Re: All That Glitters

Sandkitten Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:34 am

Tychon sits by the fire and listens to Illyanna cry. It's about all there is to listen to out here. There are the sounds of nature at night, of course, but he's become so accustomed to them that they hardly tip off his ears to their presence. If anything were out of place, he would know it, but the only thing out of place here and now is here. He would have been out here anyway, in a short while. Once those idiots finished running in circles and realized that he wasn't trying to pull one over on them. He frowns as he thinks about it. Black Order or not, there's no reason for them to have suddenly turned on him like that. It's beyond the fragile tread of politics - it was brash, and unprecedented. Their reactions to his explanation was almost as if they had expected every word he'd said.

Raising his head, he pulls his bag over to him and rummages until he finds the letter he'd swiped from the Grandmaster's hand. It's too dark to read it now, and he doesn't care to get it too close to the fire. But he inspects the seal in the wax. The wax is red - symbolic of the Order to which the sender belongs - but the crest isn't one he recognizes. It doesn't seem like a crest at all. It's just a circle with two lines inside of it, not quite forming a proper shape at all.

Tucking the letter back into his bag, he stretches out beside the smoldering fire, pulling his cloak up around him. The stars are bright, so he stares at them for a short while as he waits for his mind and body to settle into a relaxed state more welcoming for sleep. There's nothing for him to say right now to comfort his companion - by the sound of it, she's already cried herself to sleep. So he just waits for sleep to come to him as well, closing his eyes.

SharpestLife19 Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:45 am

Illyana's tears continue until she drifts off to sleep. Though she is tired, her sleep is fitful. There is too much on her mind to sleep peacefully. She tosses and turns, somehow managing to stay within her lean-to. When morning rolls around she is reluctant to rise. She is unsure she's adequately prepared for the new world awaiting her this morning. She takes a deep breath and rises nonetheless. Looking around the lean-to, she tries to straighten Mr. Solomon's tunic and fix her hair a bit. There's no brush out here and that she finds lamentable, but there's nothing to be done about it.

Her pale and tired face peeks out from the lean-to, to find Mr. Solomon still asleep. Her stomach grumbles and she grumbles back at it, not feeling the least bit optimistic about what lies ahead. There's nothing but rotwood around, so she pulls the sleeping mat out from the lean-to for something to sit on. For once, she is pleased that there is not a mirror in sight, though she wishes she didn't have to show her face to Mr. Solomon. She has a feeling that she looks as bad as she feels this morning.

Sandkitten Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:59 am

Tychon hears Illyanna begin to move about, the sound pulling him out of his own slumber, but he doesn't move just quite yet. He flexes where he lays, testing his muscles after straining them yet again with another night on the ground. Yawning quietly, he clears his mind of the last remnants of the night's fog, and finally pulls the cloak off from over his face, sitting up slightly. He looks about the same as he did yesterday - something of a mess, but not intolerably so. A little dirtier, too, for having taken off layers and exposing new clothing to the ground as he slept. His whiskers are growing, a beard starting to set in while it grows unattended.

Ash is all that remains of last night's fire, and he's careful not to stick his hand in it as he rights himself, stretching properly. Looking over at his companion, he can see that she didn't sleep well, and she still has a heavy heart and a heavy mind. There's no breakfast over which to mull and sort things out, so he takes a pull on his wineskin. Standing, he moves over to where she sits and offers her a hand up, or the wineskin if she prefers. "Good morning." Morning is an approximate term - the sun is up, but it's low, so it's probably only just morning. But there's not really any definitive way to tell the time.

SharpestLife19 Mon Mar 19, 2012 9:09 pm

Good morning isn't quite the appropriate term. It is barely morning and certainly not good. Illyana would be happy to do without it. She accepts the help up. Mr. Solomon isn't looking all that good...dirtier and hairier, she guesses. And she already knows she looks just as bad. She feels bad too. Just horrible. And what will happen to them now? They will likely be chased by the Guard, run out into the middle of nowhere. She wonders how they will ever know where they are.

"Mr. Solomon..." She pauses, not sure how to go on, "What is going to happen to us? Do you think the Guard will chase after us? Do you know where we are? Or where we are going? Will they spread word to other cities not to allow us in? Do you know?"

Sandkitten Mon Mar 19, 2012 9:51 pm

He attempts to dust himself off, as best he can, letting his mind absorb his questions. This isn't anything new for him - every third village he visits, he leaves unpeacably. But this isn't her life. "I don't have all the answers. But I'll tell you what I do know. Or at least, what I surmise."

He begins pacing, as seems to be his way when he thinks and pulls information out of the air to line up neatly on a platter for the curious. "Last question first. No, I don't think they'll spread word to other cities - they have no way of knowing where we're headed, and even if they did, I suspect they wouldn't try and head us off. We're out of their hair, and not their problem anymore. That more or less sums up the answer to your second question as well, so we'll move on. I know where we are... ish. At the very least, I know where we're not, so we can work backwards from there. I'm not one hundred percent sure where we're going, but I'll be able to figure that out shortly. And as far as what's going to happen to us-" He turns to face her, and stops pacing. "-well, at the moment, nothing. So far as the Guard and the Academy, we're not in any danger. And I'll tell you why." He turns as if to find a board, or a wall, but there's nothing to write on here, so he turns back to her, throwing his arms up.

"The Ordinances of the Learned and Gathered aren't up for interpretation, and what they were attempting to do to me was, in a word, illegal. Even in time of war, there's a protocol for retaining suspected rogue users. The Grandmaster was subverted. I suspect that this had something to do with it." He goes back to his bag and pulls out the letter he swiped the day before. "They're not going to follow us because if they do, they out themselves as being rogue themselves - or at least, having their own interests in mind, rather than the interests of the Orders, and balance."

He breathes out a heavy sigh and runs his hands through his hair, tousling it slightly. "So again, what's going to happen to us, right now, is nothing. If you want to... find out where your family is, where they're traveling, then I'll help you find them and leave you in their care. If you don't -that is, if you want to come with me, help me - then... I'll keep you safe. Whatever happens, whatever road this possible fool's errand leads down, I will ensure your safety." He clears his throat. "Additionally, you're not yet a Master, and we're no longer within the confines of the Academy. So you're free to explore other avenues of magik of you so desire, and I'm not under restraint if you should be wanting for a teacher while we're on this expedition. But that is all entirely up to you."

SharpestLife19 Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:05 pm

Everything became overwhelming again. Now there was another choice. Continue on with this man, into the unknown or try to find her family. But if she did, then she would have to tell them what happened. She wasn't sure she was ready for that. Or how they would react. She fears they would be horribly disappointed in her. She heaves a sigh and tries to brush back a stray hair which landed in her face. At the same time she wasn't sure she wanted to hang out with this guy, he needed help. Even if he couldn't admit it.

Her own school had betrayed her and left her no choice but to leave. Now she was left trying to decide what, if anything, she had been taught was true or if everything she learned there was part of some intricate web of lies. Finding out the world could end, everyone has lied to her and now being out here in this unknown place with this unknown man...it was simply more than a person should be expected to deal with. She wasn't sure if she could keep herself together.

She starts to speak, but only gets out a 'well' that sounds like she choked on it before stopping again. What is there to say? He can't possibly understand what mental and emotional anguish this has caused her. And when it came down to it, wasn't it really his fault? Everything had been fine before he came along. Maybe she should go find her family. Or at the least, get away from this guy. But without her family or him, she had no resources. This was incredibly unfortunate.

Sandkitten Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:42 pm

He stands there for a few moments, waiting for her to say something more than a half-formed "well," but when nothing else comes out, he turns and begins slowly pacing again, but silently this time. Unfolding the letter in his hands, he holds it in front of him while he paces, reading. He reads it, and then reads it again with a darker expression on his face. The third time he reads it, he isn't even reading it anymore - he's analyzing it. The handwriting, the paper, the ink, the greeting, the signoff, everything he can soak in about it. There's a look in his eyes that's been suppressed until these moments - until now, he's been relatively calm and collected. Hell, he let the girl pelt him int he face with a book just to assuage her. But now, the line between his eyebrows clearly shows how angry he is.

He stops pacing, and thrusts the letter out to Illyanna without looking at her - his gaze is fixated on some point in the distance. He offers no explanation for his change in countenance.

"Grandmaster and Masters of Caythius Academy of Magik and of the Red Order,
The last surviving son of the black Solomon line has entreated you to allow him entry to the darker corners of your history. He will produce evidence of a dire and pressing outbreak of elemental nature. With this evidence he intends to request further access to your records. He seeks to further his own grasp over the Red arts. The lady Hevekta Solomon is preoccupied and is not in a position to abandon household for her son's betterment.
With due respect,
a friend, RD Ar"

"What... do you make of this?"

SharpestLife19 Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:55 pm

Mr. Solomon is reading a letter and whatever it says, Illyana can see plainly that it angers him. She's drawn from her own thoughts, filled with concern. What could be so troubling? He hands her the letter and asks what she makes of it. Her eyes follow the words down the page to the signature, where she starts from the beginning again. Her brow furrows more in confusion than anger. RD Ar? Could it be Master Arimus? RD could mean red, of course. If it were, that would mean he was in communication with someone who knew a lot more than everyone else. Or thought they knew more. Why did everything and everyone she believed in have to be filled with lies? It is infuriating!

Passing the letter back to Mr. Solomon, she hazards to verbalize her thoughts. "It is possible it is Master Arimus. RD for red. Ar for Arimus. But who on earth would be telling HIM this information? Or did he make it up? Or is it someone else entirely? Gods, I HATE not knowing the answers!" She wears a rather cute expression of anger at this point.

Sandkitten Mon Mar 19, 2012 11:09 pm

Unfortunately, Tychon misses her expression of frustration, still focused on some point off in the distance. "And I hate knowing only half of them. But the half I know..." He looks back at the letter, disgust wrinkling his nose briefly. "I don't believe your Master Arimus had anything to do with this. RD isn't a single word, it's one letter each for two words. R for red, D for... I have a suspicion it means dragon, since one of the sub-orders is the order of the Red Dragon. Ar would be a location of the sub-order facet, probably Azruaor. But that-" He smacks the letter with the back of his hand. "-is not what... drives me mad. This had to have arrived between the period when I arrived, and when we resurfaced. Whoever delivered this was either following me, or expecting me to arrive when I did. And it could be EITHER, given the rest of these details. Whoever wrote this has been watching me, has been watching my FAMILY, and somehow they knew what I would find before I did. Or at least they knew what my mother had seen in the stars. But they knew that I would bring back evidence. Oh my god." He crumples the letter in his hand and tosses it away, rubbing his face as he begins to pace again. "What IS THIS?"

The pacing doesn't seem to help, as he continues to do nothing but murmur to himself for the better part of a minute, only a few words floating up out of the noise for her to make out. Words like "insidious" and "spies", "stars" and "plot", "ochlocracy", "rabble", and "burning." Bending over, he snatches up the letter and pressed it out flat again, murmuring still, but beginning to quiet. Finally sighing, he folds the letter up and sticks in into a pocket inside his vest. "Whoever wrote this is clearly after something... but I don't know what. The tone of the letter is all wrong. Nevermind that it's full of half-truths... there's just something wrong about the whole thing. If this person is supposedly turning me in, then what do they get out of it? The personal satisfaction that a Black Master is being held captive by the Red Order?" He frowns and continues to pace, wearing a line in the dirt.

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