RP:The Ranger Twins!

Part of the Surface Tension Arc

Note: RP so named for our IC pictures, where Quinn and Skylei are the absolute spit of each other. I have dubbed us the Ranger Twins. We're basically superheroes.

Synopsis: A bloodied Skylei is spotted leaving Sage by Quinn. He asks what she is doing, though already has some sense of it due to his clairvoyant gifts. He admits allegiance to the wood elves and their cause. Skylei tells him of what lies ahead for the council.

Kelay Way

An unusual sight of late, Skylei is seen exiting Sage. Her head pokes out from behind one of sparsely littered trees that sit between the main body of the forest and the sleepy town of Kelay. Perhaps unsurprisingly the ranger is found in her typical leathers, with a dark green and heat reflecting cloak obscuring most of her body from sight. In spite of her disguise it would seem that her travels in Sage had not gone unnoticed. Blood marks her hands, lines one of her cheeks and mars her otherwise flawlessly presented clothes; her bow remains tightly gripped in one of those bloody hands. Seems that Skylei Lucindio has got herself in a little trouble with one of the less savoury inhabitants of Sage. Maybe this is why she is so careful to avoid being seen leaving the forest.

Quinn was not like Skylei in too many aspects to number. The ranger’s clothing was a start, his height and impressive build was another. He was a vivid break from the green wood and in Sage the wolf didn’t fret too greatly about running into the ‘bad’ seeds. Most, he had learned through the short time since his return, were fearful of him. The entity that defined his clairvoyance was enough to keep many at bay, no one like to be invaded, and while he was not a fan of being the invader himself. When it brought him the closest semblance of peace, Cade would not fight it without a need. Azure eyes, without a visible pupil shifted slowly as he walked through the forest, the sounds of the bell were still dimly echoing in the trees. He felt it like a whisper over his skin, the approach of the Lucindio woman and as a habit slowed to a stop. His form stood, imposing and muscular. There were rumors of a battle that had already begun and, the lone wolf knew from the minds of those he’d already been inside that there was a side he needed to pick. The wood kin had helped him recover when he’d finally escaped captivity, if not for them, he might have gotten his wish to die. Hand wringing the wrist of another he seemed tense as if preparing for something. Dark hair was swept back into a queue, slivers of those chocolate locks bisecting and framing a youthful rugged face, complete with the whisper of unshaved growth. Skylei was given a cleared throat, almost nervous in sound despite its depth. “Sorry, but could you halt there? I have questions.” His gift stirred, she smelled of blood and it was already intrigued but this far she was safe, rather, he was safe.

Skylei isn’t half as sneaky as she think she is. Nearly as soon as she steps out of the forest, she is happened upon by the lycanthrope with an, admittedly, unthreatening voice. A nervous hand runs across her brow, leaving behind a rust coloured streak as she attempts to negate his requests to speak “Questions? For me? I don’t have time to stop and answer whatever questions you might have. I was expected up in Frostmaw over an hour ago and,” Skylei gestures around them, “as you can see, I’m nowhere near. There are things and people who can’t be kept waiting.” She looks both left and right, before peering over hers shoulder as though expecting someone in pursuit, “I, uh, I should really be going.” That said, she doesn’t go to move away straight off the block, instead lingering long enough that Quinn could interject before she truly left.

Quinn didn’t block her, it was not in him to force a confrontation, not at first. Then he noticed her sudden wariness, the swiftness of her retreat becoming apparent more and more as he took closer note of the blood, and her nervousness. His voice steadied, depth conveying the strength once held in constant. “If you have elves chasing you then I’m sorry to say that you won’t make that appointment.” His gloved hands already had reached the boat his shoulder, slinging it free with a skillful flick and drawing an arrow from the full quiver that hung at a lower angle, meant for quicker draw. The wolf didn’t pull taut, or even do more than shift steps and ready the shaft into the slot on the modified recurve bow in his hands. Everything about his stance was practiced, easy, protective. “I’ve heard murmurings, and had recent interactions telling and showing me of the war betwixt the elven and the Drow. I didn’t imagine someone like you to be sided with anything of the dark...” Then it happened, the sentient being that was his clairvoyance reached her, barely. It pulled into his mind with a gasp and he felt the worry on her, the rush, but there was something missing. The evil, the dark and twisted of souls often were marked and tainted in some way by that being, by their very existence. She felt…. Good. He fought tooth and nail to take back his mind, his body, that ready appearance faltering as he back stepped and with a shake, tore free, grimacing. “You do not taste, of darkness. I owe the wood borne, so I ask again… Why do you run, from what, and will this end with me putting you down? I do not savor dealing death, but if you’ve been sucked into the darkness then I will right that wrong now rather than later.” The problem Skylei was facing was that, Quinn didn’t know who was running what side, he’d come to seek a guide to join the side of the elven folk, but his knowledge, mostly a gathering of his clairvoyant ‘curse’ in information and images, didn’t give him more than bits. Frostmaw was just a name of a town he’d never visited, and knew little of. His information was restricted to those he’d gleaned it from.

It would have eased Skylei’s mind greatly to know that her being still felt good to the clairvoyant. She had begun worrying of late that her actions had tainted her internally. Still, she knows naught of what the lycan sees and so she simply speaks, whilst walking away from the forest edge. The half-blood is keen to put distance between her and the forest behind her. The lycan is gestured to walk beside her, “I’m called Sky. I’m an assistant to the wood elven council, currently residing in Frostmaw. That’s who I’m supposed to be meeting with. There is a council meeting that I should be present for, though I fear I will be late.” She looks down to her bloodied hands and leathers “And I doubt I would be well received in this state, aye? But, I happened upon a drow scout and I slew him to save myself. Had he lived he would have alerted the rest of his party to my presence and…” Skylei doesn’t feel the need to articulate what happens to those of her blood who choose to linger in the presence of the drow occupation. Her face says everything, “Please don’t think anything of me for that, I merely sought to save myself; though I fight alongside the elven council in anything that they decide.” This latter portion is a lie, but a lie so perfected that it is said with the same face and expression and the rest of her words.

Quinn doesn’t immediately join the half-ling, fact be told he is slow to move that close. Instead he focuses his gaze behind her before twirling the arrow in hand up and back into his quiver. The flights are something worth note, stained green, and blue with red lines, his arrows are hard to miss, to ignore as the death-dealing implements that had been as of late skewering Drow scouts and tracking parties against trees, each other, and occasionally into the earth. The difference was he’d been acting as a solitary unit, and without the elves knowledge. Still as Skylei explains her predicament he moves behind her, sliding the bow in hand to his shoulder again. Those features turn stoic, studious as they walk and while his mind is not completely his own the inflections and thoughts of the Lucinio female are something he tries with as much effort he can muster, to ignore. His voice takes a melodic tone, for the briefest moment as they aim for Frostmaw and he increases his pace to match her stride and walk at her sided if with a few feet between them. “ Evil is not inherent, nor is it decidedly evil to take a life in defense of your own. Thou art good…” If he was aware of the advisement of the Clairvoyance, the wolf kin doesn’t hint towards it, and he speaks in response his tone returning to that normal almost chocolate rich tone and depth. “I am called Quinn, or Azure. I’ll accompany you, I wish to join against the Drow. A warning… I have a cursed gift, known as clairvoyance… I have little control over it…But take care at what you think when around me… What you remember. I’ve no desire to be in your head, so I hope you’ll attempt to make yourself boring to the entity that is my gift. We have a job to do, and I cannot do that if I am being controlled by the side of me that wants every piece of information in your mind for its own personal collection.” He lied about his control, he had none… but saying little would likely not frighten her as much.

Skylei repeats the name, “Quinn. I see.” As for the declaration of his gift, or indeed curse, of clairvoyance, Skylei does not look perturbed. She doesn’t exactly look thrilled either, but it wasn’t the worst, not the strangest thing she had ever heard of. And besides, if he was as talented as he implied and loyal to the elven cause… well, the scholar’s mind is already whirling with ideas, “If you can do as you say, and the thoughts that I possess are not entirely my own when I am around you then it will come as no surprise to you that the reason I am so keen to make this meeting is because I believe that the council will announce that we are to launch an all-out attack. I hope to be there to see the proposal and ensure that the decision made this the correct one.” She doesn’t stop, nor stay in her step as she confesses these things, merely powering on. Like she had said; she had places to be.