[IC] Wanderers

[Carantathraiel]

While Gavin had taken Envy's instructions on resting to heart, Rab had been restless. Being around people who didn't seem afraid or hostile toward him, just genuinely curious, sparked his own curiosity. He tried to wave, communicate, and observed as much as he could. He was offered food by a pretty woman with soft dirty blonde hair, and she watched him as he ate, looking pleased when he devoured the entire thing.
He explored. In the caves, finding Envy's little chamber, taking in the scent of the tobacco, the herbs, and the Kartaian himself. He found the sleeping quarters, but did not venture inside. No one wanted to wake to find him lurking in the shadows, Rab knew, so he continued on. To the outside.

Where he was promptly stopped by an intimidating man with black hair and cold grey eyes.

"Who the fuck are you?" He'd demanded, and Rab recoiled, opening his mouth, raising his hands as he lowered himself, surrendering. The eyes took him in, the lack of tongue, the discolouration, the size, and he sighed. "So they're back then." He grunted.
Assuming he meant Rulitus and Kire, Rab nodded.
"Stay to the caves. No further than here." The man pointed. "Beyond that ridge is a camp of refugees who won't be so tolerant of a person of your ... appearance."
Elf. Rab inhaled and nodded.
The man nodded back. "Good. And stay out of trouble."
He stalked by and into the caves, and Rab followed. Mostly. He turned toward the sound of water and found the stream, wandering the streams side until dusk fell and he looked for a place to sleep.

It was the woman who had offered him the meal that found him circling like a lost animal in search for a place to rest. She grinned and led him into the sleep chamber. A few eyes watched him, but not with fear, as the woman offered him two pallets tucked together. "Sleep here." She said. "No one will hurt you."

---

As soon as they returned to the caverns, Ruli let her go, walking into the mouth of the caves behind her. Gavin located them quickly, and Kire exchanged pleasantries with him. Ruli kept moving into the kitchen, where Sid pounced on him. He grunted in pain, but wrapped his arm around her in return.
When she pulled away, her eyes were watering. Ruli gestured. "Stop that."
"I can't. Its your stink!" She whined, wiping at her eyes. It at least made him grin. Sid turned and made him a plate, shoving it into his hands before she gently pushed him. "Eat outside, or all our food will smell like you. Shoo!"
When he shuffled out, Sid's eyes landed on Kire, and she waited. "You don't smell." She said informatively.

[Michellin]

Kire smiled, seeing Sid embrace Ruli, and for him to reciprocate. She watched, amused, as Sid got him a plate and told him to eat outside, then smirked at her obvious observation. "I should hope not. Please give me credit that I take care of myself a little better." Besides running into danger, anyway. "Does this mean I get to eat in there?"

She put a plate together, not wanting to trouble Sid, glad to see there were enough for her to have her fill for now. She ate in silence for a while, then glanced in his direction. After seeing the memories, she had a better idea of his younger years and what he had lost because of the attack. Now, perhaps he could have something like it again. As she ate, the thought made her smile softly.

[Carantathraiel]

Sid grinned. "Eat anywhere." She said, casting a single glance toward the little pathway that led outside, to where Ruli had gone. Her smile had vanished when she looked back. "You could both care for yourselves a little better." She pointed out, before she followed him outside, grabbing the kettle as she went.

Ruli was expecting her. She'd trained for years in Ziad to become a physician, and while her training had ended long before she had completed it and earned a title, she knew what she was doing, and could never resist anyone being in discomfort. He knew her hug in the kitchen had been both to feel him in her arms, and to listen to him breath.

The feeling in his stomach took a while to subside, and even when the painful twisting ceased, he had no appetite. But he forced the meal down as best he could, managing only half the plate before he gave up. He knew Sid was waiting for him, too, and when he turned, he found her holding a kettle of steaming water, clean clothes tucked under her arms. He knew saying no was futile, so he raised his arm in question and she led him into the woods.

Shirtless, he unwillingly swallowed more of his breakfast while she poured the hot water over a rag and washed the dried skin away. After the chill of the night and the cold of Cordon, he found the biting heat of the water pleasant. Soothing. He wound up closing his eyes as he leaned back against the stone, dozing as she looked over the sewn up gashes on his body, as well as the many bitemarks, muttering quietly to herself whatever her medical opinion might be.
When he'd eaten enough for her to be satisfied, she pointed to his trousers, which were stiff with the black blood from the caverns. As she rose and stood watch, he removed them and washed himself before donning the fresh linen. He promised her three times that he had no injuries beneath before she accepted it.

He rinsed his hair, rubbing in something Sid handed him that smelled pleasant and eased tension in his shoulders. He washed it away, and cleaned his face before he pulled on a clean shirt and she finally allowed him back into the caves. Whatever she'd learned about him while he'd dozed prompted her to halt him long enough to hand him a bit of tea that, by smell, he knew came from Ysaryn's stores. He glanced to her in question, and she reminded him that he had smelled worse minutes before, and he took it and drank.

"Sleep." Sid ordered, and after the hot water, the meal, and the tea, he offered no argument as he shuffled into the sleeping quarter to claim an empty mat and sleep.

---

Envy and Rab sat in the main chamber, positioning themselves where the air from outside was carried within on the breeze. Envy enjoyed the scent of the pine in the mountains, and he decided that the half-elf would enjoy the fresh air. Ruli's retelling of the events in Cordon, at least, made Envy realize Rab had few opportunities to enjoy daylight. For an hour, they were sitting together with their backs to the stone, working between them a way to communicate.
Envy had immediately offered his own idea, where he would use the Touch whenever able, to reach out and listen to Rab speak directly through the magic.
But Rab had declined the idea so decisively that Envy hadn't pressed. Whatever had happened in Cordon, no doubt with Ruli, had frightened the idea away.

So he moved on to his second idea.

Gavin loitered while Kire kept busy with her breakfast, watching as Envy would hold out his hands and position his fingers, speaking the letter, word, or phrase that belonged to each sign. To ensure that Rab was understanding, Envy settled his hand over the half-elf's, feeling the position of his fingers. Rab was a quick learner, Envy learned, but found it hard to focus. Everytime someone moved, spoke, coughed, Envy sould sense his attention snap away. paranoia, curisoity, Envy didn't know. But he waited patiently for Rab to look his way again.
When his attention suffered in quicker increments, Envy smiled, and told him to go explore some more, and Rab unfolded himself and moved away swiftly. Envy's eyes shifted silently toward Gavin. "So, tell me, Gavin." Envy said warmly. "A little about yourself, if you do not mind. So that I may be able to find a task that would feel not so much of a chore."

[Michellin]

While Kire ate her breakfast in the kitchen, Gavin watched Envy speak to Rab, trying to devise some way for the both of them to communicate better. Apparently he was teaching Rab to make signs with his hands. Gavin watched, fascinated, the whole scene a collection of impossible things: a Kartaian being compassionate, and a mutilated half-Kartaian former slave receiving instruction. Back in the mines—a thought that made him shudder—some of the slaves there were those who had some impairment whose families couldn’t afford to care for them, or those considered an embarrassment even if they could. Were things just different in Ziad, or is this because of Envy?

When Rab moved away to explore, Envy turned his attention to him. His question made his heart sink down to his stomach. “Any other task wouldn’t feel like a chore after—you know.” He ran a hand through his mussed-up hair. “Aside from being made to do the—the magic, I was tasked with running errands on behalf of the lor—of Itallo. Speaking to merchants, representing him when he was indisposed, things like that. Before that, before they found me—” Gavin swallowed, pausing, trying to rearrange his thoughts. “—before I was taken, I was just some brat indentured to a travelling merchant. Honestly, it wasn’t much different: I was his errand boy, and I didn’t really get much back besides some food and shelter, which wasn’t much to speak of. He wasn’t kind to me, but I had nowhere else after being orphaned. So I’d resort to thieving sometimes.” He said the latter parts in one go before he lost his nerve. “Beyond the bad I have done, I don’t have much to offer, but I will work for my stay.”

Behind them, Kire had finished her breakfast and peeked in to listen. Just days ago, the mere thought of this Gemini boiled her blood in anger, and now here he was, stammering through his conversation with Envy. Her mind had mostly accepted it, for as long as she blocked out the part of his heritage. He was caught up by something he didn’t ask for. What he needed right now was something else other than the conflict Ikegai had forced him to participate in, and Envy was perfect for that. She watched him a while longer, then, with a yawn, she went off to the sleeping chambers to nap.

[Carantathraiel]

Envy nodded along; whatever he knew of the lads magic skills, he made no show. He knew Ikegai and Akuma were both tightly enthralled in the dark side of the forbidden magics, and having dragged this young man into the center of it was a crime on its own. He was patient as Gavin stammered along, answering to the extent of his comfort.

"And did you enjoy it?" Envy asked when Gavin had finished. "Being an errand boy, I mean. I get the distinct feeling you did not enjoy the other portions of your tasks. We don't have merchant to schmooze or lords to represent here, unless you count the princess. But no neighbouring city with which to converse as of yet." Envy thought for a moment. "But in time, we could use someone unafraid of the ego of well-born men and women, and who would be up to the task of dealing with them."

"Or, did you enjoy your work in magic? Kire says you're a scion of a family well bathed in magic, so it is in your blood. If you'd like, I would not hide you from that, but rather introduce you to more of it. The other side of the coin you were force to participate it. For every dark magic, there is a light magic, you know. It is a world of balance. If you are curious, I could see about educating you in healing arts. Rulitus is brilliant with enchantments. Many options remain if you still feel that call in your heart."

[Michellin]

Gavin listened as Envy listed his options. He had expected some sort of judgment. After all, he too was an elf and a Kartaian, and Kire must have told him about what the Gemini had been doing. But there was no chastisement, and, even more surprisingly, no forbidding of magic. He was surprised to know the elf was proficient in other arts. He had only known what a Kartaian was normally capable of, and while they were very skilled with what they have, it seemed crude to Gavin nevertheless, bent only to one purpose. It had been why Ikegai had managed to make dolls out of them in the first place, though it had cost the man dearly.

“I don’t mind being the errand boy too much,” he answered after thinking it over, an exercise he hadn’t had much of a luxury to do before. “It’s not so exciting, and it gets tedious—but sometimes, you see the look on older people’s faces when some boy like me speaks to them like they’re equals, and it is a bit funny.” He hadn’t admitted that to anybody out loud, and now saying it gave him an almost giddy feeling, like he was gossiping about something. Gavin cleared his throat when a laugh threatened to bubble out of him.

“The magic they put in my head and brought out forcefully—I wanted it at first. Because they said it was my birthright. But when they forced me to do the—other things, I hated it. But.” He remembered that desperate moment after Kire killed Ikegai, that mad scramble to recall all he knew to use it to get her heart pumping again. “Healing. That—that sounds good. That sounds like something I can learn. All they ever taught me about blood magic was how to twist a body, if there’s a light side to it, I think that’s where it is.”

[Carantathraiel]

Envy's lips pulled into a smile when Gavin admitted the humour he found in talking to elders, knowing full well the enjoyment it brought. How often had he watched the children under his care challenge him or any of the others that reared them, defending themselves and their opinions? He'd always encouraged that, and the accounts Ruli and Zeke often brought back to the tunnels, to inform him the tradition had not stopped just because one child or another outgrew their underground home.

"Well." Envy said, catching Gavin's sentance about how they had forced the magic out and forced his hand. He did not like that. "We have two camps here. The one here within the caves, and another a few minutes away, full of refugees from Ziad. No elves, they're a bit less tolerant, especially of someone of my stature." He grinned, despite the fact. "If you wouldn't mind working between the two, helping keep the peace, I would be most grateful. Zeke, currently, is our abmassador of sorts, and I know he wouldn't mind an assistant.
"And, for the time being, let us allow your magic a rest. And your mind. I have an idea that you've worked with Kartaians, and know the force of magic they carry. So I know that having your mind, body, and magic pulled and forced would not have been easy on you in any way. Enjoy your days, enjoy your freedom. When you feel you're ready, we'll speak once more. In the time between, I'll reach out and see what I can find in regards to materials and tutorship."

Envy's eyes shifted, trying to read the boy's expression or mood without really being able to do so. "I cannot pay you, unfortunately. I should have led with that. But you'll have a bed and meals. If you're able to hunt, cook, build, any help you're able to in the meantime would be appreciated beyond words. I do have only one condition if you're to remain and live here. No more of that dark magic." Envy's voice was firm, even while his face still alight with paternal kindness. "It is not a safe thing, I know you're aware. There are lives here, and I will risk none of them. Not even yours. Is that understood?"

[Michellin]

Gavin listened to him talk about the two camps that lived here and nodded. “Sounds like Cordon, almost,” he said. “I can do that.” He had no objection to avoiding magic for the meantime to rest, truly rest. “Thank you.” He almost laughed when the elf said he wouldn’t be paid. Nobody had ever really paid him justly—or at all—for his labor, and none of them gave him the courtesy of informing him about it beforehand. “For as long as I don’t get a beating after, that would be enough,” he said, in an attempt at humor, but it sounded too sincere to be taken as a joke. “I haven’t done a lot of other work ever since Cordon, but I used to do it before that. I’m rusty, but I can work at it.”

And there it is. Gavin was still waiting for that, and when it came, he bowed his head, nodding, forgetting for a moment that the elf couldn’t see it. The only thing that he didn’t expect was Envy’s concern not only for who might be affected by blood magic, but for him. His wellbeing was never a factor during his captivity, working Ikegai’s magic on others. And yet, the fear was there, of what it would do to his body and soul. It was clear enough with Ikegai. “I give you my word,” he said out loud. “No blood magic for as long as I stay here. Never again.”

Afterwards, he went back to exploring the mountains, going further than he had earlier. He found the camp Envy had mentioned, but he didn’t approach, not feeling up to speaking to more strangers just yet. When he came back, Kire was up from her nap, sipping coffee while having lunch. She spotted him and beckoned for him to join her. “Sleeping and eating is probably all I’ll do for the rest of the day and tomorrow, until the ribs heal completely,” she explained. Gavin said nothing, nodding along. They sat in silence opposite each other. “How are you finding it here?”

“It’s—I like it,” Gavin replied, not looking at her. “Envy’s doing all he can to make me feel included. He’s been successful.”
“He’s very good at that,” Kire agreed in between sips. “I heard some of what you told him about your life. Did you always know you were a Gemini? Have you known any other home apart from this place?” she gestured around them vaguely.

Gavin shook his head. “If you’re asking if I came from Amria, no. As far as I know, I was born here. If I did come from Amria, I was probably too young to remember. I barely remember my mother. All she told me was that she fled from her home, and that this was a family heirloom.” Here he dug into his pocket and took out the brooch. Kire frowned at it.

“That’s the Gemini family insignia.” Kire gestured at the knife she had given him. “The dragon—specifically the Wyvern, is ours. Our families have had a long-standing rivalry. Did Ikegai tell you anything about this?”

“He said you were monsters that would hunt down anybody with Gemini blood,” he replied, though more matter-of-factly than angrily.
“Mm. Well.” Kire tapped the cup she was drinking from. “It’s…complicated.”

She told him about their families, and about Amria, or at least enough information for him to get a picture of her home and the long history between their families. She mentioned the Black Storm, and the usurpation six months ago, but not in detail. “After the Black Storm, I did something I’m not proud of. I was around—hmm, your age, or a little younger, even. I did your house a grievous wrong, and this, all this, I thought was revenge for that, too. Partly maybe. We’ve come after each other in turns for generations, it’s ultimately hard to determine who owes what at a given time. We’ve been raised in this conflict, and I can’t promise you that if you do go to Amria that it would be an easy time.” She looked steadily at him. “Do you still want to go?”

Gavin was silent for a while. “Someday, I do,” he said at length. “I have questions, too. And going to another world…” He unfocused for a bit, imagining it. “But Ikegai had dangled this idea in front of me so many times, I’m not sure where my wish to see it ends and where his planted idea begins. I think I’ll stay here, at least until I know for sure what I want to do.” He sighed heavily. “I have to figure myself out first before I cross over.”

Kire nodded. “Understood.” They spent the rest of lunch silent, though it was more contemplative than tense, Kire reckoning with how unprecedented it was to sit with any Gemini in relative peace this way, Gavin absorbing what had just been told to him and being at peace with the decision he told Kire. “How are you feeling?” he asked, once.
“Better, thank you. And you?”
Gavin smiled. “Loads better.”
Kire smiled.

[Carantathraiel]

Envy grinned, satisfied. "Well, then, Gavin of the Gemini. For as long as it suites you, welcome home."

Ruli was roused, given more tea, and tented to Sid once more after lunch before he was released. He returned to the new site with Aeron, and both returned sweating and tired before dinner. He washed anew to rid his skin of sweat, using hot water as Sid ordered to ease his muscles, before he wandered into the caves to gather his meal. His hair was freshly cut, no longer them mess of uneven hair, but neatly trimmed under Sid's careful eye, short around his head, but longer on the top. Strands brushed over his forehead, and while his wash had weighed it down, rebellious strands still stuck out in random directions in blatant disobedience. He sat himself beside Kire, more or less because he had few others to sit beside who he didn't fear sudden rude remarks.
Until Rab came to sit beside him. And, later, Gavin.
Ruli smirked.

"Did you two have your talk, then?" He asked of Kire and Gavin. Rab nodded beside him, likewise offering that he'd spoken with someone. Envy, likely.
"I hope you both are settling." He offered, trying with minimal effort to be polite. "Are you staying?"
Rab raised his hand over his plate and signed. Yes.
Ruli's eyes shot up. "Did Envy teach you that?"
Yes.
Ruli grinned toothily, and raised one of his hands. How much do you know?
Rab's blank look answered him.
"We'll work on it. I can continue to teach you." Ruli offered. When Rab pointed to him, Ruli nodded. "Yes, I learned a long time ago. When I first came into Envy's care, I couldn't speak. That was the only way I could communicate for a while. Until one day I just started speaking."
Rab's eyebrows rose, hopeful, and he pointed to himself.
"Mmm, no. I don't think you'll begin speaking one day, mate. Sorry." Ruli offered.

[Michellin]

Just as she had told Gavin, Kire had gone back to rest after lunch and woke up in time to have dinner. Busy over her own meal, she was quiet when Ruli sat beside her, though she did make note of the haircut and the fact that he had clearly bathed properly by now. As she chewed her food, her gaze fell on the errant strands that refused to be weighed down, sticking out from what would have otherwise been a neat haircut. She stopped herself from snorting, continuing her meal in silence until Rab and then Gavin joined them.

Gavin seemed to have joined them mostly out of awkwardness with sitting with complete strangers, so Kire listened to the exchange between Rab and Ruli, pleased that Rab had taken to Envy’s lessons already. She noted with interest that little bit of information Ruli had said about himself, as well as the enthusiasm he displayed when he found he could converse with Rab in this language. Where did Ruli come from? He had been a half-elf, and from the way he had revealed this to her before, he wasn’t particularly happy with the circumstances. Then again, there was a lot about himself Ruli didn’t seem to like to talk about, which made this exchange rather refreshing for her.
“I’m staying, too,” Gavin put in after a while. “I feel like this place would be good for me. Amria could wait. Oh, and Envy might help me learn healing magic.”

“Oh. Well, that would be bloody useful,” Kire commented, smiling as she wondered if saving her life had prompted his interest in it. She looked sideways at Ruli’s stubborn strands. “How fitting. Seems like your hair is as stubborn as you are.” She smirked at that before reaching into her satchel, taking out the pouch of gold she had brought days ago. It was noticeably much lighter. “So. As agreed, I owe you for breaking our little agreement, and I’ve got some leftover coin we could burn through before I go back home sometime tomorrow. What’s it going to be, wine? Ale? Mead? Vinegar?” She made a face at the last, in case it wasn’t clear she didn’t really consider that an option.

[Carantathraiel]

Ruli turned to Kire and frowned when she commented on his hair, his hand leaving his plate to pat down his hair. Or try, it still stuck up when he removed his hand. "Like yours is any better. It's a mess." He retorted. Just like you. But he smirked over his plate.

When she held up the pouch of coin, he glanced back her way, then cringed. "Do Amrian's drink vinegar?" He asked aloud. "No wonder you're lot is jumping over here." Ruli snorted into his dinner. Whatever tea Sid had given him had helped his queasiness. So long as he didn't think about what, or who he had in his mouth, he believed he would be fine.

"All of the above. With the exception of the vinegar." He answered.
Rab leaned forward. Yes. He signed, and Ruli narrowed his eyes.
"How old are you?"
Rab smiled, his teeth a soft blend between the Kartaian fangs and the human flat-edged.
Ruli frowned, but shrugged. "I suppose after all the shit you dealt with, I can't deny you a drink or two. Nor you." He added to Gavin. "Under supervision."

[Michellin]

“This? This is a battle scar,” Kire retorted, pointing at her head. “There’s a difference between that and being outright unfashionable.” She smirked as she teased him back, though she narrowed her eyes at him when he seemed to take the vinegar suggestion seriously. “Alright. Everyone gets to have everything else, and you get the vinegar. Duly noted.”

When Ruli made a comment about drinking under supervision, Gavin’s jaw dropped. “Do I look like a juvenile delinquent to you?”
“Yes,” Kire said flatly. “And you are a juvenile delinquent.”
“I’m twenty!—I think.”
“Sure you are, short stuff.”
Gavin looked like he was stammering, but no words were coming out. “Will you tell your woman she’s wrong?” he finally said to Ruli.

“Mm, spoken like a true adult,” Kire said lazily, before handing Ruli the pouch. “Alright. Use this up. Best whatever it can buy. I’ll leave it up to your judgment. I’ll most likely go home in the evening tomorrow.”

[Carantathraiel]

Battle scar. Ruli's eyes flit upwards again, then down once more, shoving the memory of it all away. He'd face it head on one night, but not over a meal, around people he didn't know. Who didn't know him.

Gavin's exclamation had Ruli inspecting him again, trying to gauge his age. He would have guessed younger than the age he declared, but his grasp of human, or Amrian, life spans was skewed. He shrugged, taking the coin and rising to his feet.
"Call her 'my women' again, Gemini, and I will give you a haircut to match hers." He threatened softly before he strolled toward the cave entrance.

He returned an hour later, not just with a heavy crate of bottled wine and a mini cask of honey mead, but a familiar elf wearing a wolfish grin over the box she held against her front.
"Hello." Ysaryn grinned warmly. While looking tired, she seemed back to her usual self.
Yes. Rab signed eagerly. Yes, yes,yes!
"He's happy to see you." Ruli translated when Ysaryn gave a questioning look.
She chuckled. "And I you, Rab." She twitched her arms. "Meat. Fish, mostly. From my tribe. As a thank you. Also supplies. Magic. Herb. More."

[Michellin]

When Ruli disappeared, Kire narrowed her eyes at Gavin. "Really. What's with that 'your woman' business?"
"Why are you two so testy about it?" Gavin muttered back. "I was joking."
Kire shook her head and continued with her meal. Afterwards, she went outside for a night stroll, coming back in time to see Ruli had returned with both liquor and a welcome guest.

Kire, too, similarly grinned upon seeing Ysaryn. “Hello, Chieftess,” she greeted. “I’m sure Envy would be thrilled with the gifts, too.”

“How are they? Your people?” Gavin asked, beating Kire to the question. Kire looked at the lad; he had a somber look on his face again, the sight of Ysaryn reminding him once more of what he had just escaped, and the weight of all the things he had done.

“And how long will you be staying?” Kire asked. “Will you be having a drink with us before I go back home tomorrow? DO say yes.”

[Carantathraiel]

Ysaryn's smile shrank slightly when she settled her eyes on Gavin, the colours of her eyes shifting like the facets of the jewels they were. She regarded him for a long moment, then the others around him, seemingly at ease, before she raised her chin. "They are alive." She began. "They will recover in time. For now, they rest, eat, and are tended to."

Her piercing gaze moved to Kire, then, one of her eyebrows raising. "You are leaving? For good?" The elf asked, looking put out by the thought. "Then yes. It is my civic duty to drink with you. As a farewell, and to celebrate a friendship that will branch across our tribes." Ysaryn bent to set the heavy crate down, and, as if realizing he could do the same, Ruli bent to set his down as well. "I stay for a while. Few days. Is easy enough to check in on home." She straightened and put her hands on her hips, her left arm still bandaged, the cloth different; her own tribe using their own material. Her eyes moved between then, once more lingering on Gavin for longer than necesary, as if she was gauging the level of danger he created. "When do we drink?"

"We could go to the stream." Ruli offered. "Close enough to wander in and crash when we need to."

[Michellin]

Gavin noticed the way Ysaryn stared. He couldn't hood her gaze and looked down at his feet. "I'm glad to know that," he said softly, his hands in his pockets.
Kire looked between the two, wondering if his decision to stay here would result in any further complication between them. Though Gavin hadn't been at fault for what he was forced to do, she also understood if Ysaryn didn't feel comfortable around the Gemini. And Gavin had been under control for months; he may seem to be adjusting relatively well now, but who knew what would manifest later on? What kind of person would he become, now that he was free?

Kire turned her attention to Ysaryn, realizing from the elf's expression and response that she hadn't exactly explained Amria or her abilities to her. "Not for good," she reassured her. "I would still visit now and then. Especially to make sure this one kept out of mischief." She pointed a thumb at Gavin, who winced at the statement. "Amria may be in another world, but I have my own way of getting around. Still," she added, grinning, "I'm glad you'll be here for the send-off."

Kire bent carefully over the crate, picking a bottle, already looking giddily at the cork. "Also useful for when you vomit. Less useful if you fall in and are too drunk to get up from the water," Kire put in at Ruli's idea, the look on her face suggesting this may have actually happened.

[Carantathraiel]

Ysaryn grinned, satisfied, when Kire said she'd be back. With a nod, she cast another glance at Gavin before she grinned to Ruli, opening her mouth to speak when she did a double take back to Kire. Other world? She blinked, sure she'd misheard, but Ruli shook his head, and she shrugged. Drinking needed to come first. She needed to wrap her head around the other thing later. "Come to me, then." She declared, moving in through the kitchen.

After settling the fish down to offer to Sid, who 'oooh'ed over them, Ysaryn continued, strolling through the woods to the stream. With the cask tapped, and the wine bottle uncorked, they dove into their drink. Ysaryn sat beside Ruli, rambling in elvish at him about the drink offered and how if came no where close to the drink her people made. He said she needed to bring it with her next visit, and the smile she gave him had him wishing it would be soon.
She wandered toward Kire, kicking off her shoes and sitting on the edge of the stream, to break into conversation about this 'other world', her accent thicker, her words less fluent as the drink took her over.

Watching them in the stream, Ruli wondered if he should suggest the oasis, the warm waters would have invited the girls, and he would have delighted in seeing Rab's face is Ysaryn disrobed to her undergarments. The thought made him realize the half-elf was likely isolated with a lack of conversation, and he turned his attentions to the former-slave, teaching and conversing with him as best he could.

Stretched out on the ground, Ysaryn's eyes kept flicking to Gavin, who met her gaze only once or twice. She could see the guilt and shame on his face, but still felt wary around him. "What you are?" Ysaryn asked, frowning as she realized that had been incorrect. "Do? Now, not them, er... Rulitus." She broke into a face paced, drunk elvish, and Ruli smirked.
"She wants to know what you're going to do, now." Ruli translated as Ysaryn turned her illuminated eyes back on the Gemini. "And his name is Gavin." He added to Ysaryn.
"Gavin." She repeated, squinting a little. Certainly easier on her tongue than 'Gemini'. More slurred elvish, and Ruli took a moment to speak back to her, what was clearly a soft argument, before she leered at him and Ruli caved. "She demands to know if you remember her." He shrugged apologetically.

[Michellin]

Kire sat beside Ysaryn, amused as she watched the elf question her drunkenly about Amria. Kire wasn’t quite sure if she could explain it right, given that the drink was getting in the way, but at the moment she didn’t particularly mind. Not bad, Kire thought. When the Ring was still new to her and she couldn’t still control how she was going to expend its energy, she couldn’t figure out why she sometimes wasn’t getting drunk while on the drink. Turned out, the Ring would ‘heal’ her from drunkenness on those occasions. This past six months, she had figured out how to help it expend poison from her body, but it was a much more painful process. Tonight, though, definitely getting drunk.

Gavin was quiet as they drank together, feeling like the odd one out. These people were the closest he could have to amiable acquaintances, but while he was glad to be here, drinking and relaxing, he didn’t have much to offer by way of conversation, not without bringing down their mood. He looked up, surprised, when Ysaryn addressed him, though the surprise turned to puzzlement when he couldn’t understand what she was getting at. When Rulitus translated, Gavin cleared his throat. “Healing. Asked Envy to teach me sometime, when I’m ready. In the meantime, I’ll be staying here and helping around. He mentioned needing someone to help be a go-between for the two refugee camps here.”

Her next question made him put down his cup. He shook his head at Rulitus, meaning to indicate that he didn’t mind the question. “A little, yeah. Even under the haze of control, it’s hard to forget an escapee.” He pointed his thumb at Rab. “I remembered him being around during that time. Though, when the—when I’m asked to do the things in the caverns, it’s like I’m drugged, myself. It’s sometimes like watching somebody else from a window do those things, even though it’s your body, your hands.” Gavin frowned at his hands as he said that, then drained his cup. Kire took it, put more in, and set it down in front of him.

“He got my heart working again after it stopped. Not bad for a blood mage,” Kire said, mussing up Gavin’s hair. The lad grimaced and tried to shoo her hand away, which made her mess it up even more. “There. Now it’s almost as bad as your hair,” she said, teasing Ruli. Then, frowning as she tried to concentrate, she recalled the vague memories she had during that brief space of her ‘death’. “You see some really weird shit when you’re dead, ‘pparently,” she slurred. “Some of it’s like the weird shit I see after you do the whole thing with your hands. Your Touch. Whatever you call it. Are you sure that’s normal? Like my mind puts in some weird detail that wasn’t even there, and I definitely haven’t seen it before. Must be because I’m not from this world. Did you know your signature smells like cinnamon? Isn’t that weird? Don’t ask me why, I don’t make the rules.”
Gavin’s eyes widened at the string of sentences she had just babbled out almost without pause in between. “Oh. You’re that kind of drunk,” he muttered.

[Carantathraiel]

Ruli listened as Gavin explained what he would be doing now, the healing studies, and to be a representative between the two. He nodded in his unnecessary approval, only remembering to translate when Ysaryn rounded her head toward him, looking at him with heavy eyelids.
Gavin's explanation about about Ysaryn and what he remembered, he had less of a simple time translating. Especially because Ysaryn hadn't torn her gaze from him, her jeweled eyes set on his mouth. His teeth. Ruli shifted slightly, turning away from her stare, so he may more easily address the others.

"Barely learning, and already saved an empress." Ruli said, grinning to Gavin, though it vanished when Kire made the comment on his hair. "You're really not one to talk." He quipped at her. Her words about the images she'd seen while dead, and the return comments about things she saw after his magic caressed her head making him frown.
That sort of drunk indeed. Ruli smirked at Gavin, lowering his head. Cinnammon. Ruli wondered about that, one of the few spices he'd ever allowed on his pastries growing up. He wondered if that had anything to do with his signature.

"I don't understand what you mean about seeing things. Your mind shouldn't be filling in gaps with anything that isn't there." He repeated, then he noticed Ysaryn was still staring at him. "What?"
She gave him that wolfish grin. "You are a very good fighter. A warrior."
Ruli's expression cleared as he grew more guarded. "Thank you." He overlooked her, looking back toward Kire. "What do other signatures smell like? Envy's? Ysaryn's? Have you tried to see if your mind fills in blanks with Envy's magic?"

[Michellin]

“Aw don’t be like that,” Kire said, pouting at Ruli at his comment about her hair. “I was teasing. You are actually fine. I mean, you look good. I mean well. Oh no, I meant the first one.” Kire wrinkled her nose at what she had just said, then touched her own scalp. “I miss my long hair sometimes. It’s just so hard to keep neat when you’re on the run and trying not to be assassinated. I love your hair,” she said, pointing to Ysaryn. “And your eyes. So pretty, ugh.” Kire drank a bit more, cocking her head to the side when Ruli made a comment about the visions.

“Well I don’t know why it happens,” Kire said, pouting, waving her hands and almost poking Gavin and Ysaryn in the face, the former muttering a frustrated ‘woman!’ before gulping down more liquor. Kire narrowed her eyes when she saw Ysaryn lean and mutter something to Ruli in Elvish. “Hey, what did she say? What did you say?” Kire asked Ysaryn and Ruli in that order. Gavin almost choked on his wine, snickering.

“Okay. Signatures? Signatures. You,” she said, this time intentionally poking Gavin in the face.
“What.” Gavin swatted her finger away.
“Used to stink with that bloody blood magic. But it’s changed a bit. Now you kinda smell like coreen—corra—corian—that green herb thing I’m shit with herbs don’t correct me. Now Envy? He’s kinda like um,” she gestured with one hand while drinking with the other, “flowers. Like the ones you find in the desert. Desert flowers. And incense—no, tobacco, or kinda like both. Make sense, though faint. I smelled a little of it through his wards. If I Shadow-walked with him or if he did the Touch thing, it would be a sharper smell. And you, milady,” she turned to Ysaryn, grinning. “Mm. I need my memory refreshed.” She held out her hand to the elf. Gavin raised an eyebrow as he watched.