Anzu walked alongside Grug's wagon, Nakreyya on his back. She was comfortable riding, the reigns for her steed loosely in one hand, and largely for show. She watched Fionn as he walked ahead, showing them both the way. His expression and body language spoke to a desire to be alone, and Nakreyya was find affording him that luxury. After all, she and Grug would be invading his space for an indeterminate amount of time, and Nak knew that she could be... cranky... herself if she didn't get time to be alone. 

For her part, she turned her mind to her curiosity about Grug. She had some experience with the loss of a body part, and subsequent replacement with something different. Her glass eye and eyepatch were not sapient, as such - but mingle them with the not so incongruous analogy of her relationship with Anzu, and Nak understood why Grug had correlated her steed with his arm. 

"If you do not mind me asking - what happened to your arm?" Nak asked, not turning to look at Grug as she spoke. 

The orc was surprised by the question and took a moment to blink and gather his thoughts. The elf had wanted to talk after all. "That is a long story. It was always a weak and feeble arm, but once upon a time I spent too long gazing beyond the Veil... and next thing I knew, I was back in my little home, everything on the shelves had been trashed about and my arm was even weaker", he began to share, stopping to take a breather.

"The... Veil?" Nakreyya did turn toward him this time, raising a delicate eyebrow as she considered his words. 

"The Veil is what guards the future and past from mortal eyes. We are only meant to view the present... few of us can see beyond it. I see the futures that may come to be. As I have told you, they are many. Some good, some bad." The question asked of him drove his tale to a different track than it had been taking before.

"I see, my apologies for the interruption. Please continue," Nakreyya said with a nod. 

"Ah, yes, where was I...", Grug gathered his thoughts for a second. "I should have understood the warning signs back then... but what the voice I heard next told me what it was. [i]Gaze too long beyond the veil and the veil will make you its own.[/i] And so I have carried Slammy within me. They awaken at the three words of awakening... I hope that need not be done."

"Slammy... that is an interesting name for your arm. It is sentient, I gather? Has will of its own?" Nakreyya couldn't keep a hair of a smirk out of her expression as she said the name.

"If it has a name it has not told me. That's what I call it. It slams things. And yes, it very much lives on its own accord. As I've told, it understands not to attack me. But once it awakens, either it has to kill or be killed. And the cacophony it makes..." He tossed his arm through the reins so that he could hold onto them with his elbow joint while rubbing his eyes. Slammy's appearance was hardly pleasant for anyone involved and he had to be present every single time.

"Interesting. I thank you for sharing the story, and hope my questions were not too personal," Nakreyya said formally, she did hate to pry. 

"You are welcome", Grug responded to the woman with a nod, flicking his arm to guide the reins back into his fingers. "I will find the time to ask you something similar, so we will be even in time. Worry not about it. An Oracle answers to questions for a living."

Nakreyya actually smiled, laughing lightly. The sound was genuine - borne of amusement from the joke. It was rare she laughed, but she enjoyed it all the same. Something about laughter felt light, and airy. It felt like the old her... the one who had dressed in slinky gowns of red silk and tapped goblets of crystal in celebration. "As you say," she said to Grug, shaking her head with amusement. She kept her horse near his cart, continuing the ride alongside him in silence. 

Once they arrived at the ship, Nakreyya felt an overwhelming urge to crawl over every inch of the mechanics and breathe in an understanding of how the ship functioned. She knew they wouldn't be on the ship long, and now she sorely regretted that fact. She would love to crawl through every secret the ship had to offer. Fionn ascended to the top of the stairs and opened his arms magnanimously for the others. 

"Welcome my friends, to the KRS Wandering Guardian. My home away from home," he said. 

Nakreyya dismounted from Anzu, and began to guide him up the ramp and into the ship. She looked around inside, taking in the neat lines of the construction. 

"She is lovely, Fionn. What do the letters 'KRS' stand for?" Nakreyya asked, walking Anzu to the corner of a large area where he would be out of the way, and stroking his head as she turned to wait for Grug to come up behind her, watching to see if he'd need help loading his wagon into the ship. 

[@Silvan Haven] [@Hekazu] ((Transcript of Grug's conversation provided by Hekazu via Discord! Offered with permission!))