Miina Malina
&
Rudolf Sagramore
So… she needed to ask someone to come along, then. There was just no way that Miina, on her own, was going to be able to ask all the necessary questions for finding out where her brother had gotten to, and on top of that she’d gotten too much odd attention the last time that she went out trying to be inconspicuous. That meant she should ask somebody to come along with her.
Izayoi or Ciradyl knew Osprey the best, but were too well known and likely to attract attention. Of the others, Eve also stuck out too much despite being nice and having an interesting tail, so she was out. Robin and Eliane didn’t seem to know what subtle meant, so they would be bad choices. Of the others… well, Esben was probably the best choice for gathering information but that made him a bit scary
and he should keep taking it easy.
In the end, Rudolf was the one person that seemed like they might be helpful while also being someone she’d had more than a completely fleeting interaction with recently.
Not that this made it easy to approach, dressed in her non-fancy outfit and giving up on trying to work out how to say hello in favour of just tugging on his sleeve like a child. “Umm…”
“What’s up, Miina?”Rudolf, for his part, had taken to the garden on the interior of their safehouse compound, using the sunlight to puzzle over his paired swords as they laid before him on the soft grass, flanked at either side by scattered tools for upkeep, repair, and generally
not problems like the ones that actually plagued them by the time the Kirin’s had left the desert. Fittingly, he looked close to stumped on the question, the both returned to their sheaths by the time Miina had made herself known.
The young Mystrel and equally-young Sollan were both by nature quiet sorts. He didn’t think they’d exchanged more than maybe three words before everything on the dunes had gone down— but from what little they
had spoken, Rudolf didn’t read her as a bad sort. Earnest. Awkward. Humble. Courageous when she needed to be, given how she’d rolled with the snap-judgement tactics he’d dropped on her and Robin despite technically being put in the most danger.
Liked her chests big, and, you know, who among us?He frowned, scratching that last one off the mental list. Rude. Do not bring that up, you idiot.
Still, though, this was much more preferable than the last time somebody in this party had decided they needed his attention— and meekness like hers
usually didn’t lead into the types of scraps that worried him.
“Something I can help with? I haven’t been getting anything done here for like, twenty minutes, so any detour’s no trouble.”From his tone, he all but welcomed it.
“W-well… I need to g-go looking for my b-b-brother?” she explained, gesturing in the shape of someone much taller than her. Which could be just about everyone, given who it was. “B-b-but, um… I c-can’t seem to b-blend in…”
The Mystrel fidgeted a little, playing with a strand of hair and continuing to look everywhere but at Rudolf’s eyes, “I thought th-that you might have a b-better idea…”
“Blend in, huh?” he murmured, giving her a quick once-over. “Yeah, I can see that.”
Quick as you like, his own red jacket was off, as he held it up in offering. It’d be a bit big, given their differences in frame (a rare dynamic, one that he found himself savoring), but it’d be a start, and serve the dual purpose of being a more understated alternative to her usual longcoat and less likely to immediately match her to any preexisting descriptions, if only marginally.
No getting around that it was still red, but hopefully it’d serve until they got ahold of some better alternatives for her. For his part, he would just have to endure what happened when a black undershirt let pale Edreni arms into northern sunlight.
“Changing up the ensemble’s probably a good start. We’ll be headed into a new climate soon anyway— well, not for you— But we can kill two birds with one stone; head out to the city, get some spare clothes together, and look for this brother of yours while we’re at it.”
“O-Oh, I can help!” Miina said, perking up, “I know D-Drana Asnaeu… um… the w-w-warmer parts, m-mostly, but I’ve t-traveled through it all and…”
“Nice, that takes a lot of the guesswork out.”Putting the offered jacket on, the shy girl was actually happy to lead the way, still attracting attention due to the bright colouration and poor fit, as well as whatever other conclusions were being drawn, although she didn’t seem to notice in favour of giving a scattershot description of her brother’s appearance. At least if Zeke
was in the area it should be no difficulty to spot him: just look for the tall, forever-smiling guy with hair as red as hers.
As they drew closer to the market and actually needing to ask people questions, though, she increasingly clammed up again, paying more attention to whatever happened to be on sale and keeping an eye out for anything that would be applicable to her home climate. Although there was a chance they wouldn’t be going in that direction, or down towards the coast…
But still, it was better than nothing.
One look at Miina told Rudi that he’d have to do the bulk of the actual purchasing, which was more or less fine by him. Hers were the eyes they both wanted more free to begin with, knowing what they were looking for much better for either goal.
Firstly, though, they had to get the general use wear sorted out, his jacket had fit even more poorly on her than he’d bargained for at first glance, and he could tell the odd silhouette she cut within it was probably leaving fewer people so inclined to take her seriously.
A thankfully quick fix, as ducking into the nearest tailor’s shop and throwing together a story to the tune of
“My cousin’s got a pretty bad hole in her coat, so she’s borrowing mine, could we have a look at what you’ve got on the cheaper side?” proved sufficient to sate any curiosities on the shopkeep’s end that might have forestalled things.
As they milled through the stock, Rudi plucking free anything that looked both
light and
unassuming for immediate use, he turned his head back towards the broader scope of the outing. Miina proved surprisingly helpful at picking out appropriate fabrics, both by experience of their eventual destination and seeming to have some idea of what they could work with.
“Tall, always smiling, red hair…” he murmured thoughtfully, before glancing over to where his tiny counterpart was. If he transposed her features over this formless vibe of a guy, he could kind of guess the face he was looking for, but…
”Say, what kind of guy is Zeke, anyway? What’s he like?”If he could get a read on his personality, some ideas as to where he might have been could pop up.
Imre always liked to hide in the armories.
Otto, by the stables.
Rudolf himself… rarely settled on a spot before he was found.
He shook his head, turning back towards the brown tunic he was eyeing.
Miina tilted her head, ears askew and looking deep in thought. What was her brother like…? If she was going to say what he was like for
her, it would be warm, always helpful, and almost excessively patient. But that wouldn’t apply to everyone else, she’d seen him around the other children his age, and especially when their little hamlet got a few newcomers. He’d still been playful and smiling, yes, but he hadn’t been
nearly so open, and there had been one or two times that he had been quite nasty. Especially where she was concerned, awkward and stuttering.
Then there were the occasional rumours she had had to follow to even get this far. Oh, she’d been able to follow his appearance easily enough, and they did
look pretty similar, but getting from the very cold hints she’d picked up in Costa del Sol—and some former associates that Miina would rather not think of had had things to say, oddly—to the more recent trail through to Osprey and apparently Kugane itself…
“W-W-Well, he’s much more friendly th-than me,” Miina started. Not that this said much, but it was a start, “He d-doesn’t seem to have m-much trouble finding jobs when he c-comes to a new place, b-but I don’t think m-most people know he’s a m-mage
either even when he w-works with them… um… important p-people always seem to b-be annoyed with him when I ask? If th-they know…”
It was really odd. Sometimes they wouldn’t even say why they were annoyed, other times it was because he’d been involved in… something, but not anything really pinned down. Or that they could do anything about.
And when she asked
normal people, it was very much a “who’s asking?” type of thing. She tried to relay that to Rudolf as best she could, although rambling even more as the explanation went on.
“Hmm.”Judging it suitably bland, he threw the cloth over his shoulder for purchase as he listened to the Red Mage’s wayward, rambling rundown. He didn’t let it show, keeping turned away to spare her eye contact, but at this point he was starting to believe he wasn’t the only one that was
lucky she’d drafted him instead of another.
He had that awkward manner of speaking in him too, trying to get everything out at once. Somebody else might have tired of it by now. He’d tired a lot of people out quickly, before it had been trained to heel.
“So he picks up new jobs a lot and ends up annoying people with money and influence to throw around,” he summarized, cupping his chin with a hand as the picture began to paint itself.
”And most regular folk are leery of letting information about him go to just anyone. Keep themselves uninvolved. Sounds like he might have washed out on some loans to me. And to the type of people that get rough when they come collect, too.”He glanced over, plucking a wide-brimmed kasa from a display bust and holding it over where Miina’s exposed ears sat in his field of view, getting an eye for the look. Certainly nondescript, but…
“Mmm… n-no, the loan sharks would have p-pushed
me to pay if th-that was the problem,” Miina said after a pause, before taking the hat, and offering no further explanation as she adjusted it to sit right.
”Huh.”A beat. Her explanation made sense, but in turn had killed the theory.
“Once we’re done here, there was an inn a few streets back that seemed to be hiring to fill a vacancy. I remember the sign hanging in the window before we shipped out to the desert— maybe even on the escape route from the prison break, but I’m not super sure there. We could check if that matches either way.” he offered.
“S-Sounds good,” the Mystrel agreed. Another odd point, all things considered; you’d think she would
avoid something with so many people if it came to it.
Not lost on the erstwhile slayer of beasts. His eyebrow quirked, even as her gaze was nestled behind the conical hat of spun straw.
“Might be busy, now that the Valheimr lockdown’s up,” he cautioned, turning towards the counter to finalize their purchases (unless Miina found something else she needed in the next few seconds) and get on with the plan.
“You gonna be alright? You don’t seem like you’re a big fan of crowds.”There was a flicker of disappointment across Miina’s face, before she gave a small shrug, “G-Guess we’ll see, no p-point staying there if it’s b-busy…”
Their new clothes either on their persons or in their hands, the two left the tailor’s in short order after that, their direction set and pouch a little lighter on gil. The contrast, as they melted back into the crowd, was stark enough to observant eyes— while Rudolf in particular was still catching stray glances here and there as a visible (and pale) foreigner, Miina went from notable in an ill-fitted red coat to barely anything besides part of the throng herself, especially with her feline ears covered.
Their jaunt, thusly, was a quick one even through the busy midday streets, Rudolf now taking the lead. While his explanation for following Izayoi that morning on the outskirts had largely been pretense, it had been couched in a sentiment he’d truly held— getting an idea for the way the streets of the city intertwined was something that could have only been helpful. In days past, he’d set himself to work on it, meandering through the Capital as he slowly developed a mental map, matching names and locations with what he’d seen in the preamble to their jailbreak op.
Getting out of the compound and into fresh air that day had been good for him in another way, as well. It was an easy excuse to politely and “productively” step away from the Kirins, until tensions regarding the desperate moment on the Dunes had been granted another day to slack.
They arrived in short order at
The Desert Fox, barely more than ten unaccosted minutes, and Miina was apparently in luck— for whatever reason, things seemed quiet today.
Despite the need for social skills generally seeming at odds with
anything anyone had seen the shy cat do, now that she was in a bar, the girl didn’t seem completely lost, actually fishing out some coins from somewhere and ordering… well, she didn’t care what, so long as it was alcoholic, and her tail swished with curiosity as they actually
heated the local drink and served it in what seemed like a box?
She’d also gotten two, whether Rudolf wanted one or not, and then set to work asking questions. Of course,
that was where she started to stumble, being circuitous about what she was looking for, and also stopping to ask one of the other patrons what
he was drinking, given that it was completely different.
Warmed rice wine, served in small flasks set inside a larger box, filled with water.
Sake in the local tongue, though he’d also heard that it was a catch-all term for alcohol…
Regardless, he brought the ceramic to his lips and imbibed, watching Miina’s roundabout methods at work. It was oddly sweet, similar to the Skaellar mead imports his master would sometimes share from further south, but with much more of a tang, kind of melding into the cut of alcohol. Distinctive, but not at all bad. Warming the liquid was a nice touch, upped the relaxation past taking the edge off. He’d keep it at a decent measure, though, still on the job.
“This stuff’s pretty good— You’re the chattier type when you drink, huh?” he observed neutrally, in one of the moments where the barkeep was otherwise occupied with a few patrons that had come in behind them. He didn’t want to get in her way, especially when he was just tagging along on her investigation, but at the same time he was starting to wonder if he didn’t need to rein things in until they were back on focus.
They had a lull for the moment, regardless. He’d see where her head was at.
“Mmm, y-yeah… n-not much, though…” Miina nodded, looking down at her cup, and frowning. She’d been getting off topic, but even when asking questions, it didn’t seem like they were getting much in the way of answers… the only person that had shown any awareness or familiarity with the description had seemed nervous and then
left.
Which meant her brother had been hanging out with some unfortunate types again, and they’d need to go ask somewhere slightly… less pleasant. But she had experience with that, and practice, and knew that even those sorts would speak up if threatened with a little magic, no matter how small the person asking was.
“Umm… we m-might have to go somewhere sh-shadier, if we want answers…”
That stood to reason. Additionally, from the sounds of things these types were more likely to know about him to begin with, from the sounds of how regularly he’d left them fuming for more than one reason or another. With liquid courage running through their veins to loosen them up, Rudolf was pretty certain that if any of the ire Zeke’d garnered turned on them, the long lines of steel the pair held on their persons would keep it in line, no matter how scrawny they were at first blush. After the revenant, after the Valheimr, what the hell were a bunch of crooks?
He nodded, draining the cup and rising, leaving some gil from his own pouch to cover gratuities. He could
look shifty plenty, even if his stature wasn’t likely to be very intimidating. Maybe if his frame could finally fill out some, maybe…
“Guess it can’t be helped. Let’s go meet the people they think we are.”As they took their leave, there was a good amount of walking ahead of them, the well-traveled and monitored markets being naturally a decent distance from the seedier neighborhoods, back alleys, and holes in the wall. A good amount of ambling through the crowds before they naturally started to thin.
They’d had a little. Even if she downplayed it, she seemed more willing to chop it up. Hell, why not? He hadn’t gotten quite what he meant last time.
As they made their way in, he broke the usual silence that fell between them, in these moments of transportation.
“So, how common is it to be doing what you’re doing, if you don’t mind my asking? Tracking down your brother after the exile, I mean.”“N-N-Not that c-common? I think most p-people just… s-stay
sort of close. You’ll still m-meet occasionally, and then you have f-families and other reasons to stay…” Miina said, tilting her head and then hurriedly adjusting the hat before it fell off, “B-But my brother went off t-travelling, and I… d-didn’t have much to stay for.”
Well, her father might be missing her, but he’d done far less to
raise her, so he wasn’t owed anything. And she didn’t have any interest in staying in a tiny village to try and start a family, so maybe she’d have wanted to head out to the coasts anyway.
“Well, he’s pretty lucky,” he nodded, letting his eyes slide over the surroundings easily.
“It’s a good thing to have that bond, even in the face of traditions like those. Siblings. Brothers. I dunno, my brothers and I never really…” He trailed off, before falling silent as the vibe of the streets began to change.
Inside the ‘establishment’, Miina was sure to get another drink… cheaper, the serving even more shoddy, and only the temperature made it drinkable. Most likely watered down, given the feeling of the place. And the two strangers wandering in got attention.
But
this time when she was asking questions, her hand didn’t wander far from the sharp knife at her belt, ready to pull it if anyone got aggressive… or use it to enhance the threat where the firelight dancing across her hands
wouldn’t.
Of course, it wouldn’t do for him to just
stand around while his friend here did all the work. Rudolf quite helpfully made himself physical when the tougher nuts tried to crack back, before Miina needed to draw her own blade. To a lot of these guys, the “scrawny twerp” had suddenly been revealed to feel like he was made of nothing but taut steel cable, and preternaturally calm no matter who was handling the knife in question. He’d punctuate these moments with the promise of broken bones, twisted joints, the like.
Like sharks, the pair worked their way through in this unexpectedly insistent manner, until one of the heftier brutes finally dropped a name.
“Mizutani!” the man said through clenched teeth, as Rudolf applied a
little more pressure on his shoulder girdle and drove his face closer to Miina’s awaiting flames. “He was tied up with Mizutani Tane and her goons! They were lookin’ for him all week! Goddammit, are you two with them?! Are you settin’ me up?!”
At this, the swordsman cocked an eyebrow and met Miina’s gaze, asking with his eyes if the name rung a bell. Even if it hadn’t, though… this
was a hit. After all that skittish shit earlier, they’d hit upon a name.
“L-Looking? Why?” Miina asked, voice sharp for once, “I only k-knew he was in
Osprey.”
The lout shot a glance across the bar, trying to catch the eye of
someone… only for them to hastily look away from the obvious flames that were reaching out closer and closer to something important. Like his eyes.
“‘Cause he stiffed them! Came in here talkin’ about headin’ to Drana, and next thing Tane’s goons are lookin’ for a guy who’s done a runner!” Sure enough, with the constant threat, he was willing to spill the rest of the information, “Now lemme go, alright!?”
Rudolf held firm, unmoved by the pleas. Only one person had the power to make that call. He was sure to make this guy thoroughly
understand the dynamic.
“You go when my friend here says we’re finished. Tell me though, who were you tryna look to for help just now? One of Tane’s people happen to be with us?”“What? No! It was just a friend!” He seemed to be getting pretty desperate, though could breathe a little when Miina extinguished the flame with a sigh.
“W-We’re done here. Zeke’s g-g-gone to Drana Asnaeu, b-but we’re going too, so…”
”Lucky break, then. We can track him down there.” Rudolf said with a nod, straightening the big lug up and giving him a quick little dusting off at the shoulders before finally setting him free. He scrambled off, muttering a string of various curses under his breath.
”No more reason to stick around this dump... Let’s get outta here.”
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