The Road to Tullybrook

Sae didn’t run, though grand-uncle Eloise would have called her a fool girl for staying where she stood, though she always thought he just liked calling others fools. The ship turning to dust then turning itself back into a ship again did certainly give the wild elf a bit of a shock, even if you couldn’t quite tell by how quickly she stepped towards the vessel to give it a once over. It was certainly the ship alright, and if felt as solid as one should be when she gave it a tap with her knuckles, though hard to say what she would have thought about the whole thing if it had collapsed into a pile of dust and splinters at her tapping. It didn’t, so instead she took a step back resting her hands on her hips.

“Never had much of an eye for magic myself, but this bit of work would give the wilding things past Snagtooth a run for their coin I’d say.” She said, looking back over her shoulder to Rally. Had the little one said what they were heading to Tully for? Some prodigy looking to sharpen themselves at the schools there? Rally certainly seemed like a dry sponge when it came to knowledge anyway. Sae turned her gaze to Viv then to Abryxia who both rather helpfully seemed quite as taken aback by all this as she did. Be more of a shock if they weren’t, Sae supposed.

“ Would the tower be as easy a job to put back together, or would you need another worm or two?” Fool her, perhaps, for thinking that the boat had been easy, but it didn’t seem like Rally was winded at all by the effort. Sae dusted away that bit of concern by patting some dust off her hips.

“Ah, did the innkeep happen to say where their jails where?” This she addressed back to Viv.
 
Oh.

There were those looks again.

Rally knew those looks. The wonder, the horror, the ducking out of the way, the screaming - usually there was screaming. This time there was not, but there was a lot of the other stuff. They stepped back a bit, and rather wished that they could turn invisible, but there weren't any other worms around and everyone else nearby had bones-

-and might have been their friends.

Rally was not sure if that was the case, or if it had been the case. Those were not the same thing, at all. They pulled the brim of the hat down, quickly, keeping their face out of view at least, tucking their hands up in their sleeves. Maybe they needed an even bigger hat, one that could hide all of them, except for their boots peeking out at the bottom.

Wilding things, Sae had said, and fortunately Rally's frown was hidden under the hat. She wasn't screaming, though. That was... that was something. A sigh escaped the hat, and Rally wished that they hadn't let it go so easily, because that sort of thing drew attention.

"I... I...
more worms. Or, something.
" The hat indicated a shaking of the head beneath it. "But you can't do that, you can't, then everyone else wants you to do it and wants to know why you didn't before and why you don't make it better and there's, there's so many things and not so many worms and then it starts to be, to be. Not worms."

They retreated back, a little bit further - not very much, because the hat did not really have anywhere else for them to go.

"...Please can we just say we don't know what happened, and I'll never do it again, I promise-"
 
Viviane could feel her heart in her chest in the immediate aftermath, thumping at a speed she wasn't all that used to. It made her feel somewhat lightheaded, as she look from Rally, to the top of the tower, then to the reconstituted ship, and back to Rally. Whatever had just transpired was certainly impressive, but it was so far beyond what the Lady knew, it was impossible for her to even comment on it. Instead, she stood in a silent shock for what felt like minutes, but was closer to mere moments, before she finally mustered up the words to respond.

"I-it's quite alright, Miss Abryxia. Thank you for your concern," she said, brushing herself off of what little dust had accumulated, hands still shaking somewhat. Her gaze turned back to Rally Rose, still shocked by what had happened, and how quickly. The child was getting quieter, and apologizing profusely. A frown flashed across her face for the briefest of moments.

"Miss Rally Rose, what you did was incredible, and I do believe that the people here in Clurneywooble will appreciate what you've managed. I would just ask for a bit of warning, next time. You gave me quite the scare." As the Lady spoke, her hands moved up to smooth out her hair, and she let a soft smile light up her face, meant to be reassuring for their sorcerous hat.

Finally, she addressed Sae's question with a shake of her head. "No, she seemed rather intent on the townsfolk handling the issue themselves. I didn't see it fit to pry, at the time. I can't imagine it would be hard to find where they're keeping him, though." After all, if it wasn't in the tower, there were only a small handful of places left that could accommodate a dungeon, and where else were you meant to keep prisoners.
 
“That’s true enough, your powers are your own dear.” Sae said, her voice turning gentle as she addressed the nervously fidgeting hat. She smiled, her gaze turning to the boat again as she took in the weight of this odd little miracle. Selfish fool her for asking the little sorcerer to perform a second one, wasn’t it? Something to meditate on tonight, Sae supposed, but tonight wasn’t much of a pressing concern yet. “Miss Viv is right, of course, and it’s good on you to make your boundaries clear. I apologize for making you feel so wrongly about your talent, I shouldn’t have pushed.”

Sae ran her fingers through her hair before giving her cheek a peevish scratch. You’d think she’d know better after two hundred years, wouldn’t you? Ha.

“Well, let’s see to our captain then.” Sae said, cheerfully again. “And aye, I think we’ll just need to find the most brooding building in town and we’ll have our dungeon.” Sae said, giving Viv a grin and a wink.
 
"I'm sorry, Lady Viviane." Rally Rose sounded genuinely contrite. "And - I'm sorry everyone else, too. I didn't mean to trouble everyone. I'm just... sometimes I don't know what trouble is." They contemplated the ship, the crumbling tower, and the unfortunate lack of additional worms.

"Maybe we can just... not tell anyone." They weren't sure if that was right either, but maybe it was. "Or maybe Abryxia can write a song but... you know, make it a little silly. So no one thinks it's real or anything." Sometimes it was harder to believe the truth when someone told it, than if you just guessed it yourself. And sometimes, if you heard it in a way that was a little silly, well, you'd believe something else instead, just because believing the real thing seemed silly.

At least, that was what Rally Rose thought it ought to be like. They weren't actually all that sure, come to think of it.

The hat shook back and forth, negating any further ideas on the subject, as well as any further attempts at doing something with the situation. At least Sae had a plan. It was good when someone else had an idea of what was supposed to be going on.

"Do you think they're real pirates?" Rally Rose was very aware that there were two types of pirates. There were the ones in the stories, who were scary but also a little silly, and then there were real pirates, who were... well, not so silly. But that was just like how it was with the truth, wasn't it? The stories made it a little silly, and then the other parts just seemed like a part of the story, like it wasn't serious or real or any scarier than a children's tale.

"I hope they aren't."

Real pirates were not a little silly.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top