Ade Foxe (dracoferus) wrote in emillion, |
“It’ll be better in the morning. Being able to move will help. And it’ll be warmer with sunlight, of course.” Foxe turned toward his pack, rummaged through it a bit. He held up the corner of a blanket, “You want it?” It felt important to try and make the girl feel better. Things were a bit miserable out here and it was obvious enough that she was worried, though whether it was more about her friends or for herself, he couldn’t exactly tell.
“Who brought you here, Arielle?” He asked, suddenly curious.
“I’ll take it,” she said, wrapping the blanket around her, right over the cloak. It helped a bit. Ordalians, she was certain, were not made for this sort of weather.
His question, though, had her pausing. “I brought myself,” she said after a moment of thought. “Though I don’t suppose you would consider me to have altruistic tendencies -- you are not incorrect about that -- there are certain things… and people… I am not prepared to lose.” Huddled under the blanket, only her face peeking out, she suspected she might look small and rather pathetic -- but she wasn’t. “I’ll handle myself.” She thought of Kiernan’s insistence that she might turn the tide, of the promise she had made with Mag. She certainly hoped that would not come to pass.
"I'm not saying you wouldn't," Foxe said, meeting her eye so she could see he meant it. "I just meant to ask after your friends." The last thing he was looking to do was make her second guess herself. "This is the sort of task for Fighters Guild and Mage Guild." He smiled a small smile, "Though times are desperate, I suppose."
“I have several friends who are ill,” she said, her tone uncharacteristically grave. “I forbade them from dying, so it seemed as though I ought to do something to assist with that, considering how hard a task I set for them.” They were fighting, too, in their own way.
He grew quiet for a moment, focusing on the fire. "Have you ever done anything like this before?"
“And yet, I am not the only Bards’ Guild member here,” she said. “As for whether I have done anything like this before…” She thought of the fire caves with their guardian, of the shore as the sea serpent reared above them, and shrugged. “I suppose that depends on what this is like, from your perspective.” Certainly she had never signed up for something of this nature previously -- not knowingly. But as for the other implications... “Tomorrow will not be my first encounter with an ancient guardian.”
"Then you have useful experience to bring with you into battle," Foxe said. This meant she had an edge over at least some of the volunteers in the group. This was a small comfort. Though he didn't voice it, Foxe felt a small edge of worry for Ari. And for the others who weren't quite used to battle the way the Fighters and some Mages were.
"Are you frightened?"
She shook her head. “No. I rarely am.” Fear seemed so unproductive; she never thought to fear for her life until long after it was in peril. It had landed her in any number of scrapes. “A little worried,” she admitted at length, “but not over my own skin.” Most of her worry was back in Emillion with the sick.
What a bleeding heart she was turning out to be. Unbelievable.
“I don’t even feel right asking you,” she said. “I doubt you would be.”