- Location
- Peterborough
[X] "We should leave. I… I don't want to fight anymore. Let's just go: I should be able to get us off the mountain."
Fire Emblem: Last of the Manakete
- Thread starter SoaringHawk218
- Start date
- Fantasy
[X] "We should leave. I… I don't want to fight anymore. Let's just go: I should be able to get us off the mountain."
- Location
- Internet
[X] "We should leave. I… I don't want to fight anymore. Let's just go: I should be able to get us off the mountain."
[x] Eternal Observer
Vote Closed
Since the vote is looking pretty decisive so far, I'm going to close the vote at about 4:00 Pacific time today.
EDIT: Since there's been no change in the vote, and leaving is winning nine-to-one, I feel comfortable calling it a little early. Post should be sometime tomorrow.
Last edited:
Steps of Truth
[X] "We should leave. I… I don't want to fight anymore. Let's just go: I should be able to get us off the mountain."
"Keep your wits about you when dealing with humans. They are quick to judge and quicker to panic."
-Ezorredov, High Lord of Black, in his treatise On Humans.
As you listen to Artemis and her friends argue, you find yourself looking back down the corridor. Just past the corner, the arm of the man Artemis had shot, the one who'd called you a monster and been about to shoot you, was laying, frightfully still. Beyond him were three more, then two more, then two after that, that had died by your lightning.
You'd thought you were ready. You thought it would be simple, that they had come to hurt you and Artemis and they needed to be stopped. In a way, it was, because all of that was true, but you couldn't help but let your mind wander, wondering, thinking, and you realize that you're just tired. The faint echoes of your dragon's confidence and determination that you'd instinctively called up along with your magic are fading, leaving a heart that's had more than it could endure of blood and death.
"We should leave."
Everyone looked over at you as you speak. "Ryza-"
You aren't finished. "I… I don't want to fight anymore. Let's just go: I should be able to get us off the mountain."
The two yeomen glance at each other, seemingly caught between relief that you're agreeing with them and concern about… something. Artemis frowns. "But we're-"
"Artemis. Please, let's just go."
The human girl flinches even as her friends both scowl; something about what you'd said had upset them, but for once you just don't have the energy to try and reason it out. "Ryza…" Artemis whispers before taking a deep breath. "You're right. I… apologize, I was letting my temper get the best of me." She gently pats you on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go. We've still got some daylight; we can make a lot of progress before nightfall." She glances at the two men. "Are you fit to travel?"
"Of course, my lady," Axton says immediately. "We should be able to grab some supplies; this group was intended to stay here as long as it took to find you." Nudging Lancel, he leads the way out of the hall.
"Are you alright?" Artemis asks softly as you started to follow.
Are you alright? You're tired, certainly, and not from using your magic: that hadn't taken too much out of you. No, this was a spiritual tiredness. However, as you lean into Artemis's side for a moment; you feel warmer. Whatever happened, you still had your friend. "I think I will be," you say. "Come on, let's go see the sun."
Artemis smiles. "That sounds like a good idea, Ryza," she said, hugging your shoulder briefly before leading the way out. You hear the two men rummaging through a pile of bags, but you ignore them, simply turning and tipping your head back to feel the sunlight on your face. You are not of the White tribe, but the Mother's Light still feels comfortably warm upon your cheeks, after who knows how long underground. It almost made up for the chill of the high mountains; thankfully you seemed to have woken up in spring or summer, as it wasn't too cold.
After a minute of peaceful silence, you look around to realize that Artemis had slipped away to help her fellows, and they seemed to be almost ready to go. Trotting over, you ask "So where are we going?"
"We're going east, down the mountain to my homeland of Agrithe," Artemis says, looking up at the sky with a frown. "This is afternoon, right?"
"It is, my lady," Lancel says. "Thank the spirits, we're on the right side of the mountain. We should be able to make it far enough before nightfall that we can at least not freeze: these men didn't pack any shelter."
"They must have been planning to sleep inside," Artemis muses before shaking her head. "No matter now, I suppose. Ryza, do you know this area."
You shrug. "Not so much to the east: I mostly played outside the main door: Mother and Father didn't like me wandering too far."
The two yeomen glanced at each other again. "Lady Ryza, will your parents be joining us?" Axton asks carefully.
You flinch. "No… no, they won't," you say softly.
Artemis throws a dirty look at the pair. "Ryza has my confidence," she says sharply. "That should be enough for you."
They bow, but you can see that they're still frowning. "We should go, my lady," Lancel says. "The main bandit force won't be expecting a message for some hours, but Robert or Ubel might send a message of their own for some reason: we shouldn't be here when they arrive."
"Agreed," Artemis says, gently patting your shoulder before turning. "Let's go." With that, the three of you set off down the mountain.
Traveling purely by foot is an… odd sensation. Usually, you would have been able to make this journey in tens of minutes, maybe an hour if you took it slow as your wings allowed you to bypass any rough terrain with ease. Several times, you considered flying around just to stretch a bit and have some fun.
However, it wouldn't be fair to do that to Artemis and her friends. They were clearly struggling, despite trying to hide it. Artemis keeps up a brave face, but you can see her stumbling faintly whenever the terrain got too rough, and the two yeomen are even worse. Rubbing your flight in their face would just be cruel, and Axton and Lancel already seemed not to like you very much, so you decided to just trudge along with the rest of them. Besides, from the way they were all trying to keep low, you realized they were worried about being spotted by any of bandits still on the mountain.
In any case, you were glad you were all going down rather than up: that clearly would have taken them a lot longer.
As you walk, you notice that, time and again, one or both of the yeomen tries to get between you and Artemis. She doesn't seem to take this well, and responds by sticking to you like wet fur. It's actually getting a little annoying. You aren't a baby; you can look after yourself!
Finally, after several hours of clambering, sliding and occasionally almost falling to your deaths, Lancel comes back from where he'd been ranging ahead. "I found a small cave; just a little ahead of us," he says. "It won't be sheltered enough to risk a fire, but it will give us some cover."
Artemis looks up again: the sun had sunk behind the mountain a while ago, and it was clearly getting harder and harder for your human companions to pick out their paths, though the full moon in the sky gives you plenty to see by. "We can't keep going for much longer," she said. "Ryza can guide us, but she can't be with all of us at once. We'll stop here for the night." You nodded in agreement: your feet hurt.
Soon, the four of you are filtering into the cave, though really, crack was a better word for the small space. This was well down the mountain, far below the area your parents had claimed, so you couldn't rely on anything better. You force back a groan: you'd slept on hard rock for Mother only knows how long, now it seems you were going to have to do it again. You find yourself wishing you'd been able to grab your blanket, but there just hadn't been room when you got done choosing which of the scrolls you absolutely had to have.
As you settle in, however, you frown at the back of the cave. "What's that?" you ask, pointing into the darkness.
"Ryza, we can't see as well as you can, so we're not sure." Artemis said tiredly. "What do you see?"
Bouncing back to your feet, you hurry to the back of the crack/cave. "It's a bit hard to see, but I think… yes, there's a gap here! There's more of the cave further back!" Pushing your way through the gap, you look around. "It's a bit dark back here, but I smell something; Come on, let's check it out!"
"Ryza, come back!" Artemis says. "We can't see you!"
You pop back out. "I think there's something good back there, and if nothing else it'll make it harder for the bad men to find us!"
Axton had managed to dig a torch out from his pack and carefully lit it, keeping his body between the light and the outside. "I don't see anything, my lady," he said.
"That's because you're not standing in the right place," you say, darting over and grabbing his tense arm to pull him along. "You're causing shadows to fall over it, makes it nearly invisible even to me. Stand right here and look."
After a few moments, he nods slowly. "You're right, Lady Ryza," he says. "It's hard to see, but there is a gap."
"I know I'm right, I saw it," you say, moving back over and slipping in. "Come on, its warmer back here!" You glance back to see the humans sharing odd looks before picking up their packs and moving to follow you.
As the light falls into the new cave, you realize that, while it's not much bigger than the first one, it is more sheltered. It also seems to have been occupied at one point, as there is a tattered bag sitting off to one side and some old, rotten wood stacked in a pile in the center. "What's this," you ask.
"This must have been an old camp," Artemis says. "Very old. I wonder what happened to the one who made it?"
"Perhaps some ancient group of bandits got them," Axton says darkly.
"Possibly," Artemis says. "But the important thing is that we have some shelter." She pets you on the head. "Good eyes, Ryza."
"Thank you, Artemis," you say, sitting down again.
It took some doing, but eventually the four of you were able to make a functional camp. There was nothing still usable in the bag besides some small gold and silver disks that Artemis took; everything else seemed to have disintegrated with the years. The rest of the bag and some of the pieces of wood were used to make a small but functional fire, fueled further by some small, scrubby plants that Lancel noticed outside. It wasn't much, but at least you were somewhat warm.
As you wondered whether you should dig out one of your scrolls to do some reading to try to talk to Artemis some more, Lancel moves to sit near you. "Lady Ryza," he said formally. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you and Lady Artemis meet, while you were in those ruins?"
You glance over to see Axton and Artemis talking to each other in low voices. Artemis looks annoyed, but Axton raises a placating hand and she seems to settle in to hear him out. Deciding there was no harm in indulging Lancel's curiosity, you refocus on the waiting man.
"She woke me up," you say. "A long time ago, Father put me into a magical sleep to keep me safe, since there were some people who were coming to hurt us." It was still painful to say those words, but you're able to keep your composure: Lancel is Artemis's friend, so that means you can trust him. "Artemis stumbled onto the shrine, and we were able to close it back up so she could get some rest because she was really tired, and then we left and made our way through my home to get to the other door, where we found you."
He frowns. "How long were you asleep before Lady Artemis found you?"
You shrug. "I don't know. I was asleep the whole time."
"I suppose that makes sense," Lancel says, a slight smile breaking out on his face. "And you guided her through the ruins?"
"I did," you say, nodding. "It was my home; I knew it well. Well, until the spiders got in. Stupid spiders."
Lancel gasps. "Spiders? You mean there were baels in the mountain!?"
Artemis's dry voice cuts through the conversation as she makes her way over. "No. No baels, just small ones that Ryza thought were icky." You puff up your cheeks as she sits next to you. "Lancel, might I speak to Ryza alone for a little bit."
The yeoman bows "Of course, my lady," he says, rising to his feet and hurrying over to join Axton, who is watching the scene from across the cave.
Once they're both out of easy earshot, Artemis leans down to whisper to you. "How are you doing, Ryza?"
You blink in confusion: why does she think this needs to be secret? "I'm well, why are we whispering?"
Artemis glanced over at her friends. "You've probably noticed that Axton and Lancel are a bit… unnerved, by you," she said. "Axton approached me to talk about some… concerns, that he had. I already knew about all of them, and I did my best to reassure him, but we do need to talk, if you're ready."
"…I thought we were friends," you say nervously. Did Artemis not like you anymore after you killed people?
"We are, Ryza, we are," Artemis says quickly. "Please know, that I do trust you, and I do like you, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but it's important that we get some things straight. Do you trust me?"
You nod, Father's words drifting across your mind. "I do."
Artemis smiles. "That makes me happy, Ryza," she says. "So please, when I say these things, please don't think I'm accusing you of anything; I just need to know." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "Ryza, I know you're not human-"
You blink. "…Okay?" you say.
"-and I'm not blaming you for not telling me, but you were… oh," Artemis trails off. She must have expected you to deny it.
You pick up the conversation after a second of awkward silence. "I mean, I thought you knew. Humans can't see in the dark like I can, and I didn't think you could use magic at all, so I thought we were just going without stating the obvious."
Artemis blinks a few times before nodding. "I think I understand," she says. "I thought your father might have told you to pretend to be human, and I was going to let you know that you might need to try a little harder." She glanced over at Axton and Lancel. "I'm glad that you trusted me enough to not try to hide this from me, but you might want to start pretending, at least around strangers. Axton and Lancel are good men, and they trust me enough to trust you, but you made them nervous with the lighting tricks and the seeing in the dark. If strangers start to realize you're some sort of artificial mage, well, they may do something rash."
… Artificial?
[] "WHAT?!" You're offended: what does she mean artificial!? Does she think you're not real, after everything you've done for her?!
[] "What?" You're puzzled: where did she get the idea you were artificial? You want to understand what you might have said or done that gave that impression.
[] "…wat?" You're just lost. What even is this conversation?
Last edited:
Ando Owen
Yandere Illya is watching you.
- Location
- Montpellier
Oh. That's some glorious misunderstanding.
There must have been some experimentations Witcher-style to create mages, and Artemis probably think our parents have done experiments on us.
Artemis : I won't presume your life.
Ryza : Okay?
Artemis : But I hope one day you will be able to share with me your tragic past.
Ryza : Mine is not that tragic.
Artemis : You must have suffered as an artificial mage.
Ryza : It's not bad to be a dragon.
Artemis : Dra....? Dragon? Where? What?
Ryza : Artificial mage? The heck is that?
[X] "…wat?" You're just lost. What even is this conversation?
We must pursue the path of confusion in order to confusion-fu Artemis enough to drop the matter so that we may reach one day revelation the proper way, burning down a battlefield like a deus ex machina or eleventh hour power up.
There must have been some experimentations Witcher-style to create mages, and Artemis probably think our parents have done experiments on us.
Artemis : I won't presume your life.
Ryza : Okay?
Artemis : But I hope one day you will be able to share with me your tragic past.
Ryza : Mine is not that tragic.
Artemis : You must have suffered as an artificial mage.
Ryza : It's not bad to be a dragon.
Artemis : Dra....? Dragon? Where? What?
Ryza : Artificial mage? The heck is that?
[X] "…wat?" You're just lost. What even is this conversation?
We must pursue the path of confusion in order to confusion-fu Artemis enough to drop the matter so that we may reach one day revelation the proper way, burning down a battlefield like a deus ex machina or eleventh hour power up.
WanderingTwix
Posting something good once in a full moon
- Location
- United Kingdom
[X] "…wat?" You're just lost. What even is this conversation?
Huh, I thought they figured out we were a manakete and they were wary around us because there was some history between humans and dragons but I guess they think we're actually a secret magic weapon prototype to figure out no-tome casting. ...That's... That's actually an improvement from my perspective! For now! there still could be a problem between humans and dragons/manaketes after all
Huh, I thought they figured out we were a manakete and they were wary around us because there was some history between humans and dragons but I guess they think we're actually a secret magic weapon prototype to figure out no-tome casting. ...That's... That's actually an improvement from my perspective! For now! there still could be a problem between humans and dragons/manaketes after all
Eternal_0bserver
(Unverified Bookworm)
- Location
- Earth, Northern Europe
[X] "What?" You're puzzled: where did she get the idea you were artificial? You want to understand what you might have said or done that gave that impression.
- Pronouns
- He
I was under the impression that the 2 guys Artemis was with knew were simply suspicious of some random mage in the woods who just so happened to be in the area. I also assumed that Artemis thought we were human.
In other words. All of my conclusions were literally wrong.
Finally, I wanna figure out how to punch things with Lighting, Fairy Tail style.
[X] "…wat?" You're just lost. What even is this conversation?
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her/They/Them
[X] "What?" You're puzzled: where did she get the idea you were artificial? You want to understand what you might have said or done that gave that impression.
[x] "…wat?" You're just lost. What even is this conversation?
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
[X] "What?" You're puzzled: where did she get the idea you were artificial? You want to understand what you might have said or done that gave that impression.
[x] Emanyzal
- Location
- Florida
[X] "What?" You're puzzled: where did she get the idea you were artificial? You want to understand what you might have said or done that gave that impression.