[PLOT] Converting the Unwilling (Eligor, Alethea, & Cabel)

[Teigra]

Emerging from the teleport pad, the dark mottled demon teen took a cautious look around the area, searching for any signs of danger. The Isle could be a treacherous place for those unprepared. He wouldn't be.

Though young, the demon teen carried an air of seriousness about him that spoke of one wiser than his years...or perhaps he simply took himself too seriously. Afterall, to look around the beautiful Isle, one would not suspect the evil and danger lurking in the shadows that he seemed to have prepared himself for.

Eligor took a final glance around, then turned back to the telepad, eyes seeking his female angel companion. "Alethea? Ready to go?" He caught himself before asking if she was okay for likely the fourth time today...she had to be getting exasperated with his fussing over her. He shouldn't treat her any differently than the others; she was a warrior and a knight-in-training like any of the rest. Accident or no.
 

[Antidia]

Alethea stumbled a bit after landing on the telepad, catching herself before Eligor could notice. She did not want to appear weak around him, of all pae. She knew her balance issues were due to losing a wing, which was something she would need to work on if she ever wanted to succeed. Her handicap would only make her a better, stronger warrior, so she didn't feel bitter anymore, only a stronger resolve to prove she's not a loser.

"I'm ready," She said to him with a small smile and sweet tone. There were stars in her eyes too, but she's oblivious to that fact. She loved that he fussed over her, because it meant he was thinking about her. She practically skipped to catch up with him.

"Where do we start?"  

[Teigra]

"Good," he nodded, with a brief smile. He wasn't sure if this was Alethea's first time back on the Isle after the 'incident' or not, but he was willing to be her guide if she needed it. They were all Squires together; even if they couldn't all be granted the honor of becoming Knights, they each deserved an equal chance to succeed. Why else would the Guardians have chosen them in the first place?

Glancing around the landing pad, he noted no one in the immediate vicinity. "Well, there's no one here, and the area here has been sufficiently scouted, so," he turned back to the angelic female. "Guess we pick a direction, and see if we can't find someone or something interesting. Nodding obligingly, he asked, "How about it? Want to pick a direction for us?"  

[Antidia]

Alethea smiled brightly and nodded, looking around after Eligor so charmingly offered her the choice. She noticed a lot of activity going on near the beach, which seemed worth checking out.

"There," she pointed to some fairies hauling pieces of lumber away from them down the beach. "That seems odd. What do you suppose that is about?"

She'd only seen two tiny fairies carrying a single piece of splintered wood. The intel she'd received from the fairies in Telrunya City only mentioned that the Head Quarters lighthouse had been destroyed, but no further information was available. Maybe no one had taken the time to investigate and the pair of them today could report back with some actual important news.  

[Teigra]

Eligor followed the line from where Alethea was pointing, fixing his gaze on the efforts with a thoughtful frown. "Hmm...more clean-up from the storm, I suppose?" he mused aloud. But, what did they plan to do with all that debris? The ones that called themselves 'fauns' had had their own plans for their clean-up efforts, collecting fallen limbs with the intention of turning them into useful tools and objects. Even if his and Harveer's attempts to convert them to the Guardians hadn't been received well, he had to give them points for resourcefulness.

But just what were these fairies planning to do with this mess? It certainly wouldn't hurt to find out! "Perhaps we should appear casual on our approach," he suggested, offering her his arm. Afterall, if they appeared to be normal Pae, wandering by, perhaps they could get some useful information out of anyone they encountered.

-----



Closing the final book, or at least what remained of it, with a sigh, the Fae leaned back and let his eyes drift up towards the clouds. Well, nothing useful there. Something about the migratory patterns of swallows, and something about coconuts, whatever that was all about. Not what he was looking for in any case. The brightly-colored Fae stood, collecting the scattered remains of what used to be books from the HQ library, and stacking them in his arms. Wouldn't do to litter the beach further. He'd return this stuff to the fairies, then see what else he might find in the debris where they worked.

They seemed content enough to let Cabel sift through the remains of the library; he didn't seem to be hurting anything, and if he did find anything salvageable, he let them know. Any help was appreciated, as they had other things on their minds than old books at the moment.

The pages and bindings gathered up, Cabel set off back towards the working fairies, his eyes on the items in his arms, and his feet, rather than on the two newcomers to the beach.  

[Antidia]

Feeling very warm and fuzzy inside as her skin made contact with his when she looped her arm in his, Alethea nodded and let Eligor lead the way. Pretending to be a normal couple for a walk on the beach had her inner voice squealing with glee. She tried to respond, but her voice was a slight squeak so she coughed to clear her throat before resuming what she was going to say. "Good idea. Casual."

It was hard not to notice the bright, day-glow faerie in front of them as they approached. His arms were filled with books and Alethea twinges slightly thinking he was looting the site. "Eligor, look," she pointed and whispered, though she was sure he would have noticed as well. Part of her was excited to see her first faerie, but part of her was a little disgusted because she knew the history of the faeries as they relate to her own alignment.  

[Teigra]

Oblivious to any ulterior motive, Eligor nodded and took her arm, though he did raise an eyebrow in momentary concern at that cough. Oh, no, she seemed fine.

He didn't need to, but he followed her gesture to sight the brightly-colored Fae on the beach, arms loaded with scrolls and parchments, pages...oh Guardians, books. Were those books? Or...pieces of books? He tried to keep his expression blank, but inside, his heart sank at the realization that so much knowledge could have been lost for the sake of this storm.

What a waste.

He nodded discretely to his fellow Squire, signalling that he saw and that they should play this coolly. "Greetings," he called in a pleasant voice, as soon as they got close and it seemed obvious that the Fae had yet to notice them.

Blinking, Cabel looked up from the tomes in his arms, mildly surprised by the appearance of the...young couple? By all appearances, it seemed that the young teens had chosen this spot for a date perhaps? Before his thoughts could wander further, into uncomfortable and darker places, the Fae cleared his throat and attempted to shuffle the parchment in his arms. "Greetings," he replied in kind. "I err...apologize for my distraction. I suppose I wasn't expecting anyone else out here today." His bundle secured and prevented from scattering to the sands, he continued politely, "Could I help you with something?"  

[Antidia]

Alethea was concerned that this faerie was looting important things. She knew the value of books, even if she herself was not a bookworm. Or much of a reader for that matter. But Eligor was present, and she had to be polite. "Hello. Do you need help with that?" she offered to the faerie, letting go of Eligor's arm and closing the gap between them and the fae. Her motive to get a closer look at what he had.  

[Teigra]

Unassuming, Cabel blinked at the young teen's offer, then shrugged nonchalantly. He could still converse reasonably well, right? "Well, I can manage, but if you'd really like to? I mean, best not to loose anything out here," he admitted. Yeah, the beach maybe wasn't the best place to be going through loose papers and parchment to find pieces that weren't already damaged beyond use, in hindsight.

He tried to straighten the stacks in his arms, sharing some with either of the teens. "Didn't find much of anything I was looking for, so I was taking these back to the fairies to see if there was anything else left that needed sorting through. Lots of debris from the storm," he admitted with a sad tone.

Eligor eagerly accepted a stack of parchment, unable to resist flipping through and scanning the contents quickly. A wide variety of subjects were contained within, but nothing too in-depth. What could the Fae have been looking for then? Something in particular from the sound of it.

"The fairies?" he asked, taking a different tactic. "What is it that they're doing, if you're sorting the debris?"

Cabel shook his head. "Oh no, there's more than just some books and papers to sort through. They're busy with the rest; I asked if they minded my help. They're gathering supplies, whatever they can salvage from the old HQ, as I understand it, but I'm not entirely sure what it is that they're doing with it all," he mused, frowning. He hadn't had a casual conversation with strangers in so long, he was surprised at how normal it seemed. Guess disasters have a way of bringing Pae together and bridging gaps, even emotional ones.  

[Antidia]

Alethea considered the information. Faires are recovering debris as supplies? "I wonder if they're building something for the Guardians?" she said, thinking out loud and looking in the direction she seen the little fairies flit off. Her eyes moved towards the Faerie Pae and rested for a second before she moved and took a few of the items as he shifted them in his arms and accepted the offered help.

She glanced at a few of the pages and didn't see anything worthy of suspicion. Why would he want to steal pages form a book about coconuts? She wondered if coconuts could be useful for something that she wasn't aware of. "Why are you salvaging these...?"

She refrained from calling it garbage, especially in front of Eligor.

"Where are you headed?" She hesitated a minute, and realized she needed to be more polite. "By the way, my name is Alethea. This is Eligor." She introduced her companion, and the inflection when she said his name would be obvious to anyone who's ever had a crush.  

[Teigra]

Luckily, Cabel was turned away from the two teens as the angel's comment reached his ears. A dark look flitted over his face, then was gone. The Guardians. Ha. Why build anything for them? Why not for the Pae right here on Telrunya, not some nameless jerks living in the sky somewhere, or whatever?

No, calm down, Cabel. He collected himself quickly, all this transpiring in the blink of an eye within his mind. "I do think they're building something, but I'm not sure what," he admitted honestly with a shrug. "I guess that's my fault though for not asking. I just thought they'd like some help," he added, keeping his selfish motives silent. This was his last chance to find something useful before everything that remained of the library was gone.

"Why? Well, there used to be a well-stocked library within the HQ," he explained, unsure if they would have known this or not. If they had, hopefully they'd forgive him for repeating information they already knew. "Shelves and shelves filled with books of all kinds. After the storm, well...the HQ itself has been pretty much leveled. There are loose parchments, papers, even a few books still mostly intact scattered through the wreckage. I figured someone had to go through them and see what was left to salvage."

"A worthy pursuit," Eligor interjected with a smile. "No bigger shame than the needless loss of knowledge, no matter what kind." He allowed Alethea to take care of the introductions, then smiled and offered a free hand to the Fae. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."

"I'm Cabel. Pleasure to meet you both," he answered, shifting things to one arm to take the demon's hand. He'd noted the way the angel had introduced her companion and returned a knowing smile in her direction. Oh, he knew that look. He knew it all too well. He'd seen it many times in the reflection of the lake, seasons and seasons ago...

"Well, I thought I'd return these to the fairies, let them know what I've found...I tried to organize things somewhat...and see if they've found any other documents to be sorted. You're welcome to come along, see the site, for what it is, I suppose. Maybe we could ask exactly what it is they're doing, since I've failed to do so already," he finished with a soft chuckle. He hadn't been this talkative in a long time. Starting off in the direction of the old HQ, he tried not to stare at the angel's back. He knew it would be rude, and he didn't dare ask. At least she had someone to stand by her side, to be there for her and support her in her loss. It was more than some ever had.  

[Antidia]

Alethea nodded with a smile. This faerie seemed nice enough. She shouldn't be too quick to judge, since they are a creation of The Guardians afterall. And she knew they weren't the favored children at least, but they did still deserve respect as long as they followed the Light.

"Cabel, do you live around here?" She asked with curiosity as they headed towards the HQ rubble. She had overheard some of the castle's fairies murmuring about this building and what a shame it was to lose it. She had never seen it before so she had no idea of the value it held for the island.

As she stepped over broken boards and avoided sharp and dirty things, she noticed that even though the thing the fairies were building had significant progress, yet there was still an absolutely huge amount of usable debris here still. "How big was this place," she uttered noticing a big white box (the self-stocking refrigerator twisted ) peeking out from under a pile of rubble. Leaving the two males momentarily to satisfy her curiosity, she headed towards it and pushed some of the broken boards off and cleared some of the plaster and shattered stone masonry that had fallen on top of it.

"It's an ice box," she uttered, slightly disappointed. They have these in the kitchen in the castle, but no where else on the island; however, this particular ice box was the only one that was magically self-stocking, unknown to Alethea.

((sorry for delays. sad I didn't know what direction to go. So I figured they could find a rare treasure. :V Might come in handy later. ninja )  

[Teigra]

After relating that he had recently moved to the beach, the discovery of the icebox was shared. As they had no need of it in the castle in the City, and not knowing of the magical nature of the device, the Squires allowed the Fae to take the icebox for his new home.

Cabel filled the Squires in on some of the wonders of the former HQ as well as showing them around the Fairies' construction site, which seemed to be some sort of docks on the bay, with plans for an attached exchange for trade goods. After finishing what salvage work could be done for the day, the trio parted on pleasant terms, the Squires departing for the City and Cabel for his beachside home with his new treasures.

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[FIN]