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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 20, 2015 4:00:02 GMT -6
Huh. She'd expected something a little more imposing, honestly; mighty columns of stone rising above an ocean of marble, or maybe something more gothic with sharp edges and pinnacles everywhere, or better yet, some sort of ethereal spirit world where wisps of light and energy would float eternally to the accompaniment of anguished whispers.
Unfortunately, it was just a run-down dump in the ass crack of nowhere, complete with a hole in the roof to make it look even more depressing. Ok, granted, maybe she was a bit spoiled, but growing up in Arcadia she had seen more than her share of pretty impressive ruins, and in the few hundred years since she left, there had been a fair few more ruins to explore with their own unique allures. Compared to all that, this was... well, Sacaens were big fans of the simple life, or whatever, right?
Nayru resolved to try to take it as being distinctly Sacaen, and while that didn't do much to make it any better, she was smart enough not to open her mouth. Didn't really matter what she thought of it, after all; it was important to both Veigue and Lena, and the last thing they needed was some hotshot outsider making fun of their heritage. Besides, who WASN'T to say there wouldn't be some totally awesome parallel universe inside full of luchadores and stuff?
Veigue's concern was touching, but... also a little embarrassing, honestly. For someone who had spent so long effectively immune to the ravages of time and illness alike, her occasional injuries grated at her all the more; being bedridden, treated as an invalid, bothered her more than it should. At least she wasn't getting punched around the insides of her brain anymore. Nayru smiled disarmingly, or at least she hoped it was disarmingly, already spinning the web of lies as part of her reaction - she didn't like lying, but that aversion had... fallen off somewhat recently, and besides, it was for a good cause. If there were any spooky skeletons animated by ill will inside the ruin, Veigue was probably gonna need her help, 'cuz she didn't think swords worked so well against bones.
"...Nah, I'm fine." As if to illustrate her words, Nayru grinned wider, no trace of her deception on her face, and flexed her upraised arm in a gesture of perfect health. Exactly what flexing her arm had to do with her legs being in working condition, she didn't really care to think too hard on; the message was clear. "It'll take more than some trees and a buncha dirt to put me six feet under!"
...
The mood sort of soured after a second when she did the mental math. "I mean, we're going down more than six feet if we're going into the building, it's just a figure of, uh... last one's there a rotten egg!
And with that, not really wanting to argue it out with Veigue, the falsely-blithe dragon hopped over the edge, surfing her way down as if it was a sand dune.
...Which went about as well as one might expect.
"...I'm alright!" she brightly called up from her crumpled heap at the bottom of the incline, moments before a clump of dirt landed on her head, prompting a further response in a lower tone. "Ow."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2015 14:20:43 GMT -6
Veigue stared blankly for a little while, kind of expecting her response to his suggestion...though immediately had a slight look of panic as she leaped on down. Perhaps he was just worrying too much, but he couldn't entirely help it either. She may have been feeling better now, but a lot of excessive movement could also do harm. Though her arrival at the bottom was one of relief...sort of. "...I keep forgetting she's tougher than nails." He couldn't resist lowering his head a bit as he lightly pinched the skin between his eyes.
"But is she really all right? I never did get a chance to ask any of you on what happened last night when we bumped into each other." The sister finally asked, her tone showing that it was something she's been curious about for a while...and Veigue couldn't really blame her. He's just now getting everything wrapped properly over his head as to what really went down the other day. Unlike anyone else outside their group, he trusted his sister with that kind of sensitive infomation. However, he knew what had to be said and what shouldn't. He turned away from his sister a bit as he stared downward, seemingly ready to descend himself.
"...It's a very long story. But unfortunately, I don't have much of a right to tell it other than us being deadlocked in a grim situation with bandits. If Nayru feels comfortable about it, it may be best for her to explain." That was about the best way he could put it without revealing any sensitive information. Lena remained silent, but seemed to understand just enough to not speak another word and nod her head in agreement. The two immediately leaped and followed the path as they slid down, meeting their companion at the bottom and Veigue finally getting a closer look at the shrine. Still didn't look too much bigger from afar, but he could tell back when it was being maintained, it was likely a beautiful sight despite it's size. But the dull and fallen area must have destroyed it's original beauty.
For that brief moment, he looked to Nayru again, his expression being an odd mesh of looking neutral and concerned at the same time. "Well, perhaps I'm just worrying too much...but still, try not to overexert yourself." Feeling the need to no longer drag things on longer than needed, and for Nayru's sake, Veigue ventured forth as it was finally time to see what this place looked like on the inside.
The shrine was falling apart even on the inside, he noticed as he pushed the old double doors open and examined as much as he could see. Walking completely in now, he could see a large alter way in the back of the building. There were countless amount of debris all over the place and it was generally not much of an intriguing sight...until he noticed that the walls had some sort of writing on it. They were in the standard language, of course...but something about the style of writing was odd to where it was slightly difficult to read. He needed to get closer to them to see it, but what caught his attention the most was that there was some sort of insignia drawn in several places on the walls...and he could see the same symbol from afar on the structure in front of the alter.
"...Ancient writing and a strange insignia? I didn't even think our clan bore a symbol, but I know they had a unique style of handwriting. Just skimming through some of this, it's like some sort of code of honor written all around the walls...and a bit of mythology, too." The plainswoman quickly walked around and examined the place to the best of her ability. Veigue didn't move much after entering himself, but he noticed something on a wall as he quickly began reading it to himself. It seemed like one of those myths Lena spoke of.
"When a Magnus' heart becomes shrouded in despair and his/her eyes only see darkness, it is when their true will and desires are truly tested. To see if the proud warrior will walk the path of righteousness or drift down the path of a tyrant. But if one is aware and afraid of the dark path, this sacred ground and the symbol of our pride will help them either to see light or discover their true calling."
...Something about that clicked in Veigue's mind, and it forced him to read it a couple more times. He had to assume that "symbol of pride" was Kenji. Perhaps the village elder was on to something after all, but he was inside this place now, and so far...nothing happened. He probably had to step further, but he had a feeling that the more he'd read this stuff, the less likelihood of something actually happening. He didn't see any zombies or anything, so that was at least a relief.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 20, 2015 23:57:36 GMT -6
Nayru completely missed the short discussion overhead, focused entirely on staggering upright like a drunken miner, or drunken baker, or - really the point was that it was less a lofty ascension and more a wobbly motion. And she was kinda dirty now. Mumbling something that would have made Elly blush - or at least ask what the word meant - under her breath, she dusted herself off and let Veigue and Lena proceed ahead of her just time. Solely for the good of the mission, of course, not like she was feeling a bit like a complete moron right now or anything silly like that.
There were no further incidents in their exciting introduction to tomb raiding, and they got inside the shrine pretty quickly from there. Not even explosive magical runes on the door or arrow traps in the walls, if you could believe it! Also this place was a total dump, like, even worse than it looked from outside. "You guys need to get a janitor. Also, a good trap architect. I know this guy in Khan Yunis who's can do some nasty stuff with pressure plates and magic detection..."
She trailed off, remembering that they were supposed to be focusing on Veigue's sword and the memories of his dead father and ancestors and stuff. "...Shutting up now."
It didn't last long, of course, as she noticed the strange script running across the walls in long strings. At least it was in the human tongue, rather than some backasswards language no one had ever heard of or god forbid some pictorial garbage that was always a horrible pain to deicipher, no she wasn't bitter or anything, but the font and diction was unique... and not in a way that made it easier to read.
It was kind of a funny scenario, actually. Nayru found herself both uniquely advantaged and unusually disadvantaged here; a lifetime of exploring ruins and putting together stories allowed her to make sense of the script remarkably easily, possibly even more so than the Magnus descendants, but her utter lack of knowledge of the history of the clan left her at times able to make sense of the parts, but no the whole. When you already knew Elibe's history from someone who had lived through all of it, it was pretty easy to make sense of a mural depicting events of the Scouring, but when you had no idea what to work from...
Still, it wasn't entirely alien. There was a whole lot of stuff about a sword, or maybe two swords - they weren't depicted together, and she had trouble telling if there was a reason for that. She brushed a bit of lingering dust off the wall, trying to make sense of one set of inscriptions. If there was indeed another sword, it either didn't have a name, or it wasn't written here... but Veigue always talked about Kenji as if it was THE Magnus family ancestral sword, not one of two.
Her eyes flickered across the panorama of all the walls, slowly rotating, reading through the words with nigh-superhuman speed; nothing related to dragon powers, just centuries of experience deciphering the writings of people who thought writing in a hard to read script was a good way to leave a memento. A nameless sword... it was possible that one of the damaged areas had had some information on it, but of the remaining information she could see there was very little. No name. No real history. But they were there. Sometimes only implications, other times stated, but there was so very little information, mentioned in passing. How curious.
"Veigue... you said Kenji was the Magnus family sword, right? Singular?" Caught up in her thoughts, Nayru didn't think to even consider that Lena was there, nor the possible ramifications of revealing that Veigue had told her much about it. She didn't like not understanding things, and this mysterious sword, mentioned only in riddles, was... eh. There weren't any warnings about it being evil or anything, so she assumed it wasn't a demon blade or anything. Maybe it was just an alternate form for Kenji or something?
...Well that got dark fast when she thought about it. The symbol of our pride will help them either to see light or discover their true calling. So either the sword helps you become a hero or... what? Helps you turn into a villain? Maybe she was reading too far into that.
Still moving, silently, creeping catlike across the dusty floor, Nayru paused near one damaged inscription with an odd expression as she lightly drew her fingers across the scarred surface, withdrawing them and pulling the hand closer to her eyes for an inspection before dropping it again.
There had been... particles of something else there. Metal, she thought. Small shavings, some embedded in the wall. At first glance that particular inscription's destruction looked nearly identical to the rest, but her small discovery left that conclusion shaky. Had someone sabotaged it intentionally? If so, it hadn't been recent, it seemed every bit as dusty as the rest of the area... hm. She kept her tongue to herself, moving away to close back in on Veigue while still thinking about it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2015 18:09:06 GMT -6
Listening to Nayru while reading, he was slightly confused by her question until he witnessed the same words on the wall. It raised an eyebrow, and he didn't know what to make of it himself. "...As far as I know, yes. Kenji's the only relic of the past, being passed down for countless generations...and also reforged a couple of times. They say it belonged to the Magnus fighting style's creator, and the clan's leader at the time..." And unfortunately, with their clan dying out and his father being as secretive as ever, that leader's identity was now lost due to time. He only knew what he did now due to Lena telling him stuff their father passed to her. But he was for sure that this man didn't have another sword. If he did, it'd be honored by the family and being passed down just like the other sword...unless something happened to it. But he wouldn't know, and he wasn't sure if half of the mythology on this wall was even true.
Veigue decided to venture a little further, backing away from the walls, but still reading them as he was going to try and get near the altar. It didn't look like much of anything was over there, but it wouldn't hurt to try. However, something really disturbed him as he saw what looked like words carved into the wall with a sharp object. All it said was "Lyle, the Deathbringer. Beware".
...The hell that's supposed to mean? Something about the carving though, it was completely different handwriting than these ancient words. It was in the standard form they're all used to. He had to assume that one of the Magnus before they were all killed wrote it. He had no clue as to who this Lyle person could be. Whoever he was, it must have been one bad dude to have someone go out of their way to carve a random warning on a wall. Who knew how long ago it was, so he had a feeling it wasn't something to worry about...too much. But overall, it was quite disappointing that nothing happened, even though he's glad dead Magnus guys didn't come out to maul him.
"While interesting to have a little of the clan's way of life and their morals known, this miracle must have been just a baseless rumor..." A bit of disappointment in his tone itself, Veigue stood in the center of the shrine, just scanning everywhere he could to find at least something else more unusual as he held the still-sheathed Kenji in his left hand. But he silently sighed as he felt bad for dragging Nayru out here for nothing. "Well, we should probably head back after a--"
"...Veigue...Magnus." An ominous, deep whisper seemed to echo around the swordsman as it cut him off.
...Was Nayru messing with his head again? While he was ready to leave it that conclusion that it was her just playing around, that whisper didn't seem to come from anyone there. Nayru and Lena didn't seem to hear it, as he was the only one who reacted to it. He WAS still a bit tired after all, so he was probably either hearing things or it may have been the wind. He was going to speak again until things went from weird to just plain crazy moments later. Kenji was...glowing? Sunlight was already beaming through the ceiling, but the sword gleaming like that illuminated the area in a near blinding light. It wasn't any better that a sharp pain in Veigue's head began to grate on him. It wasn't so bad at first, but as Kenji shined more, the more mind-tearing the headache was. It wasn't before long that a short yell in reaction to the pain escaped him and the swordsman fell to his knees, feeling he could barely take it any longer. Well...apparently he couldn't since he eventually collapsed and hit the old floor, hard.
Lena shouted out as she heard no response from the fallen brother, rushing over as quickly as she could to check on him. Strangely enough, he was out cold and the plainswoman had no idea what to do. "What...just happened?" The question wasn't aimed at Nayru directly, but she just wanted to know what was going on...from anyone or any thing, hoping that Veigue didn't just suddenly drop dead or something. She could have simply checked if he was still breathing or not, but the suddenness of the situation clouded her ability to think straight.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 22, 2015 6:37:29 GMT -6
"Hm."
It was about as uninformative a response as possible, killing that conversation in its tracks, as Nayru pondered that statement and the circumstances. Was there some deeper secret here, a story of betrayal and hatred, of murder and secrecy? Was the information of this second sword actively kept secret, was it simply a forgotten relic of an age long past, or was it possible there had never even been a second sword? "Not enough information," she whispered to herself, intrigued and frustrated in equal parts, with a hint of concern. There was an incalculable difference between an irrelevant bit of information being lost through the ages, and an active campaign to sabotage all knowledge of a secret... and she didn't have the clues to put together the puzzle to figure out which.
While it wasn't exactly her finest moment, Nayru's situational awareness flagged dangerously as she focsed in on the puzzle at hand, something she had a strong tendency to do when it came to ancient myths and legends and all their assorted trappings, and it wasn't until the light from Veigue's blade was bright enough to grab her attention, mere moments before he dropped to the ground like a sack of lumpy potatoes, that she even started paying attention. Which was, needless to say, a bit too late to actually understand what the hell was going on; without hearing the voice that had transfixed Veigue or even noting his reaction, she turned to a confusing sight indeed, her friend collapsing to the floor as if the life had seeped out of him all in one flowing motion.
Taking a few long strides to reach his and Lena's side as her friend's sister inspected the fallen young man, Nayru turned her attention outwards, while simultaneously checking Veigue's pulse, not sure if there was an assailant of some sort launching magic or arrows; the makeshift skylight, the entrance... nothing. No motion, no sound. This would be a really good time to have a magic sense or be able to see through walls. Lacking either, with little more than the innate draconic connection to magic leaving lingering traces of... something at the bare corners of her consciousness, she had no answers for Lena or understanding of her own.
"I don't know." She wasn't quite as calm as she was trying to appear, but dammit if she wasn't going to try. "...I don't suppose that line about 'seeing light' has anything to do with that fancy miracle the elder was talking about?" She almost asked if Veigue was likely to start speaking in tongues, but thought better of the black humor before saying it out loud. "He's still alive, anyways." A small chuckle that might seem tremendously out of place escaped her as a thought struck her mind. "This is deja vu all over again..."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2015 14:50:06 GMT -6
"...What?"Okaaaaay, what the hell just happened? It was a big blur until Veigue opened his eyes, head still ringing a little, though the pain had died down immensely. But the realization that something wasn't quite right loomed over his head. He was lying down on his back as opposed to remembering falling on his chest. Not only that, but he felt tall grass brushing against him. Before he knew it, he looked around to see himself outside and in the middle of a strangely familiar field covered in nothing but tall grass. Raising his upper body, it seemed like he was still in Sacae, so he couldn't make any jokes about not being there anymore. However, something felt odd about this. It all seemed...fake. He couldn't put his finger on it, as he pinched himself in the face and moved his hand around in the grass. It all still felt very real. The environment was sunny and peaceful, but Veigue feels like he's been in this exact same spot before...and he had a bad feeling about it compared to something pleasant or nostalgic. He must have been dreaming or something, trying not to accept things as they were. Nayru nor his sister wasn't anywhere in sight, and he doubt the two ditched him. Another weird thing was that Kenji was completely gone, and no longer in his hand...nor on the other side of his belt like it usually was. That was a really bad moment to lose the sword now after all this time. But he was more concerned about figuring out what was going on. He remembered Kenji flashing a while ago. Maybe it was engulfed in that strange light? ...But then things went from sunshine and rainbows to dark and gloomy within the next few seconds, Veigue noticing the sky darkening and storm clouds forming. Well, that came out of nowhere...and it gave him an ominous feeling overall. But as the wind began to blow more roughly, Veigue could see what he could make out as a person coming towards his general direction, but the man was still shrouded in shadows. They were coming at him slowly and didn't seem to be in a hurry. That would have led him to believe whoever it was, they weren't hostile...but the shock went up his spine as the identity of the person was soon clear as the fog and shadow disappeared. This environment...and the dark and stormy atmosphere...no doubt that he was back at this exact moment in the past that was the root of most of his problems. Or was it really the same? ThemeThe slightly taller sacaean continued to approach Veigue as they bore similar features as he, and Veigue could see the man unsheathe Kenji from his side. That was nothing more than a sign of battle. "...We meet again at last, son. Now...vanish." His deep tone echoed, Veigue seeing the same smirk on the man's face as clearly as he remembered it nine years ago. Veigue's shock soon turned into sudden rage, clenching his fists as the enemy had the same intent and look in his eyes. What little remained of his composure shattered. "...Sigmund. You...bastard!" His own sword unleashed and charging first towards his father, he saw his father do the same...similar to how their first duel began. Veigue remembered how when he was just fourteen, he didn't want this duel to turn to one resulting in death for neither he or his father...but his old man fought to kill last time. His father's eyes didn't change from that time ago...and it was safe to assume that he had to fight for his life again here. The father and son clashed blades at the moment of contact, locked on each other's as they stared deep within each other's eyes of resentment. One thing Veigue knew was that unlike the past, he was an inexperienced child who barely knew how to use his family's fighting style...but with his near decade of life or death experiences and coming a long way in his swordsmanship, as well as training with Nayru, he had a much better chance at victory this time. "Show me the fire...and darkness of your soul!"---- In reality, Veigue remained in the same face down position as before, unconscious and still showing no signs of movement whatsoever. It at least calmed Lena down to know that Veigue was still alive, and that was enough for her to not blindly ask anymore questions. She knew Nayru was just as confused as she was. Able to have a clear mind and think much more effectively now, Lena stared down on Kenji, which was dropped out of Veigue's hand, but still next to his arm. "Possibly. The light itself seemed pretty harmless...but it definitely hurt my brother to a certain degree. If...and I'm only guessing here...if that light was the work of the spirits of the previous wielders rumored to be living inside the blade, then this must be their doing. This shrine probably reacts to the sword's spirits more strongly than anywhere else..."Lena was at least convinced that had to be true though, seeing as Veigue was just knocked out. As she thought about it, the light should have knocked her out instead...as she was technically still the current owner of the blade. She gave it to Veigue after their exile ahead of time just in case she never saw him again, yes, but her brother hadn't even used the blade yet. Likely due to still feeling unworthy. She had a feeling there was a special reason for the spirits attacking him specifically, and...one possible spirit in particular within the blade had her extremely worried. However, she just had to trust in Veigue that he could take on whatever the spirits dished out at him. But her train of thoughts were completely ruined when she heard some faint movement all around them. "...Nayru. Did you just hear that?" Maybe she was just being paranoid, but she could have sworn that she heard a few footsteps. She couldn't tell exactly where they were coming from, as one moment she heard them from above, then from behind the walls and finally the entrance. However, there was a slightly louder one that sounded enough for both of them to hear clearly. "We're probably not alone here after all."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 23, 2015 9:48:12 GMT -6
"Of course we aren't. That would be too easy," the aggrieved dragon returned with a hint of melodrama inherent to her injured tone. Torn between laughing and crying at how obnoxiously familiar this all was, she couldn't do much more than grin lopsidedly at Lena while surveying the surroundings as well herself, taking a casual step to interpose herself between Veigue and the door just in case trouble was in fact coming for them... like a very skinny and frankly unimposing bodyguard, which was actually pretty funny in its own way, heh. Looks can be deceiving, boys! Except for when they weren't. Sort of.
"Well, I guess now it's my turn to return the favor from yesterday... though our job is a bit easier than Veigue's was," she commented cryptically. Seriously, one day she loses consciousness and has to have Veigue talk her out of it while trying not to get killed, and the next Veigue loses consciousness and she has to... uh, actually she didn't think talking him out of it would help much, unless he happened to also have an evil murder-happy side trying to kill him, but then he wasn't a dragon, but then she wasn't exactly a normal dragon, but then she wasn't really a psychiatrist so what did she know?
"...How much do you want to bet that these guys aren't well-wishers here to support Veigue in his every endeavor?" Maybe a bit of a lame joke, but after seeing how worried Lena was, Nayru was trying to lighten the mood a bit to keep the girl's mind off of her fallen brother. In truth, though, the dragon was more than a touch worried herself. An immobile and unconscious Veigue would be an easy target for anyone who wanted to do him harm, Lena was an excellent swordswoman but merely human and thus still quite vulnerable to getting herself killed, and she... she was in absolutely terrible condition, functional but little more. Any sort of serious movement was going to hurt like hell, and actually flooding her magic circuits with power would be excruciating as the tidal wave of magic scraped and churned through nerves long dormant. But a little pain never hurt anyone, right?
Wait...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 15:53:31 GMT -6
With a moment of father and son lashing at each other with the intent to kill, Veigue was too focused on finally settling things. He couldn't even tell if this was fake or real anymore, but the emotions overwhelmed him to the point where he was quite convinced all of this was happening for real. Feeling the strikes from Kenji as they clashed with his own sword and the intense movement between the two was no lie. A battle with a deceased father that he thought he'd never see again and meet in combat...the same way that resulted in his demise. But Lena wasn't around to save her brother from death like last time, and he had to defeat his father all on his own. That way, Veigue was finally given the opportunity to express how he felt that day by having a second chance to settle things.
...But even with his skills increased from that time in the past, he couldn't deny to himself that his father was a very adept swordmaster...even though the man probably wasn't as good as he was in his prime after settling down with a family. However, Veigue was able to keep step with him. It was obvious that his father was still holding back like he was in their first duel, but the man did that back then just to toy with Veigue...making him think he even stood a chance against him when in reality, he didn't. Not even close. It was then where Veigue went on the full offensive, similar to how he reacting back then when he realized the little effort the man was putting in the fight. His sword strokes were fierce and rapid, to where Sigmund was actually having trouble blocking and dodging the attacks. However, within a quick and clean motion, Veigue dashed to his father's side and past his guard as he elbowed him in the stomach after he turned around in surprise. He inflicted more pain as he swung his sheath several times and whacking his father nearly silly on the sides of his face. But the man back flipped away to save himself from anymore harm.
"...It seems you're no longer the weakling child you were before. I suppose there's no point in me holding back my true skill anymore, but you'll never amount to anything, child of sin!" The man shouted angrily as he sprinted forward twice as fast as he did before.
"Oh, will you just shut the hell up?!" The conflicted swordsman bit back immediately as he twirled his blade once and held it in reverse, sliding it in the grass as he approached his father at the same speed. From below, he swung his blade vertically and his father did the same, but from above. The two's weapons once again collided with each other, but Kenji gleamed brightly to where a light engulfed them both for a mere couple seconds. But when the light faded, the two were already hacking at each other, attacking so rapidly that the air around them sounded like it was being cleaved.
With his father primarily relying on the sword and sheath techniques, Veigue was able to trade blow for blow in similar fashions, but the swordsman knew he had his own unique spin on the fighting style that made his father raise an eyebrow. Veigue had a close call with dodging another vertical strike, but he twirled himself around his father in a quick burst of movement in an almost perfect 360 angle before halting his momentum and going for a high spin kick. Sigmund didn't expect Veigue's speed and had trouble following him, blocking the kick with his forearm while grunting a little. But to Veigue's advantage, his father blocked it with his sword arm, making him temporarily unable to attack with Kenji. With a swift motion, Veigue dropped his leg, but aimed another sword strike downwards and towards his father's stomach while he was open.
"Ha!" The man barely made it in time, but he blocked Veiuge's attack with Kenji in the nick of time and immediately pushed him off. Veigue noticed that he seemed to have the upper hand in the battle of speed, but...unfortunately it was only a slight, barely noticeable difference if Sigmund was able to react quick enough to save himself. But he looked at his father's face in that moment they had some space between them. He had that same fiendish smile as before, but...something was different about it that Veigue couldn't put his finger on. It was obvious the man was no longer toying with him, but it seemed like his expression held somewhat of a deeper meaning that he couldn't see right now. Was he simply enjoying the fight to the point where he's showing his excitement openly? Veigue didn't know, nor did he care.
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"Huh?" Back in reality, Lena raised an eyebrow on Nayru's comment on returning the favor. That made her even more curious as to what actually happened to them last night, but remembering her brother's words from earlier, it was still probably not best to pry. However, it really did seem like they had visitors here. "...Uhhhh. Maybe they're just peacekeepers who just like to stalk people!"
"...Wrooooooong! Though you're right about the stalkin' part, girlie!" A hyperactive voice screamed from above, seconds later seeing a tall man and a few others with swords on their back visible through the hole in the roof. Moments later, several more men with swords rushed through the temple door, but didn't move just yet. They were a mixed bunch...some looked excited to fight, while others either looked uninterested or quite literally dead on the inside. Despite them all having swords, the leader on the roof had two axes on his back. He was quite the big man, and had a scar over a closed eye as he smiled down devilishly on the two women and unconscious Veigue.
"We were just comin' back from a hunt and then look what we've got here...some ladies and a sleeping dude trespassing in our territory! What ya fools want? If it's a fight for our territory, then you'd better get the heck outta here before we kick some booty!" He proceeded to laughing somewhat uncontrollably, but then he noticed some silence...kicking one of his men standing next to him as the sword bandit screamed and fell to a bloody fall through the roof. "Hey, you idiots! How many times I gotta tell y'all to laugh when the boss laughs?! Anyone I catch not laughin' will get da boot!"
"..." They all hesitated, having frightened expressions on their faces as they looked to each other in cowardice.
"HAH HAH HAH HAH! LORD GESH IS DA BEST! HEH HEH HEH HEH!!" The forced, but overly loud and continuous laughing from above and at the entrance from the other men raged on for quite the extended amount of time before the big boss began laughing himself. Lena...didn't know what to actually say as it all was so weird, and she felt so bad for the unsuspecting guy that got pushed down there. But that laughing and how goofy they all looked...really, it was so strange that she had to cover her mouth with both hands as she silently cracked up.
"Oh...my...they're so...odd." She couldn't help herself, and she was quite embarrassed as her cheeks went red a little...shamed that she was actually laughing at the idiocy. Her eyes actually watering a little.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 27, 2015 17:32:31 GMT -6
"What the f-" Whatever Nayru had said was drowned by the sound of the unwilling skydiver as he impacted the ground, but it was a safe bet that it hadn't been oh deary me. The interactions afterwards simply got stranger, as the leader made a point of acting like a ridiculous child... or a fantastic comedian, actually, she couldn't discount that possibility. She also couldn't tell if that made this whole thing a hundred times better... or worse. Maybe both at once.
It sure as hell made this whole situation a lot more complicated, though... whether they were bandits or just idiots, they didn't seem happy to have trespassers on 'their' territory, and with Veigue unconscious, and possibly in the middle of some sort of shenanigans in the spirit realm, they couldn't really move him. Not safely, at least. Nayru didn't know what was actually going on with him, but it seemed... somewhat connected to his having moved to the center of the shrine, inside the ring of light, and if it really did have something to do with spirits, that meant that moving him outside of it might have negative effects. Whether it was as harmless as just breaking the trance or as deleterious as ripping his soul from his body, she had no idea... and Nayru was not planning to take that risk.
She did find the antics of the men amusing, but centuries of risk assessment had given her the sorely needed ability to focus, and right now Nayru was not seeing a particularly good ending regardless of how she played the situation out in her head. A fight would be... less than optimal at best to ensure Veigue's well being, and she couldn't really put Lena in harm's way either. So where did that leave them? Diplomacy? Something else unlikely to work, if these braggarts and blowhards were of the caliber of character she had initially judged them by, but it was better than going in punching and hoping for the best.
Nayru crossed her arms, waiting for the laughter to die down, before making her move. "Ah, we're not here to fight. Our friend here is just a dedicated napper - terrible tendency to fall asleep in the middle of the day - and he really wanted to sleep here specifically." If she kept up much longer a literal ocean of bull manure was going to start spilling out, but she didn't really have any better ideas, and Lena was too busy giggling to be of aid. She continued onward, just the smallest hint of irreverence in her mock supplication. Hopefully that didn't come back to bite her in the ass, but DAMMIT it was too hard to take these people seriously. "Please be merciful, o great Lord Gesh, and spare us mere mortals your righteous judgement, for he knows not what he does."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2015 16:26:08 GMT -6
There was an awkward silence between the two men, his father finally dropping the fiendish smile and giving Veigue a genuine look of seriousness. He swordsman didn't know what was going on in his father's mind right now, but it made him worry a bit. This was the first time he's ever witnessed his father take a battle seriously to the point where he went all out, not holding back. Perhaps the man was just taking it all in now that Veigue wasn't a pushover anymore for him to just man handle with ease, like in the past. Veigue still had something to prove to his old man, and no matter what the hold up was, he wasn't going to waste anymore time. He was still hesitant on making the first move, but they'd end up at a stand still forever at this rate. However, whatever he had planned was halted as his father momentarily sheathed his sword and crossed his arms.
"...Do you remember what I told you before our last confrontation like this one?" The man's voice wasn't spiteful like before, but still held some intensity behind them. Veigue didn't say anything in response, not particularly in the mood to answer that sort of question despite knowing full well what he was talking about. Instead, he allowed his father to continue speaking. "From a little boy up until what you've grown to be now, I've always noticed something a little different about you. People have light and darkness in their hearts, and their actions and the way they live their lives reflect on the true nature of their heart...and how much of light or darkness is in the majority. Each side of the heart possesses a level of strength that can be very powerful...and dangerous."
Veigue raised an eyebrow, not exactly catching on as to what his father was trying to say. However, whatever it was...he knew it wasn't going to be something he didn't want to hear. Regardless, he was at least respectable enough to listen while he was there. "I'm sure you know of this now, but the Magnus Clan has been despised for who knows long. So much that on the day of the full-scale massacre by some...dishonorable rebels to Sacaean honor and a traitor to the Magnus, the existence of the clan quickly faded into non-existence. We weren't even respected enough to be considered a tribe. Whether or not the Magnus deserved the mistreatment is irrelevant, but all in all, that was a true display of darkness in one's hearts...and I saw how destructive it was. To where it genuinely frightened me." As the man spoke, he looked back to Veigue, his tone back sharp and eyes filled with inner rage. "There's darkness everywhere in the world, and in people. But when I looked at you, I saw something far more...interesting. A raging fire...something that once provoked, it could turn out to be far more destructive than any dark void in the heart. I knew that if you were to stray down a dark path in your life, it'd end in a very destructive manner. And as you got older, I saw that you were finally out of my control. I felt it was my duty as your father to end you before you were at the tip of another foe's blade. To kill the beast that consumed my son when he was just an innocent child, was my mission that day!"
Veigue was slightly wide eyed, unable to respond to any of that as he was just...letting it all sink in. He knew that they were words of the same effect as before their battle in the past, but...hearing his father go into so much detail about it and explaining his words more clearly, it really questioned the man's faith in his own son. Did his spirit just come back to torment him for kicks and giggles? Veigue felt his hands clenching his hilt and sheath tightly as his eyes shut. But then, Sigmund frowned as Veigue suddenly smiled a bit.
"...Heh heh." He didn't know what was coming over him, but the swordsman couldn't help but get in a few giggles of his own. He stared back at his father before his smile quickly changed to an angry frown. "You haven't changed one bit, preaching that same old nonsense as before. Frankly, I don't give a damn about the Magnus. I never did. You can sit there and believe all you want about me, the clan, the darkness in people's hearts...whatever. But I'm not going to stand here and take your garbage. If you truly wanted to stop me from going down a dark path, you could have trusted me more and actually talked to me about it instead of smiting me in the dirt and inflicting pain every chance you had. I respected you...even when you treated me like trash. And to be honest...I still held a small fragment of that respect for you even after you died. But now...that's all over. This time, I'll make sure you're completely destroyed!"
Not wanting to hear anymore from his father, Veigue charged forth as he confronted him once more to the duel of death. Sigmund surprisingly didn't have anything to say, the man having a neutral expression on his face now as he didn't charge back at Veigue like he did previously. Instead, he allowed his son to come to him first as he unsheathed Kenji.
----
Lord Gesh and his little group of hoodlums died down in laughter as the leader was hearing Nayru out, having a little smirk on his face after she spoke. Lena...didn't like the look on the man's face, but then he and his small trio leaped from above and in front of the two women and sleeping Veigue. At that point, all laughter from Lena had stopped as she prepared herself for the worst. It was quite difficult to tell what he or his group of thugs were going to do, as from their entrance to right now, it was insanely hard to read them. However, Lena felt that Nayru was doing a good job at trying to avoid any bloodshed and decided to keep quiet the entire time as her friend spoke.
Gesh didn't seem to throw an angry face on like he was ready to fight, at least showing the he was able to listen to reason unlike most troublemakers. The man rubbed his chin as he was pondering on a response to Nayru. But it seemed like he didn't need much time to think as he immediately smiled again and crossed his arms. "Weeeeell, it seems like you folk have no idea where you've trespassed, so I'll be nice and give ya a chance! When he wakes up, tell that friend of yours to get that little problem checked out! Next time I see him sleepin' in our neck of the woods, I'll stomp him awake myself, no questions asked."
However, the man didn't call off his buddies just yet. He wanted to make sure the group understood what they were dealing with. "But y'all aint gettin' off that easily. I've still gotta punish you for the trespassing. As such, from here on out, you ladies and sleepy dude down there are gonna be working for the Gesh Gang until I say you can go! Go on and wake yer friend up...and tell 'em the good news!"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 31, 2015 19:40:46 GMT -6
Nayru was starting to regret not starting out punching first and asking questions later. The ONE time diplomacy actually worked, sort of, she got recruited to be a thug, or a bandit, or - she actually wasn't entirely sure what the Gesh Gang was supposed to do, but she was fairly certain that committing suicide was a much more pleasant alternative to laughing at this buffoon's jokes for a living.
...But it seemed like such a waste of a perfectly good opportunity to NOT be a murder hobo for once that she hesitated from actually doing anything, trying to size up the man - troublemaker, bandit, whatever - as she considered her response extremely carefully. Whether or not she wanted to admit it... she was in pretty bad shape now, and while she could fight, it would be exceedingly painful and nowhere near peak capacity.
If it was necessary to protect Veigue and Lena, though, she would. She looked at Lena, a little hopelessly, betraying the fact she had very little idea what she was actually doing. If she had to explain to Veigue that they were now bandits when he woke up... "Well, uh, what exactly does this... Gesh Gang do? I don't suppose you just tend the shrine and pick weeds..."
Damn. If Veigue and Lena weren't here, and she was in good condition, she probably would've used the element of surprise to just kill them all. Not like anyone would miss a few filthy bandits. She didn't even know how to wake Veigue up as the man requested, nor was her pride particularly keen on the idea of waking him up just to prove she couldn't handle the situation herself.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2015 10:37:10 GMT -6
"A very good question!!" Gesh seemed oddly excited, earnestly believing that he now had new members of his little gang. Lena sort of just lumped over a bit in dread as she was confused between what was actually happening and the reality that she was just offered...no, FORCED to join a gang to obvious no do-gooders. And it seemed like Nayru was having just as a hard time. Oh well...as long as it bought them enough time for Veigue to snap out of his...whatever was going on with him, she'd welcome it. At the very least, she could like run away from them much later on or something. It wasn't like she needed to come back to Sacae anytime soon for anything special, and she doubt Veigue and Nayru were even going to be here much either. But at least she'd have one thing down while a part of the Gesh Gang...she'd be laughing a lot. Not because the jokes are funny, but...just by how completely ridiculous these people were to where it was hilarious...so much that it was sad.
"You see...the Gesh Gang was estabish...estabal...eshtal...er, made, so we poor, low-lives could find a piece of land, claim it for our own, and guard it with our lives. Aaaaand we hope to expand this territory even further. We started off small here, not knowing what this place was. But it was shelter and took what we could get. We still can't read any of this...stuff on the walls. Actually, we can't read too much handwriting in general. You look like some smart gals, so maybe you can make sense of things? After all, you ARE a part of the gang now!"
"...So...basically, they're stupid?" Lena was a bit dumbfounded, but made sure to keep her thoughts to herself. She could even see one of the guys off by the entrance just picking his nose along with the most retarded look on his face. Okay, yuck. She wasn't going to interrupt the guy from speaking, anyways.
"The Gesh Gang is dedicated to making sure we get our fair share in this massive world! Even if we've got to take over Sacae to get our point across, then we shall do it, as it is our mission! We fight when we must, and conqwer...conker...con...erm, TAKE OVER other pieces of land if they aren't given to us nicely! Simple, eh? Now, how about we wait around for sleepy to wake up so he can get in on this, too? I don't like repeating myself, but I'd do it just once, for him!"
...Lena did NOT like the sound of that, though. She may have been banished from her home, but she still greatly respected the plains, the tribes of Sacae, and normal citizens of the land. She wasn't going to allow any more of them get hurt. Not on her watch. "...I'm sorry, but this is where I personally draw a line, Lord Gesh. I'm proud to admit that I'm a plainswoman born in this land, and actions that the Gesh Gang are dedicating to carry out is something I can't condone to. It's fine to want to find a place you can call home when you don't have one anymore...and I understand that immensely. However, forcing others out of their own home is not right, Sacae or no."
"Hmmmmm...well, ain't you delicate and noble flower! It's nice to see that you love your home so much! But whatever happened to SHARING IS CARING?!" The man still had a grin on his face, but he pulled out his dual axes before continuously spinning them like a madman. "There's something you don't know, girlie. The Gesh Gang has been shunned and redeculd...ridicoool...ahh, whatever! We've been treated like scum ever since it was just me and my two brothers, who were murdered by bandits who took everything from us and our families! Our little home where we didn't bother no one, was forcibly taken away from us without warning...and you see us as not being fair, eh? At least we try to talk before just randomly storming a village with no respect! But I can see that look in your eyes. You want to test to see who's right? Then ya come on! If ya somehow survive and give us a good fight, I might give you a second chance to change your way of thinkin'. How about you over there, Missy? You feel the same as yer friend here? If so, this also applesss...appile...BAH! Goes for you too!"
Not really saying much in response, Lena did feel a little bad after Gesh just out and random opened up about a tragic event. And she's already experienced the feeling of losing her home, so she could...actually sympathize a bit. Even though she felt sorry for him, she couldn't agree with his methods at the end of the day. She just decided to draw her Wo Dao and remained ready for the combat.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 1, 2015 17:24:51 GMT -6
Yup, shoulda just started punching.
Nayru sighed to herself a bit, left to bear the responsibility of actually mucking up a situation in which violence actually would have been the appropriate situation. She could've just murdered all of them and convinced herself they were all murdering monsters - not a difficult task given their behavior - and yet HERE SHE STOOD, almost feeling kinda bad for a group of idiots who were also bordering on bandits, if not outright so.
In fact... she'd almost feel bad for just murdering all of them now. Almost. Nayru was acutely aware that she was not equipped to deal with this, but she had already dug her own grave, at this point she almost might as well lie in it. Probably the worst part was that she could empathize... to a degree... with their plight; while the horrors of the Scouring were a generation removed from her, Nayru had been born in its ashes, raised by its survivors, and she could ill forget that even if she wanted to. People whose loved ones... whose families and livelihoods alike had been torn from them, it was in a way only natural to want some of it back.
But she didn't condone the dragons coming back and murdering humans until they got Elibe back, and she couldn't rightly accept these men, regardless of who they were, from doing the same to people living on this land. Even if she wouldn't shed too many tears over the scum back in the village. So in a way, her path was clear - she couldn't agree. But Nayru hoped against hope that this might end in another way than endless bloodshed. She just wasn't sure if she could find that path.
There was no choice but to try, though. "I can empathize with your plight... more than you know, Gesh. My people are gone from this world, butchered almost to the last man, woman, and child. But you know..." The dropped title was potentially notable, but she wasn't trying to butter him up so much as get her point across. "If you just want your fair share, there's nothing wrong with earning it doing some good for the world. Mercenary work, monster hunting, freelance bodyguards... if you wanted to prove you were anything better than the bandit trash that killed your families, you could."
Her words were a bit harsh, but there was no malice in them. Nayru wasn't actively trying to be insulting so much as jolting a bit of recognition of the irony of their plight from them, desperately trying to make her point. "...I have no right to preach to you about right and wrong, but all you're doing is perpetuating the same cycle of hatred that brought you to this point. Killing you wouldn't fix it, only rip out that thread from the tapestry of life. If there's anything left of the man you were before the tragedy, I think you know that."
Hopefully no one would ever know just how utterly she had winged that little speech, but Nayru was actually pretty proud of herself for it, so she allowed herself a bit of a cocky smile as she flipped her hair and dropped both hands to the kama at her waist - HOLY CRAP she was glad she had thought to bring those along - with each hand reaching for the blade on her opposite side, then drew both with a smooth motion. She didn't bother spinning them like Gesh had spun his own weapons, mostly because quite frankly Nayru was thoroughly aware that she would probably drop the stupid things if she tried, but she ignored the twinge of pain at the movement and tried to focus on looking casually confident.
"...So why not think of this as your first real job interview? I'll try not to rough you up too bad, and after Lena and I beat some sense into you, if you want to look into my suggestion, I'll see what I can do to help ya out there."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2015 16:50:06 GMT -6
Round 2 ThemeFrom that point on, there was once again silence between the two swordsmen...though this time, it seemed like it was going to stay that way for a while. As Veigue lunged forth with a piercing thrust, Sigmund cleanly stepped to his side while his blade accurately deflected the attack. Veigue had forgotten how...good his father was at countering attacks. Even the hardest of attacks he'd throw at him to dodge, he could still manage make an opening for himself. Of course, Veigue wasn't going to be gullible enough to fall for it. His father tried to go for a thrust of his own after knocking Veigue's sword away. He wanted to show his old man that he wasn't doing nothing for the past nine years, retaliating in kind as he also managed to strike Kenji after stepping to his side. Somewhat of a strange cycle of attacking and deflecting the other's counters continued to occur. ...Yeah, this was getting boring. But at the same time, this kind of gave Veigue a clear idea of his chances of winning. He was finally able to meet his father's speed head on with his own, but Sigmund likely still had something that he lacked...perhaps even what he was looking for that was hindering him from progressing with his own skills this whole time. His father seemed a little more...in control with his attacks. There was no clear way of seeing why considering they were nearly identical at this point. Buuuut, he had no time to let his mind wander. After his father made another swift movement with a back step, the man came dashing at Veigue at a remarkable speed along with a horizontal swing of Kenji. The quick motion sort of tricked him up and threw him off focus for only that second. He tried to block the attack, and...halfway succeeded. The force of the blow broke his guard and the tip of Kenji managed to cut through the side of his upper body. Real close call there, but he was still injured. Was the injury even real? Veigue sure as hell felt it. And it barely missed a vital point, so he just had to endure the flesh wound. Though as he began to lock his sights on his father, the man finally went on the full offensive, repeatedly swinging Kenji from multiple angles as Veigue was forced to go on the defensive. At least that wasn't too hard, but unless he found an opening, his father was just going to keep striking his sword until Veigue became disarmed. "...That's not good enough, Veigue! Where's that determination to prove me wrong? You'll never accomplish that if you keep holding yourself back like this! Only you know what's missing, and it should be painfully obvious..." The sudden words rang in Veigue's ears as his senses seemed to heighten for that moment alone. He didn't have enough time to actually think about the meaning behind his father's words, but he had a spark of energy. Blocking Kenji with his own sword, he had Sigmund locked in place. "That's it..." Following a grunt, the man smiled slightly. Veigue was getting mixed signals about this now. First his father was being openly insulting and now he was trying to coach him? He just couldn't figure out the man's motives anymore. But he had Sigmund right where he needed him to be. If his father wanted to see him go all out, then he was going to give him what he asked for. Instead of just sliding his blade off Kenji's the normal way, Veigue pushed forward just a bit to put a little pressure on Sigmund before leaping high enough above his father, then landing directly behind him. The man didn't expect Veigue to jump when they were released from the struggle, swiping his sword in front of him and missing horribly. As Veigue had his back faced at his father's, he suddenly went for sheathing his sword, but while doing so, he rammed the sheath's end itself into the center of his father's back, impacting the man with a sharp pain that caused him to grunt out once more. When Sigmund turned around, he noticed Veigue didn't pull his weapon back out, but was still coming at him to fight. He tried attacking his son again, but he noticed how Veigue's movements become a little more quicker than before as he dodged the swipes swiftly. Creating an opening for himself, Veigue delivered another sheath ram to Sigmund stomach before following it up with one of his strong punches, sent right for the man's cheek. Veigue noticed that his unique take on his fighting style was still throwing his father off, so he decided to make as much use of the confusion as possible as he got closer to unsheathe his blade. He attempted to strike the moment the blade was out again, but Sigmund managed to catch himself before he fell over as he flexibly bent backwards to avoid the attack. The man twisted himself over before he sent a leg sweep to knock Veigue off his feet, which halfway succeeded. Veigue lost his footing, but rolled in the grass the moment he dropped on his back. Thank goodness he did, because Sigmund recovered quickly and stabbed his sword into the ground where he just rolled from. Okay, this was just getting crazy now...but at least it was good to know his father could still use his feet instead of just relying solely on his sword and sheath. Both of the men rose from the grass and dashed at each other immediately, not allowing the other to get anymore distance and think of more tricks. Their next clash resulted in just a round of striking and parrying each other's moves. The adrenaline was going for the both of them and they were seemingly equal as the quickness of their attacks were identical and just cancelling each other out. ---- Gesh stared at Nayru for the time she spoke, actually having a serious face for once. The brute still seemed like he was set in his ways, but unlike most who were, he didn't respond in an outburst of anger. Lena herself was surprised that there were bandits that genuinely listened to others when they actually tried to talk some sense into them. Whether or not he was actually listening and taking Nayru's words into consideration probably...wasn't relevant now. After a few moments, the man cracked a cocky smile as he rested one of his axes on his shoulder. "If ya experienced the same pain as the gang and I have gone through, then I thought you'd understand, too. But we seem to live in two differ'ent...deffer...bah, screw grammar! Look, I get where yer comin' from, Missy, but it just ain't that simple fer us. I've been branded a scum my whole life when I ain't ever done anything wrong, and losin' my family and village just made goin' the clean route even harder. When I found these band of low-lives just like me, we just had to make the best of our cruddy lives and do things the rough way. No one's gonna accept scum like us. It's too late for us to turn back now!" With that, he pointed his axe towards Nayru and Lena, a full smile plastered on his face now. ...And another theme"...But it's easy to tell y'all serious about what you say. Fine. If you happen to win, which you won't...the Gesh Gang never loses...I'll think about all that. But let's rock! Lemme see how y'all handle mah bois first. Gesh Gang, Assemble!!" With his shouting command, all of the lackeys from the entrance lined up and positioned themselves in front of their leader. When Lena finally took a look at all of them up close, there...really wasn't that many of them. Only a dozen of them, Gesh included. But they all were ready, and had plenty of excitement igniting in their eyes as they awaited their next command. "Gesh Gang...ROLL OUT! HAH HAH!""HAH HAH!!" All the idiots burst out in perfect sync as they drew their swords and rushed towards the two and thought-to-be-sleeping Veigue. The men didn't come at them in any kind of planned formation other than just blindly charging forth, and Lena herself wasn't too sure if they were actually going to fight fair or not. They all know Veigue's not even conscious right now, and while Gesh himself probably wouldn't try to hurt him while he's defenseless, she wasn't too sure if the lackeys weren't going to either. She just looked to Nayru, but only nodded at her friend to let her know she was ready for this craziness that was about to go down. Lena had a feeling that Nayru probably wasn't in top condition despite telling her she was earlier. She just had to fight twice as hard for the both of them. By now, at least three of the gang members were in close range of the two, the closest one going for a overhead strike with his sword aimed at Nayru.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 4, 2015 16:25:49 GMT -6
"Where there's life, there's hope."
Nayru didn't bother arguing the point further - she could, but it was pretty obvious that these men wouldn't listen unless she proved she had the strength to back up her positions. And in a way... she couldn't blame them, not really. It was easy to talk big, to tell people things weren't as bad as they seemed, to claim solidarity when actual experiences differed. Any idiot with a silver tongue could have said much the same thing.
The difference between them and her was that she had learned, through her friendship with Veigue and the countless trials and tribulations they had surpassed together, that it was true. She had learned from the death of her entire race that trading blood for blood was a never-ending cycle of sorrow that could only be broken by someone willing to break it. That even for something like her, whose hands were forever stained crimson by the blood of innocents, there was the possibility of atonement. Not forgiveness, perhaps, but atonement.
If she could teach these men that same lesson, perhaps something good might come of this encounter rather than simply bloodshed.
Nayru cracked her neck from one side to the other, silently hiding the wince as her uncooperative body loudly signaled its lack of readiness. She didn't have to keep going for long, or use any crazy powers... focus on that. Focus on the future, rather than the now. Though focusing on the now, specifically the men charging at her, was also a good idea, she decided. No time like the present to NOT get murdered!
The overall battle was going to be an interesting challenge... she had some knowledge of group fighting from her martial arts training, but nothing outside of a few fights alongside Veigue had her prepared for a group battle with an ally, much less using weapons she was relatively unfamiliar with. Learning experience, then! The dragon grinned at her opponent, bringing up the first of her kama to hook the blow and flipping the other around in her hand to slam the hilt into his stomach, a rough approximation of what she had seen Veigue do countless times since the day they met. She wasn't used to fighting non-lethally, so why not experiment a bit?
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