Tales of Iciaura: Search for the Story Fragments

"M-My apologies," Aezra stuttered as the elven fox-kin bowed, lowering her badge and adjusting her headset.

"It's only the first time I've met you- anyway!" she said, shaking her head before snapping back into business-mode.  "There seems to be a criminal on the loose carrying rare and expensive fabric with them.  The last they were seen was in this town, and from what the reports say, they were noted carrying some kind of weapon.  Otherwise, our only lead is that the crook is somewhere in the mountains.  If I station my crew here, in town, would the two of you accompany me into the mountains to look for the lawbreaker?"

"I'll repay you for your time," she added, combing her ponytail with her fingers a few times, showing a bit of nervousness.  "Or in any case, return the favor somehow."

Raven smiled at Aezra when she said that the criminal was supposedly in the mountains.  They were headed in that direction anyway so why not help someone out while they were at it?  It was perfect!

"We were headed into the mountains to do our own thing anyway.  If you come with us we can knock out two things with one trip!  Whaddya think Luminere?"

He asked the Desert Elf, thinking that knocking out two things at once would be a great idea.  Especially if it would help out someone that was with some kind of authorities in their debt.

Luminere rubbed behind her fox ears, nodding along with Raven and Aezra's words. When they finished speaking, she looked to the two of them and gave a final nod.

"Alright then. Killing two birds with one stone is a very good idea. We help you with your mission, and you get to ride along on our quest." Luminere decided. "I'll explain the situation on the trek up the mountain."

Secretly, Aezra was ecstatic to have one of the more recent legends of Iciaura join her for the new quest.  This Raven person was likely to be useful too, as an extra set of eyes and arms is always appreciated.  She then withdrew a rectangular device from the belt on her hips and turned to the side to speak into it.

"Agent Seven, come in, come in."

Static noises emanated from the device before another voice responded, "Agent Seven, I read you loud and clear.  What's going on?"

"I'm leaving you in charge of the ground mission.  I've found the Crash Rank Luminere and I'm enlisting her for back up.  Keep everything in order for when I get back, or I'll report you."

"Yes, ma'am, over and out."

With that out of the way, the Dholewoman reattached her device to her belt and clicked a button on her electronic headband.  The holographic visor slid down her face, and one of her hands went instantly to her special gun on the side of her leg.

"I hope you're ready.  This could be very dangerous, but then again, you might be used to that kind of thing."

Minutes later, Aezra led the other two up the designated hiking trail until they came to its end.  This was where the more rigorous hikers kept going, and the casual mountaineers turned back.  Aezra turned to Luminere and Raven.

"I confess that I haven't been up these rocks at all, so I'm not entirely sure where to go after this.  But let's get to your story first, as you wanted to tell me?" the Dholewoman inquired, taking a seat on a snow-covered rock for a small rest.

Luminere studied the rocky face before them, her fox ears twitching sporadically about. She sighed and turned to her now teammates.

"It's gonna be a little bit of a slippery climb, but it shouldn't be too difficult. There's still a bit of a trail to follow. We should we be alright. Starting about halfway, we'll start seeing bits of civilization, but I'm not sure if it will be ruins or an actual village..."

The Fox-elf started her ascent, ears acting as radars as they climbed. The air slowly got thinner, and they had a ways to go.

Raven scratched the back of his head before giving Aezra an awkward smile.

"I guess Luminere doesn't want to share stories.  I'm not much of a climber too so I hope I'll be okay."

He tells her before gesturing for Aezra to follow, pulling his hood on his jacket up and over his head before zipping it up.  He stares at trail for a while before giving a great sigh and starting to go up through the trail, trying to follow behind Luminere as quickly as he could. It's not that he didn't want to talk to Aezra, he just didn't want to get up and left behind by Luminere in the process. The gradually thinning air also didn't seem to bother him very much. Being a birdfolk did have its perks after all.

Aezra got up after the other two began their ascent, shrugging after Raven's words.

"It's alright, I can sense there's more to be said through her actions than her words, anyway."

It was a good idea not to talk too much during this intensive climb anyway.  Even with all her fur-like hair, the Dholewoman was still growing colder with each passing boulder.  All those years of training at the police academy were sure to pay off now, but she still wished she could become a mountain goatwoman for this time in particular.

Even though Luminere hadn't shared too much, the talk of "ruins" intrigued Aezra.  While she was no history buff, she did appreciate ancient Iciaurian culture, as without it, they wouldn't be the civilization they were today.  She wanted to know more, but didn't want to ask until they new for sure that's where they were headed.  Maybe the criminal would be there, as well.

It was a fairly long climb up to the ruins, and was dusk by the time the trio reached there. The wind was still, and the ruins and ground were frosted over in the cold, dead air. Luminere snapped branches of several dead trees and laced them in a small pile, just outside of a broken down building that was still somewhat usable.

"This will keep us out of any wind or snow that happens upon us tonight." Luminere spoke, grasping one of the branches tightly in her hand. "I'll get a fire going if you guys want to set up camp inside."

She focused on the branch in her hand. Slowly, it began to smoke, but wouldn't light for a bit. She would need some time.

Aezra gasped under her visor when she saw the ruins for the first time.  As 'ruined' as they actually were, she still could not fathom the legends that these walls held as she headed inside the building Luminere gestured to.  

"Quite the structure.  I'd want to know more about this place, if I had the time..."

As she looked around, she placed a hand on her weapon in case that criminal was hiding out here as well, ready to show them that she meant business.  Her other hand, however, gently slid across the snowy and dusty building material.  Rough, from years of weathering, as expected for a construction on the mountains.

She continued to explore the building rather than set up for anything because she did not bring too many supplies with her.  She carried two emergency flares, a radio with batteries, her special gun, her insulated police suit and visor headband, along with handcuffs, badge and smoke bombs.  There wasn't really anything more to that.

Raven sighed as they reached the ruins, watching Luminere as she tried to spark the fire to life. He saw Aezra walking around and exploring and narrowed his eyes. Surely he shouldn't let her have all the fun? With a quick smile, he runs up to follow her.

"Looks like Luminere's going to need some time to get the fire going. Mind if I tag along with you? This place looks like it's full of things to learn!"

He asked her, looking around at all of his surroundings.

The ruins were old, mostly covered in snow and bits of ice. Through the ice, however, one could see old ruins as clear as if they were just carved. The ancient words glowed dully as the two approached.

Luminere let out a happy shout as the fire finally roared to life. She panted a bit, as she consumed a lot of her light energy. Her hands shook and smoked a bit, causing her to sigh a bit. She wiped the soot off her hands and set off to find the others in her group.

The Dholewoman glanced behind her to find Raven smiling and looking about the ruins.  He didn't look as if he would give away anything during her investigation.  Maybe he could find something she couldn't.

"Permission granted, cadet," she nodded to him before turning back to what was left of these old icy walls.

Then she noticed the glowing and immediately withdrew her weapon, pointing it straight at the ancient glyphic.  Iciaura was a world known for its magic and technology, sort of a middle ground planet betwixt its allies.  Aezra, however, did not delve into the magical aspects of the world, and all of this was very startling and alien to her.

"Stand your ground, cadet!  It's activating or something!"

Raven laughed at Aezra's comment.

"I'm a cadet huh? Alrighty then."

He was interrupted and startled by Aezra mentioning that something was activating on the wall and he whipped around to look at it. He rolled his eyes and stared at glowing markings.

"I doubt it's anything dangerous man. Besides, this could be fun!"

He told her as he went to touch the dully glowing glyphs with his palm.

Luminere grabbed his wrist before Raven could touch the glyphs. She shook her head and lowered the appendage, shaking her head.

"Unless you wanna be blasted off the cliffside, don't touch that." she warned. "Those ruins are trapped; if you can't read Iciaurian, you're screwed." Luminere examined the runes closely, then pulled out the book that she had showed Raven earlier. "Hmmm... These are similar to the Fragment signs..." The elf put the book back into the bag and stood up straight. She spoke aloud. "Htiut mhar omain sainthoetshar saw htarrko rashihtarrsuu" (The cave at the peak holds the sword that you seek)

The runes glowed brightly, then stopped. a small hole opened up on the floor, revealing a staircase going down.

"Well...? Should we stay or go?"

Raven looked at Luminere in a bit of surprise when she suddenly grabbed his wrist. He sighed internally when she told him what the glowing runes would've done to him. Although the initial blast would've hurt, he would've been able to slow his fall off of the cliff enough with his wind magic so that he wouldn't be seriously injured. But then as he looked back to Aezra he took a deep breath and nodded slowly to her words. Maybe he would've been fine but Luminere and Aezra would've gotten caught in the blast radius too.

When she spoke in Iciauran and a staircase opened up to go down, he grinned at her.

"Do you even really need to ask me? I told you I'd travel with you to do this thing. I dunno about the rest of my race but I always keep my promises. Let's go!"

He told her, going to wait by the stairs for Aezra's decision and for Luminere to lead the way.

The Dholewoman jumped behind some stone for cover as Raven nearly touched the glyphs.  When Luminere came out of nowhere and caught him, she came out from her hiding spot and listened to what she had to say.  Was that really all was needed to disable the trap?  A few words spoken in native Iciauran?  Granted, she needed a book to read from, but... that wasn't important right now...

"A mystical secret passageway in a monolith is the perfect place to hide... and that's exactly the kind of stealthy scumbag I'm looking for... I'll go in," she said, cocking her weapon once more.

She allowed Luminere to take the first steps inside and followed Raven inward.  Her eyes searched the snow once more before going in, hoping that she was mistaken that the thief went down here.  It was much harder to conduct a mission when she had no idea where she was going or what lied ahead.

Once the three of them were in the crypt, the door behind them closed, leaving them in total darkness. Luminere sighed deeply.

"Watch your eyes. This is gonna be bright." She commented.

She could be heard inhaling and exhaling deeply. Her large fox ears flickers, then lit up quite brightly; enough to see for a good 30ft, then another 30ft of dimmer light.

"There we go. Let's press onward."

Raven blinked when Luminere's suddenly started glowing, flinching at first but letting his eyes adjust made it easier for him to see.

"Neat trick Luminere. I wish I could do something like that...."

He mumbled, glancing at his rather useless wings. They were still too small to use for flight after all. He turned to Aezra and raised an eyebrow to her cocked gun.

"Why are you keeping that thing cocked like that? You nervous or something?"

He asked her, a bit intimidated by someone he didn't know having a gun....

((Fitting Music FTW?))

"Your name suits you well with such abilities," commented Aezra to Luminere with a light smirk.  She continued to follow behind the other two, her eyes scanning the environment around them.  The crypt itself looked a lot bigger when it had a bright light like this.  She had to make sure that fabric thief wasn't hiding in the shadows.

When Raven brought up the gun, the Dholewoman's eyebrows raised and she responded accordingly: "Is it not the same as someone who carries around unsheathed blades or magic conductors?  I am in control of my weapon and to keep it armed is for my safety, not out of nervousness."

She sighed lightly before continuing.  "If you are confused as to why I have it out like this, be assured that I don't intend to harm anyone unless it is to defend myself or civilians.  It is my duty to protect innocents at all costs.  Besides, this very weapon has saved mine and others lives on countless occasions and for me to not be prepared in the event that this passageway collapses upon us, or a guardian beast creature comes to attack us, is foolish," she finished, assertively.

It wasn't that she lacked empathy or kindness on purpose, but she still treated this expedition like a business.  She was very invested in her job and did care about protecting people, but this meant that her emotions had to be pushed aside for the time being.

Luminere's ears twisted around like radars as the three traversed the crypt. There was no noise, save for their footsteps and the dripping water around them.

As they went further and further in, they come across a small encampment. Leaning against the wall is an Ice Wolf, looking no older then 17 or 18. He seemed to be dozing off...

[And in comes Phirania! ]

A soft grumbling escaped his lips as Sadon's head drooped to the side, a full week of solitary vigil now beginning to catch up with him. His head drooped as fatigue and boredom finally took their toll, leaving him unaware of the approaching party. The encampment itself wasn't anything too fancy -- a poorly made tent, a hiking backpack, a portable telescope and not much else besides that. But notably, it overlooked a fissure in the ice below, allowing one a bird's eye view of a lower floor of the ice cavern.

Although the supplies were scarce, it had the look of a place that had been in use for a few days. And in the Ice Wolf's hand, he held a parchment of a portrait with a person on it. Upon closer inspection, the person on the portrait might seem familiar to accounts of a certain thief in the area...

(OOC: Haiii Phirania! Good to see you playing in another RP friend! ^^/)

Raven gave a sigh at Aezra's sharp retort over his concerns about her cocked gun that she always kept out. True, she was correct in saying that it was for her own protection, but in the same logic as hers his thin swords were just as useful. He kept them oriented on his body in a way that he could unsheathe them at a moment's notice and have them ready for battle. Maybe she didn't quite understand his concerns? His thoughts were interrupted quickly by the visage of an Ice Wolf in the approaching cavern. He narrowed his eyes at the creature, slowing his pace and tapping Luminere on the shoulder to point to him, noticing the parchment in his claws.

What's a creature like that doing here? Was it after something here? And how did it get in? Something's not right here....

He thought to himself, touching the hilts of his blades that were quietly clinking on the backs of his hips. He took a silent breath and let go of them.

Calm down Raven. Analyze the situation first, then react. Not the other way around.

He told himself, quietly moving to a nearby wall and hiding himself in the case that the Ice Wolf would awaken suddenly. Best not to take any chances with the unknown. He may act laid back, but he was no slacker.

Aezra's eyes widened, then narrowed upon the sight of the Ice Wolf, but didn't want to accuse him unjustly, so she replaced her weapon into its holster.  She quickly pushed her way towards him however, to get a closer look to see if he matched any of the descriptions/looked like the wanted posters the police force put up.

By the time she was about five feet from the dozing camper, she uttered a single syllable before her eyes met with the parchment he held.  The portrait... THE THEIF!!

She did a double-take, making sure that the Ice Wolf either matched or didn't match before reaching for her means of intimidation.  No such match was made, as the two had some key differences in their facial qualities, but regardless, why did he have this on him?  The theft didn't take place until earlier today or really late last night, but this guy appeared to be here for a few days with the tent set up...  She had to know more.

"Sir," she began loudly so he could wake up.  "Aezra, Chief of Local Kyuu Police."  She flashed her badge, previously clipped to the side of her belt.  "I'd like to ask you a few questions, specifically about that portrait there, you're holding."

She didn't care if she was interrupting anything.  This was her job and she had to get those fabrics back, or reputation would be lost... she might even get demoted by her commanders...

Luminere took a few steps back, to give this stranger some space when he woke up. She advised the others to do the same, as to avoid any threatening feelings.

"Excuse me sir," She spoke. "Lookin' for the guy on that paper. Think you can help?"

She figured that if this guy wasn't a threat to them, perhaps he could join their little group?

Sadon jerked awake, falling onto his butt from his previous position leaning on the wall and dropping the portrait on the ground next to him. Wincing from the unexpected fall, he rubbed the now sore area he had fallen on before picking himself up. "N-nobody else should be here! Those glyphs at the front should've kept you out!"

For a moment, his hand rested on the pommel of a sword he had sheathed, as though he was truly considering fighting the two individuals he could see, unaware there was a third party member. He paused, his steely eyes lingering on Luminere for a moment longer than they had been on Aezra before recognition swept over him. He knew exactly who these two were, and he took several steps backward. If they were here... would his target still show up?

He glanced at the hand telescope he had set down by the encampment's edge, partially wanting to check and see if the target had shown up, but also not wanting to be here. If these two were involved in this, everything could spiral out of control! At this point, his hand was still on the pommel of his blade as he rested his eyes on Aezra's badge, unsure of the item's legitimacy.

Either way, a situation like this won't go my way, Sadon concluded as his heart began to race. They'd want to know why he was there, which would compromise his whole mission! Knowing who these two were meant that the operation had been much bigger than he'd originally anticipated. He knew he couldn't fight both of these two particular individuals.

So he ran.