[Training] a hundred bad days made a hundred good stories

KIADA i wish that i could say, i am a light that never goes out. “Ah, you know Hotaru?” Kiada chimes with a wicked grin crossing her face, some sort of glee overcoming her at the mention of the blonde woman. “She’s my aunt, you know.” She offers with a light hum of laughter before tilting her head. “She’s probably trying to implement those hot springs we loved so much.” A small shrug granted to that, before she’s sipping from her drink again and listening as the subject shifts toward Korbin – quietly eager to hear more about the boy. “Might have been more fun, at least.” Kiada offers with another huff of a laugh, before her iceberg gaze focuses on Weaver with a raise of her brow, that small smile remaining on her face… Until, well, she tells her that he’s actually Attuned. And wow, he might have been deaf but somehow Kiada doubts that meant he couldn’t have heard her through the Attuned bond. And then the smile falters as she recalls how much she’d shot down the bond that night, too tired and uncaring to leave it all under wraps when it was only him and her. “Oh, that bastard.” She offers, pursing her lips ever so slightly, trying to think of ways she could get back at him. Regardless, there’s a nod granted to the rest of what Weaver says, focusing on that instead of ways to get revenge on the other attuned as she takes another sip of her drink and flashes a softer smile toward Weaver. “Take advantage where you can. I’m certainly not complaining. It’ll make Deepfrost go by far faster when there’s good booze to drink.” Of course, Deimos might not approve of her ‘spring breaking’ here in Halo for the time being, but there were things he didn’t have to know, right? but i flicker from time to time.

WEAVER

”I helped her setup the spa.” Hotaru had also helped to set up the Kraai, but she decided not to mention that. Those that came to help had all belonged to the guild, which seemed to be less of a secret than she would have expected from a secret guild, so some things were best left unsaid. ”Anyone who wants to bring me some pampering in the middle of a Tundra is good in my book,” she says with a wink and a grin. ”Is she from the same place as you, I assume?”

Weaver just laughs as Kiada calls him a bastard. He was, in his way, though not in so many others. ”I take it he kept that a secret from you,” she says, rolling the drink in her hand slightly before taking another sip, musing over that little fact. ”I wouldn’t take it too personally. He hasn’t been in a sharing mood lately.” Maybe he’d just wanted to keep her out of his very dark head. It was the sort of place that would kill any mood pretty damn quick, so he might have been doing her a favor. Or maybe he was just being a bastard. Sometimes her and her brother were related, and he could be as terrible as she was.

”Exactly. Not much to do right about now besides train, fuck, and drink. Maybe I ought to add a training room to the Kraai, then all three could be in one place.” Her smirk is wicked, though the idea isn’t completely terrible. Well, except for the part where no one really needed to be drunk while training, though Weaver wouldn’t necessarily say no to that.

I was made to be wild, wicked, and free

KIADA i wish that i could say, i am a light that never goes out. “She is, yeah.” Kiada responds with a softer smile to that. “Though it’s more of… An adopted aunt, sort of situation. We’re not blood related.” She shrugs with that, taking a sip from her drink as she considers it. “Like Deimos and I.” Then, an almost sorrowful shift to the tone of her voice overcomes her, though it doesn’t match her eyes. Just, honesty, at its base element. “All but one of my blood relatives never came here.” But like she’d told Chulane – it is what it is, there’s nothing she can do about it now, no time to dwell or change or anything. So instead, she focuses on Weaver and the subject of Korbin, calling him a bastard to Weaver’s own laughter. “He did keep it a secret.” She almost mutters, taking a bigger sip of the drink, the blush crossing over her face the more she thinks on what she’d sent down, quietly growing more annoyed at the fact he had pretended he was unaware. But that’s beside the point, she supposes. Her attention remains on Weaver and the wicked smirk that crosses her face, a chime of laughter overcoming and masking her annoyance – at least for the time. “Oh I certainly wouldn’t complain with that.” She offers, lifting her drink with an equally wicked smirk, before it falls in a barrage of snickering. but i flicker from time to time.

WEAVER

Weaver shrugs at the mention of not being blood related. ”In my experience, blood is not always the strongest connector.” Her family had been close, and she and Korbin still were, but they were technically only half-siblings. Weaver was the product of an affair, one that John didn’t seem to mind. Or maybe he did mind, but he never let Weaver know. He’d loved her as much as he’d loved his own sons, and cared for her as if she’d been his. Besides, sometimes the family that you get to choose, the ones that slip into your life with no reason to stick around, are the strongest bonds you will forge.

At the mention of all but one blood relative, Weaver doesn’t offer a ‘sorry’. It doesn’t feel useful here, given how many of the Outlanders lost their lives and loved ones when they were thrown into Caido. Weaver’s ‘sorry’ couldn’t undo that. ”Tell me about your family?” It is a question, one that allows Kiada to say yes or no, as she prefers. Sometimes people just want the excuse to talk about something though. Weaver takes another sip of her drink, waiting to see what Kiada would choose.

”Well, you didn’t hear it from me,” she says, tapping her nose with a wink. ”But you have my full permission to get even.” Weaver was a good sister in many ways, but when it came to keeping secrets, she was not particularly good. She treated her brother’s secrets as she treated her own, with little care. It was the secrets of other’s she was far better at guarding.

Kiada too seems to share Weaver's careless disregard for drinking and training at the same time. ”I have thought about trying to set up some sort of knife or axe throwing area. Someone might die though, as fun as it would be to drink and throw sharp things.” She can only imagine some of the men getting drunk and starting a fight when they lost.

I was made to be wild, wicked, and free

KIADA i wish that i could say, i am a light that never goes out. There’s a nod granted to Weaver at the comment of blood not always being the strongest connector. And gods if it weren’t more true for her. So instead, she sips lightly from her drink, her icy gaze flickering to the woman as the question is aired, to talk about them – her family – and gods she doesn’t even really know where to start. “I had a twin.” She begins, glancing down to her glass as if it might hold all the answers there. “His name was Kianzo.” There’s a light nostalgic smile that crosses her face with that. “I had… A lot of siblings. Not sure where any of them went after Helovia fell. My father disappeared, my mother made it… My mother, Rexanna, made it here too, but it’s a different version of her. It’s… Strange to be almost the same age as her.” Her lips form a frown to that, a tilt of her head as she lifts her gaze to Weaver once more, offering a shrug before she goes to down another bit of her drink – perhaps a bit too fast, but unsure of what exactly would make her feel better in regards to that whole clusterfuck. Thankfully, the subject of getting payback on Korbin is distracting enough, and she hums thoughtfully beneath her breath, a light laugh slipping from her with it. “I just might have to.” She agrees, a slight smirk crossing her face as she begins to think of ways to do it. This, however, coupled with the fact of a training grounds within the halls of the Kraai. “Oh good, that’s all we need.” She snickers, imagining the mess that might create. but i flicker from time to time.

WEAVER

Weaver sips at her drink, still leaning against the bar on her elbows. She doesn’t interrupt, though there’s something like understanding in her eyes. Though she has always lived here and has never known the pain of having her home ripped from her, she knows what it is like to lose family. That is a pain that never quite fades, no matter the time or the distance. ”I admit, the whole timeline thing blows my mind. I don’t quite understand it. I’ve found that to be true of other Outlanders as well, coming from the same places but in completely different times.” A tangential topic, easing away from the hurt that lingers with loss.

”There would be a lot throwing knives, though I suspect it would not be at the targets I set out,” she admits with a wry smile. No, it was a terrible idea, even if it would be fun for a little while. ”So tell me, what is it you do in the Grounds?” She’s not a big fan of the Grounds, but then again, she doesn’t know that much about it. It just feels like a rather depressing place to her.

I was made to be wild, wicked, and free

KIADA i wish that i could say, i am a light that never goes out. There’s a light huff of laughter that leaves the Harpy as she looks back at Weaver, replacing and masking any of the discomfort she feels otherwise as she focuses on the woman. “it is strange.” She agrees, taking a quiet sip from her drink before she focuses on the glass briefly as she considers it. “What’s weirder still is that they have memories of that other version of themselves? Like… After everything had happened.” She shrugs to that, pausing to purse her lips before shaking her head and moving the subject on. In terms of throwing knives, Kiada can’t help but to smirk widely at this, lifting her leg up so she can remove the two blades kept there – both throwing knives with snowflakes etched into the hilts. Well used, appearing fairly old, and she sets it on the bar top for her to inspect if she so wished. “Probably not.” Kiada agrees, flashing Weaver a small innocent smile. There were a few she’d get behind throwing her throwing knives at, even if it probably wasn’t a good idea. “I’m the guildmistress of the Monster Hunter’s Guild.” She explains, her smile softening a bit at this. At her purpose. “I also help out at the bakery when Amalia needs it.” A playful wink sent Weaver’s direction as if she can remember the few cakes Kiada had made for the wedding, the ones she'd specifically pointed out as her own. but i flicker from time to time.

WEAVER

She can’t add anything to the topic of time travel, but she listens, sipping at her drink as Kiada talks. ”I admit I cannot really wrap my mind around that,” she says, her mind puzzling it bit but letting the topic move on. It doesn’t much matter to her, in the end. She hasn’t time traveled and it seems highly unlikely that she ever will.

Weaver laughs as the other woman brings her leg up to reveal two knives. She takes a moment to look at the weapons Kiada sets on the bar. Clearly throwing knives, and nicer than the mismatched set Weaver carried in various places on her person (mostly on her waist). Still, she lifts her own leg and removes the single knife she carries there, a long slim thing great for stabbing people in the ribs. Her throwing skills were subpar. ”We are two peas in a pod, at least this in this regard.”

”I do remember your baking skills,” she says with a grin, recalling the lavender cakes and the battle of musical chairs for the leftovers. ”And the monster hunter’s guild suits you.” They are definitely similar women. There are more questions to ask at that, until she hears her name being yelled from the kitchen. She sighs, giving Kiada an apologetic grin. ”Forgive me, apparently work calls I’ll see you around.” With that, she disappears into the kitchen.

(finished)

I was made to be wild, wicked, and free