An Angel Loses Her Wings (SataiRolePlayingGuy x AirAllie14)

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

She wondered if Anahel should try to call the prince over, see what he thought about the idea, and how much he might know about them.  But they made to the house.  Where several men could be seen wandering around the walls, getting a sense of the shape of the house and how much could be done.  The man in charge of it all came out as they approached, with a nod as he got close.

”Repairs at least can be done.  Might take a little while.  But not especially hard work.  As for other work, to improve the place, depends on what you have in mind.”  It was course up to them, what and how much was done.  He could give his thoughts, but he preferred to hear what they thought first.”

[AirAllie14]

Anahel looked at the men hard at work with a smile on her face. She then looked at Mirina as the man asked what kinds of renovations they wanted. “Well, I think you should decide Mirina. This house is yours after all. What would you like to improve about it…?”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Mirina was quiet, she did not have too much opinion on what to do with it.  There was the question of how long she would be here.  She was looking forward to how that might go, if Anahel took the path they were considering, she might end up in a different sort of home.  “Will we be here very long?”  She wondered out loud, since that was a factor in whether or not to do much more

”Well, we will work on the fixing for now.”  The man said.  “We can consider the question of extra work later.  I will let you all talk about that.”  He went over to speak with the other men and do some of the repairs.

”Do you want to talk to the prince?”  The other girl asked.  “Both about how long you will be here, maybe about the wild women too?  See how much he knows about them, and what he thinks about the idea.”

[AirAllie14]

Anahel nodded and said, “yes, I think we should just focus on fixing for now.” She then looked over at Mirina and nodded once more saying, “yes, I think it would be best to talk to Prince Maxim now while the house was being fixed.

She then began to try to reach him with her mind, “Prince Maxim? Are you there? I need to talk to you.”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Maxim had been occupied, doing what he could to try to help the city, at the moment his entire kingdom.  He had been content to give Anahel her space to work with the slave, see what she could accomplish.  He told her he would be there shortly.  Not in the middle of anything too complicated, he made his way over to three women.  The one knelt immediately as he approached.  Mirina would only kneel to Anahel.

He looked over to the house, being worked on.  It was nice to see more rebuilding.  To get the town in as good of shape as they could expect.  He then turned to Anahel.  He had no idea what happened between Anahel and Mirina, as he looked the slave over, he was unsure if there was any subtle change in her.

He guessed there was another reason he had been called.  “Did you wish to discuss our next steps, holy one?”

[AirAllie14]

Anahel looked at Maxim as he approached and bowed to him as well. She then gave him a nod and said, “yes, I would like to discuss our next moves. This is Mirina’s home. I’m having some people rebuild it but I would like to know when we will be leaving next. I go where you go Prince Maxim, but now, Mirina goes where I go. I would like to know how often we will be traveling to know how much work to put into her house,” she told him.

”And other thing I would like to discuss is the idea of potential allies. I have recently been informed by this girl about people known as Wild Women. I believe that if we find them that we could possibly use their help in our fighting efforts.”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Maxim really did not think Anahel had a reason to bow, the other girl was one of his subjects.  He was not going to be strict on formality about such things for a while, but if someone did it on their own he would not stop them either,  The girl was surely grateful that he was he was here and the town liberated from Vanoria.  But if Anahel chose to do it as well, he was not going to say anything, especially in front of witnesses.  He simply listened to what she said, with some surprise.

"...The Lanarin?"  He looked to the other two women, who gave the angel the strange idea.  He was aware of the stories that spread around here about them, a town much closer to their territory than the castle was.  But as he indicated, using their formal name, he had some education about them.  He remained silent for a moment as he considered something he would not have before.  If he and his guards had tried to run there earlier, it would not have gone well.  "I know a little more about them than most of my subjects...It would not be easy to convince them.  We might have a shared enemy, they would viciously fight a Vanorian invasion into their territory.  They are not fond of humans in general though."  He was not actually ruling it out.  It was true, they would be very valuable as allies and could potentially help the lack of women in the short term, but it would not be easy to convince them.  A man attempting to do so complicated things further.

[AirAllie14]

Angel smiled and looked at Maxim with a nod saying, “yes, that’s why I will come with you too. If they are not very trusting of humans, perhaps I could be of some assistance as well and help smoothen our negotiations?” She suggested.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

It would be interesting, potentially with complicated results, that the others might not expect.  If the records he read were accurate, there might be more than negotiations, in both gaining their support, and the aftermath.  "I can't hurt to consider...I just the consequences are not too messy.  They are called wild for a reason."  In some ways they did behave more like animals than humans, though they had a human intelligence.  To make an arrangement with a man, could lead to unexpected ways to make it official.  "...If we are going to do that though, it should be our next step.  And we should probably leave soon, then return here before going to our next step."  Take a small group probably.  Him, Anahel, Mirina apparently.  He had to think about his guards, normally he would insist on bringing them, this was one case that could complicate things though.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel smiled at him saying, “that sounds good to me Prince Maxim. We will leave whenever you’re ready,” she told him and looked over at Mirina saying, “this will be our first trip out of the town together. The house may be fine by the time we get back.”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

“I’ll keep an eye on the house while you are all gone.”  The other girl said.  This sort of journey was too much for her.  She had no experience with this sort of thing and had no idea what to expect from from the women they were going to meet, how true the stories were.

Having said temporary farewells, they made their way towards the gates.  He summoned his guards, to at least tell them what was happening, where they were going.  They were a bit uneasy.  “…The Lanarin, you say? It is your choice of course, your highness, and we trust the Angel to protect you.  But can they be convinced to help us?”  One of them asked, one of the older, more experienced ones.  “I have encountered one in the past, they are strange, violent, but if you win one to your side…”  Maxim stopped him there.  “I will deal with that if necessary.  We do need help.  Blessed as we are, with our sign of divine approval, there are limits to holy Anahel’s power.  We need other help.”  He had some idea what the guard was concerned about, there could be some awkwardness with it later.

”You are taking the slave with you?”  Another asked, Maxim shrugged.  “I do not know everything that happened, but she insists on following holy Anahel.  If that is the case, we will take her with us.  With any luck it will help us learn how to heal her and others like her.”  With that, he dismissed his guards, ordering them to watch the town.  Leaving with just the Angel and the slave, making their way towards Lanarin territory.

[AirAllie14]

Soon enough when everything was cleared up, Anahel smiled at Maxim and began to leave with him and Mirina. She made sure to stay close to both of them. If anything happened, she was protect both to matter what. “Where exactly are we going Prince Maxim? Where were these Lanarin recently spotted?” She asked him curiously.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Maxim had a general idea of where he was going.  There would be some wandering.  “I know their general territory, but they are fairly nomadic.  It might take a little while after we get there to actually find any…at least to find any settlement.  Though they may have scouts near the border.  Whether they watch us at first or confront us is hard to guess.”  With such a small group, including an angel, they might be just watched for a little while.

They were back on the same road as before, heading back in the direction of the town they met.  But they would not go the whole way back.  “Around half way back to the town we met, we will leave the road, go north.  Their lands are some of the lands that seem empty, further north.  Plains, forests, a little bit of hills.  Their settlements are closer camps from what I have read, though I have not seen one.”

[AirAllie14]

Anahel nodded at Maxim saying, “alright, sounds straightforward enough. I hope everything goes well. They could really help us out in more ways than one,” she told him. As they continued to walk she asked, “so, what have been doing since I left to take care of Mirina? When are we leaving again to take back another land?”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

“I’ve been doing the best I could to get the town back on its feat.  My responsibility to my subjects.  As their prince, technically their king now, though that won’t be official until I retake my family home and do a proper coronation.”  He did not feel worth of claiming that title yet, he needed a real kingdom.  To regain what was stolen from him, save more of his subjects.  It felt wrong to claim it with one overly beaten up town.

”I was giving you two some time, before deciding when to move on.  It should be soon.  But we will have to see how successful we are here.  If we have a strong ally here, it may influence where we go next.”  They might have an actual army if this went well enough. They might have several options on where to go next.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel nodded and said, “I see. Well it does sound it’s going well and the twin does look like it’s starting to recover.” She then chose to bring up Mirina saying, “I have made some progress with Mirina as well. She is still more a less a slave right now but slowly and surely she is beginning to improve.”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Maxim had noticed subtle differences in Mirina.  It was slow progress but any progress was good.  Maybe Anahel would find a solution with her, one that could hopefully be copied.  There was also the question of how well the Lanarin could work as temporary women of the town, if he needed to take time to help them adjust there.

Eventually they reached the point, it was almost a random place, but Maxim led the other two into an open area.  They made their way into the open wild, empty area.  “Keep your eyes open.  We are still some distance from their territory, but there could be the occasional aggressive creature out here.”  He kept his hand near his sword, ready just in case.  Though the presence of an angel may have made such creatures cautious.

[AirAllie14]

As they got closer to where the territory was, Anahel nodded at Maxim and for ready as well to defend both of there was any trouble. She knew that Maxim was fully capable of defending himself but still wanted to protect him. She looked to Mirina and said, “stay close to me,” and took one of her hands.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Maxim was not concerned.  As long as he was not reckless he would be fine.  Surprise was the biggest danger out here, from the occasional beast.  You did not really see packs or groups of anything out here.  Still, Anahel just made him feel more secure.  She could likely see anything and react before had a chance to get close.

Mirina was not worried either.  There was her mistress’ protection, but she also suspected anything they might see would be the sort of thing she had been trained to ‘appreciate’ in the process of becoming a slave.  Though she kept that to herself.  One or twice as they were walking she could see things in the distance.  More intelligent, potentially dangerous things.  She saw the prince keeping an eye on it too….a lizardman perhaps.  He watched them, a spear in hand, trailing them a little, but did not approach.  “Keep an eye on him, but he is unlikely to try anything unless we let our guard down.”  Maxim warned.  There was unlikely to be a fight.  Now with them at least.  Though if it followed them too longer, it might be a victim of their hopeful allies.

[AirAllie14]

As they continued on, Anahel noticed and could feel the presence watching them as well as the others notices as well. She held Mirina’s hand a little tighter and looked at Maxim, giving him a nod. “Yes. I can feel his presence and tell where he is at all times. If he tried anything I’ll know. I’m using a radar spell right now, I have a full 360 view of us right now, if anything enters or leaves the field I’ll know.”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Three to one would have left such a creature uneasy under any circumstance.  It had some idea what Anahel was and how dangerous she could be if he attacked.  As they continued he seemed to get additionally uneasy.  He likely understood where they were going.  A different threat.  Yet he kept following them, perhaps hoping the Lanarin would target them instead.  "...We are still not in their territory yet.  But around here, we may run into hunters soon.  Other wanderers.  I'm not sure if they consider something like him food though."  He understood them to be more carnivorous then not, but he was not sure exactly how far they went in what they considered prey.  "Keep an eye on his other side, for anything stalking him."

[AirAllie14]

Anahel continued to walk with the others and nodded at Maxim’s instructions saying, “yes right away. I will extend the field of my spell,” she said trying to focus some of the radar on the other side of the figure while cutting some of the areas that they didn’t need to worry about a lot. She then held up a glass shard saying, “if there is any movement, we will see it here, on this,” she explained as they kept moving forward.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Things were quiet for a while.  The creature was cautious, getting more reluctant to follow, but it pressed on, looking for signs of the group letting their guard down.  Mirina was the prime target, it did not dare attack Anahel, even Maxim was risky without surprise.  As they got closer though it occasionally looked in the other direction.  Some distance past him there was a a figure.  Small from the creature's eyes.  Trying to hide in the grass, kneeling down.  He could not see what it was, but had some idea.  He grew extra cautious.  Occasionally pausing briefly and staring in that direction.  It was not as dangerous as Anahel, but this was also too dangerous to attack recklessly, or charge directly.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel continued on with the others saying, “he’s still following us though he seems very hesitant…” she told Maxim and looked ahead and back at him asking, “how long do we have until we arrive at the village?”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Maxim believed they were close, though it was hard to say where the exact border was.  There was no definitive marker, natural or otherwise.  The land was empty enough there was not a lot of pressure to figure it out either.  Before he could answer, there was a sudden movement.  The lizardman turned, but before he could do anything else, he was cut down.  The attack was quick, vicious. almost like a predator, hunting its prey.  Though the figure standing over the creature looked physically human, female, though larger and stronger than any human woman.  It watched the three from a distance, some caution, perhaps hostility, studying them.  She did not move or speak.  Maxim turned, held her gaze.  Telling her he intended to continue, into her territory.  He was not there to fight unless he had to.  "If we are not in their territory already, we are close...that is one of them, as you probably guessed."  For the moment he just waited, to see what the woman would do.