War of the Elements

[Cori]

Garrett and Greylin stopped briefly in the village to purchase rations before heading back onto the road. Garrett was strangely subdued during the ride--he said very little, mainly keeping his eyes on the trail in front of him.

He found himself reminiscing his childhood as he rode. He grew up surrounded by family and a few servants. His family paid big cheddar for Garrett to be trained in the art of shadow manipulation early on, and this training continued for at least ten years--the exact amount of time was hard to remember. Before his mother became ill, she loved to take Garrett on long walks through the forests and across the streams, just for the sake of enjoying nature. She loved to sing, too.

Garrett's father had been a large, jovial man with a love for reading. He loved to share his literature with Garrett.

However, when the two of them came together everything changed. His father was cold and distant, and when he spoke to Garrett's mother it was in the shortest way possible. They yelled at each other a lot, and Garrett found his mother crying more often than singing. His father almost always left in the evenings, staying out until the dead hours of the morning. Upon his return he was always smelling of booze and tobacco.

When his mother fell ill, she was confined to her bed a lot. Her walks outside became limited to the grounds on the estate, with constant supervision by other family members and her personal maid. Garrett saw less and less of her as time passed, until he only ever saw her once a week, confined to her bed or a chair.

It was then that Garrett's father began to spend more time with his son. And by 'spending time', he meant taking Garrett along with him to experience the Altamoore 'night life'. Garrett's father taught him how to manipulate a situation so that he could always get what he wanted from it. These evenings usually ended in a tavern or a brothel. Garrett would wait for his father outside the establishments before they returned to their home in the early morning.

Garrett's head nodded and his eyes flickered shut for a brief moment before he jerked up and started coughing. And he continued to cough for several minutes before he finally calmed down with a sharp intake of breath. Garrett shook his head in disgust. It looked like his cough was back, with a vengeance. He looked up again and noticed that the horizon line was getting blurry--night was falling fast. He hoped they were almost halfway there--he thought he could see a faint cloud of old smoke in the distance, from a dead fire.

"Oy," he called back over his shoulder. "We may want to set up camp for tonight, and continue traveling in the morning. We need plenty of rest, and the horses do too."

[lyra/dicks]

Grey frowned. She wanted to press on to the village, seeing how close they were. She almost argued, but held back at the last second. It'd be difficult to search in the dark, anyway. "Alright," she said. "We'll continue in the morning then." A faint thought flickered into her mind, but she refused to even entertain it. Tell Garrett she'd been lying about the snake? Why did she have to develop a conscience now? You did what you had to to survive. Lying was one of the easiest and less dangerous ways. But, then, she didn't really have to tell him what had caused it. She felt that presence stirring again, restless. It didn't like the idea. Instead, when she opened her mouth, what came out was "are you sick?" By then their camp had been set up, and they sat by the fire as it flickered eerily in the growing darkness.

She continued. "That coughing fit didn't sound too pretty, pretty boy." It was probably the most she'd said to him in the past few hours.

[Cori]

"Eh? No, I'm fine..." Garrett teased the fire with a stick and watched the flames leap higher into the air. "It's just a simple annoyance. Recurring, but petty."

He didn't like to admit it, but he got sick a lot. Especially after he overused his shadow magic, it seemed. It was nothing severe--it was just a stupid cough. He took a deep breath and let it out again, feeling a rattle in his chest. Probably from his coughing episode earlier.

He teased the fire again and the flames grabbed the stick, igniting it. Garrett snapped the stick in two and tossed both pieces into the fire pit. "I suppose we should retire soon. We're setting out early tomorrow."

[lyra/dicks]

"Right," she responded. He didn't seem to want to talk anymore. daisies, and she'd gotten so much out of him that morning. Oh well, he'd just have to live with it for now, because she'd gotten going now and she couldn't stop.

"You know I lied back there," Grey said quietly. It was a statement, not a question. "And I'd tell you why it happened, but... I can't. Not now. Possibly not ever. Satisfy yourself with that. It's nothing... too dangerous. I think." She winced. That was up to debate. Absentmindedly, she stroked her left arm, studying the markings. She didn't really know what they were. She was promised power in return for her skin being mutilated. It had never been fully explained. There was obviously something more that came with it. That "something" was most likely her body, and not in the way most people would think. It had been a stupid, stupid deal, but she'd been frightened and she'd rushed into it. But she'd gotten the power she'd wanted. That much was certain.

Maybe telling Garrett wouldn't help. Maybe he'd trust her even less after that confession. That was the way the world worked, really. You had to roll the dice sometimes.

[Cori]

"Nothing too dangerous? That's promising," Garrett gave a half smile that quickly faded into a small frown. "I don't mind you having a secret from me if you think it's that important."

He picked up another stick and dragged it around in the dirt for a minute before throwing it to the fire. "But I don't care to judge people based on preconceptions, or word of mouth. I make my own judgments. Just something you should know for future reference, My Lady."

He banked the fire with handfuls of dirt and turned away to stretch out on his dusty green cloak. "Now go to sleep. I'm waking you up early tomorrow so we can set out." Pips curled up next to Garrett with a soft purr.

------

Next morning, Garrett woke Grey early, before the sun had even begun to rise above the horizon. Garrett doused the fire and they saddled their horses. Garrett hoisted Pips onto his horse and climbed up himself with a yawn. "If we move at a steady trot," He called back to Greylin as she pulled herself into the saddle, "Then we should get to Kanamira before the sun is fully risen. Let us make haste,"

[Game Angel]

Hal woke up early in the morning, just as the sun was starting to rise. He dressed for travel and put on a wind-blocker coat. He picked up some fruit and food for the trip, in case he got hungry. Bringing his bag with him, he made sure the door to the house was closed, then headed on over to the shed where he and Adam kept their gliders. Sure enough, Adam was there, tying his belongings to his red glider, and Hal went to do the same to his blue glider. They took off not long after.

Hal enjoyed gliding. He could control the movement of the air with little effort, and he loved feeling the wind in the sky. It was so much more intense than on the land, but still just as easily manipulatable, especially for a Prodigy. About 45 minutes later, Jeharin came into view. They put their gliders in a parking area, paid for their spaces, then headed towards the castle.

[Dragoon]

She arrived at Hurricados and traveled through the town until she came upon a man selling airship rides but her thoughts returned to her parents and how horribly they would treat these people. So, she paid for a trip to Atmosfodar, giving the man a little bit too much without realizing it. During the whole trip there, she was angry. Angry at how her parents could be so racist towards her friends, especially Harold. They were afraid that Harold would take their daughter and defile their bloodline. After an hour of this she came to her senses. If she were to continue to stew in thoughts of them and ignore everything around her when she could be talking to the citizens, was she really any better than them? She traveled throughout the ship and found a nice local to talk to. She had bright green hair, which would have been off to Karin if this were the first time she had visited Galevonia but she'd been there enough times to realize this was completely normal.

"Hello," Karin said to the girl, "My name's Karin, what's yours?"

The girl smiled at Karin and replied, "My name's Bacon. Pleased to meet you," and extended her arm out to Karin, who met her there and they shook softly. The girls talked for the rest of the trip and the conversation became interesting when they moved onto her prodigy status.

Bacon asked, "Oh, you're a prodigy?"

"Yes," Karin replied.

"So you must be here to visit the queen."

"No, I'm actually here to see my friend Harold."

"Oh, I see, your boyfriend?"

Karin blushed a little at my comment. "N...no, we're just friends."

Bacon formed a cheeky little smile and said, "You better watch out though, he's quite a hit with the ladies."

"Oh well, you never know what'll happen."

The girls chatted on the rest of the way. Bacon showed Karin the beautiful landscape and taught her more about their history. She got rather bored but she listened on anyway. It was better than thinking about her parents that's for sure.

They arrived at Atmosfodar and as they split ways Bacon said to Karin, "We should meet up again sometime.

Karin simply replied, "Yes, that would be funsy."

Karin headed toward's Harold's home and Bacon went to the marketplace. When she approached Harold's estate she pressed the call button where a servant answered, "Yes?"

She replied to the servant, "It's Karin, is Harold home?"

"Ah, Karin. Unfortunately the young master is not home but he shall return shortly."

Karin asked them, "Can I come in and wait for him then?"

To which they replied, "Of course, Karin. Master Harold will be very pleased when he returns to see you here."

She entered the grounds of his lovely estate and noticed the beautiful flower garden out front. She said to herself gazing upon it, "Ah, I always love to see this garden. I wish we had these back at home." She approached it and let the scents flow through her.

The servant saw her in the garden and said to her, "Ah, Karin. Please, come into the home and wait in the living room. The master won't be home for a few hours."

Karin approached the servant and said to him, "Yes, thank you." She moved into the beautiful home and sat down on the couch. "So, where is Harold?"

The servant said to her, "The master was summoned by the queen for some matter of importance."

"Well, thank you."

"Enjoy yourself, Karin. I shall return to my duties."

For the next few hours, she played with her powers a little bit. Summoning ice shards and flowing them around her to pass the time waiting for Harold.

[Game Angel]

(( just so you know Hal lives in an estate, so you would have to wait by the gates and one of the staff would tell you that you Hal was gone. Sorry I didn't explain earlier.))

[Dragoon]

((Better?))

[Game Angel]

((perfect!))

[Madican]

The crew and Miji stumbled onto the Iron Path, and immediately had spears leveled at their necks. Ten guards stood in a semicircle around the fortunate survivors of the Herald, with Mary behind them, perched on the shoulder of a Crushbear. She was the Prodigy of Kudzu, and so certain tasks fell to her.

The guards jabbed at any of the crew who tried to step forward and forced them to the very edge of the Path. One had a dark green circlet atop his head, the captain of this group. "Back, all of you until we sort this out. Any further attempts to get past us and we will use lethal force. Now quiet down and line up. Single file, no funny business. Let's get this done and maybe you'll be on your way home. Prodigy."

The guards parted and the Crushbear walked into the semicircle. The beast stood on two legs, with enormous arms and fists it used to help its lumbering gait. In one hand it held the chest Mary had scavenged from another wreck. In the other it helped the Prodigy down onto the ground.

She drew her blade from its sheath and walked to the end of the line. She started down the row, lightly flicking the sword across their wrists, just enough to draw a small amount of blood. This continued until she reached the last man and stepped back to the Crushbear. With some solemnity she pointed at Miji.

The guards seized him and dragged the scholar out of the semicircle quickly before the rest of the crew could react. The circle closed again and the captain of the guards sighed before he spoke again to the remaining crew.

"Every single one of you is hereby forbidden from traveling the Iron Path or leaving the Silent Forest. You have been infected with a portion of the Root, likely from breathing in the spores the Herald releases. In less than a day's time your mind will no longer be your own, and you will be dedicated to spreading the Root's influence as a Seed." The captain drew his sword, short and straight. "I offer each of you a choice. Return to the forest and come what may, or choose release while your humanity remains. I promise I will make it quick and painless."

Meanwhile Mary led Miji away from the doomed crew and towards another group of guards. "This one is clean," she said to them. "Ready for travel to the capital."

She looked at Miji. "You are lucky. The Root spared you, but for what purpose remains to be known. Your friends should never have challenged the Herald, we heard his shout from the city. Still, you are the first survivor on record who managed to enter from the sky and live. Congratulations are in order I suppose, or maybe not. Like I said, the Root spared you, and that might just be your death sentence. Who knows."

Mary turned climbed up on the Crushbear's shoulder and pointed. "We go," she said. The guards acknowledged the order and off they marched, Miji sandwiched between them and the Crushbear walking along the side of the group, Mary observing the forest outside the Path.

[Ablu2]

Miji turned to Mary while they were walking. "Excuse me, but did I hear that you are the prodigy?" He said. He couldn't believe his luck he had found just the person he was looking for, and he had only been on Kudzu soil for less than half an hour! He continued speaking. "Because I just happen to be looking for the prodigy of nature. My names Miji, you?"

(Short post is short derp.)

[lyra/dicks]

Grey let out a huge yawn and stretched until she could practically feel her arms pop out of their sockets. She wasn't used to waking up early anymore. She'd used the last few years to sleep in until noon whenever she could. Who said that cheddar corrupted people? They were obviously lying. She climbed onto her horse with a little "hup" and seated herself. They set out in silence mimicking that of the previous day. Didn't he ever just talk to hear himself talk? She was certainly guilty of that sometimes.

"You don't have to call me 'My Lady' like you do, you know," she said conversationally. "Though I suspect you will no matter what I say."

[hurdurp short because at school and low muse]

[Kierou]

Rick stood up. /I suppose I'd better actually go try to see him then..../ He thought, leaving the inn, with cheddar for his meal on the table. He strolled through the city streets, which were bustling with activity even this early in the morning. /I heard people say the capital is busy... but I didn't know it was like this./ He soon arrived at the castle, saying that he was here to meet their Prodigy, Hal, on business about the destroyed city. He was told Hal would be arriving soon, and to wait in a small building directly inside of the castle gates, made for guests.

[Madican]

Mary looked over at the scholar. "My name is Mary. Why would a fire mage be looking for me?" She resumed scanning the forest. "I am the Prodigy of Nature as you say. Was the giant bear a clue?"

Mary made a motion and the Crushbear flexed one thumb to pop the lock in before it handed the chest over. Mary quietly opened it and took inventory, noting the extremely thick padding on the inside of the chest. More boxes were inside, but these had no locks and were varied in size. She selected a fairly flat one and found that the lid slid off. She slipped it to the side and marveled at the contents.

Gems. Cut into the perfect form for making shards. Two flat faces on opposite sides where an expert jewelcrafter could tap with a hammer and break it into ordered fragments for decoration. She closed the box and chose a bulkier one. Sliding the lid off revealed various gems all carved into rings and nestled in cloth. She closed that one and continued on. Rings, trinkets, necklaces, bracelets, and studs filled the chest. All of the highest quality. Obviously the ship that had crashed had intended to sell them. Pity, well they didn't need cheddar anymore. Her Elder would make judicious use of this windfall, all salvage was the property of whoever claimed it in Kudzu. And since the only ones who salvaged needed to be powerful mages, no one had tried challenging that law.

Mary made to close the chest when she spotted one last container. Smaller than all the rest and tucked into the lining itself, as if to hide its existence. She pulled it out and slipped the lid off.

It was beautiful. A blossoming flower, crafted in such a way that for a moment Mary was convinced it was alive. She ran her fingers lightly over the petals each one a different colored gem. She turned it over and saw an etching of fire in the back. She recognized the symbol. It was the mark of Magmasa's most distinguished jewelcrafter, placed only on items he himself had created on commission. To whom had this flower been intended for? Someone in Kudzu? Or maybe, the one who had been carrying this chest.

Mary placed the flower back in its container and slipped it into her pocket. She was claiming this one for herself.