Fantasy ~The Lords of the Magistone~

[Shura]

Rusar cleaned her hands hands with one her stained rags before reaching into her bag and pulling out a second knife. Having someone else who knew how to prep food would make the task less of a bother. "Alright simply take the bits of meat from this pile." She picked up one of the strips of muscle. "Cut away any chunks of fat or tendons that you find, then cut it into smaller strips, skewer them and set them by the fire." She explained while cutting out bits of yellow fat from the meat then cutting it into thinner but still decent sized strips and stabbing it through with one of the sticks piled near the fire. "Just be very careful not to cut your self." She warned offering Des the knife.

 

[PicaPirate]

"Hmph."


Warren was biting off some dry meat, walking back towards the group with a wild boar in tow.


The boar thought it was a good idea to ram him, the rock arms blocking the boar said otherwise.


The walk for him was pretty standard. His stamina was high as is and he wasn't worn out from the battle. Besides, Desiree was light so it wasnt such a burden. Plus, what self-respecting man couldn't help an unconscious maiden?


As he came he put the boar down next to the fire so it could be spit-roasted after the rabbit. He looked at Desiree as he sat on a nearby rock.


"How ye doing? Ye went out like a light while we walked and I carried ye all the way here. It's a good thing I'm strong!" He laughed while saying. He was trying to lighten the mood of the place as he didn't like tension like this that was in the air. All he could do with now is a good bitter flagon of ale...


Tapatalk is for scrubs. I use Tapatalk. Why are you talking to this scrub?

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre knew how tired she was, and saw from her longing gaze towards the food just how hungry and exhausted she was. He thought about complaining and stopping her, but remembered what had happened last time and left her be - that was one less duty to handle after all. So he trotted over to Helia, and nodded respectfully. He had overheard her previous conversation and so knew what the surrounding area held, and as most of the camp were either resting, working or out hunting, there was very little 'leadery-stuff' to do. Nevertheless, he was yet to hold a proper conversation with the other wind mage, and so thought he might as well spend his time finding out more about her.


Knowing her habit to speak up, he simply approached in knowledge that she would initiate their conversation.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

"How's it going Skyre?" Helia smiled rhetorically as the young man, "A right pleasure your girlfriend is. She seems angry with me, but I haven't the foggiest why."


As she spoke, she folded two small cups from some leaves and poured some of the berry water into them, offering a cup to the 'leader' of the group. As she did so she gave the man a smile, thinking over how much he'd done so far. It was nice knowing that there were people who weren't only obsessed with saving their own skin, such as back when he lifted her from the ground and hid her. Granted Skyre's girlfriend seemed angry with her then as well.


"I wonder, do you think that she's in a tiff due to an extra set of..." Helia trailed, casting a glance down at her own relatively flat torso, "Nah, definitely not that, so yeah, again, haven't the foggiest why she's upset."

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree accepted the small knife from Rusar as she listened to her instructions. She rolled her eyes a bit at the woman's warning but smiled as she set about carving. It wasn't that Desiree couldn't have figured it out eventually; rather, it was she never really had to. She was far from afraid to get her hands dirty should it be necessary to do so. With her looks, and all of the attention before and at the university, much of life had been simply handed to her by others.


She glanced up and swiped some loose hair away from her face with the back of her hand when Warren arrived with the boar. Desiree had to keep from salivating at the thought of the feast they would all partake in ... later. To the Hells with patience, she thought, let's get one of these fire mages to roast this pig now! She chuckled lightly at the thought as she returned to her work.


"I am feeling a bit better, Warren," she replied sweetly as she continued carving the meat from the bones under Rusar's watchful guidance. "I'm sorry that you had to carry me," she looked up at him with her deep, bright blue eyes that smiled from within, "but I really do appreciate it."


Her attention turned from the big man to Skyre where he moved to talk with the small woman. Desiree's smile disappeared as she took furtive glances at the two of them while she continued to work on the meat.


I know that he loves me, she thought to herself, so I have no reason to feel this jealousy. She tried to shake the feeling, but it returned time and again as she divided her attention between her task and the two wind mages. Wind mages, she thought, and then realized why she was jealous. With her loss of magic, Skyre had found someone else with whom he could share a common interest. Even with his love, this was a part of him that she would never have again.


Stupid girl, she scolded herself and turned her full attention and vigor to helping Rusar prepare the meal. Get a grip. You don't own him; he can talk to whomever he wants about whatever he wants. It's the way it is – get used to it.

 

[PicaPirate]

Warren acknowledged her thanks, giving a nod in return. "All to help a woman in need!" He had his arms crossed relaxing back. He thought about how the little girl could be useful with that magic to roast the boar.


He swivelled to face Rusar, giving her a friendly clap on the back in greeting. "So how is my favourite woman of all time? You've been awfully quiet while walking here, I thought you'd gone mute!" He grinned a silly grin, hoping to get her mood up. It was very dark while they walked to their stop, but busy trying to not drop a an unconscious woman kept his thoughts occupied at the time. Now though he had free time to approach her.


He wondered for a moment if he would be actually ever capable of achieving a relationship with Rusar, but threw the thought away as needless. He also felt it was too far-fetched a life goal, as she tended to lash out in anger at his teasing, even if that fiery personality of hers was the real her.

 

[Shura]

Rusar blinked at the large bore that had been flopped next to them. "Well damn that's a big one" she muttered poking at the hefty boar it would take forever to cook unless she flash fired it with her magic, only draw back is it would take a good bit of energy to so. She grunted as Warn clapper her back but didn't complain seeing as she had smack him with her bow earlier in the day."ah well, I believe you talk enough for the both of us, don't you think?" She smirked slightly before turning her knife to the belly of the boar and slashing it open to gut the thing so it could cook faster.

 

[SkyGinge]

"She's not my girlfriend, Helia, and she does have her own name," Skyre gave her a restrained smile, and though he wasn't really that annoyed by the jibe, it reminded him once again that his intentions and emotions, things that he tried very hard to keep masked, were very much open for the world to see. He took the cup with a "Thanks", and began to sip from it. At once it brought back memories of the various different cordials and juices he had enjoyed in the banquet hall of the university of wind magic, sweet drinks that he had savoured fondly. "This is good!" he gulped down his sip, still upholding polite table manners despite his eagerness to slurp it all up. "That's some creative talent in making a drink like this - I was dying for something other than plain old water."


Remembering that he had found Helia's name familiar from the same university as the mess hall he now thought back to, Skyre smiled wistfully and looked up from his cup to her. "Helia, do you remember the similar drinks to this that they used to have back at University?" Then it suddenly hit Skyre as to why Desiree was upset - her magic loss. In the heat of the afternoon's later moments, he had briefly sidelined Desiree's remorse for 'losing her magic', although Skyre was adament that it would return to her as always in time. He hadn't quite considered just how much it would emotionally effect her, losing all that she had worked on for several years, and effectively part of her indentity. Skyre could cope with that kind of change, and would have found a way to move on, but he had forgotten that others didn't have he sense of acceptance. Cursing his slight arrogance once more, but nevertheless remembering why he had let her be, he wished that there was a way that he could convince her that her magic would be fine.


Skyre's trail of thought was interrupted by the loud arrival of Warren, who bizarrely had managed to find a mountain boar. A wide grin of disbelief crept onto his features as he watched the muscle-mountain plonk the creature down at the fireside. Well, nobody's going hungry tonight! Skyre chuckled to himself, before tearing himself away and back to Helia with a bewildered shrug. He contemplated whether to tell Helia why Desiree was upset and annoyed with her, but cast his mind back tothe morning where he had casually presumed too much of her, and how annoyed she had been at him revealing a potential weakness. Eager to not make the same mistake, Skyre shrugged, hiding his knowledge well. "I don't really know why she's annoyed, but I hope she'll break out of it soon." Then, eyebrows drooping into an awkward smirk, "Although I highly doubt it's anything to do with... you know."

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Skyre's willingness to joke back, even if he had looked serious a moment before, was all it took to give Helia a bit of a laugh. Once she calmed down she took another sip of her drink before speaking.


"That's the university mentioned again. Well, I'll be honest, I was at the university maybe four or five times my whole life. My master picked me up off the streets after I 'learned' how to use wind magic and taught me privately. Oh, and by learned I really failed utterly at harnessing it and broke my leg. Though, yes, I did pick up my habit for making different drinks from the university. Why do you ask?"

 

[PicaPirate]

Warren watched Rusar gut the boar, while listening to her. He had his elbows rested on his legs as he sat and his hands put together in a ball to lean his chin on while sitting.


"Well I like to hear your sweet voice too now and then. I'm just loud and manly and I much prefer a beautiful womans voice over mine!" He chuckled while saying.


"If ya need help with that boar, jus' holler. Can't just sit by and watch ye do all the work after all." While a true statement, it was also supported by his boredom.

 

[Shura]

"I fear you would rip the meat out along with the guts if you were to try to do this." Rusar chuckled as she used her knife to slice away the lining which held the guts inside and pulled them out into a pile with ease. "besides once you gut about twenty of these things its fairly simply. "Though now the challenge is cooking it in a manner that wont take all night." she sighed

 

[Kharmin]

As Rusar took to gutting the boar, Desiree took over the remaining rabbit and bird cleaning duties. It wasn't requested; it was just a natural feel for her to take over that task to allow Rusar to work on the huge pig.


There was a certain satisfaction Desiree found in preparing the meal for everyone. Without her magic, she was useless to the group in combat, but now with preparing and cooking meals, she had found something to give purpose to her inclusion in the group. It wasn't the life she wanted, but it was the life that she now had and she started to feel the determination to make the best of it.


She grinned as she worked when she heard the light banter between Rusar and Warren. That the woman would take such jests from the bigger man showed Desiree how close the two of them must have been in their childhood.


Most of Desiree's childhood had been apart from other children. She had discovered her talent at a very early age and it manifested around her as her mood changed. Other parents found Desiree to be a hazard for their children and when she was studying at the university Desiree finally realized that she could no longer blame them for trying to protect their kids.


As a youth, Desiree was dangerous. She lacked proper teaching and her control was never mastered, even through her third term at the university. Whirlwinds would rampage whenever she was upset and flying debris made for dangerous toys.


It was sad, in a way, that she really had no friends to play with and not every day felt like a day she wanted to spend with her brother, Stephen. She was elated to finally gain acceptance at the university for there she would be able to associate with her proper peers – others who understood what she felt when she worked her magic.


But it didn't turn out that way. By the end of the first term, she really had no true friends and learned that no one appeared to be infused with their element in the way that she had. No one, not even the instructors, fully understood or appreciated Desiree's connection with the air.


It infuriated her, time and again, to be told that she couldn't do this or wasn't supposed to do that when she was perfectly capable of doing so. Like the wind, being contained within the dark, mahogany walls of the university was suffocating and she took every opportunity to test every hole, crack and crevasse to escape her prison and be the person, the wind mage, that she was meant to be.


When she was finally ... asked ... to leave, and she silently chuckled at the memory, she felt true freedom for the first time that she could ever recall in her life.


Desiree smiled and her inner light glowed on her face at the memory. She might never wield the element of air again, but she would always have the memory of how good it felt when she did and that helped ease the suffering a few degrees.


Warren's comments to Rusar snapped Desiree back to the present. She had briefly stopped carving while reminiscing, and quickly set back to her work. Hearing the utter boredom in Warren's tone reminded her of how she often felt at lecture and she laughed lightly.


She turned to Warren and suggested with a mischievous grin, "If you're looking for something to do, I'm sure Skyre can find a task for you. Why not ask him?"

 

[PicaPirate]

"Feh, he is busy talking to that lass. I'll leave him to do whatever he is doing."


He was busy watching the two women prepare food. Warren chuckled to himself when he thought of the stereotype that suggested that men bring the food and the women cooked it, which ironically enough was being fulfilled quite well here.


Because Warren got bored, he decided to work out a bit. He laid down, then got a large rock bigger than him, lifted and rested it on his chest. To avoid his chest being crushed, he had some rock armour protect there to rest it on. He then proceeded to lift the rock above him for as long as he could ((think like a bench press kind of thing)).

 

[Shura]

Rusar saw Desiree take on the smaller animals to prep and smiled slightly happy that it was one less thing to do now that she had the boar to deal with. She had to admit the day wear and tear was starting to get to her now that they had more than a few moments to relax and hunger was starting to settle in, no doubt everyone else was feeling the same even if only to a minor degree. Not to mention Des looked like she had wanted to eat the boar raw the moment Warren brought it into camp. The smell of rabbits cooking didn't help much, however at least the bits shed put to cook were almost done. The boar however would take much too long to cook if placed over a fire. Several hours at least. "Might as well... just hope nothing else decided to surprise us this evening." She thought to her self as she moved the guts aside to be disposed of at a later time.


The fire mage washed the blood from her hands with a bit of water from her water skin, she hated the feeling of dry sticky blood. She sat cross legged in front of the boar before holding her hands out just a few inches above it and closed her eyes. She started to channel her magic differently than her normal use. Fire had always interested in the way it functioned and spread but as she learned more about it in the university she learned how Fire magic had many other applications besides setting fires and manipulating them. It could be used to generate heat with out a flame, it just took much longer to master the art of it. Rusar felt the heat radiating from her hands and into the boar the magic weaving its way deep into the the muscles of the whole body heating the flesh and cooking it.


The task its self was fairly taxing since it was a constant draw to try and build up the heat and then to maintain it long enough for the meat to thoroughly be cooked. Fire its self was a different element than most, it needed fuel to burn, which was find and dandy when simply manipulating flames which fed of of wood and the like. but when there was no fuel it fed of the magicians magic instead. A useful thing for tight spots such as a cave or mountainous area where wood was scarce but that meant it was also more tiring to use it. It was part of the reason most of Rusars use of magic in combat was explosive, minimal energy maximum damage. Which worked, most times. Others it just made what ever she was fighting angry. She had a plethora of other uses for her magic however they all took too much of a draw, especially when you had to almost always run right after a battle.


After a few minutes the smell of cooked pork started to fill the camp as the boar was nearly done. Rusar sighed heavily letting the last bit of her magic fade feeling away and letting the residual heat finish the rest of the cooking. To her dismay she felt way more tired than she ought to, no doubt thanks to days of little sleep and a lot of running.

 

[SkyGinge]

"That's quite interesting," Skyre said genuinely, but one eye was always on the cooking meat that brought wonderful aromas to his empty stomach. "I'd thought that most people attended the universities to study magic, but apparently not. Just wondered if you'd shared some of my experiences, that's all." Skyre smiled gently, but was marginally disappointed that she hadn't properly attended the university after all; he must have imagined that he knew her name.


Glancing around the camp as he straightened up, Skyre noticed that the food would be done within the next ten-to-twenty minutes. "Dinner should be done soon, and there's still some people out there in the forest. How are you doing for magic energy? Because if you're not too weak, would you mind scouting around and finding those people?"

 

[PicaPirate]

Warren worked up a good sweat, so he tossed the rock aside where there wasnt anyone to get crushed by it. His body looked a bit larger than usual, especially muscle mass, from just having worked out. After drinking some water and rubbing some sweat off, he remembered Desiree's earlier remark and walked over to the now free Skyre.


He walked over to him and clapped him hard on the back in a greeting manner:"Soooo gettin' it with the ladies aren't ya? You've got one smitten making food for you while you chat up another in the mean time!" He gave a mock wink to exaggerate his teasing. "Seriously though don't let the one find out about the other, or you'll get into woman troubles, something I been deftly avoiding for the past 30 years!"


He came round to see him more from in front and had his arms crossed. "So what are we doing next? You look restless, like we're gonna leave after a good sleep to another journey. Hopefully with no tiny lil' squirts I would crush between my bicep and arm this time too. That is if they didn't smell so bad." He did a disgusted look reminding himself of the little man who was with Skyre and Ari before.

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre was almost sent sprawling by the burly man's friendly clap, though he steadied himself quickly and turned to find Warren beside him. "Hey, no need to make an unnecessary stir, mister," Skyre teased back, "I was merely conversing with the group, that's one of the roles of a leader after all. And do you mean to tell me all of that muscle show-offery wasn't at all aimed at our female population?" Skyre gave the hulking figure a cheeky grin, rubbing his back.


"Next on the agenda is, very importantly, dinner. Then we'll discuss battle matters like Ein and others have suggested. Then we rest here for the night. I know you were lucky enough to avoid most of today's scraps, but the most of us are very weak. We'll be on the move, hopefully with a little more luck, tomorrow."

 

[PicaPirate]

"I'd enjoy a good fight. Besides these muscles are for strength! You gotta funny idea kid if you think that these bad boys are for the ladies do ya? Hah! A woman goes for a man who speaks good, not who hits the hardest. If that were true, I'd be a playboy!"


Warren agreed with his latter statement walking over to the camp and sitting next to the now tired Rusar. "Ya look tired lassy, what'cha been doin' that got ya like that?" He sat down relaxing into where he sat, now he was actually resting from his workout.


He looked at the boar which looked just about cooked and was happy he caught such a thing, as it would hopefully feed everyone.

 

[Shura]

Rusar smoothed her hair back from her face a thin coat of sweat on her skin since her body had heated slightly as well, not so pleasant side effect of using her magic consistently. She sighed softly letting her shoulders slump in exhaustion she looked up as Warren approached. "Roasting this mammoth boar you brought back. No easy feat to cook it with our charring the meat at the same time so it takes a good bit of magic to do so." She replied before taking a drink from her water skin.

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree found it difficult to focus on the rest of the preparations as Rusar concentrated and used her magic to quickly cook the boar that Warren had procured. The scent of the meat was overwhelming and she strongly fought the urges within to simply start tearing away portions of the pig and wolfing them down.


The mage's performance appeared to have taken considerable effort and, Desiree mused with a knowing grin – control. Well, that's what made her a wind mage and not a fire mage. No matter how many times she was told, or how many times she tried, she just couldn't find comfort in controlling the wind. Summon it, bend it and release it, sure, but to control it just felt – wrong.


Now, the only thing she felt was hunger.


Warren returned with a gentleness not expected of his large and boisterous self and voiced some concern over his childhood friend. As usual, Rusar waved his concerns aside and managed to keep herself closed. Rusar almost drained a water skin as a result of her efforts to cook the boar.


"Um," Desiree managed to timidly eek out. "Ah, um ... is .... um, is it...ah... is it done?" she asked.

 

[Cookie]

Ari had found a suitable spot in their new campsite. It wasn't quite as pleasant as her previous one, but it would do. Though she was perhaps less secluded than she would have liked, there was nothing that could be done about it.


The others had started cooking a large boar. It smelled good; Ari could tell that much from her spot. And yet, she wasn't hungry. Perhaps it was because she'd already had something to eat. Or maybe Pashan's smell had put off her appetite. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of the rat-man. But honestly, it wasn't because of the lingering effect of his stench that Ari desired none of the food. She was just trying to find a reason to keep away for a while. Just a short while, so that nobody would realize how tired she truly was.


And Ari was tired. Now that all her adrenaline had left her, she felt just how exhausted she truly was. And she despised it. It wasn't like her to feel this weak. She was strong, she had to keep telling herself that. Even if she couldn't prove it at the moment, Ari knew it was true. And it was really all she had to motivate herself, as being around other people didn't do it for her. She was strong, with or without others.


But maybe, just maybe, Ari would be stronger if she allowed these people in. It would have to be gradual, she knew. Building trust didn't come naturally to her.


Ari recalled her moment of indecision, in a part of the forest that seemed so far behind now. Gazing back in the general direction from whence they'd come, she remembered how easy it was to picture herself leaving. But if, IF she had followed through, it would only prove to Aurelia that she was not strong. Not as strong as she could be with this group of warriors.


Ari rose to join the group at the fireside. Now was as good a time as any to start building that trust.

 

[Shura]

Rusar heard Desiree question and nodded slightly, "Cooked and ready to eat." She smirked slightly. "Although I would recommend not trying to wolf this down, unless you want to make your self sick." She teased knowing the woman wanted nothing more that to dig into the boar. She couldn't really blame her it did smell fairly good. She leaned over and looked at the bits of rabbit that were set out before pulling them away from the fire. "Some of these are done as well."

 

[SkyGinge]

Noticing that the food was ready, Skyre herded everybody back to around the campfire where it was soon served. Funnily enough, it had been a long time since Skyre had eaten wild boar, but thanks to Warren's exploits, here they were! And it was such a wholesome meat in comparison to their other snacks, the difference was so much that Skyre struggled to swallow the first mouthful. Once he got used to it, however, he began to savour the meal and, as he licked his lips clean, he felt the fullest he had felt in a long time. The mood of the feast had been largely silent and tired, yet there was no tension; people leaned back, each only a meter or so apart due to the size of their camp, and stretched with lazy smiles, bellies full and ready to sleep. As the last stragglers finished their meals, Skyre planned what he was going to say to them. 
After it appeared that nobody was going to speak up, Skyre rose to his feet and began to make his announcement. "Alright, so, today has been a difficult day," he began, regarding each group member in turn, "We've been hit by poor luck and unfortunate circumstance since the sun rose, and I suppose we weren't really expecting any of it to happen. Now, I take the blame or that; I thought that we'd be safe if only for today and planned events around it, but then with the Shadowmen and later in the valley... all events. The bottom line is that we need to be prepared and planned for any future events so that we don't end up like this."


"Therefore, as many people have suggested, I'd like everybody to tell the others about themselves a little. After all, we're a fair crowd now but barely know each other - we have to open up and trust one and other to truly fight and move as one. We need to know strengths and weaknesses, flaws and virtues. I'll begin." He cleared his through and ran a hand through his fiery hair. "I'm Skyre, as many of you know, and I'm a wind Mage. I was studying at the university before the fall, but never quite finished my studies. I like to use the wind the aid my mobility, but reckon I'm rather fragile behind that. You crazy lot have made me the leader, so I hope I can live up to your expectations." Sitting down, he awaited the responses of the others.

 

[Cookie]

"Crazy lot is a good way to describe it." Ari mumbled, chewing up a last bit of meat off her skewer. She respected that Skyre took the initiative to begin the getting-to-know-you powwow, but she would not be the next to share.


Ari attempted to look preoccupied with the remnants of her meal. She considered how glancing Skyre's introduction had been. It was lacking in thoroughness. Or maybe it seemed so to Ari; she did expect quite a lot from him as a leader. And who was she to judge another's unwillingness to go into personal detail anyways? He was only doing what she would have. Still, Ari might have preferred a better precedent of how to speak on one's strengths and weaknesses.


Rather than setting the example herself, Ari spoke directly to Skyre in an attempt to draw from him the response she expected.


Looking down at her finished meal, Ari addressed him. "Skyre, we're all quite sure that you're not fragile. You are the only one who seems to still have energy after a full day like this. And we certainly wouldn't pick a fragile leader." She met his eyes, smirking. "Don't be so modest. Tell us how you really fight."

 

[PicaPirate]

Warren sat comfortably, as he just ate. Not much was going through his mind, being too busy satisfied of having had a good meal.


He listened to Skyre quietly without response with his arms crossed. It did seem that Lady Luck had been of bad mood of late with these incidents.


After he finished explaining himself, Warren chimed in with his deep manly voice.


"Oi young lass, I'm only tired because I got bored and started lifting rocks bigger than you!" He boasted. It was true he was bored and lifted rocks before they ate. He moved on.


"Warren Davis, 30. Miner kid. Village burnt to ashes, killed the people who did it. From then on drinking or fighting in bars. A good many year back I bested a mage while he was pissed.


He taught me an Earth magic that gives me a rock armour on any part of my body. I use it sparingly though as I can't move well where it is. Its the only magic I know, but because of that I'm goddarned good at it! Most people wouldn't be able to lift the weight of it!" He laughed, then continued.


"Since then just been training to be stronger to hit people harder and protect the people I care about. Its been working so far so no complaints from me!" He laughed again and went silent, as a gesture for the next person to talk.


Tapatalk is for scrubs. I use Tapatalk. Why are you talking to this scrub?