Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 6: Standing against the Bolivian Army

[Kanami]

OoC: Kamilla may disappear off the face of the planet, but don't rest yet, she may and most likely will appear at worst possible time to kill you all! I'll be back! *Meanwhile Nady will continue to oversee you all and throw down her fire sticks down upon you*

Kamilla looked at the man again and raised an eyebrow. She didn't trust the man, but there was no sense in staying here and waiting for a soldier to capture her. And she didn't have the confidence to wander through the countryside alone and unarmed even if they were close to the capitol. "I suppose so, but I'm only following you since I have nothing better to do" she said emphasizing certain parts of the sentence, "And I'm not letting you out of my sight until I've repaid any debt I owe you."

[Phoenix]

OOC: I noticed Kelas say something to Iso again! I noticed! I noticed! Hahah! :P

Iso: It looks like they'll be hauling us off in chains once they reform their forces. Katie seems as if she won't be getting the usual criminal treatment.

Irina: Hey!! Stop that!! >_<

Iso: What the?

Irina seemed to be in a tug of war with one of the soldiers. They were both grabbing Kiev's reins rather tightly, with Irina using all of her weight against the soldier, while another simply watched, surprised that his brother in arms hadn't won yet.

Irina: You're not putting Kiev in a cage! We didn't hurt anybody! >_<

Soldier: What about that guard you left up on the tower flagpole, kid?!

Irina: How did you know about that?

In her moment of weakness the guard yanked Kiev's reins away from her and she stumbled forward a bit!

Irina: No! :o ... ... please don't hurt him ;_;

Soldier: We'll see, now stay right there. Jesse, get some cuffs for the rider too.

Jesse: Right away.

The soldier quickly yanked and jerked Kiev away. As the wyvern disappeared into the swarm of men, Irina's eyes began to water. Separation from her loyal drake was one of her greatest peeves, but she couldn't do much about it at that point.

[Snike]

"There's no need for that, but feel free," Eric replied, as he began to head towards the forest. The remnants of the forest fire had been extinguished by then, and all that was left was the charred, dead trees. The underlying brush was incinerated, as well, which meant that people could travel much faster through the woods. The traveler led the way, sword at the ready, stopping every few minutes to allow Kamilla to catch up. In about a half an hour, the two had were at the cavern, which, to Eric's slight dismay, had partially caved in.

"Well, there goes one way to get out of here," he muttered, continuing on to Istample. Putting his sword away as he entered the town, he relaxed as Kamilla, seeing that there were no soldiers in the area. "I guess things can go right sometimes after all," he said to himself, as he walked to the inn.

[Inactive Account]

Kelas sighed. "'Once they reform their forces.' I hope they don't blame me if I pass out before that..." Her eyelids were dropping again. She shook her head and blinked, looking to Amari. So far, so good... the mare was almost where Tessa should be now... "What about the others?"

Before a response came, there was a struggle: a soldier was attempting to take Kiev's reins. These damn military lot and their manhandling of animals... Kelas tried to jump up to help Irina. Perhaps luckily, though, her muscles betrayed her, and she fell back to the ground. "Dammit," she muttered weakly. "Wish staves covered the 'strength of a week-old kitten' thing that tends to follow blood loss..."

Arrin was tracking Amari's progress intently. She was almost there, but he still didn't see Tessa, even as the dust cleared... Dimly he noticed some of the others on the field, looking lost. But they were alive, definitely... Tessa wasn't even visible currently...

Lacking sufficient distractions, he continued to worry.

OOC: And then Lacuna passed out. Be back in the morning.

[Inactive Account]

damnable internet connection >_< disregard the doublepost

Edited May 28, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Kanami]

Not really sure where they were heading she followed Eric to the entrance of a cave that looked similar to the one Chase had led them to earlier that day. "Sure, No one knows about them" she said inaudibly, as they headed off towards Istample through the route they'd passed earlier that day. She glanced back, caves didn't look like they were maintained and that explosion had most likely forced several section to cave in. No point using that hole in the ground anymore.

Kamilla looked around wearily, this place had most likely been crawling with soldiers several hours ago, but now there wasn't any evidence of the soldiers having ever been there. She let out a sigh of relief but quickly glared at Eric as she noticed him glance at her. Did he just smile at her? Here she was, worried that a soldier would jump out and grab her and the guy was laughing at her. Before she had time to scold the man, he turned and headed for the inn.

Kamilla hesitated, if the soldiers had asked about the innkeeper about them then there was a high chance they'd somehow alert the authorities and she'd wake up to a room full of metal clad men and spears pointed at her face. "Uh, you go ahead" she tried to hide her reasons but the man seemed to have caught on to something "They'll recognize me from earlier today, and might report me, I'll sleep outside tonight" she said looking around for a tree or something she could slump herself against.

[Ether]

"The inn fire was a malfunction of Isotov's Proxima tome.Halton will pay for ther damages." Damian replied to Viveka calmly,before continuing;

"Now then,I would ask that you tell your men to stop restraining us,as it makes negotions...awkward,to say the least."

**********

The soldiers were wary to approach Ulfhrahn.Aiya was still slightly injured,and knowing this,Ulfhrahn was quite irritable.

Not wanting to wrestle with a Bull Wyvern,the menh did not attemop to cage him like they did Kiev.

[Phoenix]

Back in the ruins of the fortress, the soldiers had found and hauled out both the last of their wounded, and the last of their dead. All of the soldiers had been accounted for, and message was sent for a two dozen wagons to transport back the injured, the dead, and the captured.

Once the cage for Kiev was brought, the wyvern merely stood there. Nine soldiers gathered behind him and began trying to push him into the cage, while several others tugged on the reins. Kiev simply wouldn't move, and they hadn't budged him even an inch. Irina rushed over and hugged him even as the soldiers struggled to move him. When they gave up out of futility, they glared at Irina, who was clearly the solution to their problem.

Soldier: Get that wyvern into the cage, now!

Irina: He's just uncomfortable straying too far away from me.

Soldier: It's just an animal, it can't think! <_<

Irina: ... ... ... ... let me go with him.

Soldier: In ... the cage?

Irina: Do you want to do this all night?

Soldier: ... ... ... no.

The soldier immediately grabbed Irina's arm and led her into the cage first. Kiev immediately walked in after them and lied down. She sighed, sat down and leaned up against Kiev as the cage was shut.

Irina: Iso's going to be so mad, if he ever notices <_<

Meanwhile Viveka was trying to make sense of ... the nonsense.

Viveka: A malfunction ... in Proxima? What is Proxima that it could malfunction?

Before Damian could answer, one of the lance wielding soldiers trying to figure out how to approach Ulfhrahn had stumbled back and fallen down! He started running in Damian and Viveka's direction shouting to her!

Soldier: We don't have a cage big enough for that one!! We've got chains we can use, but it keeps snarling at us!! >_<

She immediately turned back to Damian. She had no intention of letting a potent battle engine roam free, not even with sufficient archers present.

Viveka: I suggest you calm that thing down. We can't return to the capital with that monster on the loose. I can understand your objections to being restrained, but this isn't the best place to negotiate anyway.

She noticed that her pegasus was rather close by, and so she led Chase over to her, and had him sit down by its feet.

Viveka: Now don't you go anywhere ^_^

She quickly returned to Damian who was still within about ten feet.

Viveka: The wounded need treatment, and the rest need some closure. If you come with us without a fuss, I promise that you won't be harmed. I shouldn't have to have you all thrown in prison yet either if you all cooperate. We only need to keep you people here until the higher ups decide how to proceed. If you're innocent, then I'm certain that you can prove it.

[riariadne]

OOC: Dammit Snike! Those caves are supposed to be secret >.<

"... Well, I expect you to believe the truth," Chase told Viveka, not having talked for a while. "Although being in charge would be nice for a change, because there's no order and half the time everyone wants to kill everyone else. The other half the time we're fighting to make sure we're not killed by people outside of the group. It's so stupid. I thought it would be helpful to stick with a group... look where that's landed me... I don't think any more than five or six of us have common sense. The rest either lack it or lack the ability to use it..."

He was then led next to her pegasus and told not to go anywhere. "That's not funny! You know better than anyone else I can't fly things at all!"

Edited May 28, 2010 by Lightning

[Snowy_One]

May I ask what will be done with these people once they've been captured? At least one of them is a mercenary, and several more are of interesting magical powers that TISME may desire to examine in detail.

[Ether]

"Ulfhrahn will calm down once your men back away from his rider.On that note,if your men touch her,he will not be the only one angry."

Damian told Viveka in response to the soldier's complaints about Ulfhrahn.

"General Jackson carries the Crimson Axe,Earthshaker.I am sure you know of it's power.Proxima is the fire tome,so I'm sure how you can understand it's volatile nature,working with mages as closely as the Elyisimian military is known to." She seemed to have a look of recognition as Damian mentioned the axe held by General Jackson,and Damian thought she seemed interested in the tome,but as she had said,here was not the place.

"As for following you to the Capitol,there should be no issues so long as you order your men to release us.We need to speak with your General anyway,so we have no plans to go anywhere.We have no need to cause a fuss if the restraints are released."

[Snike]

OOC: @ Lightning: The two had stumbled upon it. Besides, it isn't going to be used for anything anytime soon, is it? Also, just caught on to Kamilla's paranoia.

Eric sighed. "What's going to keep you from being recognized out here? Hold on," he said, entering the inn. Seeing the matron, he asked, "I'd like to get two rooms please. Also, do you have a spare cloak I can buy?"

"Aye, I have one right here," she said, taking a black cloak out from a nearby rack, and placed it on the counter. "As for the rooms, there's a group who left a few hours ago, and I haven't had the time to clean them, so-"

"That's quite alright. Just give me two of them. My companion and I might stay a few days, so, would this cover it?" the traveler asked, producing a red gem, and placing it beside the cloak, to the astonished matron's eyes.

"Uh.. Y-yes, it will, sir! You can have the first two rooms," she said, flustered. Quickly taking the gem, she began to clean the place up at a frenzied pace. Taking the cloak, he returned outside to Kamilla, and gave her it.

"Wear this, and the matron won't recognize you. Also, you have a room at the inn. Don't argue," he added, as the girl began to say something. "It's no big deal." Exhausted, he turned and reentered the inn, heading up the stairs and picking the first room. As he walked in, he realized that an Iron Blade was sitting against the windowsill. Remembering the discussion just before the group split up, Eric resolved to bring the weapon with him, when he departed. Placing his own sword next to it, he pulled off his coat, and collapsed onto one of the beds, falling asleep in seconds.

Edited May 28, 2010 by Snike

[Phoenix]

While Chase was seated next to Susann, the pegasus began sniffing the top of his head. Once she recognized him, she started nibbling on his hair.

Viveka was somewhat torn. She was duty bound to restrain the entire party, at least until they reached the command center, but she didn't want to stand around in the rain trying to make her case.

Viveka: I understand that it's not necessary at this point to restrain everyone for the trip, but it is necessary for me to fulfill my duty as a soldier. That ... thing needs to be dealt with. We can't have it loose for the trip. I can't make an exception on th-

Suddenly one of the soldiers trying to sneak up on the bull wyvern from behind was snapped at! He fell backwards and dropped the chain he'd prepared!

Viveka: ... amateurs ... I'm tired of this .. so I'll make you a deal. The main danger posed by that thing is its mouth. Now I can't release the other wyvern for safety reasons, but I can allow you and the rest of your company to come with us unrestrained if you at least cover that thing's mouth with something. That's as good as my offer gets, Mister Kleine.

[riariadne]

"... Hey..." Chase complained. Susann had begun to nibble his hair. "... Can you... stop? Anyone? Help?"

[Ansem]

OOC: Summing up everything that happened so far.

Damian was apparently injured. Helios knew the cause of this. It was the lance doing its magic. The fool used it too much. H would have gone over and helped but everyone was already there and he wasn't needed. The next thing he needed was someone calling him an idiot. The next person that would call him that would die. Then soldiers came and surrounded them. Then an explosion rang out. Helios ran out to see if anyone was injured. Then all of the sudden he felt a deep pain in his chest. He looked down and saw a spear through his chest. It must have flew out of one of soldiers hand. His vision blurred. Those bastards are going to celebrate now. He gripped the spear. He slowly pulled it out. It was almost out but he had no more strength. With all his strength he pulled it out and threw it. He collapsed on the floor. If i die im haunting every single one of those pricks. He tried keeping his eyes closed but his eyelids were so heavy. He closed his eyes

Edited May 28, 2010 by Kai-Sama

[Ether]

"Do you have something for it?" Damian asked in response to covering Ulfhrahn's mouth.

"Aiya can get him to accept it if that is your only condition,and once that is done,the others will be unbound?" Damian asked to clarify.Getting Ulfhrahn to wear some sort of harness to close his mouth for the time being wouldn't be much of an issue so long as Aiya was the one putting it on him.

"And for your own men's sake,I would advise them to stop trying to force it on him.He is completely tame if his rider wants him to be,but if a stranger comes with something like a chain or a cage,well,your men are lucky none of them were slow enough to get ripped in half." Damian gave Viveka a friendly warning,as he saw the soldiers were about to do something stupid again.

[Inactive Account]

OOC: Susann eating Chase's hair is just kind of precious...

Amari could smell the healer-human now. Down... oh lovely, down the ditch. The mare snorted, collected her stride, and scrambled down the side of the ditch. Why were humans so good at getting into ridiculous situations? Even Kelas wasn't immune... Sure enough, there was Tessa, questionably conscious and lying under a rather large piece of wall. It wasn't quite pinning her. Amari nosed the girl's hand, looking to see if she'd get out on her own.

Kelas was getting a bit bored. "Certainly taking their time working out what to do with us," she muttered. She looked to Arrin: he was still fixed on watching Amari. He was mumbling something now, barely audible... probably praying. She should do something... but she was so... tired...

Quietly Kelas passed out on the ground.

[Kanami]

Reluctantly taking the cloak, she put it on, noting how it had a faint odor and wrinkling her nose. As she finished the man told her she had a room at the inn, and she opened her mouth in protest, but the man seemed to have anticipated her actions and quickly cut her off. After saying what he wanted he, Eric swiftly turned around and disappeared into the inn.

Kamilla hesitated, standing alone in the dark alone, raining pelting down at her. Her clothes underneath the cloak had been drenched on their way here and she knew her skin was as cold as that of a corpse. Sighing, she entered the inn bowing her head slightly as she saw the matron, A greeting, and secretly an apology for the trouble they must have caused her earlier. Before the matron could say anything she swiftly went up the stairs and into the 2nd room, she paused and contemplated going into the third room instead. It had been the one she was supposed to have used earlier, and the idea of sleeping in a bed that had been either used by Isotov or Chase disgusted her. Deciding it couldn't hurt she headed to the third room.

She felt her way to the bed Tessa had most likely used (the one that was originally hers) and was about to dive in, but changed her mind. Quickly removing the cloak and throwing it on where she thought the neighbouring bed was, she frowned and then started undressing herself, she wasn't about to go to sleep in drenched clothes. It wasn't exactly a freezing cold night, but she didn't feel like waking up with a cold. Having nothing to change into she slumped down into the bed, and wrapped the sheets around herself.

She was tired, and the long trek back had done her body no good. She closed her eyes trying to drift off to sleep when she heard footsteps outside. She swiftly jumped out of bed and tried to hide somewhere, but before she could find anywhere to hide, the footsteps slowly faded into the darkness. Only the sound of pattering rain could be heard, and she shivered. She glanced over to where the window should have been, only to find that it was too dark for her to even make out the difference between outside and inside.

Slowly getting back in bed, she curled up in a fetal position, trying to ignore the darkness and emptiness around her. She hated rainy night, there wasn't any light, and it didn't help being in such a large room all by herself. "What if she was the last person alive in the world?" She shivered at the though, constantly telling herself she was being stupid. But the thought kept crawling back into her mind. She thought she could even see inhumane figures reaching out to her in the darkness.

[Ansem]

Will edit if i feel like it

Edited May 29, 2010 by Kai-Sama

[Phoenix]

OOC: Helios made it all the way back to the inn? That would take over an hour wouldn't it?

While Chase tried to find away to escape Susann, Viveka decided to get the men to stop harassing Ulfhrahn. She took a few steps in their direction as another soldier was punk'd onto the ground.

Viveka: Alright, enough! You're just embarrassing the military now. Get away from the bull! We'll let them take care of it.

She then turned back to Damian, hoping she could trust him to deal with it.

Viveka: Listen carefully. There are more than enough snipers at the city gates to put down your flying cattle eaters. As long as you can keep this one under control, I can convince them not to overreact about this ... hopefully. How you keep that thing's mouth shut is up to you though, just make sure he looks restrained by the time we reach the command center. I'm taking a huge risk letting you do this, but I need a bath, and we need to get a move on.

[Inactive Account]

Arrin was done with sitting still. The soldiers seemed to be preoccupied for the moment... He looked to Kelas, to see if she'd stop him. She was unconscious. A moment of further panic... but when he checked her pulse, it was steady, and she was breathing all right. Just exhausted. The others knew where she was, anyway. He turned and scrambled to his feet, running towards the rubble where Amari had just disappeared.

Amari had got no response. The girl's hand was warm despite the rain; she had to be alive... the mare nipped at Tessa's fingers, making one more attempt at waking her up.

"Nnh..." Kelas blinked, shook her head, tried to sit up. The rain should wake her up... but she was past noticing it again... She resumed unconsciousness.

Edited May 29, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Balcerzak]

OOC: If I were born a girl, my name was going to be Susan. (Only one 'n' though.)

Tessa was floating on her back, drifting down a river. It was colder, and wetter than she'd expected, which was odd, actually. Rivers are supposed to be cold and wet, aren't they. There were trees growing on the sides of the river, with bark like patterned stone walls, growing brick fruits. They were small still, and not quite ripe yet; it wasn't the season, after all. The abbot was sitting in a branch, smiling down at her. She smiled back at him, and waved. She continued drifting.

Someone was pulling her hand. She couldn't make out the shape, a friend her age? But there were no other children in the monastery. Who could it be? The shape was fuzzy and indistinct. Their grip was warm, soft, and wet, but no at all firm. She was falling, slipping away from them. They'd been holding onto her? The wind, rushing passed her ears, carrying sounds, voices, arguing, shouting. Who? What? She looked down, and saw the moon. Confused, she looked up, and saw the floor, rushing towards her. Falling up!? About to crash headfirst into something incredibly sturdy.

With a start, Tessa opened her eyes. She was staring up at the floor. Confused, she blinked several times. Was she still dreaming. Another nudge at her hand caused her to turn her head. It was Kelas's mare. What is she doing here? Tessa thought. Nothing made any sense. And she was cold and wet. Why? Oh, it was raining. She could barely make out the rivulets of water that were flowing down the sides of the trench. Yes. She had fallen into a ditch. There had been an attack, soldiers. Then what? Falling, and darkness.

A sudden pain broke off Tessa's poorly connecting introspection. Amari had tired of simply nosing the girl, and decided it was time for an experimental bite.

"Hey! Be nice," Tessa muttered to the horse. Her head hurt, her foot hurt, she was tired and wet, but she knew the mare didn't mean any harm. Something was clearly up. "I'm awake, I'm awake." Looking around, she tried to figure a way out the ditch. Standing wasn't an option with the obstruction overhead, but Amari was nearby so... scooting, pulling, and wriggling her way backward she made her way to where things opened up again, and slowly pulled herself to a sitting position.

[Phoenix]

OOC: Don't mind the soldier rants. I'm trying to illustrate the sexism and superiority complexes that men commonly had in this era.

A few soldiers who were chatting in the rain noticed Arrin run over to some ruins by the wall. One of them had a rash suggestion to propose.

Soldier: What the? Where's he running off to?

Soldier2: We don't need them all alive, do we? Just chuck a spear at'em and say he died earlier <_<

Soldier: No, Viv'll get blamed for that kind of carelessness. Let's go get him.

Soldier2: Ah screw Viv! Oh wait, that's exactly what I'm not doing I'm tired of taking orders from the skirt just because the General likes giving his winged pony riding doll command perks

Soldier: When's the last time we lost a battle under her command?

Soldier2: Uhhh ...

Soldier: Exactly, now shut the hell up and let's go see what he's up to!

The soldiers quickly grabbed their javelins and rushed over to toward Arrin.

The soldiers holding Kiev opened the cage hoping Irina would get out, but she chose not to.

Soldier: Come on! Out! We already have the wyvern. You can ride with the others.

She shook her head indicating that she wasn't interested.

Irina: -_-

Soldier: What? You want to stay in there?

Irina: I'll ride in here with Kiev if it makes him comfortable.

Soldier: Fine -_- , stay in there with that animal, let me know how wyvern gas smells when we haul your unconscious ass out of their later on, hahahahah!

The soldier slammed the cage shut. Then several more soldiers appeared and began moving the cage closer to the approaching wagons.

OOC: @ Bal

Susann is Swedish for Lily. I thought it appropriate since pegasi are white ... generally ^_^

Edited May 29, 2010 by Phoenix

[Inactive Account]

The girl complained at the bite and pulled herself out. Groaning, she sat up. Amari headbutted her gently: apparently the little human wasn't broken. The mare turned, indicating her saddle to Tessa.

A hand caught in Arrin's traveling cloak: a pair of soldiers had noticed him. Arrin shrugged off the cloak and kept running, ignoring their orders to halt.

OOC: I would request that you don't knock him out, simply because I'll be left with nothing to do...

[Phoenix]

OOC: @ Lacuna

lol the second guy is a dick but the first one is more curious than violent.

Soldier: Hey! Wait!

Soldier2: He's not even listenin to us! That does it! I'm skewering this kid! That'll teach'em!

The soldier was just about to toss his spear at Arrin when the other one grabbed the spear close to the front end!

Soldier: No, you ignoramus!! Just follow him!

The third soldier had lagged behind a little ways, but caught up during the confrontation.

Soldier3: Where's the kid?

Soldier: Over there ....

The soldier pointed off into the distance toward the mountain of rubble near the fortress wall. They didn't have much need of words after that and continued running after Arrin.