I have decided to take a crack at writing dialects and accents. Might not be perfect, so please bear with me.
All the former chapters have gotten the accents and such, and the future will get it as well.
The giant otter steps away from the alethiometer and stalks behind his human, staring suspiciously at the three other daemons. This crazy fire-happy woman breaks her focus on whatever the object revealed to her "De son of de spy is tr'appet inside a pr'ison building like de one you fount me in. Inside de fir'st big city of de ocean becoming de r'iber." She reveals tiredly like she has done this song and dance many times before. She most likely has, and being such a wild animal, this woman had to be chained and thrown in cages by many different people. Guess they are one of those people. Lawrence glances down at the woman's daemon, he may be in a shape of a cute-looking otter, but Lawrence has seen how ferocious the species this one turned into. The otters of the Andean Nation are fearless; a pack of them can easily hunt and kill the other apex predators in the jungles and rivers. Lawrence once saw a mob of these otters hunt down a caiman and tear it to shreds, so yeah, this woman having a daemon with the shape of such kind of otter; she won't lie down if pushed around. This daemon reveals as much by how he's glaring at them, not to mention that if she truly gets into her murder mindset, that otter will turn into a demonic hound. How that is possible, Lawrence does not know; he never did much thought about the nature of the daemons, only what each shape represents and how the daemon acts around people. His guess is that this woman's daemon got this demonic form when she finally snapped and became something her former tormentors would fear. Can't say he revels in keeping anyone as their prisoner; Lawrence has the mindset that he must do it to reach whatever mission they now have. There is a reason to keep her as their prisoner; she's the only one who can bring them to Spook's kid. What's going to happen with her afterward, that is still unclear. Antoine is more than fine if they keep her as a prisoner, but he still got a bit of a problem seeing the humanity in the people they capture at times. And Lawrence gets the sense that Antoine is unable to see this Sheila as a human, someone who has suffered under the Church's influence and became utterly unhinged and deadly because of it.
"Ze first big city of ze ocean becoming a river... Bristol" Like any other time, Antoine is quick to decipher the sometimes riddled words of the alethiometer. "What else did eet say?"
"You won't be able to get jhim out with jhow you ar' now." The woman continues in this bored manner. Yet Lawrence's more focused on the otter; he is baring their teeth at them, entire body tense, as if he's about to lunge at them and bare those small daggers into whatever he gets his jaws on.
Lawrence eyes his friend, Antoine has observed as well that their prisoner is keeping her cards close, but unlike other Magisterium prisoners, Antoine does not threaten her life; he is well aware it won't work on her. His friend may not say it out loud, but Lawrence can see Antoine is terrified of this woman. They have met people who aren't afraid of death but are usually Church loyalists; Antoine knew what to expect from them. But this woman is not that type. Lawrence is unsure if she hates the Church. It might be a stretch, but she clearly loath those who hurt her. They cannot use this hatred to their advantage as they can't exactly promise her to find those who hurt her. This Sheila has no loyalty, no one she cares about, and with her unhinged mentality; yeah, Lawrence can understand why Antoine is uncomfortable around her. Spook has never been good at handling unpredictable situations and dealing with Sheila, who acts more like a wild animal than a person. It's something his friend does not want to deal with, less so when his son is in danger.
"What do you mean?" Antoine asks, but the woman merely shrugs and instead starts playing with the lighter she got from him. Glancing at Antonie, Lawrence can see that his friend's patience is very thin, and she is pushing it. So, before Spook does something that will provoke this wild animal, Lawrence puts a hand on his shoulder. Giving him the sign to step away from this, gives himself some time to calm down again. Antoine snorts but steps away; he follows, and so does Dell, though knowing they got an unpredictable creature aboard, Lawrence makes sure he can see Sheila from their spot. "She's keeping information from us, crucial information." Antoine points out and starts doing that annoying pacing when things are not going his way.
"Why wouldn't she?" He asks Spook, not at all surprised that Sheila 'plays' them like she does. She has no reason to trust them, and they have no leverage over her to make her speak. "She's our prisoner, and she knows she's only useful as long she got the drum we need." So, she decided to keep information from them, a known survival tactic among prisoners. "We got nawthin' over her, and Oi doubt any torture will loosen up her tongue." He gestures over to the woman, one who bears several scars from past torture. Most likely, she got a lot on her mind too, and Lawrence is pretty sure that is what made her unhinged. "Whatever we do will be nawthin' compared to what the people at that facility did t' her." Dell follows his gaze, his eyes furrowed ever so slightly while watching this Sheila play with her lighter all the while; her daemon is glaring daggers at them.
Antoine grumbles, but Lawrence can see that he hit right on the head with that statement. This woman is like one of those animals that is almost impossible to break and to break such a will. Well, it's a line Lawrence refuses to cross, and he won't let Antoine cross it either. It was hard enough to break through Spook back when he was a Church loyalist; there is no way in hell he is going to drag Antoine out from a deeper hole than he already had.
Antoine takes a long drag of his cigarette. "Looks like we're at a standstill," He grumbles, but at least not pacing as if he's the trapped animal. Instead, Antonie leans up against some nearby barrels. "She needs to talk; Nathan's life dépends on eet."
That is easier said than done. Especially when the only tactic he knows to make a wild and distrustful animal trust someone is to risk one's life and try and tame said animal. There is a big difference, though. Between the animals, he had dealt with in the past to their current issue. "Oi know how to approach animals, but not this koind of wild beast. Still, Oi think that approach is the same."
"And that is?" Dell asks; he has been quiet so far when they spoke to Sheila.
"We have to tame her." Antoine snorts, and Lawrence can understand why his friend finds that very idea absurd. "Yeah, there's a difference between taming an animal that only understands our actions to one who knows the reason behoind our actions." Correcting his hat, Lawrence will fully admit. "Oi never said it would be easy, but it may be t' only way to myke her work with us."
"She will never trust any of us." Antoine points out as he takes another drag. "I can never trust zumone lik' her."
"|Yah don't trast yoahself.|" Lawrence retorts in Spook's language, though far from flawless due to his country's accent messes with Antoine's. Even if there is some truth to it, he meant the words mainly as a joke. It earns him a death glare from Antoine, which, like so many other times, he ignores. "But if we want to gain all the information, the alethiometer can give us. We need to earn t' reader's trust." He crosses his arms, aware that everything will be tricky, especially when time isn't on their side. "It won't be easy, though."
Antoine takes another drag of his cigarette. "Of course, eet won't. In her eyes, we're not much diffairent from those she escaped from een ze facilitay. Zey créated a monster, one we unfortunately need." Lawrence nods in agreement with Spook's statement. There is a big chance that she never will help them, which means they have to go into this rescue mission blindly. He does not fancy such action, less so when there are a lot of lives at stake. One of them is the son of Antoine.
Dell turns partly around, watching Sheila playing with the lighter in a manner that looks like she's trying to set the makeshift table on fire. Good thing they have a fire extinguisher if that happens. "I like to give it a try." Antoine is surprised about what their tinker friend said, while Lawrence is simply relieved he does not have to put his own words to the test. He's never been good at dealing with people unless he has to shoot them. "She greatly appreciated my kind words inside the facility. Perhaps she will start trustin' us more if I continue to bay kind?"
"Worth the try," Lawrence says; Dell does have a talent for putting people into a sense of security with his soft-spoken demeanor. At least as long as Naira keeps her mouth shut. If his daemon starts talking, then people will realize that Dell is not as harmless as he would lead them to believe. With a nod from Dell, the man walks over, takes a seat before the Sheila, and starts a conversation. The woman does not really look that interested in what Dell is saying, more fascinated with playing with the lighter. Looking at that otter, Lawrence isn't that surprised that the otter is testing Naira by, rather roughly, biting her tail, back, and ear, and though aggressive, it does look like he is trying to play with Naira and Dell's daemon is more or less dealing with the constant harassment by pushing him away gently. Only for the otter to jump and bite her somewhere else.
That may signify that the woman is playing Dell or testing the waters between them. Only that it's best to be on the guard as that daemon's behavior is rather aggressive. A sudden gust of cold air makes Lawrence turns away from Tinker and to the horizon, there's not a cloud in sight, but a sudden change in temperature does feel like an early warning. Lawrence checks if the barrels are firmly attached to the ship if a storm is approaching. While he does that, "Do you think Sheila is capable of trickery?" he asks Antoine. His friend knows how to read people, while he is better at reading daemons. It's a good compliment to each other and something that has benefitted them several times over their carrier. "Her daemon loike like he wants to fight Naira, but Oi get the sense he actually wants t' play, yet not sure exactly how." If she has been stuck in that prison most of her childhood, then Lawrence doubts anyone around has taught her how to properly play with people. Not when mistreatment is all she has known.
Antoine watches the scene further up the deck; Lawrence straightens up, but all he sees is Dell talking to the woman, who shows a bit more interest in whatever he's saying. Naria is still going through a rough time with the otter; he's not leaving her alone. "She's not a complete idiot, but I 'ighly doubt she ever learnéd 'ow to think critically." Antoine flicks the cigarette bud over the railing; Lawrence hates when he does that, more so when they have a trashcan nearby. "Her entire behavior remains me of a child."
Forgetting about the intolerance of nature, Lawrence blinks at what his friend had said. "A child?" He can't see this woman act like a child; then again, the child he's used to dealing with was mature at an early age. He hasn't been around that many children in this kind of work he and Antoine are doing.
Antoine nods, "But I am not overly surprized by zis behavior, as she most likely spent most of her childhood inside zat building." And eyeing him with a devilish smirk, "I say she's lik' you when eet comes to lack of social skills."
Oh, he thinks he's so bloody funny. "oi'm not acting like an ankle-snapper, you bloody spook." He retorts, annoyed by this tease, as Antoine is the one who throws the tantrums, not him. "Last Oi checked, Oi wasn't imprisoned by some lunatics most of my loife." He got a decent childhood, a run-of-the-mill kind. Had his fights and disagreements with his parents, yet most of the time, he saw eye to eye with them. Lawrence says his years growing up were good, not perfect, but he was loved and allowed to figure himself out.
"One should think as 'ow you shy away from big cities. How many people did you 'ave around when you grew up?"
"Plenty, but Oi never loiked big crowds," Lawrence brushes off, still annoyed that Spook compared his low social skills with this woman. His lack of it is because he's never been the social type. He finds it exhausting to deal with that many people at once, so he prefers small crowds where he can have one or two people which whom he can have a worthy conversation. "Not all people are social butterflies." Antoine is one of those people; he thrives in larger crowds, although he does have an issue connecting with people thanks to his own messed-up past.
"True, and I guez you could've been worse." He rolls his eyes at that remark and goes to check the coordinates now that they have a location as to where Spook's kid is located. "Are otters social animals?" Antoine asks why their prisoner got an otter for her daemon's shape.
"Very much, and curious small buggers. The ones she turned into are quit' fearless, too." He replies to his friend; Antoine does not look surprised by the last part but does seem curious about otters being social butterflies. That gets Lawrence thinking if what Antoine said is correct; perhaps she never met her social needs? Lawrence has seen how whiny Antoine gets when they have been away from other teams for too long. Maybe she's the same? "Moigh' be why she went off the rocker. She got no social interactions."
"No good ones, at least." Antoine agrees; he takes a seat beside the router; Sabrina shifts from snake to wolf and lies down at her human's feet, eyes sharply on the fire-crazy woman. "Perhaps she simplee needs a ro'k to stand on." Lawrence casts the man beside him a quick look; the tone he said it made him ponder if there was more to it than just this sentence. Not entirely sure, for even after all these years of having known one another. Lawrence does, at times, miss the hidden meaning behind Antoine's words. And when that happens, like any other time, "|Never mind.|" Antoine gets miffed. Lawrence does not ask what he meant, well aware he won't get it, but a snarky reply now that Antoine's pissed he didn't get whatever he said behind that hidden meaning. It's annoying but something Lawrence has just learned to deal with. If not, then they might try to kill each other again.
Hours seemed to pass slowly for a time; Lawrence spent them keeping an eye on the sky, more so when the sun was only hours from setting. He turns to his daemon, she hasn't flown around for a while now, and sees her getting all puffed up. His suspicions are proven correct; a storm is coming, most likely a whole nighter. Lawrence decides to get the ship down before it hits; he wants to take it into the ocean rather than in the air. From how Laraine is puffed up, a thunderstorm is coming, and airships are like tissue paper when it comes to such weather. "Why are you settin' her down?" Dell asks, walking over with a very ruffled-up Naira; she looks relieved to be a bit away from the otter daemon. Antoine is giving him a bit of a confused stare, but unlike Dell, he knows he only does certain things for a reason.
"A thunderstorm is coming," He replies the builder of the three, the ship lands on the for the time still ocean, but it won't last. "and I prefer facing it in the waters than the air."
Dell looks up to the still-clear sky. "I see no dark clouds. Are you sure a storm approachin'?" He turns to Spook as he points out: "I 'ave no wish to delay our approach to Bristol, so unlez you're certain and not 'allucinating, thanks to ze sun." The reddish eyes land on him, and even he can see that Antoine is anxious to reach Britain as soon as possible. "Put her bak up in ze air."
Ignoring that insult from one who cannot survive a week in the bush. "Oi'm certain. Laraine all puffed up," He nods to his daemon, which looks like a feathery ball at the moment. "only happens when there's electricity in t' air." Since he has been feeling the storm for a while, Lawrence knows it's a big one. "It should hit us soon, so we better prepare to be hurled around loike ragdolls." Dell and Antoine still do not look convinced that a storm is coming, but they check if everything is fastened correctly and put on the gear needed for a storm.
Lawrence throws his hat below deck, not wishing to lose it during the storm. He also locks every kitchen shelf; no need to clean more than they have to. Upstairs again, he eyes Sheila, her eyes on the horizon, right where dark clouds have appeared; she begins to fiddle with the light while the daemon is transfixed at the opened alethiometer, most likely trying to figure out how bad this is going to get. Turning away from her, "What about her?" he asks mostly Dell.
"I don't want to be up jhere." She speaks up; for the first time, there's fear in her eyes. The otter claims the alethiometer, holding it between his dagger teeth, and he too shows fear by how he clings around her legs. "The big wate' is going to be really angr'ry."
"Well, seems like she does fear zumtheng." Antoine remarks from his spot. Lawrence eyes him right as Dell muses: "I don't blame her. Not fan of the ocean maself… less so when it's goin' to bay temperamental."
Oh, right, this is the first time Dell has traveled over the sea. He has only heard stories about when he and Antoine have traveled across the ocean for some mission the Elite wanted from them. "Go below deck, Truckie. Spook and Oi can handle the upcoming storm."
"|But of course, it's not like you can handle this shitstorm alone and I do love getting assaulted by salty water.|" Antoine grumbles in French; Lawrence smirks in response and knows he's going to hear a lot more whining when the storm hits.
Dell merely nods and, passing the nervous Sheila, "Y'all can join me." she follows without complaint, and perhaps it's a good thing; it allows Truckie to keep an eye on her, although Lawrence highly doubts she will have time to cause trouble.
It does not take long before waves appear around them, and the sky becomes darker by the minute. Looking up, Lawrence watches the occasional blinks of lighting inside the ominous cloud before them. Does remove his focus on the fast-approaching storm to instead make sure the lifeline rope is attached correctly. This rope is very well going to save his life, so Lawrence is not taking any chances. When confident the line is secure, he goes to the router, now waiting for the ocean to make its best shot in dragging them down into the debts.
Antoine joins his side, gazing at the large black cloud before them. "I hate when you're right about zese things."
He snorts a chuckle, though he does feel a tad proud he knows how to predict the weather. "Be happy Oi can. Otherwise, this bloody storm would've caught us with our pants down."
"And zat is ze only reason why" Antoine takes off his mask, the starting to pick up wind whip up his hair, but he does not seem to notice. Way more focused on giving him this knowing smirk, "I put up wiv you."
"Figures, you keep me around t' save your lousy hoide," Lawrence laughs. The waves are getting bigger, and rain starts to fall. "You better have secured your line, for no bloody hell am Oi jumpin' after you." His friend snorts, and they both stand ready to face the storm.
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They got thrown around for hours, and all he could do was pray and hope Antoine and Lawrence could get them through the wrath of this storm in one piece. He does not remember much about what happened during the storm; he recalls the sheer terror and how helpless he felt at getting thrown around inside his room. Dell is not used to not having any sort of control over his situation, but this time, he can do nothing— he is utterly at the ocean's mercy and has to solely depend on his friends' skills.
Opening his eyes, Dell finds himself sitting against one of the beds, holding Naira like he used to back when he was a child after a nightmare. The floor is kinda wet, some of the water must've gotten inside, and the content of his toolbox is all over the place. 'Darn… I forgot to secure it.' But that was honestly the last thing on his mind when the ship started getting thrown around. He should've done it, though; he's lucky none of the bigger tools hit him, for that could've caused a lot of damage. Dell scans the room, but he's all alone in here. His body hurts from the torment it went through last night, mostly his back from possibly having been in this tense position for hours. Dell supposes it could've been worse; he is alive, with only minor bruises.
From the stories he's heard about storms out in the ocean dragging ships into the debts, Dell figures he should consider himself lucky. "Where are the others?" Naira asks quietly in his arms. Dell would like to know that, too; it's a struggle to get back up. He's stiff from sitting like that for who knows how long, and the tension he felt from the sheer terror didn't help either. Dell quietly walks down the small hallway, and peaking inside the other bedroom, he finds Antoine sleeping with his back to the wall. Currently, in her white wolf form, Sabrina opens her eyes, but she does not move other than lifting her head. Dell gives his friend's daemon a small wave, and he leaves Antoine.
The sound of someone speaking makes him turn, and Dell notices Lawrence napping on the couch. It looks like he's really in a deep sleep, for Laraine has her eyes closed and does not move from her elongated feather ball stance.
'Must have been a rough night.' He leaves the hunter of the group to sleep as well. Figures both he and Antoine need the rest. Dell follows the voice that comes from the deck. It's the alethiometer reader; she is talking out to the ocean for some reason.
"No se que es eso." She says to the ocean as if she actually talking to someone. "Eh? Oh, está bien, pero cómo me ayuda eso?" She stares out to the sea for a moment, and suddenly, her daemon turns into that demonic hound, and she cries out to the horizon, "Tal vez deberías haberme dejado perderme como los demás!"
"Are we interruptin' somethin'?" Naira speaks up, making the woman turn to him, and he says while turning around to head back downstairs, "I can leave you alone if you like."
"You're kinda weirt— vete, no quiero hablar contigo." Something gets thrown into the water, Dell turns around, and the woman looks away from the ocean, her amber eyes meeting his. "De winget people ar'e jerks, dey like to remint me I owe dem." She shrugs as if this is a normal conversation, which it is not. Dell got no idea how to respond to that. The woman sits on one of the barrels, her legs pressed against her chest. "You're not like de othe'r people I jhabe been ar'rount, or maybe you're just goot at de pr'etent game."
Dell guess she wants to speak with him; at least she seems more open to talking than she was yesterday. "What is this pretend game?" he asks, stepping back over to her.
"You don't know de game?" She giggles as if this game should be obvious. "It's wher'e you jhabe to pretent you're bery goot, do whatbver the oter player'rs want you to be. My mom wantet me to be quiet ant be all smiles." She leans against her scarred arms, an odd smile as she stares up at the once again clear sky. "I wanted to make jher happy, but I wasn't goot at de pr'etend game. Dey always yellet at me if I didn't behabe de way I soult." The demonic hound approaches him, those fiery eyes locked onto Naira, and she cowers behind his legs as the hound stalks around him. "Moter was so goot at de game; she coult be exactly as other'rs wantet jher to be. She tr'iet to teach me de same, but it made Dahanain angr'ry. Jhe always hatet de game, so I made up a new game." The woman eyes him, still with that fake innocent smile, one that looks so wrong with those eyes of deep-rooted anger. "I will chase dis pr'retender down ant intr'roduce dem to de fi're, my only friend." A cold shiver runs down his back, a dark thought that she may play this game with him. "Unlike the pr'retender, fi're is warm, it is beautiful ant so alive."
What she said suddenly threw him back to when he was still considered a child yet had long gone through Settling. His parents brought him to Mexico and said he would meet someone who could be his future wife. A family lived in an extravagant mansion, yet barely any servants existed. He was introduced to a girl with long dark hair, makeup that made her amber eyes stand out, and dressed in a plain yet beautiful dress. She smiled, it seemed slightly off, but he hadn't paid it much mind. Instead, he did what he was told by introducing himself and taking her for a walk in their garden. His mother taught him to talk about what he could offer her future wife, so he spoke about his education in engineering and how he was planning on becoming the head engineer for the Magisterium when his father decided to retire. She had listened to him for a while, though never asking into the subjects like other girls his parents introduced him to did.
She suddenly changed the topic and started talking about the candlelights dotting the garden path. "I like de candles. Dey ar'e warm ant beautiful ant jhabe so many colo'rs when dey go into de fir'replace. De candlelight fi're got quite the per'sonlity; I like sitting before de fi'replace ant watching it." She had said. He didn't know how to respond, so he could only stare dumbfounded at her. She had gone off script, and he wasn't used to anyone— less so a girl to talk about something as simple yet primal as fire. Usually, the girls he was around spoke about the latest gossip, whatever boy they had been with before, and sometimes, they wanted him to compliment something about them. Not a single one had spoken about their interests to him, and he wasn't sure how to proceed as it was so off-topic from what he was used to. The rest of the night had been quite weird for him, but the girl seemed glad to continue to talk about her interests, and he kind of… just let her. She spoke more about fire, then about some guy with the weirdest name ever, and then she went on about a small rant that she wanted to get a bit more outside, but her parents wouldn't let her. He found that entire meeting very strange, enough so that it always sat in the back of his mind about a girl who never followed the norms and, for a fact, someone he could see himself having a worthy conversation with, yet he wouldn't since he was afraid to drop the scrip his parents had given him.
Dell stares at this woman, someone who said pretty much the same thing as that girl. She has to be the same one he met those years ago, but… she's not the same. Dell's eyes land on the many scars on her body, the shape of her daemon. The girl he met in that mansion, her daemon hadn't settled, but he mainly stayed in the black Labrador shape. Very different from this giant otter, yet he can see this form suits her better. 'To think, after all thus time, I would meet her again. an' now' He meets her eyes, there is great pain in them, one he is very familiar with. It's a pain a child feels every time the parents refuse them to be their own person, never loosening up on that rope they got around the child. Instead, they are expected to appreciate this rope and, one day, do the same thing to their child, with the misguided idea that it is for the child's best. He gave into this game she spoke about; he learned to appreciate the rope; while she… she turned herself into something dangerous in an attempt to protect herself, using her love for fire to burn away the rope before it would end up strangling her. Dell can't but admire that, and it was something she showed even back when she was a defenseless child. 'I finally see you.' This time, though, he does not have a script to follow. Like her, Dell has found a way to release himself from that game his parents made, and although he still got the rope, Dell refuses to use it on others. "Fire is beautiful, dangerous, yet quite useful. I, at times, use fire for mah work." He speaks calmly, or as calm as one can be, when a hellhound is looming over his daemon, looking ready to put his teeth into her. Naira is doing a fantastic job staying calm before the agitated daemon before her. "I like metal; how, with mah hands, it can change into whatever I see fit. The cold surface is comfortin' to mah touch; the sounds of my tools onto the metal is the reminder that I am the one that shapes it." He continues, something Dell wished younger him would've been able to say back when they first met, but he was too stuck to the script to do such a thing.
The woman stares, baffled, at him. A huge smile comes on her face, and she jumps off the barrel, right over to him. "Wow, you are like me!" Her daemon reverts to its otter form and jumps at the still nervous Naira. However, she quickly snaps out from it when that otter starts roughhousing her, and he is suddenly in a bear hug, taking Dell very much off guard.
Naira slaps the rough-acting otter over the nose, causing him to let go of her tail. "I appreciate y'all like him, but could you kindly tune the excitement down a bit?" She turns to the otter and has to push him away from her again. "Maybe when we're on shore, you two can beat us up with your happiness."
The woman lets go of him, and with a hand on her otter daemon, stops him from jumping at Naira again. "Wow, you can talk too? I 'hought only childr'ren's daemon coult do dat." She smiles at his daemon. "You are bery pretty. Is your pelt cover'red in golt?"
"Nah, all natural." Naira replies with a smirk, and Dell explains to this naïve woman, "Everyone's daemon can talk. But it is frowne' upon when a daemon speaks to anyone but their human." Not that he blames her; what he guesses, she has been living an incredibly sheltered life. Dell no longer cares about that social norm; he stopped doing that after his grandfather's harsh lesson.
She takes a seat on the still-wet surface, not that she seems to mind. "Dahanain only talks to me. Jhe does not like to be ar'rount others; jhe's been cranky since we got locket inside de naughty room."
It's good she is more open, but it is strange for Dell that this woman that looks to be at least her early thirties, is speaking as if she's still ten. "The naughty room?" he asks, and to look more friendly, leans up against the barrels she sat on a moment ago.
"De place you got me out fr'óm."
Ah, okay, figures, that's her word for solitary confinement. Still, no matter the age, no one should be exposed to such physiological torture. "Were y'all thrown in there 'cause you can read thuh alethiometer?"
She shakes her head. "No, Pappy put me in dere after I set Mama on fi're." Naira winches away in reaction to his shock at what this innocent acting woman did; then again, he is aware of how dangerous she can be. "I want to do the same to him. Jhe has been rëally mean to me." She points at a deep-cut scar she got on her left arm. "Jhe made other people do dis to me. It jhu'rt a lot." A closer look and Dell can see that this scar is new, one among many, and all so severe that none will fade away.
"Wha' did he give y'll these scars?" he asks her slowly, shocked, disgusted, and angry at this woman's so-called father. How can any parent do this to their child?
"Jhe wantet me to stay as a sweet, obedient little gir'rl." She replies matter of factly, "But eber'yone knows someone is an adult when a daemon Settles, ant I no longer jhabe to obey dem. Still, Papa wantet me to stay a chilt, but half dr'rowning me didn't wo'rk as I lear'rnet to awaken fi're wherberr I went. So, jhe made people use deir knibes. It worket for a time; dat's when de angels came ant taught us to use de pain against dose doctor'rs." The woman shrugs like it's not a big deal which makes Dell's anger toward a man he has never met raises. She turns to the still waters surrounding them. "Don't tell othe'rs, but I do not know jhow to swim. Wiss I can. I want to swim like de riberr dogs Dahanain turnet into— do you know jhow to swim?" She suddenly asks him. "Your daemon jhas swim feet like mine. Or do you not knöw like me?" This change of topic did throw him for a loop, breaking the stewing rage he held towards the father of this woman. She eyes him briefly, and her daemon slides closer to her, now glaring at them. "Oh right, I'm not allowet to ask people questions. Only the tr'uth debice."
He should consider himself lucky; he at least got away without much of a fight. He is able to live his own life with only a shadow hovering over him. This woman has been trapped for so long; only her fierce will made her resist the brainwashing, but she didn't get away unscathed. This sheltered life has significantly stunted her mental growth; she only knows cruelty and unfair rules. No wonder she responded by setting everything on fire, and her daemon transformed into a hellhound. 'I am most likely the first person to treat her kindly.' She may be an adult, but Dell gets the sense that it's best to treat her more like a child who has just gotten out of a very abusive home. "You can ask any question you like." The otter stops glaring at him and now stares at him with a titled head of his confusion. He ignores the otter and instead smiles at her. "I don't mind, though I may bay unable to answer them. There's only so much space I got up there." and for the question that gave him a slight whiplash. "I know how to swim, but I am not that good at it, and I have no wish dippin' my feet in this water." She follows her gaze to the ocean surrounding them. "Who knows what's hidin' down there."
"I can ask de compass if you like." She suggests, and before he can say anything, she removes the alethiometer from her neck and turns the three needles onto the owl, dolphin, and thunderbolt. The otter gets on his hind legs, and both stare at the bigger needlepoint at the other symbols. It only takes a moment, and she snaps out of this strange focus she gets when reading the truth device. "Dere's nothing danger'rous at de moment, but de compass dit gibe a jhint it's best not to take our chances as dere are many cr'eatüres that may mistake us for its pr'ey."
He stands corrected by this ocean; it is too big and mysterious for his liking. "Let's do what your device suggests. After we hav' rescued my friend's boy, I can teach you thuh basics of swimmin' in a nice, harmless lake. But I think mah other friend Sniper, will be much better at teachin' you." He points at where said man is currently sleeping. "He's incredible with outdoor survival skills."
She titles her head, still with that face of mild confusion, "You speak like I will stay with you péople after I'm done leading you to de son you seek."
She probably still considers them her new set of prison wards. Dell does not blame her, considering the life she has lived. "I'm mighty sorry we have to treat you thus way. But you're the only one who can help us save mah friend's son."
"Yeah, I get dat. But what will jhappen after?" She crosses her legs, her face shows no sign of fear, but the otter is posing like he's ready to jump at someone's throat. "De compass sait I woult be fr'ee, so does dat mean you will let me go, or will you set my spir'rit free like what jhappens when fi're eats up de body?"
Huh, not even the alethiometer reader has every answer to the future. Dell is sort of relieved to know that— and the reader got a worldly outlook of a rather messed up child. "I'm sure we can put y'all off wherever you like to go after thus is over." Dell answers; he is sure Lawrence shares the sentiment as he does. Man didn't give a sign he wanted her dead as Antoine does. Then again, Antoine wants most people dead. "For now, though, you gotta put up with us."
She nods and, fortunately, does not look irritated about it as she did when they left the Andean Nation. "As long you don't cut me with knibes like de other people dit." She brushes a finger over a scar on her collarbone that looks relatively old but got a familiar color like the one Nathan got on his cheek.
'How long did she endure torture before she started to read thuh alethiometer?' Dell wonders and is, once again, impressed she had gotten away, only somewhat unhinged. "We won't, I'll promise you that." Even if it means he has to slap Antoine over the head with his right hand. Out from the corner of his eye, Dell spots movements. Huh, speak of the devil, and he shall arrive. A drowsy Antoine passes them and activates the balloon, putting the ship back in the air. Dell does not move over to the man, for he does not look to be in the mood for conversation. Instead, he turns to the woman when she suddenly asks: "Can I see some metal you jhabe saped?"
He smiles at the question and their conversation about a subject he feels won't provoke an attack from that giant otter.
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The storm was pretty much an all-nighter, but at least it wasn't as bad as feared. Sure, he and Spook got thrown around a lot, but they didn't have to face some mother of all waves, which Lawrence is glad. He doesn't want to see such a thing, less so when stories about such huge waves often end with someone dying. He brews himself some coffee, not paying the mess the storm caused any mind; they can clean it up later. Besides from the machine brewing, Lawrence notices he cannot hear the water against the hull. 'Either the ocean is calm, or we're up in the air again.' He will first check after getting a cup of coffee. Laraine preens herself on the kitchen table, and a quick shake, back to her old sleek self. She turns her gaze to the deck, watching, but with no sense of danger coming from her. Lawrence takes his sweet time doing his little routine, and with his favorite 1st Sniper mug in hand, it is filled with the newly brewed coffee. Lawrence heads upstairs. Turns out he's the last to wake, which is rare, so it is amusing when it happens.
He passes Dell entertaining the fire-happy Sheila by letting her examine his metal hand, a glance at the otter reveals she is a lot more comfortable compared to when they got her out of the facility. Lawrence takes that as a good sign; it means she is less likely to attack them. Still a chance, though, but that's to be expected by any wild animal. "Rough night." He speaks to Antoine, who looks like he could use some more sleep. Spook only grunted in response. Lawrence sits behind him, sipping his coffee, and notices Sabrina pacing. 'Oi doubt he got any sleep. Not that Oi blame him; I would' felt the same way if it was my kid.' Still, Antoine can't risk his own health; he needs to have his head in the game if he wishes to get his son out of there. "Think you could use some of this." he offers Antoine the mug.
Spook gives it a glance before turning back to his self-assigned task. "I don't want your disgusting coffee."
Yeah, Antoine has never been a coffee drinker, but still, "That or try to get some sleep." Lawrence points out, "You won't be much use in this state."
"I'm fine." Antoine sneers; he's pissed, that's for sure.
Not like it has ever stopped him from speaking his mind. Bit too early for a fight, though, so Lawrence will choose his words more carefully. "Look, Oi know you're worried abou' him. Oi would, too, if Oi were in your shoes. But you can't rush this; we have to think smart." He notices his friend's grip around the router has tightened; Antoine is getting upset, but of course, he lets it stew until it boils over. Lawrence sighs, 'It's too early for this shit.' Still, it's not like Antoine cares; then again, he is dealing with something no parents want to face. "and you're not thinking."
Antoine snorts a dark laugh, "I'm not thinking? Of course, you would think zat, bushman. But unlike you, I know what 'appens inside ze Magisterium."
Putting the cup down, away in case this brewing storm comes to blows. "This isn't loike where you got trained. It's a place where they are keeping children. It's a research facility, not a trainin' camp."
"You don't know that; none of us does!" Antoine snaps, yet still refuses to turn around and actually face him. Stubborn like always. "Maibe ze children are unharmed, but if what Engineer said eez correct? Zey already know about Nathan's dáemon. Zey will use 'im as zeir lap rat, pinch and prod 'im." He turns just enough so their eyes can meet; there is anger in those reddish orbs, but also a fear Lawrence has felt several times before. It's a fear one only knows when they got loved ones in danger. "Don't you fuking dare tell me what to do. Not when I 'ave a son who may end up dead ze further we délay."
Getting onto his feet, "And yah think you can sav' him in this state? Half sleep deprived and lashin' out at your comrades?" He retorts, annoyed that Antoine is trying to pick a fight this early; he's not yet pushed the line to deserve a solid wallop over the head, less so when Lawrence understands what his friend is going through. Antoine jerks his head away from him, enraged, yet his words hit home. "Get some sleep, if you can't," he handed him the coffee, "At least try and stay focused." Spook snorts and retakes control of the ship; Lawrence guesses that's as far as he can take this. Rolling his eyes, Lawrence leaves his friend alone.
He finds another spot to sit nearby Dell and the woman, and while drinking, he listens to the two: "— it's not really mah name, just what people are callin' me for the class I choose; an engineer."
The woman nods. "Oh, okay. Is dat de same about the two other'rs?" Dell nods, she eyes him briefly, but Lawrence ignores her, still too early to be social. She then fiddles with the alethiometer, and it seems like she is asking it about something, by how she went into a trance. Makes him wonder; what did she ask it? She apparently didn't like the answer, for she frowns deeply when she exited her trance-like state.
"What did you ask it?" Dell asks, having the same pondering as he did.
"What kint of gr'oup you're in." She replies, returning the alethiometer around her neck. Her words made Laraine perk up; he was curious to know what the truth device told her. "It wasn't much it wantet to tell me. Only you're pa'rt of de group I was for'rcet to tell de mean people aböut, and you fight for what you beliebe is a betta futu're."
Lawrence observes that she does not sound overly sorry about the fact that she has caused a near genocide to the Resistance. There can be many reasons for that, one being that she held no personal relationship with them; all she was told was to read the alethiometer. Not sure what to feel about it; they have lost good people, but is this woman truly to blame? The scars on her body said she was just as much of a victim as they were; then again, she did reveal what the alethiometer said, so her action did have consequences. "What kint of futu're do you beliebe in?"
He believes this is where he should speak his opinion "No one should control what shape our daemon take, that the individual pers'n should have the freedom t' decide who they are." The woman looks at him. Although Lawrence was lucky enough to have parents that allowed him the freedom to figure out who he is. He still believes this is a good cause, more so when he saw first-hand what that sort of control over the daemon does to people. What he said isn't all that the Resistance wants, but Lawrence has no wish to reveal that to a Civilian, less so one who has the tool to reveal every team's location.
"What is dis gr'oup callet?"
This is something he can reveal, "Team Fortress Resistance."
"Eet 'as been around for one 'undred years," Antoine voices, and the man walks over to join, does keep his distance from the woman, and refuses to even look at her. He does that to people he has to work with but does not trust. "sometheng you almost destroyed by 'elping ze people of ze Church."
"That's not fair," Dell argues for her; Sheila does not look bothered by Antoine's words; in fact, she seems quite apprehensive about it. "they didn't give her a choice. If she had refused, then they would've killed her."
"No, dey wouldn't jhabe done dat." She speaks up, "But dey dit leabe a lot of ma'rks to make me reat de compass."
She points at the many scars on her body, some of which are somewhat new.
For a time, Antoine stares at the horizon; what he thinks is hard to tell. Lawrence can say that he is holding a grudge at what she was forced to do, unable to see the bigger picture. "Zey knew 'ow useful she was; zat eez the only reason we need her too." The otter begins to growl, which makes Sabrina growl too. Spook and the woman don't show the same hostilities, but there is tension in the air. "Though we need her abilitay to save lives, not to slaughter thousands of peopl'," Antoine looks at her with hatred in his eyes. "each which was snuffed out every time you read the devicé."
Checking on her reaction, other than the aggressive acting otter, she shows no sign of anger or regret. She looks more like a child that does not understand why she's getting scolded. Then, her daemon changes into that demonic hound, and the gleam in her gaze changes into a cold glare. "Alr'right, den, when my use for you is ober," She gets back up on her feet, standing tall even though she is shorter than Antoine, the way she glares at him and how she got a hell-hound at her side reveals how much of a threat she is. "Den let's play. Let's see which oné of us will leabe alongside our daemon." She takes a step over to him, a twisted smile on her face. "When we sta'rt, I will not stop Dahanain fr'om tear'ring your limps to sreds, nor de fi're eats you up. I will enjoy jhear'ing you scream." Lawrence can easily see that her words scared his friend, he is good at hiding his feelings, but he has known Antoine long enough to read his body language.
Dell is quick to step in between the two, pushing her away from Antoine, and perhaps it's a good thing, too, for Lawrence would've shot her if she had taken one more step over to Spook. "No one is goin' to kill one another."
"I know, de game only jhappens when you no longer neet me." she voices and returns to her former spot, her daemon lunges once at Antoine's daemon, causing her to flinch. The demonic hound returns to his human, where he lies beside her. And like the whole death threats never happened, "Can you tell me mor're about dis Resistance?"
Dell gives him a look before going over to her. "Can't say much about it. Only about the classes members can be assign' to, and each team consists of nine people."
Lawrence casts Antoine a look; his friend is pretty shaken up from the threat he received from her. He slowly leaves, and Lawrence does not blame him for making some distance from the fire-crazy Sheila. He would, too, if he had received that sort of promise. 'Best not t' get on her bad side. If Oi have to shoot her, Oi would prefer she didn't see it coming.' He reminds himself. If she does end up going after Antoine, then her ability be dammed, and he will shoot her.
A lot of rewrites, but I think this is for the better. My last mistake was that everyone was just too darn trusting and shared too much information with people they really shouldn't. I'll try to fix that with this rewrite and put the information dumps in places more deserving.
Will try and keep them to a minimum and instead let the story reveal itself over time.