Theo picked at the food but wisely chose to keep his protests to himself. If Fletcher didn't want to admit he was being a burden to the other man then Theo wasn't going to push it right now. He added it to the list of things they still needed to discuss together.

"Yes. I mean you have no idea the extent to which I hate these balls. And I mean if I had a reason to want to stay like this was something you enjoyed and wanted then I could endure but my dislike of them is fairly well known at this point. I often got in trouble with Father for hiding in the host's library to read the night away. Apparently this is in appropriate behavior befitting a man. Who'd have known? Apparently wandering garden in the dark with a young lady is far better despite the scandalous nature of it. Makes no sense," he grumbled while popping another bite in his mouth to chew sullenly.

"No, you're right," he continued also switching to sign albeit sluggishly. "I'm sorry for putting you more on alert and stressing you. I'll do better. I don't know what came over me. I just need another minute and then I'll go back out and play the part—do you—did you get to eat anything?"

"What's there to be sorry for?" Fletch replied, genuinely confused by the apology. "Just eat it. Then you can get pissed." He set the drink down and crossed his arms, hunching against the chill. The next look he gave the man bordered on concern. He grimaced. "Maybe you're joking, but...if we weren't aiming for certain...outcomes, is disappearing still what you'd do? Lov—Theo — you've a fiancée in there. She shouldn't see you getting cold feet already." He shook his head at how he'd said even that much aloud and switched to sign again. "She certainly shouldn't see you preferring the company of a guard. None of them should. Just hang in there. Stick to it. You'll be out of the worst of it before you know it. But please don't give your dad any reason to make this worse on you."

He offered a small smile in return before settling more into the shadows leaning against the rail. He look he gave Fletcher upon the man's return was soft and only for his eyes.

"You're taking care of me again. I'm sorry," he murmured, accepting the plate without protest even as his eyes lingered on the drink instead.

"How rambunctious are they getting out there? Think we can manage to disappear before main course is even served?"

Theo was afraid of losing him. But he wasn't going anywhere, was he? He'd made it this far. He was going to keep on living, damn it. He chuckled, but it was hollow-sounding. "Survived this long, haven't I? Wasn't my first time close to dying. Sure it won't be my last. But I'm alive, and I intend to keep it that way for a while yet. So don't worry. I'm not going anywhere — except to get you some food first. Otherwise I'll have to hold your hair back later while you cry whiskey drunk over a basin. And neither of us wants that."

He graced the man with a secret and loving smile before allowing his face to fall and turning back towards the party. A short time later, nobles successfully navigated, he returned with a small plate and another drink. The plate he handed to Theo. The drink, he held onto. "Eat first," he said.

Morthil's mouth dropped open in shock. 

"The...the whole village....gone? You're joking, you're"—but then Morthil saw she was not joking. It was true. The village was gone, Morthil likely the only known survivor.
He sagged in Goblinda's arms, his heart broken and in pain.

Goblinda tensed. Morthil could sense it. 
Something was wrong. Instinctually he wanted to help....


And then it was as if he was transported to a dark place. The sounds of Lin and Go Linda faded. 
All was deathly quiet. He could smell the devastation, feel the sting of the embers floating through the air. His nose burned from the smoke. His lungs seized up. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. He could feel pain. Emotional pain. Physical pain. It felt like there was a hole in his chest. And the hole was filling with blood. 
His muscles felt like someone had torn them apart. His lungs screamed for air. He could hear the cries and screams of dying people. But all he could see was black. A darkness so intense that it pressed on him.
Even though he could feel everything with intensity, it felt muted still...and then everything came rushing back. He was back in Lin's house, in the arms of Goblinda.
But then she dropped him and he landed on the floor, breathing hard, sucking in air as if he actually had just been wherever that was. The emotional distress was so much that he shifted, finally, into his elf form. He took a few deep, shaky breaths. 
"What happened...what was that?" 
He looked at Goblinda. 
She did not look good. 

His hand slowly lowered his glass. Fletcher had made no move to fill it up and Theo felt ashamed because of it. He was behaving childishly and had forced his love to feel the need to step in again and take care of things for him, to monitor him for his own good. Theo placed it back on the rail and smoothed the front of his robes from imaginary wrinkles. 

"I'm afraid it will be you. It almost was you. It's not me I'm afraid for. It's you."

Fletcher's expression softened. It was worse than he'd thought: Theo really did look like he was about to crumble. What did he even say to a man who'd deteriorated this quickly? "It won't happen again," he insisted. "I'll make sure it doesn't." He stayed where he was, and his flask stayed where it was, too. Instead, he brought his hands in front of him and signed. "You're not alone this time, love. I'm here. We do this together."

"Huh? Village... goblins...?"

Goblinda frowned; She clearly was putting effort into attempting to recall what the talking cat spoke of... But it seemed mostly for naught. Despite her pondering, she came up with nothing; Not even the slightest inkling that correlated the cat-not-cat's story. While she thought, kitty still in hand, Linda tapped her chin a bit as well, thinking on Morthil's question. She'd recovered enough of her poise in spite of everything to shake off the feeling of dread that had nearly devoured her earlier.

"Your village... ah, you mean the one that Goblinda escaped with you from, I take it. Where you'd been resting... Well..." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then braced herself for the news she had to deliver in regards to it. "I... fear I don't exactly have 'good' news. Word by courier reached Ketra yesterday morning of a village some half-day's journey from here, near the mountain's base... Or rather, what was a village. Sounded like the entire town was razed to the ground-- strangely enough, in a mix of red and green flames. There were... no survivors, as far as I know." She explained, sorrow in her words as she tried to lessen the blow to the poor man as best she could.

~~~

She hurt. Her arms hurt. Her head hurt. Her legs hurt. Everything hurt. Accured flames and the soot of charred bodies filled her lungs. Singed her eyes. She couldn't stop the bleeding from her forehead, which further impaired her vision-- Nor could she stop the pulsing wound on her chest, which stained her platinum armor blood red. Yet her spear parried yet another blow from the massive battleaxe of an opponent she was too blinded to clearly see-- her ears serving her well even amidst the crackling flames and the uneven footing.

"Hah... hah... DAMN YOU! FALL!!!" Roared a dangerous, powerful voice, unfamiliar to her. Even through her blurred vision, the burst of green flames which suddenly flared forth were still plain to see-- A nimble leap to her right to evade them, then a dash forward from the very air she'd leapt into. Her spear was poised to pierce directly through her foe's chest-- a matching wound for the one he'd given her while protecting the kitten. He had no other choice-- Releasing his axe, he caught the incoming spear with both hands, just before it ripped through his chest. She wounded him all the same-- she could feel the blade puncture something, at least-- but it was a shallow wound. He yet remained standing and, with herculean force, swung her by her own weapon before releasing the spear, along with her, and sending both into a burning pile of debris-- the remains of a home, most like.

Good. He'd thrown her away from the kitten. He yet approached, having recovered his battleaxe. Though she could barely stand-- barely breathe-- she smiled. She would've been really sad if the kitten's fur had gotten burned.

~~~

"Ugh!"

Morthil found sudden freedom; The goblin that'd been holding him suddenly released him, as if shocked by lightning. Not even a moment later, she'd crumbled to her knees, clutching her head in pain as if a seething red blade had stabbed right through her skull. "L-Lin!? What's wrong?" The brunette stuttered, her heart set to racing once more as she quickly moved to the Goblin's side, attempting to steady her a bit on her knees. "I... My head..." The red-headed goblin muttered, before attempting to shrug off the effects of her sudden migraine... if it could be called that.

"Your head...? Could... Could your memory loss be related to some kind of physical trauma after all?"

Miriel sighed when her father gave her a look that could chill fire and closed her mouth against any more protestations. She didn't want to be here as an offering for her family's failures, but she also didn't really have a choice. They said jump and she jumped despite protesting. Any resistance was met with swift and firm actions that applied so much pressure that she eventually caved. She supposed she could just run away, but what good would that do? Then she would be a slave to the world instead of a slave to her family. At least the latter provided food and shelter.

She closed her eyes and listened to the workers grunting outside of the carriage window as they worked to remove the debris. Miriel didn't know how much was blocking their path, but it seemed to be enough to cause some pretty substantial delays.

Terrific.

Now not only did she need to be paraded around distant relatives that she didn't care about, but she had to sit in this damned carriage longer than they already had. It was plush, yes, but that didn't mean that the long hours of travel were pleasant. The company certainly made it worse.

Time moved more slowly now than it ever had before. Without the delay they were probably about an hour or so away from Arca which seemed so close compared to the length of their journey up until this point, but now? Now she just had to wait. There were no bumps and jostles to keep her mind engaged, just the sound of her parents muttering together about how they were going to appear rude, or how Miriel herself was a disaster and a disgrace.

Oh joy.

"Kia help us they're taking so dammed long!" Her father cried suddenly after some time had passed and he stepped out of the carriage to manage or something. It wasn't like he was going to actually help. Heavens no, that was beneath him.

"Miriel, dear, sit up." Her mother snapped causing Miriel to blink absently in her direction and slump further into her seat.

"Miriel!"

"Oh hush, mother." She muttered so quietly that her mother probably hadn't heard anything other than what sounded like a sigh, but she listened and sat straight up with a dazed smile plaster on her face.

Better? she thought sarcastically as she stared silently at her mother with that absent grin never wavering.

Her mother made a loud, indignant noise before she, too, burst out of the carriage door to go and "oversee" the construction crews.

Good. Miriel preferred to be alone.

So she sat, quietly making calculations in her mind about how long it would take her to return home by foot. Would they even notice if she slipped out of the carriage and just left? The woods around them were dense enough that no one would really see her go and she'd be able to disappear into the brush. But....she also didn't really know where to go other than a general direction.

She sighed. No escape this time. She would be a perfect cage bird for their plans. Didn't matter, though, because her great uncle would most likely take one look at her and refuse whatever her father had offered. She wasn't good for that kind of family. She wasn't good for any family – that was something she had worked hard to ensure and was quite proud of the results.

But then the time went on and Miriel found herself surprised to note that she was growing bored and actually could do with a bit of walking around rather than continue to be cooped up, even if that meant spending more time looking at her parents and invoking their ire.

So she stood, opened the door, and stepped into the twilight. Her cotton travel dress swished as she moved – that had been the one thing she'd been allowed some level of decision, and even then it was only on the fabric. The embroidery screamed excess even if the dress itself was made from less expensive materials, but her arguments that traveling in satin was uncomfortable had at least been heard. Kia, she hated the excess...

Maybe she could just disappear and live with her sister? Her father wouldn't dare go and fetch her there....

Miriel had been so lost in thought that she hadn't really been paying attention to her surroundings and had managed to make her way to the edges of the forest and away from the carriage. She could make out what looked like people milling about the tree in the road, but it was difficult to see much else with the sinking sun to their backs.

Then she tripped on a tree root and stumbled further into the woods, barely catching herself on a nearby trunk before tumbling onto the ground. She gasped, clutching at the tree to right herself and glanced back to see what had caught her foot. She took a step forward, frowning, because she couldn't see a single tree that might have roots in the area she had come. The shadows were getting longer and it was difficult to see, so she stepped forward, using her feet to feel for whatever it had been and then...

Her slipped food pressed into something soft and it squelched.

She quickly brought her foot back and strained her eyes to see...

Oh Gods...that....that was a hand. A hand that...it....she couldn't see the arm where it should have been attached...she could only see the fingers, palm up, and a stump where the arm should have been.

She back against the tree and forced herself to take deep breaths. She needed to go back, which meant she needed to go past it, but she was frozen in place. What was happening? What had happened? What should she do?

The joke caused Theo to chuckle softly. "No," he continued, exhaustion evident in every vibration of his voice, "we're going the extra spicy route, no safeties just live or die, pass or fail climbing and jumping."

He knocked back the entire glass, wincing slightly at the burn before holding it out towards Fletcher with a sharp nod. His face looked deeply haunted and pale in the moonlight. Even the usual warmth of his eyes had dulled completely from when he had stepped out of his room all beautiful and put together.

"All I want to do is go home." Theo paused and swallowed roughly, his voice cracking some as he continued to speak. "But I'm afraid if I go home early everything will happen again and...I should have just stayed home. I feel like I'm falling apart at the seams and it's so pathetic. It's just a ball. It's just nobles partying and getting drunk and doing stupid things and I—am hating every minute of it.

"So yes, knock the udders off a cow and fill it up. Being engaged is even worse when it comes to this time of year. I regret everything."