#Cravendy Hound

[lettersnorth]

Day 10: Home

“What I’ve learned is that home isn’t a place.”

[second-chance-stray]

Cravs art, and also, a Barnable!

[heartwoodventures]

This piece the wonderful @pocketninja-ffxiv had done for the officers of Heartwood! Commission by @floatyskye who did such an amazing, beautiful job!! We’re all blown away!

[nutley-rp]

[oldvincentius-art]

@second-chance-stray ‘s character Cravendy Hound!

[blooms-of-ice]

Hound Dog Blues

Eorzean tales of Aiswyda’s distant past Parts: [1]  2  3  4  5  6  Epilogue

1 - The Ruddy Hounds

The blues of the sky and the blues of the Rhotano sea surrounded the sailors of the Ruddy Hound from dusk till dawn. Their days were punctuated only by mealtime and grog, but they knew the difference between the blues of a new sky and the blues of the wicked sea - and how thin the plank was between the two.

It was in this near endless blue that the sailors - no, pirates - would pick out their prey. Usually they’d find a friendly ship, an unfortunate wreck, or a galleon much too large to tussle with. But occasionally, they’d sniff out something noteworthy. Softened by howling gales, or wounded by another hunter’s touch, the perfect prey was vulnerable and valuable. They could smell another ship’s weakness like a hound smelling blood.

A great wave of seadogs crashed onto their unfortunate victim. Skulls cracked, wood splintered, and gunpowder clouded the air. A beautiful red shone brightly against the blue of it all. It was the red of fresh blood, the red of rising hearts, and the red of dying meat. In this chaos, I found myself pinned against the wall by three, angry Garleans.

Like most of my fellow pirates, I was a Seawolf. A girl who had long lost her way and found family in this jolly, bloodthirsty band of orphans. My emerald hair was drenched with sweat and clung to my face and shoulders like a wet rag. I was nearly deafened by the pounding of my heart. Each beat was a gasp for breath that pulsed throughout my whole body. There was a wilderness in my blue eyes that jittered with energy. Life or death situations were never fun.

The one on the right lunged forward with a gunblade. I ducked away in time, my fists drawn up in a defensive stance. Flesh wasn’t the best counter to a sharp blade, but it was all I had at the moment. I was called “Dots” for the way I could punch your head so hard, you’d be seeing dots for days. But stories did no good in the heat of the moment. I jumped back at another swing that just barely nicked me on the left eye. Hell, I was sick of seeing blue, but it was preferred to seeing red like this.

“Dotty! I turn around for one second and you immediately become a damsel in distress? Looks like ole’ Cravendy can’t catch a break.”

I looked over the shoulders of my attackers and spotted a familiar face. It was Cravendy, another Seawolf that was like my older sister. She had wisely brought backup, and was armed to the teeth. On instinct, I hit the ground right before the gunfire went off. The ringing in my ears distracted me from the fact that I was slick with blood. Cravendy grabbed me by the arm, lifted me up, and noticed the cut across my eye.

“Aye, looking like a proper pirate now, aren’t you? Now stop licking your wounds and join the pack. A hound doesn’t hunt alone!” she shouted over cannonfire.

I could only nod.

[lettersnorth]

The explosion rends through the sea air, a cacophony of noise and light and in its wake, a massive wall of water barrels down on their ship. It rolls and bucks like a wild thing intent on tossing people free from its deck. Bodies spill into the ocean, quickly lost to one another beneath the churning swell.

Beneath the waves and tumbling in the tumult, Aislinn struggles to sort up from down. Her mind is sluggish, her limbs, leaden with exhaustion, are slow to comply. That overwhelming aetheric display of hers earlier may prove to be her undoing. She makes a bid for the surface but it’s no use, her vision darkens as the ocean steals the last of the air from her lungs and sends it rushing to the surface in a cloud of bubbles. How insulting, to know too late which direction the surface lie.

Rising had hissed as she hit the water, salt in her wound, hazy from blood loss. She manages to break the surface and quickly looks around for her allies.

No Cravendy, no Sosuke, no Aislinn, just Rhea clinging to the capsized hull and casting his gaze around them, looking for the others. 

Just then, she catches a flash of red in the water beneath her and dives back down without another thought, grasping hold of Aislinn and tugging her back to the surface.

There would be no descent to a watery grave this day.

[lettersnorth]

The crew comes to an agreement

[lettersnorth]

Checking In

Cravendy has remained absent from Heartwood for the longest stretch of time yet, and that doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon. Because of this, Cravs has gotten a room in one of the many seedy establishments in Limsa Lominsa, and she’s given Lin a time and place to be.

The building itself is saltworn and outdated and everything about it screams ‘OLD.’ If there’s wallpaper, it’s peeling. If there’s somewhere to sit, the chair’s creaky. Cravs waits in the lobby for now with her tailbone leaned against one of the planters, face half covered by her ridiculously large straw hat.

To say Lin was concerned about her friend would have been an understatement. Cravendy had been gone for a long while with nary a word and while Lin understood why, it wasn't to say it set well with her. She arrives at the very place Cravendy asked her to be at the very time and as she gaze around at the salt worn floors and the chipped wallpapering, it could be said the place had seen better days but it certainly wasn't the worst place Lin had ever been asked to meet someone. 

Spying Cravendy, she makes her way over to the Seawolf, kicking at a bit of crusted...something on the floor. "I'd ask ‘Alright, Cravendy’ but hells, looking at this place, I might have my answer." She says by way of greeting as she tips her head up to her friend.

Cravendy‘s face lights up when she sees Lin. Despite all that’s different (the unfamiliar surroundings, that only one of two are Officers, and the matters that keep them busy and apart), some things never change. Her wolfish smile callbacks to less turbulent times. “Aye, it’s a fixer upper alright, but the people are alright. The bad’s mostly on the outside...mostly,” Cravs comments. If you count up all the years of Crav’s life, she’s spent the majority in conditions like this. Heartwood, with its civilized finery, is the real oddity.

You’d be able to catch minute differences in her body language as Crav’s pirate past is dredged up by her surroundings, and it creates a murky combination that speaks of the changes she’s been through. The hat, her outfit, her hora and her pistol - Cravs seems to be coming to terms with what’s happened, and it reflects in multiple ways.

“Ye wanna check out my room? Ain’t much more than a box to nap in, but it can get drafty in the lobby.”

They’d something in common, there. And though Lin was no stranger to down and out places and the people who made them home, she had no sense of nostalgia for any of it. “All that matters. Long as the bones are good.” She casts her gaze around the space taking in the seating options before Cravendy offers up her room. “Aye, sounds good to me.” There’s been a shift in the Seawolf since she left Heartwood’s grounds. Like past and present colliding and reforming into a new patchwork. Lin doesn’t mention it though she does tuck the observation away.

Cravendy‘s smile widens before she turns to lead Lin to her room. On the way over, another resident struggling with an ice dispensing contraption glances quickly at Cravs, and then sheepishly away, trying to keep a low profile. Although the Admiral has done much to bring order to Limsa Lominsa, it still shows its roots as a pirate society, and hierarchy tends to be established through reputation or force.

Cravendy is a player in this again. Something must’ve happened between her and this stranger.

As they walk by, Lin's attention shifts ever so slightly in the stranger's direction. Enough to read the shying reaction and then away. She'd seen reactions like that before, and others, having gathered a bit of an education on piracy and its hierarchy recently herself, thanks to a certain Captain. Different from the street gangs of Ul'dah and also, not. She wonders just how much Cravendy's had to flex a show of strength around here.

Cravendy brings Lin to her upstairs and fumbles to find her key for a few seconds before opening the door. Her room is nothing special. It’s pretty much just a bed, a window, a table and a (single) chair. In the corner is an icebox of sorts, and Cravs walks by it to fish out two ales. She tosses one to Lin. “How’ve you been ‘oldin’ up? Any fires burnin’ the company down?” She laughs wryly to herself and tips her bottle to her lips.

Aislinn follows her into the sparse room, catching the ale before taking a seat in the only chair with a snort. "Company's been quiet for once. We'll see how long that lasts." She pauses, and there's a slight tightness around her eyes. "Thinking Angel might be fancying himself as Kazushige's replacement. Which is... a mindset." Clearly not the right one. But it is one.

Cravendy doesn’t have much, but she’s got a bucket of ice in her chest! Cravs slides it out in case Lin wants a cube, but...what kind of madman makes a cocktail from ale? A very special kind of person is what! Although Cravs isn’t quite there yet, in between sips, she occasionally pops an ice cube into her mouth for the hell of it.

Cravendy sucks on the cube thoughtfully. There’s a mixture of skepticism and consideration on her face as she ponders the thought of Angel replacing Kazushige. “...Well. If the man can get ‘is twitchy ego under control, then maybe it could work, cause it ain’t for a lack of talent that leaves me ponderin’.”

Aislinn looks at Cravendy as if she's full-on lost her marbles. Ice cube cocktail in the mouth, fine. Normal. Entertaining the idea that Angel should be trusted and in charge of anything, absolutely off her rocker. "I know better than to say 'never'," Mainly because that was when Nymeia loved to laugh and then do that very thing. "But seeing how he’d need to sort out that ego, it'll be a cold day in hell." 

Cravendy chuckles at Lin’s reaction and pulls out the room’s singular chair to relax on. “‘ey, ye and I are of the same mind, but ye should’ve seen me before...” Cravs trails off and her stare flicks up to her hat for a second. While she might’ve been more comfortable to skirt around this touchy subject in the past, she doesn’t this time. “If ye knew me before Wyda ironed me out, then ye’d know an even worse ‘ell. So who knows? Maybe Angel can get ‘is shit together too.”

Aislinn’s eyes go to Cravendy’s hat and for a moment her vulnerability is on display in the bittersweet shadow that falls across her face. “I have trouble seeing it at the moment.” She quietly replies before glancing down at her bottle with a swift shake of her head. No matter. Like Cravendy said, there were a lot of ‘ifs’ wrapped up in the whole idea.

“But what ‘bout yerself? I remember there was that business with Locke bein’ under, and now ‘e’s not, aye? ‘Cause the company shouldn’t be anyone’s entire life,” Cravs continues. She raises a curious brow.

All that aside, it seems Cravendy isn't going to let her get away from talking about herself. They've known each other far too long for Aislinn to deflect in her normal fashion. "Mm. Caught that, did you?" She studies the bottle of ale in her hand, turning it about as she sifts through her thoughts. Taking care with what she said and how much. "Aye, he's not. Woke up with a need to find the voidsent that caused all the trouble and put it down." She shot Cravendy a pressed-lip look. The Seawolf surely knew how Lin felt about voidsent. How much she'd go out of her way to have nothing to do with them.

"Voidsent or no, I couldn't very well sit at home all safe and sound and wait while he went courting danger, though that might’ve been what he would’ve preferred." She admitted with a hint of warm amusement. "But we tracked the bloody thing down through the Shroud. Ugly piece of work." She leaned forward. "I emptied my gun into it and the bleeding thing still got up looking for a fight." She shook her head. "Voidsent don't make any sense. Don't follow any of the rules of this plane. We managed, in the end. We always tend to."

Aislinn paused. "So...I suppose while the Company's been quiet, can't exactly say I've kept my head down." She says with a wry twist of her lips. "Feeling it might be the same for you, looking around here, seeing some of the looks you've been getting. What's been going on?"

The mention of voidsent pulls a deeply displeased frown out of Cravs, and she pouts against the lip of her bottle. “Ugh, not those bloody spooks again. I wish they’d all just sod off and people’d stop summonin’ ‘em into our plane, cause some stuff just ain’t worth gettin’ tangled into. Whatever wishes they offer ye, there’s always gotta be some ‘orrible twist. If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is,” Cravs concludes. “Anyway, I’m glad ye dumped lead into the thing and came out safe. Cheers to that, eh?”

Cravendy lifts her bottle up with an easy grin. She finishes a quarter of the bottle before coming back up for air to answer back in turn. “...It ain’t no secret that the Telophoroi are causin' trouble, so I’ve been ‘elpin’ there for the time bein’. Set out like a bloodhound to ‘unt for tempered scrags, basically.” A small sigh leaves her lips. “It’s preferable to ‘untin’ friends who aren’t brainwashed, at least. At first, I was gettin’ a lotta shit from old circles about goin’ soft and stupid, but I showed any naysayers who’s boss. It ‘elps that I can punch like a truck,” Cravs muses while staring into the distance. “And it also ‘elps to be able to tell a good story, even if it ain’t all the truth. The mystery of comin’ back from the dead adds to the drama.”

Cravendy stops there for now. So; she’s wearing old skins to keep the flies off her back, but has enough sense to slip in and out of it as necessary. The tricky part, then, is to keep herself from falling back into it entirely.

The talk of tempered turns Aislinn’s attention with the sharp snap of someone who had some vested interest in such a thing. “What? Are they having you bring the tempered in for…rehabilitation?”

Cravendy nods while kneading one of her shoulders. Relentless drills and fieldwork is a far cry from filling paperwork in Heartwood, and her body’s still getting used to it again. “Aye. We keep a far distance from the towers, but gotta keep ‘em from reachin’ town. It’s a cycle of people gettin’ tempered, untempered, and tempered again until we find a real cure for this nonsense. A zero sum game with all ‘ands on deck until we find a way to get close to the towers without bein’ mindwiped,” Cravs snorts. “If this continues, it’s just a matter of time afore they summon another Lunar primal, so some of the work I’ve been gettin’ into is developin’ ways to fight against Leviathan since I’ve faced it and ‘survived.’”

“How?” Aislinn asks and then clears her throat. Deciding the bottle in her hand is more than just for decoration, she takes a swallow. “How are you bringing them in?” She asks again, more even this time. “From what I hear they’re not themselves. More often violent than not.”

"Which ain't entirely accurate, but..." Cravendy shrugs sheepishly. This must be part of the stories/lies Cravs has told to keep old enemies from picking her apart.

Cravendy: “Aye, they fight like they’ve got nothin’ to lose, which puts us at an uneven playin’ field. ‘appens when yer tryin’ to knock ‘em out while they’re eager to bite on yer jugular,” Cravs elaborates. “The Ironworks provides equipment to ‘elp make non-lethal takedowns easier, but the truth is, it’s just like any warfront. Ye knock ‘em out, ye move onto the next. Ye pray ye ain’t knackered afore the battle’s over, lest ye turn into a flesh puppet yerself.”

Aislinn listens as Cravendy obviously speaks from a place of experience. Her gaze is intent, as if internally, somewhere in that clockwork of a mind, she’s taking notes. “So it’s a game against time.” She murmurs. What wasn’t, these days? She leans back in her seat and shakes her head. They all took risks. It was par for the course. It didn’t mean she had to like hearing how her friend was putting herself in danger time and time again. “How long’s the Maelstrom going to put you up to this?”

“On paper, til I’ve worked off my old bounty.” Cravs tugs down her hat slightly with a thin, knowing grin. “But I’ll be workin’ until I’m silver at the rate they pay me.” Cravendy peeks out from bangs and hat brim both. “It ain’t about pay in the end, though. It’s about a message. Maelstrom’s makin’ an example outta me to discourage other pirates that flout the accord, so if I can win their trust and go along with this story, they’ll probably let me off the hook...or at least loosen this leash.”

Cravendy Hound: “...Bein’ on this side’s been eye openin’ too, anyway. The Maelstrom’s out there riskin’ life and limb to keep the Telophoroi back and buy the Scions time, and bein’ in the trenches together puts some stuff into perspective.”

“And you’re alright with that?” It felt like the talk with Kazushige all over again. At least, until Cravendy went on to explain. It wasn’t about being alright with it. It was about doing what she had to do in a smart way until she could see her way out. Lin, of all people, should commiserate with that. She sighs and downs a pull of her ale. “When you put it like that, you don’t leave me much room to argue. Have you heard from Kazushige at all?”

Cravendy’s face falls into flat expression as she reflects on her journey to this point. Despite the discomfort, she could sense that these past few years and the present - this was the turnaround. It just takes a lot to turn a ship that’s been sailing in one direction all its life.

Cravendy Hound: “I ain’t fully okay with it. It’s all kinds of grey...though I think with enough effort, things’ll work out for the better than if this hadn’t ‘appened,” Cravs ponders. She finishes off her ale and leaves it off to the side. “I ‘aven’t ‘eard from Kazushige since that day we all gathered, though I plan to chat with ‘im in the next week or so. Why? Somethin’ up?”

Aislinn studied Cravendy, struck by how much she sounded like Wyda in that moment. And, scraping together the words she managed with some effort to push the thought past her throat. “You sound like her. How you can take the shite hand you’ve been dealt and still see the good that could come of it. How it could all work out for the better.” She swallows and picks at the label on the ale bottle before shaking her head. “Nothing in particular. Just hoping those pills I gave him are working like they ought to. I should have more ready before he runs out. Let him know that.” 

She inhales. That wasn’t all. “I don’t like it. And I know it’s useless to say so. But I don’t like seeing the two of you being used. The sooner the group of us can get together a plan to tackle these…bloody towers or lunar primals or whatever the Seven hells we’ll be facing, the better ground we’ll be standing on to sort you both out.”

Cravendy blinks. It wasn’t as if she’d been unaware, or that she’d never thought about it. How much Wyda could’ve been her had circumstances been different, or how Dots was still rubbing off on her after all this time. That grief and absence hadn’t clouded the message they left with Cravs to live honestly and earnestly despite shit luck.

But there were differences, and time had only made Cravs more certain that although Wyda had been right about a lot of things,  that she was wrong on one thing. Cravs stares seriously at Lin. “It will work out for the better, but this time, it won’t come at the cost of people tossin’ their lives away for it. ‘owever this might end, there’s one thing I’ll make sure of. I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine so I can goof off with the people I like tomorrow and the tomorrows after that,” Cravs states with a confident smile. “But thanks for ‘avin’ my back all the same. Ye and I and Kazushige - we’ll come out of this stronger for it.”

“I’ll pass along the message and ask about those pills, then. Man, whatever’s goin’ on with Kazushige seems ten times worse than what I’m goin’ through...at least I ain’t bein’ doped on trash. I’m glad ye could pull through ‘ere.”

Cravendy had managed to sift through Aislinn’s rudimentary attempt to explain what was wrong and hit the target. ‘Don’t throw your life away. I couldn’t take it again.’ Aislinn could talk about work. She could discuss in depth the merits and detriments of a particular piece of equipment or treatment. But she was shite when it came to conveying her own feelings. Her tight expression eased somewhat in the wake of the Seawolf’s words and merely nodded. “The Maelstrom knows what he is, and they’re all too glad to use him for their benefit.” She sighs. “He just has to hold out long enough until this is all over. Then…” Then what? She didn’t know. “Then, we can at least have some breathing room to figure out what’s going on with him and help. Maybe. If he lets us."

Cravendy Hound: “...The Maelstrom’s got plenty of screw-ups tryin’ to turn over a new leaf. Unlike Gridania, I think Kazushige will find more sympathy ‘ere,” Cravs says. She lets out an amused breath. That she’d be speaking positively of the Admiral’s efforts in the defense of an ex-imperial - her old self would’ve taken it as a bad joke.

Cravendy’s mouth twists into a grumpy pout as she considers the future for Kazushige. Seven hells, what was she at the liberty of sharing? She can’t quite remember how old conversations went, but she can remember the sinking feeling in her gut as he gave her the signs. Nothing concrete, but obvious all the same. “If he bloody lets us is right,” Cravs grumbles. “To be ‘onest, the man’s more lost than a blind rat set adrift at sea. I don’t think he knows where to go or what to do, either, which is part of the problem. Might get the idea that this turn of bad luck’s penance for whatever skeletons he’s got in the closet.”

“Which is stupid and wrong,” Cravs states with finality. Sure she has to deal with a bad hand too, but it’s done nothing but stoke the determination from within her. Kazushige on the other hand reminds her of her listless, ‘stuck-in-the-mud’ old self.

Aislinn tips her head, considering the point that the Maelstrom’s at least better than Gridania. “Suppose that’s some silver lining, at least.” She acknowledged. Finishing her ale, she hesitates and then sets the bottle on the floor next to the leg of her chair. A low noise of irritation leaves her as Cravendy goes on. “The man is too ready to pay a penance by half. That’s part of the problem. Maybe along the way we can him thinking about what’s next instead of just…duty or sacrifice. What is it -he- wants.” A snort of amusement leaves her. “Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. One problem at a time, right?”

Cravendy grimaces slightly. Yes, it would be good if Kazushige learned how to think about what he wants and pursue it, and yet. AND YET. Concern weighs in Crav’s stomach heavily as she wonders where that might take him. “Aye, I...I agree. Overall, I agree,” she manages. “...though I can’t ‘elp but be worried about what ‘e might do. Cause. Well.”

Cravendy struggles, then just lets it out. It’s alright! She can come clean about this cursed gut feeling to Lin, right?! “I-think-something-really-fucky-’appened-between-’im-and-Florus?! It came up when I talked to ‘im once, and ‘e was really weird about it! I HATE IT BUT I’m worried Kazushige’s gonna do something even dumber if he decides he shouldn’t just be followin’ duty or whatever!”

Cravendy: “By the twelve, it feels so good to finally let this out. Maybe we can talk about this more another time, but bloody ‘ells. Why.” Cravs sinks her face into her hands in distraught agony.

Aislinn noted the hesitation in Cravendy’s voice. She meets the Seawolf’s eye but she’s quiet, considering her response or if she should address it at all when Cravendy all of the sudden blurts it out and lets the reason for her worry spill out of her. Aislinn’s lips part in a shocked little intake of breath. “Bloody hell.” Was right. This was definitely a whole other discussion to be had between them. They’d need more ale, for one.

Aislinn sits back in her chair like she’d been pushed. “That’s….” She trails off, her fingers drumming along the arm of the chair. “Alright, that complicates things but…” But what? How could she, of all people, involved with an outlaw herself, possibly have an opinion on the matter of what Kazushige might or might not do in the name of…whatever might have happened between him and Florus? She looks at Cravendy, a little lost.

Cravendy goes quiet. Then, she laughs so hard that her ribs hurt and tears come out. There’s something inappropriately funny about the whole situation. The real abuse taking place, side by side with desperate disbelief and the insanity of it all! Nothing was confirmed (and getting that out of Kazushige is next to impossible), but Cravs can sense it. There’s something there even though she really wants to believe otherwise.

It’d be worth getting drunk again over that conversation, but for now, it’d remain on a cliffhanger as Lin and Cravs miraculously drift back to other topics until they have to part ways. Until next time!

[lettersnorth]

Reunion

Aislinn had awoken several suns past and though she assured everyone involved she was fine, she had yet to find her footing. It was a disorienting thing, living inside someone’s dreams and memories as she had. Like swimming for ages and now hitting dry land again and expecting to remember how to walk. The fact that she had simply and quietly retired to her rooms, without bothering to even begin to catch up on what had transpired in her absence stood in testament that perhaps the woman really just needed a vacation at this point.

For now, she is sitting quietly, trying her hand at reading but the words keep swimming across the page. Every now and then she turns away and lets her gaze float across the room around her in soundless contemplation.

Cravendy kept close attention to her friend’s condition even as the days passed without change. Sleeping. Sleeping. Still sleeping. While Crav’s concern grew every day, she ultimately trusted Lin would pull through. The other woman has been through a lot, and if she needs help, she’ll ask for help. Although Cravs is a painfully honest person, she feels that she can be even more frank around Lin. That Lin would tell her just as she would tell Lin. That the trust goes both ways.

Cravendy had, unfortunately, dealt with the aftermath of the first Telphoroi mission poorly. It was like the mental equivalent of ripping her sutures out, and thus, she had missed a few days checking up on Lin in favor of drinking her woes back under. But now she’s here, because she’s heard that Lin woke up. Cravs wished she could’ve been here the moment Lin opened her eyes, but there’s no time like the present!

Cravendy knocks on the door and waits outside. She's nervous, eager, and can't stand still. The anticipation is a bit much.

The knock at the door seems to shake Lin out of wherever her thoughts had drifted off to. Blinking, she turns to look at it, dimly, at first. Then with a small etch of a frown. The last time she got up to answer it, she hadn’t liked what she had found on the other side. But at least she knew, whoever it was, it wasn’t going to be anything like that. Locke was out picking up a few things but he had left on his own two feet with assurances that he wouldn’t be long and she was certain he would return in the same fashion. She pulled herself up and made her way to the door. Upon seeing the wall that was Cravendy, there was a moment where she seemed to freeze and then melt, her face crumpling a bit in a soft, relieved, glad sort of watery smile. “Cravendy.” she said. Then a pause as she recalls the last thought she had for her friend before putting herself into that dreamscape. A hastily written sentence on a piece of parchment. A sentence that, between the two of them, held a volume of meaning. “I’m…sorry about the note.” She steps aside to let the woman in.

Cravendy nearly falls backwards with how relieved she is. She knew Lin would be on the other side of the door, yet no amount of daydreaming about the scenario could prepare her for the real thing. To see her friend, standing, and awake. The emotion is too much, and she doesn’t know what to do with herself at the moment.

“I mean. Ye were. Well.” Cravs stiffly steps in and awkwardly turns back towards Lin. She hovers her hands above the other woman’s shoulders, wanting to draw her in for a hug but also, being acutely cautious. Is Lin feeling well? Would she want to be touched? Cravs eventually settles on simply letting both hands rest on Lin’s shoulders as she looks down, arms straight and holding Lin at a distance. The next few words are spoken to the floor. “Ye were in a rush, ye bugger!”

Cravendy Hound: “But welcome back, Lin.” Damnit, her vision’s blurring. Cravs rapidly blinks back tears and hopes that her perpetual ‘mess’ status will hide that.

A small laugh somehow manages to make it past all the emotion clogging Lin’s throat. “True enough.” If Cravendy starts crying, Lin knows it’ll be a domino effect. They’ll both be messes. She doesn’t know what to do with all this relief and gladness at seeing Cravendy and before she knows it, before she can stop herself, she’s throwing her arms around the Seawolf. “Glad to be back, honestly.”

(Cravendy Hound) WAHHH WHOLESOME ;_; )) (Aislinn North) ((The wholesomest! ;_;))

Cravendy inhales sharply when Lin embraces her, and before she knows it, the few tears she was holding in turns into a torrent. Cravs makes a sound of disbelief, and then, she hugs back with one arm while rubbing at her face with the other. “Bloody, stupid, bah! I can’t believe...”

Cravendy: “This is so swivin’ embarrassin’,” she grumbles. When was the last time she cried? Moons, at least. Cravs hugs Lin tighter before patting her on the back. While doing her best to mop up her face-mess with her bandanna, Cravs stumbles over to the couches and sinks into the closest seat. “‘ow are ye farin’? Still remember ‘ow to walk?”

Lin can feel the tears shake Cravendy’s foundation and she finds herself wiping at her own face as the Seawolf sets her back. “Alright,...if you won’t tell anyone about this, I won’t either.” She promises as she brushes the tears from her face and makes her way to the side table next to the couch. A teapot and a cup of tea sit there, left for her by Locke before he went on his errands. She pulls a second cup from the little cabinet and pours a cup, handing it over to Cravendy. “Enough to get around.” She allows. “Not exactly going to go out and run any races just yet.” She sinks down onto the couch next to her friend. “It’s weird. And a tad disorienting, if I’m being honest. I’m still having trouble focusing and sorting which way is up sometimes.” She glances over at Cravendy. “But I see the place hasn’t burned down while I was out. How’s it been?

Cravendy sends Lin a small but grateful smile at that. She’d accept the teacup without resistance and warm her hands against its ceramic surface, her gaze steadily drifting into something thoughtful. “If ye ever wanna sign up for one of those marathons together sometime, I’d be down. There’s one where ye get to drink the entire time...though I swear, that’s not the only reason why I wanna try!” Cravs laughs as she tilts her head. “And it’s been...ye know. Typical Heartwood.”

Cravendy takes a loooong sip of tea. Gridania could burn down and Heartwood would be still standing, if only because it somehow manages to survive anything that’s thrown at it, inside or out. She’s not exactly excited about elaborating further, and Lin doesn’t need more stress thrown on her plate, but. At some point, now or later, they’ll need to catch up.

“What we really need is a vacation. Toss me somewhere with white sands, coconuts, and no worries...” She lets out a wistful sigh. It's a fever dream, considering the Maelstrom has her on the hook at the moment.

“That sounds like a unique brand of punishment.” Lin muses at the idea of the odd race. “I feel like the winner comes down to the person who can actually keep it between the posts at the finish line.” Humor lines her face as she takes a swallow of her cooled tea. “But aye, Typical Heartwood could probably handle itself for a bit if vacations are in order.” She eyes Cravendy, but her gaze is neither as sharp or as assessing as it usually is. There’s a soft, unfocused sort of quality to it. Worn of edges. “That sigh says a lot though. You don’t see it in the cards?”

Cravendy chuckles silently to herself. “And who can still run in a straight line after keepin’ it down or lettin’ it out. It sounds ridiculous, but that sort of shite ‘as its own appeal, eh?” She leans back against the couch and looks up slightly.

“Not in the short term, at least. Maelstrom’s come knockin’ for the ‘community service’ I owe ‘em, but even disregardin’ that...” Cravs brushes her thumb over the other as her brows furrow. “All this Telophoroi madness. The shite Kazushige’s goin’ through, and...Risin’ ‘asn’t been an officer for long, aye? I feel like I need to be ‘ere.”

Cravendy Hound: “Bah, blast it. I should’ve gone afore all this shite ‘appened.” Cravs grumbles under her breath, cursing her lack of foresight. She rolls her face back towards Lin and smirks. “But oy. Don’t let my dumbness stop ye! If there’s anyone else who deserves to cut back and relax, it’s ye, and ye oughta get out while ye still can.”

As Cravendy rattles off the list of the latest things that had required her attention, Lin has to reach back in her memory to recall Rising had been made an officer, Kazu had been placed under house arrest after the mess in the Reach. The Telophoroi, that was a distant but growing concern. Had it now grown to consume Heartwood? She is feeling so very removed and is hoping this disjointed feeling will wear off. Or that she will find a way to stitch herself back into place. “Oy, there was enough happening before all of that. And there’s going to be Nymeia knows what coming down the line.” She briefly returns the Seawolf’s smirk. “Though I will give you that the Maelstrom probably doesn’t take lightly to being blown off. Has it been bad?”

Cravendy snorts softly. Lin is right. No matter what, it’s going to be busy, so...there’s never going to be a perfect time to relax. It just seems to be a particularly bad time right now. “True...One thing leads to another.”

Cravendy: “They ‘aven’t reached out to me till now, actually. So that’s been fine, since it’s been nothin’.” Cravs shrugs, then sighs. “Someone new joined Heartwood and they knew all about it, already. My bloody past back while I was a pirate, and the face ‘eel turn. I tried to not let it bother me, but it really does. I’m probably due for more shite like that soon...maybe I’ll get used to it.”

Cravendy Hound exhales, shoulders sinking down. She finishes her tea. “But I’ll live. Always ‘ave. And I’ll let ye know ‘ow that goes after I’m back.” Cravs sends Lin another smile, genuinely grateful to be able to get this all off her chest. She missed having her around. “So take care of yerself, alright? Lean ‘ard into the “I’m recoverin’” act for as long as ye can, haha!”

“I can see how it would.” Lin murmurs. It’d be like if word got out around Heartwood about her own tarnished past, running with a cartel. “Don’t think any of us like having our past tossed back in our faces. I don’t think you necessarily need to get used to it. I think the fact that you don’t means something. Means we’re different people now.” She inhales a breath and lets loose an unfettered smile.

“Watch yourself out there, aye? I know I’m one to talk, but still, remember, don’t do anything stupid. And if you need any help, I’m not so far gone to not be of some use.” Goodbyes may have been said but the two women linger awhile longer, talking idly into the late afternoon, just enjoying the fact that they could do so once again.

(Cravendy Hound) AAAHH I love these two -dies- )) (Aislinn North) ((ME TOO!! *Squishes them both*))

[second-chance-stray]

[lettersnorth]

Faux Memory: Delusional Memories

The signal had been found, and a message relayed. If Crific were to try and get Lumarto back to Heartwood, he would need assistance. Thus, with the help of Cravendy and Aislinn, do they set out to retrieve the man.

Trigger Warning: Blood

The misty walls had barred off visibility of the cave, the combined efforts of both Crific and Luma making the monstrosity that had been lurking beyond in the mountains lost and frustrated. Luma had still been recovering from his efforts; breathing heavily while pressed up against the stone walls of the cave while Mercutio had been a few feet away panting and whining. Blood covered all over the ground beneath them, with Mercutio's wound looking to slowly recover while Luma's persisted Loud roars still echoed from outside the foggy gate, and from the sounds of things it seemed the beast still hungered for more memories to consume. Did the villagers make it out alive? Is the town being destroyed in a fit of rage? The mist would not permit the answer-- and so a brief moment of respite was all they would get. "...Just... leave me... take Mercutio and go.... I'm a lost cause and I can't have... the others getting roped into this..." Luma said in huffs, his bloody bangs covering part of his eyes. 

Having sent word to Aislinn, all they can do now is wait. Crific is, as ever, bad at this particular part. He paces, he double checks their entrances and exits, he listens for the beast and tries to gauge exactly how close--or far--it gets from them, whether it decides to stop in the town or continues rampaging across the mountainside. He can't actually tell, concealed as they are, but that doesn't stop him from trying. At Lumarto's words, he scoffs quietly to himself and, finally decides the likelihood of them being discovered by the beast is lower (for now), he fetches a waterskin and makes his way back over to Lumarto, handing it towards him. The drone she'd given him hovers nearby. "Too late for that. Even someone like me isn't in the habit of leaving someone in your state to fend for themselves."

Luma tried to scoff at that, making a weak grunt instead. "...You're... a right nuisance... you know that?..." Luma said, waving off his hand to Crific as if warning the man again about the need for distance. He could barely control the shards in his current state; having to defend someone from his own unconscious attacks would further strain the poor... malformed man. "...I'm not...defenceless... I've been surviving this long... at least..." Luma muttered, gesturing for Crific to simply drop the waterskin in his open palms instead of physically touch him. "...Mind your distance...please... I don't want to hurt any familiar people anymore..." Luma said, looking at Crific with a confused squint. "...Gods, I...I can't even tell who you are half the time.... I see Navei but, I know tis you, Crific...".

Cravendy and Aislinn had tracked the ping on Crific's drone all the way to this location, enshrouded with fog. Somewhere along the way they had lost each other. Aislinn had called out for her friend as loud as she dared but she had heard the distant, inhuman roars. Like nothing she had heard before. It would be foolhardy to persist and lead whatever was out there right to her. She hesitated a moment, alone in the stifling fog, the ping of the drone methodically blinking in the corner of her right spectacle. With a low curse, she turned back and continued to track it. She'd just have to hope Cravendy would be alright. Eventually, she finds herself stepping into a break in the mist. A cave? She looks back at the shrouded wall and then forward into the gloom and inhales a calming breath, no idea if she was stepping from the frying pan into the fire but the drone lay this way, so she would follow. The broken stone and dust crunch under her feet as she makes her way deeper into the cave, her hand at her side flexing and ready to call up the series of aetheric guns strapped to her back. She had to be close now. The drone was pinging from somewhere mere yalms ahead. "Crific?" she tested, her voice echoing down the cavern.

Crific lets the waterskin fall into Lumarto's waiting palms and takes a few steps back, not exactly keen on being pelted with more glass, either. He'd torn what had landed from his shoulders earlier, though he was certain there were several he couldn't reach still buried in the meat of his back, to say nothing of the cuts and gashes left from others. Times like these he certainly wishes he was more versed in healing arts, but everyone has their particular strengths. He opens his mouth to respond to Lumarto, but the sound of footsteps towards the other end of the cave has him reaching for his blade. No, too light to be the creature. Then he hears his name. "Aislinn?" The shadows within the cave lose some of their volume, though he has no control over the thick fog.

Luma hesitates for a moment, staring at the thick fog Crific had approached. "...Was that a real call for... you?..." Luma asked, not truly knowing the answer but he hesitated nonetheless. Looking at the jug in his hand, he carefully looked towards the fog and dispersed some of it with a calm gesture; at least, enough to fit a human and not some large hideous monster. "...Keep guard... lest it be a trick..." Luma stated to the soldier, trying to get into some manner of a fighting stance yet his body refused to move for him. Mercutio a few feet away still panting softly, but staring up at Lumarto every once in a while; just to make sure his master was still there.

Aislinn huffed out a breath of relief at the thin sound of his voice and picked up her pace, moving as quickly as the fog would allow in its direction. Spying the opening through the haze ahead, she slows, her sense of distrust getting the better of her. Tapping the side of her glasses, she remotely takes control of the drone and switches on the video feed. She can make out two figures and moves the drone closer. It hovers closer to Crific's side, circling him slowly. Her lips press down in a thin line. He looked terrible. The drone then turned, giving her a sense of the space. She sees the opening she stands before off to one side. Satisfied, she hurried through it. "We came as quickly as we could." An odd thing to say seeing as it was only her. She takes the two battered forms, her eyes snagging on the hooded figure, drawing closer. Crific had said he had found him. But somehow, even though she couldn't see much through the haze and the shrouded robe, he didn't look right. "Luma?"

Crific leaves a hand on the hilt of the blade at his back, listening and waiting as Lumarto parts the fog just slightly despite his own warning. "I heard it, so I assume it to be real," he replies quietly; the hesitance in his voice borne only of the fact he isn't sure exactly what the creature, or Haila's aether, is wholly capable of. The relief that etches itself (however minutely) into his features as Aislinn's figure appears through the fog says enough. He makes a glance over her shoulder at the mention of we--but there doesn't appear to be anyone else behind her. Had she brought others? It would've surprised him more to learn she hadn't, at this point, honestly. "Careful, don't touch him," he warns, getting an arm in between her and Lumarto. "He's having trouble controlling them," he gestures up to the veritable cloud of shining glass shards that line the cave's ceiling. Crific sounds calm about all this, but--well. There was worry plain enough in his mismatched eyes.

Drawn up short by the bar of Crific's arm, she turns her gaze up to the ceiling at his stoic explanation. In the gloom she can just make out the glittering, razor sharp edges of the fragments. "Twelve." she breathed out. "Luma, what did you do?"

Luma stared quietly in the direction of the voice; his bloodied expression plastering brief shock and fear in his face as he tried to back away-- his injuries bringing a sharp exhale from the man. "...C-Cassia?..." Luma asked, seeing Aislinn as someone else-- similar to what Crific had gone through. "No...No you can't be her-- it's probably my head again..." Luma said, looking at who he had believed had to be Aislinn and yet, he couldn't put his friend to the face. He did not see her as her but rather, someone from his past. Haila's past. He took a slow, weak sip of the waterskin to try and calm his nerves. "...These memories are making me damned delusional... I can't keep this up-- but I must." Luma added, trying to force himself to see Aislinn as herself; his eyes lightly fogging over with the confusion. "...As he said, don't come near me." Luma continued; his words were a bit more stern, as if he was angry.

Cassia. The name had a disconcerted frown furrowing between her brows, tugging down at the edges of her lips. He was disoriented or hallucinating. Possibly both. His rasping, unsteady words confirmed her thoughts. At his stern insistence, she held up quelling hands, a wordless assurance. "To what end?" she quietly asked. "As you say, you can't keep this up. We need to get you to the clinic."

Crific exhales, rather than put to words what he thinks of that, he steps aside slightly. "To what extent he's injured beneath that robe, I don't know. But I followed his bloody trail all through the Fringes and up these peaks, so that ought to tell you something," he mutters, "whatever he's done to himself, it's muddled his perception. The beast that hounds him is after the shards, though only once I'd agitated him did it seem to take notice." He glances down at Lumarto. "Keeping himself calm seems to throw it off the scent, but I imagine that has something to do with why he hasn't been willing to return." He folds his arms. "Among other things." He hasn't forgotten the details he's gleaned from Luma's sporadic commentary--his father, the spectre of a girl, a mystery of how this interconnects with Haila's memories?

Luma nodded at that; slowly and hesitantly. "...I can't return... not when it gives chase. It's not...going to let up... until I finish this..." Luma stated, taking another slow sip of the waterskin; having his share before finding a nearby rock and propping the jug at an angle. He let it drip...drip...drip for a moment, gesturing over Mercutio to partake. The wolf, weak and struggling, drudged along and began to lick at the droplets. Still staring up occasionally at Luma with worry, as if suggesting that he himself should care more about his own state. Luma noticed this, and scoffed lightly. "..I've been doing fine... on my own..." he huffed out, clearly lying. "...I need to just... move forward." He stated, looking to his side for a moment. "Cas-... Aislinn... can you mend Crific?... My wounds are manageable; I just need this breather."

Crific stares incredulously at Luma.

Aislinn Turns an ear to Crific's low explanation but her eyes never leave her friend, trying in vain to peer beneath the depths of the hooded robe to get a sense of his true injuries, the concern buzzing in her chest only growing the more the half-elezen spoke. She opens her mouth to ask exactly what Luma meant by finishing whatever he hoped to accomplish here. Because by her quick calculations, whatever it was couldn't be good. "You're jesting, aye?" her quiet voice flat at his insistence she heal Crific. That he 'wasn't that bad'. Though she does turn and give Crific the once over, assessing his injuries. She's yet to see the destruction wrought to his back. Stepping closer to him, she lifts a brow as if silently asking if the man would allow her to see to his shoulder. Not that 'no' was an acceptable answer in her estimation. But she'd at least give him the opportunity to make a rational choice.

Crific turns slightly, giving her  time to take a look at his shoulders and back; there were still shards there from when he'd plucked Luma up and carried him here, though most had just left cuts and gashes through his light armour. "I'll need tending, but not urgently. I'd guess at his suggestion being rooted in guilt, which," he narrows his gaze over onto Lumarto, "it needn't be." He sighs, returning his eyes to Aislinn.

Luma scoffed at Crific's words. "...tis my fault you got hurt... in the first place..." Luma said, pausing briefly. "...You, the villagers, Mercutio... they all were hurt by my selfish actions... so I don't want to get anyone else hurt... leave me be, please...".

"As one person who frequently makes a mess of things on his own to another; you're making a bloody mess of things on your own, Lumarto." Crific mutters. "I do not see either of us turning tail to run out on you, now that we're here.".

A sharp breath issues from Aislinn as she catches sight of the man's back. Shards like shrapnel stuck into his flesh and he says it's not urgent. Given her relatively short history knowing Crific, this tracks. She also ignores it, narrowing her eyes at him in turn. Reaching a hand out, she stops short of touching one of the shards. "He's right, Luma." She says as an aside and she continues her inspection. "These are the same fragments we've been collecting, aye? So why are you not absorbing them?" She turns the question on Lumarto, assuming he'd be the one to know the answer.

"...Ah." That was a good question. One he hadn't thought to ask.

[Meanwhile, lost in the fog]

///

Cravendy had gotten separated from Lin, and the situation nearly frustrates Cravs to the point of violence. How could she be so careless after she had insisted she tag along? Because Lin is her friend, and because friends look after each other, and because a hound doesn't hunt alone? It's all empty words if she can't put it to practice. Nails bite into Crav's palm as she clenches, hard, and yet -- she is not the same hotheaded pirate she was before. Instead of recursively growing, the shame ceases. This time is different. She didn't abandon Lin on purpose, after all...it's this blasted fog. It's everything about this twisted place! So stop feeling like it's your fault and get your act together, because you're not useless on your own. Not anymore. Cravs inhales deeply to calm herself and tries to recall what she last saw on Lin's tracker. After careful consideration, she presses on into the murky, mountainous depths of Gyr Abania at a steady pace.

\\\

[Returning to the trio]

Luma stared to who everyone had been calling Aislinn for a time; his gaze still inadvertently looking away when he met her own. "...The glass in Crific is a mere husk..." Luma started. "...The memories and emotion in them... I've been taking into myself so as to not have any of you absorb any... lest you get a fraction or some odd power-- like myself with these shards and mist..." Luma sighed, shaking his head a bit and looking to Crific instead. "...If Haila were here right now... we'd both be smacked right up the side of our heads... but she has good reason to." Luma paused at that, looking a bit saddened by the fact they were all caught up in this mess. "...It's a right mess, this is...".

"..." Crific bites his tongue for a moment, sobered by mention of Haila. If she were here. Once again, the reason they were all in this mess in the first place is her absence--and the responsibility for that lay squarely at Crific's feet. His jaw clenches, and he turns aside. "Half of bloody Heartwood has already absorbed some fragment or curse of hers. You're not doing anyone any favours." His voice is low, staring deeper into the shadows of the cave rather than look at either of them.

Luma paused at that mention. "...It was you all then, that did that?..." Luma starred in mild disbelief. "...Back at the forelands, that crystal woman-- II --you took the fragments then?..."

"One way to put it." Aislinn murmured as she returned her attention to Crific's back. And an understatement but she didn't need to point that out. Everyone knew it. Just glass, then. "You're going to have to stay put." she mutters to Crific in annoyance as she turns with him. She's silent a moment as she writes out an aetheric calculation along the entry points of the shards at his back, the aetheric ink tattooed in the pad of her finger bringing the arcane equation to life. One of the gemstones hanging from the belt at her waist glows softly. If she had done it right, Crific should feel a slow numbing of the pain. "But aye, Luma, most of us are carrying around some sort of aspect of her aether. Unwilling hosts that we are." She sighed. "I haven't slept well since Sharlayan. All these bloody dreams."

Crific stiffens as he feels Aislinn's aether key up along his back; he doesn't quite relax as he realizes what she's up to, but he does, at least, stay still. Though he's been bearing it like a champ, the numbing of the pain around the shard is more welcome than he lets on. He's a good patient when he wants to be! Which is like, never. "Mm. A dream is what pointed me to Ishgard, and set me on the road to tracking you to the Shroud." His voice is a little strained.

Pausing, Aislinn looks over her shoulder towards the gap in the fog that had been created earlier, this talk of shard fragments causing her to think of Cravendy and her aethersight. Gods above, she needed her to be alright and pushed away thoughts of the roaring beast roaming the mountains.

Luma couldn't help but stare with worry the more they ranted on. "...forgive me for being too slow... I tried to leave... early enough... to get more... but some fell into your hands." Luma said, looking for sometime at Crific before turning to Aislinn. "I'm sorry... Crific... I'm sorry Cas-... Aislinn..."

[Meanwhile, once more into the fog]

///

Cravs has the sense to keep a low profile, although she's not trained for such. The best Cravs can do is keep calm and carry on, which takes a great deal of focus since 1) there's a monster stalking these parts, 2) she's alone, and combined, that makes her very, very afraid. A wind blows at her back and Cravs, hyperaware and wanting for confidence, leans into superstition. Press on, old dog. Press on. Whether through determination, skill, luck, or all of the above, Cravs finds her way to the cave entrance. With a gulp, she steps blindly into the darkness. She does not have a tracker to allay concerns that she's getting more lost, nor a deep understanding of the madness that surrounds her...just a hope that she's going in the right direction. Her footsteps echo as she marches onward.

\\\

[Returning to the worried trio]

Aislinn peeled her attention away from the part in the fog and turned her gaze on Luma. "More?" she asks, an incredulous bent to her voice. "Is that why you disappeared? Luma...look at you. How much more did you think you were going to be able to collect? Why didn't you let us help?" As though she's one to talk. And if he wasn't so muddled in thought and mind he might call her on that, knowing her as he did.

All Luma could do was look at the ground; his glance shifting to Mercutio who had stared back as if also questioning the same 'Why?' to his master. No answer could be given, and so he simply tugged his hood a bit more over his brow.

"You ought to be thanking us," Crific growls, "your mind's scattered as it is--" Crific echoes Aislinn's hypocrisy with his own. It seems he's done staying still, however, as his head snaps in the direction of more footsteps through the fog, a hand rising up to his sword; the same thing that made him hesitate earlier makes him to so here, as well, given it's decidedly humanoid footsteps, rather than large bestial ones.

Aislinn returns to her ministrations on Crific's back. Astute enough to have seen him stiffen as her spell activated though it should have done the opposite, she takes ginger hold of the first shard and asks, "I have a haversack of med supplies. I can patch this up well enough without spellwork if you'd prefer. The numbing was necessary, believe me." with a huff of irritation, she steps back as he reaches for his sword. Gods damn man.

On the upside, Crific can't feel the shard! Good for arm moving! Bad for worsening the injury. He'd have the sense to look chagrined, if he wasn't so on edge. "Did you bring others with you?"

Aislinn stared hard at Crific. "Cravendy." she states. Hesitates as her stern look melts in concern. "We got separated in the fog."

As if on cue, Cravs turns the corner, squinting from the light of Lin's magic. She doesn't say anything at first -- not words, anyway. A relieved sigh is all that escapes Cravs when she sees the trio, and she simply takes her place by Lin's side in tense silence. The strain of keeping quiet during her lone wandering hasn't fallen off yet.

As if she summoned her, the Seawolf appears. A look of utter relief flows over Lin as Cravendy comes up beside her. "Nymeia's grace." she sighs. "You had me worried."

Crific exhales as Cravendy does, indeed, appear through the fog, lowering his arm from his blade. Maybe now Aislinn could take the shard out. Maybe. "Glad to see you could join us," he says by way of greeting to Cravendy.

Luma heard the shuffling and went on the defensive again; a fight or flight response upon being on the run for so long. When he saw there was another among the ranks that hoped to haul him home; he paused as if seeing a ghost. "...W-...Wyda?..." Luma muttered for a moment, his hand raising slowly to lift his hood a bit to get a better look; more dried blood being revealed. "...You can't be real-- you...no..." He paused for sometime, looking at them acting so naturally to see a ghost disturbed him.

"I'm good at survivin'" she manages through grit teeth, beginning to relax...but at Luma's words, the stiffness is quick to return as lightning. A pale look of shock stretches over her face. "Wh--excuse me?!"

Seeing her opportunity and realizing she might have to be quick about it, Lin reaches forward and takes hold of the shard. Gingerly attempting to minimize the damage, she eases it out of his flesh. Dropping it to the rocky floor, she pulls open her haversack and goes about staunching and bandaging the wound before she would move on to the next. Her hands stuttered as Lumarto misidentified Cravendy in the worst way possible. Her silence is palpable as she presses on.

Crific grimaces slightly at the name--and as he feels the pressure of Aislinn slipping the glass out of his back. Though he doesn't say it, he silently appreciates the decision to forgo magic--both for his own sensibilities, and because he suspects they'll all need what energy they can scrape together. While Wyda's death certainly isn't a wound as deep for him as it is the other present, he's nevertheless sharp enough to recognize Cravendy's reaction as an unpleasant one.

Luma had kept quiet, still gawking at the group and the newcomer with disbelief; not connecting that this may be another one of those delusions. "I... I'm sorry we couldn't..." Luma muttered, raising up to his hair to feel one of his twisted ears, flinching a bit.

Cravendy is flabbergasted by this development, but worse yet is the chilling doubt that follows in shock's footsteps. From a quick glance, Cravs can tell that Luma is in terrible shape, and she ponders whether the man is ilms away from death's door. Perhaps that's why? He's delirious and dying and all this time, maybe, there was resentment. Cravs swallows. Who is she kidding? Not maybe -- there is. She forces her attention away because she'd rather not have a conversation centered around this. There are more important things to worry about. "Lin, if there's somethin' I can do to 'elp, just say the word. Otherwise I'll stand guard." Insecurity about her ability to intelligently add to the conversation besides, she'd prefer to keep her distance from Luma for now.

Aislinn works in continued silence, letting the shock sink to its usual dull ache before venturing to speak again. "Luma's not letting us near him." she jerks her chin up to the shards hanging like daggers over him in the darkness of the cavern ceiling above. She stares at him, trying to stay calm, as Crific said though with each passing second the urgency in her grows. "Luma." her voice comes out rougher than she intended. "We can't stay here. You must know that." She looks at him as her practiced hands move of their own accord, slowing as her attention is drawn to his twisted ears. "Seven hells. What is...." She gives a sharp shake of her head. "No. There'll be time for all the explanations later. You need medical attention."

Luma slowly shook his head; his 'ears' flopping bent side to side. "...Indeed... we can't... let me continue on..." Luma said, gazing at the fog as he heard another loud roar from the beast. "...I don't want you all getting caught in this... and my next destination is a trek anyways... maybe there, it won't give chase... but who am I kidding?..." Luma stated, watching as Mercutio slowly took a stand and approached Crific, tugging at the Soldier's clothes as if requesting something.

It's only Aislinn keeping herself busy with Crific’s wounds that keeps him still. "If it's the shards the beast is attracted to, we must do something about them." His gaze turns down to Mercutio, brows furrowing.

Mercutio whined a bit, growing ever the more concerned for his master as he sniffed the newcomers and stayed at Crific's side; looking on at Luma.

"..Don't touch the damned shards, the lot of you." Luma said, a bit of a bite in his tone.

Quick on the heels of Luma's stubborn insistence is her own. "We're -already- involved in this. We're in over our heads. Nothing's going to change that."

Cravendy steps away to monitor the twisting tunnels that lead up to their position, all while listening intently. She flinches at the sound of the roar, a cold sweat gathering on her palms after. With hesitation, Cravs decides to ask Luma a question despite her discomfort. "All yer doin' is runnin'. Is there an end goal 'ere? Ye collect this bloody crap in ye, and then choke?"

Luma jumped a bit when hearing 'Wyda’ talk to him; her voice nearly a forgotten sound to his deformed ears. "...I'm... collecting these... so nobody has to suffer something... like you di-..." Luma paused some. "...Like... she did...if I stop, more will get affected... if I keep going, there is a chance it ends..."

Aislinn makes a noise of agreement in her throat at Cravendy's words as she finishes patching Crific's back and shoulder. The floor littered with the shards she had pulled from him. A wry, cynical part of her is certain he'd find a way to ruin her work before long. Maybe she should have gone the aetheric route after all. She eyes the shards. "We've been slowly collecting them in auracite cores and returning them to Haila. Well...at least the ones we can identify." She eyes him. "I'm sure you know a body can only absorb so much foreign aether. You can't collect them all on your own."

Aislinn is absolutely correct in her assessment. It's the thought that counts. Crific nearly rounds on Luma, but maybe Aislinn and Cravendy together could talk some sense into him, as he kneels to attend to Mercutio. Perhaps the wolf has some insight they don't. While at the wolf's level, he peers briefly at the wounds on his back, hoping they're no longer bleeding at least.

The wounds on Mercutio's back were still injuries for the wolf; but like his master, he was stubborn to seek help. Instead, the wolf shook off Crific and walked ever so slowly towards the fog hiding them in the cave. Staring at the gap left by Luma, and the lack of shadows; the wolf was listening intently at the sounds the beast had continued to make outside. The thumping, the crashing; it seemed it was still searching for him.

Cravendy looked down, then away. She doesn't know what to say because she doesn't have a good alternative to pitch. Luckily, Lin is there to fill the silence and speak reasonably. "Aye, what she said. Just look at ye, Luma. I've seen whale carcasses in better shape."

"...My state is nothing to put attention to..." Luma started, turning his gaze to avoid the trio looming over him as he stared at Mercutio's back. The way his tail had been between his hind legs, the wolf's ears turning and bending to hear the beast outside-- Luma immediately recognized what Mercutio was doing. "..N-No!... Don't... Don't leave, please!..." Luma raised his voice, the glass shards above gleaming a bit suddenly and lighting up the cave as Mercutio glanced back only briefly to show a look of guilt to Luma; then bolted off through the fog. The loud roars of the monster sounding closer followed by Mercutio's barks back; the wolf was attempting to lure the beast away.

Letting them have their turn to have a battle of wills with Luma's stubbornness, Crific follows Mercutio to the edge of the fog, peering slightly beyond it as he listened to the beast still rampaging. He looks down at the wolf--only too late to realize what its plan was. A stupid, foolhardy plan. "Get him back to Heartwood!" Crific bolts into the fog, too.

With a sharp gasp, Aislinn swiftly falls back from the shards as they light up the gloom. She swings her head towards the wolf, watching helplessly as it rushes into the mist. She can see what Crific's intentions are a split second before he moves. "Don't." she calls out sharply. As if that would matter.

"Way I see it, we got three options. Either we 'edge our bets against takin' down the beast, or we slip past, or we let Luma continue doin' whatever 'e's tryin' to do." She feels something brush against her leg, and watches the dog run off with a wince. "Ah--YE BLOODY IDIOT." Cravs tries to grab Crific by the collar before he runs past.

[Prevent-another-idiot-roll-check]

[Cravs rolled 924/1000]

[Crific rolled 130/1000]

Crific gets YANKED back by Cravendy's hand on his collar, but he puts the momentum into spinning to bring his arm down on hers in order to break the contact--but at least he's here. Obviously furious, but here.

Cravendy yanks Crific back by the collar in the nick of time, though she's surprised how lively he is given his injuries. Without a ponze of pity, she reaches out again, struggling to grab onto him because THAT LOOK. She knows that look. That shitty, 'I'm-the-protagonist-hero' look that leads to disaster. "DON'T. Just." Cravs bites down hard on her lip, and looks to Luma. "There's our chance, now don't let it go to waste! Let's go!"

Aislinn raises her chin minutely, staring hard at him, a touch of her anger slipping past her forced calm. "Cravendy's right." Swinging around, she approaches Luma again and kneels down. She seems to gather in unnatural, graceful calm with every breath. "We will help you get the shards. But first you have to come back to Heartwood and let us store all of....this." she waves her hand to the dagger like fragments above.

Lumarto stares at the fog; the sound of roars and barks that began to fade off in the distance, it was heartbreaking to say the least. "MERCUTIO!" Luma cried out, the shards above glowing brighter than before as he struggled to try and get up and chase after the selfsame wolf that was with him through the darkest times. Barely managing to step forward before tumbling over his own feet; the pool of blood by his rear almost reminding the trio that he was critically injured.

Aislinn jerks back as he tries and fails to stumble to his feet. "Luma!" She exclaims in reply to his yell. Acting on instinct, she rushes to his side, staring in horror at the pool of blood that had formed beneath him, seeing it for the first time. "Damn it all." There was no bandaging that. There was no time. With a flick of her shaking hand, she calls the guns off her back, wordlessly preparing a flow of healing aether through the barrels.

Crific almost argues. Almost. Every fiber of his being wants to, as he bats aside another attempt to grab him with questionable vehemence--but between Cravendy, Aislinn, and the state Lumarto is in, he tamps it down, turns to stalk back in Luma's direction. If they were making another break for it, the man isn't going to be able to flee under his own power.

The mix of everything, the emotions Lumarto's pouring out from seeing his companion run off to attempt to be a distraction for his masters sake-- his friends who came to assist and not take no for an answer. Luma was a complete mess of emotion and composure. Upon slamming a fist at the ground, a few handfuls of glass shards came crashing down like sharp rain onto the group.

[Roll for dodging]

[Aislinn rolled 553/1000]

[Crific rolled 297/1000]

[Cravs rolled 176/1000]

As Lumarto pounds a fist to the ground, the hair at the nape of Aislinn's neck rises as she feels an aetheric charge in the air a hair's breadth before several shards fall. One slices inches from her side, sending her pulse skittering in her neck. She whips her hand in a swift gesture in front of her and the guns shift, pointing their barrels towards her and layering a shield around her. That wasn't what she wanted. She meant to shield all of them. Obviously she and these creations of Neville and Yami needed more time to attune to each other.

Crific manages to get his armorclad arm up to ward off the worst of it, but a shard at the last moment slices a deep gash across his brow, reopening the old scarring already present. He hisses, squinting through the new stream of blood across his eye.

Cravendy is caught off guard, tussling with Crific one second and dealing with glass the next. A shard punctures through her shoulder and sets her off, a furious string of words loosed into the air like gunfire. "Luma, yer gonna kill us if ye stall anymore, cause we ain't gonna leave ye! The only chance we're gettin' out of this alive is WITH yer cooperation, right 'ere, right now! I'm so bloody tired of all this self-sacrificin' gullshite. Even the dog's possessed by it! Seven hells!" Cravs, at the end of her rope, grits her teeth and is right about to pick up the man and make a break for it.

Lumarto did not react; nor did he even hear Cravendy. With that fall of sharp glass, it spelled the pause of this game as Lumarto fell unconscious. The fog that had hidden the group slowly dissipated; the sunlight peering through the now revealed cave and showing a few remnants of what Mercutio had been doing. Bloody paw prints scattered about followed by bits of darkened black flesh; it seemed like Mercutio took a few notes from Crific in not letting it be a one-sided fight. The signs of the skirmish revealed that the wolf had continued to distract the beast and run off as the trail went cold just beyond the mountain. The glass shards above harmlessly lowering; the gleam flickering a bit before they all condensed into a single misty fragment just above Lumarto's quiet and still body. The fragment not looking like a glass husk but rather something truly tangible and real. The fragment itself emanating slightly into Lumarto; the rest floating there, menacingly.

After a moment of pause, something had begun to occur.

///

Memories condense, slowly starting to take shape. Slowly but surely replaying an event, though how far back it goes is hard to tell. It projects an image of Luma on his own, still looking like his usual miqo'te self. However, there is no calm, there is no worry, just an inscrutable expression of mixed anger and animosity on him as he paces around. Wind blows his loose clothes around as he stares in a particular direction, however, two of the people present wouldn't be able to see the shape that he was staring at. Cravs, however, would make out a serendipitous figure.  A woman stands before him with long raven black hair, blue silken robes adorned with golden jewelry befitting of a queen. Her eyes glow gold as she smiles down at Luma. However, no matter how much one would strain their ear, there would be no sound heard from her. Not by the people unable to see her, or by Cravs herself. The memory seems broken, or hidden to anyone but the pair engaged in conversation. 

On one side with Luma looking like a madman as he seems more and more agitated, motioning his hand towards the woman (or for others at the air) while shaking his head. Suddenly he turns, continuing at a rather fast pace as if he's trying to leave the scene, except no matter how far he goes, the woman remains in place at the same distance behind him. No motion signaling any attempts at walking, yet she is still there. This, though, seems to agitate Luma more and more, as he clearly wishes he was somewhere else, or at least on his own. 

At last though, he violently turns around, a loud yell of "YOU DON'T EXIST, GO AWAY!" being heard by all parties witnessing the memory as he then turns away and continues his walking. Cravs though, would be able to see a vague semblance about the expression from the woman. She is perplexed, staying in place as Luma finally managed to get some distance away from her. A faint glint of disappointment passes through her eyes as she mouths unreadable words. Her right hand slowly pulled a thread off a ring on the opposite hand as she held it tightly before her. The thread dissipated as quickly as she was done talking as she hovered away, her feet slowly being engulfed in water, as if she was making her way into a shoreline until she was completely swallowed away.

\\\

After the memories had played out; the fragment had carefully chunked off once more into a few smaller pieces. The tiniest ones went off into the distance beyond the cave’s entrance, while the rest remained 'bite-sized' above Luma.

Crific's simmering anger is momentarily replaced by confusion as the scene unfolds, though he only watches Luma's raving in part, peering out into the clearing to see bloodied pawprints and the evidence of the skirmish Mercutio had used to buy their opportunity at escape. He grits his teeth. He should've knocked Luma out in the first place.

Cravendy looks up at the strange hallucination (woman) in alarm. When did she get here? What's happening between her and Luma? "Who in Thal's balls are ye, now?! Bugger all, we don't 'ave time for introductions!" Brazenly ignoring the fragments above Luma, she finally just grabs the unconscious man and starts running as fast as her legs will take her towards safety.

Not that Cravendy wasn't saying everything Lin was thinking but hadn't Crific said Luma needed to stay calm? Though that might be a lost cause now. "Luma, you're just losing shards." she points out, striving to raise her voice above Cravendy's temper. But then he slumped over. She's just about to move forward with her healing spellwork when the aetheric fragment takes shape and sinks into his skin. Baffled, she too, follows Crific's gaze and watches the one-sided scene unfold, momentarily transfixed. Too late to stop Cravendy as she hauls the man up. "No! Wait! He's bloody bleeding out!" Scrambling to her feet, she sends her instruments flying after the Seawolf.

Cravendy was riled up enough to think that the blood that's dripping down her body is all hers, from the glass still embedded in her shoulder. Lin's voice cuts right through, and Cravs shoots the deathly man a panicked look. "'ow good are ye at 'ealin' on the go, Lin? Cause speakin' 'onestly, I'd rather we be as far away from that monster as possible!"

Crific watches Cravs book it with Luma's unconscious form, taking a half-step after them--before he stops. Heartwood isn't a haven for him. He takes a step back, grabbing hold of the drone Lin had left him previously, motioning with it as though to say he'd be in touch. With Cravendy already occupied and Aislinn likely distracted, Crific darts off into the fog, heading in the direction of the fragments that flew off before anyone could stop him again. Whatever fragments still clung to Luma, he's confident they could deal with it.

Racing after Cravendy, Aislinn’s guns overtake the Seawolf and begin circling her, barrels pointed to the ground as Aislinn curses and rushes to catch up. Nothing like learning these new weapons on the go. "Just. Give me. Wait." she stutters, hard lines of concentration sharpening her face as she hurriedly tries to maneuver the aetheric instruments. Healing aether slowly begins to pulse gently from the stones mounted on the back of each gun, washing over the unconscious man. It would be several minutes more before she would realize Crific had disappeared. Again.

With the team split up on their own separate tasks (even if some were self-assigned) it seemed that they finally managed to recover the lost man. The remnants of fragments that had scattered out to the Mountain had their own tales to follow; their own beast to conquer. The small bite-sized pieces that had stuck to Luma had stayed on his body; not going anywhere as if they'd become parts of him. The blood soaked dirt and walls of the cave now told a story; and it was a delusional stubborn one.

[second-chance-stray]

Thorn in her side

Where would they be hiding? How can we lure them out? When is the best time to set the trap, what resources would they have at their disposal, and...

...and do you think they would fight to the death?

Answering these questions for the Maelstrom is as enjoyable as having your teeth yanked out. It feels like shit to help the law arrest acquaintances and friends, but Cravs can’t afford to mislead them too much. If they pick up on what she’s doing, then she won’t be able to help anyone, least of all herself. She doesn't need to rot in jail again.

So here she is, alive past her reckoning, a pirate helping catch other pirates. It’s all kinds of wrong but she has no choice in the matter.

At least they’re breaking her in with something less personal. They’re trying to catch a skeevy bastard that she has little love for, so it goes down easy this time. But one day they’ll ask her to catch someone she’s close to, and Cravs isn’t mentally prepared for that yet...and honestly. Maybe never.

She gnaws on her lip and tries not to think about it.

“A day’s ‘ike west of Poor Maid's Mill. Ye’ll find ‘em ‘oled up in an old ‘unter’s cabin, but goin’ in blind is like stickin’ yer ‘and in a catfish’s den. Plus, there’s no guarantee that they’ll all be there,” Cravs responds in a low growl. “...So give ‘em a reason to gather. Crews’ll drink themselves stupid after a big ‘aul, and they’re much less dangerous drunk.”

Cravs leans back on her chair until she’s balanced on its back legs, her heels pitched up against the table. The Maelstrom officer across from her laces and relaces his fingers together with a thoughtful hum.

“Takes one to know one,” he finally says. The officer primly picks up a stack of papers and taps it against the table, lining up its edges. He gives Cravs a measured look. “Tomorrow, a quarter bell after sunrise. Aleport. We’ll be waiting.”

He stands and opens the door for Cravs. At least he has the courtesy of being professional, she glumly thinks to herself with a grimace. After a beat, she tips forward on her chair, leaves without pushing it back in, and begins to make a beeline towards the exit of the building. She gets her hand on the doorknob to freedom when a voice calls out from behind.

“Well, if it ain’t ol’ Thornsplitter ‘erself! It’s all true, then...Swivin’ ‘ells. Never thought I’d see the day,” someone jeers. Cravs turns to see a man temporarily handcuffed to a metal handle along the wall. It seems that he was brought in for questioning, but the officer responsible had to leave them unattended for a moment. The swagger in his wide stance, the contempt in his eyes, the smug, cocky disgust. Cravs once gave that to the pirates who fell in line with the Admiral’s accord.

She feels threatened by it now. Her past self, reflected back in this lowlife.

“Sod off,” she answers. Admits. The man smirks and leans as forward as his handcuff will allow.

“Just another bitch workin’ for the Admiral, then,” he taunts, and it gets a reaction out of her. She frowns deeper as the man repeats himself with a slow drawl, savoring each word like chocolate over his tongue. “Just anotherrr bitch...at the end. Of. The. Day.”

Cravs lifts her hand from the doorknob and faces the man. Anger fills her like hot air, but she knows better than to let it out. Not here, within a Maelstrom building. Not now, while she’s trying to make up for past mistakes. The man notices that she’s holding back and lifts his chin up defiantly.

“Ye know, I’ve ‘eard a couple of funny stories about ye,” he continues. “That all this time, ye’ve been growin’ fat and stupid in Gridania, eatin’ cakes and pretendin’ to be all fancy-like. That ye’ve rebuilt a silly little town ye once razed to the ground. That all true, too?”

She steps up to him and reaches out, about to pick him up by the scruff of his collar and show him who’s boss. But when she sees her own hand, scarred but healing into something softer, she stops. Cravs stops because ever since she inherited Heartwood from Wyda, she’s been given the chance to let go of this aggression. It’s not a dog eat dog world everywhere, she tells herself, even though it feels like it sometimes. She retracts her hand and forces herself to look away.

The man snorts. Then, he laughs.

“Hah. Bloody ‘ells! They’ve lopped yer balls clean off.” He says this with the confidence of a child rattling a circus lion’s cage, as if he’s not the one chained to the wall. As if he’s free, and she’s not, and that’s despicable. “So! Did ye thank ‘em when they neutered ye? Did ye suck on their teat and beg for more, too?”

Cravs punches the man hard in the face.

An officer steps into the room and notices the commotion. They rush forward to hold Cravs back but ultimately can’t. With her leash snapped, she punches him until she feels his nose bend and break beneath her fist. Teeth fly out of his bloodied mouth and skitter across the floor like a bag of dropped marbles and she’s vaguely aware of the officer yelling at her to stop, but she hasn’t stopped. 

Not here. Not now.

The last thing she remembers before being dragged away for a good talking to is the pirate’s pulpy, smiling face. Even on the edge of consciousness and with blood smeared over his mouth like a bad paint job, the man still has the gall to throw oil on the flames. In a voice that’s simultaneously broken and victorious, he shouts right as the door shuts behind her.

“Till sea swallows fuckin’ all, friend! Till sea swallows fuckin’ all!”

[second-chance-stray]

RP Log: Rising takes Cravs out of the clinic to reflect on the Rising holiday in Thanalan.

Rising Lotus stepped out of the camp with Cravendy in tow, frequently looking back to make sure she was walking alright. Probably over worried. She did shake off a brutal hit and then got wasted, but still! She was taking her out of the clinic for some reason. "Thanks for comin' out here with me, though I'm sure you're happy to be sprung."

Cravendy Hound gives Rising a thankful look. Donning her usual armor, the only hint that she’s still recovering is the wince she makes while moving too fast and the stiff movement that comes as a result. Rising is right - despite her injuries, Cravs has been busy and whether her friend took her out or not, she’d have still found opportunities to slip out. Rising being here, however, shields this particular outing from well-intentioned nagging.

Cravendy Hound: “Aye! Thanks for takin’ me out. If I don’t get walked daily like a dog, I’m liable to chew on my tail, ahah!” she jokes. “But anyway, where to?”

Rising Lotus: "Jus' up the road a ways," she answered quickly before starting off at a modest pace. "You healin' up alright?" she sort of blurted the question out as if to move forward. "Between the tower an' the shite the Maelstrom is puttin' ya through, was pretty worried 'bout ya for a bit."

Cravendy Hound nods as she picks up the pace. “Don’t worry. Heartwood clinics set me good...hah. Since our doctors ‘ave ‘ad a wealth of experience,” she notes while looking over landscapes of dry shrub, sage, and wild aldgoats. “The Maelstrom ‘as been understandin’ all things considered.”

Cravendy Hound: “I asked ‘em to put the pirate ‘untin’ on ‘old for a bit so I could ‘elp out with the towers in La Noscea instead. They were supportive, so that’s good,” Cravs says as she faces forward at Rising’s back, unintentionally brushing over the details of this deal.

Rising Lotus: "Wish the same could be said on how they're treatin' Kazu..an' that situation..." she spat onto the dusty path. "Willin' to jus' let them captives die...doesn't sound like no Adders I've ever heard of." she kicked a rock into the brush. "But I 'spose Limsa is made from pirates, so maybe they're more laid back in such things? Anyway, here's hopin' we’ll help out more tempered out there." she let out a sigh afterwards, doubt poking through her optimism.

Cravendy Hound tips her nose up an ilm at the mention of Kazu and her expression tightens. “...They ain’t treatin’ ‘im right, and I personally think someone’s ‘oldin’ a grudge against ‘im. It’s not like the Alliance sees all who’ve worked with the Empire like they’re irredeemable. If that were the case, then what about Doma and Ala Mhigo?” She releases her breath, tired but trudging along regardless.

Cravendy Hound: “Limsa’s another story...but it was born from the bloodiest seadogs known to man. All this rule followin’ is what’s unusual, not the other way around. So aye. Ye can say it’s more laid back.” There's a slight tinge of sourness in her voice - of bitterness and longing. The age of unrestricted piracy is over, and she still mourns aspects of that.

Rising Lotus: "Aye, somethin' feels off, but I don't think he's gonna give us answers any more than they would. Hard enough to find the guy." As the bridge came into view, Rising started to go off the path, crunching on the dried grass as she led Cravs forward. "Jus' gonna have to try an' keep an' eye on him more than usual, see if we can spot anythin' out of the ordinary either when he's alone, or talkin' to them folks orderin' him around."

Rising Lotus: "Oh, watch out for snakes out here by the way, usually there ain't any up this way but they can be hard to spot in all this brush. Last thing any of us need is to get poisoned." she paid a bit more attention to her footing as they neared their destination.

Cravendy Hound smiles when she hears Rising shares her opinion on the matter and that she’ll also be keeping an eye out for shady business. “That’s good. We all gotta watch each other’s backs.” Cravs goes quiet for a time as she locks eyes with Rising’s ankles pushing through yellow grass. Left, right. Left, right. The steady march forward happens in Crav’s mind as well. “...Maybe more than just watchin’. If we think somethin’ bad is already ‘appenin’, we oughta strike instead of wait.”

Cravendy Hound: “Snakes? They’ll rattle to let us know afore we step on ‘em, r-right?” Cravs is more jumpy now though. Every branch is seen instead as a viper, and she swears more than once as she follows in Rising’s footsteps.

Rising Lotus: "..Aye...though we don't wanna do somethin' that'll put us an' Kazu in worse graces...probably." It still felt weird to her to not just, jump into action as she had before, perhaps being around two others like that had forced her to grow restraint. "Some will, but we're almost there."

Rising Lotus || Clearing through the last bit of brush, they reached a part of the cliff that jutted out. Rising went to speak, then stopped, clearing her throat to steel her resolve. "Y-You can jus' sit by the tree, for a moment. It won't be too long." She paused again, staring at the corrected aether coiling out of the mountain ahead.

Cravendy Hound laughs lightly. “Hah, ye and me both! I feel blind as a bat navigatin’ this shite, fightin’ with words instead of my gun...So I’m ‘opin’ I don’t end up causin' fuss. Heartwood can’t really afford another.”

Cravendy Hound raises a brow, curious about why Rising has chosen this location in particular. She does as asked and leans back, carefully bracing herself against the tree so that she looks relaxed. It’s half true - once she’s in the position, she feels better, but the transitionary stuff in between has Cravs masking the soreness she’s still recovering from.

Rising Lotus slowly steps forward until she's past the crunchy ground and onto the solid rock face of the cliff. She stops around three fulms from the edge, just looking out to the otherside of the canyon silently. After a little while she pulled something out of her satchel, it looked like some manner of twisted spike? It would be hard to tell from where Cravs would be standing. She merely held it tightly in her gauntleted hand while her bare one moved to her eyes as it seemed she was losing her composure.

Cravendy Hound can see the spike, held in Rising’s hand as she stands tall on a stony cliff, but she can’t see the details. How tightly her friend is holding it, or the minute shifts in her breathing, her cracking composure; Cravs lifts from the tree and takes a single step towards Rising, uncertain but sensing something off. “Risin’? What are ye tryin’ to do?”

Rising Lotus sniffles a bit as she continues to cry, slowly turning to Cravs. "S-Sorry...It..well, I guess it looks...off with it broken." Returning from the outcrop, she offers the item over to Cravs, the twisted piece of metal red and looking to have been snapped, or blown off as the case was, from the whole. " From my old spear...only part I got of it..."

Rising Lotus broke her sobs up with a bit of chuckling when she realized how stupid it must of looked. "I'm not..mournin' my spear..." she sniffled a bit. " 'Round this time I always visit here, since I used to come with with me ma, an'..she died 'round this time.." she took a few moments to collect herself. "...bought that piece of junk with the money I got for sellin' our old shack..so it's...hard havin' less of it left."

(Rising Lotus) Wow that rain was sudden)) (Cravendy Hound) ahahah it's appropriate! ))

Cravendy Hound - One step turns to many as she walks to Rising’s side. There’s a sand tossed silence that extends while Cravs stares hard at the spear fragment, gaze prickly and tense as always. The voice that comes out eventually, however, doesn’t match her gruff act. It is softer, unguarded, and flicked with echoes of something silver. Her captain saw it in Cravs as well - the gemstone in the rough.

Cravendy Hound: “Risin’,” she starts. Cravs moves her hand over the one that Rising is using to clench the spear. “Do ye miss ‘er?”

Rising Lotus nodded quickly, hand clenching the spear prong tightly as Crav's hand covered hers, sobbing a bit harder. "Aye..'specialy 'round this time..." she scoffed a bit. " I mean most folks..have trouble with...this time an' all.." there was a bit of frustration in her voice, a big mix of emotions from letting a little out. "But..It ain't so hard..or...it don't need to be...Riylli came with me last year...so I jus' needed someone again.."

Cravendy Hound: “Ain’t no trouble,” Cravs reaffirms. Her fingers settle over Rising’s gauntleted knuckles, calloused skin pressed against metal. “Thank ye for bringin’ me ‘ere.”

Cravendy Hound gaze steadily moves from their hands to Rising’s upper arm. She’s unable to meet Rising’s eyes head on right now, but she’ll work her way up to that in time. “It’s exactly what it needs to be. Just cause it’s ‘ard don’t mean it’s supposed to be easier. In fact, ‘ow ye feel...it’s evidence of yer love. That’s what loss is, too.”

Cravendy Hound: “Ye loved something so much that when it left, it left a ‘ole. There ain’t no movin’ past or around it, just...livin’ with it.” She lets out a tight sigh. “It stays with ye, and it should.”

Rising Lotus was silent aside from the huffing and sniffling from her sobbing as she listened to Cravendy speak, eyes still looking at their hands. She let the words sink in for a few moments before swallowing and opening her mouth to speak, finding her resolved to do it after one or two attempts. "It's harder this time..'cause the spear...but.." she lets out a soft sigh. "...thank you for comin'...it makes it easier, than it used to be." she was silent for a few more moments as tears still rolled down her cheeks. "...I got other...'holes'..yet..I think you an' Riylli know...I jus' ignore them." she turned her head away, glancing down the cliff. "..so..thanks for, helpin' me with 'em...an' uh.." she just rolled her shoulders in a lazy shrug as she rubbed the tears out of her eyes once more.

Cravendy Hound has finally made it up to Rising’s eyes. It’s hard for her to hold the stare as well - Cravs keeps looking away, or faltering - but she makes a serious effort despite her own shaking foundations. “Sometimes, that’s the only thing ye can do. Pretend they don’t exist. But I found, even if yer terrified of what might happen, addressin’ yer demons is...needed. I learned that the ‘ard way.”

Cravendy Hound: “I’d offer ye my bandana, but it’s pourin,” Cravs jokes, hoping to lift Rising with a bit of levity.

Cravendy Hound: “Ye know, some people make fun of gettin’ overly attached to objects, but that’s hogwash. Shit’s important. Why don’t we take that scar--” she points at the spear fragment. “--and transform it into somethin’ meaningful? To turn it from somethin’ broken into a part of a whole again, itself but ‘onored.”

Rising Lotus was able to meet Crav's gaze for a moment as well, she still looked a bit uncomfortable, scared, and yet thankful, and the quip did lighten her mood a quick tad too, chuckling as they both were soaked. "I-I...I'll...try to deal with 'em..." ((tho as we know from a certain event that takes place in the future >:])) as she thinks on it more, her eyes drift to the spear fragment.

Rising Lotus: "...Y-yeah...don't rightly know what you could do with it...but I think, that..that would be good." she gripped it tighter for a few moments.

Cravendy Hound laughs with Rising as she reaches up to lift a curl of dripping green hair. “Shower’s taken care of, though!”

Cravendy Hound: “Anyway, take it at yer own pace. Sometimes, the world will shake ye and force ye to face stuff afore yer ready, but otherwise, that’s what I would do. Comb over stuff slowly and one at a time,” she answers plainly, non-judgemental of putting stuff off. Twelve knows she did for so long and, to an extent, still does. But who in their right mind could set out to face everything at once and hope to get anything done?

Cravendy Hound removes her hand from Rising’s and scratches her chin in thought. “Hmm, well. No rush ‘ere too, but to toss some ideas yer way....Ye could turn a piece of it into a necklace, like a good luck charm? Or maybe sharpen it again and attach it to yer new spear?”

Rising Lotus was snuffling herself down as she soaked in what Cravs was telling her, she had heard similar advice before as well. She just still needed a push to try and follow it. "T-Thank you..for that...an' comin' here with me..." she gave Cravs a few short and quick nods as she ran her arm over her eyes another time, mostly moving water around at this point. Bringing the twisted prong closer, she inspect the metal spike. "..I don't know yet...I think I'll have to think more 'bout it.."

Rising Lotus: safely tucked it back away, turnin' back towards the canyon. "...when we'd come here I used to throw rocks over the edge, my ma would get so sore at me, said I could hit somethin'." she smiled weakly. "...I 'spose we should get back, don't need to catch another cold."

Cravendy Hound mouth quirks into a doggish grin. She pats Rising on the back a little too hard. It’s enough to knock the air out of her. “Yer thinkin’ about it! That’s the first step.”

Cravendy Hound looks over the cliff and snorts. “What’re ye gonna ‘it? The ground? Better ye toss rocks down a cliff than at a person.” Her grin falls slightly as she finds herself a little envious of Rising’s upbringing. At least you had a mom. It’s a petty thought that she quickly pushes out by force.

Cravendy Hound: “I’m used to bein’ soaked and worked till sea salt sank into my bones, so I’ll be fine. Ye, on the other ‘and, look paler than a sod who retched up their lunch. We oughta get back to the clinic fast. Can’t ‘ave ye goin’ under,” Cravs says with a chuckle, purposefully poking fun at her own situation by reversing it to an extreme. Rising looks positively fine right now, and she’s the one who isn't physically. “Let’s go, then.”

[second-chance-stray]

Moonshine

The stench of battle, of panic and blood and gunpowder, clings to Cravs as she stumbles into the woods. Through sheer willpower, she remains conscious despite her broken ribs (that’s what Lin said. Sure feels that way) and battered body. What Cravs needs is to check herself into the hospital, but what Cravs wants is a stiff drink. 

She’s drunk. She could be even more so.

Her destination is a cave that’s guarded by an absurd number of squirrels, and the rodents line the mossy entrance like tiny soldiers in formation, beady eyes glazed and unintelligent. More squirrels rush out of the cave once its owner, a filthy Hrothgar who looks more bear than man, steps out to meet her.

“‘ey Jim,” Cravs mutters.

“It’s Jim on the weekdays.” He lowers his gaze, silently taking in her ragged appearance. “Go by Yella’ Joe on the weekends.”

She smirks and lets out a tight breath.

“And it’s a weekday,” she continues, as if following a script. 

A hint of mirth flickers in Jim’s eyes as well.

“It is,” he replies with a wink. 

Cravs gets her cue and struggles forward, but every ilm is a battle. She fights through sharp sensations of fracturing, bleeding, and squeezing that pops like embers whenever she breathes. Jim watches her as she settles painfully onto a nearby log.

“That...” Her eyes feel heavy. She stares at a squirrel. “That one’s new?”

Jim shakes his head no. He picks up the squirrel and cups it in his hands, surprisingly gentle despite his gruff appearance. “No, that’s old Bonnie. You don’t recognize Bonnie?”

“Sorry,” Cravs manages.

“It’s fine,” Jim grumbles while petting the squirrel until she’s melted into a relaxed pancake on his palm. “Where’s yours?”

The absurdity of the conversation hits her and Cravs barks out a laugh which -- ow, ow, ow. She clenches it back and eventually mirrors the head shake Jim gave her earlier. “No, I don’t know where Kazushige is.”

“Mm.”

“I ‘ope ‘e’s alive. I...I think.” Her voice starts and stops with uncertainty. “I think ‘e’s alive.”

“Mmhm.”

“......”

There’s more Cravs wants to admit. The powerlessness that came from seeing Heartwood members kill those who, in another time and place, could’ve easily been her. The frustration when she was even worse and unable to protect herself, her own, or others. Cravs has always felt like a pretender because her outside is tough but her insides are not, but she’d prefer this wasn’t so literal right now. She slumps into herself with a wry smile.

“Ye know what I’m ‘ere for,” she says.

“You’re here early,” Jim flatly replies.

“Ran out early,” Cravs growls back.

Jim stands there for a few seconds without saying anything. Then, he takes a seat across from her, sets two glasses between them, and fills each to the brim. With the same gentleness that he pet his squirrel with, Jim helps Cravs wrap her fingers around the glass and raises it in a silent toast. Nothing is said when they gulp down the moonshine. He refills, they drink, he refills again. Life becomes unfocused and its woes, distant.

Sometimes you have to put things off, even (especially) when you’re bleeding out. Between the Maelstrom and this, Cravs has had enough shit for a week.

[lettersnorth]

Rock Skipping

Forced rest. Was the worst. Mostly because Lin didn't quite know how to shut her brain off in that way. Not when there was still work she knew needed to be done. Try as she might, staying around the Company house wasn't going to help, being as surrounded as she was by the very things she needed to work on. Sleep wasn't going to come easy, again because of the way her brain was wired. And despite Sergius' crass suggestion, she wasn't about to distract Locke while he and his crew were out on a run. Desperate and feeling the pressure to relax, she turned to the one person she knew would forcibly drag her away from her work. That's how she and Cravendy had ended up at this creek on a beautifully sunny day that had Aislinn squinting against the light. 

"Why would Wyda put skipping rocks on a bucket list? Seems like something you two would've done before." she idly questioned as the two came to the edge of shaded forest creek.

Cravendy takes a break from collecting rocks to look up at Lin, one brow raised. "It...is. But not with ye." Cravs grins, leaving it at that. It's answer enough.

Cravendy is all too aware of how Lin has been overworking, but had thus far stayed out of the other woman's way. Cravs can tell how important this is to her, and while it's incredibly concerning to watch her friend wear down over the days, she feels it isn't her place to force her stop. Suggest, maybe, but...Cravs trusts that Lin knows her boundaries, just as she trusts Lin to succeed.

"Ye done this before?" Cravs says, stepping over with a handful of stones in her arms. She casually tosses one Lin's way.

"Oh." Is about all Lin can say to Cravendy's explanation. Because it neatly struck home how much of Wyda's list wasn't about Wyda. She isn't given too much time to think on it though, as Cravendy tosses a rock in her direction. She blinks, reaches out to catch it, belatedly, fumbles it a few times but somehow keeps it in her hands. A clear cut display of how correct Sergius had been. Her reflexes were shot, her wits dulled. She clambors down from the boulder she had been standing on and slowly shakes her head. "Can't recall a time when I did." She eyes the stone in her hand. Wide and flat with edges smoothed over time by the stream. "Some sort of trick to it?"

Cravendy deposits the rest of the rocks in a pile a few ilms away from the water, and plucks one from the top. "Hm, I guess Gyr Abania and Thanalan don't 'ave much much water to skip on. Can't blame ye." She holds the stone between her thumb and middle finger, index pressed against its edge. "Ye just sort of...'old it like this, and chuck it real fast an low. Hmph!" Cravs whips it out, stone spinning and skipping along the surface until plunking beneath the creek's surface.

Cravendy counts three skips, and rubs the bottom of her chin in thought. Passable, but not exactly impressive. "... to be 'onest I didn't do this /too/ often either. Ain't many rocks in the open ocean to play with, so...mostly, when I was a child, afore my sailin' days."

Aislinn tries to watch how Cravendy holds the rock just so but before she can study it too closely and commit it to memory, the Seawolf sends the rock dashing off across the gentle stream's surface. Right. "Where was that?" Aislinn makes to step out into the creek but stops and peels off her boots. "I don't think you ever talked about where you grew up." Barefoot, she wades out into the cool water and looks down the length of it with a determined glint in her eye. She had been presented with a problem. Now to solve it.

(Aislinn North) ((And here's Lin....totally missing the point of this exercise )) (Cravendy Hound) LOL she WILL master rock skipping ))

Cravendy's heart warms at how earnestly Lin is tackling this...problem? Cravs doesn't mind. No matter the scale, a victory is a victory, and Lin looks like she could use a pick me. She picks up the next stone from her ammo pile and tosses it up and down in her hand casually, simply enjoying its weight.

"Ye'll want somethin' triangular, if ye can 'elp it. The flatter the better, too." Cravs lets another stone loose, getting two skips this time, but doesn't seem to mind the lesser result. She's too busy deliberating on how to answer Lin's question. "Just some island in the Northern Empty, near Aerslaent. Pirates would drop off their whelps and 'ead right back to the sea, most never to be seen again. Was the way of things there."

Cravendy doesn't like to think about those days. She's lived most of her life sailing (running?) from place to place, desperately obsessed with the present. The past tends to hook into her painfully, and yet, Cravs has come a long way from her days as a haunted, growling pirate. It will be different this time..and it helps that Lin is the one to hear it.

As she awaits Cravendy's answer, Aislinn watches her skip another rock. This time, she tries to emulate her, wrapping a finger around the edge of the stone and tossing it out from her side. The rock plunks solidly in the water. Alright. So this was going to take some practice. She flicks her gaze towards Cravendy as she explains where she came from. It's not pity or shock that etches in Lin's face as she comes out from the stream to choose another rock, but a twist of regret. It's one thing to suspect you were unwanted, like her. Quite another to know it. "Aye, the way of things can go stuff itself." she says as she tries the hold on one stone and then another, taking her time choosing.

Aislinn finally decides on a triangular, flat stone, like Cravendy told her and wanders back out into the stream. "Still, is it what it sounds like? The Northern Empty?"

Cravendy doesn't comment on Lin's first toss. It is, after all, her first time! But as she checks Lin's face to make sure that she's still motivated, Cravs instead catches a flash of regret. It gives her pause.

"It wasn't all bad! A bunch of kids runnin' around, lookin' out for each other..." Cravs trails off. "...mostly. It did give ye a real sense of independence and gumption. Though sometimes, I did wonder what it'd be like to 'ave a mother. A father."

Cravendy finally tosses her stone and gets four skips out of it. It doesn't do much to change the thoughtful scowl she's wearing. "But dreamin' ain't real. The friends I met along the way, though. They became like family to me -- just like 'ow Heartwood 'as become one, too." She glances at Lin from the corner of her eye and smiles sheepishly."Hah, aye! It's what it sounds like. Real north, real empty. Not the place I'd bother bringin' a date."

Aislinn laughs a bit at that. "I dunno, I suppose if anything you two'd have some privacy, aye?" she jests as she attempts to fling her rock. Plunk. But Lin doesn't seem discouraged, she simply returns again to the pile. "To be honest, that's what a good chunk of my upbringing was too...just kids looking out for each other. I had a da, but he worked and had to expect me to manage myself. I did. Mostly." she flashed a wry look Cravendy's way, certain the Seawolf could relate. 

Before she wanders out in the stream she chooses several good rocks and stuffs them in her pockets. Always hedge your bets. "But aye, Heartwood's not a bad sort to settle in with." There's a distinct note of affection warming her voice. "They keep you on your toes, if nothing else."  she pauses and glances at Cravendy. "Bots, Garleans, Aether...trouble. You ever think the pirating life was easier?" she asks, her tone light.

"Piratin' was easier by a long shot, no question! Pillage, drink, pillage, drink, repeat...Follow the Captain's orders and kill some soddin' bastards!" Cravs grins widely, reexamining those old memories with a clear fondness. "Both back then and now, the threat of death was never far. So that don't weight much in my decision makin' process."

Cravendy steps forward and takes a seat. Cool freshwater runs over her hands as sunlight catches and sparkles on the creek. Quiet sounds of rushing water blend peacefully with that of wind through trees, grass, and wildflowers. When this idea had been plucked from the bucket list, Cravs had her doubts. It sounded too simple...a little dumb. But she's starting to get it.

Cravendy Hound: "Anyhow, easier don't mean better. I think what we 'ave now is more meaningful? Eh." Cravs shrugs, before listening once more to the stream. Eventually, she speaks again. "So ye raised yerself too, eh? Ye came out pretty good."

Aislinn snorts as if to say 'go on, then', but she's smiling as she tries to skip another rock and fails. The funny thing was, the more she tried, the less important success became. Who cared if the rock skipped or not? These were the lowest of low stakes. It seemed she just needed something like this to remind her that not everything was do or die. "I don't know about raised *myself* but lots of other people had a hand in it, good and bad. It all comes out alright in the end though, doesn't it?" She asks. 

Her shoulders seems to relax a moment after she says it. Because she can hear the truth born of experience in them. "Somehow." And just for a moment, she could see it. All the people she worried over. Florus, Haila, Crific, Locke. She couldn't say what would happen. But she could only do what she could do. That was it. "Gods, this is such a simple thing but I think I really needed it. I've been chasing my tail worrying over...a lot." she eyes Cravendy. "What about you?"

Aislinn tosses another rock. It hops! And sinks. Doesn't matter, she swiftly points at it with wide eyes.

Cravendy stares forward and, without looking, feels like she can hear the smile in Lin's voice. Cravs echoes the sentiment. "...It all comes out alright in the end. It does….But I think it's fair to worry, cause Heartwood 'as done some of the dumbest and most reckless shite I've ever 'ad the pleasure of witnessin'. Aye, sometimes I'm a part of it too." Cravs laughs, and turns to catch Lin glancing down at her. "Ye askin' if I worry?"

Cravendy leans back on their hands further, sinking an ilm lower into the stream. "Of course I do. But all that worryin' without doin' much about it made it worse. Once I decided enough's enough, and began to do what I could, well. I think ye and I see eye to eye on this."

Aislinn nods, Cravendy's assertion sinking into her bones. It's quickly followed up by a 'but' that makes Lin laugh. Not a breath of amusement but a bubble of laughter that bounces off the boulders and down the stream. Cravendy had a point. "Aye, I think we do." she says in the wake of her mirth. She pauses, sobering somewhat. "Sometimes though, I tend to 'do' and use that to keep from worrying, if that makes sense. Like if I can just keep working, then I don't have room for the worry to creep in. Worrying about...people being safe. About seeing them again.” Right. People when she really meant one person. Talking about this was hard enough without getting into her soft, vulnerable feelings about Locke. “About Florus, the idiot, not dying on me, about Haila, Gods above, all of it. And if all I have to do is keep working, I'll do that rather than think about it. You know?" She lets go a breath and another rock. It slides across the surface of the water before sinking. Progress. "Sorry. I'm rambling."

Cravendy feels joy swell in her heart, and it leaks out as a soft chuckle. But as Lin speaks her mind, of working and worrying and working to not worry, the feeling settles into a gentle seriousness. "Ye work. I drink. We were both just tryin' to keep ourselves afloat at the time...whether that's now, or before, or later. It ain't something that can be dropped immediately, even if ye know it's bad," Cravs relates. "So I'm not judgin'. Ramble 'owever ye want."

Cravendy grins when she notices Lin's rock almost skip across the water before continuing. "But it's as ye said. It'll be alright. We'll make progress one way or another." Saying this still feels a little embarrassing to Cravs, but not nearly as embarrassing as she thought it'd be. Maybe she's finally wisening up?

Aislinn tilts her head thoughtfully. Cravendy had a point. Drinking or working. It was all just different ways to avoid an issue, wasn't it? "Maybe that's why I can admit it to you. We both do the same shite, aye?" she passes the Seawolf a wry smile before tossing another stone. It skims the surface once again. All out of rocks, Lin lets go a breath and wanders along the creek bed, nudging over stones with her feet.

"Well, that's what's rattling around in my head lately. How about you?" she asks, curiously. She felt like she hadn't seen Cravendy in an age.

Cravendy flashes a toothy grin at Lin, agreeing with all her heart. She can say these things because it's you, and you've seen her at her worst, her best, and everything in between. Cravs feels around the riverbed and fishes out a rock for Lin. "'ere."

Cravendy then purses her lips together in a pout. How /is/ she? That's a hard thing to pin down. Cravs is simultaneously proud of herself and perpetually impatient. "Between the usual of keepin' people from fightin' each other and the supplies stocked, well...ugh. And dealin' with pissy, upperclass twats." She rolls her eyes. "It's been excitin'."

"Ah." Lin smiles her thanks and takes up the rock Cravendy had fished out of the water. She meanders back to her 'spot' in the creek. Her rock throwing spot. She'd already grown used to it. "Pissy, upperclass twats." Lin repeats with amusement curling the edge of her lips. "I know the type. But why do you have to deal with 'em?"

"First time was pure coincidence. 'e asked to talk someone from Heartwood, and I 'appened to be around," Cravs notes, lazily watching Lin practice. "But I could never shake it...the feelin' 'e was lookin' down at me the whole time 'e was yappin' my ear off. So I wanted to be the one to talk to 'im the next time, show 'im I could be courteous and civil. I suppose I wanted to prove 'im wrong."

Cravendy lets out an irritated breath. "It reminds me of 'ow others used to talk to me like I was nothin'. And maybe I wasn't anythin' back then, but now?" She barks out a laugh and lets a determined smirk spread over her lips. "Look, we've been through 'ell. Gives me the confidence that the A11Ys and I aren't so hopeless. If we can survive beatin' some weird patchwork Bahamut and lay low a golem meant to wipe out Ul'dah...then why can't I learn some 'highborn' manners and wipe that stupid look offa that bootlicker's face?"

Aislinn lips pressed in a thin, angry line as Cravendy describes how this ‘twat’ made her feel. She knew the sort. She tosses her rock with a little more force than necessary. "Don't know this fella from anyone else but I can already tell you you've probably seen and done more than this plush fool. Why do you have to learn these highborn manners anyroads? Ren's mentioned them once or twice. They always seem like rules people with too much bloody time on their hands put together."

"They really are. Why's there gotta be a spoon, or fork for every little thing? All this blather about puttin' the napkin 'ere or there, not doin' stuff yerself and bein' graceful. It's gullshite." Cravs laughs, but after a second, her expression falls slightly. "...But, truth be told, I thought it'd be nice to learn. There's an old friend of mine I'd like to impress."

"Ahh." Lin says with a secret smile as though it was all becoming clear. That had been Ren's reason too. "I see." she glances at Cravendy with a raised brow. "Nothing wrong with that, then. What's the problem?"

Cravendy Hound catches that look on Lin's face and frowns, suspecting she has...some idea of /something/ in her head. Whatever! Cravs playfully raps her knuckle against Lin's calf. "I don't know what yer thinkin', but whatever it is, cut it out."

Cravendy Hound: "I mean, there ain't a problem 'cept the problem of a hooligan like me, learnin' this stuff. Gettin' it right." Cravs laughs under her breath. She's all to aware of how ill-fitting the act is, but she is also DETERMINED. Put in enough hours and it'll sink in eventually.

Aislinn blinks, and assumes a wide-eyed look of innocence. Which she can only hold for a moment or two before it crumbles with a short laugh. "Alright, alright. It ain't like that...so says you." she gives the woman a wink before fishing for another stone. "Just...an old friend you'd like to impress. I get it though. Wanting to seem like you know what you're doing even when you don't have the faintest idea." she finds and rejects several stones and keeps looking. "I'm thinking it's just a matter of rote memorization and practice. You can get it." she pauses. "And a bit of faking it and feeling your way through if all else fails."

Cravendy senses that despite Lin's words, she's seen right through her. Cravs bunches her knees up against her chest and rests her chin on them, hot with embarrassment. "Bah, I really can't 'ide anythin' from ye, can I? Seven hells."

Cravendy didn't feel like an officer before. So much time was spent pretending that she knew what was going on, but eventually, it snapped together. It stopped being an act. Experience tells her that with enough time and effort, this would go the same way. Cravs feels a smile tug on her lips. "But aye. Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Aislinn snaps her attention back to Cravendy, a dawning realization spreading over her expression and lighting her eyes. "Ohh, so not just a friend, aye?" she resists the urge to kneel down close to Cravendy and pepper her with questions. Instead, she laughs. "Don't feel bad. I'm thinking that's just where my own mind is recently." she pauses for a mere beat before she can't help it. "Do I get to know who this old friend is?"

Cravendy goes white as a sheet when it dawns on her. Lin didn't originally draw that conclusion and, oh god. Bloody hells. Cravs had filled in that blank herself, showed her hand too early, and it's a mess. Some things never change. She covers her face with her hands and groans.

"It's just an old childhood friend. Used to be a noble, really good with the saber, really good with..." The rest of Crav's words are too muffled and smushed together to recognize. She suddenly shoots up from the creek with a deranged smile plastered on her face. "Another time! I HAVE. BUSINESS, YE KNOW."

Aislinn expression gentles as Cravendy groans in seeming despair. She couldn't tease the Seawolf too much because she was the exact same way, holding some cards very close to the chest. Well, maybe she could tease a little. "Hmm...you trailed off there. I'm interested in knowing just what else this friend is really good at." she skips one final rock. Which does the whole skimming and not jumping bit the others had been doing all afternoon. She mulls a moment and nods. "But here. I'll make you a deal. You tell me about yours and I'll tell you about mine. Some other time. When you don't have very important business and all." Aislinn begins to pick her way back to shore.

Cravendy wags a finger in Lin's direction, lips sucked in as if she's holding back words that are on the cusp of bursting out. A second passes - her mind is blank. She waves her finger a bit more. Nope! Still nothing. After all that, she crosses her arms and stews in silence.

With a weary sigh, Cravs pats Lin on the shoulder before heading back in the direction of Heartwood. She looks over her shoulder and manages to croak out a few coherent words. "...Fine. But-give-me-time-to-sort-this-out-first."

Aislinn sits down and tugs her boots on, watching a stymied Cravendy with a great deal of amusement. She shakes her head with a laugh and gets to her feet. "Take as much time as you need. It's not a deal you need to take, after all." She reaches down and plucks a stone from the stream, pocketing it. A souvenir of a happy afternoon. "Ready to head back?"

Cravendy forces a smile, as she's still mostly overwhelmed with. Emotion. So much emotion. "Yeah, let's 'ead back. Water's a bit cold. I could do with a hot soak."

Aislinn hums in the back of her throat, determined to set her friend at ease as they move along the creek's edge and back towards the Lavender Beds. "Sounds like a good idea. Then maybe I'll even manage a nap. No one could say I'm not rested after that." She continued a stream of idle chatter as they walked back through the forest paths to Heartwood.