Branded

[Sem]

OOC: This is a private RP involving Carmen and Jet and myself, sorry to say. xD

BIC:
The sun shone over the land of Daein, but none of its rays could pierce the frozen veil that covered the nation. It was mid-winter, and winters were always harsh in this part of Tellius. Snow covered the land and the lofty peaks of the mountains that cradled the country. A sea of grey cloud covered the sky, raining the gloomy winter light on the beings below.

The sounds of a battle could be heard echoing into the bleak wilderness. It wasn't a large battle, and it was between no countries, as there were no armies involved. It was a battle between a band of mercenaries and some thieves. What they stole is unknown to the mercenaries, but they didn't rightly care. Money was harder to come buy in the winter because work was so rare; they needed all they could get to survive.

"This is quite a predicament we're in," said a young man, or so he appeared. He focused his face and pressed his lips tight; with a movement of his left arm he unleashed a gust of wind magic upon an enemy that charged him. The magic attack sent the poor man spiraling away and landing with a crunch. The mage looked to be in his early twenties. He had long white hair that flew out behind him as he cast another spell, causing the wind to wail with an unholy howl as the blades of air lashed at his enemies. He wore a black robe, common for a mage, but they weren't very extravagant, especially for a mage of his skill. A cape flew out behind him and he had a scarf to shield him better from the cold; adrenaline could only do so much. His pale, smooth face stung as a gust of wind blew by, sending bits of snow and ice into his skin.

"We're paired up with this lot of mercenaries, and look what a fine job they do of protecting us!" he gasped as he looked around at the dead and injured bodies of their allies. Mages tended to do better when they had protection, but he was out in the open with two others, who also did not do well in close-combat. "I wish Hermione and Daphne would come back in closer," he looked across the battlefield at the two people he spoke of, who were also members of their group.

"Oh, Goddess have mercy!" came the voice of a woman behind him. She was holding a tome in her hand, much like her mage companion. The woman had just attempted to cast a spell, but the pages only sizzled as a pitiful spark of light flashed into nothingness. "This tome's all used up, Kyan!" she cried with an irritated tone as an enemy drew near.

"Oooh," she closed her eyes tightly, as if reluctant to do what she was about to do. As soon as she opened them she took the useless book and slammed it against the man's face, knocking him silly and loosing the lance he had in his hand. "Forgive me!" she pleaded as she took a staff into her hands. The woman was a bishop, or was a bishop. She had long black hair that flew out behind her in the wind. She was clothed white robes that caused her to practically camouflage with the area.

"We don't have time, Elaina, come on!" Kyan urged as he sent another soldier, a large hefty man with an axe, flying with another wind spell, the blade of the axe too close for comfort.

"Just wait," Elaina said as she stooped over the body of an ally who was immobilized due to a broken leg. "Sshh, hold still," she said softly, caressing the man's cheek while the staff in her out hand began to glow, sending strings and tendrils of magic into the man's leg. Elaina watched patiently as the magic worked on the man's body, healing cuts and mending bones.

The man sighed in relief and smiled. "You're a saint, miss."

"Be careful out here," the priestess warned as she stood, looking over at Kyan, who was bending with his hands on his knees and breathing in the sharp, winter air.

"Finally calmed down here," Kyan managed as he straightened himself, moving a lock of hair out of his face and examining his tome, a moderately powerful book that went by the name of Elwind. He had more powerful tomes of course, but not with him at that moment. It was hard enough to carry the three he had along with a staff, though he managed to carry three by using a bag slung over his shoulder. "We can move on if you're done healing every bruise you see."

"I rather think that's my job," Elaina replied rather sarcastically with a smile, and cheer in her gray eyes. "Seeing as I'm the team's ‘healer'."

"That usually means you heal whoever's on your team," Kyan retorted more light heartedly.

"You can do that then," she said nodding to his staff. "I was raised to love and help all things. Just be happy I don't heal our enemies anymore," she began walking.

"How are you doing, Layla?" Kyan looked over his shoulder at his companion.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

Leyla sighed as she replaced her bow on her back again and pulled her scarf closer to her. "Everything is fine with me," she replied, though she had a cut on her left arm. Leyla missed the warm weather of Gallia as she shivered in the cold Daein air. She supposed she should be grateful it wasn't a major blizzard and that she had her long, wavy black mane of hair to help keep her warm. Leyla's brow furrowed as she thought of the things she and her comrades would have to replace. She looked no older than about 14 or 15 and sported a short green dress over black leggings and knee high boots. She also had on green gloves that extended to her elbows while exposing her fingers.

"Are we finally all done here?" said a young man removing the black mask that covered his nose and mouth. His expression was haughty and his hazel eyes were biting. "Why does it always take us forever to get anywhere?" He wore a long black trench coat that flared behind him in the cold wind, a deep orange shirt, and black pants that tucked into his black boots. By his own admission he disliked wearing black, but felt it was better for his "persona"—whatever that meant.

"Lowell," Leyla groaned. Though he mentioned no names, she felt Lowell's impatience burn toward Elaina whom she hoped was blissfully unaware as she went about her healing. She herself was glad to be around Elaina and her warm demeanor. "Try to think about someone other than yourself for change," she hissed.

"Down, Leyla," he said easily. "I'm only messing with you." He ran his fingers through his spiky black hair as he put his knives back into their holsters on his belt and his tome Carreau to the straps on his back. Lowell had finally reached his full height of six feet tall and was proud of every inch of it. "Well, this was fun," he said with a smirk as he stepped over the body of one their fallen enemies. "I can't wait until I'm able to use Thunder tomes. I can just see the electrocutions now. I'll practice with Kyan later."

Leyla shook her head. He'd been that way ever since she'd first met him back in the army; well perhaps he was a little less of a knucklehead. He'd wowed everyone with his skills with knives which he considered an art form. Lowell was probably Leyla's closest friend, the one who knew most of her secrets. Impulsively, Leyla grabbed at that certain spot on her right forearm.

"Are you coming or not?" Lowell called out. Leyla looked up to see that he'd caught up to Kyan and Elaina.

"Coming, coming," said Leyla. She still had her mind on the freshly finished battle. Her only regret was not being able to help her comrades more. Leyla had put a little too much faith in the mercenary group they'd be paired with. But that could not be helped now. Instead she ran to the others with the grace and agility of a cat.

 

[Plapti]

"You know, that I like shish kebab as much as the next person Hermione, but I'm not fond when I have to be part of it. Could you hurry it up a little? Those archers are bound to see me soon. The others also are probably wondering where we are. Do remember, that all the others rely on us for cover from direct attacks? You, of course, know that right?" quizzed the young lady riding on her reliable and winged steed towards her partner.

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me. They're all best suited for indirect combat, those magic and bow users. Please tell me that that the two of us as aren't the only two that specialize in direct combat," said the the other girl, dressed in a red trench coat, with three sheaths; one on each side of her hips and one on her back. She had a long, silk headband with thin looking tassels come down, close to where her hip is.

"You very well know we're the only two," said the other one with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, as she parried a blow from a nearby enemy with her lance. and struck back with her own lance through the person's leg, immobilizing them. She prefered to immobilze or disable over killing. Her nature wouldn't let her kill people, unless her life was threatened, even though she was a mercenary.

She and her steed flew well above most people and stood out at the same time, often scouting ahead and doing quick, precise strikes on enemy ranks and then retreating quickly. Not a lot of people wore green if they flew in the sky. No sense of camouflage, but she ignored it. She had her sword sheathed on her Pegasus, Lysandra, along with some of her and Hermione's things. It was mostly Hermione's swords that she used while she kept a throwing lance a hand-to-hand combat lance with a sword sheathed in cases of emergency.

"Come on now Herimone, the others will probably need us now. We'll have to leave, like now. Unless you really want to get stabbed by about four dozen pole axes, get on Lysandra already," said the Seraph Knight with some sense of urgency and irritability in her voice.

"Fine, just give me one second. Gotta distract them for long enough for us to get away. Hmmm. A quick back flip should do it. Take off Daphne, I'll hop on in a sec," as she began a quick series of four attacks to gain enough momentum to do a back flip onto Lysandra.

As Daphne took off, she saw exactly what Hermione was doing, activating her trademark ability of all practiced trueblades over the continent, the sure sign of the mastery of a skill in the art of swordplay in the trueblade's art, Astra.

Hermione hit the same person with four swift attacks of her blade, and after the forth strike, the momentum she gained propelled her upwards and right onto Lysandra's back, as if she flew up to where the Pegasus was.

"You just had to show off right then, didn't you?" asked Daphne, who was now irritated at how her partner acted right then.

"Of course, I have to show them that I was no slouch before leaving. Anywho. Them seeing me do a back flip that high will leave them wondering for a bit anyways. Just chill a little Daphne. I know you're all tense right now. Calm down a little," remarked Hermione.

"How can I settle down when you're showing off, while our friends could be in danger. This is one of those things that I take into consideration when I ask myself if I'm really your cousin," replied Daphne.

"Just fly faster now. You know I hate your uncanny logic ability when you answer my questions," retorted Hermione.

"Be that way then cousin," said Daphne as they grew closer to where the others were.

They were there within minutes and upon coming close enough and Daphne shouted, "Hey down there! You guys down there okay? It looks like the fools they stuck with you guys really didn't do much but act as meat-shields. Remind me, when we look for a job, to have you guys put with more competent allies that can cover you. Those fighters were worse than the mercenaries from the other job we took." Upon finishing her line, Lysandra had touched down on the ground and both the girls dismounted off of her, and walked towards the group.

 

[Sem]

"We're fine, it'd take a bit more to get us," Kyan responded as Daphne dismounted her pegasus. "Even so, some swords get too close for comfort." As Kyan walked, with Elaina in tow, he saw that any remaining bandits would figure that they'd rather abandon their stolen cargo and leave with their lives still intact, the few of them that were left compared to how many there were.

"Now, let's get those furs and get out of here."

-------

The group recovered the shipment and brought it back into town where the seller was. It took them a few days of traveling, since not all of them could hope to pile up onto Lysandra and fly away, and it was better that they all returned together instead of having Daphne fly ahead.

Once they arrive at Turin, Kyan drew a hood over his head. It had become second nature now to do so in public, as to not be recognized by anyone from his days in the army. It kept him out of trouble.

The remaining members of the other mercenary group waited outside as the six of them walked into the shop. Kyan was always suspicious of the shop, what with it being in a rather secret location, hidden from a good part of the town. Elegant furs covered the walls, all of vibrant colors. Many of which were ornamented with feathers and there were even a few garments made of feathers as well.

"Ah!" exclaimed a large man as he looked up from his table towards the back of the shop. He himself wore some extravagent, albeit ridiculous furs over his large frame. He walked swiftly across the floor towards them, wearing a bloated smile as he looked at the retrieved goods to ensure that they were in-fact his.

"You got them, very good, very good!" he motioned them to place the large box onto the table. He lifted up the lid of the box and carefully put it down. He peered inside, as if needing further confirmation. "Yes, yes, very good," he bowed his head with his hands clasped together. "Let me fetch your payment.

"You're paying us a large amount of money for these furs," Elaina said as she too examined them. She took one in her hand and held it close to her, smelling the lush and almost sweet smelling scent of the garment.

"That's because..." the man started as he returned with a moderately stuffed pouch. "It's sub-human fur," he grinned, leaning in close as he said it, as if he were a child telling a secret he ought not to tell. "Would you like one?"

Elaina dropped the fur and immediately held her head, looking as if she were about to faint. Kyan himself was also aghast by this, though his set face didn't not show it. His calculating eyes moved mechanically from the floor, to the box, to the money, and to the man.

"Is something the matter?" the shop owner inquired.

Kyan looked around at the others to see their reactions. Once Elaina had balanced herself by leaning on her staff she whispered weakly, "Don't take it."

"I'm afraid something is the matter," the mage said, drilling into the man's eyes with his own. "What you're doing is illegal."

"Wasn't illegal before," the man became defensive.

"Yes, that was before the queen ascended to her throne."

"Queen Micaiah is doing what needed to be done a long time ago when it comes to beorc/laguz relations," Elaina butted in.

"Well, lass, some people, more than you think, don't like it. Not one bit." the fat man replied, in such a way that it seemed to hide sinister intentions.

Kyan furrowed his brow at the last statement and glared at the shopkeeper. The man met his gaze for a moment before turning away nervously like a child who has a secret they'd rather not tell.

"We can't accept the money," Kyan shook his head. "Give it to the other group; they're outside," he nodded grimly and with a swish of his robes walked out of the shady shop with Elaina walking briskly behind.

"Next time," she started as they went out onto the street. "Maybe we should ask what we're retrieving before we retrieve it."

The mage nodded, but he still had the man's last statement on his mind.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

Lowell's gaze hardened as he heard the news that they were not accepting the money from their latest job. It was a huge blow to lose such a large amount of money but he tried not to let it show on his face. Sub-human fur, huh. Try as he might, Lowell couldn't muster up any feelings of revulsion over it. By no means did he advocate skinning sub-humans for their fur, however. In fact, it was a mystery to him why anyone would want to touch a sub-human, much less wearing the stinking fur of one.

He toyed with the handle of the dagger in his middle holster lovingly. This dagger was special; the blade on it was oddly shaped but was made especially for killing those beasts. But alas, he wasn't one to seek out a fight, no, that wasn't his style. The fight usually came to him. Lowell's attention to the middle dagger didn't escape Leyla's attention.

"Lowell, do you even feel the least bit bad about this?" she asked, a slight edge of desperation in her voice.

He remained silent except to shake his head slightly. Despite her youthful looks, Leyla was older than he was, yet her idealism shamed him instead of making him feel sorry for her. She was still trying to believe that beorc and sub-humans can get along and, with Queen Micaiah taking the throne, she believed that even people like her would be accepted.

"You wait," said Leyla confidently. "Elaina and I will open your eyes to the fact that laguz are human beings, too"

"Yeah, yeah," said Lowell airily. "You already know my hatred of sub-humans is better than it used to be."

"Okay, then try calling them laguz and not that other word," Leyla demanded.

"That other word?" Lowell repeated. "You mean sub-human?"

Leyla rolled her eyes. "I'm glad we didn't take the money. There will be other jobs for us that don't involve idiots.

Lowell didn't dare ask if they could even take part of the money out loud. Leyla would've been ticked and while Kyan wouldn't have outright yelled at him, he would've somehow made him feel bad. And Lowell didn't want to jeopardize his chances of practicing with Kyan for anything, including money.

The Daein winter was relentless and worse yet, the wind picked up making it feel even colder than before. Lowell could see every breath that every person in the group made. A small pond they passed had completely frozen over. Well, frozen over pretty much described every bit of the bleak landscape around them. Having grown up in Daein, Lowell had hardened himself to winters there—not that he really had a choice in the matter.

"Wow, this weather makes me miss Gallia even more," said Leyla who pulled her scarf even closer to her. "And before you can say anything, Lowell, shush!" she added harshly.

"What?" said Lowell innocently. "I wasn't going to say one single word about the—

She playfully punched him in the arm as she picked up her pace to generate heat. Lowell laughed as he rubbed the place on his arm where he'd been hit. Some people couldn't understand how they were best friends because they only saw the arguments and the teasing. And yet they were…

He was glad when they finally got to the inn where they had been staying. The place wasn't spectacular by any means, but as they didn't have much money, it was the best they could do. Besides, the innkeepers were nice and were sympathetic to mercenaries. Even so, they had to disguise themselves in case someone they knew was also spending the night there. Lowell replaced his mask over his mouth and nose and he saw the others disguise themselves as well.

Lowell quickly separated from the group and went to the room where he was staying. The walls were shabby and there was nothing in the room except two beds and a side table. Lowell reached under the bed on the left and grabbed the Thunder Tome beneath it. Mastering Thunder magic was going the next step in his training to become a Dark Archsage while he was in the army, but he'd left before that could happen.

And now he was going to resume his training with Kyan's help, and he wasted no time asking. "Kyan, do you feel up to training now?" he asked, thumping his hand against the yellow colored Tome.

"Impatient as always," Leyla sighed.

 

[Plapti]

Hermione saw the result of their work after hearing they were furs from laguz. She had often talked to Daphne about jobs that payed high amounts always had a catch to them. Like the one they just finished. Typical simple minded, self-conceited idiots. They would never understand the finer points of laguz and beorc relationships.

After leaving the goon with his disgusting furs, the rest of the group had went to an inn to stay for the time being. Much warmer than the frozen lands of Daein. She much preferred her birthplace of Crimea. As much as the crisp air woke her up, there was a fine line of how much she could take. The cold right now went over that line. She pulled her scarf up, and pulled her trenchcoat over the two sheaths on her hips to try and stay warm.

Daphne and Hermione often shared rooms instead of sleeping in separate rooms. At times, they felt that they were sisters and not cousins. They knew each other really well and often could sense what the other was thinking.

Daphne turned to Hermione and looked at her for a brief second when they reached their room. She asked Hermione, "You're upset about that complete moron and what the idiots did to the laguz, aren't you?"

Hermione turned to Daphne and answered, "Of course I'm upset. You know killing them for fur only and treating them as trash isn't fair. Just because they're different doesn't mean we aren't equals or something. Just a complete batch of morons if you ask me."

"You don't have to tell me twice, though, there's something else on you mind isn't there? It's about the others isn't it?" asked Daphne.

"You know too much sometimes Daphne. Then again, your brains are the reason why you serve as team recon and strategist. Nothing gets by that brain of yours. But these feelings, I don't want to reveal yet. It's more about what my history is that's bothering me," responded the trueblade.

"You mean those things. Best keep those low, especially since that coat covers most of it up. Anywho, shall we head out for our daily sparring practice?" asked Daphne, in an attempt to change the subject quickly.

"Yes, maybe it will cheer me up a little," replied Hermione.

The duo walked out into the cold Daein weather. Lysandra was flying around and enjoying herself in the sky. Daphne called Lysandra down and took out a bronze lance and bronze sword, both with dulled edges. Lysandra then flew off into the air and watched as the two got their weapons and began to do a little sparring.

Daphne had an obvious advantage, the reach of her lance. However, she knew her cousin could easily get by the lance and easily chop off her head in a blink. She actually wouldn't, but defending against her wasn't going to be easy. One would think that people don't run head first into a long, sharp pole, but Hermione usually thinks otherwise.

Hermione rushed forward with her sword up. She knew roughly where she would have to strike to disarm Daphne and finish the round off quickly. She moved forward and hit the lance right out of Daphne's hands. Hermione was thinking to herself, "This seems too easy. Hmmm.... That's not right. She usually would've fought back harder. Oh well. I'm just getting to worrisome again. Best not pay any mind to it."

Much to Hermione's chagrin, Daphne wasn't surprised in the least. In fact, it looked like she was smiling. Daphne had whistled for Lysandra already and she quickly flew down low enough for Daphne to do a one footed mount on the stirrup. She then jumped off of Lysandra to catch her lance and drop like a rock towards the ground. She flew down quite quickly and would've impaled Hermione, if it weren't for her skill in the art of counter attacks. She had learned a skill quite a while ago called Adept. It gave her unparalleled, fluid like motion and a slight boost in swordplay speed. The duo matched blades and stood at a stand still for a solid two minutes.

They would remain locked there. Still as a statue. A pin could have dropped and still have been heard. They were that serious about sparring practice. Neither of them budged. It turned into a match of wills. Last one standing wins.

Daphne had one last plan coming. A risky parry move that would disarm the two of them and force them into hand-to-hand combat. If she didn't pull it off right, she would probably lose.

She raised her lance so that Hermione's grip was loosened, and then she lifted her lance upward, letting go of it and let the lance fall on top of the sword a ways away, disabling them from using weapons for the rest of their session.

"So, you've worked on disarming your opponent too now, have you?" asked Hermione.

"So you see. And a recovery from getting disarmed," added Daphne.

"Well done then. Think I've had enough. Too cold outside for me. Too bad weather isn't like Crimea here. Wish I could go back to Crimea and see how it has changed since then," remarked Hermione.

"You're no fun. Right about when I was about to beat you too," exclaimed Daphne. "Well, I suppose you are right. I do miss Crimea too. Anywho, let's get inside. We'll get hypothermia at this rate. Come on Lysandra, let's go back to the inn," said Daphne.

The trio walked back towards the inn, expecting something exciting at the inn to happen, so they could get their minds off the idiots who thought beorc are superior to laguz when they were clearly equals to one another.