20th Ashan, 718
It had become something they did, the two of them, each evening. They sat above deck, her wrapped in blankets and with her legs in front of her and him next to her with his arms around her. Looking at the stars, talking and being quiet, laughing and flirting and tormenting and teasing each other. Just being themselves and, by every Immortal, they needed it. Every night, since the first one when Mixiebelle had turned up and professed her love for Arlo, the two of them had taken this time to just be them. Tonight, since the winds were still, they were playing cards. Of course, she knew that he knew how to play the biqaj game, Stars, because they'd laughed together about it after he'd come back from a night out with Huw, her cousin, who had not so much cheated but just not mentioned all the rules right at the beginning. Thanks to the link that he shared with Lyova, and the fact that he'd left his little companion behind to look out for her, Vega had been able to help Arlo turn the tables on Huw in a way her eldest cousin really wasn't expecting. It had earned Arlo some significant respect, it must be said, and obviously Huw had told the twins his brothers, too.
"I'll call Exchange," she said, having dealt and then looked at her hand with a despairing feeling. "You can 'ave these two, an' I'll take these." She slid two cards over to him and chose two from his hand randomly. "Hmm." She still couldn't go on her basecard, as her hand was all in a different backcolour to those. But then, it was the same backcolour as his and the two she'd pulled from his hand were also that, so she put down a card on his basecard, blocking one half of it. "When you do that, block with the first move," she explained, "it's called a half gambit. I dunno why, but there you go." She pulled a card from the deck and looked at it and then looked back to him. "Your move, Puffy." She hadn't called him that since the Tower, when his hair had stood on end, but as she'd glanced up she'd considered that he really did have a tendency to just let it all go where it wanted, his hair. She envied him that, there was so much of hers that there was no way she could do so. Therefore, it was tied back.
It was a still, quiet and peaceful night and the Hollow Sea was calm like glass. Her silver blood reflected in the moons light and Vega seemed quite content. "Eva?" Joq'an called,"Where did you put the dog bowl?" Vega's eyes shifted colour immediately and as she called back "In the cupboard with the food, Papa!", she simultaneously signed to Arlo in common sign. Small gestures, hard to see. "We're under attack." That made sense, they didn't have a dog, after all. "I have told you, at least five hundred times, it does not live there! You and your cousin, both!" He called, coming out from where he had been below decks. Vega signed again, "Both ships being attacked." She'd tell him the code later, she promised herself, although she was sure that he could work it out.
Earlier, before the sun sank, Vega had been practising her bow. Which meant that it was there, next to her. She still couldn't see anything, but as a scream pierced the night from the other ship where, ironically, Huw was visiting his brothers and Fi her sisters leaving Arlo, Joq'an and Vega alone aboard the Wanderlust, an arrow sailed past the seated pair and embedded itself in Joq'an's thigh. He let out a yell and Vega grabbed her bow, notching an arrow and cursing that all she could do was sit and fight as four of them boarded the ship, foregoing the cover of darkness in order to attack. There was one with a bow who held back and three with swords who rushed forward.
Well aware that there was nothing she could do other than use her bow, Vega notched an arrow and aimed, then loosed it at the bow man among their attackers. He was the most danger to them all and Arlo would already be dealing with the other three, she knew. So the one with range was first and he went down with a gurgle as she shot him clean through his throat. As she did that, she prayed to Xiur that her bow be true and her aim good, that she be guided by his light and Vega felt a strange, almost tingling sensation through her hands.
"I'll call Exchange," she said, having dealt and then looked at her hand with a despairing feeling. "You can 'ave these two, an' I'll take these." She slid two cards over to him and chose two from his hand randomly. "Hmm." She still couldn't go on her basecard, as her hand was all in a different backcolour to those. But then, it was the same backcolour as his and the two she'd pulled from his hand were also that, so she put down a card on his basecard, blocking one half of it. "When you do that, block with the first move," she explained, "it's called a half gambit. I dunno why, but there you go." She pulled a card from the deck and looked at it and then looked back to him. "Your move, Puffy." She hadn't called him that since the Tower, when his hair had stood on end, but as she'd glanced up she'd considered that he really did have a tendency to just let it all go where it wanted, his hair. She envied him that, there was so much of hers that there was no way she could do so. Therefore, it was tied back.
It was a still, quiet and peaceful night and the Hollow Sea was calm like glass. Her silver blood reflected in the moons light and Vega seemed quite content. "Eva?" Joq'an called,"Where did you put the dog bowl?" Vega's eyes shifted colour immediately and as she called back "In the cupboard with the food, Papa!", she simultaneously signed to Arlo in common sign. Small gestures, hard to see. "We're under attack." That made sense, they didn't have a dog, after all. "I have told you, at least five hundred times, it does not live there! You and your cousin, both!" He called, coming out from where he had been below decks. Vega signed again, "Both ships being attacked." She'd tell him the code later, she promised herself, although she was sure that he could work it out.
Earlier, before the sun sank, Vega had been practising her bow. Which meant that it was there, next to her. She still couldn't see anything, but as a scream pierced the night from the other ship where, ironically, Huw was visiting his brothers and Fi her sisters leaving Arlo, Joq'an and Vega alone aboard the Wanderlust, an arrow sailed past the seated pair and embedded itself in Joq'an's thigh. He let out a yell and Vega grabbed her bow, notching an arrow and cursing that all she could do was sit and fight as four of them boarded the ship, foregoing the cover of darkness in order to attack. There was one with a bow who held back and three with swords who rushed forward.
Well aware that there was nothing she could do other than use her bow, Vega notched an arrow and aimed, then loosed it at the bow man among their attackers. He was the most danger to them all and Arlo would already be dealing with the other three, she knew. So the one with range was first and he went down with a gurgle as she shot him clean through his throat. As she did that, she prayed to Xiur that her bow be true and her aim good, that she be guided by his light and Vega felt a strange, almost tingling sensation through her hands.
