I'm Breaking You Down To Build You Up (Elincia)

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elincia Alanis"]


And so Kaida finally showed some emotion in her interactions with an Angelii. It had only taken two dozen threads or so. "I don't waste time training people to punish them. Those who are that far on my 'bad side' get weeded out," Kaida said bluntly.


"Our people are dying, Wing Leader. Be it through attrition, slavery or the criminal incompetence and idiocy of ignorant, blue-blooded parasites. It's our responsibility to ensure their survival. If it's at the cost of our own lives, so be it." She actually sounded animated now. There was something close to fervour in her tone.


"Get up. We must set up the tent before it gets dark." Presumably it would also be smart to make a campfire and eat something after doing that. The day was gradually coming to a close.

 

[Elincia Alanis]

That was actually a good point. All the heat from the desert made her forget about her experience with the tigers for a second there, or was that because of the shock that the ice lady finally showed emotions? A bit of both maybe. Mostly the heat though.

She couldn't believe they were having a "normal" conversation right now, well, as normal as it could be when you were talking about your people dying, but still. Elincia was still cautious though about the words that she was going to choose. After all, one little mistake could ruin this moment instantly.

"It's a hell of a responsibility, isn't it?" She sighed. "Well, let's make sure we survive, so we can save more, right? After all, it's our responsibility to ensure their survival." Then she added, with a smile. However, a deeper meaning was hidden in her words.

Elincia, the rebellious soul who seeked adventure in many dangerous situations, was actually scared of death.

Death was the endpoint, wasn't it? People would forget your existence, slowly, but surely, as the time passed. Wasn't it why Elincia always wanted to be different, so that she wouldn't be lost in the ocean of people who were "just like her"? It wasn't like her to be thinking these now.

Luckily, ice lady's voice was heard, calling her to set up the tent. So, she stood up, finally, and moved towards her to prepare for the night.

Maybe the two would get a campfire scene for more character development, only the time would tell!

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elincia Alanis"]


"We all die one day, Wing Leader. Some of us will grow old and die in their bed surrounded by grandkids," she scoffed at that. It was not an end for her. It sounded all sorts of wrong to her.


"Many of us will die some time in a trench. Ideally after experiencing the satisfaction of blowing many enemies to bits. The common people will not know our names. The believers will prattle about heaven. But we live on: In our battle sisters. We're all part of a chain that stretches back thousands of years. We all add our part."


Was Kaida getting sort of poetic? Kinda, sorta. Either way, that was what she said while the two did all the necessary steps to set up a tent. This writer could write the aforementioned steps out, but presumably they managed to do it properly.

 

[Elincia Alanis]

She never knew ice lady had a poetic side. The woman was like a surprise birthday present. 5 percent of the time you would get something you wanted for years. And in the other 95 percent, you would get socks.

"I hope I won't see that day. Can you imagine me as a grandma?" She said, giggling. "Seriously though, grandkids, eww..." It seemed, as the time passed by and Kaida was being kinda nice to her, Elincia's trolling nature was coming back slowly. And besides, it was getting too philosophical, Elincia wouldn't handle if that continued. Not full force though, ice lady still had that potential to just ruin her night if she wanted.

So with that said and done, she concentrated on the preparations. And after a little timeskip, the tent would be ready.

The evening was coming closer and closer each second, bringing a good, refreshing cold with it.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elincia Alanis"]


"Children are annoying. Present society encourages this by being too tolerant of misbehaviour. For some reason, idiotic liberals think a good caning is cruel," Kaida commented. Presumably she'd like Singapore: Clean streets, lots of laws and plenty of flogging. "If you have children, I hope they're as annoying as you. So you know what your instructors felt like," she added. After all, she could not spend the thread being too nice, right?


Regardless, the tent was set up. So now they could prepare their meal. Kaida lit a fire so they could heat it up. The Angelii had brought burgers. Eldorai had a high metabolism and in any case Elincia would be driven hard tomorrow, so she did not have to worry about her figure. Then again, looking like a bulimic fashion model was not a good idea for a soldier anyway, but this one digresses.


"I'll take first watch, then you. Don't fall asleep then. I will know if you do," Kaida warned her while she ate. The joke was that Kaida had once come across a sleeping enemy sentry while on a recon mission. She'd proceeded to beat the sentry with his own gun, tie him up and leave a letter of complaint for his superior. At least that's what certain impressionable Angelii claimed.

 

[Elincia Alanis]

"Or you can always throw them under the tigers. You know, some of them will get the message and discipline themselves." She said, with a grin, knowing full well that it didn't quite work for her, well, the only thing it did for her was to get her a new phobia of creatures with big teeth. That was probably a lie, but anyway. And then when she said her next words, she rolled her eyes, but her grin was still there. "I am annoying only because you have no sense of humor." She said in a cheerful tone. She was getting too ahead of herself with this, hopefully in the heat of the moment the ice lady wouldn't take this as an insult or something. Anyway, the tent was done, and it was meal time. She was waiting for this for a loong time. It has been a day of torture after all. A lot of it.

Burgers!

"I don't think danger will find us in the middle of nowhere. There is only sand and... more sand." She said, stuffing her mouth with burgers because why not. Her figure wasn't a concern for her that much, which was clear, since her metabolism did the job itself anyway. "Alright, I won't fall asleep." She added afterwards, probably after an icy glare from the Seraph.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elincia Alanis"]


"No, your jokes are just crap," Kaida retorted. "And you'd be surprised how many dangers may lurk in the desert." Well, aside from sandstorms and the ever present threat of dehydration. Not to mention gangs of bandits and nomadic tribes.


Speaking of metabolism and weight gain, it was not impossible, though very difficult for an Eldorai to turn into an oversized blob. In other words, it took hard work. However, thanks to the spread of human fast food, it was bound to become a...growing problem. Pun fully intended. One imagined that Kaida's solution would be simple and involve plenty of heavy labour to get obese elves back into shape.


Regardless, they finished their meal. By now darkness had descended upon the desert. Elincia would have a few hours to rest while Kaida was on watch duty. Should the young Angelii not be on time, Kaida would be cross.

 

[Elincia Alanis]

"Still better than you..." She rolled her eyes and said with a sigh as a response to ice lady's "criticism" for her jokes. The past Elincia would say much more than that, but she already knew ice lady had no sense of humor so it would be a waste of time.

"Yeah yeah... Wait, do you think this place have snakes or something? No thanks." She told afterwards regarding the possible dangers they can find in a place of emptiness, meanwhile she finally managed to finish the meal, and yawned as the need to sleep slowly overcome her body. "Well, I'm gonna sleep. Have fun..." She let out another yawn. "... watching the sand, I guess."

With that, she retreated back to the tent.

And we shall have a time skip to the time Elincia would take the watch.

Surprisingly, Elincia was all itchy from the sand so she couldn't sleep that much anyway. Rubbing her eyes and groaning, she opened the tent and moved outside. It seemed it was still night.

"Mom would be proud." She mumbled. She always wanted her to wake up early for farming duties anyway. Luckily, she woke up to a more boring job than that... ugh. "Is it my turn yet?" She finally said to the ice lady.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elincia Alanis"]


"Yes," Kaida grunted frostily. The ice lady did, as a matter of fact, look more than a little tired. There were dark circles under her eyes. The perceptive observer might get the impression that Kaida had not been sleeping a lot the past few days. However, she would not admit any of that.


"Don't fall asleep. Alert me if anyone approaches," she added. Handing Elincia a rifle, she got up and stalked off towards the tent. It was still night and a full moon. Moreover, there was plenty of sand. On the bright side, the temperature had cooled down a good deal now that the sun had vanished. So Elincia would not have to suffer in the middle of a binary furnace.


The Wing Leader's vigil would be fairly uneventful for a while. However, that would change in time. A collection of nomadic looking individuals, riding on lizard mounts, was making their way towards the oasis. They were armed with a variety of bladed weapons and primitive gunpowder firearms. Whether their intent was hostile or not was another question.

 

[Elincia Alanis]

Elincia watched the ice lady move towards the tent, worry could be clearly read from her glance. The ice lady looked extra tired, and Elincia knew how hard it must've been for her because of the recent events. Sighing as she completely entered the tent, Elincia started her guard duties.

The first few hours passed by with Elincia staring at empty sand, her eyes about to close as nothing interesting was happening. "I should've brought some of my magazines... I don't think it would be a good idea though, there is so much sand. Yeah, you're right, me?" She continued talking to herself to pass the time. I'm officially going crazy because of boredom...

Luckily, this boredom wouldn't last very long, as she heard some movement. Thanks to the overly sensitive elf ears, she could prepare herself before they arrived. Taking aim with her rifle towards where the sound came from, she started to wait. And a few seconds later, it was revealed that there were more than she could handle and... wait a minute, were they riding lizards?!?

Alright, she probably fell asleep and this was a nightmare, right? No, she wouldn't be in a desert even in her nightmares. They were a lot more... complicated.

But ugh, lizards.

"That's far enough!" She shouted, still aiming her rifle towards the group. "Move another step forward and I'll shoot."

"Ice lady, we have visitors."

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elincia Alanis"]


A tense situation had developed! Immediately, a few of the nomads drew their scimitars. "We fear no little sky woman. Oasis ours. You no go, we cut ears," one of the nomads growled in his native language, an obscure Qadiri dialect. Whether he had actually understood what Elincia said was another question, but the fact that she was pointing a rifle at them was enough to bring the point across.


"What's going on here?" a very chilly voice growled when a sleepy, pissed off looking Kaida emerged from the tent. Somehow, she was still wearing armour. Maybe she slept inside it as well. In one hand she held her lightsabre, in her other a magnetic revolver. "I'm Seraph Taldir of the Eldorai. Explain yourself now. Wing Leader, hold your fire...for now."


Yazgid mounts, never the most docile of creatures, hissed, exposing mouths full of sharp teeth that could tear a man's limbs off and break bones even inside armour. The nomad from earlier raised his primitive looking rifle, but then it was abruptly forced down.


"Put that down, fool," a commanding, feminine voice ordered authoritatively. Giving her Yazgid a signal, the nomad made it trot forward, then dropped down from her reptilian mount. As soon as her feet had touched down upon the sandy ground, she lifted the indigo coloured veil that obscured her features, revealing a rough looking, but attractive face. Compared to the city dwelling Qadiri, her skin was a darker shade of bronze. She carried a shield made of antelope skin on her back, and a sword rested inside a scabbard engraved with runes. "I am Sohaila Moogana, outsiders. Should you fire the first shot, we shall defend ourselves. But we seek no quarrel with you. My tribe seeks shelter and refuge from vile bandits."

 

[Elincia Alanis]

Call the ice lady, and she shall appear. Honestly, Elincia was glad she was here. These people seemed like trouble, and yeah, I'm talking about you, creepy guy who threatened to cut my ears, and they were literally riding giant lizards... with giant teeth, so the situation was grim.

Well, it seemed things were about to go even worse, as the creepy guy from earlier raised his rifle. Elincia's finger immediately went for the trigger, ready to shoot if the guy tried to do something funny. Luckily, one of the more intelligent looking strangers stopped him and moved forward riding her giant lizard, the mount looked much bigger than the rest, and a lot creepier. She dismounted the beast and then lifted the veil covering most of her body. She looked quite important, with her fancy sword and shield, her posture and her grammar. Definitely better than the last guy. She was probably the leader.

Since Elincia took orders from the ice lady not to shoot for now, she waited for her to make a move.

"I don't trust them. One of them literally threatened to cut our ears. The lady looks cute though." She spoke, her voice was low enough not to be heard by the group. "What's the plan?"

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elincia Alanis"]


"Keep your guard up," Kaida said laconically. Her gaze fell upon the apparent leader of the nomads, along with her band. "If your man makes another ineffectual attempt to threaten my subordinate, I'll cut his eyes and make him swallow his genitals." Her tone was chilly. Like with many Eldorai officers, her Qadiri was poor, but she had a translation device.


Sohaila did not waver. "You'll do no such thing," she stated flatly. "If my brother's stupid enough to endanger the tribe and not mind his tongue, I'll force it down his throat, and leave him unmanned and mutilated in desert for Shai-hulud to swallow," she added. There was no doubt that she was not joking either.


"Sister," the nomad exclaimed, but she glared at him and he shut up. At this stage Kaida had a look on her face that pretty much screamed 'ok, I'm really turned on now. Let's bang.' Actually, that was a joke. No chance of fade to black scenes in this thread.


"Three of your people are close to dehydration. Your Yazgid are restless and hungry. Maybe you speak the truth. You're in no position to fight. You, come to us and tell me of these bandits. Your people go to the lake and keep your distance."


"This be trap. Outsider mean to betray," one nomad muttered.


"Very well. But I shall keep my blade and my firearm, and one of my sisters shall accompany me. Should you betray us, my people will fight to the death. Know that the bandits will probably head your way. They are fiends without honour," the clan leader declared. She nodded to one of the warriors in her party, who stepped forward as well. She was similarly armed, but her face was still covered by a veil.

 

[Elincia Alanis]

That's gross. She thought as she tried not to imagine the ice lady doing what she said to the man who threatened her.

The tension was high, so high that Elincia thought about suggesting the two to get a room. However, no fade to black scenes and all that. Besides, ice lady would probably punish her in some way so she kept quiet.

The talks ended with the two sides signing a non-aggression pact. Needless to say, Elincia was surprised with this turn of events. Note to self, bring ice lady to a desert if you do something that would piss her off.

"The feeling's mutual, buddy." She said to the one nomad who was muttering. All she got was a growl as an answer, which made her roll her eyes. No matter what, she kept her guard up. Surely it would be clear soon if they were lying or not.

Anyway, the clan leader's people continued towards the lake, meanwhile she and a few soldiers of hers stood with her.

"Leader, are you sure we can trust them?" One of the soldiers asked once again, and met the gaze of the leader, which immediately made her nod and stop talking.

"The desert has scarce resources, so we need to move from place to place if we want to survive. The bandits ambushed us at night, we fought back, but they were stronger than us. They were carrying weapons like you outsiders have, riding metal mounts. They stole most of our food, and kidnapped some of our people, mostly the children. Our scouts followed them, but they were too many. Those bastards can't get away with this."

"Do you think they are slavers?" Elincia asked to the Seraph.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elincia Alanis"]


Sohaila glanced towards Elincia when the young Angelii made her query. "The honourless scum will no doubt sell our people on the slave markets, forcing them to live a life as serfs. I cannot abandon my people to such a fate. I have no coin, but my tribe does not forget those who aid it," the nomad leader said fervently.


Cry me a river, Kaida thought. Decades as an Angelii had made her a rather cynical person and she'd spent enough time on Tygara to know how things worked here. "Long story cut short: You want help. Is this the moment where you tell me that you're the great abolitionist whose tribe does not have slavery?" she asked sarcastically.


Sohaila's eyes swept back to the older Angelii. "Your Queen's own ally, the great tyrant Shâhbanu Semiramis, rules from her throne of gold over an empire built upon the toil of slaves. I have yet to see the Eldorai take an issue with that. But unlike her, I only indenture captives and criminals and let them earn their freedom instead of treating them like chattel."


Kaida shrugged with feigned indifference. In truth, the Eldorai government's - and Firemane's - compromises with the local rulers bothered her more than she let on. It did not escape her that there was a strong note of revulsion in the nomad's tone when she spoke Semiramis' name. "Most of your people think slaves are a good thing. Most of mine think it's not worth the hassle of pointing out how wrong it is and teaching them to be better."


It clearly took a lot of self-control on Sohaila's part not to strike the Eldorai. "How could I forget that your people are the very model of civilisation and we all stand in your shadow. If you have no desire to help us, my tribe shall spend the night recuperating and save our brethren on our own, regardless of the cost. If you decide otherwise and we succeed, we shall share the bandits' loot."

 

[Elincia Alanis]

Meanwhile a heated conversation continued in the background, Elincia was, unsurprisingly, not listening at all. For her, the two were arguing like an old couple. They were quite similar actually, both were feared by their subordinates, both were stubborn, and angry. One would think they were related in some way, hopefully not though, since the galaxy couldn't endure another ice lady.

When the other lady talked about the bandits' loot, it was then Elincia's oh-shiny senses tingled and she returned to the conversation with full attention.

"Well, I'm sold! Since we would be doing the eighty percent of the job I expect a high share though!" She was met by the curious looks of the guard, and the leader's quite scary gaze. Though Elincia was starting to believe it was her usual look.

"I see that no matter how much of a mighty civilization that you think you are, you can't even discipline your subordinates properly. Consider me unsurprised. Anyhow, we can share the loot. We will take what's ours, and whatever you want to do with the rest of them is up to you. Though, I must say that we are wasting time. If you want to proceed with our deal, shall I call one of my scouts so she can give us directions?"

Why do you have to be like her so much? She thought, as she couldn't help but feel annoyed.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elincia Alanis"]


If looks could kill...then there would be at least one corpse lying in the sand. Maybe two. "Your opinion is insignificant and you won't get a thing. Keep it up, and I'll leave you in the desert," Kaida snapped icily. But would there be tigers? It was best not to risk it.


Her eyes met those of the nomad leader...who seemed to be the Seraph's mirror image. Elincia would know the look on the Seraph's face. It was the one she wore when she was close to punching someone. Or otherwise putting them in their place. "Fetch your minion. The moment I need command lessons from a primitive desert dweller who's begging for my help, I'll give you call."


"Enough, Eldorai. Your petty insults are beneath me. Take away all your technology, and you would be helpless fodder for Shai-hulud," she made an impatient gesture towards the warrior who'd accompanied her. "Aisha, call one of the scouts. It is time we put the bandits to the sword. Maybe once their blood has been spilt, we shall see how strong this outsider truly is."


"I welcome the challenge. If you want to be humiliated." Girls, stop flirting. The minion gave Elincia a long-suffering look that could be summed up as 'yeah, my boss is a queen, too. Welcome to the club' and quickly scurried off.

 

[Elincia Alanis]

Elincia rolled her eyes when she heard the ice lady's words. If this was someone else that didn't know her very well, they would get offended by her humiliation in front of the strangers, but for Elincia this was standard procedure. Besides, watching ice lady get angry because of the nomad leader was worth it. If only they had popcorn... She returned the look to the minion and shook her head with an evil grin on her face, implying that she was enjoying this.

"Actions speak louder than words, and you haven't done anything to impress me yet." The nomad leader responded just as icily. Though she had somewhat of a calm expression on her face.

Luckily, before the thread got a black screen just because the two continued flirting with each other with such tension, the scout, a taller, darker skinned elf with a veil that covered half of her face, moved forward with a parchment in her hands, nodded to both leaders and opened the parchment to reveal it was a hand-drawn map of the area. It was quite detailed despite the fact that it was quite primitive.

"Our scouts followed the bandits from here to there. They were riding a metal mount." She pointed at the map, and drew the path they took with her fingers. "Right there, there's a gate, and the area is covered with metal walls. They brought our people to north of here, however, we don't know if they were relocated afterwards because we had to leave. I counted a dozen of them, each carrying weapons like you and your guard have."

"Is that all, scout?"

"Yes, my Lady."

"You disappoint me. Perhaps I should have a talk with the scout leader. Dismissed." Then, she turned back to the ice lady, after the scout walked out of the scene, worry written all over her face.

"You have your information, Eldorai."

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elincia Alanis"]


At this point Kaida had decided that she'd put Sohaila Moogana in her place. Somehow, the name seemed familiar to her, but she could not quite place it. She was not the type to socialise with the Tygaran natives. Especially not the savage ones who dwelt in the deserts and often raided settlements and merchant caravans. More than not, it was simply her job to shoot them.


"Were there outsiders among them, or only Qadiri?" Kaida asked flatly in a commanding voice once the scout and the nomad leader had finished their dialogue. Her tone was as sharp as if she had been ordering an Angelii about. Or throwing Elincia to the tigers.


"Qadiri. But they carry guns that fire glowing projectiles and ride on mounts of metal," the scout explained.


"Speeders," Kaida surmised. This raised the question where they had gotten the hardware from. Both Firemane and the Eldorai Matriarchy had regiments of Qadiri natives, called Sepoys. Likewise, allied local rulers such as Semiramis had received 'modern weapons' for their elite troops. Neither possibility was a pleasant one. "If it is as your minion says, Alanis and I can infiltrate the stronghold and open the gates. Then we kill all the bandits."


"Lovely. Then let us make haste and attack before the sun rises," the nomad leader declared. "Can you ride a Yazgid, Eldorai?" there was a challenging gleam in her brown eyes, daring the Eldorai to fail and embarrass herself in the process.


"You bet."

 

[Elincia Alanis]

Well then, the plan was coming together. First of all, the bandits were high tech, also where the victims were brought was unclear, they were outnumbered and their allies had primitive swords and arrows. When put like that, the situation didn't look so bright. But of course, since when did the brightness of a situation stopped them? She felt excited, after all, she was starting to believe that the journey to the desert was just a torture fantasy of the ice lady and she was the victim, but the adventure found them and saved the "damsel in distress" from the evil witch. Alright, no more Spaceney movies for you!

However, her expression changed when she heard they were going to ride the lizards! She looked at one of them and shivered immediately. "Ice lady... I don't think I can... ughh..." She shook her head in reluctance again. "They are just... too ugly. And gross. I really don't think that we should sit on them, I mean, they might have rabies or something..." Of course, she didn't want to say it outright that she was a bit scared of them, but it was probably obvious.

"I can assure you they are in perfect condition. We care for our mounts." Said the soldier who brought the mounts. Elincia shook her head once again, going a few steps back. What was wrong with their faces anyway?

"Eldorai, tell your guard to stop acting like a child. We have no time to lose." The nomad leader spoke in a rather patronising way. The soldier meanwhile prepared the mounts for a ride.

"Well, the mounts are ready. Let's move." The nomad leader spoke once again. Ice lady's Yazgid seemed a bit aggressive, even it's owner was having a hard time trying to keep it calm. It was probably nomad leader's attempt to make the challenge a bit harder.

Elincia, on the other hand, was still having difficulties. It would take a good persuasion/intimidation check to make her go near the mount.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]