[Haven] More Questions Than Answers...

[Elisabeth Black]

Arc 721, 42 Ashan

Elisabeth quietly sat on the bed as Balthazar joined her. They both wanted answers but there were none to be had, leaving each with their own level of frustration, but the one overarching thing she knew to be true was…that Balthazar loved her. His actions in the moments that followed further reinforced that fact to her, feeling him take her hand, offering comfort and strength.

Placing her other hand over his, she clasped his hand between both of hers, listening to his words. Nodding, she agreed with the sentiment, trying hard not to let the situation get the best of her. Being with Balthazar, the young mage had learned a great deal about discipline and focus, but the idea of not being able to get back to him due to something she stumbled into very nearly undid her.

“I got home, yes.” She didn’t know how, but she had.

Home. The house. Looking around at the room, Elisabeth smiled softly at him. “Thank you, for this. It was a nice surprise to come home to. And by home, I mean you. You are my home, Balthazar.”

Home was an idea and term she had fussed with for a while. Haven and Faldrass indeed felt like home to her, something she had invested in and worked towards the betterment of, but at the end of the trial, he was her home. Wherever he was, is where she wanted to be.

A meow came from the floor below them. Glancing down, she noticed Storm watching the pair with his intense orange gaze. Giving a bit of a laugh, she squeezed Balthazar’s quite trapped hand and made the introductions. “I apologize. Storm, this is Balthazar. Balthazar, I’d like you to meet Storm. He, as I told you, was a gift during the Saoire gifting trial in Zi’da. As I understand it, he’s not a normal kitten. He will have some abilities and something about bonding with me, but those won’t happen for a while. “

Remembering something else, Elisabeth turned and rummaged in her bag, pulling out an echo scroll. She knew Balthazar already had a few - she had seen them - but this one was for them. Handing it to him, she gave a quick smile. "I didn't like not being able to communicate quickly with you so I picked a pair of these up before leaving Scalvoristown for us."

[Balthazar Black]

42 Ashan 721

"I was lucky you didn't ask a lot of questions before you left. It was easy to make this seem like 'just another project.'" Balthazar mused with a small grin before casting a glance around the house. Elisabeth reaffirmed something it felt like she was telling him all the time, that she considered him her home. They handled their feeling differently- she said it and he showed it but the general feeling between them was the same. Just when it seemed like he might say something the small furry creature with four legs, a tail, claws, a little snout, and a lot of fur interrupted them. Balthazar looked down at the little creature and narrowed his eyes a little. Fuego was standing next to the small cat, ever unseen, and very curious about it. The cat was something new on Faldrass and Fuego liked new things on Faldrass... so long as they weren't dangerous.

Balthazar looked at Elisabeth as she introduced him to her new pet and then he looked down at the cat. "You named it Storm?" Balthazar asked a moment before waving the question off. He'd named his Scalvwing Tornado, who was he to judge. Actually... his name was Balthazar- who was he to judge? She had said something about the kitten having abilities after bonding with Elisabeth but Balthazar wasn't concerned with that. What would it eat? What would it drink? Would they keep it indoors or let it go outside? It was such a small thing and without attunement he couldn't be sure he could track it. What if it ran off into the Badlands because it was chasing a bug? What would they do then? He did not show these concerns. Instead he knelt down and held out a hand towards the little creature. As he lowered, he noticed that the kitten seemed to become more interested.

It seemed a social creature already but when Balthazar got lower to the ground, the little kitten seemed to bounce forward a little. It ran into Balthazar's hand and slid along the former mage's leg. He stood up and Storm seemed to defer back over to Elisabeth. "It's friendly." While he'd been greeting the kitten, Elisabeth pulled and echo scroll from her bag and brought it over to Balthazar. He was familiar with them by now, having received one from Woe and Victor to remain in contact. He grinned and took it into his hand, thinking of the irony that they should have it now when they no longer needed it. "Thank you. You keep giving me gifts, I'm going to have to find a way to do better." He mused as he looked from the scroll to Elisabeth.

[Elisabeth Black]

Arc 721, 42 Ashan

Smiling softly as he grinned, Elisabeth gave a soft laugh. “Probably the only time I haven’t asked a lot of questions.” They both knew that questions were her thing – a question was the very first thing she had ever said to him – and she loved asked a lot of them. Learning and the desire to know things was deeply engrained in the young woman, and she often wondered if her curiosity bothered Balthazar. Although, when she thought about it, he had an equally curious mind, but tended to be a bit quieter about his particular brand of it.

Storm made himself known, right before Balthazar seemed to be ready to say something else. Smiling, she watched him and the kitten interact. Storm was a brave little thing, curiously playing as Balthazar held his hand out, but sauntering back over to the young mage when the man rose back up. Something about the scene made her…happy. She was happy, even though she had no memory of where she had been or what had happened. Being home, being with Balthazar, watching him play with the new addition to their small tribe, made her happy.

The entire trip back to Haven, Elisabeth had worried about his reaction to her return. She still wasn't sure why he had reacted the way he had when she first landed but it had quickly passed, moving to concern when she spoke of the memory issue. They lived an odd existence, certainly. Nothing had been normal about their relationship, even from the start, but they had endured through much and seemingly, that wasn't about to end anytime soon. It was a unique relationship...

But....it was theirs. It was their relationship. Their love, it grew, changed, and evolved over time. It, to her, was worth cherishing and protecting.

As she handed over the echo scroll, Balthazar’s reaction caught her a bit off guard, grinning and stating he needed to do better. Letting her hand drift to his arm, Elisabeth arched her eyebrow gently, smiling softly at him. “Balthazar, you show me in a million different ways, every trial, how you feel about me. From starting the fire in the morning, to making us a sand bed because I wanted to sleep next to you, to building us a place to live. The best gift I've ever been given was you.”

[Doran]

Balthazar:

Knowledge: -
Loot: Echo Scroll - gifted by Elisabeth
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 15

Elisa:

Knowledge:
Animal Husbandry - Keeping a cat safe in a kennel during travel
Animal Husbandry - Free range is much better than confinement for felines
Detection - Read one's expression from a distance, through the dark
Detection - Recognizing people on shore from an approaching ship
Detection - Reading warning signs in the expression of someone you know well
Discipline - Curbing frustration at memory loss
Investigation - Puzzles can often be harder to solve when they are about you
Psychology - Admitting and accepting fear

Loot: Minus one of the pair of Echo Scrolls - gifted by Elisabeth to Balthazar
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 15

- - -

Comments: Elisabeth’s uneasiness was almost palpable. You described her mental state after she had vanished and lost part of her memories, and how she was happy to be home and looking forward to seeing Balthazar again very well.

Storm was adorable, as always. I really like the way you write him. He adds a lot to your threads!

In this post you mentioned that he will have some abilities as well as something about bonding though. The Nekosani are currently being reworked. To my understanding, it isn’t certain which, if any, abilities they will have yet, so I would suggest refraining from mentioning that there may something special about Storm until the Nekosani have been reworked.

I thought it was very nice of Balthazar to let the settlers stay in his home during the freeze. I’m sure that they appreciated it, and what more, you wrote how he missed Elisabeth will in my opinion. It’s understandable that he was a little worried that she was not the real Elisabeth after she disappeared so abruptly. I’m glad that she liked the new house!

What Elisa said about Balthazar being the best gift she’d ever been given was a wonderful way to end the thread!

~~~

Elisabeth, your knowledges were fine in my opinion, with the exception of the following two:

Leadership: Insist on privacy when discussing sensitive information: Elisabeth wanted to talk to Balthazar about what happened to her in private. Wanting to talk to someone in private does not have anything to do with leadership, and Elisabeth is not in a leadership role here either.

Logistics - Echo Scrolls facilitate easier communication: I’d be fine with this knowledge if you mentioned something about Elisabeth planning to facilitate how to communicate with Balthazar and/or Haven more quickly and easily. You simply mentioned Elisabeth picking up Echo Scrolls in Scalvoris Town because she didn’t like not being able to communicate quickly though. That does not have anything to do with logistics in my opinion.

Feel free to suggest replacement knowledges though, and I'll add them to this review!

Both of you, enjoy your rewards!