1. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    'I don't know... I quite like your stories.' Sure, she didn't always get the message or the meaning behind the tales Vyn spun, but that wasn't the point. Or was it? 'Hope you've got your walking shoes on, then.' The news didn't exactly fill Xen with cheer, but she had suffered worse for less. A...
  2. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    'I'm sure you're welcome.' Nodding, Xen pasted a smile onto her face as Vyn's tale came to an end. Insofar as stories went, it wasn't terrible, but it did raise a question. 'So, which are we: the flies or the toad?' Xen assumed the latter, 'cause of all the ribbiting they got up to together...
  3. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Jem. Not a name she had heard before. 'Right. And when he does?' The proof was in the pudding. Or else the empty clearing they now found themselves in. Looking around, Xen sniffed before driving a furrow through the snow with the tip of her boot, as one sometimes did when at a loss. Even Vyn...
  4. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Two and a half weeks later... Vyn had been wrong. Dead wrong. 'Guess the Wagons rolled on without us.' Standing amongst the detritus left behind by her companion's fellows, Xenovia could not help but remark on the situation they now found themselves in. Patches of blackened earth stained the...
  5. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    'The handsome one, maybe.' Xenovia quipped, deadpan. Over by the woodpile, Onion remained crouched, its limbs frozen in place, as if petrified. She couldn't see or hear it breathing, but she assumed it wasn't dead. Vyn surely would have said something, otherwise. 'I was born ready,' she...
  6. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    The reprimand was like a slap, sharp and precise across her cheek. For a few painstakingly slow seconds, Xen found herself unable to move, so surprised was she. They were practically in the suburbs already. A quick trip to the shops posed little risk so early in the morning. Only, it did, and...
  7. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Xenovia hummed softly, before taking a sip of her steaming coffee. Sunlight streamed betwixt snow-capped boughs to paint the campsite in different hues of red, white and brown. The air around them still had an edge to it, but without a vicious wind to drive it home, Xen found it almost...
  8. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    The snowball disintegrated as it collided with Xenovia's palm. 'You did,' she agreed, shaking the snowy shrapnel from her woolly mitts. 'Though, I hasten to point out the fact that it was I who called you mama, and not "it."' Vyn had been very specific on the matter. So, to have a snowball...
  9. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Not all stayed. Xenovia didn't find the thought comforting, but what was she to do about it? Perhaps they had vanished as quickly as they'd appeared, returning to the nothingness from which they were drawn? Maybe they still wandered the land, confused, bereft of purpose and a guiding hand to...
  10. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Xenovia did not even need to think about it. 'Onion,' she said, smiling. 'Simple, like the broth they made for us.' If they didn't like it, they could always change it, once they learnt how to. Only a matter of time, thought the Deva, head turned towards the city she'd left behind. So close, and...
  11. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    'Trial and error, huh?' Sounded about right. Magic was not something you messed with on a whim. One slip-up and your arse was grass. Sometimes literally. 'Do or die or don't bother. Guess you're lucky in that you're still here to fix your mistakes. I once saw a shroud fire-breather choke on his...
  12. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    A mug of coffee to start the day with. Now, that she could get behind. 'This is true.' Nodding, Xen watched Vyn find her feet. 'At the very least, if I don't like what I hear, I can always douse you with it.' The temptation was there, nibbling away at the back of her mind, like a rat in the...
  13. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    'Cartwheel? Are you out of your damned mind?' Disbelief coloured her words, made them sound angrier than she intended. Gritting her teeth, Xen took the fur covers and tossed them in Vyn's face. To help wake her up, maybe, or else just to sate her own anger, directionless as it was starting to...
  14. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    The man was neither human nor devahni, though he did resemble both, up to a certain point. Crooked bones, lumpy flesh, and a face that only a mother could love. And even then, 'twould be a struggle, thought Xen, unsure of what she was staring at, even as her eyes grew wide, legs going weak at...
  15. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Xenovia smiled as the flap fell shut behind her. Rubbing her mitts together, the Deva stomped some life back into her limbs as she took the opportunity to look around. Snow blanketed everything in sight. Deep and treacherous, it clogged the road down which they had rode the night before, their...
  16. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Arms reached out. Drawn into their embrace, Xenovia closed her eyes as the fear ran its course. The trembling subsided. Her breathing calmed. There was no blood in her mouth, she realised, nor any staining the canvas overhead. Only the Sun making its climb heavenward, bleeding into existence...
  17. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    'O-kay, then!' Rocking to her feet, Xenovia stutter stepped her way over to the tent, the fire's touch fading as she dipped her head inside. Pausing at the threshold, she took a moment to glance over her shoulder. Vyn still sat huddled by the campfire, her robes bunched about her as she stared...
  18. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    'Bob bobbing along the byways with a bowlful of memories. You're right, that is catchy!' A tale told, and one more story to add to the collection. Nodding to herself, Xenovia settled into the silence that followed Vyn's words. A welcome distraction from her woes, they had served to placate the...
  19. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    She chuckled at that. 'Aye, maybe.' Her chest rose and fell, heart lifted by the thought of new beginnings. That's what this is, yes? A fresh start? Xenovia's smile lingered until Vyn finished her poking. Sparks leapt skyward. Wood crackled and spat. Somewhere in the great yonder, the figure in...
  20. Xenovia

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    'No, Vyn, that's life.' Road or Sink, the rules seemed very much the same. A full belly was never guaranteed, and you were lucky if you could find a safe place to lay your head at night. And the fighting. If it wasn't the gangs, it was the "tourists" - well-to-do types that fancied slumming it...
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