WilsonTurner

Reboot - Prized Bride

@agentmanatee
I'd be interested, mate.

Per Aspera Ad Astra - Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

@Willy Vereb
Yeah, I'm waiting for Keyguy.

Then I'll respond in bulk.

Per Aspera Ad Astra - Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

@duck55223
I missed your post, as well. Waiting for a bit more people to post before I do anything.

The Pale Princess

Valence came to at a familiar sound of his sword being drawn from his scabbard. But that wasn't right; couldn't be right. He was... alone. Except he wasn't. And there was only one reason why his sword was being drawn while he was unconscious.

Groggy and disoriented from the total lack of mana- which he leaned on more than he previously admitted, now that the freezing cold of the ice bit into him- Valence rolled away from the vague blur of color to his right side. A moment later, he heard the tell-tale ringing of his sword, when it struck something hard, and a couple ice shards landed on his face. Some blow that landed short, because of his roll?

Valence's mind cleared, and he felt his mana returning, slowly. It would be days before he'd be at full strength again, but enough mana returned that his body could recover itself- it seemed his body was too used to too much, and handled too little too badly. That was just too bad, he noted, as he rolled farther away, slipping and sliding as he went.

Shaking his head, his vision returned, blinking groggily at the sight of the Princess.

Hell. It worked.

Strength returning, he pushed himself up, unconsciously shutting off the flow of mana to his runes, which were already trying to restore themselves. He took in the unsteady Princess and her own disorientation, though by the way she glared at him, he figured that it was more physical and less mental.

"Hey now, don't try sticking me with my own sword. You ain't gonna be killing me anyways, nu-uh. I brought you back because... because of reasons, and you're sure as hell not gonna kill me and get yourself killed in the process."

He brought Elise back from the dead. He also brought someone else back- and he has a mental connection with her. He closed his eyes, searching his mind for something new- and found it. It felt distinctly like the bit of foreign-ness that resided in the back of his head that connected him to the Valryk Princess, except it was... stronger. Much stronger, and it felt powerful, thrumming with life. How much, he wondered, of his mana was absorbed and integrated into Princess Elise?

He opened his eyes, stared at Elise, and mentally tugged on the mental connection that he had with her. Might as well see what it'd do, right?

The Pale Princess

Valence nodded, silent in his acknowledgement. He didn't stray the knife from her throat- he knew that she was incapacitated, but... he didn't want to take any chances. He leaned over her, glancing up, so he could reach for her sword. Taking it in hand, he dragged it to her hand, forcing her to wrap around the weapon again.

"No one should die in combat without their weapon. Rest in peace, Princess Elise."

He drove the knife home, right under the ear, ending her life almost instantly. It was certainly painless, and unorthodox- many would drive a knife into the heart, or the throat. He and his people believed that by finishing off a worthy warrior in such a place, it let the soul of the warrior free easier, less likely to be trapped in the body or in the area where the warrior was killed. It was a clean kill, as well- one cannot usually drive a knife into the soft spot beneath one's ear without the person resisting at least a little.

He stared down at her suddenly lifeless face, oh-so-weary.

"Another one, Delphyne. Is this even how I'm supposed to force their hand? If I left her alive, I know she wouldn't stop until I was dead and gone, or until she was. And she is, now. What a waste of life. An honorable waste, but still a waste."

Delphyne just growled, and nudged past Valence's shoulder to sniff at the dead body of the Princess.

Valence leaned against her scaly neck, and withdrew the knife from the side of Elise's head. A damn shame, he couldn't help but think. There was potential there... a fire that would've led her people for ages. He felt the familiar kindling of hate- the self-hate for himself. Turning it away, he forced it at the enemy that started all this- the Southern Empire. The... speaking of which, it was odd that they'd call themselves the Southern Empire, as if they were already the sister nation to the Northern one.

He pushed the thought aside. It would have no gain, thinking about that. The Southern Empire is encroaching onto Valryk, and he needs reinforcements. Anything but sheer force and brutality would be too lengthy, and they have proven to be resistant to any sort of previous plea for help before.

Valence Valentine had a message to deliver.

---

Three Days Later

---

Valence bowed his head with everyone else, a thick cloak covering his armor, its cowl hiding his face. It seemed that he was infamous- his name and a likeness of his face was on every wall, every board, every post. His head- just his head- was worth almost as much as a half-pound of mithril.

It was a funeral. More specifically, the Queen's funeral. He was one among thousands gathered in the green under the shadow of the Castle Vale- the place of the King, the Queen, and all the important Vale peoples work at. The City of the Vale- it didn't have a normal name, but was rather the city of the Vale, specifically- had been packed with people coming to mourn the loss of the Queen, and now, the Princess.

After the ten knights had returned, finding nothing more than bloodstains and the Princess's sword in the ice cave that they had fought, they concluded that she was dead. Too much blood to be certain of anything else, after all. Valence didn't know why he spirited away her body, or encased it in ice, for preservation, but he'd get to that here after he delivered the message.

He attended the Queen's funeral, and then sought out the King himself. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get to him by normal means, though. He ghosted through the crowd, no one really noticing the broad cloaked figure- it was oddly easy to hide his armor- or the charcoal-covered boots of his. He didn't appreciate a lack of armor, especially mithril. Cloaks over it was safer, to him.

Finally, he reached the edge of the crowd, watching the procession of the King and his Queen, in her casket, being taken back to the castle. He didn't know where royalty were buried- that was one secret he couldn't get from anybody- but it didn't matter. He had to get the King alone.

Four hours later, Valence managed just that. While the Royal Guard were busy elsewhere, he snuck into the King's rooms- again. Despite the extra security since, it was an easy matter to reach the roof, avoid the patrols and the walkways, parkour over to the guard-laden balcony above the King's suite, and use a runed amulet of invisibility to sneak past the half-dozen guards, and slip down onto the King's own balcony. His runes made up for a lack of experience or skill- muffling runes, gripping runes, and more gave him an inhuman advantage.

From there, it was just a matter of waiting. He took the time to break out some bread and his wineskin, to recover the strength, well, mana that he had used up, with all the runes being used today.

He was halfway through his loaf of bread and wineskin when he heard a commotion outside. Spiriting the wine and bread back into their places along his belt, he replaced the cowl over his head, and activated the invisibility rune. He was sitting in a chair, at the far corner of the room, and he was quite certain that the King would go straight to bed. Well, disrobe and such, and then to bed.

So he waited, and the double doors opened and a dozen guards marched in. They looked everywhere, checked under tables and behind curtains. A good thing they all took their jobs seriously, and didn't decide to take a momentary seat. Why check the chair sitting in plain sight, after all? It seemed that, despite the threat and the magic, they were still rather soft. None of them had magical detection runes, and it seemed that the King didn't quite trust wizards close around him. A wizard, after all, made any mortal man powerless- such as the King. Regardless of runes, of course.

Finally, the guards left, marching out and reporting back to their captain- "Room secure, sir!"

And the King strode in, sighing wearily. The guards shut the door behind him, and he passed through the anteroom into the bedroom, where Valence waited.

Valence watched passively as the King cautiously approached the wardrobe- likely where some amount of his Queen's clothes were stored. But he started undressing nonetheless, disrobing his great big fancy cape-thing, whatever they call it- Valence really didn't know- and started to hang it up.

Deactivating the rune, he crossed one of his legs. Throwing his cloak back, covering the chair, and revealing his armor, he whistled.

Alerted by the vibrating mithril-on-mithril, and the whistle, the King spun around, a jewel-encrusted knife already drawn.

Valence lazily raised his hands, on his comfortable perch across the room, and replied to his surprised and scared expression.

"Oops. Beat me on the draw- you got me." Valence tried for a smile, but fell a little short. "I know, I'm sorry. Bad habit to try and lighten the situation. Don't try to yell for the guards; then I'd really have to kill you and them, and I really don't want to do that. And no, I'm not going to do that. Just put the knife down, alright?"

The King just stared at him, face slowly transforming into anger. His mouth opened, undoubtedly to call the guards.

Which forced Valence to act. He whipped out a runed coin and threw it onto the ground- and a moment later, there was a semitransparent bubble in the middle of the room, just large enough to contain both the King and Valence.

"Oh, stop it, no one's going to be coming to your aid. I just want to talk!" Valence snapped, frustration coming from his weariness and the fact that he had to wait too many hours just for this.

Then he rubbed his face, and apologized, "I'm sorry, mi'lord. Just been a long week, like it's been for both of us."

He stood up, walking placidly towards the King, who still had his knife drawn. Naturally, the King lunged forward with a shout, attempted to stab Valence's face.

Valence was quite surprised when the knife went straight through his wards- which stopped about half a foot from his body- and kept coming. Reacting quickly, he ducked to the side- but not before the King managed to graze the side of his cheek, opening up a bleeding line two inches long.

Moving, now, Valence whipped around before the King- who most definitely didn't have the same extent of training or enhancement- could recover from his own shock at actually managing to wound him. Knocking the knife from his hand with a strike, and then forcing the King back with his opposite hand's shove, Valentine pointed at the man.

"Dammit, I'm here to give you your daughter's last words!"

The King paused- heaving, yes, undoubtedly planning to try and kill Valence with the now-floored knife, but he did nonetheless.

"Your daughter found me, she did. Quite the tracker, very determined. She could have gotten me, had she had a sword that had whatever that knife has, too. But she didn't. Fought well, fought strong, and I daresay that she would've made you proud. I don't know the custom for a warrior's death, but I made sure that when I ended it, she had her sword in hand. She had an honorable death. And most of all... she said she was sorry. King of the Vale, your daughter made you and your wife proud, that day. Know that."

Valence stared at the shocked man's surprised O of a mouth, and gave the man a grim nod. He leaned down, and swiped the privacy bubble coin from the ground, deactivating it as he did so. The shield collapsed, and the King stared at him.

"Guards! HE'S HERE!"

Valence sighed, as the doors blasted open.

"Bullocks."

Two crossbows thwang'd, their bolts stopping abruptly in front of Valence's turned face and chest. He promptly swiped them from the air, and bolted for the balcony. The clanging of armor followed him, a half dozen Royal Guardsmen drawing their swords and preparing to run him through. He faintly heard the King's hysterical orders to kill him; he had other things to worry about.

High above, Delphyne, who had been watching through Valence's eyes, was already in a dive.

And down on the upper story balcony of the King, Valence skidded to a stop in front of the rail, turned about, and tore off his right hand's glove. He pointed a finger at the guardsmen, a torrent of fire suddenly erupting towards the soldiers. They cried and scrambled back, but they had enchanted armor- it was probably hot for them, but not terribly slow.

It bought him enough time for Delphyne to swoop out of the clouds and crash into the stone wall next to the open area of the King's suite. Valence turned towards her, hopped onto the balcony rail, and then leapt towards the saddle at the base of her neck. Grabbing hold of the saddle's horn, and his leg finding its perch in the leather loop, he secured himself. Delphyne launched herself away from the castle, and they made their get-away.

---

Three Hours Later

---

Valence stared at Princess Elise's very dead body. He had cleaned the blood off of her face before freezing her. She was quite dead. For some reason, he couldn't stop noting that she was very certainly dead. And he didn't know how he felt about that.

That was a lie. He hated that she was dead. Another person dead. A very important, special person, one that had a place in the Vale's people and their hearts. He sort of knew her, too. Not the normal way- he had watched her much of the time when she had been preparing to take him on, and when she was traveling to come kill him. Call him a stalker, and he wouldn't deny it. He had his reasons for stalking, though, but one might not call him a good man despite all of his actions. He didn't exactly try to stop the Princess, though on reflection, she probably would've recognized it to be his input and continued on, even more determined.

Valence didn't know what he was doing, at first. He was still in his detached daze, thinking deeply to recent events. He did it too often, now that he was alone. But he was already up and about, clearing an area on the ice in his backup ice cave hideout. This one was shaped like a crater- a hole in the ceiling, straight in the middle and heading out, constantly dripping in the summertime. The middle of the room was smooth, and sloped gently upwards until it reached the walls- in which it sloped gently upwards until it reached the hole in the middle. He had burned a hole in the side, leading out to the outside. He had frozen Elise in the ice a few feet away from the center of the cave, lying with her side to it. Delphyne was out and about, hunting- she couldn't fit in the room.

He wiped away the water gathering in the center of the bottom, pushing it towards the hole he had made and letting it drain out of the cave. Then he pulled out his sword, and channeled mana into two of the runes in the sword- the first one was the rune for Ignis, or fire. The second rune was Scriptum- text, or rune. Scriptum was the rune for making more powerful runes- and if you want a powerful rune, you carve it with a Scriptum-inscribed tool. Thus, he started carving into the ice, melting it slightly with the fire and imbuing more power into the rune with Scriptum.

An hour and six Primary runes- there are many runes for each, but Primary runes are THE rune of the element- later, he had the central Renascens rune- "Rising Again." The five runes surrounding it were the ones required for performing the rite- he could do it without them, but it was a great deal more stable and... well, the book he had learned it from had been written by a madman, and that section had ink spilled over it. It did something, but he knew that this was the surefire way to bring someone back, as if they never died. Vitae, Ignis, Terra, Aer, and Aqua runes radiated equidistant around the Renascens rune- Life, Fire, Earth, Air, Water. Finally, he took a step back, and draw a last rune behind the Vitae rune- Imperium, or Control.

Surveying his handiwork, he realized that the water had disappeared. He had more or less melted and carved the ice- but it was gone, nada. Such is the subtle way of runes, he supposed. Perhaps Aqua absorbed the water.

He approached the ice bubble that Elise was frozen in, and knelt by it. He had to wiggle a little, though, to dig in the edges of his armor in the ice so he wouldn't start sliding. He took off his right hand gloves, sheathed his sword, and placed his hand on the ice. A moment later, he trickled a very small amount of mana into his dragon finger, heating it up and starting a small fire on his hand. Due to the rune, the fire didn't hurt him- thank the lords. He took his time, melting the ice- again, the water just seemed to disappear as soon as the ice melted. As he worked, he began hearing a ringing sound, a pure, toneless sound. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that the water rune was already glowing- already absorbing the water, enhanced as-is by all the ice.

And then he was done. He had uncovered Elise, looking more peaceful than she ever has. The sight took his breath away, and he had to admit that to himself- she was beautiful. More so, now that she doesn't want to kill him. But then again, he had to kill her to get to that, and that sort of ruined it for him.

Taking care, he pried her from the makeshift coffin, wincing at the red ice, from where blood had been frozen with the normal ice. Digging his hands underneath her knees and shoulders, he lifted her up, gently, so as not to slip and fall. He didn't stand, but rather scooted himself around to avoid the slipperiness, and gently laid her back down, careful not to touch the Vitae rune that was right in front of him.

Now that Elise was laying on the Renascens, he moved around to sit cross-legged on the Imperium. Settling, he pulled off his left hand glove, and tossed it to the side with his right. Extending both hands out towards Elise, he used them as conduits for his mana. Chanting softly in the Runic language- because you can technically read the Runes, and some very old, very rare ruins have stories told with the runes- he moved substantial amounts of his mana through himself, out his hands, and to the waiting runes. Almost immediately, Renascens started sucking in his power, Imperium helping to keep it flowing steadily. From there, the other runes on the ice cave's floor began glowing, as they used the runic power of the Rising-Again rune.

He felt a twitch from Renascens; a little tug on his mana. Hurriedly, he clamped down on his power, using Imperium- but Renascens overpowered it, suddenly sucking mana out of him with terrifying speed. A lesser mage would already be dead; he just barely managed to stay awake as his vast reserves very suddenly- far too suddenly- were drained, completely emptied.

Barely conscious, he wavered, staring at Elise- who was glowing now, definitely glowing, taking the glow from all the other runes to pour into her.

That was all he managed before his mind went dark, and he fell backwards, very certainly unconscious.

Per Aspera Ad Astra - Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

@Willy Vereb

You can add in that you detected a hint of panic in that last message. It's certainly true- the QRTF might open fire on someone at any moment, at this rate.

Per Aspera Ad Astra - Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

You all are so mean!
How is one commander, completely out of his depth, supposed to handle all this shit?!

Per Aspera Ad Astra - Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

System Raudona Saulė (Red Star), Local Quick Response Task Force (QRTF)
The fleet did nothing for a short time, deccelerating and holding a steady position in relation to the 'amber' ship. After some moments, the fleet ceased targeting on the Enterprise, instead turning to the droneship to hold a defensive and possible offensive. As the other ships withdrew their weapon readiness and combat stations, the droneship activated and launched all its fighters.

Four identical streams of automated remote-controlled AI-driven drones spread from the top left, top right, lower left, and lower right long containers- about two hundred drones in total. They swarmed around the ship for a moment, before receiving updated orders and spreading out, guarding the droneship and the two cruisers on persistent, but random, courses.

Eventually, the heavy cruiser beamed back an audio message.

"Captain Kirk of the Enterprise, I am Commander Konzak of the SCSNS Tolimas Sūvis heavy cruiser. According to Foreign Contact Protocols, I am to escort you to a holding position to the nearest military installation and await the arrival of a Queen and her escorting fleet. Central Command has already been notified of your presence. Follow the heavy cruiser- the largest ship- and we will escort you to the given coordinates."

The SCSNS Tolimas Sūvis started its drives, accelerating and turning away, plotting a new course. The coordinates were given to the Enterprise- the largest asteroid in the system, well away from either of the two inhabitable planets.

There was maybe a minute's warning, the listening post contacting the Tolimas Sūvis to report another imminent departure at close range to the Enterprise. Then the fleet went on high alert as what appeared to be a battleship abruptly dropped out of warpspace in knife-fighting range of the Enterprise. It was up to the Enterprise on whether or not to open fire on the vessel, simply for being just too damn close, but the Storm fleet was well away from the both of them, and sought to retain that lead.

It didn't stop the fleet from going to full combat stations and locking active targeting systems onto the vessel. Another trespasser?

On the opposite side of the system, a Storm warfleet- a battleship, a carrier, and a multitude of smaller ships- dropped back into realspace, making for best time to the target- Enterprise and accompanying warship.

"Captain Kirk of the Enterprise, if you do not fire on the foreign vessel, then you will put distance between you and it and will not make contact. Repeat- you will not make contact with the vessel."

At the same moment, a message was sent towards the other ship-
Attention Amber Warship, stand down immediately and cease hostile activity. Repeat- stand down immediately or you will be fired upon. A major incident will occur if you continue targeting Storm vessels within Storm space. Reinforcements are en route; repeat, stand down immediately or we will be forced to take action against your vessel.

Commander Konzak was not liking this at all- he was trained with defending his systems against possible incursions, but these are unidentified ships seemingly randomly popping into this one very tight area, now. He promptly cried out when a third contact appeared on his map, even closer to the Enterprise than the battleship!

The fleet was getting antsy- a destroyer was far too close to the battleship, and didn't have the necessary armaments to take it out- namely, antimatter sublight torpedoes. Likewise, his entire fleet wasn't designed to take on battleships- provided that it's at least as good as a Storm battleship, he would be wiped out rather quickly. And then that derelict might have any sort of reactor, and a self-detonation or some sort or surprise weapon could take out the Enterprise, who are technically under his protection now that he's contacted them and started to escort them.

But- Thank the Tenderer- orders came straight in from Central Command- hold position, wait until the warfleet arrives to provide fire superiority and the proper leadership.

So he broadcasted on all channels-

Everyone is to stand down immediately or you will be declared enemies of the Storm Carapace System and then subject to systematic search and destruction of yourselves and your people. You will not have active sensors deployed and you will not have weapons at the ready, or you will be considered hostile and the weapon readiness as an act of war, so you will stand down immediately. Proper diplomats and authoritarian figures will be here shortly.

The Pale Princess

Valence grimly eyed the desperate angry soul that survived his attack. She was tough, but that might be attributed to the amulet that kept flaring up. No, she was courageous- she knew who she was searching for, and came anyways. Not as if he blamed her. He'd probably do the same thing, if someone murdered his mother.

He waited for her, letting her come at him. He wouldn't strike her while she was down, not if he wasn't close enough to make sure it all ended. But she was moving slower now, easier to predict, and she is fueled by anger, not steely determination. Her attacks are a little too wild, and she's a little too impulsive. She should've come at him slowly, carefully. Charging is never a good idea.

It seems putting down his shield gave him an advantage, in more ways than one.

As she charged forward, he let her reach maybe a foot outside her sword's tip, before he fired off another bolt of lightning- a much less powerful one, one that wouldn't kill. She was practically point blank and there is no way to dodge lightning. Her wards are down and she's charged straight into his hand. The bolt arced through her sword and into her body, likely fusing her hand to the sword and locking her muscles.

He spun, swiping aside the sword with his left mithril-coated wrist, turning fully about and using the momentum to drive the hilt of his sword into her face. To add to it, he simultaneously slipped his left foot under her right, and tugged forward. With her head being snapped back and her leg being pushed forward, she dropped to the ground, hard.

He stared down at her for a moment, knowing that she's incapacitated from the surge of electricity, bleeding from the punch to the nose, and hurting from dropping on her back. Quickly kneeling down next to her, he set his sword down by her fizzy blond hair. Cupping his right hand over her cheek, he drew a knife with his left. He stared down, compassionate, wide-eyed, and sorrowful, whispering in a foreign language- a chant, a death rite, of sorts.

"Princess Elise of the Vale, you fought well. May you see your loved ones again, and rest in peace. You fought admirably; your mother would be proud."

He stroked her cheek, knowing that her father will never do it again. In his own way, he mourned the loss of Elise, the Princess of the Vale. He admired and respected her- she was out of her league and kept going anyways, spurred on by something he had long lost the right to. And he truly, truly cared about this woman, who gave her life to bringing a monster to justice.

"If you have anything you want to say, any message at all, I will deliver it. I swear it, Princess. But you do not have time anymore, so I suggest you hurry with it."

Delphyne growled from above; without breaking his gaze on the fair maiden, he shushed her. The Wyvern responded by opening her wings and sort of gently dropping to the ground before the fallen princess and her to-be killer. From behind Valence's head came Delphyne's great scaly head, peering curiously at the creature who wished her bonded harm.

The Pale Princess

Delphyne watched, restless to join in and finish the fight, despite Valence's insistence on finishing it himself. Through her eyes, Valence saw her kick up the snow and try to use it as cover- a decent strategy if Valence didn't have two pairs of eyes on either side of her.

Either way, he pointed his right index finger, channeling enough power into it to burst into flames. The snow evaporated, and the flames parted rather harmlessly around the offending Princess, with her sword raised high. She made a mistake, however- she ran for his shield side. He brought up his arm, and her sword slashed through the upper edge, where the magic wasn't as strong, and stopped dead a couple inches away from his head, mana suddenly thrumming throughout the room as it radiated through the glowing red runes on his collar to stop the sword.

This near-death sort of thing brought Val into the game, with no turning back. He growled, and whipped out his sheathed mithril sword, the blade itself humming with energy down its half dozen runes.

"I am a monster so my people don't have to be!" he roared, genuinely insulted and stinging from the accusation, however true it may be. He had his shield at the ready to block whatever next attack she tried, as she withdrew her sword, but he didn't get her the moment to do so.

As her sword came back from the sudden magical halt, he brought his own to bear, swinging brutally fast and strong, powered by rune and training. And after that, came another strike, from another angle, and then a feint and another strike, greaves and vambraces shining with runic light as they powered his movements. He felt the mana leaving him, but he knew that he'd have to burn off substantially more to be left defenseless.

He didn't let her counterattack- he kept her on her guard, moving faster and more confidently than she, with speed learned in combat rather than in practice.

Abruptly, he leapt backwards, unclenching his fist- and dropping his shield- in favor of raising his hand. The moment he did so, he channeled more mana through, and a bolt of crackling lightning thundered from his hand, crossing the short distance he had put between them and smiting the warded Princess.

He didn't wait to see if she recovered- he let loose another bolt, the icy confines of the cave sending the thunder echoing endlessly around them, the ice reacting with cracks and pops as the thunder rumbled against it.

All the while, his teeth were clenched and he hoped, prayed, even, that she would slip and she would die, that she would be done. There is no joy in a prolonged fight, and if she did so happen to beat him, then his people were well and truly doomed.