Thread: The Price of Freedom

Re I Hate Titles Cash, Kitteh, and I ? - - - - ---- ? ? ? ---- - - - - ? ? in ??ino?? X x x X To the people of Brigalda, Reina and the uniform she wore so proudly was a red flag of distrust and loathing. She was Knight directly under the Prince of Rhonius, mortal enemies of the Brigalda colony. The only reason she had been granted entry into the outermost ring of the underground city was because by bringing a native with her, she was granted visitation as a guest but was kept under careful watch by the officials. They had stumbled upon one of the hidden passages into the underground fortress, and therefore they weren??t screened or asked for paperwork however, it was only a matter of time before they were caught. If Amelia wasn??t at her side, the soldier would be arrested at the drop of a hat, and probably executed. Even now, she was given the most loathsome of glances, her pale skin and hair as well as her dress marking her clearly as an outsider, as well as the absence of the telltale tattoo that all the villagers donned on their cheeks. Amelia had kindly offered to marker one on for her to make her feel more at home, but she politely declined. Brigalda differed so greatly from her home town that it was like stepping into an entirely different world. The village was built around an underground spring and was rich in foliage and fauna upon which she had never before laid eyes. The city was strung proudly in the colors of their banners of blue and gold, modeled after the bird of their flag, a colorful parrot of exotic plumage the people also mocked this style, dressing in an almost tribal manner donning precious stones and features on their bodies as a show of class. The artificial lighting of the underground portion of the city cast an eerie purple blue glow, muting the colors of the various buildings that were placed very close together giving the city a cluttered, but exciting feel to it. From the outcrop where Reina was standing she could see the spring in the village??s center, smell it, and almost taste it in the porous, humid air. The smell of the waste that was filtered through the ancient sewage system paired with the smell of the spring in such an enclosed area wasn??t the most pleasant, but it she was told that the spring water was the purest in all of the Kingdom. The upper portion of the city was much, much smaller, and very few of the natives chose to live there. It was comprised mostly of foreigners who had set up camp and decided to lay their roots and build upon Brigalda above ground. The Brigaldish milita did not keep such a careful eye on the upper levels, so it was easier for travelers to pass through. The Rhonic was short of stature and slight of build- not particularly busty but with hips that complimented the feminine pink skirt she wore with her uniform. She was dressed primarily in various shades of muted pink, several belts weaving about her waist and a knee high boots of a thick, protective black material. Her hair was long, and a pale flax blond, usually tied back from her face with a ribbon, but she could never seem to keep her thick bangs swept back completely from her forehead. Since the Exposure, of which she was forced to take part, all members of the Raven Knights were issued a set of protective gear they were supposed to wear to protective them from the harsh rays of the sun. Reina had bartered off all but the cloak and goggles for room and board for herself and her companion. Her weapon of choice was a quan-dao, which she kept strapped to her back with the blade angled at the sky, but if forced into a fighting situation she would typically choose hand to hand combat if she felt herself able to take her opponent. The raven commonly in her company had gone missing several days ago, and she was almost ready to resign to the fact that he had been eaten or abandoned her. He was a gift from Sir Crowley, and she had cared for him since she was young. She was standing on an elevated overhang, staring down at the city with wide, curious eyes. She had only just begun her exploration when she realized something important. A silence had settled over her, and the absence of chatter was an indication that something was wrong. Somehow, she had managed to lose Amelia, and scrambled to find her before the officials realized that she had somehow managed to lose her guide. The blond spent the next twenty minutes scrambling around moronically in search of the girl only to find that for some reason she had chosen to go back above ground and was staring at the sky like a small child laying eyes on it for the first time, her thick chocolate brown hair blowing gently in the wind. Her irritation evaporated as quickly as it had set in as she approached her, only to be welcomed with the warmest of smiles. Amelia was like a little sister to her, a dearest friend, and she didn??t mind taking care of her in the least. When she had happened upon the girl, utterly lost and babbling senselessly about losing her brother and something about the Arc, she figured the least she could do was take her home. ?Well,? she began, gently, a smile on her face. ?Amelia?? She trailed off momentarily, unsure of how to explain to the girl the situation they were in. ?Don??t you want to go home?? She squeezed Amelia??s hand gently in her own, then directed a glance at the mouth of the hidden entryway she and Amelia had taken when they entered Brigalda, before Reina was nearly arrested. She angled her rose-colored eyes back at Amelia and opened her mouth to continue to attempt to persuade the girl to go back when she was forced to do a double take, thinking she had seen movement. They were ignored by the throngs of people peddling their wares in the hot desert air, but she had managed to catch the eye of a man most peculiarly dressed and carrying what looked like a pickaxe. But what had drawn her attention more than his appearance was the way he carried himself, as though he were looking for something and with a definite purpose. ?You can??t go down there, you know,? she told the stranger in the most irritatingly matter-of-fact tones. She had approached him with no purpose other than to dissuade him from trying to forge his way into the city. ?They??ll catch you and arrest you for sure!? X x x X ? - - - - ---- ????? ?? ?? , ???? ? ? ?? y?? ---- - - - - ?