After three days of travelling, Igneous was beyond sore and they only reached Fraedia in the afternoon of the third day. He was too unaccustomed to the amount of walking that it actually took to travel get anywhere in Haelin. He tried to rest his feet as much as he could but even when his feet weren't sore when he woke up and prepared for travelling, his feet would ache something fierce after only a couple of hours on the road. He wasn't sure if he would ever get used to it, despite guarantees from all of the well-travelled members of their group. He couldn't help but to notice that they were all better toned than he was, except for maybe Mira and Reina.
The only thing he was happy about the travelling was that as promised, Saikur did find him a fire tome. He disappeared part way through the second day and caught up sometime after they set up camp with the tome in hand. Igneous was excited but since he was too tired to really look through it, Leigh made sure it went into their supply carriage.
On the third night when the sun fell for the evening and everybody was setting up their tents after tents and packed bags had been handed out by Leigh from the carriage, Igneous let his pack fall to the ground and he snuggled up with it. Considering it was mostly full of soft things, he was already rather comfortable with just that on the ground. He was too tired to move at any rate and he didn't feel like he could be bothered to set up his tent. He could fall asleep right there. He heard Saikur sigh before squatting beside him. Saikur shook him a little.
"Igneous," he mumbled. "Aren't you going to at least set up your blankets before you collapse so dramatically?"
"No. I'm fine like this. I'm too exhausted to do anything," he mumbled.
Mira came over and smile sympathetically. "But all of this excise is good for you! You should try and keep it up," she said. Igneous glared at her.
"The truth is, he had no reason to be fit like the rest of us," Saikur said with a shrug. "In other words, he's spoiled."
"Well, it wasn't like you guys were ever like 'Oh, Igneous you should go exercise more!' or anything like that," Igneous mumbled with a frown. It wasn't like he minded that the guardians never asked but it wasn't like they encouraged him so he wasn't exactly happy that Saikur called him spoiled. He only considered himself spoiled in that he had his gold jewelry and his blankets and his pillows were probably not cheap either. His jewelry even had expensive stones set in them, along with them being made of pure gold. He did work for it though – nobody else sat for hours looking through futures of random people. It was mentally exhausting work, just not physically.
"Would you have listened to us if we suggested it?" Saikur asked with a teasing smile. "You would have been too tired from your work or any day off you did get, you would have wanted to spend the day doing what you want and I doubt that includes exercise. It'll get better though, you just need to grin and bare it."
"Maybe I would have," Igneous grumbled with a shrug. Before Saikur could respond to that, he could see the overgrown jacket that Iniabi wore and instantly, Saikur bit his lips and whatever he was going to say died on his lips.
"How about we study that tome of your together then? You haven't opened it since you got it and it would be a shame to waste the time Saikur spent getting it for you," Iniabi mumbled. Iniabi must have seen the tome then. Oh well, at least he didn't have to ask. Igneous was dead tired but he found some energy that he didn't know he still had to get to his feet.
"I was going to wait until I was better rested," Igneous said but the other part of why he didn't ask was that he just didn't have the energy to ask Iniabi. His tent was usually too far away. Unfortunately, his fire tome was not on him but rather, it was still somewhere in that supply carriage. He grumbled as he stood up and continued to grumble as he walked to the carriage to look for it. He opened the flap and instantly felt his stomach drop. Leigh had it so perfectly organized and since Igneous couldn't immediately see the tome, it meant that he would probably ruin Leigh's organization and Leigh wouldn't be pleased. He didn't know if Leigh would be mad but Leigh would definitely not enjoy cleaning up after Igneous. He felt bad about it. Iniabi frowned when saw it but he also just stared at it for a while before going up to the carriage.
"Okay, memorized it," he muttered as he began to pull out some packed up boxes. Mira followed them there with an inquisitive look on her face as she watched Iniabi pull out various items to get deeper into the carriage.
"Is there a chance you could grab practice swords while you're in there?" she asked. "If Igneous is going to practice, then I will too! I'll ask Arder to help!"
"If I can find them," Iniabi mumbled before disappearing inside the carriage completely after making enough room for him to squeeze into. Igneous could hear items shifting around but before long, Iniabi returned holding two dull iron swords, though Igneous had no idea where they really came from. Did somebody ask for practice swords? Did the priests and priestesses think they needed practice swords? Either way, Iniabi didn't have his tome so as soon as Mira had a grip on the swords, he disappeared inside again, returning quickly with the tome. He hopped out and with the tome in Igneous' hands, he began to work on returning everything he took out to its original spot.
"Thank you, Iniabi!" Mira said in a singsong voice, which Igneous only seemed to have noticed just then. She did have a pretty voice and he couldn't help but to wonder if she could sing like Reina did. She skipped away, holding the two swords.
"It's no problem!" he answered as he shifted the last thing back into place. "Now for you, Igneous. We can go to my tent since yours isn't set up just yet."
Iniabi's tent was plain. He didn't seem to need to keep much with him, only the necessities. He supposed it just came with travelling. However, he noticed that Iniabi had a sword, which he kept under his jacket until he removed it from a belt on his hip to place on the tent floor beside his bedroll. The hilt was red and gold but that was all he could see while it was sheathed. He made no mention of the sword even while putting it down so he could sit, but Igneous had no doubt that he could use it. It just didn't seem like he wanted to use it at the moment and it baffled Igneous since it looked like a good blade. Iniabi also took out his own tomes, which were all some shade purple. Dark magic, he assumed.
"So what's first?" Igneous muttered as he opened his tome and looked inside. He could tell that the language was one that he didn't learn to read or write in but strangely, he was surprised to find that he did understand some of it. The more that he looked at the words, the more he understood it. He blinked in surprise. He didn't look that closely the first time he had it but he paid more attention when he was around Iniabi and he didn't know why he could understand any of it.
"To use a tome, you'll have to be able to read it out loud and understand what you're saying. You see, magic is the interaction with spirits – they respond to the commands given in the tome to produce different spells. Learning the language is most likely going to be the hardest thing for you to learn and get used to," Iniabi stated before he frowned, noticing Igneous' look for the first time. "Is something wrong?"
"I don't know why but I think I understand some of these words already," he said, putting the tome down flat so that Iniabi could read it upside down. He could point to words and translate them like it was part of some strange ingrained knowledge he never knew he had. He could read the phrases out loud when he translated it in his head. The only thing he couldn't do was pronounce the words in the original language. Only the translation popped into his head and when Iniabi encouraged to try to read them out loud, he stumbled over every syllable. He just couldn't form the words in his mouth but he knew what they meant. Iniabi couldn't hide the confusion.
"This your first time with a tome, right? Not even I could look at a tome and understand it my first time and I grew up around my father's tomes."
"I don't know why I know it though," Igneous said with a frown.
"I can only guess it has something to do with your abilities... No, more like the source of your abilities. You probably can do more than you realize but you wouldn't know because everything about you seems poorly understood. There has to be more to the oracles than just seeing a glimpse into the future," Iniabi muttered. Igneous could understand what he saying – the first and most prominent of his abilities occupied so much of his time that by the time he had a chance to try something new, he didn't feel like doing anything. He didn't do much or try a lot of different things, so there was no opportunity to learn about himself. It had to be the same for Vulcan as well and probably even Mayon but nobody seemed to know much of her prior to when she began saying what she saw.
"I never thought there could be more to it all," he mumbled slowly.
"But anyway, it seems that even though you understand the language, you certainly can't pronounce it. At least we have something to work on. But for now, maybe you should just get some rest," Iniabi offered. Igneous nodded.
"Yeah, I'm not sure if I could focus on this tonight," Igneous said. He wasn't sure what he felt about it all but he didn't want other people to worry and fuss over him. "Iniabi... could you keep this between us?"
Iniabi smiled a little bit as he closed the fire tome and handed it to Igneous. "Don't worry about it. What happens in this tent stays in this tent."
"Thanks, Iniabi," Igneous mumbled as he left his tent.
When they set their tents up again the next night, Igneous' foresight returned to remind him that it still existed and that it still worked fine while he was poking the campfire with a stick. The environment was more or less the same – the tents were up, people were together by the fire, he could even seen the carriage in the background. It was almost like it was the present. However, it changed too fast for him to be able to focus on the details because before he knew it, Igneous was grabbed. Everything disappeared around him and the hands that held him were shadowy and cold.
He was saved. He hit the ground and when he turned around, he could see that the person who saved him was somebody he didn't know. He could see her silhouette and she was taller and curvier than Mira, Elena, or Reina, and he felt something almost predatory from her. She sneered before the vision disappeared.
He blinked and gazed around the fire pit again. Practically everybody was out of their tents. Mira was singing a song she remembered from her childhood, a lullaby she explained prior to singing it. She didn't seem to be the type to really need a reason to sing but it was a song she remembered and she was curious about whether or not anybody else knew it. Reina seemed to know the tune – she could hum it alongside with Mira but she didn't know the words. Igneous frowned. Even when Reina was surrounded and participating with others, she couldn't shake the mystery around her and with Igneous clued in on her heritage, she looked even lonelier.
It was funny, how Igneous and Reina could be lonely even when surrounded by people. In a way, they were only in company with their mutual feelings of loneliness and the fact that they were lonely because they were too different from everybody else. It was especially true when he thought about what he learned last night but he tried not to think about it too hard. It would hurt to mull over something he didn't understand and wasn't close to understanding.
Arder, who sat beside him, was the one that caught one that Igneous had seen something. Igneous' eyes also met Iniabi's, almost like he was being studied. It would be the first time Iniabi ever saw Igneous' abilities and it seemed to interest him. "What is it, Igneous?" Arder asked quietly.
"I think there will be an attack tonight," he said quietly. Arder nodded in understanding before raising his hand.
"Hey guys, Igneous saw something," he stated simply but loudly.
Igneous jumped, not expecting the attention to jump to him so suddenly. He didn't think Arder would go and just announce it everybody. "I think there will be some sort of attack tonight... either bandits or maybe slave traders. I didn't see which," Igneous muttered. He chose to omit the part where he was captured. There was a chance that he may not be captured but if he felt like it was going to happen, then he wasn't going to try too hard to fight it. It was risky but he had a feeling that if he was saved by that woman and it went almost like the vision did, then she may join them. He had to recreate that vision the best he could and that meant throwing himself into danger.
"Here, Igneous, keep this with you," Leigh muttered as he passed a knife past Saikur and into Igneous' hands. It was a small knife with a small blade, like it was supposed to be used to cut vegetables or something. It wouldn't do much against the big shadow but supposed it was better than nothing. He did feel a little safer with it. "Did you see anything else?"
"Not really," Igneous muttered quickly. He hoped he was good enough liar to escape suspicion but it didn't look like it was the case judging by the look he got from Leigh and Saikur. "It wasn't like I could see the attackers for who they were... they were all shadows. That's why I couldn't tell if they were traders or bandits but maybe you can't tell the difference by just looking at them."
"I can't imagine there's a big difference," Iniabi mumbled. "Their goals would be similar. Slave traders just deal in the business of people. It's not likely to be a difference that you can see on the outside but either way, we'll need to be careful. Your vision was a warning, we need to heed it."
"I'm surprised you took it so well," Igneous muttered. "There's usually some amount of doubt in my abilities from people that don't know me too well, yet you don't seem to have any doubt."
He shrugged. "I don't understand it but there's no reason for me to doubt you. It's not my place."
Igneous retreated into his tent for a moment, pulling his hair loose from his braid and putting his jewelry away. He wondered briefly if he was biting off more than he could with his gamble – how was he supposed to put himself in such a position to get caught and meet the figure without his guardians bailing him out? Did he need to be caught anyway? Maybe not, but he didn't want to risk changing the future from what he wanted. Maybe it wasn't too late to fill the guardians on the second half of his vision because he didn't know what to do. He needed to bounce ideas off of somebody.
The choice was taken away from him as he heard an angry shout. He turned around quickly in his tent and took a look outside, gently pushing the tent flap aside so that he could see through just a crack. He was only rewarded with a spray of blood as Saikur's axe sliced through the side of a slave trader. Iniabi had the right idea it seemed, they didn't look special. He bit his lips. He was gone for two seconds and the attack he saw was already in progress.
He must have looked for a second too long because he met eyes with one of the slave traders and he got to Igneous before anyone else could. Igneous grabbed the knife that he was given just as a hand pulled the tent flap aside. The man was large, with red, short cut hair and a wicked smile on his face. He wore plain clothing, which clearly saw better days as they were dirty and torn in places, but he did wear some leather over his chest for some protection.
Igneous took a deep breath. That was how it was going to go then. He brandished his knife but the trader laughed and smacked it out of his hands.
"You're going to sell pretty well," he said with a grin as he grabbed Igneous' wrist and dragged him out of the tent. Igneous didn't put up much of a fight, not only because the vision showed him being caught but also because the slave trader was a lot bigger than he was and he was also unarmed. Once he was out of the tent, his captor readjusted his grip so that his arm was around his chest and there was a dagger at his neck.
In a vision, it wasn't so terrifying to be held captive but when it was actually happening, Igneous doubted his entire plan. He was scared that something would go horribly wrong while he had a dagger at his neck and since the others were not in on his plan, then the chance of something going wrong increased. As it was though, it looked like they were doing well. Mira still seemed uncomfortable with the sword in her hands and she stuck to Arder, who could wield his sword like it was an extension of his arm. Gerben hadn't even bothered to transform and Elena was riding her horse with Reina on the back, looking apprehensive about something. Garath and Iniabi made a strange team, with Iniabi being strangely involved in the battle. Igneous thought that mages would need to be defended but Iniabi was more or less back-to-back with Garath. Caalya, on her pegasus, was chanting what looked like pink wind magic from the air where it was safe. Igneous couldn't really hear her but from what he could hear of her voice, it was hoarse from what he suspected was disuse.
"Igneous!" Leigh called out, driving his lance into a woman's back. So there were both male and female slave traders. Igneous supposed that everybody was desperate in Fraedia, even while being so close to Adoss.
"Put your weapons down or I'll bring him within an inch of his life. Many people put collars on their slaves anyway... they wouldn't see the scars." To make his point, he took the dagger and moved it across Igneous' neck. He could feel a little bit of blood and it stung, but thankfully, the wound wasn't deep. It was just a warning.
He could see the conflicted looks on his group's faces. Saikur threw his axe down immediately, no question about it, but not everybody was so sure and so quick to follow.
"You don't intend to let him go so why should we listen? Bring him within an inch of his life and we'll bring him back to health. We're not letting you leave with Igneous!" Leigh shouted.
"Leigh, don't upset them. As it is, he's the one with the upper hand. We're not in the position to make demands!" Saikur shouted back.
"Just drop your weapons!" Igneous shouted. "Trust me."
There was a moment of hesitation before everybody dropped their weapons and raised their hands. Fortunately, the group was not in danger of being captured themselves, as they managed to either kill or injure all the slave traders that Igneous' captor brought.
"Very good," he muttered. "But you are right. I'm not leaving empty handed, not when so many of my subordinates are dead. I need to make sure the trip was worth it."
"Damn it, I can't just do nothing while Igneous is in his hands," Garath growled. "I'm not letting anybody go with somebody like you! I leave nobody behind."
"Garath... just trust me," Igneous muttered again. He didn't know how else to phrase it. He was going to be okay, he knew he wasn't getting to get hurt, at least not too badly, but that was assuming that his captor didn't get suspicious. He was also assuming that the group had to behave and try not to save him.
Suddenly, he was let go and he hit the ground with a loud thud. He didn't look to see what happened, because he knew that this vision came through for him like he hoped, so he just crawled out of his grasp, not quite to safety but it was far enough from the slave trader. When he looked at the woman who saved him, he got the feel that his rescue was only a byproduct of her own goals – there was just something in her posture and position that told him that it was the man she wanted and she didn't care so much about rescuing somebody.
She was a curvy woman, he could see that when she turned around and her black cloak wasn't the only thing he could see from her, and her tight-fitting clothing only accentuated them. The clothing was all black – a tight long sleeved tunic, tight leggings, and boots that were almost indistinguishable from the leggings. She was a little taller than an average woman and Igneous could see pale grey hair poking out from under her cloak, where she had her hood pulled out and it almost obscured everything except for what looked to be a permanent pout on her face. She had the leader down on his knees with a knife at his throat.
"Who are you?" he barked. She merely grinned.
"Who I am... hardly matters," she responded, moving the knife down from his throat to dig into his shoulder. He screamed and Igneous looked away. The man had nothing nice in plan for Igneous and yet, Igneous wanted a quick death for him. He didn't want to watch somebody suffer. "What matters is who sent me... and I'm afraid you've sold the wrong person into slavery. Not that you would recognize him or anything, considering the sheer amount of people who lost their freedom to you."
She stuck the knife into the man's throat and pulled it to the side, then let his body fall forward.
"It's a shame, I like to drag it out longer. I like it when they feel the same sort of hopelessness and desperation that their victims faced, but it's not as fun with a mere slave trader," she said with an actual pout. "And not as much fun in front of an audience."
"Who are you?" Leigh asked, his voice unsure. He didn't seem to know what to make of her and quite frankly, neither did Igneous. She seemed proud of her work, like a cat who brought its kill to its owner. There was also the way she made everything she did look overly playful and flirtatious but Igneous could look past that if it meant that they had a powerful ally on their side. She was in a vision, she had to be helpful.
"My name is Amaryllis," she answered, her pout turning into a sneer. She turned her attention to Igneous. "And I presume you're the oracle." She placed a finger on her lip in amusement.
"How did you know?" Igneous asked, a little startled that she figured him out so fast. He was sure she never came to the temple, at least never been inside the temple, so that obviously meant she heard of him and could immediately connect the dots. Maybe trying to conceal himself would be harder than he thought.
"Oh please, I don't just stay in Fraedia. There are some jobs in Adoss too, believe it or not. Anybody who has even heard of you can recognize you. I can't say I know exactly why you're in Fraedia but heh, good luck." She shrugged and turned away.
"Wait, don't go!" Igneous shouted. "Maybe you would interested in coming along? You'll be paid, of course." When she turned her head to look back, he could tell she was considering it.
"Like a bodyguard?"
"Yeah..." he answered as he stood up and dusted himself off.
"Well, I guess that would be a welcome break from what I've been getting myself into," she said, her smirk returning. "The gold better be good though. Who knows what contracts I'll be missing following you around Haelin? At least there's a lot of men here." She licked her lips, then murmured something under her breath.
"Welcome to the team, then," Igneous muttered as he held out his hand. He still didn't know what to make of her but he was determined to find out. She was too interesting for him to ignore. Instead of shaking his hand, she lowered the hood on her head and shook her hair loose. Her cat-like eyes were a pretty green colour and there was a distinct playfulness to them.
"No problem, handsome."
He wasn't used to anybody calling him that. There were some people who came for a reading and complimented his appearance but they were few and far in between because most people who approached him for a reading seemed nervous. He could understand why – he wasn't the oracle of death for nothing.
"Hey Igneous, could we talk to you for a moment?" Leigh asked suddenly. He merely nodded and Leigh gestured to follow him. Saikur joined them and they went outside of their camp. "Igneous, when you told us that vision you had earlier, did you omit information?" Oh, that. They must have figured that if he was telling everybody to trust him, then he had another vision... or that he didn't tell them the full vision the first time. Saikur and Leigh would know.
"Igneous, we need to know about things like this. We didn't you tell us there was more?"
"Because I was afraid if I didn't go the way I saw it, then Amaryllis wouldn't be in the position to join us. We need mercenaries – your words, Saikur. I thought that if you guys knew, then that future would be destroyed and I won't know the new one. I thought about telling you but then I was captured so I couldn't."
Saikur frowned at him. "We could have made it work-"
"Okay, I know you two are trying to help but the truth is, I'm not going to tell you everything I see," Igneous muttered, rolling his eyes. Leigh sighed.
"How are we supposed to best protect you if we don't know things like this? Today could have gone in a very different direction, Igneous, you're right about that. It could have ended with you being seriously injured or dead. We can't keep risking your life like that."
"You could trust me a bit more!" He felt himself getting riled up and he didn't know why. It shouldn't be a big deal, his friends were just worried, but he was getting frustrated. "You guys will never understand what it's like to have the gift that I do. Heck, the only people who could understand are dead! There isn't one person here who can tell me why I'm the one who has it or why it exists at all! You guys seeing it work through me isn't the same thing as when I see it! Don't tell me what to do with my visions when you guys only the know the basics of how it works. Maybe I can't always tell what important or not but I have a better idea than you guys do!"
"Igneous-" Saikur started but Igneous was too riled up to listen to him.
"No... just leave me alone!" He turned and travelled back to the campsite. He went into this tent and he was aware of Gerben moving in front of his tent but Gerben didn't enter. He must have just decided to stand guard for him. He wasn't the kind to get involved with in the same problems that Leigh and Saikur did – he was more than eager to help with problems that he could use his strength to solve but when it came to emotional problems, he just let people come to him. Igneous didn't think he was trying to make sure Leigh and Saikur left him alone but he Igneous figured he must have felt bad that Igneous was captured and injured on his watch before. Gerben must have just felt like he wasn't doing enough to keep him safe and so he was hanging around his tent.
Either way, Igneous appreciated it.
He didn't realize how much his gift did bother him until he was in his tent alone thinking about it. It was such a major part of his life but he hardly understood it. He had the visions long before he learned how to voice what he saw. Maybe he had them for so long that he was too young to even remember them! It delayed his early life and interfered with his present life – he spent far too long of his day reading people or thinking about what he saw. There were also the moments where he saw things while walking and there was more than one time that it caused him to trip. The fact that he could see a possible future was not all there was to him also irked him because it would always be a reminder that he knew nothing about himself.
And then there was all the grief he felt knowing that he had quite a different reputation from the other oracles. He didn't know what it meant for him – he had a feeling it might result in an even earlier death for him, or rather, earlier than the others. He had enough in common with the other oracles that he could use how they were as a base but he was also so different that the priests that knew Vulcan raised an eyebrow at him. He had a hard time believing that Vulcan and Mayon were so similar that he was the weird one.
Maybe the blue-haired manakete knew something. Maybe that's why he had to go see her. Otherwise, he had no idea what to do. He sighed and hid himself under his blankets. It was going to be a tough night.
So Mira is supposed to be a dancer, the kind in Awakening that can use swords, but I'm not entirely sure how to incorporate that into battle. If you guys have ideas, let me know. The person who submitted her wanted her to be able to improve but she should also... you know, dance.
Also, it's probably going to be a character a chapter for a while because there are so many of them! And people submit characters to be able to see them in action, so I hope I'm doing you guys some justice in that department.