Written April 22nd 2021 11:05

They had gone over the plan a dozen times and still Ailith’s stomach was in knots. Dropping into a city with huge bounties on their heads to get information about a ship so they could teleport to it in the middle of the ocean – it was crazier than jumping off a cliff onto a flying roc. And it was bound to go worse, no matter how many contingencies they made.

Breakfast was a sombre affair, Xiv mixing potions while Ailith mixed together dyes and makeup for their various disguises. Getting recognized in Morkala would kill their mission before it even started, and Ailith’s disguise kit was going to help make sure that didn’t happen. The smell of the dye brought Ailith back to all the cons she had run with Amos before he left. Before she didn’t have to hide who she was, before she started running with a group who didn’t care about their lack of anonymity.

Once they were done eating they all gathered in the girls’ room to get ready. Xiv, being the least disguisable of them all, used magic to turn themselves into a tabaxi. Still conspicuous, but less so than a hulking horse-headed creature. That just left the rest of them in Ailith’s slightly out of practice hands. She got started with Ace, making the girl blonde and adding colour to her otherwise pale complexion. Ailith tied her hair back in a braid, attempting to tame the unruly and rather distinguishable curls.

Talus got black stubble added to his head and face with dye, and darker eyebrows. Ailith covered his tattoo with makeup and prayed that no one looked too closely at Talus’s head. Stubble was difficult to paint on, but the odds of someone being both taller than Talus and that close to him were slim. Ailith washed her hands as she looked over Ace and Talus for any glaring mistakes or imperfections. Finding none, she put on her gloves before moving to Feyra.

Feyra’s change was bigger. Ailith took time to colour her hair a dark black, masking any shade of red from peeking through. She gently did the same to her eyebrows, glancing down only once to see Feyra watching her. Ailith realized this was the closest they had been besides holding hands since… well, since Feyra died. She gave Feyra a small smile and moved to her arms, covering her tattoos where they peeked out from her sleeves. Satisfied with her work, she tied Feyra’s hair back in a bun, nerves tingling at having Feyra’s hair so close but not being able to actually feel the strands.

Moving back, Ailith did herself last, colouring her hair a darker shade of brown and adding some scars to her face. She covered up her tattoos, making sure to hide the webs that covered her neck as well. She quickly changed into her spare set of clothing, pulling her hair back into a ponytail to complete the look. Ace made her dress appear brown and tattered, Feyra tucked her cloak into her bag, and the disguises were complete. They probably wouldn’t hold up to anyone who actually knew the First and Last, but they would do for now. Talus didn’t change his clothes, but anyone who had the balls to question Talus would find out the hard way that he was not to be messed with.

Ailith looked around at the group, unnerved by the slight but effective changes she had given everyone. Feyra didn’t look right without her hair, Ailith missed the red already. But, everyone looked like not themselves, which was the goal anyway. Ailith nodded at tabaxi-Xiv and they all gathered around them, grasping onto each other. Here we go.