Escaping The Empire - The Nonhuman Chronicles

Talia Clamored off of Alex's shoulders as he kneeled down for her and she looked around at their resting place for the evening. "This is...nice. I guess. I don't know how comfortable it'll be." The girl paced and looked around for a few minutes before she sighed and simply sat back against an inviting-looking rock. Her face has the expression of someone who isn't really used to 'roughing it' out in the wilderness and just found out that she forgot her pillow. She pulled her knees up to her chest and relaxed back against the rock. After a few more minutes, she turned onto her side and tried to rest that way. Another few moments pass and she rolled onto her other side. Finally, with a slightly frustrated sigh, she conceded that indeed her back was the more comfortable position.

It takes probably about a half-hour or so for you to set up your spell and by the time that you're done, all of the remaining sunlight had disappeared from your little hidey-hole.

Finding a place to hunker down for a single person of your size is fairly easy. Especially since you've likely had to do it before in your scouting missions. So you manage to find a place to wedge yourself into an unseen nook to rest up for a few hours.

<We'll come back to you after the other party settles down for the night. It shouldn't be long....well, it shouldn't be long in-game but if I only do one post a week it may not be until next year...>

 

After finally finishing her spell Ariel looked for a place to sleep. It had been a long time since she had last slept on the ground, but under the circumstances she did not have much choice. Thus the angel sat down on the ground, close to Talia, cast a small spell that would help keep her a little warmer until morning, and fell asleep.

(OOC: Sorry for the wait, I'm trying to get over my writer's block.)

 

Kerri found a somewhat secluded enough space to huddle up and sleep for the night.

(Don't know what to add here. Sorry. Real life is being really distracting.)

 

A few hours pass and you stay up watching the path behind you. It's dark, but the skies are clear and the full moon illuminates the ground with a pale blue glow. It grew fairly cool, but not cold enough to be too bothersome for you. The other two members of your little group seemed to have had no problem getting to sleep, but every ten minutes or so Talia tossed and turned on the uncomfortable ground. Finally, she released an exasperated sigh and sat up and it didn't take long for her to walk up and sit next to Axel. She spoke quietly, but with no real noises around, it's easy to hear. "sorry...I never thanked you earlier for carrying me up that last bit. So uh, thanks..."

The girl shuffled awkwardly and pulled her knees up against her chest and rested her chin between them. "I'm not really used to all this. I mean, I've traveled before, but usually only on established roads with plenty of supplies to get us from one place to another. I don't really have any real survival skills, but I could always at least play the lute or find some sort of instrument to keep the mood up. Being put in this situation, I've never really felt so..." The faun took a quick glance back at Kerri sleeping not far off and grimaced a little. "...Useless."

 

Initially, Axel had little difficulty staying awake. The physical exercise up the mountainside and fear of active pursuit kept the minotaur's mind engaged and alert. But as night fell, things grew quiet and his companions slumbered Azel tried to occupy his mind. Memories came and went, his tribe, his religious instruction, his captivity; he tried to linger on none of them, they had all come to be unpleasant. Passingly, he let himself entertain ideas of what he would do to the humans if he ever got the chance, but he constantly had to steer away from that line of thinking. He was supposed to be watching the path after all.

The stirring of the faun help with that. She seemed to be having a fitful sleep and eventually gave up settling in beside Axel instead. He listened to her silently and thought back to the elven priest who'd instructed him. "No one is without worth," he once preached, "The musician lifts the soul, the artist sparks thought, the playwright engages the spirit. From the serfs who tend the fields to the merchants who sell goods, every person contributes to others, though it may not be obvious at first. Never dismiss those who seem a burden; trust they have a role to play."

Axel let out a breath and watched the vapors on the cool air. "You wel-come." he struggled with it, taking his time in between syllables. "All skill," he grumbled to ease her by stating the priest's words as best he could, "You help in own way."

In truth, he wasn't sure how, but he would just have to trust her value would come later. His eyes turned back to the path they had come from, and for some reason, his mind turned back to the vampire and her bite. His cock began to stir again and he shuffled to keep the rising bulge away from the young faun. He figured the last thing she needed at this moment was a minotaur with a hard-on.

 

Kerri on her lonesome, rested with her eyes remaining shut, occasionally piping up with the sounds of growls echoing from the back of her throat, but overall dormant as she slept.

 

"Maybe. I just don't really see it..." The Faun appeared to not notice what sort of influence her body was having on the minotaur and sighed. "I wonder if I should just have you all drop me off in the nearest town. I doubt things will get easier for you and I don't want to cause even more problems..."

Outside of the influence of Ariel's warmth spell, Talia shivered a little and leaned her lithe body against Axel's side. "Just tell me if there's any way I can help...Okay?"

 

With my attempt at distracting your evening watchman with a sexy girl failed... Talia presses up against the warm side of Axel and slowly drifts off to sleep leaving the minotaur alone with his raging hard on. However as the time ticks closer to 1am, you begin seeing the movement of a figure coming up the road. The figure approaches from the same side that your crew came from, but appears to be using a different. Its faint, but you're sure that you saw the brief flash of the Empire Crest on his clothing.

You wake up a few hours later to a deep blue shaded mountainside. Unfortunately for you, the full moon faintly illuminates this side of the mountain which makes it extremely difficult to hide yourself. However as you trek up the mountainside and near its peak, you spot numerous dark holes and crevasses. Any one of them could hide a group of hunkered down fugitives.

 

Gerid did not like how his luck was turning. He was too exposed with the moonlight and the multiple hiding spots did not make things any easier. Still, he might still be able to come upon them unaware if they thought the terrain made them safe enough and they got over confident. And if not... a plan began forming in his head that might help out if he ended up being spotted as he started carefully peeking into the first few likely hiding spots.

 

Axel let the faun fall asleep against him, he guessed she must have been exhausted after her day and fitful rest. He willed his member to soften, sadly the best he could do was get it to half-mast when he noticed the movement coming up the trail. He regretfully nudged Talia awake and turned to his companions stating in a hushed yet urgent tone "Up. UP! Moo-ving." and pointed down the path.

 

Kerri was left with her face just barely protected from the cold stone by her cloak. It didn't help tons, but she remained laying flat, the idle growls of whatever she was thinking about starting to die down, as one of her eyes started to creak open, only to put one of her hands over it in a vain attempt to shield it from the light. She had been the most raring to go to begin with, but when she decided it was time for a nap, she was a stone.

However, Axel did get Kerri's attention for the wrong reasons. When the first thing you see when waking up is a half naked minotaur standing over you, it does raise a lot of questions...not any that Kerri asked or cared. Other than just shooting him a confused gazed, she didn't comment as she lifted herself up, shaking her head and slowly letting her limbs stretch as she let her head go upwards to expose her tiny fangs and let out a yawn. After finally, starting to stand up properly, she wordlessly walked to pace along, rubbing her eyes, just not interested in paying attention to much right now.

 

Ariel stifled a yawn as sleep slowly left her, chased away by the minotaur's hushed words, and she gradually woke up. “What's... going on?” She managed to ask, her question interrupted in the middle by another yawn, then shook her head in attempt to fully wake up.

After finally waking up the angel started looking, checking on her companions and looking for any potential dangers.

 

"Huh?" Talia gasps as she snaps back into awareness. Her eyes look down the pass to see the stranger making their way up through and searching through the various hollows that dot the cliffside. Her face pales considerably and she backs away from the opening of the inlet that your group has arrived in. "How...How did they find us so fast?"

You think that you hear a female voice coming from higher up in the pass. Near the peak of the mountain, but it's faint and you aren't entirely sure if it isn't your mind playing tricks on you. Or at least that's what you thought. However, you definitely get the feeling of being watched now.

 

Gerid starts heading in the direction of that voice. Even if it was a trick of acoustics, it was a better lead than nothing... and the growing sense that eyes were upon him only quickened his pace. He kept his arms hidden in his cloak, lightly resting his hand on the grip of his hunting knife as he kept moving, his eyes darting about for any sign of danger that could be on the horizon.

 

“Don't be so loud – they might hear you!” Ariel chastised the faun in a whisper loud enough to be heard by the people around her, but not by anyone that might be approaching. After that she quickly considered her options and what spells she could use. In the end the angel decided it would be best to wait and see if it was a single person approaching, or if there was more than one.

 

Talia quickly puts a hand over her mouth and looks a little embarrassed at the outburst. Her eyes search around and grab a hefty stone for protection. However, it would seem as if the damage has been done as the figure begins moving in the party's direction. His arms stay hidden inside of his cloak making it difficult to see whether he has a weapon or not. One thing is for sure that if he gets any closer, he'll be able to see through the illusive barrier that is the only thing hiding your little group from view right now.

 

Kerri now finally snapping more wide awake, just makes a shushing sound to the group in general as her nose wrinkles trying to catch any foreign scents around.

 

So far it seems to be just one person, but there's no way to be sure – there could be more hiding nearby or watching from a distance... though I sure hope there aren't. Ariel thought as she watched the figure approach their hiding place. If the person kept going he would soon be close enough to see them. And then... it would all depend on what their presumed pursuer would try to do: Attack, flee, call his friends (if he had any).... She had already chosen three different spells she could use depending on circumstances, but she did not want to risk giving away their location by acting prematurely.

 

With his comrades awake and aware of the situation, Axel hefted his axe and prepared for possible battle.

 

As you approach the peak where you thought you heard the noise, the darkness underneath one of the rocky outcroppings begins to dissipate in a strange way. It's almost as if each step forward makes it less dark. After you get within about a hundred feet or about 30 meters, you see *Most* of your targets standing under the outcropping. Most of them appear to be ready for a fight. Even the petite faun girl has a rather large rock in her hand which she could throw, or use as an improvised melee weapon.