"Thank you Quintus." Vai says evenly. She was become more comfortable with the man the more time she spent with him. However, when he brought forward a series of sword for her, he could tell that she was a novice with them. Her grip was all wrong and the way she swung the weapon was a little laughable. "How do I know which one is best?"
Vai nodded. She felt a little silly in all the gear, but it was important to not hurt each other during practice. Her form improved slightly under Quintus' instruction, and eventually they found a good practice blade for her. By this time, Vai was coming to like Quintus. He had a matter-of-fact way of putting things and his accent was strange, but put her at ease. "Okay, so have things to practice with. Do... do you have any real swords too? Just in case." Vai added as an afterthought when Quintus gave her a strange look.
"Okay." Vai says a little downcast, but doesn't argue the logic. "Is that everything then?"
[i]Vai blushed behind the mask. She hadn't thought she was talented. Truly, she had felt silly the entire time. She emerges from the changing room, dressed back in her clothes (she had swapped Ephebe's jeans for a new pair she had bought). She pays Quintus in gems, and hands him an extra emerald, feeling a bit guilty about being scared. "That one is for you, for your help. "
Vai looks archer sisters, missing the grin on the half-orc's face. "I think we'll be okay, right?"
Vai flushes red. Obviously she should be able to carry it. She mumbles a final thank you and the girls leave the store, finally done their shopping trip. It must be mid-afternoon by now. The sisters head back towards the skimmer.
"Oh, gosh, I am sooooo hungry. Let's hurry back. I'd suggest stopping at a restaurant, but Uncle Ryo told us that if we did that again we'd be banned from going to town. For some reason they freak out when they see us coming now," she said rolling her eyes.
Vai laughs as Ephebe pouts. "What would we do if the school didn't cook for us? We'd starve!" Vai says through a continued fit of giggles.
"Well, then since I have no idea which student you are speaking of, that should not be difficult." He says with a sly grin.
"I will not speak of it to any student. I will also attend your meeting. I will try to help as best as I can."
Looks concerned
"Hon, you can do anything you set your mind to. You know how a mind works better than most, if not all of the people here at Avalon. This is almost second nature stuff for you. If I were in a similar situation, I wouldn't ask for anyone else, that's for sure.
Do you want to practice on me? Root around abit, and get comfortable with what you may find in this other person's head?"
::Ephebe, love, When you get back to Avalon, come to our room, please. I have a gift for you I think you'll appreciate. <mental smirk> ::
"Well, then since I have no idea which student you are speaking of, that should not be difficult." He says with a sly grin.
"I will not speak of it to any student. I will also attend your meeting. I will try to help as best as I can."
"Thank you. I will use that crystal to contact you when I know where and when."
Looks concerned
"Hon, you can do anything you set your mind to. You know how a mind works better than most, if not all of the people here at Avalon. This is almost second nature stuff for you. If I were in a similar situation, I wouldn't ask for anyone else, that's for sure.
Do you want to practice on me? Root around a bit, and get comfortable with what you may find in this other person's head?"
"No, that's not the problem. I know what a mind is supposed to look like. But the thing that got put in his head is really powerful and getting it completely out without damaging his psyche may be more difficult than I can handle. I'm scared I'll mess up." She sniffled. "The person who did this was better at this than me. Heck, one of their underlings put a geas on me that would have completely wiped out all of my memories if I had revealed their identity. And that was an underling. Well, okay, they were totally using this guy's power, but still. I have no idea what kind of traps might be attached to this thing."
Aananda transferred the beaker that was now full of blood from the first iso-chamber into the second, where the shell of the homunculus was waiting. The chamber was filled with a whirring sound as the process of activating the homunculus began.
"This should only take a few more minutes."
Vai laughs as Ephebe pouts. "What would we do if the school didn't cook for us? We'd starve!" Vai says through a continued fit of giggles.
Vai finally manages to stop giggling as they reach the skimmer. She puts the bag of gear gently in the back, and looks at all the stuff. Is the skimmer gonna be able to fly?
Meanwhile, deep in the jungle...
Ori was wondering what in the world ever made her think she could teach at this level. She was barely older than these kids. And she had some suspicions that Khassar might be older than her. And somehow she was supposed to be responsible for all of their safety....perfect.
"Out of curiosity, I'm starting to think there might be a bit of a hole in our plans...exactly how are we supposed to locate this book? With all this plant life we could walk right past it and never know."
Vai laughs as Ephebe pouts. "What would we do if the school didn't cook for us? We'd starve!" Vai says through a continued fit of giggles.Vai finally manages to stop giggling as they reach the skimmer. She puts the bag of gear gently in the back, and looks at all the stuff. Is the skimmer gonna be able to fly?
Ephebe catches the doubtful look and grins. "You do know that this skimmer was built by Mom, right? What are the chances that it isn't souped up to beyond ridiculous levels? I mean, really."
Aananda transferred the beaker that was now full of blood from the first iso-chamber into the second, where the shell of the homunculus was waiting. The chamber was filled with a whirring sound as the process of activating the homunculus began.
"This should only take a few more minutes."
"I never would have thought about making a homunculus on my own like this." Michael tells Professor Sunwake and Jim as he watches the process carefully. "I did give some thought to buying statues and finding someone with a different version of the stone to flesh spell, but eventually decided that could be less than clean if it didn't work."
Once again, Vai laughs - the easy, comfortable laugh of a 17 year old girl with no cares in the world. "You're right. So, Fi, was the shopping trip up to your expectations?" Vai distracts her with the question and tries to steal the front seat by hopping straight in.
"Out of curiosity, I'm starting to think there might be a bit of a hole in our plans...exactly how are we supposed to locate this book? With all this plant life we could walk right past it and never know."
"We're paper-mages." Oneiro replies as Jeran downs the last tiger. If we can't feel it when we get close, we can always search the area the previous expeditions couldn't get through. We're on roughly the same path as the expedition that had the book anyway, so that helps."
"Jeran, why did you say not to use magic on them?"
Ephebe catches the doubtful look and grins. "You do know that this skimmer was built by Mom, right? What are the chances that it isn't souped up to beyond ridiculous levels? I mean, really."
"I never would have thought about making a homunculus on my own like this." Michael tells Professor Sunwake and Jim as he watches the process carefully. "I did give some thought to buying statues and finding someone with a different version of the stone to flesh spell, but eventually decided that could be less than clean if it didn't work."Aananda transferred the beaker that was now full of blood from the first iso-chamber into the second, where the shell of the homunculus was waiting. The chamber was filled with a whirring sound as the process of activating the homunculus began.
"This should only take a few more minutes."
She laughed. "Less than clean is an understatement. James tried it on a box of toy soldiers when he was ten. It was gruesome beyond belief."
Once again, Vai laughs - the easy, comfortable laugh of a 17 year old girl with no cares in the world. "You're right. So, Fi, was the shopping trip up to your expectations?" Vai distracts her with the question and tries to steal the front seat by hopping straight in.
"Yes, it was...darn you! Now I have to ride in the back with your harp!" she said in mock indignation.
"You snooze, you lose," Ephebe replied, unsympathetically.
"Out of curiosity, I'm starting to think there might be a bit of a hole in our plans...exactly how are we supposed to locate this book? With all this plant life we could walk right past it and never know.""We're paper-mages." Oneiro replies as Jeran downs the last tiger. If we can't feel it when we get close, we can always search the area the previous expeditions couldn't get through. We're on roughly the same path as the expedition that had the book anyway, so that helps."
"Jeran, why did you say not to use magic on them?"
"Those weren't tigers. They were dweomercats. If you cast a spell on them they can sort of hone in on the magic and immediately teleport to where you are and attack you. But they don't have such an easy time getting to you if you just hit them."
"Well, I rather think we know what happened to the last expedition now since they were mostly spellcasters."
She laughed. "Less than clean is an understatement. James tried it on a box of toy soldiers when he was ten. It was gruesome beyond belief."
Homunculi are definitely a cleaner solution. If you don't mind, I'll get back to work on the project.
"It certainly explains why druids weren't any help. Their presence here makes me certain they're guarding something now. Normal tigers could be here because of an abundance of prey, but cats that seem designed to kill spellcasters... It's seems like to big of a coincidence."
Homunculi are definitely a cleaner solution. If you don't mind, I'll get back to work on the project.
She laughed. "Less than clean is an understatement. James tried it on a box of toy soldiers when he was ten. It was gruesome beyond belief."
"Yes, that's fine, Jim. Thanks for your help."
"It certainly explains why druids weren't any help. Their presence here makes me certain they're guarding something now. Normal tigers could be here because of an abundance of prey, but cats that seem designed to kill spellcasters... It's seems like to big of a coincidence."
"I couldn't agree more. We'll have to keep a wary eye out for whatever other crazy traps there might be around this thing."
Not a problem.
Jim returns to his workstation, where the homunculi have been working, and proceeds with delicate work.
She laughed. "Less than clean is an understatement. James tried it on a box of toy soldiers when he was ten. It was gruesome beyond belief."
"Glad I decided against it." Micahel, making a face. "I'm not a good judge of spells anyway."
"Neither is James," she said with a wink. "And yet that never seems to discourage the experiments."
"Alright," she said, reaching in and pulling out the clear beetle shaped homunculus. "Here is the catch to open up the stomach. It can only store one potion at a time since it's so small," she added as she slid a potion of calm emotions into the waiting slot and then closed the hatch.
"Here you go. It's all yours," she said, handing it to Michael just as it started to squirm around.
"I couldn't agree more. We'll have to keep a wary eye out for whatever other crazy traps there might be around this thing."
"I can't wait to see what they are, actually. Not after finding out a bunch of magical cats are guarding it now."
Michael takes the beetle carefully and nearly drops it when it tries to stand up. He smiles a little as it gets it's footing and proceeds to crawl all over him, eventually settling on his forearm.
"Heh, the little thing's pretty neat. Now I just need to think of a name and I'll be set." Suddenly his good mood seems to go away as the smile vanishes and his shoulders slump. "Kitty's going to ask why I've got it."
"I'd recommend telling her the truth. She's a bright girl, she's going to figure it out. And do you really want to see what she'll do if she finds out you lied to her?"