Fantasy Hideout (Accepting Again)

[Lighthouse8477]

Silently Oliver walked out of the palace. He gave up. Mostly because they were guards searching every nook and crany in their. He sighed then walked up to a stall bought some fruit then looked around. He saw a small girl being led to a hanging her hands bound. His heart went out to her and he moved like lighting. Twirling his staff he shot two light balls. Whap, thud. Both guards fell over out. Oliver knelt by the girl and stated, "My name's Oliver come with me."

 

[Pashpu]

Voices...voices...coming from the kitchen hallway! The guard barged in, slamming the door open. Empty. There was no onein the kitchen...or were there? The guard walked down steadily down the main isles, his feet making heavy thumping noises on the kitchen floor. He scanned his eyes everywhere. Opened every possible drawer. Nothing. Had he imagined the voices?


The guard walked out of the kitchen, and reported to his associates. "The kitchen is clear."


"Good," replied another guard. "Then we've searched the entire first floor." Just then another guard came running up.


"There is absolutely nothing in the dungeons and their surrounding corridors," the new guard panted. "We have concluded our search there."


"Then we will conclude our search of those areas," said the head guard. "Tomorrow we will search the nobles' rooms and the upper levels of the castle. Not beyond some of those idiot nobles to take pity on a young thief...You men have worked hard. Those of you not working on the late night shift, go home and get a good sleep. It is already almost morning." And with that, the head guard signaled them to disband. He wanted to keep up the appearance of being a kind and logical boss. But on the inside, he was extremely frustrated. How do they do it? How the hell did those stupid kids do it?!





@VioletShadow @rusticyawn @NeverBetter @Hana Koen

 

[Miss Mack]

Marlyine sat behind a bunch of crates, covering her mouth with her hand as the footsteps of the guards slowly disappeared. She released her mouth and gasped, coughing for air as she slowly stood up, biting her lip and looking around. If a guard caught her in here she would be executed, or banished from the kingdom. Marlyine rubbed the back of her neck, thinking. She needed to find the other orphans in the castle. The one word of advice before her mother was sold was to look for the thieving orphans of the castle which sounds like nothing, but it might actually save her life. She slowly walked around the kitchen and into a dark and small hallway, looking for any of the orphans.

 

[Rustic]

uzoma sterk

uzoma listens to aliana, letting their hair sort of shyly hide their face. they aren't quite sure how to respond, and for a while, they try to just continue what they were doing, their head buzzing with thoughts of things to say and nothing really clicking. "think of that situation as repayment." they give a small nod as they go. "alright," they finally muster. it's short, but warm, and it's really all they can manage, and they almost feel a little embarrassed about the fact.


time seems to pass quickly, after that, and they don't notice it when ali manages to get up so closely to them, fork in hand. at first, they're a little confused by the gesture, and it takes them a moment to process it. slowly, their confused expression turns into a smile, and they sheepishly take the fork for themselves, appraising for the cake themselves. and god, it was even better then the taste they'd had of it before. they weren't even sure they'd had anything like it before - it tasted somewhat fruity and... airy? they can't help but laugh at the strangeness of it all, putting their arm up against their mouth as they try not to be too loud about their enjoyment.


"it's really good!" they manage, wiping away a few stray tears of joy as they let the taste linger in their mouth. they do their best to enjoy and chew it all for as long as they can, and when they're finally finished, they look back to ali, overjoyed and almost unable to meet her eyes. "t-thank you," they suddenly say, a stray laugh catching in between their words. they compose themself quickly, though they still struggle to contain their silly smile. "i... i don't really regret coming." even their dark complexion starts to go a little red, so they quickly turn away, continuing to finish up.


when it came around to the bags, uzoma wasn't really wasn't really sure what to think, but they didn't have time to object before the two of them were suddenly interrupted. aliana suddenly leap into action, securing their stolen goods and telling them to hide. they went as quickly as they could, doing the absolute first thing they could think to do - jump into the first space that would hold them. they crammed themself into a space between the cabinets and the oven and waited.


light footsteps, not unfamiliar to the ones from earlier seem to hurry through the wide space, zooming through and stopping just as soon as they come. was that... it? no - without warning, a loud, large pair begin stomping through, authoritatively slamming each cabinet as they go through, checking every possible space. uzo's anxiety shot up as they came, closer and slowly closer towards them. they cursed everything, prayed to every god, and held their breath.


and as slowly as they came, they slowly began to pass. once uzo was sure it was safe, they breathed an audible sigh of relief, the tension suddenly leaving them. they start to climb out of their small hiding spot, only barely making out a white mess of hair darting out from a pile of empty crating. it takes them a second to realize it, but they come to the conclusion that that must've been the lighter footsteps that had entered not long before. they had only just barely made it out and judging from their stature, they couldn't have been a fully grown person. was that... another orphan?


"ali!" uzo suddenly whispers, pointing to the direction of the door. they're not sure if ali quite understands what they're getting at, but they know that it can't wait - without another word, uzo dashes through the door. that girl had just left through the same door they'd entered through, and if the guards were still on duty, they were in trouble. "stop!" they try to call out to the running girl, unsure if she would hear them in time.

mentions

@VioletShadow @Miss Mack

 

[Miss Mack]

Marlyine froze in the middle of the small hallway, hearing somebody yelling at her to stop. But it sounded faint, so she turned around and was surprised to see people running towards her. She let out a breath, glad that they weren't guards. Marlyine bit her lip and pressed herself against the wall, trying to hide from the guards passing in front of the door. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins as the fear set in. I've crystals began to form around her fingers which were touching the wall, leaving a sheet of ice. Marlyine looked around frantically, guards outside near her left and strange people on her right. She needed to find the orphans of the castle. Now.


@rusticyawn

 

[NeverBetter]

@NeverBetter
Cafurn, out of instinct, used his back legs and tried to kick the human like a horse or donkey before using his arms to leap forward. The collision barely had any effect on him. The swords slightly cut him causing him to slightly bleed, even though Cafurn didnt feel it, he smelled it. The creature released a long howl to try to summon the creatures of the forest. "Human, the forest will have your head!"

"The forest will not have my head, because I'm what you failed to be: A Monster. Now. Fear me!" A gutteral cry erupted from Derik's throat, booming through the woods as the stroke of his blades landed the strike on the beast's hip. The leaves above trembled with the force of his cry. The mule-kick slammed Derik, an attack he wasn't too prepared for.


"So you're finally gonna fight me, eh? " he yelled, coming off of the attack's initial shock. "If you're going to fight me, at least hit harder." They were both back to neutral movement positions, this won't end well for either of them if he dragged it out. But what fun would it be now that it grew a spine?


Derik dropped his swords on the ground, bringing his hands up just below his eyes, his feet began rocking back and forth. Even with the movement stopped, the pacing was in his favor. Derik had found his rhythm.


"Let's go."


An explosion of movement came from Derik as he rushed in towards Cafurn, Derik's left drawn in at a nintey degree angle to Cafurn's skull as Derik came in for the attack. His knee dipped inwards as Derik threw the punch: a left hook right to the underneath of the jaw as he extended his leg once again for extra speed and power. The move is known as the Gazelle Punch.


Immediately following this, a right uppercut chained in the combo, straight to where the kidneys should be about: a kidney punch.


Derik's body followed the movement of each swing with his head, his body began to make a circling motion, almost like a figure eight...

 

[StoneWolf18]

Shaking her head, she responded in an exhausted tone. "No...I don't need you bleeding to death." Vera took a large breath, despite it being unnecessary it was more of a comforting thing. Making her way towards him she grit her teeth before raising the slash on his wrist toward her mouth. "I can't make any promises, who knows what I'll do once I begin. Never been this low on blood before." After finishing her sentence, the woman then began to suck a bit awkwardly.


As soon as the first drops of blood hit her tongue, the vampire's willpower was immediately tested. Her fangs wanted to release, the urge to bite down was absolutely terrible. It was a painfully slow process as well.


@Khaz (I'll let you decide if he gets infected in anyway or not. ^^)

 

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

@NeverBetter


Well, if vanishing after such a clear order to stop in your tracks wasn't a sign of some form of guilt, Rija didn't know what was. She took off down the hallway after the kid. Minimizing presence was one thing, but Rija had been trained to keep the royals safe from expert assassins. It was unlikely any kid would be able to escape her gaze. She rounded corner after corner, her eyes open. Brown, movement. Finally, Rija stopped for a moment. This wasn't going as well as she wanted it to. So... The soldier took off her armor. He wanted to play it quiet, then so would she. She deposited her suit in a nearby broom closet, then took off once more, speed increased. And if she hit the floor just right... There. Practically noiseless. She wasn't the best at this, but decent enough. Rija rounded a corner and caught another sight of brown movement, low to the ground, into a shadow. Rija pulled a knife from her waistband and threw it, aiming for the ground beside where she had just seen him. "Running will not help you. I can. I will not hurt you, if anyone else had been the one to catch you, that knife would have gone through your skull instead. Listen to me, tell me who you are, where your friends are, and I will perform to the most of my ability to get you all someplace safe. Deal?"

 

[Lighthouse8477]

Silently Oliver led the girl down streets and alleys into a dark store. His store actually which hadn't any visitors. Apparently wizards for hire weren't needed. He knelt and asked, "What's your name?"


"Ada." Replied the girl softly obviously scared. Oliver smiled and stated, "Don't worry I will take care of you. Take this." He handed her a small staff and whispered, "This will give you the power to manipulate water it only has to be near and you have to be magical so I want you to try to manipulate this water right here." He then stopped and grabbed the staff from Ada's hand and whispered, "Actually on second thought let's wait." He was sensing something.

 

[KhazTheGiraffe]

Jun had never felt such a strange sensation as Vera pressed her lips against his arm. He could feel his blood leaving his body, and that he was growing weaker. He smiled at the thought that he was having a vampire drink his blood, he couldn't wait to tell the younger kids, they would never belief him. After a very, very long few minutes he started to feel light headed.


"Ok Vera, I think that's enough for now." He said a little unsteady, not sure if s was going to detach.


@StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

As Jun asked her to stop, Vera attempted to pull his arm away.


Key word: attempted


Her arm didn't respond to the request, remaining fixed in place as more blood was taken. She could feel the muscles in his arms relax as the lack of blood weakened him, though nothing she did would allow her to release her grip.


@Khaz

 

[KhazTheGiraffe]

Jun didn't want to shove her in fear of getting saliva in his cut or causing her to accidentally bite him. Instead he looked around for inspiration for an idea. Black dots started to cloud his vision. He started to see the light. Literally. The early morning sunlight was creeping into the streets. In a last stitch effort, Jun dragged Vera and thrust himself and her into the faint light.


@StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

As she was dragged Vera was a bit confused until the faint rays fell upon her skin. Detaching herself from him, she gave a startled cry (which was a bit of choking, hissing, and gargling) before stepping into the shadows of a building. Bringing a hand up to the side of her neck that had been burned, it was only a bit red due to the intensity of the light. But it still had burning as if she had begun roasting her hand over an open flame. Looking to Jun, her face rather emotionless though her eyes flooded with embarrassment she responded slowly. "Sorry...about that..."


@Khaz

 

[NeverBetter]

@NeverBetter[/URL]
Well, if vanishing after such a clear order to stop in your tracks wasn't a sign of some form of guilt, Rija didn't know what was. She took off down the hallway after the kid. Minimizing presence was one thing, but Rija had been trained to keep the royals safe from expert assassins. It was unlikely any kid would be able to escape her gaze. She rounded corner after corner, her eyes open. Brown, movement. Finally, Rija stopped for a moment. This wasn't going as well as she wanted it to. So... The soldier took off her armor. He wanted to play it quiet, then so would she. She deposited her suit in a nearby broom closet, then took off once more, speed increased. And if she hit the floor just right... There. Practically noiseless. She wasn't the best at this, but decent enough. Rija rounded a corner and caught another sight of brown movement, low to the ground, into a shadow. Rija pulled a knife from her waistband and threw it, aiming for the ground beside where she had just seen him. "Running will not help you. I can. I will not hurt you, if anyone else had been the one to catch you, that knife would have gone through your skull instead. Listen to me, tell me who you are, where your friends are, and I will perform to the most of my ability to get you all someplace safe. Deal?"

Faster.


He has to move faster... Aha! Carpet ahead. He could use one of his few special tecniques! Carpeting ahead, he just needed to get far enough ahead-and then the sound of metal striking ground. Was that a knife?


Sandrew looked back. Whoever it was, they had thrown a knife at him. He could hear words come from her, but he just couldn't process them: his mind was drunk of adrenaline. "A-A knife...?" Sandrew muttered. "They threw a knife at me!" He thought, trying to understand what happened. No time. Run.


Run.


Run!


Fifteen minutes had passed. He just needed to reach the carpet, then he could make it for the next fifteen. He could do it!


Twenty feet.


Ten feet.


Gotta go faster!

 

[Hana Koen]

The boy continued to walk forward with the child still in his arms as she began to slump in his embrace. His eyes noticing the breaking of dawn when he was almost there as he continued with arms that began to shake. It was a wonder that he hadn't tripped or made the child walk. As he looked at the peaceful expression, he sighed as he continued to carry her all the way with a strained effort.


Hah.Haa.Hah. His breathe came out in short as he finally reached the room. But stopped in the middle of knocking as he internally thought of how he would explain this. Was it normal for this child or would it look like a failed attempt at something.


Lucian clenched his hand as he forced himself to knock delicately at the door. Almost jumping when it swung open just as quickly and a women stared down at him rather grumpily.


"Your ladyship." He greeted as he tried to figure out how to follow the usual formalities without dropping the child. "I'm sorry for interrupting your sleep." Lucian continued as he gave a nod of apology since he was sorry but more for himself than anything. The desire to run was strong as she stared down at him a little longer than he thought was necessary before she grumbled and asked him to come in. Almost stumbling as he tried to follow her instructions and placed her daughter down.


Running would be nice but running would easily complicate the situation that he kind of willingly put himself in.


...............


Carita paused as she blinked a few times at the sight before her with exasperation and immediately turned around. "Bring her in." She stated as she pointed to a lump of blankets that made what looked to be a cocoon in the corner. "Lay her there. Carefully." Carita easily added as she let out a yawn before making the sign for 'be right back'.


She easily went to wash up as she felt the cool splash of the basin and let down her messy bun. Her coral eyes becoming sharper as the coolness helped to ruse her from her half-asleep state. Hands brushing through her hair as she returned to her main room with a easy smile to the boy who was still standing awkwardly.


The women then threw herself on the bed as she proceeded to light a candle as to make the room brighter.


"And what brings such an adorable child as yourself here?" Carita practically cooed to the boy as she patted the seat beside her. She takes note of the boy's hesitance as he slowly took a seat beside her much to her delight. "But I guess it isn't too hard to figure out." Mutters Carita as she proceeds to laugh and poke at him calling him a shy sweetheart and can't help but enjoy his well hidden mortification.


"I'm sorry if I speak out of turn, my lady but I found your daughter wandering the halls." He proceeds to blush lightly as if embarrassed by something and she can't help but find it amusing. "I wanted to go to sleep but I couldn't leave her alone." The boy proceeds to look down as if guilty of something but so far he had said the truth but his movements strike her as odd.


"And why were you out so late?" She decided to ask in return as she took note of his golden brown eyes giving her a glance when he thought she wasn't paying attention.


"I-I was visiting an acquaintance." Responded the boy and she couldn't help but want to laugh as she teased that maybe it was an enemy. "Not an enemy. Why would you think that?" His eyes searched hers as she came to a conclusion that it was a friend as she smiled wider at the fact. Though she wasn't a big fan of the suspicion but that was justified.


"No reason. It was a joke, a joke. No one seems to get jokes nowadays." Carita grinned with a throw up of her hands as she proceeded to headlock him briefly. Pretending, she didn't see him stiffen she quickly handed him a small pouch calling it his reward. "This is the second time she went missing." It happened several times before. "I would greatly appreciate if you would please take this as compensation for your troubles. As I know you should probably head back to your duties." Wouldn't want you to be caught she thought.


She waved as the boy easily took his que to leave and watched as the door shut with a light click as she slowly lowered her hand as they ran through her hair before screaming into a pillow as to not wake up her child. She then jumped up giddily as she did a few spins in anticipation before going to her wardrobe. Her eyes becoming serious as she changed and sighed at the list of things she needed to do. But it didn't damper her mood like usual as she sat straighter with a look to her child. Little Yvene took a liking to Lucian and she couldn't help but be endeared.


"He looks just like his father." She whispered to herself as she tried to calm down once again.


Don't get too attached she reprimanded herself as she went over to her daughter. Pecking her cheek before calling for a maid. Once the maid had come, she left the room just as Yvene's caretaker came for the day.

 

[Arty]

Kais had arrived at a small clearing, and sat down by a tree, yawning, then falling to sleep. He dreamed of his perfect utopia, free of all evil... a peaceful society... With nothing... He lived alone... in a house... in a kingdom...

 

[KhazTheGiraffe]

"No I'm sorry for hurting you. I knew the risk when i offered." He smiled at her and wrapped his arm with a piece of fabric. He stepped back into the shadow's with Vera.


"Do you need anymore blood because we should head back before the whole place is lit." He put his arm is on her shoulder.


@StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

She sighed."The blood flowed at an excruciatingly slow place, meaning I only got enough to gather myself before I'll need quite a bit more. But, we should head back. Knowing that the guards are aware of the orphans makes me nervous..."


@Khaz

 

[Rustic]

uzoma sterk

uzoma panted, exhausted from the whole experience of the night. nearly getting caught by the guards, chasing after a stranger? they weren't expecting this when they'd gotten home earlier this evening. even weirder, as uzo tried to catch up with the strange girl, they saw a line of ice steadily climb across the wall. oh boy. as soon as they caught the flash of white hair again, they still immediately decided to try again. "we're not your enemy! stop!"


uzo looks ahead, realizing that the guards are just past her. they give her one last frantic look. if she keep running, uzo wasn't sure the two of them could follow - they were both exhausted and the two of them surely couldn't get past all of them. uzo gritted their teeth. "this way!" they shout, their only hope being that the stranger would heed them this time.

mentions

@Miss Mack

 

[Miss Mack]

Marlyine looked at the two and whispered, "Take me to the orphans. Please." The fear was very evident in her voice. Her body was shaking with adrenaline which forced her hands to pull away from the wall with a soft crack as the ice broke. "Please. I don't want the guards to kill me." Marlyine said, her voice shaking as she stumbled towards the people. She kept begging, praying to whomever might be above.


@rusticyawn

 

[Rustic]

uzoma sterk

uzoma blinked, looking over to aliana who was not far behind for a moment, before turning back to the girl, their hands gently moving towards her own. "it's all right," they say softly, giving nervous glances over to the guards and then back at ali. the girl was obviously in bad shape, scared out of her mind and god knew what else. it scared uzo, a little, and for a moment, they struggle to find the words to comfort her. "t-thats why we're here, we-"


they can't even finish their thought before a sharp noise breaks their train of concentration somewhere near the three, and in the spur of the moment, uzo quickly takes her hand in theirs. they're shaking themselves now, her fear feeding into uzo's own, but they know they have to get going. "we'll help." their hand in hers, they try to take off.

mentions

@Miss Mack

 

[Miss Mack]

Marlyine stood there, taking short and raspy breaths as they spoke to her, holding her hands. There was so much fear... Within them all. She heated the sharp noise and gasped, dropping her head and trying to drown it out, but when she felt them tugging on her hand Marlyine stumbled forward. She soon began to follow them having no idea where she was going, but she simply followed where her hand was pulled.

 

[Rustic]

uzoma sterk

all right. this was good. the three of them were at least going now. uzoma knew that they are aliana were likely at their limit already, and from the girl they were leading out, she made a third, but as long as they made it back home, everything would be fine. that's at least what they told themselves as they pushed their legs past their sensible limit, struggling a little as tried to run as fast as the girl following behind would allow.


once they stumbled back through the kitchen, aliana and uzoma immediately went to work, picking up the valuable stash they'd almost left behind. uzo was a little reluctant to let go of the girl's hand - she seemed as if she'd float off like a balloon if they did - but they gently drop her hand from their grasp as they get their things back together. uzo knew that vera wasn't likely to take kindly to hearing that they'd gone out after what she had said earlier, but going out and not having anything to show for it would be unthinkable. well, something other than another mouth to feed, anyway.


"you're good, ali?" uzoma calls over, and she gives a nod in affirmation, seeming to grin as she takes the bigger bag over her shoulder. uzo sighs, but gives a good-natured laugh. they didn't really have the time to argue about which of them should take it, so they leave it in her competent hands. as they tie their share together and delicately sling it back over their shoulder, they look over to their mysterious stranger.


"will... you be okay to follow me the rest of the way?" uzo asks delicately. they aren't sure whether or not she's fully there right now, and they don't really blame her. suddenly being run down by a group of strangers after running for your life sounded like a pretty chaotic experience. "we shouldn't be too much longer... our base isn't that far if we run this way, and the guards should be pretty nonexistent on that stretch at this time of night." they aren't entirely sure if they're right about it, and ali doesn't seem to interject, either because it was just a good thing to say, or it's a genuinely good assessment of the situation. either way...

mentions

@Miss Mack

 

[KhazTheGiraffe]

The pair start to run lightly towards the entrance to the corridors. Jun could feel how little energy he had from his lack of sleep, his incredibly exciting night, and the little amount of blood he was running on. They reached the grate that lead to their little home, and he pulled it back. He hopped in and landed lightly on his feet. As he walked down the corridor he realized that there was almost no one home, they must all be out exploring, he thought. He didn't have much time to think about where they all might be because his legs were starting to give out. Before he could collapse, he grabbed a piece of bread and some water. He needed to get some energy back into his system before he fainted.


@StoneWolf18

 

[Miss Mack]

Marlyine clumsily walked along with the person back to the kitchen. She watched them and then bit her lip, following once again after they picked up a package. "Are we going to where the orphans are?" She asked softly, rubbing the skin on the back of her hand gently. Marlyine watched and kept following the person, fairly confused as to who they were and where they were going.