Private Tales To be Boundless

[Larkin]

"Kor, she went on a date with him!" Larkin gave an exasperated sigh, his friend just was not getting it. "I could just wring that pretty boy's little neck just for looking at her." He had been pacing erratically for the past twenty minutes near the pond he and Kor had first had their exchange.

He had resorted to muttering to himself, giving slight outbursts that probably made little sense to the blind intiate that had been forced into listening to it. The pacing certainly didn't help him look any better. He only paused his pacing to stroke the glossy black feathers of Repent, or to offer him a snack from the satchel of treats he had started wearing just for the birds that always hung around Kor.

"Ivan has no good intentions, he's a playboy and she's just going to get hurt." Larkin wouldn't admit it, but many would have said the same of him none too long ago. Throwing his hands up, a scoff leaving his lips as he tutted around like a mother hen scolding her chick. "She's even late. Probably his doing."

He looked to Kor to say something, but didn't really expect too much of the typically quiet intiate. He scanned the direction Zephyrine should be coming from, folding his arms and tapping his foot. He was only upset because he was worried, though perhaps he was a little more worried than was necessary.

Kor Zephyrine

 

[Kor]

This had been persisting for nearly half an hour, Larkin walking in circles, lips awash with concern for their mutual friend, Zephyrine, amid the news she'd been engaged in some vague relationship with Ivan Skender. Kor hadn't moved since he'd begun, perched upon a tree stump by the edge of a lake with his forehead resting on a propped knee, blind eyes closed as Repent enjoyed Larkin's attention.

"I understand your anger, Larkin." Kor finally found a moment to interject. "I find Skender to be distasteful, but he's not worth my rage. Nor is he worth yours." Not too long ago, Larkin had a perfectly reasonable motive to be wrathful. He'd only just begun to get over that, and there was scant reason to place another emotional hurdle in front of himself.

Truthfully, Kor had been surprised to hear the rumors himself. The feelings it brought to his chest had been... somewhat confusing. He knew disappointment, but he could not decipher what exactly it was that he felt it towards. Perhaps he'd simply thought Zephyrine would have better taste. Perhaps he worried about what being in a relationship would do to her commitment to leave with the two of them.

Perhaps... it was something more.

No matter what nagged at the back of his mind, he was handling it far better than Larkin.

"Part of our pact is that we do not make decisions for one another. Being led by the hand is what we seek to escape. If Zephyrine chooses this path, and it hurts her, then it is what must happen. I will take no pleasure in witnessing it, but I will not act to stop it."

Not unless Ivan forces my hand...

The thought briefly came to him, causing his milk-white eyes to open and his head to rise up as a change in the wind blew the hood from his head, the messy black hair underneath flaring up against the breeze. "You and I have both already learned this lesson. She has not."

Larkin Zephyrine

 

[Larkin]

Larkin was still muttering under his breath as Kor forced his way in. He wanted to argue with
Kor, wanted to fight his words. Still, with a puff of air, and irritation still on his lips, he conceded to him. There was something in his words that stifled the frustration and anger from Larkin. He nodded slowly in concession, even if Kor couldn't see it, he would pick up the change of mood in the air, he was good at that.

He sighed, feeling deflated. He really cared for Zeph, she was like a little sister to him, and he couldn't stand the thought of her getting hurt. He knew she would have to learn and grow on her own, but a part of him just wanted to hover and help, make things easier on her.

"I know that you're right, though it pains me to admit it. As much as being here at the academy tests us and breaks us, this is one hurt I hope to never see from our Zephyrine. I understand it's inevitable and that I can't protect her from everything, but do you blame my desire to try?"

He rubbed his face with his hands, a groan escaping his lips. "You've been particularly patient with me today, listening to me go on and on like an idiot." He tilted his head towards Kor, a smile finally crossing his face. "I know we didn't trust each other very much, but I do now consider you a friend."

Kor Zephyrine

 

[Kor]

Larkin's sudden show of sentiment caused Kor's brows to rise, the faintest glimpse of a smirk rising on one side of his mouth as he tilted his head up at the musician, staring with blank, unseeing eyes. "You'll have to forgive me. I'm still working to understand the definition of that word. The first person who called me that... I think I felt something more for."

It had taken time for him to come to terms with the fact he'd felt something beyond fondness for the girl of sand. Only after the pain of her death did he admit himself capable of such a deeper emotion. "The second was Zephyrine, and now you. I am growing to trust you, I am learning to be comfortable around you. If that is friendship, perhaps we are indeed getting there."

Kor wrapped his arms around his knee, resting his chin against it. "But there are also things I don't understand. This fretting about, this need to protect Zephyrine from negativity and harm. Why? She must learn, as all creatures do. If she does not face this trial now, she will face it later."

Kor ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek, his glazy eyes narrowing.

"Graduation approaches soon. We cannot afford to delay pain. What comes next will bring enough of it."

Larkin Zephyrine

 

[Larkin]

Kor's admission to his feelings was enough for Larkin. He knew Kor had been an outcast, ignored, tossed aside. To know that he was starting to trust Larkin was a positive. He could acknowledge that the other boy was trying. He returned the smirk on Kor's lips with a soft smile on his own. "It's enough to know that you trust me to an extent, and when you figure out what you define as friendship, and decide that that is where we are at, then I'll gladly accept it. "

Larkin had stopped in front of Repent again, stroking the inky black feathers of a creature that Larkin had started realizing was fairly intelligent. He sighed as he avoided looking at Kor, even though it really didn't matter. "I know she needs to learn and grow like the rest of us, it's just that all the things that have harmed me in my life, I do not want her to hurt like I did. She's important to me, and it would pain me to see her hurting. I know it's inevitable, and I am sorry that I threw a tantrum like a child. I just worry about her Kor, and I don't want to lose her. She's like a sister to me."

At his mention of graduation, Larkin nodded solemnly. "It is heavy on my mind, though I'm anxious to start preparations. I am ready to leave this behind, and I will gladly follow your agenda whatever it may be." He brushed his hands off and stretched as if ridding himself of what had transpired. "Alright, I'm good. We just need Zephyrine here and we can start."

Kor Zephyrine

 

[Zephyrine]

At least she got to bathe after that rather grueling training session.

Even as she walked the distance to where Larkin had told her they would be, she could still feel her muscles ache even more so than they had done after her month in Vel Castere training with Dreadlord Nevarro. Before she could round the last corner of the path, she stretched her arms and groaned aloud. No doubt Kor and Larkin would hear her, but Zephyrine wore a large grin seeing them both.

Very few occasions did the three of them get any time together all at once, and seeing her two most cherished friends gave her a sense of happiness. "Glad you all could make it." She called out, now lifting a small bound parcel from her satchel at her side.

"A little present from Vel Lameus came in."

Three signet rings custom made for the three of them. It was a surprise for Larkin as she had not told him about the commission, but Kor had been there with her and helped make them more suited to each of them.

Kor Larkin

 

[Kor]

Kor did not have a chance to further reassure Larkin, though he found the man's apology to be somewhat unnecessary, given Kor had already expressed that he understood the turmoil he faced. Perhaps his fretting was a tad heavy-handed, but he didn't consider it to be an outburst. Especially not after some of the episodes he'd had with Zephyrine early on in their partnership.

Before he could say as much, Zephyrine herself finally arrived to the meeting spot, turning the final bend of the path with outstretched limbs and a smile splitting her face. Repent let out a low trill, his throat rumbling against Larkin's attentive hand as he flapped his wings to announce Zeph's presence to his master. Kor rose a brow, smirking at her choice of greeting to them.

"Glad 'we' could make it?" He balked, "You're the one lagging behind. Rather uncharacteristically, might I add." Zephyrine took pride in arranging these meeting places and times, often the moment Kor decided they needed to happen. It saved him trouble, so he wasn't about to take that responsibility away from her. "Our friend has been worried about you, and I'm not speaking of Repent."

Kor wasn't currently connected to his companion, but his keen sense of hearing could make out the sound of jingling mettle as she rose the parcel, and he made the connection with Vel Lameus quickly.

"Oh, those are done? Took them long enough."

Zephyrine Larkin

 

[Larkin]

There she was, finally. Larkin breathed a sigh as relief as she rounded the corner. It was quickly replaced with irritation at her exclamation, his back turning towards her as he folded his arms. Luckily Kor spoke before he did, his words would have probably had a bit more of an unintentional bite to them.

He shot Kor a look as his worry was brought to light and with a huff he turned back around. He couldn't help but deflate as soon as he saw Zephyrine. She was smiling, and he just couldn't stay upset at her.

He looked between the two, Kor seemed to know exactly what she was talking about, but he seemed out of the loop. Confused, he looked back to Zephyrine, his lips a thin line. "Don't keep me in suspense then, what is it?"

Zephyrine Kor

 

[Zephyrine]

She stopped short a few feet from them, tearing into the packaging before taking three small boxes in her hand. They were deep blue and made of a soft velvet, each box handlettered with a K, L, and Z to denote which box belonged to whom. She gave the respective ring boxes to each of her friends, grinning with excitement and anticipation.

When Larkin opened his, he would find a silver signet ring, a lute engraved into it and given colour by a magical paint. On the inside of the ring, carefully written was the word 'to be boundless'.

Words Zephyrine had spoken to Kor as a goal she wished to work towards.

The same words were etched into each ring, and Kor's signet denoting a raven with a small, dainty diamond eye. He had been there to help tailor each ring to the right member of their little crew, but this would be the first time he would see the design come to fruition. If only he could see through her eyes, he would have been able to watch and be mesmerised as the silversmith designed their rings for Zephyrine to approve.

And her own signet ring revealed her favoured double ended spear. Depicted were two, crossed together. Zephyrine liked how mobile she was when wielding dual weapons, how she could so easily manage such a feat.

"Well, what do you think?"

Kor Larkin

 

[Kor]

Kor carefully reached out to take the small velvet box, resting it in the center of his palm and holding it up to Repent, whose eyes began to shimmer with the telltale glow of a connection with the raven's master. With the sight of his partner, he opened the box and plucked the silver signet from the slot within, holding it up for Repent to inspect.

"I'll admit..." Kor smiled just a bit, as he felt the bird's instincts to peck at the shimmering silver ring barely restrained by his magic. "The craftsmanship is better than I'd expected. Perhaps the wait was warranted after all." The woman in the shop hadn't struck him as a particularly adept type; people so warm and welcoming as her weren't usually the best in their field, but she'd proven him wrong with this product.

"Something we thought of while on a mission together." He briefly explained to Larkin, his own head turning to follow the bard's voice-- Repent was far too fixated on the ring. "A symbol of our union, something to remind us of the trust we've built." Kor did not doubt that, after Graduation, there would come trials that would test their faith in one another. He was not so gullible to imagine the three of them infallible in their emotions and ideals.

This ring was small, but the cold silver on his finger would be present even in the black void that was his world.

"I considered buying you an actual lute, to replace the one you smashed up in the lake. Then I saw the price."

Zephyrine Larkin

 

[Larkin]

Larkin watched with slight amusement as Zephyrine tore into the package, it was nearly childish how she savaged the little blue velvet boxes out. Already his irritation was waning, he could never stay upset with her. She was the one constant, closer to him than anyone. When Larkin spoke of her, he spoke of her as a sister. Kor and Zephyrine were his only family, and he wouldn't let them go for anything. Maybe he just loved to easily, and that's why he had been burned by so many in his past. He certainly had the scars to prove it.

He opened the box gently, quietly studying the silver ring inside. So much thought and care had been put into it by them. he pulled it from its resting place, examining every angle with appreciation. He turned his back to his friends as he slid the ring on, a tear sliding down his cheek as others threatened to join it. He quickly wiped it away, fixing a smile on his face as he turned back around. "This is amazing, thank you."

Kor's remark made him laugh, and he nodded at him even though it was likely Kor couldn't see the action. "An instrument of the caliber of the one I destroyed comes at no small cost. I did keep a piece of the old one as a reminder. I've just never asked Zephyrine to fix it because I needed to mourn that part of me that you met that day."

Kor Zephyrine

 

[Zephyrine]

Zephyrine held Larkin's hand and inspected the signet ring with a wide grin. She did he same for Kor, and even dared to lift her hand close enough for Repent to crane his head and see her double ended spear engraving. "I even told Kor we could use my inheritance, but you can imagine that only made him even more adamant to change his mind." Zeph gave him a smug look.

"Besides, we are going to need some coin to get us situated once we leave after graduation."

An inheritance left by her adoptive Dreadlord father, who did not need much serving as Proctor for some years. It was coin inherited over generations of Caddel's and Zephyrine the last of the name. She kept all the funds in her room, trapped and hidden until she could take the chest with them.

"Right... should we go over the plan? Make sure we are on the same page again after I insisted we change plans...?" Her suggestion was to take the reserves option, allowing them time to collect their resources and recoup at Russ Caddel's home in Vel Anir. She had thought that perhaps once they left Anir, she could transfer the deed of the home to Thraah and her family, seeing as it was such a perfectly good home that would do well for a large family. The last time she visited there, she felt the overwhelming and cavernous interior make her feel small.

 

[Kor]

Kor couldn't pretend to understand Larkin's sentimentality, especially towards something so trivial as an instrument, but if the time he'd spent with his two friends had taught him anything, it was to hold his tongue when his words were less than kind. He did not need to understand, only recognize.

"I believe the phrase often used is 'It's the thought that counts', so I'll say that I paid it a thought and nothing more from my pocket." He smirked, offering his best attempt at a joke. He had seriously considered the gift, but Zephyrine's revelation that she possessed a sizable inheritance, something she'd not mentioned expressly to him before, gave him other ideas. "Besides, you make enough noise with your mouth, you don't need a set of strings."

Carefully, Kor slid the ring onto his finger. The craftsmanship was apparent, as the signet was a perfect fit, exactly to specification. It wouldn't have mattered, as he needed to stop Vel Lameus anyways, to pick up the chain he'd ordered. Still, even blind he found himself holding it up to the light, admiring the glimmer of sunlight off of the silver surface.

"My preparations have been made long in advance." He answered softly, still examining the ring. "The only difference your plan makes is how long I must wait. I will leave this choice to the pair of you, but we shouldn't dally around for too long. My bones grow wary of idling."

Larkin Zephyrine