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| The Hammer; [P] Kagiso | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Tue May 27, 2014 11:40 am (1,470 Views) | |
| Ari | Tue May 27, 2014 11:40 am Post #1 |
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"All you had to do was sit. You had one job!" Ari never expected she'd be dragged into politics as soon as her nature became common knowledge. They weren't even interesting politics. She'd become convinced over the past month that the entire country of Nalai was all style and no substance. Wear this, walk like this, say these things, sit like this. Maybe it was her own fault. If she'd been more firm to the priesthood and her harping grandparents, they could have let her continue her life in peace. "Are you even listening to me?" Ari turned her gaze from the sky down to her squat little grandmother who was all decked out in shaman's regalia. Even the outfit she wore screamed 'look at me, look at me, I helped give rise to the next Painted Mantis.' Animal bones, a wooden mask carved into the likeness of a praying mantis, insect carapaces beaded together so they'd clatter in a mystical fashion. "Why are you out wandering around? The priests are complaining." Ari finally understood what Melati had said about being nothing more than a figurehead. That's exactly what incarnations were these days. Those thoughts led to Ari feeling nostalgic for a time in history long before she was actually born. Strange, but somehow felt right to her. "I smell smoke," she said softly. When she gestured toward the hill, she had to take care to keep the heavy length of gold and black cloth draped over the shoulders and right arm of her Painted Armor. "It's nothing at this time of year. All kinds of things happening around Sangdan." Ari's grandmother patted her on the back in an attempt to encourage her to get going. "Go back to your shrine already." It wasn't just a small fire. It was coming from Citadel Hill. Why didn't anyone notice? Ari kept moving forward. At first it was a walk, but then it quickened to a jog and then a run. A plume of pitch-black smoke rose from the capitol. |
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| Kagiso | Tue May 27, 2014 12:51 pm Post #2 |
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Kagiso had never been to one of the main islands, and she hadn't intended to stay. The airship that had brought her here had been commandeered by the army, alongside the rest of the airships strung along the tower. Kagiso would need to find her way to a port, but that could wait. Paper lanterns swung in the wind, strung on wires between buildings. Stalls lined the streets, offering games and food to a swarm of festival going Nalaians. The mercenary kept to herself, mostly. She had spent quite a bit of her stored cash. There was something she liked about their traditional dress. She had purchased one off the shelf and had it quickly tailored and fitted this morning. She had two more on order as well. To her face she held a cute little fan, one of the twelve she had bought so far. She followed the gradual press of the crowd through the main street of Sangdan. To the remains of the ancient citadel, a ruin converted into a temple to the incarnations and divine. It was enough to act and feel like she was enjoying herself, even though in truth she had that ever present feeling of nervousness and claustrophobia within the crowd. It was why she held her little fan so close. The crowd parted as they walked to the gates to the old citadel. Kagiso looked up from her fan, and at the massive stone base that rose in front of her. Her eyes followed higher, following a damaged metal leg to the top. The remains of a hulking golem rose before her. One arm planted in the stone of the citadel's wall. The other held the remnants of a gate's lock, a simple but robust steel object that no doubt held a wooden beam as thick as a man and large enough to span the gate. Familiarity set in, and a feeling of unease. Kagiso vaulted onto the base, getting a few hard stares from onlookers as she walked between its massive legs. Her hand ran along the inside of one of the adamantine boots. She turned as she walked around the other side, at the remains of an imposing mask and helmet. Each part of the armor had to be an inch thick, thick enough to stop anything. Thousands of dents and scars marred the armor plate. It was half torn off, steel grappling hooks still set into the gaps of the armor. More familiarity set in as she stepped back. Her foot stood upon air for a split second before she fell backwards, crashing into the ground. Her eyes stared at the arm, and the massive blade set into the wall beside it. "Captain Anrin! Is the vanguard ready?" Came a voice. Without thought, Kagiso responded: "I am always ready." The crowd around her paused at the strange metal woman sprawled out across the cobbles. The golem unsettled her, because of it's absolute familiarity. She rose slowly, taking more detail beyond the golem in. The plaque that read, Jaito's Hammer of the Vanguard. Around it's feet, hundreds of swords were stuck into the stone. Fire and smoke burst from the main gate of the city. The cries of battle. The crowds fled, replaced by running soldiers. Kagiso ran as well, sprinting through the city streets as impacts rocked the walls and soldiers went to defend. |
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| Ari | Tue May 27, 2014 1:22 pm Post #3 |
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The smoke from the citadel turned into a wall of billowing black mixed with orange flames and embers. Ari smashed into several people on her way up the hill. Everyone else was going the other direction. Down. To the walls. The swordsman was already winded by the time she got to the holy memorial grounds of the Old Citadel. Looking through her mask at the fire behind them all, Ari accidentally crashed into yet another person. This time it was different. Not a soldier. A festival-goer. Smaller than average, and light enough that it actually caught the incarnation's attention. She reached to help her up if she fell down. "The capitol is on fire. Why is everyone rushing to the walls?" She turned to look in that direction as a thundering impact rocked virtually the whole caldera. A small black and red storm, for lack of a better descriptor, ripped at one side. A series of harsh squeaks and trilling -- and a light shower of blood -- brought Ari's attention to the sky. Flapping as hard as it could was a little bird covered from head to toe in blood. Its flight pattern was haphazard as it seemed to flap harder with one wing than the other, rising and falling as it did. Strands of blood left the trailing edge of its feathers with every movement. Cries of 'Royal Butcher' spread through the fast-moving crowd. Ari's next shout trumped them all. "Melati!" The bird fell into a dive, tried to correct its trajectory by throwing its wings vertical. It didn't work. Ari rushed down the hill, arms open, as the little animal fell like a stone. Caught it. It was a shrike the size of a crow. The Royal Butcher's tiny bone mask was cracked and several feathers in its crest had been torn off. More worryingly, it sported several large gashes. Cradling the injured bird in one arm, Ari ran back to the civilian. "I wouldn't normally do this, but please, you have to help my friend. Do you have a home nearby? One with first aid supplies?" |
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| Kagiso | Tue May 27, 2014 2:25 pm Post #4 |
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Someone crashed into Kagiso, but she reflexively pivoted and allowed the woman to brush past her. The woman asked her a question Kagiso couldn't answer and then she raced after a tiny bird. The mercenary thought for a moment and then remembered what little she knew of her own mythology. That was the Royal Butcher, some sort of living myth. Her father had never really explained it, and her Istani mother knew little. Kagiso rushed after her, trying to a quick shuffle that would be agreeable to her tightly wrapped dress. The woman cradled the large bird and then asked another question. "My hotel is beside a healer's school." Kagiso replied. She took a moment to loosen her yukata around her hips and burst into a sprint, one the armored woman was likely capable of matching. The elite warriors of Nalai were fearsome. She sprinted through the now empty streets, bringing the woman straight to her hotel and the healer's school beside it. "Nalaian, wait a moment here. I need to get my gear. Your city is no doubt under attack by an army of some sort." Kagiso explained. She sprinted into the hotel, winding through the corners as quickly as possible and up to the second floor, where her little room sat. She threw her dress off and then neatly folded it, put her little purse full of fans beside it and then lifted her mattress from the floor. She reached underneath, searching for a moment before she found her crossbow. More explosions rang through the city as she reached for her armor. It would take too long to put it on alone. She instead sifted quickly through her bag of clothing and pulled out a little black summery dress and threw it on. Kagiso slung a bandolier of repeater magazines around her hips. She rushed back downstairs and across to the healer's school, hoping to find the Nalaian and the Royal Butcher. |
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| Ari | Tue May 27, 2014 3:06 pm Post #5 |
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Ari nodded her thanks and followed after the woman. By now the commotion had spread to the festival. Members of the Nalai Guard were strapped to keep the crowds under control. Evacuation, obviously, was not an option. Instead the civilian quarters of the town went into lockdown, filing festivalgoers and performers into shelter. Ari used her free hand to whip off her thick garment, revealing the Painted Armor in its full glory. People saw that distinct figure coming their way and literally parted around her as they passed, including guards. They split off, one going into the hotel and the other taking Melati into the healer's school. She was stopped at the door by a hasty and tired-looking man. "We're only open for capitol overflow right now." The reason why became obvious, first because of how loud it was in there and then because of all the injured people in beds lining the floors. Based on their injuries, it was almost like there had been an explosion up there. "You will be open for the Royal Butcher," Ari growled using her best authoritative voice. The healer paled once he saw the details on Ari's armor and the bird she was carrying. He called over to a group of healers and they rushed over to take Melati. "No," said the shrike in a weak voice. "I should not have priority." "Melati! What happened?" "Can you change into your human form?" The healer carrying the bloody shrike laid it across an unused surgical table. "Not enough energy..." Two other healers tried to push Ari away. "Leave. Give the healers space. This is a national icon we're trying to save." Ari pushed back. "This is urgent, Melati! Tell me what you know, or what I should do, or something!" "What-- should you do?" The shrike's head lolled in Ari's direction. Its hooked beak didn't move when it spoke. "Run." That was when the woman from before came in. Ari was shocked not only that she would return to this place instead of keep hiding, but also that the woman was apparently a warrior as well. That was the best news she'd seen so far. When they tried to stop Kagiso from entering, Ari barked at them that she was with her. "The Stone Knight lives, and it is king." A pit formed in Ari's stomach. She held back the flood of ancestral memories so she could focus. "You fought it?" Melati didn't answer that question directly, but it seemed the best explanation for her injuries. The Royal Butcher was a deadly fighter both in mythology and reality. "Kagiso Cha'ne, please protect Ari. You both must flee the city immediately. Go to Mandira, or further if that city has also fallen." Ari looked between the shrike and the new arrival. How did Melati know her name? No time to ask. "I'll be fine. It will take a lot more to kill the likes of me." Incarnations were nothing if not proud. After a moment of hesitation and concern, Ari left. Outside, she made her intentions clear to this Kagiso. "We can't just run away like cowards while this city burns from the inside and out. I'm going to the walls. Do what you want." |
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| Kagiso | Wed May 28, 2014 10:58 pm Post #6 |
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Kagiso pushed past the pair that stopped her from entering and then looked over the chicken-sized shrike. It was strangely adorable beyond the wounds. She listened as the two spoke. Then the little Butcher spoke to her, using her name. Kagiso blinked reflexively, and then quelled the thought. The politics and culture of Nalai wove through everything, and the Royal Butcher was no doubt knowledgeable in the island's happenings. She probably would know about the strange pair on one of the smallest islands in the archipelago. "I can protect her, Royal Butcher." Kagiso said. She hoped, quietly, that payment was understood. Kagiso's services were not inexpensive. The fighting woman disagreed, and suggested they defend the walls instead. That was preferable. Kagiso had become slightly attached to the city, and her possessions were all too heavy to bring while they fled. The mercenary trailed after Ari, holding her crossbow close to her chest as they jogged to the walls. Arrows flickered by harmlessly, sinking into homes and bouncing off of the pavement. They reached the wall, and only Ari's armor allowed them further. Any hands held to stop them disappeared when their eyes reached her armor. Kagiso didn't know the significance. They topped the short wall and Kagiso immediately ducked into a nearby battlement. She primed her repeater and then concentrated. Paths of light expanded from her eyes and across her face. A tiny metal dragonfly burst from her quicksilver hair, flying straight into the air and then pausing above. The construct's vision snapped to it, and she looked over the battlefield in relative safety. The attacking army was not inconsiderable, but Kagiso had private doubts it could take and hold the city. The mercenary rose around a parapet as the little dragonfly lit back into her hair. She pressed her crossbow against her shoulder and took quick aim. She pulled the trigger. The recoil slide slid back as the internal mechanisms launched the first quarrel. The next bolt lifted from the interior and then the crossbow gave a heavy click. Kagiso fired again, striking down another infantryman. She fired the whole box of quarrels before ducking back behind the wall. Her eyes settled on Ari as she loaded the repeater. "Who is the Stone King?" |
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| Ari | Fri May 30, 2014 2:28 pm Post #7 |
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Ari paused at the apex of Sangdan's relatively short city walls. The Citadel was better-fortified than the city itself. More importantly, she noticed something that her living weapon Agorst quickly confirmed. Those are Nalaian faces down there. After so many years of peace, I would have expected a foreign invasion before a civil war. The warrior ducked into a covered battlement after the Kagiso girl. Do you think they're the Stone Knight's forces? Or is yet another faction at play here? She didn't answer. Instead she took position next to Kagiso and asked politely to borrow someone's ranged weapon, as she hadn't brought her own to the festival. Someone meekly gave her a light crossbow, which she loaded. These weapons were nice in that they didn't require much training to use, but by the time Kagiso's repeater had spat out a full box of shots, Ari's crank-loader had only given her two. She tried to make those shots count, but it still didn't compare. This lady was a killing machine. Kagiso seemed to notice the issue and was kind enough to give Ari something to talk about while she loaded, aimed, and fired her shots as quickly as she could, which was not very quick. "It's actually called the Stone Knight. One of the oldest living myths in Nalai's entire history. The hero of the Akasamand epic and a symbol of peace and redemption. Also..." She took a fast breath out of her nose, hesitating to admit, "The only individual that has ever killed me more than once." Not just twice. Four times. Ari masked the concern on her face by turning away from Kagiso and jumping off the walls of Sangdan. She left her borrowed crossbow behind. The Painted Mantis had never once in the history of Nalai defeated the Stone Knight in a head-on fight. It was also older than her by only two lifetimes. Ari had read her own debut in the Akasamand before and heard it performed traditionally. Past the archaic Shokanalai of the writing, her first life described there was nothing more than playing the role of a monster for the Stone Knight to kill. The two of them weren't rivals in the traditional sense, like the Royal Butcher and the Pierced Kraken. Still, Ari's hatred for the Knight was very old and very deep. Actually, perhaps it was not hatred at all. What Ari was feeling right now, just thinking about the situation here in Nalai, was fear. She entered the melee without fanfare. Agorst refused to sharpen, and that fact proved to be most inconvenient as soon as she started trading blows with Sangdan's invaders. The unit she was facing wasn't just a militia of commoners, but career soldiers from the Army of Nalai in full battle dress. If she could even close the distance their glaives and spears made, Agorst would be practically useless against their armor. Soon enough she had five or more sharp points pushing her toward the wall. Ari sheathed her sword, taking a deep breath. "Who commands you?" No answer. |
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| Kagiso | Sat May 31, 2014 11:44 pm Post #8 |
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Kagiso winced after she had gotten the name wrong. Her parents had instilled the importance of getting names right when you were dealing with a different culture in her. Then again, it was her own culture. Sort of. She knew more Istani myth and lore than Nalaian. Either way the Stone Knight seemed like a serious foe. Ari disappeared from the wall as soon as she spoke. Kagiso leaned around the parapet and clucked. The woman she was supposed to be protecting had decided to rush into battle on her own. Kagiso vaulted over the walltop and landed on the ground below. She rushed forward after Ari, firing bolts into those who approached too close behind her. She sprinted and reached the woman's back. The mercenary turned, prepared to protect Ari. |
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| Ari | Tue Jun 3, 2014 11:31 pm Post #9 |
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The shots came in with impeccable timing. Ari made use of them by grabbing the nearest polearm and wrenching it out of her enemy's hands with a twisting motion. This same movement brought the slightly curved blade around, propelling it into a series of powerful spinning motions at Ari's sides, front and back. Her enemies, having already been shot by Kagiso, either fell, backed off, or got stabbed by the incarnation's brand-new naginata. Once her "bodyguard" met back up with Ari, she hurried to strip a longbow and hip quiver from the nearest corpse. Ari tapped Kagiso on the shoulder and pointed at a storm of black and red fire they could just barely make out from their current vantage point. It had flared up again after dying down in the minutes before. It was coming from a person, presumably someone powerful and in charge, so Ari made a beeline through the grind. It took all her strength to press against the tide, using wide arcing slashes from her new weapon to give Kagiso and herself a bubble of space through which to pass. Warhorns from the Sangdan side signaled for a mass movement of troops away from the gatehouse. Ari assumed they were going to try to sally, which seemed odd as the tide of invaders hadn't noticeably stopped. Instead, a single looming figure strode from the gates. It was double the height of a man, hefty enough to shake the ground with each step, and covered in layers of slate armor plates partly obscured by a brightly colored, hooded cloak. Countless paper charms of varying lengths were attached to its armor, some even linked together. This kind of fear had never crossed Ari's mind during this whole lifetime so far. It was tunnel vision. Soon she was turning, grabbing Kagiso by the upper arm and pulling her close enough that her armor would prevent the Stone Knight from seeing her bodyguard. "Plan just changed. We have to go. Now." |
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| Kagiso | Tue Jun 10, 2014 10:48 pm Post #10 |
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Kagiso's face when blank at the closing stone giant. The Stone Knight. She was grabbed by Ari and dragged away, but just as quickly she put on a burst of speed and moved quicker than her armored ally. The wall rose before them and Kagiso reached back to grab Ari. She lifted the woman from her feet and put one arm beneath the crook of her knees and another behind her back, before planting one foot onto the wall. Her wings snapped out, a delicate latticework of metal that was rapidly filled in with silvery liquid. With a few powerful wingbeats she helped herself sprint up the wall with enough force she sailed up and over the battlements. Kagiso stretched her wings out fully and then glided through the city. She landed delicately and put Ari back on her feet. With a nod she indicated her hotel. "I'll need my weapons." The mercenary explained. She sprinted through the streets and then tore up the hotel's steps, ignoring the frenzied civilians. She quickly zipped up her bags and then handed one to Ari. "If we could get a carriage, airship, or horses out of the city that'd be for the best." Kagiso explained. Other than her clothes and her spoils, they were filled with heavy weapons and piles of ammunition. She didn't think she'd have to travel light here. Kagiso shouldered a pair of the bags. Edited by Leyanni, Tue Jun 10, 2014 10:55 pm.
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| Ari | Mon Jul 7, 2014 12:16 am Post #11 |
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"No time for that." Upon entering street level again Ari's skin split, explosively revealing a monster beneath. Her incarnation form was a praying mantis that towered over Kagiso, its carapace plates filled with intricate paintings of scenes from Nalaian myth and religion. Using her viciously spiked forelimbs to balance, she turned her head toward Kagiso and nodded. "I can carry it. You fly ahead." It was flashy, but it was the only way. Hopefully the Stone Knight would stay occupied with the army at the walls. On her mad dash out, some of the people with enough clarity of mind to think as well as get out of the way actually asked her things, mainly what was going on. "Etana the Stone Knight is king. Civil war is upon us." Unable to create human words with her complex mouthparts, Ari instead projected her human form's voice as a sort of echo. Over time, especially near the countryside beyond the walls of Sangdan, her voice became breathy and it was harder to speak. Thankfully the attacking armies had not surrounded the city on the side that bordered the crater lake, so she was able to slip out there. Eventually she was gasping for breath, pumping all six legs just to keep lumbering along. How did such a small woman carry so many weapons in the first place? Once she reached the edge of the forest she took more and more breaks. Panting in the middle of the jungle, Ari got a chance to wonder how Melati was doing. Or what would happen from here. This all seemed like a dream. Nalai had been at peace since the conflicts with Istan over a century ago. All those lifetimes ago she was Kamon, the so-called "chaos hero" who hunted Istani for sport with a smile on his face. But now she was just Ari. Grew up in a poor neighborhood in Balefire, lived all her life up until recently in an almost dazed state where she said little and cared about less. In all her memories of her past lifetimes, she was definitely among the most unimpressive in nature, abilities and destiny. In other words, Ari was the worst person to be the Painted Mantis in a time when Nalai was rapidly changing. Luckily her thoughts calmed whenever she continued lugging the bags. She pushed herself steadily up the side of the caldera for many hours. Eventually she found a road -- abandoned, which was good -- and followed it up to a traveler's lodge oft-used by traders and the like. These stopovers were all over the place and pretty luxurious; Ari always tried to stay the night if one was near and she was on the road. They always had hotsprings or bathhouses attached to them thanks to the great bounty of freshwater on the islands. She took back her human form, drenched with sweat, and almost couldn't stand anymore. Seemed like a good time as ever to admit she was done for the day. |
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| Kagiso | Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:25 am Post #12 |
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And then her companion became a mantid. A big one. A moment of surprise was vanquished beneath a quick reminder of why Ari had become a mantid. She was one of the living legends. Kagiso lended her the bags and immediately shot into the air, coils of smoke fading behind her. Her wings straightened and bent slightly as she flew, her power provided by turbines she had activated for the first time. Her sister had warned her that the Alpha system was dangerous and untested. But getting away from this city was worth the risk. She looked back. The lenses in her eyes shifted and the largest of them extended outwards from the sphere, supported by a golden strands of metal. Ari was slowing already. She turned, hard, one wing snapping close while the other fully extended. They tightened in at the same time, bringing her into a screaming dive. She shifted the shape of her wings to prevent the aerodynamic shriek, and then twisted back around, staying above the walking mantis as she stepped down next to Ari. Her wings folded until they were insubstantial, with great pulses of quicksilver flowing into her back and into internal storage. The fragile internal components of the wings were revealed for a second before they slotted into her back and quicksilver flowed over the holes, as though she had never had wings. They walked in silence, Kagiso taking one of her bags as they did. She shifted the weight. It was SAKLOS and her spare ammunition. They paused at a stopover, nestled into the crook of meeting cliffs that reached up the high walls of the caldera. Kagiso answered Ari's sudden shift into an exhausted human by taking the second bag. It wasn't so heavy. She adjusted her internal stabilizers and added rigidity to her structure, locking in each step. A second thought disabled the alpha system and the internal weapons. Plates shifted back into place. Turbines stopped their whine. The lightning system slipped back inside of her shoulder, hidden beneath more plates. Kagiso stepped within the inn. "Room for two." She said. The clerk, a teenager, nodded, and then indicated across the board above her. It was in nalaian, so Kagiso chose to watch how her hand moved and her eyes. The girl spent only a half second one one of the rooms before jumping. The mercenary assumed it was because it was a nice room and they couldn't afford it. She would be proved wrong. Kagiso squinted at the nalaian, gave up after a moment with a few words she didn't know, and then handed over the sum. "Right ahead. And here's your gift basket." The girl said, hefting up a big traditional basket covered in a cloth. She also planted a pair of bathrobes on the basket. Which was good, considering it was blatant that Kagiso's bags only held rigid objects. The one holding SAKLOS was even shaped to the weapon. Kagiso took the gift basket as well, leaving Ari holding nothing so her charge could relax. They were lead through pleasant, traditional floors. It was quiet, much quieter than the average(and admittedly cheap) places that Kagiso favored. They stayed on the ground level until taking stairs at the very end and then were lead through a door at the end of the hall. Kagiso blinked as they entered. It had a private hotspring just outside, fenced in. The bed was sprawling. Kagiso was thankful she couldn't blush. This wasn't a normal hotspring stopover. Her eyes followed along the fertility blessings on the walls, her irises drawn wide. The girl giggled as she left, leaving Kagiso staring. But she composed herself and immediately unbuckled her armor, throwing it aside. "I didn't know, I can't read Nalain very well." Kagiso explained, her voice monotone. Emotion control had snapped in. She threw aside the final bit of her armor, and carried the basket with her to their little private hotspring. She stepped within and as soon as she was half immersed, she popped to the surface like a cork. She reached down and locked her hands to the rock surface at the base of the spring and then pulled herself down. Kagiso attempted to lounge casually. She had always wanted to enjoy a nalain hotspring, and it did feel nice. |
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| Ari | Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:22 am Post #13 |
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Ari assumed Kagiso could read those Shokanalai characters, because she couldn't. It was a pretty expensive suite, too. "Oh. This is nice." Her intonation suggested she was pleasantly surprised by the fact their room had its own walled-off part of the springs. Ari was either oblivious or uncaring about the intended use of the suite. She drifted over to the door to check things out. The surrounding outdoor area was heavily wooded with droopy, bright green trees and shrubs with orange flowers. Hot and humid air had permeated the indoor area too, and the orange dusk was visible past the canopy. Inside was some nice furniture and one huge bed. Ari mentally claimed a cushioned chair for herself and was actually pretty excited about sleeping in it. Kagiso could have the bed. Before she knew it, her impromptu traveling partner was outside and in the springs. A little shocking, actually, considering how much Ari enjoyed relaxing in a bath -- and how naturally shameless she was. She really thought she was going to be in there first. Thinking about it more, it would be a bit rude and awkward to join her. Culture aside, they barely knew each other. They almost literally ran into each other during the chaos, then were stuck together because of Melati. Ari kept the sliding back door open, but took a seat on the floor of the wall dividing her from Kagiso outside. They'd be able to speak easily, but Ari wouldn't be able to see her. "It still hasn't sunk in yet. Everything that happened." Her fingers found the ribbon keeping her smooth black hair tied up, untied it, let the waves fall over her shoulders and face. She exhaled softly and rested the back of her head against the wall, chin up. "I'm not cut out for a civil war. Not this lifetime. I didn't even know what I was until recently. And-- I'm sorry. This isn't of any concern to you." The incarnation went quiet after that. |
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| Kagiso | Sat Jul 12, 2014 1:20 am Post #14 |
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Kagiso rose from the spring as soon as she realized Ari hadn't joined her. It was the one thing the mercenary had been looking forward to, spending time in a hotspring with a fellow warrior on Nalai, and she wasn't going to get it. She stood before Ari in her metal skinned glory, soaking the reed mats beneath her feet with water. She leaned forward, thinking it to be more convincing, pressing an arm against Ari's chair. "You'll be joining me in the bath. More efficient if we share it, we'll get to sleep quicker and wake up earlier, so we can keep moving." Kagiso explained in an awkward rush. Their door slid open and a shocked young woman in traditional nalaian garb almost jumped away while blushing. She hid around the corner and peaked in. "W-w-would you like anything to eat? We have a full service restaurant, would you like to see the me-" Kagiso interrupted her as soon as she waved the document in the doorway. Her eyes focused and scanned the miniscule text. "We'll take the nalaian fishroll course. Not the fertility one, it isn't necessary. The regular." Kagiso said, thinking she had clarified the awkward situation. The girl said something along the lines of 'makes sense', and slid the door closed as she darted away. Kagiso's eyes settled back on Ari. "We'll discuss tactics. While cleaning. Efficient." Kagiso had gotten her way, and sat directly beside Ari, her eyes fixed on the constellations above. One of them was the Mantis's arm, something her mother had pointed out years ago. A cool breeze passed by. A little lantern on a miniature fishing boat drifted in a corner. The mercenary raised her palm and fired a precise burst of light, illuminating the pair. Kagiso opened her mouth to speak again, talking more than she had in years. Her eyes settled on Ari's face, her delicate Nalaian features and pretty eyes. She resisted the rude urge to look down at the Painted Mantis's other features. "What can we even do? Nalai has become unstable. You may be a mythic hero, with sway, but I am not." Kagiso paused. "I...had a vision earlier. I worry they may have worked a magical, illusion-based trap near the memorial of Jaito's Hammer of the Vanguard. If I begin acting strangely, leave me. I doubt I could stop the Stone Knight anyways, so we'll get to an organization that supports the Butcher and you'll work with them. I'll find my own way." Their hips were touching, Kagiso had unwittingly shifted closer as she spoke to Ari. The door behind them slid open again, and the girl from earlier rushed in and planted a Nalaian model kobaya between them, stacked high with ice and fishrolls. "Good fortune, ladies. I hope I may find as beautiful a lover as you two have." The girl disappeared, leaving Kagiso completely rigid. Suddenly, things made sense. Her head gradually shifted to the gift basket. There had been a layer of cloth atop it even before the bathrobes had been put atop it. She slowly looked back, taking a fishroll with trepidation. "We aren't opening the gift basket." Edited by Kagiso, Sat Jul 12, 2014 1:20 am.
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| Ari | Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:20 pm Post #15 |
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Efficiency. Right. Kagiso's delivery might have been free of emotion, but that didn't hide from Ari the fact that something was amiss, and she had a pretty good guess as to what that something was. She didn't protest when she was practically dragged over to the edge of the water. Ari wasn't the type to complain about much; she was even thrown in jail once without so much as a comment. "If you're fine with it, sure." She took the sash off her robe and slid the whole garment off. The attendant was unusually awkward about her visit. Public bathing was so commonplace in certain regions of Imythess that it would be more strange to look at it with sexual connotations. In Ari's native part of Balefire, nudity was quite taboo. In fact, some Balefirens aware of Nalai thought they were a promiscuous people based on what they heard about all the communal bathing that happened. Istan City had similar accommodations, but for some reason the stereotype was more associated with Moonsea islanders. Maybe they seemed more "exotic" and strange. Ari had settled into the water by the time the attendant was gone. Almost her whole body was crisscrossed with scars that stood out from her dark skin, many ugly or ropy or in strange patterns that called to question just what had made them, though Ari had no hint of self-consciousness about it. Kagiso continued, explaining some of her concerns and the fact she'd had a vision over by one of the memorials on Sangdan's hill. In a bout of amazingly fast service, the fishrolls were placed right on the side between them. Ari realized she was starving, and barely even listened to the attendant's misinformed comment while inelegantly stuffing rolls into her face. Sensing Kagiso's trepidation, she slowed down after the third roll and tried to be more graceful about the whole thing. "I wouldn't dismiss a vision so hastily like that," she replied after swallowing. "Magic is rather abundant here. And there are a lot of powers working for their own gains in ways that aren't straightforward. Would you mind telling me about it?" Jaito's Hammer of the Vanguard. The name sounded familiar from her current lifetime's studies of mythology, but unfortunately Ari didn't have instantaneous access to every detail of her past lifetimes' memories. All she knew off the top of her head was that it was a fairly young incarnation. By comparison the Painted Mantis and Stone Knight were among the first, born during the mythic Untamed Age. Kagiso made her start wondering. "And I'm not a hero, you know that, right? I'm a monster, and I don't mean that with shame. A hero is the type of incarnation who would brag about killing me. Well, Jaito's Hammer was a war hero. They actually lived two lifetimes, in a sense, before beginning to incarnate. One life as a leader of nodachi swordsmen, then after dying they put their soul in a huge suit of armor and did even more acts of heroism from there. That is the general idea of the myth, if I recall correctly. Not sure who Jaito is, though." The rolls were delicious, but Ari managed to eat her share at a reasonable pace while still listening to what her traveling partner had to say in response, if anything. "Before we continue discussing this, may I ask a question? I need to make sure we're on the same page." Ari wiped her hands on a provided napkin hanging off the side of the cute little warship-shaped bowl. With that done, she shifted her whole body to face Kagiso and looked straight at her. "This is nice, and I'm definitely impressed, but don't you think it's kind of a bad time? If the Stone Knight knows we're working for Melati, we could very well be on the run right now. I mean, I've certainly slept with people I've known for much less time than you, but I still can't help but wonder if we should wait until, you know-- until this country stops falling apart. Or at least until things calm down a little. Ah, but don't misunderstand me, you are very pretty. I have no issues with body grafts." |
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7:32 PM Jul 11

