Our Journey (Lady Alainn)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Erlas nods and then turns and walks in the direction that the others had went. Brannor watched as Nym scurried after the Whone on all fours as if she was in her animal form. He watched with a curious look on his face as if he was asking, why did she just do that. The Whone looks over at her and makes it yipping noise at her. It was telling her his name and his name was Palefur. Brannor looks at Nym, "Since it seems that you can speak to it, could you ask it why it's not with it's pack?" He asks as he grabs a hold of the reigns of his horse. Malivore was wondering the same thing as well. "In deed I am wondering the same thing. It should be with it's pack." He says to both Brannor and Nym. Erlas grabs the reigns of his horse, but says nothing. Only watches the interaction between young Nym and the Whone. The Whone looks over at Erlas and wags it's tale just a like a dog would do. He understood what Brannor and Malivore were saying to a point and looks at the little werefox. He makes a whining noise. And tells her that he doesn't have a pack, that they had casted him out because of his white fur. That his pack had said that he was a weak link. And then it whines again. "Why is it whining Nym? What's wrong?" Brannor asks the young werefox.
 
Nym sulked. Now she was going to have to be translator for the rest of the bloody trip. 'I knew it,' she thought to herself. She sat cross-legged by Palefur and reached out a hand to pet him. "It's ok, Palefur, I don't have a pack either," she told him. "I just have one baby brother in the whole wide world, but he ran away from home when I was young." She continued stroking the beast. Erequariel joined the others and watched with fascination as Nym talked with the beast as if it was answering in the Common Tongue. "You can be my pack!" Nym exclaimed. "Would you like that, Palefur? Would you like to be family?"
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
Palefur looks over a Nym and made a yipping noise and seemed to wag his tail. He was happy that she wanted to be part of his pack. Malivore looks at Nym and then the rest of the group. "I suggest that we start moving again." He says as he gets on to his horse. Since Palefur was going to follow them, Malivore figure Nym would follow him. "Well Nym, you can walk along beside your new friend. You don't have to ride on the back of my horse." He says. He waited til everyone got on their horses and then began to ride away from where they were, but of course at a slow pace to make sure that Nym and Palefur could keep up. The wind began to pick up even stronger and then the sound of thunder was heard. Brannor looks at Malivore, "The storm is moving in faster than we thought it would." He says. "And now we're going to have to make twice the speed to make sure we don't get caught in the storm." He adds as they continued on. Malivore nods and picks up the pace a little, he hoped that Nym and Palefur could keep up. Palefur looks over at Nym, and then scoops her up, to where she was on his back and ran off at full speed keeping up with the group easily. He apologized for he figured she didn't like it.
 
"Why are we going so slowly?" Nym complained to Palefur in the back of the parade as they continued on. "We can go much faster than this, can't we Palefur? We'll get caught in that storm if we don't hurry." She would also transform and run along with them if she could, but she wasn't taking any chances. Malivore was letting her keep the beast company instead of riding on a horse and she did not want her privileges revoked. As the thunder clapped in the distance, Nym perked her ears up and gave Palefur a worried glance. "Why are we still going so slowly?!" Then the horses began picking up speed. Good, they were moving. As Palefur's pace sped up, Nym threw herself on his back as he offered it and flattened herself as well as she could, her fingers entrenched in the fur of his neck. "Come on, brother, let's show them what we've got!" she giggled as they sped past the horses to keep up easily with Malivore's horse. She turned her head so she could see Malivore's face. "Hello up there! Can't you go any faster?"

The clouds were gathering above them now, bringing the sheets of rain across the plains to meet them. As the first drops of rain began to sprinkle them, Erie nudged her mare to the center of the group and called out for the others to ride in a tighter formation "When it starts pouring, keep close together and I can shield us for a little while!" One hand gripping her mare's mane tightly, the other held aloft with a soft blue haze encasing it, she was already preparing for "persuading" the rain drops not to fall on them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
Palefur knew that the elves and the wizard would follow. And he picks up full speed, before long he and Nym were inside the cave, barely even soaked. Back with the others, Malviore and Brannor watched as Nym and the Whone ran into the cave a head. Malivore looks at Brannor, "I suggest we move faster." He says. And Brannor simply nods, "In deed, we don't want to catch our deaths." He says. Erlas could care less that it was raining or not. It wasn't like he hadn't been caught out in the rain before. And he didn't feel like sticking too close to the group either, he liked his space. He kicks the sides of his horse and speeds up farther, leaving the rest of them behind. He thought it was nonsense on how they wanted to stick together. He ties his horse to a branch of a tree that was in a shelter of trees and walks into the cave. His white mane dripping wet and he was just about soaked to the bone. But he didn't care. At the point he didn't care that he was in the cave either. He leans against the wall and waits for the others to arrive. Brannor watches as Erlas speeds away. He looks over at Erie and Malivore. "Well...that was surprising. You'd swear he didn't mind getting wet." He says and the wizard nods. The three of them were huddled close together as they let Erie shield them from the rain.
 
As the rain began pelting the three riders, Erequariel clapped her hands together and then held them out to her sides with her palms facing outward. The blue haze on her hands grew into little flames at the clap but did not travel past her wrists. The rain fell around them with only a few rogue droplets splashing them here and there, the effect looking as if they were travelling in a giant bubble. "I don't mind getting wet," Erie replied to Brannor "but soaked to the bone is another matter. It makes no sense to catch a chill this early in our journey!"

Nym was stretched out on the ground with her arms behind her head when Erlas arrived. Palefur was curled up beside her and watching the entrance. He immediately got to his paws when Erlas tromped in and went to greet him. Nym raised her head just enough to see who it was before dropping it back and yawning. "You look like a drowned rat."
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
Erlas looks over at Nym after he patted Palefur's head. "So? It's not like I haven't been out in the rain before. I'm perfectly fine with being this wet." He says coldly. He looks out of the mouth of the cave and sees that the three were still a little ways away. "And if your wondering, why I ain't with them, letting the female half elf protect me from the rain. Well...let's just say I need my space." He says. And then he is silent. If she wanted him to talk some more, she would have to say something to get the conversation started. It was nothing against Nym, he just wasn't the talkitive type. Brannor nods at Erie, "In deed. But our Drow companion doesn't seem to care about that." He says. Soon the rain was coming down even harder and lighting flashed across the sky again. It was soon followed by thunder. Palefur began to whine and whimper. As if he was afraid, he had a right to be afraid. This was going to be a really bad storm. "What's gotten into him?" Erlas asks as he looks over at Nym. Who he noticed looked rather nervous herself. "Now what's going on?" He mutters. Malivore looks at the two elves, "I suggest we hurry it up even faster, for I fear that this is going to turn into a really bad storm." He says. Brannor nods, "In deed it is, I can feel it in my bones." He says.
 
"Wasn't wondering a'tall," Nym replied in an equally cool voice. Erlas was the easiest to dislike of the group and she liked disliking people; it was fun being ornery. When Palefur began whining, Nym wrapped her arms around his neck to calm him. "Shhh, it'll be all right," she cooed. "He's fearful of the storm coming through, didn't you hear that thunder?" Nym snapped at Erlas. Then she muttered, "Or are you deaf as well as dumb?" She buried her face in Palefur's fur and hugged him tightly. "It'll be ok, Palefur. It'll all be ok. Want me to sing you the song my momma used to sing me when I was afraid of the thunder? You do? Okay, it goes like this:

Hush little one and don't be afraid
Mother will sing you a lullaby
Quiet now and listen, my sweet
To the story of the little lost cloud

Up above the sky is searching
She cannot find her little child
The thunder roar is her loud call
The lightning is her lantern
Her footsteps cause the wind

She searches high and low
For her lost little cloud
But no sign of him here
So she must keep looking
And so weeps the sky"


Meanwhile, Erie was urging her mare to run as quickly as she could, the bubble around the party shrinking until it just barely protected them. The torrential downpour was weakening her quickly, it was that strong. The party reached the cave just as her spell gave out. Her mare stopped by the entrance and waited for her mistress to dismount. However, Erequariel was slumped forward on her saddle, barely conscious, and had no strength left to get off.
 
Erlas rolls his eyes eyes at Nym's comment. When she began to sing her lullaby, it seemd to calm Palefur down. Once they reached the cave entrence, Brannor looks at Malivore. "You go on into the cave. I'll help her down." He says. Malivore nods and then goes into the cave. Brannor hops off his horse and runs over to Erie's mare. "It's ok Erie, I'll help you." He says. He noticed that she was looking rather weak and seemed at any moment that she might fall off. He reaches up and helps her off the horse. But he noticed that the spell had weekened her so much that she couldn't walk. So he had to carry her into the cave. Malivore had lit a fire using his magic. He looks at the band of misfits. "This time of the year we may get a little rain, but something is off. We shouldn't be getting down pours like this. Those haven't happened in hundreds of years." He says. Brannor props Erie up against the wall of the cave. He goes and looks out the mouth of the cave. "It seems that the rain has gone as quickly as it came." He says. But then the wind began to kick up even more than it did when it was raining.

"Yes, but this is still not right. There shouldn't be strong winds and down pours of rain. It should be a light breeze with little to no rain yet." Malivore says. Erlas looks at Malivore. "Well you said that a dragon took over a major city in a neighboring land. Dragons are very intelligent creatures, so it may know that we're on the way. And it's using it's magic to try and stop us." He says. Malivore stood there and listened to what he was saying. And then nods. "I fear you maybe right. But only old acient dragons know this kind of magic." He says. Brannor looks from the mouth of the cave to Malivore. "You didn't say what kind of dragon it was did you?" He asks. Malivore shook his head. "That is because I don't know." He says. Brannor nods, "Well it has to be an elemental dragon of some sort, because now it's begining to snow heavily." He says as he points out of the cave. And his breath escaped his lips out into the cold air. Malivore stood there and thought about it. "Oh dear....this isn't good. This means that this dragon is more powerful than I inticipated." He says.
 
Nym slowed her petting and looked up at Malivore. "Does that mean we're going to die?" she asked bluntly. "I told you I wasn't interested! Why did you drag me into this?" Erequariel started getting feeling back in her body and sat up straighter against the cave wall. She flashed Brannor a quick smile of gratitude when he looked her way and then focused on the discussion. "I have not had to combat such magic in decades, maybe even centuries," she said quietly. "If the force of that gale is any indication of strength, I will have to train." Erequariel maneuvered herself onto her feet, weaved a little, regained her balance, and joined Brannor to stare out at the swirling snow. "My only hope....my only wish...is that it is not the dragon."
 
Erlas looks over at Nym and rolls his eyes at her. "We ain't gonna die. So stop making such a fuss about it." He snaps at her. Malivore looks over at her, "Because you have certain skills that are useful to this mission." He says to her and then turns his attention to Erie and nods, "In deed this dragon then has great strength in it's power. And I am sorry to announce but it is the dragon that is causing this. It must be a elemental dragon then." He says. Brannor nods, "I have seen such things happen with an elemental dragon. This one must be of ice or water." He says. He looks at Erie, "Malivore is right as I said I have seen what elemental dragons can do, infact there was an encounter with a pure white dragon I had once. It was a young dragon. It could control and create ice and snow." He says. And then he thinks about it. "Ya know I have a bad feeling that this dragon maybe that dragon." He says. Erlas looks at him. "So you are saying that you didn't kill it?" He asks. Brannor shakes his head. "No, it was too powerful for me, I was a very young man at the time. It almost killed me." He says. Erlas rolls his eyes at him. Brannor then looks at Malivore. "So what are we going to do?" He asks. Malivore looks at the group. "Well first off we are going to ride out the storm here in this cave. Once it's over we shall continue. But I may disappear for a little, I have things I need to get in order." He says. Erlas looks out side. "Well from the looks of things we maybe waiting here a while, it ain't letting up what so ever." He says. Malivore nods and opens a satchel that he had with him and started pulling out winter type clothing. Each cloak and clothing was made to fix each person of the group. "Here take these, I manged to summon these as quick as I could. These should keep you warm." He says as he begins to give specific clothing to each person. Brannor grabs his. "Thank you." He says. Erlas how ever said nothing.
 
Erequariel shook her head at the conversation. "If it is the dragon in the legends of my people, it would be much older than the pure white dragon you encountered, Brannor. I cannot help but think that it might be, if this is just a taste of what it can do. We must be continually on our guard henceforth. If it is the dragon, we might become just another legend in this dragon's history." She took the cloak and winter robe from Malivore and slipped it over her clothing, tying on her cloak of leaves over the warm cloak so that it still rested about her shoulders. Nym simply refused the offer of the warm clothes and transformed into a fox, disappearing under the clothing she had already been wearing.
 
Brannor looks at her and then his expression got really grim and so did Malivore's. They didn't like the sound of this at all. Malivore looks over at Nym once she was in fox form, "Now young Nym I am only tolerating this because of the weather. Please don't run away." He says to her in a tone that was friendly and also sort of pleading. Brannor looked at the young werefox. He figured that she wouldn't run away, not unless Palefur did. Which he guessed wouldn't happen, only if either Erlas died or betrayed them and left. Or he simply got fed up with all of them and left. When she turned into her fox form, Palefur came over and gave her muzzle a small lick. He was happy that he had some four legged company that would understand him. Brannor stood there and thought about what she had said, he was hoping he could come up with some ideas or Malivore could. He doubted that Erlas would help at all, that he was just along for fighting and nothing else. But that is how drow elves were.

Then Brannor snapped his fingers, remembering something. "There is a village of Elves that isn't far from here. The elders can help us prepare to face the dragon. Their magic is very strong, not to mention items they might have that will help as well." He says. Malivore nods, "Well tomorrow we shall ride there and see what they can do." He says. Brannor nods. Erlas how ever didn't look happy at all with the idea. "Great..." he mutters.
 
As soon as Nym stepped out from under the pile of clothing, her fur immediately fluffed and poofed into her winter coat. She had to shake herself and preen multiple times before the shaggy fur settled into place and then snuggled next to Palefur. Erequariel was still surveying the snowy scene before them with hand resting against her furrowed brow as she peered into the whiteness. "Supplies would be very beneficial, as well as advice," she said. "Though I cannot see it, I feel the sun begin to set. As much as I don't like the idea of staying in this cave, it appears we must spend the night here." She turned and addressed Malivore, "Would you happen to have blankets for the horses as well? Or perhaps they can use Nym's [she gave the fox a teasing smile] if she doesn't want them. I would hate to have them catching cold with that howling wind out there."
 
Malivore nods, "I do have some." He says as he summons the blankets. Brannor takes the blankets and goes out into the storm. He places the blankets over the horses and then returns to the cave. Malivore then pokes the fire and throws some more wood on it. He nods at what Erie says. "In deed, we would catch our deaths out there." He says. The next morning finally arrives. Brannor had gone out to check on the horses and they had made it through the night. But there was a lot of snow on the ground, it came up to Brannor's knees. He goes into the cave and he noticed that everyone was starting to wake. "We have a problem. The horses are ok, but there is so much snow on the ground, they will have trouble carrying us through it." He says to them. "And the village is too far to walk on foot, we would get frozen or frostbite before we got there." He adds. He hoped that Malivore had an idea on how to get there and also not leave the horses behind. Erlas rolls his eyes, he had his arms crossed as he leans against the back wall of the cave. "Great..." He mutters.
 
Nym roused from her slumber and stretched her paws out in front of her with an accompanied yawn. She turned her intelligent eyes to Brannor and tilted her head as he spoke. Snow? She pranced to the cave entrance and daintily placed a paw through the white powder. Taking a couple steps back, she settled low to the ground and then launched herself into the snowdrift. Moments later she came up sputtering and chattering with laughter. Nym dug her way out again and sat on the cave floor, glancing back and forth between Malivore and Brannor.

"Nym seems to be quite agile in all that snow," Erequariel smiled.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
Brannor couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Nym, he was glad that someone would have fun in the snow. Malivore stood there and thought about what was going on and what he should do. He had tested the snow himself and knew that it was not possible for the horses to get through all that snow. Palefur scoops Nym up on his back and runs out into the snow, Whones were made for winter and snow. He galloped through the snow, running around having a good time. He wished that Nym could walk on the snow like he could, but he knew she would sink. The Malivore smiled and snapped his fingers. "I got it! I can do a transformation spell and turn the horse into creatures more suited for deep snow." He says. Brannor looks at him. He was glad that the wizard was a quick thinker. He nods, "That sounds like a good idea." He says to him. "But we don't know how much of the area is affected by snow." He adds. Malivore nods, "I know, but this spell will last as long as it needs. All I have to do is say a certain word and the horses will turn back to normal." He says. Brannor nods. Erlas looks outside, he didn't like snow. But he would tolerate it. "And how do you suppose we get to the horses?" He asks. "With these." Malivore says as he summons snow shoes for the lot.

Malivore had already put his on. He then walks out of the cave, the best he could with snow shoes on. And then he walks over to the horses, who couldn't move anyways. The horses looked at him as if to say help us. Malivore held out his hands and began to say a spell. The horses were soon turned into a creature called Windegos. These types of creatures lived up in the mountains and other very snowy areas.

Windego:
640x494_2188_Yakkington_2d_fantasy_snow_creature_picture_image_digital_art.jpg
 
The party trudged after Malivore through the snow to the now transformed horses. Erequariel clasped her hands together against her chest and gave a soft laugh in delight at the sight of the windegos. "These are perfect!" she exclaimed with shining eyes. "We will certainly be able to make it now." The Whone glided over with Nym settled atop his back to examine the creatures. Nym poked her head over Palefur's and sniffed suspiciously. They stalked one of the creatures and inspected it thoroughly. It didn't take much for them to decide that they still were the superior beasts in this party and Palefur trotted off with Nym riding him like a horse toward the direction of the town. Erie maneuvered to her mare Windego(the distinguishing mark being her saddlebags were still on) and removed one of her snow shoes. Then she slipped it under one of the packs, hopped on her mount, and removed and stowed the second shoe. As soon as the others were also mounted, they followed Palefur's tracks to catch up with the mischievous pair.
 
The windegos weren't afraid of the two predators. One of them snorted at them. Everyone was soon mounted on their beasts and started on their way to the village. It was indeed a very deep snow. But the windegos had very little trouble getting through the snow. They had traveled several long cold miles before they started to see less and less snow. Soon there was no snow left and Malivore had set up the spell to end when there was no snow at all. The horses turned back to there original forms. It was if the snow had never existed in the first place. It as warm and sunny. Since Brannor knew where the village was, he lead the way. "This is quite a difference." He says to Malivore who was ridding next to him. He nods. "In deed." He says. As they got closer to the village, they could hear singing and music. "Right I forgot, this time of the year- which is supposed to by summer- the elves in this village have a huge celebration." He says and Malivore nods. Erlas on the other hand rolls his eyes at Brannor was saying. He didn't exactly like the idea of being surrounded by elves. But he supposed it was better than being surrounded by Orcs, trolls or other drow elves. Malivore looks at Erlas, "You're not going to pick a fight with any of these elves are you?" He asks. Erlas looks at him, "Depends on what happens." He says. Malivore sighs, "We do not want to make them angry, we are going here as friends, got it?" He asks. Erlas sighs and nods. "Fine. If I must." He spat sounding rather disgusted.

The song:
 
Erequariel nudged her mare faster to fall in beside Brannor and Malivore. "With this festival happening, we shall be able to pass through relatively unnoticed," she commented. "This is a great advantage to our quest." She tilted her head as the music and lyrics became clearer the nearer they drew to the village. Her ears quivered slightly at some of the verses, but she hummed along with the chorus regardless. When the song drifted into instrumentals she murmured, "What a unique song to sing during a festival." Turning to Brannor she inquired, "Do you know the meaning of it? Why they sing this?"
 
Status
Not open for further replies.