[RE] Sanctuary

Sam shut his eyes tight, anticipating something rushing in and ripping them all apart, held onto Remi still but more as a lifeline - but no violence came. Instead there was the sound of a stumble and Edy's voice. He turned to look, his fingers drifting from Remi as he took in the image of Ronin kneeling in the doorway, a bundle in his arms. Guilt immediately came to him, but panic too; he knew now that one knock had been proven true Remi would be impossible to persuade from any others. Sam stepped out of the way for Remi to go to Ronin, knowing the two men were close, and stumbled back into a chair. Samuel I'm starting to wake from silent sleep I'm starting to break and I can grieve

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night Remi felt as though he had tricked Sam, using magic to open the door in a way the ascended probably hadn't predicted. But as Ronin tumbled in, his guilt evaporated as did the claws beginning to extend from his finger tips. With a gentle squeeze against Sam's shoulder as he moved passed him, Remi rushed to Ronin's side. Collapsing to his knees, magic came unbidden and thrust the door shut, locking each bolt as Remi slid an arm over Ronin's shoulders, the other falling towards the hands that held the child. "Ronin—" He whispered, the word more of a shattered inhale that stopped the rest of the sentence immediately in the alchemist's throat.  He knew Ronin well enough now to read him the lines on the man's face. The despair, the grief, the lifelessness. He didn't need to ask where Vanya was. Ronin wasn't yelling for help, he wasn't telling Remi to keep the door open for her. He was just here, collapsed, with a baby. Tears blurred Remi's vision as his hand clenched against the back of Ronin's jacket, his own anguish no match for the captain's. Lowering his forehead—against the guildmaster's, if he'd allow it—Remi clenched his eyes shut, silent tears dripping down his cheeks. "I am so sorry." He choked, the hand that might have found Ronin's squeezing it and not letting go.

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Flinching at the sound of the door slamming shut behind him, Ronin glanced over his shoulder only to realise that the dreamfish had stayed outside. For some reason that was infinitely sad, and he could feel the words on his tongue begging to let the creature in with them, though they never made it out. The Rathskeller was a world of light and warmth and subdued noise, so overwhelmingly different from the stillness of the guildhall or the chaos of the night, and Ronin barely realised that he recognised a lot of the faces there. Vai, Edrei, Sam, Bastien, Seiji, Remi... The last of that list was rushing towards him, and though the hand on his shoulder was warm and familiar, Ronin still tensed at the touch. The baby, silent until now with the sudden change in surroundings, began to cry with a renewed and desperate energy. Remi's presence, while appreciated, threatened to break the dam Ronin had built up to get himself to the Rathskeller, and the sob that tried to rise up in the back of his throat was ruthlessly forced down. "She's hungry," he managed in a gruff voice. "Please, if there's anything here. It's been days."

Bastien This house is my house So bring me fire, I'll burn it all to ashes It's my life and it's fine And I will cry with laughter as I trash it Bastien had not paid much attention to the argument about the door, far too wrapped up in pouring drinks and chatting (gossiping, really. They had all noticed Remi getting close with the little ginger weirdo from the market). But as Ronin rushed in he turned to stare. He was frozen in his horror until he heard Ronin's request. Desperate to do something, he quickly searched through the bar until he found some milk (not the right kind, but it would have to do) and a small spoon. For once, he wished for Phoebe, who would have the right supplies. He brought them over wordlessly, passing Remi the milk to give to Ronin. He had little idea of what babies ate, but this would at least be a start. Under his breath he mumbled a useless prayer to no one inparticular and stared at the ceiling to stop his tears.

Vervain's fingers felt numb, and her arms began to ache; only then did she realise she was still holding the bow at the ready, aiming at a door that had long slammed shut. The implications of Ronin's arrival and the desperately hungry newborn wailing in his arms were not lost on her. Lowering her weapon and setting it down, she swiped at the wetness already on her cheeks and cleared her throat, stepping up to touch Bastien's arm gratefully. "Would you warm some water, please?" she asked. "And clear a space near the fire. It must be freezing out there." Speaking of fire, she glanced to Edrei and gave her a weak smile. "Are you able to warm up that milk?" vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Bastien This house is my house So bring me fire, I'll burn it all to ashes It's my life and it's fine And I will cry with laughter as I trash it Bastien was glad to be given a task and stood up to get some water. He laid out a blanket in front of the fire and moved the chairs away, holding the bowl by it to heat the water. He stared at the blanket for a long time wondering what the hell he could do otherwise. There was nothing. He sighed and placed the water down on the mantelpiece then went to get another blanket just in case.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night "Come on Ronin. The fire..you...you both.." But the words trailed off. He felt as though nothing he might say or do ever again could make the guildmaster smile, that some part of Ronin had given up forever, had died along with Vanya, and that the man before him was merely the chariot for this new arrival. "By the fire. Come on." Remi tried again, tugging against the back of Ronin's collar to try and force him to rise and move.

Edrei Launceleyn
You know I talk too much. Come put your lips on mine and shut me up

Edy was all sorts of horrified, her angular face a blank expression of shock and unfettered sadness. Ronin had only been in the Rathskeller for all of 5 seconds, but already the teenager had memorized his face, his posture, the way his eyes which once seemed so bottomless now appeared shallow...she'd never forget.

Flinching as Vai addressed her, snapping her out of her dizzying world of sadness, Edy nodded."Yeah..Yeah of course.." Glancing towards Bastien, Edy waited until he'd placed the bottle in the water, and then slowly lapped at it with tendrils of fire.

Image by Lamreii!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving The fire? What fire? Oh... Oh, right. Right. The tug at his collar from Remi had Ronin moving, at least, the guildmaster doing what he could to soothe the screaming bundle in his arms, though they were well beyond being able to quieten his daughter with soft words and rocking. Getting his feet under him and leaning against Remi in a silent gesture of thanks, Ronin shuffled towards the fire with his eyes on the floor. He murmured his gratitude to Vai, to Bastien and Edrei as well, and settled himself before the fire with his back to the rest of the Rathskeller. It took all he had not to seize the milk from the bowl of water then and there, and only the promise of something in the near future stayed his hand. "Vanya is dead," he said softly, as if that fact might have escaped them. Perhaps it was to tell himself, again, in the hope that it might stop being true. "She was... I... I couldn't..." He shook his head.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night Once upon a time, Remi had awkwardly walked with the captain down the streets of the settlement, his hand over a gaping and bloody wound, and still somehow the alchemis had felt nervous about being so close to Ronin. Now with his arms around him and the ex-captain leaning softly against him, the alchemist wanted to be as close as he could. Under Ronin's skin and curled protectively around a heart that had surely shattered. "Shhh." Remi whispered softly, but it did little good. The words were out. The hung in the silence and stillness of the air, a beacon which could not be ignored now. A darkness which could not be permeated. Helpless around children, Remi looked towards Vai uncertainly. Was the baby even alright? Was the milk the right temperature? Through what would they feed her? "Vai, what do we need?" Remi would bleed his magic dry to protect this child, if only someone would tell him what to do.

Vai had drifted across to the fireplace as Remi and Ronin made their way over, and she took a long and shaking breath before kneeling down with them. "That should be enough now, Edrei," she murmured of the fire, waiting until the flames had died down enough before carefully pulling her sleeves over her hands and lifting the bowl to set it and the bottle of milk down before them. "Get that blanket from Bastien when he gets back, alright?" she told Edrei. "And a clean cloth from behind the bar, please? The two of you should... you'll be best at settling the mood." Meaning their natural flair for conversation and entertainment (in whatever fashion they decided) would be invaluable for the tense group of civilians within the tavern. Music, stories, magic tricks... whatever would break this silence that had over the Rathskeller like a held breath. As for the milk... Bastien had brought a small spoon, which would work in a last ditch effort, but with Remi there Vai had an idea. "There is a cap that you can put over a bottle. A teat, almost, to stop the milk flowing too quickly. Do you think you can make something like that?" vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night "Of course." Remi said instantly. In his hand appeared precisely what Vai had requested, a nipple which would allow the milk to be sucked through and which would fit over the bottle Bastien had acquired. "I could...I could make it so the milk is always the right temperature? Or always full? Or..?" He trailed off. Magic he now had in plenty, and yet still the alchemist was at a loss for how to help. Holding the nipple out uselessly towards Vai, Remi looked down sadly at Ronin.

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Ronin didn't seem to know what to do with himself now that he had actually made it to the Rathskeller, as if the bunched up energy and will to survive had fled him. As Remi and Vai conversed, and other people (friends, he reminded himself) flitted about, the guildmaster gazed down at the bundle in his arms. His daughter's cries had quietened somewhat now that they were close to the warmth of the fire, and he absently tucked the blanket better around her. She was... well. A newborn, pink and tiny and squirming and unhappy with the world, and Ronin had about as much an idea as Remi regarding what he was supposed to actually... do. But it looked like they had managed to come up with something for the bottle, and when Ronin glanced up it was to see Vervain accepting something from Remi, which she fixed onto the bottle of milk which she had removed from the water. "Uh..." Uncertain and exhausted, he silently surrendered the baby to the huntress, though without her in his arms he looked at a loss. They had made it, though. Two of them, anyway.