Thread: Ardent

Rynn was able to navigate through the trees with relative ease, her slim form moving lithely over the underbrush. When he got stuck, Rynn waited for a few moments to see if he could free himself, but it was very quickly evident that he couldn't do it on his own. Rynn gave him a soft smile, not a condescending one, and walked over to him. She gave him a little nudge to help his muscular form go through.

Not a moment after, Rynn heard the slightest sound behind her, and her fear froze her. She looked up at Boj, wide emerald eyes staring at him asking him silently if he'd heard it as well, and if so did they need to bolt immediately? After holding his gaze for a moment, Rynn slowly turned to look at the darkness behind her, but she couldn't see anything. She turned back to Boj, waiting for his guidance.

There was nothing there for their eyes to see. Only the trees, which had no breeze to sway their leaves, and only the shadows which fell between. Rynn's push sent the clumsy Boj stumbling from his trap, and without a second wasted one of his massive hands gripped high on her arm and pulled her into a run behind him. If Rynn fell as a result of the sudden yank, Boj would stop and lift her over his head. He sprinted down the path, shoving shoulder-first into the leaning trees which aimed to slow their path.

Ahead, the wall of trees began to break up and resemble more normal woods. Pale morning light filtered through, and Boj hurried his step as much as he could without leaving his companion behind. As they broke through, he stopped in his tracks and lifted his hand to shade his eyes. They adjusted slowly to the sight before the two of them: like some stone tower bursting from beneath the ground and cut down, the trees gave way to what looked like a small, rocky plateau. Grooves wound 'round the base, old and worn by so much time.

Boj wasted no time letting go of Rynn and jogging up to the base of the nature-hewn dais. With a low "hup!" he swung his leg over the ledge and pulled himself up top, before kneeling and lowering a hand for her.

Rynn was thrown off balance by his yank, finding herself very quickly pulled over the man's head. She couldn't say she minded, they were likely going much faster with him carrying her than with her running along behind him. She hardly weighed him down and his long strides made the going faster. She held on to him tightly, her red curls blowing in the breeze.

As they came to a slowed stop and she was set down, Rynn felt herself begin to breath again. She hadn't even noticed how frightened she'd been before hand. The lovely woman stopped for a moment, looking behind her as if thinking a creature would burst out at them, though that wasn't going to happen. Rynn took Boj's hand, and with some amount of ease, lifted herself up onto the plateau. She looked at the man, wondering if it was safe to speak yet.

Boj might have sensed her unspoken question, because he straightened up and answered her thoughts. "We are safe here. We will rest." His eyes lingered on the too-still trees for a few moments more, before he lowered himself onto the stone and stretched his legs. Anticipating rightful confusion, he went on, eyes still on the trees. "So long as we do not linger and do not invite them, they will let us be. They like the town, all the dead do. There won't be many further out. We won't need to be careful out there."

Glancing at her, he drew his eyes away from the wall of trees and broke apart a respectable loaf of bread. He offered her a little more than half, and watched her as he bit into his own piece. "What do you know about it? The koysq--the particle?" His voice was...wary, or something close to it. "Why do you want it?"

Rynn took a seat next to him, listening to him talk about the forest they'd just walked through. "Invite them? Why would anyone ever to that?" She said with a small chuckle, taking the piece of bread he'd offered. From her own bag she pulled out a small hunk of cheese she'd bought. Rynn tore it in half and handed it to him. "Cheese doesn't keep long, but I wanted some anyways. And since you shared your bread, the least I could do was offer something to go with it." She smiled at him, enjoying their small semblance of a friendship.

"You know... I don't know a whole lot about it. I know its worth a lot and I know that many people want it. I guess the reason I wanted to go after it was so that I could make my own fortune, not have to pull from my family or anyone else." She shook her head, knowing that was a bit of a front "Honestly, I just want to prove something to myself, and maybe a bit to the world. I want to prove that we don't have to be what we are born into, we can live our lives as we choose. I want to prove that I can do it, I can survive, I can make something of myself without the Arokit name..." She realized then that she'd told him her family's name, but Rynn supposed it didn't matter all that much. So what if she was the daughter of the second family of Cann, set to be betrothed to the first family of Cann? Well, the first family below the royals of course.

"I'd be eternally grateful if you don't share my family name. Nathaniel shall be hunting for me I'm sure and I don't want him to have any leads... Anyways, I would ask the same of you- what are you seeking it for?"

Boj turned the cheese over in his fingers, giving it a funny look that hinted he wasn't sure what to make it. After a minute or so he simply handed it back to her and popped the lid of his waterskin, drinking deeply from it while listening. As she mentioned her family, he seemed to either be only half-listening, unaware of the name's meaning, or simply didn't care. Perhaps more than one.

He paused when she mentioned a hunter. "I would not share one way or the other." Boj turned a critical eye slowly on her, stern and appraising. "Hunting for you. You left this out."

She took the cheese back, placing it on top of her bread and eating it. The lack of his reaction at her name made her quite happy, she was dreading him saying something about it. It seemed she had found the proper ally. Although he began questioning her, and Rynn was quite worried she was about to lose him.

"Nathaniel Randersvayne, my fiance for lack of a better term. He's a possessive man, especially of things he considers his, and I am one of them." She drew in a breath, looking out at the scenery, the ground, her food, anything but Boj "I didn't leave it out on purpose, I just left it out because I thought you didn't care. He won't find me, I've been gone for a few months and the last I heard of it they were searching in all the wrong places. He believes me fragile, so he won't be looking out here in the wilderness, and he certainly won't suspect me of taking on the search for the shift particle. I'm not worried about him finding me, I've covered my trail well. Besides, to anyone on this edge of the country I'm no one. They see the teeth yes, but I could just as easily be a bastard child from a torrid affair. No one I've talked to has ever come close to suspecting who I am. The world is large, and I am only one person. My trail is dried up, there is no need to worry."

Boj bristled at her words, something of it rubbing him the wrong way. Despite her not mentioning that it was arranged, it fit what little he knew of Tyrisia. And it was not exactly unheard of among the ex-slaves. Whether a remnant of their own lost culture or of Tyrisian influence, Boj was never sure.

He glanced at her sideways, offering a drink from the waterskin and mulling over something in his head. "We will make a deal, here. If you are not content with the deal, I will guide you back to town." He paused. "Should we find it, it is first mine to use. When I am done, it is yours. Sell it if you wish. I care not."

Well, he seemed content with her response, so she assumed she didn't need to speak much more about it. She took the wine skin, thanking him as she took a small sip, handing it back to him. His deal piqued her interest, she was worried about what he would ask, but his terms were no issue.

"That's more than fair. Are you sure you don't want some of the money? I mean without you'd I'd be hopeless out here..." She smiled in a self-deprecating manner, looking away from the horizon and back to him.

"If I were not sure, I would not have said it." With that, he took back the waterskin and rose once more. The plateau provided a fairer view of the distance facing away from the shore and port, though less trees and some height would go a long way.

Boj pointed in the direction of a distant, massive outcropping embedded in the side of a yet more massive mountain range. "There: it's too high for even your flying ships to pass. The rocks that jut from the side, see? There is a way up the side, and caverns within those. They pass directly through the mountains; I've mapped them. It will take days to reach those mountains, days to pass through. At best. On the other side..." he trailed off. "Promising signs."

He turned to her and fired her question back. "Are you sure?"

She stood up as well, her gaze drifting to where he was pointing things out. It looked perilous to be certain, and difficult, but all Rynn felt in her gut was a strong desire to accomplish it. She knew she should be terrified, she should want to run home, she should want her fine fancy wedding and expensive house. But she didn't. She needed to do this.

"Yes. I am sure. I have never been more sure of anything in my life." She said, her gaze set on the distance and her voice unwavering.

Boj bristled again, as it seemed he was wont to do. "Stupid." He began to pick up his things, hopping down from the runt-tower. Grudgingly and without turning, her offered her his hand to help her down.

The path was no less thin and difficult to find here, but as the two set off in the direction of the mountain range, the woods here began to feel decidedly different from those they had passed through earlier. Here the trees gave them breathing room as trees should, and light filtered through the thinner, spotted canopy.

Without provocation or some initiation from Rynn, Boj says little to nothing until the sun is low in the sky. On it's own, nothing else occurs that day, and he stops to settle them beneath a comfortable ledge.

"Why do you call me stupid for it when you are after the same thing?" Rynn asked, her tone even and calm. It just seemed odd for him, a man that agreed to help her, to insult her.

For this first day, Rynn decided the best attempt was to tread quite cautiously. They had plenty of days together, she could work on a friendship with him as they went along. It was still very uncomfortable being together, and there were moments where she wondered if this was a good idea at all, but then she remembered her goal and she knew it had been the right choice.

As they stopped to rest, Rynn was quite thankful. She had done her best not to show it but the young woman was fairly tired after the long day of walking. But that's what she'd signed up for, and she'd be damned before she would let Boj have the satisfaction of knowing she had found it difficult.

"I can go find some meat if you want, I know how to hunt." She offered, feeling silly for doing so, but he'd worked hard leading them all day, she could at least get the main course of dinner.

The only response Rynn's question elicited was a shrug of those great, too-wide shoulders, his manner indicating that he either didn't care to answer or agreed with her. Both, perhaps.

As they settled in beneath the ledge--Boj's own bedroll and blankets clearly well-worn--Rynn offered to hunt. He gave her a slow, blinking look, unsure what to say.

"You will get lost. Better to build a fire here, I'll go." With that, he stood, as if the matter was decided. If she didn't stop him, he soon disappeared into the trees.

Rynn sighed as he yet again refused to answer her. But the frustration had soon passed when they walked on. She pulled out her own bedroll once she found her preferred spot in the area where they were resting- not very close to Boj's but not far enough for her to not hear him if something happened. Her bedroll was fairly new, she'd only bought it a few months prior. She felt so silly in comparison to this rugged man of the wild. She was just a princess who had a tantrum about marriage and had run off. But no, she told herself, she wasn't. Rynn was going to do this, she was going to make a life for herself. She'd made it this far.


"Alright, I'll do that." Rynn agreed, gathering some small logs from around the general area and piling them up in a flat area of their little campsite. Rynn pulled a little matchbook out of her sack and lit the match, tossing it onto the fire as the flames began to consume the logs. She smiled, it wasn't the first fire she'd made but it still made her feel good to have it. The young woman began to warm her hands by it, staring into the flames.

Boj had been gone too long, and dusk began to make the slow turn into night. Just as the last lights of the sun filtered through the Gale trees, a familiar growl reached Rynn's ears. There, in the space between two rays of sunlight, stood a figure unlike anything she had ever seen.

Her eyes widened as she saw the horrifying thing. They weren't supposed to bother them here... and where had her guardian gone? Rynn looked about herself wildly, as if Boj would just materialize out of no where. But taht was not in the cards. She would face this herself. Rynn could handle it, it didn't look too large. "What is it you are after?" She asked, leaping up as her hands hovered above her sword hilts, ready to draw at any moment. She was terrified, of course she was, but Rynn needed to remain level headed if she was going to make it out of this one.

Boj sighed and scratched the back of his neck with one, massive hand. He could hunt, but that required animals to be anywhere in sight. He'd found a rabbit, sure, and a few inedible other animals. But the Gale woods were not known for bursting with animal life. Here, even the birds did not stay long.

He was beginning to think of heading back and sucking it up to ask her to help him out--after all, there were two of them, and a rabbit wouldn't feed even one of them.

The strange figure only cocked it's head at her, and asked her in her own voice: "What is it you are after?"

"Im not sure how wise it is to be speaking to you." Rynn said simply, her face betraying no emotion. She was buying time, if Boj came back he'd know what to do. After all, Rynn wasn't even sure if blades would work on this thing. "I seek to make a life of my own, free from the bondage of my "birthright"." Her elongated canines were evident as she spoke, though Rynn suspected the creature knew everything about her and had known all along she was a runaway noble.

The creature smiled under its mask, the pale lights of its eyes blinking once. Again, it spoke in her own voice. "How wise it is to be speaking with you." The lights of its eyes did not flicker at her revelation, but its lower lids squeezed upwards and neck muscled strained beneath the mask. "Birthright?" Rynn's next words would find her voice a little hoarse. Boj was, yet, nowhere in sight.

What a confusing creature this was. Rynn listened around her for the sound of leaves crunching or some sign of her companion but there were none to be found. "By birthright I-" she cleared her throat, the hoarsness surprising her "I only meant that I was born a noble and I do not want that life, it is a cage, though a beautiful one. I don't do well with cages. All I want is freedom." She said, her voice back after clearing her throat. "But I doubt you are here to listen to my life story..."

The creature let out a child's giggle, muffled behind its mask. His next words were disjointed, pieced together words of hers. "I only--want--to listen." Rynn's throat might have felt odd and encouraged to cough, perhaps a little ticklish on the inside of it. It would become a little difficult for her to speak.

Boj had begun to walk back, a second rabbit now in his hand in addition to the one hanging from his belt. He was sliding his knife back in its sheathe when he heard a most awful, familiar giggling echo through the trees. He froze in his tracks a moment before dropping the small hunting prize and sprinting forwards towards the sound.

The sound had carried far, but Boj was fast and knew this area well. He burst through the trees and threw himself at the creature just as Rynn would find a coughing fit bursting from her chest.

Rynn went to say something else, but felt her voice catch in her throat. She stopped trying to talk, realizing that the creature was only using the words she spoke to it to speak. Was it stealing her voice? She didn't know, but she wasn't about to give it another chance. She drew her blades, ready to leap at it.

Before she could move, however, she started coughing violently, desperately trying to clear her throat. She brought her hand to her chest which was heaving with the effort of the cough. Thank goodness then, that Boj came bursting through the trees just as the coughing nearly brought her to her knees. She caught her breath, leaning against a tree for support as she tried to get her breathing even again. Once she was back to normal, she would aid Boj in the battle.

Boj moved like a man who knew exactly what he was doing. He did not hesitate in tearing the mask from the spirit's terrible visage--thin, sticky tendons stretched from the featureless face and clung to the mask, snapping with a sickening sound as Boj tossed the thing aside. It clattered at Rynn's face, and her voice began to return from her.

Without further hesitation Boj reached into the gaping maw of the eyeless creature and shoved his thick hand deep in its throat. It let out a terrible, muffled scream, feet flapping and armless body writhing.

She watched, apt with attention as he destroyed the creature. It would be good to know how to kill one. Rynn jumped aside as she saw the mask flying at her, but she felt the itching in her throat go away as Boj tore the thing to shreds. She was embarrassed for having spoken to it, and figured Boj would get onto her later.

Rynn watched him tear it apart, knowing now that she would be unable to help him on this particular kill. She felt so useless, so clueless. How had she ever have thought she was cut out for this? Boj knew what he was doing. She didn't. She knew how to fight a normal enemy, one that could be killed with blades. She was quite good at that. But Rynn was clueless about these other ones.

As Rynn stood aside, Boj's arm moved deeper into the being's throat than should have been comfortable to watch. The spirit-thing lurched as Boj wrenched from its throat a stone carving--which he threw in Rynn's direction as well. It clattered at her feet.

He was not done, however. He reached back into the shrieking, writhing creature, and felt around much longer this time. A muffled, pleading woman's voice spewed from the thing's cracked lips just as Boj tore another, differently shaped carving from within the beast. He let go of the creature and stood slowly, letting it clutch its throat and flee from them. Silent, now, he studied the stone piece in his hand.

Rynn cringed at his destruction of the figure. She leant down and picked up the stone, turning it over in her hands. She was curious about it, she'd never seen anything like this before "What's this?" Rynn asked, looking up at him.

The woman's voice sounded oddly familiar, but Rynn couldn't quite place. It made her feel good to hear it, except what it was coming from was horrifying, but she still wanted to figure out whose voice it had been. It certainly hadn't been her own. Rynn's eyes went down to the stone Boj had picked up, wondering the significance of it. She walked up to stand next to him. "Boj what are these?"

Boj did not look up from the curl of stone laying in his hands, but he did answer her. "I still don't know. Don't lose it." Just there, at the end, was the slightest of cracks in his voice. He hesitated some moments longer before pulling a surprisingly fine cloth from his pocket and carefully wrapping the item. "Never lose it," he whispered, and slipped the package gently into a pouch on his backpack.

He began to settle down again, digging through the same pack for a small tin box filled with rather clumsily wrapped lho-seed joints. Gazing into the woods, he lit the match with a few spark-producing snaps of his fingers. He drew in the sweet smoke and exhaled. An Innate, it seemed.

"I will protect it with my life.." She said, placing it gently into her pack. Rynn watched him curiously as he lit the Lho seeds. She'd never one herself, Although what was more interesting to her was that he had lit it with his fingers. "Wait you're an innate?" the young woman asked, her voice curious "I've never met someone with those abilities before." her eyes were wide, though her curiosity faded from her face. "What does smoking Lho Seeds do? I know a lot of people smoke them but why?" She was painfully naive about all these real world things, though very knowledgeable about the grand history of Kerria and Tyrisia. It seemed her knowledge wasn't very useful out here.