Private Tales Scorched Earth

[Fife]

Her swing was blocked and the elf stepped back. While she hadn't hit Ylerial, she had nearly disarmed her. that was something -- better than getting her knuckles rapped again.

Fife kept close as she tried to distance them, but, glancing at their instructor, the taller girl swung down at her. Quickly taking one long stride back, she did her best to block the chop and was spared only by the crossguard. Swinging the sword away from her and stepping around her, she gave her a wide berth. Fife tightened her grip and stepped tentatively closer. Her heart was racing and she watched the elf carefully before making another upward swing, aiming for her hip beneath her sword arm -- taking advantage of her smaller stature the same as Ylerial had used her height.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Ylerial clearly struggled with Fife coming in from under her guard. The girl had some experience, but not against a range of fighters and style. Certainly not against someone swinging a blade for the first time with guts rather than precision. She didn't know this block and paused to recall good form instead of throwing something in the way. Fife was rewarded with catching the elf's sword far too near the tip which allowed the strike to catch her.

"Enough," Aretta snapped. "Raigryn said he had not taught you the blade properly and clearly he was not lying.

"Turn to face me, both of you."

Her assistant jibbered something in crude elven, which only led to a bemused shake of the head.

Aretta cleared her through and the man darted around Ylerial and turned her shoulders to face the teacher. Clearly his job was to ensure Aretta continued her lessons in the manner she preferred.

"There are three main forms. Night and day and twilight. Attacking posture, defensive obscuration and an advanced balance. We will learn the first two. Defense in our blade forms is not a static affair. It is the night because you are avoiding your opponent and hiding the truth of your next attack. There are thirty seven Dawn's that herald the shift from night to day. And we will start...with your feet."

A gruelling hour of footwork and shifting between stances would follow. The two students would be expected to keep their swords in hand for almost the full duration with only small breaks for water.

 

[Fife]

She hit her. Sloppy footwork and sheer effort alone seemed to suffice, and she backed up after catching the other girl in the stomach. Aretta called for them to face her, and Fife did so. Though, she couldn't help watching the assistant trying and failing to communicate those instructions to Ylerial.

She was turned regardless of understanding and Aretta began the lessons after her period of observation. Fife kept up as beat as she could to what she was explaining so that at least one of them was knew what was going on.

It was hard work, but Fife's legs were holding up far better than her arms. She was a bean pole, naturally spendy and armed with very little muscle in her upper body. Merely holding her sword for the entirety of the hour was tiring.

The footwork, however, she practiced with attention, an eagerness to please, and a general willingness to learn. She was picking them up quickly, even if she wasn't exactly perfect. She wouldn't have lasted half this long before being introduced to food at regular intervals. Small victories over her past life, now so far away it seemed almost foreign -- almost.

And Fife did her best to lead the way for Ylerial. It couldn't have been easy, not understanding any of what was happening or being said. Fife understood the inverse of that, and found herself looking toward the elf often before following Aretta's instruction.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"I will admit that you both have been taught to pay attention," Aretta said as she brought the gruelling lesson to an end. This time a little bit of tone reached her voice. She was disappointed that she wasn't able to admonish them for a lack of effort.

"Gerish will take you to the armory now to collect you weapons and he will show you how to care for them properly." Apparently this was also a task for the younger Idemni.

"Afterwards he will bring you to me Ylerial and Fife to Jerella's tent to join him for the Silent Way."

 

[Fife]

Aretta actually sounded disappointed that they had paid such close attention, and Fife bit back a smirk. No doubt, she would find plenty of faults to find in her moving forward. While she paid attention and worked hard, she was still inexperienced and liable to make mistakes somewhere. Fife felt a little proud, however, that she hadn't made a fool of herself and managed something of a compliment to herself and her mentor.

It had already been a long morning, and she was looking forward to sitting and learning language instead. A lesson on caring for a sword first, however. She had seen Raigryn caring for his, and she'd been taught upkeep on her crossbow. This, at least, she had a much better foundation of learning for.

Nodding to Aretta for lack of better expression, she moved to follow Gerish with a look to Ylerial. She waved for her to follow, a show of camaraderie and direction.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

This, at least, required very little in the way of communication. When they reached the armory he has them gather their weapons and assemble in a small circled. There was a silence to the act that he would not interrupt with words.

There was deference in how he held the blade, how he showed them to remove the hilt, strip the oils and recoat it. It was clearly a spiritual act for the Idemni. Ylerial followed in silence too and when they were done she even offered Fife a weak smile when Gerish wasn't looking.

Gerish showed them how to strap the weapons to themselves and gave them each a small bag of the tools they needed. When they were led away Ylerial was led to a small cluster of tents near the centre of the town. Then Fife was led towards the edge in the shadow of the rocky ridge. The Idemni here wore muted shades and carried slender short shorts and knifes.

The Silent Way was an extension of their expressive sign languages. It had been created by, and for, assassins.

Raigryn was sat outside on a stool opposite an elderly indemni. That was surprising in itself. Fife would have seen few around the camp with hair as white as Raigryn's.

 

[Fife]

She paid close attention at the lesson, watching Gerish's hands and the work that he did. It was another routine she would gladly take to. She liked the upkeep things, keeping her hands busy and mind distracted. Something she could do.

Fife snuck a smile back to Ylerial, and waved to her when they parted. Waifs had to stick together, right? Being nice to her certainly couldn't hurt, even if Raigryn had advised her to be careful. It had been a long time since she could claim anything remotely close to a peer. It could be nice to learn alongside someone as lost and confused as she.

As Gerish led her to her sign lessons, Fife spotted Raigryn and waved, clearly biting back a grin as she jogged the last few steps ahead of the Idemni. She looked to the woman he sat with with a polite nod, then turned to show him her sword, eyes bright and excited. It was a much, much smaller version of his, and brand spanking new.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Such a large sword for your eyes. You will not be learning the ways of intrigue beyond the Silent Way then," the Idemni spoke before Raigryn could. "A destroyer? Like you?"

"She is actually a very respectable pick pocket," Raigryn boasted.

The Idemni, perhaps to Fife's surprise, seemed more impressed by this than the sword. With age seemed to come a relaxation in the control of facial expression.

"I would take it for a look and to test its weight, but that is not their way," Raigryn explained. "It looks a fine weapon."

At the suggestion the Idemni's eyes widened in horror.

"This is Maellarn, who is currently trying to teach me the fundamentals which consist of 'who are you', 'what is your status', and 'do we attack now?'"

 

[Fife]

She looked from the woman to Raigryn. Had things like knives been a choice? She was already well-suited to them, though. While untrained, she had (unfortunately) already had cause to use them more than once.

The word in particular the Idemni used for Raigryn made her feel a little uncomfortable. She hardly thought of Raigryn as a destroyer. It had such a negative ring to it -- but then again, everything sounded bad when it was said free of any inflection.

She glanced between them, and was nervous when he seemed to brag on her behalf about her pickpocketing skill. Don't tell people that! She could have smacked his arm in chastizement for that. Her cheeks flashed with color. But the elderly woman seemed more impressed by that, which threw Fife for a loop. What strange people.

She was still recovering from her reddened face when he remarked on testing her sword, and she figured she'd let him look it over when they went back to the tent for the night. His companion looked like the suggestion alone was scandalous.

Fife inclined her head politely to Maellarn and looked to Gerish, questioning if she was coming here as well. She didn't dare assume anything here, even if Raigryn had told her they were taking sign lessons together.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Gerish gave a low bow to Maellarn, at least by their standards where a slight nod of the head ws considered a respectful greeting. She dismissed him with a flick of one hand.

"Come, sit girl," said Maellarn. "My you do look quite like a boy," she observed curtly.

"Maellarn is one of the most respected poisoners, pick pockets and assassins," Raigryn explained.

"Though I have had my failings," she added quickly. She signed to each of those words. A hard stop of the hand, a single finger swiped, both hands placed to shoulders, two fingers to the heart and then a palm dragged across a knife hand. It was quick, but the movements were quite bold. It had been designed to roughly communicate at a short distance in the dead of the night.

 

[Fife]

Fife took note of everything -- the way Gerish deferred to her politely and the sign she used to dismiss him. Even before Raigryn informed her of her status among the Idemni, she had a very good idea of just that. She sat as she was instructed, more specifically when.

She couldn't resent the honest comment. Fife was small of stature, plain and androgynous in features, and had a boyish haircut. Paired with the practical clothes and bound chest, she did look like a boy. That was the point, wasn't it? She might have been proud of that once, but now she felt a twinge of guilt as she glanced up at Raigryn.

Maellarn spoke, and Fife watched her hands. Some of them she might have guessed the meaning of but the rest were just... gestures. It was such a drastic departure from what she had been trying to do with Raigryn, and yet... If it captured that statement, it accomplished far more than any basic, rudimentary sign they had been building between them.

When she dared look up at Raigryn, her jaw was somewhat slack and there was elation in her dark grey eyes. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but this was so much more than that. A silly, girlish glee welled up inside of her, loud enough it felt like everyone could hear it, not just him. She only took her eyes from Maellarn for a moment, but a great deal had been conveyed in that short look.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn didn't react at first. He was too busy trying to copy the gestures. That was how the lesson was proceeding, much to his frustration. She would speak and sign and he had to try and copy. This all happened in between more focused demonstrations of the day.

When he finally looked up from his hands - which were refusing to copy precisely enough - a warm grin spread across his face. This was for her, it was all for her. He should have thought about it a long time ago, but every piece of his history fit together in a different way. Finding the right piece of the puzzle from the contacts he had for a particular need took him time. Even when it should have been obvious.

This was a harsh and isolated place, but the people were honest. It was a safe place, more than most places in the world right now.

Raigryn made a few slow gestures.

"He is trying, badly, to sign 'good morning'." explained their teacher.

 

[Fife]

Fife watched him sign curiously, then glanced at Maellarn as she explained with the proper sign. She was having trouble biting back her own grin, pulling inexplicably at the corners of her mouth as she lifted her eyes to his.

Her arms were tired, but she signed it back more faithfully than his attempt. Good morning. How ridiculous she must seem, a weird lump forming in her throat before she lowered her eyes. It was a stupid thing to get excited and emotional over. She swallowed it back, sniffing only once as quietly as she could.

Fife paid close attention to the lesson. She copied Maellarn's signs as well as she could, absorbing as much of it as she could. Her mind was so hungry for this and she wasn't letting any of it slip past her fingers. Literally. She was reluctant to look away from their teacher, lest she miss something.

As with every lesson before this, Fife was a good student. She was as eager to please and wanted to know far more than what one lesson could provide. It was ending long before she was ready for it to, though her arms were complaining for rest and her stomach was starting to snarl. At least it gave her something to help push through her challenging morning tomorrow, knowing she'd have this lesson waiting after the other.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

As they marched away from the edge of the town belonging to the training murderers Aretta appeared ahead of them. She walked with a determined gait, as always.

"I would borrow Fife for a time," she explained. Without knowing their language of colour yet it was hard to tell if it was a question or a statement.

"Of course, Fife meet me at our tent and we will get some food and discuss lessons? You've also got some writing to do but it will have to be chalk board," said Raigryn.

"Come," called Aretta, turning on her heels. The tight clothing of her people revealed a lithe, but powerful body. As if Fife hadn't seen enough of it already. "Your lesson went well?"

 

[Fife]

She greeted Aretta with a curt nod, which she was finding out was more or less the way to acknowledge her even with a voice. She glanced momentarily at Raigryn at the request of her time, then nodded to him. She was hungry and tired, but she didn't dare refuse Aretta.

She plodded along beside the woman, and nodded when she asked after her lessons. She signed. Good morning. Better than nothing. At the very least, it was in their language.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"I do know that one at least.. We do not all know the silent way. It has a very specific use."

Aretta looked back over her shoulder at the caves. There was the hint of a shudder. Even she did not fully understand what that order of their people trained down there.

"Did Raigryn explain the nature of his relationship with our people?" she asked.

 

[Fife]

Fife was a little surprised. She followed her gaze and had a lot of questions that would probably remain for a while.

But Aretta had a question for her as well. Blinking, she thought back on what he had said. He never really got right to what he meant or walked in circles around things when it came to himself. Raigryn hadn't said much at all. What he did say wasn't very well conveyed in gestures anyhow. He had been here a decade ago and helped them rebuild after being decimated after war.

Fife held up her fingers, spaced a short distance apart. A little? Then she wobbled her hand in uncertainty and shrugged. It wasn't much.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Aretta nodded slowly. She walked them towards the opening in the natural rock formations.

"He has done much for our people, when we were at our lowest," she admitted. "It is why he is welcome here. We know that we would not be here now if it was not for him. In every way."

Aretta strode past the stoic guards, back to where Fife had first set eyes on the entrance to the home of the remaining Idemni. Back to look up at the mural on the rocks. The swordsman crashing through the line of Idemni.

"Does he look familiar?"

 

[Fife]

She spoke very highly of Raigryn, and Fife gave her a measuring look. Aretta didn't seem like the sort of person to speak in hyperbole. Keeping up with her, she stopped to look up at the stone mural.

Fife liked to think she was clever, but it still took a moment of inspection before she looked at Aretta with widening eyes and a slight gasp. Looking up again, she could recognize some familiar features -- though the figure they portrayed was younger and lacking a distinct scraggly beard. Without Aretta's segue, she would have had no idea.

It was obvious she was implying that it depicted Raigryn, but Fife still pointed up at it.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"We held the rise. Well, I was far from that field. Our people held that rise. Paid to hold the Prince's flanking army from moving on a city that does not even exist any more. That is how this part of the world works. Kings Rise and fall and kill one another, but we have survived through many of their reigns.

"Raigryn led their third charge. Magic and a sword and fury. We broke. Idemni met him on the field several times. And after he was gone, back to a place called Elbion, that Prince decided we were the greatest threat to his reign. Because anyone with money could kill a king if the idemni took their coin."

As she spoke, her hand had slowed and finally stilled.

 

[Fife]

Raigryn had spoken very little on his past, but she knew enough to have a bad feeling about where this was going. Her eyes moved from Aretta to the mural as she spoke. She had seen what he had done on scraps of Aspects, careful of how much he used lest he not have the opportunity to draw them again. She was reluctant to imagine what he could have done with it in the setting of war.

Dropping her gaze, she looked to Aretta's hand as it quieted. She wasn't certain how the story made her feel. He had killed Idemni, and the prince he had fought for had been the one to drive them to their current circumstances and number.

She wasn't sure how she felt that Aretta had been the one to tell her before Raigryn. Would he have told a different story? Did hearing it from her side -- the side of the people whose culture livelihood had been destroyed -- soften the blow somehow?

Fife didn't know. She made the conscious effort not to chew on her lip as she thought. She didn't really know much of anything outside of how the seasons made pickpocketing easier or harder, how long a person could go without food, and how cold a body could get before it started shutting down. Moral dilemmas were not her forte, and she certainly wasn't in a position to pass judgement.

Looking up once more, she waited patiently for Aretta to continue. If there was more. She didn't even know if she wanted to hear more. Did knowing he had once been a scourge upon these people who were so kind to them change her opinion of him? No. Not really. He was still just... Raigryn: half well-meaning, oblivious scholar, half dark-and-brooding old grouch. It changed about as little to the essentials as her being female.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Why he came to help us some years later...You must understand it is strange to us. It made tactical sense for our enemies to drive us from our homes. There was no honor in battle, nothing to be gained in finding our scattered people. There were young idemni, angry and upset that he had not come to let them test their blades."

Aretta turned towards Fife, when she spoke again her hand moved into action.

"You have that strap too loose. You do not want to pull it from your shoulder instead of your blade."

 

[Fife]

She certainly understood not getting why Raigryn was doing what he was was doing. She nodded in agreement. He baffled her. Gods knew she had plenty of questions as to why he had decided to turn a thief into a pupil. He had every right to take a finger or hand her over to the guard to take a whole hand from her -- it wouldn't have been the first time they'd seen her, after all.

Instead, he had dragged her all over creation to wind up here, where she could learn a language alongside weapons and magic. She felt almost... selfish, or lesser by comparison. She'd not have shown any mercy, and was guilty of just that.

Why was he here? Why was she here? Questions, no doubt, they would all have wanted to know.

Fife looked up in confusion at Aretta's remark about her strap, then looked at the baldric sheepishly as she adjusted it. Just as well; the conversation needed some levity where Fife couldn't provide it with more than silence.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"I tell you this because our people do not believe in keeping secrets from those we trust. I have to trust you Fife because I trust Raigryn and he brought you here. I must trust that you will not sell our ways to the world, or show them where we have settled.

"Raigryn has a place here, but he is not of us. He does not always speak plainly." Aretta let some of the respect she felt onto her face. There was frustration there as well.

"Now. You are apparently a mage too and I must return you to your lessons."

 

[Fife]

Fife watched her speak, nodding in some suggestion that she could be trusted. Who would she tell? She didn't really even know what she was supposed to do after she left this place. Though she had grand ideas of fat chickens and plump ponies, she had yet to work out how she would get from here to there.

Aretta released her and Fife made her way back through camp. Her third lesson for the day was with Raigryn. He'd either put her to letters, which wasn't too taxing, or he would devise some scheme to help teach her to use Empathy on her feet. She prayed for the former, but was prepared for the latter.

// Raigryn Vayd //​