Eldan goes after the full-grown spider with ferocity.
;
;
Leaving Arista's house, Sadhana faces a momentary crisis of will. Everything inside her wanted to go to her and Ylrhea's home for just a moment, just one more kiss goodbye.....and yet she knew that would only make things harder. Especially on Ylrhea, who'd be spending her first night alone since they'd met. There was no sense in making things harder than they needed to be.
Letting out a quiet sigh, she reaches out mentally to her companions.
Trusting her sister to take care of herself, Gashka attacks the spider in front of her with a flurry of blows.
She sighs as her frenzied attacks seem fairly useless in her near panicked state.
Going into the kitchen with her brother, she motions towards the table for him tyo sit down at. Going to Alethiro she gives his cheek a kiss before cleaning up the mess she made when Alethiro startled her earlier. Throwing away the broken pieces of a dish she asks, "So love, is thed tea almost ready? I could really use a cup before Celine gets up from her nap."
Gashka lands a solid blow before swinging wildly with her second attack. The spider retaliates with its fangs.
However, the spider is a bit disoriented from being punched in the head.
Round 1: Gashka, Eldan, Spiders, Vishanti, Chris, Anyka, Swarm, Derika
Theon sits down. "Sorry about that, Alethiro. I didn't mean to startle you."
Alethiro pours boiling water into three cups. "Tea should be done in a few minutes. And...well, don't worry about it, Theon. It was just a little unexpected, that's all."
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"I don't think any of us were expecting this," Theon says.
She looks up at him with a little smile on her face as she sits down at the table, "Well...I kinda was...in a way. Sarenrae told me a while ago, after we had finished taking care of some other business, that I shouldn't worry and that you would be with me again soon. Then Sadhana was asking me all these questions about you....Aroden told us you were a graveknight and there was no way in all nine hells I was gonna let that stand. The sword showed me where you were, and although I wasn't going to be able to go with them....my friends were going to get you. Then, out of nowhere, Alice shows up with your armor and just hands it to me. I give it to Sadhana, she and the others destroy, and viola...here you are. I have as much faith in my friends as I do in my Goddess....and in you." She looks down for a moment, "Sorry...that was a bit much at once wasn't it? Tell ya what, why don't I make a big dinner tonight? I can make the boar ribs and some vegetables, maybe a salad and some biscuits? How does that sound?" She knew she was talking really fast and a lot...but she just couldn't help it. She was just so happy that he was safe, and that he was home.
"Oh, you don't need to go to any trouble," Theon says. "I don't think I have my old appetite back yet."
She thinks for a moment, "Well...I think I might still have some chicken soup left. I guess we could have that and I could just make some biscuits to go with it. I think at some point...when you feel up to it, we should get together with Alethiro's parents, Marie and her family, and Andres. I'm sure they'll want to meet you, but we don't have to do that tonight."
Theon nods. "I might need a day to adjust to all of this."
Giving him a sympathetic nod she smiles, "Of course. You can stay here with us until we are able to figure out something more permanent for you. I finally got Celine to start sleeping in her own "big girl" bed though, so you might have to take the couch in the living room...but it's really big and soft and comfy and I have lots and lots of extra pillows and blankets."
Alethiro brings everyone their tea. "I'm fine with some soup and bread myself."
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Theon chuckles. "Alright, Ari."
Arista adds some honey and milk to her tea and sips on it, "Aaahhhhh....that's good. Thank you honey."
"You're welcome, love."
Theon sips his tea then smiles. "Sooooooo...what happened to 'I don't ever plan on getting married'?"
She smiles sweetly at him, "Well, I guess I just had to find a man that wasn't an ass. It's not like I went looking for it, it just happened."
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Alethiro smiles. "I hope not being an ass wasn't my only qualification."
She shakes her head, "Of course not love, but it certainly helped. You were different from the men of my time. You were attentive and loving. You were also supportive and respectful of me. I was able to talk to you about things that were important to me without worrying about how you might react. Most of all...you loved me for me, and didn't hold expectations over me. I fell in love with you because....because you took the time to understand me, and never yelled at me about anything. Even when I might have deserved it a little bit." She says a bit sheepishly.
Alethiro blushes slightly. "I do my best."
"You're one of the kindest, most loving men I've ever known. I know I haven't always made things easy for you, I'm just trying to figure things out too though. It's hard for me not being out there with them, cleaving evil doers in half....but being here with you, it makes it a little more bearable. Having you and the rest of my family by my side...it's the only thing that keeps me sane sometimes. I love you and you're a wonderful husband and father. I'm just not always good at saying stuff or showing you how much I appreciate everything you do for our family, but I hope you know that I do." She says, worried that her constant obsession with whether she was doing the right thing staying home or not might have made her husband feel like she didn't think he was important to her.
"I know I haven't been the most attentive...but I've been trying to get better," Alethiro says. "I love you too."
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Theon glances over his tea cup. "Should I give you two some time alone?"
She gives him a smile, "I think we have both been a little guilty of that. I get distracted so easily and there's just been so much going on and things that I've been struggling with. I've been trying to get better about telling you how I feel too. Anyways, we'll grow and learn together. That's just a part of it isn't it?" She leans into him and gives him a kiss before laying her head on his shoulder.
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Looking up at her brother she blushes, "No...it's okay. You just got here after being lost and alone for over five hundred years. We can save that for some other time after you've had a chance to get used to things here." She smiles, "We just didn't get a whole lot of time after the wedding to do the whole "newlyweds" thing." She motions towards where the bedrooms are, "Besides, there would be no point in that. Celine won't sleep for much longer. She only takes about an hour nap and she's been out for at least thirty or forty minutes now. So, she'll be up any moment. Thanks though...you know." She says, her cheeks turning a dark silver.
"By the way, who is Celine?" Theon asks as he finishes his tea.
She gets a look of embarrassment on her face, "Oh...I'm sorry. Sometimes I get carried away and I just start talking and forget that you don't know everything. Despite what it felt like growing up. Celine is a little elven girl we found with some refugees that we rescued...well sort of. Anyways, she was sickly when she was a baby and so her development was a little slower than the other children. The bigger ones picked on her and well...I just couldn't help myself and we kind of got attached to each other....so I kept her. She used to have leg braces, but she's much stronger now. Anyways, long story short, she's 25, precious, our adopted daughter, and your niece. Well, your oldest niece. The other one won't be here for another seven months give or take." She says with a warm smile before finishing her own cup of tea.
Flying just above the individual spider facing Gashka, Vishanti glares down, sending twin streams of fire from her eyes.
Vishanti's spell ends up having no effect on the spider.
Round 1: Gashka, Eldan, Spiders, Vishanti, Chris, Anyka, Swarm, Derika
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"My, you didn't wait to start a family," Theon remarks, honestly shocked. "But I am happy for you. Happy that you found meaning outside of the battlefield."
Chris moves forward and shoots at the giant spider with his crossbow.
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She kind of sighs a little, "We weren't really trying to on purpose...not that I'm not happy about it...it just sort of happened. Apparently on our wedding night because the next day I was off with the others fighting off evil as usual. None of us knew I was with child until Sarenrae came to us and took me aside and told me, right before telling me to go back to my friends and prepare for battle. I...I have to be honest and say that stepping away has been really difficult for me. Even though my brain tells me I'm doing the right thing...along with every other single person in town apparently, a small part of me still worries about what might happen to the rest of them if I'm not out there. I just keep telling myself that I can't be selfish and that what I'm doing here, is just as important as what's going on out there. Actually, Sadhana told me that...but it doesn't make it any less true."
Getting up from the table she goes back over to the sink with their empty cups and starts cleaning them out. She didn't want to start running those thoughts around in her head again. She couldn't keep doubting the decisions she was making. Their baby was important to her too and even though she might still worry about her friends sometimes, she would never forgive herself if something she did brought harm to their child. Besides, there was so much to be done here and she couldn't be everywhere at once....she seems to get a little lost in her thoughts as she washes and dries the mugs before going back to the few dishes that were left in the sink when Alethiro startled her earlier.
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Theon goes to his sister. "This is what we fought for. The chance to settle down, have a family and leave the battlefield behind us"
She nods as her back tenses while at the sink. Everything was just so much...she didn't want him thinking she was upset, or worrying Alethiro that she might not be happy because she was. Trying to suck up her feelings and control the tidal wave of feelings that she felt threatening to crash over her she says, "I know....I know it was, but...but I want it to be safe for her too. For the both of them...I'm happy and grateful to have Alethiro and these children in our life...it just happened so fast. Everything happened so fast....I've only been "awake" for like barely over two months and find out that everything is gone, my parents are dead, Phila is a selfish b...person, but that's never really been....you know how she was, necromancers, evil everywhere you turn, crazy cults doing Gods knows what, it seemed like the evil we were trying to fight back just EXPLODED in my face." She grips the edge of the sink, "I met a wonderful man, and even though I wasn't looking for it to happen...I fell in love, got married, got pregnant, then found Celine....it's just been one thing after another after another after another. And I haven't had any time to deal with anything that was lost. Everything I've gained is wonderful, exciting and new....but I haven't even had time to grieve for what was lost....and I just...I can't...." She stops, not even sure if she was making sense. Her head feeling like it was on fire, the lines in her once youthful and innocent face looking tired and drawn. Everything she had been pushing down inside of herself since being released from her prison, suddenly came hurtling straight at her face and it was almost more than she could bear. Her throat tightened up and no more words would come, despite her best efforts not to, tears starting falling down her cheeks.
After a minute or two she calms just slightly. Looking up at him with a miserable expression on her face she says a bit softly with a broken voice, "Do you know what I said to mother before we left that last time? I said....I told her I was glad to be going back to battle because....because I wouldn't have to listen to her...tell me...how to...run my life. I left....and now they're gone....they're gone and I can never...I can't even tell her how sorry I am, or that I love them. I left and I won't ever see them again." She gets out between quiet sobs, the meat of what was actually bothering her finally coming to the surface. "When that woman...when she showed up and told me they were dead...I....I snapped. I called her horrible things...I told her...I said if she ever showed her face again I'd kill her.....but....I wasn't mad at her, I was mad at me Theo...I'm the one who left, I'm the one that left them."
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Theon hugs his sister. "Ari, you didn't know what would happen. It was not your fault."
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Alethiro goes to his wife and rubs her back. "You've been trying to express this for a long time, haven't you?"
She nods, "I'm sorry....I didn't....know how. I didn't know...that's what was bugging me...till it came out." Her sobs start to subside as she's comforted by her brother and husband.
After the pair leave and she has time to get over the shock of actually meeting Arista's famous brother she turns to her mama, "Ummm okay, so I'm gonna go to the stables I guess and make sure I have everything I need for Balladier for this camping trip, then I have to go find Dillon and let him know that I'll be out of town for a couple of days. Is there anything I can get for you for while I'm out mama?"
Asha shakes her head. "No, I think I'm fine."
Rajni gives her a hug, "Alright, I love you and I'll see you later." Heading to the door, she calls Shamara while getting her boots and heavy hooded cloak on.
Leaving the house she goes to the stable and takes her time checking on Balladier. Grooming him, cleaning out his hooves, and feeding him carrots while brushing out his mane. After spending about an hour on taking care of him, she goes to Langley and makes sure there's enough feed and everything to last for at least a few days. She loads up what she can in the back of the sled that she keeps near the stables to make it easier when she's ready to hitch up Balladier to it.
After a while later she heads out to see if she can find Dillon. She goes to the school first, unsure of how late he was teaching today. She should really learn his schedule.
Rosa spends the next several hours, meticulously measuring and putting together the rest of her ammo and black powder. She only stops briefly a few times to drink some water before getting back to work. It was a very tedious job, but powder and bullets wouldn't just make themselves. Finally finishing and feeling exhausted she collapses onto the bed, still fully clothed, and falls asleep.
She lets Theon hold her for a moment before pulling back, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to have a melt down the minute you got back. Somewhere in my head....I know it's not my fault...but the heart is not logical. I'm just happy you're back and that you're okay." Finally releasing her brother she turns to Alethiro and puts her arms around him, "I'm sorry it took me so long to figure that out....and....I'm sorry if I did or said anything that hurt you in the process."
After wandering around for a while, Jerrica starts rubbing her arms. "I think we should head back to the inn now."
After finishing the delicious meal, Jin leaves a few gold on the table. Standing up she holds her hand out for Laenid, "So...what should we do now? Just go home and relax? I think we have everything we need, and it's a bit cold to be wandering around outside."
Alethiro runs his fingers through Arista's hair. "As long as you're okay now."