acts like summer & walks like rain

[Knight]

Stella Midknight
Vincent Shadowfang
Elaina Otterton

The princess Legedema, though she could take care of herself, certainly warranted a group of warriors to protect her. The fact that some of them were female was a new sensation to the kingdom of Azelania. Women had begun to enter the military only recently, when the young courtier Mira Lionheart had been discovered after joining the ranks of the cavalry and fighting for almost a full year against a neighboring kingdom who wished to infiltrate their land. The King had decided after this that perhaps women could fight as well as a man, and surprisingly enough, a good number of women had joined up. Many were young, young enough to not have a husband and willing to serve the land that they loved.

Stella Midknight was one of those. The name that she had received after completing her military training marked her as one of the first women to become a warrior for her kingdom. A smaller girl, she was about 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighing a decent 145 pounds. Her body was muscular, but there was a bit of feminine curvature to it. Of course, that was easy to miss under the armor that she wore to cover her body; silver with white gems that were veined with blue. The young warrior's weapon of choice was a slender silver sword; nothing particularly special or extravagant, but it was one that her family had purchased for her when she had completed her training.

Her hair was black with white tips and her ears came to a slight point, hinting to a bit of fey heritage in her past. Her eyes were a blue within blue, and around her neck she wore a single silver, blue and purple feather on a silver chain. The feather disappeared beneath her clothing, however, resting against her chest.

The other warrior who walked at Stella's side was a man. His name was Vincent Shadowfang, a regal name for a regal man. Both of them were wolf shapeshifters, taking the form of wolves upon command. But Vincent was distinctly different from the feminine creature beside him. Bulky and powerful, he wore a golden gauntlet on one hand and wielded a thick broadsword with a black blade. His armor was heavier than Stella's, limiting his movement slightly but protecting him more than his female companion. Black hair adorned his head, and golden eyes met the world with an air of haughtiness and pride. He was definitely a warrior, that much was clear. The love that he felt for his kingdom was fierce, and that had lead to him becoming one of the personal guards of the princess Legedema.

On the other hand, there was Elaina Otterton. She had no knightly name simply because she wasn't a knight. This young woman was a courtier, an old friend of Mira, the woman who had paved the way for women like Stella. They had been friends when they were young, but now Mira was a warrior and Lane was just an otter shapeshifter who had wandered too far from home. She rode a horse, instead of walking, but she was clearly no princess.

The courtier wore a flowing silver dress, and rode the dainty white mare sidesaddle. There wasn't much interesting about Lane's appearance, no, she was fairly average. A brunette with hazel eyes and a curvy figure, Lane didn't stand out much. Not when compared to women like Stella or Matsi and certainly not the princess. Still, that didn't stop her from flirting it, from collecting a harem of guys to tell her that she was gorgeous in hopes of getting her lands and her in bed.

Unlike many women of that age, it was only the lands that she minded sharing. No, she was saving that for . . . something. Someone. Hey, she'd know it when she saw it, right?

She sure hoped so.

Clicking her tongue at the horse, Lane tugged lightly on the reins until it slowed slightly, glancing around as the small town that was her destination, at least, appeared in her view. She couldn't recall if the princess, too was stopping there but this was the town in which the elderly suitor (the only one of reputable background that was still interested in her after the many shenanigans that she had gotten into) that her parents had in mind for her lived. Lane was not looking forward to that.

"Miss, are you all right?" Vincent's words were carefully polite as he gazed at the courtier, fixing her with those freaky golden eyes.

"I'm fine..." Lane murmured, half to herself as she shifted her weight slightly, glancing at the other guards. "But it looks like this is where we'll be parting ways. Unless you'd want to stay here for the night." She wasn't looking forward to spending the night on a strange estate with a strange old man. It would be nice if she could have the company of the others just for the night. They weren't particularly close, but the warriors would protect her with her life, she knew that. Even if Vincent had shut her advances down several times during their travels.

[Matsi]

Matsi StarFire. Strong and elegant name for a strong and elegant person. Once named Matsi Metlam, she had gotten a knighted name not long after joining the military ranks. Though, she was just not any part of the military. She was one of the King's top Soldiers. Why was that, you may ask? The king was her older brother. From birth, she followed in his path, and once she was old enough, she shoved her ways into the military and earned her rank with hopes of someday leading her own people.

As people go, she wasn't that normal looking. She was short, and thin, but held a slightly curvy form that was backed by strong muscles. Her hair was mostly black, and very long, except for the left side of her bangs, which were a white-silver color. Her eyes were mostly starlight silver, but around her pupils were blood red. An X scar rested on her chest, hidden by her armor, while more scars covered her back.

She wasn't exactly a typical warrior either. Her armor was dark silver, almost black in color with golden etching of fire, stars and swirls. Along with the golden etching, rubies carved into stars hung from her helmate, while circular ruby balls were embedded into her chest plates, back plates and around the eyes of her helmate. Her sword had a dark blade, with golden hilt and ruby wolves. All of it was a gift from her brother when she was pushed up in the ranks. Under her armor, a necklace of a heart from a person of her past.

As if her armor wasn't enough, there was also the fact that she was one of the few shapeshifting soldiers.

Beside her, one of her top men stood. He was tall, a good 6'1'' over her small 5'5''. He was not as brilliantly clad as she was, either. His armor was simple silver with etchings of stripes along it. Nothing too fancy, until you got under the armor.
His body was lean but firm with muscles. His hair was shaggy and black, while his eyes were as bright of blue as one would think possible. Tribal like tattoo stripes stained his back, and scars covered his chest and stomach. Hinto SpiritWalker was lucky to be alive, as was his captian, but because of his close-to-death experiance, he earned his Soldier name, SpiritWalker, along with his scars.

The third in their company was another young man. He matched the Captain in age, though his rank was significantly less. He had yet to finish his training, which was why he was with the captain. His name was Shale Bronson. He was thin and lanky looking, with red-brown hair and tattoos under each of his eyes, a reminder of the small town that he had been born in. His eyes were blue and bright, and he held a sly look on his features. He had no magnificent armor, only chainmail and leather coverings. His sword was worn and old looking. All the gear of a trainee. He too, like the other two, was a shifter, which was why he was apointed to them for training.


"Captain, when should they be passing here?" Hinto asked as he looked at the shorter young woman that he followed. Matsi sighed and stretched.
"Any time now," Matsi hummed as she looked down the path that led away from the small town. They wouldn't know that they were there, but that was alright. When they saw them, they would flag them down.
"Why are we meeting them here, again?" Shale asked as he looked at Matsi with a frown.
Both Captain and Secondrank just looked onward, not really wanting to answer the question, but they both knew someone had to.
"The captain needs to talk to them about something the princess has said," Hinto finally answered. Matsi snickered slightly. Hinto was very good at satisfying people's curiosity without giving too much information away.

"Besides, Matsi has a history with one of them," Hinto added in a quieter voice a few moments later. Matsi's head snapped around and she glared at her companion.
"History?" Shale asked with a sly snicker.
"Midknight Soldier and I have been friends for some time," Matsi snapped out. More like, The Midnight Soldier and her were practically sisters. But that was beside the point, and she knew that that relationship was not the one Hinto was hinting at.

"Let's not mention the ShadowFang soldier," Hinto purred out, earning another glare from his captain.
"Isn't the ShadowFang Soldier quite the killer?" Shale asked, remembering all the rumors from his town.
Matsi snorted.
"Just don't make him mad," She chuckled out.

"Yeah, easy for you to say. You are like his flower of the desert," Hinto started laughing, earning a laughing glance from Shale. Matsi sighed and shook her head as her eyes caught the sight of figures down the path.

"ALright, fun is over. Let's meet up with them," She growled as her form morphed into her winged lupine form. Her armor clanked as it too morphed to fit her new form. The silver, fire like mark up her face and head were the reason for her name.

Shortly after morphing, she ran off towards the three in the distance.
Hinto shrugged and also morphed into his large white tiger form, his armor still holding his body, and fled after his captain.

Shale hesitated, but then too morphed into a red coy-wolf and followed.

[Knight]

Vincent glanced at Lane, a hint of amusement flickering in his crimson eyes. "I think that it is a little late to be carrying on, my lady." He murmured with a slow shake of his head. No, he knew the young courtier was scared of spending the night alone. They were not friends, would never be friends, but that didn't mean that he hated her. She deserved to be looked out for. Lane was a bit of a mess, to say the least. He didn't want to be the one picking up the pieces when this life she lead finally came apart, but Vincent wasn't going to abandon her for no reason.

The sigh of relief that escaped Lane was easy to hear, and she smiled a little. "Well, you two are welcome to stay with me." She purred the words out, "Especially you, Vince." The flirty tone was hard to miss, but instead of saying anything, Vincent just shook his head.

Stella tuned the two out without a word, ignoring Lane's antics for the most part. It was hard for her to dislike anyone, and she didn't dislike Lane. But the constant flirting could get a little hard to deal with. Lane was fine when Vincent wasn't around. It was when Vince was near that she got a little hard to deal with. "Vince. There are wolves around." She spoke softly, glancing at her armored companion.

The warrior reacted instantly, shifting into his lupine form with a great clamour as his armor shifted to fit his wolf form. He was a black wolf with red eyes. There was a golden gauntlet on his paw and his black armor with orange and crimson markings fit snugly over his lupine body. His nostrils flared and he snorted, nudging Stella's leg lightly, tail wagging swiftly.

Stella could tell he was excited about something, but their species barrier made it difficult to communicate. And instead of sticking around to try and make it work, Vincent had already raced off, vanishing into the brush with a clacking and clanking. "My lady?" Stella turned towards Lane, "I think that I know who is ahead..." The thought of seeing her best friend made her practically jump up and down in joy. But she was not one to abandon her charge. Vincent had better reason to go charging off anyways. "It is no one to worry about." Stella inclined her head slightly as she gazed at the shifter.

Lane smiled slightly, "Thank you." She murmured, half to herself as she glanced down at the warrior, "Well, shall we wait then?"

"I suppose so," Stella murmured, wriggling a little. She was eager to see her best friend, the woman who was more like her sister than anything else.

Meanwhile, Vincent had slowed to a smooth padding strid instead of racing towards the woman. His tail waved slowly, held high in the air like a banner and his golden gauntlet clanked against the ground with each step as he drew closer to the trio. "And what brings you out here?"[/b] Vincent asked of the three when they were within hearing distance, "Not that I'm complaining in the least." He chuckled dryly as he glanced happily at Matsi, tail wagging enthusiastically. He didn't care much about the others, in all honesty. Matsi was the only one he truly cared about in the group. The others were noted only absently, though he would be a shame to his former masters if he hadn't noticed them at all.

Stella and Lane were left to wait, for the moment, in a comfortable silence as Vincent conversed with the others. The town was a forboding figure on the horizon, to Lane, making her progressively more nervous as her horse pranced a little in place before lowering her head. Lane let the reins slide from her fingers and the mare stretched out a little, enjoying the break. And Stella stood at attention, twitching every so often, unable to stay still as she waited for any sort of news. She wanted to see Matsi.