featherknives | IC Inbox

[He turns his head quickly when he hears her stir and speak. Good, that didn't take long. He breathes a sigh in relief, then nods.]

Yeah. Found you not too far away. Looks like you got hit pretty hard by one of those trees in the storm. How are you feeling?

[She's still soaking wet, unfortunately - the walk hadn't been enough to entirely dry her. He turns away for a moment to take a couple quick steps to the room's bathroom and grab towels left by whoever had been staying in here last, then sets them on the end of the bed in case she finds them helpful to dry off with. Yeah, the bed's kinda wet too now, but what are you going to do.]

[She shivers and nods- damn, she'd give a wing for some nice fire right now. Or set of new clothing. Leather is not nice when damp. She looks like a drenched rat... drenched, filthy rat; she can feel specks of mud and sand roll over her skin as she moves. Xayah wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, trying to be polite and not spit (that's sand on her face).]

Been worse... [This feels more like a trip and tumble compared to some experiences. She nods thanks when he brings towels and takes them both- discarding her cowl and upper cape to a nearby chair to dry (if they can), and then vigorously drying her hair whilst wrapping the other towel around her shoulders.]

I heard someone scream so I got out. [Sensitive ears even during storms.] Got really unlucky. [She lets the towel rest atop of her head, shooting glances towards Rosinante.] Thanks... for getting me out. I owe you.

[Yeah, look, she needs a change of clothes but he wasn't going to be the one to do that for her, that's weird. Maybe if she had some life-threatening hypothermia but thankfully that was not the case here. As she does her best to dry off, he shakes his head a little and smiles.]

You don't have to feel like you owe me. I'm just glad I found you. Other than the rain stopping, you're the first good news I've had all day. Can I get you anything? Something hot to drink?

[She's going to be fine. Her wings will take the most time to dry off, her dress and leg wraps are mostly leather so it's semi-waterproof. It's wet, for sure, but it doesn't bother her much. Right now at least. She shakes her head,]

No, thank you. I'm glad water didn't douse out my lantern. [She managed to keep her flower-like lantern protected but it was matter of time. If Rosi didn't get to her, it would've been gone.] Are there a lot of casualties?

[His cheer at finding a survivor - one single, lone survivor - immediately dampens a little. His smile fades and his shoulders slump just slightly. It's unpleasant news to have to deliver.]

Probably. We don't have a final count yet, but Cao Pi is working on it. We've only heard from around half the people who are supposed to be here so far. And... Robin's lighthouse collapsed, and all we've been able to find of Rastus are feathers.

[She didn't want to make him feel bad- in fact, she didn't expect to hear such news at all. She sits up in bed much straighter and alert, the news of lighthouse heavy. But Rastus...!]

Rastus is gone? [She wants to get out of the bed and start looking for him, but her libs are kind of frozen and heavy right now.] And the lighthouse... what are the spirits doing? Are they raging? [Maybe the flood washed some of them away too...]

[He holds a hand up to encourage her to stay down. She should probably recover before she goes running off - but he understands the desire to get up and do something urgently.]

That's - no, they're not. That's a good observation, actually. We've been wondering if they were having as much trouble as we were with the water, but now that things are starting to dry up, they're still sort of scarce. They usually know when we die, so they'd be the best ones to ask for a status update on everyone, but I don't know enough about how to talk with them.

[But given the fervor with which they protected the lighthouse before, they must have reacted badly when it happened. Nobody he knows was out near the peninsula when the cliff slid down, and he's steered clear himself just in case, but maybe it's worth a look out there.]

[She sighs but settles back down as prompted. Things are always bad around here and when it hits, it hits hard.]

Maybe some got swept away in the flood. Drowned... [she scowls. It could explain the lack of them and also the lack of spirits at the lighthouse causing a ruckus.] Don't they fall apart when they are killed? I want to join the scouting, maybe their bodies washed up somewhere with some kind of clues.

[She looks thoughtful for a moment and then nods,] We should ask Soldier to try and talk with them. He knows how, he talked to one spirit when we were attacked before.

Soldat knows, and Jason Grace knows, if we can't find Daylight.

[And more of them should take learning seriously. This has been a wakeup call even for him, and he thinks of himself as fairly well-prepared for emergencies. But there are skills among them that not everyone shares, and it would be better for the group to make sure that crucial skills like spirit language are picked up by more people. Tablet repair and app creation, too, loathe as he is to think about that. He can't protect Will from everything and nor can Will entirely protect himself, as they both learned some months ago.]

Scouting is something you'd be good at, though, you're right. You can cover ground easier than a lot of us can, you're pretty agile. I'd love to have you back out there looking around for people and spirits and lost goods as soon as you're feeling up to it. Don't rush it, though.

[Xayah had learned some basic stuff from Soldier, the 'no' and 'yes' and 'do you need help' type of questions. But she never delved further into the language of the spirits. She's not sure why but she had a hard time learning it, especially when she has to use that human tool-instrument.]

I will be, [she nods.] I'll cover a bit of sky as well; as much as it allows me to fly without being a target. I just need my wings to dry, they are very heavy when damp.

[She still feels a churn in her stomach at the thought of Lighthouse crumbling. Those spirits that were adamant on defending it... who can make sure they won't blame the others in the town for it? She must remain vigilant and not let something take her by surprise again.]

Yeah, I noticed.

[He smiles. Soggy bird people are a real armful when you have to hike them all the way back to shelter. It's a good thing she hadn't wound up farther out - he's strong, and she's fairly small, but still. Weight adds up after a while.]

When you're feeling up to it, let me know. I can tell you which areas I've covered so we're not doubling up. There's a lot of area to search.

[Yes, she's really lucky that he was the one to find her; she doubts that anyone else would've been able to carry her out of the water.

Xayah nods,] Yeah, I will. I might be able to reach some difficult places, so if you have something like that, keep me in mind. [She might not be able to carry people out, but she can drag them half the way. Scrapes and bruises over death at any time.]

You be careful too, okay? [...he's probably the only one she can't carry.]

Yeah, I will. I do my best. Made it this far, right?

[Okay, sure, "this far" involves having died here twice since July. But he has since learned to be far more cautious. He's not as near-unbreakable here as he was at home. The days of hauling a sick child across a mountainous snowy island while bleeding from a half-dozen bullet holes are behind him now. Death leverages its cost on them all.]

Dry off, and get your rest, and maybe once there's a bridge built over the river we can go check on those plants you had me start in the greenhouse.

This far for this long, yeah.

[She offers him a short smile. She also died in that onslaught when everyone was asleep. It wasn't pleasant, to say the least. But she's back, at least. Rosi looks almost invincible with his height and stature but she knows he's not. He puts himself out there for them a lot, and Xayah really appreciates that.]

Mmm. They should be fine in the greenhouse, even if the water broke in. I'll try to revitalize them when I go back there.

Would you, uh... Would you check on Daylight's flowers, too? The little blue ones.

[His brief smile mirrors hers as he tries to make it into a positive, innocent request. Just minding someone else's plants while they're gone, is all. In case he comes back.]

I just haven't found him yet. And I know they meant a lot to him since they're from his home.

[She smiles,] Of course. I've seen them, they are beautiful.

[Gardening was not something she often did, as she had spent a good part of her life as a nomad. She even died without a stable home too. But while she lived with her mother and father prior to their disappearance, she loved tending to flowers and fruits a lot. Aside from training her feather throwing, of course.]

I'll make sure they are in perfect condition. And keep an eye out for Daylight. I'm sure you'll find him.

I'll keep looking. I'm not giving up yet.

[Xayah gives him hope. Maybe it's stupid to be optimistic after finding just one person, but so be it. And if he doesn't find any of them, at least she's safe now. She's one of the ones he really wouldn't want to lose.]

Anyway, I'll let you rest. If you need anything, we're using one of the rooms down the hall as a communal kitchen and storage area until we can get things moved back downstairs.

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