New Turais

You lunged forward and Fiona dodged then returned with a slap-like motion from her own long, thin sword. You leaned away from it nimbly and tried to get a cheeky hit in by stepping on her boot. She anticipated the move and stepped back, but you immediately disengaged so that no followup was possible from the brief over-extension.

“What's the point of sparring if you're gonna go easy on each other?” Sam commented, squinting at the siblings In disbelief. The leader of the fleet of Orr had very little to, as the Captains and other crew handled most of the day-to-day tasks. So, he mostly milled about the flagship and observed the passengers as though it was his own personal zoo.

You stared him down. “We don't go easy on each other.”

“We're just very in-tune with one another.” Fiona agreed.

“We both can 'feel' what the other is going to do from doing this for hours and hours back home.”

“Impressive, but then that just means you haven't built up enough experience 'sparring' with a different opponent.” Sam offered, eyeing Fiona up and down. He offered you only a passing glance, in contrast.

“If you're interested I could-” Marrien interjected, resting a hand on both of your shoulders.

“A word, Samead.” She uttered coarsely.

He crossed his arms over his fat chest and turned up his nose cockily. “The hen's pretty keen to sit on her eggs, no? Got something you can sit on instead...” He muttered the last bit.

“What was that?” Marrien raised her voice.

“Nothing! I'll be in my quarters.” Sam waved and sauntered slowly to the stairs leading down.

You all watched him waddle away, then when he was fully out of sight your Mother stared down at the two of you.

“Watch it around him. Just because he is technically our primary investor and the 'leader' of the Orrans does not mean he has the right to harass either of you. It is best to just ignore anything he says.”

“He wasn't wrong, Mom.” Fiona commented.

“In a sense.” You agreed.

“You kept us so sheltered. We haven't had a chance to train against anyone other than ourselves.”

Marrien sighed deeply. “You have to trust your own abilities. You don't lose anything by sparring each other. I've had you both assessed and you are already at the peak of an average Knight Academy Graduate.” She leaned down and hugged you both tightly. She spoke into Fiona's and your ear.

“Don't let that man get in your head, alright?”

“Yeah, sure? But where's this coming from?” You questioned.

Marrien released you both. “Have either of you felt... Strange?”

“Recently?” Fiona cocked her head curiously.

“Ever. From the moment you could think. Either of you.” She stared at you two very seriously.

“Could you describe it a bit better, Mom?”

Marrien stared up in thought. “Something like a feeling. It doesn't come from anywhere. It's a reaction, like I'm being informed by a past experience, but it's only telling me how to feel and not why. I get that feeling around that Sam... Danger and doom. But I can't quite explain it. It's irrational. Maybe a mother's intuition?” She mused out loud.

“I get it, too. Like, a pit in my stomach whenever I look at him. Never seen him before, but I do kind of feel like he wronged me somehow.” You admitted before turning to Fiona.

“What about you?”

“Hmm.” Fiona tapped her chin.

“Yeah, something like that.” She said vaguely, without saying what exactly it was.

Marrien paused and stared hard at Fiona. She saw something in her that you did not. “Fiona.”

“Yes, mother?”

“Talk. Just the two of us.”

Fiona nodded and went with her, leaving you alone.

You considered just waiting around until they both came back, but decided instead that it would be a better use of your time to wander around the ship. As you descended the steps you ran into the Priestess, Teuta coming up. You backed up so that she would not have to back down the narrow steps. The ships were very lean in the sense that every part of it had a purpose. The meant walkways and corridors were very narrow, as there was quite a bit of space between.

“Thank you.” She smiled softly down at you once she reached the top.

“Your name was...”

“Fin. My Sister and I are the 'Heroes' on board.”

“Oh!” The blonde perked up.

“Do you mind if I bless you two?” Teuta asked.

“Not at all, but Fiona and Mom are talking, so it's just me right now.”

“Perfectly fine.” She guided you gently out of the way with a hand on your back. Once the two of you were more off to the side she dropped slowly to her knees while lifting her robes up to her thighs. She insistently pulled you down with her and brought her face close to yours until your foreheads were both touching. You could not help but blush because Teuta was quite a beautiful woman. Long blonde hair tied back, with a body that could not be adequately hidden by her loose robes. They were in white and gold, the colors of the church.

“Uhm...” For some reason you felt a paradoxical sense of martial strength from the woman, in contrast to her soft demeanor. At the same time there was also a faint feeling of regret and pitty. It was not grounded in anything, it was simply a feeling.

“Yes?” She asked. Her eyes were closed and both hands were resting on your shoulders as she granted you a mute prayer.

“Were you ever going to become a Holy Knight?”

Her eyes opened and she seemed quite surprised by the question. “It was a path that was open to me at one point.”

“What stopped you?”

“I was told that I had great potential to serve the Royal Family directly and... Forgive me, but the moment I heard that I was given the worst, most dejecting feeling I have ever felt. It was just from hearing that possibility. I had no reason to think that. None at all. I had good feelings about our Kingdom but just then I felt very strongly that the path would not be kind to me.” Teuta shook her head.

“What prompted that question?” One hand slid up your shoulder to the back of your neck to keep you close, while the other moved down your arm. It was beginning to feel less like a blessing and more like an intimate moment.

“Just... A feeling, I guess.”

“I took it as a sign and I take this as a sign, too.” Trust your feelings. The spirits speak to us in unusual ways.

“Can you please get off my Brother?” Fiona uttered in disdain. You looked up and saw the girl standing over the two of you with her arms crossed tightly.

Teuta did not seem affected by the tone or the look. She released you at her own pace and stood up while holding her robes. She turned to Fiona and reached out.

“I would like to bless you, as w-” Your sister slapped the priestess's hand away.

You grabbed her and shook her abruptly. “The hell is wrong with you!?”

The girl rolled her eyes. “And you?”

“It is fine.” Teuta lowered her head, unperturbed by any of what happened.

“In your time, whatever time is best, I would be happy to bless you. Also, if you have anything at all either of you need to talk about.” She covered her mouth to let out a small chuckle.

“Well, that is why I am here, is it not?” She left towards the front of the ship.

“What was that? What did Mom talk to you about?”

“Literally nothing.” Fiona stated defensively.

“And what was that? We don't do that stuff.”

“It can't hurt. The Spirits are real...”

“Spirits are real but she and others like her delude themselves into-”

“-Believing that those Spirits care about anything we do. Yes, yes I know, thank you.” You finished her sentence expertly.

“Central and Northern Tryskans call our belief's superstitious, but it's far more true than any of their hopeful babble. Spirits are way more likely to latch onto you and mess with you than to do anything to help. They play games with people. Remember?”

“You don't have to be rude...” You muttered.

“She's not wrong.” A sharp voice uttered from the entry to the middle cabins. Turning, you both saw Jeane, the leader of the Aurars. A pale elf in light clothing. Not that she had very much to show. In some ways, even while wearing a shorter robe that showed more skin she was less erotic than the draped priestess.

“Their miracles are just Magic by another name. Either out of our control or unexplained. That is all.”

“See?” Fiona grinned triumphantly.

“She agrees with me.”

You did not have enough patience to dwell on how much of a brat your Sister was being. Instead, all you could do was stare at the Elf. You felt drawn to her and in some way you could tell she did to you, as well. Her eyes rested on you, not Fiona.

“Should we have... Met before?” Jeane asked in a careful manner as she stepped closer. She took no more steps as she was warded off by Fiona's hard stare. Jeane shrugged and remained in place near the door.

“Not that I know of. I have been told we have that kind of face.” You shot a smirk at Fiona who quickly changed her mood once she was being addressed by you.

“I don't share your stupid face. I'm far cuter.” She announced.

Jeane squared her fingers so that just the two of your faces were in frame. Her cheeks flushed. “I do not know if you share his 'stupid face' or if he does yours...” Fiona sneered at the woman's response.

“But it is quite uncanny. I am sure your appearances will divert more with age.” She assured.

“That's great but neither of us asked.” Fiona uttered cheekily.

Jeane narrowed her sharp jet-toned eyes on the girl before turning her attention back solely to you. “Finvarra?”

“Fin.” You corrected.

“Yes.” She inhaled.

“Well, if you ever have questions that you do not want to be answered simply by 'the Spirits work in mysterious ways' you can come find me.”

“What about me?” Fiona placed herself between you and the Aurar.

Jeane turned up her nose and her lips thinned at the prospect, but she relented and added. “You too...”

As soon as Jeane walked out of earshot Fiona turned around and leaned on you fully. She brought her face close to yours and questioned aggressively.

“The hell is going on with you!?”

“That's my line! You're acting weird.”

“You're hanging off every girl that approaches you. This never happened back home.”

“You are literally hanging off me right now...” She hugged you tighter in response to that statement.

“Of course.” Fiona pouted.

“You, me, Mom. We're the team. All these people are just support. They're side characters. Get it?”

“You can't just call all the other people here side characters. It's unhealthy. They're people, too.”

“They don't matter as much as you, me and her.” She insisted.

“That's crazy. We're here to protect these people. Right?”

“Right.” She admitted, leaning back. Her hand slid down your arm to tightly grip your hand.

“But we need to look after Mom. She's having to work pretty close to that disgusting Sam guy and I'm worried. I can't have you wandering off getting to know other girls while I'm watching Mom on my own.”

“I see your point...”

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