***
Though Qion'li had provided Antimony with a safe shelter in Highbridge - a bed in one of the shared barrack rooms - she did not linger there long. The rank smells of mercenary soldiers and the uncomfortable awareness of her lack of place in that setting drove her to the surface an hour or so after the Keeper and her daughter had left. She blinked into the sun, facing west out into the scrubland of Eastern Thanalan, then east towards the dry forest that would thicken and dampen into the swamp of the Shroud after several miles. Before the two had left, she'd been able to prepare a warding bag, to seal any curses on the hauberk, but she couldn't shake a niggling doubt in the ingredients, cobbled together as they were. Nothing out here was the same as she knew.
Worry for her daughter's safety set her walking, under the steady gaze of Blades going about their duty guarding the narrow bridge. She watched them stop and process two traveling carts, trying to distract herself by predicting the monetary value of the shipped goods from a distance, before the worry became too much again. She turned away from the bridge and ventured along a set of wooden stairs that traveled a short distance down the side of the cliff.
Setting her hands on a railing, Antimony let her gaze hang over the edge, down towards the river that surged far below, and let out a long sigh. Even in her death, K'aijeen haunted them. Morosely she wondered if it was because she had delayed in sending the girl's spirit to rest. She should have done it in Vesper Bay, but she had been too cowardly and grieving. Perhaps she should have done it many years ago in the Sagolii, when she had been lost the first time.
Pushing back from the railing, Antimony paced down the length of one pathway, and then turned to angle downward again, lost in thought.
As Antimony walked down the narrow steps, lost in her thoughts, someone else walked up those same steps lost in her own. Light glinted off of Antimony's glasses, and that light glinted off the glasses of the woman who approached. But the similarities stopped there.
The ashen-skinned Duskwight woman failed to notice Antimony, large-shoed footsteps heralding a collision course.
The greying miqo'te woman's nose brought her head up barely in time to avoid said collision. She skirted to the side hastily, leaning against the railing and muttering a quick, "Excuse me, I'm sorry."
"Hm?" The woman turned her head curiously, looking in Antimony's direction but well over the miqo'te's head. Behind her glasses, eyelids narrowed suspiciously over pink eyes. As she turned, her feet turned as well, but her legs didn't stop moving. The Elezen woman failed to get footing on her next step, stumbling forward and leaning back so that she wouldn't fall.
She leaned too far back and ended up a pathetic image of flailing woman as her lanky limbs windmilled in attempts to regain her balance, ultimately releasing her to topple backward down the stairs with a clatter of metal armor, a thud of leather shoes and the smack of bare legs.
Antimony yelped and flinched back against the railing, barely out of the way of flailing, toppling limbs. Then there came a thud from the Duskwight bottoming out on the stairs, and Antimony rushed instinctively down them. "Oh Lady, I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going and this is such a narrow path and I didn't mean to startle you, please forgive me. Are you alright? That was an awful fall. Don't move, you could be hurt!"
"I don't feel hurt." The woman sat up crookedly, her back bent over long legs askew. Her chest and shoulders were armored, but her long legs were mostly bare, with only a short red skirt to cover her thighs. This accentuated how large her shoes were. "Well, hurt, yes. But not injured, that I can feel. Curiously numb in obvious points."
Brushing her pink hair out of her face, the Elezen woman looked up at Antimony. Then she squinted, scrunching her face up, a pink mark shaped like a heart on her cheek wrinkling, her pink lips frowning. The very pink-faced ashen woman stared for a moment before saying. "Are you a dust cloud?"
Her glasses were bent beneath one of her shoes.
Antimony crouched near the woman anxiously, long enough to rescue the Duskwight's glasses before Antimony's back protested enough that she had to straighten. Tail twitching anxiously, she held them out to the woman. Â "Pain can often be delayed in such injuries. You should see whatever medic they have here for your fellow Blades. Aah... I can help you up! Oh, I feel awful. I am truly sorry..."
The woman failed to see the glasses being held out to her, likely for want of her glasses. "Oh, I'm not a Blade! And you don't have to trouble yourself with helping me. I'll just." She pulled her feet up in front of her, placed them together and then rolled her weight on to them. She immediately let out a small, high-pitched squawk and collapsed onto her side again.
"Aaah please, don't make any sudden movements!" Antimony waved her hands frantically in front of her, shuffling around to the Duskwight's side. "Ah, I'll just... I'll..." She pressed the glasses to the other woman's hand as she considered how to get the woman up. Height differences being what they were, it was unlikely Antimony could safely carry or drag or otherwise move the woman on her own. "I will get help."
"Nononono. Please don't!" The woman took the glasses, putting them over her face. They were bent dramatically, and so only rested over one eye at a time. "I believe I've still got one good ankle. One and one half. How many does a girl need?" She forced a laugh, which came off sounding a bit like she was in shock. Then she tried to get up again, and this time succeeded, wobbly though she was.
"It is not your ankle that you should be worried aboouuuuu--slowly, slowly!" Antimony hovered close, green eyes wide behind her own glasses, brow furrowed and forming thin lines of worry across her forehead.
"It's okay. Look, I'm fine." The woman continued her small laughter, waving her hands either to deflect Antimony's concern or to maintain balance. She squinted at Antimony through a cracked lens of her glasses. Then she blinked. "Oh. Oh, you look- whoops!" The large axe on her back shifted position suddenly, throwing off her balance and making her tilt.
Antimony's hands flailed out to uselessly try and steady the woman. "Please, be careful! I couldn't bare being responsible for... Just, do not try to walk yet."
The woman instinctively grabbed one of Antimony's arms, then tried to catch her balance by spreading her stance. Of course, one ankle gave out. "Ouch!" Her knees bent and she fell onto her haunches, still holding Antimony's arm.
The miqo'te woman squawked and flailed her free arm out to try and find purchase on something as the Duskwight's weight dragged her suddenly forward and down. Her hand found the railing, and she managed to stop herself from falling completely on top of the other woman, though not without wrenching her shoulder. "... As I said," she muttered. "I really should get you help." And she tried to extract her arm from the Duskwight's grip.
The woman let her go, but gestured desperately. "No, please, please don't! I'm absolutely... repairable! I'll just sit a time."
"They would be far more capable of helping you up safely, miss! Please, just..." She took a step backwards up the stairs, "... stay there. Do /not/ move!"
"No!" The woman reached after Antimony. "If you leave I promise I'll move as much as possible! I might even fall. I don't want help!"
"What, why--" Antimony brow wrinkled further in confusion. "Don't be ridiculous." Then she turned to head up the stairs.
The woman groaned, and then exclaimed, "Antimonium, just wait!"
Antimony stopped mid-step, blinking towards the landing above for a few moments. Then she half-turned to look back over her shoulder. "Ah... what? How do you know... or, almost know... my name?"
"Was I wrong?" The woman squinted through her single aligned lens again. "Antimonium Tartaricum is a compound made from a tartrate of potash used to treat respiratory ailments among those who can't afford high-quality medicine..." Her voice trailed off, as though she were going to say more and then decided not to. "You dwelled in Limsa Lominsa for a time?"
"Ah, that's... it's Antimony," the miqo'te woman murmured awkwardly, ears fidgeting in opposite directions. She wrung her hands together by her waist and tried but failed to place the Duskwight into any familiar box. "You truly need help. Why do you refuse to accept it?"
"Because I no longer work for the Agency! I'm an adventurer now." The woman leaned back on her hands and stretched her legs out in front of her, wincing at the weight of her large shoes on her ankles. "There is much ado about an adventurer's reputation. Can you imagine employing an adventurer that cannot walk? Or cannot get herself up after having fallen down? I cannot."
"Work for the..." Grey ears twitched, and finally she just sighed. "... Alright. Just, be careful. And take it slow."
"I will sit for a time." The woman's pink lips curled up in a forced smile, though pain still showed in the muscles of her face. "Ah. Do you... Uhm. Still work for the Agency?"
"The Agency.... oh!" Antimony's hands went to her mouth in realization, but she quickly forced them back down into cooperation. "Oh. I..." She strained her memory to try and recall the Duskwight again, but... perhaps the stress of late was too much. Pressing her lips together, Antimony returned carefully back down the steps and then bowed her head briefly towards the other woman. "Ah, no. I do not."
Trying to look casually, the woman crossed her legs, maintaining ehr smile through a small whine of pain that slammed her eyes shut hard enough that tears sprung up in their corners. "Ah! That's so... Ah ha. Are you an adventurer now as well?"
Watching the woman with concern, Antimony paused a step or two away and forced out an anxious chuckle that fell horribly flat. "Oh, heavens no."
"Ah, well, perhaps leaving the Agency is just the 'in' thing now." The woman tilted her head back, looking at the sky. "Ah, let's think. I remember us having some things in common. Though we only met twice or three times."
"Did we?" She wracked her memory again and came up with helpful suggestions like: Limsa Lominsa and the CRA. "Well, people can usually find at least one thing in common, I believe..."
The woman chuckled and smiled through her pain. "You don't remember me, do you?"
"Ah now, that's not to say you're not a perfectly lovely individual! And certainly having worked for a respectable organization like the Agency, and really it's been some time and... oh dear. How are you feeling? Where does it hurt?"
Wincing one eye up towards Antimony, the woman waved away the concern again. "The numbness is fading into pain. Which is important and good, isn't it? I don't hold it against you that you don't remember me. Feel no guilt."
Antimony winced but chose to press her concern instead of floundering in embarrassment, "It's important to tell me where it hurts so I can determine if you are seriously injured."
"Only the places that the stairs hit." The woman uncrossed her legs and sat forward. "I'm fine. I think I'm ready stand now."
"Ah ah, be careful! Slowly!" Antimony leaned forward slightly, arms hanging stiff in front of her. "Use the railing for assistance..."
"But knowing my luck the railing will give way." Nonetheless, the woman leaned enough to take hold of the railing as she brought her feet below herself and pushed up on them again. To distract herself, she continued speaking. "And then I shall plummet from this significant height." She achieved a standing position with much of her weight supported by the rail. "And into the bleak chasm below." She turned took down over the edge, and her stance wobbled again. "I find myself nauseous."
"Do not think on the height," Antimony hastened to reassure, pursing her lips as the Duskwight wobbled. "The construction is perfectly sound." She didn't know that, but she could think of no reason for it not to be.
"Hrm. I would be more reassured if such insistence came from an architect." She tried to straighten for a moment, and then did not. "I think I will stand here immobile for some time. Potentially forever."
"Take your time, of course." Antimony kept near, watching the other woman's balance intently.
The woman quite inadvisably gazed over the edge of the walkway once more, and then distanced herself from it, keeping one hand on the railing though she took the majority of her weight on her feet. "I can walk."
"Please--" Antimony took a step back to avoid being stepped upon but otherwise remained close. "There's no reason to push yourself. Is there any weakness in your legs?"
"Not in my legs specifically, no." She let go of the railing and took a very tiny step forward, wincing, and then took hold of the railing again. "Darn it!" She frowned. "I apologize for the outburst."
"It's... quite alright," Antimony winced. "Is the pain in your spine? Hips? Perhaps you should not have stood so soon..."
"Oh, no." She set blinking eyes on Antimony. "Mostly my ankles, but for surface-level swelling and bruising, I'm sure. I'll just get off this darned dumb walkway and sit for a while. Then I'll be fine."
"Oh. Good. Yes, that would be... wise." Antimony cast a brief glance up the stairs, then back to the Duskwight. She spent a few moments in awkward silence before venturing, "... an adventurer, you say? That must be very... well, exciting."
The woman laughed quietly. "This is the most adventurous thing I've done yet, actually. But. Have to start somewhere." Her eyes snapped open. "Yes, I'm an adventurer now, and I can handle some stairs." So she forced herself to take begin walking up the steps, very slowly, wincing with every step.
"Oh... I see." Wincing, Antimony followed after the Duskwight, hands up and ready as though she could catch the woman were she to fall - unlikely, all things considered. "All the more reason for you to be careful, I should think. Adventuring is dangerous work, I hear."
"The axe isn't for chopping down firewood." The woman forced out a jovial tone as she winced with every step. She went five steps up and then stopped.
"No... I suppose not." Antimony stopped when the Duskwight stopped and watched the other woman with careful expectation. "Ah, your name! Er, I'm sorry I... well, refresh my memory?"
Opening one eye to look down on the miqo'te next to her, the woman exhaled a pained chuckled. "Safer to ask than get it wrong and humiliate yourself, yes? You'd probably make a better adventurer than I as well. Kibroth."
"An adventurer, me? Oh no, certainly not. In fact, I 'd hazard to say I would make the worst adventurer." Antimony shook her head, tail quivering briefly behind her. "Miss Kibroth, then, it is a pleasure to meet your... re-acquaintance."
"I'm sure it would be more pleasurable had I not collapsed upon the meeting."
"Oh, that was entirely my fault. And again, I am very sorry. I should have been paying more attention. And--oh no, what if I've ended your adventuring career before it's barely begun, and all because of a stupid distraction!"
"If an adventurer can't handle an auditor in her path than she wasn't going to have much of a career anyway." Kibroth still hadn't moved since she'd stopped, and at this point she nodded. "Well. From now I shall start my career as one who lingers unmoving on this precarious walkway."
Antimony frowned. "You really should allow me to get you help. I've half a mind again to do it anyway."
"I would jump immediately." Kibroth's eyes opened, then one closed as she looked through her glass(es) at Antimony. "Although, since you have already witnessed my incompetence, I could accept help from you without suffering any loss."
"That is what I am trying to do," Antimony muttered and then clasped one hand over her mouth, clearing her throat. "Ah, if you would like assistance walking, I... will do what I can."
Kibroth frowned down at Antimony. "Not if I'm being a bother. I wouldn't wish to burden you physically if I'm already crushing whatever cheer you had."
"Oh, it's quite alright." Antimony held back the thought of there being no cheer to be had. At least this was a distraction. She stepped up alongside Kibroth. "I'm unsure I will make the best crutch, though, considering... well."
"Oh, I'm sure you will excel. I'm really quite light and, at any rate, am afraid to touch you. So I doubt I'll put much weight on you at all." The Duskwight released the railing and offered her right hand.
"There's nothing to be afraid of." Reaching up with one arm, Antimony took Kibroth's hand and guided it to her opposite shoulder. "Here, lean some when you need it. And move slowly."
"Very well." Kibroth leaned a modicum of weight on Antimony, just putting very slight pressure on the woman. Then Kibroth moved her large shoes to begin taking steps. Quickly, the weight increased. Though Kibroth was truthfully very light as far as elezen went, she was still an elezen wearing metal armor.
Antimony grunted and couldn't help bending forward under the weight. She reached out with her own hand to grip the railing. Her joints were not going to appreciate this later, she knew as they made their way back up the stairs.
Kibroth walked very slowly up the steps with her weight on Antimony. Several times she tried to pull her weight off the woman, but it would fall back on her quickly. "I'm very sorry about this."
"Quite alright," Antimony forced herself to sound cheery but breathed a heavy sigh of relief once they were at the top. "Now then, you really should find a place to rest for a time - a few days minimum, with that kind of jarring."
"Days?" Kibroth squeaked, a rather strange sound to come from a Duskwight's throat. "Where is a woman supposed to rest in Highbridge for hours, much less days?"
"Ah, well... perhaps you can take a chocobo to Drybone? If you don't stay off your injuries, they will get worse." Antimony frowned.
"Ah, yes. Chocobo. I could rent one. In theory." Kibroth lingered, looking about, frowning.
"In theory...?"
"Chocobos are unruly and dangerous creatures." Kibroth straightened, speaking very seriously. "They're killers! I won't go near them."
"They... what?" Antimony's voice lifted slightly, ears swiveling in a befuddled gesture. "Hardly! They are incredibly docile creatures. I've ridden them for decades."
"And survived! I don't think your luck would keep for me, though." She gestured broadly. "I've been on foot all this way from Limsa. I suspect I left not long after our meeting, though those memories are lost in a storm of crisis and self-discovery."
"On foot from Limsa? Surely that is impossible." Antimony's brow quirked in disbelief. "As for chocobos, your fears are unfounded. There's a reason they are used for transport by nearly everyone."
"And you see how many people walk precarious pathways such as those that nearly climbed my life now, and how many travel the deserts despite the dangers of sun and dehydration." Kibroth shook her head. "Oh, no. It's unthinkable."
"You're being ridiculous." Antimony set her hands on her hips. "I suppose you'll simply continue your wandering then, with an injured ankle?
Kibroth ducked her head, looking at her feet. "No. I suppose I'll remain in Highbridge somehow. Taking a chocobo anywhere would simply be beyond my ability."
"There is a decided lack of places to stay in Highbridge," Antimony replied, tail shifting in concern.
"Which is a reality I must confront. There are some very comfortable looking... walls and... holes... I suppose."
Twining her fingers together, Antimony looked off to one side. "You could, perhaps, seek refuge among the Blades who sleep here..."
"The blades are even more dangerous than the chocobos! And I know I'm not wrong about that."
"Then I suppose you are stuck with walls and holes." Antimony almost immediately regretted saying that and winced visibly. "Ah, though, I'm sure you can find a nice, shaded one...? And they can be quite comfortable!"
Frowning down at Antimony, Kibroth muttered. "I don't suppose you've ever had to face such a prospect as sleeping propped against a wall, with the hopes that someone does not assail you in the night. At least it's only until my wounds heal, though I loathe to be so exposed in such a helpless state."
"Ah, you might... be surprised..." Antimony fidgeted. "Take heart! With so many guards around, you are not likely to be assailed."
"They are blades." Kibroth muttered, limping forward. "They are likely to be the ones who assail me."
Antimony sighed in distress. "I'm very sorry I can't be much more help... if you would only use a chocobo..."
"You don't need to be of help." Kibroth paused and lifted a hand. "Ah, I should think you for dragging this useless woman up from the treacherous walkway. Perhaps I can cook for you or buy you something you are in need of?"
"That's very kind of you." Antimony offered a small smile to Kibroth. "But entirely unnecessary. It's my fault you're in this situation in the first place."
"By what logic?" Kibroth continued her limping.
"I nearly ran into you!"
"Contrarily, I nearly ran into you, and ran into myself by mistake."
"No, no, my head was in the skies." Antimony pursed her lips. "I should have been paying attention to where I was going, and for that I apologize."
"Then we're both sorry to each other for something neither of us demands apology for. The only possible solution is to let the apologies stand on their own regardless of need." Kibroth paused and took her glasses off, trying to straighten them. "Are you in Highbridge alone?"
"Hm?" One of Antimony's ears lilted, her gaze sliding eastward for a moment before she returned it to Kibroth. "Oh, no. Only for a day and a half at most. I came here with my daughter, but she left on business."
"A day and a half and then moving on? Antimony, we pass one another like two ships moving in different directions, clipping our bows and then fading into one anothers' horizons."
"That's... very poetic of you." Antimony sighed. "But yes. I may not be here long."
"Then I'll cook! Far better than just buying precooked food or purchasing paraphernalia on your behalf." Kibroth smiled, glancing around. "I just need a stove or a fire and place to purchase foodstuffs and something to cook them on and utensils and... You wouldn't happen to have a stove wherever you're staying?"
Antimony's lips pursed. "Well... no. Not... now. We were staying in a small place just northwest of here, but that changed. I don't think the barracks have such amenities."
Kibroth gasped. "You're staying in the barracks? With the Blades? Oh, you poor thing, that's a horrible idea!"
Antimony held back a wince. "It will be no trouble for one night. Necessity pressed us to it, though."
"Well need must needs press you... Needs must need..." Kibroth appeared to have confused herself for a moment, and then she shook her head. Putting her hands on her hips, she proclaimed with confidence, "We'll have to camp."
"I cannot disrespect my daughter's employer's generosity in such a way," Antimony shook her head. "No, I will sleep in the barracks. But... I can perhaps help you set up a camp of your own." Antimony thought to herself that she likely hadn't forgotten how to do so.
"I'll be worried sick all night with you sleeping alone surround by Blades." Kibroth exhaled, pondering as she continued working over her glasses. "But, I suppose, I am just clipping your side as I sail off on my own." The glasses in her hands gave way and broke into two suddenly.
Antimony flinched and opened her mouth to comment on the glasses. Instead she just sighed after a moment and twisted her hands together. "Yes. Well... We should find you a suitable location. Not far, considering your condition."
Kibroth's face was directed down at her broken glasses. She spun the two halves in her fingers for a moment, and then whimpered. that lasted only an instant, however, before she truncated it to say bravely, "I'll at least wait until I'm alone to invest my evening in tears." She lifted her face pointlessly. "The desert is flat around us. And I'm not likely to wander off a cliff if I can't walk."
"... Oh, I can't do this to you!" Antimony exclaimed suddenly. "You are... Look, there is a small cabin just on the other side of the bridge. It's fully stocked with whatever supplies you may need. Please, stay there for however long you need."
Kibroth's brow dropped. "I can't break into someone's house, no matter how great my need."
"Breaking in won't be necessary. I have the keys." Antimony's tail swung once as she lightly touched a pocket in her tunic. "It was where I was to stay, originally."
Kibroth spun on Antimony to ask her a stern question, but put weight on the wrong ankle and ended up falling on her keister again. "Shoot!"
"Ah!" Rushing forward, Antimony bent near Kibroth, wincing at the ache in her own back. "What did I say about moving slowly?"
"I'm fine!" Kibroth laughed that not-so-fine-sounding laugh again. "Why are you staying in such a dangerous place as a Blades barracks when you have a place so near here so well-furnished?"
"I am far safer with the Blades. There were some, ah, logistical issues. But!" Antimony smiled. "It should not be a problem for you. Are you... do you think you can stand?"
"Yes! I have incredible confidence in myself." She patted her bare legs with her plated hands, but made no attempt to actually stand. "I'm not sure how I feel about imposing upon your provisions."
"Don't worry yourself over that. They were expected to be used, so used they shall be." Not wanting to get down on her knees, Antimony nonetheless inspected Kibroth closely. "Do you need assistance?"
"No." Kibroth's expression suddenly turned to concern. "Can you go there long enough that I can cook for you there?"
Antimony considered that for barely a moment. "Of course."
The Duskwight smiled broadly at that. "Ah, good!" She pulled her big shoes beneath her again and stood with deceptive ease, exhaling a low, long whine as she did so.
Antimony protested the hasty standing wordlessly, hands flexing in the air as she half-expected the Duskwight woman to topple over immediately once again. "... Yes. Ah, well. If you think you can manage, it is just... this way." Antimony gestured in the direction of the bridge, due west.
"All right. Let's see. If I set my ankles very carefully." She took an experimental step, wincing. "Then, yes, there is all the pain but none of the toppling."
"Here," Antimony murmured, stepping forward to take Kibroth's hand and move it to her shoulder. "We will go."
Sighing, Kibroth muttered. "Very well. I will accepted extended help because it would be rude at this point to reject such."
***
Kibroth's wincing did not improve as they walked to Antimony's abandoned abode, nor once they were then, but the woman's swollen ankles were mostly concealed by her large shoes and as soon as she was there she set about gauging the cooking situation. Utensils, pot, fire, food. She didn't require much. She was apparently a master of very simple gourmet, not at all like one would expect of a former Lominsan.
She would begin cooking immediately, utilizing only one pot and a single fire. "Like business, for cooking I find it is usually the simplest rules that keep the best."
Antimony's mouth quirked as she watched Kibroth, wary for signs of the woman falling. Every so often she cast an uneasy look around the small cabin. She hoped she had not made a mistake. "Then we have something in common," she observed after a moment.
Kibroth sat herself down next to the hearth, the pot and fire well within reach of her long limbs. Bottles of spices were arrayed next to her. She leaned back and gave Antimony a smile. "Hopefully, however, you're one who appreciates effort more than results. I apologize in advance for what is likely to be inarticulate flavors."
Antimony resisted the urge to offer her own assistance, thinking it would likely be rude when Kibroth have wanted to cook for her. Instead she just offered a small smile.
"These aren't bad accommodations. The Agency scarcely ever provided me more than a one-bed room at the local inn." Kibroth looked around the room, smiling at its quaintness.
Antimony furrowed her brow. "I don't think you ever told me what you did with the Agency."
"I was an auditor, like you. Remember, I had to oversee one of your deals because our superiors had it out for you?"
"Did you...?" Antimony's ears pressed back briefly. "Ah, I'm sorry. My memory is... well, it's been a rather busy few months." She shook her head.
"That's fine." Kibroth gave a blind smile to the room. Then she held half of her glasses sup to her face like a hand-monocle and considered one of the spice bottles. "I only remember so vividly because it was the eve of my revelation. I left the Agency only days after."
"Your revelation?"
"Yes! That I was born not for a life of books, but one of adventure. Although." Kibroth reached beside her, to a small bag that had been on her back with her axe before they'd come inside. From the bag she produced an arcanist's tone. "I did not give up books entirely."
Antimony blinked at the book, tilting her head slightly to try and see its cover. "I certainly can't say I've ever shared that precise revelation. But... I suppose it is a good thing you found your calling."
"Yes!" She set the book aside. "Now I just need to find an adventure."
"I have heard there's no shortage of need for them these days. Were you, ah, heading some place in particular?"
"No." Kibroth added some red spice to the pot. "I think I'm getting dangerously close to Gridania. And I don't want to go there. It's dangerous for someone like me."
"The Shroud is quite close, just east of here. But--ah--someone like... you?"
"A Duskwight, loathed of the Wildwood. You don't know?"
Antimony blinked. "... Oh. Well. That... is rather rude." Her lips pursed.
"It is what it is. They say all Duskwight are bandits and Vagrants, and it's not as though I've never met any Duskwight for whom that is true, but-" Kibroth stopped suddenly, and her head tilted. Then she looked at Antimony. "Wait. Am I a vagrant?"
"Ah... no!" Antimony shook her head firmly. "You're an adventurer."
"But a vagrant is just a person who wanders from place to place!" Kibroth leaned forward, eyes wide. "A person who wanders about idly and has no permanent home or employment. A vagabond! Is that not what I've become?"
"You're not wandering idly, are you?" Antimony leaned back half an inch. "You are searching for work... er, well, an adventure."
Kibroth directed her face at the floor. "I appear rather idle at the moment, don't I? And I have garnered no adventuring contracts since I set out."
"Now you are recovering," Antimony countered firmly, pursing her lips a moment after her words. She paused and then leaned to one side, "Ah, should you not keep an eye on the food..."
Kibroth gave a blank look in Antimony's general direction and then held up one half of her glasses in either hand. "I am not keeping an eye on anything."
"... Oh! Oh... of course. Ah, I'll just..." Sidling around Kibroth, Antimony approached the hanging pot, taking up a wooden spoon to stir its contents. Her nose twitched at the mix of scents bubbling up from it.
Though Qion'li had provided Antimony with a safe shelter in Highbridge - a bed in one of the shared barrack rooms - she did not linger there long. The rank smells of mercenary soldiers and the uncomfortable awareness of her lack of place in that setting drove her to the surface an hour or so after the Keeper and her daughter had left. She blinked into the sun, facing west out into the scrubland of Eastern Thanalan, then east towards the dry forest that would thicken and dampen into the swamp of the Shroud after several miles. Before the two had left, she'd been able to prepare a warding bag, to seal any curses on the hauberk, but she couldn't shake a niggling doubt in the ingredients, cobbled together as they were. Nothing out here was the same as she knew.
Worry for her daughter's safety set her walking, under the steady gaze of Blades going about their duty guarding the narrow bridge. She watched them stop and process two traveling carts, trying to distract herself by predicting the monetary value of the shipped goods from a distance, before the worry became too much again. She turned away from the bridge and ventured along a set of wooden stairs that traveled a short distance down the side of the cliff.
Setting her hands on a railing, Antimony let her gaze hang over the edge, down towards the river that surged far below, and let out a long sigh. Even in her death, K'aijeen haunted them. Morosely she wondered if it was because she had delayed in sending the girl's spirit to rest. She should have done it in Vesper Bay, but she had been too cowardly and grieving. Perhaps she should have done it many years ago in the Sagolii, when she had been lost the first time.
Pushing back from the railing, Antimony paced down the length of one pathway, and then turned to angle downward again, lost in thought.
As Antimony walked down the narrow steps, lost in her thoughts, someone else walked up those same steps lost in her own. Light glinted off of Antimony's glasses, and that light glinted off the glasses of the woman who approached. But the similarities stopped there.
The ashen-skinned Duskwight woman failed to notice Antimony, large-shoed footsteps heralding a collision course.
The greying miqo'te woman's nose brought her head up barely in time to avoid said collision. She skirted to the side hastily, leaning against the railing and muttering a quick, "Excuse me, I'm sorry."
"Hm?" The woman turned her head curiously, looking in Antimony's direction but well over the miqo'te's head. Behind her glasses, eyelids narrowed suspiciously over pink eyes. As she turned, her feet turned as well, but her legs didn't stop moving. The Elezen woman failed to get footing on her next step, stumbling forward and leaning back so that she wouldn't fall.
She leaned too far back and ended up a pathetic image of flailing woman as her lanky limbs windmilled in attempts to regain her balance, ultimately releasing her to topple backward down the stairs with a clatter of metal armor, a thud of leather shoes and the smack of bare legs.
Antimony yelped and flinched back against the railing, barely out of the way of flailing, toppling limbs. Then there came a thud from the Duskwight bottoming out on the stairs, and Antimony rushed instinctively down them. "Oh Lady, I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going and this is such a narrow path and I didn't mean to startle you, please forgive me. Are you alright? That was an awful fall. Don't move, you could be hurt!"
"I don't feel hurt." The woman sat up crookedly, her back bent over long legs askew. Her chest and shoulders were armored, but her long legs were mostly bare, with only a short red skirt to cover her thighs. This accentuated how large her shoes were. "Well, hurt, yes. But not injured, that I can feel. Curiously numb in obvious points."
Brushing her pink hair out of her face, the Elezen woman looked up at Antimony. Then she squinted, scrunching her face up, a pink mark shaped like a heart on her cheek wrinkling, her pink lips frowning. The very pink-faced ashen woman stared for a moment before saying. "Are you a dust cloud?"
Her glasses were bent beneath one of her shoes.
Antimony crouched near the woman anxiously, long enough to rescue the Duskwight's glasses before Antimony's back protested enough that she had to straighten. Tail twitching anxiously, she held them out to the woman. Â "Pain can often be delayed in such injuries. You should see whatever medic they have here for your fellow Blades. Aah... I can help you up! Oh, I feel awful. I am truly sorry..."
The woman failed to see the glasses being held out to her, likely for want of her glasses. "Oh, I'm not a Blade! And you don't have to trouble yourself with helping me. I'll just." She pulled her feet up in front of her, placed them together and then rolled her weight on to them. She immediately let out a small, high-pitched squawk and collapsed onto her side again.
"Aaah please, don't make any sudden movements!" Antimony waved her hands frantically in front of her, shuffling around to the Duskwight's side. "Ah, I'll just... I'll..." She pressed the glasses to the other woman's hand as she considered how to get the woman up. Height differences being what they were, it was unlikely Antimony could safely carry or drag or otherwise move the woman on her own. "I will get help."
"Nononono. Please don't!" The woman took the glasses, putting them over her face. They were bent dramatically, and so only rested over one eye at a time. "I believe I've still got one good ankle. One and one half. How many does a girl need?" She forced a laugh, which came off sounding a bit like she was in shock. Then she tried to get up again, and this time succeeded, wobbly though she was.
"It is not your ankle that you should be worried aboouuuuu--slowly, slowly!" Antimony hovered close, green eyes wide behind her own glasses, brow furrowed and forming thin lines of worry across her forehead.
"It's okay. Look, I'm fine." The woman continued her small laughter, waving her hands either to deflect Antimony's concern or to maintain balance. She squinted at Antimony through a cracked lens of her glasses. Then she blinked. "Oh. Oh, you look- whoops!" The large axe on her back shifted position suddenly, throwing off her balance and making her tilt.
Antimony's hands flailed out to uselessly try and steady the woman. "Please, be careful! I couldn't bare being responsible for... Just, do not try to walk yet."
The woman instinctively grabbed one of Antimony's arms, then tried to catch her balance by spreading her stance. Of course, one ankle gave out. "Ouch!" Her knees bent and she fell onto her haunches, still holding Antimony's arm.
The miqo'te woman squawked and flailed her free arm out to try and find purchase on something as the Duskwight's weight dragged her suddenly forward and down. Her hand found the railing, and she managed to stop herself from falling completely on top of the other woman, though not without wrenching her shoulder. "... As I said," she muttered. "I really should get you help." And she tried to extract her arm from the Duskwight's grip.
The woman let her go, but gestured desperately. "No, please, please don't! I'm absolutely... repairable! I'll just sit a time."
"They would be far more capable of helping you up safely, miss! Please, just..." She took a step backwards up the stairs, "... stay there. Do /not/ move!"
"No!" The woman reached after Antimony. "If you leave I promise I'll move as much as possible! I might even fall. I don't want help!"
"What, why--" Antimony brow wrinkled further in confusion. "Don't be ridiculous." Then she turned to head up the stairs.
The woman groaned, and then exclaimed, "Antimonium, just wait!"
Antimony stopped mid-step, blinking towards the landing above for a few moments. Then she half-turned to look back over her shoulder. "Ah... what? How do you know... or, almost know... my name?"
"Was I wrong?" The woman squinted through her single aligned lens again. "Antimonium Tartaricum is a compound made from a tartrate of potash used to treat respiratory ailments among those who can't afford high-quality medicine..." Her voice trailed off, as though she were going to say more and then decided not to. "You dwelled in Limsa Lominsa for a time?"
"Ah, that's... it's Antimony," the miqo'te woman murmured awkwardly, ears fidgeting in opposite directions. She wrung her hands together by her waist and tried but failed to place the Duskwight into any familiar box. "You truly need help. Why do you refuse to accept it?"
"Because I no longer work for the Agency! I'm an adventurer now." The woman leaned back on her hands and stretched her legs out in front of her, wincing at the weight of her large shoes on her ankles. "There is much ado about an adventurer's reputation. Can you imagine employing an adventurer that cannot walk? Or cannot get herself up after having fallen down? I cannot."
"Work for the..." Grey ears twitched, and finally she just sighed. "... Alright. Just, be careful. And take it slow."
"I will sit for a time." The woman's pink lips curled up in a forced smile, though pain still showed in the muscles of her face. "Ah. Do you... Uhm. Still work for the Agency?"
"The Agency.... oh!" Antimony's hands went to her mouth in realization, but she quickly forced them back down into cooperation. "Oh. I..." She strained her memory to try and recall the Duskwight again, but... perhaps the stress of late was too much. Pressing her lips together, Antimony returned carefully back down the steps and then bowed her head briefly towards the other woman. "Ah, no. I do not."
Trying to look casually, the woman crossed her legs, maintaining ehr smile through a small whine of pain that slammed her eyes shut hard enough that tears sprung up in their corners. "Ah! That's so... Ah ha. Are you an adventurer now as well?"
Watching the woman with concern, Antimony paused a step or two away and forced out an anxious chuckle that fell horribly flat. "Oh, heavens no."
"Ah, well, perhaps leaving the Agency is just the 'in' thing now." The woman tilted her head back, looking at the sky. "Ah, let's think. I remember us having some things in common. Though we only met twice or three times."
"Did we?" She wracked her memory again and came up with helpful suggestions like: Limsa Lominsa and the CRA. "Well, people can usually find at least one thing in common, I believe..."
The woman chuckled and smiled through her pain. "You don't remember me, do you?"
"Ah now, that's not to say you're not a perfectly lovely individual! And certainly having worked for a respectable organization like the Agency, and really it's been some time and... oh dear. How are you feeling? Where does it hurt?"
Wincing one eye up towards Antimony, the woman waved away the concern again. "The numbness is fading into pain. Which is important and good, isn't it? I don't hold it against you that you don't remember me. Feel no guilt."
Antimony winced but chose to press her concern instead of floundering in embarrassment, "It's important to tell me where it hurts so I can determine if you are seriously injured."
"Only the places that the stairs hit." The woman uncrossed her legs and sat forward. "I'm fine. I think I'm ready stand now."
"Ah ah, be careful! Slowly!" Antimony leaned forward slightly, arms hanging stiff in front of her. "Use the railing for assistance..."
"But knowing my luck the railing will give way." Nonetheless, the woman leaned enough to take hold of the railing as she brought her feet below herself and pushed up on them again. To distract herself, she continued speaking. "And then I shall plummet from this significant height." She achieved a standing position with much of her weight supported by the rail. "And into the bleak chasm below." She turned took down over the edge, and her stance wobbled again. "I find myself nauseous."
"Do not think on the height," Antimony hastened to reassure, pursing her lips as the Duskwight wobbled. "The construction is perfectly sound." She didn't know that, but she could think of no reason for it not to be.
"Hrm. I would be more reassured if such insistence came from an architect." She tried to straighten for a moment, and then did not. "I think I will stand here immobile for some time. Potentially forever."
"Take your time, of course." Antimony kept near, watching the other woman's balance intently.
The woman quite inadvisably gazed over the edge of the walkway once more, and then distanced herself from it, keeping one hand on the railing though she took the majority of her weight on her feet. "I can walk."
"Please--" Antimony took a step back to avoid being stepped upon but otherwise remained close. "There's no reason to push yourself. Is there any weakness in your legs?"
"Not in my legs specifically, no." She let go of the railing and took a very tiny step forward, wincing, and then took hold of the railing again. "Darn it!" She frowned. "I apologize for the outburst."
"It's... quite alright," Antimony winced. "Is the pain in your spine? Hips? Perhaps you should not have stood so soon..."
"Oh, no." She set blinking eyes on Antimony. "Mostly my ankles, but for surface-level swelling and bruising, I'm sure. I'll just get off this darned dumb walkway and sit for a while. Then I'll be fine."
"Oh. Good. Yes, that would be... wise." Antimony cast a brief glance up the stairs, then back to the Duskwight. She spent a few moments in awkward silence before venturing, "... an adventurer, you say? That must be very... well, exciting."
The woman laughed quietly. "This is the most adventurous thing I've done yet, actually. But. Have to start somewhere." Her eyes snapped open. "Yes, I'm an adventurer now, and I can handle some stairs." So she forced herself to take begin walking up the steps, very slowly, wincing with every step.
"Oh... I see." Wincing, Antimony followed after the Duskwight, hands up and ready as though she could catch the woman were she to fall - unlikely, all things considered. "All the more reason for you to be careful, I should think. Adventuring is dangerous work, I hear."
"The axe isn't for chopping down firewood." The woman forced out a jovial tone as she winced with every step. She went five steps up and then stopped.
"No... I suppose not." Antimony stopped when the Duskwight stopped and watched the other woman with careful expectation. "Ah, your name! Er, I'm sorry I... well, refresh my memory?"
Opening one eye to look down on the miqo'te next to her, the woman exhaled a pained chuckled. "Safer to ask than get it wrong and humiliate yourself, yes? You'd probably make a better adventurer than I as well. Kibroth."
"An adventurer, me? Oh no, certainly not. In fact, I 'd hazard to say I would make the worst adventurer." Antimony shook her head, tail quivering briefly behind her. "Miss Kibroth, then, it is a pleasure to meet your... re-acquaintance."
"I'm sure it would be more pleasurable had I not collapsed upon the meeting."
"Oh, that was entirely my fault. And again, I am very sorry. I should have been paying more attention. And--oh no, what if I've ended your adventuring career before it's barely begun, and all because of a stupid distraction!"
"If an adventurer can't handle an auditor in her path than she wasn't going to have much of a career anyway." Kibroth still hadn't moved since she'd stopped, and at this point she nodded. "Well. From now I shall start my career as one who lingers unmoving on this precarious walkway."
Antimony frowned. "You really should allow me to get you help. I've half a mind again to do it anyway."
"I would jump immediately." Kibroth's eyes opened, then one closed as she looked through her glass(es) at Antimony. "Although, since you have already witnessed my incompetence, I could accept help from you without suffering any loss."
"That is what I am trying to do," Antimony muttered and then clasped one hand over her mouth, clearing her throat. "Ah, if you would like assistance walking, I... will do what I can."
Kibroth frowned down at Antimony. "Not if I'm being a bother. I wouldn't wish to burden you physically if I'm already crushing whatever cheer you had."
"Oh, it's quite alright." Antimony held back the thought of there being no cheer to be had. At least this was a distraction. She stepped up alongside Kibroth. "I'm unsure I will make the best crutch, though, considering... well."
"Oh, I'm sure you will excel. I'm really quite light and, at any rate, am afraid to touch you. So I doubt I'll put much weight on you at all." The Duskwight released the railing and offered her right hand.
"There's nothing to be afraid of." Reaching up with one arm, Antimony took Kibroth's hand and guided it to her opposite shoulder. "Here, lean some when you need it. And move slowly."
"Very well." Kibroth leaned a modicum of weight on Antimony, just putting very slight pressure on the woman. Then Kibroth moved her large shoes to begin taking steps. Quickly, the weight increased. Though Kibroth was truthfully very light as far as elezen went, she was still an elezen wearing metal armor.
Antimony grunted and couldn't help bending forward under the weight. She reached out with her own hand to grip the railing. Her joints were not going to appreciate this later, she knew as they made their way back up the stairs.
Kibroth walked very slowly up the steps with her weight on Antimony. Several times she tried to pull her weight off the woman, but it would fall back on her quickly. "I'm very sorry about this."
"Quite alright," Antimony forced herself to sound cheery but breathed a heavy sigh of relief once they were at the top. "Now then, you really should find a place to rest for a time - a few days minimum, with that kind of jarring."
"Days?" Kibroth squeaked, a rather strange sound to come from a Duskwight's throat. "Where is a woman supposed to rest in Highbridge for hours, much less days?"
"Ah, well... perhaps you can take a chocobo to Drybone? If you don't stay off your injuries, they will get worse." Antimony frowned.
"Ah, yes. Chocobo. I could rent one. In theory." Kibroth lingered, looking about, frowning.
"In theory...?"
"Chocobos are unruly and dangerous creatures." Kibroth straightened, speaking very seriously. "They're killers! I won't go near them."
"They... what?" Antimony's voice lifted slightly, ears swiveling in a befuddled gesture. "Hardly! They are incredibly docile creatures. I've ridden them for decades."
"And survived! I don't think your luck would keep for me, though." She gestured broadly. "I've been on foot all this way from Limsa. I suspect I left not long after our meeting, though those memories are lost in a storm of crisis and self-discovery."
"On foot from Limsa? Surely that is impossible." Antimony's brow quirked in disbelief. "As for chocobos, your fears are unfounded. There's a reason they are used for transport by nearly everyone."
"And you see how many people walk precarious pathways such as those that nearly climbed my life now, and how many travel the deserts despite the dangers of sun and dehydration." Kibroth shook her head. "Oh, no. It's unthinkable."
"You're being ridiculous." Antimony set her hands on her hips. "I suppose you'll simply continue your wandering then, with an injured ankle?
Kibroth ducked her head, looking at her feet. "No. I suppose I'll remain in Highbridge somehow. Taking a chocobo anywhere would simply be beyond my ability."
"There is a decided lack of places to stay in Highbridge," Antimony replied, tail shifting in concern.
"Which is a reality I must confront. There are some very comfortable looking... walls and... holes... I suppose."
Twining her fingers together, Antimony looked off to one side. "You could, perhaps, seek refuge among the Blades who sleep here..."
"The blades are even more dangerous than the chocobos! And I know I'm not wrong about that."
"Then I suppose you are stuck with walls and holes." Antimony almost immediately regretted saying that and winced visibly. "Ah, though, I'm sure you can find a nice, shaded one...? And they can be quite comfortable!"
Frowning down at Antimony, Kibroth muttered. "I don't suppose you've ever had to face such a prospect as sleeping propped against a wall, with the hopes that someone does not assail you in the night. At least it's only until my wounds heal, though I loathe to be so exposed in such a helpless state."
"Ah, you might... be surprised..." Antimony fidgeted. "Take heart! With so many guards around, you are not likely to be assailed."
"They are blades." Kibroth muttered, limping forward. "They are likely to be the ones who assail me."
Antimony sighed in distress. "I'm very sorry I can't be much more help... if you would only use a chocobo..."
"You don't need to be of help." Kibroth paused and lifted a hand. "Ah, I should think you for dragging this useless woman up from the treacherous walkway. Perhaps I can cook for you or buy you something you are in need of?"
"That's very kind of you." Antimony offered a small smile to Kibroth. "But entirely unnecessary. It's my fault you're in this situation in the first place."
"By what logic?" Kibroth continued her limping.
"I nearly ran into you!"
"Contrarily, I nearly ran into you, and ran into myself by mistake."
"No, no, my head was in the skies." Antimony pursed her lips. "I should have been paying attention to where I was going, and for that I apologize."
"Then we're both sorry to each other for something neither of us demands apology for. The only possible solution is to let the apologies stand on their own regardless of need." Kibroth paused and took her glasses off, trying to straighten them. "Are you in Highbridge alone?"
"Hm?" One of Antimony's ears lilted, her gaze sliding eastward for a moment before she returned it to Kibroth. "Oh, no. Only for a day and a half at most. I came here with my daughter, but she left on business."
"A day and a half and then moving on? Antimony, we pass one another like two ships moving in different directions, clipping our bows and then fading into one anothers' horizons."
"That's... very poetic of you." Antimony sighed. "But yes. I may not be here long."
"Then I'll cook! Far better than just buying precooked food or purchasing paraphernalia on your behalf." Kibroth smiled, glancing around. "I just need a stove or a fire and place to purchase foodstuffs and something to cook them on and utensils and... You wouldn't happen to have a stove wherever you're staying?"
Antimony's lips pursed. "Well... no. Not... now. We were staying in a small place just northwest of here, but that changed. I don't think the barracks have such amenities."
Kibroth gasped. "You're staying in the barracks? With the Blades? Oh, you poor thing, that's a horrible idea!"
Antimony held back a wince. "It will be no trouble for one night. Necessity pressed us to it, though."
"Well need must needs press you... Needs must need..." Kibroth appeared to have confused herself for a moment, and then she shook her head. Putting her hands on her hips, she proclaimed with confidence, "We'll have to camp."
"I cannot disrespect my daughter's employer's generosity in such a way," Antimony shook her head. "No, I will sleep in the barracks. But... I can perhaps help you set up a camp of your own." Antimony thought to herself that she likely hadn't forgotten how to do so.
"I'll be worried sick all night with you sleeping alone surround by Blades." Kibroth exhaled, pondering as she continued working over her glasses. "But, I suppose, I am just clipping your side as I sail off on my own." The glasses in her hands gave way and broke into two suddenly.
Antimony flinched and opened her mouth to comment on the glasses. Instead she just sighed after a moment and twisted her hands together. "Yes. Well... We should find you a suitable location. Not far, considering your condition."
Kibroth's face was directed down at her broken glasses. She spun the two halves in her fingers for a moment, and then whimpered. that lasted only an instant, however, before she truncated it to say bravely, "I'll at least wait until I'm alone to invest my evening in tears." She lifted her face pointlessly. "The desert is flat around us. And I'm not likely to wander off a cliff if I can't walk."
"... Oh, I can't do this to you!" Antimony exclaimed suddenly. "You are... Look, there is a small cabin just on the other side of the bridge. It's fully stocked with whatever supplies you may need. Please, stay there for however long you need."
Kibroth's brow dropped. "I can't break into someone's house, no matter how great my need."
"Breaking in won't be necessary. I have the keys." Antimony's tail swung once as she lightly touched a pocket in her tunic. "It was where I was to stay, originally."
Kibroth spun on Antimony to ask her a stern question, but put weight on the wrong ankle and ended up falling on her keister again. "Shoot!"
"Ah!" Rushing forward, Antimony bent near Kibroth, wincing at the ache in her own back. "What did I say about moving slowly?"
"I'm fine!" Kibroth laughed that not-so-fine-sounding laugh again. "Why are you staying in such a dangerous place as a Blades barracks when you have a place so near here so well-furnished?"
"I am far safer with the Blades. There were some, ah, logistical issues. But!" Antimony smiled. "It should not be a problem for you. Are you... do you think you can stand?"
"Yes! I have incredible confidence in myself." She patted her bare legs with her plated hands, but made no attempt to actually stand. "I'm not sure how I feel about imposing upon your provisions."
"Don't worry yourself over that. They were expected to be used, so used they shall be." Not wanting to get down on her knees, Antimony nonetheless inspected Kibroth closely. "Do you need assistance?"
"No." Kibroth's expression suddenly turned to concern. "Can you go there long enough that I can cook for you there?"
Antimony considered that for barely a moment. "Of course."
The Duskwight smiled broadly at that. "Ah, good!" She pulled her big shoes beneath her again and stood with deceptive ease, exhaling a low, long whine as she did so.
Antimony protested the hasty standing wordlessly, hands flexing in the air as she half-expected the Duskwight woman to topple over immediately once again. "... Yes. Ah, well. If you think you can manage, it is just... this way." Antimony gestured in the direction of the bridge, due west.
"All right. Let's see. If I set my ankles very carefully." She took an experimental step, wincing. "Then, yes, there is all the pain but none of the toppling."
"Here," Antimony murmured, stepping forward to take Kibroth's hand and move it to her shoulder. "We will go."
Sighing, Kibroth muttered. "Very well. I will accepted extended help because it would be rude at this point to reject such."
***
Kibroth's wincing did not improve as they walked to Antimony's abandoned abode, nor once they were then, but the woman's swollen ankles were mostly concealed by her large shoes and as soon as she was there she set about gauging the cooking situation. Utensils, pot, fire, food. She didn't require much. She was apparently a master of very simple gourmet, not at all like one would expect of a former Lominsan.
She would begin cooking immediately, utilizing only one pot and a single fire. "Like business, for cooking I find it is usually the simplest rules that keep the best."
Antimony's mouth quirked as she watched Kibroth, wary for signs of the woman falling. Every so often she cast an uneasy look around the small cabin. She hoped she had not made a mistake. "Then we have something in common," she observed after a moment.
Kibroth sat herself down next to the hearth, the pot and fire well within reach of her long limbs. Bottles of spices were arrayed next to her. She leaned back and gave Antimony a smile. "Hopefully, however, you're one who appreciates effort more than results. I apologize in advance for what is likely to be inarticulate flavors."
Antimony resisted the urge to offer her own assistance, thinking it would likely be rude when Kibroth have wanted to cook for her. Instead she just offered a small smile.
"These aren't bad accommodations. The Agency scarcely ever provided me more than a one-bed room at the local inn." Kibroth looked around the room, smiling at its quaintness.
Antimony furrowed her brow. "I don't think you ever told me what you did with the Agency."
"I was an auditor, like you. Remember, I had to oversee one of your deals because our superiors had it out for you?"
"Did you...?" Antimony's ears pressed back briefly. "Ah, I'm sorry. My memory is... well, it's been a rather busy few months." She shook her head.
"That's fine." Kibroth gave a blind smile to the room. Then she held half of her glasses sup to her face like a hand-monocle and considered one of the spice bottles. "I only remember so vividly because it was the eve of my revelation. I left the Agency only days after."
"Your revelation?"
"Yes! That I was born not for a life of books, but one of adventure. Although." Kibroth reached beside her, to a small bag that had been on her back with her axe before they'd come inside. From the bag she produced an arcanist's tone. "I did not give up books entirely."
Antimony blinked at the book, tilting her head slightly to try and see its cover. "I certainly can't say I've ever shared that precise revelation. But... I suppose it is a good thing you found your calling."
"Yes!" She set the book aside. "Now I just need to find an adventure."
"I have heard there's no shortage of need for them these days. Were you, ah, heading some place in particular?"
"No." Kibroth added some red spice to the pot. "I think I'm getting dangerously close to Gridania. And I don't want to go there. It's dangerous for someone like me."
"The Shroud is quite close, just east of here. But--ah--someone like... you?"
"A Duskwight, loathed of the Wildwood. You don't know?"
Antimony blinked. "... Oh. Well. That... is rather rude." Her lips pursed.
"It is what it is. They say all Duskwight are bandits and Vagrants, and it's not as though I've never met any Duskwight for whom that is true, but-" Kibroth stopped suddenly, and her head tilted. Then she looked at Antimony. "Wait. Am I a vagrant?"
"Ah... no!" Antimony shook her head firmly. "You're an adventurer."
"But a vagrant is just a person who wanders from place to place!" Kibroth leaned forward, eyes wide. "A person who wanders about idly and has no permanent home or employment. A vagabond! Is that not what I've become?"
"You're not wandering idly, are you?" Antimony leaned back half an inch. "You are searching for work... er, well, an adventure."
Kibroth directed her face at the floor. "I appear rather idle at the moment, don't I? And I have garnered no adventuring contracts since I set out."
"Now you are recovering," Antimony countered firmly, pursing her lips a moment after her words. She paused and then leaned to one side, "Ah, should you not keep an eye on the food..."
Kibroth gave a blank look in Antimony's general direction and then held up one half of her glasses in either hand. "I am not keeping an eye on anything."
"... Oh! Oh... of course. Ah, I'll just..." Sidling around Kibroth, Antimony approached the hanging pot, taking up a wooden spoon to stir its contents. Her nose twitched at the mix of scents bubbling up from it.
![[Image: AntiThalSig.png]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/179079766/AntiThalSig.png)
"Song dogs barking at the break of dawn, lightning pushes the edges of a thunderstorm; and these streets, quiet as a sleeping army, send their battered dreams to heaven."
Hipparion Tribe (Sagolii)Â - Â Antimony Jhanhi's Wiki
