Take Back the Crown


Hjalmar raised an eyebrow, "I sneak, steal, and rub people the wrong way." He put it rather simply, "I suppose they all saw some use for that."


"When you fight side by side with someone, the heat of battle hastens the process of trust and the earning of respect." Yaroslav retorted, "It has only been two days, but within those two days we have fought against our enemies together. I believe actions better earn trust, it has nothing to do with the length of time." He crossed him arms.
​
 
*snore*


"...Finally!" Pip said, relieved that his mind could freely think.


Gore had fallen asleep in the supply wagon while her wound healed. She had wrapped herself in a fur blanket and rested her head on a duffle bag. Pip, who was patiently awaiting the group's return, began to worry about what the imp's detrimental intentions were for them. With her wound, the danger she could carryout had decreased exponentially but once she recovered she would stop at nothing to kill the entire party. Pip knew the group could defend themselves against her attacks but could they stop her from at least one of them?


Should I give her up? he thought. Will they kill her? What about me?! I resemble an imp myself! Is it wise to reveal myself to them? Hmm... Aiding and abetting this group, to defy the Deamon Lord, is becoming a problematic endeavor. I must decide on what to do before Gore awakens from her slumber. My mind cannot think freely while she is able to use her telepathic abilities. Be vigilant Pip! Do not underestimate her. Even though she is a simpleton, she is a danger to the group the longer she remains concealed in the supply wagon... Interesting... I explained to Gore all about my decision to transgress against Kvacht's commands but she assumed that I was simply jesting. Why is that? Is she really that stupid or is there something else stirring in that sick mind of hers? Something far more sinister... Does she still have feelings for me?! How revolting!!!


Pip continued to ponder while the group searched for the crown.
 
Oceana was thankful for Yaroslav's intervention but all roads of conversation would come to the same place, she knew.


"Trial by combat" she said lowly.


Eyes dark, with a dead expression, she took a step forward. Then another.


"I challenge you Foxrun." She said


" If you prove yourself you may continue along with us. If you donnae, you will leave and never bother us again."


Her daggers hissed from their sheaths.


Somewhere in the back of her mind, the elf knew that this was foolish. Her destiny was to guard the princess, not to be some gatekeeper.


But that voice was small in comparison to the anger welling inside.


After all that has happened already he dare try to trick us? Try to belittle the bond we already share, forged in the heat of battle?


She ground her teeth together and roared.


"RAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"


Charging up a broken pillar she kicked off of it to rocket towards the fey, slashing right where his face would have been.


If he hadn't dodged.


@GalacticRam @Lo Alyssa
 
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Foxrun grinned "thief? How interesting! This group has many intriguing people in it for sure. " He then nodded "true. Spilling blood tends to strengthen bonds. But it can just as easily ruin them in certain cases. Although it seems that has not happened here. Surprising for such capacity." He remarked, then suddenly heard the low voice of the seething elven glaring at him. "What? Combat?" His brows furrowed, not expecting this in the least "I have no want for th-" but as soon as she had uttered the words, she flung herself at him. He saw the blade that would have connected with his face, if not for a single step back, just out of her reach. He then reached out and tapped point of the blade that narrowly missed him. "You're fast." He grinned then took another step back. "I'll let you try again if you like?"


@OlKaJa77 @Lo Alyssa
 
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Valeiah rolled her eyes. She had just asked the guy to prove it because she wanted to know what he could do, but Oceana was going full out with the blades and everything. "I think you're going a little far. Is that really necessary?"


@OlKaJa77
 
Oceana simply seethed even more. It was rare that she was mired so deep in her own anger. Her senses were going numb, nothing left but the flames eating her from the inside.


She couldn't even speak.


This dance kept going.


She was constantly slashing, stabbing, kicking. Anything to quench the fire within. But only tears could do it.


Or blood.


Suddenly there was a memory flashing before her.


Blood dripping from her mouth as she lay there, looking up at the one she had loved, betrayal in her cerulean eyes. All around was fire.


And death.


Death....


Death.


Death!!!!


The flashback ended, Oceana's anger dissipated and left her to her senses again.


She immediately threw up her food from that morning.


Falling to her knees she started to lose consciousness.


The... Bás...


One last look up told of Foxrun still standing, impervious to the thick miasma of despair, as ever...


@GalacticRam @Danika @Lo Alyssa.


(She's not dying. Just unconscious. Both Valeiah and Thora would be able to tell that)
 
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Thora quickly knelt by Oceana's side. It wasn't hard to sense that the elf was still alive (she hadn't been overwhelmed by the presence of death). She glanced up at Yaro and stated in her usual soft tone, "We should get her out of here." Now, Thora was no doctor, but she knew from personal experience that when the surrounding environment's energy/magic/bas was so negative, it makes it much harder to heal. The longer Oceana was in this place, the more likely her chances of returning to normal quickly faded away.


(I figured this was okay? @Lo Alyssa @OlKaJa77
 
"Well isn't there still bad energy outside? It's not gonna make much of a difference." Valeiah crossed her arms. "If she gets worse, I don't have a doubt that Svetlana could fix it. She's pretty powerful."


@plasticlizard022
 
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Foxrun huffed "thank you!" @Danika before realizing that the barrage of furious hits had finally stopped. He cautiously stepped forward , then quickly back when she hurled on the ground. His eyes met hers when she glanced up at him and he felt a hint of confusion from the emotion held in them. Then guilt for pushing her when she had already been stretched so thin from everything. When she collapsed he hesitantly moved forward. "If it amounts to anything, I didn't want this." He spoke quieter before watching others come to the lady that had tirelessly swung at him. Yet he had the feeling if she really had intent to harm him, he wouldn't be in as good of a state as he was.


@OlKaJa77 @plasticlizard022 @Danika
 
Dorian had been watching the scene with annoyance and interest. 'This group is the definition of dysfunctional. We are all going to die.' He thought sarcastically, before swooping down to land besides the elf, curious about how she was doing. He would not admit that he was a little concerned.
 

(Collaborating with

@Queen of Fantasy again!)




When the elf fell, Hjalmar had quickly jumped out of his seat, catching her head before she hit the hard stone floor. He sighed in relief, and then helped turn her over. Although he knew she wouldn't appreciate it, he let her head rest in his lap.


"Alright, alright, the party is over." Yaroslav said, shoving some people aside so he could look her over. "There is not much we can do." He said after checking her vitals, "This is not caused by a physical wound, nor the dark magic of this place. My grandmother still has that barrier up, remember... The best thing we can do right now is wait. I am sure they are almost finished down there, we will just have to hold out until they return."





@OlKaJa77 @GalacticRam @Danika




~




Lucasta slowly strode forward and apprehensively placed her hand on the symbol. A chime filled the air at her touch, and the symbol glimmered and resonated, the room slightly shook as the door pushed back and slid into the floor. A tear fell from her eye as she entered the opening, Svetlana smiled triumphantly. The group entered the dark room, but as Lucasta pressed forward, the carvings on the walls lit up at her arrival, illuminating the chamber. In the center there stood a marble pedestal, and as the carving on the ceiling lit up, it cast a beam of light upon the silver gleaming crown that sat upon the surface. Untouched for a decade.


She tentatively approached the pedestal in unbelief, her hands shaking from both excitement and anxiety. She took short quiet breaths as she plucked the crown from its resting place. She smiled, tears brimmed her eyelids. But as she examined the crown, her smile morphed into a frown.


"What is wrong?" Svetlana asked in concern, this would be a bad time for things to go wrong. The princess turned to the old woman, her eyes still set on the crown. She was quiet for a moment, but the object she held could answer her question alone, "... The gemstones are missing." She said quietly, in defeat, "... Our journey was all in vain." All that work and for what? The crown was useless without the boons of the six tribes. She leaned against the pedestal, hanging her head in hopelessness. Something fell to the floor as she rested her hand on the pedestal for support, catching the eye of the princess who quickly scurried to pick it up. She opened it and only found what seemed to be incomprehensible scribbles. Her brow furrowed together as she squinted at the page, trying to understand what it meant.


"Did you find something?" Svetlana asked.


"I do not know..." Lucasta responded, "I do not understand this..."


Svetlana gently took the parchment from Lucasta's hand, looking it over. She cracked a wide smile, "It was not all in vain, princess." She said looking up at the distressed royal, "This is the ancient language of Algoran." She looked down at it again, reading its contents aloud, "If ever the crown is threatened, you must cast the stones away. Return them to their rightful places, the forges from whence they were made."


"There's still a problem." Lucasta retorted, "I have no idea where those places are!"


Svetlana smiled even wider, "But I do." She said, folding the paper again, "You forget I was there 200 years ago. Although I do not know their exact locations, I do know where the six tribes once dwelled. That should be enough for us to find them."


Lucasta thought about it. This meant their journey was far from over, she had expected to find the crown still intact after all those years, but perhaps that was too easy. "Let us discuss it with the rest of the group." She finally spoke, placing the crown protectively in her satchel. Before she could go up the stairs, Svetlana stopped her. "Allow me to at least place an enchantment around it." She started, pointing at the bag, "So that it can be protected even when separated from you." Lucasta nodded, and the old woman mumbled a few words, the bag slightly glowed in response.


They ascended the stairs to find the rest of their group in a sorry state. Svetlana growled, "What happened now?" She asked, striding over to check on their fallen comrade. She crouched by her and began her work, trying to clear her mind of whatever was ailing her, guiding it away with her magic. Obviously, the lass would still need rest, but Svetlana hoped to help alleviate her suffering. "I will ask again." She said, eyeing the group as whole, not just the stranger, "What happened?"
​
 
'Apparently elves like to randomly challenge people to trial by combat.Is it a win if the person you're fighting passes out by themselves? Because if so, Foxrun won.' Dorian sent to Svetlana.


@Lo Alyssa
 
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Foxrun eyed the others before deciding to take a seat a few feet from them. "She's tough. Too tough to admit she needed a moment of peace I take it?" Then there was Svetlana. Her voice held a tone that sounded like scolding towards each of them. He tried to hide a slight smile with his hand as the other girl bluntly explained it. "Uh I didn't touch her. Something just," he paused to think of how to describe it. "Just something came over her almost? And as soon as it did, it was replaced by something else?" He shook his head, unsure of what had even come over her at the end. Seeing again her eyes, pooling with so many clashing emotions.


@Lo Alyssa @Danika @OlKaJa77
 
*snore*


"Gore!" the stone imp, who was still seated on the wagon seat, called out to the wounded imp.


"Err! Huh!" the imp captain muttered, annoyed that her wonderful dreams of her sister hand been interrupted.


She stuck her head from out of the supplies that covered her and squinted at Pip in frustration.


Yawning loudly, she grunted, "What's up?"


"I have a plan!" Pip said with a phony smile.


"A plan! Now ya talking! What's the plan?"


Pip enunciated his words slowly to keep his mind from revealing its true intentions to Gore's telepathy. This task proved relatively easy since Gore was happy to here Pip had finally decided to help her. She was worried that Pip's previous words about betrayal might actually had been genuine.


The stone imp, still maintaining his façade, explained, "Envision the two of us attacking the group directly. What would happen?"


"We would slaughter them all!" Gore said with a gleeful grin.


"Ah- no... We would be slain."


"Nuh-uh!" the imp captain said with a shake of her wings at the thought of failing.


"Yes we would... Having your strength and my intellect will not suffice. We may defeat one, possibly two, but the many who remain will surely neutralize our revenge for your sister. Do you not want to destroy the group entirely? Our imp brethren will not be satisfied with one death!"


Gore scratched her head and said, "That's right! I didn't think about that. Well, what can we do?"


"Do you remember the tale of the goblin general Hish?"


"Yes!" Gore gleamed up at Pip. "I loved that story! He was the one who slayed one hundred elves single-handedly by making them think he was on their side. They didn't know he really was working for Kvacht as a spy... Wait! That's what we can do! You're a smart one Pip! Let's make them think that we want to help! We'll make some sob story up and join their group. Once they trust us, we'll kill the lot! My sister's death will be avenged! None of them are getting away from us Pip!"


The bloodthirsty imp chuckled to herself as she went back to sleep among the supplies. Pip's frown return, marking the ended his deception. Thankful that Gore would not attack the group, for now, he knew that the next phase of his plan had to be formed soon. The stone imp transformed back into stone and waited on top of the wagon for the party to return. He would reveal himself when the time was right!
 
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Ayda wanted to smash her head into a wall due to Oceana's and Foxrun's bickering. She had been quietly watching them from the back for a while, and was hesitant to interrupt them, but was spurred into action when Oceana passed out, immediately running to her side.


"U-uh H-Hjalmar! I'll take care of her... I... I..." Ayda trailed off, uncomfortable around Hjalmar after he tried to steal their belongings.


@Lo Alyssa @OlKaJa77 @GalacticRam
 

"Well, someone's rather overly protective." He countered, raising his eyebrows. It was no use trying to hide her discomfort from him, it was rather clear on her face, "Next time I'll just let her head hit the ground since my preventing a head injury makes you so uncomfortable." He added sarcastically. Can't do anything right, he thought to himself.


"Please don't crowd me." Svetlana said shaking her head, continuing her work. She glanced up at Lucasta, "Besides, the princess has some news for you all..."


@QueenSaiko
​
 
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Lucasta sighed at the chaos everywhere. She needed to get everyone's attention. She waved her hands, and yelled. "Excuse me! Excuse me!" She said as loud as she could. "Oceana is hurt, and you are all bickering! You all volunteered to help me on this journey. You are now a team, and I expect you all to treat each other as such." She crossed her arms, meaning business. "If this happened when Kvacht was here, I think we'd be terribly lost." She stated. She opened her satchel, pulling out the silver crown. "Look. This is the crown we came for." She presented the relic to everyone. "But--" she started. "Our journey is only beginning. The gemstones are missing, and we have to travel to each tribe to get them back." She put the crown back into her bag, then took a deep breath. "I urge you to treat each other fairly from now on. I do not want to see bickering again, do I make myself clear?" She walked over to the wagon, and leaned against it. "If you don't think you can keep yourself from arguing, you might as well leave now, or else we'll all perish."

​
 
'If Kvacht was here, we would all be dead.' Dorian commented in his thoughts, annoyed that in his hawk shape he could not roll his eyes.


Garrett only stayed quiet and decided that he did miss the orderly way soldiers acted in the city.
 
Foxrun stayed quiet. Had they just included him in this then? He couldn't help but almost beam from the mere thought of it. Yet as the princess spoke up and displayed such care about everything, he felt a heavier guilt hang on him. She was completely right and had just made them look like foolish children. He frowned slightly. He played a fool at times, but to actually become one felt rather nasty. Resisting the urge to poke at people until they boiled over would be something he could no longer do. He felt the need apologize to the princess now, so in fact he did. For perhaps the first time since he showed up, he sounded as serious as he looked. "I apologize for causing your company unease. And then persisting to cause ill situations. I could have handled it much friendlier I'm sure." He even went as far to bow to her "if you allow it, I will make it up to you and earn the respect mentioned while you were gone, as well as the forgiveness I hope you will show."


@Queen of Fantasy
 
(sorry for the late reply, was giving Galaxy a bath <3 )


"S-sorry...Do... Do you want to me to take care of her now?" Ayda said quietly, unsure on wether or not she upset Hjalmar.


"I'm...."


@Lo Alyssa
 
Oceana, meanwhile was having a dream of the past.


It was a calm day in the Elvglenn, the trees whispered in the breeze and the sun dappled through the canopy dancing on the forest floor.


The young elf was with her father, having a quick lunch after a morning of tiring smithing.


Earlier that day, the raven-haired lass had burnt a bow of a rare and unfamiliar wood; electrum bark, while trying to craft.


Ashamed and down-trodden, the elf of sixteen summers picked at her bread mournfully.


Her father, red-haired and built, noticed and stared at her with gentle green eyes.


"You shouldnae be so


lionn dubh, so down, little one"


Oceana frowned even harder, tucking a strand of hair behind one pinnacled ear, turning to look at him.


"But I fai-!"


"Oceana" her father interrupted harshly before his expression softened. "It was a simple mistake-"


"But-!"


"Are you so proud as to believe yourself to be as the gods, then? Perfect in every way?" He cut in again. His daughter shut her mouth and looked away, face red with shame.


Once again his baritone voice took on a softer cadence.


"There will always be times where we misstep and take tumbles. But we just have to get up." Here his eyes sparkled,


"Because what lies beyond those mistakes is what, Oceana?"


"Nobwhledj" she huffed into her hugged knees, hiding her face.


"What lies beyond?" Her father asked again, louder, laughter clear in his voice, prodding her in the side.


Oceana was extremely irked by this and swatted his hand away before shouting


"Knowledge!"


Her father guffawed and crushed her in a hug she tried to squirm out of.


"That's my girl! My Sea bee!"


"Papa!"


"My Oceana!"





Oceana


Oceana...


"Oceana. It's time to wake up"





Oceana awoke, eyes flying open before filling with tears.
 
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"I think that we should finally leave this place. It's not worth it to stay behind only to drain ourselves." Garrett suggested, speaking to the princess.


@Queen of Fantasy
 
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