Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

[Guan Yu]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Really does strike the mood down, such needless death of these innocent people..." Iliana went along with her servant's lamentations. For her part, Isane briefly went into a small prayer, speaking silently in a language that Nina couldn't understand even though she heard the words good enough.

While the officer talked with the mistress about their possible alternatives, the maid-knight turned to Isane with her questions. "Well... it is a possibility. But there are about a dozen or so immortals roaming the world as well. I fear she might be one of them." the sorceress offered what little she could present as possibilities. "We have probably acquired enemies throughout these journeys, wouldn't be surprised if someone would go this far to get back at us." the mistress came back into the discussion, having finished with the officer. "They won't prevent us from leaving, given my station. All the necessary aftermath can be dealt with officials." the redhead carried on, confirming that they wouldn't at least have to be stuck in the outpost town for another day if there was decent luck. "A few merchants will be heading to town, so we'll have to ask them for a ride."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Immortals? What exactly are they? And how do we get them off our back? Put them in a box and throw away the key?" Nina pressed Isane, worrying now about what it might mean to come up against such a foe, potentially again and again.

"Yes, my lady," Nina would say to Iliana once the red head announced their remaining options. "Merchants go through this outpost regularly enough, we can find one heading our way. I only hope that Ethelinda doesn't get to them too in her crazed pursuit of us."

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Well, even if that is a terribly nasty thing to do, it does work as one way to prevent an immortal from going around." Isane remarked at Nina's box suggestion. "Like the word says, immortals are... well, immortal. Ageless, deathless beings who have walked the earth for more than your average man or woman. Some of them are deathless by simple wounding as well, most simply are ageless and never perish from the passage of time. Myself, I am one of these, having achieved the immortal status somehow. Maybe all the magics I have weaved in life made me this way." she carried on, briefly pausing and enabling Iliana to get her words in. "Didn't we meet one of these immortals already? The fire-wielding girl?" the mistress spoke up, remembering Konoe who they had encountered in their ventures to the eastern lands. "She at least survived the impalement of the plant giant that followed us pretty easily."

Getting back to her conversation mode, Isane finished what she had meant to tell. "The one immortal we met seems to be one of these kinds, if she survived a cut neck. I'm not totally sure how much punishment some immortals can take, so it is a thing one needs to discover on their own, I'd say." the sorceress passed her final words on the subject for now. With their talk about immortals done for now, the foursome moved out to see what options they had in ways of getting back home.

Moving in to the area where Nina had actually been before, the maid-knight saw a familiar wagon. She had actually ridden this one before, when she was last here. It was one that belonged to the elder caravaneer Dusty.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

Nina took Isane's words about immortals into consideration. Though they didn't offer any comforting way of dealing with the problem, at least they gave a clue as to what they were dealing with.

"Maybe if we could somehow find Konoe again, she could tell us how someone could try taking on an immortal? After all, she probably would know things about the condition that we don't."

When they got to the caravans, Nina made a grimace at the sight of Dusty's caravan, but shrugged helplessly, as if conceding that fate had a way of converging in on her.

"Ah, Dusty's caravan. This was the same merchant with whom I hitched a ride back to the desert the last time."

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"That sounds good, actually. If you know each other, then this shouldn't be too painful a thing. Let's go and have a talk, you can do it since you know the good man." the mistress pushed the dealings with Dusty onto Nina right away, despite most likely not knowing the old man and how he was. It was up to her to get them home, and when they did get to the wagons, the elder caravaneer was checking out how things were. The condition of the horses and such little details.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Erm... uh... okay..." Nina resisted putting up a fuss or the temptation to say that Dusty wasn't the 'best' of men. Still, the guy was relatively harmless. The most they'd have to fear would be an unwelcome grope. Nina found the man sitting near his carriage and stepped up to speak with him.

"Heya stranger," Nina said in greeting. "Was wondering if I and a couple of friends might hitch a ride, going the same way as last time?"

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Ain't no stranger standing in front of me, I do remember you and your cheery green presence." the old man replied to Nina, staying actually proper and not going anywhere perverted with his words, going into consideration mode. "Hmm, not sure if I need further mercs, but a cadre of ladies is always welcome. Makes life a little more enjoyable with such pleasant sights." he carried on, returning the maid-knight to reality once more. It was indeed still the same old perv. "The big guy and his companion won't likely mind if there's further people along for the ride."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Big guy, hmm? Well, there'll be the four of us ladies, including the Lady Einzbern - so as long as you remember to conduct yourself accordingly, we'll be happy to compensate you appropriately. Thank you again, Mr. Dusty."

Nina went back to report the good news to Iliana, with a warning to not give the man too good a view of her skin if she didn't want to deal with more than her fair share of his leers.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Yeah, a big guy. Like real big. Ain't seen a bloke as large as him in my life. If you want to meet him, he and that robed stranger should be in the other wagon when we leave, there's going to be two of them like last time you were going with me." the old man finished their business for now, commenting nothing on the whole Lady Einzbern thing or the rest of it.

The others in the group had waited in relative quiet a bit farther away. "That's good. But that thing you say..." Iliana commented upon hearing what Nina had to say, looking at her attire afterwards. She was wearing one of her normal sets of clothing during travelling, the tight pants and long boots with a tight shirt that showed both cleavage and midriff aplenty. A bit more conservative bit on the set-up was the cape that she had. "Not sure how we'll deal with that. Maybe use the cape some." she continued, not really doing anything special but still using the cape to shield herself a bit. Still, as they got to the wagon, it was hardly enough to discourage Dusty from taking long stares here and there.

There was still some time before they departed, so if there was any last-minute things, the maid-knight could do those.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Hmm... big guy, and a cloaked stranger?" Nina wondered to herself.

Later on, Nina was busy interposing herself between Dusty's eyesight and her mistress' amazing body, when she got curious about their two fellow travelers in the other wagon. She made certain that Iliana, Iris, and Isane were secure in their own wagon before the maid knight headed off to the other compartment. Nina peeped in through the door, trying to see who these others were. She needed to make certain that Ethelinda wasn't hiding on the same caravan with some extra muscle as back up.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

Having achieved as safe a status as one could have in the canvas-roofed wagon to her companions, Nina sneaked about and went to see the other, similar wagon. Peeking inside from the front opening of the canvas, she could see two people among the slightly darkened confines of the merchandise boxes that were stacked there. While she couldn't tell for sure, the big man mentioned earlier had some astonishing size and shape resembalance with Isaku. But with the man sleeping or resting under the large brim of his hat blocking his face and the semi-darkness making it difficult to make out details. The other individual was sitting against the opposite edge of the wagon, keeping herself protected from sight with a large robe thingy. Still, there were familiarities in this one as well, there was hair coming out from one side of the hood but not the other. Plus, Nina could make out a long, frilly sock that this lady had from the slit in her robe, most likely something a maid would use.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Isaku? Lynette?" Nina spoke up, hopefully. She knew it could easily be a case of mistaken identity, but how many men were that size, and would be accompanying a woman of the same build as Lynette? If she were wrong, it would be no big deal, the green haired girl thought, so she raised her voice and called out. "Isaku? Is that you? It's Nina."

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

Upon hearing the maid-knight's voice, the man raised his head and hat, revealing himself as Isaku. The big man had to rub at his eyes to believe what he was seeing, but it after a brief look, it turned out he was indeed not seeing things. "Now this is odd... somehow feels bad too. Been all over the surrounding lands and never got any clues about you being in any of those places. But right as we decided to give up, there you go, appearing on us like nothing had happened..." he said, keeping his voice low while setting aside the hat. "Too bad Lynette won't be able to see this just yet, she's all worn out and has been sleeping lots during the few previous days." the big man carried on, suggesting the words towards the other stranger in the cart. "Now we can go back and try to set things back to normal... or at least I hope we can."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Isaku!!" Nina exclaimed in delight an then more quietly once she saw that Lynette was asleep and exhausted. Nina opened the carriage compartment. "Lady Iliana and Iris are in the other wagon! Oh, I've so much to tell you both!"

Nina hopped up inside and hugged Isaku tightly. "Thank you for searching for me. The both of you looked for so long, it's really not fair that I wasn't lost in a far off land needing your help... well, I was for a while, but I managed to find my way back."

Nina then proceeded to fill Isaku in on the details, keeping her voice low for Lynette's sake but unable to contain her enthusiasm. She explained how she woke up in the forest in these lands, wandered, found her dog Tiger, fought off the poachers, was guided here by the rangers and then got home with this very merchant, who also had the doctor who 'cured' Iris by unlocking her chi - which in turn gave Iris her funky new wings. Then of course there was the traveling to Lord Rao's land, the training at the mountain top with Yura, the mountain adventure where they found Isane, and the traveling back to this point, including the recent trouble with Ethelinda.

"The Lady and I were both worried about you two. It was only yesterday that we were talking about sending out a search party for our wayward searchers! What amazing fortune that we should be here with you now! I'm gonna go get Iliana! She'll want to see you both, and we can travel together in the same cabin if there's room!"

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Well, I didn't personally doubt your ability to get back, but both the mistress and Lynette were not in the same mind as me. They had some rather heated arguments about that, and we ended up leaving to look for you after one particular exchange. But it looks like you've had quite a lot of adventures, and things have actually worked themselves out for the better..." the giant gateguard remarked. "And looks like we'll be having new employees, if the Lady decides to keep them around. Wouldn't hurt to keep them if you ask me, less work for everyone." he continued, aiming this at the two substitutes who had been doing their work while the two were out. "But that you found Isane... I remember hearing about her in some old books, and found myself respecting her very much. To think that she's still alive and sane after all that imprisonment... I'm going to have to pay my respects to her, and apologize for the idiocy of humankind. That woman is surely going to need all the support she can get." the man finished for now, letting Nina go to see Ilana and inform her about the news.

While the mistress was relieved to see that her two employees had been found, she wondered about them fitting in the same cart. Maybe Lynette would somehow be managed, but Isaku was out of the question, given how big he was. They found out this much after taking some looks around, which was done after the two had been reunited in a mostly professional and calm manner. Maybe neither of them wanted to make it into a number, possibly in order to allow Lynette her rest.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

Nina agreed that Lynette should rest, and thought it would be all right for Isaku to ride alone with the head maid/royal assassin until the latter woke up from her deep, exhausted slumber.

"I feel like we're a complete family again!" Nina said, suddenly cuddle-glomping Iliana in a rush of emotion. "And what's more, we're infinitely safer from that immortal psychopath with Isaku and Lynette around. I feel like I might even be able to get a good few hours sleep."

Nina had after all stayed awake all through the night, and was realizing slowly that a heavy weight was pulling at her eyes. She continued to lean against Iliana in a rather intimate fashion, putting her head on the Lady Einzbern's shoulder without regard for the sorceress Isane being seated right across from them. The green haired servant yawned with a cute squeak and then promptly began to fade into her own sleep.

"Mmm, love you, Mistress~" Nina mumbled softly. "Love all of you."

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Surely. Though I think even Isaku's presence will be enough of a deterrent to any assaults towards us. He can be scary when he wants to." Iliana replied, seemingly prepared for the sudden huggy attack. Getting ready, both parties headed to their individual travelling spots and were soon off, heading towards home in the old caravaneer's wagon train. Nina's actions didn't seem to have any effect on Isane, who actually seemed happy for them as she smiled at the green-haired girl's antics from her spot. It was a wholehearted expression, basically telling the maid-knight that she had nothing to worry about, as the ancient sorceress fully understood her feelings. While it was still unrevealed where the sorceress herself swung in these matters, it seemed she was comfortable with them doing the thing they were. With the mistress' shoulder as her headrest, the girl soon fell asleep.

"Alright, get up now, sleepy. We are nearing the night spot, according to the old man." was the first thing that Nina heard as she was woken, the night already creeping up on them as the wagon train slowed down. Once she did take a look outside, the servant girl would notice that she had rested there before, on that previous return trip. It had resulted in her night-time talk with Iris' other teacher, plus the pile of dead bandits. Fortunately, the dead had been taken away by now, if not by people then by the wildlife.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

"Mmmff... *yawn-stretch* Mm.. yes, Mistress..." Nina rubbed the sleep from her eyes and then looked out of the carriage at the familiar surroundings. "Hmm, he seems to make a habit of resting in the same place, ol' Dusty."

Nina stepped out of the carriage and walked in a circle around the caravan once or twice to scope things out and to let her legs get a bit of a workout after the long ride.

"I can take first watch, since I've slept through most of the day anyways." Nina said cheerfully to Iliana once she got back to them.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

While having her recovery walk, Nina could see that it was all the same place still. There was a lot of wagon trails to be seen around the area, so that particular area was most likely frequently used by others as well.

Back at the fire that had been set near the wagons, the remaining people were waiting, with the exception of Lynette. Over the fire, there was a travel pot of food that the others were already eating. It appeared to be stew, with chicken and vegetables. "Just something I prepared. Have a bite missy." Dusty told Nina, offering a seat next to himself. Wherever Nina decided to sit down into, the mistress and others seemed to approve of her idea about the watches.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

Nina gratefully accepted the bowl of stew and took a seat next to Iliana. Now that she was rested, Nina wanted to hear more about the tales of Isaku's journey, and questioned him about where he and Lynette had been and what they had gotten up to. At some point during the conversation, Nina's thoughts would turn to Lynette's absence, and she would inquire as to whether Lynette was still sleeping.

"She's all right, isn't she?"