Celadine Hills (Farmland)

At some point, Raynor would receive the following letter via messenger crow:

I'm sorry we haven't talked in a while. I know I left suddenly. And I know you didn't really want me to go. But the truth is, I'm doing alright. In retrospect I think you were right all along, about the person I was meant to be, the person that I really was deep down inside, but at the same time it was just one of those things I had to figure out for myself, y'know?

I'm so... so.. sorry I didn't listen to you, about what kind of person I was meant to be. You always saw the overwhelming good in me. I think in a way what you saw was yourself in me. And, I guess it must have hurt when I suppressed those parts of me in favor of... well, less savory parts. The truth is I was insecure. I felt weak. And I felt like I needed to get in touch with my darker half in order to be stronger, so I could experience what she felt. Actually, I did get the insight I wanted in the end, but I ultimately decided to follow my own path.

Sometimes I felt like I understood her better than you, but for heaven's sake, she was your mother! I should have known you were wise enough to give me good advice about the person I should become. You'll be happy to know I met a powerful holy dragon, yes that's right, a holy dragon, named Lum'Valia . She's been tutoring me in becoming a holy mage. And if I do say so myself, I'm getting really good at it. I had to give up my demon magic and blood magic to start learning the virtues. I've got two already! Did grandma ever learn any?! Or did being a chaos mage make it impossible for her?

Mom would be disappointed to find out that I never, ever took up archery. So I won't be shooting rocks out of the sky. And even though our tribe believes in opportunities for both men and women, I just could never see myself with a war hammer. My tomboyism has its limits. Maybe it's just because I don't wanna be TOTALLY like you, even though I am. I just see the warhammer as a father's weapon I guess. It's silly I know. By the way, tell mom I love her and I miss her, since she'll probably be off hunting when you get this.

Actually, MOM, yah I know you're reading this now. At least I hope you are. I've heard rumors there are Acacia archers protecting Isra's borders, so you might be with them. Anyways, I DID find myself some cool melee weapons, and I'm gonna try to get in shape so I can use them properly. So there! I'm not a total book worm. Happy?!

I love you mom.

That reminds me, I've heard recently that the Phoenix State formerly turned our land into a Protectorate. I've met [Phoenix] Zaltos Kiraxo personally and I even trained with him for a bit. He's very powerful, and a good man overall, but he can be kind of a jerk sometimes. From what I understand, he's treating our people well. But I don't know much about them beyond what he's told me. If the Land-Tiller's Expanse ever comes under attack, I promise I'll make it there as fast as possible. I know you guys are tougher than people give you credit for. Most over world people either haven't heard of us or think we're weak farmers. They'll be in for a surprise for sure.

OH! My friend Doobie du Shoobie says hi. He's a magic-wielding kobold. He's pretty awesome. I'm a little worried he's gonna try to take over the world someday, but I can think of worse overlords.

I've been through so much in the last couple of years. It'd take a whole journal to tell you everything. But just know, I'm ok. I'm much more powerful now then I was when I first left.

Anyways, that's all for now. Take care of yourself.

-Jun

PS: Tell Ma'Sum, I... I don't blame him if he finds someone else to be happy with. You might as well know, he threatened to break up with me if I left... He deserves to be happy. He shouldn't wait for me. I'm... erm... meeting other people too. But if I could have the privilege of retaining his friendship, I'd appreciate it. That's his call though. I don't blame him either way.

It had been several months since the Aaedan invasion. Things were peaceful now. After approaching one of the stone towers more closely Enigma would find the place surrounded by fields and gardens. A warm, loamy scent would reach his nostrils. If he could sense magic, he'd feel earth and water magic in the ground and air. Some of the fields and gardens had odd holographic glyphs floating in the air just above them. Some were surrounded by mild wards. Some were magic free.

If he inspected the gardens even more closely, he'd find that no two patches of land were precisely the same. One thing that was consistent however was the diversity. Every field had at least 3 or 4 crops. Some had around 10. Usually it was some combination of flower, tree, and root vegetable, though there was some variation.

The closest stone tower reached high into the sky. Its shadow cast itself upon one of the fields. Luckily this field had some magical assistance. A few marble-sized floating orbs, giving off a soft yellow light, danced around the plants. They seemed to be connected to a ward sustaining itself right in the middle of the shadow.

Now is about when Enigma would hear a voice. He would see, at the base of the tower, a small group of people. They would be sitting down, their attention around a late-middle aged, bearded gentleman who spoke with a fatherly voice. He appeared to be lecturing them on various plant topics. Occasionally people among the crowd would raise their hands. They were still a distance away and had not noticed Enigma's presence.

"In regards to the concern that our children are increasingly eager to venture into the outside world, I personally believe the best course of action is to remain welcoming towards known allies, as a means of garnering respect and enthusiasm towards our own culture. To know that our people are appreciated on an international stage will help instill pride in our children. And we must remember that we are born with the..."

That's when Raynor noticed the tall, weakened man approaching their group. Raynor carefully read Enigma's body language and, finding him to be agreeable enough, bowed slightly. "Greetings. I am Raynor of the Celadine Clan. You caught us in the middle of our daily meeting. Luckily it has just about concluded. Who are you? And are you in need of assistance?"

The other clan members turned to look at the stranger with mixed reactions. They were generally olive-skinned, tanned by the sun individuals, and quite fit from years of farming. There were even a few children present at the meeting. They mostly wore polite smiles, though some looked concerned, either out of suspicion or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, compassion for the stranger.

There was one person who started to stand up. She hated sitting down for too long. She looked liked the others, but seemed to have a slight air of responsibility about her. After all, it was her father leading the daily forum. It might take a second for Enigma to recognize the girl as Jun of the Celadine . She was without armor and instead wore some simple cloth garments, along with an odd cloak. It was black and covered in white animal patterns, and seemed out of place with the rest of her clothing. Enigma might also remember that his dragon form had once attacked Stonevale while Jun was loyal to it, and that Jun had once threatened to kill him for it.

Luckily, Jun did not recognize him in his human form at all.

"Dad, I'm gonna go get him some water." The girl said. She turned and quickly waved towards Enigma before disappearing in a bright flash of blue light.

Enigma did indeed recognize Jun from Stonevale and his recognition of this fact would worry him quite a bit, as he seemed to gain a somewhat panicked expression upon his face. Did she recognize him? When she didn't seem to he did calm down a bit, although he would still be on edge the entire time he was around her. This would be quite obvious to any outside observer, as he wasn't very adept at hiding his emotions. 

Engima would simply stand there awkwardly until Jun returned, only offering a small wave at the gathered group of people staring at him. It was at that moment that Enigma would hear the faint sound of far away hooves of horses approaching. 

Jun appeared once again in a bright flash of blue light. She was holding a ceramic bowl of water. She seemed to be in a good mood as she held out the bowl to the enervated man. "Here. It's got some tea leaves and roots in it so it might taste a little gingery, but I think you'll like it."

The rest of the Land-Tillers concluded their meeting and started to go back to their farms. Meanwhile Raynor approached the stranger. Jun suddenly shook her head. "Oh, sorry, I should introduce myself. My name is Jun, and this is my dad, Raynor. He's one of the elders here." Her father gave a little bow towards Enigma as his daughter took responsibility for the niceties.

As Jun and Raynor took care of Enigma, the other Land-Tillers would shrug and lose interest, minus a few children who could continue to stare in awe.

"Oh." As the sun started to set, Jun would notice a carriage approaching. She recognize the ornamentation as Isranian. Could it be?

"Is that, Madame Naoki approaching?" Somewhat cautiously she stepped forwards and started to wave at the approaching carriage. It was still a distance away, but hopefully it would spot her.

Seated as she is on the bench, Madame Naoki’s ears perk up as her earring begins to glimmer with considerable intensity. A quick flurry of communications between Naoki, Stan, Jax, the escorting Sun Marshals, and some of the intelligence people back in Isra make Naoki aware of the fact that they are rapidly approaching the Celandine Village, and that Jun herself has been spotted, apparently waving.

Rising from her seat, Naoki begins to construct and execute a mental checklist. Foremost among the items on the list, she informs her companions. Raising her voice slightly to address both Kate and Artemis (the latter of whom would seem to be utilising the restroom), Naoki calls, “We’re very nearly there, we can see them. We’ll be stopping shortly.”

Next, Naoki begins to check herself. This would be- whether she’d like it to or not, an at least semi-official meeting between herself and the Celandine people. As such, she ought to at least make the pretense of looking presentable and prepared. She smooths the front of her blouse, checking for stains and finding none. One hand reaches down to her side- her pouch is there. She runs her hands through her hair, checking for knots and making sure it all settles in a reasonable way down her back. Pulling her tail part-way around to the front of her body, Naoki spends a few moments utilising a small cloth to groom it. Finally, just for good measure, she selects a powerfully scented after-meal mint from the kitchenette and pops it into her mouth. After all, it wouldn’t do for her breath to smell like woman.

As she turns the mint over on her tongue, Naoki reaches out, using neither her hand nor her tail, but rather her mind, to contact Jun, earring glimmering as she reaches across the space between them to speak directly via telepathy, “Hey. It’s me. Or rather, us. My dear companion, when presented with the option, chose to make our first stop your Celandine Village. In hindsight, I probably should have checked with you at that point, rather than waiting until right about now, but is that alright? I mean to say, you said it was fine before," referencing their earlier conversation on the matter, “But I realize it’s a bit late. Should we park here and walk in, or what? How would this best be done?”

As she concludes her communication and begins awaiting Jun’s response, Naoki reseats herself on the bench, seemingly prepared to stand up and walk out at a moment’s notice. Turning slightly to the right, she looks toward Kate, intending to assess her state of readiness. Or ogle her backside, should the opportunity present itself. Whichever, really.

When Jun teleported back and Enigma got a closer look at her all doubt was lost. He definently did recognize her from stonevale. He didn't know what to say at that moment so he opted to say perhaps the only wrong thing he could say, almost by accident,

"I've met you before... in Stonevale," he said quietly, a somewhat startled tone apparent in his voice. He really did not expect to run into Jun again after Stonevale. All he could remember was Jun being just about ready to kill him after that mess. Perhaps it wasn't the best to bring up these past events now. Oh well, it was too late.

Technically Enigma should still be imprisoned in what was Medan, however he had escaped quite a while ago.

From her seat on the bench, a small, contented sort of smile makes its way onto Naoki’s face as she watches Kate move about the cabin. Her gaze follows Kate as she moves to the window, and slides downward for optimal appreciation of the presented assets. She reflects for a moment on how unquantifiably fortunate she is to have things turn out in just this manner, but shelves the thought to respond to Kate.

“That would be her- Jun, in the flesh. Let’s walk over to meet her.”

Very much on cue, the carriage slows to a halt. After a momentary pause, the rear door is opened from the outside, and Jax deploys the stair-ladder, standing off to one side once it is in place.

Rising from her seat, Naoki proceeds out the door with no further ado, leaping as she tends to do directly from the carriage to the ground. Stepping off to one side, she waits for Kate to disembark, and after she does, offers her hand- presumably for holding. One might find it to be warm, and gently gripping.

Assuming that Kate at least follows her down from the carriage and seems content to walk with her over to the village, Naoki leads the way, offering Jun a wave and a smile as they approach. However, Jun seems to be speaking with someone else. Someone strange. If Kate is still holding her hand, Naoki's grip tightens slightly: a silent indicator of her unease.

Behind Naoki, a group of four dismounted Sun Marshals stand quietly. Not necessarily for protection, per-say- Naoki has no intention of disrespecting the security of Raynor's village. However, the Marshals are people too, and components of her party still. Their horses sent ahead to the stable, there isn't much else for them to do besides accompany Naoki to the village, and that seems to be their plan. Still, however, they are on duty, and this funny-looking chap is rather funny-looking, they think. For the time being, however, all they do is stand there silently, taking no significant action. The other six Marshals, along with the carriage, have since disappeared from view.

Regardless, Naoki thinks it best to wait to be greeted, as not to be presumptuous or interrupt Jun's conversation. Instead, she takes this moment to glance over toward the nearest of the stone towers, casually examining the structure of it and doing her very best to avoid seeming as if she's eavesdropping on the conversation proceeding before her.

The plodding hooves of the horses would grow ever closer until a carriage rolled into view, accompanied by quite the entourage. Enigma would glance momentarily past Jun's shoulder as she continued to dither on. He did not quite catch what she said, but she didn't seem to get who he was either way. He felt somewhat conflicted in those moments, and then before he could say anything to correct her the moment passed and the carriage pulled up and actually stopped near them. Enigma did not expect this. The farms that surrounded him seemed to be quite the opposite of any place someone of importance would want to be. In Gauldin the nobles and other people that were important usually avoided the fields of the peasantry. This place seemed different though.

As Naoki stepped out and walked over Enigma's heterochromatic gaze would meet her's at the first presented chance as he stared over Jun's shoulder, who had yet to turn around at that moment. Enigma's gaze would indeed make him seem like he was on edge, like a ticking time bomb that could explode at any point in time. Only for a moment would he hold her gaze before he lowered it however, looking at the ground and taking a deep breath, muttering something unintelligible. 

He would then take the bowl of water Jun was still holding, staring into the liquid's surface for a moment before taking a long and refreshing drink from it. He wouldn't say anything in greeting to Naoki or the rest of her entourage at any point, instead opting to try and stay away from the exchange and drink more water. That first sip really made him realize just how thirsty he was, and this preoccupation for the moment would seem to distract him for a bit as he sipped more water from the bowl.