Closed [Tranquil port]Get off of my ship! (Cassandra)

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

OOCThanks, but I don't think I will make much use of them. They're your NPC's after all. I don't feel comfortable when using someone else's characters, NPC or not. But well, now and then, some reactions, max. I won't do convo's or actual actions, those you'll have to mod yourself.

“Greetings.” Only silence and the crackling flames of the warm bonfire greeted him as he was introduced by Cassandra, the people all fixed their gaze on him. The bat swallowed and felt the skin on his head, armpits and chest start to itch and the temperature of his body heated up a bit, and it wasn’t because of the fire. His expression stayed the same, as did the colour of his face but the thief was sure they knew. He was certain they could feel the warmth of his body rising, smell the cold sweat gathering under his arms and see the shivers it sent over his spine.

Groups, he hated groups. Especially if they were all watching him, no, actually only when they were all watching him. Uncomfortably he shifted his weight to his other leg and sent a nervous glance towards Cass, who seemed to have started telling how they had met. Well, not really, she’d bended the truth to breach the facades and silence with smiles and brief laughter. And with that line, she’d also formally invited him to have dinner with her and her family. It wouldn’t be the most pleasant and comfortable meals in terms of mental comfort he’d had, but it was free and the fire was warm, so he couldn’t complain.

A girl giggled, the child who’d studied his had ran towards her and whispered something in her ear. The bat focused on it, but even with his extraordinary hearing abilities he could not make out what she had said. However, when she was finished, the both of them burst out in even more giggles. He rolled his eyes, Tss, girls. The thief then shifted his attention to the people sitting around the flames, a wrinkly faced, though not all that old looking woman returned his gaze with a gentle smile and gestured him to come sit next to her. He nodded a small thanks and walked her way.

However, a small comment coming from another woman stopped him right in his tracks. Her voice had an authorial tone in it, and didn’t sound all that friendly either. The bat threw his glance to where the voice had been coming from, staring in the blazing orange of the bonfire. Most likely she was sitting on the opposite side of it, the other option was that the fire had spoken, but that was highly doubtable.

Cassandra addressed him, anger colouring the tang of the sentence flowing from her lips, she was definitely not pleased with this, calling him a liar while shooting thunderbolts from her blue eyes. Wait, what? Why? What did he do? He hadn’t lied at all! Or maybe he just didn’t remember doing so… Well anyways, it seemed that the friendly woman was able to calm down Cass with the next things she said, uncovering the truth about him and his race.

That was really impressive, she’d recognised his identity as a Kelvic by just looking at him? How’d she been able to do that? The way he moved… was it really that different than a human’s? And they were born from magic? What? That’s new, he was quite sure his mother had given birth to him, not some weird mage person. Very confused by all this new questions popping up, he placed his bum next to hers on the log and stared into the ever so fickle changing flames. “It seems you know more than I do. I never knew we were born of magic…” The bat didn’t quite believe what she was saying. Magic? Impossible!

“You are right about my race though,” he continued “Sadly I haven’t bonded to anyone as of yet, I am searching, but I am not finding. Perhaps it has something to do with my prolonged stay here in Lhavit. No, it most certainly has.” His speech grew silent as he accepted a bowl of stew from the female Svefra Cass had been talking to when they hopped off the boat. “Thanks.” He was rewarded by the same smile as before, the one that didn’t really met her eyes. Well, at least she didn’t openly dare to distrust him, Cassandra’s stubbornness had prevented that, or so he thought.

As she paced by, delivering some more stew to the people around him, with a more animated face. Brandon sighed deeply, though the fire warmed his body, it would take a while before the Svefra family would warm up to him. “Though I guess anyone could make that claim, huh?” The thief took a moment to listen to the cluttering of spoons on the bowls, shovelling steaming hot stew into their mouths, with or without a sipping noise accompanying it.

“But tell me, er… Ma’am? How did you know what I was with just as much of a glance in my direction? I didn’t think there was that much of a difference between my and a human’s behaviour. Also, what do you mean with ‘borne of magic’? I’m sorry, but I find that hard to believe, whether it may or may not be the truth.” In his dark orbs the reflection of the burning fire could be seen as he intensely stared into the woman’s own blue ones for the length of his inquiries.

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Cassandra Southwind]

oocGot a little ahead of myself. If you want me to insert anything that Bran says in the middle of this post so that you don't have to go back so far in yours, just shoot me a PM. The woman on Cassandra's other side nodded and leaned forward so that she could see the sitting Brandon properly. When he addressed her with a cityfolk's respect, she shook her head. "Do not worry about ma'am. Call me Mona." She did not offer her hand. "And I apologize. My Common is not perfect. I say borne when I mean... began, or created. But the creating of a race needs a more intimate word, don't you think?" "To build?" Cassandra offered. In Fratava, the word sometimes held a more profound connotation, for a thing which is built usually takes great effort and personality. But Mona shook her head. "It does not matter," she said with a dismissing wave. "Of course your mother bore you, since all creatures have mothers. But the first of your kind was made by an ambitious human, a very long time ago.A scholar in Zeltiva told me much about his bondmate, but I do not remember everything." She paused to take a bowl from Eddie, who was passing them and the utensils to each person around the fire. As Eddie moved on to Cass and then Bran, Marina came around and filled each bowl with stew. Mona took her time cooling the stew with her breath and savoring her first taste, but Cassandra set hers sit untouched in her lap as she pressed, "But how did you know what he was? How did Lia Regina know?" "Lia Regina is very intuitive." Since the sentence was directed toward Cassandra, it did not seem incredibly impolite to use the Fratavan word. "And I simply have learned to see the little things, over the years. Everyone has an aura, and Kelvic auras are unique." That word, aura, was one which Cassandra had only recently learned. It was used in a description of the magic called auristics, which she had never heard of until she came to Lhavit. Mona was certainly well-learned, but how could she have known that word? Cass gave her a questioning look. No Southwind practiced magic. Lia Regina hated magic. But without a beat, Mona gave a friendly shove to Casandras shoulder. "Give him a good look. What do you see?" Cassandra obliged, turning bodily toward Brandon and giving him a brief apologetic look for the prolonged scrutiny. The expression fell quickly into one of concentration, and over the course of the minute it would slowly reveal her growing frustrations. In the growing dim of late evening and the irregular flash of the flame, it was difficult to see what she did not already remember of the one-man crew who had accompanied her. "I see a man. Bit skinny, but no less a man. He..." She struggled for something that set him apart; like a good thief, Brandon had a somewhat forgettable look. "He has very dark eyes." "What about how he moves?" "He is not very..." What was the word? "Controlled. Or rather--his feet are not. His hands are--" The adjectives escaped her, so Mona stepped in. "Graceful." She directed a smile toward Brandon as Cassandra escaped into her soup. "You are graceful in your upper body, but clumsy in your feet. Yet you are light of step. And when you see, it is with your eyes as well as your ears. Humans rely too much on their eyes. Kelvics see with their noses and their ears." She took another mouthful of her dinner. "But now I must guess your other form. Is it... oh, I think it is some kind of mouse?"

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

“Mona it is then,” he replied, and went silent again, listening carefully to what she was saying. Though she claimed her common wasn’t that good, she was more than understandable and while the words she used were a bit simple, like to be expected from people who didn’t speak the language a lot, but somehow her words held some sort of wisdom in them. Bran got the feeling that this woman’s wrinkles were not from old age, as she didn’t look that old, but from the knowledge she carried, like the rings of a tree who’s seen it all. A tree’s rings did come with its oldness though.

As he listened to her talking, the bat did his best to absorb everything he heard like a sponge, for this was important information of his race and it was far and foremost an interesting matter. Too bad she didn’t remember it all, but it was better than naught. Tiny bits made a whole, even if it took a while. There was no need to get all the information available in one sweep, the same thing was true when he stole stuff; grab a bit and run, he didn’t need to haul a chest filled with treasure (though the thought alone was tempting enough), he would just get some more coin another time. It also kept him swift and when he had to leave his reward behind he’d have less trouble parting with it. Not that he’d let it come to that.

The thief was sure there was more information of his race to obtain, and he would in due time. There was no need to rush, he didn’t need the knowledge anyways, it was mere curiosity that had asked to explain, not the need for answers. Though while listening, the urge to find more made an attempt to overthrow his rule and self-control to take off and look for it. He couldn’t help it, knowledge was valuable after all, not bestowed with material value, but another sort of worth and the greedy nature of his human side collected objects of value, whether they were of material or mind worth.

As they had been sitting by the fire, the bat had grown more accustomed to his new acquaintances and felt more comfortable in their presence as well. He adapted quickly to these kinds of situations, given that his company acted a little friendly. He smiled briefly and his pose relaxed, only to tension up again when his ears twitched at the sound of the word ‘aura’. His eyes turned to the speaker instantly, narrowing almost unnoticeably. Just like it did with Cass, the word rang a bell in his head, he’d heard of the term before. He’d been read by the magic called Auristics once before, it was the only time he’d known what was going on, but it was likely there had been more of those incidents and that he’d simply not noticed. At the time it had been Arcturus who’d worked the magic on him, but now it seemed that this woman had done the same.

Truth to be told, Brandon detested the idea of being read as if he were a book, always, although the anger only came surfacing when it was done by magic. Otherwise it was just frustrating, they could detects some things about him; the fitness of his body, the exhaustion heard from ragged breaths, emotion hidden in the eyes. Observing people, like he did. But with magic, things that would have been hidden could be unveiled, they took a peek into one’s soul without permission. He loathed that feeling of being watched, of people knowing more about him than he’d like them to. But he kept quiet, because he was outnumbered, because he didn’t want to cause Cass trouble and also because it would be rude to defy the hospitality offered to him. Although that last part was less prominent.

However, as the conversation made a bend towards the way he behaved, how he moved, the anger faded to the background of his mind, being pushed there by the interest of solving the puzzle of his detection. Clumsy? He’d never thought about his feet being clumsy, they were swift and silent, light of step as Mona called it, not clumsy at all. He frowned, listening was one thing, understanding another. Her guess was a good try, but it wasn’t really all that accurate. A mouse?! Ouch, that stung! That was like calling a Svefra a city dweller, but she was to be forgiven since it was, after all, just a guess.

“Er … Not exactly … Do I really come over like one? I am not really mouse material, though you’re rather close when it comes to size. Do you want a hint?” he grinned in amusement, he loved games; guessing games, games of questions, it didn’t matter. Grabbing his spoon, he spooned some of the stew into his mouth, hungry from the sailing and the sea air. The food was still a little too hot and he burned his tongue and throat a bit but the taste was well worth it. The scent had been blown away by the wind all this time, so he hadn’t know what to expect, but the one responsible for cooking deserved some credit. It was better than he’d have thought, having spent a great deal of his life in Kalinor, he’d been familiar with stew, but the Bruka served there was not even a shade of this. Despite the hotness he savored the taste before swallowing. Sadly, due to his burned tongue it was likely that that was all he’d taste of this meal, since after that first spoon his flavor-palate was dulled.

“Okay, here’s the hint: People usually believe we are blind, though we are not.” The thief grinned and shoved another spoon of soup in his mouth. “Does that help?”

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Cassandra Southwind]

Cassandra's most prominent memories of her guest were his stumbling and struggling aboard her ship; the recollection of his graceful flip at the docks or his thoroughly competent stride over the sand still escaped her, in these tense moments. Of course, there was no real reason to be tense. Though her family may have been outwardly hostile, they showed no capacity of actually hurting Brandon and he was hardly primed to provoke them. Still she was on her guard, if for no other reason than habit. Where an outsider might see the quiet chatter of resting family, Cassandra saw tried patience and silent judgment. Her wandering eyes caught sight of Laviku's Mercy, approaching quickly with Connor and Salas aboard. Against the dusky horizon they were barely a shadow, and she could not see the size of their catch. The professional in her craved to know it, but she could not leave where she sat. Though her attention remained on the water, her thoughts shifted quickly from petty hopes to the real and present words which hovered in her ears. The hint he gave was beyond her. To her, the crawling things were rabbits and the flying things birds, she had only recently learned to call the okomo anything else. But Mona loved riddles. She opened her mouth, hesitating in a clear attempt not to offend him again. "A mole...?" She guessed tentatively. When Cass later asked what a mole was, her aunt would explain that it was a blind creature who emphasized their forebodies in digging. Her niece would agree that Eddie was more wise when he suddenly interrupted. "A bat!" The man to Brandon's other side blurted, revealing that he had been eavesdropping since he had finished handing out the bowls. Eddie was Mona's man, and technically they had stolen his spot by sitting beside her. "Go on then, do the change. Show us the bat. I didn't see one since almost ten years ago, and then there were many flying over my head." Nyla translated for Richie, who added with a shriek, "Yes!" Lia Regina, alongside a few others, were not as impressed. She met eyes with Mona, who fidgeted consciously but without words. The older woman seemed thoroughly hushed, between the stiff looks she received from the mention of auras and the duo of mistakes she had made in reading their guest. Carefully playing her role as diplomat, Cassandra leaned to Brandon's ear and mumbled, "You do not have to. The boys will be in soon. They will eat shortly and go back to the docks, and you can go with them." Then she faced the fire as quickly as possible, hoping to disguise the weakness of curiosity in her telling eyes.

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

Mona’s second guess wasn’t on target either, the digger of a creature wasn’t something he wanted to be compared with, but he did his best not to show it. Instead, he hid his emotions behind a few lines of feedback. “Not quite. Good guess though, given that my hint might have been a little too vague. Would you like ano-" “A bat!” The man that had been handing out bowls interrupted. The thief immediately turned his head in the direction the two words had come from, being from next to him. The bat’s orbs scanned him briefly, his gaze swiftly darting from face to body and back.

“Indeed,” he said with a face painted with surprise. Not because someone had guessed right, but because he hadn’t noticed the man had been standing next to him all this time. Most likely he had been to occupied with the little guessing game. “Congratulations.”and with that he deemed the conversation to swap to a new topic, but it didn’t. Now they wanted him to shift, he could hear the anticipation and excitement in the man’s voice when he asked for it. A little boy backed him up with an enthusiastic shriek.

Brandon grinned and emptied a spoon of soup inside his mouth, barely tasting the thick liquid. Then, he placed the bowl and the spoon next to him on the log and got ready to stand up when Cass stopped him with a soft spoken line. Briefly. After his short stagger, he dismissed her suggestion to turn her family down, claiming he didn’t mind. It was the truth, though he didn’t like to shift in front of a lot of people, however the family wasn’t large enough to be called a crowd. They were with too many for him to be comfortable with transforming though.

There was another matter that hindered him, but it only popped up in his mind when his hands grabbed his belt in order to unbuckle it. His eyes fixed on the children present around the fire and an expression of uncertainty spread over his visage. He caught Cass and Mona’s gaze and asked the question he felt he needed to ask. “You do know I need to be naked to shift, right? I don’t have a problem with that, but do you?” Normally he wouldn’t have asked, nor paid it much heed, though he was on his toes in the vicinity of the Svefra family.

There was a chance they wouldn’t care about nudity, but it was always safer to ask. Humans rarely did anything naked, and usually started acting strange when a nude person walked by. Weird creatures, those humans. Nudity wasn’t all that special, it was natural. But they treated it like it was something filthy, something they needed to hide. It was just their own body, but that didn’t matter. That’s why they wore clothes. At first Bran had thought the garments had the function of keeping them warm, as human’s didn’t possess fur.

Probably that had been the initial reason why humans had started wearing clothes, but as time passed the primary function of the garbs gradually changed. Brandon didn’t understand, why hide your body? It wasn’t all that special, all naked female humans looked quite alike, and human males too. Such strange creatures they were. Well, it didn’t have that much to do with him anyway. Whether they did or did not mind him expose his body, he would be out of here soon.

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Cassandra Southwind]

The Southwinds were no exception to the human tradition of modesty; for all their adventures and assurances, they often slept and bathed in the same clothes they had already worn for days. Cassandra herself was probably even more inclined to keep herself covered, using her clothes as yet another layer in a carefully assembled coat of armor around her inner core. On the other hand, she was as offended by the prospect of his nudity as she was aroused by his shirtlessness--the middle cousin had never been much inclined to bodies of the male persuasion.

The other girls, however, made a show of shielding their eyes. Marina looked away as she turned little Nyla's face toward the darkness behind them, and the youngest girl reached up to cover Maggie's eyes for the game of it. Echor, who had Richie in her lap, engaged Cassandra's half-brother and kept them both from looking too closely, while Eddie and Mona looked to Lia Regina with silent requests in their eyes. Wiley only looked up from his bowl when Regina spoke.

"Go ahead," she said sternly, and Cassandra could tell that she did not like the idea of it. Lia Regina would be the last to dislike someone simply for bearing flesh, rather she seemed to wholly disapprove of the invasion. Though dinner was not exactly the most sacred of practices, it was an intimate time for the family. The whole pod was tired, especially their leader. But so was she patient and forgiving. Mona ceased with the shifting against her niece's thigh, apparently placated by the pair of words.

Cassandra leaned away from the fire, not to shield her eyes from Brandon but to hide her whispering lips from her family. "But make it short," she added lowly. There were plenty of excuses for the suggestion, including the safeguarding of her Lia's nerves, but the one she chose to give him was said alongside a nod toward the ocean. "Your ride is nearly here."

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

That had been a stupid question, of course they did mind, quite a few turned away when the words had reached their ears, and the bat was certain he wouldn’t be allowed to shift after all. Not that it mattered, he only went along with one of the males his idea. Speaking of which, he and Mona were staring at a female, the one that had also notified the family he wasn’t human. The way she used her voice was exactly the same, which explains how he could tell. What she said however, he didn’t grasp as the language the words were spoken in was not Common.

A bit unsure of what to do, he nervously gazed to the stars that were appearing in the evening sky, and knitted his hands to fists. Somehow the feeling of the girls’ embarrassment and the stares from the others thrown in his general direction had awakened a fear-like response from his body. He felt his body temperature rising, his heart thumping louder and even the itches on his scalp and chest returned. Obviously they did expect something of him, and he guessed it had something to do with the short line in Fravata the woman had spoken. Had she given approval?

Cassandra confirmed it with the request to keep it short, since his transport back was about to arrive. He gave a nod in acknowledgement and sent a whisper her way. “Sure, but try to keep your family away when I’ve changed, will you? Especially the little ones. I have rather mean teeth and I won’t hesitate to employ them.” That sounded a bit harsh, so he quickly added: “Don’t take this the wrong way, it’s not a threat. It’s just …children are… I don’t like to be grabbed.” He smiled, hoping to emphasise that he meant no harm with his little warning. Then he stood up.

His boots came off first, his bare feet compressing the sand below. Hen he took a deep breath, an attempt to calm his raging nerves, and unbuckled his belt, taking of his pants as well. He didn’t bother laying the piece of clothing down, instead he just loosened his grip on it and gravity took care of the rest. Immediately after he had let go of his pantalon, a bright cocoon of blinding light wrapped around his stature, sparks shooting from it here and there while he shrunk in the blink of an eye.

His arms were now wings, his fingers and toes sported small but sharp claws, his ears had grown pointy and where standing on top of his head. His eyes were small and his body was isolated by grey fur, also everything was much taller now. People were giants, even the bonfire had become immense. And the noises, cracking of flames, gasps of breath or excited mutters, were almost deafening. The salt in the air was suddenly omnipresent, it stung his nostrils a bit, and even the smoke of the fire could be smelled clearly. How dull even his enhanced senses were when he looked like a human!

Brandon stayed in his animal form for a mere couple of ticks, ten tops, and shifted back as soon as they had passed, it didn’t feel safe to stay like this long with the little human cubs nearby. He’d seen what they could do, tearing a moth’s wings off without feeling any remorse, just for the fun of it. Shivers ran over his spine, he’d rather not meet the same fate, but he had teeth, and moths had not, so that was a slight advantage, but not enough to make him feel comfortable with them around.

Quickly Bran slipped his pants back on, fiddling with the belt for a bit, picked up his boots and headed back to his place on the log where he wriggled his feet back into them. “So,” he asked the man who’d inspired him to shift “How was that? Did you enjoy seeing a bat again after ten years?” He grinned and went back to eating, his spoon cluttering against the bottom and sides of his bowl as he did.

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Cassandra Southwind]

Cassandra gave a nod to Brandon’s request and, though she did it with a hard lip, she was happy to oblige. Secretly she reveled in the idea of playing guard, of keeping tabs on the people around her and having permission to claim control over her immediate environment. She turned toward the others on high alert, observing each of their bodies and hands for the first attempt to reach out where they shouldn’t. Of course they did not; despite their race’s reputation, they knew most basic forms of courtesy and would not attempt to assault a living person. (Richie was in his mother’s arms, at least.)

To them it was a parlor trick, a tickled fancy that would be at the front of their minds for a week and then pop up in conversation again a year later. The flash of color was so pretty, the little animal that emerged so alien and awesome, that it could not possibly be real magic. That magic was all bad. It was dangerous and corrupting. That magic was the stuff of scary children’s tales and somber words of warning. But not this. This was fun.

He had changed back quickly, before some of them could even see properly the little black creature in the vast black night. The laughter and the murmurs lived on long after he was human again; the family was thrilled with the novelty of it all. Even Cassandra cracked a smile when her Aunt Mona insisted, though it faltered on the failed promise of a show of strength. She looked up at her redressing guest and nodded. “Good,” she answered, her tone showing beyond words how glad she was that they did not hate him.

“Great,” Eddie corrected, and Cass could tell that if he knew a word like Amazing or Brilliant or Marvelous, he would have used them. In response to the question, he quickly added, “Yes, yes!” Before Brandon could sit again, Eddie would carve a big wave through the thick, ashy air and insist that the Kelvic sit beside him for further questions.

Only a few short ticks passed before Salas and Connor were upon them, running from the makeshift port and toward the commotion. Connor spoke first, hard and urgent. “What’s going on?”

Salas saw Brandon first, but his look of confusion was not instigating as he added, “We saw a bright light. Is everything all right?”

“Cassandra brought a guest,” Mona explained, switching to Common in a suggestion that they do the same. Marina had already risen to prepare them each a bowl.

“He hopes you can take him to Tranquil, when you go back,” Cassandra elaborated quickly. Normally she would not have been so forward, but Connor was sometimes as stubborn as she. She knew she needed to assert her piece soon and fast.

Connor gave her a look, but did not respond. Instead he looked at Lia Regina. Though he understood it well enough, he chose not to speak in Common. “We must eat quickly if we want to reach the city before the end of Dusk Rest. He will have to hurry as well.”

“He will eat quickly if he likes,” she replied, looking at Connor but translating for Brandon. There was an obvious edge of frustration in her voice. “If he is not done when you must go, he may stay the night and return with me.”

Lia Regina clearly did not appreciate such decisions being made by anyone other than herself, but she would not show as much in front of a stranger. Cassandra was not exactly out of line in issuing such orders at her age and in this matriarchal culture, but neither was she or her elder cousin acting incredibly polite. She instead turned to Marina, the girl who had initially disapproved of Brandon and yet had laughed with the rest when he shifted. Marina was the eldest of her generation, and stood to inherit the longest reign as Lia after the old generation had been swallowed by the sea.

Marina stuttered, unprepared for such a serious turn of events. “He should stay if he is tired,” she said, echoing what most of the others were thinking. “And go if he is not. He is his own man, and he should do as he pleases.”

Cassandra turned to Bran, hoping he might help her win this little fight. “What do you think, Brandon?”

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

Murmurs and laughter, excitement filled the air and it seemed to Brandon as if the brilliant flash had not only shifted his body, but the general mood enveloping the small crowd around the bonfire. The bat certainly didn’t mind, he was glad that the people had come to accept him, had stopped watching him with those wary eyes. He smiled with them, letting the compliments flow over him with a lot of nodding and satisfaction, it was a pleasant experience. Like it was now, the mood reminded him of home, Kalinor, where his family lived. A strange feeling was upon him, one he had felt before and despite the large number of people around him he felt lonely.

Lonely, but at the same time not. Strange. Two newly arriving individuals pulled him back to the present, speaking loud and incomprehensible. Fortunately, the rest of the family, or at least the two females that had acted friendly to him from the beginning did speak in Common. Apparently the confused-looking males were his ride back to the port. Wow, he couldn’t say he liked the idea.

The feel he got of them was the same as with the girl on the beach, the one that had been handing out bowls and food. He was sure Cass had introduced her, but he had long forgotten her name, well, no matter. He probably wouldn’t talk with her a lot anyway and if he did, he just had to pretend like he did know. As one of the males spoke again, the errant thoughts were put back where they had come from, but it was no use focussing on what he said. He spoke in Fravata again, the bat wished they’d stop doing that, it was a little frustrating that he could hear, but not understand.

Cassandra replied with a tone that gave away her feelings, namely frustration and seemed to defend him, standing up against the guy . Brandon was getting a little uncomfortable, not only because he was the subject of the argument going on, but because he felt he was responsible for unwillingly causing the argument. Well, you wouldn’t hear him getting involved in all this. Things might just get worse if he did. More people sided with Cass, the bowl-dealer girl said he had the right to make a choice. Things were turning bad. The bat could sense that question drawing closer.

And it did, as per usual, his instincts were right and before he knew it the question had been posed. What did he think? Well, gee, maybe that he wouldn’t like to get involved? But this wasn’t the time to get all snarky. His eyes darted from Cass to the males and back, not quite knowing what to do with this situation. It was a trap and he was caught, whoever’s side he chose, things would get worse. Cass would certainly be offended if he’d be going with the other two, he would be too if the one you defended didn’t take his side, but those two …

What actually? What were they to him? He didn’t know them, and it was pretty doubtable that they would take offence in it if he sided with Cass, right? He sighed and opened his mouth to speak. “I am not tired, I already did regain my strength after sleeping a bit, and my nocturnal nature makes me being currently more awake than any of you. But, well, I’d rather eat in peace than to choke when in a hurry. Besides,” he grinned “The fire’s warm and the company pleasant, I wouldn’t like to let you guys miss that.”

Of course there were more reasons than the few he’d stated, but for diplomatic reasons he hadn’t mentioned them. For one, he’d rather go back with Cass, the one he knew the most. She’d defended him trice now, which proved she was reliable, plus she was strong willed. Not that the last trait mattered. The thief just felt more comfortable with her than he would with her family when she wasn’t near.

But for all that mattered, he deemed the conversation, if a small clash of wills could be called that, over and got back to eating, returning to the original conversation between bites. “So, I don’t think we’ve exchanged names yet,” he said to the man next to him, “Though you probably know mine already, I haven’t heard yours, mister …?”

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Cassandra Southwind]

A few years ago, a younger Cassie might have stuck her tongue out at her defeated cousin. Instead she looked hard at Connor, her frowning face hiding a prideful smirk. But her older cousin only responded to her triumph with a tired glare, his body visibly fatigued by the twilight catch. Clearly he was not looking forward to the continued labor of sailing and selling in the city, but perhaps he found solace in the prospect of only Salty’s company, having once dreaded the task of babysitting an outsider on the trip back.

Marina sat beside Connor after she served the two men, quietly rubbing his back and dissuading the little ones who tried exuberantly to describe the scene they had missed. A pang of familiar jealousy rose in Cassandra then, the kind that usually found her when her two cousins, twice removed from each other, betrayed those small, subtle pieces of affection. Cass disliked men too much to ever make one happy, but the only thing she thought she might miss was the special sort of companionship they always seemed to supply to their women.

By the time she turned her attention back to Brandon, Mona and Eddie were laughing at something he had said.

"We wouldn't like to miss it either," Eddie said, imitating the grammar structure of Bran's own words. He balanced his bowl in one hand and offered the other in the traditional, cityfolk way. "My name is Eddie. You’ve met Cassie, and that's Mona." He pointed at each of the others and said their names in turn, but it was probably too quickly to Brandon to remember them all. The moment he had finished pointing out Lia Regina, Cassandra added a quick mumble.

"Cassandra is better," she mentioned, referring to the nickname which she only allowed her family to use. "Or Cass, if you prefer."

"What does it feel like, to make the change?" Mona interrupted, setting her now empty bowl on the sand.

Eddie added to her question before it could be answered. "How do you do it? Is it just a thought, or--"

"Cassie, Cassie!" Richie yelped, having removed himself from their mother so that he could climb into his half-sister’s lap. After much finagling and a bit of spilled stew, he wiggled toward Bran and said a pair of Common words that Nyla had taught him. "Bat man, bat man! Branan!"

And so the night went, with much inquiry and investigation but all in good spirit. The Svefra pod was remarkably curious, once the layers of prejudice and xenophobia had been pulled back and tossed in the flames of camaraderie. And they would gladly answer any questions he might have had about their way of life, their magic and their god. They would ask and tell as bowls were emptied and drinks were poured and fatigue began to weigh on their eyes, retiring only when the flame died low and the musty hulls of their ships finally seemed a better alternative to fresh, freezing air.

Cassandra would stay up later than any of them, despite what her tired eyes might have wanted. She stayed to protect him from them, if not physically than socially. She would be the one to calm them down, to correct their language when she knew the mistake, or to make sure her guest was not too uncomfortable. She did not know much about Lhavitian customs, but she would remain sensitive to them nonetheless; she would pounce on misconceptions and parry faux pas.

And in the morning, she would take him to port.