A Call to Arms

This rp is meant for:

~Alana

~Rondun

Please do not join in without expressed permission from either one of us. Thank you.

Alright then, time to get down to business. :3 This rp takes place back in the year 1847 when Darius Kordeth presented himself in front of the Elite court with his notorious concept of Daila’s disgraceful abandonment of her Shinlai ‘creations’ and the very idea of the race themselves being entirely of their own making.
We hope this answers a few questions as to why the Shinlai race has found itself split in two by its own beliefs. Feel free to read along as it all goes down.

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“What?!” Rondun roared, whirling about to stare down the tracker’s throat, “What do you mean you lost sight of him? It was only two days ago your scouts sent in word on his location.”

“Our mark and a small portion of his remaining gang of rioters left from their hideout during the night. We have teams scouting the area as we speak,” the human captain shifted uneasily in his shoes, diverting eye contact and thumbing the crook of his trouser pocket nervously as the large Shinlai halted his pacing to glare angrily his way.

It was midday over Teito. The peaking light of the afternoon sun glimmered radiantly through the magnificent stained glass fixture of Daila that dawned the tower’s eastern wall as it overlooked the city in all its glory and activity. The rays of light shined down through the ovular window into the tower’s main hall in a captivating display, illuminating everything within with a stunning array of color. Working all too well to highlight the sharp expression of bitter outrage lining the Dark Elite’s snarling face.

It had been days since the series of riots had broken out in Velecifiero, its very citizens desecrating and destroying one of the city’s most honored of religious landmarks in its central square. The public outcry for retribution had been enormous and where stationed authority had failed, the pressure was now on the Elites to corner a key Shinlai organizer of the crime as he fled the scene. An opportunity all but missed by the blunder of the human search party.

“And the rest of his aids?” the Elite growled, “What happened to the ones they left behind?”

The captain flinched at the deep guttural rumble as the Shinlai spoke, “We have them in custody and under strict interrogation,” he replied, his eyes locking once more with his higher-up, “Five of them, to be exact. All Dark Shinlai.”

Rondun’s brow furrowed beneath his mask at the last comment. “Get out of my sight,” he barked, before turning to pace once more across the hall floor of the throne room. The captain readily complied, making a hasty salute and retreating swiftly across the mahogany floor, away from the wrought iron wrath of the maroon coated giant. The heat of the beast’s yellow-green eyes bored into the man’s back as he took his leave.

Making sure the human tracker was then out of earshot, the Elite Shinlai huffed in frustration. Collapsing in a great heap onto the pillows of his throne, Rondun curled up into a thoughtful position, crossing his forelegs and staring at the floor in front of him deep in concentration.

All of the party members taken in were Dark Shinlai. “That’s a thought,” he muttered into the silence of the hall.

Rondun was well aware of the negative stigma that his element carried, he had had to wear it on his back throughout his and Adlai’s campaign. It was however an important note to remember that with the rise of the Dark and Balanced elements came a sense of new beginning, a sense of change in Elaisha. Singled out and isolated, these Shinlai had never been viewed in the same light as their elemental counterparts and thus some did resort to banding together as a solution to their problems. However, rarely had he seen any aggressive action taken towards the religious foundation of their race as a whole.

The great Dailian Temple of Velecifiero had been an icon to the city, drawing in crowds and revenue from all over Elaisha. Why would anyone have wanted to tear it down? Surely there must be some convincing merit behind their words for them to enlist support from such a vast amount of Shinlai, but what was it and what would make the organizer think a series of riots would prove to leave his mark on society?

“There are certain ways to make a point, have the people listen, and have them want to see it through to its fruition, and there are means to strike enough fear into society so that those individuals are forced to wish they could only but understand.” Rondun thought bitterly. Looking up to the color filtered light of the stained glass window, Dailia’s features, so clearly etched within its soldered lines, almost appeared above all the answers he could wish to conceive. “No. Violence does not make a convincing rule,” he concluded aloud.

“And what would you know about anything convincing?” A familiar voice chimed in from behind him, “Are you talking to yourself again? You know that “Attention Deficit” zoning of yours is hardly a befitting quality for an Elite.”

Rondun craned his neck around with a mocking grin, “You’re one to talk Adlai, I’d hardly call humping the leg of the nearest source of Shinlai estrogen becoming.”

Adlai quirked a guilty eyebrow and smiled without argument, “Truce. Truce,” he laughed, “Now what did I miss with the captain of the search squad?”

“Tch,” Rondun jerked his head in the direction of the main set of doors exiting the hall, “They lost all signs of our target,” he made a light smirk and let out a sigh, “We’re right back where we started.”

Adlai’s mouth dropped slightly in surprise, his eyes scanning the face of his comrade for any signs that this could be some sick joke. But sadly, it wasn’t. He shook his head and moved to stand in front of the throne, glancing to the glowing symbol of Daila in the stained window glass, “How can you lose a Shinlai? We’re hard not to miss.”

He smiled and turned his neck around to shoot a crooked smile at Rondun, “Especially you.” He let out a small, but hearty laugh when Rondun rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh.

“That gets old, buddy.” Rondun smiled, watching with a friendly gaze as Adlai turned and placed himself on his seat beside his own.
Despite the fact that the mysterious Shinlai had escaped the trackers and was now loose in the city, Adlai knew the small jokes and jabs eased their minds a little. He shook himself and nestled down on his seat, folding his legs in front of him and gave a great sigh. He gave a quick glance to Rondun and noticed how he too was sitting, and chuckled a little.

“You know, even though we notice it every time, we never change positions.” Adlai pointing out, grinning when Rondun smiled in agreement.

Rondun looked to him, “I was here first, and you copied me.” Adlai nodded sarcastically, diverting his attention back to the glass portrait of Daila. It was hard to imagine the beautiful temple dedicated to her lying in ruins on the cobblestone streets of Velecifiero, and it troubled him to picture the monster behind the chaos and ruins. In all our years, Adlai thought, remembering the many years that lay in Rondun and his paths,we could never imagine something like this. He held the eyes of Daila in his blue gaze, a sense of strength and a new hope rising in him. Closing his eyes and dropping is head slightly, he spoke aloud for Rondun to hear.

“Daila be with us.”

Rondun tilted his head over to the Fire Elite as his friend uttered the small prayer. “Oh come now. There’s no need for that yet,” he said raising an eyebrow. The light danced off his mask as he turned to study the tips of his claws.

It was bad. Even he had to admit to the surreal sense of vulnerability that the utter obliteration of Velecifiero’s temple and the mysterious Shinlai behind the event had left on Daila’s people. “We the Elites may have lost the confidence of the people that day, but if the faith is still there, we can always rebuild,” he continued, trying his hardest to sound reassuring. Of course they needed to find this Shinlai, it would be the greatest thing they could do to restore the confidence of their people. However, it was imperative for them to re-establish morale and prove it was possible to withstand such a threat in order be able to regain the optimism necessary to overpower it.

“But who am I kidding,” he thought with a smirk, “there will be no optimism from the people without the Shinlai responsible being held accountable for his actions.” With no more leads on their target, the best they could do was keep their eyes and ears peeled and wait for him to make his move.

Adlai felt a sudden chill run down his back when Rondun called out his small prayer, but Adlai couldn’t help it. The Shinlai was loose in Falden and there’s no telling what kind of damage they could cause. “Whoever they are,” Adlai though, watching as Rondun eyed his claws, “find it in their heart to guide them to us, Daila."

He stretched his neck and opened up his jaws, letting out a large yawn, the lack of sleep over the past few days catching up to him. He shook his head and opened his eyes wide, hoping to push the sleepiness past him. He flashed his bright blue eyes to Rondun, a question on the tip of tongue, “Did they say what element this Shinlai is of?”

“Did they say what element this Shinlai is of?” Adlai asked into the silence that followed.

“Dark,” Rondun said solemnly, “Along with all the Shinlai apprehended from his inner circle,” he looked over at his friend, adding with a sense of irony and a glint in his eye, “With that said, it really comes as no surprise that he was able to vanish so easily. Humans have never been the type to navigate accurately in the dark.”

He cursed his misstep. He should have assumed the Element of the Shinlai in question from the get go and sent out a more experienced Shinlai troop instead of the failed human squadron. He should not have underestimated the abilities of their mark.

He rested his head on his paws and let out a low growl of impatience. Flicking his, stringy, unkempt tail across his throne cushion in agitation, he set his eyes leeringly on the hall door, just waiting for the next unfortunate Tower worker to waltz on in.

"With that said, it really comes as no surprise that he was able to vanish so easily. Humans have never been the type to navigate accurately in the dark."

A guilty pang struck Adlai when Rondun spoke, and he shook his head in shock. He flashed his teeth and cursed under his breath, "I hope we can get a handle on this Shinlai soon." Adlai stretched out his front legs, wiggling his toes and arching his back before he stood up. He glanced at Rondun, gesturing with his paw for him to remain sitting and walked off the throne and onto the marble floor of the Hall.

"If we don't hear anything within the hour," Adlai began, pacing in front of the throne as he spoke. "we'll need to send a aviary out along with a master. I don't want him on Falden overnight, there's no telling what could happen." He stopped just his seat and glanced behind him to Rondun, "If this does happen, however.... We're gonna handle this ourselves."

"If we don't hear anything within the hour," Adlai said as he paced across the throne room floor, "We'll need to send a aviary out along with a master. I don't want him on Falden overnight, there's no telling what could happen."

“Sounds doable,” Rondun eyed his friend as he paced.

"If this does happen, however.... We're gonna handle this ourselves."

Nodding, the Dark Elite spoke up, “It’s not like we’d leave this for somebody else to handle,” he rose to his feet and padded over to where Adlai was treading back and forth before continuing, “We just need to find a basic lead and we'll be back on his tail in no time.”

Oh, how Adlai hoped for a good lead right now. He hated being held up in the tower with no way to help at the moment, and relying on human trackers who had already lost him. "Never send a human to do a Shinlai's job," he thought, a childish smile on his lips. He wanted take matters into his own paws, he wanted every crevice and every shadow of Falden checked and double checked again, he would do everything in his power to make sure this Shinlai is apprehended, and before its too late.

Adlai turned to face Rondun, holding his gaze with him, but before he could speak, a knock rose at the Hall door. Both of the Shinlai's attention shifted immediately to the door, Adlai's heart racing when he called out, "Enter." He turned to face the door as it opened, and eyed a small female human who peeked in through the crack. Adlai could feel a small growl stirring in his throat, "It's just the lobyist," he thought when he recognized the woman. Then woman cautiously stepped in and gave a small curstey, Adlai returning the polite gesture with a small dip of his head, "Can we help you?"

The woman nodded and spoke, a slight tremble in her voice, "Th-there's a guest in the lobby who wishes to speak to you..." Her brown eyes glancing between the two Elites before her as she nervously fumbled her fingers, "He says it's of, 'the utmost importance'."

He held Adlai’s gaze in an attempt to be reassuring. However, seeing as patience was running thin these days, his look of affirmation turned to one of acute exasperation as a hasty knock sounded on the heavy hall door.

“What is it now?” he growled irritably.

“Enter,” Adlai sounded over him.

The doors were cracked open and a tiny female human peered in through the small space, “Well at least it isn’t another useless tracker,” Rondun thought shallowly as he recognized the Tower lobbyist. Noting the impatient expressions on the faces of the two large males’, the woman eased her way into the hall cautiously, as not to upset them further. At her curtsey, the Elites nodded their assent, Rondun sighing, not quite in the mood for the slow paced formality. The scruff of his neck beginning to stand on end, he started to wish against any further impeding with a stubbornness that was unbecoming of his position. “This is what I get for going without sleep and trying to delegate,” he snorted at the thought. Incoming word from the trackers had kept him up and working over the past few nights, insomnia and building stress made the big Shinlai pissy, plain and simple.

"Can we help you?"

The woman nodded as she spoke, a hesitant tremble in her voice, "Th-there's a guest in the lobby who wishes to speak to you..." the woman’s eyes glanced nervously between the two, anxiously fumbling with her fingers, she continued, “He says it's of, 'the utmost importance'."

“‘Of the utmost importance’?” Rondun repeated, a tinge of annoyance breaking into his tone, “What could possibly be of greater importance than what we have now?” he questioned, looking at Adlai.

The tip of his tail twitched behind him he gazed back at the woman and let out a disgruntled sigh. “Send him in,” he stated finally, “By all means, this better be good.”

"He says it's of, 'the utmost importance'".

Adlai's eyes flew open in surprise, a dumbfounded look appearing in his face but hidden under his brown and golden mast. He glanced to Rondun to see his reaction,"“‘Of the utmost importance’?" Rondun scowled, "What could possibly be of greater importance than what we have now?”

He didn't know how to respond to his friend, so Adlai turned back to the woman and motioned for her to leave with a wave of his paw, "Bring him in."

Rondun echoed his command, "Send him in. By all means, this better be good.”

"Yes, sir." The woman said, dipping her head and quickly rushing out the door. Adlai turned away when the large doors creaked shut, looking to Rondun who looked irritated as hell itself. He let out a heavy sigh and began to walk back to the throne, his claws clicking against the solid marble floor as he moved along. Maybe a informant, Adlai thought, his mind racing at who could be this 'quest' of theirs, maybe we'll have news about the wherabouts of our little friend. He stepped up the slight incline to his seat and turned around, standing right before his seat and waiting for Rondun to reach his before he sat down.

Clearing his throat, Adlai began, "Let's hope this doesn't take too long, we've got other matters of the 'utmost importance' to take care of at the moment." He nodded to Rondun when the dark Elite had reached his place and the two sat down in unison upon their cushioned seats, and taking in a deep breath, Adlai straigtened himself and strechted out his slender neck, asserting and reassuring himself.

The creaking sounds of the elevator on the other side of the wall caught Adlai's attention, the clashing of the iron gate as it opened and closed. The small pitter patter of a human followed by a heavier pace led away from them and made their way to behind the great doors of the hall. A heavy knock sounded at the door and the two Elites brought their gazes to it.

Quickly glancing to the image of Daila in the stained glass, Adlai called out, "Enter." The great doors slowly began to open, a male guard stepping through and grasping the metal bars of the door, swinging out widely as he moved out of the way for the Shinlai behind him. Stepping through the entrance, the Shinlai's piercing blue eyes immediately shot to the Elites waiting for him. Dark curled horns framed a worn, sun-bleached white mask and a single red tag dangling from its side. Ripples of light from the window danced on his dark, matted, purple fur, and a long silky tail dragged on the marble behind him. His claws, golden in appearnce, raked across the floor and sent chills running down Adlai's back.

A sly grin crept across the stranger's face as his eyes surveyed the Elites before, and coming to a halt when he reached the center of the Hall. Adlai held his gaze, flexing his toes as the stranger stared him down. "Dismissed," Adlai called to the human, who quickly pulled and shut the heavy door, leaving the Elites and the stranger alone in the Hall.

Adlai cleared his throat, "Let's hope this doesn't take too long, we've got other matters of the 'utmost importance' to take care of at the moment,” he said approaching his throne and nodding to Rondun as he too made to take his seat.

“Hm…” Rondun sat thoughtfully, easing himself into a relaxed position in his cushion, closing his eyes and forcing himself to calm enough to think. “Not to mention the people are up at arms enough as it is with our current situation. They are well aware of what has been unfolding recently,” he continued, opening his eyes and staring expectantly across the hall, “With that in mind, odds are whatever they have to say will be relevant to our cause.”

“Only an arrogant deaf-blind fool would wander in here without warning to bring up something trivial and irrelevant at this time. Whoever this is, if they have enough nerve to make it thus far, they ought to very well know what they are getting themselves into,” he thought to himself confidently. His ears caught the sound of the tower elevator, echoing in through the hall from beyond its heavy doors, followed shortly by the treading of heavy feet down the tower’s upper corridor and he straightened as the human’s knocking announced their visitor’s arrival into their midst.

"Enter." Adlai called invitingly.

The sight of the dark figure who slithered his way conceitedly through the doors made Rondun’s hackles rise a slight angle. Not only was the Shinlai’s demeanor outrageously smug, his pompous, gold tiped, and melodramatically clad appearance was enough to set Rondun on edge. This guy obviously thought himself something worth reckoning but who the heck he was was beyond the Dark Elite.

Their guest strode proudly across the marble floor of the hall, halting with a striking grin as he reached his place in the center. His eyes glowed with eager excitement, meeting the Elites’ gaze in a compelling challenge.

"Dismissed," Adlai ordered, sending the human guard swiftly out of the hall, shutting the heavy doors behind him as he left.

Rondun kept all six green-hued eyes trained on the beast before him. Even the blind set at the back of his head seemed to bare down hard and unblinking at the overconfident Shinlai. He took in the male’s greased appearance in grotesque disgust. He was not one to throw out judgment blindly based on first impressions but this Shinlai seemed to throw all his distasteful qualities down on the table upon approach, had he not been focused on silently asserting authority back at the teal eyed male’s challenge, Rondun would have snarled in abhorrence. Surely he had met plenty self indulgent individuals in his time as an Elite, but the vibe of the Dark Shinlai before him seemed to hit home on a level of maniacal fortitude he hadn’t faced since his youth.

At Adlai’s failure to address their subject, Rondun nodded cordially.“Well?” he spoke up finally, an assertive tone leaking into his deep, rustic voice. “State your name and business. We’d be happy to sit here and allow you to gawk, however time is short. What have you to bring to our attention sir?” he angled his head down at the Dark Shinlai, adding emphasis to his final statement.