Daughters of Flame

[Vivian Shiryu]

Timestamp: 15th of Vhalar, 721
Location: Hopetoun, Faldrass

Vivian poked her head out from under a blanket as one of the sailors knocked on her cabin door. "We're getting ready to dock, miss." he said, before she heard his footsteps start heading away from the cabin. Vivian hated ships, she truly did, so she was glad to hear she could soon depart the ship. Standing up, she quickly grabbed her sword from where it had been leaning against the wall, plus the single bag she had brought, which was mostly sleeping supplies and clothes. Stepping out of the cabin, Vivian quickly made her way to the deck of the ship, Fins popping up as she did to help guide her her way to the docks once she heard the ship was tied off.

Vivian kept her eyes on the wood below her feet as she made her way off the ship and across the docks, letting Fins guide her around the people and towards dry land. Once she was on the ground, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked up and around. Hopetoun was very small still, though perhaps not so small as she'd expected, and people seemed to be busy. Grinning slightly, Vivian walked into the little settlement and started looking for official looking people. She eventually found someone who looked like a guard. "Excuse me, sir, but I'm looking for someone. A red-headed woman by the name of Vega Creede. Talks a lot, never sleeps, properly irritable?" she asked, her tone curious.

After a brief conversation with the guard, Vivian had a rough idea of where to find her sister. Heading off in the direction the guard indicated, Vivian kept an ear out for the telltale marker of Vega's presence: A whole boatload of talking, with yelling and some weird swearing and at least one person being confused because they didn't speak Vega-nese. She didn't expect it would take her long to find it, or if Vega was inside, to find her complaining about that particular development.

[Vega]

15th Vhalar, 721

Vega was just about ready to pop.

She loved being pregnant, it was a delight to her. She had experienced an entirely positive pregnancy; she felt physically healthy and full of energy. She'd been very emotional throughout the pregnancy, though, and that had surprised her. However, at this point, she was able to balance plates on her stomach as she ate. More than one person had asked her if there was more than one person in there and Vega had ignored them, stoically. However, now she was facing the birth at any moment, she had to admit to having some concerns herself but, at the end of the trial it was whatever it was and there was nothing she could do about it except stay healthy and active. Vega saw no point in worrying about things she couldn't change and so, she didn't.

However, that did mean that when Vivian saw her sister, Vega was a very different shape than she had been. Heavily pregnant, the redhead was sitting on a bench with a little girl. The pair of them were looking at something intently, heads bent forward and long red hair mingling together. As Vivian approached, she could hear giggles from the pair of them and then, Vega looked up. The look on her face when she saw her sister was such that it brooked no uncertainty in terms of just how pleased she was. "Vivian!" Vega stood and the little girl next to her - dressed in a red dress and with a red crown of flowers on her head - held out her hand at the same time that Vega did and the two of them moved together.

It was a matter of a few paces and then they were within hugging distance and Vega didn't hesitate. "Oh, Viv, it's right good to see you!" She hugged Vivian tightly. "Joy, this is your Aunt Vivian," she said. Tears of pleasure fell down Vega's face as the little girl looked up at Vivian with very serious dark brown eyes. "Hello, Aunt Vivian," she said shyly and held tightly to Vega's hand. "Mama cries all the time," she said, sagely and Vega grinned. "I do," she said without any shame or hesitation. "I'm an emotional wreck with this pregnancy. Varlum's here. Oh, I'm so glad to see you."

She motioned down to the little girl. "An' this is our daughter, Joy Creede. Soon to be big sister an' very talented artist." She motioned to the bench with the table where they'd been sitting. It was artwork that they'd been working on, Vivian would be able to see. "You must be glad to be on land. Come an' have a sit down, tell us all about your journey?" Vega grinned. "Want a cup of somethin' warm? Or a glass of somethin' stiff?" Either way, she was happy to see her sister, of that there was no doubt.

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian was not exactly surprised to find Vega hanging out with a child and giggling. Vega loved kids, enough to risk getting thrown in jail because someone was being an ass to kids, and so this behavior was definitely well within Vega's wheelhouse. Still though, seeing Vega, who had always been so light and nimble on her feet, with so much extra weight was somewhat jarring. Still, Vivian had seen pregnancy before, so it wasn't like she hadn't known. But she hadn't been able to picture it.

She said none of this, of course, and just grinned widely and hugged her sister back. "It's good to see you too, Vega." she said, smiling at Joy when Vega introduced her. "Well, hello, Joy. If I'd known you were goin' to be here, I'd have brought my own kids." she said, laughing slightly. "Oh, speaking of, Seira and Seri turned 18 last cycle. They've even hit a growth spurt to accommodate it, too." she said, before grinning slightly. "They were somewhat dissapointed to find that being 18 didn't actually come with magical adult knowledge flowing into your brain all of a sudden." she said, before shrugging slightly. "Granted, so was I at that age." she said, before looking at her sister. "You know, I remember when my birth mom was pregnant with my littlest brother. She would alternate between crying and demanding chocolate." she said, before giving Vega a sly grin. "Though knowing you, you already pestered Arlo to get you chocolates." she said, her tone amused.

When they sat down, Vivian nodded at the comment about dry land. "Absolutely. I know it's strange what with me being half-biqaj, at least sort of, but I really do hate being out at sea. It's bad enough taking a ferry over a river or some such, but ships and such? One of these days, I'm going to get a mount that can fly across the oceans and then I'll never have to worry about it again." she said, a slight note of grumpiness in her voice that didn't quite disguise a lingering wavering when she talked about the ocean. "I wouldn't say no to a hot chocolate, though." she said, her tone turning more cheerful.

"As for my journey, it was really simple. Being that I'm a Slueth now, and the whole "Hero of Storm's Edge thing" we all got, I hopped the Eclipse Portal. Still had to take a boat out of Ishallr though, and you'd really think they'd move that Portal Stone of theirs somewhere that isn't a year long ice cavern, and then from the mainland to here." she said, shaking her head. "But apparently there's some sort of combat festival coming up, and playing the role of demonstrator gives me a perfect excuse to come see my sister." she said, her tone cheerful, before she sobered up. "You said Varlum was here? He came up missing a while back, haven't heard hide or scale from him since. All sorts of rumors of Dragons and dead Immortals, but you poor a few pints into most sailors and you'll hear anything you want to ask them about, so I haven't given them much credibility. But it does sound like the sort of thing one of us would get involved in, and him being a Shieldbearer, I figured he might have gotten called in by Ethelynda or some such." she said, her tone more serious.

[Vega]

15th Vhalar, 721

"Tiddles an' Wink are eighteen? Shnizzle my snoot, how'd that happen?" Vega raised one eyebrow, quizzically, when Viv said that they'd had a growth spurt. "Are they taller than Joy now? Those two were shorter than a shrimp. It's a shame you didn't bring them with you, I'd like to see them again." That caused a thought in Vega's mind and she looked down at Joy with a smile. "Maybe we'll take a trip to Rharne, some trial after I've popped, an' you can meet your cousins, yeah?" Joy nodded and grinned. Vega's laugh joined Vivian's, though and the redhead shook her head. "I don't need to pester Arlo for chocolate," she said with a lilt of pleasure in her voice. "He's as excited about this baby as I am, an' he knows I love chocolate. But Viv, all the time. Tears. Weepin' an' wailin'. I feel like a right plonker, I tell you."

She shrugged when Vivian said that her half-biqaj heritage made her aversion to water travel strange. "Well, it's somethin' else we've got in common, innit? I mean, my blood is silver an' I've got the pointy ears," Vega said, holding out her hand, turning it so that her hand was palm up; up her arm, the silver blood could just be seen beneath her skin. "But I were seasick my whole childhood an' it turns out I don't actually have any biqaj in me. I'm half sev'ryn an' half loser." She shrugged slightly. Apparently, so Xiur had told her, she probably had the biqaj blood because Faldrun had appeared to be a biqaj when he had forced himself on her mother.

"They can't," she said of the portal stone. "The one here, on Ishallr, it's not movable. They would have, otherwise, I think. But the other ones are apparently move-aroundable, jus' not that one. It's why even if you're travellin' from Rharne to Viden, you have to go through Scalv. All the stones lead here, an' here you can get to all the stones. Nifty, innit?" Otherwise, they would move things out of that cave, she was sure. It would be a shame if they did though, Vega liked Ishallr, for all sorts of reasons.

"Anyhow," she said and she looked at Vivian seriously. "Yeah. Varlum's here an' stuff has happened about dragons an' things. We probably need to talk together. But he's been through a lot an' he's healin' here." She smiled and waved her hands in the general direction of their camp. "Come on then, lets get you settled. How long you stoppin' for? " Glancing at Vivian, Vega asked. "An' how're things at Storms Edge? Everyone a'right there? Cos I'm indisposed at the minute, but I'll be free an' available for thumpin' as soon as this one's born."

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian nodded when Vega remarked on the kids age. "Yeah. Feels like it wasn't that long ago that I found them, but I suppose it's been a fair few arcs since I took them in. Now they're all grown up and getting ready to make lives of their own." she said, before frowning slightly. "I'm not sure how I feel about it, if I'm honest. I don't want to let go." she said, before nodding at the growth spurt comment. "Yeah, they're just about normal size now. Kinda short still, but not practically pocket sized." she said, her tone more cheerful. "They're...figuring things out, now they're technically adults, is why they didn't come. I think they want to work with the Adunih or the Priestesses, assuming they don't get folded into the Knights proper. They'd make good musicians for that matter, it's what they were doing when I met them." she said, her tone thoughtful. When Vega brought up the chocolates and the crying, Vivian grinned slightly. "I'm pretty sure it's pregnant mom law to ask for foodstuffs that aren't readily available. Fresh cherries in the winter, or the like. And I think you're allowed to act the plonker a bit right now. You're growing a whole new person, after all." she said, her tone lightly teasing. She knew Vega would hate being all weepy, but there wasn't really anything either of them could do about it but make the odd joke.

When talk turned to their shared heritage, Vivian looked at her hand and shrugged slightly. "You know, I'm theoretically half-human and half-pillock, but I'm not even sure if I'm really anything normal anymore, as far as my actual body goes. No one else but me bleeds metal, after all." she said, before giving a sort of thoughtful frown. "After we beat Rhaum, my powers...grew, I guess. I've got a new one now, makes me stronger if I'm fighting with allies on my side. It's...strange, but I think I took a piece out of him when we were fighting. Maybe it's because we were both children of Faldrun, or maybe we had similar Domains." she said, before shaking her head. "My blood reacted too. When I was given the steelblood, I told I can pass it on to others, make them part of my House, if I earned the right. I guess defeating Rhaum let me pass it on, because it feels like it's...waiting for it, I guess." she said, before letting out a half laugh. "I'm just a knight, all this mystical stuff isn't my specialty, and here I am with more weirdness to my name than even other Mortalborn." she said, her tone amused.

When Vega explained why they couldn't move the Portal Stone in Ishallr, Vivian nodded. "Bet you anything that gives their military leaders fits. By Ilaren, could you imagine if we'd had a portal stone from Storm's Edge to Rharne during the Siege?" she said, her tone wistful. Then she let a sudden bark of laughter. "Could have fixed the issues with those idiots in logistics quick smart. Just send you through to thump 'em until they handed over the stuff we needed." she said, grinning at the thought. When Vega explained about Varlum, Vivian nodded. "We probably should, when he's up to it. Varlum...there are times I'm not sure it's good for me to be around him. Not because I'm doing anything to him, but he seems to struggle with the violence inherent to who we are and what we do. I don't, and I worry that bothers him, makes it hard for him when he's in a bad place." she said, her voice saddened. "And I don't know how to help him, or even if I can." she said, shaking her head.

When Vega nodded in the direction of their camp, she nodded and started after her sister. "I'm only in for...I dunno, ten trials, twenty at most. I wish I could stay longer, but if I do, someone's liable to do something stupid back home." she said, before grinning slightly when Vega asked about Storm's Edge. "Well, I'm still running the base, and realizing that all my command experience is wartime command. It's...different, keeping it going when there's no concrete enemy to fight. The day before I left to come here, we found rust and dirt on some of the knights gear because they'd fallen into routine already. The sergeants have been instructed to keep the knights in shape until I get back, with the promise of all kinds of unpleasant duty assignments if I am unimpressed when I return." she said, before shaking her head. "So I figure I'll find at least two people that felt a deep, abiding desire to spend a week cleaning the latrines and stables when I get back. Otherwise, no abject stupidity, though. Well, barring one idiot that tried to keep the twins from seeing me, but he is now very much no longer under my command." she said, her tone downright irritated at that last bit.

Meanwhile, Fins was trotting around Joy, and any time they stopped, he was rolling around at her feet requesting tummy rubs or asking to be picked up, his tongue lolling out of his mouth like he didn't have rows of sharp teeth.

[Vega]

15th Vhalar, 721

Vega grinned at Vivian's gentle teasing. It was strange, really, she thought. Vivian was her sister and Vega felt that. Yet, they hadn't grown up together or any such thing. Still, there was something there, something that was instinctual or even primal. So, they walked and she listened to what Vivian had to say about the whole steelblood thing. She nodded her head, "Yeah, Rhaum was an interestin' soul, weren't he?" She shook her head slightly. "So, who do you think you're goin' to give it to, then?" Vega looked in interest at Vivian's reply. "One of the twins, or is it more a fightin' thing?"

There was a lot of weirdness, it had to be said, and Vega grinned. "Well, speakin' as someone who has had more'n my fair share of scrapes, I'll say that there's a lot of weirdness out there." Her grin widened. "Did I ever tell you about the time that I got turned into a bloke?" With a slight chuckle, she shook her head slightly. "Arlo'n I were in Yaralon, an' we went to Cassion's door thing. Went through an' we were characters in this fairy tale, it seemed like. I were Lord Vega an' he were Lady Arlo. We had to do somethin' about the funklewort stars. I've still got a necklace from that, an' it can turn me into a man." She chuckled. "An' yes. It's as weird-feelin' as it seems, with that thing floppin' about an' stuff. I wonder, sometimes, jus' what my father in law thinks is funny."

Joy, meanwhile, was regarding the pair as they walked. "You're mama's sister," she said, thoughtfully. "I'm going to be a sister, to this new baby." Vega ruffled Joy's hair. "An' a very good big sister you'll be too." Joy looked at Vivian and there was a very serious appraisal from the young girl. "What does an Aunty do?" Joy asked, with a very serious expression. It seemed like a very important question to her. "My Mama plays music and makes things, an' my Papa tells stories and cooks things. And they both tuck me in. What do you do?" Vega met Vivian's gaze and she smiled. She didn't answer, and she recognised that it was quite a question, but she knew that Vivian was up to the job.

As she awaited Vivian's answer, Joy showered Finns with the tummy rubs and tickles that were so obviously wanted. She seemed entirely unconcerned about his strange appearance, and she simply responded like she was fussing a puppy or kitten. She added only one question, in fact. "What's his name?"