[1:24 PM] LadyDeme: The sun was creeping up in earnest, the rose-tinted sky giving way to a proper blue hue, the air growing from cold to crisp; it all felt dry and open against Delphine's skin. For the moment, she'd pulled back the hood of the cloak she used to hide herself, letting the sun sink into her light blue hair. The caravan would likely be getting moving soon -- and so Delphine's walk was a little faster, aware of the daylight burning. Her plan was to take something of a bow-shaped path, cutting through woods and fields and catching up at the end of the day. She hoped as much, anyway. The pack on her back was rather heavy, by her standards, and so she hummed as she marched, the sweet melody drifting up into the september sky.(edited)
[2:01 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: Rieze had calmly donned a cloak of her own, one traditionally worn by mid to high ranking soldiers in Ethysia. For once, she was without her trademark companion, instead having chosen to let him stay behind. He clearly didn't enjoy it, but he had gone along with it regardless. She wanted to keep a low profile while following the girl who had only left a note, leaving without anyone else. Reckless. She couldn't fight properly if bandits or thieves, or even worse soldiers showed up.
So, someone had to go keep her alive. Might as well be her, to perhaps pay back for over 20 years of not knowing her elder sister. Once she was a short distance away from the caravan, she picked up the pace. She kept her axe mostly concealed beneath her cloak, but was still ready to fight if she had to.
Hopefully I wont.
Eventually, she managed to catch up to the girl, noticing her by the sound of her humming. Rieze picked up the pace, eventually reaching her and giving her a quick pat on the back, revealing her presence.
"You shouldn't leave without people to help you. Especially when defenseless."
[2:16 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine was lost in a labrynth of concerns, her thoughts spiraling. Was she risking her death? Well, she'd been risking it this far, and had never intended to come out of her journey, this war, alive. Even if it had begun to look remotely possible... She judged the risk as worth taking: and even so, it gnawed and hounded her, and the cheerful hum had become a shield of sorts -- one that got disrupted by a sudden hand on her shoulder.
Delphine all but jumped out of her skin, starting forward -- it was only Rieze's voice that calmed her down enough to turn her head. Delphine's hand pressed up against her chest, feeling the pounding under her skin. She chuckled to ease herself back down.
"I didn't want anyone to stop me. So if you're here for that, then I think I'm going to have to immediately start running. I like the look, though... But you didn't bring Neltharion?"
She eyed Rieze up and down -- taking some care to look around the area of Rieze's eyepatch to check the status of her wound. It occaisonally bled more than it should, or showed signs of it -- it was hard to keep clean, even with the patch, and Delphine was not yet done fretting over it. But rather than adress it right away, she'd noticed the larger gap.
[3:09 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: Rieze sighed deeply, she had expected Delphine to react like that anyhow. Yet, part of her found the situation... funny, almost? Something along the lines of "I now understand what mother feels." Yet, as of now the biggest concern of hers was something else.
"Heh. I think we both know that you wont be stopping for anyone. No, im here to make sure nobody just kills you right here and now. The roads are dangerous. As for Neltharion? It helps keep a low profile when you leave without telling anyone."
She chuckled to herself, before continuing.
"Honestly, you are too careless. Is this what mother feels like all the time?"
[8:21 AM] LadyDeme: The mention of their mother might have been a slight dampener to her mood, but it only manifested itself in a slight tension of her lips. Her mother's fretting, an unclimbable ladder towards an approval which doesn't exist, was likely not a feeling she wanted replicated in her relationship with her sister. Besides. Her mother didn't worry all the time: Delphine wasn't sure if she worried any of it.
"Some of the time, I'm sure; but I'm not sure if you're giving myself or her too much credit, to be worried for me all the time. But I'm not completely unprepared... I don't like it, but I did bring that unsettling staff, for my own safety. This isn't my first 'sneaking out into dangerous situations' dance."
Her bag was hidden beneath her cloak, but she shifted it on her shoulders, pulling the bag back to reveal the staves attached to the rather overstuffed pack she'd been carrying with her. There, yes, was a healing staff, and a staff that swirled with an unsettling darkness. Delphine looked at it with a faint grimace that resettled into her usual smile when she adjusted her balance, sliding the pack back onto both shoulders.
"...Thank you, though. Because I certainly don't intend to stop or be stopped, by anyone....But I am glad for the company."
[11:25 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "If it is what is required to keep you alive. Someone needs to do it, might as well be me."
Rieze smiled to Delphine, in spite of her somewhat serious remarks.
"It will be like a little trip, if anything."
[12:26 PM] LadyDeme: "If you've got me, then I've got to make sure I've got you. That's the sort of thinking that's brought me here,"
she said it with a little grin in response, guessing that Rieze was far less cross about it than she pretended. But it really was troublesome. Delphine didn't know what she could do for Rieze, to make that sort of concern worthwhile for her. Maybe Rieze was taking that offer of a place to stay after the war seriously? Or maybe Rieze wanted something sisterly, whatever that really was. But a trip seemed like a sure enough thing.
"Exactly! It'll be nice to strike out on our own for a day -- I've planned it so we won't be long. Well...Maybe. I'm... A little nervous about what I might find," she admitted bashfully, setting out into a walk again. The path was soft and green, at least for this stretch of Floribar: it was little more than a dot on the map, cradled up against the lake and rivers. She glanced over at Rieze. "You said you're from a city, didn't you? So a nice countryside hike isn't really typical for you, is it?"(edited)
[3:47 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Not at all. The capital isn't the most... well, open of places."
She followed Delphine curiously, with a bit of a wary look on her face. Delphine may have known the area, but she didn't. "The unseen enemy is the deadliest".... or something along those lines. Even with the small personal escort mission having turned into a stroll (or perhaps even more of a hike), even then Rieze had difficulties not being wary of the unknown. The shadows were dangerous, and letting your guard down when out on the road alone was..... dangerous to say the least. "You know this place?" Rieze asked, a curious tone in her voice
She followed Delphine curiously, with a bit of a wary look on her face. Delphine may have known the area, but she didn't. "The unseen enemy is the deadliest".... or something along those lines. Even with the small personal escort mission having turned into a stroll (or perhaps even more of a hike), even then Rieze had difficulties not being wary of the unknown. The shadows were dangerous, and letting your guard down when out on the road alone was..... dangerous to say the least. "You know this place?" Rieze asked, a curious tone in her voice
[5:12 PM] LadyDeme: "Then you might not have thought to pack a lunch; we might have to make it quick to get to the town in time, but I did bring extra food with me."
Delphine watched Rieze out of the corner of her eye, scanning the landscape herself. Right now, the view of the town was lost by a strand of woods -- they weren't precisely on the main road, after all, and the long grass toyed at her ankles. This... Made her a little worried, even if the distance still had fields in it: an army marched, she supposed, enough on its stomach.
"Of course, I'm fairly well-acquainted with the whole of the county. It's less than a day's walk from my home. Normally, if I wanted to go somewhere, I'd stick to the main road, but if I did that here, I'd probably fall behind... But I've been just about everywhere within this distance; I know it when the season changes into gold, like this, and when the land is unweathered new green; I know it when the snow's fallen, just this far and no closer to the lake for the most part, and I know it when the land begs for the rain to drift across the lake."
Delphine answered, rhapsodizing with a soft and gentle smile on her face. The farms they were approaching would need their hay brought in soon, and the woods were starting to turn brown with nuts and mushrooms. It was the cycle of her home. She'd spooked people by trying to go camp in those woods, after all, on her lonesome, too.(edited)
[1:38 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "I envy you. These lands are beautiful. It must have been wonderful to live here."
Rieze stuck to following Delphine, although part of her wanted to explore these lands. The bountiful harvests of Floribar was far from what she was used to from cities... well, at least as far as quantity went. The sunlight cloaked the fields in a golden radiance, the light breeze only making the scene more wondeful. Perhaps she could have put it into words, like her father would have. She shook her head, brushing the thought away. She had lost her writer's touch long ago, about the time where books couldn't substitute experience anymore, and the hours in the study were replaced by hours in the skies. Then again, perhaps she could ask Delphine to help hone her skills. "I have read about lands like these. Although, I haven't seen them personally. Its truly beautiful. Perhaps the real diamond of the countryside." She blushed ever so slightly as she made an attempt at a worthy analogy for the view, yet she couldn't help but feel embarrased by her self-imposed view of not having enough experience with words.
Rieze stuck to following Delphine, although part of her wanted to explore these lands. The bountiful harvests of Floribar was far from what she was used to from cities... well, at least as far as quantity went. The sunlight cloaked the fields in a golden radiance, the light breeze only making the scene more wondeful. Perhaps she could have put it into words, like her father would have. She shook her head, brushing the thought away. She had lost her writer's touch long ago, about the time where books couldn't substitute experience anymore, and the hours in the study were replaced by hours in the skies. Then again, perhaps she could ask Delphine to help hone her skills. "I have read about lands like these. Although, I haven't seen them personally. Its truly beautiful. Perhaps the real diamond of the countryside." She blushed ever so slightly as she made an attempt at a worthy analogy for the view, yet she couldn't help but feel embarrased by her self-imposed view of not having enough experience with words.
[2:53 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine looked at Rieze, framed against the backdrop of the countryside, the field gold ; at all times of year, Floribar was at least somewhat different shades of gold, expanding from the gold of fields in fall, to the gold of the desert sands. By comparison, the latter was unchanging, and asked for little: or, perhaps, demanded too much. In the light of the morning sun, though, almost anything might have been gilt -- the breeze flurried heads of grain, or leaves on trees, so that the golden glint danced over the whole scene -- including across the hair of the two girls, stirred up by the breeze that fluttered Delphine's travelling cloak about. It brought a smile to her face.
"It really has been. A diamond? Perhaps -- but I'd call it something a little bit more useful than that. A fair amount of Floribar is desert, after all -- while people can pull life from it, through networks of water they've pulled from the land, that still isn't enough to support much. And so fields like these become a rain to the desert, in their ways... Of course, that's my own pride, to call it more worthy than a diamond."
Delphine gave herself a self-deprecating little chuckle, and a opened her smile of a grin. A fenced-off field came up on their right as they wound past a few lines of trees, and Delphine stopped and picked a flower growing out around the fencepost, having been banished as far as anywhere else. She tested the stem's pliability, turning it in her hand as she mused about it, and about what prospects that field had. It felt a little like falling into a pit...But she'd have to climb down it sooner or later.
[2:53 PM] LadyDeme: "Of course, that same relationship might make recovery easier and harder, too -- because those towns would have little to offer, they might not be available to provide for. But if they are, then our harvests will matter all the more... Provided we can secure the people to manage them... Mm. But that's rather gloomy ramblings, isn't it? For a walk like this, young women ought to speak of diversions or dalliances, or songs or games. Do you have a favorite diversion, besides just flying? ...I feel like I could do better as a sister if I knew."
[2:55 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Don't worry about it. My diversions aren't interesting.... If anything, I suppose I read a lot? Its the biggest one, if we disregard activities involving Neltharion."
Rieze sighed, shaking her head. She was really far off mark wasnt she? Then again, she didn't know much about Floribar's workings as most of her knowledge was limited in how to fight there.
"And hey. You are craftier with words than me. I haven't even attempted to write in ages."
[6:26 AM] LadyDeme: "I disagree -- about whether or not your diversions are interesting, not my silver tongue. It's almost the entirety of what I'm good at." She accepted the compliment gracefully, if with a bit of pride, a hand placed up to her chest. After all, she was worried about it. Especially with Rieze making comparisons to her mother.
"Interest is like beauty, determined entirely by the beholder; and I behold you interestingly. What sort of books do you like? And, when you wrote, what manner of things did you write?"
She asked eagerly, the questions allowing her to pick up the pace a little, nearly skipping across the unsteady ground as they walked along the fence; they'd reach a side road before long, likely -- little more than a wagon path. But she'd never imagined Rieze writing before, and wanted to follow that through.(edited)
[1:10 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: Rieze had to speed up slightly to keep up with Delphine, but she said nothing about it. Instead, she took a look back at what she had written before... and realised how embarrassing it was to think about it.
"Nothing of quality, I assure you. Even with an interest in me, I doubt you will ever find something like it satisfying to read."
[1:32 PM] LadyDeme: "Yes, yes, no one wants to look at someone's teenage writing, but what was it? Poetry? Prose? Essays? Histories?" She wanted to know it not just to tease Rieze with later, perhaps, but just to know where her interests in writing and reading lay. Delphine was agressively interested in a lot of things, in the way of a hummingbird amongst a flower garden full of great red blooms; energetic and slightly dizzy with the sweet possibilities. Delphine tilted her head and decided that maybe talking about that would ease it out of Rieze's shell.
"I flit about from this to that... But I've been taking notes, in the hopes of writing a history of this, all of this. I don't want this story to be forgotten, or controlled by someone else. The process of making histories is critical, after all."
[2:22 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Perhaps a bit of everything. Trying to find a niche in what you like is difficult. Finding time to attempt it was my issue."
Rieze picked a flower of her own, wanting to see the world like its creator. Wanting to appreciate the beauty in even lifeless things. Yet she found no drive to. She always had a passion for writing about living and fictional people, yet she couldn't put her own view on things quite like Delphine could.
Individual strengths I suppose.
A smile appeared on her face, perhaps one of realisation. She hadn't really thought about how much she had changed since it all began. Yet here she was, attempting to see the world like her long-lost sister did. It was amusing. "Survivors write history after all. Is that your next project then?"
Rieze picked a flower of her own, wanting to see the world like its creator. Wanting to appreciate the beauty in even lifeless things. Yet she found no drive to. She always had a passion for writing about living and fictional people, yet she couldn't put her own view on things quite like Delphine could.
Individual strengths I suppose.
A smile appeared on her face, perhaps one of realisation. She hadn't really thought about how much she had changed since it all began. Yet here she was, attempting to see the world like her long-lost sister did. It was amusing. "Survivors write history after all. Is that your next project then?"
[2:50 PM] LadyDeme: "Ah, I see... Perhaps there will be time to try again after the war." She followed the flower in Rieze's hand, slowing back down from a near-skip she'd been maintaining before. With a flower still in one hand, she gave the one Rieze was holding a little bop, as if the flower were a wand. If she perhaps saw it in a particular way -- and she saw it in many ways, she supposed, depending on her mood -- the little gesture was amusing in its own way, as her smile relaxed into something quiet and peacable. It was a few feet before she answered again, spent pondering it out.
"Hm. Perhaps not next -- it's hard to say; I neither want to rush, nor to allow this narrative to be controlled by someone else; either way makes it a slightly trickier history... Of course, my hands will likely be full, so even if it's my next writing project, it will take me a time."
[5:34 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Young countess eh? Perhaps im lucky to not have much to do once its all over."
Rieze shook her head, drawing a blank after some continued thinking. She really wasnt too cut out for this.
Live as a soldier, die as a soldier. Easy as that I suppose.(edited)
[5:35 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Maybe with that extra time, I could pick up some of my father's writing. See what he did and learn from it."
[8:46 AM] LadyDeme: "You've got that right! Of course, I'll probably end up pulling you into helping me out a little."
She wasn't sure how just yet, but all the same... She'd meant it; if the soldier had no other place, after all that happened, she'd make a place. Her hands toyed around the edge of the flower she'd picked. That was what she wished for. To make a place for the people she cared for.
"But I think that's the best way to learn, when it comes to writing: look at other people's work and dissassemble it, like looking at the struts of a house to learn archetecture."
Delphine couldn't tell how sensitive the subject of her father was; not very, if she'd brought it up. The young woman tilted her head.
"What sort of things did he care to write?"
[10:56 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Helping you? What could you need my help for? I don't think I have much of a place up there."
Rieze smiled at her own self-deprecation, realising it was probably true. She had been a soldier for all her life, she knew nothing of governing anything. But then again, Delphine seemed to have a knack for inspiring people. And with her creativity, perhaps something could be found for her.
".... But if you find anything, let me know any time. As for my father.... well, novels mainly. He wrote a lot of them, and even I have probably only read half of them. That's another potential future timewaster if nothing else."
[11:38 AM] LadyDeme: "You'll have a place, because I can make you one. On the most fundemental level, you're my sister. There'll always be a place for you in my home. At the minimum, I could use the moral support... But there's a whole county that probably needs restructuring, an economy to repair, defenses to reinstate -- and what we were doing before clearly didn't work -- walls to fix, and there's probably going to be a ton of paperwork and getting messages to and fro and so on; I need all the help I can get... And that's just assuming general situations, not whatever specific ones might be waiting..."
She hadn't even seen how that ended; she didn't know where the city and castle were damaged, only that they mostly stood. She was almost afraid to know -- she'd been tasked with this by the people she'd...Well, she'd failed them, hadn't she? They hadn't wanted her to stand by them then. Her mouth pressed into a thin line as she walked, until she could talk about novels. She adjusted her hood in the intevening time.
"Sounds like a fine way to pass the time, at the very least; I consider myself something of a reader, so perhaps when I'm too frustrated, I'll sit down and have a look."
[11:00 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Your creativity should save you from ever being stuck in a pit, that much I know."
Rieze recalled her last memories from Amarana, wondering how much had changed since she left her station there. Mayhaps it was far more chaotic there now. She hoped for the best.
"You have a knack for getting around problems using your head."
[12:57 PM] LadyDeme: "I wonder...My creativity didn't help me much, then. I sometimes think... If I'd been someone else then... Or if I'd simply been the me I am now, back then... Had I been her all along... Well. It certainly will do me no harm now," she admitted with a sigh, thinking back to those terrified hours, where at once, her future -- and her role -- had been decided for her. It stung -- for how much she'd been able to save now, she couldn't do a damn thing then. When it had mattered most.
"But it is what I have to work with. I think both my parents would have wished virtues for me besides the ones I possess; how unfortunate for them."
She shrugged, aware that, for all her strengths, there were other ways around obstacles: and ones that might have earned her a place of pride when she was younger. But she didn't regret what having a place of scorn had given her the chance to see, and that was what she marched towards.
[11:08 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "In the peaceful world we are achieving, scholars are more valuable than soldiers. I see a bright future in store for you regardless."
Rieze shook her head, disgusted with her own actions in Delphine's homeland. But perhaps she could atone somehow.. Maybe she already had atoned.
"No matter what you may think, that's what I say anyway. You're gonna do great out there sis."
[10:41 AM] LadyDeme: "Certainly, I think it has some worth in any world -- and most of all when it's treasured least." An easy, abstract answer. Delphine smiled just a little at the compliment to herself, ducking her head beneath its hood, to hide a little proud blush. She wasn't worried about herself; she was her mother's daughter, and that was something for making a future for herself. But for doing great, in a job she'd already been thrust in her weakness for... That sort of show of faith was something she'd need to repay with results.
###
They walked a while longer, until the sun was reaching towards its zenith, turning the sky into an incredibly bright shade of blue that matched the hair of the young women down below. Through strands of trees, and hopping o'er fences to cut through fields. They did not see people for a long time, and Delphine artfully ignored it. After a time, they'd reached the walls of the city. These were still partially collapsed, with soldiers by the gates. No, it was almost as if the battle had only just ended, the rooftops showing signs of absuse that had never been repaired.
There were semi-hidden in the shadow of a few trees, their trunks showing signs of old burns, and their branches in fairly young clusters. Delphine held her hands to her mouth and stared up towards the gate. She could see the pike. The head had, mercifully, been removed, but the long pike, tall enough to clear the walls, where her father's head had been displayed remained. She had to push down the feeling of her empty stomach, trying to throw up contents it didn't have, from the strength of the memory. She took a breath.
"OK... You know this. This sort of guard, better than I do. Is it worth trying to talk our way in, or do we take another route?" She asked, not quite able to look away. Her voice sounded choked, even as she tried to keep the cadence at a normal, untroubled pace.
[2:59 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Hmmmm..... I dont know. I think sneaking in is a far better option. But if our only option is through here.... I doubt we can make it. You have any other ways in?"
Rieze shook her head, looking at the gate. She recognized the soldiers there, men she had fought alongside when initially taking the place. Yet, she figured that more soldiers were close by. Charging in was not an option.
Yet she saw Delphine's reaction to seeing it all. It wasn't exactly enjoyable for her either, but she managed to supress her own feelings of unnerve.
"Are you okay? I know this isnt exactly a place filled with good memories for you, is it?"
[6:07 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine tore her eyes away from that, eventually, an odd smile on her face, as she tried to sort out what Rieze had just said. She felt taken off-balance by it, and she wondered faintly if that was just, too, a part of the memory: that strange, surreal feeling of the world having gone upside-down.
"...What a funny way of putting it. It's a place... Absolutely filled with good memories. Of course, it's also a place of things I want to forget," Delphine said, a little pause in her voice as she considered her possibilties. Her mind could go on while her mouth danced over the world. "...But they don't negate the rest, either."
Sneaking around this place, avoiding trouble, had been a childhood specialty. It would be easier, then, to think about sneaking into town from the castle side... She pondered this, judging for herself the lay of the city walls. Thinking of those memories, she recalled a particular spot to one side that she'd use to go running into the city when people might have been looking for her to, say, practice embroidery. She could imaging it vividly, and the scent of the lakeshore coming off of it. The young countess grinned fiendishly and turned to Rieze.
"Hm. Ah! I think I know of another way... Are you any good at climbing, Rieze?"
[4:33 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Well.... Im no master, but I think I can manage if it isnt too hard."
Delphine's grin lit up the somewhat melancholy air around Rieze, making her respond with one of her own. She never had time to actually explore Amarana, so knowing that Delphine had a way gave her hope. On the way, she had come to consider another thing. Perhaps an agenda of her own for this trip.
"So. Where do we need to go?"
[8:13 PM] LadyDeme: "Well, we'll need to circle the city and approach it from more towards the shore. I can't garuntee any of my usual footholds will be there, but if you don't know to look for it, you'd never find it."
Of course, circling the city would let them see a bit more of its physical condition, too. Delphine started creeping along the walls, motioning for Rieze to follow. Eventually, they had to leave the cover of the trees. Delphine pulled up her hood and walked fairly quietly then. The shadow of the walls were over them -- a few guards were posted, but most of them were prepared to wait for nothing of interest to happen. From those shadows, they could see the city's rooftops -- long the main thoroughfaires (Delphine stopped, from time to time, to point them out) the damage from siege weapons could be seen in the rooftops: only the district they were approaching had some small repairs done.
Delphine kept up her commentary, about where they were, about what had been in this part or that. Here was an area where they'd had to stop people taking pieces of the wall to build homes from (her mother had made some arrangements with a quarry town in the desert sections of Floribar to sell additional stone in the area -- Delphine wondered exactly how you went about cutting such a deal: you obviously needed funds in the coffers to offer that sort of arrangement...), this part of town was a district that had really started becoming bohemian, that sort of thing... She pointed out the rooves of friends or important buildings -- even damaged ones. The hood hid her expression.
[8:13 PM] LadyDeme: She could see in all of it everything she'd loved, and everything that had loved her. And it had been left lying broken for nearly a year, smashed and seperate from her. Occaisonally, her vision would blur out. It all sounded wrong. She could hear the difference. Only from the section they were approaching had the sounds of life around it, of cartwheels and footsteps and people speaking, their conversations insultated and indistinct. Hearing this, though, gave Delphine a little pause... But it was something to be walked past, at least for the moment. If she hadn't wanted to trouble anyone, least of all herself, with her worries, she couldn't stop and be relieved, either. And she was, in a way that felt like little needles up her heart, relieved.
[12:03 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: And Rieze responded to her, always. Sometimes more energetically than other times when she had knowledge about the area, or something of her own to add. Mainly about her own experiences, seeing it all as an outsider. She never mentioned her more direct involvement with it though, fearing the worst. She took interest in every visible soldier, wondering if perhaps one of her old friends, people loyal to her still were stationed here. No luck though.
"Its truly a tragedy.... But at least the people manage. The empire hasn't dragged it completely to ruin.... Although, I still wonder what these lands mean to the Emperor himself."
Probably nothing. Fiend
"Seeing as he leaves them to rot, fix themselves in a way. That will never sit well with me."
[1:21 PM] LadyDeme: "They're almost certainly wortthless to him. These are along the sacred lake -- so perhaps as a means to that end, they have worth," Delphine voiced that unvoiced thought casually, and without the distaste one might expect. It was an ordinary fact,
"...I think a part of me is disappointed, and a bit of me relieved. If things had been fine -- if all had been well -- then everything I've done so far would be for nothing. And wbhat a sorrow and a relief that would be," Delphine commented. The trick to the area was this: There was a tree growing nearby -- and tbhere it was, a twisted little maple that had grown along the wall, with a good set of branches for climbing. From there, you could go out to the edge of the branch to a foothold in the wall, and scramble up from there.
"Here we are! You climb up like so..."
Delphine lifted a knee, her loose little split skirt moving easily aside to reveal a pair of trousers that were slightly sensible for such a thing. Her boots found purchase, and she started up the tree, looking for a sturdy branch to make the grab for. She might have been a little stronger than before: better able to pull herself up, but she still sighed in relief at a promising branch towards the end. With her knees wrapped around the branch, she crept out towards the edge...
"This is the tricky part -- wish me luck!"
Delphine grabbed a handfull of twigs to brace her while she reached with her other and hand leg, finding a spot for the toe of her boot first, and a stone that had always been a little unevenly-cut, forming a spot for her hands. With that, it was a matter of swinging her other side over: for a moment, full of terror, her body was only half-supported. And then it hit the wall, and found their places. So she could turn and flash Rieze a smile before laddering her way up to the top.
[1:41 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: Well, here we go. Hopefully that clover works for this....
"Let's see... if I start here..."
Rieze was a lot slower than Delphine, taking her time to find a foothold that she was sure worked for her. She had difficulties finding a proper grasp on the branches, clearly not used to climbing trees. Yet with some luck, the branches she picked managed to support her. Upon reaching the "hard part" she hesitated. She moved forward.... then crept back, unsure if she could make it.
Come oooon.... You are a general! You shouldnt be afraid of this!
[3:20 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine leaned out over the edge of the wall, her knees resting up against the wall's lip for a little extra support. She could see Rieze's concern plain as day, and the least she could do was try and extend a hand.... Though it wasn't as if Delphine could take all of Rieze's weight if it came to it. Not with her arms.
[2:48 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: Rieze sighed deeply, steeling her resolve. Once again attempting to mimic Delphine's technique in order to get up. She found foothold with the very tip of her boot, grasping the very same stone Delphine had used. Now it was all in getting over the... "tricky part".
Gathering all her strength, she pulled herself up, becoming uneasy when she felt that she was no longer supported by anything but the iron grasp on the wall. Ignoring Delphine's hand in fear of pulling her down with her in case she fell, she did her very best to force herself over, closing her eyes as she swung over the top, safe on the ground again. She quickly made sure that she dropped nothing, breathing out a sigh of relief that she made it.
"Remind me to bring Neltharion if we ever do this again. That was mortifying."
[3:00 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine made the appropriate mock-gasp in the moment where Rieze had to put all of her trust in that leap and that grip. Of course, she wasn't anything but unfailingly confident that Rieze could, in fact, do such a thing.
"Ha ha! You did great!... But Neltharion would have certainly been handy." Delphine said. But now she turned over the wall, and could see things a bit more clearly down below. The first -- the presence of figures she didn't doubt to be guards at most corners, with only a house hiding herself from view. The streets, for the most part, weren't as quiet as she'd feared. But the people who seemed to be watched through this section of the city were hurrying to their destinations, whatever they were. For themselves, the safest place to drop seemed to be a few disused crates in an alley, behind some combined shop and building. Delphine stepped down to one of them to get halfway down, and ended up with an ungraceful half-jump, half-fall down from there. Her cloak fluttered out around her as the ground rose up. It was not a pretty result, with Delphine landing solidly on her butt. The ground hurt, and she swore under her breath, readjusting her hood.
"I'm fine. I'm fine." It was almost an order to herself... "...Would you be surprised to know I didn't really have a plan?"
[3:16 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: Rieze threw a quick look at the streets from above, noting the similarities to the capital in her head. People didn't seem to want to stay outside, rather scurrying along as fast as they could to their destinations.
Rieze herself dropped down after Delphine, albeit a bit carefully after seeing Delphine fall. Landing next to her after her own slightly more sucessful leap, albeit the landing was unsteady, she managed to keep herself on her feet.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Rieze reached out a hand to help Delphine get up, giving her a concerned, yet still somewhat confident look.
"And as for plans.... No, I can't say I am. But I believe we can make something up on the spot... provided we aren't in a rush."
[3:54 PM] LadyDeme: "Yeah, I'm fine." Delphine took Rieze's hand and used it to help pull herself back up, rubbing her butt as she did so. Might leave a bruise, but... She chuckled in advance of a joke that occured to her."Well, my ass probably has a crack, but that's normal."
She re-adjusted her hood, drawing her cloak up around her. Up until this point, it had all just been a pleasant walk. But now, now she should see what there was to see. She quietly walked around the edge of the house, peering around the corner towards the main street. A guard cast a brief shadow into an alley before walking by. Delphine's hands clenched, her eyebrows locking down on her face. But then she let it go with something of a sigh, as the guard passed.
"No real rush. I guess first, I'd like to see how things are, in whatever detail I can. If there's someone I know, I'd like to speak with them... And, well. I was worried about what supplies were like here... So I ended up bringing a fair bit of food, as well."
She turned back to Rieze, admitting with something of a smile.
[4:08 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Just make sure you have only one crack there. I dont think it would be nice if there were multiple.
She quickly peeked, looking for more guards, trying to map out in her head where guards would be.
"So you have an idea as to what path we take then? We shoudlnt be in a rush, so we could go on whatever visits you may want to go on.... Provided we dont provoke the guardsmen."
[5:06 PM] LadyDeme: "That truly would be a grave fate. But I'm fine." She considered the same dillemna. If they could enter into the line of sight of the guards as just ordinary citizens, without drawing attention, then they'd be fine. Well, for long enough, anyway.
"I think we take this road up towards Front Street -- as close as we'd be allowed to get, anyway. We can see what's going on on the way there. It's possible that we wouldn't be allowed to use...A main road. All the same, I'd like to see where the limits are."
There seemed to be a gap, though -- a blind spot, where they might have been able to pretend they were just leaving a home. Her heart picked up its pace as she motioned for Rieze to start heading with her. Delphine was, for one brief moment, a coiled spring -- perhaps more nervous than the moment warrented. Her eyes traced the gaps between the buildings (in this part of town, wood and stucco, and much of the whitewash flaking off sadly.) She began to take a few quick steps towards the mouth of the alley, and a few more, before she checked for Rieze.
[11:33 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: Rieze took deep breaths beneath her cloak, clearing her head of any doubt like her father once taught her. She wasn't afraid of the soldiers. She was afraid of the man she knew was not too far away, who would arrive on the scene in a matter of minutes if their presence became known to him. Yet.... the idea excited her almost.
Nevertheless, she grasped the handle of Gorehowl beneath the wide cloak, ready to strike if anyone were to notice them. She then quickly reached Delphine's side, praying to Ostus that no violence would need to happen that day. And if any had to happen, that it would be between her... and her father.
"Im ready. Lead the way."
[1:19 PM] LadyDeme: They stepped out onto the streets of Amarana. A guard on patrol turned his head, but Delphine kept walking -- intently. The houses in this area had some damage... But also were clearly lived-in and attempts at repair were made. Shutters covering damaged windows, for example. It looked almost slightly too lived-in, things beyond capacity. There were even some shops that were clearly open -- mainly selling essentials, like small corner stands of food from the countryside, the butcher's, a carpenter's shop. Delphine's shoulders slowly eased as she walked by these sorts of things in turn. They passed other guards; she deffered her gaze, dipping her head politely. It'd be an easy ruse to see through, or an easy one to destroy. They passed a few people, too: they had a worried and business-like look to them, carrying supplies here or there. Delphine's arms trembled with a yearning to be lifted up in a wave, particularly for a face she recognized here or there. Delphine's expression was at once relieved and darkened.
There were even children playing -- more scraggly than in years past -- Though at the sound of Rieze and Delphine's footsteps, they quickly settled and stood at the walls, stiff and uncertain. Until they saw them, and went back to their business. Or lack thereof. They began to approach the main thoroughfare -- and then were stopped by a hastily-erected checkpoint up ahead, a soldier manning it. It became quickly clear: everyone had been rounded up to this corner, allowed to leave only if they had business one way or another.
"How dare they..." Delphine muttered under her breath.
[10:29 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: Rieze glanced at the checkpoint, quickly wondering if they had made a mistake in coming here. She looked at the soldier to see if she recognized him, sighing lightly as she recognized his face. Maybe they could talk their way through if no other option came up? Fabricate a lie to sneak past? Or were they doomed to have to brute force their way through?
She placed a hand on Delphine's shoulder, looking warily at the soldier at the gate.
"Got any bright ideas?"
[12:48 PM] LadyDeme: "We could try another road... But I think this might be what it is. It's... Very informative," she said with a wince. It was informative -- but the information was, for the most part, rather downcast. She turned to go, to move onto another stage of things -- when there was a sound, just down the road. There was the sound of crying.
Delphine turned her head to see one of the children that had been playing before, his ball rolled out into the road...And into the path of a soldier, axe on his back, taking an donkey-cart full of goods (a few wbarrells of uncertain food or drink, a few jingly bags.) back towards Front Street, and so, to the Castle. The boy, some green-haired litte fellow of about 7 or 8, ran out towards the ball, the soldier. His friends, all lined quietly against the wall, looked on with concern.
"Hey! What's the rule, you brat?" Barked the soldier, a scar-faced man who'd obviously been with the Ethysian army for a long time: and attached to General Anton's legion longer. "S-stay... Get out of the way?" Asked the child. His eyes are wide as saucers. The soldier's hand reached to the back of the child's tunic -- he was a tall enough man to smoothly lift the kid off the ground. "And what. Didn't you. Do?" He raised the kid to eye level; the boy thrashed in his grasp.
"Hey! What's the rule, you brat?" Barked the soldier, a scar-faced man who'd obviously been with the Ethysian army for a long time: and attached to General Anton's legion longer. "S-stay... Get out of the way?" Asked the child. His eyes are wide as saucers. The soldier's hand reached to the back of the child's tunic -- he was a tall enough man to smoothly lift the kid off the ground. "And what. Didn't you. Do?" He raised the kid to eye level; the boy thrashed in his grasp.
[3:22 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Stay back. I have..... something I need to do."
Rieze moved forward quickly, not paying much attention to if Delphine heard her or not. It was not as if what happened suprised her that much. She wouldnt put it past the army to do something like that. Yet..... something about seeing it all in person made it feel that much worse. And she wouldnt have any of it. Not here. Not now.
"Hey. You. Put him down. Now"
It was clear, cold and directed straight at the soldier. She recognized him and his scars. Part of her father's legion. Perhaps he even remembered her voice. That didn't matter now though. Her grip tightened around Gorehowl as she resisted the urge to just strike the man out of the blue, yet she hoped that... maaaybe she still had the authority to at least make him let the child go before anything happened.
[8:30 PM] LadyDeme: 'Stay back here?' stay back here?' Delphine furrowed her brow, walking behind Rieze. There was absolutely no way she was tolerating this, pumping her legs to push her forward as fast as she could manage. Her limbs felt like they were livewired, each footstep hurring her a little more forward.
The man, for his part, gave the kid a hard shake before turning his attention to Rieze.
"Who the hell do you think you are, talking back to..."
He paused, mid-sneer, peering at Rieze's face. It was a little different than he might have remembered it -- she'd had two eyes the last he'd seen of her, for starters. But he smirked.
"So. The traitor wants me to put the kid down, huh? Yeah. Okay." He tossed the boy down, hard. The boy cried out in pain as he hit the bumpy road, the stones scraping up his face. The soldier raised a foot to step onto him...
"That's enough!" Delphine shouted, rushing to the boy's side. He was trying not to cry, because crying just made it worse, when he found himself wrapped in autumn-colored cloud, Delphine's arms steadying him at once. The young countess turned her head back up to the soldier. The blood in her ears drowned out more quiet voices. Her mouth pressed to a resolved line.
"Out of the way, you dumb woman!"(edited)
[2:41 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Not while I draw breath!"
Rieze struck the soldier hard in the stomach with the back of Gorehowl. It struck him with enough force to knock him back onto the road. She didn't immediately follow up, instead giving Delphine and the boy a quick look to make sure neither was severely wounded.
But she didn't linger long before turning to the soldier again, grabbing hold of Gorehowl again, ready to strike if he made any movements.
"Can you make sure the others are okay sis? This looks like it could be.... messier than I hoped for it to be."
[9:32 AM] LadyDeme: Delphine gave a nod as the soldier lifted himself up. She turned her attention to the boy, who was sniffling in her arms. She drew back a little, keeping herself close but no longer over him.
"Are you hurt?"
The boy looked himself over -- his face was bleeding just a little, scraped by stones, and it hurt enough to draw tears from his eyes. But, as he tried not to sniffle, he investigated his teeth, and those were fine. His limbs smarted, but were OK to move. He gave a hesitant nod. The billows of Delphine's fall-colored cloak retreated a little further as the countess dug around her pack, producing a small stave. The glowing light surrounded them, and the wounds mended.
"Don't worry. She has this."
"Hey! Lady, aren't you --"
"Ssh!" Delphine put a finger to her lips, hoping that the kid wouldn't draw the soldier's attention to her identity. That would make it all significantly worse -- they'd probably abandoned stealth by more than enough as it was.
She didn't have to worry exactly. The soldier had picked himself up, grabbing his weapon. He planted his feet firmly on the cobbles.
"I'll give you one chance to come on home to daddy," said the soldier, his lance prepped to strike her -- when, naturally, Rieze would refuse.
"You might want to run, OK, kids?" Delphine said, not just to the boy, but to the children who'd been playing with him.(edited)
"You might want to run, OK, kids?" Delphine said, not just to the boy, but to the children who'd been playing with him.(edited)
[4:12 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Daddy? Give me a break."
Your time has already passed. Im sorry
She dashed at him preparing to strike, or break his stance. Her reflexes had improved and her style had changed since last she sparred with her "allies". Perhaps he was anticipating her old, more defensive style. He was in for a cold suprise anyways.
"I have made my peace. Found my conviction. None of you will ever hurt my allies again."
Because I have too much to lose. Too much at stake now.
[11:49 AM] LadyDeme: She'd gotten fast -- too fast. The soldier was almost disoriented, finding himself staring briefly at the fleeing children and the woman rising to her feet... Behind where Rieze had been, just a moment ago. And now was no longer. He took a step back, his stance falling for just a moment. He recovered just in time to raise his spear to block the strike.
[12:48 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: And by then, he might have realised what she was aiming for. With a destructive swing she snapped right through his lance, breaking it like a twig. A second strike quickly followed, this time hitting him in the side and bruising him with the serrated head of the axe.
"That was your last warning. Next time it's not your weapon I'll snap like like a twig."
[2:41 PM] LadyDeme: The guard stared momentarily at the sudden gap between his spear's handle and his spear's handle -- before she was staggering him with her axe, the toothlike edge digging into his side, even if she wasn't striking him to go beyond. He dropped the weapon abruptly, its useless halves clattering to the ground.
"You think that's smart?" He blustered, trying not to lose face. "I'll be back, and the rest of the regiment will destroy you!"
He turned and fled, heading towards another by-street. Delphine walked up to behind Rieze. She could not say she felt the least bit apologetic, glaring at his figure as he left. But...
"So, there went stealth. Which I think means it's time for us to head back."
Her voice had a sort of casual certainty to it, disguising the essential question of if escape was really possible. It needed to be -- and it needed to be fast.(edited)
[9:43 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Yeeeaah. We may have made a couple mistakes. Oh bother, not like we can change that now."
Rieze sheathed Gorehowl again, securing it safely to her back again. She looked to where the children had ran off to, before heading back to Delphine.
"Did he recognize you?"
[11:14 AM] LadyDeme: "Hard to say." She had stowed the rod back amongst its brethren. She looked around for a good direction, and began walking once more towards the outer walls.
"The boy certainly did, but the soldier was... Preoocupied. With recognizing you."
[11:18 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Hmph. Bet he was suprised. I wish there was more I could do than kill them. But I realised that reason was impossible long ago."
Rieze solemnly looked towards the sky, expecting a familiar red wyvern to show up any second. Taking a deep breath, she quickly followed Delphine.
"Do you remember any secret passages out?"
[11:51 AM] LadyDeme: "Hm. I wonder... I think that, in many cases, it's more a matter of structure than individual... Though not entirely. I mean. Fuck that guy... But perhaps I'm just sentimental."
Delphine couldn't be, though, entirely at-ease at writing off an entire population -- or even just absolutely all of their soldiers. After all, here was Rieze. But, loathe as she was to admit it, there were limits that needed to be faced. She rubbed her arms against each other, under the security of her cape, and continued.
"I do in fact. It shouldn't be too hard to get out," she said with a confident smile. She made a small turn into an alley, and then into another. "These don't work from another side, but if you wanted to head out to the woods for some reason, this was as good a plan as any."
[12:40 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Then let's get to it. I fear the resident.... ruler may be on our tail when he hears I'm here. Moreso if the soldier managed to recognize you too."
She kept close too Delphine, wary of attacks from any direction. But more than anything, from the sky.
"I fear my people think as a bit of a hive mind almost. The conquest is how we live. Of course, this is coming from the daughter of a high standing general, but judging from who I've fought with and against.... its almost as if they all have gone mad with bloodlust."
Her voice showed her sadness towards the end, as she remembered who this affected the most.
"One of my dear friends.... He changed. He was better than this once."
[10:46 AM] LadyDeme: They came at last to an outer wall -- and to a place where the wall had needed repairing even before the seige. Someone had taken some stones for one building project or another, breaking them loose -- they'd been replaced by a grate, a little larger than person's shoulders.
"You can just swing it half-off, from this side, and it'll fall back into place. Care to do the honors?"
Delphine listened to this, tilting her head. She had a hard time believing in people as a hivemind -- she rarely thought the world so tidy and singular as to believe even the gods had total control over it always -- but then, there was actual magic at play here... Though she wasn't sure for how long. She geared up for something to that effect, opening her mouth.
But these philosophical concerns were pushed aside by the tone of Rieze's voice, the mention of her friend. She rested a hand on Rieze's shoulder. She remembered their earlier conversation, of the scarred pin that had vanished after a battle. There seemed to be nothing to be done for it, but to nod, slowly, and offer whatever support she could.
"What was he like? I'll try to remember that; if nothing else, it's something that could be again, in the best of wishes -- and for all else, nothing remembered is ever fully lost."(edited)
[12:16 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "He was.... Similar to me, in many ways. Children brought up to succeed the leading generals of the army. Difference being that he was the son of the emperor, not the daughter of a mere general and strategist. We grew up together, but we were separated once we both came of age to enter the military."
The memories were so far away, yet as clear as if yesterday. The last exchange as mere friends upon the ethysian plains. Then when they met before taking Floribar. And then... When they fought on the ship, as bitter enemies.
"I used to think I could convince him to follow me. We once dreamed of no longer having to fight. Justifying whatever we did with ´its all over soon, once we win nobody will have to fight anymore´. We were children, didn't understand that it wouldn't end anything."
Her voice slowly grew distant, missing the time where it was all easier. But she couldn't return. Not now, not ever.
"He was fair. He understood that we were in the wrong, but he feared his father's wrath. I fear we may have to fight him soon."
Her determination returned, as she realized what she had to do if he wouldn't listen to reason.
"If then.... If my hypothesis is correct... I have to be the one to end him. I don't want to, but it has to be done."
Perhaps he would have joined me if I tried just a bit harder.
[12:19 PM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "I know he would have wanted me to do it. Especially if he lost his mind"
[3:27 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine listened quietly; for the most part, Floribar's nobility kept to itself, for one reason or another, its children flung to their own corners, and whatever closeness they could find among one another was a declaration of will.
But on the other hand, the situation between Rieze and the prince had been... So short-lived, and so lonely, in the end. Delphine popped the grate loose herself, passing through in a shadow of a moment. When Rieze also went through, it fell shut behind them with a cold clang, with the same sort of finality.
"If that what seems right to you in this... Then you'll have my support. To be made to turn against your heart is a cruelty...that cannot be borne." Delphine rested a hand on Rieze's shoulder as they retreated, away from that city of Delphine's heart, and towards the caravan, towards the war -- where blood would still be shed. And what will you do for that, Delphine? Continue on like you have been, waiting for others to work while that child, my people, suffers? "We'll do what must be done -- then as today."
[8:05 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "Of course. I won't falter. Not then, nor ever."
Rieze took one more look towards the skies above Amarana, letting out a relieved sigh. They had gotten away.
"But will you be okay until we reclaim your... no, our home?"
[8:09 AM] Amasuri, Awaiting the New Moon: "I fear the conditions may be.... even worse at places, if what it looked like last time i saw it was any indication"
[1:26 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine looked back over her shoulder. It wasn't smaller step by step -- it would only be noticable by the time it would have become just a hint on the horizon. She might have sighed, then, or a crinkle on her brow, hidden by the turn of her head. It would have been visible only to the city.
"I know."
The people were struggling. But she had to believe they still struggled -- they hadn't laid down and died. She thought about the surprise, almost wonder, on the young boy's face. They were waiting for her.
And hearing it reffered to like that, as their home, made a little smile spread out onto her face; fierce as if she'd grabbed it from a cliff's edge, and never intended to surrender it.
"I'll be fine, and we'll be able to go home. Amarana yet survives -- and so, I live."
[2:43 PM] LadyDeme: == End RP ==
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