Private Tales Steppebound

The figment of Ispir did not even try to defend itself from her dismissal, her attack, and as the illusion unraveled from around her Ispir, the real one, would currently be worriedly fretting over her. Checking her arms for her pulse, softly calling her name, only to startle as Vyx'aria seemed to finally return to her senses. Which earned a small, shaky smile from him as he began to speak. Only to pause as spoke, confusing him, and when she began to walk without any explanation he would scamper after her once again.

"H-Hey! Ria wait!"

He called gently, following her deeper into the carved black stone hallway, only to stop as they came upon.... a door. Old, stone wrought and thick. Ispir, eyeing the door for a moment, would then whirl around in front of her and look up at her face with concern. True, honest worry over her wellbeing etched into every inch of his face as he asked.

"What happened? You kinda just.... stopped moving back there. I was really worried a-......"

A small pause before he lowered his gaze, finishing the sentence much more softly than he had began it.

".....about you."

Shaking his head he would step aside, looking between the door, then at Ria, and back again before lifting the light in his palm to illuminate it's surface. He bit his lip, wanting to ask her what she had meant by her being exactly what she was supposed to be, but he didn't dare pry. Whatever had happened had upset her... more than he had ever seen at least. So he simply wait to see if she answered him, or focused on the door ahead, but whatever her decision he would respect it.

Despite his worry for her.​

At her muttering Ispir shook his head, twin tails swishing through the air, only for him to give a tiny, worried gasp at her growl. It wasn't a noise of fear, not directly, not the noise a slave at her mercy would make. A possession waiting to see how it may be thrown into the wall and shattered in a fit of rage by it's owner. No the noise was softer, gentler, given willingly and concerned FOR her. Not for what she might do.

Ispir would frown as she mentioned something digging into her mind, looking disturbed, and would nod shakily. The fact that Ria was warning him about something made him tense in worry, nodding a quick, tight nod before he approached the door with her. Soft, aquamarine light would bathe the door before them and as Ispir read it's riddle his face would becoming more and more hopeless before he let out a long, sad moan of defeat.

"Ooooh. Oh no. I'm.... I'm not good at riddles Ria. I-...."

Ispir would suddenly freeze, his eyes widening, staring at the wall, at nothing. The hand holding his light aloft would begin to droop, the light flickering like a candle dying in a whirlwind. His voice growing faint as he murmured.

"... w-why is everything... getting so far away....?"

Two seconds. Two seconds was all that passed before Ispir snapped upright, frowning deeply, as angry as a kitten that had just been given a bath as he pouted up at the ceiling.

"Hey! S-Stop that! You can't make me think things I don't wanna think what... whatever you are!"

Sticking his tongue out defiantly he would huff and then wince, shaking his head, and step back towards Ria.

"I said stop!"

A moment passed, then two, and Ispir would lift his light higher, causing it to bloom fully once more, and give something that could charitably be called close to a 'growl' of his own. Though less guttural and more 'cute' than threatening.

"Geez. Whatever it is it's stubborn."

Blowing his hair up out of his face in exasperation he would then smile and look up at Ria proudly.

"Don't worry Ria, looks like they can't mess with my head, I just forget the funny words they're muttering as soon as they say them."

Vyx'aria​

Ispir would blink, eyes wide, cheeks flushing softly at being called a 'curious creature'. Only for him to then shake his head at low, murmured words.

"It's not...."

He didn't have time to finish before her grumbled warning came and he sighed, exasperated. His arm not holding the spell drooping as he closed his eyes and hung his head. Mumbling rather loudly.

"Oh no, not you too."

Rubbing at his face he would blink his eyes open and follow her through the door, not even having seen what she did to open it in his somewhat dramatic reaction. When next he spoke his words were insistent, even upset just a bit, but honest in a way that was unmistakable for even the most cunning, silver-tongued deception.

"I-I don't know what these 'fae' things you and Irman Harefoot seem to think I am even are but I don't think I'm one of them. Maybe umm... Maybe they're the ones who took my memories?"

Ispir paused, frowning at his own words, disliking the conclusion he reached before he suddenly asked.

"H-Hey Ria....? You don't.... want me to forget you, right?"

There was a softness, heartachingly delicate, to his tone. As if his words were woven of the thinnest, most luxurious gossamer silk.

"Once we're done with this... I mean? If you vanish underground forever how will I ever see you again?"

He was more than a little fumbling with trying to get his point across: that he did wish to see her again, and didn't want either distance or his own faulty memory to prevent that.

As the two reached the end of the hallway behind the door they would find it opening into a large, square room. A series of stone walkways would cross in a cross pattern, of which they were currently at the bottom. At the corners of the room off the walkways there were open drops down into unfathomable darkness, broken only by the presence of thick, trapping webs and numerous arachnids large enough to bundle Vyx'aria or her companion up and drain their insides as a single meal. For the moment they would use their forelimbs to shield their eyes from Ispir's light, but their hisses definitely spelled their displeasure clearly.

Meanwhile at the center of the crossed pathways was a single, ancient suit of armor, halberd gripped in a gauntleted hand. The head of the halberd plunged into the stonework beneath it as the armor knelt down upon one knee, head bowed, unmoving. Ispir didn't even seem to notice the spiders as he stared warily at the immobile armor ahead of them.

Vyx'aria​

Her answer was both so much more then he could have ever have asked for, but also left an odd sort of pressure in his chest. Something not-quite-pain lingering there like an old, throbbing wound that had been disturbed after years of dormancy. Something about how Ria had said what she did, along with giving him her cloak, both made him happy and... sad. It was a wonderful feeling, it was a terrible feeling, as he bundled that cloak that smelled like her even tighter and sheepishly nestled himself deeper into it's hood.

He could never admit it, not now anyways, but it made him feel.... safe. Even here, even now, but for as many songs as he had written and poems he had drafted, he didn't have the words nor the bravery to tell her that.

How would he? That a woman more deep shadow and flashing daggers than he had ever met, who was also gasps at starlight and the soft embrace of a warm cloak, had gently begun to make him associate her with safety. Never mind that they had only traveled together two days or so. Plus she was from a culture known for despising men and doing all sorts of....

Ispir was shaken from his reverie by the rasp of Vyx'aria 's blade sliding free. The hiss of her tongue went unrecognized by the spiders, intelligence absent in their many eyes, and in line with the door they had just walked through each ends of the walkways before them, all three, bore the symbol of an element above them that Ispir's light just barely reached well enough to illuminate for Ria. Directly across from them was earth, meaning the door they emerged from was air, the surface, and the doors to the left and right sides of the room were flame and water.

Ispir would jump as the old man's voice echoed through the chamber, blinking rapidly, and Ispir would reach out for Ria gently. A soft hand landing on her shoulder as he began to speak, only for an odd, wet sound to emanate from below and Ispir would find the hand that bore his light spell sniped by a thick wad of webbing. Sending him reeling back, the light extinguished, he yelped, and his hand was stuck fast to the wall just barely off of the walkway.

Ispir, due to his short height, had to arc onto the tips of his toes to stop himself from falling off the walkway, using the adhesive of the web as leverage as he panted and gasped, staring down into darkness.... as the spiders surged forward in a barely-audible rush of hissing fangs and venom. Another wad of webbing being shot right at Vyx'aria from the left wall.​

It was a strange thing. A completely novel mixture of emotions Ispir had never even considered he might feel in his life. A surge of adrenaline, of fear for his life, fear of heights, fear of the dark and maybe even a healthy dose of arachnophobia..... Immediately met with a gentle flush of his cheeks as Ria called out to him. Called out to him and immediately acted to help him. Making him, for just a moment, oddly grateful his light was extinguished as he stepped on the lodged dagger with his left foot. Facing toward the wall away from Ria as he wobbled and struggled to hold his balance, his legs flexing and tensing up on their stockings as he also became very grateful for how agile he was.

So despite his heart giving a soft flutter at her choice of nickname Ispir would feel a sharp, icy rush of fear for her as he heard the armor begin to creak and move. To FIGHT. Gritting his teeth he would tug at the webbing holding his hand fast, to no avail, and to his credit he didn't scream in terro as one of the spiders tried to bite his foot off from below. Clinging to the wall below the dagger as it was. Granted this was only due to him being out of breathe but STILL it was something. Instead Ispir would lift his foot off the dagger, then the walkway, his foot returning to the dagger as the one that had been on the walkway was planted right into one of the spiders eyes. Causing it to flinch and waved, only for Ispir to nod at Vyx'aria 's words and call back.

"R-Right!"

Ispir would huff and swallow thickly, fear for Ria spurring him to grip his harp with his left hand, conjure his magical light in his right, only for the spider he stood on to his and jerk back at the combined mine of a bright light and a whole foot in its eyes. The spider would cause itself to fall into the darkness and, in the same jerking motion, peel Ispir out of the webbing and send him flying backwards back onto the walkway. Tumbling backwards over himself before he slid, of all places, under Ria and between her legs, staring up at the duel between her and the suit of animated armor. His voice, exasperated, fearful and defiant would call up to the armor.

"H-Hey!"

Holding up his harp Ispir would watch with a small smile as it transformed into it's bow form, strings of magic lacing between its ends, the light in his hand being loaded quickly to knock as he all but grinned up at it.

"Leave my Ria alone!"

Before an arrow of pure magic was fired up into its empty helmet, carrying the helmet up and off the armor, into the air, before erupting into light that send the helmet shattering into a multitude of pieces. The eruption of light all over again and the shrapnel from the helmet's destruction caused the remaining spiders to flee, many wounded and more blinded besides, and Ispir would huff. Collapsing limply to the walkway on his back as he grinned up at Ria and, after blowing his hair up out of his eyes asked in a tired voice.

"...... Izzy?"

Despite himself.... He giggled. Beaming up at her all the while.​

Ispir's smile at striking the animated armor was quickly replaced with a look of concern for Vyx'aria as he realized his light also hurt her eyes. Just like the spiders. He would frown a bit, keeping that in mind for the future, and when Ria grunted as her only response to his giggled question he would sigh a soft, resigned noise. It wouldn't be that easy, he supposed, to fluster her.

Ispir would be about to get up when he was surprised yet again, combat being definitively proving not to be his forte, as the armor rose from having its head and helm sent scattered in an eruption of light. He would gasp, genuinely surprised, and quickly press back down flat to the walkway and awkwardly observe Ria battle the animated armor above him. A quick, desperate series of dodges and adjustments keeping him from being stepped on by either combatant and when the armor landed a harsh blow across Ria's face he would make a wordless, distressed noise while calling her name.

"Ria!"

Genuine concern flooded through him along with the adrenaline of the moment and he would rush to sit up as soon as the armor fell. Before her eyes even found him he was nearly in front of her and by the time they did, by the time she asked with a mixture of concern and relief if he was hurt, would he give a shaky smile. Shaking his head as he took her hands and answered softly.

"N-No silly. Thanks to you."

If she, the Queen of Zar'Ahal, would allow the pair of gentle hands currently holding her own to guide her downward. To kneel and sit with him as even as one of the pouches on his hip was beckoned magically from his belt.

Whether standing over a defeated foe still or having allowed herself to be brought low by him, Ispir would release her hands to remove a soft kerchief from his pouch and, with a simple incantation, dampen part of it before meeting her eyes and whispering.

"This is going to hurt a little bit, okay?"

Despite his words he did not simply continue. His eyes searched hers, naively, for permission to continue. As if he had not just seen her take the very blow that caused the bleeding, as if it was somehow going to hurt worse simply treating the wound than receiving it, though his reason for asking was deeper than it seemed. Deeper and more important to him because this time it would be him causing her pain, not some creature. And even with the right reasons he still made it clear he wouldn't do so without permission. Because, whether she realized it or not in the moment, she was precious, regardless of how tough she was.

Assuming permission was given he would nod and, gently raising the hand not holding the kerchief, cup her unbruised cheek to steady her head while he held her gaze as softly as he held her cheek, the damp, warm clothes being pressed gingerly to her bloody cheek, her jaw, the corner of her mouth, and he would venture another small smile as he murmured.

"You.... You're really brave ya know that?"​

The soft hand supporting her cheek was warm, smooth, gentle, almost reverent in the way it held her. Not out of fear or deference for her title as Queen, nor terror at what reprisal may await him if he made even the smallest error in treating her, and certainly not that he ever expected her to harm him herself if he accidentally made the wound worse. No. The velvety warmth cradling her that mirrored the soft, focused swipes to her wounded cheek was something given entirely freely. Entirely willingly. Was it something a king of emperor could have demanded? Ispir had never met either, but he had given it of his own will to a Queen already so.... Who could say? Even if he didn't know it yet.

Once the blood was wiped away and their breathe mingled in the air between them Ispir would set the damp, bloody kerchief aside and begin to root around for something else from his supplies. Only to freeze at her low, dry question. Her emphasis on a certain word making him burn a beet red color and he would sheepishly continue rooting around in his bag before pulling out a small, sealed box. Biting his lip he would open the box, removing what looked to be some light yellow tonic that smelled faintly of honey on a fingertip, he would gulp noticeably before lifting his eyes to hers. Staring into her eyes, gazing into them, before he avoided her question for now by silently asking permission to use this as well.

Again assuming she gave what so many could never dream of he would gently swipe the tonic over her wound, and it would give her a strange sensation. At once it would burn a low, pleasant warmth to relieve pain, while also chilling the wound like the gentlest breathe of winter. Ispir, still avoiding her question, would wipe what remained on his finger back into the box, seal the box, put it away before looking back at her. He then took a deep, deep breaths as he prepared to answer and..... He grunted?

No he didn't just grunt. He was mimicking the grunt Vyx'aria had made in response to her earlier question. But he wasn't using his powers to make it perfect, wasn't copying her voice, instead he gave a comically odd attempt at a sharp grunt in his own voice. Shoulders hunching briefly and chest tensing.... Before he giggled softly.... And then giggled genuinely. A smile blooming on his face as his own silliness made him snort and bring a hand to his mouth, his shoulders shaking as he began to laugh a genuine, happy laugh and he even gave a tiny hiccup as his face alighted with..... Genuine happiness. All from badly copying a single sound she had made. Tears budding in his eyes before he wiped them, panting gently, and he grinned widely at her before sheepishly averting his eyes and, as his laughter faded away, he gave a more genuine answer as his nerves caught back up to him.

"U-Umm.... Well I...."

Shuffling onto his knees in front of her, looking up at her just a tiny bit, he would ball up his hands on his thighs and chew on his lip.

"I-I didn't mean ermm..... You don't uhh...."

By now the blush staining his cheeks would creepy across the bridge of his nose and he would simply give a tiny, shy shrug and look down at his lap. Settling on perhaps the most surprising final answer with a quick, timid nod.

"M-Mhmmm......~"​

Ispir was, well, surprised! Not in some massive, grandiose way necessarily. Vyx'aria didn't suddenly do a cartwheel and sprout wings or anything. But seeing the ghost of a smile pass her lips, her eyes glimmer with amusement, was enough for him. Though he was a strange mixture of puzzled and happy that she simply... didn't seem to address him calling her 'his', standing beside what he had said in the heat of the moment. Puzzled because HE wasn't truly sure what calling her 'his Ria' would ever come to mean and also because she almost acted as if he hadn't even said it. Something in the more sensible part of his brain told him that maybe her not directly addressing it outside of a very formal thanks was a BAD thing but it was all but drowned out by soft, warm, fluttery emotions in his stomach that exuded happiness that she didn't argue with it. She hadn't snarked at him, called him a strange creature, threatened him to remain useful or any of that.

Where once she had warned him that he was a songbird flying into a storm it was with a bright smile, perhaps even a triumphant one, that in his mind he had sung a songbird song that the storm that was Ria was letting him fly closer. A simple songbird accomplishing what a mighty dragon or griffon on powerful wings could not. That, combined with the glance back she gave to him, saying she enjoyed the sound of his laughter, and.... he actually clutched a hand to his chest. The flat, icy tone didn't do anything to dull how outright special he felt in that moment.

As Ria strode forward Ispir would fall into step with her, bundling her cloak tight, and perhaps not so subtly he would close his eyes and simply..... enjoy the feelings she gave him. Feeling.... warm... a little bubbly. It was odd, but pleasant. Which only made it more of a shame as Ria walked right toward the Earth door and those whispers began again, pushing into his mind, commanding him, seeking to enchant and draw him into a vision that, with a powerful shake of his head, he chose to forgot as soon as it was woven.

Hand arcing out quickly he would grab Ria's hand, shaking his head, and gently pull her away from the door right before she crossed the threshold.

"W-Wait! Ria that.... that way has more... umm.... head stuff."

He stated very academically. Only to glance around and, after a moment, walk toward the Fire door. So focused was he on protecting her from what lie beyond the first door that he didn't even notice how his stride had changed, how his grip on her hand was just a bit firmer than normal, and how for the moment he was the one leading her.

No doubt she would correct this state of affairs immediately..... right?​

As the two passed beyond the door of flame and into their next challenge Ispir would wince a bit at the sheer heat of the place. Their eyes watering as they squinted and turned their head, the hand holding Vyx'aria 's own squeezing out of concern for her but of course she handled the heat much better than he did. Literally and figuratively in this case. Ria's too-big cloak didn't help things but whether she noticed or not he kept it on out of sheer stubbornness. He still felt more safe with it on than without and so as the hellish construct came into view and Ispir's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates he would subtly draw her cloak tighter and look up at Ria as she muttered to herself.

When she slid her gaze to him he met her gaze easily, smiling all the while, before he retrieved the ice staff from his back and, raising it for just a moment, he would gently tap the butt of the staff down on the floor and cause a sphere of winter wind to form around the two of them. Bringing the temperature of the room in the sphere down to a possibly pleasant level. Giving a nod along with his answer.

"Mhmm! Good thing we grabbed this earlier."

Widening his stance a bit and gripping the staff in both hands he would take a deep breathe and mentally prepare himself.

"Ready when you are Ria. Just umm...."

Glancing up at her for a moment, his stance relaxed for a split second, and he would murmur with genuine care.

"Please don't get hurt, okay?"​

He nodded only once, watched her turn, than paused. Something about the sight of a Vyx'aria walking into danger while wearing HIS cloak made him flush a bit, eyes lingering on her as she moved, but he quickly turned his attention back to the task at hand. Partly out of trust in her words and equally out of desire to maybe sort of impress her just a little bit. If only slightly.~

Ispir hadn't done that much studying or attuning to the silver-blue staff in his possession just yet but as he extended it out in front of him he took a deep breathe. Aiming for the golem and steadying himself. It was only a ray, a blast, a projection of magic. How hard could it be? As he closed his eyes and felt the magic imbued into the staff he tried to get a sense of what exactly it "wanted" to do. What expression of magic would come most naturally to it.

The staff's enchantments whispered back in wintry breathes of coalescence, formations of frost and rime, glacial solidity. Coalescence. That made sense with how easy summoning the sphere of cool wind had been. Following that same principle Ispir would begin to feed mana into the staff to guide it's own enchantments, three spikes made of deepest glacial ice forming before the staff, each nearly as tall as an armored knight, or as tall as one Ispir, and when Ria called out to him his eyes snapped open and, with a firm wave of the staff, he ushered them forth.

Three five foot long spikes of ice would fly through the air, following his will, whistling a shrill, cold whistle as they flew like arrows to strike true into the golem's side. Then it's leg, breaking the leg apart so the third speared down through it's torso to pierce through to the other side, leaving the creature to flicker, bleed lava from it's innermost depths, but be otherwise pinned to the ground as Ispir called out.

"Ria! The crystal!"

Before beginning to walk forward, conjuring a stream of freezing ice onto the golem, freezing down it's limbs and keeping it stuck fast to the ground to give Ria the time she needed!​

Seeing Vyx'aria successfully grab the crystal caused Ispir to beam happily. He had actually helped! Though from the looks of it the staff was all but spent and with an almost affectionate pat Ispir would sling it back over his shoulder as Ria mused on the nature of the crystal. As Ria turned around he would smile and then.... pause. Ria walked by him, her stride carrying her out of the fire chamber and back into the central one without a word. He..... frowned. Just a bit.

For some reason he felt..... disappointed? His mind couldn't help but compare what he felt to listening to a wonderful, harmonious symphony that had worked to a successful climax and then... abruptly stopped. No de-escalation, no tapering off into the end of the song, merely a sharp sudden stop and then the beginning of the next song. Without thought or consideration to the audience's reaction.

Ispir would scamper after Ria, not quite able to put words to his feelings. Distracted and otherwise doing his best to think through these things Ispir would let out a small yelp as Ria suddenly pulled him down beside her. Normally someone would be upset at being pulled off their feet like that but, whether a good or bad sign, Ispir expected her actions to be for his safety even before the boulder arced overhead.

Nothing to pull you out of your thoughts like the threat of becoming a pancake.

Ispir was, or rather could be, pretty agile himself. So he was able to roll onto his feet easily enough, spying the large earth elemental at peak of a large, stalagmite-ridden ramp. It's own crystal sitting securely behind it's bulk as it tore another chunk of rock from the ground and Ispir grimaced as it hurled this boulder straight for him.

He dove out of the way, behind a stalagmite, and winced as the boulder left a small crater in the ground where he once stood. Looking over at Ria it was obvious he wasn't exactly as focused as he had been in the previous chamber.​

Emotions grew even more complicated as Vyx'aria turned her eyes briefly to him. She was concerned enough to keep an eye on him, to correct him for being distracted, to pull him out of the way of danger but also so focused on the task she hardly gave herself time to enjoy her victories. Ispir would purse his lips, give a tiny nod, and watch as she wove her way past the elemental's assault.

He had just been about to peek out of cover and use the last of the staff's energy to help attack the earth elemental. Only for Ria to order him to... hide? To sneak around it? He, for a moment, felt a tiny tingling surge of emotion in his chest. Did she really care so much about him getting hurt? Or did she now consider him too much of a burden to help her fight? Not able to really reach a conclusion on his own he resolved to, well, ask her once the fight was done. Shakily calling back.

"O-Okay!"

Before he laid the staff down, and his instruments, behind the stalagmite and began weaving and darting his wat between the stones as Ria's battle with the elemental raged. Slowly, step by step, he would draw her dark cloak around him to help hide in the shadows, would crouch low and unseen save for the subtlest glint of aquamarine from beneath her hood. He was roughly half-way to the crystal when the elemental would give a roar like the grinding of stone and, with an impressive exertion of magic, the entire ramp would suddenly.... flatten. The elevation of the entire room changing by several feet so quickly that everything close to the elemental, boulders and Ispir included, would hang in the air for just a moment before plummeting down to the new eleveation.

The room would SHAKE with the multitude of impacts, dust filling the room in a thick haze, and Ispir would let out tiny, restrained coughs as he shook his head. Disoriented, reeling a bit from the fall, but shakily rising onto his feet nonetheless.

He was almost there.​

By the time Ispir had risen to his feet he watched with genuine, horrified dismay as Vyx'aria was injured. For a brief, some might say insane, moment he took a single stop not toward the crystal.... but toward her. The imminent, direct urge to help her overcoming his better sense to grab the crystal and end the threat. Thankfully after a moment, after that single step, he shook his head and wobbled his way on shaky legs for the glimmering emerald crystal.

Much as he may have wanted to in the next handful of moments, hearing the sound of battle, the grunts of effort, he didn't take his eyes off the prize. His steps, though shaky, brought him closer and closer to the crystal even as the elemental conjured jagged pillars to pierce and skewer him. A deft step here, a subtle shift of the body there, may have left his clothes a bit worse for wear but spared him becoming an Ispir-kebab.

Still the attacks came, moving forward became more difficult, and only in the moment that Ria called for him to act did he leap forward. Hands and arms enclosing the crystal, would he tuck into a dive roll and hit the ground with a THUD. Rolling a few feet he would cough and blink the dust from his eyes. Relief flooded through him as he smiled down at the crystal, letting out a half-breathe half-laugh.... until he noticed the elemental was still there. Albeit immobile, waiting.

Ispir would slowly stagger to his fete, holding the crystal in his arms, before looking at Ria with confusion as to why it hadn't simply vanished like the previous one. After waiting a moment to make sure it wasn't simply tricking them Ispir would shuffle a tiny bit closer, then a tiny bit more, and stare at the.... "face" of the elemental in confusion. One hand slowly raising, curious, probing, before being placed on the 'forehead' of the elemental. His eyes searching it as the crystal began to glow and he blinked, then squinted, then relaxed and nodded.

"I understand."

As if in response to his words the elemental would crumble and it's energy would flood into the crystal in his arms. Ispir, thinking for a moment, would look at Ria with a small smile.

"Umm... Ria? The next two rooms are open and.... they won't be hostile. They have different tests."

Though Ispir still had things to bring up he said nothing else for now, waiting to see what Ria said first.​