Meg & May's Story

#b03f02
"By which Amir means that he is a terrible example of humanity and is required to have constant supervision. I truly pity the poor creature for having to endure that torment." It was impulsive when the boy felt his temper spike after the comment and vault himself over the table at the armor clad man. He was so wound up from the heat, and these fake riders, and having to see Trytheus again, and never seeing Serafina again, and the hammering in the back of his head that he couldn’t see a reason not to physically attack the Griffon Rider.

Even as Aquarian tried to redirect Amir’s attention to himself the boy was already hurling himself over the gathering table. Hassan let out a surprised squawk as he was jolted from the boy’s shoulder, having no time to try and control the blonde boy and stop him from doing something rash. Trytheus was covered in armor, and Amir had attacked him on multiple different occasions only to be the one to end up more injured due to the hard, sparkling, cover that protected Trytheus. If he could knock that stupid helmet the boy would at least be able to get in a nice black eye on the pompous asshole’s face. “Is it possible for you to not be a dick for five fucking seconds?”

Amir wasn’t even halfway across the table when all the momentum he had put into lunging at the Griffon Rider was halted as if he had slammed head first into a brick wall. Pain exploded in both his shoulders as the bony fingers of the twins dug into his flesh and forced him back into his seat for the second time that day. Their expressions as still as they always were, but their grip on his shoulders told him he was talking on thin ice now. He recoiled back into himself, the force of being stopped dead in his tracks felt like his had tore the muscle along his neck and shoulder blades.

“All of our-”
“riders are finally here.” Amir looked up, his anger towards Try ebbing slightly as the final rider made her appearance. He knew it couldn’t have been Alasahe, the girl would never allow herself to be late to a Gathering, and the sight of a strawberry blonde girl was much less impactful after exerting so much energy resenting the other two. He glanced at her and the ache he had felt when he realized Serafina was gone was still there with this stranger, but not nearly as prevalent. Alasahe had been the rider he had known best, they had gone on multiple raids on The Cape to stop pirate bands that were getting a little too confident in their abilities, it was saddening that she was gone. He didn’t make an effort to acknowledge her though, instead choosing to slump in his throne and nurse his throbbing shoulders.

“Gather Riders, there is a matter of urgency that must be addressed.”

“Huitzilopochtli has awoken.”
“Huitzilopochtli has awoken.”

“And it is your jobs to find a way to put it back to sleep. This ancient monster-”
“-whose very presence brings chaos and destruction, is a power no human is capable of stopping.”

“If it is left undisturbed-”
“-Mundus alter will surely cease to exist.”

“The Siren and the Pegasus must seek out a beast who in age rivals Huitzilopochtli. She is ancient and powerful, residing deep within Sui Generis, and an ally that the riders must seek.”

“The Dragon and the Cerberus must seek out a powerful magical weapon capable to fending off this ancient beast.

“Lady Sahira.”
“Master Trytheus.”

“You both are forbidden from aiding your fellow riders-”
“-until you can make amends.”

“Darling Sahira, you are to accompany the Griffin Rider to his home region to learn-”
“Of Amstrian culture. Both may only return once you have a mutual understanding of one another.” Amir jolted in his seat. He made to argue against the twins, but one look in there direction had him subdued and slouching back into his seat. Twice he had tried the Gemini Twins that day, any further and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind they would rip him apart and eat him alive.

“Fine, whatever you say.” He grumbled, shooting a glare at Trytheus. He couldn’t even begin to imagine was Amstra would be like, no doubt clone upon clone of Trytheus walking around judging people on appearance alone and screaming at anyone who didn’t abide by their strict and narrow point of view. He continued to pout as the twins continued with some other information for the riders, even the fake ones, that were going on what would probably be epic quests to stop Huitzilopochtli.

“You only have six months before Huitzilopochtli accumulates the power-”
“-needed to destroy Mundus alter, but alas-”

“These assets are not the only advantages you have against it.”
“Its heartbeat, thoughts, emotions, dreams, magic, and perception.”

“It is tied to you-”
“-as you are tied to it.”

“Best of luck riders, may the stars be in your favor.”
“Best of luck riders, may the stars be in your favor.”

It was with some grim smugness that Trytheus was ready to receive the boy that had elected to leap for him from his chair. He had to wonder if that was the base emotional state that the desert rat often felt, when he wasn't being oblivious to the plights of the common man that was. In fact he was more than willing to engage in a fight here and now, even in this most dangerous of places, more than confident that his superior size, strength and experience would provide him with the obvious advantage not to mention the fact he was clad from head to toe in his signature armour. None had ever been able to pierce the steel he had forged using the Amstrian technique of folding the metal many times over, indeed it was that technique that inlaid the stars and diamonds into the armours metal itself.

And yet the fight drained out of suddenly as like a broken dam to replaced with a block of cold dread as the boy was caught in midair and violently wrenched back to his seat. He had no doubt that the force of the pull had done some form of damage to the boy. But that wasn't what had caused him to feel the pull of dread in his gut, rather it was the speed of it. Once again, despite this time being looking directly at the Ladies Gemini he saw neither of them actually move, to his eye it was as if they were in one place one second and another the other. He had the distinct feeling that any further transgressions would bring their wrath upon himself and not unwisely he managed to reign himself in to prevent such actions being needed.

"All of our-"
"riders are finally here." Trytheus looked up as the door opened, once more a stranger stood there, yet again another false Rider. He felt little need to educate this one of her place here, after all the others could inform her well enough and besides he was all too aware that any further outburst, especially now that the meeting had begun in earnest, would likely cost him dearly.

"Gather Riders, there is a matter of urgency that must be addressed. Huitzilopochtli has awoken."
"Huitzilopochtli has awoken."

"And it is your jobs to find a way to put it back to sleep. This ancient monster-"
"-whose very presence brings chaos and destruction, is a power no human is capable of stopping."

"If it is left undisturbed-"
"-Mundus alter will surely cease to exist."

The ancient progenitor of the cycle had returned? After thousands of years and countless cycles? What could have caused such a thing and why now? It seemed clear enough to him now at least what had attempted to rip his soul into the Beyond now, but what didn't make much sense was simply the why. What could posses the ancient creature to simply desire the destruction of the world after all this time? Certainly he felt that he had kept to the cycle as best as his vows would allow. He only half listened to the Ladies Gemini as they assigned the other Riders, though he knew they would know how to best combat the beast he couldn't help but notice they had yet to direct himself. And then...

"Lady Sahira."
"Master Trytheus."

"You both are forbidden from aiding your fellow riders-"
"-until you can make amends."

"Darling Sahira, you are to accompany the Griffin Rider to his home region to learn-"
"Of Amstrian culture. Both may only return once you have a mutual understanding of one another."

He could feel his mind screaming, of course there would have been some repercussions for his actions, but this? The very world was threatened and he was forced to play nursemaid, to the desert rat of all people?! He could feel his grip on the arms of the throne grow increasingly tight as his rage built and built. He was the eldest living Rider, he was the most experienced and the best fighter out of all them without a doubt and they were denying him his place with the others? Even favouring those false Riders over him?! It was as thought two plates of metal were grating over each other in his mind, such was the red haze of anger. He barely registered hearing the Ladies Gemini- damn them- dismiss the Riders before he pushed himself violently to his feet and stormed from the house, resolving to be the first one out the door and the first to be gone from this place, he didn't even deign to cast a single glance at the others.

Outside in the heat- the damn desert heat- he saw Mavegen laying waiting for him, half asleep in the shade. The great beast quickly got up upon seeing Trytheus emerge, especially considering the mood he was in. A look of concerned question was in her eyes and her questions were quickly answered as she looked over Trytheus's shoulder to see Amir behind him. Trytheus didn't even turn to look as he mounted the Griffon once again, all too glad that the saddle had remained on her back this time. Still not looking at the boy, all but ignoring his presence and not even looking to ensure the rat was even paying the slightest attention.
"We shall head north east, through Wolfsbane. We shall go over the mountain,, not around unless we want to arrive after the world has ended. Do not slow me down boy." Almost hesitantly Mavegen launched into the air, and for once she tried not to kick too much sand into the air.

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A month.

A entire ancestor forsaken month it had taken them to get even close to Amstra City!

That damned boy had decided that rather than take the sensible route and buy a horse that he would walk the entire way, even though Trytheus had offered to pay for him considering he still carried a healthy sum of gold from the Grand Tour, the boy still refused. It was beyond all reasoning that anyone, even one as foolish as Amir, could desire to simply walk half the continent rather than take the simple option of a horse. He could only presume that it was done with nothing else but the intention to spite him. And more fool him. The boy didn't have the sense to wear anything other than that pathetic robe and the gaudy jewellery and had more than certainly felt the ill effects. Though Trytheus had tried to lead them through the most direct routes and paths through the mountains he could not prevent those from sometimes reaching high altitudes or snow drift ridden peaks. Long years being assailed to the cold had done much to acclimatise him to the chill of the mountain air, and the armour that had in that desert heat done so thorough a job of attempting to roast him, now acted perfectly to keep his own warmth tightly bound around himself. To him the chill of the frozen air was as welcoming as the plains of home.

He had spent almost all of the long and tiresome journey in the air in fact, trying to spend as little as possible near the boy. In part because the speed that he was being forced to go at which would have been reasonable had he been accompanying an army on the march, not a single loan figure. But it was mostly the fact the boy did nothing but complain and whine the entire way. A fact that did little to improve on the experience in the slightest. Trytheus even tried to make camp as far away from the boy as he could whilst still keeping him in sight, it wouldn't do for them to have come half the way across and for a sudden snowdrift to suddenly pile up and roll the boy off the edge of a mountain.

Yet still somehow they had made it. It was no small amount of relief when the mountains ended and the vast, endless plains of Amstra revealed itself once more. The gently rolling hills and the odd forest were a bright and rich green, evidently the work of heavy presence of both sun and rain in the region. And even though it was starting to make a good way though the season of summer the air in Amstra was only barely that much warmer than the air in the mountains. From then on it would be a direct line over calm sloping hills of green, dim blue-grey skies and cool and refreshing air and if they were lucky they might even get a few rain showers too. Trytheus had always enjoyed listening to the sound of raindrops pattering against his armour.

As they continued to make their painfully slow trek north, though it had sped up considerably now Amir no long had to ascend mountains constantly, they came across a few people. Usually merchants heading from one village to another, or a pair of guardsmen patrolling along old stone walkways. They always seemed happy to speak to their king and often were curios and even wary of the young blond boy that was often the cause of some insult or trying no doubt to start a fight with his people. Even in Amstra, the most populated of all the Riders domains, Amir could manage not run out of ways to annoy people. Time and time again he hated having to guide the boy into his lands. With luck he could just send to boy to be educated with some of his knights, perhaps even make an apprentice of him whilst he sent secret aid to the other Riders where ever they were. Even though most of them were not true Riders they were still the ones doing the important work whilst he was trapped with the incarnation of human annoyance.

It was on what was to be their final days journey, with only a few hours to go until they finally reached Amstra City and with the first of the great rings of walls that surrounded and divided the city just beyond the edge of the horizon Trytheus saw, out of corner of his eye light shining from the road below. Flying lower he could see a small troupe of mounted knights swiftly riding their way down the road to where Amir was still making his slow way up the cobbled roadway. Though at first he was all too glad to finally be reunited with his knights, he saw in their midst one of the few individuals he did not want to have to encounter any time soon. With his good spirits once more quenched Mavegen turned about and flew back to Amir, landing a short distance ahead of him.
"Amir. There is an honour guard of Knights of the Order of the Forge riding this way to receive us. For once at least try to have a sense of decency." He turned his head as he could hear the distant sound of iron-shod hoof on stone and not long after that he could see the first of the knights riding up the road towards them.

He urged Mavegen onwards as the knights pulled up a short distance away and approached at a canter. He could see that the leader carried a lance with pennant that had the crest of the Kingdom of Amstra sewn into it, the front half of a rearing griffon clad in armour. The cloth itself was a rich sea blue whilst the griffon was made out of yellow and the armour was white. Upon the shields that the men carried he could see the crest of the Reach of Amstra, a torc with a downwards pointed hammer with the hammers head sat in the perfect centre of the ring whilst the haft of it cut through the ring at the top. The Amstrian forged steel shone brightly and proudly and Trytheus felt the warmth of pride in his heart as he looked at the knights, like he each of them had forged their armour and weapons themselves after learning the craft from their masters, who had been knights themselves and thus the Order continued as it always had. In the vaults under the Smiths Keep there were rows upon rows of stands containing arms and armour that stretched back to the founding of the Order, each piece stood watch over the tombs of the knights that had worn it.

"Hail, sir knight. What brings you and this contingent of proud knights out this day, under the kings banner?" Called Trytheus, which was the standard greeting a knight from a smaller group would call to a knight of a larger group.
"Hail, sir knight. We ride forth from the capital to receive the king and bring him to his home safely once more." Which was also, a fairly standard response. No two knights were to reveal their name or identities until they were sure of what the other was doing. It would sometimes lead to tiresome exchanges that lasted for some time with neither side entirely willing to tell the other their reason for being on the road if they did not trust the other.
"Then hearken to me sir knight, for I am King Trytheus, three hundred and thirty second to bear that name. King of Amstra of Grand Master of the Order of the Forge. I have in my company Mavegen the Griffon, King Amir Taheri of Gnaji and Hassan the Phoenix. I declare your search for me over."
"Indeed it is, Your Grace. I am Sir Arstlan. With your permission we shall escort you back to the capital." With the traditional greetings out of the way the honour guard moved forwards again to take up positions around the two Riders. It was always the way of Amstra that it would be the smaller party to declare how many was in their company, not the larger, though where that rite had come from and why was a mystery.

Trytheus kept his eyes steadily forward as the men rearranged themselves as best they could, and in particular made great effort to avoid looking at one of the men in particular. He stood out from the other knights painfully obviously. Where the others had shining steel armour and some wore short clocks of red and gold this man in particular was wearing jet black armour, even though it was still of Amstrian design, and instead of wearing a clock he instead worse a set of robes that were a deep, rich blue inlaid with fine silver and despite having the capacity to cover his armoured chest rode with the robes open, so that they only covered his arms and back. His helm too was different from the others, whilst none were uniform and seemed to fit the wearers personal taste all had some form of face plate that could be pulled back to reveal the knights face inside, instead this black knights seemed to have no such addition. Instead it was made of a one complete piece, without a crest, and bearing a single long slit for a visor and a number of randomly placed holes over the mouth so the man could breath. He also carried no lance, no shield and oddly enough no war hammer as all the others did, instead he carried at his hip a longsword that judging by the scabbard only had a single sharp edge on it. The man rode close Amir, on a horse that was smaller than the others, with black hair and a long black mane too, yet it had kept up with the other larger brown or grey horses so its smaller stature clearly didn't affect it poorly. With practised ease that only really came from knowing the animal under you, the man managed to direct the horse around on the spot with surprising quickness and when he was facing forwards once more turned to look at Amir on the ground below.

"Hello there." Came the voice from inside the armour. Where Trytheus's voice was a deep commanding bass, this black armoured mans voice was light and gentle, by its nature soothing and pleasant to the ear and very recognisable as the voice of a natural singer. The man reached up to his helm undid the metal clasp at the base of the skull, just another difference between the man and Trytheus, who simply placed his helm on his head and presumably through force of will forced it stay atop his skull. The man removed his helmet to reveal a man not too much older than Amir. An untidy mess of black hair matched the black armour that he wore. He had managed to retain his youthful good looks, and indeed he certainly was good looking, even if his hair was a little unkempt. His face was clean-shaven, which by the people they had passed before on the road wasn't exactly the fashion in Amstra and even though Trytheus too usually went clean shaven, the months long trip had worn him down enough to give up the practice until he returned home, so now it was that he had grown out a thick stubble that was starting to take shape into a beard. When the boy opened his eyes once more to look down at Amir, for he had closed them when taking his helm off, it revealed startlingly intense and piercing ice blue eyes. The young man smiled at Amir, giving him a look of genuine friendship, before extending an armoured hand downwards. "You look like you could use a lift. And seeing as nobody else seems to have the decency to offer I thought I might as well try. I am the Prince Proles, officially anyway. But you may know me as Mordred Morrela."

{Hex Code-#EB2A93}

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The week and a half long trip gave Jilpryis a lot of time to mull things over. She spent most of her time with her eyes cast out among the waves, a trance like stare reflecting the glimmering surface of the water. Occasionally she would try to keep an eye on Aquarian, to study his movements and swimming patterns. It was easy save for when he dove beneath the surface, which was frequently.

Her most common thoughts were of the beast that the twins had told them about that had awoken from it's slumber. Hutzilopochtli. This ancient being had risen and now was the cause of all their bizarre feelings. If something wasn't done the world as they knew it would surely be plunged into chaos. More and more she came to realize what her task was meant to be, what she had been chosen for. She couldn't comprehend it. How her, at one point no more than a farmer's daughter, was setting out on a quest for an ancient creature that would help them save the world from slipping into darkness. A daunting thought indeed.

Several days into the journey, her dress began to get a bit uncomfortable with all the spray from the waves, and constant need to be dried. Dae seemed to notice this, because he offered her some more suitable clothing for their sea voyage. She donned the same leg wear as he did, which was a little loose, so they used a portion of her dress to fashion a belt, the rest they rolled tightly into sort of strapless bra, the tattered lining reaching a couple inches below her chest, keeping her concealed but offering a cooling exposure to her torso.

She had inquired about the markings that covered Dae and Aquarian, and upon learning they were customary among their tribe, she insisted that her body be painted as well. She wanted to give off the impression that she was open to the customs of her fellow riders, hoping to ease the uncertainty that lingered among them. They were happy to do so, Aquarian seemed a bit more eager considering the flirtatious behavior he had displayed the length of the trip. More than once she felt his touch lingering while they painted the markings. When they added the finishing touches of beads and feathers to her hair, they set to work on Barnabus, which turned out to more amusing then she anticipated. They both had begun to look like they belonged, and that was a pleasant feeling for Jilpryis.

Finally their time at sea had come to an end, and not a moment too soon. Though it hadn't bothered her, she was starting to get more and more eager the closer they got. By the time they had landed ashore, they were making preparations to depart and begin the rest of their journey on foot. Dae had commented on her appearance, and Aquarian one upped him, draping himself around her shoulders and offering a more sugar coated comment. She couldn't help but blush, especially as Dae scolded him for trying to bed the other riders. She giggled slightly. "I'm just glad I'm up to someone's expectations." She said, playfully prodding Dae in the chest.

Once they were on land, they were greeted with many happy faces, greetings, and curious stares. Dae immediately seemed to be overwhelmed with a more cheerful and relaxed demeanor. She was glad for this. Though their journey wasn't over, at least nobody was in low spirits any more. Things were starting to look up.

Several more hours into their journey, they had reached their destination at last. The crowd that greeted them was much more excited than the last, by the time their enthusiastic greetings had concluded, they had declared a feast was to be had in celebration of their arrival. Jilpryis felt so welcome that she almost started crying, steadying herself on Barnabus as they made their way through the throng of benevolent villagers.

Dae introduced her to his sister and mother. Both of them took kindly to her, welcoming her to their home with open arms. She was surprised how willing they were to treat her like one of their own, it seemed the polar opposite of her meeting with the other riders.

"I am Jilpryis, and my partner is Barnabus. It is so nice to meet the both of you. Your hospitality and greetings are too kind. I'm looking forward to spending time among you." She bowed slightly to Dae's mother, offering her respect.