Oncoming Storm

Daria woke from the vision ways worse for wear than usual. The diviner came to shaken and trembling, gibbering and clawing at her own skin. They were all supposed to be asleep at that point, but most waited to see what their leader would say, after a look into the future. Clearly it wasn't good.

It took a long while before the elf calmed down. Imoen was let to help. Usually the prankster was kept as far away from the immobile diviner as possible, until her senses returned to normal. Once she almost choked her sister to death, emitting a very unpleasant sound and smell in the strategic moment where her sister's senses were at their sharpest. This time at least, she abstained from any pranks. Daria was calmed. In the mean time Xan managed to get a word with Jaheira to voice his concerns about the bruises he noticed.

"I'll look into it." Her answer didn't alleviate his worry. The druidess had other problems though. The first thing Daria asked her to do after catching her breath, was to make friends with Sarevok. The revenant laughed out loud hearing this request. The argument that ensued lasted another hour. It ended with Jaheira being called very loudly 'devoid of any subtlety or tact and a brute!' and Daria 'an immature, idealistic child!'.

By now the bustle of the camp completely died out. Imoen and Minsc were already asleep – theirs was the second watch, so the pair wanted to catch at least a nap before then. Jaheira agreed for a first shift with Sarevok, in exchange for Daria taking care of somebody else. She was now glaring daggers at the former son of Bhaal, brewing by the campfire, while he was busy cleaning his equipment. Both were silent, but the tension was palpable. Hopefully their argument wouldn't keep them all awake. Anomen had the last watch with the drow, the priest preferring to pray at the dawn.

Xan was free to rest. That was easy to say, but dark bruises on Daria's arm couldn't stop to intrude on his thoughts. He was acutely aware that more could appear, if he wasn't watchful. Reading his spellbook didn't help, he couldn't concentrate. At that point, he couldn't help the thought he would be useless for yet another day.

A blanket around his shoulders interrupted this train of thought. Through it he felt gentle hands for the briefest of moments and then the very object of his worries sat by his side.

"Take care of yourself better" Daria asked. Ah. He didn't catch who Jaheira pushed her ward to take care of. Clearly it was him.

"I asked Jaheira to make you a potion. I saw you get sick in a couple of days, so… She said it will improve your overall health, but doesn't taste very well. And if Jaheira says that, you'll probably need that, too." The sun elf handed him a small package. He opened it discovering half a dozen sweet dates. "Imoen snatched it somewhere in the city. I don't think she will miss it much though."

She was close, but not as close as she used to sit before. She smiled gently at him. He tried to find any trace of distress in this smile, be it from tonight's vision or… other reasons.

"I will try to avoid the fate you saw." So he was right, he was getting sick. "But how do you feel?"

"I..." She moved to hug her knees. Did he imagine that she held her sleeves too tight? "I saw a lot of bad. But luckily nothing unavoidable. It'll take me some more divining..." Now he was certain he saw her tremble. But it was just a moment. She smiled at him again. He saw more of this smile since Imoen started her pranks on him. If only there was a way to keep it longer on her face… without losing the remnants of his dignity, if possible. "But I thought about it, I know what I'm doing. I'll make sure you're all alright. This I swear."

"I trust you. If only there wasn't a price for that promise… Daria, there are curses more pleasant than your 'gift'. Please be careful."

"Your medicine" the druidess approached him with a potion in a foulest shade of green he had the misfortune of seeing. He took it with care, as if it could explode any given moment, and did his best not to breathe in too much of the odor it emitted. "Go to sleep, both of you. You need to rest for tomorrow." The druidess tugged her ward's hood, before going back to glare at Sarevok.

"Have a good night" Daria smiled, got up and left for her bedroll, without brushing his shoulder or touching his hand or something, anything… He needed that something and yet couldn't ask. With a sigh he took a date. Too sweet. He gathered his resolve to try the potion.

"Aiiieeeeee!" A piercing shriek made him spit out the first sip and drop the bottle. Sword appeared in Sarevok's hands before Xan managed to remember he hadn't prepared any spells yet.

Daria shot out of her bedroll like a fireball, flailing her hands and tearing at her clothes. Jaheira caught a blanket before it landed in a fire. The whole camp stirred at once, like a groggy hive.

"Get out! Get out!" her clothes began to fly into the air as well. Xan rushed to try to stop her somehow without touching her.

"Daria, calm down! What do you see?!"

"That's not it fool!" Sarevok grabbed his sister by the tunic, hoisted her up and shook a few times. A hamster landed on the ground with a squeak, falling form under her clothes. A rat next, with a hiss.

"Boo!" Minsc rushed to dot on his animal companion. Daria was unceremoniously dropped on the ground. She covered herself best she could with the remaining clothes, but it wasn't enough to hide dark shapes covering all of her skin, shapes of fingers, palms, hearts…? Stars?

Ink. It was ink. Imoen got bored of tormenting him a pranked her sister. He was a fool. An utter, hopeless and complete idiot.

Nobody noticed the blush of humiliation that crept on his face, so he made an effort not to draw attention to himself. He busied himself picking up emergency components that spilled from Daria's inner pockets. There was a very familiar handkerchief among them.

"Did you put that hamster in my bed!?" Daria exploded on Minsc as he petted his hamster. She did not look very dignified, covered in scratches, ruffled tunic and not much else.

"Minsc does not tell Boo, where he should go. Boo only goes where Boo wants and does only what Boo knows is best."

"It's just a hamster, you… you idiot! Not some..." Silver flashing in Daria's eyes stopped her outburst completely. The elf opened her mouth. Then closed it. Opened it again. She looked like a startled goldfish. "I… I…" She gulped. Took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry Boo. I didn't mean it. I was just so anxious and… didn't think. Forgive me, please. I hope you're not angry."

Minsc beamed.

"It's alright little Daria! Boo understands. He apologizes for scratching you too!"

Xan picked the handkerchief, one of his own, he knew at the first glance. The pattern was clearly evereskan, even if a bit worn. He though he lost it back in Athkatla, put it somewhere and forgot all about it.

"Ah, yes..." Daria noticed what he held as she picked up her things. "I mean it's yours. I cleaned it. I meant to give it back to you, but… forgot" she lied and he knew. This was what she kept to remember him by after… After.

"Thank you, if you want..."

"No, no! I just kept it until I learned a good de-staining spell. It's yours." She made no move to retrieve her memento, smiling at him in a way he couldn't believe she thought was genuine.

"Thank you" was all he had left to say.

"Purple is the most beautiful color on a sunset, I think" Daria smiled at him, so warm on his side.

"A color for melancholy and end… Yes, I agree" Xan answered.

"But for the sunrise I prefer yellow and orange, maybe with a hint of pink?" she teased.

"We'll see what the next day will bring" he smiled, as the sun finished it's journey, leaving but a line of light behind.

"Xan…" she paused, waiting for him to look at her. "Amin mela lle…" He turned to see her big violet eyed looking deeply into his, a sparkle of silver hidden in their depths. He hugged her closer, feeling her warmth burning through his side. The sea breeze on a ship could be quite cold compared to the sultry atmosphere of Athkatla, especially in the evenings, but right now he could not be more comfortable.

Just because he was able to, he leaned closer, tip of his nose touching hers lightly, his hands circled around her form slowly stroking her back. Her gorgeous eyes half-closed and her lips parted on their own accord. Under his palms he felt her breath quicken, her scent of jasmine capturing him completely. Their scent, today – she shared her favorite tea. But he could never smell so sweetly.

Just a breath further he moved to taste her lips and something inside begged him not to do it, to end this torment, to move on to something, anything else.

It was hopeless, he was doomed, more, he doomed himself. There was no greater power he could take refuge in blaming.

He didn't get much rest tonight either, waking up with tears in his eyes.

It didn't take him long to devise this plan, but much longer to decide if it was a good idea. It was but a simplest, smallest thing and she could easily say 'no' and nothing would happen. And yet he lingered, as the breakfast ended and they finished the cleaning. He waited for her to be alone. Well, at least where Imoen wouldn't see him. As if sensing his intentions the pink rogue kept close to her sister.

"Ohmigods! Daria!" Imoen let out an exaggerated panicked yelp.

"What? What?!" her sister panicked quite seriously.

"Nothing! Just…" the pinkhead gulped. "We need to dye your hair. Pink's taken but what about cherry? Or maybe orange?"

"I've had it with you and paint, Immy! Leave my hair alone!"

To answer Imoen leaned closer and fished out a hair, showing it to it's owner. It was white.

"What? That's impossible! Do elves even get gray? Not in my age, I hope!"

"Don't ask me!"

Daria looked around – for him, he realized a second too late. She saw him trying to approach her. Or should he turn on his heel and run away, she saw him eavesdrop. He approached. Imoen glared at him.

"Don't worry, your good pal, Imoen, will take care of everything" the rogue ignored him. "I worked a transmutation to change hair color, zero effort required. I was about to refresh mine, but it can wait. Know my generous heart. And I'll even fix you with a better haircut. I don't know who cut it before, but I hope you took revenge."

"Xan?" Daria interrupted her sister's monologue.

"Could you cast this cleaning spell again?" it took a lot of effort to wipe any emotion from his voice, but he wanted to sound neutral, not too pushy. From his pocket he produced a handkerchief with a carefully manufactured ash stain on the edge. "I put it away too close to the fire. Do not hurry, obviously, I know you don't have it prepared right now. It's not urgent in any way."

"I'll… do my best" she accepted the item. "Thank you."

"Well… thank you. I'm the one asking for…" he decided not to prolong the charade any more than was needed. "I'll leave you to it."

"Xan, wait. I need a favor. Immy, do you mind giving us a moment?"

"I'll go find some scissors. Or a good knife." Imoen huffed.

"Thanks." Daria didn't catch a subtle threat that did not elude Xan.

"I need an enchantment on myself to walk as I divine. We need to hurry if we are to save Saradush, but there's a lot of work before me, if we are all to survive saving Saradush."

"Hmm… A set of movements so someone could lead you, perhaps? You'd just have to walk as a reflex, when pulled by a hand? It's doable. The spell shouldn't be too complex… Give me a moment." He pulled a spellbook from his bag. "I think… Where was it…? Ah!" He found the correct page. "A modification to a body-enhancing spell war mages and the like use to react faster – deflect arrows or dodge spells. Tenser's is in a similar line of thought, more advanced, of course. But for your use, something more basic and longer lasting. An hour would suffice?"

"More. I need to exhaust most of my magic before coming back. Otherwise the return is… unpleasant. Can you do four hours?"

"Did your senses get too sensitive?" he asked. She answered with a nod. "Take in consideration that if you return earlier the spell will persist. Having your limbs move outside your will isn't exactly pleasant. I'll write in a cancel you can use. And perhaps a blockade in case of emergency." The 'basic' spell grew and grew.

"Maybe a domination would make a better basis?"

"No, it'd be easier to hijack by an enemy mage and usually clashes with contingencies. Also, please do set those, before you start." He poured over the spell, rewriting it on a scroll.

'I miss you' Daria wanted to say, but without the heavy pressure those words invoked.

"We should study together more often. I still have much to learn" she chose instead.

Xan didn't look up from the text.

"...yes. I would like that" he answered too quietly to read how sincere he was. "And… unfortunately, elves do get gray."