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Post by Ninmast on Apr 2, 2009 22:24:17 GMT -5
One swift jump took Rensik back to the rooftops and he headed on back toward the inn. It was time to bring his patrol to an end and get some sleep so he'd be able to wake up early enough to do his morning exercises before they left at dawn.
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zandyne
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This is NOT Zetsu. DX
Posts: 1,037
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Post by zandyne on Apr 3, 2009 14:25:13 GMT -5
The journey back to the inn was uneventful, most of the nocturnal ghosts and creatures of the ice world still lingered, those who were inattentive went about their scavenging and the more cautious ones scattered to safety on sensitive instinct. When he'd made it back to the Blue Jay, Mechio had already finished migrating the satchel he'd had earlier back into the building. Where he was though couldn't be told from outside.
Through one of the large front windows however, he could make out the moving shadow that was Mechio's mother who was still at the same table she'd been at since he'd first arrived.
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Post by Ninmast on Apr 3, 2009 14:36:32 GMT -5
Deciding to put off sleep a little longer, the young man instead went downstairs. Perhaps he could help her with the spot. He came down the stairs and into the seating area where she was located, silent as always, and announced his presence. "Still haven't been able to do away with the dastardly thing?" he asked her kindly. "Perhaps I could help, if you'd permit it?"
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zandyne
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This is NOT Zetsu. DX
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Post by zandyne on Apr 3, 2009 14:56:24 GMT -5
She looked up in surprise, eyes taking on a fierce acid green for a moment, as though she were enraged, but it flickered back to its serene shade of sea-green. She stopped her task with a sigh and tenderly held the cloth to her chest, "Don't let it bother you dear, it's nothing to trouble you about." Despite this she eyed it from the corner of her vision.
"Is there anything you need dear? You shouldn't be up so late."
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Post by Ninmast on Apr 3, 2009 15:01:38 GMT -5
"Oh, I was just taking a walk," he assured her. "Though if you would let me, they trained us in precise cutting in the Academy. I believe I could level the bump in one smooth cut."
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zandyne
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This is NOT Zetsu. DX
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Post by zandyne on Apr 3, 2009 21:59:10 GMT -5
She was nodding kindly at what Rensik had said he was out and about doing, even if it seemed like a reckless thing to do. But at the mention of the bump's existence she physical flinched, the feral look in her eyes from earlier returned. She curled her fingers tightly around her cleaning cloth, "Really dear, I must insist you let this old woman do it herself. Go off to bed now, best not to temp a picky Parcae."
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Post by Ninmast on Apr 4, 2009 11:33:50 GMT -5
He bowed deeply in response. "As you wish, madam. My aid is at your beck and call should you need anything. I am a light sleeper, so should you need anything, don't hesitate to call."
Rensik headed back up the stairs with a spin that sent his silver braid trailing behind him, but he was still attentive to anything occurring behind him. He had a growing feeling Mechio's mother was closer to going than even the son suspected. They would have to make their journey quick, indeed, if she was to be among those helped. Once he returned to the room, instead of getting under the blankets, he sat against the headboard, his feet folded under him so that he was on his knees. This was the position he would maintain, eyes closed and flittering, until dawn. The meditation was a sleep-like trance that he learned in the academy to allow a hero to get the benefit of a full night's sleep in a fraction of the time, while being able to wake up quickly if the need arose.
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Post by Kagetsuki on Apr 5, 2009 4:12:19 GMT -5
It was perhaps an hour after Rensik entered his sleep-like trance when a particularly loud 'THUMP' sounded some feet away from the inn, accompanied by a disgruntled, unhappy-sounding horse's whinny. Somewhere in the near distance the faint sound of glass breaking could probably be heard, or if not heard, at the very least imagined. There followed some silence and rustling, then a woman's voice, thoroughly bewildered, remarking, "I do not recall Frigus ever being made entirely of ice, Guerre."
Silence descended after the woman spoke, blanketing the inn and its surroundings so that it almost seemed like the horse and its rider had been a sensory illusion, a trick of sound and nothing more; a moment later, however, her voice came again, gentle and bell-like and directly outside the inn's door. "Ah, but we are blessed by Master's luck. Do you see, Guerre? An inn. Surely the innkeeper will be able to tell us if Frigus is simply suffering from a severe winter." Pause. Once could imagine the woman looking around. "A very severe winter indeed. Master did not say anything about buildings made of ice..." There came a sudden knock on the inn door, confirming the physical existence of the newcomer. "Excuse me, would the master or mistress I spy through the window please let me in? A potential lodger here stands, requiring aid."
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zandyne
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This is NOT Zetsu. DX
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Post by zandyne on Apr 5, 2009 4:27:53 GMT -5
After her bout with Rensik, she'd shifted her attention back to her task. Once again the thought of what had just happened drifted from her mind as she scrubbed at the table.
She was so entranced by the act that she was quite shocked by the knocking, her aggressiveness had bled back to benevolence by this time. She tittered about the table, trying to decide whether or not she should try to hide the persistent lump. She compromised by hastily setting the cloth over it, and making it appear to be rumpled out of quick discard, not acting as a weak facade.
The inn keeper dusted her impeccable wispy clothing before opening the door. She greeted the stranger warmly, gesturing for her to come inside, "Welcome to the Blue Jay. A nights lodge is free in this kingdom. Shall you be staying-" She peered outside for a moment and reaccessed her statement, "For what remains of the night? The special for today is frost meal and glacia rolls, but since it is past a suitable shade hour I'm afraid I cannot offer you our delicious melcho liquor, but we do have some delightful glory nectar if you would so incline."
She noticed the steed the stranger possessed, "And of course we have suitable meal and lodging for your companion as well."
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Post by Kagetsuki on Apr 5, 2009 23:17:18 GMT -5
The woman mounted on the black stallion just outside the door was smiling as she looked down upon Mechio's mother, a smile that remained constant even as her dark green eyes widened in what must have been surprise. Even seated on the horse it was easy to tell she was tall, her straight back and slightly raised chin lending her an air that bordered on imposing. There was little to be seen of her beneath the multitude of velvet cloaks she wore pulled close, but from the looks of it she'd been blessed with a good body, fair skin and long, raven hair. She did not move to dismount from her steed but instead sat very still in the saddle, never blinking as she watched Mechio's mother closely.
"Well," She finally said in a gentle, lilting voice that perfectly suited her smile, "I think the decision of whether or not to stay should be delayed until I know the answer to a very simple question. Would you care to tell me, mistress, whether I stand in the territory of Frigus? I have a growing feeling that I do not, but it would greatly relieve me if you said I do."
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zandyne
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This is NOT Zetsu. DX
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Post by zandyne on Apr 5, 2009 23:38:31 GMT -5
She reeled back for a moment, she'd confused the guest for a noble that happened to posses an exotic breed of transport. Her words suggested that this one must have come through the tower mirror, from that other place. Her displeasure of the thought of its loss bothered her but she continued her polite routine, "I'm terribly sorry, but this is the western province, Honsvensel, of the Kingdom Aierslgen. I'm afraid to say this, but I've never heard of this Frigus country you speak of."
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Post by Kagetsuki on Apr 6, 2009 1:05:34 GMT -5
"Ah." Still the smile remained, exactly the same as when the door had opened even though the woman's voice had taken on a tone of disappointment. "That is quite unfortunate. Just as you have never heard of Frigus, I must confess that I have never heard of Honsvensel or Aierslgen." She chuckled suddenly, amusement replacing her disappointment. "Well, I suppose that's what I get for not weaving the Aranea this morning! Master has always told me to keep to my routine, it's only natural that the day I don't I am punished for it. I must do something to make it up to him when I find my way back to Elenta. Master is always right."
The woman now moved to dismount, swinging a leg around and sliding off the stallion with a gracefulness many others would have lacked. She gave the neck of the horse a fond pat, then offered a small curtsy to Mechio's mother and said, "Mistress, now that I know the situation I have decided to lodge here, at least for the rest of the night if not longer. I do not recall traveling through Kyomu, nor do I remember any demons around to force me to, but it would seem I have come to a different world nonetheless. I am not privy to dimensional knowledge, so it will take some time for me to find a way back. As long as I am here I shall require your hospitality, if you will give it."
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zandyne
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This is NOT Zetsu. DX
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Post by zandyne on Apr 6, 2009 1:21:24 GMT -5
"Oh of course! The bounty of the kingdom is for all to share. Please wait a moment, I must fetch my son to attend to your steed." She walked quickly near the storeroom and to the well-hidden door next to it. She rapped on the door and it opened, another glassy but taller and more masculine figure moving out of it.
She meekly told his task, "Mechio we have an early guest, please help attend to her companion." He looked over her to the newcomer by the door and the black creature behind her, he nodded and briskly made his way to her.
"Hallo," he murmured as he bowed politely, "pleasure to meet you miss." He indicated to the horse, "Should I show you the stables or your room first?"
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Post by Kagetsuki on Apr 6, 2009 2:14:57 GMT -5
To Mechio the woman offered another small curtsy and the quick reply, "I should like to see the stables first, if you please. Guerre does not require much but this being a different world it would be safer for me to make sure the conditions are suitable for him." She turned back to his mother and though her smile grew no larger the tone of her voice brightened as though it had. "Mistress, I thank you. Your kindness shall not got unnoticed; when I return to my world I will ask my Master to bless you if he can."
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zandyne
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This is NOT Zetsu. DX
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Post by zandyne on Apr 6, 2009 2:31:02 GMT -5
The inn-keeper waved her hand dismissively at the stranger's kindness, "You're too kind dear."
Mechio cleared his throat and lightly grabbed at Gurre's reins, "Well then miss?" He started leading them around to a smaller structure that had been eclipsed by the inn. He looked cautiously from side to side as he walked, brandishing the spare lantern from the door of the inn as though the darker shadows might attack. The sky wasn't that dark nor did it require the light of such a thing but he still looked nervously at anything that moved.
After they had made it to the humble stables, he unfastened the primitive lock on the doors and swung them open, leading the horse and its master inside. It looked identical to normal stables except for the materials which seemed to be made out of dense and barely opaque rock. And rather than hay lining the bedding it was a strange slate-gray mossy substance.
There was another creature residing inside but it was fairly unresponsive to them, perhaps asleep. It was a pale and glassy animal that possessed slender limbs which at the bottom did not possess hooves or anything close to such feet. Instead of a tail like a horses' as its body build suggested it seemed to have a whip like extension that dangled lazily. It's face was shaped like the knight of a chess-piece.
Mechio brought Gurre to the empty stall next to it. "In the mornin' he'll be taken out to the grazin' area. I think he'll be alrigh' as long as he doesn't go anywhere. IS there anythin' else I can do before we go back like extra beddin'?"
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