Axley was used to sleeping on the streets. Before she had found Snow and gotten his help to get back on her feet, there had been a corner right on the outskirts of the market district that she had called her home. She was used to terrible sleeping conditions...and was just as used to being rudely awoken in the middle of the night. Not that she enjoyed any of it for a moment, of course; when it was her turn to go on watch for the night, she grumbled as unhappily as anyone else would. But she at least knew she wouldn't pass out on the job. Thankfully, it seemed whatever army still remained within the Soulbreaker Orb's radius was either not headed their way or still deciding on what to do next, as their night went thankfully uninterrupted. Thank the gods for that. 

Axley was the one who had the final watch before they moved on, so she was more than prepared to move as everyone else woke up with the dawn's light. She quietly urged everyone on, still wanting to be absolutely nowhere near the Imperial Rubble lest they find the undead horde moving out without being prepared. She had spent plenty of time inspecting her ceremonial sword; despite her sparing use and precious care of the blade, she could tell the weapon was beginning to fall apart. She had no idea how much longer she would be able to keep the blade intact; maybe if they got to Lord's Crossing, she could find some way to leech some money off of Fergus to get it reforged. She'd have up and gotten a new one entirely, but considering it was one of only two links to her past she knew of, it held quite a fair bit of sentimental value to the bard. Memories of a life long gone now, stored deep within the slightly tarnished metal and wood varnish of her lute. Memories of a life now two 'lives' removed. First a noble, then a street urchin, now a refugee.

As the group began to head out, Fergus called out to someone-or some[i]thing[/i]-he spotted on the other side of the stream they were going to follow. Axley had had her mind on what would happen when they got to Lord's Crossing; she hadn't been on watch, and she chastised herself for her wandering mind. But if they were truly going to be accosted so soon after their harrowing escape, Axley was prepared to simply put whoever it was that would challenge them in the ground. She had had enough combat and running for her life to last several lifetimes, all in the span of a few hours. If they were going to have to do it all over again...

...

...wait. 

[i]Wait.[/i]

Axley knew that name. And given the unique surname, she knew there was no way it was some mere coincidental case of mistaken identity. Though given what background she knew of the man, it would be no surprise that he of all people would survive the carnage...it still was more of a surprise than Axley was looking for. Why did everything all have to happen at once? She'd thought she'd never see him again after she left her home behind....left everything behind. And yet...he was a survivor as well.

Would he even recognize her? It had been over two years now. She turned to Fergus and the rest of her ragtag group, a strangely nervous and apprehensive look on her face. "It's fine. I...know him. Er...knew him." Axley bit her lip awkwardly. How was she going to approach this? Given their interactions in the past...she didn't know how much he knew about her father's intentions, but if he had caught on at all...

"Survivor is one way of putting it, I guess." Axley took charge, doing her best not to sound nervous. She wondered if he'd even recognize her. "We're trying to get to Lord's Crossing so we can regroup and try to make sense of all this mess." That was the gist of their plan, anyways. She turned back to Fergus, Snow, and Cilia. "Sasuke is a very accomplished warrior, as I remember. We'd be in a much safer position if he came along with us." That was spoken with a little bit of bile in her mouth. Strategically, yes, it made perfect sense, but for Axley, it was going to be a nightmare. How would she be able to speak with him...? Surely he knew of her family's corruption now...