Poppy rested her hand on Juniper's shoulder, providing comfort. The spiteful side of her knew she shouldn't sympathize with them, but the druid had seen injustice, had done things she wasn't proud of and found a way out of it. Juniper could do it too. But if she stopped to be honest with herself, above all, Poppy didn't want to be alone. Not again.
"You don't have to keep doing this." The satyr said, staring through the cracked lens. She spoke quietly, intimately. "After we escape… You should come with me. You can find an honest job, start over. I'll help you."
The green haired satyr didn't keep track of how much time had passed since they escaped the Truth Teller. They'd been lucky enough not to fall too far from the shore and were now lost in the middle of nowhere, but she was happy. She was amongst trees and bushes, and it was the first time she felt close to home in months.
After walking for hours and getting absolutely nowhere, Poppy decided to climb a tree to try and get a wider view of where they were heading, and there she spotted it: a roof.
"I found something!" She shouted at Juniper, but the excitement of the new discovery made her lose her balance and grip on the branch she had a hold on. The fall wouldn't kill her, but it'd hurt like a bitch.
Juniper had no idea how far behind them the Truth Teller was, and frankly, they were in no hurry to find out. They had tried their hand at escaping with the other prisoners, and it had fortunately timed up perfectly with another ship attacking Solomon King's vessel. Who they were, they would never know, as cannon fire had breached the hull, and in the ensuing chaos, as some of King's followers came down to the brig, the pair were eventually forced from the hole. The combat had forced the ship low, and the both dropped (mostly) harmlessly into the water below, and thanks to driftwood, made it safely to shore.
The changeling had no idea why Poppy had stuck with them, but they certainly appreciated it. They still weren't sold yet on this idea of being able to start over, but... Well. They would most certainly try their best, if only to make amends to this woman and the the people they had harmed. Steps in the right direction and all that.
They were pulled from thought at a call from Poppy. She had climbed a tree, hoping to see something other than woods, and it had worked. Juniper let out a sigh of relief, their feet aching from the near hike they had been on for the last few hours, and smiled. "Let's see what's that way, then!" they called out, up to the satyr. Before they had a chance to do much else, however, Poppy slipped, and began to fall. It wasn't high, not nearly as high as the fall from the Truth Teller, but a fall all the same.
They sprung to action quickly, three quick steps to get underneath her before she could hit the ground, bracing for her full weight.
The fall wasn't nearly as harsh as Poppy had expected it to be, thanks to Juniper softening the blow. Unfortunately she wasn't light enough for the blonde pirate to hold her weight, making them both fall to the ground.
"I'm sorry! Thank you for… You know" she crawled away from her, standing up and offering Juniper a hand.
Things were still odd between them. They had a goal in common that was to figure out where they were and what to do next, but if that would mean Juniper going after her crew or taking up Poppy's offer she didn't know. It was better not to bring the subject up, not now. Now they needed a place to sleep.
"There's a house over there. Maybe whoever lives in it can help us."
The changeling gave an uncomfortable smile, on account of her weight on top of them, and graciously accepted the hand up. They stood and brushed the dirt off, to no avail, with their clothes being currently covered in filth and ash. Frankly, everything was between the two of them, given the past few days. They began their trek once more, heading in the direction Poppy had seen the cabin in, with Juniper responding with, "It's possible. I certainly hope so, otherwise I don't know what we'll do from here." They fell into an uncomfortable silence then.
This felt surreal, walking alongside this woman who just two days prior had been threatening to kill them. The dissonance would have thrown them entirely off, and made it very difficult to talk with their walking companion, but they hadn't had time to even sit and process everything, or what would happen once they had made it to safety. They were very different, and had up to this point, led very different lives.
'Well, no, you don't know anything about her, actually, beyond her name. And she was reluctant to even give you that much!'
As always, their thoughts knew better than they did. What would happen, when they finally found help, directions back to a city? What would they do then? Would Poppy turn them in? They certainly could, and she had every right to do as much, all things considered. The changeling wanted to ask, and opened her mouth to do so, but the words died in their throat. They watched her green hair, swishing in the wind with each step, and let out a defeated sigh. Questions would have to wait until later, then.
The walk to the house was a quiet one, filled by the sound of pebbles and branches being crushed under their feet and hoof. Poppy looked around, trying to come up with something, anything for them to talk about and make things less awkward. She turned to Juniper and noticed she was staring at her through the cracked lenses.
“What?” She asked, running her fingers through her hair. Was there something there? She wasn’t one to get startled by bugs, but it could be dangerous for them to get tangled within her locks.
They didn't have time to avert their gaze, having been lost entirely in thought. Cheeks flushed in embarrassment as they were caught, eyes shifting away to look at anything else as they were called out. "N-nothing. Just, thinking." That wasn't going to be an answer enough, it was obviously not nothing, otherwise they wouldn't be staring. They sighed again, then made a mental note to not do that as often, before continuing, somewhat reluctantly, "Just... Wondering what comes next. Or if they'll even help. Active mind, sorry, we should focus on just getting to the cabin."
"No, you're right." Poppy said, after coming to the realization that no bug was in her hair. "Most people would be wary of strangers, especially those who live that isolated." Poppy went quiet for a second, while avoiding Juniper's gaze. "We're not… Going to force our way in."
It wasn't a question, nor up to discussion. Whoever lived in that house would most likely be expecting them to be raiders or pirates, and Poppy knew Juniper was both. Or used to be, if she was being optimistic. There was a fallen tree on the way, she walked over it first, careful not to get entangled on the branches.
"What kinds of skills do you have? We can offer work in exchange of a roof and a meal." If they had crops, Poppy was confident her ability to make it a good harvest would be of value. They probably had their own tools for making fire.
Post by ShoddyProduct on Mar 25, 2023 22:53:14 GMT
They felt a wave of relief as Poppy accepted their reasoning, which surprised them. What had they been staring for? Juniper wasn't sure, but they didn't have time to dwell on it as their companion continued to speak. They caught the demand, an order in place of a suggestion, and they tensed up once more. The changeling knew what the satyr though of them, having been a pirate with the Nox for a year and a half now. Of course she would assume violence from them, they had every right, given their introduction. "I wouldn-... I wasn't going to. Promise," they said.
As far as skills, they hesitated. "Uh, I did some work around the ship, but... Most of what I've done has been tied up with my magic. I can speak well, I guess, though that hasn't come up often..."
'Oh gods I don't have any skills useful for anything but piracy, do I? I can change shapes, but that's not... Helpful. Not here, unless the recognize me...'
Speak well, what kind of skill was that? Poppy didn't say anything, letting out a concerned sigh. It would be alright. She could work with crops, and Juniper would find another way to be helpful. Perhaps she could hunt? Killing animals shouldn't be harder than killing people.
When they finally got to the house, Poppy was surprised by the look of it. Ivy and vines covered the stone walls, and she doubted anyone had lived in it for at least a few months, maybe even years. She didn't know if that was a good thing or not, but there was only one way to find out. The satyr rushed to the door, forcing the handle to try and open it.
Juniper winced at the sigh, a very good feeling forming somewhere in their head that they knew exactly what it meant. "Hey, listen, I-I guess I can sing? I've had a pretty tumultuous time lately..." they said, a weak attempt to defend theirself. Unfortunately, and they did know this, singing wasn't an exactly useful skill to most people.
As they approached the cabin, the first vestige of civilization they had seen since everything had happened, the changeling looked over the building as Poppy made for the door. She began trying at the door, while they began to become slightly worried. It looked...
"Is it abandoned?" It didn't seem anyone had been here in quite some time, evident by the vegetation overtaking the building, and the lack of light within. They moved up to the window, trying to peer inside, the glare of sunlight on the window making it difficult. "I don't think anyone's been here in a while..."
Last Edit: Mar 27, 2023 4:39:58 GMT by ShoddyProduct
Juniper voiced the obvious, but Poppy was too busy trying to force the door open to respond. She eventually gave up on using her hands, taking a few steps back and kicking a hole through the wood.
"We can fix that later." She breathed out, reaching in to twist the handle from the inside.
Indeed, it was abandoned. Poppy saw something move as she pushed the door open, something small. It could either be a snake or a rat, the satyr wasn't afraid of either. Whatever it was, it wouldn't hurt them if it didn't feel threatened.
"It's… Not perfect. But I think we can make it work for now." She said as she entered the room, dusty, and damp. The storm that had washed over Allegria had washed through the house as well, entering through the holes on the roof that she hadn't noticed at a distance, but she could see clear as day now that it served as skylights.
Blinking in surprise, Juniper followed Poppy in to the cabin, stunned into silence by her sudden kick. They wouldn't have expected something like that from her, but it was extremely effective, that was for certain. They weren't certain about their ability to fix the damage done to the door later, but if they had to guess, no one would be coming back any time soon. Not anyone who particularly cared, anyways.
The interior was covered in dust, save for a few places that had been utterly drenched in rainwater. The ceiling had holes that had been previous hidden, and as such, the inside of the building had been tossed about, and everything was in disarray. As the pair entered, the changeling looked to their companion. "Make it work? Are we planning on staying here? I thought we were looking for help." As they spoke, however, Juniper realized just how tired they were. The last few days had been rough, and they hadn't even truly fully recovered from everything that had happened. "I... I guess we could stay for a bit, though. Not inclined to get straight back to walking."
They walked over to a table, near what seemed to be a small dining area, and took a seat in one of the chairs. "So what from here?"
While Juniper sat on a chair to rest their legs, Poppy walked around frantically around the new place. It was a humble cottage, with the living space, a bedroom and a nursery.
"This is the closest thing to 'help' we're gonna get, I'm afraid." She spoke loudly from the other room, before taking small steps towards the crib surrounded by cobwebs. It rocked from side to side, as if something was stuck under it. Poppy carefully lifted it up, expecting to find whatever it was that she saw moving when she broke through the door.
Not a snake or a rat, but a fat brown rabbit. The satyr smiled when her eyes met the creature's, that jumped up to the window frame, blocked by nailed wood boards. Poppy pulled them out one by one under the rabbit's dark gaze while it waited for a passageway. As soon as there was enough space for the wild animal to pass through, it jumped out to the backyard of the house, and Poppy smiled, jumping excitedly.
"Juniper! There's a well!" She screamed. Water and a roof over their heads. They couldn't have asked for anything better, really.
A source of water was definitely a plus. It didn't even have to be necessarily clean, since Juniper could boil away any impurities with relative ease. Now all they needed was food for the night, then they could figure out where to go next. The changeling stood from their seat, and walked over to where the satyr was standing. "That's lucky, what kind of condition is it in?" they asked on approach, peering over her shoulder to see outside. Much like the rest of the cottage, it was in shambles, but it seemed usable. They felt a bit of relief come over them.
Again, they found their eyes looking to Poppy, and they felt a bit of anxiety chase the relief away a bit. What were they going to do? What were they doing right now? Some part of them was worried that once they got back to civilization, she would turn them in. Another part was worried she would kill her out here in the woods. They held on to hope that wouldn't happen, considering the offer they hadn't accepted back aboard the ship, but one could never be too sure. "So... What do we do from here? I'm not exactly experienced in this kind of environment."
"I don't know. We'll need to go back there and find out." Poppy answered, while trying to pull out another layer of wood, with no success.
She stepped back, letting out a breath while she considered Juniper's question.
"I don't know how far from Fen Manor we are. If we keep going north we should get to Allegria eventually, but I don't know how long that'll take." She answered, resuming her frantic search around the house. Not long after she left the nursery she was back, carrying a dusty broom. "It'd be good for us to lay low for a bit. Restore our energies, gather supplies for the journey. Food, water."
This wasn't Poppy's first time walking aimlessly through the woods, but the first time she did it she was in a much larger group. This time it was only her and this person she barely knew and asked too many questions.
"I'll go look for food. Find something to do." She said, and pushed the broom into Juniper's hands before storming out.