Roleplayer001

Botanist And Bards

The sword went along willingly with the Princess as it was carried by her - it now shone with an emerald glow to match the gemstone contained within the pommel. A slightly more cheerful tone came from the blade though as it was inspected however. "Thank you for doing that, your highness."

It was the right and proper thing to pay one's respects after all. But aside from that, the sword seemed to fall silence once more, it's short statement finished and completed.

However the next order of business was brought up. "A highstorm approaches however - I would advise finding shelter as soon as that man is buried." The impersonal way of referencing his prior wielder would perhaps be surprising, but the sword gave itself a mental shrug before continuing.

A highstorm was a devastating funnel torrent of winds that passed over the country every other weak, lasting for about a day. Winds would be fast enough to tear through skin, and lightning would strike the ground seemingly at random. Although there was flooding at times, most of the water cleared away quickly.

The thick trees had adapted to the winds with thick trunks and deep roots. The animals themselves were bulkier and heavier than those in other parts of the world, and the massive boulder like land crabs known as chulls would place their legs into the ground so they could not be shifted. Crops had been raised and chosen based on the vulnerability to surface conditions - fields of wheat weren't really possible in the Stormlands.

St. Sappho Academy, Medieval Magic Academy (Invite Only)

Selvina managed to form a reply after a bit of thought. "I thank you for those things. But you have to admit you tried to kill us a few weeks ago - and even though you investigated her yesterday, you never told me she broke up with her familiar ... I guessed it turned out all right, at least."

The joke though ... maybe it realy had just been intended to be a funny prank? Even the foreigner she had met earlier didn't seem too upset about it - perhaps she had taken it a bit too seriously? "Alright. It was a little funny. At least it was pretty." Though she still crossed her arms. "Although I expect better out of my familiar than such cheap humor. I thought Sly incarnate would be able to do more than that, at least?" Maybe a challenge would work better?

For a couple seconds she paused though. "I also have purchased you the clothes you have requested and every day you have bought yourself meals reminiscent of your homeland because I'm kind enough to spare the coin to ease your homesickness." The mage observed the fox on the windowsill for a couple of seconds before remembering their prior encounter.

Hadn't she felt the fear of trauma?

"Be honest though - are you afraid of being close and carried around and pampered because of your previous master? Were they cruel to you?" That was the mages best bet about what had happened there at least. "... were you forced to serve them in vile ways against your will?" It wasn't the best euphemism in the world, but the wizard simply couldn't bring herself to plainly asked if her familiar had been abused in an intimate sense.

Maoin remained silent for a few seconds, but the dragon's pleas were ... the kitten found herself unable to snicker slightly as her ears perked up a bit, taking a solid bite of her delicious fish. She ... she didn't know that Lady Sorcha was capable of acting in such a manner but ... it was somewhat child-like, wasn't it? She found her watching Lady Lune in spite of herself and wondered how the knightess would respond.

Meowka blinked as Katherine mentioned it was a fish restaurant. Why not simply have a fish on a plate, then? Though she didn't really resist as her mistress gave her a nice tug in that general direction and walked along with the token resistance of someone who was a little embarrassed. Soon enough the two of them were dragged inside and the street cat sat down willingly as she once again found herself looking at the menu upside down.

Such strange things with their little markings. Meowka wondered how these things were supposed to work exactly. Though the slight ringing of a bell brought her eyes to attention.

As the waitress came by - a young dog girl of about fourteen with a thick collar on her neck and a bell attached to it - the cat gave her a slight scowl before asking for her meal demandingly. "Something decent with lots of fish in it. And some decent drink to go with it." The poor puppy seemed confused, but Meowka's eyes silenced her as she decided to introduce herself after the preemptive order.

"I'm Nikki and I'll be your waitress for the evening." The poor girl seemed surprised by how Meowka asked for a meal before she even had said hello. "Is this your first time visiting the fish pan, miss?" She gave Lady Katherine a big smile that cracked slightly - it was the practiced smile of a stressed out person in a food industry who would probably snap the moment they returned home. "If ... if it's not, is there anything I can get for you?" She seemed a little thrown off by Meowka's game, but it seemed more along the lines of youthful uncertainty than true incompetency.

Botanist And Bards

As the body remained still in the forest path Prescott's conclusion was proven to be more and more correct. As time passed, that probably would not startle the naïve princess.

What likely would was how the sword's shine increased just slightly as the woman observed it. As the glow increased to an eventually blinding level, it would suddenly subside. The sword that remained would be a greatsword, but it would be what the princess would consider to be the ideal combination to create a combination of elegance while having a slightly righteous appearance.

The obvious expense and even the unnatural glow were not what made this sword unusual. It was rather how it shook slightly in place - it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, but it would likely surprise those around it in an unusual phenomenon. A male voice would echo in the head of the princess. "Your highness, the guard is correct in their statement." The voice that spoke was that which would be expected from a man who had seen the darkest of days and yet still had some earnest goodness somehow persevering. "However there is no bandit to accost you - he reigned victorious in the battle he fought."

St. Sappho Academy, Medieval Magic Academy (Invite Only)

Selvina was jumped slightly as a weight suddenly landed on her head unceremoniously and winced as it was tapped annoyingly. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. And in truth, the fox was right. They did need to talk or they would both end up miserable with eachother. The noble sat up as her familiar hopped off her head and looked down at the small thing.

Oh, she was so adorable like this really.

"I guess you are right ..." The mage let out a little sigh. "I don't expect you to be a slave - although you acted really well when you pretended to be a catgirl maid. Maybe you should try it more often?" Selvina smiled at her own joke as she tried to brighten the mood a bit.

"But no - while we are on campus I expect you to help pamper me a bit, but the moment we return home you will not be forced to be a servant except as a punishment or a slight favor ... I'm asking you to learn things useful to me because you should be able to do some things like that. Not because I expect you to spend every day of my hopefully long life doing laundry." It would probably be helpful to provide a more concrete example. "There are others to do such menial tasks at my family estate for instance, and they will also be there to help you in case you require them. There are some that can give masterful massages and ..." The mage realized she was losing track of the point she was getting to and shook her head.

"But that's not what this is about is it? Firstly, you haven't been very close to me physically. I've offered to pick you up and carry you around - you obviously are capable of walking, but it's simply a way to get close to each other and it's a free ride. I get the sensation that if I tried to pet you in thanks you'd want to rip my hand off. And you simply tricked me in regards to that tail of yours, so why should I trust you?" It was obvious that the girl thought this tiny form was adorable and wanted to give her a nice petting, but gulped and averted her eyes. "Can you at least tell me why? It's just an easy way to be friendly with each other."

But there was more. "And ... I expect you to play pranks and jokes. I figure it's in your nature as much as it is in a dragon's to be proud. I'm not going to be cruel and ask you to never have your fun with me - besides, that behavior shows you trust me enough to at least have an amicable relationship with your mage." Then the problem. "But my own familiar should not write death curses on my face. We don't threaten people in our house that we are close to, and for now you are part of my family. If we do such a thing, we have every intention of following through with it. Making jokes about wishing I was dead and painting a curse on my face doesn't make me want to trust you to wonder around on your own. It doesn't make me want to tell me my secrets which makes me sad since my familiar should be the one person who I can tell everything and expect them to be helpful."

Maoin nodded as she listened to her mistress, but her eyes drifted over the plate of food. It wasn't good for her mistress, was it? And besides, she'd been told no matter what plea or threat was given out to ignore them. The servant stood up at the table and curtsied apologetically. "I'm sorry mistress, but I can't allow you to do that." The dragoness would find her plate lifted off the table as the cat walked out of the restaurant briskly.

There was a local group of abandoned familiars in a nearby alley. Maoin sighed, took her arm and brushed most of the food onto the ground with a fork as they eyed it hungrily before walking back to the tavern with an amount of food appropriate for a large person rather than a village.

"Please forgive me, Lady Sorcha." The cat eared girl placed the plate in front of her owner nervously before bowing deeply and returning to her chair. Her fork poked around the fish on her plate before taking a few cheerless bites and looking away from Lady Sorcha's general direction. It would be easy for Lady Luna to see however that the kitten was upset and her eyes were watering just slightly and her ears dropped flat.

Fia yelped as she was slammed into and sent tumbling across the dirt of the headmistress' private gardens. The two ended up in a tangled mess, the phoenix breathing heavily as a now naked Ritsa sat on top of her dominatingly. "... I ... I suppose ..." It was obviously a defeat, but she didn't want to admit it.

Certain thoughts entered the crimson haired girl's mind before she shook them out. With ... with her? Why? As she was pulled up however into a close hug she found herself hugging the other girl's darker body back for a moment, fingers tracing along her spine.

The phoenix felt deeply confused, but as she leaned backwards perplexed and placed her hands against the ground ... was she touching something metal? "... what ...?" For a second she paused before lifting a circular object out of the dirt and brushing it off to inspect it's surface. The ring itself was made of a black metal of an origin Fia couldn't guess, but along it's surface were precious yellow stones cut into stars embedded into it's surface, twinkling slightly more than they should be. On the inside of the ring was a sort of writing that she didn't recognize ... was it in one of her dreams?

Curious, she put the ring on before showing Ritsa. "... pretty ...?" She let out a slight laugh before letting out a sigh and smiling at the other girl and tilting her head slightly as she did so. "... so you won ..." She wasn't sure where they were supposed to go from here. "... what now ...?"

Meowka listened to her mistress and let out a slight sigh. Though as she observed the sign that had been pointed to she contemplated it for a moment before responding. "Does it sell ... cookware?" After all, there was a pot in the picture and perhaps it was trying to demonstrate how useful their utilities were? She tugged on her collar slightly, Katherine would be able to sense her frustration as she found herself getting more and more hungry as they waited. "... are we eating at home, and you need to buy some pans for the dolls?" That was her best guess, at least.

Botanist And Bards

The Stormlands

There came a time in every man's life when it would come to an end. Most would consider themselves unfortunate in his predicament, and many would curse god as their feet trudged along the ground and blood dripped from your mouth.

But he'd had a good run. Sixty years, grandchildren at home ...

It wasn't a bad way to go.

... but it could have gone so much better. And maybe with just a bit of luck, he'd start over again.

An ... angel ... approaching?

---

A knight of some sort wondered down road, wearing a set of armor that most warriors would be jealous of - a full set of plate, obviously meant to be fitted to his body as it moved along with his hobbling. His helmet had fine purple plumage from the top that was soaked with splotches of dried blood. The edges of the armor were encrusted with a gold that had jagged cuts running through the soft metal, and the plate itself was made of a fine steel that had stood up to most of the blows it had taken.

Most.

It was easy to tell the large wound in his side was a death sentence. He looked up for a moment, and then collapsed and remained still as the sunlight shined through the trees and onto his body. Although now it was easy to see that a large Greatsword strapped to his back via a cord - it would take several seconds to remove if someone had decided to attack the dead man while he still walked - which was likely part of the reason why a mace was on his belt.

The blade itself seemed to glow with a small blue light even from a distance, as if it was calling to anyone nearby to approach and take interest.

Botanist And Bards

Aislinn smiled as the black haired woman removed her clothes, her eyes running over her still slightly glowing handiwork. The native reached out and traced one of the lines that started on her cheekbone, following the thin curve down her neck, between the breasts, down her stomach and on the inside of the right thigh before ending at her ankle. "It might be dangerous, but at least it is pretty!" The pink haired girl gave a wide grin up to Charlotte with a smile. "Now you are a work of art. I know your people tend to not enjoy being exposed but it's beautiful, isn't it?" Aislinn smiled as she observed many of the swirls and lines that ran across Charlotte's body.

Then she went from a kneeling position to laying down next to the other woman. "It's a bit late for me to be heading home - mind if I sleep here for the night?" Cait would have to simply rely on someone else for the night, wouldn't she?

St. Sappho Academy, Medieval Magic Academy (Invite Only)

Sel sighed. "Look ... you know, it could have been ... 'big butted girl' or 'overly academic fool' and I probably would have smirked. But I don't think we should ever make like of horrible curses and such ... they exist for a reason ... The mage however closed her eyes and decided to end the conversation unless Sly seemed to insist upon speaking with her.

Soon enough, the fox would hear their 'master' fall asleep as she snored softly from her bedside.

The kitten listened as her mistress continued to speak, not noticing the woman playing with her hair nervously. Eventually her downtrodden look transformed into one of nervousness. A command that was meant to be obeyed no matter what? No matter what threat, plea, or order was given? What was this supposed to be? She gulped as she looked into Lady Sorcha, anticipating and imagining a thousand different things this command was supposed to be.

Was she going to be ordered to put the dragon down in case she became evil?

Was she going to ... food? Maoin blinked a few times as she let out a sigh of relief. Well, she'd be cooking most of their meals anyways. It wouldn't be that difficult. "Yes, mistress ... but didn't you just order enough food to feed a small village?" The black haired girl blinked as if slightly confused by this command. Was she supposed to just ... dump the excess food out then? Despite her concern, she had a slight smile going across her face. That was a lot better than any of the commands she had been worrying about. "And how does this apply to drinking, mistress?"

Fia ran harder and faster and harder and ... as they left the yard, the crimson haired girl turned her head around for a brief second and noticed that Ritsa was upon her, and there was nothing else for her to do. Damn it. She gulped slightly as she braced for what would likely be a harsh impact, still running from her opponent as swiftly as she could manage -

-but not swift enough.

Meowka simply looked up at her mistress, waiting for her to make a decision. "Well ... mistress, I can't really read the signs at all." It was a little embarrassing to admit that however, and Katherine would see her familiar flaunt her collar a little subconsciously as if to make up for that fact. "I'd just like it to be tasty - this place is lying anyways." The night prowler watched one of the illusory fish swim by her face and tensed up slightly in an effort to resist pouncing after it.

Botanist And Bards

Aislinn pouted slightly as Charlotte refused to strip as well. Those lines were fading, and it was getting a little irritating how this woman was such a prude about things. Wasn't she nervous when she had tried to paint her as well?

It was time for the Queen to give out her orders. "Take your shirt off for me!" The native seemed a little demanding. "I need to look at the tattoos to make sure they are all set well, alright?" She really wanted to look at them anyways as they all glowed. "And besides, you should look at them sometimes! That was a lot of hard work you know!" With that, the native kneeled on the bed beside the black haired woman and started to try and take off the alchemist's shirt so she could inspect her handiwork.

St. Sappho Academy, Medieval Magic Academy (Invite Only)

Sel frowned as she looked at the fox with a little bit of anger. She forced herself to calm down though - "Look ... I expected it to be a prank. There's a difference between a humorous joke though and a death threat." She sighed. The mage looked towards the bed, laying down in it and looking away from the fox as she distracted herself with thoughts about Lady Gwynn - now likely more a pirate than anything else.

"There is this mystical thing known as being nice, Sly. Or actually genuinely funny." It didn't seem like the scholar expected much a response to that though as she closed her eyes, embracing her small pillow.

Maoin entered the tavern, sitting quietly as she proceeded to order some fish for herself to eat - it had been an embarrassing day at least, but her ears perked up as her mistress gathered her attention. As Lady Sorcha talked about the gift however and berated her for purchasing it her ears dropped and her tail fell into her lap, where the kitten grabbed it with her hands as she looked downwards slightly. She tried to avoid being too upset - it was clear her new lady had enjoyed the trinket - but it was still a little disheartening to fail her owner anyways. "Yes mistress. I'm sorry ... I won't do that again Lady Sorcha ..."

The cat looked away as if ashamed before turning her head somewhat back towards the dragon, although her eyes were still downcast. "... is ... is there more, mistress ...?" She hoped she hadn't failed in any other way - but it wouldn't seem to any observer that the kitten was expecting some sort of praise at all.

Fia opened the door hurriedly and slammed it behind herself as she began to sprint out the back door and into the gardens behind the house and the woods beyond it. A quick turn around revealed that the energy filled Ritsa was catching up to her though as they began to reach the edge of the yard, where the crimson haired girl took a hard left around a bush and hoped the faster Ritsa's momentum would carry her further and buy at least a little time.

Goodness, how did someone get so fast? She was breathing heavily, but at least her robe was tied on more reasonably than the figure behind hers.

Before Meowka could jump, she heard the commanding voice of her mistress. Illusions? The cat seemed somewhat confused as she looked at one of the fish, but after a couple attempts to poke at the sealife she realized that fish couldn't swim in the air, and that there wasn't really the smell of living fish in the local area. The night prowler looked towards her owner with a frown as her disappointment was made incredibly obvious.

A second later she folded her arms. "I ... I knew that!" Her cheeks puffed out as she lied and glared at some of the patrons who were still laughing around them. "This place is bad anyways. Let's go somewhere else, then Mistress Katherine."

She wasn't exactly sure of what sort of places were around town, but it was clear she wanted to be somewhere aside from here.

St. Sappho Academy, Medieval Magic Academy (Invite Only)

"I-I do not!" Selvina's cheeks puffed out as she was once again made fun of for being an academic. Luckily, the fox soon returned and served them food. The mage went quiet about the subjects they had been talking about, but sometimes Gwynn would find a comforting hand placed on her to let her know someone was there for her. Eventually the pleasantries came to an end as they finished consuming their foreign meal with full stomachs and Gwynn was let go with vague promises to meet again in the future and more serious ones about contacting her when she was needed.

As the door shut however the mage headed over to their bed and looked over to the charms that were on the desk. "I'm just curious here Sly, how many of those are for bad luck?" The look the mage gave their familiar wasn't one of anger, but rather one of disappointment. The same one she would have seen previously.

Maoin pouted slightly and Sorcha released her and headed out of the store, but soon enough the kitten found herself trailing their heels with a little attention being paid to their conversation. A duel? Between them? The Lightsword house was prestigious, but Lady Sorcha was ... well, Lady Sorcha. Surely the dragon would win this fight ... unless she had one of her fits. Either way though, the cat would probably have to be the one dragging them to the infirmary if things got too far out of hand.

Still though, a decent pub with some nice food - especially fish - sounded like a nice way to finish the night! It had been entirely pleasant, despite even the current dress having too much exposure for her comfort. But ... she supposed if the dragon liked seeing her chest, she didn't really have the right to say no, did she?

Maoin let out a tired sigh as she continued to obediently follow her new mistress.

Fia's eyes widened as she was hugged, and the previous memories flared up for a moment violently before dispersing as the phoenix managed to calm herself down. As her hair was finished being washed though she waved a slight goodbye to Cynthia before rolling her eyes at Ritsa's need to play again as she was once again released.

Well, at least the water was warm. But it'd be a little unfair for any sort of duel to be had right here. The hydra was obviously far more at home in the liquid than herself. Fia walked over to the clothing rack without responding and grabbed a robe off the wall and tied it around her waist to what would largely be to the hydra's disappointment. After rubbing a towel through her hair she looked at the hydra tiredly.

"... you're it ..." Then she gave Ritsa a shit eating I'm-Already-Victorious grin as she bolted out of the room and straight into the hallway where she accidently collided with someone unapologetically as she pushed herself off of them and got back to sprinting towards the back door. There was likely going to be a naked hydra on her heels, and if she wanted to win this she needed to take advantage of this head start as much as possible.

"One moment you want more and the next you want less! You're crazy."

Meowka pouted slightly as she commented on the lack of a spa-day, but she supposed her mistress would treat her well in the future. When asked about dinner though the cat looked at the wizard questioningly. She couldn't read any of the signs, but after a moment she knew where she wanted to go anyways. "Lots of fish!" It seemed that was the night prowler's criteria for a meal as she nodded slightly. "Maybe a little drink too! I'd like something decent for once!" Uncertain what that meant exactly, the girl's eyes drifted around but as they looked towards a certain building they grew wide as her expression was filled with the genuine excitement of the hunt ... WERE THERE SERIOUSLY FISH FLOATING IN THE AIR!?

Katherine would likely find herself playing catch up to the cat as she practically sprinted off after one of the fish on the front porch, trying to grab one of them with her hands as several other customers looked on laughing. They didn't matter though - Meowka wanted her fish and she was going to catch it no matter what. They always seemed to escape at the last minute though!? How!?

The night prowler hissed at one of them and prepared to pounce in a trajectory that would send her into one of the fish ... and possibly into an unfortunately into a couple of students as they talked amongst themselves, clearly not paying attention to their local disruption.