milliways_bar | (no subject)

Karal's quick collasp first caught Svava's attention, with her standing to head over to see if he is alright.

The big cat is the second thing to catch her attention, with wide eyes and slow, bright smile. Freya had cats. A few of them were rather big. (The mun still cannot figure out how that goddess got a couple of them to actually pull a chariot. Good luck getting a cat to do anything it does not want to- goddess or not.)

Still smiling brightly, Svava hurries over.

"Hello?"

The cat is the first to look up at her, and the boy's head follows, not quite managing to look at her, even when he stills.

"Oh-- hello," he says, giving a shy smile to the air just to her left.

She does tilt her head curiously at that, but still continues to smile.

"I- I didn't quite mean to interupt, but are you alright? And what sort of cat is that?" Svava does remember the first reason Karal caught her attention, at least.

"And is he friendly? Oh- my name is Svava, I don't think I've seen either one of you around here at Milliways before."

:Some fish would not go amiss, in securing my friendship,: says an amused bass voice.

Not at all the young boy's voice, that much is certain, especially when he colors slightly and hisses "Altra!" in the general direction of the cat. He's still blushing a little as he straightens again. "Svava," he repeats, carefully. "I am Karal, and Altra here is a Firecat."

"... You're a person as well?" Surprise, but it is pleasant, and Svava beams at them both. "Its quite wonderful to meet you both, Karal and Altra. Welcome to Milliways, though I do think you've been here a little while already.

"I can certainly get you some fish." She nods to the cat, then looks to the man. "Would you care for anything as well?"

The cat seems more amused, and also is purring, as Karal reaches out towards him. In this, at least, his movements are still confident, as he starts to scratch Altra's ears, although whom it's meant to comfort is uncertain.

"I haven't eaten," he admits, smiling a little, turning his head a little by degrees until he's actually facing her. "That's why we came downstairs. But I don't mean to bother--"

A Hall easily 4 times the size of Milliways, with hundreds and thousands of warriors all laughing, talking, and demanding food and drink.

Svava smiles, shaking her head. "Its not a bother at all, really. What would you like? I'm not sure what the specials are tonight, but the Bar can conjour up anything you can think of, really."

Karal, by contrast, gets fretful when ordered to rest and rely on the help of others, instead of helping them himself.

"Oh, I'm not picky at all," he says, with another somewhat shy smile. "Not after this past winter, at least. As long as it's better than Firesong's cooking."

"... It is maybe? That rather depends on how good of a cook this Firesong is." Svava blinks, and then nods.

"One moment then." She heads off, only to return a couple minutes later with a tray. Cooked fish for Altra, tea, hot chocolate, and a couple bowls of a beef stew and fresh bread.

"Are you one of the sorts that drink tea, then?"

He laughs, when she returns. "Judging by the smell of that, I would say whoever cooks here is far more talented than he. Or, well-- to be truly fair, it is worth noting that he is very talented-- simply not in the kitchen, or wherever one is cooking at the time.

"-- and yes, I do drink tea. Or at least what I call tea. I suppose it might be called other things, by other people."

"I've only heard it called tea, myself. Tea and coffee are rather popular drinks here, for ones that aren't alcoholic. When you get that as an option, there's many more." A wry, amused answer. "Thankfully there's also hot chocolate."

Svava sets down the plate of fish for Altra-cooked, boned, and served with a cream sause. (Bar is quite used to serving Yrael, it seems.) Then dinner for her and Karal before she takes a seat. "I'm still trying to figure out the stove in the flat. Normal cooking I can do, just... not like all what they do serve here. Well enough, I suppose."

"Coffee?" He looks somewhat confused, as Altra leaps up into the seat next to him to lend him a view of his cutlery, fumbling slightly with his spoon. The Hardornens have coffee.

He's never been to Hardorn.

"I've never been a particularly good cook, myself, but I used to get by, at least," he says, voice dropping a little on the last, and then he smiles again, a little, and carefully tries the stew.

"Its stronger than tea, much more bitter, and helps to keep you awake. I don't much care for it, really." Svava shake her head, breaking apart the bread to go with the stew.

"There is foods from all sorts of worlds, and... Some of it is quite odd."

She will not mention her thoughts on pasta in red sauce.

Svava has been watching Karal quietly. Not about to ask, but when his hand searches carefully for the cup of tea, she bites her lip and reaches over to put her hand on his, to guide to the cup.

He nods, and is still obviously confused; no doubt at some point someone will offer him some, and then he'll understand.

"I've only really had food from one world," he says, "but even just from one country to another, things are always very different, yes."

It's not precisely a surprise, when she reaches over; he can see, albeit through Altra's eyes, so he only starts a little bit at the unfamiliar contact. "Thank you," he murmurs, hand closing around the teacup. "I... would prefer, I suppose, if it's not a trouble-- if you could just tell me? It's... simpler, I think."

"Oh- I-" Svava blinks, and folds her hands together quickly, biting her lip. "I didn't know, or what to say. I- I wasn't even sure, but then..."

"I am sorry." She rather stares at her own bowl of stew.

He reaches over, fumbling again slightly, and finds and squeezes her hand, smiling.

"No, please, don't be upset. I'm not, I promise. I'm really just getting used to this myself."

"It wasn't something you were born with, then? It happened?" A faint, somewhat reassured smile, and she squeezes his hand back.

"A few months ago, yes," he replies, giving her right ear another smile.

"I came off rather lucky, really. Firesong was holding a sword when it exploded, and was burned quite badly. And Florian-- Florian died, so really things aren't that bad for me. I have Altra, after all," he adds, smile widening a little, his other hand reaching to scratch the cat's ears again.

"... Gods." Svava blinks, looking at him. "What did happen?"

"It's-- complicated, but there was a magical explosion thousands of years ago that could have destroyed the world, and when they echoed back they nearly did." He shrugs, pulling his hand back and looking slightly uncomfortable. "I'm a Channel, or-- well, I was, at least, and I don't think I'm not anymore-- I went along, in case they needed me, and... then they did. Three times, all told."

Because literary convention works that way, when your author publishes in trilogies.

Svava nods slowly, listening carefully. She may not know about Channels, but she knows some about magic-

And some about Fate. She raises an eyebrow. "It echoed, and at the time you where there, and needed?"

A small nod. "There were storms-- terrible blizzards, but also with magic effects. Some transplanted circles of land, some transformed them-- creatures were caught inside, sometimes, and made quite deadly in most cases. Even if there were no creatures caught, many plants grew rather carnivorous, we've heard since. And that was just when things first started-- they kept getting worse, you see, and we chose not to let these echoes destroy our world."

"... Your own Ragnarok, though from magic." Quietly. A deep breath, and she sips her hot chocolate. "But it wasn't quite the end, you were able to change it. If that was... an echo, what started it, in the first place?"

He tilts his head a little to the side, looking confused; no doubt if his eyes were properly focused on her face, if they reacted as he once was used to them doing, he would be giving her a funny look.

It doesn't quite have the same effect, this way.

"Ragnarok...? I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean. And-- thousands of years ago, there were two great mages-- or, well, one great, and one terrible. Both very powerful, enough to fully create creatures like the gryphons and the hertasi, and they were at war with each other. There were magical explosions at each of their strongholds within moments of each other."

"Ragnarok is the name of the battle that destroyed all of the Nine Worlds, where I was from." Svava goes for a faint smile and shrug. Then she blinks.

"... That powerful, to create creatures? That's-" She shakes her head slowly. "And then that power, into a war. I see."

He's quiet for a moment, visibly picking his words.

"My friend, An'desha-- it was not his fault, in any way, but he had all of Ma'ar's memories. Where Ma'ar's stronghold once stood, thousands of years ago, there now is Lake Evendim, lined with glass. Ma'ar was evil, although he at least was sane, unlike what he became. Urtho, the other-- he was kind, if meddlesome by some accounts. We went to his Tower, across the Dhorisha Plains, in the winter, in hopes that there would be something there we could find to counteract the Storms."

Svava toys with her cup of hot chocolate now, listening. Thankfully enough, she is able to follow along with the majority of this- unlike other accounts from people she had to pick out the meanings and try to follow along in context. Magic, war, memories, distruction-

Svava understands those.

She also understands speaking of such things, so when there is a pause, she bites her lip.

"... If you don't wish to speak of all of this, I do understand that, Karal. I- I really do. I will listen, and I know of some that you talk about, and it is something good to know, but if its something you don't wish to speak of, for your own reasons- I know that as well."

He smiles slightly at her, or at least in her general direction.

"No, I do not mind. My friend Lyam, a hertasi scribe, I told him of my life before we set off the second device in the Tower-- there were many great weapons, you see, creations of Urtho's even he was afraid to use, and did not think it safe to disassemble. Time did what he could not, in some cases, and when we sent out a counterwave to gain more time to find the solution, others were destroyed."

His smile fades, slowly, and he fumbles for his tea again, managing not to spill as he sips.

"We set off a second device, once we had a better translation of the instructions, and it was that experience which killed my friend Florian, and scarred Firesong, and blinded me."

"But you were able to save your world? That is what you were all trying to do, no matter-" She bites her lip.

"No matter what it may have done to you and yours. And all of you suceeded, even where this Urtho did not."

If Svava knew him better, she would even add that she was proud that they were able to do so, and change from the path fate was taking them down. It usually cannot be done.

If Svava mentioned fate, Karal would only be confused; after all, even the gods are constrained by Their choice to grant free will to Their people, are they not? Surely, then, if free will is so important, fate has nothing to do with any of them.

Besides, as one Karal knows would often say, Glorious Destinies make Glorious Funerals.

He shakes his head, meanwhile. "No-- no, I think perhaps I have misspoken. Urtho was a brilliant man, but he died thousands of years ago. It was his death, and Ma'ar's, that caused the first Cataclysm. This was an echo of that first disaster, but we did not wish for the results to be so great."

Unspoken: It took those thousands of years to make certain parts of the world habitable again.

Different views on fate, and inforced differently on other worlds. Though Svava quite agrees with the Glorious Destinies part. So very much.

Thousands of years. Svava nods slowly.

"If it had happened, though- how bad would it have been?"

"We don't know, of course," he says, simply. "We can guess, based on what we know of the first. Where Ma'ar's palace once stood there is now a lake, a lake where the rock melted into glass, in a perfect circle-- Lake Evendim. The first shockwave from Urtho's Tower created the Dhorisha Plains, and there is a great cliff around their circumference. Entire stretches of land, larger than any country I have ever seen, were rendered unlivable, poisoned by magic, filled with creatures changed beyond recognition, and the Tayledras were still working to clean the Pelagirs when the Storms came back again."