Chapter Text
"Fiore, you and Mika will be patrolling the shoreline of the coast," Captain Frank told her. "There shouldn't be too many problems. Oathbound has been discouraging the presence of monsters with all the work they've been doing, but still, be alert."
"You got it, Captain!" Fiore saluted, and Mika gave a small salute of her own. The older woman was still getting used to the ins and outs of the watch, but she was doing pretty good in Fiore's eyes! This was her first day on patrol and while Fiore was shocked that she was the one paired up with her for that, she wasn't about to argue with the captain about it. "Come on, Mika!"
"Yes, Fiore." The older woman fell into step beside her while the whole Watch dispersed to their assignments.
They walked out of town, and Mika remained quiet. Which was good, because Fiore could feel a familiar wave of sleepiness and cold washing in from the back of her mind. Wolf had woken up and was stretching, just like he usually did right after they got done with drills. He had been falling asleep in the middle of drills pretty consistently over the past few days. Which was also good. He clearly needed the sleep. It was just distracting to feel him waking up. Mmh? His presence flared to life around her shoulders and behind her eyes, sleepiness traded for curiosity.
"Are you cold?"
"Nah." Fiore grinned at Mika sheepishly. "It's not chilly enough for that. I just get shivers up my spine sometimes."
Mika frowned a little, looking around the area warily. "I know what you're talking about," she replied. "It's usually an indication of danger, though."
"Maybe there are more monsters than Captain Frank thought there would be." Fiore also dutifully scanned the coastline. "Just 'cause people are hunting them for parts doesn't mean all of them are staying away."
There are some birdians in the air, Wolf murmured, and she looked up, squinting at the clouds. There were a couple of shadows up there, barely visible in the sunlight. I don't know if they're going to come down here, mind you. But they're there.
"...Do foes often attack from the air here?" Mika's tone was becoming progressively more concerned.
"Yeah, we've got birdians that live on the cliffs." Fiore looked back at her and pointed at the cliffs that overlooked the sea and Rippletide itself. Mika looked back at the cliffs with a small frown. "They're not that bad, though! The fact that they can shoot arrows is a little tricky, especially if you can't shoot back, but they're also pretty fragile if you can get a good hit on them." She changed the position of her hands on her sword, slowly swinging it more like a club as a demonstration. "A couple of them ambushed me and my father once while we were looking for shells. I only had a stick and I was still able to break one of it's wings when it tried to carry me away!"
The memory came back clear as day when she felt Wolf poking around in the back of her mind so that he could look at it. She blinked, trying to stay in the present while he shuffled through the old, distant fear and triumph from that moment. There were flashes of pleasure and excitement from him as he dug through the memories. She was glad he'd woken up in a good mood, and even more glad that the good mood was sticking around. "I suppose that explains why children don't go to the coast outside of town all that often," Mika frowned up towards the sky. "In my homeland, the worst things that you had to fear were from the sea."
"Where are you from?" Fiore asked. She knew some areas didn't get birdians, but there were usually monsters in the air wherever you went in Orsterra unless you stuck to the towns.
"Oh... Liliang," Mika replied, looking down at the sand. "It's across the sea, far away from Orsterra."
"Oh!" Fiore blinked, trying to wrap her head around the concept of there being places in the world other than Orsterra, and then blushing at how hard that was. "I thought Orsterra was the whole world."
"...Well, it's not as though the people of Orsterra really talk about other continents--" Mika admitted, looking towards the sea once again. "I can't really blame you for being confused. I probably would be too if I was from here."
"So why are you--"
Kitten.
Wolf's voice was like a whip cracking through her mind. She recognized the warning it was as chills suddenly rushed through her body like a shockwave. Something was diving from behind. She whirled around, catching an arrow on her blade and slicing it cleanly in half. The pieces fell harmlessly into the sand, but she could see the birdians coming down, talons outstretched and already nocking more arrows.
Wolf's excitement was scampering up and down her skin, and she could feel her magic bubbling at her feet with clear eagerness. Oh, I have been waiting to see how you would do in a true fight.
Mika made a terrified noise behind her. "I've got them!" Fiore assured her without turning around. Her magic moving on its own felt odd, but if Wolf wanted to use it to help in this fight, that was fine by her. She dropped into a crouch, waiting for the birdians to come closer.
Two more arrows came down, and her magic shot past her to slice them both in half. Fiore sprang forward once one of the birdians was close enough, and she was able to jump high enough to tackle it to the ground. The other one screamed in alarm as Fiore stabbed downwards, breaking the birdian's arm and bow in one fell swoop. She felt claws grab her shoulders. Twist and fall downwards! Wolf called.
Fiore twisted her body so that she was falling off of the first birdian, and the birdian with its claws in her shoulder gave another alarmed scream as she slammed it down into the sand. The impact made her gasp, but she heard a terrible crack from underneath her, and the claws in her shoulders loosened. The first birdian kicked up a stupid amount of sand as it flapped and struggled to its feet, and Fiore squawked, covering her eyes. There was a snarl of displeasure from Wolf, but Fiore felt the mighty gust of wind that signaled that the birdian had taken off into the air again.
The one underneath her wasn't breathing. Fiore tried to wipe the sand out of her eyes as she rolled off of it. Yes, keep moving, Wolf muttered. You want the one in the air to think you're not worth trying to grab--don't respond to me out loud.
Fiore bit back the apology that was trying to come out and just gave a small sigh. Her eyes and shoulders stung. She was off of the birdian now, so she just focused on trying to get the sand out of her eyes. She heard another shift in the sands and flinched a little. "It's me," Mika's voice said quietly. Fiore's shoulders slumped. Wolf still felt wary, and a low, rumbling growl started up in the back of Fiore's mind when she felt a handkerchief and a water canteen pressed into her hands. She squinted, but her vision was blurry from tears and sand, so she could only vaguely make out Mika's colors and shape. "This should help with the sand in your eyes. Do you want to flush it out yourself, or do you want my help?"
"I don't think I'll do a very good job myself," Fiore sniffed.
"Alright. Just tilt your head back and open your eyes as wide as you can, then."
Fiore did as she was told, making sure to keep her mouth firmly closed despite how much her eyes burned. The cold water flooded her eyes without warning, and she immediately grunted, squeezed her eyes shut and dipped her head so that she was facing downwards instead of up. Some water splashed on top of her head, but less that she was expecting. Mika had quick reflexes. Blink, Wolf encouraged, and she did as she was told. Her eyes still stung a little, but far less than they had been.
She sniffed again as she wiped the sand and water-- and probably tears-- off of her cheeks. She looked up at Mika's far less blurry face, and gave a wobbly smile. "Thanks. They don't sting as much."
Mika offered her a hand up and she took it, wincing as Mika pulled her to her feet. Her shoulders burned! "You're still wounded," Mika noted, guilt clear in her expression. "Does the Watch expect you to finish the patrol with those wounds, or...?"
"Oh, no!" Fiore shook her head, and quickly finished wiping the tears off of her face. "I actually need to report that the birdians are being more aggressive than usual. We'll need to take this body to Captain Frank. Then he'll send me to a healer. Probably Menno."
Menno?! Wolf immediately whined. Noooo! Aren't there any other healers in this town?
Fiore couldn't say out loud that the only other two options were ones that Wolf would like even less. Rippletide usually only had apothecaries and clerics that passed through, their business taking a couple of days at most. They were lucky they had three options right now that were all reputable, otherwise they'd have to work with the Watch's shaky first-aid skills. Menno was a literal godsend to this place and the day they moved on was going to be a scary one for the Watch.
"Alright." Mika didn't seem to have much of a problem with picking up the birdian's body, though she did stare down at it for a moment before she started walking back to town. "...You're quite the fighter. It's been a long, long time since I've seen someone able to sense an attack the way that you did." Wolf shifted uneasily in the back of Fiore's mind again, that low growl starting back up. Fiore did her best to keep her worry off of her face even though Mika wasn't even looking at her. She had no idea why Wolf was so on edge. "Most people from my homeland would just catch it with their hand rather than slice it in half with their sword, though."
The growling stopped immediately. Fiore gaped at Mika for a second despite herself. "That is so cool!" she exclaimed, and Wolf's agreement was almost physical, she could feel it so strongly. Mika started slightly at the exclamation, turning back to meet Fiore's eyes. "Can you do that?"
Mika stared at her for a moment, almost pausing, before she turned away and kept walking with the birdian. "...I don't know how I would fare in a fight these days," she replied softly. "As you saw back there, I... I was terrified. If you hadn't been there, those birdians would have taken me. I have caught projectiles before, though."
...She speaks as though she’s past her prime, despite her youth, Wolf murmured. His wariness was gone now, traded for curiosity. Fiore still wasn't sure what to make of his quickly changing moods, but she was grateful for it in this moment. She still seems able to fight as well, physically. I wonder what hinders her.
"The fact that you could do it well at all really is incredible, though," Fiore replied, her smile still in place even if it was a little more subdued. "Today was the first day that I've sliced through an arrow like that. It was probably more luck than anything."
"It didn't look like luck."
Fiore shrugged, and then immediately winced as sharp pain shot up from her shoulder. Wolf hissed, and she once again had to bite back an out-loud apology. "I just do my best. It usually doesn't pay off that well, but I'm glad it did today."
Mika looked back at her again, and Fiore felt Wolf give another small shift, his curiosity growing cold in the way that usually had Fiore's joints locking up. They didn't lock up. Mika's gaze was probably reminding him to be careful. You have me now, he whispered. For your fights.
"That's how learning to fight usually goes," Mika assured her in the tone of someone who knew. The certainty startled both of them, and Fiore felt Wolf settle again. The cold curiosity had been cast aside, letting Fiore focus fully on Mika's words. "Things seem like flukes or just luck at first, but as you continue to land those hits, your body will remember them." They'd reached the edge of town. "And if your body remembers them, your mind won't have to."
Fiore tilted her head. She remembered her father saying something similar once. Before she could dwell on it too much, they stepped up onto the cobblestone streets of Rippletide and there was a hail. She looked up to see another pair of the Watch hurrying towards her. She quickly identified them as the brothers, Costus and Alek. "You two alright?" Alek asked.
"My shoulders got shredded by that birdian's claws, but otherwise yeah!" Fiore jabbed a thumb at the birdian on Mika's back. "We got attacked near the shoreline. There were two. The other one got away."
"I can take that." Costus moved over to Mika, and she handed over the birdian. "Mika, you can come with me to Captain Frank to report what happened."
"I'll take you to Ramona, Fiore. She and Menno have been busy today, but at least they're in town," Alek told her.
Fiore felt Wolf's surprise, and then his attention shifted and expanded. "Okay!" she agreed, and gave Mika a small wave before they went their separate ways. She'd have to talk to the other woman later. She was curious, and Wolf seemed to be in a better mood when they were talking. Usually, anyways.
Speaking of Wolf, he settled back onto her shoulders pretty quickly. Huh. Theo's not in town.
That was probably a good thing, Wolf was always ten times more easily agitated whenever he knew that Theo was in town. She doubted he'd left Rippletide for good, though. Ramona was in Oathbound.
"Birdians are being a little more aggressive than usual then?" Alek asked, eyeing her shoulders.
"Yeah, I dunno why they decided to come down from the cliffs today. Could just be bad luck. There were two of them, they saw me and Mika alone, and decided that trying to attack was a good idea." Fiore would have shrugged, but she knew it would hurt.
"Menaces," Alek muttered under his breath before his voice grew loud enough that she could hear him easily. Maybe a little too loud since Wolf's chill was curled in the crevices of her ears. "This isn't the first time they've chased you down."
"I'm small. Easy pickings."
"I mean, obviously not," Alek snorted, and Wolf retreated from her ears with a hiss of displeasure at the sudden sharp noise. Fiore couldn't help a small smile at the sort of interaction between them. "You're still alive despite all those fights. That's pretty solid evidence that you're not easy to pick off at all."
"I still look it, though."
"Did I hear something about a fight?" Menno's voice called.
Wolf buried himself a little deeper in the back of Fiore's mind with a grumble while she and Alek both looked up to see Menno staring at them, arms full of papers. "Fiore here got her shoulders a little shredded, yeah," Alek replied.
"Oh, I can take care of that," the other cleric spoke up, standing up. "You know far more about these papers than I do, Menno." She walked over to Alek and Fiore, a sympathetic smile on her face as she approached.
Fiore had never properly met Ramona. She'd seen Oathbound's cleric only from a distance, so the sway of the long reddish-brown curls pulled back into a high ponytail was all that she properly remembered about her. They stood out against her black habit and the blue and gold sash that she wore tied over her shoulders. She had a gentle face, with warm brown eyes and a near-constant, ever-shifting smile as the centerpiece.
She was the sort of pretty that Fiore's mother would be proud of.
Fiore could feel Wolf's chill behind her eyes, and his clear interest. Right, he'd never met Ramona either. "Thanks for being so willing to help," Fiore spoke up, looking up to give Ramona a sheepish smile. The cleric was taller than her, but that wasn't exactly hard. Fiore was very aware that she was short.
"Oh, of course. It's no trouble at all." Ramona shook her head as she stepped into Fiore's space and moved her sleeves to get a better look at the claw marks.
Fiore winced as the fabric was moved, but Ramona's fingers were gentle, so the experience wasn't too painful. The wounds looked a lot more raw now that they were completely exposed, lazily oozing bright red blood around the edges.
"These don't look too bad." Ramona placed her hands directly over the gashes. "But they've been sitting on your shoulders long enough that the magic I'm about to use might feel a little more overwhelming than you're used to. Sorry about that."
Before Fiore could respond, Ramona's hands glowed with pale blue light. A rush of sensations that had the same force as Wolf when he was antsy rushed through her. It felt like there were tiny waves inside and around her shoulders, and that sensation was cold, but it was a soothing cold instead of Wolf's bitter, stinging chill. She could hear the babbling of the water in her ears and smell... was that apple pie in her nose?
Wolf made a spluttering noise in his human voice before he flattened himself to dodge the magic. His feelings were absent from her own for once.
As soon as it all started, it was over. Ramona took her hands off of Fiore's shoulders and Wolf immediately jumped up to grab what remained of the magic. He was shifting rapidly, the beautiful sensations coming back to Fiore, but in small, weak flashes. A ripple across her shoulder one second, the smell of apple pie the next.
Fiore forced herself to focus on the blood that was on Ramona's hands. There was still some blood on Fiore's shoulders as well, but that blood and the slashes in her shirt were the only evidence of the wounds. The skin was smooth and unbroken once again. "That ought to do it."
"That was amazing!" Fiore exclaimed, running her hand over her left shoulder. "Thank you so much!"
"Of course." Ramona's smile turned into a grin. Fiore didn't miss Menno outright staring at the other cleric, completely distracted from their papers. "I'm happy to help. Don't hesitate to approach if you need anything else, alright?"
"We'd be stupid not to," Alek remarked dryly. "But we'd best get back to Captain Frank. Neither of our patrols are finished yet."
"He's right. Bye, Menno! Bye, Ramona!"
Menno gave her a hasty wave, and Ramona gave a small nod before turning back towards Menno. Fiore heard a conversation in hushed voices start up as soon as she and Alek were reasonably out of earshot. The sensations had stopped now. I have never seen a cleric so willing to do that, Wolf muttered. That was close.
Ugh, she couldn't ask him what he meant! Later. If they both remembered. Fiore had realized over the past few days that they were both very bad at remembering stuff.
Probably for the best that she couldn't ask right now, anyways. She could feel nerves skittering up and down her arms. Wolf was always less willing to talk when he was nervous.
She waved at Mika when she saw her coming back with Costus. "You ready to get back to patrolling?" she asked the other woman.
"Are you?" Mika gave her a small smile. "I'm not the one who got my shoulders shredded."
"They're good as new now!" Fiore gestured at her shoulders. "I'm just going to have to repair the sleeves. But I don't need the sleeve to walk around or fight."
Mika's smile grew a little softer. "I suppose that's fair."
"We'll leave you two to it, then," Costus said with a grin, holding up a hand. Fiore hopped up to give him a high five, her grin growing a bit sheepish when she heard Wolf give a faint grunt of pain at the sharp clap.
The brothers went their way, and Mika and Fiore went theirs. "Seriously, though! After patrol, could you show me how you used to fight?" Fiore asked.
Mika's smile was gone now and she stayed silent for a long moment. "...It couldn't hurt, I suppose," she finally replied. "It's really nothing special, though."
I doubt that.
"I'll be the judge of that," Fiore told her, and was delighted to see the older woman's small smile return.