Finding The Way Again (5/3)

Mumble coughs.
(Mumble Levante)
[02:07:25]
Dura is here. But she is not at the podium beneath the tree in Providence's quiet square. She's opted instead to occupy a bench.

The Crown is absent. Perhaps more remarkably, so is most of her horns.

"Mumble. Been looking for you."
(Dura Levante)
[02:09:10]
Mumble nods their head, looking over Dura with a stoic expression. The young Azulan stares for a few seconds before they place both of their hands together, breathing into them for warmth.

"Hey. I'm here now."

They don't say anything else. It is the Azulan way.
(Mumble Levante)
[02:14:40]
And that blisteringly cold wind continues to blow as it always has through the eaves and streets of the city. She takes the stare in stride. No need for comment or query on that one.

"I want to talk. Walk with me?"

Dura rises from the stone bench and waits for a response to a simple invitation. Short and to the point.
(Dura Levante)
[02:16:21]
Mumble nods and places their hands at their side after giving one or two exhales of hot breath into the limbs. They stare back at Dura just a bit longer before offering a tiny smile. It fades just as fast as it came.

"Okay."

They're right behind Dura the entire time, walking off a cliff if they must is not out of the question.
(Mumble Levante)
[02:17:08] Dura Levante has picked up 1 Wood into their inventory.
[02:17:56] Dura Levante has picked up 1 Paper into their inventory.
[02:23:35]
The expression is slight, and it is shared. A momentary smile that fades to neutrality.

Thankfully their journey does not take them off any cliffs. It instead takes them down and out of the square and out of the tundral north. Through the plains, and into the more temperate forests just south of Boundary.

Warmer by far, no doubt thanks in part to the heat that spills off of the nearby Caldera. Dura finally draws to a stop in a familiar clearing, by a familiar monument, and pauses to admire it.

Though 'talking' was expressly mentioned, she doesn't do a lot of it at first until she breaks a spat of silence.

"What do you think of this place? Sarea. What do you think of the Empire?" It is at least direct. No need to mince words. Thank the Ancestors.
(Dura Levante)
[02:29:36]
Mumble follows behind like a duckling, or more adequately - Someone with a boatload of respect. The Azulan is dead quiet until spoken to, but this is normal from the youth. Their eyes break from the ground and sky to admire Boundary and the cold north as they depart from it. As the warmth pools from the nearby Caldera, there's a brief exhale which flows silently from their nose.

It reminds them of home - Sunkissed savannahs and deadly deserts tamed by wicked demons.

"Sarea?"

There's a long pause which follows from the youth, their eyes turning to face the monument as they stare for a long time. "Sarea is a tool. It's a place to gather power. To train. To learn what not to do in the grander picture. To take part in something and try to make a difference, but inevitably end up the same way as everyone else."

"Dreams dead, if you're lucky."

"Actually dead, if you're not."

Mumble turns to the monument and points a finger at the deceased. "I knew that from day one, though. I never had intentions to stay or make something permanent here."

"... You ended up changing that second part, though. Admiration and loyalty are strong. Love is stronger, kin."

Mumble shakes their head, tossing away emotion and the heart's true feeling just as quickly as it came. It wasn't practical any longer than it had already overstayed its welcome.

"The Empire is messy. Hands-off with Sarea because it's a failed project in their eyes.

And after those words? Silence.
(Mumble Levante)
[02:46:05]
The silence was far from a sin. It was, if anything, companionable. Space didn't always need to be filled with words and wasted breath. For all that Sarea was - or wasn't - it still had its beauty.

Her eyes trace down the long list of names. They linger on a few, and she crouches beside the monolith to lay down a single lotus blossom she retrieves from her armor.

On rising again she watches Mumble as she speaks. Neither of them is terribly wont for outward displays of emotion, but there is something that lingers on the older Azulan.

"It is. I'm honored to have yours." Dura doesn't often bow. She certainly doesn't kneel, but there is that deep incline of her head that's pretty damned close.

"I don't know when it happened. But I forgot for a while why I came here. Or I ignored it. I'm trying to fix it." There's another flash of something. Guilt. Regret? Definitely a dash of shame she secrets away.

"Sarea is a tool. And the tools of the Empire can be ours. I want to give our people what they deserve."

"Will you help me?"
(Dura Levante)
[02:49:43]
"You don't have to ask." A simple response is uttered without hesitation, an adamantite-laden gauntlet bangs against their chestplate. It promptly falls to Mumble's side moments after as they do not dare cast their eyes to Dura during this exchange.

There's a mutual respect in staring north, recognized by both Azulans. "You found joy here, with Celius. It isn't the end of your mission, just a momentary pause." Mumble finds themselves crossing their arms over their chest afterwards.

"What do you have in mind, Dura?"
(Mumble Levante)
[03:00:20]
"And because you're kin I do." Kin in heritage, kin in creed and purpose. Most importantly, proved by action and more than fickle, honeyed words.

She looks to the north, to where she imagines Providence's distant walls to be, and snorts harshly. A quiet bristling eases some.

"...I have. I wouldn't trade that." Before she can wax too sentimental, a damnable thing, she continues on. On to something more practical.

"We take what we can from here for our people. From the stores, from the Lodestone. We make something to give power for our own. You work metal. Don't you?"

"With what's left, we invite in the Redwings. The rebels. The Empire loses a foothold. Deliverance gets an enemy." It isn't explicitly asked, but as Dura glances Mumble's way there is open space for opinion or thought.
(Dura Levante)
[03:06:51]
Mumble nods their head in acknowledgement as Dura disagrees with their initial statement. The Azulan was close enough to the Duchess to understand where she was leading with her statements.

"Don't trade it, then. Don't make yourself feel worse than you already do for slowing down on what you thought was important decades ago." Mumble turns their head finally and stares at Dura.

"We're picking it back up, rekindling old flames. I work metal, I do."

Mumble turns their head back to the monument. "But I take it you're not looking for a set of adamantite armor and axes?" There's a long, long pause which follows after -- "Or are you?"

They actually stifle a tiny laugh before nodding their head in reply. "The Redwings would love an Empire-like sanctuary far from the crown's eyes." There's an exhale which follows.

"Putting another enemy of Deliverance on the map is always a good idea, too."
(Mumble Levante)
[03:16:05]
The slow exhale as a breeze passes through the clearing turns into a muffled huff adjacent to laughter. It breaks the facade for a moment. A twitch that almost makes a grin.

"You're his daughter." The straightforward, stoic wisdom must run in the blood somewhere.

She reaches into her armor again. This time not for a flower, but for Providence's crown. The dying light of the day catches off of the sapphires and silver.

"Whatever we can make with what we break down. Including this - especially this." There's a delight in the idea of tearing apart this burden for a boon.

"I'm earning favor from a Wind Dragon too. If it doesn't kill me...We'll have plenty to work with."
(Dura Levante)
[03:31:32]
"My father says the only thing bigger than my heart is my head. More space for common sense." They give Dura a tiny grin before turning to face them in full. A hand reaches up and pat-pats her shoulder, now falling to the wayside. That is all the gesture she needs to know Mumble is acutely listening.

"... Melting the crown of the Duchy of Imperial Providence. You're giving me a lot for my resume." Mumble nods their head.

"Though sorting through the labyrinths that are the bank of Providence will be a pain, I accept this with grace." She smiles wide as ever, the first in months. "You keep me updated. Don't keep details on the journey and our mission."

"We'll work together from here on out."
(Mumble Levante)
[03:43:17]
"That's how you've lasted this long - that's rare here."

The conversation finds a sort of ease, a sort of levity among the Azulan solidarity. They stand, face to face, before the worn and weathered monument with its list of names.

"It's going to sound impressive, right? Makes for a good story." She cracks a grin in kind. Plans are laid. A course is charted. There's comfort in that too, for as much as the future can truly be planned and plotted.

"I will. Got blessings from temples of Zahhak and Melous to get. When it's done..." She gestures to the ground down horns and the shriveled wings. "I'll be free. I can focus on what matters. As you say. We'll work together."

The grin fades, but doesn't vanish. It simply becomes more passive. Even as the sky splits open and the rain begins to fall.

"Why don't we head back. Tell me about what you've been up to while we go."
(Dura Levante)
[03:45:08]
"Hey."

Mumble speaks up quickly.

"Thanks for entrusting this to me."

"Thanks for talking to me."

"It means a lot to me."

They walk over quick, and offer the most momentary of embraces. It ends and Mumble is stoic, standing as though it never happened.

"Lead the way."
(Mumble Levante)
[03:48:36]
And before she can turn to start the way back, she stops short with an arched brow.

The embrace is momentary, but returned with a firm squeeze for however brief it is.

"And thank you. For helping me remember why I was here."

In true Kal Azulan fashion, it's like it never happened as she turns to lead the way back north. At least outwardly.
(Dura Levante)