Fantasy An Aloof Admonition

[Roleplay Skittle]

Late afternoon. The sky had dimmed to a deep blue shade, the sun hovering over the town that lay to the west. The teen currently sat on a large rock on the northern side of the wide dirt road that stretched through the grassy fields that went on for miles outside of the town. The youth appeared to be in the mid teens, wind blowing a short mane of fiery red hair that truly appeared to be fire as it waved in the wind, glimpses of bright orange and tints of yellow flashing through every now and then.

A wry smile gracing full lips set in a tan face as the teen briefly chuckled at the irony of a burning sun slowly encroaching on the moderately sized village made almost entirely of wood gathered from the dense forest to the south that slowly became only speckles of trees as it grew closer to the road. Back to the hills north of the road that spanned in either direction for as far as the eye could see, the youth's athletic frame hunched over slightly, attempting to brush the dirt from hands that had intentionally collected it, an agitated snort pressing from a slender and rather feminine nose.

Densely muscled, though thin arms flexing gently as those hands were dusted from first a hand that was bare and then a hand that was covered in a dark brown material that wasn't easy to tell if it was leather or plate, but was accentuated by a burning red. The whole of the gauntlet that reached only up to the teen's forearm matched the rest of the armor that appeared almost alive as a face could be seen on the right shoulder, the same side as the gauntlet. The eyes of the face burned just as brightly as the rest of the accents of the armor, though none of it actually seemed to be aflame.

"Welp..." A soft groan was issued as the athletic adolescent rose upon booted feet that seemed to connect entirely to the rest of the armor, covering the individual's entire frame except for the arms. A groan and a stretch was given before the large sword that seemingly matched the armor was lifted from beside the boulder and slid onto the back of the armor, where it seemed to just merge and hold there. A slender brow rose over slightly squinted green eyes as a decision was thought upon before the teen began somewhat hesitantly walking towards the village.

tesping

 

[tesping]

At the edge of the village, Adima waited for the young charge that the Council had assigned to her care--much to Adima's annoyance. The Council had been badgering her for years to take an apprentice on her travels, and for years she had resisted, claiming that her work was too dangerous for a half-trained kid. This excuse had been tolerated for some time, but after the war started between Anvers and Medarrian in the east, the Mages' Council--whose halls were in the ostensibly neutral but strategic border city of Ovant--was sending as many people out as possible while simultaenously strengthening magical protections on their archives and libraries.

Adima understood the rationale, but she didn't have to like it. When Chase came into view on the dirt road that came from the East, Adima straightened, checking the rough charcoal sketch she'd been sent before tucking it away.

"You're late!" she called out when Chase was close enough to hear, grey eyes narrowed with impatience.

Tall and willowy for a woman in the western plains, Adima looked every inch the seasoned traveler she was: her dark hair dark hair was plaited and wound around her head, and her olive skin was covered in a fine layer of dirt. She wore a leather jerkin over a dark green tunic and brown leggings, all of which stood up well against the grime of travel, and her leather boots were well-worn and comfortable. Her cloak, a dark brown wool, was equally as servicable. Other than a belt with a few pouches on it, most of Adima's things were packed away in saddlebags her dun mare carried.

The only thing that really marked Adima as a mage were the runic spells carved into her bowstave and the shafts of her arrows (though the former was currently unstrung and stowed among her packs). Adima could cast spells without using her bow, but as a battle mage, her power and the range of her abilities were vastly increased by concentrating her magic through a weapon.

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Chase didn't appear to be in too much of a hurry and seemed to just be strolling towards the town, casually looking around on the way. Heavily booted feet stopped moving as the female called out. The teen's head tilted as those green eyes scanned the female. Half trained? More like not trained. Lips curved into an amused smirk that was there and gone in the blink of an eye. Chase almost felt bad for the mage, the Council basically just handed her a ticking time bomb and didn't tell her when it was set to go off.

Of course requesting any type of apprenticeship had not been the somewhat unruly minor's idea. Chase's mother was the culprit. She didn't like Chase wandering the world alone and didn't think that the person being sought would be very easy to find, especially alone. On one hand, Chase felt much the same as the mage whose tutelage the teen had been placed under. On the other hand, being shown once again how much mom cared was really nice.

Chase snorted, a roll of the eyes given as feet once more began moving forward and carried Chase nearer to Willow. Chase stood an average height of a boy of seventeen, though upon closer inspection of facial features, it was hard to discern whether or not Chase actually was a male. Though looking to physique could make one conclude that Chase was indeed male. Chase shrugged those armor clad shoulders and glanced again hesitantly to the village, "We gonna' be here long?"

 

[tesping]

Adima eyed Chase, clearly unimpressed. Despite having a scant few inches on the boy, the older woman managed to give the impression that she was staring him down from a much greater height. "I am Adima," she introduced herself briskly. "And no. We're already late. Do you have a mount?"

Even as she asked the question, Adima doubted it; gathering her horse's reins in hand, she didn't wait for Chase to reply before heading back down the road he had just come from.

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Chase bit back a sigh and instead offered a nod of the head, peering past the tousled red hair that hung in front of his eyes. He didn't seem to care whether or not the mage was impressed, he was more or less there out of courtesy, much as she was there out of obligation. Chase didn't offer a response. He thought it was pretty obvious that he didn't have a horse, but it looked like she had determined that on her own. He didn't question her going back the way he had come and instead just silently followed after her.

It wasn't long before he spoke up, more so out of curiosity rather than concern, "Adima... did they tell you anything about me?" Chase's voice was very neutral, in emotion, tone, and pitch.

 

[tesping]

Setting a brisk pace while trying to figure out how to acquire a second mount for Chase without actually having to buy one--perhaps Adima's contractor could be persuaded to lend one--Adima appreciated the silence of their walk. Until, of course, Chase broke it.

"They sent a rough likeness," Adima answered dryly. "What else do I need to know?"

She had a feeling that the Council had told each of them as little about each other as possible, to avoid the very high possibility that Adima would storm back into Ovant to demand a new arrangement, or vise versa. At this point, she was resigned to having a tagalong (and to having to train them), and figured anyone was as bad as anyone else could be.

Still, Adima hadn't planned on beginning any getting-to-know each other process until they made camp for the night, where Adima would have more space to test Chase's abilities, but she supposed it could start now if Chase was feeling talkative.

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Acquiring a mount was probably the last thing on Chase's mind and he was just as appreciative of the silence as she was, but curiosity inevitably won out, hence his question. After Adima offered her response, Chase snorted softly, the corner of his lips quirking in a brief smirk as he wondered whether or not he should speak up or just let her discover on her own what she had agreed to take on.

Chase kind of thought of himself as a lone wolf, so being pressured by his mom to apprentice under a mage wasn't really something he wanted to do. Not only that, but he felt that a mage wasn't the proper person to teach him to use his skills, or more so to control them, he thought that there was a particular set of individuals that would fill that position.

"Nah..." he kicked at the dirt on the road, laughing silently to himself. He didn't really want to talk about it anyway and thought it might just be easier to let her discover it whenever it happened next. He supposed then he would have some explaining to do, but he just didn't feel like getting into a huge dialogue about it because he didn't figure she'd have the patience to deal with him for long.

 

[tesping]

"It will come out sooner or later," Adima shrugged. Continuing along without breaking pace, she fingered the long, blank shaft of one of the arrows in her quiver. It was meant for a quick spell on the fly, with a rune for power etched into the arrowhead rather than a prepared spell carved along the shaft. Glancing sideways at Chase, Adima warned, "But if you lose control and can't keep it together--or turn into a dragon or something godscursed annoying--I will shoot you."

Upon reflecting, Adima could conceded that perhaps half the reason she got away without an apprentice all these years was because the Council also disapproved of her methods, which meant they really must have been grasping at straws on the eve of war. Or they were sending her someone they hoped she'd shoot once or twice.

Well, Adima mused, thoughts echoing her words. It would come out sooner or later.

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

He nodded his agreement, not raising his eyes from the road and snorted softly to her next statement, "fair enough."

As they continued along, once again in silence, Chase watched the countryside as they walked. The wind had been blowing rather steadily. It wasn't blustering, but the fields were a sea of green and while Adima was left to her thoughts, Chase entertained the idea that the hills beyond the fields were the coils of a dragon long since felled. Chase was used to the silence and entertained himself with ideas such as that, glancing up to the sky and back over his shoulder, the town they had left behind now a mere speck in the distance. The setting sun more than half hidden below the horizon and causing the sky to turn to shades of pink and red, he snorted slightly after a moment, glancing to Adima, "you know... we coulda' met at the next town if we were just gonna' go back the way I came."

 

[tesping]

While Chase watched the countryside and the fields to their left, Adima kept an eye on the not-too-distant forest tree line to their right.

"We're going to meet someone who has requested my assistance," Adima explained matter of factly. "They changed the location. We're also not heading to the next village."

As she said this, Adima swung right towards the trees, cutting through a swath of land that clearly wasn't part of any generally ridden path. Had they been ahorse, they would've reached this curve before sunset and entered the forest while the sun was still definitively in the sky, but Adima wasn't one to dwell long on what-ifs. "If you have any questions, Chase," she advised her charge as she lead them towards the forests, "I advise you ask them now. I will ask you don't speak when we meet with my contact."

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Chase didn't really have a response to offer Adima as she briefly explained their course and continued along behind her. Of course he continued to keep pace with her until she veered towards the trees which was when he stopped cold, "you aren't seriously going into the forest, are you?"

He asked somewhat sternly and if Adima turned to look at him, she would note the serious and somewhat unnerved expression on his somewhat delicate features, "Adima, I'm sure you got rules and I have some too. One of them is no boats, no forests."

He took a few steps off the road, though he moved like he was walking on lava and was afraid the grass would burn his feet.

 

[tesping]

"That is the direction I'm headed in, yes," Adima said, turning flatly to stare at Chase. When he went on to protest about his 'rules', Adima's expression turned to one of aggrieved disbelief. "Those are quite the restrictions," she said eventually, voice dry as dust. "What's the issue?"

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Chase looked down at his feet, it wasn't because he was particularly shamed by Adima's tone of voice, but he wasn't really wanting to say anything at the moment. He turned his head to look down the road in the direction they had been going before this detour. The wind whipping the short strands of hair that framed his face over his features, hiding them slightly as he thought about how to even approach this subject.

In the end, he groaned slightly, covering his face, thumb and fingers rubbing at his temples. If he told her what he needed to say, there would be no going back. Of course if what he feared might happened in the forest did happen, he'd probably have to explain because he didn't know if Adima would write it off as just a fluke or inexperience. It was a gamble, if he was lucky, he'd win.

With a groan, he began walking again, "nevermind," he spoke resignedly, hopefully if something did happen, Adima would prove to be powerful enough to mend the situation.

 

[tesping]

"No," Adima said sharply, gesturing impatiently for Chase to stay where he was. She didn't like talking much and she certainly wasn't going to coddle her unasked for burden, but she also wasn't going to walk into a potentially dangerous situation blind. She was grumpy, not an idiot.

Crossing her arms and standing still some twenty meters away from the edge of the forest, Adima scowled at Chase. "First lessons first, kid," she said sharply. "If you have information on a potentially dangerous situation, or know about a danger, you do not say 'nevermind'. You speak up."

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Chase stopped mid-step, bringing his thick leatherish boot back down where it had been before he had moved to go forward. His green eyes narrowed slightly, their color seeming to shift, it was only a flash and his eyes were closed, his head tilting downwards as he took a deep breath. The tendons in his arms could be seen to tense slightly but as he drew in deep breaths, his athletic physique ceased its tensing and he seemed to relax. As though that had ever helped. Ever.

After he had seemed to regain his calm, he spoke softly, "I can't control my power," he didn't say this as though he were embarrassed. He stated it as a fact, which was what it was and if anything he may have even sounded mildly angry. If anything the statement gave fair warning without letting on to anything that he was at this juncture, unwilling to share.

If Adima inspected Chase's armor carefully, and had knowledge of beings from other plains, she might even take note that his armor did not just look like a demon, it actually was a demon. The hide held in a lifeless stasis while it was actually still quite alive.

 

[tesping]

Folding her arms across her chest, Adima's stare became withering. "I said speak up," she said reproachfully, as she eyed the boy critically. "What's the problem with your power? Is it you or the thing you keep in your armor?"

Part of Adima's problem with apprentices was not just their semi-trained abilities, but also their inexperience at large. When Adima was forced to work with others, they were generally people who could be trusted to know when to speak up and offer information, and when to keep their mouths shut. Apprentices, for some reason, always managed to blab about the least important details while forgetting (or just not knowing) the most important.

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Typically the unruly, know-it-all teen, he felt somewhat sheepish under that glare. It was like his mom's whenever he got up to no good with the boys in his village. His green eyes shifted from the ground where he had been looking to peer past those loose strands of fiery hair at Adima, he cleared his throat gently, "it's me."

In all honesty, he didn't really know what or how the armor itself functioned, he just knew one thing about it, it didn't burn. Adima really drew the short stick when it came to the apprentice she had been assigned. Chase's abilities weren't trained at all and as much as he tried, they didn't get any better. It might have been an emotional thing, Chase was basically angry all the time. He was so used to being angry, he functioned around it but when it flared up, that was when things got bad and he only knew one way to fix it and that way was seemingly among the unattainable.

He slouched slightly, his hips pressed forward as he leaned and put his hands on his hips, "I can just wait here while you do whatever you need to do."

 

[tesping]

"Well then, if your thing"--uncrossing her arms, she waved her hand vaguely at his armor--"isn't going to turn malicious on us, we should be fine. It'll be an exercise." Adima half-turned, clearly to lead Chase into the forest. "I will shoot you with a binding if you start any fires," she said cheerfully.

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

He didn't look up at her as she spoke. He just stood there and looked at the ground, almost like he wasn't even listening to her. He shook his head when she spoke of it being an exercise, as if he hadn't been trying for years to get it under control, if that were considered functional exercise than that's all he had ever done basically since he was born.

He rolled his eyes slightly as she began to walk away, shrugging his shoulders under the demon armor he wore and following after her. He really did wonder how a binding would work on him and if it was something that could be made more permanent, which was something that he had never given thought to before. He decided not to ask any questions about it until after he had seen if a binding spell would work and even then, if she would even have to use one.

 

[tesping]

Adima didn't know if Chase realized she meant she would quite literally shoot him -- she had a handful of arrows carved with neutralization runes -- but she didn't bother checking either. Instead, she slipped her bowstave from her saddlebags, braced it around her leg and swift strung. Slinging it over her shoulder, Adima regathered the reins of the horse, and with one more expectant look at Chase, she headed into the forest.

"My contact has been somewhat secretive about their identity, so regardless of who it is or who we meet in the forest, avoid having a reaction." Adima had her suspicions about who she would next be working for, but in case they ended up meeting with an ogre or something she didn't want Chase startling them -- or offending them if he was startled.

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Chase initially didn't know that she meant she would actually shoot him, but he isn't that dense and once he saw what she was up to, he realized what she had meant. He let out a deep sigh and shook his head slightly, once again rolling his eyes from behind those messy strands of brightly shaded hair before he continued following Adima once she started moving again.

"K," was Chase's disinterested response to what Adima was telling him. True, he was technically just a kid, but he had been around and been up to more than Adima probably could ever guess for someone his age. There wasn't much that surprised him and he was generally pretty nihilistic, but he was sure that Adima would probably take his response as teen attitude and so prepared himself for some sort of backlash.

 

[tesping]

"Fantastic," Adima said, and though there was no sarcasm in her voice her manner was undoubtedly so. She fell silent again as she lead Chase and horse down what appeared to be a small game trail - she'd been promised there would be one, if she entered the forest from the right place - and they'd only gone about ten minutes when a voice stopped them.

"Lady Adima." It was a young woman who spoke up, before riding out of a thicket of bushes and onto the trail in front of them. She looked to be in her early twenties, with very pale skin and white-blond hair; her eyes, too, were a blue so light they were almost white. She was seated atop a white mare, dressed in well-worn leather armor, and when she saw Adima and Chase were afoot, she smiled slightly and dismounted.

"Your Highness," Adima greeted, sketching a bow and gesturing at Chase for him to do the same. She didn't need an introduction to recognize a member of the di Saroyan royal family that the ruled of Coryn, a kingdom so far north some people forgot it even existed. It was rumored that the perpetually white, snow-covered landscape leeched the color out of their kings and queens altogether.

"And here I thought you were trying to remain inconspicuous," another voice said dryly, and a second person rode onto path. He was a man of age with the Corynian princess, with curly dark hair and tanned skin. He, too, dismounted when he saw the rest were standing.

The princess shrugged. "And I thought the Lady Adima would be coming alone, so I suppose we're all out of sorts."

Adima didn't bother to feel embarrassed. "Last minute change of plans, unfortunately unavoidable. My apologies, highness." She didn't sound apologetic. "But this is my new apprentice, Chase."

The princess eyed Adima's bow, then Chase's armor carefully, before nodding sharply. "Well, if he's your apprentice and you're vouching for him..." she trailed off. "I suppose proper introductions are in order. I am Lady Elloren, and this is my companion, Niall."

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Adima's response almost made him laugh, but he stopped himself, just smiling slightly instead and letting the laughter die before it was even born, instead releasing a soft snort. He just casually strolled along behind her as she led himself and the horse. There wasn't any reason to get all tense, what would be would be and he couldn't stop it in any case so there wasn't any sense worrying.

As Adima's name was spoken, he stopped, eyeing the newcomer carefully. He'd traveled around, but never gone so far as to see anyone that looked like her. His gaze was merely curious and as Adima greeted her as royalty and gestured for Chase to bow as she did, his eyes widened slightly and he mimicked Adima's gesture. He'd only ever encountered common folk and most of them weren't memorable unless they provided for some sort of comedic occurrence and that was rare.

His gaze shifted to the man that approached as they finished their greetings and he felt a bit out of place as the fair haired maiden pointed out that Adima was supposed to come alone. He then glanced over to the mage, who at the moment, he absolutely refused to call his master even if it was only mentally.

Chase had crossed his arms after he had given his greeting bow and now his eyes gently closed and he bowed his head as Adima introduced him by name. He didn't really take the introduction as Adima vouching for him, but whatever the lady wanted to call it. He did as was requested of him by Adima and didn't say anything as Lady Elloren introduced herself and Niall, merely watching them and the mage with mild curiosity.

 

[tesping]

Adima said nothing of the demotions Elloren gave herself and her companion -- she recognized the ring Niall wore on his left hand, with the noble Paverell family crest -- and inclined her head respectfully in lieu of bowing again.

"Well met my lady, Master Niall," she said politely, and waited for Elloren to get to the point.

Elloren, more commonly called Elly, was the youngest of four; as such, her royal parents had more or less sanctioned her impetuous decision to leave Coryn and travel about the southern lands. In the past three years Elly and Niall, who Elly had encountered early on in her travels, had roamed the lands as something like hired swords (with the ability to be uniquely picky about who hired them.) With the Anvers-Medarrion war going on, though, Elly had recognized Niall's need to do something more than slake their wanderlust.

This was her answer to his unspoken need to do more; she, frankly, was in it for the same reasons as she always was--simple adventure.

"Well met," Elly agreed, and then skipped any other pleasantries by diving straight into the heart of the matter. "Before we go any further, we must know if you will commit to our goals," the princess said briskly. "What do you know of the Windstone -- either of you?"

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Chase was in all ways a commoner, so to speak. The way he carried himself, his ideas of the world, even the way he spoke all came from being what most would call low-born. He had never consorted with nobles, at least not to the best of his knowledge, so any physical hint that denoted which families of renown these two people came from were beyond his grasp. Though he wasn't so dense as to not realize that they were indeed nobility.

He remained silent, albeit distracted. He hadn't a hand in this whole side trip in the forest and didn't have much interest in it because it was really counter-productive to his own personal goals. His green eyes looked about them absently, gazing past the smooth strands of fire reminiscent hair where they fell over his eyes slightly as he squinted up at the canopy, physically expressing his own boredom as he began to tune out the conversation of Niall, Lady Elloren, and Adima.

However uninterested he may have been, that changed as the Lady requested a promise of commitment to their cause. Ever the rebel, Chase opened his mouth to vehemently deny his agreement to such a requirement. His arms had remained crossed over his chest, his weight shifting from foot to foot though now he prepared to step nearer to Adima and her acquaintances.

His decision to move was halted as Lady Elloren ask what they knew of the Windstone, his foot placed back down as his brow furrowed slightly, giving the appearance that he was at least interested now and not only because of his desire to deny any involvement in whatever it was these people were up to.

Chase had heard of the Windstone. As had he heard of other stones representing various elements. A book that his mother had held onto of his father's contained information on said stones and he always thought it was a little funny that each stone was technically a representation of multiple elements since each one was Earth as well as whatever other element.

He didn’t say anything, however. Chase was a bit closely guarded with the things that he knew and he was curious to see what this was about rather than share any of his own knowledge.