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Iroia Solo 003
Iroia stalked over to one of the training rings. She selected one of the dummies made for the type of damage she felt she was capable of doing at this moment in time. It wasn’t the battle that had her stomping off dragging the hapless dummie by his neck. No her ire, this all consuming red hatred of all things faceless and stuffed with straw was due to a wave of frustration that had pounced on her in the middle of the night. She was lonely, bone deep lonely and her rage mixed with that along with frustration made for an extremely dangerous and moody apprentice. She could not guarantee that she wouldn’t sock the next person to open their mouth in her general direction. So as a precaution she kept a deterring scowl on her delicately boned face as she set up her dummie. After he was upright she gave in and fast punched it right in the face. And darn did that ever feel good. She took in a sigh of pure bliss. She hated holding herself in, she much preffered to let her rage out as a storm would ravage the open areas of Tale. Deep dark clouds announcing the mood of the storm, the darker the better, the darker the more the residents of the land quaked waiting for the furry of the storm to break upon them, as waves broke on the coast, or so she had heard. SHe had never actually seem the ocean that surrounded the lands of Tendaji, hadn't seen much beyond her home nation and the battlefield. Her eyes lit up a little as she thought of the recent battle, it had been wonderful not to hold back, much as she didn't have to hold back iwth Ruelash, pity that he already had a potential mate lined up, but at least she got to travel and spar with him whenever she wanted, that in itself felt like one of her missing pieces falling into place. She was no longer alone. No longer isolated mentally from all the weaklings around her, all the weaklings who simply didn't understand. Then too she could fight with some one outside longing for them. THey were her family after all and she had been away from them longer then she had ever ben before. SHe should write them a letter she supposed. She ripped a piece of paper decor off her opponent and scribbled a line or two down wandering with a small smile on her face if her parents would recognize the paper as coming off a dummy.

Dear Mom and Dad

A few bruises and cuts but otherwise alright, joining a travelling fighting group to gain more skills!
Love you
Iroia

She folded the scrap and tucked it into a pocket to be sent off later. She knew that they must be worried in their own way. But she felt that going with Ruelash would help her acheive her dream and both her heart and her mind agreed that to go was the best thing for her to do. She wanted the freedom and comraderie that that would bring. Not to mention the sparring, couldn't forget that. She grinned and swiped at the dummies head. She ducked and wove around him slicing and stabbing under his imaginary guard and ducking imaginary blades aimed at her face and shoulders. Then she did a few kick blocks dancing back a few steps at a time.
After that set concluded she changed the imaginary flow of battle and went on the offfensive, dropping her wooden practice knives and hitting the dummy with a flurry of hand and fist blows. Panting she retreated and picked up the coarse wood blades. She lamented the loss of the metal ones that she had used in battle. But even they had not been hers. In some supply wagon or in the idle hands of a talented smith her blades waited. Heart's Bane and Dragon Tickler is what she would call them. Perhaps it was a bit preemptive to be naming the blades before she had gotten them, but they would be an important part of her life and she had had a lot of time to think about this. The blades she had used felt good but they had been regular issue, mass made and unornamented. Still they would occupy a special place in her memory. They had been her first real fighting blades even though they were borrowed. Plain as they had been they were well balanced as far as she could tell, except for a slight flaw in the one that had been used in her left hand. It had been slightly blade heavy while its companion was unremarkable in flaw or design. As a matched set they had been very loyal, she did have a slight pang of loss when she had had to hand them back to those who managed the weapons supplies. Even though the pair had not yet earned their names beyond "Right" and "Left" they had gotten her out off the melee alive. So they had earned their place in her memory. Her thoughts turned to her plans for her future blades. Heart's Bane would have the same spiralling hilt as Dragon Tickler but with a red stone hilt cap instead of the dark purple-blue. She cleaned up the remains of hte test dummy, picking up the scraps of aldabuck fur that had flown out under her ravagings. Iroia was amused to find that the thing had even less of a face then when she had started, she smirked and strutted off again, dragging the dummy behind her, that would teach it to pick a fight with her. She plunked it back into the cart and walked off to go do her evening parusal of the camp's weapons. It was not common to fiund so many different weapons finished and in one place. She would also have to find the stones for her blade hilts. That meant finding one of the treasure hunters. She wasn't sure if there would be any in their company at this moment because this was a battle host not just a general gathering. She decided to ask around but found no one. Well drat, she would have to wait. Maybe a smith would have better contacts, Ruelash had said he knew a good one hadn't he? Iroia could ask her if she could make the blades and if she knew how to get a hold of the gems needed for them.

Word Count 1092

Swordsman Solo 001
So much had changed in so short a time that Iroia floated along in a happy haze. She had earned her baldes and in the process learned more about nature and balance. Then too there were her new aquaintences Votzham and Kaalnia both wonderfully charming in their own warys; bot of those very different. Kaa had an indomitable, flirtacious attitude which usually made Iroia blush, but the lady never ever had a bad word to say and Iroia greatly admired that. She had wondered about the art of flirting and had come to the conclusions that she was not very good at it, which made sense as she seemed to have trouble talking to peopletoo, but not with these two. Where Kaa was flamboyant Votzham was stoic, it seemed to here he had had to struggle for a while now and still he hung onto his goals, that was admirable as well, then too there were those muscles combined with those blades. If she were a lot braver and had thought he was really interested she might have taken a leaf out of Kaa's book and really flirted with him. But she didn't know how, which was frustrating. That touch they had shared had sent shock waves right down to her toes. He was a real man, and she recognized that. She hoped she would meet both of them again. Kaa would make an excellent friend, if she stopped the touching, Iroia smiled, she seemed staunch and reliable with an addicting positive attitude. As for Vosh, well she hoped to get closert to him in other ways but she was nervous, if she made a wrong move that slim chance might be smushed. Then she would be back at the depressing square one in the dating department... again. Too much longer and she would be queen of the friend zone. Blegh. Sensible sword wielders were hard to come by, not that she wouldn't date a different profession if the opportunity arose but she thought that she would have a really hard tie with rogues or healers. When someone fought with swords they would at least understand one part of her. A defensive class might also clash with her. There was nothing more frustrating then a defense class with endless patience, she was more of a forest fire that grew brighter and brighter until she got what she wanted for faded away to ash and bone. She groaned and wondered if their paths would cross at the festivities that would happen in Jauhar soon. She must be sick, there was no other explanation for wanting to sit in one place and just think. She didn't even want to sharpen her blades, which was her go to response for downtime.

Blinking she remembered that there was something that she could do, digging in a pocket she produced the extra seeds from the giant tuber that day. She got up and found a suitable place for each one. THen she dug them holes planted them and returned with water from a nearby stream. She then placed her hands on her hips, very pleased with herself. Who would have thought? Iroia the gardener. She hoped the plants would germinate and do their forebear proud, she owed it that much for the heavenly meal it had provided. Which of course brought back memories of rippling muscles, spitting a roast. Argh! She stomped back to camp to brood snarling at any who came near, she needed quiet time, with luck her brain would find a new subject soon to think about and she could get on with her day.

She was happy she had been reunited with Rue after her little adventure, it was a pity he hadn't been there she would have liked to know what he thought about Votzham. Their likeness was uncanny, she thought they might have come from the same stock. She herself looked nothing like her two cousins but they were not very fun anyway. Was this what it was like to have a crush on someone? How did people with this function properly everyday? Iroia sincerely hoped this hormone driven though pattern never interrupted her during a battle where her mind was calm and or enraged beyond belief, either of which was essential to her practice at this stage where she wasn't altogether too powerful or skilled.

Maybe a pet would distract her...she had seen a fish vendor earlier. She got up and picked through her purse. In this department she was still rather well off despite the purchase of her blades, her bird barrette and her tattoos. Her family was prosperous with bother her parents skilled at what they do and still active in the blade arts. The fish vendor was still there and Iroia examined the menk up for grabs, they were cute, useless and beautiful. But since she currently had no pet skills whatsoever her chances of finding a companion from the wild were rediculous. She picked one that twirled fiestily at her. Maybe they would get along well, she thoguht. She payed the vendor and cradled her new pet home trying to keep a smooth gait least she shake it too much. She felt oddly protective of the tiny fish.

"Where did you come from friend? A stream, a creek? Were they clever enough to catch you in a river perhaps?." The fish at least gave her something to think about, she was sorely tempted to name it "Fish," but decided to ponder that for a while too. Of course there was always the standard pet name; "Fluffy," which might might be very cute on a fish. Then too there was "Spike," which greatly appealed to her. She could pull of having a fish names Spike. "Male or female, Spike it is."

Thoughts conquered and fish named she finally sat down with a contented sigh and tended to her blades. Would she always have to struggle so hard for this type of peaceful time? Only time would tell, she had a feeling something rather interesting would happen soon. Maybe if she took up meditation she could help her over production of energy.

Word Count: 1026

Swordsmand Solo 003

Roia had finally reached a point in her life where she felt relatively steady. She had a pack mate, a best friend and a boyfriend, to her that meant she was doing pretty good. Now though instead of day to day stability concerns she now found herself thinking of the future and watching children play around the camp. It was peaceful and strange to her to be so relatively calm and thinking so much, it sort of scared her on principle but it was a lot of fun to think about what her and Vosh’s children might look like, if they chose to have them that is. She was starting to really warm up to that idea but it was a joint decision of the ultimate importance. And their relationship was so brand new it still kind of felt like a dream.
All three were very important to her, the three people who meant the most to her; Vosh, Kaa and Rue. They were her support system, her lifeline. She shuddered to think what it would be like for her now without them, because now that she had had them in her life, their absence would leave her incredibly lonely and despondent.
Idly she stroked the head of her Allol; Slail who seemed to be quite reluctant to be far from her and she just couldn’t figure out why, she wasn’t that big on familiars, this didn’t seem to bother the allol though. And she found herself appreciating him subconsciously; she didn’t even realize she was petting him most of the time. He seemed quite content to let her do it too. Clingy lizard, she snorted.
What would it be like to have children of her own? Would they have her same nervous energy? Would she be a good mom? She certainly had the energy, and she thought she would definitely have the patience..kids were so cute after all. They could all go for runs together, Vosh up front and her bringing up the rear...so she could discretely look at his perfect butt that was. It would also be a good herding strategy...did herding work on kids? Maybe she could stick Slail to them to slow them down..now wouldn’t that be adorable? Could she defend her children from all who came? Or better yet would anyone be stupid enough to try and come after them? There wouldn’t be much of them left after she was done, if she knew anything it was that no one got between her and Vosh or her theoretical spawn. They would be hers and his and that was that.
She growled at an invisible foe, disturbing her oversized salamander into bestirring himself off her lap. Well good she needed a good spar anyway. Iroia took a particularly insulting looking sack and stuffed it with grass. Then she spent a wonderful hour wrestling with it. Soon enough she was delighted with herself and her endeavors, the fray marks on the fabric evident. Taking one of her blades she stabbed it to a nearby tree. Take that all ye scurvy sacks, cross me and I’ll nail ya to a tree. Darn but wasn’t that the most fun thing. She giggled a little madly.
She scratched her head, wondering where Ruelash had gotten off to. Would he have kids? She knew he would make a great babysitter, he was pack after all and he liked Sezarra who liked Direk who liked no one. Wasn’t that complicated? She giggled again. Oddly enough she liked this rambling way of thinking it was kind of freeing in a sense. Maybe Rue would just be the worlds most scariest babysitter ever. No one would get close to her children ever and the thought made her glow with pride and love. They were her family through and through..she had a home, she belonged.
She was not some odd girl who didn’t fit in anywhere, she was accepted and protected and family and she loved each of the others in turn in her own way. There was nothing more important than them in the world.
Then there was her parents, off in Tale somewhere...she should go visit, she knew that, she just hadn’t thought about them for a while, she must have been busy..oh yes, busy dating. Ahhh it felt so good to think that. She was desirable enough to date! Fancy that. Her with her trim muscular body, her curve a fitting but obvious afterthought...where she had curves that was. At least they didn’t get in the way! Vosh didn’t seem to mind much, then too if she did get pregnant, she would have too much curve and he would have to roll her around everywhere. Maybe Kaa would help, she would be a good babysitter too and she was a girl..that would help. Iroia supposed that she wouldn’t be too helpful with pregnancy advice, maybe she should ask Sauron who Kelina had as a midwife..but she was getting so far ahead of herself she was going to lap her own butt in a moment. She and Vosh hadn’t even kissed yet...and wouldn’t that be amazing? Those beautiful blue lips. Mmmm and his eyes those dark eyes that seemed to want to magnetize her to him, she understood how all those females had been so attracted to him but for the life of her she couldn’t understand how she now had this wonderful opportunity to win his heart...or perhaps chance was a better word. His body wasn’t his only charm, he could keep up with her, spar with her, he understood her weapon choice as she did and he had excellent taste in friends if Kaa was any indication. He was quiet to her loud and steady to her hyper he helped her balance and he was kind and wonderful.
Now she really sounded like a lovesick pup. Iroia got to her feet, went to the stream and stuck her head in. There the cold water cleared her post dated teenage madness. She was too old for this, had snickered at the other girls in her village when they went through it while secretly being jealous..as such she was happy that it had happened. There was nothing that could compare to this feeling except maybe battle bloodlust. A complete and utter flood of the sensibilities and she loved it.

Word Count: 1056

class quest solo

It was a rainy day in Jauhar, the sun shone through to create a most interesting bright rain effect. Drops coalesced on the forelock of one very disturbed leaf woman. Recently the recipient of the most distressing news of the disapearance of her true heart mate and her daughter; two of the three pillars that had made her stable and no word from either Kaa or Ruelash, the only others who really had gotten into her inner circle, they were presumed dead as well. Was there any wonder therefore why she wasn't pulling her hair and shaking the trees for answers to the impossible questions of fate. Instead she has gone out time and again trying to find beasts to battle to make herself stronger while leaving her son under the watch of a trusted shifter family. She flicked her hair and gazed across the market, she sort of felt like she was getting better, digging her way out of the crevasse of greif, pain and despair that she had fallen into. She knew she was not in a healthy place, it was somewhere worse than she had ever been. Didn't she owe it to herself to fall off her rocker a little bit? Didn't she owe herself time?
Some one was calling out looking for a mercenary at the market. Before she knew what was happening she had walked forward, holding the shifters eye.
"I could be termed a mercenary, what do you need?" She hoped the rain hid how her eyes were watering.
"We need someone to get rid of a pack of bandits, we don't know their numbers, their strength or their bent, we know that they are attacking our people brutally, mostly fatally for the items in our pockets, our village is small not rich and easy prey but we are willing to put forth all our savings toward solving this problem, we refuse to loose any other family members. Iroia gasped and was the. Surprised that she had done so, this was just as atrocious as the war, why then was she instantly so affected. It has to have been because she had so recently lost half of her own family and most of her friends. The village of her own heart had recently been pillaged. It was no different than her own position, except they had more people left than she did.
Before love, before being a mother, she would have been all over this with Ruelash by her side, she would be slavering at this point for the gold she could earn could preserve her and Arron's fortunes. Before she would do it for the fun and for the challenge it represented. The impossible odds of one or two people charging into s situation with too many unknowns would have simply added all the more desire to go and fight, the money itself wouldn't really have mattered, it would just have been a nice perk after the wave of bloodlust had settled. Being there with Ruelash would have, protecting him where she could, gaining experience and having his formidable protection in return. It would have been out of love that she would stay this time. "I am sorry, I cannot help, one of the larger villages will have more people who can help. I simply have too much to loose to go up against those odds."
She had herself to loose and if she was lost, Arron would have nothing and no one, except the care of s single allol. Iroia turned and marched toward home and her son. It was time to stop running from her life and from her feelings, time to drain all the tears and the poison from her body. As she walked she let herself remember everything. Her life, her love, what he had meant to her, his mothers, her pregnancy, her darling little girl and as she remembered the tears ran down her face until her shirt was soaked. The pain ripped through her over and over until she was on her knees shaking with the emotions ripping through her. Passer's by stared and asked her questions which she couldn't answer besides a curt "No, I'm fine." Between sobs. It was a pity this had to happen in public where she felt so vulnerable, being so exposed to all these strangers and quite unable to use her twin blades at the moment. Eventually, though they still watched her avidly, they left her alone to her immense relief. Eventually she dragged herself off into the forest for the rest of her wretched weeping. Eventually she had no more tears left to give and felt for the moment weaker than a kitten. She wasn't exactly sure she felt better yet with the splitting headache, the soggy felling and an unwillingness to move beyond cratching the occasional itch. In this way she found that there really was no answer to the question of how to deal with the loss of so many loved ones, but all the grief that she had finally let take her completely had left the remnants of her heart lighter, if it had not reduced the pain that she still felt, then there was nothing she could do was there? The answer was no. She Could do something, something vitally important to her, she could be with Arronthain and support him as she had been failing to do.
It was rime to dig deep and find that resolve and determination that had been her trademark once upon a time instead of the broken one she was now. A part of her longed to have her old self back, thwt one who could still feel joy and smile. Iroia tried to smile but the motion felt alien on her face and she let her mouth fall back into solemnity. Had she been forever altered by this? Was she always going to remain this souless, creeping thing? Cursed to sulking in a corner like a useless worm. Her parents hadn't brought her up this way and she would no longer set such a sad example for Arron. Her back straightened and she inhaled a deep breath of free air. She wouldn't dwell all day on the past anymore. She would put two feet firmly in the future and keep the memories as just that; memories.
She could not change what happened, no more than she could predict the future, reliving those memories wouldn't bring Vosh and Valka back to her. Iroia shook herself like a wet radaku fighting to rid herself of the gloom and put it into a box in the back of her mind where it couldn't haunt her with gray shades any more.
Slowly but surely the ability to feel joy slowly crept back into the space that had been left behind; she could feel wonder again, taste the sweet rain when she stuck out her tongue to catch it. She felt the water cascade down her skin in rivulets as the storm worsened, blocking out the sun and pouring down harder than before. This wasn't just a storm but a rebirth. She had given herself back to herself, a gift only she could ever give. Iroia flexed and started to move one foot in front of the other, arms catching invisible things as she danced on the sodden earth, a tribute of things that had been and an acknowledgment of the things that were and most important of all a symbol of hope for the future. She would make it and when she made it she would thrive again. If she could survive this she could survive anything! She began to run, not fleeing this time but chasing out the shadow of her former self, chasing the dawn of a new day and running home to Arron, to her son. Who had in her spiritual absence become a fine young man. Even those recent meories had been repressed and Iroia was aghaust to find that she didnt remember much at all of there time here in Jahaur so consumed had she been. She prayed her little boy would forgive her she had been a terrible mother for him thus far. She wouldn't blame him if he wanted to trade her in. Sadly for Arron he only had one mother and she was it. So they would make do with what they had, what they would always have; each other. She could make this up to him, but how?
She decided to start by making the whole family a proper meal. Without Sauron and Kelina and there family looking after them, Iroia didn't want to imagine what would have happened to the two of them. Feeding the crew would set a food example, express her gratitude and make herself feel good. She had always been happier with busy hands anyway. No one was home when she reached the house so she cleaned everything she could rsch then set about making s feast she could be proud of. As she worked she felt even better. This was a leap in the right direction if she could keep this progress up she would be back to herself in no time, whatever that new self was. She had been encapsulated in thwt terrible fog for far too long. Iroia ran her fingers through her hair as rustling sounds announced the arrival of the others. Tonight after dinner Iroia would be sure to go up and talk to Arron and asses how he was with all this, he had lost newrly as much as she had after all with the exclusion of Kaa and Rue whom he had never met. At lesst he wasn't subject to the pain of their loss as well. She would do her best to work both of them through this. It was long past time to try. Now there was nothijng standing in her way, nothing to stop her from running her life the way she wanted. She was the head of her family.

1670


Blurb: This solo details Iroia finally accepting the loss of Vosh and her daughter, and letting those emotions finally overtake her to a point where she can move on. She decides to live for and be there for her son instead of avoiding her issues by trying to make herself stronger yet being away for his developement at such a young age. She was unnacustomed to such grief but now has found that letting yourself be taken by your emotions by letting the barriers in your mind down can help you to overcome and cope with your loss.

And Then She Fainted