The Forgotten Ruins [Usque]

The fire was a warm and inviting thing in the center of the dank building, dispelling the shadows while the smoke curled cheerily out the hole in the roof. Glearsaby was curled up in a pile of mismatched cushions like the spoiled feline she was while Antaroo was busy hunting for her own prey under the cover of darkness. Varia was adding the final touches to an old bed frame, having filled it with pelts and whatever offerings her friends, the nymphs, had brought her to help her settle into the building she had chosen for herself to make a home.

She used quilts that the villagers brought her, not only to make her sleeping area warmer, but to throw over the top of the frame to help hold in the warmth. The smell of cooking boar filled the room with it's savory scent and caused her stomach to grumble with anticipation, her hunger starting to become apparent after her long day of working to make said home more hospitable for herself. All felt right and well in that moment.

Varia flopped back into the pile of pelts, happy to feel how much more comfortable it was than it had been. "I feel spoiled, don't you, cat?" she asked the uncaring lynx. When she received no answer, even in her mind as she normally would, she sat up and asked, "What do you know anyways, lazy beast?" The girl climbed out and said, "You stay where you are at and your likely to turn to stone," clearly joking. Glearsaby simply yawned and Varia waved a hand.

She moved outside with her water skin and dipped it into the brook that had forked off the River Usque, filling that up and then taking a long pull, set that aside and then glanced around her for a moment and pulling her outer clothing off. She waded into the water and began to scoop sand so she could scrub the work sweat from her. That was when the sound of her voice rang out in song.

She was glad she was not fully unclothed. With wide eyes, she sank quickly enough to her neck into the shallow water, her eyes wide as she peered at the stranger. She got out of the water and dried off just enough to pull her tunic over her head. She gathered her things and moved to the structure, pausing to look back at him, "Are you lost?" Her words were somewhat halting and had an odd accent like that of someone who did not speak much and didn't have that great a grasp at any language.

Varia slipped inside the dwelling and left the door open with the assumption he would follow her in, then popped a squat near the fire to slice some meat off of the bone.

She waved him in, though had a weary look on her face as she watched him. "You picked a scary place to travel alone, stranger. You could easily get lost in this forest." She hunkered down and checked the meat, then turned it on the spit. "It's going to rain soon, too. I could smell it in the air." thefantasysandbox.boards.net/post/new/3575

Cairex stirred as she moved, reaching an arm out and pulling her back as the fire lit up.

"While I appreciate the view you gave me, I think I'd rather have you snuggled up to me." He said, smiling and giving her a kiss.

"Good morning!"

Cairex looked at her with some surprise, having not expected her to say that, his brain still waking up from what had been a very cozy slumber.

"I...uh...what?" He said, realizing that she was looking at him in that way she did... "I...love you too." Cairex finally managed to get out after a few moments of open-mouthed stuttered noises.

He meant it though, completely and fully. Cairex wasn't sure he had ever been around someone who made him feel quite the way she did.

Cairex listened intently to her story, asking questions where necessary to ensure he understood. That her singing was magical in nature came as little surprise, it was how they had initially met. The rest of it was fairly interesting, as he had not been present in the area for any of those events, and as such knew very little of them.

"Well, to be fair, given my 'nature' it is hardly surprising at all." He said, the slight chuckling disguising his own disgust with his more distant past. "But...thank you for sharing it. It means a lot to me that you are willing to entrust me with such things." Another kiss punctuated his words. "And I admire you all the more because of it."

There would be no fading to black... There would be interruption by a strange voice that sounded like many woven into one. The source was unknown. Cairex, having become part of the people of the Usque, might find himself surprised to know he could probably hear the voice as well.

"Princess Faisine of Verri... We have chosen our new queen, Tana the Tongue-tied. It is our wish that you and your mate travel to the Palace of the Usque ar Hara, for you are chosen by the Usque to coronate her when the day comes. Your mate will be your protector on your journey, for there are those of darker nature that will try to stand in your way. You must leave at first light."

When the voice didn't answer, she pressed her lips together and shook her head, "There are those who would stand in the way... Trogdor... orcs... just beings that are nasty business." She sighed. Faisine stood up and placed a hand on his chest to calm him, moving her head about until she caught his eye and saying solemnly, "It will be alright. You will be with me, yes?" She hoped so.

"I knew they would choose her..." she then smiled, not upset in the least about Tana being chosen. "She is a good girl. A better guardian than I. I couldn't rule."

"No, they won't," she said softly. He was cute when he was mad, she thought, especially since he was in protective mode. He seemed to calm when she touched his chest, which she was glad for even still. "Good, because I would be honored for you to fight at my side."

His question would have surprised her if she hadn't been thinking about it herself. "I think they would have liked the idea of choosing me, but I would have declined and I think the forest knows that."