[IC] Wanderers

[Carantathraiel]

Ysaryn purposefully didn't shift to give Kire room to sit. Any sort of movement would instantly be interpreted as a retreat, and Ysaryn didn't want to give the wrong impression. Envy didn't fear Kire, or he wouldn't have allowed her to stay. Ysaryn didn't fear her, either, and decided no one else should.
Her fuschia eyes watched Kire from over her cup as she spoke. After a lengthy, but slow sip, she lowered it and cradled it on her thighs. Without the cloak to hide her, her figure was notably curved, her hourglass shape punctuated by her position. Her full thighs were wrapped in tight breeches of dark brown, her torso in soft leather. Her hair was still in its braid, the cord falling long enough to tickle the mat beneath her.

"Envy calls us Shadow Elf. Where I live, we are 'Savage Elf', but they never meet Kartaian." Ysaryn grinned wickedly, though it was brief. "We are bastards. Weak blooded children of the Kartaian. Diluted. Mixed. Other names. Grey-skin. Sevens. I do not think we have a proper name, though. Envy said we descend from a long dead race. Like Kartaian, but gentler." Her eyes roamed Kire's face. "Where I live, no one likes us." She gestured to her ears, meaning elves in general. "Here, it is different because of Envy." She shrugged indifferently. "Your face is like my skin. A reminder of something evil. But a second glance, and they will see differnt. Just like Envy. Just like you see Envy, yes? You understand?"

She grinned again. "No. Bolym is from home. My Guardian. He does not wish to remain. A lot smells about him, too."

[Michellin]

Kire listened to Ysaryn answer her questions and decided she liked her even more, even as her mind tried to wrap itself around her explanation of her race. Elf? It sounded like those children’s tales back home, about a time when magic was everywhere and dragons were plentiful. Kire gave her a small smile as Ysaryn noted how her opinion of Envy changed. “I hope they do glance a second time,” she murmured. They were all taking a leap of faith. Even Kire, after having been burned badly by Ikegai and the Gemini back home.

“Your guardian?” Kire cocked her head. “You seem to be rather a capable woman already.” She paused, thoughtful. “Are you—authority back home? Like a princess?” She wasn’t sure if they had such things here. “I am curious why you’ve decided to stay here.” She thought about what Ysaryn had told her of her home. “I suppose it must be nicer here, not being hated the way you are back home.”

Kire’s stomach growled, and she grimaced. “Do you have food to spare? I can gladly forage, or find my own meal. And—” she looked around, “—I don’t suppose you’ve seen Rulitus, have you?”

[Carantathraiel]

Ysaryn nodded. "My father is chieftan. But it means little. We own no land. Hold no power. We cower away from the men of the city, who steal us and force us into slavery. It is why I stay, yes. I like the freedom. The air. It is nice not to fear being captured." She raised her cup again and took another sip. "Bolym thinks I am turning my back on my family. We do not see eye to eye. He does not like the role I play here. He thinks it is no better tha─"

She paused as Kire's stomach growled loudly, and her smile vanished instantly. Not out of annoyance, but pity. Like she knew too well what an empty and crying stomach felt like and she hated to hear it in others. "Come." Ysaryn unfolded herself and rose to her feet, taking her cup along with her as she walked into the cavern.

In answer to her two part question, she led Kire into the room used as a kitchen, where Rulitus and the young woman with sandy blonde hair were arguing over a bit of venison cooking on the spit. They both turned when the two women entered, going quiet. The woman's face was distressed, and she turned away sharply, wiping her eyes.
"You're alive." Ruli said bluntly.
"And you still stink." Ysaryn pointed out. "Who let you cook?"
"I did. I'm sorry." The woman whined, wiping her cheeks and turning around. "I just, I haven't slept, I'm ... I burnt the─"
"Sid," Ruli said gently, his arms limp at his sides. He made no move to reach out, unsure if she'd allow it. "You're doing fine."

She inhaled, glaring at him, her eyes such a deep shade of brown they were almost black. Against the rest of her fair coloring, it was almost unnerving. "You lie. But thank you. Can you─"
"Yes, I'll keep cooking." Ruli agreed.
"No." Ysaryn interjected. "You'll go wash. Or we'll eat meat that smells like you."
Ruli turned his head to leer at her, and she raised her chin and bent an eyebrow. Her expression inviting an argument. Which he was far too tired for. He sighed. "Fine. Someone show me where to wash. Sid?"
She nodded, and the two left, Ruli casting a glance at Kire before he followed the woman out.

Ysaryn grinned at Kire. "Now, all the food you want." She grinned.

[Michellin]

Kire raised an eyebrow at Rulitus’s greeting and was about to prepare a retort when Ysaryn beat her to the punch. Looking from him to the Shadow Elf, she waited to see if she needed to step in between the two of them or if the tension will resolve on its own. It looked as if Ysaryn’s first impression of Rulitus was the exact opposite of her current disposition towards her, and Kire wasn’t sure whether to find this amusing or to feel a little sorry for Ruli. Then again, he seems to have the tendency to court that kind of attitude. He slunk away without much of a fight, however, and the two women were left alone in the kitchen.

“I could use a bath, myself,” she remarked, “but food, first.” The venison looked burnt on one side and undercooked on the other, so she took over turning it on the spit. She still was no good cook, but having most of one’s royal comforts taken away, Kire had to learn some basic necessities. “I’m—something of a chieftain, myself. Back home. And like you, it means little at the moment.” Kire shrugged a shoulder as she prepared the meat. She was ravenous, but fully aware that she was under the hospitality of refugees, she didn’t take a lot. Kire ate, lapsing into silence for a while. “You don’t trust him, do you?” she asked. “He’s not the most pleasant. But he seems—alright,” she finished lamely, rolling her eyes at her own feeble attempt to defend him. There really wasn’t a lot she could say, and given that she would’ve snapped at him too if Ysaryn hadn’t beat her to it, it was a little hypocritical.

[Carantathraiel]

Ysaryn shrugged, moving around to eye the damage on the meat. Sid was not a cook, but often tried, and the results weren't always good. As Kire admitted she was also a chieftan, the elf nodded. "If I kept at home, it would always mean nothing. Out here, maybe I can find a place where it would mean something. Away from the men." Her eyes went to Kire. "Maybe you are here so it will mean something again?" She guessed. "Also, being here is better than sitting in nothing."

She raised a finger and prodded part of the venison, testing how cooked it was before licking her finger. Kire's question about Rulitus didn't get an answer at first. Ysaryn considered it, stepping away to circle her hearth again as she drank her tea, her long braid swaying behind her.
"I tolerate because Envy says hes good. Like you." Ysaryn said after a time. "His magic ... it is different than yours. And Envy." She frowned at the meat, trying to find the words to explain. "Envy is hard. But ... good. Helpful. And you. Hard, but helpful. Good. He smells ... like nothing. Beneath the stink. I mean. Neutral. Can be good or bad. I don't like that. If he becomes good, then," She shrugged once more.
"People like him, I find in my life, can smile and be helpful, while still being bad. Can drop the good for blood." Her face wrenched up as she made a sour expression. "Does that make sense?"

[Michellin]

Kire was quiet, thoughtful as Ysaryn spoke. Her words were oddly comforting; though the elf couldn’t have known about what had happened that had led Kire’s path here, hearing those words from her felt like a vindication that she was on the right path. That she wasn’t just throwing herself at danger to punish herself, as her cousins believed. Purpose. Kire wanted to feel that again, beyond her deep well of anger that fueled her drive for vengeance.

She watched the elf inspect the venison, listening to her appraisal of Rulitus. Her opinion of the man made sense, and Kire’s mind drifted back to that first encounter she had, when she sensed that aura from him. It wasn’t just the disappearing trick, and Ysaryn confirmed it. Kire nodded at her. “Perfect sense. I’ve known people like that. And he—he’s a lot—broken, it seems. I’m still shocked he decided to help me at all. But I’ll take whatever help I could get.” She tore off a small piece and chewed on it. “It doesn’t hurt to be cautious, though. I’ve been stabbed in the back too often.”

Then Kire paused, looking up at her. “’Magic like mine’?” She smirked. “I suppose that’s what the wards are for? Not just to let you know someone’s at the door? Or did something else tip you off?”

[Carantathraiel]

Broken. Ysaryn tilted her head at that word, thinking it over and trying to hold it up in front of her impression of Rulitus. She didn't know him at all, save from what she sensed, but it did fit him. There was a look in his eyes that was a different sort of nothing. Empty.
She muttered something in her native tongue.

The question of the wards made the elf grin again. "It is not explained to us. After Ziad, is kept secret, the how. But its like a spider web. From within, anyone can feel if magic comes inside. Scratches the neck." She pointed to her nape. "Tells us someone has approached. We can investigate. Only if you have magic in your blood. So, me or Envy. Maybe you, and Rulitus now."

Setting down her cup, she went to work on the parts of the venison that was cooked, pulling of neat strips to cure and store. She'd only pulled off three strips when she turned her head toward the path to the rest of the chamber, straightening as Envy arrived.
He inhaled, but unable to identify Kire's scent yet, he asked "Is Kire in here?"

[Michellin]

The venison wasn’t too terrible. Kire had done worse. When Ysaryn turned, though, Kire paused in time to see Envy arrive. It still took a second to remember that this particular Kartaian wasn’t going to abduct her or slice her in two. “I’m here,” she said, waiting to see if he needed help. “Rather late of me to say so, but my apologies for the rude awakening last night.” Her eyes wandered to his scars. Such horrible pain that must have been. “Thank you for your help and hospitality. The room was more than enough lodging. And nobody’s tried jumping me yet for having her face.” She couldn’t speak the name yet, some irrational fear that she’d be tracked the moment she did, or she’d be summoning her and Ikegai to this place just by invoking the name.

[Carantathraiel]

His face shifted toward her voice, and he grinned as she apologized. "Not the most rude I've had. But I appreciate the apology."
He was clothed in plain fabric, he was so large, though, clothing was clearly hard to find, considering it looked like someone had made the articles out of blankets, patched with scraps of mismatch fabrics.

"Ysaryn," Envy said to the elf. "If you wouldn't mind, I'm sending you for more supplies today once you're both ready."
Ysaryn's face fell, her eyes going dark. Immediately, she rambled off in her language, arguing and complaining, to which Envy just nodded.
"I know. I know. Just ... please."
She snarled at him, then dropped the knife she was using on the venison and stalked out angrily.

Envy pressed his lips thin, then turned toward Kire again. "Are you ready to discuss your ... I'm not sure what to call it. Predicament. Quest?" He hummed. "Unless you're still eating. I won't rush."

[Michellin]

Kire chewed her food, observing the exchange. What had gotten her so upset about a supply run? Ysaryn was a curious elf—both calm and intense. Kire wondered what she would be like on the battlefield. Turning her attention back to Envy, she huffed at the question of what, exactly, to describe her situation. “Predicament is quite an understatement. Quest, perhaps. Mission might be appropriate. And I can talk and eat, if you don’t mind that.”

Still, she continued for a few more moments with her meal without talking, thinking it over. “His kind of magic is rather—expensive. Figuratively speaking, because of the power and sacrifices it would entail, and also literally. He requires gems for that. And so far I’ve managed to get my hands on a couple he’s used on his dolls. The second I found at Ziad, attached to a Kartaian corpse that attacked me when I got close. Like I told Rulitus, I don’t think the—elfs? Elves? Know about that particular feature of Ikegai’s magic.” She huffed, shaking her head. “I was wondering if there’s a way to track his whereabouts through the gems I had confiscated. And I was wondering if there’s anything to be done about my appearance.” She sighed, shaking her head. “It’s like walking around with a target.”

[Carantathraiel]

Envy frowned in thought, his clouded eyes staring ahead. "Using one gem to track another is possible, yes. Especially if each one is encased in his particular strain of magic. It won't be easy, but it can be done. And if it works, it won't be exact, but will give you enough of a location to get closer. I assume you can sense traces of his magic by other means, otherwise you wouldn't have wound up in Ziad."

Why Ziad, though? Envy wondered. "I only ever sensed one magical source in Ziad that didn't belong to my family. ─This─ family, I mean. Not my blood relatives. So I wonder why it wound up being your double that you followed and not the mastermind behind her. She has his power?" He stared ahead, thinking, curious.

"As to your face, yes, that can also be done. Ruli is actually quiet adept in enchantments. Its the category of magic he took to most when I was teaching him. But the unfortunate fact is that we have no supplies here. Not for tracking or enchanting. Everything was lost with Ziad." He admitted, tilting his head, so his whole ear was pointed more toward her. "I can add it to the list of things for pick up, but it may be a while before we have everything. Days, maybe."

[Michellin]

“Nothing’s ever exact, is it?” Kire remarked with a small smile before it disappeared, frowning as she sunk into thought. “Ziad was probably the last time he had exposed his magic on that magnitude. Either he and his doll, this Akuma, had found a way to operate more discreetly, or they’ve just been lying in wait all this time.” Not likely. She pondered, too, on his other question. “For some reason, it’s always been traces of him, not him, that I could follow. I haven’t seen him create as sophisticated a doll as this Akuma, so he might have been acting through her. He’s all about glamour; I I’ve only ever seen his real face once behind the masks and illusions he’d weave around himself.”

She listened to him explain the complications behind giving her a disguise, which she had expected. She’d watched her cousin as well as other sorcerers and alchemists at their work, and good work always took time. “I can wait. Can I help? What do you need for it? Either with the enchantments, or with anything that needs doing around here. I don’t want to be dead weight and be idle, and it’d distract me from being reminded that I look like the person that drove them all away from Ziad,” she added with a shrug of a shoulder.

[Carantathraiel]

He gave her a grim smile. "No, nothing is ever exact. Nor is anything ever simple in our sort of lives." Envy sighed. "If his magic, just filtered through this woman, was as powerful as I felt, then I find I do not pity you." He admitted with a shake of his head.
"If you're offering to help, I naturally can't turn it down. We're in need. We have recuperating injured, children, and citizens who have never hunted before. I can se─ erm, I understand someone went hunting already, but if you're willing and able, we'll need food. Herbs. Meat. I'll have someone show you the 'Little Ziad', as they call it, and you can assess for yourself what would be needed. I have others who go into a different city to get their hands on supplies, but its never enough. I don't have many who can travel so far."

[Michellin]

Kire straightened up, clapped her hands once. “Right. I can do that. I’d be happy to, it’s the least I could do.” Even before their exile, Kire was familiar with the kind of work involved in overseeing a camp or shelter, though of course she had a well-fed and compensated assemblage of people who would carry on the actual tasks of managing a refugee camp, or a province in need after a battle or natural disaster. After leaving the Capital, Kire had to experience the grunt work herself. Already she was inspecting the meager rations around the makeshift kitchen. For the long term, she knew it’d be best if they had tools, weapons, training. If they could farm, and find a source of water for irrigation, all the better. She could plan for that later, after her mission. For now, supplies. “How many days do you need?” she asked. “I may—disappear now and then within that time, but I’ll be back here.”

She spent the rest of the afternoon exploring their immediate surroundings, already imagining how they could use the land to thrive. Before she could lose the daylight, she disappeared into the surrounding woods to hunt and gather firewood. By evening she had managed to catch and clean some fowl. Kire inspected her work, unsatisfied. They need more. At least for the next couple of days.

It wouldn’t be until well past noon the next day when she returned with several sacks in tow. Herbs, for medicine and cooking, and various cuts of cured meats. She was grateful to have a healer in the family, and for the fact that in the much colder Northern Amrian territories, preserving rations was something of a specialty. And in her satchel was a bag of coin. She didn’t really think they would have the same kind of currency, but she hoped gold would at least have some value here, too. She grimaced, remembering her promises to be careful. The day she spent back home was a quick blur of her and her cousins working together even as she tried to fill them in on everything that had happened, and them mouthing off to her out of worry. In the end, however, after she told them about Ziad’s refugees, they quieted down their objections. They didn’t need to say out loud that they understood.

While she was alone in the kitchen, she busied herself with organizing their provisions, meaning to look for Envy afterward to ask who she could entrust the gold to. “Well. That’s looking more and more like a proper pantry,” she murmured, stepping back, as she dug into her satchel to chew on a sweet.

[Carantathraiel]

Relief washed over the elf's face as she readily agreed, looking like a weight was pulled off his shoulders. Someone who could travel in daylight, move distances on her own, and carry more than meager amounts. It didn't matter to him what she brought, it would help. "I'll talk to the others. See if they know where to locate what we need. Ysaryn's people should have the majority of it, but there are items Ruli may need to hunt for for his enchantments. Give me an hour to speak to them, and I'll give you a better estimate."

He went after Ysaryn first. She wasn't hard to find, with her and Bolym arguing about her impending trip with a sour-faced man with long black hair. Bolym insisted on following the two, and the man refused, insisting that he didn't trust the bastard not to cut his throat. Ysaryn, loudly promising she'd cut his throat first, at the very least demanded her body guard remain. She snarled at Envy when he interrupted, for which the man snapped at her, and the fight went on in circles.

He circled around until Aeron brought him Ruli, freshly bathed and looking quiet tired. Envy relayed Kire's desires for a new face, and the blond fell into silent thought for a moment before he found a quill and paper and jotted down what he would need from the pink-haired elf, then made a second for himself, staring at it in wonder about where he would get anything. He only knew Ziad. And everything in Ziad was buried in the cisterns.
"Risa is here." Envy informed him gently.
"Bullshit." Ruli responded, looking up. Envy frowned in response. "I bet she is an absolute joy to have out here. She the only one?" A nod from the Kartaian. Ruli grunted. "Well. Maybe I can tolerate a conversation with her to see if she has ideas."
"A 'conversation'?" Envy asked.
"Yes." Ruli said shortly, shoving the list in Envy's hand. "That's all."

Envy gave the list from Ruli to Ysaryn, and she left with her party of two, leaving a foul-mouthed Bolym to stalk outside to hunt in the hopes of deflating his ire.

Not long after he was taken to 'Little Ziad', which was nothing more than a hodge-podge of tents, blankets, and pathetic hunts of branches some ten minute walk from the cave, Ruli fell asleep, dozing for the majority of the afternoon and well into the night. Months of sleeping through the day would be a difficult schedule to break. He woke in the dead of night, his insect bites itching less. He went back to the stream and washed his clothes and skin again, then went hunting again. Returning to the kitchen revealed several hanging fowl, types he couldn't identify. They were defeathered, rubbed in a few herbs he knew, and hanging over the hearth to slowly cook, their grease making the chamber smell good enough to send a sharp pain through his stomach. He'd never eaten. It'd been nearly two days.
Taking a small portion of the cured venison, he continued on.

He found Kire on accident the following afternoon, in the kitchen muttering to herself like the mad-woman he was sure she was. He grunted at her. "So you're the one who's been doing all this." He commented tiredly. The bruise on his throat was fading, his voice much recovered. He'd traded up, apparently, as he now sported a vicious bruise to his left cheek and eye. Not too recent, as the small gash that accompanied it had clotted and scabbed. Struggling to stay awake, he'd decided to go back to the tent-village to see what he could do, deciding very much that he wanted to avoid the caves, and the person who had punched him.

His eyes were red as he looked her over. "What sort of face do you want?" He asked bluntly, far too drained for small talk.

[Michellin]

“Hello to you, too, ray of sunshine,” Kire replied, raising her eyebrow at him. Her gaze lingered for a moment at his ‘new’ injuries, shaking her head. “Already spreading cheer around, I see.” She sucked on the sweet in her mouth a little more before answering his question. “Like a local. Tanner skin. Darker hair. Worn. No scars, nothing that stands out.” Clearly, she had been thinking the matter over. “As drab as possible. Is that something you can manage?”

She straightened up and stretched, then rolled her shoulders. “If that’s going to take a while, you can leave the foraging to me for the nonce. Unless you wouldn’t mind me watching you work.” Which she suspected he very much did. “Where’s Envy? I only just got back, I have a few things for him,” she said, patting the satchel. “Few things to help tide them over if the hunting gets too hard.”

[Carantathraiel]

Ruli frowned at her remarks; the nickname, the cheer, focusing instead on her description for her desired appearance. "It may be a challenge to make you less drab, yes, but I'll do my best." He retorted coldly. "I need the supplies first. Some items were brought yesterday, but I'll need to travel to find more. I had to have a conversation with the bloody Princess to try to figure out where to go." And he looked just thrilled about how that conversation had gone.

Inhaling, he sighed heavily. "Once I have what I need, you can watch, I don't care. Boring stuff, but." He shrugged. "Assuming you don't want the enchantment etched onto your skin, I'll find something for you to wear. A ring, probably, as you seem happy to wear those. Or earrings. Your choice." He added, noting the small holes in her ears that indicated the lobes were pierced. Necklaces were too loose, and he couldn't imagine any other jewelry that would be comfortable to wear while in a full suit of armour.
Absent mindedly, his eyes roamed her body. Not in an intentionally creepy way, but someone analyzing options. He frowned, thinking, realizing he'd been staring at her chest. He quickly looked away, shaking the thought process away. No, anything more would catch or chafe. Ears or hands. Something small and unobtrusive.

"Envy is probably in his room. Not many places for him to go around here. Not while the sun is up. I was about to walk to the tent city. Bit crowded here." He said, casually glancing behind him as if worried someone were going to chase him down and punch him again. "Enjoy your hunting. If anyone asks, you don't know where I went." Ruli insisted before brushing past her and through to the exit tunnel.

[Michellin]

Kire ignored his jibe about making her drab, holding back some choice words for later. His mention of a princess piqued her interest, but she was more focused on the matter of the enchantment. “A ring would be fine. Any ring. Probably best for it to be something very ordinary.” She had only briefly considered volunteering the use of her Ring for the task, but she didn’t yet trust Rulitus enough to even know about the Ring’s importance, let alone handle it. When he fell silent she looked at him again and frowned, her cheeks coloring, noticing where his gaze was fixated. Before she could comment on it, however, he seemed to have realized it, himself, and looked away. Annoying little prick. Kire shook her head, watching him leave, Ysaryn’s words about his character on her mind.

She went off on her own, determined to keep busy rather than stew in her annoyance. Just like yesterday, she spent the rest of the day hunting, coming back that evening with a wild boar, looking much more disheveled than she did when she had arrived back that afternoon, but quite pleased with the outcome of the hunt. After skinning and butchering the boar, she went off to find somewhere to wash up, returning in time for dinner to look for Envy. Alongside the small supply of gold coin she had brought with her, she had been able to steal away a bag of candied fruit from Elva’s stash, along with a flask of strong liquor. Everything they drank that wasn’t water in the North was strong, anyway. If Envy liked it—do elves even drink?—she could find a way to bring more later. Liquor of any sort wasn’t in any of their stores, at least when Kire inspected it.

[Carantathraiel]

Dinner had the cave in a buzz of activity. Most of them took their shares and ate along the walls, others wandered back and forth between here and Little Ziad, desiring to converse. Envy was among the many along the wall, the elf choosing to eat with them rather than hide himself away. Beside him, Ruli bent over his food, quiet and reserved. No one but Envy bothered to speak with him.
Ruli did look up when Kire appeared, muttering quietly to Envy about her approach.

The Kartaian raised his head. "Welcome back." He greeted her. "Thank you for everything you've brought us. I can honestly say this is the largest and most tasteful meal we've had in a while." He raised his plate. Despite being much larger than everyone else, his portion was no bigger than what everyone else received. Which could explain why his frame was so much smaller to his bloodkin.
"We've actually had enough to store and reserve. We're indebted to you." Envy grinned, and a few people who were close enough to hear nodded in agreement. All but Ruli, who kept his head down, ignoring everything.

[Michellin]

Kire noted the portions on Envy’s plate, the other refugees’ better disposition towards her, and Ruli’s expectedly indifferent reception. She sat opposite the elf, crossing her legs. “You’re quite welcome. After my, uh, quest,,” she paused, her face wrinkling as she heard herself say it out loud, feeling a bit pretentious now, “we could talk about what else we could do to improve things around here. Assuming of course I come back alive at the end of it,” she added with a shrug, before digging into her satchel and taking out the pouch of candied fruit. “Figured I might bring back a treat for the children. Like that boy, Aeron was it? Or you could keep it if you have a sweet tooth.” She took a couple more pieces from the pouch, stuffed them both into her mouth before placing the rest next to where he sat.

She sucked on the sweets in her mouth before speaking again. “Consider it my payment for your help, and my meager attempt to make up for letting my quarry escape in the first place.” She frowned briefly at that, lips pursed, before returning her thoughts to the present. “Ale. Or wine. That’d be good to have around, too,” she added, before she looked around again. “Has Ysaryn come back?”