The Righteous and Free; Princess and the Pauper (Akai)

Effie bit back her tongue. God King? How was she a slave, yet related to a man so high in the ranks? It didn't add up to her. Unless she was just kidnapped or something. Yet how could she have gotten kidnapped so easily? Did they have a good set of guards where she came from!?

Little Girl, huh? Bragging bitch, I will shut her trap... Talking like she's so high and mighty! One could see the irritation in the young woman's eyes, the fire burning bright. You could even see the steam pouring out of her ears, indicating the dangerous heat boiling over.

"Knight? Pfft, Finthick isn't anywhere near knightly. He's just some weirdo mercenary. Nothing special at all." She glared at the man, gesturing to the Sien-chick in front of her as if to say "Why the hell did you make me talk to her?"

Finthick gave Effie a look that roughly translated to, "Behave." He tossed her a map, saying, "We need to get moving. There's a stable in the compound, and a storehouse with rations and water, even ale. Been awhile since I had a good ale."

Sien made her way through the dead bodies, moving from one to another, listening for their heart beat on the air. She was rather impressed with the slaughter, and asked, "Who did the killing?"

"Effie," Finthick blurted out, in a bid to appease the flaring princess, "She's rather dangerous. I sat backed, I'm no good at killing, since I'm only a humble monk."

Effie's head turned swiftly, another grunt escaping her vocal chords. She could not control her emotions, especially if some insufferable brat was around her. Behaving was never her forte. Good thing her princess standing was there, otherwise she would be seen as unfavorable.

"Killing...?!" Effie raised her voice again, glaring at Finthick. Why would he be giving her credit?! She didn't need his help to show Sien who was boss! She didn't need his help for anything! "Y-Yea, whatever. Let's just go before shit happens. And no matter your position, you're underneath me. This mercenary group doesn't follow the orders of any royalty. We work for pay, nothing more, nothing less. Get it?

"You better be somewhat useful. Else I'm dumping you in some city." Her eyes rolled and she strolled casually toward her partner, her sword swaying at her side.

Sien gave a slight harrumph at Effie's words, clicking her tongue a few more times. She stopped suddenly, listening, just as Finthick looked at Effie with an amused smile, "Behave princess, or I might have to give you a beating." He casually took a sip from the canteen at his side, enjoying the cool water after all the fighting. He turned to make his way to the stables, calling for the bird princess to follow. She just stood there, listening.

One wing beat. Finthick called again, becoming somewhat impatient.

Two wing beats. Finthick called once more, looking at Effie with a look of, "What the hell?"

Three wing beats. Sien's eyes went large, just as Finthick moved to her and grabbed her arm.

Four wing beats. Sien muttered the word, "Draconis," and Finthick's eyes went large as well. He grabbed the two princesses and threw them towards the forest, yelling, "MOVE!"

And then the red dragon roared, and everything burned.

Effie was still steamed, but once Finthick called out to the two of them, she reacted by following his orders, running into the forest while staring at the great beast behind her. The fire caught onto all the huts, shooing out the other slaves who'd just been saved from their imprisonment.

She called out to An, summoning forth the red circle right next to her. She commanded for the bird to keep the dragon occupied, trying to focus on getting the slaves out of the area. She shouted at them, focusing on concealing herself in the trees while An pecked at the dragon's eyes, flying about with grace and speed that began to irritate the dragon. It swiped at An, throwing fire at the bird. This did no faze the bird though; it was enveloping itself in the fire, then flapping its wings to dispel it.

"Finthick, is everyone out?" She yelled over the flames, her attention split on An and the escaping slaves. "You move on ahead with Sien!"

Finthick looked to Effie with an amused look on his face. She was telling the dragon to not fight the dragon. This was something he would want to see. He pulled Sien into the cover of a thicket, peering over the top of it to catch a glimpse of the large drake. It was a red dragon, like he had thought, and it looked to be about the size of catapult. It wasn't full grown, but if Effie wanted to take it on alone, it might prove a difficulty. He quitely began to crackle lightening between his fingers, his pent up energy ready for any quick blasts he may need to save her life. The drake landed loudly on the largest of the building, looking for anything alive and warm to feast upon. He smiled, waiting patiently for Effie to make her first move.

U-Uh... Fuck. The woman sighed, her forehead and palms getting sweaty. She was nervous as hell, with that big dragon looming over her, ready to snack on her flesh like any other human being. Was this such a good idea at the time? That thing is way bigger than I thought it would be... Should I release Damon? No, that's too much. I can do this with my own strength and An's. All she could do was think out her moves, trying to keep calm at the same time. The thing was huge, of course, but that would be its weakness. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, right? Plus, it would be way slower as long as she kept on moving. Secondly, she couldn't do it by herself. Effie needed to make sure An worked with her and she knew the bird was more compliant than the manticore.

"An! Go!" She commanded, her eyes following the phoenix as it nodded and sped toward the dragon's eyes once more. The dragon saw this and turned away from Effie to deal with the bird, growling ferociously as it tried to swipe An out of the air. The bird was ablaze now, tearing through the air quickly. The lumbering giant couldn't even catch her and this frustrated it. It growled louder, spitting fireballs into the air. Sadly, it didn't realize that its fire couldn't harm the phoenix. An pecked at its eyes again, causing the dragon to move onto the ground. Effie had been moving closer and closer, steadily, waiting for the beast to touch the ground. Once the dragon did so, she ran faster and scrambled onto its thick tail, moving up to where it met the rest of the dragon's body and took her blade it both hands. Shakily aiming it straight down, she stabbed it into the flesh with as much force as she could muster. The sword broke through its scales and caused it to bleed, making the creature whip its tail back and forth to get rid of her.

Effie gasped, nearly getting knocked off but she held her sword tightly, refusing to let herself get thrown away like any old rag doll. The dragon stopped, turning to where she was despite An's attempts to distract it. It roared and swiped at her with its claws, causing her to hit the ground hard. She swore, pain throbbing through her body, but she staggered to her feet and grabbed her sword from the ground a few feet away, rolling quickly as the dragon tried to stomp right on her. When she was on her feet, she slashed the claw that tried to crush her, causing more outrage from the red drake. It faced her and she realized tendrils of smoke began to leave its snout. The fire was coming and she prepared herself for the burn, but An swooped in and grabbed Effie in its claws, lifting her off the ground before the fire burned the area where she once stood.

The dragon watched the phoenix as it circled around its head. Speed now decreased because of Effie, the dragon came closer to closing its jaws on the phoenix. But An kept moving, turning around to drop Effie on its head before going back to pecking at its eyes. Effie had to hold onto the scales, the head moving too much for her to find stable footing. But soon, she stood and held her sword once more in the downward position, stabbing it right in between the eyes. It screamed, shaking again to try and remove the mercenary. But Effie held on once more, An finding the opportunity to actually blind the drake in one eye entirely. However, An was slammed to the side by the dragon's head in mid-air, causing it to fly away. The dragon kept shaking, waiting for the mercenary to get knocked off.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck... She thought frantically, not sure what exactly to try now. She looked to the sky for any sight of her summon, but An was not anywhere to be seen. Effie grunted, standing on top of the really-freaking-pissed-off drake and taking out her sword, stabbing it again at the top of its skull. Shrieking, it shook vigorously and threw off Euphemia, causing her to sail to the ground with a loud thud. She tried to get up, but it was a slow and painful process. Her vision was blurred and she felt rather nauseous after all the shaking and moving. The dragon turned its one eye to her, preparing to grab her in its teeth. Again, fearing for her life, Effie tried to get to her feet but before that could be done, An came in on its other side and pecked out its other eye. At this point, the magic was beginning to drain her energy. She let An fade into the other dimension once more, confident she could take down a blinded drake.

It spewed fire everywhere, the sword sticking up stupidly from its head. She had to keep running in zigzags, dodging the stomping as well as she began to climb its tail again. The scales were thick enough to conceal the fact she was on its back, allowing it to continue on a rampage. It did, however, set fire to the forest Finthick and Sien were hiding in, making Effie's adrenaline rush even more. She had to make it stop before they were killed too.

She grabbed the sword at the top of its head after many minutes (what felt like hours for the woman), ripping it out and sliding down to its neck. It began to move more, but she stopped it by stabbing it directly through where the windpipe should have been, causing it to fall in defeat finally.

Euphemia slipped off of it, her hands and legs trembling as she sheathed her sword once more. "Finthick, suck it! I beat it without your help!" She called out in her usual attitude, but she still fell to her knees laughing. She was exhausted, mostly because standing on a friggin' dragon wasn't an easy feat. And the magic was completely gone from her, which also really sucked. "Please get me food, I'm starving."

Sien cowered beneath Finthick, who had thrown himself over her to protect her from the dragon flame that had been spewed into the thicket where they hid. She listened silently, shaking underneath the monk, focused entirely on the beat of the massive dragons heart. It beat fiercly throughout the battle, but after many long, anguish filled minutes, with the sounds of Effie screaming like the small child she was, the great heart finally ceased. She slowly pushed Finthick off of her, moving to Effie as she expressed an interest in eating something. Sien quietly sat her down, slipping into the motherly instinct provieded to her from years of being an older sister. She roughly ripped off a section of the too large shirt she wore, producing suitable bandages and rags for cleaning as well as tearing away any excess shirt. Finthick emerged soon after, pulling off the remains of his cloak and shirt, sporting a few bruises and burns but reletively unscathed thanks to his dragonscale back. As he approached the girls, and squatted down on his haunches to help Sien with Effie, he was promptly sent away, with only his canteen being taken as any acknowledgement that he had tried to help. Finthick looked at the girls once more with a slightly raised eyebrow, before a strange scent came to his nose. He sniffed a few times, before wandering into the woods, tracking the odd scent to it's source, and leaving the two girls on their own in the clearing.

"Such a brave child," chittered Sien, dabbing the soot and dragonblood from Effie's face with a damp clothe. She wrapped Effie's wounds in the clean strips of cloth, binding them tightly. She continued to dab and clean, chittering away about Effie's combat prowess, and thanks for killing the large creature, before moving on from the praise, saying she was worried, and Effie should not be so reckless.

Brave child? What?! Was all Effie could think as she was tended to by Sien, Finthick leaving the scene hastily. She felt uncomfortable, the way she was babying her so much. She squirmed as her wounds were attended to, but it felt sorta nice to have someone care for her again. It felt like she was a princess again, being taken care of and pampered. She was always praised and comforted, never to face the harsh reality of the outside world...

"I'm not a child." She mumbled, swatting away Sien's hand as soon as she was done. She sat up and tried to get up. This attempt was a success, though she wobbled on the balls of her feet a little bit before stabilizing. "Where's Finthick? We need to leave right now."

Finthick had made considerable progress, given the primal instinct that drove his every footfall. He had caught the female drake's scent from long off, and knew, somewhere in his more concious mind that she was the same one Effie had just slain. Unfortunately for his concious mind, his more feral dragon side had taken over, overriding the hardened will of the demigod monk and as a result, his features were reverting more and more to his more reptile of states. Scales covered more of his skin, and his wings fanned out behind him. His tail waved briskly with each stride, and his eyes were little more than yellowed slits instead of their normal brilliant blue.

He found the tall trees sometime later, with the large complex of building visible. He sniffed, knowing the source to be there. His wings flapped a few times, but they were unable to lift him off the ground, even as primal as he was. Growling in frustration, his primal thoughts thought of no other way up, despite the easy climbability of the trees. The half dragon turned a few times, finally sitting down, and staring at the tree fort, a scowl on his handsome face. This inactivity would become his undoing, however, and Finthick soon began to revert back to his dragon monk self. His rational mind back in control, he decided it would be best to sit and wait for the girls, as he was fairly sure he had left an obvious trail behind him.

Sien merely shrugged in response, insisting that Effie let her treat her wounds. But the woman felt fine; a few burns and scratches were nothing to her at this point. But she was still worried for her partner, as there were still other dragons about and she did not trust him on his own.

Who knew what he was pillaging! And she was missing out on the good stuff!

"Just follow me, you'll be fine." Effie grumbled, making her way into the forest that Finthick had run into. She didn't know which direction to go, but soon she began to notice a trail. It grew more and more noticeable, with markings on the trees and more apparent footprints in the ground. She could even detect the faint smell of smoke; something that was normal for Finthick whenever he reverted into his dragon-esque form. 

They approached tall trees that towered above their heads, looking as though they stretched to the heavens themselves. Euphemia stared in awe for a few fleeting moments before spotting a figure up in the distance. Though she was not completely sure if it was him, she yelled out. "Finthick! What the hell do you think you're doing up there!? Why the hell did you leave us?!"

Finthick was not in fact in the trees, like Effie so assumed. Hiding in one of the thickets nearby, he had been watching the figure in red as he paced the landing of what appeared to be large complex in the trees, when Effie came blundering through the forest with Sien in tow, making as much noise as a herd of disgruntled elephants. Then she had the gall to shout at the stranger. By this point, Finthick clapped a hand on both of their mouths, and pulled them into the bush. He sat Effie down in the brush, motioning for her to stay silent. He gingerly took Sien's hand in his and slipped onto her finger a ring, after wrapping a note in her other hand. She was gone with little but a puff of purple smoke. Finthick turned his attention back to the man, who was now paying much too much attention to the thicket where they hid. Turning to Effie, he whispered harshly, "Have you lost all your sense? That man could have easily sent a crossbow bolt through you with all your bellering and tromping. Don't be so stupid in the future." Dusting off his hands, he sat down, peering up at the man for a long while. After several minutes of quiet pondering and silent fuming at Effie's stupidity, he simply asked, "would you like to kill him, or should I?"

Effie didn't know what was going on. She was pulling into a bush, watching Finthick give Sien a ring and saw her disappear into thin air, as though she hadn't actually existed. Had she been an illusion? Was she a ghost of some sort? Whatever had happened, she was gone and her partner was scolding at her.

"It was a trick of the light. I could have sworn it was you! It looked... a lot like you." She mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. She slightly pouted, irritated at how she couldn't tell from this distance that it wasn't him. But she was so sure... "You kill him. I'm clearly incapable of such a duty. Asshole." The last word was muttered under her breath, just barely audible even to her. But she didn't care. She was tired after such a hard-fought battle, anyhow.

Finthick grinned at her smart comment, flicking her on the nose as he slipped from their hiding spot. Slipping up the trunk of the enormous tree was fairly easy. LArge, stable limbs stretched out over the forest at odd intervals, and the ancient bark made for well placed handholds. It took him only a few minutes to reach the man on the ledge at the pace he set, and by the time he reached the platform, the man had lost interest in the brush and had gone back to staring out over the forest. Finthick hung from the side of the platform, and when he moved, it was all in one fluid motion. He came up, snapping the wrappings off of his hands with practiced skill. The lengths of cloth shot out from his hands at his mental command as he launched himself up onto the platform. They encircled the man's ankles, tying themselves tight, and before the man could yell out, Finthick hoisted him over the side of the platform, so that all that was between the man and a fatal drop to the forest floor were the steelsilk ties that kept him connected to Finny, who now held him hanging, swinging slightly, from the platform. Sitting down and fastening the wrapping to something more stable then his arms, he turned attention to a way to get Effie up to the platform. AS the man cursed and blustered, trying in vain to untie the magic chords, Finthick found a pulley system, attached to a large hemp basket, and held by natural fabrics woven into a rope. He lowered the basket down to the floor, before yelling down, "Effie, all clear! Get in the basket, I'll pull you up!"

Effie made a face at the touching of her nose, swatting at his hand as quietly as she could. She was still slightly ticked off, but whatever. Not like she had a choice but to deal with her partner. Why had she chosen to stick with him again?

Maybe because he was some badass dragon-thing. Ugh.

She watched and waited until she heard from Finthick, who seemed to be enjoying his bit of action for today. She was impressed by the amount of skill he showed through climbing, noting how she couldn't possibly be able to climb such a great height just as he did in a matter of minutes. He called to her, lowering a human-sized basket for her to hop into. Without question, she climbed into it, waving to him when she was set. "Alright, I'm in!"

Finthick gripped the makeshift rope with both hands, pulling roughly one it. His muscles bulged as he grit his teeth, gripping the rope one hand over the other, slowly pulling the basket up the trunk of the tree. As she reached the top, he tied the rope off and swung the basket over to him, lifting her out of it as easily as he would lift a small child. Setting her down gently, he left the rope secured, walking to the large doors in front of the great hall. Bones littered the entrance, and he absently kicked a few skulls away, some ancient, some newer, some off animals, and others disturbingly humanoid. He faced the large doors of the place, a large lock on the front. He could smell the stench of dragon from inside, and he knew that there had to be a different entrance somewhere, but he was too easy to locate it, and this one was the most accessible. He shot the lock with a quick burst of fire from his mouth, but it was warded, having been not even scorched from the burst of dragon fire, and as the ward was no apparent, he could make out the faint aura of magic that surrounded the lock with his dragon eyes. He turned a quizical eye on Effie, asking, "How do you think this ope-"

He was interrupted suddenly, as the entire tree shuddered. There was a gasp from the hanging man, who gave out a shrill cry, "The guardian awakens!" Finthick grabbed onto Effie with one hand, wrapping one strong arm around her waist, punching his other into the nearby wall, smashing into the wood with great force. He wrapped his hand around the newly formed hand hold. It was lucky he did this, as the entire tree shuddered, as if taking one great breath. The sound of splintering wood came loudly, and the tree lurched in such a way that without a grip on the wall, Finthick and Effie would have slid all the way off the ledge. They stayed at this angle for awhile, Finthick holding Effie to him to prevent her from falling, until Finthick realized that they seemed to be moving. After a long while, the movement stopped, as did the sound of giant footsteps that had been apparent throughout the whole ordeal. A great rumbling came from within the tree, as if it were clearing it's throat, until a great voice, loud, deep, and gravely, as if a rock slide spewed forth from this great being's lips, wandered it's way throughout the forest. "Who are you, and why are you in my hair, One-Who-Smells-Of-Death-and-Flowers and One-Who-Smells-Of-Fire-and-Ichor?"

A little less than happy about being pulled up by her partner, Effie made a face when she was set down again, her arms crossing over her chest as she watched him begin to sniff around. She noticed the bones that littered the area and felt more on edge. Stepping behind the monk, they went up to the lock (who would build such a house in a tree like this?) and tried to open it.

He turned to her to ask her about the lock but he was soon cut off as the ground began to tremble. Effie looked down, the tree actually being the only thing shuddering, her arms stretching out to both sides in an attempt to stay balanced. Even then, Finthick decided it best to grab her by the waist (which she yelped at, since she was never used to being grabbed so suddenly and especially by the waist by her partner) and hold her close, steadying them both as the tree began to move. Even though she didn't like this arrangement, she stayed calm and quiet until the tree moved at a consistent pace.

It began to speak, the throaty, ancient voice booming into the air. Euphemia separated herself from Finthick and peered over the edge of the branch, busying herself with finding the source of the voice. "Our names are Euphemia and Finthick! We are mere travelers! Sorry for awakening you from your slumber!" She called out at the tree. It felt sort of ridiculous, talking to the ent from this angle.

A deep chuckle that shook the tree again caused her to grab the bark in fear of falling off. "Eustoma and Firebush? Pleasure to meet you. My name is too antique for the comprehension of other creatures such as yourselves. You may call me as you wish." 

Eustoma isn't my name, but I can roll with that. At least it's a pretty flower. Effie thought to herself as she looked at Finthick in a 'Was this really a good idea?' kind of look. She knew he would probably want to stay in this house for a bit, seeing that it would definitely suit their needs.

The ent raised one gigantic hand to his beard, tugging on it in thought. His entire body rumbled as he let out a loud "hmmm". Reaching back, he grasped at Effie, clutching her in one giant hand. "Open!" he roared, his voice like mountains moving, and the lock fell from the door with a resounding clang. Finthick looked curiously at the door, but needing no further prompting, pushed the heavy wooden doors open and strolled inside, ready for anything, the place reeking of dragon stink.

The Ent opened his hand, Effie resting on his palm in front of his face. Dark eyes stared out from underneath a brow of leaves and bark, and his face showed good humor, despite his long sleep. He smiled down at the girl, saying, "You must be princess, as beautiful as you are. Tell me, how you came to be here, who you are. Who is that young knight you bring with you, the one who smells of gods and dragons? Who is it you seek to eliminate from me? Tell me these things, and perhaps I will share some of what I know with you."

((I literally can't handle looking at your profile pic, I feel too giggly XD))

Effie let out a squeak as the ent grabbed her and she glared in Finthick's direction as he merely brushed her off and went inside. But once she was let go of, she sat in the ent's palm and stared up at him curiously. He seemed like a wizened, weather-beaten old man in a tree form. She hadn't seen such a creature before, so she felt hesitant when talking to it.

"Yes, I'm a princess but I have renounced my place," Euphemia started in a matter-of-fact tone, keeping her voice as steady as possible. "I was to get revenge on the Semericks but we've hardly made any progress in that direction. For now, we're just traveling and helping those we come across. And Finthick is... A dragon but I do not know that much about him. You would have to ask him." She shook her head, surprised that she could not actually say anything on Finthick's behalf. She hardly knew about her partner, other than his name and his rotten attitude. "There were dragons around these parts and we believe there's a nest inside of you. But we just need some place to rest, sir Ent."