oo2 — burn our truths into paper

[sorculates]

You think they'd make this harder...

[he looks down at an unconscious (and very naked) body of what could only be presumed to be a hapless man who had merely been attempting to do his job.

with the death of their queen came barely contained joy from nearly all who had lived under the reign of their, now dead, queen. in the streets, drunkards howled "long live the queen!" and laughed so hard afterwards, the alcohol dribbled down their chins. patrolling soldiers were at every corner, making sure that rejoicing was all the people were doing. and the drunk patrolling soldiers? they were hardly any different from the typical fool — except for the unfortunate fact that a sword hung from their waists.

timing was everything and his was the most opportune.]

Pleasure doing business with ya. I especially enjoyed the part of our conversation where I knocked your noggin with your own helm. Nothin' like a blasted idiot.

[pocketing the guard's keys, seilen casually walks the halls of castle as if he owns every inch of it and wants everyone to know it. it's a shame no one of import is there to marvel in his stride — not that he can afford let anyone see him, that'd be too much of a risk, even for a swashbuckler like seilen.

at the sound of hurried footsteps, he ducks into a dimly lit room, gently closing the door behind him. a library. ohhhh! if this was any indication, luck was surely on his side.]

Comments

[sorculates]

And concocted by the great and almighty high ministers no less! [shaking his head in incredulity] When they said the capital was crazy, I wasn't expecting this...

[stepping out of their hiding spot, seilen takes off his helm to survey the wreckage. cursing slightly, he looks over his shoulder and sighs] C'mon, let's get outta here.

[armoros]

This is ridiculous. They're the ministers—what about the teachings? The gods? If anything, they should be the wisest, not a circle of corrupt politicians. [the words escape her lips in a hiss; it's clear she's more rattled by this that her expression implies]

[giving him a cursory glance as he removes the helm and makes a face as she follows him]

...You're not actually a guard, are you?

[sorculates]

Oh? What gave you that idea?

We can talk about all this later, but right now let's focus on not being found out by anyone else. [gestures towards the blocked exit] Obviously, we only have one door for escaping, but I'm not sure if I want to be following on after those two.

[armoros]

[ruefully]

I guess it'd draw too much attention if we blasted our way out. [purses her lips to hold back all her questions and stares at the pile of stuff]

...Well, you know air magic, right? Just. I don't know, gust everything out of the way. Since you were so good at it before.

[sorculates]

...and make more noise? Not sure if I like that idea, but fine. Time's a wastin'.

[he propels a gust of wind toward the toppled shelf blocking their way, sending it bursting out the door.]

Now, see, it's not so much as being good at air magic — [he darts out of the room, talking quickly and quietly over the distant noises of alarm] — I just have no control.

[armoros]

Good enough. I don't care how we get out as long as we're gone by the time they get here. [darts after him, wrangling with her mental repository of spells, then after some thought, she lets one loose over her head, the faint light rising from her fingertips and bursting around her head]

[suddenly, she's twice as fast as before, speeding past him]

Last one out's a rotten custard!

[wow, talk about cheap shot]

[sorculates]

[WHA — ]

[sorculates]

[oh that's dirty]

Hey, rotten custard ain't half bad!

[there's wind at his feet that propels him forward and, soon enough, he catches up to her]

[armoros]

[grinning, but giving an unladylike snort nonetheless]

You kidding? Rotten custard tastes nasty!

[instinctively her hand's already up, ready to fire a hex because she's a sore loser and she wants first place, except then she's hearing voices around the corner and the telltale stomps of guards in armor on patrol]

[reforgery]

[to be fair, all they're doing is patrolling, chatting amongst themselves as they glance around idly. it's just two of them for now]

[then one of them spots the two ruffians, and—]

Hey! You two! What business do you have here? [he doesn't recognize either of them, except he recognizes the armor. which is bad enough, because he'd found his buddy stripped naked somewhere else in the castle like half an hour ago, so this must be the culprit]

Halt!

[sorculates]

Incoming!

[there's no avoiding them, sadly. rather than preparing another gust of a wind, seilen uses the moment of the wave of air he's already riding to leap forwards and knee an unfortunately close guard in the face]

[reforgery]

What the—

[OKAY HE TOTALLY DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING SO HE JUST KIND OF STANDS THERE AND TAKES IT. there's clang of knee against helm and the metal rings, deafening him, and then he overbalances

MAN DOWN]

[armoros]

Not bad, not bad!

[taking advantage of the distraction, egris leaps up toward the wall and uses it as leverage to jump past the whole lot of them, aiming carefully at the joints of their armor where the metal is considerably weaker. she releases a volley of paralysis hexes at the guards in mid-air]

[either way, no armor can stop a truly determined mage]

[reforgery]

[WOW, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. THEY WERE JUST DOING THEIR JOB AND THIS IS WHAT THEY GET. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN EASY AFTERNOON BUT NOW THEY HAVE THESE TWO STUPID RUFFIANS RUINING THEIR DAY. like what the fuck man he was supposed to have a date with his pretty girlfriend after this shift WHY THIS]

[the other guard makes a valiant attempt to head to his friend's aid because that boy just HAD TO KNEE HIM IN THE FACE. so he draws his sword, but at precisely that moment, the hex hits him, and he just kind of staggers for a bit, frozen in place]

What the hell?! Damn, of all days...!

[sorculates]

[HIS LAUGHTER ECHOES THE HALLWAYS AS SEILEN NEVER STOPS RUNNING]

[armoros]

[by the time they make it outside and to a relatively safe location, egris is panting heavily. she just kind of slumps against the wall of the empty alleyway they're taking cover in as she flicks some hair out of her eyes, laughing breathlessly]

...You think we shook them off?

[sorculates]

Tonight? Most likely.

Who knows about tomorrow? Or the day after? [practically falls into a crouch, panting just as hard as she] Underestimating someone's determination is a rookie mistake.

[armoros]

[makes faces at him once his gaze is averted, huffing] I know that. I meant for now.

"Rookie mistake," huh? Sounds like someone's used to this.

[her fingers curl around the book she more or less stole from the royal library, clutching onto it like a lifeline. she hasn't let go of it once since she first picked it up]

[sorculates]

[rolls his eyes] Sure am, but that's enough about me. Who are you? What were you doing in there?

[he directs his gaze at the tome she seemed to ardent in protecting. seilen fires question after question, not giving her much time to answer — which probably came off as pretty rude, considering he had yet to explain himself] Was it for that? A book? [he peers at her not in disbelief, but avid interest — curiosity] Tell me, what is inside?

[armoros]

[ignores the whole slew of inquiries for the time being]

If you're going to fire questions, then I want my turns too.

I answer a question, then you answer one. And we do that for however many questions we both have.

That sound fair?

[sorculates]

[mulls on it for a tad before nodding his head in assent] Fine by me, as long as we do this somewhere else.

A tavern or a pub? A drink would be much appreciated after all thats gone on tonight.

[armoros]

[a small pause, and then]

Whichever. I've no preference.

[sorculates]

Well — [COUGHS] — as the new kid in town, I don't really know where anything is...

[armoros]

[armoros]

...You've never been in Edelon before?

[blank stare]

Makes me wonder why exactly you came here...