Michellin

Wanderers

“Bolym? Hm. I’ll make a note of that. No other workers, farmers among you? Though I suppose them being outside the city walls meant they had been particularly vulnerable.” Kire was already distracted by imagining the work that would need to be done, not only to cultivate a farm from scratch successfully but to even get Bolym and the people of Little Ziad to cooperate with each other. She knew very well how near-insurmountable generations of bias could be, but she hoped that their need to survive and thrive should eventually win out over prejudices that should no longer matter. She wondered for a moment why Ruli looked much more dejected amid all this farming talk, but decided not to press. Not that she had much confidence that he would answer her even if she did.

“You’re welcome. Honestly, trying to help a community back on its feet isn’t all that different from what I’ve been doing these past few months.” She smiled, though only briefly. “We’re not done with the work. You have yours cut out for you, too. But the fact that you’ve managed to keep this community safe here, it’s a feat in itself.” She wished then that she didn’t have the hunt for Ikegai to worry about on top of helping the former residents of Ziad, alongside her own. A mountain of unfinished business. “The work never ends,” she murmured, half to herself, then, to the other two, “ Alright, I was up far too early today; I’ll go grab a few winks, conserve my energy for the supply run. You can wake me when we’re ready to go,” she said, addressing Rulitus this time before turning to go back to her room in the caverns. She lay on her ‘mattress’ for a little while longer, resting her head on her laced fingers as she waited to drift back to sleep.

Wanderers

Kire nodded. “Duly noted. I’ll bring the sword. I can carry a huge weight with me, though the number of return trips for a day will be much less than I would be able to do. I could do it for the first three or four trips, the rest perhaps Rulitus and I can split the load. Gathering old but serviceable furniture is still a good idea, would still help save some labor, and especially if you’re not planning to stay for too long here. You do have a lot of good wood outside, too,” she added, gesturing vaguely behind her. “If you plan on staying longer here, your people need to take better advantage of the land. I’d suggest you look into cultivating even a small farm, if you’re going to clear a bit of forest for the wood, anyway. That should be something to do for those who can’t hunt. When I was scouring the ruins back in Ziad, there seemed to be some remains or attempts at farmland near what used to be your walls, unless I was mistaken.”

Wanderers

Kire smirked. “Not that different from any port city, then,” she said, putting the coin purse back in her satchel. “But duly noted. I’ll be careful.” She listened to them throw ideas about how best to handle their predicament with Zeke, and perhaps keeping Ysaryn involved with it. “Ysaryn had been the one to tell me about her concerns for him, despite the animosity,” she put in, “there’s potential for both of them to loosen up around one another. Just not in Cordon.”

She crossed her arms, thinking over their plans for the day. “Just let me know what it is we need on this supply run. I’ll be ready to go when you are,” she said, addressing Ruli. “Hopefully they wouldn’t mind me looking like this—I don't mean just my face, but armed. Would they question a lady walking around with a big old sword and armor? Or should I dress more like a lady?” Her mouth twitched into a smirk as she huffed at that suggestion.

Wanderers

Kire nodded once at Ruli to acknowledge him, then greeted Envy in turn. She let the two men explain first, noting the limitations they had, which she had been aware of. “I talked to Ysaryn; she’d given me an idea what Cordon would be like, and what she and Zeke would do on their supply runs. Speaking of coin, however, I know Ysaryn had mentioned ‘gold’ to me before, so I at least know that’s something valuable here.” She had brought the satchel with her, which patted twice as she spoke. “I brought coin with me, in case we’d need it. It’s not quite a gold mine, but if Rulitus here is a good haggler we could find quality goods, I surmise. It’s a port town, after all.”

She paused, thinking over her earlier conversation with the elf, then continued, “We were also wondering how to help Zekiel, given that he might’ve been getting something out of these trips to Cordon. Ysaryn will speak with you about that, I think, but just wanted to let you know it’s something she’s been thinking about.”

Wanderers

Kire nodded, considering the suggestion to take Zeke along, if only briefly. It would be good for him, but she wasn’t too sure how well they would work together, and definitely she couldn’t bring him when Ruli was coming along, too. She feared, too, what would happen if Ikegai or Akuma had somehow tracked them there, and she had to worry about his safety amidst a fight. Which is exactly what he doesn’t want from anybody. She thanked Ysaryn for her offer of tea, a little relieved the elf woman wasn’t offering the same kind she was drinking, and nodded in farewell when she went to look for Bolym, smirking at her teasing. One of these days, she should invite Ysaryn for a drink.

While she still had the space to herself, she stayed a while longer in the kitchen after finding some of the herbal teas she had brought back with her. The smell alone reminded her of Elva and the cold North. After finishing the piping hot cup, Kire sighed and got ready to leave to speak to Envy and Rulitus.

Wanderers

Kire blinked. Ugly body? Her lips parted in surprise at Ysaryn’s description, she almost ignored the elf’s actual answer to her question. Before she could stop herself, she barked out a loud laugh. “You are very good at disarming your opponent,” she replied, shaking her head as she grinned. “Can’t believe I fell for that.” She gestured at Ysaryn’s hair. “Nobody has hair like that where I’m from. Rather boring.”

When she gently but firmly told Kire that helping to find them a home was not her duty, Kire nodded solemnly. It was a good reminder, hearing it from somebody else that wasn’t herself or Jan. Besides, I am still a stranger here. If anybody would know best for her people, it would be Ysaryn. Her invitation to visit, and the subsequent comment about her fishing skills, made her laugh again. It wasn’t too far from the truth. “I will behead many fishes for you,” she said in mock solemnity.

She fell silent, thinking over her question about Zeke. Ugly body. Sounds about right. “He’s still hurting. Envy says he’s someone who doesn’t want to be useless. Cordon might’ve been good for him to feel that, and just to get away from the caves. Envy’s going to find something else for him to do while Rulitus and I take over.” Kire sighed. “I suppose he needs to be around people who don’t remind him of what happened to him. Make him feel like the man he was. But I think that goes for many of the people in here. Find that thing that makes you go from just living day to day to having purpose. Like what you told me before. Make things mean something again.”

Wanderers

Kire stayed quiet as Ysaryn explained, watching her fetch water for the kettle. She could only imagine the humiliation that came with pretending to be a slave, and owned by a man with as volatile a temper and condition as Zeke. She waited patiently while the elf struggled to gather her words, and sighed, lips pressed thin in a grim expression when Ysaryn explained what had happened during their last trip. Her eyes flashed for a brief moment in anger and horror when the elf told her about being stolen before. Bastards.

Not having the words in response to what Ysaryn had just told her, Kire looked into her eyes, glowing almost like gems in the sun, and raised a hand to gently touch her by the elbow, only briefly, before letting it fall to her side again. “One day, we’ll walk down the beach. Your kin living nearby. We’ll catch some fish. Or you will. I’m shit at fishing.” She smirked. “Let’s brew some tea.”

She was silent back in the kitchen, her mind getting a picture of the kind of men that populated Cordon. “I had asked Rulitus to enchant something for me, to change my face,” she remarked, watching the elf. “Had asked him to make me look much more boring than I already am. Are there not a lot of people with hair like mine around here?” she asked, remembering Ysaryn’s reaction to her appearance the first night they met.

Wanderers

“He was, huh.” Kire ate lazily. “Guess this cave is full of shallow sleepers. Except perhaps Envy. I don’t like being woken too early, myself. Too bad you can’t exactly punch nightmares,” she added with a shrug of a shoulder. “Where I live? I used to live in a very big city, lowlands. There’s a mountain range not too far away. But lately, I have been moving from sea to mountains. The mountains where most of my remaining family are staying are very high up. Very cold. But it’s safest for them for now. I spend time at sea or seaside ports for important work, when we need things to buy or trade, or to gather information.” She smiled at Ysaryn’s enthusiasm for the sea, and her wish for her people. “You’ll find a new home for them someday, if that’s your wish. You seem very headstrong, I wager you have it in you to lead your people to somewhere nice. I might even help you with that, if I’m able to.” Kire, there you go again.

She paused, however, when Zekiel entered. Kire looked between the two of them, waiting to see if they’d spring into a fight. To her surprise, though, he apologized to the elf before stalking off. “Quite right,” she muttered back to Ysaryn. “It will be a long while before these caverns could be home.” She gestured at her elf companion, her eyes on the bruises. “What happened? I had thought you’d gotten that from training earlier.”

Wanderers

Kire chuckled at Ysaryn’s description of being the Chieftain’s daughter, then nodded at how she described the port city. She wondered what it would have been like to be shunned for one’s race the way Ysaryn had been used to. Even as an exile, Kire knew it wasn’t the same: she still had privilege, and she had at least known comfort in her life. She got up after the elf, brushed herself off, and nodded at her warning. “I know. Thank you.” She offered a smirk. “I can’t die too early. Not before I take some heads with me.” She turned toward the entrance that led into the kitchen. “Let’s find a bite to eat, shall we?”

Be careful of Rulitus, huh? Kire’s mind recalled that moment when she had just cut his bow and she had come close enough to sense his magic. She imagined him to be someone teetering on the edge of falling into an abyss; even now, after having reunited with some of his people, Rulitus was a man just going through the motions of life. Anger and emptiness were a dangerous combination. She had felt that, these past six months, and back then, as a young Empress bereft of her mother and father, fresh after the Black Storm. When it happened then, she did fall off that edge, and she was paying the price for the darkness she had let consume her.

She picked off some cured meat; by now, the breakfast Rulitus had cooked earlier was long gone, and she wondered, a little disappointed, who had cooked whatever was the now-absent source of the lingering aroma in the kitchen. “It’s a damn shame about Cordon, and your people’s experiences there. Maybe someday you could travel, see other coastal settlements. Living by the sea could be quite nice at times. Though I dislike being on a boat for too long.” She cringed at that. “I wonder if Envy’s talked to Rulitus about this—arrangement.”

Wanderers

“Ah. A fair point,” Kire replied when Ysaryn described the port city. She sat near the elf, picking up a twig and absently playing with the water with it. She listened quietly to Ysaryn’s answers, though she did snort when the elf was finding the right word for what to call their leaders. “Council is right. A council of all men? Dictators, definitely,” she interjected, smirking, though she wasn’t sure if her companion would understand the joke behind it. To the elf’s answer about where she got her supplies, Kire grinned. Quite the ‘resourceful’ woman, this one. She would definitely fit in with her pirate friends.

Kire nodded, noting Ysaryn’s warning about her kin. An understandable hatred. She had to laugh, though, when the elf considered leaving her bodyguard behind. “He will not be happy at all about that.” Her question, however, made Kire frown. “Uh. Hmm.” She squinted at something in the distance, thinking it over. “Well we don’t want to kill each other just yet. Good place to start, I suppose?” She shrugged. “Right now, it’s in our best interest to cooperate with each other. For as long as our goals are aligned, I think we can tolerate each other. When you're Chieftess, you get used to putting on airs. Getting along without getting along." She smirked at Ysaryn.