Lore of Leyuna RPG (FRPG)

[The Kingpin]

Cyndeyrn's expression hardened. A brittle mask, but it was something. "Tanwen, since when do you believe him over-"

A harsh snarl cut off whatever else he was going to say. "Cyndeyrn, enough," she rattled. "I am tired of the lies. Tired of the deception. Tired of everyone I am supposed to care for hiding things from me and twisting words. Every time I ever asked you a question about mother or the Lords, you stopped me. You told me you didn't want to talk about it. You told me it wasn't my place to ask. That it wasn't your place to tell me. I am tired of being kept in the dark, expected to nod and smile and bow to what others tell me. Everyone I know hates Arashi. I hated Arashi. But for once, he's speaking too much sense for me to let my anger and hatred drown it out. And I need to know once and for all if he's not the liar I thought he was. I need to know if Drakhunmiir is really not what I thought it was all these years."

So there it was. Arashi really had gone and told her everything. He supposed it was to be expected. He was stubborn, proud and evasive in ways no one else in Drakhnmiir was. But Tanwen was his weakness. The chink in his armour. It should have been obvious that he'd fold in his efforts to convince her to return to him, that he'd tell her about the actions of the Council of Lords, of their deception, their attempts to control things.

It was a foul-tasting truth that would leave his lips. One he wished he could have buried. swallowed and never brought up. "Tanwen... There was a reason I did not answer your questions," he growled. He could see her expression twisting with something he couldn't quite read. It was something he had only seen once; betrayal. The fact that he was the one responsible for it this time hurt almost as much as the knowledge of how she'd react to the truth once he told her. But it was clear that lying wasn't an option. Nor was shutting it down, running away from it like he always did.

"You've always been such a strong dragoness. One of the strongest of your age in Drakhunmiir. Stronger than any of Maelgwyn... maybe even stronger than most of the Khelisaad. But you've also been headstrong. Forceful. Commanding. You never take anything sitting down. It's a trait to be proud of, but also one to fear."

Tanwen watched, expectant, anger simmering below the surface, manifesting in little more than a scowl. Now it was somehow her fault she was not being told.

"If I had told you what had happened, you would have been up in arms, and everyone you cared about would have suffered for it. Because you would refuse to accept what had happened. You would attack those responsible any way you could. You would keep pushing, pressing, criticising and even physically challenging anyone you thought remotely connected. As punishment, your closest friends, your family, anyone who so much as sympathised with you, would have been hurt. I kept it from you to protect you from your own reckless disregard for your own and others' safety. From your own temper". It was an angry, frustrated Cyndeyrn that Tanwen found herself looking at. One worn down by years of guilt, frustration, sadness and fear; things he had hidden very well from the rest of his family. His mask was one every bit as emotionless and deceptive as any of Clan Onokruun's. But now Tanwen had fractured it. And the face beneath the mask was coming to light.

And that face was to meet the full force of Tanwen's fury. "So you saw fit to lie to me about my own mother's condition? The reason she's not even my mother anymore? She's gone, Cyndeyrn! You remember her. You remember who she was, what she did. You remember she was one of the most brilliant Onokruun dragonesses. She was the most likely candidate for lordship until the Lords did that to her. She was going to be where Dyrineyr is now... But she's not. She's a laughing stock. A husk!" she rasped, her voice breaking on the harshness of the word. "A husk of her former self. She used to be the most highly regarded Artificer in Drakhunmiir, and now... Now she's a half mad lump that babbles on about slugs and barely even lives what can be called a normal life any more."

[Hopeflower]

Viho hummed his understanding, and there may have been a note of approval there, too. "I was hoping that was the case." He would need to think about how to present the choice to his class. But later, when they could walk home without fear. "It does beg the question of whether or not one man is all you need, though." There was, after all, more than one skilled psychomancer in Brodudika. Something better brought up behind closed doors.


"Indeed." Firel turned away again, refusing to let himself slump. Hope, as it turned out, was still exhausting. "See you tomorrow," he tossed over his shoulder, and left quickly.

Food could wait. He had a letter to write.

[C S]

"No one individual can bring an end to this petty disorder, Viho. Over the passage of history, the revered icons of the present have played pivotal roles in the past," said Desrium. Any sage-like wisdom to be had in the statement was hindered by the lack of inflection in his words. "The question, in actuality, is whether or not you are willing to be the first."


"Tomorrow, then," Solaurn said after Firel was already past the curtains around the bed. Gwenviere came around thereafter, rolling the small table with the next dosage of medicine and nourishment ahead of her. She stopped by Solaurn and chattered something to the ends of 'out of the way', by the dwarf's understanding. Solaurn did as she was told, and watched the vaun scale the table. Gwen sat on her haunches at the edge and her small hands got to work, pouring oddly colored solutions into the paste of fruits and vegetables, made so via pestle prior to her arrival.

Solaurn could not stop herself from drawing in the odd aroma from the mixture. She did keep herself from sticking her tongue out. Even though she did not doubt Gwen's knowledge in the healing field, Solaurn did not envy Dahnae. If the smell did not wake her, the taste would, surely.

[Hopeflower]

The old psychomancer controlled his urge to grimace. The thought of one day potentially being held up as an icon was...not exactly repulsive, but not something Viho wanted. Not something he deserved, either. But here he was, faced with that if he accepted and succeeded; if he refused, well, that defeated the point of talking to Desrium in the first place. The only way was forward.

"Someone has to be," he agreed, a little too wearily. "I can hardly claim to be the best man for it, but I will do what I can."

[C S]

"It is all we can do." Be it an elf, or flawed child of magic, weighed upon by their sins.

[Hopeflower]

I pray it is enough. Viho didn't voice the thought, but he did keep pace with Desrium. "I think it best that I see for myself what's already being done about all of this, if it's not too much trouble. It will make things that much easier."

[C S]

"Very well."

The two of them had the entire day, and for Desrium, this was a task that soared to the top of his priorities. The other things would be done. They just had to be done at another time. For the things that did not need his direct intervention to be completed, they were already well on their way to becoming realities themselves.

In Desrium's way, the tall order seemed almost pleasantly ordinary, on par with a spontaneous decision to go through a park one day. The divisions occupied with keeping Brodudika from burning from the inside out stretched out from city hall, with Byron's 'Avenging Blitz', to the guards that were without a doubt loyal to the advancement of the cause. That included the Vanguardians, Valenhadians, Daavenians, the 'heroes for hire' and the vigilantes that put themselves into the night.

What manpower was not put into the streets of the city itself was spent with tireless research at Septimus Place.

[The Kingpin]

"I'm... sorry, Tanwen," rumbled the silver-scaled drake. "I only did what I did to protect you. You're all I have left. I couldn't bear the thought of having you taken away from me too," he explained, his tone soft, his resolve dissipating.

"And in doing so you've decided mother was worthless to you. The one you called your mate. Your Rulukhiir. The one who would stand by you for the rest of time, for as many millennia as you would live. This is what you have decided she was worth. Nothing." growled Tanwen, not a drop of remorse audible in her voice for the older dragon.

They were wounding words. It was as if an Earthrend Lance was being twisted in his chest. You know not the feeling of it, Cyndeyrn, commented Buruq. Of course. Buruq was watching. Wary of deceit, of evasion.

"Your mother meant the world to me. She still does. But what happened to her can't be changed. We cannot bend time. She is not some trinket that can be fixed. You are... right. Much of who she was is gone. But I will protect what we still have, what is left of her, and I will protect you," he stated firmly. Or as firmly as he could manage, given the circumstances.

The hurt expression the dragoness gave next was almost worse than the angry one she had before. "Liar," she rasped. The word dripped with a toxic cocktail of anger, sadness and pain. "If you cared so much you wouldn't have let what happened to mother happen," she hissed.

"What did happen to her, pray-tell?" rumbled Buruq's voice deeper in the chamber, his tone silky, calm, though not quite as jovial as he usually was.

A tired sigh was Cyndeyrn's response to that. He had not thought it possible to feel as terrible as he did, but a scornful daughter and a critical elder had that effect, it seemed. He had never dreamed Tanwen would one day be looking at him with the same fury she looked at Arashi. But then, he hadn't expected Arashi to learn of Elwen's condition either, and that had been a grave miscalculation. The thought that he had lost his daughter's trust as a price for trying to keep her safe was probably the most painful thing of all. Reluctantly, he decided it was best to get it over with. "The Lords were evasive when I brought up the old expeditions. I uncovered tablets belonging to my predecessor, Blydwen, detailing the travels of several of our strongest Clanmates, seeking out other civilisations and Mana Wells. They mentioned a time when the borders were open. When I inquired with some of the oldest surviving Hueilin, they stated that the borders were only closed recently, but that we never ventured outside out of preference anyway."

"And then?" rumbled Tanwen, her tail lashing behind her impatiently.

"I began asking different Lords about the matter, but got inconsistent explanations. Some said it was dangerous out there and we had to keep the threats out and our kin in. Others said that it was a wasteland out there after some obscure war. Eventually they collectively realised what I was doing and warned me not to pursue the matter. That it was buried for a reason. But I was stubborn. I wanted to know the truth. I wanted to get to the bottom of it. So I kept pushing," he elaborated, every fibre of his being telling him to stop, to hold his tongue before all his suffering, before Elwen's mental condition was rendered a pointless sacrifice. But how could he? He would not be allowed to leave until he had told them everything, he knew that for a fact. It was probably the only reason Buruq was here.

He lingered for a time, considering how to word what he said next for several seconds more than probably necessary. A clearing of Tanwen's throat, a throaty sound that seemed more like a brief growl than anything else, pushed him to continue. "Then Jhunaar approached me. He was the oldest of the Lords and was always something of a... mentor to me. He told me the topic was dangerous. I should have listened. He said the safety of many hinged on this matter not being raised, that there were some who would suffer if I kept digging. If only I had seen it for what it was at the time."

"So he was threatening you," stated Buruq thoughtfully.

"Buruq, please," rumbled Tanwen as she looked over Cyndeyrn's shoulder at the Ambassador, paying no regard for his age. He simply nodded in return, adhering to her wishes.

She considered what her father had said so far, comparing it to what Arashi had told her over the past couple of weeks. "What did they do to her?" she asked, finally bringing herself to address the question directly.

"I don't know who chose to do it as they did. Only that it was a unanimous agreement done behind my back. But it was Dyrineyr that acted out on the plan. She was working on one of her projects, something to do with the healing powers of Maldevians and their potential to strengthen one's connection to Mana. And he approached her. All I know is that he did something to her mask. That's the only thing I can think of that could have caused her to lose her mind as she did. He twisted the magic she had woven into the mask somehow. And it completely drove her mad. The next day she cursed it and the link she had to it, and cast it into the lake. A few days later, she became what she is now". His tone was weak, the voice of one broken by grief. "They warned me never to disobey their will again, or she would not be the only one to suffer such a fate. No amount of begging or pleading I did was enough to make them reverse what they did to her."

Tanwen, for once, was speechless. All those years, all those centuries of her mother being mocked, the scorn with which the rest of Onokruun's 'elite' regarded her... It was all the handiwork of her arch-rival, at the orders of the rest of the Clan Lords. It sounded like a badly concieved fairytale, the sort of thing Septimus came back with on his occasional visit home. Who knew such things could sometimes be real?

"Where is the mask now?" asked Buruq. It was an innocent question, but the White Flame sensed there was a motive behind it.

"Buruq, don't," hissed Tanwen, her voice breaking again. Was she really falling apart so badly that she couldn't even keep her voice in check?

"I have it," admitted Cyndeyrn a bit hesitantly.

"You what?" responded Tanwen, her gaze fixing on her father's in disbelief.

He wanted to speak, but a dryness cut him off. Swallowing, he tried again. "I said, I have it. I went after it the night she threw it in the lake," he explained. "I've had it hidden with me ever since."

"I would like to have a look at it, if you don't mind," rumbled Buruq, his tone gaining it's lighter mood once more. "Perhaps things are not all as bad as you think."

[C S]

Valeria awoke hours later after a restless doldrum. Her mind was blank in an emotional murk, and she still felt numb, barely acknowledging Baaz's hand on her shoulder. In contrast, the wagon cover was alight with the late afternoon sun, bright and orange and to anyone else, the absolute definition of cheer.

"Time to jump ship, kiddo," Baaz told her. Valeria grunted her acknowledgement and begrudgingly braced herself for more hiking. She pulled herself away from her resting place and followed after the ranger in red as she moved down the length of the cargo bed. Baaz moved the flap at the end aside and went over the edge.

Valeria slung herself over, clinging to the paneling with Chandra and Baaz. With them all in position, Chandra nodded, and they let go at the same time. They thudded onto the dirt road and rolled a few times before standing on their feet again, though Valeria's movements were sluggish and heavy.

It did not escape Chandra's eyes, and she patted the young fighter on the back. "Feeling a little out of the swing of things?"

Muddled though her thoughts were, an instilled reactionary, "Yes ma'am," was her response. "I've got to keep pushing, though. For the mission." To get out of the hole, as Baaz put it.

"Good spirit. Won't do you much in the long haul. You've done enough already." Chandra looked upon Valeria warmly. A few degrees away from motherly, Baaz noted as she scuffed her heels in the dirt. She wondered how Jhotan was doing.

"Take a good rest. I need you in good form for when we infiltrate the city. Getting back in will be harder than it was going in the first time, or getting out without being caught."

"Yes, ma'am. Understood."



Back in Brodudika, the armored being's trek through the upper district was closing in on his next destination. City hall was where the most centralized portion of the movement was. Naturally so. There, Viho was able to meet in passing many of the heads of state that maintained things behind the ordinary day-to-day affairs. Some of them, the elf would note, were workmates. People he'd have seen in passing over the duration of break, or leaving the school. Why did it seem like the woman whose wardrobe seemed to know only shades of gray was so... ubiquitous? Most pronounced among those cases was the head of the research division, as not only did the lady deal with the school, many hours of her week were spent on the panel of assignments. The one who had started the psychomancer off in Brodudika as a teacher.

Then there were those Viho had never seen before. The ones like Byron, and his cast of unorthodox crime fighters. The types that wore their viking helmets in everyday settings, like Evisa. Conversation revealed that they had shared a few drinks with their light-bearing champion over the months. There were also the forces on loan from Daaven, and they looked like one's average mercenary band. It was intentional. Only the Green-Coats were supposed to be obviously Daavenian. It made it easier for everyone else to move undercover. The same for the Valenhadians, though they did not yet have people sporting their national colors mobile in the city.

The Green-Coats were the ones Desrium was on his way to meet, at their precinct. Hidden in the guise of the ordinary. It was a tactic used by both sides of the conflict for this city of friends.

[The Kingpin]

Andruil had spent quite a while wandering the streets of the upper district of Brodudika. He guessed he most likely knew just about every alleyway in the area, every inn and tavern, indeed, even every street vendor. He had tried, without much success, to track down the Green Coats. There obviously were fewer Green Coats than there were green coats in the City, but however many there were, they most certainly were sufficiently limited to evade his detection even after trailing several people clad in green robes, cloaks, coats and other attire. He had begun to wonder just how reliable Yotunheim's account of things was, and had toyed with the idea of inquiring with the guards.

That is, until he sensed a familiar wrongness coming his way. He had learned to tune the sensation out as unnecessary, but a more basal, primal side of him continued to wail at him to take heed regardless. Desrium.

Of course, that in itself would not have been much of a thing to note. But what caught his attention in particular was who was with him. Or who seemed to be with him, if the wind direction and scent he picked up were any indication. Over the stench of sweat, soot and laborious work, Viho caught the Wolf's attention. It was another kind of wrongness he felt over that. Still, his statement had been clear. So long as he did not harm the Knight's friends or bring trouble to Brodudika, the Psychomancer would find no quarrel with the Wolf.

He supposed it was probably not completely out of the ordinary for the two to be wandering together. But still, they were both quite well informed, and it stood to reason that they would be able to aid him in his search.

So he followed the very things his instincts told him to avoid, straight to the armoured figure and the crimson-haired elf. He guessed Viho had already picked up his aura, possibly before he himself picked up the elf's scent. Not that it mattered. This was not a hunt, after all. There was no consequence to Viho learning of his approach.

[Hopeflower]

With the steady advance of the wolf's presence came a subtle twinging in Viho's left shoulder. He rolled it as best as he was able, wincing. Of all the times for Arsenic's friend to decide to show up...this was probably the worst he could have chosen. Sheer force of will kept his expression indifferent, and stopped the psychomancer from snapping a warning to keep away. If there was any outward indication of how short Viho's temper was at the moment, it was in the fact that his nod of greeting was sharp - almost curt.

"It seems like a good start," Viho said to Desrium, smoothly continuing their discussion of those protecting the city. "Given time and the manpower to branch out, their potential reach will be impressive." The question was how Viho could help them buy that time. Hopefully they were about to get their answer.

[C S]

"The goal is to reach past the city, and extend into Aster as a whole. The foundation, if it can be called such, is in place. It brought you to me, in a sense." Desrium acknowledged Andruil with a more friendly bow of his helm. It was something, that the gesture of a finned, unchanging, glowing helmet being lowered was friendlier than Viho's nod. "Andruil," he said, and waited to hear what the knight had to say.





Valeria took to sleeping in the midst of an oak's roots, surrounded by frost and the tips of grass poking through it. Baaz and Chandra gave her space, though were careful to not stray far from her in case things took a turn in all the dreadful ways things could turn on them. Despite their personal draws against one another, their bond as a unit appeared stronger.

Perhaps it was only so as long as the mission was active.

"Maybe I've been away from recruits for too long," Chandra said in a reminiscing manner as she wandered the grounds off the road with Baaz. "They actually listen to you when they're still young."

"I'd say you're better off without them. It just means you'll get a mouthy one --"

"Like you?"

"-- without knowing how they got that way." Baaz crossed her arms. "It also means you don't feel so old, watching them grow up."

"... Like you?"

Baaz scoffed and turned her gaze away defiantly. "I was the pet project, remember? I got passed around from trainer to trainer after Ramdiaz got me started with a bow. Your time with me doesn't mean a thing."

"You were put in my squad. The years leading up to this one were... I wouldn't say lovely. Hardly anything in our line of work is lovely. Things were easy, where you were concerned, though. You listened to orders--"

"I listen to orders. I've got no choice if I want to maintain my odds of not dying."

"-- and you didn't beat up your fellow soldiers."

Baaz opened her mouth to retort, realized she didn't have a counter point to make, then went back to looking off into the copse of bare trees several yards away. After a moment of silence, she said simply, "Kines is an *******. What's he been up to while I was away?"

"You don't need to busy your thoughts with him," Chandra said in a way that didn't invite debate.

"Fine." Baaz shrugged. "You're still wrong, though. I don't want to brag, but I was one of the best fighters in any of the patrol squads. I've got all those sparring matches to prove that much. Not to mention, graduation."

Chandra chuckled. "You can't cite regulated matches and the proving grounds as the kind of a brawl you were prepared to unleash on Kines," she said, amused.

"Nothing he didn't have coming. In fact, if you'd let things run their course, I probably wouldn't have ended up fighting a gryphon." A complete hyperbole of causality, but Baaz was feeling petty.

"I'd be down a ranger if I let you loose on him, and I won't have my record be broken by one of my own," Chandra growled sternly. Dialing back her defensiveness a tad, she followed it up with, "You fought a gryphon? What? Why?"

"He pissed me off," Baaz replied simply. "And I pissed him off. So we were pissed at each other, and we decided to fight. And then things ended just fine." She neglected to mention how things almost ended in a decidedly not fine way.

"Kines isn't a gryphon," Chandra reminded Baaz.

"You seem so positive that I would have wiped the floor with him. I agree, don't get me wrong, but he's a ranger too. I don't understand how he got out of that forest when I was running around in it, but he earned the rank of ranger, so he could have earned his lumps from my fists."

"Kines earned his coat because he was against the likes of you and did not surrender. He was dodging traps and incapacitation at every step of the way, from all sides, and held himself up through it until the end. That said, he still would not stand a chance against you, and you know it. A one-sided match up like that should be unacceptable."

Baaz tensed and threw a punch into the air. "But he deserved it," she snarled. "What of you? Do you think I could put you down?"

"Hardly. I was the one who introduced the basics of hand-to-hand to you. I've seen your mistakes and I've seen you learn. It might be an unfair advantage in my favor, but it's something you'd have to accept if you ever think to turn against me."

Baaz looked at Chandra with an expression of pleasant surprise, then a wry grin. "No time like the present to prove it to me."

"Baaz--"

"I've already been denied trying Matthias out for his worth. I think you'll make it up to me."

Chandra pinched the bridge of her nose. "You always did think might made right."

"No," Baaz responded, "I just think that it's a very effective supporter for any topic in contest. What I always thought was 'actions speak louder than words'. You sure you know me as well as you say?" As she spoke, the ranger's hands were undoing the ties that kept her sling-bow and the contents of the safehouse case fastened to her back. She lowered them to the snow and then raised her fists, throwing her weight from one foot to the next in a mobile stance.

Chandra stood board-stiff, looking less than enthused. "If I show you up, will you cease this mentality of yours? You can't just spar with anyone who challenges your ego."

"Says you. Implying you'll win." Baaz threw her head from one side to the next, cracking her neck.

"You're a child." Chandra was not going to restrain herself any longer, however. Her hands darted across her front section and undid her own bindings, dropping her gear into the snow. She put one foot ahead of her and assumed an anchored stance, hands held at the ready. "I will discipline you like one."

"You're not my mom," Baaz deadpanned, and then raced in to initiate.

[The Kingpin]

A more generous nod was returned to Viho than the one that was given, the Knight taking note of the elf's reaction to him, limited as it was. "Greetings Desrium, Viho," said the Knight. "You have my condolences and sympathies for your student. Arsenic told me when he returned last night," he offered. To the Stalwart, he asked, his tone genuinely seeking permission, "May I join you? There is something I wish to bring to your attention... And perhaps inquire about."

[Hopeflower]

Of course he did. To Viho's credit, he merely inclined his head again, a little less rudely this time, and drew back a step to give Desrium and the wolf - Andruil - some space. Had he been in a better mood, he might have been somewhat amused to finally learn the name of the one who had mauled him this way. As it was, it was a detail tucked aside as quickly as it was noticed.

[C S]

"By all means," Desrium said once more. He understood the courtesy of the question, but absently, he thought ahead to a day when others would speak to him freely as one of their own. Even this one who called him a friend. It was a short lived distraction. "Does it concern the measures in place by the city's peacekeeping operatives?" he asked Andruil. His arrival was timely, if it did. The precinct was right ahead, the serpentine dragon distinct on the columns holding up its roof.



Chandra rushed Baaz in turn, throwing a viper's strike of a punch. Baaz ducked it and as she stood back up, stepping out from underneath her superior, she sent her fist up towards Chandra's stomach.

Age did not slow Chandra down a bit. She jumped back from the punch, which made contact with her only after Baaz's arm had extended as far as it could go, the power behind the blow wasted. She grabbed onto it and pulled, cocking a fist back to catch Baaz in the chin as she stumbled.

Baaz did not fight it when she felt herself losing balance. Reading Chandra's movements, she knew to drop into the snow and roll onto her back, tucking her legs in as she did so so that she would end up behind her opponent. When she unfolded her body again, one leg shot out at Chandra's lower back.

Chandra spun out of the way and reaffirmed her footing, hands held out in front of her while Baaz sprung upright, snow falling away from her maroon uniform.

There was no banter to be made. The two of them had thrown the gauntlet down, but were unable to get anything solid on each other. These two gladiators bound by military regulations were not used to such a happening.

It set the tone of this match: nothing short of their best would grant a victory.

The two rangers sped towards one another, Baaz pulling a fist back, Chandra raising her leg to whip a kick into her side. Baaz adjusted her tactic and moved her forearm in the way of the blow, hooking Chandra's boot with her elbow, and then wrenching Chandra off balance. She then committed the rest of the way, throwing herself against the older ranger and bashing her shoulder into Chandra's chest.

The powerplay didn't go the way Baaz expected, with Chandra throwing her arms around hers and letting herself fall backwards, moving with Baaz's momentum. The ranger in red only saw a blur as she went end over end, her face driven into the cold at one point, before the sun blinded her when she was made to look to the sky.

She was turned around, and Chandra had her pinned after cartwheeling her about. She must have bent like a cat to have pulled that move off, Baaz thought, impressed despite herself. She pulled her knees in and sent them up, wedging her legs in between the two of them and then kicking them out.

Chandra grunted as she was thrown back into the snowy, and Baaz used the force to throw her body up into a roll and onto her feet again. "Nice move, you old broad," she wheezed.

[The Kingpin]

Andruil's mouth opened to respond reflexively until he realised the implications. Of course. That would explain why Viho was there. After having one of his students brutally mauled, he presumed it only made sense he'd be concerned with security. "To a degree, I suppose it does. I have overheard concerns from a number of people over the past couple of days about...men in green coats, acting suspiciously around the guards," he explained, keeping his voice down. "I've been trying to track them down and learn of their actions. As it turns out green is a rather popular colour in Brodudika... And the ones I am pursuing have been keeping a low profile of late."

[C S]

Desrium replied, "That is because they are a part of the measures in place by the city's peacekeeping operatives. We are approaching their base of operations now."

[The Kingpin]

"Ah," responded the Knight. He should have guessed. Brodudika had no formal army that he knew of, and thus, no actual uniform. But knowing what he knew now, it made sense. "Daavenians?" he inquired, sidestepping what looked to be a rather unpleasantly large hole in the paved road, murky grey slush filling it.

[C S]

"The very same," Desrium replied. "But you came here with your friends not to investigate the problems of this city." It was a statement that beckoned an answer all the same.




Chandra had already rolled over onto all fours and broke into a sprint just as Baaz got into her stance. She drove her shoulder into Baaz's midsection, but Baaz did not let herself get thrown off her feet. Not in any way that Chandra could have benefited from, if anything.

Baaz jumped before impact and rolled herself over the other ranger, swinging her body over Chandra's shoulder and dropping off behind her in a crouch. Chandra planted her heels down and skidded to a halt may feet away, then turned around to look at Baaz, her eyes wide with surprise and indignation.

The two of them puffed steam from their mouths and nostrils. Their fight had already taken much out of each other, but neither one of them was going to heed what their bodies were telling them. Warriors through and through, they went at each other again.

Their fists slammed into each other in a flurry of movement, teeth bared and grunts following each thud and thump. Knees and feet slammed into each other, kicks parrying kicks, followed by elbows and forearms blocking punches.

And like a dance, an intercepted blow was sure to be followed by Baaz and Chandra attempting to throw each other about, which resulted in them spiraling about in the snow, countering one another preemptively and breaking the grapple before anything could come of it.

It came to a head with one close encounter, where the older soldier and the younger both did the same thing: their hands found each other's throats, and their other fist was poised to bear down on each other's faces.

The two inhaled sharply, eyes narrowed and alight with passion for battle. Yet, the both of them hesitated in that moment.

"Haven't had a fight like this... in a long time..." Baaz managed to say between panting breaths.

"The desert... was underwhelming?" Chandra heaved.

"Only one I couldn't beat... was the damn sun..."

"Ha. I'm of the same caliber as the sun?" Chandra laughed a tired laugh. "What an honor." She spoke in Daaven's old tongue, "Your horns are long, my fierce bull."

Baaz wasn't as well versed with the language as she would have liked to have been, but she knew enough to gather the meaning. "I say you have a pretty good pair yourself," she replied, "I say we've got ourselves locked on each other's horns. There's only one way this is going to end."

"Yes. I have to agree with you... there."

"It's going to hurt."

"Quite."

"Then let us go bravely," Baaz said.

"Indubitably, as one."

They nodded to each other.

Then punched each other squarely in the cheek, in unison.

And then they tumbled into the snow, battered and beaten.

[The Kingpin]

His brow furrowed, seemingly surprised at the Stalwart's statement. "There are people dying in this city, Desrium. Criminals acting with little fear of punishment. Growing bold. While I am not duty-bound to intervene, this is still a city under Valenhadian protection. My friends and those I serve are vulnerable, so I am obliged to act," stated Andruil firmly. "Besides," he added light-heartedly, "How better would I get to see the wonderful scenery of this historic city?"