Back to a Dangerous Land (DragonSong)

[Kingfisher]

He was unsure what but something told the smith that the bards words did not match her feeling.  In all fairness, he was not really a friend with the regiment, only familiar with few of its members so it made sense that the girl would be at least somewhat uncomfortable...

Tara was quickly finished dressing and as she exited the partition, she found Joshua had remained, somewhat redfaced from a momentary flight of fancy.  Clearing his throat as he shugged off his ideas, he said, "So...uh...shall we?"  He held the entry flap open for his companion.

Outside the tent, things seemed rather busy.  Soldiers and servants were moving rather quickly, getting gear and supplies together.  Amid the commotion, a blond spearman marched toward them.  "The Colonel wanted to speak with you," he informed before giving a vague signal for the two outsiders to follow...

[DragonSong]

The bard tilted her head at him, taking in the slight redness to his cheeks. She tried not to let that go to her head.

She just nodded to him as they stepped out into the camp--then had to resist the urge to duck back behind the smith as the bustle around them hit her full force. Tara straightened her shoulders out as the spearman approached.

"Oh, the Colonel. Right. Thank you." She glanced up sidelong at Joshua. "Shall we?"

[Kingfisher]

The soldier led the back to the headquarters.  A handful of halberdiers stood guard, marking the groups passage but not impeding the trio.  As they neared the flap, raised voices could be heard through the canvas barrier though exact words could not be made out.

A Tara and Joshua's approach, one of the guards signalled to stop just as the argument ceased.  Within moments, the tall swordsman from the night before stormed out of the tent, almost bumping into the bard in his haste.  Forced to pause, Wolfram took a moment to glance over his shoulder before bending close to the girl's ear.  "Meet me by the stables later..."  Before she ask him to elaborate, the Lieutenant took his leave, clearly aggrevated by whatever had transpired.

Joshua knew this could not bode well but could not think of anything specific and could have only shrugged if his companion questioned him.  Before they would have had a chance to ponder things further, an authoritative voice from within demanded that they enter...

Within they found a woman, seated in a simple camp stool, appearing darkly pensive as her lips pressed against her clasped fists.  Her brooding demeanor was only amplified by the raised red scars radiating down from her temple.  Still, her pale eyes flickered up to her two guests and she quickly pushed herself to her feet.  "Joshua, its always good to see you," she said, clasping his shoulders and pecking him on each cheek.  "I'm sorry I could not welcome you back myself."

Oh...Uh, its fine," the smith replied awkwardly.  Despite being Connloathian himself, he rarely found himself in situations where he might be greeted so conventionally.  Or perhaps that was just an inward excuse to explain himself.  Glancing back to his companion, Joshua quickly sorted through his words.  "Colonel Mandel, this is Tara, a...friend."  It felt lame and noncommital to simply introduce her as his friend but it was all he really had to go with...

"Of course, Tara.  A pleasure to meet you."  The officer offered the bard the same greeting as the young man, a light kiss on each cheek before stepping back.  "Again, welcome to the Ash Guard."  Gesturing to the other stools arranged around the room, Mandel continued: "Have a seat.  We have something to discuss..."  Joshua could not help but find those last words ominous.

[DragonSong]

Tara tensed up visibly when the Colonel kissed her cheeks, her fingers twitched. She had to bite back a sigh of relief when she stepped back, and resisted the urge to actually take a step back.

She eyed the proffered seat a little warily and lifted her eyes to the other woman's face again. "Ah...thanks. But I'm good standing, I think." A quick, almost unconscious glance in Joshua's direction, then she caught herself and leveled a calm, disinterested look back at the Colonel.

"What exactly did you want to discuss, Serrah?"

[Kingfisher]

The officer slid back to her own stool but did not immediately respond to the bard's question.  Despite only being a few seconds at most, the silence seemed to drag before Alexis sighed and looked up.  "I understand you made a deal with my subordinate regarding hiring use to assist in what I can only assume is some kind of personal vandetta?"  Though they were framed as a question, the woman's posture suggested otherwise.

"I am afraid I must withdraw his offer."

[DragonSong]

The bard just stared at her, expression utterly unchanging. The only indication of any reaction was a slight tensing of her curled fists pressed against her ribs, arms folded over her chest.

She let out a low, slightly harsh breath, then tipped her head to the side and smiled. "Of course, ser. I understand. I apologize for...taking your time."

Her voice was perfectly polite, even. But there was just the barest hint of magic beneath the tone; magic she wasn't entirely controlling, slipping into her voice as the only indication of the turmoil of emotion that she outwardly kept on a strict lock.

[Kingfisher]

The Adhara either failed to register Tara's unconcious working or saw no threat in it as she steepled her fingers, leaning forward.  Still, she seemed to notice the bard's reaction and said, "I wish I could offer better, but my men and I..."  The Colonel sighed, explaining, "We are soldiers, and with the war ongoing...we're needed here.  We can't simply drop everything and send manpower into a foreign land on some, indefinite snipe hunt..."

Joshua could tell this was all a blow and thought to go to his companion, perhaps to comfort her.  Still, he felt what lay beneath those emotions and hesitated, fearing what power seemed to bubble just beyond sight.

"I wish you better fortune going forward and hope you find your closure someday, Miss Tara, Master Joshua," the mercenary said before offering a small bow, dismissing the pair of guests.  It took all his courage for the smith to take his friends arm, that he might guide her away before something went wrong...

...Well, more wrong...

[DragonSong]

"Really. Thank you. I understand," Tara repeated, keeping her voice cool and even. She allowed Joshua to take her arm and lead her from the tent--she finally seemed to have noticed the magic swirling in the air around her, and was now making a conscious effort to keep it contained.

There were enough mordecai around that she couldn't really do much, but she could still feel the power swirling beneath her breast, aching to get out. The longer she kept a lid on it, the more explosive an inevitable reaction was likely to be.

Through gritted teeth, she muttered to her companion. "I--I'm going for a walk. I need to get some space from this place." Her fingers were twitching at her sides again, curling and uncurling into fists.

[Kingfisher]

Joshua was unsure what to say.  It was very much clear that the Colonel's words had been a blow to the girl but as much as he wished to comfort her, the smith had no idea how.  Hell, she might have prefered he remain silent...Haltingly, he offered, "I'll...I can come with you?  If you like?"  It sounded lame to him.

Elsewhere in the camp, Wolfram donned some of his armor; despite Alexis' orders, he could not let this go.  He had a chance to right an old wrong and was in no mood to pass up the chance.  He had even managed to coax a dozen Jagers to join his foolish crusade, offering a tidy sum to convince his comrade to provide aid.  "What mother did not know wouldn't hurt her," he had quiped.  He only hoped it were true.

Now, all he needed was for Tara to join him...

[DragonSong]

The bard shot him a vaguely wide-eyed, almost nervous look. "I..."

Magic surged beneath her skin again. She gritted her teeth. "If you like. I need to get away from the damn mordecai."

She had no idea just how many auras she was competing with at the moment, but her magic was roiling in response to her emotions with nowhere to go. Voice clipped and tight, she warned the smith, "I'm about three minutes away from a severe magical backlash. If you wanna keep close, on your own head be it."

[Kingfisher]

@DragonSong

Much like the minstrel, the riders had had the idea to assemble some distance away from the Colonel's tent.  Even as they walked, the pair of visitors might have noticed a handful of men, suited up for combat slipping away from their comrades.  How many rebel Mordecai had secreted themselves among the Guards was impossible to know but either way, Tara and Joshua came about the tall mercenary, surveying the dozen riders that came to organize their horses.

At a nod from one of his men, Wolfram turned before lifting the helm from his head.  "I was wondering when you two would show."  Still holding the reigns of his sturdy destrier, he gestured with a jerk of his head, saying, "These are the men I promised."

[DragonSong]

Tara's eyes were bright, almost feverish, and her chest rose and fell sharply as her breath started to come fast and shallow.

"You--what--what?"

She couldn't cope with this. She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. She knew she was supposed to feel something--relief, maybe, or even satisfaction--beyond the surprise. But with her magic sparking treacherously beneath her skin and her mind whirling in an effort to calculate just how far away from the mordecai she would have to get to find any sort of relief, she couldn't focus beyond the buzzing panic.

She didn't realized she'd grabbed for Joshua until her nails started to bite into his wrist. Tara snatched her hand back quickly, wrapping her arms around her middle as she stared up at the mercenary blearily.

"I--I need a moment."

[Kingfisher]

The tall man offed a sideways nod.  "Of course," he said, seeming a little nervous, looking to the smith for a cue.

Saddly, Joshua had none to offer, just as clueless as most Connlaothians on the complexities of magic, which had few real rules beyond those imposed by each practitioner's nature.  Instead, the fire magus put an arm around the bard to pull her away.

As far as most know, Colonel Mandel was the only Mordecai in camp and an Adhara at that; her range had never been impressive, only reaching three or four paces.  Still, given their history - their culture - it was mostly unsurprising that the dozen riders pulled away from the foreign mage, seeking to avoid getting caught in what ever hell erupted from her.

[DragonSong]

Tara kept her arms wrapped tight around herself, but she leaned into Joshua’s side when his arm went around her shoulders. She stumbled along where he led, too focused on figuring out the safest way to siphon off the panicking power roiling inside her to care about how fragile she seemed.

She’d worry about it later.

Fire. Joshua was a pyromancer—if he wasn’t going to get some distance from her, she had to focus through an element that had the least chance of hurting him.

Of course, fire had always been the most unpredictable part of her magic. Fuck it. Needs must.

“Get—“ She pressed a hand against the smith’s chest, trying weakly to push him back a few steps. “Keep back, I don’t—not safe—“ She couldn’t keep pressing it down, she had to do something.

Breath in, think, focus, fire. Her mouth opened and her voice rang out, high and fierce and clear, a single sustained breath of music that ripped up through an octave in a burst of noise and magic. Flames licked up around her feet, then spiraled up her form into a miniature cyclone of glowing orange and gold. The heat curled her hair, dried her throat, but it didn’t hurt.

Then it was over. She slumped, allowing her arms to fall to her sides. She took another breath before she risked glancing up at Joshua, expression somewhere between sheepish, wary, and resigned. “...Sorry. It was—it was just a lot, I couldn’t...think of any other way to let the power go.”

[Kingfisher]

The gilded flames of the bard's wild magic consumed the grass as the smith's feet, even as he stumbled back at the girl's push.  Green turned to black and Joshua felt his hair rise as it was sapped of moisture by Tara's firestorm.  For his part the man absorbed as much of the heat as came toward him, his own eyes glowing orange as fire died lapping at his clothes, leaving to mark except here his sleeve had caught, though he quickly swatted that down.  A minor inconvenience.

Still, when his companion awkwardly returned to him, he was unsure what to say.  He had never lost control of his magic and found it hard to sympathize.  "Right," he said dumbly, looking for a line that would not offend.  "I guess it's all been a bit...much?"

Offering a brief glance toward towards the mercenaries - Wolfram's rouge Jagers - Joshua took the bard by the shoulders and asked, "Uh...Are you gonna be okay?"

[DragonSong]

His hands closed over her shoulders and she flinched, but she didn’t pull away. Tara’s eyes followed his toward the Jagers. Slowly, she nodded.

“You...do you trust this? Them?” She looked back into Joshua’s face. Her eyes were bright and uncharacteristically unguarded. “I don’t know these people. I don’t know what Wolfram wants. But if you think we can trust this offer...” She dropped her eyes, taking a slightly shaky breath. “I—I trust you.”

And the terrifying thing is, I mean it.

The admission almost seemed to be dragged unwillingly from her throat, and it hovered heavy in the air for a few moments after she said it. She cleared her throat and avoided Joshua’s eyes, not liking the sudden wash of vulnerability. “Right. So.”

[Kingfisher]

"Um...yeah," Joshau almost mimicked, recoginizing her awkward attempt to avoid seeming week.  He let go of her, hands lacing behind his head as he looked for something to do with them.

His eyes again flickered toward the riders as the nervously fidgeted with their mounts, hoping for some semblance of safety.  "I..."  The smith paused.  He could not tell Wolfram's motives either.  "I think he has his own aims..."

"If nothing else," the mercenary said, having approached the pair to defend himself against Tara's suspicions.  "Trust that when we cross into Serendipity, whatever advantage I may have over you is gone and the only thing I desire is to help hunt down your prey."  Offering a hand for the mage-girl to take, more a symbolic gesture than anything.  "Would you be willing to trust me that far?"

[DragonSong]

The bard eyed his hand for several long moments as though it might suddenly turn into a venomous snake. Then she sighed, reached out, and clasped it firmly if briefly.

"Fine." Her eyes flicked up to his, the indigo deepening to something almost black. "But if you try to hurt either of us, I will whistle the air from your body and watch you choke."

She meant it, but the threat didn't have quite the same weight behind it that it might have normally. She was too raw, too tired. Too confused.

Without really thinking about what she was doing, she pressed her shoulder against Joshua's, making a united front as she looked up at the mercenary and folded her arms over her chest. "So? When do we leave?"

[Kingfisher]

Wolfram was accustomed to threats and gave no reaction to Tara's magically enhanced menace.  Still, he had little interest in fighting an enraged magus to he chose not to push back on the matter.

At her question, though he only had a simple response; "If you're in a hurry, we can go now."  It was better if the small band was away before the Colonel could stop them and they already had their horses and sladdles ready.  He guestured to a pair of extra horses brought forward for the pair.

"Um," Joshua began, seeming clearly awkward at the offered gift.  "I can't actually ride," he admitted, eyeing the horse, seeming to ignore Tara's closeness

"You can ride double them," Wolfram informed.  Looking back to the bard, he added, "If you have trouble with horses, the same offer goes."  The armored warrior indicated his own stallion to illustrate his idea.

[DragonSong]

"I'm fine," Tara replied promptly. Linking her arm through Joshua's, she added with a bright stage-smile, "Ride with me."

Even she knew she was being a bit paranoid at this point, but she didn't like the idea of letting him ride with one of the mercenaries. And there was something uncomfortable about not traveling in close proximity, after they had done so for so long. Though that wasn't exactly a thought she wanted to examine too closely.

With a shrug and a nod to one of the indicated animals, she added, "I mean, I'm a fair rider, and I'm...well, little." Damnit. "We won't be too much weight together."