New Friends? (Veilince only, for now)

[Lily]

Lily was walking out of the forest near the lake, thinking she'd go for a swim. I'm looking forward to this. When she got to the grassy area near the edge, she set down her bow and quiver, before slipping out of her gown. She slipped into the water, barely creating a ripple as the cool, clear water surrounded her. She opened her eyes, looking at how the light entered the water. Now I'm glad I picked up that swimsuit. She took a backwards somersault, smiling as she did so. Next, she swam back up for air and just floated there, soaking up the wonderful mid-morning sun. I'm glad I came here.

After she finished her swim, she climbed out of the lake, shaking herself dry before donning her gown and weapons. Ah, that was refreshing. She turned to head back to her house when she noticed there was something odd she noticed. She knew these forests like the back of her hand and she saw something that wasn't an animal nor a vine near a tree. That's odd. So she walked closer before realizing it wasn't her imagination. It was a large, dark shape in the tree. Huh.

She had almost walked into the tree before she realized it was actually a person. Squinting she realized it was someone she knew. Wait, that's....Veilince! She knew him since she'd heard him being addressed as lieutenant on the battlefield while she was shooting her kill shots from behind the scenes. She guessed he was a Fey since he appeared human but no humans were allowed into such a high position as lieutenant as he was. She stepped even closer, into a patch of sunlight. "Greetings, Fey. Veilince." She smiled, as she usually did when she was talking, it was a force of habit since she was almost always happy.

[Veilince]

The afternoon was warm, on the verge of being too hot. For everyone else that is, Vey was a summer faerie. The summer fey loved warm weather loved frolicking and dancing during the nights. However Veilince wasn't like that, he was a more serious type of guy who didn't like wasting the time away. No, rather he utilized his time helping the rebellion make battle plans and lead troops into battle. He was teased of course by his fellow fey, but he didn't really care.

Currently Veilince was on a little break of sorts. Recently he had just witnessed a battle that had turned out to be something nothing short of dumb luck. He had led the troops into battle against an Ammon settlement that had been set up near the border the rebellion was trying to push back. The attack was successful for the most part. Catching the Ammon troops by surprise, Veilince and a few other lieutenants launched at attack during the full moon. The battle had waged for a few days, but then the Shadow of Ammon arrived. This proved to be a great annoyance to Veilince, but nothing short of what he expected. Ammon always played the Shadow whenever things were getting dicey.

At that point the tides began to turn. With the Shadow on the scene, the Ammon troops' moral got boosted and they put up a much bigger fight. Fortunately, the griffins helped keep the Shadow busy, but not enough. The casualty was high and Veilinces platoon was being destroyed, his resources that would carry out his plans and the orders of the higher ups. Of course he knew that his soldiers weren't objects, but business was business. The battlefield leaves no room for emotion.

When a griffiness engaged with the Shadow Veilince thought for sure she'd die. To solo a dragon was practically suicide and a foolish endeavor. Her wing-leaders gave her permission for the engagement so Veilince didn't care much. It wasn't until there was a flash of light when Veilince realized that the Shadow was struck by lightning.

After that things went very smoothly. The Shadow surrendered and the border was moved back. Veilince had then helped make arrangements for the border patrols. He figured that with the Shadow out of play, for the time being they wouldn't have to keep a large guard up. Without Ammon's precious trump card they wouldn't try attacking them. With this, Veilince was given a break. He would have liked to push the border farther, but the troops that were in the battle were tired and many were injured in some way.

A nice large tree seemed to be the perfect place for Veilince to nap. One of his favorite pastimes was to sleep in trees are warm days. A few yards away Ailon Lake sparkled like a well-polished sapphire. Nimbly climbing up Veilince leaned against the tree and closed his eyes. None would disturb him for the time being and he was in absolute peace.

Unfortunately the peace and silence did not last. It seemed to be only minutes before Veilince was stirred from his sleep. Frowning inwardly, Veilince saw a white-haired woman staring at him. He didn't recognize her of course, but it was troublesome that she had disturbed him. One of the things Veilince was disappointed about was that the magic that made all fey invisible to mortals, did not entirely work on anyone else. It made them harder to find, but it failed to make them entirely invisible.

"Go away." Veilince said not caring if he sounded rude. Then again, hasn't this person known the saying, "Let sleeping dogs lie?" Obviously Veilince wasn't the most social of people. If he had a choice, he'd rather not talk to anyone at all except maybe his family, although they never really understood him. Well, maybe his father did, but that was a slight bit of a stretch.

[Lily]

Lily frowned, crossing her arms. She was not going to back down. "Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the tree." She saw a tree perfect for sitting in (since she was going to keep it up until he talked to her) and nimbly jumped up, sitting herself comfortably on the thick branch, her side leaning against the main trunk of the tree. This might be fun.

She decided to swing her legs, something she usually didn't do due to the fact it would scare most prey away. So what if I scare them away, Veilince probably already did that to a certain extent.

She changed her frown back to a smile as she thought of how to get him to respond. "Are you on break? I thought all lieutenants were required to run patrols..." But even as she awaited some sort of response, her eyes automatically scanned the forest for any sort of prey. I guess I'm still too used to go without doing so.

So she sighed and keep it up, deciding she might be able to catch something if it was stupid enough to come out when it heard voices. If it's that stupid, it's definitely mine. She looked down the branch and saw a little stump coming out of the wood of the branch that was just within her reach. She hung her bow and quiver from that, allowing her the freedom of movement while sitting in a tree.

[Veilince]

Oh dear god, it was one of those annoying persistent people. Veilince tried closing his eyes again, but he knew this woman wasn't going to leave. Maybe if he ignored her long enough she'd go away. Usually when people tried to talk to him outside of military business, they soon learned that he was the unapproachable type or that he was just not interested in them. Only a handful of people, give or take, actually persisted in trying to strike up a conversation with him. However even fewer people actually got a response from him that was more than a few words.

Deciding it was no use to try sleep again, Veilince cracked his eyes open. He saw the woman, what ever her name was, scanning the forest. Observing her for a little longer he noticed a bow with a quiver of arrows. So she was a hunter. A plan started to formulate in his mind. Although the invisibility that the fey had did not work entirely, any glamour they did cast did. If Vey wanted to make a dragon appear he could do it.

The glamour looked, felt, smelled, sounded, and tasted like the real thing, but in reality, it was probably just made of dust or rocks or something. If enough fey were around, they could make it seem like a person going upstairs, was going downstairs. In fact, they could create an entirely fake world. If a person were to eat something, say a roasted pig that was a glamour made by a faerie, they would at that time feel full and energized, but once the glamour is broken the person's body will immediately feel hunger or thirst. Glamour was indeed dangerous and one could die of starvation if a faerie willed it.

Veilince saw some dirt stirring up in the wind a little distance away. Staring at it vaguely, he threw a glamour on it so it looked like a large stag. Wherever the wind blew the dirt, the stag would walk or run. Luckily the wind was at Veilince's back so the stag would be trotting away. Hopefully the woman would go after it and leave him alone. Once he was alone, he'd go find another tree to sleep in.

ooc: yay! i finally got to it. Hallelujah!

[Lily]

OCC -- You really want him to get away don't you, then why are we even bothering with this thread if you want a way for him to get away 100% of the time?

IC -- Lily, still trying to find a meal noticed a stag a little ways away. That's good, finally some good fortune. Huh, I could have sworn that there wasn't anything there before. Oh well. She grabbed her bow and, in one quick motion, had the string pulled back to her cheek and her arrow aimed at the stag's heart. With a twang she released the string, the arrow flying straight and true. There was a thump as it embedded itself into the stag. The animal fell over onto the ground, instantly dead. She hung her weapons back on the branch stub.

She swung her legs and jumped off of the tree. In one fluid motion on the way down, she grabbed her long pocket knife that had been hanging on the little branch. "I'll be back in a couple of seconds." So she sprinted over and grabbed the animal. Noticing that the animal truly was dead, she grabbed the hind legs, pivoted on the spot and half ran, half walked back to the tree she'd left her stuff. She hadn't been gone for more than five seconds.

"Hello again Veilince, would you like some food?" She took a length of rope that she always had and used it to tie the creature up on the tree.

[Veilince]

Damn, Vey didn’t realize she'd be able to shoot that far. He was hoping that he could have the stag run faster and farther away from him. The skill the woman had in archery was far beyond his expectations. However, she'd still have to go after the stag to collect the non-existent meat. Perhaps if he were lucky, she'd clean up the stag there. Then he'd just have to leave quickly to another tree farther away. Next time he'd climb a bit higher up into the branches.

Unfortunately the speed vampires had proved to be more annoying than expected. It didn't take long for the woman to return carrying the dead stag. Veilince had just been about to jump over to the next few trees before she was back at the tree. Grudgingly, he leaned back against the tree and slid down into a sitting position before dangling a leg on one side of the branch.

At this point in time, Veilince was thoroughly annoyed with this woman who insisted on bothering him. With a nonchalant gesture, the stag that the woman tied up vanished and the dirt and dust it had been composed of drifted down and into the lazy wind. Veilince didn't really care what the woman's reaction would be. It'd be far from how annoyed he was. He had worked hard for days and forced himself to interact with and he was finally given a few days of respite. Now this inconsiderate woman was barging in on his once lovely solitude with her frivolous talk.

Looking at the woman straight in the eye he said three words, "I dislike you." Although it was longer than his previous, "go away" by one word, it still was bothersome that he had to say anything at all. Veilince imagined his parents scolding him and telling him to talk with the woman. For sure if this woman met one of his fellow fey, they'd be ecstatic at the chance to dance and play with the vampire. No doubt they'd trick her and do something hurtful to the woman, though it would be nothing compared to what the darker, shadow fey would do. They would probably end up tricking the woman into becoming a slave or beat her or something of the sort. It was unwise to make a promise with a faerie without thinking it through thoroughly. Vey's kind would easily take advantage of the careless.

ooc: that's his nature val. it's in his bio. he's anti-social.

[Lily]

Lily gasped slightly before crossing her arms ans sighing at the sight of the elk disappearing. I guess I should have predicted something along these lines from him, Fey are slippery creatures. She narrowed her eyes, becoming serious. A challenge, this should be fun to see if I can outsmart him. But after a moment of mental thought, she resolved to herself a plan and her face became friendly again.

"Well you'll just have to deal with me now won't you?" She reached up and grabbed the, now limp, rope that was tied to the tree. Coiling it back up, she re-fastened it to her side, making sure it wouldn't fall off.

In one smooth motion, she grabbed the branch near her and swung herself high enough to grab another branch before twisting sideways and landing on the branch she'd been sitting on earlier. I must say, my most pleasurable lessons I've learned in the wild would have to be how just a touch of agility will allow great stunts that double for stealth. But throughout her thoughts, she kept an eye on Vey, making sure he didn't leave. Well he can try but I'd like to see him deal with my agility. A smile of smug content appeared on her face as she thought this.

"So, why aren't you on the field?" She guessed this was a nice easy question that would hopefully start a conversation.

[Veilince]

The vampire seemed genuinely ticked off at the loss of her prey. Veilince hoped that would mean she would leave. After all, who'd want to hang around a Fey that played cruel tricks such as this? However the woman was stubborn and stayed. From the determined look on her face, Veilince could tell that getting rid of her would take time, and a lot of it. The leaves rustled above his head almost like a whisper, a happy almost teasing sound. Through this, Veilince could almost perceive what the tree was feeling. It was a small talent that every Summer Fey possessed.

He had a few options to take. Some of which were already out of the question. He could try to run, but the vampire no doubt would be faster. Using the glamour wouldn't work a second time either unless he made it look like a dragon, but those were hard to maintain and were generally troublesome. Another option was to stay on the same course he currently was on and just ignore her or he could just go with it and hope the conversation would just end quickly.

Veilince knew already from his options what the best course of action was. Although he didn't like it, he had no choice. However, this choice may or may not please the woman depending on how she perceived him. "To put it simply, my precious pawns have been depleted in the recent battle, mostly by that damn Shadow who fell and crushed them. Although this is a setback for me, I was given time to do as I please." Some people found it better when Veilince did ignore them for they found that he was not the best person to socialize with. In truth, people had to make a huge impression on him to get down to where he was fully open with people. That was how he sent most people away, more so over him ignoring those around him.

However, in that way, Veilince did what his kind did. They find out what someone wants, give it to them, and make them regret ever wanting that. In this case, the woman wanted Veilince to talk to her, now she'd have to pay for him being himself.

[Lily]

Lily's smug grin faded as Veilince mentioned his soldiers in such a degrading tone. That is either a ploy to get me to leave or his natural way of thinking. But Lily knew that this was no ploy, that the commander in front of her was, in fact, that harsh and cold on his battlement. She drew her mouth in a thin line, not wanting to betray too much of her disapproval. "Well your 'soldiers' may have avoided the Shadow if they weren't commanded by a tyrant." Her voice, though somewhat neutral, grew slightly bitter at the end.

I must not give him the satisfaction of knowing that I am displeased with his mannerisms and tone. Knowing what to do, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking peace. Ah, there now, clear my mind and return to peace. While barely showing any outward signs of such a maneuver, she had managed to return to her happy mood again. "Well if your battlement did not survive, why do you not care as much? If you say they are all a faceless entity to your disposal, think about it this way: it only takes one soldier to change the war."

She shifted so that she could take a look at the ring that she had found and slipped onto her thumb. It's pretty isn't it? It glittered in the spotted sunlight that filtered down through the canopy of the trees above them. Its band was that of silver, with many little black faceted gems appearing of onyx embedded into the band. Perfect for a thumb ring. "I wonder where it came from. It looks very precious." She sighed. "Well, this treasure is mine now."

She brought her attention back to the Fey, though it had never really left him. Through her mumblings about her ring, half of her focus had been on the slippery creature, making sure he didn't try to escape. Though she doubted he would try. He seems to have given up all attempts to do such. She gave a mental shrug. It doesn't really matter that much to me, seeing as he is the one that wants to escape, not me.

Though it may seem such at certain times, she didn't care for the Fey much. He seems too bland for my taste. She thought bitterly. Ah well, this is amusing seeing him uncomfortable.

[Veilince]

The battlefield was littered with gruesome images. To be a person of higher rank in the military, you had to have strong discipline. In truth, Veilince did care about his regiment to a small extent, but only to the point where he valued their potential usefulness. He knew others found his techniques to be unconventional, but it was true that his regiment was one of the few with lesser casualties. However the recent battle presented itself to be a little too harsh. Soldiers lost their nerve and as a result they died. Panic dulled their senses and slowed their reactions. It was no surprise to Veilince that those soldiers died. Nevertheless he gave his condolences to the individual families though they were brief.

"If I were a tyrant, I would be after a political spot. My soldiers would have survived if they didn't panic at the sight of that damned Shadow of Ammon. I gave out orders and they failed to perform them."

The woman was obviously displeased with his style of commanding his troops. Honestly, he could care less. She wasn't part of his regiment, so she wasn't really someone he had to care about. If she wanted to tell him how to run his regiment, she could go pursue a position where she could tell him what to do. Although that would be one option the woman could take, he doubted that woman had what it took to get that far.

"It takes only one soldier to ruin a battle strategy and put the rest of the regiment at risk. Those who think that they have the right to disobey orders because they believe they would have a better shot at living almost always end up dying."

Veilince let his foot dangle off the branch nonchalantly. He didn't even bother looking at the woman anymore. Now that he thought of it, she didn't even tell him her name, but it didn't really matter much except for the fact that she knew his. He absently rubbed left thumb and frowned slightly. Although he didn't put on much jewelry he always wore a ring. His father had given it to him around 40 or 50 years ago. It was a family heirloom and Veilince had worn it all the time. He was fairly careful about taking care about it, but now he found that it was missing.

A glint of light caught his eye. Glancing in the woman's direction he saw a band of silver with black onyx. His ring. Rage flared inside of him. How dare she touch his ring. They branch they were sitting on suddenly sprouted more branches with a rustle and creaking and tried to ensnare the damned woman. Unlike the glamours, making plants grow and controlling them took energy, but Veilince didn't care. "Where did you get that ring!?" He snarled rising abruptly. He did not tolerate thievery towards him at all, especially when the ring was involved.

[Draetrialis]

Drae was in his cave, working tirelessly to find an answer to the prophecy. That is, until a shadow approached him. "Rebellion on the surface. One is a general from your... cause of exile." The shadow faded and Drae rose. He had claimed the lake for his own, not for Ammon, and he will defend his territory. He slipped into the water and slowly made his way to the surface, watching the goings-on. The Fey, which he remembered seeing on the battlefield, had ensnared a woman in plants. That's odd. Rebellion don't attack each other... Drae rose from the water and, with one swift strike, freed the woman, if only so he can kill her with more ease. "What are you doing in my territory?!" He roared. Amazingly enough, Drae was only angry because of an intrusion upon his turf.

He was still in the water for the most part. He growled and brought his face close to the Fey and vampiress. "Leave my territory. Now. Nobody, Ammon or Rebellion, is allowed at the lake now! I've claimed it as my home and I will tear anyone, short of those with permission, to pieces for invading!" He clearly reverted to his former self in terms of rage, but it was clear that his loyalties had shifted slightly.

[Lily]

Lily had been caught off guard as she got ambushed and entangled in the Lieutenant's trap. She had already located her nearest hunting knife and was envisioning a way to work it into her grip when the vines suddenly fell away. She had heard the large boom that heralded the Shadow's entrance but had ignored it since she had mainly focused on escaping the branches.

Upon her freedom, she immediately slid off the branch she had been sitting on before grabbing it and swinging around, launching herself into the canopy. From there she darted between the branches, mildly cutting her cheeks on the leaves of the tree. Launching before doing a front handspring, she shot out of the canopy, flying to the ground nearest the Shadow.

She had her bow drawn in an instant after landing. "My fight is with Veilince, not you dragon." She had practically spit the last word, many layers of hatred buried among the word.

After firing off a warning shot that should simply gently graze the skin of her unexpected opponent, she turned to Veilince, addressing his reason for attack. "What are you doing? I only 'found' this ring on one of my hunting trips. Sure it might have been in a little shack but I also found a regular gold coin which I used to keep from starving. I will do what I can to stay alive, and you should know that."

She had already nocked another arrow and was waiting for a moment to strike. As long as I can keep them at a distance then my agility should make up for the number of opponents and I should be able to hold them off. But there's so many variables that there is a strong likelihood that this will not work. I'll just have to wait and see then.

[Lin]

A sudden dark being burst from the water of the lake and broke the branches ensnaring the woman who stole his ring. He could hear the tree groan a little from the pain. At this point, Veilince didn't give a damn about anyone else other than the woman. As soon as the woman was free she moved higher into the tree with acrobatic skills. "What are you doing in my territory!?" Veilince ignored the dragon and was about to follow the woman before she jumped down.

The Shadow scum suddenly shoved his ugly head near him and briefly where the woman was. "Leave my territory. Now. Nobody, Ammon or Rebellion, is allowed at the lake now! I've claimed it as my home and I will tear anyone, short of those with permission, to pieces for invading!" The dragon roared in his ear. Greatly annoyed, Veilince unsheathed a sword and brought his sword in a wide slash towards the dragon's face. "Piss off Ammon dog, I have no business with the likes of you." Turning on the branch so he was facing the dragon, "Besides, all of this is neutral territory ass-hole."

An arrow grazed the dragon. Either the woman was a bad shot, or she purposefully missed. "What are you doing? I only 'found' this ring on one of my hunting trips. Sure it might have been in a little shack but I also found a regular gold coin which I used to keep from starving. I will do what I can to stay alive, and you should know that." If Veilince were still in control of himself he probably wouldn't have acted the way he was now. In rage he jumped down from the tree and turned his back on the dragon. "You bitch! How dare you break into one of my bases!?" If Veilince did not get his ring back, he probably would kill someone regardless of who they were allied with.

ooc: oh crap, wrong account...

[Draetrialis]

Drae growled and turned his head so the sword cut along his jawline. "This is no longer neutral territory. This is my territory." He was somewhat impressed with how they both ignored him for the most part. I guess some fire will do. He muttered to himself, ignoring the pain of the cut on his jaw. He fired one darkfire blast at the grove of isolated trees the two were fighting in. "Now leave, or burn." He growled ominously before retreating below the surface of the lake. He was still there, but he packed a little mud on the wound to keep the blood from giving him away as he partially buried himself in the dark silt.

If they don't leave, I guess they will burn. he thought before his mind drifted to the prophecy again. His muscles began twitching randomly and he struggled to remain hidden. Too much of it would give him away for sure. Unless they knew he was still there. It didn matter, he supposed, but fought to remain still, nonetheless. A shadow floated up to him and took the form of a fish that was swimming overhead. "I will watch, sire." With that, the shadow left the water and began watching the rebels.

[Lily]

Lily backflipped out of the way of fire and out onto the open clearing next to the water. Away from immediate danger, she addressed Vey. "I did not know it was your base! If this ring means so much to you, you can have it back." She put as much venom into the words as she could as she took the ring off and tossed it at him but not so hard as to miss nor to harm. I didn't care for it much anyways, the little trinket appeared cheap. She mentally shrugged.

Ah well, back to the matter more at hand. At that, she readied herself for battle by shifting her weight on one leg and taking a side stance. "Your territory? You've got to be kidding me. Both sides know this lake is neutral. We have as much right to be here as you do!"

She turned her head to look at the Rebellion lieutenant. "Okay, you have your precious ring back, now are you willing to call a truce to take down this overgrown lizard?" She turned back to the lake where she knew the Shadow resided somewhere. As much as I hate killing, this is a kill-or-be-killed situation. And I am not going to be the one to be killed.

With that, she saw a boulder that she could jump off that was near to the lake and she got an idea. I may not be able to see that lizard now but a bird's eye view should allow me to. She launched off the rock with a powerful leap and had her bow drawn before she spotted an odd lump of mud near the bank. There he is. She only got that first arrow shot before she turned to dive into the lake, lest she land on the water and possibly cause harm to herself.

Though this could have been better thought out. I must get out of here before the Shadow notices me. An odd dark spot down below the surface caught her attention. An underwater cave? I wonder what is in there. But she suppressed the urge to investigate as she remembered the Shadow was nearby.

She looked up to see the surface and how far she was from it due to her deep dive from the jump. She feverishly swam toward the surface, not wanting to be in the lake with Draetrialis, who probably had the upper hand in this element.