RP:Gotta Have Faith

Part of the Sharknado Arc

Summary: A few hours have passed since the attack of the elemental spectrals at sea, and Lanara is nursing her wounds and her worries with a bottle of ale in her cabin. The leader invites Aira and Khitti to her private quarters, as she's craving the company of the two women that she considers to be close friends. Tomorrow, they all will be facing the unknown once they reach Twister Island, and a showdown with Crimson Cloak is unavoidable. Thinking the evening would be filled with light hearted talk and laughter, Lana is surprised to see the softer side of the paladin, as Khitti opens up about her past, her present, and what she believes could be a faithless future. Aira and Lana listen to their friend, and offer encouraging advice, in hopes to raise her spirits, along with the bottles of liquor they are all chugging.

Lanara :: It’s the middle of the night, and they are about three quarters of the way to their destination. Having been at sea for nearly twenty-four hours had taken its toll on the crew, and those that weren’t slumbering in their cabins, were nursing a bottle of rum, vomiting over the side of the ship, or checking in on those that were injured during the battle with the elemental assailants. Their leader sits atop her bed, tying a bandage over her freshly sewn thigh, wearing nothing more than an oversized flannel shirt, undergarments, and a scowl. This was –not- how she imagined the start of their journey to Twister Island, though she’s grateful that Aira, Khitti, Elioyahazer, Scandal, and Diin, all had rushed to defend the boat and its inhabitants. Directly after the battle, Lana had worked with Sebastian to repair the sails, and then she had given a brief memorial service for the fallen, which were placed upon small rafts, and sent out to see. It was the best she could do, given the circumstances, and she needed some time to herself, to clean up, tend to her wounds, and check up on Circinus. The mastiff lifts his head at the knock upon the door, and she slides from the bed, limping over to see who had arrived. She had sent word to Khitti and Aira to meet her when they had finished taking their meal, as it would do the witch some good to spend a few hours with two women that she considered to be close friends.

Khitti || It took some time before Khitti could muster up the gumption to go see either woman. She felt guilty for the chaos at Lanara’s birthday party, and even moreso for the fact that Aira’d been left hanging practically since the meeting between her, Khitti, and Meri to plan on how they’d go about catching the werewolf that bit Meri. It really hadn’t taken that long for Khitti to get rescued, but she really just… could not with the peopling after that ordeal. Her wounds are tended to with her own supplies--things given to her by Meri from Callum’s own garden--as she attempted to calm her nerves, the soothing mint smell from the herbal healing salve helping a little. Once her cuts and scrapes were dealt with, she’d let out one final sigh before heading towards Lanara’s room, completely forgoing food for now. Booted feet brought the leather-clad redhead to the other guild leader’s door, hesitation evident before she finally knocked. “Lanara…?” Not much eye contact would be made when the door was answered, though Khitti did manage a faint smile for the witch. “Hey… how’s your leg?,” she said as she moved into the room when allowed to do so.

Aira begrudgingly had followed Sebastian’s directive after the elemental spectrals had disappeared and gotten her wrist tended to before heading down to her own room. She had tossed and turned all the while Lanara had been fixing the sails and Khitti sorted out her own wounds. After some restless dozing, the huntress threw back the blankets and tugged on an oversized shirt, the buttons done up haphazardly, a pair of denim shorts, and her ankle boots which she left untied. Up to the deck she went and, without so much as a word to anyone else, climbed up to the crow’s nest in order to have a better look. Although she knew the attack had nothing to do with her lack of preparedness, there was something about being the navigator of the fleet of ships and losing some in battle that made Aira feel guilty. Forearms rest upon the side of the nest as her blonde hair whips around her face in the wind, metallic eyes watching the calm waves and clear horizon. “Hey Kid,” Sebastian calls up to the foxkin affectionately, a boyish grin on his face. Aira turns her head down at him and scowls at the nickname he had used since they were children. “What?” she retorts. “Lanara wants to see you in her room.” Without so much as a ‘thanks for the message’, the navigator gives another cursory glance at the water before grabbing hold of a rope and, despite her splinted wrist, sliding down. She arrives several minutes after Khitti does and raps her knuckles against the door. “You wanted to see me, Cap’n?”

Lanara swings the door open, heavily favoring her left side, as she aims to make eye contact with the redhead. Khitti hadn’t been herself lately, and the witch wasn’t immune to the fact that the woman seemed distant, distracted, and of course, the follow up abduction likely only magnified things. She had been thinking about her friend since the incident at her surprise birthday party, and though Taly and Lana had sent a search party to look for Khitti, all of their leads went unfounded. It was as though she had vanished in thin air. Meri, Krice, and Eli, all had followed in hot pursuit, too, though Lana wasn’t sure just who had rescued the redhead. All that mattered was that she was here now, and that she appeared physically whole. But at what cost? The faint smile is mirrored, as her full lips slightly curve upwards, and she pulls Khitti in for a quick one armed hug. “Thank you for being such a badass out there today. My leg is alright. Before bed I will work some magic, and I’ll be good as new by morning.” It would be dawn in a few short hours, and it’s unlikely that the witch will get a moment of sleep, though she’s not too concerned, at least not about herself. “How are you doing, Khitti? I haven’t seen you since…” The kidnapping. “Are you alright?” What happened? “If you ever need to talk… I’m all tapered ears.” The smile that ensues is a genuine one, as her words are sincere. She’d back the paladin, always. Lana closes the door, only to earn a second set of knocks, and she smiles as she takes in the sight of the platinum blonde. “Hey! Thank you for manning the ship so flawlessly, Aira. You really are the most skilled woman I’ve ever met, and I know being near Rynvale is bringing you nightmares... How is your wrist holding up?” Knowing how the vixen despises affection, she deliberately pulls her in for a half hug, before the door is closed, firmly. She wasn’t expecting anyone else this evening, though it was possible that Eli would pop in to check on her, or wonder where his shirt had gone. A small table is in the center of the room, with a few chairs surrounding it, and a platter of cheese, crackers, and grapes, rest in the center. Several bottles of various types of ale are scattered around the room, as though the witch figured they’d all need a drink… Or several. Lana sits at the table, crosses her bare legs, and looks from Aira to Khitti, and sighs heavily, before breaking the silence. “I didn’t call either of you here for any particular reason… I just figured that we’re all fighting our own demons lately, and that we could use a breather. So, we can eat, drink, and chat, try to clear our heads.”

Khitti accepted the hug and almost didn’t hug Lanara back, though it was through no fault of the witch’s. But, she did get a return squeeze before she was released and her question answered and more were asked of her. “That’s good. Just… take it easy, though, okay?” She was mentally grasping for straws on how to avoid the mention of the kidnapping, but eventually came up with nothing. “I’m fine. I--” Thankfully, she was saved by the vixen and her knock and Khitti was quick to not let the subject continue, at least for now. She’d let the other two speak as she took a seat at the table and eyed the food and drink that sat there for the three of them. “Heh… I’ve been fighting my own demons since I was a teen, so this isn’t much different.” It wasn’t, unfortunately. History always repeated itself with her. Always. After plucking up a bit of cheese and popping it into her mouth, she resumed her eyeing of the bottles. She needed something strong, but also wanted something to burn away the apologies that were constantly threatening to come out of her mouth. Khitti finally settled on a rather potent bottle of peppermint schnapps, uncorked it, and didn’t even bother with a glass as she took a long swig of the minty drink.

Aira doesn’t exactly frown when Lanara thanks her for manning the ship during the attack but she doesn’t smile either. Instead, her expression seems impassive. In her mind, to admit her guilty feelings would be to make herself vulnerable, and while Lanara and Khitti are two people on her short list of friends, it’s still something she avoids at all costs. At the mention of her nightmares surrounding Rynvale she does scowl because she does not like talking about her past. The question on the state of her wrist is waved off, but the half hug is meant with a grunt of disapproval. She knew Lana liked affection so she tolerated it with a pat to the witch’s head. She shuffles over to the table and kicks out a chair, throwing herself into it as she grabs a vine of grapes from the platter. Let’s just say fruit was not a staple in a murder kitty’s diet so this was a welcome treat. Likewise, a bottle of brandy is swiped and, like her redheaded counterpart, a glass is foregone. Khitti’s comment about demons is met with a meaningful point as she takes a gulp of amber liquid from her bottle. “I hate being near this damned island,” she grumbles with a grimace.

Lanara tosses a grape to the floor for Circinus, and rather than gobble it up, the massive canine bats at it with his paws and nudges it with his nose. He’s entranced as it rolls along the floorboards, with him crawling on his belly to repeat the process over and over. He’d be entertained for hours, and this makes the witch grin, as he was somewhat traumatized when she discovered him whimpering beneath the bed a few hours earlier. Despite his menacing looks, he was a gentle giant, and though he was an excellent tracker, he was poor in offering protection. As Khitti selects the minty ale and Aira the brandy, Lana plucks a bottle of whiskey, the perfect soothing burn to end this chaotic day. Seeing as they had forgone a glass, the witch gives a small shrug, and takes a long pull straight from the lip of the bottle. It’s rare that she forgets her etiquette lessons from her youth, but after the day, the month, hell, the year they’ve all had, it seems fitting. Khitti is the first to speak, and those chocolate hues rest on the woman’s face, sensing there was a story there, though not entirely sure how to ask about it. She didn’t want to offend the redhead, but she would push ever so slightly, to discuss ones past. “Khitti… I never asked this, but… I know you said that you were a vampire, in the past? Were you born one, or were you turned at some point?” Aira’s actions are observed as she plucks a vine of grapes from the table, and Lana can’t resist a little taunting, “Have you built a bed or furniture yet, with Kahn? I know that you were working on domesticating him and such… And… If you’re that uncomfortable being here, I can brew you a glamour potion. Would you like that?”

Khitti || “Turned,” Khitti said after a moment, olive-green eyes shifting briefly towards Aira, “By someone I’d rather not speak about.” Aira knew, of course, who that person was, but the name brought a bitterness to Khitti’s tongue and nausea to her stomach that not even a healer’s medicine could quell. “That… actually only happened a couple years ago. I was a vampire for about a year and a half. I hadn’t thought about it then… the fact that I’d want a family. It didn’t seem like it was even in the cards at all--even -after- I met Brand.” A brief laugh passed between unpainted lips before another drink was taken and her attention settled on the guild’s mascot. He certainly was adorable. “The reason why I was turned is… a bit of a story.” The wounds had been reopened again, just after she’d thought she’d closed them, and now more had been added just recently. Wounds that would take a long time to heal. The mention of domesticating Kahn was blinked at a few times, “Is… domesticating him even -possible-?” There’s a slight frown at the mention of the glamour potion, in connection with Rynvale. “In hindsight, I think I needed one of those for your party, heh.”

Aira is perfectly fine with Khitti being the subject of conversation for the time being, and the huntress tilts back in her chair so that the front legs lift from the ground as she nips a grape off the vine. She would continue to eat and drink as Khitti responded to Lanara’s inquiries before another scowl is thrown in the latter’s direction. Despite this, the look the redhead throws her way is not lost on the navigator. She knew exactly who she was referring to, and likewise, speaking the name left an unpleasant taste in her mouth. At the mention of Orikahn an exasperated huff is exhaled and she allows her chair to fall forward with a thunk. “As if that oversized house cat could be domesticated, hmph! He wasn’t even around to help prepare the lodge for winter.” Aira glares angrily across the room, apparently her ire at the prime hunter’s absence hadn’t tempered quite yet. Yet, the vixen’s expression softens at the witch’s offer of a glamour and her vulpine tail gives an idle twitch, brushing against Lana’s bare shins. “I’ll be alright, thank you though.” Aira is unaware of Khitti’s kidnapping as she was not in attendance to the event and was properly stationed up in Frostmaw where gossip was hard to come by in the middle of the blustery woods. As Aira reaches towards the center of the table to nab a piece a cheese off the platter, a rare grin splays across her lips as she turns her face in Khitti’s direction. “Who would have thought, years ago, we’d be sitting here breaking bread and sharing conversation?”

Lanara focuses her attention on Khitti’s words, ignoring the fact that her sire went unnamed. It wasn’t all that important, as the woman was no longer a vampire, and if it made her uncomfortable, she wouldn’t pry. She simply accepts the answer with a curt nod, though she does tilt her head to the side, another inquiry on her lips, “Why were you turned? Was it something you asked to have done… Or were you gravely injured and it was your last resort?” The witch is naïve in some areas, though she can’t imagine wanting a life where one would have to drink blood, and relish in darkness. Lana was a daughter of the moon, true, though she was always on the lighter side of the spectrum, and her question is asked out of morbid curiosity, not intending to offend Khitti. While her question hands in the air, Circinus interrupts their thoughts with a single yip, as his paw squashes the grape and it ceases rolling. Another is tossed his way, to keep him occupied, while the women drown in their sorrows and chat. Finally, there’s an opening in which she wouldn’t be viewed as a busybody and Lana clears her throat, to feed off of Khitti’s latest statement. “So. Um. Now that you’re truly back, and I’m so happy to see that you’re alright… Exactly… What happened at my birthday party? I mean you don’t have to get into the details if you don’t want to, but… Is everything okay? Who were those men?” Lifting the bottle, as though it were her strength for dishing out the loaded questions, she takes another mouthful, nearly spitting it out, as Aira’s tail tickles her bare legs. A knowing grin is given to the vixen, as she had dated a feral lycan in the past, “He’ll learn. Just keep dropping hints, and giving ultimatums. Sooner or later, he’ll realize who wears the pants. And we all know… The woman is –always- right!” Lana smirks, thinking back to her own newfound lover, who just happened to be on deck at the moment. Eli hadn’t come with an instruction manual, either, but things were going smoothly.

Khitti tilted her head at Aira’s anger towards Orikahn and actually managed a genuine, albeit faint smile at the thought. “Sounds like he’s got as many onion-y layers as Brand had.” Pause. “Has. He’s still definitely got them.” Khitti shook her head, then continued, ”Look, you just gotta sit him down and tell him that this needs to be talked about. Him leaving without saying anything isn’t cool. And if he gets fighty and bitey, then you just give him a nice right hook.” The redhead shrugged, “Works on Brand, anyway.” She realizes after her thought’s spewed out that this sounds like she just beat up Brand all the time, but just continues anyway with the conversation. “And yeah. Who’d’ve thought.” That smile of hers faded once things shifted back to the topic of her distant past, and then the most recent. “Um.” Oi. Where to start? “When I was fourteen… a necromancer… a mind flayer, showed up in the village I grew up in, in Dhavislaav. He wasn’t exactly present until later on, but a horde of undead was unleashed on everyone there. No one survived, but me and a couple others my age, including my twin, Lydia. The others and Lydia, they didn’t make it past the first couple of nights. The necromancers realized they weren’t who they were looking for, so they tore them apart and stitched them all back together.” Khitti mulled over her own words a bit, then shrugged, “To make a long story perhaps a bit more confusing, all of that was apparently prophesized by people in the Shadow Plane. They were looking for someone to fuse with the soul of a being from the Shadow Plane--and it just so happened to be me. I dealt with the mess eventually. Escaped. Went for help. But, because magic was forbidden in my homeland, and I was now in possession of the worst kind of it--in their opinion anyway--so they banished me. They almost burned me instead.” She eyed Lanara for a moment before looking down at her bottle, contemplating chugging the rest of it. Khitti doesn’t, though, thankfully, “Which is why I said before that I understand what you witches have been and are going through.” Sigh. “Jump to me coming to Lithrydel finally after a long time of wandering. When I get here, things take a turn for the worse and the dark magic started eating away at me. It was too potent. Too pure. So… I chose to become a vampire instead. That’s not even the full story, but… yeah.” Khitti paused again, then shrugged, “And, it was Gabriel that took me. Well, not him. It was his people.”

Aira arches her brow curiously as Lanara inquires about Khitti’s…whatever at the former’s birthday party. She had received an invitation to the event from the witch’s sister, but parties were never really her thing, not since she was forced to attend balls and galas growing up in Rynvale. The redhead’s explanation on how to handle Kahn is met with a bark of laughter; she wasn’t sure she could physically overcome the tiger but, “I nearly threw a knife at him when he finally showed up,” she says nonchalantly with a shrug as if this was normal couple behavior. Lana is granted a side eye and a swift kick with her booted foot under the table. You couldn’t -ask- people these sorts of personal questions, especially in the company of other people! Still, Khitti seems willing to share, perhaps reluctantly, the vague details of her past which brought her to vampirism and her apparent capture at Lanara’s birthday festivities. Aira listens to it all, barely a breath leaving her lips, the only movement from atop her head where her vulpine ears flatten. She is not good with this sort of thing so for a moment she merely finds comfort in her bottle of brandy, savoring the blooming burn in her throat as she drinks. Eventually, when the silence seems to stretch uncomfortably, the navigator clears her throat and rubs the back of her neck looking clearly uncomfortable. “Ah..sorry ‘bout all of that. You’ve…clearly had a rough go of it” Her copper eyes flick to Lanara before she sighs, her shoulders sagging as she does so. She wasn’t good at this type of stuff, she never really had friends up until recently.

Lanara is still, her expression unreadable, as she absorbs every word that rolls off of Khitti’s tongue. The woman had been through some horrible experiences, spawning from her youth, and bringing her to today’s adventures, which were, also, rather hellish. “You had a twin? Were you identical?” Perhaps, there were somewhat happier memories regarding Khitti’s sister, Lydia? Sadly, the witch learns in a later statement that she was ‘torn up and then stitched back together’ which is so appalling, that Lana stares at the redhead, her eyes as wide as saucers. “Good Goddess… I’m so sorry to hear that! I don’t know what I would do if anything like that happened to Taly…” It takes her a good minute to focus, as Khitti continues with her story, explaining that she was banished from her homeland, and that she later chose to become a vampire. Sometimes ones emotions become too consuming, and death is the –only- viable option. Lanara understands this entirely, and so she rapidly bobs her head up and down, as she knew what it was like to be cast from society, constantly look over your shoulder, and to die and be reborn. It seems she has quite a bit in common with Khitti, and one day she hopes to open up in turn, though she’s here to listen to her friends at this moment, and wouldn’t discuss her own past, unless asked. “So… Is Gabriel a good guy, or a bad guy? He sent others to retrieve you… That could go either way.” Concern is etched into Lana’s fair face, and she extends her hand to gently give Khitti’s hand a squeeze, hoping to offer some support. It’s then that the kick is delivered to her shin, and she nips her lower lip to keep from shouting, the last thing she needed was one of the sailor’s barging in on the trio, drinking from bottles, with Lana half-clothed, and a dog rolling around grapes. They made an odd circle of friends that was for sure! The fact that they all are somewhat abusive of their partners has her cracking a grin, “I throat punched Sandman last week! He was arguing with his father and so I, uh, tried to intervene. It wasn’t all that satisfying, though I did get my point across!” Swirling the whiskey, she hesitates, before taking another pull from the bottle. They were facing sharks and storms in the morning, a hangover would be the least of their worries.

Khitti merely shrugged at their collective ‘I’m sorry’, “Eh. What’s that phrase? ‘Bad things happen to good people?’ Or sort of good people? Or whatever the hell I’d be considered nowadays.” Another shrug. “You kind of get used to it after awhile.” She shook her head at Lanara, “No. Not good. Worse even. It wasn’t him.” Khitti scratched the back of her head awkwardly, green eyes incapable of focusing on anything around the room that might comfort her somewhat, “It’s all… still pretty fresh… in my head. I really don’t…” Sigh. “I wanted the darkness back and I got it, Lanara. It was just not the way that I wanted it. It’s like what they tell you about some faefolk and things like genies and such. You need to be more specific, when you ask for things, or what you get isn’t going to end up the way you thought it would. Ask for a million gold? Well, that gold’s gotta come from somewhere.” That irritated that’d flared up during their encounter up top was making another appearance and Khitti quickly countered it with more schnapps. “There was no divine intervention. No help from any of the gods. Again.” Well, that explains Khitti’s lack of a prayer in front of everyone before this whole journey of theirs started. “Maybe the sacrifices I made weren’t enough.” She doubled back to Lanara’s questions about Lydia, “Yes. We were identical. But not enough apparently. Didn’t matter though because she was made useful later on by the person from the Shadow Plane that gave me the vampirism cure recipe. My sacrifices were enough then. Because I had to give Vakmathras my sister.” Khitti was still bitter about this and it showed, the minty liquor dug into again. “Sorry. It’s just… How am I supposed to help people see that all of the gods have their place in the world, but the gods can’t even manage to help -me-? The only reason I was even found was because Meri knew where to look. -That’s- not divine intervention at all. I just so happened to have people that’re used to this type of thing happening to me.” She frowned, peering over at the pupper on the floor, “The last time this happened to me, I didn’t feel like myself afterwards. Now I feel even less so and have a severe lack of faith…”

Aira is all too willing to have Lanara take the lead in this conversation. It’s not that the huntress isn’t empathetic to Khitti’s troubled past and present plights; however, she was not raised with love and care. So while she does feel for her redheaded friend, words and affections in these circumstances don’t come naturally to Aira. The huntress plucks another grape and pops it into her mouth, allowing Khitti to share her obvious frustration with the things that have been happening to her. The subject of sisters is a difficult one for the vixen to swallow; like the other two, she had a sister, perhaps the only member of her family who didn’t vehemently loathe Aira. Impulsively, her mind wanders to Ainya, the younger high elf so very close, living pretty in a mansion in Rynvale, yet so far from her reach. Aira drowns those memories of her sister with more brandy and she forces her eyes and concentration back to Khitti. Gods. Another subject that Aira was most uncomfortable with. She shifts uneasily in her chair and clicks her tongue to the roof of her mouth, inviting Circinus to her side so that she may bestow head pats and ear scratches on him.

Lanara feels a slight buzz from the whiskey, as she had downed a quarter of the bottle, and she was a real lightweight when it came to drinking. Still, she takes another large mouthful, swallowing hard, and biting back the burn that clings to her throat for several seconds. How could she respond to Khitti’s depressed state? The fiery haired paladin was always so full of life, a bit of a chatterbox, and throwing herself into adventures. This was not the woman that had come to the sanctuary with Meri for ballet lessons, nor was she the fierce songstress that wowed the crowd at the pig roast. The last time they had spoken, before the abduction and the fiasco on deck, was at Khitti’s bakery, and if Lana remembered correctly, the woman had been enjoying her solitude and a bottle, in a dark room. How could she not have noticed the decline? Feeling like she was a terrible friend, Lana grasps at straws to say something at least remotely enlightening, as Aira seemed to be growing uncomfortable with the emotional discussion. “Khitti… Just because we speak to the Gods, and we follow what we believe is the path that they want us to walk… It doesn’t mean they are obligated to make their presence known or felt. For the longest time, since I returned to the land of the living, I assumed that the Goddess had abandoned me. My magic was silenced, my skin was bare of any markings, and I just kept falling further into that abyss of despair. But… In time, I picked up my own pieces and glued myself back together, and –that- is when the Goddess returned my magic to me. Sometimes they don’t want us merely to sacrifice… They want to test our faith. To see how we turn things around, and to see that we are capable of being independent, without their guidance. And then, they return, and things fall back into place.” Her tone is gentle as she gives another squeeze to Khitti’s hand, while Circinus seeks comfort from Aira’s touch, resting his oversized head in her lap and staring up at her with adoration in his hazel eyes. “I think that it’s normal to question things, and to have moments where we feel we are being unheard. Those are the times that we have to rely on –ourselves- and not the higher powers. If you ask me…” She looks at both women now, a warm smile on her stained lips, “We are pretty freaking badass, with or without their backing. I mean… Seriously? Look at –all- we have accomplished!”

Khitti could practically feel that awkwardness radiating from Aira because of the things she’d said. She looked rather apologetic as she tried her best not to cry, accepting the gentle squeezes to her hand that Lanara offered, as well as her kind words. “I understand what you’re saying… and I empathize… but he took my soul, Lanara. Every day, that mind flayer fed from me… and took my soul, with that dagger I told you about. Doesn’t something like that warrant… something? Anything?” Khitti sighed and wiped at her eyes, “I’m sorry… this is why I hadn’t said anything to either of you after I was brought home. I’m even less fit to be around people than I was before this.” If she hadn’t admired the solitude Aira almost always partook in, Khitti certainly did now and was starting to crave it again. “I know you’ve been waiting on word for when we’re supposed to go after that wolf, Aira. I’m sorry to leave you hanging.” Khitti was rather much like the vixen in that she was able to hide as much of her feelings as possible; but now it was clear that Khitti was perhaps a little tipsy thanks to drinking her schnapps so fast and thus the reason for her outburst. “And I almost didn’t want to come here, Lanara… I didn’t want to be a burden to you all.” The last of Lanara’s words wasn’t lost on Khitti though, “Yeah, I guess so. It’s not like I’ve always believed in them… or even liked them.” She really wasn’t liking them now, to be honest, and it would probably take a bit before she would again.

Aira is content to stroke along the mastiff’s fur as Lanara does her best to assuage Khitti’s anxieties about faith and Gods and lost sisters and the Shadow Plane. The room seemed to be closing in on the huntress who tugs at the collar of her shirt before clearing her throat and pushing her chair away from the table, the legs screeching against the wooden floor. “Well, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, and as nice as this little break has been, I think it’s important for us to be well rested for whatever comes next.” While her words and sentiments were genuine, the navigator couldn’t deny that she was eager to draw fresh breath from this heavy conversation. “As for the wolf, don’t worry about it. So long as there haven’t been any new attacks, it can wait.” Aira pushes herself to the stand and moves towards the door, snagging her bottle of brandy before leaving the table. Her hand is on the knob when she suddenly pauses and turns back towards the two women. “Faith isn’t infallible. It’s not concrete. There are no rules. You are never going to be perfect in your god’s eyes and if you spend all your time trying to be that person, you’re going to lose yourself. And if you ask me, well, that’s what makes you amazing to your deity, your uniqueness and imperfections. How can you believe you don’t have a soul when you sit here with tears in your eyes, full of emotion? Your gods still there, they’re just making sure -you- still are.” Aira’s eyes widen in surprise at her own words, as if she’s stunned they’d fallen from her own lips. “Goodnight,” she says quite suddenly and finally takes her leave before any other nuggets of wisdom betray her grumbly exterior. Not wanting to be bothered for the remainder of the evening, Aira would retire, not to her room, but rather, make the climb back up into the crow’s nest where she would curl up with her bottle and fall asleep under the stars.

Lanara shakes her head, adamant about her next statement, as she gives a third squeeze to Khitti’s hand. “You are –not- a burden to me, or to anyone. You know what I see when I look at you? I see an asset to the Adventurer’s Guild. I see a leader of faith to your Guild, because even when faith is the –last- thing in your heart, you still give others hope, and they trust you. I see a close friend, a woman that I’ve come to know well, and that I’ve grown to love like a sister.” Lana pauses, before continuing, hoping her words are reaching Khitti. “Of course everyone views you as a mother to Dominic, the partner of Brand, and the pretty redhead that gets into trouble now and again… But aside from all of those things I mentioned? What I see the most in you? And I’m betting others do too… I see strength. I see someone that has surpassed all the evil things that life has thrown at her, and rather than dwell on all that you’ve lost… You set that crown straight, and you wore your pain, your sacrifices, your lessons, your past, everything… And you’ve –always- come out on top. You’re a damn warrior, and I won’t accept any other definition of you.” The loss of her soul was a hard pill to swallow, but there was always magic, and perhaps they could help her to get it back one day. Lana drops her appendage from Khitti’s, needing a moment to focus on her own thoughts. It had been a hell of a day, and there was far worse to come tomorrow. She wasn’t even sure how she managed to give such a powerful speech to the spiritualist, but every word she said was true. She wasn’t talking pretty to Khitti, she believed everything that was shared at the table. A look is given to Aira, as the chair screeches in protest, as the vixen prepares to leave. Circinus whines, leaving behind a puddle of drool on Aira’s shorts, before he wanders over to the bed and circles several times, before choose a spot to sleep for the night. Lana smiles at Aira, and wiggles her fingers in a parting wave, impressed that she was showing emotion for another, and offering words of encouragement. It was rare for Aira to show an inner piece of herself, though when she did, it was magnificent. “Yes, tomorrow will be trying, to say the least. Perhaps, it is best if we all retire? You’re both welcome to stay in my cabin, if you’d prefer.” It had been years since Lana had a slumber party. Though, as she looks towards the door, she finds that Aira has already headed up to the deck, so that leaves Khitti. “Are you doing alright?”

Khitti nodded a little, looking first from Aira, then to Lanara as they both spoke. She was going to elaborate that she did have her soul returned to her, but Aira’s sudden pearls of wisdom on things that Aira was clearly uncomfortable about caught Khitti off-guard. Red brows furrowed somewhat as the vixen headed off for some sleep and Lanara called Khitti back from the realm of astonishment with that final question. “I do have it again… my soul. I just feel rather empty otherwise. Mostly because this happened again. I had a feeling it would happen and I just let myself walk right into it without a care in the world.” Khitti sighed, “It’s hard to explain, but I guess it’s along the same lines of what you were feeling before, the last time we spoke.” She considered Lanara’s offer of sleeping in her cabin for a moment, then nodded, “If you’re sure, I think it would be best if I stay here.” There’d been no intention of harming herself or anything if she’d gone back to her own room, but that loneliness and uncertainty she felt was enough to swallow anyone whole. “Thank you, Lanara…”