Fable - Ask Those Rising

[Elise Virak]

Aisling Weiroon | Val Pirian

Elise knew this was one of those brief moments that she would likely never feel again.

This was the first time she had seen her friends in years, and the solace she found within that moment was something she would treasure. It would be fleeting though, and Elise knew that to her very core. Their lives was not something they could live in their own way.

It was dictated.

Each of them had a dozen strings tied to them. Each of them were being constantly pulled and tugged along in a dozen different direction. Elise knew this, and she thought the others did too. Perhaps in this cave it was easier to ignore that.

After a few more seconds she let out a breath, pulling herself away from Aisling and Val. A shuddering breath fled her lips. "We'll have to find a way back tomorrow."

She said softly, trying not to dwell in that moment of weakness.

Trying not to be that little girl who had been so vulnerable.

 

[Aisling Weiroon]

Aisling embraced Val when he pulled in. She clung tightly to the both of them, forgetting the pleasantries of Anirian nobility or the sense of duty naval life had forced upon her.

It was Elise who pulled away first. The Virak woman had always seemed so strong to Aisling, so much like an elder sister she’d never had.

”We’ll make towards sunrise,” a hand swiftly drying her eyes as she agreed.

As much as the woman from Weiroon would’ve liked it, they couldn’t stay here. They all had places to be and if she knew her family or Elise’s as well as she thought she did she knew they’d find whoever had tried to kill the daughter of their house lords as soon as possible.

She sniffled as the last of her tears ran dry. ”We’ll have more luck in the morning.” Her words held confidence despite the fact she had no idea if their pursuers would still be on their tail the following day. No clue if the rising sun would lead them deeper into the wilderness or towards a major roadway. It wasn’t like Elise or Aisling were dressed for a long hike, adorned in mud-covered dresses for an extravagant evening that would never be.

”There’s nothing to worry about.”

Both of her hands stretched out, one grabbing hold of Virak’s heir, the other clenching Pirian’s in it’s grasp.

 

[Val Pirian]

Val enjoyed the comfort he found in the arms of his friends while it lasted. Gods, it had been so long that he had such a genuine, wholesome moment that it felt completely alien to him. Anirian society demanded strength and brutally punished weakness. Tender moments like these, these little exposures of vulnerability...well they'd be liable to get them all ripped to shreds back home. It would almost be saddening if he weren't so damn used to it by now. Even still, he found himself feeling happy that he could be with his two dearest friends to share this, even if the circumstances were truly horrid.

In the brief moments that followed Elise's withdrawal, Val took the opportunity to wring the water out of the remains of his shirt. It wasn't much, but it would hopefully dry in the warmth of the fire and provide slightly more protection from the cold than...well, nothing.

He nodded in agreement with both of the women's assessment of what to do next. Wandering around in the dark would likely get them all killed.
"Right-o, we'll be fine." Val grinned, showing his more usual level of confidence as Aisling took his hand. He took Elise's spare in his own and looked to each of them. "As long as we've got each other."

 

[Elise Virak]

Elise smiled at her friends again, feeling the warmth of their touch and trying her best to commit it to memory.

It was not often that people touched her, aside from the servants that helped her dress. She was bereft of such things. Her brothers were both gone, her mother had died, and her father was certainly not one to show any form of affection.

There had been men of course, passing flings and two husbands. None of them had brought any comfort though, and the latter had not made it through the night before their lives had been snuffed out.

This was rare, and she relished it before she quietly pulled away.

Elise loved her friends, dearly so, but she would not fool herself into thinking that their situation had changed. She would never hurt them, never betray them, but she could not fool herself into thinking that this was her new normal. Not when it would hurt too much when they returned to reality.

"Let's sit by the fire." She said quietly, smiling. "Don't want to freeze."

As she put herself down by the small flickering flame Elise looked towards Aisling. "Do you have any idea where we might be?"

Of the three of them she was the military person, if any of them had a chance at knowing it would be Aisling. At least Elise figured.

 

[Aisling Weiroon]

Val’s renewed confidence only served to bolster Aisling’s own confidence. He’d always been the stereotypical optimist of the group. The one who’d simply grin and bear it while avoiding as much work as possible. She squeezed his hand a bit tighter and smiled, it was good for the trio’s morale to pretend like nothing was fine. She’d led enough corsairs into pirate’s dens to know that a group’s state of mind was often the difference between success and failure.

”The fire is a good call,” she agreed while shuffling closer and giving an approving smile towards Val, thanking the man who had helped start the flame once more.

In that moment the only thing that could possibly take Aisling off her guard was when the curly-haired blonde girl she’d spent most of her adolescence looking up to asked her for guidance.

Rapidly, her verdant eyes blinked. It was true that her military experience likely readied her for this task more than the other two nobles but the fact that they needed her was a unique sensation. Growing up she had always thought fondly of these two and while she was, admittedly, quite brave she viewed them in a very kind way. The fact that she could possibly help Elise Virak was… well, it was an odd feeling for certain.

A grin crested across her face, ”Vel Ciruk should be to our east, based on the direction we ran I believe we are slightly south of that city. If we head towards the rising sun we should find civilization.” Her words were modest, not filled with any sense of boasting.

If they didn’t walk directly into the city she assumed they’d at least stumble upon a main road or something that would lead them closer to Vel Ciruk.

A blush formed on her cheeks as she realized how direct, how firm, she had been. These weren’t sailors assigned to serve under her, they were her friends. Heirs to their respective houses. ”I’m open to alternatives,” she offered, hoping to walk back some of her direct language.

 

[Val Pirian]

Val silently agreed with Elise and scooted in towards the fire. He was thankful that he always happened to keep his family's magic stored in his pool of abilities; he doubted he'd have been able to get the fire going to begin with if he hadn't magically sparked it to life.

The lord-apparent didn't even flinch at Elise's question to Aisling. Asking her only seemed natural; primarily nautical expertise or no, the sailing types were always supposed to have some innate sense of direction, weren't they? Val glanced over to Aisling, intent on listening to her council, but...well, she seemed rather taken aback by Elise's query.

Aisling offered her take straightly enough, then seemed to wilt back. Odd, yes, but Val smiled at her and clapped her on the back.
"Alternatives? Nonsense! If you say salvation lies with the sun, then sunward we'll go!" He reassured her, confident in her ability and judgment. "We're good as gold, provided we don't run into any more bloodthirsty marauders."

He tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment. The bandits that had attacked them before were the real problem, not so much being lost.
"Speaking of, we should probably come up with a contingency for that. We got away by the skin of our teeth last time, any closer shave and we'll be cutting into vitals."

 

[Elise Virak]

Elise nodded. "Agreed."

If Aisling said that East was their best option then she wouldn't argue with her friend. Elise didn't know enough about the southern end of Vel Anir's territory, and saying anything that might get them killed wouldn't do any of them any good. Besides, she trusted her friends opinion. That was all that mattered in the end.

"Perhaps we'll even make the festival." She doubted it, and in truth she hoped they wouldn't.

Those things were often incredibly drab and utterly boring. She had attended those festivals more times than she could count and they were always more vexing than fun. Even with her friends she would struggle to make it through the whole thing.

When Val spoke of a plan she frowned for a moment.

Her lips thinned.

"We don't have anything to defend ourselves with. My dress couldn't even for a knife." Elise his her magic of course, but she wouldn't pretend to be some helpless doll that couldn't carry a blade. "Our best option is just to be as stealthy and quiet as possible."

She looked to Aisling. "Right?"

 

[Aisling Weiroon]

The Weiroon noblewoman was certain that Vel Ciruk was to their east. If it were a different situation, if these two were part of her crew, she never would've questioned herself. The fact that they were her friends, the kind of friends that Vel Anir insisted should be her rivals, was all that made her doubts foster. Their reassurances caused a smile to break across her face, however.

"Uh, I hope we don't make the festival actually," she'd been forced to extend her shoreleave for such an affair. Aisling always hated it even if her father insisted it was important to go. For appearance's sake, he'd often say. "Honestly, the best part of the event was going to be seeing you two."

It was the truth, although noble culture would have suggested she shouldn't have confessed it.

She gestured to both of her hips and shook her still damp dress in agreement. "I'm unarmed too. I don't see any chance for us other than to avoid them." Her luck magic was useful, sure, but even the best of luck wouldn't do much against a group of assailants who were armed with weapons.

"Though, in a worst case scenario I'm not sure if surrendering is really an option."

They'd fired arrows at the three. They'd tried to kill them. The prospect of these ruffians taking them hostage and ransoming them seemed miniscule. If worse came to worse they'd need to run.

 

[Val Pirian]

Aisling's shirking of the festival earned a laugh out of Val. Hell, he could practically see the same sentiment on Elise's face, contrary to her words. It was true: Anirian 'festivals' were usually anything but festive. They were all pomp and tradition with very little that actually made them fun. Virtually every one he'd ever been to he'd wound up sneaking off to...uh, goof around.
"Well I'm certain that an attempted assassination and the destruction of our caravan will serve as a good excuse to skip attending." He teased them both.

Both girls now admitted helplessness, and that brought a bit of his previous dourness sank back in. That meant he'd have to do all the protecting if it absolutely came down to it...which of course meant his almost certain doom. Well,, maybe that would be a death that would make his old man proud, sacrificing himself to ensure the safety of his two dearest friends by protecting them with little more than a letter opener.

Bloody hell, that was dark.
"Right then, since it falls on to me and we're not too far off the topic of confessions...(and since it won't make any bloody difference if we die anyways)..." He began to announce, muttering the latter half and pausing only to clear his throat and brandish the knife he'd held onto since earlier. "I still have my knife, and...a few, ehm...'tricks' up my sleeve.

Turning his head back and forth to each of the women, he held his hand out in front of them and let a bit of his father's lightning magic dance along his fingertips. His old man would likely kill him for telling anyone, but at this point it wouldn't matter if they didn't make it back home. He trusted the both of them and it was for the best that they knew what he was capable of before they ran headlong into danger.

 

[Elise Virak]

An extreme amount of discomfort flickered through Elise's chest, not an ounce of which she allowed to show on her face.

Lips thinned as she watched the lightning flicker over Val's fingertips.

House Virak was not made of fools of course. Nor, she suspected, were Pirian, Weiroon, or any of the others for that matter. It had long been suspected that at least some of the other Houses birthed their own magical lines, though no one had ever confirmed who or what.

The secrets were closely held by each family, and for some reason she felt a strange...tightness in her chest when Val admitted his secret.

Lips thinned for a moment as she looked at him. What should she say?

What could she say.

There was magic, and then there was what she could do.

Elise found her lips thinning, her expression utterly unreadable as she looked at Val. Her thoughts ran wild with a thousand anxieties. Thoughts of what her friends would think of her. What they would say. What her father would do if he learned she told their secret.

For the first time in her life Elise didn't know what to do.

 

[Aisling Weiroon]

Aisling was not as composed as Elise.

Her heart thumped at her chest as a million thoughts sprinted through her brain. How would a noble normally react to this revelation? Feign ignorance maybe? Ask why Val hadn't gone to the dreadlord academy? Pretended to be scared or put on a brave face and act like magic really wasn't that big of a deal?

But, there was what other nobles might do and what Aisling Weiroon thought she should do.

"Val," she started gently but her lips collapsed the moment the word escaped them. Her father was a cruel man. She had been the first Weiroon in two generations born with their family's magic. Therefore, in her mind, it was her secret to reveal. But she knew that if Sebastian Weiroon ever discovered the secret had been known he wouldn't hesitate to send his own daughter into a Weiroon dungeon.

And that was if she was lucky.

"You shouldn't be showing us that."

Matted blonde hair nodded towards his lightning hand. Would Elise tell anyone? No, she didn't think so. But how must Val be feeling in this moment? Certainly this wasn't the reaction he had expected from the pair of women. More questions pounded on her head, begging to come to the surface while her chest rose and fell, the panic evident on her face.

Until it all broke, like a dam exploding. "My magic isn't as flashy," she admitted in a solemn voice while staring at the cavern floor. "I can effect people's luck. Give 'em good luck, bad luck... it's subtle. It has it's limits. But it's useful." She paused and added, "I used it when we were dodging arrows earlier."

Finally, her green eyes rose and she looked at both Elise and Val. "No one can know about this. Ever.

 

[Val Pirian]

Elise's initial reaction was not surprising. Stunned silence was one of a few potentials he expected, the weight of what he'd just shown his compatriots not lost on him at all. In truth, he'd never told a soul before this moment, not even the Dreadlords of his own House. His parents had made it very clear that revealing this to anyone could put his whole family in imminent danger...but then, he'd never been in a legitimate life-or-death scenario before.

Aisling started to reinforce the notion that he'd perhaps just made some sort of blunder. "You should'nt be showing us that." Of course he shouldn't. But "should" and "should not" didn't matter right now, he *had* to show them. If he didn't it might cost them all their lives.

Just as he was about to rebut as much to Aisling, she took the most unexpected course of action possible: she fessed up too. Initially, he was caught off guard, his eyebrows shooting up in a moment of genuine surprise. That quickly passed, however. In its place, a smile filled with warmth and admiration took over.
"If all goes well, no one ever will, Ais...and with that power, I get the feeling it will." He assured her, an odd serenity washing over him. Again he looked to both women, doing his best to keep morale up. "The most important thing is that we can all trust each other. I trust you both, that's why I showed you. Though, I suppose my little show wasn't entirely done."

He shook his hand and the electricity dispersed, then he snapped his finger and a glowing mushroom popped out of it. "When you two were running ahead of me I used this to soak up some of the arrows our lovely pursuers fired at us. I did have to sacrifice my poor, innocent shirt, but I think it was a small sacrifice for keeping our skin all smooth and unperforated."

He plucked the mushroom from his skin and flicked it into the fire, then held that same finger up to the light of the fire. For a few seconds the finger became coated in red scales and grew a sharp talon at the end, then quickly reverted back to normal.
"My magic doesn't actually have a lot of kick to it. I can only copy the magic of others, and it's never as good as the original. Plus I can only store a few at a time." He glanced to Aisling again. "If we had more time, I'd love to properly study yours, Ais. Seems a fair bit more useful than a lot of what I have right now, but I'd need to spare quite a bit of effort to figure yours out, I'd wager."

Val's attention shifted back to Elise, his usual jesting nature leaving him completely to express his next offer.
"You can trust us both if there's something else you need to share, Elise. Nothing leaves this cave, I promise."

 

[Elise Virak]

Elise chewed her bottom lip.

The consequences her father might dole out were already forgotten as both of her friends shared their truth. Thoughts of the llashing of the old man's words and fists were thrown aside, and instead were replaced by a powerful guilt that gnawed at her stomach.

It was not an emotion that was familiar to Elise. Not one that she had often, if ever, felt before.

Entire cities had knelt in her wake, whole houses had bent knee to her cruelty, two husband's had met their end at her hand. None of that had ever brought a spot of guilt for her, not a one. Now? Faced with the honesty of her two friends it threatened to overwhelm her.

Yet she couldn't be honest.

Not completely.

What would they think of her? The monster who rent people with their own blood. The witch who was fueled with the slaughter of thousands of Anirians. Luck and mimicry were one thing, but her families magics were a crime against nature itself.

Not a gift granted, but something taken and stolen through ritual and sacrifice. "I…"

Fingers tightened.

"Let's just say you do not need to worry about me." Elise admitted cautiously. "Arrows, swords, even fire cannot kill me."

It was not a lie, but not the whole truth. Her abilities ran so much deeper, cascading to such cruel lengths. "My body will heal."

Fueled by the Well of thousands of Anirians souls.

 

[Aisling Weiroon]

A revelation of magic was one thing but was Val was showing them was incredible. Aisling's jaw dropped at the three different skills he showed and she tried to rectify this image with the image she had in her head of the Pirian noble. He was a slacker, she had always liked him but there was no denying his nature. He seemed to avoid work or duty at every chance he got and while it didn't bother her she was positive it bothered other nobles, particularly the ones in, or loyal to, House Pirian.

Now he seemed like the most talented noble she'd met. Was all of his previous demeanor just an act?

"Percy, that's pretty incredible." Aisling was pretty sure he still hated that nickname. Clinging to that small annoyance was all she had when faced with someone so much more talented than she. "I'll cling to my luck for now."

What came next from her other friend shocked her even more. The three of them had been gifted with magic and yet they'd all hid it from one another all this time. Elise was still hiding it, the exact nature of it, but that was ok. Aisling wasn't going to pressure her to reveal anything she wasn't comfortable with.

In a jovial tone she quipped, "so you both can fend for yourselves while I hide in the corner." A grin came so that the two knew she was simply kidding although her joke was mostly true. If they ran into those scoundrels again there was little she was going to be able to do.

Aisling Weiroon's face eventually came to settle upon Elise. Her body seemed so tense for some reason. Their family's were more similar than Val's and maybe it was similar to the fear Aisling felt. If her golden haired friend looked her way she'd have seen Aisling mouthing the words, 'it's ok.' They didn't need to know any more and no one in Vel Anir was ever going to know the details of this expedition.

 

[Val Pirian]

"Let's just say you do not need to worry about me."

That concession alone was huge, Val knew that much. He had no idea how things worked in House Virak, not on the deepest level, but he'd heard rumors. He was certain that if either of the families of the women beside him learned that they'd spilled anything of their magic it would be hell on Arethil for them. He wouldn't betray that trust. He cared too much for them, respected them too greatly to do so.
"You don't need to say anything else...but thank you for saying as much. I trust you." He offered her, smiling, and blissfully unaware of the full extent of her powers.

"Percy,"
​

Like a record scratching. Nails on a chalkboard. Shattering glass. Val visibly cringed at the sound of that horrible nickname. Clearly he'd done something to strike a nerve if Aisling had chosen to utter such a foul word.
"It could be a lot more incredible if I actually cultivated it, but alas I spend too much of my days faffing about like a dandy." He replied, fighting to hide the annoyance in his voice. "It's...passable, honestly. In any case, here:"

Val turned held his ornate knife by the blade and offered the handle to Aisling, a Pirian emblem clearly visible on the hilt.
"You're the military woman. You'll make better use of this than I can."

 

[Elise Virak]

Elise felt small.

Perhaps because she was still lying to her friends, perhaps because of that sliver of deception. She tried to smile when Val put himself down over his magic, opened her mouth to say something, but sealed her lips in the same second.

It felt wrong.

Fingers gently wrung between themselves, a breath filling her lungs as she watched Val offer his knife to Aisling. She glanced at her friend, giving her an encouraging nod. She was the best person to be armed among them, though briefly Elise wondered if Val had been trained just like she had.

Her father had always insisted that she know how to use a blade. Though her training had never been as intense as it had been for her brothers.

Lips thinned for a moment, and she felt a spike of guilt at assuming her friend was keeping something else from her. It was a silly notion, given the truth he had already volunteered. She chewed her lip for a moment, then cleared her throat. "We should probably get some rest."

Elise said quietly.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow would be a new day. Tomorrow she could be herself again.

 

[Aisling Weiroon]

Aisling accepted the knife and moved the blade up and down briefly, testing its weight. A pang of guilt rose up at her own insecurities for using the nickname she knew her old friend detested. One of the tenets of House Weiroon had been that the strong would always eat the weak. It was a philosophy she hadn't agreed with. One she'd tried to resist and run from for much of her life.

Yet here she was, struggling to adjust with the knowledge that Val was stronger than she. From Elise's confession it seemed the other woman from Virak was stronger than she was as well. Jealousy and ineptitude were emotions she should be ignoring, given the circumstances.

Yet, she felt them none-the-less.

"Thanks Val," she finally said as she tucked the blade in a safe spot beside her, "and you shouldn't beat yourself up. What you demonstrated already is more than impressive." It had been impressive enough to rattle Aisling's self-confidence which was an accomplishment unto itself.

The corsair had known Elise Virak for their entire lives. At one point in time she'd even admired the girl as an elder sister that she never had. She could tell something was bothering her. Something she didn't wish to discuss. Aisling returned Elise's nod with a smile and eyes warm with support for her friend.

An affirmative bob of her head followed Elise's suggestion. "Rest sounds lovely."

Without any hesitation she scooted closer to the fire and tried to brush some of the dirt away from what she had decided would be her spot to sleep. The Anirian noblewoman couldn't recall if she had ever slept in damp clothes on the rough earth but there was first time for everything.

 

[Elise Virak]

Dawn came surprisingly quickly.

Perhaps it had been her nerves fraying from the lies, perhaps it had been the run through the woods, perhaps it was just the presents of her friends. Whatever it had been, Elise slept well through the night, only waking up with a slight crick in her neck.

"Augh." The Baroness groaned audibly as a stream of light struck across her eyes, lips thinning for a moment as she took in a deep breath and pulled herself up from the ground.

A hand ran through matted hair, fingers combing through platinum locks. Teeth sank into her lower lip for a brief moment, and then she glanced out towards the caverns entrance. Golden eyes flickered over the forest outside.

Slowly she reached over and nudged her friend. "Aisling, time to wake up."

She smiled briefly as a memory flickered through her mind. Sneaking through the streets of Vel Anir and waking Aisling up to 'break her out of the Weiroon Estate'. It had been silly, extremely dangerous, but one of the few times they had truly broken the rules.

 

[Aisling Weiroon]

Groggily the Weiroon woman turned over after her friend nudged her to consciousness. She mumbled a faint, "Carlisle, it's too early," before green eyes parted and she remembered that she was not back at the Weiroon Estate and that it was not the Steward of the House waking her.

"Sorry," she said as a hand rubbed against the sleepiness that had embedded itself into her eyelids. "I'm up."

Both of her arms stretched outwards in front of her, a final yawn escaping as she tried to rouse herself awake. The sight of Val Pirian caused her to remember the exact predicament they were in and she hurriedly tried to adjust her now-ragged dress before glancing over at Elise.

She shook her head but returned the other noblewoman's smile. "As much as I secretly would've loved to have another slumber party together this isn't exactly what I was expecting." Aisling grasped the dagger from earlier and quipped, "at least if we stayed over at a Virak or Weiroon estate we'd have some lavish breakfast waiting for us right now."

 

[Val Pirian]

Faint, mumbled voices roused the Pirian noble from his slumber, eliciting a weary groan from the man. A rock had served as his pillow, apparently, doing nothing good for his neck as he shifted and pulled himself up into a seated position. His eyes eased upon, breaking through the crust of sleep only to be greeted by the dim light of dawn pouring into the cave.

His eyes first fell upon Elise as she tried her best to fix the formerly elegant mass of hair atop her head, then to Aisling as she frantically tried to cover herself up. Slow blinks from a tired mind were followed by a dismissive handwave at his old Weiroon friend.
"Nnnnothin' I havn' seen before, luv, don' rush on my accoun'." He slurred sleepily before slumping forward with a sigh. It took a solid ten seconds for reason to come to him as he remembered exactly who he was with, where he was, and why they were there.

No sooner had that happened than Val's eyes snapped back open, his back to attention, then he quickly scrambled to cover his own face.
"Er--I mean--shit! Sorry. Sorry!" He snapped in panic before turning himself around to face the wall of the cave.

Aisling's commentary on breakfast ruminated in his head for some long, awkward moments. Val's stomach growled audibly, and he ran a hand through the cowlicked mess of his hair.
"...No breakfast quite like a Pirian breakfast. Food is what we do, after all." He said at last, if for no other reason than to break the silence. "Perhaps I'll treat us once we're back in jolly old Vel Anir, for old time's sake."

 

[Elise Virak]

Elise glanced at her two friends. "No breakfast today."

She couldn't remember the last time she had gone hungry, perhaps a mark of just how privileged her life had been. Fingers tightened for a moment, before they brushed over the tatters of her dress. Her head shook, and she pulled herself up from the ground.

The fire was little more than smoulders now, embers left behind since none of the three had awoken to provide it more fuel.

"Probably better we don't linger." She suggested, some of the 'weakness' from the night before washed away. It was better to focus on the task at hand, to make sure that they survived. They would have time enough for Nostalgia if they made it home. "They're probably still out there."

Whoever it was that wanted them dead.

Elise still wasn't entirely sure who it was in the first place.

 

[Aisling Weiroon]

"Nothing you haven't seen," her words were garbled in a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance, "luv??" Her face went red as anger took over as the dominant emotion but when Val's apology followed it subdued, if only slightly.

Breakfast was a far more pleasant conversation and given the circumstances she didn't want to stay mad about what she could just assume was a simple, sleep-deprived, mistake.

"You can deliver the Pirian breakfast," she shot back at Val before agreeing with Elise's proposal. "Yes, let's move. I'm ready to be back in civilization."

Aisling stepped out of the cavern they had used as their sleeping point and squinted as her vision adjusted to the harsh daylight. Just off in the distance she could see the direction of the source of light and pointed a thin finger towards it. Turning her head she called back to her two friends, "there, that's the way we go."

She waited for the two to leave the cave before moving on. It'd likely be a long march, particularly in bare feet, so Elise was correct. The sooner they started the better off they'd all be.

 

[Val Pirian]

Val turned beet red. Gods, curse his tired mind and lascivious habits! The last thing he'd wanted was to anger one of his dear friends or so thoroughly embarrass himself in front of them. He'd have to make it up to Aisling somehow...
"I--no, I...that's fair, I suppose." He tried to explain, but sighed and gave up. The less he said now, the better. She wasn't hitting him, so perhaps he hadn't completely boned himself.

Briefly before the trio set out he thought perhaps he could once again utilize the mushroom magic in his bag of tricks to give them all a bit of sustenance, but quickly reconsidered even offering. Besides the potential connotations of offering to let the women 'eat his mushrooms' just after groggily commenting on Aisling's indecency was bad enough, but he also had no idea if the things were even edible, let alone palatable.

Val exited the cave astride his friends, stretching and rolling his neck as the early morning sun dappled through the trees and onto his face. Whatever came next, he'd face it right alongside Elise and Aisling.

 

[Elise Virak]

Their march through the forest was much less hastened than it had been the day before.

Aisling pointed in a direction, and Elise quickly followed after. Her eyes darted around the woods, fingers flickering at her side as she prepared to call upon her magics at any moment. Paranoia of a sort clung to her, a weariness that couldn't be helped.

Elise did not like being out here. She did not like feeling out of her element. It was as though she was a duckling that had been transplanted into the middle of the city. Her skin prickled, and her eyes flickered back and forth with paranoia.

"So." She spoke up, deciding to distract herself with conversation.

There was no use in jumping at every little thing she saw.

"Who do you think those men were?" She asked. "I doubt it was one of the other Houses."

Most would have denied that any Great House would attack another, but Elise knew her friends wouldn't throw those denials at her. They had all endured assassination attempts in their youth, more often than not from one of the ruling houses.

 

[Aisling Weiroon]

Val seemed repentant. That was appropriate.

She wasn't going to stay mad at him for long but she also wasn't ready to speak with the man who had just spoken to her like one of the ladies of the night he visited in his free time. If he felt guilty then that was good, he could feel guilty a bit longer.

Aisling tried to keep an eye trained on their surroundings but woodland wasn't exactly her forte. Most of her military experience had been conducted on the high seas or navigating the narrow paths of seaside towns and cities. Finding your way through forest was something completely different, there were too many places for adversaries to hide or sneak up on the small group of nobles.

"Hmm?"

Elise's question broke her out of her concentration. When focusing on a goal you didn't have time to worry about the actual stresses that bothered you. Like how there were likely still a group of armed and deadly marauders trying to kill the three of them.

Willow eyes glanced at her friend as she pondered the question. "If those men had been bought by one of the houses they wouldn't have let us escape." Unless, maybe, they were paid for by Sirl's coin. She still remembered the foiled attempt on her life when she was a girl. One of Weiroon's Dreadlords had killed the assailant the moment they hoisted themselves over their garden's high walls.

"Maybe a rabble. Vel Ciruk's loyal enough but maybe one of the outlying towns has something against the nobility?" She pressed a thumb against her lower lip. "They didn't seem to be trained killers."

It was the only other motivation that made sense to her. Outside of the ruling council there wasn't a reason to target three children from the houses that didn't have a seat at the table of Vel Anir's governing body.