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Olivia couldn't sleep. This wasn't a new issue by any means, it came with the job once you've seen as much as she had. If anything, the smooth sway of the sandship being carried through the desert by the winds should've been a balm to her. In any other situation it might've been. But the task she was given by the guild was nipping at the heels of her mind, it was hard to not feel restless when there was a monster out there responsible for attacking a village and leaving the status of its inhabitants a mystery. A species thought to have been long extinct.
She slipped out of her cabin, careful not to disturb Athos who was fast asleep at the foot of the bed, and pulled on a coat before quietly stepping towards the stairs leading up to the deck. There was still chatter drifting out of the galley, hunters from the other units sharing tales of their previous quests over drinks into the wee hours of the morning no doubt.
She smiled to herself and shook her head fondly, at least they were unburdened. Most of the hunters who volunteered were still relatively fresh, all lying somewhere between the scale of recently graduated apprentice and being a few big quests away from becoming a veteran hunter. To her knowledge, there was only one other fellow veteran hunter on board that Fabius had told her of, the Avis unit hunter.
He hadn’t told her much, other than she was a wyverian who’s been working with the guild for over fifty years, tends to move from place to place and mostly works alone. She’d only seen her in passing, usually haunting the galley like a shadow during breakfast and dinner, occasionally making small talk with her palico, handler, smith and the child in their care but otherwise steering clear of the others.
Given that until this assignment the wyverian had been rolling solo, Olivia could gather that she was either one of the most skilled hunters in the guild, or an idiot. Perhaps a bit of both.
The night air was frigid over the desert as she stepped up onto the deck, exactly what she needed to clear her mind. She’d waved up to Werner who was diligently tending to the wheel, and began to walk towards the bow when she noticed a figure standing there against the bulwark.
Well, speak of the deviljho.
The wyverian was standing with her arms crossed, leaning on the railing as she stared out into the great desert like the sands and bones held the secrets of the universe, her silver scales glinting like starlight beneath the glow of the full moon.
Olivia certainly hadn't planned on conversation tonight, though this was the only one of the hunters under her command she hadn’t introduced herself to. She made her way over, footsteps loud to not accidentally startle her and send her careening into the sand below.
“Can’t sleep either, hm?” She asked, resting her hands on the railing as she followed the wyverian’s eye out into the desert. A Dah’ren Mohran skeleton stood silent guard over the dunes around it, a small pod of Delex darting in and out of the sand as they passed.
“Something like that.” Her voice had something rough about it, the same tired edge to it carried by most of the other veterans Olivia had encountered. The voice of someone who’d seen more blood than the average person would’ve witnessed in ten lifetimes. “What brings you up here out in the cold, Captain? I would’ve thought you'd have preferred to pass the time in the galley with the rest of the rabble.”
“You can call me Olivia.” She extended a hand towards her “I could ask you the same thing, though I hear you've a reputation for being a bit of a loner. Surely this weather isn’t doing those scales of yours any favours either.”
“Well, Olivia, I gotta keep some of my mystery, don’t I? And don’t worry, I can manage a bit of cold.” She shook her hand and sure enough she wasn’t lying, Olivia was a little taken aback at just how warm her scaled hand was for someone who’d been standing out in the cold for who knows how long. It felt like she’d been sitting inside, a respectable distance away from a hearth. Probably a boon of the wyvern blood in her veins. “Shale.”
Now that was a name she'd heard before. She had a bit of a reputation within the guild, whispers and rumours of a solitary hunter who drifted from place to place like a wayward feather caught in a breeze, taking on notoriously difficult quests on her travels. Said to have been hunting entirely solo for nearly twenty years, almost as long as Olivia’s been in the guild for. For her to still be standing here and not six feet beneath the ground, with only some scars to show for it, was truly something else.
“I recognise your name, actually. This expedition must be quite the change of pace for you. What made you tag along?” Judging from how guarded the wyverian's expression was, she didn't think she'd get a straight answer out of her, but it didn’t hurt to ask.
“Just wanted to help the kid get back home, I suppose.” Olivia could tell this was only a half-truth, brushing the question aside with practiced ease, like water rolling off of a Lagiacrus’s hide. She wouldn’t dwell on it, every hunter held their uncomfortable truths, tragedies they don’t wish to speak of. Shale glanced down to their still joined hands with a raised brow, frozen in the aftermath of a handshake. The corner of her mouth curled into a playful grin as she asked. “Do your handshakes typically last this long or are you just regretting not bringing a pair of gloves with you?”
She pulled her hand back with an apologetic smile, leaning her arm on the railing instead.
“A bit of the latter, mostly just taken aback by how you’re still alive. Solo hunters are a dime a dozen, a solo veteran is practically unheard of.”
Something dark passed over Shale’s eyes at that, like clouds obscuring the moon. She smiled but it was a brittle thing with sharp edges.
“Doubting my skills, Captain? Fair enough, I’m surprised I’m still standing myself.” There were barbs to her words, though Oliva could tell they weren’t aimed at her, but rather turned inwards. She got the feeling that Shale had been bleeding onto them for quite some time. The wyverian reached into a pouch, before pulling out a thermos containing a hot drink and tapping it against Olivia’s shoulder. “Here.”
She blinked, a little taken aback by the gesture, before taking the thermos, wrapping both her hands around it, Shale seemingly flinching as their fingers brushed. “If you don’t need this for the cold, then why do you have-”
“It’s a habit. Just- Take it. Wouldn’t do the expedition good if you went and caught a cold. No more questions though, please. I’ve had the guild try to pry into my shit enough already.” She snapped, though seemed to immediately regret her words the moment they left her mouth, her ears swivelling back like a startled felyne. “Shit, sorry. I haven't been good company for…quite a while. Still getting used to the whole working in a group thing.”
“No need. I think I overstepped, forgive me. I'm still getting used to the whole leading a group thing myself. I normally just have my handler and smith to worry about.” Whatever it was that was bothering her was without a doubt the reason she'd been standing out here, Olivia reckoned as she unscrewed the cap of the thermos and downed its contents, sighting in relief at the warmth that spread throughout her chest. Perhaps a change of subject was needed.
“Ever hunt one of those before?” Olivia nudged the wyverian with an elbow before gesturing to the massive skeleton, half buried in the dunes.
Shale turned her gaze back to it, eyeing it quietly for a few moments as if imagining it as it was in life. “Hmm…can't say I have. Is it a relative of Jhen Mhoran?”
Olivia nodded, “Dah'ren Mhoran, I've repelled one of them once, was on its way towards Val Habar. They tend to be more aggressive than their cousins, would've leveled the town if we hadn't gotten it to change course.”
“Very noble of you.” The small smile she gave seemed genuine, more open than Olivia had expected. There was something relaxed to it, like a monster meeting the eyes of its own kind and letting its guard down. At least a little, she thought. These walls around this hunter seemed too numerous to grasp.
“Well, I haven't hunted this species, but I am familiar with its cousin. You'd see em a lot around Loc Lac. I saw one breach out of the sand once while I was on a sandship heading there, it damn near took my breath away.” Shale muttered softly, a wistful look on her face as she smiled at her.
“It's the sights like those that remind us what we love about our job, hm?” She could see Shale flinch slightly at that. The rubble of whatever wall had previously crumbled was rebuilt before Olivia could even blink.
“I guess you're right. Been quite a while since I've seen anything like that, though. If only we were lucky enough to only see those sights, and not…” She trailed off almost absently, claws coming up to itch at a raised burn scar that marred her scales and almost wrapped around her arm just past the elbow where her sleeve ended, some sort of habit or nervous tic. “Maybe then neither of us would be out brooding on the deck of a ship in the freezing cold, eh? It's a difficult job to love.”
Olivia had spent enough time in Dundorma, seen enough elder dragon attacks and the aftermath they leave written in flesh to instantly recognise the scarring that covered her arms and crept up over her clavicle to the base of her throat as being a result of dragonfire.
It didn't look like scars from any firebearing elder dragon species she recognised. Gogmazios and Teostra tended to leave behind distinctive marks from their unique sources of flame. Even long-healed as her scars were, she could tell it belonged to something powerful, even among elder dragons.
Just what has this hunter faced? And if she hunts alone, how is she still breathing?
Unless whatever she faced was the reason for her solitary lifestyle.
Surely itching at it wouldn't help anything, only opening more wounds upon wounds. So she did what she always did whenever she noticed Werner picking at the burns from the forge that dotted his hands, she slid her hand under Shale’s and gently pried it away.
The wyverian froze, tense as Olivia’s knuckles glided over the scar, but relaxed the moment she realised there was no threat to the action. She looked more taken aback by it than anything until it dawned on her what Olivia’s intent was.
It was almost imperceptible, but she felt Shale squeeze her hand slightly, just once, as if to say thank you before she retrieved it and crossed her arms against the rail.
“I used to think this job was straightforward. I was just a bright-eyed kid from a small farming village in the mountains who wanted to seek a bit of glory and make a name for herself. Gods, if I knew the amount of blood I’d have to wade through before I’d left to join the guild, I’d have picked up a plow and started tilling.” She let out a shattered snap of a laugh. “I can’t even go back because it’ll feel like defeat, a betrayal to the lives lost. I’ll die with a sword in my hand someday, whether it takes a few years or a few centuries.”
It was a story Olivia had heard many times, in many forms, from many hunters before. A story whose likeness she’d experienced herself as well. “It feels like it never gets easier. Our work is what keeps the world together, protecting the lives of people and monsters alike. I try to find solace in that. But it’s a tall order, it’s why we have to rely on each other. Other hunters are uniquely equipped to talk about these kinds of things with. It’s why we work together, to share the load rather than being crushed beneath it on her own. Isolation, solitude, that's what gets people killed.”
Shale turned her face away, her ears flattening, a portcullis cutting off any further conversation. Olivia sighed, taking this as her que to leave. “I should head back inside. I apologise for disturbing you.”
She stepped back, intending to leave and head back below deck, but instead a tail hooked tentatively around her ankle with a gentleness she didn't expect, its pointed spines carefully poised away from her to not bring harm. She glanced back up at Shale, taken aback to see her shaking like a leaf. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to. Olivia recognised the quiet plea for help, to not be alone in this moment, and wordlessly returned to her side.
While Olivia could feel Shale tremble where her arm was pressed against her own, it had eased slightly after the wyverian realised she was content to stay. The wyverian leaned into her, letting out a shaky breath through her nose.
Many hunters who had been with the guild for as long as they had, the ones permitted to face the full power of the strongest monsters, forces of nature within themselves, were broken things. It was common in nature for an animal to hide its ailments, to act normally and not show any sign of weakness so that it doesn't end up being picked off as an easy target.
Hunters were, after all, a part of the ecosystem as much as any other living thing. Slipping on that mask was one of the things that kept you alive in this field. This sort of vulnerability among hunters was a rare thing indeed.
Shale’s face remained eerily neutral despite her obvious distress, her ears being pinned back and the trembles that shook her frame as she desperately tamped down any emotion from showing on her face were the only signs of struggle. A part of Olivia wanted her to just let go, to speak and feel freely. But she knew that’s something easier said than done, especially for a veteran hunter.
She barely knew anything about Shale, aside from rumours and the information she was given by Fabius, but her struggle was as familiar as an old friend. She’d lost count of the times Werner and Erik had found her in such a state, helping her through it by sitting with her in companionable silence or by regaling her with interesting facts about ecology to help her get her mind off of her issues. And as captain of this excursion, she felt the need to help Shale through this in her own way.
Shale didn’t seem like she wanted to speak right now, so talking was out of the question. She seemed on edge when her hand had brushed the burn scar, Olivia didn’t know how much of her body was covered in them and didn’t want to risk causing any further distress, offering a hug was also out. Thankfully simply standing with her, shoulders touching to keep her grounded and here, seemed to be effective enough. So there she remained.
Enough time had passed that Olivia felt the warmth from the drink fade and the cold had set in once more. She tried to keep her shivering to a minimum, it wouldn't do well to give her colleague something else to worry about. She must've given something away as Shale flinched, shaking herself out of whatever stupor she was in as she looked over at Olivia.
“I only had the one on me I'm afraid.” Shale shrugged apologetically, the motion of it nudging against her. “You'd best head back inside if you don’t want to be on your back with a fever for the rest of the trip. I don’t think huddling against my shoulder will keep you warm enough either.”
“You're sure?” Olivia raised an eyebrow, giving her a once-over. The tremors seemed to have mostly died down, only making their home in her clasped hands. The tense shoulders and tired looking eyes were still present, though Olivia noted them down as probably just being constantly present traits of Shale’s.
“I'll be alright, well enough for the hunt if that's what you're worried about.” She turned to face her, leaning her hip against the bulwark. “Apologies about that as well, I'm usually better at keeping my head in check. Must've caught me at a bad time. You didn't need to babysit me.”
“Would you prefer I didn't? I get the feeling that you didn't want to be left alone.” She spoke flatly, nudging the tail still curled loosely around her with an ankle. “It's alright to want to have company. Our work isn't easy.”
“It certainly isn't,” She said with a humourless smile, retrieving her tail in a smooth motion, tucking it behind her like nothing happened despite the flustered tilt of her ears. The lopsided smile Shale gave was a relief, a glimpse at the hunter beneath the armor. “Regardless, thank you for staying, Olivia. I know I can be…difficult, a lot of the time. But the company was greatly appreciated, if I’m being honest.”
“It’s no bother, I’d be doing a poor job of being captain if I didn’t keep an eye out on you all.” Olivia had meant it in good faith, but based on the flicker of something in the wyverian’s pale violet eyes that resembled apprehension, she couldn’t help but feel like she’d said the wrong thing.
Shale smiled, but that sad sort of distance that Olivia couldn’t place had nestled into her gaze once again. “I’m going to watch the stars for a bit longer. You should get some sleep, humans need more of it than we do from what I’ve heard. Don’t let me keep you from your rest, Captain.”
“Of course. We’re forecasted to reach the forbidden lands tomorrow, so don’t skimp out on sleep yourself.” She gave Shale a bow of her head, stiff and practiced, before turning to leave.
A scaled hand caught her wrist, swift but gentle all the same, stopping her in her tracks. Olivia paused and looked back at Shale, the wyverian looking at her with a question in her eyes and mouth parted to ask it. Olivia watched her patiently, before Shale released her grip, seemingly regretting her decision. Shale dismissed her with a wave and a perfect facsimile of a forgetful smile on her face.
“Ah, it seems to have slipped my mind, sorry for keeping you. Sleep well.” She clapped a hand to Olivia’s shoulder before she turned and rested her arms on the railing once more, face turned slightly out of view.
In any other situation, Olivia would’ve pushed back, dove deeper to have her ask what she was going to ask. But she’d felt like she’d misstepped past the line of this poor hunter’s comfort zone enough tonight, so she was as content to put it behind her as much as the wyverian before her. The last thing she needed was distrust and infighting, especially on such a high stakes expedition, it would only put lives at risk.
“Well then. I’ll leave you to your peace. I apologise for the imposition.” She said placidly, returning the gesture of a pat on the shoulder. Shale’s ears drooped a fraction at that but she remained otherwise impassive, mask firmly in place. Olivia turned and left before she could think too hard about it, she’d only be stuck trying to figure out this hunter if she chose to stay longer. Would only ask more of someone who’d clearly been hurt by the guild’s questioning in the past.
Olivia gave Werner a quick nod as she headed towards the stairs, the smith giving her a curt blink of acknowledgement as she went. She puzzled over the entire ordeal in her head as she descended below deck.
To say that Shale confused her was certainly an understatement. She seemed to want company like a plant needed sunlight, yet also appeared put-off by her presence. Perhaps it came with decades of solo hunting? Wanting friendship and connection but not knowing how to go about it, like a weapon that hadn't been sharpened in a few hunts. But that didn’t seem right, it felt too easy. Shale having experienced a significant loss or broken trust in the past was the only other option Olivia could land on, and if that were the case, she really didn’t want to pry any further into the matter.
Olivia closed her cabin door behind her, Athos’s ear flicking in response but not stirring, before doffing her coat and sitting on the edge of the bed. She ran a hand through her hair, letting out a sigh. So much for clearing her mind and getting some sleep. She wasn’t the kind of person who enjoyed having handfuls of questions but no answers, sympathising with Erik whenever he found a particularly baffling specimen.
In any case, she’d have to work on bridging the rift she’d accidentally dug between them. She needed to try to coax Shale into having trust in the other hunters and work as a team or else it would likely end in a lot of trips to the medics for her. An isolated hunter was a dead hunter, and the last thing Olivia needed was more deaths under her watch.
When the next day arose and she watched Shale grappling onto the edge of the ship with one arm before leaping onto the saddle of a bird wyvern, then rushing into a swarm of sand leviathans to save a child’s life without a second thought, she certainly had no doubt Shale was the hunter most likely to take as many risks as possible. But Olivia would be lying to herself if she didn’t think it was a damn impressive display of instinct, unable to hide a small smile as she watched another veteran at work.
Should last night's blunder ever be smoothed over, she hoped that she’d be able to hunt alongside the wyverian someday.
