The cats were okay. Aldous felt a sense of relief fill his initially worried heart, as his kneeled down form stretched out a gave a gentle nudge to one of the soft comforting cheek of the now cute-looking cats, as the two of them slept soundly on the moss that ran over the trees' roots in its unconsciousness. Right now, he envied the cats, being able to now just lie down and rest, free from the strains of the world, free from the curses of time, free from the expectations of oneself. Just sleeping like that, their role in the world now complete for now. "Sleep a little tighter....." He involuntarily murmured under his breath, his heart jumping at this unexpected utterance, hoping his voice had been too inaudible for anyone behind him to hear it.
Giving out a customary cough, as if somehow it should make him more serious and professional, Aldous felt like he should just at least be courteous enough to allow the girl to heal him with her....snake? Whew, looks like Abraxis is not the only unusual pet. Aldous had heard of anti-venom but a snake being directly curative? That's a first. When he turned his eye toward the villagers, he could instantly recognize which one of the villagers was the one named "Dawn" on the request letter. "I assume that you are Dawn," Aldous took the initiative as he addressed the patient-looking woman, who affirmed it with a prompt, stiff nod.
He felt an eyebrow raise up when he heard Freya introduce herself as a Rune Knight. He was not surprised nor was he doubtful of the girl's claim, for he was not in the position to question her, especially not when she helped him back then. Instead, he was glad. A Rune Knight meant better authority and in turn a lot more trust-worthy. Aldous had heard over the air of rumours of Dark Guild members posing as Official Guilds, so he was now more cautious with those he partnered. Her claim as a Rune Knight, however, dispelled that doubt. Also, her claim had finally made him pay a bit more attention to her and for the first time, Aldous got to see Freya in full detail.
The first thing that came to the spotlight was her long green hair, allowed to flow freely in the air, its colour almost blending with the richness of the forest and the hill fields. It was also perfect camouflage for the snake that sat comfortably on the top of her head, its beady eyes looking at him as he was looking at it. Her eyes were unusual though, green with tinges of gold mix in, and those looked just like moss. Not the pathetic one that Abraxis had described but the one that shone in the sunlight, allowing its full nature to bloom with its environment, unafraid to let itself shine, yet compassionate enough to beautify everyone else around it with its own beauty. They say 'Don't judge a book by its cover' but for this little girl, Freya, her cover was extremely impressive to Aldous.
As for the now revealed Dawn, she looked in awe at the the young girl who has revealed herself as a Rune Knight. It was kind of staggering really, seeing such this young girl being able to become part of the biggest magic organization on Earthland and a distinguished member nonetheless, seeing from her clothes that she is not just one of the thousand soldiers that were the cannon fodder in the Rune Knights.
However, towards Aldous.......Dawn had nothing to say about the dark-haired man. Not only was his face tight and stern, his eyes were like an alpha wolf, all business, no distractions, single-minded to the point of possibly focused obsession. That demeanour not only made him very hostile-looking but otherwise downright unsettling. And his clothes, with that night-black trench coat worn over his shoulders like a cloak, just made him even more dangerous-looking. like What guild he was, the girl did not tell her. Maybe he was part of a secret division of the Rune Knights, like black operations or the sort? Dawn hoped not. This village is already in too much trouble with the levees being in danger of breaking.
Thus whenever she spoke to Freya, she spoke with respect and patience, while towards Aldous, her voice would be filled with suspicion and possibly contempt. Aldous did not mind; he was familiar with that kind of experience, thus it did not bother him that much.
"Thank you for your assistance, Rune Knight," Dawn bowed in respect to Freya, a quick glance to Juke made him bow as well. Next, turning to Aldous, Dawn's face gave a harsh frown, which Aldous ignored. "Follow us back to the village. We should still have enough time to fix the levees before too much damage spread. This is probably the fifth time that this has happened and though we have a good idea who is behind it, we are getting irritated at this constant threat. So, IF you are willing to help, we have a plan to end the basin threat, once and for all....."
"We are. Don't doubt it." Aldous resolutely replied, unfazed by her piercing gaze.
"We shall see, mage," Dawn almost seemed to scowl when she turned away to walk down the path, with Juke yelling out frantically as he obediently followed her, yapping away unintelligibly, no one unable to comprehend his panicking speech patterns.
Shaking his head with a sigh, Aldous decided to follow the two villagers. At the same time, expecting Freya to follow as well, Aldous picked up the still unconscious Abraxis and then turned to the girl mid-walk with a sheepish face. "Ms. Freya, about that offer.....Could your pet...." Aldous struggled to remember the name "Orochi, right? Could you have him heal my injuries?"
(OOC: Because there are so many repeats of this same quest, I decided to add a little twist to it, as well as some realism to the situation.)
Cooldown:
Breach Lines (x6): 0 posts
Last edited by TacticalFallacy on 30th January 2013, 7:14 pm; edited 1 time in total