Kin Chronicles Realm: Betrayal of the Guardians

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Talin tried to take his mind off his childish ancestor by trying to get the group thinking about the guardian ahead. "So, our next target is supposedly able to use four weapons at the same time. Since our 'leader' probably won't show up until a day or two after we reach the guardian, is anyone going to come up with a plan? I have an idea of how we engage him, unless someone already came up with a plan rather than an idea."

[Srgntcuddles]

Drevo walked along silently along until Talin had brought up Korius. "We can handle it. Last time we were without Kitt and Kiana, they can pick up the slack. Not to mention White's-...Uhm. Barriers!" he said. After speaking he looked towards White to see if he noticed him almost letting out his super secret spell. "We don't need Korius. He's just a jerk anyway..." he said, mumbling the part about Korius being a jerk and looking away.

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt walked sullenly, occasionally glancing skywards as if hoping to see the familiar silhouette of his bird, even as he felt more and more assured she would not be coming back. He sighed heavily and glanced up, only to meet eyes with White. Dark resentment flared in him and he shouted "Quit staring!" Pulling up his hood Kitt winced at his own outbreak, scowling as he kicked a stone off the dirt track.


The scowl grew darker and darker, pain visible in the young feline's expression until he suddenly rounded on White "You had no right to tell me my mother is dead!" Ignoring the rest of the group, along with Talin's attempt at conversation, he drew his shortsword and took another step closer to White "Why!? I was fine... I was happy you stupid healer!" Snarling, Kitt lunged at White, blade swinging fast and sharp.

Blinded by his anger and the tears that swam in his eyes, Kitt slipped and hit the leaf-strewn ground with a thud. The sword whistled past White, nicking the edge of his ear before it lodged itself deep into the trunk of an oak tree.

Tears flowed down his cheeks as Kitt stumbled to his feet and pulled at the hilt of his sword. The blade was sunk deep into the tree and would not budge, and it was with a cry of frustration that he finally he sank down into heaving sobs. Mumbled words stumbled from his lips between whimpers as he pressed his forehead hard against the gnarled bark of the oak "Why... must... she... be dead"

 

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana listened to Talin speak and then Drevo's response. Irritation sprang up within her and she wasn't able to hold it back. "Well, we don't exactly need to rely heavily on your sake-chugging ass either!" She turned and snapped at Drevo. "But you have to be here because of the prophecy. Korius is here when he doesn't actually have to be. If it wasn't for him, we'd probably all be dead right now. He may be hard to deal with at times but it's worth it to have such a strong fighter in the group." It was after this that Kitt turned on White and attempted to attack him, only to slip which caused him to fail miserably. She watched Kitt until he finally rested his forehead against the tree. It was easy for her to feel his pain even though she believed she wouldn't feel that way about her own parents, but she had felt such pain when her brother died. She shoved her irritation with Drevo aside and slowly walked over to Kitt, kneeling down beside him. After a few seconds, she finally did something that she hadn't done in a while. She gently wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

[White Wolf Guardian]

*The wolf twitched shortly after Kitt had pulled out his blade, while looking at him and nearly cried out for help, just barely putting up a shield to redirect the sword only enough to make it scrape his ear causing him to bleed a little bit, also seeing the archer fall close to him* "Agh! I never said she was dead, I just said it was highly probable...""Though I meant she was indeed gone. Can't break that little request from the village." *The healer covered his ear in pain with his hand trying to focus on healing it while Kitt laid by a nearby oak tree where his shortsword landed deeply in its bark* "...I already feel bad about it little does he know, but he doesn't have to kill me to show he has accepted it. Was just trying to help." *He watched Kiana break out of character for a moment and hug Kitt* "She probably shares that pain in several ways, it's actually pretty normal probably, just rare to see like this." *White stayed silent while watching the two at the oak tree, not really paying mind to either Drevo nor Talin*

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Talin held little interest in why Kitt was throwing a fit and sword, which helped suppress his annoyance with the said outburst.  He walked over to the tree that Kiana and Kitt were standing at, helping Kitt get his sword out of the tree by making the hole wider with a few pushes down and up before yanking the sword out. "Drevo, Korius was the primary reason our half-baked fighting strategy with the original ranger actually worked. Now if nobody has any clue how we'll win against the next guardian, I will think of something by the time we get there." He let go of Kitt's sword, and started walking a short distance ahead before leaning against a tree and looking off into the forest.

[Srgntcuddles]

Drevo grumbled at Kiana's comment. "One bottle! ONE! Get off it." he snapped back. Though she was already heading towards Kitt who had snapped at White. He just walked on fairly annoyed at the whole mess, everyone seemed to be angry at someone else on the team. Ignoring Talin's words he didn't go far, rather a few yards and just stopped. The first thing on his mind was Korius, if he were there he'd probably be slapping Kiana, telling White and Talin to shut up, Kitt rangers don't cry and Drevo is a sorry excuse for a knight.

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt wiped tears from his eyes, deep sobs already turning to muffled sniffs. He didn't care what the others thought of him, didn't care what Korius would have said or any of it. Eyes still swimming with tears he hugged Kiana back, clutching tight to her warmth. Muttering quietly he blinked away the tears "I dont want to do any of this. I'm not a ranger, I'm just a kid... I- I- I just- " He wiped his nose with a loud sniff and pulled out of Kiana's hug. With another sniff and a bashful look up at Kiana from under his hood Kitt reached for his sword, where it lay among the oak leaves.

"Thanks, Kiana... I-" He stopped mid-sentence and got to his feet, sliding his sword home into its scabbard. Eyes rimmed red, and still occasionally sniffing, Kitt pulled his cloak close around him and shot an extremely embarrassed look at White. He felt that he owed the healer quite a large apology...

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Across the plains in the northeast, Elistro rode with his unit swiftly towards the group's next intended target. However, he made a roundabout and came into view of the kingdom from the east. Once there, they were let in through the walls already, and he rode straight up to the castle, where he dismounted and ran in, bowing before the Guardian as he was within the steps that led up to her seat. "Elistro and company, under direct orders and personal guard of Grand Guardian Kyzen. I am here with urgent news, m'lady Ikster!" The monitor female stood from her throne. She was dressed in Voronese royal garb. Though it looked very traditional, it was actually made of only 1 layer of silk so as it didn't weigh her down. However, it also made the outfit quite see-through, but then again, no one dared to even look at the feet of the Guardian nowadays, let alone look at her body or worse, her eyes. "What do you want, you lap dog? Any time Kyzen shows his face or sends a messenger, it's never anything good." "It is indeed as your ladyship has said. The late Koara's personal guard, Korius Lambent, has roused several significant followers to bring down the reign of the Guardians. As you may have heard, there was a freeze in the allowance of bounties or seeking them. However, I am here of a personal matter to warn you that they are, at present, on their way now, from the north. They had chased my men and I while we were still weary from our travels, and have chased us since. We had escaped their view by heading to the east forests, but they are continuing their venture down from the north. Please, make absolute sure your guard are to discerningly watch that side for their arrival."

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana had completely ignored Drevo snapping back at her, not deeming it important to respond in any way. She listened to Kitt and hugged him until he was ready to let go. When he did, she let go as well. Getting to her feet too, she gently patted him on the back. "It's alright. You don't have to say anything." She said to him. It was easy to see that he was having trouble sorting out his thoughts and emotions, and she already knew what he was trying to say so he didn't have to say it to her. Her demeanor switched back to the hardened, determined just as swiftly as it had switched the soft demeanor for Kitt's moment of weakness. "Alright. Let's get a move on again. I want to get this crap over with." She said as she began walking again, not looking at Talin or Drevo as she walked past them.

[White Wolf Guardian]

*White sighed and looked away from Kitt, staying far away from him, with fearful emphasis* "Can't believe he attacked me, Gaia! It's not like I'm the one who killed his mother, it's not my fault." *Frustrated, the wolf remained distant from Kitt and kept focused on the mission ahead* "I wonder how much further to this place and since it is quite a distance, how in gaia will he make it to our side in time to help at all? The only thing that I invision happening now is we are all defeated and he comes to finish off the Guardian, but other than that we're pretty much on our own."

[Chrono Blackwyng]

"Finally, some progress!" Talin yelled, raising his arms into the air as he got off the tree and followed Kiana. Someone is awfully ready to get into a fight. We're going to fight the fourth guardian, that alone should be a great fight! So I take it you don't have a plan? I'm assuming the guardian is male, with an upper-body stronger than the lower body, only marginal experience fighting indoors against mages... There was a long silence before he 'heard' Chronin sigh. Do you have info to back up those assumptions? Well, I think Korius mentioned that we would fight 'him' next, and that the next guardian can use four weapons at once. So you have a second-hand source, whom until now, was just a blacksmith at some random town that Valius took you to. Talin stopped walking and turned right to his ancestor, pointing a finger right at him.  "Its not like you're a better source, you've probably been dead long before any of these guardians existed!" Talin's face went from annoyance, to astonishment, then to embarassment as he pulled his hood up and kept quiet the rest of the time. Yea... they can't see or hear me. Will you just shut up?

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt pulled his cloak tight around him, glad that the hood cast his face in dark shadow and hid the tears that still glistened in his eyes.  He looked up to the sky, but of course the familiar shadow of Evellyn was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and wiped a sleeve across his muzzle with a sniff.

However the fight with the next guardian went, his life would never be the same again. It was with a leaden heart that Kitt followed behind Kiana with his eyes cast to the ground. They needed a plan, anything that would help them fight at a time they where weakest... Unfortunately, with half the group turning on the other half, no such plan came to mind...

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

It was a week-long journey north towards the next kingdom, with only very small villages in between. During that time, Loraine continued to fortify her kingdom's defenses on the north, and even assigned watchmen to dedicate their watches in that direction. Upon seeing all this, many villagers decided to leave the kingdom temporarily, afraid of the upcoming battle. Loraine Ikster is one of the few successors of Guardians, and is a formidable fighter. She is a Ki fighter, the top of the Voronese fighters in the past.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

During the next week of travel, Kiana didn't talk very much, if at all. She was never much for conversation and without their leader around, there wasn't much need for talking since they weren't really discussing plans or anything. Every day she lead the group toward their destination and every night she stopped them to make camp to get some sleep. It was daytime and they were all walking at the moment. Kiana kept her eyes on the area ahead of them as she walked, remaining silent unless someone said something and required a response.