Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Tviyr was the first boundary to be created when Fellsgard was freed from Bhelest. There is a diverse magnitude of adventurers that trek through this countryside. Decorated with grassland, coastline, forest, and jungle, it's quite the vision. Read more...
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Aeirn Vryndîr
Character
Ranger of the Road
Level
01
24 / 24 HP
16 / 16 MP
0p / 0g / 0s / 50c
Race: Kerasoka
Class: Ranger
Posts: 32
Joined: July 14th, 2019, 3:53 am

Re: Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Post by Aeirn Vryndîr »

Aeirn had been in his tent for a decent while, tidying up just a little bit, just enough to make him feel like he wasn't living in some chaotic mess, books had been put away, items rearranged, it had been a dull job, but something he found himself having to do; inwardly he cursed his lack of any magical ability, the precious talents that had been taken away from his people so effortlessly and without remorse, it had left them naked in many ways, and naked they would be staying for the foreseeable future.

He sensed Slaine approaching long before she arrived, his hearing acute to the sound of feet on ground- he murmured, what did she want? He assumed she'd finished by now, what else would she be coming over to him for, much like a puppy looking to see if it had done a good job. Sighing he slumped down on his fur bed, crossing his legs and awaiting her, each step getting that little bit closer, the sound of crackling twigs and grass being trodden into the dirt, ringing in his ears and finally she was outside, seemingly wondering how to get his attention.

"Come." came the reply from inside, Aeirn raising a brow, head turning to face the entrance to his tent. As she wandered in, he tilted his head a little, bemused. "Do you require something? I assume you've finished with those potatoes." he rose up to his full height to greet her, the top of the tent just about grazing the top of his head- he pondered on how it felt to be her size in here, an amused smile pushing up on his lips at the thought- she didn't even come up to his shoulders, instead stopping at around armpit level... good thing he wasn't particularly smelly.

Now waiting, he crossed his arms, a little glad she'd come to talk with him, he enjoyed the company of his own people, who didn't, but there was something refreshing about talking to one of a different race, a different place. It made for a change of pace he enjoyed.
Word count: 354
User avatar
Slaine
Character
Meddler
Level
01
23 / 23 HP
21 / 21 MP
0p / 0g / 0s / 50c
Race: Fae and Human
Class: Wizard
Posts: 45
Joined: July 12th, 2019, 11:57 pm
Has thanked: 3 times

Re: Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Post by Slaine »

Parting the tent, she poked her head inside, almost offended by the sprawling space inside - this place could have easily been a room in her Fellgrad apartment if you didn't mind the woodsy chic that this lifestyle encouraged. Worst of all, it looked so much more comfortable than anything she had even thought to look for. She stepped in with a look somewhere between dismay and jealous admiration, turning with a start as he stood, mirroring his stance as she too crossed her arms beneath the cozy cloak. "Yeah, of course. I can't can't cook but I can cut potatoes." She met his conversational bemusement perhaps a touch too defensively, looking him over for sudden movements or any more elvish mischief before resuming her open ogling of his tent.

"Are all your tents so... nice? Where do you get them from?" Though she wasn't trying to appear pathetic, the mage looked more than a bit like a stray animal particularly in the way she lingered forlornly on the bed. That looked one hell of a lot more comfortable than her bedroll, which she was fairly certain had rocks sewn into the stuffing sometimes. "How do you carry all of it? How do you break it down and put it back together?" Visibly overwhelmed by the thought of it, she looked at him with a brief flicker of lost desperation as the realization that she was doing this all wrong struck her.

The fact that she was so tired did not help, the helplessness of being absolutely unprepared really denting her mood. "I don't... really do research trips." She admitted, mumbling, squeezing her arms across her chest as she angled her body away from him, annoyed by the admission of her own incompetence.
Word count: 293
User avatar
Aeirn Vryndîr
Character
Ranger of the Road
Level
01
24 / 24 HP
16 / 16 MP
0p / 0g / 0s / 50c
Race: Kerasoka
Class: Ranger
Posts: 32
Joined: July 14th, 2019, 3:53 am

Re: Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Post by Aeirn Vryndîr »

Aeirn eyed her, amused by her floundering, though slightly irked at the bombardment of questions thrown his way, backing up a little bit to give her a bit of space he inhaled. "Easy enough to pack down, we carry a lot of it, what we can't take with us, we leave for anyone else to use, the tents come from a shop in Ajteire, traded some knowledge, the man was after for it." hopefully that satisfied her, though no doubt trading expert knowledge for goods might have been ever so strange to her, he predicted that would be a follow up question.

"Come, we'll step outside." ushering her out of his tent, he himself escaped through the flaps with a few bounds, making his way over to the campfire in the centre, tending to the stew which was bubbling away, he gave it a stir or who with the wooden spoon, frowning a little; he realised he still needed to get the rabbits. Standing tall once more he rolled his hefty shoulders back, eyeing her. "Still need the rabbit- we'll see if the traps have given us anything."

Aeirn once more trudged away, almost expecting Slaine to follow after him; making his way out of camp he ducked and weaved through a few low hanging branches idly speaking with Slaine as he went, treading softly and quietly through the sparse woodland before coming across one of the traps, a small, unsure looking rabbit looked out, motionless as if trying to avoid being seen, only the small wiggle of its nose suggesting it was still alive. "Ah- good, have you still got my knife?" he looked over his shoulder, raising a brow. This wouldn't take long.
Word count: 285
User avatar
Slaine
Character
Meddler
Level
01
23 / 23 HP
21 / 21 MP
0p / 0g / 0s / 50c
Race: Fae and Human
Class: Wizard
Posts: 45
Joined: July 12th, 2019, 11:57 pm
Has thanked: 3 times

Re: Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Post by Slaine »

He made this camping thing sound easy with how quickly and casually he answered. Nigel had kept them in money by selling his morals, which in a way was sort of like trading information for something tangible, and yet the concept of such a basis for an economy baffled her. She had read limited things about the jungle city of the Fae and Elves, and while it sounded relatively simple and straight forward, she felt there must have been more to it. Slaine regarded him a moment as she wondered what might have been worth six tents for giants - was six tents cheap? Was it expensive? Ajteire almost seemed like a place she would have to see to understand, though it sounded sort of… nice. She knew things, and wondered what her knowledge might buy her. Still that was a long ways away to go and a mountain range away - she imagined she'd need a tent much sooner than that.

Bundled out of the tent she blinked at the firelight, attempting to make her aimless following appear casual, still far too nervous to give Aeirn a rest. He had offered her food and explicitly invited her to follow him "home", she was his responsibility now. It gave her a chance to stare without looking too out of place, everywhere but where Aeirn had focused his attention, but trotted after him obediently when he spoke of traps.

She had not imagined a live bunny as she followed him quietly through the woods, and recoiled when he called for the knife. "It's alive," she protested, holding the knife away from him and near her body. "It's just a bunny." Utility spells rarely needed live subjects to test on and she was not exactly excited about the idea of killing her first rabbit. She had never needed to slaughter something before and had never considered she might have to learn to do just that. "You can't kill it, that's horrible, look at it. It's afraid." She didn't care how hungry she was, she wasn't giving the knife over, moving forward to pull the cage toward herself protectively.
Word count: 356
User avatar
Aeirn Vryndîr
Character
Ranger of the Road
Level
01
24 / 24 HP
16 / 16 MP
0p / 0g / 0s / 50c
Race: Kerasoka
Class: Ranger
Posts: 32
Joined: July 14th, 2019, 3:53 am

Re: Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Post by Aeirn Vryndîr »

Aeirn had no idea she was going to react this way, he wasn't at all able to predict that like so many of her kind, she'd object to the killing of an animal in front of her, to Aeirn it was only natural, the cycle of life, animals eating other animals to survive, to naturally keep populations in check. He was so used to simply doing this without a fuss that when she objected he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

So... he eyed her as she made her way over to the cage and slowly pulled it toward her, his mouth opened a little bit, a confused look on his features. "It's... a rabbit." he couldn't quite understand why she was being so protective of a small creature, it was only natural that other creatures ate other creatures and it just so happened that this rabbit had been chosen. Aeirn frowned now, this was taking too long. "Do you want food or not; I'm being gracious, letting you come with us, so please don't make me regret my decision, this is the big wide world, I'm not killing a beloved pet." he stated firmly as he bonded toward her, an arm moving to push her out the way so he could get at the thing.

Aeirn wasn't going to let her stop him from doing this, this was his part of giving back to his band's loyal service and companionship, the single premise of feeding them, he even let her come along out of a bemoaned guilt of almost having attacking an innocent woman. Well, that feeling was quietly changing as she stood there defiantly, protecting the little rabbit's life as it merely gazed outward, a bit of a glazed look about it.
Word count: 295
User avatar
Slaine
Character
Meddler
Level
01
23 / 23 HP
21 / 21 MP
0p / 0g / 0s / 50c
Race: Fae and Human
Class: Wizard
Posts: 45
Joined: July 12th, 2019, 11:57 pm
Has thanked: 3 times

Re: Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Post by Slaine »

It was indeed a rabbit. A live, innocent rabbit with cute little eyes and a wiggling nose, and a beating heart. A rabbit that Slaine would have gladly eaten had she never seen it move. "I think it would be beneficial to you as a person to explore the fact that you're not always right!" Ever defiant, Slaine snarled back at him as she flung the cloak aside, averting her gaze and hurling a disorienting spray of light and color toward the advancing Kerasoka as she snatched the cage up and back immediately away from his path. At this point she was really rubbing salt in the wound as she used his own knife to cut a bit of fiber binding the trap together, the rabbit now practically catatonic inside the cage having been jostled and dazzled by the lights itself, sagging in a stunned stupor onto the forest floor as she poured it out of its prison.

Frowning, she gently toed the rabbit's fuzzy haunch, encouraging it to flee before Aeirn could recover. "Come on, you stupid rabbit-" Crouched over the bunny, she used her body as a shield, carefully picking the rabbit up and setting it on its feet where it stood for a few moments before sinking down onto its belly.

Frustrated by the creature's lack of survival instincts, she stood, setting the knife down and walking back toward camp, her fists balled at her sides. At least the stunned rabbit wasn't likely to be "afraid" any more as she had feared, this thin silver-lining the thing she clung to as she returned to her pack and staff leaning against the logs circling the fire, gripping her things as though she fully intended to be standing up and moving on at any moment, scowling irritably at the ground in front of her.
Word count: 305
User avatar
Aeirn Vryndîr
Character
Ranger of the Road
Level
01
24 / 24 HP
16 / 16 MP
0p / 0g / 0s / 50c
Race: Kerasoka
Class: Ranger
Posts: 32
Joined: July 14th, 2019, 3:53 am

Re: Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Post by Aeirn Vryndîr »

Aeirn had been dazzled for a few moments, eyes closing, head turning away as he staggered a few steps away, disorientated and annoyed. He muttered an expletive in Elvish, trying to regain his vision as Slaine tried to get the rabbit to go, yet... well, it had also been caught in the dazzling display. As she wandered off in a huff, having not managed to get the rabbit to make a grand escape away from the evil, rabbit killer, Aeirn had managed to regain his vision, though bright spots still remained, causing him to wince a little. "Don't do that again!" he called out to her, gazing at her as she stormed off, now turning on the rabbit who was still dazed, almost as if it were unconscious.

A sudden squeak and crack was heard, echoing a little around the area, the rabbit's neck having been snapped, killing it instantly without much pain. Aeirn managed to find his knife, slotting it back in the sheath on his chest, tying the now dead rabbit to his belt. Finally; that didn't have to be so much work, next time, he wasn't going to bring her with him- though, he wasn't sure there would be a next time. He collected the trap and walked back to camp as well; it took a few minutes, as he passed by trees and a few bits of grass, noting any sort of plant or herb he saw as a way to pass the time and settle his still prickled nerves.

Making his way to the centre area, he untied the rabbit and placed it down on a makeshift table, that was just an old tree stump. Not bothering to look for Slaine at this moment, he took his knife again and slid the knife into its hide, near the base of the neck, setting the knife aside he hooked fingers under the fur and pulled at both ends, the fur coming away from the skin with a tearing squelch. Within a matter of minutes, the rabbit had been skinned, the tail and head removed and the meaty body all that remained. Taking his knife again he started cutting it up into parts, before it was dumped into the stew, to be cooked for a bit.

...He still hadn't figured out why Slaine had been so defensive over the rabbit.
Word count: 393
User avatar
Slaine
Character
Meddler
Level
01
23 / 23 HP
21 / 21 MP
0p / 0g / 0s / 50c
Race: Fae and Human
Class: Wizard
Posts: 45
Joined: July 12th, 2019, 11:57 pm
Has thanked: 3 times

Re: Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Post by Slaine »

Slaine watched in miffed silence as he took the rabbit apart, the wind having almost entirely left her sails as the hostility that wound her tight subsided. The battle was lost and the rabbit dinner and she was trying very hard to be grateful but this day had dragged on ages now in the most unrewarding way. She wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and start fresh in the morning, but conditions weren't looking too keen and it was much too late to venture out on her own. Where she ought to have been proud of her progress, having come very far indeed, she felt only a strange aimless anxiety forming in the pit of her stomach as she continued down the self-pitying path of critically evaluating her decisions, each found lacking in the moment.

Real life just wasn't living up to her expectations. It was bloody, filthy and uncomfortable outside her gilded cage and she wasn't certain she had made the right decision coming out here. Maybe she just wasn't cut out for it. The thought made her puff her cheeks in frustration as she hunkered into her cloak, and withdrew from the smell of fresh blood, the squelch of ripping skin, and the hum of the camp around her and tried very hard to focus on what it was that had gotten her out here in the first place - it definitely wasn't Elven Midnight.

As the stew bubbled and camp-life carried on around her, the tiny woman became lost in her thoughts and dozed off on the log, slumped against her bag her her staff hugged to her chest. It didn't appear to be the most comfortable nap, but it seemed well needed with how quickly the lights went out. She slept maybe half an hour before waking with a start as the bag began to tip to the side, hurriedly pulling herself up straight, bursting at the seams with renewed vigor and mischief buffered by the groggy crust of sleep. Fishing out a water skin she took a drink and huffed, trying very hard to not look as though she had just been dead to the world a moment ago, sniffing and rubbing a reddened cheek that had pillowed against the bag as she peered toward the fire, having all but forgotten the that the stew had once been a cute fluffy bunny.

Rising to her feet she sauntered over to the pot, sniffing as she came up to grasp the wooden spoon and stir the bubbling mixture. Unsure how long she had slept but feeling like it must have been long enough, she was starving, and Thumper would just hit the spot.
Word count: 449
User avatar
Aeirn Vryndîr
Character
Ranger of the Road
Level
01
24 / 24 HP
16 / 16 MP
0p / 0g / 0s / 50c
Race: Kerasoka
Class: Ranger
Posts: 32
Joined: July 14th, 2019, 3:53 am

Re: Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Post by Aeirn Vryndîr »

As Slaine slept, one by one, each of Aeirn's band had come up, with their own wooden bowl and ladled a serving into it, wandering off and chatting to each other in turn, in the smooth, sing-songy tones of Elvish; they paid no mind to Slaine as she slept, either not feeling all too inclined to do so, or simply wishing to let her rest in peace, after all, she'd had a long day. Aeirn finally came up to the pot himself, scooping a food ladle full into his own bowl before resting down on a a nearby log, eyeing Slaine ponderously. Exhaling a little, he elegantly put the rim of the bowl to his lips, softly slurping at the broth, before he dug his spoon in and ate down a soften bit of potato, from the same batch Slaine had most graciously peeled and added.

It was a good bit before she awoke, Aeirn had himself finished his portion, having set the bowl nearby and gotten a bowl for her, just incase; and now lazily sat against the log, his back resting back down, a single knee tucked upward with a wrist idly laying on it. Tilting his head as Slaine finally came round with a start, and with amused grin and raised brow he watched her groggily come to, seemingly having no noticed him yet. She wasn't exactly used to his life, he knew that much, she practically wore a sign that read "I'm a city girl!!"; and still, she seemed eager enough to learn- if she would learn was another question, the rabbit incident hadn't exactly filled him with courage.

Now watching her by the pot, he finally spoke up with the usual, soft, nonchalant tones. "Turn and you'll see a bowl I got you- use that. Take as much or as little as you wish." He gave a gesture to the object in question, the wooden bowl, clearly not made by a master-carpenter lay with a slightly better looking spoon, also made of wood. Aeirn closed his eyes, resting for a moment, twilight well and truly upon them, the last vestiges of light slowly creeping away.
Word count: 360
User avatar
Slaine
Character
Meddler
Level
01
23 / 23 HP
21 / 21 MP
0p / 0g / 0s / 50c
Race: Fae and Human
Class: Wizard
Posts: 45
Joined: July 12th, 2019, 11:57 pm
Has thanked: 3 times

Re: Stand and Deliver [Slaine]

Post by Slaine »

Slaine practically threw the spoon into the pot as she pulled her hands away, awkwardly trying to appear casual about her investigation. Folding her arms across her chest she turned toward him, then back the other way toward the bowl set aside, cautiously picking it up as she approached the pot again, cautiously picking the spoon up from the far side and giving the stew a stir, her thumb pinning the spoon to the side of the bowl as she ladled herself out a large helping, practically filling the Kerasoka-sized bowl, and again retreated, this time with a spare measure more of grace.

She came to sit next to him, leaning her back against the log as she sat cross-legged beside the gangly giant, glancing sidelong at him as though she expected some sort of smart-assed reaction for her choice of dinner company. Pursing her lips, Slaine set the bowl aside and went to her bag, hauling it and her staff back to where her stew sat cooling on the log beside Aeirn. After a bit of rearranging and a bit more digging through her things, she uncovered a round wrapped loaf of dark grain bread, its floured crust scored in the design of wheat.

Settling again, she laid the bread on her knee, pulling the bowl into her lap again, and with great effort tried to cut the bread into slices with her letter-opener dirk before giving up and simply ripping a bit of it off, sheathing the dagger with a disapproving murmur of dismissal. She offered him the next piece she tore off after dropping the the heel into her stew unceremoniously. Pressing the bread into his hands she met his gaze beneath the skewed brim of her hat. "It's a little stale, but it's good." Setting the rest of the loaf on her leg again she used her newly freed hand to pick up the crusty bit of brown bread now soaked in rabbit stew, stuffing it into her mouth. "You wanna soak it?" She asked, though when pronounced around a mouthful of broth-soaked bread it sounded something more like 'Uuanna sok hit?' followed by a bit of chewing as she offered the bowl for bread dipping and made a gesture to explain what he was meant to do in case he hadn't quite caught on.

Inappropriate or not, Slaine's offer seemed sincere enough. It had been so long since she had eaten dinner with someone else that she was practically starving for the opportunity, even if that someone was the knife-eared rabbit-killer himself. She didn't exactly resent him in her post-nap state felt it only right to share with him, perhaps as a token of gratitude for taking responsibility for the stray that had followed him home so to speak. "It's good stew," she murmured after swallowing. "I haven't had stew in a long time, you should really dip the bread."
Word count: 486
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