The Scoundrels of Virtue

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Posted

After searching every last room of the entire hold, checking for any supplies that may have been taken, Lorcan still hadn't found hide nor hair of his thief. Not a single sign that she'd so much as entered the building. He hated to admit it, but the girl was good at what she did. But that did nothing to quell his anger.

Needless to say, seeing Endel and Cheval strolling into the hold with the girl walking sullenly between them was almost enough to make him lose it completely.

The look of absolute fury mingled with incredulity he gave the other men was more than enough of a demand. The girl just smirked at him, green eyes gleaming.

"We'll offer you an explanation in good time, Lorcan," Endel said assuredly. "But seeing as she means so much to you all of a sudden, we'll assign you as Torianna's guard while she's here."

Lorcan huffed his annoyance, eyes drifting once more to the girl, Torianna from this moment on. He pursed his lips, but finally nodded his agreement.

"You dont have to look so miserable about it," Torianna snarked. "It's not like I'm happy about having to be looked after either."

Lorcan himself didn't really care. So long as he got his explanation, and so long as that thief wasn't slinking about stealing valuable resources, he was willing to put up with the chatterbox.

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((I'm liking the posting speed here, as well as the cast of reliable RPers, so I'll be pinning this now))

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((Thanks Teto! Also, glad you guys are enjoying the RP so far :D ))

 

Later that evening, Endel and Cheval were summoned to Ashei's quarters for debriefing. Apparently word had gotten around HQ that something had been up between the two of them and a network thief, despite the only person who witnessed this firsthand being a near-mute. Both thieves entered the center of command with apprehension; neither was a stranger to being chewed out by one superior or another, but now they had to make a report on something that could get them sent on a lengthy mission to who-knows-where. Endel took a deep breath and walked aside Cheval to meet Ashei.

 

The Scoundrels of Virtue officially belonged to Telma, but Ashei had been promoted to second in command. According to rumors, Rusl and Shad were no longer a part of the group's operations at all, while Auru had retired quietly a few months ago. Handling an underground guild of this size was probably too much for any one person, but she kept most folks in line. "You idiots are gonna tell me what happened on your latest heist, yeah?" she ordered bluntly, at which point Cheval stepped forward. "Not you," Ashei responded, "I want to get Endel's take. Seems he's the one who picked up a contractor found that weird guy." Cheval fidgeted backward as Endel approached their leader. "I was setting up a break in to grab that armor this afternoon when I happened on that girl; thought I'd spare her getting punished and offer her a share in the loot. We both got in the store easily enough, but I could feel that armor... watching me or something. It was creepy to be honest."

 

Ashei raised an eyebrow. "Seein' as you don't buy into supernatural stuff, I'm gonna take that as a serious concern yeah?" Endel nodded, though he thought about clarifying that he distrusted fate and the influence of the gods, not superstition. "Okay, here's what's gonna happen." She continued. "Tomorrow you're gonna take that metal... thing and jog it's memory. Keep an eye out, it ought to try going back to whatever cave it wandered out of. Let me know what you find. Got it?"

 

Neither of them had to answer; whenever Ashei said "Got it?" she was giving an order, not a question. Both of them gave a quick bow and exited the room, Cheval eager to harass Endel all the way back to their quarters.

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Posted (edited)

The two boys Torianna met on the earlier escapade are called up by some hot shot in their organisation for questioning, leaving her in the company of their none-too sociable guard. The two sat around the little table in the room she'd been given. It was simple, but Torianna had the feeling that if the guard had his way, she'd be in one of their holding cells - so she would take what she was given.

She narrowed her eyes, watching him carefully.

"Lorcan, isn't it?" She asked. He nodded. "You don't talk much, do you?" He glanced at her then, but still didn't say anything.

She waited a few moments before saying. "Can't talk? Or won't talk?"

He rolled his eyes at that, but still didn't speak. He got to his feet, walking over to check the windows and doors of the room were secure for the third time that night.

"What is it then?" Torianna asked. "Ripped vocal chords? Pathological shyness? Am I just so gorgeous that I've rendered you speechless?"

He shot her a dark glare for that one and she grinned, pleased that she finally got a reaction out of him.

"Oh come in Lorcan, it's boring around here. Can't we... I don't know... can I look around your base?" He shook his head firmly. Well that was a definite no. "Can we play cards?" Another no. She huffed out of boredom and frustration. "Can we at least go for a walk?"

He rolled his head back, letting out an exasperated sigh. But eventually nodded. Torianna grinned and clambered to her feet. It was time to see first hand how this organisation operated.

Edited by NayruGoddessOfWisdom (see edit history)

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At first, they walked in relative silence, not much to be heard aside from the tapping of their feet.

Lorcan walked with his hand on Torianna's arm, stopping her from straying too far. Every turn was sharp, since Torianna seemed always to want to go the other way.

Inevitably, after a few minutes, she began to talk. Lorcan suppressed his groan, glancing wearily at her.

"Say, that's the room I got my sword from," she remarked. "And almost got away with it..."

Lorcan rolled his eyes when she eyed him slyly, jerking her to the right as she attempted to veer left.

"So, Lorcan, tell me something about yourself," she suggested, then laughed. "Ah, wait..."

Lorcan scowled, wondering how much longer Endel and Cheval would be; at least they could offer some sort of answer.

"What age are you?" she asked. "Honestly, you don't look a day over fourteen. Did I guess right?"

Lorcan shook his head adamantly. Why did everyone think he was so young?!

"Alright, alright," so what age then?"

Lorcan gave her a pointed look for that, turning left at the end of the corridor. Torianna, thank the goddesses, was silent for a while, and for a few minutes Lorcan revelled in the peace.

And then, "You still haven't told me what age you are, you know."

For a moment, for a split second, Lorcan almost snapped at her. He whirled to face her, his mouth opening a fraction.

It was only when he saw Torianna's grin that he stopped, pressing his lips into a tight line with a nasty glare.

"So close!" Torianna exclaimed, laughing. "Trust me, shy boy, you'll snap eventually. I know you will."

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It was an interesting quandary Skallin found himself in. He had mustered the power to take shape again, but while he had been out he had ben bound and left in the armory. The bonds were tight, and had constricted him when he was just a set of armor, so he had trouble doing much of anything. His hand moved absentmindedly drawing in thick layers of dust on the floor. while he contemplated.


The first question. Where was he. He looked around at his surroundings, and realized that the room was very dark, but his eyes, eyes that did not exist and yet he could see, seemingly had adjusted well enough to take in his immediate surroundings. The arms and armor were not of the best quality, but there was quite a bit of it. Clearly this was not the armory of Hyrule proper. No, this was… an independent group?


Despite Skallin’s understanding of many of the basics of his surroundings, gleaned from the occasional visitors to the shop in his dormancy, many aspects of day to day affairs, including current events, eluded him. He knew the scoundrels of Virtue no more than he knew himself, and that was very little.


There was a cracking sound. He looked down at his hand where he had been doodling in the dust. He had apparently been pressing down much harder than intended, because what had begun as a simple idle drawing had become...a carving. His finger had pressed so hard into the stone floor it left a curious image. An eye.

He did not remember much of his dream before, but if Skallin had had a back to feel it he would have shivered at that moment.


((Not sure why the font there is black instead of the usual. This happens every once in a while))

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Despite what she had heard about the Scoundrels of Virtue, Torianna really had to marvel at their base. It was rather fascinating, even if Lorcan did stop her from seeing the most interesting parts. She liked the way that it was so carefully organised. She even managed to sneak a glance at a couple of the future robberies they has planned before Lorcan dragged her away. But much to her disappointment, she didn't catch so much as a glance of the armor that she had pinned her hopes on seeing.

That being said, she did get a lot of amusement out of winding up the guard who had been assigned to her. He was extremely short tempered, and she reckoned that if she pushed him far enough, she could get him to talk to her. In fact, she was quite determined to do so. It's what kept her amused as she waited for Endel and his long haired friend to return.

And eventually, just as the sky grew inky black rather than just dark, the two of them returned.

"Did the big shot give you a good telling off for mixing with a network contractor?" Torianna called out to Endel as he approached. She liked Endel, he respected her ability as a thief, was skilled himself, and didn't take any nonsense - not even from his boss.

"Nope," he replied. "She was more concerned with the armor. We've got to give it a good investigation in the morning."

"The morning?" she replied with an exasperated sigh. She had to head off in the morning, get back to the network.

"I don't know about you guys," the long haired boy said. "But I'm ready to turn in for the night. I'll see you all in the morning."

He walked off then, without so much as a glance back. Torianna knew that she didn't like him.

"How was she?" Endel asked Lorcan, nodding towards Torianna. Lorcan said nothing, simply rolled his eyes in response. Endel laughed at that, then said "I trust you'll watch her overnight?"

Torianna huffed. This felt somewhat like she was being babysat. And though Lorcan didn't look pleased, he nodded.

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Underground, The Scoundrels of Virtue had an intricate way of telling time. Some of their engineers had rigged one of the defunct pipelines to run through all the rooms in headquarters and drip water into an underhanging bucket at fixed intervals. As the bucket filled each day, marks on the inner basin could indicate for how long water had been dripping into the bucket, giving everyone an approximation of time. As Endel woke up to check the time in their room, he saw the water had reached halfway between the sixth and seventh mark in the basin. It's sunrise he thought to himself, let's get this over with

 

The chamber where their find was being held already contained Skallin, Cheval, Lorcan and a rather pleased looking Torianna. Apparently their guest had gotten a full tour of the headquarters after Lorcan relented, and was recounting her first impression to Cheval. The senior thief didn't give any indication of amusement as she raved about how interesting everything was. "You guys really have something cool going on here," she admitted, "shady thieves and impressive warriors working side by side. What a motley crew!"

 

Skallin, meanwhile, didn't say much. It looked like he wanted to move somewhere, but Cheval had denied him the opportunity. "Hey, master thief, I think you better let that guy out of his bindings." Endel proposed, to which Cheval shrugged and untied the strange creature's gauntlets. "While you're getting accustomed, can you tell us about this eye you carved into the room here?" Endel asked.

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Skallin rose and scanned the faces of his...captors? Were they captors though? A difficult assessment given his recent awakening. Perhaps...Caretakers was the better turn of phrase. Skallin spoke. It was a strange sound on reflection, his voice. Predictably it was a Baritone, and it seemed to be filtered through...something. Like a loud voice through a thick room. And of course, it seemed to come just from Skallin as a whole, rather than from a mouth, which did not seem to exist, or else was concealed through the pitch darkness inside of his armor. "In idle thoughts I found myself absentmindedly drawing. Over time the drawing became a bit...severe." Here he paused. He wondered to himself whether he should tell these fellows, who he had met only a short while earlier the strange portents of his dreams. After a few seconds he added, "I feel I have dreamed its shape before."

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The rest of the group look to each other curiously upon hearing Skallin's statement, while the suit of armor sat waiting for a response.

"Well that's something, I suppose," Endel says with a shrug. They say you never really forget a face. Though, that usually applies to humans..."

Lorcan crossed his arms, sitting back and glancing to Torianna. She raised an eyebrow, looking from the armour to him.

"Anything to contribute, Lorcan?" she asked innocently. Lorcan stuck his tongue out at her before looking back to their find, frowning.

"Just an eye, though," Cheval muttered. "It's not much of a clue, really."

Lorcan tapped his foot then, and Endel fished about for a pen and something he could write on, handing it to Lorcan with a curious expression.

'Can you remember anything at all about your surroundings?' he wrote, holding it up so that the enchanted armour could... see it, he supposed.

"Let me think," it's voice came. "Let me try and... hmm..."

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((Er, which surroundings do you mean? Like, current or in the dreamscape, or in the place where Skallin was found?))

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((Oh, I'm sorry! What I was referring to would be where Skallin saw this eye that he drew on the ground, if that makes sense?))

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((Got it))

 

"Let me think," it's voice came. "Let me try and... hmm..."

 

As he concentrated on a memory of a dream rapid images floated through his mind, much like when he originally went unconscious. Yet he stood, body rigid floating through the ether of his mind until he reached the image that he was looking for. An eye, thick with veins staring from the darkness. And then the eye he drew on the ground. And then.... something new. He saw through eyes that were not his own, and yet, perhaps....perhaps they were. They were of a him that he had never been. Once upon a time a Darknut wandered into a cave on the orders of its dark master. And in it had been found an eye expertly carved into the stone wall. And a pedestal...

 

It all left him then, as if he had hit a wall. He explained the further bit of his vision.

 

"You all seem rather unsurprised given that I am an animated suit of armor. May I take it then, that you all have some sort of experience with the strange and the fantastic?"

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"You could say that. Oh yeah, you're probably wondering who we are." Endel realized. He explained to Skallin the ins and outs of The Scoundrels of Virtue. "Basically we protect the poor, fend off evildoers and-"

"Steal lots of stuff." Cheval finished, eliciting a glare from Endel. "Now, we've been ordered to take you back where you came from and kill whatever dark monsters we find along the way. Any chance you're willing to cooperate?" Given the creature's odd vision, it surprised no one when he nodded his head.

 

Preparations were made quickly, and soon Skallen was being smuggled out of the town by a disguised Endel and Cheval. Torianna and Lorcan followed closely behind, the former being dragged by the latter as he'd insisted on escorting her through the streets. Soon enough it was time for the two groups to part ways.

 

"We'll see you back at home" Endel told Lorcan, who responded with a nod. "And as for you," he said to Torianna, "let me know if you're in the neighborhood, alright?"

"We'll have to see about that." the girl teased before waving goodbye. Now it was her turn to weave briskly through the city streets as Lorcan tried to keep up. As for Endel, he was beginning to feel it was going to be a long day.

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It didn't take Torianna and Lorcan too long to get back to her home. It was still in the town, even if it was at the edge on the other side.

"You know you didn't have to escourt me all the way," Torianna said as they rounded the corner onto her street. "I do know how to look after myself."

Lorcan simply shrugged in response, not offering anything further by way of explanation. Even if Torianna didnt want to admit it, she was somewhat greatful. Her Dad, if caught in the wrong mood, could be a nasty person to get on the wrong side of, and despite Lorcan's short temper, something about being around him made her relax.

Lorcan walked her right the way up the wooden steps of the three story house to her front door. Torianna said goodbye to him with a hearty handshake for she had never been one for hugs.

Her dad stood at the bottom of the staircase as she closed the door after her. His fingers were smudged with his blue planning ink, showing that he'd been working hard on something for the network. His face was tight with exhaustion as she smiled at him - she got the distinct feeling he was like a fuse ready to blow.

"Who was that boy?" he asked by way of greeting.

"He's a guard," Torianna said, laying down her bag of loot and hoping it was enough to sway her dad's thoughts.

"I don't recognise him," her dad replied.

"That's because he works for the scoundrels," Torianna said, trying to keep her voice as breezy and casual as possible.

It didnt work. Her dad took two, heavy, purposeful steps down the stairs and towards her. "You bought a scoundrel boy to my home?" She didn't reply, so he repeated again, louder "YOU BOUGHT A SCOUNDREL BOY TO MY HOME?!?!?"

"I didn't-"

But before Torianna could finish her father's clammy fingers clenched around her arm. She swallowed hard, shrinking away. "If the Scoundrels had their way, they'd take everything we own. They're almost as spineless as those pathetic soldiers. Don't ever assosoate yourselves with them again, and don't you dare bring one in my home again. Clear?"

Torianna didn't like the way his fingers bit into her flesh, but what he was saying clashed with everything she'd learnt so far about the scoundrels. Unfortunatley, her father wasn't open to debate on the topic. Within a matter of seconds, she found herself being pulled towards the basement entrance, much to her dismay.

Edited by NayruGoddessOfWisdom (see edit history)

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