[RP]Obake Blade

[Master_Archon]

Xan awoke, only to find himself slumped over in a chair near Takara's bed, he reached up to rub his eyes, only to find his helmet in the way. That was a habit, as if he could rub the blindness away, like you rub the blurriness away every morning when you wake up. But it never worked.

 

Xan stretched, and sat up, he tryed recalling what happened the night before. He had come over at sat next to Takara on the bed when she had said she was selfish, he had told her that it wasn't selfish, it was human to want to keep what little you loved and cared for near you, where you'd know it was safe.

 

He told her that she should be glad she could cry, he hadn't cryed in so long, he had lost everything he'd ever cared for, and it had been awhile since he cryed. No, he had long ago foresaken humanity. He told her that maybe that was the reason he found nothing special, because he had lost everything he found special long ago, and found that to have things held as, special, is to have something that you could lose, that you don't want to lose, and that causes pain. Xan didn't want to go through torment again, the torment of losing something you find special, he hadn't told her that, but his statements had hinted at this, strongly.

 

Xan peaked over at the peacefully sleeping Takara, and her son who was next to her ((or where ever he's sleeping)). Xan had taken up his post next to the door after comforting Takara, only to fall asleep standing up, he was lucky he woke up when he felt the banging of Katsuro on the door, or else that boy would've been sleeping in the hall.

 

Xan got up with as much stealth as he could muster that early in the morning. Xan approached the bed, and looked at the figure on the bed. His face grew sad as he wished he could see her with more detail, though yes, the enchantments in his helmet helped him to see better, they didn't perfect his sight. But he held one thing back. Magic. Long ago, when he first learned of his problem, he set out to find ways of either curing it, or something that would allow him to see normally, even with the condition.

 

He had traveled north, as there were many ancient artifacts, and spells that might help him with this. He only found a small old scroll that he memorized before it desitigrated a year later. But after hard travels, and long searching, he found not only something that would help his sight, but would protect him in every other aspect of his body, in a physical sense. He found his suit of armor, deep in an old temple; though all of it was enchanted, he could only read the markings in the helmet, and so he reactivated the enchantment on the helmet, and to this day he has worn and cared for his armor, his blindness still growing deeper.

 

Xan lifted his index fingure and thumb, pinching them tight together, he concentrated, a bead of light forming at the tip of his two fingures. He snapped his fingures, the bead shattering into sparks, his vision clearing further, into near perfection.

 

Xan stared at Takara, he smiled to himself, hm...her personality suits her perfectly, he thought in all kindness. The magic would last another couple hours, bt only that long, and then it'd disipate, and he'd have to wait a day or so to use it again.

 

Xan turned, and left, opening and closing the door quietly enough ot to wake either of the sleeping people. Xan hummed quietly to himself as he walked into the common room, to find mostly everyone from the carvan there, and eating. Xan grabbed at his stomach as he heard it growl.

 

Xan avoided being seen, and headed to the table he had left his gear, and the looted weapons on, they were all still there. He sifted through some of the stuff, looking at the details of each weapon, then he shifted his attention to the few clothes implements he'd found at the scene. Most were torn, as they had seen combat, but one was in particularly good condition, and yet, it looked...familiar, or at least out-of-place. Xan just shrugged, he picked up his stuff, and all the weapons and clothes parsals.

 

Xan looked over at the eating people, 'so, hungry...and I know Akkan is too,' he thought to himself he looked on hungrily. 'I wonder if I have enough time to grab a quick bite?' He thought as he poked his head out a window, only to find it later than he thought.

 

"Holy smokes!" he said to himself, "I'm late!" At this Xan turned around swiftly, and started for the door at a run, only to find the enormous table in his way, and he had no time to shift through all the people bustling around it, so he did the only thing he could. He jumped onto it.

 

"Sorry," he said to the others as he jumped ontop of the table, and ran across it, amazingly avoiding the plates of food, he jumped off the other side, and scurried out the door.

[Jason Skywalker]

Akira smiled and motioned to his shoulder, indicating that he had been knocked unconscious before he could tell anything.

 

"And about that, i guess i can help him, i haven't really gotten a revenge from those guys," He skulked.

 

"Maybe Istergard saw something. Ister?" Akira asked.

[Quanon]

Bora Cho woke up when Renn padded his shoulder .

It looked like the others where already awake and eating their breakfast .

 

Bora Cho kindly ordered three big mugs of pure dark ale for his morning supper .

He joined the rest of the group at the table .

 

Waiting for his ale's he noticed there was some sort of tension .

If he heard it correctley , Aya had slept with Kyo in the stables .

On the otherhand Akira and Istengard looked a bit battered .

As they where kept prisoners for the night by some sort of 'Wolf-men' .

 

Anyway , Bora Cho was just happy to have his drinks served . The first mug of ale went in in one swoop . The second followed quickly and third was for desert.

 

" Aaaahh , now thats breakfast ." : exclaimed Bora Cho , looking at the others who where still eating .

 

Then Xan passed over the table and straight for the door .

 

Bora Cho ordered another ale .

 

" So what are the plans for today ? " : he asked to the group .

[JasraLantill]

Aya's eyes widened as Xan nimbly hopped over the breakfast table, without even disturbing a single crumb. Everyone was silent for a moment, but when Bora-Cho held up a finger to Renn, ordered another ale, and then calmly asked what the plans for the day were, she couldn't help but laugh.

 

"Well, I've got to do some deliveries, and then set up my stall," she said, trying to keep a straight face amongst all the odd things she had experienced in the last few minutes. She craned her neck to look out the window. The light was getting brighter by the second.

 

"Speaking of which...." She quickly finished her juice, and one of her poached eggs, and then picked up a piece of toast. "I've got to get moving. If you will excuse me?" She nodded to the group as she slid her chair back from the table, stuffed a slice of toast into her mouth, and rose from the table.

 

Because her mouth was full of toast, purposefully preventing her from putting her foot in her mouth again, she merely gave Carwyn a little wave goodbye, then headed out to the stables.

 

"Hey, missy!" Renn said with mock irritation as he returned with Bora-Cho's ale. "You didn't clean your plate!"

 

Aya gave him a closed mouth grin, and shrugged lightly. It was a standing joke between her and the innkeeper for him to chastise her for not eating the massive and generous breakfast he always provided. As she passed by him, she patted his chubby belly then winked.

 

Renn scowled, but his eyes twinkled with amusement. "All right, I'll let you off. This time," he called after her.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo sighed, resting his head agianst his fist for a moment as he chewed on a strip of bacon.

 

"She's going to make me chase after her all day, isn't she?" he murmured to no one in particular. After a moment, he pushed his chair back and ran after her.

 

"Aya!"

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn could see that Akira wasn't too hot on 'babysitting' him to the docks. He wasn't too keen on being 'babysat' either. Waving at the warrior, he said, "No worries mate, I'm sure you gave those thugs what for, so there probably won't be any to worry about today." He scarfed down the rest of his breakfast, then washed it down with a gulp of milk. "Besides," he continued, "in the middle of the night is one thing, in broad daylight is another, so I doubt they'd try something now."

 

He got up out of his chair and was about to head off when he felt a soft hand on his arm. He looked back to see Tellis holding his arm. "Do not overexert yourself," she cautioned softly, looking pointedly at his thigh. "Otherwise the doctor and I will not be happy with you."

 

The ranger smiled at her. "Don't worry, Tel. I'll take it easy." He tossed her a wink, then made for the back corridor to retrieve his personal effects.

[JasraLantill]

Aya looked over her shoulder, giving Kyo a fairly innocent stare. "Wha...?" she mumbled, as her mouth was full with toast. She shrugged, then pointed to the stables, indicating that she was going to get Bob and for Kyo to follow her if he wanted to.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo grabbed his last peice of toast off the table and followed her out, munching on the toast as he went.

 

"You know you haven't given me your answer yet." he said once he had caught up to the merchant.

[Jason Skywalker]

"Thanks," He replied, "And you never know. Especially where we are going."

 

As soon as Carwyn left, Akira finished his pancakes and his strips of bacon, slowly getting up. He pushed the chair in and while he walked the stairs, a little burp could be heard.

 

"Oh, excuse me," He said, out loud.

 

Akira continued on to his room, and found Jonas still sleeping. He laughed a bit, opening the drawer and taking out his cloak. He put over him, twisting it in his neck's front, and then opened the cupboard, and took his sword. He held the scabbard by his waist and locked it in on his belt.

[JasraLantill]

Kyo grabbed his last peice of toast off the table and followed her out, munching on the toast as he went.

 

"You know you haven't given me your answer yet." he said once he had caught up to the merchant.

Aya swallowed what she had in her mouth. "I'm still thinking about it," she said as she walked.

 

She pushed open the door to the barn. "Ok, Bob!" she called to her pony, purposefully avoiding looking at Kyo. "Up 'n atom! Time to get to work."

[Dark_Lady]

He walked to Hoshiko's door, which was right down the hallway, and knocked on her door lightly so that if she was asleep, she would not wake up.

"Good morning, come in," Hoshiko said, figuring the knock probably came from Toa. She was sitting on the edge of her bed combing her white hair in preparation for the day to come, whatever it might hold. Hoshiko always combed her hair when she woke up, if she had the chance. It was a sign that all was well, if there was time to do something like that. And things were definitely going well.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"You did promise me you would give me an answer in the morning." Kyo said, not to be deterred. He followed her into the stable, hot on her heels. "It's morning, and I need an answer."

[Rogue Nine]

Yanking his rucksack and bows off the floor where he'd dropped them the night before, Carwyn did an about-face and made his way back into the common room. He pulled off the gloves Aya had given him the night before and examined his hands. The good news was the salve had done its job rather well and his hands were pretty much healed up. The bad news was they still stunk to high heaven. He sidled up to Renn, who was just about to walk into the kitchen with a stack of plates in his hands.

 

"Hey Renn," Carwyn greeted the bartender. "Do you have someplace where I could maybe wash my hands?"

 

"Sure thing, just follow me into the kitchen," Renn replied. He inhaled, then made a face. "Geez Carwyn, what have you been doing? Playing around with horse dung?"

 

Carwyn chuckled as he followed Renn into the kitchen. "Something like that."

 

Renn pointed at the water pump and bucket with a pudgy finger. "Have at it," he told Carwyn as he placed the plates on the countertop.

 

"Thanks, Renn," Carwyn said gratefully. He pumped water into the bucket, then lathered up and scrubbed his hands vigorously. It took him a little while, but eventually he was able to rid his hands of that pungent equine odor. Shaking his hands off, he wiped dry with a towel, waved at Renn, then exited the kitchen and the inn proper.

 

Outside, the sun was shining bright in the sky and people were already bustling in the streets. Gaining his bearings, he turned in the direction of the docks and started walking.

[JasraLantill]

"You did promise me you would give me an answer in the morning." Kyo said, not to be deterred. He followed her into the stable, hot on her heels. "It's morning, and I need an answer."

Aya still avoided eye contact with him as she quickly got to work brushing Bob's shaggy coat. "Well...erm... it's still morning until the noon bell rings," she said, sounding rather uncomfortable. "And I haven't had time to think about it properly."

 

She skirted past him, and began lifting bolts of fine cloth wrapped in burlap from her pack which she placed securely on Bob. "I've got deliveries to do. Maybe I can think about it on the way."

[ForceFightWMe12]

"So you're going to drag me around all morning?" Kyo asked, raising an eyebrow. With a sigh, he moved to help her. "You know you're not getting rid of me that easily."

[JasraLantill]

"I've done this before," Aya said, still avoiding any eye contact with Kyo. "You can stay here at the inn, if you like. The places I need to go aren't far, and Bob will look after me. He can smell Wolf's thugs long before anyone could see them." She grinned, as she knew that Wolf's thugs were not only not that bright, but not that hygenic as well. "Then again, so can most people."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo smirked at that. "Besides the fact that this Wolf does seem to be after you - and regardless of how moronic his henchmen are - that's not my only motivation for following you. I'm not going to give you a reason to avoid me all day and then suddenly 'forget to think about it'. I need an answer."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn made his way into the docks area. The smell of the salty sea air was refreshing, especially since he'd just had the smell of horse salve in his nose. Picking his way through the crowd, he returned to the area where the fight had happened the night before. It was deserted, thankfully, the pier being unused at the moment. He looked around the whole area, searching everywhere for his coat. He'd remembered throwing it at the first attacker as a distraction, but he couldn't keep track of it afterwards as he was much too focused on fending them off.

 

Poking his head into a small alleyway between two run-down fisherman shacks, Carwyn looked around for any clue as to the whereabouts of his coat. Dammit, he thought. If I don't have that portrait of Chryseis to show around, how the hell am I supposed to find her?.

 

"Ugh," he said aloud, disgusted with himself. "Some big brother I am." At that moment, he felt a cold sword blade kiss the back of his neck. Not again.

 

Then he heard a high voice speak to him from behind. "Yeah, I'd have to agree with you there."

 

Carwyn's eyes went wide.

[JasraLantill]

Kyo smirked at that. "Besides the fact that this Wolf does seem to be after you - and regardless of how moronic his henchmen are - that's not my only motivation for following you. I'm not going to give you a reason to avoid me all day and then suddenly 'forget to think about it'. I need an answer."

Aya abruptly paused, then slowly turned her head to look at him. "Why do you think Wolf is after me?" she asked, eyeing Kyo curiously. "Seems to me like he was after Akira and Istergard. Or," she added, "anyone else who just happened to be wandering in 'his' territory after dark. He's like that, you know. Very territorial. That's one of the reasons he's called 'The Wolf.'" She frowned then. "That, and the fact that his surname happens to be Wolfgang-Bria." She rolled her eyes. "Almost feel sorry for him, having a name that sounds like some sort of expensive mouldy cheese. Almost," she added, her eye narrowing with disdain.

 

She tightened up the girth strap that held the bolts of cloth on Bob's back. "Right...." She clucked to Bob, and gave a tug on his lead. "C'mon, boy, let's go."

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Akira and Istergard seemed pretty intent on finding you when they came in." Kyo said as he followed her and Bob, "And it's not like they would be attacked for being on a merchant's turf if they weren't a merchant - the way they're dressed, they can't even be mistaken for merchants. So either someone in the bar was one of his spies and saw the two sitting with you at dinner or Wolf has completely lost his mind and has decided to started kidnapping random people off the street."

[JasraLantill]

Aya's memory flashed to the mysterious man with the wide brimmed hat she had seen out in the courtyard when she had gone to check on Bob before dinner. "There was someone strange in the courtyard last night," she said slowly. "But he didn't look like one of Wolf's usual 'employees.'"

 

She sighed. "Though, I don't see why Wolf would want to kidnap me. Extort money from me? Yes. Intimidate me? Definitely. But kidnap me?" She shook her head. "Anyway, I don't have time to worry about that now. I've got to get these deliveries done."

 

Aya led Bob out of the barn and started down the road to one of the tailor shops.

[ForceFightWMe12]

He sighed as he followed after her. "Well then, it looks like you've got free help for the rest of the day."

 

And so the hours passed. Aya traveled with Bob to three different tailor shops all across the city of Ryuu-Tokai, Kyo following dutifully at her side. He said nothing, other than a few small comments here and there. As the morning wore on, slowly beginning to fade into noon, he became increasingly annoyed by Aya's obvious avoidance of his question. He did not once complain, however. The swordsman held his tongue and helped her whenever it was needed.

[Rexraptor2000]

"Good morning, come in," Hoshiko said, figuring the knock probably came from Toa. She was sitting on the edge of her bed combing her white hair in preparation for the day to come, whatever it might hold. Hoshiko always combed her hair when she woke up, if she had the chance. It was a sign that all was well, if there was time to do something like that. And things were definitely going well.

 

Toa came in and decided to sit next to her, giving a wide smile and said "Good morning. I'm guessing you slept well."

 

Then he said about her hair, "Not going to do much good to comb your hair if you're putting any of your skills to use. But it still looks nice regardless of what you do with it. Are you going to go the the merchant gathering I heard that was going on today? I'm going to see if anyone there could use the fire of a pyromacer. Course, I probably should be going to see a someone about that dream I had last night, but I have all the time in the world to do that." It was obvious that the fact that the pyromacer had just woken up did not affect his mood.

[Rogue Nine]

"Stand up," the voice ordered.

 

Carwyn slowly got to his feet. He was defenseless, his arrows in his rucksack and his bows still slung over his shoulder. The dagger he had for last resorts was still tucked away in the sleeve of his coat, wherever that was. He tried to control the surprise in his voice. "Look, I don't know what you want, but-"

 

"Shut up," snapped his would-be assassin. "Put your hands on your head." Carwyn did has he was told. He felt the blade recede from his neck, but then tap his elbow. "Turn around slowly. No funny business."

 

Carwyn turned slowly, facing the speaker, who was still pointing the sword at Carwyn's neck. The sun was in his eyes, blinding him momentarily and casting the figure with the sword into shadow. All Carwyn make out was the golden tint of the figure's hair, and the uneven shape of its head, as if it was bandaged... He squinted. "Haven't I seen you before somewhere?"

 

The figure laughed, and Carwyn caught a pair of shimmering blue eyes dancing in amusement. "Ever the attentive ranger, Carwyn Stormchild."

 

Despite the sun, Carwyn's eyes opened wide at the sound of his full name. "How do you know my name?" he asked, no longer bothering to mask his surprise.

 

In response, the figure reached up and pulled off the bandage around its head, revealing a shock of brilliant blonde hair. It stepped forward to place the tip of the blade at Carwyn's Adam's apple. Doing so also revealed the speaker's face clearly for the first time. The bandages had indeed covered injuries; dark purple bruises all along the side of the head. But there was no mistaking that face, those eyes, that hair... Grinning twistedly, the speaker said, "You were always a bit thick, dear brother. Why don't you tell me how I know your name?"

[Dark_Lady]

"Yeah, sure, let's go," Hoshiko said, tucking the comb into her pocket and standing up. "What dream, out of curiosity? Or would you rather not say?"