[center][h1][color=d3d3d3]Eve "Grayscale"[/color]
[color=736aff]Ranbu no Izayoi[/color][/h1][/center]
[hr]
Journeying under the ocean’s clear blue sky was not an uncommon experience for the faux dragoness as twas' natural for someone capable of (un)naturally sprouting her own pair of wings. However, just as there were differences between walking on foot versus traveling via carriage, sailing on an ship too had its own set of unique quirks; she didn't need to continuously control her altitude, lift, and speed among several other things.

Thus, by the time Ranbu no Izayoi stumbled upon Grayscale, the latter could be found relaxing on the open-air upper deck; her hood back, pale gray locks swaying in the breeze as she leaned against a railing, and red eyes gazing contemplatively upon the horizon.

Izayoi arrived on deck with a fishing rod and tackle, giving Eve a brief nod as she started setting up her line next to her.

The shorter female partially turned her gaze toward the samurai, then gave her a small nod in return.

[color=736aff][b]”Have the pirates given you any trouble?”[/b][/color] She asked, baiting her hook. [color=736aff][b]”I believe the manor incident impressed upon them as a whole that we are not to be trifled with, but one or two may not have quite understood the message.”[/b][/color]

[color=d3d3d3][b]"Trouble?"[/b][/color] Eve paused for a moment, recalling everything she could about Bikke's crew; they gave her all sorts of reactions: anxiety, nonchalance, and even fascination, but none of them troubled her, [color=d3d3d3][b]"No. A few avoided me, others approached, but most kept to themselves."[/b][/color] Explained the Pseudolon.

A moment of tranquil silence then fell between the two, just a fisherwoman and her observer… [color=d3d3d3][b]"Do you see me as a child, Izayoi?"[/b][/color] At least until the latter broke it.

Izayoi regarded Eve in silence at the question as she cast her line out. 

[color=736aff][b]”You do not behave as one, but your appearance is closer to that than of an adult.”[/b][/color] She stated matter-of-factly, returning her gaze to the water as she kept an eye on her bobber.

The Mystrel's response to the mutant's inquiry earned her a pause, then followed by a small defeated sigh as Eve's half-closed eyes stared down toward the water's surface, her form slumping slightly more than before. [color=d3d3d3][b]"I'm aware..."[/b][/color] Eve murmured, [color=d3d3d3][b]"It's vexing to be immediately assumed as an infant and having to explain to each new colleague that I'm not, sometimes, I don't even have that chance..."[/b][/color]

[color=736aff][b]”Have I given you cause to believe that I treat you as a child?”[/b][/color]

It was... admittedly a good question, one that the Pseudolon had to spend some time contemplating, [color=d3d3d3][b]"It's... difficult to explain, but..."[/b][/color] Her right hand raised to rest against her chin, [color=d3d3d3][b]"I've observed that the way you treated me is similar to how you behave around Miina, and furthermore..."[/b][/color] Eve's lips subtly quivered as a rush of painful memories flashed in her mind, [color=d3d3d3][b]"Though not exactly alike, those actions reminded me of... her,"[/b][/color] Red eyes shifted to the sides for a moment, [color=d3d3d3][b]"Dr. Eve, my mother."[/b][/color]

A dry chuckle left her throat, [color=d3d3d3][b]"With Miina, I can understand, but we're most likely not that different in terms of chronological age, Izayoi."[/b][/color]

[color=736aff][b]”Truly? Then some would call you fortunate for appearing perpetually young.”[/b][/color] Izayoi questioned, glancing skyward briefly to note Rudolf and Esben up in the mizzen mast, conversing about what the gods know what.

[color=736aff][b]”The Valheimr had you within their clutches for no small amount of time, then. Decades, at the very least.”[/b][/color] She noted, returning her gaze to her fishing.

[color=d3d3d3][b]"I... don't particularly care about that."[/b][/color] The Pseudolon murmured, peering back down at the seas while Izayoi noted the two Atsu Inn-mates up above, [color=d3d3d3][b]"Regardless of my apparent agelessness, I have more glaring issues."[/b][/color] Eve sighed, examining the scales on her arm for a brief moment, [color=d3d3d3][b]"Most likely so, though I spent no small amount of that time comatose as they tinkered and toyed with my body and soul."[/b][/color] Eve's placid tone intensified slightly before she calmed herself down.

[color=736aff][b]”And if I remind you of your mother, it is not intentional on my part. Perhaps it may be more intentional for myself with Miina, considering one could evidently crush that girl’s morale with a stiff breeze. Then again, I hardly have any examples to base mine own behavior off of.”[/b][/color]

[color=d3d3d3][b]"I see, I suspected as much, it's a mere coincidence in the end."[/b][/color] The horned girl chuckled once at Izayoi's mention of the younger Mystrel, [color=d3d3d3][b]"Perhaps this is what they call ‘maternal instinct'?"[/b][/color] Izayoi was a mother after all, before Valheim took her family away just as they took Eve's, [color=d3d3d3][b]"Someone who feeds you when you're hungry, comforts you when you're down, nurses your wounds if you're hurt..."[/b][/color]

[color=736aff][b]”Perhaps.”[/b][/color] Izayoi conceded to Eve’s quip about maternal instinct before she was alerted by a tug on her line. A few moments of reeling later, and the sides of her mouth upturned slightly for a moment as she deposited her catch into the bucket. Mackerel, one of her favorites. Perfect.

[color=d3d3d3][b]"Oh..."[/b][/color] The petite black mage fixed her eyes upon the piscine creature splashing just underneath the surface as the raven-haired samurai managed to claim yet another into her long list of victims, though perhaps there was a better way to phrase it. Regardless, this mackerel had the honor of falling to the legendary Ranbu no Izayoi herself. 

[color=736aff][b]”Speaking of your wounds,”[/b][/color] Izayoi began, baiting her hook and casting the line out once more. [color=736aff][b]”Your blood. As I am aware, even dragons do not bleed rainbow. A side effect of Valheim’s work, I take it?”[/b][/color]

Eve was still peering down into the bucket when Izayoi addressed the matter of her curious 'blood', prompting her to look back toward the sea, [color=d3d3d3][b]"Correct, dragons are organic creatures,"[/b][/color] The Artificial Eidolon mused as she continued observing the fishing line, waiting for the second catch, [color=d3d3d3][b]"But what flows through my body is ether, the very same substance that fuels arcane spells, materias, and last but not least, the lifeblood of True Eidolons. Tis' the reason why my vessel does not function the way yours does."[/b][/color] A brief pause, [color=d3d3d3][b]"Through logical deduction, we can assume that every single 'sibling' of mine would host ether instead of blood as well."[/b][/color]

[color=736aff][b]”Ah, yes. Your fellow victims. Do you foresee them becoming an issue? Should Valheim deploy them in combat against us, what are your suggestions?”[/b][/color] Izayoi inquired, focusing on more practical matters than the minutiae of how Eve functioned as a living being.

[color=d3d3d3][b]"Yes, I absolutely do."[/b][/color] The sheer speed in which Eve's response was mustered could rival even Izayoi's cuts at her best, though she did take a moment longer to pause for the second inquiry, [color=d3d3d3][b]"It'll depend on which Eidolon they're based on, so my best advice would be to treat them as if you're facing the specific Primal that particular chimera emulates."[/b][/color]

Another tranquil silence accompanied only by the sea breeze fell over them, at some point, Eve had noticed the presence of Esben and Rudolf sharing a lunch on the deck above theirs, prompting a barely-perceptible frown from Bahamut's illegitimate scion, before she returned her attention to the fishing ex-general, [color=d3d3d3][b]"..."[/b][/color] staring at her for a few seconds...

[color=d3d3d3][b]"Why did you do what you did, Izayoi? To win the war at all cost?"[/b][/color]

Unlike her inquiries to Rudolf on that fateful night in the desert, this one was completely bereft of any accusatory or judgmental tone, Eve made them under the basis of curiosity, and nothing more.

Izayoi frowned. The only reason she would even humor Eve on this matter was due to her tone. A genuine lack of understanding was preferable to outraged moralizing.

[color=736aff][b]”Because I refused to allow outsiders to invade our lands, my home, and greedily pillage its resources and people. I have traveled across the entirety of Osprey, and would and did sell my soul to ensure that its people did not live under the thumb of distant, foreign rulers.”[/b][/color]

Her mouth curled up into a bitter, sardonic smirk.

[color=736aff][b]”And yet I still failed. Twice over. I make no illusions that had I won us the last war, I could have stopped Valheimr’s invasion.”[/b][/color]

[color=d3d3d3][b]"I see."[/b][/color] Eve replied curtly, simply acknowledging Izayoi's elaboration of her past without any opinion of her own. It was all in the distant past and none of those were particularly relevant as things stood, she was simply curious. 

Though the same couldn't be said for the following what-if remark as it dealt with their current and active threat, [color=d3d3d3][b]"Valheim's timing of the invasion was no coincidence, they were deliberately letting Edren and Osprey weaken each other first,"[/b][/color] The Pseudolon paused with a frown that's somewhere between frustrated and hateful, [color=d3d3d3][b]"And judging what we've known so far about them, including Cid's revelations, no, I don't think you'd be able to, Izayoi. At least not by your lonesome, Osprey and Edren would have to band together to even the odds, but... I'd wager those scheming scum knew either side would be too resentful of each other to even consider that."[/b][/color]

Eve then heaved a quiet sigh, [color=d3d3d3][b]"Regardless, we'll succeed this time... or die trying."[/b][/color] Might as well, now with the world itself at stake…

Izayoi found herself less surprised by her newfound knowledge than she supposed she should be. It made no small amount of sense that Valheim had been sitting on the sidelines, waiting for Osprey and Edren to weaken each other. Nonetheless, she nodded back at Eve.

[color=736aff][b]”I swore to avenge my family, and to see Osprey freed. No matter what I must do, no matter how many I must slay, I will see it done. As I see it, you are the only other one aside from Ciradyl that truly understands the need for vengeance.”[/b][/color]

[color=d3d3d3][b]"... ... ..."[/b][/color] After the Emperor's Demon's oath, the Chimeric Primal fell still, gazing toward the blue horizon, yet unlike the tranquil lull from before, this one was tense, foreboding, not unlike the deceptive calm at the eye of the storm, surrounded on all sides by an all-consuming hurricane. Then, Eve straightened herself, angling her body so she could now glance at Izayoi without having to turn her neck. 

The sea breeze swayed her dark clothes and gray locks, but her form remained rigid, hosting a pair of slitted red eyes, opened as wide as they could be. Amongst the Kirins, Izayoi was the only one who had witnessed this malevolent leer before, whether back in Atsu before her family's grave or now in the middle of the high seas, the message remained clear.

[i]Valheim shall [b]burn[/b].[/i]