Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 14: The mental limit

[Inactive Account]

"Tessa, are you feeling any better? Do you need anything?" Arrin asked, trying to be helpful without being annoying.

------------------------------------------

"If Amari reckoned I was actually going to die, you lot would have a major problem on your hands," Kelas noted at Isotov's comment to the horse. "Now then... let's see if I can--"

She grabbed onto one of her stirrups and used it to pull herself to her feet. Everything went to spinning again, but as she got an arm over Amari's back, she at least managed to not fall down.

"Progress, I think," she said. "Though I'm a bit concerned at the fact that there are about three of everything now."

edit: minor clarification

Edited July 27, 2010 by The Clockwork Alchemist

[Psych]

Verry:

Nothing. No pain. No blood. Nothing. She lifter her head to hear the Headmaster.

"But if humans aren't willing to change, it's just as worse. If there is no reason for them, we have to reason to live. You astound me. One able to stand the human's marvels and failures. But I must go. My sisters are calling. I shall return."

Verry dissolved into the shadows, leaving the Headmaster in the empty fields.

[Snike]

Eric

"I... Thank you, for your gift, milady," Eric said. "I am honored that I have been such use to you. ...Tell me, what do you think a happy ending would be, milady? I am just curious, from what you mentioned earlier."

[Snowy_One]

The headmaster gave a groan as she at last removed her fist. Down upon the ground, she had imagined the girls head, shattered and bleeding beneath her power. She had put all her force into tricking her body into thinking that it had been Verry's head. "Stupid child." she said, rubbing her forehead in pain. "Doesn't know her history." she said one last time before spreading her wings, eager to take off and leave.

---

"Tessa. You need to recover. I know what it's like, and it's not wise for you to push yourself. Morgan may be captured, but killing yourself does little good. Rest." said Esphyr

Edit: Added Esphyr response.

Edited July 27, 2010 by Snowy_One

[-Cynthia-]

"I want Jerdon restored." Charlotte said. "No foreign powers, no Jace, just back to the way it was. "And..." Charlotte hesitated and gulped, "I cannot imagine a happy ending...without you Sir Eric. Will you stay by my side after all this is over?"

Edited July 27, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Snike]

Eric

"... I see. Your Highness, as long as you need, or want me in your presence, I shall be by your side," Eric said, kneeling and bowing his head. "My loyalty is to you, and you alone. Is that... Improper? If so, I apologise."

[-Cynthia-]

"I suppose it might be somewhat improper for a princess to value one of her subjects over another." Charlotte paused. "But...I can't really help how I feel. And even if I could stop, I don't think I would want to." Charlotte's stomach felt rather funny, but she gave Eric a quick smile.

[the_whistler]

"I'll be alright," Heinz replied to Tessa's query, shrugging his shoulders. "I think Arrin might've helped me a bit, and someone definitely healed me at some point," looking down at the mostly mended stab wounds. Wonder if it was her or that other priest. Either way, it seems like I was out for awhile.. Hearing the healer admit she was having trouble dealing with the pressure, Heinz frowned slightly. No wonder the mage worries so much about you.

"Don't overwork yourself too much, there are two healers here you know," Heinz advised. "You'll wear yourself down and end up burning out," thinking of what had happened to Esphyr. That princess was a healer too, but she's not here anymore.

[Phoenix]

Levski and his crew

Krinkov continued to follow Morgan's scent. The horse prints were going in the same direction, but he didn't care about those. They would end before they found Morgan, and he was certain of it, be it near her location or not. Meanwhile, Levski heard other foot stomps behind them and turned to see Derek catching up.

Lev: Ah. Well an extra blade couldn't hurt ... couldn't hurt us anyway. Fall in line, buddy, I'm running these little operation. The rest of our friends are going to take too long with that spell so it's up to us.

Krinkov was a little surprised by the tone of his master's voice. It was kind of pleasing to see him giving off his mercenary vibes again, even if it was the direct result of a worthless human female being stolen from him.

Isotov and Irina

Iso: Is there any particular reason Amari is so aggressive? If I didn't know any better I'd say she was abused by people or something.

Not far away, Kiev lied down and took in all of the smells. There was mostly grass, blood, and the occasional small animal, but nothing he could catch with his master so close by. Irina was leaning up against him, waiting for something to happen. With her arms crossed she thought to herself.

Irina: (This is just a lousy month. I find my brother and we hardly ever get to reconnect much because of Katie. Lev came along to help me out and cheer me up too I guess, but he's off chasing after Morgan ... urgh! Morgan! I know I'm not in danger or anything, but Morgan over me?! Why doesn't he just insult me to my face?!)

She quickly slumped down into a sitting position, her arms propped up by her knees, and her head hung as low as it could possibly go.

Irina: (This is so wrong. The men in my life are being whisked away by pretty faces and breasts, and all I can do is watch ...)

She was getting very annoyed and quickly leaped forward falling on her hands and knees!

Irina: OH FORGET IT!!! (Screw Lev, and screw Iso! I don't need them around to be happy in this group! I'll branch out! I'll make new guy friends, and you two can just go hump your bi-polar girlfriends! I've had it!)

She quickly stood on her knees and put her hands together before tightly closing her eyes!

Irina: (Goddess ... please grant unto me new and attentive guy friends. Men I can rely on for support, even with a load of other tramps around, in the name of light I pray to thee ... is that how it's supposed to go? ... ... ... this better work, Tessa >_>' )

[Snike]

Eric

Before Charlotte could react, Eric approached her and embraced the princess, smiling as he did so. "Your highness, I feel the same way. I'm sorry if this is a bit rude, but, can I ask you to stay close, next battle? That way, I can protect you from anything, or anyone that tries to hurt you."

[Inactive Account]

"Aggressive? Well, she'll attack people who she thinks are a danger to me, or who she thinks did something to me. She's not always right-- like when she went after you, she probably thought you and Irina'd just up and left me behind, when it was an just accident." Kelas explained, leaning heavily against Amari's side. "But it's a good precaution, especially traveling alone. Most lowlifes think twice about robbing or horse-thieving or whatever once they've got their fingers broke just going near your mount.

"The other thing is that she's got a mischievous streak a mile wide, and if there's nothing at stake, she'll pull whatever tricks she can on people. Like jumping into a lake, or biting someone's fingers just to see how loud they squeak."

Amari bent her neck round to nuzzle Kelas' arm, the picture of equine innocence. "Yes, I'm talking about you, crazy animal," Kelas told her. "At least you're behaving a bit better around friends, now."

Amari nickered: of course she'd behave, if Kelas added someone to her herd. Well, when Kelas was paying attention, anyway. She could still think Kelas was crazy for adding them all, though. In particular she wasn't sure why Kelas had been leaning all over the red man; she'd seen other human women do that round their men, but those were usually in the smaller sorts of herds with human-foals, and she didn't think Kelas was quite mad enough to start one of those when there was this much danger... well, perhaps it was something else entirely, another Weird Human Thing. There were certainly a lot of those. She decided that it had to be a Weird Human Thing, and went back to making sure Kelas didn't fall down.

OOC: I blame the wyverns for the Amari monologue. Dammit.

[-Cynthia-]

Charlotte embraced him back tightly, smiling as she did so. "Of course Sir Eric. I want to be nearby, to help you if you get injured. I won't let anything happen to you as long as it is in my power to prevent it." she said resolutely.

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso: Oh, so she's protective and mischievous. It's all starting to make sense now >_>'

I'm not a mount or pet person. Don't know what it's like personally ...

Irina and Viveka

Once Irina finished praying, she felt Kiev moving around. When she opened her eyes, she saw Viveka standing over her with her head tilted and her arms crossed.

Viveka: I was worried for a second, but it just turns out you're cracked.

Irina: Ugh! Can't you tell I was praying?

Viveka: For what? A boyfriend?

Irina: A-!!! ... no ... >_>'

Viveka: A better outfit for attracting one?

Irina: Okay shut up now. What do you want?

Viveka: I heard you yelling so I came to investigate. Nothing wrong, so I'm leaving now.

Irina: Wait ... umm ... ... <.< >.> ... can I ask you for some advice?

Viveka: No need. Lesson One in keeping a man by your side. Be sure to take notes.

Irina: W-what?! Hey! Who said that's what I was going to ask-

Viveka: Step One!

Irina paused! Viveka was pouring a lesson on her free of cost. She was a little embarrassed but at the same time, it was a free lesson. She could always deny her interest later on.

Irina: >_>'

[Inactive Account]

"Ehh, she's hardly a pet," Kelas noted. "I raised her, trained her, now we work together. It's sort of hard to describe; there's a nomad word for the connection, but it doesn't translate to anything I know of. But yeah, I was there when she was little and getting bullied by the sheep. ...All right, I was little and bullied by sheep at the time too," she admitted as Amari shoved her slightly. "Don't knock me over."

edit: added last sentence

Edited July 27, 2010 by The Clockwork Alchemist

[Phoenix]

OOC: Sheep :3

Isotov

Iso: Well you two have certainly come a long way, haven't you? Hahah! Ehhh sheep tahahahaah!

[Inactive Account]

"Oh, shut up," Kelas muttered, attempting to punch Isotov lightly on the shoulder, and instead losing her balance. Amari grabbed onto her tunic with her teeth, pulling her back. "I swear she had that whole bit planned out, too," Kelas mumbled as the world finished twirling around.

[Snike]

Eric

"Very well, milady," Eric said, pulling his head back to look at Charlotte's face. "Well, that just means I shall have to dodge more, then, so you do not have to worry about me. Now, Your Highness, you really should go rest. I can handle the watch."

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso: You have to admit though, it's a funny thought, you and her getting overwhelmed by sheep (nature's push overs ...). And now here you are, giving frightening long range support. ... oh and stop pushing yourself. Take it one step at a time. You've got Amari catching you too now.

Irina and Viveka

Viveka continued listing off a bunch of things while Irina carefully memorized them. She was certain that using these tools on Iso was a bad idea, but on a non-relative like Levski, they seemed logical. She also had other options too she thought.

Meanwhile Susann kept her teary eyes on Kiev. She was certain that the instant she let her guard down, she'd wake up in the belly of the beast. Kiev kept his eyes on her too. Wondering why she was twitching and acting finicky. He wasn't going to eat her. The blonde human was a part of the team now, and as delicious as the pegasus looked, she was necessary. He wondered if Amari would be grateful for him not eating any team mates and teach him how to save lives soon.

[Inactive Account]

"Stop baiting me then!" Kelas grumbled. "Not my fault I was a runt when I was twelve... Anyway, d'you suppose we should go over and get the others to stop killing each other?"

OOC: LolKiev.

[-Cynthia-]

"Yes I should, we have a long day of traveling tomorrow. I hope the others are doing all right...bonne nuit Sir Eric." Charlotte smiiled as she laid herself down to sleep, dreaming of pleasant things for the first time in a long time.

[Phoenix]

Isotov the Baiter

Iso: Uhhhh, maybe. Usually things get worse when someone steps in, take Helios for example. I'm sort of hoping things will settle down on their own >_>'

[Inactive Account]

"Well, all right, but if they start with the shouting again I might have to set Amari on them," Kelas conceded. "We're not going anywhere right now anyway, looks like."

edit: OCD enough to fix that quote mark, yeah.

Edited July 27, 2010 by The Clockwork Alchemist

[Ether]

Aiya let out a relieved sigh as her broken ribs were fixed,and was about to thank Tessa when she began to have a nosebleed. Aiya tried to help,but by the time she could think to do anything, the problem had fixed itself,or so it seemed.

*******************

"I can assure you that I was not planning on going into such things. The reason why rumours like the ones that our comet here has heard spread,is that people over-exaggerate everything,and spout it as if it were truth." Damian said,before standing.

"Either way,I've got something I gotta take care of,so I'll be back in a bit." Damian said,beckoning to Aiya.

Seeing the signal,Aiya grabbed the bag with the components for the dutch oven and the ingredients for the cake,and followed him. (OOC:No one else knows what is in the bag)

******************

Stopping far enough away that no one from the campsite would casually notice them,Damian began to set up the pit for the dutch oven.

"Aiya,could you get the actual oven ready?" he asked her,as the pit was dug out and the fire started.

"Oh,sure." Aiya replied, and began to set up the oven the way Damian had shown her before.

After it was set up, the ingredients were divided,mixed,and all other assorted steps required to create a cake. (OOC: I hope no one was actually expecting me to go into detail for this.)

"Now we wait." Damian said,sitting nearby.

"So,when it's finished,what are we going to do?" Aiya asked him,sitting beside him.

"We'll probably just sleep out here,under the stars.We're pretty close to the rest of them anyway,whoever's actually scouting will have no problem finding us."

[riariadne]

"Let's... keep going... guys..." Chase muttered weakly. "We've... gotta find... Morgan... ugh..." he finished, and collapsed from exhaustion.

[Phoenix]

The F Team

The trip was taking them quite a ways, and before long Chase collapsed. Krinkov found that odd seeing as how the archer came along on horseback. Either way, it didn't matter to him. Either his master or the blue cavalier would pick him up, or they could just leave him there and grab him on the way back. He only cared about following the scent to its source.

Lev: Oh boy, looks like the little guy's not hanging with us too well.

Levski hopped off of Krinkov as the wyvern continued walking in Morgan's general direction. He knelt down over Chase and shook his head.

Lev: *sigh* (You want a woman like her, you'd better toughen up real fast, kid.)

With a swift lift, Chase was over his shoulder. He quickly came up to the other horse and slung him over the saddle. He then took the horse by the reins and continued following his wyvern.