7th Trial of Cylus during Arc 720
"I'm well knackered," Vega replied, when Mathias asked her how she was. "I haven't slept properly for trials. But that's a'righ' we're used to it." She gave the slightest grin, of a very self-depreciating nature, and then she turned around and got on with what needed to be done. When Mathias agreed with her, Vega nodded, but said no more than that. She wasn't everyone's cup of tea, she was painfully aware of that. There were people who didn't like her because she was strong, stubborn, determined, and said it how it was. And, the thing that Vega was very aware of was that she simply couldn't find it in herself to care. She neither needed or wanted to be liked, so mostly she wasn't bothered. There were a few, of course, whose opinions of her mattered very much. But the vast majority of people weren't in that number and all the ones that were, they knew.
But, her internal chunterings aside, Vega knew that there was a lot to do, and so, they got going. As for his bow-skills, she managed to stay quiet for about half a minute and then she gave him her opinion. He didn't need to take it - that was very much one of those not-caring-too-much-about-that things, too - but he did and she listened to him when he spoke about the training arrows. Shades of orange swirled in her eyes and Vega considered for a few trill and then spoke. "I don't get it," she said, genuinely. "I really don't. I mean, I get that you do, but it's jus' like." Considering it for a moment, she sighed and then launched into it. "Look, I don't mean to be offensive or nothin' but, I jus' don't understand the attitude, you know? It's not what I have." She gestured to her back, where her arrows were. "I need arrows. An' there might come a trial when I can't buy 'em. So I learned to make them." She smiled at the memory of it. "It's tedious as anythin', but it means I don't rely on someone. It's like, when you lot all arrived, you know?" Shrugging, she said it how she saw it. "An' that cantankerous old guy who don't like me asked me what he's gettin' paid. If that's why he's there, why's he findin' out from a stranger? An' if they wanna learn, then walk up to someone an' say hey, you're practicin' an' you said we could practice with you, but I'm naff at this, teach me, would you?" Vega shrugged and smiled, looking at him with a strangely serious expression.
"Not that long ago, Mathias, I died. Burned alive, body shattered an' broken," moving her hand, she lifted her skirt just to above her knee and showed him the surgery scars. "They go all the way up, which I'm not showin' you. I got grabbed by some kind of earth elemental thing an' dragged through the ground. Both my legs were shattered an' they said I wouldn't walk again. When the earth element thing finished draggin' me, I got burned alive." Vega gave a slight shrug. "I've felt my own eyeballs melt, so I'll be damned if anyone's gonna be doin' somethin' for me when I can do it for myself. It's not a game. If yer practicin' with duff arrows, then you'll get better. But you won't get as better, as fast, as if you practice with real ones. It's not a dress rehearsal." She shrugged and then gave a wide, rather toothy grin. "An' if anyone minds yer arrow, tell them to run along an' tell someone who cares what they mind. Shoot the damn rabbit, an' stop messin' about."
That said, she shook her head and kept quiet. For a good while, at least. She asked him, eventually, what his story was and he told her. She smiled, obviously pleased that he'd answered and then he asked her and Vega looked at him. What was her story? "I love Rharne," she said, quietly. "My husband comes from here, an' the nicest people I've ever met. An' I'm not real good at a lot of things, you know?" She didn't seem to mind that, but equally she knew it (or believed it) to be true. "I never did learn to read till about an arc ago, an' I was never good at makin' friends or bein' popular or pretty. But I always had a temper an' I could always fight." With a slight shrug, she considered it and then spoke her truth. "I had a moment where I had to make a choice. I could become a fighter or a killer. " Her hand moved to her chest and she grinned. "I chose hope, not despair. I still don't have friends, an' mostly that's because people are stupid an' irritate me an' they get on my wick an' I want them to jus' go away. But I love Rharne, an' this place needs hope. Real hope." Urging her horse on a little, she glanced over her shoulder. "Besides, I like to fight, an' this'll be a good one."
Her suggestion was that they get themselves to Mistral village then, from there, they could spend the night and get to Rharne proper the next day. Also, she said, "I know people in Mistral Village, Arlo an' I helped save it some time ago. There's a horse breeder an' seller there she's a good one, an' we can get some other recruits too. Also, they're very self-sufficient, so I reckon, we'll be able to get some good supplies." Glancing at him, she raised an eyebrow. "You game?"