Zadari's comment was an offense to the muscles Caleb had grown over the years, surely as intended. He ignored him like he'd told Emer to and turned to the man sitting on his chair, who turned out to be a sailor looking for work. What a coincidence.
"I'll give you work, all you have to do is let my friend talk to her kin. Deal?" He asked, using a term he'd heard Emer use countless times. "Do you happen to have respect for private property, Mister... ?"
***
Things hadn't been easy for an honest man like Baron Rufus, not since Fen Manor. His house was forcibly taken over by Lord Fen and used as a recovery center for the survivors of the fire, burnt victims that Rufus didn't fancy being around. So he decided to go away, up north to Leimor, and it had been the best decision he had made in a while, for there he met them.
The people in white cloaks. It'd be his third meeting, and he was excited for it, so excited in fact, that he bought a white cloak of his own. He met with the group at their usual spot and followed them to where the meeting would be held that afternoon.
Polish an emerald right and set its lines just so and the stones in the light always brought to mind the seas to the west just off the island reefs. Nessa was pleased with the stones and the craftsmen’s vision for what sort of earrings he would make, so all that remained was the waiting. She never cared much for just waiting around, though what she would do with her time was a different matter. A bath would do her good, but it was something to do closer to the time of the dance so the smell of lilac and roses could remain fresh.
Food was another thought, though she had eaten not too long ago. It was like filling one's belly with water in a way, that edge always remained with her. It wasn’t like before, when the hunger came first as a whisper and then a roar but more like — like a hole. It demanded nothing of her but her attention, and she could turn her eye away from that.
So, she didn’t care much for just waiting around, and, Goddess bless, something interesting caught her eye while she was deliberating on what to do; a large man in a white robe with a face that jogged a faint memory of the master gunner’s ale. Fen Manor was it? And ahead others in robes. Nessa clicked her tongue, white was King’s uniform too, wasn’t it?
Nessa fell into step behind the group, from a distance she felt comfortable with. White was easy enough to follow, so she was content to hang back and make herself just another figure drifting down the street as she trailed behind them.
——
”Goodness, that sounds dreadful, small blessings they didn’t harm you.” Five preserve any fool enough to try a physical tussle with this mountain of a man — save that — did he truly say Nox? Was that wheeling terror truly in port; fresh and fat with plunder from parts unknown, or well known enough to whatever little town they set anchor she supposed. Winter’s brow knit beneath the cloth wrapping, a tick perhaps and gone such as quick. It didn’t touch her smile at least, small fortunes passing by.
She reached up to place a hand on the offered arm, a brush of cloth announced its offering, and her fingers brushed to find the man’s wrist. As thick around as her own arm but a fine enough place for a hand to rest. “Pleasure, Ronan, I’m Winter myself, though I’ve come from the East.” Ah, it might have been better to say she was from here, wouldn’t it? No matter. “You’ve come from the Ice Lands? Tell, what brings you down here? Seems like it might make for quite a good story.”
Winter tapped her cane twice to the ground, before with a gentle tug she led the giant out into the street, and angled them portward.
//... into the dark she stepped, but never did she feel free of the gaze...//
Post by ShoddyProduct on Sept 12, 2023 2:40:41 GMT
"Sky. That's something, at least. Can drop it in to conversations, give him a scare, see if it'll catch him off guard." Gods knew it would for them. "If he's as serious as you say, it probably won't matter. But it might, and that's all you can hope for really." This was all so close to them, in a way they were uncomfortable with. It was better to pretend they were a half-elf, or whatever lie they'd fed Alys in Allegria. Half-fae, that was it. Or quarter? It... well, it did matter now, actually. She was on the lookout for a changeling, and every detail would matter.
Better to not think on it. "I'll spread it as much as I can, and do my best to keep him off. I... no, that was a lie. I'm going to head into town and shop, a bath and maybe something for the ball. But I'll tell everyone else what to look out for! That's all I can promise."
Then, a more personal question, but not about what they'd just been talking about. "Stiff, and sore. I can move it, but not super well yet. The arrow's out, though, so it should heal, I hope," they said, subconsciously placing a hand over the mentioned area. It ached quite a bit, actually, but they'd been so wrapped up in the staff, and now this, it was the last thing on their mind. Easy enough to ignore, until it got better.
"I do not deny myself comforts," Emer replied cooly, though she did somewhat self-consciously rest her hand on her abdomen. "Life is too short to suffer from worry - or hatred."
Still, she took Caleb's advice, if only because it was good advice to take. There was no use quibbling with a man she'd long-since settled her grievances with, as oddly fortuitous as it was for them to end up inside his shop. Ah, well, perhaps Caleb had been simply paying him a visit, and happening upon her folk was the happenstance instead.
Sliding out one of the empty chairs at the table, Emer settled down beside the man, giving him a quick nod of greeting before glancing at the fledgling. The poor thing seemed uncomfortable. Aos gaotha were rare in cities like this, so perhaps she was simply unused to being around folk. Perhaps, even, Emer came across as a country bumpkin of sorts, dressed as she was, acting as she was, speaking as she did.
In the end, though, different as their upbringings may be, they still watched the same sky.
"Is é seo do bheo? A insint do na strainséirí rud ar bith sásta?"
This is how you survive, then? To tell the strangers happy nothings?
The words were rusty, the cadence faltering, a language she hadn't had to speak much in many, many years. Emer smiled warmly.
"Ní féidir leis an spéir tú a fheiceáil trí na scamaill, iníon, nó d'fhéadfadh do sheanóirí caoineadh!"
The sky cannot see you here, daughter, or your grandparents might cry!
Still, it was a joke, lighthearted, and the wisewoman bobbed her head slightly to show it as such.
There was genuine concern behind the question; after all, Juniper had taken an arrow meant for her. But it also served other purposes, thankfully confirming that the person in front of her was exactly who they said they were. "Good, good, I'm glad to hear it," Alys replied, opening the door and gesturing for Juniper to walk through. A pause filled the air as they filed into the corridor. "I am sorry - that you were hit." There hadn't been a chance to talk, not with the pressure of her new role and the demand for payment over the last couple of days. As they climbed the stairs back up to the deck, she continued. "Mind if I join you in the bathhouse later? I have a couple errands to run first, but I feel like we haven't properly talked since Allegria."
Post by ShoddyProduct on Sept 13, 2023 2:27:04 GMT
Juniper hesitated, again, when Alys apologized. They didn't need to, not really, they'd been the one not paying attention, sure she'd been the one antagonizing everyone, and Beck had shot at her, but if they'd been a bit more aware, they could've gotten out of the way and maybe helped a bit more in the fighting but instead- Besides, they'd already told off Beck, before she left, over it, Alys really didn't need to...
A wave of emotion, something like relief, washed over the sorceress. If they weren't so on guard to not let the illusion of being not a changeling slip, they might've cried a little. After a week of not talking, getting a sincere moment, and an apology no less, was much needed. "I'm-... it's fine. Especially since Emer took a look at it."
Another pause. Last time they'd gone to the baths together, Juniper had almost let it slip, what they were. Doing that again... gods dammit, spending time with Alys was just too tempting. She was their closest friend, at least aboard the Nox currently, how could they refuse? "I'd love to, actually. I'll meet you there- just have a few things to pick up, I think. Sound good?"
The pirate grabbed a couple bales of hay and headed downward. Rielle followed, wondering what pirates could possibly use hay for. Some sort of magic trick to spin it to gold? That was traditionally straw, wasn't it, but maybe hay was close enough - or maybe it could be spun into something else, like... oh, copper. Copper was green, wasn't it, after you left it out a while?
Or perhaps it was to feed something? Did minotaurs eat hay? Rielle couldn't say she'd ever asked. She was fairly sure the stories she'd heard had them feasting on flesh, but the teeth would be all wrong for it, wouldn't they? Hay would balance the diet, and perhaps it was more of an opportunistic carnivore situation, where they only ate people if they were readily available. Rielle considered this information, descending the staircase behind the bearer of hay.
For a moment, just a moment, her customer was forgotten as someone else stepped into the restaurant.
Sirideán did not have to move her eyes away from him to look behind him. To see the woman who stepped through, a woman with a soft face and thick shawls and blue plumage. A woman who was Folk. Folk who smiled at her, not knowing what she really was, what she had become, and suddenly-- suddenly the world was tight, the pull of gravity too strong. She had Kin here. She was not Sirideán's kin, but she was, because they were all kin. And she smiled because she did not know that Sirideán had abandoned her kin as a stupid girl and had not looked to return to Folk and Sky as a stupid woman--
The woman looked away. It had been less than a moment, as if the world had not spiraled out beyond the careful control that Ruby songbird had created. She did not even have the chance to nod in reply to the woman, for out came Zadari, and in came who else but the pirate Captain Caleb. He had told her the truth. She did not have time to let her tongue grow sharp before Zadari intercepted, maybe not on her behalf but to save her nonetheless. She would thank him, later, not with words perhaps but maybe by ordering more food and complimenting him directly to give him an excuse to strut about like the peacocks they kept in the gardens here. She hoped that would make up for the unhappiness she had inadvertently brought, instead of trusting the pirate captain.
Something brought her focus in again, and she stopped looking over Alexander's shoulder to meet his eyes with more clarity. He had pulled out coins. Three coins. All three gold. And then told her he was looking for work. Immediately, she was able to distract herself. It was a response, she knew, a reply to either her hesitation, which made him desperate, or to the bold interruption of Captain Caleb and the Aos Gaotha with him, which was more likely. She could breathe again, although unless one was watching the ruby at her breast for the ebb and flow of breath one would have missed that she had stopped.
Maybe fate did work, in a sense. Leimor was boring, and he wanted to sail. And who had walked in behind him but a pirate captain?
But she did not make her fortune to draw attention to the obvious. Or, what was obvious to her. Instead, she nodded gravely, slid the coins across the table to herself, and moved the cards aside. She hummed softly in a low, deep croon as she began to move her hands around the crystal ball, eyes closed as if calling up power and not listening intently to the conversation near the front doors, to see if Captain Caleb the Pirate was open for hiring.
Alexander watched her, but not so closely as to ignore the rest of the room. He didn't know the good captain of course, or anyone else here. He observed, took note of some few details, but that was all he could do. He hated to part with three gold coins, but sometimes these things were necessary. She focused on something past his shoulder but he didn't turn to look. First, it would have been rude, and second he was pretty sure she was looking at the man who'd interrupted. It stood to reason anyway. He crossed one leg over the other, brushing at his hat a little. He didn't stare at the ball. He never liked it when people stared at him while he worked and he didn't see reason to make someone else just as uncomfortable. He didn't say anything to her either, not while she was working. Again, rude.
He finally glanced at the ball, looking more at the reflection that whatever the glass ball may or may not be doing. It was possible the man behind him was important some how. Maybe he was a Captain even. It was probably good he didn't say anything and simply provided the coins. She had closed her eyes, intently focused on whatever it was she was doing to make the glass sphere work. It then he was spoken to. He smiled a little and stood. "I would not want to interrupt an important conversation between kin," he said, pulling the chair out for the indicated woman. Alexander turned his attention to the ship captain. "If you have a ship, you have a deal sir."
"I hope that includes a mask. We need to look the part, don't we?" Alys said, turning back to grin at Juniper just as she swung open the door to the top deck. "It isn't every day that we get to dress up-," the fae paused, noticing the lone figure that stood within sight. "-And to dance!" She lifted a hand up slightly, as if gripping the shoulder of an imaginary suitor, while dropping her other arm towards the ground, holding the skirt of her invisible gown. Spinning around once, twice, mimicking the dance she hoped would happen in her very near future.
And how could she forget about the opportunity to get her hands on even more treasure.
Clearly, despite the anxiety of having Sky around, of having him on the ship and potentially causing trouble, the excitement was undeniable.
Alys settled quickly though, dropping her stance as the pair moved towards Ciaran. Her bright smile lessened and she cast Juniper a sidelong glance.
"Oi! I'd have thought you'd be out in town trying to get your hands on some of that dvergr ale!"
---
One heavy step after the other, Tirras slowly descended deeper into the bowels of the Nox. The screechy lady's steps were not nearly as loud, but he still kept an ear out for them, in case she wandered. "None," he replied gruffly, shutting down her question right there and then. Minotaurs. What in the bloody hell were minotaurs?
He huffed, turning down the corridor to stop in front of the sealed door. Tossing one of the bales down carelessly, he peered at Rielle before swinging the door open. The sounds of bleats and clucks filled the air, causing the man to cringe visibly. Loud and fucking screechy...
Tirras stepped into the room and instantly found himself gravitating towards the goats. "This is Jasmine," he said, the palm of his hand patting the side of one of the goats with surprising gentleness.
They walked into a narrower street and Rufus followed the group to one of the houses, where a cloaked figure stood by the stairs to the basement. Another elf. Most of them were elves, but Rufus wasn't the only human. He smiled and waved at some familiar faces on his way down, admired to see how many people were there, almost fifty if he had to guess. When he first joined there were only fifteen.
Slowly, people started filling the seats arranged in something resembling a circle. Rufus liked to sit by the door, just in case fairies decided to show up and he had to make a run for it.
***
Winter was a pretty name. Ronan didn't know what was at East, but he was overwhelmed enough with Leimor to ask about it, at least for now.
"Stupidity and curiosity. Maybe it's the same thing, I don't know." Ronan answered with a chuckle. "I met these pirates and they let me come with them to see the world, but so far the world hasn't been so kind to me. Maybe I should've stayed home…" As Ronan finished talking he realized Winter had brought him back to the exact place he'd been mugged at. His eyes lit up in relief to see the Nox far in the distance. "There she is!" Ronan smiled, expecting a reaction until he remembered she couldn't see. "The ship, it's right there. Thank you for bringing me here."
A blade was pressed against his neck. Emryk's gaze tightened, but he did not flinch-- not when he was this close, and not when he knew fear would be evident in any capacity. His knurled snout tightened, as did the grip around Naveen's neck. This was not worth it. This was not worth it. The baron sighed, one hand dropping to the man's shoulder as he looked away.
Only when he gazed sidelong down the alleyway-- eyes locking with the barely-awake woman who he had barely acknowledged prior, blood streaming down her neck and staining the collar of her blouse-- did he realize just how wrong he had been in that assumption. It took him a good, long moment to truly piece together the reality of the situation from intuition and assumptions-- Naveen leaving the alley, the little happy glint in his eye as they'd made eye contact, the woman bleeding from her neck-- but when he did, his gaze returned to Naveen, gaze creased with a blossoming fury. His posture straightened; the hand upon the vampire's shoulder tightened.
"Hrrhmh." He breathed, looking the man over. Taking in his stature, the blade at his neck. "You don't know when to stop talking, do you?"
In a flash, his free fist moved to sock Naveen in the gut-- the other smacked at the hand which held the blade, trying to bat it aside as he ducked away from its pointed end. Whether or not the fist struck, his hand grabbed at the vampire's jacket and pulled, yanking him to throw his body deeper into the alley and block his escape.
No minotaurs? None? Well, this was certainly a disappointment! At least it wasn't empty down here. The pirate tossed down the hay to the vicious beasts within, promptly introducing one of them as Jasmine.
A warrior's name if Rielle had ever heard one. She eyed the creature. Hooves, horns, teeth. All things she had experience with. "Right! No worries! I can take her." A spear was no good in close quarters, so Rielle propped hers on the staircase, cracked her knuckles, then rushed down the rest of the stairs to bash her forehead against that of the beast.
She staggered back, taking up a defensive position. "Good start, eh?"
Hester had been sitting with the goats. There wasn't much else to do aboard the ship just now. She couldn't go above-decks, and most of the rest of the crew was gone. And she was too miserable to bother with the medicine woman just now. And the goats were nice. They were loud, smelly, and stubborn, but they were also soft and intelligent, and they didn't mind it if you just sat in the corner watching them for hours at a time while your constructs patrolled the ship.
That all went horribly wrong when a fancifully dressed woman slammed head-first into Jasmine.
It took a full ten seconds for her to regain her composure.
"Sorry; have we been introduced?"
“The only thing that ever stopped me being exactly who I wanted,” she said, “was the worry that I would soon be dead … and now I am dead, and I am sick of roses, and I am horny for revenge.” -Harrow the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir
Post by ShoddyProduct on Sept 14, 2023 2:39:14 GMT
The dance, or imitation of one, definitely lifted Juniper's spirits, if only slightly. "I mean, a mask seems to be required. Really, I was going for the full ensemble. Haven't decided anything yet, but I'm sure someone will be willing to sell something, if I ask." They also hadn't decided if they'd even make theirself known, to anyone. Enjoying the night as some anonymous noble, or a well off merchant, a life they were somewhat familiar with, didn't seem all so bad, especially given how everything had been going with the crew as of late. Some time away, as someone else... maybe it help. Hard to say.
The smile dropped when they saw Ciaran. Alys fired off a question, a great start, so the changeling decided to investigate instead. It certainly looked like Ciaran, but... his arm. The prothesis. It was gone. That wasn't the most uncommon sight, but it was odd to see him on deck, just barely off shore, without it, especially considering he'd been cooped up on the ship while they'd been going through hell. Juniper figured he'd want to get away, like they did, not just... stand there. "Right, what Alys said. You promised us drinks, remember?"
Why, another poor soul down here! Well, Rielle should have expected it, really. Why, this sort of thing came up in far too many stories!
"Ah!" She straightened herself up, then removed her hat and made a sweeping bow to the woman. There was a distinct red mark on her head, but Rielle didn't seem to be particularly bothered by it. "Fear not, fair maiden! I am here to rescue you from these foul creatures! Certainly are a lot of them, aren't there? No worries, I do think I can take them all! And their enthralled poultry!"
This was shaping up to be quite the adventure indeed. Rielle replaced her hat. It was probably a wonder it hadn't fallen off during the headbutting incident, but perhaps it held on through sheer tenacity. "Rielle Martín, Professional Adventurer! Currently at the conveyance of these fine pirates. And you might be?"