Archive of Our Own

Ren'ya was vaguely aware that she was drowning.

In what exactly, she had no idea. But the feeling was the same, of being pulled under by some aching thought and having no desire to open your eyes and get out of whatever perilous situation you were in. She'd done enough of that over the past few years. Years? Decades? Hell if she knew, or cared. There were only some memories worth keeping out of those years, and they included the same person every damn time.

_____________________

The campfire crackled and hissed, the dry leaves crunching as Ren'ya stepped over them to sit down next to Andromeda, glancing at Tanelye for a brief second to see her scales gleam in the dim light.

The sun had just set, the stars beginning to peek out from behind the clouds. Ren'ya wondered briefly if Andromeda ever followed her own constellation for guidance, and if it had led her to this.

The party had stopped to rest after travelling north from Brost, both wanted posters and treasures in tow. They had kept to the coast and off the road, since Andromeda and Kallith had apparently pissed off the Mother Selinkas by doing God knows what and hadn't told the party until the last second.

Nothing new there.

Andromeda hummed next to her as Tanelye and Bongo argued over whether fish tastes better raw or cooked, playing tunes on her pan pipes to pass the time.

The argument quickly lost any logic and turned into a battle of insults and then turned into Tanelye throwing him into a tree after he threw lightning bolts in her face.

Applause rings out as a rather scorched Tanelye sits back down, Andromeda lifting her fingers from her pan pipes to clap slowly. "I'll have to save 'fermented wine stained son of a lizard fucker' for my next Vicious Mockery, it's quite creative."

Bongo flips her off while shaking leaves off his horns and Bog snorts with amusement from his perch on their rusty cart, the first sound he'd made all evening. He wasn't one for talking or friendly conversation. Or communicating at all.

Then again, neither was Ren'ya.

Kallith says nothing, watching them quietly from beneath a tree, her face half in the shadows and half in the light of the campfire's flames. There is silence, save for the wood crackling.

Tanelye's head snaps up, her webbed ears flicking. "Shhh. Can you hear that?" Ren'ya turns, along with the rest of the party, towards the rather loud rustling coming from the trees.

Whatever it is, it's goddamn huge. Ren'ya can make out the treetops swaying as it crashes towards their camp. Bog perks up, reaching for his club as Ren'ya readies her spells. She hopes it isn't another troll, she'd already wasted three of her spell slots on one of the bastards this morning. Tanelye snatches up her halberd, and they tense as the sound gets closer and closer.

A steel boot kicks through a hedge, and what appears to be one massive tree trunk moving on two stout legs. "I HAVE RETURNED!" Allowyn bellows. "WITH FIREWOOD!"

Or at least, Ren'ya thinks it's Allowyn. It's hard to tell when he's hidden behind a 10 foot tall stack of wood that is dangerously close to toppling over. She'd forgotten how stupidly strong dwarves could be.

Bog lowers his club in disappointment, and Kallith raises one eyebrow in scorn. "Allowyn. What the fuck," She gestures to the precarious tower of mismatched pieces, "is this?" Ren'ya shares a look with Tanelye, who is trying extremely hard not to laugh. "We needed firewood-" "To last us the night, not five bloody seasons! What are we gonna do with this fucking pile, leave it behind to show people we've clearly been here?"

Allowyn huffs, his voice muffled slightly behind the wood. "We could take the rest of it with us, for extra." Their donkey stops eating grass to give the stack of wood an outraged look, neighing in protest. Kallith sighs and shakes her head as Tanelye goes over to help Allowyn.

"Speaking of things to take with us, we're out of meat." Bongo throws another piece of wood on the fire and looks at them solemnly, like he had just announced his father's death.

Andromeda tilts her head. "We have plenty of herbs and mushrooms to last us til the next village, no? Unless we have midnight snackers, our stock is fine." Bongo stares at her like she had told him to starve. "We are out. Of meat."

Kallith glares back at him, throwing a sack into the cart. "Well we move on tomorrow. We're not slowing down just so you can hunt for meat. You'll live."

Bog moves an inch from his seat, grunting, and they turn their heads to look at the momentous occasion. "I also need meat. Won't move without meat in my stomach."

Ren'ya refrains from commenting that he doesn't move much in the first place.

Bongo grins at Kallith. "That's two versus two." He glances at Ren'ya, the silent onlooker. Nope. Not getting involved. She decides now would be a good time to go help out with the firewood.

A blue hand waves over the stack, Tanelye's voice calling out. "Or we could go fishing! I propose going fishing!" Ren'ya isn't exactly the biggest fan of fish. But it's still better than dried troll jerkey.

"You're only suggesting that because you want to show off in the water." The sea elf shoots Ren'ya a smile, her fangs glinting. "That too. But we've travelling by the coast and we haven't gone swimming! We haven't gone near a beach! I can catch all the fish and you guys can...can....uh, do whatever you want!"

Ren'ya likes that idea.

Kallith glances at Andromeda, and then shrugs. "As long as we move along the beach." Allowyn sticks a thumbs up over the wood in agreement and Bongo shrugs. "Fine by me. But I'm cooking the fish."

Tanelye chucks a piece of wood at him.

_______________

Gods, why is Allowyn this loud even in his sleep?

Ren'ya turns over again, trying to ignore the dwarf's echoing snores from the cart. All that's left of the campfire is a few flickering embers, gleaming in the moonlight. It was warm. Really fucking warm. The season of Ches was nearly over, which meant that the sun would burn brighter and the nights were much shorter.

It was times like this when she missed the Underdark. The cold stone and rock. No blistering sun, only shadows and silence. Apart from the odd terrifying monster in the shadows, but you tend to try to avoid those.

She curses, sitting up off her wool blanket. Her cloak and armor were already removed and she didn't feel like stripping to her underwear in a forest. There's rustling to her left, and Tanelye rolls over to the side, staring at her. "Can't sleep? Me neither. The forest feels too alive." Ren'ya blinks. It was quiet here. Unless the trees were too alive for Tanelye.

"It's just....warm. It's too hot to sleep." The sea elf raised her eyebrows. "You've really never been down south of Faerun, have you? I forget that you're from the Underdark sometimes." Ren'ya resisted the urge to sneer at her naivety. As if those born in the Underdark had to opportunity to even travel to the surface, let alone this far south.

Tanelye sits up and clambers over to her, settling down next to her side. She throws her scalemail off, and begins removing the rest of her armor until all that's left is her leggings and straps of strong seaweed wrapped around her chest. Ren'ya sputters, averting her eyes. "What the hell are you-" She cuts off as Tanelye wraps one arm around her and lays on the ground.

Her scaly skin is cool and smooth, the sensation is bliss against Ren'ya's sweaty body. "There. Now you won't be too warm." Tanelye closes her eyes, leaning against her. Ren'ya stares at her incredulously for a moment. Was this a sea elf thing? Are they just casually touchy touchy with each other? Tanelye was a friend, that was true, but Ren'ya was never close to anyone like this. She didn't allow people to touch her. She should shove her off right now.

A little voice in the back of her head reminds her she's allowed Tanelye to grab her hand, or sling an arm around her shoulder, or even hug her excitedly after winning a game of poker against Mag back in Brost.

Ren'ya silences it, banishing it out of her mind. It's just because it's too warm. That is the only reason. She falls asleep next to the sea elf, annoyed both at herself and at Tanelye.

_________________

Ren'ya wakes to someone shaking her by the shoulders. She cracks one eye open, with the intention of brutally murdering whoever it is, but is greeted by two ocean blue eyes staring at her. "Up sleepyhead! The sun's rising and so are you!" She sits up slowly, running a hand through her hair.

Tanelye is fully dressed and walking around with far too much energy than is necessary at this hour. She spots Allowyn packing up their cart, with the same irritating energy. Morning people. Disgusting.

"Tanelye. Why in the name of the Gods, are we going fishing at seven in the morning?" Tanelye hoists her halberd up in the air enthusiastically. "Because it's the best hour to go in the ocean!" Of course it is. Ren'ya regrets asking.

Kallith stumbles into the camp, yawning, with Andromeda walking after her. Bog is still asleep in the cart. Or maybe he isn't. It's hard to tell. Bongo is surprisingly eager to go as well, and Ren'ya is about to ask him about his newfound motivation when she remembers their breakfast consists of pure greens. Good fucking grief.

The only problem with going to the beach, is that said beach is at the bottom of a cliff. A steep cliff. One with a large number of brambles and very small ledges. Bog takes one look at it and decides to stay back and watch the cart. She has half the mind to go with him.

Tanelye jumps down immediately, leaping from to ledge to ledge and skidding down the slope with a nimbleness Ren'ya envies. She makes her way down too, if much more slowly. Allowyn takes the easier path, he either doesn't mind or just doesn't notice the brambles beneath his feet. Ren'ya guesses the latter, given his cheerfulness.

There's that twinge again, the fleeting feeling of their actions being decided. She doesn't remember when it started, but it's something out there, that feels a little unreal.

It's not any God, or any monster she knows of, just an itching in the back of her mind that there's something beyond anyone's understanding, something that watches them, their group. She doesn't feel it often, but it's usually in situations where she does something she would never usually do.

Like now for instance, she feels fate being pulled and luck being tested, something out there swears a curse she doesn't recognise, and she spots Kallith, the most dexterous of the party, take one step and immediately slip, skidding down the cliff and crashing into a bush filled with thorns.

Ren'ya has always wondered whether the rest of the party notices it too, but she never brings it up. It's not exactly a welcome conversation topic. Hey guys, do you ever feel sometimes like your actions depend on the fate of some higher being that shouldn't exist? No? Is it just me that's mentally insane? Great.

They eventually reach the bottom, to find Bongo waiting for them smugly on the beach. Right. Ren'ya forgot the bastard can fly. "You could've..given...one of us..a lift." Allowyn puffs, his face red. Bongo flicks his wings in response. "Nah. It's funnier to watch."

Andromeda blows on her pan pipes and a magic hand slaps him across the face, to which Ren'ya gives her an appreciative nod. Absolutely deserved.

Tanelye is practically levitating with excitement next to her, her scales shining in the morning sun. She chucks her scalemail into the sand and sprints into the ocean, splashing up waves as she goes. Allowyn whoops and runs after her, his beard already soggy after two steps in.

Kallith follows less enthusiastically, until Bongo shoves her face first into the water and she rises, spluttering with rage, and tackles him while Andromeda watches them in amusement.

Ren'ya  sits on the beach and looks over the ocean. She'd barely seen it at all since she'd left the Underdark, it was even prettier than the storybooks had described. She watches the others swim and splash, Tanelye laughing victoriously as she holds up a tiger shark.

The sea elf looks at home in the water, for obvious reasons, but the ocean seems part of Tanelye, her fins making her look like a sleek overgrown sea serpent. Allowyn splashes around, coughing as a wave forces his short height under the water. Ren'ya thinks he looks more like a grizzly bear that's been dunked in saltwater.

A crab scuttled up to her curiously, only to turn right back around as soon as she met it with a death stare. It was seven in the goddamn morning. Every living creature can fuck off. Especially the smiling sea elf who was approaching her.

"Ren'ya -" "No." Tanelye laughed, her hair waving in the sea breeze. "I didn't even ask yet. C'mon, join us. The water's nice." Ren'ya frowned up at her. She was far too smiley. And friendly. Especially this early. "You said we could do whatever we want. I want to sit here. And not talk to anyone."

Tanelye gives her a look. A playful one. Ren'ya does not like it one bit. "I think you want to swim. Bongoooo! I think Ren'ya WOULD LIKE TO GO SWIMMING!" Tanelye reaches for her but Ren'ya is already scrambling away.

"Fuck off, Aryangwae. I mean it, don't you dare-" Ren'ya yelps as Tanelye grabs her with cold, wet fingers, her grip like steel. Curse Tanelye and her fucking rippling muscles that Ren'ya definitely did not find attractive in any way.

She is grabbed and lifted into the air and then plunged, by an incredibly pleased Bongo, straight into the ocean. There is seaweed in her hair. She is going to murder them all for this betrayal.

_______________

Their makeshift campfire hisses as Tanelye throws wet wood on it, the flames sizzling and spitting. "All that extra wood would've been useful he-" Allowyn quickly shuts his mouth when Kallith turns to stare at him, her wet hair plastered across her face. Bongo roasts another fish and tosses it to her, ignoring Tanelye's outraged look. She takes a fish from her own pile, ripping its head off with her teeth.

Ren'ya is not staring at her fangs. She is not.

The sea elf meets her gaze and tilts her head for a second, before misinterpreting it completely and offering her the rest of the raw headless fish. Ren'ya doesn't have the heart to say no, for fuck sake. She takes it reluctantly, inwardly shuddering at the slimy texture.

Andromeda, who is way too aware for her own good, raises her eyebrows at Ren'ya, with a rather smug expression that Ren'ya would like nothing more than to fireball immediately. She rises, stretching, and looks at Ren'ya expectantly. "I'll go look for more wood. Ren'ya, my dear companion, would you like to come with me?"

Andromeda can shove those pan pipes where the sun doesn't shine.

The wind whips Ren'ya's hair into a mess, and she follows Andromeda unenthusiastically along the beach, mentally preparing herself. "So," Andromeda walks backwards, facing her with curious eyes. Curiosity that can fuck right off. "When is it happening?" Ren'ya stares back at her. "What?" The bard lifts her hands. "You. Our beloved fighter." She intertwines her hands in some kind of binding gesture. "Together."

Ren'ya scowls, narrowing her eyes in irritation. There is nothing of the sort going on between her and Tanelye. The little voice in her head chimes in. Yet. Ren'ya would like to stab herself. Preferably right now. "I don't like Tanelye like that."

Andromeda gives her an unimpressed look.

The voice in her head gets louder.

Ren'ya  tries to find anything to throw her off. To silence the hopeful voice. "She doesn't even like women."

Andromeda just looks disappointed in her.

"Ren'ya . Look at her haircut. Look at her, you denying fool. Anyone can tell she's into women. Besides, we both remember what happened in Felnost's tavern."

Ren'ya does.

The party was drinking, which wasn't a rare occasion, and the tavern had been busy. Crowded. Ren'ya hadn’t been enjoying herself. She had sat down at the bar, trying to ignore whatever drunken nonsense a halfling next to her was babbling about.

Tanelye was in the centre, arm wrestling different challengers while Allowyn cheered and Kallith discreetly pickpocketed the crowd around them. A human had slung his arm around her shoulder, putting his face far too close to be considered friendly. He whispered something in Tanelye's ear and she laughed, turning towards him.

Ren'ya's wine glass cracked.

Allowyn hadn’t been paying attention, too busy buying another dwarf drinks. Ren'ya saw the cunt lead Tanelye out of the crowd, his hands around her shoulders. He fucking knew she wasn't sober, the scumbag.

Ren'ya slid out of her seat.

His hands went down, slipping beneath the sea elf's shoulders.

And Tanelye threw him over her shoulder and slammed him against a table like he weighed nothing.

A very small part of her wished she would do that to her. Ren'ya buried it quickly.

She had watched as Tanelye called him every curse under the sun and started a brawl that every party member joined in on, ending with them being banned from the tavern. Which was more than worth it, considering she was able to kick the bastard in the groin.

She shakes her head at Andromeda, frowning. "That has nothing to do with whether she likes women or not." The satyr gives her another pointed look. "I meant the aftermath. You two, looking at each other like you're the last people on Faerûn."

Ren'ya does not appreciate that description.

"Oh, because you've never had embarrassing feelings for anyone." Ren'ya has seen the bard flirting far too many times. She will not be criticised by someone who sings goddamn love songs.

Andromeda whistles, walking faster. "Nope. Not at all. Never. But anyways," She shoots Ren'ya a charming grin. "Do try and get your feelings out sooner rather than later. I don't want to have to pay Bongo anything."

Ren'ya doesn't even want to know the context for that sentence.

_________________

The same thing happens that night, when the party sets up camp in a damp cave. Ren'ya isn't even that warm, but Tanelye lays beside her anyways, strands of seaweed still tangled in her hair.

She shouldn't let this become a habit. It will only lead to more confusion and more feelings, the craving for affection and intimacy Ren'ya knows she doesn't deserve. She can practically hear her mother's voice hissing in her ear, condescending and disgusted.

"You still have a heart, Ren'ya. You think with your head, but your heart is still there. It is what makes you soft. No matter how much we teach you, your heart poisons your blood. There is no place for weakness here."

Which is why she had left the bloodstained walls of her home, turned her back to the disapproving stares of her family. She had seen what her siblings had become, she knows what a heartless person does.

She knows what she has done.

Tanelye leans her head against her shoulder, mumbling. "Quit thinkin' so loud. I can feel your brain ticking. Turn it off for a bit and sleep for once."

Ren'ya wonders if Tanelye would still be close to her like this, still smile at her every morning, if she knew. Knew about everything, knew about who Ren'ya used to be. She doubts it.

And Ren'ya knows it is selfish and weak, and that it will never end well, but she lets herself fall anyways. It won't last, but she'll enjoy the idea of thinking anyone could ever love someone like her, just for a bit.

________________

Fucking bandits.

An arrow whizzed past her head, embedding itself in the trunk of a tree just behind her. She curses and turns to where the archer is perched in a tree, already ready to fire another one.

Ren'ya traces a rune in the air, frost dusting her fingers as she sends an icy blast straight for the sneaky bastard. Somehow, it misses the tree entirely and instead freezes a confused bird in the air.

Miss.

Whatever the hell is out there can go fuck itself for that.

The party hadn't even been travelling on the main road, but bandits had still ambushed them in the middle of the forest. They left too many tracks. Ren'ya blames Bongo. He had turned an entire pond into wine last night, the idiot.

She spots Allowyn dealing with two thugs at once, both of them twice the size of the dwarf and yet still narrowly avoiding his sword. She calls out to him, ducking to dodge another arrow. "Are we quite sure that I can't use fireball? Like one hundred percent sure?"

"Do you want to set fire to the entire goddamn forest?" Kallith's voice yells from one of the trees, scuffling with another rogue. She drops down from one to give Ren'ya a dirty look, and the other thief falls down unconscious after her.

Enemy Miss.

Ren'ya turns as a massive axeman just misses her shoulder, slamming his axe against a tree and carving a rather deep gash into it. For the love of Lolth, that was close. Setting fire to the entire forest seems like a better idea now.

It doesn't help that fireball is her last fucking spell either. She swings at the axeman with her staff and it hits. He stumbles back as it jabs his ribs. But it doesn't even draw blood, a staff won't do shit against a half-orc or whatever the hell this guy was.

He raises his axe again, and Ren'ya does not want her face to become that gash in the tree. So she does what any sensible person would do in this situation.

She runs.

He's faster than her, but Ren'ya is smaller and lighter, making it easier for her to weave through the trees. She ducks and rolls, changing direction every five steps to throw him off, but every tree looks the exact same. Her stamina will run out eventually, whereas he hasn't been fighting for long. He's gaining on her.

"Ren'ya! Duck!"

She twists her head to see Bongo, flying above the trees with what looks like a lightning sphere in his hand, crackling with power and aimed directly at her. Or well, the axeman behind her, she hopes. That would be a more preferable outcome.

There's that twinge again. The wheel of fate spins. Something out there swears.

Oh fuck.

"Bongo, DON'T-"

Miss.

Ren'ya is blasted back with such force she hits the axeman and they both go crashing through a tree, cracking the trunk in half. It's quite an impressive spell, is what she would say if it hadn't hit her in the fucking chest.

She's bleeding, blood dripping down her head with splinters all over her body, and she can already feel bruises forming on her back.

She's aiming her next fireball at Bongo.

Ren'ya crawls away from the broken tree, coughing. She rises to her feet, groaning in annoyance. Her hair is scorched, for fuck sake.

Perception failed.

A hand forcefully grabs her by the arm, and she is slammed against a tree. Her head spins, already light headed from blood loss. She can't see her staff anywhere. Shit.

The axeman pins her against the tree, ignoring her hands desperately clawing at his grip. He raises the axe above her head and grins down at her, his teeth rotten and cracked. His breath fucking reeks.

This is not the last face she wants to see before she dies.

Critical Hit.

A blade pierces his throat, twisting as he gurgles in surprise, blood pouring out like a waterfall. The axeman falls to the ground and Tanelye twists her halberd further, severing his head from his throat. She kicks his body aside and spits on it, her lip curling in disgust.

The sea elf is covered in blood, dark red staining her blue scales and dripping off her halberd. Ren'ya doubts most of it is her own. She raises her eyebrows.

"Rather brutal for a mere bandit."

Tanelye snorts, wiping blood from her face and offering Ren'ya her staff, which to her dismay, is also bloodstained. Oh well.

"Said bandit was about to kill you. 'Sides, that was the last one. He doesn't deserve a pleasant death after I've been fighting his crew for the past half an hour."

Ren'ya takes a step forward and staggers, clutching her side. It feels like a rib is cracked. Or two. Possibly three. She grits her teeth in pain. Curse her low health.

"Hey, easy, easy. Go slowly. We could see that lightning blast from the other side of the forest. Bongo went all out, huh?" Tanelye takes her arm and Ren'ya leans her body against the shorter woman for support, ignoring the blood staining her armor.

"He needs to work on his shitty aim, but it's a well-developed spell. Don't tell him I said that though. He owes me at least two bottles of wine for this."

Tanelye laughs, grinning at her. "I wouldn't dare."

Her tongue is also bloody for some reason.

Not that she was looking or anything.

They walk back towards the camp in silence, Ren'ya noting with some pride several dead archers covered in frost. At least some of her spells hit.

She glances down at Tanelye, only to find two azure eyes already staring back at her.
She averts her gaze, coughing awkwardly.

".....Thanks. For helping me out back there."

Tanelye nudges her side playfully. "You mean saving your ass?"

She huffs. "I had it covered."

"Sure, sure. Definitely. Just like Bongo had perfect aim.”

Ren'ya changes her mind. Her next fireball will be aimed at Tanelye's smug fucking face.

_________________

"We need to restock. It's been long enough since we've visited a town and we're low on supplies. It should be safe with how much we've traveled."

Kallith rummages through what remaining things they do have, muttering things under her breath. The party, battered but alive, had reconciled again at a signpost on the main road.

Ren'ya breathes deeply and winces, her ribs protesting with every slight movement. They haven't restocked on healing potions since their cleric left, and Andromeda doesn't exactly specialise in healing.

Besides, a potion isn't going to mend two cracked, maybe broken ribs. She needs a proper healer. Bongo had already apologised by giving her fifty gold and some wine, but as far as she's concerned, he can pay for the healer's charges too.

The rest of them aren't too bad, Andromeda has a gash that should probably be bandaged, Kallith is rather bruised and Tanelye has minor cuts, but otherwise they're all in one piece.

Bog even seems happier than usual. His club has a lot of unique stains on it that Ren'ya knows better than to ask about.

But they all need a goddamn bath. Fat chance of any healer or merchant willing to do business if they reek of blood, sweat and dirt.

"And meat." Bongo chimes in, interrupting her thoughts and earning himself a glare from Kallith. "I need to restock my spices anyways." Bog grunts his approval and then rolls over to go back to sleep in the cart.

"The nearest town is Durcorthy. It's half a day east." Kallith slaps the donkey's behind, ignoring the outraged neighs. "Let's get moving now. We all need a bath, or so help me I'll have to cut off my nose to be around you lot for much longer."

_______________

The town is busy this time of year, which works in their favor, since they won't be noticed as much, but it irritates Ren'ya nonetheless. Crowds of loud, sweaty people. She doesn't appreciate the public very much.

None of the party is in the mood for socialising this time. Even Andromeda is unenthusiastic, apart from the odd wink at anyone who stares for too long.

A prophet is preaching in the town square, calling out to whoever accidentally walks close enough, with this case being Tanelye.

The prophet, a robed old woman, places a hand on Tanelye's shoulder. "You there, young hero. I see your path is-" The woman flinches as Tanelye wrenches her hand away, holding her wrist in a death-like grip.

"I don't want any of your fae-touched nonsense, o wise one. You folk only ever sow fear and hatred into the hearts of good people, and I won't hear your false predictions about me. Go bother some drunk who will listen to whatever bullshit you're spouting, but I'm not your chosen fool."

The prophet stammers apologies as Tanelye lets go of her hand and walks away, her fists clenched. Ren'ya exchanges glances with Andromeda, who is trying and failing to be discreet as she side eyes Tanelye. The sea elf wasn't usually one to be aggressive towards the general public, unlike Kallith. And Ren'ya herself.

Ren'ya mentions it in the bathhouse later, the local inn providing heated waters to all its guests. Tanelye waves her hand in a dismissive gesture in response, the water rippling.

"Prophets are simply people who have their heads so far up their own asses that they can't help but talk shit. Nothing useful ever comes from relying on one."

There's something darker in her expression that tells Ren'ya not to bring it up again. Although she wonders what prophet had messed up so badly that even Tanelye couldn't have forgiven them.

The sea elf quickly changes the subject, peering over at Ren'ya to look her up and down. "Shouldn't have you seen a healer by now? Those wounds weren't just scratches, you need proper care."

Ren'ya  runs her fingers through her messy hair, frowning when she finds twigs entangled in it. "I'm not letting anyone poke and prod at me looking like this. I'm filthy."

Andromeda and Kallith were nowhere near the women's baths either, to her surprise. Although she had seen Kallith bandaging the bard's gash with a begrudging tenderness that looked almost unnatural on the sarcastic tiefling.

And Andromeda has the balls to tease her, when those two pretend to hate each other to ease the ever present sexual tension between them. Hypocrisy at its finest.

Tanelye rises and steps out of her bath, steam wafting off her scales as she walks across the stained tiles.

Ren'ya allows herself one shameful look before she tears her eyes away, intensely focusing on her hair. Wow, this comb is turquoise. What a pretty colour.

Webbed fingers softly touch her shoulders, and she tilts her head up at the sea elf, who slides into the bath next to her.

"Let me help you. You shouldn't be moving much with your broken ribs." Tanelye takes the comb from her and brushes her hair, with a gentleness that would make you think she could never behead seven bandits in a row.

Ren'ya doesn't bother mentioning that washing herself won't exactly put pressure on her ribs. They both know that already.

She finds Tanelye's other hand beneath the water and intertwines their fingers, tracing the thin webs with her thumb.

____________

The next morning, Ren'ya emerges from Tanelye's room and sits down, with some difficulty, at the breakfast table with the rest of the party. She pointedly ignores Andromeda triumphantly holding out her hand as Bongo gives her twenty gold.

Tanelye comes out later, flipping off Allowyn when he asks how she slept last night. Bongo laughs at the dwarf's bewildered expression, whispering an explanation in his ear as Andromeda scribbles down lyrics to a new song.

The prophet from the square passes their table along with what appears to be her followers, who listen in awed silence as she talks. Ren'ya doesn't bother listening.

Tanelye glowers at them as they pass, stabbing her fork viciously into the meat on her plate. Kallith raises her eyebrows at this, but shrugs as Andromeda shakes her head and continues eating, taking notes on where the wealthier people sat for later.

Ren'ya liked this about their party. They never asked about someone's past, instead they came to an unspoken agreement, that unless your past endangered the whole group, or was part of a quest, it was your business and your business alone.

They all had a quiet familiarity with each other, one she had grown used to. Sure, they annoyed the shit out of her and made stupid decisions a lot, but they had her back, and she had theirs. They were more of a family than her own had ever been.

Seven years she had spent with them. Seven years full of chaos and surprise and laughter. Seven years of freedom.

She regrets not telling them her thanks for those seven years, before she left.

And Ren'ya would never admit it aloud, but she missed them sometimes. Dumbassery and bad aim included.

_______________

Bog was the first member before Tanelye that Ren'ya came to trust.

Not because he's trustworthy, but because he's so incredibly neutral about everything that you can't see him as deceitful or cunning. If he wanted to stab you in the back, you'd know.

But that would require doing something that isn't sleeping or eating, and Bog takes his free time painstakingly seriously. Which means he doesn't want to do anything but sleep and eat. You'd have to do something really fucking nasty to convince him to actually want you dead.

She had joined the group after it had already become, well, a group. They were all somewhat acquainted with each other already when she first saw them. Apart from Tanelye, who appeared shortly after her.

Joined is perhaps not the word she should use. It was more like they exchanged a few words in some tavern, then they got thrown together in some fight, and Ren'ya managed to hit some monster and got a thumbs up from someone for it.

And then Ren'ya followed their cart on her horse and slowly integrated herself into their group, because she had nothing better to do other than dwell on her miserable past.

This is how most adventuring parties are usually formed. That, or throw random people in a dangerous situation and see if they work well together.

She had quickly realised that the party was not so much adventurous exactly, and more, let's-see-how-much-we-can-fuck-around-before-someone-actually-does-something-about-it. Which usually involved stealing something. Or attempting to steal something and then running to not get caught by the guards.

Which is why Ren'ya often stayed back with Bog to mind the cart, unless whatever scheme they were carrying out involved her getting money for it. But she wasn't going with them to some drag race bar. Not a fucking chance.

Bog was quiet, which she appreciated. He didn't see the point in polite conversation, or asking nosy questions, or trying to get her to help out with some devious plan. They sat in silence for the most part, except for the occasional snores when he slept.

He slept a lot. It was rare to see Bog awake, and even rarer to see him wake up of his own accord. Otherwise it was Allowyn poking him with a sword or Kallith shouting for him to help when they were being attacked.

One day, Bog had asked her to go hunting with him. Ren'ya was just surprised he spoke more than three words for once.

Their camp at that time was halfway up a mountain, the rest of the party was at a mining village, apparently there was a spirit haunting the caves the villagers mined in.

Granted, Bog had spent five minutes trying to remember her name and then gave up and addressed her as 'charcoal elf', but she didn't take it personally. At least he didn't view drow as evil entities.

They had trudged further up the mountain, to a cave that faced the cliff. With a rather small ledge. One misstep and that's your neck snapped off the rocks below. And of course, Bog points straight at the ledge.

"We fight it here. You go first."

Ren'ya doesn't really feel like snapping her neck today. Hunting usually means shooting deer in a forest, not going up to some monster's lair. "Can I find out what it is first?"

He grunts, jerking his head towards the feathers that lay scattered near the entrance. The abnormally large ones. "Griffin. The meat is good, really good. Fry its wings and then cook the rest. You have to freeze its wings. I can't hit it if it flies off."

Bog nudges her towards the cave entrance. "It won't come out if it hears me stomping around."

Ah. Ren'ya is bait. Wonderful.

She edges towards the cave's mouth quietly, trying not to notice the bones lying around. Even with darkvision, she can't see very far into the cave.

Hesitantly, Ren'ya picks up a bone and chucks it in, tensing as it makes a loud clattering sound.

Nothing happens.

She shrugs at Bog. "Maybe it's out right now."

He stares back at her. "Check."

Ren'ya isn't going to walk into a griffin's goddamn nest for the sake of Bog's dinner.

"I'm not going in there."

"Then send something else in. You use magic don't you? Don't wizards have long range spells?"

Ren'ya does. But she is also tired and wouldn't like to waste a complicated tracking missile spell on a random griffin.

Fuck this.

She raises her staff, the runes engraved on it glowing as heat crackles near the top. A fireball blazes forward with a whoosh, heading straight for the back of the cave.

An outraged roar soon follows.

The griffin lunges out of the cave, bristling its scorched feathers. It twists its head to glare at Ren'ya, one talon raised to strike.

She dodges, leaping out of the way as it slashes the ground. It turns once again, and immediately gives chase, screeching in anger.

Ren'ya curses, fumbling her staff as she barely avoids another vicious swipe. A loud crack comes from behind her and she turns to see Bog whacking the griffin's skull with his club.

It stumbles back, momentarily stunned, and Ren'ya messily draws a set of runes that shoot icy spears, shredding its wings with small cuts.

Bog whacks again, harder, and the griffin lowers its head in pain. Ren'ya watches as he beats it to death, blood spraying the ground and feathers swirling everywhere.

He wipes his face with one hand and grunts at her, holding up one charred wing in victory.

They had eaten it together that night, ignoring Bongo's offended expression when Bog insisted on cooking it himself.

Ren'ya never met the orc again after she left. She had heard from others that he went up north, towards the icy mountains where frost giants dwelled.

But she figured as long as Bog had good food and a place to sleep, he would be fine.

_______________

The problem with Allowyn was that he was too trustworthy.

Ren'ya refused to believe anyone was capable of being that friendly without ulterior motives. Especially to someone they had just met.

He had constantly asked her about magic, specifically her magic and how she had learned it and whether she'd test it out with his magic, to which Ren'ya politely declined.

She had a feeling the dwarf's friendliness would disappear if he knew how she was taught her magic.

He had a moral obligation to do the right thing in almost every situation, which was both admirable and exceedingly annoying. And he constantly wanted to help people in need.

Not only was it exhausting to deal with, but he also made you feel bad if you did something morally incorrect. And the worst part was Allowyn didn't do it on purpose, he was good and kind by nature.

Ren'ya both hated him and loved him for it.

"You can't do that. What if someone else needs it?"

Allowyn was standing behind her as she disabled the runes engraved on the shrine's door. There was an infernal beast inside, it had been terrorizing the villagers. But it wouldn't come out of the shrine with the blessings and runes marking the exit.

Ren'ya glanced back at him without pausing her work, resisting the urge to flip him off.
"Would you rather the beast stay in there forever? They won't be using the shrine at all then."

He folds his arms, pressing his lips together in a firm line. The disapproving mom look. "True, but, can you replace them after? They're for protection and good luck, many people of the village think the shrine relies on the runes."

Ren'ya sighs. He had a point. Replacing the runes would take an annoyingly long time, but she could do it without difficulty. The last rune faded and the doors swung open, creaking slowly.

She rises and turns to the dwarf, looking down at him. "Fine. I'll replace them after, but those villagers better be grateful, we're already dealing with their mystery beast."

Allowyn smiles at her, raising one hand to squeeze her shoulder. "You may be cold Ren'ya, but you've a good heart deep down. You aren't as bad as you think you are, y'know." He walks off into the shrine, raising his sword against the darkness.

Ren'ya stands still for a moment, processing his words before grabbing her staff and following him, irritated.

Kind people made things more complicated.

She had met him only once more after she left, in a keep at the bottom of a northern mountain that she had already forgotten the name of.

He greeted her the same as ever, but he had changed, as they all did. He was more tired, more worn and more wary.

The spark of adventure when you're young and foolish and think everyone will work out one way or other was gone. The excitement at facing evil was gone.

There was only so much you could do.

Ren'ya had never pried, but she knew of the dwarf's late wife. Walda, she remembers. She had died young, younger than Allowyn was when they first met. The dwarf never told them how she died, and they never asked.

There were wanted posters, back down south towards the coast and the desert, of a face much like Allowyn's, but by a different name.

She never told him about his wife. He had enough on his plate already, and it wasn't her business to get involved. Allowyn had told them Walda was a good woman, a kind soul, so Ren'ya guessed she had a reason for it.

Ren'ya hoped maybe one day Allowyn would get to see his wife again. And if she had accidentally left a wanted poster on the billboard of the tavern she met him in, it was pure coincidence.

______________

Bongo had rubbed her the wrong way from the start.

She called him Bongo not out of formality but because a name like Bernard was not a word she was willingly going to include in her vocabulary.

Tanelye had just assumed Bongo was his first name and no one had bothered to correct her yet. Ren'ya certainly wouldn't.

As a sorcerer, his magic ran through his bloodline, a descendant of an ancient blue dragon.

Sometimes she envied his magic, knowing it came naturally to him. Her family valued their bloodline greatly, but they had no ancient power running through their veins, only the blood of sinners.

They had all heard, countless times, the tale of how Bongo had slain a poison dragon when he was just out of the egg, usually when they were out drinking.

He had been raised away from dragons, resulting in his willingness to mingle and mix with "lower" races. Thankfully he hadn't inherited a blue dragon's insufferable vanity.

Bongo had mentioned wanting to find his nest briefly, but Ren'ya never knew where exactly it was. She had a feeling that his blood relatives weren’t exactly fond of him, considering he never left them to seek it out for himself.

He didn't really acknowledge Ren'ya as a party member for the first week or so, but she thinks this is less of him actually disliking her and more just him forgetting she existed a lot.

Until one evening he threw a snake directly in her face.

It was a snake he had been roasting on the fire as well, Ren'ya had fucking burn marks for at least four days after it. And it didn't even taste good.

But Bongo had apologised, albeit due to Allowyn scolding him. He offered her the first piece of roasted boar and said he liked her tattoos. He didn't ask what they symbolised, which she appreciated.

It wasn't exactly an apology, but he had said sorry in his own way, so Ren'ya accepted it.

But at that moment, he had realised she existed. Which meant that she could be involved in whatever daily dumbass plan he decided to do.

Bongo was the type of person to look at a trap and immediately know how it worked, what it triggered it and how to dismantle it, but still throw a rock directly onto the trigger anyways.

He was exactly the type of person her family had taught her to frown upon.

The party was in a town at the time of a harvest festival, the streets were packed with people and filled with stalls, animals and other nonsense.

Ren'ya was avoiding everything except the food stalls, leaning against a hay bale and watching Kallith win a dart throwing competition with scarily accurate throws.

She felt the unsettling twinge in the back of her mind again, and noticed a disgruntled looking drow arguing with Bongo, over some shady looking box.

Critical Fail.

Ren'ya cringed as Bongo mispronounced an elven word, insteading pronouncing a word that roughly translated to "asslicker". The drow slapped him across the face.

She turned to walk away to another area, unable to handle the second-hand embarrassment for much longer. Four steps was all she got before Bongo somehow appeared behind her shoulder out of nowhere.

He really needed to stop doing that when greeting people.

"Hello-" Ren'ya cut him off immediately, folding her arms. "Don't even think about it. No." He gave her a pleading look, tossing a bag to her that jingled with coins. "You're a drow right? C'mon please, maybe she'll warm up to a fellow elf."

She felt the bag's weight for a moment, glaring at him. "What could that drow have that you need so badly you have to ask me to help with persuasion?"

"It's a cursed ring. Not too bad of a curse, the benefits outweigh the bad part. One that would help the party out with adventures and I'll even let you use it once or twice."

Ren'ya narrowed her eyes. This was Bongo they're talking about. "It looks cool, doesn't it." It's not a question.

He shrugs at her. "It is extremely cool, but that's not the point. Can't you use your charm for once? I bet that elf likes women."

Ren'ya snorts at this. He obviously hadn't met enough drow. "You're asking me to flirt. Me. And you expect this to work?"

Bongo gives her a thumbs up, grinning. "I place my faith in your expert charisma. And the fact that you like wine. Which I will give you three bottles of, by the way, if you pull this off."

She begrudgingly agrees, but refuses to listen to his tips on pick up lines. She isn't that bad.

The drow is a slim, fidgety dealer, obviously looking for someone who won't rip her off. Ren'ya approaches slowly, making sure her hands are visible and empty.

She browses the stalls for a while, deliberately passing by the drow's a couple times before stopping to scan it briefly.

"Something catch your eye, miss?"

Her gaze flicks to the elf, who is hovering near her attentively, but watching the crowd. Ah. She wants to get the ring off her hands, but doesn't want potential buyers knowing she has cursed items.

"Perhaps. Could you tell what's in that box?" Ren'ya lifts one finger to point at it.

"That's a ring, handcrafted by smiths from the underdark, miss. Silver and moonstone, it'd go with your look nicely. It'd be about two thousand gold, if you'd like it."

Ren'ya stills, staring at the drow. Two thousand? For a moonstone ring? Did she take Ren'ya for a fool? Obviously, since the elf thought she didn't know it was cursed.

She internally stabs herself for it, and puts on an attempt at a charming smile. "How about you lower the price and I can give you something better than gold?"

She feels that twinge again. Please, please-

Check failed.

The drow recoils, a revolted expression flitting across her face before it's replaced by a stubborn scowl. "I'm not interested."

Ren'ya was done with this little shit. The elf should count herself lucky anyone even wanted to buy her outrageously priced wares. She pulls back her cloak slightly, raising a hand to reveal a family emblem, one that almost all drow should know.

She leans down, looking the drow dead in the eyes.

"Listen here, you filthy outlander. Don't think I don't know where you got that ring, or where you're running from. One word and I can have you thrown in an audience with the drider, and I doubt they'll be as merciful as I am. Give me that cursed ring, or I'll rip out your tongue so you don't disgrace our house name any further."

The box is shoved into her arms by trembling hands, the drow stammering her thanks and bowing down so low that she's right angled.

Her mother would be proud. No, her mother is never proud. Her mother would be slightly less disappointed in her for this act.

Ren'ya leaves twenty gold in the drow's hands, because it is something her mother would never do.

Bongo applauds slowly when she returns, tilting his head at her. "You could've told me you prefer intimidation to persuasion, I would've given you tips for that."

She tosses the box to him, rolling her eyes. "Some of us don't see flashing lightning sparks as intimidating."

He catches the box, opening it immediately. "You guys just have bad taste. But that was pretty good. Couldn't hear everything, but ripping out a tongue is always a decent threat. Thanks."

Ren'ya doesn't bother telling him where she learnt it from. "Just give me that wine later."

Bongo may be a complete dumbass when he wants something, but he isn't that irritating usually. And he made damn good wine, so she would probably overlook anything else.

He serves breakfast at the inn the next day, and his gaze flicks down to the poorly hidden markings on Ren'ya's neck. "I like your new tattoos."

She takes it back. He is nothing but a bastard.

Ren'ya heard about his bar in Waterdeep from travelers after she left, it was slowly growing with popularity from the tourists. She had never met him again, but at least he had his business there. Sometimes she hoped the rest of the party would meet up at his tavern for one last drink.

______________

Kallith was the only one out of the party with any common sense.

Ren'ya and her had a mutual respect for each other by not tolerating the other's various bullshit ideas. Well, most of the time.

Ren'ya was a bit fond of gambling, and stealing if it was worth her time. And she tended to be more approving of murder than she really should.

Kallith had a problem of never getting caught stealing except when she was stealing from someone important. Mother Selinka had not taken to it kindly, resulting in a wanted poster with her face on it.

She also tended to jump headfirst into anything without thinking of the dangers first, but they all did that at least once a week.

Kallith hadn't trusted Ren'ya when they met, it needed to be earned first. Which was why Ren'ya respected her. She had eventually earned it by fireballing a kobold as it was about to shoot the rogue, despite it being her last spell.

They weren't exactly close, but Kallith was honest and generally good natured, so Ren'ya valued their friendship.

Kallith had taught her how to lockpick after Ren'ya had shown her a spell to reveal the key size of any lock and they had exchanged various tales of thievery.

Although, Kallith and Andromeda were normally the thieving duo of the party, with the bard being the distraction and the rogue going through the crowd's pockets.

Like now for instance, as Kallith eyed a noble's satchel while Andromeda flirted with them. They were in another tavern, this time to turn in a bounty reward for a hill giant.

This tavern seemed to specialise in fighting, there was a ring next to the bar where people could wrestle and place bets. Ren'ya just wanted a drink, but the pile of gold for the champion was getting rather high, and she wondered how severe the punishment would be if it happened to go missing.

It seemed Kallith was having the same idea, as she slid into the seat next to her. "Two glasses of Faemist wine, please." The bartender nodded as Ren'ya glanced at the rogue, raising an eyebrow.

Faemist wine was expensive enough, and it was also one of Ren'ya's favorites. It was Kallith's way of saying she wanted a favor and if it was about the large pile of gold, Ren'ya would certainly not refuse.

"You think the champion's any good?" Kallith asks, leaning back on her stool to look at the fights going on.

Ren'ya sips from her glass slowly, savoring the taste. Wine is more important right now. "I doubt it. It's just a meathead wood elf who's bulked a lot. I bet Tanelye could knock him out."

Kallith's lips curl up into a mischievous smile. "Yeah, I'm sure you know Tanelye's body very well."

She chokes on her wine.

Ignoring Kallith's amused expression, she turns to scan the room for any other party members. "Anyways, did you want me to call her over for it or something? You want to enter Tanelye?"

Kallith shakes her head. "Nah, since when was I one for taking things fair and square? I say you deactivate that magic barrier, I sneak through the crowd and all that gold can be split between us."

Ren'ya likes that idea.

They split up, with Kallith going to the front of the crowd to spectate and Ren'ya heading from the bar to the back, pausing whenever someone looked in her direction.

She sat on a stool that was nearest to the table that the pile was on, trying not to look at it directly.

Kallith was in front of it, chatting to whatever drunk was betting on fights.

Ren'ya drew the runes under the table, muttering under her breath in elven. The barrier flickered slightly, weakening.

It wasn't enough yet. Shit. Ren'ya prayed that no one would come over to the back and pulled out her staff, pointing it under the table. Gods, why was this thing so fucking lengthy.

The barrier wrenched apart reluctantly, the edges crackling. It wouldn't hold for long, whoever put the spell up made it to last.
Ren'ya cursed, redrawing the runes over and over again.

Kallith snuck behind two arguing halflings (which was impressive, given they were half her height) and slowly pulled out a bag, sliding coins into it.

She met Ren'ya's gaze and hissed quietly to her. "Ren'ya. Can you make the lights go out, for even two seconds?" She nodded back at the rogue silently, concentrating on keeping the barrier apart. Hurry up, Kallith.

In one quick motion, she shoved the pile into the bag, the coins jingling loudly. Heads started to turn towards the back.

Ren'ya blasted the hanging light above them, causing it to fall on someone's head, and several fights immediately broke out.

She caught sight of Kallith's scrambling over a brawl on the floor, mouthing the word "Run" at her. Ren'ya kicked a gnome aside and fought her way through the crowd, whacking an orc over the head with her staff when he didn't move out of the way.

Kallith waited for her by a fountain, breathing heavily but smiling. "I thought you were going to do a quiet little darkness spell, not blast the lights."

Ren'ya hunches over to catch her breath. Holy shit did she need more stamina. "I improvised. How much did we get?"

The rogue opens the bag, grabbing a bunch of coins and counting them, before her smile vanishes. "It's counterfeit money."

No fucking way. "It's what?"

"It's fake." Kallith stares at it for a moment before she starts to laugh, throwing the coins into the fountain. "We stole about five thousand fake gold coins."

Ren'ya examines one, contemplating. "D'you think Bongo would believe us if we told him they were real?"

Kallith had apparently become head of a gang in Waterdeep, going back to the same one she left and killing their past cruel leader.

Ren'ya had wanted to visit, but didn't dare to go into the city itself. She gave Allowyn a message to pass on if he ever saw the rogue again. An envelope containing a letter and a satchel filled with fake gold.

____________

Andromeda was unique, to say the least.

The rest of the party usually called her Andie for short, but Ren'ya never used nicknames. Nicknames implied an intimacy, or a bond, a closeness that she didn't have, didn't want to have with any of them.

It would change over years, but it takes time, as all things do.

Ren'ya never fully trusted her, even less when she disguised herself as Camelo Pardalis and neglected to tell them that she was on the run from Mother Selinkas.

The satyr wasn't what she seemed, there was more to her story and more to her motives, more than Ren'ya was willing to ask about.

And she was extremely aware of everything around her, to the point where it wasn't an "I never told you that" and more of a "How the hell did you even get the idea that it existed" situation.

Ren'ya had never told her anything about herself, but that didn't matter. She knew too much for one person. It was going to get her killed one day.

But Andromeda was entertaining, she'd give her that much. Her performances were always adored by crowds and they had impressed even Runym, a high ranked Mother Selinka member.

Bargaining was usually left to her, as most of the party didn't think to charm or persuade people, but more to bash them over the head until they gave in.

They were banned from a lot of taverns.

The bard had once attempted to convince Ren'ya to sing with her at a village competition and she simply stared back at her unblinking until Andromeda gave up.

Ren'ya wasn't one for performing. Too many eyes and too many noises.

Until Andromeda entered her, without her permission, into a poetry tournament.

When she confronted the bard, all she got for an answer was "Be grateful I didn't enter you in the tap dancing one along with Allowyn or the opera singing one with Bongo."

Which was why she is now standing on a stage and reciting poems Andromeda had forced her to memorise beforehand, which definitely wasn't cheating. Ren'ya better get some of the prizes for herself for fuck sake.

Her opponent was crying, possibly for bonus points with their sad poem, or possibly because they had massive stage fright. Either way, they stumbled over half the words and barely finished a sentence without a sob breaking out.

Ren'ya was unfortunately admitted to the next round.

Andromeda was waiting for her backstage, with a stack of paper. "Ren'ya. I don't think you're taking this very seriously."

She ignores the stack of paper and sits down. Why the hell did they make poetry contestants stand up for the entire recital?

"I am putting my heart and soul into this, can't you tell?"

The satyr taps her hooves on the ground, sighing. "Your voice is extremely monotone and you look like you're depressed up there. You could read a line that said seventeen orphans died and you'd seem happy about it. Kallith was trying not to laugh when you were reading these."

Yay. At least one of them was enjoying themselves with this. "You should've entered someone else then."

Andromeda groans in annoyance. "Would it kill you to be a little emotional?"

Yes. Yes it would.

The next poem was supposed to be some metaphor about dramatic thunderstorms or something.

Ren'ya read it out with as much passion as a dried out raisin.

Andromeda side eyed her from the audience, which Ren'ya pretended to not notice. It was quite impressive actually, considering the bard's side eyes were extremely obvious. She started making obscene gestures that Ren'ya didn't have the mental energy to interpret.

Then Kallith stood beside her, wearing badly painted blue webs that were taped on.

Oh no. Oh fuck no. They did not.

They were doing painfully exaggerated and embarrassing motions that made Ren'ya want to skin herself. And they were laughing the entire goddamn time.

She did not look at Tanelye like that.

Andromeda grinned at her as she stormed over after the performance. "You were great. Your voice got angrier and angrier as it went on, it really matched the atmosphere, good job."

Ren'ya was tempted to strangle her. But then she’d be disqualified. "You assholes better give me at least eighty percent of the prizes for this."

A paper is thrown at her in response. "You have a poem about the tragedy of nature next, I hope this will entice you to be more expressive."

She should've stayed in the cart with Bog.

Allowyn had told her of Andromeda's death when she met him, his eyes downcast and mournful.

Killed by Mother Selinkas, her heart exploded in her chest. Apparently her grave lay just south of Waterdeep.

Ren'ya visited it on her travels and left flowers, not wanting to stay too long in one place. There were already flowers lying by the grave when she arrived, dark red roses. The gardener told her someone left flowers every single day. Someone hidden behind a cloak, but with visible red horns.

____________

Tanelye was her first.

Her first everything.

She had grabbed Ren'ya's hand the night they first met in Brost, dragged her into the tavern and immediately struck up conversation with everyone there, pulling her along like she was an old friend.

And Ren'ya had let her.

They bonded somehow, over multiple escapades and several break-ins, Tanelye had grown on her like a leech. They were friends at first, solid and steadfast, until it erupted suddenly and she was having thoughts and feelings her mother would've killed her for.

A fortune teller had one described them as the sun and the moon, and Tanelye had laughed and told him that she was only a cloud passing over the moon, nothing more.

And Ren'ya had shaken her head at the sea elf in disagreement. She was only a small meteor falling from the great sky, and Tanelye was the stars watching her fall.

Ren'ya didn't want to leave. It tore her apart to wrench herself away, running like she always did. She would rather let herself rot away than see Tanelye broken because of her.

She hoped Tanelye would understand.

And then Allowyn told Ren'ya of her death.

Killed in the middle of the ocean, way down south in the Sea of Fallen Stars, to a Kraken of all things.

She had mentioned it to Ren'ya briefly before, that there was a Kraken lurking in the waters near her tribe, and it killed sea elves every full moon. Tanelye, the foolish hero she was, had gone to face it and died in the process.

Ren'ya mourned, avoiding everyone she knew, setting off to travel to the southern oceans. She buried herself in a hole of her own sorrow, her dreams wracked with guilt and regret. She wondered if she had stayed, would Tanelye had chosen a different path?

In all her grief, she never asked them if anyone had found a body.

Tanelye was standing in the ocean again. She was still as beautiful as she had been years ago, the water glistening on her scales. Ren'ya staggered towards her, reaching out desperately for something that was no longer there.

She fell and tasted blood in her mouth. Not in her mouth, everywhere. The sea was red with blood and she was drowning, falling deep below it. Tanelye was covered in blood and gore, dark runes that even Ren'ya didn't know circling her skin.

Ren'ya felt the eyes of the dead on her, the headless corpses scattered throughout the waters judging her failure. The living watched her too. She saw the others, spectating their saviour. Fledglings most of them, but others that knew what they worship. An incubus and a siren, smiling with gleaming teeth.

They were glad to see her fall. Let them watch, Ren'ya thought bitterly. Let them watch and see what awaits them when they die.

Something beneath the water watched her as well, rippling and twisting with impatience. With hunger. It was waiting, as it had for thousands of years for its disciple to come. Waiting to devour. Waiting to be fed with the blood of its enemies.

And the creature that used to be Tanelye watched her too, from behind a mask made of bones. Heads of people Ren'ya didn't recognise were beside the throne the sea elf rose from.

The thing beneath the water that had whispered to her was roaring now, ungodly tentacles shooting upwards from the water and waving furiously.

And then there was a trident going through Ren'ya's chest, piercing her ribs and twisting, before it was wrenched out again painfully.

Arms caught her as fell, hands sliding around her waist. Through the blood and the haze, Ren'ya saw two ocean blue eyes behind the mask for one last time. Her lover was there, buried deep beneath something twisted and rotten.

Those webbed fingers dug into her chest, ripping out her heart in one clean strike. She let herself fall into the water, watching it bleed out in Tanelye's hands. The thing beneath the water let out a screeching wail.

It didn't matter either way. Ren'ya's heart had always been hers from the very start.