Complete Private Solvale New Horizons

[Tick Tock]

Lonely Roads To Honeyhome

The duo had asked their questions plenty back at the broken grounds of the Camp Hope IV (or V?), where the strangest of strangers showed up and between towering knights, priestesses and general noisiness, Tick managed to find at least ONE person willing to share information about their father figure. At least ONE person saw them leave, and it wasn't hard to given how well an illusion worked to match descriptions. But they were late, Oh so late!

They were running behind the quota to find the dog man himself. Worst of all, general direction aimed to the spooky lands of Falderen. Their advantage? The loyal steeds pulling from their wagon...

---

It was a beautiful and sunny day despite how quiet the pathways that led to Camp Hope were, understandably so, as no Lander in their sane judgement would traverse through Astorea to reach the heart of a battlefield. And as such, so did banditry decrease the closer one got to Vintergard and Hope in general. But where peace and quiet ruled, Ash would soon get to hear a distant thump.

Thud thud, thud thud, thud thud!

It followed a rhythm, and it's pacing soon grew easier to track.

Thud thud thud thud!

The galloping intensified, and so did the thumping...

"OUT OF THE WAAAAY!" Tick shouted, pulling from the reins to steer to the side, in an attempt to gain control once again of the pair of horses that, with the wagon they pulled, were heading straight towards Ash.

"Hey that's dad!" Tock pulled her invisible binoculars and couped her hands around her eyes to get a better look at these perky ears and fancy coat- No one had a fancy coat like that around Arcia, none that matched his description at the very least.

Tick yanked the reins back once they had gone past the beastfolk, forcing the horses to come to a complete halt as they dragged their feet on the floor as hard as possible, and it was a miracle the wagon didn't just tilt sideways despite edging that outcome real bad now. On their path however, pieces of wood had begun to fall apart.

And Ash would get it as soon as he saw these horses and noticed they were not made out of flesh and bone whatsoever.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash wished he could enjoy the pleasant weather. In reality it had been cold and wet for days now, and the warmth of the sun should have been a relief. The path was calm, and the road was easy. But he was alone, unable to find a caravan to travel with this close to Vintergard. And he still ruminating on what he had learned back at Camp Hope.

No amount of mindfulness and happy thoughts could quell the dissonant tempo of his heart. It seemed like even four years later, he couldn't escape Titanius' shadow.

"Maybe I should get myself a pet. Would getting a dog be weird...?"

He was lost in thought, but not lost enough to miss the steady sound of hoof-beats. He shifted to the side of the road to let them pass. But something sounded off, and he looked over his shoulder to see what was up-

"OUT OF THE WAAAAY!"

-and barely had enough time to throw himself off the road and out of the careening wagon's way. Momentum took him several long strides away from the road, and it was only through some lucky arm and tail flailing that he kept himself from falling over entirely.

He took a moment to breathe, heart hammering from mundane shock. Then Ash turned towards the stopped wagon. "Hey, is everything okay-"

...those weren't horses.

Ash didn't draw his sword, but he did keep it near. He'd never seen anything like those wooden horses before, and he had no way of knowing if they were friendly or not. Any sort of construct made him jumpy, lately, even if many of the rogue magia had been cleared out during his vacation. Though it wasn't metal, which probably meant it wasn't that?

"...friend or foe?

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

"Tock told you not to overcharge the horses. Why you overcharge the horses if you know what happens when you overcharge the horses?!" Tock shouted, pushing hair locks away from her features, with one arm over the backrest of the driver's seat and the other pulling from Tick's ear.
"OWwwwWww Tick just thought it was funny to see what happens a second time!" She smacked her sister's hand away, her face getting all pouty now that the acussations caught up to her brain. "It made the horses fast, we needed fast, and you said 'Let's go faster!' So that's what Tick did." Tick reciprocated the gesture by pulling from Tock's ear instead.

The horses were the first to notice Ash's approach, their NEEEEIGH! Was just as loud and organic as the real deal, and the way they flailed their front legs ressembled less so an automaton with a simple list of functions, moreso the equivalent of a magia, if the materials didn't betray that notion right away.

"...friend or foe?"

The familiar voice made the pair stop pulling from eachother's ears and lock their glassy eyes upon the well-dressed man, with wide smiles plastered on the twins's features.

"Tick!"

"Tock!"

The duo finally jumped down from the wagon, dusting their dresses off and planting both hands over their hips on a mimicked posture. "Dad! We found you! And you are in one piece too." Tick said, but Tock prefered to confirm by pulling a magnifying glass to get a closer look at their proclaimed father figure. Inspecting every inch of his clothes and frame for more than just verifying his well being.

The savvy puppet then pulled a notepad from her pocket and begun to sketch over the last page without so much as a word...

"Don't look at us like that, Tock almost rolled you over sure sure, but-"
"Liar! Tock didn't, Tock swears!" She lashed out, putting her quill away the moment Tick so shamelessly dropped the blame on her.
"Okay okay Tick's fault. Sorry dad. BUT we found you, that's all that matters. You shouldn't be traveling alone, there's monsters and stuff on the dark. That's our first question by the way, where are you heading in such a hurry? Got more daughters to visit?" She imagined the man had other daughters to take care of and couldn't just pour all the attention on them.

Bollocks, of course! If he had any other daughters, they would be so nice as to greet him as soon as possible. That just proves who the best daughters are.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash stayed wary as Tick and Tock exited the wagon, but they didn't seem dangerous. They were introducing themselves, and they looked and sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't pin down why. Still, there was something charming about their twin antics, so began his usual song and dance when meeting new people-

"Dad! We found you!"

"...?"

"???"

"??????????????"

The rest of the conversation was drowned out by a sudden ringing. Ash stood, frozen, while he tried to rationalize just what this was all about. This was... a prank, maybe. Or a misunderstanding. They were magia, maybe it was some kind of lingering effect from Szofrit, but that didn't make sense either because she wasn't exactly subtle, and they didn't look anything like Emmy which was a whole other thing entirely and players couldn't even have kids no matter what any snippy noblewormen might claim

"I, uh." He found his words eventually, once his brain finally rebooted. He blinked a few more times at Tick and Tock, then stepped back from their investigations, hands raised in the air. "Ha ha, very funny. You caught me off guard there." For now, he'd settled on either "prank" or "scam". Probably the latter, considering how they were intent on invading his personal space...

Either way, he wasn't exactly in the mood to play along. "Now, what do you two really want?"

 

[Tick Tock]

Something about the way Ash stood completely still felt uncanny, as if the man had trascended into a different plane of existence, it irched Tick enough to step on the tip of her toes and try to be closer to his face, as if to try and peek into the windows of his soul that were his now dead eyes in search of their parent figure.

Dad? Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!

But their words were like nothing, even with such big dog ears like his, he remained completely unphased!

"Maybe we should let one of the horses lick his face?" Tock mused outloud, hands over her twin's shoulders as they both planned like an american football team made out of two about their future strategy to score, only for the man to regain his conciousness no sooner after with a few fumbled words that had Tock's neck crank like an owl's and stare behind her towards Ash, with her body following next.

"OH! WAIT!" Tick's eyes glowed purple in that instant, enlightened by knowledge out of their mother's own habits. She leaned closer once Ash stepped back like the curious animal she is. "Yes yes... That's it. He's a secret Magia too!" Tick revealed, and Tock's eyes jumped from the ""beastfolk"" back to her sister, then to the ""beastfolk"" again. "That's true, didn't we see mama be like that before?"

"Yes yes... How couldn't we tell, this is a dog man magi-" Tick cleared her throat, as just now did his words ring true on her porcelain ears. "Ehem, apologies for that, we never actually had the time to talk it over. So! Tick has questions. You have time, yes? Tick can make it worth your time, even give you a free ride and some tea!"

"You are giving tea away willy nilly, we are going to run out of it..." Tock mumbled to herself, earning herself a 'shshshshh' from Tick and a little wave that somehow offended her more than the lack of beverages would.

"What do you say, papa? Feel like learning more about TICK and TOCK and ROBOMAMA's past?!" They concluded, like a savvy merchant would: leaving the juiciest word for last.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

'These two have a problem.' That was the only thing going through Ash's mind as the two continued to talk, apparently more focused on whatever world their heads were in. He still couldn't decide if they were dangerous or just confused.

One thing was for sure, though - this was all deeply weird.

"Okay, so. Let's just get some things straight here." Ash had picked up something of an instinct for these sorts of situations, lately. It was something that told him that "Tick" and "Tock" weren't going to take "no" for an answer. "My name is Ash Vargold. I'm not a magia, and I'm definitely not anyone's 'papa' or 'dad' or whatever other word you want to use."

God forbid anyone let him or her be responsible for kids. There were few role models worse than Aisling, and Ash was only superficially better.

As for the ride... common sense dictated that he should refuse, and possibly run away as fast as possible. But he found himself checking his chest, felt the erratic pounding beneath fabric and flesh, and decided that a pair of erratic magia was better company than a monstrous eyeball.

"I... can only begin to guess what you mean by 'robomama', but... sure. I'll take the ride. And maybe even the tea."

Would he regret this? Probably. Worst case scenario, he could jump out the window.

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

The moment Ash wanted to 'set things straight' with the ever so commanding voice of a parental figure, both twins stood at attention like miniature soldiers, with Tock cletching her notepad closer to her chest before writing down each syllable out of his mouth.

"Oho! Don't worry... Ash." Tick begun, proud that she could resist the urge to simply address as Papa Clock. "Tick will not tell your secret to anyone! Tick's lips are sealed." A sagely nod out of the puppet promised the man the privacy he wanted. Of course, a secret Magia needs to be secret else it loses it's impact. "We are Tick Tock, and we are happy to have you as our first passenger ever!" Tick proclaimed, moments before the man had even taken the offer in the first place. Because who would say "no"? Only a loser, that's who.

Tock quickly let the notepad drop onto the floor, as the thing crumbled into mere dust, clasping her hands together and giving a little bow to match with Tick's repeated introduction. "Very well p- Ash, let us head over to our carruaje!" Tock concluded, spinning on her heel and climbing onto the driver's seat, dead pink eyes set onto the beastfolk as her sister begun to guide him into the wagon, opening the rear door for him to climb onto, tagging along once the man made himself comfortable within their small and humble private transport.

"Neeeext stop... Where are we going, Paa--Ash! Ash yes, Tock meant Ash!" Tock nerveously giggled and cleared her throat moments after, earning herself a sigh out of Tick, who simply waved a dismissive gesture before the cart finally started moving in unison with the horses's galloping.

"Now! As for Robomama, of course we meant none other than the mother of all machines. You were there, mmmister Ash. Tock already interviewed a bunch, so it's your turn to answer to Tick instead: Did you have fun? How was it?!" Tick spoke with a bewitched curiosity over his own experiences, despite that being nothing short of a terrifying near-death sequence. But clearly that had to be a sane question to ask, afterall, even if Szofrit scarred a bunch of people, the game certainly didn't manage to make the beast dad stop playing in the first place.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash finally lowered his hands, though his body language was still as tense as he felt. It followed him all the way to the wagon, which felt a little cramped. Maybe it was because it wasn't made for someone his height, or maybe it was simply Tick's presence that seemed to fill the interior. It smelled a little like gunpowder, making his nose twitch.

"I was heading towards Eastern Brisshal. I've heard that it's gotten... difficult, there."

An understatement, for sure. All the news he'd heard made it sound downright hostile over there. In fact... "Including for magia. You don't have to take me all the way there or anything, I wouldn't want you getting into trouble with the Faldereni guard."

And maybe, just maybe, it would give him a convenient way to get away from these strange magia that had apparently... adopted him as a dad. even if they'd gone with mom it'd still be wrong-

He shook his head before that weird train of thought got too far, then turned to Tick once more. At Szofrit's mention, he couldn't help but growl slightly, a sound he quickly cut off.

"Szofrit? It was horrid. Probably the worst thing I've done yet, and that's including the giant squid and the bugs."

Every memory from the fight was colored in pain. They made him itch in a way that wasn't entirely physical. Ash picked nervously at one of the buttons on his jacket, contemplating if he should just take the whole ensemble off. "I'd rather not do something like that ever again."

...and yet, there was a part of him, small as it was, that would have answered Tick's question with "yes".​

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

With the cart on the move, it would eventually happen that the scenery would change, albeit not for long neither too much, as green is still green and forests are still within one's gaze, only adding the interloper sight of livestock or windmills whenever they crossed one of the many remote farms spread across Astorea as a whole.

Tick didn't blink a single time once Ash begun to speak, the reflex far beaten out of her mind after so long. It was her turn to take notes, as much of a Tock thing as that is, while her twin overheard the spicy destination the beastfolk had chosen for himself, earning a giggle from the pair.

"Walking into the shark's jaws knowingly... You are a brave dogfolk, Ash!" Tick turned page and quickly eyed the list of questions they had, doing her best to skip over the most generic. A little bump on the road glued her off her seat for a split of a second and set her mind back on course. "Don't worry mister! She can change faces in a blink of an eye and you will never know. That old granny that gave you a quest? Probably Tock. The mysterious hooded villain? Tock too. Whose to say I'm not Tock either, eeh? She was the one with the notepad early, right?" If only he knew them better, it would have been as easy as to pinpoint which one is actually a good driver to figure that out. "Oh but don't worry, we will both get hated just as much even if we were not magia. Falderen is the heart of equality when it comes to disliking people!" Tick waved her hand dismissively.

While a growl caught the attention of both sisters, only Tick displayed any form of excitement as the man proved her dog man theories, and most importantly: Reacted. Unnerved and almost spiteful if her expression-reading hasn't gone stale by now, yet it did add a new light once his adventures were made known.

"Oh don't worry, it will pass." She waved at him, flashing her teeth on an ear-to-ear smile. "You have come very far. Tick dares to say not many have come THIS far while still having a pumping heart in and out of Arcea, even if it's hard to tell at this distance if that's your case." She cleared her throat, or rather, made the closest thing to that noise given how artificial and acted it sounded, but the best she could do to portray the 'Oh-oh did I make a mistake?' "Despite being so chilly, it gets very warm at times!"

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash's attention eventually slid towards watching the horizon pass. It was more comfortable than trying to maintain eye contact with someone who didn't blink or breathe. His expression shifted back to careful neutrality.

"More stupid than brave," he muttered to himself, tail thumping anxiously against the seat. For all his attempts to seem calm, there was no hiding the instincts baked in to his form. His eyes flicked towards the traitorous appendage, eyes tracking the movement back and forth before he roughly dropped his hand on top of it to stop its motion.

"...mmph."

That had been painful. He carefully pulled his hand back and tried to pretend that never happened.

"I've only gotten this far because I've been lucky. That'll run out eventually." Ash shifted in his seat so he wasn't slumping as much, and finally made eye contact with Tick again. "If you're confident enough to sneak around Falderen without getting into trouble, I can't stop you, but you might want to avoid any beastfolk with a good nose. Magia blood smells pretty distinctive."

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

"Being stupid or brave is better than being afraid at least! You don't make your own decisions when spooked." Tick shook her head dismissively, countering his own pessimistic view on self with one that wouldn't make him feel better... Or maybe it would! "Regardless Papa, Tick believes in your intuition-" Her voice dropped instantly, and her purple gaze dropped onto his tail once he slammed it down with his own hand.

Then she looked back to Ash, and then back to his tail, before sending her own hand like an overhead strike or someone about to slam dunk a ball on the court, with the intent of smacking that tail too. Of course, nowhere near as harsh as the man beat himself up, but still hard enough.

"Hehe, this is fun! Fluffy too!" She giggled, nodding in approval before her head tilted, followed by a gentle crack coming out from her body. "Pfft, why worry now if it didn't run out yet? We are luck magnets, so you made the right choice hopping on-board." She stretched her arms, before pressing them against the edge of her seat.

Her smile was wiped off her face soon after, recoiling from the verbal impact of his words as she lifted her own arm to smell herself. "Eh?! But Tick don't smell weird...- You calling Tick smelly?!" Face full of shock and awe, the twin pushed a finger underneath her dress and against her heart, which suddently sank deeper into her torso. Not a single noise produced, but by the time she retired it, Ash could see the source of his woes:

Smelly, black, viscous magia blood. Like ink for a pen, only the pen was the porcelain finger on her hand.

"Hm, but this got no odor. It's like... Nothing!" The scent was dangerously strong, but she honestly had lost that sense long ago. Instead, she shoved her hand on Ash's direction. "Here, tell Tick if this will be a problem. How does magia blood smell? Rotten eggs? Dissonance? Wetdog?" Tick asked, wiggling her finger a little

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

"Well, it's not like I'm not scared-"

Smack!
"YIPE!"
Thud!

It was less pain and more surprise that caused Ash to jump up from his seat, but the pain wasn't far behind once he smacked his head against the roof of the carriage. He dropped back down, holding his head and hissing with pain. "W-what the hell was that for?"

He didn't know he could make that kind of noise. He continued to nurse his head as he watched Tick with narrowed eyes. "You really need to learn the meaning of... personal... space..."

He trailed off as Tick casually... drew her own "blood", then pulled back as she suddenly shoved it in his face. His nose wrinkled as the smell filled his nostrils.

(For a brief moment, he was back on that battlefield, surrounded by the dying and dead, watching N manipulated like a puppet, watching Szofrit tearing apart-)​

"Bad. Could you please not shove your vital liquids in my face." He lifted a hand to gently push Tick's away, still snorting in a vain attempt to clear the smell and its attached memories from his nostrils. "It smells like magia blood. It's its own thing. Might as well ask me what regular blood smells like."

Ash had learned early that those fantasy stories that had werewolves identifying smells like a wine tasting were very off. The "wonders" of Terrasphere in action...

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

Tick blinked twice and smiled innocently as her experiment earned her a slapstick comedy scene once Ash's head met the roof of their transport, tilting her head curiously as the wolf-folk questioned her intentions behind it. "Wha- Tick just did what you did! It looked funny! Why would you do it if it hurt?" The logic almost made her head hurt as much as his did at the moment.

"Pfft, Tick doesn't invade personal space, that's Tock, and Tick makes sure to bonk her whenever that happens. Maybe you just need to relax a little, Ash-ash." She couldn't come up with a better pet name.

She bobbed her head like a sage nodding after imparting their wisdom once he reviewed the blood, his disgust apparent as he shoved her hand away, if the verbal confirmation wasn't enough of it.

"If it's this strong, that's perfect. We don't -need- to hide it. We have to do quite the opposite in fact. Tock, how far are we from Honeyhome at least?"
"We are juuust about to cross the borders. There's still time though, let's begin phase one!" Tock yelled back.

A very distinguishable mana essence begun to flicker and weave at the tip of Tick's fingers. "Mister Ash, You don't want us to be in danger, yes?" She fluttered her eyebrows at him, the energy coalescing onto her palms and transfering itself onto her bossom, before a shimmer of a light begun to show off past her dress, descending all the way to her stomach. The magic she pulled from however, would probably be familiar to him.

If he focused, he could hear spirits trapped within Tick, the voices originating straight from that glowing section of the puppet's frame. "Stab Tick! Doesn't need to be too hard- Worry not, It won't hurt whatseover, Tick doesn't have any of these fancy nerveous systems or meat you fleshlings have. Stab Tick and It should be easy peasy to lie and say we got ambushed on our way out of Vintergard by some robo-freaks." Tick nodded, right as her unhinged master plan was unveiled, at least half of it.

Of course, the plan clearly didn't have much thought put into it given Ash was the only one who knew in this cart what Magia blood smells like...

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

"That doesn't mean you should copy-" Ash stopped, pinched the bridge of his nose, and took a deep breath. He was rapidly realizing that arguing with Tick wasn't going to get him anywhere. "Just. Please don't touch my tail again."

Whatever world these two lived in, he didn't care to visit it. They still hadn't explained why they kept calling him 'dad', and at this point he would accept any other stupid nickname so long as they didn't call him that ever again.

"Anyway, no, I would rather not anyone get hurt, so-

"-you want me to what."

It was a bad time for him to freeze up, but no matter how many assurances Tick offered, he couldn't wrap his head around her request for him to stab her. "N-no, I'm not... I'm not going to stab anyone! What kind of messed up plan is this-"

Where one shock ended, another began. More than the scent of blood, Ash knew the scent of death, and the magic Tick manipulated reeked of it. "What..."

More than anything else Tick and Tock had mentioned, this was the thing to draw his attention.

Their time was running out, Ash knew. If this went bad, they'd probably end up in a fight. Depending on how that went, he might never get an answer. He grit his teeth and drew his sword.

"I'll make this quick."

There wasn't enough space in this carriage for a clean stab, but the blade was freshly sharpened and didn't take much force to cut through the weak spot Tick offered. 'What the fuck am I getting myself into...`

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

"That doesn't mean you should copy-"

The sentence caught Tick's attention, whose hand was half raised in the air already for a second smack, then she froze on spot as if caught red-handed, or in her case, white-handed. "Don't worry, Tick thinks she got the fluffiness recorded already." It was important to know the density of that tail, at least to take one workload off her shoulders in the future.

"Yay! You agreed!" She cheered, given his first sign of any remote positive answer started with a 'no' and then followed up with a 'what' no sooner later. However much she enjoyed his confusion, her head turned gently over to watch through the window of their carriage. Less so to gaze behind them, and moreso as a means of exposition to the other.

"We are running out of time, Ash. Do it, Tock already put on her disguise, and we need a convincing alibi if what you said is true." She smiled, tilting her head from side to side like a pendulum.. If it wasn't reasureness what he needed, then maybe a time limit would.

And it turned out to be true the moment his blade sung when unsheathed, her hands grasping onto the edges of the seat. A little white lie never hurt anyone- Well, except Tick the moment the sword did go through her, with her body not offering too much of a resistance, and yet the moment he pierced porcelain it begun to feel spongy. Moldable as if clay it were, voices stuck with a mechanical echo that blurred out silently on the background.

And Tick's own pained face which fought back against something other than the steel going through her. "W-woah, that's unexpec...ted?" She groaned a little, her hands reaching out to hold Ash's blade with both hands over the edges and slowly pull it off her system, until a hole glittering with magic within was all that was left, with the last reverbs of otherwordly pleas being silenced the moment her body sealed shut the wound as if it were flesh and bone.

"Alrighty! Now sheathe that thing in, we are-" Very close, that's what she wanted to say before the horses came to a stop, a bit abruptly at that. "Woops! No time for the planned disguise. Plan B" There was always a plan B, but Ash wouldn't be told nay about it as her eyes quickly lost their pinkish tone and turned dull and the puppet simply rested with a smile, and what appears to be the same wound he had caused on her moments earlier, only this one lacked anything worthwhile noting in comparison. A mere illusion, much like the wear and tear within the carriage that came by in the blink of an eye. It looked like a crime scene, with Ash as the culprit of course!

The door suddently opened, and a short man was standing right by the dirty road. From here, the wolf(dog) man could notice the sights of Honeyhome, the popular town bursting with people across the streets, and as if it were not enough, a few more guards that worked on what seemed to be a checkpoint area, with three of them behind this very old, senile man who greeted him first.

"Nephew, may you come out and explain to these fine gentlemen and the very nice lady what the smell is?"

His eyes had a soft pink hue on them for a moment, as the disguised Tock gave a good hint over to Ash before they suddently went black once again and the now old man rested right against the carriage pulled by regular, meaty horses.

Ugh, it reeks! I knew it!

An armoured woman in an imposing six feet tall was the second to welcome Ash into the outside world once again. A beastfolk, but it was hard to tell which given her ears alone. Safe to say, she was no caenis, and bearing the same insignia as the guards next to her gave away their allegiances.

It doesn't smell 'that' bad- Sir, are you okay?

The man frowned as he noticed the black stains upon Ash's jacket that weren't there just moments ago. It wasn't such a bloody mess what they did inside that carriage, but it did rise the alarms on the guards.

Standard procedures, sir. Your uncle here was telling us you two were assaulted by a Magia on the road, is that correct? It certainly smells like it.

"Yes ma'am, we are lucky to be alive were it not for Nephew's quick thinking!"

"Tock" Laughed, coughing a little to play the part of senile weary man perfectly. It did make the beastfolk guard to rise an eyebrow at how he addressed the man within the carriage.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Nephew???

That wince had been real. Despite her claims otherwise and the quick healing afterwards, that had clearly hurt. And he hadn't imagined the whisper of death, something that tore at him in a way he didn't fully understand...

What was the deal with these girls?

By the time the door opened, Ash had wiped and sheathed his blade, nose still wrinkled at the smell of magia blood. He didn't need help looking tired, nor did he hesitate in leaving the carriage when commanded by the beastfolk guard. She was tall, but he was just ever so slightly taller, and he straightened his posture to make every inch count.

"'Uncle' is correct. He was ambushed during his flight from Finweald."

His eyes flicked down to the "senile weary man", and there was no need for him to fake the exasperation at the 'senile' part of that act. The rest of the act, especially his own role... well, lying roleplaying had become second nature for Ash.

"Fortunately, it was already weakened. It was a swift execution."

And being intimidatingly annoyed? Aisling had practiced that that her entire damn life.

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

Gruesome regardless, but you look capable on your own if I say so myself, sir."

Infact, she didn't expect him to be this tall, if only by a little. It forced her to tilt her head slightly upwards just to match his enthralling wolf-man gaze.

"Everything looks clear, ma'am."

They called from around the carriage, as the conscripts and soldiers alike had begun to search around for any contraband or suspicious activity from Ash and his uncle. The voice of her second-in-command was enough to awake her from her trance-like state, slamming her foot down to correct her stance.

"Very well, looks like you two can pass. My apologies, but ever since the magia's uprising we are more than wary of Starcalled than we should. Specially given the recent activities within Astorea in regards to cultists coming and going."

Sweat beads ran down her forehead, and the sigh that followed her speech radiated weariness enough to make the totally-real-horses tap ceaselessly against the dirt.

"Do you want us to get rid of that scrap?"

Her sword arm pointed out to the inside of the carriage, where Tick lies 'dead'

"Aaah such a dear, but alas we need that thing. Pesky magias, we'll dismantle this one open and find out how to crush em like the metal bugs they are, yes ma'am!"

Tock's voice broke for a second, and the weirded out look from the landers were enough to show their pity towards Ash.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

"Cultists?"

Ash's shock lingered longer than he would have liked. His ears flattened as he glanced in the direction of the Astorean border. "That's... concerning. I suppose there are all kinds of ne'er-do-wells taking advantage of the chaos."

What kind of cultists? Are players at risk? Or is it the players causing it? Ash resisted the urge to ask to dig for for answers. The longer they stood around, the more likely Tick and Tock's deception would be revealed. He didn't know how much energy they were spending on their illusions, but it couldn't be cheap.

It was fortunate that his dissonant calm was more powerful than his anxious fear of discovery. Ash turned back to the beastfolk woman and nodded.

"Thank you for the warning. I'll be sure to take care."

He turned towards Tock and extended a hand to help the 'elderly man' back onto the carriage. "...come along, 'uncle'. We should get back on the road."

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

"Hopefully we'll met again, in more amicable terms. Welcome to Falderen."

Honesty plastered upon her smile, yet these words earned her a look from her colleagues, as if they wanted to speak up yet time and place didn't match their whims. Regardless, the group reversed to their formations once again, as natural as one straightening their back, for the trained bunch at the very least.

"Hoho, thank you M'lady, this old man cannot be too grateful!"

Accepting Ash's offer, Uncle Tock took a step over towards the carriage, stretching an arm up to reach out for the driver's seat, a false inability to reach it padded by the wolf's support- The clanking noise alerting of the magic failing to hold itself together...

"Keep up the valiant work, oh noble warriors! HYA!"

And so they took off, and the first thing to lose it's fleshy form were the horses themselves as the angle helped them out.

"...Meet him again, seriously?"

The voice broke from her right hand, with everyone in the squad barely holding their laughter as their thought passed along like a hivemind, and one of them became the messenger of it. Fortune smiled them, as her embarassment surpassed her irritation by a few notches.

"This is why I never compliment others..."

---

Light returned to Tick's eyes, like a toaster being plugged once again to a power source, her body immediately sitting upright as she crossed her legs and left a sigh deeper than she imagined capable of. Unfortunately, being UI-locked meant she could only guesstimate the toll it took.

"You would do a briliant actor, Papa Ash. You have that fire in your eyes, that spark! Not like Tick's or Tock's. Ours is warm, Tick thinks. Yours are ice-cold." Tick pointed out as her voice channeled what deep dramatics she could to the word. "Heh, imagine having your old uncle enter this world. Madness, Tick tells you, and yet you had no issues weaving some lies. No wonder some good-for-nothing cultists are gathering en-masse, if everyone is so dummy as to believe whatever someone says!" The disbelief went past amusement. How could they so easily get tricked by low-quality tomfoolery but not her own deceits.

"Just imagine," Tick leaned closer to the wolf, keeping within the boundaries of her seat and his own private space she so respected. "Another brainwash accident like the magia one. At least they won't have a ship the size of a citadel to destroy a kingdom with via forcefully hijacking the pilots... I would have TWO gold coins if that were to happen again!" Index and middle finger wiggled, just to make sure Ash knew this was the number '2' what she was speaking of

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

If Ash noticed any of the guard's awkwardness, he didn't react to it. (He had, in reality. But in the moment, there were more important things on his mind.)

"Thank you, and sorry for the trouble. Safe travels."

---

"I hated everything about that."

Ash's head dropped into his hands the moment the cart clattered away from the checkpoint, and it had yet to leave them. He made no effort to suppress his frustrated growl or the agitated thump thump thump of his tail against the seat.

Not even Tick's roundabout compliments were enough to break him from his extended facepalm. In fact, it just made him want to keep his face buried longer. "I've had some practice," he muttered, voice muffled by his gloves. "It wasn't a hard story to riff off. It was obvious we weren't related."

Ash couldn't keep his face covered forever. Especially with the smell of magia blood still lingering in the fabric of his gloves. He looked up at Tick blearily, looking more tired than anything else.

"...I hope there isn't something like that. But considering how things are in Terrasphere, it won't be long before some other horrible boss battle crawls out of the woodwork."

And knowing him, he'd probably be there to fight it.

Ash slumped backwards away from Tick, though not in a way that suggested active avoidance. He was just tired. "I guess I'll have to ask around about the cult stuff... newbies are going to have enough problems as is," he muttered, more to himself than Tick.

@Tick Tock