Short lived return.

[Melantha]

occ: bringing mel and Andy back from their mission/a dead thread. This continues on from Jason's thread "a rider job."... Let the Galbatorix high school reunion begin! lol



Melantha sluggishly walked down the dim corridor as the first rays of daylight hit the castle as the shadows slowly crept away, fading in the presents of the morning sun. Melantha squinted as the light from the rising sun hit her face, her eyes sore and dry from lack of sleep. Just a bit longer she repeated to her self, the urge to sleep increasing with every step taken. She pushed herself up a flight of stairs griping the rail with one hand as she held on tightly to the bag of scrolls held in the other. The scrolls contained every detail concerning the shades occupation in Surda that Nexith, Andromeda and her self had compiled while surveying the area over countless days and nights. The Reports included detailed maps, magically created images, transport schedules, overall routines and patterns of change over guards in several key locations, Use of trade routs to transport supplies and human cargo. Melantha made sure to take not of even the smallest of details right down to the color of the Shades uniforms, the way they interacted with each other, Basically any and every detail that they had deemed of some importance if Nasuada and the Riders were to send forces to re takes Surda.

Andromeda curled up in her den feeling sorry for her rider who had to exert herself further by delivering the reports to the elder riders. Andromeda promised her rider that she wouldn’t fall asleep until the meeting was over, but the comfort of her own den made keeping the promise harder by the minute.

Melantha reached the chamber where the meeting had been arranged to take place. She felt a deep concern because the meeting had been arranged so quickly upon their arrival. What concerned her more was the fact that Vana and Viel had contacted them when she was expecting to report back to Lucian and Alorah, after all they had been the ones to arrange and permit their investigation mission. Had things gotten bad that the ancient had to leave to aid those fighting against the shade uprising?

She wasn’t particularly looking forward to her meeting with Vana she hadn’t really seen the rider since she had escaped the Empire many years ago and the thought of the past stirred up some rather unpleasant memories from her past.

Melantha quickly refocused her mind on her son instead. She couldn’t wait to see him again being away from him was hard at times.
She would have liked a moment to see her son and her mother; she hadn’t even had a chance to contact them to let them know that she and Andromeda had returned safely. But she knew it had to wait the mission wasn’t over until she delivered the scrolls.

“I can contact your mother while you deliver the reports?” Andromeda suggested following her rider’s train of thought. She knew how much her rider had sacrificed being away from her son for so long but it had to be done and it was something they needed to get use to now that war was inevitable.

Knocking on the large oak door Melantha considered Andromeda’s offer “No, better not, ill lose focus and its very early, let them sleep.” She replied as she waited for the occupants of the chamber to open the door and welcome her inside. She quickly did her best to neaten up her appearance tucking in the few strand of hair that had escaped her long black braided hair with her free hand.

[jason]

Jason awoke with a start it has been about ten hours since he got inside he was blind folded and led to the building by air just as he thought. the rider said she was going to get the other riders and she locked the door behind her she obviously didn't want Jason to explore, so he decided to take a nap. he must have been asleep all night he heard some knocking and he woke up. Jason did one final check on his gear he surrendered his dagger and blackjack at the door but he still had most of his gear such as his picks and his armor plates.

Jason moved to the door checked the latch again still locked Jason pulled out his picks and made quick work on the door.  swinging open the door Jason said, "Welcome please take a seat the brief will begin once everyone was here."  Looking at the rider Jason saw she wasn't looking good. Pretending to stifle a cough Jason spoke some quick words in the ancient language to pump more fresh air in the room. For the purpose of speed the spell was crude but it did the trick even Jason was feeling more alert. Jason reached out to take the sack of scrolls from the rider and said "here let me get that for you."

[Melantha]

occ: going to try playing mel in a bit of a foul mood, stretch my wings if you will.. lol this should be interesting

It seemed like she had been waiting at the door for longer than what she had expected considering it didn't take some one to open a door very long.
Just when she thought no one was there she heard some scraping followed by a click and the door opened, before her stood a young man who she did not recognise and much too young to be a rider out of training.
Melantha frowned at the young man slightly confused by his introduction. 'briefing?' she thought

'Perhaps another mission?' Andromeda said answering her riders though.

'Great' Melantha replied back to only the dragon sarcasm filling the tone of her inner voice of thought. Neither were keen to go out on another mission so soon after coming back from a mission.
Melantha was already in a sour mood mainly due to lack of sleep but thoughts of spending more time away from Dubhan and so very soon after returning just made her mood uncharacteristically moody.

Melantha didn't move from the door way and when the young man offered to take the sack of scrolls she gripped them tighter and pulled them closer to her body and away from the man in a defensive manner.
"No." she said flatly.
The amount of time and effort that had gone into them was not something she was going to hand over to just anyone regardless of how safe she thought the castle was, this was information about the enemy that could be key for the Riders and Nasuada's solider to take back Surda and possibly defeat the shade army.
"Im sorry, but who are you? and where is Vana?" She said with a some what annoyed tone. Her fellow rider had not arrived on time at the place she had agreed to meet at she wondered what was keeping her and what this suspicious looking young man was doing there.

[jason]

ooc:everyone so far has been angry or annoyed meeting Jason one more and I get a hat trick.

Jason held his hands up realizing he made the rider angry he might as well satisfy her curiosity and calm her down. Jason took a step back hands still where she could see them and said "My name is Jason and I had some information for the riders about a shade who allied himself with the black hand. They have been taking children for the past sixteen years and raising them up to become master assassins and spies but now that the shades are a force they have re-purposed their goals to make shade riders The other rider Vana led me in here to discuss the possibility for a raid against this shade and the black hand and that's why your here."

Jason laid out everything he knew but his plan for the brief backing to the table and lowering his hands Jason pulled out a chair and said, "now would you please sit before you collapse, you look like you're about to keel over."

[Melantha]

occ: aww I'm sorry. all the characters must be tired of fighting the shades and its all pretty serious stuff can't blame em for being a bit cranky pants..

Melantha made eye contact as the young man began to speak revealing his name as Jason, she relaxed her stance a bit until jason mentioned the involvement of children in the shades evil plot.
Melantha clenched both her fists in anger not at Jason but at the details of what the enemy was up to. She remembered how the shades had destroyed the village that Seth and dubhan had been staying at and how shades that had chased and attempted to attack Dubhan. A thought crossed her mind perhaps the shades had actually been attempting to abduct Dubhan and use him for this purpose, that would have to mean they had been spying on her family and waiting for an opportune moment maybe they chose to attack preferring to take on one dragon rider than two, the thought shook her to her core.

'Mel you don't know for sure that is what happened don't jump to conclusions so fast. Theres no need to worry Dubhan is safe now and we will find Seth and Abaddon. They are out there somewhere i can feel it.' Andromeda interjected into her riders thoughts.

'your right, i feel it too.' Melantha took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled in an attempt to calm herself, it helped somewhat. She nodded to Jason after his introduction and explanation still trying to take in all the information.

"I understand now why Vana asked me to come, i think." she said a little uncertain at the idea of a raid. The shades were strong no questioning it, especially the more established ones and together with the black hand it wouldn't be an easy task.
The thought of the black hand made her cringe slightly, Melantha had dealt with them before. She made a note to her self ask her mother about the organisation that she had been apart of so long ago thinking any information on its remaining members could help their mission.

Melantha returned her attention towards Jason and gave a small smile. She moved towards Jason as he offered her a seat his. "Thank you Jason." She said as she sat down at the table placing the bag of scrolls on her lap, she was genuinely thankful of the kind gesture.
There was a moment of silence as Melantha touched the yellow gem on the pommel of her sword that hung on her hip, dangling on the side of the chair.
She extracted a small amount of energy from it to replenish her bodies stores just enough to get through the meeting.

Melantha looked back up at Jason when she was done "That should do it for a while" she said with a small smile
"Forgive me for being rude before but these are extremely important" she patted the bag sitting on her lap. "Oh and and forgive me for not introducing myself earlier my name is Melantha and my heart bond who is currently enjoying the luxury of her den is Andromeda, We have been up most of the night since its the safest time to fly so we are still a little tired." Melantha explained.


There was another long silence as they waited for the others, Melantha grew restless with her new found energy and decided to make conversation "So Jason how did you find out about the Shades and the black hand working together? It sounds like very important information that those two organisations would not tell just anyone?." she asked curiously.

occ: I'm writing this at 3am so i too am a little tired... best way to get into the characters state of mind... lol

[jason]

Jason moved back to his seat and sat down well at least he had company while he waited to get yelled at by Vana for picking the lock. Then he heard the rider ask him about how he knows about the shade/black hand operation Jason thought about where to start his "adoption" would be a nice place to start but then he would have to explain about being a thief then he thought about just skipping that bit but then realized that she might ask what he was doing for so long if only he realized this before he would have brought Master's letter with him but he didn't so he was stuck. After a couple of seconds he figured Vana was going to tell them anyway he might as well get it out in the open taking a breath Jason started,

"My master was a member of the black hand but defected when she 'adopted' me she kept me hidden and taught me to be a thief so as to get me away from any conflict between the black hand and the riders. About three years ago I had come here to steal an egg against my masters wishes the heist was a failure and when I returned she was dead and all I found was a letter explaining everything to me about the black hands operation. when me and her old contacts cased the compound we found out about the shade's presence and that's when I decided to ask for the riders help."

Jason knew that he had probably said to much but he just wanted the conversation to be over he wasn't very good at long term conversation that didn't end in a payday. So he saw it playing out in three different ways one the rider ignored the majority of his story and only paid attention to the important bits. Two the rider listened to the whole thing and attacked to detain, or three the same as two but she attacked to kill given her demeanor so far he was leaning in order of most likely the second, the first, or the third.

[Melantha]

Melantha watched Jason carefully as he spoke, he seemed not hold back on details she took that into account as she processed the information he had revealed.

'Your mother may have known Jason's master.' Andromeda stated plainly knowing Melantha had come to the same conclusion.
Melantha agreed she didn't want to scrutinise Jason because of his affiliation with a former black hand member because that would just be hypocritical of her to do so.

Melantha maintained a relaxed demeanour "I am glad you have brought this information to us." she paused watching Jason's body language carfuly for any changes he seemed a little tense and that was understandable.
"We cannot afford to judge people on their pasts if they are willing to change. We don't really have a choice but to accept, we need as many allies as we can get to fight the shade army and the reformed black hand." she spoke with a serious tone hoping to reassure the young man that he had done the right thing by coming to the riders for help.

Melantha leaned forward in her seat "That being said, You admit that you did try to steal from the riders in the past." It wasn't a question it as she knew she had heard him plain as day. She locked eyes with Jason as she shifted forward in her seat she wanted to make sure he understood the seriousness of his attempted crime.

Andromeda let her rider take care of the situation by herself, Motherhood had made her rider all the more scary perhaps it was all the experience reprimanding Dubhan who liked to misbehave on the odd occasion.


"You are going to have to regain our trust by proving that you are willing to change and have changed in order to redeem yourself and If the information you have given us proves useful to our cause then you will have already taken a step in the right direction. " Melantha added hoping she was getting through to him.
Melantha sat back in her seat still watching for any signs of hostility. Jason had much potential it was already clear by his ability to preform magic and pick locks but did he have the ability to do what was right and just puting his talents to good use.

[jason]

Jason felt a little upset after hearing the rider he understood what she was saying but he couldn't help feeling a bit hurt after all he knew was how to be a thief nothing more he looked at the rider and started to speak in the ancient language. "Rider I know what I did three years ago was wrong and I apologize. But a group of black hand members is working with a shade and that is true. I Don't need your trust, all I need is your cooperation to bring down their operation and help these children if that is to much to ask then I need to find the riders who actually want to help."

He realized that he was getting worked up now so he took a deep breath to calm himself down and continued this time without the ancient language, "But if trust is what you want then let me explain to you what is going to happen to me after this operation. I will be recognized as a rider sympathizer, no fence will touch me. I will most likely have a bounty on my head in the underworld and I will have to get an honest job after this and to a career criminal like a thief that is almost impossible. So rider if throwing away the only life I've ever known to do this is not enough to show a form of change and gain the trust of the riders then I don't know what is."

He realized he was actually shaking, he had just told a rider off he knew he was in trouble now. but he had enough being timid all he had to do now was wait and see what happens now.

[Melantha]

occ: lots of dialogue i really hope this post makes sense.


Melantha bit her lip, had she been too harsh on the young man? She was taken by surprise when Jason began to speak fluently in the ancient language this was quite peculiar for a thief.

‘We both know you mean well, this Jason seems like a smart young man I’m sure in time he will understand why we must be so harsh on outsiders.’ Andromeda said reassuringly.

She couldn’t help her emotions this time, replenishing her energy had helped her stay awake it did not help change her mood brought on by mental and physical exhaustion.

Melantha decided to join Jason in speaking in the ancient language as well. "Do not think for a moment that I do not care, the thought of children being abducted and used against their will by the shades and the black hand makes my blood boil but anger or any raw emotion will do neither you nor I any good when it comes to facing and taking down these monsters." she retorted her anger and annoyance resurfacing in the tone of her voice she paused to regain her composure though she found it difficult to calm herself completely.

“I have seen multiple times what they are capable of. The shades, they destroyed a village, my husband and his dragon are missing and my son has nightmares after those monsters chased him through the forest.”
Melantha begin to lose her composure as she spoke, the reminder of her husband almost brought her to tears. She willed herself not to cry something which she found herself doing often.

“At first I thought they were after my husband but why would they go after a rider they have no hope of controlling, Thanks to you I now know that they were really after my son.” She stared at Jason for a moment letting her words sink in

Melantha resumed speaking in the ancient language “And I swear to you that I want nothing more than to bring down the scum that would kill so many innocent people and attempt to abduct a child!" she said rising her voice, her body became tense and she began to shake it was only after she finished speaking that she realized she was standing gripping the table so hard that her nails begin to make small indents in the wood.

Melantha sat back down; averting her gaze away from Jason she wiped away the tears that had started to form. She was embarrassed that she had let herself get so emotional. Looking a the marks she left on the table she took a deep breath in and out trying to calm herself

“Everything Andromeda and I do much like every other rider her we do for our families, friends and every other man, woman, and all other innocent lives that walk this earth that cannot defend themselves from this evil.”

Melantha felt sorry for him it was understandable that he felt as if he was throwing his life away that feeling of uncertainty and fear of the unknown was all too familiar. “You Jason are not the first and will not be the last person to sacrifice something in order to do what is right, it takes a great deal of courage to chose a side and fight for it and judging by your abilities to speak fluently in the ancient language and your other skills it is clear to me that your master intended much more for you than the life of a career criminal.”
She was beginning to understand how Jason felt she remembered the day she had arrived at the Varden from escaping the empire and how scared she was, she had no idea what was going to happen if they would even accept her and if they didn’t what then.

‘I really wish Vana would hurry up’ Andromeda sighed

‘So I can have a go at yelling at her too?’ Melantha replied darkly.

‘I’m glad you still have your sense of humor after all that ’ Andromeda remarked.

‘The scary thing is that I’m not so sure I was joking; I could be spending these few precious moments with my son and i have no idea if i will have time to see him before we have to leave again. ’ Melantha replied restlessly as she watched Jason from across the table