FE on the Forums: Scarlet Crown [IC]

[rokubiraijuu]

Throughout the night, the village is silent — the kind of silence that follows only after a great commotion, where the trees are devoid of the sounds of wildlife, and the whistling of the wind through the night canopy takes over: nature's uncaring dirge. Those who remain awake would only be aware of small, distant disruptions in the quiet: someone walking to a nearby house to fetch more bandages for those injured in the battle, the occasional murmur of conversation among those Warriors Village swordsmen stationed on lookout. Gravity settles on the secluded settlement like dense fog low to the ground, with a sepulchral heaviness.

 

Eventually, morning peeks over the treetops, lightening the sky with branches of color dyeing puffy clouds in pastel hues. The village slowly comes alive once more with a pronounced industriousness unlike the stillness of the night before. The men wake with the sun, stretching stiff muscles and picking up blunted practice swords, the harrowing events of the previous night igniting the rigor of their training. The women emerge from their doors with washing, looms, staves, some with tomes tucked under their arms. Despite the marked difference in their lifestyle from the men, however, not one of them looks meek or delicate. Each of them walks with her own kind of assurance, several laughing with each other or the men around them in the passing wake of danger.

 

Not long after, the Allied Guard gathers again, each from however they had spent the night. The roofed shelter from last night stands off in the distance, innocuous. The blood had long soaked into the grass, the former prisoners long buried along with their General in the surrounding woods by Johanna and the others of the Guard who had remained and been willing.

 

Johanna looks weary. There are dark circles beneath her eyes, but her voice doesn't waver as she addresses them all. "I spoke with the elder this morning. He thanked us again, and, to fully repay us, said that we're free to visit the village shop and any of their smiths for equipment. If any of you want to look into weapons or supplies, this would be a good chance to do that. This is the Warriors Village, after all, so I have no doubt about the quality. I'm heading there, myself. Otherwise, you're free to rest until the afternoon. I will let you all know when I've made a decision on our next course of action. If there are no questions, you're dismissed."

 

-----

 

After concluding the briefing, Johanna turns to head in the direction of the weapon smith the elder had pointed her to earlier. She keeps her posture and expression steady, but her movement is heavy. After the burial, she'd stayed up most of the night detailing a report on all that had taken place, to be sent to her superiors as was customary. By the time that had been finished, it was nearly morning and she had gotten her second wind already. Attempts to sleep afterwards had been unfruitful, and eventually she'd given up and gotten up to prepare for the coming day. The leg injury from the battle bothered her a little, but she knew it would ease up as the day grew warmer.

 

Even so, she favors her right leg ever so slightly as she walks, glad at least for the crispness of the morning air. In the daylight, things are easier, even if she must keep herself busy to ward off the whispers of uncertainty that ever threaten to encroach.

 

-----

 

A figure jogs in through the entryway of the village, nodding to those on lookout and waving. He exchanges a few words before continuing towards one of the houses, a few rabbit carcasses slung over his shoulder and bow in hand. 

 

Along the way, he pauses upon seeing the Guard disperse after their briefing, and stops to look at them with wide eyes. In particular, his gaze drifts to Argos and settles on him, then the sword at his side. An excited smile comes over his face, and he makes to approach him, then seems to think better of it. Eventually, he chooses instead to hang behind a little, tailing Argos eagerly as he might when tracking a deer in the forest.

 

[ INTERLUDE START. Johanna and Fless are interact-able. ]

[Sentient Bowtie]

Dulcibella offers Johanna a small wave and a smile as the commander leaves. For her part, she looks as if the events of the previous night hadn’t happened. Her demeanor is as energetic and cheerful as always, if very slightly subdued.

 

As she was standing with Argos, Dulcie turns to him.

“Looks like we have the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. Do you want to see if there’s a library or something like that here?”

[Aurorix]

Argos got all gitty, they can get new supplies. A NEW SWORD! Alright Argos calm down... aw to hell with that, who cares? He turned to Dulcie with fire in his eyes.  "You heard the commander right!? Do you know how many people would kill to get a blade from here!? The books can wait, we got weapon shopping to do! Also I gotta test my metal against someone here at least! Gotta spread the infamy of ARGOS THE INVOKER OF MAYHEM!!! There's no time to waste if we're gonna get all this done, so lets go!" Argos grabbed Dulcie's arm right above her wrist on dragged her along with her and he ran off looking for the sword smith. It was almost like he forgot about yesterday but the events still loom in the back of his mind. However, he doesn't want to make anyone sad or angry by bringing it back up, so he kept silent about it. He could shake this itchy feeling, though, like there was someone or something starring at him. Oh well, who wouldn't want to stare of his awesomeness!?

[Powder Miner]

After the execution and the burial, Ceridwen (at the time barely keeping it together) had simply gone out into the grass, sat down, and then had curled up beside her dragon, managing to get sleep nearly instantly despite only taking off around half her armor for no reason other than how exhausted she was with both the wounds that she had received and the way she had exerted herself through the battle and burials. 

 

In the morning, Ceridwen looked... defeated, gaze downcast and posture loose and slightly hunched, hand sometimes hovering over her gut. None of her anxieties and guilts from the previous day had particularly dissipated, and though she at least had gotten more sleep than her commanding officer, her night had not precisely been restful itself, some of the previous day's exertion lagging in her muscles as well. Still, despite how drained she was, Ceridwen did have things to do, and she couldn't afford to fail to prepare to do her job later, lest she fail again. Accordingly, when Johanna turned off and began to head towards the weaponsmith, Ceridwen followed her, a distance to her side -- trying to avoid staring at her but nonetheless glancing back in her direction rather frequently.

 

"..."

 

Yn Ddiddorol was not a satisfied dragon. His demeanor and mannerisms did not speak at all of being defeated or downcast like his rider -- instead he was irritated, frustrated, tail occasionally flicking sharply or gaze locking onto some object in the distance. His human was very much upset, he could at least tell that much, but he had only the vaguest inkling of why. She seemed like she was guilty about something, but Yn Ddiddorol, intelligent as he was, was still a dragon, not a human, and wasn't quite capable of taking in and comprehending the entire situation. Besides, he had different priorities than his human. She paid a lot of attention to everyone around her, but to Yn Ddiddorol the only relationship he cared very much about was that that he had with his rider. Hmmm, that made Yn Ddiddorol think of something.

 

The dragon could see Ceridwen glancing over at Johanna, her upset expression intensifying for a moment, and then looking away... and more than once, at that. Maybe it was the other dragon rider that was responsible for Ceridwen's state, somehow, and Yn Ddiddorol rotated around Ceridwen to be between the two, giving Johanna a look. This look was keen and scrutinizing, and Yn Ddiddorol's dragon face did not seem like a very pleased dragon face.

"..."

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Naomi, energetic and ready for action nods at her commander and wanders off into the town after being dismissed. She goes from shop to shop, examining fruit stalls, smiths, and everything that catches her eye. Until she finally reaches a stall selling tomes. She examines their selection, looking mostly at the covers and any illustrations they may have. Until she picks one that pleases her; Ray She picks it, and takes it up to the shop keeper. Arms fully outstretched and a full smile. 

 

"Hi good morning, I'll be taking this one! I'm with the Allied Guard so can you make them pay for it? I don't have money with me." 

 

Buy Ray

[rokubiraijuu]

It doesn't take much effort to find the weaponsmith; such a cornerstone of Warriors Village life is located just off-center in the village. With the settlement being such a small and insular community, the place is not so much a traditional shop as the Calissians and Dragon Knights are accustomed to, and more just a semi open-air forge, an array of weapons lined up and leaning against the wall of the roofed shelter. An older man, whose muscles made from years of hammering steel belie his age, looks up at the approaching footsteps to see Argos towing Dulcibella along by the arm, pausing in his work.

 

"Who're you— oh, hrrmm, those outsiders who broke some heads last night, hmmm. Fff, the elder said you'd might be coming along." He addresses just Argos. "What you need?"

 

---

 

At the sound of a voice, a woman peeks out from behind a small stack of tomes and hurries to the front. "Oh! I didn't recognize you, I'm sorry." But at the purchase, she smiles and nods. "A good choice! I like Light magic too. This is kind of exciting. We don't get a lot of outsiders around here buying things. I'll let the elder know how much to charge you all."

 

Naomi receives Ray.

 

---

 

Unaware of Ceridwen trailing behind her, Johanna continues on her way, but barely takes ten more steps before the sound of something heavy causes her to look back— and then tilt her head up to meet Yn Ddidderol's narrowed eyes. He's agitated about something, and an agitated dragon is something to be careful of He may be smaller than Idriss, but is still easily several times the size of any human and more than capable of causing harm, even unintentionally.

 

"Yn Ddidderol. What are you..." She then catches sight of Ceridwen a few steps behind him, looking downcast. She assumes the events of the previous night are still lingering over her. "Ceridwen. Does he need something?"

[Aurorix]

"Heh, heh, heh, alright. I wanna see your biggest and bestest sword you got!" The lad spoke to the smith egarly rubbing his hands together, imagining the fine craftsmanship from the village of swordsmen. They have to be the best around right?

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

"This is kind of exciting for me too! I don't usually buy things!" She takes the tome hugging it close to her chest. "What's your favorite part of light magic? I absolutely love the sounds it makes you know whoosh. And then how things just disappear without a trace, it's a lot of fun!"

[rokubiraijuu]

The man looks Argos up and down, scrutinizing him, then scoffs. "The biggest and best I've got? Fffff, you're not ready to see that biggest and best I've got. Try again when you've become a man." He glances at Dulcibella, indicating her with a jerk of his head. "She your woman, boy?"

 

---

 

The young woman giggles at Naomi's enthusiasm. "Personally, I like how light and easy to handle it feels. Are you getting anything else for your allies? I-I'm glad it's you who came here to see the tomes, to be honest."

[Powder Miner]

It took a moment for Ceridwen to process what was going on, the Dragon Knight glancing up with the sorrow on her face purely replaced by surprise for a moment -- and then alarm, though at the least not full panic.

"H-huh?! Ynddi, what are you doing??"

 

Ceridwen rushed forward (noisily, with all the armor) to rein Yn Ddiddorol in, but Ynddi was already backing up and following behind the two, to Ceridwen's visible confusion, his gaze now occasionally flitting between Ceridwen and Johanna more passively, but plainly still observingly. (He'd observe what was going on himself and see if he could figure out what the source of trouble for his rider was.)

"I-I'm sorry, I really don't know what he's doing right now. Uh, I don't think he'd hurt you, but-- well-- the things that he gets up to sometimes are really beyond even my understanding. Um. I'm sorry about that!"

 

There was a pause as Ceridwen's various guilty feelings around Johanna caught up to her, and her expression withered again, Ceridwen once more downcast -- her hand moving to her stomach again, but then hurriedly being moved back behind her back the moment Ceridwen herself noticed. Ceridwen had been watching Johanna's gait whenever she'd glanced over, and she didn't want to, what... compete with that? That sounded strange to Ceridwen, but, anyway, since she was already talking to Johanna...

"And, um... I'm... I'm sorry about your leg."

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

"Other magic doesn't agree with me, I can only use light magic. So I don't know if it's easier or not." Naomi looks quizzically at the woman because of her second statement.  "They didn't ask me to get them anything, no. I don't really want to buy things for the others either it sounds like a pain. Why are you glad it was me?"

[Aurorix]

"N-not ready yet!? Do you know who I am!? I mean it's not that surprising but I am ARGOS THE INVOKER OF MAYHEM! The soon to be best warrior in the land!" He hen heard the smith's last comment. He had forgotten he dragged Dulci with him. His flustered face went back and forth between the two as he arched back wards waving his hands side to side.  "W-what!? n-no! Dulcibella and I are just comrades in arms nothing more! Plus, she's more than just 'a women'! Y-you really should really stop objectifying like that!"

[Chevaleresse]

Rhian had taken some time to pry herself out of bed that morning, somewhat unusually as she was habitually an early riser. She hadn't slept well at all, and it showed beneath her eyes and in her even-more-irritable-than-usual expression, and she was sore to boot. Her arms and back especially burned; she'd gone straight from the battle to the burial with only the break of the debate and following execution, and that break hadn't been spent stretching and relaxing her muscles properly. By the time all of the fallen were well and truly in the dirt, she'd been too exhausted to do much more than slump into her bedroll, only to lie awake for hours tossing and turning. Okay, so maybe I lost a little sleep over it. It was all the girl. 

 

Currently, she was headed towards the village training grounds, alternating between stretching herself out and rubbing still-aching muscles. She grumbled under her breath, something about how she should have seen the healer before she crashed the previous night. She hadn't paid the village much mind, except for noting Argos's shouting off in the distance and noting its location to avoid for the time being. Rhian still felt a little bad for how squashed the kid had looked when she shot him down, and didn't particularly want to deal with that, or the rest of Argos's. . . Argos-ness at the moment. Once she arrived, she set about looking for a practice range or some blunted weapons she could use. It'd been a while since she'd swung an axe at anything but a block of firewood, maybe they had something close. . .

 

 

[Sentient Bowtie]

“I’m my own woman, sir,” Dulcie replies earnestly. “Argos doesn’t own me. I don’t think slavery is even legal around here.”

 

“Say... you don’t happen to have any bows around here, do you? I wanted to see if I could find something a little stronger than my current one.” She helpfully proffers the  bow in question.

[ElfCollaborator]

 

 "Is there a problem? Why are we talking about female slavery all of a sudden, comrades?"

Michi appears suddenly near Argos and Dulcie. Michi, for their part, doesn't seem too hung up on what happened last night; although, as with everything else about them, it's difficult to tell given their face is consistently hidden behind their helmet. The tone of voice they're taking, however, is somewhat curious and a little alarmed.

[Sentient Bowtie]

“Oh, hello, Michi. This man had just asked Argos if I was his woman, and, as I am clearly not, we were clarifying the situation. “

[rokubiraijuu]

"Objectifying? Slavery? Ffff, what're you all going on about. It's a man's greatest honor to swear his life to a woman. Wasn't talking about any ownership, pff." He gestures in the direction of Argos' sword. "If you haven't found someone worth swearing your blade to, then come back. I'm not so poor to pawn off my work to some boy still green behind the ears. Ffff, invoker of mayhem..." He trails off into muttering the last words to himself, turning back around to continue with his work, at least until Dulcibella asks about bows.

 

He turns back around, then looks her over quizzically. "You interested in hunting or something? I only make weapons fit for warriors, miss. You want bows, you want to head that way." He points off over a stretch of meadow to a small house down the way. "String some damn good bows over there. Don't think we'll have anything for your size, though. Hunting ain't women's work."

 

---

 

The young woman smiles nervously. "I'm just... not used to seeing men carrying tomes, I guess. It'd be a little strange to be selling one to them, I think. You really carry those into serious battle? What's that like?"

 

---

 

Johanna watches as Ceridwen reins in Ynddi with a somewhat bemused smile. "It's fine," she replies understandingly. Dragons have their own personalities, after all, and as in-tune as riders often are with their partners, she's never heard of a Knight who doesn't have scores of bizarre tales about their own. 

 

She turns to continue walking, but Ceridwen's next remark catches her off guard, which shows on her face. "Why?" It isn't as if she'd inflicted the wound herself.

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

"We've only got one man with a tome in our group and he's a grumpy old fart. Then there's a dragon who carries tomes for some reason. Not sure if it's a boy or a girl. Are there even boy dragons and girl dragons? I don't know they are in a suit of armor anyways so I can't check. Do like only women use tomes in this village?" She crossed her arms. This place got weirded by the minute, but not the bad type of weird that Naomi was used to. "I do fight with tomes. It's exhilarating! I've only recently gotten the chance to actually fight seriously with my magic and it's so much fun to just go... Wild. It's liberating! It scares away the animals though which is sad."

[Sentient Bowtie]

“My apologies. I didn’t mean to sound insensitive. I’m a little unused to the culture around here, is all.”

 

“Thank you for the directions, sir.” She smiles warmly. “But I think you’d be surprised at what I can handle.”

[Aurorix]

"W-what!? I'm not good enough to sell to!?" Argos was piratically fuming out the ears and his arms looked like they were making their own earthquakes.  "Grrrrr.... FINE! I don't need you or your metal! Come on Dulcibella, lets get the heck outta here!"  Then Dulci spoke up about her getting a new bow.  "I don't know Dulcibella, if all shop owners are like this guy I bet they're just gonna bad mouth you before denying you." He did an over exaggerated turn around when he noticed a familiar set of armor.

 

"Oh, hey Michi," The lad gave a friendly wave to his comrade,  "When did you get here?"

[aliettite]

With the salve applied after the battle finally doing its work, and the rest of the wounded men of the Warrior's Village handed off to more trained healers, Flynn found himself with more time on his hands and more bruised pride in his heart than expected. The men of the Warrior's Village sure put on a bad show in that fight, didn't they? What kind of men were they if they had to be saved by women and outsiders? Well, the best way to deal with one's problems was to work them out through the oldest method in the book -- hitting things. Preferably hard, and with one's sword. And then, eventually, your problems' answers would show themselves to you. At least... that's what was supposed to happen. Flynn wasn't exactly sure of any problems' answers would materialize that fast, but he was at least certain that swinging a blade would make him feel better.

 

He'd anticipated to be alone at the training grounds, or at least not accompanied by too many other men. What he hadn't anticipated was to be accompanied by a woman. Judging by her crimson armor, she must be one of those people who came in with those female dragon knights. Of course -- she sure as hell wasn't from their village, and if she was, she would know this wasn't a woman's place to pass her time. He'd give her the benefit of the doubt that she just uneducated like the rest of her lot. "...are you lost, miss?" Flynn asks, approaching her as he rests his hand on the pommel of the sword at his hip. "This... isn't really the place for a lady." That was polite enough, right?

[Sentient Bowtie]

“Maybe, but I still want to see what they have, just so I at least know. It can’t hurt to try, anyway.”

[rokubiraijuu]

"Good riddance." As he turns back to his work, he continues muttering to himself. "What'd the elder think, letting these random people stick around so long. Don't know anything about us and just jump to conclusions. Slavery. Fff..."

 

As the trio step away from the blacksmith's forge, there's a sudden cry off to Argos' left.

 

"Rrraaagghhh—"

 

Fless charges at the young man, sword raised— only to misjudge the weight of the weapon in conjunction with his own momentum and go stumbling as the grass dips into a slight downward slope. "—Aaaughhh!!"

 

And go sprawling in the grass. "Agh, shoot!"

 

---

 

"A dragon...?" The woman looks at Naomi quizzically, then nods at her next question. "Yes. Magic is our area, and swordsmanship is the men's. We don't go into battle, though. Not usually, anyway." She giggles. "Though there are a couple girls who don't care much about that."

 

"Oh! I almost forgot! How could I..." Ducking under the front shelf, she rummages out of sight before emerging again with a stave in hand. "Please, take this. We've had a surplus of some antidotes lately and we're trying to get rid of these. It's no charge, so don't worry about it. It'd be more useful to you all, most likely."

 

Naomi receives Antidote.

[Sentient Bowtie]

“Oh, you fell! Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself? Let me help you up.” Seemingly unbothered by exactly how he ended up in the grass, Dulcie bends down and offers Fless her hand.

[Chevaleresse]

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, you could say that." She stretched an arm out across her chest as she spoke. Just this once, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. . . if only to let him dig this hole further. "Good thing I'm not much of a lady; couldn't ever be bothered to keep that sort of appearance up."  Rhian gestured at the sword. "Now you gonna do something with that, or am I gonna find someone else to get some practice with?" Her tone, as might be expected, wasn't exactly friendly. Even if she'd wanted to sound that way, she wasn't positive she could manage it in her current state.