The Land of Forever Fall

[Aiden]

Thorra

"Sage is not one for being indoors—right now, she's exploring the city on her own terms." Thorra replied. "In other words, I'm not entirely sure what she's up to—or what she's thinking, most of the time. She adores her elven princess—not you, someone else."

Lirazel

Lirazel blinked, and tilted her head to the side, and then blinked again. "Another... princess?" Her lips moved a few times as the wheels of her mind visibly turned. "Are you implying there is - some other land of Highborne blood out there, in the lands of dawn?"

Her voice grew more excited as she spoke, those same lips curving all the more upward.

[SINIB]

Lirazel

Lirazel blinked, and tilted her head to the side, and then blinked again. "Another... princess?" Her lips moved a few times as the wheels of her mind visibly turned. "Are you implying there is - some other land of Highborne blood out there, in the lands of dawn?"

Her voice grew more excited as she spoke, those same lips curving all the more upward.

Thorra

"Yes, although I caution that she may not be exactly the same sort of elf as you are—as you are an elf of no degree similar to those which I myself had previously encountered." Thorra replied. The hammer suddenly lifted itself up with electromagnetic forces and turned as if to look into Lirazel's deep eyes.

"We should journey throughout what you call the land of dawn together!" She suggested excitedly. "Perhaps you need to embark on an epic quest to solve the woes that face your people! That would seem to be the most reasonable explaination to me!"

[Aiden]

Castle Town Visitor's Quarter

Amras smiled politely to Valerie as she finished her thanks and inquiry, and inclined his head. "The possessions of the people of Endien differ only in quantity and scale, never quality, King Valerie. You will find even the simplest of public houses to your liking." His ears twitched as he glanced between the pair of visitors and the spires of the visitor's quarter which served as antechamber to the capital. "Might I suggest the one with the image of a dancer about it? I believe it was opened within the past six centuries, so it is fairly new - but also more inclined to be to your liking."

The music that rose from even here, strings and woodwinds and archaic elven dialects carrying through the air, was already at work to render the pair feeling welcome.

He bowed once more. "With that, I must return to the Path of Dawn. Good fortune to you."

It took Valerie a moment to recognize the other guest hitch hiking along with them as their guide made his way back along the road, having clung to her back after they got to the visitor quarters. Sage weighed virtually nothing and so was all too easy to not recognize for all she lacked ill intent.

[Aiden]

Thorra

"Yes, although I caution that she may not be exactly the same sort of elf as you are—as you are an elf of no degree similar to those which I myself had previously encountered." Thorra replied. The hammer suddenly lifted itself up with electromagnetic forces and turned as if to look into Lirazel's deep eyes.

"We should journey throughout what you call the land of dawn together!" She suggested excitedly. "Perhaps you need to embark on an epic quest to solve the woes that face your people! That would seem to be the most reasonable explaination to me!"

Lirazel

"You can fly?" That seemed to be the part that really made Lirazel's eyes bright, and not just because they were reflecting the electrical charge coursing over Thorra's metal head. But then the rest of the hammer's words reached her, and the princess' face slowly fell. "To be so free... I have not told you all of what is to come, I suppose."

She withdrew her hands to her lap, and rested them there togther whilst closing her eyes.

"My mother is due to pass, soon."

[SINIB]

Lirazel

"You can fly?" That seemed to be the part that really made Lirazel's eyes bright, and not just because they were reflecting the electrical charge coursing over Thorra's metal head. But then the rest of the hammer's words reached her, and the princess' face slowly fell. "To be so free... I have not told you all of what is to come, I suppose."

She withdrew her hands to her lap, and rested them there togther whilst closing her eyes.

"My mother is due to pass, soon."

Thorra

"What exactly does soon mean? I find it means something very different depending on a species lifespan."

[Aiden]

Lirazel

"I'm not even quite sure." Her pointed ears twitched, following Thorra's voice. "Strictly speaking, she should already be dead. When the princess of Endien becomes queen, her years are already numbered. I do not know how my mother has lasted longer than that, and I do not know for how much longer she can endure. She could last another hundred years longer than she should, or she could pass this evening and war would be upon us in an instant."

She picked at one of her fingernails with the other, and bit her lip in discontent.

"To take on such a journey now, uncertain?"

[Bern]

Valerie

Valerie shook her head and spoke with a great calm that was completely out of synch with her internal turmoil. "No it would be better to take his advice, most places here would not be to our to our tastes. The Elves are boring traditionalists." Then the blonde acknowledged the freeloader that was clinging to her back. It was much preferable that she clung onto her and that was why she hadn't commented on it. At least this way her childe would be safe from whatever nefarious plots she possessed.

"Oh and you wise cat, you should find my stomach to be a far more comfortable resting spot." Indeed, with the way Sakura was carrying her, it would be the most luxurious royal seats. "You should feel honored, I am royalty and I would not just do this for any cat!"

[Aiden]

Sage

A soft, squeaky 'huff' could be just barely be made out despite the melodic background music that comfortably settled into the scene. Valerie soon felt the cat in question clawing her way up and around her body until glorious white fluffiness was within sight for both of them once again. She started to knead at the spot, making it extra comfy, and let out a rumbling purr as she settled down there looking at her. "Very well. You are wonderfully comfortable like this. It is a shame you are a king, and not a proper princess, or I would kidnap you for such coziness."

[SINIB]

Sage

A soft, squeaky 'huff' could be just barely be made out despite the melodic background music that comfortably settled into the scene. Valerie soon felt the cat in question clawing her way up and around her body until glorious white fluffiness was within sight for both of them once again. She started to knead at the spot, making it extra comfy, and let out a rumbling purr as she settled down there looking at her. "Very well. You are wonderfully comfortable like this. It is a shame you are a king, and not a proper princess, or I would kidnap you for such coziness."

Sakura

"Mmm. Why not?" Sakura wondered aloud. "This place is fascinating, almost as if it's become stuck in time, seperated from the rest of the Nexus for the past, well, I'm not sure how long. Probably thousands of years." Sakura looked around, craning her neck. "I wonder if life during the age of gods was like this, even a little."

[Bern]

Valerie

"A perfectly preserved memory is unsettling when you have lived it. Without change there cannot truly be life." Valerie shook her head in dismay, but she brightened up once the cat settled in on top of her belly. She looked down at the creature with the majestically fluffy furniture unfortunately it was partially obscured by the rising hills of her chest. But that didn't stop her from caressing it with her hands, which isna privilege she quickly exploited, and she brushed the majestic fur with much enthusiasm.

"Ah but you see wise cat, I was and still am a Princess, a King is merely a Princess who is in charge." She spoke these ludicrous words as if they were absolute and an undeniable truth. There was no falsehoods here despite how bizzare it may sound. "And not just any Princess, I was the fairest in the whole realm. Countless knights propositioned to save me from the darkness, it was quite amusing."

[Aiden]

Sage

"Life is always in motion, always changing - but the cycles remain as they have in the beginning. Variations on a pattern, devoted to a single purpose." The particularly talkative cat's speech was interrupted by yet louder purring as Valerie really took advantage of the situation at hand. Her fur was especially soft and smooth, perfectly pettable. She was very warm on top of the vampire's belly. "Ahh, but this is also good. Keep doing that."

That was until her face scrunched up in confusion. Consideration.

"But.... princesses become queens, do they not?" She looked up to Sakura. "Indeed, would not she be the princess to your queen, now?"

[SINIB]

Sage

"Life is always in motion, always changing - but the cycles remain as they have in the beginning. Variations on a pattern, devoted to a single purpose." The particularly talkative cat's speech was interrupted by yet louder purring as Valerie really took advantage of the situation at hand. Her fur was especially soft and smooth, perfectly pettable. She was very warm on top of the vampire's belly. "Ahh, but this is also good. Keep doing that."

That was until her face scrunched up in confusion. Consideration.

"But.... princesses become queens, do they not?" She looked up to Sakura. "Indeed, would not she be the princess to your queen, now?"

Sakura

Sakura grinned. "My King was once a princess, but decided that she would be better served claiming the title of king, not queen." Her fangs grew more pronounced as she smiled, shifting her arm underneath Valerie's pit to get a little more comfortable. "Her motivations are a well kept secret, so you'll have to ask her about that."

She looked down at Valerie and nodded—change was needed, vital even. It had been engrained in her psyche since childhood. The need to pass on her crest and to expand upon it had always been an absolute imperative, and the quest for ineffable perfection drove her. She could well imagine how Valerie must feel seeing the same city hundreds or thousands of years later, without change.

[Bern]

Valerie

Valerie kept petting the cat and even scratched her behind her ears. The fur just felt wonderfully against her and the sounds the cat was making in response were heavenly to listen to.

"No she is my guard and one of the people vying to be my mate. Any new princesses of my kingdom would have to be carried by me, unfortunately only the most virile of species stands a chance of conceiving with my kind, so you will have to wait to see that which you desire."

Then her smile turned more mischievous. "Besides if you claimed a King instead, you would not have to worry about maintaining my purity..."

[SINIB]

Lirazel

"I'm not even quite sure." Her pointed ears twitched, following Thorra's voice. "Strictly speaking, she should already be dead. When the princess of Endien becomes queen, her years are already numbered. I do not know how my mother has lasted longer than that, and I do not know for how much longer she can endure. She could last another hundred years longer than she should, or she could pass this evening and war would be upon us in an instant."

She picked at one of her fingernails with the other, and bit her lip in discontent.

"To take on such a journey now, uncertain?"

Thorra

"Yes. The urgency makes it even more urgent. If the cycle remained functional, you would not be worrying so. I know well of them—as some point, ragnorok shall come and the world shall be clensed only to be reborn. Fate is not so easily changed. You'll have to look outside the box in order to break its chains."

Thorra paused for a moment, then continued with a greater sense of urgency. "If not now, when? When all is lost?"

[Aiden]

Valerie

Valerie kept petting the cat and even scratched her behind her ears. The fur just felt wonderfully against her and the sounds the cat was making in response were heavenly to listen to.

"No she is my guard and one of the people vying to be my mate. Any new princesses of my kingdom would have to be carried by me, unfortunately only the most virile of species stands a chance of conceiving with my kind, so you will have to wait to see that which you desire."

Then her smile turned more mischievous. "Besides if you claimed a King instead, you would not have to worry about maintaining my purity..."

Sage

"Huh. However, Eruraviel's example suggests to me that purity is a very minor element behind the mighty allure of princesses. Is my living example truly an anomaly in this regard?" Sage's head turned so that Valerie's fingers could properly pamper her twitchy ears as well. "Has my understanding of princesses been truly so flawed...?"