Desert Departures[Travel/Ayero/Diego/Ilirran/Rurukoha]

((There isn't really a rush for everyone to post in this since I know some of you have threads to wrap up first. Get into the thread when you guys are ready and we'll all leave when the time is right.  ))



A deep breath of salty ocean air filled Yakuroro's lungs as the Imuchakk looked out past the docks of a Heliohapt Port town to gaze upon the glittering sea. After months and months of living in the desert lands it was nice to finally be near the ocean again. It was somewhat calming to his Imuchakk spirit despite all his efforts to distance himself from the usually musclebound nature of his own race. Being from a culture that lived off the sea and held supremacy underwater that few other creatures could rival, it was only natural that he find comfort from close proximity to any body of water. Yakuroro's own nature as a Blue Magician only amplified this feeling of familiarity that made him seem right at home.

Sadly, the Imuchakk had not come here for a swim. His business lay not with the vast expanse of ocean in the distance but rather with the medium sized trading vessel that was docked in the harbour. More specifically, the human captain who was barking orders to his men to load goods onto the ship.


Demetri Manius, captain of the "Lucky Squall" and human indebted to Yaku over a rescue from slavers, stood proud despite a crutch that kept him from standing tall. It seemed as though injuries suffered recently unrelated to the slaver incident had left him with a bad knee but that didn't stop this experienced captain from putting his boys to work. Yakuroro approached the man casually and cleared his throat to make his presence known.

The old trader turned with a raised brow and then smiled upon seeing who it was. "I didn't expect you to come visit me so soon. Eager to fulfill my request are ya?" The Imuchakk silently chastised himself for forgetting about the man's mentioning of a request last they met and tried to work that into his words so as to hide this fact. "Actually, I've come to ask a favor of my own from you. But I'd be happy to hear the details of your problems today as well. I need passage to Reim and a trader such as yourself must be heading there sooner or later. Do you think I could catch a ride along with a few companions of mine?"

The captain rubbed his beard thoughtfully and admitted, "I'm preparing for a trip to Reim right now actually but I won't be back for weeks I'm afraid. I doubt that's enough time for your friends to get prepared." Yakuroro held up a hand to interrupt him, "They are actually already on their way. If you are leaving today the all the better." Demitri looked a bit weary of the fact that the passengers were already en route when he hadn't even agreed yet. But he owed Yakuroro and his Fanalish friend Ayero his life. Demitri relented and agreed to ferry them to Reim. Now all that was left was for the rest of the group to arrive.

~200+/200 Word Count~

Ayero had awoken early that morning in order to give herself plenty of time to pack her meager belongings and bid farewell to the innkeeper. As she made her way to the harbor, dark brown eyes spied a familiar head of blue hair. Pleased that Yakuroro had already arrived, she approaches the blue magician.


Opening her mouth for a casual greeting, the red headed woman pauses when she catches sight of who the Imuchakk had been conversing with upon her arrival. Few would say that the half-Fanalis could be easily swooned, but next to none knew of a specific weakness of hers: attractive older men. A light flush makes its way onto her cheeks and she pauses for a few moments, simply standing there looking dumbstruck. Normally she’d be able to hold herself together, but she was unprepared for coming in such close proximity with the captain. She wonders how she didn’t notice how attractive the man was when they had rescued him, though it was likely that she was too preoccupied at the time to allow herself such thoughts.


”Uh…hi.”


She stumbles out a greeting, quickly bringing an enclosed fist to her lips before coughing lightly and looking away from the pair. Her blush began to subside, though a faint tint of pink could still be seen. ”I’m Ayero. I assisted in the rescue with Yakuroro.” She offers, her words a bit rushed in contrast with how assured she usually is. "I hope allowing us passage to Reim with you isn't much trouble."

[200+/200]

Ilirran sat atop Madam Trixie as she bounded after Diego, Zanzibar hugged tightly onto the Imuchakk. He clutched his injured right arm, blood pouring freely down his arm. Ilirran's skin paled and he felt light-headed. Woozily, he turned his head to the left, staring at the ships they passed. To his surprise, he saw the blue-haired Imuchakk magician from Strongest Under The Sun standing on the deck of a ship they had yet to pass. It still bothered him that the Imuchakk had used the mighty Asisiak's name, the very idea of a cowardly magician comparing himself to the Imuchakk Chieftain was madness.

Ilirran attempted to stand and run towards the Imuchakk, forgetting Trixie was underneath him. Stumbling off her back, he roared, "ASISAK!!!" Landing face-first in the ground, Ilirran exhaled sharply as his arm flared in pain. The cut burned as dirt entered the wound, his leopard-face wincing in pain. His head swam as he tried to stand up, forcing himself to walk on wobbly legs. "YOU!!!" Ilirran shouted at the magician, trying to get his attention. His voice sounded distant with an echo that reminded him of how sound traveled atop the Imuchakk mountains where he was raised.

Ilirran's vision started to fade, arms tingling as his body started to go numb. He curiously noted that the world had suddenly flipped upside down, not realizing that he had tumbled over his own feet. Sprawled on his back, Ilirran moaned as everything went black, fainting from the blood loss.

[200+/200]

Diego ran ahead of Trixie, still running from the guards that had been chasing them. He glanced back to make sure the tiger was still behind him, carrying Ilirran and Zanzibar. A worried look passed over Diego's face at the Imuchakk's appearance, they needed to find somewhere to hide and quick. He started scanning the ships to see if any were abandoned, where they could wait it out. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the familiar shade of Fanalis red. Looking closer, he realized it was Ayero and his face lit up in a smile. She was talking to an Imuchakk, an Imuchakk he knew! "Ayero? Yakuroro?" he called up to his two friends.

He heard Ilirran roar something about Asisiak and Diego recognized the name. Rumors had been going around about Asisiak slaying a giant monster at the Strongest Under the Sun tournament. He also remembered Ilirran complaining about the story before. Turning around to see what Ilirran was doing, he saw Ilirran sprawled on his back with Zanzibar warbling underneath him in panic, the furry white tips of his legs wriggling underneath the mass of Imuchakk. Trixie was standing back up from where she had fell, tripped up by Ilirran.

Diego ran to Ilirran, the Imuchakk's breath was faint and his skin was pallid. He grabbed Ilirran's arm and pulled with all his might to free Zanzibar. The spider skittered quickly out from underneath the Imuchakk and shook his body out angrily. He sent a frustrated warble towards Ilirran and climbed onto Trixie's back.

Diego called over to Ayero and Yakuroro, "Can you help me with him? He passed out!" He threw one of Ilirran's arms over his shoulder and began to carry the large man onto the ship. Trixie grabbed the leg of Ilirran's pants with her fangs and helped the Fanalis with the load as best she could.

They dumped Ilirran on the deck of the ship and Zanzibar skittered over to him. He took one good look at the Imuchakk before clamping down on his wounded arm to give him a Healing Bite.

While the spider took to caring to Ilirran, Diego turned to Ayero and Yakuroro. "You know each other?"

[200+/200]

[140/160 stam]

Spoiler:

Rurukoha woke up in the room she'd rented at the inn in Heliohapt. The silky covers had been thrown off sometime during the night, and the already hot sun beat down on her pale, naked form, reflecting on the beads of sweat that had collected on her skin. She rubbed her thighs together in irritation at the heat that slapped her everywhere she was exposed, which was... well... everywhere... and grimaced as they made a wet chafing sound. She felt disgustingly muddy. She used the covers to wipe herself down and discarded the cloth in a crumpled, dirty heap by the door. Everywhere in this world was too hot. She cleaned out her piercings with salt water and brushed her crush-velvet-blue colored hair in front of the mirror. She slammed the brush down in annoyance, nearly breaking the handle off. 'Oh, God...' she thought angrily. 'I have to repay him...' She remained slightly irritated as she brushed her teeth, slipped into her clothing, packed, and left the inn. What irritated her wasn't owing Yakuroro so much as owing someone in general. She hated owing someone favors. It put her in an off mood.

The young Imuchakk woman made her way down to the docks, where a warm breeze was blowing into her face. The salt air smelled wonderful, but the wind had forgotten its job of cooling the shore, choosing instead to enforce the role of the sun in its unforgiving heat. There was no reprieve. No blizzards would bring her relief in this time of trial. She looked toward where Yakuroro was standing and observed the three others he was with. There were two men and one woman. The first man her eyes rested upon was a very attractive man with bright red hair. He must be a Fanalis. She looked him up and down. Incredibly attractive. However, he seemed too delicate for her taste. She needed someone who wouldn't break under her. Her gaze shifted to the second man. He was a massive hulk of an Imuchakk man whose head had been turned into that of a large, predatory feline's. She was more than slightly disturbed by the head, but quickly dismissed it as something inconsequential for the time being. She managed to tear her eyes away and rest her gaze on the woman. She seemed to be a young Fanalis woman, yet clad in armor of some kind. Odd. She'd never met a Fanalis clad in armor. At the same time, she hadn't exactly met many Fanalis.

Finally, Ruru's eyes settled on Yakuroro. She gave the tall, blue magician a confident smirk and small nod, causing her hair to fall in her face again. She didn't move it. It let her continue to stare at him, evaluate him, turn him over in her mind. She had gotten over hating owing him in favor of being annoyed that his favor required her to leave Heliohapt. Yet, she was, admittedly, glad that he actually wanted her around. It meant that he respected her to some degree and felt that he actually needed her help. Well, maybe. She liked to think so, to believe it was true, even if it wasn't. It helped her deal with the stubborn ice giant. And wow, he was stubborn! Stubbornly hard to get a really good read on, anyway. She had general ideas of him, and maybe even a couple of specific ones, but the whole picture that was Yakuroro continued to elude her.

Seeing the group of oddballs assemble, Captain Demetri couldn't help but find himself harboring some regrets about accepting Yakuroro's request. Then again, he did owe the Imuchakk a great debt. With a sigh, the old man nodded and turned his back on the group. "Alright, I'll take you all. But I don't have enough provisions for everyone and you'll have to stay in the cargo hold. This isn't a noble's luxury cruise after all, it's a trade ship! You'll have to fish for your food or bring your own. We set off in two hours! Stragglers get left behind!" and with that the silver haired trade captain hobbled on his cane off to bark at his men to speed up the loading of the goods onto the ship.

"Well, food shouldn't be an issue. I've brought some seeds which can be grown into ripe fruit with life magic." Lady Soushui said from above as she descended onto the ground riding her own flying carpet. Now everyone was here.

Yakuroro had barely noticed the captain's words beyond his agreeance as his attention was focused on greeting the many faces that showed up, half of which were unexpected. The first to arrive was Ayero and it was good to see that she hadn't gotten second thoughts. Considering the nature of her reasons for going to Reim, Yakuroro wouldn't have blamed her if she had backed out for fear of facing the truth. Then again, he'd never expect such an act of cowardice from a strong woman like herself.

Next the unanticipated pair showed up. Ilirran and Diego. It was a slightly terrifying surprise to see the leopard headed man shouting the bogus alias Yakuroro had used during their battle against the Dark Djinn. Yakuroro knew not why the man was shouting but he looked enraged and delirious from the way his glaring leopard face bore sharp fangs. Thankfully he collapsed into unconsciousness before he could cause any trouble, or perhaps it was unfortunate and he was simply happy to see Yakuroro?... perhaps, but not likely.  Either way, the young fanalis boy with a heart as pure as the white of his tiger's coat was close behind and seemed to be treating the Imuchakk warrior with the kindness of a good friend. Although Yakuroro half expected the youth to treat anyone in need with such assistance, it was refreshing to see such a good soul despite all a lone boy traveling the world surely had to go through.

"It seems there are many interwoven bonds between us all that we had not known of." The magician said calmly as he smiled a friendly look and moved to help carry Ilirran. As they brought the unconscious Imuchakk into the gathered group, Yakuroro noticed the Imuchakk magician he'd met while searching for Akatetsu and nodded a friendly greeting to her as well. "I see you got my letter and accepted my request. Everyone, this is Rurukoha and she'll be joining us on this trip. Which remind's me...Diego, care to travel to Reim? I think it's clear from this meeting that fate intends for you to join us. Let's bring the mask wearing warrior as well. I'm sure we will need his strength!"

Once the two hours had passed, anyone who planned on joining the trip to Reim would be gathered on board setting out to the country. Some were going for personal reasons, some because they thought to make a difference in the coming conflagration of the recently conquered country, some were dragged along to return a favor, and some were dragged along without much choice in the matter. No matter their reasons, this group would find their departure graced with a breeze of brilliant white rukh fluttering past them. Seeing this, Yakuroro took solace in the knowledge that their journey was smiled upon by fate.


((In the interest of time since everyone is in a rush to get to Reim, I'm exiting and thus prompting everyone else to exit as well. We met our word counts and just because I still have a couple ongoing social threads you guy's shouldn't be held up. That being said, it's a shame to just skip past all the good parts of the journey. Once I finish my Heliohapt threads and am able to post in Reim, I'd be more than happy to do a thread detailing the events taking place on the ship if anyone else wants to do so. Just pm me or something with what you'd like to talk about and do IC so we can plan out a nice juicy plot!))

At Ilirran’s sudden appearance and outburst, the Fanalis woman turned swiftly on her heel only to gawk at the sight before her as the leopard headed Imuchakk collapsed to the ground. Her eyes flash with a light of remembrance, vaguely recalling seeing this large man somewhere before. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to remember engaging in a drunken battle with him a short while ago. ”Wait…Trixie?” She studies the familiar tiger, looking around in confusion as if to make sense of the bizarre situation. A not-so-distant voice calls out to her and Yakuroro, and the young woman turns to see none other than Trixie’s owner approaching them. ”Diego?” She calls out in response, now even more confused at how the Fanalis beast tamer had gotten tangled up with the strange Imuchakk. ”Wait, you know Yakuroro as well? And…” Her gaze flickers to an unconscious Ilirran on the ground.

At Diego’s request for help, the leopard headed man was removed from the ground and placed on the deck of the ship. ”We do.” She answers simply to Diego’s question. ”Somehow, I’m not surprised that you know him as well.” She muses, another tall head of blue hair catching her attention. After greeting the new mysterious Imuchakk woman, Rurukoha, the Fanalis female boards the ship with the rest of the passengers. Inhaling deeply, she feels a spark of excitement leap across her skin. She didn’t know what to think of Kou’s presence in her home country, but she was rather eager to return to Reim.

[Exit]

"Nice to meet you, Rurukoha!" Diego exclaimed, waving at Yakuroro's Imuchakk friend. He turned to the blue magician and nodded, "You are going to Reim, too? Maybe you can help me with Jagang, he is there this time, I just know it. Plus, we may have stirred up some trouble..."

Diego was happy that his friends would be joining him in Reim for this trip. The last time he had been to Reim, Trixie and he had gotten separated after some bandits had attacked them. It had been a terrible experience, though he had met some friends and had learned to use a bow. He had gone to find Jagang as well that time after chasing a rumor to get him out of town.

Diego bounced up and down as the boat left the docks, eager to be out at sea. He missed the sounds of the waves with no land in sight, it reminded him of the stories Jagang had told him of Madam Trixie, the Pirate Queen. Zanzibar and Trixie sat at either side of the Fanalis boy, resting in preparation for the long journey.

-exit-

Ilirran roused as Zanzibar's healing secretions began to take effect, mending some of his wounds and taking the edge off the pain. He looked around to take note of the people who were there. Seeing the blue-haired Imuchakk magician, Ilirran got to his feet and pointed at the man. "Who do you think you are using the mighty Asisak's name?" It was a question that had plagued him, obsessing over it like a deep, personal wound.

He glanced at Ayero and dipped his head, "Sorry, about the party. I drink too much." He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the magician, waiting for an answer. It would certainly be an interesting voyage to Reim.

-exit-