Chapter Text
As dawn breaks a cloaked figure descended into the mountain valley. Avoiding the ominous feeling coming from what looked like a dungeon, he moved away from the river. The forest provided more shadow. Easier to hide in. Eventually even the forest could no longer cover him. Revealing sparse wheatfields and broken down buildings. It seemed recently abandoned. Perfect for staying low for a while. Moving into the open area, showed a broken down stone brick gate.
Stepping through the gate, voices broke the silence. Quickly and quietly hiding away into the nearest building he peered out from behind the wrecked facade. A flock of people were gathered in the space below. Just below him stood a blonde wearing a light blue cape. White flowers weaved into his hair. Despite his back being turned, the blonde seemed to be fidgeting with his hands. His head turning in an anxious manner. Was he being confronted about something? Or just naturally flighty? Regardless. More important things. His focus turned to the people standing opposite of him. The ones most likely to spot him. Directly in front of him stood a girl wearing a bright mossy green cloak. Her rusty coloured curls bounced along with her excited movements. Bright green eyes animated.
To the side stood two armor wearing people. Knights it seemed.
His eyes narrowed as he studied them intently. More focused than the others. To the right. What looked like an elf. Her chestnut hair tucked partly into a ponytail. A seemingly kind and welcoming smile on her lips. Perhaps, feigning warmth. Her lively and rich pink attire and polished patterned armor stood in great contrast with the barren wasteland that was the buildings situated within the valley. Riches. Of course. The town fails while the knights prevail. Shifting gaze onto the other beside her. Dark dragonscale armor. More worn, but also more expansive. Another saturated colour. A deep bloody red. It covered less surface. Gold as well? He huffed. The knight's mussed up hair, shifting between black and blonde, did little to hide his worn and stern expression. More real at least. Returning to his hair, he notices a pair of ashen horns protruding through the strands. Fascinating. Between the horns and dragonscale armor. His mind supplies “dragon”. How curious.
Tuning back into the conversation happening, the ginger's voice cut off everyone else as she exclaimed. “I’m 4c!”
The blondie closest to him asked for confirmation for the information she had just given him. Seriously? Just told you, deaf? It's obviously true-
“So that’s, that’s just not true,” a stuttering new voice broke in, disbelief clear, “That’s just not, that’s just, that’s just a lie!”
Or not, perhaps? hmmm mayhaps
He hadn’t noticed the other before, might be a rogue like himself. Though the newcomers' physiology left him questioning. Any organic matter seemed to be made of blue slime. That’s… new
The gathered bunch didn’t seem that big of a threat. The two knights seemed decently calm and they shouldn’t know anything.
Moving out from the shadows in which he previously hid. The rogue made his presence known. “Then I suppose you could call me 4c aswell hmm?” He sent the ginger, whose name he thinks might have been Mae, a mischievous look. One that she returns in full, eyes ever the slightest brighter. At the same time, two voices both burst out. The slime: “No, no, I’m 4c!!!” and the dragonscale knight: “What, wha, who are you!?” He unsheathed his sword, but the other knight in the lavish pink dress put a hand on his arm and he lowered the sword immediately. Worth noting, who’s in charge.
Turning to face the knights. “Well seeing as your slime fella over here," he jerked his head in the direction of the slime, “Seems to claim the name 4c. I suppose you can call me…” He dragged out. He doubted anyone here would understand the irony of the name he’d mention. “Owain or Owen if that’s too hard for you, lest there is a problem with that name as well hmm?”
The pink knight breaks the silence before anyone else can cut in “No, no Owain is perfectly fine,” she… reassures? “And welcome to the blue kingdom!”
He, Owain now, makes a clear effort to look around knowing his other expressions to be hidden from sight. The ruins that surround them look little like a kingdom. At least not like the one he knows of. This he also states. The dragonscale knight starts boasting about a blue and red kingdom and how the latter is supposedly of worse condition. States that he’s lucky to have arrived here rather than the other kingdom. Presuming he’ll stay. Might as well. Though… dumb politics. Eh, can always leave need be. The knight talks on and on about politics, rebuilding and war.
As the draconic knight boasts and boasts another figure joins the crowd. Slowly descending through the air. Long flowing hair the colour of the sky at dawn. Snow white cloth drapes around her figure. It's as pure in colour as the feathers that dons her head. An avian hybrid. A swan carved into the top of the marbled staff in her hand. A typical tool among mages. The, most likely, swan hybrid introduces herself as Eloise. He’s honestly not paying too much attention to what’s getting said. But from what he does hear the blondie was sent for by the previous monarch. He didn’t seem to be that big of a fan of that. Typical. Apparently they're expecting more arrivals? If the roads are good and nobody’s intervening? To this he chimes in. Testing the waters: “Well, the roads seemed fine to me,” he leans back against the stone wall, “and I got here without trouble, didn’t I?” The blondie, a mage he presumes, states his own agreements. The knights both agree and disagree with that fact. “I still wouldn’t put it past them!” The dragonscale knight proclaims. The discussion quickly turns back to the blue kingdom red kingdom thing. How it was originally one kingdom, but red left. But also only settled just across the river. Stupid, utterly ridiculous. But basically they’re at war, because red settled as an independent kingdom within their land. Or as Eloise put it: “If you go across that bridge, booooo! But if you stay here, yippie!” The others, the ones who’ve lived here voice their agreements. Boo and yay!
Though Owain’s gonna need more than words to actually give that any meaning.
Yet again the conversation shifts. And with it the final confirmation. Eloise and blondie, he’s yet to get his name, are in fact mages. Mages, who are gonna show off what they can do. Because they can’t just use words. And he’s blasted up in the air, great. Voices muddle together and he can’t tell one from the other. But she must be an air mage. He believes.
Well, the other one actually has the sense to tell what magic he does first. Light magic. He’s gonna go invisible. He seems anxious. That’s not a great combo.
To give him credit, he did do it for a short while. Before returning to visibility. Alongside several copies of himself. Using his dagger, Owain prods at the copy closest to him. Darkness immediately befalls him. His breath catches and his footing shifts. Around him several voices boom. He doesn’t know where to focus. Doesn’t know where the danger is. Where is the danger!?
Just as suddenly vision returns to him. Light floods his eyes. He shuts them. Take a deep breath. Slowly opening them again. The light is still a lot, but not nearly as too much as before. He can deal with this.
Orienting himself, he notices yet another figure walking up the path through the gate.
Head darting side to side. Dark hair like a cloud, bobbing along with its movements. Slightly hunched over. Guarded. Something’s wrong. Something happened. The knights rush over to her. Checking her over. Interrogating her. Comforting her? From what he catches she got escorted by a knight from the other kingdom. That knight pointed a spear at her and in her words she almost died. Might actually heed that warning.
The newcomer pulls out a staff. Another mage. Owain takes a few steps back. Not wanting to be caught in yet another round of magic.
Well, that's too late now
Because before he even registers what the mage said about her magic, he’s caught in a water bubble. And lifted into the air. And thrown around. Fun. Yeah no, that's sarcastic. I’m wet. “Excuse me!?” he yells out as others are caught in it as well. Pushing off on the others bodies he manages to break through the bubble and land on the ground. A small puddle forms beneath him. Both from the water bubble bursting quickly before reestablishing and from himself. His hood is soaked. His clothes cling to his body. Shifting and crawling against his skin.
He climbs up onto the wheatfilled hill. Away from the bubble. Watching a few others still getting thrown around. Hastily he pulls his hood down. Ties his dampened hair back. No pieces adhering to his face now. Though the moisture seeps through his gloves. The palms of his hands now sticky. Breathe in and out. Quickly finish wrining everything and then take them off. I can do that, I can do that, I can do that…
Ripping his hood completely off and wringing it out. Laying it out on the wheat. The stiff dried out straws holding it up. Stripping of his outer shirt and repeating the process. Breathe in and out. He can do this. His gloves are properly soaked now. Shaking his hand as if to shake off the discomfort before twisting the fabric still sticking to his body. Eloise, seemingly noticing his distress discomfort, joins him on the hill. Offering her magic as a way to dry him off. Wringing the last waterdrops out of his pants, he declines. He can’t also have cold air brush against his flesh. Mentally categorizing the group that has seemingly flocked together. Including himself, they are eight. Not impressive for a kingdom apparently at war.
So from what he can tell, there are now three mages. Eloise the air mage. The new water name he thinks is called Shan. And the light mage, who definitely also has an S name. Then there are the two knights. The elven knight and the draconic one. Then there are Mae and 4c. Who seem to be rogues like him.
What an interesting bunch…
I still need to figure out what 4c is though