Curious Coeurlian RP Repository

[Orchard]

Orchard had just left the foremast, though she was strictly military and the Yellowjackets maintained the gate she was still allowed free access for the city's oft forgot third entrance. Barred from adventurer and commonfolk usage it was a much quieter way into and out of the city. Which Orchard took advantage of as she started the long trek to the outer reaches.

Her unit had been recalled from Bozja for some time now, having never officially been deployed it had been deemed to costly to send the rank and file halfway across the world when the Garleans, and later their ominous towers, were looming on Eorzea's front steps, so the special forces group and been mustered as a token show of faith to the Eastern Alliance. Short lasted it seemed, the emergence of the Garlean's ability to temper soldiers using some ancient Bozja artifact made the grand companies quick to recall her and her fellow soldiers.

She wasn't complaining of course, as mean as she could get all the stubbornness in the world would not save her from primal tempering and so she was relegated to managing resources in preparation for redeployment. Back to Bozja, to Gimylt, to even Garlemald she had no idea but with the beastfolk becoming more amicable to their existence there was no shortage of stock to take and numbers to check. A pencil pushing job in all but name she at least took some heart in knowing that the Red Swallows would be as eager to volunteer their now freed up garrison to fight as much as she would.

The wind blew, stronger than normal as she rode her chocobo along the road to Western La Noscea.

[Eligor]

It was a beautiful day in La Noscea. The sky was clear, and the breeze was fair.

As the winds grew stronger, Eligor seemed to appear from behind a sizable Boulder, crossing his arms. Unlike before, his appearance was that of an ominous black mask with stark white markings and a long trench coat reminiscent of the GI attire of the Bozjan soldiers.

He stood clearly in the chocobo’s path from a distance away, waiting.

[Orchard]

Orchard approached, in the absence of her hammer was a large sword, easily as long as she was tall if not more so and embellished with the black and red of the Maelstrom's elite. She pulled the reigns, bringing her orange feathered chocobo to a stop to look at the masked man.

“Ye lost mate?”

[Eligor]

“No. I’m solving a problem.”

“You do not appear terribly short on time.”

[Orchard]

“I ain't got magick sight lad, yer gonna hafta take yer mask if if ye expect me tae know who ye are.”

[Eligor]

“Is your memory so short that you cannot remember someone you just shared a carriage with not long ago without seeing their face? Surely I have other defining features.”

[Orchard]

Her eyes narrow slightly, and she hops down from her mount. “Ye know for someone wot doesn't want anythin' tae do wit me ye been crossin' my path alot lately. Am ah tae expect a lot of them magitek mercs tae come out of the woodwork again?”

[Eligor]

“No. As I said I am solving a problem this time. One that I do not have time to allow festering.”

He uncrosses his arms.

“Your family, to be exact.”

[Orchard] Orchard puts a hand on her hip and cants her head to the side. She looks up at the clear blue sky for a moment. “I'd pick your next words carefully Eligor. Unless you're trying to get a rise out of me so that I'll placate Pipino by seeing you as some sort of evil bastard.”

[Eligor]

“That’s the idea. Your husband had the righteous fury to approach me at the grindstone, demanding I show you that I’m not in need of your aid. As if that would control you. As if I had not already tried.”

“I know those who do not listen only learn through a sure method.”

[Orchard]

“You know, there is one part of this that I just can't put together. Pipino thinks your dangerous, Langston thinks your dangerous. Now there ain't nothin' wrong wit bein' a dangerous lot, ah'd know that well enough.” She says, purposely slipping into the Limsan accent for a moment. “But if you did something bad, that's what got them worried, and you don't seem to keen on defending yourself. Why let everyone think you're so terrible?”

[Eligor]

“Why be so sure I’m not terrible?”

[Orchard]

“Everyone's ah hero of their own story mate.”

[Eligor]

“Only if they are foolish.”

[Orchard]

“So, ye like bein' terrible fer the hell of it? Fer a good time?”

“Does it git the blood runnin'? Knowin' folks 'er scared of ye?”

[Eligor]

He stared for a while before placing his hands behind his back and walking a small distance, turning his head and tilting forward a bit.

“Why do you think people fear things?”

“Or better, other people specifically?”

[Orchard]

“S'lotta answers fer one question.”

“Ah know Pip's afraid of ye cuz she cannae do nothin' about ye. That's my reasonin'. Folks 'er scared of what they cannae fight.”

[Eligor]

“You’d be wrong.”

He chuckles a bit.

“That girl is afraid of me because I remind her of the deepest ugliness she buries within herself. That….bit of herself that she does not wish to accept because it is monstrous.”

“Why else would she be so upset about you daring to come to my aid?”

[Orchard]

Orchard snorts. “Twelve above, guess ah weren't wrong 'bout her needin' a shrink.”

“Still ain't given me a reason tae hate ye, beside ye tryin' tae purposely pick ah fight wit me.”

“Yer a weird one Eligor, but it ain' my place ta pass ah death sentence on ye jus' fer that. No matter 'ow many folks ye may make uncomfortable. Unless yer 'ere tae confess ta ah real crime.”

[Eligor]

“I don’t really need you to think. Lies and nuance….logic. These things are meaningless with you, because you trust yourself the most. Am I wrong?”

[Orchard]

“There been plenty ah times I ain't trust me self, but if it helps ye git tae yer point quicker ah'll humor ye an' play the part of the lil obedient longcoat.”

[Eligor]

“You’ll understand pain is what I’m getting at. The original idea is more likely to cause problems, so the backup plan is this. You won’t need to think about reasons. All you’ll need to think about is that I only bring problems. That you’re happier without me being involved.”

[Orchard]

Orchard takes a deep breath through her nose and then lets out a laugh. “Normally when someone treats me to a fight I'll drag them to bed afterwards. Well, come on then. It won't solve your problems but I'll humor you.”

[Eligor]

“If this does not solve this problem I’ll be forced to adopt more extreme measures.”

[Orchard]

“Ah'm gonna lock all three ah ye up in a room til ye learn ta act like adults is what's gonna happen.”

[Eligor]

“You think you can?”

[Orchard]

“The fact ye think otherwise is jus' me playin' me cards right.”

[Eligor]

“I find it funny. I’m not supposed to feel things at the moment. Another problem you’d know nothing about of course—so to minimize that, I’ve been isolating myself. Delegating. Letting everything happen around me, like a stone lodged in a river.”

He starts laughing.

“But lately? All I’ve been doing is feeling things. Because I have to. Because if I don’t, the messes only get worse.”

[Orchard]

“Ignorin' yer feelin's ain't never good fer ye mate.”

[Eligor]

“Everyone knows what’s best….”

There is a sound like ice cracking, and a strange staff with an orange orb on the end forms out of seemingly nothing before Eligor grabs it.

“Is your blade for show?”

[Orchard]

Orchard reaches over her shoulder and takes the blade by it's grip as Eligor's staff starts to form, by the time he's grasping it she is already bearing down, swinging the blade over her head to bring it down upon him. “Fine out fer yerself!”

[Eligor]

He lifts his free hand, and a thin barrier raises between the two. It is more than hardy enough to resist the blow however, and holds strong against the attack before it seemingly warps into a concave shape and juts forward forcefully in an attempt to push Orchard off her feet.

“My teacher told me not to speak during battle. It was meant to be a show of respect, and to keep oneself focused on the pure artistry of battle. To remain alert.”

[Orchard]

Orchard is thrown back and off her feat, unable to perceive the invisible force striking her. She rolls with the hit though and is quickly back on her feet. Charging Eligor again she swings her blade, dragging it through the dirt to throw debris up into Eligor's vision so that she can aim a kick at his gut.

“Aye, good tae know, guess ah better keep talkin' since ye ain't got enough respect tae settle things wit words.”

] [Eligor]

Eligor does not fall for the feint, swiping most of the debris out of the way with his arm before raising another barrier. There is resistance, but it quickly shatters, causing him to slide back a fulm or two. During that movement, flames begin to billow from beneath his coat before bursting outwards towards Orchard’s sword in an attempt to raise the temperature of the metal around her hands.

[Orchard]

Orchard hisses as her hands are burnt by the flames around her sword. She lets out a grunt as she flings the flame-wreathed blade at Eligor both to rid herself of the heat and to attack in one motion. “Ye prolly ain' done 'alf the horrid stuff I 'ave! Tryin' tae act like ye bring out tae worst in folks. They do that tae themselves so quick suckin' on yer own ego an' fuckin' tell me why ye two don' jus' settle things!”

[Eligor]

He stands at his full height as Orchard throws her sword, moving out of the way and extending his hand. The blade stops rigidly in the air as if stuck. Eligor tilts his head as if confused for a moment before looking at Orchard and directing the blade back, aiming for the side of her head with the blunt end of the still hot blade.

“That’s not it at all. You misunderstand.”

[Orchard]

Orchard is struck by the blade that sends her tumbling back again. She rolls with the strike as before but this time she only manages to make it back up on one foot and her knee, a large burn across one cheek.

“If she's that much bleedin' trouble ye woulda killed 'er long afore we met but ye don't. So stop bullshittin' me actin' like ye cannae resolve this…”

She gets up, spitting off to the side and cracking her neck as she runs back at Eligor again drawing her fist back to aim at his face.

[Eligor]

Eligor is struck plainly in the face but does not move. It was not some trick either, as his mask begins to crack under the force of her blow.

“This is why I said you do not need to think. You cannot fathom the world I see. It is not some special place, nor is it some dimension others cannot reach. You simply do not have the eyes.”

He opens his palm again, but this time it seems altogether different from magic. Air seems to be forcefully circulating in his palm, and after it becomes clearly visible to the naked eye he thrusts his palm forward towards Orchard’s chest in an attempt to knock her back and knock the wind out of her.

[Orchard]

Orchard pulls a chunk of the mask away with her fist and just SLAPS his hand away to the side as she glares at him.

“Yer makin' me real sick wit yer riddles. My bleedin' kingdom fer a plain spoken folk fer once in me life!”

She reaches out, trying to bodily hoist Eligor into the air so that she could slam him onto the ground. Using all the strength she could muster after being flung and knocked around repeatedly.

[Eligor]

He seems caught off guard by the counter, his attack firing off into nothing as Orchard swiftly lifted him overhead and slammed him, the force of which caused his staff to seemingly shatter before disappearing.

With his face partially visible now he would struggle to catch his breath until Suddenly his eyes came to a glow —first to his pupils, then the rest of his eyes until most of his face was obscured by the bright lights shining out of his head. He began to levitate before he focused on Orchard, with a strange force following soon after that only continued to grow in intensity, even creating a small crater around Orchard until it grew great enough to overpower her and force her down.

[Orchard]

Orchard huffed as she slammed Eligor down, one eye partially closed because of the burn across the side of her face before she sees him start to float back up. She tries to reach out again and slam him back to the ground but the pressure on her entire body makes it feel like a cart full of boulders hand been placed on her back. Her heels dig into the dirt. Stubbornly refusing to yield unto the weight becomes to much, she crumples. Falling onto her hands and knees and letting out a retching sound as the weight presses down on her organs. A splattering of blood landing in the dirt before she collapses under the invisible weight.

[Eligor]

A number of fireballs begin to form around Orchard in the air as the intensity continues to slowly build, the heat growing greater until….it all suddenly stops.

Eligor comes to a sudden and messy landing on his feet, reaching into his pouch and fishing out….glass shards.

His visible eye makes the fragment of an irritated expression and he reaches into his breast pocket, pulling out a vial of some strange red liquid before drinking it.

“You get it now, right? I am weak, that was no lie and I refuse to say otherwise for the sake of your drunkard husband. But at the very least…”

He takes a deep breath, sighing in relief as his pain was visibly alleviated.

“….I’m not weaker than you. I do not need your help, and your family is against you running off and getting yourself killed for their little blight. Stay out of my affairs.”

[Orchard]

Orchard wheezes and looks up, a pure fury in her eyes. They don't glow, they don't change. It's all her, a true and honest anger. “You're always going to be weaker than me. Can't ask for help, always running from your wrongs, never speaking the truth… so run. Run like you're so good at.” She bares her teeth, blood running down the corner of her mouth.

[Eligor]

He sighs, staring down at her for a long while before reaching into his coat and pulling out another vial that is pale blue in color.

He thinks for a while before reaching around and feeling himself up around his thigh before he retrieves a second vial from underneath the lining of his coat.

“These are not nearly as effective as mine as I only had the small amount of time I observed you and memory to go on, but these potions should be more effective than what you can buy off the market at treating your injuries. These are as attuned towards your aether as I could get it, but you broke the rest earlier. There are only these two left for you.”

He rolls them down the tiny crater towards her.

[Orchard]

Orchard digs her hands into the dirt, and with an audible crack of bone she pushes herself up. One of her ears twitching slightly.

“I said run away ye daft idiot. Yer bleedin' display attracted the Yellowjackets so unless ye want yer hands in cuffs make yerself scarce. I ain' done wit ye by a long shot.”

She looks down at the potions and promptly steps on one shattering it under her boot. Then back up at Eligor silently.

[Eligor]

“And with that my hope is shattered. You are no hero, only a fool.”

He points to his face.

“I liked my mask.”

He stands and turns, disappearing into a wisp of blackened smoke.

[Orchard]

Orchard waits until Eligor is gone before she stumbles out of the crater, a trio of Yellowjackets making their way towards her before she drops back onto the ground.

“… feckin' hate drama…”

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