47. The Road to Waycombe

June 9 Session:   The next morning, they set out.   Marwa parked pretty close to the inn, which allows them to pick up a little extra intel during the previous night’s watch.   Cri is doing her Watch from the deck, having a quick soar of the perimeter, and there's some people who are just getting into town who pass the airship on the road. They've got packs, but it's a hodgepodge; they're carrying things in baskets and big cook pots. One of them has a cart piled high and strapped down, but everyone else is just improvising. Cri doesn’t just watch these beleaguered peasants pass by. She offers an exhaustion-relief spell; something to ease their sore feet or aching backs.   During this brief interlude, she discovers that they fled their village, but not in as much of a hurry as you'd think by the way they're travelling now. They had a wagon, a couple of mules, and a second cart, and had been planning to leave for a while. In total they're three households of about eight people counting the kids, and while the brigandage on the road and stories of ghosts in the swamp were worrying, those weren't what made them want to leave.   They believe a few people in their village had taken up demon worship. One family is convinced, the other two are convinced enough to move rather than chance it. Cri won't press them for a long conversation because Watch and also they're tired and want to find a place to crash, but there were a few people in their village who were suddenly behind closed doors a lot more than usual, odours of sulphur and decay around town, and people seeing spirits and horrors in the shadows.   They'd heard of brigands carrying people off, but a 15-year-old kid in their village went missing and they hadn't been visited by so much as a pickpocket. Cri would make note of all of this. She's insightful enough to note that nothing they said is really conclusive evidence, but it might be worth reporting anyway.   Cri is the type to believe people without needing a well-researched thesis and supporting arguments. They might be wrong, but they're not lying, so it's true to them.   So Cri's on deck standing watch and Mika's frowning over his grimoire, and Marwa's like "So, study break?"   Yes boss said they all better be rested in the AM, but also. Lets out a stressful/annoyed exhale. "Yes and no. Yes I need to put the books down, but not for anything you're going to like."   "...Okay. Care to elaborate?"   "I need someone to watch my back for what I hope will be just a minute."   Her shoulders sag when she puts the pieces together. "You know I'll watch your back, always. And I won't ask you if you're sure, because you wouldn't say so if you weren't. But you're right, I don't like it. Just. Be careful, yeah?"   "Always."   He doesn't like it either, but he doesn't have to say that - she knows.   He's seated already, flips the grimoire closed but otherwise is set up. Marwa can be seated nearby enough for him to take her hands and squeeze them.   "Thank you."   "I love you."   "I love you, too. No matter what." He gives her a smile that's strained but genuine. After a tight exhale, his eyes fade to white.   I'm holding his hand, and the other one is at my side where my dagger is sheathed.   He's shaking when he comes out of it, like a leaf.   I turn to face him fully. "Hey. You with me?"   "M'here." He's trying to sit still, holding one wrist with the other hand but it's not helping. "Fucking goddamnit, stop."   "What do you need? Can I hold you?"   He nods, still tense, but scooches over a little. He's shivering like it's below freezing.   "I need to get a damn grip or the boss is going to ditch my ass for real." He mutters through clenched teeth, hoping she can tell he's not mad at her or the question.   I will wrap myself around him like a vine, hug him so tight.   "Nobody's ditching you, babe. They'd have to go through me, and trust me, I can be unpleasant when the occasion calls for it. Did I tell you I picked a name for the Ship? Since you vetoed the Pleasure Barge."   A "Mm" that sounds like he has reservations on this hypothetical chain of events, followed by a huffed laugh "Tell me."   "The Noctilucent. Means 'Night Shining', there are some clouds that hover closer than most during the summer and reflect more light, because their composition includes a lot of ice particles. They're called noctilucent clouds." Her grin turns self-satisfied. "But I like the nickname Lucy."   "I like it.” His voice is tense because it’s hard to relax when you keep moving involuntarily, but the smile's genuine.   "Less fun to fly through than they seem at first glance, by the way. Speaking from personal experience."   "Lucy also means lightbringer" He mumbles.   "Oh! That's perfect, then. So when all this is over, where should we go first, do you think? I've always kind of wanted to visit Terra, but that doesn't have to be first on the list. I told you about Cobbles, right? We can all have a nail painting party together. Oh! Do you think we could go back to Ignia, hang out with Asmira for a bit?"   "I don't think I made a great impression with her," he says, ruefully. "Never been to Terra. You'd be okay underground?"   "Um. That's a good point. Could we be like, on the ground? Could Cobbles meet us up top? I don't know, we can work something out. Also don't worry about Asmira, she's a cool shit. I didn't trust her when I first busted her out, but a few days on the run and we were besties. Life throws you curveballs sometimes, you know."   "You have no idea. Makes sense you two became friends, though."   "You guys could practice your draconic or sylvan or whatever it is you were speaking. Infernal?"   "Infernal, yeah. Wrong dialect apparently. I didn't know. Translation spell doesn't work on verbals."   "Well you two will be able to nerd out together to your heart's content. So that's exciting." Very clearly communicating that it must be exciting for them, although she can't relate.   He'd reply to that in Aurian as an acknowledgement.   "Careful, silvertongue, or I'll take advantage of you in your very vulnerable state." She winks playfully (definitely joking).   They spend several minutes like that. It takes him a while to get it under control, for it to let go on its own, hard to know which, but long enough that he's very relieved when he can let go of his hand and it stays where he puts it.   He'd insist in hindsight that he got off easy. Marwa doesn't have much of a response to that. She hates it with a passion, but this is just how it is for now.   In the morning Ta'lok absolutely has the wrong idea about why the warlock looks more tired than usual   Marwa would have thought to ask Mika if he's comfortable sharing with the others when he uses the door.   He's wary. For one thing, it's additional data points and the more of those he gives out the higher their risk. For another it feels need-to-know. For another, he doesn't really think this should be open to a vote. Nobody else can really get a read on whether or not what he can do is going to be sufficient without him explaining it in detail and he can't do that, and they can't help him figure it out faster, either.   "Okay, I hear you. But could you just say you're 'Warlocking' or something? Like, make up another code. You don't have to get specific about Doors or anything. Also maybe it could be after the fact? You're right, this is your decision."   "X happens and Y results' is also a data point," he'd point out, "A lot of things look random until you see enough of it, I don't need anyone piecing together causal shit, either."   His metaphor of the door has been minimally used with the rest of the party . He used it to explain how he got in Ta'lok's head at the campfire, which is a sensible metaphor for explaining exit/entry he compared it to a radio when the boss asked if it was getting louder, but he’s never mentioned going through or there being another side to anyone else.   It's occurring to Mirage that Mika is letting her in by asking her to keep watch. "Should I...if the others ask, should I not tell them the truth? About being with you, or keeping watch?"   He drops the eye contact for a second. "I'm not going to ask you to lie for me. But, and this isn't anything against your competence, this is really less keeping watch and more, I don't know, moral support?" he also knows there's probably not much she can do but be there so he's not dealing with whatever shit sticks to him on the way back by himself.   "I don't think wanting you around when this shit catches up with me is anything that invites questions at this point, causal factors aside. And there's also," he hesitates, "A bit of forgiveness-rather-than-permission. Unless you think the boss would be fine with any of this." That last phrase delivered with a glaze of sarcasm.   "I mean. He doesn't really get a vote. It's your body, your mind."   A rueful chuckle, "You'd think so, huh? I mean you're right, I just don't think he'd be happy about it and I don't see the point in an argument when it's not going to change anything."   Mirage tilts her head and looks at him curiously. "Interesting. We have those kinds of arguments all the time in my family, because we prefer transparency. People have the freedom to react however they want to react, you know? But if you're more comfortable keeping this between us, I can just let people continue assuming I'm ravishing you back here." A little smirk and eyebrow wiggle.   A smile for the joke, but he's too distracted by the topic to let it go from that. He clocks that this variance in transparency is something that overlaps with trust, and could become an issue. Maybe a fixable one, but an issue all the same. He doesn’t have words, in the moment to express that when it comes to stuff he keeps private because it's need-to-know, she's pretty much always on the list of people who need to know. But he also knows that it might still bother her if he's hiding stuff from other people that she thinks would be better in the open.   "I dunno. Depends on the person, I guess. Your family's cool, but with some people it's better just to save your breath."   "Yeah, I'll acknowledge my family's a little weird about things. And like I said, this is entirely your decision. If you'd prefer the others not know, I can be sneaky. We all just worry about you, is all. Doing our best to be here for you however we can."   "An effort I hope to relieve you of in the foreseeable future." He stands, realizing the time and that he has inadvertently kept her up late even if its not in the way he was soft-ordered not to. "Got what I needed, by the way. Get some sleep, we have undead to tear up in the morning. Maybe some bandits to scare the pants off and/or bribe onto our side. Big day, is all I'm saying."   "Yeah, yeah. I hear you." Being reminded how late it is, Mirage notices how tired she feels and she yawns. "Fine, I'll go. But if you get lonely and need a cuddle," her eyes dart to his and she gives him a lazy smile, "you know who to call."   "Sure do."   "Night."   He tells her goodnight in Aurian and goes for a goodnight smooch that he intends to be a quick peck. Mirage, as always, has other ideas.   "M-" at a break "My love, list- listen- you really do need to sleep"   "Yep. In a minute." He kind of gently holds her off. "Rest, my love. There are other nights."   He gets a big, dramatic, gusty sigh in return. "Fine. Fine, fine, fine. I suppose you're right. See you tomorrow."   "And the next day."   After she leaves, he takes a minute to lambast himself for being a GODDAMN IDIOT (WHO THE FUCK TURNS DOWN A WOMAN LIKE THAT) before returning back to work.   In the morning, Ta'lok and Saeldor hike out to the ship - well, it's a fifteen minute walk. Not much of a hike. But they got their packs shouldered, ready for the road   Nimbus is doing circles up ahead, keeping an eye open as we move forward. So you're walking along, it's second half of the day, you stopped for lunch under a copse of deciduous trees, but this area is mostly a grassland valley. Hills wrinkle the landscape in the distance to the north and south, with mountains faded blue in the distance behind them. You're a fair way from any village when a herd of goats begins crossing the road a short ways ahead   Cri is just delighted to meet critters, the other party members are also distracted.   Nimbus notices that one of the goats is chewing something as it walks, which isn't that unusual, but this seems to be like, a whole-ass shirt. Nimbus also recognizes the symbol embroidered on this shirt from the temple in Dawnharbour   At this, he sends Marwa images of sunrise and morning mists vanishing, floating ahead to turn indicative circles over the goat in question.   Marwa points it out, "Heads up. Looks like the paladins have been through here."   Saeldor approaches and asks buddy where he got his snack! Saeldor manages to approach, but the herd's on edge. On closer inspection, the cloth looks like a tabard of the kind that's worn over mail, like the long narrow strip with a hole for the head that you belt around the waist usually has your liege-lord or other affiliate symbol on it. At this range, Saeldor can also see that unless this goat has already eaten most of it, it's only part of one.   Goat found it on the ground on the road a ways ahead. Saeldor can't have this one - its hers.   They get a direction from the goat and then come back to the party with the news.   Nimbus is especially puffed up with the victory of his find, feeling very helpful.   Further ahead, Cri gets some disturbing intel from communing with the earth. The land has indeed been disturbed, a lot lately. Blood is lovely nitrogen-rich nutrition but like everything, it should be balanced.   If she focuses her efforts on the roadside areas, looking for where this scrap of tabard came from, she gets the sense of blood spilled, gauges in the soil. Violence is part of nature, but usually when something dies the corpse is eaten, decomposes, returns to the earth, that was denied. It's wrong.   Ta'lok offers to take lookout while the nature hermits search around, but Saeldor says no, they'll watch.   "If there's been a fight here, you know what to look for better than me." They reason.   Ta'lok would just nod, and assess the area. He "clears" the area, looking closely for signs of struggle, any intel on the enemy. The trail is cold, so to speak. Lots of people and wheels have passed over since whatever happened here, but closer to the road's edge the signs are clearer deep gouges in the ground. One scuff with a perfectly circular endpoint that looks like the butt of a spear or other polearm, and tracks of something heavy with three front toes and a back toe, all clawed. Maybe several somethings   He points it out to Saeldor and Cri, asks if they have any thoughts about what that kind of creature might be.   The tracks are bipedal; they're from a humanoid. Do they know if any of the missing Lathandrians were dragonborn? Locals at the inn also said there are lizardfolk who live in the Mire, could have been them though this is a fair ways out.   Mika does a disturbed head shake at the idea of anyone living in the Starless Mire. Most of his understanding comes from reading historical texts.   "Oh - could be the bandits, too. If there are dragonborn or lizardfolk." Mirage adds.   Cri pockets the cloth, offers to scry once the stars are out to get a sense of direction for where the remaining fabric might be.   The rest of their travels that day are uneventful.   You pass some more refugees on the road but they don't feel much like talking, they want to keep moving, they're aiming for Vendare, which is the nearest large city that's a few days past the inn where you landed, and besides that they're grieving. They lost family to the raids. One of them gives you a similar warning to the one the innkeeper gave, that there are bad things moving in the area, and adventurers or no, you'd serve your own families to turn back here.   “I wish you peace, friends.” Saeldor offers.   There's time for spirits to regain a little levity before you make camp for the night, though You camp near the banks of a river that runs down from the southern mountains. The summer air can't touch its current, which still holds the chill of snowmelt. There's not much in the way of vertical cover around here; a few scattered copses of trees but no real forest, and if it comes to a fight Ta'lok wants room to swing, so you camp in the open. There'll be no hiding the fire, anyway.   Mika is very glad to set down his pack. He hasn't bothered carrying a tent and bedroll since he stopped sleeping - he ditched them somewhere on the mountainside on the way to Cri's tower - but Ta'lok has absolutely clocked that means they can distribute other weight to him and also Mika did express that he wants to get serious with the melee/physical training, So!   So Mika is very glad to put his pack down, probably looks at it a little resentful.   Saeldor eyes up the river and asks if anyone wants fish for dinner   “My favorite!” Cri’s big yellow eyes light up at the offer   Mika agrees readily, then he remembers something and his enthusiasm falls just slightly (they don't have the ship's larder)   When the stars come out, Cri rolls to scry! In answer, she can sense it's in the swamp, deep in the swamp, and either under cover or underground; the stars cannot behold it, and she gets a sense of the direction which, you're close enough to the Mire that getting a mental compass arrow is helpful beyond "the direction of the Mire"   Cri shares this with the party.   “Thank fuck for Cri.” Mirage announces.   "Hear, hear" Mika seconds.   "You're something special, sister" Saeldor adds.   “Good work.” Talok says gruffly, followed by a clearing of his throat. “Let’s set up watches. Noor and Nimbus, you’re up first. Oliviera, you’re second. If you two don’t sleep, we’ll all know. So take that into consideration.” Huffs a nod, then turns to get the fire going.   Mika reddens, annoyed as he is embarrassed by the unsubtle implications. He'd like to think he's got enough presence of mind not to ditch watch for a tumble, leaving alone that with a good chunk of the short list of People He Knows Likes and Respects sleeping maybe 15 feet away is not exactly an enticing environment, but he won't say any of that.   He quips some joke about insomnia regarding Ta'lok's phrasing of "if you two don't sleep", like when Ta'lok says they'll all know he's like "I feel like I've been pretty transparent about it but congrats on your observations, Sherlock"   Mirage rolls her eyes.   On first watch, Mika’s awake too but he's taking watch seriously because he's taking the mission seriously, so he doesn't have a bedroll because it'd be deadweight for him, but he will post off just far enough off to be not within conversational distance so neither of you can get distracted conversing, and he's either puzzling through some shit in his grimoire or he still has a few of the ciphers Siobhan brought him and he's enjoying a puzzle that doesn't relate to anything but figuring out what it's hiding.   Mirage is floating/walking the perimeter to keep a good look around, and of course Nimbus is scouting. Because Nimbus probably runs the wider radius (not too far away from Marwa ofc) he's probably the one who spots the danger first - bubbles in the river, then several large, scaly heads rising out, the dripping points of spears. It’s happening fast, a troupe of eight lizardfolk in scraps of armour and wielding spears, several with naked blades looped through their belts, are advancing on the party.   Mirage whistles loud enough to echo across the whole field, shouting, “We’re under attack!”   I’ve grabbed my bow and I want to take a turn to shoot whoever is out front. With this first shot I want to burn Edge to make this a smoke arrow that goes off once it hits the target, to buy these guys an extra second to prepare for the fight.   The lizardfolk cries out and, realizing the element of surprise is gone, the rest of them raise their voices in wild war-whoops - unrestrained, full-throated screams of violent bloodlust that make your blood run cold. what's your second action?   I’m going to back up several feet, which feels cowardly but ack. Raised the alarm, bow is drawn.   Mika is very pleased you made smoke. Smoke is like fog, he has shit he can do with that. Like before in the tower, the smoke begins to twist, to wring. Then he attacks the mind of the lizardfolk on one side of the formation, hoping to create a fear and panic that drives it back, confusing their formation and buying you guys further distance. It’s successful! One of the lizardfolk screams in fear instead of war-hype, and scrambles backward, knocking into their compatriots.   Ta'lok sees that you've bought time and distance and is going to use it. He armors up, quickly strap on his cuirass and greaves, and grab the hammer. And his next action is to MOVE between the oncoming lizardfolk and Saeldor, setting himself up as a bulwark to make sure the combination healer/tank also has time to armour up.   Now it’s Saeldor turn to don armour without being attacked, definitely grabbing that shield and greatclub aka whole fucking tree. Then with one swing they clock two or three heads at the same time. Just one mighty swing and they shout loud enough to scare any remaining birds in the area away in the most intimidating way possible.   Cri, now awake, wants to reach up to the heavens, her eyes dark as a galaxy, and call on Druidic magic to churn the earth beneath their feet. Turn it to mud or roots or difficult terrain or even heat it up so it hurts then to walk. The earth is just as much a part of the sky as the stars are, it’s a celestial body. Cri understands that connection.   She calls on that connection between all matter in the universe - the stardust that infuses everything and creates some damn decent difficult terrain that's going to halve all of their MOVE distance and then she wildshapes into a grizzly bear.   And she’ll roar, and swing at the the dummy lizardfolk who screamed - the one off to the side Cri picks off the screaming lizardfolk and throws his corpse into the buddies behind him for good measure, like he weighs nothing, but you all saw the weight of those tracks earlier.   The surviving members of the flanking Lizardfolk team gang up on Cri's bear form. Saeldor blocks one of their attacks.   Mirage blinds all of the lizardfolk, sending ashes and sparks into their eyes from the campfire in front of her. In the confusion, she shoots one of the Lizardfolk attacking Cri. That flanking group has taken enough hits that they're starting to look battered.   Mika's an 'irregular' for combat role, and picking off the weakened ones is part of that. He edges back from the melee not enough for a move action just like, I wish to roleplay indicate that he knows he should not be on the front lines, and he's going to do what has unfortunately become a pretty standard procedure which is to reach into their minds and find the "I want to live" switch which is defaulted to "yes" for most creatures and flip it so far the other way that it turns on itself.   The left flank is now two lizardfolk acting as individual combatants. The rest of the lizardfolk move to escape the difficult terrain, and then close with the smaller, less huge-weapon-wielding party members - essentially, they CHARGE.   They're going to Attack the both of you. You and Mika both take 1 hit to your Wind scores, but you're not stabbed, you're bludgeoned. They conk you over the heads and I don't think it knocks you out and for mechanical purposes you're not under a status effect but for flavour purposes you're dizzy, staggered.   Then they're gonna try to nab you. Fortunately for you their roll for this is not as good as their stabbifyin one. But with the two of you dazed, they've got hands on both you and Mika. Strong, clawed hands.   Mika leaps into action. He attacks with all his might, hoping to instant drop one of the two holding you.   He's gonna be in trouble for this later but honestly he'd just be glad she's there to yell at him. One of the ones holding you convulses so fast it feels more like a full-body twitch, its eyes roll back and it falls, bleeding from the ears.   Mirage has unfortunately already gone this round so he can't give you a getaway chance right away, but he will nominate Ta'lok to go next by Yelling 'BOSS!' in the 'LIL HELP HERE' kinda tone.   Boss/Ta'lok was kind of already on it, moving over when he saw the lizardfolk advancing. He's going to see that Mirage is only being held by 1 at the moment and since he has to pass one of the guys holding Mika to get at the remaining one holding Mirage, he's gonna hit both. Mika's close enough it doesn't cost him a move. He hits, and he'll do an extra damage, finishes knocking down one holding Mika.   You're both being held by only 1 lizardfolk each. Mirage is itching to have her next turn, after Saeldor and Cri wipe the floor with these bitches   Wounded and furious, Cri is going to maul as many as she can, raking her claws down the torso of the Lizardfolk in front of her. She does a heckin gouge on his side, bleeds like a river but he's still up. From her back paws, her second claw attack knocks the Lizardfolk out.   Now it's Saeldor's turn - they rush over to defend their friends, as they always have. They try to club the last one that's attacking Cri but its already in retreat so it backsteps. They swing but they don't want to hit Cri, so they kind of pull up a bit. Their second swing knocks the Lizardfolk clean off their feet, and the breath out of their lungs.   Painfully, the Lizardfolk rises to his feet, and understanding that if he turns and runs he's just going to die by a blow from behind instead of a blow from in front, screams GLORY TO THE GREAT KING and tries to stab Cri, failing miserably against her thick grizzly fur.   (Cri takes a nap in the snow in -40C like this, babe. But nice try.)   Marwa, full of rage, draws on her mother’s lessons. The lightning move is pure adrenaline and anger, it's not calculated at all, and it's that thing where the blinding flash of light comes seconds before the boom of sound, nobody has eyesight quick enough to clock what she just did. It’s blinding, impulse, energy.   She shoots to the other side of that Lizardfolk (hovering at just the right height) and stabs them in the neck, yanking the blade out in one practiced move, right above the collar, where the armor doesn't cover.   And then combats over   To Mika, one minute you're still grappled and he's hoping you can pull off your mistform or something and secondarily he needs to get this motherfucker off him but he doesn't need his arms to do that so it's a secondary concern, and then previously-mentioned motherfucker drops, he's smelling burned hair, tongue buzzing with static, and Marwa's standing over him, cleaning off a dagger to sheathe it because there is no way any daughter of Alejandro is sheathing a messy blade.   She's still full of the lightning, her eyes are glowing - like they were when she called the tornado down on top of the tower, and her hair is crackling and her expression is set, furious. Little zaps arc down the blade of the dagger.   First thing he does is whip to see what happened with the rest of them, and Cri's shedding her bear form and Saeldor's stalking over to the riverside to double-check a lack of reinforcements so he can see the fight's over, and he just exhales, but remains tense.   "You can yell at me later."   And he moves to help the boss start clearing bodies   She starts looking through their bodies to see if anybody had anything identifying on them.   They just have their equipment, scraps of studded leather armour that isn't enough to give them Armoured benefits, spears, and a couple of them have long knives on their belts but these are chipped/in poor repair.   Ta'lok and Saeldor and to a lesser but still earnest degree Mika drag the corpses to the riverbank. Cri can do druid magic to bury them.   At some point in that process Saeldor asks Ta'lok if he heard what the last one called out, and Ta'lok nods grimly. It barely needs saying but it's a double watch for the rest of the night.   Ta'lok will sit up with Mika for watch 2.   Marwa is physically and mentally exhausted but has a hard time falling asleep after that anyway. She’d want to check in with everyone individually, make sure they’re okay. Cri didn't get a scratch on her, not even in bear form.   Even if she knows everyone is fine, she has to convince herself and her nervous system that the battle is really over.   Saeldor's likewise fine, if disturbed by the zeal with which they fought. Ta'lok doesn't like that they went for prisoners. Didn't even make sure you were knocked out first. What do they want people ALIVE for? It stinks, stinks bad. He doesn't like it.   Mika's brain is turning similar gears. How many of the people dragged off are still in there, or are they just being finished off in some specific way. Ritual sacrifice or some lot.   They fought with fanatic fervor, not turning back even when it became obviously unwinnable. They need to be careful. He's thinking about that human in the cage during the eldritch tower. The one Marwa offered to help him escape but he was too far gone, wanted to be there, be consumed. He's thinking okay, maybe they can sway bandits, outbid them or something, but that's not going to be an option for these guys, they need to be ready to fight just as hard as they will.   He also knows he's in for a tongue lashing for going after Marwa's captor and not his own but like 1) what did you expect and 2) at least you're here to yell at me. He regrets nothing.   When asked, Mika will tell Mirage he's actually fine. Arm's sore where it got some claws in him but they were sore from hauling pack all day anyway so /shrug/I-know-we're-not-in-a-laugh-about-it-place-yet attempt at a smile.   On second watch with Mika, Talok has a post fight ritual, brings him back to earth when battle gets heated. He does something with his hands - whittles   “You fought well.” Talok grumbles in that deep bass of his, maybe startling Mika a bit   Mika's watching the fire, doesn't respond. Ta'lok knows he heard.   "...But?"     Talok looks straight at him and then over at Mirage, who finally passed out.   “Would you have taken that approach before Ignia, as well? Or is this how things are now.”   Mika was expecting this. He knew Mirage was not the only one who would see a problem with that call. "That particular case? Two on each of us, restrained, bruiser nearby but not immediate, both of us have options to get out but need focus to pull it off? Not to put too fine a point on it, but between Marwa and I, one of us has a lot more practice keeping it together under pressure."   He knows she works under stress but there's stress (mental) and then there's STRESS.   "I didn't need my arms to get out of that. Neither did she. So then it's about likelihood. So yes, in that particular case, I like to think I'd make the logical call and drop one of hers. In a less even situation?" he shrugs. "I don't know. I'd like to think it depends. I wouldn't trade anyone here for anyone else. That might have to be good enough." He's been looking at the campfire until that last line.   “Except you?”   At this, he flinches, looking at the flames again.   In a way, having a way out makes everything harder. Usually he'd cop some excuse about how if it was a choice between him and someone else and one of them is definitely not making it out, then the one with a future should be the one to walk, but that's not the case anymore. Like he said at the inn, the stakes are higher. And he wants his future. He's fought for it.   There's a long pause, mouth a tight line, frowning into the live coals. Ta'lok could reasonably assume he's not going to say anything, but that’s okay. Mika gave him plenty of information in that answer about his thought process - which is what he wanted.   Strategically, Ta’lok doesn’t disagree with Mika’s move, and he knows that you make quick decisions in the heat of battle.   He looks over at Mika, who he still views as a kid just because he’s so much younger. “Nobody here I trust look at the whole board like you, Oliviera. Hanging onto that analytical perspective is gonna get harder the further in we go, though.”   He nods. It's already difficult.   “Did you ask her how she got out of that hold? What that move was? Haven’t seen her use it before.”   He shook his head. "I never saw it before, either." He hesitates, because he clocks this is a merciful topic change but also, he doesn't know how many chances he'll get for what he wants to ask. "Boss?"   “Hmm?”   His turn to look for words. "I'm asking you because I know you'll give it to me straight, as much as because it's really your call at the end of the day. I'm out after this, aren't I?"   Talok continues whittling the stick in his hands, and doesn't make a big show of reacting to the question. “Is that what you want ?”   "Does it matter?" Frustrated, and it shows. "I want out of this. So bad. But we both know that fight would've gone very differently if all I had was noodle arms and a knife."   Talok shrugs, looks unbothered by Mika’s tone. “Course it matters. Other than Noor, you might be one of the most single-minded, driven people I know. And I been around a while. If you wanna be done, then good. Be done. But if you’re motivated to stay.” And at this he pauses his whittling and looks at Mika across the fire, eyes glittering. “I’m betting you’ll use that head of yours to figure something clever out.” Little half smile.   Mika's unsatisfied. He wanted a yes you're out or no you're in. Would have wanted a rock solid explanation for keeping him in. "You're smart, you'll figure it out" feels like a deferral. He's wondering if Ta'lok really thinks training and skirmishes when he can't rely on his headstuff.   Ta’lok’s back to whittling as a way of avoiding eye contact.   “Was a buddy of mine in the Service, Lukan. Prisoner of war, lost the use of his legs. We didn’t have the tech at the time to bring him with us on certain missions, but I’d still be dead without him. You know why?”   Tired-deadpan-fine-i'll-bite, "Why."   “He ran intelligence for us. Researched, spoke to informants. We had an artificer on the squad who put devices around our necks that made communicating over great distances possible. He used different instruments to coordinate our team’s movements, switching up strategy on the fly as we provided additional information. He was our guy.”   Mika huffs a laugh, incredulous, but lets Ta'lok continue.   “Most of what I’ve learned about battle strategy comes from working with Lukan. And listen - of the two of us, and it stings a little to bring this up - somebody has a multi-match lead over the other in chess.” And then he makes a face like, don’t make me spell it all the way out it hurts that I’m behind. “My point? Your magic has never been the most impressive thing about you, kid. If you wanna stay, I trust you to figure out a way to do that. But if you wanna be done? Well. I suppose I’ll have to just respect that, won’t I?”   Mika shakes his head, accepting that he's not changing the boss' answer. Sunrise is starting to colour the horizon. It'll be time to wake the others in a minute.   "That still doesn't make me less of a liability on the way out of here."   He stands, shrugs. "Guess I'll 'figure it out,' huh?"   “Get that girlfriend of yours to fireman carry you out of here. Bet she’d be into it.” He cracks a smirk   "Sure, not like I have a right to dignity at this point." Sardonic, not actually insulted or sullen.   “Oliviera. What would you have called me in that tower where those cultists had us prisoner? You think we don’t all take turns being the liability?” He lets out a frustrated huff, like Mika harping on this same point when there are so many other important things to worry about feels trivial   “How about Mirage, in Amir’s place? She told me how she froze, how you snapped her out of it.”   He's avoiding the boss' eye. Looking annoyed, like in his mind, none of those are the same.   “How she would have been captured again.”   "If I wasn't there Cri woulda been. If I couldn't get in your head Saeldor woulda conked you out and dragged you to somebody who could. You all have options-! you know what? Fine. You don't think it'll be a problem, it's not. Doesn't matter right now, anyway. It's not like I can afford to drop this one. We should get started if we wanna hit Waycombe today."   Ta’lok lets him go, shakes his head. The kid’s come a long way since the start - we’ll see how he feels at the end of all this. Time will tell.