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

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

tune

I have a new character that needs fleshing out, and I figured I might as well throw him into an rp and see what happens! I'm thinking this is just going to be a chill rp about a small village suffering from frequent bandit attacks and the stranger that bursts into their lives. It could be romance, it could be platonic, it could be two people fighting none-stop… we'll see what happens, I guess! And of course, if you have any ideas, throw them at me. Let's make this interesting! :)

It was very early in the morning when Jin woke up. He hadn't been able to sleep much lately, not after… well, the incident. And he was still getting used to this house, too. It creaked a lot, especially at night. Or maybe he just noticed it more at night because it was so quiet. He probably should have chosen a different one, one with less work to be done. Then again, he had been suffering from something when he dragged himself into this house. He hadn't been able to make the best decisions at that point. At least he would have something to do. Though… getting materials would be an issue. He'd figured out there was a village across the river from him, hidden behind a hill. He didn't have any money to pay for materials, however.
"Ah, enough of that!" Jin shouted out loud, his voice shattering the silence. The silence was taking any thinking and making it overthinking. He was not a fan of that. "Fire first, then we can talk, eh?" Yeah, he was talking to himself. Yeah, he was probably going crazy. Anyone in his position would be. They should be, at least. "Fire first, then we'll figure out breakfast." He pulled himself out of his makeshift bed and stumbled over to the fireplace. Making the fire took a while, mostly on account of him struggling to actually light it, but it was worth it. It added a little warmth to the otherwise very sketchy house. Jin should probably be getting something to eat, but instead, he dropped to the ground in front of the fire. It was a miracle he was still keeping it together. "No, no, stop that. Stop that!" He shouted, running his hands through his hair. His hair, which should be a brown-red color. Not this pure, cotton-white color. And that was just the beginning of the things he was losing his mind over.

Iro looked down at the map in his hands, then back up at the scenery before him, uncertainity furrowing his brow.

This was the place, right…?

He rubbed his face with a hand, his thoughts desperately racing to establish his location. He had gone through the painstaking process of reassuring the most worrisome person he knew that, yes, he would be perfectly fine on his own, and, no, he was most definitely not going to get lost on the way, his sense of direction was quite fine.

Yet here he was. He clenched his jaw. Aeolus didn't have to know.

At least he wasn't here on a contract.

In the midst of trying to figure out just where the heck he was, a house caught his attention. A house meant people, and people meant society. Maybe they could point him towards the right direction.

He pocketed the map and shifted his weight, readjusting the straps on his travelpack before making his way to the house's entrance. If he couldn't get directions, maybe he could get a place to get his bearings.

Hopefully it wasn't too early in the morning. He gave the door a couple firm knocks, and waited patiently for a response.

Jin was teetering right on the edge of what he was guessing was a mental breakdown when someone knocked on the door. Oh, great. A distraction. He stood quickly– a little too quickly, leading to him nearly falling over– and started towards the door. Hopefully they wouldn't be someone he knew. Though why someone he knew would be around here, he didn't know. He was getting paranoid. If it was someone he knew, though… Jin glanced down at his clothes. They were clothes you would only find in the city on the back of someone important, not a simple present living in the countryside. Well, if they asked, he could always say he stole them. If they saw his face, though, they would recognize him for sure. Jin did a quick circle and grabbed the first thing he could find. A few seconds, he was decked out in a disintegrating hat with a piece of threadbare cloth draped over his face. He was sort of able to see, but no one should be able to see his face now. Disguise complete, Jin stepped to the door and yanked it open.
"What do you want?" Yes, this was a completely neutral greeting. Quick and straight to the point. It was perfect. He was probably losing his mind. This was fine.

Iro blinked, eyes widening at the blunt response and the unusually dressed individual who offered it. He had been taken by surprise, and had to remind himself that staring was rude before he finally managed to get some words out. His sky-blue gaze wandered frantically, now trying to find something to focus on that wasn't the fellow before him.

"Oh, uhm, I-I guess I'll cut to the chase," he began, his attempts at remaining professional quickly falling apart the more he realized just how odd everything felt. "I'm an ambassador for the Ash Brigade in Darchester, heading to the city of Edenborough, but I, well… don't quite know where I am in relation to either of those cities anymore. You wouldn't happen to know the whereabouts of this area, would you?"

Jin watched as the man fumbled for an appropriate response to his appearance, lips curving into a small smile. It was funny to watch. And another plus– he didn't know this man at all. That meant that he could probably take off the disguise. It was making his face itch anyway. "Darchester and Edenborough?" He frowned, pulling the hat off his head with an unnecessary flourish and tossing it into the house behind him. He himself had absolutely no idea where he was, but he made a show of thinking really hard. "No clue." Jin shrugged, giving the stranger a look that said 'what are you going to do?'. "We're in the countryside. In the middle of nowhere. There's a village down that road and over the bridge. That's all I know." Movement a little ways down the road caught his eye, prompting him to turn towards it. Ah, gods. It was the bandits again. They had tried to rob him a few days ago, which didn't go well for a few reasons. First, the only thing he owned was the clothes on his back. Second, seeing as they were his only possessions, he was especially adamant about keeping them in his possession. They must be mad if they thought they could try him again. "Hey! You! Don't even think about it!" Jin leveled a warning finger at them, his black eyes narrowing into a fierce glare. The bandits all looked at him, their faces shifting into various stages of fear. It was a rather comical reaction, given that he was 5'4" and appeared as though a strong wind might take him out. One bandit whispered something to the rest, and they all took off down the road towards the village.

Seeing the flamboyance with which the figure before him removed the garment that was obscuring his face, hearing that he was likely nowhere near either his starting point nor his destination, and observing the exchange between the man and what seemed to be a gang of bandits now heading towards the village made him wonder if he'd actually died on the way to Edenborough and this was his punishment for not checking the mail before he left like Aeolus had asked. His bewilderment with the whole situation was becoming increasingly difficult to disguise, and he was starting to think attempting to pretend he didn't notice how weird everything had become would be more rude than openly acknowledging it.

"Is… should we… they're not going to pose a threat to the village, are they?" he managed, voice breaking as he attempted to put a coherent sentence together. "Who… who are you, exactly?"

"Eh…" Jin trailed off. He had forgotten that the village was over there. "Probably, actually. Well, it's not like I have anything else to do." It appeared his breakfast would have to wait. Maybe this would earn him some free house-repairing materials, also. Everyone would be so grateful for his help! "Huh? Oh. I'm Jin." That wasn't his real name, but his real name had been brutally murdered and he couldn't use it anymore. He'd chosen Jin, Oprei for 'flower', because of the prophecy, 'there will be a child of the flowers who carries the will of the small gods with them'. It was funny to him, at least. And names pertaining to flowers were very common because of it. He could disappear easier this way. "I'm going to go stop them." Jin stepped out of house and slammed the door behind him. "If you're lost, you should probably come as well. They know where we are, most likely." With that, Jin started down the road towards the bridge. Taking on that many was probably a stupid idea. But he was feeling especially stupid that day. And he really needed to repair the hole in the roof. It hadn't rained yet, but when it did, he would be very sad.

Jin. Okay. He had a name. That made things easier, probably.

The slam of the door startled Iro, and he tensed, standing up straight, only to remember that he wasn't back at the Brigade and he wasn't being called to attention. He relaxed with a weary sigh, running a hand through his curly blond hair. Old habits die hard.

"Okay, sure, sounds good," he agreed, retrieving his staff from the side of his travel pack and extending it to its full length — just shorter than him, who stood at what would be an intimidating 6'2" if he was anything even resembling intimidating himself. Despite his tall, sturdy figure and defined form, his generally gentle nature made any task requiring being scary rather difficult. He gripped the cool metal of his staff, taking comfort in familiarity. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to use it.

"I'm Iro, by the way," he added, an introduction having slipped his mind up until that point. "If we're taking on these bandits, I assume you have some kind of fighting experience, right?"

"Iro. Alright." Jin nodded. "Fighting experience? Sure." He had way too much of that. But it would be put to good use. To get him a roof. Jin turned onto the wooden bridge crossing the river and got his first real look at the village. It was small and cute and full of people screaming. Probably because of the bandits standing in the middle if it all, demanding stuff in exchange for not killing anyone.
"Alright, let's move a little faster, eh? I'm patient, but some of my men? Not so much," The person Jin guessed was the leader shouted, clapping his hands a few times. Jin hadn't seen him before. A single house probably wasn't important enough for him to bother with.
"The hell do you think you're doing?" Jin stopped at the edge of the chaos and crossed his arms over his chest. "I thought we agreed to never cross paths again."
"Who are you?" The leader turned towards him, eyes flicking from Iro to Jin in a second. "A rich city boy looking to play the hero?"
"I'm actually broke. I stole these clothes from a dead guy. Don't you think the colors look nice on me?" Jin paused for a second to pose for the bandit, then continued. "Anyway, I'm the guy who sent three of your men back to you cold. So… Shoo. Git. Scram. Etcetera." He waited for the bandit's reaction, which took a few seconds on account of him being utterly dumbfounded at Jin's response.
"You're crazy." The bandit finally decided. "And dead, for killing my men." He waved a lazy hand towards Jin, as if he couldn't be bothered with him much longer.

Iro blinked. This man took on three bandits by himself? Maybe they actually stood a chance.

His own past mercenary work coupled with being the Director's right-hand-man in Darchester's most notorious assassin's guild made him a formidable force of his own, but no experience in the world could make up for being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Two against a bandit clan seemed like better odds to him, even if the numbers were still against them.

He slid his travel bag off his back and let it drop to the ground, poising himself for combat. The hand clutching his staff began to flicker, little sparks of electricity dancing from his fingers to the staff and back again. Steel was a sturdy metal, some of the finest weapons having been forged from it and its variations. And, as some poor unfortunate bandits were about to find out, it made for an excellent conductor.

Without giving it a second thought, Iro dove headfirst into the scene, ambushing a bandit from behind and yanking him back by the neck with his staff. He tossed him to the side, where the bandit stumbled and fell to the ground and a quick smack to the side of the head with the end of his weapon put him out of the fight. Almost instantly, two more bandits were on him, and while a good blast of electricity managed to take out one, he found his staff dancing with the swords of the other.

Jin was slightly surprised when Iro jumped into the fight, but that meant less work for him. And less rewards, but he could deal with it. He launched himself at the nearest bandit with no weapon to speak of and emerged from the fight with a shiny new sword. And a few cuts, but they were small. He stepped away from the still body and gestured at it.
"I have killed a forth! I recommend this stops immediately unless you want me to continue to show off my ability to count!" The leader narrowed his eyes, but didn't seem deterred. Instead, he took it as a challenge against him personally.
"You will be the fifth." The leader drew his sword, probably going for an intimidating approach.
"That sounded stupid," Jin replied, laughing in a slightly hysterical way. "But good on you for knowing how to count." This entire endeavor was foolish, and he was just making everything worse. He knew how to control himself, at least before. But he couldn't make himself care anymore. Not about appearances or any of it. Maybe that's what happened once you've died.
The bandit leader was good. He was skilled, Jin would give him that. But was he as good as Jin? No, not really. If anyone else had attacked him, he might have had to do something more drastic. But thankfully the leader seemed to want to take revenge on his own. Which is why he found himself on the ground with Jin's sword to his throat.
"Well, that's the end of the road for you." Jin winced. "You should have really just walked on by this town."

Iro couldn't help but crack up as he overheard the exchange between Jin and the bandit leader. This man had absolutely no sense of self preservation, and while that made the scenario entertaining to watch, it made Iro equally worried that Jin would get himself into more trouble than he could handle.

The brief moment of distraction was more than enough opportunity for his opponent, however, and Iro narrowly avoided getting his chest sliced open. The blade instead grazed the skin, a thin line of blood surfacing where the sword had made its mark, but was otherwise no cause for concern. Iro retaliated by plunging his staff into the bandit's stomach, ending the fight. He let the bandit fall to the ground.

But then, a sudden cry caught his attention. A bandit barged out of a house, hauling a satchel over his back. A young boy seemed desperate to go after him, yet his mother was, with equal desperation, attempting to restrain him. The fleeing bandit took one look at his fallen chief, then decided to book it on his own terms. Iro gave chase.

The bandit wasn't terribly difficult to catch up to, being a rather scrawny fellow. Iro grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw him to the ground, planting a foot firmly on his chest to hold him down.

"Oh, look at you," sneered the bandit, the wind clearly knocked out of him from the impact. "Such a… brave, strong boy you are."

Iro rolled his eyes. "Save the breath you still have. I'll leave you be if you hand over what you stole."

"Yeah, right," the bandit scoffed, pulling out a dagger and attempting to drive it into Iro's leg, to which a pulse of electricity was more than enough to put an end to the bandit. Iro took the satchel and slung it over his shoulder, making his way back to the boy and her mother. He set down the satchel, and the boy tore free of his mother's grip, digging through until he retrieved a stuffed rabbit. The mother took the satchel, casting an exasperated glance at her child before nodding her gratitude to Iro. He smiled in return, ushering the two back into the house. When the door was shut and locked, he turned his attention over to Jin and the bandit leader.

The bandit leader sneered at him, which Jin thought was very funny given his current situation. On second thought, it was probably because he was seeing something Jin wasn't. Seconds later, someone stabbed him in the back. It hardly hurt at all, but Jin was curious. Would the same thing happen? The last time someone had stabbed him and cut his throat, so it had been worse. The bandit pulled the sword out of his back and Jin slumped forward. He felt absolutely fine, but he just needed to take a short break. The leader laughed and pushed Jin off, probably thinking he was done for. Incorrect.
"Well, it's down to one. Do you really think you can take us all on?" The leader grinned at Iro, spreading his hands wide. "Surrender and we'll let you live."
"Somehow I don't believe you," Jin spoke up, pulling himself to his feet. The air around him smelled of lavender, witch hazel swirling around him in a lazy circle. "I bet you'll kill him the moment he surrenders. So, don't." Jin glanced towards Iro and waved a warning finger at him. He was mildly surprised he was still alive, but it was nice. How many more times would he get to do that? It would help if the small gods would let him in on their little plan, but alas. Jin scooped up the sword he'd dropped and stabbed it through the bandit's chest. "Scatter!" He yanked the sword out and pushed the leader away.

Iro had caught on to the figure sneaking up behind Jin a tad too late, and all he could do was watch in horror as the bandit drove their sword straight through Jin. He grit his teeth and held his breath, his knuckles white from how firmly he gripped his staff. This was, to put it frankly, a tight spot, and he'd hardly processed what had just happened before him.

He wouldn't let the bandit leader in on his unease, however, and held his ground even when he was offered a chance to surrender. Before he could respond, however, and much to his surprise, Jin pushed himself off the ground, now surrounded by some pleasant floral smells.

Was that.. lavender? Lavender and… it took a minute, Iro didn't quite have the smell of herbs down… witch hazel? No, yeah, that had to be witch hazel.

…What exactly was going on here?

"Hadn't planned on it," Iro replied, cracking a grin. If Jin could survive a sword to the back, it seemed the odds were more in their favor than he initially thought.

But Jin's command ended up confusing him, especially in the midst of all the chaos that erupted after Jin resurrected. Was he telling the bandits to scatter, or were they the ones scattering? He found himself occupied with two more bandits, so he figured he'd keep an eye on Jin and follow whatever he did.

"Mmm, good." Jin nodded at Iro, then turned his attention to the problem. The bandits were mostly not scattering, which was not what Jin wanted. He wanted them to leave so he didn't have to deal with them anymore. "Did you not hear what I said? Your leader is dead! I think you should leave, don't you?"
"Here, try this," A voice whispered next to his ear, accompanied by a little giggle. Jin turned to look for the source of the noise but found nothing. Instead, two flowers appeared in his hand. A poppy and wolfsbane. What the hell was he supposed to do with this?
"Scatter!" He tried again, waving the flowers in the air above him. In unison, the bandits' eyes widened at something he couldn't see. They all stopped what they were doing and backed towards each other, yelping at something very scary. At least, he guessed it was scary. They looked like they were seeing something scary. "Leave, you idiots!" Jin waved the flowers again, which seemed to strike even more fear into the bandits' hearts. They gathered up their weapons and their dead as quickly as they could and practically sprinted out of there. It was quite a sight. "Bye! Don't come back!" Jin let out an annoyed sigh and moved to inspect the flowers in his hand. What had they just done? Also, where had they come from?

Iro had managed to fell one bandit while Jin harassed the remaining bandits — a task he seemed to be having a hard time with. It wasn't until some flowers appeared in his hand that the bandits were struck with a new kind of fear, including the one Iro was currently dueling. Iro was left bewildered at the sight of the scattering bandits, and he found his attention being drawn to the flowers Jin was waving around. He was much more well versed in what each flower looked like as opposed to their smell, and he easily recognized the poppy and wolfsbane.

Iro had absolutely no clue about the prophecy, but he was someone with a florist for a father, and he himself indulged in gardening as a hobby. Poppy and wolfsbane, as he understood them, were both poisonous flowers commonly representing death, which probably explained why the bandits were so terrified of them. But, running with that line of logic meant that floral language was an integral part of this society's culture, and Iro didn't know enough about the area to say whether or not that was a safe assumption to make. He was aware that all the assumptions he was making could, in fact, be entirely incorrect, and he was just a crazy flower boy, as he was often referred to as by his friends.

All he knew for sure was that flowers meant something. And he, fortunately, knew flowers very well.

He collapsed his staff and walked over to Jin, peering at the flowers in his hand.

"Flowers? That's all it took?" he scoffed. "Those are only poisonous if you eat them. What got them so worked up?"

As Jin was staring at the flowers, he remembered a branch of rare magic gifted to the favorites of the small gods. All it took was the right combination of flowers and herbs, and one could do extraordinary things. He'd never really thought it was a real thing, at least up until now. 'Magic' was something possessed by the Gealei people in the northeast, not anyone here. And yet, here he was.
"The small gods. Those crazy little beings." Jin snapped his fingers and tucked the flowers into his pocket. He might need them later. "I bet they did this. Do you think they have a book about all of this?" He turned to look at Iro. "No, probably not."
"Um… Excuse me. Are you… Are you here to help us?" Jin whirled around to see that the villagers had all gathered while he was mulling over the flowers. They looked nervous, but also… a bit as though they were seeing something they had been waiting for for a long time. He didn't like that look. It reminded him of before.