1629, Fire Season, Fertility Week, Godday
Context
Nayale is shaken by having faced Berra, and by failing to be the mature Humakti she wants to be, and probably by crocodiles as well. Session S5O-08.
Events
After talking with Maalira, Berra begins doing the rounds of the guards, checking on Irillo and even Ornkarth on the way. Her ride brings her around towards Nayale, and she looks the young Humakti up and down.
Nayale startles as Berra appears. She wasn’t expecting an attack from the caravan side and her attention had been intensely focused on something off the flank.
“Hey.” Berra looks her up and down. “Are you alright?”1Nayale rolls Truth. Pesky Runes…
“I guess, but… no. Not really. I…” She looks away, but not before Berra spies the glint of tears and dirty streaks that suggest this is not her first bout of crying today. “It’s stupid. I miss Harmakt.”2Special on Scan for Berra there.
Berra nods, taking that in, and she looks back at the caravan. “It can be hard. It took me a long time to start getting my emotions under control. I had a good Sword Lord.”
“I’m sorry I let you down,” Nayale says, turning back to her mentor. “I’ll do better.” The Narri woman is trying to look determined, but she’s fighting some kind of inner battle and it’s not going well. Her lip starts to wobble and she sinks her teeth into it.3Berra passes Insight.
Berra waves on the caravan, and with every evidence of understanding her horse, signals the animal to the left, angling Nayale towards the river a little. “You did well. I heard you stood in front of a Humakti who was trying to kill people.”
“But… I used my magic to attack you,” Nayale bursts out.
Berra quirks a brow. “Did ya?” Maybe she did not know about that.
There’s a nod. “And I was going to try to hit you while you were disoriented by it, but… you didn’t stay disoriented. And then I fainted or something.” Her lip wobbles again as she adds the last. Fainted in a fight. How embarrassing.
“I passed out and got kidnapped by the most embarrassing thing to be kidnapped by that I can think of,” Berra points out. “So I think we can leave that one. You did your best. Your best gets better.”
“But…” Nayale sighs and doesn’t finish. Maybe she’s decided not to argue. Instead, she gives the river a look and shudders.
“You wanna look out over the plain? I was gonna get you to wash your face…” Berra looks at Nayale again.
“It’s fine,” Nayale says. “If you’re suggesting it, I must need it. I don’t want to humiliate myself or embarrass Lord Irillo when we arrive.” This time, the determination takes hold. She swings herself down from her mount and offers her reins to Berra.
Berra loops them up easily. “You’ve been having a bad hour,” she says. “But you did better’n all of us.”
The young woman doesn’t reply. All of her attention is now directed towards the river and its banks. She’s like a doe, wary and poised to flee even as she approaches the water’s edge.
Berra waits patiently, looking out over the area with the habit of long caution. It must be second-nature to her by now.
Nayale splashes her face several times, then nearly ruins the effect by using her tunic’s hem to dry herself. She stops as she notices the caked mud there. She’ll have to let Yelm and Orlanth do the work of drying her skin.
She backs away from the river, only turning to face Berra after she is several steps from shore. An Esrolian would know that it is not far enough for what she fears.
“You’re not going to get the rest that you need for a bit,” Berra says. “But we might … we get… we only have one thing to deal with now. We did the thing we came here for first.”
“I thought I was going to die, Lady Berra,” Nayale blurts, staring up at the Wyter Priest. “I saw Death and I was afraid. I’m not supposed to be afraid of Humakt!” Her horse shakes its head in annoyance at the outburst.
That clearly surprises Berra, and she thinks about it for a moment. Finally she sighs. “Yeah, people do that. You gotta understand it, and it should be fearsome. It’s just that you can learn not to be afraid. But not everyone gets that, and not everyone gets it quickly.”
“I haven’t been afraid of dying like that since I was a child,” the young woman argues. She reaches for her reins, then swings up into the saddle easily.4Passes Ride, yay! “I gave myself to the newtlings to sacrifice and… if they asked now, I don’t know if I could do it again.”
Berra nods. “I’ve been that far to the end,” she says. “Not… look, this passes. I’ve seen it enough to know. Try not to let it push you into fighting when you shouldn’t, to avoid it. You’ll learn to wield what you fear, but you’ll learn once you can take it.”5Oh! I hadn’t even considered extra dumb bravery! Thanks for the suggestion. – V
Nayale’s expression is doubtful, but she nods anyway. “I’ll try. Lady Berra?”
“Yeah?” The Wyter Priest still looks sharp, alert, like she never spent hours being paddled upstream to be killed for the glory of a goddess.
“I need to practice sparring with you more. I haven’t a clue how to take you yet and if I have to face off against you again, I’d like to have a better chance.” It’s part serious and part humour. She knows she has no chance yet, but well, if she needs to do it, she will.
“I can tell you how?” Berra offers. “Other than having friends with you?”
Nayale listens.
“It’ll go to whoever has the strongest magic. You need to know more. Next time, I might have a Shield on me, or I might be able to draw the holy trance on again, and being able to have one of your own and put mine down can be important. Could be important. And should be for anyone else. The best way to stop yourself from being hurt is to be able to bring down your opponent by being that much better than them. After that, it’s a lot less clear.” Berra scratches at the back of her neck. “Humakt gave me the gift of a strong spirit, and maybe you’ll have that one day, but until then rely on him more.”
Her companion snorts. Or maybe it was one of the horses. “Thank you, Lady Berra. Can we still do some training, please?”
“Course. But the most important thing’s to find whatever’s causing this damn problem an’ stop it. We’ll fit in everything else around that.”
- 1Nayale rolls Truth. Pesky Runes…
- 2Special on Scan for Berra there.
- 3Berra passes Insight.
- 4Passes Ride, yay!
- 5Oh! I hadn’t even considered extra dumb bravery! Thanks for the suggestion. – V
