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Post by SlvrNight on Feb 2, 2019 13:42:06 GMT -5
Elliana eyed the device in the prince's hand. It looked like a type of communication device. She had seen similar models before and had used some herself. Truthfully it would've made things far easier if the princess' was working. But if that were the case she doubted she'd even be on this little adventure with the prince.
"Who are you?"
The akma woman's orange eyes shifted in Carl's direction and she couldn't help but smile in response. She could answer that in so many different ways. But she could already tell, from her brief time with him, that the prince wouldn't react well to the whole truth. Saying it as a joke primarily to screw with him was out of the question as well. He'd likely take it seriously no matter what she said.
So, for now, a simple name would suffice.
"Elliana." Was all she said before turning her attention back to the marketplace before them.
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Alarm covered the woman's face for a brief moment before her eyes focused on one of the cloaked soldiers. She saw the emblem of Jin upon them and sighed in relief. For a moment she was afraid the princess was being attacked by a gang of mercenaries or bandits with the intent to kidnap her. Thankfully that didn't seem to be the case.
The woman stood up to her full height on the rooftop, believing the danger was gone and the princess was safe.
Until her eyes caught something unusual. Movement at the top of one of district's taller buildings. She narrowed her eyes, doing her best to see exactly what it was. It was too large to be a bird and it looked humanoid, along with a long thin rod jetting out from-
Her eyes widened.
Without a moment's hesitation, for a moment was all she needed to be too late, a large metallic tentacle emerged from her back and flew forward. The tentacle had three large claws at its end, which dug into the ground as it passed by the princess' face and between her and the ranger. The tentacle itself was stretched from there to the woman's location on the rooftop.
A loud clang suddenly rang out from the tentacle in front of the princess' face. On the ranger's side he would've seen something impact the metal, creating a burst of sparks and leaving a black mark.
The woman used her tentacle to bring herself to them, landing to their right. The tentacle dislodged itself from the ground and coiled behind her while a second one emerged. The woman had pale, almost sickly colored, skin. Her black hair was long, past her shoulders, and somewhat unkempt with several bangs. She wore a long green coat, brown thigh-high boots with silver metal on the soles and top, and a black fully body leotard with red markings on the thighs and collar. The first features that most would notice about her though, besides the metal tentacles, were her bright yellow pupils and the metal mask over her mouth.
"I'm sorry for just jumping in like that." Her voice was slightly distorted but whether it was due to the mask or her voice itself was up in the air. "But I believe there's someone on the top of that building that wants you dead, princess."
She did her best to ignore the stares of the rangers and any random passerby.
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Post by Jisui on Feb 3, 2019 0:35:54 GMT -5
"Elliana."
The name gave the prince slight pause, his brow furrowing as if on the cusp of recognition. Glancing at the akma woman's retreating back, the moment of clarity seemed to vanish as he dropped the matter and moved to join her towards the eastern district.
The journey was largely uneventful, lasting around half an hour of walking in a atmosphere that was somewhere between tension and comfortable silence. Whether it was because of the prince's seemingly quiet nature so far, or a lack of trust between the two was a moot point.
Jurok Plaza. That was the agreed meeting point in the eastern district between he and Ilya, mainly because it happened to be in the center of most of the shops. Still, Carl could plainly see that the plan was poorly thought out as soon as the two had arrived.
Sprawling. That was the only word that could have described the sight in front of them. The constant movement of passerby's and shoppers almost made the prince dizzy, and he could barely hear the words of his akma partner next to him as a result. There were stalls, shops and kiosks covering just about every available inch of space imaginable.
It was an impressive sight. Ilya would have been quite amazed., given that there was nothing on such a scale in Jin.
"...This might be difficult." Carl muttered, anticipating some form of a sarcastic response from Elliana.
"...My thanks. Its hard to find these flowers in this season."
That voice... Carl's eyes widened slightly, snapping to the left. There was a flower stall in close proximity to them, where a jovial looking man with a beard was handing off a bouquet of soft white flowers to a young woman who seemed to be around Elliana's age. The woman had a slim build with silver white hair tied into a tight pony-tail, bound with a red silk ribbon. Notably, on her head was white wolf ears that noted as a member of the beast race. But what stood out the most to Carl was the dark green cloak with Jin insignia that wrapped around her small frame.
Grabbing the flowers gratefully, the female ranger exchanged a small pouch with the shopkeeper before turning away. She scanned the perimeter automatically, ruby red eyes almost immediately locking with Carl's and freezing.
Ah... she was walking towards them. That was quite the stern look that was on her face, he noted with a grimace.
"...Leina Sylvas." The prince muttered for Elliana's benefit.
"She's the current commander of the Jin rangers. Just recently took the position."
What... just happened?
It had happened too fast for Ilya to comprehend. A flash of silver. A loud clang of metal. A strange woman descending from seemingly nowhere. A stereotypical princess would have descended into panic, but some instinct in Ilya screamed that whatever had occurred, one thing was sure.
Death. Death had brushed her, and nearly embraced her. The thought sent an involuntary chill down her spine, before she chastised the weak emotion of fear back into submission. She turned her eyes towards her unknown savior, taking in her unusual garments and mask. Those eyes... was she an akma?
"Um..." The princess began, unsure of how to begin. "Thank-"
"Formation, now!" A scramble of movement cut her off, with the rangers moving to surround and cover the princess from any additional attacks. The group pulled gleaming metal longbows from their backs, with an unfortunate amount pointed towards the masked woman. It was natural, after all. A strange woman with metal tentacles had suddenly descended out of nowhere. Most of the rangers had probably perceived her action as a failed attack.
"Halt. She's telling the truth."
Most, but not the man with the best angle. There was no way that the grizzled ranger with the stubble had not seen the woman's tentacle blocking the unknown attack. His sharp eyes instantly perceived the attack angle, and glanced towards the rooftop that the woman had pointed towards. She was correct. If there was an assailant, it would be there.
Within seconds, he came to a decision.
"Fall back to the palace with the princess. Standard formation. The only priority is the safety of the princess."
His cold eyes swept over Ilya, who knew that she was in no position to argue otherwise. He turned his glare towards the yellow-eyed woman shortly after.
"You're coming too. There's questions that I hope you have answers for."
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Post by SlvrNight on Feb 18, 2019 22:14:12 GMT -5
"Leina Sylvas. She's the current commander of the Jin rangers. Just recently took the position."
Elliana raised an eyebrow, briefly glancing at the prince before turning her attention to their approaching visitor.
It seemed like their little adventures was about to come to an end. The commander of Jin's rangers, a troop that was widely regarded with both fear and respect. When elite military groups and squads were brought up, you could guarantee that someone would mention the Whitemane Kingdom's rangers at some point. A large number of the general populace felt that one of the few reasons the Order of the Golden Cross nor the Infernal Heralds have gone to direct battle with the kingdom was because of their rangers, which was given further solid evidence when the Battle of the Riz Ruins occurred a few years ago. The battle had been a large conflict between the Golden Cross and Infernal Heralds, with many believing it'd spill over into the nearby settlements.
Until high-ranking warriors on both sides started falling. It wasn't until Howl Zoloheim himself got involved that it was discovered Jin's rangers had covertly entered the battle to put a stop to both sides, forcing them to retreat.
Elliana found herself gritting her teeth as she remembered this, put quickly forced herself to have a more neutral expression as the ranger commander approached. The akma looked towards Carl, curious as to what he planned on saying to deal with this.
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The woman's eyes briefly looked towards the tall building, where the attack originated from, then to the princess, before stopping on the face of the veteran ranger before her. For the briefest of moments an incredible urge surged within her, filling her mind with the sounds of spilling liquid, crunching, and terrified screams. Her mind quickly adjusted and rid itself of these thoughts, taking less than a moment to do so.
Her tentacles made slight movements while idle, but nothing sudden. She released a quiet sigh, standing fully upright, and ran a hand through her hair.
"Sazuma." She directed towards both the veteran ranger and the princess.
"My name is Sazuma. I'll cooperate with you."
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"Shit!" The sniper hissed as she saw her shot deflected by the tentacle. Wasting no time, she quickly moved back and made her way elsewhere, moving out of view from the people down below and sliding down the opposite side of the roof, disassembling her weapon as she went. She had to hurry. There was no time to even think about taking a second shot, it had been risky enough taking the first one with those damned rangers around.
She needed to pull back, avoid being followed, and report her failure.
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Post by Jisui on Feb 18, 2019 23:21:01 GMT -5
The prince caught Elliana's glance towards him and winced, his mind racing on how to deal with their approaching visitor. What were the odds that Leina would be here of all places? He would have thought her to be busy guarding father.
"Prince Carl... what on earth are you doing here?" Carl's thoughts were cut off by the soft, but stern sound of Leina's voice, the prince's gaze snapping towards the ranger leader.
...Quite honestly, it was hard to be intimidated by the woman in front of him at the moment. She was barely above Carl in height, and slight enough in frame such that Carl wasn't completely convinced that a stray gust wouldn't knock her over. The fact that she was closely hugging a bouquet of snowy white flowers didn't exactly help. Nonetheless, an uncharacteristic chill went down the prince's spine upon seeing her glare directed at him.
This woman was dangerous. One would have to be a fool not to see that.
Leina's stern gaze shifted from the prince to the red-haired woman woman next to him, eyes narrowing further in suspicion.
"And who is-"
"My date." Carl fired off quickly, cutting her off before she could continue. Immediately, he could see Leina's eyes widen in surprise, cheeks becoming slightly flushed upon digesting his words.
"Your... your..."
"My date." He finished smoothly, glancing at Elliana and trying not to grimace in thought of the akma woman's reaction. "We met during our stay here."
"I... see." Leina muttered, staring intently at the akma woman as if trying to decide something. "A rendezvous... I suppose you are at that age."
"Um... Ms. Sazuma."
The group, including their new guest, had taken no spare time in moving away from the assassination location. Moving in a carefully efficient manner, they had successfully moved away from the residential area in a matter of minutes.
Ilya looked at the unusual woman from the corner of her eyes while they moved, a rather apologetic look in her eyes.
"I'm sorry about the rough treatment. They mean well, even if they don't look the part."
The group of rangers either chose to collectively ignore the insult, or were just that focused on protecting their charge. The princess' brow furrowed as she thought of what to say next, before it relaxed into a bright smile.
"And thank-"
"Stop." The veteran ranger suddenly halted, causing the group to collectively freeze without any warning. His hawk-like eyes spun around, narrowing onto a pair of rangers leading the group. Suddenly, Ilya realized that they were no longer in an area with any people. It was a quiet, almost desolate looking street with an almost uncomfortable silence blanketing the area.
"Lars, Clarissa. Did you think I wouldn't notice? This route doesn't lead to the central palace." He stated, eyes beginning to glint with an accusatory tone.
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Post by SlvrNight on Mar 5, 2019 20:47:24 GMT -5
Elliana was a courageous and patient woman. Both of those qualities branched off from the incredible willpower she had. She had the will to make the harsh decisions required of her in her life and the will to deal with those consequences. She could not be swayed from her goals once she committed, forcing her way through any obstacles by destroying them, removing them to the side, or adding them to those behind her.
It took almost every ounce of this indomitable will for Elliana to not turn her head at a speed nearly capable of snapping her own neck as she heard the prince's last minute explanation for her presence to the commander.
"My date."
Such a reason would be more suspicious if she weren't an akma with an aging speed different from humans. While Elliana looked rather physically developed, her facial features and physical condition were enough for one to possibly see her as being close to the prince in age. After all, there were also human women who looked older than they were, as well as the opposite.
Elliana did her best to smile sweetly at Leina, noting her flustered expression and realizing that Carl's plan had a legitimate chance of working.
"That's right. I was honestly surprised that the prince would show an interest in someone like me, but here we are. We get along well enough to the point that I'm completely fine with giving this a shot."
She placed a hand to her chest and spoke with an apologetic tone.
"I do apologize for any problems this rendezvous may have caused you. That wasn't my intention at all."
She was completely ignoring the screaming in her head.
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Sazuma shook her head at Ilya's apology.
"Don't worry about it. I'm somewhat used to this kind of treatment. Very rarely can I go somewhere and people not be suspicious of me. With my appearance, I can't exactly blame them."
Then the veteran ranger stopped the group and Sazuma felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was amiss.
"Lars, Clarissa. Did you think I wouldn't notice? This route doesn't lead to the central palace."
The masked woman's yellow eyes darted to the two rangers in front, her tentacles suddenly stiffening and aiming in their direction. This was an area devoid of people, one of the rarely-used back streets of Racamgi. With the gathering going on today in the center of the city it also meant that anyone who normally occupied this area was likely gone.
Her right tentacle twitched but she kept her instincts under control. She said nothing and waited for the two rangers to answer their commanding officer.
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Post by Jisui on Mar 5, 2019 21:53:03 GMT -5
For a woman that was supposedly the leader of Jin's elite reconnaissance force, Leina certainly didn't seem the part. If anything, the silver-haired ranger only seemed to be further flustered by Elliana's almost sickeningly sweet introduction.
Impressive acting, Carl wryly thought upon seeing Elliana's performance. He had an uncomfortable feeling he would pay for the impromptu lie later, but it was definitely preferred to the alternative. It was fortunate that he knew Leina's weak point.
"...It appears I'm the villain here." Leina quietly remarked with a rueful expression on her face, unsure of whether she was more uncomfortable with the excessively polite introduction she had been given, or that the crown prince had a more active love life than herself. Giving a slight cough and turning away from the pair, the ranger drew a deep breath before returning her gaze to them. Her ruby orbs scanned the unlikely couple once again, this time in a somewhat softer expression from before.
"There's no need to apologize... well, you at least. I can't say the same for our prince." Noticing an uneasy shuffle from said prince, Leina's mouth twitched upward as if claiming a small victory, before she continued.
"If anything, it is my shame to bear. It appears the crown princess is gallivanting about in the city as well, meaning that we've failed to watch over two teenagers."
The answer was so sincere and dignified, that Carl almost felt bad for the woman. But just as quickly, the moment of self-pity passed, and the commander of the rangers took hold once again. Turning a soft but severe gaze to Elliana, Leina lowered her bouquet of white flowers to stare at the akma woman more closely. It might have been a fleeting moment, but for a second, there was the distinct feeling of a beast distinguishing a potential threat. Once the moment had faded, a small smile emerged on the woman's lips.
"...But where are my manners. I am Leina Sylvas, commander of Jin's rangers. And you?"
Ilya was not particularly good at reading the mood, but even she was able to determine a palpable tension in the air. The commanding ranger continued to glare at the leading rangers, who glanced at each other in silent communication. Finally, after a few seconds of terse silence, the female ranger smirked and responded.
"Nothing personal captain."
Thud.
What... was that sound?
She didn't understand. It was incomprehensible, yet all too familiar. Practicing archery with her dad, it was the familiar thunk of an arrow meeting its target. But to link that sound with her current situation was incomprehensible.
"Gah...!" To the side of her, a body slumped to the ground, an arrow buried deep into his chest from behind. The leader of the rangers fought the swelling blood that was rising to his lips, and desperately swerved his gaze behind him. The three rangers behind the group had drawn their bows, one of them lowering it slightly and reaching for another arrow.
The male ranger in front stared at his former commander pitifully, before turning his gaze at the remaining women and continuing.
"You too, princess, akma. Nothing personal."
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Post by SlvrNight on Mar 10, 2019 15:20:31 GMT -5
Elliana did her best to avoid smiling smugly at the prince, a feeling of satisfaction within her with the knowledge that Leina would likely be dishing out some punishment to him later. Having to go with this lie was painful, so it was good to know.
As the ranger commander stared at her, a feeling of discomfort appeared and the akma woman raised an eyebrow. Was Leina that interested in her appearance? Maybe she was appraising her, seeing if she was worthy for the prince. Or maybe she hadn't seen an akma of her kind yet and wanted a closer look? It was also very possible there was a deeper meaning to this. This woman was the commander of Jin's rangers. There was a reason for that and Elliana had to do her best to keep that in mind at all times.
Then she smiled and everything went back to normal.
Elliana nodded at Leina's introduction and replied, "Elliana Vethelot, just here in Racamgi for a little while myself. It's good to meet you, Leina."
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Sazuma instantly caught the scent of blood and the reality of the situations fell upon her. It was an ambush and a well-crafted one. What made it worse was that the rangers that betrayed them were genuine, not pretenders simply wearing the uniform. The veteran ranger would've likely noticed it long ago if that were the case. Her yellow eyes then briefly fell upon the veteran ranger's, making contact with them.
Her first instinct was to lash out, to tear them all to shreds. But, judging from the princess's dumbfounded look, she had likely not fully processed what was going on and was, therefore, not in the right mind. It was very likely she'd be caught in the crossfire if Sazuma were to fight back right now. So she had one other immediate option.
She hoped the veteran ranger knew her intent from their brief eye contact. Without a moment's hesitation, one of her tentacles sprouted out to the princess, wrapping around her entire body, not leaving a single part of her exposed, and the other slammed onto the ground and released a pulse of energy. The ground erupted into a plume of gray smoke, sending rubble flying, while Sazuma then used that same tentacle on the ground to spring herself forward, taking the princess with her and attempting to escape.
At the very least she could deposit the princess somewhere and then deal with their assailants.
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Post by Jisui on Mar 10, 2019 17:01:17 GMT -5
"Likewise." With a slight upturn of her lips, Leina responded to Elliana with a quiet warmness that made them wonder if the previous moment of intensity had been all in their heads.
Afterwards, a somewhat uncomfortable silence began to blanket the group, as if they were all attempting to figure out what to do now. The whole situation was still somewhat surreal to Leina. She had been watching over the young Whitemane twins for a very long time, and Carl wasn't the type to suddenly sneak out on rendezvous' without any notice. Although, he always was hard to read, unlike his sister...
"...Are those flowers for your father?" The prince quietly broke the silence, his eyes trained on the bundle of flowers clasped in Leina's arms with an expression that could be described as sympathetic. No sooner than the words had escaped Carl's lips did he immediately regret them upon seeing Leina's reaction.
Her grip on the white flowers tightened unconsciously. A single white petal shuddered from the force, and gently broke free.
"Ah..."
For a moment, a brief moment of weakness seemed to slip through the cracks in what had been a seemingly impervious facade.
She didn't know what expression she was making at the moment. Pain? Grief? Anger? It might have been some ugly amalgam, distorted into an emotion that didn't fit the dignified ranger's beautiful face.
Leina Sylvas. She had only recently taken the position recently in the past few years, from her father, Johan Sylvas. A legendary ranger who had served the current king's father, Jerrod Whitemane, for decades. Her father, who had given everything to Jin. Her father, who had deserved a life of comfortable retirement. Her father...
Another white petal shook loose.
"...Yes, they are." The grip on the bouquet loosened, and Leina's expression seemed to clear. She glanced up towards the pair with a bittersweet smile.
"Its been a few years, hasn't it? Since the Battle of Riz Ruins."
Like Sazuma had hoped, the veteran ranger had immediately understood her intent. Without wasting any time, he drew a short sword sheathed at his hip, and charged forward at one of the rangers.
Fueled with pain and adrenaline, his mind barely registered the two additional arrows in his back. With a savage roar, he slammed the blade into the metal longbow of the ranger, who had been caught off guard with the ferocity of the charge.
"Go, GO!" He roared behind him at Sazuma. Around him, three of the rangers darted off towards the fleeing akma, kicking off the ground with a seemingly equal amount of strength as the akma. As they flew towards her, their bows moved an arc, firing a hail of arrows towards the fleeing pair.
Sazuma's assessment was correct. It was likely that if she were in a good mental state, Ilya and Sazuma could have defeated their assailants without much issue.
But it was literally incomprehensible for Ilya, tightly wrapped in the metal tentacle, to be attacked by her own countrymen. The thought itself was unable to be registered, let alone processed.
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