[6:45 AM] Kwakado: Atop a vacant treehouse, Sula looks around at the other buildings that were now under control of Freyzenese soldiers. But the foot-worn paths, the sanded-down roots, and the scraps of trivial belongings strewn about...He knew what these signs said. That this was not an ambush...but an invasion.
The word passed from warrior to warrior had been that they were bandits, who lived corrupt lives sustained only by death and theft. So it was with a sort of...joy, that he had joined in the slaughter that felt so far from him now. What had even happened? Why couldn't he focus on it, and find anything but blank nauseating terror? ... Were these even bandits? Or just another opportunity to put the "people's power" on display, carving the next stage of their history?
Sula's self-sanctified robe stank of blood. But its crimson color masked the stains well enough.
Sula remembered his vision. That an army of demons would descend from Tesamaaru under pretenses of peace, bringing only chaos and destruction.... marching south, towards Khlin.
Had he even prevented this future? Or simply ensnared himself in it?
Rolling away from his pitch-black pegasus, Sula retches in disgust at himself.
[7:02 AM] REWlego: After setting up camp in this new location, Leodin started searching for a new place to come to when he wanted some solitude, like his area on the rooftop at Tesamaaru Castle. He spotted Sula on the top of a nearby treehouse and climbed over to him.
He noticed Sula's somber mood and sat next to him, not saying anything yet.
[1:07 PM] Kwakado: After a few moments of incoherent groans, Sula turns back at the armored arrival. He looked paler, like the soldiers who got sick from the river, and his eyes looked full of silvery dust. "Huu? Leo-e?"
The Dwabi held his head steady, focusing his stare. "It looks like you made it, ha ha. Were you hurt?"(edited)
[2:02 PM] REWlego: "I was... But I'm okay now."
"What about you?"
[2:12 PM] Kwakado: "..must be getting old. I...cannot remember a lot of it." Sula's balance, though he was seated far from the edge, seemed precarious, with miniscule sways and twitches rattling him like a little palm on a calm day.
"I have not killed so many men, in a long time."
[2:14 PM] REWlego: "That's one of the unfortunate side effects of a mission like ours..."
[2:21 PM] Kwakado: ".....and what is our mission, Leo-e?" Sula gave him a long, deep blink of the eyes.
[2:22 PM] REWlego: "...I'm not sure exactly."
[2:24 PM] Kwakado: "...yet its side effects, are so clear, ha..." Sula spoke somberly, honestly, something between condemnation and affirmation.
[2:26 PM] REWlego: "If you don't like the way the queen has us doing things, then why don't you leave?"
He asks not sarcastically, but looking for an honest answer.(edited)
[2:32 PM] Kwakado: "That is not the kind of choice, a man makes, in one day." Sula's body tightened, anchoring itself. "Not the way the queen is paying. And, if I leave...where does that path lead to?"
[2:34 PM] REWlego: "I... don't think have an answer for that yet..."
[2:44 PM] Kwakado: A hoof clattered lightly into Leodin's plated carapace. "Back to Khlin..."
[2:48 PM] REWlego: "But... Khlin isn't the objective of this mission. The current enemy is Gallaran."
[2:55 PM] Kwakado: "I have seen the future, and it lies to the south. Whether Sula-o walks with Luna-a, or Satomi... The path is the same." He smiled grimly, feeling another wave of nausea
[2:57 PM] REWlego: "What do you mean? How will it be the same if you side with my mother?"
[11:41 AM] Kwakado: "My duty would be, to see that the Queen passes through safely, of course. Powerful ally. And making sure you are well...after all:" Sula takes on a neat posture, points his chin out, and gives Leodin a theatrically grouchy look as his voice becomes old and stuffy. "A true retainer is loyal to the future generations!"
[12:58 PM] REWlego: "I didn't take you as the type to follow Walter's advice."
[1:11 PM] Kwakado: Sula's expression softens once more. "When a man walks through life long enough...he cannot help but learn a few good truths along the path."(edited)
[1:16 PM] REWlego: "But... what does siding with my mother have to do with Queen Lunarea making it through Khlin safely?"
[1:21 PM] Kwakado: "If I destroy the Queen's enemies...protect her life...the honor, the, gratitude, goes to Lady Satomi." Sula's eyes squinted in, and his jaw flattened. His voice rose to a smug, honorable monotone. "A retainer is nothing but an extension of their master."
[1:27 PM] REWlego: "I'm not going to allow Queen Lunarea to become an ally of my mother's. You can do your duty to my mother, but know that it will make you my enemy."
[1:44 PM] Kwakado: "Nnn...It hasn't stopped me before, Leo-din the Bold." Sula gave the young revolutionary a wry look. "Neither of us want to hand Frey-zen soldiers off to her."(edited)
[2:05 PM] REWlego: "Then why are you helping her?"
[2:39 PM] Kwakado: "Perhaps I am not. But you can trust Sula-o, even as an enemy...Just like in Khlin."
[2:49 PM] REWlego: "I want to trust you... but I can't trust anyone working with my mother. I know how manipulative she can be."
[3:29 PM] Kwakado: Sula's eyes close pensievely. "...Do you remember, when you and your men fought the government forces at Stenngaki, and slipped away from the knights?"
[3:42 PM] REWlego: "Y-yes... Why?"
[3:43 PM] Kwakado: "Who do you think it was, that told them the rebels would take the river north..." Sula pointed a finger out to him. "...and not south?"
[4:11 PM] REWlego: "I thought we had just gotten lucky... Why? Do you know what happened?"
[4:21 PM] Kwakado: "And when you broke that inspector out of prison...who do you think it was, that told them it was the cell in the corner?"
[4:23 PM] REWlego: "The resistance has people in key positions, there was probably someone in the prison as well."
[8:31 PM] Kwakado: "But who was it, then, that got the message over the wall, all the way to Tsuyo-shi, in one night?" Sula gives a small yawn in recollection.(edited)
[8:32 PM] REWlego: "It wasn't my place to ask questions.. Can you just get to the point?"
[8:36 PM] Kwakado: "Allow me to introduce myself, Leodin the Bold." Sula turned abruptly to face Leodin directly, cross-legged, hands clasped together.
"I am Sula the Blackwing...and the rebellion's eyes in Intetsu."
He gives a solemn, formal bow to the young man.
[8:38 PM] REWlego: "So you...you worked with the rebellion?"
[8:42 PM] Kwakado: "Not exactly." Sula rises, meeting Leodin with surprising clarity in his face. "I worked for bringing Kwemo...bringing peace to Khlin. And you know that can never come if the Nobili-ti have their way."
[8:46 PM] REWlego: "I've always known that. That's why I left."
[8:56 PM] Kwakado: "And it is...why I stayed." Sula's eyebrows sink a little, and his lips tighten for a moment. "To find a way for both sides to come together. With every victory you and your people took, there were, some, who started to see change in the future. Sula-o carried those wishes, to Kranhai and back. So that you could have peace...without defeat."
[12:59 PM] REWlego: Leodin doesn't really know how to respond and just nods before looking over the edge of the treehouse again.
[1:01 PM] Kwakado: Sula shrugs to him. "I know it must be hard to believe, ha...The Dwabi do not usually rebel. That is not our way."
[1:06 PM] REWlego: "It's not that, it's just... You did all of those things. I had no idea you were helping us."
[1:13 PM] Kwakado: A hint of pride glimmers in his eyes. "...and neither did Soko-naro. All he ever saw was a foolish old man, wasting what little time he has left." Sula dusts off his bizzarely-handcrafted robe, straightening out its avian sleeves.
"...and maybe there is truth in his eyes, but...believe this truth, Leo-e: Whatever path I take, if we become allies, or enemies...."
Sula lays a hand on Leodin's shoulder.
"...You will always have my support."(edited)
[1:16 PM] REWlego: "Thank you Sula..."
[1:22 PM] Kwakado: "So!" Sula knocks his fist on the boy's armor. "Let us put down those worries for now. Forget the bandits and battles, the princesses and paths." He hops to his feet and extends a hand down to him, looking to his mount. "And let me show you what this pegasus-trainer can do, in just a few weeks!"
[1:25 PM] REWlego: Leodin grabs his hand and pulls himself up.
"Okay..."
[1:28 PM] Kwakado: Sula climbs up onto Shimi, giving her an encouraging pat. "She has gotten very good about passengers!"(edited)
[1:30 PM] REWlego: "Really?"
He pets Shimi's mane.
[1:32 PM] Kwakado: Shimi gives a frustrated snort at him, but manages to keep steady. "...pretty good."
[1:35 PM] REWlego: He tilts his head to the side.
"So... you want to fly now?"
[1:36 PM] Kwakado: Lifting his palms, Sula nods. "Nothing too wild...the three of us are all too tired for that. Just a little flight."
[1:37 PM] REWlego: "Okay...sounds good."
Leodin hops on Shimi's back, behind Sula.
[1:39 PM] Kwakado: And so the three Stormblade escapees set off into the sky, on a relaxing cruise to take their minds off of the wounds they'd given and taken....and the many that would certainly follow.(edited)
[1:41 PM] Kwakado: ===END RP===
