(Sure. Fine with me)

Alena turned to look Aryann directly in the eyes and slowly nodded. "I'm certain of that," she said with a sigh, knowing that once he saw the blood on her tunic he would start to question her about what happened. No matter, with any luck she would be able to treat the wound before her brother spotted it. "I take it he is well?" she asked a bit hopefully. Gareth could drive her crazy at times, but he was the only family she had left in this world. Should any ill befall him, she knew she would go mad with grief. She then glanced at her leader a bit more seriously. "Is something the matter, Aryann?" she asked her.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Kai-Larr hurried down the stairwell, the human dragging behind. He was battered and bruised and worn down. She had to get him out quickly, but in his condition it wasn't going to be easy. She turned her head to glance over her shoulder. He was leaning against a wall, breathing heavily.
"We cannot stop. Not for a moment. I know you are hurt, but if you do not continue it will be death."

"I don't know how I can keep going." he gasped between breaths

"You must" Kai-Larr replied, the urgency in her voice apparent. "You must survive"

"Why?" he asked his eyes sharpening, but his tone was one of suspicion.
"Why me? Why am I so important to a Paled warrior?" his questions continued, his tone now becoming almost hostile.

"I need someone to get word out to your people. If I went, I would not be trusted and most likely killed on sight." she began to explain

"Look" the human began "I'm not moving till you tell me who you are and what you want with me"

Kai-Larr frowned
"Humans can be so stubborn" she thought and then sighed.
"My name is Kai-Larr, daughter of Penrea. Former Warrior and Assassin and now the Kings Head of Security, and the only person that can get you out of here alive to deliver a message to your people."

"What message?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her blunt honesty.

"I am going to kill the King" she said, her eyes reflecting her truth and determination. "Now" she said with a suddeness "Come, quickly. We must hurry"

The human began to walk as fast as his tired legs could carry him
"My name is Darin" he said to no reply from Kai-Larr

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Nodding as Xavier left, Blaidri looked to his men. They had gathered under a large oak. He quickly did a head count. "Where's Gawain?" He asked, noticing that the tall, easily excitable red head was not present. "And Nesta?" She was the leading authority on the use of broadswords, wielding the largest sword Blaidri had seen like it was nothing more than a twig. She was as tall as any of the other men and just as muscled, and the glue that held thier band together. He had never heard a cruel word come from her mouth.

"Cut down, Blaid." a woman said. Her name was Riannon, Blaidri's second-in-command. Though she was small in size, Blaidri had learned early that she was more than a worthy apponent. Her aim with a bow was extrordinary, and what she lacked in size she made up for in speed and cunning. Even in the heat of battle she had a cool head. "They died in the fight. Tomos is gone as well, but we cannot find him."

Tomos too? He was an all around good fighter, able to pick up and use almost any weapon he saw. He was quick to laugh, and also quick to anger.

"Blaid!" Madog, one of his warriors, whispered fervently, pulling Blaidri from his thoughts. "Some one is in the forest!" Blaidri reached for his glaive. Madog may not be the best fighter, but his sences were keen.

"Which way?" He asked. Madog took the lead, making his way stealthily throught the forest. He signaled Riannon to follow, leaving the rest of his warriors behind. Madog stopped, hiding hiself behind a tree.

"A Paled!" he whispered. Blaidri saw a blonde Paled walking quietly through the trees. Blaidri grabbed his glaive and Riannon and Madog nocked an arrow on thier bow.

"Paled!" Blaidri called out sharply. "You have two arrows trained on you. Put down your weapons."

((I'm guessing that's what you wanted to happen, Dark Melda. If not, well, I'll edit!))

((She's going to break down later that night.))

Aryann looked deep into Alena's eyes. She saw only young innocence and passion. She shook her head. "It is nothing." she said. "Your brother is saddling his horse, over in the trees yonder." she pointed out the direction, then walked away. No one saw the single tear that slipped down her cheek.

She walked to where one of the warriors held her own horse, and Aryann's. "Thank you, Kyleen." she said appreciatively. Kyleen nodded, and held Starflite so she could mount. Aryann lightly jumped onto his back. He snorted and pranced in place. She spoke soothingly to him as her warriors lined up in rows of three behind her. Reed rode up to her side.

"All ready, ma'am." he said.

She looked at him curiously, "Since when did you call me ma'am?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, it was sort of a momentary thing."

"Good." she said, "You know I hate my title." He nodded.

"Warriors of the Nightstar tribe, we ride hard for Dalur!" she roared, then spurred Starflite into a gallop.

They rode hard. All the warriors were in sync, along with the horses. The group moved as one.

((Miss_Amane, is it okay if Reed sent a couple warriors to get Tika? In an earlier post Aryann noticed Tika and told Reed to bring her to him.))

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Thanks Nurratiel, *Ennostiel*, PD, and Githoniel

[[Aw, no, Nauriel, thats fine with me. I do love the drama. ]]

Fareni's <i>plan</i> had been to sneak away undetected. What she hadn't counted on tripping over the body of a human. It her fall hadn't given her away, the amount of cursing was sure to. She recovered quickly enough, and moved on.
She knew that there was a chance of humans that had lagged behind further into the trees; therefore she took a path closer to the edge.
Fareni looked up, eyes narrowed, hand on her sword. She thought she'd heard something that could've been footfalls. After a moment she shook her head, putting it down to an over-active imagination.

She spent a while waliking silently, eyes on the floor, thoughts crowding the fore-front of her mind. She was interrupted by a somewhat familliar voice. Her eyes darted from hiding place to hiding place, ears helping her distinguish roughtly where the voice was coming from. She murmured something indistinct, drew her sword and layed it down. She drew her hunting knife, and smiled down at it. Before she'd had chance to rethink her actions, the small knife had imbedded itself in the bark of the nearest tree.

"<i>Cowards</i> hide."

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Alena nodded slowly and turned slightly when she heard a friendly growl behind her. A small smile escaped her lips as the large, powerful lion approached her. "Thalion!" she exclaimed in excitement as she wrapped her arms around the beast's neck, chuckling slightly as the lion licked her cheek. "Were you worried too?" she asked as the lion nudged her shoulder.

"I thought he would be of use finding you," a voice said from behind her and Alena looked up to see Vanya, one of the skilled healers of the clan before her.

"Vanya." she nodded in greeting. "To what do I owe this pleasure,"

"Myra told me what happened. Come, let me look at your shoulder. You can not go riding off with an untreated wound."

Alena sighed and nodded before following the healer into a secluded part of the woods where no one would find them. As Alena showed her the wound, Vanya quickly brought out her herbs, crushed them into a paste and applied the balm before bandaging the injury.

"Many thanks," Alena replied as she turned to rise, feeling the pain from where she had been kicked earlier, but displayed no emotion, knowing that it came from nothing more than a bad bruise.

"Be careful, Alena" Vanya gave her a word of caution before disappearing into the woods.

Alena gave a sigh then knowing that she already had lost much time. Thalion growled slightly and stood still at her side, as if waiting for her to mount him.

Alena smiled at the beast and climbed upon the large lion's back. "To my brother," she whispered, knowing he would be in the woods near where both of their horses were kept.

With a powerful stride Thalion headed in the direction Aryann indicated. The pair soon came where Gareth was and a low menacing growl escaped from Thalion's throat as he caught Tika's scent, recognizing it at once as that of a paled. Alena quickly got off the beast and motioned him to be quiet as walked up to where her brother and Tika were.

"Elder brother!" she called in greeting.

Gareth smiled as Alena came up to him. Placing his hands on her shoulders he looked directly into her eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked her, scanning her for any signs of injury.

"I'm fine," she replied "Just a few scratches, nothing to be concerned over," she added as she noticed her brother's sharp eyes catch the bloodstain on her tunic.

"Whose your friend?" she asked as she nodded in the Tika's direction.

With that Thalion stepped from the shadows and continued to growl at Tika, bearing his teeth.

“Thalion, stop that!” Alena chided her friend. “My apologies,” she said to the woman. “He normally is not like that.”

(Guess I'll have Gareth and Alena catch up with tribe after if that is okay with you Las-since it seems as if the group left already)

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Kai-Larr's pace quickened as she realised how close to the escape route they were. The human who had earlier announced himself as Darin had managed to keep up with her. His determination to escape his living hell was the perfect incentive. Kai-Larr stopped and knelt down, examining a part of the wall. She smiled as she pushed in a block which was half the thickness of the rest of the wall.
"Stay here, I need to see if it's clear" Kai-Larr lifted the thin block to the side and crawled half way through it, her head peering out and checking to her left and to her right. Today the luck was on her side. The corridor was empty. Crawling back in she smiled at her companion.
"It's clear, we can move forward." and crawling back through space to the otherside of the wall. Lifting herself up she waited for Darin to crawl through to join her.

"Move forward to where?" he muttered as he crawled through and stood up beside her.

"The stables. You need a speedy way out of here." she explained and then give him a quizical look "You can ride yes?"

Darin looked almost offended at her question
"Of course I can ride." he huffed and rolled his eyes at Kai-Larr

"Then follow me" she said, for the first time really smiling and let out a small laugh at his petulance and walked across the deserted court yard and towards the stable.

_________________

Tika smiled, it reache her eyes, so they knew she was. "That is fine. I was about to tell your brother my name. Its Tika. A fought beside him and save him a couple of times. Not that I am bragging." She said with a laugh. "I was actually hoping to join thr rebels againest the Paleds when I came upon the Battle. do you think your leader would approve?"

((Of course Las. I actually found that helpful, I was wondering how to have Tika be revialed.))

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

((Elen, it would be fine if they caught up.))

At that moment, when Tika asked if Aryann would approve, two warriors rode into view. The warriors were both broad-shouldered, carried long sabers, and had a hard look to them They nodded respectively to Gareth and alena, as all of Nighstar's warriors did. They then looked Tika carefully over.

The bigger of the two said to Tika, "You must come with us." He walked his horse over to her, leading a mare that was saddled and ready to ride. "I expect you can mount and ride yourself?" He asked, a slight smirk on his face.

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Thanks Nurratiel, *Ennostiel*, PD, and Githoniel

Alena and Gareth nodded back at the warriors before Gareth turned back to Tika. "The name is Gareth and this lady is my younger sister, Alena" he told her. "And I do wish you had kept silent on you saving me," he added, now slightly annoyed with Tika, feeling as if his honor had been tarnished by that revelation.
__________________________________________
Alena quickly to cocked an eyebrow at Tika's words and turned to her brother with an impish grin her face. "So my big brother needed help did he?" she teased playfully.

"If I did it was because I was too distracted out of my concern for you, little sister," he responded without much emotion. Only Alena could get away with making such jests. Had it been any man, depending on Gareth's mood, the jester might have received some serious blows for his humor.

"Don't you dare blame this on me..." she added with a smirk.

Meanwhile Thalion stayed at her side. He had ceased growling, but he regarded the woman with suspicious eyes, ready to pounce if she did anything.

"Come now." Gareth told Alena with a hint of annoyance in his voice as he finished untying his steed. "We are already behind the warriors. It will be a hard ride to join with them again.”

"As you wish, brother dear." she responded as she untied her steed that was by Gareth's. Suddenly a growl came from behind the group and Sadron, Gareth’s companion and a great wolf stepped from the shadows.

“Want to come old boy?” Gareth asked the wolf as he rubbed him behind the ears quickly before mounting to which he got an affirming growl.

Alena then turned to Thalion, “How about you?” she asked to which she too got an affirmation from the beast. With that she quickly mounted her own steed.

Gareth then turned to face Tika. “I respect your courage Tika. ” he told her simply. “Farewell for now.” With that he nodded at Alena and the man, woman, lion and wolf set off to Dalur.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

(*is wondering what to do with Xavier....*)

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

Tika nodded. "I do. I had a horse once, but she was killed years ago." She said and sat upon the horse with grace. "Shall we, I was hoping to meet your leader so this is good timing on my part." She said.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

(Well, if you want maybe Xavier and Alena could meet again. After she has a talk with Aryann's character, I could probably have Gareth upset in her in some way that she goes off to the outskirts of Dalur just to be alone. Xavier could be tracking some Paleds in the area or something.)

Alena and Gareth rode hard to Dalur, pushing their steeds onward. They rarely paused, breaking only long enough so they would not kill their animals. By the time they had reached their destination, it was late in the day. Yet, both brother and sister knew the area well enough that they were soon able to detect the traces of their clan of warriors and find them with ease.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

(Sure, we could do that)

_________________

(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

Kai-Larr and Darin creeped into the stables. Kai-Larr walked a few paces ahead, making sure everything was clear and there were no signs of anything or anyone that would arouse suspicion.

"Here" she spoke in a voice little above a whisper, and pointed to a large grey mare "Can you ride without a saddle?" Darin nodded back at her.
"Then take her and ride out of here as fast as she will take you. Do not hesitate. Do not look back. Get back to your people with due haste" she finished her face etched with determination.

Darin mounted the horse and looked down at her "I still do not understand why. But I thank you, you are unusual for a Paled. Especially one that is so close to her King."

"Thank me when you are safe" Kai-Larr smiled grimly "Now go, there is no time to waste. They will soon learn of your disappearance and I will be called to investigate" her smile faded as she began to realise the severity of her actions. If she was found out, she would be hanged for treason...or worse.

Darin nodded and gently turned the horse out the stable and out the grounds to the fields.
"That gate is always open he heard Kai-Larr's words in her head
"It is used to let the horses out to excersize and graze"
He motioned for the horse to speed up from a canter to a gallop and made his way towards his tribe as fast as he could. To spread the word of the strange Paled woman who helped free him from his prison.

Ka-Larr was already back inside the palace and began to make her way back to her quarters. Nothing seemed amiss, but she remained on guard. A few more levels up and things began to go from calm to chaos. Guards were running back and forth. She remained calm and grabbed a guard that was rushing past her.
"What is going on soldier?" she barked at him, keeping her facade of loyalty in check.

"Two guards..." he breathed heavily "Dead...Human escapee.." he managed to spit the last words out before Kai-Larr let go.
"On your way soldier. I shall meet with His Highness about this treachery"

The Soldier bowed to his superior and continued on. Kai-Larr turned on her heels and made her way to the top level, to meet once again with her madman King.

_________________

Aryann smiled at Kalur (ka-lure), the ruler of Dalur. (The heirs are always named something that rhymes with Dalur.) "Thank you so much, Kalur. You have been such a loyal friend all these years."

"I know, I know." Kalur said playfully. "But there is one thing we need to talk about." He continued, "How many troops do you think you'll need?" He and his second-in-command were in a small room behind thr throne room. The room had tapestries hung on the walls, and priceless books and old volumes lining the room on bookshelves.

"As many as you can spare. You are protected, your lands have not been touched by the Paleds since your first battle with them ((known as the First Battle)). But you must understand, they have ravaged (sp?) our homes, enslaved our people, and taken our freedom. I know not how big the king's army is, but I'm sure we could never have too many warriors." she finished, strongly hoping he would send at least half his army.

"Aryann, you have been a great friend to me. When you turned up at the First Battle, you were like a blessing sent from God. If you wouldn't have come, my people wouldn't exist. And for that I am in eternal debt to you. With that out of my system, I would like to lead my own army, except a few to protect my lands from attacks, myself in battle against the Paleds." Aryann smiled as she never had before. This could mean the freeing of her people from the wars they are bound to.

"Kalur, you have no idea how much this means to me. We must leave tomorrow at dawn. I need to speak to the other tribes about a peace treaty, and uniting against a common enemy." she said thankfully.

"We will all be ready." Kalur said, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

((Sorry, it's a little off the plot, but I thought it might be fun.))

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Thanks Nurratiel, *Ennostiel*, PD, and Githoniel