#scrollstrash

Vestra wiggled her toes, relieved they could still move. The movement set off some discomfort, but it was hardly noticeable under the constant thrum of pain in her body. She tried to prop herself on both elbows, intending to test the weight atop her, but the effort only made her swoon, and she relaxed before darkness conquered her vision and senses again.

This was not good. She was half numb and half in agony, and she couldn’t pinpoint the source of it. Her best guess was that damned rubble piled on top of her, so she focused on that first. If she had to die, better it be in view of the sky than trapped in this makeshift tomb.

The Force was slow to respond, but she gripped tight every sliver that gathered to her, using pain-stoked anger to crush as much Force as possible into a tiny nexus within her hands. When she’d gathered enough, roiling energy raring to break free, she let it loose.

The explosion rocked the floor she lay on, and she nearly lost consciousness when the debris atop her was ripped away, torso wracked with acute agony. Hands curling into tight fists, with faint ringing in her ears, she heaved to hands and knees, whole body screaming as she staggered to her feet. The world threatened to spin around her, but she forced calm onto her senses and gazed up at the sky.

Judging by the mellow sunlight spilling over her, it should be late afternoon, turning soon into sunset. She closed her eyes for a moment, drawing in a full, clean breath of air, before looking around her. 

She stood on the third floor of the tower, in a hollow niche she’d blasted out of a slope of debris. Her crew was nowhere in sight, but that didn’t matter. Opening herself to the bond, she felt Lana’s heart leap on its other end, pulling her towards it. She broke into a wry smirk at her love’s dizzying rush of relief. Trust Lana to worry overmuch.

Pain still clouded her head and slowed the dexterity of her limbs, but Vestra picked her way carefully down the rubble, half-climbing in Lana’s direction. Her attention was wholly consumed by the physical exertion, until a shout in the distance tilted her head up.

There they were, jogging up a street ruined by missiles and blasterfire – her crew. Their pace slowed as they stared at her, as if in disbelief, and she took the chance to look them over. Lana, Khem Val, Ashara, Talos, Andronikos, Xalek. All here. Save for the few kolto patches and bruises, they seemed to have survived Zakuul’s bombing run intact.

She called out to them, a jibe for taking so long to find her – before realising their relief had turned to slow, mounting horror. Their pace quickened, trailing after Lana who led the group at a run. Her gloved hand flew up to the side of her grey robes, clutching it subconsciously.

Curious, Vestra mimicked the motion and–, oh. Blood. A hole. Not a small one. 

She looked down and saw that ragged hole torn through her side, giving her a glimpse of bloody innards – but they didn’t yield to gravity and spill out, as if they shared her defiant incredulity at the situation. What in the world did that? Was it part of the rubble? That acute pain she’d felt when the slab flew from her…perhaps there was some extrusion that–

The strain hit her then, cutting short her runaway musing. Her insides hadn’t spilled out because she had been using the Force to hold herself together on instinct, keeping herself up and moving. Darth Avriss snubbing her nose at the mortal limits of her own body, playing at invulnerability through sheer obstinacy.

Oh…they’re going to be insufferable.

Lana reached her first, sprinting forward to catch her when her legs finally gave out. Vestra let herself go limp, surrendering to the inevitable fussing and nagging and–

She cried out when Lana lifted her in sturdy arms, setting off a hundred aches in her bones and flesh. Lana carried her to the street and laid her down on the sidewalk with much more care, and Vestra bit on her tongue to keep from lashing out at her rescuers.

Despite the pain, she released her desperate hold on the Force, relaxing as she handed control to the worried faces hovering over her.

“How do you feel?” Lana asked, the rhetorical question spilling out like a bad habit as she touched Vestra’s stomach, beside that blasted wound.

“I’m fine.”

“Your guts are showing, idiot,” Ashara bit at her, kneeling opposite Lana. “You’re not fine.”

“Says you.” Vestra pulled her lips into a smile when Lana cupped her face. Her love’s heart raced beside her own calm counterpart. Funny, that.

Despite Vestra’s stubbornly casual mien, Lana’s expression didn’t lighten as Ashara called on the Force, weaving it around Vestra in preparation for healing. 

“I’m fine,” Vestra repeated in reassurance – because she was.

🏹 | how they would fight together in a battle

No mystery here - very well. They've fought together long enough to know each other's fighting styles and instincts. Coordinating their movements in battle is second nature to them. That said, Ayrenn is more the one who will forge ahead, acting as spearhead and beacon to her soldiers/allies. Sielaire adapts and covers her weak points, matching Ayrenn's pace and watching her back.

🏆 | their reaction to the other beating them at something

Nonplussed at first (they're both confident, maybe too confident at times), then proud. Then Ayrenn plots to one-up Sie >:3c

🎨 | their favourite activity to do together

Sneaking away and going incognito for a while. I have Ayrenn doing it a lot in fic cos I think she would feel suffocated by the crown sometimes. It’s a precious taste of freedom for her.  Though their getaways spike Sie’s anxiety to 200%, she does enjoy them because it’s closer to what she’d imagined for herself when she’s married. Just a regular life. That doesn’t revolve around a damn throne of all things. How did this happen? How???

🎸 | the song that describes them the best

Best song still remains 'Sweetest Devotion' by Adele.

🚗 | which one drives and which one picks the music

Sie drives, Ayrenn picks the music. She’ll probably put on such a wide range of genres that Sie never gets bored.

🚓 | which one is most likely to get arrested 

Are you kidding?? Definitely Ayrenn lmao. Sie will be in the jail cell right beside her. Mostly because she tries to defend Ayrenn or convince the guards that’s actually, really, totally Queen Ayrenn Arana Aldmeri, Eagle Primarch of the Aldmeri Dominion. You have no right to take her in. Wait. Wait, you can check with the embassy! It's the truth! Why are you taking me too! Meanwhile Ayrenn's cackling her head off in the background.

🏝  | their ideal getaway

A holiday somewhere far, far, faaaaar from Alinor and Grahtwood and wherever Ayrenn's responsibilities are. Preferably somewhere remote, but not so remote and isolated that Ayrenn can't stroll through town and blend in with the local populace without drawing many glances.

🧸 | which one is the little spoon & which is the big spoon

Sie's big, Ayrenn's little. I like to imagine Ayrenn tosses in bed a lot sometimes, so Sie has to hold her down to get some peace.

🧼 | their feelings on showering together

Ayrenn: "ohohoho. fun. >:3" Sielaire: "We're not leaving for another hour, are we." Really though they've done it often enough that it's just another cozy little activity for them. They started doing it so it's convenient to spot and wash off wounds on each other, and later on for casual intimacy, just to feel each other close.

💌 | a love note from one to the other

“Every hour I have spent without you drags by with excruciating clarity. To know that you are within reach, yet kept from my touch by duty, drives me to the point of madness. A queen kept apart from her consort is a tortured being indeed. The only comforts I have are your cats that jump into my lap during meetings, and the knowledge that I will see you again for dinner. Please be there, or I might lose my mind. My heart, however, I know is safe with you.”

28. Party banter with Karlach

K: "You're so grumpy all the time. You know what I think? You need a teddy bear."

S: -scoffs- "I do not need a toy."

K: "How about one like Clive? Oh, oh! How about a dog, just like Scratch? You like Scratch."

S: "I don't like Scratch."

K: "Sure. And you don't feed him your scraps on the sly."

32. Party banter with Jaheira

J: "So, cub. How do you-"

S: "Stop calling me 'cub'. I'm older than you."

J: "Really? I cannot tell, because you are sulking like a kitten denied its mother's milk."

S: "I do not sulk like a-! Shut up, hag."

J: -laughs- "You are so easy to rile up, little cub."

S: -sharp, angry growl- <a/n: aware that she swallowed jaheira's bait whole, and is not happy about it>

33. Party banter with Minthara

M: "Have you considered my proposal, sister? You and I will wreak bloody vengeance on Lolth, and rule over Menzoberranzan as it ought to be ruled."

S: "I want nothing to do with the Spider Queen or Menzoberranzan. Or you, for that matter."

M: "As I suspected. Your spirit is truly broken, if you have lost your thirst for revenge."

S: "I recognise a lost cause, and I wish you a good death in its pursuit. Now leave me be, or a dagger will be my next answer."

13. Do you have a favorite character from the Underdark? Is it the same as your Character's?

Hmm I don't really have a favourite character in the Underdark. But I do like Blurg and Omeluum.

Sol doesn't have a favourite, didn't have the emotional capacity to connect with anyone else at that point anyway. Someone was already sapping away her attention.

19. Did your Character spend a night with a companion either the night of the party or earlier? Is it someone they have a continued interest in?

Anyone who's read my unhinged posting knows lmaoo. She spent the night with Shadowheart in Act 1, and will follow through with her until the end. I like to think they have little moments since that date by the waterfall, until they declare for each other after Shadowfell.

Sol had a passing...er, lust for Karlach and her muscles, lowkey flirted, but by the time Karlach could touch people in Act 2, Sol's already got it bad for Shadowheart and wants to know exactly what the fuck is wrong with her.

31. Does your Character have new or old phobias or superstitions that affect their story?

Like most Lolthian drow, Sol never hurts spiders (unless they try to eat her first). Even when she was driven to the surface, disfavoured and disgraced in the eyes of Lolth, she still keeps a certain reverence for spiders. Old habits die hard.

She let slip a prayer from her lips after they killed the spider matriarch below the blighted village, and winced from the knee-jerk reaction. The last thing she wants to do is draw Lolth's eyes on her.

44. Asker wants Blogger to choose a question from the list. - 40. Is your Character used to strange dreams from before the events of the adventure?)