Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

"So, yeah," she said, "We're gonna go to the Golden Cliffs. I reckon we'll be gone maybe four trials an' if there's an issue I'll send Snaffle back, or Noodle. They'll let Jasper know, at the very least. A'right?" Vega had just finished signing them out of the "administration tent" in Sweetsong. It was part of what they did and she'd explained it to Arlo. No one here was required to do it, but if they didn't do it, then no one would come looking for them if they didn't come back. It seemed entirely fair to Vega and, in fairness, everyone did it.

Then, shouldering her pack she bumped against Arlo's shoulder as they walked out. "I'm figurin' it'll be like last time, but there's these Daia lion cubs, see." Walking next to them, of course, was . Next to Madam Leona, the Dire Lioness, walked an adult Constellion - Sparks, as Vega knew him, was a companion granted by Daia as her mark from the Immortal grew and both of them wanted to come along. "An' I need to find them. I'm goin' to explore the areas of Scalv what are easier to hide in an' so I reckon this is the place to start. Also, we can get some more o' that honey an' I wanna properly explore this time, too." She grinned at him. "Maybe we'll kill ourselves some grizzly bees an' I can update my bee wardrobe." She waggled her eyebrows at him and grinned. Her bumble-bee hat was a thing of delight to Vega - she didn't care how stupid it looked, she loved it for what it was and what it represented.

Arlo, of course, had not been back long. Other people might worry about them traipsing out on a foolhardy adventure so soon after he got back, but Vega didn't bat an eyelid. It was what he needed, she reckoned and, if it wasn't, he'd enjoy it when they got going. Frankly, she thought it was just what the doctor ordered and she figured it would do him the world of good. "So, Vindecaldra gave me her effigy like I told you. But I got some well wicked powers ," she said. "I breathe out this cone of flames what can give you energy an' stuff, or I can breathe out liquid metal. I can melt metal with my mitts, if I feel so inclined. I can turn liquid metal solid, an' I've got those wings. But most useful by far has to be that I can make liquid metal. Any metal I know, I can make. So, if you want another cast iron pot, qu'ama, you jus' let me know an' I'll make you a dozen." She grinned at him.

He had the effigy of Draithidir, Vega knew, and she wondered about that. But, she figured, he'd tell her when he'd figured it outonce it's released!. As they walked, she looked around to try and spot any general issues . They'd been here before and the Golden Cliffs looked much as they had but Vega frowned just slightly. Then, she moved towards a break in the bushes around the base of the Golden Cliffs and she dropped to her heels.

"Hey, look here," she said. She'd spotted some tracks which seemed very out of place here. "These are lion tracks, I reckon?" Looking up at Arlo she raised an eyebrow. The tracks led them away from the Golden Cliffs, or at least away from the direct path. But then, the two of them were very much of the opinion that off the usual beaten track was more interesting. Motioning, she pointed to the fact that the tracks led them down what seemed to be a dark and semi-hidden trail.

With a wide grin at her husband, Vega raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You wanna?" she asked. She didn't have to ask, she knew, but it was too much fun not to.

Arlo didn't like the whole signing out thing and Vega grinned at him. "No one has to do it," she said. This was true. "We only do it if we accept that, if we go missin', we'd want someone to look for us. Other than me, I guess." Her eyes were swirls of yellowamused and violetrelieved - violet having been present since his return. "They seem to think I'm the boss an' so I'm kind of ... I dunno." Vega shrugged. She'd never thought about leading a place like this, really, and she hadn't expected it to become what it had. Sweetsong had grown into bigger than she thought it would ever - and it had done so quickly. It meant that there were a lot of people looking to her for leadership and Vega simply did the best she could. It was, generally speaking, ok - but she understood Darius' point of view and feeling of responsibility more now.

Grinning at Arlo, she bumped shoulders with him and said, honestly. "I don't care if you do or don't sign in or out, Arlo. I don't care if no one does. If you don't an' you go missin', I'll come lookin' for you anyway an' anyhow," she knew that what she was about to say was a dreadful amount of showing off, but she couldn't help herself. "I don't need to know where anyone's gone. If I'm lookin' for them, I can usually find them. It's jus' for everyone else what isn't as talented as we are."

They walked and teased each other and when he suggested a grizzly bee coat, she laughed. "I were thinkin' a pair o full length bloomers an' a hat." Nodding her head sagely, she considered it. "Maybe under the coat? We'll need to skin a lot of bees." She considered it and decided that yes, she would look very fine in a full length bee-skin coat. She knew he was joking, but still. She shook her head though, when he said that she could breathe fire. "Not harmful fire. If you got it full blast, you'd jus' feel re-energised an' stuff. " She sniffed, disdainfully, when he rejected her cast iron pan and said, obviously joking, "Please yourself. Your loss you ole preservative." She didn't know whether she could make a pan, or whether it would be any good if she did. But it was something to tease him about and that was fun.

The tracks they came across were interesting and Arlo's comment about them being juveniles caused her to look again. She nodded at that assessment. She asked him if he wanted to take the strange and slightly unnerving path and, true to form, he asked her if she had to ask. Vega grinned at him and her eyes flooded the particular shade of greenHappy that only ever happened when she was with him. If it was anyone else, then they'd maybe have to say things but the slowly returningI'm assuming they're coming back slowly, I figure anything else would be overwhelming links they shared meant that they both knew anyhow and, frankly, Vega wasn't the type to dwell on things. He was home and that meant that they were here and thus, she was happy. It was as simple - and as complicated - as that. The rest of it would work itself out.

"Lead on, McCreede" she said with a flourish of her hand. She made sure to be close behind him, though and she kept an eye out.

It was a good job she did.

The lion prints had continued, and there were signs that this was a well-trod path for these juvenile lions. But as they walked through the narrow, twisting path, Vega put her hand on him. She didn't speak, but she signed to him as she pointed to a large gnarly-looking tree. It was much bigger than most of the trees here, seeming to be very ancient.

"Look," she signed, and her finger traced what seemed to be a small - but big enough - door. It was snug and very difficult to spot but she'd gotten lucky. Arlo was as good at this as she was and she had no doubt that he'd see it too. There was a twisted knot that, once she'd seen the door was clearly just too well placed and Vega glanced at Arlo, signed her intention to him and then carefully and slowly, she checked for traps or wires which were hidden in the overgrown and dark area. She felt the usual flood of adrenaline at the circumstances and, when he was ready for her to, she pressed the knot.

And the door opened, swinging inwards to reveal a small, tight, dark but obviously constructed by mortals, tunnel. Vega grinned at Arlo and raised an eye.

Arlo's description of Delroth's daughter caused Vega to raise an eyebrow. She didn't say anything - she didn't need to - she simply arched an eyebrow and gave him A Look. Of course, since they were once again linked and knew each other's emotions, he would know that she was nothing more than amused and - of course - teasing him because she could. She considered it her duty, in fact, to torment him as often and as much as possible. However that coat of his sounded good, she said. "Remember when we went down into the Scalv Mountain an' fought Wilma the Wonder Weed?" Vega said with a grin. "That would have been handy then, wouldn't it?" It was warm, there, she had to admit. They'd been jumping around over lava rivers and dodging fire which Wilma spat at them. Not the most fun they'd ever had.

Their journey today led them to a large tree with a suspicious knot and the pair of them were cautious. Vega considered that they'd probably matured sufficiently that they were so and she smiled to herself at that thought. Three children of their own and two who lived with them and that wasn't what made her feel mature or more responsible, she thought to herself. No, it was the fact that she took the time to check for traps. In many ways, she thought, that simply disproved her theory -maybe, in fact, she hadn't grown up at all. Either way, her thought processes stopped as she met Arlo's gaze and nodded her agreement then pressed the button.

The door swung open and they made their way in. Arlo groused about the size of it and Vega gave a grin. "You callin' me big an' swarthy, Creede?" It was true, she had to bend forward too - she was a slight bit shorter than Arlo, but not much and while she didn't match his muscle, this was not a place for tall folks. Lyova lit the way for them, and Vega smiled at the small creature. "Thanks, Lyova. Oh, that reminds me. Now might be a good time to introduce you to Noodle." If Arlo thought she was joking, then one glance at her would tell him that she wasn't. And, indeed, her appeared, wearing a cowboy hat. "He's an extra pair of hands, basically, an' he works at the same level of skill as me. Don't you Noods?"

He nodded, waved at Arlo and then disappeared again. Vega grinned. "He were well useful in the pirate attack. I spoke, an' he wrote what I said on the echo scroll so I could keep on fightin' but also let people know what were happenin', you know?" Her lips pursed at that, and she considered that - of course - he wouldn't know. "They attacked all over Scalvoris. From Haven an' Hopetoun an' Saoire's School on Faldrass to Almund an' Gunvorton an' Scalv proper. They were lookin' for the fire forged rose. You remember that rose what I touched in the burned out Inn that put the demon in my head?" The demon that had caused her to turn all lava-like whenever she picked up a weapon and so she'd decided to run away. "You know, that demon of good judgement an' excellent plannin' what briefly inhabited me?" The irony of her words was clear - she knew she'd been foolish then. "They were lookin' for that rose. Which is stupid, because it's power is all in my sword." She put her hand on the hilt of her sword which bore the fire-forged rose symbol. It had all happened the trial before he'd come home so she figured he didn't know. "People died. Not in Sweetsong, because we thwapped away the pirates an' smooshed their stupid boats. But everywhere else." She gave a slight grin. "An' Kura's sendin' some Elements to come stay in Sweetsong for a bit. I'm goin' to train them to be less useless."

That was the plan, anyhow.

They made their way forward, and Arlo quickly spotted some areas on the floor. Looking at them, Vega saw what he meant. It didn't look quite right, although people had tried hard to make it look natural. She knelt to look more closely and frowned. Lifting her head to speak to him, to confirm what he was saying, the words didn't leave her mouth as he whispered to listen. There was a noise in the distance, although as much as she strained to hear it she couldn't quite make it out. Distance was distorting what she could hear, no doubting it. But there was something else.

Kneeling there, she had looked up to speak to Arlo and as she listened carefully, Lyova just happened to fly in the right place. The light from the small fairy caught Vega's eye and she motioned to Arlo. Pointing to the far wall, she said softly. "There's tiny holes in that wall. Like maybe you step on these things an' somethin' gnarly pops out an' pierces your skin an' kills you dead?" Vega didn't like this at all. This was too close to Sweetsong for her liking and it was all far, far too manufactured.

The sound continued and Vega continued to listen to it. "Arlo, it's on a loop," she said. "It's got a rhythm, like it's repeatin' itself ev'ry few minutes. Listen," she said. Rhythm was one of her Domains as Faldrun's daughter and this sound had a pattern. "Well, no point hangin' about. We're goin' across. I'm goin' to dance across an' you're goin' to flickedy flack across." She waited for his acknowledgement of what was an inevitability and, as long as he didn't disagree, that was exactly what Vega did.

One thing that had changed since Arlo had been gone was that to Vega So, when they had agreed and she did do it, she danced as she moved - but her movements were The other side of the trapped area and the noise was more clear. It was still hard to make out exactly, but Vega stood, quietly, and then whispered. "Does that sound like people practicin' combat to you?"

The sound came from ahead and to the left of them. The corridor, however, also veered off to the right if they chose to go that way. Vega motioned for Arlo to choose.

"You're the only one beatin' yourself up about that," Vega said in response to his assertion that he should have been there. "No one died in Sweetsong. No one were really injured." That was the bottom line. It wasn't the point as far as he was concerned, she knew - and if Arlo needed to beat himself up a bit, that was up to him and she wouldn't decry him for it, it was his process and she respected that. And, of course, the reality was that people had died around Scalvoris, and they'd been injured aplenty - something they could both feel guilty for.

So, Vega focused on the here and the now. On being here, with him, doing what they did best; namely, getting into trouble.

She danced and leapt across, following in his footsteps. As she landed, she gave a grin to him, but her eyes were serious because she knew that she had to add to the answer she'd given. Because he'd been gone a lot longer than that one night. "What matters to me, what's always been the only thing what matters to me, is that you choose to be with me, like I choose to be with you." Her hand touched his, briefly, and her eyes were earnest, slow moving and intense. "I can't blame you for not bein' with me when you had no choice, because that would be stupid an' I try to avoid stupid. Bein' angry at yerself for somethin' that you couldn't help is daft, but you're allowed on account of bein' male an' all that." Shrugging slightly she pointed out what was obvious to her. "I didn't go lookin' for you, either. I mean, I know why I didn't, I had a new baby an' I had no idea where to start, but that were a choice. You don't seem quick to be annoyed at that, but are happy to be annoyed at somethin' you can't change an' couldn't control?" His insistence on beating himself up wasn't something she understood.

Of course - she recognised it in herself and he had pulled her out of more than one dark place - both literally and figuratively. If he needed it, she considered, she'd give him a kicking in order to force him out of such nonsense. But, for now, she needed him to know that he was enough.

They turned their attention to what was going on here and Arlo pointed out that it sounded like drills. Vega nodded in agreement. It sounded like Storm's Edge and every other time she'd experienced the military. He wanted to avoid the potential for conflict and she agreed with him, so they took the left-hand turn.

It went on and down, winding in a slow spiral and always with a feeling of descending. It was dark and oppressive. More than once, she wondered if they were moving at all or just going in circles but, after a while, she stopped. There, in front of them, the floor changed. Spanning the width of the corridor were two tiles - one black, one white. They went in a checkerboard pattern far into the distance - too far for either of them to jump. Vega looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "I don't like it," she said, kneeling to examine the floor. "It feels like a trap. It looks like a trap. But I can't find nothin'."

Perplexed, she looked up at her husband querulously. "What'cha think?" Vega asked, fairly sure that Arlo would, at the very least, have some ideas.

He was fooling no-one. Not her, not himself and not ... Vega thought about it and then spoke, good-natured teasing. "You' know, not even Bert believes you an' yer easy-breezy lemon-squeezy" Vega said, referring of course to the stuffed toy which shared her side of the bed. She was always his choice, though, and she knew that. There was no doubt in her mind and she didn't need to worry. Arlo was there when he was there - and if he wasn't that wasn't something she was going to stress about. The only time she would be concerned was if he was choosing to not be there - that was something else. It hadn't been his choice, so it wasn't worth fretting over.


She chuckled slightly, though. "I weren't tryin' to put you off. You were too young to understand, that's all." It had been a long time since she'd teased him about his age, she thought. Of course, these days by virtue of weirdness, he was older than her. Still, he'd been eighteen arcs and her twenty - it had been enough of a difference that she felt justified in tormenting him then.


"Well, that's jus' like you, Creede innit?" Vega grinned at him. "I give you two options an' you take the third. Marvellous." She grinned and nodded at him. "That makes sense to me. Lets swing across an' avoid all the tile gubbins in it's entirety"

It was easy enough for them - for him, in fairness - to get the rope in place and swinging across was straightforward. Once they had done so - and with the associated acrobatics required - they managed to get across. As soon as they landed, there was a change in the air around them. It was stale, but there was also a scent of decay and Vega looked at Arlo with some concern in her eyes. Because, if there were things decaying down here, then there were things.

Maybe things which ate them.

Vega didn't speak, but she signed to him. Their mutual ability to use Common Sign had come in handy more than once.

"It's stinky in here," she signed. Her nose twitched as she closed her eyes and breathed in more deeply. Then, her eyes opened again. "It's a familiar smell, but it can't be right, Arlo. They don't live here. It smells like that..." her hands hesitated, and she spelled out - badly - the letters. "S.P.U.R.R.M.U.R.L.U.R..... oh, bun that. The big bloody thing we called Bob in Desnind. Remember? It smells like Bob."

Of course, "we" calling it Bob was something of an exaggeration on Vega's part, but the smell being it? Well, she was convinced that it was a spulmokawarta or, as she called it a 'spurmalurmawumpa'. And, as she signed the word Bob, from down the corridor, in the dark, came a low, deep growl.

And then another.