Fantasy An Aloof Admonition

[tesping]

Adima frowned when the princess brought up the Windstone--like most people, she had heard of it in bedtime stories, along with the other stones. Their existence as something beyond legend had never been something Adima had questioned, but if the princess was asking, then she clearly thought otherwise.

"Well, apprentice mine," Adima drawled, as she considered what Elloren might be planning. "Let's see what you've learned so far: what do you know about the Windstone?"

Elly, for her part, looked unspurprised by Adima calling upon her apprentice; instead her attention merely shifted to focus on Chase instead of his mage-master.

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Those green eyes rolled in irritation as he released a snort from his feminine nose, "you say that like you've had anything to do with what I know up until now," he stated quite plainly, unwary of the ire he might receive for speaking in such a way, "there are four stones that represent the four base elements. Each stone grants the wielder the ability to control and suppress the element it represents," he spoke like he thought the others were fools, stating everything matter-of-factly. Of course, to Chase, the legends and stories were entirely true. It could be said that he knew first hand as the book his father had left behind was not just a book of bedtime stories.

There was more to the tale, as the four stones were not the only things related in existence and there were obviously more elements to be counted than just the base four, but again, he didn't say anything about this. He didn't mention that there were not just four stones, but eight. There were also not only stones but other forms of matter that represented the eight. Chase had removed one of his arms from where it was crossed over his chest as he used it to pointlessly gesticulate what he was saying, really doing nothing more than to accentuate his snobby attitude.

He had actually mused on the idea of obtaining the Firestone for himself at one point in hopes of actually being able to live like a normal Human being, but it was such a rare item, it wasn't like the stones just grew on trees.

"so, the Windstone would grant the ability to manipulate wind," he took on a somewhat exasperated expression when he had finished, like he couldn't believe that he just had to explain anything about anything at all.

 

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"You're right," Adima said dryly, when Chase was done with his spiel. "I had nothing to do with that. But it's good to know there's more than just a surly attitude up in that brain of yours. My lady?"

The last was said expectantly; Adima turned from her quiet scrutiny of Chase, and towards Elloren and Niall, clearly waiting for one or the other to give their assessment of her apprentice's description of the stone. Adima herself was fairly impressed with the knowledge, but she suspected that they had happened to have touched upon a subject Chase knew more about than other things. This didn't worry or annoy Adima so much as it confirmed her feeling that this was a good job to take, and a good time to take it; Adima believed strongly in a certain logic to fate, and trusted the signs as they came.

"Well," Elly replied, somewhat nonplussed. She'd expected to have to both explain what the Windstone was, and spend time convincing Adima and her charge that it was a thing worth pursuing, but Chase seemed to know much of the basics and to understand they were more than myth. "See, Niall," she settled on saying, grinning at her friend, "We are not wholly irrational for seeking out the stone. You seem to know much about the stone, Chase"--Elly didn't think Adima would object to her asking the apprentice directly--"have you heard of its most recent whereabouts, by chance?"

She and Niall knew, of course, or they wouldn't have hired on Adima to begin the search--but now the princess was just curious.

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

There was no reaction to Adima calling him surly, he merely looked at her and crossed his arms again as though her words didn't surprise him in the slightest. He then turned his gaze to the Lady Elloren as Adima did. His smooth brows raised slightly as the lady addressed him, he was surprised by her directing her next question to him and it showed on his face since he mostly considered himself just a bystander to this whole meeting.

He looked thoughtful for a moment as though he were having some internal debate before he cleared his throat and slowly began, "it was supposedly in the care of the temple of Feryn but when they were transporting it to another temple, the caravan was ambushed and its whereabouts became unknown," he simplified the history of the stone since Elly had asked for the most recent and not in all of its known existence, his tone had calmed somewhat as though he were relatively interested in the topic, his pitch even softening somewhat, "its rumored that the bandits of the Pashara Mountains in the eastern territories of Gaddard are the ones that took it but that was nearly fifty years ago," his gloved fingers clasped his chin thoughtfully as his eyes scanned the ground pointlessly, his gaze having slowly drifted from Elly to the ground as he spoke.

 

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"You see, Niall," Elly repeated with a smile, clearly delighted now by the extent of Chase's somewhat unusual knowledge.

The young lord, for his part, sighed in a very put-upon way. "I see," he conceded, though didn't quite say as to what.

"Before we go any further," Adima finally felt the need to cut in. Familiar with tales of the elemental stones as she was, Adima was outnumbered in terms of those who actually believed them to be true. She didn't deny their existence out of sheer disbelief, but rather a lack of reason to believe. "I'm afraid you're going to have to convince me that we won't simply be chasing myths. As much good practice as I'm sure my apprentice can find anywhere we travel to, I am not in the habit of killing time."

The princess and lord exchanged a glance; when neither of them spoke up, it was clear they were waiting to see if Chase could changer his teacher's mind.

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Unusual, probably. Chase didn't exactly appear to be the type that was well read, and truthfully, he wasn't. He was well traveled and during his traveling, he had heard things here and there, there was always someone around that knew something he didn't and while he did have an aversion to reading, he didn't necessarily have an aversion to learning despite his seemingly constant negative attitude. Then again, what he would actually choose to learn was the question since his interests were fairly limited, for example, he didn't care any for politics.

Chase watched the others with mild disinterest, switching his gaze back to the canopy of the trees as his leg muscles flexed, his feet shifting weight from heel to the whole of his foot and back again, virtually ignoring the others as the spoke... until the silence. When no one was talking and he realized that they hadn't been for a few minutes, he finally looked back to them, only to have their eyes on him. His brow furrowed slightly before one raised as he looked at them all in mild confusion, "what?" he asked as though he had something on his face and hadn't realized it, but after he realized that the two nobles were wanting him to convince Adima of whether or not the stone was real, he groaned and put a hand to his face, "look, I don't really care if she thinks it's real or not, you guys hired her."

He gestured at her with one hand before rolling his eyes and clicking his tongue slightly before reluctantly presenting an argument, "okay... so you don't believe in the stones because you think they're a myth, but do you have any proof that they don't actually exist?" his hand laid against his upper arm again, "you have about as much proof that they don't exist as there is proof that they do."

Possibly a weak argument, but his case was that there was as much evidence claiming the stones were real as there was evidence that they didn't exist and he wasn't going to try and put any more effort into it than that because this wasn't his endeavor. If Elly and Niall wanted her for the job, they'd maybe put in more effort, if she wanted their money, she'd just shut up and take the job. That last thought amused him enough to smile slightly and snort a little laugh before his hand came up and rubbed over his mouth as though wiping the smile from his face as he gently cleared his throat.