Of War and Moonlight
By: Asnee
AN: Yay, Had this sitting on my computer forever but could never think of a good title. Still haven't. Oh well, rofl. xD
Pairing is high priestess x high wizard. With some…wizard x whitesmith. :o Woot. I use the Korean names because the iRO ones are gay. Dx
Disclaimer: I dun own RO. Seriously. O.oa;
xXx
The Payon Guild dungeon was chilly as usual, mysteriously moonlit, and filled with a sort of air of excitement that many adventurers were drawn to. Here, monsters roamed under the ancient villas, antiques of a time from long ago, sacred still only to their guardians, who protected it with their existence. Beneath the shadows of the tall pines, and under the light of the moon, two brave adventures crept, ready for battle at any time, silent as a dream, deadly as a----
"You suck. In fact, you are the suckiest suck that ever sucked."
"I'm gonna sic Adair on you."
"Nuh-UH".
"Yah-huh"!
"Nuh-UH"!
"Yah-HUH"!
"Nuh---Mmf!"
Hello. So, you're probably wondering where this is all going. I'll explain in due time, believe me. But first, lemme clear a few things up for you.
I'm Minaea Aria Neally. Call me Minnie. Seventeen years old. Human. Just ascended to the rank of High Priestess. My favorite food is sweet potato tempura, I'm allergic to cats, and I have a bad habit of tripping over my own feet. My best friend is a wizard named Elluae Zanix, and she's pretty and dumb, but talented. What're we doing, you may ponder incredulously?
Hiding behind a bush. In the Payon Guild Dungeon. Ready to pee myself. And tee hee, Elly has found a twig that looks mysteriously suggestive. Must. Not. Giggle.
So, uh—let me explain a few things to you. I am a member of a guild called Earthsong. We're a fairly strong guild, but we're small, more like a big family. We have everything, from regular priests and assassins and knights to some of the strongest people around. We also have both elves and humans, which makes things really interesting. By the way, just because I'm a high priestess, don't think I'm strong.
Er, anyway. We're a member of the guilds belonging to the Payon alliance. During the castle sieges, it's my job to help defend Bright Arbor from the invading Geffen Alliance. In the War of Emperium, the castles generate a certain field so that people will feel like they took the damage, and look like it—but the minute you step out of the castle, you're fine. The magic there hasn't failed ever, and the castle sieges have been going on almost one thousand years now. They're the sport of our world, per say. Everybody has a favorite guild, it seems. Like a sports team. A lot of the times, royalty and important people get involved. One of our allied guilds, Kazaran, is lead by the prince of the western islands, Karem. They were the people that settled Morroc, by the way. A lot of the people who compete are really serious warriors in real life. Our guild leader, Tayna, is one of them. She's an Assassin of the Cross, and believe me, she works.
The rules in the guild dungeons are a bit different. Like I said, that's where I am now. Here, if you have a castle and you're not part of that region's alliance, you're considered a trespasser—therefore free to attack. While killing someone is illegal obviously, there's no law against seriously harming them. I've seen more than one person carried off in a stretcher out of here. It's not just enemy guilds, either. The monsters here are very powerful. It's worth the risk, to train so well. Normally, Elly and I are smart enough to hide when we see enemies. Some people won't attack us. I basically know whose safe and whose not by now. I've had a few close calls, mind you.
So, there are obviously a few people who are especially aggressive. A female stalker named Ludha Dallen, whom I loathe. But let's not get into the details quite yet. There's also a lord knight named Chisou who is a big idiot, and then there's him. The "boogey-man" himself, Adair Silanon.
Not only is the strongest wizard in the world, he's also a cynical, blood-thristy monster—
And I heard he tried to look at my guild leader's panties. She wasn't happy about that. If you even think about looking at the boss's divine backside, you'll be verryyyyy sorry. If you thought Assassins of the Cross were terrifying (they are, by the way), just try feeling one up.
Anyway.
He's the reason we were hiding behind the bush, by the way. Our alliance has a special lookout system for him called "Anus Watch." Yeah, I kid you not. Karem has an interesting sense of humor.
"Minnie."
The voice was the boss's, soft in my ear. It came from my earring, which was enchanted to pick up the voices of my guild mates.
"Yes'm?"
"Good, you can hear me."
"Yeah, but I have to whisper. I'm hiding."
There was a moment of silence, most likely while boss snorted derisively and made her usual "silly priests" comment. "Right, then. I just wanted you to know Adair is down there."
My blood froze, and I saw Elly's pretty face stricken. She grabbed my hands, and leaned in close to whisper into my earring. "Boss, we can't take him, can we"?
A pause.
"No. Run out the front entrance, swiftly as possible."
"Why not just warp?"
I could practically hear her slap her forehead, and the assassin sighed. "Stupid. He's a wizard. A warp portal opening is bound to attract his magical senses, even if the light and sound alone don't. He'll close it from half the GD away, and then find you. Same with any teleportation spells or wings, girls."
I smacked my forehead, to. She chuckled. "Picking up that habit from me? Hmm, well. I'll let you go. Tell me as soon as you get out, kid."
"Sure, m'am."
"Stay alive. Just because he can't kill you doesn't mean he won't leave you injured enough to let the monsters get you. I'm not going to have to come in there and avenge you, am I?"
I giggled. "No'm."
"Over and out."
There was a long silence. Then Elly spoke. "D-do you think we could get out of here?"
"We have to…we can't sit in this bush for hours. If he doesn't find us, the monsters will."
"Oh…tee-hee, bush."
I giggled despite the terror that was making me numb. "Okay…so we're right by the center platform. We just have to make it to the portal, which will throw us back into neutral territory."
"Right."
Carefully, we rose and started our way towards the exit, hoping to keep our asses intact along the way.
xXx
"Sir."
"Chisou?" A voice drawled in the slightly chill air of the guild dungeon.
"Two humans in the guild dungeon, sir."
"Who?"
"Wizard and a healer. Names unknown."
"Guild?"
"Also unknown. I believe I heard there were some Earthsong idiots down here."
Adair Silanon whirled to catch the lord knight's eye. "Earthsong? That's the one with that beautiful assassin as the leader, correct?"
Chisou shrugged and scratched at his head. "Think so, sir. Nobody I've heard of, none of the guild higher-ups."
The high wizard sighed, picking at one long nail. "Alright then. Find them. Bring them to me, alive."
xXx
"We're gonna make it"!
"We're gonna make it"!
"We're gonnaaa makeee ittttt"! We finished our chant in unison, hurrying along towards the entrance. It was a good fifty feet away. We emerged off the brick of the main pagoda, approaching the end of the cobblestone path that marked the center of the dungeon. I kept Elly suffed, and the wizard would drop a quick Stormgust to freeze anything that tried to approach us. Almost there, almost there---
"Hey girlies"!
CRAP. I turned to see a red-haired lord knight on a peco, smiling at us. He had pointed ears, I noticed. Oh shit! Chisou! He's about the 3rd person I hate the most. He's knocked me out cold, once. Luckily, my friend was right there to help me back up. He's one of Adair's right-hand men, and plenty dangerous. Elluae is a wizard, and the wizard instinct, when face to face with a Lord Knight of all things, is to—
"RUNNNN"! We hauled ass like nobody has ever hauled ass before.
"HEY"! He roared, and started after us. Almost there, almost there, almost—OOF. Pain exploded in my face, and I saw Elly gasp and fall.
"Ello there, darlin'. Been a while."
LUDHA. "Ello there, bitch. Was hopin' it would still be a while," I imitated her silly Comodo drawl. I felt a booted foot on my back.
"You know, I've always wanted to kill you. How in the hell did you manage to become a high priestess? I'm surprised you even made it past acolyte"! She snorted and laughed at her own stupid joke. I rolled my eyes.
"Well, firstly—". There was a groan beside me. I looked over. Elly was down on the ground, bright blood spilling from a horrible looking head wound.
"Wha? What just happened? She was fine just a second ago! You nasty, ugly, stup—". Oof. Her boot was on my back again, making it impossible to get up. "Ugh, Ludha. Loose some weight." She pressed harder, and the treads of her boots would be imprinted on my back for days to come. Struggling, I fought to reach my friend, who was whimpering. Elly liked to bitch and moan about pain, but she was quiet. This is what meant seriousness. Her snow-bright hair was clotted with blood, her blue eyes a bit blank. She was mouthing things to me, and I couldn't understand her. I had to touch her to heal her. I strained my fingers, but all I could do was convey my sympathy and squirm. Nononono, not Elly, not Elly---
"That is enough." The voice that broke the dreadful silence was like a breath of fresh air. I moved my head slightly to the side, and caught a glance of something even darker than the guild dungeon's background itself. Then, Ludha's weight was lifted off my back. I immediately rushed to Elly, laying a hand on the wound and letting the healing energy flow. It took some time. I didn't realize how close to being dead she was. I shook at the thought. Dead? My Elly? Dead, and cold and---Her gloved hand wrapped around mine. The sounds of a fight raged behind us, but I ignored it, still prodding the spot where the wound was.
Fewf. I turned, and saw that Ludha was laying quite still some fifteen feet away, her eyes closed and a thin trickle of blood sliding down her arm. I turned around, only to nearly clonk my head on someone's kneecap.
"Uh, Minnie?" I heard Elly's voice, sounding kind of strained.
A brown kneecap. Assassin of the Cross! Karem! "Hi, Ka—". Oh shit. Not Karem. And worse yet, nobody I've seen from our alliance. Definitely not. I then realized I was looking at Yalei Uwaki, one of the strongest and most influential people in the Geffen Alliance.
"Minaea, right?"
Why wasn't he killing me? He saved us! "Uh…yeah," I said, unsure whether to thank him or not. He knelt, his ebony hair sliding about. It was in thin, gelled spikes that fell around his ears and forehead, contrasting sharply to ice blue eyes and tanned skin. "T-thanks for saving us? Or should we be running," I giggled. The giggle was actually fear, by the way. Lots of it.
I was surprised when he smiled. "You're welcome. It's unusual, I know. But I can't stand shit-talk."
Elly rose to a sitting position, her eyes never leaving the assassin. He glanced over, and touched his head where hers had been hurt. "You okay?"
She took a shuddery breath, and then locked eyes with him. "Yes, thank you. But blackmailing us won't work. Nor will threatening us."
He looked puzzled, then leaned in close to whisper to me. Part of me jumped tat the sudden closeness of an enemy. "Is she always such a weirdo?" He whispered. I giggled again. He smelled good, drr---NONONO. No.
Yalei got serious again. "Well then, miss enemy. Best get out of here before my guild leader instincts kick in, and I'm forced to maim you," he smiled, and ran a clawed hand just over my nose. Elly still never tore her eyes off them. I went beet red. Some how being maimed by him seemed erotic.
"Thank you for kindness," she said at last. "I'd probably be dead."
"You would be, not to sound brash," said a male whitesmith from behind Yalei. "We were going to take you down ourselves, but we've never had problems with either of you. Then we realized you never attacked anyone."
"We're not cowards, we just wanna train"! I yelled in defense. The whitesmith laughed, and so did a female high wizard behind him.
"We know," she said, smiling. "Congratulations on achieving your rank, by the way."
"Er, thanks," I said, confused. Was something up..? Yalei rose, and so did Elly and I. I brushed off my white stockings. So what if I wore them.
Elly sighed. Yalei studied her. "Miss…"?
"Elluae Zanix," the human said easily.
He bowed. "I was watching you fight earlier. Are you close to ascending to high wizard"?
She shrugged. "Getting there. When Minnie first ascended, she really helped me out a lot at no personal gain to herself, really. And as soon as Minnie was ready to don the aco robes again—".
"She was there to help," I sighed. My God. What's this world coming to? I'm standing here, having a casual conversation with one of my greatest enemies. Oh, I get it. Warrior's honor, right?
Yalei smiled. "You're good girls." His voice took on a teasing air, but I caught the seriousness in his voice. "It's too bad though. I wish I had snatched you up before Tayna got you."
"You know boss"? I asked cheerily.
He smiled. "All too well. But perhaps that's a story for another day."
Elly looked confused, and fixed her crown, which had started to slip. "What other day? Next time we see each other, we'll probably be trying not to be killed by you."
"Maybe," he offered. There was a cry from behind. "Mmm…sounds like my brother. I'll be off. Evening, ladies," he bowed, and set off in the opposite direction. We waved to him, then, hesitantly, to his group. They waved back, especially the whitesmith, whose eyes lingered on Elly perhaps longer than necessary.
"Let's get outta here. This is the oddest day ever," I mumbled. She agreed, setting off towards the exit with me.
What would boss say?
AN: YAY. :D A bit different than one of my regular fics. Meant to be less epic and more…smarmy? Lol. Romance next chapter, I promise. This will be on delay for a bit til I finish ITTE and Ink and blood. ITTE is on the final chapter, so…
Yeah, reviews keep me writing! X3