Chaos Rising|Flux

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Mist clung to the earth and stones, the chill of the air biting into everything. The sky was overcast this day, adding to the oppressive and bleak air to be found in this place.

"Gloomy, chilly, desolate, and damn near impossible to approach. This is my kind of place," a rather lovely young woman commented in a throaty alto as she strode towards the city not too far away now. A figure bundled in warm clothing clung to her left hand, panting slightly as she was pulled along.

"Should I fetch you one of the furs we stole, Mistress Kurai?" a redheaded beauty inquired from the first woman's right.

"No, Captain Sabine," the first woman, Kurai, said with a smile. "I'm fine. More than fine. Can't you feel the promise in this place?" Her eyes snapped fiercely as she surveyed Flux. "The home of Chaos Personified. I like it here already."

"Th-Then.... Y-You will make this our base, Mi-M-Mistress?" the woman holding Kurai's hand asked, barely audible.

"Yes, Khao." Kurai favored her servant with a smile, reaching beneath the hood she wore to rub behind Khao's ears. "You're trembling, pet. Are you tired?"

"N-No, Mistress," Khao whispered, lying.

Kurai stroked under the cat-girl's chin. "No need to speak falsehoods to please me, pet. I know full well the burden you carry," she stated, patting Khao's stomach. "Commander Raxus," she called, addressing the snake-man at Sabine's side, "tell everyone to make camp. We need not enter Flux now."

Raxus bowed and slithered away, pushing back his own furry hood. "Your Mistress has spoken!" he called to the assembled people, ten of whom were fellow refugees from Morilanta. "We make camp here."

Stolen goods were promptly unloaded as wood was gathered, and rocks were cleared away for tents to be erected. The largest one was placed in the center of the camp, at the most protected point, and furnished with a collapsible table, three chairs, hammocks and sleeping furs.

Under her direction, Kurai's followers had already robbed several small towns to spirit away hoards of food and clothing, as well as weapons. Through careful rationing and equal division of the spoils, they had lasted this long.

Kurai chivvied Khao over to Sabine, then stepped towards Flux, walking alone for a while until she felt she was close enough to be heard. "I call you to answer, you who would rule the world!" she yelled, confidence and power in her voice. "If you wish to make more of yourselves, find the camp of Kurai Di'Anima Blades and request training as a soldier. You'll discover all you need." Grinning, she placed her Signs together and teleported into her tent, where her most faithful and most trusted followers waited.

[hisdivineshadow]

A small scattering of beggars approached Kurai's encampment. Among them was one particularly ragged, filthy man, his Earth sign clearly visible on the back of one forearm. From the way his tattered shirt hung, it was obvious the other arm was missing at the shoulder.

Despite his obvious impairment and squalor, the man walked with an erect, almost regal bearing, dark green eyes impassively taking in the details of his surroundings. As soon as he drew within twenty feet, he stopped, raising his chin to look down his nose at the nearest guard.

"I have come in response to the summons. Where may I go to speak with your leader?"

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Two of the guards looked at each other with some amusement, then apparently decided to humor the beggar. While the others were taken to the fires for their first good meal in who knew how long, the first guard, a stocky Plant type, motioned for the one-armed man to stand still, and frisked him. Finding a rusty, dull dagger strapped under the man's shirt, the guard took it away. "I'll hang on to this for now," he said shortly. "No one but Captain Sabine and Commander Raxus wears arms in our Mistress's presence."

Satisfied, he gestured for the beggar to follow. "Come along, then."

[hisdivineshadow]

The man scowled slightly, but held his peace, and allowed himself to be escorted into Kurai's tent. He mentally filed Sabine and Raxus' names away for future reference, meanwhile taking careful observations of the layout of the camp and the activities of those within. Once he was within the tent, he waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the shift in light, then singled out the woman he had seen earlier.

"Mistress Kurai Di'Anima Blades, I presume." He addressed her in a tone that was somewhat aristocratic in accent, and held what he felt was an appropriate level of respect. "I have come in response to your summons."

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Kurai was lounging on a chair with a fur seat and back that made it collapsible, with Sabine on her left and Raxus to her right. Khao was kneeling at her left, arms curled around Kurai's legs as her mistress petted her head. The cat-girl averted her eyes, embarrassed to be seen in just her filmy veils in front of an audience.

"To what do I owe the honor of a visit?" Kurai inquired casually, accepting a glass of stolen wine from a servant who quickly scurried back to where he had been standing.

[hisdivineshadow]

The beggar raised an eyebrow questioningly, and responded with a bit of challenge in his voice, "Did you not call me here yourself? You summoned those who would rule the world to find your camp and request training. Thus, I have come." His eyes flicked about the interior of the tent again. "I have even left behind my only weapon, as a sign of good faith."

He hesitated, then lowered his gaze, voice taking on a more conciliatory tone. "My apologies, I neglected to introduce myself properly. Ourith Taelan, at your service, Mistress." He bowed from the waist, crossing his one arm over his chest.

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"Oh?" Kurai drawled, sipping her wine. "I had not expected an answer so soon. And one bold enough to approach me, personally."

"You might not want to trust one so bold, Mistress," Sabine said blandly.

"Perhaps." The black-haired woman shrugged. "Commander Raxus?"

The snake-man also shrugged. "I tend to agree with my captain, Mistress."

Kurai sized Ourith up. "What do you wish to do in my service, Ourith?"

Khao continued to hide her eyes, rubbing her cheek against Kurai's calf.

[hisdivineshadow]

The cripple was momentarily taken aback, but he recovered quickly. "I wish to do whatever service you deem appropriate, Mistress. I may not look it, but I am a capable fighter. My true talents, though, lie in information gathering. I can sense the lay of the land, and the arrangement of those things that move upon it, through vibrations transmitted along the ground. I could provide you with accurate maps of the terrain you would traverse, and keep track of any potential victims or opponents along your route. You would never need fear being caught unprepared." He drew himself up a little straighter as he spoke, obviously taking great pride in his abilities.

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Sabine shook her head. "We should not trust him, Mistress."

"It's possible someone so bold has another agenda," Raxus stated.

Kurai chuckled. "We don't have to trust him," she said sweetly. "At least not yet, anyway. We'll give him a trial run with the soldiers, and should he please us, we can trust him then." She tapped Khao's head, making the cat-girl release her, and stood, striding about two feet away from Ourith as she lifted a hand. "Of course, if I am proven wrong about you-"

Her hand snapped out, closing into a fist, and a long sharpened piece of metal shot from her gauntlet, the point of which ended less than an inch from Ourith's eye. There was a pause in which even the air seemed completely still, and then Kurai relaxed her fist, making the blade sink back into the gauntlet. "I trust I've made myself clear," she said in a level tone, eyes dark with her threat.

[hisdivineshadow]

Ourith didn't flinch, but his wide eyes betrayed a hint of fear. “Crystal,” he murmured quietly, then cleared his throat and looked away, taking a few moments to regain his composure. Finally, he turned his gaze back toward Kurai. “Where am I to go now?” he asked, trying to project the same confidence he’d had just moments before.

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Kurai grinned, and moved closer to pat Ourith's cheek almost comfortingly. "Get some food, then get some sleep," she advised. "Tomorrow you will be clothed and armed, and sent out with the guards of your choosing. You will make me a map of the area within the week." Moving back to her chair, she lounged again and resumed petting Khao.

[hisdivineshadow]

Ourith nodded. "As you wish, Mistress. I doubt the mapping will take more than a few days, but keeping track of anyone else moving through the area will be an ongoing task. I shall endeavor to keep you apprised daily." Nodding once more, he turned stiffly and exited the tent.