Gateways to Htrae--RP [Members Only!]

[~KiraKaguya~]

After about 5 minutes or so, Liliah came back in. Kyoko had already finished sulking in her misery, her face directed toward the windows. Though the girl was still curled up. Liliah insisted that the girl go outside, for her own good and to get the misery out of her mind. Kyoko listened, to a certain extent.

The human sat on the front doorstep of the house in which Liliah inhabited. She was still curled up, and got much attention just by being human alone. She felt uneasy around all these elves, she thought those who starred at her were laughing at her, bad mouthing about her, in which was true, but not entirely.

I wanna go back home...Kyou...I need Kyou... Even though Liliah tried her best to make the girl feel comfortable, it was just no use. The fact is, the girl wanted to go home, like any child would when she was taken to some strange place. Especially in a place full of elves, who surely liked to think highly of themselves.

Kyoko waited for Liliah, who sat beside her. "Liliah...Will I ever get to go home? Why did I have to be here? Are there others?" Millions of questions shot at the elf, who tried her best to answer them as detailed as possible. "I'm not sure about the going home part, or the reason why you have to be here. But it's not really a choice, you could be left stranded out in the desert, or with those stupid dragons. I'm pretty sure there are others, since there's so much commotion." One word shot out at the human, the word "dragon". Kyoko always loved dragons, and the elves, she didn't really care for. She didn't really despise them, or hated them, she just didn't like them very much. "Dragons?!" Liliah raised a brow and nodded. "Yes, stupid, filthy little dragons." The girl didn't understand why Liliah would speak so horribly about the dragons. Though she's never really seen one, she was still very much intrigued by them. Just a few moments ago Liliah seemed so gentle, but now mentioning the dragons, she seemed completely disgusted by their presence alone.

"Dragons aren't filthy, stupid or disgusting..." Liliah faced the girl with an icy cold glare. "How dare you question us! You're just a stupid little human! What would you know?!" Kyoko gulped at the sudden rage of the elves. Apparently the dragons are much hated by the elves, but why? The sudden rage surprised Kyoko, but she stayed calm in this situation. Like a nice girl, she shut up and knew her place here. She wasn't experienced, and if they wanted to, they could lock her up or kill her even. She wanted to live, so she apologized and sat in silence the whole rest of the time.

[Cestria]

[Airez]

[~KiraKaguya~]

After the dragged on moments of silence between the two, Liliah smiled at Kyoko, lightly touching her hand. "Come on now, it's getting late. You should go inside, we'll be having dinner soon." Kyoko just nodded away, after Liliah went back in, she perched on the front step, sighing. This world was still strange to her, and to think, spending a night here? In a world full of elves that hate dragons, who shun dragons? This was all so strange, and the girl despised it.

Before the sun completely set over the horizon, Kyoko went back inside the moderate-sized household. Liliah dragged the human to the living room, where the dinner took place. They sat on a long, rectangular table, several different plates full of food laid closer to Liliah, rather than Kyoko. From common courtesy, in Earth and Kyoko's culture at least, the guests usually wait for the host to start first. And the food was always faced near the guests. However, this situation was different. Though Kyoko was a guest, the food was faced away from her.

"Dig in." The elf used her fancy silver knife and fork, slicing a little piece of chicken leg then brought it into her mouth. Kyoko followed the lead, she didn't want to embarrass herself, or lead Liliah to think that she was ill mannered by picking up the chicken and just eating it with her hands. However, it would be a faster and more efficient way of eating the chicken.

After dinner, Liliah showed Kyoko around the house, but not all the rooms were shown to the human girl, for one reason or another. All Kyoko needed to know was where her room was, the bathroom, the kitchen and the living room was. The other rooms, she had no interest in what so ever. Kyoko entered her room after Liliah so courteously shown her in.

[Faithful Rogue]

[Kadevi]

The elf continued grooming Saiyta, though now his brooding blue eyes flickered to Chrissie occasionally, as if to measure how much he should trust her words. In her, he saw the same traits that she had seen in him - caring for animals, thoughtfulness, and the careful deliberation she had turned over in her mind before replying. She was calculating, logical -

In fact, she reminded him a bit of himself. The thought almost made the corners of his mouth curl up in a small smile, but he managed to keep his outward appearance rather bland and emotionless.

"Very well then, Chrissie. What is it you wish to know?"

Another more comfortable silence amongst them prodded nearby birds, startled into silence when Saiyta and his passengers had barreled through the forest, into tentative chirping and twitterings again. Chrissie absently put down the brush and began working out the tangles in Saiyta's tale and mane, though there wasn't much to untagle. What knots there were could easily be straightened out due to the hair's silky texture.

"First of all, what is this place, and how did I get here? You mentioned something about a... gateway," she said, a perplexed frown crossing her lips. Saiyta nickered again, and nudged both elf and Chrissie, and trotted off to the back of the small cabin. Apparently, it was quite used to this routine, and finding nothing for her nervous hands to do, she quickly busied them with twisting them in her simple cotton shirt. Looking at the elf's simple but clean clothes, she sighed inwardly at the sad state of her own. Though the material was clean enough, Chrissie distinctly remembered that when she had been riding, this pair of breeches, boots, and shirt had been clean. Now they were...

Well, not. That, and several rents through broken threads showed that her rough landing into this world had indeed taken a toll on her clothing. Shaking her head, Chrissie turned back to the elf, who was beginning to describe to her what had happened, and leading her inside the cozy little cabin at the same time.

"This world is Htrae, and you came here by a gateway into your world, Earth. Of late, there have been quite a number of humans dropping into our land, from all sorts of places in the world. Though I've never seen someone with features as unusual as you," he nodded, indicating her almost inky black hair, dark eyes, and her unmistakable Chinese features. She self-consciously moved a hand back to rub at her neck, but the elf patiently moved it out of the way and rubbed a cool cream into her neck. Immediately, stiffness seemed to melt out, and the bruise she'd had there faded a bit.

He continued talking amiably as he applied to cream to her various visible bruises and cuts. "Htrae is an elven kingdom. There are many here who do not welcome humans at all, and some are outright hostile. However, there are some that try to help when we can. Or at least, make sure you humans aren't slaughtered by someone who doesn't like you." The elf waited for her to roll up her breeches and remove her boots with a pained grunt, and then began applying cream up and down her legs with the usual neutral expression on his face.

Chrissie was silent as he did this, leaning gratefully against the soft pillows on the bed, mulling over his words and the hidden implications of them. There was obviously something more going on than a matter of humans dropping randomly into this place - Htrae, Chrissie reminded herself. An elven kingdom... she thought numbly.

"And I thought this was only the kind of thing that happened in books..." She said forlornly, feeling a stab of inner pain as she thought of Glory. Her gray colt was probably wondering where she was. "I wonder if Glory is alright," she murmured to herself, staring up at the cabin's ceiling. She saw the elf's eyes flicker towards her blank face, then went back to her legs, checking for any cuts or bruises he had missed. She was glad he didn't ask questions, because she didn't want to explain to him at the moment. Knowing that she would probably burst into tears if she talked to this almost-Parker-like elf about her beloved horse, she asked another question.

"What's your name, anyway? I keep thinking of you as 'the elf,' and I'm not in the habit of being rude and calling people 'you' and 'hey' all the time," she said lightly. Despite her best efforts, she started to feel drowsy from the peaceful quiet, the shock, and probably the side effect of the medicine as well, which was making her skin feel numb to everything.

Before she drifted off, she could hear a comforting voice chuckle, "My name is Roanneisseil Nightrider, young Chrissie."

[Airez]

Crouching down, Victor shot up form the ground, taking a good hold upon a rather high wall that lay in front of him. Still on their path to Polly's mother's house, the two of them were making good time and avoiding the eyes of many other elves that were around. He still had no clue why she was doing such a thing as to go out of her way to help him. After all, she was an elf as well.

With a muffled grunt, the now dirty faced man started liting himself up over the wall, having to scratch up the sides with his work shoes a bit. Upon reaching the top, he looked down at Polly's grinning face and watched as she started running off yet again.

"Darnit..." muttered Victor as he landed upon the ground, stumbling and scuffing up his work clothes even more now. Why the hell is she in such a hurry?

Paying no mind to this for now, he started running after her as she turned the corner. His hair was a mess, his body had scratches on it, his face needed cleansing, and his clothes a were all but ruined by now. Still, he had no other choice but to follow this girl. She was the only person that he actually knew around here, and maybe the only one he should know, seeing the way the others acted towards him.

As he too turned the corner, Polly met him face to face and winced. "You're moving too slowly, we should hurry up," with a sigh, she shook her head and moved down to the street, just past the shadows that hid their locations from prying eyes. Slowly, her head turned left and right, checking for whom ever may be looking around for them, "Good, everyone seems to be gone. Let's go."

"Wait, hold on for just a minute." He quickly moved up to her and placed his hand upon the girl's shoulder, restraining her from leaving once more. Glaring slightly, he peered down at her slightly shocked eyes, "Why do we have to hurry? Are we in some sort of danger or something, because if not then what'sthe whole point of taking narrow passages and short cuts?"

Seeing his point int all this, Polly looked down, slightly ashamed of what she was doing. A soft breath left her pursed lips, "You reminded me of my brother. We used to do this kind of stuff all the time so I didn't see the harm in any of it."

"Well I~," to this Victor hesitated. Not sure whether or not she was telling the truth or a fib, he couldn't simply go off and assuming such things. After-all, there was a sister of his at home as well. Some one he dearly looked up to and admired back in his childhood. If insulting words came out of him about 'how stupid it was that she was doing all this because of some brother', then he'd be nothing but a hypocrit himself. Melissa and he used to do this kind of stuff all the time as well, just goofing off and having fun in a care-free way. It brought back fond memories now that he thought of it. Fond memories which he himself did not want to lose with the sands of times.

"What ever...," answered the man as he crossed his arms over his head, "Let's just get to your home or where ever it is that your taking me. I really don't feel like ealing with any more ruffians now anyway."

As if bounding off from some emotion wall, Polly's eyes lit back up and she took the human by the hand, "Good!" Tapping with him out into the street, her finger extended out from their current position and over down the length of the row. "Because we're almost there actually. Just down this lane and we'll be in my mom's nice and comfy home." Grinning as brightly as ever, she began pulling on his arm to get to the house that was far ahead.

"Murr..." replied the hurried man as they strolled down the street once more. This trip was becoming more trouble than it was worth, and so far it hadn't been worth anything at all.

[[[ absinthe ]]]

"Oh!" Kit perked up a bit, straightening, as she saw an elven man carrying what looked to be a human girl. They both were across the square so she had a hard time keeping her eyes on them, and when she thought she'd gotten a fix, they disappeared into the large house.

On her small noise of interest, her guard elf had opened one sleepy eye to regard her indifferently. He leaned against the doorpost of the soldiers' barracks, bored, arms crossed. Her wits more or less gathered now, the redhead decided to venture into conversation, also hoping that the elf and the other human would come out of the house again.

"Excuse me, sir... um... where exactly am I? And how did I get here? And more importantly, how do I get back?" she queried, liquid brown eyes looking meekly up at him. Groveling and playing the mouse was definitely not Kit's modus operandi, but she obviously was a second-class or lower person in this society, and so she acted the part to gather information.

The sighed and shifted his weight. "So you don't know how you got here, eh? Then you must be from the Gateway, after all. You're an outsider. You got sucked into this world. I don't know too much about it, really. Most of what you hear is a lot of myth. But now you are in Baranen," he answered her.

This left Kit more confused, and she turned her thoughts inward, trying to sort things out. The guard elf sensed this and let her be for a while, idly drumming his fingers against the doorpost. I'm in... another world? What is this, some half-conceived fantasy video game!? She rocked a bit, thinking and worrying.

The fairheaded elf returned. He stopped next to his companion and motioned for Katherine to get up. She did so, knowing that it was counter-productive to try and fight right now, especially since she was so tired and hungry. "The general will take you off our hands for right now. I haven't got the time to worry about a human girl, no matter what prestige it may bring to find a newly fallen. So you'll stay here in these barracks until the general finds a better use for you, or you are summoned elsewhere. I suggest that you do as you are told." Kit nodded numbly, casting a quick glance into the building. The soldiers all looked so hostile. Oh... this isn't going end well, she thought to herself, swallowing a lump of bile that crawled up her throat.

The two elves who had captured her started back for the meadow fields that they came from, and a soldier elf approached Kit, escorting her inside.

[Theodra]

[Cestria]

[BriarRose]

Opening her eyes to the face of Ian was both the most wonderful thing and most terrible thing that could have happened to Lia. Working up a smile, the girl spoke quietly, "Perhaps you could tell me why I'm still so tired?"

That appeared to actually shock him; he had been thinking incredibly hard, apparently. The man's voice came out barely controlled as Lianna felt, rather than saw the anger blazing off of him, "You were magicked; your sleep wasn't natural and your body hasn't been rested". Lia's eyes widened, but she nodded, fighting exhausted muscles to sit up. With a sigh of disgust--at himself, hopefully--the bard helped his charge by piling curiously soft pillows behind her back.

"You're not safe in Baranen, Lia. Apparently many humans have come through the portal...and General Wolfsbane is going to visit, to take any humans he finds here with him to Ciel Damaas. You've been healed, and we've been told that a handful of humans will be arriving here shortly. From there, I'm afraid you'll have to leave Baranen, but I can only give advice as to where to travel", the man stood up and smiled at his human.

A sudden fluttering in her stomach alarmed Lia as the elf leaned over her and gently brushed her sun-bleached hair from her eyes. He smiled fondly, "Go back to sleep, little one; I'll wake you when these humans arrive". Eyes heavy, and heart racing, Lia nodded and turned her face away from the elf's hand, I can't have a crush on an elf!

The door closed with a little click, allowing Lianna to lokk up at the ceiling again. She frowned at the wooden beams above her, trying to divert her mind from her rescuer to the arcitecture of the odd house. The only successful thought before drifting into a natural sleep was whether or not she had really heard the door click, or if she had only heard it because she expected to hear it...

[Theodra]

[Kadevi]

Evening had not yet fallen on the little cabin when Chrissie awoke, feeling refreshed and much better for the healing salve applied to her wounds. A small groan alerted the elf to her awakening, and he assisted her as she sat up and looked outside to see how late in the day it was.

"It is not yet midafternoon. However, I intend to take you to one of my former teachers, Healer Wisdomancer, as quickly as possible." He frowned as he leaned back in the chair, tilting it so that it had only two legs solidly on the ground. "Though I fear we may encounter Aston's followers on the way."

Chrissie wanted to ask him who this Aston fellow was and why meeting his followers would be so terrible, but the perplexed, frustrated look on his face warned her to do otherwise. She cleared her throat and laughed, making him turn back to her with an amused glint in his eyes. His responsibility reminded to him, he stood and helped her up, explaining that he had taken a second look at her right ankle and feared it might have been strained when she fell. He didn't stop his light chatter as he settled her comfortably in the chair he had vacated and grabbed a set of neatly folded clothing from a small wooden wardrobe in the corner.

"It would be best if you wore the clothing of our people for now. You would look a bit less conspicuous, and it shows you are under my protection. And, I know my name is quite a mouthful to say, so you may call me Roan, as my friends call me." The returned courtesy made Chrissie grin as she took the small bundle, and while he left the cabin she shucked off her clothes and put on his more comfortable riding garb. The clothing was similarly to his in cut and color, though the cloak he had given her was a vibrant dark blue, with a dulled silver crescent and arrow emblem securing the folds around her neck.

She limped her way back outside, still very in awe of everything that was happening and no little shocked. Roan was already mounted on Saiyta, who was nickering and prancing impatiently beneath the laughing elf. He stilled the horse long enough to extend a hand to her, which she took gratefully and slid into her place in front of him again. She winced at the throbbing in her ankle, happy to get her weight off the unexpected injury. Roan patted her shoulder in assurance, and with an imperceptible movement, Saiyta was cantering quickly through the forest towards Baranen again.

[Airez]

Looking around inside the house, Victor seemed demi-interested in the aspect of it. There were many priceless looking items littered through out the shelves. There were books, vases, plates, weapons, and pictures all across the walls and furniture, of which looked to be wholey antique. It was strange, like looking back through time at a point where there were no machines. Simply, craftmanship.

"May yourself comfy while I go looking for my mom," said Polly as she pushed the human further into the room before him, "We've got a great deal to discuss and you should be rested!" Still pushing, he sat him down into the chair, then places her hands on his sides, "Now you just wait ehre while I come back.Okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, the girl was once again heading out of the room. The man was left alone in the living room, tiding to his own business. What they were planning on doing to him, was out of his context. So far, he had been poked at by a girl, mocked by warriors, and had rocks thrown at him by little children. It was a very one minded sort of people, the kind that believed they were the right ones adn no one else was. Dispicable points of view.

Just like humans... thought Victor as he laid back in the chair. Slowly, his head tilted back further and further, resting upon the top of the chair as his body slotched down and rested tiredly. Such a life was tiresome and confusing, and these new events weren't helping in the least bit. So much stress was on his mind now, so many thoughts on what he should be doing. Why was he not looking for a way out? Why didn't he just run away? Why did he even go to that portal in the first place?

Because that was who he was.

"Damn..." muttered hte man as he sat up, opening his eyes. A flash of color caught the corner of his eyes, something by the doorway. To his surprise, there stood a large man. His ears were long and his features were fair, just like every other elf that was out there. Long blond hair swept down to his shoulders, drapping along his armor that he wore. There was a scar over his left eye, though not closing it off. By the looks of things, this man could easily rip Victor's head off.

"So, you're the human that was brought in by Polly," said the elf as he walked over. Hung on his side was a long sword, sheathed away. His reinforced boots anged against the wooden floor harshly as he walked around the chair that the human with in. With a grunt, he sat down into a chair that was across from Victor, resting his tired body. "You're the second one we've got in this house now. Some other person brought this human in earlier to my wife, and sent the girl into slumber."

Is he trying to make small talk?

The wrinkles over the man's face turned as the elf raised an eyebrow at Victor, "So what's your name, boy. Polly mentioned it to be Vic, but I doubt that your mother would name you so plainly as that." By the sounds of thing, this elf was a veteran warrior perhaps. After all, he was in full armor, had scars, and a harsh sounding voice about him.

"I am Victor Henderson," responded the man as he sat up. He doubted the look of himself was more intimidating than this man, who'd seen more action than he had undoubtedly. This elf was different. "I came from the gateways, or soemthing like that."

"As did all humans," replied the elf as while he reached over and set his weapon dwon against the crafted chair, "We see your kind all the time. Alway making a racket when ever you do come around. Ever since I can remember, your people have been around here. Always falling through those blasted portals, always jabbering confusion." He paused for a moment and looked at Victor with half opened eyes, sizing him up, "The first one I myself found was no different. Instant panic and yelling, thinking I was a 'monster', as he told me later on."

[Kadevi]

The comfortable silence that stretched between Roan and Chrissie allowed her thoughts to wander uselessly for awhile, as she merely sat deeply in the saddle and absorbed what was happening. She still couldn't quite believe this - she, Chrissie Wong, jockey, Chinese-American, and altogether a happy, normal young woman, had quite mysteriously been thrown into some kind of portal to another world. A world with elves, where horses were still used for travel, and bows were used as weapons. Likely swords and daggers were also used, because this sounded like a world right out of a fantasy medieval book.

Chrissie sighed and wondered what this nearby town would be like. She didn't have much knowledge of things going back into medieval times, but she did have somewhat of a limited knowledge from books in the fantasy genre that she read frequently. It wouldn't likely be very big. Maybe... Oh I don't know anything about the medieval times, let alone what cities were like back then. Or here. Or whatever...

Before she could think anymore about what the town or city looked like, Baranen appeared as they burst from the forest at a swift canter. The city stretched across her view, the golden yellow of thatched roofs gleaming brightly in the afternoon sun. She exhaled her breath, which she hadn't realized she had been holding, with a rush, eyes wide with astonishment at the bustling city, more like. As they slowed to a walk, Roan patted her shoulder warmly.

"Yes, it is a beautiful city," he said in a soft voice, letting Saiyta rest for a short moment. "But of late, things have been amiss. Kindness is in a lack, tempers towrads humans short. I am one of the few who does not hold such an ill-explained contempt for humans... but as I said, I am one of the few. Hold up your head high, little one, and act as if you are an experienced on in the matters of Htrae," Roan explained. He went on to say that if she acted as if she belonged, or as if she weren't awed and amazed at everything in Baranen, fewer people would notice her, especially since they were on horseback and could travel quicker.

She nodded and held her head up high solemnly, straightening herself in the saddle as Saiyta began moving towards the city gates at Roan's signal.