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[the_lioness]

We ride at the hour past dawn tomorrow.

Duke Roger's closing words continue to echo through Alanna's mind long after she should have been asleep. Tossing and turning begins to lose any appeal around midnight, so she checks her binding, pulls on her clothes and scoops up a sleepy Faithful. After buckling Lightning to her hips, Alanna pads out of her room, past Jonathan's, and only lets herself breathe once she's alone in the hallway.

The decisions made in the meeting of Duke Roger's commanders are making her extremely uneasy and a little ill. She knows Jonathan is angry at his new command, far from Fort Drell, but Alanna is upset for other reasons that have everything to do with a deep suspicion of the man who decided to place him there.

"Maybe a few hours at Milliways will allow me to rest," she murmurs to the heavy cat wrapped around her neck. "I doubt we'll be able to go there again for a long while, after all."

Faithful fails to respond.

She moves quietly through the halls and is careful to look around before slipping through the door to the bar. It's loud and bright after the quiet corridors of the sleeping palace, but she's glad of the noise, the life. If she can't get to the Dove, this is the next best thing.

Rubbing one of her eyes, Alanna settles into a chair by the fire and hopes a wait rat will happen by soon. She's awake, yet curiously far too tired and preoccupied to see about getting some tea herself.

[OOC: I wanted to go ahead and get this up. I will be around for a bit, but I'll need to beg slowtimes almost immediately this AM. It is open forever, however, and I will be around to tag as much as my super annoying body lets me! :) ]

Comments

[12goingon113]

He looks back up at Alan, a look of worry appears out of no where.

"I'm looking for the Ocean and Moon spirits. You don't know them do you? We really need their help. The Fire Nation is attacking the Northern Water Tribe."

[the_lioness]

She stares at him.

"No," Alamna answers at last. "In Tortall, we have gods and goddesses who see to such things. The Spirit World is the realm of the Dark God and the dead, nothing more."

As if it is such a small thing, even so.

Fire. Water.

"Do they do magic with fire and water? Or just worship the elements?"

[12goingon113]

"It's not magic, it's bending...wait, you're not a spirit?"

[the_lioness]

"...No?"

Alanna screws up her face at the idea.

"I'm a knight in training. A squire."

She pauses, but there's really no point in hiding her Gift now.


"And I'm Gifted. That's our magic."

[12goingon113]

Huh.
He was not expecting that.

"Are you a spirit?" he asks Faithful.
Talking pygmy pumas are not regular world things.

[the_lioness]

Faithful blinks once and keeps staring at Aang in an unnerving fashion.

I am whatever the Mother needs me to be.

Alanna makes a face. Faithful is doing a lot of meowing today.

"He's a cat. They always think they are smarter than you."





He's a constellation. Maybe he'll get to hang out with Sokka's girlfriend sometime.

[12goingon113]

Aang continues to smile at the cat, even if it's looking at him funny. Why? Because it's a cat! And he's still young enough to be oblivious to meaningful looks.

"Well that's good to know."

[the_lioness]

"So this 'bending' isn't magic?"

Alanna is peering at his tattoo again. Faithful can take care of himself.

[12goingon113]

Tattoos. Close examination will reveal that there isn't just the one on his head, but two on his hands as well.

"Nope. Totally different. It's a connection between a person and one of the four elements."

[the_lioness]

"Strange," Alanna frowns. "I can manipulate fire and air and such, but it's definitely magic."

Water is harder to move, but she's pretty sure she could do similar spells. Air is the easiest.

[12goingon113]

NO WAI!

"Air is my native element. Monk Gyatso said I was the youngest person to earn their arrows."

There's more than a little bit of pride when he says this.

[the_lioness]

She perks up at that, for several reasons.

"The arrows signify mastery? We have robes. My twin is currently learning to be a mage from the Mithran monks in the City of the Gods."

[12goingon113]

"Yup. You get them when you master all thirty-six tiers of airbending. Or in my case thirty-five and create a brand new form. We all have...had robes," he says correcting himself.

"The City of the Gods sounds exciting."

[the_lioness]

"I haven't been," Alanna mumbles in answer. Then, shaking herself, "Thom seems to enjoy it. Or at least he enjoys honing his Gift."

She blinks.


"Had?"

[12goingon113]

You'll have to excuse him if he pays just a bit more attention to Faithful right now. Fuzzy things are helpfully distracting.

"My People were destroyed when the Fire Nation attacked. I'm the only one left."

[the_lioness]

The only one?



That's okay; Alanna is also busy scratching Faithful's back.



"Saying I'm sorry isn't enough," she manages, "but I am."


Faithful purrs extra loudly in the silence.

"What does that mean? What does that mean for you?" she blurts out.

[12goingon113]

"thank you," he says quietly, before taking a breath and attempting to find words to answer the question before him.

"It.." he stops. "It means I have to make all new friends."

[the_lioness]

Alanna says nothing for a long moment. Then,

"Milliways offers many, I believe."

She extends her hand, her sword arm, in a gesture and offer to help him up.

[12goingon113]

A smaller version of his smile reappears as he takes Alan's hand, and rises to his feet.

"It's true! I don't know anyone here. Or well...not as many people as I'd like."

[the_lioness]

"Nor I," Alanna admits. "A few people. I..."

Thinking of Carol, Diana, Marion, and all the other women she has met, Alanna shakes her head.

"Only one or two boys my age."

She dusts her hands off on her legs, clearing her throat, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

[12goingon113]

"I think you might be the second person I've met here kind of sort of around my age." His brow furrows as he tries to remember. "I remember there being a girl in a tree."

Eventually he gives up trying to remember Rue's name, and half shrugs in defeat. "She was nice."

[the_lioness]

"I don't know many girls who climb trees. I'd like to meet one."

Other than herself, of course.

"How old are you?"

[12goingon113]

"How old do you think I am?"

[the_lioness]

Um.

Alanna scrunches her nose.

"Thirteen?"

Beat.

"People always think I'm younger than I am."

[12goingon113]

"Yeah...I get that a lot too. You're guess is good though, I mean...it's off by a hundred years, but the thirteen is right.

...

Or well, it will be my next birthday."