Post by strider on Jul 13, 2007 8:55:12 GMT -6
Kaaru stood over a wooden table in his tent, his eyes glancing over an outstretched map of the surrounding area. Having returned from a freshly won battle, he had forsaken rest and was already studying the layout of the land he and his troops were in. Understanding the terrain and its key strategic points were crucial to victory, and Kaaru was known for his quick reaction and deployment of troops. Racthoh had given him command over this front of the war, and he was determined not to disappoint.
The strider tilted his head effortlessly as a dagger flew past the side of his face and lodged itself on a wooden post behind him.
“What do you want?” he inquired.
A spunky young female assassin bounded into his tent. She was clad in a light cloth garment to allow for speed and mobility and had a lively bounce to her step.
“Senpai, let’s play!”
“Not now, Ibuki,” he answered.
Ibuki was a strider just like Kaaru, but she was of lower class. During their time in the organization, she had always looked up to him as her senpai (upperclassman). She admired his flair and sense of style the most out of all of the class S striders. They went their separate ways when the organization fell apart and later ran into each other by chance. Not wanting to lose her opportunity to work with him again, she decided to join him in his service to Racthoh Demini.
“You’re no fun anymore…,” she sighed.
“Well, I do have guild matters to attend to now. Unless of course, you’re offering to plan out the key strategic points of our next battle?” he said with a smile as he pointed to the map.
“Umm… well…,” she smiled, “I’ll leave that up to you!”
“Haha. I thought so.” He turned and dislodged her dagger from the post. He walked over and handed it back to her.
“What about my training?”
“We’ll do it later.”
“Promise?”
“We’ll see.”
“Okay,” she said, “I’ll stop bothering you then.” She tried to hide it as she left, but he could tell that she was a bit dejected. He hated disappointing her, but there was too much on his mind recently.
Maybe I do need a bit of a breather…
Kaaru decided to go for a walk. He stepped out of his tent, and the early morning sun glistened on his new armor, its shine slightly dulled by the recent battle. The armor itself felt lighter and allowed more movement. He didn’t regret having it crafted for him.
He passed by his brother Kay, Telc, and Arsen sitting around a stewing pot. They also wore new armors similar to his. They were cleaning their weapons and discussing the finer points of their equipment.
As he continued his walk around the camp, two tigers rushed up to him and circled playfully around him. One was a large orange tiger, while the other was a white tiger. He stopped and petted them, as their caretaker Lilith approached him in her dark obsidian armor.
“Where’s your sister?” he asked her.
“She’s making her final rounds,” Lilith answered. “She wanted to hunt down any stragglers.”
“Haha. Morrigan has always had a penchant for bloodshed, hasn’t she?”
“Unfortunately.”
Lilith was always the less violent of the Ainsland sisters. As a ranger, she preferred more discreet methods of handling opponents and liked to blend in with nature. Morrigan, on the other hand, was more of a “swing sword first and ask questions later if they’re still alive” kind of girl. She specialized in breaking her opponents down before finishing them off, which impressed even the strider.
“Find Simath,” Kaaru said to her. “Have him bring word to Racthoh to inform him of our victory here, and that we await his further instructions.”
“As you wish,” she answered. “Rahja! Blizzard! Come!” She beckoned to the tigers, and they followed her as she left to carry out her orders.
Kaaru continued on his walk and stopped at a small hill overlooking the fields. He took a moment to himself and contemplated.
“What’s the matter, Strider?” said a sweet voice from behind him. Kaaru turned his head to see Angel Mackenzie walking up to him.
“I’m lost,” he answered.
“Lost?”
“I’ve lost my way in this swirling maelstrom known as life,” he said with a slight smile as he continued to gaze into the distance. Angel chuckled as she walked up beside him. The monk worried about everyone, and that was an answer he often used half-jokingly with her.
“Well, I hope you find your way again,” she said with a smile.
“Haha,” he laughed. “How are Aurora, Ice, and Milky?”
“They’re resting,” Angel replied. “Wan is tending to them now. What you had those girls do for you last night exhausted them.”
Kaaru turned his head with a slightly raised eyebrow and eyed Angel carefully to see if she realized what she had just said. She looked as innocent as ever, and he silently laughed to himself.
What he had asked the elementalists to do was create a thick mist to cover their attack at night. It wasn’t just the task itself charged to the three girls, but the sheer volume of mist required to completely blanket the land. They had to conjure and draw up water on the ground, then quickly super heat it to evaporate it, maintain the air temperature to sustain it, and finally summon a light breeze to spread it across the enemy’s encampments without blowing it away. The fact that he had them do it as quietly as possible in order to avoid alarming the enemy further added to the difficulty. It took every ounce of their concentration to do it quietly, as elementalist spells aren’t exactly known for their discreet nature. Their efforts were successful, and his forces were able to overwhelm the confused enemy swiftly.
They did good work. I should thank them for it later.
As he thought that, he saw a man in elaborate and ornamented attire approach them on the hill.
“What news, Asuir?”
“The UERFOJ have completed our preparations,” the ritualist answered confidently. “The rear and side flanks are completely secured. Nothing in this plane of reality will pass through our spirits without us being notified.”
“Excellent work.”
The three continued to make conversation on the hill. The morning was relatively calm compared to the excitement of the battle the night before, and Kaaru enjoyed hearing the monk and the ritualist exchange thoughts about their own professions. A few minutes later, Asuir’s complexion suddenly turned pale and he had a distraught look on his face.
“Asuir…?” Angel asked worriedly. “Asuir, what’s the matter?”
“I… umm…,” he hesitated as he slowly backed away. “I have to… go. I have to go tend to the spirits! Bye!”
“What could be wrong with him?” Angel wondered as they saw him speed off. Kaaru had seen this reaction before, and he knew exactly what it meant. He turned around, and what he saw confirmed his assumption.
A woman with white skin and pure white eyes was sauntering up to their location on the hill. Despite his trained senses, her steps still seemed deathly silent to him, almost as if they were non-existent. She exuded an eerie aura that always sent chills down everyone’s spine. Her facial expression was perpetually enigmatic, half a blank expression and half a haughty smirk. The woman herself was a mystery. Kaaru had saved her from near death, or what he thought was near death. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened. After that incident, she just followed him around with no apparent reason. Perhaps it was gratitude, but he never questioned her as she always answered him with the same blank stare. Her constant presence unnerved the Ainsland sisters, but they tolerated her and had gotten used to her.
“I think he likes you, Hsien,” Kaaru said to her jokingly as she approached. She was wearing her favorite Wintersday hat that Kaaru had given to her as a present.
“He’s a fast one,” she retorted in an almost unnatural voice.
Angel was visibly anxious with the uncanny necromancer around. Kaaru could only imagine how much their values clashed. The monk has devoted herself to helping and healing others, while the necromancer was a servant of death and supernatural curses.
“I should go too,” Angel chimed in. She maintained her composure better than the ritualist did. “I must tend to the wounded.”
“I’ll talk to you later, Angel,” Kaaru bid her farewell. The necromancer of doom, as those in Kaaru’s division had come to call Hsien, only eyed her chillingly as she walked down the hill.
Kaaru and Hsien never really engaged in much conversation, but he was strangely comfortable in her silence. He turned to gaze back into the distant oblivion, continuing to ponder the things he pondered. He hardly heard her breathing nor could he sense a heartbeat. If it weren’t for her strange aura, he would hardly be able to notice her presence. Some time passed, and he began to feel an unnerving sensation. He turned to Hsien and discovered that she had been staring at him with her empty eyes the whole time. He stared into her eyes for a moment, and not once did they blink.
“What is it, Lei Lei?” he asked, referring to her by her pet name.
“There’s something different about you…,” she said.
“Oh…?” He was curious now.
“There’s a different glint in your eyes,” she continued. “They’re…”
She hesitated for a moment, then smiled an evil smirk.
“Darker…”
The strider tilted his head effortlessly as a dagger flew past the side of his face and lodged itself on a wooden post behind him.
“What do you want?” he inquired.
A spunky young female assassin bounded into his tent. She was clad in a light cloth garment to allow for speed and mobility and had a lively bounce to her step.
“Senpai, let’s play!”
“Not now, Ibuki,” he answered.
Ibuki was a strider just like Kaaru, but she was of lower class. During their time in the organization, she had always looked up to him as her senpai (upperclassman). She admired his flair and sense of style the most out of all of the class S striders. They went their separate ways when the organization fell apart and later ran into each other by chance. Not wanting to lose her opportunity to work with him again, she decided to join him in his service to Racthoh Demini.
“You’re no fun anymore…,” she sighed.
“Well, I do have guild matters to attend to now. Unless of course, you’re offering to plan out the key strategic points of our next battle?” he said with a smile as he pointed to the map.
“Umm… well…,” she smiled, “I’ll leave that up to you!”
“Haha. I thought so.” He turned and dislodged her dagger from the post. He walked over and handed it back to her.
“What about my training?”
“We’ll do it later.”
“Promise?”
“We’ll see.”
“Okay,” she said, “I’ll stop bothering you then.” She tried to hide it as she left, but he could tell that she was a bit dejected. He hated disappointing her, but there was too much on his mind recently.
Maybe I do need a bit of a breather…
Kaaru decided to go for a walk. He stepped out of his tent, and the early morning sun glistened on his new armor, its shine slightly dulled by the recent battle. The armor itself felt lighter and allowed more movement. He didn’t regret having it crafted for him.
He passed by his brother Kay, Telc, and Arsen sitting around a stewing pot. They also wore new armors similar to his. They were cleaning their weapons and discussing the finer points of their equipment.
As he continued his walk around the camp, two tigers rushed up to him and circled playfully around him. One was a large orange tiger, while the other was a white tiger. He stopped and petted them, as their caretaker Lilith approached him in her dark obsidian armor.
“Where’s your sister?” he asked her.
“She’s making her final rounds,” Lilith answered. “She wanted to hunt down any stragglers.”
“Haha. Morrigan has always had a penchant for bloodshed, hasn’t she?”
“Unfortunately.”
Lilith was always the less violent of the Ainsland sisters. As a ranger, she preferred more discreet methods of handling opponents and liked to blend in with nature. Morrigan, on the other hand, was more of a “swing sword first and ask questions later if they’re still alive” kind of girl. She specialized in breaking her opponents down before finishing them off, which impressed even the strider.
“Find Simath,” Kaaru said to her. “Have him bring word to Racthoh to inform him of our victory here, and that we await his further instructions.”
“As you wish,” she answered. “Rahja! Blizzard! Come!” She beckoned to the tigers, and they followed her as she left to carry out her orders.
Kaaru continued on his walk and stopped at a small hill overlooking the fields. He took a moment to himself and contemplated.
“What’s the matter, Strider?” said a sweet voice from behind him. Kaaru turned his head to see Angel Mackenzie walking up to him.
“I’m lost,” he answered.
“Lost?”
“I’ve lost my way in this swirling maelstrom known as life,” he said with a slight smile as he continued to gaze into the distance. Angel chuckled as she walked up beside him. The monk worried about everyone, and that was an answer he often used half-jokingly with her.
“Well, I hope you find your way again,” she said with a smile.
“Haha,” he laughed. “How are Aurora, Ice, and Milky?”
“They’re resting,” Angel replied. “Wan is tending to them now. What you had those girls do for you last night exhausted them.”
Kaaru turned his head with a slightly raised eyebrow and eyed Angel carefully to see if she realized what she had just said. She looked as innocent as ever, and he silently laughed to himself.
What he had asked the elementalists to do was create a thick mist to cover their attack at night. It wasn’t just the task itself charged to the three girls, but the sheer volume of mist required to completely blanket the land. They had to conjure and draw up water on the ground, then quickly super heat it to evaporate it, maintain the air temperature to sustain it, and finally summon a light breeze to spread it across the enemy’s encampments without blowing it away. The fact that he had them do it as quietly as possible in order to avoid alarming the enemy further added to the difficulty. It took every ounce of their concentration to do it quietly, as elementalist spells aren’t exactly known for their discreet nature. Their efforts were successful, and his forces were able to overwhelm the confused enemy swiftly.
They did good work. I should thank them for it later.
As he thought that, he saw a man in elaborate and ornamented attire approach them on the hill.
“What news, Asuir?”
“The UERFOJ have completed our preparations,” the ritualist answered confidently. “The rear and side flanks are completely secured. Nothing in this plane of reality will pass through our spirits without us being notified.”
“Excellent work.”
The three continued to make conversation on the hill. The morning was relatively calm compared to the excitement of the battle the night before, and Kaaru enjoyed hearing the monk and the ritualist exchange thoughts about their own professions. A few minutes later, Asuir’s complexion suddenly turned pale and he had a distraught look on his face.
“Asuir…?” Angel asked worriedly. “Asuir, what’s the matter?”
“I… umm…,” he hesitated as he slowly backed away. “I have to… go. I have to go tend to the spirits! Bye!”
“What could be wrong with him?” Angel wondered as they saw him speed off. Kaaru had seen this reaction before, and he knew exactly what it meant. He turned around, and what he saw confirmed his assumption.
A woman with white skin and pure white eyes was sauntering up to their location on the hill. Despite his trained senses, her steps still seemed deathly silent to him, almost as if they were non-existent. She exuded an eerie aura that always sent chills down everyone’s spine. Her facial expression was perpetually enigmatic, half a blank expression and half a haughty smirk. The woman herself was a mystery. Kaaru had saved her from near death, or what he thought was near death. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened. After that incident, she just followed him around with no apparent reason. Perhaps it was gratitude, but he never questioned her as she always answered him with the same blank stare. Her constant presence unnerved the Ainsland sisters, but they tolerated her and had gotten used to her.
“I think he likes you, Hsien,” Kaaru said to her jokingly as she approached. She was wearing her favorite Wintersday hat that Kaaru had given to her as a present.
“He’s a fast one,” she retorted in an almost unnatural voice.
Angel was visibly anxious with the uncanny necromancer around. Kaaru could only imagine how much their values clashed. The monk has devoted herself to helping and healing others, while the necromancer was a servant of death and supernatural curses.
“I should go too,” Angel chimed in. She maintained her composure better than the ritualist did. “I must tend to the wounded.”
“I’ll talk to you later, Angel,” Kaaru bid her farewell. The necromancer of doom, as those in Kaaru’s division had come to call Hsien, only eyed her chillingly as she walked down the hill.
Kaaru and Hsien never really engaged in much conversation, but he was strangely comfortable in her silence. He turned to gaze back into the distant oblivion, continuing to ponder the things he pondered. He hardly heard her breathing nor could he sense a heartbeat. If it weren’t for her strange aura, he would hardly be able to notice her presence. Some time passed, and he began to feel an unnerving sensation. He turned to Hsien and discovered that she had been staring at him with her empty eyes the whole time. He stared into her eyes for a moment, and not once did they blink.
“What is it, Lei Lei?” he asked, referring to her by her pet name.
“There’s something different about you…,” she said.
“Oh…?” He was curious now.
“There’s a different glint in your eyes,” she continued. “They’re…”
She hesitated for a moment, then smiled an evil smirk.
“Darker…”