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Post by Jester of the Setting Sun on Dec 9, 2015 19:10:37 GMT
"Lark." Was his single word answer to the pair's introduction. Giving both of them a slight nod of the head as they introduced themselves. While they were ones for manners and proper greetings. One's decorum did not mean much to someone with Lark's upbringing. "Sorry about Chen." He continued, jerking a thumb at the young man holding the reins. "We've run into a few bandits. So he's a bit twitchy." Of course one might be a tad bit confused at such a statement. The wagon they traveled in hardly looked like it had been attacked. And there was not so much as a mark on either of them.
So Lark was either lying to them. Or the bandits they encountered couldn't so much as lay a hand on him.
Turning back to his friend, he made a quick motion with his hand. With it, Chen hopped off from his position at the reins and moved to the side of the wagon. Sparing one last glance at the trio that held quite a deal of anxiety. He opened the side door and went inside the wagon's interior. Leaving Lark alone with the two other Solar Exalted. "The weather is nice out. Why don't you both join me up front." He offered, gracefully making his way up to the driver's seat. Mentioning to the free space beside him. Certainly enough room for the two to sit beside him in relative comfort.
Once the two had either climbed on or decided to simply walk beside the caravan, he would have the horses once again begin moving. Resuming their journey back towards the Nexus.
"Fair bit of advice for you two." He spoke up. Eyes still on the road ahead as his voice seemed to drop. Losing its' jolly lilt and instead becoming something a bit more somber and serious. "People tend to get a bit nervous when you start talking about odd flashes of sunlight. Especially when Terrestrials are in earshot."
...Well that certainly wasn't ominous.
"So I'll ask you once. Why are you investigating those rumors?"
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Post by Akara on Dec 10, 2015 3:26:49 GMT
It was hard to maintain an air of grace and capability when you were short and climbing up onto a wagon, but Akara did his best to do so; he plonked himself down in the middle of the bench, next to Lark, with the expectation that Kira would amble up beside him and fill the bench out. Once up there, Akara folded his hands on his lap and took a brief look around, enjoying the view. It'd been a long time since he'd been on a wagon - this should prove to be at least a little fun, right? Horses, not walking, the whole works.
But, hey. There was conversation starting again, and Akara was in a position to answer some questions. He offered the ginger Lark a smirk in reply. "There will always be people who run towards the danger, Lark, and those who run away from it." Akara explained, lacing his fingers together and stretching his arms above his head. "Is it a far reach to think that the two of us - carrying our heritage from the other sides of the world as we are - may fall more into the former group than the latter?" It wasn't as though the East was rife with blue-haired swordswomen - the Storm Mothers wouldn't even let them sail, and it was a safe bet that most of them weren't allowed to carry swords. Let alone carry them as far as Nexus.
Akara himself was slightly more reasonable. Chiaroscuro was only a few months by boat, even if Harborhead had taken a turn for the psychotic lately.
But hey, Lark was changing the tone. Akara matched pace, folding his arms and offering a similarly flat expression in place of his convivial air to this point. As a courtesy, he matched Lark's tone in volume - a cautionary courtesy, because as Akara and Kira could easily handle a few Terrestrial Exalted, there might be one on the wagon that Lark preferred not get the snot beaten out of them. Or perhaps he was the one that he preferred not get the snot beaten out of. "Your advice is appreciated, Lark - and your confirmation that we're in the right area." He promised quietly, fixing the redhead with the scrutinizing gaze of a detective. "Why do you think we're investigating those rumors, I ask?"
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Post by Kirasath Dravere on Dec 10, 2015 3:53:50 GMT
Well, he had all but admitted to lying once. Who was Kira to assume he wouldn't do so again?
Hopping up beside her companion, Kira sat down just close enough to Akara to bump their hips together. Maybe it was solidarity, or a reminder that she was there. Truth be told, she hadn't had the time to educate Akara in the minutia of what all of her body language meant. They'd have to work on that at some point. It might be extremely useful later.
"Perhaps our confidence isn't misplaced, Mister Lark," Kira responded pleasantly, fixing her hair a bit now that it was out of any direct breezes. "Perhaps we have encountered the Dragon-Blooded before, and given them no reason to be perturbed by our presence." After a moment, her sunny little smile transitioned into a knowing smirk. "Or perhaps we are Dragon-Blooded. I've often been told I smell of the sea, and we do seem quite comfortable on the road."
Akara was doing his investigation thing. Kira knew when she was out of her element, and this was one of those times. She was a pretty face and a breathtaking whirlwind of carnage, but Akara was the more resourceful of the two of them. Play to your allies; shut up and smile. Odd that now, thousands of miles away and after feeling the grace of Sol Invictus, Kira was still getting mileage out of being raised as a domestic concubine.
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Post by Jester of the Setting Sun on Dec 10, 2015 21:38:01 GMT
"Who knows?" He shrugged, halfheartedly thinking of reasons to why some would investigate such dangerous rumors. Immaculate Monks, overeager practitioners, thrill seekers or as Kirasath said. They might be Dragonblooded themselves. He wasnt quite sure about that last one. Lark had yet to see one of the Dragon's chosen that didn't show it off at any opportunity. They were simply far too close to the Blessed Isle for them to resist the urge to strut their stuff.
Plus, neither of them were wearing the bright and gaudy colours of their aspect. So clearly that ruled the idea of them being Terrestrials.
....Well actually no, it didn't. Those were all merely the thoughts of someone who had grown up in an environment that needs him to expect the worst of others in order to survive. Lark's opinion of those who were in higher positions than himself through something as simple as birth was not very high.
So if these two ladies were in fact Dragonblooded, they were not very high on Lark's list. "For your sake, you had better not be Dragonblooded." All traces of humour and mirth had left his voice now. He began gripping the reins tightly. Tight enough for his knuckles to turn white. His muscles beginning to tighten under his light shirt. As if he was a cat, ready to pounce.
"Otherwise I might have to ask you to get off my damn wagon."
The change in tone was accompanied by a sharp tug of the reins. Causing the horses to stop moving. The beasts snorting and throwing their heads back in discomfort. "Forgive me for being rude with you. But I have people I need to protect." His hand raised to his face, drawing away the eyepatch, revealing both of his functional eyes.
As he said that, his stance began to change, becoming more confident, his back straightened as he looked at the pair. Piercing green eyes scrutinizing them. "And if you two are here because of what I did. Then I'm afraid we are going to have a problem."
It seemed that he was finally getting fed up with hiding. Even as he said this, a shining golden circle began to form on his brow.
As it was right now. Lark was fully prepared to fight this pair. He knew it would only be a matter of time before they connected the dots. Leading them to the conclusion that he was the one they were looking for. So he figured it would be better if he got it over and done with here and now in the middle of the wilderness.
He'd do his best to lead them both away from the wagon. He was confident that with this new found strength. He would be more than enough to handle two Dragonblooded.
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Post by Akara on Dec 11, 2015 6:58:03 GMT
It seemed that Kirasath's faith in providence or serendipity had paid off more than Akara's own deductive reasoning - something that he suspected he might deserve a fair bit of teasing for, not that Kirasath was the sort to mock her comrades. As Lark's body language got more and more defensive, Akara kept himself carefully neutral and non-threatening - it wouldn't do to start a fight, now. A young Solar was already a volatile creature somewhat drunk on it's own newfound power, and not without reason. The wrong word could spark an argument, or Sol forbid, an actual fight. "Please, my brother, be calm." Akara requested quietly, raising his hand the slightest bit in a halting gesture. "While I would hear what you did, Kirasath and I are here because of what you are." The Dereth explained, before raising his finger to his own brow.
The glittering target of the Eclipse flashed to life on Akara's brow, casting shadows and light over his face. The dot in the center of his caste mark almost seemed to focus on Lark, though that might have just been that Akara's own eyes were very focused on Lark, waiting for a strike. "You are among equals, Nightbringer." He explained in an even tone, sitting up a little straighter. "There is no need for threats, veiled or otherwise. I promise you that." All three of them could presumably handle themselves, and Akara suspected that no party present wished to fight the others if they had a choice - so there was no need to posture and risk challenging Lark's pride by trying to intimidate him.
Akara gestured slowly, (a very deliberate and obvious sort of slow) to the road beside them with a polite smile. "If you still wish, we can get off of your damn wagon." He offered, trying to dissolve some of the tension with light humor, even though the curse word came out a little awkward - Akara wasn't generally one for profanity, and it showed. Well, at least not profanity that wasn't his native tongue. "But Kirasath and I would love to talk to you a while longer, I think, if you'd permit it. I am a representative of an organization that strives to support our kind, and Kirasath here is... well. I'd prefer to let her explain." He admitted sheepishly. "Say the word, and we will be on our way - but the children of the Sun are far and between these days, and I try to never let pass the chance to meet one of my brethren and make myself available to them."
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Post by Kirasath Dravere on Dec 11, 2015 20:20:47 GMT
"Mister Lark," Kira began after she was sure Akara was finished, "it is entirely true to say that we are here because of what you did. What you did was reveal yourself to a larger world, and we are interested in that. In you." She sat with her hands in her lap, her warm, calm smile unwavering no matter the situation. This was a woman who was, at the very least, undaunted by the defensive fervor shown by one of her own. She'd Exalted under very similar circumstances, as had many other Solars.
Kira's voice was steady, because of course it was. Courting a newly Exalted sun-prince was nothing compared to the crippling terror one faced at a Coral dinner party or wedding reception. "We wish no harm on anyone in this cart. We're simply here to introduce ourselves, to show you that you aren't alone in Creation. We are few, but some of us quite enjoy looking after our own." Unlike Akara, she didn't reveal her Caste Mark, nor did she 'explain who she was.' Kira was simply another Lawbringer thrown into the world. What others expected of her due to her past life had nothing to do with this situation.
And whipping out an ascending sun Caste Mark was tantamount to a threat in almost any social environment.
"But if you aren't interested in either the support - physical, mental, or emotional - that meeting other Solars can provide, we will gladly walk away. Your life will continue whether or not we are in it, and we won't force that on you any longer if you find it distasteful." Kira concluded her response and adjusted her sword behind her back. It would have been much more straightforward to simply draw the golden sword, proclaim her status as a Bronze Tiger, and prove it with a show of force. But bravado was not the proper way to make first impressions.
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