飛燕

“‘s fine,” Thancred says, trying to hide the flinch that his companion-in-trouble unexpectedly approaching him caused. “I know what t’ do.” He’s done it enough times by now, after all. A sprained ankle is mild compared to some of the other injuries you picked up as a member of the Uprights, after all - but he can’t bring himself to mention it, because he’s supposed to be becoming something better than that. Isn’t he? Er…. or he already had? If the lady’s time-twisting tale is to be believed, anyway.

Regardless, it’s not important to mention, and he’s not sure it’s ‘right’ to ask for help, certainly not for something that he knows he can handle just fine on his own. It was offered, though, so. So maybe… “Thanks anyway,” he says, thinking that maybe that will do. It’s probably close enough to polite, at any rate. “…Yer good in a fight,” he adds, finishing demolishing the bottom of his shirt and glancing at the only man. “Been raised t’ it?”

“Alright, if you say so,” Hien agrees cheerily enough, straightening to grab another chair and slump down it it, watching the boy dress his injured ankle. He’s quick with it, like he’s done it often enough before, and that both worries him a little and impresses him. It isn’t like there aren’t kids this young in the Liberation Front -- most of them are messengers and supply runners, but they can and have fought if needed. Still, though...

etosvitri:

“Good boys,” she says, failing to stifle a satisfied smirk.  Hien will behave himself now, she’s sure, and so will Thancred now that she’s put the fear of Urianger in him.  She still has to tell the old elezen what’s happened–he’s Thancred’s father, he has to know–but she’ll be nicer about it than she initially planned.  There will be a lot more emphasis on the boy being smart enough to take help, even while being stupid enough to provoke Kurrea in the first place.

“B rank hunt marks’re prolly fine,” she tells them, mostly for Hien’s benefit.  Those should be enough of a challenge to be fun without being life-threatening.  “You’ll hafta check the boards in the city-states to see who’s got a bounty, but other’n that go wild.”

Thancred, bereft of any real response, chooses instead to drop into an out-of-the-way chair and look at the ankle he still can’t properly put his weight on. It’s swollen and puffy, but it doesn’t look like there’s serious damage- just a sprain, most likely. He should… probably do something about that, but he’s not sure of what the rules are here, and he’s already pretty sure he’s pushed at least a few past the point of tolerance, so…

So he’ll stay here and be unobtrusive until he’s got a better idea of where he stands, he thinks. It doesn’t mean he shouldn’t take care of himself, though, so with a sigh he looks at the oversized tunic he’s wearing and takes out one of his smaller blades to start making bandages out of the thing. Hopefully its owner won’t mind him demolishing the tunic to wrap his ankle.

“I’ll be sure and do that,” he agrees amiably enough -- kami, he’s glad he was taught Common as a child! Otherwise the whole venture in attempting to peruse hunt boards would be fruitless indeed. But he can, so he likely will. He just has to make sure to stick with the less giant and deadly ones so Demi doesn’t kill him.

etosvitri:

It takes a while and several open windows to clear the Stones of Kurrea’s (and she knows it was Kurrea, what else was Thancred so desperate to provoke) stench, but eventually Demi readjusts her scarf and takes a breath of blessedly scentless air.

By the time Hien and Thancred come back from washing up, she’s far less enraged.  In fact, she’s quite calm when she stands back up to meet them, and that’s almost as terrifying as when she was about to shout.  “Y’both stink,” she says flatly.  There’s naught that can be done for it save for future baths, but she feels the need to prod them about it all the same.  They deserve a little shaming after this incident.

“Tal didn’t mention it ‘cause he went an’ pulled a similar dumbass stunt,” she tells Hien, tone somewhat icy.  “Nearly got himself killed by a beast not unlike the thing y’both went an’ poked, so he’s grounded for the now.  An’ ‘M of half a mind to recommend the same for both of you.”  She lets those words hang between them for a while, lets them stew, and then lets out a sigh.

“But seein’ as you’re apparently on vacation, Hien, ‘M willin’ to let it go this once.  Long as y’swear not to go pokin’ rank A hunt marks without proper backup.”  She’ll make him a list later, after she’s dealt with the other problem child in the room.  “As for you, Than,” she says, “‘M tellin’ Uri exactly what y’did, an’ he can get parental on your ass.”

The only thing worse than the stench the mudpuppy left on them - and he can still smell it even after four rounds of scrubbing in the bath, if not quite so strongly as before - is how much water it took to try and clean up after it. He feels rather like a steamed vegetable, and he knows he looks a sight: his hair out of the scruffy tail he hadn’t yet been convinced to cut and hanging around his shoulders, the borrowed black and white tunic with uniquely ugly (in his expert opinion) trousers both hanging too loosely on his frame, filched from a room empty of inhabitants save a nutkin that had gone practically crossed when it smelled him.

He is scared of Demi, really, though he hadn’t let on to Hien about it earlier. He’s scared of a lot of people, always has been - he’s just damn good at not letting it show. You let it show it gets you killed all the faster, that’s all. Still, he can’t help but pale when she mentions Urianger. He’d just promised him nothing would make him throw him away, but - maybe it wasn’t a good idea to go testing that so soon…

“No,” he says - or rather squeaks, his voice breaking on the word in a way that it’s been doing more often of late. “Ye - ye don’t need t’ do tha’, I ain’t goin’ t’ poke any o’ th’ others!” Oh gods. Llymlaen’s salty loins he’s dead. He’s dead or the nearest thing to it and there’s no getting out of it now.

Holy shit, the stench is still there after at least  four or five scrubbings, and even though he’s clean and in clean clothing -- glad he brought more than one set of more casual clothes -- he can still smell it. It’s disgusting. But honestly, he’s gotten doused in purbol juice more than once, and he can get used to it. It’ll go away.

etosvitri:

The smells sends her into a coughing fit the moment the door swings open–gods what in the seven hells is that stench!?  “Mani din'al e'sinome!?” she cries, pulling her scarf over her mouth and nose before whatever poison that’s wafted in can affect her.  They’re being attacked, they have to be–nothing friendly smells that bad!

Demi whips around to the door, dagger in hand, and stops dead when she takes in the so-called attackers.  Her manner shifts in an instant, from confused and alert to stunned disbelief (and soon unbridled fury).  That’s–and he’s with–and they’re–oh she could throttle both of them within an ilm of their lives.  What in the seven blighted hells are Hien and Thancred doing together in Mor Dhona.

“Gi lle ai rauko,” she hisses, still keeping her face covered as she storms over to them.  “Bath.  Both of you.  As much soap as physically possible–s’down that hall Hien, an’ don’t think for a second you’re not both in huge trouble.”

“‘s what makes it a challenge,” Thancred says, snickering. He’s still grinning when they enter the Stones, though he’s not expecting to be rounded on by the same woman that dragged him away from the hunt before. Demi’s nice, usually, but right now she looks to be that utterly terrifying combination of dumbfounded and pissed as all hells, and so the smile fades significantly. Well, it fades until he quite deliberately plasters it on again, covering up the uncertainty he’s started feeling with a cheeky grin and a sparkle in his eye.

“I ‘alf considered ‘eadin’ o’er t’ the lake t’ jump in before we came back,” he says, lifting a sticky-brown hand in greeting - and almost toppling over for his effort. “But this ‘ere cove didn’t want t’ deal wi’ snakes t’day, so we came righ’ back instead.” He lets his grin widen, allowing a slightly manic edge to creep into his voice. “We did it! Ye know, I thought tha’ mudpuppy would be more o’ a terror given ‘ow ye dragged me away from it, but no, ‘e wasn’t tha’ bad! There anymore like ‘im I c’n take on now tha’ ‘e’s run off?”

He doesn’t even hear the kid’s joking reply -- he’s too busy staring in horror at Demi, her and her furious and stunned expression and oh gods, did Tallyn not tell her he was here?! Oh, oh boy, he’s so dead. He’s dead in two different countries now. Oh boy. Oh no. Ohhh boy.

“You--” He turns on the boy. “She chased you away from it?” Back to Demi. “You told him not-- oh. Oh.” On the one hand, that’s not too different from Yugiri herding him away from that damned varana, but on the other hand the kid’s still a kid and honestly he trusts a Warrior of Light’s judgement on what people can and can’t take on a little better than most. So if she was...ooh boy. “I mean, yes, we did actually do it, the two of us, and here we are with our victory scars, but--” Again at the boy. “She told you not to?! Her? And you didn’t listen? She’s terrifying!”

“Think th’ ones out ‘ere are th’ kind that’ll freeze ye where ye stand wi’ a look, too,” he says, and though Thancred isn’t overly fond of snakes himself he can’t help but think it would be a great challenge to take on a few nests of them. All at once. He accepts the arm to lean on with all the dignity a mud-covered, already-scruffy teenager can muster, and grins.

“‘m not much fer washin’,” he admits, rolling his eyes. “‘least nt t’ the point o’ perfumed water’n oils an shite like they ‘ad me tryin’ t’ use in Sharlayan, but… aye, I think we’d best clean up.” He’d like to be able to eat later, and he can’t if he’s walking around smelling like a latrine. A fishy latrine, at that. Eugh, 

… It was still worth it, though.

He laughs. “Ugh, I hate that sort of thing,” he says. He doesn’t like being unable to move, it’s frankly a little terrifying. But it might be fun if they take potions or something and go prepared! Not now, though, definitely not now. He wants to get cleaned and changed and not smelling like he rolled around in a trough of dead fish. Gods, this is awful! Was that why that thing was so large and intimidating, because it smelled so bad no one wanted to fight it?

“Well,” he adds, laughing, nudging the door to the Rising Stones open with a foot. “All a decent bath needs is some warm water and some soap, if you ask me. Nothing too fancy. I don’t know what they’re thinking, that’s rather excessive.” Or for royalty or something, but then again Eorzea is very different and far less under Garlean control, so maybe it’s...special? Eh. Less of that line of thought and more...more getting cleaned up.

Thancred manages to push himself upright, then into a standing position - though he cant’ quite put any weight on that sore ankle, so he halfway falls with each step as he hobbles over to help his companion up, still grinning all the while. “Oh, I’ll remind ye,” he chirps cheerfully, dead certain he’ll remember this offer - he still hasn’t figured out how to break into that cabinet in the place he’s been staying, after all.

“So what’s next?” He asks, running a hand through he hair and grimacing as it comes away dripping with something brown and vile-smelling. “Playin’ tag wi’ th’ morbols? Think I saw some snakes down th’ other way, by th’ lake, tha’ could be fun…” Then he looks at his hand again, going crosseyes and off-balance with the attempt, and huffs. “Or…. maybe tha’ should wait ‘til th’ morrow. Think they’ll let us back in town wi’ all this stink?”

“Morbol tag sounds fun,” he agrees with a laugh. “And snakes? I’m not the biggest fan of those, but there’s got to be something else entertaining to do.” A pause, and he wipes some more mud off his face. “But, I think, first we should get clean,” he says. “And uh...” He laughs and then winces when his ribs twinge. “Alright, no, I think we’d best wait until tomorrow for any further escapades,” he says with a sheepish grin, levering himself up and offering an arm to the boy.

Thancred’s spitting mud and curses in equal measure by the time his companion calls out to him - he’s looking a little chewed on about the shoulders and one foot keeps twisting funny when he tries to put weight on it, sending him tumbling to the ground more often than not, but he manages a grin and a salute with a blade, positioning himself to spring up using his good leg. He waits for the right moment, then jumps atop the mudpuppy’s back, stabbing the blades into the base of the skull with an attack that would kill a weaker target.

But this one? This just sends the thing lurching upright with a roar, an eerie light flashing from… somewhere, and … and the next thing Thancred knows, he’s waking up from being smashed facedown in the mud, and the creature is gone. He groans and pushes himself upright with the arm that doesn’t hurt, then breaks into nigh-mad laughter.

“Tha’ - tha’ was amazin’! I knew we could take ‘im! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!”

He’s laughing, too, falling backwards with a thud when the thing disappears -- he can’t quite get over there to pick his new friend up, but the kid’s fine and laughing just as hard as he is. “We did it indeed!” He says brightly, lifting a hand to give the boy a thumbs-up. “You were incredible, my friend!” He really was, and so was he! That was some workout, kami, that was amazing. He hasn’t fought that hard since the nadaam! Whew!

Gods be good that stinks, Thancred thinks as the mudpuppy hurls anther muddy bubble at them, he dodges it, but still gets splattered by the edge of it as it hits the ground, and the stench is enough to make his eyes water. He leaps at the mudpuppy’s tail and gets himself tossed back against a rock hard enough to leave him seeing stars, but there’s no time to let himself rest or curse the headache he’s going to have later, not with the monster on the attack.

Honestly he’s not sure they can win, but if they can drive it off where it has to hole up somewhere and stop taunting him by being around, doing stupid giant-mudpuppy things with its irritating giant-mudpuppy face, he’ll call that good. And in the meantime this is fun!

This thing is a lot tougher than he’d thought! It was almost as nasty as that troublesome Gajasura that’s lurking about near Isari he’s heard tales about lately. (Or the varana he keeps wanting to go hunt down, the one Yugiri keeps telling him no on, with increasing vehemence.) But all the same, this is fun, and at the least they can shoo it off so it doesn’t eat any unsuspecting travelers! And most importantly, it’s fun.

Well,Thancred thinks as he watches the man creep along after him, he’s not awful at this. Someone’s tried to teach him, possibly several someones, but he has that jumbled up sort of gait that makes it clear it’s just not natural to him, and one wrong step will put them at a sound disadvantage in the upcoming fight. Which means he’ll have to move quickly and not give his fellow mudpuppy-fighter the chance to make that mistake.

So, once he’s certain his new friend has reached a position where he’ll be able to charge in with that…funny-looking sword of his,Thancred moves to his chosen position, reaches for the small throwing blades he keeps at his belt. He breathes in, then out, and lets daggers fly.

The kid is definitely some kind of Eorzean shinobi, Hien thinks, and that’s pretty damned cool. He lets his daggers fly and the thing turns on them, and Hien decides to show off, charging in with hand on his sword and getting in a clean hit on the thing’s side with an iai strike. Should he be showing off? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s worth it.

Daryl rolled her eyes, immune to his theatrics. “If you could have seen yer face just now, you would understand. Yer no man. Definitely a child.”

The unmistakable air of excitement radiating off of the Doman had drawn Daryl’s attention, and now she was staring. That’s Hien. That is definitely Hien. In the absolute last place and in the last outfit she expected to see him, but that is absolutely, 100% Hien.

“Hey, Shun!”

And Daryl’s an asshole.

Cue the visible, full-body cringe, and he turns towards her with the most betrayed expression. “Daryl, please!” He’d be happy to see you, but you’ve just absolutely ruined it for yourself. “I thought we discussed this, don’t call me that!” He’s pouting, he really is, it’s like a kicked puppy. 

@flyingswallcw, from here

Finally, someone that’s neither yanking him back nor trying to talk him out of it, someone that he thinks can both handle himself and won’t make him feel a little bad if they get hurt. And even better, he wants to fight the mudpuppy, too! Thancred lights up and bounces from foot to foot as he unsheathes his daggers with a grin.

“Alrigh’, then,” he says, and looks at his new maybe-friend appreciatively. “Think we’ll be better off if we get th’ drop on it, so follow me an’ stay quiet!” He doesn’t wait around for a reaction, either, slipping into the shadows of rocks and trees with a silent step. Hopefully this man knows how to move quietly, or the game might be up before it can even begin.

Kid’s good, Hien thinks appreciatively. Like a little shinobi! He’s...alright, he’s not the best at sneaking. Yugiri and the other shinobi tried, they really did, but he’s just too excitable to really be able to stay quiet. Or he was; nowadays he was a bit better, and he manages to creep along after the boy, albeit at a slower pace. The things life teaches you, he muses with some amusement. Yugiri would be...okay, no, she’d want to kill him, but she should be proud.

The sky is clear and piercing blue when they land in Revenant’s Toll, and Tallyn can’t help but smile as he shakes off his fatigue from the trip.  It’s draining, doing that much aetherial travel–and all the more so carrying another person–but he could do with burning a chunk of mana, and he’s just glad the gloom weather isn’t there to greet them.  It would sour the mood were he to get aethersick not two minutes after promising to cheer Hien up.

“You should attune to the aetheryte before you forget,” he says, patting Hien on the shoulder.  “I swear the buildings will still be here to gawk at, and I think Yugiri will be less inclined to have our heads on spikes if you’re able to get yourself home.”  His tone is light, but he’s serious; they’re in trouble, and Tallyn doesn’t plan on being the one to take Hien home after this impromptu vacation.

“Anyway,” he says, motioning for Hien to follow him, “welcome to Revenant’s Toll.  Home to the Adventurer’s Guild, the Scions, and Rowena–and you should stay away from the latter unless you plan on letting her take over Doma’s entire economy.”  Tallyn walks him through the merchant stalls outside the House of Splendors, pokes into the House itself for a quick glance, and then circles back to the aetheryte and the two gates on either side.

“To the east,” he says, “you’ll find Garlean wreckage, the Keeper of the Lake, and the Crystal Tower.  To the west you’ll find a swamp full of morbols and a castrum.  Don’t worry about the castrum, the imperials inside aren’t a threat anymore.  Poor buggers have been leaderless since van Baelsar died, and they don’t like to come out for fear of the Alliance.”

He stops outside the Seventh Heaven, “And here, through the bar’s back door, you’ll find the Scions.  I suggest we go in and let everyone know you’re here, but…it’s your vacation, Hien, so you make the rules.”

Tallyn talking to him eventually shakes him out of his slightly dazed reverie -- kami, this place is nothing like anything he’s ever seen! -- and he blinks, nodding. “Yes, that’s-- that’s probably a good idea,” he admits with a laugh. “I think it’s in both our best interests to make sure Yugiri is as...well, she’s going to kill us either way, but...” But it’s definitely a good idea to do what he can to lessen that anger.

The aetheryte looks different from the one back home, and it’s fascinating -- he actually stares up at it for a few seconds before attuning, and then turns back to follow at Tallyn’s heels like an incredibly excited puppy. Tallyn’s comment about that Rowena woman makes him wary, but he’s not foolish enough to make business deals with strangers, and he’s seen enough merchants in Reunion to know which ones to avoid. They all have the same look in their eye.

He’s honestly not sure where he wants to start as the other man points everything out. He’s probably going to avoid the castrum anyway on principle, even if the remnants there are more pitiable than anything, but he’s absolutely tempted to go see what that wreckage is about. That’s a damned dragon corpse coiled around that dreadnought! And not to mention literally everywhere else in Eorzea...

The wealth of choices in front of him are a tiny bit overwhelming, so he grins a bit weakly at Tallyn, gesturing at the bar. “I’d like to say hello to the others first,” he says. “Especially the friends of yours I’ve yet to meet! After that I’ll have to decide what to do, I suppose...Eorzea’s a rather big place, isn’t it?” It’s somewhat intimidating, but the sort of intimidating he likes. It feels like a challenge, just for him. And he loves a good challenge.

“Bring a change of clothes,” is all he says before Tallyn ends the call. Poor Hien - he knows how dreadfully boring those meetings can be, and the kind of stress that comes with pretending to be nice all the time.

Yugiri is going to kill them both (Stella too once she’s involved) but it’ll be worth it to give the man a break.

He materializes in the Enclave moments later, and flags Hien down the second he leaves the Kienkan. “Are you ready? I’ll have to ferry you across the Lifestream, since you aren’t attuned to the Toll yet. Just hang on and don’t let go until we’re there.”

Mid-cast he wonders if they should’ve left a note–and then they’re gone, whisked across the aetherial sea, and it’s too late.

There's something almost too excited to manage a proper agreement before the call ends in Hien's voice, and then he's off like a shot to grab a set of much simpler clothing and his katana. He's nowhere near as sneaky as Yugiri, but sheer enthusiasm and a determination for this to succeed gets him by.

He can't believe Tallyn is-- he'd never have guessed the mage would-- well! He's not complaining. Yugiri is going to have his head when he gets back, but... he's wanted to see Eorzea all his life, to see the world, and even if it's only for a few days, he wants one last real taste of complete freedom. One taste of adventure, a life he cannot have.

And besides, he'd rather bail out now and face her wrath than sit through one more meeting with the namazu.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" He says cheerily, letting Tallyn take hold of his arm. He's never actually cast teleport before. This will be interesting!