The War of the Shadow - Of Darkness and Light

[Winterwinds]

OOC: Well, I have not seen a War of the Shadow thread around here, but I might be mistaken, but till proven wrong this one is it  ;D. In anyevent, this board needs a little kickstart dont you think?

 

IC: Looking towards the gathering stormclouds, Jon grimmaced, to all but his eyes the thousands of ravens and other carren feeders who were attempting to hide in the updrafts of the aproching storm were hidden from view. This was the work of those blased Forsaken, he was sure of it. For weeks they had been counjuring up storms much like this to rain lighting down on cities and small towns that had the nerve to stand up aginst them. glancing to his right his companion Spring Rain was looking at the sky as well, though she was not your typical compaion. She was infact a wolf, though he sometimes forgot this fact.

"Danger brother" Spring Rain from were she was sitting, though it was not in words, more like feelings and imagines, as it always was.

"We are safe for now sister" Was his responce, though his heart was not in it, for weeks the Forsaken had been hunting his kind, for they had fought more fiecely then most. "Rember Khor Springs" This had been the first battle they had been in together, it had also been one of the worst atrocity that had been done aginst the wolves in this war, though the common man would not think it. Spring had just come, and many of the wolf packs had come together to breed and take care of the newborn pups, but this spring would be rembered as one of sorrow. The Fades and newly made Trollocs had come in the night and slaughtered many sleeping wolves, by the time the alarm had been raised to the nearby human packmates it was all but to late. Though most humans do not concider it a battle, it is one in the mind of a wolf. As always the mention of that night brought deep seaded hate up from Spring, though she showed no outward sign of it exept for a low growl. Turning Jon looked over the troops that were assembeld behind him, though the word troops could only be loosely put to this group if at all. All of them were like him, they were the friends and human packmates of the wolves, many refered to them as the Wolf Kin, or just Kin for short. Though unlike him, many in this group were in no way soildiers, were as he wore armor that had been made for him in the Hall of Servants, many before him wore leather armor scavanged from there bastments or made on the battlefield. Infact, many of them did not even have proper weapions, pitchforks and the poor excuses for a sword that a country blacksmith makes, he wore a finly wrought longword crafted by artisen smiths in a city that had, sadly, been wiped off the face of the land. It was not that he didnt like them, he had been like them before this creator forsaken war, but they had barly seen any action and he did not want to have to write anymore letters to there familes, his sword hand was starting to cramp from it.

"Sir, what did you see?" This was said by a young captain who had been with Jon since the first of the year, it was not the third month in the year, he was rather short though well built as once must be for this kind of work.

"I saw death comming on many wings, the Forsaken have cooked up another one of those storms, we may have to bunker down here till ther army gets here" He pointed up towards the hill, "They will have to come though this pass at some point, and when they do" He hit his fist aginst his open palm, next to him Spring snaped her jaw as if bithing something. Off in the distance the few packs of wolves who were still in the area howled, they were pleased that there would be some Shadow spwan blood spilled, and would doubtlesly take part in the ambush. Giving out orders to dig in so as to avoid the worst of the storm, Jon went over to grab a shovle from his horse and start on a ditch for himself, in this war, you could not expect to live long if you do not take part in the dirty work.

 

OOC: Well....that was a long post for me, feel free to jump in, if not I will just keep posting every couple of days.

[Jehaine]

OOC: And now for something completely different ;D

 

IC:

 

Scylla sighed as she watched the storm roaring above her head. From experience, she knew it was dangerous to be out during 'special' storms like this, too much risk by being out in the open. Even the ravens felt it, there were none to be seen where normally there'd be hundreds scouting the land. From where she had perched on a high up tree branch, huddled under the canopy to protect herself from the rain, she used the time to inspect her wings for damage.

 

As she picked a few twigs from the leathery bat-like wings, she sighed, thinking back to when she had been taken captive by the Shadow. One of those accursed Forsaken had picked her out amongst her group before ordering the others to be eaten by the Trollocs, and there were times she had considered them to be luckier than her. No, the Forsaken -- she believed he was called 'Aginor' -- was looking for a way to improve his troops, and had seen fit to use healthy looking prisoners as his test subjects. Failures were killed if they even managed to survive the night after they had been horribly transformed, mutated by whatever dark force he had wielded.

 

Content with her work, she folded her wings again, pulling up her knees to her chest as she continued going through her memories, eyes closed to not look at her purplish skin. She, too, had been deemed a failure, for being too smart. Her wings allowed her to escape her captors too easily, and she had managed to retain her human intelligence; they simply did not trust her to return to them. She did, however, manage to escape by getting a guard to open the door to her cage, it seemed her singing voice had had a strange effect on the man. Not one to look a given horse in the mouth, she had flown off as soon as the door was open.

 

...And now, she was in a forest she didn't know, in a land she didn't know and with the Army of Shadow closing in. They would kill her on sight. The Army of Light would kill her on sight. She was caught between a rock and a hard place, but she knew that no matter what, she would die free. She would not allow herself to be captured again. Softly, she started to hum to herself, an old lullaby her mother used to sing. The roaring thunderstorm in the distance was an odd contrast to the gentle tune.

 

 

Scylla Naradiel

Gleewoman turned Prototype Draghkar

[Winterwinds]

OOC: Time to ressurect this I think.

 

The storm howled wildly above Jon's head, rain pelted him endlessly with a relentrless cold that made every drop feel like a needle. Thunder boomed in the distance, some of them the others were wispering that it was the Dark Ones laughter, and after about three hours of it Jon was inclined to agree. Spring Rain shook the water from her fur for what must of been the tenth time in the past five minuts. "Brother, this storm is getting worse can you not feel it?" She said for the third time this hour.

"I do sister, but what can I do about it?" he said back. He had dug a rather large ditch which was now ocupied by atleast a dozen or so wolves who had come to find shelter from the rain. Were as normaly they did not do this the forest had become rather unfrendly with the approch of the Shadow Spawn army, trollocs were not something you faced in near pitch black conditions.

"Sir, what do you think is keeping the troops?" Looking at the persion who had spoken it turned out to be a young man of barely twenty, he was wearing scavenged light plate armor, a bastard sword strapped over his back.

"I do not know my friend, this storm is heavy and is likely ment to slow there progress, but for what reasion I know not." Jon replyed, this seemed to satisfy the young soldier for he settled down again in the part of the ditch he had dug. Atleast they had been able to put a roof over it before the worst of the rain had come.

"Brother, the never born are aproching though the gap between the hills, they bring many twisted ones." This message came from one of the wolves that had not taken shelter, instead deciding to wait it out at the pass. This news was dire, Jon has expected the army to get here before the trollocs did. Looking around he dicided they could not wait for the army, he stood up and looked over his rag tag troops.

"Men, the Shadowspawn are at the vally, we can not wait for the army any longer. We must start the battle." With this news many of the men just looked at him blankly, some with a look of "finnaly", the Wolves just stood and waited for there two legged compainions to start out. "Now come on, we have a war to fight." Jon removed the canvas roof over the ditch and started out to what would doubtlessly be his death. By the time he reached the foot of the hill he was joined by his troops, all looking grim but determend to do what must be done.

As they were enveloped by the darkness that had become the woods around them, a single howl echoed though the storm battered night sky, it spoke of sorrow, and of bravery. As it cut off the raid finnaly stopped, and the moon came out.

"Tonight, is a good day to die I think" Jon thought as he walked, "Tonight is a good day to spawn legends"

[Jehaine]

As Scylla looked around from where she was perched, she noticed movement from the corner of her eye. Some canvas had been pulled away to uncover a ditch, from which men were now emerging. Thunder drowned out what they were saying, but it was clear to her that they were moving out, heading out to meet the much larger Shadowspawn army. Were they mad? she thought, They couldn't possibly head out to meet a force that large!. Cupping her hands, she tried to shout at them, but thunder and rain drowned out her words.

 

She was about to fly out to them when she realised her rather uncomfortable position. These were people that fought the Shadow, soldiers gearing up to fight. There was a possibility she would be killed on sight before she'd even get a chance to get close. On the other hand, if she didn't move now they would all die. Hesitating, she got up, spreading her wings out before gliding towards the small clearing they all gathered in. Shouts were heard now, scouts were undoubtedly alerting the troops to seeing a large winged shape preparing to swoop down on them, but she'd just need to get to them before they'd get their bows up.

 

- "WAIT!! Don't shoot! There's too many Shadowspawn ahead, you can't win against those numbers!"

 

Of course, seeing a purple skinned human figure with large black leathery wings -- even if she didn't wear much to speak of -- would undoubtedly cause some degree of concern amongst the men stationed there, but she just hoped they would at least listen before shooting her, not to mention silently praying for her own survival. Not like the forests were safe, there were wolves out after all.

 

 

Scylla

Rolled the dice

[Winterwinds]

"By the Light what is that!?" Jon wipped his head up from were he had been staring at the ground as he trudged on though the knee deep mud to look at what one of the soldiers was looking at. What met his eyes he was not sure, but it did not look human, then again it didnt look like any shadowspawn he had see yet, perhaps a new trick from on of the Forsaken. Beside him Spring growled a low menacing growl as the shadow swooped towards them. A few of the archers, which was only 2 people, had started to string there bows as best they could, which was to say they really were trying with out much success. Others, including Jon, had pulled what ever weapion they had on them, mostly the pitchforks and rusty swords with the rare hand and a half swords. By now the thing had drawn close enough and it was shouting at them, "Wait! Dont shoot! There's too many Shadowspawn ahead, you can't win against those numbers!" It sounded human, but as it came into view it looked anything but. Though it looked vagley like what had once been a lovely lady it now more resembled a bat or somthing larger. Though it was not wearing much the tattered remains of clothing looked oddly like the kind a Gleeman would wear while preforming. Something seemed off, he had seen what the Forsaken could and would do to people they had captured, he did not want to think on most of what he had seen, could this possibly be one of those poor souls?

"Sir, what do we do?" one of the archers was saying, Jon relised for what must be the fifth time.

"Hold steady men, but do not shoot till I give the order," He said to the soldier, then to the creature, "Who, or what are you? And what is your buisness here?"

 

Jon

Has also cast the dice.

[Jehaine]

Well, the good thing was that she was still alive and whole. The bad thing was she still had several arrows and assorted weaponry aimed at her, and some of the soldiers holding the weapons looked more than a little nervous. She just hoped they weren't on edge to the point of breaking though, anxiety could do strange things to disciplined ranks.

 

"Who, or what are you? And what is your buisness here?"

 

- "My name is Scylla Naradiel, a gleewoman from the city of Tzora. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

 

Scylla gave the man a bow, which she realised was more from professional habit than actual greeting. Shaking out of it, she continued with what she wanted to say, only to be stopped by a fit of coughing. Her voice, though a bit hoarse, had a melodic quality to it that implied she had a good voice, fitting into the picture of a gleewoman the tattered rags she was wearing only hinted at. She pulled up her pants a bit further -- having a tail was still giving her some trouble -- before continuing.

 

- "I was on the way to a city to perform for the troops stationed there when the village i had stopped in for the night was attacked, and i was taken captive along with the other survivors. Sir, it would truly sink your heart to hear what the Shadow does to them, and only by sheer luck did i manage to escape."

 

Another fit of coughing followed, and she almost took a step closer to Jon before remembering the weapons pointed at her. Wiping some of the rain out of her eyes again, she cleared her throat again before continuing. There had been a couple of days between her escape and this night, and the rain had seemingly never ended.

 

- "...Before i continue however, do you have a fire? And some spare rations?"

 

The look in her eyes would tell Jon there was more, but she didn't want to upset his troops too much. Her appearance in the middle of camp combined with hearing what was being done to the prisoners, as well as hearing the size of the army they would be marching for could lead to a sharp drop in morale, effectively losing the battle before it had begun. She was no stranger to it herself, her own uncle had been a general for the Light until he had fallen in battle. Fact remained she was cold, hungry and exhausted, and taking the gamble to show up at a camp of the Army of Light had really been a last resort for her.

 

 

Scylla

Seeing what she rolled

[Winterwinds]

Jon listened to the strange creature, she spoke like the Gleeman that she said she was but Jon was not sure. Beside him Spring had here ears flat against her head, but had stopped growling.

"Brother, she tells the truth, as far as I can tell. But, I have not seen such a creature before, we should tread carefuly.." She said to him, she was worried he could feel it flowing from her. Around him the rest of the wolves seemed to be in a like mind in varying degrees, some seemed poised on the edge of killing the creature, others wanted to hear more. Looking around the soldiers had not lowered there assorted weapons and some seemed to be gripping there handles tighter then when they had drawn them.

"We have a fire not to far from here, but if this is a trick and we fail to meet the shadow spawn and prevent the complete failure of this campaign," his voice was flat, but distrust echoed though it as he let the threat stand. Some of the soldiers smiled at this, most likely thinking they were in for a haning or something. What ever was going to happen Jon wanted to make sure it was thought out first, haste had brought the downfall of a few commanders in Jon's time, many of them had been his friend. Making the hand sign to give the command to lower there weapons Jon turned and motioned towards the fire's they had left smoldering in case they came back, how ever unlikely it had seemed at the time.

 

Jon

Prays he hasn't messed up. 

[Jehaine]

A weight visibly slid off of Scylla's shoulders as the men lowered their weapons. Though she still had more than enough reason to be concerned, having the first fire in a few days to look forward to managed to gain the upper hand. She just absently nodded at the threat, her tired mind barely even picking up on it as she focused herself entirely on not making a mad dash for the place Jon had pointed at.

 

- "I... thank you, for what it's worth. If you have any questions, may i suggest we continue this conversation at the fire?"

 

Her voice did little to hide her wearyness. She was tired of the rain beating down on her, she was tired of spending nights awake trying to get used to a body that was no longer human, yet still hers. And she was tired of simply being afraid. These men hadn't killed her, for which she was grateful, but finally allowing herself the time to realise all that had happened made her feel on the brink of an emotional collapse. Fighting back tears and hoping the few that fell would be mistaken for rain, she walked over to the promised fire, eyes fixed on the still smouldering pieces of wood. Wrapping her arms around herself, she sat as close to the fire as she could get, letting the heat soak back into her body as she listened to whatever questions Jon would ask her.

 

 

Scylla

Warming up

[Winterwinds]

The strange creature nodded to show she had understood the unspoken threat.

"I...Thank you, for what it's worth. If you have any questions, might I suggest we continue this conversation at the fire?" She said, Jon nodded his agreement. As she passed by him and his soldiers to go to the fire it almost looked as if she was trying to hold back tears, but Jon dismessed it as just the light playing tricks with his eyes, along with the fact that the rain had started again. As she sat next to the fire he ordered the troops to set up a guard around the camp, and also to send a runner on one of there only horses, which happened to be Jon's horse. After the camp was seen to he walked over to the figure next to the fire, and sat across from her. For a long while he just looked at her, trying to figure out what she was, or perhaps how best to continue the conversation. Deciding none of that really mattered at this point he sighed and asked his first question.

"How many are there, do you know?" He hoped it was not a large number, but he knew better then to wish for things that could not be, that was the Aes Sedia's department not his. 

[Jehaine]

Scylla was glad Jon gave her the time to warm up a bit before starting to ask questions, and found herself using the time to get her emotions under control again. By the time he had started to speak, her shivering had lessened, and her muscles were a lot less tensed up from the cold than they had been. She tried to remember what she had seen, back in her cage, and from the air after she had escaped. She was good with numbers, but making military estimates on troop count was something she lacked the experience in to make a rough estimate.

 

- "I don't know, i never was a soldier. I guess about... ten thousand Trollocs? Twenty thousand? Enough to take a small city anyway, i heard they were planning to. Then there's that Forsaken calling himself Aginor and his personal guard of Dreadlords, so i really can't begin to estimate their real troop strength."

 

She looked up at Jon, wondering what his next question would be. Her own mind was a mess of bad memories, and she was afraid that if she'd start talking, she'd jump back and forth so much she'd end up making no sense at all. Better to just stick to answering Jon's questions, and hopefully just talking about it would help her come to terms with what had been done to her.

 

 

Scylla

Listening. Answering. Waiting.

[Winterwinds]

"I do not know, I never was a soldier. I guess about... ten thousand Trollocs? Twenty thousands" That boded ill for Jon, the original figures from the generals had been around one thousand, ten thousand at least could spell doom for the army on its way. He motioned over to one of the passing soldiers and told him to stop the rider, who had luckily not left yet. Telling him the new number of trollocs he went back to studying the creature on the other side of the fire, by now he had been joined by a few other soldiers, an archer and two of the swordsmen. He was not quite sure how to proceed with questions, he had learned what he had needed to learn, but then he was also wondering about how this creature had come into existence, he was about to speak when one of the soldiers to his left, a squadman who had joined at the last town.

"You said you were from Tzora, my parents were from there." He said, "sadly, I think the town has been destroyed, last I heard it was hit by one of these storms a week ago." The squadman seemed to be actualy interested in just talking to there guest, which made Jon smile despite his best effort. The Squadman had given him time to formulate his next question.

"I know this is high order to ask of you," Jon said with as much of a comforting tone of as he could pull up from his already harden soldiers core, "But, when you escaped, did you happen to see any landmarks that you could point out on a map? So we might be able to, if we are unable to stop the army, atleast free the captives there...stop the experiments" A picture flashed from one of the wolves, it was of the trollocs getting closer, they were running out of time.

 

Jon

Is praying for some good news. 

[Jehaine]

Scylla bit her lip, thinking back on her time as a captive. Despite quite literally having a bird's eye view of the grounds, looking back was the one thing she hadn't wanted to do during her escape. Her main concern was getting out of reach from the arrows aimed at her, trying not to think about how high up she was. Despite having wings, she had still needed to get mentally used to being that far up. She took a deep breath, clutching her legs closer to her chest.

 

- "They move them around, bring them along as the army moves. Those and what they call the breeding pens where they keep the female prisoners. The male prisoners are spread out all over camp, used as food and slave labor mostly... Even if i had known, it's been several days since my escape. Your scouts could tell you more than i can by now."

 

She looked down at her own rags, then around at the camp. She had expected nothing, and they had given her the warmth of a fire when they had so little to spare. Taking a deep breath, she realised that if there was a way to pay Aginor back for what he had done to her, this would be it. And with it, perhaps, a way to make her human again. She looked back at him, deep crimson pupils showing a glimer of hope as she looked into his golden ones.

 

- "I could... Could be a scout, if you want. I can fly too high for their arrows to reach, and map the terrain if you tell me what to look for?"

 

 

Scylla

Umm... So what do i do now?

[Winterwinds]

Jon listened to Scylla tell him that the captives moves each time the army did, which meant a wagon train if nothing else, knowing the Forsaken they would keep them in cages. What she said next caught him off guard though, "I could... Could be a scout if you want. I can fly to high for their arrows to reach, and map the terrain if you tell me what to look for?" This was tempting and he would think it over. The soldiers around the camp seemed to be getting restless, not from the fact that there was a strange creature in there camp, but rather from the fact they were forced to stand and wait for the trollocs to sweep though the pass without opposition. This bothered Jon as well, and he convayed his thoughts to Spring while he thought over the offer Scylla had given him, Spring Rain didn't see anything wrong with it, in fact she thought it was a good idea to fight the shadowspawn with there own creation. While he was deep in this mental conversation with Spring the rider returned, battered and with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. He dismounted and saluted as best he could, then he give his report.

"I reached the army as you requested captain, but they had already started the battle with the Shadowspawn," He shook his head and sighed, they were close at least only a about half an hour had passed since he had sent him, "I was able to track down General Forest Wind," Forest Wind was what the wolves called him and it had stuck with the soldiers, a comment on his prformance at Khor Spirngs when he had swept out of the night like a sudden wind taking the forest, "He told me that the lines could not hold much longer, and we are instructed to find the captives, or to kill the Forsaken leading the army, both of which seem to be suicide missions." He finished his report and then at Jon's order went to find the squad medic. Cursing as soon as the soldier had gone he went stood up and walked to the pit he had been hiding in earlier, got his bags which held a map and a bottle of some fine brandy. Taking the map out he mumbled some battle plans out as he went though them in his head. He asked one of the packs close to the back of the Shadowspawn lines to see if they could find the captives. In the mean time he looked up at there strange guest, "I think I will take you up on your offer my strange friend, it would seem we need all the help we can get."

 

Jon

News was not so good....

[Jehaine]

A sad smile appeared on Scylla's face as she heard the soldier give his report. Word would undoubtedly be spreading amongst the men about the orders they had just been given, and it felt ironic that she would be unable to do what she had come to the front to do. She had meant to lift their morale with song and entertainment, but this new form meant that her attempts would most likely achieve the opposite.

 

- "Umm... So what do i look for? I have literally no experience as a scout, and it's likely i'd miss something until i'd almost trip over it. You have experience, but it's not like you have wings and--"

 

Her face lit up as she got an idea, then immediately shook her head as she discarded it. She didn't continue what she was going to say though, and found herself looking at her wings as she spread them to their full wingspan of sixteen feet. They looked strong, she hadn't even broken a sweat after clearing arrow range during her escape, and Jon didn't look too heavy...

 

- "Right. If i'm being stupid, feel free to kick me, but... do you suffer from vertigo, by any chance?"

 

To be honest, she expected Jon to discard the idea. She couldn't believe she was asking this herself, to have her carry him above the trees so he could take a look for himself. Still, as long as he'd find a place where he wouldn't get in the way of her wings, or her tail for that matter, there shouldn't be much of a problem as long as she headed to the ground before she'd gt too tired. It was a crazy plan, but between the two of them they had everything they needed. After all, how many people looked up when scouting for enemy soldiers?

 

 

Scylla

Believes Jon can fly...

[Winterwinds]

Umm.. So what do I look for? I have literally no experience as a scout, and it's likely I'd miss something until I's almost trip over it. You have experence, but its not like you have wings and..." He did not like were this was going, but if she said what he thought she was about to say then he couldn't blame her, nor could he compleatly refuse. The next few words out of Scylla's mouth told him he had been right. "Right. If I am being stupid feel free to kick me, but... do you suffer from vertigo by chance?" He could not help but laugh.

"I do not, but if you going to say what I think you are." He smiled, "Are you sure about what you are about to offer, I cant trust you yet, but I don't think we have much of a choice." He said to her, while franticly trying to figure out what in the name of the light to do, anything but this! He consulted with Spring rain, who told him much the same as he had been thinking, what choice did they have? He looked again over his map, if he was going to do this then he needed to know were to look first, he talked again with the outlying packs and started to work out a plan.

 

Jon

Vertigo....

[Jehaine]

Jon's words confirmed what Scylla suspected, but it was good to hear that her idea hadn't been that bad after all. Well, if you didn't count that they had little options available to them to start with, of course. Let's see... Thinking out loud, she started to sum up the things she'd be needing, trying to sound as casual as possible and failing miserably at it.

 

- "Let's see, we'd need something for you to sit on so you wouldn't slide off, a saddle would do i suppose. Winds can get pretty nasty up there too, so we'd need something for you to hold onto, as my clothing's in bad enough shape as it is."

 

A rather deep blush appeared on her face as she imagined Jon accidentally tearing her clothes off in panic. She immediately banished that thought, but a brief glance at Jon while trying to arrange her clothing probably told him exactly what she had been thinking. Clearing her throat, she continued, though her voice sounded just a little bit more strained afterwards.

 

- "*AHEM* Belts. We'd need belts. And some kind of safety line. Come on, you say something too umm... What did you say your name was again?"

 

 

Scylla

Trying to hide a blush

[Winterwinds]

As Scylla called out what would be needed he got soldiers who were just standing around to get to work on finding the items that would be needed, thought most of what was needed would have the be dragged out of old blags of clothing and other such places. The one thing he knew they had for sure was a saddle, which he had on his horse. "Winds can get pretty nasty up there too, so we'd need something for you to hold onto, as my clothing's in bad shape as it is." She suddenly blushed as she stopped talking and rearranged her tattered clothing, smileing he ordered a extra set of clothing be found, not to nice mind you, but enough to show at least a little gratitude for this. Besides, he could not have her freeze on him up there, she had come into the camp freezing and dripping wet, if she was to be of any use he had to make sure she did not end up that way again. She then resumed speaking after clearing her throat, "Belts. We'd need belts. And some kind of saftey line. Come on you say something too umm... what did you say your name was again?" He smiled at this, she seemed to be less scared of them, or atleast didn't care about being surrounded by people who had wanted to kill her not to long ago.

"Jon Valewind, but most people dont use my last name, so just Jon." He assumed she was talking to him atleast, since all the soldiers had started to get ready for what ever was to come next, which mostly meant praying in small groups. "As for what I can say to add to what you have already said, I would guess perhaps a telescope, or some kind of magnifying divice, we might not be able to see things clearing up there at times and something to make the ground clearer would be of invaluable use." He then sent a soldier to look in his bags for one that his sister had given him before he had entered onto this campaign into chaos. The hour was getting late, and the moon peaked though a small gap in the clouds, it was full and glowing bright white, with a slight crimson ring around the outside. A cold breeze suddenly blew though the camp, sending shivers down the already wet soldiers. On the wind the sounds of battle and the indistinct sound of screaming was carried from the distant battle being fought, faintly Jon could make out the battle cry of the General, who by now had taken the field of battle on his mighty black charger "Glory".

"Rally to me my brothers and sisters in arms! Give them not the bloody ground beneath your feet!"

With this Jon's mind worked faster to figure out what they needed to see, for it may already be to late to save the army, but was it to late to save the captives?

 

Jon

Distant thunder...will the lighting strike next? 

[Jehaine]

Scylla found that having something on her hands did indeed help to get her mind off of being around a camp full of soldiers on edge. She smiled as Jon told her his name, and mentioned something she had forgotten. Being used to staying at Inns at night to make a living, she had never really had the chance to use telescopes much, and thus it hadn't been one of the first things on her mind when she was making the list. It would be interesting though to find out just what she could see from that far up. She had spotted Jon's band of soldiers from the treetops earlier, but this would be the first time she could really try and find out just how far she could see.

 

The clothing arrived, and she gave the men a look that they would probably know all too well. She might have wings, she might have purplish skin and she might have gone through the Creator knows what to have her become what she was now, but fact remained she was a woman, and women needed some privacy when changing clothes. After Jon and his soldiers found themselves ushered outside of their own command tent, she started to remove her clothing, what unfortunately came down to tearing off the remains. She had been wearing them during her... change, and apart from the cloak, gloves and boots it was all simply too heavily damaged to even survive being taken off.

 

She looked at the clothes she had been given again, wincing visibly as she tore out sections of her shirt where it would cover the back so that she would be able to get it past her wings. The trousers posed less of a problem, all they really needed was a slight tear at the back so she could pull them up without restricting her tail too much. She then put on her old cloak again to cover what she had needed to tear out of her shirt before she started saddling herself, all the while muttering that she must have become crazy for doing this. The belts were arranged to form a makeshift harness on her back, and make it easier for Jon to grab hold of should sudden winds threaten to unbalance him.

 

- "Okay, i'm done, coming out now!"

 

She walked outside, finding that she couldn't resist turning around in front of the Wolfkin to show off her new clothing. While it didn't look like much compared to the things she had worn in the past, the simple fact that she was wearing relatively whole clothing again felt like a blessing of the Light itself, and it showed in the wide grin on her face. She cleared her throat again to get herself back under control, and crouched down, waiting for Jon to erm... mount her.

 

- "Right. I've never done this before, obviously, so if i'm climbing a little too fast or leaning into a curve too much be sure to tell me, okay? Likewise, i'll try to warn you if i need to make any big movements or land again. You can adjust the belts on my back as you see fit to get a good hold on them, just make sure you watch where you're grabbing in case of an emergency. I'm still a woman, you know."

 

 

Scylla

Feeling like a raken

[Winterwinds]

OOC: I have to admit I laughed at Jon and the soldiers getting ushered out of their own command tent, leave it to a women to take command xD No offense though it is just kind of funny. Anyway, Correct me if I am wrong, but at this point, since you are only a prototype, I would say you sound like you look alot like a Gargoyle... And that is the end of this OOC part of this post.

 

IC

 

When the clothing arived Scylla ushered Jon and his few Lieutenants out of there makeshift command tent, so she could change. When she came back out he had to admit, despite being a monster she really pulled it off with grace. Though she had torn holes in the clothing she looked a whole lot better then she had in the rags she had been wearing. ordering his soldiers back to work, some of them had actually stopped to openly stare, he smiled at Scylla. He wasn't a hard person, just war was tough on one's outlook on life.

"Right. I've never done this before, obviously, so if i'm climbing a little too fast or leaning into a curve too much be sure to tell me, okay? Likewise, i'll try to warn you if i need to make any big movements or land again. You can adjust the belts on my back as you see fit to get a good hold on them, just make sure you watch where you're grabbing in case of an emergency. I'm still a woman, you know."

Jon laughed at that, and nodded his understanding. She was a lot larger then she had been in the rags, finally being able to stand up to her full height, she almost stood above him. Crossing around to the saddle he awkwardly got on and adjusted the straps so he wouldn't fall off, but not to tight as to not give himself and Scylla some freedom if she had to maneuver quickly. Sighing he looked at his men, who were laughing, and give them a look of "Get back to work or I swear I will let Spring at you.." Somewhere to the right he could hear Spring Rain laughing along with the soldiers...he just couldn't win on this could he. Oh well, if this lifted the troops spirits then so bloody be it. "Lets do this, every moment we waste is another moment the shadowspawn have to take ground."

 

Jon

Knows the bards will remember this as a crazy act.

[Jehaine]

OOC: I actually have a pic of her posted in the second post of this thread. Just click on 'something completely different' and it should take you to her.

 

IC:

 

Scylla took a deep breath, swishing her tail back and forth and testing her wings to see if she had all the mobility she needed before taking to the skies. A look at the trees told her that her angle of ascent needed to be pretty steep to get out of the clearing, and after a few flaps to test how much Jon would be weighing her down she took off, feeling him hold onto the makeshift harness as he tried to keep balanced despite the angle. She could almost feel his breath in her neck, and tried very hard to ignore it as she gained height.

 

A relative short -- and seemingly long -- while later, they were clearing the treetops, and Scylla flew up a bit higher still in order to get as much distance between any scouts on the ground and herself. Alone, she could be mistaken for a bird in the way perspective played with the senses at times. With a rider however she just wanted to be out of arrow range just in case. Below them, they had a clear view of the battlefield, entire regiments looking as small as ants, the large trees where they had camped seeming as small as blades of grass.

 

She placed her hands on Jon's legs, providing some additional support in case he would get dizzy looking down. Light, she had gotten dizzy the first time, and had almost caused her to crash into a tree had she not been able to snap out of it. Either way, she doubted his men would have appreciated their commander being turned into a pancake any more than she would have. Switching to gliding to give her wings a rest, she waited for Jon to point out where he'd like her to go next.

 

 

Scylla

Hoping Jon doesn't get airsick looking down

[Winterwinds]

Light they were high up, he could see both armies as they fought possibly hundreds of feet below him. As they reached the highest Scylla wanted to go she put a hand on his leg to steady him in case he got disoriented,which he had to admit he was getting a little right now. Looking down towards the armies he at the rear of the Shadowspawn army and pulled out his telescope and focused it on a figure that had a large space separating him from the rest of the army. As the figure came into focus he saw he was wearing a style of dress that had been popular among the Aes Sedai, he was laughing as he watched the battle. Behind the figure, whom he could only guess as the Forsaken, rows of cadges on large flat bed wagons held prisoners. He pointed at the rear of the army and said, "I think it would be best to avoid there. The forsaken is right there, best we dont alert him. But, I think we need to atleast find a way in to the prisoner are without alerting him, any ideas?" He was surprised to find that he actualy had no ideas on this, perhaps Scylla did.

 

Jon

Birds eye view.   

[Jehaine]

Scylla found she had to raise her voice in order to reply, making her cast somewhat uneasy glances downward to see if she was being overheard despite knowing better at these distances. Unlike Jon, she couldn't exactly put her head close to his to talk, not while concentrating on keeping the both of them in the air, anyway. With his weight pressing down on her, it was getting warm in the small of her back, but her cloak managed to absorb most of the sweat for now. Despite being a bit old, it had been her favorite cloak for a reason.

 

- "We could try to get the army to circle around, outflank the main force! Can't drag the prisoners along if they start routing, and the Forsaken's own forces will block his view!"

 

She waited on Jon's reply, gliding to a position behind the army to lessen the chance of someone spotting her. If Jon would have his hands on the harness on her back, he would feel a shiver run down her spine as she spotted the place she was being held. There never was a shortage of captives, and she pitied the poor person that had replaced her as a test subject after her escape.

 

Though no general, her father had been an officer when Tzora fell, and as an only child she had ended up playing stones with him for the sheer reason that her mother had no talent for the game whatsoever. And even though she had never led an army, it was still a bit easier when the armies below her did indeed look as small as the pieces on a Stones board.

 

 

Scylla

Trying to capture some pieces

[Winterwinds]

"We could try to get the army to circle around, outflank the main force! Can't drag the prisoners along if they start routing, and the Forsaken's own forces will block his view!" This made seance you could not fight if your own troops were in the way. Nodding his agreement as they glided down to a safer spot behind the army, Scylla was getting tired he could tell. "I think we have seen all we need to, we should return to the camp, you will need to rest after this...rather unorthodox scouting trip, and I will need to coordinate a small surprise for the Shadowspawn. 

[Jehaine]

- "Mhm, on my way."

 

Scylla realised that Jon had been speaking the truth. The sweat she felt on her body wasn't only the small of her back, but had spread to other parts of her body as well. She momentarily let go of Jon's leg to wipe her forehead, and found that she was sweating all over now. Flying had taken more out of her than she had thought. Gaining some more altitude, she caught a gust of wind that took her away from the Shadowspawn army and back over the forest. From there, she had little trouble spotting the small clearing, and folded her wings to make a dive. Even though she had wanted to make a slower approach, there was simply too little room to properly manoever, or circle down for that matter.

 

Roughly fifty feet above ground level, she braced herself for impact as she spread her wings, allowing aerodynamics to slow her down in time, feeling Jon's momentum pushing her down yet fighting to remain balanced. Though the touchdown ended up being fairly smooth, all things considered, Scylla remained on all fours as exhaustion hit her, breathing heavily and sweating all over. Her vision had become blurry now, and she was fighting to remain conscious. Carrying a good hundred pounds of weight as high as she had flown had really taken a lot out of her, more than she had wanted to let on. As Jon got off of her, she simply remained where she was, lacking the strength to even get up on her own.

 

 

Scylla

Thoroughly exhausted

[Winterwinds]

When the reached the camp Scylla all but collapsed on landing, Jon quickly dismounted and ordered soldiers to prepare or a charge, then he attended to Scylla. Grabbing a canteen filled with water he walked over and knelt beside his strange new friend, "Here, you need fluids to replace the ones you lost from flight." He put the water down next to her and just knelt there. Around him soldiers ran around getting together the things they would need in the battle yet to come. Spring Rain came up next to the two and sat next to Scylla quietly waiting to see if she would be alright, the rest of the pack hurried around with the soldiers, mostly just rolling around in the mud to mask there scent or helping a soldier carry something. A passing soldier told Jon that a tent had been set up in one of the holes, leaves and branches put over it so as to give it cover from prying eyes. Turning to Scylla Jon said "We have prepared a tent for you to get some rest in, it is well hidden so if someone other then those in this unit stray from the battle they will not find you." He smiled and continued, "Those troops who are not Wolfkin tend to over react to things that seem strange, they just have not seen anything out of the ordinary. We, on the other hand" He made a sweeping jesture that included the whole unit, which had by now finished there preparation for the battle to come and were standing and watching, "We have seen much that can be called strange, it does not effect us. When you are ready, I can help you to your tent if you wish." They would leave shortly to go to battle, but they had enough time left to let Scylla atleast rest for a moment and then make sure she was resting safely before they left. She might not be exactly human anymore, but then the same could be said about some wolfkin as well.

 

Jon

Kindness may not win wars, but it helps in the long run.