Ursali
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Posts posted by Ursali
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Unlike the rest of his peers, Daeran was not in any particular hurry to reach the hangar. He kept his pace measured, eventually falling in line with the Lieutenant Commander. "Greetings, Sir." He addressed the senior officer with a salute even as he walked along side him, a respectful distance away. "If you don't mind my prodding, and a bit of a presumptuous question, what do you make of our measure? I don't mean to imply that anyone here is underqualified, just... Curious as to what someone as experienced as you makes of our situation." He wasn't expecting an answer, truth be told. Or at least none other than to mind his business.
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It seemed like today would just not end! In the midst of her scolding of Versaris, Lani reached for the sword they'd gone through all the effort to retrieve and it started glowing. It lasted only a moment, but she was acting as though she'd moreso been compelled to touch the sword than wanted to. She spoke of something called 'Gaia", but this whole situation was already way over her head. But the day was still young.
Whether Iris decided to take advantage of the extra bit of chaos Lani's blade touching had provided, or she just really wanted to kiss Ullr, the fact of the matter was that she did so very publicly. Alriana's tail slammed into the dirt, feeling her face heat up from a secondhand blush. Were she not restrai-- Holding Versaris, she probably would've elevated herself up to her sister to shake her shoulders. "Wh-What are you doing, Iris!? That stuff's supposed to be done in private!" She huffed, far more secondhand embarrassed than angry. It seemed there was talk of resting in the village for a while and that was all she needed at this point, carrying Versaris off ahead of everyone else.
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Though Daeran kept his expression professionally neutral, it was somewhat amusing at how quickly Kazue had so quickly fled the meeting room after they were dismissed. Everyone else began to file out afterwards. Daeran stood, pushed in his chair, and gave his captain a salute. "Ma'am." He followed suite after everyone else, though he noticed an unfamiliar woman waiting to enter. If her labcoat was anything to base his impression off of, she must have been some sort of medical staff. He gave her a polite nod of his head but kept walking, having no business meddling in hers.
He was fine with bringing up the rear of their little march to the hanger, more time to observe how everyone carried themselves. Proper introductions to his fellow pilots could wait until after the simulation, once they all had a feel for each other's capabilities.
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So this was Lady Celine? It wasn't fair to the woman to say that Alriana was unimpressed, it was moreso that she just didn't really care. She only over here in the first place because Versaris clearly didn't know how to take care of himself... "Hey! Stop that!" She growled as his struggling to be free continued, wholly unconcerned about the fact that they were properly in the presence of the knights now. People quickly started to file over, first the green knight traveling with them, then Tio, then Mikoto, then Ullr, Iris, another knight, Laniva, and eventually a final knight emerged from the forest. It was quite the crowd gathered and Alriana felt the ever increasing urge to just walk away with Versaris.
Especially so as she had caught him staring at Celine, who a lot of people were likening to their thief for some reason, but she knew he was important enough that he should probably be here. That didn't stop her from feeling the fires of jealousy flaring up after the observation, nor the urge to act on those feelings; however, she didn't want to smack Versaris in the middle of such a serious seeming situation. Then, Iris gave her the perfect outlet for those feelings, Versaris even giving her an unsure glance. "If he can try to escape then the notelf is fine," she echoed her sister in reassuring Ullr. "If he put half the effort that he puts into not taking care of himself into saving you he could've saved himself too."
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Daeran sat straight up in his seat in practiced rigidness, his hands folded on the table while his elbows were carefully positioned off it, his uniform and posture as immaculate as his long, nearly golden, locks. The woman across from him, Louise Park, as well as their Lieutenant Commander, seemed to share in his sentiment that a first impression was everything; though a fair few others of this colorful cast were far looser, both in appearance and in attitude. Not that he was one to judge, of course. People aught to be allowed to present however they wanted to as long as they could perform their duties competently. This really is quite the colorful cast, though. We're comprised almost entirely of high performing graduates or similarly inexperienced test pilots. The only people with real experience are the Lieutenant Commander, Leon, and the Captain... He had done his research before the meeting.
As everyone began to take their turns at introducing themselves Daeran sat and watched, until all that were left were the martial artist civilian and himself. With practiced grace he rose from his seat, though he did not bow. "Daeran Vhane, Olympus Mons MTS graduate and similarly Lieutenant Junior Grade. I specialize in close quarters ranged combat, changing in and creating openings." He took his seat, sitting down and resuming his pristine position in one fluid motion. "No questions from me either, ma'am."
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"What, hey!" Alriana let out a growl as Versaris pushed off her, his gaze now on the second group that had appeared after the battle ended. She tilted her head at his thanks, not understanding why she herself was being thanked for being okay, if anything Ren and Renais-- How close their names are is annoying. If anything it was Ren and Renais who deserved the thanks for healing her after she lost control. That was why she okay. His troubled look concerned her; though she didn't understand why that was the case either, red eyes staring into his troubled expression before he finally turned away towards Tio.
She glowered at him as he took it upon himself to return the sword to the newcomers, starting off after him as she saw him stagger. "What are you doing!?" She let her emotions get the better of her for only a moment, her tail immediately slamming into his back as she caught up with him. Some would have called it predictable given what the not-elf had suffered today, but she was still surprised as he immediately met the dirt. "See! Can't even handle that!" Though entirely her fault the lizard masked her concern by blaming him as she rolled him onto his back. "You need to be resting, not doing whatever this is..." She grumbled as she slid her arms under his knees and back, picking him up into a princess carry and continuing towards the knights.
"Hghn...!" He hadn't expected it in the moment, but Sari fell flat after getting bashed with Aly's tail, groaning as he tried to pick himself up. It hadn't been a harsh hit, so he was just as surprised as she was that he'd fallen over. What came next was almost embarrassing, unable to hide a blush as the much shorter woman carried him towards the knights. "You, you know, I, uh... I was, managing to walk, uhm..."
"Just because you can doesn't mean you should be," she answered with a grumble. "Said you need to be resting. Meant it." Though aware of his blush she chose to ignore it completely, even if it made her feel smug to have him blushing and embarrassed. He could explain later when they weren't actively approaching a pair of important seeming knights.
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"To know." She quickly answered between his response, glare not lessening in the slightest. She blinked unexpectedly as he so accurately described the voice, refusing to flinch in his presence. Who was this man that he knew so much about it? He was apparently familiar enough to have seen it reflected in her eyes, even if all she'd done was glare at him. His strange eye caught her off guard, part of her wondering if it was his intention that she saw it, but she had no idea as to the significance of it. She growled as he said his parting piece and, though she doubted the man would care, still responded to his, in her opinion, obvious attempt to rile her up. "You don't get to decide that." When he turned around to further taunt Mikoto she thought he might answer her dismissal of his claim; however, something much more surprising happened.
The air around them, even out to Tanvir, somehow changed into pure magic. Probably light, if she had to guess based on the coloration. Her rare proximity to Tio made it clear that the Evoker was the source of the phenomena. Just standing in it made her feel safer, though she had no idea why. More important than that, however was the hug she felt Versaris give her as the hulking man beat a suddenly hastier retreat. Is he worried about his words bothering me? He shouldn't. She felt him slump even more against her, even as Renais' magic began to heal him. "Can tell. Not like you to be so untalkative." Though her words and tone were as neutral as ever when regarding the half-elf, the tail supporting him betrayed her worry. "Should you even stand? Hit like that mess up most of other Tigers."
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Whoever this Tanvir was, he was one of the few people that actually knew what she was; she'd have to ask Iris if she remembered a man like him as, so far anyway, her sister was the only person, sans Grelbiria, that she'd encountered who knew the truth. "Rrrghh..." She answered Versaris with a growl, meeting Tanvir's head tilt with the same murderous glare. "You hurt Versaris. Only reason I need." She knew she couldn't do anything to threaten the man given how easily he'd dealt with Versaris. Trying to attack him was just as pointless, it would almost certainly get her killed, or end up fulfilling the vision which might have been the same thing. Instead her glare lessened from murderous to hateful yet inquisitive. "What do you know about me?"
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"If they attack they Tigers again I will kill them." It was less so a response to Versaris' warning and moreso a statement of fact. While Alriana doubted her ability to do much to the monster of a man, she was confident she could handle his lackeys; especially so if she let her instincts guide her attacks. But just a warning wasn’t enough for Versaris, even as injured as he was. The monster of a man approached them and gave his demands, Mikoto snarled back, and Versaris rose to play peacemaker. A quiet growl left her lips as she rose with him, using her tail to support his back as she got infront of him. Daggers still drawn as she took a protective stance, keeping her attention entirely on Tanvir as Versaris called him, still giving him that hate filled glare.
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As soon as the pair came into view Alriana was immediately on alert; there was no mistaking the hulking man that had entered her view, nor the axe on his back. He was, without a doubt, the man from the fortune she'd received in Eibar. Immediately and without hesitation one of her daggers was drawn from its sheath, clutched tight in her hands. Enemy. He must be an enemy... Her whole body tensed, prepared to break into a charge and attack the second she had any sort of confirmation that she was right. Then he stopped, pointed, and for a split second even she saw the dark magic emanating from him.
That was enough for her, the entirety of her stored momentum unleased the moment his spell landed in the group of Tigers. He hurt the Tigers. He's an enemy. Kill... She didn't even try to brush off the 'voice', in full agreement with it. Until out of the corner of her eye she saw the target of the blast, or in the very least the one who had taken the hit. Time seemed to slow as Versaris fell to the ground, the lizard suddenly frozen in her tracks. Bloodthirst and concern battled for control of her actions and, with a glare filled with fury and hate at the hulking man, concern for the not-elf won out. With the same force that she’d propelled herself towards the enemy she dashed to Versaris' side, arms reaching around his torso and pulling him onto her lap.
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"Hahh, hahh... Better run." Confident as she was in her own abilities, and even with the much more present intrusive thoughts than before, Alriana was glad the wyverns and mercenaries got the message and fled, if only for Iris and Alvira's sake. Iris turned to her, all smiles, but it was clear what had happened at the tail-end of the battle was on her mind. "We do need to talk, but not here. It's a private matter, Iris." She'd need to make sure that her sister understood that she was not to share what they were going to talk about, and here was not the place to instill that into her.
Speaking of her dragon friend, however, she seemed to have near sprinted off the second the mercenaries turned tail. It looked like she was over by Versaris, though she couldn't exactly see what was happening from back here. "C'mon Iris, let's get back to the group. We shouldn't be by ourselves out here. Versaris said that Cerezia was the last place where it was okay to be out in small groups." That other group of mercenaries had been down there, as well. There could be some left, more enemies to kill... Alriana shook the intrusive thought away, hurrying her pace. The sooner she could confirm there were no enemies the sooner the voice would shut up--
There was a sudden call from the fox, a warning, but from what? Even as her mind tried to determine what she was supposed to be bracing for her body instinctively dropped low to the ground, dagger swiftly drawn from its sheath. There were more enemies... Where? Where are they!? The dagger clenched tighter in her hand, Alriana scanning the southern field, looking for any sort of indication of more enemies.
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Alriana wasn't sure if it was the hit her sister, or the voice coming back and making a resurgence, but there was definitely an increase in her sister's aggression. Once the battle was over, and everything wrapped up, they needed to talk about that. For now, though, the wyverns were the immediate priority.
Aly to 25, 16 wing shuriken wyvern 11.
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"Everything hurts," she answered with a grunt, "but I'm fine." Dealing with pain was par for the course, though this was the first time she had ever felt it to such a degree; whatever had happened had left her feeling quite drained, as if a part of her overall being had diminished. It was probably just the exhaustion. Slowly, mainly with the support of her tail, the lizard stood up as her sister released her. "I wish something like that didn't need to happen for you to listen to me..." She had a vague sense of what had probably happened, she'd felt it for an instant in Eibar against one of the insignificant arena fighters. Though it was worrying how hazy the memories were...
"That's what happens when I 'listen' to my voice, Iris. That's why you shouldn't listen to yours." Like usual, Iris was fast to rebound past any hard feelings, or at least it seemed to be that way on the surface. And there was that word again, 'love'. She couldn't return the words and mean them, but she could compromise. "I care about you too Iris, but we need to stay focused on the battle - look, up in the sky. We need to deal with them before anything else. Come on."
Aly 24, 15 equip wing shuriken.
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"HrgkK!" An uncomfortable grunt left the lizard as her sister wrapped her into a powerful bear hug, sobbing into her chest and refusing to let go. "Why would I, leave?" She didn't understand. "Why, would I be dead?" She'd clearly lost consciousness, long enough for Renais and the other healer to have made their way to the front to heal her... Did she lose, to this worthless riffraff of mercs? The thought was enough to get her blood boiling, her tail slamming into the ground. An unusually strong reaction, even given her temper. However, Iris' continued sobbing and clinging quickly took her focus off her indignant rage and back onto her sister. "Iris. It's fine, I'm alive..." She slowly returned her sister's hug, rubbing her back.
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'Alriana' had dashed forward and tore into the first thing she collided with, cleaving her dagger through the unfortunate axeman that had been in her way. His wound resembled her own, a harsh and deep diagonal cut from shoulder to waist; though the wound she inflicted on him was much more instantaneously lethal and his death was assuredly swift. It felt like everything was in a heavy haze, her body moving with such ferocity from the simplest thoughts, if they were even hers. Another approached and she cut him down with sheer brute strength, cuts with her dagger enough to rend the unarmored fool's flesh. Another approached, mumbled some words she couldn't understand and didn't care to. She'd kill him, then the rest of them, until there was nothing left to kill.
Perhaps her wounds were catching up to her at last, or the exhaustion from all the fighting she'd been doing decided to hit now, but her body simply refused to move as the beginnings of the magic spell appeared below her. The pain didn't even register, the darkness clouding her vision just another obstacle to her objective. Even as the spell faded she stayed standing and it was only when her instinct told her to lunge at and kill the mage that her body finally gave out and she crumpled to the ground as unceremoniously as a puppet cut from its string.
Alriana blinked as she regained consciousness, everything a hazy blur. As the lizard blinked more her vision slowly came into focus, her sister's on-the-verge-of-tears visage taking up the majority of her sight. Her everything hurt, the wound, her muscles, everything. As though she'd just pushed herself too hard during exercise and pulled her entire body... "I, ris...?" Why was she so upset? Sad upset, not angry upset, they'd just been fighting not a minute ago. Her memory was hazy, a blur from baiting to cavalry to being on the ground; she'd taken down the cavalry, then another mercenary, then another, then blackness. "Why, are you sad...?"
Aly idles.
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As she noticed the rider charging her Alriana coiled her tail and took a low stance. As soon as his lance swung at her she was airborn, leaping up and crashing into the rider, knocking him off his horse as she drove her dagger into his neck. The situation with Iris really had her riled, Alriana venting some stress with the violence she committed against the mercenary. Why is Iris doubling down on this, she should just listen to me-- She hadn't noticed there was a second horseman, twisting her body out of the way to avoid being completely killed, but not enough to dodge the swing completely. "HrgHkK!" She stumbled back, coughing up blood as she felt her armor break and imbed itself into her skin along the arc of the swing.
But she was alive, and it was about to be everyone and everything's problem. "GRARHHRR!" On the verge of death, in an attempt to survive, the Creation's instincts of survival flared; however, baked into her very being was the directive to kill her enemies, more so even than to survive. With another ferocious growl she leapt at the man and tackled him off his horse, dagger piercing his neck, throat, heart over and over again. Threat neutralized she stood, seeing more of her enemies approaching and dashed at them, no thought in her mind other than absolute murder.
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"Rahhh! Listen to me! If only you can hear it than it isn't anything good!" Now truly wasn't the time for this, even with the temporary lull in combat. She didn't have the time to properly explain this to her sister; not without the rest of the Tigers hearing it anyway. They were her family, yes, but she didn't know how they would react to her admitting she constantly had thoughts of killing them floating around in the back of her mind whenever she was mildly inconvenienced by them; especially when tensions were already so high with the supposed thief being within reach.
"Ah... Thanks." She hadn't noticed the short and quiet healer approached her until she felt her healing magic patching up her minor wounds. The situation with Iris could wait a bit longer, preferably until privacy was an option. In the meanwhile, it was time to cull the herd as they approached...
Aly to 16,15 ensure Iron Dagger is equipped.
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"'Doing good!?'" Now she was really confused, Iris was actually speaking with something? "Just because something praises you doesn't mean that it's good! Listen to me!" She watched as her sister dashed off, undoubtedly eager to do more 'good' by the voice only she could hear. And a good job she did, killing the target of spells without hesitation. She'd noticed it before but Iris seemed almost eager to kill, no matter who their enemies were. It was worrying, but only because Versaris had told her how dangerous such thinking was. "What did it even tell you to do?" Of course, this conversation wasn't meant for the middle of a fight, Alriana's attention focusing onto one of the upcoming axemen long enough to throw her daggers into his vitals.
12,16 Iron Dagger fighter 3.
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Alriana paused as she heard something amidst the sounds battle; Iris was speaking, but to none of the Tigers. Is she...? But she told me that Del or whoever said she was incomplete. Something about not feeling things...? Either way, if what she was talking to was in anyway similar to the near ever-present thoughts that filled the back of her mind, then Alriana couldn't let her sister 'talk' to whatever it was she was speaking with. "Iris!" She shouted at her sister as she moved closer, dark magic already forming in her sister's claws. "Whatever you're talking too, don't listen to it! It doesn't say anything good!"
Aly 7,16 Iron Dagger the priest.
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True to her expectations, it was only one of the wyvern riders that had spotted her against the cliffside; the speed at which he swooped down on her with his mount was too fast to dodge, especially with the lack of experience she had on that front. His lance pierced her armor and cut into her side, however it was far from the worst wound she had suffered. She drove her dagger into his mount as it passed her by, leaving a harsh gash on the beast and leaving it slow and weakened. At least this dagger does was it was said it's supposed to do. Part of her had doubted it, given the apprehension of its maker, but the results spoke for themselves.
Gean ran in and capitalized on the slowness of the rider's beast, leaving Alriana without another target. One of the hangers-on, one of the knights that got them into this combat, was swiftly behind her and produced a staff to heal her wound. A simple "Thanks." was all the lizard offered in return, now setting her sights on the weakest link in the mercenaries' attempt at a human blockade.
Aly to 8,18, Steel Dagger Mage #1.
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Alriana had spent much of the morning, and most of their journey out of Hectacia, still pondering the book she and Iris has read last night. There hadn't been time to ask Versaris anything, at least not privately, so she'd been left with her own thoughts, confused as they were, on how what had been described in the book was anything close to romantic. So distracted had she been that she failed to notice her sister chase after Ullr once he'd somehow caught a whiff of smoke nearby until she'd gotten a fair bit ahead of the others. In the very least she'd already had her armor on, no need to don it.
Iris and Ullr had stopped before they had gotten to far, at least, that worry now out of mind. There appeared to be a rather large host in the area, most likely related to the thief the Tigers were hunting given the mishmash of humans and clouded everywhere; mercenaries like herself, though their attention swiftly shifted from uncertain to hostile, she could see it in their stances. Words were useless then.
She quickly moved to the front, positioning herself with her back to the mountain, low to the ground, ready to attack at a moment's notice. A glance up at the sky revealed the primary threat to herself, the wyvern riders would almost certainly be able to spot her regardless of how well she hid; black armor on a white body did little other than stick out like a sore thumb without cover. She clutched the new tool she'd acquired in Cerezia, ready to put it to use...
Aly to 7,22, equip Wing Shuriken.
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Sister Sister: Sister Harder
Iris rolled around on the bed in the room that she was sharing with Alriana, yawning a little. She’d had a very active day with Ullr and was enjoying her new clothes, constantly looking it over and tugging at parts, finally sprawling out on the comfy mattress. “I wonder how Aly’s doing… She’s always hanging around that notelf… They must be friends. Maybe more than friends? But I dunno how all that really works… Other than being together and kissing? Hmmmmrrrrrrr…” Iris did another spin on the bed and flopped, sighing. “Confusing. Feelings for Ullr are confusing too…”
“Haah…” Alriana let out a sigh she didn’t know she’d been holding in, carting her books towards her room. The time she’d spent with Versaris had been enjoyable, but exhausting in ways she hadn’t even thought about before today. He loved to push her buttons so, even at expense to himself. She pushed open the door, Sixteen having already beaten her back. “Hello, Sixteen.” She greeted her sister cordially, lacking the casual energy her sister seemed to have mastered. “How was your day today? Mine was… Tiring.”
“Alriana! I have a new name!!” Iris rolled off the bed, flopped onto the floor, squirmed to standing and waved very happily at her sister, tugging some at her new shirt still. “It’s Iris! Iris~ Ullr gave it to me… I think it’s really pretty!! What do you think?” She paused, nodding. “I’m sorry that your day was so tiring… Did something happen? You were with the notelf, right?”
“New name…?” She remembered that the bookstore owner had said something about that while she was getting her books, that an Iris had bought books, but no ‘Sixteen’. “Mrrr… You didn’t even ask me.” She let out a small huff, somewhat annoyed that she hadn’t even been consulted for the task but the feeling quickly melted away as Iris expressed so much joy over her new name. “Feh… Glad you like your new name so much. And my day was tiring because of the not-elf. That’s just how he is.” She moved over to the dresser beside her bed, plopping her stack of books down onto it with a thud. “Got a lot to read at least.”
“Awww, don’t be so upset, Alriana… It’s a nice name and that’s what matters~” Iris remained positive despite Alriana’s grumpy nature, looking over her books and her. “He exhausts you, huh…? Why’s that?” Iris slipped back onto the bed and stared over her books, picking up a few of them, looking over the titles. “Lots of books… Can you share some of them?” Hopefully she would. Iris didn’t read as much as Aly, but she still enjoyed it. “Whyyyyy do you say he’s so tiring, anyway? You spend so much time with him… But he makes you tired?”
“I wanted to help name you,” she huffed a final time before she moved on from the topic, over it solely because of S- Iris’s sheer enjoyment of her name. “He just does… It’s all his taunting, and teasing. It’s annoying, but it makes me feel ways that I don’t understand yet. Trying to understand everything as it happens wears me out, I can’t just read about all these emotions because the context doesn’t line up…” She sighed, glancing towards the romance book she’d purchased, sitting on the bottom of her pile of books. “That’s why I bought… That.” The mere thought of buying that book for Versaris’ sake, and getting teased for it, both brought a blush and a scowl to her face.
“Hmmmm…” Iris swayed from side to side, thinking things over. “Okay… Let’s start with, my name! You can give me a last name! People have last names, right? Well, I don’t! I was just Sixteen, now I’m Iris~ So you can give me another name, that’s fair, right?” Hopefully it would be fair. Iris didn’t want Aly to be upset about this, and she was happy to hand the other half of her name over. “Aaaas fooooor… Versaris. I think you like him.” Iris smiled, without any ulterior motives. “I mean, why would you go so far out of your way to try and figure this stuff out just for him? If he didn’t matter to you and all… That’s what I think, anyway. And speaking of… That~”
Iris rolled onto the bed and crawled towards the book pile, yoinking the novel out from the bottom. “You wanna read it together!? I wanna see if it matches up to stuff I read before… Maybe there’s more that I don’t know yet!” There very likely was.
“You can’t just spring it on me like this. Mhhrr…” She was already back to grumbling, though for a different reason now; part of it was definitely the tail end of thinking about Versaris. As for the rest of her grumbling, she wasn’t good with names. That was why she hadn’t suggested one yet, and now such an important decision was being thrust upon her with no time to prep. “...Hyl’Sin. You can have the last name Grelbiria gave me, too. We’re sisters after all.” Perhaps not the most original of names, but it was one that made sense at least logically.
“Like Versaris?” She almost scoffed at the notion outright; the not-elf was frustrating and irritating, always alluding to his own wants that she didn’t understand, teasing her over the smallest thing just to get a reaction out of her, treating her kindly but going against her wants to do so half of the time… A deeper blush had settled on her face, remembering the date and how enjoyable she’d found it to be despite her impossible to please list of complaints. She felt, weird, in a way she couldn’t really describe; nervous but not afraid. “Mrrrr… I wasn’t asking what you thought,” was all she could offer to refute her sister.
“Hey!” Alriana quickly lunged for the pile of books, stabilizing them before they could topple from Iris’ reckless book grabbing. “Mhhrr… Fine. We can read it together. But I know even less than you do about what’s in there, so don’t ask me questions about it…”
“Heheha~!” Iris giggled as Alriana made a fuss over her books, nodding. “Okay, okay~ We’ll read it together… You’re super red, you know? I think you do like him… I don’t really get what this kind of ‘like’ really means, but it’s probably a good thing, right? Friends are good, so if there’s something more than friends, wouldn’t that be great?” Iris’ take on relationships was certainly naive, but it was at least positive and hopeful.
“I won’t ask you questions, promise… But I will definitely be asking other people. Maybe Miria or Syndra… They still scare me a little, but Syndra was nice enough to give me her tome, so… She can’t be a bad human. Probably… Anyway, let’s read!” Iris was already opening it, getting into the first page, flopped on her back.
“Super red? Why would I be red? I’m as gray as you are Iris.” She let out a huff, completely in denial for a reason that she didn’t really understand yet clung to. “Even if I do like him, this isn’t ‘friend’ like. I don’t feel like this over Alvira, or you for that matter. I don’t know if it’s good, but he seems happy about it…” Maybe it isn’t so bad then… She shook her head and swiftly brushed that thought aside as she climbed onto Iris’ bed and laid beside her sister.
“C’mon, scoot over so we can both see then. And what makes you think they know any more than we do? I don’t see them even doing things like going on dates…” How Iris has such confidence in them Alriana wasn’t sure, but it was good that Iris wanted to interact with some of the Tiger’s humans now. “At least you’re comfortable with some of them.”
“Aly, you know what blushing means now…” Iris stuck her tongue out a bit and blew a tiny raspberry at her sister, shuffling some to give her some room. “If he’s happy and you’re happy, why deny it? Happy is good… Maybe there’s some nuance I don’t get, I dunno. Think about it… And, here.” Iris handed the book over, squirming up next to Aly. “Your book, you turn at your pace. I can read pretty fast, so don’t worry about me.”
“You weren’t supposed to comment on that.” Alriana pouted as her sister repositioned, her tail flicking some behind her. “Mhhrr… I don’t know. I don’t understand these feelings. I don’t understand what he wants out of this relationship. He says loves me all the time, but I don’t know if I reciprocate…” The red on her face deepened a bit. “He wants to kiss me, don’t know if I should let him…” Iris scooching up to her snapped her back, staring at the book cover as Iris handed it to her. She’d been in such a hurry to buy it she’d neglected to read the title, only now seeing it for what it was, big and bold letters on a velvet red book: “The Sinful Secretary”. There was no going back now, no matter how little confidence that title inspired.
From the first page into the book proper the lizard wondered if purchasing this book had been a big mistake. But she pressed on, determined to find knowledge and understanding. Knowledge that wasn’t ready for was what she got instead. The sisters were barely one fourth of the way into the book and had read over scenarios that almost exclusively exceeded their combined knowledge of the subject of romance. The only thing that Alriana herself recognized was kissing, but even that felt like it was a far more advanced version…
“You’re so funny, Aly…” It seemed she didn’t know how she felt yet, even if it was written all over her face that there was more she wasn’t willing to admit. I really wonder what this kind of ‘like’ feels like… I wanna know. Maybe I can experiment… With Ullr? Mmmm… She didn’t say anymore; needlessly poking Aly would make her actually mad at some point. She focused on the book instead…
… And what a book it was. Iris felt herself turning a faint shade of purple, in a similar way to Aly, her blood rising into her face as they kept reading. A lot of this stuff was similar to the one she’d read, but a lot of it was different… The word ‘romance’, appeared a lot, with a lot of other words she didn’t understand… But something in her told her that it was embarrassing. “Wow… This sure is… A lot.”
“Should we… Keep reading?” Though far less knowledgeable than her sister, and ignoring the fact that she had been blushing before, Alriana’s blush was a shade deeper than her sister’s; somehow the lizard felt embarrassed just from reading the combination of words that she couldn’t possibly understand in the context being presented to her. “This book… Feels indecent, somehow. I don’t even know what’s happening, or if I want to… Do you, want to keep reading Iris…?”
“Ah, huh? I, uh… Y-Yeah? Kind of. I wanna know… The words, at least. Even if I don’t know their meaning… But, I feel like…” Iris paused and took a deep breath. “I feel like if we go down this avenue, we aren’t gonna come back. This is stuff we’re gonna know for the rest of our lives… So, I guess, I should be asking you, that question. Do you wanna keep reading, Aly?”
“I… Mhmm… I should also, probably know words… At least.” She couldn’t help but squirm some in place. “Versaris, probably already know all this… Can ask him about it, at least. Even if he teases me about it… Like a jerk.” She huffed, steeling her resolve to delve even deeper into this weird book. “You can stop reading if you want…”
“Like a jerk, huh…” Iris wanted to poke at her some more, but the book came first. “I wanna keep reading. Let’s finish it tonight. Then we can ask people about it tomorrow if we get the time…” She nodded and squirmed just a little closer, focusing on the pages in front of her.
“Yeah… But maybe don’t talk about the actual things we’re reading in front of everyone?” Given what they were reading and some of the word combos, the lizard was worried her sister would say something that would really turn heads if anyone knew what she was talking about. “Save it for private talks, okay? Just because we don’t know doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t know. Save it for good company and all that. Well…” With great trepidation Alriana turned the page, unlocking even more forbidden knowledge…
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"Wh-What...?" Tundyssa stuttered as Tenna called her bluff; and call it hard she did as she positioned herself right in the dragon's face, mere inches away. She didn't have an answer to Tenna's question, unwilling to do something that would potentially hurt her feelings and send the wrong message but at the same time unwilling to act on how she truly felt towards the Saintess. She had more hang-ups than what had already been mentioned, namely her feelings for Nala, yet at the same time she wanted to be greedy and have both. Something about the girl innately attracted Tundyssa, as soon as Tenna had shown she wasn't a bloodthirsty beast really, but she'd been too stuck up in her prejudice to let it influence her. Until Tenna's confession slipped out, and she was forced to confront the feelings, both about the Saintess and humans as a whole, that she'd been running from. "I... I..." She didn't have answer for Tenna here either, staring back at the girl with a small amount of panic in her eyes. What was she going to do if she didn't deny her? Tundyssa wasn't sure she was ready to find out, but it didn't seem as though she had much choice.
Xetketh watched her liege intently as she realized that her star pupil's attention had been so easily torn away from her and onto the human girl merely because she had swapped her tights out for some combination of a skirt and shorts that showed off her legs. Xetketh could hardly see the appeal herself. With Miz as the only exception, knowledge took a priority over everything else for the beholder. Regardless of that, however, Seilan had very obviously earned Miz's ire, the proof was there as soon as the rune burst into a minor spark shower. Her name being said in full cleared any doubt, not that she'd had any in the first place.
"It's just as plain to me Miz. Let us be off, you wanted to see the Trading Guild did you not?" Miz began making her way towards the center of town and Xety was quickly behind her until she had matched her pace. Though her liege was fuming, the beholder was delighted, more than happy to be rid of the humans that Miz had insisted they accompany, though she knew better than to declare as such when one had set Miz off. As they approached the center of town a particular building stood out from the rest, easily the largest building in town. "May I suggest we start there, Miz? Even if it's not the Trading Guild we will likely be able to learn where it is."
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"Sh-Shut up!" Came the dragon's panicked response as Tenna called out the blush she knew was on her face, unable to deny that Tenna's confession had made a part of her happy; though she was unable to openly admit as such after trying to deny to princess for so long. For the first time Tundyssa truly noticed the difference in height between them, Tenna a good five inches taller than her. She could carry the girl like she was nothing, fold her like a pancake if she wanted to almost assuredly, but in this moment where Tenna had so exposed her she really felt the difference in height. "St, Stop saying stuff like that...!" Her face lit up all the brighter, finally angling her head up to meet Tenna's gaze. "I, I shouldn't, feel like this but you... You just don't know when to stop."
Seilan confirmed her theory, that Changed now outnumbered man most assuredly, though with an extra bit of information that left her with a question better answered in private. Why the Changed hadn't razed a country like Coteon to the ground, when they so assuredly outnumbered them, was probably not something the boy would want to discuss in the middle of an armory, even if her own curiosity wanted answers now. As for the actual confirmation of her hypothesis, it didn't mean much without more information to base the possible effects of a mass number of lesser Changed on the world; there certainly hadn't been any adverse effects from a smaller number of more powerful Changed that she had observed in her time.
Alas, it seemed that impromptu scholarly musings and debates had fallen out of style with the current generation, the boy exiting Big Bob's and waiting by the entrance. A cursory glance revealed his gaze to be over towards the girl that had accompanied them at the start of this outing, though she had split off before they entered the store; even as Miz passed the rune of a, probably now, very rare spell into the boy's hands she could tell that his attention was far from entirely focused on the rune. "If your mages were worth anything they would've kept our inscriptions the same; If anything I expect there to be inefficiencies due to loss of knowledge." There was an unmissable smugness to her voice, her ego would not be so easily checked as her power, though she wondered if the boy was even paying attention at all as the girl approached him, a few stalks swinging overhead to get a view on his expressions and where he was staring.
It was clear that the girl had captured his attention, and she was perfectly fine with that if it meant that he kept his eyes off Miz; though she wondered how her liege would take such rudeness.
"Gotta be in top shape at all times if you're a mercenary, 'specially when the rest of the group is older guys. Won't let you do a damn thing if they think you can't handle yourself. Don't know what kinda life you lived, but looks like you're figuring things out yourself." Ember was glad that Amera was taking things so positively, compared to the pessimistic attitude she'd had before stepping into the ring. She was doing a good job at lasting too, even if the Helhound was holding back for her sake. She could complain all she wanted so long as she kept fighting. "Hhrgh...!" Amera was quick even if she wasn't all that strong physically, the quick jab hits enough to get Ember to stagger back a step. "Hahh, got plenty of fight in you, anyway!" She wasn't being pushed to her limits like the cat was, but it was nice to get some practice in against a lithe and nimble opponent. "You can take hits, but let's see you dodge!" She lunged forward again, arriving at the retreating cat in one bound, fist already swinging at her gut.
Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars
in Roleplay
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Alriana slowly blinked into consciousness, the sun hitting her face finally enough to rouse her from her slumber. She could already tell from her internal clock that she had greatly overslept. The first thing that was readily apparent was that Versaris was gone, the incubus nowhere to be found; though he'd had the courtesy to put the blanket back over her when he left. It didn't hit her until she tried to move, but she was sore all over. "Stupid notelf..." She grumbled to herself, blaming Versaris for everything even if he wasn't responsible for everything.
Slowly, groggily, she rolled herself out from under the covers, standing and stretching so hard her legs almost gave out. Her tail still slammed into the floor to stabilize herself, even if it wasn't necessary. She went about her morning in a haze, not bothering to fix her hair as she pulled on a fresh pair of clothes, barely remembering to check if her necklace was still on. It was, and thankfully undamaged even though it hadn't been taken off at all last night.
She made her way downstairs, seeing that she somehow wasn't the last of the Tigers to arrive. Versaris was over by Tio, Marigold, and that one clouded beastgirl they'd picked up awhile ago, and it seemed like it was an at least somewhat important discussion. Glancing around the room she spotted Ullr and Miria, surprised that Iris wasn't with them until she saw her sister's eyes and tail poking out from the other side of the table. She walked over to her sister without a hint of subtlety, staring down at her. "What are you doing?"