|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 2:43 pm
__________________________________________________________________________________________  ~Marnie~
Marnie ate a slice of her apple to try and hide the rather large grin on her face. Though it was still rather hard to chew. 'How generous of you cousin' she supposed she might say if she'd had a more controllable visage.
In fact her lack of a poker face in situations she found funny often got her admonished at home. Generally she was the soul of propriety when around Drayce adults, and one of them rarely saw her smile out of turn, but her parents had heard her out loud laughter more than once, and were quick to tell her about it's lack of grace. The most embarrassing episode for them had happened at a tea party on one of the other estates where a koi had jumped up from a nearby garden pond and slapped one of her rather more annoying uncles tea cups right from his hand.
Apparently she was supposed to have immediately recognized and mourned the loss of the fine bone china cup and saucer, legacy from some previous Drayce legend. Instead of the impressively aghast look of shock on her uncle's face.
Swallowing her bite Marnie but her lip and shot a look to the other apprentice; she wiggled her eyebrows in amusement. Ren seemed like the type who'd realize her cousins clever way with words, and well, she was a fellow girl after all.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:18 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:37 pm
((Sorry for not posting. I was waiting for the Wolf whisperer to post))
Astrayl laid back in his chair for a moment to think. 'Let's see. Both my parents must approve of the wedding seeing as how it is a family tradition. The house heads will have to be told as well. Also, my mother will want to be apart of the wedding arrangements.' Then a thought struck Astrayl. 'Damn, I forgot to ponder the idea of where we are going to have the wedding and under what culture. A traditional Bear wedding means the ceremony of exchanging a kiss then blood. Soon after a test of martial skill were the husband proves his love to his wife by fighting the other top martial artist. Normally I would be fine with this if it wasn't for the fact that I am marrying someone outside of my clan. The Dragons may want to do it their way and I have never been to a Dragon's marriage ceremony. I hardly know much about their inside culture.' Astrayl already figured out that this marriage was going to be beneficial to both sides but that was after these leaps and bounds. 'I will have to discuss this with Dragana when she comes to my clan area.' Soon his mind drifted back into the previous topic. 'I wouldn't mind leaving Dragana here before she comes to stay with us. On the contrary that will give me time to butter up my parents for her. Father won't be too tough to handle. He will be happy to hear I have found a bride. Mother, now that is going to be a challenge.' Nodding to himself, he looked at Dragana with a satisfied look on his face. He knew she was stalling for something, maybe it was to better prepare her apprentice or to associate with politics here. It did not matter as long as he had time for himself to resolve issues at home. He still had to deal with the old men.
"Sounds good to me Dragana. I appreciate you answering me honestly about this matter." He stood up and walked past the table and over to a window. "You see the bear clan is very big on family. In a battle the warrior in front of you is no longer just your comrade but also your sibling. To us, family is the pillar of our strength. My family can wait to meet you. And you are right when you said I must make preparations on my side as well. You see my Mother who is the head of the highest family will need to be convinced of more then just our marriage." He sighed as he thought of what he was about to go home to.
He walked back to his seat but stopped briefly behind Dragana's chair. Lowering his head to her ear he whispered, "I hope you of all people will understand that trouble of having parents in power. They can be reckless." As he was about to lift his head up another though came to his mind. "By the way, don't be afraid to speak more comfortably to me. After all we are to be married." He smiled as kissed her cheek then sat back down to finish his meal.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 2:20 pm
  Cruel dark clouds loom just above the bow
and the torrential rains begin to fall Lightning and thunder hack up the sky with blazing blades
As dragons fight to win the night
Dɼagaɲa Єadgyσ Dɼaycє ((That's alright. We're going to timeskip to receiving the message about the festival now.)) It was approaching midday, and Dragana was drilling Marnie about the different types of dragons and what they were most useful for in the garden. Dragons of different sizes hung about, some lounging on stone benches lazily, others darting about and playing, trying to distract the Whisperer and her apprentice. A large, older-looking one looked over a hedge at the training process. It was cool, with oceanic breezes carrying the scents of saltwater inland. Dragana could detect a hint of ice, too, a signal that winter would soon be upon them, and with it, winter storms to be tamed. The older dragon suddenly raised its head, nostrils flaring wide and eyes narrowing. biggrin ragana, the sentries at the border...:She paused at the dragon's words, then whistled a series of notes that seemed to echo oddly. Soon, a stream of wind buffeted her, and along it, a long, thin cirrus dragon came undulating at high speed before coming to a sudden halt and looping agitatedly before her. :Spirit wolves, milady, a whole pack of them! They say they have messages from the Wolf Whisperer they must deliver!:One delicate eyebrow went up and she said aloud, "Then tell the sentries to allow six of the pack through to me. The rest must wait on the other side of the border."With a nervous jerk of its head, the cirrus dragon took off again, reversing the stream of wind that it had flown in on. The older dragon looked at her, blinking slowly, but said nothing. Almost right away, the sound of incorporeal howls could be heard, and within minutes, six wolves could be seen running impossibly fast, their paws making no sound on the physical ground. Four of them held ornate envelopes delicately in their jaws, while the other two announced their impending arrival with more howls. The dragons flew up out of reach as the wolves trotted into the garden and up to Dragana. She nodded gravely to them, and said "My greetings to the emissaries of the Wolf Whisperer. What brings you to Drayce lands this day?"In response, one of the wolves holding the envelopes walked up and offered her the creamy, embossed envelope. Another did the same thing to Marnie, and the last two took off towards where Astrayl and Ren were training. Dragan carefully took the wolf's burden and looked at the seal, seeing the Wolf Whisperer's personal mark. After breaking the seal, she opened the envelope to find an invitation to the New Moon festival written in Shira's own hand. She set the invitation down on one of the benches and looked at the wolf messenger. "Please let Shira know that the Dragon Whisperer shall attend. Marnie, will you be joining me?"The last remark was directed at her apprentice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 6:37 pm
__________________________________________________________________________________________ ~Marnie~
Marnie accepted her envelope from the wolf with a polite 'thank you' ; staring more at the spirit animal than the message in her hands. She'd never really seen a spirit wolf this close before. She rather liked to think they would be interesting to talk with.
She was shaken from her reverie by Dragana's question and quickly broke the seal on her own envelope to see what exactly she'd of course be agreeing to go to.
She sped read her way through it all and smiled up at the wolf being. "Ah, yes I would be honored to attend as well, thank you." she said bowing slightly ...she really didn't know how formal wolves could get, but figured manners impressed the dragons now and again...and it certainly couldn't hurt to be polite. She shot a look upwards to the biggest dragon, and as he didn't seem particularly concerned she allowed herself to relax as well.
Next she shot her cousin a look to see if A) she'd done the right thing and B) if she'd tell her how she knew to let exactly six wolves across the border. Then again the wolf whisperer and Dragana could be best friends for all she knew.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:55 pm
 Ren was about to leave to start her training when the wolf spirit emissaries showed up. "Well, if there's a pack of Wolves here, there's more than likely another pack back home," she said. "Maybe we should send Taki back to the Bear Clan's territory to check."((I'd posted on page 9 as the Wolf Whisperer, chibi. It's your own fault for not seeing it. Oh, and Shira sent an invitation to the Whisperer of each clan in their own territory, not to each person individually...just thought I'd mention since I musn't have been clear when I posted.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 9:57 pm
((my bad I didn't catch that last part. razz It won't happen again))
As soon as Astrayl saw the wolves he jumped to his guard. It was natural reaction for him to be ready for a fight but when they left only leaving letters for the Dragon Whisperer he knew there should be one for him a well. He looked at Ren after she made her suggestion and just smiled. "No, we have over stayed our welcome. Besides this gives us an opportunity to start our training." He hurried to start preparations and in two hours the carriage for the three bear clan members was ready. Toki hopped inside and waited for Astrayl who never got in. "Toki!" Toki jumped from his seat. "Yes Lord Astrayl?" Astrayl just smiled at the man. "Listen I need you to head back in the carriage on your own. Ren is going to train on the way there. Toki nodded and the carriage was soon on its way.
Astrayl looked back at his new apprentice and smiled. "Alright so lets begin." Astrayl picked up a large bag from a pile of stuff that was still left on the side of the road. "In here are my private weight sets. We are going to start you on the lightest ones and then you move upwards as we get closer and closer to our territory." He dropped the bag and the weights inside caused a small quake within the area. "Oops oh well." He took out a pair of leg and arm weights. Within a couple minutes he had them strapped to Ren. "Alright your job is to run ten steps then do twenty squats." Soon he packed everything else and hoisted them on his own back. "Lets get going then. Don't want to miss out on seeing my parents." He sighed for a second and began to run.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:22 pm
Ren strapped on the weights and started after Astrayl, easily keeping up with him. "Did you forget I'm used to training like this, cousin?" she grinned. She wasn't even borrowing energy from her spirit companion to deal with the weights.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:28 pm
"Nope but I do know it is a long way home. Especially by foot." He smiled again and without the slightest hint of moment, he had placed another set of weights on her arms. "Remember they will keep increasing until we get there." He started to whistle as they kept running across the grassy fields. The air of fresh flowers, the birds chirping, the sound of the wound tickling the very grass. This was peaceful, and it was nice to take advantage of this to train.
After about 5 hours of running, Astrayl had already placed at least 600 lb on Ren. "How are you holding up back their my dear cousin?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:41 pm
By now, Ren had started borrowing strength from her spirit companion. She could take more than 600 pounds, but it was starting to wear on her. Still, she smirked. "Oh, I'm just fine, Astrayl," she called, executing a couple handsprings in succession. "See?" The weights actually helped her get over quicker in her handsprings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
|
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 9:16 am
Cruel dark clouds loom just above the bow
and the torrential rains begin to fall Lightning and thunder hack up the sky with blazing blades
As dragons fight to win the night
Dɼagaɲa Єadgyσ Dɼaycє ((My idea was that the wolves would travel together and sense that the Bear and Dragon Whisperer were in the same direction. Most of them are intelligent, after all.)) Dragana nodded approvingly at her cousin, and the wolves dipped their heads in acknowledgement. They dipped their heads again at the older dragon, who curved his neck back in a not-quite bow, and then the wolves were off again, howling that weirdly echoing howl, heading in the direction the Bear clan members had gone. The smaller dragons continued to hover after they left, a few trailing them until they were out of sight. Dragana hadn't missed Marnie's look of curiosity, but sat down on the bench next to the invitation rather than address it immediately. She would wait for the girl's questions. Part of the learning process was the student asking questions, after all. "Did you have something to say, Marnie? You know you may speak freely around me when it is just the two of us."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:11 pm
((Huh. Okay, I guess that works. I'm still going to have some wolves waiting in Bear Clan territory, though.))
The wolves Shira had sent to Dragon territory returned while she was eating her own breakfast. She'd thought to wait for her nephew before dining, but the boy needed his rest after traveling so far, and so she dined alone. "The Bear Whisperer and his Apprentice were in the Drayce household? How odd," she said upon hearing the wolves' report. Then she smiled. "And yet, how convenient. Tell me, is the new Bear Apprentice male or female?" In answer, a yearling female wolf stepped forward from the pack. Shira laughed. "A girl? Oh, poor Reen is going to be surrounded by women this festival!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:36 pm
__________________________________________________________________________________________ ~Marnie~
"Well...I've been noticing....and I have several questions about the other whisperers spirits. But first, have you ever been to a New Moon festival? Is there one every month or is it a less frequent occasion? Basically I want to know how much my mother is going to freak out and attempt to invite herself before I go home so I can be prepared."
Marnie smiled minutely to show her cousin she was joking. She had questions about the spirits of the wolves and bears she'd seen.
In comparison to her companions they all seemed to match their real life counter parts in size and general actions. Whereas dragon spirits could range in size depending on the amount of force they emitted and - of course - their age. They also rarely shut up, depending again...on their age. The other spirits seemed almost...quiet and respectful in comparison.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 9:39 pm
Astrayl looked at his apprentice and smiled genuinely. 'Oh great Bear spirits may you watch over her growth. For she still has yet to see what is to come.' With that prayer in mind, Astrayl turned around and continued to run towards the bear territory. Right as he did the amount of weight on Ren increased from 600lb to 700lb. "I hope I can find a suitable challenge for you sometime soon my young prodigy. But for now just keep up." He bent down in a squat position and as he did his thigh muscles flexed and grew in size. Then in one flewed motion he burst into a run that easily surpassed the speed of a horse.
((time skip to the bear clan))
When the two of them got back, even Astrayl had a tiny sweat going. "Hmm looks like I got a bit of a work out too." The sack his was carrying was now 2000lb lighter for the rest of it was on Ren. He looked at the guards and tossed one of them a key. "When my cousin gets here tell give this to her and she should know what to do." The key would unlock all the weights this way she could feel how light her body truly was. After he left the out post, Bear spirits came crashing into him. To normal people it looked like he tripped backwards, but for people with the ability to see spirits they would have seen five large bears tackle Astrayl to the ground. "What is going on guys, and get off you are heavy." The biggest of the bears started to speak. "Astrayl we have members of the wolf spirits here to pass on a invitation to you. It seems it is to a festival." Without a second thought Astrayl threw the bears off of him and then brushed himself off. "Yeah sure, bring them to me." Soon the wolf spirits appeared in front of Astrayl that made his top speed look like a turtle. He picked up the invitation for both him and his apprentice. "So this is from Shira. The moon festival. Seems like fun tell her that my apprentice and I will be there." With that Astrayl walked towards his own home to speak to his parents.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:05 pm
The pack of wolf spirits took the message with a collective howl and returned to Wolf Clan territory to give Shira the news that the Bear Whisperer and Apprentice would be attending the New Moon Festival as well. Shira smiled. "It seems I shall have a lot of work to do in the next two weeks."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
