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[[OOC: When is the Jinshou attack?]]

There was a moment of anxiety as another joined in on the taunting. Oban was brave (and stubborn) enough not to fall prey to another's order, but it was putting much too much attention on "Auden". As if being a nobleman and masseby wasn't enough, now everyone was eager for a showdown. "I've only had two battles since coming here, and I only won one." She couldn't resist a glance at Tulmin, who glared in return. "I need to continue on my own for a while." At the mention of the losing battle, Tulmin wisely decided to remain quiet. Menna finished her meal quickly and stood. She made her exit, hoping they would focus on other things beyond the strange newcomer.

Menna wanted to go out to the boulder, but it felt like running away. So she went closer to the ruins, through the tiny alcoves, down to the remnants of the dungeon. The cells were hardly able to hold prisoners anymore, but the place was still sturdy. She went down into one of the cells, taking deep breaths. She began to let her form change, mostly her hands. Her current task was to hone Predator's Defense, making the claws looks more curved and jagged. Then it was on to Bone Blade, making the blade a bit longer and sharper. Next was Quills. Once they were all honed she did them all again, but faster. Then she went back to Bone Blade and began the swordplay exercises. The cell didn't offer much room, but she did what she could.

partymonk44

Rather than go back out, Menna decided to bed down in the cell. It was no colder than the outside and there was still hay mixed with sand to make for decent bedding. She didn't know until later that this choice might have indeed saved her life. She was sound asleep when she heard steps coming into the dungeon. She woke up quickly, as Gavric had warned her time and time again how clinging to rest could destroy you. Her eyes focused as the mentor himself walked into the cell. "The Jinshou have attacked." He said simply. "They'll be getting here soon." Menna's heart started pounding double time. She'd heard of battles, but other than her encounter with the Elemental, she'd never participated in one.

"What should I do?" She asked. He didn't seem to be rushing her out into battle, which meant he had something else in mind. He motioned with his head up a shabby flight of stairs. She followed, finally hearing the sounds of battle outside, the sound of metal ringing through the air and muffled groans of pain. She couldn't help but wonder if Oban was alright. He's a warrior. She reminded herself. Better off without a nagging wife around. Instead she followed Gavric to a small dusty annex of a room. There was a large trunk in the middle of the room. Gavric motioned her forward. She opened it and found old garments inside. Dresses worthy of the queen that once lived in the castle. "They're old, but they'll do." Menna frowned at him. "What are you talking about? What am I doing?" He grunted, annoyed. "The Jinshou worship the goddess Kaita, a shifty little skirt who changes form at will. But her main form is a stately brunette." He looked pointedly at her. Menna's eyes widened as it dawned on her what he meant. "But, you said..." "We weren't fightin' then." He grabbed a gown out of the trunk and shoved it at her. "They wont stop until something makes 'em. Get to it." He turned and left. Menna looked the gown over. A low cut, blood red dress with gold embroidery. It would fit fairly well. She was quick in shedding Auden's clothes, changing her form back, and donning the dress. She took a deep breath and walked down the steps. She could hear men coming toward the castle. I am a goddess She told herself. I am a goddess. She walked outside.

In a camp full of battle-hardened soldiers, and vile criminals, a young woman standing in a dress caught a lot of attention. No one recognized her (save for Oban, whom she did not see yet) so no one knew whose side she was on...and what she was even doing there in the first place. Menna closed her eyes for a moment, thinking back on every time she'd seen her father control a room, and opened them. "ENOUGH!" Perhaps years of imagining what it would be like to yell at her father had done their work. Her voice carried across the battlefield. Silver Knight and Jinshou alike turned to look at her. She made eye contact with the nearest Jinshou warrior, making it sure everyone knew to whom she was speaking. "What do you think you're doing?" She put as much authority in her voice as she could muster. The warrior looked flustered. Another one, however, didn't seem as confused. He ran toward her. Menna raised her arm, watching as it smoothly turned into the Bone Blade. The man stopped in his tracks. She turned it into a claw, wagging one of her taloned fingers as a warning. He lowered his weapon. "Kaita." He whispered in a reverent voice. He dropped to his knees, other Jinshou warriors followed suit. Menna didn't have time to congratulate herself on her victory. The battle was still going on in other parts of camp.

"I have grown tired of this little battle." She said, mimicking her father's most condescending tone. "Mortal men who wish to prove themselves worthy with little trifling skirmishes in the desert? Pitiful. There are bigger things to attend to."Word was spreading. Other warriors were coming forward to pay homage to their goddess. "What would you have us do?" He asked, avoiding her eyes. She could see why her father was so eager to hold on to his position. Power like this was intoxicating. But the Silver Knights looked confused and suspicious. And she couldn't very well explain in front of the Jinshou. "Go back to your camp and wait for my direction." He nodded and stood. The others followed suit, some bowing. They left as silently as they had come. When she was sure they were gone, Menna sighed with relief, her shoulders sagging as the tension left them. Hermun stepped forward, smiling. "Well done Your Highness."

[[[OOC: Don't be annoyed, but there will be a small moment of god-modding, just so we don't have to do that awkward, mini post, just to make sure a character is where they should be thing.]]]

There was a long moment of stunned silence as the men looked at the strange woman in front of them. Menna looked at Oban, struggling for words. What was she to say? Then the Commander stepped forward. "Orelik?" He asked. Menna was confused for a moment, till she remembered that was supposed to be her last name. But there was really very little point in keeping with the ruse any longer. "No. Auden Orelik is just a face I wear." There were murmurs at that, but only the commander kept speaking. Menna wished Oban would say something, anything, but he appeared shocked. "Then who are you? Your full name." He barked. Menna grit her teeth, her temper sparking. Perhaps it was leftover adrenaline from pretending to be a goddess of the future queen coming out, but she was offended at his tone. "That depends on what king you serve, commander." It was clear the commander was unused to such language. He frowned, equally offended. "There ain't a man here that would turn against the Silver King." He spat. Menna smiled, happy to hear that. "Then I am Issimenna Shuekta Sorrian." At the sound of the royal name, the murmurings increased. It was Tulmin who stepped forward to protest. Losing to a newcomer was humiliating enough without knowing the newcomer was the princess. "Prove it." Without hesitation, Menna took the chain off from around her throat that held the ring and held it up. "Crafted from inside the holy grounds, I'm told." She smiled at Oban, remembering the moment he gave it to her. Tokos walked forward, grabbed the ring. He looked at it, and gave it back. He was assuaged, as he then turned to the rest of the company. Menna quickly put the ring back around her neck. "Shows over. We got wounded, so stop standing there like a bunch of drouks. The men immediately went to their business, save for Hermun and Oban.

"Forgive me Your Highness, but your attire is hardly made for cold night air. Come to the fire and you can tell us how you ended up here." He made a show of offering her his arm and leading her to the fire pit. "Start from the beginning, if you please." He said once they were settled. "But first, might I ask, why is your name dependent on the king we serve?" Menna sighed. "Skyron had my marriage to Oban declared null moments after he took control of the city, with the intent of making our previously fake marriage real." She snuck a glance at Oban, wondering what he thought of it. She then went on to tell of her experiences, from the moment she disguised herself as Elle to escape the palace, to landing at the Fountain of Mastery, and finally ending at Dragon's Breath, explaining that Gavric insisted her identity be secret. "Smart man." Hermun nodded in approval. "With Momolla as queen and no princesses, the men of Garanoff don't have reason to think well of lady royals." He smiled. "But I think that may change soon." He winked at her and stood. "Yer husband's probably been wishin' me gone for a while now, so I'll leave you two be." And he left to help with the wounded.

Menna turned to Oban, lost for what to say. "Please forgive me." She said quietly. "I wanted to tell you, but Gavric was adamant. I could have done so much more to help without having to worry about concealment." She said, referring to his injuries. She fell silent for a moment. "The moment they took you from the city has been the subject of my nightmares for weeks. And then to come here and find you in that state...it was all my worst fears realized. Well...one of my worst fears." She paused for a long moment, scared of what was coming next. "We have not known each other long. And our marriage was not out of love. With Skyron's annulment and our fathers' treaty broken....I intend to see to see Garanoff back in the right hands. But whether I stay after that is your choice. Mine has already been made." She brought a hand up to touch the ring, waiting anxiously for his reply.

Menna gasped quietly as Oban pulled her close. It made up for every moment they'd been apart. "No, it was the right choice." She said quietly, hugging him back. "Or else you'd be in the dungeon and I'd be chained to a throne." She attempted to laugh, but there was no humor in it. She stared at Oban, although the cloths made him look different than the man she'd first met. She loved the idea of being open about their marriage to more than just the Silver Knights and the few allies they had within the palace. But it felt risky. "There's not much love lost between me and the people of Garanoff." She said quietly. People could rally behind Oban after finding out how much of a disaster the brother they chose was, but she didn't think people would be able to support the girl who created the ruse in the first place.

Looking more closely at Oban, she couldn't help but feel responsible. "I should finish the healing process." She said, lightly brushing the side of his face. "If we're going to take back a city, you'll have to be at your best."

Menna was pleasantly surprised to find how easily the others in Dragon's Breath accepted her. True, it probably had more to do with the fact Oban frequently asked for her opinion. Still, Gavric hadn't let up in training. She'd gone back to wearing her training garb. And while the men were polite and civil, she found more than lingering gaze that reminded her just as closely the material clung. Still, the Silver Knights were noble and there were no incidents.

Menna stood near her husband while the men spoke of what to do with the Jinshou. She wasn't eager to be Kaita again, but neither could they afford bloodshed. She hadn't been completely lying when she spoke of a fight in the desert being the least of their worries. "We've no reason to attack them for defending their home." She said evenly, earning some glares. Hermun, who was becoming an ally in the same way Gashrious was, smiled. Everything she did seemed to earn approval from him. Or perhaps he was only seeing the queen he wanted to. Still, she didn't want to disappoint him. "They won't attack as long as Kaita tells them not to."

Menna would have been happy to leave the conversation there. Gavric was more insistent than ever on training. Now that she didn't have to waste energy keeping a facade, the exercises were harder. But even as the men seemed to reluctantly agree that they didn't need to storm the Jinshou camp, a bird appeared. It looked out of place in the desolate backdrop. She watched as it gave a small piece of parchment to a knight, who immediately relayed it to Oban. The look on her husband's face changed dramatically. She took it from him and read it herself. Her eyes widened and for a moment she was speechless.

"Tokos, you said the Jinshou worship their goddess completely, correct?" She asked, trying to get her bearings. It was as if everything she'd been planning for was suddenly rushing at her. Despite all her training, she felt uneasy. Was she really ready for this? "Aye." The surly commander said reluctantly, looking between the two royals. "That's why the knoxing drouks haven't come back yet." His eyes narrowed. Hermun, as usual, had a knowing look on his face. Was he always one step ahead of everything? "Well they've kept from fighting for her sake." Menna said in her best "queen" voice. "Now we shall see how well they fight for her." She looked up with a small smile, even as the men stared at her in doubt. "We're going home."

"The Jinshou approach ma lord." Called a lone guard standing high upon the crumbling tower. The ruins held many scattered stones of long lost, heavily worn structures, old walls and fortresses that had long since fallen to the will of father time. Typically these craft of stone workers would have served the Silver Knights well, allowing them to know the methods for regrouping better than their enemy, splitting their foe's forces so as to give the advantage of numbers to the knights. Today however, rather than utilize the layout of the encampment, Oban would lead them out to meet the samurai within the vast open desert... a sign of good intentions.

"Menna." Oban began laying a hand upon her shoulder as he stood by her side. "I would suggest a different form for the time being...at least until you are no longer within the Jinshou's sights." He offered, the fallen heir then turning to face the crowd of orange scarved soldiers which had once opposed their presence. Soon the knights of the desert front were stomping along in formation towards the crowd of wastelanders through the deep ever shifting sands. The heat of the sun bore down upon them, but none appeared to shift under it's gaze as the two forces greeted. Standing only a swords length away from one another the head of the Jinshou stepped forth, a bulky war worn soldier, a samurai who'd seen more battles than he had fortnights of life.

"Our god requires of us that we aide you, in order to receive our homeland from your grasp." The samurai spoke, clenching a pendant with the symbol for wind upon it tightly, it's glinting surface seeming to reassure his nerves in not drawing his blade at such an opportune time.

"I'm glad to hear it," Oban replied, sand kicking up from the wind and biting at the portion of his face which no longer held bandages, which was still rather tender even then. " We shall withhold your home from you no longer, so long as you fight by our side in order for us to regain ours." The Titan continued, receiving nods of approval from both sides. " From this day forth our meetings shall not be shared of blood, but of brotherhood." The head of the samurai, the shogun as they were called, nodded his head as well, clearly agreeing with the terms.

"Your men shall walk as freely among mine as mine walk freely among yours." With these words, a great cheer erupted from the two formerly opposing sides, enveloping the dunes of the desert as it shook the mighty sands of Dragon's Breath. It came to no surprise to the two leaders standing before one another, who among the many were of the few who remained calm. After all, men often found reason to war with one another, but in the end none but the demented truly had a stomach for the bloodshed. The moment their comrades fell, each side desired an end to the conflict, and whether by good fortune or by divine guidance...Menna's actions had lead to the only compromise which could have created such unity.

"Let us march to Garnoff's Gates!" Oban roared, raising his ax above the crowd...