Exalted: Heavens Warriors - Episode 1, Scene 1: Meetings and Processions

[z023]

Anaris nods her assent as she steps out from the shadows and makes her way out of the stench of blood, violence, and death. Her footsteps are light and quick and barely conceal her desire to be quit of the place.

"Let us be gone."

[Althea]

Althea shifted out of her combat stance. The deadly promise of her art fell away as quickly as it had blossomed, but, as the mountain after the tempest, her rock-solid surety remained.

Had the others not been preoccupied with the scene and their impending flight, in her expression they might have caught a faint gleam of fervor.

"Yes. We begin now."

The last one to exit the room, Althea paused briefly in the doorway to glance over her shoulder one last time at the crowd within. "As should you."

And then, leaving an afterimage of gold, she was gone.

[Fate]

It would not be entirely accurate to say, as some of the stories did later, that the entire town bowed and trembled, or stared in wide-eyed wonder, or fled in quavering terror before the blazing golden power of the Shining Ones who strode from the Rutting Boar to the docks wrapped in the glorious fire of the Sun. There were surely a handful of hardy souls on the edges of the town who managed not to discover what the blazing light at the heart of Majec's Passage was until a few hours after the Children of the Sun had departed.

To Althea and Anaris, of course, the reverence and awe and terror were simply their expected due (whether welcome or not). To Shay, whose burning halo of gold illuminated the streets around her and even the low-hanging grey clouds as though she were the Sun itself, the experience was a great deal more alien... and perversely, felt entirely more natural than she was entirely comfortable with. Even Emerald seemed subdued, somehow more formally respectful of her than he had been even when her displays of power had set her shining aboard ship before.

Then again, she'd never bee surrounded by two other Solars before.

They curved down the low-cut road to the docks themselves, the sea reflecting the Sun's kiss back at the three of them brilliantly, and then the high stone walls dropped away and there she was. The Freedom's Tempest rolled softly in the stiff breeze off the water, her bound sails seeming to swell on the wind at the instant Shay's light fell across her vessel.

[z-Kything]

My baby. Shay didn't stop to gaze at the ship with puppy dog eyes, but her heart did. The second her foot hit the deck, her power over this vessel was apparent. She was the Master of this small boat, the Queen of her domain.

It was smaller than the other Solars had expected, almost a yacht. But it wasn't built for cargo; that much was apparent when the sea heaved and the ship danced over the swell like a desert-bred horse, all grace and speed. The crew was a variety of people from a variety of places, dressed in working clothes, most of them skimpy to prevent overheating. They gazed wide-eyed at the multiple Solars before them, though clearly their astonished gaze was not for their Captain.

"Jade!" Shay roared, glancing around for her Master of Sails. "Jade, get your ass above decks! We're leaving." Shay glanced at the waiting crew and nodded. "As soon as we can get out of here, that is."

The hot sun beat down on her, and the pirate peeled of the heavy coat, revealing that she wore her cravat over nothing save a strip of cloth that barely preserved modesty. Perversely, she left the cravat on, even without the coat. Turning, she handed it to the girl who served as cabin boy. "Take that to my cabin." The girl nodded and scurried off and Shay shouted after her, "And bring me rum!"

With the necessities seen to, Shay turned to her new passengers. "How long do you need to get your people and stuff aboard?"

[Althea]

In answer to the Shining One's question, Althea quirked a half-smile. "Just a moment, Captain," she replied, laughter in her honeyed voice. Still beholding Shay's face, she nodded back over her shoulder, towards the docks.

Shay frowned, unsure as to what Althea meant, until her eyes lit on two unknown young women standing rather close to the Tempest's gangplank. Before the Captain could so much as remark on their surprising proximity, Althea called to them.

"Silken Wren, Ceili, Tiger Warriors," she smiled, voice at once pleased and commanding. "Come, we have passage." The golden-armored woman stepped out to meet her companions, ushering them aboard in an almost motherly way.

Between one breath and the next, the scene changed. Where a moment before the two women had been standing alone, now they were surrounded by fifteen female warriors covered head to toe in green-grey-brown mottled breastplates and leggings. Althea, Thousand Whispers, Anaris, and the two young women were utterly unsurprised by their sudden appearance; the Tempest's crew, on the other hand, was dumbstruck.

Althea led the two women aboard, and the warriors followed up the gangplank. Though overshadowed by their mistress, the young women were themselves remarkable.

The one called Wren was dark-haired, pale-skinned, and fine of feature. She carried herself with a playful fluidity, making each step a joyful dance. The skirts of several layered, richly-colored robes brushed aside as she walked, and her green eyes smiled above a translucent veil which revealed only the contour of her face. On her back were three instrument cases in matching red-brown leather.

At Althea's other flank came Ceili. Her steps were sure and solid, her figure sturdy. She was of similar coloring as Althea, though she wore her hair cropped short and spiked outward. Her clothing appeared supremely functional, durable, and comfortable. She easily hefted a large black suitcase that tinkled faintly as she walked.

"Captain, please have a crewmember show these ladies to their berths," Althea said, indicating all seventeen new arrivals. Then, having delivered her charges into the Captain's hands, she strode to the ship's railing to observe the sea.

"Our last companion," she informed Shay, still scanning the horizon, "will meet us once we clear the bay."

[z023]

Anaris made her way on the ship amongst Althea's followers, slipping out of their midst to walk the edges of her new home unobserved. She paused at the far railing of the ship, her gaze pulled towards the Blessed Isle.

I can do this. I was made to do this. She sighed. If this all works, I might even be able to forgive myself someday. After all, two miracles are just as likely as one.

She turned her attention back to present and the people around her, taking in Shay's crew and just how easily they were dealing with so many...of her kind around.

[Thousand Whispers]

After the fracas, Thousand Whispers was glad to be moving. She took up her position in the retinue towards the rear, busying herself with silent contemplation. The scene they'd left behind was barely a morsel for her Solars, but she contented herself with the knowledge that there would be more to come. It was an auspicious enough start.

Poring over the catalog file that was her mind as they walked, she barely noticed the ship in the distance, now not-so-distant, her feet scurrying forward to meet it, unbidden. The boat was a bit smaller than she'd been lead to believe; less a galleon than a mere schooner, but for now, it would do the job and then some. She was in an uncharacteristically good mood. Things were going her way, having already easily overcome the quibbling difficulties that threaten to block their path.

Again she insisted on bringing up the rear, setting her sandaled feet to the gangplank only after the last of Althea's radiant entourage have passed. It was then, as she was boarding, that something caught the corner of her eye. A flash, a whisper, and then nothing. By the time she turned her head, it had vanished. She murmured a curse and continued aboard, wondering, herself, where her accommodations would take her. The battle had left her in no state to continue with company, and she looked forward to relieving herself of her burdens presently. Still, resting on meekness, even timorousness, at the moment, she kept her mouth closed until ease with the new arrivals settled over Shay's crew and the land began to disappear from sight.

[z-Kything]

This is the best thing in life, Shay thought, standing on the deck in a wide stance, rocking her body with the roll of her boat. A mug of rum gathered heat in her hand; it was best with way, with all the spices warmed and thick in the alcohol. The Freedom's Tempest was light and agile, and she bucked easily at the fall and swell of the sea. Like a hot-blooded horse, she was not an easy ride. Shay would have it no other way.

Casting off had been routine, and now they were heading toward the mouth of the bay. The Tempest gathered speed as the wind and wave coaxed her to greater speeds. Without fanfare, the ship slipped out to the open sea.

If only all my problems were so easily solved, Shay sighed, turning to look at her new passengers. They were going to be trouble. Despite her fears, Shay found herself smiling after a moment. At least it would be fun.

[Fate]

The wind caught the sails and billowed them to life as the Tempest began to pull for open sea, and a flash of red hair caught the corner of Shay's eye as Jade Blossom strolled onto the deck, obviously rumpled. Rolling in the hold again. The thought was a sour one, a flagrant violation of ship's orders, but Jade had been violating ship's orders from the first day of Shay's command and was simply too good at her job to dispense with. Still...

Whatever rebuke Shay might have been tempted to give was cut off by a shout from the forward lookout. "Something in the water, off the port side! Close!"

[Althea]

"--love to. I'm sure the crew would enjoy a song or two tonight," smiled Wren, eyes sparkling at her mistress.

"Wonderful," Althea said, "I look forward to it. Now, shall we greet Lara?"

Trailing Silken Wren behind her, Althea marched to the port railing, the wind whipping her hair and gown out behind her. She cut, as always, a dramatic figure, though she was about to be temporarily upstaged.

At first, there was only a dark shadow moving towards the Tempest under the water. It reminded Althea of the dolphins that had played offshore near her home in the West, though this shadow wasn't shaped like any sea creature.

Althea gazed down pensively, almost wistfully. Even after traveling with Lara for so long, it was still a wonder to see the Water-aspect in her element. Although Althea knew that her own power was much greater than Lara's, the Shining One still sometimes envied her bodyguard's harmony with water.

Althea became aware that Shay was staring uneasily at the shadow, loosening the sword at her belt. Several crew waited with growing tension, looking to their Captain to give an order.

"Captain," Althea said quietly, soothingly, "this is our final party member. She is no threat, though please, clear some deck space." The armored Exalt gently cleared everyone from a large semicircular space by the port railing, a motherly smile on her commanding face. Standing at the edge by the railing herself, she kept one eye on the crew while facing the shadow.

"Lara," she called out, voice ringing across the ship, "you may come aboard now."

The crew exchanged glances and murmured to itself. Althea waited, making sure to keep everyone in place.

With a noise like a fishing net being dragged free from the waves, a figure in dark armor dashed up out of the water, gleaming and shedding rivulets as she sailed through the air. With a single, hollow thud, she landed crouching on the deck, sending the whole vessel rolling sharply to port.

Ignoring the captain, crew, and crazy motion of the ship, the figure in superheavy black jade armor went to kneel before Althea. The golden woman put her hand on the Terrestrial's shoulder, smiling.

"Welcome, Lara. Any trouble?"

The dark one spoke with a surprisingly sweet voice.

"None, Mistress."

"Good," Althea replied, turning to Shay. "Lara, this is Captain Shay."