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Post by Tiz on Jun 29, 2015 13:33:32 GMT -6
Tiz pulled a piece of wheat from the ground, petting the long stocks of wheat that outlined the horizon as he did. The sun was beginning to set, and he had forgotten how long he'd been out-- it had been some time since he'd come to practice, but he was thankful for a day of laziness in which he could come and hone his skills further, to be out alone in the Sacaean plains, where he spent his childhood, completely alone from anyone. He was a small ways off the beaten path, in a clearing among a field of rolling wheat, to the side of a great plain on which his tribe had spent most of its time, when his parents were still a part of it. To visit the tribe now, Tiz thought, might be a disgrace.
He placed the strand of wheat between his teeth and closed his lips, hanging his head as he thought about his old tribe. He often wondered what would've happened if they had stayed-- if they had never moved to Lycia, if he hadn't joined the League, if he had come to be there during the Siege. He wondered how different his life would be. He was extremely thankful for the way fate had turned her blessed face towards him, giving him a relatively pleasant life with few troubles aside from his last couple years in the League.
He drew his slender blade again, listening to it whistle as the sharp metal pierced the air, humming almost as if it vibrated as he swung it downwards through the air, brandishing it as he looked at the training dummy he had set up earlier. They were easy enough to construct, and fortunately, pretty tough to destroy. It was nice, sometimes, to attack something that couldn't attack back. The strand of wheat hanging out of his mouth, the swordsman parted his legs and pulled his sword arm back, pointing the blade tip-first towards his dummy. The sweat that had been dripping from his forehead came back, and he lunged forward with quick, fierce precision, striking at the center of the dummy, then with as much speed he pulled the blade out, spun his body around and gave it a swift horizontal strike across the chest. This two-hit combo was among his favorite in his moveset, and had proved useful more than once, especially when he leaped forward with it.
With diligence, he readied himself to strike again, crouching down low.
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Post by Tiz on Jul 1, 2015 19:24:01 GMT -6
Tiz stayed low, balancing on the balls of his feet, his curved, slim blade pointed at the heart of his target dummy. The world around him fell still, and he focused intently on one spot. He would try to make this his fastest attack yet. If he could tune his speed even more than it was already tuned, he would exceed his own limits. Always stronger, always faster... that's how he would train. He got even lower.
Closing his eyes, the swordsman focused all the energy his body could muster into his legs. They almost vibrated with natural energy. He felt the earth beneath him, under his feet, and blackness surrounded him as he tried to push out of his mind any of the details of his surroundings. He let out a heavy, diligent sigh, pushing the air out of his body. No extra weight, save for what he had on his person. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else surrounded him. He spit the piece of wheat from his mouth, and it fell off the side. The sweat dripped slowly down his brow... He lowered his head. Focus, he told himself. Focus. Challenge yourself. This is it.
He quickly dashed back, jumping backwards off the balls of his feet, landing a few feet back in a cloud of dust, and then, like lightning, he shot forward, augmenting his celerity to the best of his natural ability. He flew forward, so fast he body began to look as though it were vanishing. He pointed his sword forward, a powerful, pointed lunge, and shot himself to the left of the dummy, feeling his blade impale right in the center of the creation. He heard noise behind him as the dummy completely flew apart, pieces of wheat and wood and mud flying in directions everywhere. He had shattered it completely. When he landed, he kept his sword pointed forward, not breaking form. He allowed himself to breathe once, slowly, powerfully, and then he lowered his weapon, brought his legs together, and wiped his forehead. He turned around, facing what remained of his target dummy. Practically nothing. The wooden stump upon which it was set even bore marks of aggression. He had obliterated it, and with good intention-- his strike was successful, though now he had to be done practicing, since he had nothing left.
Tiz brandished his weapon, spinning it in a small circle around his right side, and then he slowly brought it to a close inside its sheath at his hip. It clicked into place, and he felt confident with himself. It was a good, clean strike-- one his former commander would have been proud of. He was certainly proud of it himself.
The sun was almost completely set now. The sky was a deep blue hue, a color that he assumed only Sacae was able to see, since it wasn't occupied with as many buildings as any of the other places he had been, especially not Lycia.
The young man took a seat in the field, running his hand across the tall grass. It had been a pleasant day. He breathed easy now, satisfied with his training for the day. Soon he would get his bedroll out and fall asleep for the night.
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jul 2, 2015 15:22:04 GMT -6
Chelsea slowly made her way across the plains. It had been far too long since she had taken Spirit on a long ride around them, so she had decided to change that. Perhaps they had stayed out a little bit too long, as the sun was beginning to set. She had planned to returned to Santaruz before it had gotten dark, but now it seemed like she would have to camp out on the plains for the night. Not that she minded, it had also been too long since she had spent a night out here. She did decide, however, that she would cover a little more distance before she stopped for the night.
As Spirit trotted along, Chelsea spotted movement up ahead. At first it put her on edge, as she saw the glint of a sword in the dying light. But as she grew closer, she realized it was simply a man practicing his sword work. That was admirable, as well as something she herself should probably do sometime. Her father had given her one of his swords to use the last time she had visited him, but she hadn't had much time to put in a lot of practice with it. If she had any time to practice, it mostly went to more bow training. She made a mental note to start working on that in the future. In the meantime, she proceeded in the direction of the man, keeping her bow close on the off chance that he launched an attack. She saw him sheath his sword and take a seat on the ground before she decided to call out to him. "That was some impressive swordplay."
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Post by Tiz on Jul 2, 2015 15:39:28 GMT -6
"Huh?"
Tiz opened his eyes slowly. While sitting in the grass, leaning back, he had begun to drift off into sleep. When he opened his eyes to look up, he saw an orange-haired woman on a brilliant steed, and was immediately surprised. He must've been out of it... He hadn't even heard them approach. He flashed the woman a bright, happy smile, and stood, brushing the sweat from his forehead with his forearm. He probably looked and smelled pretty gross, and it made him self conscious, but he couldn't help it. And his dummy was in pieces around him... The scene honestly embarrassed him a little, and yet, she seemed to praise him.
He flashed her another toothy smile, looking between the woman and the steed. "Hah, well thank you," he said kindly, impressed that her first comment was praise. Who was she? He hadn't seen her before. "My dad used to always tell me that for every day I didn't practice, I lost two day's worth of training and skill," he laughed moving his hand up to the back of his neck, wiping himself off a little. He couldn't make out much beyond where they stood-- the sky was blue, and the day had effectively escaped them. He had been out here for hours... But it hadn't really felt like that long.
"Anyway. I'm Tiz, I uh, live in Lycia, I'm just out here practicing for a bit. What about you? Where did you come from?" His question wasn't rude, but he was certainly curious about this woman. She looked distinctly Sacaean, and spoke like one too, but where she was from was a mystery to him.
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jul 6, 2015 16:09:36 GMT -6
Chelsea gave a small nod, still sitting up on Spirit. "It's nice to meet you, Tiz. I'm Chelsea. I'm from Sacae, but I've been living in Lycia recent. I'm actually on my way back there now, coming back from visiting my father." It had been nice to see her father again. Besides him giving her a sword, it had been nice to simply catch up with him. She hadn't been able to see him for a while, just in case she was being followed at all from anyone involved in the rebellion. She had felt bad, leaving him out there by himself for so long, but that just made seeing him again all that much better. She had resolved to not let so much time pass before her next visit.
"Seems like a long way to travel just to practice. Are you staying on the plains for a while?" Most people she had met in Santaruz who liked to train just went a short distance out of the town. Maybe he was out here traveling around like she was. Or maybe he was some sort of soldier for hire out looking for a job. Regardless, it didn't seem like he, without a horse, would be making it back to Lycia before night fell. His little camp seemed to confirm that, but it would be rude to assume so. For all she knew, he had been stopped here for a bit and was going to be traveling into the night. Instead of trying to figure everything out, she sat back and waited for the man to respond.
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Post by Tiz on Jul 6, 2015 16:41:40 GMT -6
"It's a pleasure, Chelsea," Tiz said with a smile, looking up at the mounted woman. Lycia, huh? He hadn't seen her... In fairness, though, Tiz considered, he only ever saw Laus and Caelin. He didn't have much time or desire to go much of anywhere else, so perhaps she could've been stationed elsewhere. But still, a Sacaean living in Lycia... At least he wasn't the only one. He was glad for that.
"Oh yeah, headed that way, huh? Mind if we walk and talk? Hate to keep your horse slow, but I uh, didn't really have plans to go anywhere else, but I guess going home doesn't sound so bad." He refused to acknowledge that the reason he hadn't brought a horse was because he didn't know how to ride one. It was silly and immature, and she definitely didn't need to know that.
He considered her comments as he stood near her, wondering where to begin and what he could even say. He was out here because showing his face in Lycia was dangerous; he was quite literally banned from the entire province of Santaruz for his alleged "crimes" at the border with the smugglers, but if he told her that she'd probably run. Even Laus, his home, wasn't particularly safe, because some disgruntled citizens had taken it upon themselves to let the town know what he had done... Even though it was in their very interests that he had acted.
Finally, he spoked to her, detached a bit as he did. "Oh, yeah, I just came out this way to practice. I um, haven't been in Sacae in such a long time... My parents took us out when I was 16, and I haven't been around my tribe since. I'm actually living in Laus right now," he said with a chuckle and a smile, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck as he did. It was dishonorable for a Sacaean to not be at home when he could be... and he never was.
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jul 7, 2015 23:09:21 GMT -6
"Not at all," Chelsea said with a smile. She ran a hand down the horse's neck. "Spirit doesn't mind taking it easy every now and then." She would have offered to let him ride with her, but since she knew very little about him, she decided that it wouldn't be the best idea. Val had been one thing, they had been friends for a while at that point. But she had just met Tiz. Tiz... why did that name sound so familiar? Maybe she had met someone else with that name before, but something about this particular Tiz seemed familiar and she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Laus, huh? Bit of a walk to come all the way here from Laus." Granted, Chelsea had a difficult telling how far it took to travel for most people, as she traveled almost exclusively on Spirit. Regardless, she was pretty sure that Laus was a decent distance away. Oh well, maybe Tiz had just wanted to get away. "Then again, it's been quite some time since I was in Laus, so maybe my distances are all screwed up. As for me, I've spent roughly the last year in Santaruz." And that's when it clicked. Tiz. Santaruz. Her mind flashed to a wanted poster that looked a good deal like the man in front of her. "Wait a minute... you're not that Tiz, are you? The one on all the wanted posters? For doing... something?" She realized at this point that she hadn't paid too much attention to what the poster had accused him of doing. She really needed to pay more attention sometimes.
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Post by Tiz on Jul 7, 2015 23:18:27 GMT -6
Tiz laughed, looking up at the horse as they walked. Poor thing. Probably wanted to run really fast, and here the man was, forcing it to walk a bit, pacing itself, going more slowly than it probably had in a while. Oh well.
He turned up, fixing his gaze on the girl atop the horse. He wondered what tribe she was from. "Yeeeeeaah, bit of a walk, but ya know... Sometimes you've gotta get out and see the world. Or in my case, go back home, though I... haven't really stopped in to say hi to anyone." He scratched his temple with his index finger, wondering about how they'd feel, and wondering about what Tamaya had said when she'd promised to go with him the next time he traveled. He should've told her about this trip, but he lost nerve at the last minute, deciding he would just go taste the plains instead of actually visit.
"Oh, Santaruz, huh?" That wasn't good. Well, no he couldn't go back with her... At least not all the way. Of course, they would likely have to camp out a night-- the walk was long, and Tiz had done just that on his way out here. His ban in Santaruz hadn't been lifted yet, and he knew if he showed face he would be executed, or if he got lucky, sent to prison. "Well--"
But then she asked him. This wasn't good, but Tiz wasn't the type to get nervous. He was always calm, always collected, and usually able to laugh most situations off. He stopped dead in his tracks, sighed, and rested his hand behind his neck, a smile drawing itself again upon his face. "Yeah, uh, about that... Look, it's not super important, and if you don't want to travel with a criminal, that's fine, buuuut... I just got roped into some old Laus-Santaruz trade arguments, found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time, got arrested, banned from the city for a while... Ya know, civilian stuff." He looked at her and laughed, obviously joking. He neglected to tell her that he'd killed a soldier that night, and helped let a smuggling caravan bypass. Why would she need to know that?
"Look, it's cool if you want to part ways here-- it makes sense that you'd be wary of me. Aaaand if you're seen with me outside Santaruz gates, it'll spell trouble for ya. I won't follow if you want me to cut back."
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jul 12, 2015 18:23:33 GMT -6
Chelsea listened to the man's story as he talked. Everyone gets messed up in crazy stuff every once and a while. Heck, she had almost stumbled into a rebellion that she knew almost nothing about. Plus, it didn't seem to be that bad a thing. Granted, he could be leaving out worse stuff to not scare her off, but she had inherent trust in the words of fellow Sacaens. She shook her head. "There's no need for that. There's plenty of space between here and Santaruz that we can travel without worry. Plus, they like me there, so I won't get into too much trouble." She gave a wink and a laugh. It was true, besides a few people, most there seemed to be fond of the Sacaen serving girl. Their reasons might not all be so pure, but she'd rather that than hate.
She almost opened her mouth to start telling Tiz about the whole rebellion thing before she remembered that she was in hiding. It was almost as if whenever she shed her disguise as a tavern worker, she forgot that she still needed to keep her cover up. This was probably why she never became any kind of spy. Instead, she decided to go with a different line of thought. "So, what do you do in Lycia?" She knew from experience that it could be hard for a Sacaen to find work in Lycia, so she was curious what another might do for work. They can't all work in taverns, after all.
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Post by Tiz on Jul 19, 2015 12:08:14 GMT -6
Tiz stopped a moment, and puffed a cheek full of air pensively. Really, no need? What, did this woman carry weight in the city or something? Was she nobility? He had no way of knowing, of course, but if she seemed so sure, maybe it would be okay... Still, it was against the law. Could she get away with breaking the law? Tiz looked at her quizzically, lost in his thoughts a moment before addressing her again with an unsure voice. "Haha, well... I'm not so sure. We can go a ways, sure, but uhh... Santaruz definitely doesn't like me, so they might not like you anymore if you stick with me." He offered a jolly smile and a laugh, seemingly unfazed by his ban, upheld by the law, for his transgressions.
Or so they were called. He wasn't sure that transgressions was even the right word, considering that for all his efforts to restore the peace between Santaruz and Laus, he hadn't been given so much as a pat on the back or a thank you note. Not that Tiz thought he deserved one, of course, but he did think it would have been nice. He sighed and continued to walk as the woman asked a question that hadn't been asked of him in years.
His eyes opened with surprise, and he reached behind his head to scratch his neck as he thought over her question. Well... what did he do, after all? Anymore, he just wandered, doing what he could, where he could do it... Of course, most recently, he'd still been doing the bidding of the military, somewhat against his better judgments. But these weren't thoughts meant for now, Tiz thought.
"What do I do? Gosh, well..." he laughed again, lightheartedly. "I was uh, in the League a few years back... I spent my time with them for four years, then left after--" he paused a moment to swallow. The next words were always, always hard for him to say. "--after Ostia, and since then, I've kind of been biding my time with some light mercenary work... Though it seems the League really wants me to take my old spot back. But after this Santaruz mess... Honestly, who knows." He chuckled again, clearly amused by his situation.
The Sacaean looked up at the girl, mounted on her horse, a great deal taller than he because of it. "And you? Where's your calling in Lycia?"
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jul 19, 2015 15:42:42 GMT -6
The more Tiz talked, the more Chelsea suspected that she was correct about him holding something back. For Santaruz to be that angry with him, he must have done something more than he claimed. However, she had no intention of calling him out on it. There was no point in bringing it up, at least yet. For all she knew, he could grow violent or something if she did. So, for the meantime at least, she was content to keep playing dumb.
When he directed the question back at her, she took a few seconds to compose her thoughts before she answered. She had to be careful. The whole point of her being in Lycia was to lay low, and one misspeak could ruin it all. "Unfortunately, it's not as interesting as yours. I don't have a lot of money, and I don't have the make up to be a mercenary, so I've been working at a tavern for around a year." In truth, she had plenty of money and could probably be a decent mercenary if she wanted, but the sudden appearance of a red-head Sacaen mercenary could raise questions she didn't want to answer.
Chelsea gave a shrug. "It's not the best job, but it isn't the worst either. It's enough to get by and that's all I really need." It also kept her hidden fairly well. For now, at least. It was around now that she realized how much taller than Tiz she was while riding on Spirit, and how that might be somewhat rude. In one motion, she slid off Spirit's back and landed neatly onto the ground. She continued to walk with Spirit plotting alongside her. Now, Tiz was the taller one, but she had no problem with that. It had always been the same with Kelvin.
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Post by Tiz on Jul 19, 2015 16:11:42 GMT -6
Tiz chuckled and placed a hand on his hip as he stopped a moment, taking in the scenery. The Sacaean border was so pretty this time of day-- it was the only place in the world, besides the sea, he thought, where one could admire such a deep blue hue. Since there weren't any mountains or buildings to obstruct the landscape, it seemed that the deep indigo shade could cast itself over the entirety of the continent, were it not for the manmade structures that hindered it. Tiz wasn't much of a romantic, but scenes like these were always tough for him to avoid.
He smiled. "Oh yeah? Well, maybe it's just a different kind of interesting. I've been in a couple taverns that have made my wonder why tavern keepers aren't more famous." He turned to face her as she dismounted her horse, pulling it alongside her. She was shorter than he was, but that wasn't uncommon.. He was particularly tall, for both his gender and age group. "More than just a couple lousy drunks, too. You never know. Strange places, inns can be."
Tiz kept the hand on his hip, continuing to admire the scene as the woman stood next to him. "So... Chelsea, right?" Tiz flashed a curious look back at the woman, then to her horse. It was an impressive and beautiful steed, and he wished he had learned how to ride when he could so that he might get more use out of them. Maybe someday, Tiz thought. It was incredibly embarrassing to be from Sacae and not even know how to ride a horse, he thought.
"Sorry," he said with a sheepish chuckle. "We can keep walking. Sometimes I get pretty distracted by what's out here. We can keep going. What clan were you born with?" It was a silly question, and Tiz knew it. After all, he and his family had abandoned his almost ten years ago, and he put no stock in it, really, unless he considered himself a full-blooded Sacaean, which was rare, since most of his identity had been built up in the League.
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jul 19, 2015 17:49:30 GMT -6
Oh, didn't she know how crazy taverns could be. Getting hit on was pretty much a daily occurrence, and if that's all that happened it was a pretty good night. On rowdier nights, having to dodge a thrown glass or try to help break up a fight could be tons of fun, almost as much fun as getting groped. But at least then she was allowed to hit someone. At least most people tended to tip well, and even if it was because they thought she was attractive, she'd take it.
She had decided to deliberately avoid the tribe question, on the off chance anything could be tied back to her tribe or father. Instead, she took Tiz's thoughts about being distracted on the plains and went with it. "I agree. I have no dislike for Lycia, but in my opinion nothing matches the plains. The grass, the hills, the wipe open skys, and at night all the stars. There's no other place like it, and I wish I could spend more time here..." Her voice faded off as she closed her eyes and thought back to her childhood. A number of memories played through her head, though thankfully only happy ones. A smile grew on her face.
Chelsea opened her eyes and gave a sheepish smile to Tiz. "Sorry about that." She shook her head to help drive the memories away. She looked skyward. "Speaking of the stars, they'll be coming out soon. We might have to stop for the night..." She sighed. So much for getting home tonight.
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Post by Tiz on Jul 19, 2015 18:01:48 GMT -6
Tiz laughed happily, playfully slapping the back of Chelsea's left shoulder as she opened her eyes. It was okay to embrace these things, Tiz thought-- especially went it granted reprieve from the weight of his, or maybe their, troubles in Lycia. As a bartender, he figured she had probably had her fair share of men, and as for himself, Tiz wasn't even allowed in the province. As great as "going home" sounded to him, he was beginning to think that he was home, which felt strange to him, since for the most part he had felt totally disconnected from Sacae, his homeland.
"It's okay to indulge yourself. Come on, let's camp out. Been a while since I've slept out here..." His voice trailed off as he unwrapped his cloak from behind his waist and laid it out on the grass to the side of the path they'd been walking on. He declined to sit on it at first. It had been almost ten years, in fact, since he had slept out here. The last time he had, he had been part of the Cathecassa, with Tamaya. And Chelsea hadn't even answered his question... Tiz sighed, understanding the troubles.
He turned back to face her, a hand still on his hip. "Don't like talking about home much, do you? I guess I don't either." Tiz took a seat on his cloak, pulling his knees up so he could rest his hands on them as he looked up at the sky, preparing himself for the brilliance that was the Sacaean nighttime skyscape. There was truly nothing better, he thought. "Maybe it was rude of me to ask. I'm sorry. I've been away for so long the, uh, cultural nuances have been sort of lost on me." He smiled gently and scratched the back of his head, feeling slightly embarrassed. It wasn't okay to be so out of touch with his home, yet here he stood, completely an outsider. He bore the tribal name, he bore the look of a Sacaean, but through and through the man had become Lycian. It almost made him sad, but he'd had plenty of good memories in both places... And so, Tiz was satisfied.
"Come on, sit down. The view is going to be spectacular."
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jul 24, 2015 12:17:18 GMT -6
Chelsea gave Spirit a few pets before coaxing the horse to lay down before she followed suit. As she laid on her back and stared up at the sky, she had flashbacks to the first day she considered her journey to really start: the day she had met Rayl. It was years ago now, but at times it still felt like yesterday. Her, lying in the grass staring at the sky when she had heard the sound of a horse approaching. And that was how it had all begun. And also how she had met everyone. Rayl, Karina, Val, Kelvin...
Shaking herself from her thoughts once again, she focused her attention to the darkening skies. A few stars had started to poke through already, and more were coming out every minute. She couldn't help but smiled at she watched. "Of course the view is going to be spectacular. It's Sacae." Her father had always told her that Sacae had the best view of the stars in the world, and she had to agree with him. Granted, there were many parts of the world she had yet to journey to, but the skies she had seen pale in comparison to her homelands.
Chelsea turned her head so she could address Tiz. "And sorry. Home's a bit of a touchy subject for me, so I don't really care to talk about it." It was true, for a few different reasons. Partially because home lead to talk of her family, which she often didn't care to delve into again. And, obviously, because she was supposed to be in hiding.
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