It was one of the last villages before the Beyond. The people who lived here were the kind of people who wanted to be left alone, but not so alone.

Karidhi was lying to herself if she said that hadn’t been one of the reasons she came here. The other reason was that everyone here mostly kept to themselves, didn’t go poking around- which meant plenty of things for her to find. There were the caves that she wanted to go to: they weren’t natural, someone had dug them into the ground and built a metal framework for them, long ago; surely there must be something interesting in there.

Today, however, was not a day to be out and about, much less climbing through caves. Rain and wind, a lightning strike here or there- but none to the lightning tower. So instead she found herself at the local inn; she couldn’t be bothered to cook for herself. Lively music came from an oddity in the corner. You could put shins in to change the kind of music playing, but usually it was only the owner, Alandi, who did.

One of the lights burnt out as she ate her stew. “I’ll fix it for you,” Karidhi said with a wave of her free hand in between bites of food. She could recognize frustration when she saw it.

“Thank you, it’s just... you’d think he’d want to help fix his home, his livelihood,” the other woman sighed, resting her head on her hands. “You know we’re all glad here to have you around.”

The road is dangerous. A trope, a banality that he shirked in favor of gallivanting across the ruins dotting the Steadfast, crew of vagabonds and cutpurses trailing in his wake. Danger bowed to his every whim. His men knew this. They admired him, some in awe. Then the Beyond. Beyond civilization, Beyond civility, Beyond humanity. He wasn't ready for what he saw. Coming back alone, tattered, in rags, greatsword shattered in pieces that he placed in his bag and wouldn't let go of. Monument to his failings? Monument to his triumphs? Didn't know at that point, but knew that he would have to find help or die. Blacked out. Woke up, saw her face, face of a goddess, face of divinity. He tried to reach out, imbibe the glow she had, failed. She wanted to take care of him, make him whole. They talked, laughed, shared love sooner than later. Savored her, revered her like they revered him. But he knew. He knew what he had seen. He wouldn't allow her to get taken by it. Never. Left like a coward, a thief. Stole a kiss on her cheek before slipping out the back. Didn't want to be around. Would try to stop him, insist she go with him.

No. No one could go. Doubted even he could finish it. Had to.

___

His leather gloved hands gripped the hilt of his battleaxe in a vice grip, eyes wildly scanning the cliffside for any other reinforcements. They had come again, their eyes glowing, hands laced with that same blue light that had been haunted him for the past year. Thankfully this bunch was weaker than the ones he had encountered previously and had an easy time dispatching them. A breeze flitted through the air, ruffling the nearly shoulder length ash brown hair of the axe-wielder, who looked around for a few more seconds before placing his weapon onto the sheath spanning across the wide frame of his back and sifting through his would-be assassin's belongings.
"Always have something with you to blend in...yep." He found a pouchful of shins and other gleaming coins of unknown worth across the triage of bodies, pocketing the currency away before turning his attention back to the village visible from the cliffside. Lanterns burned late into the night, giving him hope for shelter. This far away from Sagus Hills or any other part of the Steadfast was dangerous territory, something he was all too familiar with. It would be nice to have a roof over his head.

He proceeded down the path adjacent to the cliffside, descending into the valley where the village lay before spotting a sign indicating that he was in front of the local inn. Raul stepped inside, dark green eyes surveying the envir-

He froze.

Kari. Here? No.

She finished eating in her own time, pushing the dish back across the counter before heading to the back room where she knew there was a ladder. She threw her hair up as she walked, the green clip she always had on hand clashing with her copper coloured hair.

"Does everyone else just let you walk in and do what you want?"

"More or less if I'm fixing something," Kari replied, the old and worn metal screeching when she opened the ladder up. She gave it a push sideways, watching it tip, then right itself as the stabilizers kicked in. All good for her to go up.

She climbed up, sitting right on the top of it, pulling the light panel out of the ceiling and onto her lap. It was some artifact that had been here when they bought the inn, Alandi had told her. It didn't usually have problems but every once in a while...

Her fingers traced along the lines inside, trying to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. There was a broken connection and there was an oil mark right next to it- the oil had probably heated the line up too much until it disintegrated into drit. She buffed the spot out first before pulling out her tools.

She heard the door open but paid it no mind- it was very precise work, if she didn't want to burn herself. After a few moments Alandi was back, having heard the door chime.

The woman came into the room with a chuckle. "Well, hello there. Miss Karidhi, you have an admirer," she teased.

"It's curiosity. Everyone wants to know what I’m doing when I'm up on a ladder. Hello," she said, still not looking, eyes focused on the work in front of her.

"What can I do for you, stranger?"

His throat had dried upon seeing her, legs crossed as she tinkered with a light fixture. What else was new? Kari was always trying to fix something, improve it, make it "glow" again. Was that why she had been with him? To fix him? Shaking the line of thought of away internally, he shook his head, quietly telling her in a decibel a tone or two lower than normal as he turned around:
"Just passing through." He looked to the other woman who had openly commented on his presumed status as "admirer" and asked her in the same voice:
"Could I trouble you for a room and water? Would like to see where the rooms are, too, if that's alright." He walked back to the main area of the inn and quickly ducked into the room that the keeper had shown him, shutting the door before removing his axe and placing it against the wall, hilt up. Raul then sunk to the bed, hands covering his face. He hoped she wouldn't get curious, he prayed that she would just forget about the potentially strangely familiar voice of the traveler and choose to keep working. But what if she did knock? What if she wanted answers? He wasn't prepared for that yet, couldn't allow her to know what was hunting him. No chance of that.

___

The man stood on the cliff, cat-like eyes glowing in the still darkness as he fixed his attention on the village below.
"Is it wise to expose yourself like this?" A voice asked, her tone betraying a hint of worry.
"He has evaded us for far too long. We must handle this ourselves."
"But if any recognize you-"
"They will be in no state to tell anyone." A smirk played across his lips as he looked to the woman next to him, her metallic chestpiece contrasting with his full length hooded robes. Silence between the armored and robed for a few moments before the armored one spoke:
"When do I bring them down?"
"Give him a few more minutes of hope. Then we will strike."

___

He had removed his leather overcoat and chainmail shirt when he heard a knock at the door. His heart froze.

She knew that voice, even though he was trying so hard to disguise it.

Raul.

Her hands froze for a split second before continuing on with the last of the work she had to do, willing them not to shake until she was finished and his footsteps had faded to silence. She thought she had forgiven him, thought she had let go of all the anger and confusion and hurt but there it was all over again, settling in to the pit of her stomach.

“All done,” she announced tersely to Alandi, as if the woman couldn’t see the light shining again. Her jaw was clenched as she made her way back down the ladder, the metal snapping shut a perhaps a bit more loudly than she intended. “Might see you tomorrow, might not.”

“Have a good night, Kari,” the woman said gently, pressing a hand to her shoulder as she left. She knew it was not the time to pry, not when Kari was looking like one of the storm clouds above, maybe about to send a bolt of lightning down, maybe about to open the floodgates and drench the ground.

She prepared a tray for him: food, water, the works, and headed down the hall, rapping softly on the door. “I know you only wanted water, but it’s on the house tonight, if you’d like. I won’t be offended if you’re not hungry, either.”

Raul's upper body sagged forward on the creaky cot upon hearing the barkeep's voice, eagerly strolling to the door and receiving the tray with a verbalized note of thanks before he set the tray down.
"I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning, so here." The pouch that had once occupied the corpse just up the cliffside was withdrawn, Raul handing over several shins, which he knew would be more than enough to cover his tenure there.
"My thanks for the hospitality. It can be...difficult out there." He half turned towards the tray, ready to pounce on nourishment that his body desperately craved, but he stopped, words tumbling out of his mouth:
"The woman who was fixing the light fixture; is she an employee of yours?" It would make sense for Kari to help out, but was this a place of stability for her now?
"Forgive my prying, but curiosity is a trait that tends to possess me at times." An apologetic smile crossed his lips.

___

The armored woman motioned with her left hand, beckoning the shadows that had remained idle to come forward now, their blades reflecting the slivers of moonlight that pierced through the clouds above. She looked up, noting the almost tremulous gathering with a smirk. It was nice to have someone who could control things like this.

She looked back at the shadows, pointing at the inn. Their only acknowledgement was to drift, almost glide down the slope, blades forward.

The woman nodded and murmured a thank you, tucking the shins into a pocket of her apron. "Indeed it can be. I think difficulty will follow anywhere, though. A lot of people are here to escape that."

There was a pause before she answered his question. "Her, no. I don't think she could ever stay still enough for anything like that. She helps with odd jobs when she's around, but mostly she comes and goes. Usually comes back to town covered in dirt with something new to fiddle with. Keeps a lot to herself, like everyone else around here."

She paused again, longer this time. "You knew each other before she came here, didn't you?" It was more a statement than a question. She hadn't missed his stare, far longer than someone just curious about what she could be doing up on that ladder, nor the look on Kari's face when she had left.

---

She should go back, ask him why he left, why he hadn't just said something. Maybe ask him how he was doing, if he was happier now that he had left her.

No, confrontation was not something Kari was interested in. Besides- he had made his choice clear. He knew how much she hated puzzles without answers; maybe it was his turn, if he had even noticed it was her.

Back to her dwelling it was.

She didn't live far from the inn, just by the edge of town in what looked like an oversized doll house. She was fairly certain it was- it had seams where it could be pushed open had she not taken measures to prevent that, two levels with two narrow rooms each, each half designed for a different purpose. She just fit the low ceilings with a few inches to spare.

It wasn't much, but it was hers. No one else had wanted it- it had been in dire need of repairs when she had arrived and supposedly was haunted by the ghost of its previous owner.

She threw herself on the cushions lined up on the floor when she got in. She didn't feel like heading all the way upstairs to the bed, and it was just as comfortable here, anyways. A part of her wanted to sleep, but she was too restless, too fidgety.

Raul. Why were you here? Why did you go?

She got up abruptly. She had spent enough time tossing and turning over him. She was going to the caves, storm be damned.

Raul ruffled his hair absent-mindedly, the ruffling accompanied by a chuckle when the innkeep mentioned Kari's preoccupation with her being covered in dirt. She hadn't changed in that regard. Always trying to get her hands dirty by fixing a moisture collector or attempting to decipher a locked codex box that she found that "could have been from eons ago!". Her enthusiasm for all things mechanical was one of the things that had caused him to take such an interest in her...along with other characteristics she had.

When the innkeep asked the question, he simply nodded, keeping the statement following as vague as possible:
"Perhaps." Normally Raul was a bit more forthcoming when someone asked an honest question, but these were times of deception and mistrust. He had learned that all too well when he had returned to Sagus Hills. Speaking of mistrust, he added quickly:
"If anyone asks after me, tell them that I ate and moved on. No needs to..." Thunder clapped overhead, seeming to spawn glimmers of what looked like snowflakes in the building.
"Get to a safe place as fast you can! GO!" Raul grabbed his battleaxe before rushing to the common area of the inn. The few patrons that had occupied the area were now prostrate on the ground, throats cut open, blood seeping across the wood floor. At the entranceway stood the armored woman, her face betraying a look of amusement as the hooded figures that accompanied her flanked both her left and right sides.
"Did you really think we wouldn't find you?"
"No. But now that you have, I expect that your masters will have to keep looking."
"Why is that?"
"You won't be leaving here alive." The woman cackled, shaking her head as she pointed towards the warrior, shadows complying with the directive as they dashed forward, their daggers poised to strike. Raul had foolishly believed in his first couple of encounters with these attackers that he could bludgeon them with brute force; he knew better now.

As the attackers drew within a couple of feet, Raul rolled forward inbetween the natural gap the attackers left for themselves in case they needed to dodge. As he returned to his feet, he swept his axe in a circular motion, weapon whistling through the air before connecting with one of the figures who hadn't dodged in time, achilles tendons severing. The other tried a downward thrust, which Raul dodged by moving his upper body to the right before ramming his shoulder into the attacker's chest. He followed up the ram with an overhead axe slash, effectively finishing the other. When he turned to face the entranceway to deal with the woman, she was gone.

Where would she...

Oh no. No no no. She couldn't have known.

But she probably did. They had known his character, his history long enough.

He found the innkeep hiding as he had directed before asking hurriedly:
"Where is Kari?!"

Her mouth was open, about to respond, reassure him that she knew the drill, but his sudden shout startled her into taking a few steps back. She turned and ran as directed, knowing better than to ask questions.

He found her in a room down the hall, or rather, she opened a door when she saw that it was just him. It was hidden at the end of the hallway, the seams disguised by the panels on the wall. "Prob- probably home," she said, eyes wide, throat so dry she could barely manage a whisper. She pointed out the back door. "Go straight to the edge, then turn right. Should be on the right. She says it... it's like a miniature house, looks out of place."

---

The wooden stairs creaked as she made her way up. She was going to have to reinforce them soon. Maybe destroy them entirely and build new ones. They led to an empty room, the space on the opposite side of the joint running along the floor a scattered mess of things, most of them not functional just yet. The difference between that side and the other was sudden, her gear and tools neatly placed at the end of her cot. That was probably the most personal touch in the place; she couldn't be bothered to decorate. Gave her too much time to think.

She pulled her pack up into the bed, making sure everything was in order. There was a flash of lightning, a crack of thunder- maybe she shouldn't go.

"Probably going to die in a cave one day anyway," she huffed to the empty room.

Raul scrambled past the fallen inn patrons and back outside where the same strange snow-like substance that was clustered in the inn was now falling from the sky at a steady pace, thunder and lightening rippling across the village. Battle axe gripped tightly, he sprinted left of the inn, the only sounds audible being his footsteps and ragged breathing. He knew what was coming and he knew deep within his soul that if she wasn't stopped, Kari would suffer a fate worse than death. One he had managed to survive. One that she was trying to inflict upon him once more.

He found the armored woman outside of Kari's home, arms lifted to the sky.
"GET AWAY FROM THAT HOUSE!" Raul bellowed, axe pointing at the village intruder.
"YOUR DISPUTE IS WITH ME AND NO ONE ELSE!"
"And that...that is where you are wrong." She turned, arms still raised, eyes aglow with a wintery blue light that grew in intensity with every passing second.
"You escaped once, Raul. That will never happen again." Lightening crackled from her fingertips as she thrust her arms forward, Raul rolling to the left before dashing forward a few feet and dodging again, trying to close the gap. He hoped that Kari would stay inside long enough for him to finish this...then he would disappear again.

Layers, layers, layers, always best to do things in layers, waterproof things on top. The set had been an expensive purchase, but it was much quieter and easier to move in than what she had had before. Kari slipped her arms into a dark blue coat, zipping it up to her neck. She pulled similar pants up over what she was already wearing and hefted on her pack.

Her shoes would be fine. She never wore shoes that weren’t waterproof, not after Raul-

Muffled yelling made its way to her ears, no words distinguishable. What in the world was going on outside? She made her way over to the window to peer out onto the street.

Raul.

For a split second she was confused, wondering why he had followed her, why he was screaming at her house (presumably trying to get her attention), but her eyes were caught by another figure. Lightning coming from her hands. He was yelling at the woman, not her.

She watched as he moved- he made combat look like art, she had discovered soon after meeting him, and it fascinated her. She was graceful enough, but not when fighting, not like he was.

What to do, what to do...

She made her way down the stairs. She could at least hear better from there. Raul never liked her getting into the thick of things, and to be honest, she had never liked it either. Sometimes it had been necessary.