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 Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:51 pm
For awhile after having returned, Jericho had been looking over his deformed and mashed gauntlet. He was no blacksmith, so he wasn't really sure how he could go about fixing it without damaging the thing even more. If he recalled, there was a smithy in the reaper dorm, or at least he heard something like that, but that still didn't help him out all too much.
But then, he remembered something...
Didn't Riley forge that armor of hers?
If this was the case, she could probably do something about the gauntlet. It was worth finding out. Taking the scrap with him, he headed on over to her room, knocking once before letting himself in as usual.
"Riley?" he called out, to see if she was in.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 12:39 am
Riley had been working on something lately that had consumed almost all of her time. When she was not helping Malodore work on his exercises, or keeping herself scarce from Andeon, she had taken to doing some exercises of her own. Hers were not of the physical variety, however. She was exercising her psionic abilities.
She had graduated a year. Despite failing her test, she was now a second year student, and she knew that meant she should be increasing her abilities. The sudden threat in her life only had her working harder to do so.
Harder. Recklessly harder.
When Jericho called out to her, she had several glowing crystals hovering at face level. She was simply working on keeping them there, but the interruption of his voice had them flying off in the direction she'd heard it, without her control. She rose both hands up to try and stop them, but the discipline was gone, and the power within the crystals had their own initiative now.
They sliced into the door frame, the walls, and past Jericho's shoulders, leaving thin slivers of cuts on his skin.
I'm sorry! She tumbled off the stool she was sitting on, stumbling towards him to assess the damage. None of them had penetrated his body, thank Jack, but he was still hurt. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. She sounded desperately genuine, with just a touch of agitation. Her attempts to control herself were failing, and with it brought a fresh wave of defeat.
Just.. come on. She took his hand, and led him to the bathroom, to wash the cuts.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 12:50 am
The first thing he noticed as he walked in was not the glowing crystals on the other side actually. It was a sense of both determination and frustration...
And then he saw the things suddenly flying at him. Flinching a bit, he glanced towards the door frame to see the psionic crystals there. There were also now a few cuts in his shoulders. Thankfully they hadn't actually hit his wings there. Turning his attention towards Riley, he gave her a puzzled look.
Allowing himself to be lead into the bathroom, he gave her a more concerned expression as he picked up on a sense of defeat.
"Don't worry about it," he said, "Though.. is something up?"
Jericho was somewhat aware of how things were with Andeon, but he didn't know the full extent of it. He knew the other mindflayer was a threat... but just that much wasn't a whole lot. Riley hadn't filled him in completely regarding recent developments, but he did notice a sort of sense of desperation she seemed to have now. That wasn't a good sign.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 1:17 am
Before she attempted to lock away all of her emotion, the prevailing senses indicated that all she was feeling was a jittery sort of exasperation. She was very, very unhappy with the way things had been progressing, and she couldn't help but let it seep out.
Her eyes lifted to his, before dropping back down to the cuts as she patted them with a cotton ball.
Don't worry about it. She rushed through saying, as she rubbed antiseptic along his shoulder. Did you need something?
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 1:22 am
"I can't... not worry about it Riley. Not when something is bothering you," Jericho frowned before wincing lightly as she disinfected the cuts. That part was never all too pleasant to go through, regardless of how necessary it was. Letting out a sigh, he looked down towards the gauntlet in his hands.
"I was thinking you'd be able to help me fix this actually. Received it from my father while I was home. But I can come back later.... when whatever's going on is resolved."
The last thing he wanted was for her to have another thing on her mind, especially when it wasn't at all urgent. That sort of jittery feeling she had let leak out briefly had him shift his wings uncomfortably. Something was definitely eating at her and most likely she could pick up on how worried he was for her right now.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 1:47 am
Riley latched on the to the distraction like a leech, grabbing for the gauntlet as soon as she'd covered the cuts in bandaids. She held it out, turning it in place.
It's stunning. She breathed, tracing her fingers along the dents and cracks of the broken part. What happened to it? It looks..
Her breath exhaled in a gust. Jericho, is this brightsteel? I mean, it can't be. But. Well, it could be darksteel, but I feel that even less likely. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with confusion. You say your father gave you this? Where did it come from? Where did he get it?
Her hand slid through the hole, before pulling the gauntlet away and leaving the bathroom with it.
I'll have to do some tests before I'm sure.. this needs to be repaired with the metal it was forged from, or else it would be useless. It's just..
She sighed deeply, and in the exhale her thought seemed to follow her breath, whispered in awe as she turned the gauntlet reverently in her arms.
Brightsteel.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:05 am
It seemed she wasn't going to humor him. Letting out a sigh, Jericho kept in mind to try and bring this up later. It was pretty apparent she wasn't willing to talk about whatever was plaguing her. Though, to him, that made it all the more serious.
"My Father and I got into a bit of a fight. He kinda broke it in his rage," he said while staring at the gauntlet, "It used to be his, but he received it from his Father at some point. Not sure if it's true but he says Grandpa got it from a band of Drow, Revenants, and Goblins in Halloween."
Staring at the gauntlet some more, he shook his head lightly.
"I'm actually not too certain of what kind of metal it's made out of, myself. I probably should have asked him before leaving home. I.. don't think it's darksteel if he managed to do that to it, but then again... who knows?"
Pausing there, he looked towards Riley.
"By the way, if you ever need dragonscales for anything.. I shed some now and then."
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 5:27 pm
The explanation of where it came from told her nothing. The fact that Jericho's father had the strength to break Brightsteel in his rage, however.. Riley was no longer looking forward to meeting Jericho's parents.
She took the gauntlet into her study, laid it down on her desk, and pulled out a small, delicate looking vial from a lower drawer that was filled with them. She checked the label, and put it back, rooting for another.
Well, we'll just see.. ah, here we go.
The vial in her hand now looked like it was made of steel itself, and as she pulled the top off, a long stick slid out with it. She brought the stick over to the gauntlet, and held it above the metal where there was a twist from breakage.
It took a moment, but eventually a drop of liquid pooled at the tip of the stick, and dropped on the gauntlet's broken edge. Nothing seemed to happen as the drop rested there, slowly sliding down the edge. Then it fell off of the gauntlet, onto Riley's desk, immediately burning a hole through it. It continued on to the ground, and Riley was suddenly glad she lived on the first floor as it continued to burn through, leaving a tiny little tunnel in it's wake.
Yep. Riley nodded as she put the dropper back in it's vial and set the vial back in it's drawer. It's Brightsteel. If you want me to fix it, we're going to have to go get some. Her eyes looked up at her best friend, furrowed with a troubled gaze. It won't be easy.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 5:36 pm
Curiously, Jericho watched as Riley went back to fetch a vial to test something out with the metal. He wasn't really sure how that was going to help, but then saw what the liquid did to the desk and the floor. It must have been some sort of acid or other corrosive substance.
"Damn.." he uttered while staring at the new hole in the floor. He had to wonder how deep that went now.
When Riley spoke back up, he looked towards her, nodding slowly.
"Brightsteel is pretty rare..." he agreed before a devious sort of look sparked up in his golden eyes, "But some of the best treasures are ones that are hard to get. I'll have to do some research on where I can find some."
Nodding, he stood up, looking as if he was about to leave.
"I'll be back with some ore.. hopefully it won't take me too long."
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 5:44 pm
Riley's eyes widened large and round when he started to leave, and her hand shot out to grab his arm in her claws.
Jericho. Are you KIDDING me? You can't go there alone, it's not-
She let his arm go as if it stung her. I mean, you can't go alone. It's not safe. You won't come back. She slumped back into her seat, looking furtively away.
Not even her connections could get her that kind of metal. There was only one place for it, and none of her kind dared go there. They knew better.
How about you just.. ah.. hang the broken gauntlet up as a relic?
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 5:51 pm
As he was stopped, Jericho glanced back at Riley, feeling a spike of panic as he did so. Calming down, he shook his head before looking at the gauntlet. Was it really that dangerous to go fetch this metal? Honestly, he didn't know too much about brightsteel apart of some of its properties as well as the fact that it was rare and valuable.
Frowning, he walked back towards the Mindflayer.
"It's kinda a family treasure now. I was hoping I'd be able to equip it like my dad and grandfather have," He said, "Besides, I'm sure there are other things we could do with the ore aside from just repairing my gauntlet."
"But... it sounds like you know where we can find it... Maybe you could guide the way then. If its that dangerous for one person then maybe we can pull through with the two of us."
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 5:55 pm
It did sound like she knew where to find it, didn't it? And yet, as soon as he said that, Riley withdrew, instantly repentant for having mentioned anything.
I just think.. I think you're better off if you just..
She took in a deep, calming sigh, and looked him straight in the eye.
Well I'm certainly not letting you go off without me, if you're so set on risking your life for a Jack-forsaken gauntlet. She growled, standing up hurriedly and walking to her room.
Go home. Pack light. Come back. I'll be waiting.
This was such a bad idea..
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 5:59 pm
Jericho had to wonder just where the hell this metal was located for Riley to get all up in arms like this. The prospect of a good challenge up ahead was fairly tantalizing too. Smirking, he stared right back into her eyes before nodding.
"Will do," he said before turning to head to his place to grab his things.
Sweet. He was going to go on a treasure run (more or less). Danger was not an issue for him.
Besides... his dad did stuff like this all the time it seemed.
Shortly after, the dragon came back to the Mindflayer's room with a single pack. It just had some provisions should they need the FEAR boost at a time where there was no food around. Aside from that, he brought some rope and hooks. Never knew when those could come in handy.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 7:32 pm
Riley had spent most of the time Jericho was away, on the phone. It wasn't easy to explain the situation without making Malodore worry, but in the end, it wished them well. When Jericho returned, Riley had not necessarily packed - her items of requirement were simply sitting on the table. There was her phone, of course, and a long, thin knife. These were her supplies.
When Riley said pack light, she meant it.
She took the knife, and slid it into Jericho's backpack, just as he put it down. Her phone was carefully locked away in a holder, then placed in her pocket. She took the backpack from him and placed it around her back - immediately explaining her actions with a quick; You'll be carrying me, so I'll be carrying this.
Then she led him out the door. There was no discussion, no waiting, no idle time. If they were going to do something this dangerous, Riley wanted to get a move on before her rational senses had any more time to talk her out of it.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 8:39 pm
"Alright.. fair enough," Blinked Jericho as she took the pack. Nodding to her, he went on out the door so they could get outside.
"Lets do this," he grinned once they were somewhere where he could shift. He had a feeling they'd have to travel a fair distance, so flight was probably the best way to move about right now, "Climb aboard and tell me where to go."
Once Riley had mounted up, he stretched his wings and took flight, to head off.
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