(They do not get along and I love it)
Noah would have crumpled to the ground the moment her feet touched the earth but her leg's seemed to be locked in place, her hand still gripped Ra'eons, fingers to stiff to let go. "Alright, remember all of those insults I threw out, yeah I take them back." She forced her body to regain mobility, letting go of Ra'eon and stumbling a few paces. "Let's not do that again, and you." She pointed at Oreni with her knife, "You are officially my least favorite person, wait no, I hate Mr. Adwell, more, second least favorite person." She was pointing at Oreni, but why were there three of him?
It was clear to any observer that Miss.Noah Thane was very disoriented and in need of a nap.
(Oh, yeah. :)
"Ha." Ra'eon gave her a slight smile, then turned towards Oreni. The pearl was still clutched in his hand, and Oreni seemed to still be in shock. Ra'eon dropped next to him and untied the necklace from around his neck. The moment it left Oreni's possession, something in him changed. He relaxed slightly, the look in his eyes going softer. Ra'eon glared at him as he tied the necklace around his own neck. The familiar feel of the cool pearl against his skin calmed him down slightly.
"Where did you take us?" Ra'eon demanded, joining Noah in staring at Oreni in anger.
"I, uh." Oreni glanced between Ra'eon and Noah's knife. "As far away from the village as possible," He finally answered, frowning.
"That's perfect." Ra'eon glanced at Noah, noting how unsteady she looked. "We can rest here for a little. Then we need to focus on getting back." He moved right next to Oreni, not wanting to let the man out of his sight. "If you want to sleep, I'll make sure nothing attacks you." Noah looked like she could use a bit of sleep. Falling from such a great height, even if their fall had been slowed at the last moment, would probably fray the nerves. Ra'eon was also pretty tired from stopping the fall from being fatal, but some quiet time would be enough for him to recover.
Noah nodded, "Sleep, Sleep would be nice."
Sleep would be nice, but could she really trust that this Oreni person wouldn't escape or do something horrid? There were so many unknowns so many dangers. However, Ra'eon did just break the laws of gravity and keep them from becoming a smudge on the jungle floor. She tossed one of the strips of fabric that was once a part of her skirt to Ra'eon, "Just tie him up would you, Pearl or no pearl magic or no, it never hurts."
She curled up in a ball on the ground using her satchel as a pillow and was asleep almost instantly. The worry and stress faded from her face. Only then was her youth apparent, it was remarkable she wasn't or married to some wealthy friend of the family.
(I apologize for the late response– school started up and it is wild right now. My responses might be a little less frequent going forward. Sorry again! :)
Ra'eon nodded, catching the fabric Noah threw at him. She was right. Even without the pearl, he couldn't underestimate Oreni. For all he knew, the man had another magical artifact hidden on his person and was just waiting for them to drop their guard. Oreni didn't protest as Ra'eon tied his arms behind his back. He still seemed slightly confused about what was going on, but it might just be an act. After tying him up, Ra'eon sat down next to Oreni. He looked at Noah, who was already asleep. She seemed so peaceful he just had to smile. It was nice to see her without stress for once. Ra'eon sighed and glanced at Oreni. He was staring at the sky, eyebrows creased. There was something weird about his demenour– had the pearl really changed him so much? Ra'eon shook his head slightly and looked back at Noah.
(It's alright! Life comes before anything else)
Noah slept peacefully, until she didn't. Peaceful dreams turned to nightmares in a moment of minutes, her brow furrowed as she slept painful memories rising to the surface.There she was about to leave the docs, saying good by to her reluctant mother and furious father, her younger Brother looked on tearfully, the only one with enough brain power to guess her true motives. A tearful goodbye interrupted by a voice she knew and wanted to avoid, she raced on to the ship, before that person could arrive. Then she was in a storm, the waves tossing the boat like it would a rag doll. There was the crew, her best friend came bellow, asking for help up deck, she obliged. Then she was struggling, captive between several arms, she kicked and screamed,her voice lost, stolen by the raging wind and crashing waves. Shen she was falling, plummeting into the raging waters bellow. she was fighting to stay afloat, as her body was tossed by the waves, a lose rope dangled from the ship, she caught hold. Then it went slack. a wave rose and curled gravity pulling it towards her form, she braced for impact… then she was falling, hundreds of meters from the sky, but this time there was no hand to hold. the leafy jungle floor raced to meet her, finish what the ocean had started.
Noah woke suddenly, coughing and sputtering, she wrapped her shaking arms around her knee's and rocked there silence broken by the sound of her cough.
(I think she was asleep for an hour maybe two)
(Cool, thank you!)
Oreni fell asleep shortly after Noah, leaving Ra'eon alone with his thoughts. His memories of what the islands used to be floated to the surface. Images of the people he'd left in the past swirled around, leaving a bittersweet feeling. Was it true what that man had said? Had Kai's daughter really escaped from those people who'd locked him up? Kai's face was suddenly at the forefront of his memories, her dark eyes gleaming with pride. Oh, wow, he really missed her… she had been the best friend anyone could have ever had. And now she was gone. He was destined to leave people from the start, but he had thought he'd get to say goodbye, at least. Oreni shifted in his sleep and let out a small sigh. Ra'eon glanced at him, eyebrows creased. How had he gotten ahold of the pearl? The only reasonable answer was that he was descended from the people who'd frozen Ra'eon in stone. They wouldn't have let their most prized possession go to anyone who wasn't loyal to them. Half of him wanted to end Oreni right there and the other half wanted to know the full story. Ra'eon let out an angry breath and ran his hands through his hair. This was not an easy question to answer.
Ra'eon's contemplation was interrupted by Noah's abrupt awakening. Oreni was still asleep, somehow, so Ra'eon deemed it safe enough to leave him for a little while.
"Are you okay?" He asked crouching down beside her. She looked like she hadn't had a restful sleep. "Did you have a nightmare?"
"I- Yeah, you could say that." She replied forcing her body to relax,"It was just a few memories from the last few day's none pleasant, "Saying goodbye to my family, and-" She stopped, "Well, I"m sure you're not interested in hearing my life story." She frowned, her dreams confirmed what she already knew, she had been tossed over board. Abandoned by her closest friends. She didn't realize tears were streaming down her face until they dripped onto her hands, she pulled out a damp handkerchief and began dabbing at her eye's.
"I'm sorry, here I am weeping like a child, as a prisoner sits before us, and a journey ahead."
Ra'eon listened to her speak, a slightly worried expression on his face. "No, it's fine. If talking makes it easier or makes you feel better, I will listen." He gave her a warm smile, his expression dropping back to worried at the tears. "Hey, you're alright." Ra'eon hesitated, then placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I've always thought it's better to let your feelings run free instead of bottling them up." A soft snorting sound came from the direction of Oreni, who seemed to have finally woken up. "Shut up, Oreni." Ra'eon glared at him, then looked back at Noah. "Just ignore him. Do whatever you need to do to feel better. We're in no rush." This was mainly because he had no idea what to do, besides getting back to the village. As for what they would do once they got there, and what they would do to Oreni… he had no clue.
Noah didn't mind his hand on her shoulder, she found it comforting, she considered his words carefully. On the one hand everything she would say was terribly personal and highly improper to share as they were only just acquainted, Well, curse tradition, she decided, she was stranded on an Island where people could break physics.
"I was recently engaged to a man that I did not wish to marry, but he had good relations and 5,000 a year, not to mention my mother was very anxious that I should marry well, His name was Mr. Adwell. You see I do have a brother, Edward, with whom she and I could live potentially but he is a terribly sickly child, always coming home with a cold and running a fever, we do not know how long he will live. So when Mr. Adwell showed interest I welcomed the opportunity, and soon after we were engaged, I was 18 at the time."
She paused dabbing at her eye's before continuing.
"Well after we became engaged Mr. Adwell was not as kind as he once was, acting strangely and once I visited him in Town and found him in the arms of another woman's embrace. I was terribly shocked, but he made me swear not to speak of it. I was already promised to him we were as good as married, So I got away. I began going on adventures around the world visiting the colonies in Africa and visiting Australia, I was even involved in a trip to America once. I ran away from the marriage as long as I could, I became terribly close with my shipmates. Well that all ended about a month ago when Mr. Adwell announced our wedding would take place in 6 months. I Begged to go on one final trip, not to far away, a last journey with my crew. I was granted it and Instead of heading to Ireland, We headed towards America, I have no intention of going back to a loveless marriage where my only job is to produce an heir and decorate the Arm Of Mr. Adwell." She sighed, the tears slowing, as she talked about her determination.
"I will miss my brother, and My father, my mother too though not not so terribly. But as you can see we did not make it to America, we got caught in a terrible storm, I was told by a very dear friend of mine that I was required above deck, I should have seen the sadness and terror in his eye's as a warning, instead I followed, the moment I was above deck they tossed me over the side. There is an old story in the bible, the person running away had to be cast overboard and the storm stopped, I suppose they thought me running from a marriage a sin, and God would punish them for assisting me."
She finished the tears beginning again. "There, I am still crying but I think you are right, I feel much better, I've been holding that in for quite sometime."
(Now you get Noah's backstory, not all of it but a good chunk)
(Ooh, wonderful!)
Ra'eon shifted slightly into a sitting position, wanting to pay as much attention to Noah's story as he could. His hand was still on her shoulder, mostly because he'd forgotten he put it there. There were some parts of her story that he didn't understand, but overall, he thought he got the main ideas. Noah had been engaged to someone she didn't love, someone who didn't treat her well at all. She had decided to get away from it all with her friends, which Ra'eon thought was incredibly brave and a smart idea, as well. It seemed like this story could get a bittersweet ending– well, it hadn't, since she was here on the island with him– but then her last journey. From what she had said, these people she traveled with were very good friends and people she trusted immensely. How could they turn on her like that simply because they thought some god was punishing them with a storm? Ra'eon's face darkened in anger ever so slightly at the end of her story, but he managed to push it back. Getting angry at things that had already happened wouldn't help her.
"Noah…" He sighed, wanting to give her a comforting hug but not wanting to make her uncomfortable. Another pat on the shoulder should do. "What you did was very brave, and I am very sorry those people did that to you." Ra'eon smiled sadly. "I don't know what kind of god would punish someone for trying to save themselves from a loveless situation, though. I know I would never do that," He added softly, glancing down at the pearl hanging around his neck. The job of a god, in his opinion, was to protect people and/or places. Even he forgot that, Ra'eon realized, glancing at Oreni. Revenge wasn't the answer. Killing wasn't either, at least not yet. He had to verify that Oreni hadn't been taken over by the pearl before doing anything rash. If the pearl had been controlling Oreni, then it wasn't really his fault. What had happened to Ra'eon wasn't Oreni's fault, either. It was the fault of his ancestors, and they were all dead already.
Noah smiled in appreciation, wiped away the last of her tears, then stood up. "Well, it's in the past, right now I am stuck on an Island and we have a prisoner." She pushed the conflict to the back of her mind, there were more pressing matters at hand, specifically this individual they had tired up with strips of her very nice skirt.
"So, was it the pearl making him crazy and power hungry or is he himself crazy and power hungry?" She asked as she moved to stand a few feet from him, "He doesn't look nearly as intimidating as he did earlier."
Ra'eon nodded and stood as well. His eyes were still on Oreni, who was staring into the underbrush, eyebrows drawn together. "That is a good question." Before deciding anything, he should make sure Oreni wouldn't be trying to kill them along the way. Ra'eon walks over to Oreni and knelt down in front of him. He should be able to tell if the pearl had poisoned Oreni's mind. Oreni turned towards Ra'eon, still looking a bit confused.
"What are you–" Ra'eon placed one finger on Oreni's lips and another one over his heart. "Mmm?"
"Shush." He closed his eyes and concentrated. After a few seconds, it was clear Oreni hadn't been totally in control of his mind at the village. "Alright, it was the pearl. I think he should be way less murderous in a few more minutes." Ra'eon looked back at Noah with a smile and stood up.
"What are you talking about? What is going on?" Oreni exclaimed, glancing between Ra'eon and Noah with a slight look of panic in his eyes.
"Well," Noah began, "You were ruling a people who by the looks of it really didn't like you, you were also not very kind based on my short observations. Let's see, you then refused to return stolen property, and when we tried to take it back forcefully you took us here, where we are stranded until Ra'eon can get us back." Noah felt slightly sorry for the man, after all he was not entirely in possession of his mind, but she was still rather ticked.
"You're accused of attempted murder, unsafe practice of magic, Possession of a stolen Item, and subjecting an entire population to your Rule." Noah said, she had no Idea how the legal practices worked on this Island but it sounded good so she ran with it.
"You also stranded us here with no shelter, no clean water, and no good source of food, not to mention made my my day go from Bad to worse." Noah said, she remained calm through out her delivery, letting him know all of his offense would be enough pain for him if he hadn't had a will of his own, yelling needn't be added to the mix.
"But all of that probably wasn't your fault." She said finishing her accusations, the panic in his eye's reminded her too much of a frightened child, so much confusion and fear, no she couldn't blame him for everything.
Ra'eon watched Noah, eyes widening slightly. She really was going all out on Oreni, though mostly everything she said was true. The man was staring at her, the flicker of anger left over from the pearl making itself known again. "Um, yes, well said, Noah. Good points." Ra'eon gave her a quick smile. Before he could start discussing the next step of the plan– getting to the edge of the island and trying to find out which one they were on– Oreni started talking.
"What great company you keep, Eon. Where did you find her?" Oreni let out a breath, and flame of anger dying down slightly. "How are you here, anyway? Didn't they lock you up a long time ago?"
"I got free." Ra'eon ran a hand through his hair, ignoring his first question. "Now, are you going to cooperate with us?"
"It's not like I have a choice." Oreni waved his fingers at Ra'eon the best he could.
"Good enough. Now, which way should we go now…" He turned in a circle, trying to remember the layout of the islands from when they were up in the air. But they'd been turned around so much that he couldn't figure out where they were. "Pick a direction, I guess?"
Noah studied the sky above her, then flicked open the compass that hung around her neck, She studied it for a moment, then pulled out her journal flipping back a few pages and comparing her compass to what ever was on the page.
"I think.." She looked around for a moment then back at the compass, "I think the Village was that way." She pointed to where she was talking about, "I think we're North east from it so, yeah, that way." She snapped her compass shut and shoved the book back in her bag. "Looks like we have three or four hours before it get's dark so let's make progress while we can."
Navigating may not have been her job but every one in the troop had to know a thing or two encase of emergency, she just hoped her skills were good enough to get them back to some semblance of civilization.
Ra'eon watched Noah in fascination. Thank the stars she had made whatever note she had made. Otherwise, it would have taken way longer to find the village. He should have known where they were– he would have known, had it been before he'd gotten trapped– but he was still re-connecting with the islands. "Oh, good!" He grinned and waved at Oreni. "Get up, we're going." Oreni glared at Ra'eon, but stood.
"Can you untie my hands? It's hard to walk with them like this."
"No." Ra'eon shook his head. "The effects of the pearl haven't worn off yet. You might still try to kill us."
"I won't!" He exclaimed, turning to Noah. "Please?"
"What are you looking at me for? Ra'eon already said no and I support most of his Choices. And I'm still mad at you." Noah shook her head in disbelief.
"You could at least come up with a good excuse, walking around with your hands tied isn't difficult." Noah did not say exsactly how she knew this, but she also knew that it wouldn't be too difficult for him to escape those knots given enough time. She was anxious to get moving, every second spent here was a second more they were stuck in the jungle.
"Now, You can either follow us or, you can stay here and see how hospitable the jungle is in comparison." With that she began marching forward, hoping Ra'eon was following. If Oreni had even the smallest bit of intelligence he would follow.
Oreni wrinked his nose at Noah. Ra'eon had no idea why he even bothered trying to appeal to her when she was the one who'd stabbed him. She also made some good points– Oreni really could have picked any other excuse. Ra'eon watched as she marched off, then glanced at Oreni. He seemed to be considering staying there, but Ra'eon wasn't going to let that happen. He grabbed Oreni's arm and pulled the man after Noah. It was refreshing not being the one leading for once. Back then, everyone had always looked to him or Kai for answers or directions. It made sense, since he was the god of these islands, but it got a little dull after a while. He still loved it, but a change of pace every once in a while never hurt anyone. Even though they were basically stranded out here, Ra'eon couldn't help but enjoy the walk. No matter how wild or dangerous the islands were, he would always see them as beautiful. Maybe that was just his immortality speaking. Still, the vivid greens of the leaves and bright colors of the flowers couldn't be anything other than beautiful, could they?
Noah lead them through the jungle for a bit, she took in the vivid colors and unique shapes, it was a beautiful place to be stranded, and as she was quickly reminded by the massive snake she nearly walked into, quite deadly.
Her breath paused, she took a step back then another.
"Ra'eon, Please tell me you can deal with that because I certainly can't and it doesn't look very happy and it's bloody moving, help." SHe shriek in a very high pitched whisper. There were things Noah could handle, animals she could meet in the wild and not bat an eye. Spiders weren't a problem, giant deadly cat's, no issue. Wolves, bears, fine, she ran into a few Gators and crocodiles on a few trips, no issue. Snakes were an issue, especially large ones.
"Ra'eon, please, Snake, Big, not nice."
Ra'eon wasn't really paying attention to where he was going and almost ran into Noah when she stopped suddenly. "Huh? Why'd you– oh." His eyes landed on the snake. It really did look like it was about to kill something, so he could understand Noah's fear. Hopefully, he could convince the snake to get out of there and not bite anyone. Ra'eon took a deep breath and stepped around Noah, dragging Oreni behind him.
"Can you not? Just leave me with her or something. I don't want anything to do with your snake conference." Oreni grumbled, his steps slowing.
"No. Shut up." Ra'eon turned to the snake. "Um, hello. If you don't mind, could you relax somewhere else? Or if not, could you promise not to bite any of us?" Any words addressed at the snake were in Ra'eon's native language, since it was the closest one to the islands and therefore more likely to be understood by the creatures of the islands. The snake swayed it's head back and forth slightly.
"You're back. Nice to see you again, guardian." The snake's words hissed around Ra'eon's mind, making his skin crawl slightly. He'd have to get used to this, too, it seemed. "I won't move, but I won't hurt anyone in your group."
"Really? I mean– thank you, thank you." Ra'eon sighed and turned to Noah, switching back to speaking her language. "Come on, we can pass safely. Just, uh, walk quickly or something. Or you can close your eyes and I can guide you past, if you want."
Noah did her best to calm her breathing, It was ok Ra'eon figured it out, it would be alright.
"So if I just walk by it's not going to hurt me, I'm just going to slowly approach and-." Noah mumbled under her breath as she got closer, she could do this she was almost to where Ra'eon was now, so close. Now she was past him, and a few more steps, and another. then she was past the reptile, she turned around waiting for the other two still shaken but very much unscathed.
"Ok, can we like move please the further I am from the very polite nice snake the happier I will be."
Ra'eon waited for Noah to pass the snake patiently, keeping a warning eye on it. The snake stared back at him, staying perfectly still. "Of course, we can continue moving. Please, lead the way." He walked after Noah, giving the snake one last nod. It was already ignoring him again, which was totally fine with him. "And if you come across anything else like that, just call me."
"Are we going to have drama like this the entire trip?" Oreni complained, glaring at Ra'eon and then at Noah. "Seriously, it was just a snake. You shouldn't have to worry about anything with the high and mighty guardian protecting you." He snorted. Ra'eon closed his eyes for a second and let out a breath.
"Can you stay quiet for one minute?" He hissed, tightening his grip on Oreni's arm. "If you can't, I will make you." Oreni pressed his lips together. Hopefully, Ra'eon's threat would keep him quiet. He didn't need Oreni's useless remarks on this trip.
"Excuse me, I'm not the one that got us stuck out here, I'm trying to fix your mess, so save the comments." Noah replied looking at her compass again altering their coarse slightly, " Right , no more distractions, This way boy's, Ra'eon there's a tree root there don't trip, Oreni feel free to fall on your face I could use the amusement."
She continued on, occasionally stopping to look at the compass, as the sun dipped below the horizon she sighed heavily, "Well Looks like we're stuck out here for tonight. We'll have to camp."
Oreni's mouth pulled down into a pout, which made Ra'eon smile. He followed Noah's guidance, refusing to feel even the slightest bit silly that she was the one leading them around. But she obviously knew better, and this would give him a chance to keep an eye on Oreni at all times. Ra'eon laughed out loud at Noah's comment, which Oreni glower even more. Noah really was amazing. "Alright. I'm okay to just lay on the ground there, but if you're not, I get that. Do you need me to help you with anything?" Ra'eon asked, glancing around the area.
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