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Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars


Mercenary on the Winds
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Cin followed after Alvira, trying to appear causal, as if he was just interested in the brew development. Which he was. There was just more he was interested in as well. Approaching Gean, he gave her a nod, commenting, "So, Alriana has a sister. Though, if she's called Sixteen... There's no way there are fifteen of them is there? And it's Commander Natalya's birthday, exciting day, huh? We should try and make her something nice for dinner to celebrate, what do you think Alvira?" He took the pouch of cloth and needles back out, starting to head over to one of the wagons, but paused by Gean first, quietly whispering, "Look, can. Can we talk some time? Soon?" He continued his path towards the wagon, hoping that maybe, just maybe, she would follow.

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Alriana watched as Sixteen's enthusiasm slowly drained out of her sister and subsequently crawled behind her, shivering in fear. her eyebrows raised, perplexed at how her mood could shift so suddenly. There's, a lot going on here. For now... "I think it would be best if we had complete privacy, at least to start. Maybe once she calms down you can join us." More so than anything else, she wanted a chance to ask her questions without any listeners in. Her sister knew much more than she apparently did, she'd need at least a little time to process whatever she was going to say. "Will do, maybe..." She answered Ingverd as she stood, turning around to offer Sixteen a claw. "Shall we go?"

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"Ah, cooking? I'm no good at making fancy food. Just stuff that'll fill you, maybe taste good if I'm lucky enough to have salt or spices on hand... If you two can cook, go for it. I've got another gift in mind for her." She waved off Cinaed and huffed, arms crossed. Just need the chance to speak with her alone then...

Ingverd merely nodded, knowing his place at the moment. Sixteen, though still afraid because of the multitude of humans, slowly stood up and took Alriana's hand. It was evident now that, if not for her hair, Sixteen would be shorter than Aly. "Where... Where do we talk...?"

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"In the wagon should be fine. Natalya said she would keep people away for us." Alriana gestured to Tasha as she moved back towards the wagon she'd been tackled away from, hoping Sixteen would be able to start learning names. Though, perhaps a bit more important than that in the moment, Alriana finally realized the state of dress her sister was in, rags hardly fit to be called clothing. "Do you not have proper clothing, Sixteen?" She asked as she climbed into the wagon, a somewhat more difficult task with Sixteen on her arm. "I can give you some of mine if you want." 

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"I-I only have this... It's, what's left of clothes I managed to steal while I was... Just trying to stay alive." Sixteen brightened up a bit at the thought of sharing clothes, at the thought of new clothes in general, really. She latched onto Alriana's arm and hugged it tight, rubbing up against her a little. "I'm so happy I found you... I'm just, so happy I found anyone from the foundation still alive... Hahhhh... Such a relief." 

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Things had definitely taken a turn. Vira had panicked after finding out Tasha's birthday was, but seemed to have bounced back. Gean had raised an eyebrow at first but decided to let it be. "I'm glad you've figured out what you're doing Vira. I'm hoping I can find something for her in town." 

Just as she was done talking to one dragon, the other came by her and whispered in her ear wanting to speak.

"Hold on, if you want to talk, let's go in the other direction. Best to give the sisters as much space as possible." Gean then walked the other direction, towards the lake she had come from earlier. She probably had an idea of what Cin wanted to talk about, but she had no reason to not hear him out.

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"Oh, ah, yeah of course. I just need to drop this off." He quickly tossed the packet into the wagon his bag was in, before moving away towards the direction Gean had indicated. She was right, they should leave the two sisters alone. He could only imagine what sort of things they had to talk about.

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Tio sighed, "I hoped I was hearing things..." Tio got to her feet, surprisingly quickly, and hopped out of the wagon. The shriek didn't sound familiar, but Tio didn't know any of the Tigers well enough to place it in the first place. The Tigers were already about, so things had to be handled... But she did unmistakably hear the words "Sister!" She peered around the forming crowd, and Tio's mouth slowly slid open as she was looking at two Alrianas. There were a number of differences but the similarities were obvious, they quickly moved off into one of the other wagons.

Tio looked at Elisa, "I, wh, Elisa, please tell me I was not seeing things just now." Her head darted around looking for Ingverd, finding the elfish man sitting on the edge of one of the wagons. She waved for Elisa to follow her, hopefully no one else noticing her fluster,  "I-Ingverd. What was... was that a 2nd Alriana, just now? And did I hear... sister?"

Tio was beyond confused at this point, more importantly, that concern from their first meeting resurfaced. There are others? This is... just worrying now. Surely they were just a rare group of lizards, or something... 

Edited by Mercenary on the Winds
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Laniva jogged over from the other side of the clearing, having shouldered her practice blade; but by the time she'd reached the commotion, Aly and Sixteen had already slipped off into the cart to talk, and the most she'd caught of things had been the glint of a golden tail from across the way. The tail's unfamiliarity and the cry of "sister" was enough for her to puzzle together that there had been some kind of unexpected encounter, though, and the need to give the two some space was obvious enough.

Where did she come from...? Sounded it like it came from the cart... is anyone even checking what we're picking up? Hahh...

"...Hey, Chief. Everything okay in there?"

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Helpful! Tanya still didn’t get much of what was going on, but from the sounds of it, things had gotten themselves sorted out decently enough. So, she simply shrugged her shoulders and flicked her tail, patting Renais on the head as a sort of reassurance. She got the sense the little healer had been a bit distraught by everything going on.

”Ah, well, at least it all worked out. I think? May as well just hang out here for the time being, especially if the other little one’s scared of you or… something.” Very helpful, Tanya! Really cool of you to potentially make it worse. “Uh, not that I’d have any idea why she’d be frightened by you, of course. You’re not exactly the scary type.”


Nyx, meanwhile, had been enjoying a nice little nap in the other wagon, generally blissfully unaware of the commotion that had been occurring just outside. Alas, the voices of the others became too close, loud and frequent to ignore, so the archer grumpily picked herself up and poked her head out of the wagon.

”Oi, oi, oi, ye can’t let a lady get a good beauty nap in? Wha’s all th’fuss over, aye?” She grumpily inquired, fully hoping she could get an answer and then people would disperse, in an effort to be nice to the poor drunk going through a likely withdrawal. Though if she kept getting woken up like this, she’d be driven back to the bottle before long anyways.

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Tanya's 'reassurance' didn't seem to bother Renais that much, the headpat however made her turn her eyes to the side. "...the situation is under control. I don't mind if she dislikes me, I'm already used to it in fact." Given her relationship with Alvira, the lack of another non-human girl's approval wasn't going to rob Renais any sleep as long as she didn't want to hurt her. That being said, one thing did bother her a little. 'Sister she says...why am I so far from mine?' She took a moment to herself, and once she composed her inner thoughts she turned back to Tanya. "I think we'll be fine, so I believe I will occupy myself with a book."

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And now the rest of the bunch was here too, unsurprisingly, given how loud Sixteen had been. "Morning, Nyx. Yeah, things are fine, it just seems like we had a stowaway in the supplies, who... I guess is Alriana's sister. Somehow." Natalya shrugged, unsure of how else to put it. It made little sense to her, but with how little they knew of Aly's past, a sister appearing out of nowhere wasn't that farfetched an idea. The most she'd be able to do was to make sure they could talk it out in peace... and maybe weather some well wishes now that everyone knew it was her birthday. "I'll stick around here and see that nobody interrupts them, but if you wanted to talk with me about something, go ahead."


Elisa tilted her head slightly, seeing now what the commotion was about. She hadn't paid too much attention to Alriana before, having left worrying about that to Tio, who seemed more interested anyway, but there being a second one of her kind now with them seemed... too incredible to be a coincidence? That was the immediate thought in her mind, anyway. "No, it seems like you're seeing correctly," she answered, going to Ingverd's side with her wife. "If there's anyone here who might have an idea on what's up with those two, I'd imagine it's you, Ingverd. Or do you think Natalya has some insight you wouldn't?" The strawberry blonde glanced back at the Tigers' leader, who seemed to be taking some form of charge over things.

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Nyx had a lot more questions than answers in mind at the moment. The explanation that Nattie provided was simple enough, that much she knew, but it only opened up several more avenues to figure out. So, naturally, she thought long and hard about what question to ask next, and eloquently put it as best as she could.

”Th’fuck’s an Aly, and why’s there two of ‘em now?” Brilliant. Truly erudite of you, Nyx. Her daughter would be proud.


Tanya raised an eyebrow at Renais’ demeanour. Specifically, how it didn’t feel like she quite bought what she was saying, or perhaps bought into it a bit too much. She almost wanted to pay her head again, but judging from how she seemed to turn away from it, Tanya thought better of that idea.

”I guess, although that kinda leaves us high n’ dry.” Although once Renais mentioned books, Tanya leapt on the chance for a topic change. “Oh, what kinda book are ya reading? My little sister’s a big reader, so sometimes I try and get some recommendations together from people I meet on my travels to give her whenever I make it back home.” She’d also have to introduce the Tigers to Yuria one of these days. Maybe Maxim, too, if he and dad sorted out their little spat before they met up again.

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Syndra was listening to all the commotion from behind the tree. Alriana has a sister? Well, I guess she wouldn't be the first person in this group to hide family form the others. Well, let's hope that you at least can take pride in calling this one family Alriana. I wish I could say the same about my own. Her thoughts turned back towards the letter she'd written, with her family's seal on it. I need to get this sent to Ryfia, but is it even worth the risk? If it got intercepted they're all as good as... Syndra sighed and stood up. "I'll just ask Natalya what to do, it's her mercenary group I'm potentially endangering after all." She then walked off to go find the Tiger in charge.

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It looked like things were calming down, so perhaps this was her chance before Natalya got too swamped with happy birthdays and other issues that she needed to take care of. It looked like Laniva and Nyx were speaking with her and Syndra was making her way over to her... Mmmhhn... It's not now or never, but now would certainly be better than later. Alvira took a deep breath and approached Natalya, the charm wrapped around her wrist. "Uhm. T-Tasha... Hi." Unusually sheepish for the dragon, but birthdays for people outside of her family were foreign.

"H-Hhhhappy Birthday. I, uh... Here." She unwrapped the charm, holding it out for the tiger. "I... I got this, for myself, but... But, I'd rather give it to you. It's a miracle charm, and... And you're fighting up close way more than I am. So... So if this will make you safer; make sure you come back alive... I'd rather you have it. That way..." She took another deep breath, flushing red, "that way, we can b-be together, a lot... A lot, longer..."


Ingverd shrugged. "I don't know any more than anyone else here, Tio, Elisa. I don't know what Alriana is, nor this apparent sister... This, Sixteen. From all I can tell, they're magical creations, of... Of, some sort. Mmm. I don't think Natalya will know anymore than we do, but you can ask her if you want. These two are... Are, a bit of a worrying mystery. Even if I think Alriana's beautiful~" He smirked with another shrug, crossing a leg. "If either of you come across any information, please, let me know. I'll keep talking with Aly, but I'm not sure even she knows what she really is... This, sister seems to know a lot more, so maybe ask them after they talk. If they're willing to share."

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Gean made her way back to camp. Seeing how most of the group had settled back down, she made her way through looking for someone in particular. She's probably reading somewhere.

Aha! Moving slow enough as to not alert her, Gean crept up behind Miria before giving her a hug. Resting her chin on top of the smaller girl's head she relaxed. "Guess who little cub." Gean hadn't spent much with Miria outside of eating since they left Eibar. It was good to check up on her.

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Cinaed followed Gean down the small path towards a lake, admiring the sun glinting off the water as he tried to build up his courage. He finally picked up his pace just enough to catch her as they arrived at the side of the lake, where they paused for a moment, a light breeze cooling the air as it blew past them. He tried to speak, but words failed for a second, anxiety rising in him as he glanced sidelong at Gean. He tried again, this time managing to get something out. “Ah, do you want to walk along the lake? It’s really quite beautiful here.” He grimaced, knowing that wasn’t going to fly, knowing that she had to know what he wanted to talk about. And so, after one deep breath, even as he started along the lakeside, he shook his head, staring down at his feet. “Look, I. I think I owe you an apology.”

Gean strolled her way over towards the lake. She had a feeling Cin wanted to talk about their moment a few nights ago, but she herself had a lot on her mind. It wouldn't be proper of her to address that situation with everything else going on right now. But now that he brought it up, she had no other option but to face it. "Ok. I don't see what for, but go on." Gean followed behind him, crossing her arms.

Because he was looking down, he didn’t see her crossing her arms, only hearing the perhaps less than enthusiastic answer. But he couldn’t let that stop him, not now. “Look, the other night, when I kissed you, I. That wasn’t fair of me. You were clearly in a vulnerable position, you said it yourself, that you were scared and just wanted to be held, there’d clearly been a lot going on and I just. Kissed you. Without even asking. I took advantage of how you were feeling, of a moment of weakness on your part and was selfish with it. And then, well, we haven’t talked about it at all since.” 

He was on a bit of a roll now, words that he’d struggled to get started flying out of his mouth. “And I don’t want to regret the kiss, but if having that kiss means that I lose you, then I’d take it back in a heartbeat. I meant what I said, you know? That I would never leave you alone? I’ll be there, as long as you’re willing to have me. Even if it means I never get to kiss you again, I’m not going to abandon you, I promise. So I’m sorry. For taking advantage, for not asking, for being selfish in that moment.” His steps slowed, as he finally turned to face her. “I don’t want to lose you. And when we didn’t talk for the whole trip... I worried that I had.”

Gean kept quiet through Cin's whole spiel. Eventually she closed her eyes as her grip on her arms tightened. She waited for him to stop before she opened her eyes again. "You finished?" She stared right at him.

He looked at, noticing the grip she had on her arms, the tight look in her eyes, and the short response. He somehow had the inkling that if he hadn't messed it all up before, he had taken a misstep now. He swallowed, hard, before nodding. "Umm, yes?"

The only response Gean gave was "Good." In one smooth motion, she positioned herself right underneath the dragon and threw off his center of gravity. Following the momentum she now had, using her full strength she lifted Cin up and then immediately chucked him towards the lake!

The sudden movement caught Cin completely off guard, his mind not really catching up with his body until he was most of the way through the air. He just managed to get out “Gean, wha-” before he hit the water with a splash, sending spray everywhere as his mouth filled with water and he sank to the bottom of the thankfully relatively shallow lake. He resurfaced a few seconds later, spluttering as he emptied his lungs, hair dangling down in a sodden mess in front of his eyes as he slowly made his way back to the shore. Finally pushing his hair out of his eyes and he got to the shallows, he stood there, staring at the other Clouded, confusion evident in his eyes, finally letting out a single word. “Why?”

"Because it was better than punching you in the face." Gean pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Do yourself, and everyone for that matter, a huge favor and punch yourself the next time you feel yourself rambling on." She was irritated at the matter altogether.

“I...” Cin stared at her, helpless. “O-okay. I guess I’ll leave you alone then. Sorry for being a bother.” He slowly exited the lake fully, staring down at his soaking wet clothes. At least he’d left the project back in the wagon. He’d have to dry his clothes off before he went back. His fire magic would work for that, but not if he was wearing the clothes. Which meant he’d have to wait for Gean to leave. Which given how angry she seemed to be would probably be soon. For now, he stripped off his vest, squeezing it to remove the excess water while he waited for Gean to either be mad at him more or leave.

"And secondly," Gean walked up to Cin and gave him a chop on the forehead. "Stop overthinking things. You take one interaction and run a thousand miles with it, without ever realizing that you're not fixing the problem. That's why you ended up sleep deprived and scolded. That's why you ended up being thrown in a lake."

She took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "Have I said you're a bother? Did you hear words of disapproval come out my mouth? Or did you jump to a conclusion that I felt taken advantage of, without asking me first?"

"I. Look, you don't have to keep bringing up the sleep thing, ok? And I just." He sighed, sitting down on the ground, looking out over the lake. "I'm not. Good at this. And everything with Ingverd got me spooked. Everything I said there turned sour. Maybe that was my fault too, if what Tio believes is true, I don't know. But that combined with us not talking, I just. Worried. That you regretted that night because of what I did." He picked up a rock, contemplating it for a few seconds before using it to recreate his recent flight. "But yes. I jumped to a conclusion. Assumed the worst. Because. Because I'm scared."

"I'll stop bringing it up when you start listening to people." Gean finally let go of her irritation with that last comment. What am I going to do with you big guy…

Gean walked up behind Cin and placed a hand on his head. "Look, a lot of us are scared. The past two weeks can assure you of that. What matters is whether you let that fear drive you or not." Why is it the things I tell you are the things I need to hear myself the most? "You're a good man Cinead. And while I can't answer you right now, I'm glad to have met you." Gean gave her final piece before turning and beginning to leave. But before she got out of hearing distance, she stopped to say one last thing, a tinge of blush on her face.

"Besides, it's not like I hated the kiss." With that, she was off back towards camp.

“I just didn’t want to lose you. I don’t need an answer. I never needed that. I just. I’m sorry. I’ll try to be better.” He continued to stare off at the lake as he heard her head back towards the others. And then, just when he thought she was gone, her final words came floating back across the wind to him. A small smile crept onto his face. True he had gotten tossed in the lake, an altogether unique situation he had never faced before, though it had been quite impressive how easily she had thrown him, but maybe this talk had been a good thing after all.

 

A few minutes after Gean returned to the camp, Cinaed made his way back as well. His clothes were slightly wrinkled, as if they had been dried and then put right back on, and his hair was slicked back, clearly wet. He made his way back to the wagon where he'd tossed the pouch with his embroidery project, thankful now that he had, and pulled out the cloth he had been working on. Making his way back to one of the trees, he sat back down, inspecting the stitching. It was almost done, but the final bit was the tricky stitching, using "thread" made out of gold, meaning it was stiffer and harder to manipulate. Thankfully he only needed a small amount of it, but it was still going to be tricky. Hopefully he would be able to give it to its recipient soon.

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After things had been settled, the camp was back to being semi-quiet with everyone off and doing their own things. There was a bit to take in with the sudden new companion in Alriana's sister, but it was a thing future Miria could wonder about at some point.

She would've gone back to the wagon but she found a nice stump where she could gander about the area when she was done reading. Then, there was the sudden grab!

"AH! ATTA--" She started until she realized the hug, then the soft bonk on her head and the voice of Gean. "Oh, uh-- false alarm?" She smiled with a laugh. "Hi Gean~"

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Sister Sister

Spoiler

Alriana didn’t know how to handle the attention she was receiving from her ‘sister’; in her short eighteen years of life, no one had ever treated her in such an affectionate way. It was a bit difficult to move to the crate that held her other clothing with another of herself attached to her arm, but Alriana managed. “Foundation…? What you mean by that?” She asked as she fished around for her spare clothing in the crate. She’d said things that made an equal lack of sense, but Alriana had decided to simply focus on the latest piece of that puzzle.

“Mmm?” Sixteen was surprised that she didn’t know. “It’s the place we were made… You, never asked about it?” She tilted her head, slowly letting go of Alriana’s arm, though her tail was starting to creep around her sister’s leg. “They were, all the scientists that created us… However many of us there are. I’m surprised you don’t know… But I guess I’m a little older than you are.” Sixteen caught her tail grabbing onto Aly, pulling it back, grumbling a little. “Stupid tail… Leave her alone.”

“Place we were made… What?” Alriana wasn’t sure how to process what she’d just heard from her sister, only able to confusedly ask for further explanation. “And did ask Grelbiria about it, but she only said it wasn’t important. That the past wasn’t worth worrying about…” Alriana was not oblivious to the tail trying to, and starting to, creep around her leg. She turned from the box, a t-shirt and pair of shorts in hand, to face her sister. “Why tail do that?”

“My tail… It has a mind of its own sometimes. I guess I’m just, too excited. To know that I wasn’t the only one to make it out of that attack… You… Don’t sound like you know a lot about, anything, though.” Sixteen smiled, a wryly, wondering just how oblivious Alriana had been kept. “We weren’t allowed to interact… Or rather… The scientists taking care of us said that, ‘it wasn’t important to us’. So… I don’t know if you were actually there, when everything was… When… Hhhnn…” Sixteen suddenly teared up, sniffling a little, wiping her face on her eyes as best as she could. “I don’t know, who did it, but… Everyone was, hunted down and, and killed. I got away, by… By sheer luck. My magic managed to work on one of the people that was attacking us… And it gave me an opening to flee.”

“I see… My tail not do that. It listens.” Alriana watched her sister’s face, tilting her head in response. “Apparently not… I don’t even remember having sisters. Only remember Grelbiria. Like said, she took me to Glacies one night. And don’t remember there being attack.” As Sixteen teared up, Alriana’s brow furrowed, slowly reaching out to hug her sister. It has worked with Ingverd, so it probably wouldn’t go wrong here. “I… Not know that happen. Not know, what to say. Never been in situation before.” Though she was holding her questions to herself, some of them were already eating at her. Why did Grelbiria not tell me anything about this? About what I am? Why…

Sixteen was more than happy to hug her, squeezing her tight and burying her face against Alriana’s shoulder. A few shudders followed; she couldn’t help herself from crying just a little bit… “Mm… It’s okay, Alriana. I guess, you were just never told anything. Which makes sense, I think… Grelbiria was the, the head of research there, and… If you were her favorite, like it sounds, well… Maybe she didn’t want your development to get hampered down with caring for people that should’ve been dead.” She said that with a straight face, pulling back a bit, still smiling wryly. “But I’m still alive… So I’m, gonna do everything I can, to live this life to its fullest. Especially now that you’re here! We have so much time to make up… What does your group do? Where are you going? What do you like to do? Who was that Clouded?” She bombarded Aly with several questions, tilting her head some. “He looked like an elf, but he felt like something else… I don’t really know what it is.”

Alriana let Sixteen cry on her shoulder, the slight dampness on her sleeve not even registering with the lizard. Though she couldn’t deny at least part of what Sixteen had said, she still founds herself growing defensive for Grelbiria’s sake. “That not right. Grelbiria not like that. She kind, caring… Wanted be free. Maybe free from past, too…” She was talking solely from her own perspective, but she hadn’t the experience to know she ought to consider her sister’s too; however, even if she did, she still would’ve been unable to picture Grelbiria as someone so uncaring. Sixteen’s rapidfire questions were a welcome distraction from that implication.

“We mercenaries. Iron Tiger Mercenaries. So we fight for money and help people with violent problems. We go to Lufiria, well,” Alriana cleared her throat. She’d already slipped a few times, so she might as well just commit to talking normally. “We’re going to Islexia to find a Glacies diplomat and take them to Lufiria if they’re alive, or just go there ourselves. With the Evokers, important people in Glacies. I’m… Still learning what I like to do. I mostly just stare at the sky to…” She paused, staring at Sixteen for a moment. Was she like her? Did she also have the perpetual thoughts in the back of her head? I’ll ask her when I ask my own questions. “To relax. And that’s Ingverd. He likes to act smug and annoying for some reason, but he cares in his own way.”

There was so much in Alriana’s answers that Sixteen’s mouth was left hanging wide open, staring mind boggled at her sister. “Woooowwwww… You’re doing so much! I… Well… I-I’m a little nervous about getting close to Lufiria, but if it’s with you, then I trust you.” She was back to smiling, swaying left and right slightly. “Hm, hm, hm… So you don’t know what he is, either?” She wouldn’t push that further; she wasn’t being coy with any knowledge, all Sixteen could tell was that his magical signature was something completely different from ‘elf’. “If he cares about you, then that’s good. Friends are good.” She nodded, swaying a bit more, before stopping.

“Mmm… Staring into the sky, huh…?” She looked up at the roof of the wagon, before shaking her head. “No, I don’t think so… Or, rather, that sounds pretty boring. Why do you do that?” Something had clicked in her mind, for a moment, but it hadn’t stayed completely. She was more confused now, thinking about it again, the same sensation coming to her for a moment, but it disappeared before settling. “Mmm… Weird.”

“I’m just doing what I have to to live. Grelbiria arranged for me to come here, but she disappeared when she was supposed to take me to meet Natalya.” The scientist’s disappearance still bothered the lizard even a year later, no matter how much of a stoic front she put up around the Tigers. Her head tilt returned with a vengeance, confused. “He’s a half-elf, is he not? And I suppose he could be called a friend. An annoying one…” A small huff left the lizard, her tail flicking ever so slightly.

Or I’ll just ask now… “I… Sixteen, do you have thoughts that won’t leave you alone, no matter what? That are always there, even as you do things unrelated to them?” She looked past Sixteen to the front of the wagon, hoping none of the Tigers were in range to overhear. Some of them were still afraid of her, what she was about to say would make it so much worse. Satisfied that no one was trying to listen in, she continued. “Because, I do. Violent thoughts, even towards my friends. Unless I distract myself, those thoughts are always there. That's why I watch the sky so much…”

“Violent thoughts…?” Sixteen shrank a bit, slowly taking Alriana’s hands into her claws, giving them a gentle squeeze. “Mmm… I don’t have those, no. I do have thoughts that won’t go away… but those thoughts are fear. I’m deathly afraid of humans… And Lufirians. Clouded, Monsters, we’re okay, but… The people that came to kill us that day, they were all… Human or Lufirian. If I was made to have those kinds of thoughts, my mind never developed that far…” It was definitely worrying to hear that from her, leaning forward and hugging her again, tighter this time. 

“I’m here now… And I can definitely keep up with you, so… If you ever need to get some of those violent thoughts out of your mind. Vent, in a way… Then, I’ll do whatever I can to help you. Okay? We’re family… Sort of.” Sixteen was oddly well informed on human emotions and how to handle them, sitting back on her legs again, back to her big smile. 

“As for you friend! He’s definitely not a half-elf, or an elf at all! I can use magic, so trust me, trust me, that signature of his isn’t elf in the slightest~ You should ask him about it. I’m sure it’ll crush that smug facade of his that seems to bug you so much, heehee~” Sixteen seemed able to get back into a jovial mindset rather quickly, though still paying close attention to Alriana’s face, ready to comfort her again if necessary.

“Mmm…” Alriana chose not to go into any detail about the specifics of her thoughts, merely nodding in confirmation as her sister held her hands and pulled her into a hug. It was calming, warm, not unlike Grelbiria’s hugs. I’d rather not have to say them at all… Still unable to form appropriate words of comfort for her sister’s experiences, Alriana instead continued with her questions. “...You keep saying that. ‘Made’. What do you mean by that? I know I’ve always been physically this way, but…” She knew she wasn’t ‘normal’, she’d observed humans and the few Monsters of Glacies growing while she remained static, but the implication in her sister’s words could only really mean one thing…

The hug ended and Alriana sat back straight up, staring at the smile plastered on her sister’s face. “Why are you so… Joyful? How, rather? Most emotions are still new to me.” Though she said that, a small smirk slowly appeared on her own face with the information Sixteen was giving her. “Maybe I will… There’s no way he’ll expect me to ask him about that.”

"Ahh…" Sixteen's face clouded over for a moment, her smile fading. "Del. You had Grelbiria watching over you, and I had a scientist named Del. He… My aggression wasn't developing properly, so he… Started teaching me all about human emotion and how they all felt. He said it would, 'help me have a better grasp on my goal'. And then he died." 

Sixteen sniffled a bit, a sad smile hitting her. "He was the reason I got away. He… jumped in front of an attack that would have killed me. I… I felt a surge of anger and frustration and sadness and hey. My magic worked… I turned the assailant to stone and… And Del was, dead. Too far gone to save." 

She sighed. It had been so long ago now, but she still thought about it at times. "I'm surprised you're so confused about my saying we were made… We're creations. Of science and magic. Those people made us… Del never fully explained what the end goal was, but… We were being made for something. Did Grelbiria really never tell you about this…?" Sixteen was confused as to why Alriana was kept so in the dark, especially as she seemed to be the perfect product the foundation had been striving to create.

Alriana studied Sixteen’s expression as she recounted her tale of the attack, trying to process what she was feeling. Though she smiled, the look on her face was anything other than joyful. She knew from Ingverd that her sniffling meant she was sad, so why did she smile? It baffled the lizard, so unaccustomed to anything more than base emotion. Though, compared to what Sixteen was about to say, this confusion was as a drop in the ocean.

“I… No, Grelbiria never told me anything. She said the past wasn’t important, that I shouldn’t be concerned about what I am. About why I am. But, I’m a creation? Not born, but made? That’s why I’m so strange?” She didn’t know how to process the bomb of information that had just been dropped on her head, suppressed thoughts given more fodder than they could’ve ever hoped for. Her thoughts were chaotic, doubts that had been beat down by repetition now resurfacing. However, even in the midst of her maelstrom of thoughts, one very concerning possibility dawned on her. “Am I, supposed to be violent? Is that why those thoughts are there? You said something about your aggression…?”

She really didn't know. Sixteen suddenly felt like she'd made a mistake, slowly covering her mouth. "I… I don't know if you are. That's what Del said to me… He didn't elaborate. I don't know what they were really trying to make there, just… W, well, look at me." Sixteen pointed to her gauntleted feet, then held up her claws and spun her tail around. "If you think you're strange, then what am I? Heheh… Mmm. You… You seem like, a more refined version of, me… We're pretty clearly different people, but between our features… Whatever they got wrong with me, they got right with you. I wonder what your number was before they gave you a name… How old are you, Alriana? I don't remember my birthday, but I think I've been alive for nineteen years…"

"Hey, hey it doesn't really matter if we were made though, does it? We can think and dream and experience emotion all the same… It just means we're a little more special than other Monsters, right? Heheh~" Sixteen chose to look at this glass half full, just happy to be alive and away from that life, especially now that she wasn't alone. "I'm sure you've been doing just that, right? I mean, mercenary work, all these people, making friends… You're not just going through some planned motions."

“If that’s what I’m supposed to be, then why did Grelbiria teach me that I should be calm and patient? Why go against the reason for making me?” These were questions only the woman herself could answer of course, and she was well past the point of merely being missing. As she pondered similar questions about herself to, well, herself, Sixteen, perhaps in an attempt to comfort her, continued to drop information bombs on the poor lizard. “What… Refined? You mean, you were supposed to be me? I…” How Sixteen was so calm and casual as she explained all of this was only sending Alriana further into an ever growing chasm of confusion and disbelief. She couldn’t keep up with it, managing only to respond to her questions. “I’m eighteen years old, I think…”

At this point, Alriana had given up on trying to process everything that Sixteen had said to her. It would take far more time than this conversation with her sister would allow her. I doubt I’ll sleep properly tonight at all… “I guess not, if you put it like that… And I am doing those things by myself, even if Grelbiria told me to come here…”

"Yeah, see?" Sixteen wasn't sure what to make of Alriana's current mood. Whether or not she was upset, she was definitely confused and Sixteen didn't know how to add to this without furthering it. "Mmmnn… Well… Okay, last thing. Since this seems to be a lot… Del told me that, humans are a very loving species. They like bonds and family a lot. So… So, maybe, just like how Del cared enough to give his life for me… Grelbiria cared about you so much that she didn't want to… See you become a real Monster?" That was as far as Sixteen could suppose, not having ever spoken with the woman face to face. "That's all I think it could be, though…"

“Mmm…” All Alriana could do was agree with Sixteen’s interpretation of Grelbiria in the moment; while what she described did sound like the former Lufirian scientist’s feelings towards her, her brain wouldn’t let her accept that without a fight. The seeds of doubt had long since been planted, Sixteen had simply been the one to give them the water to grow.

“Mmmmm… S-Sister, I’m… If I’ve said too much, I’m sorry. I just… I thought you knew all of this. I said too much, didn’t I…?” Sixteen shuffled a bit, finally taking notice of the clothes Alriana had originally gotten out, taking them with a big smile. “H-Hey! These were for me, right? I’ll put them on, you can tell me how I look…” Sixteen went about starting to strip and slide into them, figuring they were alone enough in the cart. I hope saying all this wasn’t a mistake… Ughhhh… I thought she knew, I thought she knew…!

“It’s, okay. You’ve just given me a lot to think about…” Alriana had returned to her stoic look in light of everything she’d just learned as she watched her sister slip into one of her sets of clothing. The shirt was a little long on her, but, at least from a front view, everything seemed to fit passably. “They fit you, which is good. I guess we’re more similar than we thought…” She managed a small smile as she finished, if only for her sister’s sake.

Sixteen slowly crawled out of the wagon, looking around the group's camp site. Most of the interested parties had gone off to do their own talks, so Sixteen felt that she should try and poke some of them too. "Alriana, I'm gonna try and make nice with some of your group... If you need me, I'll be poking the dragon. The big one! Okay?" She offered her one more smile, before darting out of the cart on all fours, scurrying over to the tree he was resting against. Silently, quickly and from his back, she crawled into the tree, shuffling a few leaves... Before wrapping her tail around a branch above him, hanging down, slowly lowering herself in front of him. "Hi!"

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Cinaed finished threading the needle, studying the cloth to figure out where to start. Just as he poised to start, the newest member of their gang dropped down in front of him, controlled, but still unexpected enough to make him miss the cloth and stab his finger instead. "Ah, damn! Uh. Hi. I think I missed your name, but I'm Cinaed. Uhm." He looked up at her, tilting his head slightly. "Is that comfortable? Being upside down like that? Your tail must be really strong to be able to hang like that. You can come sit down next to me instead, if you want. That way things aren't flipped the wrong way up."

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"Oh!" Sixteen flinched a little as he hit his hand with the needle, feeling pretty bad to be the cause of it. As he suggested she come down, she let go of the branch and spun around like a cat in mid air, landing on all fours without issue, slowly crawling along next to Cinaed before sitting down properly. "Well, okay... Is your finger gonna be alright? I'm sorry for scaring you. You're just, uh... Well! The humans are pretty scary, so I wanted to talk with the Monsters first... Orrrrr the Clouded? I can't exactly tell with you. Dragon features are pretty pronounced." Sixteen swayed along, smiling as she talked. "I'm Sixteen, by the way... Or at least, that's what they called me! So you can too, Cinaed. What're you making? Where are you from? Do you fight? What are all you mercenaries doing? Why are you so big?" It was his turn to get hit with a cavalcade of questions.

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Cin blinked at the athletic display, filing it away as yet another surprising thing about this newcomer, before shaking his head with a small laugh. "This? Oh, I'll be fine. It's barely bleeding, see?" He held out his finger where, true to his word, there was a tiny drop of blood and nothing else. "Getting hurt here comes with the job, if I can't handle sticking myself with a needle, I shouldn't be here at all, you know?" He was about to stow his work away when she mentioned it in her cavalcade of questions. "Well, lets see if I can answer everything. You didn't scare me exactly, just startled. Wasn't expecting someone to drop in front of me like that. Humans, well, I can't fault you for that, there's a lot to be worried about, but our group is made up of some decent ones. You're safe from them, though I wouldn't dream of pushing you to interact, no worries. As for me, I'm Clouded, yeah. Half fire dragon, specifically, but I suppose I do have pretty much all the same features as Alvira, huh?"

He frowned slightly at her name, considering his words carefully before continuing. "Hmm, that's what they called you? It's not really a name, but if you're happy with it, I can call  you it. But if there's something you'd rather be called, you can choose that, you know. Like my fully name is Cinaed, but I mostly tell people to call me Cin. Some people go by names completely unrelated to what their parents call them." Is that who she meant by they, her parents? If so, what kind of parents name their kid Sixteen? He turned the cloth so that she could see it, a mostly finished dragon's head embroidered onto the cloth. "This is present for a friend. I'm from Glacies myself, but I'm here because it's one of the things I'm good at that lets me make money. Plus, my father was a mercenary, and, well, look at me, I'm pretty much built for this sort of thing. We're all on a mission, though you'd have to ask our Commander for more details, it's not exactly my place to give them away." Her last question left him chuckling, looking down at himself with a rueful grin. "I really am quite big, huh? Well, good question. I think it's from my mom's side, though I don't quite know. Never actually met any of them, but neither of my parents are as tall as I am, so. I guess I just got lucky, for some definition of lucky. Can't say I think of it as luck when I hit my head on a doorway though." Or when I get stares because of my height, or people assume I'm a dumb brute... But she doesn't need to know all of that.

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"Ohhhhh..." Sixteen continued to sway as Cinaed spoke, a level of energy in her refusing to let her sit still. She nodded along, thinking on a lot of the things presented, mostly glad to have the information. She liked learning. "You are very big! I'm not. I guess that was the intention when I was made, since they wanted us to be good at fighting. A bigger target would be easier to hit! Still, height and size have their uses, like being good to hide behind, so... Cin, I hope you don't mind if I jump behind you if any of the humans get too close." She smiled wide, fangs on display a bit. Her mouth was less of a toothy hell compared to Alriana, but her teeth were still all jagged, with two canines that were oddly more pointed than the rest.

"As for what you're doing, you can tell me! Alriana already told me you're escorting the... Eve Ohkers? To Lufiria, which is... A little worrying, but I think she said that you were just taking them there, so that's okay... mmmmmm. I guess I should answer those questions for you, too, huh?" She paused to think for a moment, nodding. "Okay! I'm Sixteen-- and I don't really know what else to call myself. They called me Sixteen for almost a decade before I had to flee. I'm pretty used to it! Maybe I should ask Alriana, mmm... I don't know... What would you call me?" She blinked up at him before gasping. "Oh! I asked you another question. Oops... Uhhhh I'm from Lufiria! I don't know where in Lufiria though, so just, Lufiria. The whole country. Yes yes~" Swaying a bit further left and right, She finally swayed into him, collapsing against his side and sitting still, for once. "I hope your gift goes well... Am I getting in your way? Who's it for? Is it for Alvira? It's got a dragon on it... Do you like her? Is this romantic~? What's that feel like? Do you know anything about love?"

She blinked up at him several times before realizing that last bit might need some more exposition. "Oh, uh... Sorry, I think. Del told me that humans and humanoids like to give each other gifts to show their affection. Is this romantic or just friendly? I just asked about love because Del died before he could really explain anything about what love or flirting or the like are supposed to feel like, so I'm pretty curious about how they work. Mhmm, mhmm."

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Sixteen was certainly full of energy. The onslaught of information and questions was certainly unexpected from someone who had seemed shy back when he'd first seen her. It seemed one on one was much easier for her, which made sense. "You're always free to hide behind me, I don't mind." What does she mean by made? Should I ask? Is that prodding too deep?

She had plenty of other questions though, so he shelved that curiosity for now. "Well, if Alriana already told you, then yes. We're escorting the Evokers, they're two very powerful human mages so probably not people you'll be spending a lot of time around, to Lufiria due to some issues with communication between Glacies and Lufiria. Messengers not arriving sort of thing. We've no intention, as far as I'm aware, of actually entering Lufiria, so you should be safe, but if it came to that, I know that this group would protect you. Or help you get away before we entered. Though, Islexia, the land we have to travel through, is even more dangerous to us Clouded and Monsters than Lufiria is, as a warning." Maybe it would be safer for her if she was sent to Glacies, as opposed to continuing to travel with them. But he couldn't quite bring himself to suggest it, not after seeing how happy she had been to see Alriana.

"If you like Sixteen, I suppose that works, but. Well. It's a number, not a name. Not usually something that would be used to address a person. Uhm. As for what I would call you..." He tilted his head, looking at her for a few seconds, considering. "My mom once told me about a cousin of hers, named Yuki. It means something along the lines of happiness, apparently. Which, well, you always seem to be smiling and I bet it makes Alriana happy to have a sister here, so, that's why I thought of that. But maybe Alriana would have a better idea. We can always call you Sixteen, if that's what you like though. I didn't mean to imply it wasn't a suitable name." Her next series of questions left him blushing slightly and he quickly answered, "Oh, ah, no, no it's not romantic. You're not getting in my way, and yes, it's for Alvira, but it's just a gift to a friend. It's the symbol of her god, well, the god of all fire dragons technically I suppose, but she has a really strong faith in him. So it's just a present from a friend."

He considered her, seemingly so happily collapsed against him and smiled, trying to hide the confusion. She seemed like such a contradiction. So happy and friendly one moment, scared and shy the next. Talking about terrible things that had happened to her, about how she had been made for combat, yet so willing to just lay down against a complete stranger. And seemingly unaware of anything about love. His thoughts wandered to Gean, and he blushed. "A-ah, love, well. Mmm, I know something about it, yes. There are lots of kinds of love. Romantic love, sure, but also love for friends and family. It's... wonderful, honestly. It fills you up with warmth when you get to spend time with someone that you love, just seeing them smile makes you want to smile. And it's complicated and hard at points, you open yourself up to someone, show them every little bit of you, and that leaves you vulnerable to being hurt. But. But I think it's worth it. Even if it's hard." He hesitated, looking back down at her, before finally asking the question. "Sixteen... You don't need to answer this, if you don't want to, but. What exactly are you? You talk about being made for combat, talk about being made period, say that you needed emotions explained to you. I. I've never met anyone that talks like that. So. Forgive me my confusion, but. Who are you? What are you?"

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"What am I?" Cinaed had said a lot more, but this seemed to be clouding his mind. "Well... let's see... I'm part, dragon, tiger, lamia, human, lufirian..." Sixteen counted the species making her up one scaled finger at a time, making sure to pause a moment to think if she was missing anything. "I'm a magical creation made up of all those kinds of monsters, made for... Forrrrrr... Well, I don't actually know. Everyone was killed before I was told what they were making me for." She shrugged; it wasn't pleasant to think about, but it was what it was. No one could travel back in time.

"Mmmnmmnnmnmnnn..." Herself explained, she was gone again, lost in thought about this 'Yuki'. "Mayyyybeeee... I don't know much about names and naming conventions. Maybe ask Alriana! She's lucky. She got a name before everything happened. Grelbiria really liked her, I think, so that makes sense... I wish Del had thought to give me a name, but I think he was content with calling me Sixteen." She shrugged once more and flopped against Cinaed, holding onto his arm.

"You're seriously way too big! I could probably hang off of your arm, hee~ Like a tree branch. Mm, don't worry about me going through Islexia, though. How do you think I got here, anyway? I've been fending for myself for the past sixteen years, so I can handle myself in a fight." She flashed her teeth again and made a fanned claw with her hand, uttering a tiny 'grrr'. It looked more like an animal playing than a terrifying creature, especially due to her smile. Fangs or not, she was cute. Her claws, though... They were painfully sharp looking, and armored to boot, quite like a dragon's claws. Despite her smaller upper half, they looked to be able to give and take a beating.

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