Ьȴʊє Ͻ a r a v a n 🚙 🚙 🚙 (new thread!)

Favorite Character Poll Round 10!

Lucien Balthazar Mchale - Vicious hunter of humans and dragons.	27.3%	[ 3 ]
Vasul Calim Shahrad - Crown Prince of Shahrazad and righteous eagle among a flock of vultures.	9.1%	[ 1 ]
Lorelei 'Ellie' Katerini - Knight Errant and Defender of Justice who will kick your butt!	18.2%	[ 2 ]
Inyri Ven - Sharp-minded beauty and budding lady of wares.	18.2%	[ 2 ]
Eriol Epheis - Mysterious man with an eye for the prize.	27.3%	[ 3 ]
Total Votes:			[ 11 ]

This poll closed on November 27, 2014.
No longer accepting new votes.

[NlETZSCHE]

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Ayn gave him a sympathetic frown, even though she didn't find his dramatic episode to be all that convincing. She reached out to pat his shoulder at least and gave a gentle smile to him, "I'm sorry to hear that. It's very hard to lose someone." She tried to empathize, though she had never really lost anyone in her life, not someone as close to her as she assumed a girlfriend would be. She'd had plenty of interests, and many of people interested in her, but she'd never lost them to death. Mostly to her own fault, but she knew grief didn't look quite like that. Maybe Velius was just different when it came to losing people.

"Oh that?" She looked back towards the bakery, "It was the smallest piece I had." she looked at him and blinked with a soft smile, "I make a lot of money....as a writer. Maybe you've heard of me.....Sam Pendragon...?" She lied, again. This time it was a little more convincing, "My poetry sells well with the educated folk."

Ayn watched him, wearily, as he talked about scaring her, "Scare me?" she rose an eyebrow, "Since when is being handsy, scary?" She shrugged, "Maybe you should scream in my face or something. That's always quite shocking." She said plainly, with a smile and a soft chuckle. She looked up at him and returned his smile with a simpler one, looking away and reaching into one of her bags for a bite to eat.

She snacked on the bread she'd grabbed, and took another sip of her water when it and the bread went flying out of her hands and into the air. While Velius' cushion was her, her cushion was her bag of freshly bought goodies, which she smooshed under her own weight. It was a shame too, since she'd paid so nice an amount for it.

Her locket came flying out from under her cloak, clattering across the earth and glittering in the sunlight. It was gold with blue and white gems laid in it which formed the shape of a swallow. The locket was forced open by the impact to the ground, and her family picture was in plain sight. Her mother and father, adorning their crowns, shared her features as they held what appeared to be a tiny baby Ayn. Her small tiara fitted her head, atop a nice healthy patch of short silver. Velius may or may not have easily recognized them as the young king and queen of the west.

Ayn, was suddenly shocked right into another narcoleptic episode, so she didn't really have the time to grasp and claw for the thing before Velius' gem loving eyes spotted the glittering metal, opened to the man like a book.

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[_Siphon_Malice_]

Λ r i n Ģi l o u i s

____________xx T H ExxScholarxx
____________☇〔 intellect is the greatest weapon. 〕

『xxxI stand at the border of falling off my path.xxx』


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the grating country drawl was beginning to make the scholars eye twitched. But the heavens was the education so bad in the rural areas that they couldn't bring up their children to speak properly, the fact that the man was a bard should have spoke volumes. The more then man Jon spoke the more Arin began to realizes that he was being mock.Arin was not a fool that much was certain and he would have been one to miss the contempt in Jon’s way of speaking. This was not the first time he’d encountered this sort of lampoonery and Arin did not appreciate being the subject of something so infantile.

“ Pretenses don't suit you sir, if you are angered by my words of scorn at your occupation, simply say so and save yourself the time of making the both of us look foolish”Arins face was as blank and empty as it ever could be. the man just could not suffer idiocy.

“ My words however still stand, it is a pleasure to meet you,I try not to say things I do not mean, and in that aspect I hope we are the same” Arin turned to look down at the woman at his arm who was speaking briefly with Halima, who had still yet to look at him for more then the briefest of seconds. Was she ashamed, afraid? he’d have to find a time where he could speak with her privately.

“ Well I belie.....” Arin choked on his last few words when something collided with their gathering in a force that nearly rocked him of his feet. He automatically gripped the woman Aria , steading her so that she too would not fall. But as he held her there, she felt her frame go stiff,but before he could ask her if she was well, she snapped out of it and went slack against his arm, asking to be taken to someone by the name of Velius. Arin didn't answer right away, but turned to see if the others were okay. He did not see Halima anywhere, but noticed Jon was kneeling before the fair Kemun in concern. Ah it seemed Arin needn't bother with trying to flirt with the minstrel after all, he was perfectly capable of screwing up all on his own.

“ I assume you wish for me to take you back to the Caravan to find this Velius” He said in a almost whisper and began to walk steadily back towards where they had come from.“ I will be taking madame Aria back to the site, will you two be well on your own?”


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[anais nighteyed]

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artwork by Rainxxx

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There was little time to lament over the loss of her pipe. She lifted her eyes from the keepsake to fix a wide-eyed stare upon Jon, who had rushed to her side. Flustered by her fall and his display of concern, one corner of the merchant’s mouth twitched uncomfortably as the color began to rush to her face. Feeling clumsy and ridiculous, she carefully returned the pieces of her pipe to her pocket. “I’m fine, honestly,” Kemun assured him with a wave of her hand, trying to mask her mounting embarrassment.

In her reasoning, if she couldn’t deal with a few bruises then she had no right to travel. Right then she only cared for her broken belonging, and she doubted he could mend that. Frowning, she looked to see how the others were faring. She silently noted the shards of glass scattered in the street, and she was relieved that Aria hadn’t fallen. The musician’s words gave her pause, but even as she scrutinized the scene for clues, she knew she had no answers. “I haven’t the foggiest,” she admitted, her voice laced with disappointment. “I didn’t see a thing.”

As she spoke, she glimpsed the quickly retreating figure of Jon’s companion. Kemun slowly rose to her feet, wondering why the woman was in such a hurry to leave. Was she hurt? She threw a confused glance at Jon. “Weren’t you with her just a moment ago?” she asked, turning to him. She suddenly gave him a very pointed look. “I think you ought to go after her,” she told him. “Shoo, away with you. I’m flattered by your concern, Jon, but I can handle a tumble or two.” Brushing herself off, she mulled over the question posed by the fellow acting as Aria’s escort. She sighed, knowing that nothing was keeping her in town. In all honesty, she wasn’t curious about what had knocked her over. “I’ll return to camp, I suppose.”

[jadeshaw88]

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Jon barely had time to notice that the love of his life was bleeding before she ran past him toward the caravan. What was her problem? Was she embarrassed because she fell down...or was it because she was hurt. Maybe she was searching for a healer. He hadn't thought that she was bleeding bad enough to need one but she would know more about it than he would. He supposed that she could have been scared or something. It was easy to see how someone might have been frightened by the thing that bowled into them. That didn't seem right though. He had a feeling it was his fault. Everything was his fault when it came to Halima.

Aria's voice turned his attention her way for a moment but only briefly. He had no doubt that whatever the seer had seen was of great importance, she might even be able to shed some light on the mysterious creature, but he was far more interested in the less prickly girls. Besides, it seemed that the scholar had her well in hand. "Aye, might be he'll be there. More likely 'e's causin' troubles fer th' poor townsfolk though. Her nobleman...he likes a bit o' trouble. Ye'll be lookin' fer a fancy man nearbouts my height...mayhap a mite taller wit' black hair an' red eyes. Look fer someone prancin' about like 'e owns th' world. That'll be 'im sure'nough." He told the man, hoping that that would at least get him out of his hair. He could go bother Ari's lord friend. Jon wanted no part of him. "Oh! An' ifin ye should find him in th' comp'ny of a pretty lass, fer Mother's sake man, throw Ari at 'im an' save th' beauty."

His moonlit goddess spoke then and he was instantly in her thrall. Her words stung, however, and he wondered if he wouldn't be better off striking off on his own. The beautiful women of this caravan did not appear to like him at all. Something must be wrong with either himself or the girls. There was really only one way to find out and that was to separate one from the other. She was right though. At least he thought she was. Whatever had upset Halima...most likely him...he felt that it was his responsibility to make sure that she was alright. He had walked her to market, after all, so she was sort of in his care. He was never very good at taking care of things save for his lute and Chubby...and even then Chubby cared for himself most of the time.

He sighed and stood, looking around at the damage that had been done by the crash. He saw the where the shard of glass had come from and frowned. Was that it? Was she upset because she had broken his gift to her? Well it wasn't exactly her fault was it? He sighed again and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah...I suppose I'd better then." He said in parting before he headed back to the shop they had come from.

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Even after making the quick stop before running after her, it didn't take long to catch up. Jon had long legs and he was well practiced in running. Most of his life was spent running. Running, wenching and barding, that was all he ever did. Well...that's all he used to do. Since he had joined the caravan he had mostly just been barding and running. That couldn't be helped though. These women were smarter than the city women. Ah well, Jon liked challenges. He just wished that one of his pursuits actually paid off. He wasn't accustomed to having his heart stomped on.

"Halima!" He panted as he pulled up next to her. "You ran off...I didn't even have a chance to look at your hand." He gave her a small smile though it was more nervous than anything else. "Though you'd know more about what to do to fix it than I would." Mother help him. He was failing again. It would help if he knew what was wrong. "Forgive me...I didn't see that you had fallen as well and you were much worse off than Kemun. I'm a foolish man." He cleared his throat and then pulled the second jar he had purchased from under his arm. "Er...I thought you might like this since the other was broken. I don't know if it's the same thing as the other. The man said it was but...well, you know how merchants are."





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[Watervoir]

Ѵeȴɩus Kɩɾʈɑ
ɳoble

He shut his eyes once more, counting the seconds for the throb stemming from his right side to fade completely. The street the two of them were strewn across was desolate. He could afford to spare a few seconds without the fear of getting crushed by something more fatal. Had his torso, which had only recently recovered from Ko's barrage, been the unfortunate victim of the trampling, he might have considered this all to be some sort of sick joke. Whose, he wasn't sure of just yet.

Groaning softly, he brought himself to a sitting position and his hand landed on something solid that popped out of the floor. He felt it again, and opened his eyes. It was too perfectly crafted, too warm and artificially shaped to be an ordinary road pebble. He picked up the locket, looping its cord around his fingers, and held it at eye level to study the portraits inside. Then, his wandering gaze trailed off to linger on Ayn's figure with a bemused grin. Velius had been to the West once or twice and rarely, if ever, did he forget a face.

She was the princess of the Western Kingdom. The one that was to be married to the Shahrazadian prince one day to form the sacred bond that would surpass the great divide of the Mongogglerus and unite all of Albrind. Every desert noble knew the faces of the King and Queen of the west, knew enough of the features they so scorned. Shahrazad was the better nation. He had only ever heard rumours of the princess of the West, never having met her face-to-face. No wonder nobody has ever seen her. She would have been the laughingstock of all the entire kingdom.

It was all falling into place. Her attitude, her carefree throwing away of money, her reaction when he gave her the noble nickname. What her identity did not explain, though, was this: her thespian swings. The condition that was coming back. He could see it in her eyes. Sense it. Something about him toppling on her did not sit well with her subconscious. He stood, pocketing the locket, and stepped away from her. His face warped, and then he was a human no more. With a swish of his tail, he turned a corner and leapt for the rooftops, out of sight from the prying eyes below.

[H3p4tic4]

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She’d gotten a couple of yards before the Caravan camp before she stop her hurried walk, and eased to a deliberately slower walk. She felt like she had swallowed a dozen rocks and they were weighing on her stomach and chest, stuck in her throat, making it harder for her breath. She came to a completely stop and lifted a hand to the area right below her collar bone. It was an area where the weighted feeling was situated, making her chest feel tight. Was this how heartache felt? it was no where near her heart, but it was a horrible feeling. The painful sting of tears shocked her , when one rolled down her cheek, and she dabbed at the furiously with the long sleeve of her robe.

It was juvenile to be so upset about this, she knew, but Halima had always tried to be honest with herself if no one and the uneasiness and betrayal she was feeling was because she felt possessive of Jonathan.She shouldn't and it made no sense to be, but she was.It had to be that all his proclamation of love and devotion had made her believe it in some weird way,But the appearance of a beautiful woman , had made him forget about her in an instance. Halima sighed as the last of her tears of self pity dried on her face and she pulled her hand from her robe to inspect it.

The jar shard had cut deep into her palm, and it hurt to fleck her fingers.The fact that she could flex them meant there was no irreparable damage.Reaching into the basket she’d brought with her, she pulled the fruit that she’d ruined with her blood, holding it in her injured hand. Much like the way she healed others, using the energy from her own body to flow into them to speed up recovery, she could reverse the effect to heal herself. It was apart of her talent she did not like. Eating and sleeping gave the same result, just over the course of weeks instead of a day, and it did not steal the life energy from anything.

Hal however let her own insecurities and anger out on the fruit in her palm, and she felt the slow wash of energy begin repairing her hand, until the fruit was nothing but a brown , shriveled husk in her hand, and her palm looked like it was two weeks healed.She dropped the remains on the ground and turned to leave back into the Caravan when Jon’s voice startled her.She turned to give him a pleasant bow as he came up beside her.

“There was nothing wrong Jonathan”She said and pulled the fabric away from her recently healed hand, the scar pinker then the rest of her pale hand. I simply realized that I needed to hurry away She lied, and it was clear she was putting up a barrier of emotion to keep Jon at bay once again.She would not feel so helpless twice. Though it was proving hard when Jon stumbled over his apology and presented her with a new jar of what she had broken. The fact that he had even spent more money to get her another jar made her bow her head in shame.

“ I...thank you Jonathan”She said, letting her finger trace along the back of his hand when she took the gift.There was a moment where she wished she knew if his feelings were true, but then it was gone and she turned away again.
“ I have supplys to deliver to the woman and child that accepted me into their wagon. if you still desire to see me for our appointment , I have no private quarters myself but maybe Miss Aria would let us use her’s”

[NlETZSCHE]

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For a good, long minute, Ayn didn't move a muscle. She remained on the dirt path, twisted up uncomfortably, covered in bread-guts and more water, which was drowning her cloak. She didn't feel it, nor did she appear to notice, as she sat up with drooping eyes, coming to her feet as though in trance. She stumbled slightly before walking off towards the caravan in a liquid movement. Her silver eyes stared forward as she swiftly skipped all of the obstacles in her way.

It wasn't so obvious that she was sleep walking until after a whole 10 minutes where she walked up to a random house and began knocking on the door. The man who answered was an older fellow, who didn't seem too happy to see her there.

"Can I help you?" He asked, rubbing the small gut he had with one hand, and scratching his long unkempt beard with the other.

Ayn's mouth opened, and proceeded to do what looked like speaking, except there was no voice audible. She clasped her throat, taking note of the fact that she couldn't talk, her hazy expression switching from thing to thing in a panic.

"...Is this some sort of sick joke?" he asked, which was followed by more mime speak until the door was slammed in her face.

Ayn continued her conversation with the door, trying everso hard to strike up the conversation that her throat wouldn't allow. After a few moments of this, she just took off, down the street. This time it was opposite the caravan. She jetted down the street, looking behind her and knocking over things that weren't there as if she was trying to escape and invisible something.

If Kitty boy wasn't fast enough he'd quickly lose sight of her, not that she went too far. In the next 10 minutes or so, Ayn was back on the hard earth, yet again unconscious, but this time out of sight in an alley.

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[artfreek]

~~~~Nesa Comec~~~~


Nesa had to agree that loose bodies was an odd way to word it. It made it seem as if there bodies were running rampant, which was definitely not the case. Hopefully people would interpret the message the way it was intended. The sulky man was questioning how the caravan had just happened to stumble upon the same town that they ended up at, but the answer was quite obvious to Nesa. Aria must have seen them here. She was a seer after all, but the man must have not known about that. Or they could go with Caden's less than exciting story. It was rather odd that they ended up in the town that they were traveling to.

The man seemed calmer now which was good. Freaking out was going to help them any. He was asking logical question that would actually make progress in their little adventure. It came as a surprise to Nesa when Caden had someone who could help them in mind. She had no idea who he was talking about. It had to be someone she hadn't met before.

“I'm sure Velius can take care of himself.” Nesa said with a laugh. “He seems to have a smart head on his shoulders even if he has a sharp tongue. That tongue might be the reason he needs a guard though.” She said the last part quieter, though she doubted he would protest her words.

Nesa was a little startled to see that brunette running around. She hadn't realized that she had been missing until then. She had fell down the same hole as Nesa had and like Caden said, she was flesh and blood. Nesa was completely baffled by the whole situation and stared after the girl as she ran away from the horses writing. At least someone saw it, that was good. Then the woman came out of her wagon, the one the brunette had ran to, and she address them directly. A little relief leaked into Nesa, along with hope.

She followed Caden into the wagon, glancing at Rachelle and giving him a smile. He seemed nervous for some reason. Was it because someone was seeing him? Was he just not used to it? She got a weird feeling as she walked into the wagon. The fact that it was solid under her feet was odd too. She hoped this lady was actually going to help them. Nesa looked around the wagon and as she did she noticed Rachelle shaking. Her heart gave a little pang and she slipped her hand into his and gave him a little smile. Hopefully that would help him.

The woman who spoke was unnerving. She said odd things that were unsettling and just the way she spoke unsettled Nesa, but she said that she could help them, for a price. Nesa hoped it was just money, but for some reason she got the feeling the lady would ask for her first born child.

[jadeshaw88]

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Once again Jon was lost in a world of confusion. Everything moved so fast and he wasn't really sure what to think of it all. Her injury had already healed past the point of his help...as clumsy as it would have been...and the same coldness she had shown him earlier had returned. Had he gotten it wrong once again? No, he was certain that she liked women. He had seen the way that she acted around Ari and she had never acted that way with him. He supposed that it was possible that she liked both but he didn't think that that was the case.

Still, when her hand brushed against his, he felt a familiar tingling from the point of contact. She was the love of his life whether she liked men or women. It was just going to hurt more if she liked girls. Like a wave upon the rocks, dashing itself to pieces over and over again. Gods, but what he wouldn't give to be a woman right then. Her fingers were so light against his flesh...so lovely it made him ache to think that any harm had come to them. She was so beautiful, even when she looked so sad. It was part of what made her so extraordinary, the private grief that she held behind those dark eyes.

His eyebrows furrowed at the invitation and he shook his head. "I am sure that Ari wouldn't mind. She's preoccupied at the moment anyway and..." He had done it before. He couldn't say that out loud, not to her. "...she won't mind." He finished lamely, hoping that she wouldn't read between the lines. "It's alright though, Halima, I don't want you to do anything you would rather not. I understand that I'm not your...type." He gave a small laugh and scratched the back of his head. "Not that that has anything to do with getting a massage or anything." His face blushed as he realized that it might have been a bit presumptuous to think that anything beyond muscle healing would be going on. He wasn't even sure how the thought had gotten into his head. It wasn't like she had alluded to anything like that. Perhaps it was because he wanted her so badly that he imagined she might want him too.

No, the way things were going...it would make it dirty somehow. Jon was used to payment for his services but he had never paid for a woman. He had meant the gift as a gift, nothing more. Was she offering a sort of repayment? She had mentioned that she couldn't take a "gift" and that she would want to make an exchange but...she didn't even like men. It would feel too much like he was forcing her to be with him and he didn't want that at all.

"I'll talk to Ari though. She might enjoy the company of another woman." His eyes widened as he realized what he had said and he waved his hands in front of him rapidly as if he could erase it from the air. "As a riding companion, I meant. She get's lonely in the wagon. It would be nice to have someone to talk to." He wasn't sure that made it any better. "She needs friends. Badly. You would be a good friend. I can tell and I hardly know you." He gave her a smile and hoped that she would overlook his blunders. She wouldn't, she had a way of silently laughing at him. He didn't mind, he supposed. It was kind of cute actually and he was glad if he could cheer her heart with his antics...even if it broke his.






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[Watervoir]

Ѵeȴɩus Kɩɾʈɑ
ɳoble

His steady ascent brought him to the tops of the village. The height of the rooftops in combination with the sloping hillside that the village sat upon made it an easy task to browse the rolling skyline and the ground below. From his location, the sight of the children with the broken vase entering their homes and the blue hues of the caravan located further down the village were easily discernible. So too, was the direction in which the princess was headed.

Eventually, her figure had blurred in with the rest of the crowds and buildings and was out of sight for good. He flicked his tail and turned away, leaping across a rooftop in the opposite direction. Velius wasn't fast enough to catch up to Ayn. Not because he couldn't pick up enough speed, but because he had no interest in following after her. He needed to find Caden, and the princess hadn't been proving any help in laying the path for him. He'd see her soon enough at the caravan, whereas his reunion with Caden was a little less guaranteed.

There was the town square, sitting two blocks away. Soon, there would be a show there, and he might be able to attend it. Who was this mage, he wondered. A witch, or someone with some other gifted background? Or perhaps it was only someone with deft hands and a penchant for magic tricks. He caught sight of something interesting, and consequently leapt down a roof, his train of thought never once breaking. So, even if he didn't attend the show for his favourite part of it, the magic aspects, then he would be there to catch the whisperings. Velius was growing weary of this search. He didn't slave away for years building up his ties with Caden for it to all go up in dust.

On the other hand though, he wasn't opposed to cutting ties that were forming between others. Smiling inwardly, he gazed down from his remote location up above them the sight of Aria and some Shahrazadian fellow in the middle of conversation. He was too high up to pick up their words of discourse, and too high up to leap down without suffering from mild shock from the fall. Fortunately, much like the case where the princess was there to break his fall, he had cushions this time as well.

He bent low, building up spring in his jump, and launched himself off the roof. The other man caught the brunt of the cat's fall. From there, Velius bounced off his chest and onto Aria before using her as a springboard too, bounding off of her to land gracefully on the floor with barely a sound. Right after manipulating his eyes to a natural amber, with a smooth swish of his tail, he spun in place to innocently observe the chaos he had induced.

[azora natashi]

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Resuia merrily skipped the dirty beaten path all the way to town, the water skin at her side sloshing with fresh clean river water. Being near so much water gave her such an elated feeling in her belly that she though she ought to grow wings there and fly instead of walk. More or less all her life she and many other people struggled with draught and death by thirst, what with living in the desert and not having a steady or a large amount of water in the city and all. For most it was just water, old, tasteless run of the mill water, but for her, it was the sweetest, most beautiful elixir man's hand could never produce, it tasted like life.

Anyhow there she was minding her own happy feelings on water and the source of all life and she came across something rather odd. Yes, rather odd indeed but she wasn't surprised everything outside of her window in the silk draped apartment was odd in some way or another. However this was particularly odd, a girl was talking to a door. Obviously she had deep psychological issues because not only was she talking to a door but she had her eyes closed and was not saying anything at all.

And as the good moral person she promised to be, Resuia made an attempt to help her out, even if only to drag her to the doctors. As she approached the girl ran and the courtesan chased after her flashing silver hair. That stood out amongst brown, dirty heads. She chased her into an alleyway where the poor girl had passed out. Resuia bent down to check if she had injured herself. Maybe the silver haired girl needed some water.

And a blanket because for some reason it was awfully chilly.

[Dayum We Roll Hard]

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From behind the two girls, there would erupt an ominous howl. Within the span of a minute, a pair of monsters, with horns curling out of their skulls and bipedal but lumbering like apes, appeared. They would circle the two members of the Blue Caravan before grabbing their arms and hefting them up over their hairy shoulders like sacks of potatoes. Then, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, they would carry their prey, following into the woods the lead of the dog-like creation that had finally regained control of its body.

If they fainted, the girls would stir to find themselves locked up together, alone, in a dim room. If they were conscious the entire time, forever would haunt their minds the feeling of a journey of ten minutes that would seem to last hours, a journey deeper and deeper underground, and further and further away from civilization. Away from any passerby who could be of help. Away from the warmth of the land bathed in sunlight, and into a world of utter darkness. They were subsequently tossed unceremoniously into the cool, damp cell and left to rot there for the time being.

The girls would have no idea about the trouble they were in, or even where they were. For they were located yards below the brick house, only a level or two above the toxic lab room and the chamber in which the limp bodies of the ghost group were held.

If they were silent enough, they may hear the sound of rats squeaking. But then again, it could just be their imagination.

[anais nighteyed]

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artwork by Rainxxx

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Placing her hands on her hips, she looked off in the direction of camp, wondering how she was going to spend the rest of her day. She half-turned to glance back at the town, her brow crinkling in thought. Perhaps she was devoted to a fault, but her work was never far from her mind, and opportunities to make a little business rarely went beyond her notice. She was considering taking her wagon into town to set up shop, but she realized that required retrieving Hruka from the stables. Kemun wasn’t yet accustomed to her horse being indisposed, but he needed his rest and she set that above all else. For the time being, business could wait.

From the corner of her eye she perceived some dark shape, but it was fleeting, and she thought nothing of it until a nearby commotion reached her ears. This caught her attention, and when she saw that Aria was distraught, she wandered over to find what all the noise was about. “What’s the matter here?” she asked, touching the seer’s shoulder. “Are you hurt?” She couldn’t help but think about what had taken place earlier, when some strange force had knocked her to the ground. She expected to find some wrongdoer brandishing a weapon at them, but instead she saw a cat, black as night, observing the goings-on.

“There’s a cat,” she told Aria, eyeing the feline. “Did this fellow disturb you?” Any cat with such a look of guiltlessness about him deserved an ounce of suspicion. She took a few deliberate steps toward the animal before kneeling to get a closer look, and then she tentatively outstretched a hand with the intention of scratching behind the cat’s ears. “Tell me, naughty creature, are you the maker of all this mischief? Where is your owner?” Kemun glanced back at Aria and her companion, looking at the two questioningly. “Do you suppose this is what we encountered earlier?” She had an inkling that told her the cat wasn’t to blame for that odd occurrence, but she did wonder.

[jadeshaw88]

If only night could hold you...

The man had been silent for a long time and she was afraid that he might be in shock. This sort of life was not for the delicately raised...well that wasn't entirely true. They had had a few nobles who had managed well enough...Velius, for instance, seemed to handle this life quite well. It wasn't for delicate personalities. That sounded much better. The scholar probably thought that danger and epic adventures only happened in his fancy books and scrolls. Well, he was very very wrong. He would probably faint when he found out that he held a seer in his arms. A seer with a very important message to pass on. A very impatient seer with a very important message to pass on. Obviously he was a bit of a slow learner...not a good quality for a scholar. She would think that he would know by now how prickly she could be.

Her inner rant was shattered when something jumped on her. It was heavy but lighter than she would have thought the creature would be to do the damage it had done before. Even so, what else could it possibly be? It was obviously an animal. She yelped and gripped Arin again. Why wasn't anyone telling her what was going on? All they cared about was themselves. Why would a blind person need an explanation on the insane events that were happening. "What is going on?!" She said in a frantic voice. She was scared and she didn't like it one bit. All she knew was that people were hurt because some beast ripped through their little group and now it appeared that it had come back! It was going to eat her! It knew, somehow, what she had seen when it touched her the first time. It was going to kill her before she had a chance to pass on the information!! "Oh Mother save and protect me!"

It was then that Kemun spoke. She had almost forgotten about her other shopping companion in the chaos. She didn't seem to be concerned. Well of course she wouldn't be. The beast wanted to eat Ari, why would she be concerned. "I'm fine." She said flatly. "Or I would be if I knew what was going on." She hoped that Velius found a way to fix her sight soon. She was tired of having to ask people for help. She was tired of being clueless because people didn't think to explain things to her.

Wait...what? A cat? Now she felt bad for being angry at Kemun even though she hadn't actually yelled at her or anything. Ari was the one being stupid. "A cat?" She carefully detached herself from the scholar and moved toward the sound of Kemun's voice. "Is it...is it a black cat, by chance?" Had that little devil followed them after all? Where in the name of all the gods had he been hiding all this time? It probably wasn't even the same cat. She was probably just losing her mind. "Either way, the creature from before was most definitely not a cat." Had it run off because of the name she had given it? She could think of a better one. Mischief sounded pretty accurate. When she thought mischief she thought Velius but naming the cat after Velius would be an insult to the cat. Hmm...Well she could see how it liked Mischief for a name. If it got all upset, she would figure something else out. Maybe the scholar would have a good name for it. If it was the same cat anyway. If it wasn't she supposed she could still adopt it. It would make things a little less lonely.

...Where I can see you, my love

[_Siphon_Malice_]

Λ r i n Ģi l o u i s

____________xx T H ExxScholarxx
____________☇〔 intellect is the greatest weapon. 〕

『xxxI stand at the border of falling off my path.xxx』


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Arin nodded his head at the bard, it was as good as a description as he was going to get from him it seemed, and at least he knew this Velius’s name. He’d waited and was glad to hear miss Kemun was coming along, he felt a sort of obligation to make sure that she returned to the Caravan camp safe and unharmed, after all he had been partially with her when they had been....trampled by some invisible assailant.

“ I will look out for a man of this description”Arin couldn't help but narrow his eyes a little when the bard bounded off into the direction alone.He too had not noticed if Halima had been injured, and had only assumed that she had fled in in her own embarrassment at even expecting any man, even a bard to pay special heed to her. She was after all a slave. Letting out an exasperated breath , he looked to Kemun, moving to leave.

“ Shall we be on ou.....” It was one thing to be nearly knocked over once the span of thirty minutes, but when a streak of black catapulted into his chest ,he stumbled back onto his but into the dirt. The force unlike the last had been a direct hit and while his heart was racing and his golden eye large he had not let out any shrill cry of surprise as the Seer he had been assisting. And of course the creature this time had to be one of the banes of his existences.

“ Tis only a cat Madame Aria, worry not” He offered as her protest and need for answers grew more urgent.Kemun on the other hand had remained as calm and cool as ever with the startling situation. Arin stood quickly and began to try to get off any real or otherwise imaginary cat hair that would have gotten on to him, he was almost frantic about it. But whether he got it all or not,the symptoms would set on soon.

“ Indeed it is a black cat Madame Aria,is he yours?” Arin looked apprehensive about approaching the felin,hiding his nose behind his shirt sleeve. It wasn't that he didn't like cats, on the contrary at one point in his childhood he loved cats , and had risk the red blotchy eyes and rashes to smuggle hidden kittens with in his shirt.But he was no longer a child and the reactions only seemed to get worse with age. Arin did not like feeling this way.

It took only moments however to realize that noting was happening to him. No onslaught of sneezing or swollen eyes. Quick minded as Arin was, it took him a while to realize that the beast before him was not a cat at all. There was only one cat that did not prompt a allergic reaction from him, and that cat had no fur and was all skin.Eying the visitor with a renewed sense of suspicion. Should he point it out to the women or leave it be, whatever magic was at work could have also been the cause of their little incident from earlier. He'd rather be safe then sorry,and maneuver around the situation carefully as to not alert the Not-Cat hat he as on to it.

" We should continue with haste to the Camp, less we are bombard by another creature of mystery, whatever it was could still be around, hidden as it was or disguised as something else " He was casual as he could be about it.Even if the creature was the cat, leading it back into a large group it would be at a disadvantage.But whatever it was obviously did not want to be seen in its true form.





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