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| − | [ST] In the weeks that follow the disappearance of the Third Scale, winter deepens and grows angrier. Now Master Winter does not bother to forge his snowflakes with attention to detail - he hammers them off as rapidly as possible, and they fall to cloak Outwall and Greenfield alike in smothering drifts. The temperature plummets. The cities of the Haslanti League glow with life and energy, and
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| − | [ST] the Fourth Scale returns to Icehome with little fanfare. Its members are instructed not to talk about their mission, but this rule is frequently and egregiously violated. Such talk is just rumor, however, as the members of the scale who truly know what went on beneath the ice are few. Soldas is one of them, and there are already whispers that he did something dangerous or despicable.
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| − | [ST] Something that probably got Pixie, Relic, and Summer killed.
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| − | [ST] Perhaps those accusations are weighing on Soldas' mind. He looks more haggard than usual as Miruna, Avir, and several others file into the office. He leans forward heavily on his desk, as if it is all that is keeping him from falling over, and his eyes dart back and forth nervously.
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| − | [ST] When Iscal, working behind him and sorting through sheaves of papers and books, makes an unexpected sound, Soldas twitches.
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| − | [Avir] Avir glances at Miruna and lifts his eyebrows, as if to say 'what does one expect'? He seats himself in one of the chairs, sticking his legs out and leaning back comfortably as he regards his commander.
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| − | [ST] Members of the Once Dead already wait within the chamber. Laughing Jek drums his fingers on his thighs impatiently, not turning around as Miruna and Avir come in. Startled Rabbit slumps in her chair before his desk, determindedly chewing on her lip - part if it is already starting to grow chapped in the cold. Next to them is a harsh woman with short, dark hair and an angular face, one
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| − | [ST] eye obscured by a patch. She is Mithra, Scalelord of the Fifth Scale.
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| − | [Miruna] Miruna sits heavily in a chair himself, glowering at everyone, but mostly Soldas. The cold, the pain in his cheek, didn't help his disposition at all.
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| − | [ST] "Is this everyone?" Mithra asks, a tinge of impatience in her voice. "I don't like receiving lectures from... you, Soldas."
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| − | [ST] "It isn't a lecture," Soldas says, fingers linking nervously. "Fourth Scale was selected for the operation. However, due to my recent.... difficulties, you will be in command. And we're still waiting on Leaping Stag."
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| − | [ST] "He's dead," Iscal says in a tight, unreadable tone from behind Soldas. "Hanged himself this morning."
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| − | [ST] Soldas stares down at the surface of his desk for a moment, silent.
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| − | [ST] After a long, long pause, and a tap on the shoulder from Iscal, he seems to recall where he is, straightening up and looking aimlessly through his papers.
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| − | [Miruna] Miruna grunts, then sits forward slightly. "What're we here for."
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| − | [ST] "The Once Dead has suffered serious harm in the last few months," Soldas answers Miruna. "Third Scale has been for all intents and purposes... ah..." He coughs. "Entirely destroyed. Additionally, Fourth Scale took a number of casualties on the Trout Queen operation, and First and Second scales lost a number of members to the events of Calibration."
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| − | [Avir] "Ah." Avir says in a tone of the enlightened. "Fresh meat!"
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| − | [Miruna] He smiles grimly. "'s good to replenish the ranks." The nation needed blood to sustain itself.
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| − | [ST] Something in the phrase Avir uses actually makes Soldas drop the quill pen he's fiddling with. His hands tremble visibly. "Y-yes. Soon, more recruits will be inducted into the Once Dead. A number of these recruits are near the completion of their training. It's time to administer the Last Rite to a half dozen of them, and you six- ah, five - have been selected. Normally, your scalelord
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| − | [ST] would assume command, but in-" He stops. "In these circumstances, Scalelord Mithra will be standing in for me."
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| − | [Miruna] Miruna gives a choppy nod. Good. Perhaps this scalelord would leave things well enough alone and let him elad without interference. Or perhaps she would even be competent. She had a reputation to her certainly.
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| − | [ST] "Wow, so you're saying I get to deal out the abuse for once?" Jek says with a chuckle.
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| − | [ST] "Rabbit, you ought to enjoy that."
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| − | [Avir] Avir plays with a ring on his finger, smiling slightly. He'd nearly lost his fingers and toes to frostbite out there. Such a stupid way to end training, liable to end in permanent grudges and maimed personnel. "Such memories..to think of going through it all again. Soldas, you are kindness itself."
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| − | [Miruna] "Any of them worth the time?" he asks, bitter himself at having to run about in the middle of winter. Not that he'd admit to it.
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| − | [ST] "Er..." Soldas says, picking up his pen again. He doesn't look at either Avir or Miruna. "Training new personnel is essential to the success of the Once Dead. I assure you all the recruits are well-worth the effort."
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| − | [ST] "If they're not," Mithra says tightly. "They won't survive this."
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| − | [Miruna] He smiles tightly again, at that. He'd long since got used to the pain of the scar pulling at the side of his mouth when he moved it, but it was always worse in the cold.
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| − | [Avir] "Who's going to get them if they make it out? Scalelord Mithra?" He nods to her.
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| − | [ST] "...Fourth Scale," Soldas says after a moment's hesitation. "Third is too devastated to even attempt to rebuild now, our only hope is to shore up our already damaged units."
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| − | [ST] "...so..." Jek says haltingly. "You're saying we shouldn't let any of them watch our backs ever again, then?"
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| − | [ST] Soldas does not reply.
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| − | [Avir] Avir half-smiles. "I'd say that really depends on whether you want a knife thrust through it."
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| − | [Miruna] Miruna settles back in his chair, already thinking of the mission. It'd be tough - he needed to keep an eye on Avir, keep him from corrupting others, make sure he wasn't . . practicing his arts, still. And need to keep his own brat away from it all, teach him proper. And survive, of course.
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| − | [ST] Mithra rises authoritatively, taking a look over the gathered Once Dead. She kicks the slumping Rabbit sharply in the shin, drawing a curse and a murderous glare.
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| − | [ST] Soldas hurriedly hides a grin behind his hand.
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| − | [ST] "I suppose you lot will have to do," Mithra says. "I've heard good things about some of you." Her eyes fix briefly on Miruna, but skate right over Avir and Jek. "We'll be taking the recruits to the Crag Mountains. Part of the way by airboat, part overland. A nice little week long hike. Pack accordingly, and don't trust them to bring the supplies you'll need."
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| − | [ST] "We'll assemble at the airboat field at noon today, so do not delay."
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| − | [Miruna] "Where're these from, or they all a mixed lot?" City boys, they'd never pack right. Tribesmen, traders, what have you, they'd at least come close to bringing what they'd need to survive the wilderness parts of the test. None of them knew what they'd need to have, be, do to be Once Dead, but that was what this was about in the first place.
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| − | [ST] "A mix. They always are. Several from Icehome, several from the Outwall. None of them worth trusting further than you can throw them. Not until they prove themselves."
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| − | [Miruna] He nods. She had some sense at least. He stands with the others, and gives her a salute when they are told to go. He didn't bother with Soldas, but that was common enough that it wasn't the studied insult he wished it was.
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| − | [Avir] Avir throws Soldas a jaunty salute as they file out, more out a vague sense that the man might someday be useful than out of any visible respect.
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| − | [ST] Rabbit doesn't so much as look back as she shuffles out. Jek follows her, whistling softly.
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| − | [ST] -----
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| − | [ST] In the winter of the far North, the sun hangs low in the sky even at noon. No one really understands Sol Invictus's choice of path across the heavens, but even those in the bitterest North have long since given up on cursing him because of it or trying to cajole him out of it. He must, they say, be busy with grander concerns. Even so, what light he deigns to give the Haslanti gleams
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| − | [ST] brightly across the airboat field, shining off a layer of fresh snow.
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| − | [ST] It rises only up to mid calf- workers endeavour to keep the field clear, and the huge drifts that have been scraped and molded into place at its boundaries attest to this. Here and there brightly painted airboats take on provisions or undergo repairs. One appears to be preparing to depart, its gas bag inflating slowly but steadily as sailors load heavy barrels and crates.
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| − | [ST] Mithra waits on the field for the others, walking back and forth slowly before a line of six recruits.
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| − | [Avir] Avir claps his gloves together, shaking off a deposit of snow flakes. He hears Stomp snuffle behind him, and the whirring cut-cut-cut of the nameless other. Their noises are lost in the hum of the airport. He watches Miruna's measured bullying the recruits, and grins.
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| − | [Miruna] Miruna trudges up in full regalia, wolves hunting in many scenes over his armor, the chest plate depicting a pack bringing down a stag. He wore his helmet too, mostly so taht he could pack the insides with scarves to save his cheek without looking too weak.
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| − | [ST] Rabbit lopes along with none of the speed of her namesake, shoulders slightly slumped, blonde ringlets held back by a fur lined hood. Jek appears positively spritely next to her. Once, he hops up and clicks his heels together, seemingly just for the withering glare it earns him from Mithra.
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| − | [ST] The one-eyed woman nods briefly as the others arrive. "Allow me to introduce the recruits." She says, extending a hand.
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| − | [ST] "Little Adder."
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| − | [ST] The first is a young man, wiry and short, with dark brown hair and a conniving, ferretlike face. He gives a surly nod, licking his lips.
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| − | [ST] "Red."
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| − | [ST] A woman, tall, dangerous. She wears, along with the dangling raven badge of a trainee, leathers from head to toe. They were probably once painted red, but they have now faded to a dull brown. Her body is rangy, bony, her eyes hungry and alight with some inner fire, her hair an almost vicious shade of red. Her lips are red, too, and they curve upward in the slightest of daring smiles.
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| − | [ST] "Selza Twice-Sorrow."
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| − | [ST] A woman that both Avir and Miruna recognize, for they met her in the Tanstaad Emerald and shared the return journey with her. She is still fair of face, the left side marked by a mourning tattoo, but she seems harder now, leaner, as if all weakness has been scraped away. She nods slightly at the two men.
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| − | [Miruna] He nods back, a slight smile on his face behind the blank mask of his helm. She would do, probably.
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| − | [Miruna] They'd have to run her harder of course, to make it clear to her and them that there was no affection, no going eay. That she had both earned, and deserved to be Once Dead.
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| − | [Avir] Avir smiles briefly at her, looking sad.
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| − | [Avir] "Obligatory Sunshine."
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| − | [Avir] A young man with bright yellow hair, tall and awkward, bobs his head nervously. He holds his spear like one who's not fully aware of which end is sharp. "Good eve to you, my future comrades!" There's a quirk his speech that marks him as one of the Quiet.
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| − | [ST] "Slow Ember."
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| − | [ST] A Southerner, his dark skin and glittering white smile incongruous in this blasted north. He has dressed in layer after layer of cumbersome wool wrappings, which will keep him warm but will also hamper his movement. The brass barrel of a flamewand peeks over his shoulder.
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| − | [ST] "Savage Bear-Daughter."
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| − | [ST] If she is the daughter of a bear, she is the runt of the litter. The woman is not five feet tall, with narrow shoulders and long, dark hair. She narrows her eyes in contempt, as if daring the others to make a comment.
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| − | [ST] Mithra nods sharply, deciding.
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| − | [ST] "Miruna, you take the Quiet One. It's going to take a hell of a job to make a fighting man out of his like, but you're up to it."
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| − | [ST] She clearly doesn't like the look Avir gives Selza. "Jek, Twice-Sorrow is yours. Rabbit, take Little Adder. Avir, Red. The other two are my responsibility."
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| − | [Miruna] He nods, and trudges over towards his ward. "You will not enjoy this" he slurs, the helmet making it sound slightly hollow.
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| − | [ST] "Just tell me you'll still love me when it's over," Jek tells Selza with a chuckle. She does not return it. Rabbit settles for giving Adder a withering glare.
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| − | [ST] Obligatory nods briefly. "I do not suppose I am intended to enjoy it."
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| − | [Miruna] He grunts, satisfied. The hell could come later.
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| − | [Avir] Avir glances at Mithra. Did the woman hate him? Miruna got the wet noodle, and he....Ragged Red looked like she ate her meat warm and raw. He stumps over to her. "Ho," he says. "You been out in the wilderness before?" He glances at her figure, not without polite appreciation.
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| − | [ST] "A few times." Her voice is soft, and warm. Her smile in no way touches her eyes. "I know my way around. Do you?"
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| − | [ST] There is the sharp sound of leather striking flesh. Bear-Daughter's nostrils flare as she raises her hand to a red handprint on her cheek.
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| − | [Miruna] "Starting" he says, with a verbal grin. He digs his elbow into Obligatory. "Come watch, Sunshine."
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| − | [ST] Obligatory Sunshine places his hand on his belly, trailing after Miruna uncertainly.
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| − | [Avir] "I've spent more time playing chase-the-rainbow out in this fucking cold than I care to recall. " He glances idly at Bear-Daughter, not without sympathy. His 'tutor' had kneed him in the groin before he even said hello. "Maybe that'll make this easier for you. Don't count on it."
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| − | [Avir] He wonders if he should do similar, just to establish a pecking order.
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| − | [Miruna] He swats his hand away, contemptuously. "Be a man about it," he growls.
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| − | [ST] Bear-Daughter lunges for Mithra. The woman calmly sidesteps and trips her, sending her face-first into the snow. Mithra winds her fingers in the woman's dark hair, and yanks her savagely upright. The tribeswoman gives a howl like a gored boar. The workers loading the airship don't even look around.
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| − | [ST] "That," Mithra says. "Is for not answering my questions." Without turning, she slaps Slow Ember across the jaws. "And that's for standing around with your mouth open. Let's board the boat."
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| − | [ST] Obligatory Sunshine merely nods at Miruna's remark. He seems to have gone rather pale at the display.
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| − | [ST] "Want to try that with me?" Ragged Red says softly at Avir's elbow. "You might be disappointed."
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| − | [Avir] Avir glances at his charge. Her eyes are alight with more than he is comfortable with."I have other methods." He smiles at her, and sweeps his arm in the direction of the boat with a slight bow. "After you."
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| − | [Miruna] He half pushes, half throws Obligatory towards the boarding ramp, but stays where he is - he made it this far through training, he could walk onto a ship on his own, or he'd be completely useless anyway.
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| − | [ST] "A true gentleman, I see." She says, her eyes flickering up and down his form. "I used to keep one at the foot of my bed." She turns and begins walking away from him. He notices that she carries no weapons. Neither do Bear-Daughter, Selza, or Obligatory Sunshine. Ember's Firewand is presumably empty.
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| − | [Miruna] He catches Avir's arm instead. "Get yours stowed away, then we have a chat." Not one to ever be subtle.
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| − | [Avir] He had little doubt about that. Hell. At least she wasn't armed.
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| − | [Avir] He doesn't turn his head towards Miruna. "Missed working with you too, old hero."
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| − | [Miruna] "Just thought we should be clear about things." He glared at the closest of the recriuts. Not that she could see his eyes, but surely she would get the promise in them anyway.
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| − | [Avir] He yanks his arm out of Miruna's grasp. "She's stowed. What is it that you want to chat about?"
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| − | [ST] The captain of the airship, a harsh, bearded man who shouts orders to his sailors, looks fairly familiar. So does, for that matter, the craft itself. It might be the very one that carried the two men to Tanstaad - but then, most of the airboats are alike. As the recruits and veterans alike board, Mithra yells down at Avir and Miruna. "You'll have a few hours. I suggest you introduce yourselves
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| − | [ST] to your charges. Training begins tonight."
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| − | [Miruna] He nods, and waves up to her, all the while growling in a voice low enough not to be heard far in a dockyard: "We have a duty here. Wanted to make it clear to you that you aren't feeding any of these to your pets, yeah?"
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| − | [Avir] "I wouldn't do that to a comrade." Avir's smirk is only slightly undermined by a nervous lick of the lips. "If that's all..."
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| − | [Avir] Though, thinking back, he was sure Stomp had circled around to chew on Two-Bits. Though that hadn't be intentional, by the gods.
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| − | [Miruna] He grabs his arm again, above the elbow so taht it would be harder to shake off. Rougher too, for the same reason. "You aren't letting one of them show up, either. I don't care if they're starving, we're bringing in new people. We want them better than you."
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| − | [Avir] Avir turns to look Miruna in the eye. "Better than me?" he says tightly. "I do my duty, better than most. I don't wave my pets around. They make things complicated...but if I need them, I'm using them."
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| − | [Avir] He meets Miruna's gaze. His voice is low. "Now let go of my arm."
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| − | [Miruna] "If you need them for this, then you can't do your duty." Fighting demons with demons, that was one thing, or at least he was allowing that it might be. Using demons to run herd on recruits, another.
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| − | [Miruna] "Just be clear on that." he spits, and lets the other man go, walking away first, unwilling to let Avir turn his back to him to try and prove something.
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| − | [Avir] Avir shakes his head and follows after him. Some of others had noticed the exhange. "Lover's quarrel!" he calls out, smiling blithely.
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| − | [ST] When the two men board the airship, they find that most of the others have vanished belowdecks, with two exceptions. Ragged Red and Obligatory Sunshine wait for their partners, sitting side by side on barrels lashed to the airship's railing. Red nestles against the man's side, her lips moving slowly and steadily as she whispers into his ear. Obligatory Sunshine has gone pale.
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| − | [ST] "You're here at last," she says, moving back as the other two men arrive. "I was telling Sunshine about a Quiet Person I knew, once."
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| − | [Avir] Avir regards her as one would regard a misbehaving puppy. "That so? I would keep my stories to myself, if I were you."
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| − | [ST] "Maybe if we get along, I'll tell you some later."
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| − | [Miruna] Miruna, in no mood for her airs, backhands her as he walks past. "Follow," he commands Obligatory, not botehring to watch him obey. She was a vein one, though a lot of herself. Well, that was Avir's job, and whatever he had said, he expected the man to do it.
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| − | [Avir] "There, you see what happened?"
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| − | [ST] Obligatory rises, flinching back in shock from Miruna's strike, and follows him. Red puts a hand to her cheek, already turning an angry red. It will certainly bruise. She smiles up at Avir.
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| − | [ST] "It's all right. I have a good memory."
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| − | [ST] "Believe what you will, you won't have to work to make a killer of me." She cocks her head after Obligatory. "I'm not like that one, green as summer grass and twice as soft. I know how this works. I know the game."
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| − | [Avir] "You think that's what this is about? Making killers?" Avir shakes his head in mock dismay. "Knocking down the other little kids on the playground doesn't make you tough. Not a Once Dead, either. You'll learn what does, though. We'll teach you. These are your last rites, and you don't even know it."
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| − | [Avir] He claps her shoulder and wanders away wondering just how he was going to do that.
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| − | [ST] -----
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| − | [ST] Night has fallen, and the airboat moves south through roaring winds. Fat flakes of nightsnow waft in under the craft's gas bag, along with truly harrowing winds. It is a burning cold, an almost deathly cold, and the dark Haslanti night is hungry. Mithra walks back and forth between the assembled recruits and their partners, shouting to be heard over the din of the wind.
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| − | [ST] Around them, the airship deck is almost deserted. Sailors dart out briefly, tethered by safety lines, and then return to the warmth of belowdecks.
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| − | [ST] "For months, you have been built up." Mithra says, as a white snowflake lands on her black eyepatch. "For months you have trained your bodies, your minds. But you have not reached your limit. Before you can live, you must die. Before a twisted bone can heal straight, it must be rebroken. Tonight, you will be broken, or else prove yourselves too strong to break."
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| − | [ST] Slowly, deliberately, Mithra steps up to the mast, where a long nail has been driven. She hangs the six recruit medals there, one by one, continuing to speak.
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| − | [Avir] Avir watches expressionlessly, his gut tight with apprehension. He remembered this.
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| − | [ST] "It is cold enough out here to kill a man, if he's not careful. Cold enough to cost a fool a finger, or a toe, or a hand or foot, if he is a fool. It takes motivation to drive someone to endure that. Your partners will motivate you."
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| − | [ST] "If at any time, you cannot continue your training, you will come to this mast and remove the medal from it, and you will spend the night outside. But perhaps you are not the only ones who need motivation."
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| − | [ST] One by one, Mithra fixes her eyes on each of the experienced Once Dead.
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| − | [Avir] Oh, crap.
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| − | [Miruna] He had never been on one of these missions before, but he would rather have been in from the biting cold than a part of the tradition. Of course, this being a Once Dead tradition, it had nothing to do with sentimental warmth, or bonding a a group, just harsh testing and death.
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| − | [ST] "If your trainee has not removed his or her medal from the post by midnight, you will sleep outside instead."
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| − | [ST] "Now let's get started."
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| − | [Miruna] One day to get rid of the chaff. Generous enough. He glanced over at his buddy. He'd be indoors for a nice night. Well, as nice as the Once Dead ever got.
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| − | [ST] Obligatory returns the look that Miruna gives him even as Rabbit and Jek drag their charges away.
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| − | [ST] "I don't understand the point of this," he says. "It seems to breed only anger and contempt."
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| − | [Avir] "Well, you know how traditions are." Avir says, slouching over to Ragged Red. "You wanna just take the medallion down now, save us both the trouble?"
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| − | [Miruna] "'s waht we live off sometimes, boy. Why don't you go pull your mark right now, get things over easy." He had his helmet off, just a few scares wrapped around his jaw keeping the night air away.
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| − | [ST] In answer, Red turns and walks deliberately away from Avir, to stand at the railing, staring off into the darkness. The knifing wind stirs her hair out behind her.
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| − | [ST] Obligatory looks up at Miruna, eyes widening. "Truly? I thought we were supposed to be companions. Who else do we have to trust? Why set us against each other like this? Does your scar pain you?" He flows from one question to the next with little hesitation.
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| − | [ST] Somewhere in the darkness, there is a sharp crack, and Bear-Daughter gives another of her withering howls.
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] Avir disposes himself comfortably against the railing by Ragged Red. He's a little warmer than he ought to be: for once it's the warmth of Stomp's body that's bleeding through into the material world, and not the smell. "Not much to see right now." He hooks a dinner knife out of his belt. "I suppose you're going to tell me you're not afraid of pain."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He glowers. "Does my scar pain me? Well, I'll let you see how it feels then, yeah?" He unwinds a scarf, a thin wide woolen affair, the outermost and least liked of them. There was plently of ice about, so he chipped some up quickly and set it in the scarf. "Here," he ordered the boy.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory Sunshine takes the scarf, looking at it in true puzzlement. "Yes?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "I'm not, but you know that," Red says softly, leaning over the rail. Her fingers, long and slender with short, sharp nails, play over the empty air below. "Pain is an old friend of mine. I like to cause it. If I wanted, I could take that little pigsticker away from you and cut your balls off with it before you could say boo."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He sighs, and grabs the boy's hands, forcing him to wind the scarf tight around his face, the ice pressed securely to a cheek. He ties off the ends, making the knot tight enough that the boy wouldn't get it off with shivvering fingers.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "This does hurt," Obligatory says, his voice muffled by the cold.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He grins. "Live with it for a while, first, before you say you understand." His words slur worse than usual, the cold air making his face tight.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "Boo," Avir smiles, thinking that he couldn't recall anyone actually being punished for permanately damaging a recruit. There had been someone from the Third Scale, she had wrapped a cord right around a boy's hand. It'd turned purple, then black, and they had to amputate. "I'm thinking you don't much mind the cold, either." His eyes are calculating.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "I do not truly understand," Obligatory continues. "But if you are in pain, I am obligated to remove my medal and end your suffering."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Red doesn't lunge for him. She only shrugs. "I know your type," she says. "You want power. You want authority. You're too squeamish to do what needs to be done to get it, or else you do it and cry into your pillow every night with guilt. I won't add more for you." She props her face up on a hand, turning to face him. "We can just pretend that you're the toughest instructor out here. I can
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] scream very nicely. I can cry if you want. I'll take my medal down. I'll do it on my terms. But I'll make you look good."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] The grin freezes from his face. He kicks the boys feet out from under him before he can move to do it, and then lands on him with a knee in his gut, leaning over face to face.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory gives a short, sharp grunt as Miruna's weight settles upon him. His open, honest face registers only confusion.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] His eyes are burning wild. "You don't fucking pity me." He isn't screaming, biting his words off in a frozen whisper. He leans his weight down, grinding the boy's stomach into his spine. He'd let him breathe later. "You hurt, you learn, you die, but you don't pity me."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] The boy gasps for breath, struggling to form words
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Not... just... you... every... one..."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He eases back slightly. "What was that?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] Avir glances over at Obligatory. Poor boy. Didn't belong in the Once Dead. He shifts his gaze back to his own trial.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Can't... allow... any... one... to suffer. Would... do it for any of the others. Better I'm cold than you."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "With this face, I always look good," he says lightly. "Why bother with pretense?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "It is the way of the Quiet People."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Because there's something in it for me," Red returns. She smiles at him. It is hungry, dangerous. "If I scratch your back, I'll want mine scratched too. I didn't make my way by being a fool. I know how people work. I know when a man's heart isn't in causing pain. You're only doing this because they want you to. So we'll pretend. You'll feel better, I'll get my way, and I'll get in the Once
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Dead and be content."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "And I won't forget your aid. Just like I won't forget that painted bastard's slap."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "Understand. You aren't the a Quiet. Not now. Uou are dead. EIther we come back and give your body to wherever we got you from, or you are walking with us, one of us."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Then..." he coughs weakly. "The Once Dead exist to harm each other? Are you not brothers and sisters?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] Avir crosses his arms against his chest, leans against the rail. His eyes never leave her face. "Why do you want to be one of the Once Dead, then? I know your type too. You know you're strong- and that makes you think you're stronger than anyone. I bet you believe if you just slipped away, we wouldn't find you."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He drives his knee in again, to shut the kid up. "We are here to protect the Haslanti from harm. This isn't about fun, kicking kids like you until they break." He brings his face closer. "This is a test. To see how tough you are, how hard we have to push you before you give up, how well you can survive the night. If you can't take pain, can't see others in pain, you're useless, might as well throw you over the side
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He puts a hand down in the snow, to relax some of his weight from his knee while keeping close tot eh kid's face. Let him reply.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] She shrugs. "You did catch me. Can't I feel a perverse sense of obligation?" She shrugs. "And what would I go to? My gang is dead, my hideout is destroyed. And you have money. You have people that need killing. I'm just doing what I do. Now let me do it, and I'll let you do... whatever it is that you like to do." Her smile widens, and her eyes look deeply into him.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "I don't have to cause pain to endure it," Obligatory protests with a groan, struggling to rise. "We... are here to protect, not destroy."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "Ale, dice, and fine-looking folk in my bed, that's all I need," Avir says, studying her. She saw him, yes, but did he see her? "Alright. We'll do it your way tonight."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Red appraises him with a nod. "All right," she says. "I can play nice. Should we make this look good?" She raises a dark eyebrow at him, nodding at the knife in his hand. "Do you still plan on sticking that little thing in me?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "No. We destroy to protect. You wanted to be weak, should've been a doctor. If you can't hurt someone, you are worthless."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory tightens his mouth at this, but does not reply.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] He rolls the knife across his knuckles and then slides it into its sheath. "I don't play with dangerous things," he says, turns, and punches her in her stomach. He had once wanted to be an actor, before he had fully understood just what Thunder Wisdom did, and he knows how to make it look good. There's barely any force in it.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] She slumps with a grunt, falling against him, her breath hot against his neck. "Oh, come on," she says loudly. Perhaps it is an act for her. Perhaps it isn't. "You can hit me harder than THAT."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He settles back onto him. "You won't let me suffer? Lack of respect. So, new rule. You take down your raven, I chuck one of the sailors out to spend the night with you." He stares down into the kid's eyes.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] He widens his eyes. "You know I cannot allow that." He says. "It will mean you will spend the night here."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "Shut it," Avir sighs. "I'll show you later how hard I hit," he adds, a whisper in her ear. He moves suddenly, so that she falls against the icy deck. While she gasps as all the air is knocked out of her, he kicks her. "I'll trade yours for mine," he says cheerfully to Miruna, grabbing Red's ankles and beginning to drag her off out of sight.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He grins wide, ignoring the extra pain in his scar. "There we go, thats how it's meant to be." He stands up, pulling the boy to his feet. "You think I'm too weak to be kept out a ngiht, lets see how weak I am." He picks the boy up by the scruff of his neck, and walks towards the railing.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Red makes a good show of scrabbling at the boards of the deck as Avir drags her away. Slow Ember staggers past him, bleeding from the nose, both eyes swollen almost shut, and tears his medal from the mast, throwing it to the deck.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] The Southerner obviously has no idea how brutal a night on the deck of an airboat can be.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory struggles against Miruna's grip, but it's perfunctory and instinctual. Having resolved himself to weather the abuse, he seems set to take it.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He makes the railing, and thrusts his arm, and the boy, over the side. "Lets see just how fucking weak I can be, yeah?" he screams, loud enough that Obligatory can hear him over the whipping wind.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory Sunshine bites back a yelp of fear. He closes his eyes, lips moving in a silent mantra as he hangs.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "Ooh, my grips bad." He shakes the kid for a second, then tosses him up for a second, lunging out to grab his ankle in the moments he had before Obligatory dropped away. The kid falls almost twice his body length of course, unidentifiable things falling out of his pockets as he is jerked to a halt. He slams rather hard into the ship's side too.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Now Obligatory does scream in fear, a long, involuntary sound that drifts up from the side of the ship. Behind him, Bear-Daughter crawls across the deck, blood dribbling from a split lip, and tears her medal down with a curse.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] Once Avir has Red ensconced with him between a pile of boxes and a cabin, he lets her go, sits atop one and drums his heels. "How do you want to do this?" Hell, for all he knew, maybe she did want to be tortured.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "I can't keep this up forever, of course," he yells down. "But lets see how long I last, yeah? Cause you aren't going to do anything to stop it. You need to save some random bastard you never met." He shakes the kid's ankle a bit, watching him sway, looking for a streamer of vomit.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] A moment later, Mithra passes by behind Miruna, hardly casting a glance at his impromptu torture. It's not the first time she's seen it. "Well," she says briskly. "I'm turning in. Hope the rest of you join me." Who she is addressing is unclear.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "You know, one of the sailors, he looked at me funny when I was talking to Avir. You saw him right? Tall guy, had a bright red hat? He's the one, he'll be out here with you tonight."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Ragged Red shrugs at Avir's query. It's not an affectation, he realizes - she truly doesn't care. "You won't hurt me. Don't cut my face. You'll ruin my looks. You don't look like the type with the stomach for it, just cut me above the eye. It'll bleed a lot. It'll look good."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He hauls his arm up, so that Obligatory's head is just below the railing. "You happy where you are?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory gives no response. His eyes have rolled back in his head, and Miruna realizes that he's actually fainted.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "Right. Once I promised some screams?" He unhooks his knife again, kneels down beside her, and grips her face between his fingers to hold it steady. He cuts her carefully above the eye- he knows enough medicine to make it a long shallow slash that would bleed profusely, but wouldn't scar.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "Fucking weakling," he grumbles. He pulls him back over the side, and slaps his face lightly. Damn kid had lost his scarf too.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "You're all heart," Red says, smiling up at him. She blinks as a drop of blood sheets past her eye, and licks it off when it strikes her upper lip, at which point she unleashes a scream that would rattle the boat's portholes if they were covered by anything but oilcloth.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory struggles to wakefulness slowly, calling a woman's name as he rushes towards consciousness. When he first sees Miruna, he flinches back.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] Avir listens to her make all the noises of someone being tortured. He helps occasionally by making sound effects with a bag of flour he's sitting beside and yelling at her to take down the medallion. "That enough?" he asks in a normal voice.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Yeah," She says, giving another piercing shout. She reclines against a stack of barrels, pulling her knees up and resting her chin on them. "But we need to wait a while longer, this is too fast for me to break. Give me a little dignity."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He leans in close, grabbing Obligatory's chin, not letting him look away. "That your momma's name, girlfriend? Both? Shouldn't be thinking of her now. You're dead to them now. Probably sent them a letter saying you'd been executed already." Not that he knew why the kid was here - hell it had to have been voluntary at some point, did he not know what this was?
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "Of course," Avir says, making an open-handed gesture, as though she were a guest at his home. He wonders if she really would take down the medallion- if she was running down the clock while minimizing the risk of injury to herself. He'd look a bloody fool, then. He supposed there was no helping it.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory doesn't respond to Miruna, though tears brim unshed in his eyes. He could tell the man the reason he was here, but it wouldn't solve anything, and he really hadn't asked. It wouldn't be a lie to hold back.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "So..." Red says. She looks at him in a hungry way, considering. "You think any of the others will hold out?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] He shrugs. "One or two usually do. That poor Quiet kid might." He smiles affably at her. No reason to tell her that he thought Jek didn't have it in him to break Selza.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Aren't you glad you got such an... agreeable... partner?" Red asks coyly.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He squats back on his heels. Plenty of time to see who this kid Sunshine was. The colder he got, the mroe confused he'd get, the better to get him to give up. Cold bit hard. It'd be cheating in a way, to let it addle his senses and get him to give up that way, but if the kid stayed as tough as he had so far, it might be necessary.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] And he would break him - it was his job. To make sure they had no illusions about themselves in the coming days. If he had to resort to that, though, he'd let the kid warm up for a bit before spending the night.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "Oh yes. I wasn't so cooperative, when it was my turn." He certainly hadn't mourned when he'd heard that Old Crank had gotten eaten by a snow bear. He'd lit a candle in thanks.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "Why're you here? You volunteered. Stupid?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "My sisters. The needed medicine. I need... money."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "Oh? Lotta ways to make money."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] *They
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory shakes his head, fuzzily. "Not this much. Not this fast. Not for the Quiet People."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Red tilts her chin up at Avir, then leans forward, tousling his hair condescendingly. Her fingers are covered in her own blood. "I'm not cooperating," she says smoothly. "You are."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] More ammo for proposition she was running out the clock, then. "Am I? Maybe I want you to like me."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He waits a moment for Obligatory to speak, then punches him casually in the stomach, trying to catch his new bruises by estimation. "Lot of ways. Hell, sell one to save the other. But you gotta go and die, join us. For money? We don't make that much."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "You do, trust me." Her smile doesn't waver.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory grunts as he doubles over. "Are you mad? More... more than most of my people ever see. And you have it... you have it NOW, and I need it... she needs it... now."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] His smile does. She wanted to unnerve him, so he lets her. Plenty of nights left to do to her...whatever she needed done to her to make her one of the Once Dead.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Little Adder limps past Obligatory's slumped form, his left knee visibly swollen. He takes the time to spit on Miruna as he goes by, before tearing down his medal and slumping against the mast. His fumbling hand finds Bear-Daughter's back and gives it what might pass for a reassuring pat.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Rabbit follows behind him a moment later, moving with authority. She looks down at the miserable, sobbing Obligatory Sunshine, and something in her face softens. "Go easy on the kid, Miruna. He's a pretty one." But then, she's always had a fondness for his type, and an almost inhuman endurance of the cold.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "'scuse me for a second." He punches the kid again, letting him think for a bit, and rounds on the little punk. "You done with the exercise, don't make you done with it all," he yells, grabbing Adder by an arm.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Rabbit kneels next to Obligatory, stroking back a strand of hair on his forehead and clucking softly as Miruna busies himself with Adder. "Poor little guy. When all this is over, you just tell Rabbit where it hurts, okay?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] After he does not reply, she stands, shrugs, and walks off.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] Miruna comes back after leaving Adder bruised, bloody, and lying in one of thw snowbanks formed by the wind against the raides aft-deck.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] The kids teeth were chattering - not that Miruna was feeling much better himself, but he was more used to the cold, no matter how much his cheek hurt. And of course he'd kept moving, keeping his body warm with the impromptu beatings.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Time stretches out, almost lazily. Obligatory stubbornly refuses to comply, and the stars wheel in the sky, and the ship moves south, and finally, Ragged Red kicks away from the corner where she's lightly dozing, gives Avir a kiss on the forehead, and walks towards the mast, beckoning for him to follow.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] He follows her, rubbing at his chin.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] She makes a good show of staggering as she moves forward, slumping against the mast and tearing the medal off. She drops into a crouch, still clenching it in her fist.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "You win." She tosses back at Avir, voice bitter.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "I told you I would," he says mildly. "Have a nice night." He glances at the line of sullen forms. Maybe that was it. Maybe she was building alliances with the other newbies- maybe she wanted to go into the Once Dead with her own gang. He supposed he should keep an eye on her.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] It would explain why she had wondered if any of the old Once Dead would be out no the deck with them. He strolls away to his warm bunk indoors, still rubbing his chin.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] *strolls to the railing, breathing in some fresh air.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] The kids teeth were chattering - not that Miruna was feeling much better himself, but he was more used to the cold, no matter how much his cheek hurt. And of course he'd kept moving, keeping his body warm with the impromptu beatings.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] The kid was strong, he'd give him that. But as he was he'd be useless to them. The Once Dead did a lot of violence, and if he were in, he'd need to be prepared to kill people to save his nation. Miruna needed to make him face that choice, and choose right.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He hits him again. "You know, I say they should fail you, you don't get in. All this time, this effort, wasted. Time your sisters maybe needed, yeah?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "I won't do it," Obligatory says. Tears have made channels down his cheeks. As Miruna hits him again, he doesn't respond to the sally. He returns, methodically, to the basic point. "I won't do it. I won't make someone who is innocent sleep out here."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] For the first time in what feels like hours, the others hear Jek's voice, tinged with panic and anger.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "THIS ISN'T PERSONAL!"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] Avir looks up. Jek had Selza, didn't he?
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] An instant later, Selza comes flying out of the darkness, tumbling over and over to crash on her back near Obligatory, who is so far gone he doesn't even look up. Jek staggers out of the dark a moment later, breathing heavily, face flushed.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "I'm not staying outside, sweetheart, so just give it up!"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He looks up, gauging how hurt Selza was. Annoying interference.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "Innocent, eh? Never been around sailors much, I take it. But you go ahead. You suffer a while longer, then you get to bunk inside, nice and toasty. Then we go hiking - don't you dare think I won't be waiting in the morning. Only now I'm all offended. Maybe - maybe - you make it back. But no way you make it back a Raven. All this just to save your ass from a night in the snow, and some scum's ass as well."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] Avir tenses. Stupid custom. What was Jek trying to do here?
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Selza coughs as Jek approaches her. "No."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Jek turns to Miruna, laughing softly. "Did you ever see a woman so stubborn, Miruna?" he asks, an edge to his voice. "What do they FEED 'em out in those Emeralds?"
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He leans in close, so that his rough whisper filled the kid's head over the sounds of Selza getting beaten - he didn't need to interfere there yet. "You are desperate. Your sisters won't make it without your help, or you wouldn't be here."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "The Quiet People endure," Obligatory says quietly, his eyes wide. "The Quiet People endure."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "Oh, thats good. Red hat's worth more to you than your sisters? Think I'll believe that? No, it's your pride. Thats what they'll be dying for - your pride."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Stubborn," Jek says, face contorting. "Stubborn BITCH! GIVE! UP!" He winds back and kicks Selza in the ribs, once, twice, three times. She groans, rolling over onto her stomach. She coughs again, blood spattering on the deck, and glares up at him.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "No."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He pats him gently on the cheek, whispering "you think on that," before quickly standing to round on Jek and the others.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He glances down, and steps closer to the man so that he could talk without others hearing. "She's coughing blood, you're killing her, sooner or later."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] Jek lurches away from him, anger still tinging his voice. "Then she should give up. What, I should freeze to death out here? You've seen me, Miruna, no meat on my bones, that's what all the women say..." He swallows. "Except the STUBBORN ONES!" He shouts, and kicks her again.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] "You have problems in bed, thats not for here. Better ways to make her take that thing down than to beat her to death," he steps closer. "She dies, you sleep out here - she can't pull it dead."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "You're going to cave in her ribs," Ragged Red adds, almost conversationally.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Not... pulling...... it..." Selza says stiffly.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] Avir just watches, his face like marble. She was a stubborn fool. Red was building alliances. And Jek had lost his head. "Missing a chance to cuddle with two women, Jek? Sure you're the man everyone says you are?" Avir says with a laugh in his voice.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Funny, Avir," Jek says, voice hitching, kneeling down next to Selza. She spits a wad of blood onto him. "You know what else is really funny? A woman missing a nose." And the knife is in his hand, the blade shining in the light of the ship's guttering lanterns.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] Damn Jek for putting him in this position. He did not need to be covering for her - wanted to do the opposite really. But he was going too far for any recruit. "No permanent harm, Jek. Theres rules there for a reason."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] "No permanent harm," Jek says, with a laugh. "For this job? Who are they kidding? You don't even know what this one did. I don't even know what you did. We're all just a bunch of rotten criminals."
| |
| − | | |
| − | [ST] He starts to laugh again, the knife veering back and forth in front of him.
| |
| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "You know what I think is permanent harm, Jek? A knife in the back from a noseless member of your scale." He walks towards him, muscles tense and ready to leap.
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| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He grins. "Not everyones a prince, Jek, but it don't matter. We just need meat for the grinder, don't need you killing her before she's of use cause you're petty." Idiot. This was about breaking them down, not killing them. He'd obviously just made her more defiant.
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| − | [Miruna] He glances over. "You done, right Avir?" He nods to him, passing the problem back to him. He took a shine to Selza, he trusted him to deal with this - maybe not to follow all the rules, but to take care of it. Blood demons came, he'd notice and could come back then.
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| − | [Miruna] Till then he had his own task. He turned back to it, seeing what had happened to the lad.
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| − | [Avir] "Looks like it," Avir agrees, skin prickling at being the center of attention.
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| − | [ST] Jek looks up at Avir, face contorting. "P-petty, Miruna? Me? Have you seen the kind of women I date."
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| − | [ST] Obligatory has not paid attention to the proceedings at all, staring into his clenched fists and shuddering.
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| − | [Miruna] He shrugs. "Pretty'r'n mine, sure. Cost less too. Nothing to do with this." He walks back to his charge. "We still got some things to settle here Sunshine."
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| − | [Avir] "Regular charity," Avir grins.
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| − | [ST] "Fine, beautiful," Jek says with a laugh, tousling Selza's hair almost as Red did Avir's. "You stay warm tonight." Selza glares at him like she'd like to bite his fingers off.
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| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He squats back down, ignoring the stiff knees. "So, you thought about it - how it'll feel to go home empty handed. You really want to do that to yourself? We both know you can make it through a night out here - you'd be dead a while ago if you weren't good enough.Thats two lives to the one, isn't it, not even counting yours. And you don't want to go over the ice with me mad."
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| − | [ST] "You won't kill me," Obligatory says softly. He has been crying again. "You need meat for the grinder, don't you?"
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| − | [Avir] "Lucky girl." Avir doesn't pay any more attention to her than that. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a flask. "Keep you warm," he says, tossing it to Jek.
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| − | [Miruna] "Ah, but I'll tell you a littel secret. I know her. Good girl. She'll be useful. The problem is, you won't. Thats what we're doing out here, isn't it. You can't make an easy choice like this, how are you going to do the jobs that we need doing? It's a few lives, your sisters, yours probably, against some scumbag you don't know."
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| − | [ST] "I'll face that when I come to it. I will prevail." His shaking suggests anything but the certainty he claims to feel.
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| − | [ST] Jek takes the flask with a chuckle, dropping down on the mast next to Ragged Red. "I'm sure there are more fun ways to keep warm," he remarks.
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| − | [Miruna] He grins. "Sure you will, you tell yourself that. My decision whether you stay or go, and you think you're going to prevail? You'd need to kill me - make it some accident, or thats trouble there - then maybe. But even if you make it through the country, you aren't going to be a raven if you can't make this kinda choice, won't show me you can make it. Then what good has come of all this? Lotta work you put in, all as
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| − | [Miruna] Lotta work you put in, all ashes."
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| − | [Avir] Avir glances pityingly at the boy. "I'm heading inside," he says generally, though he waits for Selza to climb to her feet.
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| − | [ST] "I won't do it," the boy says, refusing to look up. "I will endure."
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] Selza does so with difficulty, coughing still. She staggers, leaning heavily against the mast. "...hurts..." she complains.
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| − | [ST] "Think nothing of it," Jek says, already drinking. A bad idea, in this chill.
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| − | [Miruna] He nods. "And your sisters - they'll go happy to their graves for your pride. Go, then. I'll be waiting out here in the morning." He grins at the kid. "You need to learn to make the hard choices."
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] Obligatory doesn't respond. He rises, turns, and slips Selza's arm over his shoulders, helping her make her way belowdecks.
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] At least they were bonding. Avir shakes his head and follows them down, stopping to tell a mate to head out with blankets.
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| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] Miruna moves away from the group of huddlers. Bear-Daughter, she'd know what she was doing. He didn't want to help out the others - Jek or little Little Adder - but she already knew what she was about, and a second body meant a lot more heat to survive with than one.
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| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He was right - he found her building up a snow drift, hollowing into it to make a shelter. Wouldn't need to make it much bigger to fit two, and it would be that much warmer. He stamps up. "Here girl, Share the snow we'll both make it through better, yeah?"
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] She nods without a word. Miruna realizes, in fact, that he has never heard her speak.
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| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He gets to work - keeps the blood flowing, and they'd get warm faster. Might even get a bit of sleep once they were warm enough that he'd trust it wasn't death coming for him.
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] Avir walks over to the cabin reserved for any of the recruits who had stuck it out, balancing a couple steaming mugs and a heavy sack over his shoulder. He knocks with his foot, and shoulders his way in.
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "Hey kids. You stuck it out. May as well patch you up."
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] Selza and Obligatory sit on a pair of narrow bunks, facing each other with slumped shoulders. Selza is the more physically hurt, but the kid appears, somehow, harder hit.
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Thank you," Selza says after a moment. "It's been a long time."
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] He hands them each a mug. "I'm the best medic out on this trip- unlucky for you. Drink. It'll help." He drags a stool over and sits, sorting through his bag. The bottlebug had a tendency to hide his herbs between its sharp-bladed legs.
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] He nods to her. "It has."
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Not so unlucky," Selza says, taking a drink of the bitter brew. "You were kind enough at the Emerald."
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] As he sips his own bitter drink, Obligatory looks between the pair with confusion.
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] "The other one... Elk..." Selza says. "He is still alive?"
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "He is. Banged up to hell a couple times since then and now. Poor man- his fiancee came charging after him, panting like a..." he trails off, looking at Obligatory Sunshine. It seemed wrong to be vulgar in front of him. "Spritely Otter. She may have trained with you. Skipped out on the rest, though. I hear she has some pull."
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] "I remember her," Obligatory Sunshine says. "Though she did not know me well."
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] "Was she obnoxious then as she is now?"
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] "I ah- I could not say."
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| − | | |
| − | [ST] "Yes," Selza adds, flatly.
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] He grins at Obligatory in a friendly way. "Quiet, eh? Well, Miruna's not a bad man to through this with. Stiff-necked as hell, though."
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] He sits there, chatting with them in an easy way, until the drugs take effect. When they slump over, he opens his bag fully and lets the long-legged bottlebug out. It chitters, waving its long spider's in the air, then scrambes to Selza, squirming through her open mouth and down her throat.
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| − | | |
| − | [Avir] Avir stands, bars the door, and watches it work. His skin trembles, and an open eye slides up from under his shirt to peer with interest from a spot on his throat. "Hide, I thought I told you," Avir tells it irritably. It blinks at him and disappears.
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