⊰ Unity, 1x1 w/Mobius The Winter King ⊱

[-Fizztastic Rain-]

"The peace may not last forever,"

✲ℐlrune ℛhaac'var ℋigh ℰlf✲
Second Daughter of the King and Queen of the Elves

"And the tensions between elf and man are rising,"

"It is, and thank you." Ilrune managed a smile despite her nervousness, and allowed the momentary comfort of having the humans one larger hand enfold around her slender ones, a difference she hadn't noticed before until she realised that the man could easily hold two of her hands with one, as her own, despite being long, were lean. The elves were sometimes the height of a small adult human, which allowed them to maneuver around their surroundings with relative ease, and it worked in favour of their agility too. What they lacked in brawn, their made up for with lean muscles which were designed for climbing, and working. Trying her best to ignore the turbulence, she sat silently with her companion as the shuttle made its way through the atmosphere. With her hands cupped in his, she watched as the shutters rolled down, allowing them a temporary view of space before they began to climb the sky downwards, back onto the surface of Iuphus, grateful for the support Deimos offered through the simple gesture as the ship rattled, and then eventually landed.

"You will, and as long as you pose no threat, you'll be fine." She said whilst squeezing his now armored hands gently as the doors slid open with a gentle hiss emitting from the air locks around them, and then stood up and guided the man over to where her guards stood, stony faced. One seemed to look at the pair with disapproval, whilst the other seemed mostly worried, and with little thought the elf gave them a stern look, before speaking, "Ikrahn, Levit, this is Deimos, my partner. He will be joining me on a tour of the forest and castle grounds today, and you will be escorting us until we reach the forest gardens." Ilrune after her brisk instructions, smiled at the two as if they were old friends, despite their unchanging expressions. They were looking directly at how the elf held the humans hand, but as the elf ignored the look, they turned and began to lead the way through a busy crowd. A lot of the elves seemed unsure of what to make of how openly Ilrune was holding onto Deimos, and their expressions varied from concern, curiosity, to pure rage, clearly not happy with their royalty being so close to one of those they had previously considered an enemy. A little off put by the variety of reactions, Ilrune kept her hand tucked into his, and followed her guards, to a carriage.

The carriage was lightly armored, as a safe option, and was drove by four horses, along with a third guard who looked directly ahead as if nothing was happening. Levit, Ilrune noticed, was watching the pair extra carefully as they climbed into the carriage, and promptly seated himself next to Ilrune once the pair were seated across from each other, with Ikrahn joining afterwards. Ikrahn kept an eye on Deimos, but didn't seem nearly as unsettled as Levit by how close they all were in the averagely sized carriage. Looks were also aimed at the elf, who with a madeup face sat patiently, ignoring the pairs overprotective stance. Outside of the carriage, the people of the citadel were talking loudly about the new arrival and the for the first time, she noticed a pleased face, which was a little reassuring in the midst of odd looks being sent their way. Offering a friendly wave to the people outside, the carriage began to move, and Ilrune turned her attention back to Deimos, a little anxious but managing a brave face.

"I'm sorry if this isn't as fast as the vehicles you must be used to," Ilrune joked, visibly more relaxed now that they were on Iuphus and not on a shuttle, "but we should be there soon, and the scenery along this route is rather pleasant if you care to look." She pointed out the rolling grasslands that came into view as they traveled along a dirt road that exited the citadel, into a more grassy area. Not too far away in the distance was a thick dark line which was the forest border, from above which the sun shone. As the four traveled, a sudden noise erupted- shouts, shrieks, as if a fight had broken out. Shocked, Ilrune craned her head to look behind them at the citadel and immediately felt a stone drop into her stomach at the sight of a crowd of people, who were all pushing against one another. What happened? Did a fight break out already? Swallowing hard, she allowed Ikrahn to steer her back into her seat as the carriage's pace picked up. "It looked like a brawl." Ilrune said quietly, her gaze downcast and fixed on the floor as her mind raced. There was nothing she could do, but the scene was frightening, but at the same time, almost expected. There had been incidents over the last few years, but never had she expected one to break out today, of all days. It had startled her, and she was relieved to be in the carriage, with Deimos, and her guards. Looking over to Deimos, she reached over and gently held his hand, and wished that the carriage would travel faster. "I think they'll be fine, there have been a few similar incidents over the last few years. It really is unfortunate that one should occur today though." Ilrune said in a firm voice, an attempt at being reassuring despite how her brows had furrowed, and a small frown had crossed her features. It was unfortunate, but the last thing that they could do was panic over a small incident.

Out Of Crafting: (( ))

"A unity between man and elf is my peace offering."

Mobius The Winter King

[Mobius The Winter King]

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"You'd think that there are more
important battles to fight....."

As he'd suspected there were many disapproving expressions both in the crowds around them and even from the escorts that had come to take them to the carriage. One of them, who seated himself next to Deimos, didn't seem to mind the human's presence at all and that was something he appreciated. Then there was the other one who seated himself next to Ilrune and this elf, Levit if he remembered correctly, had given him a not-so-neutral look both when they exited the shuttle and immediately following their entry into the carriage. Deimos had half a mind to confront the guard about it, but also saw no need to aggrivate the situation any more than it already was. "No need to apologize at all, I don't mind one bit. I think it's rather nice to move along at a slower pace like this because I don't feel like we have a timetable to keep." The human replied, taking an interest in the scenery around them. "Free time is a commodity these days. I haven't had this much free time on my hands in years. As much as I would like to consider this a vacation, it would be rude of me to treat this in such a way."

Then echoes of a commotion reached their carriage. Ilrune immediately tensed up and Deimos responded in a similar fashion as well. "I'd say it was almost a riot. Citadel's guards were on it in a hurry, it looks like." He said, pointing out the dark uniforms of the guards as a patrol ship swooped down to hover a few dozen feet over the ground as intimidation. "They were probably expecting something like this to happen and were ready for it." He didn't see any of the usual methods for riot control being used and that led him to relax and settle back into the seat, just as the princess reached over and took his hand with hers with a grip that allowed him to feel her anxiety even through his gloves. The day had only just begun and the anxiety levels were already on the rise and that told the man that they'd be in for a long day. All that could be done was merely hope that things didn't become too tense during the visit to the Elven Capital. Turning his attention to the guard next to Ilrune, Deimos directed his next questions to him.

"I'd guess that the situation there was pretty tense once people discovered that Princess Ilrune left the planet with me to take a tour of Sol. I imagine that the Princess' Guard was told about the current tensions when you were tasked to come and escort her home, right?" He said, politely addressing the elf. "I don't believe that too many of your people were pleased to hear that a member of the royal family had been taken somewhere beyond the reach of her people. In fact, I'd speculate that very few were anything less than shocked to hear about that and it might well have angered them. Wouldn't you agree?"
The human prince wasn't attempting to pick a fight with the man, but instead was very subtly telling him that his enmnity was obvious. If it was obvious enough for a human to notice, then there wasn't any possible way that Ilrune had overlooked it, or at least that was what Deimos believed. He also wanted to see how the elf would react to his polite admonishment regarding the guard's almost open display of disapproval of them being together.

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Out Of C-4: [ --- ]

"Instead, we're all content to stand our ground and
fight amongst ourselves. Over petty idealism, of all things."

-Adorkable Little Lurker-

[-Fizztastic Rain-]

"The peace may not last forever,"

✲ℐlrune ℛhaac'var ℋigh ℰlf✲
Second Daughter of the King and Queen of the Elves

"And the tensions between elf and man are rising,"

The beginning of a riot was a scarily real possibility, but as Deimos said, at least the Citadel guards had had the foresight to expect something to happen. "That's good." Ilrune took some comfort in that fact, as the carriage trundled hurriedly away from the Citadel, slowing down only when the crowd had become little more than a few large black dots in the landscape behind them. Gently releasing Deimos hand, the elf settled back into her seat, the landscape around them becoming denser, with trees here and there as they traveled, a scene that was familiar to her and announced that they were slowly nearing their destination. Fine, willowy trees were scattered amongst rolling hills, which were dappled with the shadows of clouds here and there which were fine white, but large, hinting at an oncoming shower. Her hands now resting neatly on her lap, Levit, seemed unphased by the polite confrontation of his hostility towards the human.

Levit listened, a brow slightly raised as he did so, responding with a nod as confirmation that the guards had been alerted to the current tensions, and that the prince had led Ilrune around without so much as an escort, to which he didn't seem amused. "I agree, it is not easy for my kind to not be cautious when your machines are involved. We were worried, naturally, as we had not anticipated such a journey would happen so soon, and a few of the townsfolk were expectedly startled, even moreso when we heard that Ilrune and yourself were unprotected." His voice was leveled, but his expression was stern. Honesty, was what the elf offered, as insight to the reason behind his peoples distrust, and clearly his own. Watching her guard carefully, Ilrune said nothing on the matter. It was clear that he wasn't happy that she had been unguarded, and was even slightly annoyed by the matter. All her guards had known was that she had ventured into a human machine, and had consequently become suspicious. Understandingly, the female elf turned to talk to the guard, "Levit, I can assure you that the humans mothership, Sol, was perfectly safe."

It was a simple, firm statement, which despite being meant to be reassuring, seemed to change nothing for Levit, who clearly wasn't trusting of the human-made inventions. Ikrahn, who had sat quietly for most of the journey decided to back up the statement, "I can understand why you are distrustful Levit, but if she says that she was safe, we should have faith in that. She is here now isn't she?" Unable to find a flaw in his fellow guards logic, or, simply deciding not to respond, with a slight frown Levit nodded, although he still made a point of keeping an eye on Ilrune and Deimos as their journey slowly came to an end. Willowy trees became sturdier stronger oak like trees, and with relief that the journey had passed by quicker than expected, Ilrune allowed Levit and Ikrahn to open the carriage doors, and help the pair down onto mossy forest ground. "This is our forest." Ilrune announced to Deimos with a slightly nervous smile, gesturing to the masses of trees a few feet ahead of them, which seemed to constantly rustle with wind, or perhaps activity.

"The sap I gave you earlier, you can apply now, as it will help your scent be indistinguishable from the trees, and if you wish you may bear a weapon, although I do not think we shall have much use for them." On a tree stump, Ilrune spotted her trusty bow and arrows, and carefully slung the items over her shoulder, "It is summer, so the wildlife will be very active, although I can assure you most save for the trekke are not interested in those who pass through the forest, unless they deem you as a threat." Looking in through the branches of many trees, Ilrune pointed towards a small dirt path, "We will be taking this route through the forest and we will probably meet a few of the caretakers I described to you earlier. Levit will lead from the front, and Ikrahn will bring up the rear." As she said so, Levit, with an unreadable glance at her and Deimos to make sure they were all ready, took up his position and began to lead the way into the forest. Taking Deimos hand kindly, the group moved onwards, pausing only at a loud, high-pitched chattering noise, at which Ilrune only smiled, and silently pointed out to Deimos a silver monkey like creature, which donned scales instead of fur, and had long needle like claws, which were hooked at the tips, watched the them idly for a moment before chattering at them once more, and scurrying away again. "That was a trekke, harmless to you as you smell of home to them." she explained to Deimos, trying not to let her thoughts stray to the brawl at the citadel they had left behind, and instead focused her attention on moving the group forward again. As she took in the smells and sounds of home, the elf seemed to relax; she knew this forest well, nothing would happen here. Even the few trekke, which paused as if curious to watch the group as they slowly moved forward, she knew rather well.

Out Of Crafting: (( ))

"A unity between man and elf is my peace offering."

Mobius The Winter King