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Post by Luke Pendragon on Mar 8, 2016 1:54:26 GMT -6
This was one of those moments in which Luke had managed to slip away and find himself a nice little spot as to which he could be alone. He had made up an excuse to the others as to why they might notice that he was missing, an excuse he couldn't even remember so it was probably a bad one. He didn't think it would matter much; they were taking a rest so there would be plenty of time for Luke to take care of what he wanted to do before they started moving. Whatever the excuse was it would work for now.
Now what did he scurry off to go do? To train of course! It had become quite the habit that every day he gets some of his old training in. His old teacher had him do a daily routine that ended up becoming such a habit that Luke feels odd if he doesn't do it. Fortunately, despite everything that has been going Luke always managed to find some time to get in some of his routine training. Granted that normally meant waking up early or being up late. Luke didn't mind it; he enjoyed exercising and training as it meant he was getting stronger.
At this point Luke was done with his training. He had stripped himself of a bit of his armor, or at least all his armor from the waist up. His sword was driven into the earth standing next to its wielder as he sat down against a tree, taking a break from his training. Luke’s training could have been heard by any passerby, something he would have been oblivious to as he was extremely focused on what he was doing. While he did pretty basic exercises that most would expect he also took up shadowboxing, something his old teacher taught him.
It was a good way to prevent oneself from getting stiff. Keep his rhythm and stance and to show where there might need to be some improvements in his swordplay. Of course if someone were to be watching him do this without knowing any context it would just look like someone flailing their sword about. Embarrassing for sure but Luke was more concerned about getting in the time to perform the exercise. And besides, Luke was pretty confident he had gone far enough that no one would find him where he was.
As he sat his mind had drifted, thinking of recent events and his surroundings. The boy had initially thought that he hadn’t been to this part of Lycia before but it all had started to become a bit familiar to him. It was quite likely that he had been out this far before with his family. Eventually his mind had begun thinking about his circumstances with Zobek and Nora. There was obviously something that he was missing and having to pretend they were related was odd. He was sure there was a good reason for it but he’d still like to have been in the loop before hand and not after.
Oddly enough he didn’t even think that he and Nora had really talked at this point. Sure there were a few moments here and there during the travels but nothing that lasted longer than a few minutes. The young lad’s mind moved on after that, now at this point practically day dreaming forgetting that at some point he’d have to go back to the others. It was a nice day, one that he could imagine completely relaxing in the fields back home. He wondered how his family was holding up.
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Nora
Archer
Posts: 48
Profession: Pain in Edward's A$$
Affiliation: The Etrurian Throne
Affinity: Light
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Charlie
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Post by Nora on Mar 13, 2016 7:50:13 GMT -6
After a long day of hiking and, well, arguing with Sir Zobek at every opportunity, Nora was glad to finally have another moment to rest. After gaining another traveling companion due to her first request to hunt, Sir Zobek had declined every request Nora had thrown at him – at this point, it seemed the only thing the teen was allowed to do was walk within eyesight of the old man, with didn’t sit well at all with the rebellious princess. It was almost as bad as when she was still with Monroe – though at least she and Sir Zobek were able to travel she supposed.
But sitting in their makeshift camp, Nora was bored, a fact punctuated by her posture and her attitude. Leaning forward with her cheek smushed against the open palm of her hand, the magenta-haired youth aimlessly traced swirling lines in the dirt with one of her arrows. She was also humming the tune Cen had been singing in the forest when they’d happened upon him; it had been stuck in her mind since she’d been relaxed enough to remember it. She’d have whistled it, but, well, Nora couldn’t whistle at all.
With an exasperated sigh, Nora let the lone arrow fall from her grip, lazily looking towards the other members of their camp. It seemed Luke had been able to sneak away – lucky for him – but Nora also noticed that Sir Zobek’s attention wasn’t on her for the first time all day. Seeing her opening, the small teen quietly stood from where she’d been sitting on the ground, being careful to avoid her protector’s eyeline as she disappeared into the tree line with her bow and quiver thankfully already slung over her shoulder.
It was a crisp and cool evening, which the young woman was enjoying thoroughly as she ambled about, inspecting the ground for prints and looking at tree bark. She didn’t know how long she had until Sir Zobek came looking for her, so she was doing her best to enjoy every second of being on her own. But as she enjoyed her silent walk, she heard something, something that sounded like a tree or a stump being hit. A knot of worry hit her stomach as she remembered her last forest encounter with someone alone, but with a shake of her head she stalked towards the noise.
A few moments before whatever it was came into view, the noise stopped, and she could hear someone’s heavy breaths. In almost an instant Nora connected that it was likely Luke, seeing how he’d snuck off sometime earlier. As she spotted him sitting against a tree with the top half of his armor stripped off, the young woman couldn’t help but giggle. Nora didn’t know very much about Luke at this point, besides the fact that he had been travelling with Sir Zobek when he’d come to retrieve her from Wilderose. Considering how crazy everything had been then, and the fact that Luke had accompanied Monroe to ship Ephraim off, Nora’d had little chance to even speak with him at all. Perhaps this was as good a time as any to change that.
Popping out from behind the tree she’d been hiding behind, Nora leaned against the trunk with a girlish grin. “So this is where you snuck off to, huh? Found a nice quiet spot, it seems.”
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Post by Luke Pendragon on Mar 14, 2016 12:18:57 GMT -6
Luke most likely would have dozed off and knowing him it wouldn’t be a quick nap. When he was younger he was known for having the bad habit of passing out somewhere in the fields for hours and someone would end up looking for him. What had prevented him from dozing off this time was the unexpected arrival of someone he had just been thinking about just a moment ago. Speak of the devil someone would say in this scenario that was of course if the devil was a magenta haired archer. Luke had the funny feeling that Sir Zobek would probably think of her as one in a fit of rage or annoyance.
”Oh hey there,” Luke would reply wondering if she had seen any of what he was doing. It was probably obvious due to how the scene looked but you never know. He knew that shadowboxing looked weird and most people were confused the first time seeing it. Had she managed to sneak off as well or was she sent here to find him? Probably the former of the two the more Luke thought about it. Most likely trying to escape from Sir Zobek is what Luke was thinking.
The lad stood up from his spot and started stretching his body, it feeling a bit sore from his exercises but that was a good thing. No pain no gain was definitely something Luke ascribed to. ”Yeah this is a nice spot to get some time for yourself,” He added as he walked over to his sword, pulled it out of the ground and sheathed it. ”What brings you out here?” Luke asked as he placed, more so tossing, his sheathed sword against the tree trunk which was banged up by his sword swings.
Funny how he was just thinking about talking with her and here she is, it was weird how things ended up. Luke had a lot of questions but didn’t think bombarding her with them was a smart idea. Last thing he wanted to do was put her off by all of his questions. Plus some of them were personal and he didn’t want to go sticking his nose somewhere it didn’t belong. He was sure in time he would ask and maybe get some answers to the many questions that he had at the moment. For now he was just happy to talk.
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Nora
Archer
Posts: 48
Profession: Pain in Edward's A$$
Affiliation: The Etrurian Throne
Affinity: Light
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Charlie
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Post by Nora on Mar 15, 2016 16:42:42 GMT -6
Leaning against the tree she’d appeared from, Nora seemed to do the opposite of what Luke was. As he sheathed his sword, the magenta-haired girl dropped her bow and quiver to the ground, happy to let her shoulders rest for a few moments. As he stood and stretched, Nora planted her back against the tree and let herself slide down to sit. She had no intention of going back to camp anytime soon, regardless if Luke left or not; she had to enjoy the few moments away from Sir Zobek that she’d been afforded.
“Ah, just wanted to get away for a few minutes,” Nora shrugged, reaching over to her quiver and pulling out an arrow. She began using the arrowhead to poke at the ground, much like she had been back in the camp. “To tell you the truth, I was kind of hoping to find something out here to hunt, but it seems like we’ve scared everything away.” And by scared everything away, she added to herself, she meant all of her and Sir Zobek’s arguing had likely forced all of the animals in the whole forest into hiding.
Pushing the arrowhead into the ground and letting the arrow go, Nora looked up with a grin. “Did you come out here so you could beat on some poor old tree?” Despite being of royal lineage, the young lady had no tact whatsoever, though some would say it was part of the girl’s charm. Nora definitely thought she had a good sense of humor, but with only Monroe and the rare friend in Wilderose to test it out on, she couldn’t really call herself a seasoned comedian.
To be truthful, though, Nora was quite curious as to how Luke came to be travelling with her old, stodgy protector. The two seemed to be a package deal, but why a farmers boy who knew his way around a sword would be with Sir Zobek, Nora simply couldn't figure out. Sure, she could spew a bunch of questions at him to find out, but despite all of her failings, she remembered have to have a polite conversation.
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Post by Luke Pendragon on Mar 15, 2016 20:13:51 GMT -6
Luke sympathized with Nora’s reasoning for being all the way out here. Sir Zobek seemed like a hawk when it came to Nora so her wanting to get some alone time away from him was understandable. The young lad would probably have felt the same and acted just like Nora did. However, from the sound of it Sir Zobek would probably prefer if she listened to him more and didn’t run off. Luke wondered what their relationship was like before all this moving around and pretending. He figured it was probably the same but it would be interesting to know how they met.
Hunting huh? It had been quite some time since Luke hunted, he wondered if he still had the knack for it. Hunting was something Luke had done with either one of his brothers or his father. The latter of whom he had a bit of a better time seeing as he and his father would normally use that time to talk about things. A lot fond memories were made during those hunting trips. Nora did point out something interesting though; Luke hadn’t really seen a lot of wildlife around these parts. What happened to all those critters?
Luke paused for a moment at Nora’s comment and then looked at the tree that she was leaning against. A small smile grew on his face, a little laugh coming out. ”Well see you weren’t here but the tree was making a lot of jabs at me so I had to teach it a lesson,” Luke joked as he walked over to the tree and point to a slash on it. ”I was just doing some training. Can’t let this body start getting rusty and weak, won’t be much help if I get flabby,” the farm boy was one of the last people who needed to worry about that.
Like most of the Pendragon’s before him Luke was definitely fit and ready to fight. Luke would sit next to Nora, making a relieved sigh as he sat down. ”Did you and Sir Zobek get into it?” Luke asked, "it" referring to the two of them arguing. There were so many other things that he wanted to ask but he was trying to keep on finding a way to ease into it. Though he hoped he was poking at a hornet’s nest asking this question. He didn’t want to get into a fight with her.
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Nora
Archer
Posts: 48
Profession: Pain in Edward's A$$
Affiliation: The Etrurian Throne
Affinity: Light
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Charlie
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Post by Nora on Mar 17, 2016 6:47:02 GMT -6
Nora laughed as the young man continued the joke. Even if he was just humoring her, Luke seemed to have a good sense of humor, which was a welcome change from the past few days of travelling. While she didn’t really want to admit it, Sir Zobek did have some inkling of humor in his old bones, but it had been strained through years and years in the Etrurian military service and the courts. In that way, Nora had to admit Sir Zobek reminded her of a grumpier version of her late father.
A smile stayed on her face as Luke asked if she and Sir Zobek had been fighting. “Nah, but I’m sure me sneaking away will start something.” The short teen sighed, shaking her head. Somehow it didn’t matter that she was away from her and Monroe’s cabin, that she was on her way to the first town she’d been outside of that small Pherae town. Even with Sir Zobek, she still felt trapped, like she didn’t have any say in what she was doing at all. Then again, that’s how her whole life had felt up to this point.
“I mean, I get that he wants to keep me safe,” Nora said, though not specifying the ‘why,’ “but it’s not like another Ephraim is going to pop out of a tree.” Nora looked up at the lightly swaying branches of the oak tree they were sitting up against. “Besides, even if he did, it’s not like I’m alone now. I don’t plan on getting kidnapped again, believe me.”
Shaking her head, Nora looked over at Luke with a smile. “Sorry, I’m just tired of being treated like a little kid. I might be smaller,” she laughed begrudgingly, taking a stab at her height, “but it’s not like I have this bow and don’t know how to shoot! I could protect myself if I had to.” The magenta-haired girl sighed heavily; even a minute of venting made her feel better than she had just sitting and drawing in the dirt at the camp. She wished she could bring up all the other reasons Sir Zobek was so protective, but she didn't know what Luke knew about her. And frankly, she wasn't in the mood to have that fight with Sir Zobek if she spilled the beans.
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Post by Luke Pendragon on Mar 17, 2016 18:38:39 GMT -6
Luke could really empathize with Nora. He knew what it was like to be overprotected and sheltered. Being the runt of his family there wasn’t much expected of him and when he wanted to do something with himself there was much doubt and skepticism tossed his way. He knew that it was all coming from a good place but at the time it didn’t do much but make the boy feel suffocated. Watching Sir Zobek and Nora reminded Luke of his sister’s arguments with their dad. It made Luke wonder how his sister was doing again, hopefully she was doing well and was safe.
Ephraim, a name that Luke didn’t think he would hear for a while. Why in the world are there people like him trying to kidnap Nora? Why did they have to pretend to be family? Luke put these questions to the back of his mind as he wasn’t going to ask them now so there was no point in dwelling on them too much. ” I know exactly how you feel,” Luke replied a small smile on his face. ”In my family I’m considered the runt. Not as big or as strong as my siblings. Not as skilled with a sword and my parents coddled me a lot,” Being considered the runt was always funny to Luke.
Seeing how his brothers weren’t exactly the types to use their skill or large stature for much of anything fearing that the family curse would get to them. ”It took me forever to get them to even consider letting me go out on my own and even more so for them to finally do so,” It was mostly due to the fear of the curse taking Luke but he wasn’t going to bring that up. One because he didn’t want to let that damn thing have any sway in his life and two because he didn’t want to worry Nora.
”But here I am and I’m glad that I left, if I hadn’t I wouldn’t have met all of you. If another Ephraim type shows up I’ll have you and your bow’s backs. To be honest I’m still a bit confused at the whole Ephraim thing and having to pretend to be family but I’m sure eventually things will be explained,” He didn’t want to make them feel like there was any pressure in explaining things to him, Luke understood that in time they would explain things to him.
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Nora
Archer
Posts: 48
Profession: Pain in Edward's A$$
Affiliation: The Etrurian Throne
Affinity: Light
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Charlie
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Post by Nora on Mar 24, 2016 8:22:35 GMT -6
As Luke reminisced about his upbringing, Nora could have imagined being in the same position as the teen if she hadn’t been raised in Castle Etruria. While for the both of them, them being treated differently had to do with size, Nora also had to deal with the expectations of being a proper ‘lady,’ one of the only things she was glad had fallen to the wayside after escaping from Kraft’s hostile takeover. But not having to be prim and proper anymore didn’t snuff out the fact that she wished dearly that she could see her family again. She’d trade anything in the world for that, even wearing dresses and petticoats and earrings again.
Nora smiled as Luke said he was glad to have met all of them, because Nora was glad too. She’d only been away from Wilderose for a few days, but already she was enjoying all of the new characters and people that had stumbled into her life. It made it feel like the trip to Etruria would be a true adventure, like the ones she used to read in the novels and books she’d had to read for her lessons. She couldn’t help but wonder who the hero was supposed to be. Maybe Cen, maybe Luke.
Her smile almost instantly vanished, though, as Luke brought up the fact that he still didn’t know anything about their current situation. It made things hard, not being able to talk freely about who she was, not to mention having other people lie for her. Nora fully understood it was probably safer that way, but it didn’t make her like it anymore. Still, maybe the teen would have to talk to Sir Zobek and see if he’d be willing to break the news, maybe once they’d arrived in Ancona. It would certainly make it easier for her to bond and get to know Luke and Cen.
“I know it’s weird,” Nora agreed, rubbing the back of her head with her hand, causing her ponytail to shake a bit, “But I know Sir Zobek and I both appreciate it. It’s just a really weird situation, and it’s not really my place to say anything.” Well, it was since it was her life in danger, but if she said anything she was sure Sir Zobek would be furious with her.
“So how’d you come to travel with Sir Zobek anyways?” Nora wondered aloud, scratching her knee as she shifted the conversation back to Luke. She wondered if this was just the old man’s thing, leading teens around Elibe in lieu of their parents.
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Post by Luke Pendragon on Apr 2, 2016 18:20:26 GMT -6
Luke felt sort of stupid for bringing up their whole ordeal, he was trying to avoid making things awkward but he guessed that shipped sailed at that point. It was something that sort of just slipped out and Luke hadn’t given it much of a second thought as to whether or not he should have opened his mouth and say something. Probably be best to try and change the subject at this point to something completely different. Mostly to forget about the embarrassment that he just caused himself but also because there wasn’t much else they could say on the matter.
He was glad that Nora had changed the subject and asked Luke something he was surprised that never was brought up before. It must have been weird for her to see Sir Zobek wandering about with some blonde farm boy she had never met before. It was probably strange for a lot of people now that Luke thought about it. Especially seeing how they weren’t related so maybe pretending to be a family was a good idea. Still, the reasoning behind Luke following behind Sir Zobek wasn’t the most solid one. It was a decision made more so on a whim than anything.
”Well since I had been on my own for a bit I ran into Sir Zobek one day and decided it might have been a smart idea to follow him around. Figured I’d learn a lot from him seeing how I’m pretty green when it comes to traveling around the world,” Luke explained before going into more of an explanation. ”Part of my journey was to meet up with my sister and Sir Zobek was going in the same direction so that helped,” This was all assuming that his sister would be in the same place.
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Nora
Archer
Posts: 48
Profession: Pain in Edward's A$$
Affiliation: The Etrurian Throne
Affinity: Light
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Charlie
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Post by Nora on May 10, 2016 11:20:14 GMT -6
“So you’re from Etruria then!” Nora’s assumption burst from her lips before she could contain it, and she almost immediately regretted the poorly handled reveal of exactly where they were headed. Of course, there was plenty still on the way there, not to mention wherever they were meeting could very well be somewhere they weren’t from. Nora’s cheeks grew warm as she ran her hand over the top of her head. She’d certainly jumped the gun there, hadn’t she?
Nora grinned sheepishly. “Ah, what I meant to say was, are you meeting her before we get to Etruria or somewhere along the way? I’m sure you’re from somewhere else…” Nora trailed off, sure her face was as pink as her hair. There wasn’t much she could say to take back her outburst; then again, maybe she was making more of a big deal of this than it really was.
“Sorry, I just get excited when I think I’ve met someone from... home.” Nora clarified, picking some grass out from the ground under her, twisting the coarse, green blade in between her fingers. “It’s been an awful long while since I’ve been back; I can barely contain myself at the thought of it.” It was probably a strange thing to say, considering the state of her homeland at the present time, but it was truly how she felt. Wilderose had never felt like somewhere she could call home, no matter how much Monroe had tried to do to make it seem that way. She'd never get her family back, but maybe, just maybe after all of this she'd have back her country.
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Post by Luke Pendragon on May 21, 2016 19:12:40 GMT -6
Luke was taken back a bit at Nora’s reaction to him explaining how he had met up with Sir Zobek, though it did make him wonder why someone from Etruria was so far away in Lycia. In the back of his head Luke was trying to put the pieces together to figure out what exactly was the mysterious relationship between Zobek and Nora and just what he was missing. Truth be told he did have some connection to Etruria but that was due to family relations, nothing truly significant or worth adding to the conversation so Luke kept it to himself.
He wondered just how long it had been since Nora was last in Etruria and what took her away from it. Luke hadn’t been away from home that long but he could image what she was going through. He’d hate it if he had been away from home for too long and would be just as eager as Nora if he knew that soon he’d be there. ”Ah so you’re from Etruria then.” Luke was aware that Etruria’s current state wasn’t the best. If he remembered correctly some prophet was running things now. But if Luke was recalling right there was a royal family of Etruria so that dynamic was strange to him
”Sorry but I’m from Lycia, though have some relatives from Etruria. And I planned on seeing my sister before we make it there. My father and Mother worry sick about her so I’ll have to make sure to write them when I do. Oh and I’m positive she’d like you.” That tidbit about Etruria didn’t really add much to the conversation but it just came out. ”I’d love to see your home! I’ve been to Etruria only a few times before but it was when I was very young so I don’t remember much of it. And maybe I could show you where I grew up. Ain’t much other than a small village and a farm but it’s something.” Despite his family’s background, Luke’s parents had opted to live in a quaint little place but it was home.
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Nora
Archer
Posts: 48
Profession: Pain in Edward's A$$
Affiliation: The Etrurian Throne
Affinity: Light
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Charlie
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Post by Nora on May 21, 2016 22:01:27 GMT -6
Nora smiled as Luke handled her outburst with much more grace than she probably had in her whole body. You’d think after spending eleven years being taught how to act prim and proper that something would have stuck, even after seven years had passed, but Nora had always had a bit of an unstructured streak to her. She giggled as he mentioned how his sister would probably like her, and the strawberry-haired youth wondered what the farm boy’s sister was like and if she’d like her too. Hopefully they’d actually be able to cross paths with her; it’d be nice to finally be around another lady for once, especially if she was even half as nice and understanding as Luke was.
“Oh I’d love to see it!” Nora exclaimed, still twisting a blade of grass in between her fingers. “Though I’m not sure what’s left of my home to be honest. It’s been seven years since I’ve even been in Etruria, let alone actually home, so for all I know it’s not even there anymore.” The assumption the young princess made was very likely wrong; after all, Castle Etruria was a grand and secure estate, and tearing down such a large, valuable stone castle would have been rather foolish on anyone’s part. Then again, though, from what Nora knew of Kraft his decisions weren’t always sound, so dismantling something that stood as a sign of the Etrurian Royal family wouldn’t have been beyond the realm of possibilities.
Her mind shifting back to Luke’s home, Nora retained the smile she’d sprouted earlier. “So what does your family farm? Do you have a lot of animals?” Secretly she hoped they had a lot of goats. Nora couldn’t explain why, but she’d always loved those funny animals, and the prospect of being around them always made her excited.
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Post by Luke Pendragon on May 22, 2016 2:15:01 GMT -6
It was pleasing to hear Nora’s enthusiasm about coming to see Luke’s home. Despite most people thinking it was a boring little place, Luke still had managed to make many wonderful memories. Besides, there were other parts of Lycia that he could show. Places that he had been to or wanted to go, show all the wonders Lycia had to offer. Granted, Luke didn’t think that really held up when compared to Etruria but it was something. Etruria was probably filled with all sorts of wonders from pretty landscapes to marvelous architecture. Luke was looking forward to seeing such things when they would arrive there.
Luke was taken back a bit when he heard that it had been seven years for Nora since she had been in her home country. It was only natural that Luke wanted to ask why she had been gone for so long but he felt like he was about to enter a topic that was best to be handled at another time. ”I’m sure it’s still there and waiting for you to return.” Luke was always the optimist and always did it with a smile. He had no idea the circumstances of her home so this was nothing but blind optimism but it was better than nothing.
Nora asking questions about the farm was a bit odd to Luke, mainly due to the fact that people rarely ever asked. Not a lot of people found much entertainment in talking about farm work so this was a welcome change of pace. ”Well your typical crops like wheat and corn and we’ve got plenty of animals. Chickens, pigs, cows, anything you can imagine we raise it. Even got a stable for horse, even took care of a Pegasus once.” The story about the Pegasus was a long one but it was a bit exciting. It wasn’t everyday that Luke got to take care of a Pegasus.
”Farm life isn’t exactly as exciting as being an explorer or mercenary traveling the world but it’s an honest and good life. What about yourself? What was life like in Wilderose?” Etruria to Wilderose was definitely quite the jump and Luke was curious as to how Nora handled it all. Forcing a child from one environment to another and having them stuck there for what seems like forever doesn’t end well. Being held down certainly didn’t stop Luke.
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Nora
Archer
Posts: 48
Profession: Pain in Edward's A$$
Affiliation: The Etrurian Throne
Affinity: Light
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Charlie
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Post by Nora on May 25, 2016 18:14:36 GMT -6
Nora listened excitedly as Luke described the farm he’d grown up on, enamored by the ideal she held about farm life and getting to work with animals. She’d loved horses and helping out at the stable, but of course having been raised a princess she didn’t truly understand how brutal and hard farm life really could be. It didn’t change the fact that she wanted to see Luke’s farm and see all of the animals that lived there.
Her eyes even lit up at the mention of a Pegasus - she’d always seen Pegasi when they were brought to the castle by visiting Ilians and the like, but never had she been allowed to ride one. She’d begged her father for a pegasus for a little while, but he likely had never gotten one for fear that his daughter would be flown away by the horse and never brought back down. Her father had been funny about protecting her like that.
Life in Wilderose… Well wasn’t that a loaded question? Nora looked up and raised her eyebrows, her lips puckered and pinched to the side as she tried to think of the best way to describe how she and Monroe had lived for the past seven years. “Ah, it wasn’t all that great. Wilderose was so small, you got to know everyone which I guess was nice. But there wasn’t much to do, and most everyone was content with just being where they were at. Monroe would take me hunting with him every now and again, but not nearly as much as I wanted to go. Didn’t want me to get hurt again, I guess,” Nora shrugged, not thinking much of the comment.
It was always something Nora had always tried to grapple with, how protective Monroe was of her. When she was younger, Nora didn’t really question it - the threat of Kraft and his men was enough to convince her to obey his orders and follow his strict rules. But as she aged and the threat seemed to have all but disappeared, Nora wanted to be more independent, on her own to do what she pleased, at least every now and then. But the more Nora wanted to explore, the more Monroe tried to reign her in, which had caused them to fight incessantly over the past few years.
But deep down, even if she wouldn’t admit it, Nora knew Monroe had her best interests at heart, even if it didn’t always seem like it. Unfortunately being kidnapped had shown her that she was still very much in danger; that hadn’t stopped her from being furious with her caretaker at the time, but as time passed, her anger with him was fading. She’d even started to feel guilty for how poorly she’d treated the man who had cared for her all those years with no obligation to do so other than the oath he’d sworn to the true Etrurian crown.
“It wasn’t all bad though,” Nora added, fiddling with a seam on her shirt that had begun to fray. “People were real nice, nicer than they were back in Etruria. They just didn’t have much reason or want to leave. Not like I did, anyway.”
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