Requiem of Depravity

"Y-you've all been experiencing strange powers?" Aeliel asked after Evangeline's assertion. He wondered what 'powers' he was supposed to have access to. What exactly did the Life Knight do? That still wasn't clear to him. Protect life, Methae had told him. Fat lot of good he'd be able to do.

And the others who'd remained silent - he could guess which Knights they were based on what little he knew of them.

Life, Dragon, Storm, Mist, Tundra, Volcano, Sand. Isha had mentioned before that she was Prophet of the Dunes, or something, and she came from Barahm. It wasn't a difficult deduction, so Aeliel pinned her as the Sand Knight. And Cielo came from cold Thyella, so she was probably Tundra. And lastly, Kaza of Tivuor. There was no doubt that he was the Volcano Knight.

As the day wore on, Kaza remained silent. He walked slowly, though his long strides kept him at an equal pace with the rest of the group. The heat didn't seem to be bothering him, not even a drop of perspiration visible. It was hot, but nothing he wasn't used to.

After several more hours of walking, as the sun was right in the center of the sky, searing the desolate land below, Kaza spotted a small speck on the horizon. "Is this the 'certain point' you were speaking of?"

Isha squinted her eyes. Sure enough, she did see a flash of green in the distance. "Possible. If we keep walking at the same pace we have been we should be there in an hour and have shelter from the sun's rays."

"Oh thank the Divines..." Cielo said from behind Kaza, sweating like all heck. She wasn't used to the blazing sun of this country, and it was really wearing her out...

The man shrugged. "And once we have rested? Where do we travel from there?" he asked. His tone remained as emotionless as always, though he arched an eyebrow at the girl. He absentmindedly wondered if they'd bump into any of the Old Gods before finding the temple that housed their gear.

"We're going to be traveling for a couple of days or so until we reach a Hermitage. There we'll be able to load up on supplies so and from there it's a direct route to the mountain." The girl replied, continuing to walk. "however for some of the trek we may need some beasts for assistance."

"Beasts? For what, may I ask?" He glanced back at the others. Most of them seemed to be exhausted from the heat. "Are the treks that long?"

"Not as much as they are steep. Certain beasts are made for mountain treks and trails." Isha replied calmly.

"Plus it's liek you said. I highly doubt you all would enjoy walking all the way."

"I did not say that. I merely wondered why. I find that beasts slow me down as well as consume my supplies. I would prefer to carry on without," he replied. "The mountains do not faze me; remember, my lady, I was born on a volcano."

Aeliel concluded the heat was one of the lesser evils of the desert. Heat, he could deal with. Although he was used to fairer weather, the temperature was an inconvenience he could tuck away in the back of his mind. He was getting sick of the sand beneath his feet, on the other hand. Taking a drink from his water skin before fastening it on his belt again, Aeliel squinted into the sun. It was much higher in the sky - almost overhead - which gave him a rough estimate of how much time had passed.

Kaza pointed out a speck in the distance that Isha confirmed to be their destination. Aeliel glanced behind them, expecting to see the outpost in their wake. Nothing but sand. He was surprised at how much land they'd traveled already. There was still a ways to go until they could rest though. Aeliel withdrew a wooden figurine from his pack and drew one of his knives.

The doll was only halfway finished, currently a rounded chunk of wood that was beginning to take a humanoid figure. The face had been rounded out, but the rest of its body was still ambiguous. Aeliel began to chip away at the wood with the knife, an action solely performed by muscle memory. He relaxed at this familiar notion, freeing his mind to deliberate on other matters than the hardships of their journey.

Isha and Kaza had begun to converse. Aeliel turned an ear to them and was mildly surprised at Kaza's claim. "A volcano?" he asked. Of course he'd heard midwives talk about barbarous Tivuorians, but he'd never actually believed... "Really? A volcano?"

Kaza nodded. "Aye, a volcano. It is something I am proud of; for even in Tivuor, it is rare for one to be born on a volcano." He smirked. "I was forged in it's flames, both my body and my mind," he said. "As much as I would love to reminisce, I do not have any interesting tales."

Isha sighed. "I'm sure many moons from today legends about you shall start with that little bit of information. And while I accept you prefer to walk, I not sure everyone shares your sentiment."

The girl smirked jokingly. "Unless your strong enough to carry us all on your back."

"Meaning it didn't erupt and kill everything in its path," Aeliel said, so bluntly he stopped and scolded himself. "Sorry...I'm not very fond of...volcanoes. Or fire in general." He sighed and hacked at the doll in his hand more ferociously. "I guess that's one thing I'll have to get used to," he murmured.

Isha looked over at the wooden chunk in Aeliel's hands. "What are you crafting there?"

Aeliel gave her a startled look before glancing down at his hands too. The torso of the doll was beginning to take shape - although its sex wasn't apparent yet. It was roughly a hand's length tall. "It's supposed to be a target," he explained. "It doesn't really have to have a shape, but...I dunno, I've always found it relaxing. After I'm done, I hang it to a tree and use it to practice." He smiled in nostalgia. "Back at home, it was a real sight; you'd walk outside the village to find hundreds of dolls hanging everywhere."

Isha looked at the carving curiously. To her it seemed more like a figurine you would see in shops. And if that was used in target practice than it was quite small...

As Isha began to scrutinize the doll, Aeliel flushed. If he'd known she would pay so close attention, he'd have paid more attention to his work. Currently the figurine was rather shabby work by Aeliel's standards, and he didn't even consider himself a very good craftsman. "It's, uh, not done yet," he mumbled, still pink in the face.

Isha turned to look at the Silar borne, nodding. "Mhmm."

She had realized that. "What are you planning to do with it once it's finished?"

"You use those for archery practice?" Cielo asked, walking over to them, having taken an interest in their convo. Since Aeliel seemed to be an archer, like her, she assumed the practice he was talking about was for archery.

Aeliel shrugged. Truth be told, he was wondering that himself. Normally, he'd have practiced his aim, but there wasn't any point in training in archery anymore - not when the only things he could hit were inanimate targets.

"Maybe work my reflexes," he said suddenly. As he spoke, Aeliel flung the half-finished doll into the air (not very far, but not overhead either). He grabbed for his bow with his left hand and an arrow with his right, and when the doll descended to eye level, Aeliel shot.

he missed. It didn't bother him that much, though; he'd been close enough. "Not as impressive as it could have been, huh?" he said with a grin.

"Mind throwing it again, I'd like to give it a try." Cielo said, it had been nearly a week since she last properly used her bow, and she wanted to make sure she stayed in practice, in case they ever ran into any trouble while on their way.

Isha walked back a little to pick up the doll from the sand. She looked at it, then back at the man before depositing it back into one of his hands.

"You'll figure it out. Don't worry."

Aeliel smiled at Isha. "Thank you." He then turned to Cielo and handed her the figurine-lump. "If you had thrown it, I'm confident I could have hit it. It's much more difficult to throw it yourself because you have less time. If you'd like, you can try all you want."

He was vaguely curious about her skill level as an archer and wasn't sure how he'd feel if she was better than him. After all, it'd only help their journey (but then to be upstaged by a girl?).

Cielo examined the figurine for a minute, turning it around, and getting a good feel for it's weight. "I'm impressed, this is pretty good." She said with a smile.

A moment later, she threw it high into the air, before quickly drawing her bow, notching an arrow, before firing straight towards the figurine. The arrow zoomed through the air, only a single second passed, before the arrow hit it's target, digging into the figurine, before they both hit the ground.

The group had been making fairly good progress with their immediate destination right off in the distance. Conversation started up as was expected on a long trip, but talking just made Evangeline more thirsty, so she kept to herself for the time being, just enjoying listening to the small talk with a gentle smile on her face despite the brutal heat and relentless sand which seemed to want to cover everything and get in the most uncomfortable of places. As it turned out, Aeliel had been crafting something. This perked her interest a bit and she listened intently to his explanation of how he used the wooden dolls as archery targets. It seemed they came to a stop long enough for him to show them what he meant before Cielo gave it a shot, literally, as well.

"My, that was quite impressive. Good aim," Evangeline praised, glancing at the pierced doll on the ground. It really was a nice shot, even if Evangeline didn't know much about archery.