Marching Order (Danae-Alisse)

A notification would blare out of Danae-Alisse's phone. Looking at it would reveal a message from Alexandria. " Friday, after school meet us at the front of the school. I've already packed your rucksack and acquired the proper attire of the trip, only bring anything you think you may need". Keeping it short and to the point, she did end the message with a serious emoji as to put precedence on the last part.

Keeping to the letter of the message, Alexandria and her cousin Ethelthryth that she managed to rope in under the guise of training by learning how to teach and escort a target. The two Arachne girls were dressed in winter specific camo with large rucksack spilling out behind them with Ethelthryth holding another pack in her left hand as they stood by the front entrance waiting for the third member of their little camping trip.

"Why are we doing this, she's not even an Arachne nor is she are part of the CMF". Ethelthryth's statement almost sounded irritated on how she was tricked into her cousin's odd fascination towards those outside of the clan. Alexandria gave the pouty teen a nudge smiling to the sour Arachne, " You need to learn how to work in a team anyways, and besides the academy trains Guardians, Guardians our are allies, helping our friends and allies means they will help in return". Peeking her tongue out through her lips as Ethelthryth simply looked away from the extroverted Arachne.

Danae-Alisse checked her bracelet as soon as the message chimed in. An emoji, she thought, did not expect that. That was really the only thought in her head as she sighed in resignation and determination. Mentally fortifying herself for what could easily be akin to another mission. She still had bruises from her last one, hidden under her clothes, after the school nurse had deemed them fine to heal on their own. That said nothing to the growing emotional wounds upon her heart and mind. It seemed, to her, that she hadn’t had a night without a terror to stalk her dreams since coming back from the mission. Only a few nights to be certain, but they stuck out as a change in her. Less and less were the people around her faceless shadows. Now, growing more and more prominently, the jeering voices had the faces of the people of her hometown. Her brother was a regular appearance in them. Be it when she drowned him, or helping her onto the stake. But now was not a good time to dwell on it. In fact, never would be preferable.

It was lucky for her, that the mission had an unexpected amount of survival elements and she vowed to never be caught so blind-sided again. Certainly, there wasn’t enough time before Friday for her to learn how to survive in the wilderness. But there was time to pick up a few good basic skills. Luckily, she knew exactly who to call. “Durran,” she said after he finally picked up, “I need your help.”

Naturally, he laughed with good nature in reply and said, “for certain lass, I’ll help. Though, what be ye needin’ help with?”

He met with her immediately after she explained the situation. Well, as immediate as the man could while “building a house?” she asked in mild surprise. Although, considering she though Durran’s nature to already be almost erratic, Danae-Alisse wasn’t sure why she found it so.

“Aye,” he replied, “the headmaster just approved it and I’ve been hard at work making the tools I’ll need ta build it all. He’s a decent fellow to just go and let me do that.”

The redheaded teen vaguely agreed, but there was no more time for idle chitchat as Durran set to teaching her a few useful knots that, when combined with a bit of foraging would make her a rudimentary shelter. At least, dryer ground to sleep on and protection from snow. Then a short list of some of the things she could just eat. Easy enough to find without too much effort. It’d keep her belly full if nothing else.

It took ditching classes for the remainder of Wednesday and all of Thursday, but with Friday, Danae-Alisse felt ready to at least use what she had learned. When she finished classes, with vague apologies about missing school, Danae-Alisse came to the entrance dressed in a few layers to augment whatever attire that Alexandria had picked out, her two one liter water bottles, and a small notebook with drawings that detailed what she had learned, plus more things she could eat and some of what to just avoid. She was as ready as the short time would allow.

As Alexandria continued to pester Ethelthryth as she did her best to ignore the over active Arachne by looking over a map of the planned route. While it kept off of natural paths and any sighs of territorial markings, nature is constantly changing therefore it would be foolish to assume the route was entirely safe.

Spotting Danae-Alisse's fiery hair out of the crowd, Alexandria and Ethelthryth would overlook the girl's preparation. The extra layers were unnecessary as they had prepared the correct amount of clothing for the trip. Another thing they found odd was the water as the winter season provided water all around them as well as the rucksack that Alexandria packed had a water bladder built into it. Other than the lack of a weapon it was good that she did not bring anything more as her rucksack was already sitting at around fifty pounds. The more she brought the more weight she'd have to carry through all the undisturbed snow.

Alexandria would wave and call out to Danae-Alisse, "Hey Danae-Alisse over heeerrreeee"! As Alexandria cheerfully beckoned Danae-Alisse, Ethelthryth slightly distanced herself from her embarrassing cousin.

Danae-Alisse didn’t verbally reply. Instead, she simply made her way over to the duo of Arachne. “Hello,” she said, nodding to Alexandria. She was in her traditional form. Hands clasped in front of her, head on a level. Giving Ethelthryth a mildly curious look, she continued, “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Danae-Alisse.” At the same time, she gave a cursory glace towards their gear. It didn’t reveal much as it seemed most of its contents where, naturally, packed away. But they did seem to have plenty of clothes for her. She supposed her extra layers were pointless. Although, they could still prove useful in case something got wet and her power was uncooperative. Which, knowing herself, Danae-Alisse fully expected power problems to ensue.

All and all, she was looking forward to the training, regardless of what it fully entailed. It was an excuse to get away from concerned eyes. Which she seemed to have garnered since the mission. She was already tired of any that she received. On the whole, she simply just wanted to be left alone, or thoroughly distracted. This was likely to be the latter. Hopefully, there would be just relatively little conversation. "I'm ready to leave whenever."

"No we hav". Before Ethelthryth could finish her sentence Alexandria wraps her arms around the smaller Arachne rushing her hair. " This is my adorable little sisterrrr"! As Alexandria fawned over her, Ethelthryth would curl a leg behind her older cousin while pushing back, causing her to lose her balance giving her the ability to break free. As Alexandria regained her balance Ethelthryth continued, "As I was saying I'm Ethelthryth ", Looking over to Alexandria as she pouts, "Her younger cousin".

Fixing her hair Ethelthryth would place the rucksack down by Danae-Alisse. " While you bought your own clothes a matching pair of winter gear better suited for the cold is inside". Untying the sleeping bag on top of the opening, Ethelthryth would show the contents of the bag while listing them off. "First aid kit, water, striking tool and knife, compass, map, flare, flashlight and a change of clothes". Placing the items back she would lift it higher to show the base cookware along with an axe and trench shovel. As Ethelthryth finished showcasing the bag Alexandria chimed in, " Don't worry about the lack of food, we'll be acquiring some along the way as to lighten the load".

While the two Arachne wanted to explain the trip in more detail. Danae-Alisse seemed not eager to leave, but more desperate to leave. Not looming over her wish to leave in haste, Ethelthryth handed the deceptively heavy bag over to Danae-Alisse with ease.

Breaking the awkward silence, "Ethelthryth, dearest can you take point". Smiling towards her cousin as she wanted to speak with Danae-Alisse to make sure she was ready for the trip, as she seemed guarded. Looking towards Alexandria mildly annoyed by her mannerisms, but the younger Arachne understood her reasoning for the temporary shift as it was fairly obvious something was wrong with their third member.

As Ethelthryth lead the group throughout the town towards The Wall, Alexandria would skit up next to Danae-Alisse. "So your alive, and you don't look too worse for wear, perhaps you give yourself too little credit". While Danae-Alisse did not seem as if she wished to talk, taking outside of the town for training when she not mentally or physically fit would be irresponsible of her.

Danae-Alisse felt a pang of either pity or recognition as she watched Ethelryth get mobbed by her cousin. She vaguely wondered if that was how it looked like when Eliza gave her an enthusiastic greeting. Putting the image of being mobbed and overwhelmed by one’s friend or family, she replied, “a pleasure to meet you,” in the friendliest voice she could muster at the moment. It came out sincere enough, though mildly flat.

The pack was mildly similar to what she had on the mission. Only this one felt more complete with the addition of extra clothes, axe, and shovel. The dismissal of her own clothes didn’t tweak her much. She knew they were going to bring some, but she also knew having her own wouldn’t hurt. Not that what she was wearing was prepped for winter travel, having intended to use her clothes as merely layering for underneath the provided coat.

To her own credit, she didn’t so much as falter when the pack was passed. Her own two missions, the training in between them, her stretching routine, random short hikes, and past athletic life had long since and kept a lean, fit form. The redhead shouldered the pack without so much a wince as it bumped against her bruises.

The silent walk most of the way to the wall was pleasant enough for the teen. It allowed her to simply focus on walking. However, it wasn’t entirely surprising when Alexandria slowed up to chat with her. The mission was brought up immediately. It was one of the last things she wanted to talk about. All the horrors it held were simply waiting for any excuse to appear. Try to drag her down cripple her. Not to mention that she hadn’t felt too useful to the team to begin with. Danae-Alisse pushed the rising thoughts aside and, keeping her face blank, decided to simply focus on being a robot and answering Alexandria’s questions. “Perhaps,” she noncommittally agreed. That was usually easiest. Commit neither one way or the other, and be a flat, white-washed wall.

Alexandria's usual demeanour shifted as Danae-Alisse attended to socially shut down to deflect any and all questioning. " We may not know each other well, however, once we're out there all of us need to work together. This means communication as well".

"Your part of our unit now, your problems are our problems. If you shut yourself away from us, we cannot function as a unit nor can we make sure your safety while training". While eavesdropping was impolite Ethelthryth added her two cents into the conversation. Still keeping her back to the two of them, before she would go back to silently guiding the group she finished with an Arachne rule, " Team members are to be treated as family".

Alexandria would nod her head as she looked to Danae-Alisse, " and as your temporary family, your well being and success is our concern. Quitting is an option, but only while we're still within in the town". Giving Danae-Alisse a light smile, "But once you're out you're stuck with us". Moving up to give Danae-Alisse some time to they two Arachne would silently lead.

Weather Danae-Alisse had completely decided or not, they would reach The Wall. The duo would turn around with the imposing wall at their back they looked towards Danae-Alisse not saying a word as they awaited her decision. This would be the Redheads' last chance to change her mind as the two Arachne will not show the same leniency while on the job.

“I’m fine,” she lied, straight faced and fully meeting their gaze. It had been a common enough saying that she had told ever since she got back. Certainly, much of the debacle had been told. Had to be told with accuracy so that she would not get questioned for contradictory statement. But she had kept it general. They had suffered nightmares and fought ancient undead whose twisted spirits had bound themselves, in pain and suffering, to the land. Her own, personal, details she made no mention of.

Deciding that some truth would be useful in avoiding the true problem, she said in a matter-a-fact tone, “the mission was rough. We fought long dead gifted who had bound themselves, with pain of old crimes, to the land. Long story short, we were able to properly put them to rest. So don’t worry about my capability to do the trip, I’m fine as I’ll be and getting away will do me no harm.”

That, at least as far she could tell, was true. Getting away from the thoughts and worries of the others would be good for her. And, while there were certainly things that Alexandria and Ethelryth could do to put her through hell, Danae-Alisse doubted they would be any worse than anything she had gone through so far. At least, mentally and emotionally wise. In fact, physical strain would be more than welcome to her.

Danae-Alisse's explanation while ignoring the real issue. It was enough for Ethelthryth as she had no real attachment or reason to pry further. If something happens while their out it will have to be dealt with, with or without Danae-Alisse help or consent. On Alexandria's side, however, she was aware that Danae-Alisse was lying, but forcing the truth out of the girl would get them nowhere.

Ethelthryth simply turned to get the gate open while Alexandria shifted to a neutral expression as only the mechanical sounds of the door accompanied the group. The metal whined as it slowly open, ice cracked and slid off the massive door. The Duo simply walked through the door as they accepted Danae-Alisse's choice, now it was up to her to make sure their concerns were not warranted.

Taking the lead Alexandria used the road to bypass the mountainous terrain that obscured the gate to those unaware of the town's existence. Slowly the rocky terrain gave way to light woods signalling Ethelthryth to take the lead. Trudging through the knee high snow, Ethelthryth looked around for anything to forage on the way to the camping spot. Slight depressions in the snow showed animal activity, but currently nothing to be concerned with. Taking some confer needles as well as the bark and nuts from the pine tree, " You can make tea out of conifer needles for vitamin c, though stay away from yew needles as they're toxic. The bark can be ground up to make a sort of flour that tastes like bacon. Also, inner birch bark can also be used as a flour substitute". Digging around the base of the tree for roots she would explain about edible mushrooms and roots and how that can be used for medicinal purposes. " Will probably find more fruit in the deeper forest, though given the weather we'll still probably have to hunt some game". Ethelthryth looked to Danae-Alisse to gauge her response toward the possibility of having to kill an animal. It was not unreasonable for Danae-Alisse to refuse as there were a few clans within the CMF that were herbivores.

Danae-Alisse followed mutely. She didn’t have any real idea as to what she was going into, but she felt certain that it would be a far stretch for this training session to actually be worse. Trudging through the snow was refreshing. A blank carpet surrounding her and her mind that a single line trudged through. That line was her focus on walking and listening. Everything else was blank. It was such a blessing, not having to think for a while. However brief that time turned out to be as they crossed the land. When Ethelthryth spoke, it was like the branches of a tree, suddenly stemming from its trunk as she heard, listened, and considered her response.

Like most of her responses today, it was rather flat. It seemed that she had no issue killing animals for dinner. Nor did she make issue for stewing pine needles for tea. In fact, on her previous mission, she had watched her teammate, Luca, skin and cook rabbit for multiple dinners. However, she did say, "yes, I was told that most pine needles can be eaten. And that yew was poisonous. Although, I did not know that the healthy ones could be made into teas.” She looked at them, as if recalling a mildly pleasant memory. “He seemed far more concerned on keeping my belly full in case I was stranded, rather than dedicating my learning to the health benefits of each.” The teen shook herself out of her memory. “Not that I don’t appreciate the lesson. Thank you.” And, indeed, that was the truth of the matter. At last.

Ethelthryth listened to Danae-Alisse as she dug out some burdock and Chicory roots not paying the redhead to much attention as if she already knew what to look for she certainly did not show any initiative to add to the group's larder. As Danae-Alisse snapped out of her walk through memory lane and attempted to backpedal on her early curt explanation on her previous knowledge. Alexandria would raise a hand to interrupt her, "If you want to thank us put the knowledge to use, the more you know the better it is for us as we don't have to take more time offering explanations". Stuffing what she gathered into her bag the older Arachne's personality was completely different for her usual carefree self. Looking to the sky as the sun caressed the edge of the world. Whistling to get Ethelthryth's attention as she would take the lead preparing to move at full speed," Time to get going, we'll talk about boys once everything is set up". Giving Danae-Alisse one last look as Alexandria broke into a sprint with Ethelthryth following safely behind.

Rushing through the forest clearing the path when necessary, the two Arachne slipped through the path of least resistance calling out anything that could spell trouble for the one behind them. At first, the sparse foliage of the light wood offer only a small resistance to the group, but once they hit the more thick woods the foliage and trees seemed as if they were trying to capture the group. "Stick with Alexandria", As soon as Ethelthryth finished her words, the small Arachne disappeared into the forest. While splitting up the group was not the best idea. They did not have the time to all set up camp and look for food as well.

Shortly after Ethelthryth departure, the main group would come across a break in the forest leading to an open plain. Without even looking back Alexandria made her way to a hill overlooking the forest. Placing her bag down and looking to Danae-Alisee as she took out the tent for the night, " I'll set up the tent, get a fire going for when Ethelthryth comes back". Going straight to work as the sun was barely resting over the horizon. Wasting any more time would put them in danger as a fire helps to stave off the creatures that lurk in the night.

Suddenly mollified and ashamed, Danae-Alisse spoke a quiet, "I'm sorry," already feeling that she had failed the group. Which, to her mind, was fairly par for the course. A loose cannon that, every now and then, did something right that went unnoticed but, more often, ended up screwing something up that everyone would remember. Like drowning a bunch of test animals when she had simply tried to feel out the piping in a building. She blamed herself. After all, they had no idea what she knew and were just being considerate in telling her everything. Not to mention, she’d probably already damaged her fledgling friendship with the Arachne. So much for easy, camping bonding, she thought. Maybe some fortune would strike her later. While she heard the order to move, the comment about boys went right over her head. Though the sprint surprised her.

The redheaded teen did her best to keep up. Which was, at the end of the day, only a half decent job. Certainly, she was fit, but her growing up in a forest, small-town Alabama had never prepped her for such voluminous amounts of snow. She slipped and slid while they bound and cut through the wood with, from Danae-Alisse’s perspective, apparent ease. But she never complained. Not once did she ask for either of them to slow down. It wasn’t pride that kept her silence. No, it was the simple thought that, until her legs broke beneath her, few, if any, would care to carry her. So until that happened, she’d keep pedaling on.

Danae-Alisse was well out of breath when Alexandria called the halt. But, as soon as Alexandria gave her commands, she staggered off to look for firewood. There certainly wasn’t any lack for fallen branch or timber in the woods. However, there certainly was a lack of dry ones. It took her some time, along with failing to successfully use her power to draw out the water from the wood. It merely resulted in her shattering a few, smaller logs. But, a few splinters later, she was able to get enough proper kindling, small sticks, and a few logs that would, likely, suffice to make a fire. Now came the task of making it. It was one of Durran’s most important lessons. Fire meant life in the cold. To her own regret, it was also what she was worst at. Perhaps it had to do with her power over water. Perhaps it had to do with the nightmares she never talked about. In any event, successful sparks seemed to fly from her at almost every turn. Still, she tried her best. Danae-Alisse crafted a serviceable, though poor, log cabin on ground she had cleared. Near where Alexandria was setting up, but far enough away that some accident would likely endanger their gear. It took twenty-five attempts with her striking tool, and several failed blazes, that she finally got a small fire started that did not get snuffed or snuff itself out. Throughout it all, the only words she spoke were replies, which were brief. And even then, she avoided speaking when action would suffice.

Hamming the stakes down to keep the rather large tent in place. Looking at her handiwork, the Arachne might have packed the wrong tent as it was more than enough to fit the three girls, in fact, you could set up a card reading operation with room to spare. Shrugging at her slight miscalculation as Danae-Alisse would no doubt appreciate the extra room when sleeping near two others that can barely be called acquaintances.

With her work done she merely watched Danae-Alisse as the redhead worked diligently on setting up the fire. Impressed by her manipulation of water to dry the logs out and while her fire making skills were lacking it was obvious that she had just been introduced to the way of fire. Doing her best not to laugh at the irony of a Watermancer starting a fire, she left to gather some stone finish off the fire pit.

Returning shortly after with armsful of stone, Alexandria would move over to Danae-Alisse vision to not surprise and cause the already tense Redhead more stress than she was already placed on herself. Laying the pile down and circling the fire with stone, " You've certainly proved the action part, also the fact that you went out of your way to educate yourself beforehand is apricated by me, and probably Ethelthryth". Finishing the firepit Alexandria would sit back with her feet towards the fire waiting for the fire to build as she looked to Danae-Alisse. "However, she might be a little upset that you shot her lesson down, disregarding fairly useful knowledge if you're out of medical supplies". Giving Danae-Alisse a quick look of disapproval at her close mindedness, but relaxed as the Arachne was confident that Danae-Alisse was aware of her mistake. "We're not mad if that's why you've been so quiet, but if you want to apologize" Sliding closer to Danae-Alisse with a sly smile on her face. " Who is this he that you were all dreamy over"? Not expecting an answer as she was teasing the poor Water Shaper to lighten the mood.

As Alexandria tried to lift Danae-Alisse's spirits with a bit of girl talk. Ethelthryth's head appeared over the hill looking to her Cousin relaxing by the fire talking about boys. To her side was a sort of sealed satchel made of what looked to be webbing. Her clothes shined with a sheet of ice as she had no doubt used the snow to clean off the blood from the hunt. Wiping her nose as she looked to Alexandria resting by the fire, " I set up a perimeter since you've been occupied with such important issues". Shrugging her silk pack off near the fire as she made her way into the tent to no doubt warm up and change her clothes. Turning her head around as Ethelthryth entered the tent, " Love you to cousin, do you want me to help you warm up"! Receiving a silence in return Alexandria would look back to Danae-Alisse while waving her hand, " She's fine probably just cold... so we might as well get cooking maybe we can draw her out with food perhaps I can tell you about her crush".

“I’m sorry,” she began after Ethelrynth retuned, “I didn’t mean to make it sound that it wasn’t valuable. And I certainly didn’t know about what it did beyond fill my stomach without killing me. I just didn’t want to waste your time in teaching things I knew. Though, I guess I failed even at that as I didn’t even think to tell you what I might have picked up over the course of my mission and anything I could learn in the few days before this. Sorry.” She didn’t say it, but worry about their anger was why she had been silent.

“And, uh, dreamy? I didn’t think I looked like that. I mean, Durran’s a looker, sure, but we’re not dating. He’s the one who taught me the little foraging I know, but I don’t even like him in that way. He’s…I guess the best way to describe him would be solitude. It doesn’t make much sense I suppose…here, how this. Have you ever met a person who, upon meeting them, was willing to give you most anything and not want anything from you? That’s what I got from him. He doesn’t require anything from me. Want anything from me. It’s…relieving to hang out with him. There’s no pressure to be anything. Just to relax. Although, I can’t pretend to understand him. Especially in how he seems to just know things. Like the first time I met him. He knew I was coming and when I was coming. He’s all queer, like how Tolkien calls queer. Strange, yet both relaxing and not hostile. Does that make sense?”

She knew that her words didn’t paint a truly accurate picture of the giant of a man. But she had done her best. Now, as to food, “I have to say, though, I have next to no knowledge about cooking. It wasn’t Durran’s chief concern when he was teaching me for that day and a half before we set out. So I guess I’ll have a lot to learn there. And hearing about your crush Ethelthryth sounds nice. That is…only if you want to share.”

Halted by Danae-Alisse's words as the chilled Arachne stood between the entryway of the tent. While Ethelrynth was disgruntled from the Redhead's earlier treatment, she seemed to realize her mistake and wished to make amends. Trying to unpack the sheer amount of contradictions within Danae-Alisse's apology was more irritating than her previous mistake. "Apology accepted". Keeping sort and simple as chastising Danae-Alisse would only cause her to withdraw into herself again.

While Ethelrynth withdrew into the tent as the two continued the conversation about Danae-Alisse's mountain man. Alexandria listened intently waiting for any kind of salacious details. Unfortunately for nosy Arachne the topic of the man known as Durran was chaste and one of trust instead of lust. Hiding her disappointment at the lack of more steamy gossip, "He seems like quite a guy if you're not going to grab him maybe I'll snare him myself". While Alexandria was joking the thought of who she'd be wed to did cross her mind in the midst of the light hearted conversation.

With the simply conversation turning into early food prep. Alexandria's mention of Ethelryth's love life drew the smaller Arachne out of the tent. Staring daggers at her cousin as Danae-Alisse's blissful ignorance cut through the staredown between the playful and possible murderous Arachne. " You know that spreading baseless rumours especially about more romantic relationships could have dire results". Raising her hands up to jokingly defend from Ethelryth, as she muttered, " Does not mean that it's not true".

Almost ready to tear her cousin apart, Danae-Alisse's comments on her cooking skill bought the two back to the more important matter at hand. Smoothing her clothes out as she calmed herself down remembering that she was in the presence of an outsider. " That's fine as the most we'll be doing is basic boiling and frying. Though let's look over what we have". The spider cousin's looked to each other as if to call for a temporary truce. " Well, we have pine needles, bark, pine nuts as well as some burdock and chicory roots. What did you catch"? Making her way over to the silk bag and cutting it open. Ethelrynth stabbed into the bag revealing a nice cut of red meat, "With what we got, a pine needle sauce with burdock root and venison is possible. Plus for drinks, we can have a chicory coffee". With a suggestion submitted the both of them would look to Danae-Alisse's for her thoughts.

Danae-Alisse considered the idea of someone ‘snaring’ Durran.’ While she felt that the man might accidentally go on a date with someone, the idea of a person actually pulling of simply grabbing his heart strings seemed far-fetched to her. Unless someone with a power like Eliza’s got into his head, she thought. She then wondered if Alexandria’s spider power extended to such ability, before dismissing it as pointless speculation. At least they had accepted her words flat out, rather than believe she was being shy and hiding her affection. She could remember when her old baseball team thought…with an automatic clamp, Danae-Alisse shut down the memory and refocused to the present. Durran and her were friends and certainly nothing more than that.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t curious as to other’s love lives. She internally questioned why such a rumor about Ethelrynth would be baseless, but decided that it was best left alone. Especially since she didn’t seem eager to talk about it. Returning her mind to dinner, Danae-Alisse considered the options. “All of those sound good to me,” she said and, keeping with the tact of honesty, “as I said, I have no real idea as to how to cook out here. So I’m going to take your word for it on whatever meal is decided and just try to learn what I can as everything is getting worked on.”

"Just because you have no knowledge on a certain subject does not mean your opinion is not valid. Also, we don't know if you have any agileries". Pointing to herself and Alexandria, who was working on setting up the campfire." Take us for example, we cannot imbibe caffeine as it is toxic to us". Jumping between Ethelryth's pauses, " Don't worry they'll be plenty of time for following our lead tomorrow enjoy our company while we're still pleasant to be around". While Alexandria was still joking, tomorrow would be much more regulated as today was the calm before the storm.

Like Ethelryth stated there was not much to the cooking. Showing Danae-Ailsse how to properly clean and safely cut the roots. Once the roots were boiling, they moved on the simple task of cracking pine needles into another pot to reduce into a sort of syrup. While the meat had been butchered by Ethelryth all that was left was to pan fry the top and bottom, then leaving on a rock nearby covered to cook through fully. With the pine needle reduction almost prepared each of the Arachne tasted it with similar dissatisfied expressions. While they did not have anything in the way of spices or fruit to try and counteract the overpowering citrus flavour. The best they could do was grind up the pine nut and throw in some of the chicory coffee and hope and pray that it balances the flavour somewhat.

After a less than revetting cooking spree, the food would be done. Plating the Venison & Burdock with a pine coffee sauce. Ethelryth tasted the experimental concoction to find it less than satisfactory, while Alexandria did not care much about the taste as having high expectations with what they had would be foolish. However, it did not stop the younger Arachne from taking peeks at Danae-Alisse to see the Redheads reaction.

Throughout the process, Danae-Alisse paid close and adequate attention. Doing her best to soak up the knowledge being taught. Doubtless, she’d need practice to get all the techniques down, but she paid accurate and earnest attention, albeit silently. Certainly, she responded to their teachings with nods of understanding. But she didn’t say much. Just the occasional, quiet question about how some of the cooking techniques worked along with affirming that she would be ready to face tomorrow, whatever challenges they’d throw at her.

The meal itself, was another affair. In fact, the teen was beginning to disconnect. The day winding down, at least it seemed as such, and so was her mood for chatting. She ate silently and without complaint. Content enough to sit and eat. If she had decided to think about it, the teen wouldn’t have found the fare half bad. Certainly, it was field food and basic fare, but, considering her mission was pretty that and mainly just rabbit soup, she had no room to complain about the variety provided. But the teen wasn’t focused on that. In fact, the teen’s mind wasn’t focused on much of anything. Instead, it was blank. And, in her distant opinion, blissfully so. It was a relief to be away from the eyes of her team. From anyone who knew the truth. To not have to convince anyone that she was fine. The silence allowed her to begin to center herself as she began to prod into the mess of her mind. The teen’s body simply acted on a flat autopilot. Expressionless, she ate and drank while her spirit went on its venture.

Continuing to take a peak towards Danae-Alisse every now and then. Ethelthryth found it hard to judge whether her compatriot enjoyed the meal or not. While they lacked the ingredients serving subpar food was not acceptable for the young Arachne as she took pride in her cooking. Alexandria took note of her cousin's concern and leaned over to whisper that she at least enjoyed the food to alleviate Ethelthyth's concern.

Alexandria went in for a sneak attack hug while Ethelthyth was distracted on discovering Danae-Alisse's take on the food. " You look so cute fretting over silly things". Squeezing her younger cousin in a bear hug, Ethelthyth would swing her body up and grab Alexandria's head with her legs locking them behind her older cousin's head as she clenched down the carotid arteries trying to cut off the oxygen supply to the brain.

Taking the wrestling away from the fire for safeties sake, Alexandria attempted to piledrive her younger cousin only to have Ethelthyth prop not only herself but her older cousin as well that released to bear hug to wedge her arm through Ethelthyth's leg to loosen the grapple. With Ethelthyth's arms currently holding the both of them up, the older cousin went for a kick right to the younger cousin's face only to have it backfire as she pushed off of the ground to grappling onto an arm that had slipped through her legs. With the unexpected loss of frontal support, the two of them tumbled over with Ethelthyth fully wrenching Alexandria's arm between her legs while holding the other arm back with her feet.

Though she attempted to roll and loosen the submission Alexandria had no choice but to tap as she could feel her arm reaching far past the limit of its flexibility. Feeling the tap, Ethelthyth immediately let go of her cousin. "Well, at least all that training paid off". Smiling while shaking her arm Alexandria moved back over to the fire, "Since you won, I'll take first watch". Nodding though still feeling bad for going to hard on her cousin, before she went to the camp Ethelthyth would check Alexandria's arm, "It's fine, though it could use a kiss to make it feel better". Letting out a visible sigh, Ethelthyth kissed the tip of two of her fingers before tapping Alexandria's arm, "Only because I feel bad". Beaming at her younger cousin, causing her to rush into the tent as a tint of red washed over her face.

With the play fighting over with, Alexandria looked to Danae-Alisse who was off in her own world. " Better get some rest as your going to be facing her tomorrow". Looking to her arm as she clenching a fist, flexing the arm as audible cracks echoed from the Arachne's arm, " She was not even serious, I guess she's not the heir for nothing". Opening and closing her fist Alexandria's expression faded to one of disappointment as she mentally flagellated herself over not being good enough. If she was better than her younger cousin she could take over as heir and give her more freedom away from all the politics and traditions. She could act like a kid instead of just a tool.

Unbeknownst to Danae-Alisse, the entire wrestling match happened under her nose. In the same instant, they had no real idea as to how far gone the teen’s mind went. The palace of her mind lay out, what she felt was, everything before her. Laid flat upon an ocean of simple water with shimmering icebergs. Her power. Domination over the elemental combination of dihydrogen-monoxide. Lifeblood of every human on earth. Simple water. Upon the pool lay her sins. The damage she’d inflicted upon both friend and foe. The snapped neck of the goon, the bloated corpse of her brother.

It all seemed so much simpler in the light of the evening sun, in the woken conscious of her mind, rather than the drained mentality of freshly awakening from a nightmare. Yet, despite its simplicity, the burden of her sins were no less heavy. Is there a way out? She cast with almost a dull desperation. Too drained to truly put any effort into the search. Still, she felt there had to be a way. In fact, she knew she had heard of a way to be freed from the horrors of her mind, her past, and herself. But, just as she began to recall, she became aware of Alexandria speaking to her.

“Hmm, oh, yes,” she vaguely, “I look forward to the training tomorrow.” She didn’t bother to change her clothes as she entered the tent. Her last mission had long since removed her need to be clean. That would come when she got back. In the back of her mind, Danae-Alisse wondered what conclusion she had been about to reach. Somehow, she had the suspicions that her dreams would not let her arrive to it in her own time.

As Danae-Alisse shambled into the tent. Alexandria shook off her doubts and concern, setting them aside for later as she had to watch out for her team. Tending to the fire and making her rounds all seemed quite on the front beside the norm from the nocturnal denizens of the woods.

As Alexandria watched over the group, Ethelthryth lightened her apparel to just her thermal undergarments as Danae-Alisse entered the tent looking entranced in her own thoughts and concerns. Looking to the girl lost in thought as she unbraided her hair letting the torrent of raven locks wash over her visage. "If you're sleep in all those clothes your going to sweat and make yourself sick". Ethelthryth was not much of a conversationalized, but this would at least get the redhead's attention to focus to dive into a more important conversation. Pushing her hair aside to get a better look at her team member and current responsibility, " You said you would be more vocal yet, you've gone back to sinking into yourself again. If you continue to keep your head in the clouds and doubt yourself, not only you but others can and will get hurt". Two sapphire gems peered out from the field of black as the young Arachne tried to keep her hair in line. " You seem to have a grasp of survivability though I've yet to see your martial talents, but to me, your biggest issues are in here". Ethelthryth would tap the side of her head while holding her locks with her other hand. " Having a strong body is all well and good, but if the mind is weak no amount of training or gift can accommodate for whatever it is that has staked such a claim on your mind". While the young Arachne wanted to fix the current issue she knew only Danae-Alisse has the ability to remove or at least loosen the hold of whatever took ownership of her thoughts.

Danae-Alisse dragged her mind to the present. And she listened. She listened enough to strip off her coat and a layer or two, not feeling comfortable enough to strip any further. The teen continued to listen to every word Ethelrynth was saying, and had no idea how much the fellow student actually cared about her or more of the mission. At the end of the day, Danae-Alisse supposed it didn’t matter. The job came paramount to everything else, and it was time she started acting like it. Even if it didn’t settle anything that tormented her mind. The redhead chewed on her lower lip for a moment, considering her options. Take the reprimand and do nothing, or try to resolve some portion of the storm in her head. But if Ethelrynth put the right pieces together, there would be trouble. Least of which would be her on the training. Still, she supposed, that it was possible, that one question couldn’t hurt. It wouldn’t reveal too much, and the redhead knew that deflecting any probing counter-questions would easily be done.

“I have just one question. It’s not related to what we’re doing out here, but just one question and I promise I’ll be fully focused on the training. What happens to the people left behind in a town, city, place when they extract a gifted person?” That was all she needed to know. It would confirm everything for her. However, not an inch showed on her face. Interest, for certain, but nothing of the weight of the question. Her mouth was a smooth, flat line that lacked expression while her head was slightly cocked in question. The eyes bespoke only a general interest that would lead one to guess at only a mild concern. A worry that could easily be smoothed and soothed away with a simple truth.

Cocking an eyebrow as Danae-Alisse removed only a few laying of her full set. The young Arachne could not understand her new companion's shyness as they were both girls, it's not as if she had anything she did not have herself. Dismissing any undue thoughts she might have as her words seemed to have reached Danae-Alisse by how the girl gnawed on her lower lip.

Running her fingers through her hair as she listened to the conflicted girl as she thought and chose her words carefully. It was clear she was a very honest person as her body had already betrayed her before she formulated her words, now the attempt at stoicism only proved that she is trying to hide something. Deception and espionage were left to others within her family as Ethelthryth most likely due to spending most of her time around her Grandfather, preferred to be blunt and get straight to the point. " I guess it's not taught to those in the academy it does not apply to, and by those do you mean your friends and family? It's just a theory, but your actions leading up to our discussion make it seem that it's more personal than a simple acquaintance or mistake on a mission". Twisting her hair around her finger as her eyes stared off in thought. " However, this was not the question and it is rude to answer another question with a question".

Seating herself atop of her sleeping bag, Ethelthryth got comfortable as she cleared her throat to correctly explain how one would debrief the general population. " Now how one would go about handling a debriefing of a citizen depends entirely on the extracted gifted and the witnesses. The best case scenario would be to send in a representative to speak with the target and any guardians they may or may not have. Hopefully, the guardian and target will accept the offer and it goes off without any issue". Pausing to breath and look over her current audience to make sure Danae-Alisse was still with her. " Cutting out all the bureaucracy and preparation it's pretty much like sending the target and their immediate family into protective custody". Picking at her nails as she continued on, "More hostile targets or environments are treated entirely different as you already know as yourself and I are sent in to extract or suppress the target if need be. With a more hostile environment or target, more aggressive methods are required to deal with the aftermath. Good old bribery and framing to get rid of more hostile elements are used as corruption is rife within those that hold power over others. Using criminal elements can as well the news is full of random murders". Resting her face on her hand as she looked up to Danae-Alisse, " This is the small stuff though, as we have those gifted in mental manipulation. Mind wipes or full on memory creation is not out of the question, and if that does not work a more permanent solution can be applied". As she ended her sentence she pointed to herself as the Arachne can make others disappear if the order was given. "Secrecy comes at a price".

Danae-Alisse’s face never twitched. Not a hint of change broke past her mask. How could one, for, as soon as Ethelrynth finished her explanation, her mind went blank. Clouded with a thick, white fog that spilled across it so she couldn’t even think. Couldn’t even feel. Nothing. How could she? After all, her world had just ended and, much like her power, when something soul shattering smashed into the red-headed teen and she lost all control, either everything happened, or nothing happened. Here was the latter. A board filled with panics, worries, and terrors with one, final, desperate hope wiped clean. There was no hope. No chance. For what could forgive her crimes when there was no one left who could remember them. Who was harmed by them. Forever more would her the death of her brother remain trapped, down in the past. Certainly, someone here, at Rivers Pointe, may put the pieces together of Jay-Robin’s unnatural and sudden death and connect it to Danae-Alisse. In fact, if they talked to the town’s people, would have gotten every deed, every lash out, every last minute detail of what she’d done in great detail. They always loved to gossip about it behind her back and in her face. But it was those same people who were the only ones that could truly forgive her. No matter how much her anger had been directed at those who had chosen only to torment her, Danae-Alisse still chose to target them. And Jay-Robin had no excuse. Little Jay, her only brother. The one who had never stopped believing in her. The one who always said, always believed, always knew, that she’d be a hero. Right up to the end.

It didn’t matter anymore. No one was left who could remember.

All this past in an instant and, upon some strange auto-pilot. The part of her that remained composed, calm, and schooled, pushed the matter deep into the fog of her mind to torment her dreams and two weeks after her training. For now, she would keep to her promise. To be here and in the moment for her training. So she said, “I see. That makes sense, I suppose. I guess most people would fear us, our powers. A shame, I think, because I imagine it’d be quite a bit easier to do our jobs if they didn’t. Suppose that’s life. Thank you for the explanation. Now, I think I’ll turn in. I imagine that the training you both will put me through tomorrow will be quite exhausting, and I’d best prepare for it with rest.” And with that, she lay down into her sleeping bag. It wouldn’t be overly long before sleep would claim her and, for now, even in her dreams she was in fog. Floating aimlessly. There was no up or down, nor left or right. She simply was. And that was something she could no longer find a point to being.

Upon finishing her explanation, Ethelryth was left in silence as Danae-Alisse stood in thought as the young Arachne's words helped her to achieve a realization of what life in Rivers Pointe entails. Ethelryth herself could not understand the feeling of losing her past and being from the public view, but letting the past dictate the future would do nothing for the Redhead.

Even though Danae-Alisse tired to hold her feelings back her jumbled and silted words shoe that the girl was on the edge of breaking. Not knowing what the girl had truly lost as Ethelryth only had her theories that she had pieced together from the girl's action and words. " Physically exhausting yes, though nothing compared to the mental exhaustion built over whatever regret and fear that you carry. The past can never be changed, but you still have the present and future to try and find a resolution". Sliding into her sleeping bag as Danae-Alisse had a lot to think about though hardly any time to think.

Leaving the Redhead to drift in her sub-conscious, the two Arachne watched over her as they switched the nightly shift. Warding off the night and those that hid within it, Ethelryth patroled and prepared a simple breakfast for the group as the night sky waned to an oncoming sun. Slicing the remaining venison into thin pieces while using the bark to give it a baconie flavour. Ethelryth did her best with the meat and roots to try and reproduce something along the lines of bacon and eggs.

Unfortunately for Danae-Alisse it would not be a gentle awakening to the smell of bacon and eggs. " Wakey, wakey eggs and bakie"! Clapping her hands overtop of the sleeping Redhead was a less than bubbly Alexandria. " Pt is at O500, that leaves you 120 seconds to dress and 360 seconds to eat"! Leaving the tent as questions were not within the timeline nor optional now that the real training has begun.