RP:A Call to Arms
Part of the Rynvale Darkest Night Arc
Summary: As word filters from the mainland across the sea to Port Rynvale of the Time Lord’s return and the initiation of his vendetta, members of that infamous list gather to discuss the implications of his return and begin to formulate a course of action in response.
Characters: Arien, Leoxander, Satoshi, Kirien
Location: Rynvale, The Jolly Roger
Arien's arrival would be announced by that lean-long shadow that broke up the light which was spilling into a shop where rogue artist was busy at work, and it would be a sight so long unseen that it might almost have been forgotten which stepped through the doors. A long eared general surveyed the scene with an expression just neutral enough to be unreadable, though that skull that still glinted in once naked ear, and the softness that ghosted across emerald gaze for a beat as she watched a blonde head bent over labor, would betray that the warrior was not who she once had been. A long sword sat low on her hip, icy mate to the fire that was the possession of her ex husband, and the elemental forged daggers that remained hidden for now in braces against her wrist offered a remembered and familiar comfort. Fiery mane was tamed and tapered into the strip of leather that formed a low tail at her nape, and she had the air of one who had just come from council. Two thirds of the forces of the Fold had been called in to man the garrison at the plateau; first for the sake of their latest drow nuisance and now as a measure of sanctuary in her city. Their presence here, would mean war had come to the Shores. The elf had conceded. The governor, mother and lover had closed her eyes in the arms of her mate, and the warrior had woken there, once more. Arien's tones floated into the room from that doorway, touched with that cool formality that had branded this version of herself in the past.
Arien said to Satoshi, "Payment up front, Sato?..You always drove a hard bargain."
Arien might have spoiled that impression when she moved across the room, booted soles echoing on the wood, to find the artist's side and lower her head to rest a kiss on his temple there.
Satoshi resists the urge to shrug, just barely. "It'll wake me up. I assure you, lessons in magic given by a dozing mage is not a good thing."
Satoshi tries to take a peek at Arien without moving excessively. The sounds of the woman's footsteps were heavier than yesterday, and the kit's curious if she's armored and in the midst of making preparations. "Calling council..?"
Arien would speak for the moment from her place at the rogue’s side, though she'd answer that question offered. "It cannot be avoided. My commanders had already given the order for redeployment given our drow problem. The advent of open war declared makes it only sensible to consolidate our forces. The compound is too vulnerable, the island more defensible." Her voice rippled melodically into that quiet work environment. “Ganjimu remains to facilitate a siege status in Sage with a skeleton crew. We will make a stand here, otherwise." A glance down at that alpha's head and thoughtfulness touched her gaze. "I shall likely sit in council with the order, and do what I can to facilitate co-operation with the other forces who choose to hold the line on the island against whatever forces the Time Lord musters. Your continued support in air cover is welcome. I know Leo will likely take point with the pack, along with its leadership. Council, will definitely be needed.."
Kirien 's tail flicked in quiet amusement, a smirk finding its way onto fine features that curved lips up round the edge of that pastry. "True. We're such a lovin' family~." Free hand extended to rest lightly atop the magus' head, between those large ears, and he'd ruffle her hair some. "Looks good," he added with a pointed glance to her exposed shoulder and the marking being inked into pale skin; an absent musing and a subtle compliment to Leo, too, though how exactly Kirien could see the forming tattoo to comment on it in the first place was entirely questionable considering he was blind. Maybe he could feel the pattern that was slowly but surely sketched out in azure. Blind gaze lifted from his sibling to travel round the shop at the new arrival, amber finally coming to rest on the approaching Arien, who earned herself a friendly grin and wave from the empath. "Aight. Wanna drink?" He might not be a tender at the bar here, but he figured he could fill in when none of the Roger's waitresses were around. "Or a pie. I gotta few." Though he did pause at mention of councils and open war, a momentary look to Leo following before he finished off that little pie of his.
Leoxander was a lycanthrope, supposed enemy and opposite of the cold, deathly things vampires were, so perhaps he spared a stern look for the back of Satoshi's head when she remarked on Kasyr - almost as though he could sense what she was thinking. A pause of ink and a nudge of her opposite shoulder, and she'd hear the Captain behind her, returning the favor of distraction with a gruff, "Sit still." Not that she was really moving much, but maybe she'd consider talking and thinking a possible cause of a twitch. Leo progresses to a point closer to finished, now, every second to pass another mark of permanent ink impressed. Just after Arien's entrance caused a momentary check at the door, those snowflake 'tips' would be added in, perfected and checked over. By the time Satoshi's shoulder blade was really achy and tender, and she was possibly rethinking this whole idea, he'd go to the very center for the 'wing', almost flower like symbol at it's core, which would take no thicker lines than the rest and balance out well. Precise but nerve wracking touches of needle points would be the final stretch of that grueling task for both parties, a repetitive rhythm taken to fill in the squiggle-dot border along that first ring he'd drawn (freehand and even, since he hadn't bothered to trace these) and at last... Leo was putting in those specific runes at the obtuse angles of that six pointed star, each carefully done over an agonizing twice so they would showed up a little better, tiny as they were. When the buzzing, steaming sound finally stopped (probably reaching a level the foxkin was entirely over it, unless it really was so pleasant) he'd grab a fresh gauze to dip in antiseptic and clean the design up to a glossy state. There'd be swelling, a tint of red or whatever color the vampire's skin irritated to, but once he found a plaque of polished, reflective metal and glass to hand her way for rear view vision, she could take a glance into another looking mirror behind her to get the general idea of how it had turned out. The rogue stood, uncaring of her reaction, and peeled off that leather glove to throw it and the used linen into a bin, on his way to that washing station where he'd been spitting and rinsing a foul taste in his mouth, all morning.
Leoxander listened to this conversation as he rinsed off his hands, eyes grazing over the elf's form and expression solemnly.
Leoxander said to Satoshi, "Dont put your shirt on, yet."
Satoshi ||Any response she might have made to Arien is put from her mind by the pirate's words and renewal of that scrapping pressure upon her shoulder. The kit has endured pain of countless sorts in her predatory life, but this particular one is beginning to get to her, be it because of its consistency or that fact that her following along with the lines has told her it's near completion. Biting back a hiss where the runes' lines are doubled over, Satoshi burrows her face into the chair and waits, enduring. It'll all be worth it, she tells herself. Something that makes her reluctant to look up once the machine has stopped and the throbbing area of her shoulder is wiped clean, although eventually she does accept the reflective item so that she can survey the damage. And augmentation, if the lycan's hands were as steady as she hoped.
Satoshi eyes the reflection, wary at first but expression brightening with each lingering moment until she's outright beaming. No flaws that she can see. Her Mage Mark is safely in place. With that, she nods to Leoxander, "Right-o. And thanks."
Kirien pondered fetching a drink for Satoshi as well, actually. Maybe she needed one.
Satoshi possibly reads Kirien's mind. Or just weasels her way into the invite he's extended to Arien already. "Something wine-ish, Bright Eye?"
Leoxander shook his head at the offer of pie, and hands wiped mostly dry on his shirt, he'd cross back over to his customer, pausing with a bump of his mouth and nose against Arien's for a stern, simple kiss on the way. "I've got some of Ganji's due to set up in the cove, if they're not already there. He sent a man here last night for ale." Everyone had their conditions. Some wanted ink, others wanted booze, training, love, or freedom. So long as he got his end of the bargain as well, there was never a problem in his mind with that. Reaching the Kit Vampire, knife and mandrake would be taken in relatively, if still soot stained hands and he split open the root until it bled, thick and dark red, but spread on mostly clear when he took some of this on his fingertips to rub over the tender, branded skin. To her thanks, he only replied. "I want to start soon." That's how she could thank him.
Arien considered that drink, but would shake her head in the negative to the offer before accepting the rogue’s version of a greeting in kind. There was a good chance that she might get off the stuff for the duration of what was almost certain to be tense times ahead. She had ever preferred working with a clear head. “All of the defenses put in after we claimed the island exist still. The land entrances from Archmosian Gamorg are defended, as are the sewer ways. Polybolos and your dragons Sato hold the air..and I shall likely have the armada on high alert and sailing patrols. I am considering having the city put on lock down. Martial law for the duration. I don’t want strangers in my city.” Her expression was grim. “Citizens and residents..allies might be provided passports of a sort, if I can come up with something practical and quickly.”
Satoshi winces at the mandrake essence being pressed into the marking, biting back a curse at that sting. "Right. Tonight, at the cove? Your seas are a fickle bitch, I prefer to work around her when she's cold. The sun makes her less than amiable with me." In truth, it's the salt that interferes most with Satoshi's manipulating of sea water, but the warmth is an added, and unwanted, bonus.
Satoshi said to Arien, "Eyrie can only spare the wing I sent to Mahri. We're spread thin defending our own borders in Frostmaw, and the post near Gualon. I can't send anymore."
Kirien nodded, carefully chewing up the remains of his last bite and licking residual sugar from his lips. "Wine-ish. Right." Did they have wine? He thought they did - Roelstra seemed to favour that particular alcohol if he recalled correctly, so there should be some hanging around the place somewhere. With another nod in acknowledgement to Arien, the empath was moving back toward the bar in search of 'wine-ish' bottles. A couple were uncorked and sniffed at before he eventually came across a particularly good red, an amount of which would be swiftly decanted into a glass and brought back Satoshi's way with a swish of sleek tail. Another glance flitted between the three, curiosity evident in both his eye and his voice when Kirien spoke. "Trainin'? An'…I got Nameless, if you need some kinda…extra air defences? Is it really that bad?" He was a little out of the loop, having not been present during the last invasion - that much was clear.
Leoxander muttered to Satoshi. "Only when you piss 'er off." He wiped the gunk off his fingers with a towel and turned away from her to partially clean up the mess from his station, pulling the device apart to be cleaned. Leo ran a pretty strict business, for a grungy pirate. "You an I'll meet on the ship. The rest'll be stationed around the cove. We'll set up some training and weapon sites on the bay through the tunnels." Unless of course the governor protested these ideas, which he doubted she would. To the elf, he'd remark off handedly. "I'll have the Runner drop off some rations and supplies when I catch up to him."
Arien said to Satoshi, "It will do. Certainly more than we had without them. We are not without dragon allies, though that Council has been quiet for some time on the mainland. I shall do what I must to call in a favor.." Arien had lost a platoon of men to that alliance with dragons. They would not fail her now."
Leoxander picked up that drink Kirien had poured him as he cleaned off that table surface, downing it in a hard swallow.
Leoxander said very quietly, to sensitive elf ears. "Bastard can't fly in there."
Arien said to Kirien, "Bad enough. We have drow on the ground, a time lord with a vendetta and a more than competent foe waging a proxy war. And they're all headed..here.."
Arien might have smiled..faintly, then.
Satoshi accepts the glass from Kirien, sipping from it while peering over the edge at Leoxander, eyes glittering with quiet mischief. "I've pissed her off more than once, and she's killed me once for it." She isn't exactly relishing the idea of dancing with the waves once more, but she needs a starting point for this attempt at training Leoxander, and if any element might hold a grain of potential for him... she suspects it's the sea and all her wild moods.
Arien glanced Leo's way. "Where?..the coves?"
Leoxander almost smirked at Satoshi's reply, and he simply said, "Yeah, she'll do that." But she did seem to love that rogue, for all eternity.
Kirien 's features creased briefly in bemusement as he handed off that glass. "Drow, here? An' after they just won Sage…" The mentioned lime lord concerned him more, however, the movement of his tail ceasing.
Leoxander nodded toward Arien. "If he goes there, he's on our ground. Literally." Hence why it seemed a safe bet, particularly with a back escape and many hiding places for children and such.
Leoxander glanced at Kirien's concern on drow. Stinging ants, compared to the parasite that was infecting the world.
Satoshi pushes herself to her feet after that and drains the glass in the following motion. Moving to collect her abandoned articles of clothing, she tucks them beneath her frozen arm and looks toward those gathered. "It's still hours until nightfall. I'll be on the island resting until then." Her focus flicks to Leoxander specifically then, "Any instructions of care for this thing? Or is it well enough on its own?"
Arien noodded Leo's way, then, though her brow would furrow slightly. "You'll need bodies on the water Leo..to guard the entrance to the Bay. It opens to the channel.." The one between Cenril and the island. To leave it undefended while they literally set up shop on the beach would be to leave an open flank which could cost deeply. "Pehaps the captains in the rows will privateer for the right price.." She needed to lock down their loayalty now, anyway. Before tendrils of betrayal could snake their way in on golden backs.
Kirien was not concerned about the drow. He huffed a bit though; they'd likely prove themselves a bit of a nuisance somehow. Mention of coves had him perking up though, a small smile forming. Being rather well-connected to the earth and, of course, with his terrmancy abilities, he'd a thing for areas like that.
Leoxander shrugged Satoshi's way. "Keep it clean. Come back if it starts getting dry or scabs up. Don't bloody trust a healer with it unless it's Lotus, they'll sponge the damn ink right out."
Leoxander narrowed his eyes at Arien's suggestion. "Can't I just throw a couple ogres in some barrels out there? More reliable than those two..." He wasn't exactly comrades with the other Captains on that isle, and Schalk had since forfeit any alliance they might have had.
Kirien turned toward Satoshi then, white-tipped ears pricked up in interest. "You can crash at mine if you wanna. It's nearby an' pretty well-hidden." Mostly.
Satoshi said to Leoxander, "I avoid healers for anything but the worst of injuries, have no fear. Their sponges won't come near me." What the kit needs is a good feeding to speed up the healing process and restore the energy she's overspent in the past few days. And that's just what she's going to do before falling into a short coma for the remainder of the day. With a salute--and a wince at the flesh pulled taut on her shoulder--Satoshi departs. "Nightfall then, Wolf~. I'll pay you for the ink."
Satoshi adds to Kirien, "If I find it, I shall, then?"
Leoxander said to Satoshi, "If you don't show up, I'm hunting your ass down."
Kirien grinned to his sibling. "I'll open the door for you." He pointed a finger none-too-subtly toward the west, where a pathway from the wharf that slowly smaller and more overgrown as it carried on led to the crossroads and his home.
Leoxander would do that for payment, and... because he worried, a little.
Arien shifted the rogue a look that was far more dry lover than general for a moment before her lips curved slightly. "Unless those ogres can take down an incoming fleet, I'd say the answer to that question would be no.." If he was close enough, she'd not be able to resist the desire to touch, somewhere. It was as if the contact assured he was still there..and that there were things worth fighting for to make those sacrifices of pride.
Satoshi duly notes Leoxander's words and Kirien's point before departing.
Leoxander still had a bit of a soured expression on his face from that fading but still noticeable taste in his mouth. His eyes looked a little less shadowed that day, however. That touch would earn his hand on hers, briefly, wherever it landed, though he sighed at her limited options for who to trust. Kae and Hanan.... great. Maybe he'd just go walk into Vuryal's torture chamber, instead. "Let's go damn well get something to eat before we start in. Somethin' tells me we might not get another hot meal for a while." He remembered their last war, the long nights and sometimes hopeless days, the hiding and moving and rescuing and fighting. It would be even worse, this time around, with this so-called 'list' tempting foolheaded bounty hunters.
Kirien , watching the door and Satoshi's exit until even her footsteps had faded from his feeling, looked mildly interested then at the mention of eating - he was not sure if those words included him though, so he kept quiet. He was making his way in the direction of the bar again to quickly clean up any mess he'd made earlier and store away his pies for later.
Arien’s fingers might have curled under that touch, and a measure of the tension that held her upright slipped from her shoulders. They could still find moments..still cheat fate in finding the time to escape the shadows that loomed. “Sounds like a plan..” she murmured, and she’d be leaning in to rest her forehead briefly against his.” When she stood upright eyes would seek Kirien’s and the fox would be offered a nod farewell, selfish as it might seem. The elf wanted time with her rogue, today.
Leoxander pulled his arms around the tall elf's tense shoulders to draw her a little closer into his side, and from there he'd lead her toward the door, leaving the shop open, for now. They wouldn't be too far, just across the street and in range of a sensitive nose or empath. "See you later, Ears. You holler if you need anything."
-Later, The Governor’s Villa-
Leoxander stepped into that villa behind the elf with the usual cautious, sweeping look around the room. It was only a matter of time before a drow came there looking for them, and he would be prepared for that expected ambush when and if the day came. A twitch of nose sought threatening scents, and as nothing of the sort should exist, the touch of his hand on the small of her back would motion her further inside. He didn't waste time aimlessly wandering, and headed to retrieve his satchel from just inside the door of her bedroom. "We should pack some things. You should, anyway." He was used to being on the move, from place to place. Wherever she wandered to, she'd be followed by mismatched eyes from his place at that table, leather bag dropped atop it. "The kids gonna be safe?" He bothered to ask, because he actually cared, particularly if they were somewhere on that island. Though... he guessed not, since Rhocielle had been gone for some time, now.
Arien stepped into that villa ahead of him, her own eyes making that perimeter sweep now that the mindset of the general had assumed its place to the fore again. It had been some time since she’d been used to the feeling of her custom armor as second skin, but her morning of work had all but erased what amounted to over a year of its absence. She’d be turning to look over her shoulder as she moved toward the closets and began to pull clothing out. She had a feeling she’d be living in leather and metal for a while anyway. “Yes. I had Pippa take them to Rho’s parent’s village on the island..” she murmured. “We’re going to stay in the coves then? Move around every night?” It’d be almost like the old..old days..when she’d been a merc on the road. The elf was stuffing material into a duffle as she spoke.
Leoxander would assist if she allowed him, rolling up attire in military fashion to be able to pack most efficiently. He had to find something to do beside stand there with his arms folded moodily. "They will.." The answer was a little dark, and he'd look up through his hair toward her. "You know who they want, Arien. Stavret, Vuryal... they want us. There's no point in makin' things easy for them by lettin' them get prepared. I say we get ours together, under guard, then you and I go f*** with their plans." He wasn't sure what she'd think of the idea, particularly since it meant leaving wolves and Rynvale residents alike under second in command. "If you an' I keep pissin' em off, they're more likely to follow us around than crawl onto these shores. We'll come back and check on things, from time to time." He wasn't forcing this idea upon her and he did pause to see her reaction or hear her discussion on it. He might take a moment to reach under her bed and into the frame for a bottle he'd stashed under there before, for drinks in the middle of the night when the dreams woke him up, to avoid waking her, as well. After testing that it hadn't been tampered with, with a sniff, he'd tilt it back for a drink then offer it her way, swallowing the bitter moonshine, hard.
Arien might have paused in her rolling of garments then, thoughtful. Her mind ran over the list in her mind. There was a chance that anyone who knew Rho and Mahri to be on it, might still make it to the island, and the presence of the Fold in the plateaus would almost certainly lure Cabal to those lands to carry out their directive. Still, the fortress was secure, Ganji, Kalid and Rilla competent to hold the lines. Her eyes settled on his. “We might attract the parasite’s attention, perhaps.. but there are far too many other reasons for the head hunters to attempt and gaining access to the island. There’d have to be a clear plan of action for those who remain. Without us..” She’d let the words fade away. It was not arrogance on either of their parts to admit they were each the beating heart of the forces they commanded. “I’d feel better if Rho was here..” She’d trusted the black to hold a front more than once in her life. “But I’ll come with you, if you go..” Her place was at his side. Always.
Leoxander should have felt that spark of jealousy rise when she mentioned her ex husband's presence would help her confidence, but he didn't. He wanted the Beta male to return, also, because he really trusted no one more than Rhocielle to stand in his absence, guarding the guiding the pack. "I feel like we're doing nothing, sitting around here waiting for something to happen. And every damn day someone's name on that list goes, Elf. We can't just wait until we're the last two on it." His hand lifted to reach back for that bottle, greedily. "We should be training those who don't know how to fight, if nothing else."
Leoxander still wasn't certain what to do about the Cabal, obviously, from that troubled look when she'd mentioned it.
Arien would be nodding her agreement again, she could understand his chaffing at that sitting duck feeling. There were simply just..too many bounties assets sitting on the one pocket of land. This would be the line, and ultimately it would be weaker for their absence if it was continuous. “Then we should train Leo.. The pups, they’re vulnerable..I have a skeleton staff made lazy by peace. There will be fighting, inevitably, and we will only be as strong as our weakest link.” She’d be reaching for that packed duffel to sling over her shoulder with practiced ease. “It will take all the time we have to get them ready for what must come..and to ensure that we maximize our defenses here. I think we can do what we can to prevent others from falling to him. If we find those on the list before he does..we can get them secured here. And if he chooses to fall upon innocents, the people will rise up against him there. It might be possible to intervene at the gallows daily, if need be, with guerrilla strikes to disrupt his attempts..” Though it would mean exposing themselves to capture in the process. They could not risk becoming predictable. “We can’t save them all Leo.. And we cannot torment ourselves with or inability to.” They would have to focus on the care of their own, to start.
Leoxander offered a glance around that bedroom before he'd take his bottle, maybe a small blanket if he spotted one conveniently enough, and escape it. Back to the table where he'd left his bag, packing those few things into it before he'd pick it up and head for that kitchen area to see what he could find for some sort of food or drink to take easily, until they could get those rations supplied otherwise. "Then that's where we're going. I'll talk to the boys in the cove and get the information passed along, then we set up camp. I'll start with the first of them tonight, before the cat shows up for our lessons." He was used to this, moving around place to place, but there was something disheartening about leaving that sanctuary that was no longer safe. It was almost a home to him... almost.