Companions' Journey (Fantasy RP) (Closed/Dead)

[RBMidknight]

After looking curiously at the snake Companion, Kadence turned to walk forward again. She patted her vest and fumbled around for Pru's map. After a few seconds she gave up and nodded once in reply to Lev's statement. "Right, the town is just up ahead. I'm sure they have a place where we can sit down and rest."

As his partner spoke, Garret fell behind the group and tilted his head up. He curled his lip up and bared his teeth silently up at one of the nearby trees before padding forward to walk beside his partner. Kadence, focused on conversing, didn't notice the silent action but she did get a mixture of signals from the wolf that she was unable to follow. Kadence kept walking but held her hand out to her side. The wolf moved closer to his partner and Kadence's hand dropped back to her side.

Prudence was still standing on the side of the road. Sue was perched on the girl's shoulder. Kadence frowned as she realized that her friend looked displeased. Then she recalled the girl's nervousness when they had first found Viktoria and Lev. 'I forgot she doesn't like strangers... Kadence 'hmmed' quietly and walked a bit faster, altering her path to head for the young noble.[footnote]I couldn't find a phrase for the noise I wanted...[/footnote]

 

[Bmb]

"Zestia, hope you haven't forgotten about me, have you?" said Badelin to brake the silence while standing up and slowly making his way to the edge of the branch with delicacy equalled only by that of a trapeze artist.

"Your indifference towards me makes me feel most wretched indeed, does it not?" he ironically asked. Using the endurance and speed of his trustworthy steed, he took what could only be described as a leap of faith. It looked as if he would be completely pulverized by the ground as he quickly picked up speed during his free fall but at the very last moment, he grabbed a branch and swung from it with enough momentum to land in the middle of the road. The impact was still strong enough to blow up his hood, revelling underneath the light, silver armor before coming back down again and completely enveloping the silhouette thus leaving nothing to be seen.

"I hope I am not barging in on the conversation..." he said while standing up and dusting off "....pun not intended....."

Badelin then began to walk towards what seemed the newly formed party. When close to Zestia, he humorously told her "No need to worry, I am aright" and then moved on towards the rest. Something which resembled a gray Grim Reaper, minus the scythe, didn't really inspired trust or confidence. Badelin was blatantly aware of this so he stopped a few feet away from the new arrivals and presented himself..although he never made an effort to reveal his face or the rest of his body for that matter.

"Where are my manners? My name is Badelin. I hope you don't quickly jump and abruptly land on a decision regarding me......pun not intended.... I assure you I will not be a matter to worry about. Quite on the contrary, if I may be of assistance, you need only to ask.

 

[Lambi]

"Excuse me for a moment. I had almost forgotten you. I didn't know where you had gone after we approached these seemingly nice people." Zestia said and chuckled. She was a bit impressed by Badelin's air maneuver, though he could have injured himself. She was glad he was alright, though. She then kept walking with the others towards Meyerill.

 

[Blasphemous Rex]

"Please don't say that they are going to be coming with us," Prudence said. "I really don't like the looks of them."

 

[RBMidknight]

'So that's what's wrong...' Kadence sighed quietly at Pru's statement before replying. "It seems we've agreed to sit down and talk, and hopefully eat, once we get to Meyerill." Kadence frowned. "If you'd rather travel with less people...[small]or alone...[/small]" she said hesitantly to the young noble, "just say so. But let's get out of this weather before making any major decisions."

Garret huffed his agreement. Though he only truly understood the 'eat' part of the conversation. And that was all he needed to hear. The wolf shook himself briskly and continued to walk down the road and up the hill. Kadence glanced between her companion and Prudence, momentarily torn. As she hesitated she heard a male voice behind her offering assistance.

At the top of the slope Garret sat down. His tail brushed up dirt from the ground. Kadence looked back and saw that there was a new person in the mix. 'Where did he come from?' she wondered. 'We'll have to do introductions once we get into town.'. And perhaps once they reached an establishment, weren't so out in the open, Prudence would relax a bit.

Kadence jogged up the small hill to join her Companion. She let out a deep sigh of relief as the town became immediately visible. She stopped at the top of the hill and took in the view as she waited for the others to catch up.

When the rest of the group was within speaking distance Kandence began half-walking, half-stumbling down the slope of the hill. The group approached the main gates.

"Welcome to Meyerill." Kadence said.

 

[Bmb]

"Not exactly a talkative bunch, are you?" said Badelin quite softly with a pungent sense of irony in his voice while shaking his head in disapproval. He then whistled quite loudly, a call sign which got the attention of Dax who began to run towards the young assassin. Without stopping, Badelin jumped on Dax's saddle and rode until he reached the gates of Meyerill, stopping next to the lass with the leather vest.

"Welcome to Meyerill" she said.

"Ah yes, Meyerill! The city in which men give you funny looks and are as likely to stab you as they are to greet you! But do not under any circumstances despair, there are many more pleasures to be had in this glorious city." he ironically remarked towards the rest of the group.

"Perhaps now you newcomers will be benevolent enough to grace my ears with your voices, will you not?"

 

[Lambi]

Zestia heard what the woman who had stayed behind said, but pretended she hadn't heard it. Then the woman that had approached her and the man she was talking to earlier welcomed them to Meyerill.

"Thank you." Zestia said to the woman in a soft voice. Then she heard Badelin.

You may be a fellow assassin, but your mouth is bigger than your companion's. Zestia thought and giggled at the thought. He didn't seem to be as graceful as she was.

 

[Pandalisk]

Viktorya half listened as she walked into the heavenly shade that the gate produced. She blew hair out of her eyes with what also doubled as a sigh of relief, the coolness of the breath on her face was almost estatic, she thought fondly of her home regions more colder climate.

Her attention turned to that of her companion, he also seemed agitated from the extreme heat, she could not help but feel sorry for the poor bear, his tongue partched. Her first mission in this town would be to locate water, less Ursa's persisting discomfort lead to more dangerous forms of conveying his said discomfort than the air of anger and frustration he was currently adopting.

She decided a stroke of his head, a flick of the ear and dry kiss on the his furry head would be reward enough before she could find him something more substantial.

 

[Blasphemous Rex]

Prudence looked around at the new place. She remembered it from way back when she had left to go and find her companion -- Sue -- but it didn't look at all like the last time she had been there. It was quite easy for her to figure out why; She was young, and the town had grown since then, too.

It was very odd for her to come back, mainly because she had never expected to. After Durkon had taken Pru home she had already realized that her father would take huge measures to ensure she stayed put. They all ultimately failed, of course, but the reason was still clear: "I'm never going to let you leave my sights again."

Sue also recognized the small city, and chirped happily with excitement. Prudence regained her smile as she removed any thoughts of her family, calmed by her faithful friend.

 

[Baldrek]

Lev had followed Kadence and was now frowning at the cloaked man that had earlier made his presence known though an utterly ridiculous aerial manoeuvre. And who had now approached them on what he guessed was his companion after yet another stunt.

"Please don't say that they are going to be coming with us," What he had heard Prudence say earlier came to mind again, and he actually found himself agreeing with her for once, or at least in part. He still wouldn't really mind Zestia coming along, she seemed skilled, with confidence in those skills, yet still cautious enough to avoid risks if she could. But now there was the issue of the baggage that followed her.

Badelin's display of skill had not impressed him, in fact it had served to achieve the complete opposite, as the respect he had for this stranger had instantly hit rock bottom at his truly ridiculous, and not to mention unnecessary, stunt. Travelling with such an overly confident, and his attitude and speech suggested also arrogant, person would hamper them far more than it would help. A team was not a one man show, and if you think of it like that, then people like him would just get in the way for everybody else. Or, in the worst case, end up wasting valuable supplies when some idiotic stunt backfired on him.

As Badelin kept on spewing out lines from a bad novel, he finally asked if they would be "...benevolent enough to grace my ears with your voice..." before stalling, to which Lev answered.

"If that is what it will take to ultimately get us our destination without anymore acts of daring or useless chatter, then yes. I will 'Grace your ears with my voice' if only for a short while. Now, I'm fairly certain I smell cooking just up ahead, which means that there's probably some place we can eat right on the other side of the gate, meet you there." At this point it was pretty clear that Lev had about as little patience as when Zestia had first talked to him, and the sun still wasn't helping, fancy that...

 

[Bmb]

Badelin turned towards the scarred mad and looked down upon him from the high position which Dax offered. He slightly nodded his head in a disbelief manner and then said:

" Clearly, you are most pleased of my presence and have done much to hide it in your tone, have you not? Well it is either that or I am a horrid interpreter of vocal and body signs. In any case, you are correct. There is a tavern not too far from here. I know the owner from my previous visits here so I am sure he'll be more then willing to give us favourable prices for what he has to offer . The drinks are delightful but if you plan on eating, do not under any circumstances order porridge. I have made that mistake once and I kid you not, the porridge moved."

Badelin then gave Dax a gentle nudge which determined him to start moving. He looked one more time at the scarred man, briefly analysing him from head to toe after which he changed his view ahead.

 

[Lambi]

Zestia just watched as Badelin continued blabbering, her face mostly expressionless. How in the world he became an assassin is beyond me. She walked behind the man she had talked to earlier, and walked a bit faster to catch up with him. When she was beside him, she whispered to him "I can understand if you don't want him with you. He seems to be on his high horse, if you'll pardon the pun. I can assure you, I'm not very fond of him either." She stopped her whispering and gave the man a smile, then looked forwards and walked into the city. It looked so beautiful, was the only thing Zestia could think. Shade looked uninterested, but then again, he only liked Zestia and her father, and never showed his fangs unless Zestia told him to.

 

[RBMidknight]

Kadence sighed as Lev and the rider spoke, or rather exchanged thinly veiled insults. She found the hooded man's behavior strange, but she did not comment on it. 'Perhaps Pru was right...' she thought. It seemed as though not everyone would get along. 'This group may end up rather small.' the messenger thought as she watched the man urge his horse forward.

Though she herself could not tell that there was food nearby, Garret's muzzle kept rising in the air and he was sending waves of impatience to his partner. Kandence gathered from the wolf's twitching tail that Lev and the mounted man, 'Badelin, was it?,' were correct.

'Good.' she thought. 'Maybe after we eat we can straighten things out.'. Like what to do next.

As the group walked passed the guardhouse a single man sitting in front of the building called each person over to record their information. His call was enforced by the armored guards on either side of the road. One of the guards abruptly left his post entirely and approached Badelin, who was the last to be called over.

"Sir." he said loudly, placing himself in front of the man and his horse. "I'm going to have to ask you to dismount." The leather-armored man stood with his back straight in a tight stance as he waited for the man to comply.

Kadence, having just finished giving her information, frowned slightly and turned to look at the new guard. As she did so the seated guard decided he had taken enough of group's information and turned to walk into the guardhouse.



"Captain" The Lieutenant rapped twice on the solid wooden door, then waited a few seconds. When there was no answer he leaned forward slightly, putting his head near the door. There was the sound of muffled arguing, and then the sharp sound of something being shattered. The guard tensed and started to put his hand to his sword.

Mid-way through the motion the door burst open and a young boy ran past the startled guard. The armored man blinked and took in the angry expression and ink stained hands. Then with his next blink the boy was gone, running out of the guardhouse and into the street.

The day-shift guard turned his confused expression to the Captain who slowly walked to the doorway. The older man sighed heavily.

"What is it?" the Captain asked. He made no move to explain the noise or the boy.

The guard straightened up into a stiff stance. "Eight more travelers just entered. We have most of their information." The man handed his Captain the report.

"Most?" The Captain echoed as he took the short report and quickly skimmed through it. 'Such a strange group.' he noted. The Captain nodded and walked over to place the report on his desk. Then he paused with a sigh.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Captain Hunter said in a dismissive tone as he sat down heavily in his chair. The report remained in his hand. The remnants and shards of his ink bottle glittered on the floor where it shattered. Ink ran down his desk and onto the floor. The Captain's own morning report was ruined.

The Lieutenant leaned into the room and his eyes widened at the mess. He debated asking if the Captain required assistance. Then he decided against the notion. The Lieutenant nodded briskly, saluted the Captain, and walked back down the short hall to the main door.

 

[Baldrek]

'Arrogant indeed...'

Every time Badelin opened his mouth Lev's first impression was reinforced, and it seemed that he had pretty much hit the bullseye with his assumptions. And to top it off his sentences, stories, jokes, or whatever it was meant to be, was just getting more and more ridiculous. Lev had just muttered "Cooked grain that moves... A likely story..." in a nearly inaudible voice that caused Tatiana to look at him somewhat quizzically, when he noticed the dark-clad woman walk up next to him.

"I can understand if you don't want him with you. He seems to be on his high horse, if you'll pardon the pun. I can assure you, I'm not very fond of him either." Before smiling and walking up to the front of the group. 'You don't say. Perhaps this might work out after all.' Lev thought as he also walked over to the gate, where the guardsmen on duty recorded them before letting them pass. Except for Badelin it seemed, as they were very insistent that he should dismount before entering, which caused Lev to smirk briefly.

He and Tatiana continued into the town, walking a little ahead of the others as they looked for the inn, both human and tiger following the scent of cooking which drifted lazily into the street. After a little while they came upon a rather roomy establishment, at least for a town this size, where a wonderful aroma of roasted fowl greeted them as they stepped through the door. Without even noticing the name of the inn, Lev walked up to the counter and ordered a mug of ale, a bowl of water, a good sized chunk of meat, and "...some of that lovely smelling fowl."

 

[Bmb]

"I beg your pardon, my kind sir. Why am I to dismount?" asked Badelin with confidence "If this is a preventive measure that no harm will be done to the citizens of this city, then I assure you that neither me or this fine steed shall cause problems which would require the intervention of noble guards such as yourself"

 

[RBMidknight]

'Looks like there might be trouble already.' Kadence thought as she looked at the guard and mounted man. Kadence began to walk away from the guardhouse. As she turned she noticed a boy run from the back of the guardhouse to one of the connecting side streets. None of the guards made a move to stop the boy. It was a curious thing, but Kadence didn't know this town or its people, so she kept the odd sight to herself. Maybe it was just one of the guard's children...

Kadence followed Lev, or rather Garret followed Lev and Kadence followed her Companion. As she walked down the street she looked around the businesses and establishments. She spotted a butcher's shop, and a bakery. Both of these places she made an effort to remember as she would need to go by them later for supplies.

The streets, Kadence noticed, were not as crowded as the ones in Gemmel. Kadence saw small children, and women, and a handful of workers. There seemed to be an absence of men which Kadence found odd. 'Perhaps it's because there was a celebration in Gemmel.' she thought. 'Maybe I'm not used to a normal town... Still feeling rather curious about the town as a whole, Kadence reached the inn. She held open the door for her Companion and glanced back to see if any of the others in the group were on their way.

Seeing no one immediately Kadence entered the Four Courts inn and walked up to the counter. Kadence waiting until the Innkeeper was finished with Lev before ordering her own meal of bread, water, and a small bowl of soup. For her Companion Kadence ordered two medium sized pieces of meat and a bowl of water. The silent Innkeeper nodded his head and left to give both orders to the cooks.

Kadence walked over to a nearby table and sat down. The tired wolf let out a soft sigh and lay down on the floor at Kadence's feet. The messenger frowned slightly and leaned down to pat the tired animal gently.



The tired guard sighed and raised his spear before giving his command again. One of the other guards stepped forward as well. "I'm sorry...sir," the first guard said, the formality coming out a bit forced, "but visitors are not permitted to remain riding in our town. It's a law. Once you leave our town you may do as you wish." It was in fact, a new law, and a temporary one. Which the guards were hard-pressed to enforce. But with every new traveler came a potential victim, and a potential suspect, in the Captain's eyes. And the Captain preferred his suspects easily retrievable.

The Lieutenant remained focused on filling out his new report sheet and did not look up.

 

[Bmb]

A long pause stood between the guards and the scythe-less Grim Reaper until Badelin finally gave up and said "You've made your point, have you not?" He dismounted Dax and then walked a bit away from the guardhouse towards the city.

"Out of curiosity..." the assassin said while climbing back on Dax's saddle, but facing the other way, towards the guards "....what exactly would stop a visitor to get right back up on his horse after clearing the guardhouse and easily escaping into the streets of the city?"

 

[RBMidknight]

"That would be me." said in a deep, slow voice from the guardhouse doorway. Owen Hunter, Captain of the Guard, thirty five and battle hardened, stepped outside of the guardhouse. As soon as the man entered the sunlight he put his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly.

In front of Badelin, four guards emerged. Each one came from a different side street. Patrolmen, each of them, who had been out doing their rounds but knew better than to ignore their Captain's call. Three of the four guards had spears, the fourth had two sword sheaths strapped to his sides. Each man put his weapon in front of his body and walked forward, creating a human and metal barrier in front of Dax and his rider. The harsh sunlight glinted off of the freshly polished metal as the men moved in sync. The guards next to the guardhouse walked forward as well, creating a side barrier around the rider and horse. The people in the street, noticing the guards' movement, immediately made way for the men and found alternate routes to their destinations. They did not make a fuss, only allowed the men to do their jobs. The citizens trusted their guards. Especially since most of the guards were family.

"Or, I should say, them. And me." The Captain's expression was stern. This was his town, and his people. And no loudmouth visitor was going to be breaking his rules. Not matter how...delicately...they spoke.

Walking forward with deliberate steps, the Captain approached Badelin and his mount. "You will dismount, and remain off of your horse for the duration of your stay, or you will leave this town immediately." he said. His voice neither rose nor lowered but remained at a steady level.

The Lieutenant, finally noticing something was amiss, looked up and cringed. 'This...is not going to look good on my review.' To make up for his distraction the young Lieutenant gestured to two of the remaining guards and they began to setup the 'information recording' station a distance away from the commotion.

 

[Bmb]

Badelin just stood there, in silence, observing every move made around him. The silence was only broken by his small laughter and the shake of his head in a disbelief manner.

"I do apologize but I find this most humorously indeed. So you will let a 500 kg polar bear and a 200 kg Siberian tiger and their armed, human companions in without any problem at all, yet an unarmed traveller and his horse is a matter of town security requiring an entire detachment to create a circus? I am sorry but you must surely understand how silly this is from my point of view"

 

[Lambi]

Zestia had walked past all the commotion and was well away from it, following Kadence, the woman she had spoken to briefly, and Lev, the man she had spoken to as well, into an inn. She saw them both ordering and she was a bit hungry herself, so she walked up to the counter as well and ordered a steak, an ale and whispered if they had some rats or something for Shade. If not, another steak would be good enough for him. When the Innkeeper had taken her order, she sat down at the same table as Kadence. Shade looked at her and the wolf.

"I don't believe I've introduced myself. Zestia Dakron. And this is Shade." She patted Shade's head, and he tickled her cheek in return.