Port Bruce; Llewdor; Saturday [05/11].

[special_rabbit]

The journey between Daventry and Llewdor was a bit of a long and treacherous one, involving dangerous mountains, deadly deserts, and potentially sea travel, although the geography of this world was generally highly subject to change and up for debate. Which was exactly why Amaya and Irene would be traveling there with portals, as much as Amaya would like to see how Irene might fare in an arduous journey through the wilderness.

But, in the aftermath of the Tournament, Sir Graham had already proven himself to be an asset to the kingdom by settling the dispute with the Bridge Trolls, and it became very clear to Amaya that the money that had been so liberally promised to her was drying up quickly. Funny, that, considering the legend about the Royal Family of Daventry having in its possession a magical never-emptying chest, but Amaya wasn't going to dwell on that for too long. She followed the money, and if the money in Daventry was drying up, then it was time to go back to Fandom.

After a brief stop in her hometown, anyway. So she made the arrangements so that she and Irene could just portal right into the small seaside hamlet of Port Bruce, under the shadow of a lone spire of a mountain with a menacing castle atop it. And while the town was usually rowdy with all its passing pirates and merchants, the land of Llewdor itself was quite quite and pastoral, great field and rocky terrain and old oak forests, the kind of place that, once they were settled in at the inn, had Amaya offering Irene an apologetic sort of smile.

"Not exactly as many good places for sightseeing here as you'll find in London," she admitted, tempering her worry about what Irene might make of the place Amaya grew up in with the reminder that, well, this was probably quite a bit like what Irene would have expected, especially after a week in Daventry.

[[ for the fellow traveler, though can also be open for calls and texts! NFB for distance as well, obvi! ]]

Comments

[begmetwice]

Irene was at a crossroads here. On the one hand -- even if she was in a red dress with a bunch of showy accessories, she had already identified a good three places where someone could hide out (because she'd been looking for would-be hiders, obviously!), and she had lost a tail more times than she could count. She could absolutely lose him. She had every confidence.

On the other, however, she would never get this opportunity again.

"Oh, I love you, but not a chance," Irene murmured -- and look at that consolation prize (?) of those three little words on a day when no forces were compelling anyone to say them -- before turning to greet the bearer of that voice with a bright, delighted, "Oh my goodness -- what luck! And here I was just bemoaning how I hadn't gotten your autograph!"

She had not been bemoaning it out loud, strictly speaking, but who's to say she wasn't thinking about it?

[whisper_can_do_it]

"Irene!" Amaya started to protest, knowing full well that she was the stronger of the two of them, but before she could even clench her teeth or stomp her foot, Irene was turning around and talking to him, and now Amaya was considering a new plan of just disappearing all on her own (the ocean wasn't so far anymore again that she couldn't just throw herself into it!), but the prospect of leaving Irene alone with that....that...absurd man was quite possibly even worse!

And, absolutely oblivious to this consternation and only assuming that the poor adorable little blacksmith was just shy (and who could blame her, really, in a presence such as his?), Whisper could only laugh heartily.

"Well, yes," he allowed, in a sympathetic sort of purr as his hand met his puffed out chest while he posed for the dear ladies' benefit, "there were many people vying for Whisper's autograph this week, weren't there? But I'm afraid....and, oh, I do so hate to disappoint my fan, rare and unlikely an occurrence that that may be!, but I'm afraid I've run out of portraits to sign entirely!"

[begmetwice]

She would make this up to you so well, Amaya, promise. So many foods on sticks. So many books. So many shiny gold coins paid to an innkeeper to make sure no one took the rooms next to them.

"An excellent problem to have, really, Whisper," Irene noted, leaning into his name in an approximation of the man's speech patterns because she could not help herself, "and really, I shouldn't be surprised, I am late to the party."

She sighed dramatically, awash in her own misfortune, and maybe also covering for the fact that she was (weaker though she might have been) totally trying to angle things so that Amaya would have to face Whisper head-on if he wanted to keep talking to Irene, at least.

"But what a coincidence! What brings you to Port Bruce, Whisper?"

[whisper_can_do_it]

The only thing about Whisper that Amaya was willing to face was that Zephyr was firmly in that category of impossible, never going to happen, what was that Altenative Amaya even thinking? An anvil, surely, must have fallen on her head at some point.

Nothing, Adler! Nothing could make up for this!

(Or, well, she would definitely have to put a lot of effort into it).

"Ah, whell," said Whisper, and, yes, that extra H was very pronounced. "You see, after that unfortunate turn of events back in Daventry, I am headed back to my home in far-off Modesto, to shine up my armor and prepare myself for the next one. After app, there is certainly no rush to join King Edward's court; I am glad to give the underdog a chance every once in a while! No matter what tge year, Whhhhhisper can do it!"

[begmetwice]

The most effort! Plants would be gifted! Specialty meats ordered! Inabilities to walk the day after rendered

This was honestly sort of hilarious -- and based on her own experiences, and having had Hamish show up, Irene was absolutely glancing back and forth between Whisper and the cherished, beloved, forgiving woman beside her, and trying to picture that.

You know what? Whisper here was absolutely ridiculous, but he was undeniably bold. She could see it. She didn't want to dwell there and put up her feet and picture it for awhile, or anything, but she could see it.

"Hey, now there's the ticket," Irene said cheerily, actually sort of meaning the admiration in her voice sincerely. She, herself, was a much sorer loser! "There's always next year, isn't there? And surely Modesto needs you. Can't imagine how they're faring without you."

[special_rabbit]

"Poorly, no doubt!" Whisper answered, almost a little cheerfully himself. "Granted, knights are a dime a dozen back in Modesto, but no knight is quite so knightly as ~Whisper~!"

And when those speculative glances started passing between Whisper and Amaya, Amaya's eyes just narrowed in a glare, arms folded, lip curled into a snarl as she shook her head. She could only imagine what it was darting through Irene's brain at the moment, and she decided, quite firmly, that she wasn't going to stand for it, and went to take matters into her own hands.

By grabbing onto a Irene's arm and starting to walk away in the other direction. What? Like she was worried about insulting this guy? Apparently, by doing so, she might be doing herself a favor.

"Well, well, well," she said brusquely as she tried to pry themselves away from Whisper, "that's all very well and good, how lucky Modesto must be to have you back, lovely running into you, here's to hoping your boat doesn't spring a leak on your way over. Pity we can't stay and chat, we have a very busy day ahead of us!"

[begmetwice]

Irene actually made a little show of waving over her shoulder to Whisper as she allowed herself to be pried away -- though, as previously noted, Amaya could have probably fireman-carried her out of there if she'd wanted, with very little resistance given their strength differential. "Safe travels, new friend!"

Just to, you know, really stick the landing!

But once they had a little bit of distance from Whisper, she also knew that that groveling needed to start right now, and so -- "You're too hot for him, anyway."

They literally did not know what his face looked like, but still!