The Winds of Change

The mountain path, covered in freezing cold snow, insisted on swirling around the woman’s scarfed face and drafting up her duster with each breeze. The stuff seemed to change direction every couple minutes. Which didn’t make keeping her legs warm or wide brim hat on easy, but the hat was warm and was doing a decent job keeping the snow out of her eyes.  Rhia scuffed her boots through the snow, leaving a very obvious trail behind her. She was doing the opposite of trying to be stealthy here, the point was to be found by one of those wolf guides the woman mentioned, might as well make it easy for them.  

”Hold on, I thought the woman was joking when she said the guild hall was just down the street, outside of town, and at the top of the mountain, but the ghost wolf guides? That’s the part I decided was real?”  She stooped down and picked up some snow in her mittened hands and tossed it at a nearby shrub. She stopped muttering to herself and decided yelling into the emptiness was a better plan. ”Who puts a guild hall so far out in the middle of nowhere anyway?! She took a deep breath and adjusted her scarf. The woman at the alterations shop had given her a pamphlet, the thing really did draw a straight line from town up the mountain and to the guild hall, should have known it was too good to be true.

In the distance, hardly visible through the falling snow, was a fluffy tail moving away, the thing must be lost, her trail was behind her not over there. She decided to walk off the path and follow the spectral tail, it effortlessly scaled the terrain, over rocks and through patches of small trees. The wolf tail was escaping, every time she picked up her pace, so did the tail.  Wherever they were going, it apparently wasn’t fast enough; even at a dead run cross country, she wasn’t making any headway. Headway, not a word Rhia would normally use here, she repeated the thought in her head a couple times, not her words, not her voice. Headway, headway, way head?  A sharp pain in her forehead was followed by the world flipping backwards, ending that train of thought.  Rhia, now laying face down in the snow had a run in with a low tree branch, not that she would let that fact get in the way. she craned her neck upwards and as she thought, the tail knocked her over, and had now abandoned her. Jerk.

Now covered head to toe in snow, she dragged herself to her feet.  She turned in place to get her bearings, but it didn’t seem all that necessary, the palace was right there.  She trudged through the snow grumbling to herself.  A large warm looking black fur, roughly her size and barely touched by the snow, stood on the path in front of her. It spoke as she approached.

”Unexpected? Did your guide knock you into a snowbank too?” She tried to say with a sarcastic smile, which just happened to still be covered by a scarf that was coated in snow. Realizing this, she tilted her hat brim up and pulled her mask down with one motion allowing her smile through. In an exaggerated motion, she flung her arms straight out to each side, knocking the excess snow from her duster before snapping both hands to her hips. ”Nice! You’re here for the same reason I am Aku. I’m Rhia Le’Stae, I’ve bumped into a few of the wolves out and about, but it’s my first time here. Mind continuing inside?”  She did her best to speak in an upbeat, almost playful tone, snow and cold not withstanding and motioned to the door.  She was too cold to wait for a response, and held the door open for the other new hopeful guild member, from the warmer interior.

I really should have worn pants.

669 Words
1184 Total

Rhia nodded and tried not to shiver too vigorously while holding the door, she entered the hall  behind Aku.  Pants would have been a smart idea, and a fur coat like Aku here, maybe a white one like…  It was all she could do to sidestep as the black fur covered man was bodied by a white bear from around the corner.  Her body tensed into an odd fighting pose, her left side facing the bear, right hand at her thigh where her Caster would be, if the duster wasn’t in the way, and left arm fully extended, fist closed. Her mind raced, Caster was unloaded and all of her combat shells were in her pack, the duster was weighing her down and blocking easy access to her shells and Caster anyway. Rhia’s eyes swept the room, but all she could see was the bear until a small girl jumped from the bear’s shoulder.  

The tall(ish) woman relaxed, standing straighter, arms loose to her sides.  She straightened her wide brim leather hat, trying to acknowledge the small girl’s apology, but before she could speak a tall, slim man walked up. Something about him made her feel self conscious, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, she let it pass. Rhia nodded along to the white-haired man, she felt more at ease the more he spoke. ”Hi Mathis, Ursula, Beary” she smiled and tipped her hat at each of them in turn ”I’m Rhia Le’Stae, Rhia’s fine though. Yeah, I wasn’t expecting a welcome like this, not sure what I was expecting honestly, but hey, no one’s hurt!”

Let’s see, Ursula’s got a familiar… or is beary a celestial summon or maybe just an intelligent bear?  Mathis looks like an agile fighter with that build and sword on his back  Rhia grit her teeth at the mention of a fight. Rhia threw open her duster, putting her hands on her hips; This exposed her Caster, holstered on her right thigh, and her belt with only two shells inserted. Maybe I can bluff my way through this, one’s just a flare and the other’s a noisemaker aaand he’s joking.

The ever rusticly dressed Rhia frowned for a second hearing Aku’s response, but decided to share. She smiled broadly, her duster fell to the floor leaving just her vest shorts and boots. Rhia’s hands starting on her hips, snapped to a pose, right arm forward elbow bent up, hand in a fist, Her left arm clutching her right bicep.  ”I can’t cast spells at all!”  She beamed a wide grin that faded over a few moments. Before drawing a silver engraved brass shell marked with two overlapping diamonds and her Caster. ”Well, I mean, not directly. I learned to make these shells, and found this Caster.  I can only make so many a day before I pass out, and the enchantments only last for so long,” Rhia spun the Caster by the trigger guard and slid it back home into its holster, and gently slid the shell back into an empty belt loop.

”So uh, I’m still learning how it all works. Tour?”  She tossed her duster and hat onto a nearby chair and stepped closer to Aku.”

537 Words
2488 Total

Mathis gave another calming smile at the two of them. "I do apologize for being a little... informal with my introduction." The mention of Rhia eing unable to use magic piqued his interest. "There is of course no issue with the inability to use magic. I, myself, do not have magic, much as some have disagreed whether my bond with Blades such as Ursula counts as magic." With a hand raised, Ursula began shimmering into a blue light, a tall, black haired armored man taking her place.

"What, you want to use me as a demonstration?" he said somewhat bitterly.

"I figured you would much rather be our guide compared to Ursula."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Get moving, then."

Mathis sighed. "Malos is a headstrong one. They are not my summons as you might think, though they have agreed to my commandership from our homeland. Now then, I suppose a tour should properly be in order."

Mathis made his way through the hall, giving nice and detailed descriptions to the various locations within, with Malos pitching in on occasion with some snide remark. However, Mathis seemed more intrigued by the people rather than the tour. "Creating a magic equivalent is certainly impressive, Rhia. I do wonder what Poppi thinks about it. Ah, I suppose I should tell you, Poppi is an artificial Blade. It is... a bit odd to explain. She is more than a handful. As for you, Aku, you seem to be a rather reserved one, at least compared to your compatriot. Not that I mean to pry, it is everyone's right to their secrets. Many people I know have been quite upfront with their magic, though of course some could see that as weakness."

Malos scoffed. "That's where Mathis' honor hurts him. Always good to have a secret in your back pocket. Reveal things, and you can be countered." He turned to Rhia. "Like you, kid. Now all I need to know is how many shots you have and then I can crush you easily."

"You seem to think you would easily win regardless," Mathis pointed out.

"You know who you're talking to. Hell, looking at these little shits, I kinda wish you did beat them up."

Mathis shook his head again. "That is not what we do here in Silver Wolf."

"I'm only tagging along with you because back in Alrest they'd want me executed."

Mathis sighed. "Ever the charmer..." he said as he made a stop in a common room. "Any questions thusfar?"