• Closed • Cheers! [Vivian]

[Nir'wei]

For a moment, his mouth flapped airlessly in disbelief. A small twitch formed at the top of his right eye, making it flutter uncontrollably. "I.. I know this! Very very dangerous, rider fall, rider die. Volareon seriously injured, die. More danger horse, more danger.. any other animal. Fly worst." It was a lecture that he had received very early on, from Poppy and Gaspard both, on separate occasions. He'd heard it translated to other languages and other riders as well, as they passed in and out of the Lodge, learning to control their animals, all of the necessary tricks of the trade. Not just how to ride, but how to train and control the animal from the ground as well, for if the rider was forcefully dismounted, by whatever means. It didn't deter him. "What not sense make, you Sky rider!" he practically yelled, catching the attention of a few neighbours. The way he kept pointing out that key point was probably beginning to make it quite obvious that he was having real trouble believing that fact. "Name, rank, all.. grr." Nir'wei knew he needed to calm himself, to think of the proper words to say, but Vivian, whether it was intentional or not, was absolutely infuriating at this moment.

No matter how many deep breaths he took, it wouldn't calm the irritation settling on his skin like a bad rash. "What not understand, you Sky Rider. If anyone have training, have experience, have... have good ride skills, supposed to be you! Yes?" Or was there some backwards tradition of Rynmere that they would do the exact opposite of their name, their legend, their expectation? "Everyone ride horse. True, bad. True, not like. Still happen. Learn things not change. Still ride, no matter how much tell. Find other animal. But. You call self Sky Rider, but not ride in sky. Ride horse. Not flying horse! Regular horse!" Both hands were tossed into the air in disbelief, with a snort of derision. "Then, then, say good thing! Say rank think good. Defend people do wrong, tell you it right not learn what should know anyway. Not even question! You, never wonder why never learn ride Volareon sooner? You not even come Lodge, look at animals! Animals that give you name, give you legend! Never, NEVER, story told of Sky Rider who ride horse. Everyone ride horse. Volareon... Jacadon... what make you special. But you not learn."

She had a talent for bringing out the worst in Nir'wei. It wasn't going to go away. "Oh really? Could leave, if want? What Sky Riders say if leave, hmm?" Frankly, he didn't really have the best image of the military. Those who were a part of it, for the most part they seemed to just be ordinary people... but as an organization, as a group so strict with so much control over the lives of so many, he found it difficult to really put much faith or trust into them. It wouldn't surprise him if they refused to allow others to leave.. for whatever reasons they wanted. "Besides. Nowhere safe. No matter how many Sky Riders. Never safe." Heck, for all the military presence that Rynmere had, there was still plenty of trouble roaming. In Desnind, a place where everyone was so reliant on others, there was still trouble too. There just wasn't any winning on that battlefield. Just endless fighting.

But, it seemed they'd have to move somewhere else if they wanted to continue this... argument of theirs. Either because the bartender had had enough of their squabbling, or because of some other reason behind the scenes. As it turned out, it was the latter. With a hand on the back of his collar, Nir'wei had just enough time to catch a glance of the woman from earlier that'd snuck off to 'persuade' the bouncer.. only now the bouncer was growling and the woman's wig had fallen off, displaying short brown hair.. and apparently her breasts had fallen out too, because she looked... a lot more manlier than before. "Oh." Suddenly everything clicked together and he understood. Although he couldn't bring himself to explain to Vivian that his transgender buddy had just got them kicked out by flirting with the bouncer and tricking him into an unscheduled biology lesson.

"I know place," he spoke up all of a sudden. "On way there, you tell me all about why you still call self Skyrider from back of land horse." Nope, he really wasn't going to give that argument up.

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian hadn't had time to respond to the Sev'ryn's argument before they were thrown out, but at his comment she nodded. "Lead the way then." she said, collecting her thoughts as they got underway, she decided to respond to one of his latter arguments first. "I don't live in Andaris, I live in Warrick. We have wild Volareon there and it's one of the main places the Skyriders are stationed. I can see them flying through the sky just by looking out the window, so I don't really have a reason to go to the lodge to see them." she said, before addressing her comment on her rank.

"I am learning about Volareon, you don't just jump on their backs and ride them like a horse. Good way to get eaten and prefer having all my limbs. Besides, it's a privilege, riding one. Growing up in Warrick, I could have tried to ride a wild one, but I'd prefer to feel as if I earned they way everyone else does, rather than luck or because of my family name." she said calmly, before pointing the flaw in his logic regarding the military. "And yes, Rynmere isn't safe despite the military's best efforts. Not truly safe. But if we weren't here, it'd be much worse than it is. The bandits would be in charge, what safety there is would be gone."

She was going to say more, but stopped as they passed an alley, the smell of the place making her gag. It wasn't just the smell of human refuse that littered the alleys of Rynmere at night, it was so much worse. The scent reminded her of the bandits she had killed in the forests of Warrick so long ago. "Stay here." she said, drawing her rapier and stepping cautiosly into the alley, hoping she was mistaken about the scent she had picked up.

[Nir'wei]

Perhaps he was just beating a dead horse at this point. It certainly felt like it. No, on second thoughts, it felt more like trying to repeatedly headbutt a brick wall in the hopes that it would crack. There was a looming sense of futility but, with enough effort, it still felt like there was some way to break the wall and make Vivian understand the fractured point he was trying to make. True enough, he knew he'd made some mistakes and he was willing to admit them. "Apology. Didn't know you so lucky." There were still some important things that, no matter how he struggled to push home, seemed to glance off to the side or miss entirely. "But more important than see. We train, care, heal.. do lots. Important for everyone, I think. Not always have Lodge or other care for your animal." Nir'wei tossed her a brief sidewards glance as he turned a corner, mumbling "Soon learn, quick know, better future. Plus, less work me!"

The sooner they learned, the quicker they knew, the better their future. Squeezing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, Nir'wei consciously tried to still the spinning in his head. He wanted the alcohol to wear off now, giddiness and the odd freedom that ale brought wasn't helpful when he wanted to speak the common tongue. "Look. Sorry. I know riding privilege, great, great privilege. One day, hope do it myself, when worthy. Story always tell Xiur Skyriders.. old saying. Srä ẹbọv dabi. Larger than life." Just thinking back to the stories he'd once heard brought a little smile to the corners of his lips as he remembered gathering around old campfires, having competitions on who could make the scariest shadows, sharing stories of the horrible creatures that roamed Lisirra's jungle. "Always expected.. more," he said, trailing off into silence for a few long moments before hastily adding, "Not offense!" when he realized how horrible that must have sounded to Vivian.

"I guess I expect everyone call Skyrider know how ride Volareon. Before gain first rank, any rank in Skyriders, spend years learn riding, become good. Elite. Best of best." Perhaps the stories were misleading... or the state of the riders had declined over the many years since the legends had passed. Being true to himself, Nir'wei desperately hoped it was the latter. "At end of day, Skyrider who not ride sky.. just regular knight. Lower, even. Knight train for land, better adapted. Skyrider on land not really count for anything. Knights do all work, keep city safe, all that. That what I think. Sorry." He knew how horrible it must have sounded, but then again, Vivian hadn't really shown that much interest in the opinions of someone she'd randomly met in a bar, so it didn't look like she'd take anything to heart. "That just opinion, anyway," Nir'wei finished with a defeated sigh, "pay none attention."

She wasn't. "Eh?" In his stupor, he nearly turned and followed her, but Archailist mentally shoved him hard enough that nausea quickly rose in his throat, only to be squeezed down again by the incorporeal squirrel.

"You don't want to look down there." Something in Arch's voice made the Sev'ryn pause for thought, earning him a second mental shove that forced him to grab the nearby wall for support. Well, safe to say that his drunken stupor was wearing off quickly. "Turn away." Though he had much love for his familiar and there was nobody else in the world he could ever trust more, curiosity was burning fiercely and its smoke was clouding his better judgement. Unarmed and frankly a burden in any form of combat even when sober, he refused to listen to the Skyrider and followed her a few steps behind, peering over her shoulder to try and catch a good view of what was happening.

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian had nodded at the comment about learning how to take care of her Volareon. "Well, obviously I'll learn how to take care of it. Only an idiot can't properly care for their mount." she said, sounding mostly confused that there were people who didn't, though she laughed a bit at his comment about his expectations. "So did I when I was younger. But we have to know the land as well as the sky, be able to fight without our mount. So we train on land as a squire. As a Sergeant, we start training on the Volareon, though we don't get our own until Major." she said, ignoring his comment that she should ignore him as she walked into the alley.

The scent got worse as they walked down the alley, and when they turned a corner into a dead end she immediately saw why. The place was a slaughter-house, blood splashed liberally on the walls and the ground. But the blood was just a side note to the grizzly centerpiece. Three woman had been stripped naked and nailed to walls by their hands and shoulders. There were dozens if not hundreds of cuts, burns, and other wounds all over their bodies and they had been disemboweled, their innards left in baskets at their feet. Their eyes and their tongues had been cut out, their jaws broken open to display the latter clearly, and their breasts and privates had almost been cut away from their bodies completely. And the word "whore" had been carved into their foreheads.

Stepping back in shock, Vivian turned and pushed the Sev'ryn away from the sight. "Don't look. Go get guards, or soldiers." she said, her voice strained before she doubled over in the alley, retching up the good wine she had bought.

[Nir'wei]

Until he entered the alleyway, his senses had gone fairly unmolested. Without Vivian to pick up the odour, he never would have even paused on his merry way to the next venue. Intoxication had dulled more than just his sense of balance. Once he'd pushed his way inside, though, it was difficult to ignore. Pungent, raw.. it made everything else fade away, until even Vivian's voice sounded far away, as if she was talking through a thickly-stuffed pillow, when she was actually inches away from his face. "Ugh, wha.. what's.." he tried to mumble but it was no good, words wouldn't come to his dry mouth and he soon gave up even trying. Warning flares were firing off inside his head like blinding flashes but he had a feeling this was just to do with Archailist being a coward and turning away from nothing more than a dark, empty alley, as if either of them were in danger. They had Vivian, after all. If she was half as good a fighter as she wasn't a conversationalist, they had nothing to fear short of a couple of dozen crazed serial killers.

Vivian stopped. He'd stopped paying attention a while ago and knocked into her back, catching just a glimpse from over her shoulder at glistening red liquid lining the walls, entrails lining the floor, hollow eye sockets staring out of a sunken face covered in black and blue blotches, torn apart--

Everything happened at once. It was only a glance, not enough time to take in any significant detail. It was enough, though. Blood drained from his face and his cheeks turned pale as snow. Time itself was slowing down as his mind sped up, trying to take any hold it could on the situation, but it scrambled like it was gliding across a floor covered in butter, clawing for any purchase and finding none. One hand grabbed at the nearby wall for physical support but it wasn't enough, his legs were useless before and they'd not grown any more stable with time. He didn't look away, though. Before his face, Archailist materialized and his skin shifted from its ghastly translucent hue into brown opaque tones, forcefully turning him away from the scene before its memory could etch itself onto his brain. The squirrel's claws dug so hard into the sides of his skull, he swore he could actually feel them drawing blood from his temples. "I told you not to look, you stupid boy." Something sharp jabbed something deep inside his head and a deep, ragged gasp of air that he didn't know he'd been holding back suddenly filled his lungs.

Time was running normally again. Pushed back by Vivian, he stumbled back towards the open street again, still facing the dead end, dumbstruck as warm bile splashed over his shins. Nir'wei tried to answer but his jaw flapped silently until he shut it back up again and pivoted on the spot, running bolt-straight from the horror scene as fast as his ale-addled brain could carry his wobbly feet.

He didn't even have time to compose himself in the run - every time he tried to think back to their faces, their mutilated skulls, he could feel a shuddering jolt from deep inside that quickly turned his attention back to the task at hand. It was pretty obvious that the only thing keeping his mind from shattering and the Sev'ryn from collapsing on the floor in a heap of sobbing piss was Archailist holding his mind in a vice-like grip and forcing him to keep moving. It was a miracle he only tripped over a few times, scraping some of the skin from his palms and tearing holes in the knees of his already-worn trousers; even more so that he actually managed to pull himself back up to his feet afterwards, instead of sit there in the street, shaking.

At some point, Nir'wei couldn't tell how far away it was, he found a crowded entrance to an old bar, surrounded by a small horde of guards both off and on duty by the looks of which ones had swords strapped to their hips. He stumbled straight over to their nearest table, where a small gaggle stood around chattering noisily over the jovial yells from inside, and practically collapsed over it, knocking over and smashing a couple of glasses in the process and immediately gaining the attention of most of the men. Before one could reach over and grab him by the collar to ask him what the bloody hell he thought he was doing, he pushed him away and swallowed a deep breath. "M-MURDER! It.. t-the alley, it.." he stumbled, coughing and leaning heavily on the table for support, "people, dead, organs.. a-alley follow quick now.." He must have sounded like a drunken lunatic but between the bloodshot eyes, profusive sweating and faint trickle of urine down his inner thigh, his performance seemed above and beyond the average drunk raving madman. A small group followed him, helping him stumble back to the alley, where he waited outside.

Two guards walked in and were immediately stumbling back out again, off to fetch more. Nir'wei lost count of how many men and women flocked the area, asking questions, offering water, barging into the neighbouring houses.. everything was soon far beyond what he could follow. All he'd wanted was a nice night out, to make a few friends, sample the local beverages, have some laughs. Oh, if only he could spend a few days without being reminded of the horrible underbelly of Andaris and all the pain it brought.

[Vivian Shiryu]

By the time Nir'wei returned with guards, Vivian had finished retching and had returned to the alley entrance. When some of the guards went to get their superiors, Vivian took up the role of keeping curious civilians out of the alleyway. It was a surprisingly difficult task, but with the help of the guards, Vivian managed it. After some time, she didn't know or care how much, more guards arrived, led by a man in heavy black leather armor with fierce eyes. "All right, keep the civilians away and get a team back to recover the bodies, under a sheet as best you can." he ordered, the guards responding with practiced ease.

As they moved, the man gestured over another guard. "Tell the innkeeper we'll need use of his inn and that he'll be compensated for the loss in business. Now, who found the bodies?" he asked, looking into the crowd. Vivian stepped forward and saluted. "I did, sir. Airman Warrick, serving under Major Hector Avern. I was the first on the scene, along with a Sev'ryn, Nir'wei." she said, gesturing at her companion, who she was somewhat surprised to see had remained with the crowd, though he certainly looked the worse for wear.

The knight nodded. "Very well, if you will both accompany me to the inn?" he asked, and Vivian nodded in response, before looking to Nir'wei as she awaited their answer.

[Nir'wei]

Somewhere in all the chaos, he found somewhere nearby to sit down. Apparently the pale shine to his face and sunken, bloodshot eyes he was sporting from a mixture of trauma and a severe hangover starting to kick in made the majority of the crowd that paid him any attention steer far away for fear he might end up vomiting on their shoes. Something he was very happy for. He was out of his depth here. Deaths, murders and mutilations weren't his areas of expertise, nor did he have the willpower or mental capacity to change that with the whole alleyway spinning faster than the wheels on a runaway wagon rolling down a cliffside. The sooner he made it out of this hellish nightmare and back to the safety and comfort of his own sleeping roll so he could wake up again, the better. He might have fallen asleep then and there, upright and sat on the edge of the street, if not for the constant noise and commotion as the guards scrambled all over the place, trying to cover the bodies and close off the nearby streets as quickly as possible from eager eyes and more drunken revellers.

At some point many bits later, more guards came back, as if there weren't already enough. Somehow Nir'wei managed to drag himself back to his feet, using a nearby windowsill for a handhold. Even rising as slow as possible, the lurch of motion was enough to bring a sickly feeling from deep inside the pit of his stomach that didn't bring good news with it. "Ugh.." One hand clutched his belly while the other scrambled for a better handhold for a few bits, until he realized he was being spoken to. "Uhm, huh?" A man he'd never seen before was looking at him critically and Vivian seemed to be waiting for something. Before anyone could repeat their words, Archailist rewinded the last three trills - which he'd both heard and seen but never remembered - and played them back over again through their mental connection. "Yes, yes of course, mister, uhm." For a moment there was a pause as he took a deep breath and composed himself. "If.. if wouldn't be trouble, water glass please?"

He followed the guard into the inn, although it was really more of a stumble than a walk, with Vivian behind. "Sorry behaviour, bad time," he croaked. "Memory struggle." It wasn't just his memory struggling - his words were jumbling again and his thick accent was back with a vengeance, threatening to render the Sev'ryn completely incoherent, even long after he'd finished drinking. From somewhere deep inside he could feel Archailist watching with both tiny arms folded over his chest in an odd mix pf motherly disapproval and disappointment and he did really feel bad - even embarrassed - to be caught in such a state, but then again he'd never expected to have to help solve a murder case while intoxicated.

[Vivian Shiryu]

The knight nodded at Nir'wei's request and sat down Vivian and Nir'wei at a table as the bartender brought both of the witnesses a cup of water. "Quite all right, the first witness is always difficult. Wait here." he said, before walking out of the tavern. It was several minutes before he returned and when he did, he looked pale.

"Well, that was....excessive." he said, before shaking himself and sitting down across from Vivian and Nir'wei. "All right, you two were first on the scene. Did either of you see anything that help us find who did it?" he asked, his tone calm as he looked at the two of them. Vivian hesitated a moment, then shook her head. "I...I don't think so. There was no one else in the alley with us, and I don't think there were any other ways out of there." she said, shaking her head. The knight nodded and turned to Nir'wei. "And you, sir? Did you see anything?"

[Nir'wei]

He thanked the bartender and gulped the water down, swilling it between his cheeks to wash out the lingering taste of bile hanging on his tongue. If it wasn't the horrific images of those poor women burned into the front of his mind making Nir'weis stomach turn, it was the lingering remains of alcohol still in his system. The shock had wiped the effects from his brain but it was only temporary; now that he was sitting down at a bar again, the room started to spin and a heavy weight settled back over his stomach, like he'd just swallowed a cannonball. If his body decided to remove the excess weight through the shortest route, he wasn't sure he'd be able to make it back to the door in time, nor that the guards outside would appreciate his vomit adding to the blood and gore scattered through the alleyway outside.

Archailist took pity. "Remember your meditative techniques?" the squirrel asked, materializing on the bar counter. Nir'wei shook his head dumbly, completely forgetting that Vivian was sat next to him... and must have thought he was going insane, staring off at a point on the counter and conversing with it, even if it was lacking dialect. "Close your eyes and picture a white flower." Ahh, wait, he remembered now. Nir'wei closed his eyes and in his head, pictured a single flower, a white rose. The longer he focused, the more detail was added; the soft white translucent petals, the green leaves webbed with thin vein-like protrusions that became more obvious as light passed over them. The longer he concentrated, the more detail he wove through the flower, the calmer his thoughts became. It wasn't really enough to clear his head but it could at least dull the pounding distractions in the few bits of peace and quiet before the knight returned.

"I... no, we were walking. Down the road, from tavern to tavern. Smelled something, investigated. We found them like... that. Nobody else nearby, street empty. Saw nothing." He brushed the side of his head with one palm. "That was all. Told guards, came here. Nothing out of ordinary before seeing. Just smell." He tried to answer as competently as possible and it certainly felt like he'd done a better job than when last confronted by guards, even if he had nothing constructive to offer. "I'm sorry, that's all remember."

[Vivian Shiryu]

The knight simply nodded at Nir'wei's report, then turned to face the door as guards brought the three, now thankfully covered, corpses into the tavern and set them on a table. The knight stepped forward and pulled the cover away from one of the face of one of the women. As he did, Vivian turned to look at her and realized there was something strangely familiar about her. She felt she had seen her before, but not that she really knew her. She fell silent as the knight gave orders to his men as she tried to think about where she knew the woman from.

After a bit, the memory finally came to her and she swore violently, causing the knight look at her in surprise. "Sorry, I just realized that I have seen this woman before, but not tonight. It was at Lord Andaris's ball a few days ago. Lord Peake Andaris arrived late with a number of.....women of questionable occupation. They took to harassing the guests, including one Pythera Venora and her companions. These three in particular had gone out of their way to torment Pythera and the two women she was with. I'd assume that Lady Venora had someone take more firm measures to let her displeasure be known." she said, her voice deepening to a scowl as she spoke.

The knight grimaced at this news, then swore as violently as Vivian had not a moment ago. "Damn that traitorous wench. And no doubt she herself is five miles out of city by now with a party of people who will swear she was never anywhere near where we found these women." he said, growling. Pythera's treachery and skill at avoiding getting caught at the sites of her brutalities were well known among the military at this point, and the Venoran traitor was a thorn in the side of every member of the military.