[The Collaboration]

[Vanish_Mist]

Farle stared at Latices as the Child straightened up and pulled out a wooden flute, "Are you going to charm them into helping us?" Latices gave him an exasperated glare.

"No, the flute tells them it's safe to approach and that as long as they are with us we mean them no harm." He lifted the instrument to his mouth and played a soft note before launching into a melody. The woods came alive almost instantly, birds fluttered down and mammals of all kinds stepped out of the brush. Latices chose a deer and dismissed the rest of the animals with a wave of his hand.

"Put the aos si on her," Latices said, gesturing to Cadence then the deer, "And let's get going."  

[Consistent Spontaneity]

Cadence complained a little as Farle set her on the deer, but by the time they were off, she was peacefully back asleep, murmuring strange words that neither boy recognized. Once that was done, Latices turned and picked the way down the mountain from their cave and towards the path. Behind him, Farle grumbled incessantly.

"Stupid girl, How's she going to save the world if she's so hard to wake up?" he muttered under his breath. At that moment, he stepped on a loose rock and slipped a little, and though unhurt, it showered little pebbles over his jacket again. "Stupid mountain path. Why couldn't we just go on flat land? Or by sea. I wouldn't have to deal with"--he untangled a large pebble out and threw it frustratedly on the ground--"this. Stupid. Dust. and all this. stupid. Rubble."

They had reached a smoother section of path and ahead of him, Latices had halted suddenly.

"Well, what now?" Farle muttered, nearly bumping into the other boy.  

[Illuminate Shadows]

Latices' voice was hushed, careful and tinged with fear, "Shhh...could you not have been louder in your negativity? There are things on these mountains that live and feed off of that you know. We're entering their territory now, the path we're on is shortest and least perilous through this particular range, but stay quiet, the deer should give us enough warning if a violent one should appear, but keep your emotions in check alright?"

Cadence stirred on the deer before settling again, murmuring something about water and fire before falling silent. Farle grumbled one last time before taking Latices' advice and closing off his emotions. The small group started off again, stepping onto the smoother path with an eerie silence.  

[Consistent Spontaneity]

The party made their way along the path, which Farle recognized after a long while of staring blankly at his feet, was subtly marked and worn by the journies of many before them. This intrigued him and he was able to spend another hour or so pondering the adventures of the people--or Children--who had come before him and walked on this same path.

Occasionally Latices would stop abruptly and listen to the voice of nature that seemed to resonate within every Child of Drunsd. His emotions had faded to a controlled calm but his expression and voice showed the anxiety burning within him.

It was past noon by the time Latices seemed to relax the slightest and Farle looked up, hearing the slightest sound that might have been a sigh. "We're done? Are you out of these blasted mountains?" he asked, probably over-enthusiastically.

Latices flashed him a glare and shook his head. "We need to eat. Here is the best place I can think to do that," he said in the same hushed tone. "But keep quiet and keep your emotions in check. Wake the aos si.She'll want some substance."

"She's been doing nothing but sleep," Farle complained, but did as told and moved to unstrap Cadence from the deer. Midway through unclasping the makeshift saddle he stopped, staring. ___

((I propose that someone gets fed on by the mountain creatures at some point. Just to spice things up.))  

[Illuminate Shadows]

((Do you mind posting the next section of the story? I'm having serious writer's block and Julie's in over her head in school stuff right now.))  

[Consistent Spontaneity]

"Something wrong?" Latices asked, turning when the shifting stopped. Farle didn't reply and the deer was shifting uncomfortably so with a small sigh Latices set his work on starting a fire down and walked over before he too stopped.

Dark purple stared back at them, an endless chasm contained in a simple hairpiece; the amethyst charms were glowing, but the wrong color.

"What's going on?" Farle whispered.

Latices had no answer, but managed to unstrap Cadence from the deer. Finally, he spoke: "Perhaps....it is what induced her to sleep all day?" he speculated, laying the slumbering girl down and returning to the fire.

Farle unsheathed his sword suddenly and the Child leapt back, a hands length from his spear. "What are you doing?" he asked almost shrilly as Farle approached, a frown etched in his face.

"Get out of way."

"What are you going to do? Put your sword down!"

"Get out of the way, idiot."

"You-you're not going to destroy it are you? You can't! It's the only trinket of the old that we have left!"

Farle stared at him for a long minute before he burst out laughing.

"Stop it! What are you--"

With a single stride Farle pushed Latices aside and pointed his sword at his friend. The sword glowed and Latices probably yelped as he scrambled to his feet. A moment later, the glowing stopped, and a small fire was cackling under the blade, seemingly just floating in midair.

Latices sighed audibly with relief when Farle sheathed his sword again. The Child picked up the scraps of food he'd snagged and cooked over the fire, leaving the deer to graze on the sparse shrubbery around them.

"You can stop smirking, you know," he said, handing the other boy a portion.

"You should have seen your expression. And that squeal. You were as shrill as a girl!" He laughed. "Not even Ivarine gets that shrill when she's angry!"

Latices had smiled good-naturedly, but his expression dropped at the name and he scowled down at his food in silence. Thus was how Farle noticed him when he had finished laughing up a fit.

The two ate in gloomy silence, until out of nowhere Cadence shot up and into the world of the living, gasping for breath and her eyes filling with tears. "Ivarine!" she screamed, some unseen fear consuming her.

"Cadence!" both boys jumped, reaching instinctively for their weapons.

"Farle! It's Ivarine. She's alive--"

Here he rolled his eyes and muttered something remarkably along the lines of "I told you so"

"--but I can feel her aura fading rapidly." She stopped to wipe her tears for a moment before continuing. "Well, not fading. It's actually growing stronger. But it's changing. It's like...merging with something else."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Soul-sharing," Latices nodded. "It's a difficult and long-forgotten ritual, but it's not unheard of. See, your friend is alive and sound. Let us be off."

Cadence shook her head. "That's not what I'm worried about. It's the Dark King. He has a plan for her. She's...she's in danger...."

"But what can we do? We're all the way here...and we don't have the slightest clue where the Dark Palace is."

"I saw it. It's hidden in a mountain range. Please. We have to save her!"

"No," Latices said suddenly, whipping his spear into hand.

It was Farle's turn to look scared. "What are you doing?" he echoed the other's words from an hour ago.

"Callias can take care of herself."

"But she's our frien--"

"We need to save ourselves."

He pointed with his spear and the other two turned to see a pack of giant, dog-like creatures racing for them, drool leaking from each of their four heads and yowls emanating from their mixed throats.



((Haha, Sure. I ended up writing more than I intended to, but I suppose its ok? I just did it to get in that repeated line in there >_<

Awww, I know what writer's block feels like all too well and I'm neck-high myself in college work -.- Tell Julie good luck!))  

[Vanish_Mist]

((Thanks biggrin I had a bunch of projects and tests all in one week -.- talk about freak outs. Yuki had to live through all of that too...but the madness is over for now 4laugh ))

"We can't run." Cadence whispered despairingly, somehow grabbing the panicking deer and dragging it closer to herself, "They are every where." Farle narrowed his eyes, sweeping his sword in a big arc and creating a circle of fire around the three of them. Temporary protection. Latices gripped his spear, a scowl etched into his face.

"We need a plan. And fast, these things fear fire, but there are others..." He broke off as a drawn out howl followed by a roar rumbled the ground, "Others, that don't have the same fear." As if proving his point, a long draconian head snaked through the fire, jaws snapping an inch from the small group. Cadence shrieked and instinctively let loose a sound arrow, the head retreated with a infuriated rumble.

"Plan later, concentrate on keeping them out for now!" Farle yelled as more heads poked through the wall of flames, slender bluish tongues flicking as cold, glowing eyes zoned in on the trio.
-------------------------------------------------

Ivarine had woken up from a pleasant sleep, Amber had not bothered her the entire night, nor had the despicable Dark Lord. Iyza had given her a fresh dress to wear, pale yellow-red with black accents this time, and left at Ivarine's request to let her bathe and dress in peace. Other servants had arrived with a light morning meal, and were now fussing over her hair (again) and make-up. Around the detested mid-morning, she was again presentable for the Dark Lord's audience.

"My lady?" Iyza whispered with a curtsy, holding the door open for Ivarine. Ivarine sighed, swallowed the bitter anger and hatred at the back of her throat and prepared for a half hour of sheer torture. She did, however, give Iyza a genuine smile of gratitude before sweeping through the grand entrance to the Lord's court.  

[Consistent Spontaneity]

"My dear queen," the dark lord greeted Ivarine, his voice echoing across the length of the hall. He gestured at a spindly chair that had been set next to his throne on the pedestal. "Welcome to our court."

Around the sides, high-ranking knights and other people that thought they had influence in the court snickered. They had lived without a queen for thus long; it was their idea to mock the new monarch so. Little did they know that the power she wielded could have killed any of them on the spot, regardless of the wards and shields and armor they carried so flamboyantly.

Iyza had instructed her to bow when she entered to show her subservience and loyalty to the king, but as Ivarine stared at the small three-legged chair that was to be her seat in this madness, fury grew within her. Her face reddened, but it was decently concealed well by the makeup that had been slathered over her that morning.

She was about to freeze the organisms closest to her and destroy the offending object, but Amber's voice hissed within her mind: Think, child! The air around her returned to more breathable temperature. Think! This is a test. Prove that these dolts have no more power over you than they foolishly imagine, but do not offend the King. He may not control the shadows with your grace, but he can destroy us nonetheless.

Rage still burned within her, but Ivarine held her dresses out and swept into a quick curtsy, barely paying the dark king the respect due to him. The courtiers that fancied themselves her equal she ignored as she walked down the length of the hall. Ivarine waited until the snickers had ceased before moving. She held skirts held delicately in one hand and walked with measured grace, letting the heels of her shoes--for once there was a reason to high heels--clink on the black marble. Clink. Clink. Clink. Every one echoed in the deadly silence as she mounted the pedestal and stood next to the.

Staring down at the chair, Ivarine recalled Amber's words as ideas flew though her mind as to how to surmount this "test". A test... She walked around the chair, buying time. Suddenly a small seal engraved on the side of the chair caught her attention; she knew the dark lord's personal seal from the large tapestry that hung in her own chambers. Her own sneer formed within her mind. Well, if I can't pass on my own...then the next best thing is to sabotage everyone else.

"My lord." It was not a question, nor humble word to grasp his attention, which was already fixed on her. It was a statement calling his attention to the offensive object before her. "This was not here yesterday." Stupid, of course it wasn't! That wasn't what I meant say... "And certainly I never saw it before." No duh. This isn't going well. What now?

"Obviously one of our..." Ew. Our. Royal "we" though...hm. I hope this works. "...humble subjects has offered this as a tribute to your majesty?"

The dark lord raised an eyebrow for her to see his amusement, but what she said was true and he gestured at the dark night that had brought her in only a few days before.

She turned to him, locking her usually beautiful violet eyes on his skull. A cruel smile appeared on her face as she gathered the appearance of the man. "Thank you, sir knight. This--" she waved one hand carelessly towards the broken kitchen chair and before their eyes it glowed.

Shadows detached themselves from their owners and streamed towards the chair, engulfing it in black and building upon it until nothing short of a pitch-black throne stood before her. A few last shadows swirled along the armrest and base, embellishing the shadow-work with swirls and carvings until it looked as if the the chair had been crafted out of black wood. Yet despite this transformation, Ivarine was careful to keep it less beautiful than the Dark King's own throne next to it. It was smaller, and except for a few amethysts and yellow topazes that ran along the top, where her head would sit, Ivarine's throne lacked the jewels on its partner.

"This throne must have cost you a fortune," she finished, turning back to the knight, her eyes gleaming with triumph.

The knight was surprised by the transformation, but he regained his composure quickly and with a little bow at his Lady Callias, he straightened and said, "I hoped it would please you, milady."

Ivarine's smile froze on her face but she did not grant him the satisfaction of seeing her mad. "Yes. I am...very pleased. My dear--" she turned to the Dark King, another idea touching upon her mind. "___"

((I'm glad you're back and ok! Ew! All in one week too sad sad

As for this...i just made a bunch of fluff up! biggrin
Ugh I'm so behind on all the roleplays I'm in not to mention school =.=))  

[Illuminate Shadows]

"Perhaps now that I have a place in presiding the court, we could start with matters." Ivarine suggested calmly, suppressing her anger with one soft inhale and exhale, she swished the hand holding the dress around and sat down on the throne of her making, dropping the trailing skirts once she had settled herself onto the cool wood.

After the Dark Lord had made sure everyone was present, there was a moment of silence. Seeing a knight about to voice his thoughts, Ivarine spoke up first, "Where would you like to start, My Lord?" she ignored the stares of incredulity from the nobles in court and the huff of anger from the interrupted knight, listening instead to Amber's quiet praise and advice. Good, you are doing well in asserting your authority over them. Now, listen to the Dark Lord and follow his suggestions. The court dare not mock you to your face, but when they will in more subtle ways. Consider each as a test. The Dark Lord himself seemed slightly surprised at his queen's forwardness, but his expression smoothed out as quickly as his surprise had come.

"That is up to you, my Queen." A silk clad arm raised itsself, before its owner spoke up.

"Beg pardon, milord," The speaker was a fat male dressed in the most ridiculously elaborate black and red silk robes. It reminded Ivarine vaguely of a Black Widow spider that had eaten too much, "But our new...Lady...does not have the experience yet to run court." The others in the court nodded assent. Ivarine felt her anger flare upward again, but forced it down. Keeping her voice cool.

"______"
----------------------------------------

All three of the group were getting tired. They still kept up their defense, but only half-heartedly, Farle could feel the sword get heavier with each swing. Latices wasn't nearly as quick as he was with the spear, and Cadence just looked exhausted. The deer had long stopped trying to run and was now just laying on the ground with a desolate expression on its face.

"We need a way to get out..." Cadence rasped, sweat forming on her brow from both the heat of the fire and exhaustion.

"I'm sure none of us have thought of that yet." Farle coughed out sarcastically, deflecting an attempt to bite his arm off. Cadence sighed, twisting the warm chain of her charm both for comfort and exasperation before returning to fighting, Death served us once... her arrow went wild.

"Hvað?" The word was out of her mouth before she could stop it, "Hvað?" The charm gleamed a stranger reddish-purple from the light of the flames dancing not two feet away from her, the soft chorus of voices echoing again The child they will remember...

Farle had turned around when he heard Cadence's language change, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw when his eyes finally found his friend in the chaos.

((Language translation: What?))  

[Vanish_Mist]

Cadence's skin had paled even farther than it was naturally, giving her the appearance of a ghost, the black markings on her face standing out clearly against the sheet of white. She was staring into space, either not noticing or not caring about the purple smoke wreathing around her. From the light the fire was throwing onto the smoke, Farle almost thought Cadence was burning in purple flames.

Child? Cadence wondered, her blue eyes blank, The charm has never referred to me as 'child' it has always called me aoi si or chosen one, or whatever, so what's with the new name? Unless it isn't me at all? Almost in a trance, her eyes fixed themselves on Farle, "Segja þeim að hætta. Sem er átt við þá ekki mein." Farle blinked confused topaz eyes.

"What? Cadence, I don't speak that language..." His friend didn't respond, for a moment, Farle swore he could see silhouettes of other figures behind Cadence watching her with violet eyes. He blinked, and they vanished, Cadence had raised her hand and pointed her finger to the serpent-like heads and back to Farle, speaking again, "Segja þeim að hætta. Sem er átt við þá ekki mein."

Translation: Tell them (the dragon-like creatures) to stop. That we mean them no harm  

[Consistent Spontaneity]

"What do you mean?" Farle screamed over the din, cutting his sword around their trapped circle, fending off the monsters as they snapped their multiple heads at them.

Next to him, Latices shot the two friends an exasperated glare before muttering a spell and sending a rock elemental rolling out of the mountains to help them. He jabbed his spear up the throat of one monster as it leaped over them and hissed, "Do you understand her? Does she usually do this?"

"Are you an idiot? It's only because of that dumb thing your chief gave her!" The words were out of his mouth before he had time to think.

"Segja þeim að hætta. Sem er átt við þá ekki mein." Cadence said again, more urgently. A monster dived at her, but was incinerated upon touching the violet flames. "Segja þeim að hætta. Sem er átt við þá ekki mein."

"Jeez Cadence. I'm not multilingual like you are," Farle finally said. He whirled and suddenly saw a gleam of intelligence in the creature he was about to hack down. "What--stop!"

He backed away, colliding with Latices who cursed in some language of the Children of Drunsd but didn't care. "Stop." he urged the little creature again. "Please? We don't want to fight. We just" --he dodged another creature's lunge-- "We just want to get on with our journey."

He held up his sword, backing another step against Latices. Already the creatures nearest to them stopped. "Go on," he whispered, barely able to believe his luck.

A whimper then a bark emitted from the dog he had spoken to before it howled and dashed away, followed quickly by the rest of the pack. Farle turned back to see the strange fire around Cadence die away, taking his fire as well.

Latices jabbed his spear into the ground. "I think I've deserved an explanation. Who are you guys?"


((Whoa, wicked imagery, Julie.
Sorry for my lack of activity! >.<))  

[Vanish_Mist]

((Thanks! yum_puddi Yuki wants to post her part of the story on my account since I was on anyway and it'll be too big of a hassle to log off and let her log on.))

Both Farle and Cadence turned to give their third companion a strange look. "What do you mean by who are we? I thought we had already introduced ourselves?" Cadence asked, confusion lacing her quiet voice, in reality, she was just buying time for both her and Farle to come up with an answer. Who and what were they? It wasn't everyday you found someone that wild monsters listened to and obeyed. It was even more creepy to meet someone that came from a dead species, wasn't created naturally, and spoke a long-vanished language.

Latices gave them a barely concealed frustrated glare, "You know what I mean, who are you guys? If you want a more blunt way of saying it, what are you guys?" Farle and Cadence exchanged a glance that clearly asked, Well, shoot, what do we say? The heavy quiet stretched on for what seemed like hours before Latices gave a huff, "I really want to know..." Bleak blue and hard topaz turned to him, Cadence spoke up first, her voice chiming like silver bells in the tense silence.

"We don't know."  

[Consistent Spontaneity]

Keeping her voice cool, Ivarine ignored the fat man. "Thank you," she said graciously to the Dark King, before turning to the upstart. "I'll have you know that I have the blood of Kings," she said quietly to him. Black Widow's smile wavered the tiniest bit.

Ivarine was bluffing though; everyone in her small town had been descended from paladin kings; it was nothing special at all. It took all her concentration to keep her voice even and her breath steady, but Ivarine was willing to make that effort. She dug into her memories of the running of her hometown as she watched the nobles. They stirred under her gaze, and she knew then that they could be bought with fear. But she dared not flaunt her powers, and she needed information on her situation.

"Very well," she finally said. "We must start with an reports on the state of the empire. You." She stared down at the fat nobleman, caught sight of the emblem blazed on his tunic. Sensing her intentions, Amber came to her rescue: Lord ____ of the Southern Sea. He was a knight, but defeated his lord in single combat and won his title.... ... ...He's gained weight.

Thank you.

"Lord ___. Why don't you begin?"

((So sorry for slow response. College is insane >_<))  

[Illuminate Shadows]

Lord Atoshka of the Southern Sea. He was a knight, but defeated his lord in single combat and won his title. It is rumored that he was the one that ordered the destruction of the human-like fairies also known as the aoi si in order to make sure that they wouldn't form an alliance with the Children to usurp him. It has been a while since this Lord has had to fight though and the easy lifestyle has taken its obvious toll. He's gained weight.

Thank you.

"Lord Atoshka. Why don't you begin?" The fat noble make a soft startled sound that he attempted to hide with a cough. He bowed quickly before beginning.

"The Southern Sea is well...my...Queen," Ivarine noted with some coldness that he was still reluctant to use the formal title, "The mountain ranges in our territory have been silent and the people know their places well enough not to cause trouble. We have brought a new breed of dragon into our ranks to keep an eye on the Children's activities, they have feathered wings instead of leather ones so they are absolutely silent when flying. Even better, they can be sealed into humans so that they are even less conspicuous," Ivarine's eyes gleamed, though not in appreciation like the court and the Dark Lord assumed, the golden-purple depths gleamed in horror. Sealing beasts into humans?! That was an evil unthinkable to the Shadow Queen. She cleared her mind in time to hear the report finish, however, and nodded her approval to Lord Atoshka.

"Very good." She noticed a young knight at the back of the room roll his eyes subtly and lean his head back, showing blatant disrespect to her, I thought you said the court will not show obvious disrespect?

Ahh...Lord Sha-lan of the Northern Isles. He is young and arrogant, bordering on the edge of pompous. It will do him well to witness a small portion of your powers. Ivarine took Lady Amber's advice and lazily pointed a finger at Sha-lan, a slender wisp of something black launched itself at the young Lord, jerking his head upright and forcing him into a bow.

"It will do you well to listen when I'm asking for reports, Lord Sha-lan." Ivarine murmured, giving the Dark Lord a quick side-long glance to see his dead eyes watching her with interest. With disgust bubbling in the pit of her stomach, she averted her eyes briskly, letting them bore holes into Sha-lan's face instead.

"Report on the Northern Isles."  

[Vanish_Mist]

The three of them would have stood there for another hour, if it weren't for the soft rustling of underbrush and the sudden tensing of the deer. A young girl-- probably 11 or 12 years old-- stepped out from the shaking bushes. The small group was instantly on guard when the rest of the girl followed out of the brush though, the preteen had pale-gold wings accented with black sprouting from her back. She could have passed for a hybrid of bird and human were it not for the lethal single claw that crowned the top of the folded wings, it looked like a dragon's wings with feathers replacing the membranes at the bottom. Her eyes were an unnatural forest green, flecked with glints of silver, that glowed even in the broad daylight. The girl brushed back the pale sea-green hair from her milky face nervously and shifted her weight timidly before speaking.

"They...I mean we...the dragons and other creatures warn you away from here, Master Farle." Her wings fluttered anxiously, "They are under orders to deter anyone from passing through, but we are willing to make an exception for you and your comrades if you can pass by the next sunrise." Cadence nodded for Farle and Latices, both whom had seemed to freeze with surprise. The girl nodded and vanished back into the woodlands.

Cadence turned away from watching the girl vanish to find that both boys were still frozen, even worse, Latices looked horrified. She prodded them lightly, "Hey, let's go. They were nice enough to give us time, let's use it." She turned to leave, only to feel two hands grab onto her arms. Latices spoke first.

"Did you...did you not notice?" He whispered, he was rewarded by an extremely puzzled look, "There are no, let me stress, no creatures like that naturally. That girl wasn't born like that, aoi si, something happened to her. More precisely, something was forcibly sealed into her." Farle, standing beside the Child, nodded mutely his eyes glazed, adding his own observation.

"Those tattoos on her neck and arms, they're definitely seals for a beast with unimaginable power. There's a malicious working out here somewhere, Cadence." Said girl swallowed, fearful and angry tears welling up and blurring her vision. Cadence stuck to her first suggestion though.

"Let's go. We can't do anything about it right now."

((Elaboration on the hybrid species of dragon Yuki mentioned in her post. biggrin I don't know if the girl I made up will become a more solid character later. She just there for now?))