"Easy Einervaene, we're coming near some woman's stall." I tell her just as her guiding stick strikes one of the table legs.
"Some woman?" the merchant asks as she puts a hand on her hip, sticking it out as she leans forward on the other hand.
"Hm..." I go as I inspect what she has on offer. It's something, not anything special by what I can tell, but, something. I pick up a bottle and bring it close as the pathetic amount of magic I need to inspect it deeper comes to bare.
"Hey, you're paying for that now!" the merchant snaps as she turns for what looks like a cash register.
"I do not believe I said I am buying." I growl quietly as I look away from the glass and towards her attitude-tainted face.
"This isn't a faire, ruin the goods, you pay." she confidently brags as the signs of her greed or mercantile skill thunk in front of us.
"Brewbrt... Don't..." Einervaene warns as I let go of her hand, leaving her to pat my side to keep my attention.
"And who is going to enforce this blatant greed?" I goad her into letting out.
"Egalooki!" she snaps and an imposing man decked out in the finest armour his wages can buy. An abundance of weapons to make it seem as if he is more capable than he already is. I smirk behind my faceplate as I take note of two key, telling details as the man grabs my wrist. His harness is easy to remove, in a fight, he ditches all that vanity and my personal favourite...
A lack of magic.
"Sit down, boy." I tell him, freeing my hand so quickly as to leave him dazed before I gently push him down. He crashes through a nearby chair and strikes the ground, rolling initially as he catches up with what has happened. Looking back to the merchant, she flinches back with her hand raised and the welcoming closure of the register.
"Alright... You're just looking." she goes as she bites her tongue to keep her pride from lashing out.
"Hm..." I go again as I provide Einervaene the comforting grip she is so desperate for. Looking the bottles over again, then, glancing towards the other merchants, my mouth tilts. Nothing here is really capable of doing anything, too little magic and not capable enough to handle some kind of boosting either. Einervaene will not come out of this in any particularly superior fashion.
I guess, at the very least, a little liquor will help her sleep easier. She's been mentioning that since the attack, how this perpetual dark is messing with her ability to calm down. All she can see is whatever her mind's eye sees and without some form of cruel, tiring exercise... She's not going to be having any good rest.
Reaching into my pocket, I grab what I feel is appropriate for the lacking goods on show and take what is most potent. Guiding Einervaene away from the stall and around to its back, we carry on back towards the wagon, slowly. Long as this short trip is, it is still better than trying to get her through the lanes between merchants grifting their fellow merchants. Once we get back, I help her up onto the wagon's back in the midst of the makeshift tent I am hoping to put together.
"You still want to hold the stick?" I ask her as I take it up but not from her.
"Yes, please..." she answers quietly, the end of the stick tapping the ground as I release it.
"How bad is it hurting?" I ask as I prepare to have a quick sip of the booze to get a sliver more magic back into my system. Arguably, I need this more than her as I cannot process the natural lightning magic of this land all that well. Yet, Einervaene doesn't seem to be taking in all that much either even though her body should naturally just do so. My fingers drum the bottle as I try to recall what everyone did back when adventuring was the norm.
As relevant as ever, Eratheen comes to mind, though, outside of a brief, humouring memory of her whining and touting of noble blood, I cannot think of anything. My short-lived smile vanishes as one of those memories plays back to me clearly. Noble blood, huh. I look down, miserable at how her life has turned out now because of an uncontrollable problem.
If that Thunder fellow gave us an answer, we'd know what the problem is. But, Einervaene didn't want to know, she just wanted to find the solution to it all, and she did. Though, if she still has it is another thing entirely... Copper hair coming back and the pale skin to go with it.
I do not know what to think about it, I am glad she's becoming the Einervaene I knew once again. However, so very, very, however, where did this power we nearly died for go? The very thing we were going to use to free Eratheen from this absurd legal torment she is having to endure. I take a little sip from the alcohol and pass the bottle to her, only for her to bend in pain.
"Great..." she bitterly remarks as she holds the space above her nose. The strong smell made her usual instincts kick in, only to provoke the other part of her injuries.
"Through the mouth, Einervaene." I mutter to remind her before my thumb runs along her lips after a quick application of some ointment we were able to grab. Thankfully, despite the troubles the Lightning and Water peoples have, their goods still find a place in warehouses and shop stock. She puckers her lips briefly before securing her grip on the bottle.
"Why did magic have to be..." she complains, strangely enough. With everything that has happened, I'd love to sit back and pop open a bottle and drink. The calm that follows can be troublemaking, sure, but, it's also a great mellower of it so long as you have the temperament for it.
Moving my hand closer in case she drops it accidentally, I help stabilise her as she coughs at the taste, "Try not to waste too much of it, gather what strength you can."
"I should've told Lightning no... No, it's fine, Brewbrt is here." she whispers, unaware of how close I am at the moment. Even with the helmet on, these quiet words still somehow reach my ears as if she yelled them.
"Einervaene, what did you do?" I ask, making her jump with some of the water sloshing up and out the bottle top. The little droplets sprinkle across my armour as I start to move the glass out of her grip.
"..."
"Einervaene, do not withhold this information from me. I can clearly tell from how your skin and hair are going back to normal that you have done something regret-"
"I did not such thing!" she snaps after her timidity vanishes as I near the end of my sentence.
"I don't understand, Einervaene... Why did you let this power go? I will not blame you for what you have know way of predicting but..." I groan as I think over how many of our current problems could be avoided. We'd not be desperate for our lives as we barely recovered from our injuries. That power could've wiped out the assassins in a single flash of light, let alone a full-on spell or anything that needs training.
"He wanted to see the continent..."
"This couldn't have waited until after we saved Eratheen!?" I raise my voice at, rubbing my face harshly after removing my helmet. It thuds on the wood next to her and she can't help but shoot her bandaged-up view its way.
"He promised he would come back once I shouted his name!" she tries to argue but that only makes me more annoyed.
"You nearly died!" I prevent myself from shouting as I slam my hands on the wood, shaking the rudimentary suspension with thankfully only showy force. There was no actual strength behind it, but, the noise did its job.
"Y-You made sure I didn't..." she mutters under her breath as her hands come together, their fingers fiddling.
I clench my fists as well as my jaw, "And I nearly wasn't able."
Even blind, she manages to look away in shame.
"Look, I will trust you in the idea that he will come back, but, I need you to understand Einervaene. Get your priorities in order!" I say then point out with a firm jab to a part of her body covered in some of my armour. She flinches with the prod even though the plate takes all of the force.
"H-He'll be there... He'll be there when I need him..." she tears up at as she otherwise trembles over whatever is going on in her head. Sighing, I step up and pull her in close, hugging her to the best of my ability. With one hand slowly and carefully going through her hair as she starts to return the embrace.
"I cannot always be there for you, Einervaene. Were it not for the honour of our attackers, you'd be dead. Please, for your own sake, for the sake of the mother you have gone through so much over. Please, do not make such strange choices so short-sightedly." I try to teach as I manage to find one strand of hair otherwise still a perfect gold. Though, on its own, it might as well be a simple, lone blonde hair.
She quietens down but otherwise continues to tremble and shake as I take the moment to pass what I can to her. At the end of the day, so long as she gets to Eratheen with this power back in her grasp, that is all that matters. I merely have to get her as far as I can take her. My life is long and ongoing, fulfilled in all but the most petty of manners that leave many feeling that it is time to pass on to Undwote.
Should the moment come, I will lay down my life for the daughter of my friend. My attempts at a family never really went anywhere, so, although we are not by blood. Einervaene is like a daughter to me and as much as I do not want to take it away from her actual one, a man bound by colonial governance. I am glad I have been able to steal away some of the desires Einervaene has for a strong and caring paternal figure.
Moving out of the hug slightly, I hop up onto the wagon with her, making it bounce under the weight of my worn steel. She leans against me, steadily slipping towards where I am least armoured before tightening her position around it. Using one hand to rub her arm, I quickly nab up the bottle of booze and get to drinking some more of it. The magic it gives me can go over to her and it helps me deal with the injuries I also have.
"Do you want to hear a joke?" I ask quietly as I help her take a sip from the bottle. She holds back the coughing and bleghs at the lingering taste before seemingly nodding.
"Ok..." she mumbles past the arm covering her mouth.
"What's old and stupid but can still see all the world has to offer?" I ask, getting the littlest of shocks for it.
"I'm going to need a lot more of this." she groans as she takes the bottle impatiently to gulp some of its contents down.
I chuckle quietly as I help her be upright so she can drink it better, "You get to it, then, regain some of your strength. I'm going to try and get camp set up."
"Oh, is that the joke? You can still see so you have to do all the work." she says, smiling out of view as I strain my now one good eye to find everything.
"Oh, hah hah." I sarcastically go as pegs and waterproof sheets enter my grip.