Trip Back to Nova (Sakai/NPC)

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki was more than happy to leave her mother behind at the family estate and head back to Nova. It had been the hardest three weeks of her life sneaking around in her own home to practice a little magic since she had a test to take once it was spring. Plus even though she had left Nova she didn't want to put that all to work that Adrain helped her to become stronger to go to waste because of a trip back home. Now that the snow had let up and she could make the trip back to Nova since she wanted to get back faster she forgo the carriage and decided to just take two horses to ride back to Nova. One for herself and one for Hawkeye, each horse's saddle bag carried food, extra clothes and some things for camping out in the woods, her own horse's bag carried her spell books which were hidden under her clothes. Last was a small box that contained tea leaves it was a bit later but it was her present to Adrain it took a while for her to get the proper trade connections with a lovely tea set which she had painted herself.



It had been about five days into their trip for the most part it had been uneventful and judging based on the speed they were traveling they would be in Nova in about another three days if nothing happened to slow they travel. Today she was wearing the dress Adrain had given her for the additional protections if something wrong was to happen, it was currently mostly white with the bottom having faded green along with the necklace. Taking one hand off of the reins for a moment she touched gem on the necklace remembering the words that would trigger it the flight spell that was added to it. Placing her hand on the back on the reins she looked over at Hawkeye wondering what he was thinking since nothing much had happened on the return trip.



"Um... Sakai?" She said his proper given name for the first time ever in a bit of a questionable tone. "Do you mind me asking about your hometown?" Wanting to get to know her guard a bit more they been together for all of the winter and she still barely knew much about him and it been bothering her for some time now.


Sakai Nagamasa

[Sakai Nagamasa]

Nagamasa was bored out of his mind. The trip on horseback had been uneventful for the entire trip, a whole five days without seeing so much as a bandit, or even a petty thief for him to stick with his weapon. He knew he should be thankful that no drama had surfaced during their trip; he was only one man, even with a demon sword and his martial skills. He was also glad to be on the road, putting his experience with Yuki's mother behind him. His mind replayed the meeting over and over, the nasty woman not all approving of him as her daughter's bodyguard. He had kept silent during the whole ordeal as the bitch railed against one of the nicer (albeit naive) women he had ever met in this strange land. His hand clutched into a fist with rage at there mere thought of the whole affair.

He was brought back to the present when Yuki asked about his homeland. He did not hide the surprise on his face when she asked him so suddenly. They had spent some time together, and he wanted to think he knew a little bit about Yuki. He turned his head back to the road, his only good eye keeping a lookout as the rode. At first, he did not speak right away, but after some time he started talking.

"It is nothing like Nova. You have a strong ruler, though I have heard the common people say he is crazy. In our country, we have many different clans that rule their own territory. We have a divine ruler, but their power is so diminished that the clans cannot be stopped from warring with each other over land or power."

He paused to think for a minute, stopping his train of thought. Yuki was not one who would like to hear about these sorts of events. It took him a minute or two to continue, thinking of subjects that a noble girl like Yuki would be able to relate to.

"My country has it's customs and many different things you may like, however. Tea is taken very seriously where I come from; being able to brew it well garners great respect, and is considered a form of art, down to it's preparation. The women wear lovely silk dresses called 'kimono' with various seasonal patterns and designs. It is like they are wearing a painting. Men often wear kimono as well, though theirs are different then the men. There is also a similar type of garb called 'yukata' whih is often worn during festivals, or worn to bed for it's light, breezy fabric. My own mother loves these things, and is very good at making tea."

Hawkeye suddenly smiled and laughed, coming to a realization that he found rather humorous. He actually wondered why he didn't make the connection sooner.

".....You know, I never mentioned this, but my mother's name is Yuki as well. In my language, the word 'Yuki' means 'snow' in yours, to represent the beauty and purity of winter."

[Roxanne]

The sound of horse hooves, gently shifting luggage, and quiet voices echoed through the dense forest. It was quiet, no birds or insects to make noise here and the riders might notice the eerie feeling. A faint wind pushed against the branches, barely shaking the leaves, but there was little movement otherwise. There was a slight rustling in the bushes a few yards into the forest. The sound of a stick breaking echoed in the silence, as tree branched creaked. A quiet chittering and clicking began, sort of a cicada sound almost, growing quickly in volume, its precise location impossible to determine.

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki almost regretted asking Sakai about his homeland since he was silent about the matter and she didn't know if she touched on a sensitivity topic. She wanted to reach out and say that it was okay when he began to speak. As she listens to him talk about his home it was comforting a little to know a bit more about him. The idea of the country being ruled by different clans was truly different and she couldn't quite think of anything to compare it to.



As she started to think eyes still on the road of a country that was ruled by a divine ruler but they couldn't stop clans was warring with each other. Even here in Nova nobility own vast land and people who lived and work on they land but overall it was the king, Noku who took care of the conflicts to make sure that nobility didn't fight amount themselves over land and it was the reason many nobility stayed at the court as well it was easier for them to be closer and influence decisions if they were close to the king.



The mention of tea caught her attention, after all, it was her own family's business and she had taken more than a normal liking to tea herself. The thought of being able to brew tea being considered a form of art was amazing. "Would you be willing to teach me how to brew tea like how they do in your culture?" Asking hoping that he would say yes cause it would give her a possible hobby combining something that she already loves with a new art form.



The simple mention of Hawkeye's mother being named Yuki and was good of tea it brought a small smile to her face. That two people of completely different cultures were named the same and had similar interesting. "Maybe this is Fate's doing, that we were met to mean. After all, nothing happens in Nova is a pure coincident."



Yuki paused for a moment realizing that it was quiet there wasn't any birds singing or even the sounds of animals that were active close to this time of year. Hearing the sounds of a stick breaking made her jump a little bit. "Um... did you hear that?" Nervousness presented in her voice as she wondered if they peaceful journey was coming to an end.

[Sakai Nagamasa]

Hawkeye smiled as Yuki spoke, knowing that the moment he mentioned tea that he had her interest. Their journey became that much more bearable now that he had something to do. He longed for something more exciting, but this wasn't a bad time waster at all. In fact, he was glad; the two of them, though vastly different individuals, had found a common ground. Hawkeye loved tea quite a bit, and found it kept him grounded as a regular person, keeping his more murderous tendencies in check. When Yuki asked him if he could teach her the tea ceremony, he chuckled humorously at the notion.

"I could certainly try. I am a warrior, not a tea master...but I was taught such things. Many of our warriors are much like your knights, actually. We encourage artistic pursuits among the samurai, such as poetry, painting, and many other things."

The one eyed samurai was about to continue when his sharp senses picked up on the rustling of bushes and the snap of a twing nearby, noting as well the silence that was normally filled by the sounds of nature. He was instantly wary, his training and instincts kicking in. His sword was quickly drawn from it's over sized sheath, the latter which he quickly shoved into his saddle bag. He brought his horse closer to Yuki's mount, gripping the steel in both hands carefully as it emitted it's palpable aura, thirsting for blood as it's samurai wielder used his ears to listen, his only eye scanning the forest.

"I did. Stay close, Lady Yuki."

[Roxanne]

The sound of the chittering grew steadily louder as the foliage all around the riders began to rustle. Slowly, the creatures revealed themselves. Each spider was the size of a dinner plate. As with any arachnid, the Novites had eight legs each, covered in short, stiff bristles. Their eyes were bright red, holding a spark of intelligence and numbering six per spider. The most defining trait about Novites, though, were that they had mouths full of large, sharp teeth. The spiders were known for being extremely aggressive and carnivorous, dining on whatever they could catch.

The pair of humans had wandered into a Novite den. The surrounding area was covered in the spiders' webs, almost invisible in the daylight. There were several larger spiders surrounding them but if the warrior knew anything about Novites, he'd recognize this was just a hunting party. The rest of the den was likely nearby and they simply had the misfortune of wandering too close. Novites were extremely territorial by nature and swarmed anything that wandered into their midst.

The creatures were delighted at their luck, considering that dinner presented itself so close to their den, but also highly annoyed that the humans had entered their territory. They clicked at each other loudly as they creeped out of their hiding places. The spiders waited only a moment before starting to swarm the riders, biting at the horses ankles and spooking them. There were not more than twenty at present but the alarm had been sounded and it would not be long before Yuki and her guard would be quite outnumbered.

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki was in awe at the thought of learning the art of tea ceremony plus it would also be a way for her to get to know Hawkeye better as well. Plus it was interesting to learn that even in Hawkeye's home country that they warriors were encouraged to have artistic pursuits. She was about to ask him a bit more about the style of clothing the females wore in his home country when the sounds of chittering grew louder.



When Hawkeye moved closer she wondered what was out there now. Surely it couldn't be bandits after all King Noku did his best that all of the trade routes that leads into Nova are cleared and patrolled. She did hope and pray that it was nothing since she didn't think that she could handle much in that moment since she was unarmed and still had panic attacks around being kidnap. Nodding her at the instructions to stay close as they continued on their path waiting for who or whatever was out there.



They didn't have to wait long before her eyes widen at the creatures that were talking them. She couldn't believe that it was Novites, of all things bandit would have been a bit better. "Shit!" Tighten her hands on the reins as she tried to get control of her horse once again so that she didn't fall off. "Sorry, my unladylike language but can't fight Novites they are flesh eaters and we need to get out of there fast." All while she finally got control of her horse, as she reached out of the rein's of Hawkeye's horse to try and calm the beast and urging him to run faster.

[Sakai Nagamasa]

Hawkeye's eye widened as he saw the swarm of spiders moving toward them, cursing under his breath as he saw them. He would have preferred bandits, or even a single, massive beast to kill over a swarm of these...."things". He noted their rapid advance and the fact that they were surrounding them, hinting at some form of intelligence, small as it may have been. The samurai resisted the reaction to swing his sword at the creatures, knowing that it would do him no good. He didn't feel like waiting to see what would happen, either. His the hand holding his sheath raised it in the air, and he brought it down on the rear end of Yuki's horse, shouting at the same time. From what he'd seen, Yuki was skilled equestrian, so he was hoping his little gambit would pay off.

"Hold on tight!"

While he said this, he spurred his own horse onward to keep pace, trampling the little spiders that were nipping at the beast's heels. He knew next to nothing about these beasts, but he knew of spiders...and if he could get his lady out into the open, then he could get her out of this mess at least. He tried to urge his horse in front of hers ever so slightly, swinging methodically forward with his large sword to slice straight through any webs that got in the way. He was glad for once that he carried the cursed blade, as it's strength was enough to cut through even plate mail seen on the knights in Nova. Cutting spider webs would not be an issue...but he was afraid of what would happen to Yuki if he could not get them out of this alive.

"Stay close, my lady! Do not stop, or you will die!"

[Roxanne]

The ferocious spiders hissed angrily at Yuki and Sakai when they spoke. When the horses were turned and began to run away, the novites let out a horrible, frustrated screeching which echoed through forest. They quickly began to pursue the riders through the woods, running along the path behind the horses and jumping through the tree branches. The longer the chase extended, the more of the spiders fell back to the den.

Eventually, only a group of about four of the largest ones were still tracking them. They made disturbing noises of glee as their legs clicked rapidly with their movement. It was getting darker in this part of the forest due to the dense overgrowth adn the novites red eyes gleamed dully in the dim light. Up ahead, the path through the woods became rougher. The road was pocked with shallow holes and overgrown with roots. The novites were certain that at least one of the horses would fall to the terrain.

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki looked back for a moment into the red of the spiders' eyes before turning back forward, lending her body down closer to keeping her center of balance she as she felt the horse jerking as it galloped and bucked from the bites of the spiders. For once she was glad that her mother as bad as she was made her take equestrian lessons. Hearing Sakai say hold on she tighten her thighs at the horse's side as she felt it started to gallop faster as it neighed from the hit from the sheath of the sword.



Trying to duck her head to shut out the horrible screeching, as they kept riding forward. Turning back as she started to hear the sounds become noticeable less she almost wished that she hadn't most of the novites had stopped chasing them minus the four larger ones. She didn't know much about their species on how they live but she was guessing that those four were the queens. During her small moment of distraction, she wasn't able to avoid a noticeable hole that one of her horse's leg got caught causing both her to go tumbling off the horse it was a normal fall minus the tumbling into a tree. Getting up quickly she ran over to her horse tried to get it's leg free.



Being unable to free her horse her fingers moved quickly untieing the saddle bags throwing them over her shoulders. The weight of the bags was more than she carried and would slow her down but she wasn't going to leave it behind. "Sakai... Can you kill Buttercup please I don't want her to die being eaten alive." She asked and stated at the same time as she pushed forward running as fast as she could now that she carried an additional 30lbs on her person.