Post by Astoria diFernis on Aug 19, 2015 19:53:32 GMT
Civilized as the western reaches of Fiore had become, there was still a certain amount of lawlessness to be expected. Not even a knight of Selhpiel could consider himself safe in certain stretches of the reaches which weren't as settled. At least not a night who had awoken to find himself in the body of a young woman rather unexpectedly one day. Astoria di'Fernis wasn't really used to the body which was now hers, or rather Sir Tancred Ironheart was not. The real Astoria's spirit had gone somewhere else entirely. While the suspicion the knight held was that they had merely switched places, there had been no evidence of his old body. Rather than remain in Cornelia and attract shameful attention to the royal family, the unwilling princess had traveled far away. What had happened in Fiore was not at all something that Astoria was proud of. Just after hopping off the train to get a bite to eat in a small bump in the road, several masked wrongdoers had appeared brandishing weapons.
Now normally a Knight of Selphiel would have just grinned and shown the intruders they had chosen the wrong person to assail. This wasn't a normal situation. Instead of successfully fighting back the 'princess' had gotten herself overwhelmed while attempting to get to an open area where she could fight easily. Apparently the bandits had gotten word that the cute blonde on the train was a princess, pickpocketed one of her coins to confirm it and decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up. As such when she came to, Astoria found herself sitting on a cave floor, unable to move very much on account of being secured with rope or something similar. A rather lengthy lecture on her part for why they should rue the day they chose to mess with a Knight had resulted only in her getting silenced by a bandanna as well. Grumbling, she spent the next hour or so glaring at the bandits and plotting all the terrible things she'd do to them once free.
Without being able to escape on her own, she eventually closed her eyes and prayed, 'Oh Selphiel, Goddess of Light and Creation, all praise be unto thee. Your humble servant is in a time of great need under circumstances which courage alone can not overcome. In your mercy, I beg you to send aide, give a sign of deliverance so that I might smite these fools who offend your serenity..'
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Aug 19, 2015 20:16:18 GMT
"So, you really think these are the guys, Bloo?" Pyrrha was hiding behind a rock, the small drake sitting on her head. He nodded, a low growl accompanying his head bob. "What idiots take a dropped coin purse from a dracoknight anyway?" she lectured them under her breath. These folks should really know that large sums of gold were usually too good to be true - at least unless you were already rich or had somehow earned it through less underhanded means.
"Whelp, that's it then," she nodded. "I suppose we're obligated to help either way with the blond girl tied up over there." She was running out of patience for her intelligence gathering. It had seemed prudent to spy on them a short bit, since the odds were six to one, if you didn't count Bloo. Considering his aptitude for finding safe spots when fights broke out, the brunette didn't.
"And see then, once we get the ransom, we can do whatever we want with our riches," one bandit was telling another while they watched the princess. "We'll be so rich, maybe the princess will see how good we are at entrepeneurshipness and ask us to be nobles. Or marry me." He nodded before getting a fist to the shoulder from the obviously more practical of the two guards.
"Shut up, Wade," he lectured. "How do you suppose you'll surprise her with all of this if you talk about it right in front of her?"
The first bandit obviously hadn't thought of that. "Right, right. See don't take this the wrong way, princess. We're in a tight spot that a couple pouches of gold won't get us out o-"
The feminine battle cry followed by the knee to the side of his head ensured the man wasn't going to be finishing his sentence. Pyrrha landed deftly on her feet about a foot from where the bandit had been sitting before his head met boot then cave rock. "Come on, boys. Didn't anyone ever tell you that isn't how you treat a lady?" she taunted as she pulled out what appeared to be some sort of folded contraption from her belt behind her back. It quickly folded into a rifle, which Pyrrha used to hit the other bandit with before turning and firing two quick shots at the other four.
One bandit managed to mostly avoid the bullet, while the other took it square in the stomach and fell down with an 'oof.' the bullets were obviously non-lethal based on the lack of blood. The remaining bandits recovered while the gun changed forms once again, this time to a polearm affixed with a blade near the top. "Just run away, please," Pyrrha sighed as she knocked over two more.
"No way, girlie, you're gonna pay for attacking the likes of us!" the bandit who had been grazed by the bullet shouted. He produced a fireball in each hand, throwing them at Pyrrha. Pyrrha raised her open hand, meeting the fireballs with it. It was as if the fireballs had never been thrown once they made contact, which caused the bandits to pause in a mix of awe and fear.
"This girl is under the protection of a dracoknight. I suggest you leave before I have to really get mad," was Pyrrha's warning as she took advantage of their faltering courage.
The remaining bandits looked to each other. "I say we gets outta here! I don't know what a dracoknight is but this girl's a monster of some kind!" The others nodded in agreement before practically stumbling over each other, pausing only to grab their friends.
Pyrrha nodded at their leaving as her weapon refolded to its much more compact state. Hanging it on her belt, she bent down to take off the bandanna from the girl's mouth before working on the actual ropes. "Sorry about the wait, Miss. I didn't think it was smart to just charge in without watching them for a bit. I guess the men around here can't help themselves around pretty girls," she chuckled. "Don't worry, a few fireballs weren't going to scare a member of the Drakos famliy away."
Last Edit: Aug 19, 2015 22:07:17 GMT by Pyrrha Drakos
Post by Astoria diFernis on Aug 19, 2015 20:52:40 GMT
To be captured by such idiots as these bandits was quite the shameful turn of events for Astoria. Being forced to listen to their idiotic ramblings as they discussed their not-so-secret plans before her was tantamount to torture. Firstly there was the matter of her being fairly certain that entrepreneurshipness was not actually a word. Then there was the matter of their plan relying entirely on being able to actually obtain a ransom from Cornelia. There was a simple matter of distance involved which would make that rather difficult. These fools appeared to have no way of contacting Cornelia either, so just how they planned to get what they wanted was beyond her. She wouldn't even deign to entertain thoughts about the idiot's idea that she'd marry him.
All of a sudden the idiot got a knee to the head for his trouble, followed by what she had been least expecting so expediently. A rescue. From a teenage girl in red who wore her brunette hair in pigtails. At the very least she seemed bizarrely capable of fighting in close quarters, which was confounding to the knight. Girls weren't fighters, were they? Stranger still the girl managed to dispel fireballs from one of the bandits using some sort of unknown ability. Astoria badly wanted to get up and join the fight but her state at the time prevented that from being possible. Only after the bandits wisely ran off did the brunette step before Astoria and at last remove the hateful bandanna from her mouth. Freedom had arrived!
She coughed a little as it was removed, then responded, "That was an impressive feat of ambushing, even if you are a girl.. but you have my thanks.. and what do you mean around pretty girls?"
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Aug 19, 2015 21:10:14 GMT
A cough followed the removal of the bandanna. Pyrrha herself was pretty sure that had their roles been reversed she would have been spitting as well. Who knew where they'd kept the ratty old thing?! And then the words she'd actually used to thank Pyrrha. She paused for a moment mid-untying as she went over it in her head again. "Wait, what do you mean even if I'm a girl? You act as if you aren't also a girl." she raised an eyebrow as she continued untying. She'd touched the girl reassuringly as she bent down, so this was no illusion or transformation.
"I don't know who's been telling you what but us girls are just as capable as guys if we put our minds to it." Pyrrha finished her untying of the princess before standing up and patting her skirt off. "At any rate, they were calling you a princess. You... are a princess, right?" Regardless of royal status she was most definitely a girl... and just as she'd said before a rather pretty one at that. There weren't any princesses on the island Pyrrha was from, so despite the weirdness she couldn't help but admire her a bit, even after the weirdly sexist comments. "At any rate, I'm Pyrrha Drakos. I'm a dracoknight. Not that... people seem to have heard of them here."
Post by Astoria diFernis on Aug 19, 2015 21:27:53 GMT
A maiden being in this sort of situation was something a brave young knight typically rectified, if fairy tales were any clue. The fact that a knight was being rescued by a maiden was not pleasing to Astoria at all, even though she was in fact also a girl. In body at least. She flexed her arms as the ropes around them were loosened, staring oddly at the brunette, "It's rather simple, miss. Girls are not typically capable of the same level of heroic deeds that men are. How many tales of gallantry have you ever heard which had a girl saving the day?"
Once untied she stood up and stretched her limbs out for a few moments before offering any further response. This had been a turn of events she really didn't want to go through again. Strange as it seemed the girl had saved her, so there was at least some gratitude to be offered. For a moment she as confused as to why the brunette was referring to her as a girl and a princess. That was odd. "Wait, what do you mean 'princess'? Just what have you...." Astoria stopped, remembered the curse again and giggled, "Ooooh, sorry! Tee-hee! I'm just a bit absent minded sometimes and forgot that I'm a princess.. and... er.. a.. girl."
She kicked the stone at her feet before remarking, "A dracoknight, huh? That sounds vaguely impressive.. and you did rescue me, so I owe you a reward." Reaching into her vest pocket, she pulled out a couple of coins with her own face on them, "Sorry if it's kind of vain to hand you coins with my face on 'em.. I'm Sir T... I mean.. Astoria di'Fernia, Princess of Cornelia."
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Aug 19, 2015 21:42:18 GMT
Pyrrha couldn't help but twitch a bit at the information she was given. Girls aren't capable of the same level of heroism? This poor princess was so sheltered by sexist men. She was going to have to explain to the princess all about her own homeland and - "You... forget you're a girl?" She glanced over the princess quickly. "No way. I don't see how. Born with a body like that and all.." she shook her head, trying to clear it of her jealousy. This girl was a bit older anyway! Pyrrha had time!
"OH!" Pyrrha had almost not noticed the coins shoved at her. "No, keep your reward ah... princess..." she looked a bit more skeptical that time, though she couldn't really place why. She'd spaced out when the woman nearly introduced herself under the title of 'sir.' "And who actually says 'Tee hee?' I mean, no offense, but I've only ever read that as a cute laugh in stories."
"Which reminds me!" Now her brain had gone full circle, and Pyrrha, adopted a determined look on her face, raising one hand, a single finger in the air. "Girls aren't automatically weaker than men. Well, maybe they never get as big of muscles without magic if they're both bodybuilders or something, but we're not inferior in the least. In fact..." she pulled the red fingerless glove off of her left hand, revealing the obviously magical tattoo. "Only the girls in my family have this mark. It's part of what makes me a dracoknight. They call it the dragon mark of abjuration, and it's powerful enough to cancel almost any spell. I'm also better than any of my four brothers in combat. So don't let some dumb old man tell you what you can and can't do, mkay?" She winked at the girl reassuringly.
Post by Astoria diFernis on Aug 19, 2015 22:06:16 GMT
It was time to double down on the 'cute girl' act, judging by the brunette's reaction. Unless this girl could be totally trusted with a dark secret there was no way she could know about what had transpired in Cornelia. "Tee-hee! That's not very nice of you to say it's not something people say! It's very common for a princess of Cornelia to say in fact!" She winked and did her best little grin, "But I can forgive you this time. And please keep the coins as a token of my appreciation!"
The whole lecture on how girls could be as strong as men was a bit laughable at first thought, making Astoria nearly laugh out loud. It was so preposterous that this Pyrrha girl thought that a princess like this current body could be as strong as a knight. There was a place for girls in battles occasionally, and that was to be healers if they did in fact have magical power. Then the girl's tattoo was revealed and the blonde's jaw dropped in shock. That mark.. looked awfully similar to that of one of Lady Selphiel's known forms. Immediately Astoria realized that her prayers had been answered - a dracoknight had been sent to rescue her in her hour of need. Without thinking she fell to one knee and bowed her head in respect to the girl she'd foolishly thought must be a weak normal girl. This was a totally different situation now.
"My lady, forgive me! I have misjudged you. Clearly you have been sent by the Blessed Lady of Creation to rescue me as I prayed for. You have my gratitude and unswerving loyalty," Astoria promised, then looked up to the girl, "Thus speaks Sir Tancred Ironheart of the Holy Order of the Knights of Selphiel. I may not look it, but I was a man until three weeks ago.."
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Aug 19, 2015 22:20:42 GMT
"Alright alright," Pyrrha placed her hands on her hips and closed her eyes. "Sorry, like I said I've never heard anyone who said it. Then again I do come from an island so maybe-" she opened her eyes again, blinking again, confused. She did reach out and take the coins, but she was already distracted by the sudden bowing that went with the starry-eyed worship.
"Um..." she blinked. She kept getting more information than she knew how to take in at once. "Who's this Creation lady? And more importantly... A man?!" It wasn't completely unbelievable. The dracoknight was schooled in different types of magic and knew it wasn't impossible. But still... "A pervy old man in the body of a cute, innocent princess...?" Her eye twitched dramatically. "Sooo creepy..."
"Now uh..." She lost her train of thought. Pyrrha just blinked while her drake friend nudged her elbow, getting completely ignored in light of the situation. "... at least the sexist part and the forgetting makes sense now..."
Post by Astoria diFernis on Aug 21, 2015 19:51:02 GMT
"This 'Creation lady' you so casually speak of is Blessed Lady Selphiel, Goddess of Light and Creation! She who created the world and looks after its life, who guides us in the seas of troubled times. In her glorious name we fight all who would cast shadows on the world or harm the innocent!" Astoria responded with conviction, refusing to rise from her kneeling position, "And your hand bears the mark of one of her forms, the Coiled Drake! A dragon which appears when there are threats to the kingdom and roasts them in righteous flames! Thus I must serve you. I prayed to the Blessed Lady for deliverance and you appeared just afterward. Clearly that is not a coincidence."
Then she stood and frowned, "Hey! Wait a minute! How is my cursed situation creepy? And where do you get off calling me a 'pervy old man'? I'm not even thirty years old! Is it your common practice to insult people whom you know little of?"
Finally she sighed and motioned to a large trunk in the corner of the cave, "That trunk bears my armor.. I had to have it custom made for it to fit this body, but hopefully it still works. I have serious doubts as to the princess' abilities physically.. fighting has been very difficult thus far. Otherwise I would have dispatched those bandits with ease."
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Aug 21, 2015 22:35:02 GMT
"Uh..." Pyrrha glanced at the mark she'd been born with before glancing at the man. He obviously didn't know this was a mark that only certain dragons even knew how to bestow on people. It was such a powerful magic that it could be passed down for generations, at least unless the dragon took it away, that is... "Right. See I've never heard Lady Belfyire tell the story like that, but hey who am I to judge?" she shrugged. For all she knew it was some sort of weird story about her dragon specifically from a long time ago turned into actual religious worship. Lady Belfyire hadn't lived on the island her entire existence.
"And in any case, how is changing from a man to a pretty young girl not creepy?! And what do you mean cursed? I mean I'd kill to be a princess!" Okay, not kill. It was a figure of speech, but still. "What kind of stupid curse is that, anyway?" She crossed her arms and looked the 'princess' over quickly before glaring off to the side. "No one who looks like that could be considered cursed."
She looked at the chest, glaring at it a moment while she was told about the armor kept in it. "Well, you're just lucky I was here for my own-" Her eyes widened, "Crap I totally forgot to make sure I got my money from those jerks!" good thing she'd taken the two gold coins from this princess/knight/whatever!
Post by Astoria diFernis on Aug 24, 2015 2:19:46 GMT
Whatever the girl was talking about she clearly didn't understand the faith of the Blessed Lady at all. Some scions of the Lady could be like that, though it was not what you would consider a common occurrence. Perhaps she simply hadn't been granted a revelation yet. Then again she mentioned someone by the name of Lady Belfyire, which could mean there was someone in her land who was a leader of some sort. Someone who was involved with religious orders? Possibly. Maybe they had experienced the revelation of the Blessed Lady yet under a different name? Such had been the case before, from what Astoria had heard - a faith that was essentially the same as their own, just with a different name for the same goddess. There were much more pressing matters at the fore.
"Creepy is not the right word for it, I'm afraid. Disturbing might be appropriate. This kind of thing is not supposed to happen with Knights of the Blessed Lady, nor with the Cornelian royal family. It is a curse because I was an able bodied defender of the faith and crown one day and awoke a weak little girl the next. Quite possible that an enemy of the crown or Order caused it to weaken us and cause chaos," she replied bluntly, heading over to her trunk.
Hearing that the brunette had intended to recover some lost money, which was a bit suspicious. Was that the real reason she'd come to the rescue? Well, the Lady worked in mysterious ways sometimes, and even if that had been the original intent of Pyrrha she had ended up rescuing Astoria. Sighing, Astoria opened the chest and dug around for a moment. She found a small bag resting under her breastplate, tugged it out and shook it. It still jangled; they'd been too lazy to check for hidden wealth after all.
Holding the bag out she explained, "Since you've lost your own money, please accept any item of jewelry you wish from this bag. It's the least I can do for the rescue and, hopefully, accompaniment for the time being."
Astoria was right about one thing - Pyrrha had no idea who the Blessed Lady was. Dragons weren't exactly prone to teaching people about other faiths and religions. At least not the ones that ruled small island countries, anyway. She knew about her culture and a few tidbits she'd been briefed on by way of what she called 'Bloo radio' when she was stuck on the boat... pretty much everything else she was learning for the first time.
"Hmm?" She turned her head back to the blond girl when she started going on about how creepy wasn't the right word. Disturbing did sound pretty accurate, now that Pyrrha thought about it. She tugged at her ribbon holding one of her pigtails to make sure it was still secure. "Us 'little girls' as you put it, are only weak and helpless if men are too stupid to let us learn to take care of ourselves," she disagreed. "Soooo mostly it's disturbing because you're supposed to be a man."
She couldn't help but glance the woman over again with a raised eyebrow. Seriously how could anyone consider a body like that a curse?!, Her right eyebrow twitched as her eyes lingered a bit longer on the only slightly older girl's more adult form. "But I mean, maybe it was a mistake? Maybe some sort of magic got crossed..." She picked out a piece of jewelry - a simple ring that she placed on her index finger. She glanced back up at the girl. "Or maaaaybe this Creation Lady thinks her knight should be less down on us girls, especially if she's a goddess like you say~"
Post by Astoria diFernis on Aug 27, 2015 1:16:45 GMT
Astoria was getting a little resentful of Pyrrha's insistence on trying to make the case that a girl could do as much as a man could when it came to being a knight. They simply didn't have the physical strength to undertake the kinds of missions and battles that Knights of Selphiel found themselves doing. Could a girl of the brunette's size climb up a siege tower, leap the gap between its top and the ramparts of a castle, then fight her way through a number of well armed defenders? Or battle through a screen of skeletal barbarians who protected a necromancer as they attempted to revive an ancient evil, using only melee weapons to attain victory? He had never seen a girl who was capable of such acts, and being stuck as the princess made it unlikely that he'd ever be able to accomplish such feats again.
"Your theory perhaps has merit. I will admit it is possible some magic was crossed at a point as yet undetermined, or that maybe.. it is something of the Blessed Lady's will which I as a mortal do not understand," the 'princess' replied thoughtfully, tapping her foot while she debated whether to share her own insights as to why she was trapped in this body. So far she'd just been travelling solo while attempting to find a cure for her curse, but it was getting increasingly dangerous to travel alone as she was. Pyrrha, for all her silly ideas, seemed capable and that counted for something; they might be able to travel together, and if that were so she should know what might be involved in this situation.
Sighing she looked the brunette in the eyes and explained, "It's just as possible that this was done in order to secure the future of the Kingdom of Cornelia. Princess Astoria was said to have been sickly to the point of not leaving her bed over the past year. I'd heard stories that she'd passed into a coma recently, so.. perhaps.. the Blessed Lady chose a strong champion to watch over the heir to the throne? Nobody knows where my.. er.. Sir Tancred.. went.. and I believe this may be a permanent situation. There will be people pursuing me because of who I am now, and I have no idea how to fight like this. If you're willing to defend me, I would request we travel together."
"Uh... travel together?" Pyrrha tilted her head. Did people around here just suddenly trust complete strangers or something? No wait, this girl was definitely not from around here. Fiore didn't even have royalty anyore. Bloo made a yip sound as if prodding Pyrrha about Astoria. "What, you're in on this too?" she reached out and poked the tiny drake's nose, who nipped back at her finger in turn. He hated when she did that. "You realize there's always the possibility she's just crazy?" she whispered to the drake. It was probably a little more audible than she meant for it to be. It was a cave, after all. Bloo just yipped once more, as if intent on making Pyrrha at least make sure she was safe.
She sighed, shoulders slumping as she physically mirrored her decision. "Fine, we can travel to the nearby town... whatever it was called. I'm sure you'll be fine then if you stick to civilization until you figure things out, right?" she reasoned. She really didn't have time to be watching after some crazy princess... or altered knight (she refused to say cursed because, hey, she'd kill to look like that herself). She had an artifact to get to and a time-sensitive lead to get to it, after all!
