“He’s probably a thief-- that would explain the whipping!”
“Valen, that doesn’t explain the accent.”
“What accent?”
“Did you seriously not notice? He speaks extraordinarily properly.”
“So do you, Mora. You’re not a noble!”
“He’s got the voice, though.”
The banter was cut short as the General strode up to the gathered soldiers. Minus Kien, of course-- the Prince was asleep, gently coaxed into slumber by Leon’s magic. It was best, the healer had claimed, that he rest.
“Let’s not speculate on our new arrival,” he interjected, folding both arms to eye the group sternly. For a moment, silence, before a slow smile spread across his face.
“Not when I’m not here to place a bet, anyway. He’s a soldier. Probably worked at the palace.”
Valen, for once, didn’t immediately jump in, but pondered the theory for a moment, then just shook his head.
“Naw, boss. You’re wrong on this one. They wouldn’t whip a guard.”
Before the General could make his claim against that particular statement, Leon piped in, voice soft, but audible.
“I’m afraid you’re all wrong. He’s probably a commoner who married in to nobility.”
A heavy hand was placed on the healer’s shoulders, and a fond look passed between him and the larger elf crouching beside him.
“Leon, dear, the likelihood of this one being a rags-to-riches story is rather low.”
“It makes sense!” He protested, but a soft grin from the other elf-- Reneth-- softened any indignity suffered.
“He’s a kid. Don’t think he’d marry so young. We should be careful, though. I don’t trust him.”
“He is not a kid!” Valen protested loudly, cutting the two short.
The argument erupted from there. Still, despite the raised tones, shouting, even, all of it remained perfectly friendly. Faux-punches were thrown, but never made contact, and varying smiles remained on everyone’s faces. Several bets were placed-- on Kien’s age, his status, his background.
The fight could have gone on for quite some time, with this particular group, devolving to any manner of ridiculous ideas, had the newcomer not silently padded up. Awake, apparently. And shirtless, given that Leon had cut his shirt open and he hadn’t been able to find any replacements within the healing tent.
Everyone fell silent, as one tends to when the subject of whom you were speaking of shows up to the discussion. Several awkward moments passed, before Valen broke the tension with a sharp whistle.
“You’re pretty buff, dude.” A soft chuckle ran through most of the group, if only to ward away silence.
“Speaking of which! Actually, not the same topic. How old are you?”
Kien blinked at the question, pursing his lips. Was that important? Did it reveal his identity? ...Probably not. Frankly, if they’d known of him, they’d have already guessed his identity, given the color of his eyes.
“Nineteen.”
Valen was… anything but subtle with his victory, and his triumphant woot! and fist bump revealed that to Kien, who just took it with a confused smile. Given the Prince’s observant nature (now that he wasn’t so completely distracted with fear), the quiet exchanging of coins from hand to hand wasn’t missed by him, and he raised an eyebrow at the group as a whole.
Still, though, despite the overall jovial mood, the General seemed rather bothered by Kien’s statement, and watched him for a long moment, frowning to himself. Before Kien could ask about it, though, the older elf had turned away.
“Would you like to come sit with us? They’re all hooligans, but we have drinks.” Mora’s offer was quiet-- she wasn’t nearly as loud as the others, but even without wearing the same grin most of them did, she was still politely friendly. Reneth was another story-- the hulking figure was practically scowling, now that Kien had joined the group. Gone was the tenderness he’d displayed towards Leon-- no, this elf was completely suspicious, if not downright hostile now.
“Sure. Thank you.” Kien wasn’t planning to drink-- he didn’t like how his senses were impared, and his injury left enough up in the wind should a surprise fight occur he did not need the additional barrier. And this was a war, he had to remember. Fights should be expected, as far as he knew.
Still, he joined them, taking a seat cross-legged on the ground around a low fire. The team was loud (most of the volume coming from Valen), but the atmosphere was overall quite pleasent. Kien said little, preferring to get a feel for the various soldiers he’d be fighting with. Of them, Valen talked the most, cracking jokes-- some clever, some crude-- and telling stories of his life outside of the war, the majority of which were about his wife back home. Leon and Reneth spent most of the time sitting close enough to touch, exchanging looks that made it quite clear they had a thing for each other. Mora’s inputs were usually startlingly witty, or calling Valen out on something stupid. The General, however, said very little, keeping his attention on Kien. Watching him. It was understandable-- he wished to keep his team safe, but Kien couldn’t help but feel a bit on edge. He had a secret to keep, and couldn’t have anyone learning it. Worse, he had no idea what the General would pick on, what tiny habits might clue him in. He’d have to think about every move before making it. Every gesture, every word, every step. Nothing could clue anyone in to his role as the Crown Prince, not if he wished to avoid his Father’s wrath. Assuming he survived this. Despite his worries, though, he found himself having a genuinely good time, and it seemed everyone else was enjoying themselves as well.
Until the flock of birds flew overhead, anyway. At the first rough squack, everyone, without fail, froze. Confusion flickered across Kien’s face, and he opened his mouth to express it, but a calloused hand clamped over his mouth. The General’s. A shutter wracked through Kien’s shoulders at the restrictive contact, but he too went still.
Mora tossed a bucket of water over the fire, letting the steam hiss up into the darkened sky, her eyes locked on the flock. Silence reigned for several seconds, until the birds had passed fully by. Only then did the General explain.
“This war is against the Shifters,” he hissed, tone still hushed. “They can assume any animal’s shape-- you can’t trust anything. They can usually be signaled apart from the natural-”
A crow’s croak cut him off. The sound was low, heavy, and stretched far longer than it should as it morphed into a scream, and the first of the birds dove. The rest followed in short succession, looping back and raining down upon the camp.
Before they hit the ground, each bird had assumed humanoid shapes-- lanky and graceful, with sharp-toothed smiles bared and long ears that angled downwards.
A single arrow split the air before the Shifters advanced as one, its singing filling all of the elves’ ears. Each of them knew the Lady Death’s tune all too well. Still, though, they rose, crouching to meet the advancing attack.
Here's my new OC, her name is Reneth and she likes other friendly friend. however Reneth is Terra's sisters, when Terra (from Kingdom Heart) is different with her sister
RenVm &REN Token Review And 2021 Price Predictions
RenVm &REN Token Review And 2021 Price Predictions
Why REN? Major advantages/features
Ren is a blockchain interoperability platform that supports the transfer of cryptocurrencies between different distributed ledger platforms in a trustless manner, without a centralized third party or custodial.
Staring off in the early days as a service that allows for settling trustless OTC trades, the Ren protocol shifted its focus to interoperability between…
