Rubble of the Rose - Chyril 26th EARLY Morningtide

[Ashari]

OOC: This is practically dawn, just to warn anyone looking to join the thread.

IC:

Sleep hadn't come easily, and when it had, it was more like her waking hours, spent formulating plans and deciding her future. There were memories of speaking with a Panling and getting affairs straightened with the church, but Ashari knew full well the meeting hadn't taken place, even if it felt so real. It had been restful, however... no doubt in part of the exertions from the night prior. Rolling over, she gave a smile at the sight of Ketch. There was more satisfaction in waking next to him than she thought, but it was quick to turn to another feeling, that of regret and promise of a shadowed future. "You'll die if you stay with me..." It was a whisper, barely audible, and it brought the first hintings of tears for the new day. She blinked them away quickly, not ready to accept the fate of mourner and then slid over to give the thief a soft kiss before rising from bed with the silence of early morning.

The beautiful brunette stifly got ready for the day, washing her face and pulling on a simple white cotton dress that contrasted against her skin. She was lucky that all her belongings weren't at the Guildhouse. This dress had stayed here at her house. It seemed fitting to wear it today. Thick black boots were next, followed by pulling her hair back into a managable bun. It was an unusual look for a girl who always wore her hair down. Then again, what was usual about this sort of day?

A scrawled note was left for Ketch, though she had to admit, she wasn't entirely sure if he could read it, both due to her sad skills in writing, paired with her lack of knowledge of Ketch's skills aside from keeping himself alive, which he seemed master at so far.

Went to the Rose. Did not want to wake you. Will come bak sune.

~Ashari~

She considered adding something about staying here at the house, for his safety, but she doubted that it would help him any. Infact, staying in her house had been nearly the death of him - as it had been the end for Aeris.

Not feeling like walking, she only went as far as it took her to hire a carriage. "Temple of Pan," she told the driver, and sat back, admiring the view until they arrived, where the dismal morning light shone on the tendrils of smoke still issuing from the building. It'd still not been put out entirely. She paid her fare and stepped out to view what had been. "Mother..." A deep intake of breath through her nostrils as she closed her eyes and kept focussed on the task at hand before quick steps brought her closer to the rubble. Smoke tickled her senses, but she washed it away, chosing instead to inspect the area of people around. Part of her hoped Ashtallion would appear. She also hoped for Aerin. Ashari had been unable to find her the evening prior, and she hoped no harm had come to her in the time since they separated.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

A nice dream or two aside, the night had not bode well for Aerin and she had awakened with the throb of pain still in her hand. She looked at the appendage on her pillow, noting the dark bruising that had taken the flesh as well as the swollen tissue that had expanded in order to preserve her hand from further damage. Side effects of stubbornness and pride – for although she had sought out Mother’s Temple on Paulie’s insistence, the antitheist in her had only requested a bath, a safe place to stay, some mundane herbs for the pain, and some clothing.

She stood carefully, the simple cotton robe waiting for her next to the tattered remains of what had once been one of her best dresses and she put it on with a frown, the cool cloth slipping over curves that, although they had been washed, still felt as if the grime of Paulie and the drunks were still upon them transferred by both gaze and touch. It would be a long time before she bared them again – in public anyway. She had learned her lesson.

It was hard work for her, ripping the cloth single-handedly, but Aerin sat on the bed and worked diligently at turning part of her ruined dress into a serviceable sling. True, the caretakers of the temple could have provided her with a sling built to be a sling, but she felt bad enough for being as ‘indebted’ to them as she was, her pride tucked neatly away with the remains of her money and Cicero in her room across town. Hopefully, she thought to herself as she used her teeth to help pull the knot tight on the sling I will not need my pass to walk the city streets, but merely to enter and leave the gates. I should find Duncan and see about getting it replaced…

Aerin carefully loaded her arm into the sling, a far more comfortable position than having it clutched to her chest, ad stood again, covering the mottled hand with a spare scrap of dress as she gazed out of the window at the sport where the Red Rose Guild had stood the night before, her good hand reaching back to free trapped locks of her hair from the sling’s grip against her neck.

“But first…” she muttered with a worried frown. “Ashari, Aeris, and that mage… I need to know that I was some help at least and that the guards made it in time to save this Aeris from almost certain doom…” Aerin gave one last look out of the window and sighed before turning to leave the room and, a few burns later, the temple.

She paid careful attention to herself as she walked toward the ruins of the Guild, careful not to attract too much or the wrong kind of attention from anyone who happened to be passing by in the streets. She was a whipped dog, tail tucked between her legs, and more than aware (largely thanks to Paulie) that the Citadel did have a very dark side indeed – a beast with an appetite for stupid redheads.

[Ashari]

Ashari's chin was held aloft as she stared into the abyss. Her eyes began to water again. For the love of the Mother. You need to keep it together. She scolded herself coldly, still not allowing the pain through as silver orbs eyed what was left of her vision. She had so many plans. Now everything was reduced to nothingness. A sigh escaped her luscious lips before she licked them, and swallowed, turning away from the rubble only to catch sight of a robed redhead.

"Aeris!?" She called, waving an arm in the air to attract her attention. To have looked upon Ashari in that moment was to see depth unlike that which many people can manage. Although she outwardly displayed the signs of general good health and mild contentance, inside she brewed with the sickness of mourning and the depravity of revenge. It was something in her eyes that betrayed it, and told that she was lying with her surface appearance.

The mage looked clean, and lively. Her cheeks were flushed from walking from the temple to the remnants of the Guild, but not overly so. Upon seeing Aerin, she held the facial recognition one usually saves only for friends. Perhaps that was because Ashari had so very few people she could call friends. Her dress was white, and in contrast to her, almost making her skin glow, and the white appear whiter than it actually was, particularly with the backdrop of rubble to frame her. Small whisps of hair had already escaped the bun that was tight to the nape of her neck, framing her face in straight black locks that started below her angular eyes, ending at her jawline.

As the two moved closer the underlying issues surfaced more clearly in the darks around her eyes, and the redness within them. "You're alive... I didn't see you last night, I was worried." Her eyes fell to the sling. "And your hand, you've not been to a healer?" She guessed by the home-made sling that the girl had not tried to get help. "Are you alright?.." The darkness in Ashari boiled below the surface, but was easily forgotten with the mothering instinct she felt toward the young women she met, particularly those who were in need of someone to follow. Ash was all about being followed.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

"Aeris!?"

Aerin heard Ashari’s voice calling out to Aeris once more, like she had the night before and saw Ashari waving in her direction. Aerin stole a peek around to see if she could see a look of recognition among anyone’s faces in response to the shouted name, a smile on her own face at the thought that this Aeris person had miraculously survived the carnage.

Aerin, herself, had business with Ashari and, although Aerin did not think that Ashari recognized her, she continued to walk down the street until their forms were closer, Aerin studying Ashari with curiosity, noting the signs of the woman’s recent distress in her eyes and the areas surrounding them.

"You're alive... I didn't see you last night, I was worried. And your hand, you've not been to a healer?"

Aerin shrugged and shook her head, her red hair dancing in lively, bouncing curls despite the woman’s own still-visible weariness.

"Are you alright?.."

“Bad night…” Aerin answered, once again looking in the direction from which she had come for the still-absent Aeris. She wondered, based on the look in Ashari’s eyes, what all should be told and decided that it would be far better to be up front with the woman than to be labeled a liar from day one. “The fireworks were going off and I couldn’t make enough noise with only one hand, so I tried to get their attention another way…” Aerin admitted, hooking the index finger of her good hand into her cleavage and pantomiming tugging it downward.

“Destroyed my dress…” she continued, looking not at all proud about her actions. “Lost my money, my pass, and got mistaken for a drunken Panling…Stupid move, I know…” Aerin paused and took a long breath, the memory of the look in Paulie’s eyes so vivid in her mind that her heart jumped, thinking that the man would return within a flicker if given the chance.

“And then there was this guard…” Aerin finished, trailing off, a mask of discomfort and borderline fear etched onto her face like a tattoo and her voice suddenly hinting at tears held restrained. “He… I… He...” A lump formed in her throat and she found it impossible to say more on the subject, her green eyes probably telling the tale for her as it were. Perhaps another topic would be easier… Aerin swallowed hard and took a few short breaths.

She looked down at her hand, removing the scrap which had hidden the bruising, showing it to Ashari. “No… No healers yet…” Her good hand gripped the bicep of her bad arm as she gave herself a small comforting squeeze. “It was too soon after…” Aerin explained, not going into great detail. “…too soon to be touched…” Aerin bit her lip and wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her undamaged hand.

“Not your problem though… You have enough of your own.” She took one more look for the missing swan maiden as she forced her face to bear a weak smile for Ashari's benefit. “I heard you call to Aeris as I approached…was she hurt badly before being rescued from the building, or did she make it out just fine?" Aerin asked, wanting to change the subject to any topic which did not involve Paulie.

[Ashari]

OOC: Capitolize on my typo.. thanks.. ::blushes:: Old habits die hard, I'm used to typing her name.

IC:

Ashari hadn't realized she'd said the wrong name, her mind was playing tricks on her. She knew that Aerin and Aeris were different people... what was happening to her? Too many thoughts swam around in her mind.

Aerin was quick to recount her tales of the evening prior, and Ashari couldn't help her eyes following where the redhead's hands went, and it didn't take her but a flicker to realize what she meant; a bit of a display for attention. Apparently it had worked, though it didn't seem to be in the way she wanted. As the girl continued, and alluded to the scene that followed, Ash filled in her own blanks, continuing to be quiet, allowing her the moment to collect herself, and offering a sympathetic smile, with a cautious hand to rub her arm if she didn't seem as though she'd pull away from the physical attention. "I'm so sorry, Aerin..."

Her stomach clenched. Another failure. She'd let another student down, however, like before, that sensation was already giving way to the revenge... revenge for Aerin as well by means of this guard. Perhaps, if she were lucky, two birds could be killed with one stone. Thoughts of such nature were set aside to answer Aerin's next question. "Aeris... didn't." Ashari shook her head, not continuing, not yet. There was still so much hope in the pale-skinned girl. She still thought that there was a chance the pen had survived.

"She didn't make it." The finality of the statement was almost overwhelming all on it's own, but, Ashari held herself together. She was starting to gain momentum on this denial track. "I'm sorry, I mispoke... your names are so close." Mentally she tried to backtrack, taking in the error, filing it away for later inspection on her mental well-being. "Maybe I wished you were her." Resignation to the fate of Aeris. Her gray eyes left the form of the girl before her to once again take in the remains of her building.

"I put a lot of money into this place... time and money, and love and friendship for Aeris, and all of that is gone, now." Gears were turning. "I'd like you to be my first true student, Aerin. Would you want that? Would you like to become something? Something greater than you are?" She didn't yet look at her, still watching the curls of smoke as they spilled from the buried cinders. "I can teach you to protect yourself from cruel men." Here, she finally looked back to the injured young woman. "And make it so not another person will ever touch you unless you want them to... even make it so one be persuaded to touch when they might not have wanted to," She let the option linger, and watched Aerin for physical reaction to such an idea, as well as her verbal response.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

"I'm so sorry, Aerin..."

Aerin nodded quietly, allowing herself to be touched on the arm, a small smile creeping onto her lips from the gesture, although it was short-lived as she saw the downfall of Ashari’s emotion about it. The other woman felt responsible and, in a way, was, but Aerin did not hold the events of the prior night against Ashari at all. If anything, it was a failure in humanity as a whole and not the fallacy of one woman. Aerin remained quiet about this, however, not out of the thought of any personal gain, but rather to allow Ashari to give her accounts.

"Aeris... didn't. She didn't make it. I'm sorry, I mispoke... your names are so close."

Ouch… Aerin knew all too well the closeness of the names for she had made this same mistake before as she, Astallion, and Ashari had attempted to wade through the crowds. Ashari had called out Aeris’ name and Aerin had mistaken it for her own – the wounded redhead’s eyes moved to the ashes wondering how many times that would occur in the future. It gave her a momentary chill to the bone, this thought of her very name being something akin to a ghost for Ashari. She looked back at her new friend.

"Maybe I wished you were her."

The chill returned coupled with borderline nausea. Deep down Aerin knew that Ashari probably meant that she had hoped Aeris to have survived and to have really been on the streets that morningtide with Aerin, alive and happy. Part of Aerin, however, heard her father’s voice issuing from Ashari’s lips when the double meaning of ‘Why couldn’t you have died instead of her?’ hit Aerin’s mind. Her father’s overbearing nature had always implied such when one of Aerin’s younger siblings did as commanded and did it well while Aerin had been quick to refuse and rebel, but he had never actually come to say such a hateful thing.

Aerin wondered why she would hear it, then, in what Ashari had said. To justify running off? Guilt, perhaps that you were looking for a man to bed when you should have been studying the book that Pralix gave you?”

"I put a lot of money into this place... time and money, and love and friendship for Aeris, and all of that is gone, now. I'd like you to be my first true student, Aerin. Would you want that? Would you like to become something? Something greater than you are?"

The offer from the previous night, re-worded and re-offered. Aerin’s mind, during the night, had thought about the offer – a private tutor was possibly less expensive than a stint at the university, for one thing and Aerin felt that possibly taking the offer would help Ashari as well…something to get her mind off of the destruction and onto something a little more constructive. Aerin was about to agree when Ashari gave one more offer.

"I can teach you to protect yourself from cruel men."

If Aerin had been a fish, Ashari would have felt a hard tug on the line. Aerin’s eyes were ready to catch Ashari’s when Ashari turned back to her. Just the thought of the previous night brought her breath to a faster pace, remembering Paulie’s cruel grip and hard stare coupled with threats both spoken and unspoken.

"And make it so not another person will ever touch you unless you want them to...

As her physical eyes looked back down the street toward the fountain, in her mind’s eye, Aerin replayed the prior night’s events in a fantasy of how things should have gone, her vision focused on Paulie’s face as her fantasy self did like Ashari had done with the crowd and commanded him to tear out his own eyes just for looking at her in the ways of a man instead of the ways of a protector of the city. Ashari’s comment bore the most wonderful fantasies for her as they continued.

…even make it so one be persuaded to touch when they might not have wanted to,"

Something in the last half of the statement tugged at Aerin’s mind – faint traces of a dream she had experienced the night before, but no details could be recalled by the redhead other than it seemed as if commanding others had something to do with it.

As for her physical reaction to the idea, Aerin turned back to Ashari, her red hair almost increasing with vibrancy as the face below it glowed with a creamy mixture of anger and happiness. Vengance and control were a hell of an aphrodisiac, it seemed.

“I would be honored…” she replied with a nod. “I have had very little training, but was studying to be an alchemist once upon a time, but…” Aerin said, taking a step closer in order to offer a light one-armed hug if Ashari wanted it. “I will be and do anything that you want me to if it makes your offer true…”

[Ashari]

The affection was not anticipated. As Aerin slid an arm over her arms Ashari stiffened, but didn't pull away. She wasn't wearing the constrictive bodice that she'd become accustomed to, and it meant that the redhead's touch was all the more close. Being just a bit shorter than Aerin, Ashari's shoulder tucked nicely under hers. A casual arm was returned for the hug, and the brunette broke the bond as soon as was polite. It seemed it was one thing to give Aerin a sympathic arm rub, and another altogether to recieve a small hug. Ashari was still re-learning her own personal bounds. A strong gaze locked eyes with the green orbs of the girl who wished to learn.

"You will sign a contract with me, signing yourself over as mine," she said, after the girl had taken the bait. "You will do anything and everything I tell you, and in return, I will mend your hand, I will provide you a place to live, I will feed you, I will clothe you... I will teach you. You will be entirely taken care of by me and those I trust. Do you understand?" Ashari waited only as long as it took for her to nod, or agree, before continuing. "If you are unable to repay me, then I will have the right to sell this contract to someone else. Do you also understand that?" Another brief pause for aknowledgement. "If, however... you are able, you may pay me before your time is up, and I will consider it to be of equal merit, and will allow you to leave. We shall be bonded, Aerin.. for all of our lives."

Grey sky eyes looked forward, but through the building and beyond, to the horizon line that lay far in the distance, perhaps. Either way, there was no focus in those eyes once they left Aerin's form. Ashari was thinking. She'd once promised to protect Aeris and she had been unable. She would make no such promises this time. "It will be dangerous. I need you to understand that as well. This is not an easy path you wish you step onto." Once more, she turned her attention to the robed young woman. "But I can provide you with much more than just the training. You will meet people. From now on, you will be like my shadow."

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

"You will sign a contract with me, signing yourself over as mine,"

Ashari had gone from warm and concerned to ice cold over the course of a hug. Aerin shot the other woman a quizzical look, but did not say a word.

"You will do anything and everything I tell you, and in return, I will mend your hand, I will provide you a place to live, I will feed you, I will clothe you... I will teach you. You will be entirely taken care of by me and those I trust. Do you understand?"

Aerin almost chuckled at the brutal forwardness of her new tutor, but she didn’t dare. It was clear to her that Ashari was serious about the offer and not about to invest her time, money, and efforts into anyone or anything which might vanish in the flip of a fancy. Her terms, while worded rather icily, seemed fair – almost motherly in a way. Aerin nodded her head once to signal that she understood and accepted the terms – Ashari did not strike her as the sort to be some sort of flesh peddler or cruel slaver, just a woman who – like herself – had recently lost a little bit of her rock of stability in life as well as some of the control that she had over events surrounding her. Aerin highly doubted that losing all that she had built up in one night’s fire would make her any different.

"If you are unable to repay me, then I will have the right to sell this contract to someone else. Do you also understand that?"

It was all business with her, it seemed, and a harsh business at that and Aerin found herself wondering about what kind of a tab she might rack up in this deal, comparing it to the advice that Professor Pralix had given her about applying at the temple for a sponsor. He had told her that sponsorship was not of a religious nature and so Aerin assumed that Ashari’s sponsorship requests were no different than anything the temle sponsors would have her sign, save for the fact that Ashari was both the sponsor and the university rolled into one.

For a second time, she nodded.

"If, however... you are able, you may pay me before your time is up, and I will consider it to be of equal merit, and will allow you to leave. We shall be bonded, Aerin.. for all of our lives."

“I have only known you a short while…” Aerin said, slipping a word in edgewise. “But I have a good feeling about you and I think that we could share a lifebond of friendship even if no contract was involved. But…” she continued, giving a third nod “…there is a contract involved among other things and I do accept the terms.”

"It will be dangerous. I need you to understand that as well. This is not an easy path you wish you step onto. But I can provide you with much more than just the training. You will meet people. From now on, you will be like my shadow."

Aerin gave a fourth and final nod. “I came to your aid not knowing you, put myself in danger over and over again with total trust that what I was doing was right, and so once again, my teacher…” Aerin said without a hint of sarcasm in her voice – only honesty. “I knowingly put myself upon this path again for you as well as myself. And as for meeting people, I look forward to that as well…” she said, her eyes narrowing in the fountain’s direction as if trying to melt Paulie’s non-existent ghost with her stare alone. “…some more than others, when the time is right…”

Her eyes turned back to Ashari and softened again. “If it be your will, of course... I have not yet put pen to parchment, but from this flicker forth, I am at your command.”

And thus Aerin was sold to Ashari.

[Ashari]

"I'll get your contract as soon as I'm able..." If the situation were different, she would have copies of the damned thing, that which she'd had written up for the Red Rose Guild, but this wasn't the same. This was a more personal arrangement. Infact, it seemed more suited to her. Gathering up followers this way made much more sense. She had a chance to guage whether or not they were capable of the things she wanted. That was indeed rather helpful.

Still stoic, Ashari was staring into the crater of of a building again, trying to judge how difficult it was going to be to find Aeris's body, and when found, how much of it was going to be salvageable. "Aeris wasn't from here." The brunette mused aloud. "She came to me from very far away... Amun Rah. I don't know their customs. I'm not sure what to do with her remains." That was assuming there was even anything to find of the pen. "How proficient are you in reading?" She queried, and already she was on the move.

Stepping forward cautiously, Ashari made her way closer to the upright stone wall that fronted the building. The main door was there, and she had left it open the night prior. Whether or not it stayed that way remained to be seen. Mindful of anything on the ground she ascended the steps and peered inside if able. Aeris hadn't been too well into the building, but everything above had crashed down. "Come along. Mind your feet," Ash cautioned.

The mage was already busy inside her mind. Her first order of business was delving into her core, where her energy was stored and saved in extraordinary quantities, or it appeared that way to her for she knew how to use what she had. Erecting a shield to keep both herself and Aerin safe was the next task. Maleable energy swirled in her insides, and she pulled from it, turning the threads and wielding them to create a wall of protection should anything dislodge from above and come crashing down on them. Mostly, this was to be a bouncy, spring-like surface and wasn't protective of magick of any kind, but of physical danger.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

Aerin nodded about the contract, not worried a bit as to the possibility of Ashari forgetting – judging from Ashari’s looks at the rubble, there was more pressing business afoot.

"Aeris wasn't from here. She came to me from very far away... Amun Rah. I don't know their customs. I'm not sure what to do with her remains. How proficient are you in reading?"

“I am fairly proficient…”, Aerin said, based on the limited amount of reading that she had done in her lifetime. “I am very proficient in asking for help if needed, if you are implying that I may have to do some research for you on the matter, as I am not familiar with Amun Ra either…” As Ashari had commanded, Aerin stayed as close as a shadow, following the other woman to the front of the ruins and up the steps, curious as to what the other woman wished to salvage.

"Come along. Mind your feet,"

“Yes, mistress…” Aerin answered, the title flowing naturally, unsure if their new arrangement meant that Aerin could no longer address her teacher as a peer or not. Unaware of Ashari’s magick, Aerin stuck close and did as told, her eyes scanning the debris for signs of Aeris and her nose sniffing for the scent of burnt flesh, checking to see (if she could smell it) which direction it might be coming from.

[Grey Wolf]

One common bit of knowledge might have slipped Ashari's mind, but Temple of Pecunia stood ready to negotiate contracts between people that were not only legally, but magically binding. The Goddess of Commerce herself watched over the terms of the contract and ensured the party who broke it paid the penalties in due time. They did not mind who the parties were, nor what the contract bound them to do, as long as the fee was paid they would prepare the parchment and cast the necessary spells.

Even before they entered, the girls could see that the Red Rose Guild was a ruin, the roof having collapsed the night before, when Ashtallion sucked the fire out and into the sky. The walls still stood and as they passed the front door, a pile of rubble stood before them. The entire structure had fallen, only the outer walls still standing, the weight of the stone breaking the inner beams weakened by the fire. They could easily climbed up on top of the pile, and even make they way across it, but finding a room would be impossible. Given her knowledge of the floorplan, Ashari could find a spot where a room had been, but from there they would need to clear the rubble by hand to reach the actual floor.

[Ashari]

The brunette sighed, looked skyward, and tried to collect herself following the shielding. Aerin's suggestion of the term 'mistress' settled onto Ashari's shoulders nicely. She liked that. It was less familiar than she'd been with Aeris. It was probably best to keep it as formal as possible so that Aerin might respect her the way that she had respected Thira. That was if she was even able to command that sort of authority over someone. However, considering she hadn't requested the title, it would appear that Aerin already held her in a certain esteem.

Ashari, having noted nothing was hanging perilously above her head, moved across the rubble with the ease of a cat. Feline grace, an attribute most charmingly inheritted from her mother, had been futhered by her own thiefy nature. The rogue moved from beam to beam and across the wooden planks as if they were even footing. Her left boot skidded over a wet patch from Ashtallion's waterworks of the night prior, but she skillfully caught her balance by lowering her body's center of gravity. "Ooh," she announced with surpise as she steadied herself. "Watch your step," Ashari commented as she raised herself from a semi-crouching position. "It's still a bit damp."

Her gray eyes searched as she pressed onward. Her body hugged close to the standing stone wall. With arm outstretched, her fingers just barely touched against the interior wall taking in the hard texture as she considered the footprint of the building and decided where it was most likely Aeris's remains were located. Guiding her feet along the path that was least-likely to collapse (or so she hoped) she kicked a small broken piece of wood and began chewing on her bottom lip. "Somewhere around here.. below this, was her room." She noted, and already Ashari was bent over and trying to move all the smallish bits of rubble and directing Aerin to help her as best she could considering her injury. "Maybe it'd be easier if I healed you first..." Ashari decided, as she glanced at the broken hand again.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

Aerin climbed around in the rubble behind Ashari, taking a knee once or twice as she slipped, the slung arm throwing off her balance by just a bit, every step taken with the lightest weight possible as not to crush whatever remained of Ashari’s fallen student. Not that it mattered much, for her body weight on tiptoes was pretty much her body weight when flat-footed, yet Aerin’s newfound affinity for Ashari led her to try anyway. Aerin could, for obvious reasons, smell the charred wood around her, but was thankful that (so far at least) excavating things from the Red Rose Guild was an above-ground task and lacked the oh-so-wonderful charms of a the flooded sewers of the Red Banner.

"Ooh, Watch your step, It's still a bit damp."

As if on cue, Aerin slipped a bit again as she nodded, her good hand rising up to brush a thick band of red locks from her face and tucking it behind one ear. Why did she never come dressed to do the odd things that life or fate sent her way? She had been wearing a shorter dress when trudging through sludge at the Banner, a tight dress when trying to help fight a fire, and now a thin white dress to go digging about in soot and ash. Perhaps I should just stick to…oooof…sackcloth… Aerin thought as she nearly lost her footing again. …but it would be my luck that the day I wore sackcloth is the day that the man of my…ooof…dammit….dreams comes waltzing by… Her thoughts were interrupted by Ashari’s voice.

"Somewhere around here.. below this, was her room."

Aerin nodded, decided that once more, her clothes were ruined, and proceeded to take as stable a seat as she could off to one side of the selected area so that she could help dig without falling further. She, like Ashari, began to pick through some of the pieces carefully as she looked for any sign of the dead girl.

"Maybe it'd be easier if I healed you first..."

“Whichever you think is best, Mistress…” Aerin replied, likeing the sound of the title on Ashari almost as much as Ashari did, most likely. Her emerald eyes catching the early light as she looked up at Ashari with a smile. “You and the other mage did quite a bit of work last night, however, and I am still a bit sore and tired from the little I did and my actions did not use a single strand of Aether.” Aerin glanced once at her hand and then back to Ashari. It is your choice in the end, Mistress, but I would ask you to save the healing for later and let yourself heal for a few marks before worrying about me. I shall be fine for a bit longer and all this hand would do is sit upon the rubble to hold me still anyway…”

The redhead gave another innocent smile and went back to her work, plucking at rubble until ordered to do otherwise.

[Ashari]

Aerin was probably right. Ashari had expended a lot of energy the night prior, and even today she was feeling the gentle tug of sleep upon weary eyes. It was best to save her magicking for the task at hand, and deal with Aerin's injury when it became necessary. For the moment, that wasn't the case.

"Alright... but if it gets in the way, or if it starts to be too much of a burden, then I'll be insisting on mending it." Ashari relented, even if she would've somewhat rathered relieving the redheads pain right then. Nimble fingers moved through the rubble and shifted about the wooden planks, shoving them this way or that, in the hopes of reaching what might be considered "bottom" of the great mess.

Licking her lips, Ashari gritted her teeth while pushing against a larger timber, sliding it from it's position to where she could continue to sift through the smaller boards and pieces of wall. In the mean time, while searching, she couldn't help an interest in conversation, both to keep the quiet away, and to learn more about her student. "So, Aerin. Tell me something about yourself." It would've been easier to ask her a specific question, such as how long she'd been in the Citadel, where she'd come from, what she wanted, or where she'd worked, but, Ashari was hardly one for the easy way.

[Grey Wolf]

The pile of debris they stood upon meant that it would be at least half a mark until the girls reached the floor, the absence of a ceiling making it fairly easy for them to dig for Aeris' remains. All they needed to do was throw the pieces of rocks and wood over the nearest wall and keep on going until the entire room was free of it. There was one particularly large chunk of rock that was certainly beyond their power to move, but it was leaned against a corner and they could steal clear out the space under it with a bit of effort. By the time the room was cleared they would both be smudged with soot and sweaty like a group of fat people bunched up in a hot, hot sauna.

OOC: Alright kids. You have fun here and yell if you need me. I'll pop in from time to time to add interesting tidbits when necessary.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

"So, Aerin. Tell me something about yourself."

Aerin smiled at her new teacher, having been just flickers away from asking Ashari that very same question herself. “Well…” she began, using her good hand to shift a bit more debris, tossing it away hard enough to not just create a deeper pile beside her, but not so hard that it damaged anything else – including her new mentor. “I am from a small…small community near the outskirts of Murrelbuck… I look like a typical lil’ farm girl, huh?” Aerin paused with a piece of rubble in her hand and batted her eyes at Ashari jokingly before chuckling and tossing the debris aside.

“Didn’t have much of an…uhh…life out there though”, Aerin continued as she pulled a resistant chunk out of its resting spot. “Momma loved her wine like Daddy loved Dominicus…” Aerin continued, correcting herself only mentally. Not true… Momma hated wine in the morningtide when her head was splitting…Daddy would take a painful shit and thank the One for the trial, praising him… “I studied at my father’s….request…” Aerin said, rolling her eyes at the last word, the sarcasm dripping from both syllables like the bloodied fangs of a venomous snake. “…to learn alchemy to heal Momma, but I also had to be Momma to my sisters and brothers when she’d pass out, so my magic knowledge is kind of.” Aerin’s good hand threw a chunk of debris as she spoke, the appendage lying flat in mid-air for a moment as she made a see-sawing ‘so-so’ motion. “Ehhhh..” she translated, verbally.

“Moved closer to people and met Ra…err…a man who I thought I loved.” The redhead continued, tossing a few more planks and stones aide. “But he…well…didn’t like a couple of things about me, and so our courtship ended.” Aerin paused in her digging and looked at Ashari. “Came out here to start over – make a new me, you know?” she asked, sadness in her eyes at the thought of losing even a part of the old ‘her’. “Like a rose trying to grow out of a shit pile, eh? Are you sure you want me? I’ll understand if you don’t, Mistress…” Aerin queried and confessed.

“Even if you don’t, I will help you dig still – might I know a little about you now?”

[Ashari]

The magelet listened quietly, but attentively, to Aerin's description of her past. It was a shame her homelife had been so lack-luster, but that was often the case especially when alcohol was introduced. It was nice to have the emptiness of the task filled with conversation, and as the redhead talked, Ash only looked up occassionally, when required, spending the remainder of the time excavating the rubble, mindful of any sign of remains, as well as some of the other things which she was searching for, including, but not limitted to Aeris's belongs... particularly that which she'd been granted by the University of Magick. One could never tell when such items would be of use.

"Murrelbuck... that woud've made us enemies, once upon a time," she commented, but there was no sting to the words. Infact, Ashari cared little for the isses of the West, particularly of late. "My family lived outside of King's Court," she went on to explain. "Just a few marks from the city by horse, not a bad travel at all. My father was in the military and also a follower of the One, though.. not strictly, if he had been he wouldn't have ended up with my mother. She was what most Dominicans would call a witch, but really, she just knew herbs and how to use them." There was a reminiscent smile on her face, quickly masked by rubbing her nose as if to remove some tickle that wasn't infact present. She busied herself with moving a piece of wood while she continued. "I had brothers, no sisters, but I was the youngest, so no mothering from me. If anything, they spent their time protecting me, especially from the farm boys.

"I miss them, but only when asked of them. It's been a long time," she didn't elaborate on when or why she left, or what might've caused her not to talk to them anymore. "I was in King's Court when the orcish raids began, and made a good many friends while winning the good fight." Ashari had been a reluctant hero, but a hero none-the-less. "Including Iorn Thalas, much like you, he was my first love." The brunette grunted against moving a lodged log, but when it didn't shift she decided it was better off where it was, and instead busied herself with another. "But, again much like you, it didn't turn out the way I had expected.

"I had a private tutor in mindcrafting while there, but departed her training by way of leaving the country - continent, even, to come here, with Iorn then, for us to start fresh. The Citadel seems to attract people looking to start over, even our Caesar came from elsewhere, no doubt for similar reasons." Here she paused to wipe her brow, and in the process, smudged more soot across her face. "If I didn't want you, Aerin, I wouldn't have asked. Keep digging."

Ashari kicked a small piece of wood with enthusiasm, and watched it sail through the air. She'd considered stopping it in mid-flight, and taking a moment to teach the girl next to her something, or at the very least show-off, but she thought better of it. "I made friends here, too... and helped in the destruction of a demon. I suppose that secured me a certain staying power in the capital. That was how I met Lord Alrul, the adhiel I was with last night. I should like him to assist me in training you, if he manages the time. He is destined for greatness. An Archmage in the making, it would do you well to spend some time with him, as well as some others I know. Though.. there are some other people I might like you to meet first.

"But, those are all things to consider later," she said. "For now, tell me what your man didn't like about you."

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

Like Ashari, Aerin kept her eyes primarily focused on the task at hand and her ears focused on the conversation as Ashari spoke of her own upbringing and training. It was interesting getting to know Ashari like this – not since Rat had she ever really sat down and talked to anyone for any length of time – it was indeed a nice change of pace from the bubble of silent small talk which had surrounded her for so long.

"Including Iorn Thalas, much like you, he was my first love. But, again much like you, it didn't turn out the way I had expected.”

Aerin nodded at the similarities. It was nice to have met someone from a somewhat similar background who, like Aerin, could give two shits and a fuck about global politics when it came to warring countries and hating someone just because the rulers told you to hate them. Aerin listened intently as Ashari spoke of mindcrafting, making note of her teacher’s training in the arts and how powerful the other woman had become, recalling the mass effect that Aerin, herself, had been trapped in for a time. Aerin heaved a few stones toward the wall and pondered the risks of lying to Ashari about anything, whether or not it broke their contract.

"I made friends here, too... and helped in the destruction of a demon. I suppose that secured me a certain staying power in the capital.”

Aerin’s eyebrows climbed up out of the hollow hole she had been digging on, followed by her eyes at first and then the rest of her face. A demon? The redhead stared at Ashari in disbelief, the other woman’s words flowing in a smooth rumbling mumble in Aerin’s ears for a flicker or two as Aerin pictured her new mentor downing a demon – even with help.

…there are some other people I might like you to meet first. But, those are all things to consider later, For now, tell me what your man didn't like about you."

Aerin forced herself to blink, wondering what she had missed during her little stroll down fantasy lane. Meeting people did intrigue her, as Ashari had spoken of Aerin falling under the care of those Ashari had trusted but, as Ashari had clearly said, the people that Aerin was to meet were of less concern to the mindcrafter than the one that Aerin had already met.

Rat. She wanted to know what Rat hated. Aerin looked back into the hole and bit her lip in thought, cursing herself for accidentally placing such a fat worm on the hook in the conversation like that. Aerin looked back at Ashari a flicker or two later, now picturing herself in the demon’s shoes, withering under the sheer force of Ashari’s power as Aerin imagined it. Ashari could have been smiling and looking at Aerin with sympathy and understanding, but all Aerin could see in her mind were Ashari’s eyes narrowed to slits daring the redhead to utter even the smallest false truth.

“Well…” Aerin began, dislodging a good section of tinder which had what looked to be some type of charred cloth attached to it. “Have you ever…ugh!” Aerin began, using her good hand alone to turn the timber end over end off to the side like a miniature, seated version of the caber toss, probably kicking up a nice plume of ash and soot all over herself in the process. After a couple of small coughs, she tried again. “Have you ever tried to please someone by guessing what they wanted…and find that you guessed completely wrong?” The question was rhetorical, but Aerin used the pause behind it o buy herself some time to think of some good wording for her answer, something that did not amount to a flat out murder confession, lest someone outside the walls should hear her.

“Rat and his men were thugs, to put it bluntly. Brutes. They were the men that were called when shady deals were broken and small tabs grew into large ones with no signs of repayment.” She heaved another timber, thankfully a short one, and continued. “You know… the kind that you couldn’t go to the guard about. I mean, these deals were most often the kind of deals where the dealer would get into as much trouble or more for doing the deal in the first place – either that or things like a tab at a tavern…small stuff that the guards would just shrug off as the bartender’s fault for trusting people…” Aerin gave a small smile as she heaved another handful, despite the motion jarring her broken hand as she threw.

“Convincers… That’s what they called themselves, because it was their job to convince deadbeats to pay their bills. My mom was one of those deadbeats.” Aerin gave a small frown at the thought of her mother, possibly still racked out on her bed, her breath reeking of the cheapest ale that wheat had ever turned itself into. Aerin looked at Ashari once more. “Oh, she is still alive, I assume – Rat and his men did not touch a hair on her head at my insistence, but they did buy themselves a pretty little toy for the price of a bar tab.” Slut… yes that sounds far better than murderer… Aerin chided herself with words embedded in the thick ice of sarcasm.

Another piece of rubble sailed through the air, the hole before her seeming just as shallow as it had been during Ashari’s conversation. Aerin could only imagine how much infinitely slower the task would be had they not been talking as a form of mental distraction. With that thought and the fading, but still present, image of an angry Ashari, Aerin continued her tale. “I liked what they did, mind you, and I was not taken by force or anything. It was a deal and nothing more. I came up with the proposal, but it was Rat’s hand which had planted the seed when he had looked me up and down and muttered ‘With a creature like this, I bet that we could make most marks’…that is what they called their targets…’walk right up to us for their reminders…’.

“I hated being a mother so young…hated having to study to be what my father wanted me to be – granted, alchemy is a fine art, but I would rather love it out of a will to love it and not an order to. I also hated my small community – much like you, I was damn near the only thing around with breasts that had not also had a baby suckle on them at least once, and I had no older brothers to scare them off.” Aerin threw another rock, harder this time, her eyes narrowed in painful memory.

“No rapes or seductions though – not that I would have minded – my father kept such a close eye on me that if I even smiled while relieving myself, he would want to know why. So I had to escape and Rat was that means.” Despite her talk of escape from pain, Aerin’s body language and the gradually intensifying ferocity of her digging spoke of mounting anger and frustration surrounding memories even more jaded. “We went further into Murrelbuck, where Rat and the rest called ‘home’ and they began to teach me a bit of their trade as I began to fill my role as bait. Oh, Mistress…” Aerin said, her voice softening for just a flicker or two. “What they did for a living was so….steamy and dark for me… That thrill of knowing that what they were doing was so…wrong…that it felt soooo right…. The perfect rebellion for me, at the time.” The flickers of softness ended abruptly, bitterness clawing at the doughy, sweetened edges until only the rough, corroded edges of raw emotion remained, evident from the first words out of her mouth.

“Or…at least… so I thought…” Another chunk of debris went sailing, the emotion behind the throw making Aerin imagine Rat’s unprotected face waiting nearby to catch the refuse as it fell. “Oh I was good enough ‘bait’ all right… Pretending to be interested in these dregs…the marks…just to lure them back to an alley or empty house or something in their hopes of pounding into a warm body only to have them discover Rat and the others with the same thought on their minds…pounding on a nice warm body, that is…” Aerin picked up another piece of debris and studied it for a flicker as if seeing some aspect of herself in it. She tossed it aside a few flickers later and looked at Ashari once more.

“I wanted to do what they did… I was so angry back then…so tired of fathers of some sort having to watch over me… I needed to let it out before it ate me up inside. Rat, of course, did not know that he was a part of it…” She tossed another chunk and growled in frustration, her inner demons still alive and well within her no matter how well she normally kept them buried. “You asked me what he didn’t like about me? There were two things, really. We were at a Panling orgy once – I was not his alone, nor was he mine – but one thing led to another and I found myself in the arms of another woman for the first time…and I loved it almost as much as he hated it…” Piece after piece flew in rapid succession.

“Oh he had no quarrel with me whatsoever about giving my body to a man, but when he told me that I was not allowed to define my own tastes…well, that is when I reached my breaking point and demanded that I be allowed to ‘convince’ the next female mark on my own. He, like an idiot, honored my request.” Another hefty timber found itself ripped free with ease and sent to a new location as Aerin fumed.

“Of course, for as much as I had learned from Rat and the others on how to make people ‘see my way of thinking’, the girl just haaaad to be a pain in my ass. Didn’t do as she was told and, even after the first few fingers were broken, kept refusing to pay what was due or to come with me to deliver her to her creditor as contracted.” Aerin was so angry that she seemed to almost border on tears, Ashari’s image just a blur in her eyesight as she finished her tale.

“When Rat found me…us…I had gone too far in my rage and my desire to please both Rat and myself.” A soot-covered hand rose to wipe her eyes, twin crescents of black appearing on her cheeks as moisture mixed with ash. “He found me…alone…so to speak…and he really did not like that. That was the last time I ever saw him, as I was Citadel-bound just as soon as I could be.”

Aerin attempted to lift a heavy chunk upward and managed to brush against her injured hand in the process of lobbing it onto the growing pile of debris, the jolt jarring her as a physical reminder of her failures. “New town…new me…same mistakes over and over…” Aerin sighed, looking at her hand and then at Ashari. “I am sorry about rambling on…” she apologized. “’The way I wore my hair’ was probably the answer you were expecting, wasn’t it, Mistress?”

A weak chuckle followed, a small sniffle following that as Aerin lapsed into silence, allowing Ashari a turn, the redhead’s smile feeling out of place among her inner pains as the memories stabbed at her heart. Somehow the release of her tale had been rather cathartic and the thoughts of Ashari chiding her for her actions were far from her mind as she sighed almost peacefully and resumed the digging.

OOC: Sorry for her rambling...lol...tiny bit miffed, she is.

[Ashari]

Where, in Aerin's words, the redhead found inspiration for digging and renewed enthusiasm in the task, Ashari found herself paused at length, listening with rapt attention as the young woman recounted her tale. She suddenly felt somewhat bad about asking, and worse for having not told whole-truths in her own monologue of her past. Guilt was easily replaced with keen interest, however, at the varied and extremely corrupted nature of the people the young woman had been exposed to at such a young age. It had shaped her into what she was today, and Ashari realized that she was somewhat unstable. However, stablity, like many other things, could be taught. Aerin had in her the makings of someone who would be very useful and Ashari was hardly one to toss away something that gave the distinct impression of being helpful.

Ashari needed all the help she could get these days.

As the girl continued, the mage attempted to busy herself with mundane movements, but her attention was still securely on her student even if her eyes weren't. It wasn't until the allusions toward murder that Ash found herself watching the pupil's movements once again. Calculating and discerning their meaning, her gray eyes shifted over her disheveled form. She didn't look like a killer. It made her all the more dangerous. It also made her all the more interesting. She had potential to do things many people, especially women, could not.

Humans, like animals, the mage had found, were shaped much from that which surrounded them. Aerin might've considered herself a rose growing from manuer, but, it was all the shit that gave her the power, and the audacity, to be such a beauty. Sure, she could've stayed, she could've been exactly what Rat had wanted her to be, but then she wouldn't have been given the oppertunity to shine that Ashari was going to offer her.

It was the bare and exposed honesty that Aerin provided which made the brunette positive of this, and also sure that in Aerin she would be able to make a proper woman who would do great and important things. Aerin was going to have sway... a sway she'd not ever experienced. She'd fled persecution just as Ashari had. It gave them a common understanding. Ashari had also fled a man, Mazus Rainsong, a captain of the guard in King's Court, but that was a past that she rather not remember. It was perhaps this, or the softness that overcame the fiery redhead, that made for Ashari to feel much closer to the girl.

Pushing herself off the pile of destruction, Ash moved closer to her and offered the warm embrace that Aerin had attempted only a short time before. As she pulled away (when appropriate) supple fingers wrapped around her upper arms, holding the girl within close range in a grasp that portrayed both comfort and insistance. "Demons only have power over you if you let them," she said slowly, her eyes clearly focussed into Aerin's. "The first step is knowing their name. Learn your demons names, and they will be easy to overcome." There was, of course, a very dynamic double-meaning. Ashari had battled not only her personal demons, but also those from the Nether itself.

She took in a deep breath through her nose and then released the apprentice from her grasp, turning away swiftly and continuing to dig. "What couldn't he have liked about your hair, anyway?" she added her own retort to the joke, light laughter slipping from her full lips. "Well.. that is to say.. as long as he weren't to see it now, as it's rather a mess," she grinned. Ashari's hair wasn't looking much better in all honesty, but she didn't mind, nor did she realize.

As the laughter subsided, Ash continued to dig, but didn't ask any more questions, yet. Instead, she chose to point out a few things. It was with a bit of reluctance. "While... we're digging... I ought to mention. Aeris's body. She-" Now that Aeris was deceased, she figured it unlikely that her secret needed to be kept, but there was a thing to be said for retaining someone's confidence. "Do you know what a swan-maiden is?"

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

The hug was unexpected, as was the pep talk – as it were – about the names of demons. Aerin nodded in silent reply, enjoying the moment while it lasted, relieved to have the burden of some of her demons released even if only through speaking about them.

"What couldn't he have liked about your hair, anyway? Well.. that is to say.. as long as he weren't to see it now, as it's rather a mess,"

Aerin shrugged and laughed as well, partly from Ashari’s own hypocrisy about hair and partly because Rat had once nicknamed her ‘Candle’ and swore to extinguish her flames in a very pleasurable manner – but had never gotten the chance – and so Aerin forced a few laughs his way to stave off depressing thoughts. “Well, knowing him, I am sure that he would rather see it fanned out upon a pillow and drenched in sweat than used as an ashtray…” Aerin laughed, dusting out her hair a little and noting how the soot had turned some sections white and others as black as coal. Her eyes moved back to the hole she was digging momentarily and the thought of how much work had to be done made her smile in a strange way, imagining herself bathing in the ocean later and a thick black mark of soot from her body marking the beach nearby from the tide.

"While... we're digging... I ought to mention. Aeris's body. She-“

Will be crushed and possibly burned… If she’s naked, cover her up… I know… Aerin interjected, remembering the lost dignity of the two women at the Banner ruins. She was unsure as to why Ashari had to think her ill-prepared for such findings.

"Do you know what a swan-maiden is?"

Aerin stopped digging and looked up at her teacher with a raised eyebrow. The question was certainly not what the redhead had been expecting, nor was it one that she could have answered under other circumstances. Slowly, she shook her head ‘no’.

“I am assuming that it is not just a title, correct?” Aerin asked, her eyes returning to the rubble momentarily and wondering just what kind of creature lay beneath their feet.

[Ashari]

"No, not just a title. It's just - I mean," she sighed out deeply and a plume of smoky soot and dust lifted off the plank she was moving. "I promised her, once, that her secret was safe with me, but I just wanted to warn you... because when we find her, she may not look like a woman. Infact, she might not look like a swan, either... but could be something in-between. It depends on what happened before her death. I believe that she was asleep when the poisons got to her," Ash shook her head. "Which would likely make her in human form," she realized she wasn't doing a very good job of explaining anything about this. "Swanmaidens," she began, "are a sort of mythical creature. But, they aren't a myth at all... they are as real as any other magickal being some assume to be the work of only stories. Half of their time is spent in the form of a human woman - beautiful and wonderful, and the other half spent as a swan. Their grace is astounding... and sometimes (I've only seen it once myself) they become something that's neither a swan nor a woman, but something that is the most beautiful woman you've ever seen with wings of the purist white." Her eyes took on the distant quality of one reaching into memories. She was trying to describe it. "There is this great... white.. light about them."

A half-smile and then she was shaking her head. "You would've been enchanted by her, as was everyone who met her. The Queen of Amun Rah captured her once," she snickered. "But she got away, clever little thing. I wish she'd been clever enough to get away from this mess." Ashari tossed some more pieces out of the way as their excavation continued. "I believe the King of Amun Rah was a little bit in love with her... she did too, but he'd never admit to it." It could've been wonderful. Aeris would've made a joyous companion for Ionis, and he would've taken great comfort in her company. So different from Isis. Aeris never schemed, she just was.

"You would've gotten along." The brunette continued her unearthing quietly.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

Aerin listened to Ashari’s description of the Swanmaiden race, her eyebrows furrowed in supposed concentration on her work, an act primarily to keep her right eyebrow from forming its usual follicle-woven question mark of disbelief. Her look did soften at the mentioning of the wings, vague memories of her dreams as a child involving her own set of wings – perhaps she had heard of the creatures in passing and, once upon a time, wished that she was one.

And here she was taking the place of one…

"You would've been enchanted by her, as was everyone who met her. The Queen of Amun Rah captured her once, But she got away, clever little thing. I wish she'd been clever enough to get away from this mess."

Aerin once again pressed her brows together as she continued to dig for Aeris, her pace renewed not due to the emotional bond that Ashari had shared with the woman, but the sheer curiosity of what the creature…the woman she corrected herself… would look like when unearthed.

"I believe the King of Amun Rah was a little bit in love with her... she did too, but he'd never admit to it."

“Are you going to send her to him?” Aerin interjected, her voice kept low for Ashari’s sake. “If he loved her as you say, surely he would want her grave to be close to his own…or his tears to douse the flames of her pyre…or whatever they do over there…” Aerin certainly did not want the body delivered to the thugs who had been overseeing the excavation of the Red Banner. Those bastards wouldn’t care if she shit rays of solid sunshine… Aerin thought, remembering the callous natures of the ones she had met. From the way that Aeris speaks of her, she deserves better than that…she certainly deserved better than this…

"You would've gotten along."

“I think you are right… Perhaps your new venture, or part of it, should be named after her, in her honor.” Aerin said, feeling a lump growing in her throat for a woman that she had never met. “As long as people live on in our memories, they can never truly die, right?”

At those words, she doubled her efforts, all curiosity of Aeris’ form fading as the desire to let Ashari gaze one final time upon her friend’s face overtook her. Aerin, like Ashari, lapsed into silence as she worked at clearing Aeris’ rubble-strewn grave.

[Grey Wolf]

The violence with which the building had collapsed was what made Aeris' and Ashari's work much easier than they could have been, the backlash of air that followed Ashtallion's extraction of fire crushing the beams almost into kindling. It was the pieces of rock that proved more difficult, the smaller pieces held firmly by the quality mortar used in the building's construction. A hammer or perhaps a pick would have made the girls' work much easier, but sadly they had neither of those readily available. They made nice progress, reaching the back of an overturned wardrobe that had tumbled over in the collapse of the building, mere foot and a half standing between them and what had once been the floor. As of yet, there was no sign of Aeris' body, broken pieces of the swanmaiden's belongings emerging from the rubble here and there. Another mark's work would be needed for the room to be relatively cleaned of the rubble, and enable the pair to examine the rooms in detail. Sun was slowly rising into the sky, though it would be some time before the day became hot and troublesome.

[Ashari]

"I think I'd very much like to send her back home, yes. There was a boy there... Jin, who she cared for. I'm sure he'd want to know what happened to her as well. I believe she'd been sending him letters, but I never pushed the subject. It seemed she missed him." How easily Aeris was appreciated was one of the reasons she was going to make a wonderful companion. If only they'd had the time, perhaps she could've been somewhere safer and this wouldn't have happened. "And her priestess," she sighed. Aeris was so young and she'd had so many ideas of what she wanted to do with her life. "She, too, would want some peace."

Ashari could feel the heat of the morning already pressing against her shoulders. She felt good. Even here, in this pile of rubble, digging for the remains of her comrade, she felt at peace. It was gratifying for her to be amidst the earthen remains, feeling through the ash, the softness of it mixing with her sweat. After a bit of digging she stood up and stretched, her shoulders shifting and rolling, before taking the oppertunity to tie her hair back again, as it had become bothersome in it's loseness.

Standing back, and watching Aerin for a moment, she realized they were getting close. "We're almost to the bottom," she said surely. The back of the wardrobe, turned over and hiding it's contents, was fairly remarkable. It meant most everything in it was likely protected aside from the chance at some water-damage. Aeris; have been a good girl, and please have put away your pretty magick things. It was worth hoping for. There was also her precious book. That atleast was going to be worth something if it was intact. It held the secrets of swanmaidens. She was still unsure, however, what she would do with it if found. Ashari didn't want to exploit Aeris's memory, but one had to do what one had to do.

And so, Ashari returned to digging. Using one of the larger pieces of wood and a rock as prybar/pivot/lever she attempted moving any larger pieces of wood and stone which prevented their further excavation. She wedged it beneath and pressed her weight (first cautiously) down on the wood to shift pieces as necessary. It would've been better if it was a piece of metal, but at the moment, she was content to use what she had available while continuing to distribute the kindling.

As the digging continued, Ashari coerced her useful piece of wood beneath the wardrobe and used one of the medium sized rocks as pivot. "Aerin," she called. "Come here and sit on this - gently. Don't like, throw yourself on it or anything..." Her spirits were already returning in her joking manner. When it was possible, she counted. "One, two... three." With the addition of Aerin's body weight she hoped to overturn the wardrobe by pushing it herself as well. Then the interior contents could be sifted through.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

Aerin nodded and continued to shift smaller rocks about as best she could with one hand, her concerns for Ashari’s well-being after a night of strong magick outweighing her own needs at the moment, nodding as Ashari spoke of Aeris’ friends and family. The headless girl at the Red Banner had no-one but Aerin to tell her tale over the spot where she had shuffled off the mortal coil and Aerin had not said much, choosing instead to loot the girl’s body for the bracelet and a few bites of forbidden flesh – hardly as heartfelt an epitaph as Ashari was giving Aeris. And what of the eyeless girl that Morgan had discovered? Again, no sentiments or plans for her body aside from a cold glance and something akin to an “Eh…nothing here but another body.”

Aerin felt shallow. Very shallow, her mind cursing her for being nothing but a petty thief in that tomb, her eyes blinded to her work but her hands still moving until Ashari’s change of subjects broke through the clouds. Her eyes lifted to view Ashari as the other woman put her pry bar into place, rising as Ashari gave instructions in the form of a requested favor.

Aerin looked at the pry bar, at Ashari, and then back at the pry bar, giving a small shrug and a chuckle of her own as she approached the pry bar and turned her back on the wardrobe. She was no seer, but she had played on enough felled logs with her siblings as a child to know what happened when the weight was suddenly let off of the other end and she had no desire to be dropped to her rump – or onto her broken hand – by sitting side-saddle and being off-balance. A second chuckle escaped her lips as the kicked one foot over and straddled the board, memories of how uncomfortable she had been when both inserting and removing the bag with the bracelet in it coming to mind as her ‘womanly treasures’ came in contact with the wood, albeit with the padding of her undergarments and whatever bits of her skirt that managed to stay trapped between herself and the pry bar.

“The things you do for me that are above and beyond…” she mumbled to her vagina as she gripped the pry bar with her one good hand and bent her knees, bringing her body weight down as requested. “…remind me to give you a treat later – or at least a break…” Her vagina monologues concluded, she turned her head toward Ashari and raised her voice back to a normal speaking level. “Why don’t you go down and lift at the wardrobe? Maybe warn me if I’m about to be seeing stars, okay?” She would push her weight down as requested, when requested.