[6:46 PM] NethaEmerald: Valerie was on the edge of the camp, with her new blade in hand, watching as a Wyvern and it's master took off to the skies towards Barentia. The time that the master was here were... different for Valerie. For the first time since she joined Finn's army, she felt... relieved, like a heavy weight was lifted off her shoulders. It felt really nice to the Sword master too. She was sure that people were going to talk about it, especially the healers, as they treated this outsider back to stable health.
After watching until the wyvern was nothing more than a speck in the sky, Valerie examined the blade. It was obviously her father's make, and was just brimming with holy energy. She'd have to ask him how he did it when this little war is over. Looking at the other side of the blade, Valerie wondered how Kristyn was able to use a weapon clearly meant for Valerie so easily.
"I might never know besides asking her..."
[7:20 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine's quilltip tapped on an open page. Just a series of black dots. She sighed into it, her notes somewhat discontent and disorganized. She'd been intending to write a letter home about how things were going, replying to some business... She got up, folded her page, and walked along the outer edge of the camp. Where she noticed the wyvern getting further and further away -- it wasn't Neltharion. And she saw Valerie standing beneath, watching them, and the sword in their hand. She crept up, trying to arrange it so what she said next was a surprise.
"They're heading back to Barentia, I take it?"
[7:24 PM] NethaEmerald: Valerie hadn't been focusing on anything else since she said her good-bye to Kristyn, so when Delphine came up and spoke to her, Valerie jumped a little, but didn't draw a blade as she knew what the voice was. Still sitting with a slightly spooked demeanor now, Valerie responded with
"Unfortunately, yes."
Valerie let out a small sigh after that. It felt like the time they were together there wasn't nearly long enough. She had almost debated going back with Kristyn, but decided to see this war out to the end since she had come this far. Clutching at the ring on the necklace she wore, Valerie mumbled off to Delphine
"But I don't know if it was the right thing..."
[8:23 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine saw the gesture, and the ring that Valerie had been wearing all the while suddenly became abundantly clear. That she wore it on the neck, too, was a touch she observed almost with a smile -- on a hand, it could become a burden on a battlefield, or get lost. It was the sort of thing she'd grown to notice on guards...And soldiers.
"The right thing, her leaving, or the right thing, your staying for a little while longer?"
[8:37 PM] NethaEmerald: "... Both." Valerie responded with. She decided to finally start standing up.
"And also... my choice for staying here with Finn's Army. The situation before was relatively easy: stick with Finn's army until we were done. But recent events have made it harder. After she 'delivered' this weapon to me, we talked on the field..."
Valerie's face went a little red without her realizing. She also just admitted that the reason she gave for Kristyn needing to see the healers was not as accurate as might seem.
"During that, some... confessions happened? Not sure it's the right word, but we both knew the meaning behind it. I fear i'll find myself yearning to go home and see her again too much on the battlefield..."
[8:05 AM] LadyDeme: Delphine nodded, concealing a sly, kind of approving smile -- of lovers, and of Valerie's tenativeness in terms. She faced that shape, hidden in the cloudline, for a moment, and considered it.
"I'm not sure. I think that having something waiting for you helps, at a time like this. As will a new sword. After all... Our opponent," Delphine did not like the word 'enemies,' she found. "Is only getting closer to its strongest heart -- and we've been at this for some time. I think having something at the end will remind you that you get to go home, if you get to go home... That's how I feel about Amarana," Delphine added.
[8:38 AM] NethaEmerald: Valerie nodded.
"I suppose so." Just thinking about how things would be when she got home brought a smile to her face; the first one she's had in a while in front of anyone in Finn's army.
"And don't worry: I will be able to make it home." Valerie reassured Delphine. "And i'm sure you will too."
[7:15 PM] LadyDeme: "Of course; I've got far too much that's interesting," Delphine said, waving a hand airily. She paused, for a second, her hand in mid-arc. Her brow furrowed for a moment.
"I have to admit the prospect I might, but I still think it's best to look for the future there. Do you two have a specific plan, for when you get back, or will you just be playing it by ear?"
[7:18 PM] NethaEmerald: When the future was asked and talked about, Valerie frowned a little in puzzlement.
"Honestly? Not really. We were kind of at each other's throats for a little while, and with things now mended again, there isn't a future that was decided before other than possible death at the other's hand..."
Valerie rattled off aloud.
[8:57 AM] LadyDeme: "I see." She reached over and patted Valerie's shoulder. The shape of the wyvern had now fully vanished, leaving them looking out at the foothills, and the mountain range that sperated them from Ethysia.
"Why were you trying to kill each other, anyway, if you don't mind me asking? It seems... A little odd, to go from that to love. But then again, I suppose feelings that run intense might do such a thing: all burning, and the direction goes where it may."
[9:03 AM] NethaEmerald: Valerie sighed a little when Delphine asked that, figuring she might.
"Well, back when we were in military, both training and not, for Barentia, we met. Kristyn didn't really tolerate anyone besides me. So after that, we slowly became friends, despite how opposite we were. As we continued to train and serve the military, we found ourselves becoming inseperable. However... on the night I left to join Prince Finn's army... she noticed. She didn't want me to leave her alone in Barentia, so we had a bout... and I won."
She cleared her throat a little.
"After that, you're aware of what happened when we helped liberate Barentia, and obviously just now. I don't think she wanted to kill me so much as get me to come back home."
[10:52 AM] LadyDeme: "I see, see. You certainly made it sound dramatic," Delphine strethzched herself out. She considered, briefly, asking Valerie more, but the girl likely felt interrogated enough.
"But a ring and a sword are excellent gifts to make sure you can make sure you do come back."
[10:57 AM] NethaEmerald: Valerie nodded along until Delphine mentioned the gifts. A ring and a sword? They sounded like total opposites, which caused some chuckles from Valerie upon realizing that.
"Despite how different they are, I guess so? I mean, the sword wasn't something she made or got me; my father made it, and she just delivered it." Valerie spoke, kind of correcting that misconception.
[1:34 PM] LadyDeme: "They're different, but that doesn't mean they're not both helpful, in their ways -- my staff isn't much like your sword, but they both help bring us both home. I prefer rings to swords, myself."
Delphine explained, chuckling about it herself. It wasn't as if there weren't all sorts of tools, to see one through a hard time. She felt like she'd catalogued them, in her own way, and waved a hand -- wearing Amarana's Amaranth signet ring on it, as well. She leaned over, getting a sense of the sword Valerie held.
"Your father -- he must be very skilled. It's a fine blade."
[1:43 PM] NethaEmerald: "He's been doing it his whole life. I just wish I was there to help him with this one." Valerie remarked about the craftsmanship of the blade.
The sword master realized something about seeing the ring on Delphine's finger.
"But, you know... i'll have to get a ring before I go back home, seeing as how I got one, but Kristyn didn't get one from me. I don't know where, but i'll have to."
[6:11 PM] LadyDeme: "Oh, yes, I suppose you will. I doubt you'll get a chance before the war ends, though... If you end up going through Floribar on your way back, I can look over a few with you, if you like." This just got her beaming; the unspoken, unplanned possibilities in that gesture just seemed so very sweet, and so very pure.
To give a specific ring is, in a lot of ways, just a temporary decision; to give a ring at all...Well, all decisions are temporary, but this is different -- a more permanent sort of temporary.(edited)
[9:25 PM] NethaEmerald: Valerie nodded at Delphine's offer.
"We'll see where the winds take me after we end this thing, because not even I know how exactly i'll get back home."
[5:02 AM] LadyDeme: "Good luck, then; to chart a course, you'll first need to chart a far more literal course," Delphine said, with a smile.(edited)
[7:54 AM] NethaEmerald: With a nod, Valerie said "I wish you luck too in your endeavors." as she figured now was a good time as any to head back to the camp.
[1:14 PM] LadyDeme: == RP End ==
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