Fantasy Wherever the Wind Takes You

[ShredKnives]

Charismatic Laila strikes again. Hmph, hmph, very proud.

She mostly took off her armor, changing into some sleeping clothes for the night in a brief minute of her own privacy before returning to him and seeing the shake of his head.

But then the question was bounced back to her. Hm. She hadn't too many ideas within the realm of possibility...

"Well, I've always wanted to start a bakery. I could go for a pastry right about now...Or a pretzel. Yum. We'll make the bakery in the name of the Black Mamba, the pastries to cure all your problems! I'll call it...Snakeoil Pastries. Fulla' goods with special healing properties, courtesy of its residing priestess!"

Blessed pastries from a shrine priestess...It couldn't be that bad of an idea. "And I'll hire someone to handle orders, someone to bake the pastries, and then I'll be the one handling the divine side of things...And maybe I'll make a pastry or two myself~! Hehe..."

 

[Gary Sue]

He was truly at a loss of words. This was one of the... not necessarily weirdest, but most 'fascinating' ideas Laila had thrown at him so far. "Snake... oil? Healing foods? What is a 'Black Mamba'..?", he grumbled lowly to himself and gave her a rather doubtful look, seating himself by the edge of his bed and looking at her while debating whether or not this was even legal. "Maybe she should uh... stick to priest-ing. It sounds like she'd get arrested if she tried to run a scam like that.", a scratch on the back of his head before he nodded to himself.

Now if only he could let her know it was a bad idea in any way that didn't involve stink eyeing her... Although very tangentially related, she did actually plant a question in his mind. "Wait, bless the pastries? It should have been obvious, but I didn't think for a second she could bless non-weapons of ours too. I guess it'll work differently though, not... shoot out light and all. Maybe it wards off spirits and the like and little else..?", he tried to connect the dots, although to little avail.

He had no idea how he'd convey his question either, but the switch from his more cynical look to the almost honestly perplexed one should have done the trick, along with an intense stare at her shrine's robes. When he snapped out of his deep thought, he just looked at her and let out a huff of frustration. "... Do they cure illnesses too..? Maybe that's how Tomoe's shrine has stayed afloat?"

 

[ShredKnives]

Why's he looking at her so funny? Is it wrong to want to make sweets and a profit?! She scoffed at his unceremoniously critical eyes. What's the matter!

"It's a perfectly good dream to have! I'm a priestess! I can bless objects other than weapons, it's just a pain in the butt having to bless things that are perishable and consumable. Swords aren't like that! Something like a pastry, however, gets a better amplification because the food is, like...Fresh? Organic? It's not metal, so it absorbs blessings much better than a blade, I just imagine people don't like throwing their blood all over their pot roast...Maybe a cow's blood if they wanted to, but not my blood, no sir. And blessing food takes forever, but if my bakery is just a small little place in a little small town, mmm...It's the perfect way to retire."

She chuckled dreamily to herself. "Haaaah...What I would do for a kolache right now..."

 

[Gary Sue]

"The way she mentions the bakery being small, it sounds like she won't even be blessing them in the first place since noone will find out. Gah...", Reeve exhaled tiredly and shook his head, before raising it to show her a practiced smile. Now now, he was tired but not entirely because of her antics! The day had dragged on a fair bit and little had happened, past being worried about getting attacked every so often. So now, it was time for the two to head to bed and crash for the night.

Finally taking his pouch at the back of his belt off, he placed on the nightstand next to his bed and laid down on the mattress, giving a small laugh to himself at how comfortable it was. "Nothing like home, but it's good enough for me.", a bittersweet nod to his childhood, that he knew was gone and hardly ever going to be relived. Turning his head to give Laila a final glance before they rested, he gestured towards her with his head with a more honest smile this once, giving her a tired wave before he turned his back and got comfortable. And soon enough he was asleep, quiet as he always was.

Resting fool. Hmph.

 

[ShredKnives]

Ah...Good ol' piece and quiet. Laila gave her last little good nights before they set out for sleep...

---

I wonder if I can activate the magic while I'm sleeping? Let's try to do a little lucid dreaming...

---

So, in the midst of her unconsciousness, she took a step into the other direction from her dreams and tried to do a little tap on Reeve's.

 

[Gary Sue]

Soon enough after her attempt to break into his mindscape, she'd be met not with the cliff where he usually spent his time asleep, but instead a much more familiar clearing of a forest, with a dirt path further by the side. They had actually gone through there on the way back, and it was at the very start of things too, when Reeve finally let himself be awed by the various colors of all the trees around them, the change in scenery and the mystique and promises of 'a new adventure'. One that wouldn't end as fast as the others did too, no doubt. A familiar feeling took over him before he turned from marvelling at the trees, to looking at Laila with a small smile.

"Can't catch a break, can I?", he let out a hearty laughter louder than anything she'd heard before, clapping his hands together in amusement before he walked up to her. The surroundings were almost as though drawn in water color, as they always were, but the scene looked as authentic as it did only hours prior that day. "Couldn't sleep?", he asked as he gestured for her to follow along, slowly walking by the path until they reached the point where they had decided to get to crafting so they would make Rivera's bucket to drink from. Once there, the knight seated himself, resting his back against the tree and closing his eyes to relax.

For the first time maybe, he seemed fully at ease. Some things were still troubling him, of course, but this was the most lax he'd ever shown himself to be since they met probably. Laila's surprise appearances were definitely to blame, but... "... Meeting her really flipped everything on its head, huh?", his thoughts reverberated throughout the painting of a forest, having forgotten they were broadcasted to all currently in his dream.

"A-Ah, you caught that didn't you."

 

[ShredKnives]

The forest was a bit of an unexpected welcome, but she supposed she could take comfort in this epic set piece. She quite liked forests, after all!!

Approaching Reeve, Laila gave a happy little pat on his head and replied, "I'm sleeping as we speak! So uh, don't worry if things start popping up randomly, lucid dreaming tends to do that to you!" She chuckled as she followed Reeve along.

"... Meeting her really flipped everything on its head, huh?"

"I bet I did!"

"A-Ah, you caught that didn't you."

"Yes, sir!"

She grinned quite smugly. Indeed, she can hear thoughts now! Eventually, she gave herself the time to sit down right alongside Reeve. Nice quiet time, and seeing Reeve unwind for once is something Laila was down for.

"So, I'm sort of thinking...I've never really been to Sesseth. Is it a bad place?"

 

[Gary Sue]

Although he didn't outright make an effort to ask her what she meant by 'lucid dreaming', the eyebrow raise on his face was enough to get the message across- but no matter. Hearing about Sesseth, he gave her a silent glance before leaning back against the tree. "Er... Not really. It looks nice and it isn't too expensive. It's just...", the man's eyes remained closed as he struggled to recall anything he could about the town, but his memories felt almost completely repressed.

Another echo throughout the dreamy clearing. "I can't remember anything about it, tch."

"It's at the coast and it has... piers and buildings like that. Docks and seafood markets.", that's right, he was starting to remember some parts of a few days worth of camping there. The shopping trips by the docks to restock on food, the salt in the air and the loud and obnoxious smell of fish any time he made his way through the coastside. "And the people were..."

They were... "... I don't know what they were like."

Maybe thinking more about the place where he stayed at would help. At some point after his misadventure by the temple, he clearly recalled staying in Sesseth, although his recollection of things was as foggy as ever. He was in a wooden room, with a window that looked out towards the sea, a bed and a nightstand with bandages... It was as though a dim reflection of the room had appeared before the two of them, but it quickly dispersed as he put a hand to his head and shook it quietly. "Th-That's all I have, haha..."

It wasn't too nice, feeling like he'd done little but beaten around the bush, though there was little he could do to help. "... Sorry. Ever since the incident, my memory has been off. I could have sworn I remembered more."

Troubled as he were, he didn't really show it or feel it that much for the most part. As quickly as it bothered him, he went back to just calmly relaxing, resting against the tree in peace. He was completely careless, even though it felt like something was silently stalking the two, like they weren't the ones in this shared dream."Did you want to know anything specific about it?"

 

[ShredKnives]

Mmmm...

Seeing the room, even for just a brief moment, was a bit different from what Laila typically saw...Surely, it must've been a side symptom of what was a very intense event. With a shrug, she smiled in satisfaction.

"Nah...This is enough. Docks...Seafood...Never really tried shrimp before...Or crab...Or crawfish...Or lobster...Just, like, normal fish? Hehe. I've had a really tasty cricket before." Laila was a patient fellow, and she entirely expected that Sesseth would be, more or less, a surprise for her. Who knows how Reeve himself felt about coming back to it?

Laila hummed to herself, withdrawing her sword which she managed to remember in startling accuracy...Or was the sword just inherently linked to her because of her engraving on it?

"Dark arts, as much as our shrine stands against it, is actually not as forbidden as Mom makes it out to be. Peace and wartime tends to change many perspectives...And I guess since the kobolds took over, it wasn't just about swords and shields, now it was like everything should be at the disposal of man. Thinking back to Alina, what she is right now...Feels like a total embracing of dark arts, something that you could never really experiment or try without being completely unethical...Like discovering a child who'd been isolated in their room with nothing but food to keep them alive."

She tapped her cheek in thought, before having an idea! "Okay! So I'm lucid dreaming right now, so I'm thinking...I might be able to pull out some memories while I'm still in bed...Though, fair warning, Reeve, unlike normal dream walking, I might forget half of everything we said unless I jot it down in a journal...To you, you might be perfectly awake, but right now, I'm technically unconscious...Hopefully, I still sound like normal Laila!"

With some intense thinkery, an awfully cute expression forming on Laila's pouting face as she attempted to draw in some memories of her own.

"HMmmnnhnh...Shaaareeeeenaaaa, come out now...Shaaaareeeeeenaaaa!" Laila extended her hand-

"Oh. Hm. Actually, before I try to do that...Um. Tree bark!!!" She shouted into an open distance. Several long seconds passed with no change in scenery save for Reeve's own influence.

Then a piece of tree bark fell from the sky, slapping the ground and bouncing to a harmless thud.

Laila flashed a grin at Reeve. "Gotta confirm if my lucid dreaming is working. It's a shaky concept for most priests to handle, dreamwalking while lucid dreaming, but luckily; I'm just amazing~!" She giggled happily, clapping her hands. "Alright, Sharena! Summon! Bang!"

In a few seconds, a memory began to paint over a portion of Reeve's atmosphere, depicting Laila's memory similar to a fading scene cut, a picturesque landscape of a high mountain as it displayed, from the perspective of Laila's eyes, walking next to what looked to be Sharena, her armor well-endowed with a finely-polished breastplate, layered over a gambeson that covered up most of neck and chainmail. Her helmet was cradled under her arms while a snow-silver fishtail braid was in Laila's hands. Again, Sharena, even in memory, depicts a mystical beauty, and Laila's display even seems to highlight the more solemn and melancholic undertones of her eyes, as if she's lived twice as long as she looked. They're walking on a mountain trail somewhere alongside the edge of Laila's forest, so it must have been some sort of attraction or, at the very least, commonly tread based on the silhouettes formulating at the bottom.

"Oh, man, it worked! I gotta remember this when I wake up!!" She said excitedly.

"Shari, Shari, Shari!"
"Aye, aye, aye?"

In Sharena's hands was a claymore, a long blade that held a sharpness quite unlike any standard sword, managing to shine regardless of which angle it was being looked at from...Though it might be an exaggeration from Laila's perspective.

"Can you make that rock explode?"
"I suppose I can..."
"Do it!"

"Aw, I'm so cute," Laila commentated. "This is the part where Sharena makes the rock explode!"

In the memory, as they walked past a nearby rock...

Sharena pointed her sword at the rock, not even looking its direction.

"Mighty rock, I command to break and spill
To pieces small, let loose power and fall..."

Sharena stopped, thinking for a long moment...

"Show beauty and light,
Through my blade and its might."

And the rock suddenly shifted, fragments and rubble separating the rock into several dozens of pieces, neatly sliding down itself until collapsing all over the floor. Noticeably, the sword lost a bit of its shine.

"Aw, it didn't explode..."
"Lilac, you might get hurt."
"What about you?!"
"I suppose I can tell the stars to give me a shield..."

"I've never quite understood the power, so this was something I tended to think about a lot. I've always wanted to learn, like, verbal incantation, but not just incantation, I want to command things, and hold a voice of authority over them. It's something you don't ever see anymore, because no one likes the idea of getting the wrong end of the deal! It's, literally, easier to use dark arts because the price for using them is pretty much laid clear on paper...Or at least, the risk is more tangible. No one knows what you'll get if you tell the world to do your bidding."

Laila chuckled. "Between you and me, Reeve, Sharena always looked really cool when she puts her sword down and puts both hands on the pommel so it's like she's standing guard over something. She's very good at standing still, so it's like watching a statue. Man, I gotta tell you about all sorts of people I've heard about from Mom! I don't have a good idea of their faces, but Mom always comes back with stories!"

 

[Gary Sue]

Something about the dark arts, followed by a showcase of the power of 'lucid dreaming', as she put it. Reeve had never seen or done anything like this before, but just thinking about trying was enough to almost knock him clean out of his dream and right back to a deep sleep. He observed quietly, nodding to his friend when she showed adoration for the knight's stance and powerful presence. "When you're in an army, I hear it's more tiring than cool. You have to be at attention all the time, compared to being a wandering knight- or bodyguard, if you're me."

With the memory frozen in front of them, the man quietly looked at it and pondered something to himself, huffing and shaking his head before he rested his head against the tree again and looked up to the sky. "... I haven't ever thought about arts as 'dark' and 'holy', honestly. I don't understand magic, but... If it's not 'inhumane', why not use anything?", a pause as he looked at the endless blue above them before he turned to look at her with a perplexed expression. "I was always negative towards using dark arts because everybody hates them... I'm sure the Gods might not be number one adorers of the concept, but they were the ones that allowed us to use them."

"So at some point I thought- why are they dark arts? Is it because a church said so, or is it because we're too scared of them spreading out and being learned about from more practitioners?", a hand raised to rub the back of his neck before a heavy sigh came out. "If I could use magic, I wouldn't care if it meant living or dying. I wouldn't 'leave my humanity behind', but just because something is branded as 'dark magic', I wouldn't hesitate to use it if it meant living to see another day and explore more with you. Is... that the difference? Is dark arts less about using magic and more about self-preservation?", he spoke his own thoughts curiously, furrowing his brows and grumbling lowly.

"I'm not good with all this theory stuff, so I- well, you know more. Much more."

...

After an awkward pause, he brought his hands close to one another and twiddled with his thumbs. "... I'm not a bad person in people's eyes, because I would use dark arts, right Laila?"

 

[ShredKnives]

Laila shrugged.

"Dark arts can be dark 'cause they look dark. Dark is just an absence of light, isn't it? People value light because they like being able to see. Darkness breeds fear and unknown, but dark arts almost does the opposite; you're given a price to pay, and you pay the price to evoke the magic. Holiness is technically closer to being the "evilness" of dark arts because...Well, it's based on faith and prayer. Reliance on the earth giving you a shoulder when you don't even know what the god you're praying to really looks like half the time. I heard one saying goes, 'At least the devil puts on a face.'"

"I think a church just sort of used it as a propaganda to promote their divine magic to be more or less a godly power humans get the privilege of accessing, while dark arts got stigmatized to be...Like the selfishness of humanity. Magic's magic. If it was such a big deal, then whoever made it should've ditched the magic cold turkey."

Her scene transitioned, showing Laila sitting ontop a tree branch, talking to a young girl who appeared lost and confused. Despite her timid appearance, a belt of water orbited her waist, constantly transferring to ice, steam, and liquid in a consistent and smooth transition. One could only wonder how much effort it would take to do that.

Laila, in this memory, was younger, in awe of what was in front of her.

"Wow...I've never been able to shape water to this degree...What's your secret?"
The girl shrugged. "...Knowing."
"Knowing?"
"...I just...Know."
"Hah, that's not much helpful, is it...?"

Laila hummed as put her hand around Reeve's shoulder. "Magic is supposed to be this unknowing force that extends beyond our knowledge...But I feel that doesn't make sense. If magic is a part of nature, shouldn't we try to understand it more like it IS nature? The mystery of hexes, curses, plagues, they're not any different from divine influence, blessings, miracles."

She happily blushed, thinking on Reeve's words. To think someone would want to live to see her, she'd...Never quite experienced that sensation before. "I think...Magic is just another way to survive. It evolves, adapts, and changes just like we do. I would also like to make sure I live another day, especially so you wouldn't be sad if I went and got goned."

"There's...So much to do with water. Freezing. Boiling. Drinking. Soaking. Cutting. Did you know you can make heavy ice cubes...? All it does is make them sink in water. It's...Um...Really cool."
"I guess? I mean- uh, yeah, super exciting."

"I don't think you can be a bad person for using dark arts. When was the last time you ousted someone for smoking their pipe? You're always paying a hefty price for a, retrospectively, not very good reward, but...People prefer it that way."

 

[Gary Sue]

​

Her responses were calm, down to earth and perfectly logical. It felt odd, hearing only this one person have such a unique stance on the matter, but he'd take anything that gave him validation in this case- that's why he asked, right? Why he was so troubled over the morality of using dark arts or not, why he was scared back in the shrine of revealing that he had been cursed, and why he wanted to know her opinion. Living on his own as a wandering knight was his choice, but that didn't lift the burden of solitude that came with it. Especially in his situation, all these questions that occurred after his incident couldn't even be asked out to anyone, anyone except for Laila.

They observed her dream together, although it looked more like a passing memory of Laila's than a showcase of something specific. And so she explained, about magic, about the pointless branding of things as black and white, or light and dark in this case... The way she put her own thoughts caught him off guard though, with her having scuttled nearer and holding him close with her hand. "I'd be...", he repeated lowly after her, although his murmurs made it hard to tell what he said. Judging by the almost puppy like expression though, he probably had very little to add that she hadn't already figured out.

"... We're in this together, after all. I don't want Laila to get hurt.", his thoughts echoed throughout their shared dreamscape.

And finally, she offered him an answer. He looked at her quietly with an almost blank expression that slowly shifted into a more calm, gleeful one instead. In the blink of an eye, it felt like he was a bit different. His armor and attire felt baggier on him, and he was closer to Laila's height. Even his voice had changed, getting a bit more high pitched and youthful. "Yeah... You're right.", he let out a tired sigh as he leaned into her, bringing both his hands closer to himself and huffing.

"I feel tired.", he told her as he closed his eyes, her dream getting blurrier and blurrier before it was replaced with a scene from Reeve's childhood instead. He appeared to be on plains of some sort with a wooden hut far behind that puffed smoke cloud after smoke cloud through the chimney, probably from a house's kitchen. At the center of the scene stood a boy with ruffled brown hair, like Reeve but even younger than he seemed right now. If anything, in the dream he looked to be almost a teenager, in the scene he was closer to a child.


And even so, he held a wooden sword and practiced some blows on some dummy he'd shoddily put together using sacks, straws and hempen rope to keep them together. He was all over the place though, his attacks were unpracticed, unrefined and a far, far cry from what Laila has seen nowadays. "Hyyyah, take this! A-And this! Hnn-"

During that last blow, the kid stumbled and slipped, falling next to the dummy's base which appeared to be a previously used scarecrow. He huffed in frustration and wiped some sweat from his head, looking up at the sky and kicking up with his feet some as he stayed there laying low on the grass. "... I should get stronger and better... I want to leave a good impression when they come in a week again. I'll show them how good of a knight I am-!", and just like that he got back up on his feet, and swinging right at the dummy once again.

Reeve shifted in Laila's embrace some, pulling his legs closer to himself too and trying to get comfortable. His scene began to blur too, as a distant voice was heard. "Reeve, food's ready, go get your dad too.", she said and although the boy appeared to respond, it was too muffled to make out what he was saying. The watercolor forest was quickly starting to fade too, losing its polish and becoming more and more simple as Reeve started to slip into deeper and deeper sleep.


"... Mom...", his thoughts echoed one more time as a tear welled up in his eye, both here and in the real world, trickling down his cheek and falling onto Laila.

 

[ShredKnives]

He doesn't want me to get hurt...

While she understood that...There was just something disorienting about it...Giving her funny sensations, she would say, but luckily, Reeve can't read minds like she can!

Heheh.

She was feeling pretty pooped, too; lucid dreaming always seemed to take a bit of effort, or maybe it was just the combination of using magic to dreamwalk and then lucid dreaming in the middle of it...Eh...Yeah, things were starting to fall apart; or...Rather, Reeve was shrinking.

Was this a memory scene exclusive to Reeve? Wow...What would she get introduced to?

Aw, he's so cute.

Laila's heart...Sunk a little. It's a bittersweet feeling, knowing what Reeve has to suffer through now, but...As long as Laila was here, she'd help Reeve through it all.

And with that, their dream scape passed into reality.

 

[Gary Sue]

The next thing that Reeve saw was a harsh light, causing him to jump up and wake up. "It's... morning already?", he grunted tiredly, holding his head as he still felt rather groggy from the deep sleep. What did he even dream..? His eye was all wet so he wiped it with a hand, looking to Laila's bed to see her starting to come to as well. "I can't remember a thing after falling asleep, ungh.", he opened his mouth like a lion, yawning tiredly and laying down for a moment more just to exhale deeply. He was tired, but travelling didn't wait any longer for weary folks.

After a moment or two, he found it in him to get up and looked around, spotting his armor next to his sheathed sword. Walking towards it, he began to don it piece by piece quietly, although there was a small disturbance about halfway of putting it on.

I'm surprised you don't sleep with one eye open. You should.

"Or what? Both me and Laila are fine.", he hissed back in his own thoughts, glaring at his sword while he awaited a response. That just led to him staring pointlessly for a good minute or so though, as it never seemed to answer back. With a grunt, he rolled his eyes and went back to equipping all of his armor. By the time he was done, he spent the next moments until Laila had fully woken up simply looking out of the room's window and onto the village's dirt path, seeing its residents going about their business already. Work didn't wait for weary ones either, eh?

Don't see anything out of the ordinary at all?

"Yeah, you're being too talkative today. It's getting tiring already.", another hiss back as he tightened his grip around his sword hilt's pommel. "I'd catch your drift a lot quicker if you stopped speaking in riddles at some point."

 

[ShredKnives]

Morning! Laila had pretty much drooled all over her pillow, and when she awoke, she looked quite repulsed to see the damp mess on her pillow-case. Oof. She kept most of her outfit on, keeping herself cool through...Probably some cheap cantrip or something, and then promptly put on her armor pieces for levity's sake.

Laila and Reeve were about done the same time, with Laila unambiguously pushing herself next to Reeve.

"I kind of remember the first few parts of our dreamwalk, but nothing much more after that! I should write it down, but I'm sort of lazy, so...How about we just move along to Sesseth, mhm?"

 

[Gary Sue]

Once Laila got closer, he turned to look at her and offer a smile. Although at the mention of a dreamwalk, he was a bit... lost. "... Is that why I'm so groggy?", a grumble as he looked back outside, only for the deep, hazy voice to kick in again.

I'm not talking because of it, if that's what you were about to say.

An annoying intrusion, but it did save him jumping to conclusions any. He sighed and turned to Laila, nodding and beginning to head to the door in full, though he caught something briefly with the corner of his eyes before he turned away. Feeling like he might have seen a figure looking right back at him and move out of sight when he started to leave, he turned around in shock and tried to spot it again, but... nothing. Maybe it was just him, or maybe... he raised a brow and looked down at his sword, though to no avail- only silence followed.

"... We should get going for Sesseth, then.", he gave a somewhat concerned look to Laila, though he did his best to not let it dwell on his mind too much. "I think we got everything Laila needed... We'll grab some horse feed, a lantern and rations on the way out, and then it's a day or so before the next stop. Thank the gods for having this many villages in between the larger cities... I can't imagine how long it would take if Tomoe didn't fetch Rivera for us."

They were though, by all means ready to roll. Lucky enough for them, all the food stalls lined up perfectly with the path they needed to follow for the stable, and they could always haggle for a lantern from any one of the villagers, they'd be able to resupply after either way. "Dried jerky could work, or some fruit too for Rivera...", the knight turned his head to look at Laila, smiling as if asking for her to chime in... not that she could hear his own ideas, but hopefully the thought mattered enough!

 

[ShredKnives]

Hm...Laila mostly got what she needed the day before. Laila wasn't sure what Reeve was looking so concerned about, but she would just have to stay optimistic as their representative speaker. Hm...

Reeve definitely seemed to be shopping for stuff, since they were on the main market street...So just some rations? Maybe a lantern and some horse feed? Laila could definitely pack some goodies!

Laila, with a bit of initiative, decides to go for that. She had to juggle between dried jerky and some dried strips of mangos, plums, and nectarines since she wasn't sure what Reeve wanted specifically, but it's not like they really were travelling for very far...Dried jerky it is!

Rations were picked up, fruits were picked up, and the horse was lookin' mighty fine!

"Yay! That should be everything..."

Laila was rummaging through her satchel, running some accountability. "If there's anything else, tap my shoulder and lead me!"

 

[Gary Sue]

During their rounds around the street, Reeve managed to use his body language to awkwardly complete a transaction between himself an one of the nearby farmers, getting the lantern for only a few coins, and in pretty good condition too! Did he feel bad perhaps that the man was mute and struggled, or did he not need the lantern as much as he thought he would? Noone knows, but now they were all packed and good to go. Laila got what approval she needed from the knight through a thumbs up and curt smile, followed by a nod.

And after taking Rivera back from the stable, they were ready to get going. Reeve climbed on their steed's back, waited for Laila to hop on too and gave the village a final look, trying to see if he could spot anything else out of place... all was good though. Although he didn't want to be concerned, hairs were raised on the back of his neck, almost as if he knew something was actually off.

Even so, nothing. He trusted his eyes more than he did his gut, even if it was acting up. Disgruntled, he took a deep breath and used the reins to get Rivera going once again, having checked on the map during their shopping and knowing they had to keep moving to the east of the town, that's exactly were he took them. The road was peaceful, and much like before they reached the sleepy village, there were trees all around, lanky with white bark and fuzzy leaves all around them, varying in colors.

"... I wonder where we'll camp for the night.", a quick glance over his shoulder and yup, behind Laila were still sticking out their makeshift 'tents'. They may not have the luxury of carrying beds around, but there was nothing stopping them from using some fabric to wake up with less backpains and throw over themselves when the nights get chilly, right?

 

[ShredKnives]

Yay!! Horse-riding was back on the daily! Whoo!



Laila was pretty much quiet for the following journey; just her hip sway and her constant oging at environmental objects was enough to keep the ride exciting. Top it off with the occasional glance at Reeve that accurately said something along the lines of OH MY GOSH, DID YOU SEE THAT BIRD? THAT WAS AN AWESOME BIRD I JUST SAW~!! Before promptly turning back to face the road, and it was probably one of the more jovial rides they've had.

Bed rolls and makeshift shelters, it was very heavy-duty, but the horse seemed to be handling them just fine. To be frank, it seemed the horse was getting more comfortable with Laila; she really did just share the positive energy.

"Woah! Check that out!"

She's pointing in a random direction. Some of the clouds were moving in that direction, though it seemed to be descending downward; at first, one might think it's just a natural movement, but it seemed there was some sort of magic trick going on, with how snake-like the clouds moved?

Either way, it was an interesting sight, but there was no need to go out there and check it out. Laila just thought it looked cool.

 

[Gary Sue]

Reeve was surprised at the amount of self-control it must have taken Laila to not gush with excitement every time they saw something she liked... the trees, the birds, even the suspicious clouds that were slithering across the sky... With a quick glance at his blade, he didn't hear anything, but the hairs on the back of his neck were already standing and he had a horrible gut feeling about this. "That's not how the wind or the clouds move about. Something is up."

In hopes of getting further and further away from that suspicious- and probably dangerous- potential encounter, he made sure to guide Rivera to keep going along even faster using the reins. As Rivera sped up to what felt like the fastest he could go, the knight felt a bit more relieved. "Even if something is chasing us, unless they have a flying horse we're fine.", he sighed in relief, only to hear something equally worrying from around them. A branch cracked loudly, followed by leaves rustling like something was stalking them... With the speed they were going at, he wasn't able to discern too much as is, but it was natural considering the animals they were surrounded by, right?

They were ignoring them, and vice versa. There wasn't any point getting in fights with animals, unless they absolutely had to hunt some down for food... So for the time being, the nasty feeling in his gut was going away. If his sword wasn't acting up, then he assumed they were in the clear. It served as his 'sixth sense' of sorts, although it felt even more foreboding as it already piled up on top of his anxiety and negativity most of the time.

Glancing over his shoulder at Laila, he simply offered a moment's smile as though to tell her "It's alright, we're safe.".

 

[ShredKnives]

The clouds, unnaturally, moved around in a swirling pattern; as they fled the scene, the clouds would spiral down and down, up until it descended into the trees, and burst into a firework of streams of water and shimmering rainbows! What a pretty sight.

Laila, feeling safe as per usual, watched the magic trick unfold, her eyes trailing to Reeve who seemed all the eager to get the horse moving around. She only barely tapped into her paranoia when the branches cracked, thinking of it nothing more than just nature doing nature things.

Still, not much was happening so...

"Thanks, Reeve, I feel super safe now!" Laila said with an innocent grin.

 

[Gary Sue]

Seeing Laila like that just reassured him. He turned around, continuing to run in the straight line they were as he finally loosened up again, after all that tension. The cloud Laila had spotted turned out to be nothing more than a fancy illusion for someone's entertainment, and it was a pretty sight for sore (and paranoid) eyes. A heavy sigh of relief escaped his mouth, closing his eyes to compose himself for a moment. "... Maybe I'm just... acting up because of the sword. Agh... It'll be fine.", he tried to comfort himself, opening his eyes to a sudden wall of flames bursting in the middle of the path and blocking it.

​

As Rivera was immediately coming to a stop, Reeve pulled on the reins and unbeknownst to them until it was much too late, the wall had made a fairly large enclosure- or cage- around the group. Now more than ever before, he was starting to get worried. Immediately jumping off their horse, he looked at Laila and took his sword out, his entire body stiffer than a statue. He took his stance as steadily as he could, glaring right into the direction where the flames sprouted from at first. "I knew it."

His suspicions were only confirmed as a cloaked figure stepped through the fire, revealing themselves alongside two more people, a taller and wider brute and a slimmer figure. With all of them hooded, it was hard to tell them apart. "Someone was watching.", he grunted and stepped in front of their mount, wanting to make sure they got the memo.

'You'll have to get through me first.'

With a look of sheer determination and some guilt weighing down on him for tangling Laila into all of this, he took slow and steady breaths, trying to clear his mind. The two figures that showed up alongside the one he assumed to be a caster took the lead, lowering their hoods. The brute wielded what looked like a buckler and a hatchet in each hand, with a cocky smile on his soft-red skin. Meanwhile, the lankier one had a darker complexion teetering on a soft purple, with wraps around his arms and a curved black dagger in his hand. His look was cold and calculated, and his dark brown eyes were trained on the knight.

"... Mercenaries? They're both trolls, so maybe from Picket Fort. That's a long way though...", the prospect of them being thieves immediately slipped their mind as they didn't look rich, and they didn't even have anything worth stealing in the first place.

Can you tell why they're here?

That's when the man with the hood from the back spoke at last. "The one with the armor. Leave the woman and the horse injured at worst, if you can.", he ordered and promptly earned a razor sharp glare from the vanguard. "Is it because we're going to Sesseth? Do they want me dead for ignoring my exile?", he tried to find some reason behind their course of action, but even if he did, that wasn't changing the fact that the two trolls were slowly making their way towards them.

"... Think. Come on."

 

[ShredKnives]

uh-oh.

Laila's expression changed instantly as a bulwark of flames surrounded their way to Sesseth. She hadn't recalled a reason why she would be at the face of this encounter, but Reeve...Well, Reeve was still a mystery to her. Judging by the look on his face, the target at hand was him.

Her eyes trailed back and forth between the two opposing forces.

Buckler, hatchet. Curved dagger. We have range advantage. They might have speed advantage. The one with the buckler is probably stronger, but if I get his center of mass slipped up, it'll give us a good fighting chance. The dagger guy...Not sure what he's capable of, though.

First step to settling a conflict was grounding down the motive. She snapped her finger, glancing to the man in the hood. Best to keep this concise, information came first.

"What do you need my bodyguard for? He hasn't done anything to either of you."

 

[Gary Sue]

As soon as Laila spoke, the other two stopped with a devious glint in their eyes as they exchanged glances, quickly looking over their shoulder at the hooded figure. "Your bodyguard?", the gravely voice asked, as all three of them let out a chuckle. The brute with the hatchet continued on his way towards Reeve, now only a few steps away from his opponent. The knight's heart was beating faster and faster, constantly switching glances between the rogue and the musclehead. "They're up to something."
A moment too late, the voice from his sword sounded in his mind too with an all-too-knowing answer.

Fire, to your right.

By the time Reeve could react, a bolt of fire was already on its way to him and got him clean on the same spot the last magic bolt he'd taken a few years prior had. It burned even through his armor, although it felt much too familiar. "Already..?", he grunted as the fire dissipated, although now he had a bigger problem charging at him.

Block up. The hatchet is your main problem.

Maybe the warning was too slow, for he could already see. He gripped his sword with both hands, slashing upwards and blocking what would have been a lethal hit on his head with the hatchet. With his blade on the opponent's weapon's handle, he was safe from the strike. As soon as the troll began to pull back from his attack though, Reeve was met with a heavier-than-expected slam in the face from the man's buckler. "..?!"

Needless to say, it caused him to stammer backwards, his vision blurring some from the impact. When he regained his footing, he could already feel something warm slowly making its way down his head. A quick touch to the wound on his forehead was enough to confirm- it was blood. Adrenaline was pumping through him as his hairs raised with a mix of dread and excitement. His fight or flight instinct was kicking in, and the brute seemed to be slowly walking over for another round.

You're going to die, boy.

"Stay quiet.", the man hissed although unwavering in keeping his eyes locked with the hatchet wielding berserker. "I changed my mind. Take the woman hostage.", the figure said and disappeared with a click of his fingers, reemerging behind the group. Now it was impossible to keep contact with all three of them, and the dagger wielding one was already making his way over to Laila, although fairly faster than the brute Reeve was having a stare-off with. "Keep still and I won't rough you up.", the rogue said with a sly smile, reaching his free hand behind him and into a pouch hoisted by his belt, although he didn't attack quite yet...

 

[ShredKnives]

"I changed my mind. Take the woman hostage."

Laila cracked her neck, withdrawing her sword.

"Keep still and I won't rough you up."

Blinding agent? Paralyzing agent? He's got something in his belt, but I can't challenge what's inside. Or can I?

Her drawn, both physically and literally, sword glimmered with a flash of red light, briefly catching Laila's eye. She didn't remember it reacting like that whenever she drew it out...

Hold on, that's killing intent... I don't want to kill the guy, though...! Damn it, but he'll take me hostage...
...
Reeve's protection comes first.

There's nothing quite as powerful as the resolution of a swordsman. "All right, bastard, I'll keep still."

Can't reach my bow in time. I'll have to go the next best thing.

Laila lifted an arrow from a quiver and tossed it into the air, snapping her fingers with extreme swiftness.

Mage Hand.

A spectral hand formulated above her hand as her onrush came quick. She dashed to the bandit's flank as the hand snatched an arrow from her quiver, responding to the inputs of her other hand while she used the sword in the other hand.

An arrow was now in the Mage Hand. It threw the arrow like a javelin at the bandit's shoulder, persuading him to evade directly into Laila's direction. Laila moved forward at the same time as the projectile's velocity, swinging forward, then back, then returning into a guarded stance.