Roleplay

yep))
hopefully it will get better lol))

Joy remained sitting on the ground as the stranger walked off. It was a nice thing of him to do, but in her grief her mind was unrational and she didn't really care about his kindness.
'Maybe he has gone back to get his friends to kill me', She thought.
'I do not care. Let them kill me. Then I will be free of this pain'.

Seconds melted into minutes as she sat there, still clinging onto the lifeless corpse of her loyal friend. The flowers were beautiful. Dimly, she wondered where he had gone. Footsteps. He must be back. But... these footsteps were lighter, more nimble. She felt a hand gently drop onto her back and a kind voice softly speak
"Thank you. You saved us. Your loss is honoured by all of us"
Angrily wiping away her tears Joy strang to her feet
"You know nothing of how I feel! If I had known it would cost him his life I would have never tracked that blasted dragon!"
Despite Joy's outburst, the girl did not look angry, but empathetic, kindness in her green eyes.
Joy's anger quickly deflated.
"I-I am sorry. It is not your fault" The girl smiled
"It's okay." She paused a moment before adding,
"I'm Alyssiya. What name are you called?"

"Joy" she replied, then looked back down at OakHeart and resumed her gentle rocking.

Alyssiya stood for a moment, watching her. Joy's face was streaked with tears and her sad eyes looked red and sore. The girl was young, prehaps 16 or so. Judging by her weapons, she must be a good warrior. But in her state she was weak and barely a threat to anyone.

Alyssiya's heart was softened by the girls obvious grief, she had just lost her best friend and comrade at such a young age, she needed some kindness on this cruel day. Besides, the girl had saved their lives, she couldn't leave her to be attacked by the next person to come along.

Coming to a decision, she spoke
"You must be tired, come", Joy glanced up at her, and when she replied Alyssiya noted the hoarse thick sound of her voice,
"No. I cannot. I cannot leave him."
"I'll cast a protection spell" Alyssiya swiftly replied, and before Joy could protest she spoke a series of words and a faint sphere of green alighted on the body.
"There, he'll be safe for now". Joy gently kissed the stallions forehead and then hesitantly got up. This time, when she spoke, she looked directly at Alyssiya,
"Are you going to kill me?" She asked, her tone dejected.
Alyssiya recoiled in suprise and echoed Arions words from earlier
"Kill you? No, why would I do that?" Joy had no hint of her name as she replied
"Because I want you to".

Alyssiya grasped her hand and guided her to the cave. Everyone, including Arion who had just finished telling them about Joy, gazed at her with pity as she entered. At once they all took a liking to the shattered girl and softly smiled at her.

She pulled back as she saw the dragons and her eyes widened with terror and anguish. A young girl, seeing the look, softly reassured her
"It's okay, they won't hurt you. These dragons are good"
Elsiya and Mussanna gave a kind rumble of greeting.

Still not fully reassured, Joy warily eyed them as she was led to a small corner in the cave and given someones cloak to rest her head on. The girl called Nila, who had earlier reassured her, spoke again,
"You must be tired. If you want you can rest here. We won't hurt you. I promise."
"Thank you" Joy replied. It didn't matter to her if they did hurt her or kill her. Then maybe she would no longer feel the heartwrenching pain that tore at her.
She lay down and pulled her own cloak around around her. In moments the cave noise faded as she drifted off to sleep.



She opened her eyes and started as she saw that she was no longer in the cave, but was in a clearing in the forest, comforting and familiar. A nicker, her heart lifted. "OakHeart!" She cried out with happiness. The faithful chestnut steed trotted into the clearing. When he was finally in front of her she flung her arms around him, crying. OakHeart softly nuzzled her.

When Joy looked up, she saw OakHeart looking at her with a sad expression.
"What is it OakHeart?" She asked him. OakHeart was silent for a moment, and then he spoke
"I must go to the stars now."
"Why must you go?" cried Joy with tears in her eyes.
"I served my time on Earth, and I died honourably in the way any Ranger horse would be proud. Protecting their master".
"But you cannot leave me OakHeart!" Joy protested, a sob in her throat. OakHeart gently nuzzled her, comforting her,
"I must" he paused, waiting for Joy to look at him.

Eventually she looked up. Her eyes still shone with tears, but her voice was steady.
"I understand. But I will still miss you OakHeart! I shall never forget you and I will think of you always"
"And I you" replied the noble chestnut steed, giving Joy a look full of love and loyalty. They embraced once again for a few moments, then OakHeart spoke again,
"Before I go to the stars, I can help your quest" Joy looked up in suprise
"Quest? What quest?"
"The quest to fight the brown dragons. You don't think the one we fought was the only one to emerged? They have been emerging everywhere"
Joys eyes widened at the news and she was silent for a moment, and when she spoke her voice quivered slightly
"There are more brown dragons emerging?" She took a rattled breath before continuing
"It was hard enough to kill the one that we tracked, at the cost of your life! How on earth can we fight against an army of brown dragons!?" She cried out.
OakHeart, seeing her anguish, gently nuzzled her.
"I know. I know" Joy looked up, her eyes filled with a plea
"How am I going to stop them? I am but one girl. I can't stop them on my own!"

"The brown dragons are indeed strong and powerful, but they cannot work well together, for all of them think that they are the best, the greatest. They are immune to magic, I have no idea how, but they are, so don't waste any energy on using magic to try and defeat them. But the final one is that they have been made blind, distorted and driven by hatred, so eager to kill that they may blunder. There is one more thing: think about the dragon we tracked, when he first emerged, what did you notice?"
Joy thought for a moment and then cried out
"Of course! The light hurt his eyes - they have been underground so long!"
"Exactly" said OakHeart, a small twinkle in his eyes. Then, becoming serious,
"Joy. A great battle is coming. The brown dragons are rising. They are coming for their revenge" the words chilled Joy to the bone.
"I cannot defeat an army on my own!" She cried. OakHeart gave a small smile,
"But you are not on your own. I will always be with you. And I think you'll find your friends in the cave are willing to help"



When Joy awoke, everyone in the cave was staring at her, as though they had been discussing her and talking over what to do with her. She sat up and spoke, her voice now less hoarse
"Well, I do hope you've decided on a positive verdict about me - I don't think I have the energy to fight through you lot. "
Mussanna gave a small chuckle, which was silenced by her companion with a glare.

(It's okay, but you really should wait until someone says it's okay ;) Also, is Joy wearing the usual Ranger's cloak, or the desert issue? I got the impression she was still in the normal one.)

Alyssiya was tired.
___She had no idea how they were going to fight the Brown dragons. They had some weaknesses, sure, but they were not enough to win. Not on their own. They needed something else.
___Probably they needed to figure out who knew what so that they had a greater chance of winning.
___Looking at the others in the room, she felt doubtful about - well, about a lot of things.
___I don't trust that one, Mussanna indicated Aririon. There is something wrong with him. Like there are two people in the one body.
___Mentally frowning, Alyssiya answered, That's not possible though. Are you certain?
___Mussanna lifted her lip in a silent growl. Very.
___Alyssiya watched Aririon out of the corner of her eye. He was certainly an unusual person, that much was certain. Well. What do you suggest we do?
___See if he is a danger or not, and move on from there.
___Alyssiya thought about the last time she had tried to get information out of someone. It hadn't ended well. She doubted the Brown dragons would use human spies, but you never knew how low they might stoop. Of curse, Aririon could be completely unaware of his hitch-hiker.
___"So... Alyssiya said, feeling extremely self conscious, "we need to figure out if we can trust each other or not. I'm aware that you don't want to share any information about yourselves, and normally, I would not ask. But these are not normal times. I know I can trust most of you in this cave. But Joy... Aririon... I don't know either of you. I don't know if you're trustworthy or not. And it's important I know, or I will consider you enemies." No pressure, she thought sarcastically.

Ojfyre couldn't stand the slow pace they were moving at. Reeca was stuck on the ground because of her wing, and she didn't want to leave one of her phew remaining friends behind. She flew in slow circles, keeping an eye out for danger.
___Flying higher than usual, she looked in the direction of the cave-riddled mountain many the dragons called their home. To her delight, she could just make out the mountain's shape through the distance and the clouds.
___I can see the mountain! she exclaimed. We're almost there!
___Good. Reeca's thoughts were slow and drowsy, filled with pain. She took a moment to gather herself. I think you should go on ahead. You could make it within a few minutes. If you stick to the pace we have been going at, it will take more than a day. Also, she continued, sensing Ojfyre's protests, I don't think I have it in me to go much longer.
___I could carry you, Ojfyre offered uncertainly.
___I'm almost as large as you. Go. Go. I will be fine.
___Reluctantly, Ojfyre had to admit her friend was right. I will be back soon, she said. Beating her wings more rapidly, she propelled herself toward the mountain, rising higher as she went.
___Angling herself, she flew into the seemingly solid rock. Rather than breaking bones and splitting skin and scales alike, she sailed straight through. Landing, she hurried down a tunnel, until she reached a large cavern.
___Announcing her presence with a warning cry, she looked around for the one dragon she needed most - Kunzite.
___The other dragons turned with some alarm to see what the matter was. It was a dizzying sight.
___Finally she saw his pale pink, crystalline scales. I need your help. Reece's hurt. She sent him a mental image of Reeca's wing, keeping her message open so the other dragons could see why she was so anxious.
___I will come. He heaved himself out of the shimmering mass of scales. Lead the way.
___The other dragons, though impatient, saved their questions for later. They would keep. Reeca, on the other claw, needed Kunzite's immediate attention.

(Glad to see things are rolling. I belive it's my turn, isn't it? I'll post in a while, got stuff to do!)

(Alrighty then :) )

Elsiya twitched her tail and looked around, not entirely sure what was going on, or what the iridescent dragon - Sai? - was talking about, but decided not to ponder on it at that second.
She saw Ren quietly slithering back over to them. I found the exit Ren said, moving carefully through the dragons' legs. She bumped one of them and they looked down and saw her. their eyes grew wide and they started to freak out.
"SNAKE!!! SNAkE!!! AHH HELP OMIGOSH HELP ITS A SNAKE" they screamed and turned and raced down a tunnel that Elsiya hadn't noticed. the rest of the dragons looked around in confusion, some of them seeing Ren and sighing.
"Andy!" one of them called, and, getting no reply, grumbled and started down the same tunnel as Andy. "He has this thing about snakes for some reason..."
A boom shook the cave and rocks started to fall.

(I hope i didn't go out of turn lol sorry if i did)

(Yea sure, go 'head @WolfLionHeart I'll try to go after yours. My bad for not going, got caught up in work and forgot xP)

Joy was silent for a few moments before answering the question out forth by the one called Alyssiya.
"Of course. These are difficult times, and with the rise of the Brown Dragons every choice you make to trust a person could be life or death"

Silence hung in the cave for a few moments as everyone dwelled upon her words. Then, taking a deep breath, Joy continued
"I understand your concerns, and know that there is little I can say to gain your trust and gentle your fears. I will only tell the truth, and will make no judgement if you choose to accept or reject it."

Alyssiya curtly nodded before gesturing for Joy to go on.

"I trust you have all heard of Rangers?"
Most within the cave nodded.
"As I'm sure you can tell from my cloak and bow, I am one. I was apprenticed to Bresio of OakWood up until a year ago"

There was a low mutter at the mention of the famous ranger, but Alyssiya, still dubious, cut in,
"But how do we know that you did not steal the cloak and weapons? As for being apprenticed to Bresio, we have no proof that you are not making that up"

Joy inclined her head in acknowledgment of Alyssiyas doubts.
"Of course, my words mean nothing" then she reached into her cloak and pulled out a necklace with a copper oakleaf pendant, a clear symbol of a ranger. As though in response to Alyssiyas narrowed eyes, she added
"Yes, I know. I could have stolen this too. But you know, we never take off these necklaces, so for me to steal one would be an almost impossible task"
Then, looking at their disbelieving faces, Joy frowned thoughtfully.
"Alright, its evident that any possessions I own cannot truly testify on my behalf. But prehaps my skills ought. Come"

Then, after leading them outside and gathering a few arrows, she held her bow and turned to her audience.
"Tell me to hit any object you can see among those trees over there" she said as she gestured to a clump of trees around a hundred metres away.

"Try and hit that apple thats hanging down from that branch" Alyssiya said, pointing.
Giving a swift nod, Joy took a breath, and then in one fluid movement pulled back and released. The audience gasped as the arrow passed right through the apple.

Joy went to retrieve the arrow, and suprised the audience with her skill of unseen movement. For she seemed almost to disappear among the stretch of grass and trees.


Softly returning, Joy walked through the small group and stopped at the body of a horse that had a sphere of green light surrounding it.

Then she knelt beside the still figure and gently ran her hands through his mane, a few tears visible on her cheek as she leant down and kissed his cheek.

"And this is the final piece of evidence that I can give. OakHeart. He was the horse assigned to me when I was an apprentice, and we have been inseparable ever since then. He died protecting me from the brown dragon." Then the tears began to flow more freely down her cheeks.

Alyssiya, understanding that Joy needed a moment, ushered the group back a few paces. At last Joy stood and turned
"That is all the proof I can give, that I am who I say I am. I don't expect you to believe me and take no offense if you don't. But if you wish for me to leave or to kill me, then I ask that you first listen to what I have to say.

Then, taking a deep breath, Joy told of the brown dragons appearance and she and OakHeart's pursuit of it. After that she told of the fight between them and the dragon, her voice breaking as she told the death of OakHeart. Joy was silent for a moment or so before she told of her dream, the vision she had experienced in the cave.

All were silent for many moments. And then one of the group stepped forward

(*yeets post into here*)

It was Aririon who had stepped forward. He was nervous with all eyes on him, and nervous speaking. Feeling like a flickering candle flame, he looked very worn out. The young man shifted his bags strung across his shoulder, they felt like bricks. The mind monster increased the power of the walls blocking his mind from others without his notice.

"I am Aririon. I was apprenticed to be a student at Aconitum, the main academy for sorcerers," his voice was quiet, but the silence made him heard, "Until, as you would know, the raid of brown dragons attacked it." He shifted his position, "I may not be much of a help in combat with a sword or bow, as I am not as skilled or talented with them as any of you are. But I assure you, I am capable of a lot, my magic is strong."

To demonstrate, he stood back and set his hand in the dirt, whispering the words needed. The soil, sand, and mud rised from the ground and swirled like leaves in the wind. At that moment, he suddenly thrust his right hand in the air, the earth and rocks converged and stuck together. Soon enough, he had created at least a 6 foot tall golem with empty sockets for eyes. It turned it's misshapen head and peered at Aririon as if awaiting it's next order.

Aririon, who was already exhausted, was panting and fell into a sitting position from the extra effort of creating it. Once he had gained his breath, he muttered more to himself than anything else, "Perhaps... I shouldn't have done this when I am weak..."

He pulled himself up and faced the group, to give a short and rushed explanation, "This golem is bound together with my magic, it will do only what I tell it to at the best of its ability. For now, I'll just disassemble it...I'd forgotten how much it takes out of me, I apologize...I- I can't show you more..." With a wave of his hand at it and it fell into merely a pile of dirt.
Aririon sighed, "I can do much more with my magic, such as a defensive barrier and provide support."
But you are too much of a coward to do anything. The voice taunted.
The blonde paused, then cleared his throat.

He figured he should tell them what had happened to his home. He glanced at the ground, silently unsure of where he was going with this. But they may be suspicious if he didn't say anything.
"Just a day ago, my village was destroyed...by what I know not of. I was in the lowest basement, the safest part of the town, reading and practicing alchemy."
He could hear the echo of the Voice cackling at him. Guilt and grief bubbled up inside the young man, but no one must know of the true monster who devastated the town.

"I- I heard screams, explosions, death." He choked on his words, "I was too afraid to move. Too afraid to do anything...Call me a coward if you will..." He added that last part hushed and barely audible. Taking a deep breath, he continued.
"When I exited, I realized I was the only survivor. The bodies lain on the streets..."

"...Once alive, breathing, smiling people...now only lifeless, empty, bloody shells without a soul..."

His eyes shimmered like emeralds from the tears he was trying to hold back.
"I know I have not o- one bit of evidence to support this...I am- I am sorry."

He stared at the ground, for a few seconds, "There is one thing I must admit.." he said hesitantly, "I don't like to harm people, or anything really. I- I can't bring myself to do it, or kill. I can be useful, but-"
He stopped and gave up, his heart heavy.


(hey, uh, it'd be cool if none of the characters immediately found out about the mind monster thing just yet...maybe later on in the story? Thanks.)