abraxaslogs | WELCOME TO SOLVUNN!

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WELCOME TO SOLVUNN!

WELCOME TO SOLVUNN!

Welcome to Solvunn! Bright suns and merriest of welcomes to you! The portal opens in a vast field on the western side of town surrounded by cattle, with a distant view of the bustling marketplace. The first impression of the settlement is one of idylic, country charm. There are no looming structures or crowded streets. Instead, there are cozier houses on wide streets and community buildings made of stone and wood. A gentle breeze rolls across the field and the sun is high in the sky.

There's not as much magic here as in other locations, but it's there. No one will be stopped from entering Solvunn, though suspicion will be cast upon new arrivals. Citizens will be friendly and welcoming, but curious about their new visitors. It isn't often that they welcome new folks- especially not so many at once!

With tensions between the other communities, Solvunn will not be keen on ratting out those who fled Thorne, but with the knowledge that sanctuary will not be given for free. Everyone does their part, whatever that part may be.

Asking questions will result in being told to find Rowan March, one of the council members, somewhere in the marketplace.

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He's been disinclined to ask mostly because he's also been sore about the whole thing in a less literal sense. He sighs and nods as she offers her help, soaking in the healing magic as he closes his eyes in a moment of contemplating. Maybe it had been too rash to make a move when he did... but at the same time, he's not sure he could have let it go if he didn't even try.

"I've at least learned who are among Thorne's staunchest allies," he murmurs. His tail curls over the wool blanket, gently resting against Himeka's side.

"They care only for their own ambitions," he growls under his breath. "Not for those hurt along the way, or for the damage their hubris will cause in the long run."

Nothing about Thorne's leadership has made him believe that taking control of the Singularity will do anything but empower their tyranny. Maybe that's what their servant crave, in the end.

She shakes her head. Though a part of her isn't too surprised that there are some who may support Thorne's overall intentions and end-game, it feels a poor reflection on them when one considers how Thorne decided to treats it's prisoners. Mayhaps they don't have the full picture and she is always someone who is want to keep an open mind, but Himeka knows it would take quite a bit to convince her at the moment. Estinien even more so.

"We've known a few people like that, haven't we?" she says as if she's making a casual observation about the weather. But it's betrayed a bit by how her own tail taps twice against the wood of the loft besides the hay pile. "It's also possible that they're siding with those they think are in power to save themselves."

Which...is understandable. To fear power and to serve underneath it is a bit of self-preservation.

"Or mayhaps they are staying to solve the problem from the inside?" They have known a few of those too.

"Hmph."

The idea has occurred to Estinien, but he would feel remiss giving them too much credit, despite having seen similar tactics bear fruit with his own eyes. Aymeric accomplished so much while trying to play by the See's rules. Yet, though he doesn't want to admit it... part of it is that though he can think that way about it, he doesn't want to right now.

He's still too angry, too bitter and hurt. In some ways, it's easier to lump those that fought him in with the rest. After all, they've yet to give him a reason to think better of them. Still... there is a grimness to the memory of just how angry he felt while staring them down.

"...I would have killed them all, if I could," he says more softly. While the shame of it is not overt, there is a hesitance there - as if he's worried about the implications. Like he's worried about what she'll think of him. "Every one of those bastards defending him. For a moment, 'twas all I could think of."

She can sense the thoughts that are brewing without him needing to voice them. She shakes her head, even though he can't see it, slowly moving her orb of healing light up along his spine towards his upper back and neck.

"There's no sense in feeling guilt over something that hasn't happened." It's really as simple as that. They have plenty enough to worry about with what has transpired.

"If you really are in need of something to dwell on, I can offer a few suggestions."

He does have the expression of someone going down a rabbit hole, thinking of the moment he had sworn to them that they would fall alongside their masters. He felt like he was speaking as him, the beast that lurks within his soul. Almost as if some part of the wyrm had awoken in response to his sheer hatred.

He's done that sort of thing before, of course. When he calls upon Nidhogg's power it was, in a way, calling on his spirit, and asking it to bring vengeance. This time, though, it had seemed to speak through him, in a way it hadn't since they were truly one. Maybe it's because he hasn't been this angry since the day Nidhogg died.

He stares down at his feet, covered in scales and twisted into claws, and wonders if this is the simple result of him giving into that bloodlust. Was the relative ease of his life before all that was holding it back?

When she speaks to him, he's obviously distracted, finding sliding over the scales of his ankle. He hears her, though.

"Well, let's have them," he murmurs.

She can offer no real explanation as to why he changed. They have theories, similar ones in all likelihood, but no matter her mastery of aetherial manipulation, she is by no means an expert on the philosophy and mechanics of aether itself. It's simply a natural thing to call upon it and have it obey her command.

What would cause it to shift Estinien in this way...is it just the remnants of Nidhogg? Or have their forays into Horizon be part of this as well? She isn't sure either answer would please him.

She's not a philosopher. All she can do is offer some reprieve from the pain and maybe a few moments of distraction.

"How many sheep do you think are outside? I counted at least ten."

That's... not what he was expecting. He huffs out a reluctant laugh. She has a way of catching him off guard like that. As he works on healing, he falls silent and stretches, taking a moment to contemplate his answer.

"Many more than that, I expect. To make a living off sheep, one would need a herd much larger than the one I tended to as a boy."

Their herd was supplemental income, from milk, wool, and meat. This is a full-fledged farm - the sort that would require more sets of hands. With that in mind...

"Was it really just the two of them, living here?"

That seems far too few.

The laugh is enough to tell her that her attempt was successful and she smiles to herself. Slowly, she spreads her hands apart, drawing the ball of light wide cross the width of his shoulders.

His question is a decent one, though. She doesn't have all the details as Maeve had not been keen to share all of them, but she does know a few things.

"Mhm," she hums an affirmative. "She'd said that Declan's injury had been making things difficult, so the faster he is out and at it, the better off they will be."

She'd been tired and stern in the market, not something that would put Himeka off anyway, but it became clear that Maeve was managing more than her fair share on the farm. They would likely get a better look at the full run in the morning.

"It's so quiet, isn't it? I don't know where the rest of their family is, but I get the feeling they're all each other has." Her own tail curls forward to rest beside his. "Not just for their kindness to us, but I get the feeling we can do something really good here."

Estinien nods his head, knowing from experience how much losing a person in a farming community could multiply the load on those left behind. Normally, he was much less of a 'helpful' person than Himeka. He didn't always see a tragedy and assume it was his place to do something about it. Yet, in this situation... because of the way Solvunn is, and what they've left behind...

He does want to help. It's because they have already earned his aid with their kindness, but also because he sees something of himself in this place. Coming from a prison, where he can been almost certain he would die, only to stumble upon a farm raising such familiar animals...

He remembers Himeka talking about fate. If he were to take anything as a sign from Halone, he guesses it would be something like this.

"I know enough to take on some of the load as early as tomorrow," he says. He's still starved and exhausted, but he's never been one to spend much time recovering, either. "They need only tell me their routine."

She's unsurprised that Estinien would be eager to get started, nor that he would feel a connection to this sort of place. She hadn't asked for his thoughts on it nor had she been aware of exactly what kind of farm they had, but once she saw the sheep she couldn't help but spare a number of knowing glances his way in addition to a handful of cheeky grins.

It does feel a little perfect, doesn't it? Perfectly imperfect.

"Considering it will likely be a few weeks before his arm fully heals, I'm sure they will be glad for it."

Despite being a healer, Himeka isn't the sort to admonish him from wanting to get right into things. They are both eager to stretch their legs both physically and metaphorically.

"I'll be up as well, though I'd like to go back into town tomorrow and see what I can do to earn some coin."

She had managed to get them a few things to eat in the interim before she eventually found Maeve, but knowing that their hospitality won't last forever, they should start gathering some currency and supplies to eventually set out to do...whatever it is they're going to do. It's just nice to have the luxury to do that.

There's a lot that Estinien can handle when it comes to hardship, but as it turns out, complete lack of agency over his fate is not one of them. The helplessness of being imprisoned had hurt him more than any other part of it, and fear of having it happen again will stick with him far longer than this accumulated frailness. It doesn't help that, in the end, he wasn't the one to surpass their condition. They had to be saved from the outside by individuals with yet unknown goals.

He shakes his head a little, trying to dispense of the thought. He hates the idea that, despite being free, none of it was by his own merits. He escaped because he was set free and that's it. Nothing more.

It's the kind of thing that could easily set off another burst of restless anxiety, but he's trying not to do that right now. He wants some peace, if only for a night. He wants to feel as if things might work out, despite all the things he can already imagine going wrong. Can't he worry about something as simple as earning coin, instead?

He can't stop it from making him frown, though, too many worries lurking around each corner. As her hand passes over his shoulder in her efforts to heal his bruising, he reaches up to grasp it with his own. For the moment, he is silent.

The silence isn't something that concerns her at that moment, not when it begins. A bit of quiet to fall between them is how most of their interactions go and feeling that she's successfully dragged him out of the deepest trenches in his mind, she's happy to concentrate on the rest of her spell.

This, at least, she can finally do. She can finally be useful again. Beyond being the Warrior of Light or anything greater, she can finally do something for the people she cares about. And that feels the greatest gift of all--well, that second only to their freedom.

Heavy though her thoughts have been of late, she sees their escape as nothing but a boon, no matter who orchestrated it.

So when Estinien takes her hand, she pauses instantly, blinking and a little confused. But it dawns on her that a few words do not do it all justice. That no matter his fears and no matter her hopes--they're here, right now, in all the impossibility of it.

The magic beneath her palms dies down as she twists her hand a little to more securely squeeze his back in return. She leans forward then, resting her forehead on the back of his shoulder and placing her free hand on his upper arm.

"We made it. That's what matters, isn't it?"

He nods hesitantly, knowing that he should be grateful for that much, no matter how it happened. That Relena was safe after he feared the worst, that all who wanted to managed to escape. They didn't have to pick and choose who to escape with. As of now, they are all free - or at least as free as they can be, when kidnapped away from their homes.

He feels her touch against his back and arm, and relaxes into it. He's already feeling better - it wasn't the most severe injury, and her magic has already gotten it to a more comfortable state.

"Though blind luck or otherwise," he says. "And now, we survive long enough to see what comes next."

There's more he wants to do, beyond wiling his days away here. But to do that, they'll need to be healthy, and they'll need a place they can return to.

She gives a light huff at that and lifts her head. Though she can't see his face, she can imagine the expression that comes along with a comment like that.

"In my experience, both are good enough." And most of her life since she left the Sea has been charted by blind luck or knowing the right people. This time, it may have been both.

"But if there is something we are good at, you and I...it is surviving against impossible odds, wouldn't you agree?"

"I would."

As she lifts her head, he shifts, turning his shoulder that he's facing her more properly. As such, their clasped hands can sink down to rest at his side. His tail wags at its end, curling in closer to her. As his eyes meet hers, they are thoughtful and searching.

He's survived many times more than he should have, and this is just another instance of it. The difference here is that it's something he had struggled for, and something he had sought without complication. It's very difficult, wanting to be alive. Accepting his death would have been much less exhausting.

"Unless you have any objections... I think I would like to carry on from where I left off in the bath."

If there is one thing she is thankful for in all this mess, it has been nice being able to reconnect with him. They haven't gotten to nearly as much as she would have liked since he made his reappearance and joined the Scions, fraught with threats to face and young Elezen to comfort as it were. But it had been very easy to sink back into that comradery, something she had also found strangely easy when they first met, being the odd pair that they made.

(It does make her think back on their trip to Dravania in times like this, knowing that Relena is not far away and getting her own bit of well-deserved rest. Though the circumstances at the time had been dire, the whole experience had been...healing for her in so many ways, their unlikely diplomatic envoy. She often thinks on it fondly, even the rough patches.)

"I think that sounds like a great idea. So much so I have it in my mind to copy you, if you don't mind."

The way that she unceremoniously flops down onto the hay and blanket says that it really doesn't matter if he minds or not--she's doing it. Unfortunately the action does shoot a little hay out of the side of her very carefully wrapped "mattress".

A beat passes.

"Oops."

Estinien snorts softly, shaking his head. If it were him he probably would have just rolled up in a blanket without even contemplating a mattress, so he can't complain. He leans over to collect one of the additional blankets, spreading it over the two of them as he lays down at her side, with a bit more grace.

He feels closer to her than he ever expected he would, if only because back home she certainly didn't need him around. He was happy to lend his lance to her cause, and she was happy to see him again, but ultimately... he didn't think he was at the center of her story anymore. Here, everything feels increasingly strange and disconnected that world.

In some ways, they only have each other, when it comes to the worries of Hydaelyn. He swore from the day they reunited here that he would protect her, and maybe now he'll actually have the chance to live up to that promise.

After a moment of gazing at her, he nods his head to one of the floating orbs of light.

"You can shut those off, can't you?"

She purses her lips slightly as she inspects to see if she's pushed out too much hay and ends up trying to just stuff it back underneath the blanket. No harm, no foul.

When she turns her attention back to Estinien, catching him watching her, she tilts her head to the side as she accepts the blanket and flops back down (almost undoing her work again).

To his question she, of course, says with little intonation--

"No, afraid not."

And blinks innocently.

"Hm."

Estinien stares back her, somehow not convinced. With his own flat expression, he pushes his hand into her face.

"You best send them outside, then."

It didn't work. She didn't believe it would and he can probably feel her smiling behind his hand, because she just keeps talking despite the muffled sound.

"But then they'd get cold!"

As if little balls of light have such a need.

Raising one hand up, she wiggles her fingers and the balls all silently float towards her, orbiting her hand to wait their next command.

Estinien snorts, withdrawing his hand after a gentle, additional push. Once her eyes are uncovered, she'll see that he's smiling a little, his gaze flickering over to watch her trick.

"I've not seen you do that before," he says, his tail wagging slightly at the end, outside the cover of the blanket.

Her smile only widens at seeing his, glad to have finally pulled him out of the gloom.

"You took so long in the bath, I had time to come up with a few tricks."

She reaches out with both hands and cups all the balls of light between them. Then she squeezes them together as if crushing them, but when she opens her hands, she tosses a myriad of little twinkling lights towards the roof. A small splash of "stars" float above them.

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WELCOME TO SOLVUNN!

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