionally- manure at him, but this childishness didn't seem to settle my anger, but make it flare even higher. I stopped because my hands began to shake.

Perhaps I was out of control. I knew that was the news roaming the castle, and I let it, enjoying the image it gave me. People feared me for just being me, and I had no true power, just my staff and the ear of the Queen who could always choose not to listen to me.

I tied two bags to Mikhail's saddle, glowering at him to ensure he wouldn't speak, and a third to my own saddle, a bag that had a few things I didn't need others to have access to.

We walked our mounts out of the stables. I glanced about the yard before nodding to the Queen, trying to shield her from view with my own mount as well as I could. Mikhail followed us closely. When we were closer to the gate, we mounted and galloped out. We jumped over two fences, one low stone wall, and were finally free.

I let my mare go, letting her go as fast as she wanted, and I could always expect her to go fast. She was a bit like me which is why I put up with feeding her.

Slowly, we came to a controllable trot. I felt better, more in control. I felt like I could think of Naki by her first name again. I rolled my shoulders, let out a long breath and re-positioned myself in the saddle.

We were finally doing something.

For what seemed like hours, we rode, and I scanned the landscape carefully.

I pulled on the reins roughly, making the mare snap at me a bit.

"Oh, calm down, sister!" I murmured and made her stop though she wasn't very happy about it. I looked across the flat horizon made of wheat fields again carefully. Suddenly, I kicked the mare into a gallop and pointed back at Mikhail. "Go that way. Protect the Queen no matter what!"

He reacted quickly, following my finger.

I circled the place where I had seen... I frowned, went forward a moment, backtracked, left, right. Nothing.

Mikhail watched me. "What?"

My brow wrinkled, and I shook my head. "I-"

Naki hurried after us. "What is this about?" she demanded.

"I saw..." I looked around again, confused.

Where could he have gone? He couldn't have disappeared.

I shook my head. "I saw a man... or a woman..." I ran my hand over my face. "Someone in a black cloak."

Balik
I stared out a window, high in a tower that made up the front of the castle, studying the small party that was making their way towards the castle.

I turned slightly as the door creaked open. A messenger peered in. "Send for Hunter... Right away." My throat tightened in panic. I hadn't expected such a quick response. My palms grew sweaty.

I couldn't do this. What had I been thinking? I knew better than to put myself into a crazed situation like this. I couldn't possibly lead a peace meeting.

I rested my forehead against the cool glass and heaved a sigh.

"You called?"

I didn't bother to turn. "How is Quick coming along?" I had tried calling the boy by his true name, but that had just gotten me a dark look, so I had given up.

"Well. He's a fast young man."

I nodded, grinning. "I assumed that." I finally faced him, sitting on the window sill, and ignored the mess that cluttered what I recognized as my study. "Anika and the Atreans have arrived." I glanced at him. "Not that the messenger didn't tell you that." I leaned against the window. "I suppose we need to go down to meet them.

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Fri Dec 21, 2012 6:46 am

Alvarin says... · Fri Dec 21, 2012 6:46 am

Hunter
"I suppose we need to go down to meet them."

I swallowed. I needed to calm down. "Could you open the window?" The king gave me a quizzical glance. "I want to smell them," I said with a sigh. I knew that it sounded horribly weird, but I had always found the sent of a person to be a far more accurate first impression than their looks.

The king opened the window, and I made the wind brush past the small party and carry their scents in through the window. What I smelled made me growl, put my head down and arch my back. If I had been in my canine form I would've raised my hackles.

"What are you doing?" The king had never seen me like this. It had been a very long time since I encountered a wolf.

"Wolf," I said and tried to calm down. My heart was raising and all I could think about was rounding up my sheep. I cleared my throat and straightened up. "Sorry about that, but I a shepherd, remember?" The king nodded. "The female that the queen brought with her is a wolf. A shape-shifter like myself."

My heart was finally calming down. This was ridiculous. I couldn't let my instincts control me. "What about the queen and the other one?"

"A man. Human. He smells of his own blood and.. manure. Not much to say about the queen. There's a faint smell of medicine coming from her, I can't tell what kind, probably from the rumored assassination attempt." It was odd that she didn't bring more guards with her.

The king chuckled. "Your nose never ceases to surprise me. Are you going to be okay with the.. Wolf?"

I nodded and smiled. "Just smack me in the head if I start barking. Sorry for saying so, but you look a bit nervous."

"You think?" He got up from the window sill and walked out. "I'm just hoping we all get out of this alive."

"How kind of you. I'm hoping that the king and queen will kill each other." I followed him down the stairs. "Or at least decimate their armies while they're at it."

"Keep that to yourself." He was trying to sound harsh, but failed miserably. I really hoped that we'd be able to pull this of.

I snickered. "You don't need to worry about me, I'll behave.. As long as the wolf does."

"Fantastic."

There was already a large group of people gathering outside the walls of the castle. The people had never seen any other royalty than Balik, so everyone was curious. The newly recruited guards were standing at their posts, looking just as exited as the commoners. I glanced towards the center of the city, and confirmed that the marked had indeed grown since I passed it the other day.

"Remember to smile," I muttered, half to myself and half to the king. He just shook his head.

“Are you looking for sympathy? You'll find it in the dictionary between shit and syphilis”
― Thomas Harris

Flames of Darkness (Started- Still accepting)

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