Interlude - The Road Less Travelled

[CautionCat]

Hags seemed to be everywhere... were they always around, in such high numbers around Te'Kaal? How many more could there be? Verdi thought about that, and thought about what happened that morning, as they were walking. Vanya was taking a break from adventuring- who could blame her? What with what happened yesterday. Her magic would change her if she used it too much...

She would probably do well in New Haven, as well as Edith. Set up shop, start something new... Would that mean the apartment would be abandoned? Maybe he would take over, see what the landlord thought... a place to actually stay would be nice. They might go back... when things cooled off. It was weird, he never liked settling very much. His mother always said Kokinyu must have blessed his shoes.

Glancing around, it didn't seem like much was going on with the walk, and there were plenty of scouts and look outs around the caravan. Verdi would fall back, and make his way to the wagon Edith and Vanya would be in. Once he caught up with it, he walked beside, then behind it to see if Vanya was sitting on the back or inside.

[Ancelas]

Vanya could be found sitting on the lowered gate at the back of Edith's wagon, her cauldron up on the wagon behind her. Petal was lying next to her - Vanya was sewing a hole in one of her blouses and the fey cat was swatting at the thread whenever it fell near them. Fred and Jack kept pace with the wagon, silently staring ahead as they trudged.

Vanya has used her magic to change her fingers back to normal to aid in the sewing. Otherwise, her nails remained elongated and pointed, and no amount of trimming could undo the change. Hopefully other things could...

She looked up as Verdi approached and flashed a quick smile. "How goes your patrol?"

[CautionCat]

"It is going. Nothing much happening right now. I feel we're going to have a quite spell until we hit the badlands... lots of unpleasant things down that way."

Smiling, he watched Petal for a moment, before looking back to Vanya and her sewing. "Are your hands better? Or are you... using some magic?" He noticed the long fingernails, but the rest of her hands looked fine... but that could have been magic.

[Ancelas]

Vanya paused to look at her hands - with magic, even the nails were manageable. "Mm... magic. I think it's going to take some time before they return to normal. I hope." She winced and clenched her fist, then went back to sewing. "I've never pushed myself so far before... I... will be monitoring my... condition... closely to see what helps."

[CautionCat]

Verdi nodded. "You never had to use your magic this much, before..." He frowned some, and folded his arms behind his back. "Will you be... making more young men upset?"

He didn't say it with any negative tone, but more of a curious one. That's what she had been doing every time she said she was going out. Making some guy fall in love, and have a broken heart. Well, he assumed it was mostly that. She wouldn't do that to him, right? Why would he think such a thing... He's known her for so long, but her nature was new to him. She seemed like she just wanted to try and live as normally as possible. Away from her mother. But now it seemed like everyone knew she was here.

"Not that I... mind I know the reason. Just... curious."

[Ancelas]

"...Maybe some women too," she remarked lightly, but her smile never reached her eyes. She set her sewing things down and reached out a hand to Verdi. "Sit with me? I think... it'll be good to talk about it. It's... awkward, but you deserve to know. If you want to."

[CautionCat]

His brows raised, blinking some at the response. Not just men, huh? He thought to himself. When Vanya asked for him to sit with her, he would jog up to catch up with the wagon, and hop up to take a seat, taking her hand to guide him.

"If you do not mind telling me. I always thought it was... just a sex thing. Before knowing all this, back when you'd say you were going out."

[Ancelas]

Vanya held on to Verdi's hand and gave it a little squeeze. "Just a sex thing?" she asked with a chuckle. "I mean... it still is, but..." She shrugged and looked out over the road behind them as the wagon trundled on.

"It's always been something to keep my balanced. A little... 'naughtiness'... to keep me good, so to speak. Edith's explained how it works... but.. yes. The heartache is where the 'relief' comes from, I suppose." She sighed and looked down, kicking her feet. "I wish I was not responsible for it... but a part of me needs it. I think all hags have the compulsion in their blood to do bad things... but there are... degrees. If a little heartache keeps me from turning into something that actively preys upon the less fortunate, I think it's worth it."

[CautionCat]

"Heartache happens all the time... it's a lot less cruel than making frogs stay stuck in a well for all eternity..." He held her hand for as long as she allowed him to, squeezing it back.

"Don't go breaking my heart, though." He chuckled, not too serious. "I don't think I could forgive you, it took me a while to forgive Monte... Years, even."

Sighing a little, he scooted a little closer to her. He enjoyed her physical touch, and just being near her was especially nice. She was a lot less intimidating that Monte was... in the relationship sense. His tail tip was curled up behind him, swaying some.

"As long as you're safe, and... well, you're not damaging someone too much. How long do you think it will take for you to feel more normal again?"

[Ancelas]

Verdi scooted closely and Vanya leaned against him, laying her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry... I don't get close to people I intend to walk away from. It would hurt too much."

She sighed again and remained leaning against Verdi. "I don't know. I'm in somewhat new territory now. All I can do is... endure." She lapsed into silence for a moment, but spoke again before Verdi could. "That hag... Seeing all the curses around the compound... I thought that was her way of maintaining her humanity. I wanted to talk to her... see if it was true. That her cruelty was to keep her from being something worse.

"I was wrong, though," she said softly. "She was simply cruel because that was what she was."

[CautionCat]

"Mmn... More of them seem to want to indulge in their urges than not. You and Edith may just be rare cases. Not wanting to become... wicked and all that."

Verdi frowned some, and glanced to her. "So, when we get to New Haven, what will you do next? Knowing the things you know now."

[Ancelas]

Vanya nodded slightly at Verdi's observation. She had always known that, of course. Hags were always wicked... it was the safest assumption to make. Edith being someone who fought against her own nature wasn't a sign of hope - it was an incredibly rare exception the old woman had made later in her own life. Vanya did not know what kind of things Edith had done in the past, and she had no intention of asking.

"Mm... See Edith settled, first, and... maybe set up a new shop. See what I can offer the community. I've head Karn mention a grove of some kind that is full of blooming plant life... I am curious what grows there. My mother..." Vanya paused, smiled faintly, then continued, "The mother that raised me, I mean, she was a hedge witch. A Medicine woman. I'd... like to follow in that path, I think."

[CautionCat]

Verdi nodded, and smiled. "I think that would be good for you. What of the apartment? Do you plan on being down here now, what with what's going on?"

[Ancelas]

"Oh goodness, I completely forgot about the apartment," Vanya exclaimed. "I don't know... if I stay in New Haven, I'll need to find some way to bring the rest of my things here, wouldn't I?"

[CautionCat]

"Well, it can be done. Just need to figure out.. when and how. But there's no rush. You will have time to sort out what you'd like to do... I was just curious if you had anything in mind."

"So... let's talk about something to distract us from things... You're okay with any gender of a person?"