Twhirtley

Wooden Swords Won't Be Enough (Ebonfort)

The knives flew true, heading right for the Screamer's exposed back. However, two hand spans from the skin, they momentarily stopped, a bright flash of blue exposing a bubble around the man. If Megumi was paying close attention, she'd notice that each knife, subsequently after the first, got a little closer to the man. But then the knives were repelled by the same force, coming tumbling end over end with the same force at which they'd been thrown, flying directly towards Megumi. Because of the way they were repelled, they tumbled awkwardly, not with the precision of a true throw.

The Screamer turned, realizing he was now under attack from behind. He smiled at the woman, casting a wink. He may have known he was protected, for now, but he hadn't seen how the knives had gotten closer. But he never changed his position, his arms still raised, pushing magic from his body into the rift, that was now growing larger. From her position, Megumi could see others of the creatures, though much smaller, on the other side, staring at the rift, not yet sure if they should go through yet.

The creature had been too busy with the orc squire that it hadn't even seen the giant bear approaching. It hadn't been able to get around the shield it wielded, nor were its jaws strong enough to tear through the steel. It had tried ripping it free, but the stout body, balance, and sheer determination of the squire had kept it in place. His sword had bit many times into the other head, leaving lacerations around the mouth and neck. But he was tiring, the beast had several hundred pounds on him and soon he'd be tossed like a ragdoll. He didn't have time to be surprised when he saw the massive white bear roar up as a new challenger. He really, really hoped it was on his side. The orc gave one last stab before his strength gave out, and the creature finally disarmed him of his shield. He skipped away sword in hand as he watched his shield thrown off like trash, and the creature turned to face its new opponent.

But before it could fully turn, a mass of white furred muscle bowled right into it, striking right behind its left shoulder. The sheer weight tossed the creature off balance, falling onto its side, nearly into the orc squire who'd had enough mind to skip out the way while landing a slash on its less furry tail, lopping off a foot long section. The creature was pained now, having felt something inside of itself break. It was quick to get up, no longer just the predator, but a prey fighting for its life. It went to charge toward the bear, but a moment of pain caused it to stagger, giving just a brief moment of hesitation, one maw looking to catch a leg, the other aimed at the neck and shoulder.

A Frumious Attraction (Ebonfort)

Trix awoke from her bed in one of the basic rooms over the Surly Stump, looking over to see her two new pups laying next to her, expectant eyes watching her. She reached out and rubbed them both atop their heads, "Let's go outside then, what do you say Remus? Remilia?" They didn't yip excitedly as one might expect, but their tails did wag. Trix got up, and began getting dressed and relieved herself, the pups hopping off the bed and patrolling the room yet again. It was more than just habit for them, it was their life. Control and protect. Once she'd pulled her boots on, she opened the door. The female led the way, already having learned the layout of the tavern, with the male following behind. It really amazed her how smart they are. Yes, they needed training still, but they picked up many things without having to be trained.

The climb down the stairs was slow, as both pups were still small, struggling but determined as they descended. When they reached the bottom, Trix cooed and thanked them, before the trio left the tavern. They walked to the nearby patch of grass that she'd been letting them use. They looked up expectantly to her, and she nodded, and they went about to sniffing out the area and relieved themselves. "Alright, let's go get something to eat, what sounds good guys? That deer meat was pretty good, but how about that boar vendor?" If the pups understood her, they didn't show any sign of it. Or maybe they just knew that the food didn't have to do with their duty of protecting her.

So they walked through town, Trix watching as the pups watched everything. Whenever they saw another animal, or person, one of them would put themselves between them and Trix. They didn't growl, didn't start a fight, simply put out the visual warning. In doing this, they orbited her like a pair of protective moons. Finally they arrived at the boar farmer, on the edge of town. He had a huge fenced-in section of the woods, where many of his giant boars roamed and rooted about. At the front of it, his wife worked a stand, cooking boar meat in many various ways. Trix bought a larger than normal helping of pig shoulder and bacon, given to her in a paper wrap. The pups didn't beg for the food, simply watching.

"Let's find a place that's nice to eat at."

The left the edge of town, walking between the many vast trees that stood there. The pups kept an even more vigilant watch, as if they knew this area was inherently more dangerous than the village. Remilia's ears perked up, she was the first to hear the music, and Remus followed suit. Eventually Trix heard it as well, recognizing it as a flute, at least, she thought so. It was quite pleasing, "Let's follow the music." And so, Remilia led the way, with Remus following up the rear.

The female pup led them to a small clearing, where she paused, staring at the denizens therein. There was a young woman, who looked a little familiar to Trix, but she couldn't quite place it. She too had a pup, a larger one, that looked a bit like a wolf, sleeping at her feet. There was a flute at her lips, playing an enchanting music, a relaxing melody that Trix quite enjoyed. Not wishing to startle the woman, who appeared to be rather focused on her music, Trix greeted her, "That's a fine song you're playing, mind if I stay and listen?" She found a mossy log, and sat upon it, her pups coming over and sitting on the ground in front of her, between her and the woman. Trix opened her paper wrapped meal, and tore off a few pieces, offering them to the pups first. They both sat, staring at it, leaving Trix smiling. She tossed it to them, and they caught the meat, before chewing on it, eyes never leaving the flautist and her wolf pup.

Trix had plenty of food, "Would you and your pup like some?"

How Much is That Doggie in the Window? (Ebonfort RP)

A slight grin formed on the blonde's face as the very odd colored raven taunted the dogs she'd considered buying. Her own chuckle came forth to pair with the hilarious bird's. Trix nodded as the woman went promptly into her advice, taking this time to study her exotic, beautiful features. While it was fairly obvious that she was foreign by her interesting accent, it was nice to hear her confirm it. However, when she'd said that she'd seen these dogs before, Trix instantly frowned. Exclusive her ass. This already gave some credibility to this woman. This was further improved as she claimed to have trained a few other types of dogs, that she claimed to exist. Trix made a mental note to remember their names. Wolves were easy, everywhere had those. Bearhounds... she wasn't quite sure what those were. Moon-sledders were a complete mystery, but she liked the name.

She nodded as the woman explained that the Ebon Brutes were quite difficult to train. That was disappointing, further ruining her view of the breeder. When the woman gestured away, Trix was more than willing and grateful to join her. Trix was grateful that the woman had refused payment, every gold counted when it came to paying back the Knights. Continuing to listen, she got felt a small spur of excitement. She'd at least heard of Stone Dogs! She'd never known they were from Stone Crest, nor that they'd been used to protect the miners.

Trix followed her into the shade, noting the many dogs on the opposite side of the fence. Many of the dogs were energetic and cute, but there were a few more stoic ones, larger ones. Their distance and different seeming nature immediately drew her eyes. They weren't the standard cute that many dogs seemed to be, excluding the puppies of course. But they were strong looking, not cute, but not inherently scary either. Strong definitely seemed to be their defining physical aspect. When she caught the eyes of one though, she was surprised by the intelligence she felt she saw within. It was as if the dog already knew what and who she was, and was planning accordingly. Trix barely heard the command from the other woman, as she was already heeding it.

The display that Rilana had just showed amazed the blonde herbalist. It wasn't just the intelligent and measured reactions from the male, but the fact that Rilana knew exactly what was needed to draw out that behavior. She was instantly glad that she'd met this mysterious foreigner. It was obvious that she clearly knew what she was talking about. Trix looked up at the approaching huntsman, a smile already upon her face. It barely mattered what he was about to say, she was already sold. She was glad that Rilana had already taken the lead in the conversation, but she made sure to pay very close attention.

When his offer came up, Trix was mightily relieved. It was still more than she'd originally wanted to pay, but it certainly seemed worth it now. She wasn't even going to bother trying her hand at poorly haggling, she was already thankful. "Yes, I'd like one of the pups. I assume they are old enough to leave their mother?" It may have seemed a silly question, as he wouldn't have sold them were it not true. But Trix still felt the need to ask, to have the comfort of knowing that both the pup, and in turn, her, were ready. She quickly dug into her coin purse and pulled out the agreed upon sum, handing it over to the man.

The man laughed heartily, "But of course they are miss." He took her money, and opened the gate a bit to allow her in. As expected, the male kept a watchful eye on her, but didn't react further, as she was allowed to be there. "Take your pick" She squatted down, and at first, the hunting hounds moved toward her. But the Feyo seemed to already know what was going on, stopped that with the lightest of growls. Trix reached out her hands toward the three pup ridgebacks, getting their undivided attention. They sniffed at her suspiciously, each of them taking a moment to look back at their parents. Some unseen gesture of approval was given, and they happily licked and rubbed against her hands, her cooing at them. She played with them all equally, her chest swelling with the happiness and relaxation this brought to her.

But how could she just pick one? There was no feature or characteristic that made any of them better or lesser than the others. If she could afford it, she'd buy all three, but at best she could only take two. She picked up the female, holding her in one hand, then closed her eyes. This was the only fair way, and it still broke her heart. She reached out and scooped up one of the boys at random. She stood up, her eyes now open, as she gently moved the two pups to a single arm, fishing out thirty five more golds, and offering them. "If I had more, I'd take all three. But this is what I can afford."

She looked down at the remaining boy, and her heart broke further. He was far too stoic to cry, to whine, to beg to be played with or for his siblings back. But there was something in those eyes that knew that he'd never see those he'd grown up with again. Trix had to look away before the tears would come, as the man nodded at her payment. She looked at the woman with watery eyes, "Thank you for helping me, it means the world to me." She moved toward the gate to leave, trying her best to keep the tears in, to not look back at the pup she was leaving behind. She cooed at the two in her arms, unnecessarily comforting them, though it was more for herself. The best she could do was raise them right and take the best care of them that she could, and hope the third found an equally good, or better, home.

She knew the basics of dog care, but she figured that there was a lot more to doing it properly. Once she'd composed herself a bit, she fully intended to ask the woman for some tips and the like, as well as offering a non-monetary recompense. But that would take a bit of time, but she didn't care. She'd never be ashamed of how she felt, regardless of the presence of foreigners.

A Knight's Scholar

I personally was going to let you have some creative license on that if you wish. It can be interesting or boring, idc, I just like to leave some opportunity for the other writers to create lore as well :P

A Knight's Scholar

ebonfort.wikia.com/wiki/File:Captain_T..

Captain Theren :D

A Knight's Scholar

Interesting, most interesting.

She immediately put together how he knew. Knowing the name of a magic was rare enough, as most people didn't bother to visit the library, as that was the only real source of magic histories. Logical and researched. Definitely a plus. But when she suggested that he might be there to arrest her, his nasally laugh snorted out, listening as she continued with her deductive reasoning.

And then she surprised him. Not useful? That sounded so much more useful than many other magicks they'd discovered so far. Every object in existence would be a form of a spy, and couldn't lie or need coerced. His face was twisted into a wicked, self serving grin.

"You're rather clever, if a bit... naive."

In a fast, smooth motion he drew a single sword and pointed it at her, waiting just a moment to see her reaction. Then he flipped it over and caught the blade, offering her the hilt. It was a well balanced, steel longsword, hand hilt, encrusted with rubies. "I wish to test your magic. Tell me everything you can about this sword." He smirked, wondering what she would see. The sword had been with him for the last ten days, right after he punched it through the ribs of the nobleman who first owned it. The man had been caught buggering children and chose trial by combat. It didn't take much effort on Theren's part to disarm him and end his sick, miserable life.

But Captain Theren knew nothing of the blade from before that duel. He was curious, and while not the perfect experiment, would definitely satisfy his curiosity. He wondered if the sword had a name. Some swordsmen greater than he would swear all weapons had innate names, and even genders, and only when you mastered it could you discover them. Was it true? Would the sword speak to this girl? Or would it lock her out because she wasn't worthy?

How Much is That Doggie in the Window? (Ebonfort RP)

Trix jumped abruptly, dropping some coins back into her purse, as a hand alighted on her, thinking it was a pickpocket that had been clumsy. She quickly turned to see a very pale, very beautiful woman, and instantly lost the silly pickpocket thought. She listened as the clearly foreign woman spoke, as she tried to determine what race she was. She looked a bit like a mix of a high elf and a drow, but there were a few things from both that were missing. And it would be rude to ask. And it seemed she had advice. Looking over at the dog breeder, "Excuse me for just a bit, sir."

Trix stepped away from the man, who was glaring daggers at the Moon Fey woman, so that the pair could have some privacy. Turning to her, staring into those foreign eyes, not sure how to start this hidden conversation. She kept glancing over at the dog breeder who kept trying to put on his 'professional face' every time she looked at him. "So..." she started, in a lower conversational voice, "Why do you think that I'm making a mistake? They look like they'd scare off any more thieves, even if they're a bit.. pricey."

She shifted nervously now, holding her arms against herself. She really hoped that this man wasn't trying to take advantage of her, that was just bad business. If people knew that, they'd stop buying, if they stopped buying, you'd go broke, and if you went broke, you lost everything. The goal of every business should be to be the best, right? That's how you got the invitation to set up shop in the capital. If he were trying to rip her off, she'd make sure as many people knew about it as possible.

"Would you recommend something different? I'll pay if you can help me out."

An Early Morning Disturbance (Ebonfort)

Trix smiled politely with the exchange of names, even if she found his... unusual. Gregory was so... human sounding, and yet it was the name of this gargoyle. She wasn't even sure what type of name she'd been expecting, just not that. But that was neither here nor there, for he had business on his mind. She could somewhat appreciate that, but impatience didn't make healing go better or faster. Edoward came out at the sound of voices, and Trix looked up at him from her seat. "You did well today hun. Could you do me one last favor though?"

Edoward never knew how to say know to the herbalist that had caught his eye, and nodded. "We're going to need a few horses, to take her back to Green Fall. I'll travel with her in case her health deteriorates. If your captain will allow it, you should join us, to make sure we're safe. Can you do all that?"

A road trip? With lots of time to be spent with her, albeit with a gargoyle and a higher ranking knight. He'd move heaven and hell to make this happen. He smiled and left, forgetting to actually say anything in confirmation. Trix got up and moved back into her apothecary and grabbed a small, sealed vial. She put the vial beneath the woman's nose, and uncorked it. The smelling salts did their job, and Vegarra's eyes opened, followed by a pained groan. She tried to sit up, but Trix gently nudged her down, cooing as she would for a baby. "Easy now, you've been injured, you need to rest. You're in Ruby Banks, in my shop. There was an attack, and Gregory Whitehorn saved you."

Vegarra gritted her teeth, and sat up slowly. Her bruised ribs hurt worse than anything else, except maybe the throbbing headache behind her eyes. She felt the stiffness across her chest and shoulders, feeling at the bandages. Looking up at her healer with determined eyes, "I need to get back to Green Fall. I have to report this."

Trix smiled, there was always something about the determination of the Knights that made her proud to live among them. "It's being taken care of. We should have horses soon. You'll still have to travel a bit slower than you'd like, but I'll be accompanying in case something goes wrong." The knight nodded, before laying back and getting more rest.

Trix quickly gathered some supplies she felt could be useful, putting them all in her pack. Edoward still hadn't returned, so she stepped outside with the silent, stoic gargoyle. "We'll be leaving soon, I'm sure." She spent the next stretch or so milling about her gardens, gently guiding her plants, talking to them, noting what would need harvested soon.

Edoward returned, walking around the side of her shop, "We're ready." Trix nodded and moved back in the shop, surprised to find Vegarra wincing herself into her armor. She tutted in annoyance, but helped the woman. Once ready, she locked up the shop and they found themselves at their steeds. Trix was a bit intimidated, she'd only ever been on a horse one time before, when she was much younger, and it hadn't gone well. She watched Edoward try and help Vegarra but a glare and growl forced him back. The knight grabbed the horn, slipped a foot into the stirrups, and with a pained gasp, pulled herself up and over. Trix tried the same, but found reaching the horn was a bit more difficult than expected. She slipped her foot into the stirrup first, trying to use that for leverage. But as she pushed up, she began to fall back, only to be caught by Edoward's hand on the small of her back. With a stiff pull, she eventually managed to get saddled up.

"Lead the way Edoward, but keep it slower."

The young knight nodded, mounting his own horse and leading them out of town, knowing the trip would take several days. What was the worst that could happen on the roads of Ebonfort?

Frontier – [ Full || Sci-Fi || Firefly-Inspired ]

Trish was already regretting her hasty decision to go to Logan alone. She was not good with people, and yet here she was trying to find a psyche doctor. Moving through the dirty streets, she tried to find a bar of some sort, her standard go to for information. She passed many dealers of various sins, be it snort, smoke, or injectible, and even a few more carnal sellers. But none of these interested the bomber. An hour passed until finally a man that was a lot cleaner than the rest she'd seen spouted his offer.

"Miss, you look rather healthy and lost, we can give you a good deal for one of your kidneys. If you've got the right blood type, you can walk away with two thousand credits within the hour. A chunk of your liver gets more than that, and those grow back, usually. Marrow is a thousand a vial. Interested?"

She looked him up and down, "You're not the doctor right, just his sales guy?" He nodded, a bit nervously at this nontypical response. "Take me to him, I'm both buying and selling." The man looked rather surprised by this, but nodded, and waved for her to follow him. He led her through a maze of alleys and doorways until she found herself in a surprisingly clean office area with a glass window to an operation room.

She sat down in one of the tacky maroon chairs when the door opened. A very dark skinned woman walked in, [color=f6989d]i]"My guy says you're selling, so I assume, off the menu?"[/i][/color] Trish nodded, and slipped her hand into her bag, pulling out the canister. "I'm fairly sure this is space sickness. You can test it if you'd like. I want to unload this, and possibly others if you can afford it, and soon."

The doctor's eyes widened as Trish handed over the canister, knowing better to not ask where or how she got this, despite really wanting to. "I can afford this one, but I can't really do more than that. I'm a small time doctor." The woman moved into the exam room and hooked the canister up to some machine, and spoke through an intercom, "He also said you were buying? Mind if I ask what while we wait?"

"I want to attach a bomb I made to one of my ribs." The calmness in which she said this somewhat disturbed the doctor. She spoke as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Again, the doctor knew better than to ask why, "Which is why you want a psyche doctor, right? Because no sane doctor would risk being in the room with a bomb." Trish nodded, then the computer beeped. "Definitely space sickness, though a bit different from the natural strain."

Walking back into the waiting room, she returned the canister to Trish, "If you come back tomorrow, same time, I can have ten thousand credits waiting, and do your procedure, we'll say the payment covers that too. You're on your own for whatever others you have." She stuck out her hand and Trish shook it. The sales guy led her back out of the maze and wished her well. The moment she was out of earshot, he opened a communicator and spoke to someone on the other end, "Sir, I got a way you can make a lot of money very quickly.... Tomorrow... One woman... Of course I'll take care of the body, I always do... I doubt she'll be missed.... Yes sir."

Trish made the slow trudge back to the ship, and up the ramp, finding the cargo hold surprisingly empty. Quickly, she made her way over to the crate of canisters, finding that it had been unlocked. She shrugged and slipped the canister in, making it appear in order with the rest, as if it had always been there. She closed it back, and began heading for her quarters. Ten thousand credits would go a long way for the ship and crew. And she'd get her own side project done tomorrow. She found herself quite pleased with how things seemed to be going as she strode down the quarters corridor.

Sector X (Invite only)

Not budging from her spot on the sidewalk, "I'm not going anywhere with you, I don't care if you can see me or not." The girl laughed, and went to talk, her body language suggesting a taunt of some sort, but was interrupted by the man. "You don't have a choice in this. You come with us, or we leave you to be captured by Sector X, and trust me, they aren't as nice as us." She hung her head, not sure whether to believe them or not, but was leaning toward the latter. What sort of stupid name was Sector X? "If you're so much better than this other group, why'd you kill all of those people?"

The blonde girl laughed, "They were just unconscious. You don't see your eyes burned out do you?" Then she moved a hand across her face, and her eyes had changed to the burned out sockets Nat had seen in the bank. A blink and they were changed back, "That's just to give the cops a reason to stick around a bit longer. Sector X is always right behind us, they probably found you the same way we did. Be thankful we were first. We aren't always. Can we go now, please?"

The sirens were close now, and Nat honestly believed the lies that spewed from their mouths. She needed to bide her time, to find an opening to get away from these people. It didn't matter what group they were with, they were keeping her from Ben. She nodded and walked with them toward the van, already going silent. They didn't seem to notice, so she figured they only knew about her ability to go unseen. By the time they'd reached the van, she was already sprinting down the street, leaving them swearing.

Nat ran down a nearby alley and up the street a block over, pulling out her phone, and calling Ben. "Pick up, please pick up." When it kicked to voicemail, she swore and began running toward the museum, slipping in silent and unseen. She kept trying to call him, panicking thinking that he'd either been caught by this "Sector X" or had already disappeared. She pushed past people, knocking them over, not bothering to go unfelt, frantically searching for her little brother, her breathing erratic. Where was he? The museum wasn't that large, surely she'd have found him by now.

The cops were swarmed all around the bank, finding the only survivors in the security man that saw nothing from his swath of monitors and the auditor in the vault. The auditor could only remember that the man was tall, dark, with a military crew cut, and the girl looked like a blond pop star. And that there was someone else in the vault that he didn't notice, but could hear after he was blinded by some flash. The police were now getting reports of an invisible person assaulting people in the museum nearby.