Content warning: Damiondred Jetovski's stats are 17 str/18 dex/16 int/10 wis/10 con/15 cha (He's a quick study, hence why he's been learning quickly) but he has a bit of a handicap until he starts actually utilizing his abilities. Similar to how people who aren't left handed sword fight with their left hands to give their opponents a sporting chance, except with depression and anxiety instead of courtesy. Also, cloakwood 3 to cloakwood 4 travel time is basically sixteen hours, which makes me sad.
Viconia thought long and hard about what was happening as they traveled through the woods. First, she considered Ira. Learning that she was a devil-creature inhabiting the body of a darthiir explained a number of things. Why she acted nothing like what was expected of a faerie, for starters. Why she was remarkably durable, why she had the strange senses she did, why she moved as if uncomfortable all the time, how she would sometimes reach for something and seem irritated that her arm couldn't get her hand there without her having to -move-...
The willingness to eat people, as well.
The drow shook her head, glancing behind her to where she could hear Damion and Xzar muttering back and forth about magical theorem. Like the rest of the group, they were invisible, and she grimaced to herself as she looked infront of her once more. The only proof she had that Ira was still traveling in front of them was due to how the grass flattened periodically and showed where she walked. Baeloth was, presumably, somewhere at the back of the group. None of them seemed to realize how much danger they were all in. Bad enough if the Flaming Fist caught them and found drow, but if they found the Cornugon...
"Viconia? Are you there? I, uhh... I don't want to try Baeloth's method of finding people."
"I am here, Jabbuk." She heard movement behind her that shifted carefully around to the side, and then glanced down to note where Damion's boot prints were indenting the grass next to her own, watching how they adapted to her pace.
"Are..." He cleared his throat, and she could imagine him looking away. "I want... I want to hear your thoughts. I know I'm not very good at talking to people, but I want to know what I can do to help you feel at ease. I'm... Well, I'm screwed without you, since none of them can heal. You're also cautious, wise, and much better at spotting danger than I am. But I don't want you to think that being here is a one-sided thing. What can I do to help?"
"For one, Jabbuk, you need to understand how dangerous this group is. Not deadly, dangerous as if we are caught by the authorities, we are to a one very likely going to be killed." She rubbed her temples, and then pulled her hood lower to try and block out the worst of the sun, despite how light went through the invisible fabric regardless. "Two drow, so-called monsters from the Underdark, a necromancer, and a devil. There is nobody in this group who can go into a town without any sort of risk, no?"
"So far, we-"
"You are not -listening-, Rivvil!" Viconia hissed out the words, and she watched how his steps shied away from her own before resuming her pace. "So far we -nothing-. It would only take the slightest of misfortunes to cause the authorities to cross our path, and you are planning to enter one of the largest cities for a hundred leagues in any direction. The larger the group, the greater the risk of the oddities being found, and the closer I dance with death. My entire survival on the surface has depended on -not- being noticed. -Not- being caught. So -what- are you planning to do, hmm?"
"... Bae-"
"Baeloth -what-. Hiding under the spell of invisibility is -not- a long term solution."
Damion was quiet for a moment, before sighing softly.
"... You're right. It's a predicament that I need to think about and really work on. I want everyone to be safe, above and beyond anything else. This group is all I have for a family."
The cleric stopped in her tracks, baffled, and watched as his boot prints continued on.
Ira scrunched her face up in thought as she listened to the conversations going on behind her. Some things just weren't adding up, and that meant that the Kid was -lying-. The thing was, if she hadn't known about Imoen, she would have -believed- him. He was starting to blend truth with falsehoods, and as much as misinformation irked her she had to applaud the Kid for how he was improving. Grimacing, she re-focused on their surroundings and paused.
Were those wing beats?
"Hold up, folks."
Conversations died behind her, and she peered upwards. Sure enough, a figure blurred overhead, off-green with something purple dangling underneath.
"... Ira? What colour were Xan's robes that you got for him?" Damion sounded strained.
"Purple."
"... Can you track it?"
"Can I track something that didn't leave footprints and who's scent is a half-league up in the air. Kid, think really -hard- about that question."
"Well, I-I mean... It was flying that way, right? With a person? Isn't it probably going home?"
"You want me to, what, magically run after it carrying everyone and stop it from eating it's supper?"
"If that's Xan, then we need to save him."
She threw her hands up in the air, not that he could see it. "You're going to insist, aren't you."
He said nothing, but his boot prints hurried past her.
"Fuck me sideways with an anchor."
The sun had set, and they still hadn't found any sign of where the flying beast might have lived.
"Kid... I'm gunna be blunt and say that I tried to tell ya so."
"It has to be around here somewhere. If it's Xan-"
"Jabbuk, that is a fairly large 'if'." Viconia sighed.
"Who even -is- this Xan?"
"Enchanter. Elf. Rescued from a Rabbit Mine." Xzar chimed in helpfully, and Baeloth audibly scoffed.
"I don't understand it. I thought-"
"Look, Kid, if something's flying home with dinner just after what we'd consider lunch, then that means it's at -least- a five hour flight before they touch down. On average, things fly a whole hell've a lot faster than normal people walk, yeah? Birds ring a bell? On top've that, they don't have to contend with the landscape, with weaving through trees and making sure they're goin' the same direction. You just pick a landscape point and -go-. If that was Xan? He's probably been dead for an hour now, 'less it was dropping off its food to a baby drake."
"Drake? That was a dragon of some kind?"
"Hell if I know, Kid. I saw it for as long as you did, which was not very. All I got is that it's sorta green an' got wings. If it's a dragon, it's certainly not a futsanglung. "
"A... What?"
"Sorta like a giant snake with legs. Also known as an 'underworld' dragon. Breaths lava. Keep in mind, Kid, most've the beasties I'm used to tend t'be hellish or abyssal. I fought, not searched for what Prime creatures ate or wiped their arses with."
Damion sighed, before looking around the small clearing he hoped everyone had stopped in. With the helmet he could pick out four other sets of footprints, so he -hoped- that meant everyone was still there with him...
"... So we camp here, then. And tomorrow, we keep an eye on the sky and hope that Xan's still alive."
"And if he is not, Jabbuk? What will you do, howl your grief to the winds? If this is some manner of dragon, do you truly think we are prepared to fight it?"
He lapsed quiet at that, before shaking his head.
"... Ira, can you take first watch, please?"
"Yeah, I can tell this venture's gunna go -real- smooth."
"Kid, we gotta talk."
"I don't care if he's dead by the time we get there. We have to go."
"Yeah, look, I'm not disputing that, I wanna know what in th'nine hells is wrong with you. I mean I -get- that you're worried, but you're borderline freakin' out. Where's your head at?"
He grit his teeth, shaking his head as he continued to walk.
"Right on my shoulders."
"-Is- it? Doesn't seem like it. You've been high-strung and twitchy beneath whatever you think is passing for a proverbial mask. Your sleeping's all fucked up again, too. Talk t'me." Ira sounded unimpressed, and the archer throttled back the urge to tell her to mind her own business.
"It's-"
"Next words out've your mouth better not include 'nothing'. I can find you a whole lot easier than you can find me, an' you know I hate bullshit lies."
"-I was -going- to say, that it's complicated. And that I don't know how to explain it. It's... I don't know. I'm just... -Angry-. Angry like I used to be before Imoen. Which is... Sort of not really angry at all, I guess, just..." He struggled with the words, and sighed.
"Word you're lookin' for 'violent'?"
"... Sort of. Why suggest that one?"
Ira snorted, before snickering.
"Well, you're fuckin' twitchy. 'S one thing."
"You can't see me though, so how-?"
"I can hear you roll in place eight times in under an hour tryin' to sleep -really- well, Kid. And you sigh so much you'd think you're deflating. But on top've that, I've seen how you get sometimes in fights. Usually you're, well... Skittish until one've your friends gets hurt. Then your spine straightens and you start being able t'-fight-. An' I mean -really- fight. Arrows through half a foot wide gaps accurately fight. Not s'much angry as focused-violence, minimum effort for maximum pain t'your enemies type. Don't get me wrong, it's exactly what you need if you're gunna survive. Usually, though, you pull out've it, but... I dunno. Seems like you keep waffling slightly into that sorta state. I can tell when were're walking when you do 'cause I stop bein' able t'hear your steps as easily as I normally can. You can move -damn- quiet when you've a mind to."
"... I think... It's because I'm worried about Xan. I've... Sort of noticed that I can get focused, but it's usually only if..." He trailed off, hunching as they moved.
"Don't leave me hangin', Kid."
"... Only if I think they're mine, and being taken away from me." The words were whispered, and he looked to his right, as if it would help him hide better from the words. "... When I was attacked, trying to find Viconia, and Xzar got shot... Before they got there all I could think of was how -beautiful- they were, and wondered what the other sides of their eyes looked like. The most natural way to find out seemed like throttling them until their eyes popped out. And I don't... That's not -me-. That's the monster I was while growing up until Imoen pulled me out of it. So I have to find Xan, even if it's not Xan or even if he's dead, I have to keep proving to myself that I'm not this... Thing, that I can feel under my skin and in my head sometimes."
"... Alright, hold up. So does this thing feel like a -separate entity- or you just find yourself thinkin' or doin' these things."
"Both. Neither. I... I don't know."
"'Member how I said your hatred'd save your life one day?" Ira's voice circled the archer, and he glanced down to keep track of her footsteps.
"Y-yeah."
"This is just like that. Use it like a tool. Rule it, otherwise it'll rule you. 'Cause you try and put it in a mental box it'll just get out an' you'll find yourself staring down at your hands and crying over the blood they're coated in."
"But -how-?"
"How th'hell should I know? But chin up, Kid. I think we found where yon flyin' beastie lives."
Poor Ira. She was never trained to deal with emotional puberty, but she's trying -so- hard to keep track of where his fragile mental state is at. She sees it as similar to forging a blade; steel's weak at certain temperatures and if it's tempered right. But considering he's a piece of 'steel' she's never worked with before, she's trying really hard to see where his cracks are forming to see if she can't pound them out before they get too bad.
Nimloth~! Thank you for the kind review once more! Absolutely there are going to be more Taint-mode moments! Soon(ish) he might even start actively being able to control it, instead of just getting swept up in it. Lots of dialogue in this one, not much action, but that will pick up soon. Such is the price of people being invisible: from whoever's perspective the story is being written from, the literally cannot tell if someone has stuck out their tongue, nodded, or mooned them.
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Leave a message after the tone!
-KD
P.S: Funfact, invisibility is how I handled all of my problems in Baldur's Gate. Know there's an ambush ahead? Invisibility, get the location, fireball from just beyond their line of sight. Such was the power of having your party be the PC (fighter/mage/thief) Baeloth, Xzar (though he couldn't invisibility himself, skull trap was my discount fireball for a while there), Xan, Edwin, and Viconia. Originally, before EE came out, I had a bard to stand uselessly in the back, singing and identifying items and doing nothing else instead of the sorcerer, and had Viconia wearing ankheg armor while the PC went around in Drizzt's chain. Good times, when Viconia was the tank and I had to cheese every fight...
