Rook had just finished with the third line when she spoke. He was breathing heavily now, his nostrils flaring like those of a horse that had just finished a long ride. Sweat covered his face, dripping down to the ground in the light of the tool. Rook stopped swinging when he heard her speak, trying to understand her over the pounding of his heart in his ears. "What? He asked, as though not understanding before answering.

"I'm digging. Breaking ground, making an outline of the graveyard." He said between heaving breaths and beginning again to make forceful strikes with the pick. He was moving in the line behind the graves now. "Gonna get Zorah to help, grow berry bushes in a hedge around it all." He didn't stop swinging until he'd finished the final line, when it met with his original mark in the ground.

She knew better, really she did. She should cut her losses and leave him to his work, as clearly that was what he wanted. Misunderstanding played a big part in her mingling with people, she was quick to judge and misjudge, but although she turned and took a few paces towards the outpost she stopped, clearly said something unintelligible in her own language and turned back around, walking until she was close enough for him to hear her even over his exertion. "You don't like me very much, do you." it was a statement, rather than a question, though she looked at him expectantly.

Shaking her head she turned and paced back and forth, muttering something to herself, "Waela, waela, ligrr, vel'bol ph'dos xundus." she closed her eyes, dropping her hands at her side before looking up at the sky exasperated, either with herself of her companion, she wasn't sure. "Well?" she questioned, waiting.



Translation: [Language unknown: Thowereau, werhouvor virwh. Stale ni olwhi esheto!]

Even though his chest still moved deeply, Rook managed a laugh and a grin. He bent over and put his hands on his knees, then straightened and wiped his face on the back of his arm. "My first instinct is to pick up a piece of dirt and throw it at you and agree. But, based on past experiences, I'd guess you'd actually believe I meant it. So I'm not going to do that. I'm not gonna ask what I've done to make you think I dislike you because I bet it don't make any sense. You haven't done anything to make me dislike you. I hardly know you at all, but what I do know is likable."

The light of his tool finally expired, leaving them in darkness again. Rook heaved a sigh and touched his holy symbol, igniting it on his chest. "Not everyone is going to like you and that's okay. People are different, some just don't mesh. Let them think and say what they want. As long as they don't put their hands on you, nothing else matters." He paused and put the pick onto his shoulder. "But I like you. And I have a favor to ask."

Ari watched him with a mixture of relief and confusion as he bent over in laughter. Humans were strange beings, it was no wonder she could not understand them, they all acted so differently it was hard to keep track. His admission of liking her confused her though. People did not like the Drow. They feared them. Which reminded her, "Your friend from this morning. She did not like me. " Aris'ta said simply, bending to pick up her discarded glove and shook the dirt from it before returning her gaze to him. This one was different somehow, she could not quite explain it, but she knew this one she would miss once their company was divided and she found the notion frankly disturbing.

The light faded and for a moment she was plunged into the comfort of the darkness, closing her eyes and breathing in the night. It was so much easier to hide, so much cooler. Perhaps the time for hiding was coming to and end. "You are right. I would have taken you seriously, but now, ask your favor. Do you need my help back again? " she asked, lifting a hand to the light on his chest. "I do not think that will illuminate the way much, but it is intriguing to me you are so easily able to do that." She curled her hand about her glove. Too curious. She awaited his question, though she secretly thought she had already given him the answer.

>outpost

Bai frowned as she came upon the graves, it had seemed she'd spent too much time with Jack and Keston had moved on. She looks at the drow girl as she walked in. "I hope you don't mean me dear, I do come off as a bit distant sometimes, but I sincerely apologize if I gave offense. I've heard that out cultures are different enough that we can come off as offense but I- Oh, but I've interrupted, haven't I? I apologize again, I do tend to go on." Bai put her hand over her mouth and in a sign of apology and waited for Rook and Aris'ta to conclude their business before she continued. She'd a few questions for the girl, and a formal introduction as well and it might as well be done here.

"Which one? I don't recall either of them speaking to you, how could you know? Is it something with judging how they look or how you think they act?" Rook questioned before leaning in. "Because you're kind of terrible at it." He straightened and looked up. Rook's chest was a beacon of light, shining brightly as a torch between him and the half-elf. "See? She had other concerns that didn't relate to you at all." He turned to Bai. "I'll only be another moment."

Turning to face Aris'ta, he reached out and tapped the handle of the short sword at her side. "I don't know how to handle this. I can swing an axe, I can hunt a deer. Never held a sword or fired on another person. I imagine it's different. And if I'm going to go after the Stag Lord, I need to be able to do those things. I've seen you work with your bow, I'd like to learn what you're willing to teach."

This message was deleted by the player at 00:22, Mon 30 May 2016.

The uncomfortable feeling returned, especially as he leaned in to tell her how she was terrible at judging character. Already she could feel heat run to her cheeks. Twice. He had made her do that twice. What was it with this man that put her on edge. No doubt she would have done or said something equally embarrassing had it not been for Bai's interruption which brought the dark elf back to the here and now. She cleared her throat, placing a hand over her lips in an attempt to stifle the explainable feeling of mortification that washed over her.

"Clearly, you are right. " she managed, drawing her eyes, eyes that glowed faintly even in the darkness to Bai then back to Rook just as he tapped the handle of her sword. This was getting out of hand, she pulled back with a nervous giggle and shook her head as she slapped a hand back over her mouth. Where the hell had that come from? "You-- you want me to show you how to-- " she stopped, her mind working a thousand paces a minute. "Alright. I'll show you, on one condition." she paused a tick stepping closer to him despite the watchful eyes of Bai before she said "I wish more stories of your sisters, your family. I never had any, not really. I'd like to know more of them, and perhaps more of that God of yours that makes this glow so bright. " she says as she taps the light at his chest with a single finger.

Then, abruptly she turned away before she really did something stupid and managed a rather grim look at Bai. "Different is putting it mildly. Whatever you've heard is likely nothing compared to the truth."

Bai looked away as the two spoke, this wasn't the first time she'd been around people floundering about with their feelings, she knew to just hold her tongue about it. When Aris'ta finally turned to her she gave Rook a quick glance and a smile before replying to the woman.

"I suspect your right, I've only read and heard a bit. A lot of nonsense about innate evil, though really, evil is such a subjective thing. I've always chocked that up to just cultural clash. I do remember hearing that Drow, am I saying that right? That they're very proud people, and have reason to be. If you've time later, I'd love to have you set the record straight though, no sense in letting misinformation spread and all that." Bai rambled on, not unlike a librarian lost in thought. She put a hand to her mouth in a show of embarrassment. "Oh but look at me go on again, I haven't even introduced myself yet, as you were a bit behind in the group when we ran into each other this afternoon. Bai Kao, it is a pleasure to meet you. If you'd be so kind as to give me a few moments later, I would love to learn more of you and your people over tea." Bai leaned in and smiled.

Rook nodded gratefully as she tapped on the luminous holy symbol. "Done, easy." He walked backwards from the half-elf, picking up the pick to rest on his shoulder. Shaking his head, he couldn't hide the smile on his face as he turned away from them to make his way back to the outpost. At least the aching in his shoulders now took his mind off of his legs. But his back was awake and throbbing. Hopefully a good cup of tea would help to soothe it. Lying on that floor probably wouldn't. He heard Bai mention the tea and chuckled loudly.

"I've got the tea, if you'll boil the water." Rook called over his shoulder. "We're bunking together, so there'll be plenty of time tonight. At least the shelter will be better than the graveyard."

> Watch Tower 1
This message was last edited by the player at 15:05, Tue 31 May 2016.

Ari followed Rook's leave with her eyes only a few paces before turning back to Bai. "Aris'ta." she offered as a way to settle herself, it was the only thing she could clearly recall the girl mentioning before her attention had been distracted. "You'll have to clarify what you meant by, " she paused, a puzzled expression reflected in her eyes as she continued "girl talk?" her voice lifting on the last word.

"I'm not very familiar with human customs. I was raised by humans, but never anyone younger than your middle age." she explained, tightly wrapping her arms about her chest in her usual defensive manner. "As for the D'rho, they're as ruthless, wild, and reckless as you've read, lucky for you I am nothing like them. " There was a dark, melancholy in the words she spoke, as well as a disgust she could not explain. Her disdain for her heritage was real, but there was clearly some longing of understanding.

"You must forgive my earlier assertion, I am not use to people being so welcoming. It is more common to be watched with suspicion, I find the acceptance a bit unnerving." Turning her eyes to the outpost, "There is much I have missed without even realizing it. "
This message was last edited by the player at 02:19, Tue 31 May 2016.

Bai watched Rook leave, she'd follow that thread later, for now Aris'ta held her attention. "D'rho? Ah, is that the name you use for yourself.. Or is it more of a regional thing." As she spoke she fished a small journal out and began jotting notes as she spoke. "As for girl talk, I can see you've got a bit of a fancy on young master Rook, and you remind me a bit of a girl I grew up with, Linny. She was just something else when it cam to cooking, master of her own kitchen, and was an amazing equestrian to boot, but if you sat her in front of a boy, all that confidence just seemed to leech out of her. I figured it wouldn't hurt to have someone to talk to. If you want, that is." Bai gave the girl a warm, almost motherly smile. Oddly, despite being in a bun, it seemed as if her hair was being blown about by a gust, though nothing else did. "Since master Rook mentioned it, the three of us will be sleeping in the same chambers, a few others I'd suspect as well. I don't think it would do to ask you to open up in front of everyone like that. Perhaps a walk about the outpost would be more comfortable?"

Aris'ta smiled slyly, "A personal preference. Most pronounce it wrong, so I made an adaption of sorts." The smile slipped a bit as a memory floated to the surface. "The man who raised me pronounced it that way, I suppose I've grown accustomed to it." she amended. The smile slipped completely away as the conversation turned. The uncomfortable feeling also returned and she shifted uneasily on her feet.

"I won't deny to know of what you refer. It, " she pauses, searching for the right word but it fails to come to her. "disturbs me, " she finished, never quite turning her eye back. "I have been alone a very long time, and I have never had reason to complain for a solitary lifestyle. " Then her look returned, it had a look similar to pray being hunted, truly alarmed at the unknown. "Your friend has known me hardly more than a day, and suddenly I find the idea of returning to that life a rather frightening prospect." The loneliness is her voice, and perhaps a trace of fear, drip in her tone.

"I've met many people, but I have never had someone trail me into the darkness to resolve a confusion of words." her head snapped sideways, embarrassed to have said so much. "The darkness has often been a great comfort to me, a place I could hide, I never thought anyone would follow," shifting in her place uncomfortably, silence fell over her for a long moment. "You are different as well, I would not normally be so forth coming. " as if to indicate her approval of the walk, she nods her head in a direction and starts moving there.

"Well it certainly seems like he did a fine job of raising you, not all would be so charitable, and it's good that you landed with one who was." Bai walked with the dark skinned woman letting their walk lead them towards the walls of the outpost. "So how would you prefer I said it, Drow or D'rho? I don't want to offend due to ignorance." She looked in towards the outpost and could see the pair of nobles chatting at the fire and wondered where some of the others had gotten to. "This is quite an eclectic band Mr de la Maistre has gotten together, though I suspect we've all been selected for a reason, and if what I've heard from some of our new companions most of us have ulterior motives." Her eyes drift to the former bandits moving towards the stables, Jack off towards the main house, petitioning Oleg and his wife about one thing or another. "And I know this land also is a place where some of us will get a new start, a second chance if you will." She taps her pencil against her chin as the two talk, looking up at the darkening sky. "What, if I can press, brings you out? I can't help but think that you're not just hired help."

"He was... a good man. From what little I was told, I was found squalling in the woods, else he would not have known. I lay beneath a woman, whom a presume was my mother. He knew what I was and easily could have left me to the wilds. His wife, though, was barren and lonely. They had suffered many losses, as I recall, including one shortly after my arrival. " a frown marred her features as she paused in memory. "She died in childbirth when I was very small, but I still recall her face the day she died."

Taking a breath, she continued moving, wishing to distance herself from the clearly painful memory. "I have no ulterior motive, but even those who live off the land occasionally require coin for this and that. I saw a need for my services and took it. I never expected anything life altering. I assumed once the job was complete I would move on as I've done for myself in the past. " Her thoughtful gaze focuses around the surrounding area and her defense posture relaxes some.

"Now, I am unsure." she looks uncomfortable, as if a question lingers but she is unsure whether to speak it or not. "And you? Are you of ulterior motives?" This is clearly not what was on her mind as this one comes without hesitation.

Bai nodded as Aris'ta spoke, keeping quiet and keeping her journal down, none of this needed to be written down. She walked in silence for a while with Aris'ta before she answered. "Well, they wouldn't be ulterior if I went about telling everyone about them, now would they." She gave the Drow a warm smile. "Though what brings me out here isn't something I really planned to hide, I was told that those that assist Mr de la Maistre would reap great rewards, and frankly I'd like that. If you'd found me a decade ago, I would have told you that my life was going to be one that revolved around my husband, and for a while it did. But all things come to an end sooner or later, and that was on the sooner end of the spectrum. So I look at this as a chance to find a new way in the world."

Bai reached down and picked up a small stone, moving it between her fingers and smiled, "I don't really know what will happen here, but I suspect if nothing else it'll give me something to write about." She tossed the small rock into the air, and just as it began to fall it bounced off something unseen and flew into the distance. "And hopefully it'll keep my mind off things that need being kept off of. Ah but enough about that, tell me about Rook and what you're thinking in his regards."

Aris'ta eyed Bai thoughtfully. The woman was not what she had expected and like Ari, she seemed to have lived a life full of hardships often better if left unspoken. "No, I suppose that would defeat the purpose, but I had to ask. " she amended softly, only as an insert so that Bai would continue. "So you came to start over, in a manner of speaking. "'To the past, the past, but the beginning is in the future," she recited softly, a smile playing on her lips. Despite herself, she found she liked Bai, even if she was the curious sort. Then again, Ari was something of a novelty, a Drow that wouldn't slice your throat was a rarity, or so she had been told.

"Full circle," she managed with another short lived smile as the conversation returned to the earlier topic, she fell silent, thoughts heavily on her mind. "I will not, nor as I see now, can I deny an interest. For what little I know of him, I find I want to know more, and I have the slightest inclination that particular desire will not be so easy to fade." while she allows one hand to drop to her side, the other runs over the top of her head, pulling at the tight knot of hair that drops to well past her waist. "Different worlds, she reflects hauntingly. "To even think of inflicting the public censure on another for just being in my company..." she shakes her head, "No one deserves or desires such a life, especially out here in the wilderness."

Placing her hands on her hips she stares off in the direction the rock had flown, a rush of air leaving her lips. "The idea bothers me, and it never did before. What's more?" she turns back with large eyes that reflect her dislike of what she was about to say, "He makes me care about what he thinks in that regard."

"To even think of inflicting the public censure on another for just being in my company..." Bai holds back a small laugh, but a snort escapes. Placing a hand on Aris'ta's arm Bai speaks with a good deal of warmth. "I don't know him well myself, but if he's like any other man I've known he'll do whatever he's a mind to do regardless of how it's viewed. Public censure..." Bai chuckles as she says the words, "I don't mean to be rude, but no one is going to be cold or overly rude to the person they're going to come to for healing. We don't flaunt it, but those of us that can know we get a little bit more leniency from society due to the service we provide. It's a- Oh, just a moment." Bai let the warmth drip away from her voice as Jack, one of the ex-bandits raised a hand and walked towards the pair of women.

Bai walked off towards him and the two spoke in low tones, Bai putting her hands on her hips while nodding. "Well that won't do, go find Brother Barthomew, see what you can learn from him." The man nodded and turned, walking back into outpost as Bai returned to Aris'ta. "Sorry about that, I want to keep him working, idle hands and all that you know." She looked into the distance "I think that I'm going to head down to the lake and wash up before bed, I'm not so accustomed to dust and dirt that comes with travel as some of us are. You're welcome to join if you want, of course."

Airs lofted a brow, raising her arms to fold back over her chest. Mentally, she was making a note of something in what Bai had said, storing it for later. There were many things Aris failed to understand, her lack of time about people limited her knowledge. She had heard things, but knowing them was another matter entirely and it had never occurred to her that she was somewhat free now to ask. Instead, she simply nodded her head as she saw a man approach from the outpost, turning her eyes away to give what was perceived as privacy, though her ears were more than likely picking up some bits and pieces of what was said. However, Aris was reflecting, so whatever she may have heard was lost to her.

Rook was right, she was a terrible judge of situation and character and it made her more than a little uneasy. She shifted her positioning, a scowl on her face as Bai returned and she moved her eyes back to the woman. "" Yes," she said simply in regards to comment about idle hands, but conversation was not a strong suit for Aris'ta and the offer to join the other in what she still deemed a 'private' custom was too much of a step for a woman who had already climbed a small mountain in social regards. "I will stay here, but I thank you the offer. You mentioned speaking later, and if we are, then I had best complete some things before your return." she remarked slowly, "Or we could continue the subject another time if you find yourself otherwise occupied."

She took a step or two towards the outpost and stopped, looking back at Bai "Humans are not what I expected them to be. I am pleased to find I was wrong in that regard. " Then, with a final bow of her head, she moves back towards the outpost.

---

New Day

---

>>>From Oleg's>>>

It wasn't the first time she had felt like this. It wasn't the first time she had the desire to run.

It was the first time she'd felt suddenly suffocated by it. The sudden need for air. The sudden driving panic that curled in the pit of her belly, threatening to make her sick. It wouldn't be the first time since coming to this place she'd had to sneak away to do just that.

Now, that urge made her feel unbearably hot. She pulled at her gloves, her hands trembling, clenching and releasing her grasp as she struggled for some sense of control. Her fingers picked at the clasps that held her over shirt on, releasing the collar first in hopes of some relief and finding none, continued until she had removed the garment completely. She let it fall where she dropped it, as it felt strangely heavy in her grasp. The gloves too became discarded as she clawed at her throat, her breath coming noisily while she struggled.

Usually, there a build to these attacks, so that she could safely hide herself away until she had some sense of control. But this? This was sudden. This overwhelming demand for air that her lungs simply couldn't supply. Her footing gave out unexpectedly and she dropped, one knee landing on the hard earth as the other bent tightly beneath her. She coughed, violently, breaking something away as she suddenly sucked in air. Nausea hit her square and hard. Somehow, she managed to get to her feet, dragging herself to the nearby tree line where she promptly and completely rid herself of her meager breakfast and then some.

It felt like hours, days, but it had only been moments. She dragged herself to her feet, but they went no further than the graves before she fell again, this time not getting up. Instead, she stared off with her lifeless expression, struggling to compose herself and completely oblivious to the tears that streamed down her face. Finally, she closed her eyes, leaned her head on a risen knee, and silently sobbed.

This small patch of land is set away from Oleg’s but holds three freshly dug graves, each with a field-stone marker.  The largest stone has a sword buried in and marks the grave of Moto Trema.

Finally!

As the graves came into sight and the woman nearly sighed in content. At least here she could expect not to be disturbed and perhaps she could gather just a bit of sleep as well. Pulling at her clock, she removed the article and bunched it up, tossing it on a patch of soft earth, before loosening her armor and letting that fall as well. At this particular moment, she didn't care about anything, Fey, Prejudice, Loneliness... it didn't matter. She just wanted to forget it all and rest.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and for a moment, she simply stood there with her face uplifted, letting the sun come upon her, the heat warming her soul, before she allowed her eyes to open and bent to her knees and rolled to her back. Pulling a part of the hood free from the cloak, as to protect her eyes, she relaxed and was easily enough pulled into a deep sleep. Let the outside world be damned, for once, Aris'ta didn't care who saw her or what happened, as long as no one woke her.

---------------------------
Some time later ....
---------------------------

This small patch of land is set away from Oleg’s but holds three freshly dug graves, each with a field-stone marker.  The largest stone has a sword buried in and marks the grave of Moto Trema.

A young cleric in black Robes, clearly a pharasmin, tends to one of the graves.