westwhere | Side Quest: Take This!

Shen Qingqiu was having a hard time following the train of events so far. He had been whisked away from his quarters for some sort of task that his role would supposedly be perfect for, though he was certain he was not suited for! Some sort of convoy, some kind of exchange, he was lead here and there and finally he found himself in a cart filled with weapons, off to deliver. What was his life? Did anyone even know he was here? This felt like servants just trying to make up for lack of numbers and grabbing whoever convenient was nearby...

...

Or a lazy story hook to start some sort of event....

"This isn't going to go well," he muttered, he could feel it in his bones.

Eleven glanced over at his companion. He's been apprehensive since the summons came, and the niggling observation didn't help any. He gripped the reigns of the horses he'd found himself in charge of and breathed.

"..I'm worried, too."

"What is so important for us to be here anyway? Isn't this routine? Don't they usually do this on their own?" he really didn't want to be part of an event, too much was already going on for his liking.

He sighed and slouched back, glad he was not in charge of doing anything in particular at the moment. He hoped they didn't get ambushed, but he was very sure they would be. All stories like this had an ambush. The only question was were they going to be the protagonist of this story or the catalyst for someone else.

Eleven frowned. He didn't get the impression this sort of run was routine. Weapons. Where were they sending weapons to? Did they have allies after all despite their attempts at isolation?

Goddess, he hoped so. But the pit of his stomach wasn't assuaged. Who then, would they be sending weapons to?

His grip on the reigns tightened, staring ahead. A small mercy that directing a horse-drawn cart didn't seem to be too terribly different from regular horse-riding because he'd never done so before. His cover would have been in tatters almost instantly otherwise.

"I wonder how far it is we're going.."

No one had bothered to tell him where it was they were going- only pointed in a direction to trod. Not that it likely would have mattered all that much, given his lack of familiarity with the region. And that, he decided, would be remedied just as soon as they made it back to the city.

"Did it sound like we'd make it back before evening?"

If not, he'd have to find a way to explain to Lily without panicking her. Goddess, perhaps he should warn her ahead of time actually. Although that would be difficult to do privately until they stopped for a break.

Edited 2021-10-16 04:54 (UTC)

"They haven't really shared that much information, maybe, maybe not," he felt like they were probably meant to do at least overnight, these sorts of deliveries were like that, right?

Though, if they were going to be done for a while, they could have brought them snacks, right? This wasn't fair!

"Either way... we will know when we get there," though, maybe they could chat up some of the other people a bit casually to get some ideas.

Eleven breathed a quiet sigh. That wasn't helpful, but at least they were in the same boat. After a few more tense minutes of quietly rehearsing his phrasing, he leaned over to ask the nearest guard-merchant.

"Ah, excuse me, but how late will we be returning?"

As he'd half-expected, his question wasn't met with much grace but rather a terse command to mind his horses and stay on course.

Eleven settled back with a shake of his head. "..Well, it doesn't seem as though we're supplied for too long."

Which.. could mean something altogether more unfortunate, but surely they wouldn't.. Goddess, he needed to stop thinking.

"..You're a person of some import, aren't you?"

Or rather, pretending to be.

Edited 2021-10-16 20:08 (UTC)

"More or less," oh wait, was he supposes to embellish it more? "Down with the establishment!" it wasn't a shout, it was a quieter and incredibly subdued impression of one for indoors and late at night.

"Let's assume at least tomorrow, usually things with horses take a day or two," did he say it like he was some sort of expert? Yes. Was he pulling it out of his ass with no reason to back his judgment up? Yes.

'Things with horses'.

Eleven despaired. The man sounded about as knowledgeable as Faris had been. Was it possible they were both expendable? ..Well, if a fight broke out, at least no one was going to be expecting him to be armed or particularly dangerous.

His leg bounced with nerves as he attempted to think through solutions. If they took a break, he'd get word to Lily, who could get word to anyone else if needed. The trouble was not knowing their location- a direction to come looking if they lost contact would have to be enough.

"..What's your name? I don't think we've met before."

"Shen Qingqiu," was he supposed to have a fake name? A fake name would make more sense. But so far he really didn't know what made sense in this world. He should really go back to the library and try and read as much as possible. "I admit I haven't really gone around to meet everyone that diligently."

To be honest he had gotten a bit overwhelmed with the number of people he had to meet and then just stopped bothering... it was fine. Revolutionaries needed... planning time? Or something.

The feeling of running for his life under pursuit wasn't a new one, but it was just as unpleasant as he remembered.

He'd run the horses hard, racing back to the city with his heart in his throat over the anxiety that he'd lose control of them at any moment. By some miracle they made it back, leaving the horses at the gate in favor of snatching the weapons out of the back of the cart to flee into the city.

Their singular stroke of good fortune was how well he knew the canals and common districts by now. Eleven led them through the streets in a panicked hurry, winding their way toward the water and attempting to shed the merchant disguise as they went. He rushed them onto a gondola and put every ounce of practice into speeding them down the canal faster than feet should be able to carry their pursuers through the crowds.

Before he quite knew where he was leading them, Eleven spotted a familiar alcove and abandoned the gondola to lead the rest of the way on foot- across the bridge and ducked down a set of spiraling stairs.

He collapsed on a supply crate, breathing hard as what felt like his entire body shook.

"We should.. have a few minutes.. at least.."

Shen Qingqiu fled few things (besides Luo Binghe), but he fled here. He wanted as much distance between himself and that encounter and the gates as possible. What should they do? Fuck! FUCK! FUCK!!!! One wrong move could be catastrophic, but he really hadn't been paying enough attention to the politics to have an idea of what to do next.

Fuck!

He really should have... thought deeper... about what he was doing here. Hindsight was 20/20.

Abandoning the cart was a pain though, needing to carry them on foot. Though he had made sure to wrap them up well, and the weight was really not an issue, he could carry a lot more, it was more the size of the bundle was unwieldy. They needed to stash them somewhere and quick.

"First thing is first, we need to put these somewhere and be far from them as possible," he didn't want to return them, he didn't want to deliver them, he didn't want to relinquish them.... What a troublesome situation. "Though... I'm curious what exactly is all in here."

Eleven glanced up. Through the blood rushing in his ears, he strained to catch the sound of hurried footsteps, only settling after several heartbeats passed without anything of the sort.

He shivered and shrugged. He hadn't thought far beyond evading capture, but now that they weren't under immediate threat, his mind ventured to try. Everything since the attack felt like a blur.

"I think they were telling the truth," he managed, nodding. "I don't think we should return them."

He wondered if the men that had sent them back to do just that were going to be imprisoned or.. or worse. No, he couldn't think about that- not yet.

Weapons. They needed to hide. A memory sparked. Eleven levered himself up a bit.

"I- there's someone I know who can.. she has somewhere to hide. She can move without being seen- find us and bring us there, and then we could sort it out."

"I don't know enough about the political balance between all the parties," why wasn't there a cheat sheet somewhere! Give him a guide! Something! "But, I agree, we shouldn't return them. We can say they got lost, or... feign ignorance. I don't think anyone knows we were there...." but someone will be looking for these, too many of the items felt high quality and powerful.

In fact, he felt overwhelmingly drawn to one in particular....

"Call her now!"

Do they? The servants called on them on Rigarda's behalf. Did she ask for them specifically? Or would they tell her who they sent if not?

Eleven jumped to the urgency in Shen Qingqiu's voice, nerves bursting through his chest in a panic. Still no hurried footsteps, though he couldn't be sure how long that would be the case.

"Ah- yes, all right, I'll do that."

He turned his focus to his crystal, and steadied his voice enough to send an urgent message through.

Lily didn't bother to respond to Eleven after he called to her over the pendant; instead, seconds after he spoke into his crystal there was a loud pop within the alcove and she stepped forward. She held her wand up, the tip of it illuminated to serve as a source of light in the dim confines of Eleven's hiding place.

"Let's go lads," she looked from El to Shen Qingqiu and held out both of her hands for them to take. Demanding an explanation would come, of course - but Eleven's message, however brief, left the impression that time was of the essence. She was incredibly worried and terribly curious but it was going to have to wait.

"This is going to be very unpleasant. Stay still, and don't let go of my hand," Eleven knew the drill but Shen Qingqiu certainly did not. If he panicked and splinched himself, it would only add to whatever problems they were currently facing, not to mention hurt a lot.

Whenever they both took hold of her hands, there was another pop as they vanished from the alcove, appearing in what had to be the dustiest, cobwebbiest kitchen in all of Taravast.

Dropping their hands she looked from side to side before her attention went down to both of their shoes. "Wipe your feet. The occupants hate muddy shoes."

Then - a beat later. "What's happening?"

He was quite certain they had acted on their own, it was too rushed, like a last minute decision. He doubted it had come from top to bottom, but more, the bottom looking at what recourses they could potentially pull from and how much weight they could use to do it.

But that was neither here nor there now. What mattered was dealing with their load.

Despite Lilly’s sudden appearance, he didn’t seem phased by it, his face was neutral and he didn’t jump or cry. Internally he was screaming though. DON’T JUST SHOW UP LIKE THAT WITHOUT WARNING! He had almost turned to hit her as a defensive reflex!

Still, that was pretty cool, it was like right out of wizard school novel series…

He tentatively took her head, and then regretted everything in the world for a split second before it untwisted itself.

“FUCK!” Was the only thing he managed on the other end before dropping their bundle to the ground. (Or at least what of it he had in his possession.)

Gratitude flooded through him. He'd worried Lily wouldn't receive the message in time, but there she was moments later. Then- safety.

The panic that had riddled him for the past hour finally began to fade. He spared a wince for his companion, recalling his own nausea the first time he'd been brought along with Lily's form of Zoom, then eyed the fallen bundle of what they hadn't been able to safely store away between them.

He took over explaining to let Shen Qingqiu recover.

"We- we were sent to escort weapons outside the city." Eleven faltered, sensing something and not quite able to relax after all. "We were intercepted and sent back. The people who attacked us are looking for us, looking for these weapons. We're supposed to get them back to Rigarda, but.. it's likely they were being sent to the undead."

The longer Eleven spoke, the wider Lily's eyes grew as she looked from him to Shen Qingqiu, and back to the bundle of weapons that had been dropped on the floor upon their arrival.

"To the undead? That would mean those weapons are from Bonaccorso - to keep the undead out of Taravast, wouldn't it? " Although the house they stood in currently housed about a dozen spectral necromancers, and a handful of undead witches - Lily couldn't help but think that those weapons were the worst thing here.

Her mind was reeling, but there was still work to be done, and her rising fears would have to wait. Before that, however, she looked back to Eleven, her eyes narrowing sharply as her sense of protectiveness flared. "Who attacked you?" The audacity of some people.

Thankfully Shen Qingqiu did not have such a weak constitution that he couldn't recover quickly. He was a highly cultivated practitioner of the sword martial arts, ascending into the first steps of immortality, it would be a true shame if he let this lay him down for the count.

Straightening his sleeves and collar he joined in the conversation.

"A captain of Macaluso was present in those that raided us, and these are not mere weapons, they are magical and contain spiritual powers. Their abilities are not yet known, but some of them feel quite powerful."

He nodded, ill at ease although the immediate threat had gone. Shivers crept over his skin.

Well enough that Shen Qingqiu had been able to identify the guards; he hadn't paid much attention in the rush. So Macaluso knew and opposed the deals with the undead. That was an unexpected point in his favor, despite having to escape from his forces.

"We decided we should hide them, so they aren't sent out again. I just hope no one knows we were involved.."

While it might not have seemed possible for Lily to look even more shocked and dismayed than she already did - after Shen Qingqiu spoke, she somehow managed to look even worse.

"Macaluso's guard?" The implications were staggering, but when El mentioned hiding the weapons again it pulled Lily back to the present.

"Right. You can stow them upstairs in my workroom. There's a box that can hold it all." She looked to both of them and then over her shoulder towards the door. "Follow me, don't wander off, and if you see a ghost just bow and keep walking - they don't like it when there are too many visitors at once. Especially if you haven't been introduced."

She gave Eleven one last look before she headed towards the door, waving them over. "Come on."

Like the kitchen, the hallway Lily led them into was dusty from disuse, though as they ascended the stairs to the next floor, things began to look a little tidier and well-kept. Lily had even gone so far as to leave vases of flowers on some empty tables - an effort to make the house a bit nicer and please the ghosts.

After taking them past a few doors - one of which sounded like a few old men were chatting behind it - she stopped at the entrance of her workroom and drew her wand, removing the wards and protective enchantments that had been placed on it. The door swung open onto a cheery but sparse-seeming room that she was quick to usher them both into before she could shut the door again.

He hadn't been keeping up on the political intrigues, honestly such politics weren't his favorite, and even when they could be fun, it was only fun for the outsider looking in. Alas, he felt he should probably try harder to keep up with things. He had sort of assumed things could just sort of work out as long as he stuck with the group and stayed out of trouble.

But now he was in a lot of trouble!!!

He would have to ask about things soon.

He followed along, taking a glance here and there to take note of the place, trying to sense how many people were in the building through what sort of energy signatures he could sense. But most of this was because he was nosey and not for anything else in particular at the moment.

"Might as well keep them for ourselves if both parties are questionable."

Oh. Ghosts. Undead. That could be what he was sensing.

A chill spread over his shoulders and down his back as they walked. Hopefully they could pass unnoticed or unobtrusively. They wouldn't be here if it hadn't been an emergency, and Eleven didn't intend to visit it again.

He hummed quiet agreement as Lily led them into a room- then paused as he spotted a wayward splash of color and life. The arnica flower. Eleven smiled.

"So this is where it is.."

"Is it safe to keep them?" She asked Shen Qingqiu while moving through the room, using her wand to untransfigure a couple of the sparse tabletops, revealing the cluttered surfaces hiding beneath.

Though she was looking over her work area, she heard Eleven's question, and it brought a tiny smile to her face. "I told you it brightened up the place," she looked up at him briefly with a shrug before returning to the task at hand

"Here we are," Lily reached for a small, beat-up wooden box that had been waiting on one of the tables among the chaos of papers, jars of ingredients, and bottles in various states of being filled and labeled, destined for the stockpile she was making for the group.

"You can keep them in here until you decide what you're doing. This will be able to hold everything and then some." With a bit of cajoling it might even be able to hold the pair of them too, should the situation get desperate, but Lily didn't think it would be especially calming to point that out.

Cocking her head to the side her gaze settled on Shen Qingqiu - she didn't know much about him, but now he knew a good deal more about her than most of the group. "And please, as a favor to me, keep this place to yourself?"

Edited (sorry left out words) 2021-10-19 04:46 (UTC)

"Unknown, but we lack in recourses in general, so anything is good, isn't it?" and with that he dumped the bundle he had been carrying into the box before he started to empty out his pockets, pockets that barely could hold a book, let alone weapons. They were clearly enchanted in some way.

"As for sharing, I had no intentions," though why did it have to be a secret beyond the obvious ones to keep it from?

Eleven hummed shortly, nodding.

"I don't even know where we are right now." Somewhere in the necromantic district, he knew because she'd told him before, but that was the extent of his own knowledge. He avoided the district as a whole, and wouldn't be making many exceptions even now.

From his bag, he carefully few more weapons that most definitely shouldn't fit, but Lily well knew the trickery behind that.

"Thank you for doing all this for us, Lily. I don't know if I mentioned it yet, but you've truly saved us."

"What sort of weapons are they? Did you learn anything about what they can do before the situation went south?"

The more they stashed inside the box the wider Lily's eyes grew as she continued to piece together the ordeal the pair of them had been through that day.

Lifting her wand to conjure a pot of tea, she was quick to pour them both a cup, passing them over before sorting her own.

She paused, on the verge of having a sip, and looked back to Eleven smiling again as she shook her head. "I'm glad you called, and that I could help. This is," she looked between them again, flummoxed. "Quite the pickle indeed."

"Not really..." this was the first opportunity to really look at them.

"Ah... I did make a friend however...." and he placed a hand to the sword he had at his side.

Eleven accepted the tea with a faint smile in turn, the warmth of it doing something to help abate the lingering chill.

His attention turned to the sword at Shen Qingqiu's side, surprised. They'd be looking for those weapons, but.. he also doubted anyone but Rigarda knew precisely what they were looking for.

He set his tea aside and hummed thoughtfully as he lifted the last of the weapons from his bag- a sword with many edges- and hesitates, staring at it as his heart thrums, oddly reluctant to part with it. It almost felt like it was calling to him.

"..I don't.. need another sword."

Edited (tense consistency) 2021-10-19 20:49 (UTC)

Swords were a bit over her head, but she watched the two of them with interest, curious about the way they had both connected with one of the weapons from their cargo. Maybe it was a sword guy thing.

Studying El as he seemed to toy with the idea of keeping the sword he had held onto she looked at the one Shen Qingqiu kept as well.

"And you're both quite certain they're safe for you to use, no curses?" She'd read a book like that, with a ring that bewitched the bearer the longer they carried it.

"This is a spiritual sword, there's not much one can do when the spirit makes a choice," he wouldn't complain though, his own spiritual sword was left far away in another world.

"If anything I'm surprised they could make such a thing and with a full spirit. It will take to cultivation well, and... this master was lacking in a sword," he would have to name it.....

A spiritual sword that chose its wielder? Eleven frowned and expanded his senses, flinching as he did so. The heavy pall of death left him shivering. He settled and reigned his focus back in.

"I don't know," he said in answer to Lily. "We just took them and ran. Is there a way to tell? I can't parse through the amount of undead in this place."

"A full spirit? As in, it's alive?" This was definitely beyond her realm of education, but the prospect was fascinating in a way.

Lily frowned at Eleven, Curse Breaking took years of training. Detecting and removing curses was delicate work, like magical surgery almost. It was always incredibly frustrating not to have an answer. "I don't know if I can tell, my magic isn't suited for the curses of this world. On the other hand, I suppose they wouldn't curse them if they really were meant to barter for the city's safety - however a brilliant first strike that would be."

Side Quest: Take This!

On the Road

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In the city

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