Elmiryn trusted the contact.
"I like drinking. It isn't a very admirable habit, but I do it when I can." Elmiryn's face went blank and she took back her hand. "I think differently like this. Sometimes what I come up with isn't the brightest of ideas...but there's sincerity here," Elmiryn pointed emphatically at her head and looked at Nyx pleadingly. "I'm sorry. I'm. Sorry. It won't happen again. I swear on my mother's life."
Nyx flinched and hurriedly took the woman's shoulder. "No, no, no! Never do that. Ever. Not for me. The way you're acting it's as if you're afraid I'd leave. I still have my debt to you, remember?"
"Your debt." Elmiryn rubbed at her eye and placed a hand on her hip. Her nose tickled, and she wiped at it a little more forcefully then necessary. "That's right. You're still indebted to me. For saving your life."
The youth nodded, now watching Elmiryn carefully. "Yes," she said slowly. "That's right." She indicated gingerly toward the inn. "Let's get inside. We should rest if we're to set out tomorrow..."
She led Elmiryn by the arm toward the inn, where they entered. The company inside had dwindled to those that were staying the night. The stairs that led to the second floor were at the back across from the bar. Nyx pulled the warrior along to their room.
Elmiryn cherished this. The sudden care that rested in her companion's touch. There were dying embers of anger in the girl's eyes, but a softness was coming over them that the warrior wanted desperately to believe in. She wouldn't say it, but Nyx was sobering. Perhaps because the woman rarely found herself in the company of such a person, or because any individual she found herself with in the past had never been expected to remain past morning.
"Nyx," Elmiryn whispered as they entered their room--two beds on either side of the modest space, their things at the foot of each. "I lied earlier today. I did." The warrior muttered as she was led to her bed, where she sat on the edge ungracefully. The world was getting too heavy. It didn't swing or sway in an ideal way, but a way that made the woman wish to close her eyes and fall to nothing.
Elmiryn was beginning to feel small again.
Nyx placed her book on her bed and knelt down onto the floor, where she began to untie her companion's boots. "What is it, Elmiryn," she asked, distracted with her task.
"There's some more conditions. Besides the one I told you. You've really gotta know."
The girl looked up at her, her eyebrow raised. "Yes? What are they?"
"Stay with me. As much as you can. Please."
Nyx frowned at her. "Elmiryn, I am with you. I told you, I won't leave." She tugged off one boot and set on the other.
Elmiryn shook her head, brows pressed together as she leaned down. "No. I mean stay with me. You don't leave my side unless you've got to, okay? You're my anchor. You're my anchor now, and if staying with me means getting angry and calling me an unfair bitch in front of other people, then so be it--but don't you go. Please promise me."
The youth gazed up at her with a look that Elmiryn couldn't quite pin. "All right... Okay, Elmiryn. I...I promise." she said quietly.
Nyx pulled off the last boot and the woman shook her head, a smirk now flashing on her face. "And that's another thing..." she began, voice low and thick as she laid back onto the bed.
"What?" the girl asked, pulling the sheets over her.
"Call me Elle. Having someone like you calling me by my full name just makes me feel old." Elmiryn's eyes closed for a moment. Then they snapped open again. "...And y'know, it really isn't fair that I can't call you a cute pet name. Your name's already short. So unfair. That is just really unfair! ...And hey, wait a second! You didn't tell me what callow and fatuous meant!"
Nyx offered an exasperated smile and patted Elmiryn's arm.
"Good night, Elle..."
Preconceptions
ELMIRYN________________________
A maiden asleep in her canopy bed.
A poor picture.
Elmiryn reached out and touched her cheek. Cold beneath the fingers. Skin, once smooth like a babe's, now sticky and rubbery as if a thin layer of mucus covered her. How could thought reside here? How could life reside here? The warrior smelled almonds and rotting wood. Her eyes strained vainly to see more than fine white lines in a canvas of black, the definitions feeble and shifting as she leaned in closer.
"What are you doing here? Cursed child, you aren't supposed to be here!"
Her father's voice. She turned in the direction she heard him from, and saw a vague outline of a man. Elmiryn blinked and opened her eyes wide. Her head hurt from trying to see him fully. "Father?"
The man came towards her menacingly.
Startled, the woman stepped backward with hands before her. "Now wait a minute, I–" Her words were cut short as her foot fell through air. Her body careened backward into a dark pit, where she lost all sense of self.
____________________________
Elmiryn awoke with a small shout, her body shooting upright as she stretched out a hand. Confusion flashed quick over her face, and she gazed at her own arm before letting it fall against her again. She glanced over at her companion. Nyx was still asleep.
"Nightmare," Elmiryn muttered to herself. She let her eyes glaze over as she unbraided her hair, the motions of her fingers somehow comforting in a way. When she finished, she stood from the bed and left the room.
The inn keeper was up, already preparing for the day. She took a moment to prepare the bath for the warrior and Elmiryn tried to relax in the water. Afterward she came back up to the room to find that Nyx was still asleep. Elmiryn went to her bed and crossed her arms, her damp hair framing her face. The youth was frowning, her hands clenching and unclenching, faint whimpers coming from the back of her throat.
Elmiryn rubbed her eye in a brief show of exasperation.
...Rats? Sure.
"Nyx." She shook the girl's shoulder lightly. "Nyx. Wake up."
A groan. Nyx shifted so that her face turned into the pillow, away from Elmiryn. "Mmmrph."
Elmiryn rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "How is it that I'm awake before you are?"
"You're right." Nyx mumbled, turning her head enough to offer a sleepy glare. "You should correct this grievous mistake and get back into bed. You ought to be hung over worse than a opossum."
"What does a opossum have to do with it?"
"Go back to sleep and I'll tell you."
"You can't tell me if I go back to sleep."
"That's the idea."
Elmiryn's shoulders shook with laughter as she tried to keep quiet. The battling suns had barely colored the sky with their blood and the streets were still delicate in quiet. Elmiryn shook Nyx's shoulder again. "Hey, c'mon. Get up. ...Nyx, I will drag you out if I have to."
Nyx whined and hid her head under the blanket. "You always come with the same threat!"
Elmiryn placed her hands on her hips and quirked an eyebrow. "Well! I didn't know I was being judged on creativity!"
"Why do we have to get up so early every day? What's the point?"
"I like to make the most of my days."
Nyx poked her head out and glared squintily. "Aren't you even a little ill from all that drinking you did!?"
The warrior feigned anger. "I was not that drunk. Sheesh."
"Elmiryn–"
"Ah, ah!"
An irritated sigh. "Elle. You could barely walk in a straight line. That's fairly inebriated in my book."
"I could so walk in a straight line!" But Elmiryn grinned coyly and suddenly took an interest in the ends of her hair. "...I just...y'know...needed a running start."
Nyx snorted into laughter, "That makes no sense whatsoever!" She looked back at the woman, her smile spreading so far that dimples appeared in her cheeks.
The warrior grinned triumphantly. "HA! I made the morning grouch laugh!"
The shapeshifter growled and looked away. After a moment, she looked back at Elmiryn in what appeared to be earnest. "Would you really drag me out of bed?" she asked quietly.
&nbs
p; Elmiryn paused and locked eyes with Nyx. She leaned down and planted one hand next to the girl's head. "Would you like me to do something else instead?" she breathed.
Nyx kicked the blankets off and scooted upright, the sleep leaving her eyes almost instantaneously. Elmiryn jerked back to keep from knocking heads together.
"Fine. I'm up," the girl said stiffly. Her cheeks were red again.
Elmiryn stepped away and began to braid her hair. She didn't lift her gaze. "I suggest you take advantage of the bath. I took the liberty of heating up some water for you."
"Is it one of those public baths?"
"Yes."
Nyx shook her head, looking away. "No. I'll bathe elsewhere."
Elmiryn gazed at her critically. "Where? We aren't near the stream anymore and there isn't going to be a spring up in those mountains."
"I don't want anyone...to see..." Nyx pointed weakly at her back.
The warrior shrugged. "I'll keep watch. Meanwhile, I'll fix that hole in your collar. Like I promised."
"...Really? You'd do that?"
She gave the girl a smirk. "I just said, didn't I?"
Nyx hesitated a moment. Then nodded. "All right."
____________________________
When they entered the trail that led through the mountain range, Nyx had still refused to lift her gaze from her newfound book, and Elmiryn was becoming bored. The warrior looked at the younger girl out of the corner of her eye. "Where did you get that book?" she asked eventually, voice a little flat as she regarded the item like a dog who had sat in her favorite chair.
Nyx glanced at her, then looked back at the book. "Some man gave it to me in Dame. It's like a collection of writings."
"A man? Do you normally accept gifts from strangers?"
The girl was quick with her riposte. "Do I normally go journeying with warriors who shoot holes into people's clothes?"
Elmiryn did a light face-palm as a chuckle bubbled up her throat. "Oh fuck me. It's been, what? Three days? I've already apologized AND mended the hole. But you'll never let me live that down, will you?"
Nyx gave her a hard look.
The warrior crossed her arms and gazed back at her with a smirk. "What did I do now?"
"Nothing." The girl looked away, her lips thin.
"No. Clearly I did something...again. So tell me, what did I do?"
The Ailuran sniffed delicately and turned the page of her book. Elmiryn marveled at the fact that she had been able to read all this time and not trip or stumble once. It was enticing in a way. The girl could keep herself ordered and moving despite a shifting environment. She tucked this observation away for later use.
"I don't like foul language," the girl mumbled finally.
"You've never cursed?" Elmiryn asked, disbelieving.
"Well of course I have. ...When it was appropriate."
This made the woman laugh outright. "When is cursing ever appropriate!?"
"When someone behaves like an ass hat, Elle!" Nyx snapped, glaring at Elmiryn pointedly.
Elmiryn held up her hands a light smile playing on her lips. "Okay, okay. I know how grumpy you people get in the morning. I'll leave you to your reading."
The girl gave her an incendiary look, her arms falling so that the book slapped against the top of her thighs. "What do you mean...'you people'?"
The warrior looked back at her, unconcerned. "Ailurans. Your kind tend to sleep in."
"We do NOT always sleep in. We aren't lazy."
Elmiryn shrugged. "Now who said that? It's common knowledge that most cats are nocturnal creatures. There isn't anything wrong with that. If an Ailuran was working all through the night, then I say, LET him sleep in! He's earned it!"
Nyx's eyes narrowed. "Fine. But now you're insinuating that I'M lazy."
"...Insinuating?" Elmiryn repeated, her expression nonplussed.
The girl sighed and rolled her eyes skyward. "'Insinuate.' To subtly suggest something."
"Ah."
"So aren't you?"
"You're ASKING me?"
The girl brandished the book at the woman. "Well I want you to admit it!"
Elmiryn was unmoved. "But you just said I did it! Why would I have to fess up to something all ready pointed out?"
"I was only accusing you, all right? It was not a statement of fact."
"Okay..."
"So?"
"So what?"
Nyx grit her teeth and her grip on her book visibly tightened. "Did you or did you not insinuate that I was lazy?"
Elmiryn placed a hand daintily on her chest. "...But if I fessed up to that, it would ruin it! Like a good joke!"
"Only it isn't a good joke!"
The warrior snickered. "Not to you it isn't."
Nyx hissed in the back of her throat, and her shoulders and back tensed like a feline puffing up. Then, suddenly, she took a deep breath and walked a little faster than Elmiryn. This was amusing to the warrior as the girl had shorter legs, so her quickened pace looked more like she were trying to restrain herself from running.
"I know what you're doing, Elmiryn," The girl said primly over her shoulder.
Elmiryn raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What's that?"
"You're bored, so you want to make me curse. Well I won't."
"You won't?"
"No."
"Not even a small curse? Can't you call me a cunt? Or a cream-basted sow? What about a shit-faced ninny?"
Nyx turned the page she was looking at in her book, her ears red. Elmiryn was certain she hadn't finished reading it.
Aware that her game was over, the warrior's gaze trailed from her companion to their surroundings, where the climbing path led them through large collections of rocky crevices, around dusty boulders, and past defiant juniper trees. It was past one of these old marvels that Elmiryn's eyes lit onto an irregularity.
One of the small branches of a low, but aged juniper was snapped off, the branch nowhere to be found. The exposed wood was still bright and damp. Elmiryn slowed her steps to gaze past the juniper to the narrow space beyond it. The place was dark in morning shadow, and no strange sounds came forth. After a moment, the warrior continued walking. Perhaps it had only been an animal?
Nyx glanced back at her, only now aware that Elmiryn had slowed down. "Something the matter?" she asked, her voice still somewhat tight.
"Not really." The woman looked up to see her companion gazing at her with sudden worry. She smiled at the girl and walked past her. "There's nothing to worry about, Nyx."
The shapeshifter trailed after her, and the warrior could feel her eyes on her back. She looked back, and with no real plan in her head, she asked quietly. "Nyx. You aren't afraid of me, right?"
Nyx blinked at the sudden question. "Afraid of you?" she hugged her book to her chest, her tawny eyes turning away. "I suppose..." she paused and brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. "In a way, I guess I'm getting used to you. But you are intimidating at times," then she added, timidly, "Alot of the time..."
"Can you trust that I'd keep you safe?" Elmiryn slowed her steps so that she walked at Nyx's side.
The girl looked at her. Then nodded. "Yes. I believe you can do that."
Elmiryn closed her eyes and smiled. "Good."
That was when she grabbed Nyx by the nape of her neck and threw her roughly to the ground.
ELMIRYN________________________
A bolt embedded itself into the splintered wood of a tree, the line it cut through the air slicing the place where Nyx's head used to be.
The weight of her knife was an assurance as she turned, dropping her bag and bow onto the ground. Already the heart quickened with the promise of action. Elmiryn slid her right foot to the left and heard, rather than saw, the second shot coming. With an instinctual swipe of her blade, she felt the projectile knock away–but the sound that entered her ears and the shock that traveled up her arm made her pause and blink. The attackers were firing heavy steel bolts.
Elmiryn's cerulean eyes turned, glinting
toward the spot she suspected her assailants were hiding. A little further back the way they had come, where the clean break from juniper branch had been. Somewhere there. There were other small spaces between the rocks, little crevices, and just enough shadow from the rising suns to conceal someone. So many places to hide here.
"One more. Go on!" she barked. Elmiryn's enemies seemed to pause at her bravado.
Quickly, the woman assessed the situation. She didn't know how many of them were out there, but their hesitation brought up a number of possibilities: the men (assuming they were men) were few in number–small strike teams, though experienced, were typically more cautious; they were inexperienced and so were easily spooked by her lack of hesitation; or they had heard of her by reputation. It was also possible for a variant combination of those.
Whatever the case, Elmiryn sensed she had some sort of an advantage. The next step was just exploiting it once it became absolutely clear.
Nyx scuttled on the ground behind her, dirt clinging to her chin and nose as her breath came in harsh gasps. "Oh nine hells...Sweet Aelurus, please...ah..." Her voice trailed away as she tried to gather herself. "Elle, where–"
The girl's words were cut off as Elmiryn leaned back far, and with her free hand, snatched out at the next crossbow bolt that was fired. She felt a sharp sear of pain. Hot blood trickled down her bracer and her elbow through a slash in her gloved palm. The woman's gaze sharpened and without even pausing to look at the projectile or her cut, she bowed her head and stalked toward the place she now was certain the shot had been fired. There was a curse. "Fool!" someone said, before the sharp ring of swords being drawn could be heard.
Two men came out from their hiding places–one from where the juniper tree had been, the other from down atop a jagged rock near it. Elmiryn blinked at them.
No, wait.
They weren't 'men'.
They were 'boys'.
Perhaps in their late teens yes, but still too young to be attempting something this dangerous on their own. The warrior's eyes widened when she heard a scuffle and a squeak behind her, and mentally kicking herself, she whirled around.
Eikasia: Tributaries Page 6