Lightstar Family/Xarnelf/Roleplay 01

First Encounters: Igna and Xahtorb

With his head slightly down and thoughts focused inward, Xarnelf did not at first notice Igna walking alongside him. Thus, at the Drake's first words, he reacted with a short, unconscious hop coupled with a sharp intake of breath. Immediately feeling quite embarassed, Xarnelf's face dissolved into a rather sheepish smile as he received a warm welcome from Igna.

He remained speechless while the Drake pointed out another fellow knight by the name of Xahtorb. Finally regaining most of his composure as Igna began to take his leave, Xarnelf bowed and then started to continue on his way back to his men's barracks. He stopped short though, as he observed the Drake moving steathily back towards the aforementioned fellow knight of the Lady Arella, who was strolling down the street, seemingly oblivious.

Puzzled, Xarnelf blinked--and almost missed the stunningly quick, full-body reversal of Xahtorb straight into a full barrel of water at the hands of Igna the Drake. In response, he let out an impulsive snort and then commenced rubbing his nose, covering his mouth in the process as he tried very hard to choke back the laughter yearning to burst out.

Xarnelf turned away from the comical, yet somewhat tragic, scene of a spluterring, drenched, and understandably angry knight with a smile and shake of his head, resuming his course to check on his troop of archers. He hoped his captain was not pushing the Farsighters too hard these past couple of days, but Urjintah did have a valid point when he said that they needed the training, and more, in order to become a reliable group of men who would not flee at the first signs of trouble, especially with the eight new recruits added yesterday.

As Xahtorb's yelling and cursing faded behind him, Xarnelf once again focused his thoughts inward, initially to General Helio's recent and somewhat foreboding orders recalling all the knights to Idapur, and then on a lighter note to his earlier, first encounter with Igna. Yes, he decided, with a smile, that he would indeed take the Drake up on his offer of spending a few hours of camaraderie at the Endless Mug, but not this night; perhaps when most of the Farsighters can hit their marks at least seven out of ten times will he be relaxed enough to spend a carefree night of light-hearted drinking and chatting. Who knows, he might even bring them along and give them a well-earned break from all of the heavy training.

Thinking again about the General's message, Xarnelf surmised that he may soon see action in the field, mayhaps against the forces of Lasanar, with whom he heard from the locals Taith Aenil was at war. He prayed that he would find the courage within himself to meet the challenges ahead and make his family proud. Hopefully, the Farsighters would be strong and ready when the time came.