Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

With Nina accompanying him, the guard captain is quite talkative despite his gruff exterior and huge axe, telling a few stories about the times he had spent with a child Iliana. As an older child, he had been looking after her during some of her little childhood misadventures. What she could gather from the stories, Ridley was somewhere between five to ten years older than her wonderful mistress.

Once they reach the gates, Isaku is there to greet them. "Yep, the lil' priestess entered a short while ago. You two go on as well." The huge gateguard says to them, closing the gates and sealing them with a heavy iron bar before going over to a winch near the gate. After a few spins, 3-foot spikes of barbed metal rise from the top of the barricades around the estate, adding to the mansion's formidable defenses.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina listened with curiosity at Ridley's anecdotes about a childlike Iliana. It was interesting to hear about her as a young lady, growing into the quite controlling, sexy, and altogether fun woman she was at present.

She brought Ridley through the main hall, and then set a course for Iliana's study, where she assumed the meeting was still going on. When she reached the door, she would knock as she'd done before, then go in and announce Captain Ridley's arrival.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Ridley still continues his stories as they go through the estate with Isaku now in tow as well. When they reach the study, Isaku goes pretty nonchalantly past Nina and her proper form, but Ridley goes properly along with the etiquettes and lets the girl properly announce his presence. Once he's in the room, the captain takes a spot against one of Iliana's bookshelves, leaning against it.

It was quite a sight for Nina's eyes to see the group gathered in the study. Everyone from the house was there, along with Haku, Elise and the guard captain Ridley. "So, about this impending attack. Give me the details about the encounter, then I can make proper preparations toward the possible attack." Ridley is the first to say, pointing his request towards Iliana. But the mistress redirects the question to Nina and Haku who were there firsthand.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Looking to Haku for a moment to see if he was about to speak, Nina takes the momentary silence from the tall warrior to mean that she was welcome to speak first.

"We encountered a roaming band of six ogres. We kept one alive long enough to question. He seemed overconfident about his chances of being avenged... and indicated that there were enough of his fellows hiding in a cave complex to enslave the town. It could all be bluster, but he was boasting after just having his legs cut off and staring death in the face... I would assume he died thinking that the worst would come to those who had slain him."

Nina finished her summation and looked to Haku to see if he wanted to add anything.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"Not much I can add to that. The ogre's dying words were filled with such arrogance and confidence that I believe them to be true. There was no exact time specified by them though, so we'll be guessing about the time of the attacks." Haku confirms Nina's story and throws in a little of his own thoughts.

"We'll be guessing, unless we take the attack to them." Lynette speaks up, now back in her serious business mode.

"Now now Lynette, we don't know about their numbers. Or other surprises they might have in there." Isaku pokes in with a comment of his own.

"Most of us are familiar with those caves but that might not be too big an advantage." Elise is the next to speak. "I think it's not a good idea to charge them head-on."

"What we need is a good scouting of the area and the surroundings. To get a general idea about their strenghts and weakness, along with possible leader figures. Such simple creatures might be inclined to flee if their leaders are taken out of the picture." Valkenhayn offers his words of wisdom to the mix.

"Hmmm, that might be a good idea in case we decide to take to the offensive. I'll need everyone here alert at all times, in case a bigger attack really comes out before we can take action. Lynette, I'd like you and Nina to go do that scouting trip. You are the best one from us when it comes to moving undetected." Iliana is the final one to speak, as all eyes turn to Lynette and afterwards Nina. "Will you do it?" Lynette's answer is a determined but silent nod.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina had a sudden chill at the thought of being alone amongst all those ogres. Naturally Lynette would be there as well, but Nina knew it was clear Lynette knew how to handle herself much better than Nina. What might happen if she was somehow cut off from Lynette, and then discovered. She shuddered to think about it.

Suddenly she was aware that all eyes were on her. "I-I'll do it, of course," she managed bravely. Iliana had confidence in her. She couldn't say no. Besides, it would probably be okay. She looked over at Lynette, saw the battle scarred beauty's steely, focused gaze, and her old confidence came back to her.

"We'll be in and out of there and no ogre will be the wiser, count on it!" She said, standing straighter and managing a smile directed at Iliana.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Iliana's serious expression turns to an approving smirk as she gets Nina to take part in the mission. "All right then. Go on and leave when it's good for you. We'll be making the rest of the assigned tasks during your absence." the mistress tells both maids as they leave the rest of the group to plan further stages to their strategy.

Lynette guides Nina towards another visit to the armory. Telling her apprentice to pick up things she might want, the head maid goes over to one of the enclosed cabinets and opens it up with a key. She takes out something Nina never thought she'd see outside of videogames or anime, an enormous foldable scythe. With a smooth spinning motion, Lynette shifts the blade of her weapon to the proper alignment for striking, doing a few strikes at the air to catch the feeling of it. "It's been years since I last touched this blade.." she says, folding it back to a portable state. "But if we need to go against those things in a fight, this will end such bouts with quickness. Too bad Isaku is such a lump, he can't go about undetected for long.. It'll just be the two of us."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina nodded. "Yes, it would be nice to have Isaku on this mission as well, but stealth is required, isn't it?" Nina asked as she gathered whatever Lynette asked for within the armory. "That scythe will certainly make the ogres think twice before they challenge us, but I hope you won't have to use it just yet. We just need to count their numbers and find their leader."

Nina reminded herself of that fact. Violence should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. They were just two women walking in amongst an army of brutish ogres who would enjoy nothing more than to take turns raping them. Even if Lynette was extremely capable, Nina had to assume that she could not take down an army by herself. A lucky shot here or there would hit her in the head and then it would be over. Nina clenched a fist. That wouldn't happen. Not to Lynette. And she prayed it didn't happen to her either.

She decided to lighten the mood, more for herself than for Lynette. "Well, I suppose this will be fun, just us girls. You and I so rarely get to catch up these days." She smiled at Lynette as she handed over the gear she'd been asked to collect for her.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Lynette takes the equipment offered to her, strapping the knife holsters over her uniform like she did before. "Hmmm, I suppose..." she says as Nina tries to ease the slight nervousness she was feeling. If the head maid was having any of those feelings, she was keeping it under wraps quite effectively.

With her equipment done, Lynette straps the folded scythe behind her back before pulling a travelling cape over it. "I'll go and get some food and water for us. It'll take a day or two for us to complete the trip. You go and get anything you need before we'll depart. Meet me at the door once you've gotten everything."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina checked her equipment. She'd brought along the camping equipment in her pack, she had her sword and her shield. Lynette was just about to get the rest of the supplies.

Thinking of nothing else, Nina hurried quickly to Iris' room to look for the blind girl, then if she wasn't there she'd peek into the meeting room again to look for her. She wanted to give her and Iliana a hug and a kiss goodbye.

After that she'd go and meet Lynette. There was nothing in particular that Nina needed. She thought about taking the red slime ball, but blushed and put that thought aside. She shouldn't steal from the mistress, and she wouldn't be forgiven if something happened to it anyways. Better to leave it be.

"Okay Lynette, I'm ready to go. Let me carry some of that water in my pack... I don't suppose we'll have camels or horses to speed our journey?"

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Going over to Iris' room for the first time since she got to the mansion, Nina finds the place to be a pretty Spartan area. A single closet sits at a corner, with a wall-mounted sword rack near it, all spots on it occupied with blades much like the one Iris used all the time. On the floor is an eastern-style sleeping mattress, set in an especially neat order. These are the only features in the blind girl's room, and the girl herself is not found there at the moment Nina goes over to look for her.

Finding both of them at the study, Nina goes in to share her temporary goodbyes with the mistress and Iris. They both accept her gestures, Iliana whispering a bit of info for her. "Let me fill you in on a little secret. Lynette is not just a naturally skilled scout, there's a formidable and deadly training behind her talents. She used to be a royal assassin in her younger days. That woman knows what she's doing when it comes to sneaking, so you can take a few lessons from her if you so desire." the mistress shares a no doubt well-kept past of one of her servants before Nina goes back to the head maid.

With a passing thought about the red tentacle thing, the apprentice maid meets Lynette at the door. "Sure, why not." the head maid approves of Nina's offer, giving her a portion of the water to carry before continuing. "No, unfortunately. There is nearly no draft animals around the town, the emergency messengers have their horses, but we can't take those in case they might be needed"

Without any horses or such, the two of them start the hike towards the large cave complex, Lynette acting as the guide. The pair travel through the sands all day long, arriving near the cave during late evening hours. Overlooking the place from a big dune, they detect some movement at the mouth of the cave.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"The Lady deigned to inform me that you were a master of stealth during your previous career," Nina said as the two of them halted within sight of the cave entrance. "She strongly suggested that I learn from you. If you are open to the idea..." Nina smirked and shrugged, eying the fearsome Lynette.

The past day's trek through the sand had been long and tiring, but Nina discovered that she had the strength to maintain despite the hazard of heat and the unsteady shuffling on loose sand. Lynette had not been a big talker, but she had provided advice freely. Nina tried to soak up the knowledge like a sponge, not wanting to be a burden on the woman who was practically a superhero next to her.

"Looks like they have the entrance guarded. How shall we proceed?" she asked Lynette.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Lynette seems unpleased about the fact that her past has been revealed. "She told you that? No matter how much I've pleaded for her to keep it under wraps.." she says in a low voice, despite there being a healthy distance between them and the guard at the entry. "We'll be on look-out for a while, see how they operate and take any opportunity they leave for us to exploit. Patience is a necessity one must have in this kind of thing."

It doesn't take too long a time for them to find a weak moment in the guardians of the cave. Once night starts to darken, only one ogre is left at the entrance. The fat brute eventually starts to hobble, sitting down against the cave wall shortly afterwards and starting to snore loudly. Taking the cue, Lynette starts to move towards a flanking position. "They can't be this sloppy..." she says as the pair close towards the entrance from the side. Once they are at the entry, Lynette unsheathes a knife and cuts the sleeping ogre's throat without any resistance. "This feels a bit too easy, let's hope it is just a feeling..." the head maid says as she wanders inside.

The pair of maids soon come to a three-way intersection. "If my memory serves me correct.. the huge main cave was to the right.."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"I've only said that you have used stealth in your past career," Nina said smoothly, in an attempt to avoid hurt feelings. "Frankly, I'd assumed as much from the way you moved... in the warehouse." Nina shrugged again. "Whatever you did in the past Lynette, it doesn't have any bearing on my relationship with you now. You're my teacher and you serve Iliana as I do, and if she trusts you with her safety, then I do as well. Besides... it's not as if you haven't had me at an uncomfortable disadvantage before."

They waited a long time as night slowly set in and the guards dwindled down to one, and then that unfortunate guard fell asleep and gave Nina and Lynette the opening they needed.

Nina raised her eyebrows in alarm as Lynette slit the ogre's throat. "If we're here just to look, what happens when they find this body? It's going to be difficult to hide this huge body, isn't it?"

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Looking over the passages a little more, Lynette tries to remember the correct way. "I'd rather risk them finding him than have the creature blocking us if things get hairy over here and we have to make a quick escape. Not the usual deal I know, just something of a personal preference..."

Finally picking up the correct path, Lynette leads Nina down a darkened cave corridor, only to eventually have them both arrive at a huge clearing. Looking down towards the bottom from a couple dozen feet up, they can see a slope gradually lowering into the bottom going along the wall. At the bottom, at least 50 ogres are sleeping or attempting to sleep on the stone floor, only a few ragged cloths covering the ground. At the middle of the area, on makeshift bed of wood and some more cloth lies a tall, four-armed woman with a muscular build and red-tinged skin. Two gently-curving horns extend from her head, giving her a further demonic appearance. Dressed in little more than a few scraps of striped fur, she is an exemplar of ferocious beauty.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina gave Lynette a questioning look after having peered down at the ogres and the four-armed demoness.

"That must be the leader," she breathed in the smallest of whispers. "It's hard to believe they'd all be asleep at once..."

Nina peered from side to side and then behind them, wary that at any moment an ambush might spring and they would find themselves surrounded in a nest of vipers.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"I have my suspicions that this is every creature here. Two other such chambers are located farther in. Not as big as this one but there's enough space for at least another group like this, if not a bit more. We'll have a hard time ahead of us if all of these things come to visit the town at the same time." Lynette replies, backing away from the entrance. "We'll take a look at the other paths, see if there's more to this than a simple invasion."

Going to another path in the fork, the girls find themselves at another expanded area. Row upon row of ogre-sized blades and spears are neatly arranged in large containment units. Among all the shelves, the glow of fire and the beating of a hammer striking against metal can be detected.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"An armory." Nina observed quietly. "They're certainly preparing for battle. If only there were a way to destroy this equipment, we might be able to delay their assault. It would give people time to evacuate or make a better defense."

She nodded to Lynette, and then they crept up silently towards the source of the hammer blows.

She wondered what sort of demon that four armed woman was, and how was it in league with the rogue kitsune?

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

With thoughts about the possible leader of the attack in her mind, Nina and Lynette sneak through the weapon shelves, heading towards the source of the hammering.

Behind a few lines of such units, there is a bigger open area with a hastily arranged forge. In the middle, another red creature is at work, this time a man. Easily Isaku's match in size, the creature's upper body is heavily muscular, well suited for this kind of work. A long armoured skirt hangs down from his waist, covering his pants and lower body, with nothing covering him from the waist up. A shock of spiky hair sweeps up from his head, a white stripe going through the otherwise black shock of hair. Upon his surprisingly human facial features is a pair of round glasses with a mirrored surface.

But most interestingly of all, a girl sits on his massive shoulder, holding onto a horn stump with one hand and a book with the other. Dressed in a soot-stained pink dress and a nightcap with a star ornament, she seems completely absorbed by her reading, swaying back and forth on the giant's shoulder as he works away. She is about 14 or 15 years old and has waist-lenght hair, dark purple in color

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina gave Lynette a look that indicated both surprise as well as being at a loss as to what to make of it all. She supposed that the red man was an oni of some sort, but as for what the little girl was, she had no clue.

"What now?" she mouthed silently to Lynette, looking over at another unexplored area. There was something intimidating about that duo and she didn't want to get into an unnecessary fight. That little girl couldn't be normal, hanging around on the shoulder's of an oni.

Nina had the urge suddenly to get away.