The Hidden

“He controls one of the four pirate armadas that call this island home, so yes. I would say he is worth knowing about, if only to avoid getting yourself killed.” Funnily enough, she supposes she should have seen it coming, as the other also didn’t seem to recognize her. Now, Valdís herself works in anonymity. Is the reason she could step into the tower without too much worry. But in Caribella? In Caribella, she is usually recognized. The eyes on the conversation are a sign of that, people curious as to why she is indulging the fresh bait. 

“Now don’t be bringing any ominous shit upon this fine island,” she says sharply, eyes narrowed in thought. There is logic to those words, but frankly that sounds fucking annoying, so she hopes for her sake that doesn’t happen. If it does? Well, she is motivated enough to find the other and shoot her in the ass for putting that ominous shit into the air. “You know how pirates are, very superstitious. Don’t go saying that shit, lest the waters hear you and make it true.”

Zephyr's return to Lysara wasn't of public knowledge, not even the most influential members of the Thieves' Guild would have guessed that their eyes and ears would catch notice of the Fox only when he opened the doors to the Cisterns, a surprise that got opinions divided amongst member of the guild, with some welcoming the idea of a respectable mind in their midst and others frowning at the thought of accepting the man back after he disappeared without notice, especially since he'd shown up out of nowhere in the heart of the Queendom with no previous records of him anywhere else... And yet there he was, sitting at his usual table, playing with a knife he'd recently acquired from an old friend of his, one that had a ring on its hilt where he could spin it around his finger.

Another surprise was the company that soon walked through those same doors and sat down in front of him, not only to the watching eyes of the men around them, but to the Genasi himself. "Oh, my dearest Wavebreaker!" He greeted @hiddenvaldis with a smile. "It's been so long... Did you miss me?" Some of the silliness of the past still made its way into the conversation, more as a cover to his recent change than as a trait of his personality. The information she'd bought back then had hopefully reached her through a letter left on a table at her place of residence within the week, as the price settled had definitely been paid, so he wondered what other business brought her to him this time. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Getting information about the weird shit stirring under Caribella, however? That was the sort of information plenty of people were concerned about, so her seeking answers wouldn’t come and bite her in the ass. 

“That is certainly a question to be asking a customer,” she drawls in amusement as she leans backward and crosses her leg. “Would saying yes give me a discount or just grant you the satisfaction of the answer?

Their relationship had always been one of give and take, and while she does enjoy his company at times, she knows that rarely does he do anything without getting something in exchange… At least when it comes to his exchanges with her.

“Caribella has been acting strange,” she says slowly, deliberately. “And I thought the knowledge as to why would be under your purview.”

"Plenty of bodies hidden here?" She arched a brow but a grin of amusement touched her lips. "Enough to conjure a ghost?"

“Spirits are not an uncommon occurrence in this island,” Valdís shrugs, knowing that while her meeting with Compassion was a rarity, spirits were more widely spread than even she would know. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been in that mess in the first place. “So the answer would be yes to both.”

Caribella had always been a wild place, and the wild tended to consume all those weak enough not to survive it. It comes at no surprise that there is bodies rotting under the planks. 

One foot slides back as Alessia pushes her away, and Valdís takes the time to weave away until she is closer to her opponent's left side, a smirk firm in place as she does. 

“Nothing is ever that easy, is it?” She sighs dramatically, eyes firm in Alessia even as she is noting the flickering movements of her eyes. From what she is seen, the other is too experienced to make such an amateur mistake so she doesn’t fall prey to the provocations, taking the time to fall into a defensive position instead, daggers up as she waits for the other to continue their dance. 

Their blades clash, and Valdís lets out a breathless laugh before swiping away once more, her feet lashing out to try and force Alessia to stumble as she retreats.

“I have a handful, yes, and I am ensuring they are prepared for what is to come,” she says, giving just enough detail to satisfy. While she is away at the Tower, she had made it clear she expects her Armada to keep up with their training. If they are to see further Dreadnoughts in their waters, she will make sure Ran’s Armada comes out victoriously each encounter. 

She could appreciate that her fellow witch was also holding back on her magic, so the two of them could focus on their physicality instead of spells. Valdís was also clearly a skilled, knowing opponent - and cunning. It fared better for Alessia's health to fight like this, and made it quite clear where she was still weak from the ship. Her legs did not feel as quick and graceful as before, though her skinnier arms still swung powerfully and with precision. Valdís aggression egged her on and the younger witch briefly left the comfort of defense to go on the offense. "Just saying that-" Clang. "there's no preparing people-" Clang. "for destruction." They pressed closely upon each other, the clashing of metal upon metal resounding like the notes of a bell, and Alessia grit her teeth which were all bared like a silent growl.

Finally, her breath was tight in her chest, and she was forced to try and direct it through her mouth in even, silent breathes while her chest rose and fell with force. The smart thing to do would have been to jump back and catch her breath. But as this was not life and death, and Alessia was far more reckless than she was smart, the witch doubled down on her strikes. "Did they train you this well?" She asked, both their blades up against each other; she could feel the other's hot breath on her face, and surely Valdís felt her's too.

“You can prepare for the worst, and deal with reality when your worst wasn’t bad enough,” she points with a careless shrug, before focusing back on the fight, easily switching tracks between conversing and attacking. Not that the shift was too visible, as it would be telling on her next move, but for the rest of the exchange, Valdís kept most of her focus on the action and less on the chatter. And it was simple enough to see an opening when most of her focus was on the fight and not the bantering. 

Once their blades cross and she feels Alessia’s breath wash over her face, Valdís’ gaze flickers down, then up to meet Alessia’s eyes and she grins. In a quick sequence, she raises her knee to knee the other in the gut, pushing her back with her daggers and lounging forward, slamming her against the floor as she keeps a dagger poised over her throat. 

“I can prepare them enough so they survive,” she drawls, eyeing the witch underneath her. “And I was given the foundations, but all else? All me, baby.”

Raven was running from her feelings as per usual, she had allowed her soul to be exposed and all of the demons that lived inside her head saw the light of day during the breath of souls. She boarded a ship and tried to not think of how the world was tilting on it's axis once again, as the Iskaldrik border waned on it's steadfast barrier. Arriving on the pirate's paradise, she had barely had the first sip from her mai tai before the ground shook violently beneath her, except it didn't feel like a normal tremor but as if a forgotten beast awoke beneath her feet. "What was that?" Dark eyes lift to face the other patron in the Hanged Man.

“We are trying to figure it out,” she says lazily. “Pretty sure the island is haunted or something.”

“Who knows, maybe you got a lucky break or something,” she shrugs. The likelihood of just anyone knowing what the fuck was going on were low, but never zero. And in cases like this, it was better to ask than to not. “Well, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? If whatever this shit is ends up threatening Caribella, I am sure we captains could reach an agreement.”

"No extra evil thoughts are nice," she says, jolting back to put space between them. "I definitely don't think it's over though." Alessia played the coy look, the small flick of her lips turned upward to distract from her probing glances and strategy. "What's that thing they say about the calm before the storm?" Now, within the Tower, Alessia was far more privy to the events happening outside the narrow orbit of her personal life. From the druids to the elvhen to Astoria... shit sucked. All evidence pointed to continual and growing suck.

Alessia lunged, parrying with Valdis in a purposeful manner, testing opponent's reaction timing and limb preferences as their blades met. The dance made for hot blood and aching muscles by the time one of them jumped back and gambled for a breather. "We're in this together now... Tower witches, and all. What about your life and people outside of here?" Surely the woman made a living for herself before this, and had a circle of people she was leaving behind. Alessia had had none - Iskaldrik had been taken from her.

One foot slides back as Alessia pushes her away, and Valdís takes the time to weave away until she is closer to her opponent's left side, a smirk firm in place as she does. 

“Nothing is ever that easy, is it?” She sighs dramatically, eyes firm in Alessia even as she is noting the flickering movements of her eyes. From what she is seen, the other is too experienced to make such an amateur mistake so she doesn’t fall prey to the provocations, taking the time to fall into a defensive position instead, daggers up as she waits for the other to continue their dance. 

Their blades clash, and Valdís lets out a breathless laugh before swiping away once more, her feet lashing out to try and force Alessia to stumble as she retreats.

“I have a handful, yes, and I am ensuring they are prepared for what is to come,” she says, giving just enough detail to satisfy. While she is away at the Tower, she had made it clear she expects her Armada to keep up with their training. If they are to see further Dreadnoughts in their waters, she will make sure Ran’s Armada comes out victoriously each encounter. 

"I don't know the full story, but a certain wolf girl in our bond was the catalyst... not sure about what this means for us." Alessia also didn't know her fighting partner's potential past her leader's mind and survivalist instincts; it was a matter of sussing Valdis out. "Your's stopped bothering your head too though, right?"

As the question leaves her lip, she feints to the left with one arm moving to strike with one of her daggers, before twirling around and aiming for the right at the last moment. 

“It had been less of a headache, yes,” she agrees as she pushes her weight forward, hoping to catch her by surprise. 

"But what would your crew think?" Adrian teased this in an admonishing tone, but truly he was proud of her for leaning towards the hope of shaping her magic into something she could truly master. Many witches Adrian had met since living in Lysara spoke of the Tower as this blight and disservice, but Adrian could see the positives it had towards shaping one's magic and he hoped Valdis would discover this, too.

“Probably that I am having an identity crisis,” she drawls and then snorts at the thought. Considering her state and mild mania after the whole debacle with Compassion and Sloth, she thinks the entire crew is just glad that she had chosen to go on a quick ‘sabbatical’ rather than drive them to death via work. Valdís has good enough of a grip on their loyalty that she doesn’t fear mutiny, but even then, she is making sure to drop by on them at random intervals to ensure no one gets any bright ideas. That, and to make her presence be felt throughout Taravell. She has to feel as if she is present in the gulf, or the other armada’s might get some bright ideas. 

King John Mordecai had announced the invention and the Tower was a formidable foe, it wouldn't be easy but to not fight back meant accepting a silent death, and without a piracy life, she had no where else to turn. The shame of losing the light of the Laurelin made it impossible to return to Avalon.

“We can’t afford to lose, no, but that means that we can’t afford to go forth recklessly either,” she points out, head tilting as she levels the other with a look of measured consideration. “And I have yet to hear a solid plan that would make me want to risk it all.”