Egress Unveiled Event: The Tranquil
Draw or write about your Reosean partaking in peaceful measures such as gifting aid to other clans, helping mend injured Reoseans, or negotiating peaceful terms around a rising conflict between two clans.
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Just here for the CP:
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By FourDayz and Renya06
2067 Words
"Ten seconds remain!" yelled the referee, nasally voice somehow managing to be heard above the din of the cheering crowd.
"Nine!" echoed the gathered headians, setting off a mad scramble for what was left.
"Eight!"
Long sinewy form and stocky build both jostling for the same prize.
"Seven!"
Heads butting with a faint crack.
"Six!"
A pained whine.
"Five!"
An ominous growl and the barest flash of purple.
"Four!"
A surprised yelp as a pink and gold body was dragged across the arena, away from its winged adversary.
"Three!"
A darkened shadow's whispered instruction as a geyser of gold erupted unnoticed below a jutting rock.
"Two!"
A widening of eyes as they darted to the coveted pile.
"One!"
A burst of speed, clumsy tangled limbs, and a graceless slide into a face full of rocks.
"Zero!" A unified clamor, deafening in its loudness.
An equal parts disbelieving and elated shout, "Did I win?"
"I can't believe it either, but it would appear you did, land-dweller," Zarod said, mirth in her voice even though his victory meant her loss. Naros got up. His chin stung, but nothing could diminish his good mood. He'd won something! Not on his own, sure, but he'd never won anything before! He shot the widest grin at the floor, surreptitiously mouthing a quick 'thank you.' He didn't know why she'd decided to help instead of keeping the loot for herself, but gift horses and all that. Maybe he could even delude himself into thinking she'd done it for him.
"Color me impressed, topsiders," the Brute's leader said, eyeing the three vayrons with a hint of newfound respect. "Looks like you aren't all witless cowards."
Naros preened before temporarily getting distracted from his winner's high by the reminder that a contest wasn't their reason for coming here, "Excuse me? You did mention having met others like us before. Was it recently, by any chance?"
"Sure was," said Zarod, moving aside as the ref ambled around with some volunteers to gather the golden rocks and clean the slightly destroyed ring. "Arrived with The Forgottens a while back," she continued with a sneer of disgust, "Those weaklings stole from us, then did some odd brainwashing majick on some of my best warriors before high-tailing out of here like the yellow-bellied bastards they are." By the end, she was so incensed that smoke began pouring out of her maw, making Naros almost regret broaching the topic.
“Congratulations on your victory!” Ethel said. She limped over while leaning on Mendras for support. Her normally combed hair was disheveled and coloured orange with sand. Her hide caked with dirt. She looked very tired but kept her head up. “Looks like we both earned our victories and the clan’s respect. I’m sorry I couldn’t watch.”
The arena was beginning to clear out and the remaining haedians were looking for injuries to treat. Leaving Zarod and the vayrons and the centre.
Zarod nodded her head. “Its an honour knowing there are warriors among your kind.” She said. “I was just telling your friends about a pair of idiots who assaulted some of my clan and ran like cowards.” Again the smoke poured forth from her lips.
“Oh my! I’m sorry to hear of such a transgression. Is there anything we can do to help?” Ethel asked.
Zarod shook her head. “I sent a group out to find and capture them. I should see if there is any news.”
Said group had been waiting at the edge of the gathering for their chance to deliver their report and took that as their cue to come forth. "Ma'am!" announced a rather large headian—the apparent leader of the scouting party. His kind-looking features were contorted into a displeased frown.
"Ah, speak of the wolf. What news?" asked Zarod, not one to waste time with pleasantries.
He shook his head, dissapointed, "Nothing on the runaway topsiders. They may not know the tunnels, but they are fast. We couldn't keep up and ended up losing their trail over by the Farley Ridge." Zarod growled, a low sound deep in her throat, and the scout added hastily, "We did find a Forgotten's hunting party, however. They're holed up in the upper tunnels. Troall is amongst them, so we suspect it might be the same party that hit us recently."
"Is that so?" She turned her gaze to the trio of bystanders. "After we hand you your prize, how about giving us a hand with ridding the caves of some nuisances?"
“Um, there’s one more thing,” the haedian interrupted before the vayrons can give their answer. “One of team had a nasty accident by the bridge. Got his foot impaled on something. Can’t see what ‘cause there’s so much blood. Medic said to take him to The Tranquil.”
Ethel’s ears perked up at this. “Is this another clan?” She asked.
“Bunch of peace lovers,” Zarod explain with a hint of distaste in her voice. “They abhor any kind of fighting but unlike the Forgotten, they keep out of our hair, so I don’t mind them too much. Also they’re good for situations like this.”
“We’ll need an escort team, ma’am.” The haedian said. “We don’t know when we’ll get jumped.”
“We can help with that escort.” Ethel said and a little taller and a little ways from Mendras’s side.
Zarod nodded and turned to Naros. “And what about you? Are you going to help us find these miscreants or travel to the Tranquil caverns? I’m sure they’ll welcome you, seeing as you’re helping the injured and all. They like that sort of thing.”
Naros pondered the question: The Forgotten seemed to be their best bet at finding more about the 'winter maker,' but on the other paw, he felt a bit awkward abandoning Ethel and Mendras after having convinced them to travel together. He stared at the ground, arguments running loops in his mind. Meanwhile, Zarod shared a look with her scout that seemed to say 'did I break him?', to which the captain could only shrug.
Well, he reasoned, they knew how to find The Forgotten -had passed some of their guards on the way here- they could always pay them a visit later. For now, he looked the vayron duo over, noting that while he'd escaped that brawl unscathed, they hadn't. With a frown and a silent apology to Kinosa, he said, "I believe it'll be more useful for me to go with the wounded to The Tranquil. I'll help the escort team, if they'll have me." He added, suddenly a bit self-conscious.
Ethel nodded, happy that they’d be sticking to together. Mendras shook his head. “Why wouldn’t we?”
The scout led the group to another large opening in the Brutes cavern. Here the injured haedian writhed and groaned on a stretcher. The injured foot was wrapped heavily in cloth and blood was beginning to soak through.
“Ah, finally!” The haedian cried as he spotted the escort team. “Can we leave now? Please?!”
“Yeah, yeah!” The scout shoved the vayron group forward and explained the formation. “Two in front, one in the back. We already have one of our own scouting ahead for you, so don’t worry about that. Now, go. Quickly!”
“I’ll take the front.” Mendras said and ran ahead of the haedians.
“I hope you don’t mind taking the back then, Naros?” Ethel asked.
"Not at all. I can do this!" Naros said, bounding to the end of the line, careful to keep a healthy distance between himself and the headian carrying the stretcher. It wouldn't do to trip and tangle them up, and he doubted the wounded scout would appreciate the tumble.
As soon as he'd taken his post, the formation began trekking up one of the larger pathways that led out of the Brutes' main living space. The tunnel was wide enough for the headians to travel unencumbered, but what fascinated Naros the most was how high the opening was. He couldn't see where the fissure ended; it was as if a giant entity had swung an axe at the earth, and they were currently walking along the path where the tool had stopped its descent.
He kept a lookout as best he could, ignoring the groaning scout and his bloody foot lest he lose his lunch. Keeping his head up was starting to give him cricks, however, and he stretched his aching muscles while briefly lowering his head to look at the ground by his feet. His breath caught as he noticed that his shadow had returned to its usual color, lacking the depth that signalled Kinosa was lurking in it. He whipped his head around, frantic in his search, until he caught a glimpse of purple light up by a faraway ledge, cleverly camouflaged amidst the light of nearby crystals.
He sighed in relief.
Still here.
Now that he was a bit calmer, the initial panic dulled to a simmering anxiety, he guessed he should have been expecting it. After all, she could only stay in her shadowed realm for so long.
-
From where she was following the escort group, Kinosa was having similar thoughts. It would have been so much simpler to stay hidden by Whirl's shade, but she had begun to feel the intoxicating pull of slumber, the siren's call that was always echoing around her world. While she'd willingly fallen to it time and time again, this once, she was too invested to let herself succumb to its temptation. She could never know how long each 'hibernation' would be, and there was no way she was taking the risk of waking up in a few decades and missing all the excitement of the headian's return!
Hiding the glow from her crown was also a hassle she'd like to avoid for as long as possible, even if it meant losing some tidbits of information due to the distance she'd have to keep from the travellers below.
The transition from the Brutes’ territory to the new clan was a far more drastic one than from the Forgotten to the Brutes. The hard rock cavern floors were replaced with damp soil, much to the vayrons surprise, and from this soil grew the strangest plants the group had ever seen. The ones in Vitalus seemed at least somewhat familiar but these plants were completely alien to them. The dim path was no longer guided by glowing crystals and lamps but by the strange trees arching over the path. Critters scattered in the bushes though no one could see what they looked like.
Pretty as it was, the vayrons remained by the stretcher. The haedian’s groans and cries of pain constantly reminded them of their objective. They had to keep moving and quickly.
“My, a visit from the Brutes!” A voice sang to them from somewhere above and ahead of them. The group slowed as a grey and pink haedian glided to meet them from the top of a strange twisted tree. A couple more brightly coloured haedians followed. They landed lightly in front of Ethel and Mendras. Naros came trotting around from the back for a closer look. The lead haedian acknowledged the vayrons with a nod before moving onto their injured.
“A nasty injury, this one. Set him down, set him down.” The lead pink haedian said. She held out a hand and another haedian dropped something small in it. She pried open his jaw and dropped it in.
“Chew,” she said. The haedian complied and suddenly he sighed with relief. Satisfied, she moved to treat the impaled foot. Ethel inched closer to watch, as did Mendras. Naros was a bit slower to follow and kept his distance.
“Ambassadors from the surface, I presume?” The haedian asked as she and her team worked swiftly, practically in sync with one another. “I am Pyrri, leader of the Tranquil clan. I’ll be glad to teach you our ways, if you are willing to learn.”
Ethel bowed her head in greeting. “I am Ethel. This is Mendras…” she waved her tail at the forged runner and then the pink puller. “And this is Naros.”
“Who is the fourth?” Pyrri asked.
Ethel blinked in confusion. “Pardon?”
“Ah, nevermind, then. Why don’t you three take up a corner so we can carry our friend to the infirmary.” She finished up and turned to smile at each of them. “There is much to show you!”