Private Tales Steppebound

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria stood in silence, her blades slick with dust and elemental ichor. The room had fallen still, save for the lingering echo of battle and the faint pulse of magic from the crystal in Ispir’s arms.

She sheathed her blades with slow, practiced movements. Her eyes, dull now with fatigue instead of fury, lifted toward him when he spoke.

She eyed him curiously, wondering what he gleaned. But she set it aside, easing back into her methodical routine.

“Let’s keep going,” she murmured.

But when she took a step, her footing was uneasy. The impact of it sent a tremor through her frame, and she stiffened, then slowly, steadily, sank to the ground. Her knees bent with reluctant grace, and she collapsed into a seated position. Her breathing was quiet but uneven, the toll of injuries, battles, and too many sleepless days catching up to her all at once.

She didn’t say anything more. Just sat, back against a jagged stone, her head tipped slightly forward, eyes half-closed, breathing heavy. In the surface world, she slept during the day, hidden away where no one could see her truly vulnerable. But now… now there was no time, no privacy. Only exhaustion.

And for once, she let it show.

 

[Ispir Sione]

Ispir would only have time to take a single step, to nod at Vyx'aria and her murmured words, until he was tested again. This time there was nothing more pressing, nothing more urgent, than rushing to her. So with a sharp CLANG that at least proved the crystals were durable, as soon as Ria began to sink to the ground she would find a small, soft frame there to support her. Two arms gently circling her waist as Ispir slowly, gently helped guide her to sit down. He wasn't able to stop it, but he was able to whisper gently as he helped her sit back against a nearby rock.

"I've got you."

Was all he whispered. A gentle, knowing smile on his face as he gave a sigh and removed her cloak just to add it to his own around her shoulders. The rock would never be a COMFORTABLE seat but the softness of the two travel cloaks may at least make it cozy enough for her to rest. Bundling the cloak around Ria's shoulders and even rolling up the hood behind her head to make something like a pillow he would turn and make a small stone pit from the ample stone in the area. From his travel pack he would retrieve a small, treated bundle of tinder, a pot, some water, and some very carefully wrapped jerky bits, potatoes, cheese and press-dried parsley.

Making a small hanging pot to make some nice, hot soup Ispir would chew on his lip for a moment. Vaguely embarrassed, or rather VERY embarrassed, as he awkwardly tried to move behind the rock and get a waterskin to her lips, then tried sitting beside her and holding it steady, only to finally relent to the soft blush on his cheeks and gently sat in her lap, facing her, tenderly guiding a small drink to her lips from the pouch as he murmured.

"Careful. Not too fast, okay?"

Closing the waterskin he would set it to the side and grab Ria a bowl of VERY road-friendly cheesy potato soup. Nestling down into her lap, knees on either side of her thighs, gentle aquamarine eyes would gaze out her through a hazy cloud of mist, his breathe gently cooling the first bite, before he held it up for her and giggled a tiny bit.

"You really are pretty awesome....."

That smile would fade after a moment to an entirely new emotion. A pout, of which she had seen many on Ispir's face during their time together, but.... different. This one was.... authoritative? Vaguely reprimanding? Neither of those words were soft or kind enough to truly encapsulate the genuine concern in his eyes but were ones she was likely much more familiar with. His words growing just a bit more firm as he added.

"..... but.... please don't push yourself so hard, okay Ria? You have me worried sick."​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria didn’t flinch when he reached her. She was too tired. Too wrung out from the battle, from the endless barrage of tests, from the days of sleepless vigilance above ground. She let herself be guided to the stone, her breath shallow, her limbs leaden. When the cloak was bundled around her shoulders, she gave a low grunt, her signature response when she had no words, somewhere between acknowledgment and begrudging approval.

She didn’t stop him when he pressed the waterskin to her lips. Didn’t protest when he awkwardly fumbled through his ministrations. But when he climbed into her lap, the motion startled her just enough to draw a faint blink of confusion.

Her muscles stiffened.

Then slowly, steadily, she relaxed.

He was small, warm, and radiated an unflinching sort of devotion that she didn’t know what to do with. There was no seduction to it, no ulterior motive. Just care. Honest and unguarded.

“You are very brave,” she muttered hoarsely, her grin lopsided with fatigue. “Climbing into a drow’s lap.”

When the scent of food reached her nose, her stomach answered with a quiet growl, far too quiet to embarrass her, but enough to make her sigh. She accepted the bowl he offered, bringing it to her lips and sipping the broth slowly.

“Tastes better than my cooking,” she admitted.

Her voice trailed off. She watched him through the steam curling between them, her crimson eyes quiet and unreadable for a long moment.

“…Where will you go, after all this?” she asked softly. Not as a demand. Not as a test. Just a question, a rare glimpse into her thoughts, peeled back by weariness.

 

[Ispir Sione]

Ispir would almost jump, the bowl jostling in his hands, as Vyx'aria muttered her hoarse, teasing words. A fiery stab of guilt and embarrassment lancing through him in the moment because despite the fact he was genuinely simply trying to take care of her..... gods seeing her there, tousled, grinning and teasing was enough to make him turn beet red along with her words. She was pretty, he thought, very pretty.

He was so distracted by the grin, the fierceness despite her exhaustion, that she was able to pluck the bowl he had intended to feed her with right from his hands and he sputtered.

"W-Wai... Ahh... Uhmm....."

As she went silent Ispir would continue blushing deeply, pouting at her but not truly upset, his hands now left with nothing to do but awkwardly fiddle with the unused wooden spoon in his grasp as he worked up enough cohesive thoughts to protest.

"W-Well I... I was going to feed you. The rock behind you is too big for me to rest on and trying to sit beside you and hold it was too awkward s-so...."

Despite the fact what he said was TRUE even to his ears it sounded like a horrible, awful excuse. One that made him burn with shyness enough to melt down to a genuine answer right after it.

"B-Besides. I'm not sitting in a Drow's lap...."

He met her gaze for a moment, a gaze that had been dancing and wandering anywhere but on her previously, just to say.

"I'm sitting in your lap, Ria.~"

And there was not a single drop of deception, or venomous meaning, behind those words. In fact it was in every way the opposite. Her comment about it being better than her own cooking, though, would earn a pleased, cheeky grin and a small wiggle of his hips. That pure, happy energy being expressed without thought or conscious decision until.... she asked him where he planned to go.

Ispir paused. Which was odd.

Not because the question itself was odd, far from it, but because for the first time since his awakening he found himself.... really thinking about it. Or more accurately he found himself acknowledging something there, with her, something that he often ignored or was so caught up in the light and song of his travels he simply didn't notice it. Twirling the spoon in his hands, spinning it between nimble fingers, he would look off to the side and purse his lips. Answering slowly, tentatively, as if he was feeling out the words even as they passed his lips.

"I.... I'm going to keep travelling, I suppose?"

That answer that was usually the end of it, that answer that was TRUE, sat like ash on his tongue for the first time and Ispir would let out a shaky breathe as he hunched his shoulders up. Deciding, in this moment, to trust her. To tell her something he had never told anyone before. Simply because he hadn't ever confronted it himself.

"I feel at home on the road..... I have... wanderlust. Really bad. But...."

Exhaling a shaky breathe he didn't realize he'd been holding he looked down sadly at her lap, shrugging softly.

".... that's because.... nowhere really feels like home."

Those last few words came out more shaky than he intended, sounding weak, sounding fragile, even to him. Enough to make him wince a bit and grip the spoon in two white-knuckled hands. When he did speak again it was hurried, rushed, an excuse, a cover-up, and a bad one at that.

"It still feels.... nice to wander around though! I still enjoy it but...."

He shrugged, weakly.

"Every light has it's shadow, I guess. Every bad has it's good. I like wandering around but always feel homesick for a home I don't even remember."

He went silent for a few moments, mouth suddenly feeling dry, briefly meeting Ria's eyes, before looking away and crossing his arms timidly across his chest.

"I've never.... told anyone that before...."​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria quirked a brow at him, one sharp ear twitching faintly. “Feed me?” she repeated, her voice low and dry. She regarded the offered spoon. “The only time someone should feed me is if I’ve lost use of my arms.”

Without another word, she took the bowl and spoon from his hands and continued to eat. The idea of someone spooning it into her mouth still struck her as faintly absurd. She didn’t say it aloud, but internally, she dismissed the gesture with silent amusement. Grown adults feeding each other? Nonsense.

But when he spoke, her chewing slowed. She didn’t meet his gaze, not at first. When he confessed he had no home, when he said it so quietly, she finally turned her gaze toward him.

She said nothing for a while. Let the moment breathe.

Then: “You try to find your home in others,” she said simply. Her voice wasn’t cruel or condescending, only measured. Thoughtful. “You ground yourself in people. Their approval, their warmth. You chase connection because it feels like purpose. But it’s not foundation. Not really.”

She shifted slightly where she sat, her eyes now fixed on his.

“You have to stop listening for what others want you to be. The thing you’re searching for.. it may already be inside you. Your thoughts, your instincts... they try to guide you. But you drown them out listening for someone else to speak.”

She dipped the spoon back into the soup and took another bite before continuing.

“When you build a home inside yourself, it can become shelter for others too. But it has to start with you. Home is the strength and courage you foster within yourself.”

There was silence again.

Vyx’aria finally set the bowl down, empty now, and exhaled softly. “I had a home once. A real one. It’s still there. But I can’t go back right now.” Her voice didn’t waver. It was a fact, nothing more. “But I carry the strength in here-” she tapped her temple lightly, “-and in here.” She pressed her palm against her chest.

“That’s how I stay grounded. Even when I’m lost.”

 

[Ispir Sione]

Ispir would watch Vyx'aria twitch one of her ears as she denied ever being fed by someone else. The small bard mentally setting two goals in that moment. The first? To one day have Ria trust him enough, to let herself be vulnerable enough around him, to let him feed her. A silly goal, maybe even an impossible one, but one he set nonetheless. The second? To figure out how to make her ears do that cute wiggle thing even more.~

When Ria began to speak he expected it to end after that first, succinct sentence. Only for her to add more. Making Ispir blink in a.... Happy way? A surprised way? As Ria shifted under him he would gasp a small noise and plant his hands on her thighs to steady himself. That, combined with her eyes meeting his own, made him think maybe she was teasing him a bit.

But as Ria began to speak, genuinely encouraging him, advising him, the fact that someone as reserved as her even cared enough to do so, made him give a small, attentive, happy smile. He couldn't, after all, say she was wrong. She wasn't. But he also stopped himself from asking what else he was supposed to do. He WASN'T strong. He WASN'T brave.

And the last time he had ever listened to anything inside himself it has terrified and confused him.

Even so he would nod, slow and uncertain, as Ria paused to let silence reign again. When Ria finally spoke again Ispir was a bit embarrassed by how surprised he was. Of course Ria had a home. She didn't just sprout out of the ground! Then again neither did he but.... His thoughts would cut off as she tapped her temple, his eyes following her hand as it tapped her chest. Ispir would, looking back into her eyes, hands still planted on her thighs for stability, smile a bit wider and he managed to encapsulate his thoughts on such a complex topic in three simple words. Spoken from the heart.

"Thank you Ria. That.... Was very sweet of you. Oh! I know! Maybe if I help you get back to your home it'll make me U-Umm.... Strong enough to start building my heart-house!"

Nodding at his own suggestion he would suddenly sober up, expression becoming serious as he gazed into her eyes, and added in a quieter tone. But no less serious.

"But.... You can rely on other people too, ya know Ria? M-Maybe not the people at your home if you can't go back but, you've got me!"

Shifting a bit in her lap his eyes would then sweep up to her ears, his smile returning, and he giggled a bit before adding in a soft, teasing tone. Ending on a pretty baffling topic considering how he was just a few moments ago.

"A-Also that little ear wiggle was very cute. I like it.~"​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria’s brows lifted the moment his hands settled on her thighs, not in outrage, not quite in alarm either, but in a flicker of sharp-eyed confusion. Like she was trying to decide what exactly this was. Her gaze narrowed further when he spoke, those crimson eyes scanning his expression with an unreadable stillness.

“There is no reason for me to return,” she said flatly. Her voice lacked venom, but the conviction behind it was absolute. “My entire family has been butchered. And anyone I rely on tends to die.”

She said it with a matter-of-factness that stripped the drama from the claim, but not the weight.

Her eyes held his for a second longer before she leaned in, just slightly, enough to make it unclear what she might do next. But instead of leaning into affection or allowing him to linger, her hands caught his waist with a smooth, practiced strength. In one effortless motion, she lifted him off her lap and set him neatly on the ground beside her.

“I’d suggest you concern yourself with cheerful, kind souls like yourself,” she added with a low, dry rasp.

Then she rose, stretching her arms overhead, her muscles pulling taut beneath the faint shimmer of her armor as her joints popped audibly. A breath released from her chest, one of exhaustion fading, not of relief. The meal had helped. Her body was no longer trembling with fatigue.

Vyx’aria rolled one shoulder, then glanced back at him. “I can’t always control the ear thing,” she said, a smirk tugging at her lips.

“You ready to keep going?”

 

[Ispir Sione]

For a brief, heartbeat-long moment the news that Vyx'aria 's family had been killed brought a look of true, utter sadness to Ispir's features. Though it would solidify into something between sad and stubborn as she mentioned that anyone she relied on tended to die. The tone did nothing to dull his emotions. Utterly lacking in the stoic intrigue of her people, the controlled expressions and closely guarded secrets, he was like a lighthouse of honest emotion.

A lighthouse that blazed all the brighter with wide-eyed astonishment as Ria proceeded to lean up and in toward him. He didn't even blush from this motion because, well, he never really considered that Ria would hug him or anything. That wasn't like her. If anything he expected her to tease him or whisper something vaguely grumpy in his ear. He did nearly jump when her hands gripped his waist, a faint tremor arcing up his spine like a low-intensity electric shock. A small, somewhat surprised whisper leaving him as she lifted him off her lap.

"O-Oh."

It wasn't sad, nor disappointed really, merely a gentle, timid expression of sheer surprise at her strength. Muffled, subdued by another gently tingling emotion he couldn't put words to. As Ria rose and he now sat along on the floor he watched her curiously, her words, her compliments, those were what made him blush a little. Cheerful? He supposed so. He really did try to make people's days better as much as he could. Kind? He hoped so. The world didn't seem to have enough kindness nowadays.

Ispir was, not for the first nor the last time, arrested from his thoughts as Ria stretched her arms over her head. He was at once reminded of a jungle cat emerging from her slumber and also distinctly aware of just how.... pretty Ria was. In the fading light of the small fire he had used to make her soup, the tinder smoldering low enough to glimmer in her eyes as she looked back at him and gave a beautiful smirk.

He swallowed.

Something told him she didn't know how charming she could be.

Giving a nod and hopping to his feet he would scuff out the fire with his shoe before pausing, noticing that Ria now had both cloaks draped over her shoulders he found a cheeky grin growing on his face. The..... unique fashion statement making him snort a soft, tinkling laugh as he rushed past her and spun to look back at HER. Arms lacing behind his back as he teased.

"Only if you're done hogging all the cloaks, Ria.~"

He didn't seem to be in a rush to retrieve either one, trusting that she would return them as she saw fit, and as he made his way back out into the main room he motioned for her to follow as he made his way toward the Water door. Only to pause in front of it, furrow his brow, and as Ispir extended a hand to touch the door and step forward the door simply..... drew him in? Like he had pierced the surface of a bubble only to vanish behind. What awaited behind it was... quite different.

A vast chamber stretched before the two. Something almost like a beach at their feet. Beyond and across the vast chamber a crystal glowed as if imitating the sun itself and the chamber was almost completely full of water. An already-forming water elemental seemed responsible for the fake tide that washed in and out and Ispir would look back at Ria with a smile.

Spoiler: A Smile

"This is nice...."

He was not at all as wary as he should have been. But he was also not punished for it. Instead a voice like the crash of waves would sound out to them, drawing Ispir's attention as the elemental intoned.

"You have proven the heat of your passions. The steadfastness of your resolve. Now, a test of wit and wisdom. The cool temper of the Water.

I have Mountains with no rock
Oceans with no water
Deserts with no sand
And continents with no Land

What am I?"

Ispir..... looked flabbergasted. Even rubbing his face in exasperation before groaning.

"Ooooh.... can't you just attack us instead? I'm not very smart ya know!?"​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria’s lips curved into a faint, knowing smirk. Without ceremony, she reached up and slipped her own cloak from her shoulders, pressing it back into Ispir’s hands.

“Fair is fair,” she said dryly. “It’s yours now.”

She stepped through into the chamber and immediately grimaced at the sight of all that water, the endless shimmer, the false tide breathing in and out. The bright crystal was almost blinding to her. Her shoulders tightened. She leaned in toward Ispir, voice low.

“This,” she murmured, “is why I told you to hold back in the last room. That ice staff of yours may save us yet. One charge is enough if used wisely.”

Straightening, she let her gaze sweep the chamber, the forming elemental, the crystal beyond. When the riddle echoed through the space, she didn’t answer at once. Instead, she tilted her head, considering, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Mountains without rock. Oceans without water,” she said at last. “It’s not land at all.”

Her eyes lifted to the elemental. “A map.”

She waited, still as a drawn breath, one hand inching toward her blade, but not yet committing.

 

[Ispir Sione]

Ispir would happily swing the cloak back around himself once the riddle was given and he would fasten it around himself without a moment's hesitation. Sure it was still too big, sure it clashed with the collar of the rest of his clothes, but it was a gift from Ria so.... it was special. At least he thought so. By the time he had the hood drawn back up and cloak drawn snugly around himself Ria had leaned down to whisper conspiratorially about the staff. A plan that earned a nod, causing the hood to bob lazily in the air, and Ispir seemed.... completely lost at the riddle. Whispering up to Ria as her eyes narrowed.

"I'm not very good with geography...."

As Ria repeated part of the riddle and then gave her answer Ispir smiled and, before the elemental even said anything, he nodded.

"That's clever!"

The elemental would adjust it's form, water undulating and reshaping as waves and wind drew the crystal closer. A voice like the hush of frothing waves agreeing.

"Well done. Twice more to prove thineself is all I ask of thee."

Ispir's smile would fall and he would sigh, shifting his feet unhappily as he asked.

"We have to do more?"

The elemental, not heeding his complaints, would simply provide the next riddle.

"Nightly do I come to your door,
Never do I charge a fee,
Some would call my tale a bore,
For you will nary remember me.

What am I?"

Ispir, blinking at this, would look up at Ria.

"Oh! I think I know this one Ria!"

Turning back to the elemental he would call out.

"A dream!"

His answer was given surprisingly quick and he would grin up at the elemental almost confidently as it intoned.

"Well done."

Ispir would then whisper conspiratorially to Vyx'aria in a hushed voice.

"A dream is the only way I know to get a story every night for free...."

The elemental would then intone it's final riddle.

"I am always there, yet never held
I always come, but never arrive
I hold everything and nothing

What am I?"

Ispir once again looked stumped, blinking rapidly, he would wince a bit and look up at Ria dejectedly.

"I-I don't think I know this one Ria....."

Subtly would Ispir's grip on the staff tighten. He was prepared to follow her into combat if that was her decision instead of playing the riddle game. Even though he didn't exactly look eager to attack the peaceful elemental.​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria’s patience thinned. Her shoulders squared as the elemental reshaped itself, the crystal drifting closer, and her fingers twitched at her sides, muscle memory urging steel into her hands. Another riddle. Of course. Her jaw clenched, a sharp hiss slipping between her teeth before she swallowed it down.

Her eyes flicked sideways to Ispir.

The memory surfaced unbidden: the way she had stormed away from the old man at the village, cutting the exchange short while Ispir had still been trying, genuinely trying, to engage. To listen. To answer instead of strike. The thought irritated her further… and yet, it stayed her hand.

She did not interrupt when the next riddle came. Her ears betrayed her, twitching sharply, irritation coiling tighter beneath her skin.

Then came the final riddle.

Vyx’aria went very still. Her eyes narrowed, lips pressing into a thin, dangerous line as she stared at the water given voice. A long moment passed.

“Something like time or the future,” she muttered at first, low and rough. Then her head tilted slightly, expression darkening. “Tomorrow, perhaps.”

She exhaled through her nose, clearly done indulging this exercise. Shadow began to curl around her fingers like living smoke, tendrils licking at her knuckles as her control frayed.

“I care little which answer it prefers,” she growled quietly, audible only to Ispir. “I am not in the mood for poetry.”

The darkness thickened around her hand, an unspoken warning that her restraint was hanging by a thread.

 

[Ispir Sione]

The elemental would still for a long moment, the hostility of Vyx'aria either halting it, or the answer she gave did the same. Though her words were not heard it did note the twitch of her hands, the narrowing of her eyes, before the water of it's body unfurled to all but deposit the gem into Ria's waiting grasp. It's frothing, burbling tone intoning.

"Correct. Tomorrow indeed."

Once the crystal was in her grasp the elemental would slowly begin to meld it's form down into the water.

"Thou hath passed mine test exceptionally. Fare thee well mortals."

Then... the water went still. The challenge complete. Ispir, for his part, would beam up at Ria and grin at her.

"You did it Ria! Good job!"

Ispir would let out a sigh and then scratched his head.

"I.... that room was easier than the other ones but also... harder I guess?"

He shrugged, turning to leave, and waited for Ria to join him in going toward the central room. Once they were back out in it he would then pause, his brow furrowing, as he took a deep breathe and then asked Ria slowly.

"So.... we.... we came from the Air door already so uhhh... where do we get the crystal from?"​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria stood still, the final riddle still echoing in her mind like an insult. Her knuckles flexed white as the elemental drifted apart, and when Ispir beamed up at her, grinning like this had been some lovely stroll through a meadow, her entire form twitched.

“Yes,” she ground out through her teeth, barely more than a hiss, her gaze locked on the now-still pool where the elemental had vanished. “Easy.”

Her fingers twitched again. She resisted the entirely irrational, but deeply satisfying urge to plunge her blade repeatedly into the water just to make a point.

She stalked after Ispir with all the grace of a jungle cat in a thunderstorm, her mood carved into every taut line of her frame. As he commented aloud on the next step, she glared holes into the stone floor.

“Perhaps that wretched puddle spirit will appear again,” she snarled, “and gift us the answer in yet another riddle.”

Her voice was soaked in scorn. She waved one hand dramatically in mockery of the elemental.

“I speak in pulses, never words. I move with pain, but don’t flee. What am I?”

She growled.

“A headache.”

They emerged outside of the ruins entirely, and Vyx’aria turned her gaze upward, teeth still clenched as her thoughts gradually returned to something more practical. Her eyes narrowed as she surveyed the landscape.

“We may need to climb somewhere.”

 

[Ispir Sione]

Ispir would grow more and more concerned as Vyx'aria seemed to despise the riddles of the previous room even more than he did. Which was surprising considering she had done so well! Only once they were outside did Ispir pocket his crystal and turn to face Ria as she began looking around the landscape. Staring up at her for a moment before he stepped closer and gently took her hands. Soft, warm, comforting, sincere in his slow movements. Even his voice gentle and worried.

"H-Hey? Ria? I know that room bothered you but w-well...."

He shuffled his feet a bit, squeezed her hands, and sighed quietly.

"You got hurt in both the other rooms we had to fight in."

He would then level a more determined, serious look up at her and nod.

"You're exhausted. You're hurt. And even though I don't like riddles either that room was my uhh.... favorite? Because I didn't have to see you get hurt again."

Taking a deep, steady breathe he would then draw himself up to his full, still short, height. Shoulders squared and expression determined as he met her eyes.

"S-So.... I want... I want you to rest for this last one. Make us a camp so we can sleep before we face whatever we unlock with all of them. You're a better fighter than me so we'll need you at your best and I saw how worn down you are before."

Another gentle, warm squeeze of the hands as his pupils flitted back and forth, searching her eyes deeply, before he added.

"Please? Just trust me to get this done, okay?"​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria barely heard him at first. Her mind was still reeling from the water chamber, her ears twitching with lingering frustration. So when Ispir reached for her hands, her first instinct was to pull back. She didn’t do tenderness. Not often. Not easily.

But his earnest expression softened her features.

For a moment, she simply studied him. Then, with a gruff sound from the back of her throat, she slipped her hands from his. “I’m fine,” she muttered.

But the words rang hollow even to her own ears.

She paced after that, boots crunching in the dust, her crimson gaze snapping toward the rocky ridges ahead as if daring them to give her something to vent her wrath on. “If I got hurt in the last two,” she snapped over her shoulder, “how exactly do you expect yourself to come out unscathed?”

She turned, crossing her arms over her chest as she pinned him with a glare. “Do I look like some delicate princess to you? Am I supposed to sit by a campfire plucking flowers while you go off to get drowned by a puff of wind?”

Her tone was sharp, but beneath it there was tension like a wire pulled taut. Her pride emerged. She knew she was pushing herself, and that alone gnawed at her more than any blade wound. Still… the fact that he noticed was somehow worse.

She held his gaze for a long moment, then looked away with a low scoff, her voice quieter.

“…Fool.”

But she didn’t walk off. And she didn’t say no.

 

[Ispir Sione]

As Vyx'aria pulled away, as she slid her hands from his, as she gave her hollow answer he simply stood there. His eyes both intense and soft, focused and gentle, as she paced and stalked. More fully embodying the image of a fierce jungle cat, ready to pounce, to slay, to slake her wrath on some unfortunate being..... but he knew it would not be on him. Somehow. Someway. He knew. Maybe that was a bit crazy, maybe he was wrong even, but as she snapped at him and raised her pointed, valid question he winced just a bit.

But still.... he remained firm. Even against the tiniest embers of her wrath. Even as she pinned him with a glare to wither kings and topple tyrants what his gaze gave back was.... understanding. A slowly dawning realization, at least what he thought was realization, toward that taut wire of emotion gnawing at her beneath the surface.

He knew what to act on.

As Ria then looked away, scoffing at him, her voice softening to insult him he would simply walk forward. His steps slow, purposeful, entirely audible to her so she could still walk away and say no if she desired. Her arms were crossed, her hands unavailable to form that physical connection, so with a timid bite of his lip he would gently call her name.

"Ria?"

It was not a demand, not some indignant or hurt noise, merely a gentle request. He had no power over her, there were no games being played, no subtle deceitful jockeying for allure and power over the other. Only a single, gentle word shortly joined by two gentle hands framing her face. He would regret it if he was overstepping his bounds, if he had overplayed his hand, if he was WRONG. He certainly wasn't wise, or powerful, or well-traveled, but if he could get her to meet his gaze one more time he would speak. Slowly, gently, palms warm against her cheeks as he answered with the one thing he did have in the moment: Honesty.

"You're not delicate. You're strong, you're fierce, you're..... amazing."

A gentle blush, but he did not look away, did not show weakness here, now, to her.

"But that doesn't mean you're not worth protecting in whatever way I can."

He would now make his actual gambit. His true guess as to her hidden emotions. The stab of a blade so precise, so aimed for what he saw as the chink in her armor he would either be correct or ruinously rebuked. Either way he had a feeling this lingered somewhere inside her.

"And... you can't protect me from everything. Even you have your limits. I might get hurt, I might have to run...."

He would smile a very gentle smile.

".... but I promise you I'll be okay. Do you trust me?"​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria did not recoil, but neither did she soften at once.

He had to rise onto his toes to reach her, the stretch evident in the way his shoulders lifted, the faint wobble in his balance. It was… noticeable. She looked down at him while he spoke, crimson eyes steady, taking in the blush he tried and failed to hide, the earnestness that did not know how to cloak itself. When he finished, when he finally drew back, she let out a quiet scoff through her nose.

“You ask a drow to trust,” she said flatly. Not unkind, simply incredulous.

Her gaze lingered on him, sharp and assessing, then narrowed, not in anger this time, but in something closer to confusion. “Why,” she asked, voice low, “do you always find reasons to touch me?” A pause. “This is not… a human custom I’ve encountered on the surface.”

Her eyes flicked upward for a moment, almost as if dismissing the thought as quickly as it had surfaced. Then came her familiar grunt. “Very well,” she said. “Go.”

From her belt she drew an emril dagger and extended it toward him, hilt-first. The blade was balanced, deadly, but far more suitable for his size than the swords she carried herself. “Take this. Abandon the effort should it prove too dangerous.”

 

[Ispir Sione]

Despite the airs that Vyx'aria tried to put on around him he couldn't help but find the scoff that made her nostrils flare cute enough to almost begin giggling at the sight. Instead he merely grinned and brought his hands down, still on the tips of his toes, arms lacing behind his back as he smiled up at her. Even bouncing a bit on his toes at her incorrect statement. He would shake his head as she said he was asking a Drow to trust. Enough to make his twintails swish through the air like sword blades before he clarified.

"Noooo. I'm asking you to trust me, Ria. You're not just any Drow."

He would then blink and his smile would falter for a moment as she narrowed her eyes, questioning in confusion what human custom it was that made him touch her so often. Though he did understand that she was dismissing her wonder about it when her eyes flicked upward and he did giggle a bit as she agreed to let him go on his own.

Seeing her draw a dagger of all things, gave him pause, and he was about to protest that he had meant to go alone. But.... then she offered it to him and he blinked. He would nod, a bit hesitant, before gently taking the dagger. He didn't exactly have anywhere to put it so he simply held it in-hand and then realized something.

"Ya know.... I'm starting to look like a Drow at this rate. With your cloak and your dagger."

Drawing the hood all the way up so that it shadowed his face and making a few very showy.... unskilled... slashes with the dagger he would then shake the hood down and smile.

"Umm anyway, I'll be careful. So.... rest well okay?"

Turning to look up at the odd heights of this abandoned temple he would take a few steps, pause, and glanced back at her. A single aquamarine eye shining in the shadows of the hood as he gave one final statement before leaving.

"A-Also... me touching you isn't a human tradition. It's just something I do.... for you...."

He then quickly turned away, beginning to climb with respectable swiftness, though he was no expert he was very light and coordinated and more muscled than he seemed for his size. Soon enough he would be out of sight even to her eyes, off to face some unknown challenge without her, leaving her with nothing but his words for now.​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria’s lips twitched toward a grin, the expression brief but unmistakable as he flailed the dagger in mock drow fashion.

“Handle that with care,” she said, half-warning, half-teasing. “It’s very powerful. I forged it myself.” There was a note of quiet pride in her voice, not boastful, just matter-of-fact. Her weapons were extensions of her, each one etched with precision and purpose.

She remained silent when he claimed his gestures weren’t some human custom, just something he did for her.

Her crimson eyes followed his retreating form as he climbed out of view, light and fast for someone who seemed like a fumbling child only moments ago. Once he was gone, truly gone, Vyx’aria’s brows furrowed. She stared after the path a moment longer, the flickering light of the sun reflecting off her eyes.

“…Why do you?” she murmured softly into the quiet, her voice barely audible even to herself.

She said nothing else.

Turning, she wandered the clearing until she found a tree with enough coverage to conceal but not isolate. With practiced hands she began to make a simple camp. A protective ward here. A perimeter check there. Satisfied, she finally settled herself down against the base of the tree, her back braced and arms crossed as though still on watch.

At first, she tried to stay awake.

But the weight of the past trials, the aches in her limbs, all of it settled over her like a heavy shroud. Her chin dipped. Her eyes fluttered once, then again.

As sleep slowly claimed her, the tension eased from Vyx’aria’s face, softening the sharp lines of battle-hardened defiance and revealing the quiet, statuesque elegance of her noble blood. Serene, regal, and unguarded at last.

 

[Ispir Sione]

Whatever challenge awaited Ispir up above he faced it with newfound courage and determination now that he knew that the dagger Vyx'aria had given him wasn't just one that belonged to her. It was one she had made. He doubted she had made her cloak, though maybe she had and just didn't mention it, but assuming she hadn't that made two of her belongings she had given him. Even temporarily in the case of the dagger. None of it, not a single bit of it, matched the stories of what he heard the Drow to be like. Going by the stories she should have been hurling insults at him, sneering at him, calling him names and demanding he do everything for her.

Leading to him murmuring the very same words as her.

".... Why do you?"

He never got to finish the thought as he reached the pinnacle to face his challenge. He would then pause, cradle the dagger in both hands as if it were something precious, delicate, and then stow it away in his pouch instead of using it for combat. Muttering to himself as he shook his head.

"Ria would be so mad at me if she knew I didn't even try to use it but..... I wouldn't be able to live with myself if it got damaged."

Bobbing his head back and forth in thought he managed to convince himself and so he would take a deep breathe, hands clenched, and strode forward toward what awaited him.....

Some time later....

Ispir would float down to the ground on offered wind, crystal held in his arms, feet silently touching the ground. He would smile and wave back up toward the pinnacle before turning to announce his success when.... he stopped. The sound never arriving as he saw Ria.... sleeping. It was.... a weird sight. Her usually reserved, hardened expression was soft now. Beautiful in a very different way than the ferocity of having a dagger pressed to his neck. Now she was more like.... a painting? A living lyric? Whatever it was it made breathing a bit more difficult for him and so Ispir would quietly creep forward, set the crystal down in soft grass to maintain his silence, before slowly and gently retrieving what he needed.

As he retrieved the blanket from his belongings he felt his own eyelids begin to droop. The wear and tear of the day's trials settling atop his head like a fuzzy blanket. Gently weighing him down into a hefty sleep that made his legs feel almost leaden. Approaching Ria he would gently drape a blanket over her, being slow and gentle to try and not wake her, though he expected he would despite his best efforts, especially when he sat down beside her, cradled the dagger she had given him in his lap, laid his head gently on her shoulder, and let his own eyes flutter shut under the same blanket. A small bundle of warmth beating softly beside her in time with his heartbeat as he joined her in the land of dreams.​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria did not stir.

Something in her subconscious recognized the scent curling close, the quiet rhythm of breath beside her, the unthreatening warmth settling near. It was familiar. Known. Her body did not tense at his proximity. Her blade hand remained still.

So she remained asleep, the shared blanket rising gently with her breath.

Several hours passed. When Ispir woke, it would be to the flicker of firelight and the mouthwatering scent of something seared over open flame. He was under both cloaks.

Night had fallen. The moon hung low between tangled branches, pale light catching on the graceful curve of Vyx’aria’s shoulders as she crouched by the fire, turning a skewer of well-charred meat with casual ease. Her expression was back to unreadable, mask firmly in place, but her eyes flicked toward him with silent acknowledgment as he stirred.

She said nothing at first. Then, dryly, “You sleep like you haven’t done anything all day.” She teased, “It is a boar,” Vyx’aria said about the meat.

 

[Ispir Sione]

When Ispir finally did awake it was a very telling experience. The lack of that familiar warmth beside him at some point during his slumber had made it more.... fitful. The weight of the second cloak, even if it were his own, did little to remedy this. So it was that his eyes would open slowly, bleary with the lingering weight of slumber, only to fall shut again as he arched his back from the tree and stretched his arms far up above his head. A tiny yawn leaving him before it fell into a small, graceless noise.

"Mnnnggg."

Was the very eloquent noise he made before he slumped forward, eyes still shut, rubbed them, and once more blinked them open to look at Vyx'aria with a very dazed expression. Her dry, teasing comment combined with the next statement too much for his sleepy, still-waking mind and he would give a very.... puzzled look. Cocking his head to the side even as the no doubt amusing sight of one of his twintails being stuck to his cheek played out before her, only for him to not even notice it as he licked his lips and responded with a very tired, near-croak of a response.

"H-How....."

Another small yawn as he pulled the two cloaks tighter, closed his eyes for a moment, and leaned into her cloak specifically, before opening his eyes as a small smile graced his features at the growing familiar feel and scent of it to finish his question.

"How.... is me sleeping boring, Ria?"

He would stand, holding both cloaks close, clutching the dagger tightly as he waddled forward and plopped down beside her. Staring at the flames for a moment, before he turned to look directly up into her eyes, his right twintail still stuck to his cheek, a fact that Ispir seemed entirely oblivious to as his question hung in the air.​

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx’aria blinked at him.

“Boring?” she echoed flatly, staring at him as he’d just spoken in tongues. When did she say that?

The comment drifted right over her…there had been no mention of boredom, only a boar. She simply assumed it was a translation error. Basic was, after all, a clumsy language compared to the refined sharpness of her native tongue.

She gave a vague shrug and held out one of the meat-laden skewers for him to take.

Then she paused.

One of his ridiculous twintails had somehow glued itself to his cheek with sleep and drool, flopping there like an extra limb. Vyx’aria squinted, started to gesture, then rolled her crimson eyes in quiet defeat. She reached out, briskly swiping it away with her fingers like one might flick off a cobweb. Her touch was brief but not harsh, just efficient.

Without comment, she returned to slicing a thin piece from her own skewer, chewing thoughtfully.

“So,” she said after a beat, “how did you manage to get the last crystal and come back in one piece?” Her tone carried more interest than she'd admit aloud.

She turned slightly to glance at him, one brow rising in amusement. “Did you make friends with the elemental?” A smirk curved her lips as she added dryly, “Was it fond of riddles?”

 

[Ispir Sione]

Ispir would nod sleepily even as Vyx'aria blinked at him and echoed his statement. His voice soft, breathy from exhaustion as he gently took the meat skewer in hand and yawned.

"M-Mhmm. You said me sleeping like I did was a bore."

He then smiled gently.

"A-Also thank you for the food Ria. Umm..."

His eyes would cross in confusion as Ria's finger approached his face. He would blink, rapidly, for just a moment before blushing softly as he felt the forgotten weight of that twintail leave his face to hang beside his head.

"O-Oh. Thank you..... again."

While Ria took the time to slice off bits from her skewer Ispir would simply nibble at the entire thing. For all his short frame and uncanny appearance he was still, after all, a man. Munching at a slab of meat over a fire was about as old as masculinity got. Only when Ria began to speak again, questioning what that final test had been, did he swallow down his last nibble of food and when she smirked her last question he snorted and giggled a bit. Shaking his head as he answered.

"No no. I think if had told any riddles you would have woken up just to beat it up."

He grinned back, cheekily, and took another nibble before shrugging.

"I guess we became friends, it helped me down anyways. Umm.... the challenge itself was weird. It just... talked to me. Asked me why I was seeking what the shrine guarded. I told it that I was helping.... umm... you."

Ispir then gave a frown, troubled, before hiccupping softly and waving the meat skewer in the air to give his hands something to do.

"It.... It acted like it knew me. Maybe it could perform divinations or something? I dunno."

His lips pressed together into a thin line, something going unsaid for a moment, before he finally admitted.

"It kinda reminded me of that old man you didn't like. It wasn't just asking me questions. I dunno what I said or did to be thought of as 'worthy' but it wished us luck."

A brief side-long glance would arc up toward Ria before he sighed.

"Thinking about it at the time I was really happy because I was keeping my promise. I was.... useful... to you.... not a burden. But now that I think back on it it feels more suspicious than anything."​