Private Tales A new world

[Fife]

Fife was never as grateful for having a room of her own as when she was jarred awake all night by her persistent nightmares. The terror that gripped her each time she was awakened in the night pierced that fog, holding her in its paralyzing grasp. They were changing, evolving as her fears evolved, but were always the same in the end.

After waking up the third time, Fife had decided to just stay awake. She'd rewrapped her chest, reaffirming the need to start cutting back at meal times as she inspected herself in the mirror. She'd used her boot knife to saw off several inches of her hair, and the harsh cut of the freshly cropped hair helped her counter the softening features of her face. By the time she could rationalize leaving the room, she'd grown a bit restless. She pulled on her boots, slid into her jacket, and stepped out into the hall.

She did so just as a dwarf exited Raigryn's door. Waving in surprise, she shut her door slowly behind her and drifted toward's Raigryn's room, gently pushing the door open and peering inside but not moving beyond the threshold. Pointing over her shoulder, she momentarily looked back toward the stairs before looking to her tutor, an obvious question as to who she had seen leaving.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn did not look like he had slept well either. His body had demanded rest, but once the numbing effect of the beer had worn off his rest through the morning had been broken. It was hard to find a comfortable position with the stitches across his back. Raigryn had never liked sleeping on his front but it had been the only option.

"That was Navern," he explained. "He's an old friend. After what happened I thought I would find a friendly face with an ear to the ground. Word is an orc horde is heading south for one of the gates.

"Don't worry," he pre-empted. "It would take a Molthal legion weeks to breach even the outer layers of defences. At which point the dwarves would collapse the tunnels and we will be long gone. Come, sit," he said, pointing to the chair next to the bed.

 

[Fife]

She hovered in the doorway as he explained who his company had been, turning back with a nod. Fife had only just begun to raise her hands to express concern when he dismissed those questions with a preemptive answer. She nodded, even if the reply didn't entirely assuage her concerns.

Coming in, she shut the door behind her and sat in the chair beside him. He looked like he'd had a rough night as well, which upset her more than her own restless night. Fife was young, and she bounced back from a lack of sleep easily enough. It wasn't something new, after all. But Raigryn was hurt, and it wasn't fair that he had to be more miserable than he already was.

She tapped the back of her shoulder and imitated a grimace. Does it hurt? Then, gesturing to indicate him, she held her palms up, grasped them toward herself, and finished by turning her index finger in a few circles to indicate the room as a whole. Do you want anything?

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn smiled. He wasn't sure if Fife was merely attempting to indicate pain or to mimic the faces he had made whilst being stitched up. He was certain they hadn't been pretty. It was almost worst, to him at least, to endure the slow pain that you were constantly anticipating than the sudden shock of the blade.

"Yes. Its going to hurt for a while yet. Also, I've told Navern to ask the innkeeper to come up and tell us what's on for breakfast. I could do with another strong beer.

"How are you feeling today Fife? A little shaken?" Raigryn asked. He adjusted his seating position to be more upright. He kept the cushions in the small of his back to try and avoid putting any pressure on the wound.

 

[Fife]

He indicated that it indeed hurt, that it would continue to do so for a while, and she nodded. She wasn't sure what sort of answer she was expecting. Fife may not have been nearly cut down by an orc, but she'd broken her arm once, so she had a very, very small understanding of the pain he was in. She almost felt guilty even comparing her experience to his.

Fife only nodded when Raigryn replied to her second question by informing her that the innkeeper would be coming up to give them the menu. That was good. She could have carried plates and mugs back and forth, but the idea of attempting to communicate with anyone but Raigryn was daunting. Talking to him was already hard enough, after all.

But he asked how she was feeling, and she frowned. She'd spent several hours the evening prior going through the exercises he'd taught her, doing her best center herself again. Though she still felt like a heavy fog separated her and her Aspects, at least she could feel the very edges of her own emotions again. She'd drained every bit of her Joy and Tranquility stores, anyway, so reaching them was of little use to her, currently.

She wasn't shaken, exactly, because she was pretty sure she was still riding on the neutralizing effects of so much Tranquility. Fife raised a hand, wobbling it back and forth. Sort of. She touched her hand to her chest to indicate herself and made the sign for the Aspects by touching her left hand to her forehead with the sign for eight. Negating, she gestured as if grabbing something and pulling it close, continuing to shake her head from the negation while she did so. I can't reach my Aspects.

Grimacing, she laid one hand over the other and began to raise the upper one higher and higher, her scowl increasing as well, and then made the sign for Tranquility by making the eight against her head once more then folding her hands to the side of her head and tilting as if to sleep on a pillow. Too much Tranquility.

Indicating herself one final time, Fife fanned her hands upwards in a couple of brief strokes in front of her chest while smiling, pointed to him, and gave him a thumb's up. I'm glad you're okay. For the first time since they'd begun their trek the day before, a hint of a smile lingered.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"I've had worse," he said slowly, softly. "What you're going through will pass. I didn't let you gather enough to do yourself any true harm. I can't chastise - tell you off - for over using your aspects. You would have died if you hadn't run quickly enough. There were too many of them."

A mix of emotions flickered across his face. He had drawn deep too. Even keeping better balance and having more control he would suffer some mood swings over the coming days.

"I don't know how you're going to feel about this but I asked Navern to see if he could look into getting a crossbow for you. I sometimes have to go to dangerous places Fife. I wouldn't ever put you in harms way. At least not without explanation. But you didn't need to leave home to know how dangerous every corner of the world can be."

Raigryn left that the sink in without asking a question directly. He didn't need an immediate answer after all. Even if the dwarves were arming themselves there would be crossbows available to purchase. Something lighter that he could wind in a relatively short period of time.

 

[Fife]

Raigryn was more pensive today than usual. Fife listened patiently, and was able to feel a small relief that she wasn't going to be in trouble for messing up. He understood, and she nodded to acknowledge and agree. Even injured that orc had kept on her heels. Without his wound and Enpathy, she wouldn't have stood a chance.

He took a moment to compose himself, but she hadn't expected him to tell her he'd asked his friend to look for a weapon for her. Her brows shot up, initially, but his dark remarks brought an air if sobriety back to her features. Yes; she knew all too well.

She had known for a while now that the life he led wasn't the one she'd first assumed -- that he wasn't the dusty old scholar he had first fooled her into believing he was. When she had agreed to travel with him and learn Empathy, she had expected a small measure of adventure to follow. Assassins and orcs were rather intense and unsuspected, but they weren't an involvement with the shady crime rings she'd once campaigned so hard to join.

Fife repeated a sentence she'd constructed the day before. She pointed to herself, cut her hands across her neck as negation, held up her index fingers close together before shifting one away, then pointed at him. I'm not leaving you.

Without needing to think on it, Fife raise both thumbs in approval. She had asked to be useful, and learning to hold and use a weapon would be a good start to that. Raigryn seemed apprehensive, so she offered s small grin.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Good. Its probably time I showed you how to use a little Fury too. Curses are...they're delicate and dangerous and can backfire. They can also be incredibly useful. Yesterday I cursed a scabbard so it held an orc's sword tight. I'll think about it."

Raigryn was thinking out loud. The pain wasn't conducive to forward planning. He was getting older and slower and the world didn't seem to be getting any safer.

Any further thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

It was the innkeeper. "Some breakfast brought up? If there's gonna be a siege yer want to get some food in now."

"Please. And a beer. What's on?"

"Usual. Some brisket and bread. Or got some jams. Shot of something for the pain?" the innkeeper asked. He stayed in the door, cloth hung over one of the arms across his chest.

"Maybe a bit of something in my tea? Jams and toast will do. Fife?" Raigryn asked.

 

[Fife]

The possibility of learning new Aspects made her perk up, her grin becoming more genuine. Curses? She'd seen (or, rather, heard) him use one before, to break the assassin's crosbow. He'd strategically sidestepped several Aspects and their uses in the last month, assumably because they were as dangerous to her as to a target.

Fife's eyes were alight with true excitement, and she nodded. She would work hard, prove to him that she was ready.

There was a knock at the door, and the innkeeper entered. She listened to their exchange, and when Raigryn asked what she would have, she simply held up her hand with thumb and pinky alone extended, motioning between herself and him. It was a gesture she had previously used like, "Me, too," but in this use worked just as well for, "the same." She was content to eat anything, really.

Although, remembering that she needed to start cutting back made her excitement wilt somewhat. Her haircut had helped her face seem more youthful, but that had no effect on her softening figure.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

The innkeeper seemed to have no trouble recognising the gesture. He gave a gruff nod and started to turn.

"Send your boy if you need anything," he said. Dwarves could be greedy, stubborn and selfish, but they looked after anyone wounded in defence of their few remaining cities.

"Avarice to make a shield, Fury to swing a sword or load a crossbow," Raigryn said with a finality that suggeed he had been mulling it over. "Desire can be useful, but extracting it..." he grimaced faintly. No, that could be taught another time.

"Think ill try and get up for a walk in a while. Inside the city."

 

[Fife]

Fife smiled when the dwarf seemed to understand her plainly enough. There was a certain joy in participating in everyday human interactions that made something as simple as this a point of happiness for her. It glowed through her mind's fog, and she was smiling softly when the man departed to set about his tasks.

Raigryn began contemplating the various Aspects, and she gripped the edge of the chair as that excitement grew. He'd used Avarice to bar her into his room the night she'd tried to rob him. She had used his Fury that night as well, so it would be one with which she was already acquainted. Desire, on the other hand... Fife's grin fell and she had to look away, her face paling slightly. She was fine not dealing with that one yet.

He proposed a walk later, and Fife's eyes returned to her tutor. She nodded and her expression returned to one of neutrality. Pointing to him, she gave a thumbs up while raising her brows and nodding slightly. Are you feeling alright? Her eyes drifted from his to the scrape on his forehead and then toward his shoulder as if she'd be able to evaluate for herself if he should be getting out of bed.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"It all hurts. Not just the big ones either, got knocked down those stone steps. I think I was a bit more bouncy when I was younger. A stiff drink will help, but you might need to help me with my shirt. I'm not planning on staying in a bed for days on end!"

Raivryn was a terrible patient. He didn't like being confined to four walls. Or the sides of a tent. He'd been wounded in battle once and taken to the healers tents. It wasn't much of a place of healing. More somewhere to carry out amputations and to put the dying out of sight and mind. He had never wanted to be on his feet and away from a place more in his life. He would have traded that place for twenty furious blight orcs.

 

[Fife]

Of all the things she'd thought to expect, Raigryn acting a bit like a petulant child at being cooped up with an injury was not one of them. Raising her brows and biting her lips to poorly hold back a smirk, Fife quickly turned away and went to find a shirt among his things. She took a bit longer than necessary to give herself a chance to compose herself but was still smiling when she laid his shirt over the back of the chair, resumed her seat, and propped her feet on the end of the bed to wait for their breakfast.

She pointed to him and touched her fingers to her mouth before she quickly mimicked speaking by opening and closing her thumb and fingers. Fife pointed to him again, then held up two balled fists with which she mimed a couple little jabs, and finished by resting her index fingers against her bottom lip and jutting them upward, emulating tusks. Tell me how you fought the orcs?

If he was going to have to sit patiently for a while, she might as well help distract him by giving him something to talk about. He'd not died, and he'd been too out of it the day before to tell her what had happened. She figured it might be best to hear it now when her emotions were still distant, as later it would likely upset her more to hear.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Oh! Tusks!" he exclaimed after a moment of silence. "I got the rest but that one threw me. Tell you how I fought the orcs? Right."

He scratched and itch behind his ears and tried to mentally replay events. It was all a bit of a blur now. He remembered certain moments and then putting his weight on a dwarven ranger for the long trek down the stairs carved into the rock.

"I used Avarice as a weapon to kill the first orc and take his sword. A little of the basic Aspect and many years fighting were enough to despatch the next ones. I can't even remember how many were in that first group now. It was three or four. On that narrow trail they couldn't get around me.

"When you were running the next group had more room. One went for me head on. Others tried to get along the rocks around the path.

"I wasn't doing too badly until one of them brought a spear. Before he could finish me I used Desire to make the tip of his spear heavy then cut the shaft in two. But I was bested by the ones left. Kicked me down the stairs. Or did I just roll? Can't remember now. Anyway, dwarven crossbows put the orcs down before they could finish me off."

 

[Fife]

Fife waited a moment for him to piece together what she was trying to say, and then nodded with a bright smile when he figured out orcs. He was getting better at understanding her all the time. There were still a lot of complicated concepts she had yet to find signs for, and a few that she'd tried establishing and failed. Learning her letters and being able to write alongside new signs would be useful. She saved the idea for a later suggestion. Something to make getting him to sit still and let himself recover easier, perhaps?

Listening to his story, she was glad she hadn't been there, and hearing that it had been the dwarves' timely arrival that had spared him from a worse fate eased some of her bitter thoughts on having to run away. She wiped a hand across her brow, flicking it away as one might do when wiping away sweat, and loosed an emphasized sigh of relief.

Her half of the story wasn't nearly as exciting, but she tried to express it to him anyhow. Preparing to sign slowly and take her time so he could understand, Fife began by pointing to him before drawing her hand across the side of one knee, raised one finger, and made the orc tusk sign again. You hurt one orc. She held up both index fingers, moving them one after the other in a line in front of her, then pointed to herself. It followed me... Spacing her hands a distance apart, she slowly brought them closer together. But it was gaining on me.

Quickly tracing the shape of uneven hills with her hand, she pointed to herself and made the sign of Empathy against her forehead before flashing her hands on either side of her face to indicate Joy. Then, gesturing to the ground with both hands in broad sweeping circles, she held her hands up and teeter-tottered them uneasily. Signing for Empathy again and laying her hands beside her face to indicate Tranquility, she made the uneasy scales with her hands once more but balanced them. I used Joy, but the ground was unsteady, so I used Tranquility.

Fife traced another hill, her hand coming over a rise and dipping down the other side. She pointed two fingers at her eyes then swung them away, holding up the number two with her other hand and combing her fingers over an imaginary beard. I came over the rise and saw two dwarves. She pointed her self and placed her fingers in her mouth and whistled quietly. Holding up one finger, she then imitated holding a crossbow, a finger pointing like an arrow before she made the orc sign again. I whistled to them and one shot at the orc.

She paused, having to think about what happened for a moment, before signing two, combing her dwarven beard again, making the following sign in the opposite direction, and signing the orc again before tracing the hills in that same direction. Two of the dwarves chased the orc back the way we'd come.

It seemed to take forever to convey so little, but Fife felt proud when she was done.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

When he indicated dwarves with a stroke of an imaginary beard he laughed aloud and then winced in pain. Whilst he missed a few details of the explanation he picked up the general gist. Much was as he had imagined.

"Sorry, I tried to stop that one. There were too many," he apologised. Raigryn didn't state that the wound across his back had been suffered because he had been trying to stop the orcs getting past and chasing Fife whilst he also defended himself.

"Well, if you hadn't run quickly enough neither of us would have come down from that mountain," he said. There was a note of pride in his voice.

 

[Fife]

He apologized for not stopping the orc that had pursued her, and Fife waved a dismissive hand. She pointed to him, raised her fist in fighting fashion again, then cycled through a handful of numbers before throwing her hands away and signing for orcs. You fought a lot of orcs. Holding up a finger for a moment, she then held both index fingers and moved one away from the other before making the dismissive gesture again. Don't worry about one getting away. It was a bit abstract but, hopefully, the idea was conveyed.

Fife nodded at his remarks, a bit of color on her cheeks from the praise. In all honesty, it was the orc on her heels that had kept her at such a breakneck pace. As he had already pointed out, the dwarves' timing had been the only thing that spared him, so ultimately it was his inability to stop the orc that had resulted in his own rescue. Though she was still upset about having to run in the first place, it continued to ease her chagrin on the matter.

Sighing, she once more indicated herself, then paused before grimacing and shaking her hands in front of her. I was worried. Then, resorting to a familiar phrase, Fife indicated herself before she fanned her hands upwards in a couple of brief strokes in front of her chest, pointed to him, and gave him a thumb's up. I'm just glad you're okay.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

His eyes narrowed briefly. Her exact meaning slipped past him but he understood that she had been upset but was glad he was still around.

"Pretty glad to still have all my limbs myself," he said. He could recall the victory in its black eyes. The edge of the blade that would have taken his life. It merged into a thousand other times he had come close to losing his life. It was more chance than anything that he was still here. He imagined many just as skilled as him had died very much younger.

There was a knock on the door and the innkeeper came in at Raigryn's call. He had a tray of various heavy dwarven breads and a selection of jams. There was a cup of fresh water for Fife and a strong ale for Raigryn.

He took a long swig of the ale first, casting a sideways glance at Fife. "It's for the pain," he declared, daring him to challenge the assertion.

 

[Fife]

She nodded in agreement to his response, dropping her eyes as their conversation had sobered once more. Fife chewed her lip, but thankfully she didn't have to ruminate on the thoughts for long. There was a knock at the door and she rose to greet the innkeeper and to take the tray from him with a nod of thanks. She set it down on the table beside the bed, eyeing the ale as she handed it to him with a raised brow.

His response was prickly, so she raised her hands in a gesture of surrender and shook her head with a wry smile. Picking up the knife, she cut off a few slices of bread. She paused, looking from the tray to Raigryn's shoulder. Thinking it might not be wise for him to be doing too much reaching, she picked up the tray and set it on the bed beside him.

Satisfied that he'd be able to reach it easier, she resumed her seat and picked up one of the slices, doled out a glob of jam, and leaned back to enjoy her breakfast.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn laughed as his defensive gesture. There was a shot of something in his tea too, masked by a dollap of honey. He wasn't one for drinking in the morning but there were few better painkillers. Before it took the edge of his mental faculties he drew from his small supply of Charity.

It felt like a warmth in his veins. Like the glow of satisfaction after carrying out a selfless deed. This warm would speed his body healing. He used just enough to ward off infection and help the wound heal properly.

"Of all the foods in the world, can't beat a chunk of bread and good jam," he said with a smile. He ate in silence for a few minutes, taking sips of tea with his meal and saving the rest of the ale to wash it all down.

"Has anyone ever shown you how to use a knife or a weapon Fife?" he asked bluntly.

 

[Fife]

Fife smiled at his remark, but shook her head. He had spoiled her with regional specialties and favorite dives on their way to the portal stone, so she could think if a lot of things that were better than simple bread and jam. The meat pies from two night's prior, for instance. And there had been that one place with the fish on the coast. And Fife had always been partial to those grilled meats and vegetables on sticks in Elbion.

She was still making a mental list of good food when Raigryn inquired about her training. She shook her head, no, but reached into her boot with her left hand and withdrew her little knife. Twirling it between her fingers, she was smiling proudly when she held it, blade down and parallel to her forearm, and flicked her thumb up to him. Putting it back, she then patted her chest. I did.

She picked up her bread and took another bite. Nobody was going to help her in Elbion. The mercy and kindness of others had been scarce commodities, of which she'd experienced little. Certainly, nobody was going to teach some back-alley thief how to brandish a knife. No, she was entirety self-taught in what little skill she possessed.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"No, no of course," Raigryn said. He didn't ask if he had ever had to use it. If Fife had, it wouldn't be under circumstances that the boy would probably want to recall.

"Well a short sword is different but not too much. A knife is good for a back alley but useless against an orc. A crossbow is the easiest thing in the world to use, but takes practise if you want to hit something far enough away that you can reload if they keep coming."

It was probably worth giving Fife more exercise to do regardless of the danger. Whilst he still didn't appear to have finished growing upwards he would need to put some more muscle on his frame if he was going to move on to a longsword.

 

[Fife]

A short sword? Fife frowned. She gave her arms a pointed look. Even if she had been a preteen boy, she would have been horribly twiggy. As a woman, she was an outright waif. Whey-skinned and scrawny, her only real assets were her endurance and dexterity. But she shrugged, determined to at least try anything he put her to. If that included swordsmanship, she wouldn't protest -- though she severely doubted she'd be able to ever fight anyone or anything in melee.

The crossbow, however, she nodded in regards to. Distance from a fight sounded nice, safe. Loading might be a challenge, but it sounded like he was as determined to strengthen her in one way or another as she was to be of some minimal use in a scuffle. Fife could use a bit of muscle. Fortunately, she'd been eating enough to be quite capable of that now. '

She poked in the last bite of her slice of bread and washed it down with some water. It was tempting to pick up another, but she reminded herself that she needed to cut back, casually propped her feet up beside him again, and cradled her water to wait for him to finish his breakfast. Looking about the room, she saw his things to one side of the room, including Jason's pouch.

Fife started, nearly spilling her water as she dropped her feet from the bed. Jason! She'd forgotten about Jason! Turning to Raigryn, she hastily set down her glass, pointed to the pouch, and made circles with her index fingers and thumbs, which she held over her eyes, imitating the lunasloth's great eyes. Her mild panic pierced that numbing veil and hit her like a boot to the ribs. It was overwhelming after feeling a lot of nothing for a full day, and she felt her eyes burning.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

The rest of his ale vanished in quite short order once he had finished his bread, jam and tea. There was a pleasant buzz already that seemed to disconnect him from the pain.

"Oh she's having a grump because I dropped the bag quite heavily on the slope. I thought I would give her a chance to escape down the rocks on her own. I think she's decided that getting dropped and then snowflakes to the face that I am a terrible person."

Raigryn picked up a last piece of crust and held it out for Fife. "Here, see if she'll come and take it from you." When he had tried the previous evening he'd been given a quiet grumble and fixed with a stare from the depths of the bag. Come morning the jerky had vanished of course.

"We can get you a light sabre," he said. "They don't weigh much, but you soon start to feel it after swinging one for a few minutes. Be good for you."

 

[Fife]

Upon hearing that Jason was just pouting, Fife breathed a heavy sigh of relief and nodded, her hands falling to her lap where they felt like lead balls. She was glad for the heel of bread Raigryn gave her because it afforded her a moment to put her back to him as she crouched down in front of the bag.

Though she refused to sniffle, she hastily wiped away the tears that still threatened to reduce her to a crying mess on Raigryn's floor. She'd been so numb the day before that none of it had truly sank in, but clearly that wasn't going to last forever.

Fife held the heel near the bag's opening and softly whistled Jocelyn. She was almost perfectly still as she waited, not even inclining her head to Raigryn to indicate that she had heard him.

// Raigryn Vayd //