Troublesome Negotiations [Coastal]

"Will you relax, Dravec? No one is going to come after me so close to home. I am fine."
"My lady, your safety is paramount. I cannot allow my guard to be dropped."
"You can and you will or I am telling my father that u made an agreement with his precious angel and then broke it! You know how he is about honoring oaths that are made. You agreed to take the punishment in his place. So you are going to spend the day here with me at the beach and have fun."

Normally, I enjoy the beach but an attack was made against her carriage so I am on edge as I am her sole guardian today as requested. I suspect that we will be joined by a certain young Militia Captain who has been showing great potential and is a skilled warrior but not of equal familial status. The affair works ideally for her as she abhors marriages. While walking along the sandy coast, we pause for a moment and just enjoy the warmth of the sunlight while a slightly cooler yet still warm breeze lifts her hair and sends different scents thru the air. More importantly than the scents that my nose catches is a familiar feeling that reminds me of a not so distant encounter with a friend. He and I are supposed to meet up to discuss political strategizing and such as he provided a completely different point of view being one of the Sky People. The familiar feeling is actually the hairs on te back of my neck and arm rising. He was somewhere close. That much I could feel.

The young lady's lilac and white gown as light and summery in fashion style. She has on sandals that are also lilac dyed with the extracts of flowers and cured in special oils so that the bottom of the soles are hard to pierce, but the top of them feels like walking on a bed of smoothed rocks. Her hair is auburn and drops about an inch or so past her shoulders. Her figure is rather slender with high B, low C bust and a mild curvature to her backside and hips. The young lady is by no means gorgeous or drool status, but she seems to possess a natural sex appeal and a dainty cuteness.

From upon me by her, my garbs today are light, summer colors as well with me wearing "flowing" yet fitted pants (think the movies when the guy is some island rocking the white pants on the beach) and a brown waist-cloak bound by a tightly tied sash. My shirt is white as well. While standing in the sunlight, my hair gleams a distinct ivory with my hair currently tied into a ponytail that hangs to the midpoint between my shoulders and my back. It is actually braided somewhat so that I do not look my normal self. It is quite rare that my appearance is fully revealed, but she does not want it to seem like she is with a bodyguard of any sort and I am following orders to provide such an illusion for her.

EXP: 550

Light and crisp. That was the feeling of the air. Or at least, what I assumed the air would be like. My body was still in its spiritual form, comprised of particles of pure energy as the glowing orbs swirled around me while taking flight. The large gates would quickly pass, a reminder of the destruction from the past age. Air was calm and cool against a sky darker than normal. The sun had yet to rise when I departed, leaving me to depart in darkness. It was quite enjoyable to see the sun rise, and I didn’t like missing it due to laziness. A light flash of light would occur as my body hardened, taking its physical form. The light glowing across my body would be seen for miles in the darkness, with only the early sky as my backdrop. I had been correct on the morning air. It was, after all, light and crisp. Doing my normal pre-flight, arms would move outwards before I indulged in a barrel roll for a few seconds. It was nice to get the muscles warmed up and moving every time I took a physical form. It was a shame I couldn’t just stay in that one while down here to do research, but something told me that I would have to be able to interact with what I was researching.

A few more miles would pass as my pitch altered, sending me heading north. It would be much easier to get there from this angle than go straight to the water before flying up there. I was fascinated with the land to the north, Mare Maris I believe it was called. Was that what the silver haired man Dravec had called it? I thought so. Anyways, not important right now. More miles would pass, and my body would move from a vertical, missile like position to a flat one. Arms would stay out while legs moved slightly out, allowing my speed to decrease as the sun perked itself up over the horizon. The sunrise was absolutely beautiful from this height, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I had made it on time, and found the perfect height to watch the sunrise from. I smiled, casually and without much worry. It was going to be a rather beautiful day. Notes had been taken, and space had been made for more since my last trip down here.

Nearing the same cliffs that I enjoyed every week, my body would twist around to land gently on their surface. The long white and blue cloak that I wore over my jacket was open and flapping lightly in the gently laid breeze. With a clear sky and clean air, this was going to be a nice, easy day. Perching there, I would take a seat and watch the rest of the sunrise. It was a beautiful day and I would be able to spend it all being completely lazy and doing what I loved : exploring. Hours would pass of my exploring while I moved upwards, enjoying the clouds while I mapped an aerial view of the coastline.
547

My eyes scan the area as I don't quite see him yet, but I swear I can feel an increase in energy just like when he's around. The young Lady notices my distracted state and pouts. "Dravec!" I turn to face her with a small orb of compacted spatial energies in my hand. She walks up to me and grabs my right wrist. While pointing at my left hand, which is holding the orb, she addresses me, "You worry far too much. I feel safe, but I want to have fun and I brought u b/c you always allow me to do that. Nothing will happen to me out here. So let's have fun. That is an order." She scrunches up her face to mock one of my normal "order givers" which would be an old militia noble. I smirk at the gesture and nod before asking, "What would u like to do, my lady?" She looks around and twirls her fingers around one of her curls.

So she hadn't actually thought that part out just yet. I don't rush her or anything b/c I don't need to scan the area as much... well just not as overtly. She looks down at the water and grins. I know that look. It's rarely good. She asks coyly, "Well... can we... you know... do that thing you do, but off the cliff & into the water?" I actually want to laugh as it is not what I expected her to request... thankfully. I ask her if she's sure since this side of the cliff slopes up making it a longer drop. I tell her to remove anything she doesn't want wet. She takes off her outer robe and jewelry. She goes to remove her gown and I tell her that I can dry that. Now I leave out the "I think" that makes its way into my mind as I'm actually not quite sure if I can manipulate the Void around someone else well enough to drain the water without hurting them. The obvious truth is that it would look most troubling if I was to be seen with her in her undergown, a sheer equivalent of a modern baby doll lingerie, and her underbottoms. She walks over to the edge & I tell her to tell me when to shift to the water. She nods cautiously obviously starting to rethink the decision. It was too late though. My right arm loops around her waist and within a moment our bodies shimmer from the edge of the shimmer into the air. Well... what goes up must come DOWN! NOW I may not be able to fly, but this is a really fun and close equivalent. She squeezes onto me for dear life as we plummet towards the Great Sea.

467/1017

Clearing the cloud line, I could bring my eyes back to the cliff side where two random objects looked to be standing. They weren’t here before, and from this distance, silver hair could vaguely be seen. That was all that I really needed to know he was there. After all, the only two people that I had met had silver hair, and the other wasn’t as friendly. Dipping down at full speed, I would stop my flying, allowing myself to drop thanks to gravity pulling me down. What I witnessed next was not something I had expected. He had disappeared, and had moved up into the air over the water.. with someone else? Without even giving a second thought to it, a moment of hesitation would block my normal rational thinking and send me at full speed towards them. If it wasn’t him, most humans would probably be in bad shape after a fall into water from that height. I wasn’t about to let anything like that happen. Even at full speed, I wouldn’t be able to really catch them yet, so my muscles would pulsate and strength increase. A force of pressure would be exerted against the air around me, propelling me even faster towards them.
As I neared them, I could see that it was him, and immediately stopped, pulling back towards the cliff while keeping my body facing him. If he noticed me, which I figured he may have, I didn’t want to startle his guest by flying around them. Instead, I would touch down on the cliffs top, release the little bit of energy that had been expanded with a rather relaxing sigh, and wait for them to finish whatever they were doing. Had he brought a guest for me to meet? I was rather enjoying meeting people down here. Some were friendly, and some had turned out to be demons. Then there was that incident in the desert land where I blew that demon girl out of the sky to protect the humans that were there. That had been a rather enjoyable trip, even though I had been lost in the desert for several hours.
Standing there, I would casually cross my arms, allowing a free view of what was going on below. It must have been nice to be able to relax and do things like that. What was better was seeing someone with his demeanor be able to relax and enjoy themselves for a bit.

440

Water surrounds us from all sides and the shocking sensation of the cold shivers flowing thru our bodies brings a moment of happiness to me before we resurface and she starts laughing with widened eyes. She hugs me and thanks me. I tell her before even asks, "No, we will not do that over & over again." I notice Ashurei standing, or probably floating knowing him, at the cliff we had just departed. "Come Lady Gantele, there is someone you will be most fascinated to meet." She asks a question that I am not completely sure how to answer, "Is it a friend of yours?" I ponder on the matter because in my life, I can only recount two actual friends, one was the Captain I served under in the Village of the Sun and the other... well he just isn't around anymore. I was on good terms with Ashurei for sure, but I don't think I truly understand the concept of friendship. I respond in the only way I really can, "Something along those lines." Vague typically works out well when I want to avoid answering something. She just shakes her head at me before telling me that we can go.

I nod to her and spatial energies converge on us before we vanish from the water. She holds onto me as we "fly" and her head falls onto my chest comfortably. She remains silent & just watches everything around me. We emerge on the cliff and I look at Ashurei with a light smile. "Lady Gantele, may I present Ashurei of the Sky People. Ashurei, this is the young Lady Gantelle of the House Dever here in the Coastal Regions."

301/1318

Turning around to face away from the cliffs, I would stand there waiting for an anticipiated appearance from the silver one. Knowing my hunches were usually correct, it would be a few moments before the two bodies would appear, obviously soaked from the water. I'd look curiously at the young lady while Dravec made an introduction of myself to her, then her to me. A lady? Was that a formal title fo some sort? I would continue to give her an odd look, puzzled by what that meant or what significance it held. I was also confused about House Dever. Was she from a compound location that was named Dever. land walkers were weird, and that was one thing that was for sure. Shaking my head, I would smile before folding my legs up into a seated position, allowing me to float about a yard off the ground. It was always best to make ones self comfortable when engaging in casual business.

"Pleasure Lady. is that your name? I dont understand why someone would name their child Lady. It seems rather absurd don't you think? Come to think of it, there are a lot of things down here that don't make sense. Was your swim enjoyable? It looked like the two of you were enjoying yourselves and I didn't really want to interrupt. After all, Dravec here doesn't seem like the time to enjoy frivalously casual occassions."

262

I look at him with a sort of -_- look on my face and when he finishes, I go to explain, but she decides to explain herself. She giggles before starting, "No no, my name is not Lady. It is a title that is given to one who is born to a noble family. My name is Gantele and my father is one of the leading members of the family which is known as House Dever. How is he doing that, Dravec?" I chuckle and say, "The Sky People can all fly since they live in the sky." I rarely joked around much, so she looks up then looks at Ashurei and smiles. Her eyes show deep fascination with him. She chuckles again thinking about his jab at me, "Yes, getting someone like Dravec to relax is quite the challenge." I am standing right here in case they didn't notice that. Gantele continues, "The swim was nice, tho he is not getting off the hook that easily. We are going back into the water. Do you swim, Ashurei of the Sky People?"

186/1504

so, they did have a hierarchal structure for some form of management. I could only assume from here that being born of nobility meant you were of a higher class and status than those not of that type. While I did find it strange, I was not going to push it any further. It was, after all, the people of the land and I didn't want to stand out. I would give a puzzled look when he mentioned my being of the sky people. I was hoping to keep that little bit between us, but cat was out of the bag now. I would turn my head lightly before turning to the water. I had been told that there were dangerous things down there, and I was rather curious to how far down it actually went. Thinking about it, I figured I might allow my curiosity to get the best of me. It probably wasn't going to be the best idea right now, especially with her here, but I trusted the judgement of the silver haired void walker.

"Would you mind if I purified the water? I heard there are great beasts who live in the water that can devour whole vessels.."

I chuckle to the young Sky Man. I explain to him that the creatures that he is concerned about don't come this close to shore because they are more vulnerable to hunters. That is the reason why the smaller fishing boats stay close to the shoreline in order to avoid the dangers of the great sea beasts. What has come of this is that there is an unofficial understanding between the hunters and the sea creatures. Come too close to their respective territory and you're fair game to die. There is a very dangerous stretch of waters where the great beasts roam and the hunters purposefully travel out there to face the sea beasts.

Now I will admit that I am not quite sure what he means by purifying the water, but it probably had something to do with electricity which would be a major liability to the aquatic life within this cove of sorts. Gantele remarks on the floating and says, "You probably want to try just standing on the ground. It is more normal down here." She had such a fascination with him. I would let her get out all those questions about what life is like up there, what brings her down and what he thinks of the people of our lands. She reaches out to grab his hand as she glances at the cliff. She wanted to compare the sensation of jumping off the cliff with someone that could fly versus someone with the ability to teleport.

272/1776

Now I really was curious. I didn’t really care about the sea life, I just wanted to see how deep the water was. How did they know if it was deep or not? I couldn’t really tell just by looking at it. Pulling my hand away from hers, I would twist around and lower my legs, standing on the cliffs edge. It was an interesting sensation to stand on solid ground, and normally I avoided such actions. I had been known to halting a spar because my clothes got dirty.
“I apologize, but I don’t like nearing something if I don’t know what’s in it. Do you know for sure that it’s not deep, or that the creatures don’t come this close to shore? As for myself, I am a researcher from my realm, which lies on a higher plane of existence. I do mean higher as literally, not superior. So far, I have observed both the good, and the bad, the calm, and the chaos, and made a decision to stay here longer due to the void walker. Please take a step back..“
I had every intention of letting her fly with me after I made sure there was nothing down there to be bothered with. My right arm would raise to my side while I let out a light exhale. It would be followed by a swift inhale before a crackling sensation emerged across my body. I hadn’t really shown Dravec anything, and I didn’t really consider this anything of that sorts. It was merely me making sure there weren’t any surprises down there. Now that I knew creatures lived there, I had to be sure. My body would twist lightly while both hands met to my side. A blue light would rotate in a circular pattern as one hand held a positive charge and the other a negative.
“Esta andante flourish”
With the final syllable spoken, both arms would thrust forward towards the water. The result would be an abrupt flash of blue light before a wide blast of lightning careened down towards the water. It would strike it, clear it, and travel down to the bottom where I could get a moment of viewing what was down there and how deep it was.

400

Looking at him prepping the use of a power, my attention quickly turns to the water to scan for any children or anyone that could possibly be injured by what I can assume he now means by purify the water. There are no children, but there is a couple of young lovers who are laying on some rocks under us who I prepare to move but I recognize one of them are a young male suitor who has been making advances at Gantele's sister. When the electricity hits the waters, it is in a wider blast than I originally anticipated. Still, the shocking sensation that the young man gets is quite amusing to me. Further proof that I am indeed a rather sadistic individual. I step forward to watch as Gantele watches the lightning blast hit the water and travel south. It gave an interesting view for her. Once it passes, she asks if he is ready. As long as he is a gentleman, she would pose no objection to moving however would be most comfortable for him to fly both of them. I warn in a sarcastic manner, "Be careful, Ashurei, she squeezes pretty tight when scared." With that, I move closer to the edge of the cliff as I scan the area once again.

229/2005

I would watch the dip in the water for a moment before it leveled off. The spray of water into the air gave me a lightly refreshing breeze, allowing my hair to move backwards behind me. I would continue to keep my eyes on it to make sure nothing came up. Lowering my arms, they would stay at my side a bit.
“climb on.”
I had no intention of carrying her. If she wanted to fly with me, she could easily climb onto my back and I would hold her there until we landed in the water. It also made me wonder how fast his warp was, how fast he could move through it, and whether or not he could see this realm while moving through it. Hhmm.. I wouldn’t test that theory right yet, not with a rather important human here. My arms would close down onto her legs as soon as she got on, if she chose to. With her there or not, My knees would bend slightly for a moment before I stepped off the cliff, walking straight forward through the air as if we were on land. There was a huge difference between walking through air, flying, and teleporting. I would have to teach the void walker how to fly one day.
“This is flight, technically. It is absolute freedom.”
235

Gantele looks at me as if for approval before climbing onto his back. She knew that I was protective of her being my new charge and having just recently ensured her safety against would-be attackers, but I have no intentions of stopping her fun. When Ashurei walks off the cliff, Gantele's eye widens in the midst of a gasp and she tightens her grip around him slightly. Her mindset is like someone on a roller coaster that is still ascending before the initial drop. Watching the two move off of the solid ground, I find myself wanting to simply dive off of the cliff to see if I could do it as well but the strain that manipulating the Void to keep me airborne is too great when she is in my care.

It would only be a moment before they dropped and around the time of their descent is when I would hear a familiar yet currently unwanted sound... the crow of an Operative falcon. That is obviously not their scientific name, but it is what they are known as. That sound could mean only one thing...

201/2206

I would stand there in the air, letting her get a look at everything around her. Without waiting for the approval of the other one, I would head in the opposite direction of the water. We would instead go directly upwards, heading towards the clouds. If she was someone important, it was important she knew what her territory looked like. Turning around so she could look across the open sky and see the expansive territory, I would once again stop, and hold her casually there. It kinda made me wonder if the void walker would be joining us.. oh wait, he couldn't fly. It made no sense for him to come up here to get me if he couldn't sustain the position.
"This is your land. Have you ever seen it like this?"
I would give her a chance to reply before my body leaned forward, slowly, until I leveled out parallel to the ground. What she would be doing is technically laying ontop of me, facing the ground below. I hoped she was ready for flight. Closing my eyes for a moment, I held her tightly before allowing myself to freefall. By the time we would get back down to the cliffs edge, we would already be at full speed of terminal velocity before I pulled up, barely dipping across the water into a full loop and diving into it.

250

Gantele is in complete awe as she looks across the land. She points out her house and locations that she likes to frequent. She is in a completely different mode right now. Taking in the sights from the sky brings new perspective. She peacefully before he moves. Flattening out, she holds on tight getting a good grip before her body would fly forward. Thankfully holding her legs would also secure her gown so that she could fully enjoy the ride. She giggles as they plunge and chuckles even harder as they perform the loop. She was having a great deal of fun with such.

Meanwhile up on the cliff, the falcon flies towards me and continues right behind as the breeze carries a distinct scent with it. The way my senses have been working lately has been rather weird to be honest. I'm not quite sure what is happening to me, but it is throwing me off my game slightly. A figure appears knelt behind me a few paces. Without turning around, I crouch at the edge to look down at the two taking a dip in the water.

"Dravec, you have been requested. There is a situation at the southern border that requires your attention."
"Lady Gantele is here. I am under orders to protect her."
"Her guard detail has already been summoned. You are to leave as soon as possible. Here are your orders, Operative."

I turn to him and retrieve the scroll. I note the color of the seal first and foremost. This is the color for negotiations. Seeing no reason to question my orders, I accept them and read over the scroll before handing it back. Nodding to my handler, I tell him that I have a companion that could be valuable in the negotiations. The handler tells me to ensure that this companion does not hinder my efforts. I nod and prepare myself mentally to switch from relaxing day at the beach with Lady Gantele mode into operative mode. Frickin bandits!

373/2579

I would dip down across the water once again, flipping upside down to allow her to float freely while I held her legs. She could touch the water without actually going into it before I dipped upwards and flew towards the cliffside again. It was a rather relaxing thing to interact in this way with a human. Unfortunately, some of them probably considered my kind to be inferior, even though we weren't at all. taking her back over to the cliff, I would sit down lightly before dropping her to her feet.

Gantele had never felt such sensations as these before. Such freedom and such exhilaration. Flight carried with a sort of sustained vigor and enjoyment. Leaning over to skip her fingers across the water, she notes mentally that this must be the sort of excitement that fish experience all the time. She was thoroughly happy... until they return to the cliff that is. Seeing the Handler, she looks at me and her youth is visible once again as she approaches me. "No, Dravec. You promised." I nod to her and tell her that I must follow my orders from the Commanders. I assure her that I will return as soon as I can and that we will have another day without interruptions. The Handler looks at her and speaks, "My lady, there is a situation in the southern borderlands involving the desert bandits. The Lord Captain personally requested Dravec for this matter."

She cuts a sharp glare at him and he falls silent. I take a step closer to her and lower my gaze to steal hers from him. I ask the Handler to bring Ashurei up to speed on the summary of the mission. Happy to escape Gantele's attention, he agrees. She pouts at me and my tone lowers to speak privately to her. When I finish, she giggles and asks, "Do you promise?" I nod my head to her knowing that this is a promise that I can certainly keep to her. With that problem postponed, I look at the Handler then back at Gantele, "My lady, he will get you to your guard detail safely. Ashurei and I should get going."

Now I probably should have asked him if he wanted to go, but I honestly see no reason why he wouldn't want to go.

321/2900

The ground felt odd underneath my feet. I would stand there while eyeing the newcomers. I had no idea when they had arrived as I had been obviously preoccupied entertaining this land walker. I hoped that this wouldn’t become an inconvenience for this easy, relaxing day of mine. Watching the conversation between all of them, I could tell something was up. I would bring my attention back when I was told we were leaving. A diplomatic issue down in the desert lands? That sounds like it could be interesting, and I was rather curious to observe the interaction between these humans. I’d agree to it without even thinking too hard. I guess I could also return later tonight, which would probably be an issue. I had promised her I would return early so we could spend time together, but I wasn’t interested right now. Priorities were priorities, and this was more important.
“Are we leaving to the south? I have yet to visit those lands”

Now I knew that the Handler would be complaining to me later as she would undoubtedly terroize him over my having to leave & consequently ending her fun. It had taken a good amount of negotiation on hr part with her father so to have it ended so abruptly was most displeasing to her. Still, I now had my orders and they were to travel south to one of the larger border villages. It was near a military outpost that housed the garison responsible for security. The Village's Council is predominantly comprised of educated elders who are used to making back room deals amongst one another to resolve their disputes. Dealing with bandits is certainly not their forte.

Looking over at Ashurei as he poses his question, my demeanor had shifted. The smile was gone and there is no real visible emotion to be shown. All that remains is focus. There is the objective & that calls upon me to remove everything else. Finally sound emits from my vocal chords, "Yes, we head for the southern border o the coastal regions & the desert lands. Not all regions are as... civilized as the Queen's domain. You are about to see one of the most lawless." I figured he should know what to expect.

235/3135

Whatever worked. Folding my hands above my head, I would raise my legs to a sitting position in front of all of them. After all, I was comfortable enough around the void walker to allow myself to relax in such a fashion. I really wondered what this little lady meant to him. I could obviously notice the drastic change in his entire demeanor, and that also gave me a bit of interest in this little side job of his. Was this his actual job, instead of babysitting a human noble? I guess I was about to find out. It wasn't as much concern as it was excitement that was slowly building. My curiousity was bursting and I could barely keep it in my head. I had many questions, but would also keep them to myself for now. I didn't want to seem like a complete out of towner after all. Listening to his quick and easy description of the "lawless" area, I wondered about it for a moment. Was it truly lawless? Was there an honor code of some sort? What kind of business could be gained from going down there? I would sigh while smiling, almost making it look like a nuisance to begin with.

"Sounds like you know what you are doing. I will gladly come along for moral support and personal research. After all, I am rather curious about this "lawless" zone"

Continued here: https://shintheory.rpg-board.net/t168-troublesome-negotiations-desert#5532