Hammer Time (Vega)

[Lavana Tharn]

10th Of Cylus 718

Lavana found herself on a desolate shore over run with debri scattered on the land scape and broken buildings as far as the eye could see. It was interesting more than disturbing, disruptive but not horrid, causality and death yes but also excitment and fun.

The mortal born didnt know what to feel but she felt refreshed and magnificent full of life and energy, she was positively glowing with lady like radiance.

She didnt mind the labor, she was treated with more respect during the disaster then she had since she fled the empire in search of Valtharn. She didnt have to be afraid, she had the perfect cover as everything was in a discombobulated state of disarray. She was fully suited in her combat gear, the prim and proper trimmings of a military commander the peacocking of noble frill that demanded respect.

She'd bend down and pick up broken and damaged building materials with her putting her quads to work as shed stand up from her squat and walk the pieces of useful material to the carts being pulled by mules and donkeys and send them off.

Pulling free a water skin she took a big swig of cold liquid refreshment to keep herself hydrated, she had the luxury of two full skins to herself. She didnt think anything of it, they were hers and now that there was a disaster she had them on hand. It was a privilege that had gone unnoticed as she began trying to test her luck with progressively heavier things.

This time she found herself trying to move something that was looking useful. It had to of been a six by six by twenty foot long fir post beam. It was heavy, and she struggled tenaciously with it. Something in her just wouldnt let it go, wouldnt stop, would spare herself no quarter as she assailed it with brut force and ignorance hoping that getting mad and angry at it would somehow cow it into submission it simply did not work like that.

Shed endure the struggle, and take another drink of water before going at it again.

[Vega]

The trial before had been the worst storm Scalvoris had ever seen, apparently. Or one of them. Either way, Vega had been raised aboard boats and she had to admit, yestertrial and last night had been a walloper. It had taken all of their skill and more than a little bit of luck for the Wanderlust to not need more repairs than it had. What that meant, though, was that, once she got back and they fixed this, they would be able to go into town and offer help where it was needed. Vega was wrapped up against the cold and wind ~ cloak and coat, thick warm clothes, gloves and a scarf and, of course, a hat made from the hide of a very, very large bee ~ the bumblebee hat had flaps over her ears, and it tied under her chin. Her hood was pulled up over it and she was buried beneath a scarf.

Walking through the streets, Vega was on her way back to the ship she shared with Arlo. She'd popped into town to buy a few things, but there as she walked past, was a woman. She was helping with the relief effort in full armour and trying to lift something that she really wasn't going to manage on her own. Vega didn't hesitate, she moved over quickly, her booted feet crunching in the snow as she moved over. "Wotcha," the red haired woman said. Even wrapped up as she was, Vega was obviously at least partly biqaj as her eyes swirled different colours looking at the armoured woman. "Let me 'elp, yer gonna do yerself a mischief." She smiled in a friendly way and put her own strength into helping.

Vega wasn't armoured, but when she moved the beam she did so with a strength and ease which spoke of a very physical, and strong woman. There was a sword at her hip which she wore with the sort of casual ease born of familiarity; the scabbard was old and battered, the bit of the sword visible was also scraped in places and had obviously been used, but it was clean and very well cared for. At her back was a bow and a quiver of arrows, too. "I'm Vega, nice to meet ya. Heave up." That last she said as she lifted, but did so in such a way that she was helping, not taking over. No need to be pushy, after all.

The biqaj gave a grin as the beam of wood moved and she glanced at the woman in the armour. "Aren't you freezin' yer tits off in this weather wearin' that? I mean, I'm cold jus' lookin' at you." She could only think there was something very special about the armour or it was important to the woman or... well, maybe she had nothing else to wear or was expecting an attack.

"You from round 'ere?" Once they had that bit on the wagon, balanced carefully, Vega figured she might as well help a bit and so she started to pile the pieces on. Her movements were casual, graceful and yet efficient. "That was some storm last night, weren't it?"

[Lavana Tharn]

Shed only met the woman and within that trill shed already taken a liking to her. Those swirls of color in her eyes caught her attention the most it was both elaborate and effortless which left Lavana thinking that was the mythical beauty of the Biqak that she always hears about. Shed never really tried to look one in the eyes before, but her amber eyes felt so drab in comparison; why wasnt she special like that?

"Its a pleasure, my name is Alvana Thorn"

Lavana moved with Vega not against her accepting the help in an attempt to move in a coordinated effort, but her eyes did take note of her well maintained sword. It looked like it had been well used, maybe she was a buccaneer. It wasnt polite to pry and she didnt think the question appropriate, although she wondered how many she made walk the plank. And it made her egomaniacal little smile just a little brighter until it blossomed into a shit eating grin.

As she refocused on moving with that fir beam, she felt fantastic but realized who was doing most of the lifting. She appreciated the sentiment, but maybe there was more to this. Vega was so strong Lavana couldnt help but feel a little jealous, but as she envied Vega, Lavana realized she unlike fine wine with the right notes that ages with grace and becomes more complex with age it was destined to become vinegar if it was not consumed first. Lavana however was eloquently elegant forever, it was hard to be a good girl with good thoughts when you felt consistently put to the measure but what was her hypercritical gaze upon herself for? She never knew her real parents, and maybe thats where shed needed to start.

Shed fight with the cold and her internal monologues, it was freezing outside but the leather armor offered some resistance at least. And she endured the freezing chill of arctic winds that blasted her in the face in the darkness of the day, as her feet trodded through snow bearing a load that made her arms feel tired, she breathed in and out and worked on each step forward.

Lavana couldnt help but take notice of herself or lack there of. " Ha, if i had tits to worry about I might be concerned. Its been hard work out in this darkness keeping these bones warm. Ive been out in this excavating anything useful since last night with them Elements soldiers."She continued walking and talking in stride as she tried to work through tired fatigued arms and legs. "I moved up here some time ago" she needed a minute to think. "Orders" seemed a good enough an answer.

As they put the over sized timber down it was starting to get just a little bit colder, and that ice cold water she drank from her skin had frozen over. "Yea the weather is a mess, it blew the roof off the Inn i was staying at."

"Thanks again, your very strong but those eyes are the real man slayer" the tone said more then the words simply sweet and authentic, with a hint of warmth through ball busting.

As Raskalarns mortal born daughter spoke she set back out as a silhouette of shadow under the lunar eclipse kissed by starlight as she drove herself into the flurry with this singular drive to push forward with something like blind madness, under dressed, ill suited. Surviving on her metabolism and tenacity as she was working to keep herself warm enough to sustain herself. She didnt think anything of it, she just did. Something just didnt feel right, about retreating from the weather.

Today was a good day, she felt alive when so close to the brink she wasnt afraid to see the things that bring people down the lower the descent the higher the climb and when shed go into the darkness Lavana would shine and burn brighter and brighter, it was bred in her fabric of her making beyond the bones and pulp of her marrow. No she wasnt numb, she felt alive truly from the thrill of staring death in the face.

She had it

The Crazy

[Vega]

"Nice to meet ya," she said as the woman introduced herself and Vega grinned. Though, in fairness, she'd be hard pressed to match the grin the woman gave her. She was a bit... toothy, Vega thought, but then that was fine and in fairness, she had a fair set of gnashers herself. Not one to judge a girl for a wide grin and a zest for life, Vega turned her attention to what she was doing, which was working together to lift that beam. The deep thought processes of the woman next to her were entirely lost on Vega and so she concentrated on helping out where she could, how she could. It made the most sense to her.

Vega chuckled, though, as the woman bemoaned her lack of anything to freeze off and she shook her head. "You know, cold trainin' is good, but it can really mess you up, too. I was raised aboard a ship, an' in the dead of Cylus, it was... well, it was like this Immortals-balls-freezin' place." It was true, Vega had travelled all over Idalos and for sheer cold? Scalvoris won. Hands down, Scalvoris won. They chatted as they worked and Vega glanced at the woman she was working with. She looked tired but had that sort of set to her jaw which told Vega that suggested she got some rest was pointless. Ah well, that was up to her.

But orders? Vega raised an eyebrow. "Yer a soldier?" She seemed impressed, certainly positive, at the thought of that. "More discipline than I've got, that's for sure. Someone shouts orders at me or calls me names, I'm gonna punch 'em into next Ashan." It was true, Vega was rather known for having something of a temper. She gave a wicked smile to Lavana and added, honestly, "I blame the red hair."

When Lavana thanked her, though, Vega shook her head. "It's a'right... manslayer?" Vega chuckled and shook her head. "Nah, only ever had one boyfriend, no other lad's ever shown any interest." Although an Immortal had kissed her, she thought with a slight smile. But only because she was the only female under seventy there, she was sure. "Where I come from, though, these are jus' normal. Eyes that don't move colour, they seem really exotic to me." She gave a grin, though, as she thought of Arlo and she had to admit. "But my fella, no, he doesn't complain."

But then, this crazy woman pushed herself off like some kind of lunatic gopher scrabbling after a rat and Vega watched her with a raised eyebrow. It was like she was fighting something, some kind of monster or creature of darkness. Like she was charging at an opponent and really, she was just some kind of rampant nutter. Pushing herself like that wasn't going to help her, Vega knew. "So, it might be more sensible to grab one of these," as she grabbed some tools, Vega explained. "I mean, end of the trial, you'll get more done. So, you wantin' to build up yer physical strength an' stuff or are you always just like.. rawr... charge?" There was nothing bad about that, Vega could be accused of the same herself, so she understood.

"Come on, then, lets get this bit cleared," the mixed blood said and she got on with helping. She worked hard, but she also, always, worked smart, too.

[Lavana Tharn]

Tharn

"Its a pleasure to meet you"

Amber eyes adrift on the dark horizon as her silhouette bathed in the moonlights triage of cascading radiance, the stars like a scattered lace of tiara diamonds that twinkled in twilight delight over head. As the wind blew it fluttered silken strands of raven black hair. And there was a ravenous look in her amber eyes instead of chuckles, a genuine thirst for knowledge as she was keen on the subject of Immortals.

"Yea those immortals" she seemed to look around cautiously. "Cant imagine living forever, just watching your life unfurl around you like a rose garden and then watching its beauty and splendour wilt and wither" she seemed to ponder a bit, the words spoken how they flowed sounded as if she had lived such a tragedy there was empathy in her voice.

"Do you think its true? That immortals can have children that live forever? Or is such a thing a trick of magic?" It was general curiosity almost as if she was trying to confirm something her facial features were a serious tell.

"No not always, truly." She seemed to ponder, but the woman seemed to have seen action and was relatable so shed spill her feelings albeit unintentionally so. "Its just something that compels me it lurks within wait to rawr, but its also around me always insatiably drawn to whats in me with passion and desire, and im left with a lingering impression that im like a third wheel on a bad date." She sounded bat shit crazy explaining her spark and her domain and the diri the spirits that went about unnoticed by most but she didnt know how to explain such things and had no concept or words that could explain there existence that others could understand other then feelings inside her and out that felt irrational, when she realized what she had said she took a step back aghast at what she let pour out of her mouth " Yea the horrors of war, im still a bit traumatized. Its ok, you just have to bop it and it goes away let it know that your in charge" she summed it up to that but really, it fascinated her. " You listen to you, and you bop them into next Ashan if they tell you otherwise" she smiled " fiery temper, to match your hair. I bet youve felled hundreds with your steely blade" She liked her, even started using the word bop as she emulated what she was saying as she tried to connect on a personal level. Maybe she was like Valtharn, the coolest thing she never saw.

She remembered when she use to idolize Valtharn, hardly a day went by that she didnt pretend to meet her hero and what shed say, howd she act, the pretended interactions in her fantasyland of blood steel and glory back when she dared to have hopes and dreams as those around her cultivated killer instinct and bloodlust she never did get to play but Valtharn was the baddest bitch on the playground and once upon a time Lavana wanted to be just like her and maybe just maybe she still did.

"Tools" amber eyes took an interest as she looked at the tool box, nodding in agreement as she followed behind her. Shed use a pry bar as she muscled nailed boards apart and diligintly stacked the freed pieces into piles. This tool was making things that much easier, although she was still working as though possessed as she pushed and pushed but now it wasnt so futile things were moving rapidly.

"So eyes that stay the same color are exotic huh?" The mortal borns thought was, Vega would be wine forever in her memory.

[Vega]

Vega looked at Lavana as she spoke about the Immortals and she frowned slightly. "I'm pro-Immortals. I like the good ones, think the bad ones are total losers. Simple as." She shrugged slightly. "An' you know, I met Xiur an' he was dead nice. Didn't seem to be jus' sittin' and watchin'. More of an Action Immortal, I guess. Maybe some of them are like that an' others are more sittin' aroun' and not worrying about getting fat cos they're immortal an' all. I dunno" But then Lavana asked a question and Vega considered it for a moment before answering. "Well, we know it's true, don't we? Jesine, she's a mortalborn, the daughter of Vri." Vega knew this because it was like the smell of damp dog, she considered, what Arlo knew about stuff. It rubbed off on a person and was hard to get rid of. Left a stain, too, which was impossible to get out no matter how hard you scrubbed and that stain was knowledge and knowing stuff. Damn him. Shrugging slightly, she added a simple but very genuine truth to her. "I dunno, I mean, seems to me that they're like what they're like, an' us mortals are like what we are. Their children must be stuck between two worlds," in a very different way, that was an experience Vega could empathise with. "I don't think I'd like to be one. Livin' an' walkin' an' breathin' with mortals an' watchin' everyone around you die time an' again? Sounds right gnarly."

A third wheel on a bad date? Vega chuckled. "I've only ever been on one date, so I dunno. It was with my boyfriend, an' it was great. Though, it was weird, too." They'd worn very posh and formal clothes, they'd gone to an expensive restaurant and stayed in a good Inn - they'd also seen ghosts. It had been an odd, odd night, but a memory she wouldn't trade for anything. As for having felled hundreds with her red hair, fiery temper and blade, Vega shrugged slightly. "More than I'd like to 'ave, aye. I don't like killin' people," she said, honestly and then continued in that vein. "But I do 'ave a talent." No doubting it, she didn't like it but she was good at it.

They worked together, then, prying apart the wood and making sure that it was all put where it could be moved and Vega glanced at Lavana as she spoke about eyes. "Yeah, seem that way to me. An' round ears." Lifting her hair out of the way, Vega revealed her pointed biqaj-ears. "I was raised around pointed ears an' shiftin' eyes. It amazes me 'ow much emotion you can get into eyes of jus' one colour." She looked slightly far away for a moment, as she visualised a specific pair of brown eyes. "Deep enough to drown in, you know? It's astonishin'. But then, I s'pose that's what we all do innit?" She gave her own grin as she considered. "We take our childhood an' think it's normal. So, how'd a soldier get here then?" It was a sensible question, she figured - there had to be a story there.

[Lavana Tharn]

Tharn

"But really what is bad? In nature the wolves eat the deer alive to survive, Is it a senseless thing, that would make one wicked is it killing to kill but not eating it? Wasting life?" Lavana found herself in quiet contemplation, she did seem driven and primed towards sinister things. She might even consider herself a real nasty piece of work at times but was she a horrible person. It was starting to sound like maybe she was a mortal born, and the more Vega talked the more her amber eyes seemed to light up especially as she confessed to meeting an immortal. "So Jesnine huh" she didnt know what to think she had so many answers and even met an immortal too. "So do you think, she knows her Immortal parent? " she paused thinking asking "maybe.... do you think, but... how do you become good enough? Like for your Immortal parents love? You certainly cant meet them as you are, and expect them to care about you.

That has to be it than, your unworthy until you've proven yourself!"


It made perfect sense to her, maybe thats why shed been discarded in the first place. She was simply unworthy, she hadnt earned the right for her mothers compassion or love. She hadnt done anything but run. But maybe it was because something was wrong with her. Maybe she was broken, twisted and bad a born to be loser like Vega said. It swam in her mind, and it sunk in.

Of course she wasnt a master of deception she could white lie a bit but only so far, she hadnt the discipline to contain her emotions especially when they poured out so much. She had upheavals from far too much suppression. Or maybe she was just bat shit crazy, and was diluted.

She quirked a brow, didnt like it, but was good at it. Lavana weighed her thoughts about a mercenary she met.

"Those are cool, mine are round? See"

She parted her hair to show her, she felt comfortable and relaxed. She liked Vega she was like wine and enough of her easy going nature set in and she found herself lightly buzzed. Socializing a little more then maybe she should but how could she not with all the talk about the mortal born and meeting an immortal. She felt safe enough was stirred by confidence as she confided in her.

" My soldiering days... sure why not, it was a long time ago and my adopted father picked me up, when i was around thirteen or fourteen from some orphanage. I was enlisted by default but i was more of a cup bearer because he was high up in the eternal armies scouts he had privileges. I never got to see any action first hand but I always like showed up after Valtharns campaigns bloody mess the crows i remember the most , but he was really good friends with a general. Anyway the long of it this bitch fell off her rocker, and murdered the company of soldiers i guess her father had come to try and stop her. It made no sense to me though, how you can go from being a hero to villain. I think survival is the key element, so this news reaches me right and I take off. Grab gear, and i headed out took a horse and rode and never looked back. Unfortunately my horse died of old age, but i hid i mean I hid for years. There was a scout I think that came looking for me, tried to do me harm claimin im Raskalarns child. It was nonsense bullshit really, guy thought i was stupid and thought he was gonna rope me into a noose as a deserter. I think that must have been a life time ago. But you know you start forgetting about the years, i might be gosh... a hundred and thirty something, so im starting to think somethings up and he wasnt lying.

A woman named Kura showed up not long ago, and I cant figure out if shes genuine. I dont feel safe, and im finding it hard to trust her.

But then another a mercenary named Max comes up, i think shes wild a real danger to be around but shes sweet when you get to meet the real her. But you get the impression she might suck you into some bad shit, maybe its just a thing for the bad girls. Just cant put my finger on it...

I mean theres so much, do you follow your heart? Or do you follow rational?

What would you do?

It almost sounded like ramblings of a woman gone mad, but she trusted Vega. Felt comfortable and opened up about her problem to see if she could offer any advice. She was at a crossroad

[Vega]

How, Vega wondered, did she get herself into these situations? However, she was now very firmly IN the situation in question and so, she answered the best way she could. She didn't interrupt, just let Lavana speak and then she looked around and spotted a low bench where they could sit for a moment. If Lavana would, she'd go sit and talk to the woman. Child of an Immortal, she reckoned, but there it was. "You know, let me be clear, if I sound for a bit like I've got the answers, I'm jus' .. I don't. 'ave the answers I mean." Vega breathed in and then spoke. "I don't know what my mother looked like. I killed 'er, when I was born. Birthin' me, it ended 'er. She was Sev'ryn, my Papa is a Biqaj. I'm not either of 'em, I'm jus' me." Frowning, she considered for a minute and then spoke again. Where the bloody hell was Arlo when she needed him, she thought. He was a sensible sort and he could talk to people. She wasn't good with this kind of thing, or so she believed most wholeheartedly.

"I grew up with Biqaj. But I was seasick. Long as I can remember." Vega smiled and shrugged slightly. "I didn't fit in. I was tryin' to be a biqaj, like my Papa, an' I couldn't be. Part of me is. Silver blood in my veins, colours in my eyes. But not a true Biqaj, an' while I wanted to fit in, but couldn't? Well, I was miserable an' I threw up. Then, I went to Desnind." Looking at Lavana, she smiled slightly. "The Sev'ryn are good people. Spiritual, thoughtful. Bit dull, if I'm 'onest, an' I'm not like them either." Shrugging slightly she spoke the only conclusion she'd been able to come to. "I realised that while I was tryin' to be one thing, or another thing, that I'm not, I was stopping myself from bein' me."

That was the simple truth of it, Vega explained. As soon as she'd realised that? Well, she'd stopped being sick at sea and instead, had been more content. "If I'm not bein' me, an' you're not bein' you, then our only option is to be a piss poor imitation of someone else. Who wants that? An' as for parents?" She smiled and shrugged slightly. "When my parents got together, both families disowned 'em. They were doin' what was right for them. So they did it. They lived their lives makin' their own choices. I guess that's the best any of us can do."

As for the people Lavana talked about? Vega considered it. "I know Kura. She's a'right. Bit uptight an' stuff, but she's like that on the surface, you know? Like. If you jus' scratch underneath, she's good people. As for bad girls?" Vega shrugged and shook her head. "Someone's gonna drag you into dangerous shit, love, my advice is make sure you can trust 'em to 'ave yer back if things go bad. An' ninety nine times out of an 'undred, they'd drop you like a hooker drops her bloomers." Ever the subtle and eloquent orator, that was Vega Lei'nox. "An' if yer a 'undred an' thirty, yeah, there's definitely somethin. Look, it's not anythin' to do with me, an' tell me to mind my beeswax an' shove my snoot up it, but my boyfriend, Arlo, he's right clever an' he's done stuff at the university about Immortals an' stuff. He might be worth to talk to, an' I could introduce you. I'm goin' back there now, in fact. If you want."

Vega shrugged slightly, awkwardly, she didn't want to be pushy, but the woman was in some kind of turmoil and she'd like to help. "An' as for what you do? Sometimes, I think takin' a 'wait an' see' approach is the most sensible one. Talk to Kura, check out this Max bird. See 'ow the land lies with 'em both. Or don't, an' jus' be the best version of yerself you can be. Can't do better than that, can ya?"

[Lavana Tharn]

Tharn

Vega was so modest, as amber eyes filled with starlight and wonder gazed intently hanging on every word in that moment as if she listened to the secrets of the universe that flowed from an uncorked bottle into fluted glass and shed not let a drop spill, sure she said one thing but clearly it was so obvious she meant another. Lavana pondered on being herself but really who was she? A hundred and thirty years later she had no answers maybe she should listen to these diri, let them guide her to be herself.

Maybe she was a born to be loser and that was the prophecy fortold and was simply nay but the manifestation of her destiny., Kura had mentioned the spirits took Valtharn and maybe if she was brave enough to take the plunge Lavana could try to pull her sister back from the abyss. The darker shed go the brighter shed get, shed see herself rock bottom in infernal damnation and swim them from the crushing depths of the inky black as she closed her eyes visualizing this as the wind billowed the diri whispering sweet nothings for those that could listen they promised salvation over the horizon just beyond the loom as she navigated a line between falling off or slipping in, they cruely played her with ruthless temptation using her weaknesses in a wicked game of torment and coercion. Maybe she was half a piece and shed complete her.

Could she hold her breath long enough to save her sister, she walked around the rim did she dare jump into the unknown and risk getting drunk and lost in the unknown? Or would she be a coward and let her sister drown, paralyzed in fear. She kept her inner most demon to herself, despite it kicking and screaming inside of her heart.

It wasnt meant to be like this, but she could feel the warmth of her breath on her skin as she spoke.

Kura, she was supposed to be her friend but she let her sister drown, rather then take her back from what haunted her as she gasped for breath hand outstretched Kura put her boot on her head and drove her back in. The diri were wise and had started revealing this in her dreams, she was smart to be distrustful of the Imperial Owl more like Betrayal, Anguish, Lies she chose to rule scalvoris rather then save her, more willing to drive an arrow through her them heal her no Kura was Evil. Lavana was thankful for her help in her quest for self discovery, but the diri told her the truth it was painful but even good people arent what they appear.

There was nothing said on Kuras part, internal monologues being brought upon by Vegas words.

" So, would you still want to live if you had the choice if you could spare your mother?" Lavana had an emotional disconnect as the diri were whispering lulls like her focus was there but she seemed out of it "I... I .... I just... its" Lavana she seemed almost glazed stale in the moment the question cruel on an almost unfathomable scale. "Is it worthy, to Sacrafice yourself to save those around you? I ask, I just..." it was clear she was dragging stuff shed prefer to keep behind a closed curtain, it was an inner struggle through turmoil. "I dont know, im sorry for.. they voices told me in the wind that I should go to my twin star, that I can save her."

She shook her head violently, like a child about to have a temper tantrum. "No, no, no, Max is my champion the whispers chose her. I am certain she will prove herself and keep me safe from her, I will have faith in my chosen one."

Lavana looked at the ground, feet dragged up as she scrunched into herself holding hands together around her shind in the fetal position with her chin resting on her knees, eyes moving as she was trying to read a novel her nose scrunched at Vega " See im a bad apple, that was a horrible thing to ask.

....

....

Maybe Arlo can help, Ill go if you will still have me."

[Vega]

Would she want to live if she could die and let her mother live? Vega considered that for a moment and then nodded. "I understand what it means to feel guilty about someone's death. I know 'ow it feels to be the cause of someone dyin'." She smiled a slight smile at Lavana. "An' I never knew my mother, so I can't say I love 'er. Yet, I know that she wanted me, an' loved me. So, if I made that choice, I'd make 'er live with the guilt I feel every trial an' a 'undred times worse." Vega's eyes were a swirling silver mass as she spoke of that, looking at Lavana. But the woman was hearing voices? Vega looked at Lavana and couldn't quite help raising an eyebrow. You'd think after living a hundred and thirty arcs, she thought, the woman would have learned some sense.

"Your chosen one? Jog on, love, that's nonsense." Vega said with her usual bluntness. "I've been alive exactly twenty one arcs, an' I know better than to listen to voices whisperin' in my 'ead or on the wind." She stopped walking for a moment and looked at Lavana; the woman was so much older than her, surely she'd learned some sense? Vega believed, though, that it wasn't that. "Look, if you are determined that this Max bird is the one you wanna listen to, you do that. But own doin' it an' own yer decisions." Vega shook her head, not understanding why or how anyone could give over control to someone else. Being in control of herself, being responsible for her own decisions was something which drove Vega. Whispers choosing a champion for her was just... well, it made no sense. None at all.

She looked at Lavana as she said that she would meet Arlo and Vega frowned, looking at the woman who suddenly pulled herself into a ball and called herself a bad apple, like she was a young kid. Vega had no interest in that kind of behaviour - to her mind you faced things, did what you could, when you could and go on. That was that and this woman was blaming voices and whispers, turning to others for their advice. "Nothin' personal love, but if you've already made up yer mind, there's no point pretendin' you 'aven't. Kura seems alright, an' I don't know this Max person. But if all you're gonna do is listen to other people, you're not bein' true to yourself." Vega shook her head as determination and stubbornness, her usual facial expressions, were very evident. "You didn't ask a bad question, an' I chose to answer it." The colours of Vega's eyes swirled and she spoke, firmly. "But you know, you don't need more voices in there, or outside things to choose yer life for you. It's your life, own it. " Vega shrugged and gave a good natured smile.

"That's what I think any'ow. An' anythin' Arlo knows, you can find in a library, if you decide to take your life into your 'ands, not someone else's. Up to you. Anyhow, I'm goin' home. It was dead nice to meet ya. Good luck." And with that, Vega gave a friendly smile and took her leave.