Spinnerette - Homecoming
Medijine walked on the balls of her feet and toes as she approached the Stumbling Pebble II, practicing the quiet, feathery steps of stealth movement as she approached the door. Her diminutive stature gave her access to a clear view of the halfling-sized hole, to which she canted her head to the side, perplexed. That hesitation allowed the fair-skinned Dark Elven woman to flank her left side. Silver hair nestled on one side of her face, spilling down from an azure-tipped claw in a mass of curls. She smiled at Jini, then opened the door to the establishment, the golden scroll tattoo visible on her wrist.
Greth was there, tending to the bar, measuring the remaining contents of his libations. He was not alone. Yardie was sitting at the far end, his gaze focused on the door. He stood and scanned the room with scrutinous violet eyes upon seeing the two and then bowed before the pair. He was careful not to get too close and bump the woman’s silk cloak, which had been dyed in a gradient of jeweled tones. “Spinnerette. It is good to see you again.”
Medijine eyed Yardie up and down, her freckles stretching her cherubic face. “You look different.”
It was true. Yardie had leaner, more defined muscles concealed by the obsidian black shirt he wore, accentuating his labor's fruits. “Training,” he answered quietly. He turned his attention to the young woman with the sigil-carved faewood staff-of-Lumnis hanging from a dwarven wand harness. “Madame Allyria.”
Allyria shifted her gaze to him, and Yardie’s eyes lowered on instinct. “Allyria,” he corrected.
Medijine raised an eyebrow. “He always call you Madame?” she asked.
Allyria’s long-lashed violet eyes twinkled. “He’s working on it.”
“Old habits,” the rogue answered quickly. “My nightmares.” He shook the confusion away. “You look well, Spinnerette. I take it Allyria has taken care of you?”
Medijine beamed, her dark skin awash with the glow of youth that often eluded her. “She showed us a telescope on the first night. We played darts, jumped in pool—”
“Don’t forget the food,” Allyria added.
The young girl nodded, but her expression turned somber. “I missed home.” She glanced around at the near-empty establishment. “Are the shadows gone? Darkness? Nightmares?”
Yardie glanced at Allyria. “Pashtal is gone. But I believe the darkness remains.” He lowered his profile, matching the girl’s height. “The nightmares never go away.”
Medijine nodded, the extent of her training, life experiences, and the caring souls, which now included Allyria softening the blow. “So, how we fight them?”
“We face them,” Allyria answered.
Yardie looked up at her, then nodded, adding, “That’s why I sent you to M…Allyria.”
The young girl smirked. “But she’s sorceress.”
“Yes, she is.”
“You told me you scared of them.” Jini continued.
Yardie agreed, exhaling slowly, “I don’t want my fears to be yours.”
Allyria extended a hand, flicked her wrist, and a black rose suddenly appeared. She smirked wickedly, offering the plant to Yardie.
He reached into his longcloak and grabbed a note from the pocket. It was folded and stained with ink. “I’ve been practicing my Common.” Yardie smiled to himself. “I learned to write a bit.”
Medijine opened the note and raised an eyebrow. Written in Common, was one sentence. "We will be better." She let out a toothy grin and bounced on her toes, the softness of her brown doeskin boots cushioning the landings. She paused and thought carefully, “So, what do we do now if darkness is not gone?”
Yardie peered, his face frozen, then met Allyria’s eyes. He noticed that the two had the same hue despite the long lashes. “We train and get ready,” he responded.
Allyria squeezed Jini’s shoulder. “I should be on my way back to House Apsis. If you ever need a place to stay, you are always welcome.”
“Ally?” Yardie called.
She glanced askance at the rogue. “Hmm?”
“Thank you. For everything.” She could see the formal bow, and she nodded, smiling before she made her exit.
“So we both need to train,” Jini blurted. “To beat fears. You train to fight sorcery, and I train to fight shadows and krolvin, deal?”
Yardie took her hand and shook it. “Deal. Let us begin.”
The two made their way out of the Pebble, their conversation fading away as they distanced the establishment.
“So what happened to Mr. Shadow?”
“Long story.”
“And where’s your badge, Mr. Yardie?”
“Even longer story. But today, we train for your story, Spinnerette.”
((Cheers to Allyria for allowing me to write her character, and for her help in taking care of Spinnerette, and for being all around awesome!))