The Return (Angmor & Ez)

[Capitan Sinn]

Veles Vitras Locke walked down the gang-plank, the ship he just emerged from was big, but the crew was small, and Veles was the only passenger. He walked in an entrancing way, almost as if he glided instead of walking.

“Veles!” The captain called, “If you wish to go back to the land beyond, hire another crew, I’ll not take that journey again; no mater how hard you blow into that blasted flute!”

“Captain Wolfe, I wouldn’t dream of asking you for such a long and perilous journey again, and I believe I am quite hurt that you would think I would use my flute to make you take me again. I just wish to enjoy the atmosphere here in Reavstone for a few days, and then find my brothers.” Veles said in a lilting voice that might have reminded one of an elf, or a snake. Captain Wolfe grumbled and turned back to his crew, shouting orders loud enough to be heard during hurricanes, as Veles knew.

Reavstone wasn’t much changed from when he left, except, it seemed quieter, there was less people. This intrigued Veles, Reavstone was an important port before, why it had changed?

“Ophius, go and find out what happened, I am curious as to the cause of the lessened status that Reavstone holds in today’s world.” Veles said in his strange, yet beautiful voice.

A large black and white snake emerged from the right sleeve of Veles’ robe. He coiled all of his twelve foot body on the ground in front of Veles.

“As my master wishes, for his curiosity we have faced dangers innumerable, the hurricane for instance.” The snake had lifted himself enough to reach Veles stomach, it bowed its head, and left.

“Kingsnakes, always high and mighty and care not for subtlty.” Sezuan said, appearing from the right sleeve and slithering up to coil around Veles neck. Only about five feet of Sezuan showed, the rest of his immense body was still in his robe, Sezuan was a Dragon Snake, one of the largest venomous snakes in the world. Sezuan was twenty-six and a half feet.

“Says the snake coiled around my neck.” Veles said dryly.

“There are plenty of snake charmers in here, most don’t know enough about snakes to be suspicious, and ones that are suspicious are most likely like us anyway.” Sezuan replied smugly.

“I see.” Veles said in a bemused voice.

“HEY! You!” A voice shouted behind Veles.

“Me?” Was Veles surprised reply. He turned to face the man who called out to him. He wore a black robed, he had long blonde hair with blue eyes. His skin was darkly tanned. He looked like a mirror image of Veles. Right down to the large black snake coiled around his neck.

“Yes you. I know no Shuman alive today can control a Dragon snake. You are good about controlling your appearance though, I cannot pierce it, I am Andeman, Goldmaster Shuman.” Goldmaster, that was the second strongest rank, right under Blackmaster.

“But would you not agree that a Blackmaster would be able to control a Dragon snake?” Veles asked.

“Possibly, he would have to be skilled, even for a Blackmaster.” Andeman’s thoughtful reply.

“Then we have no problem, I am a Blackmaster, and I am skilled indeed.”

“What is you name, I will fail to recognize you without your proper name.”

“Veles Vitras Locke, I have returned.”

Andeman’s eyes grew large, his pupils rounded out of shock. “You are Veles Vitras Locke? Heir of Nagendra Locke, and youngest Shuman to be named Blackmaster? I’ll only believe it if I see his flute.”

“It sounds boastful if you say it like that.” Veles complained. He slowly pulled out the black flute with the twisting white serpent.

“My soul! I believe you, my lord. May I admire the Dragon snake? I have only seen one for a brief moment; I would like to admire him.” He changed his personality quickly.

“Very well, but not here, people are starting to notice something is not well.” Veles said, obviously used to this kind of behaviour.

“Follow me, my lord”

[Angmor]

[Niar really wished the Empire would stop sending him on assignments to Surda. It kept reminding him of all the things that were impossible.
Reavstone, of all the Varden held places he had been, made him particularly miserable. It was small, and it was quiet, and sleepy and so boring in all of its aspects, and was therefore thoroughly wonderful in the boy's eyes. The irony struck him hard. All his life, he had dreamed of adventure. And over the past year, all he had wished for was for it to stop.

He walked back toward the docks, adjusting the straps of the small satchel over his shoulders, taking a deep breath of the crisp, salty air. At least he was now done with this particular assignment, and with some precious time to spare to rest and think for a while. He already knew just how he would spend it; sitting and watching the the noonday bustle at the edge of the bay. It was not often where he got any time for himself these days, and he would enjoy it as much as he could.

He had made himself very useful to the Empire over the past year, going to this place and that, spying on this person or that woman or that peasent or that noble, over and over and over until it all ran together in his brain. It seemed that his newfound masters liked to keep an eye on anyone and anything at any time.

What kind of mania did this monarch suffer from?
For this latest one, he had been told to find and pinpoint a certain defector. Niar didn't even know his name, or what he had done within the Empire before his conscience caught up with him, but it didn't matter. Apparently his masters weren't willing to let him go without at least finding out where he was going and what he was doing there. Niar had spent the last two weeks on more rooftops than he could count as his quarry was moved from one safehouse to another, debriefing in Aberon, and then finally to what looked like a comfortable retirement in Reavstone. It was there that his assignment ended. He was to report back to Uru-Baen and give them the man's location, and that would be the end of it for him. But as always, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen for his target. The Empire probably would not have sent him if they were just planning on sending a note and flowers. They would probably send an assassin to eliminate the nuisance, or at the very least an envoy with some kind of blackmail threat to get the man to return. It burned Niar's conscience to know that he would be the start of it, that he would be the one running back to his masters to tell them where to begin. But what choice would he have? If he did not, his sister would die, and that was an equally bad option. And his father was gone, and there was no one to tell him what was right.

At last Niar reached the edge of the bustling strip of sand that was the harbor. Niar immediately knew that he could spend hours at this place, simply sitting and watching, drinking it all in. The good natured arguing of the fisherman cleaning their nets, the sight of the boats bobbing in the gentle surf of the bay, the wholesome smell of salt-encrusted blanking and uncooked fish.
He found a relatively dry heap of old rope and slouched onto it, not taking his cloudy blue eyes off the beautiful scene in front of him for a moment. He knew immediately that his father would have loved this place. It was just the sort of thing he would have loved, all of the bustling industry, the simple, eaceful, contented life everywhere. Niar knew that with their family's resources, his father could have easily relocated themselves here. Niar often wondered why he had not. Why stay and do the most dangerous work he could possibly imagine, trying to subvert a government from within its own borders, when they could have been safe and happy in Surda, amid the freedom he loved? If he had, then perhaps his only son would not be in the situation he was in now. But as usual, Niar had no answer, and it was no good thinking about it now. Better to savor his few hours of freedom while he had them, and forget all about his troubles. Removing his pack and settling deeper into the pile of tangled rope, he almost succeeded.
Until he saw the snake.

It was such a strange and random thing to see that it took several seconds to register. But even after blinking several times, there was no mistaking it. There was a real, honest-to-gods snake slithering down sand toward the harbor. And not just any snake, this thing was huge It was bigger around than Niar's arm, and at least eight times as long. It was tasting the air with its forked tongue as it went, its flat reptilian eyes glittering in the sunlight. Staring at it, Niar also noticed another very strange thing. Despite the fact that the monster was slithering very near and even among people, even between a pair of feet every once and a while, no one seemed at all concerned. There was no screams or shouts, indeed, not even a second glance at its passing.
What did that mean? What it a common experience, having a monstrous reptile crawl through town, so much so that no one even registered it anymore? Or...
Or was Niar the only one that could see it?
After a moment, the snake crawled directly past him, not three feet from his foot. He felt himself tense. The snake seemed to sense it, for it stopped right in front of him, swinging its spade-shaped to transfix him with those glittering eyes.

Niar stared back, finding himself unable to look away, unable to move, caught by the sheer fascination of what he was seeing. The only snakes he had ever seen where of the tiny, grass variety, so different that they could barely even be compared. This one was a predator, a hunter of nature, with all of the confidence and deadly intelligence that came with it. And how Niar was able to tell all this simply from the eyes, he had no idea.
The moment passed.
The creature's tongue flicked once, and then it at last turned away, continuing its journey to wherever it was going, leaving Niar blinking in its wake.
What was that?

[/Color]
Looking after it, he could see that people were still paying it no mind, as if it wasn't even there. Whatever was going on, he knew he had to find out more. Grabbing his satchel, he stood up and jogged after it, trying to look like an errend boy keeping an appointment.[/size][/blockquote]

[•Ezhdeha. ° »»]

The day over them was grey with wet clouds hanging over. Seagulls shingled over them in a noise that chimed in with the typical ocean noises. The large white and grey birds circled over for a while shrieking and took their turns pressed up against each other on a perch. The soft waves smashed against the polls of the decks and sides of the boats, the gentle noise of the wet boats swashing up and down was the loudest thing you could have heard on the coast. The ancient, insanely strong, sturdy deck squeaked under the feet of the peopled using it. Cold wind gusted in from the tides, coming deeper from the ocean. The chilly wind blew as fast as the clouds racing into the in lands.

Avery brushed her long soft white fingers in her curly blond hair, twirling it in the dirt crushed hair. Her large eyes watched the tableau of a typical dock in a coast, the quickness and all the people keeping strictly to themselves. Individual or small groups of pedestrians silently strode down the stone sidewalks to the inns or bars or the apartments and middle class homes that stood in a line. The large strong men quietly and quickly did their work in the boats, swinging boxes and bags of equipment or goods from their day. The tangy smell of fish wafted from the home business fisher boats bringing in their day's load of a strange unknown grey fish.

So typical and average the place looked, like there was absolutely no mystery behind it. Avery slapped a mosquito that crawled under her old ragged shirt she wore. What were the hidden stories behind this average looking town? What were the secrets that turned this town into something not innocent?

The war with the Varden and Empire took its turn changing everything that's left innocent. Who could live alone and peacefully anymore if there's always an assassinated death around the corner? How could you trust someone now, if you know there are traitors in the most unsuspected places?

Avery arrived on a typical average boat, not so common the story. The call she got from her boss, a general that's always favored her work. He was brief, didn't mean he liked talking to her if he just liked her work in short notice. She caught a ride on a boat, sneaking in the specific boat she needed to be in wasn't so hard, considering. Swapping positions with one of the Varden prisoners there wasn't so easy, but she guessed he would be quick reporting to the general that called her. The clothes he gave her were big, but did its job considering the Empire soldiers never noticed a difference of prisoners.

Since she remained the only slender girl of the prisoners, she got promoted maiden without complaint. The rest died from the swords of the soldiers. Avery never flinched as each body got hacked and hit the wooden floor of the boat deck, and then slapped the hard surface of the water. Avery was the one that washed the decaying blood that stained the boat. At the point when every empire soldier least expected it, she completely her job. A few days later the Varden boat arrived to the Reavstone, everyone on that boat was hidden, dead, except for her. No one suspected anything when she parked and locked the boat at the corner of the dock that night, the only job left for her to do was wait for some workers from the Varden arrive to take the boat back to the headquarters and return all the goods.

Avery currently sat unaffected by the week's job, the top balcony to her inn room held a good view of the dock so she could keep a sharp eye on her boat and everything else. She wondered what other secrets lay in this town, what other vardeners completed their jobs here. The whole hush hush world was interesting, because its always the most unexpected people who had the big secrets.

She sat unmoving for two days on her balcony, only stopping to eat, sleep, and check up with her commander to get updates and reports from the Varden. She was in deep thought and concentration, no rumor or gossip missed her ears in this town. So far there were no words related to the varden, this town was too unsurprisingly simple from the outside.

She stood up and went to do her daily checkup on the boat. She walked slowly and calmly down the docks, but her lightheadedness faided when her eyes caught a man on the docks. He held one snake, but she felt the noises of another snake's hiding on him. He moved away with another man, a strong instinct made her get distracted by a fruit stand just so she could look like she was concentrating on which kiwi was better, and tipping her attention on the snake man. Instinct and logic told her something was going to happen, she smiled and bought the kiwi and turned around to follow him. She even spied the snake slither invisible down the paths to follow its master, and watched closer and it starred at one man who looked like the only one baffled at its sight. She continued following the man, not knowing that there was another stalker there.

ooc: im too freaken lazy to edit this all, so your not allowed to bug me about all my typos and shit =)