Noah Was surprised by his tactic, Was he stupid? They would have to either keep this guy somewhere until they were done or kill him, letting an individual run free after kidnapping them for questioning would be stupid. She ignored Ra'eons instructions to stay put and slowly moved over to where they were.
"Are you mad!" She whispered As she approached staying hidden in the leaves, "I thought you knew what you were doing, But then you go off and kidnap someone, what are you planning to do once he's answered your questions? Let him go?" She wasn't done yet, she was clearly upset,
"Not only that but he was part of a group! Groups tend to notice when people are missing, groups also tend to look for said person! The smart thing to do would be to blend in with these people and get information that way. But evidently you don't have enough logic in your mind to think!"
To both Ra'eon and the man her voice would appear disembodied, flouting around from the branches of the tree's, It was now Ra'eon would find out she was a ventriloquist.
Ra'eon looked up, towards Noah's voice, which seemed to be coming out of nowhere. He hadn't really thought about all that stuff, but maybe he could make the guy forget? He hadn't done it in a long, long time, but he might be able to remember how to. Waiting until Noah was done with her weird outburst was annoying, but he didn't speak until she was done. "Well, it would have been nice to blend in, but the second you stepped out they would have known you don't belong. I mean, your clothes are obviously not from around here." In his annoyance, he'd let go of the man.
"Um, excuse me?" The man Ra'eon had kidnapped spoke up and Ra'eon whirled towards him, ready to shut him up again. "You're… you're Ra'eon, aren't you?"
"Uh… yes. How do you know that?" Ra'eon frowned at the man, freezing in his tracks. He would have guessed that the people who'd locked him up would erase everything about him.
"Kalani, Kai's great-great-great-granddaughter told us. She told us that the true guardian of the islands would return and set us free." He smiled hopefully at Ra'eon.
"Kai?" The word was almost lost to the wind. She had been the leader of the village before all of that stuff happened, and she had been trapped in stone with him. Although she was long dead by now, back before everything had happened, she had been one of his best friends.
Noah rolled her eye's, "I don't have to go out there stupid, also who say's I can't change clothes, it's not like they're permanently affixed to me being." She replied equally annoyed.
The Man's response did not calm her, it instead put her on guard, this was strange. He knew how to crawl into Ra'eons mind, obviously. That Kai must have meant something to him. he was either fallowing orders of some sort to get him captured, or he was being genuine, or he was throwing out names hoping to keep himself from being harmed.
"Listen, I get that this mission is your everything at this point, but you are my only life line Ra'eon, I can't survive out here with out you." she admitted after a moment, "If you get killed, well, I'm as good as dead."
Ra'eon turned to look at Noah, his mouth turned down. "Alright, then. I'll admit my actions were rash, but this man can help us. Can't you?" He asked, turning to the man.
"Of course! What do you want to know?"
"Who holds the pearl and where are they?" Ra'eon glanced through the leaves, but they were still alone.
"Oh. Oreni has it. He'll probably be in the main building right now. They're having a meeting," The man answered quietly, glancing at Noah. "Eon… who is she?"
"That's Noah. She's the one who set me free." He looked at her. Although he was grateful for her help, she was also getting on his nerves at the moment. "And don't worry. I don't die easy." Ra'eon gave her a slight smile. "Now, is there any way you could make that skirt a bit shorter? You probably don't have to change as long as you alter that a bit more." Long skirts and lots of fabric weren't really common there, since it was warm all the time. If people didn't look at her too hard, she could probably slip past everyone.
Noah nodded, only crying on the inside as she used her knife to cut the skirt to her mid calf, "Decent?" she asked tucking the extra fabric in her bag. She knew she was being a bit unreasonable, and probably more than a bit annoying. She was scared, of course she would be on edge, Her crew wasn't here to help her. She was useless here, probably more of a hindrance then a help. In normal expeditions she wrote things down, recorded their findings and analysed data. She knew how to defend herself but that wasn't her job, her job was to write things down.
Ra'eon assessed the lenght of her skirt and frowned. "I'd say just a bit more. To your knees, at least." He looked up at her and shrugged, as if to say, 'what can I do'. If she didn't like it, that was too bad. But he would think it would feel better not to have her legs covered in all that fabric. It wasn't cold that day, to say the least. "Now," Ra'eon turned to the man, "is the main building near the center? Just tell us, though– I don't want you getting caught up in all of this."
"Yes, you just follow that road and turn left the first chance you get. It'll lead right to the building." The man pointed at the road Ra'eon had grabbed him off of.
"Right, thank you. You can go now, we'll be fine." The man nodded and after checking to make sure no one was coming, jumped back onto the road and walked away. "Are you ready?" Ra'eon turned to Noah.
Noah sighed heavily but took her knife back out and cut her skirt to just below the knee's, it wouldn't be much longer then her knees when running around or sitting, it should be fine. She gave the fabric the same treatment folding it up and placing it in her bag.
"Mind giving us a good description of this building so we don't break into a random house?" She asked the man.
Internally she was judging Ra'eon's interrogating abilities, Seriously, who asked where a building was and didn't get a visual description? She also felt uneasy about letting him go, however, that couldn't be helped, they had to trust they moved faster then his words would spread.
It seemed like Noah wasn't that happy about shortening the length of her skirt. Too bad. The man paused at Noah's question, but Ra'eon waved him away.
"That won't be necessary. It will be obvious." Ra'eon glanced over at Noah. The man nodded in agreement and made his escape. Ra'eon watched him go, then glanced up and down the road. He understood Noah's want for a description, but he knew the building where Oreni was would be easy to spot. Meeting halls were usually pretty extravagant and distinct from the average house. "Come on." The road was completely empty– the perfect opportunity to get onto it. Ra'eon quickly stepped out of the cover the trees provided and started walking the direction the man had pointed. Hopefully Noah would follow him, though he couldn't blame her if she decided to stay. His whole plan seemed to be full of holes and dangers.
Noah was frustrated by Ra'eons dismissal of her question, though she didn't act upon it. She contemplated not following, she was inside the wall, it seemed to be some sort of civilization, she could theoretically learn how to live here. She dismissed the thought after a moment and followed Ra'eon. If he ended up dead after she left that would be on her conscious.
"You were a guardian of this place?" She asked after a moment, they had a way's to walk it seemed, might as well fill the void with conversation.
Ah, so she decided to follow him! It was probably best, as now he didn't have to worry about her getting killed or anything by the people here. Judging by the huge wall and the magic wards, they didn't like outsiders too much. "Oh, yes. Guardian of the whole island– all of the islands around here, actually. Technically, I still am, but… that Oreni guy seems to have claimed that title." Ra'eon sighed softly. Being the guardian of this place required more than just the power of the pearl. One had to be loving and care about everything and everyone on the island. From what he'd seen, Oreni wasn't doing that. "I guess another description for it would be a god, but I prefer guardian. It makes me seem less imposing." He laughed, though it was tinged with sadness.
"Perhaps being more imposing would have kept you from getting turned to stone." She replied before thinking, then she realized her mistake. He adn't turned to stone, he had been paralized and turned to dift and the wall was from advanced technology and a bird or mouse made the vines fall… on command. She held her head between her hands as they walked, massaging her temples. "I am trying really hard to not go insane but this magic business is very much over powering my ability to logic."
She had stopped believing in magic years ago, she had too, there was always a logical answer. The existence of magic went against everything she had been taught, not to mention it was heresy. It was then she remembered just what she and Ra'eon were current'y wearing, perhaps this wasn't her only act of heresy. How her mother would squirm upon hearing of this.
"Ha, that might have worked." Ra'eon shook his head, a sad smile on his face. Being seen as an all-powerful god might have stopped the people from turning him to stone. He'd never wanted to be seen as an all-powerful god, though. He didn't want people to fear him, he wanted them to feel safe with him around. Ra'eon glanced over at Noah, his brow furrowing when he saw her head between her hands. "Oh. Well, I don't know what to say to make it easier." He gave her an apologetic look. There really was no way to make magic logical– at least, he couldn't think of any at the moment. Ra'eon turned his attention from Noah to where they were going, spotting the meeting building up ahead. "There it is."
Noah looked up, "I really hope you have a plan once we're in there." Noah commented.
So far it seemed Ra'eon had no plan, or if he did not a very well thought out one, "This pearl you're trying to get back , I'm assuming it's some sort of power devise?" She asked.
She planed on being prepared, or as prepared as she could be, this was a leader, leaders had guards powerful ones, they were two people. Ra'eon could probably stand his own against a few people but from her observations he seemed like a bit of a softy he'd pull his punches and minimize damage. She wasn't a bad fighter but her strengths were in analyzing an opponent, finding the weaknesses and exploiting them. She knew nothing about this enemy, their only advantage was surprise at this point, even that might not be the case. Two people against how many? There was no way of knowing.
Ra'eon's pace slowed ever so slightly as he neared the meeting hall. He was so focused on the pearl itself that he didn't really have a plan to get it. Would Oreni really just let him walk up and take the pearl? No, he wouldn't. Whether or not Ra'eon was strong enough to fight against him without the pearl was another question. But he had to get that pearl away from him. No one but Ra'eon could possess that pearl and keep their mind perfectly intact. From what he'd seen, the effects ranged from total insanity to paranoia or an extremely short temper. He hoped that Oreni was suffering from one of the more mild effects, since he was also ruling over an entire village. "I do have a plan," He said softly, trying to make himself believe those words. "And yes, it is." Ra'eon didn't say anything else about the pearl. It was a complicated thing to talk about and they didn't have the time. There wasn't anyone guarding the doors to the meeting hall, which was a lucky break. Ra'eon glanced over at Noah for a second, listening to the voices filtering out from the building. He looked back at the building and after taking a deep breath, strode into it.
Noah paused as he walked streight into the building, He doesn't have a plan does he, she thought shaking her head, well in that case she would have to be the brains for both of them sense he clearly had no idea what he was doing, she on the other hand had definitely stolen any artifacts from civilizations or museums or collectors. Sure she told her father that the men did that but men could only be relied upon to a point.
Noah first walked casually around the building searching for any other entrances, if this was an important individual he would have servant's and servants had separate entrances. She paused half way around the building, a small door was located there, Bingo. she slipped inside, quietly. If she went unnoticed, if she wasn't lucky she would be noticed and she would attempt to convince them she was a new recruit, if she was doubly unlucky well, she clutched the handle of her knife, there was always brute force.
(Is it ok if she does this? I know you have a society built up so if this doesn't work I can change it to where she fallows him, this just fits her character better)
Ra'eon didn't notice that Noah had not followed him into the building. He was too busy staring at the man he guessed to be Oreni. This assumption was based off of two things: one, he was seated at the head of the table, so he was important. Two, the pearl was hanging around his neck. He was the first one to notice Ra'eon.
"What– who are you? You should know this building is off-limits right now." Oreni stood, an annoyed look on his face. The rest of the people in the meeting turned to look at Ra'eon.
"You're Oreni, right?" He asked, taking another step into the room.
"Obviously. Now answer my question," Oreni growled, one hand clutching at the pearl. Ra'eon smiled wryly.
"Ah, yes. I shouldn't be surprised none of you recognize me. It has been a while." He shook his head. "I am the guardian of these islands. Ra'eon." A gasp rose from the people in the room. Oreni's eyes went wide and he gripped the pearl tighter.
"That– that can't be!" Oreni exclaimed, looking around the room.
Noah slipped through unnoticed, The mistress of luck smiled upon her today, She found the main chamber with out issue, after all there was quite a bit of ruckus coming from it. She slipped in a side door once more, just in time for Ra'eon's declaration, the Idiot, but… He did make a good distraction.
She moved deftly between shocked individuals, if she could just get behind him… she held her knife in the fold of her skirt, she could theoretically get the pearl. Hopefully Ra'eon wouldn't giver her away, it would make no logical sense but she wouldn't put it past him to do on accident.
Ra'eon smirked at Oreni, glancing around the room at the shocked faces. Wait… what was Noah doing in there? He let his eyes slide right over her and went back to looking at Oreni. She must know what she was doing, and he didn't really want to let everyone know another, totally unknown person had snuck into their meeting room.
"How did you get free?" Oreni was the first to recover from the shock.
"I fear the spell wasn't as powerful as it was thought to be." Ra'eon shrugged. It was much better if no one knew Noah was on the island. "It only took time." Oreni narrowed his eyes at Ra'eon, a strange glint in them.
"Well, I suppose we'll just have to take you down again." He removed his hand from the pearl and glared around at the table. "Get out! This is between me and the so-called god." The rest of the members of the meeting stood and quickly made their way out of the room. Ra'eon kept his face calm, but hoped that Noah didn't get seen as they were leaving. He didn't know what Oreni was going to be doing now, but it probably wasn't good.
Noah, tried to stay unnoticed as she made her way behind Oreni, she was fairly certain she was unnoticed. she inched her way closer to him using the noise of people leaving to cover the sound of her footsteps and the soft swish of her skirt. She knew what she was about to do was probably stupid, magic being magic and all, his skin might be impossible to pierce even with her carefully sharpened steel knife.
Her mind was raging with conflict, this was a stupid Idea, she should pull that old revolver out of her bag but it made more noise, it wasn't stealthy. Ra'eon probably didn't even want to kill him, he was to kind of a soul, would he ever forgive her for taking a life on the island he protected , probably not. Her plan shifted then, normally in these situations she would be told to go for the kill, in special situations the plan was to keep the person from running away and making nose. In this case, making nose wasn't an issue, let him scream, he had already sent every on away, but movement, she could maybe stop. Her target switched, take out the legs and he wont be able to run. Let Ra'eon handle his arms. She still hated this plan.
She was in position, Ra'eon was the distraction, she had to act. Almost impossible to see, Noah's arm lashed out. If her stroke hit, it would slice through both his calf's, deeply, there would be no running away.
(I don't want to auto hit, that's up to you to decide)
Ra'eon's eyes darted around the room, watching Noah moving behind Oreni. She had a knife in her hand, which probably meant this encounter would end in blood. Preferably, Oreni's.
"Well, Oreni. What was it you wanted to say to me?" Ra'eon asked, shifting slightly into a ready position. If Noah didn't do… whatever she was going to do soon, he wanted to be ready to defend himself.
"Nothing." The man threw his hand towards Ra'eon. Before anything could happen, though, Oreni yelled in pain and dropped to his knees. It appeared Noah had hit her target. Ra'eon walked sharply towards him, an angry glint in his eyes.
"Well. Seems you're not going to do anything, either." He laughed shortly and stopped at Oreni's side. "Good job," he added, glancing at Noah with a small smile. "Now, it's time for you to give me back what's mine." Ra'eon reached for the pearl. Oreni stared up at him, his expression a mixture of pain and hatred.
"You think you've won. How stupid of you." He glanced behind him at Noah. "Nice try." Oreni clasped both hands around the pearl and shouted a word. It was in the ancient language of the islands– how did Oreni know it? Ra'eon only worried about that for a few seconds before the meaning of the word sank in: transport. A blue-green aura of light spread from his fingers, too fast for Ra'eon to react. "Noah!" He yelled, reaching for her hand. There was no telling where Oreni was taking them and he didn't want to be separated from her in case it was somewhere dangerous. She could probably defend herself, but it was better to be safe.
Noah smirked, not so tough was he. He wasn't impossible to hit. She had done her job, successfully too, there was no way he was running off with that wound. "And this is why you always have a plan." she commented.
Noah's feeling of accomplishment was quickly whisked away when the light began to emit from Oreni's hands. The World seemed to slow, that, that had to be magic. Her eye's widened in fear, instinctively she reached out for Ra'eon. She heard him shout her name, the slight panic in Ra'eon's voice frightened her more then she liked to admit. She grabbed his hand and braced herself for what ever was coming.
Ra'eon held onto Noah's hand tightly as the blue-green light enveloped them. A feeling of weightlessness took hold of him first, followed closely by the sensation of moving very quickly. Ra'eon had no idea where they were going, but hoped it was somewhere in the islands. Given that it was the pearl that had caused this, he was guessing the islands were the only places it could take them to. The light disappeared suddenly, allowing Ra'eon to see where they were. For a split second him, Noah, and Oreni were hanging in the air over an island. They were so high Ra'eon could see the entire island. And then they were falling. Ra'eon shouted some curses in the general direction of Oreni– they didn't help the situation, but Oreni deserved it. His hand was still clutching Noah's, which would make keeping her alive much easier. He still had some time to think about a plan, since the ground was still fairly far away from them.
Noah did all she could to refrain from screaming as they plummeted towards the earth. instead she began shouting out snarky remarks. "It will be simple? go in grab the pearl get out. I have a plann he says, marching into the building clearly with out a plan." all the while she held on to Ra'eon, her science brain told her to do something, spead out, make you self fall slower, but she was frozen terrified of the fall. Then suddenly she wasn't falling out of the sky but over the side of a ship, roaring waves crashing against the wooden sides, enveloping it in freezing water. She clung to Ra'eon, "Magic, you have magic right, Magic means people survive 200 meter falls from the sky." Her words were lost to the wind as it whipped bast them stealing the words from her mouth.
Ra'eon could faintly hear Noah yelling something. From the words he could hear, it seemed like she was insulting him. He shot her a glare that said 'this is clearly not the time', then focused on the ground below them. There was nothing but jungle. Maybe, if he had the pearl, he could gather enough magic to slow their descent. Ra'eon looked around for Oreni. He was falling quite near to them, looking like he had already accepted his fate. Of course. Ra'eon stretched a hand towards the pearl, fingers grasping at it. Thank the stars Oreni's eyes were closed or he might have– no, he would have– stopped him. After a few fumbles, Ra'eon's fingers managed to connect with the pearl. Oreni's eyes shot open, but it was too late for him. By now, they were so close to the trees that Ra'eon could make out details of the leaves. He clutched the pearl tighter and called on all the magic he could to stop them from falling. The trees they were about to crash into suddenly parted, giving them a little longer. Ra'eon squeezed his eyes shut, doing everything he could to slow their fall. The wind whistling past his ears got softer until it was barely there. He opened his eyes to see they were hovering only an arms lenght or so off the ground. He let the magic dissipate and they dropped onto the grass. Oreni must have been in shock since he didn't immediately try to attack Ra'eon.