Catching breath

Alexis had settled at the cave’s mouth. That way she had both the tunnel leading down and the ‘outside world’ in her view.
Besides, the position granted a beautiful look into the nightly landscape beyond.

The cold didn’t bother her much, Tar had assembled quite the large bonfire, and a blanket provided all the additional warmth she needed while she quietly worked on patching up her armor.
Vastad, her equipment surely was suffering some abuse lately, not to speak its owner. Her shield, resting snapped in half in the bowels of this cave, payed testimony to that fact. At least it broke serving its exact purpose - protecting a life, especially one precious to her. There was comfort in that.

Alexis glanced at her dagger, expecting some maintenance along with her blade once she was done with the armor. It would be seeing a lot more use from now on, at least until she could acquire a new shield. It certainly felt like quiet times were irreversibly over.
If it was not the horrors of the deep, they would very likely soon have to deal with the war, active participant or not.

She sighed as the cool nighttime breeze tousled her hair. It was almost dry, so she could put it up again soon.
As she looked down to where Maru Karawanserei was resting below, she could only hope they would all be able to regroup swiftly. But with their track record, their was an insistent nagging voice in her head telling her that it would not be that easy. ‘Cause for them, it somehow never was, was it?
Maybe Tarmen was right, and they somehow had managed to get themselves cursed along the way.

Or maybe they were simply facing the consequences of their respective choices made and paths walked throughout their lives. After all, for example, no one pushed them down that shaft in Aquilo, did they?

The mercenary had paused in her work for a moment, lost in thought.

She was not Omen. Or any kind of fiosaiche, really. The future, and the consequences of her choices, were ultimately a mystery to her.

There was a memory tugging at her, something that had been said to her, a long long time ago.
Her father’s best friend, Evander. He said… he said ‘You will come to deplore some of your decisions. That is inevitable. The best you can strive for is to make your decisions in a way that you at least don’t have to regret them.’
Younger her had not really understood what he was trying to say. She did a bit better, now.

Alexis returned to fixing her armor.