Hunting for the King

[thequestgiver]

Characters: All who are searching for the King!
Open? Yep
Where: Starting at the castle
When: RD 10
What: The heroes go hunting for the King.


The castle staff, as unhelpful as always, had no idea where the King had gone to. Some had guesses, of course, he went off to track down Prince Charming and drag him back home, he went out visiting the Giant Kingdom, he went across the sea, he went to see the state of the Old Capital, no, they hadn't actually seen him leave... they just knew that he had. This just happened every now and then, you see, one of the older maids explained. The King, being the King, just sometimes was elsewhere. Just wait a little while and he'd be back soon enough.

But that was hardly helpful now, now was it?

Comments

[shiromadoushi]

"Maybe there's another one?" Bakura suggested. "A back up, of some sort? Or maybe it is still him, and being king is only who he is when he's in this room?"

[shadow_sage]

Liara, mostly silent due to her discomfort with the concept of magic, struggled to follow what had been occurring, but she hadn't given up out of exasperation, either.

"If the king was some form of manifestation," she said, slowly, choosing her words carefully. "Perhaps some power was simply taking the form of a man to work towards a purpose which that form no longer serves. Though if a king's form is not enough to control events in his kingdom, what else could be?"

[thefunsister]

"A figurehead?" Rose suggested. This king wouldn't be the first to take the throne just to look pretty and make people happy.

"Figureheads have their own advantages, even if they don't actually do anything."

[tenuefarfalla]

Cho, meanwhile, has already followed the trails of magic out of the castle. Her horse is waiting just outside the door, and she raises her voice to be heard as she swings herself up onto his back. "It doesn't matter if we like him or why he's King or if he does anything we don't approve of. We still have to find him. This place needs balance, and without the Avatar of Order it won't have it."

[sorcerous]

Loki, too, mounts his horse, though now he can run near as fast as she. Not for as long, of course, and not as reliably. "She can hold another," he offers, "if any of you don't wish to make the detour to the stables."

[shadow_sage]

Liara eyed the horse with suspicion. She drew a breath and straightened, stepping forward. "I doubt I could handle one by myself. And I certainly cannot run as fast or as far." Looking at Loki, she lifted an eyebrow. "If you're sure you wouldn't mind." she didn't particulary care for the king...but sitting around complaining wasn't getting her any information to change things. And even if she wasn't armed, she was still wearing her armor, with a great deal of familiarity. "I'll even try not pull you off if I fall."

[thequestgiver]

The trail is much easier to follow once the group leaves the castle. A thick, solid line, as if the presence that is being looked for has walked the single path back and forth to the castle to the gates of the capital many times.

Once outside the walls, the line goes directly to the monastery with other trails leading back out and off into the woods. There was an odd sort of split, the fading remains of another path that seemed a different color going off in another direction entirely while faint echoes, fresher, but still faded lay on top of it. It the trails were likened to foot prints, it would be like someone with an identical boot, but a much lighter step.

[tenuefarfalla]

Loki and Cho each had room for a passenger on their horses, and the stables had horses for anyone else who could ride on their own. Who knew how far they were going or how long it would take? But they had to get started if they were going to find the missing King.

Someone has to keep them moving, so Cho does. It's her magic that brightens the lines of the path, so it's her eyes that can see it the clearest. When they come to the fork, she urges Charlie to a stop. "There's a strong path going to the monastery, and a fainter one leading back this way," she says, pointing it out. "They're the same sort of trail. Which one should we follow?"

She asks the question of everyone, but she looks mostly to Loki. Everyone else seems to simply be going along with what the two of them decide. She doesn't mind. Sometimes it's easier, in a daunting situation, to not have the responsibility.

[thefunsister]

Rose had learned long ago in the homelands how to ride a horse, so she didn't mind taking her own. For the most part she allows the horse free reign, letting it follow the others and only pausing to yank the reigns when it stopped to chomp a particularly delicious looking bush.

When they pause, Rose lets the horse eat. So it'll mostly get stuck in the bit, what did she care? She glanced between Cho and Loki, shrugging whenever one of them caught her gaze. How should she know?

[shadow_sage]

Liara may have been following, but she is, by no means, incapable. And when the question is asked, the answer she gives is almost immediate. "If at all possible, both." She looks down the fainter path, or at lease the direction Cho indicated. "What lies in that direction? There are at least a few good reasons to go to the monastery...why the other way?"

A momentary pause, a breath. "But you and Loki cannot separate, correct? He is using your power." She chews on her lip. "It doesn't seem wise to simply ignore this." And her eyes settle on Loki, for a moment, and then Cho. "If I accept your theory on magic, which seems functional given what we've been doing, then would it be possible to adjust my omni-tool to locate the traces of energy we have been following?" She activated it, orange covering her left arm. "It wasn't very useful in the castle, but then again, neither was anything else you tried, looking for the King." All she knows is that the thing has been altered; she hasn't been here long enough to figure out how. But if this 'magic' changed everything else, it isn't much of a leap that it altered the device, as well.

[sorcerous]

Yes, he is using her power, still. It hurts as it would to keep a hand held tight around a heated brand. He copes with it as he must, rigid and tense but quiet.

"I would teach you how to track it in detail, if we had the time," he says. "As it is..." He glances to Cho. The two of them should go on, into the monastery.

*ever belated, sorry for the fail @_@*

[shiromadoushi]

"I can check the monastery," Bakura offered from where he was awkwardly sitting behind Cho on her horse. It wasn't that he wasn't used to sharing a ride just... not normally with a girl. It made it awkward. "Since we know where that path leads."

[tenuefarfalla]

Cho nods. "That's a good idea. The path leading there is far stronger than the one leading away. If Liara can pick up the signal, that one will be the easiest for her to follow." Meanwhile, Cho would be able to pick out the other path, no matter how faint it became. "You three go to the monastery. Find out what you can, don't take no for an answer, don't let the monks jerk you around. Loki and I will see where this other trail leads." Even though she's making the decisions, she looks to Loki for a confirmation that he'll go along with her decision.

[thefunsister]

"On it," Rose agreed, turning her horse in that direction. It took some doing, since it involved getting the damned thing to stop eating grass and get its head out of the other horses' butts.

Split into separate threads now?

[sorcerous]

"The fainter trail, then."

Loki, meanwhile, takes the lead, urging his horse to follow the trail. He glances back, to ensure that Cho is coming with him.