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Calling Down the Moon [M]

Started by Rhindeer, September 09, 2014, 10:34:10 AM

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Rhindeer

[TW: Discussions of sexual assault.]


No warm bed that night. Misae had spent her day avoiding notice because apparently, her master's guard was here, and now they were aware she was here, too. She had the money for a room now, thanks to the crazy man earlier, but she wouldn't dare check in.

After all, if you were looking for someone, what was the first thing you'd do? Check with the inns and taverns. Spread a description of the person around those areas.

Misae had no doubt that's what they did, and so instead of checking in to a warm bed and hot meal, she was out here, in the slums, wrapped up in her many layers of clothes that covered everything but her eyes. She didn't need to wear it now; it was night, so there was no threat of sunburn. But it was safer this way, so no one recognized her.

Walking the quiet streets, she found a spot against a wall--someone's ramshackle home, probably--and saw the ground there wasn't too dirty. She checked that no one was around, that the area was empty (well, save for a prowling cat), and took a deep breath. Empty. Good.

Time to work.

With a sigh, she sat with her knees to her chest and tipped her head back so she could look at the sky.

The stars were bright out tonight, and the moon was full, the sky clear. Misae's vision wasn't the greatest, but she didn't need good vision to make out the brilliant spots of light.

Or to work her magic.

Thrusting her sleeve-clad arms skyward, Misae focused on the moon, focused on drawing down some of that light and concentrating it into a tiny beam before her. The moon saw everything, even what her elder sister sun saw, for they often shared the same light. And it was that light that Misae drew down and bent, transforming from a shaft to a tiny sphere that she cupped in her palms, bright and almost blinding as it lit up the dark alley.

Misae squinted as she looked at it--though not directly at it--and focused, putting the image of the one she was seeking in her mind. Hopefully the Sisters had seen something today, and she would have a clue as to where he was.

Slowly, as she concentrated, an image began to form in the light, dark and hazy, but gradually gaining color, form. Misae held her breath, and willed it to manifest faster.

Hurry!

The light was bright, and it would attract people. When this was done, she would have to move, and move fast.

The guards, after all, knew they were hunting an astromancer.
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DaGlobster

(This is one or those characters that I'd rather not take the time to describe again. I think you know the drill, Rhi)

Au'Nvratyis stared upwards, the night breeze gently pulling on the tattered rags and robes he used to cover himself from the world. The only things visible in this particular case were the bottoms of his cloven feet, and a strip in his head wrap where his eyes could be seen. He sighed in his usual, contemplative manner.

This planet's moon reminded him of the moon above his home planet of Kath, but this moon's pallid face could not hope to match Kah'Ten's purple rings and ever-changing volcanic surface. Still, he supposed Moon (what kind of a name was Moon?) had a certain...enchanting blankness to it.

Suddenly, rushed, furtive footsteps a couple of buildings away alerted him to the presence of another being. He glanced around from his perch on the roof of an inn, deliberating his options. Then, a bright glow helped him to zero in on a location. A couple streets away, in the opposite direction, came the rushed, clanking footsteps of the local Guard.

Deciding on his course of action,he was on his way, intent on following what he surmised to be a sort of fugitive, quietly and almost noiselessly bounding across rooftops as he approached the source of the light, intent on peeking over the edge as stealthily as possible to figure out what the source of it all was.

Rhindeer

The figure in the light was quickly manifesting, quickly taking shape and gaining detail, and Misae willed it to come faster, but magic couldn't be rushed; it was its own entity, and well done magic took time. But abruptly she was aware of the quick thud of sandals on the street, and her head snapped up with a sharp gasp.

And the light snapped out with it.

So close! But it was time to leave, and leave fast; she was not foolish enough to wait around to see whether it was the guard or not.

Clamoring to her feet, Misae clutched her robes close, adjusted her head wrap to make sure it was still concealing her, and then turned and ran, quickly, in the opposite direction and down the alley, right as the first soldier reached the entrance and shouted, "You, there! Stop!"

Of course, she didn't. She just ran faster, even as she heard them fall into pursuit behind her. But even as she ran, she didn't feel too concerned. In the day, it would have been another matter; she would have been in a panic. But here, at night, with the full moon shining down on her?

They were in her world, now.

And so she ran, drawing upon the light as she did, praying to the Sisters and god-stars to work her magic--

And vanished.

Or rather, it looked like she vanished, but all she did was a trick she'd learned in childhood. She warped the light around her, and to those pursuing, it looked like she simply disappeared.

Confused voices rose behind her, and Misae slowed her pace from a run to a cautious walk, because if they were listening, they'd be able to hear her footsteps. Holding on to her power, she crept down the street, turned, and pressed her back to a wall to catch her breath, hold still, and wait. She couldn't hold the guise long; it took concentration and energy. So her best bet was to just stand still and be patient. It wouldn't be long before they gave up and looked elsewhere.
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DaGlobster

Au'Nvratyis watched the scene unfold from his rooftop perch. When he saw that it was a young girl being chased, he changed his stance. He had been in this nation of "Essyrn" for long enough to know that the powerful kept these things called "slaves". The concept disgusted him. On Kath, there were no "slaves". All Kathractians served willingly, because all of Kath depended on it. If these town guards were intent on capturing this young woman to be a slave, he intended to stop it.

But before he could jump down and lend a hand, the young girl disappeared from Ky's sight. However, his sight was the only thing he managed to elude. He shut them, crouching down low so he could focus.

Yes...he could hear...

It was faint, but then again his senses were much more powerful than the idiots trying to capture what wasn't there anymore. As fate would have it, they moved on, perplexed, but they continued moving up the streets, unwittingly still on Misae's trail.

Ky, thinking quickly, stepped over to a nearby rooftop garden, and quietly removed one of the rooftop shingles, deftly tossing it as far back down the opposite end of the street as he could.

Crack!

"You hear that? Come on!" One of the guards yelled, and the entire group turned around and went jogging back down the street. With his work done, Ky walked over until he was above where Misae had hidden herself, and continued to stealthily follow her.

Rhindeer

Ears straining, Misae listened to the guards' approach, and it took every bit of self-control to stay still. They couldn't see her, but she could see them, and even though she knew she was invisible, she still felt exposed. It was instinct to run, but that would just give her away. So she had to be patient. Breathe quietly. Hold still. Trust that they'd pass on by.

But then, a loud shattering sound erupted in the quiet, and she heard the sounds of footsteps again.

Retreating.

She waited several long breaths until the sound had faded into the distance, looked around cautiously to be sure she was alone, and then let the disguise drop. She flickered back into view and leaned back against the wall, running a hand over her sweat-beaded brow.

Thank goddess. That had been far too close.
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DaGlobster

Ky considered how to approach this situation. It'd only be a matter of time until she ran into another group, but he didn't exactly desire to skulk around on rooftops the entire night. It is not the way of the lking to skulk, and if it wasn't for the fact that he did not desire retribution by the town's Guard, he might've jumped down anyways and subdued those men.

He needed to help her, to guide her to safety, and for that, he needed to go down there. But he didn't want to scare her, or she might run off. Instead, he opted to merely speak.

"Child!" He sharply whispered, hoping to get her attention. He would linger just beyond the edge of the roof, out of sight. "Do not be alarmed, I am the one who distracted the guards. I want to help you."

Rhindeer

Misae jumped at the sound of the voice, hand flying to her heart and eyes going rabbit-wide, and she whipped around--and looked up. Goddess, she hadn't thought to look up! How stupid could she be?! But before she could think to bolt, she heard the rest of what was said.

He was the one that distracted the guards?

Did he mean that crack she'd heard?

With her poor vision and the darkness obscuring things, she couldn't make out much beyond his silhouette. Still, she relaxed, reassured--but still wary. The last person who had wanted to help her had turned out...unhelpful. Claiming he didn't want her body, even when she'd offered it, and then changing once he'd gotten her alone. She would never forget the way he suddenly went feral--and was grateful, for once, for the intervention of the guards.

"Help me?" she repeated, voice low. "Why?"
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

DaGlobster

Ky glanced about secretively, before casually stepping off the edge, landing softly a couple feet ahead of her. He was tall, almost seven feet tall, but his build was concealed under the tattered rags he wore to cover up his foreign anatomy.

He held out two of his arms, showing that he was harmless.

"This...human concept of slavery. It disgusts me. It carries with it this blatant disregard for honor and the lower caste's liberty to choose how they serve. You are no criminal, it is clear to me. You are a slave, or used to be."  He said. His odd alien accent didn't seem to odd, perhaps too many rolled R's with a tad of clicking in between.

Rhindeer

Human concept?

Misae cocked her head curiously as she looked up at the stranger, now standing before her. In a bit of a nervous, automatic gesture, she tugged her robes tighter around herself. That was...an interesting turn of phrase he'd used there. Human concept? Why did he need to specify that it was human, unless...he wasn't human himself.

Only her eyes were visible as she squinted at him, trying to get a better look at him, but poor vision and darkness didn't go well together, and from where she was standing, he looked human to her. His voice had a strange accent, so maybe Essyrni just wasn't his native language which could explain the weird phrasing?

"Ah..." Misae shifted uncomfortably. He'd guessed correctly, and was claiming he meant no harm, but it was hard to trust. "Neither of those. I'm not a slave. Why do you think I am?"
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DaGlobster

Ky chuckled lightly. Her lie was interpreted as humor by him. "Why else then would the guards be pursuing a young woman such as yourself?" He said, leaning his back against the wall. His dark eyes regarded her in an analytical way. She didn't look like a criminal, didn't have the right kind of build. "Also, common thieves do not practice magic." It was a stretch, even by Ky's standards, but he hoped the suggestion would draw the truth from her.

Rhindeer

They...didn't?

Misae's eyes widened at that. Maybe the man was bluffing, but she didn't know that--because she didn't know enough about crime in Essyrn to know what was true or false. Her life before her kidnapping had been with her tribe, nomads who wandered the desert, interacting with traders now and then, but otherwise keeping to themselves. There was no crime among her tribe, who shared everything, and whose survival depended upon cooperation. And then once she'd been taken to Essyrn, she'd spent most of her time cloistered within her master's home, much of it in his bedroom, and only a little time outside in the city, when dragged out on errands--because she made an interesting accessory.

She had very little understanding of crime, and what criminals did or didn't do, except the little she'd learned out on the streets. That they used or didn't use magic was one of those things she hadn't learned.

Misae went very still. "...Oh," she said, and grimaced. "Excuse me. Former slave. I am no longer a slave." And then she added, looking away, "The guards, however, disagree."
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DaGlobster

Ky nodded. His suggestion had worked brilliantly.

Former slave indeed

"That they do. Doubtlessly, they believe to just be doing their jobs, but they are slavers by association. They enable this abhorrent practice, and on my world, they would be executed just the same as the slavers themselves." He said, peeking around the corner. The men from before were coming back around for another sweep, lightly jogging down the street.

"But enough about the laws of Kath. The scum from before are here again, and I fear we may not be able to elude them for long." He said, and turned to her. "I need you to stay here. Does violence disturb you?" He asked, peeking around the corner once more.

Rhindeer

In his world? What?

But before Misae could comment on that, he announced that the guards were back, and she tensed in preparation to bolt. Except she never got to, because he told her to stay put...and asked a rather ominous question.

Misae's eyes widened. "Yes, it does," she said, words clipped with tension as she pressed back against the wall, to keep out of sight. The violence of Essyrn had always disturbed her. The Colosseum was the worst offender; her master had taken her there once, but never again, because between the heat of the sun and the first splatter of blood, she'd passed out. "What are you planning?"
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DaGlobster

"Then look away if you must, but stay alert." He said, before turning away from her, making to leave the alley and step out onto the street. He stopped just before, turning his head to look at her from the side. "Don't worry, I won't kill them, if that's what worries you." He finished.

He stepped out onto the street, directly ahead of the three incoming guards. They all stopped, placing their hands on the pommels of their maces. "You there, stop!" Came the barked order from one of them. "You do not order me, scum. Cease your pursuit of the slave, or I will cease it for you."

The guards processed his words, then started laughing. "You two, kill this idiot." Barked the squad leader, and the two men by his side drew their maces, and advanced.

One of them broke into a charge, and made a wild downward swing. Extending an arm upwards, Ky stopped the mace in his hand, stopping the momentum dead without flinching. A split second later, a sharp punch upwards broke the man's arm.

As he staggered back, clutching his shattered limb, the second man came in with a swing to the side. Ky ducked under, and gave him a powerful straight punch, buckling the armor he hit. As he bent over to cry out in pain, Ky put a vise grip on the back of his helmet, and brought the guard's head down
right into his knee, which he thrusted upwards to complete the maneuver.

In a lightning quick maneuver, he tore off the guard's helmet and flung it straight towards the still-retreating man with the broken arm. It hit his head with a dull thud, and he fell down. In less than five seconds, both guards were unconscious, and the leader took a few uneasy steps backwards before running away back where he came. Ky cracked his knuckles.

Child's play. He didn't even have to uses his other two arms.

Rhindeer

Misae didn't look. Instead, she stayed where she was, pressed against the wall, and kept her eyes straight ahead, her body tight with tension as she flinched with each sound. It felt childish and cowardly, but she just couldn't stand it--because her first introduction to violence had been the slaughter of her people, and she would never forget that. Violence brought her back to that moment, all in vivid clarity like it hadn't happened years ago, but was still fresh. And then there was that trip to the Colosseum...

But this man had promised not to kill, so there was some relief in that. The only violence she was familiar with was the kind that ended in blood and death, but the sounds of pain, and cracking of limbs, still made her stomach twist. She took a deep breath and focused on going elsewhere until it was over.

And soon it was.

It was the silence that told her it was over. Blessed, blessed silence. Misae sucked in a deep breath but didn't risk peeking around the corner. Promise or not, she was afraid of what she'd see.

"Is it over?" she said instead, voice a cautious whisper.
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DaGlobster

"It is done. They will live on, unfortunately." Ky said, stepping over one of the fallen men to return to Misae. When he returned, he took in her frightful state. He constantly urged himself everyday to remember that humans are not Kathractians, that they are not all warriors in some way. At first, he thought it to be a weakness attributed to their lesser physiology, but had learned it was more of a cultural matter.

"Where did you plan to escape to? I will help you reach that place." He said, once again regarding her with his eyes.

Rhindeer

Thank the goddess. Misae's shoulders slumped with relief, and she pushed off of the wall to face him.

His question, however, had her drawing a blank.

"I'm...actually not sure," she admitted. "Away from the guards. Somewhere they won't find me, at least for a little while. That was about as far as I'd gotten in my planning--but to be honest, there's no place here that I won't be found, eventually." She smiled awkwardly, though he wouldn't be able to see it, since her mouth was covered.

"My first step was going to be finding a place to sleep, in all honesty."
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

DaGlobster

Ky thought the situation over. He didn't have a place of his own to offer shelter, for he always slept on the streets. The nighttime thieves left him alone, because he usually got the first one who tried to steal from him to tell the others who made him swallow his own teeth.

"I suppose we'll have to stay at an inn somewhere." He stated, and slowly walked over to the other end of the alley, making sure the streets were clear of guards, which they were.

He motioned for her to follow him, and waited for her to catch up.

"There..." He said, pointing to an inn five buildings down and across the street.

"You have no objections to staying at an inn, correct? Do not worry for security, I will protect you."

Rhindeer

"No objections!" Misae whispered, following along and looking about her as she went, a little twitchy with nerves, because she was used to being hunted, and that could make a body paranoid. "Provided I can use the bed. And...ah...and provided you're certain it's a good idea."

She moved closer to him and kept her voice pitched low. "I'm a little afraid they may have spread word to the inns. Told the innkeepers to keep an eye out for me. I...have not been able to confirm this, but I suspect there may be incentive to find me. Like a bounty, maybe."

And then she tensed a little and looked at him closely, watching the way he responded to that news.

He might be intent on helping her now, but news of a bounty? That could change things, and she was worried it might, and prepared to bolt if it did.

He might be strong enough to best several guards, but not even he had been able to find her when she'd "vanished".
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DaGlobster

"A bounty? Your former master must have really valued whatever you did for him, though I cannot fathom what he could desire so much from you..." Ky commented in a disgusted tone. In the darkness, he couldn't really see her pale skin or violet eyes.

"Come, we must hurry across." He said, patting her on the shoulder before hurriedly walking across the street, eyes and ears open. When he reached the door of the inn, he turned around, waiting for Misae.

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