forum the house across the river // O/O // Closed

Started July 25, 2021 by @MarDeColores this is not it kids

tune

"Good," Muna nodded sharply. "Even better. I only know the basic battle yanew." He turned his attention to the food Yeshvir brought and started eating quickly.
"Um…" Jin peered at Muna, then slid over to Iro. "Thanks for putting up with Muna. And all the… continued weirdness that's happened since you've run into me." He let out a laugh. "I bet you never expected your trip to turn out like this, huh?"
"We should get going." Muna dropped his spoon into the empty bowl and stood. "Thank you for the meal," he continued, giving Yeshvir a quick nod.
"Going? Where are we going?" Jin frowned at Muna.
"Back to Kito. We have to find a more permanent solution than wearing my clothes." Muna glanced over at Jin. "Speaking of, you can put that on all the way, you know."
"Huh?" Jin glanced down to see Muna's jacket draped over his shoulders. "Oh, right." He quickly pulled the jacket on and buttoned it up. "Okay, I guess we're going. Thanks for the food, Yeshvir!" He waved at the innkeeper, then started towards the door.

Yanew. While he didn't have a literal translation, Iro was grateful that context clues gave him some insight into what Muna meant. He nodded as if he understood, which was a partially true statement. He was mostly just glad he could be of use.

As Jin slid over, Iro flashed a friendly smile, a chuckle of his own escaping him. "Hey, a little turn of events is always welcome. Breaks the routine of work, anyhow."

Yeshvir waved a hand dismissively — a move of
modesty more than apathy — a tired grin spreading across his face.

Iro stood as the others did, yet lingered at the counter for a few extra moments. He pulled out a small quill and paper, scribbled quickly, then tore off the section of paper he'd written on, handing it to Yeshvir.

"When your Lady is accessible, here's how you can contact me. The Brigade sends its regards, and hopes this plague eases eventually."

Yeshvir studied the paper with a raise of his eyebrow, then, amused, tucked it away.

"Alright, Ambassador. Safe travels."

Iro nodded his gratitude before turning to follow Jin and Muna. Yeshvir waved back at Jin before returning to his work once more.

Iro shifted his weight, grimacing at the thought of hauling his travel pack around again. Well, at least it was exercise.

"So, Kito," he began. "I take it you two know how to get there?"

"Good, good." Jin smiled at Iro. "And I have no idea how to get back there because I don't know how we got here in the first place."
"I know how to get to Kito." Muna sighed, giving Jin a tired look. "You're the same as ever, Hune."
"What can I say?" Jin grinned at Muna. "I'm not going to let death and a bunch of plants make me pay attention to my surroundings." Muna sighed heavily and held the door open for Jin and Iro.
"It'll take longer since we have to dodge all the armies instead of just most of them." Muna rubbed his forehead. "Of course all the sage shrines are in the city. And what did you do with your hair? You look like an old person."
"I don't actually know. I'm sure we'll be able to find something to dye it with on the way. It'll be fine." Muna narrowed his eyes at him, probably trying not to scream.
"Fine, fine." He turned his attention to Iro. "You stick out like a sore thumb. No one visits Kito."
"He'll be okay. Probably." Jin squinted at Iro. "We could stick him in a middle-class outfit and give him a hood or something. No one would look twice. How do you feel about a makeover?" Jin turned his attention to Iro, eyes wide and inquiring.

Iro nodded his gratitude to Muna as he held the door. He listened to the banter between Jin and Muna, not having much to offer in terms of his own two cents, but enjoying their company. At least someone knew what the plan was, because he sure didn't.

As Muna addressed him, he shrugged. "Nobody visits Kito? Nobody leaves Darchester, either. I'm a double enigma," he added with a chuckle, though the light in his eyes was more… well, sad, than humored. "When you say 'nobody visits Kito', is that 'Kito isn't an interesting tourist location' or 'nobody's allowed to visit Kito'?"

To Jin's question, Iro pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I've worn disguises before — kind of part of my job. Tell me what'll work, and I'll do my best."

"People are allowed to visit Kito, but not many people choose to. I think it has something to do with the constant fighting and all that." Jin explained, shrugging. "You could go as you are, but lots of people would stare and that's the last thing we need."
"Mmm. You're lucky I brought a lot of money in case I had to bribe people," Muna grumbled, though he didn't seem very angry. "You need new clothes too. These ones are too bloody."
"Oh, good!" Jin grinned and clapped his hands. "I love middle-class clothes. And you'll look so good in them, too." He gave Iro a thumbs up and a big grin.
"I'm glad you're having fun, Hune," Muna sighed heavily. "Anyway… The nearest town selling what we need should be about half an hour away. You two will stay hidden and out of sight while I buy the clothes." He was talking to both of them, but his gaze was on Jin. Jin made a face at him but nodded.
"Of course, Muna. I wouldn't dream of it." Jin patted Muna's shoulder. As long as the small gods stayed out of his head, he would be able to do as Muna asked. In other words, the smart thing.

Iro's expression had contorted into a thoughtful frown as he glanced down at his clothes. They were dark reddish-brown robes with loose pants and a decorative sash at the waist, its gentle white signaling to those who would understand so that he was serving the Brigade more diplomatically at the moment — but, as Muna had noted, his attire was rather bloodsoaked.

He grimaced, the implications of the state of his clothing suddenly becoming apparent to him, in addition to spilling blood on a Diplomat's Sash just being a surefire way to attract bad luck. He'd need to burn the sash when he got the chance. Superstition or not, the last thing he needed right now was bad luck.

Even so, he managed something like a smile as he returned Jin's thumbs up. A change of clothes wouldn't hurt, disguise or not.

"Oh, but what about… hm," he mumbled, his voice trailing along with his train of thought. "I'm guessing the sage is suppressing those small gods based on the fact that nothing's happened to Jin in a while?" he asked. "But even so, how long will it last?"

Muna nodded, then kept going. Jin followed, relishing the sensation of going for a walk and being able to appreciate it all.
"It is. And I don't know. My jacket should provide an extra line of defense against them, but it won't last forever. That's why we need to get to the city as quickly as possible." Muna sped up. "By the way, you said you know plants. Do you have any other herbs or flowers that could provide more protection for him?" While Muna was worrying, Jin was watching the road ahead of them. They were getting closer to the town, and he was starting to see more people around. They were just normal people so far, but he was keeping an eye out for warriors or bandits. They'd cause more problems for the group, and he was quite frankly done with problems.

Iro pursed his lips and dragged his satchel around, opening it and shuffling through his herb pouch. He had an assortment of herbs, most of them a form of medicine or flavoring for food, and wasn't sure what exactly would serve as protection other than sage. As Muna picked up the pace, Iro did his best to keep up, attention still mostly focused on the contents of his satchel.

"Do the small gods adhere to, uh, common herbal language, or do certain herbs have certain properties they don't like?" he inquired, inspecting a bundle of dandelion as he talked. "I've got herbs from pineapple sage to yarrow to sourgrass. Mostly medicinal herbs, but I've got stuff like bay leaves and dill in here, too. Tell me what'll work and I'll see if I can find it."

It did occurr to him that the group was reaching the town, and now his eyes lifted to study his new surroundings, slightly mesmerized by the scene before him. It wasn't often he left home, so most of this was all new to him. That beind said, he'd leave it to Muna to handle the situation here. He was the last person who needed to complicate things at the moment.

"I don't know," Muna said at the same time that Jin said, "Yeah, probably." The two glared at each other, though it was more playful than actually angry.
"The small gods probably have other small gods they don't like, but I have no idea about those relationships. I never really studied them all that much," Jin continued, frowning in concentration. "I think… I think dill and yarrow would help?"
"Alright, we're close enough. Too close, in my opinion." Muna suddenly stopped, grabbing Jin's arm with one hand and Iro's with another. "You two can talk about herbs and small gods over here, hidden." He pulled the two towards a rather large bush off the road. "Remember, Hune, do not call attention to yourself."
"Oh, please, heyl," Jin said, rolling his eyes. Muna spluttered for a second, thrown off by the pet name, then let out an indignant huff and turned away from them.
"Just… stay put. I'll be back soon." He pushed them both further behind the bush and marched back towards the road, muttering to himself.
"He's adorable," Jin sighed, tearing his eyes off Muna's retreating back to smirk at Iro. "Alright, then. Shower me in herbs, vynpa."

"Dill and yarrow," echoed Iro, mumbling the names to himself as he scavenged for them. He procured the herbs right as Muna grabbed him by the arm to stop him in his tracks — probably a good call, as Iro hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking.

He compared the size of the bush to the size of Jin and himself, then shrugged. It was off to the side of the road; hopefully nobody would have a dire need to look behind this specific bush anytime soon.

He pursed his lips. Probably best not to jinx it.

He seated himself behind the bush, crosslegged, satchel sitting in his lap. He handed his bundles of yarrow and dill out to Jin. "I'm assuming you'll know what to do with these, 'cause, uhm, I don't," he chuckled, returning his gaze to the contents of his satchel as he shuffled through more potentially helpful herbs.

"If you don't mind my asking," he murmured as he began spreading out and organizing his herbs, "you and Muna. How long have you two been a thing?"

(Sorry about the wait, I was on vacation :)
Jin took the herbs. He also didn't really know what to do with them either, but he figured tucking them into his pockets would work well enough. He really didn't want to eat them. He probably didn't need to eat them. Jin tucked a couple of extra sprigs into his boots and straightened up just in time to hear Iro's question. "Ah? I mean… I don't know. We've always been close. Well, not always close. When we first met, I punched him right in the face. But after that…" Jin shrugged, a slightly dreamy smile on his face. "We were so good. Me, Muna, and Rusi… oh, ele geen da yea." He sighed, smile turning melancholy. "Nothing had ever been official. Maybe it would have been, if I hadn't been killed, but… life had a different plan for us." Jin shook his head. Thinking about what could have been was making him sad. He had to focus on what was happening now. He had Muna back. And he would do everything he could to get Rusi back too.

(no problem!! been busy with school so my replies have been slowing down too lol, sorry about that)

Iro couldn't help but let an amused smile turn the edge of his lips.

"That's certainly a way to meet someone," he chuckled. "First time I met my dush'va, I was staring down the tip of his blade. If you told me he'd be the love of my life in a year, I'd have called you crazy."

He leaned back against the bush, a wisp of longing evident in his visage. Homesickness.

"Funny how things can change the way they do, for better or for worse. Keeps life interesting, I guess."

His gaze fell to the herbs scattered in front of them, and he was silent with his thoughts for a moment. His eyes lifted to Jin, and he spoke again.

"I do hope you can get all this small gods stuff sorted out soon. It was cruel of them to take your life from you like that. Maybe things won't be exactly the same, but I hope, at the very least, that they get better."

(You're good, I can understand completely :)
"Ah, well, he deserved it for underestimating me." Jin laughed, recalling the meeting. He'd been small as a child and when they'd been paired for some practice in hand-to-hand, Muna had made it very clear he thought it was going to be an easy win for him. Jin hadn't agreed with that all and taken the initiative to start the fight with a fist straight to the nose. Muna had been so surprised that Jin had won the fight. "Ha, that's an amazing first meeting. Just as good as mine, if not better!" Jin shook his head, noticing the expression on Iro's face. "By the way, you don't have to come with us the entire way. You can leave whenever you want to." Jin gave Iro a grin. The journey he and Muna were undertaking was most likely going to be dangerous. Even though it would be nice to have another person to help, he didn't want to make Iro do anything he didn't want to. He also didn't want Iro to get hurt in any way. "Oh, thank you. I don't think anything will ever be the same, but I'm hoping I'll at least stop being known as the traitor."

Iro snickered. "Nah, I'd say we're pretty on par. Apparently people fall in love with those who can kick their ass."

To Jin's suggestion, he shook his head. "Just not used to travelling, I guess."

He rightened his posture, eyes lifting to the sky, carefully studying the wispy white clouds above. He wondered if the weather was any different back home. He'd send a letter if it didn't risk compromising his mission.

"I won't go home until I finish my job, and my job is to establish foreign relations. I guess you could call our partnership part of my assignment," he added with a grin. "You won't get rid of me that easily."

His gaze dropped back down to Jin, and his brow furrowed. "Traitor? That's a new one."

"It would seem so," Jin agreed, laughing. Rusi had probably fallen the same way. They'd all been united by combat. It was a shame that was the same thing that had torn them apart. He let out a little sigh of relief at Iro's words. He was starting to like him–well, that was a lie. He'd liked him from the start. But he would have been sad if Iro left. "Ah, only a partnership? I thought I meant more to you than that, vynpa." Jin gave Iro a teasing smile, though it quickly faded away in the wake of his question. "Ah. Well. I'm not actually a traitor. Just… someone framed me. Made it look like I'd betrayed everyone. Given them up to the enemy." Jin sighed heavily, running a hand over his head. "It was a good trap. There was nothing I could do to get out of it. But I swear, I had nothing to do with it. If only I could find the insul person who did that–" Jin's rant was interrupted by a bundle of clothes being thrown in his face.
"Get changed. Quickly. We've got to move." Muna narrowed his eyes at Jin, then turned to Iro. "Here." He tossed the clothes slightly more gently at Iro, then crossed his arms impatiently.

As Iro listened to Jin, he hadn't expected to get worked up — but there was, without a doubt, a familiar burning clench in his chest that grew the more Jin recounted his story.

The world wasn't fair, and he knew that well. Even so, he couldn't help but feel frustrated by it. As far as he knew, Jin hadn't deserved what happened to him. Edenborough hadn't deserved a plague. Not that whether they deserved it or not mattered — fate was neither good nor evil, after all. It simply was.

He'd mostly come to terms with this a long time ago, when he'd first become an assassin and witnessed firsthand how cruel fate could be. But time and time again, it irked him.

Almost as if fate didn't want him to dwell on the idea for too long, a bundle of clothes being tossed his way snapped him out of his thoughts. He frowned, slightly bewildered, but took the clothes and slipped them over his blood-splattered robes. Not exactly the most comfortable fit, but he'd make do.

"Where now?" he asked.

Jin pulled the clothes from his face, his expression pained for one second before he quickly mustered a smile. "Alright, Muna, no need to be so aggressive." Jin quickly changed into the clothes, not sure how he felt about them. It was strange dressing in middle-class clothes again. He hadn't thought he would ever wear clothes like this again.
"First you two are going to pull your hoods up." Muna grabbed Jin's hood and pulled it over his head surprisingly gently. "I couldn't find anything to dye your hair, so you'll just have to do this until we find something." He paused, hand moving as though he wanted to cup Jin's cheek in his hand before he quickly turned away. "Alright, let's go. The next town might have what we're looking for." He started back towards the road, not checking to see if Jin or Iro were following. Jin sighed, adjusting his hood and glancing at Iro.
"Back on the road!" He let out a little laugh, then hurried after Muna.

Iro pulled his hood over his head and breathed a quiet sigh. Having something to obscure his face made him feel a little better.

He wasn't someone who normally desired to be so secretive, but over time his line of work had gradually made him one to find comfort in being unnoticed. Even his tall, bulky self would be someone nobody paid mind to in the right outfit, and he hoped that this outfit would do the job.

Iro frowned, noticing Muna's hesitation — though not entirely sure of the reason for it. He decided it wasn't much his business, but Muna taking off ahead of them didn't help his curiosity.

"We're burning so many calories," Iro mumbled in agreement, following after Jin and comfortably striding beside him.

After gauging whether or not Muna was within earshot, he leaned towards Jin, dropping his voice as low as it could go while still being audible.

"Muna's, uhm… an interesting character. Is the dynamic between you two always like this?"

(Sorry for the prolonged wait, holiday stuff lasted longer than I thought it would. :)
"Hehe, we are! We're going to be so fit after this," Jin agreed, grinning at Iro. He frowned slightly as Iro dropped his voice, glancing towards Muna as well. "Ah, um. Well. Not really. I mean," Jin started, trying not to trip over his words too much. "Back before… you know… Muna wouldn't hesitate. He'd also always manage to find a platonic explanation for whatever he'd just done too, which was really annoying, but…" Jin trailed off, pressing his lips together. "I think… I think he feels guilty. And that's why he's acting weird. Or he still thinks I did it and keeps doing the things he would normally do and stopping himself at the last minute because oops! I'm the guy who betrayed everyone and got a bunch of people killed and I've also risen from the dead and he probably thinks that's really weird too–" Jin cut himself off, gulping in a much-needed breath of air. "I, uh… everything's weird between us. I wouldn't look too much into his actions right now." He adjusted his clothes, glanced at Iro, then turned his attention to the ground in front of them. He'd been trying not to reflect too much on anything that Muna did–if he thought about it too much, emotions started going all over the place and made it hard for him to concentrate on the mission–but Iro's question had brought all of it right to the surface. "You know, the weather is absolutely wonderful for traveling," Jin said, raising his voice so Muna could hear. "It'd be terrible if it were raining or something, right?"
"Don't say things like that. You're going to anger someone and then it's going to start to rain," Muna called back, his tone annoyed.

(no prob!! B))

Iro listened, brow furrowing as it usually did when he was focused — a habit of his, one might suggest. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Alright, then," he whispered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you worked up. I'm jus' trying to be a little more in the know about things."

As Jin changed the subject, Iro figured it was probably for the best. At the mention of rain, he grabbed his staff and extended it to its full length with a wide grin. Purple sparks of electricity began to flicker around his wrist, and it became apparent that his staff was the conductor for the circuit that was, well, pretty much his entire body.

"Ya know, theoretically, I should have the ability to alter the weather," he added cheerfully. "Back home, people in important positions have a chance to attune themselves to an aspect of nature. There's a fancy word for it in Old Darchestran, but that's not the language of conversation back home, so I, uh, don't really remember it, hah."

He broke the circuit and released his staff, planting it firmly into the ground and letting the built up electricity surge into the earth below, safely grounding it.

"I attuned myself to lightning, which is why I can manipulate it. But there's these old legends of people who became so in sync with their element that they could become it, in a sense, and it unlocked some crazy abilities. Only two people in recorded history have done it, and one of 'em had also attuned themselves to lightning. According to the legend, they could control the weather. Make it rain, shine, flood, what have you."

He twirled his staff casually, occasionally poking a twig or leaf on the ground with his staff and watching it spark in response.

"If I could do anything with that kind of power, I'd pinpoint adventurers commenting about the good weather and immediately make it rain. For the humor."

"It's okay," Jin whispered back, giving Iro a small smile. It wasn't Iro's fault, and he deserved to know what was going on. It was unfortunate that 'what was going on' was so complicated and messy. Jin and Muna both listened to Iro speak, though Jin was much more interested in what he was saying than Muna. "That's really cool! Though I would prefer you didn't do that to me if you had the power. I mean, we're friends, right? Friends don't make it rain on friends." Jin laughed, giving Iro a big smile.
"Please make it pour on him," Muna said, glancing back at Iro. "It would be incredibly funny."
"Muna! You're with me! You'd get soaked too," Jin protested, giving Muna a playful glare. His lips curled slightly, maybe into a smile, and he turned back to the front.
"I would. But I could just complain about it to you the entire time. Teach you not to tempt people like that." Muna shot a quick look back at Jin.
"Ah, fine. It would be funny, anyway." Jin shrugged, skipping a few steps. "Still, I'd rather you didn't, should you get that power," he continued, turning to look at Iro. "Because then I would have to do something similar to you, and that's a lot of work for someone who can't make it rain on command," He laughed, grinning widely at Iro.

Iro gestured towards Muna, expression brightening, "It would be funny! See, Muna gets me!"

He observed the exchange between Jin and Muna with a humored expression. He spun his staff around for a bit before compressing and sheathing it. Though it was now a little more unwise to do so given that he'd put away his conductor, he continued to play around with his lightning, letting small sparks flicker between his fingers.

"Ha! I'd like to see you try," he grinned back at Jin. "We could be locked for eternity as rivals, reincarnated through the eons with our sole purpose being only to mildly inconvenience the other, and I'll tell you right now I'm the most annoying person I know."

As his laughter died down, he frowned, then cast his gaze over towards Muna.

"Where were we headed, again? You know how close we are to getting there?"

"Aww, now you two are teaming up against me. Muna, I thought you were my xlis. Shouldn't you be on my side?"
"You just said yourself it would be funny," Muna spluttered, cheeks getting red.
"Yeah, I know, but still." Jin sighed dramatically. "Oh, is that so?"
"You're going to get a run for your money. He can be quite annoying," Muna interjected, nodding at Jin with an eye roll.
"That's right, I can be." Jin nodded, smirking at Muna. "He knows firsthand."
"That I do." Muna sighed heavily, turning to Iro. "Closest city with the shrines we need. We won't be able to get there all today, but the town we're staying in is only about half an hour away. Less if we pick up the pace a little."
"Aww, Muna, there's no need for that. We can just relax, enjoy the scenery, and all that." Jin gave Muna a pleading look. Muna stared at him for a second, then sighed heavily.
"Fine, but just for today."