Riski was starting to believe that he might, actually, be accident prone.
It wasn’t his fault that coeurls roamed the wilds around Wineport. It was a little his fault that he was more focused on the gigantoads and their long, sticky, vile tongues, but to his credit he had actually managed to avoid them. But in doing so, he’d walked right into the territory of a mother coeurl instead.
He’d gotten away – thankfully, she was more interested in getting back to her cub than giving chase – but the electricity from the whisker she’d slapped him in the back with still hadn’t faded. Riski sat with his back to a tree, his head hanging and his breath coming more shallowly than it should. Every few seconds his entire body would go rigid at another arc.
During one of the slack times, Riski looked down at the linkpearl that decorated the bracelet he wore. He could call – he could always call. But this would run its course and fade and everything would be fine. There was no sense making him worry about every little thing that happened when Riski was out in the field.
As he considered it, a noise could be heard over the sounds of the river. It was footsteps in the brush, somewhere behind him and coming closer. Riski’s hand fell away from his opposite wrist and the the linkpearl, instead finding the hilt of one of his daggers.
It was difficult to say what exactly he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t the woman who came suddenly into view. Violet eyes met blue and both held surprise.
It had started out as a trip down memory lane. It was almost her nameday and she had wanted to remember the days with Leon before his passing. Being this close to the place that brought Leon into her life was hard. Bad and good memories both were part of this place.
She walked south of Wineport with Daisy fluttering near her right shoulder, feeling more at ease the further she stepped away from Occidens. She had been careful to skirt around the
gigantoads at the river, shuddering at the thought of their slimy tongues. A disgusted expression on her face at the mere thought.She was wondering if coming out here without her favorite bow was a bad idea. Not that having Daisy by her side didn’t give her a measure of comfort. It had just been a bad idea to bring that bow with her out this way after the things that had happened. It was too soon yet.
She stepped through the brush and froze. Blue eyes meeting violet. She was just as surprised as the man staring up at her a short distance away. Her eyes drifted from the elezen’s face to where his hand was upon a hilt of a dagger. Surprise became wariness and concern.
Her hands raised about chest height as she forced a smile, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. Her former training days in the Shroud kicking in. There was something wrong with this situation but just from looking it was hard to understand completely. Daisy’s hands were on her shoulder as her fairy companion looked down at Riski.
“I’m sorry. I did not mean to startle you. It’s not exactly the safest of places to take a break though I must say.” Her tone was light and friendly. Had to keep herself from seeming dangerous. Not that she was dangerous. Well not dangerous to anyone but herself for the most part. Slowly she crouched down where she stood to be more at eye level with the stranger, hands on her knees and Daisy still holding on to her shoulder.
“My name is Destiney. This is Daisy.” A small wave and bright smile from the glittering fairy at her shoulder. Her eyes had never left him, searching. The eyes of a healer assessing the condition of a patient. “Do you need help? I’m a healer.”
( @riskibusiness I wanted to have this done sooner but I got too tired last night. XD Lack of sleep finally caught up with me.)
Riski’s hand fell away from his weapon, resting uselessly on the ground at his side. He forced a smile through another full body shudder. His breath left him all at once when it passed, once again hanging his head but at the same time shaking it no. “It’ll pass,” he assured the strange woman. “Don’t worry about it.”
He looked up at her through his hair, the inky strands taking advantage of his inability to push them back. “Don’t go that way,” he warned her once he caught his breath, nodding slightly in the direction he’d come from. The mother coeurl was out of sight, but he had no doubt that she would attack again should anyone get too near. “Coeurls.”
Destiney’s eyes hadn’t missed that shudder even as he smiled. She could tell he was trying to make his words reassuring. Maybe it would pass. But she found herself unable to just walk away at his words. Her hand raised to reach out to him but paused as he spoke again, dropping her hand back to her knee.
He was just a stranger. Who had obviously had a bad run in with the coeurls in the area. “I know.” It was about all she could think to say in reply to his warning. She should just let him alone. Let him deal with whatever mess he had gotten himself into if he didn’t want her help. But she wasn’t the same person she used to be. Being a healer had taught her to care about others even if she did not care as closely about her own self.
“Let me help you. Or at least linger an keep watch over you if you won’t allow me to help.” Her blue eyes studied him as she finished speaking, reaching up to brush back a stray strand of her hair from her face. After a long moment she finally moved to sit to his left but leaving several feet of space between them not giving him much choice. If he wanted to be stubborn she could be just as stubborn right back.
“What’s your name?” He asked, watching her with interest. The last thing he’d expected was for her to sit down there with him, which provoked a certain curiosity. People who didn’t do the expected thing had an easy time catching his attention.
Never mind that she didn’t really have much competition for it.
At least it wasn’t poison. The thought was actually some small comfort to Riski as he unintentionally held his breath in wait for another of the spasms. He could handle most things, but he had enough history with poison to have more than a healthy respect for it. The electrical disruption was more of an annoyance than anything else.
“My name’s Riski,” he offered, realizing he hadn’t given his own name before asking for hers. “Yeah, I know – no need to ask how I got it.” He grinned, inviting her to share his amusement at the overall situation. With another person there, even just a well-meaning stranger, his tension not caused by the coeurl’s whiskers drained away. He wasn’t alone.
Destiney blinked as she tilted her head. She had remembered saying her name earlier. But perhaps he had just not been fully paying attention with the fact that he was hurt. Maybe not seriously hurt but pain was pain and it could make paying full attention hard at times.
“It’s nice to meet you, Riski. My name is Destiney.” A warm smile at his attempt to poke fun about his name. His smile was… Charming. “Maybe it was our ‘destiny’ to meet.” Since he was trying for amusement, she chose to attempt an amusing comment of her own. It was a common one she sometimes heard about her own name.
“You don’t have to tell me but what made you decide to play with the coeurls? Or was that just an accident mister risk taker?” She couldn’t help the pull of curiosity. She was almost always curious now a days. Yet she tried to keep her tone light an amused.
Spirit of the Warlock 