2017-12-13: Jumping to Conclusions

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  • Log: 2017-12-13: Jumping to Conclusions
  • Cast: Seraph Ragnell, Rose
  • Where: Krosse - Sunlight Square
  • Date: 2017-12-13
  • Summary: Brads are confused. Rose and Ragnell have more in common than expected.

==========================<* Krosse - Sunlight Square *>==========================

Krosse is a walled city, and the killing grounds inside the entry to the castle have been given a much nicer spin than is typical. Known as the Sunlight Square, it is a wide-open plaza with a fenced-off grassy park in the centre. The square occupies the same sort of role as a village green, and residents of the city frequently gather to socialize, work, or even kick off their boots and enjoy a nap in the sun.

Small shops surround the edges of the Sunlight Square, offering a variety of goods and services to travellers. A three-story building in the northwest offers lodging at a reasonable price, and a stone cathedral in the northeast is one of two surviving houses of worship of the Warrior of Light remaining on the continent.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VXzx4Zhd1k
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        Ahh. There's nothing like a nap in the sun. Except for when it's in a town creeping with Malevolence, making even the sunlight feel pale and wan. Ragnell's sprawled out in a sunbeam on a crate near the inn where Sorey and Friends are staying at like an oversized cat, but even though she's used to sleeping on hard floors and the cold ground, she can't quite get comfortable here. Sure, Ragnell has long amounts of experience to steeling herself against Malevolence, but ultimately, she's still a Seraph, and Seraphim are naturally sensitive to the stuff. Plus, napping is inherently an exercise in relaxing, and you can't really relax that well with your guard constantly up.
        
        Hat tipped over her face, arms folded under her head, one leg hanging off the crate and the other hooked on the edge by the heel of her boot, she sighs in mild annoyance. Well, she figured this might be the case. Even so, she doesn't feel like getting up just yet. At times like this, her thoughts wander, and there's plenty for them to wander to. Like, for example, the happenstance trip into Riesenlied's mind back in Wayside a short while back, and what Ragnell saw there that spoke to her.
        
        "...Brad..."
        
        She speaks in a low murmur, muffled in turn by her hat. But it's a single syllable. For someone sufficiently close and/or nosy, it'd be hard to mistake it for anything but what it is.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        "If you stay out like this too long you're going to tan unevenly," Rose chides as she reaches down to lift Ragnell's hat off her face, grin plastered on hers. "I swear you and curtains care more about your hats than your lives sometimes." Rose plops Ragnell's hat onto her own head, since that's where hats should go.

        Then there's a flicker of light, a green orb leaving Rose's body and materializing out of green wisps of light and wind, Dezel immediatly leaning with his back against a large crate, hands crossed. "Like you'd know what it's like to have something you want to die for," he grumps, adjusting his own hat thoughtfully.

        "Oh, ouch, mister was there for everything that happened and knows what he said isn't true. How about we focus on the task?"

        "You mean grilling her for saying a word?" Dezel says, no glance spared, but indicating to Ragnell she might have hummed a bit too loudly there.

        "I meant carrying the crate of potions inside so we can label the bottles, but sure, that first." Rose's eyes turn back to Ragnell, finally, still smiling. "Gella for your thoughts? We were actually coming out to take some stuff inside but... you know. Assassin ears."

        "She means to say she used my wind reading to spy on you."
        "I most certainly did NOT, it was accidental eavesdropping."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        Assassin ears and assassin feet, apparently. Ragnell isn't usually startled, but between a hat on her face and thoughts elsewhere, she actually jerks upright, surprise on her face, when Rose plucks her hat up off her face. That surprise darkens fast--good thing Rose plops it back on her head.
        
        Dezel appears then, and Ragnell's red eyes flick over his way. Then she shakes her head and sighs, shrugging broadly. She's not aware of the meaning behind their exchange, but it's pretty obvious there *is* one. Not to mention grilling her for 'a word'... Ragnell frowns again at that, then hops off the crate and steps to one side to let Rose access it at her leisure.
        
        "My thoughts're worth way more than a gella," she replies, winking one eye shut. "I'll let ya off th' hook and believe ya when you say it was an accident, though. Otherwise I'd have to scold ya somethin' fierce for bein' so *rude*. Am I right, Dez?"
        
        Someone's defleeeeeectiiiiiiing.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        "I'd say gald for your thoughts but what gald we have left is stashed away so we're not totally screwed when we find our way back to Lunar. We sold some of it too. Collectors're nuts, coins from another world are worth fifty times their value!" Rose has gotten distracted, or so she'll let Ragnell believe for a moment.

        "That or praise her for making progress so fast. She's gotten used enough to my powers I might be able to stop giving her pointers and just relax soon." He doesn't move, but he doesn't skip a bit when he continues: "So, Brad, huh? There something you want to know about that story? Nah, couldn't be. You'd just ask Rose because you know she'd tell you if you asked."

        Rose pincers Ragnell, having moved while Dezel was talking. She plops the hat back onto Ragnell's head, no longer grinning. "What is it? If there's something you want to know you CAN just ask. You already know what we do, there's no point hiding anything from you. Or could Dezel be right?" Oh, by his name, now? Rose's straight face mustn't be for show. "Can't be another Brad. There might be thousands of Brads out there but there's only one that'd make you react like this to our prodding. So what of him?"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        "I'm surprised they didn't make you prove it really was from another world. You'd think most folks would be a little more skeptical than that," Ragnell replies, perfectly happy to encourage Rose to get to distracted. She doesn't quite expect it to work, not with Dezel also here, but hope springs eternal. "You must've gotten a pretty gella indeed for that. But no, gald's not enough, either." She winks. "*My* thoughts are priceless.
        
        She glances over at Dezel. "Hmmm... Well, she always *did* have a mountain o' Resonance, an' she's a quick learner. Only thing that's ever gotten in her way is herself. Makes sense that she'd make so much progress once she got over herself."
        
        'So, Brad, huh?' Her eyes narrow. They narrow further as Rose circles around her, as Dezel speaks. She doesn't move when Rose finally returns Ragnell's hat to its rightful place; that's less trouble in one circle, but trouble remains in another. Her lips thin as Rose talks about how it can't be another Brad, that there's only one who'd make her react like this. "How do you--?"
        
        Then Rose talks over her to finish. Ragnell stares at the both of them. Then she bursts out roaring with laughter, clapping a hand over her eyes. "Ah, man...! An' here I thought... Ah, never mind." She pokes the brim of her hat up to give Dezel a knowing, piercing look he's unlikely to appreciate. "You *say* she'd come out with it if I just asked, Dez, but everyone's got spots they don't like gettin' touched, don't they?" Then she tilts her hat back into its proper place and looks over at Rose. "...So, I'm gonna call you on it: how *do* you know Brad?"

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        "Oh, you can push my buttons anytime you want, Ragnell~" Rose teases, in a reversal of how that usually goes. "But really, I don't have any about this. I've long since been at peace with what happened. If you want the story, I don't see any harm sharing it."

        Rose plucks her knives out of their sheaths, holding them out. "These were his'."

        Dezel picks up. "Before miss assassin was even born, Brad led the Windriders. Mercenaries. Justice-seekers. Heroes. Couldn't see me, but they were nomads and suited me just fine. One day they came across a burning village near Pendrago. Raiders, bandits. Killed everyone. It would have been down to the very last child, but..." "But Brad saved me. Handed me those knives, so I defended myself. I was... five? Six? Asked me if I wanted to come with him. I wasn't going to say no."

        Rose looks at her knives, before she twirls them, showing off a bit. "Raised me, trained me. He was a great father. A lot of the Sparrowfeathers are former Windriders too. Eguille's basically my uncle in this context."

        It seems obvious where this story is headed with the use of the past tense and the fact Brad isn't around anymore.

        "Do you want to hear the rest? It's pretty predictable, but it is what it is."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        "Oh, can I? I'll be sure to remember that next time you complain about it~," Ragnell teases right back, because she's nothing if not adaptable, even as she remains tethered to certain matters of the past. Regardless, when Rose says she has none about this matter, she sobers and nods her on, leaning back as she folds her arms. Her eyes flick towards the twin knives, then over to Dezel as he shares his part of the story.
        
        "An' you just followed 'em around for fun?" she asks him. "Like you follow Rose around for fun?" There's a little twinge in her tone that implies 'I call bullshit,' but implications are, in the end, implications. When it gets to the part about the village, though, she sobers, nodding first to him, then to Rose when she picks up the thread. She whistles. "Five or six, huh... Damn. Even for a human, that's young."
        
        Her gaze is distant for a moment as Rose continues. Ragnell's still listening, though, and when she asks her question, Ragnell focuses back on her and nods. "Most stories are predictable. What makes 'em worth tellin' anyway is the details."

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        Dezel shrugs and doesn't respond.
        Consider that nerve touched.

        Rose doesn't notice and continues. "My age played in his favor a lot. Some of the people we had to kill, they dropped their guard around children. You'd never suspect a ten year old child to be your assassin, would you? I was pretty good. Not as good as him, but... I'm catching up, I think. His style died with him. I haven't been able to find a teacher to replace him or finish his lessons, so I've been winging it."

        Back on topic, she sheathes the knives. "Anyway... skip forward. I'm sixteen, seventeen. Doesn't matter. What matters is, Prince Konan of Rolance had the Windriders end a war for him. He had his eyes on me the whole time, so we figure... I'll marry him. It's what he wants. I had the nicest wedding dress. Then I kill him and disappear. His hands, Ragnell, you wouldn't believe how dirty they were. Using the cover of church to sell addictive drugs to people in need of medical attention, to get nobles indebted to him for more of that 'Elixir'. We were going to do the world a big favor."

        Rose glances down at the ground. Maybe she's not as okay with this as she said she was. She hesitates. Dezel picks up.

        "The prince had plans of his own. Kill the Windriders so he didn't have to pay them and so he could get all the credit for ending the conflict. Night before the wedding, arrows rained down on our camp harder than any rain or hail. Brad shielded Rose, and..."

        "He burned. The prince showed up and set him on fire using some kind of magic. Eguille rallied the survivors and we managed to get out. The prince disappeared, never to be seen in public again. We reformed the Windriders as the Sparrowfeathers and Scattered Bones to continue Brad's work."

        Rose smiles. "And here we are! It's been a bumpy ride."
        She glances at Ragnell, trying to discern reactions. "Your turn!"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        Ragnell keeps nailing Dezel down with a solid stare for several seconds; then she looks back at Rose. "His style?" she echoes. She considers that for a few more seconds; then she shrugs. "Too bad. Gotta say, you're doin' pretty good for someone whose trainin's incomplete. Still got a long ways to go, though."
        
        But Rose returns to the story proper, and Ragnell listens. Her eyebrows rise when Rose talks about marrying this prince only to kill him--but then she explains why, and Ragnell nods again. That makes more sense, considering Rose and the Windriders. "I've heard o' that 'Elixer.' So that's where it was comin' from, huh."
        
        But then Rose hesitates, and Dezel continues. Ragnell glances at him, then back at Rose when she regains the nerve to finish up. "Hmmm," she murmurs.
        
        And then Rose declares it her turn. Ragnell nods.
        
        "So that's what it was," she muses. "You know... just 'cuz you had a bad experience with *one* royal heir doesn't mean it couldn't go better with another." She fixes Rose with a knowing look. "Alisha's real pure o' heart, isn't she? Dedicated an' devoted, too."

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        "Yeah. We haven't had any luck finding him since. Or his new base of operations, if he's even still alive. If he is, he's given up the public life altogether. Knowing him... that probably means he's dead. A prince couldn't go around unnoticed for so long. He likes power too much for that."

        Ragnell then deflects.
        Rose turns a shade of red brighter than before.

        "I-It wouldn't work, anyway. I'm an assassin. Alisha doesn't deserve to be stained by all that blood on my hands. Neither does Sorey. If word got out they were cooperating with an assassin, that the Shepherd made an assassin his Squire, that the PRINCESS is in league with someone who's been offing the rich and the powerful..."

        Rose clears her throat.
        "I just can't do that to her. The more plausible deniability she has the better. It might be better if, when we're back on Lunar, we split ways again. The Shepherd has Shepherd-y things to do. I've got... not-so-Shepherd-y things to do. Not-so-princess-y for that matter."

        But Rose's head rises back up to stare Ragnell in the eyes. "Come on now, stop avoiding it. How do YOU know Brad?"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        "Hmmm... Seems odd, though," Ragnell remarks. "Odd no matter how you slice it, even. If he's dead, how'd he end up bitin' it? Obviously none o' y'all did it, or y'all'd know. If he's alive, why suddenly go into hidin'? Is he really *that* scared o' survivors rattin' on him--or... Oh." She rubs her chin. "Yeah, s'pose he *could* be afraid o' you lot comin' back to finish the job, huh. Still odd, though."
        
        Ragnell looks back at Rose as she blushes bright right. "Hmmmmm. Funny," she drawls. "When Alisha mentioned it, she was sayin' your protests were merchant-oriented. I doubt she'd lie to me 'bout that. Did she just give me the crib notes, or did you not lay all the cards down for her?" She shakes her head. "S'a shame, either way. I thought you two woulda been cute together. You make a nice pair, at least. But..." She glances away. "It's your choices in the end. She doesn't wanna push you an' you don't wanna make trouble for 'er. Nice sentiments, but love won't work if you aren't willin' to take risks to be with someone." She half-smirks, then chuckles, the shadow from the brim of her hat falling over her eyes.
        
        Rose stares at her and challenges her. Ragnell meets her gaze. "Me? Well, that's simple enough," she drawls. "We met in her hometown, some eight hundred-odd years ago. Yup, accountin' on the fact that she could see Seraphim when most humans couldn't anymore, she sure stood out to me... that Bradamante."
        
        It might dawn on Rose why Ragnell burst into laughter earlier.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        "He was a coward, that's for sure. Might be scared. If he died, they didn't make a big deal of it. Doesn't matter really," Rose says, lying. It does matter. To her. To Dezel, not that she knows.

        The matters of love... Rose sighs. "It's complicated. I don't know what I want myself. What if it doesn't work, you know? What if I mess up or it's not what we thought. What if it makes things weird. Being friends is easier." Though... Rose raises a brow. "What would YOU know about love, anyway? Do you Seraphim even do that? I thought you just kind of poofed into existence."

        And then the final bit. Rose stares. Dezel clicks his tongue and actually vanishes outright in annoyance, dissipating into wind. For a moment it seems Rose is going to clobber Ragnell.

        But then instead she asks: "Bradamante, huh? Sounds like a warrior's name. What were people like back then? And what makes her so special, miss humans are icky and only useful for amusement?"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        "Hmmmm," Ragnell murmurs, watching Rose. If she can tell that Rose is lying, she doesn't call her on it, at least. Case in point: "Well, s'pose not," she concedes, and leaves it at that.
        
        Rose laments on love and what it is she actually wants. She might expect Ragnell to give her shit, maybe call her a coward; instead, her red eyes soften, and she chuckles. "That so... Well, love usually is complicated." She pauses at the follow-up question, then raises an eyebrow right back. "What d'you mean, what do I know about love? Even if we Seraphim *did* just poof into existence, that doesn't mean we're soulless, emotionless statues. Sheesh, you humans. You got a crush on another woman an' you're seriously tryin' to suggest love is all about whether or not you can make babies?" She reaches out a hand and attempts to flick Rose right on the forehead. "No wonder you don't know what's what 'bout your own feelin's!"
        
        Ragnell delivers the punchline. Rose stares. Dezel is so annoyed he outright vanishes. Rose seems fit to clobber Ragnell. In the face of it all, Ragnell grins as wide as a Cheshire cat. "Hahaha! Serves you right for eavesdroppin' *and* jumpin' to conclusions. Besides, I didn't twist your arm to get you t' talk about your Brad; you an' Dez said you'd talk if I asked, an' I was curious, so I asked. Though I admit, if it'd been the other way around, I woulda butted in too," she drawls. "Truth is, I didn't even know you *knew* a Brad. Funny coincidence, huh?"
        
        What were people like back then? "Pretty much the same as they are now," she replies. "Same shit, different era. You humans love to repeat the same mistakes over an' over again." And what makes her so special...? Ragnell actually pauses at that. Then she shrugs. "At first it was jus' curiosity. She was the first human I met that could see me, an' I was pretty young back then. Kinda like Mikleo an' Sorey... or you an' Dezel, 'cept Dezel's in his rebellious stage right now." She grins at that. "Other than that? Well, s'not much to say." Her grin fades. "You humans die so soon, after all."
        
        Another pause. Then she looks towards the horizon. "...s'another funny coincidence, that. Like your Brad..." Ragnell's eyes narrow dangerously. "...she *also* got burned t' death."

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        "Ow! Hey! That's not what I meant. I just thought... you guys live for so long, love seems like it wouldn't be too popular," Rose clarifies. "Us humans can barely manage to stay in love a few decades, that probably doesn't even register for you guys. What's twenty years to a Seraph?"

        And let's not even talk about the prospect of friendships between Seraphim and humans. It has to be pretty depressing for Seraphim.

        "Look, nevermind. I'll figure it out eventually."

        Back to Brad, then. Rose nods. "I'm not mad. That was our fault. And really, I'm fine with you knowing. You could've killed me a few times in justified self-defense and didn't. That tells me you won't go and do anything with what I told you. Maybe someday I'll ask you to repay me with some stories of your own. A few hundred years, surely you've got some juicy things to tell around a campfire with some popcorn!"

        Something for another time.

        Rose looks back at Ragnell as she explains Bradamante, and then nods. "I'm not sure I'd call the coincidences that funny given... their fates, but it's definitely something we have in common. So she was your partner, kinda. Sorry. I bet even after several hundred years you never really forget, do you?"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        "...Well, there's love between Seraphim too, y'know," Ragnell concedes, pulling her hand away. "As it happens, Seraphim can an' do get married. S'the smart way to do it, really. When you're basically ageless exceptin' if you happen to get killed, your best match is with someone who's the same way. I get what you're sayin', mind you, but... well. Us Seraphim can get awful attached for an awful, awful, *awful* long time. Right, Dezel?"
        
        She lets that punctuating question hang in the air like a noose; then she chuckles, letting Rose change subjects. "I got no reason to use what you told me against you, nah. An' just for the record, you humans might rub me the wrong way, but generally speakin', I don't want you *dead*." That doesn't mean she'd cry extra tears if a random one happened to die, or if she had to gun one down, but that's another matter. She does chuckle at talk of campfire stories, though. "Sure. I like tellin' stories." She grins and winks. "We'll roast some chestnuts an' sausages to go with that popcorn as I tell ya all sorts a raunchy tales, an' have ourselves a grand ol' time."
        
        Wouldn't call them funny. Ragnell 'heh's without humor. "Yeah. Wouldn't've figured we'd have somethin' like that in common, but there ya go." She reaches out to tousle Rose's hair, if she lets her. "We're actually surprisingly on the same wavelength. Maybe that's why I don't hate ya, ya little minx."
        
        Her partner. Ragnell slips one hand into her pocket and pulls the brim of her hat down with the other. "...Probably woulda been the better thing to do, to forget." She removes her hat, twirling it between her fingers, feather tracing the air. "...But even if I wanted to, I can't bring myself to. Heh. Guess even I can get sentimental."
        
        She doffs the hat back on her head, then half-turns. "Whatever, though," she declares. "Turns out we were talkin' 'bout different Brads after all. That satisfy your curiosity, Ms. Assassin?"

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        Dezel is grumping off and doesn't answer. Predictable.

        "I'll hold you to the campfire tales," Rose says, as she doesn't stop Ragnell from mess with her hair. "Personally I think I've got a better body shape than you, for all our similarities," she teases, though generally agrees. "I guess it's nice to see the line between human and Seraph thin all that much more. Forgetting's hard, though! I think it's better not to. Moving on, that's fine, but forgetting, that's how you get those repeating mistakes you don't like."

        She doubts she had to explain that. Ragnell seems like she gets it already. Rose just smiles, because it's what she does.r
        "Quite! Thanks. There's just one problem. You scared away my crate lifter, I'm gonna need some help getting these in."

        You've been drafted, Ragnell, sorry.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        "How would you know? You've never seen me naked. Or've you been spyin' on more than just what I say?" Ragnell teases, grinning wide. "Though anytime you wanna strip down an' compare is fine by me. We could invite Alisha too, make it a threesome. Wouldn't that be fun~?" Forgetting's how mistakes get repeated. Ragnell does indeed know that, but her shoulders straighten and she looks Rose up and down with an assessing air. The little nod at the end is distinctly approving.
        
        "Problem?" she echoes. She listens, hears Rose's implication, and nods gravely. "That *is* a problem," Ragnell agrees. "*Your* problem." And then she ducks to one side and starts sprinting.
        
        Sorry, Rose, but you're gonna have to catch her first.