Run Again (?): (For Remus)

[vic]

Victor was in this small village in Laus to simply resupply and get some rest. After the latest set of taking jobs,he had to stock back up. His plan was to maybe head for Illia after this, see the snow and all.
He sighed as he reminisced on it. The last time he had been in Illia was as a part of his training, meant to build a natural resistance to the cold. He had to spend a month out there in the cold with little more than a sword and a javelin against the beasts that lived there, perfecting the art of setting traps for game in the proccess. Since he couldn't run either at the time without a horse, he had to plan ahead a lot for things.
Nature was a harsh teacher, yes, but if one could survive it, one could learn much.

Ahh...those were the days. He had to wonder what his old band was up to these days. Ever since the bandit war ended, he had left them, and even after he started traveling again, he had yet to hear word of them. He considered heading back to Sacae, but buisness had to come before pleasure.
His old company had been led by the husband and wife of Nyau the Nomad Trooper, who taught him the way of the lance and horse, and her husband, Bolton, his old master, a proud Saecan swordsmaster who taught Victor how to adapt his sword technique to his new...circumstances.
There were others too that he had been with in the company, all people he would gladly lay down his life for as allies.
Deidara, a Berserker from Bern who never backed down from a challenge. Bols, a towering, intimidating-looking mage who had a surprisingly bashful and kind side, even happily married with a beautiful wife and daughter (who Victor had attended the marriage of), and more..
So many old memories that he was lost in thought of.

So lost in thought was he, that he accidentally bumped into someone.
"Hm? Sorry. Are you okay?" he asked them.

[Remus]

Laus. The last time he'd been present here, there'd been so much...crazy. Battling the Arum Knight, and undead minions. The pack of doog's incident. Then there was the bit with trying to recover their favorite missing orphan. To this degree though Remus was glad to be at-least more settled in. So it was that the young Etrurian found himself strolling through a small leaky village on the countryside merely enjoying it for its own sake. No heavy brown traveling cloak to disguise himself or horrible wraps to acclimate to desert heats. Just his familiar blue robes. On the topic of familiar...

A well known weight rested on his shoulders. Little feet kicking idly from either side of his visage, flopping back to rest against his chest and a small pair of arms were folded and resting on his head. Amelia was contently chomping her teeth, the reverberating sensation felt through the priests scalp as the girl tried to amuse herself. Of all the orphans he'd tended, none had quite encompassed the unique nature of bizarre like Amelia. Owain was still at the inn room, sleeping after having helped Remus give their trusty steed Dragon-Hero-Horse a well earned bath. Though Amelia had "helped" this primarily pertained to splashing them with water meant for the stout Etrurian Charger. With His right hand quietly clasping the ornate staff he'd utilized ever since the incident in the Ilian Cave, and his left resting upon Amelia's knee for stability so she wouldn't fall if she decided to flail about again, he moved by looking at the occasional store entrance they'd move past. The cool sleek sense from Thyrus's shaft was still odd to him considering that it was a mixture of wood and metal, not just singularly metallic composition.

Suddenly he felt a bump that ever so slightly pivoted the priests shoulder. He hadn't minded. However the monster of a seven year old sitting on his shoulders had and instantly mounted her hands atop the priests head as a torrent of bitter retaliation readied itself. Initially, the priest smiled warmly, as was his habit.

"Ah! No worries, it's perfectly-"

"YOU ALMOST BROKE MY LEG!"

Amelia cut the priest off, huffing with indignation and pointing to her right knee. Clearly the wrong side as the priest had been bumped on his left, but the little girl carried on in her fit of childish outrage at the affront.

"HOW CAN I RULE THE WORLD IF YOU BREAK MY LEG? I NEED THAT LEG FOR WALKING TO MY THRONE! SMITE HIM GENERAL!"

The priest would've looked up to roll his eyes in exasperation sooner, but the tiny palm now slipping down his forehead as she tried to heighten herself as much as possible atop her priestly steed made this difficult. He chuckled and shook his head.

"Amelia. Your fine. Don't mind her she's...always like thi-"

"STRIKE HIM DOWN IN HOLY FIRE! LIGHT HIS SHORTS ABLAZE AND CAST DOWN HIS SOUL!"

[vic]

Hm? He hadn't noticed the little girl on the priest's shoulders.
Was she his daughter perhaps?
Before he could say anything else, the priest said he was fine...
The little girl on the other hand... well...she seemed half ready to pick a fight then and there.
He winced at the comment of a broken leg.
That brought back too many bad memories.
He sighed at the priest's apology...
...although he had to wonder from Amelia (the name of the little girl) if she was some kind of kid zealot. Then again, he remembered his own little sister who was like that when she was little.
"Hm. That's good. Your daughter's certainly an energetic little thing, isn't she?" he said, chuckling slightly at the memories of his little sister at that age pestering him constantly...
He had to wonder how Veronica was doing....
And then he noticed the rather ornate staff the priest was holding.
Curious. He had never quite seen a staff like that before.
"Although... excuse me, but what is that staff you have there? I've never quite seen a staff like it before... what kind of staff is it? I'm a teacher, you see. I teach courses on magic weaponry, you see, so things like this interest me. I'm Victor, by the way." he explained.
He had to wonder about that staff. Was it some new type of enhancement staff? Or some unusually made healing staff? Bit of both?
He knew better than to get too excited though. He seriously doubted that even if that was a healing staff, it could heal his leg.
That would take a miracle in of itself, and he seriously doubted that he had the luck to run into by sheer chance someone who could.
Of course, it never hurt to ask...

[Remus]

Daughter? That hadn't been the first time someone had made that assumption really, but he merely chuckled and smiled before tilting his head quizzically. The priests tone fairly bright, as if there were any setting it could possibly take.

"Ah. She's not actually my daughter she's just a girl I look aft-"

Purge his soul and cleanse Elibe of this foul abomination! Make Elibe great again! Destroy this fie-

Remus turned to gaze at her with a slightly disapproving look before the priest chuckled, adjusting his grim on the girls knee and trying to settle her back into a sitting position on his shoulders from her upraised one. The Priest simply shifting his gaze to the elder male once more after trying to calm the girl enough.

"Okay now Amelia that's enough. The man apologized so please keep it to a normal tone again? Your going to make my eyes ring again. Honestly between you and Nayru I am still absolutely certainly I'll see Elimine before I see forty. That's assuming either one of you is even descent enough to let me die, haha."

No really. He was almost absolutely certain neither would allow him to relinquish his hold over the mortal realm, and even if he did there would likely be some way they manage to tether him there. Lest he end up finding out the heavens were naught but an eternal proving ground to battle alongside allies in which point he'd be stuck in eternal combat against some eldritch horror alongside Nayru. Which..scarily enough he wasn't sure he minded? Goodness, there was heavy influence by a certain female there somewhere now wasn't there.

His staff was brought into question as the man gestured towards it. At which point the priest felt a shift in mentality. The man was inquiring because he was a magic weapons instructor? What good would he have of a staff then. That was like asking a mage about their tome. However out of politeness's sake and his natural Remus-y disposition he replied in ever an acclimating tone.

"To be quite honest I'm not sure. It is not quite a normal staff that's for certain. However I myself am unable to fully ascertain the abnormalities of it yet despite multiple instances of utilizing it for various magics."

[vic]

Oh. So she wasn't his daughter. More like just a ward that he looked after.
Big difference.
(He was being serious here. In his youth, such terminology was important, especially when said terminology made all the difference between tasting an executioners axe and a continued lifespan).
He couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the little girl who kept yelling at him and her father- sorry, legal guardian kept having to discipline her.
From the sounds of it, it seemed like Amelia would gladly purge this continent if it meant getting the poor man out.
"Is Nayru another little girl you have in your care? If she's anything like Amelia, I must say that I do wish you luck raising them..." Victor said half-jokingly, and half-seriously.
In a sense, they reminded him of himself and Veronica when they were younger (and to some extent, today too...).

Ah, to be young. He almost wish he had a child himself sometimes. Frankly, the closest thing he had to a son was Talus, and he had to wonder if the boy saw him the same way (as in as a father figure).

Although the staff proved more and more interesting as Victor raised a curious eyebrow.
"I... see. Interesting... what sort of abnormalities are you reffering to? Also, most staffs tend to only use one type of magic... you're saying this can use more than one type?" he said curiously.
This was indeed getting very interesting...
Perhaps the gods were being kind to him for some reason...?
Still, he knew better than to celebrate just yet.
Otherwise, he'd be in a serious letdown.

[Remus]

Remus's chuckle at the male's assumption regarding Nayru. Amelia was the closest thing he could imagine to a child-like Nayru. Though he had a hard time imaging her as a little-..actually. No, he didn't. He could see that pretty clearly. A nice little vivid image of her as a little Nayru compared to how she was now. Just far less womanly and far more Amelia-y. Though Remus didn't really acknowledge any notion of sensual attribute when he imagined womanly but more of a grown up concept. Nayru, while at times far less mature than anyone who'd lived more than ten years of life, still housed a vast complex series of thoughts and emotions that did in-fact render her an adult. At-least by human standards. By dragon standards however he had no idea. Did they...live long as in tens of thousands of years? Thousands of years? He couldn't quite be sure. Nayru had explained some of draconic culture to him but not...that.

The concept was fairly lost on him. It was hard to comprehend an entity living for so long. Humans might surmise it as a god. In reality to the average human, or even above average, wasn't she just that though? Super-human durability, speed, strength, and abilities to transform into a draconic being or even enhance herself with bodily traits akin to a dragons. Though he still cringed at the notion of it, remembering the sight of her arm as scales and plating covered it and black and red lightning sprung from its core. It just looked like a painful experience.

The young etrurian replied with a bright tone despite his pensive mindset.

"Ah. Nayru isn't a child, but a good friend. She and I have gone through a fair amount, and I would dare hazard that she's the person I'm closest to, after the kids."

The Priest quietly looked to his staff for a moment in more refined thought before verbally expounding.

"Well...staffs themselves may be inclined towards a particular magics but various practitioners are known to utilize varied effects through singular staves as their primary focal conduit. I've personally always been able to perform healing or defensive magics through any staff with varying caliber's of ease. The Abnormalities however I'd rather not divulge as I am too unsure of what to make of them. I'd rather understand and comprehend the staff as a conduit first before openly telling others of it. Lest I look the fool."

[vic]

Oh. So Nayru was the man's occasional female companion and a good friend. He couldn't help but smile. While he knew such relations could be platonic, one could consider it slightly romantic.
"I see. You know, I have a good friend myself somewhere in this area. It's been a while since we met... think I might pay him a visit. These days he's a escort-for-higher for merchants, so he could just as easily be out... but I don't want to bore you with the details." he said, thinking of Storge, the General-Class Knight that he remembered at one point had shrugged off a dozen archer's fire during the war just to save a man from death. He was the type of man that once you hired him, and you were a good person, he'd see you through it if it cost him his life.

Now as to what the man said on Nayru..
... of course, he thought, if Nayru was anything like Amelia, such a relationship was rather... unlikely to say the least.
At least not without some effort.
Then again, he supposed all relationships were like that (not that'd he'd ever been in one).

He listened to the mage's explanation, which made sense. He knew of course that healers were capable of such things as well, being the brother of one.
As for the abnormalities, he could understand the need for understanding. He had a similar situation with Venisanctus.

"I understand. Sorry if I seemed rude for a second there... it's just that when I was young, well... let's say I had a rather nasty accident with ramifications to this day. For most of my youth I spent looking for a way to cure the wounds from that day..." he said, voice tinged slightly with regret, and reminiscing tone as he recalled those days.

[Remus]

So it seemed the man had an injury of some kind? Strange that he'd not had it tended prior. Though he'd pondered the severity of such if it truly imposed him so, the priest was distracted by a sudden fit of squirming as the raven haired youth atop his shoulders flopped backwards for a moment in a pure fit of energy. Though his palm atop her shoulder easily kept her from falling backwards. The weight shift so suddenly did cause him to sway a bit and easily scattered his train of thought like leaves into the wind. The lapis haired priest shifting for a few moments to counter balance it and adjust Amelia back upwards. A quiet grin spreading upon his lips at the youthful orphan's child-like aspect before turning his gaze back to the elder male before him.

With a quiet tap of his staff against the ground to punctuate his thoughts before shifting his weight against it and centering Amelia atop his shoulders, Remus chimed in with a bright smile widened upon his visage. About as normal as Remus was, his default being simply to smile perpetually. The priest's gaze drifting to the small aspects of the town around him while speaking, simply drinking in the setting as it was.

"Ah, I am sorry to hear that. It seems though, to me, that most bodily injures can be tended by a healer of the appropriate caliber. Broken bones have been mended, trauma from weapon strikes or injuries caused by magical maladies. I see no reason why an injured leg could've have been tended. Though I suppose it is the case if you've not yet been able to receive treatments for such."