RP:Messenger Pixie

Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc

Summary: Kovl sneaks into Frostmaw Fort to tell Josleen that Hildegarde is coming to rescue her. Josleen writes three letters and sends them back with Kovl.

Holding Cell, Frostmaw Fort

Since her capture, Josleen, POW, hasn't been sleeping very well. A cat nap here and a cat nap there keep her sane, but the cell is cold and clammy, the floor stoney and bare, and the cot ripped and unusable. No sun or moon filters into the windowless room. She sits with her back in a corner, legs drawn up to her chest defensively, gaze distant. Dirty clings to her flesh and clothes, and her hair glistens with unwash and nervous, cold sweat. She stares at the jail entrance and fantasizes a roster of heroes barging through to her rescue: Kelovath, Hildegarde, Kovl, Kelovath, Linn, Hildegarde, Kelovath, and even, grudgingly, Orikahn, who she distrusts but whose aid she'd accept if he offered it now. And of course, in case anyone missed it, Kelovath. That particular fantasy offering more escapism than the others, layered with nascent and intense romantic feelings that distract her from the bleak lack of romance in her environment. It's nightfall again. She hasn't eaten in 24 hours. Where is Kovl? Has he abandoned her or sent for help?

Kovl takes a sharp breath when he sees Josleen, huddled in the corner of the jail cell in obvious distress. He zips to Josleen's side"Thank Xalious! You're alive." It took the pixie a few hours to arrive at the fort he left hurriedly the night before, evade the paths of sentries while invisible, and find Josleen's cell. Luckily, Hildegarde finally gave her blessing to scout the locations and routines of those set to guard Balgruuf's outpost. But this isn't Kovl's primary concern. Josleen's well-being is. The pixie's invisible form now hangs above Josleen, and his ears are keen to any threatening noises that may come from down the hall. "I'm so glad you're okay," he whispers.

Josleen jerks out of her fantasy at the familiar and tiny sound of Kovl's voice. "Kovl?" She hisses in surprise. What does he mean he's thankful she's alive? Didn't he know? Whispering, she says, "Of course I'm alive.. But I don't think they plan on keeping me that way. Kovl." She grimaces as she tries her best not to sound too frustrated with him. "Kovl, where have you been?" She gently cups her hand around the source of his voice to scoop his invisible body and feel his presence, make sure it's real. "Do you have a plan? To escape?"

Kovl watches as Josleen reaches out to touch him, uncertain of her intentions. The pixie's memory of the previous morning is nonexistant except for scattered bits and pieces. He gently touches Josleen's thumb but wisely stays out of her cupped hand. Her question to him tears at his heart. Where -was- he? "Hildegarde is on the way to save you." Kovl's voice cracks at the word 'save'. "I was separated, Jos. I could not help you." The pixie's summary is self-serving and vague. How is Kovl supposed to declare his failure as a protector by resorting to his vice. "But I'm bringing Hildegarde to help you," he repeats.

Josleen nods at Kovl's explanation for her faith in him remains intact. "Thank you telling her as soon as you could." Perhaps not quite the truth, but her assumptions are based on the trust she has for him. The Silver is coming, and Josleen's spirits lift considerably. Perhaps she will make it out of here yet. "How did she react when you told her? Angry, I imagine. Rightfully so." Her thoughts drift before she hears his reply. She thinks on what Hildegarde would be charging into. Sure, she's a dragon, but an army of giants holed up inside a fort awaits her. Sure the army has taken a wallopping. Still, dragon v. fortified army of giants isn't as neat a ratio in Hildegarde's favor as Josleen would want. Her heart races as she thinks of the danger her friend will be flying into. "Kovl, do you have pen and paper in your bag? I need to write letters." And a will, should the worst happen. "Quickly, before the guard returns."

Kovl can see Josleen's spirits lift, and he feels a wave of warmth rush over his body. She doesn't hate him! However, deep down, he knows it's because she doesn't know what happened yet. Kovl hopes she never asks for details. "Hildegarde was angry. But she also called us the bravest fools she knows." In response to the request by Josleen for a pen and paper, Kovl provides her instead a paintbrush, complete with black paint and shoes he stole from less-than-likeable residents in Xalious. "You can write on the soles if needed. I don't have pen and paper. I really should carry those more often." But no mention on how Kovl shouldn't be carrying shoes? Pixies are odd.

Josleen wrinkles her nose at the shoes and shakes her head. She has to write more letters than there are shoes, and the seriousness of the letters requires something a little more dignified, even if only just. “There must be quill and paper somewhere in this fort.” Certainly not in the jail. Giants don’t particularly value archiving. “I wonder where they put my purse…” Her memory scans the fort for were paper may be kept. The healer’s ward has a log of supplies, and possibly Balgruuf’s stores accounts for his mercantile business in his chambers. Worst case scenario, writing on bandage gauze is somewhat more respectable than the soles of shoes. She fidgets with the anklet the giants put on her. It stops magical spells from affecting her, intended to disrupt any more illusions. “Kovl, could you scout the fort for paper and quill? There must be some somewhere. If you don’t find any, perhaps bandages could work.”

Kovl nods to Josleen, forgetting for a moment that she cannot see his gesture of affirmation. The pixie realizes the absurdity of offering a paintbrush and a few shoes for writing purposes as Josleen raises her request, but it is all he has, and in Enchantment, where he is from, many of his siblings, at least, may have taken his offer as is. "Of course!" The enthusiasm in his voice is fueled by his desire to appease the guilt of leaving her. Over the next half of an hour, Kovl scours the medical tent, any rooms that appear as offices, and finally the kitchen before appearing again. Without announcing his invisible self, a quill, complete with ink and parchment appears from his invisible bag beside Josleen. A fourth item appears: a large chunk of bread. "You looked hungry. Just eat it before the guards come," Kovl's voice finally is heard.

Josleen sits tensely the entire time Kovl is gone. He’s unlikely to get caught, but what if? When he returns she sighs with relief, belatedly smiling though it feels odd to smile under the circumstances. The expression is short lived. “Thanks, Kovl.” She breaks off a piece of bread and takes a small bite. Although she is hungry, she is impatient to write the letters. She starts with the one to addressed to Hildegarde. The quill moves slow. The wordsmith bard struggles to find the appropriate words for this situation. ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t cut it, though it’s a decent enough place to start. As she writes, her shoulders lift and curve inwardly to shield the letter from Kovl’s view. Her posture asks for privacy. By the time she’s finished the letter to Hildegarde her eyes are watery and nose is stuffy. She sniffles and occasionally sobs throughout the process. After Hildegarde’s letter she writes one to her parents, this one including instructions for what to do should the worst come to pass. Writing a will summons a new emotion that Josleen has never felt before, and it constricts and coils in her chest tightly. It’s more than just a fear of death, this dread she feels, but it’s layered with the new experience of planning for that death. She’s too young for this. The final letter is addressed to Kelovath. It takes the longest to write despite being the shortest letter. To Hildegarde and her parents, Josleen can speak freely for she is secure in her standing with them, secure in their love for her. But with Kelovath, everything is new, unconfessed (if it even exists at all), and to bare her soul feels especially vulnerable. She doesn’t want to write anything that she’ll regret should she survive this imprisonment. Once the letters are written she folds them in thirds and hands the first two to Kovl. She whispers preternaturally low and right in his ear with her bardic gifts. “Take these to Hildegarde, please. One is for her, and the second is addressed to my parents, but give it to Hildegarde. I’ve asked her to deliver it to them should the worst happen to me, but if I survive, then I don’t want to worry them needlessly.” She holds the third letter up. “This one is for a paladin of Arkhen named Kelovath. He should be at Hildegarde’s camp. He wears golden armor. Please give this to him directly.”

Kovl floats to the bars of the cell and reclines and Josleen eats and writes her letters with a level of emotion that causes a head tilt as he ponders what she could possibly be writing. The pixie leans back on the bars, scanning the hallway leading to the cell for any signs of life. Nothing. Josleen is safe for now. As the bard folds the papers into thirds, the pixie moves toward Josleen, verbally affirming that he will deliver the letters to the appropriate destinations. "Don't worry, Josleen. I will take care of it. But, I'm afraid I cannot stay much longer. Hildegarde requests my presence at her camp before we come in . If I could, I'd break you out now, but those stupid shamen thought too far ahead. Farther ahead than I'd assume they'd think." The three unsealed letters shrink quickly and disappear from sight as Kovl puts them into his satchel. "Will you be okay? Is there anything else you need before I go?"

Josleen shakes her head and smiles softly to her tiny pixie friend. “I’ll be okay,” she says without believing herself. “Thank you for everything, Kovl. You’re a good friend.” She lifts a hand near him for him to take or pat, some touch goodbye. “Should the worst happen, just know that I love you like family. But it won’t, right? You and Hildegarde, you’ll make sure of it.”

Kovl senses the emotion in Josleen's voice as she attempts to assure Kovl that she will be alright. For a split second, he becomes paranoid that Josleen is trying to rid herself of him because she doesn't trust him. However, the rest of Josleen's goodbye assures him that she has a limited idea of what happened, if any, just as Kovl. He flies forward to touch Josleen's hand. "I will see you soon. Don't worry. And eat." He looks at the unfinished bread he left by her earlier. The pixie leaves, taking the quill, parchment, and ink as to not give hint to the giants he has been there. As Kovl leaves, he makes a round about the fort, noting where sentries are placed in the base and their rough capacity for battle. As invisible Kovl finishes his round, he departs, finding a concealed area to satisfy a bit of paranoia and curiosity. What did Josleen say about him in the letter? Does she suspect he was on drugs when he left her? Does she think he betrayed her? After a quick skimming of the letter, Kovl realizes that if Josleen has any clue about his negligance, it is not in this letter. Having read, he makes his way to the camp in the frozen pass, looking for Kelovath without success. The pixie plans to rescue Josleen within the next couple of days; is traveling outside of Frostmaw worth giving him the letter? The pixie, again, breaches Josleen's privacy and reads Kelovath's letter this time. No. The letter is not worth delivering, but it does pique the pixie's curiosity. Who is Kelovath anyway? Having read two of the three letters Josleen wrote, the pixie decides he has already violated his friend's confidence, so why not read the third addressed to her parents? This letter is deeply person... written as a will in the case of her death. The pixie's eyes widen. A line catches his eye. Josleen is requesting that her father help Kovl along in the Mage's Guild. A pang of guilt and of... joy? fills Kovl. Hopefully this letter will never need to be delivered, but now the pixie knows Josleen still cares about him, regardless of his failure. Kovl travels quickly to the place Hildegarde agreed to meet him, gives her the two letters Josleen designated to give her, and pockets the letter to Kelovath. That one will have to wait to be given to its recipient. The pixie relays the information learned from his short visit to Hildegarde and prepare themselves for a rescue.