[PQ] Long may you run

DEIMOS Delivered from the blasts A steady, resolute pupil, the beast listened to the notions springing from the Fae’s mouth, from the vines curling and recoiling, from the wayward energy clinging to leaves, to boughs, to branches, and eaves. Were he not on a sojourn to liberate those he considered kin, then the Reaper might have enjoyed the inner workings of the forest, for it was alive and dangerous in its own right, a colossal fortress stretching towards the sun, an outlining canopy holding the world together, timber and wood promising, rasping, tearing. It was a world unto itself; and he respected it in the fluid moments, when it reminded them of its power (tricks - he’d heard them before, when he and Kiada blended their way through sheer curiosity; had no wanton urge to be contorted amidst the throngs again), of what was at stake. They slowed; his ears picked up the sound of water, distant movement and motion, the echo of ready yourselves and we are close, and suddenly his heart resounded with such a rapacious, predator crescendo he thought the world would hear it. His eyes glanced to Samuel, only proffering a minor tilt of his head as the man became only outlines, perhaps a gift, an invocation, he was capable of wielding. For Deimos, his readiness came in the form of checking over his weapons, ensuring they were still where he’d kept them, then breathing, a molten inhale proffering violence and vehemence, quiet and unholy, silent and sinister. Then came the rush of his deadly veins, a pulsing, pervading curl below his ribs, nefarious incantations fervent, eager, if they became a necessity. His senses were riveted, focused, on the outliers and framework, studious and examining, expecting the woods to showcase their oeuvres and munitions. the last of a line of lasts

KILLIAN

What’s wrong? Jigano’s voice was a welcome distraction from the unsettling illusion behind him, who still rung in his ears something dreadful and tugged knots in his stomach. The boy didn’t want to answer anything too concerning, he didn’t want to worry the others. He had this under control, so he thought, clearing his mind of the greatwood’s wicked deceit. He winced as a bright pulse radiated behind him, calling again, but otherwise tried to appear calm. ”Yeah yeah, I’m good... I just thought I saw something,” he replied.

The vision began to die away, as if for the time being the forest was satiated. And now that it’d quit, while still disturbed but back in the moment, Kiki noticed where the bristling vine that had wrapped around Jigano’s leg, his whole boot was gone and specks of blood dotted the skin around his ankle. Killian joined in with Sam in his concern, ”You good?” Arduinna interjected next, apologizing for the forest’s rashness. And then to him with a wink, sweet and wry as it was Killian couldn’t help but smile softly back to her. Though inwardly he was both unsettled and relieved to know that the forest was playing tricks on him; relieved that he hadn’t followed that treacherous path, and unsettled that he almost had.

Not much longer before the group was given a warning from the fae, running water babbling nearby, whispering in hushed tones of their arrival. Kiki wasn’t sure how exactly to ready himself, for what even. He’d brought a short blade, and knew how to use it, but honestly wouldn’t trust his or anyone else’s life with those skills. He was much more confident in tooth and claw, so swiftly he shifted into the long legged cat, golden and dappled black, sunbeam eyes moving from companion to companion and a very hushed rumble in his chest.

run for the hills before they burn
listen to the sound of the world
don’t watch it turn

"Barely a scratch," the bard reassured Samuel with a wry smile. Arduinna's scolding would have come too late if Jigano hadn't slipped free of the vine on his own, but he retrieved his footwear without wasting time trying to put it back on. Close to Killian and Sam, he raised a brow at her too-little, too-late warning, but was mollified by the apology in her gaze. Not poisonous, huh? That meant other vines and thorns were, and he frowned thoughtfully as he glanced towards the forest that might love the woman who led them, but clearly had no such soft spot for those who followed her.

The warning that they were close was well-taken, and he glanced around to make sure his companions were prepared for what might happen next. Samuel faded from sight, and though Jigano had seen it partially in effect the night before, the display of invisibility now was even more striking. Deimos looked fiercely ready for violence, and Killian, apparently no worse for wear from whatever trick the forest had played on him, had transformed into his swiftest form. They were a group to be reckoned with... but they were only four. Five, if the lady who led them was on their side and not just leading them into another ambush. She had never answered what she would consider in trade for her guidance, and though she had recognized the threat inherent in the barrier's fall it was unclear whether she blamed those within or not.

But whether they were four or five mattered little against an entire village of Fae, did it not? They were a motley and untried team, largely ignorant of each other's strengths and weaknesses. He doubted the answer would lie in violence, but his talk with Eliza had revealed little that they had in the way of goods or services to negotiate with, and many of their northern neighbors had no interest in negotiating even if they had. If they were to free Amalia, Caiside, and Kiada he would have to hope that their guide had a better hand of cards than he did for it. What had she said when she first appeared? ...Let us rescue them? No... You ought to, had been the words.

He dared not count on her for help, did he?

Mind racing furiously he stepped forward to stand at her side, giving her a respectful nod. "Any advice you have for negotiating with the Fae and freeing our friends would be helpful, great Lady," he said quietly, even as his senses strained to pick up the sights and sounds of the village that was apparently so near. "Please."

ARDUINNA

"You need no advice from me, bard. I have led you here, and you and your group are guests of this forest whilst you walk with me today. When it remembers to mind its manners, of course." Arduinna smiles, glancing sidelong at Jigano as the rest of the strange and motley crew ready themselves accordingly. She walks carefully forward, and the trees begin to thin. Only once the woods are sparse enough to notice structures in the trees overhead (buildings? houses?) does she stop.

Beneath their feet there is a path, as obvious as if it had aways been there. And it wends its way right into the heart of the Sidhe Village. "There," Arduinna says, before casting her golden gaze around at the woodland. "You may come out now, troops. An ambush only works when one does not know it is coming. Tell your mistress I am here."

---

Please allow the Fae to post before continuing - no order after that, and you have 24 hours to respond as usual. :3

Nature, nurture heaven and home
Sum of all, and by them, driven
To conquer every mountain shown

Table by Sky!

Wordlessly the woods shift. Like an illusion suddenly revealed, creatures unmeld from the earth, straighten, and then proceed to disappear in a shimmer of golden dust. The features you can see of them are fleeting, but they appear to be almost entirely composed of earthen components; bark and stones, moss, rushing water, flashes of sunlight.

Coding base by Sky!

if you throw me to the wolves

The creatures are gone only but for a moment before Delah appears. She is dressed simply as if for hunting and appears to be alone.

Appears being the keyword.

Like midnight moss her eyes fall upon Arduinna. Chin raised and teeth grit, the chieftess takes a breath before nodding ever so slightly towards the fire-haired fae. Her movements seem entirely perfunctory and her expression suggests that this demonstration of respect is not one that she cares at all to make.

"Arduinna." Delah says eventually, her eyes flitting briefly to those who stand with with her, before locking back onto the wild fae. "The tulmhainar has already received a sacrifice. We do not require any more."

i'll come back leading the pack

Coding base by Sky!

DEIMOS Delivered from the blasts They tried, striving onward and onward, following pathlines to imminent death, betrayal, or anything in between; because that was all they had, all they could grasp, when the world didn’t open up and let them in. They were the intruders, but only for their own, only because they’d been taken and snagged first, and he strived, desperately strived, to not flicker apart in the dredged madness and consume, devour them all. Were they to be guests of the forest until the Fae decided otherwise? Were they to be scattered amidst the leaves and timber too – as bones, as flesh discarded, as offerings to this fabled thing amidst their village? The lightest sizzle of hope coiled in his chest at the sign of structures, more than just the endless, foreboding forest, but it was short-lived on Arduinna’s last words, the ambush crawling along the woodland, shifting and unfolding, revealing for only the briefest of seconds. Earthen elements shivered and undulated, recoiled back into their unsaid throngs, and he reclaimed reticence, forged it through and through when all he craved, when all he yearned to do was hurl a weapon and show violence, vehemence. Stay the course, his Machiavellian mind concocted, over the roar, over the flames, over the bellowing irreverence casting its kindling across his blood. If he showed the slightest bit of savagery, a part of him wondered if they’d lose their chances altogether, however slim they might’ve been – ruined, bludgeoned, because his anguish, his temper, was extraordinary and contemptuous. Another Fae appeared, smaller but no less threatening, the sort of alarm and ominous intentions that might’ve screamed alarm in any other beings; but they were stalwart and resolute, and his reticence blended back over his brows, along his mouth, until he seemed a blank, iron slate, listening, listening, listening, struggling to grasp and hold what they were supposed to do next. His eyes cast back to the shadow of buildings, wondering if the pit was nearby, if they could simply continue onward, or if this standoff was going to ensure they didn’t get any farther. The reverberation of the stranger’s words though, rasped and clawed against his insides, and he was terrified of the question, of the answer, suddenly pulsing along his lips. “Who?” He inquired, he dared, as if she knew their names, their faces, who had been sacrificed?, and maybe it didn’t matter, really, because he’d be broken again if it was either Amalia or Kiada, gone and swept away just as everyone else in his life had been. He could hear his heart pounding in his head, a throng, a din, a discordant reflection of what his face dared not display. the last of a line of lasts

The answer was not what he wanted to hear, but it was reassuring nonetheless – assuming she wasn’t lying to them, which he still wasn’t sure he dared trust. Still, there was something to be said for having her protection from the hostile forest, and Jigano bowed solemnly in gratitude before they arrayed themselves for… confrontation.

Not battle, he hoped. They were too few, and too ill-prepared for a fight.

Arduinna’s voice, ringing out to ‘troops’ and ‘ambushes’ had Jigano’s hackles raising, his hand settling on the hilt of his rapier without thought. The creatures – people? – that emerged from hiding a moment later had him drawing in a sharp breath, then another as they disappeared again just as quickly. Earth elementals? Not oreads, but something more primal, perhaps… But before he could try and speak to them in Terran, the next to appear arrived.

Small, fierce, wild and fearless, the woman gave a name to the one who led them. Arduinna. Glad as Jigano was to know it, his attention was mostly for the petite warrior who stood so much shorter than their guide. Was this the war chief Eliza had mentioned? And there was that word again. Tulmhainar. And ‘sacrifice.’

The bard tensed, one word leaping from his throat, but before it could pass his lips Deimos asked it, and Jigano braced himself for the answer. He glanced briefly to Sam and Killian, reassuring himself of their close presence before he turned his eyes back to Delah, forming his expression so neither frown nor scowl could mar his smooth skin. No matter who it had been, he had lost a friend… and most likely a member of his guild who had looked up to him, trusted him to keep them safe. He drew in a careful breath, making sure his voice wouldn’t shake when he spoke. ”Is there… anything left? That we might return to their friends and family for burial, and Ludo’s attention?”

KILLIAN

The not so path before them began to unfold as the fiery woman walked it, and suddenly it is was if they were following the yellow brick road, it is laid out just as plainly. The cheetah’s ears flick as he trots close to Jigano’s side, where it is safe, but his sunbeam eyes search the world around him with an anxious awe. Up above in the titanous trees he sees structures, delicate curves that look a little too orderly for the greatwood to have made them.

Arduinna stopped, glancing around at the woodland before addressing their invisible guests. Ambush, the word crawled down Kiki’s spine as a shiver, fur standing ruffled in its wake. His gaze narrowed as the trees began to disintegrate into a shimmering glaze, rippling silhouettes that were gone as soon as they appeared. But one, a fae woman, simply garbed though with a steely aura that promised to melt into molten flame, remained. She paused, then spoke to the wild fae, Arduinna.

He listened attentively to every word, tail flicking with each sound around them. One word in particular took hold of him - sacrifice, it spat in his face and mocked them sorely. They were too late, someone had already been taken, to whatever this Tulmhainar was. Jigano turned to him and Sam, the glance reassuring more than just the guild master. The boy was frightened and dismayed, but he was able to keep his increasing worries at bay for the time being, only for his friends.

And so once again Killian kept quiet, a support by Jigano’s side, watching with a ticking apprehension.

run for the hills before they burn
listen to the sound of the world
don’t watch it turn

As Delah appeared Sam stood back, though all everyone would see was the leaves under his feet being crushed, as if suddenly overtaken by the weight of the air above them. For a moment his heart rushed with panic and he couldn't see what was happening, didn't know if Arduinna had led them into danger. But when he listened, heard sacrifice, he despaired for a different reason. It seemed they were too late, then. That Caiside and Amalia were gone. He had not been close to either and in fact had a rather contemptuous relationship with one, but it was still a loss. Jigano would be upset, the Guild would grieve. Simply the shock of the death of people he knew made him look down, hold himself. He was speechless (and thankfully still invisible) but as Jigano spoke he reached forward and just gently placed a hand on the other man's shoulder, intended to be a comforting touch during what was surely a difficult question. SAMUEL How could a night so frozen Be so scalding hot? How can a morning this mild Be so raw?

ARDUINNA

Arduinna smiles, showing small, white teeth as Delah appears before her and the troops scatter into moss and leaves. The tulmhainar has received a sacrifice, you say? How wonderful - it will be so pleased, I am sure." She dips into a curtsey that comes across as entirely insincere. Glancing back to the group huddled behind them and their apparent sadness, there is something gleeful in her gaze at the prospect of breaking some of the mystery that Delah enjoys wreathing herself in.

"My dears, please - your friends are hale and whole. The tulmhainar is a gentle creature. The sacrifice we speak of here is only that of your friends' time. Time to share with it a story, a memory..." She shrugs airily, turning back to the Fae warrior before them.

"I am glad that you do not need more sacrifices. That means my guests in this village may be treated as such, without need for anything in return on their part. I trust you will treat them with the same respect as any other invited here, and you will show them to their comrades."

A vine reaches out to stroke her face, and Arduinna titters musically. "Well? Go, my lovely ones. Enjoy your time here, and reunite happily with those you miss. I will remain here, in the woods." Always. The word goes unspoken.

---

CONGRATULATIONS! You have found/rescued(?) your friends and are now able to travel freely to and from the Sidhe village under Arduinna's protection!

She'll contact you with her price when she's ready.

Feel free to pop in a wrap-up post!

Nature, nurture heaven and home
Sum of all, and by them, driven
To conquer every mountain shown

Table by Sky!

if you throw me to the wolves

Before Delah could respond to Jigano, Arduinna had done it for her. The sourness on the fae's face was clear, the chieftess making absolutely no attempt to hide it. In fact she narrowed her eyes, her lip curling in a feral snarl as the wild fae continued on.

"Those that they came with have already been released." Delah said tersely. She knew nothing of Caiside, but Kiada and Amalia had already been to the tulmhainar. As for the other man, well..he had been taken earlier and did not appear to fall under the scope of this little fieldtrip.

"So I suppose your guests will have no need to remain here." Delah continued with a tense smile, eyes falling upon the group with a sharp midnight moss stare that was anything but welcoming. Flicking a hand which was suddenly furred-black and clawed, Delah sliced at the vine that came to caress her face.

i'll come back leading the pack

Coding base by Sky!

Jigano froze at Arduinna's cheerful reception of the news of sacrifice, and only the presence of Killian and Samuel at his side kept him from losing control of his expression - and his tongue. He trembled beneath Sam's comforting hand, tension thrumming through his lean and slender frame as he balanced on a knife-edge of discipline and self-restraint before their guide and hostess turned to them with words of reassurance - and the explanation that would have eased much of their fear if only they had heard it earlier. For a moment it was all the bard could do to breathe, running the words through his head over and over until they made sense.

Slowly the precise control eased from his features, his expression lightening in increments as his shaking breath steadied and he turned suspiciously bright and grateful blue eyes on Arduinna . He swept her a full formal, courtly bow, blinking back a dampness that was certainly not tears of relief and gratitude, and he rose smiling like the sunrise. "My thanks, Great Lady," he spoke fervently. "For your guidance, and your protection."

A song in her honor? Oh yes, he would begin composing one immediately, once he had assured himself that his friends were well and free to leave. His eyes had begun to scan the village for a sign of them when the war chief snapped at them. Snapped like a trap, her smile edged behind her brief words. A pale brow rose at the casual display of Delah's power, and he gave her a short, respectful bow as well, never taking his eyes from the dimunitive threat as he compared the claws on her hand to his memory of those torn in the earth where Amalia had vanished.

Someone to watch, indeed, he decided grimly. "We shall try not to cause too much trouble while we are here," he attempted to reassure her, though he knew it wasn't what she wanted to hear. Still, his gaze flickered down to meet the cheetah's sunlit glance, and behind him to catch the edge of not-quite-there that was all he could sense of Sam's presence. Lastly, he looked to Deimos and nodded slowly in acknowledgment for the big man's company on what could have been a very different ending to their foray. "Let's bring our friends home," he said simply, nodding again to their hostesses before stepping forwards to into the village to find those who were no longer lost.

When Jigano thanked Arduinna Sam made himself visible, just faintly, and bowed too. It seemed the chance for danger had passed. It seemed he had not really been much use then, that his skills had been ultimately incidental to the goal. But he was still proud to have come at all, he supposed. The potential for great danger had still been there. And still was, since they were to now venture into Sidhe, into the unexplored territories of the Fae. Perhaps everyone was being friendly now, but there was no guarantee it would remain that way. Cautiously he followed Jigano further into the woods, hoping that their good luck would continue. SAMUEL How could a night so frozen Be so scalding hot? How can a morning this mild Be so raw?