Citrine
Approved
6 Wild Blooded Sorcerer+ 1 Celestial Warlock
Posts: 328
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Post by Citrine on Mar 24, 2019 0:02:19 GMT
Before she knew what was happening Citrine had an armful of crying Pip. Barely heard muffled words between the cries had the phoenix shushing and cooing to the frazzled and distraught elven girl. Her wings cocooned around her instinctively, as she did with anyone else she was comforting, and ran her hand through her hair - fighting down her own irritation and annoyance towards the eladrin to settle her young 'ward'.
"Aye, naen' o' tha' nae Pip." Inside the cocoon was a definite burnt smell. "Ef teh Captain says Aye'm nae ta burn anything, then Aye won't be burnin' anything." Her hand moved to rest on Pip's shoulder while the second one brushed away tears. There was no mage hand. "Nae - et's also nae ye fault en teh slightest. We were goin' tae ah circus! Tha's grand! Nae way tae knae et was this sort. Jugglin', horsemenship, acrobatics - Aye, tha's what we were expectin'. Can't be upset o'er somethin' we didn't knae about."
She lifted Pip's chin up now with the hand that had been running in her hair. "Aye'm fine. Takes ah'lut moar than ah single collar tae keep me chained down." She grinned, keeping the details and specifics of how close she'd come to being 'a lost cause' and her throat slit while she was unconscious to herself. "Sure they tried, but Aye gave 'em ah good fight. All's well." Her wings soured a bit as she spoke, the Firebird not having stolen that aspect of her magic in any way. But Pip had never been around Citrine when she tried to lie, as far as the phoenix knew. The sour persisted even as Citrine ruffled Pip's hair in an bid to continue to settle the child.
"Ye did well fetchin' everyone as quick as ye did though, instead o' trying tae find where they'd lured me tae. Ye must 'ave covered teh forest path quicker than Thea's winds!" She chuckled through a slightly pained grin, wondering what would have happened had they been a bit quicker and Orin not been with them. She could have nicked a potion from her room, gotten dressed all fancy as you please, and joined Orin in the Dockside, and her date night wouldn't have been ruined. Her Captain would have been upset still, she would have been late regardless... but at least she would have been able to show up - and see her Lass in a dress. Talking with Pip hadn't siphoned off all of her simmering anger, but it had helped. But it did nothing to help the hurt. Only a potent bottle of whiskey she had in her trunk would help numb that pain tonight.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 24, 2019 4:51:23 GMT
Citrine’s hand in her hair felt nice, really nice, and Pip relaxed a little, relieved as well by Citrine’s promise that it wasn’t her fault, she couldn’t have known, and that Citrine didn’t blame her.
And – then Citrine praised her for going so quickly. Pip wanted to accept the praise; she did. She wanted more than anything to have gone quick enough, but she hadn’t, and she knew it, and she couldn’t let it go.
“But I didn’t,” Pip looked at Citrine, eyes wide. She wasn’t sobbing anymore, but tears were still glittering in the bottom of her eyes, and rolling every so often out and down her cheeks, making yet more trails in the dirt. Snot glistened in her nose as well, and she sniffled.
“I tried – I tried to go back right away,” Pip promised, shaking. “But – I did try to find you only I got scared, I went into the woods, and I found Hopebringer and she told me to run and I – it was dark and I – I got lost,” A fresh bout of tears welled up. “And I couldn’t help it, I was hiding and I fell asleep, I – I didn’t mean to,” Pip cried. “I’m sorry, Citrine, I’m sorry!”
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Citrine
Approved
6 Wild Blooded Sorcerer+ 1 Celestial Warlock
Posts: 328
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Post by Citrine on Mar 24, 2019 5:05:21 GMT
Citrine listened, and the more she did, the more her temper was snuffed as confusion and concern took their hold. Her wings drooped from the cocoon she had around the two of them until they too were lying on the ground as if a sort of discarded blanket. Her raptor eyes bored into Pip's top of head as she comprehended, slightly, what the girl was saying.
"…..Lass….. Pip…." She'd begin. Slowly. "How… how did ye do all tha' en teh amount… o' time… between nae an' when we were separated." She spoke slowly, more for her own benefit then for any insult meant towards Pip, working through the potential 'what ifs' of what her statement of apology could possibly mean. A hint of carefully constructed 'not panicking' tone in her voice. Loosing time. It was something that had greatly affected her and was, perhaps, one of the few fears she had. Third worst fear, really, next to dying for good and the fear of the same happening to both Orin and Holly. Time. Losing it. Missing it. Being someplace where, without her knowledge and consent, it passed by differently than she herself knew it to. Fourth was her magic being taken from her.
It might have seemed insulting because of it, asking about the time vs anything else Pip had actually said - about being lost, sleeping in the woods, being scared in the dark. It was as if the firebird didn't care about any of those scenarios and was instead focusing, as she said, on time.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 24, 2019 7:47:17 GMT
Pip was still crying. She wiped her runny nose on her sleeve; she knew she wasn’t supposed to, and usually she never would, but the tunic was so dirty that honestly Pip didn’t think it would make any difference.
Citrine sounded so confused, and Pip didn’t understand at all. She hiccupped, trying to get herself under control enough to speak, trembling still.
“I – well – “ Pip didn’t know what to say. “It – w-we aren’t that far from town,” Pip said, finally, tears drying up as she tried to explain an answer to a question she didn’t half-understand. “I mean, I was lost last night and then I woke up this morning and it in the day but it wasn’t so bad but it – it still look me a long time to get back to Waterdeep but I found the wall and from there I got to the gate and then – then I had to find Thea so – it all took a while,” Pip’s lower lip trembled again.
Hopebringer rose up slowly on the stage, the uppermost part of her body lifting off from where she had been laying, swaying slowly back and forth, settling down so her head was roughly of a height with Citrine and Pip, the rest of her still coiled on the ground. Her wings fluttered, once, more as part of the shift than any independent movement, then lay flat against her back. Her tongue flickered out, tasting the air, her golden gaze fixed on Citrine.
‘You were petrified for a day, Citrine,’ Hopebringer’s mental voice would echo in everyone’s mind, soft and somehow soothing.
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Citrine
Approved
6 Wild Blooded Sorcerer+ 1 Celestial Warlock
Posts: 328
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Post by Citrine on Mar 25, 2019 1:52:33 GMT
Citrine sat there, stunned a moment.
"Oh fookin' 'ell."
It made a lot more sense now, that was for sure. Orin's displeasure at the whole thing. Why she would say she'd been a bit hungover. She'd missed their date. And on top of that? It seemed Pip had sent herself into a tizzy and gotten lost in the woods. No wonder Thea seemed as miffed as she did.
Citrine let herself fall backwards, wings and back landing in the dirt without a care in the world. Because, right now? She didn't. She closed her eyes and pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes with a heavy groan. "Pipperonichie, by teh Sea, ye're gonna be teh death o' me one day." Her getting lost, dragging the others out back to the circus. She'd been responsible for the lass - being tricked and caged a mute point in her book. The realization set in further, more details were making sense - the 'quickly cleared out' circus crowd being high on the list.
The day couldn't get any worse.
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 25, 2019 11:53:47 GMT
Once again Citrine was referred to as a phoenix. But what was a phoenix? A moody bird person that shot fire as far as he could tell. Still, maybe it was the way the people from Waterdeep talked about harpies. Though harpies didn't change colors and set things on fire right? Can't say he had had any contact with harpies to be able to tell for sure, it was mostly tales. The satyr though, he only had the faintest idea what he was but he was concerned more with what he was not: An absolute nuisance at the moment. He liked that. At least he came forth regarding the basilisk and confirmed what he thought. It had to be eye contact, it wasn't enough that he should look at you. Good, then maybe he could kill him without looking.
When the Pip show started, Arioch didn't really stop it. He had been meaning to have a word with the half-elf but for now she seemed like she had some things to get off her chest. All the better she shed her tears now and cried out her lamentations. For afterwards, when it was time to talk to him, she would be dry of such needs, and wouldn't be as emotional. It was a natural thing, as much as it was to bleed from a wound. While he would have berated Pip for showing cowardice while being a warrior, something that also hit pretty close to home for him, she wasn't. He felt it was excusable. But that was the problem: She wasn't a warrior and she had been running along getting in the way and being an extra weight that Thea had had to lift, seemingly.
Then, after Citrine's last statement Arioch felt the moment was right and walked forward calling to her attention simply by standing there, and he spoke firmly enough to be heard clearly across the area.
"That is the problem Pip."
Arioch said
"You're far too young and far too veak to be doing anything else other than getting in the vay. Citrine might have died because you fell asleep and took one day to find us. She didn't. But she could have. Or she could have been spirited avay from the continent in a slave ship never to be seen again. It is not only that you took one day to find us, but then instead of staying at your parent's house you decided to vaste the time I spent taking you there and came back here in clear defiance of vhat ve told you. Vhat vere you thinking? Vhat did you think you could possibly contribute to vhat vas going on here? Did you feel they could use an extra hostage to use against us, should I be vinning too quickly? You know, to keep things fair? This is no joke Pip. Vere you thinking at all? You can't vield a sword to save your life, least of all to save another. And here you are telling Citrine you're sorry, like it vould make things better. It von't. Don't be sorry. Be better. You're dead veight."
He stated ruthlessly and down to the point with the usual honesty that characterized Arioch whenever he talked about something with passion.
"But you don't have to be."
Arioch stated then and stared her down
"I can teach you how to use a sword properly, or at least, a dagger given your veight and height. Hopefully even a light crossbow, something that vould allow you the opportunity to be far avay if a conflict starts and still contribute to it. But at least you von't be completely helpless. And next time you're going to appear in the middle of a fight. Tell me about it."
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 25, 2019 13:06:41 GMT
Pip looked wide-eyed at Citrine at the new attempt at her name, then, shyly, knelt down and leaned in close to whisper into Citrine’s ear. “Piparatithwen,” she confessed, guiltily, a little bit of red spreading over her cheeks. It was clear she hoped that learning her real name might cheer Citrine up a little bit; she didn’t think it could make things worse, given how upset Citrine already looked.
Arioch spoke, and Pip jumped back up to her feet, taking a half-step back from Citrine and turning to look at the gladiator she admired so much. His initial words fell like a stone onto her heart, dropping her lower and lower into herself. At first, Pip had seemed like she wanted to argue, shifting and almost opening her mouth once or twice. Then, slowly, as Arioch’s words sank in, her head lowered, her shoulders hunched in, and the normally bright-eyed and bubbly half-elf looked thoroughly cowed, shrinking in on herself until she looked half her (not very great) age. If she hadn’t cried out so many tears onto Citrine already, not to mention the near-ocean that had soaked Thea several times earlier in the night, Pip might well have started sobbing again. By the time he called her dead weight, Pip was thoroughly in agreement with Arioch, and utterly miserable about it.
Thea started at the term dead weight, her eyes wide. She wasn’t sure what she thought of what Arioch was saying. He was right that Pip shouldn’t have come; it had been stupid and, worse than stupid, dangerous. Thea suspected now that the fighting had been over since long before she’d come down from the hill – but she hadn’t known that then. Having to sit (literally) on Pip had delayed her at least half an hour, and that might have made the difference in the fight. On the other hand, she thought it was unfair for Arioch to blame Pip for taking so long to get back to the city; Pip had done her best there, and she had done the right thing in trying to get back, even if she hadn’t succeeded.
Thea knew all too well what it was like to be unable to save someone; she hadn’t been much older than Pip then either, and her heart ached a little for the guilt she knew Pip was feeling.
His next sentence would perk Pip up immensely; the promise that she could be more clearly cheered her, and she jerked upright, straightening and looking wide-eyed at Arioch. “You can? You will?” Pip only hesitated a moment, before nodding in firm acceptance. “I’ll learn and I’ll be better,” she promised, rather than apologize. “I’ll – I won’t be dead weight again.” The weight on the term dead weight in her voice would suggest just how deeply she’d taken the criticism to heart.
Pip would turn to Thea next, looking a little guilty again. “Thea, I – I’m sorry I was so much trouble,” she paused. “I mean, I’ll try not to be so much trouble again.” She looked back at Arioch, wide-eyed, as if hoping for his approval, then owned up fully. “Thea would have been here earlier if not for me,” she confessed, small-voiced – as if he needed another weapon against her! But her innate, childish honesty wouldn’t let her get away with any less, and anyway the truth was like a weight lifting off her.
Thea hesitated, a very long moment. Her natural instinct was to tell Pip it was okay, she’d tried, it wasn’t her fault – except, of course, some of it was. Not coming to the circus – Thea blamed Citrine for that, and the night Pip had spent in the woods. But the choice to come back? That was on Pip. “Come here,” Thea said, instead, opening her arms. Pip flung herself all the way across the stage and dived in for a hug. Thea held her close, kissing her head. “Being better sounds like a good start.” Actually, Thea felt a good start would be a hot meal at home followed by a very full night of sleep, but – after that, Thea thought, Pip could work at being better.
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Citrine
Approved
6 Wild Blooded Sorcerer+ 1 Celestial Warlock
Posts: 328
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Post by Citrine on Apr 22, 2019 22:18:37 GMT
The dug up treasure of learning Piparatithwen seared a grin onto Citrine's face. Like a pirate that found the buried gold this shiny bauble of information would be prized just as much as the little glass phoenix that was on her windowsill. However glimmering the moment was though? It was ruined, very quickly, by the approach of the barbarian. It was impossible to not notice Arioch standing there, and further impossible to not listen to his beratement of Pip. She didn't interrupt, though her feathers bristled with a sort of static energy that was still singing in her blood from the revelations of missing a full day.
It seemed Thea wasn't going to counteract or defend the girl in any way, content to let... Whatever it was that she'd seen between the laughter on the stage with the fighter take precedence. And so?
"Oi! Ye're ah right fine lad tae talk about who's weak o' naet, are ye?" She slowly stood up, burnt wings hardly helping her hover up as she usually might have in a similar situation. "Strength o' ye arms only gets ye sae far - et daen't mean those around ye are weak an' worthless." A filter of defense and anger on Pip's behalf covered her accented voice as she dusted herself off.
"Ah weapon doesn't determine someone's worthwhile laddie-boy. Et's what they're willin' tae give up fer their own sake towards another, what they can push through beyond their usual comfort, tha' makes someone strong." As Pip sobbed a promise to do better then run over to Thea Citrine still had a sour disposition to her face, the lack of a certain blonde in the room not making her emotions any better.
"Her words o' sorry dae help, sae don't ye dare assume what 'elps an' what doesn't." Her snarl was a low burn, like coals kept overnight from a roaring bonfire the night before. "Words 'ave power, boy-o, daen't dismiss 'em just because they go over ye head." Clearly it was not the best first impression either of them had against one another. Two well accomplished figures in two very opposite arts of skill and passion.
Rolling her shoulders, huffing at the burnt that crisped into the feathers and seared into her shoulders, Citrine walked over and physically bent to pick up another meat skewer from the ground. All very strange, considering she generally misty stepped everywhere or at the very least fluttered about as if an overgrown fairy. And to pick something up initially with anything besides her mage hand? Unheard of. Her movements were nowhere near the usual grace and dancer's poise she generally held herself with. Her wounds across her neck from the collar were still red, the whiplashes down her front still a potent jagged ripple. She wished for a bath - but it was a far walk back to town... made even lonelier by Orin having already gone ahead.
"Nae, Aye'm much obliged tae all o' ye who came tae teh tent at Pip's bequest, particularly that ye believed her tale o' what 'ad happened an' naen't brushed et off." The firebird held herself stiffly as she bowed her thanks more formally than she would have usually - especially towards Thea and Pip both considering how close of friends she was with both of them. "An tae ye, ye lovely, Bonnie wonder." She turned towards Hopebringer. "Aye'm quite glad we got tae see each other again without bars between us." Citrine then turned to bow towards the saytr. "An' Aye hope tae trade stories with ye as well if ye be plannin' on stayin' en Waterdeep. Ef need be, Aye can support ye an' Hopebringer both en teh Mariner's Hall as me guests. Nae one will bother ye as ye figure out what ye'd like tae dae next."
It was the least she could do. Of the three previously captives of the Ringleader she had the best stance outside of the 'circus life' to ensure their success. Sentient mythical creatures had to stick together after all.
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Apr 30, 2019 14:12:22 GMT
For a second it was as if Arioch had forgotten there was someone else in the place with them, and soon enough it came to be an oversight he wouldn't soon forget again. His expression, that small build up of forgiveness it had come to have over the mask of severity, was eventually replaced by something he had already wore that night before. Annoyance. The nerve on these people was incredible to him.
"That's a lot of talk for the one that ended up on a cage. You know your friend kept saying a lot of stuff like that, and then I had to fight my way in alone right up to the very end. For all the good such philosophy did, it sure would be a lot better if there was actually something to show for it right now."
Arioch let out, it was no wonder she got along with the elf, they seemed to be a match made in the higher planes. He was done with such people telling him what was what like they were any better when neither had done anything to prove themselves, and then now the current interation distorting his message in a way that let her cut into the conversation. He was upset, he didn't even feel it added anything. And then he was beyond upset. Her thanks, in plural, felt like a mockery. He was literally the only one standing there to fit that description, and she refused to address him individually. His jaw clenched for a bit and then... He exhaled, he took a look at Thea to remind himself that she was watching. He looked at Pip, she was safe, everyone was alive. Things were alright. He looked like he was about to say something and then he took another deeper, violent breath.
"Let's get out of here, there's been enough bloodshed for one night. I need a bath."
He paused for a bit.
And then he walked out hoping for the greater mercy of Tempus that there wasn't a retort. He was just about done with strange beings for the night, strange flying jellyfishes, mind controlling druids, feathery monster throwing literal or figurative jabs at him, elves, and magic.
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Post by moralhazard on Apr 30, 2019 21:38:00 GMT
Thea kept her arms firmly around Pip, feeling utterly drained. She should have known, she thought, that Arioch and Citrine wouldn’t get along. All the same, she didn’t regret her choice to ask Arioch for his help. Citrine was alive – Orin was alive – Pip was alive – even Hopebringer and Knyr had survived. Thea thought Arioch had been a little harsh, but she felt Citrine was being unfair as well, taking the narrowest possible interpretation of his words. Whether they were entirely right or not, it was clear Pip had felt inspired by them, not bullied.
Thea was nearly as hurt by Citrine’s awkward thanks as Arioch had been. She stared at her friend, swallowing hard, and looked back down at Pip, giving the little girl a squeeze. How dare Citrine? How dare she? Thea took a deep breath, letting herself feel the anger. How dare Citrine imply that Thea might not have believed Pip? How dare she –
Thea took another deep breath, and found it easier this time to let the anger go. A fight would upset Pip, and, anyway, Citrine had been through hell and back, only to find Orin was angry with her on the other end. Thea could forgive her a little awkwardness.
For Arioch, Thea was well aware, this was letting it go. He couldn’t be any less than devastatingly direct. Neither could Citrine. He looked at her for a moment, and Thea looked back, wondering what he saw. Wondering what he thought. Sometimes he was almost transparent to her; right now, she couldn’t read him at all. She glanced, pleadingly, at Citrine, mentally willing her to let this one go.
‘ I thank you for your kind offer,’ Hopebringer rose off the stage again, wings moving, her long, elegant body lifting into the air, her mental voice echoing to everyone and forestalling any possible response by Citrine. A single feather lay behind where she had been, resting on the stage. ‘Please take this feather as a token of my gratitude and great regard. Unfortunately, I may not stay – I have been away too long already, and there are things which require my attention.’ She dipped her serpent head in a gesture of respect to each of them: Citrine first, then Arioch whether he turned to look or not, then Pip, then Thea, and, last, the satyr. Only then did she fly out the back of the tent, disappearing within moments into the night.
“Oh! Actually,” Knyr cleared his throat, scraping one hoof against the ground. “We’re near Waterdeep, aren’t we? I’ve never seen the city – a place to stay would be greatly appreciated.”
“Home, then,” Thea agreed. The rest could wait. She gave Pip a little squeeze. Pip was still clinging to her, looking dazed and exhausted. Without even asking, Thea knelt down in front of her, pressing back to sort of scoop the half-elf onto her back. Pip curled her arms around Thea’s neck, rested her cheek on her shoulder, and seemed almost asleep already.
Thea made her way out of the tent, waiting politely for Citrine and Knyr. She didn’t much feel like talking to Citrine, not just now, but she knew already she wouldn’t be angry by the next morning. She was, after all, more relieved than anything; so much could have been so much worse. She felt Pip shift on her back, and heard a soft snoring sound come from the little girl. Thea smiled. Yes; all was well.
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