A Role Play by NekoLen and Roka



The King has gone mad with power.
Any magic users will be killed.
Someone needs to stop him before he destroys the land.
That's what the White Eagles plan on doing.

The night was cool, the full moon in the sky lighting the way through the small forest. The trees here had been affected by the King's evil, causing their spirits to grow weak. Raven remembered the time when the trees would talk and move, now it seemed they were hiding deep in their bark. He passed an old oak and rested a pale hand on it, feeling the movement of the tree in its sleep. He sighed and kept walking, thanking the moon for illuminating the beaten forest path.

He finally came to the end of the forest, standing on top of a hill and looking down to a tiny village in the valley below. He smiled lightly at the place. Untouched by time and untainted by the King's power... For now. Raven glanced over his shoulder. He had to hurry. He had passed the King's men a few days ago, in the form of a bird. They had sensed magic around, but their simple minds could not see through Raven's disguise. Their machine was locked away, only to be used once they reached this small village. It was a marvellous creation of one of the King's scientists, a kind of x-ray that could tell if a magical creature was nearby. Raven disliked this machine as it had caused the deaths of many of his friends and family.

Raven sat at the base of a tree. He was glad to hear it whispering in its sleep. These trees seemed more alive than the others deeper in the forest. He listened to its tales and closed his eyes to the view below. He would go to the village during the daytime in search of the young woman that needed his help. They didn't need machines to tell them when another magic user was around. They had their ways. Raven hummed to himself, keeping alert, should a guard come near him. It was only a few hours until sunrise. Then he could complete his mission.

Just for my future reference.

Raven is 25, long white hair, purple eyes. He is quite tall and skinny, and hides his appearance most the time with illusions. He can turn into a hawk, a cat or a different person, usually an old man.

COLOR: #8fb88e
Also, if you would like me to not use a color when I post, let me know. It just helps me remember which character I'm supposed to be playing. The color is the color of her eyes, excluding the golden ring around her pupil.
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With a jolt, Aela awoke. In an attempt to calm herself, she loosened her tense muscles and slowed her breathing to a normal pace. She sat up slowly, wiping off her sweaty face with the corner of her short, crimson tunic. Once she calmed, she stood and walked to the other side of her small room, collecting her inky black cape, leggings and small men's ankle boots.

When she was properly dressed, she left the house, not daring to let the front door squeak to announce her intentions to her cousins. From there, she headed west, towards the forest and beyond that, the river. It was there that she was able to think most clearly, especially in times like these. Although she hadn't visited the river since she was younger - when her chocolate-black hair was not so shiny and long, and when the golden ring in the middle of her grey-green eyes was not so noticeable - she knew it would still be a place where she would be at peace.

Leaping over a fallen branch, Aela approached the riverbank, which she knelt at. As she removed her hood, she saw her own features reflected back at her, including the rare golden ring around her pupil. At once, Aela grimaced, hating the ring and what it represented: the dreamweaver. There was only one once every few centuries, it was said by the people of her village, that had the unmistakable ring. Aela hated it. She wanted to dream for herself, not about other people's success and failures. A large percentage of the time, she barely knew the people in her dreams themselves. Usually, she would pass along information to her village when she had one of her dreams, and let them make of it what they could.

Not this time, however. This time, it was personal. This time, the dream was about her, but not the way she expected. In this dream, she was sitting across from an old man with whitened hair, who was gently coaxing her to use a certain spell. Eventually, her dream-self had agreed, and as her dream-self uttered the mysterious words, the ring around her pupils had turned crimson red and her skin had turned more pale, even more so than in winter time. Aela had the sickening out-of-body experience of watching and feeling herself die before she was jerked back into reality. But what, exactly, did that mean?

Once the sun had risen, Raven stood on his stiff legs and stretched. He drew his cloak about him, making sure to change his appearance into an elderly man. He grew a thin grey bread and walked with a stoop. He found that this disguise was the least suspicious, especially when dealing with simple village folk. Though most would question how an elderly man could make it through the forest by himself, most didn't mention it. Even around these parts they feared magic.

Raven slowly made his way down the hill, watching as the wooden huts grew bigger as he approached the town. He tried to stay away from the large building with a steeple that symbolised a church. This new religion was what the King had enforced to help control the masses, and make the 'normal' people afraid of magic users. Many had been hung or burned for witchcraft. He walked about the town as it slowly woke up, searching for the girl. He stopped at an inn and questioned the keeper about her, though they didn't seem keen on speaking with a strange old man. It seemed these people were a lot smarter than he thought.

Aela woke, a hazy fog around her mind. Sitting up once again, she blinked a few times, vaguely remembering stumbling back to the house and passing out on the couch. Now, she was tucked into her bed, in her sleep clothes. She came to the quick conclusion that Avery had done all of this for her - she would need to thank him later. Aela quickly re-dressed in the same outfit as last night, combing through her hair with her fingers. The wavy ringlets became more frizzy than before, but overall stayed the same. Deciding to let it go, she rushed out of the door, eager to get to the heart of town.

"Woah there, Squirrel!" A female voice called, blocking her path to the door. With a small smile, Aela looked up at her cousin's wife. "Mart has word that someone's been looking for you."

"At this time of day?" Aela asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"It's almost noon now. Mart said this person's been looking for you since the crack of dawn." As Aela's mouth formed a little 'o' with the new realization, her cousin made a grab to turn her back in the direction of her room. Aela sidestepped and bounced quickly to the door, blowing a kiss back at her now-red cousin's face as she exited. From there, she headed in the direction of the inn, her interest now set on this stranger.

Raven hadn't had much luck finding the girl. He was always bad at these sorts of missions. The only reason why Hawk had sent him was because all the other members of the White Eagles were either dead or busy. He sighed as he sat at the tavern's bar, sipping on the warm alcohol. He knew that it was too early in the morning to be drinking, he just really wanted a drink while he had a break. A few people were sitting around watching him, as he was still in his old man disguise.

"What brings you to these parts, oldtimer?" the barman asked as he polished a dusty mug with a dirty rag. He was a short, fat man with tanned skin and scraggy facial hair. His hair was black and shaven very short. Raven glanced over at him and smiled feebly.

"I was looking for the Dreamweaver... I heard this village had one... I need to find her as my wife is very ill and we have no children of our own," he replied in his best old man voice. He had been repeating this story all day, only to be told that there was no Dreamweaver in this village. Either they didn't know she was here or they were hiding her in fear of the King's men.

"Ah... I see... Well, around these parts, folk are suspicious of strangers. We used to be friendly and hospitable... Those were the days before the King's rule." The barkeeper leant over to talk quieter to Raven. "We do have a Dreamweaver here, but folk want to protect her. If you were one of the King's sorcerers, you could disguise yourself and when we tell you where she is, you would kill her."

Raven sighed and took a sip of his drink. So the people around here knew what the King could do and was willing to do to destroy magic. He tipped a bit of the ale onto the counter and made the mark of the White Eagles, a stylised 'W'. The barkeeper stared at the sign and then wiped it off the bench with his rag, eyeing the old man apprehensively.

"You better not be starting nothing around here," he spoke before leaving to find someone to fetch the girl for him. Raven exhaled, glad that the barkeeper knew the mark. It had been risky revealing who he was. He was hoping that the barkeeper wasn't about to fetch the guards.

"It could be dangerous, you know." Aela turned to Hazel, her best friend since last year. Aela had found her sitting at the central fountain of the town, and had paused to sit and reminisce while she had the time. "He or she could be one of the King's men. They could be a nice old lady or a handsome, charming boy our age. And then you know what? They could turn around and snap your neck or bring you before the King - Lord knows what they would do to you, Aela." Hazel wrung her hands together, and Aela laughed.

"Hay, you've been reading too many books, that's all," she rebutted, standing from the fountain. "I'm sure this is nothing like that. This stranger will probably just want to ta-"

"Aela, come quickly!" Mart, the barkeep's assistant interrupted. "The Stranger is in the tavern. Vern talked to him, and apparently this guy's okay." Aela turned to Hazel and smirked. "See, Hay, nothing to worry about. Vern trusts The Stranger." Hazel nodded, and slowly rose to give Aela a long hug. "Be careful."

As they parted, Aela stood close to Mart as they re-entered the tavern. She saw familiar faces, and then an old man. She froze, caught by deja-vu. It was the old man from her dream.

Raven glanced up from his warm beverage and sighted the girl that had been described to him by Hawk. She seemed wary as she noticed him, so he approached her slowly, conscious of the villagers now watching them closely. He cleared his throat and offered a hand, almost getting a fright when he saw that it was an old man's hand. He still hadn't gotten used to this disguise.

"Hello, you are Aela?" he questioned her, still offering his hand. "My name is Richard Dencer... I come from Wetherville in search of a person of your talents..." he lied quickly. The villagers mustn't know who he really was. He would tell Aela once they left the village. "Is there a more private place we can talk?" he asked her, glancing about the room. The villagers quickly looked away, trying to make it seem that they weren't staring at the two.