The Long Road

[ketotsue]

Haveing filled himself on the bear and packing away all he could fit in his pouch he decided it was time to get moveing again. ^ hmm no markers to know which way im going hopefully I can walk in a straight line and wind up somewhere^. Disappointed by his lack of navigation skills he began walking in what he hoped was a straight line. Hours past with nothing changeing it seemed like every single tree in the forest was almost identical. "Agghhhh this could take my entire life to get out of this accursed place". Frustrated he began to walk faster until he looked into the sky and in the distance saw a large mountain side. ^well atleast there will be some kind of shelter there deffiantly beats dreadging about in this blasted forest^

After almost an hour had passed he found himself at the base of the mountain. Looking at what he had resighned himself to he had suprised himself when he let out a sigh without meaning to. ^well theres little point in standing here^ he had just decided to begin climbing when he saw a strange cloaked figure already climbing the mountain side. ^ Aterrimus what do you think does she pose a threat^ a few moments passed and then ^ I since some magical power in the person though its hard to tell her intentions it could prove rather problematic if they happened to be adapt at casting spells and found you to be a threat^ "Well I suppose theres no way to know unless we speak with the mystery person now is there"

ketotsue leapt onto the rock face trying to get as high up as possible without climbing the mountain which happened to be a skill he wasnt exactly adept at. After watching the person climb he realized they had to be exhausted due to the slugish movement of there climbing.
After a few minutes he finally caught up with the stranger " you do know how dangerous it is to climb a mountain when your exhausted right I saw a cave not to far from here you should follow me there if you plan on liveing through this climb" he then stoped and waited for the strangers reply.

Elsani turned and stared down at the stranger, pale blue eyes utterly detached and emotionless. Shutting down was hard to break out of. Another hallucination?

"Agri senai, komet." She replied hoarsely. Go away, illusion.

Not quite a spell, but it helped the last time, so...

When it-...he...didn't budge, she reached out and touched the damn illusion on its arm. At this point it should have been gone. Nope, no problem there. So he was real. Oops.

Elsani didn't quite understand what the guy had just said, but managed to translate some words. Dangerous, cave, mountain, follow me. She pieced it together slowly. It was dangerous, so there is a cave in the mountain and follow me?

Oh, whatever, as long as there is a place to rest. And if it was a trap, he looked pretty weak. She nodded and motioned for him to lead her there.

[ketotsue]

Turning away from the stranger ketotsue began to go back to where he had glimpsed a cave. After a travel of not to much distance they had arrived at their destination. He decided to lead the way and walked into the shalow alcove that was just enough to keep the two of them out of the weather.

" So what is it that brings you here and more importantly whats your name mine is Ketotsue"?

Ketotsue decided it would be best to find out as much as possible about the stranger while he could. As he waited for her reasponse he dug into his poach and removed a rather large chunk of the receantly cooked bear and handed it to the stranger

[Vuxxa]

Vuxxa crouched among the foilage. To anybody looking at him they would have just seen forest not his scarred face. He watched the two people on the mountain side talking. Lauphing to himself he said a few choice words "Pravus existo edo" as these words left his lips shadows sprang from the mountain side. Imediately they went for their targets. "Lascivio per tui nutrimens."

She walked along side him relatively quiet. Though she was quiet her mind was whirring about a thousand miles a minute. In control? She wanted to laugh; she was just barely in control. She was lucky she hadn’t flipped out and shifted in front of the lady, who apparently was really important. She managed to make her mind pause long enough to hear the answer to her question then her mind started running again.

“So they can’t change when they want to? Can they change any part of their body like me or do they have to shift completely? What makes them just change if they don’t control it? Would I be able to meet a were? If I’m not a were what am I?” She rattled off her questions without taking a breath or letting him answer one before she asked another. The only thing that got her to stop was running out of breath and questions. For the moment anyway.

Somehow she was able to bite her tongue long enough to finally let him answer and as she waited she took a moment to glance around the cottage he had taken her too. That started another bout of questions albeit a shorter one. “Is this where you live? Is there some place special I have to stay until I can leave again? Are you sure your friends won’t be upset that I’m seeing the inner sanctum so to speak?”

He laughed at her momentarily, tapping his fingers on the wood. "I forgot that mortals are ever so curious, pardon me." He grinned warmly and pondered her questions for a moment. "Well I will tell you what I know of weres. And answer your questions along the way. Weres are folk who have lost their way, as I have said. They lose their sanity and therefore, they lose their control. The beast rages within, and they change on different occurances, not necissarily at a specific point in time. They change fully in a single go, more like my people then what you say you're able to do. The change is triggered by emotions, usually. They aren't the kindest of folk." He looked to her for a moment, quirking an eyebrow, "No, you can't meet a were. They're not people anymore. They're just animals..." He sighed softly and shook his head. "That I don't know. I have no answers for you, but the Queen does wish to talk with you once more before you leave..so she might have something to say. Or not say...just, listen close." He chuckled warmly, "No this is not where I live. This is you live. At least, while you stay among us." He smiled softly, "You're free to come and go as you please, but do not take advantage of that fact too terribly, our scouts tend to like to shoot first and ask questions of a corpse. And last..what friends? These are my people, but not my friends. I am as outcast here as you will soon become." He laughed, "But this is the sanctum of my people. At least, in this forest."

She blushed, embarrassed at how her mouth ran away from her. She really should pay attention to what she was saying and how fast she was saying it. She took that and applied it to just listening to him answer all the questions she spewed at him. At least he wasn’t annoyed with her and he didn’t ignore her; she was used to that happening. Leaning towards him as she answered her questions she nodded a few times just to show she was still paying attention.

As he finished his bout about weres she pondered the information she had been given. So it wouldn’t be a good idea to meet a were and apparently neither she nor her mother were weres seeing as how both of them could shift into whatever and whenever they wanted. Well, strike one possibility off the list of possibilities.

Turning her attention back to him she nodded a few times. “Listen…I can do that and I can learn to like it in doors.” She frowned for a moment as she listened to him finish with her list of questions. “Would I be noticed if I walked around in a different form? Like some sort of dog or something? I’m not very good with being indoors. I feel somewhat trapped.”

She much rather be outside whenever she could then be stuck inside with walls restraining her. She blamed her semi fear of the indoors on the orphanage/school she had been stuck in for the past few years. Talk about being oppressed, yeesh.

He nodded, "That's good. You'll probably be spending the bulk of your time here, though I'm sure there are many trades you could learn if you wished it, and perhaps even a few of us willing to teach. But now, these skills will be used for war, and you'd have to be okay with that. And as for shifting...I wouldn't advise it. You can, but most people will fear you for it. We revere the natural, and shapeshifting isn't in most of the folk's point of view. You're free to walk around outside as you are, however. Most of the people here will apreciate that you do." He sighed softly and smiled. "Do you wish me to stay, or are you going to be fine here?"

Her nose wrinkled when he mentioned war. “I’m not coordinated enough to do anything war like. If I get nervous either all of me or part of me will shift and that wouldn’t be good at all.” She laughed softly. “So if your people don’t like shifting it would be better if I stayed away from any lessons that have to do anything with war.”

Shifting she pulled the strap of her bag off of her shoulder and over her head so she could set it on the floor. “So this is where I’m staying until I figure out where it is I’m going? As long as I stop in and see your Queen,” so that was who the lady was, “before I leave?”

Tucking some of her hair behind her ears she glanced around the cottage then back to him. “Um, do you think you could show me around this place a little? Tell me what areas I should avoid and what not?”

[ketotsue]

Before she could answer the conversation had been cut off by strange shadows invading there shelter. Ketotsue was nervouse at first thinking a battle was soon to break then realized what the shadows were after. " Whoever is behind this ploy you need not try to steal our food, simply shed your cowardise and ask, otherwise i'll be forced to seek you out and end your miserable theiving ways"

He chuckled softly, "Then whatever you would learn here wouldn't help you in the slightest. We are in that time, so all of our efforts are directed towards combat. Though who knows, you might pick something up." He shrugged his shoulders and nodded in agreement, acknowledging both of her questions, "Yes, this is your home of sorts, I suppose." He smiled and turned. "The cottage is yours, what you see is what you'll be able to use. As for exploration, as I said, you're free to come and go as you please. There aren't any specific areas you should avoid, beyond the battlefield or the training grounds. I suppose I can show you where the latter is, if you wish."

[Vuxxa]

The creatures began to laugh in their sickening voices after ketotsue spoke. They continued towards the two as darkness dropped from their bodied, slowly shadow blades came from their arms. As they looked up revealing their dead eyes a voice echoed from them laughing "You believe one to summon such creatures for nurishment." he laughed again "You fool, I care nothing for your pitiful sources of nurishment. You are are the 'food' for my minions!"
He thought to himself ^Now let the fun begin. This should'nt be too much for him, I wonder how the female will do?^

[ketotsue]

Hearing the shadows speak the hope of avoiding conflict seeped out of ketotsue. "hope you dont mind takeing care of one of these annoyances" he finished speaking to the stranger and pulled his katana from its sheath. ^Magic is probably the easiest way to deal with these shadows get ready Atterimus^.

He then raised his sword to eye level flicked his wrist in such a way that it now sat horizontal in front of him the blade glistened for a second and then seemed to disapear the handle all that remained visable. "Now shadow prepare yourself for the void from which you came... Spirit release--Black Flame" As the words left him Aregetim the katana he weilded burst into shadowy flames.

Shortly after the flames took life and lept from the blade. After a few seconds they relized the target and shoot towards one of the shadows, the flames twisted and danced around it untill they finally began spining anound the shade with ever increasing vigor. The flames had reached such remarkable speeds that all that could be seen was a wall of black fire slowly working its way inward onto the shadow. As the flames meet there target there was a massive surge in its power and suddenly the wall of flames expanded outwards for a few split seconds and then quickly retracted back inwards exploding on contact with the shade>

“I think the only thing I need to learn is how to control whatever I am,” she smiled a little. “Just changing without purposely doing it isn’t really that fun,” saying that was just another reminder that she needed to find her mother. Now that she knew she was really alive Laylani was sure that her mother was her only chance to figure out what she was and how to control her abilities.

Sighing softly she rested her elbow on her knee and held her chin in the palm of her hand. She stared hard at the floor of the cottage for a moment before looking back to him. “Thank you. I’ll do my best to stay out of everyone’s way and try not to get into trouble.”

Pushing to her feet she glanced around the cabin quickly. She didn’t really want to be alone just yet. Even though she was sure she would easily recognize a battlefield and training grounds sometimes she could miss what was right under her nose. It would be best to know exactly where she shouldn‘t go instead of just finding it on her own accidentally. “That would be nice, thanks.”

^Ohhhhh...^ If Elsani hadn't been trained as a kashii, she might have fainted by now. Demons! Demons!


The woman backed against a rocky outcropping, drawing her sword quickly. ^What good would this do against the rakushi!?^ A normal sword such as hers would do no damage against them, she despaired. ^Oh, one of them was-!!^ Wait.

She paused as one of them began speaking. Did rakushi speak? No, they were not supposed to-

"You believe one to summon such creatures for nurishment. You fool, I care nothing for your pitiful sources of nurishment. You are are the 'food' for my minions!"

Oh. Not-...not a rakushi, then. My, the creatures here were strange. So much alike, yet so different. They could be killed, then? She smiled tightly, and then began to giggle. Oh, the stress and fear was so good released!

Elsani looked at her temporary companion. Apparently, he was already having a blast. Literally. The black flame looked truely unnatural, but that was not her concern as of now. Time was not yet on their side. She prepared to channel her saahkt into the surrounding area, intoning quietly, "Ahi'Saru, gahi te jiho bastira-" Oh ffu-

Elsani was interrupted by the black-fire blade's sudden spewing of flame at the shadow(s). ^Okayy... Possibly more powerful than thought.^ she noted in the back of her mind. ^Remember this.^

She jumped back as it exploded. Prayer-intonation forgotten, she looked at the other in surprise. "You, ah...You do that? Without god-showering?" Elsani asked, the foreign language heavy and slow in her mouth. Well the threat was effectively finished. Wasn't it?

[Vuxxa]

Vuxxa was surprised that such power was used on his minions. He thought to himself ^Hm, he doesn't seem to hold back even on such weak creatures. Heh, now there are only two. I havent even gotten a demonstration of the girls power^ a voice whispered in his head ^Ahhh. This should be amusing. Should I reveal myself already? Well he probably already knows. I hope he likes this one^ He called to his magic and quietly chanted "Sapere presente il veramente significativo di tristezza come il legami quello legare sei a strisce lontano presente rotolarsi in tuo disperazione!" as the darkness swept across the ground he thought ^Heh, I even used the same words and language.^ He chanted yet again "Contego socialis, cogito veneficium!"

Energy flowed into the shadows and they had a slight glow to them the darkness finally seeped up to Elsani and a sphere of darkness sorrounded her. She could now hear his voice "Let's see how you handle this girl. " then again in another language "Coarguo vester veneficium!" As this took place the shadows charged ketotsue

Originally Posted by Vuxxa

Energy flowed into the shadows and they had a slight glow to them the darkness finally seeped up to Elsani and a sphere of darkness sorrounded her. She could now hear his voice "Let's see how you handle this girl. " then again in another language "Coarguo vester veneficium!" As this took place the shadows charged ketotsue

Give oppurtunity for reaction, please. Especially for the newer folk.

He shrugged his shoulders as he pushed open the door, waiting for her. "Well mayhap I can help you a bit with that if I can ever figure these wings out. I know a fair amount about the nature of shapeshifting so I might at least give you advice you can use." He chuckled softly, whistling softly as they walked out of the house and into the fields and forest. "You're welcome, Laylani. Like I said, I'm here to help you out, keep you out of trouble. You'll be alright." He walked her towards the sounds of steel clashing on steel and placed a hand on her shoulder, ushering her forward so she could watch, "These are the training grounds for the warriors of the Elven people...at least in this place." Circles of ground had been blasted clear with men and women sparring, ringing out their duels into the forest.

[ketotsue]

^Atterimus I think you over did it a little bit^ ketotsue surveyed the ground looking for the origins of the accursed shadows. Energy spewed outward and ketotsue knew magic was being cast and very close to them. He cursed as he saw shadows envelop the stranger. " You pathetic wretch come out and face your doom these shadows will not stand a chance against the might of my blade, this is your only warning". Apparently his words fell on deth ears for the now luminous shadows were drawing ever closer. ^Atterimus seek out the source of this plague i'll handle these shadows myself^.

Felling a pale of strength being lifted from him ketotsue charged towards the first shadow. Aiming for the core of the odd light comeing from the dark creature he hefted his blade to his side and steped into a mighty side swing spliting the creature in two. Light flowed out of the creature as ketotsue turned to face the second beast of shadow leaping high into the air he aimed toward the center of it's ghostly light, and soon after his blade had pierced through the shade's 'heart' light spewed fourth from the crack in it's chest as ketotsue then ripped his katana free of the magical shadow.

In the silent night he crept upon the guild’s window sill, one of the many thousand that dotted the immaculate side of this specific tower. Lord Fang had never dreamt that he would be the one removing the lich from the long forgotten Guild of Tranquility. Though after years of research and training he would be finally able to remove the lich from his dusty tomb and retrieve all of the antiquities of the skeletons lair. Upon nearing the window he noticed his silvery elven complexion from within the hood of his black cloak. His eyes mostly shone against the reflection, closing them for a second he began to gather his energy and prepare for battle. He stood fully up and began checking his gear. With a silent crouch Fang began tightening the green leather armor that reminded him of a ranger he knew decades ago. Quickly he stopped the thoughts, again focusing on the task at hand. Drawing upon his reserves of magical energy he began incantations of protection. Then he summoned his most trusted ally, his bow. The bow itself had been given to him by the mother of magic, Alestrias. His patron goddess and equipped him in hopes that he could reclaim the lost tomes of magic the undead lich had stolen centuries ago.

Slipping in through the window Fang crept ever so lightly across the room that resembled a library. It was supposedly this room that the lich kept the sacred tomes of spells. Finally after several minutes he was able to find the small case that held five tomes each with different runes upon them. Fang then began to cast a detection spell that would check the case for both magical and mundane traps. Finding none he opened the case and quickly grasped the first tome. Foolishly Fang had forgotten that the books themselves may be trapped. All of a sudden the lich in tattered robes came strolling in and chanting what appeared to be a teleportation spell. Having no time to react Lord Fang was pulled into a maelstrom of energy as he heard deep laughing bellowing from the lich. After several minutes Fang blacked out. Hours later he was awoken by the sounds of battle. A strange group was battling what appeared to be shadow-like creatures. Standing up with the tome, he quickly backpacked the tome and drew his bow to defend himself, not sure which side to join