Beneath the Shadows Chapter Two: Chasing Shades

[Ether]

And it seemed the girl was clamming up... this wasn't what she was supposed to be doing, was it? Elysia wasn't quite sure what to ask about, but she had to think of something, else the nervous atmosphere of this place would simply get to her again. That was when she remembered something from earlier.

"Wait... wasn't your hair purple?"

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, oh, yeah," Linn said, surprised she was getting spoken too afterall, "that was just some silly magic from Inthus. Some street peddler sold it to me. Supposed to last a few years, or until I stop it. I, uh...guess getting blasted by dark magic messed with the magic's formulas, or something. I don't think blond's a bad look anymore, anyway. Your hair's really pretty, actually. Does everyone have white hair where you come from?" Yes, we're talking again!

[#!/dev/haru]

Val remained silent for the remaining duration, looking out the window, her eyes (probably not visibly to anyone) sweeping across the landscape, seeming to take in the little details. She nodded curtly at Toqua, letting out a quiet utterance: "Had I only realized the extent of their tyranny, I would've done something earlier. I apologize." She left the room, going for her own within the inn, seeming intent on retrieving something.

She burst into her own room, checking about... a support beam had at some point crashed down onto her little hiding hole, and her expression became a little frantic as she worried for the state of the treasure within. She lifted the support beam off, and in doing so, underestimated both her own strength and its weight, accidentally dropping it with a very loud clatter. She cringed, hoping no one would hear it. (They certainly would.) Next, however, was a sigh of relief as she tore the floorboards away to reveal a medium-length and extremely ornate longsword, still in mostly-perfect condition. Her fingers played along the heft, and she noticed a few minor scratches, making a mental note to melt those away later. Her eyes closed as she considered the meaning of such things, but it was a short-lived philosophical episode; she sheathed the sword away at her hip and shook her head, mantle falling to her side, not quite enough to cover it up.

[eclipse]

As Raelyn contemplated the empty pot, she heard a loud crash. The hell happened up there?!

[Ether]

"No, it wasn't very common... mostly passed down through family..." Elysia replied, stopping as she brought up family. Biting her lip, she began again after a few moments.

"... There were several others who shared it, but it wasn't overly common." She concluded, before a loud crash sounded, causing the ice mage to immediately jump in surprise, a thin sheet of ice layering itself over her body, chilling the air about her, as her eyes darted across the room.

[Nanami Touko]

"Well it's really beautiful. I wish I could have hair that nice." She ran her hand through her hair for a moment, jumping alongside Elysia. "What's even going on upstairs?" she asked as she sat back down, definitely awake now. "I'm not going to look...not in this setting. Geez..."

[Ether]

"Is it really okay to leave it be, though? With everything that's happened here?" Elysia asked, the cold air spreading further as the floating ice formations thickened.

[Nanami Touko]

"W-W-Well of course not, but I'm not going up there alone! What if it's more of those soldiers, or, o-o-or demons!" She could feel the cold spreading from the girl, and it was also slightly frightening. "You might wanna calm your magic down there, Elysia. Don't want to freeze us before you freeze whatever's up there, right?"

[#!/dev/haru]

After a moment's contemplation, Val finally leaves the room and walks down the stairs, looking relatively confident despite the commotion, sword sticking out like a sore tumb underneath her red mantle. As she enters the room, the very aura she exudes seems to cancel out the icy formations somewhat, returning the room to a relatively normal temperature. She isn't smiling, but she doesn't look quite as sullen and quiet as the others have known her to look up until this point. She gives a friendly nod to the pair, not the one to make the first comment.

[eclipse]

Nice sword, Raelyn thought to herself. The room had become uncomfortably chilly for a bit. Perhaps it was the ice mage? Eh, magic, shmagic. I'll leave that to those that use it.

[Ether]

As the strange woman appeared, a heat spread throughout the room, Elysia herself noticing it instantly. She didn't feel any actual magic being used... but this woman was clearly a flame user, and if her mere whim managed to cancel out the cold spreading from her ice...

Regardless, she had no idea who this was, and they had come from upstairs...

"Who are you... and what happened up there? What was that crash?"

[#!/dev/haru]

Val chuckled a bit. "Ah, I left something behind when we went off, and I was retrieving it. It was caught under the floorboards." She shows the sword off, fiery ruby in the hilt glinting in the sunlight. "Made this myself. Probably haven't mentioned it, but I'm a smithy by trade." She shrugs.

[Vestige]

"Ah, I see. In any case, he sounds like he was a great man. It's a shame you didn't ge-" Zeff stopped himself mid sentence when he heard a loud noise come from above him. "The hell was that?" he wondered. He considered going to check out what was going on, but he realized he was unarmed. Completely unarmed. Wait...where is my stuff? He thought about it for a minute and remembered that he had placed all of his belonging down on the kitchen floor when he had started cooking. "Oh right! Aina, I'll be back later, forgot something." He picked up his bowl and Aina's as well and made his way over to the kitchen. Setting the bowls aside, he went and retrieved his stuff. His jacket, his sword, his glove, and Aina's sword. Well...apparently it's my sword now. He strapped both swords to his sides, and slipped his coat on. I don't know why but it was definitely getting pretty cold in there.

And now it's warm again...

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Raelyn standing near the pot of stew. Well, at this point it was just a pot. "Erm. Raelyn, are you...still hungry?"

[eclipse]

"The stew was excellent, and I wanted to see if there was any more left over. It looks like everyone else had the same opinion as I did, because there's nothing left. Was there any leftover bread in the kitchen?" Raelyn replied.

[Vestige]

"Ah, that's good to hear, I'm glad you found it enjoyable. There probably is some bread in the kitchen, I'm not too hungry myself, but I can can go bring you some if you'd like?"

[Ether]

"Is that so?" Elysia replied... something was off about this woman, but she just couldn't place what... she certainly didn't recognize the face, but no one else seemed surprised at the woman, it appeared she was indeed atleast somewhat known.

***

And with a crash and some surprise from Zeff, it seemed the next in their chronicle of adventures was to begin, or something to that effect. Sitting back in her chair, Aina sighed.

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, it was just Val," Linn said as she collapsed back down into her seat. "I was worried it was something much worse. Good to know you were just fiddling around up there. I could use some sleep, seriously." Too bad I can't sleep yet. Maybe we'll leave soon, at least.

[#!/dev/haru]

Val nods her head, and goes to get her bowl of stew. She also takes the opportunity to fill her flask with the strongest alcohol she could find in the little inn. Unless someone says something more, she simply has a seat nearby and begins eating, quite hungry even if she doesn't broadcast it.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Utsuho Reiuji

[Shin]

Outside, Aeson had finally come to the conclusion that a sheep had no need to open a cupboard. Feeling enlightened by his new-found knowledge, he wandered back inside, meeting Zeff and Raelyn conversing by the pot.

"I do agree, you do seem to have a way with cooking." Aeson agreed, remembering Zeff's mighty battle against the vegetable foe. The priest was completely oblivious to the events that happened before his re-entry - and the entry of someone he didn't recognize.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Shin

[Xinnidy]

So much had happened, but yet the aged knight was not satisfied. There really was something meaningful in all of that, and it seemed his own employer had more to him that Alfonso judged, how fascinating! Leaving his mind run wild is his own little fantasy world, Alfonso barely noted the events around him, only much later realizing there were some stew left in the entrance of the room, likely some for him as well.

Realizing there was truly nothing better to do in that emptying room, Alfonso resolved to pick up his own bowl and descend quietly. He wasn't all that excited for the food himself --he didn't enjoy most of this soupy foodstuff-- he'd much rather his food dry, and was always happy bringing his own servings of salted jerky, probably his favorite kind of meat, and so easy to prepare too!

Neverminding his own picky palate, the man quickly brought himself to a table near the stairs after he descended, staring at his stew blanky as he pondered Xane's true identity. What if he was a prince? Or the secret bastard child of the Senian ruler! Or a wise dragon disguised as a mage, holding the secret to a powerful and forbidden magic! Though he knew some of these to be a bit ridiculous, he moved the bowl of stew aside and brought up his writing book, just contemplating this once, reminding himself he'd left the quill and ink amongst other provisions tied to Rosa's saddle.

[eclipse]

"Bread would've gone really well with the stew," Raelyn commented. "I wouldn't mind a bit of bread. Mind if I go with you?"

[Vestige]

"Yes, I suppose you're right. It slipped my mind, so I didn't think to serve any. Next time though..." he mused. "In any case, yeah sure you can come if you want. Bread should be in the pantry if I had to wager a guess," he said as he began to walk towards the kitchen once more.

[eclipse]

I'm surprised the pantry survived, Raelyn thought to herself, as she followed Zeff.

[Vestige]

"Honestly, I'm glad those guys left the kitchen intact for the most part. It would have been a pain to prepare a meal with no proper place to do so." He set his glove down on the counter, and started rummaging through he pantry. He emerged with a loaf of bread, and tore a piece off. "Is this enough or do you want some more?" he said, motioning to his other hand which contained the larger portion of the loaf.

[scorri]

[spoiler=Among the Elves]

Walking through the deep greens and browns of the forest, Kaia took a deep breath and gripped the ring that Alexander had given her tightly in her hand. The gem was likely leaving a mark, but she didn't care. Her golden eyes peered deep into the shadows, searching for a sign of life. As she followed a turn in the path, she suddenly stopped, as a pale haired elf stepped in front of her.

"You seek our queen. It is rare we let in outsiders but you... You would always be welcome. Why do you come?"

Kaia simply held her hand out, revealing the ring with the Antarian royal crest boldly displayed. The elf immediately frowned, and motioned her to follow. As they slipped through the forest, signs of civilization become more and more noticeable until they stepped through a patch of hanging vines to find themselves in the middle of a city. Following her guide, Kaia barely even glanced at her surroundings. She must find the elf queen and request her aid. Antar, and the rest of the world, was in grave danger.

[spoiler=Stuck in a cell]

Xane paced in the room they had stuck him in. While a jail cell, they were at least treating him decently. Food and water were provided at regular intervals, and while they refused to tell him what was going on in the world, they also didn't hit him for asking questions. And from the sound of things, he was the lucky one here. As much as he tried to shut out what was going on around him, he couldn't help but overhear the screams of other prisoners. He sat, huddled up on his bed, occasionally holding onto his pendant. He was slowly filling it with magic. Without his tome, there was only so much he could do, but he swore he would be ready this time.

Riding into Petra, Adari grinned. The bigger town was a good spot to take a few days and rest. Even though they were in a hurry, Andre had decided that they would spend two days here, giving them a chance to recruit new members and also take some time to fully recover from the two battles they'd faced this week. Glancing around, she spied the inn that the Harriers had stayed in last time, and headed over that way. Handing her horse to the stable boy, she tossed him a coin and headed inside, where she intended to get everyone some rooms as well as start spreading the fact that they were back in town and looking for men.

Toqua and Sayina grinned at each other as they rode in behind Adari. The last time they'd been here, Sayina had found some wonderful new medicines and Toqua had managed to fill his purse through cards. Toqua raised an eyebrow at Sayina. "Yer not gonna try and tell all the folks I play with that I cheat this time, are you?"

"Well, I'm planning on going and restocking my medicines. If you would prefer that I follow you around and point out to folk that they can't trust you..."

"No, no. You go on your way. I'll treat you ta beer when you get back."

Rayil was walking towards the back of the group. Hand on his sword hilt, he decided to follow Adari into the inn. He was hoping to find out some news of the world, and maybe even find a cute girl to flirt with. If he was lucky.