Private Tales Scorched Earth

[Raigryn Vayd]

"There is..." No reason for thanks? It seemed a strange way to respond. To cheapen the way their lives had changed.

"That is quite alright Fife. I am very glad that we crossed paths and if you are more comfortable wrapping yourself then that is absolutely fine."

The streets were a harsh place to grow up. For everything he had been through he would never fully understand what life had been like for her.

Raigryn grimaced and turned away. Drawing too quickly brought an empath more than just emotional power, it brought an echo of the reality that had caused it. The Empath knew a little more of that life than he had wanted to.


Strong hands grabbed her by the upper arms hard enough to bruise and she was roughly shoved to the ground. A gravelly voice commanded her to hold still, but she flailed beneath his restraining hands -- a fear borne of terrible experience. She couldn't breathe, whether from the panic or the arm that shifted to pin her down across her back. Gravel and mud bit into her cheek and tears made her eyes burn. The harder she fought, the harder the arm pressed the air out of her lungs. Dizzy and desperate, she tried to whistle but the voice laughed at the feeble, strangled sound.

He sighed quietly and felt the shiver run up his spine. Raigryn didn't have the full palette of emotions that came with the experience he had been shown through the window, just the raw unadulterated fear that he had been taking. His mind filled in the rest for him.

"You are safer than ever here and when you have learned some of their way with the sword, well..." Raigryn grinned at her. "Speaking of training we have several aspects still to cover."

 

[Fife]

He cut himself off, and Fife looked up as he changed his response. She offered a thin smile and a nod, and was happy to have had the issue aired and at an end. For now, anyways.

The shift in conversation to training was welcomed with a more genuine smile. Finally. It had felt like ages since she had learned something new. Her grasp on Avarice was getting better, to the point of saving her ass once, but she had only been taught one facet of a very versatile Aspect. She had seen him make all sorts of things with it. She'd always had a sound understanding of Tranquility and Fury from her own experience, and Joy was easy enough.

Fife wiggled excitedly on her seat as she raised her hands. She was getting sleepy, but was always eager to discuss magic. She held up the number four before touching eight to her forehead -- the sign for Empathy and Aspects sort of rolled into one general gesture. She held up her hand un question and waited.

They had covered four of the eight Aspects. Of those remaining, Disgust could tamper with minds, Misery built curses, Charity healed, and Desire manipulated gravity. The idea of taking Charity from a person was worse than Joy. Disgust and Misery seemed more dangerous than Avarice on its worst day. And Desire... Well, she wanted very little to do with that one.

As long as it wasn't him throwing rocks at her or hitting her with a switch again, she would look forward to it. Then again, he seemed to have rather unorthodox methods of teaching in general. She didn't doubt he had other nefarious methods for teaching the others.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"We have an advantage here," Raigryn stated. He sighed as he drew himself to his feet. At least he didn't groan this time. A sign of his age and weariness of his battle-worn body was the noises he had to make every time he stood up.

"The Idemni are quite relaxed about empathy. If fact they believe an overabundance of any emotion is bad for the soul. They might willingly let us try and draw from them."

Raigryn took the seat opposite her, looking through the canvas of the tent as he gave his words due consideration.

"You don't see me healing often because Charity is precious. You never want to siphon much of it. It comes in many forms, but essentially any feelings to care for another.

"Disgust is harder to use. Not too difficult to gather. Misery might be hard to gather here," Raigryn explained. It was hard to admit that misery could be taken from the slums. Easier to admit than the next part.

"Desire...we are going to have to get to. The tricky part is...not letting yourself become caught in the exact desire the subject feels." Raigryn tapped his fingers on the table and looked away.

 

[Fife]

The idea of using their Empathy more openly while she got the hang of it was refreshing after drumming caution and danger into her for months on end. Months. Had it really been so long?

He stood with minimal noise and came to sit with her again. Fife spared the book a glance. She would have been lying to say she wasn't interested in listening to something. She had always liked stories, ear pressed to tavern walls and climbing buildings to see bards and performers in crowded streets. Raigryn was a good storyteller, even when he was reading from dry material.

She tempered her excitement for more Empathy with the reminder that each of these emotional Aspects would carry that feeling with its use. It wasn't a toy or a thing to play with lightly, as she well knew. She had learned her lesson of imbalance once and wasn't keen on repeating it.

And the Aspects in question were mostly unpleasant. Her frown deepened when he got to Desire. Raigryn looked away, and so did she. Fife sighed deeply. Aversion to the feeling or not, Fife couldn't ignore that it was part of these studies. It would be foolish not to learn it just because it made her uncomfortable.

She held up eight, patted her chest over her heart like a racing pulse for her expression of Desire, then held up the eight again. Last. She wanted to learn that one last.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Eight for? No sorry, not sure what you mean Fife," Raigryn apologised.

 

[Fife]

Fife huffed in exasperation. He was either right on the mark with guessing or absolutely dense and there seemed to be little ground in between. It wasn't his fault, though, so she used her finger to spell it put on the table instead of wasting paper or using the same three gestures again and again.

DESIR LAST

One letter at a time, she wrote out the letters with her fingers. It was the first and only request she had made regarding their lessons. She wanted him to at least understand what she was asking.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Oh desire, yes right, a beating heart," Raigryn replied quickly. He winced and was glad she could write. It quickly turned into a smirk.

"Would have been funnier if you had tried to mime a blushing, feinting maiden." She did not immediately try and throw something at him for the comment, which he took as a win. If he was going to keep teasing her then perhaps having her learn the sword wasn't the safest plan.

He was, of course, going to keep teasing her. At least up until the real lesson of Desire anyway. Teaching a female empath that was going to take him far outside of his comfort zone. They delt in raw emotions and beating hearts and fluttering eyelashes were not the core of what they drew.

"Unfortunately its the easiest of those to learn and use but let's do it last," he agreed. "We will try and find a supply of Misery. I know some simple and relatively benign curses to start with."

Raigryn looked down at his book, then back at Fife. He hadn't missed that glance but they also hand a long day ahead of them. A longer day than perhaps Fife realised.

"Would you like me to read to you?" he asked, regardless of his concern.

 

[Fife]

He got it, and Fife couldn't help rolling her eyes and shaking her head at his joke. But she had a small smile. She was about as far from the blushing maiden type as one could be. Sure, she blushed a lot, but also fought like hell before waiting for anyone else to save her. Fate hadn't sent her many heroes, and she'd learned to take care of herself.

But for his amusement. Fife's brows drew together and she rested one hand against the back of her forehead in feigned exhaustion and pain, the other dropping to touch her ankle. She loosed a shaky sigh for effect, but she couldn't keep up the joke for long before hissing and laughing at her own humor.

But he was back on topic again, and Fife nodded her head. She knew she'd have to learn Desire someday, but he seemed willing to give her the time she needed to be ready for that lesson. In the meantime, Misery.

And reading. Fife nodded eagerly, turned on the bench to kick off her boots to toss them by her half of the tent, and flopped down into the cushions to claim them before he could. Grinning, she rested her hands behind her head and got comfortable.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Not a bad impression. I suppose it would be hard to mime asking for smelling salts," Raigryn mused.

Fife stole the cushions whilst he was chuckling, leaving him at the hard bench. If Fife had still been a boy in his mind then he would have asked him to shove over and make a little room. Small changes. Lots of little small changes.

Raigryn flicked back a few pages to find the start of the chapter. The opening chapters were in the Elbion style which meant the opposite page was illustrated from top to bottom and gilted. Some of his books could have been sold for a tidy sum, which was deliberate. He would miss them, but it was also like carrying a small personal bank account around with him.

He read slowly and quietly through the entire chapter and into the next. It was a relatively dry take on the history given how interesting the contents were. A human and elf who fell in love and formed their own magical order, only to be torn apart by competing elven and human interests. It would have made a better work of fiction.

It seemed to take its toll and soon he saw Fife started to nod off.

"Come of Fife, time to get some sleep," he called out softly, closing the book.

 

[Fife]

Fife didn't have much context of what did or didn't make a good story, and the topic was interesting enough. She got far too comfortable, however. Her grin faded and her arms came down to hold herself as she listened. She let her head rest back into the cushions and she watched the gentle rise and fall of the tent ceiling. It was like being in a lung, taking a deep breath and then letting it go...

Raigryn stopped reading and called over to her, and Fife jerked awake. She sat up and blinked before casting a sheepish look his direction.

She wasn't used to staying up this late on the road. On the streets, her sleep schedule had changed as she needed it to, keeping late hours to provide for herself when necessary. Not anymore; she had happily converted to his "early to bed, early to rise" routine.

Fife nodded and got up, yawning quietly and waving good night. She carried her bags to her part of the tent, put them by her bed, and looked at the little space in the dark. It wouldn't be too terrible. It afforded a little privacy -- a luxury, in her opinion.

Shedding her things in a neat pile, she laid down in her usual pajamas of undershirt and trousers (because old habits died hard), and did her best to get some decent sleep.

Fife had had worse. With relatively few fitful moments, she rose early and dressed for an uncertain day. She didn't really know what to expect -- at least, not entirely. She knew her bath came first, and that was scarier than any rigorous training she might get into today.

Fastening her belt and pulling on her boots, she went to look outside and it was thoughts of public bathing that stopped her at the flap. She knew it was stupid, but she hesitated at the door regardless. Had Raigryn been joking, or was he serious about getting scrubbed? Fife subconsciously held herself as she stared at the flap, a deep frown turning down her features.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn emerged from his side of the tent after a night of little sleep. The idemni were so relaxed about his presence here. Not seeing the resentment on their faces made it worse. Even after what he had done for the idemni people since he knew it had to be there, hidden below their stoic expressions.

Fife was standing in the threshold of their tent, looking worried. Raigryn sauntered to the table and sat down to lace his boots.

"Look, I know I said I'd keep you safe but this is one adventure I can't follow you on. Not without causing a serious incident anyway."

He groaned as he did his laces. He had taken the side of the tent that didn't gather much warmth through the evening. Now his joints were complaining. Raigryn offered a look of apology for making light of the difficult situation.

"I can walk you there if you would like?" he offered.

 

[Fife]

If she hadn't been so anxious about today and risen as early as she had, Raigryn getting up would have been her usual alarm. She looked back at him as he came in to tie his boots and offer her encouragement. She gave him a small, halfhearted grin at his humor and shook her head.

His offer, however, was genuine. Fife considered it and slowly looked back to the flap. After some thought, she finally shook her head. No. He didn't need to babysit her all the time -- especially here. She had grown too dependent on him. She had been self-sufficient before, and she would need to be again. What was so terrifying about a bath?

Drawing a deep breath, Fife waved back at him before lifting aside the flap and went. She might as well have been walking to a funeral.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn waved back and returned to finish doing up his laces. For him it was just soap and water, which he complained about more than he had a right to. For Fife it was far more. It was being exposed in front of people. Not just physically. It was a trial, but one she had to face alone. He was certain she would come through, if a little shaken. Otherwise she was going to have to get up and bathe before the sun was up.

They had a schedule of sorts now. A rhythm to their life. She would be trained in the sword through the morning. He was here to learn too so that he could better communicate with Fife. They would take lessons together with someone and then he was going to teach Fife to use Misery.

It would be interesting to see how Fife would deal with such regularity for a change.

 

[Fife]

Fife gave herself a silent pep talk on her way to the far end of the lake. How bad could it be? She could mind herself apart from the literal strangers, take care of her business, and leave without incident. Raigryn had just been teasing her about getting scrubbed.

He hadn't been teasing. She did her best to keep her space from the others, but (in a twist from what she might have expected from a culture where facial expressions were vulgar) personal space didn't appear to be part of their vernacular. Fife had crept slowly away from them all, but they followed, like they thought they were being helpful -- or, perhaps, making sure the outsider got good and clean before going to share their social breakfast tent. Even Aretta tried to strike up conversation with the mute.

By the time she practically ran away from the water, she was scrubbed cleaner than she'd ever been and was shaking so hard her teeth could have chattered if she'd let them. Of course, as she made her way to the breakfast tent to find her mentor and fulfill the instructions to get a good breakfast, she didn't look half as harrowed as she felt in her best effort to appear neutral. Fife scanned the room for Raigryn, got her food, and sat down.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn said nothing at all for a while. He offered a smile and continued with his breakfast. It was another simple affair. A broth that could be cooked in large batches, but the spices were far more subtle.

"Eventually you will get used to the flowery soap," he eventually said.

"I'm told you will have the sword all morning. It's almost an honor that they are giving you so much of Aretta's time. She is well respected here.

"Then we are learning sign language together," he said, hoping that would improve her mood a little.

 

[Fife]

Thankfully, the breakfast wasn't as spicy as dinner the night before. She sat beside him and ate quietly, looking up when he began to speak. She didn't know how to tell him it wasn't the soap. Or did he understand it wasn't the soap, but that was easier to say? It was difficult to know.

Fife nodded. He seemed to know as much or more about her morning than she did. Still, she would keep the information in mind when she inevitably longed for escape later.

The promise of learning sign did lift her spirits. She sat up straighter to look at him just in time to hold back a grin. It was still there, however, in her dark eyes. Finally. After gesturing and fumbling her way through conveying even the simplest concepts for months, she was eager for language. Fife nodded and gave a thumb up.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Good," he said firmly. He offered a smile that lingered a little too long. He knew. Raigryn reached across the table and gave her forearm a brief squeeze and looked away.

"Of course I will start my lessons in sign earlier, because I will undoubtably be a slow learner."

Raigryn frowned. It had been a long time since he had tried to learn anything from the start. It was actually a slightly daunting prospect.

 

[Fife]

It took a considerable amount of effort not to pull away from his hand when he grasped her arm in what she assumed was reassurance. Just Raigryn, just Raigryn. The touch only lasted a moment and Fife didn't really know how she felt about it at all. He had meant it to be comforting, but she had already been touched more than she wanted to for a day. That wasn't fair to him, however.

Feeling a little guilty, she shook her head in disagreement. She pointed to him and tapped a finger to her temple, then indicated him with an accompanying thumb up. You're smart. You'll be fine.

If he was nervous about learning, she already knew she was in for a rough go.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Despite having taught her to guard her emotions from other empaths, he could still read her discomfort. He knew the dark source of that feeling that lurked in her psyche and decided not to dwell on it. She had gone through the first day and perhaps the trial by fire - or water - would slowly become the norm for her.

"Won't that be interesting though? Both being able to converse a little more directly without me asking a series of questions or stopping to write on a page?"

Raigryn was now very obviously trying to lift Fife's spirits a little before the day.

 

[Fife]

In spite of herself, Fife nodded and a small grin pulled at the corners of her mouth at his musing. There were so many things in her mind all the time. So much of what she thought and felt went unsaid for the lack of gestures she could manage. With some spelling it had been easier, but writing had never seemed convenient. She was slow about it and it wasted an expensive resource.

She was still trying to wrap her mind around the idea of just... talking. Not about anything important, not only when he prompted her, not restricted to rudimentary concepts. Talking for the sake of talking alone -- something that others took for granted, but was the one thing she would have given everything to have. Being uncomfortable at morning baths and exhausted from weapon training seemed like small prices to pay.

Still fighting her grin, Fife actually had familiar signs to convey her small joke. She touched her chest, negated,slid her hand along a point before stopping abruptly, and opened and closed her hand near her mouth to mime talking. I'll never stop talking.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Well then I'll be sure to put plenty of time aside both to practise the skill and to give you time to express yourself," he said. He was continuing the lighthearted nature of the conversation, but Fife knew him well enough to know when he was being serious.

"I wonder if Aretta will be a more gentle hand in teaching you," Raigryn wondered out loud.

---

"As you can see we have fashioned swords with blunt wooden blades made to a similar weight and size as those you chose. You will now try and hit each other with them and I will tell you how badly you are doing it," Aretta snapped.

No. The answer to Raigryn's question was no.

They had been led to a clearing within the bounds of the town. A young man accompanied her. The reason for his presence became clear when he spoke three words of crude elvish.

The elven girl looked at Fife back at him incredulously and started spouting off in her tongue.

"Erm," went the young man. "I didn't get much of that.."

 

[Fife]

Fife bit back a grin at that and continued eating, shaking her head. It was all fun and games until he was tired and she wanted to talk endlessly about years of things that had been stuck inside of her with no one to share them with. She felt better, however -- no doubt by his design. The tingle and tension has mostly gone out of her, and she could look forward to the latter part of the day.

Any curiosity Raigryn might have had about her lessons were swiftly answered. Fife held her wooden sword, testing its weight and the grip in her hands. But she was used to being shocked in her lessons, so being told to just try hitting the taller girl wasn't much of a surprise.

The elf seemed upset by something, and Fife's first guess was either her size and the general misconception of her ate, or it was that she barely even knew how to hold her sword, let alone use it.

Fife squared up nonetheless, holding her little sword at the ready. Though inexperienced, she was fast and tough. Learning in a controlled environment rather than testing her skill with stakes of health or harm was easier than, say, testing a handful of lessons against plague ghouls.

But she seemed upset, and Fife figured that, no matter her protest, it might be easier to hit her if she threw the first stone. She'd seen Raigryn kill enough stuff to have some vague idea of what she was supposed to do.

She stepped forward, one hand beneath the hilt and the other at the pommel, and raised her sword in a deliberate swing toward the girl's hip.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Ylerial looked at Fife incredulously and back towards Aretta's glare. She flowed like water backwards. Fife's swood sword swished through the air. It was followed by a sharp rap of the elven girl's wooden blade against Fife's knuckles.

She was quick. It was a wonder that she wasn't drawing on any kind of magic at all to move like that.

She seemed to understand and threw back one foot into a defensive stance.

"It might have been polite to throw a tentative strike like that Fife, but make sure the next one connects," Aretta called. There was absolutely no emotion behind her voice.

 

[Fife]

She wasn't surprised that she was good. Fife might have groaned inwardly as she danced back as fluid as a dancer, but the rap against her knuckles elicited a sharp gasp. It was all she could do not to drop the sword in her hands. She was no stranger to pain but gods, that feeling in particular was awful. It bit with chastisement, and Fife pulled back. Opening and closing her fingers to alleviate some of the sting in her hands only did so much. Still, Fife refused to let go.

She glanced at Aretta, but only briefly. From just this first interaction, she got the feeling she was going home with far more bruises than her sparring partner.

Doubting she was going to make anything connect today, but certainly about to give it her best go, Fife moved again. Without really knowing what she was supposed to do (other than the directive to connect), she stepped up to Ylerial again. Left hand dominant, she swung inward again. This time she didn't give her the obvious warning and slow swing. She had every intent of of trying to hit her this time, to whatever end.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Ylerial wasn't an expert with the sword already. She had been through a few lessons and set her stance correctly and gauged distances properly.

The elf blocked the next swing but hissed in pain as she nearly lost the grip on her sword. She stepped back again, sliding one foot at a time and never crossing them.

Ylerial looked towards Aretta in confusion. The idemni pointed at her and then swung an open hand towards Fife.

She swung from high to low, looking to use her reach to force Fife backwards.