Private Tales Something Amiss

[Lia]

The ship was large enough for all of them to sprawl out on the deck end to end if they needed to, something she was rather glad for. They would have space to practice the sword or lay about if they wanted to, and with only a few crates of cargo on board it meant they would be able to cover themselves quite well if the weather turned.

"It's either this or a month and a half in the saddle." She told Kaska with a smile. "Either way you'll be unhappy."

That was something she'd already learned on their previous adventure. "At least this way it will be over faster."

Much faster.

They were going to follow the current of the Sayve, meaning that they would be able to go even quicker. Technically they would not even have to use the sail, though Lia would insist on it. She wanted to see the first of those fortresses by the end of the week.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska snorted, dropping her pack and pulling off her bow. She rolled her shoulders, the release in weight pleasant. "You make it sound like I'm always miserable."

She peeled off the quiver and then the sword next, holding its sheathed weight in her hands just to get a feel for it.

"I will admit, this does seem better. I don't think the Majors woulda thought of it themselves, or else they'd have given you less time." It was a crafty little plan, Lia thinking beyond what even the Major's could strategize for.

It also meant that if someone had already left with details of their plan, they would still outpace them by a month at least.

 

[Lia]

Lia smiled.

She really was quite proud of having thought of this. It all hinged on the assumption that the Lich really had been intending for one of those Fortresses of course, but she was confident in the bet.

Where else would he have been going to? There was nowhere else in the North that really made sense for the creature, and if it had intended to cut west and go elsewhere then it had missed it's opportunity three or four times over. No, she was sure in this.

"Cast off as soon as you can, Captain." She told the man as she placed her on things neatly on the deck.

She smiled at Kaska after.

"Three months is plenty of time to find the thing." And send for the Templars if they had to. "It will give us time to react and plan accordingly."

 

[Kaska]

Kaska smiled back, shaking her head. "Plenty of time for you to order Thiereth to get me up to snuff on this." She held up Lia's sword, bouncing it experimentally in her hands.

She unsheathed it, holding it out and moving it through some basic forms.

"Your arms have to be strong for this. And your wrists? How thick are they, let me see them." She lowered it, going to nosily pry for Lia's sleeves as the captain worked on setting them off. They did so with a jolt that sent Kaska flailing, catching herself with the tip of the sword jammed into the deck wood.

 

[Lia]

"DON'T SCRAPE MY BOAT!"

The Captain yelled and Lia couldn't help but wince slightly, glancing up to where the Captain was standing, his hands on the rutter wheel. She frowned for one brief moment and then quickly motioned for Kaska to head down to the front of the ship.

Better they get as far away as possible. "You have to use the momentum of the blade."

Lia explained to Kaska quietly, the other Rangers perking up their heads as they spotted Kaska carrying the blade. A few of them were smiling, likely expecting Lia and the other girl to spar. It was more than obvious to some of them who would win that particular bout.

"A man can be a brute with that." She rolled her eyes at the muscular Ranger who was flexing at Kaska. "But you can't be."

 

[Kaska]

Kaska quickly found her footing on the moving ship, looking at the ground curiously in understanding. Sea legs. Well. River legs.

She followed after Lia, wink after the flexing Ranger and holding that sword much more carefully than before. "You're not about to give me a lecture, are you? Because. I saw you with Thiereth and I bet he could do just as good of a job on sword this long." She waggled her brows at Lia, double entendres galore.

 

[Lia]

Lia perked an eyebrow. "I doubt it. He's likely not used to something so large."

Had the man overhead he likely would have felt a pinch of sadness. Luckily he was currently on the other side of the ship, his eyes quietly watching the river as it began to pass by them in the dark. Lia glanced him for a moment, the Ranger illuminated only slightly by the pale light of the lanterns on the sides of the boat.

"Come on." She told Kaska. "You won't be fighting the Lich up close but he might have more bandits."

She frowned. "Or something else."

 

[Kaska]

Kaska sighed and shook her head. "Very well. Guide me through it, what's the best way to use this monster?" She stepped closer to Lia, allowing the woman to walk her through proper management of her sword.

By the end of it all Kaska's arm was screaming in fatigue. Her sword was far lighter and even half a pound of add weight was enough to through off the best swordsmen's muscle memory. Kaska had proved an adept enough student, the only things holding her back from making strides with Lia's weapon was time and physical limits. For now, her base skill was enough. She'd even be able to dispose of a few of the other rangers as she stood. Her years of training did give her a slight step up at times.

She sheathed the sword and shook out her arm. "You're stronger than you look," she commented. "Do more tomorrow? Maybe with an actual weapon in your hand."

 

[Lia]

Lia smiled. "Are you sure you want to end up on the deck of the ship so many times."

It might have been a boast, but one well earned.

Lia had no magical talent, she couldn't use a bow, reading was hard for her, but she could wield a sword better than anyone on this ship. Hell she would wager better than anyone within a hundred leagues. She knew it for a fact, and when they returned to Alliria she intended on taking the proper tests in order to earn the title of blademaster.

It had been in the back of her mind since before this adventure, but now it seemed more firm in her mind. Another goal she wanted to achieve.

"I wouldn't be so eager." She mused. "Maybe I'll let Thier loose on you first."

She used the Rangers nickname. Easier to say.

 

[Kaska]

"Fuck, I just don't want to end up dead," Kaska shot back with a laugh. She smiled a little at the thought of Thier, Lia's past suggestion of him turning her attention to him more than before. She said nothing on it though. Because she was done with men. The fucking.

Not the looking.

"I miss my sword," she confessed. "Bet I could get you on your ass if I actually had it." She nudged Lia playfully, going to her supplies and pulling out her night roll. She unfurled it with a flick and flopping, turning on to her back and blinking rapidly at the sight of the open night sky. It was not something often caught under the cover of trees.

"Whoa, look." She gestured.

 

[Lia]

"Yes those are stars." Lia commented dryly, though the smile on her face said it was meant for a joke.

The truth was though her mind was elsewhere.

Thoughts of the Lich consumed her more than anything else, the fight that lay ahead of them. In truth, she was scared. What if they failed? What if there was another lich? What if there was something else?

She just didn't know.

"We'll be seeing a lot of things were not used to." Lia mused. "Those fortresses were built a long time ago, when things were grander."

For some reason she looked forward to that.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska scooted to the side and patted her roll, inviting Lia to come join her.

"You know, of all the things I studied, I wish I had learned about these more. I know that's the north star, but what about that one?" She pointed to the second brightest in the sky. She stared in awe for a moment, letting her hand flop.

"It doesn't matter how far we travel, how much we read, we'll never be good at it all." She mused, dissatisfied.

 

[Lia]

Lia shrugged. She had no idea either, the stars had never really interested her beyond how they could be used for traveling. The names were all the same to her, and difficult as that sort of thing was for her to memorize...she'd just never really bothered trying before.

Why would she? "No not us."

The young woman agreed with a frown.

"Perhaps some of the elves." She mused. There were only two or three Elves in the Rangers, though she had never actually met any of them. "They live ten times as long."

Maybe longer.

 

[Kaska]

"Even then," Kaska mused. "I bet there's always something more. Another book. Another skill. You'll never keep up." She frowned, perturbed by this and falling silent to the thought.

 

[Lia]

"No." Lia agreed quietly. "But I can beat them all in one thing at least."

That was her thinking anyway. Better to Master one thing then be a jack of all trades. There was an advantage to the latter to be sure, but she had always thought that if she just perfected her bladework it would make up for her failings in other areas.

So far she'd been right.

It wasn't like she focused on just the blade alone, but it was still the thing she was best at. Once she had dreamed of being the best in the world, though she was not entirely sure that was something she would ever achieve either. "My father always said you shouldn't think about the things you can't do."

A shrug rolled over her shoulders.

"Just the things you can." Clouds on the mind were never a good thing.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska furrowed her brows, turning over to study Lia. "Your father is remarkably odd," she said simply, not ceasing in her studying.

 

[Lia]

"He is a smart man." There was an obvious amount of admiration in her tone of voice.

Lia loved her father, and she thought him one of the wisest men in the whole world. There was a bit of child like naivety to that of course, but it wasn't something she would rid herself of even if she could.

There was no need to.

"His words have never steered me wrong." The Ranger said with a smile. "I doubt they ever will."

He had been a man that came from nothing, and had built himself into a titan of a Merchant. Something most people admired.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska snorted softly, wondering what that must look like. She and her father had never truly seen eye to eye. And there wasn't a moment in her adult years that she didn't try to break away from his steering.

A thought flickered through her. What might have been different about her if she hadn't? Would it have been a change for the better? Her brows furrowed. She dismissed the insuration, pushing onwards.

"And your mother and sister? What are they like?" She pulled up her arm, nuzzling her head into the crook of it as she listened.

 

[Lia]

Lia paused for a moment. "My mother has her own ideas about...things."

The Ranger frowned for a moment.

"My sister is smart, smarter than me." Lia could very easily admit that much. Unlike her Nicolette could actually read a book and not have any troubles with it. She also had a mind for politics, something that she'd inherited from their mother.

Her mother had always said that she would due well at the Game of Houses, though she'd also never wanted her to actually need to play it. Something Lia understood well.

"She likes dresses." Lia said with a frown. "And Heels."

 

[Kaska]

Kaska crinkled her nose, rolling onto her back and staring up. "About that ... are heels... required? Like... If somewhere just wore ... flats. Would that be like a-" she hesitated, glancing at Lia. "Scandal?"

These were the important questions, clearly. If she was going to entertain the thought of turning her life into that, she needed to know these answers.

 

[Lia]

Lia glanced over at Kaska and then slowly shrugged her shoulders. "It depends on the occasion."

"Day to day? No, there wouldn't be an issue." She smiled, looking over at the girl as if knowing something. "But show up to a Gala in boots?"

She whistled.

"May as well throw yourself in the river right then and there." She shook her head. "All the ladies will gasp and all the men will gape."

 

[Kaska]

Kaska grimaced. "And not in a good way," she wagered. Right then. Heels would be the first thing she'd work on. Not trip in them. Hell if she could hit a bulls eye from across a river, she could walk on pointy things without falling.

She frowned, falling silent and stressing over it, the choice no easier for her still.

 

[Lia]

"You'd practice before they ever let you near such a thing." Lia said with a slight smile on her face. Knowing her sister and mother Kaska would be an absolute expert before she ever reached her first Gala.

That was what they had done to her.

Despite her dislike of all that sort of thing Lia actually had at one point worn dresses and ran around in heels. She'd despised it of course, but she'd done it. Mostly because her mother had been grand at quilting her into it. That was how she had met the Anirian in the first place.

"They wouldn't let you embarrass yourself." Lia assured her. "My sister especially."

 

[Kaska]

Kaska softened, nodding in acknowledgement.

"... I always dreamed of going to one of those as a kid," she confessed softly. "The galas. With the music and the dresses and the lively movement, there's so much excitement. How can you not like?" She glanced over.

"I mean we all know you have a stick up your ass, but why walk away from it? What about being s ranger is that much better to you?" She asked, baffled.

 

[Lia]

"There's a freedom to it." She explained quietly, a certain amount of wonder crossing her face as she took a breath and began to speak.

"Maybe it's not the same for you because of your father." Lia could see that, she wasn't exactly blind to Kaska's situation after all. "In Alliria it's not as bad as Vel Anir, from what my Mother says anyway but..."

She frowned. "There's a lot of pressure. Sure there's the glamour of it all, the beauty, and...some of it's even fun. But I never like being watched. I never liked competing with the other girls. I never liked the men 'trying to win my hand'. I don't want to be some prize on a pedestal."

Lia paused for a second, then continued without even really thinking.

"My sister thrives in that environment. She sails through it like second nature. Men run through her fingers like sand, the girls crowd around her...she just knows how to twist all of it to her advantage." A shrug carried over her shoulders. "I never did."