she has been to so many cities in the past few hours, grazing by and touching them like checkpoints. reports are filtered as best as they can be, but most of it is noise, and her frustratoon at their lack of intel is palpable. already, she's snapped at the last two officers she's seen loitering with empty hands.

half a dozen of her roaring moons circle above them, casting long shadows. dewford isn't the only city with the flying sentinels. dragon tamers from the league's official draciary have been deployed to all major towns.

ori is behind her, the smallest of her salamence, but with him at her heels and the glinting of her silver sygna suit, she pitches an intimidating figure.

"break when this is over, ca - is that you, noel?" the barking orders soften when she recognizes him.

Noel Parker

☉

dainty town it may be, but it houses a portal to the ultra deep sea. it's not as big a port town as slateport, but the fisheries and canneries dotting the isle are key exports for the sleepy town. in the wake of everything that's happened, she needs to be in a dozen different places at once, with little time to stop and chat. 

"you're back on your feet faster than i thought you might be," she says and tilts her chin, suggesting he follow her. 

"a lot of other folks would have brushed with death like that and put their resignation letters in as soon as sense bled through all the adrenaline. yet here you are. why?"

Noel Parker

☉

she fires back with, "what help are you if you're an injured liability on the field?" but if he's been cleared for work, he's been cleared for work. gods know they don't have the bodies to spare. 

there are supplies that need moving and freya does not shy away from the labor. where they walk and where help is needed, she assists. most recognize her. some don't. she doesn't pay them any mind - no reassuring smiles or showy moves. just help. 

when he asks his question, she straightens and laughs a short, bitter laugh, wiping at the sweat on her brow.

"i'm like you. i have loved ones i care about. i have a home i still need to take back. and honestly?" she starts, resting a hand on the pommel of her sword, "i don't think i could do anything else anymore except fight."

☉

people adapt. it's the human condition. she wouldn't be the first to tell you she's a different person than she was only three years ago. it's hard, imagining a future where there is room for complacency. safety. peace. shadows linger wherever there is light; the fight will never be over, but maybe one day it won't be so cataclysmic. 

and then?

"i'll be with my dragons. my family." her voice softens. in a snapshot, she sees delta getting older, seaside hours lounging with king, her estate, restored to its former glory. 

"it's too easy to lose sight of why we do this. and when you're not fighting for someone, for something, you start to fight for the wrong reasons." for glory. for power. for blood. 

"it's important to remember that."

Noel Parker

☉

they're similar in more ways than they know. she was born to a corpse, kicking and screaming and pulling what was left of her mother's lifeblood, forgotten by a father who could not care for her. so long had she spent trying to make something of herself. her viciousness was righteous because she took it out on bullies. on people who preyed upon the weak.

and it was so simple, those few short years ago, when those bullies had grown to wear r-emblazoned uniforms.

"everyone has their breaking point," she says. "there are some in the organization who may be irredeemable, but the many? noel, how many people are there because the league failed them? because they've been ostracized, marginalized, cast aside.

"some people are in rocket because they have family. because they have no other choice. and i think about that sometimes - about the people i've cut down. the people i've burned." a ruined ekans in her arms, the sizzle-pop satisfaction of flesh and bones melting into one. screams of the damned, silence of the damner. 

"no. it makes you human. a lot more human than some of us." she hesitates. "but there will be a lot more death in the months to come."

Noel Parker

☉

their words are broken intermittently with the need to catch their breaths. people march around them, fulfilling a growing list of duties, and the tension in the air brings an oppressive exhaustion. when they've finished with their task, she moves them over to a water station. 

she drinks deeply while he talks.

"don't apologize," she says while holding out a bottle for him. "you know, when i first earned the council seat, i prattled to FERNANDO SILPH my fantasies of a coup. purging the corruption in the system and all that."

her eyes close. she sees the wolfish, grinning face of the councilman's brother behind closed lids. 

"we need more men like you. the philosopher could tell you the system is broken, but you - you're a man of action. you'll do something about it." a tight smile. "i look forward to seeing it. and to knowing you're on my side in the months to come."

Noel Parker

☉