A Neko's Quest (Star x Ryax)

[Falling Star]

The fisherman's wagon came to a stop in from of the gates of the great city. The alabaster walls were painted on colors of orange and pink as the sun set. Lillia was always in awe of the majestic city, even it's walls an impressive sight to the little neko from a little village. The old fisherman neko spoke in quite tones to the guards, making small talk before opening the gates. A smile flashed across the girl's features. This is it.

It had been a long journey since this morning. As soon as the sun beams hit her eyes, she was awake, and finishing the last her her packing. She had scrounged up every bit of coin and carefully tied her coin purse to her belt, right next to her trusty dagger. She had spent the last several years working odd jobs and doing favors around the village to save up for this trip. Her clothing was light, as it was late spring and getting warmer, but practical. A traveling cloak, a plain tan knee length skirt and matching tunic made or durable materials and leather boots. Her pack was filled with also practical items; a tarp, a pot, flint, food, and whatever else she thought would be handy.

She turned to her mirror, giving herself one last look. She was small, even for a neko, but capable. She was not prissy or afraid to get her hands dirty, and it showed with obvious musculature on her small frame. She was still quite feminine though, her bust developing as she entered womanhood, her body getting curves that did not exist before. Her hair was long and dark, and had a distinct bluish tint to it, her furry ears and tail matching. Her eyes were also dark and blue, with some hints of green. She had an eager air to her, the way her eyes shined, the way she held herself. Smiling at this observation she stepped away from the mirror, and out to the front room of her house. Her grandmother was there, waiting for her her.

"Yer a foolish girl, you know that?"

"I know Nana." Lillia said with a smile, trying not to roll her eyes. She loved her grandmother dearly, but she could be a stubborn old crotchety thing. That was why she couldn't leave until today, her 16th birthday, the day she became her one neko. Her grandmother would not allow it, and she was not one to disrespect her only living relative.

"Yer grandfather was foolish! That's where you got it from! It was his foolishness that got 'em killed ya know!"

"I know Nana." she repeated. "I promise I will come back. I promise." she swore, looking her grandmother in the eye.

"I hope you will." she said, and then continued in hushed tones. "You got a good head on yer shoulders girl. You know what needs to get done. If anyone can save this old town, it's you."

Lillia hugged her grandmother tight, trying not to cry. She blinked back her tears, knowing her Nana was doing the same, hearing her ragged breaths. Before she lost her resolve she let go of her grandmother and rushed through her front door, not looking back. She walked briskly down the one path in the village, out to the main road where the fisherman was waiting for her. She hopped on the back of the cart he was hauling, and he flicked the reins on his mule. They started off, the sun shining bright on the first leg of her journey.


That morning and afternoon passed, and now, in the twilight she and the fisherman parted ways after entering the city. She thanked him and he wished her good luck before she started down the sidewalk, her destination well known. The local tavern, where travelers came to rest, and more importantly, swords-for-hire came to get business. She pushed open the wooden door to the establishment, the scent of mead, old wood, and roasted meats greeting her. It was only the beginning of her quest, but everything seemed to be going perfect. She would be able to complete it, and save her village.

I just know it.

 

[Ryax]

RE: A Neko's Quest

It was a day like any other day. There had been a plenitude of jobs available at the tavern, ranging from lowly, even degrading, to awesome and luxurious. As every day, the shining knights in armor, clad with experience and radiating might had taken all the better jobs, because that's what everyone who looked for a warrior wanted. It would clearly assure that the job would be done, and both parties would get even more rich and famous. They wouldn't want a nobody to do their prestigious jobs. The nobodies always got the lowly and degrading jobs. Today however, there had been an especially lowly job available, in the end involving a rather large chicken, eggs, dirt, canines and couple of people from the higher standing society. No further details will be revealed about this, as it is far too degrading and painful to read about.

The lowliest jobs had, as always, for the past couple of months, gone to our local lowly hero, Ryax. Ryax had recently finished a couple years of training to become a full fledged warrior! It was a most prestigious occupation, at least from what he had seen. The part's he had not seen was the lowly parts of being a rookie, until you struck fame. It didn't help that during his training, he had made a large, early mistake, due to faults in the teachers instructions, unfairly labeling him as a failure for the duration of his training.

Despite his current reputation as a warrior, he had been very excited about finally getting his first job at the local tavern. When he had first made his way to the tavern, he was radiating with excitement, wanting to earn his own coins and wanting to help people out. The tavern keep didn't exactly give him the sort of graceful job he had hoped for, but none the less he took it with genuine excitement. Ever since that day, he had been stuck with lowly jobs, not even getting a fair chance when it came to choose a better job. The higher ranking warriors and knights had always pushed him aside, stealing the jobs from him right in front of his nose. He tried to stand up for himself but he had always gotten shut down, always defeated in battle against the other warriors and knights, who had much more experience and better equipment then him. He had gotten himself a terrible standing within the city and was beginning to loose faith in himself.

On this particular day, Ryax was feeling worse then he had felt for a long time. The particularly lowly job had possibly... made him sunk lower in the eyes of everyone. But never the less, he had gotten his pay, so he could finally afford that fancy, shiny steel sword he had been eying for a while at the local weapon smith. It was the last thing that was missing for him to complete his very own equipment set! With this... he would look much more appealing for the customers, he would be able to take on better jobs and finally, finally climb the ladder of fame.

He made his way over to the weapon smith and slammed his coin purse down the counter and yelled with much excitement, "Smith! Today is the day I finally get my hands on that sword!". The smith laughed as he approached Ryax, sarcastically replying, "HA! Really? Have you finally collected enough scrap metal for me to FORGE you one!?". "Ha. Ha. HA! I really have the money this time..", Ryax said with a calm expression, yet his voice a little irritated. Ryax poured out almost all of his coins onto the counter and pointed at the shiny steel sword in the back of the shop and said excitedly, "That one. I've been eying that one for months now... I finally have enough money!". The smith eyed the coins and muttered something while walking over to the sword, picking it up and bringing it back, laying it on the counter and started to count the coins in front of him. The smith finally said, "Yes... It seems about right.". The smith looked over Ryax for a little while and said, "Hey kid.. You finally have all of your own gear now. Maybe you can finally get out of the hole you have dug for yourself.". Ryax quickly replied, "But it wasn't my fau....", he stopped himself and sighed deeply as a fake smile appeared on his lips. He continued, "Yea... I hope I can start getting somewhere now. Maybe even get out of here..", his voice was clear but dreamy. Ryax grabbed the sword and tied it firmly by its sheath to his belt. "There we go... Time to head back to the tavern, I'll see you later!", he said as he waved to the smith and headed off towards the tavern.

While walking towards the tavern, he passed by a mirror shop. As he passed by he couldn't help but to glace over himself to see himself in action with his new sword. He performed a few poses, looking rather hilarious to anyone that would have seen him, which of course a lot of people did. Ryax was a shy 5'6'' in height, a bit thin but still held a perfect frame for speed, power and taking hits. During his training he had worked really hard, developing nice and lean muscles to help the people in need. He had a semi-short, dark brown hair color, with it's style naturally being rather messy and all over the place. His eyes had a dark, deceptive brown color to them; they seemed to draw much attention from the rest of himself. His gear complimented his body type fairly well and was primarily shaped by the new steel sword he just bought, a dark green leather tunic, some stylish black leather pants and a red, full cloak, just to feel more like the hero that he wanted to be. The rest of his gear was quite plain, not really noteworthy but it did what it was supposed to do nonetheless. Despite the plainness, he was satisfied over his look, it suited him pretty well. He turned around decisively and resumed his path to the local tavern.

When he arrived at the tavern, the sky had begun to grow darker. Ryax made his way through the wooden doors of the tavern, greeted by the much familiar smell he had grown a bit fond of over the months. In the murmur of the tavern, some quiet laughs were heard, clearly directed at him, as he headed inside the dark, poorly lit dungeon of warriors and common folk. He was not really respected in this town anymore. But this was all about to change! He had his new, shiny steel sword to complete his very own gear set! He firmly believed that people would look at him with different eyes now.

Ryax made his way over to the counter and slammed his hand down with his remaining coins on it and exclaimed, "Tavern keep! Give me a stout of your best mead!". The tavern keep looked over and frowned as she said, "Are you trying to scam me again, boy?". She saw the coins on the counter in front of Ryax, quickly scurried herself over and equipped her charm as she said playfully and a bit flirtatiously, "So you finally have some real money now do you? My finest mead is coming right up!". Ryax enjoyed to finally getting a bit of respect. "Here ya go! Just call on me if you need anything else!", she said cheerfully as she placed a large stout of mead in front of him. He smiled and nodded at her, picked up the stout and headed into his usual dark, poorly lit corner of the tavern.

His usual table was a slight bit away from everything else, like it was designed for people who wanted a bit of a refugee even though they were in a tavern full of people. It housed a small, round, old oaken table, 2 chairs and a small sofa that fit two people at most, possibly a bit snuggly. The table had a small, faintly burning candle in the middle. Ryax sighed lightly as he arrived to his usual table, put down his stout of mead and sat down on the sofa. He brought the stout to his lips and tasted the warm, refreshing and sweetly delicious mead that trickled over his lips, tongue and throat. A quiet moan of deliciousness escaped his lips as he thoroughly enjoyed the mead, then put the stout down on the table again. He gazed upon the people in the tavern, they were all the same as usual, except for a few new already occupied faces.

People went in and out of the tavern frequently, so it was not a surprise when yet another face appeared as the doors opened. Despite this, Ryax looked over and found himself staring at the young woman standing in the doorway. He couldn't see much, but there was a clear, radiating aura of excitement, determination and nervousness coming from the woman. He felt himself strangely drawn towards her and was just about to stand himself up to head over and greet her, maybe figure out why she was there and maybe get a better job out of it. But all of his hopeful thoughts were sternly walled aside as many of the experienced knights and warriors inside had already started conversations with her as she had made her way into the tavern depths. Ryax sighed deeply and remained seated in his small sofa and drank some more mead, because these were the warriors that he could not hope to win over, he did not have even the slightest chance of even beginning to compete with them for jobs. He would just be pushed aside like usual.

Still, a hope remained firmly anchored in the back of his mind. A hope that the woman would by some freak coincidence, make her way over to him, even though the chance was abysmal since he was seated the farthest away in the loneliest of corners. He couldn't shake her out of his head quite yet.

 

[Falling Star]

Lillia's ears folded back as the warriors started making their way over to her. Such a...warm reception! Though thinking on it, it was clear what she, and obvious stranger to town would be her for. Nekos, especially female ones stayed to their small villages across the country side. It was the males that generally skipped town as soon as they were old enough to seek their fortunes. Not to mention the business-like expression she had. This was her quest after all, and she was one step closer to completing it!!

"Attention warriors!" she said loudly (and perhaps unnecessarily, a smile on her face. The men hushed a bit so she could address them all at once. "I seek assistance in recovering a treasure in the northern mountains. I need one able bodied knight to serve as protection on this long journey. In return, you will be rewarded!" She had all eyes and ears on her now, as the many sword hands sought to fight for her commission. She reached down to her belt and untied her coin purse, holding it aloft. There was silence.

And then laughter.

"Really lady? You think any of us would risk our necks for that spare change!?" one tall knight asked, followed by another round of rancorous laughter. Lillia's ears drooped and her eyes made their way to the floor. The men cleared out from around her as quickly as they had come, several pointing at their buddies and laughing again. Disheartened, she pulled up the hood over her cloak and made her way to the darkest corner she could find. There was a small table there, and she quickly took a seat and dumped her pack on the floor. Then she not so quickly noticed she had company.

"Oh! Um, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." She kicked herself mentally. He was wearing a red cloak! It was hard to get more obvious. "Uh, I can leave if you want." that excited air to her was gone. Her voice held a defeated tone and she picked up her pack, getting ready to leave.

 

[Ryax]

The woman's voice was heard, silencing the entire tavern's murmur like with a single searing command; everyone was anxious to hear what she had to say. Since she had been surrounded by all the glorious knights, Ryax could not see a thing that was going on, he could only hear her sounding voice.

Something that Ryax had not anticipated happened, a pitiful laughter was heard, quickly spreading like a vile contagion throughout the ranks of warriors and knights. It seemed to originate from the fact that the woman had not enough coin for them to actually care about her request anymore. It saddened him that people only thought about money, not about actually helping someone in need. He tried to drown the dark influences with another mouthful of sweet mead. When he put the stout down again, he saw a small hooded figure approaching him through the masses. Could it be...

The figure had sat itself down, clearly not noticing his presence in the dark corner. As soon as it spoke, he knew it was her, the woman who had so excitedly and eagerly tried to snare a warrior for her quest! He froze a bit, never would he have thought that he would actually get this chance! If he played his cards right, maybe he could get his hand son this job and get out of this city and finally go on a real quest..

His mind was whirling, a bit pressured from the suddenness to come up with something to say. However, his mind cleared as soon as he took notice of her now diminished excitement and eagerness, coupled together with that the tone of her voice had lost its lustrousness and that she was about rise and leave. He quickly hoped to still her motions by laying his hand on hers as he said softly, "No! Please. Stay. Don't let yourself be brought down by those high and mighty, self-proclaimed warriors. I will gladly hear your request.".

"My name is Ryax. I'm a locally trained warrior here in this city.", he introduced himself, flashing her a gentle smile as he looked into her eyes, hoping to catch her interest in conversation and offering his help.

 

[Falling Star]

Her eyebrow quirked and her ears perked up, causing two bumps to appear in her hood (normally this would drive her mad, she hated anything pressing on her ears but she was too intrigued at the moment.) She felt his hand on hers and paused to listen to what he had to say. Her eyes lit up when he mentioned being a warrior. And one willing to hear her out! The excitement returned to her and she set her bag back down.

"Really? Oh praise Lunae!" she sat up a little straighter, ready to give her spiel again. "I'm not sure what you have heard, but I must find a treasure in the northern mountains. I am only after one thing, anything else we happen across is yours. I need someone capable of keeping me in one piece, to help me get there and back again." She reached down and produced her purse once more. "This is all I have. Well..." she fished out a few coins to cover her meal and a room to rent for the night,"this is all I have. Would you be willing to help? I can see you are obviously a capable warrior." she said, eyeing his sword. "This is more important to me than just about anything in the world. I would go by myself, but, well, I promised someone I'd come back safe." She gave him a pleading look, hoping he would take up her offer.

 

[Ryax]

Ryax noticed two bumps that had appeared inside the woman's hood as her attention successfully focused on him, but he simply dismissed them as her hair possibly being a bit messy. See, our young Ryax was not used to seeing Nekos; he had seen a few, but only men, so he couldn't yet relate the two bumps inside her hood and the woman.

"The Northern Mountains you say...", he mumbled a little concernedly, eventually smiling. He had finally gotten a quest... a great one at that! He could finally help someone that was not in need... degrading things. Ryax was really excited but choose not to show it too much as it would radiate inexperience; he wanted to keep a good appearance with the woman to not discourage her. Undoubtedly, Ryax was still a rookie, and the Northern Mountains together with the path towards them, were full of beasts that would even scare most of the Warriors and Knights in the Tavern... It was a most dangerous journey he could not promise to come back from, rather the chance of them surviving was quite slim with him as the protector.. But he was ready to put his life on the line to help this woman with her request. It's what he had always wanted to do, what he had trained all those years for, what he felt the purpose of his life was. This was as well seemingly his only chance to get out of this city, to make a name for himself, and to help someone that genuinely needed it.. His mind was set, determination and excitement now leaking through his steeled appearance.

When the woman had payed for her expenses at the Tavern, Ryax quickly snared the purse back together and placed it back in her hand and closed hers around it. He smiled warmly at her, saying firmly yet softly, "I will help you and keep you safe. Keep the coins, we will need a bit of coin to even survive our way to the mountains. Besides, your gratitude along with the bounties of the mountain will surely be more then enough as payment.", his voice filled with excitement and determination, clearly trying to sway her over and snare her into making him her warrior.

"Now, may I know the name of the one I'm supposed to keep safe?", he said, smiling warmly, as he shortly thereafter took another sip of his mead, eagerly awaiting her answer.