Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Walking the World Again (Closed)

“What?” Linota asked Cairo in a breath, startled by his question. She recovered with a few blinks at him then looked away. “Yeah. Fine.”

Linota had raised her eyebrows at Robin’s quick obedience to her warning. Had she no curiosity? Or had she been so strictly trained that she heeded warnings upon reflex? Either way, this order-following girl might prove to be a rather useful asset. Linota smiled slyly at Robin as the fox girl thought hard about what she was smelling.

“Looking to lock you up with no viable proof doesn't make her sound very trustworthy,” Linota said to Assallya, then briefly looked the blonde over. “But I suppose I could see her point.”
She wanted to believe that what Assallya said about Aislin was true, for what the knight had said so far proved her to be an ally. At least, she was an ally to Liothryth. The more Linota stayed out of it, the better. The high esteemed never wanted to hear anything out of a teenage girl.

When Ren emerged from the alley and walked towards her, holding a cloth bag, Linota watched him cautiously. He handed her the bag, weighed down by all the sushi in it, and explained it was food for the kids. That made all of the childrens’ heads turn to him. Linota hesitated before she took the sack, looking evenly at Ren’s hooded face until he pulled the hood back. It was alarming to see him, given that she hadn't fully seen him before, but it only showed as a flash in her eyes. The amber coloring in them opposed his black ones, which seemed too empty for her liking.

“Thanks,” Linota told him, a bit confused as to why he decided to show his face to her.
The man seemed to think she had done some great deed that aided in the defeat of Radigan, though she knew that wasn’t true. She may have been the cause of the whole ordeal, but she did nothing to contribute to the outcome. Linota turned her attention to the kids and started handing out the sushi, while also passively studying its contents and trying to decipher how it was made.

At Liothryth’s question about monasteries, a panicky little pang shot through Linota’s chest. She didn't like the feeling. It was as if each child had a string and all of the ends were attached to her. It wasn't as though she had spent all her time caring for them. She was a loner, her and Cairo both. He was her family, not them. But then why did her heart ache at the thought of losing them now?

As Lio spoke to Ren and Robin and the kids' mouths were full, Linota crouched to a knee to be level with the smaller of the children.
“How would you like a new home?” She asked them with a light tone. “A better home. With people who care about you.”
“With sushi?” One of them said through their mouthful of fish and rice.
“Maybe not with sushi,” Linota admitted. That food was foreign to her, as it would be to most that lived in the area. “But you'll have loads of other food that's just as good. You’ll never go hungry and you don't have to steal. That's important, okay? Don't steal. Adults don't like it when you steal.”
She paused to gauge their responses, which were mostly confused or just plain fractious. Stealing had been their only means of staying alive. Stealing food to eat, stealing gold for Radigan so he wouldn't kill you, stealing clothes so the winter wouldn't kill you, and on the list went. Telling them not to steal was like telling them to roll over and die.

“Just be kids!” Linota blurted, rashly impatient with their confused faces. “Play! Run around, climb a tree, swim in the lake, make up monsters and run from them.”
Her eyes had begun to well as she imagined them, this group of misfit rogues, never finding a loving home. They would be lucky to find anyplace they belonged. She knew they had to go, they couldn't go with them, but knowing didn't make it any easier. Her emotions further confused the children and she sniffed once before aggressively wiping at her nose with the back of the hand that held the sushi cloth.

“Just be good, okay?” Linota told them with forced strength. “Do whatever the grown ups tell you to do.”
They were well practiced in that, at least. The idea of more obeying seemed to make the kids wary, but perhaps they still needed that fear if they were going to be children that people wanted to have.
Some of them asked why she and Cairo weren't going with them, to which Linota explained that they were too old for the monastery to accept them, but too young to be considered ‘real’ grown ups. That was also the excuse she used to explain why she and Cairo couldn't adopt them. ‘Only real grown ups can adopt children’. She supposed that much was actually true. It seemed all their questions had been answered for they fell silent to digest these new circumstances.

If Linota looked up from this emotional onset of a farewell to see anyone staring at her, she would glare at them, reddened eyes and all. Unless that someone was Cairo, to which she would give him a sad smile and accept his help to stand.

Azumi was watching Robin out of curiosity, that is until she was tapped on the shoulder by her bond.

"Yes, dear?", She asked Ren tilting her head.

"See those kids, they're defenseless. I don't like the sound of them being adopted by another tyrant madman. We're going to teach them at least some basic martial arts, I don't know just something!". Ren was determined to help the kids. He felt some sort of memory pop up in his mind. Something about being bullied.

"I see that we are of the same mind then, let us tell Linota and Cairo first obviously"

And so they did. Ren especially wanted to ask Linota and told her he wouldn't take no for an answer, another habit that he picked up, not from being a treasoner, but from his years as a somewhat regular kid who was being bullied constantly. He remembered all those times he couldn't stand up for himself as a kid and mostly relied on his friends and family, now he is the one trying to protect the people that mattered to him. The one who had to stand up for others and himself when they could not. Azumi approached the children with a soft smile on her face and excitedly told them that they were going to teach them how to defend themselves.

"Oh and do not be afraid of Ren", She said, "My bond is one of the nicest people out there when you get to know him!"

Cairo helps Linota stand up and turns his attention to the kids "so basically what Lin means is the new home you guys are going to its gonna be different from here, you wont have to worry about stealing gold and you'll get nice warm beds..." Cairo grows quiet at his last few words "but...we cant live there with you we'll be going with liothryth and assallya..." After saying that he sees the childrens faces well up with sadness at the idea of the two not joining them it pains Cairo deeply to see them so sad "aw come on now guys don't go cryin' on me, i know it sounds unfair but just because we cant live with you doesn't mean we cant visit you and trust me when we do me and Lin are gonna tell you guys ALL of the stories about our adventures just like those books we used to read to you guys that would be fun right guys?" This brings the childrens mood up only a bit then one child comes forward and put his pinky up and asks "promise" Cairo without hesitating gives a genuine smile and locks pinkies with him and says "promise. Its like i told you strong people make strong promises" the child smiles as Cairo stands up and ruffles the kids hair

Linota couldn't help but smile at Cairo’s explanation to the kids. He always knew how to talk to them. By the end of his pep talk, they were all smiling, ready to be strong in the face of the unknown. It didn't hurt that their bellies were full of sushi.

When Ren approached again, accompanied by Azumi this time, Linota found that she was a little less wary of them. They asked to train the children, to which Linota looked at them in thought. It could be a good idea to teach them how to defend themselves or it could be a disaster, giving these traumatized kids the tools to easily harm others. Though after having fourteen pairs of big eyes on her, begging to beat each other up, Linota conceded. What did she care if they hurt others? At least they were having fun.

The children cheered and ran to an open spot in the yard to be taught martial arts. They hardly needed Azumi’s reassurance, though Linota looked from her to Ren with a piercing gaze. The attack on Radigan was fresh in her mind as she observed the man, now instructing the children. He had barely been able to control his own strength, even Azumi had scolded him for it. Her gaze went to Liothryth briefly, thinking similarly of the mage. Two loose cannons- what could go wrong?

“You’ve said that before- ‘Bond’,” Linota said, standing next to Azumi. “What does it mean?” She secretly hoped that the answer would clear up why exactly Ren had called the kitsune ‘mom’.
As she conversed with Azumi, Linota watched the kids try to copy Ren, then watched as a few ‘class clowns’ were just trying to be funny, ignoring Ren’s instructions. Linota exhaled an inaudible laugh and waited to see how Ren would react to them.

While speaking to Aislin, Liothryth also though of the monastery she had just left. It wasn't too far away and likely the brothers and sisters there would be willing to take in the children if there was nothing closer. It would mean a bit of a diversion in the travel plans, but there had already been one, so why not another?

"Perhaps this isn't the best time," Liothryth said, addressing Robin when she came over, "but I have a business proposition for you. I had hired a few people in town to travel with me and retrieve and item in a place to the north, and I was wondering if you would be interested in joining us. I can promise substantial compensation should you wish to do so."

Cairo being himself hears the word "compensation" and immediately asks liothryth with stars in his eyes "wait we're getting payed for this? How much is it?"

"The children wouldst well be looked after," Aislinn assured Liothryth. "T'would not be an idyllic life. They would be expected to work, as scribes or tilling the earth as each is best suited but they wouldst learn their letters, be well fed and cared for."

It was the best she could promise. Life wasn't easy, not for anyone. One would think in a world of magic and wonder all would be provided for but the reality was far from it. Humans didn't need devils and demons to explore the depths of their depravities. Even demons were often surprised by the lengths humans would go to rise above their brethren and put them down.

"Why do you fight us?" the ancient demon whispered in her mind, "You know it to be true. We are but reflections of your darkest desires. With your power you could be a queen amongst us. Imagine the good you could accomplish with an army of devils at your beck, the monuments, every mouth fed, every wrong avenged. At the very least we devils follow the rules."

Aislinn shuddered at the memory. It has been so tempting.

"If not their wants," she concluded, trying to quash thoughts of failing to make a better world, "their needs wouldst be provided for. I was raised thusly. It is a hard life but it can be fulfilling."

Assallya too was interested in Ren and Azumi's bond. Enchantment was her specialty after all. Wizards and sorcerers had such bonds, made more often with small animals. They blended soul and spirit with the animal. It was both boon and a powerful weakness wrapped into a neat bundle.

Besides, anything to get away from the, ugh, children. Quite a few of the older boys were looking at her with unabashed longing that was most distracting. She was beginning to regret the seeming she'd placed over her ragged urchin identity.

"More than enough coin to get you some decent clothes," Assallya said to Cairo, "and not enough to sate you."

The sorceress chuckled.

"Your share of what is discovered will likely far exceed any matter of payment. Discovering a single magical tome could provide food and lodging for a year or more.

If you live to spend it."

“I would love to join”, she said as she grinned. ‘A adventure, how exciting?’, she thought to herself. Her ears twitched, hearing rustling in bushes. A squirrel climbed those said bushes.

Azumi was nervous when Linota asked her about Ren. It was clear to her at least there wasn't much for her to hide, except for why Ren had been so erratic this entire time. She made noises a fox would make when it feels uncomfortable and paused briefly to compose herself.

"I'm guessing you request an explanation for his behavior and my relationship with him?", She said at last, looking at Ren who simply did a facepalm at the kids and told them that this is a matter of their safety, "As you know, I am his familiar, but unlike most familiars, I am not subservient to him. I am more of a guardian spirit who makes it her life's goal to protect him. As for Ren's erratic mindset, he was never really like this. Ever since we were forced into joining the Treasoners, ever since he killed someone for the first time, his mental state has been in a downward spiral ever since. His magic, related to his mental state, appears to be even more unstable because of it. Despite this, I don't want you thinking he cannot be trusted, even if he were to lose his mind here, he couldn't bring himself to hurt innocent people. He's even tried to spare people like radigan before. He's making progress, I know it".

Ren, on the other hand, was already getting slightly annoyed by the antics of his "Class Clowns" and left the kids to their own devices for now, asking Azumi to help teach them in his stead. He approached Linota with an annoyed expression on his face, telling her that he did not realize that kids could be that much of a handful. He finally relaxed a bit, looking at Azumi, who was scolding the unruly kids as if they were her children.

"If you're scared of me, go ahead and say it", He said quietly and frowned "I'm aware that I didn't think properly during the fight with Radigan and well, I guess I'm trying to redeem myself by helping the kids learn some martial art techniques."

Suddenly, he pointed a pistol at Linota, except the grip was pointed at her instead, a Treasoner gesture showing he wasn't trying to threaten her, which Azumi had explained when they first met Liothryth's party. He dropped it and told her to take it.

"I can teach you how to fight a Treasoner. How to subdue me if things do go wrong", he said, "My old squadmate says I'm making progress, but I don't see it. Ask Cairo if he's interested, by the way. You both have to be prepared."

Linota would be too preoccupied with her conversation with Azumi and watching the children to hear the conversation between Liothryth and Aislin. Anything they were talking over now was semantics, as far as she was concerned. She looked at Azumi strangely when she grunted and whined, then she blinked. She hadn't heard the kitsune make any noises other than human speech and fox noises were just plain weird sounding to her.
At her question, Linota shrugged and said, “That would be nice.”

She watched the children as Azumi explained it to her, smiling involuntarily when Ren’s reactions to them amused her. That smile disappeared, however, when killing was mentioned. Linota had killed once too, though she couldn't remember the actual deed, and it had affected her just the same. She supposed she had led to Radigan’s death as well, but she didn't care a lick about that. She watched Ren with a different kind of stare and though she still didn't fully trust him, it was good to know that murdering had hurt him.

“Nobody should spare someone like Radigan,” Linota told Azumi with a bit of a growl. “And I don't think he would hurt anyone on purpose.”
She gave the kitsune a look, insinuating further that she didn't trust Ren to not have an accident at some point down the line. No sooner than Linota ended her statement did Ren walk toward them, looking flustered and miffed. Linota bit back a laugh as he told Azumi to take his place and then was left there to stand next to the man she had judged unsafe. She stood in silence, her eyes on the children, until Ren spoke and she glanced sideways at him.

“I’m not scared of you,” Linota was quick to say. “I’m wary of you.”
She let him finish then and looked at him directly when he did. “You threw green lights at me,” she said. “What are you going to do to make up for that?”

When he quickly drew a gun, or that's what it looked like he had done, Linota jumped back like a frightened cat and thought her heart was going to freeze over. Upon inspection she realized it was the gun’s handle and then realized shortly after that he was doing that thing he had done with Cairo, when they had first met. Linota’s wide look of surprise wrinkled into a sneer.
“Why do you have to point it at me like that??”

Then he dropped it, which made one of her feet jump up to avoid an accidental shot. She didn't know much about guns, but she knew they went ‘boom’.
“******* Hell!!” Linota yelled and waited for what he would do next with much anticipation. “Your customs leave much to be desired.”
When Ren told her to pick the gun up, she did so, after some hesitation. She had always wanted to hold a gun, but now that the time had come, she was a little afraid of it. No– she was wary of it. It held so much power and it was so instant.

Linota looked at the gun in her hand as she listened to Ren, her eyes having gone quickly studious and fascinated.
“How to bring you down without killing you?” she asked, looking up to meet his eyes.
“Cairo’s already a pretty good fighter,” she would continue, peering over at Cairo, who was talking to Liothryth with what appeared to be amazement in his eyes. “I’m sure he would love to learn more though. Hey, Cairo!”

Linota waited for Cairo to look over at her before she said with a knowing smile, “Wanna fight?”

Lio sat meditating under a tree in the soft morning light as she waited for her companions to wake up. It was hard to be here where there were so many memories and she knew it would likely only get harder when they reached the Tor. The journey had given everyone time to heal and rest after their time in Pendel. It had also given them a bit of a chance to get to know each other a little better, but since it wasn't a long journey there was still much more to learn.

The group that she had managed to assemble to help her find the Orb certainly had a variety of skills and talents, hopefully it would be enough to get them safely through whatever Elsen had left behind her.

Linota had learned a few moves from Ren, like how to disarm someone holding a gun and how to quickly incapacitate someone with grapple holds or a well placed chop. She also learned how to properly hold a gun, or rather the stun gun that Ren had given to her, and how to correctly aim it. Linota had mostly watched Ren perform the moves on Cairo, but she put it into practice with the man a few times herself, not caring so much about touch when it involved fighting. She rather enjoyed it and might have hit the boys a little too hard as she let her frustrations out. Accidentally, of course.

Shortly after the three of them had devolved to wrestling each other on the ground, and the kids had all jumped in, the ‘real adults’ were ready to put action behind their words. They went down the alley and to the party pop up, where all the townspeople were still in attendance. There was no sense in wasting all of the good food that Liothryth and Azumi had prepared and they did promise the children they could actually eat those delicious smells. When the group of misfit heroes barged in, followed by 14 kids, it looked as though the party goers would faint or vomit. It was a spectacular crashing, with kids running on tables, snatching food right out of the town folks' hands and dumping drinks on them. Linota laughed with the kids, talked with the kids, and ate with them one last time.

She was distant after, as if trying to break any bonds she had with them before they were gone. And then they were gone, leaving her just a little emptier inside. She angrily questioned her own emotions, asking why she cared so much and informed herself that she didn’t care about the kids at all. They annoyed her to her wit’s end more often than not. Good riddance! But that line of thinking only made her feel even more guilty.
She accepted any compassion Cairo might have shown her, but even from him, she wanted to be alone. It was a little difficult in a wagon, but she made do with posturing and sticking to one corner in standoffish silence. Her staff was always with her, inside the wagon and out of it, but she never once tried to use it.

She had piled her stolen goods in some compartment in the vardo wagon, somewhere Assallya had shown to her. She decided to take the silver platter after all, as well as the doll, the fork, and the goblet. She had played around with all of them, though she still didn’t know what the platter could do. She supposed it could be thrown at a werewolf, but other than that, it seemed of no real use.
She didn’t know what the doll could do either, but she didn’t try to figure it out for very long. It scared her every time she opened the lid to the compartment to grab something else, as nothing could make her get used to the sight of it. Its eyes were wide and hollow, its hair was stringy, and Linota just knew that it wanted her dead. She decided she would ask Assallya what she knew about the platter and the doll both.

The fork and goblet weren’t so much useful as they were interesting. With the fork, one could bite down on it and the food of their desire, or perhaps just what they were thinking about at that second, would suddenly appear inside their mouth. Linota had a lot of fun with that one, though it made her think about how much the children would have enjoyed it. She shared this discovery with the others, but regretted it after everyone wanted to put their disgusting mouths on it. She wouldn’t be using that thing again until she could thoroughly clean it, sufficing to get her meals by other means, even if that meant asking Robin for help.

The goblet was less fun, but no less interesting. It would fill with drinkable liquid when tilted against someone’s lips, but the drink was random. And ‘drinkable’ was often time up for debate. Sometimes Linota would get a delightful honey tea or a nice ale, though other times she would get some black licorice-like concoction or one that tasted like ginger root–a foreign taste to her–that seemed to burn her insides. She tried to dump it out, but it would only refill with the same drink until someone drank every drop of it. She had dared Cairo to drink the last batch of nasty drink, calling him cowardly names to get him to agree. She would laugh at him if he did and excitedly think about what the next drink would be. Eventually she would toss the goblet in the compartment when it next filled with something unsatisfactory to her. She would let whoever tried to use it next deal with the unpalatable brew.

Linota had later heard about Liothryth’s offer to pay the group’s newly acquired Robin to aid in her journey, to which Linota had scoffed. That girl would have done it for free! She was proud, however, to discover that Cairo had jumped on this financial opportunity, asking for payment as well. Linota had been the next one to ask, and would say with a smile, “It’s your own fault for offering,” if Liothryth had been at all irritated by it.
Truthfully, she was grateful to Liothryth for not mentioning Linota’s earlier lie about the mage needing ‘her artifacts back’ in order to help Ren and Azumi. She was also grateful for Ren and Azumi’s memory capabilities.

As the days rolled on, with small bits of conversation and even a few laughs sprinkled into her troubled silence, Linota couldn’t help but feel better with each morning. She was thankful for the company, though she didn’t act like it much. She was slowly getting more accustomed to the people, and creatures, around her, enough to be curious about them.
She asked Assallya questions about some of the stuff she had in her wagon, like the long and intricate glass pipe and the strange smelling herbs she had. She learned that they could be smoked and what it felt like when doing so. She readily told Assallya that she wanted to try it, saying she would trade her some of the mushrooms she had picked and explaining the effects of those as well.

She also asked Ren about science and got a better understanding of the word, though she still had a lot to learn. Azumi, she mostly spoke to about food and the type of magic the kitsune could use. It seemed different than the kind of magic Linota was used to seeing.
She hadn’t spoken to Liothryth much after she had finally agreed to let the mage heal her wounds. It had been nice to be cared for, to be made better by someone, but it only reminded Linota of how useless she was. Or how useless she thought she was. What this old and powerful mage must think of her. A frail child who only ever needs saving.

Linota wasn’t so wary of the mage anymore, of any of them really. Now that she had spent a few, peaceful days with them, they weren’t so bad- for a bunch of weirdos. This morning, Liothryth meditated outside, as she seemed to do most mornings, Linota was beginning to see. She looked from Lio to the staff gripped firmly in her own hand, at the hourglass that hadn’t run even half an ounce since Radigan had turned it. With a heavy heart and a sigh, Linota made her way over to Lio with quiet footsteps. Assallya had loaned her some clothes, seeing as Linota had none to change into. Her old, blood stained rags were burned, easily let go of and forgotten. Now she wore the most loose fitting, most unrevealing outfit the gypsy had to spare, which was still not up to Linota’s standards of ambiguity, but she was grateful nonetheless. It mostly consisted of blacks and greys, matching the old boots she still wore. They were covered in holes and the leather was tearing in most places, but they still had their soles.

“Hey,” Linota said lightly, not wanting to startle the woman. She was unknowingly chewing her lip and looked at the spear like a war was waging in her mind.
“I want you to have this,” she blurted and held out her staff to Liothryth, determination brightening her eyes. She had gone over this in her head a hundred times now, but still she tried to argue against it. “It’s useless with me. I don’t know magic and as much as I try, it doesn’t work. It doesn’t do the things it did when.. he was using it.”
Radigan’s name was a sore in her mouth and she couldn’t bring herself to say it in that moment. She didn't speak of the backlash the staff did to him, but what it did for him, before. The elemental attacks, the shields. If Liothryth didn’t take the staff away from her, Linota’s inner flame would flicker irritably.
“It’s just a stick in my hands!” She would shout at her, frustration at admitting her own inadequacy acting as kerosene. “Take it!”

Lio opened her eyes and looked at Linota holding the staff out to her. It was the first time she'd been around the young woman since healing her and, Lio suddenly realized, the first time the two had been alone together. That was very interesting because she was sensing something she hadn't when around Linota before.

"I already have a staff," she said. "I'd look rather foolish with two, don't you think?" Whatever was bothering the young woman seemed to have been festering for a while. And there was that new thing she was sensing. Lio opened herself up to the eddies and currents of magic around her and started to feel the potential for an incredible amount of magical energy in Linota but it was as if something was blocking it. "You said you've tried using it and nothing happens. Sometime magical objects will work with very little effort by it's user, and some require more specific actions to function. Perhaps you can use it, you just don't know how yet. What did you do when you tired?"

Aislinn strode proudly at the head of their small procession as they travelled. Unlike before she was now properly cladded in plate mail and sported an assemblage of weapons on the rump of her steed. A shield was close at hand, sporting her personal device of a winged sword. At her side was her trusted bastard sword, the classic "hand-and-a-half" blade that could be wielded with one or two hands and in her stirrup was a long lance with a pinion that matched her shield.

She had agreed to lend aid in the quest for she was headed towards Elsen's Tor to investigate rumours of fell sorcery, missing livestock, and- occasionally, missing people. She'd elected to do so while her partner, the abjurer Darren, was visiting family. Personally, she'd suspected bandits and wasn't worried but after talking with Liothryth she was not so sure.

The party she'd assembled was quite diverse and boggling. The inclusion of a pair of children and, in particular, Assallya, an untrustworthy wench, was a surprise to her but Aislinn had been at this sort of thing a while. She knew the value of one who knew their way around locks and traps, people would could move with footsteps like falling leaves. No, that definitely wasn't her strength. Then there was a familiar, and her "partner" and that small dog-like woods girl. Yes, it was a very strange assemble.

Cairo is seen sneaking off by himself leaning against a tree with a bag next to him which was filled to the brim with a multitude of scrolls that he bought like a totally normal person and did not get hit upside the head by Lin he was studying this scroll knowing all of his scrolls were for learning kenjutsu he eventually backs away from the tree and readies his sword to practice the combination as instructed only to fail in a goofy manner but being himself was too stubborn to stop until he got it right even though he was by himself he still felt a little embarrassed about getting the stance and moves wrong and tripping himself up more times than he would admit, like that nagging thought that anyone can pop out at any moment