Astrid's magic takes hold of the Red Riders again. Those who were readying their weapons hesitate in their approach and the two drakes keep a wary eye on them. The effect will buy them more time, but they're still riding a razor's edge with this group and things could quickly turn bloody.

One of the riders shuffles their feet and looks to their leader. 

"Hey, boss, I don't wanna hurt blondie. Can't we look the other way just this one time?"

Basz chews on the side of his mouth a bit, definitely conflicted by the charm effect from Astrid's pure charisma and his beefing with Shael. 

"It isn't about the gold. It's about the principle," he insists, but he sighs like he's getting tired of repeating himself. "Fine. I'll be benevolent and let this slide this one time. Besides, if what you say is true, then our fight isn't with either of you children. King's Valley is our turf, and if those faceless bastards from the north think they can muscle in on our turf, they got another thing coming."

He waves his hand and the rest of the raiders move aside so that Astrid and Shael can go retrieve the kidnapped Dvoryanin leader from one of the tents. Shael cautiously gets to her feet while rubbing her neck and sticks to Astrid's side like glue.

Basz glowers down at her the whole time. "Hmph. You got off easy, brat. Don't forget that." 

Getting into the tent, the two would find the kidnapped Dvoryanin leader. The poor man is pretty roughed up and tied to a post. Looks like he got a few good wallops to the face which has left him bruised and battered. He's breathing at least, but would need time to rest and recover. 

Shael crouches near him and starts untying the ropes, though her hands are shaking badly from just this whole situation. 

If Astrid were just slightly more of a little shit and weren’t in this situation with Shael beside her, she very well might just pick a fight with these guys. But she came here determined not to fight. It wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest, but the lingering thought that things might be a little messier than she expected hovers over her like a storm cloud. Maybe she should have asked someone else to come along. Maybe it was too naive of her to think that there could be any reconciliation between Shael and these raiders. Maybe Raiders just need their butts kicked sometimes.

But no, they have what they came here for. At least the giant knucklehead is somewhat reasonable, even if he’s a jerk. Astrid lets out a relieved sigh and lowers her weapons. “Thank ya. I didn’t wanna have ta make a mess here.” Even still, while they walk past Basz, Astrid purposefully makes sure that she’s between the large man and Shael. No way is he going to lay a finger on her again. She’ll break his hand.

When they shuffle into the tent and find the Dvoryanin, Astrid quickly pulls out a small pendant with magical healing water,^[1] which she breaks and lets the cool magic run over him. She glances at Shael, her eyes seeing the other girl’s hands rattling, and she sets one hand over hers in an effort to help calm them. Astrid’s been that scared before. For Shael, running into Basz must have been like Astrid running into Ceena. Being afraid of a bully jerk isn’t any fun. And Astrid shouldn’t have put Shael in this situation.

With the Dvoryanin in better shape, Astrid helps him up. Explanations can come later. She leads them both out of the tent and over to the drakes, making sure that Shael gets on Indra while she helps the Dvoryanin onto Big Frizole. All the while, the Red Riders watch the group with interest and suspicion. Astrid looks at them before she climbs up.

“Yer not gonna be a problem fer the Dvoryanin again, are ya?” she challenges, a note of parental authority in her tiny voice.

“I think we’ve gained something valuable from this interaction, little miss,” Basz says with a commanding presence. “Consider this your slap on the wrist. Next time we won’t be so gracious.”

“Yeah, well next time, I ain’t gonna show up just ta talk, I’ll come in like a storm. I can promise ya that.”

“Big words for a small girl,” Basz chuckles.

“Maybe if yer body were bigger, yer giant head might actually fit yer shoulders,” Astrid snidely remarks as she climbs up onto her drake. “Anyway, don’t be a problem so I don’t hafta come kick yer butt.” With that, she makes sure that Indra takes off before Big Frizole does and keeps an eye on the camp until they’re out of reach from any bows before she finally relaxes her shoulders. Then, she looks at Shael.

“Hey, Shael… Are ya alright?” she asks somewhat hesitantly, though she doesn’t really expect an answer, and if she gets one, she doesn’t expect it to be positive. “Sorry that we…ran into that jerk. I shoulda blasted his arm off fer layin’ his hands on ya….” There were better ways that could have gone. Sure, no one ultimately ended up getting seriously injured, and they didn’t have to fight a band of seasoned raiders, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have reacted differently to everything going on. Maybe Astrid’s good at fighting her way out of situations because she’s not as good at talking her way out of them as some people. Maybe she should stick to what she’s good at.

“Um, if ya wanna head on ta…wherever ya wanna go, I can take this guy home. Or if ya… have some reconcilin’ ta do with folks, that’s okay too. Whatever ya need ta do.”

---

1. Essence of the North

As the healing potion takes effect, the man starts to come to consciousness. There’s visible confusion on his face from just the surprise of seeing a child coming to his rescue, but he’s not about to complain especially when the ropes around his wrists fall loose.

“Thank Ginma. Thank you, miss. Thank you,” the man says to Astrid.

The man struggles to get to his feet when he locks eyes with Shael. His expression visibly changes from grateful to a deep frown. Conflicting feelings show in every line on his face, but he doesn’t say anything to her before exiting the tent with Astrid.

The way the man looks at her hits her like a ship crashing into shore. Ah. That’s right. This is all her fault afterall. Doesn’t matter if she tries to make it right. Even after all the years she spent with them, she’s still an outsider. She’s still not one of them. She never will be.

As the group moves to leave the camp, Shael keeps her head down and avoids eye contact with all the Raiders like a dog fleeing with its tail between its legs.

Indra anxiously digs her talons into the ground until they’re ready to take off, more than eager to leave and put as much distance between them and the camp as possible.

Shael keeps her mouth shut until Astrid addresses her directly.

“I’m fine,” she responds with an edge of bitterness in her voice. “I can take it.” It wouldn’t have been the first time someone threw her around like she was trash.

She shakes her head. Despite how shitty she feels, she still wants to see things through. She wouldn’t run. Not this time.

They manage to find the Dvoryanin’s most recent camp and return the leader to their community. Many of the Dvoryanin rush to help their leader while others inquire as to who Astrid is and what happened. Shael hangs back, leaving Astrid to take the credit and the thanks from everyone. She doesn’t want to ruin the reunion with her presence, so she just finds a spot to sit and wait for Astrid to find her and give her an update.

Indra snorts and nudges her arm with her snout. The teen gives the large drake a few pats on the nose. “It’s okay, girl. Maybe Leandros will let us crash at his place for a while longer.”

The drake lets out a low rumble.

The tone in Shael’s voice makes Astrid’s brow furrow, but she doesn’t press the issue. Sometimes people don’t want to talk about it. She’s been in the same boat. Still, she knows that talking about it can help, but who is she to offer that to someone she barely knows? To someone she put in a perilous situation they didn’t want to be in? So instead, she just offers her an out and flies silently, but Shael follows. She may be quiet, but she’s stubborn, and she has something to prove to someone it seems.

When they arrive at the camp, Astrid gets lost in the flurry of people asking questions and welcoming home their lost leader. She does her best to keep up, but she doesn’t want all the credit. After all, the reason Basz backed off was because Shael told him something to redirect his ire. That’s an entirely different issue. Catching a glimpse of the other girl taking a backseat and avoiding attention, Astrid reconsiders directing them toward her, instead just accepting their thanks and letting them get back to their lives.

Once she’s finally free, Astrid wanders over to Shael and looks at her, trying to find some understanding in what she's going through. She doesn't have the full story though. She might never get it. Not that it's her place to know it. So, instead, she hesitantly asks, “Ya… didn’t wanna join in the welcome party?”

Shael’s ears perk up at the sound of Astrid tromping over. She quickly wipes her eyes on her sleeve and shakes her head.

“Nah,” she replies. “Dvoryanin parties are pretty lame.”

Her attempt to lighten the mood falls pretty flat given her dower delivery of the line.

“You did all the heavy lifting anyway. I just made them madder.”

Had Astrid not pulled the ‘I’m just a kid’ schtick…which how in the hell did that even work on a group of ruthless marauders, there was a good chance both the Dvoryanin’s head and her own would have been put up on pikes. How pathetic was that? Astrid is a freaking child, and yet she held things together better than Shael ever could have.

She fucked up, she knows that. She had a good life with the Dvoryanin, they had taken her in, taught her how to survive, and what did they get in return for their time and effort? Some bratty teen who picked fights she couldn’t win then was too much of a coward to face the consequences until someone’s life was hanging in the balance.

As much as she’s blamed Zarius and Caedes for what happened that day, it wasn’t like they kept her from ever leaving Darkveil of her own choice. She’d done so dozens of times, and after Zarius’ death, even less attention was paid to her. She could have returned. It wouldn’t have been easy, but maybe it would have been less of a mess if she hadn’t put it off for so long.

She lost her chance for forgiveness, and it’s only because of Astrid that her head is still on her shoulders.

Shael takes a breath. “Thanks for helping them. They didn’t deserve to be dragged into this mess.”

“Guess I need ta show ya what a dwarven party is like then,” Astrid replies, trying to keep things light. This of course implies Astrid has ever gotten to attend a dwarven party, but from what she’s heard, the clan celebrations and feasts can be legendary as the events they celebrate. She plops down on the ground beside Shael.

“I dunno about doin’ the heavy liftin’. They were ready ta start guttin’ us ‘til you told ‘em about whatever that race nonsense was…” She rests her arms on her knees, letting her fingers dance together and fidget anxiously. “It… really could’ve been worse. But pickin’ a fight with ‘em weren’t gonna go well fer us… Guess I gotta learn how ta talk me way outta throwing hammers better…”

Letting her eyes drift up to watch the gathering of Dvoryanin celebrating the return of their leader, she falls into an uncomfortable quiet until Shael thanks her. “Aye, I woulda helped ‘em even if it weren’t you along fer the journey with me. No one deserves ta get dragged into somethin’ out a’ their control… which sounds like what happened with ya an’ Zarius.” Astrid looks at Shael, feeling a bit weird mentioning Zarius when it seems like Shael's had such a bad experience with him. The prosthetic feels especially obvious. “I’m sorry fer whatever happened. Leandros is a good guy ta get advice from or lean on. He’s safe.” She says this with conviction because she knows firsthand how reliable the gentle giant is.

"Don't they just get stupid drunk and smash rocks?"

Shael's experience with dwarves is admittedly not very deep, but she's heard enough people complain about the hangovers from a dwarven drinking party. 

Astrid's reassurance that she would have helped the Dvoryanin even if Shael hadn't been involved is...uh...not as reassuring as it's likely intended. On one hand, that's a relief. On the other, it means Shael was totally unneeded. Ouch. 

As Astrid's gaze lingers on the celebrating Dvoryanin, Shael also watches on. Memories of being amongst them flashes through her mind. Having a home and a community to feel a part of - it was nice, while it lasted at least. Who knows if she'll ever feel that way ever again. Maybe if she waits long enough, she can try rejoining the Dvoryanin again when no one remembers her face anymore.

She turns her eyes away from the Dvoryanin and down to the ground as she digs the toe of her boot into the dirt. 

“It’s not your fault that jerk fucked everything up.”

Okay, so she’s not done blaming him. Not that she ever will be. He did interfere in her deal with the Red Riders to try and keep them off her back. 

Astrid is right that Leandros probably wouldn't hesitate to take her in. The valiant knight also wouldn't be an easy target if the Red Riders changed their minds about letting her off the hook. He took down a sea dragon pretty much single handedly after all. Then again, he has his wife and new child. She didn't want to bring any trouble to his door. 

“Yeah, but he’s got his kid and wife to worry about.” She sighs. "I'll figure it out. Pretty used to the whole vagabond homeless schtick." 

She kicks a rock across the ground before giving Indra another solid pat. "Maybe we'll try Moonglade, weather's nice enough there."

“Smashin’ rocks is just one a’ the festivities,” Astrid says lightheartedly. Admittedly, it isn’t that far off from the truth though. Still, it doesn’t really serve any purpose to dwell on it now, and she can tell that Shael’s got a lot of complicated feelings about everything. Astrid would really like to help, but she isn’t sure she’s the right person to do so. There are a lot of things she doesn’t know. It isn’t like with Morrigan where she’s had to live their dumb weak experience for a few days.

“Well, no, but I can still be sorry fer ya,” she says with a little shrug. “I dunno what happened, I just know what I know. Zarius helped me get off the streets, so I ain’t got the same opinion of him as you do.” Her eyes trail along her metal fingers dancing against her knee. Everyone is complicated, even if they don’t seem that way on the surface, even if parts of them can be broken down into simpler components. Astrid wishes things were simple, but they’re not, and she’s had to learn to accept that.

“I know, he’s got stuff on his plate, but lots a’ folks do. Ain’t no shame in needin’ help or a place ta stay.” Astrid casts a glance toward Shael. “If ya need a place, I got space in Dragon’s Cradle. In Sky Peak. But that’s just if ya want ta. I don’t mind. I’ve uh… Well, I know what it’s like not havin’ a home ta go back ta, so…” She trails off. “Ya know… If ya want. Wouldn’t be imposin’.” Granted, she doesn’t know what kind of trouble that’s inviting, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t matter. Shael isn’t that much older than her, she can’t be, and the world can be a rough and cruel place. A little kindness goes a long way.

After a little longer in silence, Astrid gets up and offers Shael a slip of paper with her address. “Just in case. But if ya don’t want ta, I understand. Whatever ya decide ta do, don’t be afraid ta ask fer help. I’ll knock some heads in, no problem.”

Shael scoffs. "Well, good for you. Congrats on not getting the shitty end of the stick." 

She doesn't want to take out her frustration and bitterness on Astrid. Considering Astrid is talking about getting off the streets, things had to have been tough for her too. But it's hard not to resent Zarius and Caedes. And now she can't even complain without feeling like an ass for shitting on a dead guy. 

It sucks. 

The angsty teen simmers down a bit when Astrid offers her a place to crash if things don't work out with Leandros. She stares at the slip of paper for a moment before taking it. 

"...Appreciate it."

She tucks the paper away before looking back at the Dvoryanin. It still stings, but she pulls herself together and gets onto Indra's back. "Best get out of here before we get dragged into anything else."

The storm drake snorts and gives a chuff to Astrid's drake. 

"See you around, shorty." 

With that, Shael takes her drake up into the sky and flies off into the distance. 

At first, Astrid’s face twists into something of discontent, maybe even disgust, at Shael’s words. They’ve both been served the short end of the stick in some way, there’s no reason to take it out on one another. Still, Astrid lets her expression relax again, and she decides not to hold it against Shael. Clearly, the other girl’s had the short end a lot longer, and Astrid can’t fault her for being mad at her circumstances. In another lifetime, Astrid very well may have ended up like Shael no matter how hard she tried not to.

It can be hard to let the things that hurt go. Astrid certainly hasn’t…

Still, Astrid makes her offer, and she’s glad to see that Shael at least considers it. “Aye, might as well get goin’,” she agrees. Nothing for them here except to watch something that doesn’t include them, and for Shael, Astrid imagines it must be pretty painful. Watching from the sidelines to something you desperately want to be a part of can feel empty. As Astrid returns to Big Frizole, who offers a snort of acknowledgment to the other drake, she looks over at Shael.

“Hope ya can find the place an’ folks that love ya fer who ya are,” she says, a twinkle of encouragement in her eye. She means it from the bottom of her heart. Once Shael takes off, so too does Astrid. Maybe their next meeting will be better.