Different Things To Save

[stitch_witch]

WHO: Lark, Noctis, Link
WHERE: Livestock Nursery, Somewhere in Eastern Temba
WHAT: Lark needs saved from monsters, and later Links tunic needs saved from stains
WHEN: Beginning and end of monster hunts
WARNINGS: N/A

I. Rescued In Time | Closed to Noctis
Earth trembles weren't so strange a thing that they immediately roused Lark from sleep when they were so... limited. She's survived a great earthquake in recent memory, so he wasn't shocked to have slept through whatever was going on now. That she'd managed to slip to the pens where the glownies were kept, where the creatures whickered with distress with something else.

Apparently she'd been lucky enough to make her way over when the Bearger was wandering elsewhere, but now she could see the thing looming in the distance.

"Oh dear," she said, her voice a touch concerned. That was... a bit larger than most things she'd had to defend herself against in the past. What was she to do?


II. What Are You Wearing? | Closed to Link
Truly this had been quite the experience, hadn't it? Monsters terrorizing the city on quite this scale was a new one for her, and Lark was a bit emotionally shaken. But she had been gotten out of the main area of risk and sent off to find her own shelter. Something she was coming out of now that the power was back and people seemed to be reporting success on the network.

"What a dreadful thing that was," she said with a sigh as she straightened herself a bit and stepped out onto the street. She needed to check in on people, be certain they were okay. And make more bandages if needed.

If only she knew where to find them.

Comments

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis smiled. "It comes in handy."

He could do so with others too, such as when he had to save Sarah during his brief tenure with the aliens.

So he headed out slowly and cautiously, peeking around for trouble. After not seeing anything, Noct continued to head out, although he spoke in a low voice.

"Should be okay."

[stitch_witch]

Yes, it seems like it would come in handy. Not that she is jealous, she is glad for her gift.

She moves after him, happy to have him guiding. And, following her in mass, the glownies. It helped that Little Bear was racing around behing them to keep them moving. The dog had taken to work very well.

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis was thankful the little guys seemed to understand that something was wrong and that they needed to stay together. Or maybe it was just the baskets full of their favourite thing.

Either way, it didn't take long to get them to where they needed to go. And the king kept his eyes peeled as Prompto would say.

[stitch_witch]

Lark did her best to scramble after him fast as she could, trying not to let mint scatter.

"I hope this will not be a new regular occurrence. I heard people had visions of giants during a storm last fall."

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis shook his head, keeping his eyes moving.

"I really hope not. This is really a pain." Mentally he finished 'in the ass.' But he wasn't one to swear in front of a lady.

"And ya I heard the same thing."

[stitch_witch]

Well that bodes ill for the future. At least they are getting further away from this one for now.

"Indeed. I would rather the city not be destroyed by all this stomping around."

[fatedsacrifice]

The king was quiet as they kept going. He knew he'd have to go home and then face Luna. Somehow he figured she might understand his actions.

Maybe.

So he just shrugged, trying to push the guilt away. "Really kinda liking this place. So I don't want to see it destroyed either." He took a few more steps and finished his thought. "Some people here don't have anything to go home to, so this place is all they've got."

[stitch_witch]

"Glad you're liking it," Lark says with smile. At least they are almost to safety.

"Is that true of yourself?"

[fatedsacrifice]

The smile that was on his face about her comment faded a little quickly when she pretty much got what he was saying, without him trying to come out and say it.

Might as well not lie, it didn't matter here so he sighed softly and kept moving.

"Ya, I don't have anywhere to go except the afterlife."

[stitch_witch]

"Then at least you have here while you have it," she says, offering a sad smile. The poor boy didn't deserve to have died so young.

[fatedsacrifice]

He nodded. "Thanks, I appreciate the thought. And even if it's not what I thought I'd be doing, I do appreciate another chance at having a pretty unstructured life. I mean, there's no expectations and it's just weird."

Sure he was allowed to be a regular kid but there were still those lurking future expectations that he got hit with.

"But what about you? What are you going home to?"

[stitch_witch]

How interesting, to long for the unstructured. She wondered what his life was like before to call for this as relief.

"The Temple. My apprentice and letters from the children. My partner Rosethorn."

[fatedsacrifice]

That had him stop and look at Lark for a second. "A Temple for mages?" He always thought temples were for holy people but he didn't know that much about her world at all.

The last had him smile. "It's good to hear you're going home to someone." That made him feel better somehow.

[stitch_witch]

"The Temple is not just for mages. But there are many mages of various levels among us," she answered with a shrug. "I am a dedicate initiate of my order. Dedicate means I have taken my vows. Initiate makes me as a mage."

Going home to someone indeed. She smiles to herself.

"To letters from her at least. She's on a journey with her apprentice."

[fatedsacrifice]

"Hm." Noctis replied thoughtfully after a few moments. There were no such things back home, but it was nice to think about. People would be learning things together and it wouldn't be so lonely for people that would have such a gift.

Hearing the letters, the king kept going but there was a puzzled look until she finished. "How long's that gonna take?"

[stitch_witch]

And there Lark's expression falls. It hurts, a lot.

"We do not know. To take a magical apprentice on a journey to become better in their awareness of the world is not a short thing. Some magics can be learned in one place, like thread magic, or even academic magic. But Rosethorn and Briar are green mages. They work with plants. And so to learn about them he must see them, and to see them he must go to them."

[fatedsacrifice]

"So she's on a trip with an apprentice and you don't know how long that's gonna take." He sighed. "Ya that sounds familiar." A short trip to the Quay to hop on a boat was supposedly all they needed to do in order to get him married off. But so much happened and it was literally a lifetime ago.

Noctis shook his head. "I'm sorry, but hopefully when you get back time will be on fast forward for you."

[stitch_witch]

Yes, she hopes that too.

"IT would be unfair to my apprentices if it was. There is so much to teach them."

[fatedsacrifice]

The king shook his head. "I meant that you get back at the time when she's done training these apprentices of hers."

He knew from his own experience how long it could take to deal with magic and learn what it was capable of.

[stitch_witch]

Yes, that would be pleasant, but Lark did not believe that would be her luck. She would wait. Waiting for Rosethorn to come back would be no great burden.

"I will miss these quick communicators when I'm home."

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis turned to look at Lark at her comment about the communicators. "Wait, you don't have phones or anything like that where you're from?"

He'd heard of folks here not having the technology and it didn't bother him so much as he wondered how they dealt with certain things.

[stitch_witch]

"Oh no, I assure you we do not. I have seen many things here that we do not have," she says with a smile. "Washing machines were a delight."

[fatedsacrifice]

Noct had to smile. "That has to be a pretty big improvement if washing machines are a great thing."

Which of course they were, although Ignis did the laundry. He just couldn't imagine what life would be like without that kind of convenience. Back when he lived at the apartment, there were nights he did his laundry, after of course putting too much soap in a time or three.

[stitch_witch]

Lark laughs happily. Yes, that is very true.

"I've done rounds in the laundry rooms at the Circle. Which involved kettles of boiling water, large wooden tubs, and a lot of hand scrubbing."

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis pulled a face. "That sounds like a lot of work and a huge pain in the ass to boot."

Wow. He knew Ignis did something like that on the road when they couldn't find a place to do actual laundry. But he didn't accompany the advisor and did his own things on the road.

"How long does all that take?"