Heart Sisters

Kein Penity paced her room, a sense of frustration building in her. It was late, past time for her to have turned in. Her mind was far too active to even consider sleeping. She held a piece of paper in her hands. It was worn, apparently from being refolded after multiple readings. She almost had the words memorized by now.

Dear Kein,
I realize that we have not contacted you since you went off on your little adventure. We still do not approve, as I'm sure you know. Your parents would not be happy to know we were even writing you. Something of great importance has happened though, and you deserve to know of it. Odetta is missing. Surely you have missed her by now as well. She was given a mission from the king; one she was unable to talk to us about. That was many months ago however. You know her. If she was well, she would have found a way to contact us. Or you. Something is wrong.

Find our daughter, Kein. I fear you are the only one that can help her.

Sincerely, Tanak Spirit-Walker

Kein cursed. She couldn't just give up on her training now! She was only months away from getting her shield! But Odetta. . . she was closer than a sister. If she was in trouble, then she couldn't just look the other way. With one final curse, she began to pack her bags.

Odetta was finishing her preparations to head out. The kings' orders were clear, and she would soon have to use much energy on both defensive and offensive spells. While on the field she was to obey without question; hesitation could mean failure to survive which could put everything at risk. Which would mean the gallows or guillotine for sure. Odetta shuddered at the thought and took a deep breath, then she closed her eyes for a moment. There was something missing, something that she couldn't put her finger on. She was just about ready to remember something when there was a rough knock on the wooden door.

" 'Detta? It's Keira! Can I come in?" Her friends' voice called from inside. Keira never failed to make her smile.

"Of course, come right in." Odetta said. The small figure scurried in, closing the door to the chambers carefully. "What is it? Are you ready to set out and destroy the enemy?" Odetta asked.

"Yeah, and with you backing us, i'm sure all will be well. However, I think we may be rushing into things. How can we be sure that we are ready? I hardly believe i'm ready to strike down a veteran knight, no matter how much I think I should be able to."

"All will truly be well! Do not worry! In but one moon we will be out to finish off the ones who wish us gone." Odetta smiled reassuringly, and Keira smiled and hugged her close.

"Fare well until we meet in battle!" Keira piped before disappearing through the door again.

Kein walked down the now familiar halls of the castle, silently saying goodbye to everything she was used to. The training yard, the fencing arena, the archery range, all were bidden farewell. Luckily it was late at night, so she didn't have to worry about running into any of her friends. Of course, as soon as she said that, Lishe walked out of his room, and nearly tumbled into her.

"What're you doing?" he asked, eying the pack on her back. Kein blushed.

"I got a message. My friend needs help, so. . ." she trailed off as a look of realization came on his face.

"You can't leave," he stated. "We're so close to getting our titles! If you leave now, you'll have to redo all of your years as a squire! That is, if they don't declare you a traitor to the crown!"

Kein shook her head. "It doesn't matter. She's all I've really got."

Lishe watched his friend walk away, his mind racing. He recognized the look on her face. She was in her hero mode now, and nothing he did would make her change her mind. He didn't even know where she was going, though. What if she got into trouble? She would need someone to watch her back. With a muttered swear, he raced after her.

((OOC: would you like me to send you a profile for him as well? I think I might make him a regular character, if that's alright with you. . .))

Odetta smiled when her friend left, then she layed back on her hard bed. She was not looking forward to the battle, but to the battle's end. It was only a matter of time before they raided.. and only a matter of time before they were back again. The mage closed her eyes, then let her mind drift until she fell into a deep dream as she often did.

"Come on, Kein, you know you can do it!" A little girl cried, watching as her friend attacked a stick violently. "You're going to be a knight one day, are you not? Show 'im what you're made of!" The girl watched her friend practice swordsmanship on the tree in a lovely feild (quite out of view from wherever it was they lived, otherwise their parents would surely disapprove.) for a time, before jumping over with a stick of her own to become the enemy.

"Yarr!" The girl cried, and she jumped towards her foe with mock hatred. The other quickly defeated her, though, and the dream faded to black. Then, scenes of A garden and castle came and went, a maid and beautiful white horses bred pure. Again, the dream faded, but this time nothing more came.

Odetta sat up from the bed, and rubbed her eyes. She could not remember what it was that she drempt, she only remembered that it was too soon that she was being told to awaken. Wait.. Odetta looked around sleepily. There was noone where- nobody had woken her up at all. Perhaps it was the dream, she decided, and layed back down. However, Odetta could not fall back into even a light slumber.


((OOC:You don't have to if you don't want to.))

Kein heard running footsteps coming up behind her, and looked back with surprise. Her surprise intensified when she saw her only real friend in the castle gaining on her. She turned, and placed her hands on her hips.

"What are you doing? Go back to your room." Her friend simply shook his head.

"I'm with you," he said with a shrug. Kein tried to argue with him as they walked, but she soon realized that it was pointless. Lishe was loyal to the crown, but also to his friends. And he could be as stubborn as a mule when he felt strongly about something.

"Mount up then," she growled. "We're going to trace her steps until we find her."

Soon, Odetta grew tired of lying and wating for something to happen. She had tried entertaining herself with a sphere of water- throwing it around and changing it's shape and all, but already that was boring and over-used. "Uhg, enough of this." The mage murmured, getting up. With a quick stretch, she pulled on some shoes and left her chambers. She was asked many times on her way out of the building where she slept where she was going, and each time she answered with the same monotonous sentence, "I am going for a walk, to clear my mind. Anything else?" Always the answer was no, so she walked. Of course, she was always watched for some reason or another, a reason she did not care to learn. It was unimportant. Or, so it seemed to Odetta at the time, anyway.

The air was lovely, and it really did clear her mind. She didn't want to be cooped up all day in the horrid room, or even in the cold stone building. In the sky a bird fluttered by, ignorant to all that is going on and impassive to the war that was on it's way. The rain would still fall, as the blood of many would, the wind would still blow the poppies in the wind. The world would move on, and nothing would really change. Why would it? A war or a fist-fight, neither is big on the scale of the world or the galaxy; neither is worth changing anything larger than the lives of two kingdoms.

Kein searched her mind as they rode, trying to figure out exactly where to go. As far as she could tell, Odetta had disappeared during the last border skirmish. That bothered her. She should have been there, to protect her best friend! But her knight master had been in the capitol, and so had she been. And of course, no one bothered to take accurate role after battles, so it could have been weeks before anyone even noticed her missing. Kein sighed as the reached the spot of the skirmish, afraid of what she would find. What if she simply found out that her friend had died in battle? A chill when down her spine. No. She mustn't think that way.

"Ho there," she called out to one farmer, who looked as if he might have participated in the battle. "I'm here looking for a friend of mine. She would have been a royal mage, probably dressed in blue. Light hair, pure as the sun. Sound familiar?"

Lishe stayed back, letting Kein do all the questioning. He stayed alert, however. They were dangerously close to the border here.

One step after another. That's all it took for her to cross a fair distance in what seemed to be a second to Odetta Spirit-Walker, but of course it was not. Even though the wind was chilly, her ear seemed to burn without reason. It was not cold to the touch, yet not as hot as it should have been according to it. Odetta paused ontop of a hill, her eyes closed as she concentrated. She stood there for a long time before the chill got past her light clothes. Something important was out of her reach, just beyond her understanding. And the world moved on. So did Odetta.

The decievingly soft whisper of the biting breeze, the rythmic clicks of her heels on packed dirt, the lonely wolf howling at the moon in the distance. Some part of Odetta wanted to howl back. So much mystery, so much she didn't know before a few months back. How irritating. Her higher-ups had said nothing of it, but she would see it in their eyes when they glanced upon her. She was not from here, but this was her home. Perhaps she had been a traveling mage? Had she come from a different land as an offering from some strange king to keep the peace? Oneday, perhaps she would know. For now she would not think, merely walk wherever her shoes decided to take her.

Kein shook her head as she left yet another family that had not seen her friend. Were people blind here? She jumped as Lishe put a hand on her shoulder, and turned to glare at him.

"Perhaps we best call it a night," he whispered. "It is getting late, and people are becoming distrusting. If we knock on another door this late, we might find a pitchfork through us."

Kein sighed. She knew he was right yet she wanted, with every fiber of her being, to continue searching. There had to be at least one person in this gods forsaken patch of farmland that could give her some sort of clue.

Odetta didn't realize it until a guard caught up and stopped her, but she had walked right to the border of the enemy territory. She gave a startled cry when she realized where she was, but it was quickly muffled. The mage turned and stepped began walking back.

"What in the world were you thinking, mage? Going back there is surely death." The guard growled, not daring to touch her.

"I wasn't." Odetta stated simply. "And what do you mean, going BACK there?" The guard was silent. "Well?" Silence. She let it drop, but took note of this in her mind for further pondering.

"We leave tomorrow." The guard said quietly, and Odetta nodded.

"Yeah. Enough now, we cannot speak of it until the time comes." They continued to walk back.

Kein began to make camp, but something caused her to look back, towards the border line. She saw a couple of figures walking away. She squinted. Something seemed familiar about one of them, although she couldn't put her finger on it. But it was dark, and the figure was far away. She shrugged, and continued helping Lishe set up the tents.

The darkness annoyed odetta to no end as she walked with the guard, so without further ado [She figured they were far enough away from the border that nobody would be stupid enough to come charging forward into enemy land.] She lifted her hand in front of her hand snapped her fingers a couple of times. 'Bless this walk with fire.' With each snap of her fingers, the fire grew. She took her time with the fire floating above her hand for no reason she consciously thought of; it was all the subconscious thoughts that made the difference. It only took five snaps of her fingers for a ball that produced twice as much light as a torch would. Didn't matter, there was light. She was happy enough.

A sudden light lit up the sky, making Kein jump. What was that? She saw Lishe reaching for his sword, not wanting to be caught off guard this close to the border. Kein stood up suddenly. Wait. No. It was impossible. What would she be doing there? Kein began to walk towards the border, her anticipation turning her walk into a trot. Surely it couldn't be this easy, right? A silly smile played on her face - but she recognized the face that was illuminated by the strange light. There was no mistaking it.

Lishe cursed as Kein jumped up. What was she thinking? He ran after her, making sure to grab his sword.

"Put that light out."

"Why? We're on our own land. Nothing will come close."

"Look back. Those two in the distance are coming."

"Then surely they will fall if they come much closer."

The guard sighed in irritation at the mage, and they continued on. He didn't like the way she acted, he hated her guts, but mages were always good in battle. Maybe not so good for hand-to-hand combat, but buffs, small heals, even protection. His irritation grew when Odetta paused and looked back at the other two, and he grabbed her wrist and started to keep going. Odetta thought she remembered something from before, and then it was gone. Odetta kicked the guard in the shin for that, and he had to remember his orders to keep civil until after the raid.

"Fine, if you insist, i'll burn them both now!" Odetta said, ready to do something about the two intruders.

"Just wait and we'll see if they bother us. Don't waste your energy on something someone else will take care of. Especially not until they cross the border."

"Odetta! Odet-" Kein called out, even though she knew she was probably too far away to be heard. She stopped short as Lishe grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards.

"We're too close," he hissed. "A few more steps and you could start a full scale battle."

Kein looked out towards the border desperately. What could she do now?

Odetta could not hear the desperate call of someone she once knew. Odetta merely turned on her heels and began again further into enemy territory. It would only be the morrow when they returned anyway, and that would be with knights and mages like herself and all that jazz. It would be something to remember, of that Odetta was sure. She had no idea how she came to be around, whether or not she had a family, but she knew to stick by her friends and follow the orders of her king was vital to live a fair life. Odetta let the flame go down and then vanish from sight. There was enough light from the moon that she did not need to use her magic anymore.

Kein struggled against her friend for a second before giving up. There was no way she could risk her kingdom on a whim. She cursed, feeling tears of frustration rise in her eyes.

"Come on, Kein," Lishe said. "We'll try again later. We can't even be sure it was her, dark as it is."

Kein gave one last look over the border before letting Lishe lead her away. This wasn't the end, though. She would find Odetta, and save her.

The night went by quickly, and soon everybody was up and buzzing. The king had given out orders to the top generals. Everything was starting to move, the wheels started spinning around. Odetta was already prepping herself and gathering the energy she would need noow for when the time came that they would set out. It would not be long now before they meet the forces of the other kingdom, who would be sent out to defend their home. Odetta walked out to where the troops were gathering, and smiled a little. Then she walked over with the other mages who were talking. A page had been sent out- bless his heart- with the 5 hour warning of battle. Well, he was probably dead now. Odetta sighed and shook her head. Why would someone send out someone to tell them what was coming, even if it's only five hours prep time? That was something she never understood.. at least, from the past couple of months.

Kein hardly slept during the night, thoughts of her lost friend playing through her head. She had been so close - she was sure of it! Lishe began moving at dawn, and she saw no reason to stay in be. She got up, and began packing up their camp. She was surprised to see another much larger camp just east of them. She recognized the flags to be of her own country.

"Looks like we chose a bad time to come here," Lishe said, noticing that she was up. "There's a battle going to start soon.

Kein shook her head. That wasn't right. Odetta was on the other side of the border! What if she got hurt? She shook her head. But, a battle would be a good way to get on the other side.

"Very well," she said. "We'd better go check in, then. We may not be full knights, but I doubt that they'll turn down good fighters."

Odetta attended the prepping lectures, listening intently. Her orders were simple; protect the troops that protected her (and the other mages) from the enemy, and switch out then the horn blows for changing the mages. The troops would have to use a lot of energy, so to keep them going the mages must also use a lot of energy. Over to her left the knights began to form up. They were going to attack soon. By the looks of it, within the hour. Odetta said a quick prayer then began to bless the knights, giving them temperary strength and agility.

Kein and Lishe quickly checked in with the officer in charge, and went out on the main lines to prepare for battle. Kein pulled her sword out, cleaning and polishing it nervously. She had been in real combat before; that wasn't a problem. But now she had to think about someone besides herself. She had to watch her friend's back, and somehow find Odetta as well. She sighed, and stood up as the trumpets blew. It was time to start.

The battle horns were sounded, and finally the troops were moving out. There were drums that were beaten, horses that screeched their own, violent warcries, and weapons. Weapons that would soon be tainted red with the blood of enemies.

All the mages rode behind the knights and archers, on horseback. Odetta got a chill when she thought of what was to come. The king, though, kept half of all the knights and mages and archers back to defend the rest of the kingdom, just in case. He knew better than to leave the place without any means of defending themselves.

Kein had charged forward with a yell as the battle began. Lishe struggled to keep up, not wanting to loose sight of his friend. It was difficult however. The chaos of the battlefield was overwhelming - nothing like the training battles had been - and he soon lost her. With a curse, he focused on staying alive himself.

Kein wasted no time - she began cutting a straight line towards the back of the enemy's lines. After all, prisoners would not be kept on the battlefield. She had to find a way to sneak into their camp. It would probably not be well gaurded due to the battle. Then she would find where they were holding Odetta.

A fire blast exploded next to her, hurling her to the ground. Damn mages, she thought as she struggled back to her feet. Her arm had been injured - she switched her sword to her left hand and continued fighting.

The battle was loud. Metal on metal clashed, war cries flooded the air with senseless noise. Odetta had her orders; Aid their people in any way possible. It was a simple enough task, putting aside the exhaustion of over-using the magic.. sort of.

Odetta's eyes were unfocused. She was looking at nothing and everything; A knight had managed to get through, almost, but that one was knocked down by an explosion of fire. She hadn't done it, but it mattered little. The mage took a deep breath and felt everythign melt away, and she tapped into the energy of the earth. Guiding this energy, she used it to bring the water from the earth to bless and energize the troops. She only covered a fraction, but was precise enough to know who to hit and who to avoid. And there were mages on the other side, too.

'Do not fight, bless, heal and protect' The words rang clear as bells through her head, and again she reminded herself of the orders. War was a horrible thing. She gave herself no time to think on it, because people were dying all around and she had to save who she could.

Another war-mage's explosion tore into the ground next to Kien as she struggled forward. Her eyes widened as she saw a familiar face among the enemy's mages.

"Odetta!" she cried out in surprise.

Lishe swung his sword, cutting down a foe that had tried to sneak up behind his friend.

"Kien! We need to move! Come on, we have to get out of the middle of this. We're surrounded!"