RP:Brother and Sister

From HollowWiki

This is a Healer's Guild RP.


Summary: This is an odd one, even for the Wintry Lady, who somehow manages to crash - literally - into the House of Ara through a window glass. Yes, Nebb is involved, and no, Thamalys has no idea. Nonetheless, the latter goes ahead with his duties as a Healer and tries to take care of the - badly wounded - Genasi. A rather delicate intervention follows, and an even more daunting proposal is put forward by the Icy One: one of brotherhood between the two Healers. The Avian is initially upset, and it is a mutual walk down to pain memory lane which eventually does the trick. The two creatures thus depart as Brother and Sister - finally nailing a label in their convoluted connection.

Larket: House of Ara; Rebuilt

Emilia soared in the skies above Larket under a guise of magic shifting, something new the Genasi had learned from listening to the snow. If one were to look up it was not a lady with wings that they would spot, but a rather large white bird that glimmered oddly when the light landed on the feathers. Watching from above was a new thing for the Genasi. So much more freedom to be had in the air without things to trip over or walk into. Just the wind in the feathers so to speak and a focus on the magic holding the shape not her own. Peace until the most annoying of higher pitched squeaking echoed in her ears. Nebb, that bloody bird what did he want now? It was a spectacle in the air as the incoming came for the foreign white bird made of ice and snow like the two had never met before. Indeed they had not, not like this anyways. A whirl of color in the sky as two birds fought one another without ever touching, it was more of a strange dance, but not one made for mating that is for sure. After a time the clashing of feathers finally happened just before the house of Ara. It with with a shattering of a window that the two brought the fight into the house of healing. Hitting the floor the magic holding the ice and snow around the Genasi fell apart leaving a most exposed woman with white curls laying on the floor a top shattered glass. Nebb? The proud bird for whatever win it was he thought he had for catching some intruding bird in his air space sat perched in the open busted window squaking away until he releazed it was no intruder he had captured, but the Genasi. His noises turned silent as he stared onward not sure if he was to flee before Thamalys would surely arrive or stay at post to see when the wintery lady would get up from the floor.


Thamalys ’ patience was wearing thin indeed. “No no no, that is not what we agreed on, is it? We need that sage tomorrow, for Sven’s sake!” growled the Blue in the face - well, figuratively, given the onlooker was a good metre and a half shorter than the Avian - a sturdy little halfling the Spellblade made the mistake of trusting with the House’s herbs supply not so long ago. Standing right in the middle of the main corridor, not far from the entrance of the House, the Avian towered upon the tiny figure of the halfling much as a massive bird of prey eying his next victim. Clad in a rather soggy cloak, the utter mess of his knotty dreadlocks falling on shoulders, wings, chest, and face alike, the Blue spent the last hour fighting with the diminutive merchant about deliveries and prices. “By the Wind, this has been going on for far too long. For the very last time, I - “ but that articular sentence died mid-way, as one of the beautiful windows of the House shattered into countless shards of glass, an awful noise grinding the peace of Art as if a tide of war struck Larket once more. In a split instant, the Blue turned to face whatever that was, unceremoniously knocking the halfling to the ground in the process, both hands raised into the clean air, already ablaze with liquid tongues of Blue fire. Was that… Nebb? The Avian broke into a run, devouring the space separating him from what he thought had to be a sort of a crime scene, only to find the Wintry Lady still as if dead, buried into a myriad of glass fragments. “What, in the name of the Wind…” roared the Spellblade, by then only a couple of strides away from kite and genasi. Nebb looked very much upset - but why? And how exactly did the Icy One materialised out of thin air? Questions the Blue was determined to find answers for, as he kneeled by the Healer, notwithstanding the many shards already working their way through his tattooed flash. “Emi?” stupidly whispers before even daring to touch her, his left hand still ablaze. One could never be too careful…


Emilia || Nebb, that kite companion of the Winged One, knew he should have flown away when Thamalys arrived at the upper floor with blue flames already at the ready and possibly not returned until he could be sure that neither being would have his neck. Oh, if only he could speak and tell the tale of this day would things surely be more in his favor. Hope that if and when his frosty friend, aye the two had a bond Genasi and kite if only because that lady spent so much time with his winged counterpart, awoke that she would share a tale that did not paint his as an enemy. It was in this moment that the bird flew away into the skies if only to soar ever close to the house of healing, stopping by that window briefly now and then to check in on the pair before returning to watching the skies. Under the woman laying in shards of glass punching her skin much as it did the feet of the avian as he approached was for a moment what appeared to be an illusion of a wide wing span of feather wings out of dusted snow. It lasted for a mere moment before it melted away into nothing as if the proof of the magic flight was lost forever. Water, blood of two beings, and glass shards on the second floor had a deal of the staff that had come a running for the noise just at a stand still. Emilia was known for being clumsy, but yet had she ever fallen through a window onto the floor in the upper wing. Even they were as confused as the winged man, yet with his flames glowing none would move any closer. There was silence in Ara after that whisper of a partial name. No reply from the frozen woman or Nebb that was back sitting at the window watching again. Alas, a noise if not the most welcomed of one from the fallen Genasi, a hard cough that projected blood spatter with it. A winded groan followed by a series of more blood sputtering coughs, but there a flutter of lashes and the blue eyes of the Healer were staring at Tham with a most questioning of looks to the fresh blood on him. Sitting upright in an instant the cut up hand of the woman reached for his face, “Thamalys you are injured, we must get you patched up.” Rough voice, confused Genasi, concerned friend.


Thamalys had some trouble in trying to make sense of those winged features that for one moment he seemed to had witnessed decorating the shoulders of the Icy One. Was he eventually yielding to madness? She summoned such magic before, though, that much he did remember clearly. Unless a proper doppelgänger was involved, however, there was little doubt indeed: the slender figure covered in glass and blood was definitely Emilia. “All of you: out!” bellowed as such the Blue, addressing the not-so-small number of onlookers that righteously gathered upon the ringing clash of broken windows. Even the halfling who managed to irritate the Avian just a minute ago was there, desperately trying to get a peek into the dramatic scene - in vain. “Desmond, Elia, you stay - and try to clean up this mess as much as possible. Please…” he would have added on second thought the Blue in a slightly less imperative voice. Not the he needed to repeat himself: the two novices sprinted toward the crime scene as if a dragon was trying to slash their backs. In the meantime, the Winged Beast came to the conclusion that the only sensible way to avoid any further contact between bloody glass and Genasi was to remove the latter from the former. “- I - am injured? Fascinating…” flatly noted the Blue, simply scooping up the Wintry Lady - whether and if she would have allowed him to do so, that is… - with both hands, now free of whatever flames, shaking her more or less gently (a number of glassy shards came off as a result) and finally straightening up and start walking toward his study. “Emi, I hope you realise you just entered the House by somehow crashing into the big window, yes? No, do not try to explain yet… you are coughing blood, and even for you, that is not a good thing… come now…” added a tad bit more softly the Healer, slowly ambling toward the small room. Behind the wooden door, a marble slab, about 1.5 metres above the ground, and an impressive workbench running all along the walls, upon which countless shelves contained all manners of glassware, herbs, poisons, concoctions, relics, forgotten alloys, mystical diagrams, ancient spells, and scarier things even. A serious amount of lore, which the Blue had no issue to sacrifice for the sake of the Genasi. One smooth movement, and he would have laid her down on the marble slab, cold as death, hard as pain. Not really a problem for the Icy One…


Emilia was not one for a fight against the avian when he hoisted her up from the debris that was once a fancy window. The tinkling of glass bits hitting the floor mixed with the scrambling sounds of the two novices moving like headless chickens to clean up the mess, but where to start seemed the hard part. The study was eyed with curious eyes of the Genasi as the Winged-One carried her behind closed doors away from prying eyes of the rest of the guild and patients alike. One could be sure that pressed against that door would be worried ears after a time had passed. The marble table beneath the frozen naked woman did not seem to phase her in the least as she herself was not much different than it, cold and solid, however alive instead of not. Sitting there the nimble fingers of the Healer began to pluck free small shards of glass from her own flesh and dropping them into a pile at her side. “I am not..” she started and ended in a cough that spat forth more liquid of red into her hand. Staring down at her hand watching the blood drip slowly down her palm Emi gave a gurgly sigh, Thamalys was correct. During the crash landing a large piece of the broken window had lodged itself into her side, sliding between ribs into the lung beneath. It was not easy to spot at first as it had embedded itself well into that frosty flesh almost completely submerged into the wound. It would be a delicate matter to remove. Overall, this was the most serious of the injuries to the Healer, the rest were mirror from lesser pieces of the window shards. Yet, even as the Genasi watched the blood fall from her hand onto his table the Healer found herself noting that his bare feet were bleeding. “I see that your feet are in need of some mending. You have glass bits in them that need to come out before they get so stuck they won’t easily wiggle free,” she spoke softly, a trickle of blood running down from the corner of her mouth to her chin. Emi is a healer after all, others before oneself, even now as she was a ice-glass porcupine.


Thamalys nodded impatiently - a rarity for the Blue - while assessing the situation. Oh the irony: the one creature that taught the Avian how to triage in the first place was precisely the one now laying on that slab. “My feet can most definitely wait” cut short the Spellblade, increasingly more worried at the sight of more blood leaving the Genasi. As a rule, she managed to self-heal almost everything one could possibly thrown at her - why was not the case? An awful spasm right after yet another cough provided a decent hint, eventually leading the Blue to notice the largest cut of them all into the Wintry Lady’s clothing, subtle yet lethal, sharp as a paper cut. “It would appear a shard has punctured your lung, Emi. You being you, I am not especially terrified - yet. But you will need to promise me you will put aside your worries for my feet, and in fact everything else as well, while I’ll try to deal with this. Now, the real problem…” continued the Avian, meanwhile fetching a gigantic pair of razor-sharp scissors and, rather unceremoniously, cutting the fabric along the whole length of the Icy One’s torso, “… is not so much the removal of said shard, but the massive bleeding which will surely follow, internally and not. For one thing, you don’t have a limitless amount of blood at your disposal… and for another one, lungs are especially prone to infections if punctured by external bodies - so you told me, remember?” added the Blue with a faint smile, a cloth in one hand already soaked into a bright red iodine-rich solution. “Let me work on the glass, Emi. Meanwhile, you let me know how you wish to proceed upon the removal… I will be honoured to lend you some of my blood, which at this point is a mixture of our twos anyway…” he paused, thinking back at those times where the Genasi constantly pumped fresh blood of hers into the Avian, deathly sick by the hand of the Wooden Puppeteer. He shook his arm, as if recalling the suffering. She was responsible for that nightmare to be in the past. “And, I could sear the whole wound with my flames, but it will be difficult even for them to reach the inner of the lung without damaging the soft tissues… any thoughts?” causally inquired the Avian, carefully sterilising the chalky flesh of the Genasi all around the entry point of the glassy thing. The latter was there, buried deep into her, dangerously advancing further and further. He had no time to loose. With a different side of the same cloth he fetched some more iodine and sterilised a pair of steel pliers, slender and nimble. They were not meant for surgery, but for crafting. They’ll have to do. The Blue closed his eyes for a split second, casting a silent prayer to the Wind. It was time. “Steel yourself, Emi - I will have to hold you down if you thrash around, the last thing we want is for the shard to shatter in smaller fragments - assuming that did not happen already…”


Emilia blinked at this moment only having realized that in the shifting of rooms one of the passing by novices, also adept in magic beyond the healing arts, had snapped fingers to cloak the once clothing less figure of the Healer to offer privacy to her in the passing of patient rooms. She would have to both thank and apologize to them later as Thamalys made work of snipping away the garment to have a better look at the shard protruding into her flesh. Oh, well look at that was the expression on the face of the Healer as she glanced down to see what he was so worried and fussing about it was clearly his feet with injuries. That did not look too good and the avian was right, it needed to be removed. Silly woman of the frozen element long numb to the sensation of pain. He was talking, she was half listening while the gears in her head were wheeling as to what could be done to safely remove it without causing more damage in the process. A proud smile flashed upon blue lips if for just a moment at seeing how well her pupil had transformed from the lost one he was when she found him and recalling such important lectures she had given in his training. Infection would be deadly for the Genasi without an ability to feel the pain if he was deep within her frozen chest, a silent death. “Thamalys, I love you, you bloody genius!” The Genasi said suddenly after a long silence. Those little hands of hers reaching out to grasp a hold of his, thumbs meant to trace over that intricate ivy that inked his flesh with magic imbued in them. Granted, he had said that he could cauterize the wound, but wasn’t sure how without opening her up causing more flesh damage. Had he not seen her backside? No flesh left without a scar. This woman did not hold flawless flesh as an ideal, the more battle scars the better. Another fit of coughing from her moment of excitement, blood spatter to follow. “I have glass inside me!” She laughed as if it was funny rather than something serious. The answer was right there in his hands that she, if he’d of allowed it, was holding. Clearly her throat the Genasi spoke matter-o-factly, “All you need to do is heat up the glass shard with your flames before you wiggle it free. It will then burn the puncture hole shut along with the other flesh as it exits the body! I think the pupil has surpassed the teacher,” Em said happily before letting go of his hands, “I am ready when you are.” It was without a doubt the Genasi trusted the Avian.


Thamalys listened, not blinking once. The plan was crazy, but it could have worked - why not? He learnt time ago that the Wintry Lady’s intuitions were best to be followed. “I… why, I suppose that makes sense. Give me one moment only…” pleaded the Avian, gathering his senses. It was not a trivial task. The magic embedded into his tattoos was easily triggered into walls of flame, but to channel that energy into heat alone… through the steel of the pliers and down till the fine tip of the shard… even the Winged Beast had to admit the shadow of a doubt crossed his mind - no time to dwell on that thought, though. Slowly, the icy-shaped ink covering much of the Spellblade’s skin started to curl, a faint layer of blueish liquid oozing and dripping on the stony floor, on the marble table, and on the Icy One as well, carving perfectly round spots of flaming blue before vanishing into the chilly air. Others would have screamed in either horror or pain. Not truly thinking through his movements, the Blue pressed on, now chanting a soft tune long forgotten by most of his race, while a dense, glimmering gel engulfed his right hand, blazing with mad heat, actual fumes dissipating into the air. The metal turned into a red shade, the tip of it now getting a secure hold onto the glass, burning away the lips of the wound in the process. The Blue had to stretch the skin of the Genasi to reveal the full extent of the shard, now surely in the clutches of the metallic tool. His left shook, recoiling for the effort. Beads of icy cold sweat poured from the forehead of the Healer, carving humid path onto his bony face. His right stayed true, while the glass itself, painfully slowly, was gifted of the sheer amount of heat brought into existence by a magic older than the flying cities. A sickening smell of burnt flesh filled the room - not a second to loose, before the piping hot glass would have started to endanger more vital tissues, thus nullifying the idea of the Wintry Lady and the efforts of the Blue alike. “Steady… for the love of the Wind, steady… think of the greenhouse, think of the snow flickering into the Frostmawian skies…” went the Winged Beast, now solidly pulling the shard out. It did yield, excruciatingly slowly sliding into the wound. The white flesh of the Genasi followed, sizzling madly, the magic of the Blue purifying and searing everything in its way. A sickening snap broke the silence - the Avian stopped in horror, but the deed was done. Literally throwing half of the shard into the ceiling, the Blue rushed to fetch the other half, luckily not so far away from the surface of the wound. It was done. Did he manage to remove the whole of it? Did his flames succeed in removing any danger of infection? The wound, gaping, was almost accusing him. He shook his head. “I… I believe it worked, Emi. I believe it really did…” repeated almost in disbelief the Healer, letting the last piece of glass falling on the slab with a metallic sound. His left hand was flat on the Genasi’s neck, now, preventing her to rise at all, while the right was cauterising the open wound, thin tongues of blue fire running up and down the bloody cut. Was she breathing still? Her eyes were shut, and she did offer very little resistance throughout the whole process. The Blue expected nothing less from her, and yet he was mortally worried. “By the Wind, how come you crashed into that window…” he muttered, shaking his head while polishing up his flaming surgery.


Emilia trusted the Blue with her life even if there was a part of her that was possibly mental asking him to channel his flames all into heat magic so that the piece of glass worrying him most could be removed while causing flesh to burn shut in the process. No one ever did say the Genasi was a sane creature, so did that make the Blue just as not sane for following her idea? Possibly they were the two most mental healers in the guild. The Genasi laid perfectly still, almost like a corpse meant for practicing skills upon and not a real patient. While her closest friend worked on tuning his magic into a fine exact tool rather than a wild fire engulfing the forests Emilia closed her eyes with a slow exhale. Long ago when she first discovered her talents with snow and ice a friend of hers told her the best way to harness control was to let go and cause the biggest blizzard she could in a localized area. She listened, but that had cost her. It was this moment in time that Emi had gone back to in her mind while her friend was doing something very similar with his magic except putting it all into the smallest area of work. She never once flinched as the searing heat caused that awful smell of flesh burning, sealing shut on the inside and spreading wide open on the outside of the wound. Any normal being would have lost consciousness by this point with no pain killer or numbing agent in play. Lucky Emi was a monster of the purest cold, already numb. While the Blue worked he may catch a glimpse with the wider wound of the silvery coating over the ribs around the glass shard. Was that the metal coating on the bones of the wintery woman. Surely that was a more painful process than having glass removed from her side. As it all came to a end the Genasi opened her eyes to stare up at the avian whom had just saved her life, yet was still preventing her from sitting upright. That gaze of hers lingered on his with silence in the room as she gathered her thoughts on how best to explain the crazy crash. Finally, she spoke, “Nebb knocked me into it.” It was the answer of how she crash landed into the second story of Ara.


Thamalys could hardly believe the words of the Genasi. “Nebb? Nebb did this to you? I shall roast that bloody pigeon first thing tomorrow!” growled the Blue in between clenched jaws, squeezing the pliers in a clutch that would have broken bones. He throw them away a moment after, knocking down a few vials in the process. He did not care. “Why - I mean, how?” stuttered the Winged Beast, frantically trying to make sense of the Wintry Lady’s story. Perhaps a concussion would also had to be factored in? He eventually released his patient from the hold of his left, which would have then run casually along her cranium, pulling away endless curls to probe potential injuries there as well. One could have mistaken such a gesture for something a bit more thoughtful than just diagnosing. Amazingly, the petulant halfling just then managed to squeeze between wall and door - a most untimely as well as utterly unwelcome occurrence. “You… how dare you… out - OUT!” yelled the Blue in a tone he rarely boasted. What sort of conclusions the halfling may have reached in witnessing that scene, it remained to be seen. Meanwhile, the Blue patiently waited for the Genasi to elaborate on her frankly quite absurd tale. “Talk only if you feel like doing so. You have lost so much blood it’s a miracle you can talk at all. No, it is best if you would lay still for a bit longer… I will clear this up, and ask for something warm for the two of us to drink - drinking something will also provide a good indication of the extent to which your idea did work in the end…” rambled the Healer while trying to get rid of most of the blood and glass alike. Slowly, some actual pain was setting in in him as well, some of the glass embossed into his flesh eventually reaching a sufficient depth for the Blue to be actually bothered. Details, he would have Desmond to fix that soon…


Emilia swatted away the hand probing at her head for some evidence of head trauma. A gesture that halfing spying on them would likely spread as another rumor to the non-existent relationship everyone assumed the pair shared. “My head isn’t broken, I am a bit more solid than an icicle,” Em stated as she in a slow manner sat herself upright on the marble slab of his. Just as quickly her hands, yes hands, came to resting on the table to keep herself steady with the sudden dizziness that washed over the Genasi after ignoring the other healer about the toll loss of blood played. Emergency over the fact that Em had two hands was more noticable, though the right one was clearly not the same as the left one. It was made of crafted ice attached right to the stump. WIth focus and magic it would move almost like a real hand and not at all when she was not putting effort into thoughts to provide the guise of the false hand. Staring at Thamalys the Genasi spoke, “I put away my worry about your feet long enough. I’m fine, you sit and I will remove those shards from you.” Her voice was stern, like a mother scolding a child. It was then that she ever so slowly slid herself from the slab as she waved a hand for him to take a seat, his turn to be mended. One hand still held onto the table to keep her balance. While the halfing had fled at the scary voice of the Blue the Genasi noted, “I cannot drink warm things…and until you sit your rump down to be mended you will not get the rest of the details as to how Nebb managed to put me through a window.”


Thamalys hardly believed his eyes. “With the greatest respect, you are in no condition patching up anyone yet…” flatly commented the Blue, gently bringing his left to meet the curls of the Genasi. “I will deal with these tiny cuts of mine, of that you can be sure…” went on the Spellblade, something similar to a smile painted on his face, tired to the limit and yet showing some signs of genuine relief - if the Wintry Lady was talking healing, surely she was bound to recover soon enough. “Only if you’ll promise to lay down a bit longer, that is - no, no compromise will do at the moment, I am afraid. Your words always win on mine - agreed, but not when you have just missed a rather painful death by mere inches. In fact, at a certain point you will have to tell me what had happened… for now, though, stay still. Please?” sort of pleaded the Avian, soon after motioning toward his bench and producing a beautifully handcrafted mug, made of something rather similar to obsidian, if you could believe it. There was no rush in his gestures, notwithstanding those pesky fragments of glass piercing his feet and kneed - breadcrumbs, for a Tzur. From a Claisen glass, the Blue fetched some boiling water - or at least it looked as such, pouring the content onto a bunch of crushed leaves. A mighty scent of mint filled the room, banishing everything else from the murky air. Nothing like a minty infusion to restore the Icy One… or so he thought.


Emilia was a stubborn one, but for once in a rare blue moon the Genasi actually listened to someone’s advice given to her. This was one of those times. Instead of insisting on correcting the injuries to his feet of the Blue the Healer let out an exhausted sigh and relaxed back. The amount of blood loss caught up with her even though she felt no pain, only a desire to sleep for days on end. “Fine,” she stated in a whisper of a tone watching him from where she remained resting. The smell of mint in the air was a pleasure to inhale over the smell of bloodshed and burnt flesh that lingered yet. Finding a state in which one could rest with peace was indeed much easier when the air around was calming. Somehow it never failed that the Blue knew what the Genasi needed when even she was not sure what it was she was in need of. He had gone from being a stranger to a guild member to a friend to her closest friend, a best friend. While he worked she spoke softly, “You know, Thamalys, I have been thinking as of late about some things. Some more other. Like how the fickle fates brought us together and set a path in motion for the two of us. Strangers struggling to find our bearings in this land surrounded by so much chaos. We have been through many things together since meeting. In thought, I have not felt as close to any other in some time, not since I was little human girl.” There was a pause, a exhale of a breath before she went on, “I do not know much about your winged kind, nor the frozen kind that has become me, but I do have a question for you to think about. The choice is of course open for you to decide upon when you are ready for it, but I would like to ask you, Thamalys the Not Lost, if you would like to join my non-existent family as my brother?” There it had taken some time to word the thoughts correctly even with a bit of rambling mixed in. And now the Genasi turned to look away from him, staring blankly at a wall across from her enjoying the smell of mint.


Thamalys strikingly enough, froze, even spilling a few drops of the minty tea in the process. Still facing the wall, as opposed to the Icy One, his wings twitched slightly, a metallic sound duly following. “I already have a brother!” snapped the Avian, suddenly turning to the Genasi, holding the mug as if it was a sword. Few things in Lytrhidel managed to upset him as much, and his lost brother was definitely one of them. “Or at least, I - had - a brother…” muttered the Blue, stepping toward the Wintry Lady, arms outstretched to her offering said cup. “You know this matter upsets greatly, Emi…” pondered the Spellblade, gently moving her aside a tad bit, that much he needed to obtain a sit for himself on the marbly slab. Slowly, he begun to extract each and every shard of glass from his flesh, crimson droplets blossoming on his skin - for a moment only, before his ink would have taken care of those. “And yet, you are very right - I care for you to an extent unparalleled with respect to any other creature I met, or those I believe I remember. Does this make me your brother?” asked the Blue largely to himself only, while leaning on the tiny figure of the Genasi, not blinking even once, as if examining her for the very first time. “It is fair to say we share blood, by now…” conceded the Spellblade, more or less consciously bringing his right hand to connect with his left shoulder, in a gesture dense with the memory of the Wooden Puppeteer’s curse the Genasi cured at the expense of her own blood. “I am still an Avian, though. At least I think I am. You are still a Genasi, albeit I wouldn’t be so sure. Does it matter? Hard to tell, even for me. Perhaps we should honour our bond, notwithstanding everything else? A part of me, for some reason I do not fully understand, tells me that would be righteous. Would I be whole again?” inquired the Winged Beast, a shade of hope in his voice. He did not remember much of his brother, but he did remember that unique feeling. The love that Korkorhan took away from him - for ever, the Blue thought. Was the Genasi offering a second chance at happiness? Sounded also too good to be true.


Emilia flinched as he snapped at her, taken off guard by the sudden tone of voice aimed her way. It was one she had rarely ever heard, let alone ever pointed in her direction. Silly, Genasi what were you thinking to ask such a question of another soul. You cannot make family out of thin air. She once had five brothers all vanished into ashes so many years ago that he healer could no longer remember the full extend of that invisible bond shared between people. Mixed with those ashes of the five boy were the remains of the parents she knew and a life she once had filled with many a things. Trouble was always one of them, it followed her all her life. Back n the day she had those siblings to rely on to have her back, join in her adventure, and care about her endlessly no matter what happened. It was this faint memory that shined through in that invisible thread that over the years had connected the Genasi to the Blue. It was not the same bond that is shared by those with the exact blood, but it never failed that he was always there for her and she was always there for him in any minor or extreme moment. A hand fell to rest on the stump where a right hand once was attached. Lost in thoughts of her own the Genasi almost didn’t fully hear him each time he spoke in reply to her question, but she had. Understanding that it was some question she highly doubted Thamalys had ever heard before. Adjusting herself the Icyone offered a small smile, “If I have learned anything in my life on this land it is that one will never make it far alone and that it doesn’t always take blood to form a relationship between two people,” a sigh, a soft one, “I am sorry about your brother. I should not have brought up the subject on siblings. I am sorry…” Her voice trailed off having known she’d struck a chord in the heart of the blue. Shifting to stand, “Perhaps I should go now.”


Thamalys found himself outstretching an arm in front of the Icy One, as if preventing her to stand up. She may have looked surprised, but there was an equally astonished look on the Blue’s face. Where did that gesture come from? “Do you have any? Brothers and sisters, I mean… I… I do not think I have ever asked such a question to you.” His arm fell, potentially in the lap of the Wintry Lady, as if exhausted by the weight of the Spellblade’s question. He could not find the strength to look at her - as if fearing her answer; he knew the Genasi had piled up an enormous amount of sorrow along the way. They seldom spoke of their respective painful memories though - perhaps in light of the fact that together they felt at peace. “Wouldn’t you drink your tea, Emi? Of all people, you know you are the only one who does not need to ask me whether to stay or not. You just do, and I am glad for it. Something deep within me, and it’s not the Black your presence somehow manages to consistently banish from my thoughts in your presence, wants to know how deep your own scars run. How else can we mend each other, I ask you?” There was intent in that speech, some strength, a voice loud enough to fill the whole room.


Emilia did not push the arm away, but allowed it to keep her from getting up. In part, she did not want to exhaust the energy to stand. With his arm in her lap the Genasi idly traced along the ivy tattoo of his arm with an index finger as she spoke, starting only at his arm while she talked, “I do not have any siblings, no. When I was human girl I had five older brothers and a set of parents, all who died in a house fire. As it were , I was never really apart of that family, just a body harbouring the monster binded deeply inside of it. Blonde hair, blue eyed girl amongst a family of brown hair brown eyed folk.” There was a pause as she took a sip of the tea finally, savoring the flavor before she went on, “I was blamed for their deaths and took lashing for each one dead. Sold into slavery by the town and beaten daily or worse until I killed the man and ran. I lived off the land for some time before taking over the farm where my family died. From there things went quiet for awhile, but it never lasts. My life is more sorrow than it is happiness, Thamalys. Yet, I find when I am with you that my mind doesn’t cling to the sorrows that haunt me, but find a freedom from it all. I assume this is something similar to the feeling you get with the Black hibernating in my presence.” Returning to sipping at her tea the Genasi added, “The past is the past, it is what has shaped us into who we are now, but is not something to dwell on for it won’t guide us into the future, only hold us back.”


Thamalys listened in perfect silence throughout the whole speech of the Wintry Lady. “So much sorrow, in both of us…” eventually whispered the Blue in an undertone, looking away from her. “But you are right - while we will never be able to forget where we came from, we should be looking ahead. For the Guild, for… us”. And with that, the Spellblade raised, swiftly pacing toward the bookshelf. Up high within his papery collection, he fetched a massive tome, which the opened, producing from it a slender knife, black as a moonless night. A matter of a few moments, and the Winged Beast was seated once more at the side of the Icy One. He did not say a word, but with infinite care he would have poked her chin to lift her face and look him in the eyes. Blue against blue - utter perfection. The knife ended up soon after into his right hand, while his left would have clutched her elbow, her whole forearm - the one still missing a hand - pressed against part of his. A soft litany would have filled the air, then, while the icy-shaped branches tattooed on the Spellblade’s skin would have blazed with an ominous blueish glare. With absolute precision, the ink on his forearm, by then positively ablaze, would have started to carve an equally blue path into the flesh of the Genasi, - if she would have allowed such a thing. She was immune to pain, sure, but still… “Blood for blood… Sister”, he would have claimed, his voice steady as a brick wall, while the ink would have kept painting the exact replica of the icy-shaped motifs covering the whole of the Blue. He would not let go, tiny droplets of flaming blood spilling on her skin, some finding their way into the newborn tattoo. Shards of memories that did not belong to one or the other flashed into their minds, right after, eventually, the Blue stopped singing. On the Wintry Lady’s forearm, a sizzling, if rather exquisite mark - of brotherhood, never to be tainted.


Emilia could not agree more that the two of them in their own right shared more sorrows than most, but that the only way to look was forward not backward. The past could not be changed. Only the future by each action taken opening a world of opportunities to continue picking from. As he stood the Genasi finished the minty tea he had made her while watching him grab one of the many tombs within his collection and a knife. A curious look across those frozen features wondering what it was the Blue was up to this time. He vast knowledge of the world from the books he read atop his own life lessons never ceased to amaze the Healer. Blue gaze locked upon Blue gaze as the Icyone sat perfectly still, never flinching as he took ahold of her with those ivy blue inks flaming alive. She trusted him like she trusted no other, even in this moment where she was unsure what he was up to. It was a unique experience to say the least. Flashes of things danced in her mind before fading out once more. There was no pain that much the Genasi could agree as she had long lost the feelings. As his voice stopped she finally broke her gaze from his to stare down at her forearm, at the mark left in the wake of the blue flames from the Blue’s flesh. Finally she spoke, “I don’t fully understand?” She half questioned what had just happened.


Thamalys smiled - well, sort of; as much as an Avian would, which is nothing spectacular, but still. “My Brother and I, we shared this gift of ours. It is only fit that, if I really am to join this not-so-numerous family of yours, you would get to taste the magic I carry with me. There is one more thing, though…” added the Spellblade while offering the black knife to her and standing, towering one step away from table, facing the wall. The Winged Beast unfurled his wings - if not fully, that much he needed to expose the inner layers of those metallic feathers. Artia’s magic run deep into them - almost nothing could tear them apart. “That blade would, though. Cut one, would you? And keep it with you - my brother did the same, even hough my wings looked quite different at the time… by the Wind, it is painful to think of those days. Do it, Emilia the Ever-White, and you will be calling me Brother from then on - if you so wish.”


Emilia held the blade in her hand, carefully examining it while she listened to him speak. The avian way of things, or perhaps just his brother and his way, were different from anything that she had seen before. Slowly standing the little icyone made her way over to him where the wings unfurls and were exposed as he readied himself to have one cut free of his body. It was with an icy touch the Genasi pushed forth a cooling, numbing wave to the wings before with as much grace as she could with the black removed one of those metal coated feathers from his wing. As she finished the Healer, if allowed, would fill the void space with her chilling touch. It was with an effort that Em tapped into the magic presently flowing to create a feather made of the very element that seeped from the Genasi to take its place, a frozen ice feather amidst the metal coated ones. Stepped back from the newest, if only member of her family, the Healer off the blade back to the other, “Brother and Sister we will take on this world one troublesome adventure after another.”


Thamalys felt the chill spreading through his wing - a bizarre feeling. Avian’s wings are strange marvels, rarely touched at all by any other creature. And yet, the Blue welcome that frosty touch - his Sister’s touch. Sven, it sounded so odd - he’d have had to get used to it, even though they had only consolidate a mutual feeling that was lingering upon them for a long time indeed. He folded his wings, acutely aware of the icy addition within them - it seemed fair to him, righteous, even. “And so we will…” agreed the Blue turning around and taking back the black blade, nodding rather solemnly before hiding it again in the bookshelf. He felt different - as if the Not-Lost naming the Genasi gifted to him a long time ago only now fit into place. “Even I, feel like we should celebrate this particular occasion. However, let me take care of these pesky shards first, will ya? You may seal this very first our as Brother and Sister by telling me what in the name of the Wind you managed to accomplish by smashing through the window…” and with that, the Blue took a sit, reading himself for a well-deserved moment of quiet. He knew somebody would have soon called on him - and most likely, on the Wintry Lady as well! - but he did not want that powerful feeling to be overshadowed by anything else, not yet. Brotherhood: he kept repeating to himself, as if an ancient mantra filling him with a new strength.


Emilia watched as he moved to tuck away the blade back into its home space upon the bookshelf once more. It was with a soft smile on frosted blue lips that the Genasi had to chuckle now thinking back to moments ago this very day where she crashed through a window landing on the second floor. A time of great blood loss that may have made her a bit dilliosional enough to ask such a large question out of the blue. Tracing the finger over the feather there was a knock of the door, a small voice asking for the Genasi. “It seems I am being summoned away, but later I will show you exactly what caused me to go falling through a window that now must be replaced. I find it would be much easier to show you than to try and explain it. I think you will rather enjoy the new trick I learned. Take care, Brother.” The word sounded exotic on her tongue as she used it, like it was previously a taboo word. A smile, a wave, and the Healer was out of the door to tend to the newest matter at hand beckoning her away.