She nods, relaxing just a bit, and gestures for him to join her in the cave. "It's been a long day, and it's hard to cast when I'm this tired - we should be safe in here as long as we're quiet, elves don't come into caves without a reason. Any luck with them?"
She nods. "They don't seem to be too close to figuring out where they are, either. Which - I would rather not see the tigerfolk trapped, but if we have to wait for the elves to give up, you might be stuck here for a while."
"All right, that helps. I set up a little camp for you in the cave the ring goes to, but I'm sure you'd rather not be cooped up there until this is over; I can work something out with portals and rings to let you come and go, if you've got an idea of what you'd like to spend your time doing."
"The elves have been nice enough to me so far that I wouldn't mind spending my days with them, in case I figure out an angle on the tigerfolk problem," he says. "They wanted me guarded at night because I wouldn't tell them what the ring did, and I said I'd rather just wander the forest all night if they're going to be like that, and that worked out just fine for tonight, so I'd be able to come and go that way."
The kobold spends a long moment thinking about this. "All right. I'll make a couple more rings and stash them in the cave for you tomorrow - how close of a look did they get at that one? I think we have another like it but I'm not sure if we have more than one. But, stay on your guard, don't sleep there, make sure you don't run out of teleports. Elves are dangerous."
"They definitely saw the ring and took notice of it, but nobody came over to stare at it from close up or anything. How dangerous is it to sleep there? I sleep pretty light."
"I explained what hexes are, right? They'd need to touch you for a little while to do that - how long depends on how good of a mage they are and what exactly they're doing. It'd take me a few seconds for a simple one."
"Well, if they had magic that made them not make any sound, and more magic to let them see in the dark so they wouldn't have to bring a light in to work by, then they might get close enough to touch me before I woke up. Otherwise I'd be fine."
"They wouldn't need to see you to do it, our kind of magic comes with its own sense that doesn't need anything like that. Anyway, I don't think they have silencing magic, but I wouldn't bet my life on it."
He shrugs. "As far as I could tell, they didn't seem to want to do anything like that, either. But it wouldn't be that bad to just sleep outside their village."
"All right. I can - " There's a movement at the cave entrance. The kobold freezes in mid-sentence.
"Kobold." It's Dusk; her voice is distinctive enough to recognize. "I - I understand you're a person. I'm sorry. I'm sorry we - hexes. And things. I want to help."
She nods, and her fire bowl lights up mid-gesture, revealing her more clearly.
The kobold just stares, open-mouthed and speechless, and Dusk's expression softens from enthusiastic-but-sad to concerned and a little withdrawn. She sits, carefully and without any sudden movements, putting the fire bowl down on the ground by her knee and then putting her hands on her lap. "Kobold?"
The kobold, still speechless, looks from the elf to the Aluvai, with a face that says something like 'what the heck am I supposed to do with this?'
Elarron gives a helpless little shrug. "I... yeah, this is Dusk, she's one of the elves I met today." He tries to figure out a way to explain how... Dusk... she is, and comes up with, "She taught me their trap password."
The kobold blinks, and checks the elf's reaction to this (pleased, slightly smug, still concerned). "Wow."
"I want to help," Dusk repeats.
"All right, let me - let me think. What do you want to help with?"
"Tigerfolk. It's..." she trails off, looking deeply worried, almost panicked.
"You don't have to say it, I have a pretty good idea of what'll happen if you guys catch them." The elf relaxes only marginally under the kobold's weary and slightly disgusted tone. "What do you want for them?"
"Go away, be safe."
The kobold nods. "And me?"
Dusk shrugs. "Stay, be safe?"
"Hmh." The kobold looks to Elarron, to see if he has anything to add.
The kobold considers for another few moments. "Why do you want to work with us, though? You know I'm a kobold, I'm sure you know what that means." Now it's Dusk's turn for confused speechlessness. "It wasn't that long ago that you elves were trying to kill us all." Oh. Yes, that. Cringing and flinching away from the kobold; guilt. "So I don't see why -"
And now there is a giant lynx in the entrance to the cave. The kobold instantly shifts gears from belligerent anger to silent wariness, but the cat ignores her entirely as it goes to flop its front half into Dusk's lap. The elf hugs it, and buries her face in its fur, and takes a few deep breaths, and, after a few minutes of silence, says, almost like a mantra, "I did the best I could. It worked. It wasn't fast - it wasn't fast enough, but it worked. I did the best I could."
Silence, from the kobold, until it's clear that there's nothing more to come, and then, softly, "huh?"
There's a long pause. "People were hurting. I made it stop."
The kobold... looks confused. Glances up at Elarron. Considers, for another moment, and then - takes a hesitant step toward the elf - is ignored by the lynx - approaches the rest of the way, still wary of the creature. When she gets close enough to touch it, takes a deep breath, and cautiously puts a hand on its flank, petting cautiously for a moment when the touch proves to be ignored like everything else. Calmer, takes the remaining handful of steps to sit by the elf. Waits another moment. And then, quietly:
"That was you? You made it stop?"
Nod.
"They really weren't going to, were they. We thought maybe if we hid long enough..."
Headshake. "So angry."
"Yeah." A pause. "I was a baby, when it was happening, but the other Speakers have stories. They knew, I think. That it shouldn't've happened how it did - that something... something special happened, to make it stop. They don't say so, but the stories don't really make sense any other way - how people acted, what the tribes did."
Nod.
"It must've been very hard."
Another long pause, and the elf looks up from her lynx; at some point she started crying, and then stopped again. She nods, "worth it".
That gets a grin. "...you can pet me, if you want?"
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lurkingkobold) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
glowfic2015-12-18 09:04 am
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She's still speaking very quietly, and looking past Elarron and out of the cave more than she's looking at him.
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"I learned a lot of things, but I didn't learn how to get them to stop going after the tigerfolk."
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"Kobold." It's Dusk; her voice is distinctive enough to recognize. "I - I understand you're a person. I'm sorry. I'm sorry we - hexes. And things. I want to help."
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The kobold just stares, open-mouthed and speechless, and Dusk's expression softens from enthusiastic-but-sad to concerned and a little withdrawn. She sits, carefully and without any sudden movements, putting the fire bowl down on the ground by her knee and then putting her hands on her lap. "Kobold?"
The kobold, still speechless, looks from the elf to the Aluvai, with a face that says something like 'what the heck am I supposed to do with this?'
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"I want to help," Dusk repeats.
"All right, let me - let me think. What do you want to help with?"
"Tigerfolk. It's..." she trails off, looking deeply worried, almost panicked.
"You don't have to say it, I have a pretty good idea of what'll happen if you guys catch them." The elf relaxes only marginally under the kobold's weary and slightly disgusted tone. "What do you want for them?"
"Go away, be safe."
The kobold nods. "And me?"
Dusk shrugs. "Stay, be safe?"
"Hmh." The kobold looks to Elarron, to see if he has anything to add.
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And now there is a giant lynx in the entrance to the cave. The kobold instantly shifts gears from belligerent anger to silent wariness, but the cat ignores her entirely as it goes to flop its front half into Dusk's lap. The elf hugs it, and buries her face in its fur, and takes a few deep breaths, and, after a few minutes of silence, says, almost like a mantra, "I did the best I could. It worked. It wasn't fast - it wasn't fast enough, but it worked. I did the best I could."
Silence, from the kobold, until it's clear that there's nothing more to come, and then, softly, "huh?"
There's a long pause. "People were hurting. I made it stop."
The kobold... looks confused. Glances up at Elarron. Considers, for another moment, and then - takes a hesitant step toward the elf - is ignored by the lynx - approaches the rest of the way, still wary of the creature. When she gets close enough to touch it, takes a deep breath, and cautiously puts a hand on its flank, petting cautiously for a moment when the touch proves to be ignored like everything else. Calmer, takes the remaining handful of steps to sit by the elf. Waits another moment. And then, quietly:
"That was you? You made it stop?"
Nod.
"They really weren't going to, were they. We thought maybe if we hid long enough..."
Headshake. "So angry."
"Yeah." A pause. "I was a baby, when it was happening, but the other Speakers have stories. They knew, I think. That it shouldn't've happened how it did - that something... something special happened, to make it stop. They don't say so, but the stories don't really make sense any other way - how people acted, what the tribes did."
Nod.
"It must've been very hard."
Another long pause, and the elf looks up from her lynx; at some point she started crying, and then stopped again. She nods, "worth it".
That gets a grin. "...you can pet me, if you want?"
That gets a grin, too.