A Time for Allies and Peace [Invite only Arya,Elkeid,Scoria]

[Arya]

Staring up the darkening sky one could clouds gathering overhead and beginning to darken. A not altogether uncommon sight one might find of a coming storm. Large blue eyes came down from the point they were observing in the sky as the adventurer they belonged to resumed their slow paced walk. This particular adventurer didn’t mind if it started raining, there wasn’t much they could about it now anyway. She would just make her way to one of the open air stalls or some abandoned building somewhere and just watch the rain come down around her. That was only if it became bad enough though, and since it wasn’t she would continue to work although to what purpose not even the girl knew.

It had been a bit of time now since they all woke up in this world that looked a lot like the Elder Tale mmo they all played in the real world but still the situation was taking its toll on Arya. The young female had always had a bit of a weak constitution so she never handled stress very well. This particular incident had brought her into a wide variety of emotions. First she was mad about being stuck here and not knowing what was going on, that time didn’t end well as she attacked another adventurer and got a trip to the cathedral. So the child knew that they couldn’t die here and dieing wouldn’t send them back home, this realization now brought her into a more depressed mood as she wandered aimlessly not a long distance from the cathedral itself.

A splash of water on Arya’s cheek caused her to look up again as the first drops of rain began to fall around her. Great of course it would rain now, it’s not like the day could get any worse now. Stuffing her hands into the starter clothes she found herself wearing her pace picked up slightly until she located a building that was open and she was able to duck into shelter.

Word Count: 339
Muse: Rains of Castomere
Tags: Elkeid Scoria

[Scoria]

Scoria, for once, was not the cause for the sudden rain. He walked slowly through the streets of Londenium, back straight and eyes focused forward as others scrambled about him. Rain, rain, oh no. The permanent glare on his face reigned supreme over all as he moved, completely unfazed by the growing darkness of the clouds above him. So what if it rained? It wasn't like he really cared that much anyway about things like the rain or the weather and frankly, he rather enjoyed it when it rained lightly. Didn't really bother him that much. In fact, it didn't really bother him at all. Unfortunately for Scoria, the player in question couldn't ignore a sudden storm. What had started as gentle rain turned into a strong drizzle, proper rainfall, and then finally what could only be considered storming of rain and water and all sorts of skyborne nonsense. He just quietly glanced up at the sky, glaring at the clouds as they let the water sink down into the earth, and heaved out a sigh.

Well, it was time to find some shelter. It was probably worth mentioning at this point that Scoria, in his altogether infinite wisdom, had not bothered to summon either of his familiar companions. Probably for the best, considering what fate had in store for him today. The druid continued to walk along as far as he could before finally deciding to turn into a nearby building. It wasn't particularly large or 'happening'. In fact, it seemed altogether abandoned, except for just one other person. Scoria stood at the doorway of the abandoned building, the archway framing the man's stature as he glared straight at Arya. A moment or two passed as the backlit druid stood there, before he took a step forward out of the doorway and a step to the side so he was leaning just a foot or two away from the exit. His eyes closed as he continued to glare into nothingness, not bothering to give the girl any more attention than he already had. He just had to wait this out or, if he could think of something to do, leave. He wasn't really paying any more attention than he had to, as inside the city, if Arya attacked him, they'd both be in trouble. And if she was a Lander, there wasn't any problem at all.

[ Arya Elkeid ]

[Elkeid]

It was no secret that most cats were wary of water, but Elkeid had not thought that that same stereotype would apply to those of the werecat race - more specifically, Sorrel. The little werecat fussed and complained when he was told to take a bath, and would claw at Elk if she tried to force him. He was such a kid...cat person. Whatever. So when the clouds grew heavy with rain while they were out for a walk, Elk knew exactly what to expect. The fortune teller that stayed at their inn had failed them yet again. 'I'm starting to think that woman does this on purpose.' Janna, what the hell are you doing?

Sorrel had failed to notice how dark the sky was slowly becoming. He was tiny and surrounded by taller Adventurers, most of whom blocked his view of the sky. Had she honored his request to sit atop her shoulders, he would have screamed like Chicken Little and darted off like an agitated squirrel. They were too far from the inn to return before the rain could fall, so that left whatever was open and available. 'But not on this side of town.'

The area they were passing through largely consisted of Lander homes and businesses, many of which were not open to the general public. The impending storm did not seem to be dangerous enough to warrant breaking and entering, either. Elkeid seized the bright eyed and bushytailed Sorrel by one tiny paw, and with one jerk of her arm had the tiny Guardian hoisted into the air. Sorrel took this to mean he was getting a piggy back ride. Moving with the agility of a squirrel, he swung the lower half of his body around to brace his feet against her side, and wrapped his free arm around her shoulders. He yanked his small hand away from hers, and settled comfortably (more like hung like a sloth) on her back. "I'm on top of the world -"

The little werecat was cut off by a stray raindrop that fell into his open mouth. Elkeid felt a large, heavy drop of rainwater on her head, and faster than you could say verschlimmbessert, the storm was upon them. Sorrel's ear-piercing wail of despair was drowned out by a rumble of thunder. Elk was unsure of how long she was running for after that, but it felt nothing short of a marathon. The arms constricting her throat may have caused her to imagine that she ran further, though.

Sorrel was babbling something about punching the clouds in their fluffy faces until they ceased their nonstop weeping, but how was Elk to accomplish that? If anything, she was more concerned with getting out of the rain and throwing the werecat off her shoulders. "Mum, go that way!" He grabbed her by the ears and forced her head into one direction, as if she were a horse. Elk obliged and ducked into what seemed to be an abandoned building. A young child that she guessed to be around Sorrel's age (ten) was the first thing she saw before the werecat on her back made his dramatic entrance.

Elk barely had time to shield her face with her arms before the boy shook out his wet fur, sending drops of water everywhere. He then had the audacity to tug a long section of her scarf free, and uses it to dry himself off. "You're all wet mum," he said as he handed the now soaked piece of scarf. What an excellent observation, Sorrel. Elkeid's eyebrows twitched in annoyance as she unraveled the entire scarf and dangled it over one shoulder. Most of her armor and hair was soaked clean through as well. 'Could this day get any worse-' Where the hell was Sorrel?

He wasn't harassing the kid, which she had expected. Children were supposed to gravitate towards other children, not snoop around a suspicious building unattended. She slowly turned her head from side to side, though it did not take her long at all to spot the werecat. He was standing on the tips of his toes as he poked and prodded at a strange man - oh for neep's sake, Scoria prattling on incessantly as children do. Of all people she had to run into with Sorrel in tow. "Sorrel," she hissed through gritted teeth. "Stop that."

Sorrel pouted - he neeping pouted - and spun on his heels, arms out to the side in a cheery display, before turning his sights on the kid. Why hadn't he done that in the first place? Who walks up to a complete and unfriendly looking stranger and pokes at them? Only Sorrel would point and giggle in the face of danger. "Is that old guy your dad or something?" The boy pointed a thumb back at Scoria as he addressed Arya. He was clearly a master of tact.

coded by benetnasch of ET

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Words:
818

Muse:
I've Been Thinking

Notes:
I fear for Sorrel's safety.

Tags:
Arya & Scoria

[Arya]

Arya sat in the back corner of the abandoned building, her knees brought close to her chest as she held them close. Things would’ve been just fine if it remained just her staring out at the heavy raindrops falling outside. The world seemed a lot quieter and at peace when you could sit somewhere dry and listen to rain falling around whatever shelter you were in, usually home but that wasn’t much the case here where players were a world away from their homes. It was while she was trying to collect herself in one of these moments that another individual had shown up in the doorway. Apparently she wasn’t the only one to think to use this ruin for shelter from this way.

Arya allowed her eyes to meet with the stranger’s for a few minutes while the man stood in the doorway. She continued giving more of a half glance as the other person moved away from the door, but only until he took a seat a short distance from the entrance. Arya was fine with him being there since the man didn’t overly chatty and seemed to just want to get out of the weather as she had. Hugging her knees closer, blue eyes dropping down to the ground in front of her as her back leaned forward away from the wall behind her. In all honesty she felt like wanting to fall asleep here with nothing to do while the storm raged on.

Through heavy eyelids Arya’s mind barely registered the shapes of two more people enter the makeshift safehouse of wetness. Her vision began to clear, however as she watched a small child about her size although probably younger move around the room from the adult he was with and the stranger who came by after her. Well the kid seemed to have no shortage of energy for all that’s been happening lately she’d give him that. She felt like she might even get by being able to ignore this kid as well after he calmed down and returned to his mother after a while, after all no kid could keep that up forever could they? Arya had wondered this as the little catboy came up to her and asked her a rather weird question. With barely even a look up at him she shook her head casually and muttered a reply that only the boy could hear. “No, he’s not we’ve never met, he just showed up here to get out of the rain same as you." Arya stated matter of factly while she went back to watching the rain come down outside.

After several minutes Arya gave another glance at the catboy and made a soft sigh while pulling herself up straight. Opening her mouth to speak again, but nothing came out as she closed her mouth again to force a smile at the strange kid in front of her. Maybe just having this small happy child around was enough to pick up the girl’s mood, even if it was only the slightest shift. “Maybe you should go run along back to your mother, kid" She managed a soft, barely audible voice as her mind went back into her own thoughts.




Word Count: 538 words
Muse: My Song and Sustained by Hate
Notes: Still trying to get used to the character, but I think I'm getting there.
Tags: Scoria Elkeid

[Scoria]

Scoria's expression remained harsh and cold, even at the arrival and subsequent harrassment of Sorrel. Arya seemed content to leave Scoria alone, so that was just fine. He didn't mind just standing there in relative silence, but that was not to be. After all, the werecat was accompanied by another. One flick of his eyes sideways brought his eyes upon Elkeid, and from then on, Scoria did not give her a second glance. He had already confirmed who it was and, perhaps thanks to the darkness of the abandoned building and the shadows that coated his figure, no one would be able to make out the tint of pink and the increase in severity of his frown. He had gone from glaring and impassive to burning a hole in whatever he stared at and baring his fangs. Sorrel, idiot that he was, wasn't about to get away that easily.

GLACIAL FREEZE, MOTHERneepERS.

Kicking Sorrel's feet out from underneath him and sliding down, Scoria forcibly wrapped his legs around the werecat and kept him in place before dropping his blazer on the kid. "Sit still." There was violence, threats of being buried under the ground, and all the force of a courtesan's presence behind those words. Essentially just as much oomph as Elkeid herself had. The thing he did next was smother Sorrel. Not suffocate him with a blanket, mind you, but rub the fluffy and somewhat warm blazer over the kid's fur, pulling whatever water was left out of his body. He wasn't this kid's dad, seeing as he was the parent of exactly two creatures in this world, but he forcibly and violently dried the werecat. Objections would not be tolerated. Once that was done, Scoria let Sorrel go and punted him lightly in the back, probably sending the brat skidding across the ice straight towards Arya. Without so much as throwing a glance at Elkeid, the druid tossed his blazer at her face and cancelled Glacial Freeze. At least Arya was relatively unobnoxious on the grand scale of things. The druid was now sitting in the darkness and staring straight at the wall in front of him, refusing to so much as glance to his right. Elkeid could go die in a fire or whatever. He didn't want to talk to her. She better not rip up his blazer either. Scoria's glare deepened further, and had this been a shounen anime of some kind, some sort of black aura would have been erupting out of him at this point.

[Elkeid]

Elkeid instinctively backed away from the sudden materialization of the large patch of ice. Scoria was up to his old tricks again, but this time the target was not here - it was Sorrel. She watched from the doorway as Scoria knocked the boy down and pinned him to the floor. Sorrel fussed and struggled, but was no match for the strength of an adult. Elkeid frowned and came close to braving the slip over the ice to pull Scoria off of the boy, especially when it seemed like he was smothering Sorrel with his blazer. What kind of person picked on a small child? She stopped, however, when it became apparent that he was scrubbing the boy with the garment. Sorrel was sent off with a light kick to the back, noticeably drier than before.

'This is what happens when you harass strange men,' she thought in exasperation as Sorrel went sliding across the ice towards Arya. He was trembling all over when he came to a stop, and rather than pester the girl once more, ducked under a table and curled into a ball. A sudden movement to her right broke her focus from Sorrel. She reached up to seize what she thought was a thrown arm, but found herself gripping nothing but fabric. The look on Elkeid's face shifted to one as confusion as she recognized the article of clothing as Scoria's blazer.

Her hand squeezed into a fist around the slightly damp blazer for a moment, and then relaxed. He hadn't tossed the blazer over for her to admire. Sorrel had gotten off easy during the downpour (and kept her back relatively dry in the process), but she was dripping wet and growing colder by the second. She tucked the blazer under one arm while she tackled the largest offender: her hair. A small puddle formed on the floor beside her as she squeezed out quite a bit of water from her long, dark brown locks. Her scarf was then tossed onto a nearby table so that she could properly dry herself off with the blazer. In the end, it was a damp mess, and not suitable for wearing in its condition. Rather than fling it back at Scoria, though, Elk chose to drape it over the back of a chair to let it dry. 'What gets wetter as it dries?'

She gave an involuntary shudder. Standing around in damp clothes was a good way to fall ill, assuming that was a possibility here. "Sorrel-" There was a soft rustling sound as the boy retreated further under the table. It looks like he would be of no use to her in his current mental state. She had no desire to talk to Scoria, let alone ask him for help, so Arya would have to do.

"Oi," she called out gently to the girl. "Do you want to help me gather...kindling for a fire?" The more she saw of it, the more she was assured that this building was an old abandoned inn or house. It held a still intact fireplace in the far corner of the room, but showed no signs of chopped wood - as far as she could see, anyway. The best they could do was round of pieces of broken furniture and try setting those ablaze in the hearth. "The warmth of a nice, roaring fire can be uplifting," she added. They were perfect for cozying up to after a day of playing in the snow, or for warming up cool and drafty rooms. She shot Arya a quizzical glance. If the girl refused, she could handle the preparations herself. It was easy enough to do alone, but it would give the kid something to do.

coded by benetnasch of ET

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Words:
623

Muse:
Love Letter To Japan

Notes:
ƸӜƷ

Tags:
Arya & Scoria

[Arya]

Arya lifted her sights over to Scoria and Sorrel as the former created a large ice patch in the room. She wasn’t sure what exactly these two were to each other but attacking a small child in an old building like this wasn’t the right thing to do. Placing a single hand on the hilt of her rapier Arya remained still as she watched the two males closer. She was about to intervene when the adult had the poor kid pinned and was smothering the little guy, even if he could just come back again the adult should be more considerate.



Watching the small child slide across the ice as he was violently kicked away Arya took her hand off her weapon casually muttered something toward the hostile man. “You should be more careful doing things like that here or you might draw unwanted attention." Making a simple nod to the ceiling to show she meant the Royal Guards that reacted to hostile player actions to each other. “Not that it’s my business, just giving a bit of advice is all." Glancing away from the other two in the room Arya found herself watching Sorrel cowering in the corner under a table. Without breaking eye contact with the boy Arya stood back up and moved over to the table Sorrel was hiding under and kneeled down to offer a hand to the little catboy. Before he could really respond to the gesture Arya collapsed to her knees as she curled up and started shaking uncontrollably.



The fits the girl found herself in went on for a few minutes until she calmed down again and first got back on her knees before standing fully. “Come on kid get back up, you’re fine. That guy didn’t actually hurt you so just get up and go back over to your mother." She spoke her voice becoming a lot colder and more hostile than it just been moments before. Turning back around went over and leaned on the door frame, standing just inside to stay but could still be close enough to reach out into the rain. The 'Arya' the girl was now had no problems with getting a bit of rain on her as long it meant being left alone. Glaring off into the rain as the woman approached to ask her question the only response that was given. “Not interested, maybe go ask the kid I’m sure he’d be more than glad to run around and look for Kindling." Her voice still as cold with a touch of hostility as when she addressed Sorrel. Having finished talking Arya drew her long sword and began admiring the blade as she turned it around in the air.



Word Count: 453
Notes: This has been really weird and awkward to write.
Muse: Rains of Castomere Instrumental

[Scoria]

Well, on the upside, people were getting drier. Scoria didn't really mind being somewhat damp and Arya seemed relatively unscathed, so that was a good thing. Scoria's eyes alighted on the small frame of the kid and glared, scoffing. "Says the person with one hand on their weapon." Did she take him for a fool? He knew clearly the limits that would call the guard and would not call the guard. He had, after all, extensively tested them. No help for Landers, and only upon dealing proper damage to Adventurers would the guard show up. Sorrel was roughed up, certainly, but he was unharmed. It seemed like things were going relatively swimmingly and Scoria even considered looking for something to aid his attempts to stay warm, though he didn't know if he wanted to wreck the place. He stood up and glanced over at Sorrel under the table, glaring at the Werecat without remorse. He continued glaring right up until Arya started to have a seizure.

A second later, Scoria had cleared the distance of the room and landed next to Arya, flipping the table away from the girl. What do you do during a seizure. Think. Remember. Scoria's eyes went to clearing the surrounding area of nearby obstacles, tossing whatever furniture was nearby away from the spasming kid. A seizure, seriously? Could you even get that kind of problem in Elder Tale? Didn't everyone's bodies become magically healthy? Then why? Scoria quickly pulled up the interface to check, but no. Arya was an Adventurer. With eyes flicking from Arya to the surroundings, Scoria made a hasty decision and turned to Sorrel. "Count the seconds. Start from... 17. Go." The glare in Scoria's eyes wasn't about to allow for backtalk at the moment and his head left that task to Sorrel instead of pushing more processing power into trying to keep a track of that crap. This was a convulsing seizure which was pretty bad. Come on. Think.

Although Scoria's glare was burning holes in whatever it landed on, his eyes clearly blazed with panic. Why was he dealing with this again? Why did this sort of thing follow him? Scoria made an attempt to roll Arya to her side in an attempt to make sure she didn't accidentally choke if she bit her tongue or vomit, and he knew there wasn't anything in her mouth to begin with. She was breathing, he knew that, so what was next on the list. She was shaking too much for him to try anything that required finesse, like removing constricting clothing or such. He could at least cushion her head, but with what. His hand whipped out and grabbed his blazer that had fallen to the ground and folded it neatly before placing it quietly underneath the seizing brat's head. Of course there wasn't any ID to check, this wasn't the real world. No recovery position was possible, she was seizing. He could try, like he had tried to roll her to her side, but she'd just keep spasming so what to do what to do come on think think think. His hand slammed into his pocket and threw one of his Magician's Papers onto the ground next to him, as he couldn't think of anything else to do. Instead, he just kept a watch between Arya and the door while one hand rested on his magic paper. If Elkeid was paying attention, she'd note that the formerly blank piece of paper rapidly began to fill up with crisp, sharply written notes. As much information as possible about everything related to the situation, everything he could think of. If this was something to be worried about, maybe someone was actually a doctor and could help out.

He would have probably continued panicking, had Arya not stood up as though everything was completely normal. She seemed like she was unhurt physically, but that attitude was just neeping weird. Normally, Scoria might have made a cold joke insulting her sudden 'shounen protag' status. Standing in the doorway and staring out at the rain, how poetic. It was like she was completely ignorant to the fact she had just had a seizure. WHAT. THE. neep. Scoria's glare burned holes through everything it set its sights on, but he motioned to Sorrel that he didn't have to count anymore. If the Werecat had to begin with. And then Arya pulled out a longsword and started playing with it. What. Just... What. Was she for real? Scoria would have assumed that this confusion was part of the results of brain damage and having a seizure, but that didn't seem like any reasonable result at all. Everything he had read at didn't point towards this so what... He just sat there, trying to comprehend what had just happened. He would have looked at Elkeid with a 'wtf' look on his face to gauge her reaction to all of this, but he really didn't want to look at her. Frankly, he could feel his chest contracting as a result of being around all this utter bullshit. On a scale from one to "I refuse to be having an attack right now", Scoria was in absolute refusal of even the possibility that he might stumble. He was still taking notes with one hand on the paper and most of his thoughts were going towards that, but he managed to at least get one sentence out.

"...Are you aware you just had a seizure?"

[Elkeid]

Well, that escalated. Elkeid certainly did not foresee the girl collapse to the ground and have a fit. There was a low thump from beneath the table as Sorrel jumped in alarm and bumped his head. Rather than cry about it, though, he started to poke his head from under the table, only to have the entire thing shoved away, leaving him exposed and vulnerable. This time Sorrel did yelp, but calmed down when he saw that Scoria was tending to Arya and not out to smother him. Elkeid merely stood back to watch, unsure of what to do. This was her first time seeing someone - an actual person and not an actor - convulsing like this.

Scoria appeared to know something, at least. She backed away as he began shoving furniture to the side, and nodded to Sorrel to comply with the man's order. The confusion in the werecat's eyes were apparent, but he did as he was told and counted. Did Arya have epilepsy or something? And what exactly set that off? Stress? The room was too dark and drab to offer any confusing colored flashes or anything else of the sort. At any rate, there was no way for her to offer the girl immediate relief, so she would just have to ride it out.

Elkeid, floored with curiosity by the girl's condition, found her attention being redirected to the blank piece of paper beside Scoria, which was rapidly being filled with text from an invisible quill. For the sake of her sanity, she would just call it more "video game magic". That seemed about right. From what little she could see of the paper, the invisible quill was collecting information of the situation at hand. Before she could sidle closer and get a better look at the paper, Arya's body fell still, and then she rose, seemingly unharmed.

...Until she started speaking and moving about. Sorrel bristled and scowled at the girl's words, though that look of confusion remained in his eyes. Elkeid stiffened and narrowed her eyes in distrust at the girl's sudden change in demeanor and tone. Did this happen when people had seizures? This...mood swing and shift in personality? Her interest in lighting up the fireplace slightly decreased once the girl moved towards the doorway and unsheathed her sword. With the girl the way she was right now, she might deliberately set the rest of the building on fire - assuming she could outfox the only adults in the room. Given the gap in levels and the threat poised by the Royal Guard, that seemed unlikely. The prospect of warmth beckoned, though.

She decided to leave the role of unwilling babysitter to Scoria, whose method of dealing with unruly children was more effective than her attempts of rationalizing with them. Some people had to be bullied into obedience. "I'm going to go see about our heating problem." She probed further into the room without another word. Sorrel followed a moment later, as she figured he would. The Arya / Scoria combo had proven to be too much for the boy. He was safer hiding trailing behind her heels.

Sorrel plucked at a moth eaten tapestry hanging on the wall. "What about this, mum?" It was old, this building was abandoned, and it was one ugly piece of artwork. Elkeid wrinkled her nose in disgust at the depiction of what she could only assume was a female goblin in a dress. It seemed highly unlikely that goblins would be able to buy or hold property in London, so this was someone's...idea of "art". Or it was the actual representation of a really ugly woman. Elkeid made a tugging gesture and nodded to Sorrel. They could use scraps of the tapestry to stoke the fire when it was ready.

While Sorrel struggled with removing the tapestry from the wall, Elk seized a broken stool and broke it some more. She tossed the pieces into the fireplace, along with the broken leg of a chair. This wasn't her first time lighting a fireplace, but using broken furniture in lieu of firewood was new. She squatted in front of the fireplace and took out one of her small throwing knives and a piece of quartzite. A tall man by the generic name of "Sven" once taught her how to make fire this way, when their ski group was taking shelter during a snow storm. "...And don't forget the char cloth. You need something to catch and hold the flame-" It was time to improvise. "Sorrel, how is that tapestry coming along-"

The tapestry was still up, and Sorrel was nowhere in sight. He wasn't pestering Scoria or Arya, either. Was he playing hide and seek? This is what she deserved for relying on a child to help. Elkeid set the knife and chunk of rock down to investigate the tapestry. She grabbed a handful of the fabric and gave it a sharp tug. The tapestry fell free of its bindings, revealing a sizeable hole in the wall - and two crouching figures. A skinny man wearing a dirty loincloth and a top hat was hugging Sorrel close, one cloth wrapped hand clasped over the werecat's mouth, the other holding a sharpened stick to the boy's throat.

Monk and hobo stared at each other in silence. So this building wasn't entirely abandoned after all. The hobo (a dirty Lander, from the looks of it) growled softly over the top of Sorrel's head, and wiggled his knife. Was he seriously threatening to stab Sorrel? Perhaps he was so out of the loop that he did not realize Adventurers could revive and come back to end his life? She lifted one leg to kick the hobo, but Sorrel was making a "I don't want to get stabbed face".

The hobo made the mistake of pulling his knife away from Sorrel to wave it at her. Without missing a beat, Elkeid swung the tapestry she was still holding onto at the man. Sorrel stomped on the Lander's foot and shoved hard against him before ducking and rolling. There was some light cursing coming from the now tapestried Lander hobo, who was trying to shove and cut at the fabric. Elkeid swiftly walked around him, wrapping the tapestry tighter and tighter until his movement was greatly constricted, and allowed him to fall over. "Damn squatters…"

coded by benetnasch of ET

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Words:
1064

Muse:
End of the Liney

Notes:
Happy birthday, Arya.

Tags:
Arya & Scoria

[Arya]

Twisting her blade around in the air Arya would take a moment to look over in the direction of Sorrel and Elk as they went about their business making a fire. The little brat was a bit of a scared wimp but there was something about the catboy that caused to girl to take up an intrigued curiosity in the boy. Putting long sword back in its sheath Arya brought her knees up to her chest, not in the depressive moping way that she did as the depressive anti-social that was there a few minutes ago, but in a relaxed intrigued manner as she was getting comfortable watching her new playtoy run around helping his mother gather things to start a fire. Maybe the interest was because in some way Sorrel reminded her of herself, or maybe she just found someone to connect to. Either way Arya felt that with her help Sorrel might just become stronger and not always go into hiding at the slightest sign of danger.

Speaking of the little brat though where had he gone? Arya sat wondering as she looked over the ruins for where he might be. Moments before the child had been picking at an old tapestry trying to get it down to start a fire to provide the area with warmth. She had looked away for a moment in her haze of thought of thought and now he was gone. Making a clicking sound with her mouth Arya stood up from where she sat in the doorway and slowly went back deeper inside the old inn. “Your kid sure knows how to get himself lost" She muttered over towards Elk and shoved her hands in her pockets. “Maybe you should consider hiring a babysitter for him, or maybe a leash to keep him from running off." Arya spoke again, a sneer appearing across face as she watched Elk search for the lost boy.

What happened next caused Arya’s eyes to light up in surprise before returning to an even bigger smirk. A wandering hobo in the same ruins that they took refuge in, this was definitely not that man’s lucky day, Arya was going to have some fun with this guy. “So that’s where the kid was hiding, and with a drifter with an apparent death wish no less." She spoke coldly and casually as she made her way across the room while Elk was busy doing her thing and getting him wrapped up in the tapestry. With a casual half glance over to Scoria’s corner, “Don’t bother getting up this guy’s mine." Drawing her longsword out again one hand Arya retrieved her rapier in the other as the cold grin went wider, if this was some kind of anime the girl’s eyes would have a red glow effect or something similar right now.

Finally reaching the man struggling in the tapestry, only getting himself further trapped in the thing, Arya lifted him up needing both hands due to the size difference of a small girl and an adult male. “Hey there, it’s been a long time since I had this kind of fun so try not to go dieing to soon on me will you? If it turns out you’re a lander I’ll need to get as much fun as I can right now, and if you really are a player, which I highly doubt, then you and I are going to become such good friends back at the cathedral." Her voice speaking whispers directly into his ear as she turned her hand over slightly so the longsword brushed the man’s exposed cheek. “Now let’s see how shall I start?" Asking more of a mocking question to herself she stabbed the rapier once through each kneecap before leaving it imbedded in the second one.

Gripping the longsword tighter now that she only had one weapon, “The Royal Guards should be here soon so let’s see how much I can have with you before they arrive shall we?" It wasn’t a serious question as she ran the tip along his face leaving a long scratch along its path. “Do you know why I’m doing this?" She asked him, now kneeling down as drew another line along the other side of his face. “Because you’re a crazy psychopath bitch!" He yelled squirming more in the tapestry to away. With a quick jab in his side with the sword, “Hey now, language! There’s woman and children here and one of them has a pointy object at your throat so watch that mouth." Punctuating that last remark by pressing the cold steel to the man’s throat. “And no that isn’t why. Well not the whole reason anyway, the truth is I’m bored. I’m bored and you decided to pick on the wrong person." She said throwing her head behind in the general direction that Sorrel probably was. “You see I took a liking to that kid so he’s mine now and I don’t share my toys well with others." Ending her last sentence with slow thrust into the man’s abdomen.

Looking around the room again Arya made a slightly puzzled look before returning her focus on her prey. “They should have been here by now, but they’re not so this really isn’t your day." Slowly cutting the tapestry open Arya sliced at each arm as they became visible. “Oh hey you were wanting a fire with this right, here have it." She yelled over her shoulder finally addressing Elk before throwing the scraps that got cut away over her shoulder. “It’s not like you’re much of a threat anymore, just a small plaything for my amusement, but I’m getting bored of you so it looks like playtime is almost over." She said shrugging her shoulders as she straddled the man’s waist. Reaching behind her Arya yanked the rapier from the man’s leg causing him to scream out and jolt upwards in pain. “Aw I’m sorry did that hurt? I thought it worked like a Band-Aid, pull it out quick and all that but I’m going to need you to stay down." Laughter in the back of her voice got cut off as she brought the rapier into the chest beneath her. Leaning down close to his face she whispered to him. “Thanks for this it’s been a lot of fun, really but everything has an end." Bringing her longsword up Arya slowly slid it across the man’s throat, the health bar over his head trickling down to zero signaling the end as well as Arya sat there a moment on lifeless body.

Turning back to the group and standing up Arya pulled the rapier from the man’s body and returned both weapons to their sheaths after cleaning them off. “Ahh that was fun and relaxing, but I think I broke it." Walking over to Sorrel she knelt down to him with a smile, “Not too bad kid I’m starting to like you." Patting his head once she stood up and went back over to her doorframe post.


Word Count: 1,172
Muse: Fire At Will
Notes: That was fun, and one of my longest post. Arya be crazy XD
Tags: Scoria Elkeid

[Scoria]

Scoria had been completely ignored. He had been ignored, utterly and completely. What was wrong with this brat? Scoria's eyes shifted from one location to the next, taking in everything to the best of his ability until he finally composed himself and heaved a sigh, picking himself up. It seemed like Sorrel and Elkeid were taking care of the heating situation. Good for them. Scoria, on the other hand, was keeping an eye on the doorframe and on the situation at hand. His steps were fairly light as he seemed to close in on the far edge of the building, the area that Sorrel had gone to. It was almost a cage of sorts, seeing as the main entrance was the only real way out. Well, there seemed to be a path out elsewhere, but it was back on that side too. Basically meant that this was a good place to hole up and possibly guard for a siege of sorts. Still a little unbalanced, Scoria glared into the darkness and kept his eyes on the overall situation, somehow avoiding Elkeid's position entirely. He didn't want to admit it, but his pride had been bruised from their last encounter. He simply didn't want to deal with her right now.

Perhaps that was why he didn't notice Grell's appearance. It was worth taking the time to note now that Scoria was someone who chose the slums as his place of residence. Elkeid should have known this as a fact from their previous encounters, but his fondness for Angelica and Elise and that old hag was both uncharacteristic and unprecedented. It was also the cause of his many troubles and while he no longer shared their favor, due to various... events that he'd rather not think about, he had spent a considerable time hanging out in the slums. He had come to become acquainted with a number of rather shady Landers and had somehow built up a reputation with the seedier folk, which was the reason that he knew Grell personally. Well, Scoria knew his name. Had Grell had the opportunity to get a good look at Scoria before Elkeid managed him, the Lander probably would have said something rather hard to understand in regards to Scoria's strange nicknames among the bums and impoverished. Anyway, all of this was rather unimportant in the grand scheme of what was happening.

Which was, namely, Arya being a crazy psycho. Jesus neeping christ. What the hell was this "Don't get up this guy's mine haw haw haw look at me I'm Arya and I'm a badaaaaaaassssssss" yeah go neep yourself with a cactus. Scoria might have continued with the mental obscenities until he realized that Arya actually was going stabstabstab. The druid's mouth gaped slightly and while his glare was a semi-permanent fixture on his face, his shock was clear. Scoria might have been an Ice Bitch and relatively unsympathetic, but he was not void of all emotion. And he did realize himself that he was sometimes just as violent as this, but... no, no he wasn't. He never stabbed anyone. Without even thinking about it, he quietly summoned Alraune to the field and gestured at Arya. The pollen's spread was immediate. The main difference between Arya and Scoria was that the swasbuckler was a sadist. She did things like this because she got bored... Grell's threatening of Sorrel had not been a reason, it had been an excuse. She was needlessly violent and was insane enough to assault Grell without the knowledge that he was a Lander. She was fine with the Royal Guard showing up... Didn't she know the Royal Guard could teleport? The pollen seeped further and further out as Scoria's body locked up, trying to determine the correct course of action. Would Elkeid help? Would Sorrel... Scoria's hand came up to his face as he clutched at metaphorical straws, trying to figure out what he could do. What could he possibly do here? Who was going to help hi-

Ahahaha. Right. Scoria dropped his hands to his sides and scoffed. He really had been getting soft lately. Well, at least he wasn't grinning. It was around this time that Arya had gotten into the end phase of her assault on Grell. Good for her. Unfortunately for Arya, Scoria knew what Royal Guards did and didn't react to. He was, after all, the guardian of the slums. Adventurers weren't permitted to pick on the unfortunate. Alraune had been hanging out the entire time and spreading her pollen about in an attempt to focus not Grell, but Arya. Well, it wasn't like her sadistic bloodrage mode would probably notice. What she would end up noticing is the towering Scoria behind her as she straddled Grell's waist. Come on now, good girls shouldn't do that. Scoria reached down and picked Arya up by her collar, preventing the untimely demise of Grell. Allure. "Grell, you know better. Get lost and find yourself an actual job, you bum."

"S-Sorry, Guardian." And just like that, Grell bolted for the door, but not without one sideways cast of a few healing spells from Scoria. The Adventurer held Arya out in front of him at arm's length, casually twisting whenever she would try to break free. Could she? Could she really? The Royal Guard wouldn't interfere, because Scoria had yet to do one very important set of things. He had yet to deal any damage to Arya and had yet to draw a weapon. Right now, this was no different from an arm-wrestling contest. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to sadistically maim Landers? They die when they're killed, okay? Scoria was not above man-handling Arya and while she could certainly try and fight back, as long as he got a grip on her collar, he had the advantage.

After all, unless she left Grell to go stop Alraune from spreading the pollen, then she wasn't getting any advantage. That was what it meant to have a twenty level advantage. Scoria wasn't going to hurt her. He was just going to hold her by the back of her collar so she couldn't twist and turn and do anything while Alraune continued to slow her and then finally stun her. If things went well, Scoria'd take her weapons too. If Arya tried anything like actually assaulting him (he didn't doubt she would), he'd just toss her forward and tap his foot on the ground, casting Glacial Freeze. She had a bunch of things she could do, probably, but no matter the result, Scoria was going to win. He couldn't be hit by some pansy-ass Swashbuckler who was under the effects of Alraune's abilities and had never found herself on ice. "Unless Sorrel wants Grell killed, you have no right to interfere. I somehow doubt that kid is of the murdering type." It didn't really matter what Arya did at this point. Scoria didn't have to god mod. If she tried to assault him, he'd throw her. If she tried to get Alraune, the sprite would just slide away. And Grell being killed was out of the question if she didn't immediately tackle the Lander, which she wouldn't be able to if she didn't handle Scoria first. At any rate, once she was thrown to the far corner and had to simultaneously deal with the slow of Alraune and the 10 meter wide Glacial Field, Arya wasn't getting to the other side so easily. With the practice of someone who used this skill almost every day, Scoria calmly slid off towards the door and hopped off the ice with a small flourish. "Being a kid doesn't excuse your behavior. Elkeid, Sorrel, I think it's about time I left. You're welcome to join me." Scoria's eyes might have been on the door, but Alraune's were not. She watched Arya suspiciously.

It could not be stressed and emphasized enough that there were a number of things Arya could still 'do', but her options for successfully killing Grell or getting the Royal Guard to show their faces were marginally small at best. He needed a tall glass of milk at this point though.

[ Elkeid Arya As noted, I'm not trying to GM against Arya. q__q; I just think there's little option for her to kill Grell or actually injure Alraune/Scoria without some miracle. And yes, I've checked spell descriptions. No damage from either of them. ]

[Elkeid]

With the bum wrapped up and contained within the rug, Elkeid figured that things were under control now. They could… chuck him outside for now, and bar the door to prevent him from reentering for a while. She was certain she could handle the Lander on her own. Sure he had a knife, but this wasn't the first time a guy in minimal clothing tried waving a dinky little blade at her. Before Elk could grab the tapestried man and haul him out of the room, however, when little Arya decided to intervene.

Elkeid scowled. She wasn't particularly fond of the girl's new attitude at all. "Go sit down, kid-" Sorrel chose that moment to cling to her leg and bury his face behind her knee. There was a flurry of movement caused by Sorrel's mouth, though he had his face pressed too tightly for anything coherent to come out. Elk looked at the boy in exasperation, and back to Arya, who was now attempting to lift the Lander into the air. What was she doing…? The Lander was tangled up and not an immediate threat. Was she trying to make herself seem tough now?

The lengths Arya would go made themselves apparent when she stabbed the man in both kneecaps. 'Something tells me I'm going to need an alternative to a time out.' Time outs were what she gave Sorrel for being a pest or misbehaving. The little werecat only pouted and fussed; he never tried pulling a weapon on her or resorted to sass. He was hyperactive kid and got on her nerves sometimes, but he was all right - which was why she pried him off her leg and scooped him up into her arms. He latched onto her in what could only be described as a one sided hug, and she reciprocated, clasping one hand to his head in an attempt to muffle the sounds of Arya's cruelty. She did not care enough about the Lander to intervene; her interest lied in protecting Sorrel from further mental scarring. Scoria, on the other hand, stepped up to take the "hero" spot. Seriously, what was up with that guy? She could never tell what he was going to do next, but at least he was being helpful.

Scoria's familiar was out and about, presumably spreading its pollen at Arya, who was then yanked into the air by her collar. That would hopefully be enough of that. She quirked an eyebrow at Scoria. Grell? He knew this man? Somehow she could not imagine the two of them enjoying a glass of milk together. And why did he call Scoria "Guardian"? She knew that the Druid frequented the slums, but took him for more as a dweller than an actual protector. Scoria was full of surprises today, and it may or may not have had something to do with the time she found him loafing about. Or maybe Scoria was just layered, like ogres onions. The world may never know.

Whatever the reason, Grell the Lander was able to escape and fled the building. Arya was left in Scoria's grasp, like a fish caught on a hook and desperately trying to escape. What were they going to do with this kid? Send her to a juvenile facility - oh, right. They were in a world where the strong and crafty made the rules. If Arya was a lot stronger and had friends, she could pretty much do what she wanted, provided the Royal Guard did not get involved. 'Which they almost did.'

Sorrel had calmed down a bit and remained relatively silent until Scoria mentioned him by name. The werecat forced his head back, long enough to give a loud "No!", and reburied his face in Elkeid's chest. Of course he didn't want Arya to kill the Lander. He cried when he had to kill things like Frenmic Rabbits or Brier Weasels. This was part of the reason he was still scrubbing it up at level ten (the other being Elk soaking up most of his experience like a sponge).

This entire experience was tiresome. She just wanted to sit out the storm and light a little fire to keep warm, but now she was irritable and had to deal with a freaked out Sorrel and hot headed girl. "Anywhere but here," she said in response to Scoria's offer. The first thing she did when they got home today would be to pass out on her bed. First things first, though. "Sorrel, we're leaving." The werecat's ears perked up, and he rotated his head a bit to sneak a glance at Arya.

"What's going to happen to her?"

"I don't know, and I do not care." Why was he worrying about the girl that had just tried to murder a Lander for fun? It was definitely time to go, before Sorrel developed Stockholm's Syndrome. She nodded at Scoria before carefully walking around the man and girl, and headed towards the still open door. Although the rain had yet to give up, it slowed down to a drizzle.

coded by benetnasch of ET

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Words:
847

Muse:
When I'm Small

Notes:
Blub blub blub

Tags:
Arya & Scoria