Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]
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		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Light =&gt; Light: Human Small Groups =&gt; Topic started by: Sabby on 03-05-2009, 22:49:39</h2>
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				Title: <strong>Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>03-05-2009, 22:49:39</strong>
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				It is said among the Southern Badland Tribes, that true warriors are born in the cruelest of flames, that the best rise only from the ashes of a life torn away from them. Tradegies that end the weak, leave the strong... stronger.<br><br>A young man has been set on this path tonight. All he has known has been stripped from him, everything he has come to love and recognize. With his life now ended, all that rests before him is his Rebirth, and The Path of the Warrior.<br><br><br><br>The small island was wreathed in flames, a burning mote of light on the horizon of the ocean, casting thick black smoke into the night sky. It was not so far away, yet the devestation was not easily seen. The screams had given way to the slow crackling of the flames, as if the fire had claimed them all and quelled their suffering. <br><br>The men that had done this had already left, their boats disappearing into the distance as quickly as they had came. A night of celebration and joy had been twisted so... the scorched drift wood littering the beaches, and the blackened remains of the island would long stand a painful reminder of the great tradegy that befell this night.<br><br>A small, limp figure lay face down on the sand, the waves gently tugging at his body. Barely alive, the young man was the soul survivor of the massacre. The sea had almost claimed his life when the hired men had failed to, but it seemed fate had seen fit to spare him.<br><br>Barely visible in the darkness, a tall figure approached him, slow and diliberate, as if the horrific scene couldn't phase her mask of serenity. A stray breeze, smelling of wood smoke and sea salt, swept her dress and long curtains of hair, yet she did not seem to notice. <br><br>Kneeling down beside him, she reached her smooth hand to gingerly stroke his sandy hair from his face, the very touch of her skin seeming to bring warmth to his freezing body and a slight comfort to his troubled mind. She could feel his turmoil, his fractured memories of the attack on his wedding, his desperate escape and near fatal jump to the rocks. She knew everything... and yet, she was certain that he would never be able to remember tonights events in their entirety. It would remain a vivid, yet fractured nightmare, and he would relive it his entire life.<br><br>"So this is what the Others have led me to..." she mused, a whisper barely audible. She knew now why she had awoken at this hour and came to this place without reason. The otherworldly voices that had aided her in her unaturally long life had seen fit to guide her here to this broken figure, where he would have died had she not found him. Now she understood.<br><br>Silently, almost solemnly, she dragged his limp form into her arms, lifting his soaked, heavy body with no noticeable effort. Lowering her head, the silhoette of the woman and the boy she carried wavered and snapped into nothingness, a slight crackling in the air and a swirling of the sand all that remained of them. He would be away from here... far away. He would not smell the smoke or the fire, nor would he be able to see the flaming island on the horizon if he had had the strength to open his eyes. <br><br>This would be the beginning of his story, the flames that would claim his old life, and prepare him for the ordeals that would either break him, or craft a Warrior. The steel had been tempered, and the path had been set. Now all that was left, was for him to find his footing...<br><br><br>Six Days Later.<br><br>The boy would lay under crisp, clean white blankets, in a room he would not recognize. The design was not something he would be familiar with, polished wood and cream coloured roofing, hard floors and lacy curtains, drawn to keep the sun out. He couldn't recognize the style, because he was very far away from his home, in an entirely different continent. <br><br>A small bell rested on his bed side table, among a jug of water, and what appeared to be bandages. Someone had been tending him, and even feeding him. Though he was delirious, he would realize that under these blankets, aside from the bandaging, he was completely naked.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marlow</strong> on <strong>04-05-2009, 04:52:17</strong>
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				Milo broke from the sheets, slick with a cold sweat, the flashes of dark phantom memory quickly evaporating in the stifling sunlight filtering in through the tall pain window, suffocated by the thick burgundy drapes on the stone wall above his bed. Breathing raggedly, he steadied himself. It was a dream. Horribly vivid, but a dream.<br><br>"Tinashe, what a horrible dream I had," he said, turning to his phantom betrothed, before realizing he was in alien territory. The yellow stone walls and spartan furnishing of the tiny room were unknown to him. They were certainly a far shot from his more accustomed lavishness of a rich family with notable gains of land and favour. <br><br>Twisting in his bed, he hissed as a bolt of pain flooded his senses, orbiting out from his left shoulder. Grasping at his healing wound, he felt the silk bandaging of the wound, grizzly under the bandage. What had happened to him? Where was he, and more importantly, why was he here? <br><br>Throwing back the sheets, he staggered to his feet, looking out the window. What he saw was equally alien. The window looked out on to a large courtyard, a good fifty yards across on both ends. Spattered throughout was a small pond, and a cluster of conifer trees with the flat-leafed deciduous trees rippling through the prickly evergreens. The cone-bearing trees were alien in Egryon, which saw summer-time weather all year round. He had seen them once on a trip far to the north, but he was a young child then.<br><br>It was a very jarring moment, and he stumbled, grabbing the small bedside table for support, the bell knocking over, ringing an impossible pitch, magically enhanced for his caretakers. Sweat dripping off his nose, he slumped back to his bed, leaning against his knees as he tried to piece together the muddled memory of what had happened. <br><br>A fire, Tinashe, and water. It was all he remembered of the events six days prior. He couldn't piece together anything more than that. A horrible sense of dread swept over him as the realization that he may in fact be a prisoner occurred to him. "Is anyone there?" he called in a feeble voice, a far cry from his former proud, forceful timber he had with anyone other than his dear Tinashe.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>11-05-2009, 17:19:27</strong>
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				As if she had only been just outside, a woman poked her head in through the slightly ajar door, and seeing that he was up, shouldered the door open and was at his side quickly. She was dressed in a simple white garb with a strip of red at the neck and sleeves, a nurses uniform, clearly, though unlike any from Milo's region. <br><br>"Please, lay down..." she was firm yet gentle with him, obviously quite skilled, guiding him to lay back on the bed. The young woman was slightly flushed at the sight of his nudity, but she busied herself with calming him and getting him comfortable again.<br><br>"Your in no shape to be up and about just yet... settle" The nurse seemed to be ready for his awakening, like she was expecting a panic or situation when he came to. Her attempts at easing him back into bed would be difficult to resist, however.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marlow</strong> on <strong>11-05-2009, 23:34:36</strong>
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				Milo grabbed the nurse's arms, his hands clammy with sweat. "Where am I?" he cried, holding the woman. "I am a member of the Udana Merchant family, and if I am prisoner here, you shall have to answer to the full might of Egryon!"<br><br>Even as he threatened the woman, he knew his words were empty, filled with poisonous rank but little bite. Resigning, he fell back on the small bed, simply staring at the tall ceiling. "Who am I kidding... my family is gone, I know it to be true. I am utterly powerless here," he practically cried, looking over at the woman (((what does she look like?))). "I am... sorry, for my outburst. I realize you are my caretaker. For whatever reason, you have nursed me to near-health. Thank you."<br><br>He was oblivious in his depression that he was nude, and his member was clearly visible, laying long down his thigh.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>18-05-2009, 00:49:00</strong>
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				"Shhh, hush..." her voice was low and soothing, a touch of pity heard in it. The woman seemed nearing her late twenties, long black haired tied back for practical reasons, large green eyes looking over him with genuine concern. She did not know the whole story, but her days of caring for him had seen long nights of him tossing and fretting in his sleep. She could tell he was hurting, and the concern would be just as evident to him.<br><br>"There is no thank you needed... I know you must be confused, but trust you are safe, and I promise all will be explained" she ran her fingers gingerly down his naked chest, over the blood encrusted bandage, the contact providing a slight, barely noticeable static. She could see his injuries like a Bat, the natural energies of her body focusing in her hand, laying out a map of his body in her mind. She was checking his injuries. The broken rib was of concern, but she could see that majority of his wounds were healing well. Some of the nastier ones refused to stop bleeding completely.<br><br>Dutifully, she stripped the bandage from his side, taking a cloth that smelt of alcohol and dabbing at his waist. While he could not see it, he would immediately feel the sting. A deep and ragged gash stretched from his hip and almost to his lower ribs, the lips of the wound green in places, hard like dead flesh. She knew that he had been in the ocean at some point. The waves must have thrown him cruelly through the coral beds. Much of it simply shattered as he crashed through it, meaning numerous but minor cuts, but a particularly strong cluster had ripped him open and infection quickly took hold. He would heal, but the scar would stay with him for life.<br><br>"Hold still... its gotta be done" she proceeded to clean the wound, which would be near excruciating for him. Applying the alcohol cleaner to such a deep wound would be like fire to him.<br><br>"There we go..." placing a new, clean path of padding over it, she expertly wrapped new bandaging around his mid section, managing to slip the roll under him with each passing. The ease and skill at how she handled him showed she knew her job quite well.<br><br>She ignored his exposed flacid member to the best of her abilities. She saw many naked patients, but almost all of them were women.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marlow</strong> on <strong>22-05-2009, 04:32:37</strong>
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				Milo bit his cheek and clenched his fists as the nurse applied the alcohol based ointment to his gashed side. His muscles tensed as he strained against the burning pain pulsing from his wound as she lathered it on, wrapping fresh bandage around his torso when she finished. <br><br>"Tell me where I am, then, please. We are far from Egryon, this much I am certain," Milo asked once she had finished addressing his wound. Slipping under his sheets again, he lay back on his bed, sighing wearily, his momentary panic sapping all his strength.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>22-05-2009, 17:12:14</strong>
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				"You don't know?" she seemed genuinely puzzled, furrowing her brow as she continued about her business, checking his other minor injuries with her hand, that same, barely noticeable static prickling at his skin. She had sat on the edge of his bed at this point, the box of tools and such on his bedside table. She could feel many of the deeper problems, like sprains and fractures, were healing at a normal rate.<br><br>"I thought it was I who should be confused, not you... you were brought here in the middle of the night half dead, looking like you'd been dragged from a ship wreck..." she rummaged for something in the box, a metal instrument he wouldn't recognize. Carefully, she began to pull out the stitches he had broken when he woke, just above his hip and stretching to his lower back. She carefully turned him to his side as she did so. Strangely, she did not hurt him as she moved him. It was like she knew where all his damaged areas were and could avoid stressing them.<br><br>"Hold still now, most of these have to come out..." it wouldn't be as painful as her treatment to his gash, but it was a longer process.<br><br>"You have heard of Heroines, I hope?" many knew the stories of Heroines, women of great power who fought corruption and evil where ever it was they drifted to, or dutifully protected their own areas from it. A local legion from his region spoke of a woman, The Gray Ghost, who was so skilled with the bow she could catch an arrow in flight, knock it and then fire it between the shooters eyes in one fluid movement. She was one of the mysterious and fabled Heroines, and a legend that Milo would most certainly know.<br><br>"This place is very important... its where many of those Heroines learned to be what they are. I'm surprised you were permitted here at all"
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marlow</strong> on <strong>23-05-2009, 02:18:45</strong>
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				"No, it wasn't a shipwreck. I was thrown in to the ocean," Milo said through grit teeth, moving his arm so the nurse could go about replacing his broken stitches, his skin being tugged as the stitches were pulled out. "But I don't know what did it.<br><br>"You haven't answered my question though. Where are we? What country? It looks like -damnit- It looks like Northern Everly, perhaps Chester country, but I was unaware of a school of Heroines anywhere on the continent..." Milo reasoned to himself as the nurse continued with his stitches. "What continent am I on?"<br><br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>23-05-2009, 07:54:12</strong>
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				"It has no name... it is but jungle, savanah and untamed wilderness. This academy is the only man made site that hasn't fell to the ages. Though... if you want a specific area, we're between the Tan Stretch of Islands and Everly. Very hard to find, and nigh on impossible to stumble across"<br><br>Looking at a map and sizing up the general area between the two land masses would show just empty ocean, a good distance from his old home. If it had been any further, it would have been on the other side of the planet. It was a distance impossible to travel in 5 days...<br><br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marlow</strong> on <strong>26-05-2009, 18:41:50</strong>
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				"I no not of any landmass between Everly and the Islands... but if what you say is true, we are very far from Egryon. I was magiked here," he commented, stating the fact that had come to his understanding.<br><br>Sitting up in his bed, hissing as his stitches twisted slightly, he looked at his nurse. "Taking what you say as truth, than the fact I am here is almost unheard of. I cannot remember in any of my histories men being permitted within the grounds of Heroine held land. Yes, there are areas for male guests, but they are closely guarded and bared from the inner complex. Why was I brought here? I would like to speak with the Grand Master of this Academy, she let me in, she must have some answers," Milo entreated, clasping his nurses hands in his own. <br><br>"Will you permit me this? Would you tell her I am well enough to speak with her,-" he paused then, for he did not know her name. "What is your name?" he asked, bluntly, watching her. She was very pretty. 
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>29-05-2009, 06:24:22</strong>
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				Carefully, she pressed him back down, hand firm on his shoulder. "No sir, please, rest... you don't know how badly your hurting yet, but you will soon if you don't rest" she was right, as sitting up would have brought a fair amount of pain, more then when he tried to move before. If he was on drugs or herbs of some sort, they wore off with activity.<br><br>"I cannot summon her regardless sir... she is in Holliston" that region was almost as far away as his old home, in a completely different direction.<br><br>She passed her hand across his forehead, and he would quickly feel his own fatigue rushing back to him. Sleep would be difficult for him to fight. "Please sir, I promise she will know you've woken..."
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marlow</strong> on <strong>11-06-2009, 04:37:00</strong>
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				"You don't... give me... enough... credit," he said, his eyes betraying him as they grew heavy as he sunk back on to his bed. His conscious mind was quickly slipping through his fingers, like water. "You still haven't... told me your name," he managed to add before falling in to a deep slumber.<br><br>(((OOC: Maybe you should do a fast forward? Like a week from now or something? Would move it along.)))
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>12-06-2009, 17:23:07</strong>
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				She smiled sweetly as she watched him drift off, drawing the crisp sheet up to his collar bone. "Shell... my name is Shell" her sweet, caring face, and the scent of her perfume would be the last thing he comprehended before the induced sleep took over.<br><br>He would of slept dreamlessly, long and interrupted, but he couldn't. It would have been in Shells power to gift him a pleasant sleep to escape this nightmare of his loss, for just a while, but she had been forbiddon. She was to keep him alive... but not completely fix him. He would remember small scenes, distant and unreal, like from a dream he couldn't remember quite clearly. <br><br>He lay in his bed, the wounds paining him greatly, mind drifting just into the realm of consciousness, but not enough for him to fully understand what was going on... or for the people present to realize he was anything but asleep.<br><br>The woman who had saved him, the one who had been revealed to him as the Headmistress, stood in his room, speaking with Shell. She seemed calm and collected, almost cold, though the reassuring aura of her prescence would still wash along his mind, soothing his troubled sleep.<br><br>"He's doing fine Headmistress, though I'm worried for him... his back, its very weak. He'll need crutches if he's to walk, and even then he'll be in pain..." <br><br>She seemed completely unaffected by the news of his injuries, simply looking from Shell and to him, as if she could see into his body, scan him through to the deepest fiber. Did she know he could hear them? <br><br>"Good... he will need to push on to grow strong again" "But Headmistress, he... if you would allow, I can-" "No Shell. As cruel as it may seem, he has to suffer... right now, we can make it easier for him, but we have to leave him be"<br><br>Shell hung her head silently, as if in acceptance. She knew the woman was right.<br><br>"The best thing for him is to let him learn to fight. If he must push himself to his feet, fight to put one foot forward, then so be it. If anything, the daily struggle will keep his mind from the incident"<br><br>"Yes Headmistress... I understand"<br><br>His memory would fade back into the abyss of sleep. When finally he would awaken from his induced rest, the Headmistress was sitting by his bed on a wooden chair, dutifully writing in a blank book. There were several stacks of them next to her as well, all baring the scent of fresh ink, the pages white and new. She had been sitting there several hours, as if she knew his sleep was ending soon.<br><br>She knew he was awake now, but did not look up from her book, eyes following the small, spidery print that quickly took the page line by line.<br><br>"Your awake"
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marlow</strong> on <strong>12-06-2009, 21:56:11</strong>
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				"Yes, I am," Milo replied behind closed eyes. His extremities were tingling, he had been sleeping for a long time without moving, most likely days, and his arms and legs had fallen asleep. He didn't move, still as he woke. He was gauging his strength, isolating his pains and measuring them.<br><br>"You are the Headmistress," he stated bluntly, finally opening his eyes, blinded by the light in the room. He had remembered in his sleep, almost everything. He knew his family was dead, Tinashe along with them or a slave to the brigands that attacked his ocean-home. He almost hoped she was dead. At least there she would be safe from their tortures.<br><br>"Why did you bring me here?" he asked, almost accused, the Headmistress, looking at her for the first time (((what does she look like?))) since he woke.<br><br>Bracing himself with his arms, he pushed himself upright, gritting against the pain twisting his back. The wound on his side had healed up enough to allow movement, but he was incredibly weakened. He doubted he'd be able to walk for a long time.<br><br>Sitting upright, his sheets bunched around his waist, he realized he was wearing a warm, linen shirt, cream coloured. He was wearing equally comfortable trousers. "You should have let me leave this world with the rest of my family."
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>13-06-2009, 04:40:58</strong>
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				Unlike Shell, she did not keep him from trying to sit up. She seemed more intent on finishing the page she was writing, though her attetions were every where. On him, the book, the fly on the wall, the vine outside in the gutters as it slowly grew toward the sun. Her prescence was almost inhuman, but she did not seem cold, or distant, merely... it was a difficult thing to put to words.<br><br>He would barely remember the time she carried him, but now he would have time to really see her.<br><br>She was tall, with long, firm limbs, like that of a martial artist, face soft and round, peaceful, like a cherub. Long waves of dark as night hair hung down in every direction, straight and flowing like liquid opal. Her eyes were an odd color, only adding to her other worldly prescence, a dark red.<br><br>Her attire was equally strange, a long blood red dress with black, spidery runes, in a language not many could read. It was called a 'kimono' and, like martial arts, it was a mystery to the world, originating in the fiercely secretive Eastern Mists. Many 'knew' that the mysterious people of those lands held the arts to combat blade with hand, but it was incredibly rare that an actual martial artist was seen in the Western World. There was grace to every movement, even in his quick yet delicate writing. Her feet were bare, and she wore blood red glasses, rectangular and slim.<br><br>"I do not always find a reason for the things I do Milo" she smiled to him, flicking the ink pen once more and closing the book, then drawing another blank one to her lap to continue. There was dozens next to her.<br><br>"When you have lived to experience all I have, you come to trust your own premonitions. I felt I was needed at what would have been your grave... you know where you are, then?" it didn't feel like a question. She knew that the information had been revealed to him, that he was among the future Heroines, figures so wreathed in myth many doubted they existed outside of storybooks. <br><br>She knew he would call her out on not answering his question, as why he was brought here, but she had every intention of answering. She paused in her writing and set the pen down, now turning in her seat to speak with him. Her eyes were soft and caring, looking him over once, quickly. She was satisfied with his condition, and seemed pleased that he was sitting up, despite his weakness.<br><br>"Your nurse, Shell, told you of the Grey Ghost? That she was a real woman, who came to this very place?" while he knew the mythical protector of the area near his old home was indeed a real person, but it was important for him to know of her origins... and how similar they were to his own situation. 
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marlow</strong> on <strong>13-06-2009, 05:17:59</strong>
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				Milo sat there watching the Headmistress reach for another blank book, opening it and continuing her writing, not pausing for a moment in her action. <br><br>"Yes, I know where I am, however unlikely it seems. Although, I'm inclined to take your word for it," he answered, studying the Headmistress of the Academy.<br><br>He was about to call out for an answer, but bit back his tongue. She would tell him what she felt pertinent. There was nothing he could do to change that. <br><br>"Yes, I know of the Grey Ghost. I also know she was real. My Grandmother used to constantly tell me of the time she encountered the Grey Ghost, ever since I was three years old. It is hard for me not to doubt her existence," he explained, watching.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>13-06-2009, 05:56:45</strong>
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				"She watched her parents die, right before her eyes... the killer put an arrow in her and left her for dead. She pulled the arrow out, dragged herself to his home and shit it into his chest. The poor girl was no older then you"<br><br>She let the story sink in a moment, casually turning a page to write on.<br><br>"She murdered him in his sleep, and if she didn't bleed to death... she could have grown up a murderer, or become a thief like her first victim. I brought her here much the same way I brought you here, half dead, alone, and with nothing remaining of her old life"<br><br>There was a silence, the only sound that of her wet pen scribbling on the dry paper. "Do you see the difference between you and her? Think hard now... there is one small detail that separates you both"
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marlow</strong> on <strong>13-06-2009, 07:02:54</strong>
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				"Yea, I don't have the lady parts," Milo chided, his quick tongue faster than his brain. He might not have liked what came out of his mouth, but since it had, he would stick with it. <br><br>He knew damn well men weren't accepted in the academy. It was for Heroines, after all, and not Heroes. The Heroes had had there time to shine countless years ago. <br><br>"You still haven't answered my question: Why did you bring me here? I have never excelled at anything remotely 'heroic', and the gods know I'm not a girl. So there has to be a reason, and I want to know."
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				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>13-06-2009, 14:45:39</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				She smirked, both surprised and amused by his speech. "Milo, you miss what I'm trying to point out... Grey Ghost has become such an amazing figure, and the only thing that would deny you your chance, is a small detail such as gender"<br><br>She closed the book then, but instead of stopping, she procured another. She had written an entire book in the time that they had been talking.<br><br>"For as long as this place has existed, the rule of women only has stood unchanged... for a while, I have considered opening the Academy to all sexes, and support has been growing. When I found you, much the same way I had found many of our Graduate... I knew the change must be made"<br><br>She bookmarked the page that she had been writing on, closing the book and causing it, and the stacks next to her, to vanish, so subtly Milo would only notice that they were gone a second afterwards.<br><br>"You've proven quite sharp Milo... think long and hard on this. If you would wish it, I will bring you back to what remains of your home. If not..." she stood calmly, straightening her glasses, the rise of her body from the chair so fluid and intentional, like a perfectly built machine.<br><br>"Well, you have some thinking to do... rest, and Shell will attend to your needs" she smiled softly at him and left without a word, seeming to step into nothingness. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marlow</strong> on <strong>10-07-2009, 02:44:14</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				(((So sorry for the wait. Forgot about this thread.)))<br><br>"I need to see my home once more... but not now. Now I need to rest. I'm going to kill him, the one who murdered my family. If you can help me get to that goal, than I'll stay," he said, sinking back to his bed. "I hope you've chosen right, Mistress."<br><br>(Can't think of anything else)
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Academy of Heroines [Prologue: The Steel is Tempered]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Sabby</strong> on <strong>30-07-2009, 03:09:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				((sorry as well. been absent. Hope the game picks up again :) I swear its cursed! haha))<br><br>Under the Headmistress' orders, Shell refrained from helping him any more then was needed. He didn't know just how badly he was injured until he was permitted to walk the grounds on his own. Shell, of course, was with him, but she kept from aiding him, simply made sure he was coping, and kept him away from student only areas, where training was happening.<br><br>It would have been quite maddening. Every step was a struggle, and he would constantly catch glimpses of the students, but never did he see anything that well. Surely, the stories of the Grey Ghost would have aroused imaginings in him, of what other Heroines were capable of, and yet always they were two far away or behind a hill or building. It was like he was being spurred on to heal up and join them.<br><br>Even so, healing on his own would be a long ordeal. It was several weeks before he was deemed fit enough to walk without his crutch. And soon, the day came that faded scars were all that remained of his injuries. Alone, he would have surely died from the extensive damage he had taken in his fall, but Shell had made sure he was just at the threshold of health. When finally he had overcame this on his own, there was a subtle but unmistakable pride in her.<br><br>The morning came that he would join the other students, and was roused unceromoniously from bed, a set of white battle robes tossed onto him and almost literally kicked from his bed.<br><br>The large, heavily muscled woman would have him dressing before his eyes had unblurred, her loud, commanding voice siezing him while he was still half asleep. Before he knew it, he would be marching along in front of her, outside... and toward the sounds of training.<br><br>He would notice soon enough that another girl was next to him, hastily dressed and in quite the same situation as he. A new student, just like him. His first day wouldn't be alone.<br><br>But on his other side, was another girl, who, for some reason or another, did not appear as new as he or the other girl. She seemed to know this drill by now, and had an air of experience about her...<br><br>In his mind, he would hear the echo of the Headmistress' voice, and distantly, the scratching of her quill. Wherever it was she was talking to him from, she was still writing. How could one woman fill so many books? It was unthinkable... <br><br><em>Listen close Milo. Your going to pushed harder today then you ever have been before. Your not alone in this. The girl to your left is a new student like you, but the one to your right, is your Buddy. She has only been here a few weeks, but she shows great promise. Be kind to her. She has taken the recruits treatment a second time, just to be here with you two during your first day. I hope all three of you make it through the day. Goodluck.</em><br><br>The silver hair girl was cut into a pudding basin, the straight, almost liquid like hairs just touching her shoulders. She seemed strong, her arms and legs thicker then most girls, though she was still quite effeminite, like a wrestler or brawler. Eyes were deepest blue, wild and proud like a beast, face heart shaped and with a sisterly air, like a mother lioness.<br><br>She broke the marching one second to tilt her head in his direction, winking.<br><br>"Morning little buddy" her giggle was like honey in his ears.<br><br><strong>Proceed to Chapter 1: Iron on the Anvil</strong>
			</dd>
		</dl>
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