abraxaslogs | [ OPEN ] split tomorrow from today

Entry tags:

[ OPEN ] split tomorrow from today

Who: Claude and various
When: November + December
Where: Nocwich, Cadens, TBA
What: Catch all for both months
Warnings: None currently, will add/mark as needed

( Open and closed starters in the comments! Also good with prose or brackets and please feel free to wildcard into the open prompts with something else. If you'd prefer plotting first, you can find me at

indech, arboria#1862, or by PM at any time! )

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Dramatic.

[ On all counts, and that's said in what's not exactly a stage whisper given that'd be far too quiet for its intended recipient to hear it and he wants to make sure it carries over the sounds of the minor clash. Claude's still unconcerned since the sword is doing considerably more damage than the bow was and makes him feel slightly more in control of their offensive. ]

Offering to buy me an axe instead, are you? That's very--

[ Whatever teasing was about to come out of his mouth gets cut short since Claude's about to pay for it: though running his mouth in tandem with something else isn't often a problem, it's that he'd paused to shoot an obnoxious grin Sylvain's direct which means one ballsy scorpion sneaks up on him. The break in that thought comes from a stinger finding purchase in his leg and cuts him off with a wince and a sharp inhale as he looks down to confirm that yes, that was indeed him getting stung right above where his boot ends, because of course that's his luck.

No time to deal with it now beyond ending that scorpion and yanking the stinger out to drop onto the ground. It's not the worst injury he's ever suffered, and maybe that poison immunity he built up will come in handy here and ward off whatever the poison will do until he can rummage through his bag for something to help. ]

In case you were wondering, I don't recommend getting stabbed by one of these. [ Now Claude's just annoyed as he swipes another one and eyes how many are left to weigh their chances against that extra pay compared to potential wounds. ] You wouldn't happen to know any fire magic to knock out about half of them, would you?

[ See also: regret he hadn't taken Lorenz up on those lessons. ]

Warranted!

[ Sylvain just hisses the word back in between sharp jabs and one well-aimed kick when one of the scuttling creatures got too close. Goddess, they even move creepy.

But then Claude breaks off mid-sentence and he risks an alarmed glance back over his shoulder in the other man's direction, only to see what he'd been afraid of had come to pass. Dammit, Claude. ]

Just how poisonous are these things?

[ He should have probably asked that before Claude had a chance to disturb that innocuous pile of rocks, but here they are.

The question gets a pause from him, however, although that might be because he's too preoccupied murdering to answer right away. ] I don't know. I haven't actually tried channelling any crest magic into my weapon since I got here. Have you? Is it even possible? Although I have no idea how this one would even hold up to that, the last thing we need is me melting my spear in the middle of all this.

[ He does know more than just Ruined Sky, however, even though he was hardly as adept at it as some others. But this counted as an emergency, right? Hissing out a curse under his breath, he dances back several spaces to give himself some room to work - there was a reason he normally never mixed magic into his fighting style. He's far too used to being too up close and personal to bother. But it gives him the needed seconds to call on the more powerful of the black magics he knows, casting Bolganone directly into the center of swarming scorpions. He hopes, with luck, that if the fire aspect doesn't get them, the fissure that opens up under them might. ]

Head's up!

Beats me.

[ He's back to nonchalance about any potential danger, if only because 1) Claude has a feeling that particular answer isn't going to reassure Sylvain and 2) he's invested in pretending like he's unconcerned about the possibility because he has a feeling anything otherwise isn't going to go over well. Not that the glance he'd caught was reassuring the latter isn't happening already, so he's just not going to mention there's a mild but unpleasant tingling sensation starting to radiate from the puncture.

Still - not on his list of things to deal with immediately. It's his turn to kick a scorpion out off to one side to deal with in a second since he doesn't quite follow Sylvain's answer and where it involves Crests thanks to their collective distractions. ]

No, I didn't mean risking your weapon right now. I meant more of--

[ Claude doesn't get to finish that thought either before Sylvain calls out, and now it's his turn to glance in the other man's direction. There's a familiar glow he recognizes from Leonie's own magic and he immediately puts dexterity to work to dodge a couple feet away from whatever's incoming. That turns out to be a good choice when the ground shifts beneath them and cracks open where it was targeted and the fire he'd hoped for appears. It'll have to be effective, won't it?

Better to make sure it is so he extends a hand to cast Cutting Gale, sending a blade of wind to shove another portion of the scorpions towards it and to fan the flames. For good measure, even if it kicks up dust from the sand around them in the process. ]

[ Sylvain has to lift an arm to shield his eyes from the flying sands for a moment but fortunately Claude's wind spell knocked the scorpions back from his immediate vicinity. There's the hissing pop and crackle of flames as he keeps his distance and he peers from behind his arm to see their combined magics have managed to take care of roughly half the remaining scorpions.

That's better odds. He can work with this. ]

Thanks. [ A whirl of his spear has two more biting the dust (literally) in quick succession. ] Do you need to sit down? Isn't there something about not moving around? Or am I thinking of something else?

[ Hilda's glee only seems to make Buri glower (could wyvern's glower? If they didn't, Buri was a wyvern ahead of his time) even more but she pays him little mind as she follows Claude's lead. A bucket appears in one hand and a skewer in the other so she can feed it to the wyvern without actually having to touch raw meat. ]

You mean those 'Beware of Dog' signs up around Cadens? [ She can't help but laugh at the thought. ] Making one might be kind of funny. We could even hang it at the entrance hall. [ If they did she'd add a tiny little drawing of an angry looking Buri as a finishing touch. ] But maybe that's overkill.

[ As she goes to skewer a particularly chunky piece of meat, Hilda pauses. It's partially in response to Claude's question but also the low growl that emits from Buri's throat. It's not really an aggressive one - he hasn't snapped yet or bared his teeth. The older wyvern could simply smell its next meal inches from his mouth. ] Wait - you can't get hurt in here, can you? As funny as it was watching you worm your way into Buri's heart, I don't exactly have the ability to grow you a new arm.

I've survived worse, Sylvain. I'll be fine. Besides, imagine how boring of a cause of death 'stabbed by a scorpion' would be when it's not even a horse-sized one to make it worthwhile, so I'm definitely not claiming that as my own.

[ Time to joke, of course, mostly because that's better than focusing on what 'worse' might consist of or any further mentions of death what with that whole war thing Claude's content to go right back to ignoring. Some of it might also be due to giddiness from the magic actually working to take out their angry bug friends who were just enjoying their scorpion lives before they showed up. Even if he has to stop to sneeze thanks to the sand before going right back to scorpion-wrangling, it was still well worth it. ]

Besides, it's a little late for the not moving part considering these guys won't leave us alone. I'll take my chances, mostly because I'm also counting on your healing magic if it's a bad gamble.

[ This is his idea of reassuring. Enjoy, Sylvain. ]

Maybe we should hang them at every entrance so someone's adequately warned before they get in here. Or leave buckets like these as a little added bribery since snacks tend to work on just about everyone.

[ Claude included, of course. Buri's reaction to being menaced with said treats that aren't in his reach (yet) gets a grin from him, though that grin freezes on his face at Hilda's follow up question. Where to start in answering that. For a moment he's in a labyrinth holding an axe that doesn't belong to him, and then he blinks and he's back watching Buri's impatience getting the better of him and snag what's on the skewer Claude's holding out.

In reality probably only a couple of seconds go by, but that's still too long to let that question hang out there. ]

Are you saying you wouldn't even try to create a new arm for me? That hurts, Hilda. [ Claude looks pained while saying this, as if he's well and truly hurt by the very notion, though he busies himself with finding another chunk of meat. ] I guess I'll do my best to keep my arm attached where it belongs since you can get hurt in here. On the plus side you can just leave the Horizon and come back to get rid of it, so that's a benefit over, say, stubbing your toe while walking somewhere around Cadens and just having to suffer through it.

[ Because it's totally a minor injury he's avoiding talking about. Nothing to see here. ]

[ Her nose wrinkles at the thought of (imaginary) buckets of meat placed around the Garreg Mach. That was the downside to the realism in the Horizon, she supposed: everything felt real which meant real - and sometimes unpleasant - smells. ]

This place might not be the real monastery, but there's no way I'm letting you leave buckets of raw meat everywhere!

[ That and she highly doubted that Sylvain, Felix, or Petra would be enthusiastic about it either. The thought of Felix chewing Claude out for it meant that she'd probably be on the receiving end of it too simply by association and for using the aerie the most out of the rest of them. Although if she thought about it, leaving something smelly in the training ground out of sight from Felix would probably be funny. She'd mention it to Claude later when she wasn't scolding him for quite literally the exact same idea.

The skewer of meat she's holding stops inches from Buri's toothy maw, eliciting an angry huff. His jaw had snapped expecting her to feed him but had been met with air. Instead of giving into the wvyern's growl, she ignores him for a moment longer to scrutinize Claude. There had been something in his smile that made her pause - she just couldn't put her finger on what it was. She knew his smiles and that one meant that she had struck a chord with her question.

After a moment she holds the skewer back out, rewarding Buri for the minor inconvenience of having to wait several more seconds to be fed. ]

We'll just make a lot of signs instead. Some really big ones with, "Warning: Angry Wyvern. Possibility of losing a limb: High." I'd like to avoid reattaching anyone's arm. It sounds like a lot of work. Not to mention messy. [ Also never mind that she couldn't string together a healing spell without feeling faint herself.

Casting a sidelong glance at Claude, her voice sounds as air and light as ever. ] So you stubbed your toe, huh?

I swear to the goddess, Riegan, if you just jinxed us by summoning a horse-sized scorpion, I'm going to stab you myself. Murdered by me isn't going to get you much more renown, you know.

[ The words are huffed as he kicks away a half-charred scorpion that is somehow still moving - creepily so, they shouldn't be allowed to do that. He lops off its stinger in the process because at least that makes it slightly less threatening. ]

And who's to say my healing magic isn't the bad gamble? Do I look like Mercy to you?

[ Even if he did learn what little he knows from her.

Also, that is not in the least bit reassuring, Claude. At all. ]

"No, you can't understand." Jesper is rarely sharp with people, but he is now, and he doesn't mean to be a prick about it, but he's tense at the moment. "Where I'm from, being born a Grisha means four things can happen to you. You die, either by using your powers, like my mother, or you're murdered by the Fjerdans, an entire country hunting us down. There are plenty of people willing to sell you to them for a nice price too." It's a product of being in this place that he can talk about his abilities and about his mother, who was a subject of silence for a long time.

"Or you get taken to the Ravkan army, where you have no choice but to fight for people, some who wouldn't mind joining in the mass slaughter due to sheer prejudice, but have been convinced we're worth keeping alive to be fodder." The thing is that Nina loves Ravka, he knows that because she's argued with him about this before, and she wasn't terribly happy about him hiding his abilities from her. But he would assume anyone raised to be a proud and loyal soldier would feel that way.

"Or you get used for your abilities, sometimes by being captured, sometimes by willingly selling it but with always the threat hanging over of the rest. Or you hide, like I did, which is difficult because not using them makes you sick, not always in obvious ways." Like his addictions and some of his other mental issues, since his health was high but the damage was done elsewhere. He explains all of this very flatly and directly, laying out a lifetime of fear and avoidance that frames being a loose Grisha.

"That has been my life. Maybe they aren't the same here, I don't know, I could be being unfair, but I'm not going to use the people I care about, like you, to become my armor. If the answer is to sell them, I'll do it. Then ... everyone will be alright." Maybe not him, but that's fine, it's not like he hasn't compromised before in his life. He's all for the best case scenario.

Oh c'mon, I didn't say we wouldn't put lids on the buckets after putting them all around. They'll be totally fine then and not even noticeable.

[ There's a struggle to not laugh as he says this because he's well aware of what utter nonsense it is, but if there's a chance it'll make Hilda laugh rather than scold him? Well worth it. If only he could apply that to what he just knows is Hilda's careful noting of whatever that small glitch he'd had was. Or rather: he absolutely knows she's seen something he let slip when he didn't mean to, considering there's no reason to explain everything that the Horizon might have happen to it. There's no reason to think it'll happen again, so why mention it?

With that logic he finds faultless in mind, it's what has Claude groaning like she's touched upon some deeply raw nerve over the toe stubbing incidents. ]

Yes, and your lack of sympathy for my struggles is noted, thank you very much. Some of the roads here are rough if you're not paying attention to where you're walking, which I most certainly didn't do after arriving here when I was too busy looking at everything. I nearly even fell on my face a couple times and that would've been a real shame to recover from.

[ As Buri chows down on what Hilda's offered, Claude decides to take advantage of the wyvern's distraction to reach a hand forward to pet the scales along his neck. There's a growl that seems more automatic than anything and Claude hushes him which earns a glare. Not enough to dissuade him from abandoning his mission of getting Buri to adjust to attention once again even with attempting to remind himself that none of this is real. Sometimes the illusions in here feel far too much like it and now's one of those times as he glances back over his shoulder at the empty stalls around this one. ]

You know, if we want anyone else to visit without these bribery buckets, we should probably bring one of Buri's old friends to live here, too.

[ Claude's sure there's a genuine threat in there somewhere beneath Sylvain's grumbling, but all it gets is a loud laugh from him since he's not bothered by this potential danger looming over them, because - ]

I'm pretty sure you just cursed us by speaking that aloud. There's power in words, or so they say, so if that happens? That was all you, Gautier.

[ He's still going to cast a quick glance back over his shoulder to confirm there's no scorpion of farm animal proportions scuttling towards them. Just for good measure. But the mention of Mercedes makes his smile slip ever so slightly since it doesn't take much to recall the woman in question or all of her kind ministrations. Claude doesn't let himself think any farther than that in favor of cutting through one of the few scorpions still alive - hopefully - with a shake of his head. ]

Because I'm also willing to gamble that if you didn't know decent healing magic, you would've said as much on our way out here.

[ He means to continue needling Sylvain all in good fun since there's no actual danger here in his mind. But when he turns to look there's one (cat-sized) scorpion ready to strike the man in question in what almost looks to be a surprise attack, and Claude's already scrambling for his bow in case there's enough time to fire off an arrow before it strikes. ]

Behind you!

Define “decent”.

[ He ignores that first part because it was totally you who’d brought that up, Claude, and therefore the blame still rests solely on your shoulders.

But that warning has him spinning in alarm, half-expecting the large beast in question to be lurking just behind him. It’s not, it’s just another smaller (but still far too big) scorpion just coming within range, it’s stinger raised threateningly.

Letting out a curse, because he’s off-balance and his spear range is off from having just stabbed another one from the other direction, he does the only thing he can at this range - spins the spear a half-turn in his hand and brings the blunt end smashing down right in the middle of the thing’s body.

It doesn’t kill it, but it does pin it in place and that stinger ineffectively strikes at the lance’s shaft instead of his leg as he keeps it trapped there. ]

Thanks. Care to give me a hand here? [ He does not want to let this thing loose again, it looks really pissed at him. ]

The tone is beyond justified and Claude just appears as unruffled as he usually is when what he's said is countered. He listens again with a deliberately neutral look on his face, not due to a lack of thoughts or feelings (or without something between sympathy and empathy with what this brings to light) but because Jesper's explanations are more important here. There's history Claude couldn't have ever inferred from what he was told before, and so all of it is deemed paramount now. More context, more background: all of it working to shape a further level of understanding on his end.

"You're right, there's much about that I wouldn't understand beyond the surface of what you're telling me." First things first and in order of importance in his mind - to make sure Jesper understands none of that is up for debate. "That's all rather different from what I know, and having lived under all of that has to make this an extra level of terrible.

"If I can speak out of turn again," with a smile on the apologetic side, since it's rather apparent what he'd said before was as much as it's going to be this time, too, "what if the officials don't know about your abilities? Even if they know something is different about the bridge, it doesn't mean they've pinpointed it to you specifically as of right now. And if that's the case, we certainly don't want to volunteer that information to them if we treat the Free Cities as the enemy, as we should be doing. And I still won't be volunteering it either regardless of anything. If they decide to ask me in again my answers to them won't change."

All of this is walking a fine line to keep it as the well-intentioned advice it's meant to be and Claude's all too aware of that. It's part of the reason why he moves to lean back against the wall himself off to Jesper's side, careful to leave the other with an ample amount of personal space for whatever he needs. "As someone who's created plans upon plans with contingencies for each and every one of them, that plan I think of first when starting? I've found it's rarely the right one. But in the end, the only person whose opinion actually matters on that is your own. Just know you aren't alone for any of it, no matter what you choose."

[ While Thancred may not be an archer himself, he's familiar enough with how bows are handled to see that the stranger must have been planning to restring the one he was given by the people of Nocwich — with the intention of ensuring it's more to his own liking, he imagines. He'd much prefer if he had two knives to take with him over this spear, but they're all having to make do with these rented-out weapons.

It appears both of them are comfortable enough with this process, however, which likely means that this other Summoned has been here for a few moons at least. Long enough that he no longer has the lost, uncertain expression that anyone new to this world wears. ]

I was Summoned by Thorne. [ He phrases it that way on purpose, because he's not about to say he's from Thorne or imply that he holds any sort of allegiance toward a nation that's rained very recent destruction upon the Free Cities for no good reason. He steps up and reaches out with his free hand to grab Claude's, giving it a solid shake. ]

Thancred Waters. I'd be more than happy to join my spear to your bow. I assume we'll split any spoils evenly?

[ He has no sense for Claude's combat or hunting abilities, which means that he could very well end up pulling most of their weight. However, he would rather assume that Claude does have some idea of what he's doing, and that his familiarity with that bow isn't purely for show. ]

[ Hilda rolls her eyes - both at the buckets of meat and then at the theatrics over his supposed stubbed toe.

Not that she can really chastise too much. She and Claude may as well have been two sides of the same coin; they both had a secret love and penchant for being dramatic whether it served them or not. If the tables were turned she would have been the one acting incredibly hurt that Claude wasn't babying her and sympathizing with her stubbed toe. But the difference here was that Hilda was certain he was trying to hide something from her. If there was one thing she was quickly learning in Abraxas however, it was that if Claude didn't tell her, she might be able to find people who would.

None of that betrays on her face as she gives him a sympathetic pat on the arm and giving him her best, over the top, doe-eyed look. ]

Your face? That's your best feature after your hair. Tell you what, I'll give Sylvain a real stern talking to and he can even out the pathways for you so that doesn't happen again.

[ She can't help but giggle silently when Buri sounds off a warning growl at Claude attempting to touch him. That doesn't do anything to deter her either and sure enough her own attempt is met with a similar reaction which she ignores. Her hand traces a scarred over section on his cheek. ]

Who wouldn't want to feed raw meat to a grumpy old wyvern? [ Buri's eyes flicker towards her as he continues to chew nosily. ] Which one did you have in mind? [ Her voice turns teasing as she watches for Buri's reaction. It's not like she expects him to understand but who knows. Maybe he would. ] Maybe his girlfriend?

[ Buri had been easier than she had anticipated, but she still wasn't sure if she was ready to take on recreating her own wyvern just yet. ]

[ Hold that thought on what's decent or not: it takes a bit of haphazard shuffling but Claude intentionally drops the sword to worry about it in a second and to free up his hands to fire an arrow with no hesitation. It might possibly cut rather close to Sylvain's leg on its way there, but fortunately it finds a home only in the scorpion's body where he'd intended it to go. That's the end of that scorpion. ]

Don't worry, I'm here to be the knight in shining armor for the knight himself.

[ What else is there to do but joke at this point? Because after Claude shoots Sylvain a purposefully annoying grin, he stops to peer around their surroundings. There's a swath of veritable scorpion carnage around them between ones they'd stabbed and that the brief fire had scorched. No longer constantly being on the move means when he goes to take a step it comes with a slight wince since now he's very aware of his souvenir wound. Just annoying more than anything else, so it doesn't stop him from wandering over to where Sylvain is to continue surveying the aftermath. ]

Well. I think we're the decisive winners today, unless that horse-sized one really is showing up next.

[He picks up on the question immediately, quiet as it is. He's perceptive, and getting to know Claude more — better than most of the other Summoned, if he thinks about it. It's possible that it would make no difference at all if he were to offer even a shortened version of his true background, given the man's amiability and his lack of context for Altaïr's world.

But he's not accustomed to revealing much of himself or taking chances.]

I mentioned that my homeland is plagued by war, I think? And has been for quite some time, unfortunately.

[This part he absolutely means. The Crusaders, Saladin's armies, all of them have contributed to the violence. He has hope for the future, but men aren't easily swayed from the paths they set for themselves.

Even the most peaceful would be foolish not to learn how to protect themselves. And their people. When one's home rests in the mountains, arrows make an excellence defense.

[ If Claude knows his swords, he'll probably recognize it as a bastard sword—and aside from the faint runes and pendant, it has few ornaments. Unfussy, like Geralt himself.

Sparring is, for him, a slightly different skill. He grew up training with his fellow Witchers. It's rare he faces off with another human without intention to kill. Still, he's learned to stay his hand—something he was taught is as important as knowing when not to hesitate.

He steps forward into the blow, swinging his sword up to catch the blade, shoving back not as hard as he can, but hard enough. Claude is fast. It isn't really a matter of Claude's skill that Geralt's faster—that there isn't as much effort in how he moves as there might be with someone else. But he's not moving at his full speed or strength when he counters with a downward strike. ]

I hate you.

[ The retort is stated with more exasperation than any actual heat. And Claude knows him well enough by now to know that he's lying through his teeth anyway.

His gaze searches their surroundings but there's no more movement from what he can see, and well over a dozen scorpion corpses now littering the ground between them. Well. At least that will make for a nice bounty to return, especially if they can salvage all the stingers.

But the immediate threat dealt with, he turns to fix Claude with a stern look. ]

Sit your ass down so I can look at where you got stung.

[ That clarification is noted, especially since it's the sort of one Claude would make rather than the implication he somehow claims the Free Cities as his own. Something to keep in mind for his next introduction as it's better to simply accept the returned handshake - but not without filing away Thancred's careful dissociation from Thorne in particular as something for later. ]

Of course. It'd hardly be fair for both of us to be doing the work and not receive payment in the form of said spoils equally for all of that work. You've been out in the hunting grounds before on one of the other trips we've been so graciously offered, I take it.

[ Just a guess as the other man seems confident enough with spear in hand. That's a weapon he'd never mastered himself since it meant not favoring long-range attacks, such as those with bows like the one in his hand, so unbeknownst to Claude? There's an equal amount of having to hope the other knows what they're doing or better than that, that he's considerably skilled. Either way, it's not enough to dissuade him from nodding towards the entrance to the forest's hunting grounds in a silent suggestion they head that way next. ]

There's an apothecary in Cadens who I promised to bring back something if I can so they can study it, but I don't think they have any particular requests when it comes to what we might stumble across in here. Are you able to do any kind of hunting like this in Thorne?

[ He's fairly certain the answer to that is no given what he's heard from the handful of other Thorne Summoned he's spoken with, but Thancred might have a new perspective to share. Eventually, if a bit of trust's understandably required first. ]

Trust me, I know. It'd be a shame if I damaged my roguishly beautiful face all over a loose brick or two.

[ Said with great gravitas as though some calamity was narrowly avoided and like it's not more theatrics with a different spin to them now just to play up Hilda's offer to have Sylvain repave the entirety of Cadens with his own two hands. Not a bad offer, actually. Still better to go along with that than deal with anything else he's intentionally glossing over despite being well aware Hilda can sense some of it (or a lot of it) these days.

It's not enough to make him share this voluntarily - for now - so he breaks out into a grin fully at Buri's expense now that the wyvern is doing his best to look like he doesn't enjoy this attention every much as his real life counterpart would do the same. ]

The answer to that is no one. Even if our friend here lacks some of the usual social charms, he has plenty of others to make up for that. It'd be hard for anyone to not be won over by him even at his grouchiest.

[ Claude might also be biased what with being enamored with every wyvern he's ever come across, but if it's brought up he'll brush that aside too. What he doesn't totally expect is for Hilda to offer to create another wyvern that isn't her own and that has him pausing with a hand on Buri to send a sideways glance her direction. ]

Sure, that could always work. Or I was thinking he might like to be friends with your wyvern again, too. [ Now he appraises Hilda beneath the smile he turns on her, curious enough to prod around as he's wont to do. ] Maybe another one's in order first, though. Buri's girlfriend isn't a bad choice at all. You wanna try together again or give this one a shot on your own?

[ Or Claude could always do it himself as a third option, but he'll let Hilda choose her preference. ]

Yes, you did mention that.

[ Just a confirmation and one said in an ever so slightly distracted way, as if there's other thoughts crowding in behind that short response. Which - there are, but Claude's letting that show through intentionally now. It's not exactly a way of saying he doesn't believe Altaïr, especially given he has absolutely no way of ever proving whether that statement is true or false or somewhere in between. Just a way of slipping in another question beneath it. ]

Something likely to be true in Fodlan as well these days. The war might be over, but there's still going to be unrest for some time. All the more reason I think those mercenaries might have a reliable source of coin, and possibly a reason I should worry about my former professor going back to it himself.

[ Claude's kidding about Teach abandoning his responsibilities for another set with a sword the man in question once upheld, but if Altaïr might wonder if it's another careful test for a response? He wouldn't be wrong. ]

[It's a story he's heard half a dozen times, by now, and it's hard not to draw similarities to his own situation, back home. Piltover and the Undercity aren't at war yet, but given what he knows Jayce has done, he can only guess it will be a matter of time. And then, to hear about similar conflicts all across vast, innumerable worlds...well. It's disheartening, to say the least.

Viktor's expression seems a bit solemn, which he tries to disguise by turning his focus back to the screws and gears in front of him.]

Yes, war seems to be a universal constant.

[Depressing. It makes his job so difficult.]

Has anyone approached you about joining the military, given your background?

[ The nearest scorpion gets nudged with the toe of his boot, just as a cautious check to make sure it's really dead. It is considering the fire damaged this one rather well and its shell crumbles a bit, which convinces Claude to stop poking at them to ensure there's enough for them to return.

What's less a suggestion than a not so thinly veiled command, however, earns Sylvain a flat look in return for the scolding one he gets himself. Even if he takes no actual offense to either, of course he won't comply right away with other things to be done. ]

I said I was the knight here, not a damsel in distress. I'd rather organize these guys first and then we can take a break. Better to do it now before it warms up any further.

[ Whether the temperature will actually rise today or not, Claude's more than willing to play upon any Faerghan distress over weather not suited for a tundra as motivation. Besides, there's a tree nearby - even if it's a sad and sparse one - they can sit under in a bit, so with that in mind? Time to retrieve his gloves to put them on to avoid touching any scorpion stingers accidentally while piling them up. ]

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[ OPEN ] split tomorrow from today

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