Bordertowns

[Aiden]

Thorra

Thorra's response was simple. She crouched down on the ground and lowered her head. "I will be sure to work hard to earn your forgiveness."

Despite her oath, she had absolutely no idea of where to start for such a quest.

Sage

Heedless of the manner in which lifting her leg in such a way in such a dress demonstrated the many virtues of the elven form to her repentant foe, Sage did thusly place her foot atop Thorra's head and push down in a manner congruent with her frustration. "Hmph. You most certainly will! Firstly."

She proceeded to grind her heel against the demigoddess' fair and fairly soft hair. "Where is the rest of my precious child's body?"

[SINIB]

Sage

Heedless of the manner in which lifting her leg in such a way in such a dress demonstrated the many virtues of the elven form to her repentant foe, Sage did thusly place her foot atop Thorra's head and push down in a manner congruent with her frustration. "Hmph. You most certainly will! Firstly."

She proceeded to grind her heel against the demigoddess' fair and fairly soft hair. "Where is the rest of my precious child's body?"

Thorra

Thorra's confidence shifted into a melancholic frown. "That's all that I have left. The rest is probably long gone, knowing her." She allowed Sage to grind her foot against her as much as she wanted, kneeling in place as she wracked her brain for ideas-anything.

Agh, she was sure Arndora would have an idea to help her out! What was she doing! Why hadn't she found her yet! "Hmmmm..." She brought her hand to her chin, practically ignoring the minor irritant of the heel on the top of her head.

Hell, it even felt kind of good. A nice little tickle.

[Aiden]

Sage

"Knowing who? Who else laid hands on his remains, storm creature?" She lifted her foot off from Thorra's head after a few more frustrating moments of grinding, picking up readily then on how little difference it made to the demigoddess in this state. "Did they put you up to this folly?!"

[SINIB]

Thorra

"I can't answer that question." Thorra replied. She couldn't just throw Neptune to the provibial wolves-this was her shame, not the smith's. She'd deal with it herself. There was all sorts of cool and interesting magic here, and she was absolutely positive in her abilities to make this happen on her own.

She finally stood up to her full height, looming over Sage. "Do you have any abilities yourself which could help in reviving him, Miss Dragon?"

[Aiden]

Thorra

"I can't answer that question." Thorra replied. She couldn't just throw Neptune to the provibial wolves-this was her shame, not the smith's. She'd deal with it herself. There was all sorts of cool and interesting magic here, and she was absolutely positive in her abilities to make this happen on her own.

She finally stood up to her full height, looming over Sage. "Do you have any abilities yourself which could help in reviving him, Miss Dragon?"

Sage

"You can't answer, or will not?" Sage's eyes gleamed with her frustration up at Thorra, and after a moment of staring her down to no avail she clenched her elven form's fingers into fists. "It would be considerably simpler if I had the rest of him. This... state he is in," she said, holding up again the leggings the demigoddess had surrendered to her as an example. "Is something twisted enough I am uncertain my magic will even register as being him. And returning him as he was, is not certain."

She turned her eyes back down to the leggings, and Thorra caught a glimpse of wetness at the corners of her eyes. She closed them, shook her head, and turned her eyes back to Thorra. "If you will not surrender the craftsman to me, at least assist me in acquiring the rest."

[SINIB]

Thorra

Electricity crackled down the length of Thorra's body, shrouding her in a faint blue light. "I can't and won't betray a friend." She replied simply, with a firm tone. "But of course, I will be helping you in any way I can. This new world-it's strange. Almost spooky, in a way."

[Aiden]

Thorra

Electricity crackled down the length of Thorra's body, shrouding her in a faint blue light. "I can't and won't betray a friend." She replied simply, with a firm tone. "But of course, I will be helping you in any way I can. This new world-it's strange. Almost spooky, in a way."

Sage

She let out a growl of frustration, turning away from the great big blonde and clenching her hands into fists. "It's - accursed, and loud, and crowded, and nothing follows the same rules as what you expect. I understand that." Thorra could make out the thick exhalation through the nose. Smell the acidity of it even from there.

"When I come for you next, you will aid me." She turned, abruptly, back to Thorra. "Whatever you are doing, wherever you are staying, you will abandon it all and aid me in this task. Or we will finish what we started."

Eyes glaring, but with far less of the heat than before, she turned her eyes to the hammer in Thorra's hand.

"Deal?"

[Aiden]

Sage

Some time later

The pseudo-elven maiden sat amid the dilapidation and disintegration of human civilization at the edge of the known world. A bramble, tough and merciless in its desire to endure amid crumbling construction and rotting roadways, attended to her requests for respite by serving as a place for her to rest her rear while she awaited the indebted one. It was a long wait, and she was given much time to spy the curtain wall of rock which rose up toward the sky.

There had once been a settlement on this spot, a place where those seeking a pathway to the Great Western Mountains could stop and rest before the perilous journey would begin. Then one day the stones fell in their hundreds, blocking the one reliable passage, and the village withered away. Witnessing the wake of civilization's passing left a small smile on Sage's lips when the sensational sensations of nature's reclamation could distract her from the dire desires motivating the trip to her would-be destination.

Even her princess, Eruraviel, could not unweave the remnants of her son's spirit without the proper reagents for her mighty magic. Only there, beyond the horizon, might her child's salvation be found.

It was why she awaited his murderer here, in this place where the land soon squirmed beneath the weight of her desperate heart.

[SINIB]

Thorra

The hammerborn daughter of Thor didn't keep her waiting for too long. With a powerful crash of thunderous lightning signifying her arrival, the blond walked out of the small, freshly scourched crater wearing her usual outfit as well as a face filled with mixed emotions. There was shame, but there was also excitement. She wanted to explore new lands, experience new peoples, and this new world had so, so much to offer!

She just hoped that Sage's feelings would have cooled by now, enough to avoid any urges to step on or belittle her any further.

She wanted to start her first journey here correctly and properly.

[Aiden]

Thorra

The hammerborn daughter of Thor didn't keep her waiting for too long. With a powerful crash of thunderous lightning signifying her arrival, the blond walked out of the small, freshly scorched crater wearing her usual outfit as well as a face filled with mixed emotions. There was shame, but there was also excitement. She wanted to explore new lands, experience new peoples, and this new world had so, so much to offer!

She just hoped that Sage's feelings would have cooled by now, enough to avoid any urges to step on or belittle her any further.

She wanted to start her first journey here correctly and properly.

Sage

The dragon in disguise set her stare to Thorra at the very moment of her arrival, fixing upon her as one might an intruder or a threat. She became exceptionally still, pointed ears ceasing to twitch, and awaited the living weapon's approach. Then with time and proximity the great druid visibly willed herself to relax, and instead merely fixed her with a frown. "It is good that you have made haste in this. Perhaps you are serious in your intent, and not merely bereft of pride."

She turned, then, not so far that Sage could not retain peripheral vision of Thorra but sufficient to be facing the old rockslide. "It has been spoken by the deep wood unto me - this once one of the few passages known to the Great Mountains, whose roots reach below the world to safeguard it from a sleepless, seething spite. Beyond it are lands untouched by the civilizations of man."

Sage pointed a finger sharply at the rocks. "Are you capable of breaking this? We will not find what we seek in the mists from above."

[SINIB]

Thorra

"Tch-better than before. I'll take it. Thank you for giving me the chance to aid you in this endeavor, Madame Dragon." The woman stepped forward, walking past Sage without looking back, intentionally lowering her guard and giving sage an opportunity to attack her—if she desired, she would be able to fell Thorra's body right here, right now.

Then, Thorra raised her arm and made to strike the boulders with her thunderous strength.

[Aiden]

Thorra

"Tch-better than before. I'll take it. Thank you for giving me the chance to aid you in this endeavor, Madame Dragon." The woman stepped forward, walking past Sage without looking back, intentionally lowering her guard and giving sage an opportunity to attack her—if she desired, she would be able to fell Thorra's body right here, right now.

Then, Thorra raised her arm and made to strike the boulders with her thunderous strength.

Sage

The dragon did not strike.

The boulders rubble cleared once, twice, thrice, before a path became clear. The air filled with dust and debris, blotting the slow rising sun. Ozone filled her nostrils.

The passage to the ends of the earth revealed itself again at last, steep and perilous as it reached for the sky.

Sage was standing next to her just slightly behind. Her eyes faced forward now, past Thorra's shoulder. She was standing on her tip toes to do it.

"I suppose I will have to lead the way, will I not?" She dropped back down to her heels, and brushed past the hammerborn warrior until it was her with her back unguarded. "Do not stray far. I may not be able to find you again in this place."

[SINIB]

Thorra

Sage could feel Thorra's power beginning to course through her-granting her a portion of the demigoddess's strength as the nearly naked woman quickly caught up with a slight bounciness to her form. Looming over Sage, she took a position only a few steps behind her. "I'll be careful to avoid getting lost, then."

[Aiden]

Thorra

Sage could feel Thorra's power beginning to course through her-granting her a portion of the demigoddess's strength as the nearly naked woman quickly caught up with a slight bounciness to her form. Looming over Sage, she took a position only a few steps behind her. "I'll be careful to avoid getting lost, then."

Sage

Her eyes fluttered in surprise at the sudden sensation of strength suffusing her soft and sensitive skin and skeleton, Sage's elven form feeling for just a moment closer to her true and terrible capabilities. Her ears twitched and wiggled for a moment, and then she let out a huff. "Excellent. Let us set a pace, then!"

She set off at a speed no human could hope to sustain, ears bouncing along with every leaping step.


The path was initially old and overgrown, stone shot through with stubborn weeds and filled with cracks and crevices. The grey stone of the mountain rose up like walls around them, smoothed in places as though by the hands of craftsmen yet worn with time. The scale of it was nothing extraordinary except in the sense that one was rising up beyond the lands of the Nexus, able to look back and see for one's self the vast blue horizon beyond.

From here it seemed as though it could go on forever.

But the stones grew steeper still around them everywhere but the crumbling path itself. They rose up like row after row of palisades, harsh and barren on their faces and yet dripping with the wetness of dew onto tall grasses and rustling bushes of thorns. Great birds of prey flew back and forth from crevices in the rock walls, their wingspans wider than Thorra was tall. The wind went through twists and turns, pliant to their passage only from the demigod’s great dominion over the powers of the skies.

Sage would halt their progress periodically to lower herself to the earth, listening and whispering in strange tongues to forces unseen and unheard. At the end she turned, and stood, and took in the sight of her again.

“The path shall soon split,” she said to Thorra with a frown far less harsh than those previously populating her face prior. “Many will lead us nowhere or worse. A handful, perhaps, can take us somewhere meaningful. We can choose one short yet dangerous, or one that shall prolong our journey yet does not speak with the voice of monsters.”

[SINIB]

Sage

Her eyes fluttered in surprise at the sudden sensation of strength suffusing her soft and sensitive skin and skeleton, Sage's elven form feeling for just a moment closer to her true and terrible capabilities. Her ears twitched and wiggled for a moment, and then she let out a huff. "Excellent. Let us set a pace, then!"

She set off at a speed no human could hope to sustain, ears bouncing along with every leaping step.


The path was initially old and overgrown, stone shot through with stubborn weeds and filled with cracks and crevices. The grey stone of the mountain rose up like walls around them, smoothed in places as though by the hands of craftsmen yet worn with time. The scale of it was nothing extraordinary except in the sense that one was rising up beyond the lands of the Nexus, able to look back and see for one's self the vast blue horizon beyond.

From here it seemed as though it could go on forever.

But the stones grew steeper still around them everywhere but the crumbling path itself. They rose up like row after row of palisades, harsh and barren on their faces and yet dripping with the wetness of dew onto tall grasses and rustling bushes of thorns. Great birds of prey flew back and forth from crevices in the rock walls, their wingspans wider than Thorra was tall. The wind went through twists and turns, pliant to their passage only from the demigod’s great dominion over the powers of the skies.

Sage would halt their progress periodically to lower herself to the earth, listening and whispering in strange tongues to forces unseen and unheard. At the end she turned, and stood, and took in the sight of her again.

“The path shall soon split,” she said to Thorra with a frown far less harsh than those previously populating her face prior. “Many will lead us nowhere or worse. A handful, perhaps, can take us somewhere meaningful. We can choose one short yet dangerous, or one that shall prolong our journey yet does not speak with the voice of monsters.”

Thorra

The tall hammer-woman simply laughed at Sage's query into her motives. "You have a good sense of humor, Sage of the Great Forest! The answer is obvious—we have little time to spare, and much strength to waste!"