Runaway Princess!

[Star Pupil]

There were many things that made the country of Dalethune beautiful. The scenery, the mountains, the very essence of land would make any traveler stand in awe as they had seen things that their countries never had. For example, the floating rock formations around the Elethian Rockies. Traveling through them was dangerous, but for any adventurer it was also exciting. Sometimes the only paths from mountain to mountain were made of floating rock. No one knew the magic behind that particular chain of mountains, but no one really cared. The countries capital were surrounded by the Elethian Rockies, which made a great defense against any threat to the Kingdom of Dalethune.

This was Winter's second time traveling here. Winter told the mercenary band that she had just joined up with that it was her first time though. The first reason for this was because she was very young the first time she had visited, and she didn't remember too much. The second reason was, people would get suspicious if they heard she had been here when she was that young. After all, the only way for commoners to travel to the capital was on foot through the Rockies. The journey was too dangerous for anyone who didn't have the survival skills to get through the mountains. Snow capped the tips of these mountains all year round, which made the trek all the more harder. Winter hadn't taken the commoner way though.

Winter was a princess from the west country of Elandria. She had an older brother and sister. Her brother would become King soon, and her sister was already married off to another distant country. Winter was to have the same fate, but she decided to run away instead. She didn't know who she was supposed to marry and she didn't care. She refused to be traded to another country just for stupid political gain. She was much happier as a traveler and a mercenary. If she had stayed in that awful life she would have never turned out to be as strong as she was today. She was deadly accurate with a bow and she could talk herself out of many situations because of her looks and street smarts. Winter wasn't her actual name, but she had abandoned her real name when she ran away.

“Time to make camp!” She heard the leader of their band call out. It seemed like they found a good spot to rest, and it was just before night fall. Temperatures would surely drop soon to the negatives. While the others began to put up their tents, Winter started to work on the fire to cook whatever the hunters would bring back. She was disappointed that she couldn't be apart of the hunters, especially because she could kill a boar with one shot sixty feet away. However, since she was new and also a woman, she got the grunt tasks.

 

[Fadereaper]

Their band had been traveling the snowy mountains of this region for some time now, it was a long journey but worth it to many of the people seeking refuge in the well defended capital. The people who called it home and those who sought it out knew the security it offered and would choose to relocate here for such reasons, however this band of mercenaries had their own reasons for being here although none of the lower ranked warriors would know the reason behind it. Only the commander of their troop and his right hand the elven mage Menroth would know why they were going this way, the commander Damian was a valiant fighter and a good leader of men. He always wore his typical set of armor, a steel full plate chest piece as well as similarly forged gauntlets, greaves, leg guards, pauldrons, and a helmet. Although in this cold environment it didn't help to be covered head to toe in cold armor so for this he had a wool cloak which he wore closely to bide back the cold, his second however was not a warrior type at all rather a man of magic.

Menroth was the second in command and was a good friend of Damian the leader of this expeditionary force, he was not a warrior but rather a sorcerer and was here as an adviser on things magic and spellcraft. He was a bit of a short fellow only standing at 5"8, he had long blond hair that hung to the base of his neck and was combed back, as well he had a bright white skin tone and deep blue eyes. He unlike Damian is garbed in a typical pair of mage robes, the primary color being black with different insignificant designs of white woven into the fine material. On the chest was an emblem of a small white sun with a hollow center, the rays of the sun curving backward in a counter clockwise formation. Beyond this he had golden markings similar in shape to the emblem on his chest, these runes covered all his visible body.

He had been watching their latest recruit with curiosity as she seemed to have a skill that Damian had valued well for her ability to fight but he didn't trust her with much authority or room to aid the group because of her gender, she was a woman and many of the people in the more civilized parts of the world didn't respect the value women held in society. Menroth had viewed much of the world in his time even having been to places many have never even heard of, he had long since disregarded the value of such single minded beliefs but she had yet to prove herself to him and what skill she had would be seen in due time no doubt. However his thoughts had been stifled by the yelling of the men telling them it was time to set up camp, dismounting the trusty steed that he had been riding he would settle his feet into the cold snow of the mountain.

As the others began to set up their tents normally he would use his skills in magic to do his work, with his hands held out palms facing the snowy ground he would begin to chant. The spell he was muttering caused the material from his horse's side pouch to animate and it flew from the side of the horse, settling on the ground it began to build itself up slowly until soon his tent was made before him and with the effects of the magic the snow was cleared from the ground beneath it. A smile on his face he would untie the flap of the tent that would grant him entry, it was a large circular tent and held all his possessions.

The commander would finish setting up quickly as his men did follow suit but were not done yet, finding a decent enough log to sit on that was near the site of the fire she was preparing for the night he looked down at her working on the small site. "Good we'll need that up soon, I'm sure the boys will be back with some grub for the night." He said as habitually he drew a knife from his belt, it was intended to cut and clean animals but for not it was simply amusement. "Can you believe this place Winter? This mountain range is something I could never explain, some form of odd magic don't you think?"

 

[Star Pupil]

"The legends state that these Mountains are home to the Guardian of Dalethune, who protects The Capital by creating pathways that will either lead you to your destination or your doom. I'm not sure how true that story is, but it certainly would explain how such magic could be causing these rocks to float. Then again, it could be as simple as a certain substance in the rock that floats whenever it comes into contact with a certain element. Who knows. This place is far to dangerous for people to explore and study the reason behind this strange yet fascinating phenomenon." Winter had finally prepared the site and then placed the firewood that had been gathered by one of the other rookies, Sera Kaath, inside the site she had prepared. Sera was an apprentice wizard who had just recently started learning magic.

Sera had been picked up simply because she was a good infiltrator on missions that required a little more complexity than just beating up or killing someone. Since Sera was an elf, Winter wasn't sure how old she was despite the fact that she looked younger than Winter. It was her height mainly that through people off, standing only at 5'1. She seemed to be quite older than how she looked though. She loved to talk to Winter though, about Menroth and how cool he was. Winter barely listened to her because she herself did not find any joy in talking about men and how attractive or skilled they were. Though there were only three females in this band, and the third one never actually talked to anyone but Damian. Her name escaped Winter even though all three shared a tent, which had already been put up by this mystery women.

"Maybe a really powerful wizard lives here! Maybe he's like, 5000 years old or something and he just likes to lead people astray for his own amusement?" Sera asked as Winter tried to start the fire with her flint and steel. When Sera realized that she was having trouble she simply snapped her fingers and a spark appeared, setting the wood aflame. Winter stood back and then sighed, wishing she had gotten some type of warning first.

"I doubt that...even the most powerful of wizards needs to rest, and these rocks always levitate and have been this way since the Kingdom of Dalethune was founded. At any rate, I can't wait to get to our destination. I'm sure whatever job is waiting for us pays handsomely. They are probably testing us by making us come all the way from Ildor to The Capital. They want to see if we're capable of doing whatever job is lined up." Winter was fine with this, it would give her the opportunity to prove herself to this band. She often migrated from group to group just to keep her true identity a secret.

"I guess that makes sense. What do you think Captain?" Sera sat next to him and smiled up at him with innocent eyes. She definitely was sucking up to him for something, as everyone in the group knew when she had ulterior motives. As she spoke, the others came back with some wild boar and other animals from the mountain to be cooked.

 

[Fadereaper]

Damian looked at her as she spoke her words sinking in as he gave it some thought although if he were to guess he would say it was probably some spell who did the deed, maybe his arcane adviser would have something to say about it but it wasn't their priority and they had other things to worry about. Winter had always been the calm one of their female warriors not as bubbly as Sera who was like Menroth a practitioner of magic, although she had no where near the same amount of experience he had in the arcane arts she had potential and that was something that Menroth had noticed thinking on perhaps taking her as an apprentice.

"The job will be paying well I promise, you'll see when we get there Winter." Looking at Sera she was no doubt asking for his opinion on the matter, "I think that it is just some spells being cast on the rock after all there is great possibilities with the power of magic." He said as he looked up to see the robed figure that was his good friend approaching, "and if anyone were to have an educated opinion on the matter it would be him." He said as his gaze was taken off Sera uncertain of her intent but he wasn't going to give it much attention at the moment, he stood up as Menroth approached them around the campfire and clasped his hand against the outstretched one in a firm grip as they each leaned around to pat the back of the other.

"Damn good timing, dinner is just getting ready to be prepared." Damian said as he would take a seat on the log again enjoying the warmth of the fire, Menroth sat down beside him ensuring that his robes didn't drag in the snow and would not make his legs chill. Pulling the hood down past his long ears and his blonde hair he regarded the rest of the group around the fire, "good and it looks like we are having some boar, not very elegant but it will suffice." He said with a smile on his face as he warmed his hands with the fire, as they approached the flames the fire seemed to spring to new life and grew out toward his hands providing some closer proximity warmth and when he had enough the fire returned to its original state. Looking at Sera and Winter his smile remained, "oh yes and it looks like you two are the first to join us at the fire, do you require any help in preparing the boar?"

 

[Star Pupil]

"No Menroth, just leave it to us! We have it under control!" Sera smiled as the men sat their kill in front of them and she went to work on the preparations with Winter. Winter wasn't very good at preparing food, even after being on her own for so long. She needed Sera's help and direction. A few people were suspicious on why Winter wasn't very good at preparing food, but they did not question her too much on it. "Hey, you won't get a good husband if you don't learn how to properly prepare and spice his meals! You're going to disrespect his hunt!" Talon, one of the marksman of the mercenary band called out. Most of the group started to laugh and this made Winter slightly embarrassed. Had she stayed a Princess and became a clean she'd have servants for this kind of stuff, so there was no reason for her to learn how to cook.

"Quiet, Talon. Winter is so beautiful that she'll attract a nice member of a royal house, where she won't have to cook because they'd have servants to do it. Her looks can substitute for her poor cooking skills. If she knows how to bed a man properly, the last things on their mind would be having her skin mountain boar." Hearing Sera's words made Winter blush. Why did she have to say something like that? It was like adding fire to the flame. Now she could feel dirty stares from others.

"At any rate," Winter started before any others could comment. "It's ready to be hoisted over this fine fire that our little Wizard has made, and our talented Sorcerer has nursed. Why don't one of you big strong men start putting this meat up so none of us will die from starvation." Winter stood up to her feat and stretched while the boar was put over the fire by her allies and then decided to go into the tent for a while, as she needed some quiet for a bit. Sera wouldn't follow her since Menroth was there, and she liked to stargaze at the poor man without actually making an effort to converse with him. When she got into the tent, the mysterious woman was there. She wasn't doing anything except sharpening her blade, an impressive sized claymore that not many women could wield due to it's size.

"Dinner will be ready soon. I didn't quite catch your name..." Winter looked at her for a long while but the woman did not respond. Winter couldn't even tell what her expression was because the hood on her fur coat covered most of her face

"Her name is Ahi. She doesn't speak our language. Only Damian can understand her apparently." Sera responded as she came into the tent. Winter was surprised that Sera had joined her, but as soon as she came in Ahi stood up and left in a hurry. She pushed passed the both of them, bringing her weapon with her.

 

[Fadereaper]

Damian although understood their belief that the female warriors might not be able to keep up with the men he didn't want tension in his ranks and thought to subvert it quickly, "cut that chatter men and just enjoy the meal you are about to have I don't need any tension causing any fights understood?" He said with a loud stern voice that would silence a lot of the venomous comments, although he was not able to stop the words that Sara said and that was just not helping. She was a bit bubbly and too much so for her own good sometimes, however she was skilled in her craft and it was that skill that he hired her for and soon she would be able to prove herself as a capable member of their group. He would have to speak to Winter sometime later she didn't seem to fit in very well in the group only really conversing with Sera for what that actually meant, he didn't want any of his men giving the new girl a hard time or her feeling like she is excluded that kind of thought was dangerous on the battlefield.

Menroth only gave Damian a brief glance as he had already pulled out a small book that he had in his coat and glanced over the pages, licking his finger slightly to turn the page he drew a small writing utensil and began to pen writing into his book the size could indicate it was a diary or a journal. He could always tell that the young aspiring wizard was watching him his vision was quite efficient and although he didn't pay it much mind she never did speak to him, she was the only other person he knew of in the group who was born with the gifts of magic and he hoped that he could perhaps at one point exchange thoughts with her or even take her under his wing as an apprentice. However she was very bubbly and he didn't hold much hope for her to be able to learn, he would have to wait and see.

Damian just watched as Sera herself would run off into the same tent as Winter and it was with a brief moment that soon Ahi would exit the tent, she was the only one who didn't speak the common tongue here and the only one who could understand her was himself but he elected to wordlessly call her over. With a motion of his hand he waved her toward him and then scooted over pushing Menroth further down the log and then gestures to the spot on the log next to him on the right hand side, he then turned his attention back to the fire which was cooking the boar slowly and hopefully soon would be ready to eat. The men all gather in anticipation of their ration of the boar and as well some bread they save during travel, they had a decent stock of bread and dry foods for times when the hunt is scarce and quickly a few of the men were taking some of the bread and vegetables they stored to add to the meal everyone also tapping into their rationed supply of water for the meal.