Take Back the Crown

[Lo Alyssa]

Yaroslav raised an eyebrow at the tall man when he called him by his grandmother's pet name. But he probably didn't realize that, so Yaro shrugged it off, "My reasons are the same as anyone's, I suppose." He grunted, heaving himself over a large rock in their way, "When I was young, I had seen Kvacht in person. At least I did not know him all that well, like my grandmother did. This quest... it is more personal for us." He said looking back at him before scanning the area again for possible enemies, "Why did you join?" He decided to return the question.


@soundofmind





Hjalmar greedily took the flask from her hand, chugging down as much as he could fit into his mouth at one time, water dripped from his chapped lips down to his chin. For someone who just drowned, it was ironic he didn't come up for air until the flask was emptied. He gasped as he swallowed the last of it, wiping his mouth and leaning his head back in exhaustion. He had slept all day, and yet he felt like he hadn't slept at all.


"I..." He struggled to figure out how to answer the princess without raising suspicion. Not only did he understand what the daemon was saying, it also spared his life. What would they think if anyone found out? They'd think he was a spy, or something like that... no, he couldn't tell them.


"I don't know..." He lied through his teeth, "I just remember being pulled into the water, and then darkness."


@Queen of Fantasy
​

 

[soundofmind]

He had seen the question coming, but it still caught him a bit by surprise. If he was honest with himself, he came without much of a plan - simply following a gut feeling that it was the right thing to do. The reasons he began to figure out later, when he found they were not only useful, but necessary, to keep going. "Well... I heard word of it from an old friend of mine, but I didn't really get specifics. So my actual going to the tavern..." he rolled his hand around in a circle expressively, pursing his lips into an unimpressed frown as he realized what actually happened. "It was more of me acting on a whim. I wish it was as simple as me wanting to help with the mission of saving Algoran - which, I really do believe in - but really... a large motivation of mine was just to leave my old life behind, and get away..." He let out a small, suppressed sigh, pausing a moment before continuing, "...We don't get many chances to start over in this life, so I... I guess I was eager to take it." He let his gaze fall onto the canyon, keeping a watchful eye.

(#deep,, hah, I kid)

@Lo Alyssa
​

 

[L1d1ja]

It was easy for Dorian to climb up the cliff, the jagged rock giving even more hand, and foot, holds than the buildings and towers he was so used to.


Looking down into the canyon, and around himself just in case, he could spot any minute detail, even more if something was moving. For once, he was grateful for the little quirks in familiar magic: if they spent a long time in one animal form, some of its atributes would bleed into their human self. Hawk eyes were rather nice, apparently. The will to jump of the cliff and fly, or more like fall, not so much.

 

[TeeKay]

Phaedra nodded to Valeiah, actually grateful for the bit of company on the caravan, and held the reins in her hands as the horses began to draw the caravan forward once more, following Svetlana's lead. At least now maybe she could be a little more occupied, although they did have to be a tad bit quieter as they navigated the canyon. Sound seemed to echo through these walls easily enough, but she still wasn't sure how far it exactly carried. Regardless, even if the sound remained only within their vicinity, she figured the less sound they made, the easier it would be for them to hear anybody sneaking up on them. The last thing this group needed was yet another ambush so soon.

"So, Valeiah.." Phaedra's voice was barely above a whisper, her eyes focused ahead as she spoke to the other woman. "What's it like to have your brother around again?"

She couldn't suppress the wide grin that now spread across her features. Phaedra remembered how fondly Valeiah spoke of him and them meeting again was as if they were rivals or even enemies. Well, frenemies, at least. It amused her greatly to see the stark contrast in Valeiah wistfully talking of her family - particularly the living ones she left behind to go on this journey - to the reality of their interactions. It seemed that nobody was safe from Valeiah's sharp tongue.

@Danika
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[QueenSaiko]

@OlKaJa77


"Oceana.... What's... Going on?" Ayda murmured , opening her eyes and adjusting to her surroundings. Colour had returned to her body and her lips and fingernails were no longer blue , but her cheeks were rather red due the heat and coming down from a fever.


"What.... Where am I?"

 

[Vampiricdoll]

Lucasta raised a brow in suspicion. She knew he was lying. He was a bad liar. There's was really nothing bad about what happened from what she was told, so why would he lie to her about the accident. She shrugged it off and sat quietly, watching the scenery round them. "I hope we find the gem soon..." She muttered to herself.

 

[GalacticRam]

Foxrun continued to hang over the caravan and watch each little thing they passed that reflected the sunlight. He was finding himself growing entirely restless, on edge even. He was searching for the smallest of details on things he usually would not. Anything to distract himself from this gnawing sense of...paranoia? He looked up the heighth of the canyon wall, traced a few of the cracks, a lizard crawled from within one. And then it hit him. What if the dwarves couldn't be spotted? This was their home. Surely they knew every considerable place to hide! What if scouting ahead was useless because they were literally already right by them? He slid back into the caravan and cradled his head in his hands. He was letting the sun get to him after all, getting carried away with his nagging thoughts.


(Just throwing random bits out there. Sorry hah )

 

[Danika]

"What's it like to have my brother around again? Uhh, let me think." Valeiah laughed a little bit. "Annoying? That's maybe not a strong enough word. I was hoping to get away from family for a little while." She then whispered to her, "My dad actually didn't give me permission to come. But I came anyways."


@TeeKay

 

[OlKaJa77]

Oceana smiled down at Ayda, taking a glove off and putting her knuckles gently to her forehead.


She's coming down from the fever... Good


"We're in the canyons now." The elf whispered, also wishing to stay quiet.


"We have reason to believe the canyon natives may be hostile, but don't worry."


Her tattooed countenance frowned, thinking of the near death experience Ayda just had.


"You're here in the middle of all of us. I'm sure we can fight them off if they won't barter or listen to reason."


Still even as the elf told the human so, she wasn't so sure.


The hollow echo of the horses' hooves seemed ominous. Whatever they were headed towards, Oceana gripped her hunting knife a bit harder.


@QueenSaiko

 

[Vampiricdoll]

Lilith sat in the sat caravan as Foxrun, she's been whispering to Jinx the whole ride, and playing with her, when Foxrun caught her attention when he put his head into his hands. "Is everything alright, Foxrun?" She asked, tiredly. Though her eyes weren't open wide in concern, you could still tell she was at least a bit worried.


@GalacticRam

 

[L1d1ja]

Suddenly, there was a sound in the air before the caravan, one like ripping cloth. The air shimmered and a figure appeared: an elf woman with hair like fire. Of course, she almost got stepped on by horses and with a yelp of terror she vanished again. This time there was a crash from under one of the wagons, followed by loud (and very creative) cursing in elven as the woman rolled from under it.


"Fuck me sideways. This malfunctioning teleportation it's going to be the end of me." She said, now in common tongue, as she jumped to her feet.

 

[soundofmind]

Bo's hand was on his arrow as soon as he heard the loud cursing. He didn't recognize the voice... it didn't sound like anyone in their crew. That's not a dwarf, is it? It certainly doesn't sound like one. They were too far now, to investigate, unless they were to run back, and at this distance, he didn't think he could make the shot (not without risking hitting anyone in the caravan - he wasn't that good, and it wasn't that much of an emergency yet). He stashed his arrow away, looking at the caravan down below. His eyes flickered from it to places around the canyon. If that was a distraction, now would be a great time for an ambush. He wasn't about to let anything slip past him if he could help it. So he watched, hoping and trusting that someone who was still down there (of course, he thought first of Svetlana - but he knew she was beyond tired), would be able to handle it. Especially since it only sounded like one person, for now.


"Hmph." Hopefully whoever it was didn't intend on doing harm. It would make things a heck of a lot easier. "That doesn't sound like a dwarf." He commented with skepticism.


@Lo Alyssa

 

[GalacticRam]

He looked up at the woman, a tad bit surprised. "Ah, I'm fine really. Just let my mind get the best of me sometimes. I saw a lizard crawl from the rock face, and it crossed my mind that we may not see the dwarves coming. I mean, this is their home, I bet they know of hidden spaces we couldn't dream of. They could be right here with us." He realized just how paranoid he sounded as he continued, but just as he had said this, something hit the underside of their caravan. His eyes widened slightly and he tensed up, but then heard the elven language. That wasn't Oceana though. He swung his head over the edge again, just in time to see someone roll from beneath it, cursing away. It would have been humorous if at another time, preferably one where he wasn't going crazy....


@Queen of Fantasy @L1d1ja

 

[Danika]

Valeiah whipped her head around at the swearing. "Oh, sweet. I wish I was allowed to talk like that."


Alo was near the carts where the girl had popped up a second time, and started swearing. He thought it was funny. "Not very talented with the teleportation stuff yet, are ya?" He laughed.


@L1d1ja

 

[Vampiricdoll]

Lilith nodded in understanding. She could see how he would think that. Suddenly the caravans jolted as an elf cursed for teleportation wrong. Lilith couldn't help but chuckle, but dismounted the caravans to assist the lady. "Instead of pointing out her failure, Alo, you could at least help her." Lilith scolded, and approached the female. "Are you alright?" She asked, grinning. "I do have to say, that was quite the bang we heard from underneath our caravans." She chuckled to herself.





@GalacticRam @L1d1ja
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[Danika]

"Sorry, mother. I was just making a joke." Alo rolled his eyes. She would probably get upset with him for that comment, but oh well. He couldn't stop something from coming out of his mouth after he already said it.


@Queen of Fantasy

 

[OlKaJa77]

Oceana jumped suddenly, bumping Ayda off of her lap.


That was elvish!


The elf shot up and out of the stopped cart, looking down at the figure who had rolled out from under it.


The woman definitely had pointed ears.


Oceana leapt to the stranger's aid.


"Are you okay?" She asked in elvish, reaching down to help the fire-haired woman.


It didn't even cross Oceana's mind that she might be dangerous to their group; she was elvish.


That was all that mattered.


@QueenSaiko


@L1d1ja

 

[TeeKay]

At the sound of the crashing and the cursing - and with it, an unfamiliar voice - Phaedra's head whipped around to see who exactly that was after calming down the horses drawing her caravan, breaking away from her brief and quiet conversation with Valeiah. She had absolutely no patience for this and absolutely could not believe her ears at everyone just accepting someone randomly teleporting in the middle of this canyon in the middle of nowhere in the middle of their travel route. It was all just too convenient.

"First of all," Phaedra hissed, tired eyes still managing to perfectly reflect her frustration. Did anyone not realize the potential consequences to just blindly accepting others into their group at inopportune times? She continued, straining to keep her voice under control, "Who is that and who else is with her? Did you all conveniently forget we are in potential enemy territory?"

Her eyes flashed dangerously, a look of what could be described as disgust aimed towards Oceana. The favoritism she showed towards the Elven woman was unbearably obvious and it boiled her blood. As a "half-breed" herself, it struck a certain chord within her and to see this sort of behavior nearly set her off. It didn't help how Phaedra would overhear Oceana just say the word "human" - spoken with a hint of revulsion. It made her almost wonder what Oceana thought of her as a half-human, or if she even realized that she wasn't a full-blooded Sylph.

Phaedra's attention flicked towards the redheaded Elven woman with equal distaste.. and distrust.

Who was she? It was just too easy to place blame on a misplaced teleportation spell.

"She looks fine." She said dismissively, appearing to not care at all for the other Elven woman's wellbeing. Directing her next words at the fire-haired woman, making eye contact with a cool gaze. "You look just fine. Find your way."

Phaedra held her tongue against the roof of her mouth afterwards, refraining from saying any more. She knew if she opened her mouth, the next words she would have to say would not be in the slightest bit civil. She had no patience for any potential threat to the people she fought desperately to save.

@L1d1ja @OlKaJa77 @Danika @GalacticRam @Queen of Fantasy
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[GalacticRam]

Foxrun knew how it felt to be seen as a hostile threat even when he meant no harm. But he also felt a hint of jealousy that others had just smoothly accepted her? He had been held at the end of multiple weapons, and still had to shrug off the occasional I'll temper of the elf already within their party. Phaedra had a point. He expected some sort of caution when he had appeared, but it was just thrown to the wind with this knew woman's appearance. It irked him how she clearly thought their bloodlines to be an excuse to be so friendly. As if she craved to be around her "kin" that badly. But did she not realize that many of them had not seen their own kind in a while as well? Like Thora, who had hinted at being separated from her kind for a very long time. Or valeiah and what had happened to her village? Or to his own village? Whatever had happened to her that involved humans, must have been extremely traumatic to cause her selective trust issues. He frowned, watching the others before voicing his opinion "what if her "accident" was just something to throw us off?" He stated with a small wave of his hand "Phaedra definitely has the right idea about being cautious. We have a lot at stake here."


@L1d1ja @TeeKay @OlKaJa77 @plasticlizard022 @Danika (Oh jeez....I think I got every one I mentioned. And hopefully I recalled it all correctly???)

 

[Danika]

Valeiah shrugged. "I never said I trusted her, I just said her swearing was cool and that I was jealous." She replied to him. "And it probably is. I'm distracted." Then she smirked. "Hey... Is Foxy jealous? I think he's jealous. We're all so accepting of this random girl popping up, and when he showed up we just pointed sharp objects at him. Awww!" She cooed and snickered a bit. She also thought her nickname for him was funny.


@GalacticRam

 

[GalacticRam]

Foxrun's eyes widened at the girl's jesting words, "Foxy?" He repeated, as if that was what surprised him the most out of what she had said. Yet he actually held back a laugh as well. "Hey, I'm just saying we shouldn't be so easy. Nobody went easy on me, true, but I don't think we should pull weapons on her either." He tried to defend himself somewhat, yet he knew his cheeks gave himself away, growing slightly redder. They betrayed that her words in fact were true to an extent.


@Danika

 

[Danika]

"I already think she's funny. I trust funny people. They remind me of myself. And I would trust myself, would you trust me? Yeah. You'd trust me because I gave you a cool name." Valeiah nodded in agreement to her own words. "You're turning red."


@GalacticRam

 

[GalacticRam]

He stiffened his back, attempting to protest "no, you're simply vexing me. Faces flush from irritation as much as being embarrassed." He quickly looked away, before just as quickly adding "but I would trust you." Which he was being honest. And she did have a point. He had trusted people over smaller things than what he had experienced with this group over the past few days or so.


@Danika

 

[OlKaJa77]

Oceana scowled at Phaedra, offended for her fellow elf.


What makes her the deciding power here?


"No one told you to up and scram, now did they, leth fuil?"


Her famous temper was rising and she cared not to stop it.


Who are they to question the character of an elf when they are dubious half breeds?


And the rest were the most treacherous breed themselves, except Thora.


@TeeKay @GalacticRam

 

[Danika]

"I think you're irritated and embarrassed." Valeiah said. She knew that she irritated people. She did it on purpose most of the time. At least she wasn't as bad as Alo. "Thanks for trusting me, though. Means a lot."


@GalacticRam