forum At War // OxO // Closed

Started September 19, 2021 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

Nik nodded faintly, taking a deep breath. "For now." he replied, brows gathering as he tried to take a normal step. His leg almost immediately buckled, and he caught himself on his right knee and hands, taking a deep breath.

Kay flinched when he stumbled, then relaxed. “For now, hm?” He muttered, then rested his head on his foreleg. “Well, don’t kill yourself while I’m looking for the key,” he said, then closed his eyes. Once his spirit was separated from his body, he left the tent.

Nik nodded a little, pushing himself to his feet again to try and take a step. He wanted to get his leg back in working condition as soon as possible.

First, he decided to check the the guards and see if they were perhaps holding the key in a spare hand. He figured he should check the obvious places, just in case, before looking in the place he believed the keys were.

The guards outside were talking to each other, but neither seemed to be in possession of the keys at this point in time. Probably on purpose.

It was just as he had expected. Kaylum moved on from the guards, and in the direction of Seren’s tent. If the key wasn’t in there, he wasn’t sure where else he could look.

Seren was still in his tent, poring over some papers. Why he had not come to bother Nikolas nd Kaylum yet was anyone's guess, but likely he would before the day was over.

Looking at Seren, Kaylum was reminded of those officials in his parents’ court, always looking through papers and documents and such, never seeming to eat or sleep. That thought made him sad for some reason, so he went over to his desk and looked over it, seeing if there were any keys lying around or drawers he could look in.

There were no keys laying on the desk, though there were approximately six drawers. How or why Seren had transported a full desk out into the woods int he middle of nowhere? Again, was anyone's guess. He could have just brought a folding table, which would likely have been easier on everyone involved.

(Lol this man likes to do things the hard way)

Seeing no key obviously around anywhere, Kay phased through the desk to look in the drawers. He could vaguely make out a few objects and more papers, but there was little light, and that made it more difficult to find an object in the physical realm. If the key was in one of those drawers, then he would have to wait until Seren opened them.

(yes he does lmao)

Seren sighed, pushing back his chair and folding up his papers. He opened up one drawer to deposit the papers inside; no key there. Then he opened a second, which held, among other assorted objects, the keys. He considered them for a moment, then scooped the keys up in his hands.

Kaylum had just stayed there thinking, half of his form phasing through the desk when light streamed through, revealing the papers clearly. A little startled, he phased out of the desk and continued to watch the human man, his soul sliding languidly within him.
When Seren brought out the keys, Kay couldn’t help but feel a sense of apprehension. He waited, unsure if he was planning to move them somewhere else or to use them to unlock the princes’ cell.

Seren turned the keys over in his hands, seeming to think for a long, silent moment. Then he moved around the desk and headed out of the tent, putting the keys in his pocket.

Kaylum followed. He wasn't sure how long it had been, but he couldn't go back to his body just yet.

Seren moved over to one of his men, speaking in a low tone to him. The man frowned. Grimaced. Glanced at the prison tent. Then nodded and started walking away.

Kaylum watched the two, but as the man walked away, he felt a tug on his naval. Already? But then, it made sense. He had been astral projecting more often than he usually does, and even now it was taking up energy. His form shuddered with frustration, and then he went back to his body in the cell.
When he open his eyes, he could immediately tell how drained he felt. He stayed in his dragon form, glancing across the cell. “Nikolas?”

Nik was seated against the wall, and raised his eyebrows faintly when Kaylum said his name. "Yes?" he asked, sitting up. "Did you find out anything interesting?"

“The keys were in is desk,” he reported, “but he carries them with him as we speak. My time ran out before I could figure out what he was doing with them.” Kay decided to leave his hunches unspoken for now.

"Well. If he has them with him now, then he might be planning on coming here." He replied, sitting straighter and glancing over at the door, a faint frown tugging at his features.

“Ah, yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” he sighed. “Not a lot we can do about that, though. And I’m tired.”

"Yeah. Try getting some sleep, then? Though if he's coming soon, you probably won't get much. If any." he replied, looking over at the other man and shrugging his shoulders faintly. This was a pretty shitty situation all around.

Kaylum shrugged his wings back at him. “I’ll try, I guess.” He curled up, burying his head in wings.

"Yeah." Nik watched him for a long moment, then turned his gaze to the door to watch and wait for Seren's entrance.

Go figure, trying to sleep in dragon form was in fact more comfortable than doing it as a human. Kay didn’t fall asleep immediately, but it wasn’t hard to fall into a kind of doze after a few minutes.

Nik kept watch, wishing he had some sort of weapon, but even his cane had been taken from him. He had nothing. Not even a small knife or a dagger. He was defenseless, for now, and the idea scared him more than he cared to admit. He had not been defenseless, truly defenseless, in years.