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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - MORNING
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Senyi drowsily floats her way down the stairs toward the bar. She's not in a very good mood as of yet, and she takes a seat and orders coffee.
Senyi takes her coffee, yawns, and looks around the Minnow to see who decided dragging themselves in this morning was a good idea.
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TRAINING GROUNDS - AFTERNOON
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Brunilda takes another powerful swing at a training dummy with her halberd, with enough grunting force to threaten to topple the relatively sturdy thing she put together in the first place. The elephant has been at this for a while and it's obvious she's tiring, but something's driving her to practice and action at least for a bit longer.
Louma lands just outside the gate of the training grounds, slithering through the entrance and having a look around, though she already knew where Brun was at. She gives a light sigh of contentment as she approaches the dummy area, laying a bundle of practice weapons on the prep table. She opts to watch Brun for a minute, though, without interrupting.
Brunilda takes one more swing at the dummy, all but cleaving the thing in half as it finally gives up from the pachyderm enacting frustrated violence at it. She gives a loud yell of anger and exhaustion, dropping to her knees and letting go of her weapon.
Louma blinks, hesitating for only a moment before she quickly slithers over to Brun's side. "Easy there, Brunilda... What has you so worked up?"
Brunilda starts a bit upon being sneaked upon, then just sighs: "H-hi, Captain." She doesn't look up.
Louma examines the scattered remains of the poor, defenseless training dummy before looking towards the impressive halberd. "That was a pretty intense display, are you going to be okay?"
Brunilda reaches her hand towards the handle of her halberd, but she's shaking a touch much to actually grasp it yet and gives up. "Y-yeah. Will be." She glances at Louma: "J-just had some... energy to burn."
Louma relaxes a little bit giving Brun a little bit of space. "That was more than just energy in your voice, Brunilda."
Brunilda sighs, looking down again as she wilts a little at the (pointed) comment: "...y-yeah." She looks at the remains of the training dummy and gives a soft grunt.
Louma sighs, shaking her head and lowering herself to Brun's eye level, her voice softening. "Sorry, I don't mean to sound so curt. You don't have to tell me, just take it easy for a moment."
Brunilda sighs, then shakes her head. "No, you... it's fine. Give me a moment." She takes a few steadying breaths before successfully grasping the hilt of her halberd and getting up. Few more breaths before she speaks. "Honestly... I feel so alone."
Louma rises with Brun, offering her a gentle smile that falters on her last statement. "I see."
Brunilda sighs as she looks away: "E-everyone around me... everyone seems to have someone. You. May. Nesseth. Cavro. Heck, even Bracvar if I've understood his drunken talks right. Me, I'm just... me."
Louma is taken aback, her initial assumption falling away. "Ah... I understand the feeling, Brunilda. It's frustrating, isn't it?" She settles down on her coil, looking to the ground for a minute.
Brunilda can't quite stop the frustration from seeping into her voice again: "It's become... h-hard to ignore, lately."
Louma looks toward Brunilda, unsure what she can offer in terms of advice. "You're pretty incredible, I'm sure you'll find someone that will know how lucky they are to have you. I mean, you're only 22, Brunilda."
Brunilda sighs tiredly, nodding: "...I know." She pauses, then decides to change the subject, looking at Louma sharply: "So this expedition? I want in."
Louma is shaken by the sudden subject change. "What? Why? It's not just a flower picking trip, Brunilda."
Brunilda nods, feeling renewed vigor in her despite her still-visible tiredness: "I know."
Louma shakes her head, her tone becoming somewhat sharp. "Did you consult with Plume first? Are you fully recovered? One fight against a wooden dummy and you were on the ground, can you handle multiple days in the mountains?"
Brunilda hesitates ever-so-slightly as she glances at the dummy, then looks back at Louma: "I... I can do it."
Louma frowns, then sighs. "I don't like it... But at the same time, I have to admit your strength would be incredibly helpful for bringing Garwin down."
Brunilda looks at Louma, curious: "Garwin?"
Louma nods. "Garwin is a guard that was with me on our failed search for an expedition party. Him and Victoria opted to continue the search after I got hurt. That was the night you and I met, actually." She drops her gaze, clearly still bothered by the compounded failures.
Brunilda grips her halberd, her resolution slightly faltering but Fiora's words ring in her head: "...if I can take the chance, I should. Right? Help you."
Louma returns to the present, looking up to Brunilda. "You're sure about this, aren't you? I know it's in your nature, considering how you got hurt in the first place... But why are you willing to risk the trek with your injuries?"
Brunilda hesitates again before nodding: "...yes. If I need to, I will."
Louma examines Brun's face for a long moment. "I suppose there's no argument for that, because I know you would. Can you give me a little time to think about it?"
Brunilda nods after a moment, shifting her position and cracking her neck: "Your call, Captain."
Louma sighs, shaking her head again. "I was looking forward to a relaxing time beating on some straw dummies." She gives Brun a wry grin. "And now I've got an elephant's-worth of stress on my shoulders." She slithers to the table as she speaks, selecting a wooden club from the bundle.
Brunilda looks at Louma slither to the table: "...bad timing?"
Louma shakes her head as she heft the club and looks toward Brun. "Not at all. What else is better for faceless stress than assigning it to a training dummy?" Her tail tenses before she springs across the dirt, clearing twenty feet of ground as the club comes down on the shoulder of her target, the frame buckling under the blow. Her follow up cross swing collapses the slight lean further. She leaps back from the dummy and thrusts forward to finish it with a solid upward swing, breaking the dummy free of the dirt as it falls over backward.
Brunilda is slightly taken by surprise at Louma's charge, looking at her Captain and friend's swings with interest. She wants to say something, but ends up just nodding slowly.
Louma huffs, looking at the fallen dummy for a second before setting the club onto her shoulder, turning to slither back to Brun. "Sure. You can accompany us. You need to understand the risks, and you need to go to Plume for a physical, but you have my permission."
Brunilda blinks, but then tries to hide her slight surprise: "...o-okay. Will do." She pauses, then looks back up with a small smile: "Thank you."
Louma gives the elephant a smile in return. "Don't mention it. Everyone wants to leave these walls for a bit once in a while. Some just want a good excuse. Have you gone on expeditions before?" She returns to her bundle of weapons, laying the club among them and turning to speak with Brun.
Brunilda hesitates slightly as her fingers tap on her halberd: "Err... no."
Louma: "Nothing to be worried about, you might want to speak to a few guards who have some experience, though, so you have an idea what to bring with you. Trail rations are a good idea. Water, of course. And perhaps select a blunt weapon to bring along?" She eyes up the halberd. "Feel free to bring that, but I want Garwin and Victoria back alive, even if they're not themselves any longer."
Brunilda looks at her halberd: "...I haven't thought about that. G-good point."
Louma chuckles lightly. "Okay, now that we're both a little more relaxed... What brought on this desire to tag along? We were asking for volunteers almost a week ago."
Brunilda blinks: "I only heard of it the other day. And... I need to make a difference. To help."
Louma tilts her head slightly, losing her smile a little bit as she considers what she wants to say against what she thinks she should. "Fair enough." is what she goes with, deciding it's not worth getting in to.
Brunilda looks at Louma for a moment, then just picks up her halberd: "I'll speak to Plume. I won't let you or anyone down."
Louma smiles warmly at the ideal guard standing before her. "You never have, Brunilda. Thank you."
Brunilda smiles, the nods towards the vague direction of the middle of town: "I think Minnow's calling me." She gives Louma a quick salute: "Thank you again, Captain."
Louma returns the salute, nodding. "Enjoy yourself, my expedition groups are dry." She chuckles.
Brunilda chuckles: "Fair enough. Talk to you later." She turns to go, feeling better about things already. Her earlier plight at least momentarily forgotten.
Louma turns to her weapons again before pausing, calling out to Brun. "Ah! Before you go, are you going to tell Maybelline today? I don't want to accidentally say anything until you've had the chance."
Brunilda blinks, turning around: "Tell her what?"
Louma pauses. "Well you've been helping around the generator, and learning from her, haven't you? She's going to want to know that her close friend is leaving for a while."
Brunilda opens her mouth, then closes it. She had completely forgotten, of course, in her haste to get on board. "O-oh. Yeah. Will do."
Louma nods, smiling. "Alright, just checking. Have a good evening, Brunilda." She gives the pachyderm a shallow bow instead of a salute, before turning back to her bundle.
Brunilda nods, heading off... though now not sure to where. Suddenly she feels a lot less great for having, even briefly, forgotten May in this situation...
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NESSETH'S HOUSE - LATE AFTERNOON
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Nesseth moves around the kitchen, gathering up some odds and ends to fill out his rations for the trail. He's got some salted meats and other such pieces of foodstuffs gathered, neatly portioned out and wrapped, ready to eat when needed.
Doc Plume walks in the front door and calls out. "Nesseth?" The two long ago left behind the formality of needing to knock at each others' places.
Nesseth looks over his shoulder towards the living room as he pauses in his preparations and calls back. "In the kitchen at the moment, Plume."
Doc Plume closes the door behind them and heads into the kitchen, their hands held behind their back. They quickly get the picture of what Nesseth is doing and nods. "Ah.. is it that soon already?"
Nesseth shakes his head and smiles as Plume steps into the kitchen. "Not quite. I'm just getting it ready now so I don't need to do it right before we leave. That way, I can spend the evening before just snuggling with you."
Doc Plume takes a seat at the table, letting Nesseth finish up his work. "Of course... I'm just worried, you know that." They rest their hands on the table top as they watch the lizard work. "Have you ever done anything like this before?"
Nesseth nods a little as he finishes up the piece of food he'd been working on. He takes a moment to wipe his hands before taking a seat at the table with Plume. "I've gone on rescue trips with the guards before, but mostly just due to folks who go out and don't come back on time due to weather or something. I don't think we've ever had any magical troubles like this, especially involving another guard."
Doc Plume leans over to kiss Nesseth on the cheek once he sits down. "Fair enough. I just feel kind of useless right now. I don't have anything to go on with finding a cure..."
Nesseth hums and smiles warmly at the kiss, leaning in to linger against Plume's cheek for a few moments as he sneaks his own kiss. "Don't get down too hard on yourself, Plume... You're doing what you can with everything we know at this point."
Doc Plume giggles. "Thanks... so I brought you something." They pull away and reach into the pocket of their waistcoat to pull out a silver chain with a simple disc hanging from it. "Not like it'll do you much good around Mean Peak, but this marks you as an agent of the Silver-Talon family and requires that any company agents lend you what assistance they can." They hold it out for Nesseth to look at. "Maybe it'll be useful some day in a pinch..."
Nesseth blinks as Plume pulls out the necklace and pendant and holds it out. He leans in a little closer to examine it as they're holding it. "I could see this possibly being useful one day eventually, yeah... and..." He smiles softly as he looks up from the pendant to Plume, "Even if it might not help directly with the trip to Mean Peak... it'll be my good luck charm."
Doc Plume blushes a little, but carefully takes the chain and clasps it around Nesseth's neck under his main neck frill. "I just want you to come back safe, OK?"
Nesseth adjusts his frills a little and tilts his head to give Plume easier access as they clasp the necklace in place. Once he senses the clasp catch and secure in place, he leans forward a bit and lightly wraps his arms around Plume's midsection in a warm hug. "I'll come back safe, as will everyone else. I'll make that a promise to keep."
Doc Plume hugs Nesseth close and smiles, resting their beak on his shoulder. "All right. If you come back as a little lizard, I reserve the right to keep you in a terrarium for a week before I cure you."
Nesseth chuckles and grins as he lightly nuzzles into the soft feathers against Plume's neck. "I agree to those conditions. If I wind up turning into a little lizard, I won't hear the end of it anyway from others. Might as well make it complete, so I'll be more careful in the future."
Doc Plume squeezes Nesseth close. "I love you. I don't want to lose you..."
Nesseth hums at the hug and gives Plume a gentle squeeze in turn. "I love you, too, Plume. You won't lose me to something like this. I'll come back regardless of what it takes."
Doc Plume wraps their wings around Nesseth warmly. "I know. I trust you, but I still worry." They look around the kitchen. "Any new developments I should know about?"
Nesseth hums thoughtfully as he settles comfortably into the warmth. "Mmh... well, I took your advice to speak with May about a water distiller. She had a good schematic for a portable one, and I just need a power supply for the heating element. That means I just need to find Vix or Bracvar and see if they've got anything of the sort on hand to loan."
Doc Plume nods some. "That's good. Could also use firegas maybe, but that's probably not great to be lugging around."
Nesseth tilts his head a bit. "Firegas? You mean the stuff Froge brings in from his village? That could be useful if carrying a canister of it was... maybe a bit safer."
Doc Plume shakes their head. "Yeah, maybe if you could compress it, but that would need a whole other apparatus..." They withdraw their wings. "So how many are going?"
Nesseth: "Myself, Louma and a few others, so it's not a large party, but it's also safer than just two or three of us. I'm not sure if Brun's coming along, since she's still recovering, I think."
Doc Plume shakes their head. "She shouldn't..."
Nesseth nods. "Yeah, I had a feeling that was going to be the case. She hasn't approached Louma about it yet, best as I can tell, so maybe she knows, too."
Doc Plume pulls out of the hug and ponders. "If she wants to help, she can stand guard duty at the gates again. She's healthy enough for that I think..."
Nesseth shrugs a little as the hug breaks. "I don't know... I think she's still focusing mostly on the magitech stuff with May. I'd almost guess that she's found a new calling as a magitech apprentice engineer."
Doc Plume nods. "Right, but there will be fewer of you for the gates now, right?" They shake their head a bit. "It's between her and Louma, though."
Nesseth nods. "The town's still got a good amount of guards, but yeah... the patrols are going to be stretched just a little thinner than normal while we're out there. One extra person won't necessarily make or break it, though."
Doc Plume isn't sure what to say for the moment, so they just hug Nesseth again, a little less desperately this time.
Nesseth smiles and gives Plume another warm hug, giving them a gentle squeeze at the same time as he lets the moment pass in a comfortable silence.