Dramatic Aftermath

Am'shere, in the evening ---

The jungles of Am'shere were a refreshing change for Aelwyn. Alexandria's, that great city's, streets were covered with ice, and worse, tainted with regret. At least here amongst his kin, there was a purpose.

And warmth. Plenty of warmth.

The slightly-scorched looking sith-makar had spent a good amount of time during the day roaming through the stalls and the vendors, and now the draconian was wandering along the streets, slinging a large clay pot over his back and chewing on a stick. Naturally, his glaive was still with him, its blade blazing with its usual fire. The draconian's midsection was wrapped in leather straps - and for those that know him, his ribbons were mostly gone.

"Hmm." Aelwyn rumbles, as he stops, looking around himself with a tilt of his head. A loud click leaves his lightly parted mouth. "Tch. Perhaps she is not here." The draconian then switches direction; heading off the beaten streets and more towards the outskirts. It was not easy to find someone in the jungles of Am'shere.

GAME: Rune rolls intimidate: (16)+15: 31

Rune is the sort of person who is hard to find, unless she wishes to be found. Her return to Am'shere seems only a brief respite from the winter weather that now consumes Alexandros. Yet, for Rune, it offers little comfort. So much still hangs in the balance and weighs heavily on her shoulders.

As Aelwyn turns towards the outskirts of the market, a familiar form could be found speaking with a merchant. The individual in question is a somewhat mangey looking Makari, missing more than a few scales. His eyes dart everywhere but directly at Rune. "Listen. I know the dangers of carrying that sort of material around here all too well. The Chaneque certainly wouldn't be fond of you having it." She informs him in flawless Draconic, a subtle threat in her voice.

The Makari looks towards the Jungles, fidgeting uncertainly. "You won't tell them I have it? Y--you know what they do to people, don't you?"

"I know all too well. No one else is going to risk crossing them, so your best bet is to sell to me." Her arms fold across her chest. "You know very well that they'll find you, sooner or later."

At that point, the merchant starts rummaging in his things, seeming obviously frightened. Rune, however, just waits, her expression impassive.

GAME: Aelwyn rolls knowledge/local: (16)+3: 19

The familiar voice carries over and Aelwyn shifts direction; but an unusual sight greets him. Staying a little ways out of sight, the a-bit-ruddier sith-makar steals glances over, tilting his head at the mentions of 'dangerous material' and especially this 'Chaneque'. He thought it was just some scary stories he had heard in passing.

A quiet click leaves his mouth; the draconian had been in enough similar situations to not bark in outright when the other sith-makar was so close to finishing whatever he was there to barter with. So instead, he turns his attention towards the stalls, tail swaying behind him.

After a while, he starts moving again - this time taking a longer, circular route around the scene, as if he were browsing for the few stalls this far out. His eyes kept darting over though, curious to see what was being traded; and how the scene would unfold.

Eventually, after quite a bit of scrounging around through various materials, the vendor pulls out a small, wrapped parcel. He glances once more towards the forest before handing it out towards Rune. "H-here it is. J-just take it. I d-don't want them bothering me again. It was b-bad enough the last time." The half-sil reaches out to accept it, pulling free some coin from her bag and offering it in return.

The money is quickly snatched.

"N-now get out." The merchant curls his lip, showing his first sign of some sort of bravery. Apparently, Rune is less scary than whatever the Chaneque are. "Don't belong here anyway." He mutters under his breath. "Lucky she is a Deathsinger's plaything or..."

And then, in a flash, there is a knife at the Merchant's throat. "Or you'd what?" Rune asks in response, an edge in her voice.

The merchant quiets.

"That's what I thought." She draws the weapon away, then tucks the parcel into one of her bags, muttering something under her breath in another language. It's at that point that her eyes sweep past Aelwyn. Those ever-seeing blue-eyes catch him out easily enough, but there is something in that gaze that is hesitant.

So, she simply heads up along the row of stalls, "I know you're there." She offers out, giving the Makari time to make himself known.

There was a momentary tension and pause when knives are pulled - but the situation is defused quickly enough. There was little doubt in Aelwyn's mind that she couldn't handle herself.

Aelwyn slowly meanders along the stalls, slowing down a step when he is called out. "Caught." He replies to her with a rumbling sound from his chest, sounding amused. His steps pause and he lets her catch up with him, leaning on his glaive. "This one did not wish to intrude on the very delicate looking negotiations." A sharp row of his teeth.

His tail flicks to the side, as he tilts his head at her. "Should this one ask? Or should this one let it be an act in a play this one is better left out of?" He clicks his tongue. "Tch, it is so easy to forget things in this heat sometimes. Especially lying atop those hotstones." Another tilt of his hips, as he flashes a grin at her.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Rune replies, giving a quick glance over her shoulder at the Merchant, who seems to be rearranging his wares. Looking back, she adds, "I could have just stolen it, intsead, but I prefer not to do that if I can help it. I've tried to keep my hands clean of anything too illegal since I left Tane's crew."

Resting her hands slightly on her hips, the half-sil shakes her head, "I heard from some of the other merchants that this one had some cold iron on him. Barely survived a run in with the Chaneque because of it. Idiot." She rolls her eyes, "Thankfully, I'm in need of some to pass along to allies when we go to face the source of my Fae problems." She doesn't speak of him by name.

"Is this where you've been hiding?" The rogue is quick to turn the topic back on Aelwyn, though. "I haven't seen you since you tried to kill yourself back at the circus performance." There is a hardness in her eyes in that moment that suggests she may not be happy with him about that.

"Hmm, ghosts from the past?" Aelwyn asks, with a tilt of his head. "One of these days this one shall get curious about where Twin's blades were from." Which, perhaps coming from him, carried certain irony. Still, it didn't show on his casually amused face. As far as one could tell from a makari's grin.

The mention of cold iron and the fey makes the draconian twist his lips though. "Ah. The last notes of the last act draw near, then." He bows his head. "It is a heavy task." He steps closer and swipes at her ankles lightly with his tail. "This one's blade is still hers." He reminds her with a low rumble. "Though this one was not aware cold iron was contraband here." He clicks his teeth. "Or perhaps it is a guarded market."

The question about him makes the Dragoon freeze. His orange eyes turn towards her. "... Twin does not mince words." Aelwyn then slowly slips off the ceramic pot off his shoulder, before holding it between them. "This one was looking for drinking company." A click of his tongue, followed a by a long breath. "Mostly trying to look in on the family." The bottle is rolled in his hands, as he looks at it for a moment longer. "I was not trying to do anything like that, Twin."

"Tane?" Rune asks with a raise of one brow. "Not so much a ghost as a thorn in my side now and again. The better part of my life has been trying to be myself instead of what someone else wants me to be." She takes in a slow breath and lets it out again. "Even fate has designs on me. But I have every intention of doing things my way."

For the time being, Rune leaves it at that and shifts her attention to the topic of her Fey problem. "It's not contraband. But there are Fey that live in these forests. The Chaneque. They don't take kindly to people with it in their woods." She explains. "We're going to be taking the fight to our enemy soon enough. Your blade would be more than welcome."

However, as he freezes, Rune's expression follows his features, trying to read into the enigmatic Makari in that moment. "Not really, no." She admits. She'd rather say what she is thinking than pretend it didn't happen.

"It sure looked that way from where I was standing." She admits, her tone harsh. However, she is quick to check herself, running a hand through her hair as she tilts her head back. "You don't have any fucking clue that people care about you, do you?" When her blue eyes look to him again, there is sadness there. "You run right into the flames, run right to your own death, and there isn't a fucking thing I can do about it."

She closes her eyes, frustration evident in her posture, "I hate feeling helpless like that. If you would have died, so help me I'd have had Harkashan bring your ass back just so I could kill you again myself for being such an idiot." Her voice cracks on that last word, the half-sil clearly struggling with her own emotions as she wipes a hand against her cheek, swiping at a tear that she likely is trying to hide from Aelwyn.

There was not much to scrutinize in Aelwyn - yet his expression was far cry from his usually good humored one. The kind that was ready to take on the world with a grin.

Indeed, there was not much to scrutinize, since he was there in the bare, his face naked.

Looking at her, the draconian takes a moment to respond. His leather straps still hid away the scars the chains left him, yet he could not hide the still darkened scales of the fire. Slowly, he takes a step towards her and then another, before he stands near her. "I do. And she would have been just to do so." He answers her, looking at her with those orange eyes of his. Strangely brilliant in against the dark scales. "Yet at that moment, I had a price to pay. A price that was not mine to determine."

There's a long pause, before he adds, "I never imagined my family would have gone so far." A longer look. "This one owes many a debt now. Debts this one can never repay." He glances at the half-sil's face, looking intently at her eyes and the struggle she was going through. There's rising tension in his body, as he straightens and then lowers on his toes. "I was selfish and took a lot of you."

His hand gradually reaches out for her shoulder. "And I hate that I've stained those eyes."

While Rune may be able to bluff her way out of a number of situations, it is with her friends that she wears her heart on her sleeve most openly. The warring emotions are visible both in the hitches of her breathing and in the tension that radiates across her shoulders, extending down into a stiff posture.

She manages to hold her tongue only so long as it takes him to speak about debts and prices to pay. "Bullshit." She snaps back at him. "They may be family, but that doesn't make you responsible for their choices and failings. You leaving doesn't make you responsible for what happened to them after you left, either." Her expression holds all the fierceness of one who has had to distance herself from her own family.

"They're assholes if they think so, and you're an idiot if you believe them." Rune tightens one hand into a fist, the mix of sadness and rage seeming barely contained beneath the surface.

So, when his hand touches her shoulder, her head snaps up and that glassy nature in her blue eyes is that much more evident. "If my mother showed up today and told me that the only way to save her, to save the Golden Fate, to kill the..." She hesitates, about to speak the Fey's name but she shakes her head instead, "If the only way was to throw myself into lava and die... I'd tell her to go fuck herself."

The idea, perhaps, may seem cruel on the surface, "My mother would never want that for me. That's family." Rune swipes at her eyes again, "Those who really care about you would never ask for you to be hurt or to die for them. And they would certainly never blame someone they loved, nor wish for them to be hurt or killed."

"If you could have saved them by jumping into those flames, by making a sacrifice of your own choosing, fine. I might have understood that." Rune reaches her hand down and fidgets with one of the rings on her finger. "But it wasn't because of that. It was because of your misguided guilt, and your brother's warped mind demanding that you pay for something that wasn't your fucking fault."

Aelwyn was quite used to people questioning him on his reasoning by now. The philosophical rift between the way him and her was obvious. It was as if he had never crossed that sea. Slowly, he begins to adjust the ceramic pot over his shoulder, and carefully leans the glaive against himself as he works with the cord.

All so that he could clutch her cheeks lightly and stare at her, inches away from her face. "You are wrong." He knew the next words would be hurtful. "I did it because I love them."

Slowly, he inhales and then exhales. He was shaking slightly. "My life was owned by the Troupe." He says slowly. "We owed our lives to each other. You did not just walk away." Now he was really shaking, his voice catching. "And he was hurting so much. What he was doing was wrong." Then he snarls. "What I did was wrong. To cut down the ones I love. Not by the trap, but by abandoning them." Teeth were exposed, as he was grinding them together. "And I never wanted to pay them back for it."

Even breathing, as he settles himself. Slowly, he straightens. "He had his own price to pay for saving the Troupe. A crooked price." He scoffs, looking away. "Now we all have to pay." His hands lower down and instead, start to reach for that ceramic jug around his back; the draconian's eyes slipping away towards nowhere.

In that moment, Rune doesn't fight the hold against her cheeks or the Makari muzzle that is just inches away from her nose. She stares at him for a long moment, the subtle flicks of her eyes showing that she really is trying to understand, but no matter how many times she comes back around, it doesn't seem to add up.

"I love my father." The words come out rough from her lips. "He was all I had left after my mom died. I loved my little sister, even if we didn't share the same mother." Rune's hand comes up and slams into her own chest, her own pain replayed there. "Just because I love them, doesn't mean that I am forever responsible for the paths they choose to take."

Rune shakes her head, obviously frustrated and disappointed, but there is clearly little she can do to change a mind so rooted into their own beliefs. "If they needed you, they should have called you home. They had every chance to get help, from you, from any number of others. But I suppose they were just as stubborn as you are, and they paid the price for that."

Her voice drops into a quieter tone, "It's not a price that you are responsible for paying. But I'm never going to convince you of that, am I?" Letting out another breath, Rune steps away again, "If joining them in death is what you want, so be it. Just don't ask me to stand by and watch you do it. I'm not going to watch someone I care about kill himself."

A sort of sad look passes her face, "So, I guess that means I'm abandoning you. But I can tell you one thing. When you go to your grave I won't be there and I won't feel one lick of responsibility for it. Because /you/ make your own choices, and even though I love you, that doesn't make me responsible for the path you choose to walk."

And, with that, Rune turns away and starts to head towards the edge of the jungle.

It was hard to hear that from her. His heart sinks further when she speaks. The rift was vast, and the sea cold and empty. He could have argued more; explain why it wasn't so easy - but they were words.

Turning his head, he watches her start to leave - and at that moment, he drops both the jug and his glaive, clattering them to the ground. The draconian takes half-running step to try and stop her by standing in front of her, and grabbing her by the arm.

"I am not going to kill myself." The sith-makar seethes from between his teeth, facing her. "I am not going to die until I see the skies. That is the path I chose to walk." There was anger and frustration evident on him, his tail flicking behind him. "And there will not be a grave, as my heart will burn there forever."

"And the path I wish to walk includes you." His orange eyes were gleaming. "All of you. No matter the twists and turns, I wish to walk in step. To see where the road leads. To cherish the good times, to cherish the bad times." There's a heavy breath taken in. "I cannot explain the ties that bind, but this one I can show you."

He pauses.

"Will you let me?"

The sound of the jug and glaive clatering to the ground is what catches Rune's ears. They twitch back in Aelwyn's direction just before he apperas before her. As his hand clasps for her arm, the half-sil gives a hiss that is more Makari than her native species, a warning. She doesn't pull it back, though. No, those glassy eyes watch him with uncertainty.

Even as he denies her previous words, Rune has the temptation to bite back. Her own loss leading to the anger that wars against the sadness that comes from seeing someone she cares about blame themeslves for something beyond their control. However, she remains quiet, though there is a hitch in her breathing as she listens, expression intense.

An expression that softens ever so slightly when he talks about walking along side her, along side those who have become friends and allies and more. The tension eases as well, but that sadness remains.

"Show me..." The words are barely a whisper.

Those orange eyes were gleaming with intensity; a fire lit behind them. They seemed unrelenting even as she hissed at him, unflinching. There was tension in his body, a fierce manner that threatened to get out of control.

So when she whispers those words, his hands instantly search for her cheeks, and he leans his face against hers, forehead to forehead. His claws threatened to prick her skin, as his breathing was erratic, nearly out of control. The Dragoon was struggling to hold himself back.

"I will." Rumbled words are spoken, thick with his makari accent.

A moment later, his arms wrap down around and he lifts her up against him. His snout presses against her cheek and neck, as he holds her tight. Claws dug into her armor.

"You are family."

For Rune, the brush of claws against her skin is as familiar to her as any other sort of touch. Someone who had not spent so long among the Makari might worry over the danger there, but she has no such fears. Her eyes drift shut when his forehead presses against hers, her breathing slowing slightly.

Then, she is hefted up off of her feet and the instinctive reaction is to throw her arms around the ruddy Makari's neck, giving a slightly surprised sound. Rune has never been the sort to shy away from physical affection, but with the tension between them, there is a bit of confusion for that split second before she relaxes into the embrace.

"Same..." She murmurs softly, leaning head against his muzzle. "That's why I can't stand the idea of you hurting yourself. Blaming yourself for shit that shouldn't be on you." She explains in a soft voice.

"I don't want to fight you on this... I just want you to understand one thing, okay?" That sadness remains in her expression, "Family isn't supposed to be transactional. It's not about oweing anyone." She sighs softly, "Just don't make me watch you hurt yourself again. I don't have the heart for it."

Aelwyn's arms wrap around her, his head tilting as her head lays against his blunt, shorter snout. He lightly rubs the scales on flesh.

And her words, he listens; even if they were echoes far from the shore. Even with her so close, he could still feel the distance. About who he was, and how she felt. It wasn't really about blame or responsibility that hung so heavily over him.

It was moments like these.

So when she lets out that sigh, he raises his eyes and looks at her for a moment. With a quiet rumble, he lightly catches her lower lip between his teeth. His tongue softly attempts to slide across it, to linger.

And he lets out a deep sigh of his own, breathing out in a defeated manner. "And I never wish to." His hand slides along her back, clutching. "Worlds apart."

In the silence between them, Rune is left to her thoughts. So much had left her mixed up with the Makari, and while she may understand them better than most, Aelwyn was, and always would be, a bit of an enigma to her.

However, when he bites at her lower lip, it seems to snap her back to the moment. "Hey." It's not really a protest, but another of those sounds of surprise. One of her arms slips from around his neck and a finger pokes him right in that blunt nose of his. "You don't get do that after making me cry over you." She notes, the faintest of a pout on her lips. The half-sil is obviously playing it up a little.

"Not so far apart." She shakes her head slightly, bumping her forehead against the side of his muzzle again. "We don't have to see the world through the same eyes. I mean... I'm a half-breed, myself. I'm not human, nor Sil, nor Makari. I can't expect anyone to know how it feels." Rune leans back a little, shrugging her shoulders once.

Aelwyn nose is booped, and the draconian responds by chasing after her finger with his teeth. "And she does not get to do that, after making me watch her tears." He replies to her with a low, amused rumble. His tail flicks behind him, and he settles back into the hug.

There's a heavier sound coming from his chest at her words. "... no, this one cannot. And this one suspects she will not understand everything this one will do." He bumps his forehead against hers lightly. "This one took a path for his family, and she is going to take a path for hers." He rumbles quietly - then his orange eyes rise and he looks at her.

"But I never wanted to hurt you." The words come with a low growl from his throat. "Never."

It takes a lot for Rune to hold her tongue, but for the moment, her friendship matters more than being 'right' about something. The fact is, without a full understanding, she can't be /sure/ there isn't some sort of extenuating circumstance that she isn't taking into account. Aelwyn has always been enigmatic like that.

That last admission, though, has her let out a sigh, "I don't think you wanted to hurt anyone." Rune explains, pushing a hand lightly against his chest and moving to take a step back out of his hold. It isn't a rejection, just trying to get some space to explain, "I just think that sometimes you don't realize how much other people care about you. Harkashan has the same problem. Idiot will walk right into danger without a second thought."

Maybe, she just has an issue with Makari males. Then again... it isn't as if she hasn't put her life in danger more than a time or two. "If you haven't talked to some of the others, you probably should. I'm sure I'm not the only one struggling with what happened."

There's a low rumble as Rune pushes away at him; and Aelwyn lowers her back down onto the ground with a slow sway of his tail. He twists his lips and lets out a low click; as he looks at her. "This one does." He then admits, his eyes turning towards the glaive. "Yet this one doesn't. It is strange, to be outside the Troupe, to stay still so long. To have one's heart and regrets today and tomorrow."

The draconian walks over towards his glaive and jug, picking them up from the ground. "Those are things that are rare on the road, that longevity."

Then he turns towards her, teeth split in macabre grin. "What does Twin expect of one that dances with fire; and of one that glides with dragons?" A low rumble leaves him. "Common sense?"

Slowly, the ruddy sith-makar makes his way back over towards her, pausing at her last suggestion. "This one..." Aelwyn starts, and he lets out an exhale. "Not all are as straight punching as you."

"I know how that feels, at least a little." Rune straightens her clothing a little, her lips pressed together in thought. "After I left Tane's crew, I bounced from place to place for a few years before finding myself in Am'shere with a group of Makari I barely knew. They became like family in a few years." She fidgets, that uncertainty expressed in her movements. "The Charneth destroyed that."

Turning those blue eyes on him, "Was fucking hard trying to make new friends, letting people in again. Not just moving on every time things felt a little too real." She lifts her shoulders then, showing no regret in her choices.

However, his comment about common sense and Makari draws a laugh from her. "I guess not." With a shake of her head, she reaches out and lays a hand on his arm. "If people matter, then they matter enough to make sure you put things right. Even if it's not easy." She presses her lips together again, perhaps thinking of her own family.

Aelwyn's grin fades a little as she mentions her experience with the Charneth. It was still a conflict foreign to him; but he did not need to look far to see the pain they have wrought. A slow rumble leaves him as she touches his arm, and he returns the gesture by lightly grabbing her arm in return. "It is never easy." His orange eyes look at her. "And rarely without a cost."

Slowly, he withdraws. "Moving on, this one has found, might be easy; yet the burden can be heavy, lest one leaves with little regret." The draconian rolls his shoulders. "But to stay, when given the chance..." He lets out a little amused rumble, his tail moving to touch her ankles with a light tap. "... this one suspects she knows how heavy a Lavastone can be by now." He flashes his teeth at her playfully. "Perhaps one day she will tell this one."

He clicks his tongue, twisting his lips. "This one has plenty to learn from Twin." The draconian then tilts the ceramic jug towards her. "Yet can this one teach her how to have a relaxing evening of drink?" He flickers his tongue in amusement. "Even as she prepares to strike at the heart of darkness, this one thinks there should always be time to appreciate the moment." A flash of his teeth. "And this one still wishes to see her dance."

Thankfully, perhaps for both of them, Rune doesn't seem to have much interest in taking a walk through her memories of those last days with her Makari traveling companions. It is a fine line of trauma that skirts the edges of her own death. Even if she has made some strides in dealing with that, it is still something she avoids.

"Let's be honest, I'm not sure if Harkashan would have let me go a second time after he found out I was alive." Rune responds, a smirk quirking up the edge of her lips. "I know he still carries one for me. The weight of one more loss on his shoulders. It's both... sweet and kind of sad at the same time." Rune lifts her shoulders, giving a glance down towards his tail and back to his eyes again.

There's a brief hesitation, as if she were weighing a night without worries against the trials that await her. Eventually, she seems to deside the better of it. "Some drinks and a dance? That I can do. If nothing else, I could use a relief from the stress It's never good to go into a fight tense." With a tip of her head, she accepts the invitation.

Aelwyn grins at her. "This one happens to agree," He tells her with a tilt of his head, and he offers the ceramic jug with the unknown contents in it. "A fight fought tense only leads to tears."

Glaive slid across his shoulders, he puts his hand on her shoulder. "Let us see what trouble one can find, shall we?" He flashes his teeth and heads along.