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Somewhere in the world (Candira and runawayninja)

"Father isn't moving himself or me so we can appear strong for the people. He is moving you because he cares about you and doesn't want to see you get hurt. We're playing a very dangerous game here and all of Helios is at stake." Helios, the Land of the Sun was one of the rival factions championing a new Sage.

He hugged her softly from behind. "It is what's for the best, Nora. Dear Nora...Lionel will be going, he'll keep you safe." Lionel was one of the senior knights under the ruling family of Helios, born into a position of subservience, Lionel excelled as a knight until he was initiated into the Order of the Rosen Shield, known as Aegis Knights, they were the bodyguards of the ruling family of Helios and wielded formidable martial prowess. Lionel was young and something of a martial prodigy and he had come to take his position and duty quite seriously, especially when the Lady was involved.

"Father just wants to make sure you are safe...you'll be in common disguise..." He gave the hug a squeeze to attempt to reassure her. "I only wish I could come with you myself to ensure your safety..."
 
"Yes, but shouldn't we all be strong for the people? It's not fair that I'm the only one who has to appear as a coward before my people," she said, frowning. The frown didn't go away when her brother hugged her, but it lessened considerably. She hated the thought of leaving her father and brother. And all because someone was scared. "Father loves you too," she said, softly. "You could probably come with me if you wanted."

Lionel was coming with...that was both reassuring and slightly unnerving. She'd never really dealt with him on a personal level. He was always so professional and serious that his presence was only a boone to the idea that she would be safe. Sighing, she felt the squeeze and gave up. She wasn't winning the argument, but it was made known that she was not happy. She supposed that was the best she could get for now.

"Very well. I suppose I can't stay here when father is already acting like I'm gone," she said, squeezing David's hand. "I will miss you. But I'll leave it to Lionel and Lady Candira to protect me...if she agrees to take on the job...Where am I going, anyway?"
 
David sighed softly. "You're not wrong, but...the war might turn ugly. Everyone is losing knights and soldiers, both to war and to their lands being depleted or overtaken. Father just...worries about his daughter. That's all. He's having you moved to Windfall Castle." Windfall was a castle from the days of old, one of the oldest castles in Helios. Now, it was mostly used as a monastery and church for the local populace of the rural area. "And you're going in the guise of a nun."

Lionel heard the words inside and though he would rather have been at the front, leading soldiers, this was his station and his place and it was a great honor to be entrusted with the life of the princess.
 
Nora sighed and turned around to face her brother, hugging him tightly. "I'm just going to miss you," she said, wishing that her brother was coming with her. She could live with being a nun--studying and devoting time to prayer. She could do that well. The Goddess of that monastery was Dima, the goddess of wisdom and light. There would be much for her to learn while she was there, and she could throw herself into her studies to distract her from her loneliness. After a long moment, she let David go and sat down on her bed.

"Very well, if I'm a nun, what is Lionel? And will he be leaving me as well? Or will he stay with me and protect me there?"
 
"Lionel will stay and you aren't going to leave forever. It's just until things cool down..." He didn't honestly know when that would be, nor would he tell her that he didn't know. "Lionel will be going part of the relief guard we usually send." David looked at her. "Nora, I know this is hard for you, but...just think of it as part of your duty...we all have our parts to play." He knew that was weak comfort, but it was the best he could do. Their father's word was law. He slowly started to leave the room.
 
Before her brother could fully leave, she hugged him from behind, closing her eyes. "Be safe, brother." She let him go a moment later and sighed, wishing she didn't feel so much like crying. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It was hard for her and he had provided weak comfort. Just as part of your duty. Well, she would have to deal with it. She was going.

When he was gone, she turned to her closet and started to look through her things to see what would be suitable to take with her. Unfortunately there was not much--but some of her slips and nicer nightgowns and robes could come with her. That was acceptable. Her jewels and valuables would stay here. It would be risky to take the crest, but she may need it, so she tucked it in a safe place for the time being. She also had her undergarments to bring and some items for her hair. Her maids would help her to pack tomorrow--she wouldn't be taking more than a bag or two.

After all this went through her mind, Nora sat on her bed. "Lionel?" she called.
 
The young man slowly slipped into her room through the door. He was wearing no armor, but his attire was covered in the emblem of Helios and blue and white, the colors of the land. He had misty grey eyes and short, brown hair that was combed back. Once he came in, he knelt before her, his eyes cast to the floor. "Your highness...what can I do for you?" He was intent and serious and his words reflected that.
 
She certainly wished he would loosen up a bit, though she understood the rigid discipline he'd instilled in himself. Nora had always thought he was a handsome man, but she really couldn't see past his professional demeanor at all. He'd always been honest with her, though. "When we leave it will need to be less obvious that you are my protector. You've always been very good at keeping me safe...But I wonder..." She frowned and bit her lip. "Will it be hard on you as well? To leave, that is. What or who will you be missing when we leave?"



Just then Candira saw a glint of steel along the tree line. An ambush? She climbed up next to Rafe and leaned over him shaking him gently. "Rafe," she said softly. The shine was in the distance, but they were coming up on it fairly quickly. "We may have uninvited guests."
 
Lionel stood and nodded slowly. "I understand, your highness, and when the time comes, I will do what is necessary to keep your identity safe." He looked down at the sound of her inquiry. "I have little here to miss, save for my duty. I have put my all into position and my duties, so if I am required to go, I will gladly do so. I hope not to sound heartless, especially when you're looking for comfort...I shall miss the familiarity, but I suppose this is an opportunity to see something new. I often cannot travel far from the palace..."

Rafe gasped and looked about, not from danger, but from his nightmare. When he processed what she said, he frowned and took hold of his long sword. "Where...?" He began to cautiously look about, but not obviously. If someone was going to ambush them but didn't see that they had noticed, they could have a prepared advantage.
 
Nora shook her head. "I understand. Maybe I should look at it like more of an adventure then." She smiled and shook her head. "I want to thank you for all your hard work." She bowed her head. "I'm sure you'll grow tired of me looking to you for my strength, but you'll be the only piece of home that I have. I hope I can count on you to help remind me what is important..." She sighed and looked around her. "Well, I guess there's not much time left here." With that, she returned her attention to her guardian and smiled. "You may leave if you wish. Thank you."



Lady Candira chuckled at his reaction, wondering if she'd interrupted a bad dream. For now, she made an effort to make it seem like she was just talking to a friend who'd fallen asleep. Perhaps a very good friend, considering their proximity. She glaced up at the tree line again and saw the familiar glint of steel. "A little ahead of us along the tree line. Looks like there's at least ten of them waiting there to ambush us. I can't tell much more from this distance."
 
Lionel nodded slowly. "I will do my best, your highness...I shall be understanding of your plight." He bowed again and left her to her affairs.

Rafe frowned softly. "I don't like going into ambushes...we could shout or something to warn the others. Better they come at us from the front than from the sides and right over us..." Rafe got to a squatting position, prepared to take action. He looked at her. "What do you think, m'lady?"
 
((I think I'll leave Nora now))

Candira nodded. "I'll warn the others. You make sure the goods stay safe. Try not to overdo anything," she said, squeezing his shoulder. "I'll take the front line since you're still recovering." With that, she stood up on the crates and shouted a warning to the merchants who had no idea what to do about it. "Slow to a stop. If they want us, they'll have to come and get us," she said.
 
((Yea, I was feeling I was done with the break away ^^))

Rafe saw the guards be alerted and a horn blast to alert the rear guard. A large part of the guards moved to the front as the more senior guard rallied them. Rafe drew his sword and dismounted the caravan, prepared to take anyone that got close and might've tried to come from the side. He fought the urge to move to the front with Candira.
 
Candira cast a few protection spells on herself --mostly to guard against physical damage since she was not armored, but also to repel some lower level spells and weaken stronger ones. She stood at the ready with her staff as what must have been 15 thieves came pouring out of the forest, Some firing off arrows, others waving around swords.

The redhead mage began chanting thunder spells since they had the greatest range, aiming to take out the archers.
 
When an enterprising pair of thieves thought to hit the caravan from the side, Rafe toss a rock at one, hitting him squarely in the head and knocking him back. Rafe let out a cry and surprised the other with a body bash. He knocked the both of them unconscious, feeling it was rather unnecessary to kill either of them. He had killed enough in his lifetime. He saw what was happening at the front and decided to ignore Candira's advice and head for the bulk of the fighting, using the woods to flank the enemy archers.

Rafe felt the call of the raven inside him, urging him to annihilate them, but he resolved not to.
 
Her spells were enough to stun and cause a large amount of discomfort--okay, pain. The upside was that they would live to walk away. She took out about three of the archers before she saw Rafe running through the woods. She cursed under her breath and looked behind her where the first thief he hit was getting up. Casting a freezing spell on him she knocked him flat on his ass and then headed back toward the front to take out more thieves. She was not happy with Rafe at the moment. Of course, that would have to wait.

Growling, she used a wind spell to help her up on top of the wagon crates to survey the area quickly and make sure no more were coming from behind. Nothing. With that, she hurled more spells at incoming thieves.
 
Rafe gave out a cry, to try and shock the ones he was sneaking up upon. He swung his longsword at them, aiming to wound rather than maim or kill, just taking them out of the fight. When an archer aimed down at he, managed to jump back just in time. Reflexes die hard.

He retaliated by jumping into the air and swinging his sword to bring down the branch he had been standing on with a flash of his blade.
 
The merchants held their own against the bandits and before long they were calling a retreat back into the forest, with much cheering from the merchants. It was a scattered retreat, but they were heading in the direction of Rafe, and she didn't like that idea, so she leaped off of the cart and landed gracefully before taking off and running after the thieves to help Rafe handle them. This was one of the reasons she wished he would have listened to her.
 
Rafe saw the retreat, but it wasn't quite a rout. So they could still perhaps mount a fight, but really, what did he have of value? Still, better not to take the chance, Rafe started to run away from the retreat, towards the side of the caravan, hoping to miss the mass of them. He gasped out and bolted, trying to dodge the mass of them.
 
Candira kept running for Rafe, increasingly worried as he ran. She blasted a few arrows out of the sky and ran until she met up with Rafe. The bandits seemed to be too scared or wounded to really do much else but avoid the two of them, aside from the archers that were still standing. She guided him back to the caravan and panted as they came back. A moment later when she caught her breath, she punched his shoulder. Hard.

"Why on earth would you do that?" she yelled. She was obviously referring to his leaving the cart. Thankfully none of the cargo was missing or damaged. She, however, had been more worried about him.
 
Rafe was stunned for a second but he looked at her. "I...it's not in me to not do something when I can. Not anymore. I could've helped, so I did...I didn't want anymore of the guards to get hurt than necessary." He slowly grabbed his stomach, once again badly sore. "I'm...sorry I didn't act to your expectations, but I couldn't act against my nature..." His words were a little brow-beaten, but had the sting of a bit of self-defense and defiance in them. As if he was proclaim this was a line he could not, would not cross.
 
She watched his hand go to his stomach and glared at him. "You're an idiot," she said. "You could have gotten killed or captured, and you strained yourself too much!" At this she gestured to his stomach. "I told you to stay there and guard it because you could have seriously hurt yourself. It's admirable that you would want to help them, but you have to know when to keep those feelings in check." She frowned, her expression softening just a bit. "And I swear if you say, 'but I didn't get hurt, did I?' I will beat the living daylights out of you."

Okay, so she didn't make a lot of sense at the moment--but she was angry that he hadn't listened to her. Angry because she'd been worried and because those stupid thieves might have had a bargaining chip if they'd actually gotten a hold of him and especially if he had been wounded. She threw up her arms and stalked off to a different cart, motioning for the merchants to get ready to leave. She wasn't in the best of moods at the moment, and it didn't seem as if he had been inclined to listen to her.
 
Rafe took her statements without anything from himself and when she stomped off, he quietly returned to the wagon they had been sitting on previously and he sat quietly in thought. He mulled over his actions and wondered if perhaps he should have taken her advice. Lost in thought, he brought his ocarina to his lips and began to play something soft and sad.
 
After a few moments, the Merchants got moving again and Candira fumed in her own little cart for a while until she calmed down a bit. After awhile, she heard Rafe begin to play his ocarina and she felt a little bad for yelling at him. She was justified, in her eyes, but the sad sound emanating from the cart he was in made her feel like she might have been a bit too harsh...Frowning, she realized that she was going to have to be the one to say she was sorry first.

The idea that he looked up to her in an almost idyllic way made her feel even worse. Now she really wanted to apologize. So she climbed down and off of the cart before walking over to the wagon he was in. She climbed up and frowned as she found him. "So what song is that?" she asked, trying to get to the reason she was there slowly and ease into it.
 
The music ceased to be when she spoke.

"..."

For a moment he was utterly silent and didn't move. Then his head slowly cocked and turned towards her. There was a scowl of immutable fury etched upon his face and his eyes were glowing an intense red, the entirety of his eyes filled with the same red. For a moment, a brief split-second of supernatural horror, he was frozen in this position, looking at the wall of the wagon, half his face revealed to her.

"I don't know it's name." As if the moment was only in her head, or maybe he didn't recall it, Rafe was completely normal in a split second. His face was relaxed and somber, a little sad. His eyes the same soft green as before, filled with regret for his actions and sadness for having hurt her in such a way. "It's just a song about the life of a soldier, I picked it up in my wanderings. I'm sorry I went against your word...I thought I would be more help but...I think you were right. I put the caravan in more danger this way."
 
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