Alaia Skyhawk: And I'm STILL going...
I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr.Who2123, and Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFieryMana, so please don't steal them...
Enjoy
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Chapter 37: Lake City
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Luin... Little had changed in the city since he'd last set foot in it, back before its most recent destruction and renaming. The appearance of buildings may have been altered with paint, or new ones built to replace those that had been destroyed, but the place as a whole was the same. Traveller's District, Market District, Craftsman District, Government District, Residential District, all were in the same places they had been for the last five thousand years. The islands that made up the city were the reason for this, the reason Luin had remained so timeless in its arrangement.
The nondescript man walked down the road towards the largest of the city's inns. A Plain grey cloak with a long, neatly mended rip hung from broad shoulders and down past a long sword in its battered leather sheath at the man's waist. Plain leather boots that had clearly seen better days were laced tightly around the bottom of dark grey trousers that, like the navy shirt the man wore, also showed signs of long use and occasional mending. All in all the traveller looked like many others who passed through this city, a man carrying the typical large pack of the wanderer, who also happened to know a bit about using a sword. A sensible precaution given the creatures that roamed the wilds.
Eyes slid past him, no one was bothered about another traveller, just another new face that would be gone in a day or so. Lifting the wide brim of the battered cloth hat he wore over his blond hair, Sanaro regarded the settlement's population with an experienced eye. What that experience told him was that the people here showed signs of a recent raid, probably only a month or two ago. He carried on along the road towards the inn as he mulled over this new information.
Yet more innocent lives lost to Yggdrasil's madness... Though a recent raid means Desian activity round here will be low for a while yet. They never raid Luin more than twice a year.
Entering the inn, he walked over to the counter and booked one of the cheaper rooms for the night, using up a few of his tiny reserve of coins. They never needed much money, since he and Annule hadn't eaten in centuries, fact being that the mana they used to go without it was less than the mana used to grow it... Not only that but it meant they weren't forced into towns for supplies every so often, one of the reasons no one had found them until that Renegade Officer had obviously included the sighting of a winged wolf in their report about the ambush. Yuan, it seemed, had then taken advantage of that sighting and sent her back to the pass in the hope of getting that message to him.
I wonder what it's about... The situation in the worlds has hardly changed recently, what could be important enough that Yuan would use one of his officers to deliver it, albeit worded in a way that the officer had no idea what it meant.
After getting his room key, rather than take his pack, as mundane as its contents were, up to his room, he ordered some food and settled himself at a table. Not one in a corner, but one far enough out of the way that people were unlikely to try and strike up a conversation to him without him looking in any way suspicious. After a few minutes of listening in on the various conversations going on around him a bowl of stew and a chunk of bread were placed on the table in front of him by a pleasantly smiling girl who looked as though she could be the innkeeper's daughter. Thanking her, he lifted a spoonful of the stew from the dish as she walked away, hesitating only for the barest second before putting it in his mouth and swallowing it. Doing all he could to stop his eyes from watering, he forced a second spoonful down as his long empty stomach promptly began to complain.
And that's what I get for not eating in over a thousand years. I only hope I can keep it down... Throwing up in the middle of the inn's common room is not a way to avoid drawing attention.
Continuing to force the stew into his now roiling stomach, spoonful by spoonful, his thoughts turned to his companion who he'd had to leave well outside of town.
Annule was just far too distinctive to enter Luin, so instead he waited in a small corpse of trees about two miles away. Sanaro had left his armour and his proper, weighted, broadsword with the Vale Wolf, not trusting them to the ver that Kratos had given him just before they'd parted ways. He'd never had any trouble with it, the low mana levels still being enough for the piece of Aluran magitechnology to work. Even so, he'd rather not take the chance of being unable to get his armour and weapon out of it after one of these 'visits' for information, instead choosing to leave them in his friend's care. The items of his disguise, he wasn't so bothered about, and was quite happy to store in it. Worst came to worst he could always sneak into a town at night and pilfer enough random items to appear as he did now.
He held back shudder as he forced himself to eat a piece of the bread.
Well, enough of wondering about that. Back to what I came here for.
He turned his attention back on the clientele. If there was any trouble on the roads or thereabouts in this area he'd learn about it here. He wasn't about to head anywhere near that Ranch without checking for trouble first.
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Twenty nine people, along with their Aiertrin, stealthily moved towards the corpse of trees they'd been using to hide while three of their number would don the disguises that the squad had and enter Luin to get much needed supplies. It had been nine and a half weeks since Mika had taken the smallest strike team with her to the pass on Yuan's 'errand', and right now Vann wanted the remainder to be fully provisioned for her return in preparation for upping their level of harassment of Kvar's forces. They'd arrived in the area just after the Ranch had raided Luin, too late to divert it without exposing the general population to what would appear to be infighting between Desian forces. Instead they'd been forced to watch as nearly sixty people were taken to the ranch, a tiny number given Luin's population, but still it was sixty people too much. Now, after being unable to do anything, the squad was itching to get back at the Desians. All they had to do was wait for Mika to get back.
Heading into the trees, they spread out in readiness to set up camp. But Vann, who had headed to the heart of the grove, came to a startled halt. There beneath one of the trees was a pile of armour under a rain cover, and beside it was sleeping a very large white wolf. It was a big as an Aiertrin, but bore no similarity to the heavily built creatures other than the fact it was canine. Pure white with a blue marking on its nose, its legs were long and slender, more for speed than outright strength. Everything about it said this was a creature made for running and darting about, and here among these trees it seemed to belong. This was undeniably some kind of forest dwelling wolf, a forest dweller in a tiny cluster of trees in the middle of one of the biggest plains areas in two worlds. Curiosity took hold, and he cautiously walked towards the sleeping creature. It was when he was barely three feet away from it, that a low growl told him he'd made a big mistake.
In the blink of an eye it was on its feet, crystal at its throat blazing as great blue wings appeared on its back and swept forward to send him tumbling across the ground. In shock he watched from where he lay as the glow of an angelic spell surrounded it and seemed to be absorbed. He froze... This angel-wolf had just charged and stored a spell for instant cast. One wrong move and he and likely the entire squad were toast depending on how big a spell the thing had charged up.
It stared down at him, eyes clearly showing it didn't know whether to consider him a threat or not.
Not sure what else he could do, he stared back, eyes slowly moving to the Cruxis Crystal it wore as he puzzled over why Yggdrasil would make an angelic wolf. The stone was now dim where it lay among the white fur, the mount around covered in flowing script that looked nothing like angelic text. Taking a closer look at that tiny writing, he suddenly let out a gasp of realisation. He'd been taught to recognise most scripts, though not to read them, and on that mount was inscribed line after line in Sumaityr. This wolf had gotten its Crystal from the Alurannai!
He froze again as the wolf came closer and began to sniff his hair. After a few moments of looking him over, it backed up satisfied and lay down next to the armour again, but not before stopping to scratch something in the dirt.
Carefully getting up so he could see what the wolf had done, he nearly fell over again when he saw a mass of writing done in simple trail code symbols, the kind of shorthand used by rangers scouting an area to leave messages for those following behind. Focusing on it, he began to read.
"Welcome renegade, friends of friends not be harmed by wolf. Safe place wolf hide and wait for friend. Renegade friend behind, here soon. Message delivered, wolf and friend follow message." He gaped at the wolf. "A 'winged wolf'... You're one of the ones Mika was sent to give a message to, and she's on her way back?" The wolf nodded, then flicked an ear. Somehow Vann knew it meant it didn't know how far behind she was. Moving closer again and crouching down, he looked the wolf in the eyes. "Do you have a name? I can't exactly introduce you to the rest of the squad if all I know you as is 'Winged Wolf'." The wolf chuckled, and reaching out with a single paw began scratching rough letters into the soil. "A-n-n-u-l-e... A-Annule?!"
Just as Mika had done at the pass, and for the same reason, Vann stared in astonishment.
Chuckling again at the lieutenant's expression, Annule wagged his tail a couple of times and set his head on his paws once again as he tucked his wings neatly against his back. He was looking forward to seeing that expression repeated on the faces of the entire squad, it wasn't often these days he got to enjoy a bit of awe at his reputation.
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Backpack in hand, no longer miming that it was heavy, Sanaro casually swung the eighty pound bag as he headed for the cluster of trees where he had left Annule the day before. Things had turned out to be good, no sign of trouble other than the raid, which meant that they shouldn't have any problem passing through the Ranch's patrol areas which was far shorter than going round. He neared the edge of the grove, pausing for a moment as he felt a faint brush against his mind. Stopping, he 'listened'.
/Don't startle yourself coming in. We have company, it's the rest of those Renegades that were with that Officer when they ambushed the convoy. I've managed to let them know who we are, and that the Officer, Mika they call her, is coming up behind us./
Forewarned, Sanaro didn't so much as blink as a Renegade lookout who didn't know who he was, tried to clout him over the head with a branch as he passed between the first of the trees. Catching it, he pulled it out of the man's grasp and proceeded to tear it into pencil sized fragments with his bare hands. Dropping them on the ground he regarded the stunned Renegade.
"Is that any way to greet one of the long time friends of your leader? I'm the Blond Knight who your Commander, Mika, was sent to deliver a message to... Thank Annule for warning me you were here, if he hadn't it wouldn't be your stick in pieces... it would be you..."
The Renegade gulped, prompting Sanaro to smile reassurance as he turned and walked to where he had left his armour. There he found Annule in the company of another Renegade.
Looking up as he appeared, Annule yipped a greeting.
/This is Vann, Third Mika's lieutenant. He's in command of this lot until she gets back. Go easy on him, I frightened him quite a bit when he first showed up. /
Looking over at the man, Sanaro inclined his head.
"Greeting Lieutenant Vann, Annule tells me he gave you a bit of a fright. I'm Sanaro Keru, former knight of Tethe'alla and one of the Nine Companions."
Vann got up and shook his hand, looking a little overwhelmed.
"He can speak to you and you can understand him?"
The corner of one side of his mouth lifted with amusement as Sanaro replied.
"Yes, he can and I can. It comes from long association and the help of a friend of ours. Now I'm sure you'd like to have the chance to talk to me, but to be truthful Annule and I need to get moving. We need to pass through this area to follow the directions in the message we were sent, and I think it would be best if we're well out of the way once your commander catches up. The last thing the two of us need is to get caught among a mass of Desian Patrols that will no doubt start to be sent out once you lot begin poking the proverbial wasp's nest." He patted Vann on the shoulder. "Don't take it personally."
There was something in Sanaro's tone that made Vann realise he was being teased. Breaking into a grin, he relaxed, now comfortable in the Companion's presence.
"Aye, you'd be right about that. Kvar is going to be seriously annoyed once we get started on him. I'll see about getting Mika to give you a few days extra time once she gets back. I'll just tell her it's to give her part of the squad a rest from all that running."
Grinning in return, Sanaro began loading his disguise along with the rain cover back into his ver, donning his armour and belting on his weighted long sword as soon as he was done. Giving one more nod to the lieutenant, he vaulted onto the now waiting Annule's back and the two of them charged out of the grove as the surrounding Renegades yelped and dove for cover.
Watching him go, Vann continued to smile.
"Good luck, wherever you're going. I hope that news you're off to get is good news."
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Alaia Skyhawk: I hope you liked it, happy reading :D