Michellin

Wanderers

“Ha! I see why you like him, Narda said in Taakalon to Kire after his comment on her ego.
“Stop it. You have the wrong idea. And he’s not interested that way, even if you did.” Kire muttered.
“You can be very wise, Wyvernling. But you can also be incredibly stupid.” Narda patted her head as they followed him down the underside of the castle.
Despite Aeron’s lack of enthusiasm for her return, Kire still smiled at the boy. She raised a hand to wave back at Rab, then he signed something Kire didn’t quite understand, but from the look on the half-elf’s face, she could guess. “Well now. Between the two of us, you’re the one who’s charming everyone,” Kire teased.
“Not a bad height on him,” Narda observed. “Only a little shorter than me.”
“Aeron’s the boy, the angry is Bolym, and that one is Rab,” Kire said quickly as they carried the crate away. Narda looked on, most particularly at Rab.
“You’ve made some peculiar friends,” the giantess pointed out. “Wonder what that one’s story is.”
“If you paid better attention to any of my numerous retellings, you’d know,” Kire muttered, turning to Ruli as he spoke. “Indeed. If I had gone back later to an empty mountain I wouldn’t know what I’ve done.”
“Most likely torn through half the world, probably,” Narda pointed out.
“I know how to ask for directions, Nard,” Kire sighed, before continuing. “So what else needs doing? With both the elves and the Ziadi working together I assume you have plenty of hands on deck? What kind of plan does Envy have against the pirate problem? Hopefully none of them have stubborn giantesses in their crew,” she added, to which Narda chuckled.

Wanderers

“I forgot how cold that is,” Kire muttered when they emerged. Narda, to Kire’s delight, was trying to contain her shock at the experience. But both women fell silent when they looked out at the sea from the pier. Kire gazed out at the fading light for a few moments, enjoying the sea breeze. Each seaside is different, both in Amria and here,, she noticed.
“Kay,” Narda said, tugging on her. Kire turned and stared in wonder at the view. Though the homes looked like they hadn’t been lived in for some time, she was sure that would change soon. She stood there, admiring the cliffside, her eyes wandering to the left, where an old but sturdy castle stood nestled against the rocks. Its make reminded Kire of the Palace’s older ramparts. The lush forest that covered the mountain explained part of what Kire smelled upon their arrival.
“Scilabria,” Kire repeated, her tongue clumsy in her first attempt, as she listened to Ruli’s explanation, the two women following him to the shore and up the carved stairway. Now and then, Kire would look around and behind them, admiring the view. She smirked when Ruli did. “Of course Envy would.” She grinned. She had faith in their confidence. The people of Ziad and Ysaryn’s tribe were all hardy people. Anybody who grew up in the kind of hardships these people had endured so far would survive in a place like this.

The familiar signature of Envy’s wards greeted them as they entered the cave, already a testament to what Kire had just thought. She snorted at the comment about Risa, knowing what Ruli said about Envy leading from underground was most likely true. “This place is good. More than good. It’s beautiful here.” She looked at Ruli, smiling fondly. “Well done. All of you. I’m happy you found this place.”
Narda chuckled. “You do like castles with a view, Kay.”
“Can you blame me? Look at it; the sunsets must be spectacular!” Kire said, grinning. Narda laughed softly, nodding.
“Careful, Ruli. She might not come back to Amria, now that she found one more thing to stay for.”
Kire shot her a glare.

Wanderers

Kire appreciated that Ruli assumed Edward was alive. She glanced for a moment at Gavin, who looked eager to hear more about the process. "Thank you. I'll trust your and Envy's judgement on how best to go about it then."
"And here I thought you were being sentimental when you brought that along," Narda commented.
"Well, that, too. But mostly I was hoping they could do that. Ruli's quite good at what he does."

"Mm." Narda gave her a knowing smile again, before turning to Ruli. "A pirate's den, then? Interesting. If this one is done eating before she devours everything on sight, we can go."
"I won't," Kire replied. "I'm almost done, I'll be ready when you are." She considered telling Nard to prepare herself for Shadow-Walking, but given the giantess's near mishap with her portal today, Kire didn't mind her getting a shock.

Wanderers

"I do, actually," Kire said, pulling out a pin. It had a Wyvern encircling a helmet in profile. "He would wear this on special occasions. He used to be Captain of the Guard and this was his insignia."
Gavin looked to Ruli then. Scrying took concentration, and he hadn't yet perfected it. And to try it on something that came from another world is another matter entirely.
Narda didn't say anything. She would usualy be suspicious of sorcery, though she admitted they could be useful and deadly, depending on the occasion.

"Envy hasn't offered yet, though we did get distracted earlier, right Nard?"
"Mm. Gavin survived, did he not?"
"I'm right here, you two," Gavin, exasperated.
"How long would it usually take, and how accurate would it be to scry?" Kire asked.

Wanderers

Kire grinned wide when Ruli took the blade and admired it. “Of course. Wouldn’t have gifted anything less,” she said proudly.
“That means she likes you,” Narda said casually over her meal. Kire blushed, frowning at her friend, who smirked as she ate.
“I mean of course I do. I wouldn’t come back here if I didn’t like anybody I met here.” Kire sighed, cursing the way she had been fumbling with her words tonight, and Narda for getting her so easily flustered. What is wrong with you today, Kay? She got herself a plate to eat and sat nearby, then looked up at him again at his question.

“We’re looking for the point of entry for all the stray Amrians,” she said, pointing to Gavin, who muttered an indignant ‘hey!’ at her description. “Make sure there isn’t any other funny business going on with them and, on a more important note, see if there’s any evidence of my cousin getting caught in the world gate and winding up here somewhere. Like we said to Envy earlier, it’s more a longshot than anything else, really.” She started on her meal, thoughtful. “Tell me, what’s the new location like? May I visit?”
Narda shook her head at her friend.

Wanderers

Kire was about to answer Ysaryn’s question when she sensed a familiar signature. Cinnamon. Her mouth twitched into a wide grin for a brief moment. She turned in time to see Ruli, his hair a different kind of unruly now that it had grown out a bit longer. Narda waited for Kire to speak and make introductions, but the Wyvern seemed to have forgotten that she hadn’t said anything yet. The giantess nudged her with her foot. “Oh. Right.” She cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’m back,” Kire said, rubbing her nape. “Ruli, this is Narda. She’s one of my pirate friends. Well sort of. She’s a countess first before we met the rest of the crew. I’m surprised she didn’t sink the ship when she first jumped on it.”
“Your ego is heavier than I ever will be,” Narda retorted, before turning to the newcomer. “Ruli, eh? My pleasure,” Narda replied, though her eyes looked at him appraisingly. “Hm.” She turned to Kire, who was looking up at Ruli with what seemed to the giantess a puzzled look. “Kay.”
“Huh? Right. Want dinner? There’s dinner,” Kire said, pointing to their catch, then standing up. “Be right back, just going to get something.” Narda’s gaze followed her friend as she left the kitchen to go to Envy’s room. Gavin, too, was looking at Kire, puzzled at her absentmindedness.

Kire stepped into the main chamber to see Envy and Zeke talking with each other. “Hello, Zeke,” she greeted, not quite sure how the man would react to her return. “Envy, I’ll just go get something in your room for a moment.” She returned to the kitchen not too long after. “Zeke’s back too, I saw,” she commented.
“’Zeke’? Which one is that again?” Narda asked. Kire rolled her eyes, then turned to Ruli, holding out something to him.
“I know you can handle yourself without weapons, but—yeah. That one’s for you.” She handed him a short sabre. Gavin, in the middle of stuffing his face, ogled the well-made blade.
“That is a lot nicer than the knife you gave me,” he pointed out.
“Well, you’re not getting one,” Kire commented. The sabre’s hilt and sheath had the Wyvern insignia on it. “Consider it payment for breaking your bow,” she said, a small smile on her face. Narda looked between the two of them, humming in thought.

Wanderers

“Yeah, nine months is plenty. But whether alive or not, I just want closure. He was like an older brother to me, watched over me when we were orphaned. If there’s even a small chance I could finally find out what happened to him, I’d like to take it,” Kire replied, slinging the sack over her shoulder again. She grinned at Ysaryn’s complaint, waving it off with her free hand. “Come on. I was the stranger who dropped into your lives unannounced with a dangerous mission. This is the least I could do, really.” She grinned at Envy’s comment about the candy. “I’ll set it down there, thanks. And for as long as some candy is left for Aeron, I will look the other way.”

She listened as she explained how Rab and Gavin had been doing under his care, and she looked over at the Gemini, smiling. “Told you he was a decent lad,” she muttered in Narda’s direction, who only shrugged. “Thanks again, Envy. I’ll show my babysitter around, and then come back for tea. You behave, Nard, this isn’t a pirate ship,” she said, to which the giantess chuckled.
“No ‘Countess’, good gods above. Just ‘Narda’,” she said to Envy. “Or I will insist that my stubborn friend here be called Her Majesty.”
“Please no, gods above,” Kire pleaded to both of them, tugging at Narda’s arm as the giantess laughed aloud. “I like him. No-nonsense. Good leader, got a strong spine on him. Not bad-looking, either.”
“You know we aren’t out of earshot of him, right?” Kire said, stepping through to the kitchen. “We’ll be back! We could try the tea together,” she added to Ysaryn with a grin.

Kire showed Narda around as she’d said, taking her to the camp first before directing her to the surrounding forest. She was about to lead her to the spot where they had first decided to rebuild but stopped, clearly seeing the reason for abandoning that plan. From the way Envy talked about the new place, however, Kire knew they were much happier with their recent choice. “Kay,” Narda said, as they conversed while walking along the stream, “if we don’t find him, or we find evidence of his passing—are you prepared for that?”
Kire was quiet, pondering on her friend’s question. “I don’t know. It might break my heart. We already lost him once, and it took me a long while to accept it. Now I’ve gotten myself all worked up again at a feeble hope and—well. I don’t know. Finding that he’d died might be better than not finding anything at all.” She glanced up at her friend. “What about you? You two were close once.”
“I mourned him too, same as you. Or almost. He’s your family. But I’ve known the two of you for practically the same amount of time.” Narda crossed her arms, looking around them. “If it turns out he had died in a place this peaceful, I wouldn’t mind it so much. He’s led a warrior’s life. At the least, I would like to know if he’d had some rest.”
Kire nodded. Narda looked at her, her mind on another question.
“Given everything that had happened to you, is it so wise, befriending this boy? Gavin?”
Kire huffed. “He saved my life. And he has no memory of Amria, or he wasn’t born there at all.” She frowned. “Until he breaks it, he has my trust.”
“It’s just that you used to say the same about Gael.”
“This is different, Nard,” Kire said firmly. “And he’s just a boy. With the right guidance, he’d be his own man. Not Gemini, not blood mage, he’d be offered a choice. You said you thought Envy was a good leader. Trust in that, too.”

They went back inside to the kitchen, where Gavin had a pot of tea and some meat on a spit ready for them. He glanced warily at Narda, both because of the outburst she had earlier, and out of worry that the food might not be enough. “I won’t bite your head off, boy. On my honor,” Narda promised, catching his look.
“I’ll bite her head off if she does,” Kire reassured him. “Now, catch me up to speed on what happened back there,” she said, pointing a thumb outside. “And you tell me what you’ve been learning, exactly.” Gavin grinned at that.
“You got it.”

Over tea and a meal, Gavin told them about the landslide and sickness, and about how they were able to strike a deal with Cordon that would benefit everybody, including Ysaryn’s people. Kire hadn’t had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting and conversing with Princess Risa the first time, but from the sound of it she didn’t miss much. The bit about Ysaryn being some sort of handmaiden Kire didn’t like, but if it helped the elf go about Cordon without getting harassed, she had no right to complain about it. “I’ve been learning a few basics here and there with Envy, and from Ruli, some enchanting skills. A bit of fighting, too, from Zeke and Ysaryn.” The face he made there told Kire those were harder lessons for him than the magic ones, and she shook her head, chuckling.

“It’s never easy. Especially if your body isn’t used to moving a particular way.”
“Mm. You should have seen this one in her early days,” Narda said, nudging Kire with her elbow.
“Ahhh no,” Kire muttered, bending over the table, burying her face in her folded arms. Narda laughed.
“I’ll save it for when we have a bigger audience. Maximize your humiliation, Your Majesty.”
Gavin snickered. Their conversation continued into late afternoon, after which Kire and Narda went out to hunt and forage to get some exercise and not impinge too much on the camp’s stores. Though with the coin they were getting from Cordon, they were doing much better than the last time Kire had been around. They returned just as the sun was setting, and they prepared the fowl they’d caught for dinner.

Wanderers

As Gavin took Ysaryn’s hand to stand, wary of the tall woman, Kire glared at her friend, who had soured what she had pictured to be a happy reunion. Narda grunted. “Understood,” she replied, after which Kire gave her an earnest punch on the arm. “I said I understood!”
“If she makes trouble again I am plunking her out of here straightaway and right into the middle of the sea,” Kire swore, before looking up at her friend with a frown. “I swear, Nard, I will. And The Wench can fish you out of the water like tuna.”
When Envy told her where Ruli and the others were, however, Kire’s face lit up. “You found a place! I should like to see it sometime, if that’s possible. And yes, of course, we’ll wait. There’s not much of a hurry.”
Narda chuckled. “Willing to wait? You don’t hear that from the Wyvern Empress very often.”

Envy’s question, though, made both women turn to each other briefly, before Kire answered, rubbing her nape. “Well—not exactly. At least I hope not. We’re looking for remnants of a world gate, to find out how Amrians wound up here in the first place.” She gestured at Gavin. “There’s a chance—”
“A slim chance,” Narda put in, though her expression was hopeful, too.
“A slim chance that one of my family had ended up here, too, right around the time Ikegai…you know.” Kire looked up at Narda, who returned her gaze kindly. She and Ed had a special friendship, and she could understand the giantess’s desire to not only keep her promise to Jan and Elva, but to see this mission through for closure. During the chaotic uprising, Kire had to be in another battlefield when Edward and Earnest marched into another skirmish. They been unable to recover their bodies, given the retreat. “My cousin might have been caught in the world gate that had opened up and allowed Ikegai to escape to this world. It’s a slim chance, I know,” Kire repeated. “But it would give us some answers to lingering questions, at least.”
A world gate… Gavin had wondered about that. That had been one of Ikegai’s plans, and why Gavin’s enslavement had been crucial. “Would that be how my mother got here?”
“Possibly. But! Before anything else, I have a few things!”

Kire finally returned her attention to the sack she had brought with her. She produced two boxes, one square, one long and thin. She opened the thin one first and brought it to Envy. “You like to smoke, so I got you a pipe.” There were intricate carvings along the small bowl and the stem. She took out the other box and opened it so Envy could smell what was inside. “Tobacco. The finest. Or at least I’m told, I don’t smoke, myself. But if you want something with a bit more kick, there’s smoking herbs in the hidden compartment,” she said, grinning at that. She looked over her shoulder at the giantess and said aloud, “Maybe next time, since somebody’s so eager to join me on these journeys, Narda would help me carry more.”
Narda grunted, though she did smirk back. Kire turned to Ysaryn and handed her a thick pouch. “I don’t know if you’ll like it as much as your own, but this is tea. There’s more herbs and such in here, my cousin labelled them according to use. Some are for cooking, others are for healing,” she added, looking at Gavin, who looked very much like he wanted to rummage around the sack, himself. “Hmm, what else. Oh, candy. I brought plenty more.” There was one more item in the sack, but Kire would have to wait for the rest to return to give it.

Wanderers

The first person to greet her brought a wide grin to Kire’s face. She smelled the familiar aura of a humid sea breeze before her face appeared, and she laughed when Ysaryn approached to hug her. “And you, Chieftess,” she greeted back. “You look great. As usual.” Narda raised a brow at the two of them, a smirk on her lips. “I’ll introduce ‘my Kartaian’ properly when we’re inside.” Kire followed the elf, the giantess not far behind. “Envy would love you.”
“Envy?”
Kire rolled her eyes. “I told you the story a million times. Pay attention!”
Once inside, Kire didn’t hesitate this time, coming in for an embrace. “Nice shirt,” she commented, grinning as she squeezed the giant elf before stepping back. “I’ll explain my business later. But for now, introductions. Do you remember the giantess friend I mentioned to you before?”
“Ah, you’ve been talking about me!” Narda exclaimed, patting Kire on the head. The giantess had similar garb as Kire, a traveler’s cloak, leather armor, but instead of a sword she had a battle axe with her. Her skin was lightly tanned, and her bright brown eyes stared out of a chiseled face, framed with black, wavy hair. “Narda of—” she paused, translating in her head, “—Wild Meadows.”
“That’s Countess Narda of Wild Meadows,” Kire said, earning her a growl and a loud thump on the back again. “Ow!” Kire was grinning, though, knowing the title didn’t sit well with the pirate.
“So! Kire has been telling me she met somebody who’s taller than me, for once. But she neglected to tell me what an impressive fellow you are! I had no idea this is what elves looked like!” Narda said, grinning at Envy, and at Ysaryn, too.
“I told you, you just haven’t been paying attention, you thick-headed numbskull, stop embarrassing me!” Kire muttered, dissolving into Taakalon at the last insult.

“Oh, you’re back,” Gavin called, finally stepping out to meet them before he stopped, gaping, at the sight of Narda. The giantess took in his appearance and his green eyes.
“Hello, Gavin,” Kire greeted, “how are y—”
“The Gemini,” Narda growled.
“So you remember that part,” Kire said, then jumped forward in alarm when Narda crossed the cavern to meet the young lad, grabbing him by his shirt and lifting him. “Narda, put him down!”
“When the Wyvernling told me she had met a Gemini and didn’t bring him back for questioning, I had thought she must have hit her head pretty hard somewhere. You got off easy.” Gavin’s eyes were wide, trembling as he stared up at Narda’s face. “This woman lost a lot because of your kin. I lost a lot because of your kin."
“NARDA. I’m not going to say it twice,” Kire said, her hand gripping her friend’s arm, digging in just enough to let Narda know she would be forced to if she didn’t unhand Gavin. The lad thumped to the floor, shaking. Kire pinched the bridge of her nose, then turned to the others apologetically as Narda stepped away with a huff. “I am very sorry about that. I was supposed to visit alone, but somebody had the bright idea of clinging to me just as I crossed over. But she’s here, so I might as well show her around. But Nard, no more of that, understood?”
“Yes,” Narda said, raising her hands. “I was just getting a feel of him, that’s all.”
“Well, you’ve gotten it, so no more.”

Gods above, Kire thought, shaking her head. She then cleared her throat, then looked around. “Where’s Ruli? Don’t tell me he’s run away again. Shall I put food out so he doesn’t go hungry?” she said with a smirk, as if talking about a stray cat.

Wanderers

Kire had her own share of complications and progress.
After coming back, Kire spent a week under orders not to exert herself. Elva fussed over her constantly, checking her injuries to make sure the Ring was healing the broken bones right, chastising Kire for removing the cast earlier than she was supposed to. Kire, to her credit, didn’t object to the house arrest, though she did, without success, try to pry Janes for details about important business. And Jan, to her credit, refused to answer, not even breathing so much as a word about work while Kire was recuperating. She knew, all three knew, that this wasn’t just so much about attending to Kire’s body, but her mind. So Kire rested. Within that week, Kire also made a ‘truce’ with her little cousins Etta and Precy, who were all ready to be mad at her for leaving them again until they actually saw her, after which all of them cried and hugged. Kire told them some of what she had seen in the other world: the refugees, particularly Aeron, and the food. The rest of the details she left out of her stories.

When the week was over, Kire insisted on throwing herself back into the fray. Janes still hadn’t told her about some of the reports, only those that were immediately pertinent to her. Kire rejoined Narda, Myka, and the crew of the Green Wench to harass the naval patrols of the turncoat provinces, though the two women didn’t listen to a single order from Kire until she told them in full detail what had happened to her, gleefully reminding her that she had lost her crown and that she wasn’t captain of the ship even with it. This occupied much of Kire’s time in exile: in concert with her remaining allies, they would win back territories bit by bit. It hadn’t been just the Gemini alone responsible for the schism in the continent. Before the attack, they had been striking deals not just with Ikegai but with the other enemies of the Wyvern house. Narda and Myka, having known the Paladin for a few decades by now, had noticed some change in their friend. While she had always thrown her whole body and mind at every task, this time Kire did so with an air that told them her heart was in it, too. Her failure with Ikegai and with losing the Capital had crushed her, made her doubt herself, even if she locked the pain and humiliation away to function. “So you’ve decided? You will sit on the throne?” Narda asked. Kire only smiled back at this question.

It was only after two months that Jan, finally receiving more confirmation, sat Kire down to tell her what she was keeping from her. “You’ve been trying to get information about how and where Ikegai had opened a world gate, have you?” Jan asked.
“I have. And I might have found it,” Kire said quietly. Jan unfurled a map, where several spots around the continent have been marked. She pointed to one area, and Kire raised her eyebrows. “You have, too?” she murmured, studying the map and its notes. The spot Janes pointed out was near enough her own hunches, but when she recognized the surrounding territory, Kire looked up at her. “Is this—?”
Janes nodded.

Three weeks after this, a blue portal opened within the wards in front of the mountain caverns where the refugees of Ziad stayed. Only, instead of one figure stepping out into the daylight of the other world, two stumbled out, rolling into the dirt, along with a big sack. “Are you MAD?” Kire yelled, climbing to her feet, breathing heavily. “You could have gotten us both killed, you giant idiot!” She wasn’t wearing heavy armor this time, though she did wear a leather cuirass and arm guards. She was dressed to anticipate the cooler air in the mountain region. Kire cursed in Taakalon repeatedly as she made sure the sack with its valuables wasn’t damaged too heavily. She had let her hair grow the past three months, though it was still short, growing just a little past her ear.

The woman who came with her, or rather jumped at her just as she had opened the portal, let out a booming laugh, despite the nausea she now felt. When she stood up, her muscled form was almost seven feet tall. “I made a promise to your cousins to keep an eye on you, Little Wyvernling,” she said, thumping Kire on her back. “I’m just fulfilling the promise! You know all about solemn oaths, right?”
“I’m going to kill you, Nard,” Kire seethed, hoisting the sack over her shoulder.
“Now, what? We’re in another world. Not much different so far—the sky isn’t green, or some weird color.”
Kire sighed. “Now, we wait. It’s impolite to barge into someone’s home, you know.”

Gavin looked up from his work in the kitchen. He had kept his head down the past three months mostly, doing whatever he could, sometimes helping Zeke and Ysaryn with the other less tolerant refugees, though after a while the promise of finding a new, more suitable home at least drove most of the refugees to work towards a common goal. They were so busy with these preparations that there weren’t a lot of time for magic lessons, which he didn’t particularly mind. His thoughts, however, still drifted back to Amria now and then. While he dared to think he was happy here, he also accepted that the curiosity for the land his mother had come from will be with him always.

He paced out of the kitchen hurriedly to look for the others. “Hey—did any of you feel that?” he said, pointing his thumb in the direction of the cavern entrance.