Obscurities (Open)

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Night had just begun to make an appearance, the sky still had a blaze of red and purples on the horizon. The air still had a tinge of warmth to it; the smell of rain to come hung heavily in the air. The sound of spring peepers rang through the forest. The lake that night was calm, the sound of the falls muted off in the distance. It was a pretty site, the sandy shore edged by clumps of wild grass; while small waves lapped the edge of the shore. Creating a rhythmic ‘dadunk’ sound whenever it hit a fallen log or roots of a tree that over hung the edge. The sight of fire flies bouncing along the reeds was a calming and serene sight.


On the shore a small fire crackled; surrounded by large fallen logs, worn smooth over the test of time. By one of these logs a woman had her back propped up as she lay on a blanket laid out on the sand. Her leg crossed over one bended knee bounced along to a somber melody that was plucked along on a lute she had “borrowed”. Her blue green orbs were half lidded, hooded by her long dark eyelashes. Her long wavy garnet colored hair cascaded around her in a thick curtain. A soft breeze catching a few strands and pulling them loose from behind her slightly tapered ears.


The light of the fire bounced off her face, the blazing scar up the right side of her face taking on sinister shadows; offset by the angelic glow of her untouched porcelain skin on her left. Her soft full lips relaxed; the usual smile that played upon them gone for the moment. Aria was in a dark red tunic, her long billowing sleeves rolled up a quarter of the ways up her arms; it plunged low with an open collar exposing her bare neck line; the gold chain which usually hung around it gone. A black buckled corset hugged her womanly curves, its black leather patch worked in design; the metal on the buckles dulled in a matte finish so it would not glint in the light. Simple black form fitting pants were rolled up to her calves, her small slender feet bare to the elements.


Aria was alone for the most part, just relaxing by the lake that spring night. A simple pack beside her filled with some rations. The blanket she sat on was a simple stitched quilt; nothing to special; but it was a good seat for the time being. On it lay a couple of books for light reading; her blanket being far enough from the fire to still be safe but warm. Above the fire a small pot hung suspended by some well-placed sticks, a delicious smell coming from beneath the covered lid.

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Rustling of leaves and grass can be heard as someone was making there way through the brush. As Kail had desided to come out into the wilderness to get strong and know the world a lot better. He had a small chuckle as the various TV personalities had said survival was not easy. It was hard as the blond brought only a few things, his sword and shield, knives, a hand axe, his pack that had some survival items such a small amount of food, bed roll, and the last item was his new weapon. What he called was his Mana Railgun and it was rather beastly weapon. As he replaced some of the wood with a bit more metal in some areas. For better conduction with the ammo he was using. The blond was planning to take something big down to test the weapon. Like very very large game or a very powerful monster. None the less Kail should have stopped for the night as he broke one of those survival rules. But in the distance he saw a camp fire.

The blond using a great amount of caution slowly approaches as he was not sure if it was a friendly or foe such as a gang of bandits. As he got closer, he saw that it was one person and from the looks of things female. "Greetings friend, room for one more at your fire" he called out first before moving in. Because if he just popped in he could have spooked who ever it was to attack him.

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As the voice called out she stopped playing the melody and placed the lute next to her. Aria looked back, her eye shifting to something that would accommodate the dim light. When she recognized the face a smile played out on her lips.

”Your still alive blondie? A greeting to you as well, there is always room for one more by my camp fire.”

Aria actually was slightly surprised to see him still alive, the world of Nova wasn’t exactly the safest place to be. Especially if he took to walking so close to the forest at night….she could get away with it considering her special set of abilities, but even then it wasn’t without its dangers to her.

”So how is Nova treating you?”

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Kail was surprised as it was Aria of all people and came over to the fire. Aria would see that he had a pack and was rather well prepared for the wilderness of Nova to some extent. He placed his pack down as well as his new weapon of doom. She then asked how Nova was treating him and he sat crosslegged across from Aria and he sighed slightly. "Quite frankly I don't know how I am surviving in this world. I had to adapt or die in this case....there are a lot of things I do miss from my world. Some other things, not so much" he said and then goes into his pack to get some kind of food ration. The blond begins to eat and was pondering something as he ate while at the camp fire. "I've been going over and over in my head as to why I was summoned here. I mean I am far from some kind of warrior or soldier. Just a guy with a dream for something big" he said and just gazed into the dancing fire. Kail was now speaking more of his mind "I mean I've made a few things but hell. I don't know what my perpose is here, do I just live peacefully? Or find what the heck is going in this world " he said and drank a bit of water from his flask.

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Aria remained sitting as he sat down; as he got comfy Aria picked up the lute again and began plucking notes. An upbeat but light tune; just to pass the time. As she played she listened to his contemplations with a calm and thoughtful expression. Funny how she seemed to run into people whom always were at a crossroad in life without very much of a clue where they were going. When he finished a few moments of silence went by, filled with nothing but the light plucking of her lute.

”Well…”

She started off slow, thinking of her words carefully.

”What makes you think you have to be something special in order to be brought here? Stop looking at a piece at a time and start looking at it as a whole. Perhaps then you might find the right question to lead you on to your next path”

Aria went over what she knew about Kail; of course she had gotten reports from Rivers. He had a raw talent for magic, with an affinity to all six elements. He had potential…and from him pouring his heart out to her she could tell he was beginning to ask the larger questions… which was both bad and good. Considering from her understanding he tended to be a bit immature, and a bit of a hot head. Which put him as a high risk factor….that was the useful information at least that she had gotten on this blond man….On a side note he was sore at Rivers….and had a thing for a hot red head in town. How accurate that was she wasn’t sure. But it was something that was filed away in the back of her mind.

”The choice is yours in the end, but if you hear a hiss and decided to explore you may find yourself falling into a pit of snakes before you know it….question is, is the satisfaction worth the consequences?”

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"....I guess that I deep down I wanted freedom to do what I want. But when I got it, I don't know what to do with it. I never had the passion to be a doctor, it felt boring and lifeless. But I had it for music and the arts. Heck I have it for more things now for well adventure and treasure. I know it sounds immature, but its better to have passion then none at all " said Kail as he now went more into thought on that he was not seeing the entire picture. What was the right question to get the answer he wanted. Then heard what Aria said to him and hand to smirk slightly. "There is a saying that you may have heard of. Curiosity killed the cat, but the satisfaction of knowing brought it back. I don't have much to lose but a lot to gain in this world" he said speaking his mind. Kail then takes another guzzle of water and closes the flask again.

"Most of the time, I just feel angry that most see me as some kind of joke. Or some kind of village idiot, so sometimes I got something to prove. Like the weapon I made here" he said pointing at his very large crossbow. But it was not like the normal one as it seemed otherworldly with a lot more metal then wood. "This thing here can go trough the heaviest armor as if it were nothing" he said holding it in his hands.

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A whistle breaks through the silence of the tree line, echoing the notes that Aria just played on the lute. Ilta doesn’t really expect to see either Aria or Kail as she arrives at the side of the Falls. She had avoided the Falls for some time, but now came to look at where this whole thing started. “Hmmm… didn’t know you could play,” she says to Aria.

“If you don’t mind me intruding on the conversation, I’d say it depends on whether the adventure is worth all the consequences. Depends what they are.” She looks to Kail and adds, “Also, no one actually thinks all that poorly of you. Sure, talking to you can be confusing sometimes, and you don’t know too much about the world. But mostly, you just get more flustered than most when being teased. If we weren’t fond of you, we wouldn’t keep you around and talk to you. At least, I wouldn’t. Also, trying to prove yourself to the world is more hassle than it’s worth. Learning some self-confidence would be better.”

She sits down on a rock next to the falls. “However, if you feel the need to prove something to yourself, that I could understand. I can’t believe I actually managed to scale these Falls at some point. While there weren’t any witnesses, it meant something for me to know that I was capable of that. So what did you manage to put together?”

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Aria listened with some interest, sounded like he needed to talk to Ven more than her. Especially if he was looking for passion. Aria chuckled at the saying he gave her, she did indeed know that saying.

”I always ended with but satisfaction brought it back, but yes I have used that saying many times….however I rarely ever received satisfaction…. And I was fortunate enough that I had many owners watching out for this little kitties back.”

Really when she thought about it, it was kinda creepy knowing she was watched for so many years without actually knowing it. Then again they both had a proven track record of losing track of her when she was watched….Her attention turned off to the side when she heard footsteps approaching along with a whistle that went along with the tune she played. Aria grinned as Ilta made an appearance; thankful that someone who knew this man a bit better decided to put her two sense in. Aria nodded in greeting as Ilta came and took a seat by her fire.

”I play the piano to; my father thought my education should be well rounded.”

She smiled fondly as she continued to pluck away; she had be ecstatic when her father said he’d teach her how to play a musical instrument. It brought music back into her life; since she wasn’t able to really sing anymore... Aria continued to smile as Ilta gave Kail fairly good advice on her own. It would have greater meaning coming from someone he knew, rather than her….After all….she did believe this was their first real conversation...

”Everything you do in this world has consequences, good or bad, each has a cascading effect. One decision can have many out comes depending on your actions and the reactions of the people around you. Trying to see down the path becomes a maze where you only can see so many steps ahead….But Ilta is right you should stop trying to find happiness through the eyes of other people….Then again that’s not always easy…perhaps start with limiting the amount of people your trying to prove yourself to? Yes?”

Aria chuckled.

”If it helps I somewhat know how you feel….you can feel worth no more than a piece of shit stuck to a bottom of a shoe…but having just one person tell you that your worth something”

She nodded towards Ilta, who was doing exactly just that for Kail.

”It can make the world of difference. Now I’m not one to make these sappy conversations…. I’m more use to it being the other way around and handled awkwardly in horribly twisted ways. Now let’s see this weapon of yours”

Aria placed the lute down and went to inspect the bow; she let out a whistle slightly impressed as she noticed the gems in place….actually this was quite brilliant….

”….If you like inventing things like this….I may know a person you should probably meet. You and him might get along well in this aspect….How easy is it to pull back?”

Aria looked over towards Ilta, she hadn’t seen the women in a while….least not since attacking Shy’s head.

”By the way, nice seeing you again. How are things at the barracks?”

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Kail had heard someone approach and knew that his weapon needed a small amount of time to arm. He sets the thing down and pulls out his knife. Until it was Ilta that came up and had a bit of releaf, but did not know that she was out here. They both spoke to him and he had to take it all in as he was thought well of at least. Kail gave a nod of his head and was still digesting everything. "Thanks for the advice and I really do mean it" he said and then hears both women ask of intrest in his weapon. He picks it up and shows the beast of a weapon, it was much larger then most crossbows and the stock of it was really stable. Kail was hesatent on telling Ilta about this thing as he was going to use this to save Claire. But so be it in this case "This thing here runs on something called electro magnetics. Anyway....magnetism is a force where two metals seem to attract each other like a positive and negative. But if these forces are either both positive or both forces are negative they repell" he said and paused slightly before going on. So that he did not lose them too much.

"So with that in mind, I use a lightning and earth gem to create a magnetic field in this weapon. I use these metal spikes as ammo then a bolt from a normal crossbow" he said and pulls out two from his pack. One was a normal one the other one was spiraled like a drill bit. "I can use this magnetic field to propel the spike way farther and faster then a normal crossbow of this era. The spiraled one here I can charge up this thing to make it spin at a high speed and render heavy platemail useless. Reload time is a bit less then the cross bow but there is a bit of charge time. I have one other ammo type but I only made two of them and I did not want to waste them" he said and then places everything back in its place.

"This kind of knowlage in the aspect science comes from my world. But they don't know how to make it hand held. This kind of application though needed massive amount of power and was mostly used on the size of a arbalest. But with magic though that problem was solved in a sense" he said and knew that he might have lost them both. "Anyway, who is this person your talking about. I would like to meet this guy" he said and drank a bit more water as he went a bit long winded on the explanation.

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Ilta gives Aria a curious look as she talks about having a well-rounded education. “Your family from a good house then, Alex?” She shakes her head, “I feel pretty low class in present company then...” She suspected Kail came from money. She was unsure about Alex. She definitely had money to spend when they first met. Her eccentric habits would’ve gotten her in trouble with nobility. Then again, that’s the only place she can really see people acting that weird and getting away with it.

Ilta shakes her head as Aria looks at her, saying that it was nice to hear that you are worth something. “You shouldn’t base your worth off what I have to say. I mean, it shouldn’t be necessary. You should just feel capable and confident in your abilities.”

She nods in agreement about ending the sappy part of the conversation. Yeah, on to the more interesting bit.

She gives a slight shrug when asked about the barracks. “Not too bad. I work with Roland from time to time. He’s actually not that bad surprisingly. The giving life to non-living things still makes me uneasy though.”

Ilta looks over the crossbow type of object. She could sense the magic coming off the earth gem, having some affinity toward the thing. She doesn’t have much idea about what he is talking about, but she can feel the direction of the earth magic moving stuff outward. Metal spike goes in, metal spike is propelled outwards. A smile crosses her face, “I want to see this in action. Let’s test it out!”

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Aria scratched the tip of her nose when Ilta asked if she was from a good family.

”Er sort of; my father ran a library back home. I didn’t meet him until I was sixteen, so my education started late. I was a street rat until that point, orphanage got rid of me when I was eight, they tried the kill it by fire method. Anyways long story short I fell into a group of very good friends whom made sure I was given a chance to learn so I ran with it, Daddy eventually took over my education once I could read and expanded it….So please don’t feel low class, even the orphanage didn’t want me.”

Aria shrugged, it would be nice if it were that simple to like yourself as you were.

”Words are like poison, they can corrupt your views and have you believing something else. Over time they can beat down the walls you put up and slip through the cracks it creates. Get told enough that you’re a piece of shit, a beast, a monster, a child….over time you believe it. The people around you have a large influence in your life; whether you try to shut them out or not. But you are right in that we should feel this way, it’s just not always a feasible reality.”

Aria chuckled as she described working with grumpy guard being not that bad.

”Ok I know somewhat how you feel, brining inanimate things alive ok I can deal with that….what creeps me out is when something dead gets up and starts walking around….dead shit should stay dead…… I’ve only have limited interactions with …what did you call him Roland? I’ve been calling him Mr. Grumpy guard….I can’t remember if he introduced himself at all…. Have you worked with Garrett at all?”

As the weapon was shown Aria looked on at it with interest, it made sense what he was saying.

”This wouldn’t be used for normal hunting now would it…..what do you plan on doing with this weapon? In my experience inventions usually have to have an idea or reason for being created in the first place….As for who I’m talking about, it would be Adrian….He pushed me to go learn how to control my magic and frankly I know him to be quite skilled in magic himself. I believe he’s teaching in the Arch.”

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Kail listens to both woman as they were talking about something dealing with families. Which was something that he should not really get into. But they paid attention to his description on his weapon, and both had a intrest in it. Ilta wanted to test it right then and there, which he wanted to facepalm at. While Aria had a more reserved opinion on it and knew it was not exactly used for hunting. "Aria you are partially correct on that matter. This thing is not made to take down normal things like deer. This is meant to take down people at a very long range and make heavily armored soldiers easier to take down. Or take down massive creatures like dragons or other mythical creatures. This weapon is made to take care of problems that I can not take care of" he said answer and making his point again. That this thing was for protection as sooner or later he may have to deal with the King and his men or other kinds of trouble.

"Ugh....don't I need some kind of written permission or something to gain acess to the Arch"he said hearing some kind of rumor that normal access to the place was useless. Unless you were a mage or knew someone from that place. This man seemed a much better choice then Rivers, but this man could be more of an ass then the man he met. "Ilta if you know some kind of thing that would be a good test for this thing. Plus I don't want to shoot this thing in the dark" he said and searches in his pack for some more food as he was getting a bit more hungry.

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Ilta shrugs slightly as Aria tells her not to feel bad. “It’s not like it didn’t work out in the end it seems. Except I guess we’re all here now, so I guess it doesn’t matter much. Do you miss him much?” It would be reassuring to know that she wasn’t the only one with family in another world that she thought about daily.

Ilta could understand words being like poison if she gave a shit about everyone’s opinions. However, she could not muster any fucks to give when it concerned the general populace. “It depends… I don’t respect most people’s opinions in general, so why should their feelings on me matter? The only ones that matter are…” She shakes her head, “I’m going to stop before I get sentimental. I hate getting sentimental.”

Being still somewhat of new recruit, she hadn’t risen ranks very far. She hadn’t really spoken much to the guard captain since joining. “The Captain? No, not really. Mostly grumpy guard. He’s got a sense of humor. Saw him smile once. It was like it didn’t fit his face.”

Ilta makes a face as Kail says he doesn’t want to shoot blindly. She understands after getting shouted at by Shy for shooting in the woods. Still, she kind of wants to see it action. Metal spikes though… She could probably catch it. “Don’t worry Kail, I’ll catch the spike. Just shoot.”



OOC: This Ilta and welcome to Jackass.  LET HER CATCH THE SPIKE!

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Aria eyed the weapon; she always had a partial liking to dragons. She hadn’t come across many nasty ones, and they were frightfully brilliant. She wondered how good of a shot he was at it… It was slightly concerning that the first thing he thought of was to take down armored people…. Her eyes flicked up to his; her eyebrow arching.

”You plan on fighting armored people in the near future? Joining the guard perhaps?”

Aria shrugged when he groaned about the limited access to the Arch.

”I will ask him myself next time I see him then; me and his pet tiger are pals”

Aria turned back to Ilta when she asked if she missed him; she nodded.

”Everyday, I miss the rest of my family as well…not blood related but close enough. I’m fortunate though to have a couple people I’m close to fated here to. So I am not as alone as some….Your with grumpy guard? Thought he was the Royal Captain….Mines the civilian one…would think new recruits would go to him. But does that mean your training to be a part of the Royal Guard?”

Arias eyebrows rose when Ilta volunteered to be target dummy…..for that beast of a weapon.

”I’m curious to see her do it; if you don’t shoot her can I?”

Aria reached down into her cleavage and pulled out a small vail filled with a light blue liquid. It was lunar drops.

”I got back up in case something goes wrong.

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Kail facepalms when Aria and Ilta, when the egg him on about using it on Ilta. He sighs and gets up "Alright fine, but I hope you got something that can revive someone" he said and saw the vile in Aria's cleavage. He grabs his weapon and a spike and gets a good distance. He loads the weapon with a spike and then looks at Ilta. "Alright Ilta get ready" he said and then the weapon's gems begin to glow. There would be a slight crackling of electricity. Kail gets into a firing postion like a rifleman would do and gets a firm grip and was aiming for Ilta's chest. He hoped that she had something that would aid her to catch this as he did not know how fast this thing would go. This was his actual test for the weapon to see if it fired, he would need to test its full range after this.