Journey of the Elementals RP (Pm if Interested, Started)

[UnusualStranger]

As Alexander made his way to the upper decks, with Nydia not too far behind, However, the crew seem largely unsettled, as the mists seemed to be somewhat thinner than yesterday. The entire crew seemed somewhat unsettled by the entire experience, and Aaron was walking towards the steps to greet the coming mages.

"Now that I think about it, you have no damned idea where the mess area is. Keep going straight towards the other set of stairs, and the mess hall is right down there. We just got some eggs, bread, and water, but I figure that should do for the few hours until we arrive." Aaron said, waving them in the general direction of the stairs.

While he did so, another soldier approached, and spoke with Aaron.
"Sir, we will be to the city within the hour...though, I wonder where the patrols are. We should have been noticed by now." The soldier said, obviously not exactly happy about events.

"Don't worry about it. We have time yet." Aaron said simply, and the soldier walked away.

[hr]

Seth blinked, not instantly realizing the sound which had awoken him from his rest. As he sat up rubbing his eyes and stretching, he realized that his shadow seemed to be doing very little. He watched carefully, and proceeded to put on his usual clothes and attire, making sure his blade was secured like before, and that his robes and clothes prepared.

"Well.....lets go, right? Try not to push me into anything....stupid today, alright?" Seth said to the shadow, who nodded in response. While he wasn't sure if that was true or not, he let it go for now, as he was more hungry than he was worried about the shadow.

Opening the door, he noted Raven and Phebe seemed to have met up...or something. He figured it best to leave them both be for the time, and walked the other way towards the stairs, stretching and yawning as he did so.

[hr]

The Prime Minister looked over the sky, not having gotten any rest as they had continued to fly. He kept on moving about, looking over the edges of the airship at the front. While his yellow eyes did stand out from many of usual eye color, they seemed to be glowing slightly brighter than they really should be. From time to time he would seem to mutter to himself, and kept walking and looking over the edges.

The heavily armed guards, who had accompanied the Prime Minister, did not leave the front of the ship either. Not doing much movement or anything, but their eyes and blades showed enough intent to make it seem like they were willing to move in an instant.

 

[CounterAttack]

Gabriel was standing at one end of a long corridor, its walls made of plain grey stone. He could only tell which way he was facing by the blackness at the end of the corridor. So it wasn't a prison cell: he had heard stories of rooms that could only be unsealed from the outside. No walls, no door, no windows, nothing whatsoever to speak of. Just plain stone walls.

He could sense that someone had their eyes on him. Turning around in the corridor, he only saw more of the same grey stone. He didn't know where to go, or what to do. No-one was there, but he could still feel eyes on him... then his vision turned dark for a moment, and someone moved out of the space that his body occupied. A familiar someone: himself. More accurately, his shadow. The one the spirit had left behind on the airship.

The darkened version of Gabriel turned and affixed him with its blank stare. Gabe studied it carefully... something was different from what he remembered. Its eyes... something was wrong with its eyes. Before he could properly discern the change, his shadow turned away, beckoning for him to follow before it began to glide down the hall. Gabriel immediately broke into a swift walk: his shadow sped up, its robes trailing behind it.

Gabriel pursued the muted-colour version of himself, focused so intently on catching up to it that he failed to notice it stop, and shift to the side ever so slightly to allow him to pass. The young Hydromancer bolted straight into a new chamber. This one appeared to have no walls whatsoever... just a vast expanse of stars amid a sea of black. Dark clouds of smoke swirled under his feet, seeming to provide a solid floor on which to walk.

All of a sudden, bright shafts of lightning began to burst to life, seemingly starting from and ending in nowhere at all. They were just there... it was strange. The light from the lightning revealed six grand stone statues arranged in a circle around a central point. But Gabriel could not clearly see anything within the ring; it was just an odd blur. He turned his attention to the statues... and found that he recognised them all from his textbooks.

Alainia. Dorrokan. Loriot. Howleson. Jorrano. And Sitheria. The six members of the Council, the Gods to whom many prayed. Each statue towered over Gabriel, though that was unsurprising.

Gabriel's shadow placed a hand on his shoulder before passing him by. It stopped at the base of the statue of Alainia, turning back to the young Hydromancer. There the shadow began to gesture to the statues, the lightning bolts coursing through the place, and the misshapen blur in the middle of the room. It was trying to tell Gabriel something, but it could not speak, Gabe knew.

He studied the statues again, looking for something, anything, that could tell him what this was all about. Then, as a bell began to ring off in the distance, it hit Gabriel. It practically slapped him in the face.

There were seven Gods on the Council. Not six.

As the ringing sound in his dream got louder, Gabriel sat bolt upright in his bed with a low gasp of shock. That had been a bit more than a dream, he could tell... he remembered it as clear as the basics of his studies. The sound of the bell didn't let up: it was what had drawn him back to the land of the living. Someone was ringing it.

Gabriel didn't know what to do... what was going on? Was the airship under attack again? If so, he had been an idiot to lock his door. He hurriedly dressed, pulling on a clean shirt and pants, and unlocked the door to find his shadow standing there, waiting for him. There appeared to be no sense of urgency whatsoever... Gabriel had misinterpreted it. A false alarm.

Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, he nudged his way past his shadow and headed out into the corridor. A good portion of the other mages were already up and about, including some that he had seen earlier. Gabe's stomach growled at him: he hadn't eaten much, if anything, since before boarding the airship back at the Academy. Perhaps it was breakfast time: he could definitely agree to that.

One of his fellow mages had just reached the top of the stairs, the hem of a white robe disappearing out of Gabriel's sight. He hurried after the Lightdweller, for the person was undoubtedly one: white was the chosen colour of the mages who worked with light and healing. Perhaps they knew where the dining area was, and Gabriel certainly didn't. But if they didn't know either, it was better to be lost with someone else rather than alone, he reasoned.

All the while, a small part of Gabriel's mind was still on that... Dream? Vision? Premonition? He didn't know what it was. Perhaps explaining it to someone could help. And all the while his shadow followed him, a strange glint in its eyes.

 

[SkyeNeko]

"Pfft... hehe..." Fei covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. Her shadow and her brother's shadow were staring as she stuck another paper crane on top of the bundle that was her brother. He was a heavy sleeper, so sometimes when she was waiting for him to wake up she stacked things on top of him. It was easy to do at their house, or even in their rooms at the dorms, since there were a lot of books and bowls and stuff. Here all she had was paper. She managed to make 20 cranes in the time she had been awake, stacking them on the blanket. Under that was her bag, and her pillow. It wasn't a big pile, but it was amusing to see.

She was pretty good at making the cranes. She would ask her brother to fly them in the air. I wonder how it is to fly by yourself... this is kinda like flying though, right? It's not very exciting in here. Maybe I should wake Drew up so we can do something... I wonder how it would be to have wings. Maybe they have metal wings I can borrow in Kerbones! Drew can help me fly then! The paper in her hand quickly formed another bird and joined the pile. If I fold all of them now... I won't have anything to do until we land! I wonder how much longer we have...

She got up and went to the door, cracking it open and looking out. Some of the mages she saw before were going out. She didn't see anyone she knew though, and quickly retreated back into her brother's room. "Fei, do you get hungry?" It was weird calling the shadow her name. "Do you like dolls?" She took out a brush from her bag, fixing her black hair into pigtails. "It would be nicer if you talked to me sometimes..."

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

As Nydia was wandering in search of the dining area, she ran into the Prime Minister's assistant Aaron. He was kind enough to point her in the right direction, so she thanked him with a smile and bow before heading in the direction he had indicated. She felt someone nudge her from behind and turned to see it was Shadow Nydia. "Oh? Is something the matter?" Nydia asked her shadow and as she did so she spotted another mage and his shadow coming up the stairs behind her. Normally, she would simply give a polite greeting before going on her way but she noticed that he was one of the younger ones to come along.

Since she had promised Master Rotunz that she would look after ones such as him, it would probably be a good idea to introduce herself. As he drew closer, she took a deep breath and prepared to greet him. "Good morning to you!" She began, giving a friendly smile and her usual bow. Once again, she was delighted to see Shadow Nydia bow as well. "I don't believe we've been introduced. Nydia Freecs, Lightdweller Adept at your service." Giving her element was probably pointless and her rank unnecessary, but Nydia felt it was an important part of introducing herself and did so regardless.

 

[NeoAC]

Raven wasn't expecting a voice from behind her. She turned around, an older woman was standing there, the archer from before. She remembered her hanging around the darker corridors at the academy, one of those multi-classing types. Trying to cover two bases? Thinking your special? Ha, get over yourself. Still the question she asked was pertinent. The second one anyway.

"Raven," she answered Phebe's implied question with her usual hushed manner. "And your guess is as good as mine right now. I would have thought that they would have at least provided some kind of direction as to where the food is stashed. But I guess that would be too much to ask considering they haven't given us direction on much of anything on this trip."

As she search her brain for any clue as to the whereabouts of the mess hall, Seth passed by, almost in a daze. From the looks of it, he was still asleep. He had an idea on where to go however.

"Might as well just follow Seth," she told Phebe. "He seems to have this place figured out. Better than me anyway."

 

[CounterAttack]

"Gabriel Westmar, Hydromancer Mage, at yours and your family's," Gabriel answered, performing an identical bow to the Lightdweller and her shadow. Common sense dictates that if someone bows to you and you're less magically talented than the bower, you bow straight back. However, Gabriel's shadow did not bow. Instead it hung back and observed the conversation.

"I apologise for not wearing my robes: I usually only wear them for special occasions or events that are not day-to-day occurrences," he added, imagining that he would look a bit out of place without the most obvious symbol of magekind. "But I digress... you wouldn't happen to be on your way to some sort of dining area, would you? I don't exactly know my way around the airship."

Gabe briefly wondered how much this Nydia person knew about the Gods and suchlike... he needed a critical thinker to talk to, preferably someone who was highly knowledgeable about the Council. He needed someone to help him understand what the dream meant, because it undoubtedly meant something.

Briefly he went over the people he knew on the airship: Fei was definitely a no-go. Drew was a possibility, but Gabe didn't know him all that well. Alexander too was a possibility, and he was of the same Element as Nydia. Seth... Gabriel somehow doubted that Seth would provide clear answers. He hadn't been very forthcoming on previous subjects.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

Phebe nodded, as Seth passed them by. He didn't seem very awake, but at least he was moving and if he was sleepwalking he would probably need help...

"Indeed, but maybe they expect us to use our magic to find these things..." She snorted, looked at Raven and grinned. "Well, it's nice meeting you Raven."

Phebe had kept to herself, so far and getting to know the others might be crucial. If they were going to fight and travel together. She would like to get to know them, to find out if they could be trusted or not. It would be a good thing if they actually trusted her too. She needed to socialize, even though that had never really been her strong side.

She went in the direction Seth had gone. She didn't need to make sure the shadow was following her.

"So, Raven, what do you think these shadow.. stalker.. things are for?" She asked, trying to make small talk and because she was genuinely interested in finding out.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Drew grumbled as the bell rang, reaching up and rubbing his eyes right around the time Fei checked the door. "Fucking hell... thought getting away from the academy meant I wouldn't have to be dealing with..." he heard a couple things fall to the floor, and noticed all the stuff on him. "Very funny, Fei..." he said, sarcasm and annoyance dripping from every syllable. "Nice job with all the cranes, but don't you think you're a little old to be doing this?"

He didn't want to be like everyone else at the academy who kept barking orders at him to his sister, but sometimes he did wish Fei would grow up a little. He lifted up a bunch of the cranes, spilling the rest onto the floor. His hair was a little more messy than usual, but he tried to straighten it out with a couple gusts. He stretched as he placed the cranes down, reaching for a spare robe he had. He really was glad he had these custom made, considering it took almost no effort for him to get it on and off. A good investment on my part. And the folks said it was a waste of money... he chuckled to himself.

"So how long have you been up, Fei? You know you need to get some sleep." He started heading to the door "I'm gonna have to ask some questions. Mostly where one can get a shower in this joint, and where I can get somethin' to eat. They might have said so before, but I wasn't really paying attention..."

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

Nydia's smile broadened as Gabriel returned her bow. It was always a pleasure to meet someone as well mannered as she, so it seemed as though she and Gabriel would get along quite well. "A pleasure to meet you, Gabriel. And no need to apologize. I suppose now that we're away from the Academy, we're no longer obligated to wear our robes. I simply have grown accustomed to dressing this way." Nydia replied. It was strange to hear someone apologize to her for the way they were dressed, but she decided not to dwell on it much.

Upon hearing that he was searching for the dining area, Nydia was silently thankful that she had just learned it's locations only moments before meeting Gabriel. "Ah, yes I was just heading to get some breakfast myself actually. I'm afraid I don't know the layout of the ship any better than you most likely, but someone was kind enough to show me the way." She told him, gesturing towards the stairs that Aaron had directed her to. She was starting to notice that Gabriel seemed to have something on his mind. It wouldn't be proper of her to inquire into such matters so soon after meeting him though.

What was it that Master Rotunz had told me again? 'I cannot simply be a big sister, it has to happen as such' I believe it went. I suppose that means one would need to come to think of me in such a way, rather than me attempting to force them to trust me so. Yes, that makes sense. If I'm to keep my promise, I should spend some time with Gabriel then. Nydia pondered her next course of action for a brief moment before continuing to speak. "Would you care to accompany me, Gabriel? I tend to eat alone, so having someone join me would be a nice change of pace I believe."

 

[SkyeNeko]

"But cranes are beautiful!" She stood up and collected a few off the floor, intending to float them off the deck later. "Did you know they can grow up to as tall as you??? I want to see a crane some time. Do you maybe think one could carry me? I'm not very heavy..." Fei paced around the room as she talked, not at all fazed by her brother's sarcasm. "I went to sleep last night. I had exactly eight hours of sleep!" She held up eight fingers, four on each hand. "But I woke up early. I don't like the beds here. You sleep good no matter where we are... and you always wake up late!"

She jumped up on his bed when he got up, bouncing a little. "I can make you a shower! There's a lot of fog, so it'll be easy! I don't know if there's any water here though. I didn't feel any when we were upstairs. Wouldn't that make the ship really heavy if they had water here? When we were on the boat with Mama we could filter out the salt from the water and reuse it. The salt was good when she cooked though. I remember trying to drink a cup of salt water once. Now that I think about it, I didn't get as sick as mama said I would. Do you think I was good with magic then, too? I want to be the youngest Weaver ever! But to do that I have to learn how to make ice..." She got sad again. "Do you think I'll be able to practice my magic where we're going? Gabriel's not very good with ice. I only brought a few books on it..."

 

[Mr. Omega]

Drew managed to filter through most of Fei's talking to get the important points. "You can probably practice once we land. I'm sure you'll get the hang of making ice if you keep practicing. As for a shower... I meant more along the lines of somewhere private. Anyway, let's get going." He decided not to reply to her comments on his sleeping habits, wanting get out of the room as soon as possible.

 

[SkyeNeko]

Fei quickly got up and followed her brother out of the room, motioning for her shadow to follow. She didn't want to leave it in her brother's room all alone. What if she got lonely, or worse, started talking? Fei didn't want to miss that. She felt a little better walking with the shadow. It was like a friend already. "Do you like cranes? You can have this one~" she whistled. Of course the paper bird just floated to the ground, but she smiled nonetheless.

When they got to the top deck Fei pouted in disappointment. It wasn't very wet outside anymore. "Aww... I didn't use all of the water, did I? If there's no more water vapor, there's no more rainbows..."

 

[NeoAC]

Raven glanced over at the two dark figures still following both herself and Phebe. They didn't seem to be doing anything but keeping the pace set by the leaders. "I have no idea," she admitted to Phebe. "They seem to just be guarding us or something, but I haven't seen them do anything, or react or whatever. They're just...there."

They came towards the stairs and the smell of sizzling eggs was starting to waft up towards the upper floor. "At least it smells like they've got something edible down this way," she noted.

 

[CounterAttack]

"I would like that very much. Thank you," Gabriel answered, falling into step beside the older woman. As they made their way over to the stairs Nydia had indicated - she was leading the way - Gabe considered asking about his strange dream now, or waiting until both he and Nydia were a tad more awake. Breakfast would help with that, depending on what was available. His train of thought derailed a little when he wondered whether the Kerbones people had a fully stocked kitchen and dining area... but he doubted they had an equal to the Academy's kitchens aboard a single airship.

Bringing his thoughts back to his earlier issue, Gabriel elected to wait until after breakfast to ask Nydia about the Divine Council. Such things were better discussed once they got to know each other a bit better, rather than working with simple introductions.

 

[UnusualStranger]

As Seth continued to walk towards the upper deck, his nose quickly picked up the scent of cooking eggs, and he made his way towards that. He was just slightly aware of Raven and Phebe being a small distance behind, but then he still didn't consider that too important. His rest had not been a particularly pleasant one, and until something more requiring attention happened, he wasn't planning on doing much.

Stepping down the stairs into the mess area, it was easy to see where the food was being served. There were just a few guards enjoying their meals, scattered about at the few seats here or there. All enjoying the basic meals that had been brought along for the trip.

The cooks, noting the strange faces that were coming to his food area, quickly served up plates filled with eggs and bread, and some water to drink, eyeing some milk that he had before deciding against it. Seth, seeing the opportunity to get some good food in himself, quickened his pace, thanked the cook, and sat with the eggs and got eating.

He glanced at his shadow as he watched him eat, and suddenly noted that there was something....different about him. He would look more into it later, but right now it was something worth thinking about.

So....you do change huh? Well, going to have to see what that means later....When I am more awake, and full. Maybe you should get something to eat too. But you won't, cause you don't need it, right?

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

"Guarding us?" Phebe considered that possibility, but dismissed it. "I don't need a guardian. I've survived worse situations alone..."

She could also feel the smell and followed Seth, which didn't acknowledge her or Raven.

I guess he's not in a talkative mood today, but he could have said hello...

She had days when she prefered not talking with anyone, so she didn't really hold it against him. He had been nice enough towards her yesterday.

She walked down the stairs, into the mess area. A few guards, but besides Seth there didn't seem to be any other mages gathered here yet.

She took a plate from the cook, with a slight nod of her head towards him. She wondered if she should take a seat next to Seth or wait for Raven to get her food. She decided to wait, since they had kind of come here together.

"Do you need that thing to guard you then?"

She didn't actually know how good at fighting the girl was and if Phebe were to fight, she would use her Pyromancer powers, as they felt more suited for that.

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

"Wonderful! Now we simply have to find the dining area..." Nydia said with a nod. Gabriel didn't seem to have much else to say after that, so she focused her attention on finding their destination. Thankfully it wasn't too hard to find as Aaron had said. A lovely aroma of cooking eggs was more than enough to guide them the rest of the way there even if the way hadn't been straightforward enough. She stepped into the dining area and spotted Seth and a few of their other companions who had already begun eating it seemed.

After giving a polite wave to Seth, Nydia made her way to where the food was being served. Though she wasn't expecting anything extravagant, she had grown accustomed to having more options than bread eggs and water. Naturally, she would never be so rude as to say such or even let it show on her face, so she thanked the chef with a smile and took her plate. She considered asking for extras in case Shadow Nydia would actually eat, but it seemed unlikely and in that case she would be forced to eat more than she intended or let it go to waste.

Instead, she simply made her way to the nearest empty table, moving slowly to give Gabriel some time to get his food and catch up since they would be eating together.

 

[NeoAC]

"I didn't say they were guarding us from anything," Raven pointed out as she received her food. "It's possible that we are the threats that these shadows are meant to protect others from. Probably the Prime Minister and his lackeys."

She made a move towards an open table. "And I don't need for it to guard me even if that is the case. I can hold my own in combat just fine."

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

The bells' tolling awoke Cale from his much needed slumber. He rose like the sun, slow but full. He yawned as he put on his clothes followed by his earthly robes that met the metal floors. Shadow Cale stood there, silent as usual. He walked forward and into the hallways where he eyed the other mages moving towards the serving area.

Groggy from his sleep he walked there casually. Mornings were the worst for him as his "warm-up" time took much more and as a result grogginess and sometimes nausea set in. But he marched on as his stomach grumbled loudly.

Finally he arrived to where the crew had pointed out and set himself at an isolated table with his food. Making sure no one would notice him(which would be nigh impossible) he wrapped his scarf around his head leaving a hole to where his mouth his.

"Ugh... mornings..."

 

[CounterAttack]

Gabriel didn't mind the limited selection available in the airship's dining area: his guess was correct in that they didn't have a fully stocked kitchen. A small smile on his face due to guessing correctly, he collected a plate for himself and filled it with a fair bit of food, accompanied by a glass of water. Once sure he had enough, he followed Nydia to a table, taking a seat opposite the Lightdweller once she had chosen her own place.

The younger mage took a few bites of food before speaking up. "Um, Nydia? I have a small question. Do you know much about the Council of Gods? I, uh... I had a strange dream just before I woke up. I think it might have something to do with..." He trailed off, pausing to look around the room. Gabriel's shadow was standing a short distance away. With that in mind, Gabe lowered his voice a little, just in case.

"I think it might be to do with these shadows hanging around, and the gods," he finished in a quieter tone. "It might be important, I don't know."