Sand? A beach? Where the hell am I? Delphnye thinks as she regains her footing, trying to kick the sand out of her golden sandals that coiled around her calves. She brushes more sand off the front of her olive-green Queen Anne top and the matching split skirt that falls just above her feet. The gorgeous outfit is accented with golden vines. She adjusts the golden circlet that lies snug over her shoulder-length soft brown curls. Her focus quickly shifts to her arms as her heart pounds.
Two green garter snakes are coiled around her forearms like bangles. They are still as stone, but that doesn't prevent their tiny tongues from giving her a quick kiss on her wrists. Delphnye sighs in relief. Vesper. Pax. The dwarf snakes she helped hatch a year prior. As a ranger, she's a lone wolf. Her only friends are the reptilian creatures she bonded with. She has a talent for taming the most vicious snakes to aid her in fights. Vesper and Pax were the only two who never left her side...or arms for that matter. Then, there's Echo. Delphnye clenches the golden scale chained around her neck and turns her head toward the sky for a brief moment before focusing her attention back on the more pressing matters.
After a quick examination of herself and her snake companions, she glances ahead and sees a half-elf with jet-black hair prone in the sand. The woman she reluctantly saved on the nautiloid and helped fight during their escape. Shadowheart? Was that her name? Delphnye picks up her quiver and bow that had landed next to her in the sand and approaches the unconscious figure.
Delphnye wasn't one to trust very easily, but despite having only met a few moments prior to the fight, Shadowheart still aided her in battle. The wood elf chews on her bottom lip for a moment, contemplating her next moves carefully. She needed to find a cure for this worm in her brain, but only a fool would try to make that journey alone. Sure, she was confident that she could handle her own, but she also knew she wasn't invincible and her reptilian companions could only aid her so much.
The pale skin on the wood elf glows from the sun as she finally makes her decision-she woke up Shadowheart and agrees to set off on this journey together.
For the next hour, the two girls loot the bodies of the deceased thralls, goblins, and mindflayers scattered around the shipwreck, finding whatever supplies and weapons they can. When they decided they were set for at least a few days of travel, they began their trek. It isn't long before they bump into another potential victim of this whole tadpole conundrum. However, Delphnye isn't convinced he is truly a victim. Her high sense of perception can see through his facade a mile away. Like a cichlid playing dead to lure in its prey, he acts almost defenseless, scoping the perimeter for his next target. His face shows genuine concern, but his ruby eyes say otherwise.
Delphnye gestures for Shadowheart to stay hidden where she is. The wood elf manages to completely camouflage herself in the small amount of foliage around them. "Vesper. Pax. Houpe." She whispers, eyeing the high elf in front of her. The snakes slither off her forearms and approach the man silently through the long grass.
Shadowheart watches the wood elf from behind the remains of the nautiloid. She squints from the bright beams of the sun shining in her eyes, furrowing her brows in confusion. What in the Nine Hells is she doing? Then, she's out of her sight. Did she make herself invisible?
Soft brown curls unfurl as Delphnye seizes her opportunity. When the high elf turns his back to her, she jumps out of the foliage, landing on top of him. She quickly notches an arrow and pulls it back, aiming toward his beautiful face as she straddles him. "Krathin." She spits through her teeth. Vesper and Pax suddenly spring out and snap their fangs at the grappled high elf.
The man holds Delphnye's stare for a moment with a look of shock...and astonishment? It's understandable why he would be impressed. She's almost a foot shorter than him and very thin. However, her looks are deceiving as she has more strength than one would think. Even with her impressive strength, the man could've easily been able to overpower her if it weren't for the fact that his life could end with the twitch of a finger. He glances over to Shadowheart who had just come out of hiding.
"Who are you and why are you hunting us?" Delphnye spits at him, her teeth still bared like a rabid animal.
"What are you talking about? I had cornered one of those brain things. I saw you kill them earlier and I was going to ask for your help. Seems I was wise not to." He squirms underneath her but is careful not to make any sudden movements that she would perceive as a threat.
Delphnye keeps her bow steady and holds his gaze. In her peripheral vision, she witnesses a boar dart out of the foliage behind them. "You're lying. Answer my question. Who the hell are you and what did you do to us?"
"Are you really gonna stand there and watch her use my head for target practice?" The man turns his head to the half-elf who is watching the situation with a blank face.
Shadowheart shrugs. "Better you than me."
The wood elf presses her knee into his chest, knocking the wind out of him for a brief moment. "I won't ask again."
"Fine. Fine. Fine. Just to be clear, I was the one trapped in the pod, while you two were scuttling about on the ship." The man gasps as she slowly lowers her knee back to the ground.
They begin their staring contest again, emerald eyes meeting ruby. She loosens the tension on her bow and puts the arrow back in her quiver, but remains on top of him. "Vesper. Pex. Confn." The snakes snap their teeth at him one final time before slithering to Delphnye and coiling back around her arms.
The man considered switching their positions, but those snakes seemed to be protective of her. He couldn't take the risk of them biting him...although, it wouldn't be the first thing to bite him...but he knew nothing of snakes, only that some excreted lethal poison through a single bite. There was no way either of them would help if he were to be poisoned and he wanted to live. So he chooses his words and actions carefully as she begins to stand up.
He opens his mouth to speak as she holds a hand out to him, the rays of the sun making her glow like a goddess. A strange warmth fills him as she helps him to his feet. Then, came the pain. Flashes of images flood their minds from distant memories: him prowling dark, busy streets and her running barefoot through the forest with a small winged beast beside her. Both of them try to hold on to the memories, but they fade, leaving them both with a lingering stare.
"What was that? What's going on?!" The man breathes heavily, displaying genuine concern and fear.
"You have one, too." It's almost a whisper. Almost as if for the first time in a while, she felt genuine guilt towards attacking another humanoid being. She notices she's still holding his hand and immediately lets go, breaking the stare and fixing her eyes on the ground. "I believe it was the worm. I've experienced this before with others like us. They seem to allow us to see each other's memories."
"Well, that explains things somewhat."
Delphnye finally forces herself to make eye contact with him again. "I'm sorry." She isn't used to this much interaction with people. It's weird. Sure, she had encountered her fair share of people, but she lived alongside the wildlife outside of Rivington. Apologies are a foreign concept to her, but the guilt of the encounter still weighs heavily on her. "I honestly thought you had far more nefarious plans for us."
Within moments, all the sincerity in his eyes disappears. He's back to hiding behind a facade. "No need for that, darling. Your intuition was correct. In fact, I was planning to decorate the ground with your innards as well. I'd say we're even, now."
All of the guilt Delphnye felt fades away in an instant, but she can't shake the feeling that there is something more behind those ruby eyes. It intrigues her and she can't figure out why.
"My name's Astarion. I was in Baldur's Gate when those beasts snatched me." His words break her from her thoughts. She looks over at Shadowheart who is watching the whole situation with her arms crossed, a disapproving look etched upon her face. She's finished with him and she wants to leave, but for Delphnye, she couldn't say the same.
"Delphnye. I resided in the forests outside of Rivington."
"Ooh, an outlander are we?" He approaches Delphnye with a flirtatious smile, practically towering over her. With any other person, the wood elf would immediately retaliate, but there's something different about him. He no longer felt like a threat to her. In fact, she feels safe being this close to him, but he just admitted to planning to kill her moments earlier. So, why isn't he registering as a threat to her?
"I suppose so." Delphnye's response is dry and disinterested, but she knows her face says otherwise.
"Well, Delphie-" Astarion begins as he finally backs away from her.
"Delphnye..."
"I like Delphie better. It...suits you." Delphnye rolls her eyes, unaware of the smile tugging at her lips. "So, do you know anything about these worms?"
"I know just as much as you do." She sighs, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I suppose it's not common knowledge." Astarion shrugs. "These worms are already affecting me. I can already feel it. Now what to do about it..."
Before Delphnye can even process the words coming from her mouth, she speaks. "You should travel with us. Better odds, I'd say." Shadowheart, who up until this moment was staring off into space, meets eyes with Delphnye in disbelief.
"You know, I was ready to go this alone, but maybe sticking with the herd isn't such a bad idea...and you seem like a useful person to know." Although Delphnye is no longer staring at Shadowheart, she can feel her eyes roll. "All right, I accept. Lead on." He finishes his sentence with a bow.
And with that, they begin walking again.