Light in the Sky (Closed, Laryli)

Laryli listened quietly as he told her the names of her parents, staring at the holographic display, her eyes shimmering. Their faces were familiar, and she knew them, despite not remembering them. In her heart she knew she was looking at the faces of her parents. She reached out her hand, trying to touch them, only to phase through the holographic display, much to her disappointment.

Seeing them happy and smiling made Laryli feeling sad, knowing she would never experience such good times, and made her think on her solitude. All this time alone and it still hurt. Those who had loved her were long gone, and now her only company was a man who up until a couple of days ago, she never even knew. Their roles in the military surprised her, given how humble her foster parents were. Her foster parents had often tried to steer her away from violence and war too, an odd coincidence.

She sat quietly, looking at the picture of her parents in military dress, her eyes clearly watering up a little. To be told your life was destroyed before you even lived it was a painful thing to hear, and even after all this time would take some adjusting to. She gave a slight nod to Alaister, letting him know she had seen enough. "Thank you... for telling me." She crawled over to her rag, curling up into a ball, unable to hide the golden tear now drifting down her cheek.

Alaister smiled. Despite Laryli curling up into a ball on her sleeping rag he felt good that he had been able to show her who her parents were, they had been good friends to him and fought beside him on some of the darkest, and most difficult days of his life. Including, but not limited to, the fall of Melandrisia itself. Rising from his sleeping rag, he made his way over and sat with her, reaching out to gently stroke her hair while she lay there. He was sat behind her with his legs crossed, not speaking as he didn’t feel she wanted words right now, she just needed to know that she wasn’t alone - not anymore at any rate.

The rest of the night would be rather uneventful, Alaister stopped stroking her hair when he felt she had fallen in some manner of sleep and went to lie down on his sleeping rag. He couldn’t sleep now, he’d done so the night before, he was fully recharged and not remotely tired. He simply lay awake listening to the faint crackle of the fire beside him, eyes watching the stars while he tried to name the solar systems they belonged to. Unfortunately he didn’t recognise the stars from here, he’d never been to a planet in this location before and the stars seemed to be in all the wrong places. Strange, but he couldn’t go pondering on it now.

When morning finally came, Alaister was already packed up and ready to leave. They’d be passing through bandit territory today, which he presumed meant she would be scouting ahead some and ensuring the path was clear before he followed. But even if that was the plan, he was ensuring his sword was secured and that he would be ready, he didn’t trust bandits to be predictable and less so to be rational enough to talk to. Most of them liked to think they were the kings of their particular hunting grounds, untouchable in some way and they wouldn’t listen to two travellers, especially armed travellers who they could easily outnumber and surround, they considered it sport.

“I presume the journey through bandit territory will be a bit of a winding road?” He asked, looking down at her as she was still curled up on her sleeping rag. “Come on, wake up, no melaer should be this sleepy.”

Laryli laid silently on the ground as Alaister stroked her hair, though she was unsure how to react to it. It gave her a sense of safety though, and quite soon she found herself drifting off to sleep, her dreams filled with unknown images and forgotten places. While Melaer did not require all that much sleep, Laryli had clearly grown used to the patterns of this world, and her desire to sleep was more of a luxury than a need.

She was woken at first light by Alaisters voice, calling for her to awake. She scrambled to her feet quickly, folding up her belongings into her pouch, before tossing some dirt over the fire to put it out. She kept her mind focused on her task - taking the trip through bandit territory. Checking the position of the sun, she took a look into the distance, before nodding to Alaister. "Travel due west. If I sight bandits, I will let you know. Do not worry, I shall not be far. The road shall not be so winding if I can keep the path clear."

With that, she scrambled up one of the trees, scanning the horizon before leaping to the branches of another tree, with skill and grace, her light frame barely straining these ancient branches. Clearly when she traveled, she tended to take the high road, no doubt how she managed to avoid bandits so easily. Some faint shouts in the distance indicated that someone was nearby. Laryli slowed down, checking in the direction of the shouts constantly. It sounded like the bandits had found some prey...

And sure enough, a few minutes later, Laryli found herself looking on three bandits, and a cornered huntsman. Looks like he had drifted into bandit territory by mistake. They were pushing him against a tree, shouting at him. Seemed they were unhappy with him hunting in their "territory." The hunter was pleading for his life, clearly crying. Laryli was thankfully downwind, so the bandits wouldn't have any way of knowing she was there. Sadly too late for the hunter though, as one of the bandits drew a knife and jammed it into his neck, laughing and spitting on him as he fell to his knees, gurgling and gasping before collapsing in a pool of his own blood.

Not even waiting, the bandits began to pick through his pockets, rifling around for anything of value. Laryli signaled to Alaister to hide, pulling her bow from her back and notching an arrow. She looked to Alaister again, her expression asking the clear question: Do you want to take them out?

Alaister arrived on the scene not long after Laryli, having been able to keep up with her without issue as they’d made their way through bandit territory, but now they had run into trouble and what he saw made him sick. A hunter by the look of him, in trouble for hunting in the bandits’ territory, as if bandits could ever claim to own territory. The man was crying, pleading for his life, but one of the bandits killed him anyway. Worse, the bandit laughed while doing it as the man gurgled and gasped into his pool of blood. That bandit really should not have laughed, it made Alaister’s usually calm blood boil and for the first time his eyes turned to a fiery white-gold that flickered dangerously like two divine flames.

He simply nodded at Laryli’s look and without another word leapt over the rock just in front of him which he had been crouched behind, drawing his sword as he moved up behind them quietly but quickly. The fact they were downwind helped him get closer to them, and his sure footing ensured he didn’t snap any twigs under him until he was within striking distance. He gave a simple cough so that the bandits would turn and the instant they did, his sword took the head off the nearest bandit with a single, clean sweep. There were others watching from the trees, Laryli would surely have noticed them and he continued to focus on the three who had bullied and then killed the hunter.

He moved with a skill and fluidity in his motions that the bandits had clearly never seen before, as they drew their swords to try and fight him he parried their blows rapidly, then moved and cut down the back of one of the bandits so that he would fall to the floor bleeding out. Only the actual murderer remained now, the bandit was still sure of himself of course because of the half dozen in the treeline with arrows readied, preparing to fire. The instant they did however Alaister grabbed the remaining of the three bandits and turned quickly, the three of the six arrows hitting the man in the torso and a fourth going through his throat, leaving him gasping and gurgling like his victim had been.

Alaister then dropped him and awaited the next volley, when it came his sword moved rapidly, deflecting all six without much effort at all - he’d deflected projectiles from rapid firing weapons before, these bows were child’s play. The way he wielded his sword it was like it weighed nothing, which wasn’t far from the truth as the nanotechnology that made up the blade was essentially formed of millions of tiny bonds held together by energy, thus the blade he swung wasn’t actually attached to the hilt despite the fact it looked like a normal metal sword. He’d wait for Laryli to take out the six in the treeline, for now he was content to parry their arrows away until she had.

Laryli watched the onset of the battle from her hiding spot in the tree, almost mesmerized by the skill and grace that Alaister used in his attacks. This was clearly a fighting style not of this world, and he was an expert at it. She sat there, not even acting at first until Alaister parried the arrows of those hiding in the trees. At that moment Laryli hopped into a crouching position on her branch, staying perfectly balanced.

She looked to the other side of the trees, seeing two of them firing from the same branch. Pulling one of her self-crafted arrows from her quiver, she let loose at one, and then within less than a second, another arrow at the other. Both crumpled to the ground near Alaister, an arrow perfectly placed between their eyes, protruding from the back of their skulls, dead on impact. After 900 years plus, Laryli clearly knew how to use her bow. She studied the branches closely as more arrows came through the trees, using their trajectory to pick out more archers.

Sure enough, there was another one, not from the others, now looking around frantically for whomever killed his comrades. He didn't get much of a chance. Laryli let loose another arrow, its light whisper of parting air shooting narrowly past Alaister's head, before another archer crumpled to the ground in front of him, unfortunately spraying blood over his boots. There were still three left, and Laryli jumped to another tree via the connecting branches, hoping to get a better vantage. From where she currently was, she couldn't see who was firing the other arrows.

Sure enough, Laryli landed on a branch right behind the fourth archer, still letting loose arrows while paying little attention to his rear. Not willing to make too much noise, Laryli drew the dagger on her belt, driving it through the Bandits throat, causing him to die slowly into the branch, his blood spraying from the wound and onto the tree. Laryli was fortunate to be behind him, as the blood only splattered onto her face.

An arrow struck into the tree beside her, barely missing her arm. She swung under the branch swiftly, realizing she had been spotted by the fifth archer, who was annoyingly in the branches just above. Laryli was forced to go evasive for but a moment, swinging with surprisingly good athletic ability from branch to branch, grabbing the bandit by the leg and yanking on him, causing him to fall to the ground in front of Alaister, whom would most likely finish him off. Without even stopping, Laryli drew her bow again, swiftly letting loose a final shot to kill the last bandit, whom was just about to fire at her from the right.

Her own job done, she carefully clambered down the tree, jumping from the lowest branches and landing with her legs crouched. She looked around for more bandits minus the one at Alaister's feet, then shook her head with a frown.

"I think that was the last of them... it is a shame we could not save the man."

The entire fight lasted two minutes, though the blur of battle often made it seem longer, few battles truly lasted as long as the mind seemed to process. The three who lay dead at Alaister’s feed were unmoving, and he had walked through those who had fallen to Laryli’s arrows and ensured they were dead, mercy killings more than anything. He may not like bandits, or any who took advantage of others or claimed their lives so freely, but he did not wish suffering on anyone. Truly though, few had survived the keen aim of Laryli’s bow, she truly was an expert at marksmanship with the weapon and he had a new appreciation of why she relied on it so heavily when compared to other weapons.

“You are very skilled.” He complimented, returning to her with a frown as he knelt down beside the hunter who the bandits had killed. Laryli remarked on how it wa sa shame they could not have saved him, and Alaister frowned deeply as he placed a hand on the man’s lifeless forehead. “His soul has not long departed his body, the gates to the next life have not opened for him. He yet lingers.”

Placing his other hand over the man’s heart, Alaister closed his eyes tight for a moment as he mustered his strength. Melaer had the power to draw the souls of the dead back to their bodies, assuming they had not been dead too long and so the gates of the dead had not yet opened. It was taxing process on the one performing the resurrection, depending mainly upon the natural lifespan of the one being resurrected. It was a general rule that no melaer could- or should try- to resurrect a person whose age exceeded their own, because the amount of power required for the resurrection correlated to the person’s age. This man could only have been in his fifties, young for his race though a mere child to a melaer.

His eyes opened and they burned with a golden flame when then went on to consume his entire body, as beams of white light began to break through his skin, making it seem like his physical body was literally being wiped away. Soon a white, ethereal figure with a basically humanoid shape and emitting a bright glow of gold and white was left where Alaister had been kneeling, the light from his body consuming the body of the fallen hunter. The cut in his throat sealed itself before their eyes, followed by the silhouette of what seemed to be the man’s spirit returning to his body. A moment later and his heart began to beat once more, pumping the much needed blood around his body as life started to return to him.

Alaister’s form steadily returned to normal, his golden eyes returning to their natural faint glow though they were barely noticeable due to the light of day, even despite the shade of the trees. He remained kneeling as the man’s eyes flew open, and he gasped in a deep breath before entering a coughing fit, the high elf seemed confused at first before his eyes settled on the pair. His eyes were wide, mainly toward Alaister who in his spirit form he would have witnessed resurrecting him, he seemed at a loss and Alaister just put a hand on his chest.

“Easy,” he said, his voice light. “The first few steps are always a struggle, take it from someone who knows.”

Laryli watched with amazement as Alaister seemed to bring a man back from the dead, her shock running deeper as she learned more and more about these strange abilities of her people. It also started to make her feel ever more alien, realizing how little she belonged here. She shook her head, choosing to keep her questions for later, moving to recover her arrows from the corpses as Alaister kept the man laying down for a moment. The thoughts remained with her as she plucked each arrow, wondering how such power could be in so simple a man.

The hunter meanwhile, was shocked at Alaister leaning over him, keeping him laying on the floor. "Wh-where am I? Am I dead? Is this the afterlife?" He seemed to be trembling, no doubt remembering a knife to his throat less than a few minutes ago. Despite Alaister's hand on his chest, he continued trying to get up, of course to no avail.

Laryli recovered the last arrow from the bandits, wiping off the blood on his dirty clothing before sliding it back into her quiver. She looked down at her clothes, sighing at the bloody mess that coated them. Both Alaister and the hunter were fairly bloodied too, the hunter more from his own blood however. They couldn't go to the city like this. It would be questionable. She checked her surroundings, remembering her bearings. Finally, she pointed toward the faint sound of running water. "We should wash this blood off. There is a stream half a mile in that direction. We should be safe for now, these corpses were the bandits that normally guard it."

“This isn’t the afterlife, you’re still alive.” He replied, continuing to stop the man from getting up. “We saved you, but you need to take it slowly.”

As always, Alaister was humble about taking credit for things. Though he had been the one to resurrect the man, Laryli had taken down her fair share of bandits in the process of reaching the fallen hunter, after the initial three Alaister had simply taken to finishing off those who had survived her arrows. He finally removed his hand from the hunter’s chest, once he was sure his warning to take it slow had been heeded, then rose to his feet and looked down at his rather fine blue garb. It was indeed sullied by blood and he sighed deeply, he’d only just changed his outfit to this form and it was already a mess, not that he wasn’t used to getting bloodied.

He nodded at Laryli when she mentioned there being a stream half a mile away where they could wash the blood away, then turned his gaze back to the hunter who was still in a daze but slowly rising back to his feet by this point. Naturally he swayed a bit in the process, as if he had just woken from a particularly deep sleep and his body was still thus far a little unresponsive, but he seemed to be coming around quicker than Alaister would have expected.

“Impressive endurance,” he commented, making the man look at him.

“What?” He asked, obviously still dazed and confused.

“We don’t have time to talk here, the bandits will surely come searching for their fallen and we shouldn’t be here when they do.” He said, nodding in the direction of the stream.

He began in the direction with Laryli, the hunter may have been confused but there was little choice for him either, he was still covered in his own blood and couldn’t go returning to where ever he hailed from in that state. Alaister took a flask from his belt that he’d filled with water on their journey, handing it off to the man so he could drink and regain his strength a bit. He knew fully well that after such a situation the body was dehydrated, the process was taxing after all not just on the one doing the resurrection. While they made their way to the stream however, Alaister could at least introduce himself.

“My name is Alaister,” he said, his voice as cordial as it always was. “This here is Laryli, we slew the bandits who set upon you, but it was a close call for you.”

The hunter nodded respectfully to each of them in turn, following them to the stream. "Well, mighty kind of you both. My name is Ryain. I just wanted to go hunting... got more than I bargained for I guess. My lucky day eh?"

Laryli led them to the stream, which led up to a small pond area, a tiny waterfall trickling water into it. It seemed quite peaceful, only the birds and the trickling of water could be heard. Ryain sat himself at the ponds edge, no doubt still needing to gather his strength. It was a good place to do so. It was well shaded, the trees covering the area quite nicely, the sun only breaking through in a few areas. Laryli set her pack down next to some rocks, leaning in to wash her hands, before splashing her face with handfuls of water.

"It was probably for the best that we took a wash before entering the city anyway... they can be a little paranoid about "unclean people." She spoke casually as she suddenly removed her clothes right in front of them, placing them on top of the rock next to her bags, before lowering herself into the pond, giving herself a rough wash. "Well... uh... yeah..." Ryain had noticeably crossed his legs. Laryli continued to wash herself, not in the least bit bothered.

"Well come on you two, that blood isn't going to wash itself off." She shook her head, not understanding their awkward gazes. She grabbed her clothing, dipping it into the water and ringing it out a few times, before hanging it back on the rock to dry. She then leaned against the edge of the pool, taking a moment to relax.

“Well you’re safe now.” He replied, nodding toward the man named Ryain.

When they reached the stream and the pond attached to it, Alaister was quite impressed really and found it a shame that bandits operated the area. This was the kind of place where you could have have outings, frivolities to forget the world with friends and the like. Of course, with the bandits there was no peace to be had here. He knelt down and washed off his gloves before splashing his face too, wiping it to get the few specks of blood off while Ryain sat down at the edge of the pond to regain his strength at last.

“Agreed, people have a tendency to shy away from people covered in blood.” He said quietly, unfastening clasp that held his cape in place before taking the time to wash the blood from it and then laying it out to dry. “We’ll need to wait for the clothing to dry before we le...ave...”

Much to his shame, he ended up staring when Laryli undressed in front of the two men, then slipped into the pond to wash herself rigorously. She was utterly without shame, someone who clearly had no idea about social norms, which considering Ryain’s reaction was a social norm here too. He stood bolt upright eventually and grabbed Ryain, dragging the poor man from the pool so his back turned away, walking down behind a collection of rocks that meant she was hidden from their view but they were still within earshot to talk.

“We’ll wait for you to finish.” He said simply, sitting down cross legged. “It’s not socially acceptable to watch a woman bathe who isn’t your lover or spouse, and you shouldn’t do it in front of others even then.”

It was almost like a lesson in etiquette for Laryli, who clearly had no idea what she was doing wrong. Alaister gave Ryain an apologetic look, not that he really seemed bothered to have seen her undressed, well not bothered beyond the face he still had his legs crossed.

“She’s not used to... well, people.” He explained, shrugging.

“No, it’s fine, I... uh... I understand.” Ryain replied, looking sheepish now.

Laryli let out a light sigh, wondering why all this "social etiquette" was so important to them. But ah well, she didn't pay too much heed really, finishing her wash, She dunked her hair underneath too, giving to a good rinse out from all the dirt and grime it had picked up over the past week or so. Finally she hopped out of the pond, still dripping as she put her wet clothes back on, not too bothered by it all. She then shrugged, looking at the two sitting behind the rock.

She found their actions incredibly weird, but then she didn't spend much time around city folk, so it was all alien to her. No doubt she still had a lot to pick up from Alaister, but for now they were taking a well earned break. "Well, i'm done. Do you want me to hide while you wash yourselves too?"

Ryain looked to Alaister, then back at Laryli. "Might be a good idea... I guess? I mean, she's... probably not seen men without clothes before either." He got up from behind the rock, walking over to the pond edge to rinse the blood from his neck for now. While he was out of earshot, Laryli looked at Alaister, who was likely still a bit pink in the face from seeing her nude. "How... how did you do that? Bring him back from the dead?"

Alaister and Ryain had taken to discussing the elven lands while Laryli was bathing, Alaister wanting to pick up as much information as possible and deciding a hunter was a good person to ask, being somebody who knew the land well from having to track and move between hunting grounds. Unlike Laryli of course, Ryain knew about the cities and life there too, which helped fill a few gaps she couldn’t having grown up in the wilds by herself. Eventually, Laryli was done with her bathing and came back to them in her wet clothing, not seeming troubled by it in the slightest.

“That would be for the best.” He replied, giving her a pointed look as if to say her choice was the right one ethically. “We shouldn’t be like.”

Before he could get up to go to the pond however, he was interrupted by Laryli asking him how he managed to resurrect Ryain. A valid question of course, resurrection was a rarity even in the wider universe. More so, now that the melaer were almost extinct. He frowned and turned his gaze from her, looking pensive for a moment before he looked back toward her, smiling now and patting her on the head even despite her wet hair.

“There’s a lot our race can do that others can’t,” he said, rising to his feet in the process. “It’s not something I can explain in a few minutes, but soon as we have some time to sit down and talk, I will.”

With that he left her behind the rocks to go and bathe, getting the blood off his clothes was all he really needed, he hadn’t actually gotten any on his skin. Ryain of course needed to bathe a bit more properly, his blood had covered him after the bandit had cut his throat. The pair didn’t take long before they came back around the rocks, both of them dry because Alaister had used the heat from his light to dry them off quickly.

“Alright, we’re ready to proceed now.” He looked down the stream for a moment, then at Laryli with his golden eyes glowing a little as the evening began to draw closer. “We should travel through the night, camping in bandit territory is a bad idea.”

Laryli nodded at Alaister, pointing toward the west again. "If we travel through the night, we should be there in two days." She then set off into the trees again, scouting for them. Occasionally her head would pop out, indicating the area ahead was safe.

The next two days were mostly uneventful. Laryli continued to scout ahead quietly, while Alaister and Ryain walked and talked, learning all there was to know about the surrounding area, its inhabitants, and what to expect in the city. Thankfully they encountered no more bandits, leaving bandit territory after the first day. The trees became noticeably sparse, eventually opening up into the fields that surrounded the city. Massive swathes of Farmland, growing Corn, Wheat, and all the other staples that kept the city alive.

In the distance they could now make out the massive, walled city, a flock of birds circling around it. While still a few hours journey away, it was an impressive sight nonetheless. As they grew nearer through the day, Laryli pulled back in her step, walking now next to Alaister and Ryain, poking Alaister to make a point. "Try not to look the guards in the eye... the gold scares them."

While not all were the same, some of the Elves were known to be frankly.... rather bigoted. But Laryli had learned ways to cope and avoid awkward situations. Ryain had been a breath of fresh air though, traveling along with them and having a calm nature, though no doubt part of this was down to saving his life.

unbeknownst to the travellers (at least as far as she knew), someone else had been watching them. She had caught sight of them by chance when they confronted the band of criminals and had hidden in the trees, her pale green skin and plantlike tattoos offering the perfect camouflage in the branches. She had followed them since then, fascinated by their odd mannerisms, shining eyes and most of all, Alaister's healing magics.

After observing their journey from the trees for some time, she concluded that their destination was the same as hers and parted ways, intending to reach the city first. She had some business to attend to first, investigating mysterious people could always wait until later.

Later in the day, Medea sat by a small stall in one of the mercantile areas of the elvish city. Unusually for her, she wore a long cloak and hood to hide herself, frankly she considered the inhabitants of this particular city to be rather prudish but there was little she could do about it. A selection of herbs were carefully arranged on a table in front of her ready to be sold, but currently business was rather slow..perhaps the large snake around her shoulders scared people off. Presently she was content to sketch in the small drawing book she carried, still alert should anybody approach her. She was sure the travellers she had seen before would require supplies, after all. It was simply a case of letting them come to her.