Private Tales Scorched Earth

[Fife]

Fife had been content to stand quietly as he left, not sure what to do but satisfied as she could be with telling him to be safe. She let loose a small smile and nodded at the instruction to look after herself.

But she didn't know what he was doing and automatically took a step back, like she thought she might have been in the way of something. She looked around in slight perplexity before noticing his opened arms. Oh. Oh.

For several long seconds, she looked at him, eyes flitting from his dark eyes to his open arms. A hug. He wanted to hug her. She hadn't been hugged in... Gods, trying to think of how long it had been was pathetic. She hadn't been hugged since she was a child, shortly before losing the last of what she had thought of as siblings -- over a decade devoid of human contact that wasn't intended to be harmful.

Probably looking more like a frightened fawn than a person, Fife finally stepped hesitantly into his embrace. Looping her arms around his waist, she laid her head on his chest. It was... sort of nice. The top of her head didn't come to his armpit and she felt so damn small. But he was warm and firm and smelled like leather. And lavender soap. She was bit back a laugh.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn started to think they were going to part on an awkward note of Fife starring at him in confusion. It was going to be a confusing walk out of the settlement with that image stuck with him.

He sighed as she moved closed, placing just one arm around her. She had put some muscle on around her shoulders from Aretta's training but she still had such a slight frame.

"Don't worry, Aretta will work you so hard that the time will fly past," Raigryn said. She also smelled of flowers.

"I'll miss you," he said, ruffling her hair. Because that actually made him feel better about leaving.

 

[Fife]

She wanted to be able to groan in complaint at his reminder that Aretta would take full advantage of her free time, but settled for a gutsy sigh. When he ruffled her hair, however, she gasped and ducked out of his grasp, hissing with laughter. She struggled to bite back her smile as she fixed her hair and pinned him with a serious look from a safe distance.

Fife gestured toward Dusty and shooed Raigryn away. This was a much better goodbye. She feigned some offense as she laid her hair back in place, but really couldn't keep the smirk away. She would miss him; she had no doubts about that. But she would occupy herself in his absence and when he came back he would hopefully have an interesting story to tell.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

By the time he arrived at the small town it was beyond saving. Creatures from beyond Arethil had melded into the inhabitants of the town. Perhaps the disease could have been rooted out. Those that had been taken had changed. The outside form remained human, but horrors lurked beneath the surface.

Raigryn was glad that old friends with magic of their own had met him there. He was glad of Aretta's training when Gerish was forced to draw his blade. It was going to cause stories to spread, leaving a town in flames. Raigryn couldn't leave those demonic, twisted forms out in the fields where they had been cut down.

Raigryn arrived back with his right arm in a sling. He had hoped to avoid Fife's concerns, but one of the beasts had got its Jaws around his forearm and it was still healing. At least Dusty had gone unscathed. That would have been a conversation he wouldn't have wanted to front up to.

The sun was ahead of him, sinking for the horizon. He headed for the stables where he might have found Fife. Otherwise he would move on to their tent.

 

[Fife]

It was a very long "few weeks". Whether he had been lying to appease her or if they ran into delays or trouble along the way, Fife didn't know. She looked for him out of habit the first few days -- tired or hungry or having learned something worth sharing. After the first week, however, it became almost a new normal to be alone again.

But she wasn't alone. Without Raigryn to lean on, she stood on her own in the camp. When she wasn't getting worked into the ground by Aretta or learning the Silent Way with Maellarn, she spent more time with Ylerial and a few other Idemni. Her little rides around the oasis with Socks had taught her the paths and streets and she started to recognize people.

It didn't seem like she was changing at first, but it felt more gradual for her. The morning routine was less scary as she got used to it, she outgrew her clothes, and she didn't feel the need to bind anymore as she grew more comfortable around the Idemni. Her hair had been growing out for a while now and teaching her how to braid it had apparently been a delightful addition to bathing.

She was happy, but she still watched the crevice passage for the return of one white-haired scholar. She still perked up when someone called for her. It wasn't ever who she wanted it to be, though.

Until it was. Fife had taken Socks out for a long ride after her afternoon training. She was quietly grooming him more than necessary to kill some time before she went to dinner. Sitting in the noisy public tent was preferable to being alone in hers, after all -- a sentiment she would not have entertained a month ago. She could talk to those who knew the Silent Way, and would help out washing dishes for something to do before going back to being alone for the night.

She hadn't paid much mind to the sound of a horse coming into the stables. Picking at the pony's feet, she was so far away in thought that she didn't look up until Socks whinnied and pulled his foot out of her hands. With an annoyed twitch of her brow, she stood and looked out to see what the fuss was about.

It was like being hit in the chest. Fife gasped and whistled Raigryn's name, an excited smile replacing her blank expression as she hurried out of the pony's stall. He was back! She didn't even care (too much) that he was in a sling if it meant the was alive and back.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn had hoped to find her here. In part because it would be seeing her sooner and also because it was save an abdonishment for not brushing the a currently named Dusty in the morning.

An unbridled joy seeped through barriers he didn't try and keep up. By Idemni standards, his smile was unseemly. He grinned from ear to ear as he dismounted the horse carefully.

He kept the reigns in his left hand, with his right bound loosely to his chest. As happy as he looked there was a tiredness in the lines of his smile.

Fife looked older. It took him a moment to work out why. Her hair had grown out more and been tied into a braid. She was wearing Idemni clothes with no bindings, which would have made it impossible to think of her as a young boy. Raigryn felt a slight flutter in his belly when he decided the change suited her, a touch of colour warmed his cheeks.

"I missed you, very much. Come here Fife, just, gently..." he said, glancing down at his arm.

 

[Fife]

Fife skipped over, disregarding stoic Idemni way for a giddy smile. She could feel his happiness, and that made her stomach flip a little. Somebody was happy to see her.

I told you to be safe, she signed as took the reins from him, her hand automatically denoting humor. She pointed to his arm, in case he wasn't keeping up with her signing. He had been gone for weeks and she had gotten a lot better in his absence. Her vocabulary had nearly tripled in that short time, eager to learn as much as quickly as her mind could manage.

She came and took the reins for him and only seemed a little hesitant to open her arms and raise her brows in question.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

He realised they were going to need to do some catching up. A slate and signs would do in the evening. Slower than learning from their tutor, but they had few other things to do to use up the evenings.

Raigryn turned side on, lifting his left arm. It left plenty of room for Fife to embrace him. He was glad for her initiating the contact this time.

"It is nearly healed now, but its going to be a rather unpleasant scar. I do not heal up as well as I once did," he said, keeping an arm gently across her shoulders. He kissed the crown of her head and stepped away.

"And how have you been?" he asked.

 

[Fife]

It was strange, wanting to hug someone, but she hadn't realized how badly she had wanted just this until she stepped under his arm and carefully put hers around him. Although, after getting spoiled around Idemni, he smelled about like a rank boot. She gave him a squeeze to hide her humor. She wasn't even sorry for him about the scrubbing he was no doubt going to get tonight when he went to bathe.

Stepping back, her cheeks warmed from the kiss and she rubbed her head like he'd messed up her hair. He just did it so casually, like it was normal. It was so sudden Fife really had no idea what to think about it. Raigryn did like throwing her in feet first.

She pointed to his arm and, with an arch grin, asked, Can I see it? It wasn't like she'd see anything new. She'd helped him patch up after an orc had nearly cut him down. It was a very morbid curiosity, wanting to see it, but she had never shied away from gore. There was no point starting to be faint now.

Asked about herself, Fife shrugged and offered him a thumb up. I learned a lot. I trained well. She pointed to her sword, propped up just outside of Socks' stall, then flexed an arm and patted her bicep with a proud grin. Some real muscle was growing and she was getting better at the skill in general.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"I got the gist of that, but I've got some words to catch up on," said Raigryn, who now wore a permanent smile.

"Well you did pick a big sword," Raigryn chuckled, looking at her arm. "I think I will take it down to the water and wash it tonight and the you can help me bind it back up afterwards?" he said.

Socks was leaning out and Dusty pulled at the reigns sharply. He wouldn't be kept from his travelling companion any longer.

 

[Fife]

Fife smirked and nodded. She was excited to get back to lessons with him. What she had learned in his absence eclipsed his so much, it would be fun having a leg up on anyone in anything for once. The pupil became the teacher. She laughed a gust of air through her nose at that idea.

Dusty had his own ideas about being forced to stand there for their reunion and Fife whistled his name and flicked her hand in the same exasperation she had used with Socks.

Go bathe. I'll care for him, she signed to Raigryn. She patted Dusty' shoulder and started to lead him to his buddy. Rendezvous at home? Sometimes saying things had to be indirect, but hopefully he got the idea. She could give the horse a much needed, very thorough brushing, and could carry his things back.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"You know a good scrub of the skin with a stone doesn't sound so bad after being blasted with dust on the wind for days. I bet Gerish has gone straight there. It is a hard time for an idemni to be away from their soap."

He looked around to check if anyone was near enough to take offence. They weren't. Raigryn gave dusy a pat on the shoulder and stepped away. He had a change of clothes in the saddlebags which he took before Fife started to stable him. Even bathed he was only going to end up with Idemni crinkling their noses at him if he wore old clothes.



The waters were particularly cold this evening. It made it a challenge first of all to wade into the depths and then a second test of willpower to sink his arm in. There were several long gashes in burgundy striped across his arm and much larger puncture wounds. The entire forearm was covered in a rainbow of bruises. It must have been very close to shattering his arm inside his jaws.



Raigryn was back to the tent before long, wincing with every step that swung his arm a little.

"Fife?"

Taking his sword off and across his shoulder lead to a new round of hissing from moving his arm around.

 

[Fife]

Cleaning up Dusty was a chore. Raigryn had put the poor thing to his namesake, but seeing his arm in a sling freed him from a small portion of her ire. She and Socks were too happy to see him to really linger on her disappointment, however. She got him brushed down with the curry and bristle brushes, then patiently combed out his mane and tail. As much as she wanted to continue, she didn't want to keep Raigryn waiting.

Strapping on her sword and picking up his things, she was still back to the tent before he was. Fife set his stuff down by his "door" and looked around to make sure it was tidy. Things she learned as she adjusted to normal life: she was sort of messy by nature and had to kick herself in the butt to keep her space from looking like a raccoon lived there.

In fact a human woman, she kicked the pillows back into their pile, tossed her brush into her room, and hastily wiped the crumbs off of the table. She realized she hadn't swept and looked at the collection of rocks and shells and other neat things she had found on walks piled on the table. She might have considered taking them to to her room, bit time was up.

The sheepish look she gave him immediately vanished. Fife hurried over to help take his sword, propping it beside her own and pulled "his" stool out from the table for him. Expression marked by the worried crease in her brow, she gave his arm a very upset inspection.

You didn't do as I said. I said 'be safe.' Technically she had to use signs for "instructed" and likely came off as really bossy. If she had thought she was exasperated by the horse, this was on another level. It hadn't looked this bad in the sling. This was nearly healed?

Fife huffed and her hand automatically twitched in annoyance. She went to his bag and pointed to it, some semblance of permission to start digging for the kit to bind it.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"I was moderately safe?" he offered. "There's only so safe you can be when trying to dispatch a hive of demons. Yes, there really were demons there."

Raigryn had started to move the shells and small objects around the table. Placing a finger on one and sliding it across the table produced a surprisingly satisfying sound.

"It will be alright Fife. The bruising is going to last more than the bite marks I think. Its that point where it all looks the worst before it heals properly." Even as he said it out loud it sounded like quite a weak string of excuses.

 

[Fife]

"Moderately safe". Demons. She gave him a dour look from the bag. When she came back, she gave his arm a dubious look. It sounded unlikely from her experience of bruising. Fife didn't argue, setting down the roll of fabric. She had gotten some practice on his shoulder and some instruction from a dwarf back in Belgrath.

It felt like it had been so long since then. Thinking back, Fife's frown slackened, but her expressive eyes glanced over his arm again. If this was good, she was reluctant to imagine what it had been like at first.

She might have chastised him to not do it again but... Fife sighed. She knew him well enough to know that it would be like telling the wind not to blow or the sun not to shine. Curiosity and bravery were in his nature, and to curb it was to curb who he was. The thought of that made her chest oddly tight.

Disregarding feelings she had no name for, she picked up the roll and stood next to him. She wouldn't be able to "talk" to him while she worked slowly, but that was hardly new. Her small hands were careful, but she knew it was going to hurt him a little no matter how gentle she was with him. She started at his shoulder and made her way down, tucking the end in at his wrist. He had (presumably) been dressing himself, but she was fussing and moved to help him put his shirt on.

He complained, but there was nothing new about that. She had limited experience with children, but they seemed to whine about this much. Fife rolled her eyes, but was smiling. Picking up where she left off, she wrapped the sling around his wrist, over is shoulder, and around his neck. He smelled much better now than before. While he took every opportunity to make a fuss about the smell of the soap, she thought it was rather nice.

Finishing the sling and tying it off, she stepped back with a grin and gestured to it, brows high in question.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Realising that they could not converse whilst she dressed his arm was a stark reminder that they even could now. Having been away for some time those recent changes in their dynamic struck him again.

Some changes were very recent, others were just more apparent recently. He grumbled without her being able to chastise him with anything but her eyes - which was enough - but having her dress him brought a tightness in his own chest. There were conflicting perceptions of Fife now and they didn't sit easily with one another. His silent warning to himself was far more admonishment than her gaze.

"That is much better, thank you Fife," Raigryn said. There was a little more colour to his cheeks. "Did you want to...go through some new words with me. Or hear about my heroics and bravery?"

 

[Fife]

She smiled proudly, whether she had done a good job or not. It was a little different from what she had done for him before, but it would do until tomorrow at least. Fife chewed her lip at his question.

Food first? Then stories. She made sure he understood it by pointing to him and making the miming talk with her hand. "Story" might be a new one. I can go get the food. She simplified that afterwards, too. It wouldn't be a problem for her to go get it for him. He must have been tired and she would probably be quicker about it than him.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

It was awkward with his right hand in a sling, but Raigryn tried out her last sign for himself.

"Tales? Stories? Recounting?" he asked slowly in turn giving her a chance to nod. It was now abundantly clear that sign lessons would be better served waiting until his right arm ached much less.

"You get food, I'll unpack some things," Raigryn agreed. Fife would never be a curvaceous woman, but he couldn't help but notice that she cut a more feminine figure as he watched her leave the tent.

 

[Fife]

Making sure she got the gist, she nodded and slipped her boots back on at the door to go get their dinner. She paused at the door to point a warning finger at him, then touched her right arm, held to her chest like his. A general warning as she pointed to his bags. There wasn't anything terribly heavy he could possibly have, but gods only knew.

She was quick about it. Resuming an even expression, she made her way across camp to the communal dinner tent. She was layer than usual, well past sundown now, and she made a note of happy mood as she picked up two bowls to those who had made the meal tonight.

Carrying it back she set them down and started to push her random found bits aside. Fife signed a brief apology about the pile on one corner of the table. She would find new homes for them. Somewhere.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"No that's..." Raigryn's mouth wanted to talk, as it ever did, but his hand stuffed a spoon into it at the behest of his stomach. He rolled his eyes in delight at typical slow-cooked Idemni spice. Layers of warmth and flavour after weeks on the road. Gerish had taken a bag of mixed spices of bright red and yellow but it wasn't the same.

"...it is not as if we need the table space for anyhhing more than earing and writing. Are they for anything or just bits you found?"

Most of his bags had vanished into his side compartment. Just his boots and sword by the door flap and his sword at the back of the tent outside of it.

 

[Fife]

Fife was a little embarrassed about the random trinket collection. She looked down at it shrugged. For all the words she had, she couldn't describe all of why they were here. Boredom? A touch of loneliness? Just because she thought they were neat?

She shrugged. Fife picked a black and white feather out of the pile. A magpie feather, she had found out. It was her favorite. Seeing the beautiful birds about had been an exciting discovery, even if they were troublemakers and scavengers.

It is just... She didn't have a word for pretty yet. I like to look at it. Closer. It would do. She found one of the mussel shells and turned it over, the pearly interior catching the candlelight.

I like the colors. She set both closer to him and shrugged. I went on several walks. She laughed out her nose as she made the gesture for "several" several more times. Fife dropped her eyes and picked up her spoon to eat. That explained how she had come across enough random rocks and things to nearly fill his cupped hands.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn picked through the items on the table. A common magpie attention didn't catch his interest, but he briefly ran his thumb through the smooth inside of the shell. When he left it rocking on the table the iridescent colours shifted through pastel blues and and pinks.

"You haven't been too bored without me around?" Raigryn asked. "You can leave this all on the table, its fine."

 

[Fife]

Had she been too bored? No. Not really. Fife shook her head. Aretta had training. Aretta being a A in this instance. Her afternoons

Still, that wasn't entirely the truth of it. After her arms were exhausted and she couldn't cram any more signs into her head, she had gone wandering. She hadn't dared suggest loneliness or boredom to Aretta or Maellarn for fear of them finding something to remedy that. Pursing her lips she poked momentarily at her dinner.

Perhaps somewhat, she confessed. Something Aretta had said about honesty had stuck in the back of her mind. But Fife still lacked the faculties to describe it, whether lack of sign or not knowing the words or really understanding the emotions themselves. And not knowing, she certainly wasn't going to just let Raigryn decipher them for her. Gods no.

He told her she could keep the things there, and she looked up with a small grin and nodded. She would refrain from bringing back too much more from future walks.

That was enough about her, however.

Tell me about your journey? She was looking forward to hearing what he had been doing. Her weeks had been ruled by monotony and silence. One of his long-winded stories was all she wanted.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn smiled. If she had explained that it had been the time of her life without him then he might have been sullen for the rest of the evening. She had grown in his absence and he didn't want to think that it had been because of his absence.

"I met some of my old acquaintances East of here. And I mean old. I was the youngest of the group. Sythas is almost as eccentric as that Grangomelle we met with his competition. She must be...sixty years now. Well, Hythara beats us all and she looks thirty, but then she is nearer to a whole millenia, but she is an elf.

"Anyway, enough of the people. No one from an entire town had been seen for a month. We found out why. Possessed by demons. Once we reached the centre of the town demonic things leapt from the houses. The people we had seen...changed. Gerish gave a good account of himself. I was doing well right until something grabbed my arm in its jaws tried to tear it off. I stabbed a dagger through its eye and it let me go. We burned the entire place to the ground. We still don't know why they were there."

Raigryn looked down at his bowl and decided the last morsels were going to get cold. He picked up his spoon and waved it in Fife's direction.

"So about the usual really."

 

[Fife]

She ate while he spoke, her eyes mostly on him. Of course, she was a good listener. There had been nothing better to do all her life, after all. Fife didn't have the first idea of who any of these people were, but she listened with high brows and attentive eyes. He was the youngest? Wait, how old was he? A dumb question, since she had such a terrible grasp of age anyways.

Refraining from interrupting his story, she saved her curiosity. The usual was a painfully apt summary. Fife shook her head, smirking.

I am happy you are not dead. She found a secondary means of saying "dead", cutting a thumb across her throat, to explain the unfamiliar one. I am glad I did not go. She paused, pursing her lips then shrugged and nodded. As jealous as she was that he had taken Gerish, she was better off here. She had no business in such matters.

Next time, give me more warning before you leave. She smirked, propped her elbows on the table, and picked up her spoon to finish her food. While she would prefer he didn't run off to chase scary things without her, he was a stray cat, bound to come and go. Fife couldn't very well ask hin to stop wandering and didn't want to.

// Raigryn Vayd //​