[RP]Obake Blade

[JasraLantill]

Aya nodded. "Yeah. Too many thoughts and not enough space in my head for all of them. Despite what some people might think," she added with a grin. "Sort of like here--too many books and barely enough space for all of them." She walked over to the window, looking out over the garden. "Did you know that the reflection pool is sort of a shrine to Obakanare?" she said to Kyo. "I never really understood how until tonight. But just look at it." The pool was so still it was like a mirror, reflecting the heavens and the moon on its glassy surface. "It looks like a gateway to the heavens."

 

She suddenly wished that Carwyn was here to enjoy the view with her, and she hugged her arms over her chest. "Like one could just walk right down there and step into right into another world."

[Rogue Nine]

"Not really, Carwyn," Tellis called, beckoning him in with a wave. "The good Abbott and I were just playing a round of rin gummy."

 

Carwyn wrinkled his nose as he approached. "Sounds like some sort of illness," he said, sliding into a chair.

 

Abbott Carlisle laughed. "It's somewhat more prosaic than that, dear boy." He gestured to the playing cards. "'Tis but a simple card game that I enjoy from time to time. Miss Llyr here was kind enough to indulge me in a couple of rounds."

 

"I haven't played in so long, the kind Abbott is soundly beating me," Tellis said, a rueful grin playing on her lips.

 

"Well, we can't all be so generous all the time," Carwyn remarked with a wink at the Abbott.

 

Abbott Carlisle favored the ranger with a nod. "Indeed. So what brings you down here so late at night, Master Stormchild?"

 

"Ah, my stomach actually," Carwyn replied, rubbing his belly. "The soup was excellent tonight, but I didn't ask for seconds when I probably should have."

 

The kindly old monk chuckled and waved towards a cupboard in the back. "We have some dried nuts and figs back there. Help yourself to some."

 

"Thanks," Carwyn said and made his way over to the cupboard.

[Master_Archon]

"I did not want to disturb you if you were sleeping," the girl replied, still rubbing her elbow.

 

"Me? Hoho, no girl, you will find I rarely sleep, on these occasions," he told her with a light smile.

 

 

"I just came by to make sure everything was all right, m'lord." She told him. "And if you have eaten anything for dinner, since we've already had our repast."

 

"Hm," Xan pondered for a moment before replying. "I had an apple for dinner, if that counts," he told her modestly. "Another thing I hardly do on these occasions, eat."

 

He stared at her a moment, he could sense her nervousness around him, but her willingness to be like any other concerned monk. "No need to be nervous, girl, I won't eat you," he told her with a light laugh.

 

"But I appreciate your kind gesture of concern on my behalf, not many show me such as that," he said with a smile and the cheeriest tone he could muster at that time.

[Quist]

"Well, if you'd like to come down and have something to eat, I can show you where the kitchen is," Maggie told him. "We may even have some soup left over from dinner." She paused. "As for the rest of the monastery, were it earlier, I would show you around, but I'm rather peaked from today." She mustered up a tired smile. "Will there be anything you require, m'lord?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Indeed..." he said, nodding slowly as he looked down at the pool through the window. Closing the tome in his hands and setting it down on the table again, he stood up and joined her at the window, his hands folded military-style behind his back. "It's quite symbolic, and meant to be so. Water is a sign of spiritual cleansing and purity, as well as a reflection of the gods and heavens. In the many myths of past ages, it is not uncommon for the hero to be visited by a god - whose presence was merely a refletion in the water."

 

Meaning to play it sly, he looked at her from the corner of his eye. "From what I hear, however," he said, "Carwyn and yourself have already found that this symobolic entrance to the heavens is just that - symbolic."

[JasraLantill]

Aya felt her face grow warm as she blushed. "Yeah... well... we weren't intending to take a dip in the pool," she said, oblivious to the fact that Kyo was baiting her. "We sort of got 'blown' in by accident by Takara and her mother when they were having their mancer's duel." She looked at him askance. "Were you spying on us?" she asked warily. "Doesn't matter, I suppose," she continued before he could answer. "I expect that anyone who was in view of a window saw us... erm...," She was a bit reluctant to mention kissing Carwyn, though she was under no illusion that Kyo had probably seen that, too. "...saw us get soaked."

 

She shifted a bit, still looking out at the pool, but recalling the reflection of her and Carwyn together when they stood beside the pool earlier that evening. "Symbolic reflections...." she mused out loud. Then, quite suddenly, she turned to look at Kyo.

 

"Do you think we're on the right path?" she asked him pointedly. Seeing the look of confusion on his face, she added, "Not me and Carwyn. Us. Looking for the Obake Blade, I mean." She turned back to the pool and her eyes narrowed in thought. "The reflecting pool is dedicated to Obakanare. And although you have that artefact and all, it really was quite a simple puzzle, and she wasn't really a simple woman. Reflections are always backwards--left is right and all that. So, do you think we might be going the wrong way? Like maybe, instead of North, we should be going South?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo was silent for several moments, mulling over her suggestion before answering. And even then, he seemed uncertain.

 

"Obakenare wasn't a simple woman - or person in general, for that matter. Many didn't approve of having her in charge of the armies of the Continent; she was a woman, after all. But they were forced to accept her after seeing how easily she decimated the demon hoards. She was very crafty in the way that she went about her battles, part of the reason that she won as often as she did. She was one of the most brilliant strategists that this land has ever seen.

 

"Which is why she's so difficult to read." he continued, his brows knitted together slightly as he looked out at the reflecting pool. "Perhaps she created this puzzle to be simple for a reason. Maybe she had planned on those who found it to have expected more from her, to have thought that there was something deeper, something more in the puzzle and so overlook the true hiding place. The best place to hide something is in plain sight, as it were.

 

"But then, at the same time, there's always the chance that she did exactly the opposite. Perhaps she expected those who were looking for her weapon to be lazy or else not entirely clever. Perhaps just gullible. She would have given the puzzle the appearance of being cleverly simple, while in all reality she had hidden something inside it that they had missed."

 

After a moment, he turned to look at Aya now. "One thing I do know is that Obakenare was not one to forget friends and to always cherish memories. There are logs showing that after the wars, she seemed to make an out-of-her-way effort to return to every place that she had visited or stayed at. During the time that she should have been relaxing - finding a place to live, settling down for the final years of her life - she refused to stay still and in one place for very long. It was as if she needed to see them all again at least once before she died. A fact that leads me to believe that wherever she left the blade is the place that she had stayed at before, and cherished for one reason or another.

 

"That's the reason that my research here is so important." his eyes were outside again, the silver reflection of the moon's light reflected in his eyes as well. "If I can find something that fits in to what we've learned so far - a place that she loved for one reason or for another - so that maybe we can actually define our path and our destination.

 

"The thing that I'm mainly going on is the line that came with the end of the riddle. 'Return to where it all began.' In the north there are rumors of an obscure monestary - it would most likely be nought but ruin now - that Obakenare was first found and trained. In other words, where her story began."

[JasraLantill]

The corner of Aya's mouth twisted upwards. "Where her story began, huh? Well...." Aya picked up the oil lamp and crossed the room, going over to the bottom corner of one of the back shelves. She knelt down, holding the oil lamp low so that she could see the spines of the old books. Finally, after a few seconds of browsing, she spotted what she was looking for.

 

She extracted a book from the shelf, and returned to Kyo. "Here," she said. "Have you looked at this one? I remember this book because it contains some of the first stories I ever read. Has one about Obakanare in it, too."

 

She leafed through the book. It was a child's book, with lots of bright coloured pictures, but tooled on the leather cover were the words, "Where It All Began."

 

"Here it is. The story of Obakanare." She handed the open book to Kyo. "Not sure if there's anything in there that you're looking for, but suppose it's worth a look." She grinned. "If nothing else than to clear your mind for ten minutes of all that scholarly stuff."

[ForceFightWMe12]

He smiled as he accepted the book, glancing down at it. "I've never thought to look at children's books," he said jokingly, "Though I suppose the most important things to know in life we learn as children, don't we?"

 

As they moved together back towards the table and window, he looked at the artist's renderings of what he believed Obakenare to look like and couldn't help but think of the miko beside him. A young, untrained miko to be sure, but a miko nonetheless.

 

He went over the past few days in his head, thinking about all the things he had learned about Aya...and at the same time, he had the feeling that there was so much that he had yet to learn. For some reason, there was just...something that nagged at him, something that he didn't seem to know about her, and something that he hungered to learn.

 

After a few moments of silence, he looked up from the book, looking once again out the window as they drew up next to the seats. With a sudden question, he broke the silence.

 

"I...I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying to Miss Roche as I passed." he said, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes, "What you said about Carwyn. Do you honestly feel that way?"

[JasraLantill]

"I thought you said you weren't eavesdropping," Aya commented wryly. "So..." she pressed her lips together and raised both eyebrows. "You heard what I said about Carwyn and want to know if that's how I feel? Of course it is. I wouldn't have said it otherwise, especially to Maggie." She frowned slightly then. "I know I like him, a lot. But... " She bit her lip. "I'm just not sure what to do next." She gave him a shy sort of glance. "I mean, I've never been... well, in this situation before. You know what I mean?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

"I wasn't eavesdropping. I simply overheard it as I passed by." he corrected, his hands in his pockets as he looked up at the moon. He was silent as she answered his question, noting the indignance that she seemed to have.

 

"You've never been in love with someone." he surmised, nodding slowly. He didn't look at her; his eyes were far away. "I see."

[JasraLantill]

"Have you?" Aya asked brazenly. "Been in love with someone? I mean, besides the obvious parents/siblings/grandparents/family sort of love. You know, romantic love where your heart skips a beat, and your breath quickens and your knees get weak, and your head spins...."

[ForceFightWMe12]

It was a few seconds before he answered, and even when he did, he seemed quite distant.

 

"Yeah." he said softly, scuffing the ground with a boot. "I have. Once."

 

With little more than that, he turned and strode back to the chair, sitting down and picking up a book. He flipped a few pages before looking up at her again, his expression quite back to normal.

 

"So, Miss Aya. What do you know about Brother Kitanga? I understand that he is the...spirit wielder of the monestary?"

[JasraLantill]

Aya scowled at him. "Whoa, wait a minute. You're deliberately being evasive and changing the subject." She moved to stand in front of him, bending down to try and catch his gaze. "Look, I know you're a private type of person, but..., I bared my heart to you." Her voice softened. "If it's not too private, tell me, who were you in love with?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

He shrugged, steepling his fingers, and still entirely nonchalant. "I'm not being evasive at all. I had thought that that aspect of our conversation was closed, and so moved on to another. I am honestly curious about Brother Kitanga. If he's a skilled spirit-weilder, he might be able to help you with your own power. I see that you've already developed a relatively strong hold over your powers, and control them quite well. However, I still think he would be able to tell you a thing or two."

[JasraLantill]

With a dubious look on her face, Aya straightened herself up. "Uh huh...," she said slowly. "You know, if it's too private and you don't want to tell me you could have just said so." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I thought that we knew each other well enough for you to know I wouldn't betray your confidence, but apparently either you don't trust me, or it's too private, painful, or embarrassing for you to tell me. Either way, you still could have just said. I would have understood."

 

She paused a moment. "Yes, I agree Brother Kitanga can probably teach me a lot of things that I don't know yet. And I'll be sure to ask him in the morning." She nodded politely to him. "Good night, m'lord. I sincerely hope that you find what you are looking for in your books."

 

Aya turned to walk away, obviously slightly upset by Kyo's reluctance for disclosure.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo's face fell as she spoke again, her words wounding him. He realized with an ache in his heart that he had once asked her to trust him...and knew that in order for something like trust to work, it had to be mutual.

 

Before he had even thought about it, he was on his feet. Catching her by the arm, he turned her to look at him.

 

"No, Aya..." he said gently, "Please. I didn't mean it like that."

 

"Then what did you mean?"

 

He simply looked at her for several, silent moments, as if trying to find the right words to say.

 

"Look...I'm just..." his mouth worked wordlessly for several seconds before he sighed in exasperation, dropping her arm and walking back to the window, his arms behind his back military-fashion once again. "I'm not...used to talking people like this. I could tell you anything you'd like if it can be learned through a book or a scroll. But...I don't...I don't talk about myself. It's just not possible. I haven't told anyone about myself for...for years."

 

He turned around to look at her again, dropping his arms to his sides again. "I'm sorry, I really am. It's not that I don't trust you...I just..."

[Rogue Nine]

"So, Miss Llyr here tells me that you are quite the archer, Master Stormchild," Abbott Carlisle said.

 

"Oh really," Carwyn responded, popping a few cashews into his mouth as he sat down at the table and looking at Tellis askance.

 

"Indeed," the Abbott said, flipping a card over. "A-ha! I do believe I win again," he told the dark-haired healer, a triumphant glint in his eye.

 

Tellis sighed and nodded. "So you do, Father," she agreed tiredly. "I concede defeat, as you are the far superior player."

 

Abbott Carlisle laughed and patted her hand. "The luck of the gods was with me tonight, dear girl," he joked, shuffling the deck back into place.

 

"So it would seem," Tellis said, rising from her seat and yawning. "I have had quite a day, so I am off to pick up some bedtime reading from the library, then getting some much needed rest." She curtsied. "Good night, gentlemen."

 

"G'night Tel," Carwyn said, waving at her as she exited the kitchen. When he turned back, he caught the Abbott's wizened gaze from across the table. "Err..." he murmurred, quickly stuffing another cashew into his mouth.

 

"She is something else," Abbott Carlisle commented, taking a sip from his cup of tea.

 

"Aye, she is," Carwyn concurred. "Pretty as a pearl, but probably just as hard. Wouldn't want to get on her bad side."

 

"So I gather." The Abbott clasped his hands together. "Is that why you chose to use your charms on Ms. S'Ornaku?"

 

Carwyn's eyes widened and he nearly choked on a cashew. "Wow, you're to the point, aren't you?" he exclaimed, sputtering a little. "Is that what Tellis has been telling you about me? That I use my 'charms' on Aya?"

 

The Abbott looked impassive. "Miss Llyr had nothing but nice things to say about you, Master Stormchild. I daresay she even admires you."

 

"Oh," Carwyn said quietly, a little deflated. "Well, what did she say about me and Aya?"

 

"Nothing," Abbott Carlisle responded. "She told me that I had to ask you for myself. How fortuitous it is to have you wander in here."

 

Fortuitous indeed, Carwyn thought ruefully.

[JasraLantill]

"I'm sorry, I really am. It's not that I don't trust you...I just..."

 

"Just don't want to disclose personal information for fear of getting hurt," Aya finished for him. She gave him a tight-lipped grin. "Why didn't you just say so in the first place? I understand. We've all got 'secrets'. Just some people have more than others. It's not a problem." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Really."

 

She smiled at him then. "I'd better go and let you get back to your research. Let me know if you find anything in that book I gave you. It's simple, but then again, it's got pictures in it too. Who knows? Maybe there'll be some scene that you recognise or something."

[ForceFightWMe12]

He nodded, still not quite looking at her. So...perhaps she did understand more than he had creditted to her. Again, he mentally kicked himself. Idiot.

 

"I will, of course." he said, nodding to her. They bid each other goodnight, and just as Aya was leaving and Kyo was returning to his books, he paused and turned to look at her.

 

"Miss Aya?" there was a very faint smile on his face, "Thank you."

[JasraLantill]

She smiled back at Kyo. "No problem whatsoever."

 

Aya headed back to her room, she heard a familiar voice coming from the corridor up ahead.

 

"Well, if you'd like to come down and have something to eat, I can show you where the kitchen is. We may even have some soup left over from dinner. As for the rest of the monastery, were it earlier, I would show you around, but I'm rather peaked from today. Will there be anything you require, m'lord?"

 

Aya came around the corner finding both Maggie and Xan conversing in the corridor. "Kitchen? Did someone say 'kitchen?'" she asked, then smiled at both of them. "Xan's still wearing his armour...." Aya grinned and deviously wiggled her eyebrows. "I say, we plan a raid."

 

Seeing Maggie was a bit confused as to why Aya was not in bed sleeping, Aya shrugged and said, "I couldn't sleep."

[Rexraptor2000]

((Okay, so the last idea didn't work out so well. I've deleted the last two posts dealing with the Demon General, with the expectation that MA will do the same, and I will basically be waking him up from his sleep.))

 

Pain was the first thing that Toa felt as he awoke. A massive headache pile-drived him as he sat up in the bed he was in, forcing him back down for a few moments before he could sit back up. It was that moment that he decided to look around, and saw an old man in some special robes watching him (Brother Kitanga).

 

"Umm... Hello?" Toa asked rather than greeted. He felt bad right now not just because of the pain, but because of the stupidity he had committed. Despite the headache, it was all apparently clear that someone had put him here. And, knowing the past history of things like this, it had probably set off a some worry among the group too. In fact, he had done quite a bit lately to endanger his health and well-being.

 

He had been 'killed' by a bone dragon, impaled by an arrow, smacked around by a rock snake, and now had blacked out twice. Talk about rotten luck. Of course, nothing seemed to be that right anymore after Baston's death.

[Rogue Nine]

The Abbott had grilled him quite thoroughly and Carwyn was feeling a bit overwhelmed from all the questions. Abbott Carlisle had asked him almost everything imaginable, from his background, his childhood, his likes and dislikes, his craft, his quest to find his missing sister, his physical health, etc. It was to the point where Carwyn felt as if he was interviewing for a government job. But he answered the Abbott truthfully through all the questions, as he really didn't have anything to hide.

 

"So," the Abbott started anew. "What brought you down to our reflection pool with Miss S'Ornaku?"

 

Finally, Carwyn thought, his mind slightly numb from exhaustion and the Abbott's very pointed questions. "She did, actually. She wanted to show me around the monastery."

 

"That's not all she seemed to want to do," the Abbott said, his voice silky.

 

Boy, for a man of the faith, you can sure bait with the best of them. "So it would seem, Father," Carwyn replied, feeling his ears redden.

 

"And then you reciprocated."

 

"Yes I did," Carwyn said exasperatedly. "Then we got drenched by Takara and her mother. Then we dried off and sat by the fire for a while. Then we went to go check on our pyromancer friend Toa. Then she and Maggie ran off together to gossip and do girly things." He paused, a bit out of breath. Turning to face the abbott head on, he opened his hands and laid them on the table palms up. "What exactly is it that you want from me, Father? Why are you asking me all these questions?"

 

The older man took one last sip of his tea, then carefully laid his cup down on the table. Clasping his hands together, he brought them under his chin and said, "Please understand something, Master Stormchild. I am a monk of the faith and have been for quite a few years. It is my job to guide young people, such as yourself, down the path of light."

 

"Okay..." Carwyn whispered, not sure where the abbott was going with this.

 

"Miss S'Ornaku is also a young person in need of guidance," Abbott Carlisle continued. "I have watched her ever since she was a timid little girl, having taught her myself here at this very monastery. Now, she has blossomed into a beautiful young woman." He focused his wise grey eyes on the ranger in front of him. "And I am afraid that now, I will not be able to teach about her one of life's most important lessons."

 

Carwyn felt his mouth go dry. "And what lesson would that be?"

 

"Love." The man's face was impassive.

 

"And why wouldn't you be able to teach her about that?" Carwyn asked, a small sliver of realization slowly creeping into his mind.

 

"Because you seem to have taken the responsibility to teach her love upon yourself."

 

"Oh come now," Carwyn scoffed, unable to hold back his surprise. "Love isn't something you teach, Father. You have to experience it. Sure, you can tell her about it, but until she feels it, all the lessons you can give her mean nothing."

 

"I see I did not even have to specify which type of love I meant," Abbott Carlisle said with a wry grin.

 

Carwyn ran a hand through his hair. The monk had been testing him. "Morgan's Beard," he muttered under his breath.

[Quist]

Maggie was slightly taken aback by her friend's sudden reappearance, but quickly recovered as Aya gave her a grin, the same grin that had often preceded many of their small adventures in and around the monastery. "A raid, eh?" Maggie repeated, linking her arm to Aya's. "I think I could be up for that." She turned to the tall warrior. "What say you, m'lord? Will you come with us to get a bite to eat in the kitchen?"

[Master_Archon]

((Woah! Sorry for my weird absence, but that's what happens on holiday weekends.))

 

Xan was pondering in thought when the girl had spoken to him, he became alert when the sound of a new voice rang out in the hall.

 

Her jerked his head up to notice the familiar figure of Miss Aya approaching and speaking to the girl. "My apologies for my lack of response," Xan muttered to the girl.

 

"I say, we plan a raid." Miss Aya said, in acknowledgement to him still wearing his armor.

 

"A raid, eh?" the girl repeated, linking her arm to Miss Aya's. "I think I could be up for that." The girl turned to Xan. "What say you, m'lord? Will you come with us to get a bite to eat in the kitchen?"

 

Catching on to there girlish antics Xan smirked, he responded, "Aye, I guess I could go for a good bit o'vittles, let's go raidin'." Xan said in a bit of a comic pirate accent.