You Won't Be Alone

As a messenger, herself, it isn't hard for Rune to find others of her profession to carry word when it is needed. Alas, she has no magic for such tasks. So, it is that Slixvah would get a relatively short letter in Rune's careful handwriting, inviting her to a bite of lunch and a conversation about 'Fey Issues'.

Around mid-day, Rune is sitting in a familiar gazebo in which she and Slixvah had talked before. There is a set of wrapped meals of the sandwich variety with a few simple sides and some a couple of pastries as dessert. The rogue is bundled up in her winter coat, the black fur trim pulled close around her neck to ward off the wind.

She looks... distracted. Out of it might be a better descriptor. It's as if the lights are on but no one is home, at least for the time being. Left to her own devices, it appears that Rune has gotten lost in her thoughts while she waits.

It's always hard to track Slixvah down. Thankfully, she at least has one obligation to fill every now and then: and one letter received on a bartending shift ends up in the hands of the adressee.

A woosh of air buffets outside the gazeebo, followed by a clack of talons on the stonewalk. "I am declarin' tha' all problems pertainin' ta these kinds of issues as Fissues," a familiar voice chirps cheekily. "Seein' as how theys so common nowadays!"

The egalrin seems to have changed back to her usual mishmash of robes and shawls, save for the brass bangles acquired in distant Vishyan lands, those of which that jingle and jangle as she hops up the few step to join Rune under the gazeebo. Her gait doesn't cease, only until she's upon the rogue does Slixvah all but plop into a seat right beside Rune, a wing splayed out and laid over the half-sil's shoulders like a ribbon clad blanket.

"Ea to Rune! Hi!" she warmly greets, finally.

It's the clack of talons against the stones that first causes one of Rune's pointed ears to twitch, but it doesn't quite bring her awareness fully around. It isn't until the wing is thrown over her shoulders and the greeting is chirped that she shakes her head as if throwing off those heavy thoughts and her brain begins to process what was said.

"Oh. Hey, feathers." She offers warmly, though there is something there in those eyes. It's hard to put a talon on at first. "Eh... yeah. It seems like it never ends, does it?"

And then, there is a long, uncomfortable pause as if she were trying to figure out what to say and failing to find the right words. "So... I bought you lunch." That's an easier place to start, motioning at the food. "Figured it's a fair bribe for what's about to come next."

Rune reaches beneath her cloak and pulls out her necklace, which looks... different somehow. It's subtle. She fidgets with it.

"'tis what is, yeah?" Slix grins. Rune's hesitancy isn't missed, evident in the raised feathered brow. But, that doesn't stop the chipper witch. "Oh you ain't gotta bribe me, honey. Gimmie a please, bat your eyes, and I gotchu," she teases. "But-- I won't say naw ta food, which is 'preciated!"

One of the sandwhiches is scooped up in an animated feather, and is near beak to get nibbled on, but the egalrin glances down to Rune's coping mechanism. Her head cocks one way. Distant dots get connected. She pecks at her lunch. "Awhright, out wit' it," she says with a mouth full. Expression filled with mirth. Eyes firm in seriousness. "Whut newsh you- gulp- you got wit'cha momma? And how can I be of assistance?"

"It's true that I don't have to, but..." Rune trails off a little, a hint of color rising in her cheeks. It seems that the half-sil never will quite get used to the flirting that her friends sometimes throw in her direction. She reaches up, rubbing at the back of her neck, her fingers moving over the tattoo that reaches to just below her ear. "I guess so."

As the avian demands she come out with it, Rune takes a deep breath and lets it out, blowing a few strands of hair out of her eyes. "Spoke with Blue." She starts, running her finger along the edge of the necklace. "Our little journey isn't quite over, yet. Apparently, this is the key..." She holds he necklace in her hand and then whispers the word 'unlock'. When she opens her hand, it reveals a small key.

On the surface, that would seem simple enough: a key to a prison, right? However, the look in Rune's eyes has an edge of fear to it. Something quite unusual for someone who normally faces everything head-on. "The problem is... the opening to the prison where the Golden Fate's bride is being kept, is hidden in my worst memory." Those blue eyes look to her friend, "The memory of when I died."

Slixvah chuckles at her friend. It was always fun for the witch to throw honeyed words at folks, especially those she cares about. "You know so," she hums, gently elbowing Rune in the side.

The sandwich halts at hearing that name. It's set aside, Slix turning to face Rune attentively. Her brows furrow as the necklace shifts to a key. A key? Nothing could be so straightforward with fey dealings. Surely it must be something more abstract-

The fear in Rune's eyes grounds Slix's ponderings, the eglarin fishing for a free hand of Rune's to hold onto. "The memory of-" she softly gasps, face feathers flatten. "Oh... hon." A sigh escapes her. "M'sorry. Sounds li' tha' creep still wants ta torment even in the beyond."

She's quiet for a moment, then, gently with a squeeze of the hand. "Lemme guess. Gotta do a lil' trip down memory lane ta find th' lock in th' madness and give it tha' thing?"

The nudge to her side is enough to draw a quirk of a smile, but the expression doesn't reach Rune's eyes. Still, the appreciation is there, regardless.

Letting the key drop to her chest momentarily, Rune seems all too happy to have a hand to hold on to, her gloved fingers clutching tight for a moment. "That's the thing... it's not even an entrance of his design. It's my mother who made it this way. At least from what Blue tells of it." The Fey did seem to know a /lot/ about all of this, though Rune seems oblivious to that oddity.

"Only through the door of death can they be united." Rune murmurs, as if she were repeating someone else's words. Releasing Slixvah's hand, she wraps it around the key again, whispering the word 'unbind'. When her hand opens, it is now a tiny pair of scissors. "I'm meant to cut the threads of fate holds my mother captive there. And then somehow we're meant to free the Golden Fate's bride."

It sounds like... a lot. "The thing is, to reach that memory, we need a trip through my dreams to that moment that plays out night after night." She explains, and there is a look in her eyes, like she doesn't want to ask this of her friends, "It's bad enough I have to spend time there... I don't want any of my friends to have to face it, too. But... I also don't want to go alone."

Slix winces, running a thumb over gloved knuckles. "Ow. I figured tha'd be somethin' Creep would do, bu' I guess th' best way ta hide the lock is under somethin' the Creep wouldn't think ta look." She looks back down to the key-turned-scissors. Something about a thing existing that can sever the threads of fate makes the eglarin a touch unsettled.

She does thrive in the tangle of Fate's threads, after all.

"I see," she quietly hums before commenting, "This all seems... I get what must be done in an abstract sense. It just seems... straightforward." Straightforward? To be fair, Slixvah never lives in a straightforward manner. All her magic and logic wobbles and weaves. A finger taps her beak. "You trust Blue?"

More is spoken. Slix's gaze softens. "Ruru, dear..." Grey hands rise to cup both sides of Rune's face, and the egalrin stoops to get eye level and close. "... it's okay ta be a little selfish. Will it suck? Yeah. Will it be scary as heck? Sure will. But you, hon, ain' get ta help me and all otha's with dey problems and then get second thoughts 'bout our helps."

She gives a closed eye smile. "Am I nervous? Yeah." It wasn't a lie, there was a ghost of a tremor in her hands as a thumb brushes across a cheek. "But I cares 'bout ya, and ya deserve a lotta good. So let's endure a lotta suck ta make it good."

Slixvah was the first to truly show Rune just how tight the threads of fate are bound to her. So it is obvious that such a thing may very well make the witch uncomfortable. All too quickly, Rune clasps the scissors and whispers 'Hide', transforming the necklace back to its original form. "I'm pretty sure these only work against this specific curse, if that's any comfort."

At her friend's appraisal, Rune smirks ever so slightly. "I don't doubt there's more to it than meets the eye. Nothing with the Fey is ever as simple as it seems on the surface." She lifts her shoulders slightly, "Blue has saved my life more than once, and helped us each step of the way." She sighs softly, "Do think she has her own motives? Certainly. But if Cor'lana's hot grandfather can be trusted, isn't there a chance that other Fey could be?"

Then, those hands cup the sides of her face and Rune bumps her nose against the Egalrin's beak. "I just don't want any of you getting hurt. I know how bad my nightmares are. It's not a place I would wish on an enemy, much less a friend." Her eyes slip shut for a moment, allowing the contact to calm frayed nerves. "The stupid part is, I don't remember my nightmares. So I can't even warn my friends about what will be waiting for them."

An unseen tension leaves Slixvah's shoulders. "Eh, ya never know," she shrugs. "Anything can be used ta cut anythin' with enough will an' magic. I know tha' all too well." And another tick of tension evaporates. Followed by a snicker. "Ah, yes, fair. As assesssment of beings of emotion's trust can be analyzed by them bein' hot. Blue and Grandfather? Hot. Creep? Not." She shakes her head, amused. "But I getcha. Just be ware is all."

The bump brightens her visage, face feathers floofing. "Oh we gonna get hurt. It's prolly gonna hurt a lot," the witch lays out bluntly. "But you can't have everthing be nice without somethin' being bad. Else the nice don't mean nothin'."

"You talk like most of what I do ain' wandering in the dark, ain' knowin' what's comin'." She leans forward, resting her forehead against Rune's. "Don'chu worry, hon. Knowin' its gonna suck is all th' warnin' we need."

"It's gonna be okay."

"Maybe... but I don't have magic of my own to call on." At least, that is what Rune believes. Her affinity to shadows, her strange connection to the Sky-Singer, none of that is magic, right? "This is my mother's magic, and it seems made for one purpose." Though, there is some uncertainty in the half-sil's voice. Rune doesn't fully understand everything that has happened, or everything that is expected of her.

There is a hint of a laugh, though, "Just don't let Cor'lana hear you say that. She gets uncomfortable when people treat Grandfather like the eye-candy he is." She smirks, that bit of amusement lingering, "Blue is downright gorgeous, too. You have a point there." She lifts a brow, "Can't think of many of my friends that don't fall somewhere on that 'attractive as fuck' spectrum." There is a beat before she laughs, "Guess the Crimson Pen had a point with that harem book they wrote about me." She doesn't seem embarassed by it.

That amusement falters a little at the confirmation that there is more pain in all of their futures. "All we can do is walk bravely forward..." She repeats her mother's mantra and then lets out a breath, "We'll be okay. I didn't die alone... and I won't this time, either." She shifts a little, as if adjusting her posture to ease the pressure from the mark that still lingers on her back.

"Magic ain't always so explicit-like. Sometimes it's a subtle, faint thing tha's been wit' ya so long ya ain' notice it," Slixvah opines. "S'don' fret if ya don'. Or do. Or do but don' kno' it. There's a magic ta everythin', shug. It ain't always sparkles and big explosions."

Mirth crosses the witch's face. "Of course not, ain' gonna oggle the man in her presence. Too much." At that though, Slix pulls away and belts out a warm guffaw. "Hooo boy, I read tha' thing front ta back. Hilarious! And I think even /I/ was in there! Though they made me out ta seem pretty buff fo' a scrawny bird," she cackles. A brisk wink is shot Rune's way, "I could say tha' exact same thing 'bout my friends too." The hands on the half-sil's face give Rune's cheeks a playful pinch before she lets them drop.

Her smile doesn't dip. "You won' be alone, hon," she softly coos. "We face scary things all th' time. Only reason ain' turn tail is 'cause we gots those around tha' we care 'bout ta hold us up. So don' worry and fret too much-" a finger rises to playfully bat at the puzzle necklace, Rune's comfort fidget, "-we's gonna be right wit' ya."

"Before my death, I couldn't have even imagined something like magic being associated with me." Rune admits. "Afterwards..." She reaches a hand out, moving it through one of the shadows cast by the gazebo and trails the shadows behind her when her hand emerges from it. "But I don't really control this like you do your spells." She lifts her shoulders in a small shrug.

When Slixvah starts to talk about the suspicious novel in question, Rune raises an eyebrow. "Did you miss the beginning of chapter four?" She asks. "That buff bird is the one holding me down while a certain ruddy-scaled Makari is having his wicked ways." She lifts her eyebrows and laughs, wiggling her nose at the Egalrin.

As she is distracted from fidgeting, Rune comments, "You're fucking amazing, you know that, right?" Taking a deep breath, she nods her head. "You're right, though. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid, but I'm glad you'll be with me." She nudges the witch in the shoulder with her own. "Come on, let's eat and try to forget our worries for a few hours."

Slixvah watches the shadows clings to the hand, curisoity filling her eyes. They still need to do some spell testing. As much as throwing random magics on Rune and seeing what happens is testing. "Or maybe you control it so well you don' even know you doin' it?" she counters cheekily.

Recounting of that specific chapter gets the egalrin to crack a little, the feathers on her face fluffing. "A-Ah, yes, I do recall tha' chapter..." She fans at her face, glancing away and up into the rafters of the gazebo. "... spicy, that one." The witch snickers, smoothing the floofed feathers down.

Another wink is thrown Rune's way, and she makes a motion like she was tossing hair over her shoulder. "Thanks! I know I am!" she chirps, her already large ego inflating. The nudge gets the wing-blanket to fold a little tighter, like a side hug. "Fear is natural and good. I'm scared too. But tha' means we gots somethin' ta be scared of losin'. But-! Yes! Let's forget for a bit" she shifts her attention to the food before them. An animated feather picks up a pastry.

"Y'know, you can just invite me to lunch whenever without any asks attached," she muses. Munch. "Or dinner. It's fun ta hang out wit'cha, tease ya a lil' bit."

"I'm right here, Unmesi," a muffled, tinny voice from Slix's robes sleepily complains.

"Oh my gawds Fiadh can I not flirt with my friend for like an hour without you complaining?"

"No."

"Ugh. Anyways. Last night at the TarRaCe- phew, Ruru- we got slammed so bad I swear I thought I was gonna have ta stop a tavern brawl. So this oruch woman came in askin' fo' a drink, and stepped on a gnome man in the process. Much to my surprise, that guy was in a quartet down the road at the theatre and they ended up suplexin' th' lass like it was some kind of rehersal! And that's not all! THEN the jugglers came out of the bathhouse and saw they teacher just got suplexed by four gnomes! And then-"

The egalrin happily babbles away the worries.