Merc
Saint Wizard
(Legendary)
Strength: 65
Speed: 150
Magic: 121
Willpower: 100
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Post by Merc on Sept 26, 2015 14:59:48 GMT -5
Running her fingers through her hair, Riley brought her hands to rest on her hips, staring at a glow on the horizon that indicated a city in the distance - Onibas, if she recalled correctly, or if it even went by that name any longer. It was quite a ways away from them still, she could only see the glow through a tangle of branches, so she doubted they would reach it by nightfall. Even if they were arriving at the moment, entering the city so late in the day would probably be a fools errand with no money to buy food or shelter with.
"We will make camp here." Maddox droned out as though he read her mind. Without waiting for a reply, he sauntered back in the direction they had come from, offering a final announcement before hopping of of the trail and disappearing into the tress. "I will find us food."
"Looks like we're camping in the Sleeping Forest tonight." Riley announced, looking towards the final member of their little party, a young girl. The trio didn't have much between them, so unpacking wasn't too big of a deal, and the overhanging branches of the forest should provide them with adequate enough shelter for a night. Given their lack of a tent, it would have to make due for the time being, though she supposed they might be able to whip a little something up with his magic.
Speaking of magic...
"How are you finding your magic, dear? Getting used to it at all?" Extending her hands, a ring of small, bright orbs appeared, growing slowly as she opened her arms wider, guiding them upwards. Eventually the ring hovered above their heads, just off the beaten path of the forest so that the tree trunks provided more shelter, keeping the area alight even as the sky began to darken. Hopefully, it would also serve to keep creatures away as well, but she was pretty sure there wasn't anything in the forest that they couldn't handle.
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Ava
(New Member)
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Magic: 10
Willpower: 10
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Post by Ava on Sept 27, 2015 12:29:52 GMT -5
The young girl followed behind the pair, having to try to keep up but she kept getting distracted by all the things around her, the forest wasn't that new of a sight really, but she'd never really explored anything before, the world seemed so huge and open, having grown up in the camps she was never allotted this kind of freedom. She actually felt a odd sensation of missing her old home. All the people and even the guards were occasionally nice. She remembered one time one of them gave her a Raspberry, it tasted so delicious. She wondered if she would get to taste more good things now that they were free. She eventually came to a stop as the sun was setting. Big Bro left to go get food, he was always really quite but sometimes she had seen him open up. Either way she was glad she and mom had him around. She walked up to the much taller woman with short black hair, this was her mother. Ava never knew the woman who gave her life but thankfully she had Riley to protect that life.
Her eyes lit up as she watched Riley use her magic, it had been a rare sight growing up as the camp didn't allow the use of magic. She moved closer to Riley and hugged her waist. She spoke in a whisper, she couldn't speak very loudly even if she tried, apparently her vocal cords were underdeveloped. At least that's what she heard, she'd never seen a proper doctor before. "I try but I don't know if I can make it work..." She sighed, "Was it this hard for you when you started Magic?" She said looking up at her. She had managed to control her magic enough summon it but she couldn't make anything out of it. She had heard stories of mages who could control the elements themselves, her mother could manipulate the stars according to Maddox, She wondered if she'd be even a fraction as talented.
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Merc
Saint Wizard
(Legendary)
Strength: 65
Speed: 150
Magic: 121
Willpower: 100
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Post by Merc on Sept 27, 2015 18:59:50 GMT -5
As Ava hugged her midsection Riley lowered her arms from guiding the orbs of light, allowing them to drape lightly around the smaller female's frame. A smile graced her features as she lowered her gaze, half lidded eyes fondly watching the girl as she listened intently for the quiet words she spoke.
"I wouldn't worry about that too much." She assured, one hand raising to softly pat the girl's hair, ruffling it fondly. "Magic takes practice for everyone. It's easier for some than for others, but it's a wonderful gift to have." Despite everything that she had been put through just for having magic, Riley very much liked her own magic and magic in general. "I had a lot of trouble with mine at first, too. I kept accidentally making myself fly, then either not knowing how to stop or stopping too soon and getting stuck in trees. Maddox had to rescue me from many a tree back in the day." Chuckling at the memory, she loosened her grip on the girl.
"Even now I'm still shaking the rust off. With some practice you'll get it." Pushing a few stray hairs from Ava's face, she released her gently, taking a step back as she did so. "Why don't you show me what you'be learned so far?" She suggested, slowly kneeling so that she was closer to being on the same level at the girl.
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Ava
(New Member)
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Magic: 10
Willpower: 10
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Post by Ava on Sept 28, 2015 13:03:30 GMT -5
She giggled listening to that, she couldn't imagine her mother in such an embarrassing situation, She looked at the dirt and leaves. The forest outside the camp seemed much more alive, maybe it was the feeling that they were exploring a piece of the world not many may have traveled before, not that they were far off the beaten path, but Ava wouldn't really know if they were or weren't. She looked up at Riley as the woman went more towards eye level with the young girl. She hadn't shown Riley yet what she could do, not that it was much of anything. She had tried once or twice the first night out of the camps, it took hours before she even felt anything other than her waving her hands trying to shoot some kind of magic spell. "O-okay. I will try." She took a deep breath and puffed out her chest before relaxing and bringing her palms together like she was cupping water in her hand. Nothing happened for a few minutes, Ava taking long breaths between each attempt to summon forth her willpower.
After about 4 minutes the air around her hands started to sparkle, the sparkles were yellow and faded to purple before they started to condense in her hand, the sparkles and felt warm as they touched her skin, it felt like she was surrounded by loving embrace, at a closer glance the yellow particles seemed to be flowing from the light shining down, the spell that her mother had created, but it was such a tiny amount it was barely noticeable. After about another moment the ball started to form into a oval shape, like that of an egg. There was a small trace of a clear glass like sheet forming around the sparkles, which slowly faded into a cloud of purple light. Ava looked at it with wide eyes, "I never seen it do that. I only ever got it to make a tiny purple on my hands. Do you know what it is Momma?"
She titled her head as she looked at it, it felt very fragile, like making one wrong move with it would make it shatter, almost as if it was a dandelion.
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Merc
Saint Wizard
(Legendary)
Strength: 65
Speed: 150
Magic: 121
Willpower: 100
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Post by Merc on Sept 29, 2015 12:23:56 GMT -5
Smiling patiently as Ava finally agree to show her what she had learned of her magic, Riley folded her hands in her lap, lacing her fingers together over her thighs as she remained kneeling in the dirt. The girl had cupped her hands together, making Riley tilt her head curiously at the odd gesture, though she didn't make so much as a peep as she waited for something to happen.
She sensed the magic before she could see it, smell the distinct scent of it. Ava's magic smelled like spring, like fresh blooming flowers and dew. She had assumed that she would have some sort of nature based magic but the ball of light the formed in her hand threw that prediction out of whack.
As time passed, the magic seemed to form some sort of egg. Spring. The time of new life.
"It appears to be an egg. Many creatures lay eggs, inside live their young." She answered, unsure how much the girl knew about such things, she decided that too much information was better than too little. "They protect and warm their eggs until their babies hatch from them." Shuffling closer on her knees, she examined the egg curiously.
"You've a very interesting magic, it seems. I've never heard of anything like this before."
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Ava
(New Member)
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Magic: 10
Willpower: 10
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Post by Ava on Sept 29, 2015 16:50:06 GMT -5
Ava smiled as it continued to form in her hand, She could feel her energy being sapped from her already weak body and she was not sure how much longer she could handle it. She didn't want to give up so she took another deep breath as she listened to Riley's words. Ava had never seen an egg in this context before so everything she had heard was new information to her, which made her eyes light up with curiousness. "Was I born in an egg?" She said as she looked at the magical oval. The magical egg had formed a thin shell around it and slowly started to form a solid color. "Do all eggs come from hands?" She said asking another question about the marvel of life happening in the palm of her hands.
She smiled, "I wonder what is inside it? Does this make me a mommy now?" The amount of questions racing through her head were fairly numerous. "It feels really warm." She felt her knees getting weaker and soon plopped onto the grass and took a deep breath. "I'm starting to feel really exhausted... but something tells me it is almost done." She wasn't sure what being done meant in this context though, would it hatch immediately or would she just have to as Riley said, protect and warm the little egg until it was ready.
"I'm getting hungry." She said as she felt a odd noise from her her stomach. "Do you think big bro is having any luck?" At this point the egg looked like the size of a bird egg, it's shell was faded purple and there was a large bight yellow star on it. It She was so excited to see what would hatch from it, her very small experience with wildlife meant she had little of firsthand knowledge of what could be inside it.
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Merc
Saint Wizard
(Legendary)
Strength: 65
Speed: 150
Magic: 121
Willpower: 100
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Post by Merc on Sept 30, 2015 17:21:24 GMT -5
Letting out a soft chuckle as a number of questions came flying her way, Riley sat on her heels, watching Ava carefully, curiously. "No, dear, you didn't come from an egg. Creatures like snakes, birds, frogs, even dragon, are all hatched from eggs." Green eyes danced, watching the egg take shape. She had no idea what to expect from the eggs, it was a magical egg, after all, so she was pretty curious about the sort of magic that the small girl possessed.
"No, eggs don't usually come from hands." She chuckled but didn't bother to elaborate on where exactly they came from. That was a conversation best left until she understood the world a little better than she did. Ava proceeded to chatter and she nodded patiently. "I'm sure Maddox will be back soon enough. He was always a good hunter." Granted he was trained to hunt people, but that was another matter entirely, and one she didn't much fancy getting into at present.
"Speaking of which..." She rose, dusting off her knees. "Keep practicing, I'm just going to get a fire started." She assured, wandering around the immediate area, she gathered up what dried branched and dead plants that she could find before bringing it all together in a pile. A blast of energy had the fire roaring and she returned to Ava, curious about her progress.
No longer had she returned to the girl than she heard the crackles of branches that announced her brother's return. A rope of darkness strung from his hand held several colorful looking fish, and one of his pockets bulged out as though he had something hidden within it as well.
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Ava
(New Member)
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Magic: 10
Willpower: 10
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Post by Ava on Oct 2, 2015 4:59:41 GMT -5
The young girl smiled as she looked up to Riley, she turned her attention back towards the egg which suddenly started to feel like it was pulling even more willpower from her than before and then it suddenly snapped, she fell backwards onto her back, still holding the egg. Was that the end of the spell? She looked at it and could feel warmth growing inside of it. She thought to herself what might hatch from it, would it be a dragon? She stood up and laughed. "I did it!" she exclaimed as she fumbled up to her feet and noticed Riley coming back towards the camp with some sticks and branches for a fire. "I did it I did it I did it!" She said as loudly as she could, not that that amounted to much, jumping up and down and nuzzling the egg with her cheek.
Running towards her mother she looked up and showed off her proud accomplishment, she still didn't know how to match anything pop out of it, however she was still over the moon with potential excitement. "I thiiiink it's gunnna beeee...uhhh...a bird!" She said nodding to herself. She hadn't ever had the chance to play with a bird, she'd see them in the camp but by the time she'd ever gotten too close they would fly away. She turned and noticed that Maddox had also returned with several fish. She moved closer to him carefully, "Those are pretty colors, they sound beautiful." she said as she moved closer, poking the fish while keeping her egg safe in her other palm. "What's that?" she said as she pointed at his pocket.
Maddox was very secretive and usually never shared with her, well he shared food sometimes which was nice. But she tilted her head and walked back towards Riley, she was excited about eating which mostly kept her distracted from trying to figure out what he had with him.
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Merc
Saint Wizard
(Legendary)
Strength: 65
Speed: 150
Magic: 121
Willpower: 100
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Post by Merc on Oct 5, 2015 19:04:50 GMT -5
"See, you're getting the hang of it already!" Riley praised, a proud smile gracing her lips as Ava showed off the egg that she had made. Admittedly, she still had no idea what might pop out of the magical egg, but she was pleased that Ava quickly seemed to be getting the hang of her magic - whatever it might happen to be.
The girl was as curious as always as she proceeded to poke at their uncooked meal and then his pocket, but Maddox supposed that much was to be expected now that they were free to wander. The world offered so many more things to see than their little camp had, he was sure that, as a child, it must have been particularly exciting for her.
Before answering her, he proceeded to gather up several sticks and a relatively flat slab of tree and sat himself on the ground nearby the fire. Setting the fish on the piece of wood across his lap, he wiped his hands in his jacket before pulling one of the lumps out of his pocket - revealing an apple.
Rubbing any imperfections off with his hands, he drew a mall blade from his pocket and cut a piece free, offering it to Ava. "This is an apple. Eat it while you wait for supper to finish. You will need all of the energy you can muster to practice magic." He nodded towards the egg. He might have missed the brunt of what happened, but he could sense the magic coming off of the egg.
"He's right. Magic is best performed on a full stomach." Riley agreed, tending to the flames. As she spoke, her eyes drifted to the trees. Though her magic kept the area alight, their surroundings beyond the perimeter she created had darkened. She could swear that she could see glowing eyes peeking out behind trees and from bushes, so she opted to keep Ava's mind occupied until it was time for her to sleep. "Perhaps after you've eaten the egg will hatch?" She went on to suggest, offering another smile.
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Ava
(New Member)
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Magic: 10
Willpower: 10
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Post by Ava on Oct 10, 2015 3:31:46 GMT -5
The young girl's eyes lit up as Maddox pulled out a fruit, she had seen some of the guards eat these when they were on their break but she'd never gotten to try it before. "App...le" She smiled brightly as she touched the red surface, red things felt really smooth. The smell was really crisp and it made her mouth water slightly as she looked at it. Listening to her mother and big brother's words she nodded and took as big a bite as the girl's petite mouth could handle, a large crunch echo'd from her as she tore a piece into her mouth and started to chew it. After about three minutes she managed to swallow it. "I like apples!" She exclaimed as she then proceeded to take much smaller bites and walked near the fire to keep warm.
She ruffled her jacket off beside her and sat her magical egg on it, She was worried that she might break it before it hatched. She looked at the fish that were now cooking and turning a slightly more burnt color. "This is so much fun. I can't wait to see what a city looks like." She spoke looking up at the smoke that was rising, the stars were a bit faded by the light but were still magical in their own right. Cities, She wondered how big and magnificent they could be, with so many buildings and people gathered together freely. She continued eating the apple, wondering if her life could get any better than right now. Well, maybe when her little magical egg hatched.
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Merc
Saint Wizard
(Legendary)
Strength: 65
Speed: 150
Magic: 121
Willpower: 100
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Post by Merc on Oct 16, 2015 18:04:32 GMT -5
Smiling at Ava's claim that she enjoyed the sweet fruit, Riley turned as her brother called her name and only barely had time to catch the fruit that he tossed to her. Giving him a bit of a look to try and gauge if he was fooling around or just tossing an apple to her, she furrowed her brow as his expression betrayed nothing of what he thought, as per usual.
Slowly, she sat herself near the fire to eat the fruit, casting glances towards her family at random intervals to see how the two of them were doing. Ava mentioned the cities, but it had honestly been so long since she had seen one herself that she wasn't sure what they would find when they got there.
Well, besides hatred for mages, that much was a given.
"Ah." She suddenly exclaimed, remembering something. She looked to the girl, her apple forgotten. "Remember what the knights told us, Ava. When we enter the city we mustn't use magic, even harmless spells, okay? People are..." Fear mongering. Over dramatic. The cause for all of their suffering throughout the years in the camps.
"They fear what they do not understand, and they do not understand magic." Maddox interjected, crouching alongside the fire long enough to turn the fish around, he soon straightened, pulling out a final apple for himself. "Best for us to go unnoticed." He agreed a moment later, taking a bite of his apple before glancing into the darkness of the forest.
"Oh, and try to stay nearby one of us. Riley added, for what was probably the hundredth time since their journey had started judging by the eye roll Maddox gave.
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Ava
(New Member)
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Magic: 10
Willpower: 10
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Post by Ava on Oct 24, 2015 11:27:59 GMT -5
The young girl looked down as she listened to Riley and Maddox warn her, it brought back memories of the Knights and guards saying mean things about them, usually when they thought no one was listening, sometimes when they wanted us to hear them. She smiled and nodded her head in agreement, "Yeah. I know..." She looked up in the sky, "Mom. Why do we need those normal people?" She cast a glance down at her egg, which seemed to have lost a bit of its shine. She could feel her heart pounding as she felt like she was saying words she was forbidden from saying all her life until now.
"Why couldn't we just all live together instead of splitting up after they let us go?" She smiled as she looked at the fish well cooked. "I miss some of them." She was quite for several moments, thinking about the people there and how even the ones that were mean to them seemed like family to her. One of them was a tall fair skinned man whom had seen her birth mother, she would always ask him to describe her and he always did, even when he seemed to be tired of doing so, she missed those words but remembered them clearly. Not that it mattered, she had Riley and Maddox, both meant everything to her, they were the only ones to ever truly nurture her and protect her, but she still found herself wondering about what kind of person her birth mother had been. "I don't really understand magic either." She felt herself tear up slightly. "Part of me is excited, but another has been terrified since leaving home...the camp, I mean."
She shook her head, "Some of the people in the camp whispered to me that one day only magic users will be able to survive in this world, that the rest will die out. I was scared that I would die out with them... Why do I still feel so weak and defective if I have this power?" She curled her legs together as she finished eating her apple. She heard some owls making noise, she had always heard that noise but still didn't know what kind of creatures these owls were. It was always so hard to see at night. She took a deep breath, "Thanks big brother... That apple was really good. I like them a lot."
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Merc
Saint Wizard
(Legendary)
Strength: 65
Speed: 150
Magic: 121
Willpower: 100
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Post by Merc on Oct 26, 2015 11:36:07 GMT -5
Listening to the girl, Riley frowned softly for a moment, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them as she thought. "We don't need normal people any more than they need us, but there's no reason we can't coexist peacefully if we give each other a chance. I... am wary of them, at times, but I still believe it's possible. At the very least I would rather not end up like them, thinking it best that they were erased from the face of the planet."
Maddox seemed as though he had something to say, but he remained quiet, choosing to tend to the fish instead.
"And I'm sure many of the mages wanted to see what happened to their families at home." She answered, which was a partial truth at best. While some of the other mages had made life in the camps more difficult than it had to be and she had no qualms about never seeing them again, the whole truth was that traveling with such a large group would put them in greater danger. All it would take was one misstep to get them arrested or kicked out of a town. With no money or shelter it would be difficult enough to get by in the city without being hunted like animals.
As Ava continued speaking, Riley rose, moving herself to sit beside the girl and draping a reassuring arm over her shoulders. "New things are always scary, and you'll come to understand magic, in time. With that understanding will come control." Ruffling gently between the girl's pigtails, she smiled. "In the meantime we'll always look after you, so you have nothing to worry about, okay? Out here we have much more power than we ever had in the camps. It'll be fine, you'll see."
Plucking the sticks from the ground, Maddox approached the girls, handing each a fish on a stick before sitting himself down on the other side of Ava. "It is hot." He somewhat needlessly warned, curiously peering down at her.
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Ava
(New Member)
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Magic: 10
Willpower: 10
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Post by Ava on Nov 1, 2015 13:28:56 GMT -5
Ava nodded as she listened to Riley's comforting words, she still felt a bit anxious about everything, but she smiled and took the fish from her big brother. "You are right." She said as she leaned onto Riley as she blew on her fish to cool it down before taking a small bite. "Still hot." She said before blowing on it a bit more. Normal people... she thought to herself, she wondered if the town would have other kids her age, she hadn't had much in the way of company around her age before. "I know you and bro will always protect me." She hugged Riley making sure to carefully avoid her fish or dropping the one in her hand.
She looked over towards her magical egg, she wished she understood it more than she already did. Would it hatch sooner or later? It did however feel like a small warm aura was radiating from it. She continued to eat her fish, it had been a while since she had some meat so it felt very nice. She took a breath and started to speak but soon she was spooked by a noise of some kind. It was probably just a wild animal of some kind, the girl thought to herself.
However within a matter of moments a few arrows had shot into the light, one hitting a tree and one flying just over the young girl. Ava started to feel herself panic, she had seen arrows used by guards before on the few that had tried to escape, so she knew what it was. She quickly moved behind Riley and scooped up her little egg in her hands. "What's going on?" She said with a hint of distress in her voice.
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