On a Road less... Huh? [Open/Ninelives]

[00Penguin]

Diana continued to wash her clothes as the memories disappeared and her mind became clean much like her clothes.

Finally it was all gone, everything, filth and nightmare. Diana twisted her tunic to drain the water from it as she put back on her body. It clinged to her body tightly and chilled but she didn't care she walked up to Perdy and gave her a reassuring grip on the shoulder as she went back to the camp ignoring everything and grabbing the meat and her equipment. As she rejoined with Perdy and Payn she gave a nod.

Let's head back to camp, we have food now.
There was a calmness to her voice and she carried herself smoothly into forest leaving the chared camp as if it wasn't there.

[NiNeLiVeS]

"Huh," Payn murmured at Diana's retreating back. "That was stronger than-"

Perdy walked back towards him, kicking moodily at the ground. Her pretend-wings looked very fake at the moment, as if her sullenness had somehow affected their composition. She tugged the hem of her shirt, pretending to toy with it as she whispered to her partner.

"She's faking it you big nimrod," Diana muttered authoritatively, "she won't talk about it and everyone needs to talk about something like that-"

"I wouldn't," Payn laughed, ruining the purpose of whispering in the first place. "Most of the Hells wouldn't. Girl's fine. She said to head back to camp," Payn emphasized that by shaking the meat hanging from his back. "I say that sounds like a good idea."

"You're useless, worse than useless."

"Yeah, well. I'm a-"

Perdition sighed theatrically. "Yes, I know. More's the pity. Let's go."

The two of them followed the girl.

[00Penguin]

The cold clung to her body as she made her way through the forest. The sound of wildlife all around her, and Perdy and Payn behind her several feet away, but that didn't matter to her as she moved onward. The forest seem to narrow into alleyway... as her footsteps began to change from stepping grass to cobblestone. Suddenly a girl ran in front of her not acknowledging her but then a figure much larger than the girl was following her. Diana started picking up the pace as she chased after the two but even with her training to run as quick as an Amazonian she just seem to be out of their reach. The chase went on until it reached a dead end and there was a third figure between the first two actually being beaten up by the bigger figure. Diana wanted to say something... to stop it all but then it all vanished and she standing in their camp.

Her heart was beating very hard, most likely from the fact she was actually running but because that vision scared her. Why did it... maybe... because she had seen it before. No, not seen actually the little girl was her, but who was the other figure that protected her? It seem to hurt her not being able to remember. She put her stuff down and just pressed her hands lightly against her chest and she tried to remember.

[NiNeLiVeS]

Fire crackled. Payn occasionally had difficulty monitoring his own strength, but not today. Or rather, tonight: it had been already rather late when they had set out for camp and by now, after the bandit raid and subsequent destruction, nightfall had arrived and in earnest. The occasional fly buzzed past the fire, only to be caught by Perdition's irritable hand.

Another, more heroic type, might have called Diana for supper or suggested it. Payn merely ate as Perdition sat by the fire, looking moodily into it as ashes and the occasional spark rose into the night air.

"How come she's not coming for supper?" Perdition finally asked. She had long ago finished her meal.

"Go fetch her, if you want to," Payn answered as he consumed another hunk of meat.

"You should do the gentlemanly thing."

Payn gave her a look and Perdition grumbled as she got to her feet, smoothing out her dress. "Fine then. Useless lump. Don't know why I pay you."

"You don't," Payn cheerfully reminded her.

"Oh. That's right."

When she'd reached the front of Diana's tent, Perdition was stuck with a sort of reticence that was wholly uncharacteristic of her and after a moment said, loudly: "Hey! Diana! Supper! Ya don't eat it it'll all disappear!"

[00Penguin]

Diana didn't feeling like eating but her master's word came to her like a recording...

A hungry soldier can't fight or think to save their life, but a fed soldier can fight and think to save their life.

Diana nodded to herself, acknowledging her master's wisdom as she went to the fire to eat the some of the meat.

So... after we're done here... we should get some rest. I'll go ahead and take the first watch if that's alright?

[NiNeLiVeS]

"We can all take first watch!" Perdy exclaimed, a little too brightly.

Crickets chirped. The fire crackled. Perdition's cheeks colored.

"I mean - uh - hahaha."

How exactly could she explain that Payn didn't need to sleep? People didn't exactly take demons well. Especially not Payn who was ugly.

"Payn's actually a great sorceror!" He can make - uh - wards and stuff. "We can, um, talk about girl stuff! Y'know, me and Payn have been on the road for so long and it's just - haha - acting and stuff and I've really wanted to speak to a girl-"

[00Penguin]

Diana didn't really want to be bothered or to bother her companions but maybe it was better for her to talk to someone.

Diana nodded in agreement as she went back to the cart to grab her stola and some rope. She ended up tying the rope to a piece of wood she stuck in the ground and the top spoke on the cart's wheel. She took her tunic off and wrapped herself in the stola as she sat herself back down by the fire. The memory was bothering her as she continued on remembering the figure's name.

[NiNeLiVeS]

Sometimes it paid to take things simple. So Perdy shooed Payn off to do what he needed to do in order to make the area safe - it was a weird ward thing that took a lot of time and wasn't really that effective anyway, but it made him feel better so she wandered over next to Diana, handing her a bowl.

"So, uh, wanna talk about it? What uh, happened, today?"

[00Penguin]

Diana took the bowl, looking into the contents of the bowl and just putting it beside her as she continued to look on the top of the licking flames.

What are you talking about?

[NiNeLiVeS]

"Oh come on," Perdy said, scooting over towards Diana. "I-" For a moment the little girl toyed with her hair before apparently deciding on a different track.

"Alright, so, you probably know that me and Payn aren't - uh - actors. I mean, we are sometimes but not professional ones. Mostly I'm a priest and he's my bodyguard." She left unsaid the denomination of her religion. It was not exactly the best idea to go about wandering around the world preaching about the Gods from Out There when the Gods from Over Here were quite involved in smiting non-believers and turning girls into trees and all that sort of crazy thing.

"So, um, I mean. What I mean to say is that Payn's not my bodyguard because ha! wouldn't it be nice to spend however many hundreds of munny it costs to keep that lump fed. I know that... um, bandits, aren't-" she paused and made a frustrated noise. "What I'm trying to say, is that if you need to talk about what happened, I'm here. For you."

Her gods probably weren't but that's what Perdition liked about them. They didn't dissimulate or pretend. They were out to destroy the universe.

[00Penguin]

She just stared at her with a blank stare. The fact that these two weren't actors didn't bother her, if fact she just forgot about it. This girl seemed dodge as she just came back to something that she did even remember happening.

If you're ever in trouble, just remember to say my name and I will come to your rescue.

Why am I... remembering this?

Do you... do you try to remember something you forget?

[NiNeLiVeS]

Perdition blinked.

"I... um. I'm not sure if amnesia works like that. But little things? All the time." Perdy started as she made the logical connection. "You forgot what happened at the bandit camp?" She yelped, unable to keep her voice down.

[00Penguin]

Again... why does she keep mentioning a bandit camp? That wasn't what she was talking about.

Why are you so excited about some bandit camp? I trying to remember something that did happen, not something that didn't.

[NiNeLiVeS]

"Are you sure?" Perdy wanted very much to know. Her face was thrust in front of Diana's. "Absolutely, positively-"

Payn appeared. "There was a bear-"

Without missing a beat: "Shut it, Payn-Payn. Be a dear and go eat your bear."

Payn ambled off, grumbling about worms and bears.

"-completely sure you don't want to talk about it? You're good? Recovered? Fine? Because I've seen people crack before. It's not pretty."

[00Penguin]

There seem to be an awkward silence between the two as Perdy's face was just there in front of her's. Diana just sat there looking into this girl's eyes, somthing about them did seem unusual but of course she didn't care.

Diana pulled her face back and took a deep breath.

I'm fine, I'm just more concerned about something else, something from a long time ago. That's all, nothing else.

((Yeah, I was straining a little bit to read my stuff so I changed the colors a little bit.))