Weather and Family
Log Info
- Title: Weather and Family
- Place: Am'shere - Wuja Docar
- Summary: Aelwyn arrives at Wuja Docar, celebrating the weather, while Rune shares about recent trials relating to both her family and Harkashan's.
GAME: Rune rolls perception: (15)+18: 33
As of late, Rune has been traveling a lot between Wuja Docar and the portal to Alexandros. Tracking the Charneth and the location of Prion Prison had been her primary focus. However, there is also the strange otherworldly connections that both herself and Harkshan have in the lands of Am'shere that pull her attention.
At the moment, the rogue is taking a turn at guard duty, allowing Cayosin to take a break for the time being. So, Rune stands just beyond the front gates of the settlement, leaning her back against the walls, eyes watchful for threats both from the local wildlife and from the Charneth.
Rune, however, is not one to stand still for very long. She's already starting to fidget with her locket.
Dark shiny scales, thick leather hide, a dangerous looking strut - and then there was Aelwyn, the short ruddy sith-makar, walking around the beast of burden. Heat gleamed off his scales, exposed from between his to-be-frank-too-short chain shirt. "Twin," The draconian calls out, with a very wide and sharp toothed grin. The glaive was balanced across his shoulders; the blade lightly breathing in deep ember like the little coal fire it was.
"This one heard she took to standing around and looking menacing." Aelwyn says and then reaches out behind him. A clay bottle is pulled out, and he gives it a firm whisk. "Does she wish to join this one in celebrating the weather?"
Blue eyes flick in the direction of Aelwyn, her fingers stilling on her necklace for only a brief moment. "Hey Aelwyn." She greets, her lip quirking upward slightly. Her own weapons were both sheathed along her back, looking as if she didn't exactly expect a threat.
"Not sure about being menacing." Rune flashes her teeth, which are nowhere near as fierce as those of a Sith-Makar, "But making sure Cayosin can get a break from time to time. Don't tell her I said this but... I think she could still use some recovery time after the fight with Skielstregar." Rune's voice drops for this last part, glancing over her shoulder at the settlement.
At his question about the weather, though, one brow lifts, "Celebrating the weather?"
Aelwyn tilts his head. "This one is not certain if they know of this one, yet this one is very well aware of the kind of rest one needs after a fight with Silver." His chest can still feel a heavy blow or three.
Flicking the clay pot from the string, he twists it around in the air in lazy circles. "Naturally; does one need a better reason to celebrate, but the warmth of the skies and good company?" Another flash of his teeth. "This one thought to enjoy the stay for a while longer, before those misty streets call this one again."
"Cayosin is one of Harkashan's sisters." Rune explains, "Red-scaled. Over seven-feet tall. Built like a brick house." There is some measure of gesticulating as she tries to describe just what a massive individual she's talking about.
Then, letting her arms come back to her sides, Rune shrugs her shoulders. "Harkashan was the smallest of the family, other than his mother, so most everyone here dwarfs me by a long shot. They even call him 'little lava'." Which Rune seems to find terribly amusing.
Then, tilting her head to watch Aelwyn's enthusiasm, Rune laughs softly, "I suppose one doesn't need more reason to celebrate than that, but... I could stand it being a little less hot and humid, myself." There is sweat that lingers on the edges of her brow, and the half-elf is distinctly not wearing as many layers as usual, having just the silvery mithral shirt that is normally beneath her outer armor.
Aelwyn looks up at her hand - and then cranes his head a bit higher. "Tch, but Lava is not that large of a lavastone." The Dragoon says - not that he was that much taller than Rune to begin with. It was all about the attitude!
The draconian then grabs the clay bottle and after a moment of twisting, pops off the cork and hands the bottle to her. "The skies are always worth celebrating. What if they bring no tomorrow, yet here they still are."
The glaive with its little heat is lowered down in front of him, and he moves to leans against the wall besides her. "This one was not aware Lava had family here." A moment of pause; the ruddy sith-makar was grinning still. "Besides Twin, of course."
"Apparently, most of his family run on the larger size for Sith-Makar." Rune adds with a slight, bemused shake of her head, "His father has to be pushing eight feet, maybe even more. It's... a little intimidating, to be honest." Most of the Makari that Rune knows don't come close to that kind of towering height. It's no surprise being among 'giants' may very well make one feel a bit small.
Accepting the clay bottle, Rune takes a slow drink, considering for a moment. "I suppose that's true enough. Sometimes, it's worth celebrating the fact that you're still here, still breathing."
The rogue waves her hand ineffectually at the heat being given off by Aelwyn's glaive, "Pretty much his whole family is here, from what I know. Grandmother, Father, Mother, three sisters." Rune explains, tapping on the wall with her fingers. "We've been here for a bit, trying to piece together what's going on with him. With his weird... connection to some planar dragon."
Aelwyn makes a dismissive gesture. "Tch, they all sleep the same." Probably. "Though this one always wondered how Lava sleeps with that stone of his." The ruddy sith-makar leans towards his side and with a playful look on his face, twirls his glaive near Rune. Just to see her squirm a bit. "Sometimes, no, always, yes. Why not dance to the sun every night?"
The contradiction aside, Aelwyn clicks his teeth with that typical movement of that tongue of his. "Ah, a dragon..." There's a deep breath in him, a moment of held, and then he exhales in a soft wistful way. "And what is her current running theory? Does she ride with a dragon after all?"
"I don't know about that. Kyfe would probably have a dagger to your throat long before you could ever sneak up on them, sleep or no." There's a certain measure of respect in her statement, "I think I may be a bit better than her. Just a little." Rune forms a small space between her fingers, and then smirks.
The movement of the glaive towards her has Rune squinting, but there is not so much as a flinch as she blows at the flames. "I'm already melting enough. I don't think there's any need to liquify me." She gives a little churr of an undertone that is distinctly Makari, tending towards some of their mannerisms now that she's been back in Am'shere quite so long.
"I mean, I suppose that's the case if you think about it in the voyeuristic sort of way." Her nose scrunches, as if she doesn't quite like the idea of having any sort of entity watching those more intimate moments. "Seems the dragon may witness the chaos of our world through Harkashan's eyes, at least from time to time."
The glaive was not in flames, not exactly; it simply seemed to have hot embers buried in it, glowing deep red. Still, hot. Aelwyn rumbles in amusement as he slides the glaive back around and against his neck; opposite from Rune. "Oh, and this one longed to see her wet." A flickering of his forked tongue, dancing playfully in the air.
"Hmmh, explains how he has changed, perhaps." The ruddy sith-makar says, tilting his head back in thought. "Lava felt different way in these lands." He rolls his shoulders. "So many possessed things these days. This one hopes his weapon will never talk to him; a piece of body that talks back sounds..." A flash of his teeth. "Rueful."
Yet his eyes dance back over towards her. "How are you?" He asks, matter of factly.
"Well, I do still owe a visit to the TarRaCe. It's been far, far too long." Rune teases back, offering a wink that shows she understands the innuendo. Regardless, she seems to be quite relaxed, despite her task at hand, allowing her eyes to sweep the surrounding forests again as she listens to Aelwyn's comments.
"I don't know. I'm quite fond of Malefic, myself. Though... having a talking weapon wouldn't be as beneficial in my line of work." She lifts one shoulder in a half-shrug. "It seems that Harkashan's dragon patron is like a minor god to these people." Her hand motions towards the village.
And then, that blunt question has her blinking in some measure of surprise before her brows furrow, seeming to consider the answer, "I'm... not sure." Rune admits, her lips pressing together. "I've got a puzzle I don't know how to resolve." Her blue eyes look to Aelwyn.
"So... here's my dilema. The woman who would be my mother is trapped in a time loop, trying to rescue some Fey being from her own grief her missing mate. Every other version of her is trapped in this loop, seemingly forever. All of them except for my mother, who managed to escape, fall in love, and have me, then die. And apparently all of that... so that I could somehow find a way to help this Fey being and free those other versions of my mother to... the same dark fate."
Her eyes look off into the forest. "My mother is dead, no matter what I do, and these others seem to want their freedom to live and love and die. Just... feels all kinds of fucked."
There's a supple ripple as Aelwyn twists his body just so; though the manner was so shamelessly natural to him, even the shirt couldn't hold him back. "Now, do not make idle promises - the baths could not withstand the cold." He rumbles in amusement, tail swaying behind him. "Yet, it is quite hot here, this one finds." Another tilt of his head, flick of tongue.
Yet, the conversation moves onto more somber topics, and it does leave Aelwyn quite dumbfounded. It was _not_ the answer he was expecting. So he simply listens, trying to follow on after her story.
The ruddy sith-makar also completely failed at the task.
After a moment of contemplation, Aelwyn leans away from the wall and stands in front of her. He lifts a finger, and touches her chin with its claw. "And, what is so fucked about that?" His gaze carried a burning intensity.
For the moment, thoughts of Alexandros and the bathhouse take a back seat to the more recent concerns that plague Rune's mind. The confusing circumstances that she isn't quite sure if she'd managed to convey. Enough so that when Aelwyn shifts, she follows him with her eyes rather than continuing any attempts at clarification.
And then, there is that touch to her chin that has her look into Aelwyn's eyes. "That in the end, no matter what I do, her fate is sealed. That my mother is already gone." Rune explains, and as she does, a bit of moisture pools in her eyes. "The best I can hope... is to free those echoes of her so they can follow the same path. The same one that had ended with me watching her die."
She shakes her head then, pulling away from the touch and wiping a hand at her eyes. "Not that I won't do it. Just fucking sucks that no matter what, it all ends the same." At least, that's what she's assuming, it seems.
There was a disconnect; as if the ruddy sith-makar could not understand. In truth, Aelwyn quite couldn't - but one thing he did understand. His hand reaches out then, and attempts to wrap it around her shoulders.
"In the end, all debts will be paid," The sun-heated makari tells her, with the churrs and clicks of makari. "And from what this can tell, she carries a heavy one." His teeth flash open wide. "She did live, and she did have you."
Aelwyn takes in a deep breath, and then tilts his head back. "This one thinks it was a worthwhile trade."
His tail flick casually ignores all the copies. It was already hard enough to keep track of time. <draconic>
The sudden switch to Draconic is what brings Rune back around. She had been using the language almost exclusively when in Wuja Docar, as few people know Tradespeak. The shift mid-conversation, however, forces her brain to have to change gears.
The words have her reaching for her necklace, thumb running along the edge as she nods her head. "I know." Despite the words being spoken in Draconic, Rune still responds in her native tongue, likely because it feels right to do so when talking about her human mother. "I don't think she ever regretted her choice, not for a moment."
Taking a deep breath, Rune leans into the embrace a bit, sighing to herself. "I need to talk to Cor'lana before I make any final preparations. She knows more about these Fey creatures than anyone else. Maybe she'll have some idea about what the fuck they expect me to actually do. It's like being tasked with saving a god. Where do you even start?" Rune murmurs.
There's a sudden slap on her shoulder, and Aelwyn gestures back towards the sky. "Celebrating the fresh sun, of course." The Dragoon smiles widely, teeth glinting. "Her mother sounds like a wise woman. It is a blessing, to have such wisdom in one-" He tilts his head back in sudden stop.
"Tch, this one sometimes wondered of his." The ruddy sith-makar rolls his shoulders in a wide arc, moving to lean against the wall again.
There continues to be intensity in his orange eyes, but he continued in good natured speak. "This one always found saving gods troublesome." He rumbles with a swish of his tail. "Sometimes it is far more worthwhile to save that what is in front of you."
A pause, and then click of his teeth. "One that this one learned dealing with those who desire to play games; is to remember then when one is presented a game, remember that one is playing a game." A sharp grin follows. "And few games can withstand the angry end of a knife."
"You would have liked her." Rune replies, giving a slight 'oof' of sound at the slap to her shoulder as she rubs at it. Oh, it doesn't /actually/ hurt, but she is likely playing it up a little. "She was a singer, a dancer, a storyteller. Just the sort of performer that you'd have appreciated."
Good memories tend to chase away the shadows in her own mind. It is at that point that a the gates begin to open, a absolutely massive red-scaled female Makari emerging from within as she looks to the pair, eyeing Aelwyn suspiciously for a moment. "He's a friend." Rune explains in Draconic.
With a grunt, the female motions inside, seemingly relieving Rune from her guard duty. "I certainly have angry knives, that's for sure. So I suppose I can depend on that." Reaching to touch Aelwyn's shoulder, Rune gives a nudge of her chin towards the settlement, "Join me? I think it's about time you meet some of Harkashan's family."
"Naturally," Aelwyn responds to Rune. "This one already quite enjoys the performance of her legacy." Another flash of his teeth, before the gates open.
The short, ruddy sith-makar up towards the tall Makari. Or cranes his head up at. His eyes then fall back over towards Rune and he splits his maw open. "Tch, now don't make it sound so final." Another playful flick of his tail. "This one is already taken by one family." The draconian then gives a deep bow towards the newcomer, before he follows on after Rune.