Bond Between Sisters

[pyreshadow]

Tristan Doherty
​

"Haha, very funny." Tristan rolled his eyes when even Finn commented on how beat down he looked; Tristan hadn't thought he looked that bad but he also didn't exactly see what he looked like. Maybe it was bad like they both seemed to think. Either way, that was two responses down and only one left. His eyes hesitated only a moment before looking Kendra over. She seemed to be all right, physically at the very least. He could tell though that there was a lot that she must be thinking about based on the look in her eye. Not even a couple seconds later did she end up snapping at him, causing him to blink a couple of times in surprise. For a moment all he could do was stare at her before he turned his attention to Finn and Neva. The blue-haired princess gave her sister an 'I told you so' type of look with a playful smile on her face before she started to follow Finn.


"You're definitely going to need the luck." Neva added in a teasing manner after Finn, resting her hand on his arm for a moment before skipping after Finn. It could be seen in her features that she was happy the other man came back; happy more for her sister's sake than anything. Tristan's arms crossed over his chest as he watched them disappear before he turned his attention back to Kendra. For a moment, he wasn't sure what to say so he ended up running his hands through his hair. After a few seconds in silence, he let out a small sigh before shrugging his shoulders.


"I do what I want to do." Tristan replied after a moment while his arms crossed over his chest. There was a moment's hesitation in his eyes before he looked over Kendra once more. "I was planning on going home and being done with this all. After our little spat, I figured I'd done my dues and didn't need to worry about it anymore. But...I didn't get very far. The whole thing was my own fault and I realized that after I cooled my head a little bit. I was going to come back, or I wanted to. But...." Tristan glanced to the side as he thought carefully about his words; if he didn't say what he really felt then things were going to stay like this and he didn't want that. "The first night I had somehow ended up in the same town as Cethin. He had just gotten orders to find the sword and bring it back to Lilith without delay. I didn't want that to happen since that sword was likely your only chance at stopping her so I decided to do what I could to stop him from finding you or the sword. We got into...quite a bit of fights-" which was apparent with the bruising alone, "-but I never backed down. I wanted to protect you, whether you wanted me to or not. I did a lot of stupid things to keep him from getting on your guys' trail though." A lot of surprise attacks and luring Cethin to places that were off the trail he needed to be on. But none of that was important right now. Bringing his gaze back to Kendra, he looked her over again for a moment before stepping closer to her.


"Look, Kendra. I'm an ass, I know that. I'm stubborn and half the time I don't even think before I act and that gets me into trouble." Clearly based on their fight but he wasn't going to bring that up. Instead, he reached out and carefully took her hand into his own. "I...don't trust people. It's hard to imagine given the lengths that I go for people but I don't like letting people in. It's hard for me but you...you were different. You are different. I've spent a lot of time thinking about things in these past couple of weeks and I've come to realize that it was almost easy talking to you. I told you things that I haven't even told Bri and I've known her for years." Tristan paused as he dropped to his knees, still holding her hand gently in his own. "I want to be your shield, Kendra; to fight for you and be there for you for whatever you need. I want to help get your life back. But most of all, I don't want you to hate me. I'm sorry for what I said, Kendra, and for the way that I left; it sounded like you just didn't want me there and that hurt in a way I never felt before." He glanced down again and it was written on his face how hard this was for him to be this open with someone. "I'm really sorry. You don't have to forgive me because I wouldn't even forgive me but I just...wanted you to know."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Princess Kendra
​

The cave was full of silence. Not once did she drop her gaze from Tristian until he spoke. A deep breathe was taken in to stay calm. The sentence should have been I do stupid things on my own that can get me killed, not ‘I do what I want to do’. So far, this explanation was just further her opinion that he was an idiot for taking on that man alone. There was so many bruise and that is all she could see. There were probably other injuries underneath his clothes. Even he admitted he done some stupid things to protect them. That just didn’t settle well with her. Why, why did he not just come back and warn them? A plan could have been and he wouldn’t have been in so much danger and all banged up. Kendra tensed up a little when he started coming closer. It was easier to be anger at him when there distance between them.

 


“Uh, that is a bit . . .” Kendra stopped mid-sentence and looked down at the hand he had taken. A move she had not foreseen. When he spoke she brought her gaze back up to look at him, studying his features. For the first time her features softened as she listened. A brow rose in surprise when he went on his knees. All of this was because of a stupid little understanding. She thought he didn’t want to help any longer and he felt she wanted him to leave. How easily it could have been prevented was annoying. It was her turn to act and she didn’t know what to say. She hated that he thought she could hate him. Her hand slipped out of his. Her legs were a bit shaky still, so she moved slowly but got down on her knees and wrapped her arms gently around him, resting head in the nook of his neck. “I don’t hate you.” she said softly in his ear. The hug lasted a little longer before she sat down.

 


“You, you don’t run off alone like that. What were you thinking? No one knowing where you were and . . .” Kendra eyed the bruises. He had gotten hurt. There had to be some ugly injuries for Cethin to think he was dead. “You could have been killed. I thought you had been.” She took a deep breathe in as she reigned in her emotions. “Just . . . don’t leave again, please.” Aiding her in get her life back and protecting was great. It felt good to hear, but she just didn’t want him going anywhere again. That was her biggest concern at the moment.   

 

[pyreshadow]

Tristan Doherty
​

Feeling Kendra's hand slip from his own caused Tristan's gaze to falter to the ground almost immediately. He had to swallow down the rising worry that was starting to work itself up inside of him. What if this was a mistake to come back after all; if she really did hate him...Tristan shook his head slightly to silence the thoughts that were trying to fester around in his head. His heart was already beating fast enough and it was an uncomfortable feeling. His mouth opened to say something but a surprised gasp left his lips instead as he turned his wide-eyed gaze back to Kendra. She was on the ground now in front of him and was holding him instead of turning him away. The words she whispered repeated in his head and it felt like his heart skipped a beat just from that alone. Relief washed over him, allowing him to breathe out a sigh as his arms slowly went to wrap around her. He held her tightly but gently for as long as he could until she settled down on the ground. He followed suit and sat down next to her crossed legged, a mixed expression on his face. He wasn't sure if he should be incredibly happy about how things were turning out or worried he might be misunderstanding something again. Only when she spoke, he was taken a back and couldn't help but stare at her for a long minute in silence.


"Um...sorry?" Tristan didn't mean to make his apology sound like a question but he didn't think his running off was such a bad thing. The fact that he had kept Cethin off their trail for so long was a good thing. Or at least he thought it was a good thing. They were able to get the sword without having any issues except for the end because of it. But he could see where Kendra's current worries were coming from. If something had really happened to him, no one would have none and his father would have been in for some real troubles. Despite all that though, he couldn't help but to grin a little as he looked over Kendra. Just knowing that she was genuinely worried about him put a great deal of his thoughts at ease. "Don't worry, Kendra. I'm not going to die so easily when I've got so much to fight and live for." Tristan scooted a little closer to her and hesitated only a moment before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. " I made a mistake once already and I don't plan on making the same mistake twice. I want to be here with you..." Tristan paused for a moment as he thought about his words again. "I told you already I've done a lot of thinking these past couple weeks and I've realized something. I don't want to leave because...I really like you, Kendra." Tristan turned his gaze to the side to try to hide the flush that was crossing his cheeks from the admittance. Hard as it was to get out, now that it was out in the open he felt both like an idiot and extremely nervous about being so honest with her. "I promise you, I won't leave again unless you tell me you don't want me to be around."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Princess Kendra
​

The uncertainty in his apology made a brow rise. Deep down she knew he thought it was for the best that it worked out this way because he protected the group. Men, especially this one, could be so darn hard headed. No one planned to die. The bruising on his face was eyed. There were probably many close calls between those battles with Cethin, one too many for her comfort. A statement arguing that point was just about to leave her lips when he came closer and an arm wrapped around her shoulders. The argument disappeared of the tip of her tongue as she looked to his arm back to him. Damn he was saying all the right things at the moment, making it difficult to be even upset with him over his stupidity. Like? Like, like like? It felt like butterflies were flying around in her stomach and she looked away to hide that she was blushing. There was a bit silence as she thought over what she wanted to say. This was new territory.


“You better not leave again. . .” she said, in a low warning tone as she brought her gaze back up to look at him. There was a slight pause before the next sentence. Admitting stuff and having it all out in the open was hard. “because I like you too and I want you around.” It was hard to keep eye contact, but she did for a bit longer before she gently leaned into him. When she looked up her faces was inches from him and she had a warm smile on her face. The bruise on his face caught her attention. “Before we go that and whatever other injuries you have will need to be cleaned at look at. So no infections happen.” She was serious on that it had to happen, but she said it in a playful matter of fact tone, a finger was pointed at the bruise as she spoke. Once she finished her piece, she stuck her tongue out at him. Felt good having it the other way around.

 

[pyreshadow]

Tristan Doherty
​

The growing silence seemed a bit deafening and caused Tristan to have to swallow down some of the growing nerves he felt. He forced himself to spare a glance towards Kendra when he didn't hear anything from her right away and all too quickly he turned his full attention to her in surprise. Was she...blushing? He could swear he saw the red on her cheeks but before he could say anything on the matter she spoke in a warning tone as she finally brought her attention back to him. He blinked at the sudden seriousness in her tone and swallowed again before slowly nodding his head to show he was listening. He didn't realize that he was holding his breath until she said that she liked him too; the sudden release of breath left him a bit lightheaded and he realized he had been holding it for far longer than he first thought. As the relief washed over him, the feeling of him being an idiot did as well; she felt the same way that he did. The entire argument they had was just one big misunderstanding and it could have been avoided entirely. But he supposed in the end it worked out pretty well since he was able to do a fair amount of bothering Cethin so he couldn't complain about it too much. Instead, a smile cracked along his face as he held her close and rested his head on top of hers. Shifting his head slightly, he placed a kiss on her temple and gave her a smile.


"Thank you." The words came out softly, barely above a whisper as he figured Kendra likely had no idea how happy it made him feel to know she felt the same. He had actually really missed being not only in Kendra's company but also Neva's and even Finn's. Although hearing her next words, the smile he had on his face faltered some. "What?" Well this wasn't going to be an easy thing for her to see. "Kendra...it's fine, really. I was able to take care of the cleaning and stitching myself so..." his words trailed off when he realized he probably shouldn't have said that. Quickly his eyes glanced to the side as he tried to come up with another topic instead of this one. His brain wracked for an idea but when only one came to mind he let out a silent sigh before pushing himself up to his feet. "Have you guys already thought about who's going to use the sword against Lilith?" He asked in a more serious tone, hoping that it would be enough to keep Kendra distracted from what he had just said. "A sword is still a sword so it should probably be wielded by someone with training. But that's something that I was thinking about talking with Finn about since I never actually got to do any training with him in our last travels. Have you and Neva been training your gifts too?" As he was asking the questions, a sudden realization hit him and he ended up giving a sheepish smile before he slowly reached his hand out and offered it to help Kendra to her feet. "I guess that's more questions to ask with everyone together, huh. I don't want to make the same mistake twice and assume anything. Knock some sense into me if you see me heading in that direction, okay?"

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Princess Kendra
​

What started off as a tease turned serious fast. Already cleaned and the stitches were done by him? Alarms were going off in her mind. How hurt was he? Suddenly he was getting to his feet and the little moment they were having was over. A huff came out as the topic was changed. Far from over. No matter what he tried to talk about she wasn’t going to let this go. Kendra crossed her arms over her chest, giving him an are you being serious look. There had been no time for anyone to discuss whom would be wielding the sword. Training and her gifts were far from her mind. None of this was what she wanted to think about, not when he was clearly hiding how badly he had been hurt. Her ands started running through her hair as she focused on keeping her emotions in check. A hand was being offered to help her up. There was no smile on her face as her gaze lingered on his hand and then travel up his arm to his face. Everything had just been smoothed out. The next words out of her mouth she didn’t want to start another fight.


“Tristan. . .” The sentence trailed off because she didn’t exactly know what to say. Let it slide or not. This talk of training when he was in this shape was frustrating. Slowly she got to her feet, using his hand. The weak feeling was coming back, but she figured a night’s rest would do away with that. “We’re not talking about any of that right now.” she told him in a very serious tone. She looked him over this time, slower than before. Trying to see through his clothes and figure out where he was injured, which got her now where since she didn’t have x-ray vision. “Where are you hurt. Let me see and then we can go talk to Neva and Finn about who swings the sword and what not.” Arms hugged tightly around her chest as she leaned up against wall of the cave to show that she wasn’t going anywhere until she knew how injured he was at the moment.   

 

[pyreshadow]

Tristan Doherty
​

Tristan tried to keep the smile on his face in the hopes that it would keep Kendra's mind off of his injuries. She really didn't need to see them. It wasn't that they looked bad...or at least he didn't think that they looked bad. But when she just stared at him for a bit before calling out his name he knew she wasn't going to let it slide. When she took his hand, he carefully helped her to her feet and then brought his hands to his hips. He knew without her even needing to say that they weren't going to talk about anything else that her mind was still on his injuries. It caused a sigh to leave his lips as he glanced to the side, blowing a breath up to move some hair out of his face. She really wasn't going to like what she saw. Stealing a glance to her, she was looking him over before she just about demanded he show her his injuries before they went to speak with Finn and Neva. For a long minute, he stayed silent and debated whether he could get out of it or not. The two of them were both stubborn and hardheaded when they wanted to be but he wasn't looking to start another fight. Not when he just got back and certainly not after being so open with her.


"Fine but...it's not as bad as it looks. I need you to trust me on that." As Tristan spoke, he set his hands to begin untying his sword belt and let it drop to the ground. Then he let the quiver of arrows and the bow follow suit before he went for his leather armor next. It was all piled nicely next to his weapons before he went for his clothes; he wasn't shy about it by any means and simply stripped down to his undergarments so that Kendra could take a good look at him. Several bruises were strewn about his body -along his arms and back mostly with one or two being on his legs- while there were a couple spots that were bandaged. One being his left thigh right above the knee and the other was around his waist, with most of the cushioning being under his ribs. There were specs of blood along that showing the wound was more fresh than the other one. The good part about everything was the wound along his back had closed rather nicely so it was at least one less thing she could complain about. There were other, much tinier marks along his body that looked like a cat might have scratched him in comparison to the wounds that were covered; although those were from the goblins so they were dark and bruised, still looking fresh even if some had been from the first week he had started tracking Cethin.


After standing there for a minute in silence, he shifted from one foot to the other before giving a small and slow twirl with his arms out. "There, see? I'm fine. I've been taking care of anything he's thrown at me so you don't have to worry about it. Really." Tristan sounded confident as he turned back to face her, although he wasn't so sure that would be enough to set her mind at ease. "If it'll make you feel better though...if you want to see for yourself, you can change the bandages when it's time?" Not that she'd be happy about seeing the wounds themselves but it might help to put her at ease at the very least to know he was indeed taking care of himself. Hopefully anyway.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

 
​

Princess Kendra
​

Silence fell between them. Were all men this stubborn when it came to injuries or just these two? Neva and Kendra practically had to sit on Finn a few times to make him let them see that everything was healing correctly. Her expression softened and nodded that she would trust him on the diagnoses of his injuries. Keeping the wounds cleaned and bandaged wasn’t so much her concern as him pushing himself when he shouldn’t be. Over the couple of weeks it seemed he pushed himself excessively to keep Cethin from catching up to them. Now he was jumping to training and Lilith. How far Tristan got undressed was a surprise. Instantly her eyes went somewhere else, but didn’t stay there for long. She had demanded to see and she would never hear the end of it if she didn’t look. Acting as if it weren’t awkward at all she started assessing his injuries. There were a lot of bruising and scratches. The two wounds bandaged caught her eye and she focused on them longer, mainly because she figured they were the two that he didn’t want her seeing in the first place. Slowly he twirled around and she eyed the wound on his back, which seemed to be healing very nicely. Kendra couldn’t help but roll her eyes when he said he was fine. Far from fine and she shook her head lightly at him.


“I’ll gladly help with the bandages.” That offered was snatched up fast before he could retract it in anyway. There was no way he really wanted her help, but was most likely trying to get her not to overreact to the state he was in. “You know. . .” she said as she started stepping closer. “If the roles were reversed you’d have done the same thing and demanded to see.” Eyes narrowed, she gave him I dare you to argue look. There was a whole list already made up in her mind if he chose to challenge that theory. Kendra knelt down and picked up his clothes and held the out for him to take. “Quickly now, before my names is even more tarnished than it was before.” There was a big smile on her face as she giggled, clearly joking about their escaped through town. “First the princess was seen running in town through the streets with a man. AAND then her sister found her in the cave with a man that was only in his undergarments, who we think is the same man.” The voice was over exaggerated and squeaky as she imitated the women back at court.  Kendra eyed him over a bit more before looking up at him with a flirty smile.  

 

[pyreshadow]

Tristan Doherty
​

A curse almost left his lips with how quickly Kendra agreed to helping him with the bandages. What made him think that she wouldn't jump on the idea escaped him but he gave her a nod anyway. It wasn't like he was going to go back on his word or anything of the sort. Plus, it would be better to just get it over with regardless. When she began to speak again, he tilted his head to the side slightly with a raised eyebrow to show he was listening. As much as he wanted to argue her words -and how tempted he was- he knew he couldn't. If the roles had been reversed and she was injured, he would have demanded to see the wounds and made sure to tend to them immediately too. "Yeah but I can take care of my own wounds." He grumbled a bit, although it was more out of nervousness than it was because he was trying to argue. That could be seen with the way that he shifted once again and lifted a hand up to lightly scratch at his cheek. His eyes darted to the side for a moment and he had to wonder just how it was that she managed to get under his skin so. Not that he had any time to actually think about it since his eyes drew back to her when she went to pick up his clothes and held them out to him. At first he stared at her in a bit of confusion but when she spoke in that fake, awful gossip speak a long mix of a groan and a laugh left his lips.


"I can already hear it now, the talk of the whole court. How scandalous the princess must be to be trekking through a cave with a near naked man. It'd be the talk of those women for weeks." Although as much as he was going along with the joke, Tristan ended up putting on his pants pretty quickly. There was the faintest of a blush along his cheeks and he knew it was there because he could feel its warmth. Thankfully it was dark enough to hide it for the most part so he'd be in the clear, at least until they went outside. "At least my father would be pretty happy to know that I actually do have an interest in someone. He never brought it up but I feel like he was starting to worry I'd never look to court someone...um...n-not that I'm trying to do that to you or anything. I mean, I do like you like that but...you get what I'm trying to say." Tristan turned away from her as he put his shirt back on and took a quick breath to settle his nerves a bit after the fumble with his words. Clearly his thoughts weren't working to his favor so he needed to think of something fast to change the topic to something else. Anything else but this. As he went to pick up his weapons and set them back in their appropriate spots along his body, he paused after a moment when he thought of just the thing.


"Kendra." He called her name in a softer but more serious tone to get her attention as he glanced over his shoulder towards her. "Don't let Finn or Neva know about these wounds. It's hard enough having one person worry over me, I can't fathom having two more doing so. It might be a hassle to have to go somewhere more secluded to tend to them but I'd rather take that extra bit of time. So...please don't tell them." His tone was as pleading as his expression was as he looked her over. It wasn't so much that he didn't trust them like he trusted Kendra, it was just exactly as he said: having people worry over him made him uncomfortable since he wasn't used to such a thing and if he could avoid it he wanted to.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Princess Kendra
​

“Weeks? More like months. Those women don’t have much going on in their lives” How quickly he was moving to put his pants back on was noticed and she held in a laugh. The smirk gave it away that she was stifling a laugh. Brows furrowed in confusion, she looked up as she tried to put together what exactly he did mean. The two statements contradicted one another. It felt awkward as there had been long enough of a pause in the conversation to give away that she was puzzled a bit by his statement. “Sure?” she answered, looking at the ground and kicking a rock away. Slowly she started pacing around while waiting for him to put his clothes back on, which seemed to take forever. Probably due to the awkwardness that his words had brought. ‘Hmmm’ she hummed as she turned around to show that she was listening to what he had to say. Kendra’s features were soft as she understood, nodded softly to show she did.


“It is our little secret.” A warm smile crossed her face as she stepped closer. It was understandable not to want people fussing over you, not that she was going to stop worrying about him. “You ready or would you like to hang around the corpses of goblins a little longer.” she teased, and then kind of wrinkled her nose. Kendra waited until he was ready and then walked out of the cave with him. Finn hadn’t gone far and was waiting by the two horses, adjusting some of the bags. He looked up and gave them a smile as they approached. Both seemed in good spirits so the must have worked things out in the cave. The brunette turned to face them as they approached.


“You two ready to head out?” he asked, looking between the two of them. The land was drenched from Kendra and there were corpses everywhere. If that wasn’t reason enough for the two of them, Lilith would most likely be making her way to the sword when she receives no word.   


“You don’t waste time, do you?” she laughed, approaching the horse she had been riding the last couple of weeks and began stroking it. “Ready when everyone else is.” she said, flashing everyone a smile. Kendra figured that none of them would want to stay in this place very long anyhow. As Neva and Finn had time to get ready while they were talking things out her eyes rested on Tristian to make sure he was ok with leaving right away, she knew he wanted to talk about the next move.     

 

[pyreshadow]

Tristan Doherty
​

Hearing her agree let a breath of relief leave Tristan's lips and a small smile began to grow on his lips. He gave her a nod and quickly finished tying his sword around his waist. The armor was on next and was the fastest thing on as it was the easiest for whatever reason. Perhaps it was just a habit of his or because he was feeling a bit more at ease since he knew he could trust Kendra. The mention of the goblins caused him to glance around before he rolled his eyes slightly. "Much as I love the danky, dark places to explore I'm not really a fan of stinky goblins. So I'm more than ready to head out." He spoke with a chuckle before walking towards her and making a motion towards the exit. The truth was, he was pretty excited to be heading out and being able to be with the others again. He honestly missed it even though he hadn't spent too long with them. As they left the cave, he noticed Finn was near the two horses and Neva was off near the water seemingly looking at something under the surface. Although when she noticed that Tristan and Kendra finally came out of the cave, she was quick to get up and head over to them with a smile on her face.


Finn's question was a bit of a surprise considering Tristan half expected some sort of rejection from both him and Neva for the way that he had left. But there wasn't anything; no animosity, no hate, no distance. It was almost like nothing happened at all. Tristan's brows furrowed together in slight confusion from it as he tried to process it and for a moment he didn't budge from where he stood. "You all right, Tristan?" He heard Neva's voice and turned to look at her; the way she had her head tilted to the side curiously and how there was concern on her features showed that him enough. He didn't need to worry over anything like that when he was with them.


"Yeah, I'm better than ever." Tristan gave both a nod and a confident smile before letting a whistle leave his lips loud enough for his own horse to hear wherever the beast might have ended up. Not even a couple moments went by before the dark-furred horse came trotting over to him and let out a soft snort when he neared. Neva seemed to accept the answer she received and headed over to where Finn was, her hand coming to rest on his arm for a moment. Leaning close, she placed a quick kiss to his shoulder before giving him a playful smile. Only once he had climbed on to the horse did she follow suit and settle behind him, her arms wrapping comfortably around his waist.


"So now that we have this sword, where to next?" Neva asked curiously as it hadn't been something that they talked about yet. Tristan was climbing on to his horse as the question went in to the air and thought about it for a moment. There was really only one place that he could think of that would be considered 'safe' for what they would want to do, if they all agreed to it.


"There's a city to the south that's run and protected by a militia owned by Duke Lynnwald, my father's half brother. It's under heavy watch and is supposedly one of the safest cities to live in on the entire continent. I mention it because there's really only one thing left to do now that the sword is in our hands and that's going after Lilith. So...we should find a place to gather our bearings and train a bit, and that might be a good place to do it." Although he spoke with confidence like it was a good idea, his tone was also suggesting as though he was asking their opinion without asking them out right. He looked each of them over as his horse walked over to stand near the other two and he looked each of them over as well.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Princess Kendra
​

The whole time the two were in the cave the horses had been ready. The three of them or the four, but based on how the two walked out all chummy, it was going to be four, could set out right away. Finn wanted to be out of there like right there and then, not that everyone seemed to be showing the same urgency. Tristian especially as he was speechless and just standing there. A thing he had never seen the other man do. Finn scratched his head in confusion why the other man was acting strange, but didn’t worry too much over it as the women would investigate. Sure enough, Neva chimed in asking if he was alright. The answer was good enough and he turned his attention to his favorite person that was approaching. Finn wrapped an arm around her pulling in closely and gave her a kiss on the top of her at the same time she kissed his shoulder. There was a small smile exchanged before he mounted the horse and waited her to follow suit. Finn turned to look at Neva when she asked the question. True, they need a destination. As usual, Tristian had an idea on where to go, something that no longer bothered Finn in the least. Made things go a lot smoother that way.


“As long as there is a good place for Neva and I to practice it should work.” Kendra climbed up on her horse and gently steered it to face the group as they stood in a circle to discuss what was next. A night sleep and to just get it started so it would be over sooner was all she wanted. A normal life was now in her reach and it couldn’t come soon enough. The location seemed good enough and he hadn’t steered them wrong before. She adjusted herself in her seat before she turned to look at her sister and Finn, waiting to hear if they were on bored with it. Only when Neva put her two senses in on the matter did the brunette go along with it.


“Lead the way.” Finn motioned that he was ready to head out and agreed to the idea all at the same time. The group started heading out of the mountain range and towards the city. After the whole run in with Lilith in town, they only went in when provisions were needed and tried to stay off the beaten path as often as they could. Word would have made it to her by now that her little guard dog was dead and they were in the possession of the sword. Until they were ready they didn’t want a run in with the evil witch, so they kept off the grid. During little breaks Kendra practice some of the smaller stuff, but for the most part they were traveling or sleeping for the next week and a half until they reached the city. Kendra was grateful when they finally came up to the city. Not that the week they had were stressful, but it would be nice if they could get situated and settled in for one place for more than just one night.


“Finally.” she said with a sigh, looking over to Tristan and then back to the city that they were entering. It was funny to think that about a month ago she would have been excited to see all the shops and people in the streets. Now it was something she had grown used to, normal ordinary thing to do. “Do you know of a good Inn or are we just winging it?” she asked, looking over to Tristan. Finn rode up alongside of them so Neva and he could partake in the conversation too and figure out where they were staying. The man wasn’t particularly picky about where they slept so he was going to leave it up to the others to decide if Tristan hadn’t had one in mind.  

 

[pyreshadow]

Tristan Doherty
​

The trip to the city came and went rather uneventfully, which was a nice change of pace for Tristan. Not having to do any hunting or tracking was like having a taste of paradise. Not that Tristan was complaining about what he did to Cethin, since he'd do it again if he had to. It was just nice not having to do it now. Getting in to the city was easier than it had been before, although they had still been checked. Weapons were still allowed but each person was given a strict warning that fights weren't tolerated and it would be straight to prison if one ensued. By the time that they were heading inside, Tristan's eyes were already scanning the buildings to see if there was anything familiar about the surroundings but he was sorely disappointed. "Hm?" His attention went over first to Kendra and then to Finn and Neva when he realized that they were closer than he had expected.


"Well, there used to be an inn over there that was pretty cozy but I guess they closed it down some time ago. It's a brothel house now by the looks of it." And so close to the entrance of the city too, that was a bit...shameful to the duke's taste. But it wasn't Tristan's right to say anything so he just shrugged a bit. "We'll just wing it and see how things play out I guess. Things have changed a bit since the last time I was here. Well, they have but they haven't. Security hasn't. There should be an inn around here somewhere so we can just stay in the first one we come across?" As he spoke, he still kept his eye peeled as they made their way through the streets looking around. It was a bit crowded so it was getting harder to do so with horses but they managed. After a few minutes of riding, they came upon a stable attached to an inn that they ended up agreeing on. It looked like it was well kept and even when they went inside it was the same. It was well lit, with a fireplace to one side adorned with a hydra-designed mantle. Tapestries and vases lined the walls and showed that the owner of the inn was definitely a collector of art.


An older man came out of the backroom after a moment and greeted them very pleasantly with a bow of his head as well. Tristan did most of the talking and even haggled with the man about the price of the room, managing to get them to a pretty good pricing even though it'd only be the one room. They'd shared before so it wouldn't be too big of a deal. Once the negotiations were done, Tristan paid the man for the first few days and they were told that their horses would be taken care of. Their bags were already being brought in by some well behaved younger children that greeted each of them as they passed with the final child, the youngest one, giving a small squeak of a 'Follow me' afterwards. They were led up the stairs and down the hall to one of the larger rooms, also well decorated with two large queen size beds with comforters and multiple pillows. Two dressers were on one side of the room, along with what could have been a small closet and a washroom, while on the opposite right side of the room was a large dining table and four comfortable looking chairs. The children piled into the room one after the other and set each bag onto the closest bed before leaving the room with a pep in their step before closing the door after them.


"Well...that's not something you see every day." Neva commented quietly as she stared at the door for a moment before looking over to Tristan.


"Yeah, well. The duke's got a soft spot for kids. They're treated more kindly than adults here and there's no such thing as a kid going hungry or being alone. The orphanages here are huge." He explained simply as he headed over to the bed without the bags on it and pressed his hand on to it to test it out. As his brows furrowed some, he turned and sat himself down next before a surprised gasp left his lips as he sort of sank a bit of the bed due to just how soft it actually was. "O-Okay, anyway. So what do you guys want to do now?"

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Princess Kendra
​

The bags were being sorted off the bed, in piles of whose was what. They could be sorted and put away when that person was ready to do so. Kendra just liked things tidy. The room that was made on the bed was immediately taken up by Finn and she shot him a really look. There was a bit of guilty feeling enough for him to hand some bags to her, but that was about it. Down time was sort of a foreign concept since it had been so long since they didn’t have something to do. A bag was pulled out from underneath one of his legs by Kendra and apologetic look went in her direction before he turned to Tristian. The top of his head was scratched as he thought what they should do. They might be hungry after a day of traveling. Besides that they could train, but he didn’t know how tired any one was at the moment. Shrugging slightly to show this was just a light suggestion, he went with food.


“Could eat and settle in.” Kendra looked to the bags that he wasn’t helping with than to Finn to stress that she had already started the process to settle in. A laugh almost escaped, but he knew better and looked away. “I don’t know.” Clearly that idea was a bad one, at least to Kendra.


“I don’t want to be cooped up in here.” The bags had been sorted and Kendra was now working on taking out the things she wanted out of her bag for the next few days. It was a hassle to unpack everything, so she just did the essentials. Finn took the route of living out of his bags, hence why he didn’t matter to him to move them or unpack right away. “How about we stretch our legs and train for a bit. Then when we’ve worked up an appetite we can come back and eat dinner.” The stuff she didn’t unpack was stacked neatly next to a dresser. The clothes she planned to wear in for the next few days tucked away in the drawers. “You up for some training Neva?” If her sister agreed, the boys could be off on their own. Since she was the one that could really help her with working on her powers, it be just the two of them really. That is if the boys let them out of there sight.     

 

[pyreshadow]

Princess Neva
​

After almost sinking into the bed, Tristan had gotten up to gather his bags and semi-sort them; enough just to know where his things were but no where near what Kendra was doing. He ended up putting a couple bags inside a dresser to be sorted through later, one underneath the bed, and the rest piled up in a corner of the room. Not like he had very many to begin with. The only one that he dug out was the medicinal one and that one he pulled everything he had out to lay out along the table in the room. He'd know if anything was missing but stealing was a crime in this city, one that was severely punished so he highly doubted he'd have to worry about such a thing. Kendra was able to help him with his injuries a lot more than he thought and so far neither Neva nor Finn had found out about them, which he was quite grateful for. Once he was done, he settled back down on the bed and glanced at the others as Kendra offered her suggestion of what to do.


Neva didn't seem all that worried about her things at the moment either, although she wasn't so much one to live out of her bags like Finn. She just wasn't in the mood to unpack anything as she would much rather do something else; anything else really. Food sounded like it could be a good idea but she wasn't too terribly hungry at the moment. The idea of training perked her interest though and a smile quickly grew on her face. "Yeah! I'd love to do some training. But..." They were in a city, full of people that could be passing by at any moment; what would happen if someone just walked by while Kendra and her used their power? Just where exactly were Kendra and her supposed to train? Tristan seemed to catch on pretty quickly to her worried question as he stood up and walked over to her before lightly patting her on the shoulder.


"Beneath the city are some aqueducts that aren't used anymore but it's still patrolled in the mornings and evenings to prevent any unwanted critters getting through. Privacy for both of you, water for Kendra. It's a win win." As he explained, he rummaged through the pouch of medicine until he found a turmeric root to pull out and start chewing on. If by chance Finn was up for the training too then he was going to need it for himself. "What about you, Finn? You up for some sparring while they train? There's a good spot for swordplay that's near the entrance to the aqueducts as well."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Princess Kendra

Not one to be a downer Finn agreed with a shrug to sparring with Tristan. He really didn’t have a preference on what they did. A hand ran through his messy dark hair as he looked everyone over and they all seemed ready to get out of this room and start. The swords they’d needed he collected and then stood by the doorway to signal he was ready to move out when the rest of them were. Kendra spared a look in Tristan's direction, seeing him eat the root. She hoped that he wasn’t pushing himself when he didn’t need be, but didn’t say anything on the matter. The other two were in the dark about his injuries and she wouldn’t risk them catching on now.

 


It was a short distance that they had to travel compared to what they were used to. The boys weren’t far from the entrance and Finn was sure to give Neva a kiss on the side of the cheek before they parted way for the time being. Kendra gave one last wave good-bye before entering the small little building that mainly consisted of stairs that went down to the aqueducts. It opened into this large tunnel made out of sandstone that arched at the top and had water running through it. There was a platform for people to move alongside the body of water, making traveling underneath the city without traipsing through the water easier. It was pretty to Kendra as the water was completely still and was memorizing in a way. Kendra wrapped her hand lightly around the railing for support as she went down the stairs, going further in.

 


“What should we practice on first?” she asked, already manipulating some water up and away from the large body of it. Kendra wanted to avoid what happened at the caves again, so endurance she could work on. The other little fact was that she didn’t have water with her always and the amount would vary. She needed to learn how to use it more as a weapon with a little amount. A medium size ball was formed before she shot it across the tunnel to the other side. Maybe if she increase the force could do some damage? Another ball of water was formed and she threw it harder. There didn’t seem to make a difference and she let out a disappointed sigh. It felt like all she could do was ruin someone’s hair day. Kendra shrugged at her sister as she looked up at the ceiling and took in the architect. Maybe it was because she didn’t get out in the world as much, but she really thought this place was interesting.  

 

[pyreshadow]

Princess Neva
​

Neva had a pep in her step as they headed out to where they were going; though it was nothing in comparison to the types of adventuring they had just been doing, it was still an adventure in itself. The kiss from Finn was well-received as they parted ways for the time being but it wasn't like they were going too far from each other; Tristan and Finn were just about right outside the entrance to the aqueducts like Tristan had mentioned earlier. The blue-haired princess followed her sister through the tunnel with curious eyes that stared at everything they passed. She even tried to reach out and touch a few things but then thought better of it; she remembered those tales that their mother used to tell about those adventurers that were in tombs getting treasures that had booby-traps all over. Now she doubted that was the case here but she also wasn't going to chance it either. Her hands were locked behind her all the way down the stairs until she reached the last three where she jumped them and landed on her feet with ease.


Kendra was already jumping right in to practicing as the water was coming up with ease from around them. With a quick look up, Neva let out a small hum in thought as she wasn't sure what would be good. Her own thoughts went to what she should be working on but she felt pretty confident based on their last attack. She could make the weapons easier now and keep them steady long enough to make them useful. Though that was mostly because she'd been practicing pretty much on a daily basis at this point. "Well." She watched the first ball of water being tossed to the wall on the other side. "Stamina is definitely something we'd need to work on." Her head tilted slightly as the second ball went flying as she wasn't entirely sure what her sister was trying to do with that one. Shrugging lightly also, Neva knew that stamina was always a good thing to work on as it helped no matter what. "I always thought defense was the best type of offense but that's recently changed, which is why I've been more focusing on these." Neva paused slightly as she focused on forming one of the ice swords that she used in the most recent battle. "I've been practicing really hard to be able to keep them out and it's also been helping with my stamina too but I know I've still got a long way to go." But that was her own power, one that was easy enough to use just about anywhere; Kendra's was different since it relied on having a body of water nearby in order for her to use it. Or...Neva's thoughts trailed off as she glanced at her sword for a moment, her brows furrowed in deep thought before she looked over her sister a moment.


"But with your power it might be a little different since water isn't everywhere. So we have to think of something that'll work for you to be able to get water no matter where we are; no matter what we're doing. Carrying around a waterskin might be able to work for that, sure. Buuut..." Neva trailed off a little as she gave Kendra a smile before turning her eyes to the sword still beside her. Bringing her hand up, she touched the sword and watched as it shattered into tiny pieces before forming back into the frost around her hand. Within moments it formed into a semi-solid object but it could be seen that it wasn't completely made of ice. There was a substance that was almost moving in it the way water would ripple in the ocean, almost like it was underneath ice itself. The ball was floating above her hand with the frost dancing underneath. Neva looked it over for a moment longer before holding it out so that her sister could see it. "See if you can take the water out of this."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Princess Kendra

Kendra turned on her toes to face her sister at the mention of Stamina. Over the couple of weeks she had gotten practice in when she could, but clearly needed a lot of work. Defense was what she was more comfortable, the few exceptions when her emotions ran wild, she didn’t really have the heart to attack. The ice sword was eye as she really didn’t have a good attack without a large source of water.  Ideas of weapons were turning through her head as she listened carefully what Neva had say. The idea of hauling water around wasn’t very appealing and she shook her head gently at the idea. The wheels were turning in her sister’s head she could see it and stepped closer to see what exactly she had up her sleeve. The sword dissolved from its shape and into little fragments. Kendra watched as the little pieces returned to her sister’s hand. Next a slushy substance appeared floating near her sister’s hand and she knew where this was going before Neva asked her to try and take the water from it. Uncertainly she shifted as she spared a glance at her sister before eyeing slush substance.


“Ok?” Not knowing exactly how to go about this she eyed it a minute longer before closing her eyes. A deep breath was taken in and slowly exhaled as she did what just felt natural and raised her hand. A moment later a small stream of water started escaping. She could feel it and didn’t have to open her eyes to see what she was doing. Instead she kept her concentration and thought back to the weapon idea. The little stream went below and danced around her wrist, like a strap. Then the stream lengthened. When she opened her eyes the bit of water had formed into a whip. Riddled with excitement she looked to her sister before turning to the open area. In one swift motion she cracked the whip against the stone wall and could see one of the bricks bust slightly. With a shrug of her shoulders she turned to her sister, grinning. “Bet that’ll leave a mark on the bitch.” Normal she wouldn’t speak so vulgar, but there was a real hatred growing for that woman. Not wanting to do too much damage to the place she held up her hand and the water returned in a large sphere above her palm. The water she wanted to keep moving as she needed to get better at manipulating it for longer.


“You worried about those two?” she asked, referring to the boys with a nod in the direction they left them in. Her eyes lingered on her sister while she answered to see if she was being completely honest before averted her gaze to the water she was still manipulating. The couple of times the boys fought against the witch, she had left them paralyzed on the ground. Both of them were getting mouthier. Kendra couldn’t shake the feeling one of them would try something stupid. It was just a concern, but they couldn’t fight against the witch like Cethin. The water went into a stream and transformed into a rabbit as it hopped around Neva. The idea was to test how long she could keep all of this going before she felt tired.    

 

[pyreshadow]

Princess Neva
​

Neva gave her sister a reassuring nod to try to entice her to just try it even if she didn't quite understand what it was that she was trying. The truth was, Neva wasn't even sure if it was possible for Kendra to be able to get the water out of the ice but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt to try. So when Kendra closed her eyes, a smile spread across Neva's lips as she kept a close watch on the little ball in her hand. She felt it when the ice cracked first and then saw the stream that began making its way out and towards her sister; that caused her to bounce a little but she made no noise so that she wouldn't break Kendra's concentration. When it seemed like the stream had formed the full length of the now apparent whip, Neva shifted her wrist and let the ball in her hand fade into the mist. The smile on her face turned to one of a grin with how easily the whip left a mark along the stone walls. This meant that they could get Kendra water no matter where they were and she could fight back too. Before she could get too lost in her thoughts, a small gasp left her lips when she heard Kendra's comment before she let out a quiet giggle.


"If the ladies of the court heard you say such a thing." Neva tsk'ed in a playful manner but she agreed with Kendra all the same; she hated the woman and there was no way she was going to forgive her for what happened last time. Things were different now. Another giggle left her lips as she twirled a bit before holding her hands out to the sides of her; each of them held the mist around her and little flecks of icicles gathered around her fingers. They grew and stacked together, forming swords on each side of her until they were solid all the way through. As Neva was looking them over, she glanced over to her sister at the mention of the boys before a softer expression went to her face. "Yes." It was an instant answer that left her lips while her eyes went to examine her work on the sword again to make sure that it was good enough; they were sharp on all the edges, hard like steel. Looking them over made her feel pretty good since she was getting better at mimicking an actual sword and keeping its structure for longer periods of time. The little bit of time she was able to test it out it worked out pretty well in combat too. "Cethin was a completely different opponent than Lilith was and even he was giving us difficulties. I still haven't figured out how he was able to get those goblins under his control but the fact remains, he was still human. Lillith isn't. She's already used her power on them before and she's already hurt them before..." Neva's voice trailed off at the thought of Finn getting hurt again. As much as the thought scared her, it upset her more than anything and she'd be damned if she was going to let it happen.


"I'm not going to let that happen again, Kendra." Neva turned to look at Kendra with a fiery, determined look in her eye as she spoke and placed one of her hands on her hip. "We can't ask them to sit this fight out just because we're worried about them. Not that either of them would listen anyway but that's besides the point. We have a chance at beating her with that sword, I don't want to think about the negative what if's anymore. I just want to think about what we can do. Neither of us can use a sword but they can, so we have to use that to our advantage as well as your power. Right now, she'll think that you need water to use your power. So if we keep practicing until you have pretty good control over it she won't know what hit her. Both literally and figuratively!"

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Princess Kendra
​

Determination was an attribute of Neva’s that she admired. There was just a will about her that refused to take any shit. It had always been that way. Kendra’s gaze shied away from her sister. The fact that the boys couldn’t sit this one out she knew, and they were both stubborn enough to continue even if they asked them to stay back. Annoying and endearing trait the two shared. The water behind her sister had shifted into a sphere and floated to her side. She could see it floating from her the corner of her eye, but she mainly focused on what Neva had to say. There wasn’t much else to say on the subject she felt. Worry over the two wouldn’t help. If roles were reversed she put her life on the line like they were doing, so she gave her sister a small smile as the water wrapped around her wrist one more time like a strap and formed the whip. A light shrug before she cracked it again in the air.


 


“Guess there is only one thing for us to really do, practice.” A smile formed and she let the water fall in to the large still pool of water. A hand ran through her loose hair before she looked over to Neva. “Shall we try that again, see if I can do it quicker?” she asked, waiting for her sister to form the slushy substance. Time flew by. A couple of hours later and in a matter of seconds Kendra could extract the water and have the whip formed by her side. It became easier to keep it up longer, but overall she was starting to grow tired from all the practice. Before she could mention it to her sister Finn stepped in and was at the top of the stairs looking down at the two of them.


 


“It’s nearing dark. We best be off before they start patrolling these parts.” Finn smiled down at the two before gesturing to the door behind him with his head. In half an hour or so patrols would start and he was tired. Not that he’d admit it. Tristan didn’t go easy on and he was sure that he’d be pretty sore in the morning from all the dueling. Once the girls were on the move he slipped back outside into the fresh air. Kendra went up the stairs behind her sister and gave the place one last look around before stepping outside. The light shined a bit bright from being underground for so long, even if it was close to sunset. Kendra squinted as they regrouped. “Who is hungry?” Finn asked, looking at Tristan and Kendra, but his gaze ended on Neva.   

 

[pyreshadow]

Princess Neva
​

Both girls were practicing hard, Kendra working on extracting the water from the little ball of slush that Neva was supplying while Neva was summoning that and her swords. She wanted to increase her stamina and to be able to actually use her own swords should the need arise like it had when they were attacked in the mountains. Tristan had been the one to come and save the day for the most part but Neva wanted to be able to hold her own more now. She felt like she could too, especially with her new found resolve from earlier. She had been serious when she said she wasn't going to let the boys get hurt any longer, or at least she was going to try her hardest not to let it happen. She'd fight to her very last breath if she had to and it could even be seen in the way she was so focused in her training. In fact, she hadn't even really noticed when Finn came down the stairs to come and get them until she heard his voice. Instantly she stopped the swords mid-swing and turned a bright smile in his direction. Giving him a quick nod, she turned to the swords and waved her hand in the air slightly so that they'd shatter into tiny little icicles; the icicles then melted away into the frosty mist that circled around her fingers before disappearing altogether.


Neva sort of skipped her way after Finn as she was in a pretty good mood even though they had just gotten done with all that training. It felt like a weight had been taken off of her shoulders and that they had a real chance of winning this little war between them and the vile demon of a woman that wanted their power. Although once they were above ground again, she had to blink a few times to adjust to the lighting of the setting sun. Tristan was near the entry way waiting for them, grimacing slightly from some pain while one of his hands was holding the wound near his ribs. The moment that he laid eyes on the group though the look faded away into a smile and his hand dropped away so that no one would notice. He didn't go easy on Finn and he wouldn't when they continued their training either but it was still hard on his own wounds. The mention of food sounded pretty nice but he did make a promise that needed to be kept first. "I definitely would like to get something to eat." Neva was quick to nod her head as she stepped closer to Finn and wrapped her arms around his.


"The inn food is decent but there's also a good tavern a bit further down the road that has some better food if you want to eat there instead. I have to take care of something first though, so I would have to meet up with you guys a little later." He added the last part a little slower as he wasn't sure how they would take that before his gaze settled on Kendra. "Are you still free to come with me for it or do you want to eat first?" Hopefully that was hint enough that it had to do with his wounds and he wouldn't have to go into too much details about it in front of the other two. If she wanted to eat first, he could wait on changing the bandages and just take some kind of concoction for the pain real quick at the very least.


"What is it that you have to do?" Neva asked curiously as she eyed him but she could tell based on the look that he gave her that he was contemplating what to tell her. That meant that he didn't really want to say what it was and it caused a slight pout to form on her lips.


"Um..." Tristan had no idea how to really get out of it without saying what it was that he didn't want to actually say. "It's...personal?" Maybe that would be enough but he still looked to Kendra for help since he knew Neva could be persistent about things when she wanted to be.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Princess Kendra

Eyes still adjusting to the sun, Kendra put a hand in front of the sun to help her out more. Food really wasn’t on her lists of wants at the moment. A good nap or going to bed period seemed more satisfying. That wasn’t the case for Finn on the other hand. The brunette male had worked up quite an appetite while training with the blonde. The chance that was too good to miss. As Neva’s arm wrapped around his a smile grew and he turned to look at her briefly.


“The Tavern sounds like a good place to eat.” Where they ate he didn’t really care, but the chance of better quality food sounded more appealing, making the choice easy. Not being cramped in the Inn for more than they needed was a perk too. The little last bit of his sentence caught Finn off guard, but he wasn’t going to press the matter. His gaze settled on Kendra along with Tristan, apparently she was in on whatever he had to do. Blonde curls danced as she shook her head, agreeing to go along. The question caused Kendra to look at her sister than back to Tristan. His answer made her grimace slightly as now it was apparent the two were out of the loop about something.


“Personal?” Now both were questioning it. Finn raised a brown at the two, not sold. His eyes landed on the other princess as it was clear the other male was waiting for her to bail her out.


“Personal as in . . .” This had been harder to sneak away than the previous times. The two either passed out first or were just busy. A finger twirled her hair nervously as she tried to find the right thing to get them from finding out what they were really up to. “Personal time between the two of us?” she said slowly, wincing a bit at her words and rolling back and forth nervously on the balls of her feet. It was good cover at least. They might catch crap for it, but he should have signaled her down in a more secretive manner. “We wanted to have dinner just the two of us tonight.” she lied, not that she had any objections to it ending up that way. A quiet night and bed was what she really wanted, so getting out of going to the tavern was a win. A little alone time with Tristan was a perk, not that she was going to outwardly admit it to him later.



“Oh.” Finn answered, already bored with the conversation. There was a bit of an eye roll at the secretiveness of it all before he sighed. “Could have just said that, you two.” he stated, shrugging and looking over to Neva with a smile. The two having their own plans and left them on their own and the Neva and him hadn’t really had alone time for quite some time. “Well should we leave these two to their own?” he asked, gesturing to the tavern with a nod of his head.   

 

[pyreshadow]

Princess Neva
​

Tristan was giving Kendra an apologetic smile and clearly avoiding both Finn and Neva's gaze at this point. He hadn't known what to say and truth be told he still didn't know what to say as his mind was drawing a blank on it. So when Kendra spoke up about them having personal time, he was quick to nod his head in agreement with her words and chuckled nervously. "Yup, that's right. Dinner." He repeated, snapping his finger a bit like it just came to him or something. Neva ended up giving Finn a look with a raised brow before she laughed softly at how the two of them were being. It only served to confuse Tristan a bit as he looked between her and Finn when the other man spoke. "Y-yeah, well. It's hard sometimes being open like that. Sorry." His hand came up to rub the back of his head sheepishly as he spoke honestly but Neva was quick to wave her hand towards him.


"Don't apologize about it, silly. We understand. If you want alone time though, you can just say it next time instead of just trying to make excuses." She spoke with a giggle before turning her focus on Finn with a bright smile. "Yeah! Let's leave the lovebirds be so they can have their little private night together." Which was just fine with her since she could use some Finn time truth be told. Not that she didn't love having Kendra time or everyone time or just her time but it had been a while since it was Finn time. As they started walking away, she rested her head against Finn's arm and let out a soft sigh of contentment. "Today was a pretty good day I feel like, we got lots of practice in; I feel like I could eat a horse because of it." A soft giggle left her lips at the thought even though she knew it wasn't quite to that extent but she was pretty famished. "Kendra and I found out that she can pull water from certain types of ice that I form. So it'll come in handy when there's no actual water nearby and she'll always have something, you know? We'll have to show you because it's pretty cool. How did your training go with Tristan?"


A heavy sigh left Tristan's lips as he watched the other pair walk off, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Jeez, that was close. What a mess that would have been." And it would have been his own fault too. His gaze quickly turned to Kendra and he pointed a finger at her face. "Yes I know it would have been my own doing, no need to say anything." There was a pout in his tone almost as he was attempting to prevent her from teasing him about it but he doubted that would work any. Bending slightly, he picked up his bag that he had brought with him and slung it over his shoulder before making a motion towards the opposite direction of where the other two had gone. "Do you want to go to the same spot we usually go to? Or back to the inn this time?" They had found a nice little garden area, hidden behind some buildings that seemed to have been forgotten by a lot of people. It was still well maintained but no one ever traveled through it whenever Tristan and Kendra had been there. "We'll still need to eat something too though. So maybe we can get something after, even if it's something small."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

 

















Princess Kendra






















Both reacted how she suspected and Kendra rolled her eyes at the term love birds while the other couple left them behind. His sigh caught her ears and she gave Tristan an you owe me look over her shoulder before giving the pair one last glance to see if they were out of ear shot. A playful hum left her lips as she nodded in agreement that it would indeed be entirely his fault if they had found out. A mess that be as they’d most likely be upset about being out of the loop and lied to. Her sister probably would fret a bit over the Tristan. They were in this deep and there was no turning back on this. The tone of his voice gave it away that he wasn’t looking forward to the teases and she held back all the ones that were coming to mind and focused on where to go next. 


“The garden is always nice.” It was Kendra’s favorite place to escape to in fact, so there were no objections to that idea. Also, it was a precaution if the other two had to come back early for some reason. Kendra ran her hands through her hair at the mention of food. In all honestly she wasn’t very hungry, but she flashed him a smile to show she would comply and eat a snack before bed. “I’m eating sweets.” she stated simply. That was how it was going to be if she was going to force herself to eat something when she wasn’t hungry. A little reward for a hard day’s of work she told herself, appeasing that little voice inside her head saying she should have something to go along with desert.


“How you feeling after a day of training? Didn’t overdo it, did you?” she asked a bit accusatively, a brow rose as she looked him over suspiciously. Honestly, she didn’t know if he would tell her if he had, but in a matter of minutes she’d know the truth since she was changing the dressing on the injuries. The garden was simple compared to the one back home and the one she took refuge in at Merek. Just like their previous visits, no one was enjoying its beauty and they had a place all to themselves. The two settled further inside the garden, towards the back and in a corner. There was a cement bench that Kendra took one side over, her legs crisscrossed over one another, so the supplies could sit in her lap nicely. “I’m never going back to dresses.” she said, brushing off any dirt from her breeches while she waited for Tristan to pick out the items he wanted to be used from his bag.



Finn Kreger




The pair were a couple of oddballs and Finn didn’t understand why they couldn’t have just come out they wanted alone time, not that he was going to press the issue any further. In the future he hoped they’d just be straightforward. His attention was on the blue haired woman besides him. His arm wrapped around her waist to pull her in closer as they walked down the street. A smile grew on his face as she spoke of what the girls could do now. Not because they’d be stronger, but because he could tell it genuinely made Neva happy how successful they were. His brown eyes looked down at her as she described the process a big and she shrugged, impressed they had thought of a pretty unique way around the problem.


“Sounds nifty little trick.” he agreed, nodding in agreement that he would want to see them do it at some point. The girls were getting fairly powerful now and it was interesting how they were progressing. “U-ugh, training was pretty uneventful. We hit each other a lot. Guess I’m not as useless with a sword as I was before.” he laughed lightly, poking fun at himself. The blonde was a lot more efficient than him in combat and there was no taking it easy on him. The topic was shrugged off as they came up around the corner of the street and the tavern came into view. You could tell from the outside that it was fairly busy as people were coming and going in fairly large groups.


“You going to try some ale and wine again while gambling again?” he teased. A grin spread across his face and showed off all his teeth before he pulled away to open the door to for Neva and followed her inside. Definitely not hard to tell it was dinner time and a day of work was over. The bar was full and most of the tables, but they found one off to the side to give them a bit of privacy. A wench was over in a few with a menu to share and ready to take their drink order. “I’ll have a pint.” he answered, flashing a polite smile before glancing over in Neva’s direction alone with the dark haired waitress to see what she wanted to order. Finn was giving her a chance to see if she wanted to order on her own or have him help pick a drink out.

 

[pyreshadow]

Tristan Doherty
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Tristan couldn't help but stare at the princess a bit suspiciously when she didn't actually tease him about almost messing up. Maybe she figured he felt bad enough about the little mishap on his own? Either way he wasn't going to complain any since that saved him some headache. Not that it was entirely a headache but he would definitely prefer to not be teased. This was much better. He gave a nod when she agreed to go to the gardens, so that was the direction that they started walking in. It ended up being better that way anyway since it meant they could hide a bit more easily from the other couple in case they were being sought out. He had nothing against the pair, he just really didn't want them knowing what was going on until he was a bit more healed up. Hopefully it wouldn't be too much longer but if Finn kept it up then that wouldn't work out too well.


"That's fine with me, as long as you eat something." Tristan nodded again at the mention of her eating sweets since he wasn't all that opposed to the idea of eating sweets for dinner himself. Only when he was in certain moods though so it wasn't all the time but right now he could go for a pastry with some chocolate in the middle. It sounded delicious really, it was a shame the bakery was closing up. The question about how the training went caused him to let out a sheepish laugh as his hand came up to rub the back of his neck lightly; he wasn't quite sure if he should be answering that honestly or if he should be trying to down-play it. Somehow she'd figure it out since women always found out the truth, especially since she was the one who'd be helping him dress his wounds. So he might as well be honest with her and not get scolded some more like last time. "Probably did. Finn's still got a ways to go but he's definitely better with the sword than when I first met him. We exchanged a number of blows so...I wouldn't really be surprised if this one opened back up." He made a motion to the wound that was near his ribs but he didn't dare make eye contact with her. "I don't want to hold back with him so I can make sure he gets the proper training he'll need. Even though we'll be going up against her, we don't know what other kinds of goons she'll have so him being able to properly fight will be for the best. You know I can take a beating, so it's fine."


Tristan gave her a grin and tried to wave off any sort of complaint she might have, despite knowing it probably wouldn't work. She was as stubborn as he was at times so it might not end up so well tonight. As Kendra situated herself on the bench nearest them, he let out an amused chuckle about the comment of dresses before slowly shaking his head. "Dresses seem to be uncomfortable, at least from my perspective. I don't know how women manage to wear them all the time and still breath properly." As he spoke, he ended up pulling out some salve he made earlier in the day, some items for stitching in case the wound needed to be closed again, some fresh bandages, and then some leaves that worked with the bandages. A second salve was pulled out after as he remembered one was the antibiotic and one was the one for pain. All of them were set close to Kendra before he stepped closer to her and removed his shirt. Some fresh bruising was around his ribs and chest where Finn managed to strike him, along with fresh spots of red dampening the bandages on his side. He glanced down at it with an annoyed look before sighing softly. "Well, I guess that also answers your question of how training went."

Princess Neva
​

A happy smile grew on Neva's lips when she was pulled closer, to which her arm instinctively wrapped around his waist in return. "It's more than nifty, it's amazing." Neva corrected with a giggle, quite looking forward to showing both Finn and Tristan what they could do. Not that her thoughts stayed on it long since that'd all they had been doing but she was pretty excited about it nonetheless. There were still other things she wanted to think about and right now that happened to be him. So when he started talking about the training, she glanced up at him curiously and she wondered if it was really as uneventful as it sounded. "Hmm." Neva sounded as though she didn't quite believe him but the smile stayed on her face regardless. "You've never been useless so that's not a surprise. But...hitting each other with sticks all day does sound kind of boring." A giggle left her lips as she said that because the wooden practice swords they used were technically sticks so she could use that term.


Not too much longer and the tavern came in to sight, drawing Neva's attention to the crowd of people making their way inside. Every time the doors opened they were met with loud talking and cheering, even music and the sound of dancing and laughing. It was lively, which wasn't a surprise given the time of day that it was. "What?" Neva turned to look at Finn with a small pout as she puffed her cheeks out slightly. "No...I mean I guess I could try? If they have that dart game anyway." It was an easy enough game to get the hang of for Neva so she probably could end up winning something again. Whether she actually did or not was the question and to play it safe, she probably shouldn't. Even as she thought that though, her eyes glanced around briefly to see if she could spot the dart board. It was hard to pinpoint with all the people so after a couple glances around she shrugged it off and just kept her focus on Finn. She sat down in the seat next to him and started looking over the menu attentively. Finn ended up answering so quickly too and when she realized that both his and the wench's attention was on her, she panicked a little. "Uh....same? Please." Her eyes went to the wench with a quick apologetic look before she looked at Finn. A pint was the same thing she had before....right? No wait, that was wine. Well whatever, she'd drink it anyway. So her eyes went back to looking the menu over and they were quick to light up when she saw the sweet section. "Oh! They have chocolate cake, can I get a slice of that?" Turning to Finn, she gave him a puppy dog eyed look as she asked. The meal itself not even something she cared so much about anymore as long as she had that slice of cake.