Tales of Faerun

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine rubbed her forehead with her fingers and sighed, looking up at Azuris, who had approached her and inquired about her state. The Doomguide met his dark brown eyes and was surprised to see more emotion in them than she had ever perceived before. The warrior had obviously been deeply affected - by either her song, Ianthe's, or both - and his breathless words confirmed this.

 

A pained look crossed her face as she realized that he must have at least recognized her own hymn, and it hurt that she could not speak with him of the sweet memories that the song brought forth; he had turned his back on her faith, and thus, she could not share with him her sentiments as if he were a brother. It was likely he would never feel the same way she did about her church ever again. Glancing away sadly, she briefly placed her hand atop his chest and replied, her voice low, "I am feeling...better than you in this moment, I think."

 

Meanwhile, Argyros nodded to Nawen's inquiry, "I am well enough, thank you. It is good to see you safe." Then, smiling at Annette, he added, "A pleasure to meet you, as well."

 

Dagny then glanced to Arland, "If ye aren't comin' along anymore, I'll be more than happy to have my mug back, ye know."

 

Conall looked concerned upon hearing the panicked knocking and cries for help, "Who is that?"

[josh900]

"If you knew anything about my diet growing up Nawen, you would know that even burnt soup would be a delicacy." Tannin said with a laugh as he sat in a nearby chair and took his socks and boots off once again. He then looked around at the abode and hmmed. "Better than I expected." He said under his breath.

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Azuris was rather confused by Rhaine's reaction for a moment until he realized the state he must have appeared to be in. He let out a soft chuckle and in an attempt to cheer her up, he gently pulled Rhaine into a hug. "I'm alright, just a rough couple of days catching up with me all at once, that's all." He said in an assuring tone before letting her go. "Gotta remember, I feel a lot older than I actually am you know. I'm allowed to let that show every once in a while." He said with a smile. He had caused her enough trouble lately and couldn't bear to see her saddened because of his moment of weakness.

[tokyobiohazard]

Ianthe's hug senses were tingling, and she looked across the room to see Azuris with his arms wrapped around Rhaine. She rushed to their sides and wrapped her arms around the both of them, grinning like an idiot.

Aera looked over and raised an eyebrow as Arva got up from sitting next to her, muttering, "Ain't nobody gonna hug my wife but me!"

He walked over to the three and hugged Ianthe from behind so as to shield her from other hugs.

Aera looked at them both as if they were morons and got up to fetch Tak'We some water. She looked around outside the house and soon found a bucket propped against a wall catching water from a leak in the porch. She picked up the bucket and handed it to Tak'We. "It'll have to do, I think."

Edited February 13, 2014 by tokyobleach

[GrueMaster]

Tak'we gave a surprised look at the furry-one called Aera when she gave him some fresh rain water, then gave her a nod in thanks. "Thank you, Aera," he spoke, " thiss one iss grateful." Pulling out a rag, he began rinsing the salt from his joints. He happened to look up and see a few of the others hugging in a small group.

 

Mother Moon, thank you for such a great sight. Feeling fiercely glad at the sight, the thri-kreen decided to get up and join in with his clutchmates, dragging Aera along and wrapping everyone in a great bear hug with his huge arms.

 

 

Dri had a faint smile on her face as she watched the others hug one another. The love among them was very tangible. Seeing as she was next to Weyland and Arland, she stood between them and wrapped an arm around each brother, grinning at them as she did so. "Might as well join in, yes?" she proposed, giggling. "You guys have been pretty great, too."

[nethgros]

Horo took a deep breath in as he looked up from his tired, bent position to see the great man standing before him now offering him the exact help he needed.

 

"I'm being chased by three men who seek my head. If you truly offer to "crack some skulls" on my behalf, I'd like that very much," he managed to force out before slipping past the large man and slumping down the wall not far from the door in exhaustion. He looked around slowly, taking in his surroundings. Partially to see just who he would be dealing with, and partially to look at the layout of the room, all as according to his training. His eyes looked more intently at the two people he remembered seeing such a long time ago: the armored, red-haired elf and the drow woman he dealt with at the fair.

[AurianaValoria1]

Azuris's hug caught Rhaine by surprise, and she reflexively tried to duck away, but with no success - she was quickly, yet gently, wrapped up in the warrior's embrace. The Doomguide was a bit shocked by his gesture; he had not spoken with her much since their quarrel at the fair in Impiltur, and she had almost decided that their camaraderie had been reduced to mere acquaintanceship. His past actions against her faith-kinsmen could not be forgiven, and she had hoped that Azuris would understand her sentiments on the matter. The fact that he was now treating her with such kindness was a sign that he bore little or no ill-will towards her, and for that she was glad. She did not want to hate him, nor did she want him to hate her; judgment did not lie with her, and his past could only be weighed by a higher power with far more understanding than either of them had.

 

She allowed herself to relax into his embrace for a moment, gently patting him on the back, "Yes...yes you are, Azuris."

 

Just as she was pulling away from him, Ianthe smacked the two back together again, squeezing them both with an enthusiasm that only the half-nymph herself possessed...then Arva added his own weight behind her...then Tak'we circled them with his giant arms, pressing them even tighter, along with Aera's furry form. Aodh joined them as well, looping his little slender body about Az and Rhaine's necks.

 

"Aw, Hells," Dagny remarked, a broad grin on her face as she jumped down from her chair, "I can't leave meself out of this." With that, she strode up to them and wrapped her own arms about their legs.

 

Conall and Argyros exchanged glances, and then simply shook their heads.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Rhaine could see Dri hugging the Grey brothers, too, even as Dunsam let a familiar-looking man into the house. Turning her face up at Azuris, the Doomguide gave him a smirk, "See what you started?"

 

In truth, though, their affection warmed her heart. It made her happy to see them actually show that they cared for each other; it was something that they did not do often enough. She remembered one of her old companions telling her that he would never fail to show his love toward anyone anymore, as life was too short and unpredictable. To put it off was to risk never being able to...and then to bear a lifetime of regret, afterwards.

[Flipout6]

Dunsam walked outside and tentatively closed the door behind him. Three armed men halted when they saw him, and demanded he let them by.

"Why're you after the guy?" Dunsam asked suspiciously.

 

"None of your business. Stand aside!" One of them demanded.

 

"Right, that's all I need to know." Dunsam's axe felled one before he could so much as move to parry the blow, cleaving him in half instantly. The blow carried through to the next foreigner and he barely managed to duck as the axe flew right by him and was parried by the third. They began to attack, but Dunsam spun around on his feet and swung again with twice the power, blindingly fast, at exactly the wrong angle...for them. When he was done in mere seconds, the men were in pieces. One of them had been separated from both of his legs and half of his arm, while the final remaining contender took a massive cleave from the waist moving diagonally upwards until it split his skull in half, and he fell into two pieces. Dunsam looked around and casually leaned his axe against the wall as he moved to properly dispose of the bodies so they wouldn't be raised as undead right on his doorstep. He opened the door, peaked his head (and ONLY his head) inside the door, and announced that he had a trip to make to the market. There had been no screams or much in the way of noise...nobody in the house would know what had transpired.

 

Meanwhile, indoors, Weyland hugged Dri right back enthusiastically while Arland gingerly returned it. Going with the spirit of the moment, Sybille embraced both of the Ordain sisters, and even Marie smiled warmly and returned it with affection. Weyland included a reluctant Amendale into the hug, though the moon elf slid out of his grip with a curl of his lip. From behind them, Sybille caught the Grey brothers and Dri in a hug.

 

"Glad to have ya back, Arland." She told him. "And you too, Weyland." She gave them both a sisterly peck on the cheek as they tried not to suffocate. Then she ruffled Dri's hair and teased, "Might as well give you a hug too, eh? You're fine by these two so you're fine by me." Then her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'll leave you and Weyland alone to hug now. Think he's got the hots for ya somethin' fierce." And she was gone just as Weyland began to squawk in protest. Arland, hearing this, detached himself and grinned cheekily as he gave the two of them plenty of space.

 

"Well..." Weyland asked awkwardly. "Why not?" And with that he hugged her again.

Edited February 13, 2014 by Flipout6

[Deleted6317247User]

Nawen looked at the sudden display of affections with a light smile on her face before turning her attention back to the crackling fire. She was terrible at dislaying affections so she decided to stay out of it. Instead, she glanced at Tannin and just looked at him, unsure on what to say. If he wasn't joking then it seemed that his childhood was much worse than hers and yet he simply laughed it off.

 

She wanted to say something to him but then a new person in the room caught her attention. Nawen was good at remembering faces so she recognized him instantly. "Hey, it's you from that tree!" She said but then frowned a little as she thought that her words sounded a bit... odd.

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Shalena paid little to no attention to all the hugging happening in the room as she was waiting for the men she sent to the docks, or what was left of it. They returned quite quickly.

 

"The elf's right," the pirate reported, "the docks are destroyed but we found a suitable place for the ship, captain."

 

"Good." Shalena smiled. She was looking forward to be back at the ship where her word was the law. "Let me know when you'll want to leave." She said to everyone.

[tokyobiohazard]

After extracting herself from Tak'We's grip, Aera walked back over to Xundus and gave her almost rehearsed reply, "I'm Aera... I came here because I was from around here when I was a baby. My 'mother' infected me, as you probably remember from the tavern. Being old enough to handle the news, I was told about what really happened and of course, I didn't take it well, so I left."

She was used to reciting the story to interested townsfolk who tipped more than others, and took a breath afterward, tucking a stray strand of tan hair behind her ear. She decided to answer with something more in-depth after a few seconds' pause. "I just want to be normal. Cliche, I know, but I forget what I am when I'm in the city."

Arva held onto Ianthe for a bit longer than he should have, kissed the crown of her head, and then released her with a longing sort of sigh. Ianthe simply laughed about it, thinking nothing of it.

"Ianthe, don't you know that hugging and kissing are things husbands and wives do every day?" Arva mumbled under his breath, his face red.

Ianthe looked over at him, "Did you say something?"

"Oh, it's nothing!" Arva walked away and threw a look of exasperation toward Aera, who rolled her eyes.

[GrueMaster]

Dri felt her cheeks growing hot as Sybille teased about Weyland."I, uh, I..." The girl didn't quite know what to think; she liked Weyland, sure enough, she just hadn't thought of it that way...

 

She was unable to complete her thought, though, and turned even redder when Weyland hugged her again, before finally returning the hug. A few breathes later, she let go of Weyland and gathered her things awkwardly. "Um, I'm ready to leave when anyone else is."

 

 

Tak'we, after continuing his bone-crushing hug a moment longer, released his clutchmates and went back to cleaning his joints, hissing in relief as he rid himself of the last of the salt. He looked over at the newcomer among them and gave a casual greeting, then packed his possessions as well.

 

"Tak'we is ready to go..." he said, a sense of reluctance tinting his voice; the thri-kreen wasn't looking forward to traveling in a boat again.

 

Spirits be good to me...