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Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars


Mercenary on the Winds
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Miria tapped her chin for a bit, thinking about how much she should be telling them. But... "Well, truth be told, I'm out, 'adventuring', because stuff happened and it was safer that way. Mama would've never let me leave if not for it, haha..." She tried lightly laughing. "But we still keep in close contact, for the most part."

There was a bit about Celes knowing her mother from her military days, If she was still in her prime, maybe I wouldn’t have been scared to stay home-- She shook her head, Miria wasn't so daring as to insult her mother like that.

And their destination. Well, "I don't know how much I should be saying, so I'll just say, me and my comrades are," and she shifted her voice to sound funny, "on a special, super secret mission."

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Alastor had been pulled away from the conversation by the arrival of Cinead, so Celes continued the conversation while the two of them were talking. Celes had a smile on her face, "So something happened that made your mama agree to letting you go, hmm?" She wondered what could have possibly made Noelia let her go, but it wasn't anything she could check into anymore, and the girl didn't seem like she wanted to talk about it. "Well, if it's a secret, we know its something big. We'll be rooting for you in that case. I wouldn't want the next time I see Noelia be for..." She drifted off, enough had been said there. "In any case, make sure to take care of yourself, and your group. I may not have been a mercenary, but a knight is simply a mercenary contracted to a crown or a noble, and the first thing is to make sure that you have your team's back. Because they'll have yours in the end too." 

"I may not have been a knight." Alastor said, having accepted the gold from Cinead, and watched the dragon walk out. "But Celes is right. Make sure to take care on everyone. You're Noelia's daughter, so I'm sure you can. Erm... On your way out, if you see your feline friend, you should probably point her back here, if she isn't right outside the door already." 

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"Don't worry, I know I'll be okay. Like you said, I have the Tigers, and they'll help keep me safe." Miria responded with a confident smile to Celes. "Next time I see Mama, I'll get to tell her about how much stronger I am." She held onto her dress, and she realized everyone else was gone, "Ah! Sorry, I-I gotta bounce, um...! T-Thank you so much, Celes, and-- M-Mister Celes! I'll be sure to tell Mama you said hi." She stopped before she started bolting,

"Oh right. My name's Miria! Thank you!" And she was out.

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With Tio's departure from the clothing store in a less-than-pleased mood, their time in Eibar would start to slowly draw to a close. They allowed the Tigers to carry on with their errands for a little while longer, before having the commander gather them all on the edge of town where the wagons awaited. Three small wagons, one loaded with provisions, and the other two to be used for their transport. 

Elisa explained to the group the route they were to take to Islexia. They would be mirroring the known path of the envoy, but with particular liberties taken. There were planned stops on the way; locations that Tio and Elisa knew to be fairly off the beaten path and where they would be able to restock things. They were a larger group, so more care needed to be taken in regards to their supplies. More importantly, they were locations that were more amiable to clouded and monsters so to further minimize problems. Or so they hoped; things had changed, and in some cases, fairly rapidly. But if there was even the chance of minimizing conflict before they reached Islexia, and were in the thick of it, they were to take it. Islexia was known for having a fairly porous northeastern border, but that part of Hecatia was constantly mired in problems. Their first stop would be the little hamlet of Liste; a place that Tio and Elisa knew well, and was only a week's travel from Eibar. 

They let the group decide amongst themselves how they were going to split amongst the wagons, mentioning that they would be stopping to allow the horses to rest, amongst other things; so there would be plenty of time to switch between wagons if need be. 

The people of Eibar gathered to see the group off, the heroes of the day moving forward to begin their real task. Onward to Liste, and one step closer to Islexia. Travel continued smoothly, the route seemed to be working flawlessly as the group escaped all manner of conflict. That was until their final day of travel, where the Tigers lull of calm would be momentarily interrupted. Unbeknowst to the Tigers, there had been a little stowaway that no one had noticed. 

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"Ehh!? Oh, geez! Sorry... Let's go get your armor first, gosh." Alvira hadn't even noticed, feeling way bad that she'd tugged Laniva off before she could collect her things. Hopefully no one stole it... There had been plenty of the Tigers present when they'd left so hopefully it would've been fine. "We can get you a sword after that, of course... And... I've had to take care of my younger siblings for the past ten years. So, I got really good with kids... And they're just. Mm. They're curious, they're cute, they haven't been here long enough to anything wrong... They're, pure. I can't hold anything against them... So I just, get along well with them. I think." She nodded, walking along with the cat. "Hopefully it's not too weird..."




Their leaving Eibar had gone without further issue, the trip in their wagons a little bumpy, but calm and lacking conflict. Alvira had been practising, slowly, to get the hang of casting light magic. It was a steep hill to go from casting ice without any incantations, to casting light, having to figure out the patterns, the lines, how much you had to read to get the spell to cast properly. There were shortcuts, but she wasn't confident enough to take them yet. Still, they'd made camp once more, to eat, to rest, and Alvira was off on her own, flipping through the light tome once more and trying out the motions with her claw more. The spells were coming out with little issue, mumbling the incantations under her breath, so it seemed as though she was getting the hang of... This level, at least.

"Geez... I really, need to speak with Tio more. These practice ones were easy enough... I can manage the base tome, but... mghhhrrr... It's just going to get harder from here on out, isn't it...? Nnn... Chanted casting is hard."


Wires and Wonderings

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Ingverd yawned, keeping to himself in his tent. He'd had a special kind of day, letting a sigh out this time. Between Cinaed, the Crows, dealing with that Malkuith fellow… At least he'd gotten some time to think while they'd been traveling, but now, setting up camp… He was simply tired. "Didn't even have the chance to speak with Aly… I'll have to do that tomorrow then. Hmph, listen to me, whimpering like a child. Ugh, I am getting soft… Oh, right." Lazily he reached into his belongings, unwrapping the wire from the bloodied cloth he'd been hiding it in. "This won't clean itself."

Alriana picked herself up off the ground, having been staring up at the moon and stars since she’d finished setting up her tent. Still, even hours after they'd left town, the vision she'd been shown lingered in her head and no amount of sky staring had helped. The only option she could think of was talking it out, but Alvira and Tasha had retired to their tent awhile ago. That really only left Ingverd that she was fine with bothering this late at night, mainly because she wasn't overly concerned with inconveniencing him.

She knew where his tent was, she'd noticed during their camp preparations, so all it was was a matter of enter his tent. Which she did, without announcing herself at all until she was inside. "Want talk…" She started, before her eyes caught the wire he was unwrapping. "What that?"

Ingverd paused. Footsteps. Faint, but approaching his tent. His hand slid to his sword, almost ready to draw, until Alriana's head poked in. Then the rest of her, leaving him panicking for a moment, eyes wide, face flushed red, hand slipping quickly away from his weapon. "A-Aly!? What are you, I, y-you realize what– No, you probably have no idea, calm down Ingverd, Gods…" He mumbled the second half of that sentence to himself, hiding his face for a moment in his now free hand.

He took a deep breath and was all smiles again, trying to contain himself behind that faintly smug facade. "Yes, talk… About what exactly? And… This?" Oh. That was a problem. His facade cracked almost immediately, a slight worry slipping onto his face. "It's, it's just a garrote. For strangling. People." Smooth! Very smooth, very welcoming, very cool, Ingverd. Idiot! I mean, you're not lying, but she's already wary around you and now you're being that blunt about things and auughhhngh…!

A mental war was waging within him as he tried his best to maintain a smile.

A smug smirk slowly appeared on the lizard’s face as she watched Ingverd flounder and trip over himself. Even if she didn't understand what she had done to cause such a reaction, she was satisfied just being the source. She let him have his moment, staring at his straining smile. "Wanted talk about fortune in town, not stop think about."

Despite what he thought, Alriana was not put off by the blunt explanation of his tool. What she had taken issue with was the threat veiled behind a joke, or perhaps it was the other way around, not that he had morbid dealings. "Ga, rrote? That what wire called? Strangle people part of job?"

She seems well enough… For now. Alriana almost looked a little smug, making Ing pout slightly. You probably don't even know why I was embarrassed, you naive little lizard. Ugh… I'll get you back with gusto one of these days. The moment had passed, so he tried his best to pass with it.

"Yes, that's what it's called… This one is a bit unique, a bit more challenging than a regular wire… And… Not something anyone should be using, really. If you want to know more about it, you'll have to get close. I'll need to whisper… My lap is free, if you'd like~" He smirked, expecting a frown and for her to sit next to him, if anything.

"As for your fortune… Those visions are never completely accurate. One of many 'what if's' that may occur in your life… But, if you can't stop thinking about it, it must be serious. I don't mind listening. While I'm not sure if I can solve why it’s ailing you, I'd be more than happy to try."

“Why so focused on lap…” This wasn’t the first time the half-elf had tried to get her on his lap. She wasn’t going to oblige him, but it was enough to at least peak her curiosity. As expected she took a seat next to him, staring up at him as she waited for his answer. “Is really so important? Not understand why can’t just say…”

“Mhhm… Not like what saw in vision. Scary look in eyes, lots of bodies… Probably my fault.” She shivered as the image once again played out in her mind despite her best efforts to remain stoic. “Also big man with big axe… Axe look…” She paused, struggling for a fitting word to describe it. “Weird… Not like other axes…”

“Because it’s comfortable…” He smirked and slowly leaned against her as she sat next to him, continuing to clean the wire off. He’d have to get the blood out of it if he wanted to use it properly next time. “Yes, it’s that important. Let’s talk about your issue first, though.” A large man with an axe… Ingverd knew several people like that; guessing as to who it was wouldn’t do them any help. That it had seemed so unique did cut it down, at least…

“Mmm… But you’re not that kind of person, right, Aly? Sure, you had those urges against Rustal… But he pushed you. He deserved it. You wouldn’t just go on a rampage against anyone, especially not while you’re with us… Yes?” He glanced down at her, giving her face a watch. Hopefully she could understand herself enough to agree.

“Man was tall, dark skin… Like Cinaed, but human.” In the very least, recalling this part of the vision did not bother the lizard in the slightest. She couldn’t care less about some human being disappointed in her, even one as imposing as the man with the axe. She shook her head with Ingverd’s posed question, unsure of it even herself.

“Didn’t have urges against only Rustal…” She answered after a pause, glancing to the side. “When I did arena, almost lost to man with axe… Felt urge to kill him, even after won for second. Don’t know why stopped, or why felt that way. Vision make think of that.” Her voice had grown quieter as she talked. “Don’t want be scared self…”

“... Mmm…” Ingverd slowly placed an arm around her, a rather serious look on his face. Gently, he stroked her arm, looking away with a sigh. “Then, I definitely did the wrong thing encouraging you to kill Rustal… And I’m sorry for that. No more of that for you. Mm… I don’t think this vision will come to pass, Aly, but I think it’s a good lesson for you. That side of your urges… It scares you. So, you just need to do your best to not feed into it. If someone deserves it; if they’re trying to kill you or someone you care for, you get in the way and you take that person’s life. Otherwise… Leave it to us, or walk away. Come find me or Natalya. The last thing any of us want is for you to become too afraid of yourself to keep moving forward.”

He glanced at the wire and felt a twinge of irony fall upon him. “I suppose, I probably shouldn’t tell you what this is about if you’re worried about this… This… Isn’t something used for fighting. Even more than a regular wire, it’s used strictly for killing. If you don’t want to hear about it after knowing that, I wouldn’t blame you in the least.”

Alriana flinched at his touch upon initial contact, but let herself relax into it after a moment. “Rustal, deserved it. Not, worried about that. Was… In control, for that…” She wondered if he had misunderstood where her fear stemmed from due to her hatred of respecting the language. Maybe, in times like this, it’d be better to suffer the effort for the sake of clarity. As he continued on to explain the wire, she was sure there had to be some misunderstanding somewhere. She sighed, focusing so she could get her point across correctly this time.

“I think you misunderstood me, Ingverd. Killing is not what bothers me, especially scum like Rustal.” Even now there was still venom in her voice as she uttered the name, her hatred not so easily quelled even in the face of what the vision had showed her. “I’m afraid of… Losing control, of myself. Your earlier question, I… I’m not sure that I won’t rampage against someone who doesn’t deserve it. In the arena I felt, compelled, to kill that axe fighter. Even if only for a second before I regained control of my thoughts. That vision… It scares me, because I don’t know why I almost lost control at the arena. It's like…” She trailed off, glancing aside as she stopped herself from saying more. None of the Tigers knew why she spent so much time sky watching, not even Natalya. It wasn’t just because she liked to watch the sky, but she’d rather not have to explain that part of herself even if it was relevant to her current fear.

Alriana suddenly began to speak perfectly, leaving Ingverd’s mouth gaping as he listened. You’re that intelligent then? I was… I figured… I really don’t know anything about you, Gods. It wasn’t just the way she was speaking, she managed to get her point across much better this time, in a way he understood. “It’s not the killing you’re worried about. You’re worried that any kind of fighting might set you off and leave you… That way.” He wasn’t sure where to start, or if he could start anywhere. She’d trailed off on what she was saying, but he couldn’t pry, or at least he didn’t think he’d get anywhere if he did.

“Well.” He did his best to smile, quite different from his regular resting face. It was soft and understanding, perhaps a part of who he really was behind the everyday facade. “If you ever end up going that far, we’ll make sure to bring you back. I hope you weren’t worried that Natalya and the Tigers would abandon you were you to lose control… And at this point, I don’t think I would, either. I really… You’re… You’re, really… mmm.” It was his turn to lose the words, looking away and sighing. 

“I… Want, to keep safe, the freedom you’ve been given. That’s not… I don’t know if that makes sense. I don’t even know… If you understand that entirely, but… I just want to make sure. That if you choose to do something, you can. That the only things that ever hold you back, are your own decisions… Nothing else. Ugh. This sounds so stupid, doesn’t it…?” He ended up scoffing, unable to completely word how he felt. It was close, but not exactly. “At the very least, if you ever lose yourself, I promise the next thing you’ll wake up to is me waiting for you to recover. Get you a nice bed to rest in and a doctor to see you… Maybe Renais can help, or Tio… Sorry, rambling. Heh…”

Is that what this is? It that the heart of this feeling of fear? She’d said she was only afraid of losing control, not that she was afraid that fighting could cause it; however, she was yet to properly try to explore the feeling. Had Ingverd arrived at the heart of the matter for her, or was that all he could deduce without the information she was withholding from him? Food for thought, later. “I… That, may be what I’m feeling. I still don’t know why I almost lost control. That worries me more than anything else.”

She stared at that smile of his, almost studying it. She couldn’t place why, but it felt more genuine than the one that he usually had plastered across his face. It reassured her, somehow. “I, don’t know if I was worried about that. What I’m feeling is, incredibly new to me. I haven’t thought that deeply on it yet.” However, it wasn’t completely foriegn to the lizard. At the back of her mind this fear had been partially there, but nothing as concrete as what she felt now. Before, she’d staved it off with her efforts to not think too deeply about herself. Now, however, introspection wasn’t so easily turned aside.

“I… You are correct. I do not completely understand what you mean. Your words are simple enough that I can comprehend them, but your reasoning for saying them now is lost on me. Why do you care so much about protecting me? We are, mostly strangers.” She sighed, staring at him as he continued to ramble on and only say more confusing things. “I, suppose that is reassuring, but I’d rather not lose control in the first place.”

“Then we’ll get to the root of what makes you lose control and put a stopper on it. Simple… Besides that, I’m sure I explained myself on the boat. I live in a constant state of having to follow my ‘fate’. My ‘destiny’. It isn’t so easy to get out of my set path in life… But you’ve got the freedom to go wherever you want. Do whatever you want to do. Be, whoever you want to be, Aly. I want to stop anyone or anything that wants to take that away from you. That kind of freedom is beautiful… I can only hope that I can make it there myself.”

He was probably still being too confusing. Maybe she could understand parts of it, but he wasn’t being completely honest, so she likely couldn’t pick it all up. I suppose I’ve got something of a crush on you as well, Alriana, but I’m afraid I can’t just admit to that. Not right now. Not when I don’t know what the next few weeks will bring to me… A fear was ever present in his mind. The fear that a letter would arrive with new orders any day now. Orders to kill someone in their group. Between Alriana and Alvira, Syndra, a few of the others… There were too many wild cards present. 

“... I’m too afraid to fight my fate right now, Aly. Too scared. The best I can do is fight anything challenging yours… I hope, you can understand, somewhat. Understand and accept that.” He couldn’t help himself, giving her a bit of a squeeze. “Maybe if you’re safe long enough, you’ll give me the courage to try and find that path…”

“We would have to find that, first. I do not want to experiment with this.” On that she put her foot down, unwilling to even entertain the thought of what it would take to understand what made her lose control. She continued to stare at him as he further explained his motives, though she still wasn’t able to completely grasp a proper understanding of what he was saying. He wanted her to be free to make her own choices and be herself, that was easy. But his motives still escaped her. The way he talked seemed like it should evoke jealousy, not whatever else this was. He’s not saying everything… But, I have no room to judge him for that.  

A rare sigh escaped the lizard, which, if timed only a few seconds later, would have turned into a squeak as Ingverd squeezed her. Instead all he got was her deadpan stare as she turned her head to look up at him. “I still do not understand why you are telling me this. If you truly desire to protect my freedom then you need to find your own freedom first. I can not claim to understand your position, but when I offered to help on the ship I was serious. Even if the method was foolish.”

He shrugged and smirked, meeting her gaze for a moment before having to look away. "I don't know if I have it in me to put all of you, or even a few of you in the way of whatever’s coming. I'll have to see, when it comes down to it, but… Until then, you'll have to pardon my being vague. Frustrating as it likely is." There wasn't anything else to be said on this, not at the moment. As much as he wanted to try and figure out how to say this, her understanding of the words was enough.

"Now," he said, leaning forward and letting her go, picking up the wire again. "This. This isn't a normal weapon, nor should it ever be used in regular combat… I'm sure you understand the concept of pure weapons, Aly. Well, this does the same to humans." He put a finger up to his lips and quietly hushed her, hoping she understood the implications. "Lovely piece of equipment from Lufiria… I only ever use it against people like the Crows. Which… Is why I'm having to clean it now. I'll be telling Natalya once I've learned a little more, but you're here now and while it might not matter… If you hear anything about a Luthier, let me know. I don't expect you'll put yourself in the kinds of places where such a name will spring up, but~ Who knows~?"

Perhaps to Alriana's frustrations, Ingverd had put back up that wall of slightly smug energy to his words, sporting that same grin as ever, returning to cleaning off the implement. "Besides what it does, it's rather difficult to wield properly… I don't suppose you've any interest in learning? I wouldn't let you use it in a fight, but… Maybe I could get you something similar. Without the politics attached~"

“Mrrrr… It is frustrating.” Even when she was taking the effort to speak normally, she still wasn’t above grumbling and growling in the face of something annoying. Ingverd’s refusal to commit to concrete answers did frustrate her, almost as much as the smug tone and smile slipped back into his voice and face respectively. Two could play at that game; if he was done being genuine, then she was done spending the effort to speak normally. 

“Like pure weapon… How that work on human?” Was that even possible? As far as she understood, pure weapons only worked because of the difference in magic between the races. How could something like that work on humans? In the end she doubted she’d truly understand how it worked and it wasn’t really that important if she did. “Mn. Luthier. If hear anything will remember. Even if unlikely.”

She stared between him and the wire, studying both the smug look on his face and the wire itself. If it really worked on humans like pure weapons did on monsters she’d be lying if she said she couldn’t appreciate being able to level the playing field. At least against the scum who used pure weapons in the first place. Besides… “It good have options in fight. Daggers only do much, even with skill. Will learn if teach.”

"Alright… I'll see about figuring out a setup for you while we travel. Not tonight, though, it's plenty late enough… Unless you'd like to stay here until the early hours, just the two of us~?" He teased her enough to satisfy himself, returning to cleaning off the weapon. "Whatever you choose to do… Thank you for, sharing. Alriana. I'll do what I can to keep you safe. Even if that means keeping you safe from yourself." That genuine nature was bleeding through a bit, though the expression on his face was now one of conflict. Something was eating at him, something he couldn't bring himself to share.

“No.” Her refusal was flat and instant, though only because of the teasing tone in his voice. For seeming to want to be close to her, he was remarkably good at driving her off after enough time had passed. She stood, staring down at him and watching him clean the wire. “Mn… Thank you Ingverd, even if not understand why.” She turned to leave, but not before uttering one last quip under her breath. “Maybe should share too, instead of keep many secrets…” She left his tent but was in no hurry to put distance behind her on the off chance he had a change of heart.

He felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck from her final muttering, leaving his mind racing for a moment. There was too much risk! He couldn't admit to anything and just… Turn around and have to kill her the next day! "I…" He bit his lip to silence himself, flinching, dropping what he was working on. Fuck… This is… I just… Why am I so attached to this group!? Is it because they're so friendly? No, that's not it… Ugh…! They're… They're all, just…!

Versaris turned around and went out of the tent after her, a frustrated pout on his face. "I can't… I want to. I really… I really, do. I want to, Alriana, but you're… You could be in so much danger. Just from getting friendly with me. So I don't… I don't want to get you all in trouble. I don't want to hurt you."

Alriana turned around at the metallic sound of what she could only assume was the wire hitting the ground, a small part of her worried the half-elf had injured himself somehow. When he emerged from the tent, frustration on his face, but not wounded, she felt a small relief wash over her. That didn’t stop her brow from furrowing as she stared up at him, however. “What mean in danger? Why would hurt if want protect? If not want do something, don’t do it.” She huffed and crossed her arms as her tail flicked in annoyance behind her, frustrated with Ingverd’s acting on knowledge he wasn’t willing to share.

"I can't, Alriana! It's not that simple!" He halfway flailed his arms for a moment before trying to settle down, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Because if I get orders, I have to follow them. I can't just 'say no'... If I do, then I… I'm, the one on the chopping block, and none of you are powerful enough to stop the people they send to tie up loose ends. None of you. Maybe not even Tio and Elisa…" He slowly fell over, sitting, arms lazily resting between his legs as he slumped forward some.

"And it's getting to me so much because I can't take it anymore. I'm so… I'm so tired of killing people. Not like the Crows. Not in self defense. I'm so tired…" His head was in his hands now, stifling a bit of a cry. "There's no way you could understand…"

Alriana could only stare at Ingverd as the facade broke, finally laying his emotions bare for the lizard to see. This, I… What do I say? A heavy sigh escaped the lizard as she prepared to speak normally. “Then, we’ll just get stronger. You have to too. Call me naive if you want, but that’s the only option you- We have. If you want to fight your fate, then fight it. I… I’m scared of myself. Of what I’m learning, of what I might become. But I’m not going to let that stop me. You shouldn’t let this stop you either.”

She kneeled down, sitting on her knees and staring at the half-elf as he fought back tears. Slowly, unsurely, she reached her arms out and tried to wrap them around Ingverd. Grelbiria had done this whenever the ever-present thoughts in the back of her head worked her into a fit. Maybe this will help Ingverd…

"Easy enough for you to say." Alriana wasn't wrong, per say, with what she was telling him. If he wanted to leave this life and things didn't go smoothly, he needed to be stronger, no other ways about it. The issue wasn't the course he had to take. It was the magnitude he would have to grow in order to keep himself and the rest of the Tigers safe from those he worked alongside.

The last thing he'd expected from the lizard right now was a hug. His arms moved to reciprocate the action, but he caught himself and let them fall instead. "I must seem rather pathetic right now. I'm sorry… For such an unseemly look." I can't hug you back yet, Aly. Not yet. Not right now. Not like This… There was a high chance the gesture was simply meant to calm him, so he tried to focus on that Instead.

"You're surprisingly warm…" An idle comment helped to distract him for a moment, long enough to sniffle and quiet his tears. "Ahh, goodness… I'm, truly sorry, Aly. I'll be alright. You're right… Even if your outlook is a little naive. I just need to get stronger… And I'll have to keep doing that. Alongside the rest of you." He smiled, a little, at the face now so close to his. "So close to my lap. Are you sure you don't want to take a seat~?" 

Alriana let that bitter comment slide without bonking him on the head with her tail, as much as she wanted to do it. She didn’t know how to respond to his apologies, silently accepting them until he’d calmed down. “You would do the same for me, probably…” Or at least, that was the impression she got from him. He seemed to care, even if he wouldn’t entirely explain why. She slowly retracted her arms but, for the moment, stayed leaning forward. “Yes, I’m sure. I still don’t understand why you want that so much…” 

"Just making a joke… For the moment. I'll keep asking, so maybe next time you'll understand~" Ingverd picked himself up, sighing as he stood, brushing off his clothes. "Right… Tomorrow, I'll bring you a wire made without the… Issues attached to mine, just so you can practice with using it properly. And… Thank you again. Even if I was supposed to be listening to you." He reached down and petted her hair, his smile softening. 

"Do your best to become stronger too, Alriana… Even without my issues, we're all going to need it, especially when we hit Islexia. I'll do my best, as well… How could I do any less with someone so cute trying to cheer me on~?" He smirked and turned to head back to his tent, giving her one last glance. "Sleep well… And I'll see you in the morning."

The lizard seriously doubted she’d suddenly understand why he was so intent to get her on his lap, merely shaking her head in response. She shortly after he did, though she didn’t need to brush herself off; the benefits of short clothing. “Okay. Tomorrow teach how use wire. And of course I get stronger. That what happen when fight lot.”

She opened her mouth to speak more, but stopped as the word cute hit her ears. It wasn’t the first time he’d called her such, but for some reason this time it made her feel… something. Something she couldn’t quite place. “...Mhm. See in morning. And you welcome, Ingverd.” With him returned to his tent there wasn’t much else for her to do but do the same. She was no longer worried about falling asleep, at least.

Ingverd had chosen a rather dry patch of grass to lay down and read, though he'd gotten tired at some point and just placed the book over his face, taking an impromptu nap. A little raven sat next to him, idly turning itself and its head every now and then.

Edited by Mel the DM
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A Fated Vision 

Spoiler

The fortune teller breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, there had been a fortune that hadn’t caused some manner of distress. She found it a little odd that almost all of them were some sort of ominous; so many places, and faces she’d never be able to place, and almost all of them hostile. Her powers hadn’t changed any, or at least, she thought they hadn’t. But it was a little troubling, and it wasn’t good for her nerves either. But with a lull in those seeking her fortunes, she had a little time to relax. 

Gean strolled through the streets of Eibar aimlessly. While she didn’t clear, she made a hefty sum from the arena. After cheering on Miria through her run, she took the chance to sneak away from the group and get some shopping of her own done. The weapon shop had two things for her: an axe she wasn’t quite used to holding, and an even more peculiar shield. I keep getting banged up in battle. Having an added bit of defense wouldn’t hurt. As she broke away from her current train of thought she noticed a fortune teller to her left. Aegean wasn’t huge on fortunes, but telling the truth to Tasha, plus her brief scare with Vira describing her uncle… Well, her fears of what might come were swaying her judgment. It’s not like I have anything else to do today. What’s the harm? Gean stepped up in front of the elderly woman. “Excuse me, are you still open ma’am?”

The older woman turned and looked at Aegean, noticing the girl’s scales. There wasn’t any need to stifle an internal groan, but it was her custom to not turn anyone away. And, there was a pretty good chance–what with all of the clouded and monsters that had come around already-that the woman was with the mercenary group responsible for ousting the Crows. She studied Aegean for a moment longer, before slowly waving the girl closer. 

“I am still open, yes child. Have you come to gaze at your future? Assuming that you’re with the group responsible for the Crows, you won’t have to worry about payment. But,” The woman netted her hands above the crystal sphere, “No matter what you see, I must ask that you contain yourself. What you see in the ball is but a possibility amongst many threads, and one that can change in an instant. That is fine with you, I hope.” 

Gean raised an eyebrow at the sudden look down she received. “I will try my best. I don't frequent tellers often, so thank you for the rundown.” Gean took a seat in front of the sphere, softly steeling herself for whatever feelings the older lady was warning her about. “We can begin whenever you’re ready.”

The woman smiled, as she started to wave her hands above the sphere. “Then come, gaze with me child.” 

An image took shape. At first, all that was present was an underground location. The location seemed otherworldly, azure stone walls, and floating structures. Yet, juxtaposed alongside the fantastical was worn stone, and a seemingly never ending expanse of shallow water, with an old stone altar in the center. An underground lake, a temple of some sort? 

There at the altar, two figures became visible. The first, a rose haired woman, dressed in white and black, holding a crystalline staff. Her hair was worn long, reaching to her back. She was the shorter of the figures, even with the white hat on her head. She was staring at the other figure, her eyes wide in surprise. The other… was a tall woman with long pink tipped, teal hair. Her eyes were a mix of various blues, seemingly changing all the while. There was an unmistakable aura of magical energy about her, and more eerie, was that the figure was staring back at Aegean. Then…

“Offer yourself to me. Levion.”

Her lips moved, but of course no sound played. But Aegean would have heard the voice in her head. The figure raised her hand, and the image faded. But not before Aegean got a clearer look at the face of the rose haired woman, her familiar green eyes still transfixed in confusion. 

Gean’s face had a full pallet of emotions. The setting before her was nothing she had seen before, but it shook her to her core. The blue eye woman had grasped her full attention. It was almost as if she was no longer out on the streets of a populated town. Then there was the voice. She knew the crystal couldn’t make sounds, but that voice came through so clearly. It was airy, but concise. Almost as if a mother was giving instructions to her child. Questions about who, where, why and how swarmed her mind. Her hands gripped her pants legs strongly, as she held herself best in her seat.

However it was the last image seen that hit Aegean the hardest. She knew that rose hair and green eyes anywhere.  Slowly she put her hand on the crystal sphere, and with a weak voice called out a singular name while tears welled up in her eyes. “Cathy…” 

What in the world had she just seen? What was that place? The castle from earlier was odd enough, but that place was… where could something like that exist? Floating structures alongside old stone, and an underground lake? The two women were interesting, and judging from the girl’s troubled expression, she knew who one of them was. She’d taken hold of the sphere, and the teller didn’t try to stop her. Somehow she knew that Aegean wouldn’t do anything. What was there to be said about this? 

“...You know one of the women in the vision, it seems. I, I wish I were of more help but the images I’ve seen… I can’t make much sense of them. That place… perhaps, I could try to replay the vision we’ve seen…” The woman waved her hand over the ball, but nothing played. “Hmm? That’s… strange.” 

The teller tried to bring back the image, but to no avail. Now with her tears flowing, Gean quickly stood up and gathered her things. “I have to go. Thank you.” Not giving the woman any time to respond, she quickly made her way back down the street towards the direction of the hotel.

“Ah, hold a moment!” The girl quickly stood, and fled the stand. Was the vision that traumatic? She paused as she reached out her hand to the fleeing clouded. Why was she following her? It was none of her business as to why the vision bothered her so. But, she called out anyway. “Remember! A vision is only a possible future! You can still change all of it! Remember that… and good luck!” 

She was a little unsure why she’d thrown that last bit in there. But saying it felt like it lifted something from her. Perhaps it was all she could have done. She turned back to the crystal ball, and looked at it for a couple moments. Before slowly starting to gather her things, and put the crystal ball away. 

 

Edited by Bluemask 96
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Wires and Worries

Spoiler

Ingverd gently prodded around the campsite looking for Tio. He had a very, very specific question... and some information to admit to. He finally caught her, smiling and heading up to her without much of a care apparent on his face. "Tio! May I speak with you for a moment about... Something related to pure weapons? Say... If I wished to change the magical signature of them to target a, different sort of magical circuit...?" His smile faded, but the jovial air about him seemed to hang. "I've got a certain... Wire, that I need to change to target... Say... Lufirian or Clouded magical signatures...?"

"...Those are, specifically pointed questions, Ingverd. May I... see this wire you're talking about?"

"... Not here. Tent. Alone." The air around him suddenly because cold, leaning in towards Tio and whispering into her ear, "No one else can know I have this. Not even your wife. This is a matter of national security that I am risking by even talking to you about it." Never mind that I told Aly... But I don't think she understood the severity of it.

"..." Oh dear. "I'll... I can keep that promise up until it concerns the others, upon which I will mention to Elisa. But no one else. Until then, you have my word that it is for our ears only."

"... Mmhnn... Alright." With a slight squint, Ingverd led Tio to his tent, setting the weapon out on the ground between them. "This is... A prototype. Given out to Lufirian government... 'Officials'. It's similar to the pure weapons employed across Islexia Hecate and otherwise... Except. It targets humans."

Tio flinched "...The Lufirians are employing weapons like--" She cut herself off, swallowing hard. "...Pure weapons aren't exactly my expertise, but. To my understanding, it is entirely possible for a pure weapon's target to be changed. It's a very difficult process to do after a pure weapon has been created though. You'd have to be a mage of impressive quality to either nullify or switch a pure weapon's orientation. As to your second question..." She quickly crossed her arms as her hair slowly began to shift to a green hue. "You're going to have to tell me why before I answer that one."

Ingverd nodded. "To correct one part of your conclusion, these are not being employed. We are under strict orders to only, ever, use them against targets that we have confirmed have employed pure weapons against Clouded or Monsters... To use something like this brazenly in open combat would get Lufirian intelligence after you. You'd be dead within the weak and likely, so would anyone that witnessed you using it. So. I've been making it a point to stick to my sword. I'm sure you can appreciate that."

"As for my question... I want to know if I can change its target magic source if I am assailed by Lufirian intelligence." He shrugged, shaking his head some.

"Hmm. I can be sure that you're using it as such but..." Tio shook her head in response, thinking it over further... "More importantly, why would you be assailed by Lufirian Intelligence? You just said that you've made it a point to not use the wire in a way that would draw scrutiny. Unless... there's another reason they would? I will say though... you'd need a very gifted and knowledgeable mage to pull that off. More so than normal, because I'd expect that Lufiria's process is more refined and therefore, would be harder to simply just alter. I... could probably manage it. But I'm not sure... I'm not sure that I would."

"You're the most gifted mage I know, Tio~" He put on his best smile, almost chuckling. "As for why... I'm... Going to make a decision in the coming weeks. I'm not at it yet, and I might turn on this thinking. But. I'm leaning towards it, very heavily... And I need an upper hand if they decide to try and clean up a loose end."

"Hmm... I can't say I like the idea of me basically creating a pure weapon with my own hands. I hate it, actually. But you're a clouded asking me for this... You wouldn't if it wasn't of grave importance. Lufirian operatives are that effective, are they?"

"Specifically, not Clouded or Monster, but Lufirian... I'm... Not sure if the magical signature has a difference; I have some knowledge of magic, but not such a specific level. And. Ahaha. Yes~ Yes, we are. Be aware that I could have killed you and Elisa several times already~ You need some more defense mechanisms when you're sleeping..."

"Well, I'm sure that you could have killed me; I'm fairly useless once I'm tired. But you may need a bit more information if you think that you could have taken Elisa without a fight. We do have some defense mechanisms; magic that you're likely not capable of detecting." The evoker placed a careful hand on her cheek, looking slightly away to think again. "Though, specifically Lufirian... Lufirian Magical signatures are complex. They vary from closer to a human's signature, and much, much closer to that of clouded and monsters. It's not impossible but making it so specific would take a fair amount of time."

"I hope I don't have to find out... As much as I prod and poke, I do... I do like the both of you, quite a fair bit." Another defensive smirk, Ingverd ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. "Well, you've likely got a few weeks. I shouldn't need it until then, so if you can promise to keep it out of sight of, anyone, I'll let you hold onto it for now. What do you say?"

"Mm... I think you should hang on to it, and I'll come find you when I need it. Elisa as magically capable as I am, so it would be impossible for me to hide that from her. I trust her with my life, so I would be fine with her finding out, but a promise is a promise, first and foremost." A small giggle left her, trying to lighten the mood some. "Things started a little rough, but I can say the same about you, Ingverd. I'll see what I can figure out. Especially because I just happen to have a feeling that this choice will have something to do with the Tigers, and I quite like them too. ...Most of the time."

Ingverd paused, and stared. He just, stared. For almost a minute he watched Tio, before looking away, looking at the ground, then looking back at her... He cleared his throat and started to speak. "... I'll... Mmm. Okay. I'm going to tell you. Because, if I decide to follow the orders that I have a sinking suspicions are coming... I want you, to kill me." The dry smile that she was faced with was devoid of any emotion. "I... I can't shake the feeling that between Alvira, Alriana, Aegean, and several other members of the party, I'm going to receive orders to kill one of them. And... I, don't know if I'm brave enough to fight those orders, right now. So. So, if, my fears come to pass, and I'm not strong enough to face them... I'm giving you advance warning."

"... ... Come again, Ingverd? Did you just?" Tio's face lost all of its lightened mood, eyes going wide, a serious set of confusion and concern lining her eyebrows as they furrowed. "Hold on. Let's back a moment. Why would Lufirian Intelligence order you to kill any of the Tigers? ...What do you know?"

"... Alvira might be a part of the Hozt family, Alriana is an unknown monster entity, and Aegean... Is..." Ingverd began to rub his face, hiding his eyes behind his hand. "... A child one of the families that was a part of the attempt on Princess Shiva's life so long ago."

"...bwuh?" Tio turned around and flailed for a moment, trying to find the words, figure out why he was suddenly saying this. It was a moment before she turned around again, staring a him. "Alriana... I kind of understood. Her magical signature is otherworldly to say the least. Unlike anything I've ever seen. Hozt... you'll have to forgive me, I'm not exactly very well versed in Lufirian nobility... for rather obvious reasons. But, but... I've heard the name Shiva before. Are you legitimately telling me that Aegean's family was involved in an assassination attempt on a Lufirian Princess's life?"

"Yes. The Hozt family was another one of them as well... Alvira claimed her last name was Hozt. She doesn't strike me as the nobility type so it might just be a cover, but that's one hell of a stupid cover if it is... And... Alriana is the one I'm afraid of the most. Because I really... Really, like her. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be so conflicted. Sorry to say..."

"...Oh goodness, and we're walking all of them right up to the doorstep of Lufiria." A nervous laugh followed the playing of her hair, fingers spinning around idle strands. "This, this changes things. I... expect that we shouldn't run into any issue with the Lufirians. Unless they're already aware of those three's presence; it should simply be a matter of keeping those three out of sight once we get close to Lufiria; they don't have to cross into Lufiria so they should be fine there." She tilted her head and let it fall against her hand, sighing hard. "I'll... haha, it never gets any easier. If it comes to that, Ingverd. I will first try to talk you down. You clearly don't want to do this. I would even do what I could along with you to separate you from your orders. But if it has to be that way... I will stop you."

That was exactly what he wanted to hear. "And that's why I can trust you, Tio. Well... I might just be feeding into my anxiety, and none of this comes to pass... But, I, cannot write it all off. This is a dangerous mixing pot of individuals, and if I'm being honest, a part of me wonders if Iseria knew. She asked for the Tigers specifically... Alriana and Aegean have been a part of them for quite some time now. Alvira might be a recent addition, but the rest, I can't rule out. If the Lufirian government contacted her and asked her to send the Tigers in this endeavor, specifically to get Aegean and Alriana closer to the country and away from safe lands... Sorry. I'm going down too many rabbit holes."

"...I wish I could say I could 100% rule that out. I know Iseria; if she has a choice and the ability to save as many lives as possible, she will. I don't think she's had contact from Lufiria for a reasonably long while. But... I also know that she's a secretive person, and very good at it too. If she didn't want anyone else to know, they wouldn't know. I can be mostly sure that she hasn't set this up, but I can't guarantee it. This group... for it to have aligned so perfectly is concerning. She asked for the Tigers because they were a group of clouded, with skill in dealing with the pirates, and because... well, they're a small enough group that if anything did happen, it wouldn't be a huge blow to Glacies."

"It wouldn't be a huge blow to Glacies if they were all wiped out in a mysterious accident, which is in actuality an attack by Lufirian intelligence, aided by me on secret orders, in an effort to get their hands on fugitives of assassinations against their royalty and wild magical creatures?" He smiled, painfully, realizing how crazy the theory he'd just proposed was.

"It's a bit out there... but it's plausible. Damn it... The question then becomes, if all of that were to be true... why are Elisa and I here? Iseria knows that neither of us are going to abandon them. Even if... even if we thought we could for Glacies, that's not something Elisa and I can abide by and she knows that. That's sloppy, especially for her."

"... Unless you're both targets, too." Ingverd sighed and started at Tio, leaning onto his hand, wiping fingers at his eyes, tired as he was. "Too much thinking, not enough information..."

"...Mmm. That's a sticking point. Not to overstate our importance, but Glacies's defense is as good as it is largely because of the deterrence that Elisa and I provide. Islexia is quite aware of who we are, and what we're capable of, so they'd rather cause us problems through making it hard to trade, and other smaller things. But make no mistake; Islexia would have already invaded Glacies if not for Elisa and I, as well as a couple others. I don't think Iseria would be willing to risk that." She sighed. Heavily. "Yeah, there are far too many holes here, and I don't like it. I suppose it would be better for us to move to things that we don't have to think about as much for now. No sense in wracking our brains only to exhaust ourselves." She paused to think for a moment, eyes closed for a moment. "So... You've started to figure out what you're feeling for Alriana, have you?"

Ingverd laughed, covering his face again. "That's a jump! Gods... Ugh. Yeah. I think I've got a thing for her. Most people in my trade would frown upon such feelings getting in the way of work, but even Jeremiah has a family that he loves dearly... So I'm not that weird, I don't think. No, it's... Mm. I don't know if it's more serious than that, so I'm going to have to figure out if it's worth betraying my country over. We'll... We'll, have to see."

"Hmm? Jeremiah? That's a name I don't think I've heard before."

"Really? ... He's the head of... Sort of, the head of, Lufirian intelligence. Taught me everything I know. Which is why I'm so paranoid... I, know how well trained we all are. But, he's a family man, like I said. Wife and two daughters, that he cares for greatly... hahhh, boy, I need a drink, and here we are, out on the road..."

"The head of Lufirian Intelligence, and he taught you?" That's something to keep in mind then... Ingverd is extremely capable, but if he was taught by this man... "So it's possible that he could come across our path, hmm? I'll have to commit that name to memory. Though, quite the line of work to be a family man. A wife, and two daughters... I don't think it's anything to frown upon; all of us are in desperate need of love and belonging, but it is such a volatile line of work. I guess that's also a testament to how skilled he must be." Tio stretched, quickly. "I wouldn't mind a drink or two at this juncture. Perhaps we'll find something when we reach one of our way points."

"Shall we get drinks together, Tio? I can't say I've ever seen you imbibe... Sounds like it could be fun to see another side of you." Ingverd sighed, but he was smiling, though, his face looked a little defeated... Like he'd accepted something he couldn't change, it was evident in his eyes. "Mmm... It... It was the right decision to speak with you, today. Definitely... Definitely."

"I'm reasonably okay with my drinks. I do hope you appreciate hugs if I do drink a bit much, though." Tio relaxed, curtsying as she did, "I've learned quite a bit today, Ingverd, so thank you. I'll do what I can to help out, both with all of this, and Alriana."

"As long as Elisa isn't going to start flinging magic at me if you get a bit huggy, it shouldn't be a problem. Trust me when I say I don't have a single romantic feeling for you." He raised a hand with an awkward smile as his defeated look melted away, trying to relax. "And, don't you worry about her... If she comes to speak with you, that's fine, but you've a habit of sticking that nose where it shouldn't be. Let me... Let, us, figure this out."

"Haha... yeah, I do. I will, I promise. And trust me, Elisa has less of a trigger finger than it seems. She's reasonable, and knows that my heart belongs to her."

"Good, good... I'll make sure to meet you for drinks once we hit a place that serves them, then. Until then... Thank you. For everything."

"You're welcome. Until then, keep doing as you're doing, alright?"

"Heh... Mm. Yeah. As I'm doing." Ingverd waved at her, looking away, idly looking over the wire. "I'll do my best."

 

Edited by Mel the DM
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Clash in the Colosseum

Spoiler

Miria had been on an impressive sweep streak during her arena run. She only hoped it wasn’t her growing overconfident. And there were a lot of unique weapons too. There was a bit of excitement in her as this had gone on. The cheers of the crowd of a mysterious armored woman kicking all sorts of ass… and she still hadn't felt an ounce of exhaust from her armor! …yet, anyway.

With a confident smile, unseen from the crowd she readied herself for the next fight.

Tanya had expected a bit more… work, given the other members of that mercenary group were coming through. And yet, Ramirez took a lot of the fun out of things, dealing with a couple of them with relative ease. Honestly, it was mildly annoying, but she’d just have to deal with it. Instead, she’d humour herself with watching someone in unusual armour tearing through the arena lineup, weaving her blade around like a man possessed. It had Tanya intrigued - and, more importantly, focused on getting herself ready to meet this challenge head on.

‘Maybe that cute girl from the dress shop - Miria, was it? - was watching on from the stands,’ Tanya wondered, as she took to her place in the arena, lance twirling idly in her hand.

Tanya? She's participating in this too? Miria was shocked a bit to see the lady she had just met earlier that day as one of her opponents. She started to approach slowly, and she tried adjusting her voice to sound as not!Miria as possible.

"My apologies miss, but I'm afraid I feel the need to do this to achieve victory in our duel," Miria took her sword, and swung it in a circle, allowing the blade to seemingly catch fire. Miria had to, just in case, especially with Tanya using a lance to fight. 

Getting into a readied stance, she charged into the fighting going straight for a quick slash. 

Huh. The voice sounded… vaguely familiar, but Tanya couldn’t quite put her finger on it. The blade that the woman held then caught alight in flame, and Tanya had to stifle an involuntary wince. Fire and her didn’t exactly mix, but at the same time, she felt… oddly flattered that she was resorting to such measures to get through a fight with her. Clearly she was somebody who’d seen her fight before and recognized her strength.

“What, you think I’m gonna be scared of a lil’ heat? Careful, shortie, or you’ll- Fuck!” Tanya’s taunt was cut off by the heated bite of the flaming blade cutting into her. She had to admit, this girl was tough - Tanya couldn’t help but be proud of that. “Hah… your heat’s the kind I like!” She grinned almost manically as she thrust her lance forward, taking care not to scrape too much against the shorter woman’s blade.

Miria had a smile, she liked that response. However, Tanya came back with another strike. Too slow to catch or deflect it, the lance did hit her, but it barely even scratched her! 

Miria grabbed the lance to push it away. Then, she went for a kick, and followed with another strike, just enough to keep it from being a potentially lethal shot.

She just… took it? Like it was nothing? Tanya knew she wasn’t exactly going full throttle here, on Ricardo’s request, but she hadn’t been expecting that out of the shorter girl. The grin on her face grew much wider, and Tanya swore she was seeing stars in her eyes after the second strike rang true.

“Well, look at you go! Careful now; with moves like that, I might just fall for ya!” Hoping that maybe the second taunt would throw her off, Tanya swung her lance in a wide arc, hoping to cover a lot more ground. She had to be careful, though; one more good shot, and she’d be toast, and nobody liked a cooked kitty.

There was a blush in Miria’s face after the compliments. But, she wasn't about to let that stop her. There was another hit, but… Miria let it bounce again! She swung, but…!

SNAP!

Miria’s sword broke the lance in half. Letting her sword go with her momentum, she took what was left of the lance, pulling Tanya toward her. "Sorry for this," without any of her trying to hide her voice, Miria went for a full on headbutt!

Well, the taunt didn’t work. Tanya considered just taking the hit head on, and going out with her dignity, but said dignity refused to let this go laying down, and attempted to block using her lance… and the damn thing snapped clean in half, the momentum coupling with her opponent yanking on one of the broken pieces of lance causing Tanya to practically stumble into the shorter girl’s arms. Really, it was almost romantic, save for the gashes across her body.

“Geez, if you wanted to hug it out, you could have-” And then the taller feline froze, hearing the voice practically piercing through her ears and plunging straight into her heart. “Miria…?” She barely whispered, before Miria lunged in with a powerful headbutt, sending Tanya to the floor.

If one looked close enough as her consciousness faded out, you could swear Tanya was looking up at the armoured maiden with hearts in her eyes, and not the stars she thought she had in there to begin with.

Well… "...Huh." Miria just stared for a bit as she just, watched Tanya knock out. I hope she'll be okay. However, some medics came in to retrieve Tanya. Good, she'd hopefully be fine. As she was retrieved, Miria raised her sword to the crowd to let them cheer. She'd ride this high from the fighting ti even the end of it.


Miria had herself situated in the back of one of their wagons. Leaving Eibar was simple, and there hadn't been any crazy fighting since the Crows. Good, in her mind, there was only so much food she should be eating from what they had, so she was thankful for the lack of action. She he had already been through her training for that day, and now she was resting with her book. There was a light hum as she sat and read.

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Nyx never did like riding in big wagons like these. Part of it was due to a past she would very much like to forget, but the other part was because she generally got wagonsick from all the bouncing coupled with her usual inebriation. Only… she wasn’t actually drunk for a change, which was an incredibly weird feeling, but not a bad one per se. So, at the very least, she wasn’t throwing up all over her new suit, which she still hadn’t really changed out of aside from cleaning it - or herself - since she’d gotten it.

Kind of defeated the purpose of getting fancy clothes if she wore them all the time, but whatever. People liked it, and it made Nyx feel powerful like she hadn’t since her old crime days, so that was fine with her.


Tanya was happy to be travelling again, although the fact that she was now with a group was… odd. Not a bad odd, mind, but still. She had some considering to do about a great many things swirling in her head. Of her family, and how her little brother and sister were doing, and if Papa was getting into anything particularly dangerous. Of her present goal, to do some real lasting damage to the Clouded and monster trafficking ring that ran rampant through Hecatia and beyond.

And, perhaps most vexingly, of a certain brunette with a penchant for books and a lot more strength than she’d expected. Which was why Tanya was perched atop some box or another in the back of one of the Iron Tigers’ wagons, glancing over said brunette’s shoulder at the book she was reading. Maybe if she could muster up the drive to ask what the book was called, it may have been something to recommend to Yuria whenever she’d ended up back at the Maldolche estate.

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Enlightening

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Despite getting a chance to camp, Alvira hadn’t mustered up the courage to speak with Tio in a one on one. She’d done so, managed at least, to speak with her at the shop, but they had very much so not been alone at the time. Now that she wanted lessons, at least some to better understand incantation casting, the dragon felt herself pacing in her tent, peeking out towards 

Tio’s tent sometimes. One night, finally, she caught the woman leaving it through her spying, perhaps to check on some clothes or someone else in the camp. With a hefty, hefty gulp, Alvira slipped out of her tent and hurried over towards the Evoker, light tome in hand.

“Uhm. Uh. Tio. Miss. Miss Tio. Can, can I speak with you about… Er… About, magic? This magic. Tome, magic. Ugh… S-Sorry.” She was choking up on every other word. Now that her disgust had faded away with their misconceptions revealed, Tio was an imposing figure as far as magic was concerned. Alvira wasn’t feeding a sense of fear; she’d long lost the ability to be afraid of threats to herself. More a new feeling of respect, for someone that knew so much about magic. It felt awkward to feel this way about a human, and that awkwardness was manifesting amazingly.

The beginning of the trip had been smooth enough. Aside from the first day where she’d spent most of it bothered by a multitude of things, and was likely not very approachable. Things had been fine, really not too much more to do, than to keep her magic sharp, and to keep an eye on their supplies and things. Of which she was off to do again, but a familiar, and mildly surprising voice stopped her. 

“Easy, calm down.” Tio had gotten most of what she needed to get from the… words, Alvira had put forth. She wasn’t quite sure that she could call them sentences. But as long as the thought got across who exactly was going to care? “You’d like to speak about light magic?” Tio couldn’t hide a bit of excitement. She always appreciated someone wanting to talk or learn magic. “Of course, I’m not doing anything particularly of note right now. Did you have something specific you wanted help with?” 

“I-I… Yes. Uhm. Okay…” Alvira took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I… You know now that I’ve just been casting my magic on feeling. Just… Summoning it, I guess, is the best way to put it. So… So I’ve never been taught the chants or patterns for tome casting. I’ve been trying to study from the tome itself, but it isn’t very straightforward… So. So, if you’re not busy like you’re saying, then, I’d appreciate some time to at least… Run me through the incantations and patterns for light, at least. Give me a foothold to work off of as I improve.” 

Alvira continued to at least look awkward, even if she’d straightened out her words. Asking favors from Tio after their last moment felt… Improper. She seems excited, at least…

Tio bobbed her head back and forth. It did make sense that Alvira likely wasn’t the most comfortable with a tome, and learning a new type of magic without a decipherable guide was rather difficult. She looked around for a little bit, looking for a small clearing or space, “So you’d like to have some of the basic incantations, and patterns… that should be simple enough, and because you can already summon it pretty well, you’ll catch on pretty quickly.” She pointed to a little space not too far from where they were standing, “We can practice a bit over there.” 

Alvira did seem a bit stiff, similarly to how Renais was when they first spoke. But the difference was that Tio didn’t think that she’d be able to pull Alvira out of that shell the same way that she did with Renais. Hmm… might have to wait and see on this one. Tio sauntered her way over to the clearing before turning to Alvira, placing her hands on her hips. “So… which one do you think you’d prefer to try learning first? An incantation or a pattern?” 

“Patterns, would be better. I think… I can already call the magic out of the tome, so…” She opened it once they’d settled in the clearing, concentrating, and a mote of light appeared before her. It was weak, far too weak to be used for combat, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that she was already able to cast the spell. “So… Yeah. Anything you can provide me on that point… Mmm. I don’t really know, what sort of patterns someone has to draw anyway… Not even for fire or ice. They’ve both, uhm, come naturally for me. Even before the incident with the storm… That sounds like bragging. I didn’t mean it like that. Er… Ugh.” It was difficult to talk around her, and with how pleased Tio seemed, simply to be helping, Alvira figured that difficulty was one sided.

“S… Sorry. Sorry for… For how I treated, you. Tio.” Alvira suddenly switched gears, shrinking a little, her shoulders sinking. “I’ve… I’ve been pretty hung up on that moment in the baths, I just… I know you say you were in the wrong, but I didn’t even give you a chance. I’m… Mmm. It doesn’t make me any better than, the Crows, does it? Seeing ‘human’ and writing you off.”

Tio gently shook her head, “Well, that’s par for the course with how you use magic, isn’t it? It was… kind of the same for me with light magic. I know the patterns by heart now, but light magic itself came naturally. Some people are just able to do that, so it’s not particularly bragging to–” Tio paused as Alvira started to apologize for the incident in the bath. Tio frowned, partially because she wanted to forget how she behaved then, and the fact that Alvira even mentioned herself in line with the Crows. She sighed, “Well, in the light you’ve put it, no, it wouldn’t make you any better. But considering everything you’ve told me, I wouldn’t have been surprised if you did write off every human you came across. They’ve done the same to you.”

Tio conjured her staff, planting it in the ground and gently leaning on. “You had plenty of reasons to dislike humans, so despite how annoyed I got at you then, I don’t fault you either. But, that’s over and done with now, isn’t it? The incident in the bath, I mean. I don’t expect you to warm to other humans, especially with how callous many of them tend to be. But even one is a start, and you get to make a decision where to go from there.” Tio smiled, “One is more than zero, and so you’re already 100% better than any Crow could be. So don’t liken yourself to them.”

“I… Mmhn… I, I guess so. I…” Alvira was beating herself up for reasons she couldn’t quite put into words, grumbling at herself over it. “I don’t know how to… To put this. I just, I know you’re right, so I’m going to… To leave this alone and accept what you’re saying. You’re right. A lot of them have written me off… Or worse. But… But you’re, good. You’re one of the good ones. If I can get along with you, that’s the start I need.” Alvira took another deep breath, standing up straight. “Okay… Okay. I had to get that out. Thank you, Tio… I’m ready for whatever magic you’ve got to throw at me, now~”

Tio smiled and gently clapped her hands. This was a bit of a needed conversation for her, after Cinead’s conversation in the shop, and Ingverd’s bombshell of a talk. Well, Ingverd’s had gone swimmingly at least. “Having somewhere to start is good. It’s the same for magic, and symbols and incantations too.” 

Tio stood up straight, “Symbols are less complicated than they seem; like incantations and the tomes themselves, they’re more of a focusing mechanism than an explicit necessity. They serve as a guideline, and timing for your mind to input the specifics of the spell.”

Tio stuck her hand out, light energy slowly forming around it. “If you’ll watch closely…” Tio slowly drew a circle in the air with an outstretched finger. The light began to focus itself at her finger’s tip, the spell forming in real time. Two more slow strokes formed two lines in the center of the circle, and then she wordlessly waved her hand to the side. The spell flew off, up into the skies before slowly dissipating. 

She turned back to Alvira, “The circle is a general symbol; you can pretty much use it for any school of magic. But the two lines in the center… Not entirely sure why it works the way it does, but it’s supposedly because Light is the 2nd school of magic. That’s the basic light symbol. Did that make sense?”

Alvira watched with all concentration as Tio explained and then performed the sigil for basic light magic. Clasping the book tightly, Alvira focused her own magic, copying the form almost perfectly… The spell appeared much stronger than her initial attempt, though not as powerful as Tio’s, for one reason or another. “Okay… Okay, I get it. That makes a lot more sense and, it works a lot better… What about incantations? Or, uh, more advanced magic? Like, a Shine tome? Does the symbol differ…?” She had to know as soon as possible; she couldn’t come running to Tio every time she found herself capable of casting a new tier of magic. 

“And, thank you for making this so clear… You make for a good teacher. Probably something you hear often, heh…”

“I’ve heard it a couple times. Thought about it a couple times too…” Tio probably wouldn’t have minded too terribly much to have taught magic; she practically already did, just not in an official capacity. Though, the thought did have a bristle for a second. As it brought her back to Solara’s negligence with Alvira, and, really, a lot of their less fortunate students. A fact she knew incredibly well. 

But what was actually important to the conversation was that Alvira seemed to be coming out of her shell somewhat. She asked a flurry of questions, all of which sort of bled into one another. That would make things easy to explain. “Incantations work in tandem with the symbols, or not really at all. They’re often the part of magic that’s omitted the most at basic levels, because most of the spells can be properly cast and controlled with nothing but the symbols. But, when you get to more powerful levels of magic, incantations become more prevalent because there are more things to control, and more things that could go wrong if not done properly.”

Tio closed her eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath, allowing some of her hair to slowly turn to a deep green. “I’m honestly not a very good example for this because I can use most light magic without an incantation. But if I were to use an Aura spell or such…” Tio quickly drew the symbol from before in the air. There didn’t appear to be any changes to her movements, but the symbol seemed more vibrant. “Light, come dance and focus yourself about my hands. Then guide them to the path I need to walk.” The same wave of the hand, but the spell launched into the sky was a much, much more powerful light spell. A beautiful spiral of light. 

She relaxed herself, and smiled, “An incantation can be something meaningful like that, or even something quite silly. I remember some of my classmates from years ago using things such as their birthday, or lists of things. The point of an incantation is to keep your mind from wandering when using a spell, because if your mind wanders at a pivotal moment… You could hurt yourself, or others with a failed or wild spell. The general form would have you start with the school of magic you’re casting, so, Light, in this case. But as you get better at casting this way, you can come up with your own. The symbol largely remains the same, but as you saw, it appeared more complete because of the spell I was using.” 

Tio’s magic power was as strong as her title implied. The spell flew off, but Alvira could tell how dangerous it would be to get hit by something like that. A small gulp, she focused on the incantation explanation instead, nodding along, closing the light time and holding onto it again.

“Huh… This is a lot simpler than I was expecting. And, incantations can be that personal? I figured they were all uniform… This makes things a lot eas…ier…” Alvira's eyes glazed over for a moment after having taken in the talk… “Fire, come and…” The words disappeared as she continued to move her lips, a spike of magic welling up in her for a single moment. It wasn't light, as Tio could surely tell, but a burst of fire magic that seemed to hit a wall and fizzle before anything could be cast. A small shake of the dragon's head and she was back to reality.

“... Hmm… I guess if light doesn’t need it, I don’t need to worry about it for now… Ah, geez, there really are gonna be some embarrassing incantations for certain spells, aren’t there…?” She sighed a little, trying to think of and piece together some already, to get started.

Tio had opened her mouth to explain more about incantations, but she felt a burst of magical energy from Alvira. She recognized it, but not because it was light magic, because it absolutely wasn’t. The energy she felt was similar to when Elisa was casting her fire magic, which definitely meant that Alvira had tapped into fire magic for a moment. There had been words on her lips, and a sort of vacant look in her eye, just before it all occurred, and then, there was nothing. 

What… was that? Tio pondered for a moment, or two. Ingverd had mentioned that Alvira had been affected by a mana storm, and her using ice magic up until this point all but confirmed that to her. But there was no mistaking what she had just felt, and it was quite powerful too. But Alvira seemed like she didn’t notice at all.

She blinked, realizing that she was staring at Alvira, and hadn’t answered her, “Oh… uh, haha, sorry, I lost myself in my thoughts. Incantations can be that personal, but it all depends on how proficient you are with a spell. For instance, I would probably use that same incantation for Aura because I don’t use it very often. But if I were to use my own personal spell, I could probably say some embarrassing things about Elisa, and it would work perfectly because I’m so used to the spell. Of course, you could always use the general incantation; every tome has the incantation that the spell uses. So you could avoid anything embarrassing if you absolutely had to.” Tio winked at Alvira, “It’s more fun this way though.”

Whatever had just happened, Tio was absolutely sure that she needed to run it by Elisa. Talented a mage Tio might have been, but Elisa was just a superior fire mage, so she would be able to pick up so much more than she had. Is her fire magic stronger then what she’s using now? Did the mana storm not alter her affinity? Her fire is still there, but she can’t use it? How strange, what would be blocking her fire?

Alvira felt herself blushing, her mind immediately having gone towards incantations about Tasha, knowing there was no way she could possibly blurt out something that embarrassing. “Well… Th-That’s good to know, even if it’s, probably… Too personal for a battlefield. I think. You’re really brave to be so confident about that…” Alvira sighed, flipping through the light tome once again to find the generic incantation line, nodding a little.

“Well… You’ve answered all my questions, with extra as well… I’m, really happy I got over myself and gave you a chance, Tio. I won’t be a stranger… Thank you.” Alvira bowed gently, ready to leave and start practicing her casting the light spell.

“Well…” Tio blushed a little, “I’m less confident about it than you think. I said I could, I didn’t say I would, or have. I have my limits.” Tio figured that she definitely would have to tease Elisa, but for the most part, if they’re in combat where her incantations were necessary, teasing Elisa was the last thing on her mind. Plus, things like that were still embarrassing even after years together. 

Tio returned the bow with a curtsy, “It was my pleasure to help, Alvira. I enjoy helping people understand magic.” Tio was still racking her brain on what had just occurred; it was possible that mana storms had differing effects on clouded and monsters with the innate ability to cast. A plausible outlook, there was Alvira, and then Marianne. But it was just as likely that the mana storms were a freak accident of nature, and weren’t going to be explained by anything nearly so simple. There were just so many unknowns involved. Tio didn’t see the need to prod her about the odd burst of magic, but maybe there was another way to figure some things out before alarming her. 

She’d already brought Ingverd’s conversation up once, and he’d mentioned that Alvira’s name was uncannily similar to one that hadn’t been involved in some shady dealings. Hozt, hmm… How would she go about asking, though? It seemed pretty out of the blue to just ask about her– Tio smiled, “Alvira, if you don’t mind me asking… You mentioned siblings before. You went to Glacies in hopes to provide for them. So is it just you, and your siblings that remain of the…” She waved her hand, “Hozt family?” 

Tio caught Alvira with a slightly odd question, glancing back at her with a cocked eyebrow. “Yeah… Just me, my sister, my brother. My parents are… Are… Are…” Alvira’s eyes glazed over again, like she was recalling something by instinct, not present in her mind. “... My parents are dead, so I’ve had to take care of them. And it’s, Sam’Tara Hozt… I’ll, drop the vel act with you. I’m not actually a noble, I just… Introduced myself like that in Glacies to seem more important. Helped, a little… Until the magic, issues. Well. Yeah, it’s just us three. Why do you ask…?”

It really didn’t seem like it was a cover. Alvira was a little too genuine for that. Her eyes had glazed over as she spoke about her parents, and how it was just her and her siblings. “Sam’Tara Hozt… it’s a beautiful name. And, no particular reason, I just wanted to understand a little more about your situation. Your siblings are lucky to have such a diligent older sister. You all deserved a lot better than what Glacies gave you.” Tio thought about asking if she knew what happened to her parents, but it was then that Tio realized that she was suddenly a little upset. It’s a wonder how similar the two of you are… Except, she got to… She shook the thought, it was rude to Alvira.

“I’m sorry to hear about your parents. I’ve heard Lufiria is, not exactly the most hospitable place. So for you and your siblings to made it together, that’s a testament to your strength.” Tio sighed, maybe a little too hard, “So, how old are they?” 

Alvira had a few choice words for Tio’s praise. None of them were positive, so instead of ruining their moment, she kept them to herself, though her face showed she wasn’t entirely comfortable. “How old? Alfinn, he’s six… And Algena, she’s eleven. Or, they should still be… If I can get back to them in time. We’re all fire dragons, and last I was with them, their magic hadn’t developed enough to be usable yet, but… Maybe they’ll surprise me. That’d make me happy… Is, is there a reason you’re suddenly asking all this? I don’t mind, just…”

Tio nodded idly at Alvira’s explanation, noticing that she wasn’t very comfortable with all of this. “I just… wanted to know what Glacies has kept you from.” She looked at Alvira, a bit of a sad smile, “Now I feel a bit worse about what Solara did, knowing that their negligence kept you away from your siblings. It’s better to have a good perspective on what they’ve caused so when I set about writing that letter I know exactly what to say.”

She sighed again, “I also asked because I thought I’d heard Hozt before somewhere. But I was certainly hearing things; I don’t think Hozt is common outside of Lufiria, and certainly not Sam’tara Hozt. And lastly… I, I always enjoy hearing about other families. It’s, uh, a perspective I didn’t really have. But, I can see that this is making you a little uncomfortable, so we can stop there.” While it was framed as far Alvira’s sake, it was really for the both of them. Tio wasn’t prepared for Alvira to ask about what that meant, so it would be better to close that avenue immediately. 

Tio really was going to write the academy a letter. I hope she gives them what for, then. Especially that damn Navisbottom. I hated that guy. She nodded to Tio’s words, glad the Evoker was so understanding. “I don’t think I met another Hozt when I was in Lufiria, but we didn’t really… Have the means to live in the more central areas. Just more remote ones. Had to make sure the gold lasted… W-Well, I’ll get going, then. I don’t want to give you my whole life story, for, several reasons. Take care of yourself, Tio.” Alvira bowed again and made off quicker this time, to make sure she couldn’t give the woman the chance to catch her again. So many questions… Feels a little weird. Does she know something? About me? About… About all those years, I just can’t remember…?

Tio waved as Alvira ran off, breathing a sigh of relief when she was finally out of sight. That last portion was a bit of a mess, and she couldn’t help but be a little annoyed at herself. Tip toeing around the fact that she now knew how implausible it was that her name was Hozt, and what it meant was more difficult than she thought. Add in  her own insecurities and that was almost a disaster. She gently kicked the ground, “Am I never going to get over that…?” She’d gotten good at hiding it. But she couldn’t help but be bitter. She was truly glad that Alvira watched over her siblings, and cared for them, that they had each other. That their lives hadn’t been snatched from them by the actions of others. 

She pinched her cheek, she had more important things to do than to be stewing on a past she couldn’t change. She made it, she survived, and now she had to worry about the girl’s name. Alvira really didn’t seem to know anything, which as far as she was concerned, ruled out that Alvira was using the name as a cover. But if she were a Hozt, then why wouldn’t she know anything? Had she lost her memories, or something? She wasn’t any closer to any answers, but she was at least sure that Alvira was trustworthy. And someone that she was absolutely going to help. You took mine from me, Glacies, but I won’t let you be responsible for harming someone else’s again. She waved her staff away, and started making her way back to her tent.

 

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An Attempt at Training

Spoiler

Cinaed hopped out of the wagon, stretching as he did so. Patting the package tucked into his pocket to make sure it was still there, he strolled over to Renais, a small grin on his face. It was time. “Hello there Renais. You agreed to let me teach you offensive magic, well, we’re going to start now. There’s a nice clearing over there, we can go over there and start with some basics, ok?” He wasn’t really giving her a choice here. He had a suspicion that if he framed it as a question, she might try and delay. But she needed to learn how to protect herself. Even if she never used it once in an actual battle, the confidence in knowing she could keep herself safe if needed would help. Or at least he hoped it would.

Well this was it, the first of many training sessions. Renais had to admit, she was really nervous. Not at Cin, she was past that. More that she may not be cut out for combat. ’I…I really wonder if I’m good enough to fight in the same world as my sister and everyone…’ As those thoughts started to creep in she felt like she was getting cold feet. “Mm…maybe I shoul-” But before she could finish that thought, her dragon friend stepped up. “Ah!” She jumped a bit and turned to him. “O-oh! Yeah, good call! That clearing looks nice enough to get this done, yeah!” She turned a nervous smile toward Cin. “I’m ready…”

“Good! Come on then, let's get started.” He strolled over to the clearing, settling into the center, hands in pockets before turning to face her. “Right then. There are two aspects of this that are important. The first is the actual casting of the magic, the second is using it in actual combat. Now. Unless you have the ability to do tomeless casting like I do, which I doubt? We’re going to need to use chanted tome casting. Which requires...” He pulled the cloth wrapped bundle out of his pocket and offered it to her. “A tome. Now uh. I know the theory behind chanted casting, but. Can’t actually use it myself. So I’m hoping you know some of that with all your education. But what I do know is combat. Teaching that, I can do.” Hopefully this wouldn’t all fall apart before it even really started.

Despite her mind screaming at her to not go through with this, Renais followed Cin along as quickly as she could. ’Settle down, settle down…I know I can do this. I have to…’ She approached her dragonic friend and stopped as he turned. Tomeless casting was something she couldn’t quite do, despite her talents. But when he pulled out that bundle she knew where the lesson was going. So she took it and unwrapped the cloth to see a green book in her hands. 

“...you’ll be happy to know that I did take some basic tome casting classes at the academy, in fact my teacher said I grasped the concept well. I just decided to lean toward healing for specific reasons.” She grasped the tome in her hands. “But I’m more than willing to learn, thank you for the gift Cin.” She gave him a small smile, and tried her best to ignore her nerves.

“Well, I mean, if I’m going to be your teacher, I have to make sure you have the proper tools. Otherwise I’d be a pretty bad instructor.” He ran a hand through his hair, considering his options. There were a couple of different ways he could go here, one of which was very important, but he thought it might stand better to wait for the end of the lesson. So instead, “Right. The very first thing we should focus on is summoning the spell.” 

Holding out his hand, he summoned a ball of fire into the palm of his hand. “The big thing for using magic offensively as opposed to for a show or even for healing is the intent. You need to keep the magic gathered together, formed into a shape that works for you for attacking. Be it a ball, or a blade, or whatever works for you, focusing on that is what helps it stay together long enough to impact. As opposed to healing magic, which you’re trying to spread out, keeping the magic concentrated is what gives you the power you need to fight.”

The ball of fire in his hand twisted, forming into the fiery gauntlets that Renais would have seen two days ago in the arena. “This is one way I use my magic, keeping it as a sleeve around my hand right up until I make contact with my target. At that point, I push the spell forward into them.” The flames twisted back into a ball in his hand, and he whipped it forward out into the air where it traveled a short distance before exploding harmlessly in the air. “If I’m trying to use it at a range, I use a ball, allowing it to travel without dispersing into the air and wasting the power of the spell.” He stepped back and gestured to her. “So first, simply try to summon a wind spell in a dense enough form that you can keep it solid as opposed to just a gust of air. Focus on the shape more than the power for now.”

Renais simply kept quiet during his explanation, nodding from time to time to make sure Cin knew she was paying attention. At this point the voice that told her to run away was more or less silenced, magical theory tended to do that to the pinkette. She watched in awe as Cin used his fire magic with ease. “Hmm…concentrated magic. I understand.” She nodded, then stared down at her new book. “Summon a wind spell…ok, I can do that.” She slowly opened the book and read over the letters inside with a small gulp. 

’...oh dammit, the nerves are back. Why now? Is it because Cin is watching?’ She looked aside. ’Come on now…this should be easy. You can do this Renais…’ “Wind…wind…wind…” She chanted a bit to herself, it probably wouldn’t help the spell itself but it helped her regardless. After a few seconds had passed Renais only managed to make the wind around her slightly drift past her hair. But nothing else had happened. “...ah…hm…” She couldn’t help but look frustrated.

“Ah, ha, well.” Cin hadn’t really expected that. A wild burst of wind, Renais unable to keep the shape controlled, sure. But unable to even really summon anything, that was surprising given the control she had over her healing magic. Frowning, he sighed and then sat down on the grass, patting the space next to him, inviting her to sit as well. “I suppose I shouldn’t have put this off until the end of the lesson then. You see, there’s one other part of magic that’s important but it, well, can be tricky sometimes. And that’s intent.”

He leaned back on his hands, staring up at the sky for a few long seconds, before continuing. “You see, to me, magic has always been driven by two things. One is my energy supplying it. That’s a physical limitation. As evidenced by my collapse yesterday, you can push yourself too much and have your magic fail because of that. By the end of the fight, I’m not sure I could have summoned my fire even if I had wanted to do so. But there’s another thing that can keep your magic from working right and that’s the intent behind the spell. At least that’s how it’s worked for me. It reacts to my emotions, which you would have seen in the arena. I was letting it flare far beyond what I normally would have let it because of how angry I was. To the point of it covering my whole arm as opposed to just my fist. And, I don’t say this lightly, my magic control was at the top of my class.”

He glanced over at her, a question in his eyes. “So for someone who so clearly has such control over her healing magic, there’s something else going on here. Now, it could just be you’re not familiar with wind magic. The issue there is, well, if that’s the problem, I’m not going to be able to fix it. We could try and get one of the other casters to help out, heck maybe Tio would give you lessons instead of me. Which, if that’s what you want, I wouldn’t fault you. But the other option is. Mmm. Something up here,” he reached out gently and tapped her forehead, “is keeping you from pulling that spell out. This talk usually comes at the end of the lesson because it’s about a different view of intent. Of intent to kill vs intent to protect and defend, that sort of thing. How magic isn’t evil, but the way that you use it can be. More of a warning than an explanation. But I guess maybe sometimes it needs to come first. So... Should I go get Tio for you instead of me?”

Renais looked a bit frustrated that the spell just wouldn’t work. But when Cin offered to sit next to him she took him up on his offer. She planted next to him and brought her legs up a bit as he talked. “Intent…hm.” Healing magic certainly was more passive, whereas offensive magic was in a different bracket. “I guess that explains why you nearly burned yourself out the other day, how worrying…” When he tapped her forehead it brought a blush across her cheeks. “Hm…no, I’d rather not bother Tio with this. I think I know what the issue is anyway…I’m nervous.” She looked aside and took a small sigh. “I’m not as experienced as the other Tigers when it comes to combat, I tense up when fighting happens. Sometimes I just want to go hide in a bed and not wake up…” She turned back to Cin. “But…more than anything I wanna break that. If I’m going to be working with Liza I can’t be scared to see combat, so I’ll do my best to kick these nerves no matter what.”

“Ah, yeah. That morning I was a bad combination of angry and tired. I was putting a lot of will into my fighting but. Well, timeless casting requires even more of your energy than normal casting does, so it’s even harder on your body. I would have been fine if not for that final hit but. Better I took it than some others probably.” He shook his head, putting that to the side for now. 

He smirked slightly at the blush that popped onto her face as he tapped her forehead, but turned serious as she explained more about her concerns with fighting. “Well, as cute as that blush was, it’s not likely to protect you in combat, so I think your desire is good. But I also think it explains some of this.” He leaned back on his hands again, giving her a side glance as he considered his options for how to move forward. “You’re right. You’re nervous. But you’re nervous a lot, and it doesn’t stop you from healing. But this tensing up that you describe, mmm, yeah that could be the issue. So two options, I’ll let you choose. First, we focus on just casting the spells at all. Not focusing on attacking them, just on controlling the magic.” 

He summoned a small flame, slowly flipping it between shapes, a circle, a square, a diamond, a teardrop. “Like this. It’s a calming exercise I use a lot. When I’m nervous or anxious, this can help calm me down. By focusing on the shape, you take away the ability to focus on the emotions and instead only on the magic. The ooooother option, well, we should do this at some point anyways, but. We do a little combat practice. You vs me, no magic, just getting used to moving your body like you’ll need to if you’re attacked close range. I obviously wouldn’t be using full strength, I’ll just gently tap you, not actually punch. But we get you used to moving, used to countering, and that can help remove some of the anxiety and stress. And it can help push you through that instinct to freeze in battle. Which we will need to break you of. Otherwise it will happen at the worst possible moment and you’ll regret it forever. Ok?”

Cin really was talented at making shapes, she couldn’t help but watch in awe. “...just watching is rather calming.” She then looked over at him as he offered combat training, and almost gawked in surprise. But she held her emotions back. “Ah well…let’s focus on controlling magic first.” She smiled a little as she stood up. “I’d rather know my weapon first before I consider combat…and shapes could help settle my nerves anyway.” She took a breath and raised the tome up once more. ‘Just relax…focus on the spell…’

Renais seemed a bit more focused this time. She shut her eyes and let the wind flow from the pages. This time the wind was actually gathering properly into a small jade gale, and that gale shaped itself into something interesting. A music note. “?” Renais opened one eye and saw the note before her. “...did I make this?” She looked rather surprised at herself for some reason.

“Hehe, can’t say I’m surprised by your choice. Somehow I didn’t think having a giant half dragon swinging at you would be your first choice. But I had to make the offer, you know?” He chuckled, leaning back to watch her work. There, the first signs of the wind made itself known, before slowly taking the green form he was used to and then forming into... a music note?

“Well, I can confirm you made it, yes.” He leaned in, inspecting it before nodding approval. “It’s got good form, pretty solid, all around a pretty good start. I can’t say I’ve seen people fight by flinging music notes at their enemies, but there’s a first time for anything.” He looked up at her face and raised an eyebrow. “So, music, huh? Something there you want to share? Usually if you’re not purposely trying to put it in any one shape, that means there’s something in your subconscious that is bending it into that shape. Magic wouldn’t naturally form into a note like that after all.”

Even as Cin made his very slick quips and inspected the object before them, Renais’ eyes were entirely on the note itself. She looked a bit bewildered, as she slowly turned her eyes to Cin when he asked. “...I’m not quite sure to be honest. Believe it or not I’ve never really taken music lessons at the academy, though my roommate has told me I have a good singing voice. She overheard me humming in the shower.” She turned back to the winds before her, which had still retained its musical shape.. ‘I don’t even know what this note is supposed to be. It does have a good shape if nothing else, rather authentic. It could certainly pass for an eighth note if an expert…wait. I know that note after all?’ More confusion spread across her face.

“Hmm, interesting.” He frowned, shifting his sitting position to more of a crouch as he inspected the magical note again. “Ok, I want you to try two things for me here. And I know it might sound crazy, but I promise I have a reason behind this. First, I want you to try and make more music notes out of magic. Then, and I know this is weird, but I want you to try and channel your magic while either humming or singing. Magic... If you try and form it into something familiar to you, it can go a little easier sometimes. Like my gauntlets that I can make. And even though you don’t know why it is, your magic seems to want to turn to music. So I just. Want to see if it helps.”

“You want me to make more notes?” She turned back to the spell in her hand. ‘Well, he has a point. For some reason my magic does want to make music. So…’ “Ok, I’ll give it a shot, Cin.” She took a breath and closed her eyes again to create more music notes. Almost as if it were as easy as breathing to Renais, she actually managed to make more out of the winds around her and they gathered before her in a row like a score. The notes didn’t seem to do much beyond slowly hover before the pinkette. She stared at each one in curiosity.

“Ok. Next I have to focus my magic, and then start humming…” Renais was a bit too embarrassed to start singing to Cin, so she stuck with humming instead. So she began to hum a simple tune, probably not one Cin would recognize. But it was something she heard her sister hum every now and then. Renais had a very nice voice. Once she got a good rhythm going, something cute happened. The magical notes started to spin and bounce in their places!

“Well then.” Cin settled back on his haunches, tail slowly swishing back and forth as he considered what he saw. “Your magic certainly reacts to music. I wonder why? It’s not unheard of, certainly. That’s why I suggested you try it in the first place, because I’ve seen some similar things before. There was one student at my school that had to be dancing to get their magic started. But it’s something they know, something they’re familiar with. And you say you’re not really familiar with music at all?” 

Frowning, he stood up, pacing back and forth for a few seconds as he considered this mystery. “When you heal people, hmm, when you heal them, do you imagine music in your head or anything like that? What happens if you hum or sing when you try to channel that magic?’ He stopped his pacing, turning back to her. “We don’t need to solve this today. I suspect that now that you know this about your magic, you’ll be able to channel spells well enough to attack with them and we can work with this. Attacking people with music notes would be something I might pay to see, heh,” he chuckled at the image as he crossed his arms, considering the pink haired healer. “But this might be something that you want to talk to the Evokers about long term, they may be able to help you figure out why music triggers your magic like this.”

Dancing to get magic started? That sounded interesting. Though as curious as Renais was she had to focus on her own training. “Ah, my healing…” She took out her staff and took a look at it. “When I use my healing magic all I need to do is focus my thoughts on mending wounds, there wasn’t a trick to it really.” She looked back at the magical notes, which had danced around the air at this point. “This is the first time I’ve really done other magic outside of healing, so…maybe this is something to bring up with Tio. But from the sound of it, this might be a part of me…”

She stared at the music notes as they started to dance some more, and her eyes narrowed as she got lost in her thoughts. ’Music and my magic. So confusing. Why…?’ The notes started to give off some faint sounds, they were trying to play the tune that Renais hummed before. She stared at them curiously, it was hypnotic actually. But suddenly Renais gasped out and fell to her knee, she reached for her head. "A-ah..."

Cinaed had been listening to Renais, but had mostly been watching the notes dancing around. When all of a sudden two entirely unexpected things happened in quick succession. First, the magic seemed to start playing music, matching the tune that Renais had been humming earlier. And then Renais collapsed. Racing over to her, Cin quickly placed a steadying arm around her shoulders. “Renais. Renais, can you hear me? Are you ok? What’s going on?” Was this his fault? Had he pushed her too far with the training? “I can go get Tio, just hold on, please be ok.” He wouldn’t leave until he either got a response or she got worse, in which case he was going to be carrying her back to the camp immediately.

When Cin put his hand on her shoulder, Renais took a breath as she tried to focus. The magical musical notes suddenly stopped and dispersed into the air. When that happened, Renais slowly lowered her hand. She stared out into the air in confusion, but she seemed alright at the moment. “...ah I…Cin?” She turned to him. “...I’m ok now. I’m…not sure what that was. But don’t worry.”

Cin squatted down next to her, gently pulling her into a hug. “Too late for that, I’m worrying for you whether you want me to or not.” He disengaged from the hug, but kept a hand on her shoulder as he leaned back to get a good look at her eyes. “Here, look at me for a second, ok? Are you sure you’re ok? Have you ever had anything like this happen before? Fainting spells, sudden headaches, anything? I don’t want to be the reason that this all happened, if the magic triggered it, we’re stopping these lessons until we can get some answers.”

Renais couldn’t help but blush when he pulled her into a hug, though she couldn’t help but (very silently) grumble to herself about being hugged without permission. But it was Cin, and he was worried so she didn’t complain or argue. “...Cin.” She turned her head to him. “Mm…this is my first time using offensive magic so I’m not sure but…well…” She hesitated a bit. “Don’t freak out but…when I was trying to get to my next class I was late, so I took a shortcut to get to it and I came across the band room and then…the next thing I knew I was in the infirmary room.”

He nodded, trying to not freak out as requested, his tail tapping the ground behind him. “So there is something with music. Right then. We’ve got two options here that I can see. One, we try and use your magic without music. Or we go talk to the Evokers right now and see if they have any idea what might be going on.” He dropped his hand from her shoulder, sighing. “I know there was no way I could have known this would happen, but I still feel bad. But there’s something about music that’s causing this I think. I don’t know what happened in your past, but. Are you sure there’s nothing else you can think of?” He stopped, closing his eyes for a second before opening them again with a shake of his head. “Sorry. I’ll stop pushing. You have a right to your privacy. But I do think this is something worth talking to Tio and Elisa about. They know so much more about magic than I do, they may be able to figure out what’s going on.”

Cin was so concerned, it made Renais feel bad. “Mm…I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you an issue I’ve had for a while with Tio and Elisa. Gean and Miria know, so maybe they could help too. But…” She inched closer to Cin as she put a hand on her shoulder in return. “Thank you, Cin. I know this seems scary…but I’m ok now really. I appreciate your concern.” She gave a small smile to him. “I think until we figure this out…I agree we should put training on hold.”

Smiling down at her, Cin reached out and gently ruffled Renais’s hair. “It’s the smart thing to do. As for talking to the Evokers, I can be there if you want, but I don’t need to be. What’s important to me is that you’re looking out for yourself and that eventually this gets figured out. Not because of me wanting you to learn magic, but because I want you to be ok.” He nodded at the wind tome in her hand. “Keep that though. It’s yours, not mine. And some day, you’ll be able to use it, I know. If you do want me around for talking with Tio and Elisa, just let me know when you plan to talk to them. Otherwise, just let me know if you need any sort of help from me, alright?” He was still worried. Seeing her collapse like that had terrified him. He was helpless here, if he admitted the truth, so all he could do was hope the Evokers would be able to fix this somehow.

“You really are nice, Cin. I’m sorry I was ever rude to you…” She slowly stood up. “Ok, I’ll let you know when I go talk to them. Until then…I think I’m going to go rest for a bit. I’m a little tired.” She picked up the tome and closed it. “Have a good afternoon, Cin. Talk soon.” She smiled at him again.

“It’s not something you need to worry about. Water under the bridge, I promise. Go get some rest, it’ll be good for you.” He stayed behind, watching her walk off, before sighing, staring up at the sky. This had gotten far too complicated for him, way too fast. Hopefully they would be able to find a path forward.

Renais walked along, and as soon as she was sure she was out of sight she turned to a tree and took a big sigh. "...what's happening to me? I promised someone...I'd teach them how to play the piano, but...who was it? Why would I promise that?" She noticed a tear roll down from her eye to her cheek, and quickly wiped it. "..." She looked frustrated but walked along to her tent to get some rest. 

 

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Cinaed sat with his back against a tree on the edge of the clearing where their group had settled for the moment. He had a pale grey square of cloth in his hand, alongside a needle and embroidery thread, working intently on a project. Next to him were a few discarded attempts at the pattern, as well as a sketch of what he was converting into an embroidered pattern. He glanced up from his project, spotting Gean across the clearing from him, and he could feel his cheeks get warm. The memory of the night they'd left Eibar returned, unbidden, and he couldn't help the smile that crept across his face.

Spoiler

Cinaed barely stifled a yawn as he made his way through their stopping area. The previous night and the morning’s battle were really starting to catch up with him, but he had promised Gean that he would talk to her before too much time had passed. Finally, he spotted her, alone thankfully, pacing back behind and away from the rest of the group. He hesitated, rubbing his eyes, carefully and with his palm rather than the back of his hand to avoid the scales, but finally made his way over to her with a small wave. 

“Gean, I, you said you needed to talk to me?” The last time the two of them had talked alone suddenly popped into his head, combined with her new outfit leaving his cheeks warm as he tried to keep himself steady. That wasn’t why he was here, she’d mentioned having something to give him, that was all. And after that... well. “Are you ok? Why are you back here alone?” Focus on that, that was safe.

Gean had been on edge ever since the fortune teller earlier in the day, she cried in her room until an hour or so before it was time to leave. She tried to keep smiles and laughs during the trip, but once things settled in, her mind wandered back to that vision. So many questions were hers now, and she feared that she would never find out the answers. Or even worse, she’d gain the answers too late.

She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she nearly jumped when Cin called her name. “Ah, hey. Was just thinking about things.” She fumbled trying to regain her composure. She had all but forgotten she was supposed to speak with him. “So uh, how you feeling big guy?”

“I mean, still tired, haven’t really had a chance to sleep yet, but... Are you sure you’re ok? We can talk some other time if you want. You seem. Mmm.” He shook his head. It was probably just him misreading the situation because he was tired. “Sorry. You said you were just lost in thought, I should believe you.” He yawned again, before giving a shrug and sitting down on the ground. “Sorry for sitting like this, not tall enough compared to you to really do this like with some but. Like I said, tired.”

He gestured to the ground next to him, tilting his head up at her. “Like I said, I can come back some other time. But. I wouldn’t mind just spending some time with a friend right now. Even if we don’t talk about anything? I just, people would be nice right now. Well, person. I guess. Today has just been. A lot. You know?”

Gean pouted at the sitting boy and put her hands on her hips. "I thought I told you twice today to get some rest, hard head." She then let out a sigh. "I guess at this point it doesn't matter. I'll keep you company for now." Suddenly Gean snapped her fingers. "Oh right. Let me grab your present really quick." With that the girl dashed back to camp.

The Clouded returned a minute later with her hands behind her back. "So earlier while you guys were offing the last of the crows, I went and helped out one of the houses." She bobbed back and forth as she told the story. "Inside was a certain person from the arena, who gave me a mission to give you these!" She then pulled out the gauntlets she had behind her back. "Ta-da! Oh and he also had a message. 'Tell him that he needs to come back one day so we can have another fight, so that I can actually show him my moves, Curtis sent ya'. Looks like you have a fan."

“When exactly...” But then she was off, running back to the camp before returning with a present. From Curtis. “Ah. We fought in the arena. I. By all rights I should have lost to him. But my magic flared, I was still so angry over my fight with Rustal and I. Mmm. Got lucky. He didn’t get a hit in because of it, which I felt bad about.” He took the gauntlets, giving them a once over before placing them to his side and staring off into the distance.

“I’m going to have to go back there. Some day. I made too many promises to not. Honestly, I. No, never mind.” It wouldn’t do to focus on that for now. Back to her calling him out for not sleeping then. “As for rest, look, I. I really did mean to. But first I had to take a bath, get rid of all the blood and grime from me and my clothes. Then when I got back to the room, I.” He flinched, a motion almost too small to notice, but if Gean was paying attention, she would see it. 

“I realized my vest was torn too badly to keep wearing. So I looked for my thread but must have lost it somewhere along the way. I stopped by the magic store and a, uh, fortune teller on my way to the clothing shop, because. Well, I’m training Renais. So she needs a tome. And then I was just curious.” He realized his excuses were flimsy at best, but they were what he had. “When I got to the shop, Tio wanted to. Mmm. Talk. And then I had to go back and re-re-repaiiiiir,” the stifled yawn finally escaped mid-word, causing Cin to hastily cover his mouth with an embarrassed look. “Repair my vest. Couldn’t keep wearing it with it half falling off. So it just. All sort of happened. I’ll sleep soon. Hopefully.”

Well Cin was glad to have his gauntlets. And that was good. Last thing for the day on Gean's list for the day done. He began to talk about returning to Eibar some day, which was nice. Gean was enjoying hearing him talking about his day…

Her annoyance slowly returned as Cin kept pausing in his retelling of the day. From the flinch, to the half baked excuses, Gean could tell he was hiding or trying to leave out bits of the story. Not to mention he didn't sleep like she and the girls asked him to. "Right then. Oh you did offer me to sit down, I should take that." And take the offer to sit she did. Right on Cin's lap.

“I, wha- Gean, what?” He blushed hard enough that it was visible even with his darker skin, as he started to raise his hands up, as if to grab her off of him, then he lowered them, clearly unsure what to do. The realization that an extremely attractive woman, in an extremely attractive outfit, was sitting on his lap was one that was rapidly making its way through his whole self, leaving him a stuttering mess.”W-why are, I-, Gean. Uhm.” His tail wrapped around his side, moving to rest up against Gean’s legs, gently sliding around her ankles before he really realized what it was doing. “Th-there’s lots of ground. Not that I. I mean, not upset. Just. Uhm. Hi?”

Gean took a few seconds to get comfortable and closed her eyes while the boy behind her melted. "I'm just getting myself ready to listen. A certain friend of mine is poorly hiding things from me, after ignoring the advice and wishes of multiple people." There was a tinge of annoyance in her voice, the events of earlier today not helping her keep her emotions in check. Hell, if she hadn't been as worked up from her own situation earlier in the day, she might not have taken the spot she chose.

"Cinead. Promise me one thing. I don't know everything that's going on, and if it's truly something you wish to withhold I'll leave it at that. But, don't run away from things, or your emotions." Gean put a hand on his tail, speaking softly, but loud enough that he could still hear her. "All that does is worsen things on both sides when it finally does catch up to you." Pot calling the kettle huh there Gean?

“I... Gean...” He sighed, sneaking out one hand to place his hand on top of hers. He gently rested his head on her shoulder, eyes closed but answering her plee with his words. “It’s Ingverd. We argued last night, about him bringing the Crows down on us. And taking Rustal’s hand. So I stayed up to keep watch, in case they attacked by night. Maybe it was dumb, but I don’t regret that. I do regret how I fought with him, but not my disagreement. And then.” He shook his head, keeping it on her shoulder while he did, enjoying the softness of her new poncho. “I tried to apologize. For my tone and for getting angry that he taunted the Crows. I did that myself in the arena. I just think he pushed too far. And then didn’t warn anyone. You know?”

His talk with Tio still fresh in his mind, he continued, somewhat rambling. “It just seemed like he didn’t care about any of us. That if we died we died. And his responses to me during my attempted apology turned second argument seemed to confirm that. So I was just. So upset. Like I’d just ruined everything because I cared about the group. He’s going to be bunking away from me moving forward. And hanging out with the ‘more reasonable’ Tigers. So then I just couldn’t sleep even if I wanted to. So then I did everything else. Which ended in a talk with Tio.” He finally lifted his head up off her shoulder, facing up towards the stars instead. “Where she tried her best to convince me that Ingverd really does care about all of us. About me. Specifically. And now I’m just confused and sad and maybe I should have just stayed back in Eibar and saved the Tigers from this naive idiot I apparently am.” 

Gean sighed. “Hey now, none of that. Yes, you were naive, and he probably has his reasons. I think.” Gean still didn’t trust Ingverd, but he went and said he would help her, even after finding the truth about her. So it wouldn’t be completely out of left field that the man had some stake in the Tigers. “However you did have the group's interest in mind. Maybe should have warned someone else, but we made it through anyway.” Another sigh left her lips. “And to think, if you actually took some proper rest earlier things might have gone differently.” She gave his tail a small tap with her thumb. “The thing you should be thinking about now is, how will you go forward from here? This group is together till the mission is finished. And distanced or not, you two won’t be able to avoid each other forever, or make it awkward whenever the two of you do end up in the same spot. I’m not saying you have to like him. But just avoiding each other seems a little childish don’t you think?”

“You don’t have to answer that tonight, but do give it thought. Since distancing yourself has done you no favors so far.” She got all she wanted to say on the matter out of her system. Her curiosity did fall back on one of the things he did share freely. “So, you went to the fortune teller too?” 

“Everyone else was already asleep. And if no attack came, I just end up looking stupid. So I just.” He stopped, realizing she wouldn’t accept that excuse and let his head thud down on her shoulder again, looking down at his lap, and the woman sitting in it. She was leaning gently against his chest, and he couldn’t help as his gaze followed the curve of her body down. He gulped, quickly redirecting his eyes. As he did, he spotted a glint of purple and blue from her arm, something he had never noticed. “You’re right, of course. I should have told someone. But I don’t have a solution to everything else. I don’t want to avoid him, but I wasn’t really given a choice in the matter. And maybe he was right, maybe we are disposable for the sake of the mission. If we couldn’t beat the Crows, what right would we have trying to do everything else we have to do?”

He shook his head, enjoying the warmth he could feel on his forehead, almost forgetting the awkwardness of the situation. Stifling another yawn, he raised a hand, gently pushing the sleeve of the poncho ever so slightly higher, exposing the scales that had caught his eye with their glints of color. “You have scales? I don’t think I ever noticed.” His tired brain was working a little slow right now, and as he gently traced the air in the pattern of her scales, he couldn’t stop the next quiet words that slipped out.

“Mmm, they’re very pretty... Like you.”

A second later, the connection between what he had said and what he had planned to say was made in his brain and he jerked, almost dislodging her from his lap for a second, before he managed to recover, his hand pulling back from her arm as if he had just been burned. “Err, yes, fortune teller. I went to her. Think she showed me the past, not the future though. You said too? That means you went to see her? Did she show you anything important?” Please. Please just ignore what slipped out. I didn’t mean. I don’t want to chase you away too.

Cin was being very forward in being comfortable with how close the two were. While she couldn’t see him she was aware of his shifting while he continued on. And then asked her a question she didn't expect. "Of course silly. I am Clou-"

'they’re very pretty... Like you.'

Gean's head slowly rose up, and she gained both a light blush, and a small grin. Remember Gean. He's sleep deprived. He's not fully with you. Or, now that he's so groggy, he's actually speaking from the hear- No. Don't push it, you remember what happened last time. Just take it slow. Slowly leaning back towards him she started to twirl a lock while answering his other question. 

"Y-yeah I did see something important. Well, someone very dear to me who I haven't seen in a long time. It's kinda why I was pacing back and forth when you found me." She was having such a good time with Cin, and didn't want to ruin the mood with unpleasant thoughts. So she changed the topic to him.  "How about you? Something interesting coming your way? Maybe someone special in your future?"

Thankfully she didn’t push him on what slipped out, leaving it behind, though she did seem to shift further back towards him, a motion that could be accidental or could be- No, leave it. She’s a friend, don’t push this. Don’t remember her staring into your eyes that first night, just. Figure it out later. When she’s not sitting on your lap. He sighed, not moving away from  her, enjoying the comforting warmth too much to disengage, but all too aware she was just using it as a way to play with him. Still though, he couldn’t help but want to reach out again, wrap an arm around her, pull her closer... No! Answer her questions, stop this.

A long pause was finally broken as he cleared his throat, glad she couldn’t see his face right now, and nodded. “Right, I mean, I knew you were Clouded I just. They were covered up, you know. And I guess I never knew what kind of Clouded you were. For all I knew, you had some sort of wings or tail hidden somehow.” The tone was light, joking, doing his best to mask the turmoil below the surface. Turmoil that broke suddenly at her explanation of her fortune.

“Ah, an old friend then? I’m. Sorry if it’s hard. I don’t really. I guess I don’t really know what it’s like to be missing someone like that. The only people I’ve really ever had in my life long term are my parents and I love them and miss them obviously but. I know where they are and that I can go see them when I have the time. So I’m guessing it’s different for you just... by your tone.” He hesitated, unsure if he was about to do something because of her emotions or his, but he threw caution to the wind a little and leaned in, wrapping his arms around her in a quick tight squeeze. “If you need to talk, about anything? I hope you know that you can trust me.” 

Releasing her perhaps a tad slower than he normally would have, he settled back, leaning on his hands as he looked up at the stars again, remembering this vision that he had seen. “Mmm, no, mine was strange. Like I said, I think she showed me the past because, well, I saw. My clan. It’s these golden scales, you see. The ones I have mixed in among my red ones. My mother always told me they marked me as a member of the Astuikami Clan, a Lufirian Fire Dragon clan that lived near the Sands. We’re the only dragons that have these golden scales. So when I saw a bunch of golden scaled dragons, along with one I knew, well. He could have only been Chrysostomos. Tomos. My grandfather. Who died alongside the rest of my clan besides my mother back when Islexia... So even though they were welcoming me, it couldn’t have been my future. Especially when the next image.” He stopped, eyes closed, remembering the horror. “There was a long red haired man, surrounded by the incinerated corpses of my clan. I don’t know who or what is powerful enough to incinerate fully mature fire dragons, but I do know my clan is gone. They would have never left my mother in Glacies otherwise.”

Gean couldn't deny that she enjoyed Cin's hug. It was… safe. In a way Gean hadn't felt in a while. But then Cin retracted his hand before she could return the gesture. She let out a small sigh and returned to the conversation at hand. He then began to talk about his own experience with the teller. It was nice to hear him speak so openly about his family. He really did love them. Then he got to the strange part. The scene was a heavier tone than what she was expecting, but one thing definitely stuck out to her. Long red hair and fire magic. That sounds like… no that can't be. One that man was Lufirian as far as I know, and two that's way too coincidental considering my talk with Vira. Still… Gean wanted to believe she was overthinking things, and yet there was a small part of her heart that refused to dismiss the notion.

She didn't notice that she had her hand or her chin, or that she had been quiet for that long. Heck she barely registered that she wasn't alone at the moment.

Well something in there had managed to silence her. The tragedy of it perhaps, or the strange fact that apparently a past had been shown instead of a future. He hesitated, giving her a few long seconds, and then finally pulled together his courage, reaching out and gently rubbing the arm she was using to support her chin. "Gean? I. Are you ok? Was it something I said?" 

He gently pulled at her, pulling her in closer, snug against his body, before sneaking his hand under her chin, all too reminiscent of the move that had sent him running not all that long ago, and half turning her head so that he could see her face at least somewhat. "I didn't think I could shock you into silence... I'm pretty sure that vision was of the past. Not my future. So you don't need to worry about it causing problems, ok?" He was still confused. He'd expected some sort of reaction, reassurance that visions like this didn't need to come true, something. Not this silence.

Touch. Suddenly there was a hand on Gean's arm, rubbing her scales. And then one on her chin, that wasn't her own. "Wha?" Suddenly she was once again looking into ember like eyes. This time it was different though. Those eyes were looking back at her. Her blush from earlier returned, and she turned her head away out of reflex and to try and come up with a response. "Um. Y-yeah you're right. It shouldn't be anything too big. I'm probably overthinking things." So this is how it feels. Someone is fine feeling bold. Geez. "It's getting late, and from the looks of things we both should get some sleep." Gean then realized she was trapped like she wanted earlier, and her blush only got hotter. Emotions were conflicting inside of her.

Cinaed raised an eyebrow as Gean blushed and pulled her chin away, though she didn't try to move his other hand, still gently running up and down her arm. And it seemed his gaze wasn't the only thing she was trying to avoid, as she side stepped his question, implying that she had thoughts on it but didn't want to share them. He considered his options for a moment, wondering if letting it go for now was the right move when he realized that, despite her words, she hadn't made any move to pull away. 

"Mmm, you know, you're probably right. It is getting late, and we're both probably tired." Even as he was saying it though, his arms snaked around her, pulling her close, as his chin came to rest on her shoulder. He continued to muse, words floating right into her ear. "But. You know. I'm comfortable here. And if I might point something out, you don't seem to object too much either. What I'm more worried about is that you seemed to be avoiding something again." 

His tail gently wrapped around Gean's ankle, as he continued to hold her, giving a pause for her to consider her situation. "Now. I'll let go the second you tell me to. Promise. But. I care about you. A lot. And. And." Oh just say it, you're already wrapped around her. "And it's not just because I think you're beautiful." Even if those pants did nearly kill me earlier. Finally though, the dragon was on more comfortable ground. She hadn't objected to any of his moves, she hadn't run away when he called her pretty earlier, even if it had been an accident. Time to stop always finding himself on the defensive and take some offensive action of his own.

"I suppose I see three paths forward from here. One, you object, I let go, we both pretend this didn't happen in the morning. Personally, my least favorite path. Two, I don't let go, but don't push on these things you seem to want to avoid. Or three... I keep holding on but also we maybe talk a bit more about whatever it is you were apparently over thinking. The choice is yours though." He waited, warm breath still tickling her ear, as he hoped above all that she didn't pick option one.

Well, Cin had completely turned the tables on her. Yes she didn't want him to run away from her, but she wasn't ready for him to lock her down like this. She tilted her head down, letting her dreads cover her face in a vain attempt to hide her growing blush. She couldn't tell if the heat she was feeling was from her or the dragon behind her. On top of that, he went and threw her words right back at her. Right. You said don't run away. 

Gean placed her hands on his. Not to take them off, but not to keep them there either. His acknowledgement of her avoiding had brought her back down just a bit, so she decided to share what was bothering her. "Cin, I'm scared. Something really bad happened when I was young. Something I had no power over, and no choice but to run from. And now I fear that same thing is coming back and will hurt the people I care about. I fear I won't be strong enough to face it. What I fear the most is that I'll have no choice but to run away again." Gean felt weary once again spilling herself out like this. Keeping things a secret for so long, and then opening up to people over the course of a few days definitely wasn't so easy.

"Can we just sit like this? I don't wanna be alone with my thoughts right now." Gean fell silent. Her brain and her heart felt drained.

“Hey now. It’s ok.” Her words hit hard, a past she ran from that was now coming to get her again. That might hurt those around her, force her to run again. He tightened his grip on her, feeling a sudden but strong desire to protect her and to never let her go. “I. I can’t promise that your past won’t come find you again. But I do promise you won’t face it alone. Hey, come on, look at me here.” When she didn’t, still staring at her lap, dreads covering her face, he untangled their hands, using his now free hand to once again gently guide her face up as he leaned around to look into her eyes, refusing to let go easily this time. 

“I’m not going to let this past of yours come and take you away from us. F-from me. I don’t need to know all the details of your past, we don’t need to talk any more about this tonight. But I do need you to hear this.” He hesitated, gathering up his courage, staring deep into her blue eyes. Finally, he took a deep breath and then leaned in, laying a gentle kiss on her lips. Pulling back after a short second, he looked back into her eyes and continued. “I’m not going to abandon you. I’ll fight these things that are coming for you, or if you choose to run, I’ll be right by your side. But you’re not alone. You have me and the rest of the Tigers here to back you up.”

He let go of her chin, lowering his hand down to cover hers instead. He gently snuggled against her again, hoping that he hadn’t just ruined it all. “We can sit like this as long as you like. I promise I won’t leave you alone.” For as long as you want me around, I’ll be here. 

Once again Gean was struck. It had been less than a week since she had met this man, but Cin was worming his way right into her heart. He had reminded her that she wasn't alone. That people were with her who would help her face her fears.

His next act definitely left her speechless. She hadn't expected him to go for a kiss, but the events of the night had left her with no energy left to respond. No sass, no readied rebuttal. He was willing to honor her request, so she turned back around slowly and let herself rest on him. No more words were said. Just the silence of the night enveloping the two.

Neither of them had brought up that night again since, with him giving her a little bit of space during their travel, not wanting to push things too far. But he wasn't going to leave it alone forever. Perhaps sooner rather than later even. But for now, in the little bit of down time that they had, he was happy to just sit here working on this gift. He'd made good progress, but there was still a decent amount of detail work to finish before he could present it.

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Laniva stood off to the side in the clearing wielding a practice blade, focused on her swordwork. The carts left little room for physical activity, and while she didn't mind the rough travel - she'd had enough experience in these kinds of conditions already - she had found herself wanting for a little more time, like she would have had back at base. Their travel had been unhampered so far, most likely thanks to the good route that had been chosen. It certainly made their job simple.

Her thoughts started to wander a little, possibly from the calm mood in their camp, drifting to the dress she'd gotten in Eibar. It was still with her; she'd tucked it away deep in her things, not to be seen again until... until quite some time from now, to say the least. She couldn't really picture a scenario calling for her to wear it again, but maybe she was just lacking in imagination...

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Alriana had perched herself in a tree on the edge of the clearing, coincidentally the same tree that Cinaed was sat at on the ground. She watched him work for a while, unsure what exactly he was doing, before shifting her gaze to the other members of their mercenary group. She'd watch someone, switch to a new person, repeat until she cycled back to Cinaed, and then do it all over again. It was nice to be out in nature, even if all she'd known was the city for the majority of her life. A whole new world, much like Islexia was to Glacies. That's probably how it is everywhere. Everywhere is so different when compared to everywhere else. Maybe if there's money left after finding Grelbiria we can travel... She internally mused, shifting her position on the branch some.

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Aegean made her way slowly back to camp. The last few nights had been, eventful to say the least. But talking to a handful of people, and taking the chance to swim whenever possible, she managed to keep herself together.

Coming up towards the wagons, she began looking for something to snack on. "I could've sworn I had an apple in my bag." Gean muttered to herself as she rummaged through her stuff inside of the cart.

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As Aegean rummaged through her things and the rest of the group relaxed, blissfully enjoying their stop to tend to their tired wagon riding needs... The crate nearest the edge of the wagon jostled slightly, a groan escaping it. Then... Silence, once more.

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The last few days had been interesting to Renais, though thankfully she hadn't had an episode like the training session with Cin. She had to find the Evokers to get a handle on what was going on with her head. "Hm..." She turned her head toward Gean as she approached the wagons, and after a minute of thought she decided to join her. "Gean?" She approached. "Looking for some food? We should probably talk to the others about a meal soon." Her hearing picked up something odd though, and it came from the wagon itself. "?"

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Syndra was resting near a tree by the wagons, taking in the pleasant night air, and being absorbed in thought. Her group was soon making its way into Islexia proper, which brought natural concerns of how the "fine, upstanding citizens" of the place she called home would take to her group, but more importantly to her, the fear her family would find out about them. She knew she would have to come into conflict with them eventually, but also didn't believe she was ready to take them on. If my family catches wind of this they'll all be in trouble, regardless of how arrogantly confident the Evokers believe in their own power. She didn't want to think the Tigers were going to get into trouble solely because she was a part of them, the irrational hatred the Islexians have in general of the "impure" would have always seen to that; but the fear persisted. Syndra reached into her bag to pull out her letter again, brushing past the bottle of rum she'd taken back when the journey began. "Heh, maybe I should go find Dame Nyx and go handle this like she would." From where she was she could hear Aegean and Renais talking about food, but then nothing. Hmm... it's probably nothing. Noticing Aegean just made Syndra think about Nyx some more. If I'm really getting involved with Nyx, I'll have to tell both her and Aegean who I am. They both have a right to to know what they're getting into with me.

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Getting to Know You

Spoiler

As their group had taken a pause in their travels, Syndra had decided during one evening to go find Cinaed and speak with him. “Ah hello there Cinaed. You seem to be recovering well enough considering our encounter with the Crows. I’d like to speak to you about it a little if it would be alright with you.”

After the last two nights, first with Gean and everything that he was trying to not think about and then Renais collapsing after his suggestions on how to use her magic, Cinaed had been looking forward to a peaceful evening. He’d found a spot near camp but still away from most of the group where the moss was nice and soft and he could work on his embroidery project. But just as he had sat down and began to pull it out, one of the humans of the group, Syndra the mage, that was it, approached him. He stifled a sigh, putting the pouch of thread back in his pocket and nodded his acceptance.

“Of course. Thanks to some sleep and Renais working her magic on me, I’m back to normal at this point.” He hesitated at her request, wondering where this was going. He was somewhat expecting yet another lecture, most likely about his lack of sleep, but she had been upset at Ingverd as well. He wasn’t sure anymore what all he thought about Ingverd’s actions, but it couldn’t hurt to talk about it. “Yes, of course. Feel free to sit down, the ground is quite comfortable here. What all did you want to talk about with the Crows?”

Syndra accepted the offer, and sat down cross-legged on the moss. “Well I’m not here to lecture you on your sleeping habits, the others have done enough in that regard to make me think you learned your lesson there. I ‘spoke’ to Ingverd about what happened and he mentioned you by name when I was complaining to him about being set up like that. Did you know anything about what was going to happen to us that day?”

“Mmm, yeah, they all had it handled. Gean especially made me feel. Guilty. About it.” That was one way to put it. There was certainly some guilt built into that night, worry, everything. But that wasn’t what he needed to be focusing on right now. Looking back at Syn, he winced at the subject she chose. “Well, turns out the lack of sleep and that are connected. I found out late at night that he had done what he did. I’d known that we were likely to be attacked previously, after my arena run, and I told Commander Natalya about it. But after finding out, it was too late at night to tell everyone, the group was all pretty much asleep, so I stayed up to keep watch. And once everyone was gathered in the morning, I let the group know what was coming. I expect that Ingverd wasn’t exactly happy about your complaints?”

“He had said that if I had an issue with it, just like you, I should take it up with Natalya, who was fine with it because we got paid. But in reality what was she really going to do? Say no? Let the racists put our heads on pikes just over a disagreement about how the battle came to be? Of course not!” Syndra sighed. She had been asked the question and answered how she truly felt, but wasn’t certain it was her place to be putting her feelings in place of how her commander felt, even if she was right. After that she decided to turn the conversation back to Cinaed. “So you’re saying that you knew and didn’t tell anyone, but you were still concerned enough to keep a watch for the rest of us? I’m not going to be mad at you if you say yes, but I will have my own opinion on it.”

“He said something similar to me, and I agreed with you on the lack of a point in doing so. Though, if I’m being honest, with some time to cool off a little,” he hesitated and then sighed, continuing on. “I don’t have much issue with the what. The Crows needed to go, that town is much better off because of him goading them into attacking us, so be it. It’s just the not telling people or keeping watch in case they attacked at night. Especially given they were already likely to attack us given, well, mine and Alriana’s fights in the arena.” He knew looking back that Ingverd was right, they weren’t going to have left them alone even if he hadn’t removed Rustal’s hand, and he knew that Cin had told Natalya that. Which was part of what made it so frustrating. By escalating it the way he had, the chances of a night attack had been increased. Why hadn’t he at least informed Natalya?

Syndra changed subjects on him, focusing instead on his actions that night, her tone immediately putting him on the defensive. She claimed she wouldn’t be mad, but she clearly also didn’t think he was right for having done so. “Of course I was concerned. You think I would hear that Ingverd had chopped off a man’s hand and not be worried that they might attack us at night? But, well, look. Everyone was asleep as far as I was aware except for Ingverd who obviously knew the situation. So someone had to keep watch. I was awake, so it was on me. Now, I could have woken someone up part of the way through the night to swap off watch, sure. But given I had already warned Natalya that an attack might be coming, and the fact that, well, I didn’t really feel like going back to my room with Ingverd, and the fact that I’m a relatively unfamiliar man to all of the group still, what exactly was I supposed to do? How would you have reacted if I’d come into your room in the middle of the night and woken you up? This big hulking shadowy figure because I wouldn’t use a light if I was only trying to wake one person up. So I just stayed up. It was easier and I made it through the battle and if it hadn’t been for that final attack from their commander, no one would have needed to know I stayed up!”

He snapped his jaw shut, trying to calm himself at least a little. He was just frustrated with all of this. It had been bad enough dealing with Ingverd calling him an idiot for his actions, he didn’t need all of the Tigers doing it too. He’d thought that they would be over it by now. “Maybe at this point I’m in a position where I could wake one of you in the middle of the night and not worry about getting hit with whatever weapon she had by her bed. But after knowing you all for less than a week? When it was completely unexpected? You might see why I would hesitate.”

Syndra sat and listened intently as he recalled his actions from that night.”I do forget sometimes how new you are to our group. Yes it would be a bit concerning if you just barged into the room I was sharing with Dame Nyxied and Aegean but if you had told us what was going on we’d have been more than happy to keep watch with you. But as you say, we have known you for such a little amount of time and hadn’t even been fully introduced to most of us here at the time so your sense of pause in wanting to go seek out one of us is, honestly understandable. We’ve all been there.”

Syndra looked up at the sky for a moment, then back at Cinaed. “Even if what I’m bringing back up is uncomfortable, there is one thing I want you to know. I believe fully in my heart that what you were doing, the risk you put yourself in by staying up for our sake, for people you barely even knew, I believe everything you did you did for us, for the right reasons.” Syndra stood up and bowed before the dragon man. “Thank you Cinaed. I hope that in the future we can continue to rely on you and your strength.”

Cinaed couldn’t help but bristle slightly at her words. They weren’t harsh, like Ingverd’s, or even as frustratingly self-confident as Tio’s had been, but something about them still rubbed him slightly wrong. As if she felt the need to give her ok for his actions. But he sighed, realizing that he was probably just on guard given the other conversations he’d had about this topic, and rather than snapping at her, simply nodded.

“I don’t plan on leaving any time soon, so I should be able to continue to lend my strength to the group, yes.” He looked up at her, tilting his head slightly. “Was that all you wanted to talk about?” It was a little strange, her just coming to talk to him about this, but it wasn’t like she was the only one who had done that.”You don’t need to leave, if you don’t want to, is what I mean. We’re companions now, after all. But if you have other things to get to, do not hold off on them on my behalf. I just didn’t want you to think you needed to leave or risk bothering me. That’s all.”

Syndra stood up straight once more, and responded to Cinaed’s question. “Well, there is something I think you should be aware of, and it’s something I’ve already told Ingverd and Elisa about, so we shouldn’t need to worry about this, but it’s worth knowing. I don’t think our business with the Crows is over quite yet. Yes we killed them and their leader, but that’s the thing; I had it from a few sources that their boss had connections with Hecatia’s underground network. Now if that’s true the fact they weren’t anywhere to be seen during the fight is a bit concerning, and I think they might send people after us in retaliation. That being said, as long as we’re cautious enough I think we’ll be just fine in case anything were to happen. I would like to ask you for your help in keeping watch with me, but if there’s something more pressing you need to handle I can probably pester Dame Nyxied to help instead.”

Cin nodded. “Unfortunately, that makes sense. Ricardo hinted at them having connections and they were better equipped than they should have been. The underground probably abandoned them because they weren’t worth saving but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth getting revenge for.” He pursed his lips, tail tapping on the ground behind him before he looked up at her, nodding. “Of course I’ll help. It might not hurt to grab a few others though. As you yourself implied earlier, more eyes is never a bad thing.” He pushed himself up from the ground, straightening to his full height with a stretch before pausing and looking back down at Syndra. “Why do you call her Dame Nyxied, may I ask? Is she nobility or something? I’m afraid I don’t know much about most of this group, so I may have missed something, but most people here just call her Nyx, no?”

Syndra was looking up at Cinaed now. Dear lord he’s tall. Shaking off the thought she responded. “Well if she is nobility she’s done a masterful job of hiding it. No, with very few exceptions, people I refer to as Sir or Dame are people I have a great amount of respect or trust in. Commander Natalya’s up there as well, but I feel a more professional title is fitting when talking with her.” Syndra moved her head from side to side and told him. “You shouldn’t pay it much mind, it’s just a habit of mine. I may even end up referring to you in such a matter in the future, if it’s alright with you.”

“Ah, I see. Interesting habit, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it before, but I suppose it makes sense.” After all, his was a limited world view, something he was reminded of seemingly multiple times a day now that he was with this group. “I suppose if you choose to call me that, I can’t stop you, though it’s truly not necessary. I’m no one special, so calling me Sir isn’t exactly something most would do. But I suppose most people wouldn’t use Dame to refer to Nyx either, so that’s not much of a point. Ah, well, for now, let's focus on the threat as opposed to how we refer to each other. Should we go find some more help then?”

“Haha, by all means Sir Cinaed, let’s be off.” Syndra spun around on her heel, heading back towards the main camp, but not without saying one last thing. “Don’t sell yourself short like that by the way, there are few people that can do what you do, and even fewer who will for the right reasons. You should be proud of yourself. I’ll meet you back at camp.”

Cin stared at Syn’s retreating back, slightly bemused. What he’d expected to be another lecture had turned into encouragement somehow, and her using a title of respect, even if he suspected it was at least partially in jest. Scratching his head, he stayed there for a few seconds, trying to understand this group he had gotten himself involved in, before finally following after her with a shrug. If nothing else, he was never going to have a boring day here.

 

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While most were simply relaxing on their break, Natalya took it upon herself to check her gear. She had maintained it well, but a quick check didn't hurt anyone, and she did indeed find nothing wrong. Maybe a clean of her guns before they'd set off from the next stop. Though, while she had been looking things over, she'd spotted the more athletic of the Evokers doing some long stretches. Mmm... Sitting for that long at a time really makes ya feel stiff. I should follow her example. Of course, since Tasha kept a book on their journey every day, she knew what day it was, and couldn't help wondering if at least Gean would remember.

As the tiger went to do her own stretching, Elisa returned from hers to Tio in their wagon, momentarily with much more space thanks to less people within. "Phew~ Feels nice to get the muscles working a little. Shouldn't you stretch too, dear?" All smiles, the fire mage tossed herself at her wife without too much caution, cuddling up to her in short order. "You won't be able to get anywhere like this, though~"

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Gean paused as she heard a rumble from one of the crates inside. No one else was in this wagon, Miria and Tanya were in the opposite one. She could also hear the Evokers by their own wagon. "Hang right there Rene. I need to check something." It was probably some critter that snuck into one of their supplies to feast, but better to catch it and not have it surprise the others. She slowly made her way towards the crate and opened the lid...

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"Mmmhnnnnn... Five more minutes..." A groan slipped out of the creature inside the crate Aegean had opened. She was pale like Alriana, with similar lines running across her skin, purple in color unlike the red of Aly's. She was resting on top of their tent supplies, comfortably cuddling some canvas, body resting on a bed of her long, smooth, pink and silver hair. Her tail had coiled itself into the crate, disappearing underneath her, it's length underterminable at the moment. She stirred a little, the rags she called clothed shifting slightly on her. A violet eye cracked open, slowly looking around. "Why is there light... ... ... ... HYAHHHHHH!!" She suddenly let out a massive scream, having spotted Aegean, clambering out of the box with incredible speed!

To Renais, something in the wagon screamed, then a pale shadow slipped from the box and into the wagon behind another, a long, long, long... How long was it? An incredibly long golden plated tail snaking after the shadow, finally disappearing behind the rest of the crates with her.

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Tio remained in the wagons, more content to just focus on what she was doing. Elisa returned after she'd gone stretch after being cooped up in the wagons for a bit. They weren't too far from Liste now, but Tio figured it would be better to give everyone some time before arriving at their location. Liste was an odd hamlet in the Altair providence; it was surprisingly welcoming of the clouded, despite its location. She and Elisa would have to go speak with Count Sarasin to see about their supplie-- 

Tio's thoughts were interrupted by the soft feeling of Elisa against her. Tio didn't bother struggling, knowing that Elisa was by far the stronger of the two of them, but instead just returned the cuddling. "Why exactly would I want to go anywhere when you're right here now? I can stretch in a moment, or two." Tio then heard... something, from somewhere. A scream perhaps? She internally groaned, kind of hoping she was hearing things. "...I'm not the only one who heard that right? Did you hear that Elisa?"

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Lakeside thoughts

Spoiler

Gean made her way outside of where the party had stopped for the night. Her time with Cin helped ease some of her worries, but she still had a ton on her mind. Luckily for the Seafolk girl, this rest site was situated by a nearby lake. Whenever she was troubled or needed to clear her head in the past, Gean would always go for a swim.

Walking over to a nearby tree, the girl took off her outer garments and laid them nearby. Then with a quick jog, she dove in.

Renais had a lot on her mind lately, and as nice Cin had been to her she wasn’t in the mood to be around people right now. So she took a walk along a cleared path to clear her head. ’This really is bothering me…I keep having thoughts about things that don’t make sense. Can I even play the piano?’ She stared down at her own hands in frustration, she had almost wished she would walk into a piano to test her theory. Terrible time to be outside of a town. Though she was so entrenched in her own mind she failed to notice the lake she was walking toward. There was still time to warn her at least!

Ah. The feeling of cool water all around. Gean really did feel at home in the water. She wasn't going as fast a she could, but just enough to bring herself at ease. There's way too many things going on, and I don't even know what to tackle first. Maybe finding out about that vision might help. Maybe someone might know who that blue haired lady was. 

Gean finally broke the surface of the water again… just in time to see Rene staring at her hands and about to take a big soak. "Hey Rene! Watch where you're going. I don't think that dress is waterproof."

“...eh?” She heard a familiar voice call out as she stopped in place and saw the lake before her. “Oh…I was about to…aha, that would have been awkward.” She lowered her hands and looked over at Gean. “Thank you for the heads up, Gean.” Her expression went from annoyed and frustrated to curious. “Going for a swim I see.”

Good. She managed to catch her before an impromptu swim. "Yeah, being in the water helps ease me. Clears my mind." Gean made her way back to the shore, so they could speak more casually. As she rose out of the water she shook her dreads before wringing them lightly. "Something must be bothering you if you're that lost in thought. I might not be able to help, but I can lend an ear if you want." Gean decided to wait on putting back her regular clothes, instead enjoying the air on her scales. With only her underwear on, which essentially was a bikini, her scales were in full display. Turquoise and purple adorning her arms and sides, from the top of her neck down to her hips.

The sight of Gean being half naked on top of being soaked was an image Renais could not handle. ’Sweet mercy…’ So she did her best to avert her gaze as she backed up to a nearby tree. “I’m fine, Gean…what are you doing here? I know you need water from time to time, but what if someone strange wanders here?” She took a seat and opened the wind tome from earlier, she then proceeded to stuff her face in the pages to not stare. ’I have to admit though…those scales look pretty.’

Whatever Rene was preoccupied with, she apparently didn't feel like sharing. Instead it was Gean's time to be questioned. "Well camp for the night is still in earshot from here. And I can definitely hold myself underwater longer than most." Rene had taken her spot under the tree where Gean had placed her clothes. "More than that, I just needed some time to think. I've had… a lot on my mind recently, and I needed some way of releasing it while we had some downtime."

Gean approached the smaller girl and sat down. Not close enough that she might get wet, but still close enough to chat. Rene was now nose deep in what appeared to be a tome. "I didn't know you practiced spells. Did you pick this up before we left?"

Yeah, Renais could feel the bigger girl make herself comfortable near her. But she did her best to keep her eyes firmly away from Gean’s body and in the pages. Then came the question as to when she got the book. “Cin gave it to me, he offered to help me practice tome casting.” She turned a page. “I still have a lot to learn…”

The dragon boy's name brought a little blush to Gean. Yesterday's moment had been… an experience. Definitely something she wasn't sure how to move forward from. "Is that so, how thoughtful of him." Moving away from him, she returned to the person she was talking with now. She was absorbed completely in the time now, which left Gean to admire the scene and silence. "This dress really does suit you. You look like a doll in a toy shop." Gean hadn't recalled if Renais had heard her compliment the other day in the shop. But now that the two were alone she felt the need to reiterate.

That compliment caught Renais off guard a little. ’A doll hm? Interesting…’ “Thank you, Gean. It’s something I’ll keep close to me.” She turned an eye from the book ever so slightly toward Gean’s direction, but not enough to view the woman yet. “Speaking of…I wanted to thank you for the other day, Gean. I know a lot of my time went to Tio, but that day was the most fun I’ve had in so long. So I appreciate you helping me out of my shell a little, if you need repayment I’m willing to help however I can.”

Gean scratched her neck scales sheepishly. "Ah. I didn't do anything important. Just stuck my nose in places I shouldn't have. Certainly nothing you need to pay me back for." She felt nervous having received such a heartfelt thanks. "Besides I was no better, I spent most of the afternoon helping Nyx find a new outfit." 

After a brief bit of silence, her curiosity turned back towards the book at hand. "So what does your magic look like?" Gean was no stranger to magic, even if she herself had no aptitude for it. So knowing that another person close to her was practicing did have her interested. She unknowingly leaned in closer as to see the contents of the book.

“Ah well…” She was hoping she wouldn’t ask about that, she kind of scooted away a bit to cover what she’s reading. “It’s nothing special really…hm…” ’I don’t know what to say…I can’t even look at her she’s so pretty but…hm…’ She couldn’t help but sigh a bit to herself. “Gean uh…do you know how to play an instrument?” A bit of an odd question, but not something too far off the mark.

Instruments? The question was a bit odd, but not jarring to Gean. "Kinda. My dad was great at wind instruments, but he didn't teach me a lot. Oh, but he did teach me this." She got up and grabbed a leaf from the tree above. Then she placed it between her fingers and put it up to her mouth. Then next she began to blow, and a pretty sound could be heard. "I haven't practiced in a while, so I'm glad that I can still make a pretty sound."

The sound made Renais’ head turn toward Gean despite her current appearance. It was actually quite nice to listen to, she had to admit. “Oooh, it’s quite soothing I have to admit.” She smiled a little and closed her book, she stood up and tried to reach for a leaf. “Mm…!” She hopped up a bit to try to get one and pouted. “Argh, I hate being short…”

"Oh I got you." Gean got back on her feet and reached up behind the smaller girl, plucking another leaf from above. "There you go." She handed Rene the leaf over her shoulder. Oh wait. I should probably put my stuff back on. Gean had gotten so involved in the conversation that she didn't realize she had dried off enough to put her outfit back on.

“O-oh, thank you.” She looked over and took the leaf and turned away again. ’Don’t stare, don’t stare…’ With surprising self control she focused on the leaf in her hand, she rose it to her mouth and blew on it…but it didn’t whistle at all. “Ah…I guess I must be missing something aha…” She turned her eyes to the side, embarrassed for herself.

“Haha, it was hard for me too at first. Let me change first and then I'll show you." Gean grabbed her clothes and threw them on quickly. Then coming back to Rene, she knelt down and took the leaf from her. "Now an easy trick to this is to curl the leaf. Try it now." She hand the curled up leaf back to the girl.

Renais waited for Gean to change, she just stared at the leaf until the taller girl took it and curled it. “Oh, ok.” She took a breath and blew into the leaf, a whistle came out of it! “Oh!” The whistle surprised Rene and she lowered her hands a little. “That was quite a sound…”

Gean smiled softly. "See you got it. Now what does this have to do with earlier?" Gean hadn't forgotten where they were before they had gotten off track. "You can rely on me if something's troubling you." You don't just walk forward while staring at your hands like that.

“Ah, well…” She looked back at Gean. “When I practiced tome casting with Cin we ran into an interesting problem, my magic turned into musical notes and they started to play music. Once they did, I got a headache.” She looked down at the leaf again. “...and I didn’t tell Cin this but that’s not the only time I had a headache during music. It happened at the academy, and it got so bad I fainted. The whole school talked about it for a few days…”

Well that was… definitely something not to breeze over. “So you’re gonna talk to Tio or Elisa right? Before we get into the mystery of why music does it, having headaches cause of magic is nothing to laugh off.” Gean had her assumptions as to why, but she wasn’t an expert on these things, and she didn’t want to worry the girl with baseless callouts. “I would greatly appreciate it if my cute and charming healer was healthy herself.”

Gean had certainly pressed a button, because Renais’ blush was very apparent after that compliment. ’Oh…please don’t get me started, Gean… “Mm, yes well…that was the plan. The Evokers are so well versed in magic, perhaps they know how to help me. At least I hope so…” She turned her head to the side a little. “I’m fine when I heal for what it’s worth.”

Rene seemed to be shrinking back after Gean's comment. How cute. "We're looking to be

 fine all the time, not just some of the time. Plus now you have me curious. Musical magic sounds like quite the skill." A mischievous smile grew on her face. "I'm sure if you learn how to use it without harm to yourself, it'll definitely add to your charm."

’Mm…’ “I guess so. It seems like it would be a handy skill to have when I have a grasp over it. Perhaps I could go into songwriting and make a business out of it. Create serenades and whatnot.” She half joked, but part of her actually wouldn’t mind it for some reason. “...it did make me wonder, Gean. What if this is connected to my five missing years? I just remembered that I promised someone to teach them how to play the piano, but I don’t recall ever playing the piano myself…”

“I’d pay money to see that.” Gean chuckled at Rene’s planning of the future. However the conversation had taken a darker turn. “Hey no frowning on me. If that’s the case, and your magic is in fact tied to your memory, we might have to find out why you’ve lost them. That is, if you’re comfortable with that.” She took Rene’s hand and rubbed the back of it. “Whichever choice you make, I'm with you one hundred percent. Besides, we gotta find your sister anyways.”  

Whenever Gean touched her she felt a lot of mixed feelings, but most of them are positive over negative. She looked up at her taller friend and gave a small nod. “...you really are too kind to me, Gean. But thank you, I feel better now.” She gave a small smile. “Well, I shouldn’t keep you from your swim, I have a lot to think about.”

“Honestly, I think I’m good for now. Probably gonna head back to camp and get something to eat.” Gean got up and stretched before turning towards camp. “You want some alone time? I can walk you back if you like.” Talking with Rene had definitely helped to take her mind off of things, probably more than the swim did.

“That’s ok, I’ll go back with you.” She simply nodded at her friend as she walked to her side. “But I hope you don’t mind if I ask since you’re so nice to me, how are you doing?” She turned her eyes toward Gean.

“Ah well,” Gean scratched her neck. “I had a couple of startling moments back in Eibar, and I don’t know what to make of them yet. So I took a dip earlier to see if that would help. Sorry if I sound vague right now, but I kinda want some more time to think about it. Plus, you got things to think about too.” She started to stroll. “Enough about that though, let’s head back.”

“...if you’re sure.” She replied as she watched her walk along. After everything Gean did to help Renais she felt it was a bit mean to leave her without something, she wanted to say something in fact. But she decided to honor her wishes for now. ’...’ That being said, Renais stepped up to Gean’s side as quickly as she could and without a word of warning she took her hand and held it. “I won’t ask then, but you said nothing about not escorting you back.” She looked up at her. “Just don’t get the wrong idea now.” ’Though her hands feel nice…

“Well I’m glad I’m in such capable hands.” Gean looked back at the girl staring at her. Rene’s hand felt nice. She felt a small blush form on her cheeks, but not in the same way she did with Cin the other night. Whatever this is, I’d like to know this feeling more… With nothing left to say, Gean let her lovely escort bring her back towards camp.

Renais simply nodded at Gean, it seemed like there was a little stowaway on the wagon. Although Renais really only thought it was a stray animal in there on the lookout for it's next meal. 'Squirrels are certainly rowdy...' But once the scream entered the cleric's sensitive ears she started to think differently. She winced at the noise, and turned toward where it may have come from only to just barely spot a golden tail hide behind the crate. "...that...is not a squirrel..." She blankly stared, a bit fearful now. But at the same time she was also curious. "..." The pinkette slowly approached the crates. "...who's there? I'm not going to hurt you as long as you don't do the same to me."

Edited by TheRoon
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"Woah!" The last thing Gean expected was someone to be inside the crate. Then there was a big scream, and the person had darted away behind some crates. Luckily for Gean, their... unusually long tail gave away their position. It looks even longer than Aly's... Unfortunately for the Seafolk girl, it sounded like her pink haired companion was already approaching. "Woah Rene hold on!" Gean hoped the additional voices didn't freak their new tagalong out too much.

Edited by Bluemask 96
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