Riders of Aternia (O/A)

[Familiar Crow]

✖ Prince Wilhelm Forger ✖

With a sigh you turn away
with a deepening heart
no more words to say
You will find that the world has changed forever.
And the trees are now turning from green to gold
And the sun is now fading
I wish I could hold you closer.

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Wilhelm glanced over as the dragon suddenly spoke. It was still a strange thing, to hear the dragon suddenly speaking common. Perhaps this was the norm? He'd never heard a dragon speaking aloud before. Sure, it made sense but...it still startled him. It also made him wonder how they formed the words. They didn't exactly have humanoid style tongues or vocal cords or...did dragons have lips? Did scaly lips work? He quickly shooed the thoughts away. "The mountains, huh? Wait, she can't-? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother. It must be really annoying for someone to have a one-sided conversation. I just ramble on sometimes and wait, these mountains?" Wilhelm asked, looking down at the map he'd unfolded earlier. He'd never been in the mountains, well, at least not these mountains. The last time he'd been close to the mountains was when the raiders had attacked him as a small child, shortly before he'd been taken away from his parents to join the riders. The mountains couldn't be all bad though. With his abilities, he should be pleased, assuming there was a lot of snow on the mountain. "It'll be hard to bring the horses along the passes, won't it? Or along the trails? Holly's pretty sure-footed, but she's no mountain pony. The pack mule should do fine, but the others?"

He wasn't sure. He loathed the idea of leaving Holly behind though. As much as they had been through together, leaving her would be like losing a friend. He felt another pang, once more thinking of Christopher.

The thought was interrupted as Loxias suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Once more, Wilhelm reacted instinctively, the dew drops on the ground freezing as well as the water in the air. He was far more jumpy than usual. He quickly dismissed the ice, taking in Loxias's words. "You knew him well then?" Wilhelm inquired, just as Aura came over mentioning food. It seemed a lot of people had food on their minds. "Avrae mentioned that there was still some meat from last night's meal. I'm sure we can scrounge up something decent before we head out. We'll have to make sure the horses are well watered before we leave, too."

Wilhelm felt a sudden squeeze on his shoulder and looked back to see Karga. Nearly the entire camp was awake now, going about their business. It seemed most had slept better than him. It made him feel stupid, to think about last night so much. Was it his own failure, or the loss? He hadn't lost many friends before. His guard had died when he was small protecting him, as well as his nanny. One of his brother's friends, a knight who'd used to scoop him up and spin him around, had perished in one of the campaigns that Prince Rolland had led. That had been hard on his brother. Wilhelm had been too young to understand. He had to man up.

"So...Linsmouth. We should be able to make that if we don't push the horses too hard." He glanced over as Aura mentioned foraging and burning an offering. He liked the idea of that. Just the idea of doing...something besides just mentioning it and moving on. He didn't know about splitting up again though. "Maybe we should just stick with the supplies we have for now? We don't want to lure that thing out now, whatever it was. We need to learn more about it. Maybe I've read something...I just can't remember though. Or maybe someone in the next town knows about it. There's always rumors and tales. Folk see and folk talk."

Wilhelm folded up his map and put it into his bag. He'd never read about a shadowy creature that went and snatched people up in the night. Everything he could think of didn't seem to match what they'd seen. Or hadn't seen. He ran a hand through his hair before letting out a deep sigh. He figured he might as well do as the others were and get something to eat. He went to his own pack and took out the snacks he'd bought yesterday. Two honey nut treats. Honey and nuts weren't bad, right? They'd keep him going through the day as well as jerky would.

Wilhelm looked back towards the others, already eager to move on from this place. As if Holly could sense his anxiety, the horse started to whinny, then trotted over and began to chew on his hair. Wilhelm yelped and lightly pushed the horse's nose, "Oi, Holly! Not in front of the others! They'll think you're ill behaved!" The horse merely seemed to snicker and attempted to continue her task. Wilhelm ducked away from her and quickly jumped onto her back, laying down across her neck, "Didn't I say none of that?" Holly let out a huff, as if to say 'see what I have to deal with'?

[ShadowOkamii]

I'm scared that you'll compare and I'll look a lifetime past repair
I second guess myself to death, I re-solicit every step
What if my words are meaningless? What if my heart's misleading this?
I try to capture every moment as it comes to me
Bottle up the memories and let them keep me company

✿—¤÷(` Ⱥυʀɑʟɪε ☆ Ƞεsτɑ ☆ Ƀεѻυʟѵε ´)÷¤—✿

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Hearing Avrae address her kindly made Auralie's spirits lift a bit more. She was still brooding internally, feeling the super sour thorn in the side to the group, as she guilted herself with the loss of Malazan and Eleniel. Regardless of racial tension if there really had been any, it meant the power of their forces had dwindled. How she wished she could turn back time and fix her outburst, the way she worded her thoughts, and the lack of ethics in addressing someone as important as Malazan at the least. Her eyes were watching downwards, catching in the peripheral of her vision as the elf shifter laid beside her companion. She managed to slip back into the now and glanced up seeing Wilhelm's expression after he apologized for rambling, and having the one-sided conversation. For some reason, it caused a light laugh to escape her lips. His innocence was something to appreciate. Her gaze fell over to the brusque man known as Karga. Or, Evren if someone felt particularly friendly. He was slowly becoming the leader of the group, even if unannounced. At least there was some order now.

"Yes'sir!" Auralie had called back in response to Karga even giving a salute to the gruffly spoken man when he told her to bring him along for the small gathering mission. Though the idea of traveling beside him alone for but a minimal time made Auralie question whether it would be better to accompany a grumpy bear over being under his scrutinizing gaze, she wasn't going to leave without him. He couldn't be all that bad right? She had to listen to the roars of animals when she made errors. Why was she so afraid of another human? Her gaze fell back on Wilhelm after their destination, "Linsmouth", had been announced. The look on his face made her momentarily falter. She could see the worry in his eyes, knowing he was fearing losing anymore of their group to that thing that took Chris. In response she looked to Karga pointedly as if to say, 'I'll be with that.' A faint smile crossed her face to reassure him as well. Personally, she felt the creature was already long gone. As grim as it was to think (better than said), an average human male Chris's size was a good meal for at least a day or two. For any reasonably sized creature. Unless it had been a dragon or something of a dire-creature status to which she was positive would've been captured, seen, and unable to sprint away so easily. Cem definitely encouraged the idea with his mannerisms. He could snake his way through the forest easier than the other dragons and humanoid beings too. Ja'Ni might be a good contender to the speed but when he showed up, to Auralie, it seemed like his forte would be in the sky than on ground.

Returning her attention back to Avrae and Aliera, Auralie brought forward some of the dried strips of meat she'd been holding onto. Reaching some out to each of them, she tried to smile more encouragingly. "Are either of you hungry? I grabbed some of the food for you as well. I'm not sure if either of you has ate. I saw the gift you left for Roka, but wasn't sure if you ate either, Aliera." At this the human girl glanced to the wolf, smiling a bit more. Though realizing she had forgotten to answer Avrae's question she turned to face the dragon. "Good morning, madam! I.. sort of didn't sleep to be honest. It was tough settling down for some sleep. But, it's alright. I've got at least a few hours under my wings, so to say, and I can do just fine with that. I've worked fine with less, before! Thank you for asking. I hope both of you slept well?" She scratched behind her ear a bit embarrassed, unsure if she would get scolded on her decision or action.
The sigh from Wilhelm made Auralie's head swivel over to see what was going on. She made a face seeing he had produced a couple of honey nut trees, and she couldn't help the chuckle that left her lips. "Going for the sweets first, are we?" She teased. Not that she blamed him. She was a bit of a glutton for sweets, and honey was actually quite healthy. Her large eyes fell on the horse Wilhelm had rode upon, which had let out a whinny and trotted towards him. At first Auralie thought Holly was going for the honey nut treats he had produced but was surprised to see the mare beginning to nibble at his hair.

At this, Auralie actually laughed outright. "Well then!" She began, smiling more when she saw Wilhelm's reaction. "Here I thought she was going for the nuts... instead, she went for your hair. Does it taste like strawberries?" She watched the horse, her smile growing when she saw the expression the mare put on. After a moment she gained a thoughtful look, tilting her head, before saying, "Actually, my hair would most likely be like strawberries. Or a creme of them. Your hair, Wil, would be likely cherries. Or, uh.... Watermelon? Then again strawberries are notoriously red like cherries. Hmm." She gained a contemplative look. But after a moment she shrugged her shoulders glancing back to horse and rider. Her large eyes blinked innocence and curiosity. "I'm sure it doesn't matter to Holly. Does it? Or does she have preferences?"

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When the hope of morning starts to fade in me
I don't dare let darkness have its way with me
And the hope of morning makes me worth the fight
I will not be giving in tonight

2GP, 13SP, 63CP
OOC:

[SoraKBM]

⚔Loxias Azeral⚔

Loxias couldn't help but notice that things were getting rather lively as more people were waking up. It was to be expected, but he was kind of expecting the group to be a little quieter after the events of the previous night. "Can't say I knew him that well." He answered Auralie. "We had a couple classes together, never spoke, but we did get a little excited whenever we sparred each other." Loxias considered him a bit of a rival in that respect.

"I just hope it isn't as bad as I made it look." He replied, a bit of a smirk on his face.

The smirk was gone once he felt Evren's hand clap his back. He didn't jump, despite not having expecting it, but he knew what it was for. The thing they were chasing had to have a particularly powerful magic to be able to hide from his senses. The only person that he knew of who could do that was his mother, who was a bit of an expert on stealth. He fingered the locket around his neck while he thought about her. It was just one more thing to deal with, adding on to their particularly rocky start in leaving in the middle of the night instead of the morning as was planned.

They were still going strong, though. Even if quite a few people had gone missing since they started, and even if there were more apprentices now than actual ri-. Y'know Loxias thought. I should really stop thinking about this. It wasn't going to help with his focus at all. He managed to procure himself a nice breakfast. Some of the meat he cut and some fruit that was being offered by Auralie. It wasn't at all like the food from the in, but it was enough to fill his stomach for the hours to come, whatever they happened to hold for him.