Oasis Talk

[04:28] Kofe stopped in the middle of the bridge, looking over it and towards the waters down below.

"What do you think? There used to be no water that could get there, but... we've been doing better ever since we won the war."
(Kofe)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[04:30] Ilburg...

It was hot. The girl wiped her brow, resisting the temptation to remove her hood. Compared to Osrona the streets were barely active. Perhaps people wisely remained indoors rather than face the desert heat in the day.

Alice looked down into the water, admiring her reflection. Her brow creased. The first thing she thought was how unhealthy such a stagnant pond in a desert could be--

-- but that was so lame and she didn't want to look like a loser to Kofe. Even if she was still in suspicion phase.

"I'm surprised the architecture holds up so well," she admitted softly. "It's a small place."
(Isolde)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[04:33] Compliments that weren't quite compliments. At least she was trying, wasn't she? It was obvious that she couldn't quite grasp what this place was like, or where it crawled up from. But still, she tried. It counted. Kofe offered a small smile, and a nod.

"It used to be smaller. Now we're actually able to get water from the oasis. Come, I'll show you." He said, bringing the masked girl along and delivering her from the insane heat of the desert. At least a tad. They'd find shade at the oasis, for sure.
(Kofe)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[04:34] Kofe says, ".. This is as green as it gets over here."
[04:37] Isolde positioned herself up against the shade of the tall palm, feeling some relief. She looked over to the oasis with a trace of awe. Vibrant springs in the middle of deserts... they were exciting, weren't they? How did they even come to be?

The plight of Ilburg wasn't well known to her beyond history of its forming and the general banditry of the magi towards Osrona. She knew that they would live in conditions worse than the capital, and yet-

"Wait.. are you saying you all had to travel here to get water before? That's rather harsh."

It was hard for her to connect to depths of poverty she'd never imagined, even in Sudbury.
(Isolde)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[04:40] "Yeah. And there wasn't always enough water for everyone. If you dry out an Oasis... you're done for. We had to be careful. Some days would have sandstorms hitting us head-on. It made it impossible."

He sat down at her side, leaning against the tree, too. It was as close as they'd get to eachother in that heat, he hoped. He wasn't looking for either of them to overheat.

"And that's just water. For food..?" He trailed off, looking northwards where... there was only more desert. And more. For a long while before Myllenoris' claim stretched. Perhaps a bit of shared culture would make her understand why Kofe had pushed for certain alliances.
(Kofe)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[04:44] Alice followed the boys gaze, yet with her lack of internal compass understood nothing but the fact that there was desert everywhere. What were they meant to do for food? "Do your magi terraform farms...?" She'd ask. "Or do they just hunt?"

Whatever Kofe had wanted to dash into Osrona to ask about had slipped her mind as she took in this strange new culture. Princess Alice held a level of sympathy for the Rhoynish plight, marred by the actions that some of their prominent members undertook.

"... And do you believe that the Teraphim were lying about the cult here?"
(Isolde)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[04:48] "You can't terraform in the desert. And... if we manage to find boar, we do. If not?"

He let her assume what the rest meant. She'd come to understand this little people that she was visiting; the reason they did what they did and how they lived. Every action had a reason, especially bad ones.

"I know the Teraphim were lying. That's... what I wanted to talk to you about." Coincidence. Luck. "I was there when Asta admitted to pushing the attack even knowing that there were no witches in Ilburg. I... got upset. A bit. Heated— you know how bold I get when I'm feeling myself."

He paused, shifting to better look into her eyes.

"I hate politics, but I wanted to have Ilburg's voice heard. I pushed a proposal for more than just peace. An alliance, where we'd provide security for their sacred grounds and fighting alongside them against witches, and in exchange? They'd give us a bit of land to grow crops. To get food.

She turned it down, saying she wouldn't admit defeat so easily, pretty much, even after having apologized for her defeat to her people. At... least people our age there were all for the idea."
(Kofe)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[05:09] Oh... that was the discussion, was it?

Alice listened carefully to what the boy had to say. Perhaps his confession had her -too- suspicious now, for she would carefully examine whether or not he was lying.

Surely he wasn't! There would be others to back up this account. Ilburg had requested compensation, something reasonable, and had it denied. The woman looked down into the water unhappily.

"Heated, is that right..." Doubtless he'd said something bold. She rubbed her forehead.

"That sounds terrible... I don't know what I can do about it, though." Her thoughts instantly turned towards something being expected of her. She was next in line to the throne, after all.

So powerful... but also so powerless!
(Isolde)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[05:12] "That's fine. You don't have to do anything about it. It's... my fight. Not yours. And I wouldn't get in the way of your own fights, either. Even if I disagree with you on the matter; it's just principle." A bit of his own thoughts, something that'd explain how he acted against the druid with more details.

"That doesn't mean we can't fight side by side for something, either. But.. I mean— you get what I mean, right?"

He gaze shifted from hers and towards the waters. A hand crawled on the grass closer to hers, pinky poking at hers.

".. Ask me anything you wanna know."

He figured it was a good way to properly get to know eachother before making those bold declarations of lifelong partnership.
(Kofe)