• Closed • [Warrick] An Eventful Visit

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian saw Lazuli get to her feet out of the corner of her eye, noting her cousins rush for the crossbow as the bandit grabbed Lei'lira's leg. Realizing Lazuli's intent, Vivian abruptly changed her direction, abandoning her sword for the moment. She reached Lei'lira just as Lazuli fired and grabbed her cousin about the waste, yanking her away from the downed man and the bolt that pierced his chest. As the man loosed his hold and Lei'lira regained her footing, Vivian let go and went back to her sword, picking it up with every intent to finish the worm that had threatened her family, though at Lazuli's request, she stayed her blade.

"It's doubtful they were sent by anyone. Our region has a high crime rate, after all." she said quietly, in response to Lazuli's question to the brigand, her throat sore and her voice hoarse. She was a little startled to see Lazuli, who she remembered as a shy, gentle girl, interrogating the brigand so viciously, but then, she supposed, creatures such as these were less than human and deserved none of Lazuli's mercy. As the brigand seemed to die, Vivian left Lazuli to search his pockets, and having been nearly throttled by a man she assumed dead, sunk her rapier into the mans throat. "I'm...fine..." she said, reaching up with her free hand to feel the bruises now forming on her throat.

Looking down at the dead man, she paused in shock for a moment as the hole in the man's throat seemed to leak air for a moment before blood bubbled up and stopped the leak, the sudden realization that she had killed someone, however sub-human she considered him, and had only survived herself due to her cousins timely rescue hit her full force, causing her to drop her rapier again and double over, vomiting on the dead brigands face as her body made clear it's protest at her near death experience.

Once she had emptied her breakfast, Vivian picked up her sword again and cut a bit of cloth from the man's shirt, using it to wipe her mouth. "Sorry. I'm...really going to have get over that." she said, cutting another bit of cloth free and using it to clean the blood off her rapier. Tossing the bloody cloth aside, she noticed something under the brigands arm and kicked his arm over so that she could get a better look. It wasn't helpful though, just a stylized "V" on his armpit. Yet it was strangely familiar...

Walking over to the other body, she cut away the cloth around the dead mans arms and checked them both, finding another "V" tatoo. "I've seen this somewhere...a long time ago, when I was little. I think it was from a book." she said quietly before she shook her head. "I can't remember." she said in an irritated voice. Turning back to Lazuli and Lei'lira, she smiled warmly at her cousins. "Lazuli, Lira...thank you. I'd be dead now without you." she said, her voice uncharacteristically soft as she voiced her gratitude.

[Lei'lira]

Lei'lira heard her sister's warning. It was echoed by a frantic warning from Lei'luna moments later. But Lei'lira barely comprehended it. Everything was happening too quickly. And when she tried to help, things just seemed to get worse. Her mind screamed at her to move, but her body was frozen like a statue. She couldn't think. She needed to have time to think!

Suddenly, someone grabbed her around her waist, pulling her away. Lei'lira drew a breath, ready to scream, and lash out at her attacker...only to realize it wasn't an attacker at all. It was Vivian, and in grabbing her the way she had, she had quite possibly saved her life. A crossbow bolt pierced the chest of the bandit that had grabbed her moments after she was pulled away. What if the bandit had pushed her into the path of the bolt instead?

Lei'lira's heart pounded painfully in her chest, but she managed to regain her footing. Her mind fogged briefly. When it cleared again, the man had raised his hand up towards the sky, and did something with his hand. Then he died. Lei'lira felt sick. She had never seen someone die before. Part of her knew that the man would have killed them all if he could have. Only his death had prevented him from doing so. And yet...he was dead. Mere moments before, he was alive. And now...just like that...

Did the man have a family? A wife? Children? People who depended on him, and loved him? Part of Lei'lira was deeply relieved that he was dead. He couldn't hurt them any more. But part of her could only think of how she would feel if she had been the one to lose a loved one as the people who knew the bandit had.

Nothing made sense. Lei'lira felt cold, and numb. Her heart raced, and her mind raced right along with it. No one thought stayed with her long enough for her to grasp hold of it. Someone asked if they were okay, and someone else said something about a book. What book? Why was a book important now? They had just been attacked! They could have all been killed!

Lei'lira focused on the question. A question needed an answer. She could do that...right? Lei'lira nodded.

"I'm fine." she muttered vaguely.

But she had started to tremble where she stood, and the vague, unfocused look in her eyes suggested that she wasn't really "fine," after all.

"Are you?"

It was a natural reply to the question. It was only polite, wasn't it? If someone asked how you were, you were supposed to answer, and then ask how they were. It was the right thing to do. There were more words, but Lei'lira couldn't quite understand what was being said. She wanted to go home. Home was safe. Home was a place that she understood. But she couldn't leave Lazuli, or Vivian. What if she did, and something terrible happened to them? No, she had to stay. Even if her heart was racing so fast that she was having trouble catching her breath, and her vision kept blurring in and out of focus. She couldn't think. She wasn't sure what she should be doing, so she stood where she was quietly, wanting to stay out of the way until the world started making sense again.

[Lazuli]

With furrowed brow Lazuli stared into the dead eyes of the man she had just helped kill. It took her a few long seconds to realise that she was still holding the bolt protruding from his chest and rather than withdraw the piece of ammunition, she pulled her hand away quickly and retreated a couple of steps backwards from the dead body. Thumping hard in her chest, her heart soon gave pause only to race again as Vivian cut away pieces of the shirts still bound of the bodies of her attackers.
Lazuli chose not to say anything, remaining quiet up until the point that Lei'lira spoke up, stating that she was all right before asking the same of them. Quickly, Lazuli turned to face her sister and recognised the silent panic that had taken her. Without hesitation, Lazuli closed the gap between Lei'lira and herself to put her arms around her sister and hold her in a tight hug, "You're okay," she assured the girl, "everything's fine."

Curious about Vivian's discovery, however, Lazuli soon turned away from her twin, only to remain close, her right hand set against her sister's shoulder, "There was a man," she piped up, "on the road," Lazuli didn't go into detail, didn't tell them both that she had run into him earlier only to see him to his end soon after, "I wonder if he has the same markings?" She asked.
Suddenly, Lazuli remembered the dagger she had taken from the man and found it on the forest floor where it lay in plain sight. The young woman collected her crossbow and kicked the dagger into the undergrowth discreetly, "Did you come by horse, cousin? Perhaps we can find your animal on the road and check the last bandit while we are there?"

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian hadn't looked up at Lei'lira's response, trusting Lazuli to take care of her sister, but now that she had investigated the bodies, she sheathed her sword and looked to her relatives, taking a close look at Lei'lira in particular. She recognized what was happening, though she'd been much, much younger when it had happened to her. "Let's get away from here. It'll help a lot. At least it helped me to get away from the sea when...when I was little." she said, hesitating at mentioning her near drowning, though she knew Lazuli and Lei'lira were likely to know about it, as they'd both still been in classes at the time.

At the mention of her horse though, Vivian paused to look around. "Not...so far, actually. I rode my horse here. Now where'd that big fuzzy beast get off too..." she said, before letting out a low whistle that turned high pitched at the end. The whistle was answered by a deep, bassy bark from several yards away in a small group of trees that were very close together. A few moments later, Pakse emerged and ran over to Vivian and the twins, sliding to a halt at Vivians feet and giving the three of them a big doggy grin, her tail wagging so fast it seemed liable that the big dog might take flight at any moment.

Smiling slightly, Vivian reached down and scratched Pakse behind the ears, then trudged over to the bunch of trees where Pakse had been hiding, the big dog staying behind and enthusiastically trying to lick every party of Lazuli or Lei'lira she could reach. Leaving the dog to her cousins, Vivian rounded a corner and found Speckle looking wild eyed and scared, the horses reigns caught in a thorn bush. Smiling in relief that her mare hadn't been hurt, Vivian walked over and slowly untangled the horses reigns, making gentle cooing noises as she did. It seemed to calm the horse somewhat, but she doubted Speckle would let her ride right now. Instead, she took the horses reigns and walked back to Lazuli and Lei'lira. "What about you two? Surely you both didn't walk all the way here?" she said, her voice concerned as she looked at her cousins.

[Lei'lira]

Little things. Concentrating on the little details instead of the situation as a whole helped. So did Lazuli's presence. She gave her twin a grateful look when she hugged her. Feeling a friendly touch so soon after they might have gotten killed was comforting. So were her sister's comforting words. They gave her enough strength that as long as she kept herself focused on the small details, she didn't feel quite as much like she was going to fall apart.

Lei'luna stood nearby, in silent, watchful guard. As a spirit that only she could see, the winged wolf wouldn't be much in the way of protection if they were attacked again, but Lei'lira was comforted by the gesture. And it wasn't even an empty one. Her familiar might be unable to fight, but she was another set of eyes when it came to watching for danger.

Vivian suggested that they leave, and Lei'lira looked hopeful at the idea. Maybe she'd feel safer once they left. What if these bandits were working with others? Their partners might come looking for them, and Lei'lira didn't want to be found here if they did.

"I think we should leave, too." she said quietly.

Her voice sounded shakier than she would have liked, but at least it didn't sound as weak and helpless as she felt. Why couldn't she be stronger than this? Time seemed to be moving strangely. Passing incredibly slowly one moment, only to jump ahead of her the next. A dog appeared out of nowhere, and from the way it acted, Lei'lira realized that she belonged to Vivian. The dog's antics made her smile, and helped to ease her fears somewhat. When the dog tried to lick her hands, Lei'lira patted her gently. Vivian's horse seemed to appear out of nowhere. The talk turned to horses, and that was something Lei'lira could answer.

"Darkwind's back that way." she said, as she gestured in the direction she'd left him.

Belatedly, it occurred to her to wonder what marking her sister had spoken of. Were the markings...whatever they were, important somehow?

"What markings?" she asked softly.

[Lazuli]

Lazuli gave answer to Lei'lira without pointing her gaze at the woman, "V," she said hesitantly before moving to pull her bolt from the dead man and carry on towards the edge of the woods where she had left her mount tied to one of the low hanging branches. A noise in the distance made her jump, just a bird, she told herself as she looked to the treetops and carried on, practicing her fox walk, toe to heel steps taken as carefully as she could manage, working on her ability to remain silent in order to better hear what was going on around her.
beyond the tree line she found Asher and quickly climbed up onto the saddle after untying the animal to turn him around and head towards the road, pausing for a time to make sure Vivian, along with her twin, were not too far behind. Satisfied then that they would be able to keep pace, Lazuli nudged Asher's sides to spur the stallion on and cross the grassy field in no time at all, shortening her reins to keep control of the galloping horse.
Once on the road, Lazuli waited for Vivian and Lei'lira to arrive before she got down from her horse. She waited, leaning up against the broken stone wall with the bandit in sight, and not wanting to touch the man, she decided to let Vivian do the honours. What should they do with the body?? She wondered, it would be a long time before anyone found the men in the forest, but a dead guy on the side of the road was a bit more obvious, "Vivian," she gestured to the corpse, "do you think we should hide him behind this wall? Only, I think that silly postman knows we traveled this way today."

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian nodded as Lei'lira pointed out where her horse was then led Speckle over to place her cousin indicated and found Darkwind placidly eating grass at the base of a tree. Taking the horses reigns, she led him back to Lei'lira and handed her the reigns before she climbed into Speckle's saddle, the mare calm enough now that such wasn't liable to land her in the dust. Whistling for her dog, Vivian waited until Lei'lira was mounted and following Lazuli before she brought up the rear, ready to draw her sword if necessary.

Once they made it back to the road, Vivian dropped down from Speckle and cut away the cloth at the bandits arms. Sure enough, there was another "V" symbol under the mans armpit. Standing up, Vivian looked at Lazuli when she asked about what to do with the bodies. "Leave them. We'll need to report this, and it'll make it easier for the knights or skyriders, whichever, to find the place. As for the postman, he has no reason to suspect we ran into trouble unless he stops by your house." she said, sheathing her sword. She still couldn't remember where she'd seen that mark before and trying to remember was giving her headache. Looking down at her hands, she grimaced and looked up at Lazuli and Lei'lira. Her and Lazuli both had drying blood on on their hands, and she was fairly certain she had some on her face as well.

"We should get back to your farm. You and I both need to wash this stuff off, Lazuli. I mean, it can't possibly be good for us to have the blood of such...things on us." she said, her typical haughty demeanor beginning to reassert itself, though she was still softer than usual where her cousins were concerned. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that none of us much want to be here if this rabble have allies." she said, climbing back into her saddle after gently rubbing Pakse's ears. The big dog was getting tired, but she knew her loyal canine had enough juice to make it to the twins farm.

[Lazuli]

Vivian was right, it would be detrimental to hide the bodies and if they didn't get moving soon the possibility of running into more trouble, especially in the Warrick area, was a very real danger. She crouched down to look at the V tattooed to the bandit's side that marked him as a member of the rebel faction VII, and shuddered to think that there was some kind of gang out there who would attack and harass a woman, especially one of noble birth such as Vivian, without cause. Lazuli was only glad that she had decided to investigate or she might never have seen her cousin again, it didn't seem to matter then that they weren't as close as they should be, only that the young Skyrider was all right.
Back at the farmhouse Lei'lira excused her self and retreated to her room to rest while Lazuli and Vivian washed up. Lazuli passed her cousin a cloth to dry her hands and face with before leading Asher back to his paddock and made sure the animal's water was topped up, offering the same to Vivian's mount before she sat down on the wooden deck outside and waited for Vivian to join her in the twilight of Cylus. Lazuli had never been one for many words, and the silence that passed seemed long and uneasy, her mind racing what could have become of them and how her poor sister must been feeling. "What brings you this far south-east of the village?" Lazuli finally spoke up, words partnered with a kind smile, or the best she could muster considering the day's events.

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian followed the twins to their farm, Pakse laying down on the porch the moment they arrived. Vivian watched as Lira went to rest, figuring that her cousin needed it pretty badly, then accepted the offered cloth to get the blood off. After she had cleaned herself, she accepted Lazuli's offer of water for her horse, leading Speckle herself in case the mount was still nervous. Horses watered and, in Speckle's case, tied, Vivian sat down next to Lazuli on the deck, Paske moving just enough to put her head on Vivians leg

"Thank you. For coming to look for me, I mean. If you hadn't I..." she trailed off, unable to say it. Now safely away from the threat, Vivian could barely believe she had survived it. She would have to train more if she wanted to keep herself alive. At Lazuli's question she looked at her in surprise, having completely forgotten why she had come over to the twins farm in the first place. "Oh, right. The fight drove it out of my mind." she said, giving a wry smile. "Well, I joined the Skyriders, but my mother...she can't quite accept it. Came close to losing me once as a child and got overprotective. So, she got me a small ranch and some animals." she said, before closing her eyes to remember what she had been saddles with.

"The mare she gave me is what I'm using as my riding horse," she said, gesturing at Speckle," and I've got a stallion that looks similar. Also...I think it's a cow? Something like that, letter called it an ox, but I have no real clue what that is or how it differs from a cow." Vivian grimaced as she admitted her ignorance of farm things. "Also some animal feed, a water and food trough, and a wheelbarrow." she said, before looking at Lazuli. "Barring the water trough and the mare, I don't know what do with the rest, nor do I want it. If you can use any of it, I'll bring it over, otherwise...maybe you could give me some advice on what to do with the rest? I mean, I'm a soldier now, I don't...even if I wanted to be a rancher, I don't have the time." she said, looking at her cousin and awaiting her answer.

[Lazuli]

"Congratulations," Lazuli smiled warmly, getting accepted by the Skyriders was a big deal, especially in Warrick where most of them hailed from, and being so close to the only Jacadon breeding ground in all of Idalos, it was no wonder Vivian had chosen the profession. "Fath---, Jared always said he could see you going into something like that," she grinned but didn't add how headstrong the whole family thought Vivian was. "I think he wanted me to do the same... You're very brave, Vivian," Lazuli added as if to admit that she didn't have the guts to follow her father's dream for herself.

As Vivian explained what had brought her to consider visiting the twins in the first place, Lazuli's smile softened, heart warmed to think that their cousin had thought of them before anyone else in the line, or simply selling the animals for profit. "I don't mind teaching you if you change your mind, otherwise I'm sure Lei'lira would be over the moon to take the stallion off your hands, and I plan to turn the family farm into a business that could use an extra tool or two once we are forced to hire some help," Lazuli looked out at the paddock where all of her soybeans were due to sprout, "Ashan is going to be a very busy time for me," the young woman then admitted.

The fight had shaken them all up and after a moment's pause, Lazuli lowered her voice a little, wanting to request something of the woman sat next to her, but not knowing quite how to go about it. "I don't think Lei'lira will feel very safe after all of this trouble," she stated, "maybe next season you could give me some advice on the right sword and shield for my height?" It was something she had always thought Jared would be around to do with her, shop for a weapon and shield, now the job fell on her and she didn't know where to start.