Aneyva Mai's Story

Shay squinted over to see another elf. A light elf by the looks of it. THat wasn't surprising, there weren't many, if any others of her kind. Surprisingly enough, she hasn't seen many other elves. She took in the elf. By the looks of things, she was older than her, and it appeared that she was an archer, based on the fact that it looked like she only carried a bow and arrows. Shay herself was ok with bow and arrow. She gave the man one last glare and dropped the dagger, placing it in her boot again. She went to the elf and bowed her head, a greeting between elves she had learned when she was younger. "Here to join the blood wolves I see. My name is Shayade Verteiz. But you can just call me Shay." She turned back to the group and Alice was coming over this way, too. "Hi, I am Alice, " Alice said.

The new elf was a more civilized type than then Shay. She seemed to have a more trustworthy face as well, though anybody had a more trustworthy face than Shay's. Definetly a much more polite way of introduction than the others he had seen.

"Fekal Daymitch. It's nice to meet you Aneyva Mai." Fekal said in a pleasant, friendly tone. "Now Commadoer Fluffly Paws over there has not given his name nor do I care because I like his new name better. Before an interuption, not you by the way, I was explaining the unique political struggle in politics. Such as how we came to be invaded in the first place. Now I must know your stance on this topic. Do you support the idea of killing the grunts in an army or to kill the leaders of that military?"

"Oh my one thousand Hells. That must have really burned?" Fekal asked the Coulton with a grin. "I may have the least interesting story here. I had no close people killed in front of me, no lovers dead, and certainly no grudge against the enemies military. If you want to fight an army be my guess. Perhaps I refuse to do so because I am too lazy or perhaps it is becuase I know that killing out of revenge from a fallen loved one is hypocritical. Either way I will go for the kings and those of you who wish to can go after the pawns." Fekal finished saying in a calm tone. Commadoer Fluffy Paws was as irrational as the Drow. Only difference was he was much more stupid for not knowing the benefits of magic in war.

"So tell me. If magic makes us weak than why are mages the artillery for each and every invasion? Why is the battlefield always revolving around them? Also if you are to fight a large army and you are injured organ wise how do you expect to survive without healing magics?" Fekal asked the cat with an innocent look.

Shay leaned over next to Rawk. "How about you hold him down while I repeatedly slash his face in with my dagger?" She said, somewhat jokingly, but also rather serious. "And yes Fekal, I am hypocritical, perhaps irrational, and maybe even all out stupid. But I face that, and accept that. And you, Fekal, are weak and hiding behind others, pointing out other people's flaws when really, you failed to mention how arrogant, conceited, egotistic, and pompous you are. You are not above us. Maybe you are more strategic, but I could kill you in an instant, Rawk could kill you in an instant, Alice could kill you in an instant, everyone here could take you down, and you are to blind to see it. You are not witty. You are a rude disrespectful figure who has no right to be."

"So tell me, Fekal, how arrogant you would be, if you were dead?" She asked, folding her arms and giving a deadly glare.

Alice sighed as the two men, Fekal and Rawk, continued their little discussion. Either that Coulton always caused trouble or the human liked to provoke people. Her guess was a mixture of both and it wasn't such a good combination. Ever since they had been in the cave, everyone had been screaming at each other that they would kil them. And this bunch was supposed to form a team, an effective one on top of that. This room was filled with a lot of loners, people who worked and killed alone. They didn't form groups, neither did they trust people enough to think they would be able to help them. And frankly, she couldn't exclude herself from that. She was probably the worst in that matter. She has never let anyone watch her back, because she never needed someone who did. Even if she found someone she trusted enough to do that, her pride wouldn't let her.
Alice shifted her gaze from Fekal to Shay. One thing was sure, those two wouldn't become the best of friends. It was true Shay was quite impulsive, but she wouldn't call her stupid. Hotheaded would be a better description. Altough some people tended to see them as one and the same, Alice didn't. She knew the difference between stupid and hodheaded, and if she had to choose, it would definitely be the latter. But the elf had to watch her words, because offending these people, couldn't end well. Even if she was strong and good with her weapons, they would kill her if she went on like this. They would form a miserable group, even without these discussions, and the fact that everybody would rather kill each other, wasn't a good sign either.
Alice brushed with her hand through her hair and looked at Fekal. He was a shady person and she only had one thought of him: that he wouldn't be afraid to attack his foe from behind. But she also knew Shay wasn't completly right. He was a more strategic kind of person, but she didn't believe he would be that easy to kill.

Fekal pondered upon the question. He wondered of the afterlife and the peace it would give. It was almost tempting enough to take her up on what he thought she was proposing. Almost. His purpose right now was to serve the leader of these rebels and kill any that he deems worthy of making a deader. He would rather die on the job than in a fight in some cave. He let out a sigh before speaking.

"You may be right about all those things and you are right about the other. If all of you teamed against me right now you could kill me. After all my career has taught me to be unseen, not to fight honorably. If I survived I might want vengence, maybe even joining the enemy. That is not in my interest however. So yes you can strike me down simply because my personality is that of an ass." He paused, smirking at his own description of himself. "Or you can keep me alive as an ally. So the options are these. Kill a man who's demeanor you do not care for or gain an ally that can watch your back in the future." Fekal made an arm gesture as if to present the option to the group.

Fekal turned to Shay. "Personally I like you Shayade. You remind me much of myself when I was a teenager though I hope this little rebellion can put some years on you. Trust me, in the future you will praise these unique figures here for future tips and advise." He finished speaking to Shayand now turned to Rawk Jah.

"Now for you. Rawk Jah is it? I appologize for any disrespect in my jokes. I have a different humour than you I guess. I merely wanted to point out all the benefits of magic. There are magic that can fortify your own prowess you know? I am sure there is somebody here that can help you with that, if you so wish." Fekal finished speaking and took another bite out of his apple.

Fekal held his left hand out as if to signal to stop. "I do not need it. That was simply a spare. Maybe you would like to have it? It is not made to be thrown or to be a dissposable weapon but one to keep. It was made to block greatsword, cut hard material, and to endure ages. Worth quite a bit of gold mine you." He told Shay as he proped himself to sit on a nearby barrel, still agianst the cave wall.

Fekal turned his head to Aneyva who seemed to be more out of place than the others. "What about you Aneyva? Why are you here?" He asked her out of curiosity.

She nodded and tucked the dagger back into her boot. The dagger was much better than she had first assumed. She leaned against the wall and took out her sheath of arrows, occupying her time by cleaning them with a cloth she had tucked in with the arrows. Of course Fekal and her weren't buddy buddy now, but at least they weren't bickering with each other. She swiped the blood away from another arrow. She looked at her arrows. They weren't very good. She had carved them herself. They were as sharp as normal arrows, but they weren't very durable and strong. In fact they were a little flimsy. But they got the job done. Aneyva seemed like a very good archer, and the arrows she carried looked perfect. Maybe she could teach her how to make arrows like that.

Alice kept her mouth shut when Fekal suggested to Rawk that someone in this room would be able make stronger thanks to magic. She would be able to do that, altough in a different way he would expect. But for Rawk? No, probably not. She didn't have any intention to help him, neither to offer up her own powers to make him stronger. Besides, she had never even tried this on another person beside herself. Maybe it wouldn't even work. She looked motionless at Fekal for a slight second and then turned around when he spoke to Aneyva. He was quite a curious guy, altough she herself wasn't any better. She had just learned to not ask too much. The light elf answered in her polite and beautiful voice, which was soothing and relaxing. Well, her voice may have been, but her words definitely weren't. Alice's eyes softened when the girl told about her past. It seemed quite... similar in a way, altough she was sure her family didn't dump her. There was no way they would do something that cruel and still give her the compas. It was engraved with her initials and a small weapon of roses wrapped around a crown. Something must have happened, but she had not a single memory of it. Well, she almost had no memories of her childhood itself. There was one thing she knew for she: she too was trained. Maybe she was fortunate to not remember.
Alice wanted to say something, but she also knew she shouldn't stick her nose in such private matters. So instead, she asked a different question to the whole group. "Have you seen the human male dressed as a peasant around here?" As the so-called leader of this little group, he sure was slow. They had been waiting for quite some time, altough that wasn't really a problem for her. She didn't mind waiting, but she did mind his attitude of being later than the members. Inexcusable.

Alice noticed that Sebastian and Aneyva had decided to follow her. She glanced at both from the corner of her eyes and then smiled quite happy. They entered the dark and colder part of the cave together. The shadows streched out their long arms to embrace them, as if they were trying to lure them into the darkness. Before they got consumed by it, the elf made some light. Alice stared at the ball, altough she was careful enough to not look directly in it. She couldn't risk any damage to her eyes at this point. Aneyva asked her where she would like to go. After she slowed down a bit so she could walk beside the girl, Alice said: "I expect this road will split up soon enough. It was made by hand, maybe magic, but it surenly isn't natural. My guess is that this is supposed to be a labyrinth." She looks around again, happy that Sebastian thought about the light. Exploring in the dark would be difficult and she would rather not have used her candle. The ball of light gave enough light to see most details, things that could be important so they wouldn't get lost. "There are either signs which way we should go or a certain pattern." She spoke in a soft voice, considering every word she said. Alice frowned and looked at Aneyva. She still hadn't given a real answer to her question. "In the end, I want to search for the room they are trying to hide, if I'm correct about the labyrinth. On my way, I would like to look around. You never know what you might find."

Shay shoved her arrows back in her sheath as the group starting walking off to explore. She wrapped herself in shadows. She walked up to Alice and poked her back, and then whispered. "I don't like this place. It seems rather.....suspicious. I'll stay with you invisible. This place just doesn't seem welcoming. Even if it does feel nice to be in darkness. I don't like how Tamren is picking random people off the street. For all we know, someone here might be out to kill us." She stepped back, into the secure comfort of shadows, away from the ball of light. She drew her dagger. Something about this place just seemed......off.

Fekal was feeling...uneasy about his surroundings in this cave. Nevously the man unsheathed his dagger and held close, ready to strike if anyone were to attack. Looking around he saw that Shay dissapeared. The suspense made him a little nervous. He only knew of one exit, the one he came in through. They began to enter a darker area and Fekal's tension started to fade. If anything happened he could jump through the shadows to eventually get back to where he came in from. Constantly darting his eyes around his one eighty degree vison and occasionaly looking behind his back he followed the others into the cave.

Alice felt the darkness behind her back before she even saw it. It was thicker than normal and it moved in a strange way. Other than that, she had seen it before. Shay. Even though Alice was prepared for her, she still reacted when she felt someone poking her back. As natural response, she took a bigger step to create a distance of a few centimenters and put her foot as steady as she could in the moist ground. Her hand went for one of her knifes while she turned around to face the one who poked her, but she stopped when she saw nothing and remembered it was Shay. With a grumpy look on her face, she turned around again and walked further while Shay spoke to her. She nodded in agreement to her words and added: "Next time you startle me, I won't hold back, understood?" She hated when people did that, even though she could feel them approaching in most cases. She felt it this time too, but she didn't expect to be poked. Even though she liked Shay, she was serious about her words.
The group slowly grew now Shay and Fekal joined them on their little exploration. Almost everyone from the cave followed them, except the two Coultons. Maybe they would follow later, or they decided to stay together. Alice didn't care, they could do what they want. She had better things to think about. Her eyes looked at every little detail on the stone walls. Meanwhile, she listened to Sebastians questions. "How?" She repeated, while thinking about it. "It would be stupid to assume that this road will lead us straight to where we want to be. Anyone could just walk in. Well, I could be wrong of course." Until now, there hadn't be any indication of her being right, but she didn't think she was wrong, actually. At least, if the people who build this were smart enough to consider that the enemy could find this place. Answering his next question was a bit tougher. It was difficult to give a specific answer. "It can be anything, but either way, it will be practically invisable. Look for stones carved in a certain figure, something you recognise. And then either find the matching one, or something that could be linked to it." She thought about her answer and then nodded. It should be something like that.

Alice was focused on the walls while they walked down the path. She had seen some stones which resembled real things, but she hadn't found something that matched them yet. That was the difficult part of it all. There was no way to see if it was carved or just the natural look of it. She had learned that your mind can play tricks with you. It saw things which weren't there and skipped the important signs it was looking for. But she decided to remember all the details, because they might be needed in the future, even though they seemed irrelevant at this moment. Alice closed her eyes for some seconds to give them some rest and opened them again. In stead of looking at the walls, she looked further. As she had predicted, the path split in two. She looked at both and sighed. She didn't recognise anything on the wall. She should have took a beter look when she entered this path from the cave they were in. That's where probably the important sign was. Or maybe the signs started here and they had to choose which they thought was the best. They had to choose by the smell, the sound... Alice sighed and turned around when Sebastian spoke. He suggested a rest, but she noticed it certainly wasn't for him. She follow the way his eyes looked and ended up looking at Aneyva. Of course, she should have known. It was probably very tiring to keep all this energy of the light together in a ball. Alice bit her lip, quite mad at herself she didn't notice it. She sat down to let the elf know she could rest too. "If you want to save some energy, I can light my candle for the moment." She said in a friendly tone. She smiled at the girl and tilted her head to look at Sebastian. She didn't know which to take either at the moment, so she glared at the others. Maybe they saw something. If they didn't, they would have to use the other method. One of the paths would end in another cave, the other one would lead to nowhere. The cave would need a suply of fresh air, so that had to come from somewhere. But so far, she didn't even feel the slighest wind, neither could she smell anything besides mud. Alice held her head to the left when she thought of another possibility. She could be able te sense it, if she concentrated enough. The girl has the ability to expand her senses by using magic. But she didn't know these people, so revealing one of her abilities wasn't something she was comfortable with. She decided to only use it when no one else had any way to find out.

When the light went out, Alice took a short but thick candle out of a small holder wrapped around her right leg. She took a sort of match out a small box and scratched against the wall with it. A flame appeared, small and fragile. She held it against the candle and it lit up. She put it in the middle of the group so everybody could see each other and leant back. Her eyes shifted from Aneyva to Sebastian as she nodded in agreement to Aneyva's solution. It was a good idea, a very good one. But as she looked at the candle, she doubted it would work. The flame did move just a little bit, but the wind came from the direction they walked to here. Not a very promising sign, altough the one they were looking for could just be weaker.

Alice smiled at Sebastians comment of him expecting a test. Well, she expected one too, altough she had a quite different situation in mind than which they were in now. "I would say this is a test and it defenitely involves one of our unique skills." She looked at him and grinned. "Tracking down our target." She had thought about it while she was walking on the path. There must be someone waiting for them, because none of them had any idea what they were supposed to do. So instead of just trying to find a room, they could look at it differently. They were just trying to find another person. If this was intentional, it was a good test. It definitely required some team work, as well as some logic thinking and personal skills.

Mushrooms. Alice looks at Sebastian, thinking about his comment. She hadn't seen something like that, neither here or neither on the walls. Then again... She closed her eyes for a second and then opens them again, quickly and with a new fire in them. "Or better, let's get away from mushrooms as far as we can."

Shay shifted her feet, impatient. They should just split up and each go down a fork. If they turn up empty, the just go back and head down the other fork. Simple. But no, they would need two light sources, and the measly candle Alice supplied wouldn't be of much use. But she could see. Well, rather feel in the dark. Shadows, made her feel at home. While some people could detect people or see better in the light, Darkness was her strong suite.

"I'll just head down the left path. If I turn up empty, I'll just go back and go to the other fork. You guys take the right." She shifted her dagger in her hands and stood up, not waiting for an answer. "Remember, I'm taking the left path." She said, heading down that direction, the candlelight already fading in the distance. She couldn't see any light ahead, or even mushrooms as Sebastion was saying. She didn't hear, feel or smell a breeze, or soft Earth. She walked along, naturally quite, only her necklace making twinkly sounds would give away her location. She practiced her strikes and swings and blocks with her dagger as she walked along.

Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth, and instantly she reacted by shoving her elbow back and stomping down hard with her foot. She turned invisible and attempted to swing her dagger, but burly hands fixed her in place. She tried to make noise, but her mouth was covered, and the little scuffle was too far away from the group to be heard. Another set of hands clamped around her and she couldn't speak, or see, or move even. She felt her wrists being bound, and something slipped over her mouth and head. She struggled and kicked, but one of the men picked her up and roughly pushed her in some direction. She heard a strange sort of scraping sound, and she walked into another area. The what sounded like a door closed, and the cave, the pathway was now silent. Shay is kidnapped.

Alice looked at Shay deciding on her own she would take the left path. It was a stupid idea. The girl stood up. She wanted to say that she shouldn't do it and should stay here. However, the elf had already left without waiting for anyone to say how stupid she was to do that. Alice sighed and decided she had to go after her. When she put her left foot in that direction, Anayva asked her a question. She realised she couldn't walk out on that question and turned around to face the light elf. She sat down and despite her frustration towards Shay, she smiled. "I was thinking about mushrooms. You know, mushrooms belong to the fungus family. Certain fungus' florish when there is a high humidity and when the ventilation or air is either non-existant or not enough. The latter cause is important for us. If I'm right, we definitly need to avoid fungus and choose the other way." She said in a slow pace. She had to think about every word she said, because she didn't want to say anything wrong.
Alice took another look at the left path and shook her head. She stood up and slowly paced through their small restplace. She didn't have a good feeling about this, not at all. They shouldn't have let Shay go on her own, but now she was too far to send someone after her. They would have to go as a group, that is, if she could convince the others. If they said they didn't want to go, Alice would go after her on her own. "We should find her. I know it was her own decision, but she's young and impulsive." Alice looked at Sebastian, the worry she felt was cleary visible in her dark eyes. She hoped he would say something about it too, back her up in her words.

OOC: I'm not a biologist, so I probably made some mistakes about the fungus thingy >.< Sorry ;p

Alice looked at Sebastian once again and grinned. She actually thought his comment was funny, altough she knew, or rather she felt, he was serious about his praise for her. He was just a little bit of a joker and there was nothing wrong with that. "Sure. Thorns of roses are really safe and all." She said and she sticked out her tongue to mock him. She was usually quite calm and composed, but she was still young herself. She couldn't help being childish sometimes, even if it was in serious situations like this one. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Aneyva making a little light ball. The girl went through her knees to pick up her candle and blew out the flame. She let the liquid drip of it and cool down before she put it away again. "We shouldn't punish her, but she has to know this is not acceptable." She looked at Aneyva. Her eyes were hard and her smile was gone. She may have been joking only 30 seconds earlier, but now she was serious. "We can't have people running around freely and do as they wish. In the future, we'll have to work together. Not thinking about the group will cause problems and ultimately our own death." Maybe she exagerated a little bit, but most of it was true. This wasn't going to work when one member took an impulsive decision. In this cave, it wasn't too big of a problem. When they would have a job, one single mistake could lead to a failure. And failure would lead to death, or worse.
Alice threw her hair over her shoulder and looked at Fekal. He had been silent for some time. "I hope you're coming with us." She added before she turned around to face the left path. It was time to go after Shay. "Well, let's go then, shall we?"

OOC: I feel like... my character is a bit too present or controlling, if you know what I mean. Is it just me or do you guys think the same? I can let her back down :)

OOC: I think it fits my character, but I would like you to tell me if she becomes too pushy :)

Alice grinned and took out two of her knifes. She wasn't planning to go unprotected, altough she would be able to draw her knifes in seconds. But sometimes, those seconds could mean the difference between death or living to see the next day. She took a good look at them to make sure they were still sharp. Well, it would surprise her if they weren't, because she sharpened them regularly. She couldn't stand blades which didn't slide through flesh as if it had no resistance. When she was happy with the way the looked, she glanced at Sebastian. "What would you be then? The spanking father?" She said with an innocent look. Her voice may had been lighthearted, but her mind definitely wasn't. The indication about Shay having disappeared, at least according to Sebastian, made her think about the troubling situation they actually were in. They were in an unknown cave and for all they knew, it could be filled with enemies or dangerous animals.

Alice nodded in agreement to the sandwich formation. It was a good idea, altough she would have prefered another name for it. She had some cash on her, but hadn't found a good place to supply in these godforsaken towns. All the food they had, went to soldiers. She had stolen some from them everytime she wanted to eat something. Her last meal wasn't too long, but even though she was quite skinny, she ate a lot. She hadn't had a decent meal in days. "Stop making me hungry and let's go. The longer we stand here, the further she could have gone." She said and she entered the left path. She held her knifes up and proceeded with silent steps.

Once Alice entered the path, her racing heart calmed down. Despite the tension and the uncomfortable feeling she previously had, she was now calm. She knew it wouldn't do her any good if she wasn't prepared for the worst. When she heard from Aneyva the tunnel would be long, she grumbled something to show her dismay. She didn't like this place and prefered to get out as soon as possible. She almost hoped it would end outside, because they would have a huge problem if the road split again. Besides, if it did end in the forest again, it would be easier to find Shay. The elf couldn't have gone too far, because she would have to go back in a while.

Alice had been walking for some minutes when she suddenly stopped. She looked around while she slowly raised her knifes. They seemd to be shining in the dim light of the small orb Aneyva had summoned. "Did you hear that?" She whispered without looking at her companions. Every muscle in her body was ready for action while she listened to the silence. She didn't hear the sound anymore, but she was sure it had been real. The girl held her head a bit to the right and lowered her knifes a few centimeters. There she heard it again, but it was further away from their little group than the first time. But she had recognised it this time. Those were definitely footsteps, no matter how silent the person tried to be. She glanced at Aneyva and Sebastian, as if she was asking them about their opinion. It seemed to her that the person was running away from them, but if it had been Shay, she would have probably walked towards the light, right? Who else could have been here beside them?