Monster Fighters (Yorick/Mila C)

[Mila]

It was the day after her encounter with the zombies of Ostia. Mila had woken sometime during the afternoon and went down to the pub for something to drink. Once again she ordered a simple mug of steaming water for one of her tea's. This time she needed something to help dull the pain of her muscles and revive her energy. Green tea and Ginger root should help. The mage had drained a substantial portion of her spiritual energy fighting the horde of undead.

When her water was delivered the mage quietly steeped some dried tea leaves and ginger powder into her mug and gave it a stir. She placed her small plate over the opening so heat wouldn't escape. She pulled out her journal and a pencil and began scribbling down the events of the day... wait was it day?. The young mage was unsure. Ostia had a funny way of keeping everything grey. Oh whatever.

She began writing down detailed notes of her encounter with the bone walkers. She made mention how they were under the orders of a Wight. That they were proficient in weaponry, which weapons, and how to beat them. With her notes came her usual drawings. This time she made an emphasis to draw a proper human skull. With the words DESTROY THIS in pencil. She would have to ink it later. Her notes detailed how there could still be remains of flesh, armor, still attached to the bones, there were no unusual markings or protrusions that can give a clue how they were re-animated. It's as if they simply just woke up with the urge to fight. Hmm.. Is it an awakening of all human's base desires for violence? Or just freaky black magic? Why do they horde together en mass? Is that part of their memories as living things or something else...

The young mage was so focused on her notes and thoughts that she could not tell whom was approaching her. A simple tap on the shoulder would be enough to snap the young mage out of her thoughts.

[Yorick]

Yorick smiled as she came into the tavern. She'd been outside stretching, and since her injuries were thankfully less severe than those she sustained from the Baels, she was able to have them healed more quickly and with less effort and cost. Which was always nice, since there was really no loot to sell for coin when you were killing skeletons for the second time.

Sometimes she wondered how she'd gotten into such a luckless and loveless profession... She was really and truly just a walking weapon rack that made its living by killing things. Monsters, humans, livestock... She was good with her weapons, and that was about it. Sometimes she wondered why she hadn't been born male. That would have greatly simplified the whole matter, and perhaps she could have found a young bride among the inhabitants of the villages she saved or sacked.

Let's be real; nobody selects a young husband to carry off. That just doesn't happen.

Yorick looked around the tavern. It was completely empty save the one mage she'd fought with, who was busily scribbling in a notebook of sorts. She looked like she was documenting the whole encounter, and her drawings were quite well-done and accurate. It was impressive.

The Halberdier quietly slipped in next to Mila. The older woman wore no armor and had no weapons on her save her iron axe, which she laid gently on the bar.

"Hello, Mila. How are you?"

Yorick could see no glaring injuries on the mage, and she didn't look too broken or exhausted, so that was promising. The Halberdier was glad to have the chance to get to know Mila. She seemed interesting. Full of life.

[Mila]

Mila turned her head to see who had addressed her. Oh! It's Yorick! The last she saw of her was shortly after they had returned to the Inn after their job with the un-dead. The young mage promptly went to sleep the second she was told where her room was and kind of missed where her other two companions went. She gave the warrior woman a friendly nod.

"It's good to see you." The mage put down her journal. She turned to face Yorick.

"I'm physically fine, just really spiritually drained. The young mage tried to demonstrate with her hand. She could just barely conjure up a fire on her own. The small orb of flame flickered briefly before fizzling out.

"The tea is supposed to help with that. How are you feeling? I know I kind of like.. I passed out once we got back. So I didn't get a chance to see how you fared. But you look great." There was a soft smile to her face. The mage quietly pulled the plate off her tea mug and took a sip. The bitter mix of hot tea felt oddly refreshing. As if the tea was quenching some invisible thirst. The color was starting to return to her face. The steam tickled her nose momentarily. She could almost feel her connection to the spirits returning. Hey there we go. Maybe tonight I might be able to light a candle.

"I wanted to thank-you. I would have been an adorable squishy pin cushion for weapons had you not covered me. That deserves a drink or dinner. I've got some gold for either but not both." Part of her admired the warrior woman. She had a air of strength about her that the mage could never have. The other part of her was slightly jealous. That same strength commanded respect and no nonsense from employers. Something of which Mila usually had a hard time with. Those scar's on Yorick's face told stories. Stories on how she had survived.

"If I recall correctly uhm... You fought a bael right? Do you mind if you shared that story with me? I'm a sucker for a good story involving monsters." Don't leave out any detail! She wanted to yell out that last part but for the sake of politeness she did her best to hold it in.

[Yorick]

"Spiritually drained... Huh. Me, I'm sore as hell."

Yorick flagged the bartender and, in an unusual departure from her normal routine, ordered juice. When the frosty glass came, she downed a large gulp and then pressed the cold glass against her right arm, letting the coolness soothe the ache in her muscles.

"I guess it's our styles, huh? I fight with my body, and my spirit is the catalyst. You fight with your spirit, and your body channels it. We're alike, but also different. I like that. You're quite the capable mage, though, so I guess I'd say that it's me who should be doing the thanking. You saved my hide a couple times out there. Man, it was brutal. I'm just glad I had someone like you I could trust to fight alongside."

When Mila asked about her story with the Bael, Yorick shuddered.

"Brr.

Yeah, I'll tell you. But don't look so excited... Baels aren't fun. Nor are they cute. And they're definitely not even as manageable as Bonewalkers. You don't want to meet a Bael. Especially not in its cave... Which of course was exactly where I fought it.

So there was a whole gang of us. A Swordmaster, named Duma... A Hunter, Kyle... A Novice, Vincent... A monklike woman, Ajari - boy, she was an odd bird... And me.

So we go up this mountain, right? And eventually we come to a cave. There's supposed to be a Bael in there that's been menacing travelers. So we head on in to take it out, our merry and ridiculously uncooperative band.

Duma was a leader natural born. He seemed to have a nice head on his shoulders, like the younger swordsman Vincent. The two of them were A-okay. Now Kyle seemed to have some people problems, you know, a little rude, kind of brusque, all that good stuff. And Ajari was just whack. The lady punched Baels and jumped like nobody's business. It was almost inhuman, how well she seemed to fight.

So we go merrily in, and the Bael drops down, and holy hell it was giant. So we set to work hacking away at it, and eventually another one shows up. So the one spider uses some web to block Ajari and me off from the rest of the gang, and we set to fighting it, until it bit me and got me stuck in its web. That poison is nasty... I started going numb, couldn't think straight... It was awful. Somehow, we got out without anyone dying, and then Ajari blew the whole damn cave up by lighting some gas in there. It was rough, Mila. Really rough."

Yorick withdrew the Bael fang she still carried on her, placing the wicked mandible on the counter.

"It's absolutely brutal looking, huh?"

[Mila]

"Your welcome Yorick. And uh.. Thank you. Yeah I know the feeling. I'm sore too."

Mila hung on every word Yorick spoke. Completely ignoring the part about her brother. And when the warrior put the fang on the table the young mage instant grabbed a hold of it and began examining it. There was excitement in her body language.

"Oh man! I've gotta take some notes." The green haired mage took her journal and flipped over to a blank page. She began writing. As she was writing she was speaking.

"Fang appears to be about three palms worth long. Hollow. It's curved inwards in a crescent like shape. Resembling that of the fangs of the funnel web spider. Substance feels to be made of chitin, but will need to find that out later. Venom glands must be located near the head. Venom causes disorientation... paralysis..." The mage quickly traced the shape of the fang in into her journal. It was a bit before she stopped and realized what she was doing. Then quickly went red with embarrassment.

"Oh! Oh gods! I'm Sorry! Sorry! That was rude of me." She put the fang back down.

"Gah.. this usually happens when i'm given something new to look out about monsters. Monsters are my life. So any new information I get it's exhilarating. One day I hope to compile a book about monsters for easy reading. You know to help save lives." She tried to calm herself down a bit.

"Ahem...Y..you were lucky to have people with you. I've seen bodies of people who weren't as fortunate." She took a small sip of tea before almost spitting it out.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Duma. The swordsman. Let me guess, big X shaped scar on his face? There was a nod.

"Of course my brother gets to square off with a super spider before I do." She held her head. At least he's alive and well.

[Yorick]

"You have a brother? Never knew. Well, that's pretty wild."

Yorick laughed, taking the fang back and stowing it safely away. Well, Mila certainly was well-organized. A good woman to have in a monster-fighting endeavor. Yorick felt comfortable fighting alongside her, which was good, considering that most of her life had been fighting against everyone. Life was rough on the Isles.

"Hey, Mila... I've been thinking about forming a guild to fight monsters. Do you want to join and help me? I've got the brawn and the sharp weapons... But you definitely have more brains. I can barely write, and here you are scribbling down notes like a professor. I need someone like you, who can analyze and form strategies... I really just fight. I'm afraid I'm not much of a strategist or an analyst... So I'd love to have your help.

I mean, I know you have your own affairs and you're probably busy with a cute guy or something along those lines. I don't expect you to just say 'yes' and we go out and become instantly famous for ridding Ostia of all of the undead. I just know that I get a special rush from killing the undead... so I want to keep doing it. And I can't think of anyone I'd rather have fighting along with me."

Yorick shrugged and sipped her juice absentmindedly.

"I'll call it the 'Verdant Cross.' Our symbol will be a green cross, each of the four 'branches' equal in length. They'll represent the four things a monster hunter must have: Strength, Courage, Cooperation, and Spirit."

[Mila]

The mage looked at Yorick quizzically. Perhaps she misheard. Did she not say that Duma was her brother? She decided to repeat that.

Well, yeah I have a brother. It's Duma. We're actually twins. She took another sip of her tea.

"If you happen to see him. Punch him in the face and tell him to write home to Taras once in a while. The old gang misses him. The mage listened as Yorick spoke about her guild. Mila was entranced. This sort of thing was right up her alley. And it was true she did have the brains for it.

Cute guy my foot. No guy likes a brainy loudmouth who doesn't sit around at home, supporting her guy, like some sort of chair. That analogy was so wrong. Screw it were in the heat of the moment! Do something cool!She downed what was left of her tea, then half slammed the mug on the counter top. She didn't use too much force as she did not want to break things.

"Yorick. I am so in. You have no idea. Your rush is killing them. Mine is learning about em. You hit em with weapons I hit em with magic.. Yeah... Verdant Cross. I like it. I will be honest though there will be times where I can't be with you or the guild. You are right about me having other obligations. Preparations to make. A wayward brother to find. But whatever hours I can do, will be dedicated to the guild." She ordered another glass of juice from the bar tender.

"Not going to lie Yorick. Unpredictability comes with the territory. I feel that mistakes will be made, people will die, and we will probably be hated by someone. But with, the four virtues of our green cross we shall persevere." Her energy and spirit felt renewed. The mage held up her glass of juice to toast it.

"To the Verdant Cross."

[Yorick]

”Twins! Whoa. I never knew. That’s kind of wild, actually. Most of my siblings died brutal deaths at a young age… I guess that’s what you get for living in the Isles.”

Yorick laughed as Mila gave her lighthearted punishment speech about her brother, and nodded vehemently in agreement with the woman’s second statement. She'd heard enough of that herself.

"Yup. I know what you mean. I've stayed alone too... Apparently I'm supposed to hang up my axes and go hang the laundry instead. And cook, and clean... Hell no. I'm as strong as any man, and probably braver. So are you. Don't put up with any of that nonsense."

Mila exploded, slamming her mug down and beginning to talk rapidly. Her eyes lit up, and excitement flew through her voice as she talked. It was invigorating to the Halberdier to hear such enthusiasm, and she got into it as well.

"Indeed. We're not perfect. We will have our failings and our enemies. We'll have successes, too, but the important part is that through it all, we shall stand, our symbol a beacon of hope and of dedication to an ideal that will never die. We will free Lycia from the grasp of the monster hordes... Yorick, Mila, and the Verdant Cross!"

As Mila raised her glass to toast, Yorick did as well, and the two mugs clinked together with a ring that echoed their wills, together and immutable, like a bar of iron. The Verdant Cross would rise!

[Mila]

The two glasses clanged together. The small noise that radiated through the air signaled the birth of the new guild. Mila knew that their battles would be long and arduous. As Yorick said they would help to free Lycia from it's monsters. And grant the people the freedom they deserve freed from the grip of a zombie's fettered claws.

But why stop there? If they played their cards right they could liberate the whole of Elibe from monsters. Now that was a goal Mila would love to see completed. Though she knew that human lifespans were short and even shorter still when it's a life full of fighting. But still if and when the two women would succumb to death the future members of the Verdant Cross would carry on. The dream would be accomplished by them. Mila finished her juice. Paid the bartender. And she spent the rest of the time talking with Yorick on the needed things for a guild. Mila wrote down in her journal about Yorick and the new guild.

Mila hadn't felt this alive since her first encounter with monsters. Back when she was wandering in a fog of her own head unsure of what to do with her life. The day she ran into those creatures was the day she felt renewed. The monsters rekindled her passion for learning. In her quest to find out how monsters ticked she learned some of their weaknesses. Some of their patterns. In the coming days she began sharing what she knew about monsters with Yorick. Hopefully with what she shared Yorick could use that knowledge in practice. 

{End Support}