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[Talia had spent the last two weeks in a blur of events that had forever changed her life. She had been tortured; nearly killed by those actions and her own suicide attempt. She had been 'rescued' of a sort and brought to this ship. She had been turned into a child again, and a man, and witnessed far many other things that she couldn't possibly begin to explain even with all of Valdemar's magic.

She had learned, by way of several new associates (dare she say 'friends'), that she was not to return to her own world. She had learned, much to her utter dismay, that she would likely never see her Companion or life-bonded again. She grieved. And while she grieved, she tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she shared the company on this boat with none other than Herald Mage Vanyel Ashkevron, the very Herald that had inspired a longing to take up her own Whites.

There was a proper introduction still needed, there, and Talia was certain this was uneventful as the Elegante ever was and it was best to take advantage.

Her voice clicks over the communicators, calm and not at all demanding.]

Herald Vanyel .. if you're free, I would endeavor to have that talk you mentioned.

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[If anyone in all the world understands how you feel, Talia, it's Vanyel. Some wounds never really stop bleeding]

Aye. Where would you like?

[So she's read, poor pup. Even if the history books don't have it all, they've got enough of his past.

There is a stretch of silence for several moments as she contemplates this. Finally..]

Above deck .. Ahh, deck one? I could use the fresh air, if that sounds acceptable.

[We don't talk about Tylendel. Or Stef. Or Yfandes. Or Savil, or... Y'know what, let's just not talk about specific Valdemarians at all.]

Of course.

[He's adept at navigating the maze by now, and is waiting for her when she arrives. He's looking out at the horizon..it's not that he doesn't like the sea, it's just that it sometimes still catches him by surprise, the expanse of it. Nothing in Valdemar quite compares.]

[You know what? That sounds just peachy to her.

At his affirmation, she clicks off her audio feed and slips on the lightweight boots she found for herself at one of the shops, tucks her keycard safely in a pocket and heads out. It takes her a little longer to get there, as she's still getting used to the layout and the various shortcuts she can take from point 'a' to point 'b'.

When she arrives, she sees him already waiting for her and walks over to the railing, looking from him to the ocean they sail on. She doesn't need to read him to know exactly how he feels. She leans against the rail along side him, arms folded.]

Huge, isn't it? I didn't believe until I'd actually seen it for myself .. and I still find it almost overwhelming in its vastness.

]

Mmh. In some rumors, Lake Evendim is as large, but I've never seen it.

[Well, except on a map. It didn't seem possible, a body of water so large-- and now, this.]

Herald-Mage Vanyel Ashkevron.

[Might as well begin at the beginning.]

[Her hazel gaze turns to study the man next to her. It all seemed so unlikely, but with the things she had been both witness to and participant of in the past week, she was willing to believe it quite true.]

Well met, Herald. Herald Talia of Sensholding. [A beat of awkward silence as she considers how best to even begin.] I cannot begin to imagin-

[She trails off, feeling awkward and as if she's barely stepped out of her Greys. However, she didn't want to bring up the reality of his death. She moves with it a different way, instead.]

Your story was the only one I knew of Heralds before reaching the Collegium.. I suppose it's safe to say that you were responsible inspiring my own desire to be a Herald..

Given the state you were in when we found you, I imagine you can.

[Van was on the front lines for decades- he knows the signs of torture and rape, when he sees them. Still he smiles, and shakes his head.]

There are some bards I'd as soon throttle for it. It all sounds very romantic, the way they tell it, but the reality...

[He makes an abortive gesture. Again, he'd sen her injuries. Heralds live only so long, and then they die, frequently in great pain.]

Well, we're neither of us trainees, any longer. I'm all but afraid to ask- how long...?

[Talia knew that there was no denying what had been done to her, but the subject matter had an adverse reaction upon her that she was trained to keep tightly shielded. Just as Vanyel was aware of what had happened to her, she knew what had happened to him; even beyond the flowery language of the bards. There was only so much flowering you could apply to the life of a Herald and have it believable to others who had lived the life themselves. She gives a soft 'mmm' of acceptance and nods once and then snorts.]

You'd think that they never travel with us, for how they tell the tales. If life were that rosy, we'd have newly Chosen practically tripping over themselves in their eagerness to come to us rather than go to them..

[She trails off and looks at him as he asks 'how long', briefly calculating the years.]

It has been nearly six hundred years since your death, Herald ..

[Someone with less training, or less control might have choked and sputtered or asked her to repeat. Van did neither, only blinked and, after a moment's thought, breathed a sigh.]

Damn.

[That's...a very very long time.]

...They're still singing that- no, nevermind.

[Fucking bards, how do they work.]

[She watches his face as he takes in the reply, but his expression doesn't slip the slightest. He reacts, actually, with no more than a blink and a soft sigh. Her expression softens a bit and she chuckles.]

Oh, they sing 'Shadow Stalker' with as much heart as they ever have. It's grown by a few verses over time, but it is most decidedly still sung. [She grins sidelong at him.] My sincerest apologies for that..

[SO INTENSE!! Her smile slips after a beat and she sucks in her cheeks, chewing on them before speaking again.]

What is known of the Captain, Vanyel? Why are we all here? I can see no correlation between the lot of us .. some magical, some not. Some removed from points of death, while others were sleeping or walking ..

The Captain is...cruel. And very public about his torture, but if he's insane, at least he follows his own rules. I would take great care to follow them, unless you must do otherwise. In my year here, I've seen a great deal suffered by those who needlessly cross him.

[He'll politely glaze over the fangirlism. She's less obnoxious than many, and certainly polite otherwise. Heralds are Heralds, and in Van's mind firmly in another category from 'normal people.']

By what we know, the only correlation is that we are, in their words, 'pure.' It's a distinction that doesn't extend to the crew, for whatever reason.

When asked, the crew will tell you that you're here because the Captain wanted you to be, like as not. I've been told that...

[He hesitates, visibly]

Take this with a grain of salt- we've been told that our homes are gone. Destroyed.

[She listens quite intently as he describes the Captain, her brows narrowing sharply. The man might follow his own rules, but she was certain after Vanyel's description that he was capable of far more than the changes in age and gender many had undergone in the past week.]

Duly noted. [And honestly, be happy the circumstances are what they are and that she is older, because under different circumstances she'd be faaaar more thrilled over meeting him in person. A Herald is a Herald in her eyes, at this point in life.

Annnnnd then he continues after his hesitation and she pales in response to his words.]

But that .. that would mean .. [To think that their world was gone would mean that everyone they knew was gone along with it. All her friends and fellows .. Dirk and Rolan.. She feels her stomach lurch dangerously and her grip is white knuckled on the railing of the boat as she searches his face.]

Do you believe that, Herald?

I don't know. It's heresay, but the possibility is...

It's possible.

[He presses his lips- this is like an irritated sore; one can't hope but poke at it every now and again, as if by doing so it might hurt less.]

I must hope that it isn't true, or that they've survived, somehow, regardless. There's talk of passengers held in sleep, below where any passenger can reach, on this ship.

I must hope that...that our people are there. Valdemar is her people, not her land.

The Captain is unassailable, regardless.

[To be told that there is a likelihood that such a horrible possibility exists is horrifying, but Talia is a champion of not showing it .. mostly. She knows there is no need to cover just how horrid an occurrence it would be, were it true. Her Rolan .. his Yfandes .. all the people they've known or loved .. gone.]

Gods.. No matter what they say, I cannot fathom .. They are alive.

['They must be' goes unvoiced, but goes without saying. However, there is the bit about people sleeping below decks ..]

Is there any proof of those below? My abilities are .. muted .. I have not sensed anything of such, but nor have I attempted to push past the blocks that seem in place..

[It goes without saying that the Companions must be alive. Vanyel could live knowing Stef had died. He would grief and bleed for the rest of his life, but it would be bearable, if only in extremity. That was a mortal wound Van knew how to nurse- the death of a beloved Lifebonded.

...to lose Yfandes' life...no. He shuttered away from the thought, and opened his eyes, not certain when he'd closed them. One man can only bear so much agony before he attempts to find how many deaths the world would allow him before giving him rest.]

What are your Gifts? I am...similarly limited, but in my time I've found a few techniques that do well enough for survival.

[Talia's mind is milling around thoughts of Rolan. She had accepted her own death, in exchange for his life and that of her Queen and kingdom. Much like Vanyel, she believed she could survive, or force herself to, after the loss of Dirk. Rolan, though..

She accepts the distraction in conversation, returning her focus externally once more.]

Empathy and a more limited mind-healing .. When I regained consciousness my shields were in place; no doubt I've you to thank for that? [More a knowing statement than a question. A brief pause and then..] Is it true that you have all the Gifts?

There's more than just I with Thought-sensing, here.

[He doesn't need to explain more than that, does he? God only knows what The Rowan would do with access to a Herald's mind. Or the other, that boy...Talia's question makes him snort.]

Most only somewhat, but yes. A poor compensation, but I've been glad to have it, more than once.

[It was something she'd considered after her recovery, though she'd been decidedly careful in keeping her shields firmly in place since leaving AMU and the infirmary. However, she nods, taking the warning for what it is at taking it at full value.

She offers an amused smirk at his snort, certain he's had any number of persons fawning over him throughout the years.]

I've no doubt ..

[There is a stretch of silence as she looks out across the water before looking back to him.]

Are there more than the Captain and crew that I should show caution around? Those you've encountered yourself?

Yes. What you must avoid is starting fights. Whoever attacks first gains the punishment- if someone goes after you, of course...

[He casts a look across at her. An Empath and a Mind-Healer was not, by Gift at least, one for pitched battle, but there was no one in Whites that didn't know how to kill, barehanded or otherwise.]

A man by the name of Erol is a sadist and a killer. He'll do whatever he can to provoke you, if you find yourself his target. Jinx is as bad, but merely an opportunist, though he'll likely stop at rape, if that's any comfort.

[His grim tone shows that he knows very well it isn't.]

Ganondorf is...A noble, of the worst breed. Recently he's picked up some kind of body-guard, and he'll kill anyone that offends his ideas of propriety, apparently for pleasure. Major Kusanagi and her lieutenants are killers, but they'll only do so if attacked- she's a female commander, and if you injure her in any fashion, her second will kill you, there can be no stopping him.

Azula has Firestarting, and she's a light touch to put in a rage. Sixteen year old girls should be expected to have better patience- she's apparently some kind of princess, though her Kingdom may have all my pity for it.

Whatever you do, do not injure the crew.

[Talia listens intently as Vanyel instructs that she must not start a fight. She raises a brow slightly at the emphasis, but nods once to show she understands. She was not the worst physical fighter, and was more than capable of defending herself and dealing out a substantial amount of damage under the correct scenarios. However, facts held to reason that she would almost always be the smaller of the combatants and her Gifts were not particularly as useful as many others. She had twisted her Mind-Healing once, however, and would do what was necessary should it prove so.

~~Too bad attacking with her Mind-Healing wasn't going to work on the boat. THAT was going to be an eye opener if she ever tried it!~~

Vanyel's list of people goes on and Talia's brows knit slightly. She knows well enough his history, and so his tone encompasses her own opinion of the man Erol even before she has met him. She nods to each in turn, frowning at the mention of Azula. He has said nothing about the young woman being from Valdemar, so she could only presume it was a similar Gift to that of the Heralds.

Oh, and don't injure the crew: check.]

For passengers said to be 'pure', there is certainly more than the fair share of those .. less scrupulous.

It's an interesting distinction, I'll give you that.

[He sighs. What a mess this place is]

Beyond that, have a care not to enter 'Carnival' if you can avoid it. It's the one place where unprovoked attacks will not be punished. Trust your judgment, Herald.

And don't forget that you aren't alone. I'll not hesitate if you're in need.

[She frowns slightly. It seemed there were any number of loopholes one could use to their advantage when dealing with the Captain's rules. However, they were good loopholes to know, even if she herself didn't take advantage of them; it was possible that someone else might.

It's the last that softens her expression and she meets his gaze, her own unwavering.]

So long as you remember the same, Herald. My door is always open to you, should you need it.

I'm usually on Deck Six or Eight- Sergei's is the name of the place. Remy Whitecastle mans the bar, he's the most trustworthy soul aboard, and without him, we would never have been able to get you to help, in time.

[And if Vanyel's shields weren't so secure, the Empath might have caught how much he loved the man.]

I'll warn you- the bears are...safe. The ones outside of Carnival, at least. Have you heard of the Kyree?

[Talia nods, putting the deck numbers to mind as he gives them. She bares a faint recollection of the name 'Remy' and after a moment her eyes widen a bit more.]

That one .. Remy? He was the one that entered my room to get me? That night is still a bit fuzzy, but I think I remember his name ..

[A good thing for shielding then! Her eyes widen a bit more as he brings up bears, though, brow canting.]

Ahh .. yes, I know of the Kyree. Are you saying the bear fall into this category? Sentient and .. approachable .. to a point?

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