Fate - First Reply Detour[Dreadlords]

[Naser]

Anirian Outer Territories

Naser snatched the arrow from the air just seconds before it struck. ”See.”

He said as he dropped the shaft to the ground.

”I told you we should have gone the other way.” In all fairness to his companion, that particular suggestion hadn't been a premonition. He'd admittedly seen nothing of value at the crossroads, but there'd been something…off about the whole thing. Not that he'd had any basis for that fact, but as it turned out he'd been right!

As always.

Another arrow came flying, but a simple step to the side was all he needed to avoid it. Whoever it was that had taken up position on the hills above weren't particularly gifted in their aim. Nas reached to the bandolier around his chest, flicking two blade free from the leather straps. ”There's at least eight.”

The Initiate called, saying the first helpful thing perhaps this entire trip. He’d seen the enemy flicker out of the treeline, some to aim their shots, some distant probabilities that would not come to pass. Still, bed managed to take count, and whoever had set up this ambush had done it particularly for them.

Someone really didn't want this parchment delivered.

”We should go left.” Nas said, one of the blades flipping in his hand before his wrist flicked forward. The blade soared through the air, and then sunk into unseen flesh. A second passed, and then a man clutching at his throat dropped from the Ridgeline above. ”There's less of them there.”


He declared, some distant part of him still urging on the will to live. ”Now.”


Nas ordered with surprising force to his voice.

 

[Miracle]

"You also said this little trip would be a woefully boring one~~" Naser's companion spoke in a sing-song voice, smiling to himself as he rubbed at a spot of dirt on his forearm. So dusty, these roads, and now these interlopers saw fit to pelt them with disdain from on high? Truly, the world had lost it's manners.

"If we'd followed your earlier directions, we'd not have encountered this lovely audience."

'Miracle', as the boy insisted on being referred to, seemed as unconcerned with the ambush as Naser, at least until the second arrow whizzed past Nas and buried itself in the ground at Miracle's feet, kicking up a cloud of dirt that would cling stubbornly to the hems of his trouser legs.

Snarling, he raised a foot and kicked at the buried shaft.

"Not that they seem particularly appreciative of our presence." Was there no appreciation for suspense? For buildup? They would all have their turns eventually. Though Naser seemed to find a leader buried inside all of that apathy as he commanded a diversion.

A smile crossed the dramatic boy's lips, eyes glimmering with mischief as he nodded, stepping of toward the left end of the ridge.

"And circumstances dire birth a leader in an unexpected place!" The narration that left his lips was obnoxiously exaggerated, and perhaps a bit louder than need be, given they were trying not to attract attention to themselves. "As the noble warriors scramble up the thinner end of the herd, will they slip past with nary a whisper? Or will the wolves play with the sheep, just a smidge?"

He was asking for permission, in his own way, to play with their unwelcomed guests before moving on.

Naser

 

[Naser]

"That was an assumption based on previous missions." Nas commented, his voice still maintaining the simple dryness from before.

His eyes rolling as the theater kid continued with his dramatics. "Do what you want, I'm not your boss."

Though, a brief flicker of Miracle's future movements within the hedges caught his sight. A frown pulled at his lips for just a second, and then he shook his head as he motioned to the left.

"But avoid that one." He countermanded himself almost immediately. Though he didn't know why he bothered. Not that they needed to go that way, but there was something...off. The premonition he took in ending in a sudden jarring violence. There was no clear warning or sign of death, but the vision simply stopped.

Something that usually signaled coming magic. "Ugh. Just go."

Nas said, sick of sitting around as he stood and launched himself towards the side of the road.

 

[Miracle]

Ugh.

How droll. Naser had just been given the leading role, and couldn't even be bothered to commit to it. What was the point of being so talented, so dangerous, if you weren't willing to display even an ounce of showmanship? It was almost infuriating to the Initiate, how he couldn't even agree with himself.

"Tch, not if you're going to take the fun out of it. Just because you're bored, doesn't mean you have to sap the fun out of everything for the rest of us."

Miracle's lips curled up into a scowl as he turned his back toward the more crowded end of the ridge. Retrieving a glimmering half-mask from his coat, the boy kept one decidedly dissaproving eye on Naser as he placed the gold over the right side of his face.

"If you're not going put your heart into it..."

The shimmering gold seemed to latch on to Miracle's skin, spreading across the entirety of his face like a cancer, then travelling down his neck and over the boy's clothes. In only the span of seconds he was wrapped in a chryssalis of sorts, a resplendant cocoon that encompassed his entire form, before just as quickly crumbling away and falling to dust.

Except the one who stood before Naser now was not his annoyingly verbose partner, but... himself?

"Then I will play your role for you."

Drawing a knife from his belt and his tongue across his lip, rather hard to see with that ridiculous thing over the bottom half of his face, Miracle dashed up toward the ridge, keeping himself to the brush to conceal his approach.

It wasn't long before Naser heard the first aprubtly cut shout, and would spot a body tumble off of the ridge. Shortly thereafter, a man stood up from the brush, waving Naser to join him.

It would be simple to wipe them clean while guised as their own.

Naser

 

[Naser]

Nas rolled his eyes. "Drama Queen."

As Miracle, mirror him? Whatever that was going to be called darted off the other Initiate could only let out a sigh. His head turned, and within the span of a second he saw where Miracle was going. Before his companion killed the first man, Nas was already on his way.

By the time the other Initiate came back into view, now in his new disguise, Nas clambered up the ridge.

"Good job." It was hard not to sound sarcastic. "Now can we go?"

The disinterest he had in fighting all of these people was more than clear. "We're supposed to deliver a message no-"

Before Nas could finish speaking, a bolt of lightning suddenly erupted from the hedge that he had earlier warned of. The magic lancing out and arcing across the clearing before smashing into a nearby tree. The wood exploding in a shower of splinters.

"What the shit?!" Nas called out, annoyed that he hadn't seen that coming as he pulled the small dagger-like sword from his back.