w00t! Thanks for your review Tela! And thank you to subtLe. for his review!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online, period.
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Unwilling Heroes
Chapter III: An Awkward Encounter
The two of them stood still, surprised that the person who had been following them had been a girl all along. She looked older than they both were, much older. She was swathed in a worn, travel-stained cloak, but it had fallen open to reveal that she was clothed as a sage, except that all her clothes were black. Her long blue hair was unkempt and her skin was stained with earth. She looked as one who had been traveling a long time.
Julian extended a hand gingerly, offering to help her onto her feet. Sel'an shot a look of caution at him, but allowed him to continue.
"What is your name?"
The sage looked at them, a mixture of frustration, pain, and a touch of embarrassment on her face. Her honey-brown eyes were wide with astonishment, but that quickly gave way to anger. She rose, refusing the hand that was offered her.
"My name is of no importance" she said, with an air of authority.
Sel'an lowered his bow, but silently loosened the knife at his hide.
The sage suddenly buckled with a cry. She pulled open her cloak to reveal a long gash on her left leg. She cursed bitterly.
Julian stepped forward.
"I can help you with that, if you would permit me to madam"
She scowled at him, but, seeing as she was helpless to do anything on her own, she reluctantly shifted, allowing him to inspect her injury.
"But if you try anything funny," she revealed a long dagger, "I shall slit your throat the moment you try"
He smiled grimly and tilted his head to acknowledge what she said. Sel'an hovered behind him, ready to protect him if she indeed carried out her bloody promise.
The priest gingerly stepped forward and knelt down, examining the wound. It was long and wide, but rather shallow. A quick look around told him that she had fallen awkwardly, and her leg had slid against a sharp rock jutting out from the tree roots. What's more, her leg had swollen up, telling him that it was broken.
He looked at Sel'an.
"Um, could you go back and find my pack? I dropped it when you suddenly rushed off like that"
The bard looked worriedly at his companion, hesitant to leave him with her. But he nodded and dashed off.
Julian looked at her again and held his palms over the wound. He closed his eyes and whispered a few words.
"RESARCIET PLAGAS!"
A bright light shone from his hands as the sage watched, amazed, as a wave of warmth spread throughout her body. The wound closed, the flesh knitting itself together, becoming whole again without any trace of a scar. The blood and dirt disappeared, leaving the skin smooth and clear.
Sel'an came back at that instant and began to say something, but stopped at the look of pure concentration on Julian's face.
He slowly exhaled as he withdrew his hands. The sage looked at him wordlessly. Julian smiled weakly.
"It's not yet completely fixed, so please don't stand up just yet. I still have to mend your bones as well"
He turned to Sel'an, a silent thanks in his eyes as he walked to his pack. He produced two flasks; one was filled with a dark red liquid while the other one was filled with a deep blue liquid.
He opened the flask containing the red liquid and gave it to the sage. She accepted it gratefully and drained it in two long draughts. Color swiftly returned to her face and body, and she breathed heavily after finishing it.
Julian then drank the blue liquid and took a deep breath. He pulled out a white cloth from his bag and gave it to her.
"Open your mouth"
She looked at him confusedly, but obeyed. He folded the cloth and placed in her mouth, telling her to bite it.
"This will hurt. We can't have you making a sound so you must bite on that cloth as hard as you can when it starts alright?"
She nodded.
He took another deep breath and repositioned his hands over her leg. He lightly grasped it and took a breath to steady himself. Then, he began to twist it carefully.
The sage screamed into the towel as the priest slowly and painfully realigned the broken bones. Tears streamed down her face as he worked, nearly biting the towel in two as she tried to conceal the cries escaping her mouth.
He gently lowered her leg and placed his hands over it.
"RENOVO!"
Green light enveloped her leg as another wave of warmth spread throughout her body, sending slight shivers up her spine.
The light slowly receded, and the priest sat back, breathing hard and laboriously. He expended a lot of energy on healing her, and he wasn't sure if he had enough energy to continue hiking through the forests.
The sage gingerly touched her leg. The pain that was nearly driving her insane moments ago had disappeared, as if there was never any pain to begin with. She looked at Julian, a wordless thanks in her eyes.
Sel'an watched the both of them throughout the entire procedure. As soon as Julian had finished he took out another flask of blue potion and handed it to him as he sat down.
"What happened?" asked the elf as soon as he had finished the potion.
Julian took a few more breaths of air before answering.
"She's alright now. I couldn't just heal her like that since her bones were twisted. If I healed her without setting the bones, she would have had a twisted leg for the rest of her life"
The sage blinked in surprise at how close she was to a deformity.
Sel'an had to smile at his companion. Had it been him, he would have left her incapacitated. He wouldn't have risked healing her for fear that she would turn on them after that.
He chuckled softly at Julian's innocence and naïveté. He glanced at the sage, who was standing against a tree, testing her leg. He felt the knife he had, hidden within his clothes. It was loose and waiting, ready.
She walked over to Julian, who promptly got up.
"It's a bit stiff, but thank you. I see that I can trust you now. Any other person would have left me incapacitated and interrogated me first"
Sel'an raised an eyebrow.
Looks like the two of us think along the same lines…
She offered her hand.
"My name is Alalia Crystalwind. If I may have yours?"
Julian took it while Sel'an hung back.
"Pleased to meet you Alalia, I am Julian of the Abbey of St. Capitolina"
"Sel'an"
She glanced at him before returning her gaze to the priest.
"I am looking for someone who goes by the name of Ahrian. He is…an old friend of mine who lives in this area. Unfortunately he is quite the nomad and constantly moves from place to place, so I don't really know where he is. I was hoping you two knew where he was right now so I followed you, but since I didn't know what your intentions were I hid myself."
Julian was slightly surprised that she was also headed for their destination.
"If you do know where he is, could you take me to him? I could pay you"
Julian was about to reply when Sel'an cut him off.
"Don't worry about the pay. I am one of his companions so I can take you there. But, if it is alright with you, I'll need to take all your weapons first"
She nodded and placed a long ornate staff and a broadsword on the ground. She then took off her travel cloak and her outer robes. She laid them both neatly on the ground and began extracting a number of small throwing blades, daggers and a shortsword from it. Then she pulled out another dagger from her boot and a pair of decorated sticks from a pocket at her back, placing them all next to each other.
"You're very well armed to be just meeting an old friend"
She smiled grimly.
"These are dark times young one. I am amazed that you aren't as armed as one should at times like these…"
Sel'an chose not to answer. Instead he produced a long cloth from his pack and bundled Alalia's weapons inside of it, tying them securely together. Then he leaned them against a tree and sat down. Alalia looked at him in surprise.
"Aren't we going to leave yet? The sun is already going down and soon it will be dark"
Sel'an gestured towards Julian.
"I'm really sorry, but my friend is very tired from having to heal you earlier. I don't think we can continue with him like that. He needs to rest"
"Oh" she replied, slightly abashed at how selfish she was being. She looked at Julian. He was leaning tiredly against a tree, his chest rising and falling slowly as he breathed.
Sel'an looked at her, making sure that his suspicion was not shown on his face. She was definitely not one of the usual sages one met on the street. Her body was lightly built and deceptively agile, but she seemed strong enough. She had to be, especially with the kind of staff she carried.
A Staff of Might.
Those were very rare nowadays.
They were once the weapons of the Battlemages, wizards who disdained the path of pure spellcraft, saying it was a sign of weakness. They crafted those weapons for battle, enchanting it so that it could convert even the smallest amount of Spiritual Power into pure force, magnifying it thousands of times over.
It was a weapon they used during the height of their power, on one of history's worst disasters.
Their so-called "Great Cleansing"
That time, their leader was a power-hungry warmonger who had embraced the path of wizardry, seduced by the pure power it offered. She decided that all wizards should embrace the path of the Battlemage, or they would be "cleansed" She corrupted the other Battlemages to her cause, and those that resisted were "cleansed"
They marched throughout Schwartzward, killing all the wizards and sages they could find that had not embraced their "superior path" It was a horrible massacre. If it were not for the intervention of the other races, all human knowledge of magick would have been erased.
Sel'an's instinct told him that she would be a dangerous person to have nearby. Unfortunately, he only had his suspicions for certainty, so he couldn't do anything. But something nagged him, at the back of his mind. There was just something familiar about her…
Sel'an got up.
"If you don't mind, we'll need to collect firewood for later. Seeing as we'll be here for the rest of the day, we might as well set up camp"
She nodded, then turned and disappeared into the forest.
Sel'an waited a few moments before turning to the priest, who raised his head to look at him.
"Sel'an, are we going to stay here?"
"Well, I can't let you go on like that now can I?"
"I'm sorry"
"Whatever for?"
"For being a burden"
The elf chuckled, squatting in front of him so their eyes met.
"I'll be going to get some food for us. Goodness knows we need a break from bread and cheese"
The priest grinned weakly.
"Take care of yourself"
Sel'an smiled and got up.
"Don't worry, when we come back, there will be a hot dinner waiting"
Julian returned the smile.
"I hold you to that"
"Now get some rest"
He nodded, closing his eyes. He relaxed and instantly fell asleep.
Sel'an chuckled softly to himself. This one was definitely a child.
He stretched and exhaled, remembering when he was like that.
But that was a long, long time ago. He wasn't a child anymore. He never actually had the chance to be one. He had jobs to do then, and he still had jobs to do now.
Still, it was nice to reminisce, and dream.
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The assassin cross knelt on the ground, carefully inspecting it. It had been a full day and a half, but he still wasn't any closer to his prey.
He punched the ground, frustrated. This wasn't going well for him.
His master wouldn't be pleased.
As if on cue, a wisp of smoke suddenly appeared, floating all around him. He got up, straightening.
The smoke curled until it formed a dark figure. The assassin bowed his head in greeting. A deep, cold voice resonated inside his head.
Have you found the priest yet?
"Unfortunately no. I've been having troubles and—"
Suddenly, electricity crackled all over his body. He fell to the ground on all fours, wracked in pain.
"For-forgive me master! I-I will try harder to look for him!"
SILENCE! I WILL NOT HAVE YOUR EXCUSES!
"Please! Give me more time master! I implore thee!"
The electricity subsided. He collapsed, shuddering as he struggled to catch his breath. A cold laugh echoed in his mind.
The reason I sent you was because I thought you could do the job. Looks like I was wrong. But, luckily for you, I still need you.
He slowly got to his feet.
"Yes master, anything"
Unfortunately, since it took you so long to locate him, he has found a companion, and a powerful one at that, since his new companion is an elf. They do not fall easily, so you will need some help.
A cloud of smoke appeared in front of him.
I think these will be useful in your endeavor.
It slowly cleared, revealing a small black bottle.
The assassin's eyes widened.
"That, that is…"
Use it wisely…
Another cold laugh echoed through the forest as wind blew through it. The figure of his master dissolved into smoke once more and disappeared.
The assassin waited until he was sure his master was gone, then picked up the bottle. The carving on its face was unmistakable.
A sinister smile came to his face.
He pocketed the bottle, then leapt into the sky. Landing within the boughs of an ancient tree he took the bottle out once more. He opened it, and let a single drop fall onto one of its leafy branches.
The leaves instantly blackened and crumbled into dust as the branch withered and fell off. Soon the rest of the tree was dying, withering away until there was nothing but dust.
The assassin, now on the ground, admired its handiwork.
He smiled.
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Please R&R:D