Rubble, Beginnings, What else?~Tegan and Aero

Subject: Rubble, Beginnings, What else?~Tegan and Aero Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:19 am

Setting: The night will be a full moon over the city of Racksom, controlled by the Surahnian Rebels. The peasants and slaves still labor away at trying to rebuild the damaged areas of the city and to improve it for the king Zartear. In the setting sun, there still sits a part of the city just out of the everyday commotion that has been marked for a slight bit of reconstruction. However, at the moment that area is quiet and peaceful.

Time: Sunset, around 8:30ish.

((Roleplay between Vespira and Vannelson))

Last edited by Tegan on Thu Oct 20, 2011 12:26 am; edited 3 times in total

Against the dying sun, the shadows on the ground made those they belonged to look disformed, tormented, and unhappy in ways that could only be spoken from the heart. Of course, no one really would notice such a sad way to look at thus things. Who really would bother to look into such childish things as shadows anyways. Who cared much for things like emotions much here anyways. Well, the answer to that question was given by the movement of another shadow passing through back streets and keeping out of sight.

Vespira kept out of sight and looked around as she made her way towards the one part of this city where no one was there to judge her, order her around, or even bother her. She'd found the area by accident while exploring, and right now, it seemed like a good place to stop and hide. That was, until the alley she'd been standing in suddenly turned into a dead end. "Well, well, I found me a little prize, the soldier said, hiccuping. Vespira backed up a step. So much for being away from people, and wonderful the man was drunk.

He was sure that free time had become a foreign concept to him, that he wouldn't even recognize it when it came to him. All his life it seemed that he'd not been given a spare moment, whether it was learning mathematics and grammar from a stuffy tutor as a child, or being educated by the monks about their religion, training techniques, and so on. Or most recently, tagging along with Andyr and teaching him how to speak like a Southlander in exchange for being able to continue to live a relatively free life. He would much rather have his current tasks than go back to being in the hard labor camp, and for his good behavior he'd been given a slack leash. Not that he'd actually run away if given the opportunity, such as the one he had now. He didn't have anywhere else to go, and more importantly, he didn't feel the pressing need to escape.

Now, turned on the streets with no impending duties, he hardly knew what to do with himself, so he wandered. This was only the second time that he could remember being in such a large city, the first time being when he went to the Dedienne branch of the Brotherhood when he was journeying with a Master. The dim recollection he had of that time painted a vague picture of illustrious buildings crafted with beauty in mind, but that was all in a fuzzy veil of the past. Racksom had its own beauty too, though it was tarnished by the attack it had recently suffered. The city still had its own quiet grace under the coating of ash and between the broken buildings, if one cared to look.

After only an hour of wandering, he had become quiet lost, but wasn't worried. The massive tower in the middle of the city could be seen from practically anywhere, and it would be his guiding light when he went to return home. Currently he had gotten himself into the dirtier bits of town where the streets twisted around each other and made things utterly confusing, dead ends abounding everywhere. In the golden half light of twilight he caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye and looked around, then he heard a voice. "Well, well, I found me a little prize"

'Guileless knaves with crossed eyes and wagging tongues. One can not find himself outside himself, yet these persist in the divertissement that lead only to the ends of glass bottles. Lives contained in such a fragile edifice shatter smartly when the right pressure is applied.'

"I take it you're against drunks." Vann muttered to himself, halting in his quest to get even more lost in the depths of the city and backtracked to where he'd heard the noise. What he saw instantly set him on guard, and he wished that he had a weapon at his side in the event that things got ugly. The girl who had apparently been cornered by this drunk soldier registered a memory, like he'd seen her somewhere before but couldn't place the occasion. Perhaps he'd seen her walking by while he was working on removing rubble? Whatever the case, he made his presence known. "Is there trouble here miss?" He asked, pointedly glaring at the soldier.

The soldier had started to walk towards Vespira and she was looking for a way out. She knew it wasn't a problem to get out, nor to get away. All she had to do was knock the guard out. It was the fact that he was here that had worried her, and when he'd first appeared it had startled her. The problem she faced now was how to do anything without letting on to the guard that it was here. She'd have to find a way to knock him out and then change his memories to that which she had never been here. Otherwise she faced trouble for herself from king Zartear. And she knew her place; that was not to assault soldiers of his army. Even if they were deserving of it.

She had just come up with a plan when a new person joined the fray. She cursed softly under her breath as she looked past the startled guard, who had just about jumped out of his skin, to the man behind him. Her eyes widened as she looked upon the man she'd seen before. A memory flashed in her eyes of the blond haired man kneeling on the ground in front of king Zartear and those other people. She was honestly surprised that he was even still alive. However she looked on as the guard turned on the man, whose name she still knew not. The guard's name went to his sword as he walked, or rather stumbled, towards the blond haired man. "I be teaching you a lesson on interupting some fun of mine," he said with slirred speach.

Vespira watched to see what the blond haired man would do and a flash of fear went through her as she realized he was unarmed. Not wanting to see the blond haired man get hurt, she shut her eyes and concentrated on the sound of the guard's stumbles. Gathering the air below him, she lifted him off the ground and by chilling the air around his sword it slowly became incased in ice, starting at the tip and moving down the blade to his hand where it stopped. "What the bloody hell?" the guard asked, his head spinning slightly. Ves had make the sword a worthless piece of steel now, still, she didn't want to take chances and decided to keep him suspended there. She opened her eyes and looked out on the specticle she had created. She still had yet to speak, nor move. Shyness keeping her in place, and fear of being punished for talking to a man. Even if he had asked her a question.

He was about to get ready for a fight, watching the way that the man swayed and began planning what he would do when the man decided to strike. However, the fight never got that far. He felt a sudden stillness in his soul, a pressure almost like someone was pressing a fist from the inside of his chest. Then the reason why became apparent. He'd only seen magic before on that same trip to Didienne, the capital boasting a wealthy of mages that displayed their talents freely when it suited them. So it was that he recognized the magic now as the man floated in front of him, immobilized in the spell. Immediately he looked for the source of the magic, but there was only one person nearby; the girl who looked like a frightened doe.

"You are a mage?" he asked out loud of the woman, keeping the soldier still floating in the air within the range of his peripheral vision in the event that he was dropped or gained the ability to charge forward and make good on his threat.

'Secrets of old and secrets untold, a vast sea of impossibility forged into flesh, given breath and form. But what is given is not what is gained, and so is it that secrets remain. Given control of the leash, yet control is all there is. There is no understanding, no learning, no listening. They are artists that paint with no pallet, and so blind their audience with flare and bravado, actors upon the stage as they are. Listen, learn, understand.'

smiled softly as the man floated helplessly. She'd have to do something about his memory later, she knew that. Or could do it now. No, not yet. She had this blond haired man to deal with first. She'd exposed herself to him, to protect him, and she hadn't even bothered to know who this was. Well, other than the one time she'd seen him. She shivered slightly in fear. This wasn't going to end well for her if he told on her, or turned her in for using her magic against a man of the army. She had to help him though, he'd tried to help her out. Swallowing Vespira picked her bead up and looked at the blond haired man evenly with her icy blue eyes.

"Pardon my interference, sir," she said curtseying lowly. "I know it's not my place to be in-between men's matters, but it seemed an unfair fight." She spoke a little louder so far the distance apart the two of them were he could hear her. Lightly she glossed slowly towards him. She ducked her head respectfully, keeping the man in the air from being able to move. Gradually she lured him to sleep, and soon enough his snores echoed softly in the alley. She then went about to work on his memory causing it all to become a hazy drunken dream.

When Vespira was closer to Vann she let the Man's body fall slowly to the ground and and thawed his frozen sword laying it next to the sleeping man. Keeping herself small infront of Vann she kept her eyes down. "Punish as you will, but I beg that you don't turn me into king Zartear as the Mage I am. I fear he'll use my magic to harm rather than help as I try to do, in the little public amounts." In all honesty Vespira had helped heal some of the servants before as well, just because no one else seemed to care about them.

Silently, he watched the mage send the drunken man to sleep marveling to himself at the things that magic could do. Not a mage himself, it was all very fascinating to him, being able to control the elements with a wave of your hand. Not a born and raised Surahan himself, Vann was a little surprised with just how incredibly demure the mage was being, realizing that if she wanted she could have him at her mercy with little more than a thought. He was used to women more or less going about their business, but he wasn't used to them dipping their heads to him in submission. He had never been anybody important enough to require shows of fealty. Usually he was the one averting his eyes.

Shaking his head, Vann kept his eyes on the mage, studying her. "Men that loose their heads when they get drunk deserve what's coming to them." he didn't really identify with Zartear, either. He was a strong willed man, that wasn't to be denied, and he was the ultimate law, but Vann didn't have any personal loyalty to the man. His life was more or less governed by the will of Andyr, not Zartear, and if he would be answering to anyone it would be to the native Iceplainer. Looking down to the sleeping man on the ground, he nodded his chin in that direction. "What did you do to him, exactly?"

Vespira looked up at Vann slightly. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was he really going to keep her secret, and not punish her. She looked him over better now. He didn't seem like he was part of King Zartear's forces. That put her at ease slightly, but it also frightened her a little too. What exactly was he doing out this way, but then again, what was this soldier doing out here as well. Ves sighed and kept her eyes on the blond haired man. "Well, I fuzzed his mind into a hazy drunken dream and lured him to sleep. He wont remember any of this," she said softly.

She watched Vann with a small bit of fear. She knew nothing of this man, and yet, all she'd been thinking was she didn't want him to get hurt when she'd acted and stepped in. Maybe it had been stupid, but she had to admit to herself, she rather liked this blue eyed man. There was something about his expression and the way he looked that she couldn't help the small fit of heat that entered her checks when she looked at him. She adverted her eyes again, looking back at the ground. "He'll be fine, and awaken in an hour thinking this all a dream. We should probably not be here when he wakes up, but that's just my thoughts," she said small-ly.

Again he was struck by the incredible usefulness of magic and a little awed by it. No wonder those with magic were so revered if they could do things like this. His train of thought was stopped from continuing down that track by the woman's words and looked down to the passed out man. "Yes, that'd probably be a good idea…" He looked up to the mage girl and had only a moment to wonder what would happen next when a squad of soldiers rounded the corner.

They took one look at the man in uniform on the ground, then looked up to Vesperia and Vann and immediately assumed that the two had mugged the man. "Hey you! Stop right there and don't move!"

Normally, Vann would be the type of person who stood his ground and calmly explained a situation. That was the way he'd been taught to handle adversity, at any rate. However, this was an occupied city, and they were being confronted by the occupiers. Not to mention that it was probably near or past curfew. His time as a hard labor worker for the Surahans was still very fresh in his mind, and he hadn't escaped that fate only to be thrust right back into it again of his own folly. Reaching out without thinking, he grabbed the mage girl's wrist and tugged. "Let's go!" he said before taking off down an adjoining street, intent on putting as much distance between himself and the authorities.

Vespira jumped by the sound of the soldiers and she cast a glance behind her to see what was there. Oh no, this couldn't be good. She tried to think of a way to get out of this one. There was no way she could keep all of them a float without one breaking free. She wasn't that used to working her magic anymore. She used to have time to practice it, while under conditions that were less favorable, but still. Now, she was kept busy with stupid meaningless tasks. So what to do about this? Of course, she didn't really have to think about that, seeing as the blond haired man seemed to have a plan.

Ves felt his hand on her wrist and him tug her along with him. She kept his pace, if not a little behind him, but enough where he wasn't entirely pulling her. Every once in a while she let the air push her forwards to keep up with him. It was a small amount of magic, but it kept her in step. "Where exactly are we going?" she asked as she looked behind her again to see that yes, the soldiers were of course following. "Did you have a way to lose them?" she added when she returned her gaze back to Vann. Oh boy, this night was just full of so many wonderful times, and memories in the making. She had a feeling she was going to get punished for this one.

He didn't have an immediate question to either of the mage's questions. Even after thinking about them for a few seconds, Vann still didn't have anything to offer as a means of a good reply. He just kept running, taking every stray turn he could think of, a little surprised that she was keeping up with him as well as she did. He could hear the clatter of armor getting farther away now, which was a good thing. "I don't know." He replied between breaths, looking around for the next alley way to dive into. "I just sorta hoped…to loose them…somewhere…" The opportunity came shortly enough. Van ran into the center of a four-way intersection among the winding streets of Racksom and quickly turned down the largest one and sharply turned a small gap between buildings, skirted around a pile of garbage and quickly ducked behind it, pulling the mage down with him and flatted himself against the wall of the building. Pressing a finger to his lips, he mimed silence to the girl, trying to control his breathing so that the soldiers wouldn't hear it if they passed by.

Vespira followed the man around the turns and allies, getting lost herself by the time they game to the four way intersection. She couldn't believe that he had no clue how to lose them. She found that pretty funny that he just went and shot from the hip. Oh well, not every plan was a perfect one. Although, she rather liked this. It was the most she'd had in.... Probably since she was little girl playing in the yard with Akar. A pang of sadness hit her, but she ignored it and focused on here and now. Seemed the blond haired man had an idea of where to go from here, and she followed him closely once more.

Once they were out of sight and hidden, she panted softly. Although, not wanting to be found she decided to use a little bit more of her magic and try to sound proof just the small area around them. She had no clue how to do this, so she just figured she'd try something to keep the noise of them from leaving a small invisible bubble around them, while letting the noise outside of it in. She did as he asked though, and kept silent, controlling her panting as much as she possible could, trying to take quieter breaths. She wasn't sure what the reason of being chased was. The man was fine, and if the guards had checked him, they would have known that. Still, the sad truth of the king's army. Most were morons who Ves really wanted to hit upside the head. Of course, that wasn't her place. But she still could wish.

The group of soldiers pursuing the two stopped in the intersection when they reached it, looking around for where the two had gotten off to. When they couldn't reach a conclusion, the apparently leader sent men in groups of two off in different directions to search. Armor clattered past the alleyway were Vann and Vespira were hiding, and it wasn't until long after they were gone that Vann heaved a huge sigh of relief, standing and moving away from the garbage pile. "That was a close call." He said, walking to the edge of the alleyway and poking his head out, looking down the street both ways to make sure that the soldiers were well and truly gone now. Once satisfied, he turned back and looked Vespira over. "You did a good job keeping up. Sorry I grabbed you so suddenly, it just seemed like the thing to do." Shrugging helplessly, Vann offered his apology for what good it was worth, glancing at the street behind him over his shoulder once more. "Where are you from?I can walk you back if you'd like. It's not exactly safe in the city right now for a lone woman to be walking around."

Ves listened quietly to the soldier moving off. The noises of there armor was rather irritating to her ears. Once the blonde haired man seemed to relax, she dropped her bubble and wondered for a moment if it actually had done them any good. Of well, she'd have to try that again some time and see what it actually was capable of. It didn't require all that much energy after all. She didn't get up right away. Her eyes trailed after Vann as he checked the entrance to the alley way, and only when he turned back around she stood up and walked a few feet away from the garbage pile. She held her head up, and then seeming to remember herself, dropped her eyes and head, slightly blushing. She scolded herself mentally for not remembering to not look at a male directly, that wasn't her place.

"It's fine," she said softly. Her eyes watched the ground for a moment before looking up at Vann from the tops of her eyes. She seemed to get embarrassed though as she watched him and diverted her eyes once more. She bit her bottom lip slightly before going on. "It was actually kind of fun," she added. She remained silent after that, watching as he glanced back once more to make sure that they were safe. Her eyes following his every movement till he turned back towards her and she quickly returned her gaze to the ground. "I'm actually from no where around here technically," she said. It was the truth after all. "However, I'm one of the errand girls for King Zartear," she paused for a moment and took a small breath. "I got bored of sitting around my room on night like tonight, so I was heading out to watch the stars from the area where there are less people. I guess that soldier just happened to be drunk enough to get lost." She wasn't sure if telling this blonde haired man was a smart idea or not, but she felt like she could trust him, and she knew she could protect herself if need be. "If it's no trouble to you, I'd rather not return 'home' just yet," she added, looking back up at him now.

She did it again. Vann had noticed it before when they were talking, but now that they were having a slightly more prolonged conversation, he noticed it even more. The way that she wouldn't directly meet his eyes… It was a bit disquieting. He was utterly unused to being deferred to, as junior priests were just about at the bottom of the social rung. Nobody bowed to a man of the cloth. So with her constantly looking at her feet, Vann felt himself unconsciously stooping to try and see her eyes, feeling far more comfortable with talking to people up front instead of issuing words at the tops of their head. As she continued to talk Vann continued to try and catch her eye with little to no success. She seemed hell bent on not looking at him. Her request to stay out longer surprised him a little, thinking that after the run in with the soldiers she would be wanting to go back to wherever it was that she came from. However, he wasn't about to just leave a woman alone, magical or otherwise.

"I'll stay with you until-"

"THERE THEY ARE!"

Vann whipped around and came face to face with several soldiers. There were more now, perhaps a dozen of the armored men and none of them looked happy. His instinct for fight or flight kicked in then, and he tugged on the mage woman's shoulder as he ran past, heading in the opposite direction of the soldiers. They followed quickly in pursuit, their metal armor making a racket as they chased down their target. The noise they made was annoyingly loud as they ran, and Vann knew that they wouldn't give up easily. Suddenly the ground lurched beneath his feet and he stumbled, only barely managing to keep from falling over completely by catching himself with his hands. He tried to scramble to his feet but was knocked down again by another tremble of the earth. There was a crack that sounded as if lightning had struck right on top of them, then his stomach was in his throat as suddenly the stone street collapsed in on itself and they fell, along with most of the road and a nearby building caught in the cave-in.

Ves looked up at him from the tops of her eyes. She offered a soft smile as he started to say something, of course, that was about the time he was interrupted. She sighed to herself as the soldiers seemed to surround them. Of course. Why not add one more interesting event to the list of the strangest night ever. Honestly, she was about ready to have a conversation with these men, who were obviously morons. That much was for sure, so she wasn't entirely sure if she could really get through to them with the simplistic minds they seemed to possess. But, it seemed she wouldn't have to try as the blonde haired man had other ideas. She felt the tug on her shoulder, and really that was all it took. She took off running with him. Still, with the soldiers so close they needed a bit of an upper hand, so she swung one arm backwards sending a gust of wind backwards that would slow them enough to not caught the tails of any clothing.

The rocket was obnoxious as they ran, and Ves had half a mind to silence the noise by just creating a sound barrier to test if it would work or not the opposite way she'd tried before. However, that might take too much time and energy. She wasn't entirely sure if it was possible let alone how long she'd be able to keep it up. Instead, she was content to run by the blonde haired man. Her hair blowing back out of her face. She'd always like two things in the world. Well, she liked a lot of things, but when it came to natural things she liked most wind and water. Fire was interesting, but Tsuna had more of a mind for that than she did. Wait was that? Ves caught herself with air under her hands before she smashed into the ground. She looked around confused, letting the air slowly drift from under her palms to feel the ground. Blinking she felt the ground moving. That was... strange.

Next, things seemed to happen in slow motion. That loud crashing sound, the ground giving out under neath her and Vann, and the building nearby starting to topple on top of them. Gasping, Ves knew she had to do something, so she multi-tasked. Lurching forwards, she got as close to Vann as possible and threw up her best attempt at a force field. Mostly compressed air, but she also knew how to use her own energy to create a shield, so she reinforced the air with her energy. At the same time as doing those two things, she shot as much force as she could at the soldiers to throw them backwards and away from the cave in. There was no way of doing that for the blonde haired man and herself, but at least the soldiers should be out of the blasting zone. She probably used too much force, but she was more focused on trying to keep herself and this man protected. Falling through air towards whatever was below.

The ground had swallowed them whole. There was no better way to describe it. The maw of the earth had opened, long abandoned tunnels damaged by time and the ravages of war finally weakening it to the point that the weight of the buildings above had cracked the foundations of the subterranean tangle. Free-falling along with the rubble, Vann only had a handful of seconds to comprehend what was happening when he saw Vespira come at him. Instinctively he reached out and put his arm around her waist as if to protect her from the fall. It didn't really make sense of course, the fall would probably kill them both, but he wasn't exactly in a state of coherent thought. Falling stone crashed through the floor beneath them, opening another deeper set of tunnels, then the sky above them blacked out as rubble filled the opening from the street and they were plunged into near darkness, the screaming wind and sound of the cracking stone infinitely reverberating off of miles of tunnels filling the air. Then the rubble falling ahead of them stopped suddenly, and their doom was marked by unmoving bedrock. This was the end.

Ves felt Vann's arm around her waist and she felt a little bit of relief as he pulled her to him. How sweet of him to try to protect her. Although she was sure they both knew that that was a hopeless cause. Still, it made it so much easier for her. She waited, letting her shield hang around them loosely. She couldn't waste that much energy yet. Not till the ground, or rather underground was found. The stones and parts of the ground or road crashed through another layer of ground and then it finally came to a stand still. The parts of the building were still above them, and they were coming up to the bedrock ground fast. Still, not yet... closer. They needed to be closer or this would knock her out before she even had a chance to try to prevent them from being crushed from the crashing building parts above them.

Now thought! They were about 2 meters from the ground when Ves hardened the shield now. She poured her energy into a ball around them, slowing there fall towards the ground as well. They slowed down till they landed softly on the bedrock, but that wasn't the worst of it yet. Now she had to keep the things coming down on them from killing them both. Giving up a ball, Ves picked a half sphere and shutting her eyes focused on keeping anything that landed above them from dropping more than 5 feet from either of there heads. And from the way they landed, Vann was laying on his back, and Ves was on his chest, her head pressed against him. When the noise of the falling stones and rubble finally stopped, Ves felt her energy draining from her. She wouldn't be able to hold this above them for much longer, it was heavy. Well, she'd done this much, she probably shouldn't let them die now, and she really didn't want to let this man die either. So, with her last bit of energy she forced the shield to expand outwards tossing whatever was above them off to the sides. That took more than she thought it would. She felt dizzy as they were showered with little bits of dust and tiny rocks. Her eyes fluttered for a second then everything went black.

He almost would have sworn that for the briefest of seconds that time stopped. Just before they met their untimely demise by crashing onto the rock face below things came to a halt. The mortar and stone bits around them continued to fall, but something eased him and the mage to the ground. It took a second for Vann to realize that it must have been the girl's magic, and he looked up to the stone above that was still falling at them. Well, they might not have been killed by the fall, but they were about to get killed by being crushed.

Even that fate was avoided however, and as he watched in struck silence, the bits of building and street and sewer that had followed them in falling collapsed around them but not on them. So entranced by the goings on he didn't even notice that he was still clinging tightly to Vesperia, and watched as the bits of brick and stone flew away from them. It was only after certain mortal danger had passed that he realized the mage had gone limp against his chest, seemingly asleep. At first he thought her dead, but her slight breathing convinced him otherwise. For a span of seconds he was unsure what to do next, then the ominous groaning of the weakened stone around him helped to speed up his planning process. They needed to get somewhere safe, and fast.

Carefully as he could Vann got to his feet and gathered Vesperia into his arms, hooking his arm under her legs and behind her back to cradle her against his chest securely and looked up. There was no way he was going to be able to reach the surface from down here. It was a straight drop between the dark floor where the two had finally ended up and the small patch of light that stood above them. Shifting the unconscious girl in his arms, he climbed over the rubble that had collected around their landing point, streams of sand and small pebbles falling into the hole at a concerning rate. He got out of the circle of light none too soon, for it wasn't more than a few seconds later that more of the tunnel collapsed in on itself, burying the clear spot where the two had been laying a moment before.

The echos of the crash still rang in the seemingly endless sewer system, though the sound of groaning stone had stopped now, the structure holding strong once again. There was only one way to go from here, and that was forward. Hopefully he could find a way out, but it was dark and the last thing he had thought to bring with him on his seemingly innocent adventure from the stables was a torch. Glancing down to the girl in his arms, Vann gathered his resolve and started walking forward. If he got tired then he would rest, but staying here wasn't an option. The rest of the sewer could fall down on them at any moment, and Vesperia wouldn't be conscious to stop them from dying this time.

The dark crushing wave that had swallowed her whole seemed to finally be lifting. Still, she didn't open her eyes just yet. She was trying to remember what happened first. There was soldiers, and running. The ground caved in, and then falling in the open air, and then being in the blonde haired man's arms. And now, blackness. 'But that's because my eyes are closed,' she told herself. She was laying against something too. It was warm, and kind of hard, but in a comfortable way. And it moved every now and then, and OH! Vespira's eyes shot open and she blinked in the darkness. At first she saw nothing, then slowly her eyes adjusted. It was still pitch black, but some shapes were still seem. She took in her surroundings before she looked down at herself. She didn't move just yet though.

She sighed as she took in how dirty her clothes were. She'd have to wash them eventually. At least her strength was back, that was a good thing, but what of where they were? Were they safe. She carefully leaned forwards away from Vann's chest and looked back at him. He seemed to be in one piece. Nothing looked broken, and he looked so peaceful as he slept. She still didn't know his name, nor did he know her's, yet she couldn't help but blush as she gazed at him while he slept. She smiled, happy to see that he was ok, and opening a hand out in front of her, Ves created a small ball of fire. Nothing that would actually give off more than a dim light. Fire was something she was rather fearful of sometimes. She wasn't entirely sure how it worked. Holding the ball out, Ves looked around better. They were no where near where they fell in. Had he carried her this entire way? She bit her bottom lip as she turned to look back at him. The fire creating a small light on his face. "Thank you," she whispered as soft as possible.

'Mire, mire, wending gyre. In the dark dreams are born and expire. Lovely road, dark and deep, at the end what secret do you keep? A thing which all men take beyond grave, beholden to both king and knave. Sight unseen yet felt the most when looking upon the shining coast. Beyond the edge where the map lays bare, can you find it even there? Mire, mire, wending gyre. The secret you hold in depths untold, the truth of ages, beyond even the wisdom of sages. Those who cling to knowledge fail, for in the end the winding dial prevails. The end of all, beholden to none, the death of even the immortal sun. Mire, mire, wending gyre… may the perception of truth perish upon your throne, reveal a deeper truth that lies within the bone. Unwitting student behold your fate, for the ultimate goal does not wait.'

It took a long moment before he realized that the thing that was waking him up was light. Something moved against his chest, further rousing him from the entrapment of his own tiredness and a half-remembered dream that left him feeling as if eyes were watching from the darkest corners of the tunnels. After blinking a few times he realized that the mage was awake now and smiled, relieved. He had walked for a long time without her showing so much as a flicker of consciousness the whole while, and eventually decided that it was far too dark to continue trying to find his way out. "I'm glad to see you're alright." He said softly, adjusting himself so that he was more comfortable against the stone wall. The disgusting nature of the tunnel made it hard to get anything that amounted to decent sleep, but he had tried anyway. Who knew how long they were going to be stuck down here? It was better to save his energy in the event that something bad happened down the road.

Ves saw the man's eyes flutter and for a moment she thought maybe that he was having a bad dream or something. Curious, she tilted her head, her hair falling out of her face and back. She blinked looking at him in the low light of the ball of fire. Of course she realized too late that the ball of fire was what was waking him. And that was when his eyes opened and he smiled. Her heart beat fast in her chest as she froze there looking a cross between terrified and apologetic. She stared directly into his eyes. The ball of fire suddenly flared in her hand as her face grew red and she blushed. Startled by the fire she extinguished it, leaving them alone in complete darkness.

Of course, that wasn't much better, and she quickly turned back away from him and looked down at her hands. She remembered then that she was still laying on him, and swiftly jumped to her feet. This time, she made a small ball of fire floating in the air next to her. She kept her head down and stood there facing the man's direction. "Thank you," she said nervously, looking down at the ground. Her blonde hair over her face. "And I'm sorry to have woken you, sir," she added to the end. She felt so embarrassed now. How had she been so stupid. There was no way she was going to get away with that one. She'd been careless and she'd probably disrespected him now. 'You stupid idiot,' she complained to herself. 'How stupid can you get.'

He wasn't quite aware enough to understand why she had suddenly gotten so flustered, and between the sudden flare of what had been a gentle light and the sudden blackness that followed, Vann found himself blinking blindly, unable to make out the mage woman's form in the darkness. Once she was off him he sat up more fully and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, he could see again, if only just a little in the dim glow that she had summoned. "It's fine, it's fine." He said, voice cracking from misuse and cleared his throat, getting to his feet as he did so. "It's not easy to sleep down here anyway, and we need to get out. But please, don't call me sir, I'm not a man of wealth or station." Brushing his hands off on the sides of his thighs, Vann offered a short bow and held out his hand. "My name is Vann, if you please. It seems a bit late to be asking this, but who are you?" He'd carried her unconscious body for hours not knowing the name of this woman, and was now stuck in something of an underground maze with her. It would be nice to know what to call her other than constantly referring to her as 'the woman' or 'the mage'.

Ves watched him confused. She cocked her head to the side and stared at him from the tops of her eyes. Had he really just refused to be called sir? Was he allowed to do that? "Um, well actually," she started. Though she didn't say it out loud. It was more of a confused whisper. She truly wasn't entirely sure if she was allowed to call him by anything other than Sir. As far as she knew, all men were greater than she, and while she might hate it, she didn't have it in her place to disrespect the male population. So.. she was therefore supposed to call him sir. Although, when he spoke her name, she blushed again. Vann was this blonde haired man's name. It was different than others she'd heard, and she half wondered if it stood for something, or if that was really his name. She blinked remaining silent.

It actually took her a moment to realize he was serious about wanting to know her name. Ok, was this some kind of test? A joke? It wasn't funny. She'd saved his life, so if this was a set up there were going to be some serious fireworks in a second. But... She sighed and looked back down at the ground pulling herself together. "My name is Vespira Ganlit, sir.. um... I mean Vann?" When she spoke his name it was more of a question, and in her soft voice. Honestly, saying her name and then his felt wrong on her tongue, and yet she rather liked this almost equal-ness here. Maybe he was different than the rest. After all, he said he wasn't a man of wealth or station. So did that mean he wasn't part of Lord Zartear's men? Then who exactly was this man? She bit her bottom lip as she tilted her head back up slightly to look at him. There was no mistaking it. He was different than anyone she'd ever met. And, she could deny it all she wanted, but she actually liked Vann. She was almost comfortable around him.

It was interesting to watch her struggle to say his name. For a moment he was sure that she wasn't going to, caught up in whatever mental debate it was she was having with herself, then finally whatever reservations she had we're conquered and she managed a proper introduction. "It's nice to meet you, Vesperia Ganlit." He replied with another formal nod and quietly retracted his extended hand. Hopefully he could break her habit of calling him 'sir' quickly; the formality seemed misplaced here in the darkness with nobody around to enforce social protocols. He caught himself stooping again and abruptly straightened, realizing that he must look foolish for bending over to try and meet her gaze. Maybe he could get her to quit looking down too. That would be nice. Having a conversation partner that wouldn't look him in the face sounded like it would be trying. He wasn't used to all this… demureness.

With introductions out of the way, he nodded his head toward where they'd come from before he decided that he couldn't walk any longer. "It's caved in completely back there." He supplied shortly, filling her in since she'd been unconscious after the whole rock falling thing. "The tunnels seemed a little unstable as well, so I was hoping that continuing this way would get us a way out…" He trailed off, looking at the seemingly unending blackness that stretched before them, too dark and deep to be pierced by Vesperia's mage-light. "Mire, mire, wending gyre…" He mumbled quietly, hardly aware that he was quoting the voice in his head, or even that he had spoken out loud.