Written May 6th, 2020 2:22 PM

Ailith woke to the familiar sound of Xiv cussing. She blinked, eyes adjusting to the room, faintly lit by the moon outside the window. She could see the sleeping forms of Ace, Talus, and Feyra on the cots spread throughout their quarters. Xiv was missing from their cot. And cussing at someone. Which meant-

Ailith scrambled to her feet, kicking the tangle of blankets off as her body caught up to her mind. Shit shit shit! How did someone get into the queen’s fucking castle and all the way up to our room without anyone noticing? She whipped her head around, eyes frantically searching for any signs of the intruder. She couldn’t see anyone and she was sure whoever it was would have taken advantage of the fact that they were all sleeping and unprepared for battle.

“Hey! Wake up!” Xiv’s raspy yell came from the balcony. The others started stirring, wiping the sleep from their eyes. Ailith raced to the balcony, screeching to a halt when she saw Xiv standing on the railing, looking down towards the ground. She felt the rest of the party pull up behind her and heard their gasps of confusion. Xiv was still muttering curses, almost like they were talking to themselves. Ailith felt worry spike inside her at the precarious situation.

“Xiv.” Ailith forced a semblance of calm into her voice as she inched forward. “Xiv, buddy, get down from there. What are you doing?” She continued slowly moving forward, hoping to grab them around the waist and haul them back before they did something stupid. Xiv turned to face her and extended their hand, fingers almost brushing her own outstretched hand. Breathing a sigh of relief Ailith took one more step forward and Xiv leaned backwards off the balcony, plummeting seventy feet straight down. “Xiv!” Ailith screamed and threw herself after him, not stopping to think.

She watched as their body hit the ground with a dull thud, their skull bouncing harshly with the impact. She landed easily mere seconds later, rolling to absorb the force of the impact. “Xiv, Xiv oh gods!” Ailith scrambled over to Xiv’s prone form, hands flying as she assessed their injuries There was too much damage for her to deal with herself so she busied herself with stabilizing their neck, hands on either side of their skull. She never took her eyes off their face, even as the rest of the party arrived and Ace healed Xiv’s broken bones, the snapping sounds of them moving back into position setting Ailith’s teeth on edge.

She didn’t relax even after Xiv regained consciousness told them all about the force in their mind slowly taking over. When they got back to their room, Ailith took it upon herself to tie Xiv up as per their instructions. Xiv assured them that this would keep them from endangering themselves and others – at least until the force in their mind gained enough power to start using Xiv’s voice and manipulating the rest of the party. Ailith had a hard time going back to sleep afterwards. She kept her eyes on Xiv’s rigid form, sure that they were meeting her gaze until the adrenaline faded from her body and she gave into sleep.

Written August 30th, 2020 12:13 AM

Birds called cheerfully to each other as the sun shone through the tree canopy, spreading mottled shadows across the ground. It was a peaceful sound, one that had filled Ailith with a sense of calm when she first ventured into the forest two days ago.

But right now, Ailith hated the birds. She hated their chirping, the trees with their rustling leaves, the fresh air. She especially hated the sound of tiny woodland creatures scurrying through the underbrush finding all the edible plants Ailith wished she knew how to find. She was going to starve to death long before she made it to Gaal Alari at this rate. She had been a bit preoccupied when she had left Kaskaden a few nights before, which meant that the few pieces of dried fruit she had stuffed into her pockets were long gone.

Ailith wandered farther into the forest, eyeing up a cluster of bright red mushrooms that she was sure would almost certainly kill her if she ate them. “Well, it’s not like I have any other options,” she muttered to herself bitterly, hunger making her desperate as she bent down and reached for the small knife in her boot. A twig snapped behind her and she whirled around, grasping her staff and coming face to face with a nocked arrow.

Sliding her eyes away from the weapon aimed at her head, Ailith took in the person behind it. A young woman glared back at her, green eyes regarding her steadily. Judging by the hint of a pointed ear peeking out from beneath her red hair, Ailith assumed she was at least half-eleven. Letting go of her staff with one hand, Ailith spread her arms wide in a gesture of peace. When the woman’s demeanour didn’t change, Ailith eased out of her crouch, noticing as she drew up to her full height that she was a couple inches taller than her ambusher. Height would give her a slight advantage if this came to a fight, and Ailith doubted the woman was practiced in hand-to-hand combat.

Taking a breath, Ailith broke the silence. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she reassured the woman, pretending not to notice the scoff she gave at Ailith’s words. “I’m just trying to find some food and then I’ll be on my way.” Lowering her staff completely in a show of trust, Ailith waited, mapping out potential escape routes in her mind.

After a beat, the redhead let her drawstring relax. Still eyeing Ailith warily, she took a step forward, eyeing the mushrooms Ailith had been moments away from eating. “If you eat those you won’t have to worry about being hungry anymore.” She spoke in a quiet, measured voice. “Because you’ll be dead,” she clarified, pointing out what apparently should have been obvious to Ailith.

“Well at this point, dead might be preferable.” Ailith tried for a grin, but her stomach picked that moment to grumble fiercely, a sharp pain making her grimace. She saw the woman’s brow furrow slightly.

“Okay,” the redhead sighed. “I don’t want your starvation on my conscience, sit down.” She was taking pity on her, but Ailith’s pride didn’t care. Ailith immediately flopped to the ground, crossing her legs and laying her staff across her lap. She watched as her tentative companion took a seat across from her and produced several rations from her bag. Gesturing for Ailith to take some, she helped herself to some jerky. Ailith avoided the meat and picked out some dried fruit, groaning with happiness as she chewed. Could it be poisoned? Sure, but at least she wouldn’t die hungry.

“Gods, this is good,” Ailith mumbled, mouth full. “I can’t thank you enough, I mean it.” The other woman had a faint look of amusement on her face, watching the scene in front of her. “Oh! Where are my manners? I’m Ailith.” She wiped her hand on her pants and extended it towards the other woman.

“Feyra,” came the reply after a seconds hesitation, the handshake returned firmly. Feyra’s hand was soft, the calluses dotting her fingers matching the ones on Ailith’s palms.

“What are you doing out here, Feyra?” She seemed at ease in her surroundings, unlike Ailith.

“I’m heading to Gaal Alari. I have business there.” Feyra glanced away then, a look of unease on her face.

“What are the odds, I’m heading that way too! You wouldn’t happen to need a travel companion would you? Two sets of eyes are better than one.” And I do not want to deal with this cursed forest on my own, Ailith thought to herself.

“Two weapons are better than one as well,” Feyra pointed out, eyeing up Ailith’s staff. “You’re welcome to join me until we get to our destination.”

Ailith grinned, not believing her luck. “Deal,” she confirmed, taking another bite of dried fruit. Sitting in silence, Ailith took the opportunity to watch her new travel companion. Feyra was methodical, unhurried. Dressed in muted greens and browns, Ailith thought detachedly that she was quite pretty, if a little feral. More importantly, Feyra was clearly competent and a worthy fighter; she would make a fine ally indeed, for as long as they were together.