(( for Ishani )) Dad - "What were some of your daughter's favorite books?"
The tanned man chuckled softly, his voice deep and mildly accented. “Ishani... oh, it was a struggle to get her to settle down to read.” He smiled warmly, his dark blue eyes twinkling. “She always wanted to be out there, doing something. She only started to settle down when she had to. But I have to admit, her favorite series was the Shanara Chronicles, and then- oh, what was that other one.. Landover, I believe? She was so excited by the concept of an ancient civilization.”
“Other than that... she started reading a lot of mystery novels.” He hummed in thought, memories clear in his minds eye. “... Her mother was very invested in getting her to read more- child friendly literature, but eventually she gave up. My daughter always wanted to be the main protagonist, which I think most children do. She had- such an imagination.”
“Not everyone sees the value in an imagination, but I do. She was never the most pragmatic, but she could create something from nothing. Tell me one field where that isn’t valuable, hm?”
She didn’t like leaving everything to Iolar with the new Rift Walker, but honestly, he seemed to have everything well in hand. There wasn’t much she could help with. So, she buckled down on finding more answers.
They were in the Rift. She knew that much. Fractions of old tablets, tapestries that had faded with time, even old jewelry. It all connected back to an ancient civilization, one that was all but destroyed many millennia ago. She had to seek out the information deep within the Rift, navigating around the shadow creatures.
Only some of them were hostile, she found. That was the interesting factor to it all. Some of them simply watched her.
But knowing Iolar was creating a Rift Walker haven-... well, she had to see this.
Looking at the house, it was-... certainly nothing much at the moment. A large ranch house that had seen far better days, the old blue paint faded and chipped. Paneling was all but falling off, windows boarded up, and the yarn extremely overgrown.
“... Real nice ‘haven’, there, Iolar.” Ishani mumbled, before stalking up to the house, knocking briefly. There was no answer. She hesitated briefly, before trying the door handle. It was unlocked. She slipped inside, closing the door behind her. “.. Iolar?”
Silence.
“... Ishani?” Iolar’s voice came, echoing in the house. “Up here.”
She blinked, following the voice deeper into the house, going upstairs. She peered inside an open door that she heard the occasional discharge of a power tool. Were they-... renovating it? There was fresh drywall and insulation up, the floors had been redone, and while the ceiling was open, there was supplies to finish patching it up. She blinked a few times, leaning against the door frame. “You’ve been busy.”
“Yup!” An unfamiliar voice came. She quirked a brow, spotting a rather stocky man, covered in drywall dust with a tight black braid. He finished putting up a piece of drywall, setting down the tool in his hand and offering a broad smile with kind eyes. “You must be Ishani. Nice to meet you, finally.”
“... Are you Jace?” Ishani tilted her head, before smiling at Jace’s nod. “Yeah, I’ve heard about you from-... where’s Iolar?”
“Up here.” Iolar leaned down from the hole in the ceiling, looking down at her. He frowned a bit at seeing her. “... I didn’t expect you to stop by.”
“Wanted to see this ‘haven’ of yours. It’s-... certainly a work in progress.”
“It’s secluded. It’s large enough to get us started. It’s under the radar.” Iolar shrugged, shifting to hook his legs over one of the support beams and lay back, so he hung upside down. The thief stared at her with his arms folded over his chest. “Jace and I are getting it in working order as fast as we can.”
Jace took a long drink of his water. “If ya want, Gypsy already scoped out a room that he thinks you’d like for a bedroom or office. A home base for your research.”
Ishani blinked, staring at Jace for a moment before looking to Iolar. “... Truly?”
He seemed unfazed, almost bored. “I figure it’s better to get us all on the same page faster. The primary way for us to actually advance, even reclaim some portion of the old history that you keep talking about, is to actually have a space to learn and grow.”
“Huh... very mature of you.” Ishani chuckled, shaking her head. “... Alright, so what is this room?”
“Eloi’s.” Iolar stretched, gesturing to the expansive windows and the small, personal balcony. It was covered, and only big enough for a small table and a couple chairs, but it would give the poor boy an escape. The room itself wasn’t huge, but it was big enough to comfortably fit a queen sized bed, a desk, and some other pieces of furniture, should Eloi choose.
“... Spoiling him a bit, ain’t ya?” Ishani tilted her head.
“He’s completely blind, Ishani. He needs a bit more space to be able to learn to navigate.”
“... Alright. Where is he now?”
Iolar narrowed his eyes at her. “... Why?”
She gave a grin, relaxing. “I want to meet him. And maybe give him another impression of Rift Walkers, that’s not a stoic, nearly emotionless thief.” She gave a wink.
“... End of the hall, door on the right. It’s the room I think you’d prefer for your room, as well.”
“And you’ll be staying... where, exactly?” Ishani quirked a brow.
“Working on that.” Iolar rolled his eyes.
Jace stretched, setting to hang another piece of drywall. “He’s been sleeping on the couch downstairs when he sleeps.”
“When?”
Iolar bared his teeth a bit in a light snarl. “You know, I think going to meet Eloi would be a good idea.” He grumbled, sitting up and disappearing into the ceiling again.
Jace chuckled, shaking his head. “Good seein’ ya, Ishani. Go slow with the kid. He’s still pretty shaken up.”
Ishani gave a little wave. “Don’t worry about it.” She chimed, easily slipping out of the room.
It was strange to see Iolar and Jace- working together to build Eloi’s room. But if she didn’t know any better, Iolar almost seemed- protective.Not just over Eloi, but the Rift Walkers in general. He had already thought up a location for an office for her, if she wanted it. Ishani was getting the distinct feeling that-... Iolar cared more than he showed. That all his bristles were hiding a rather soft heart. She hoped his efforts wouldn’t end up hurting him.
The house itself had a few old pictures hung up. So old that the glass seemed almost- stained in front of old portraits. One of them in particular had a doodled mustache from some squatter that either came before Iolar purchased it, or at some point without it. Ishani glanced at them for a brief moment. “... Huh... must be the original owners or-.. somethin’.” She mumbled, poking the Sharpie’ed mustache.
Shrugging, she turned to go find Eloi’s room.
There was only one door partially opened at the end of the hall. She gave a brief knock, and the door creaked as it swung open a little. Inside, a young boy jumped from his place on the bed. He had brown skin, and the same silvery hair that both Ishani and Iolar held. He had light bandages still over his eyes, and a few visible ones elsewhere as well.
“... Hey, Eloi, right?” Ishani slipped inside, nudging the door back to a crack. He nodded, tense and looking ready to bolt.
Looking around, she spotted a woman around her own age sitting at an old table, on top of two boxes that looked squished under her weight. The brunette woman quirked a brow, looking up at her through a visor of sorts. “... And you are?” She asked, propping her chin up on her hand.
“Ishani. You?”
“Eva.” The thief straightened, giving a smirk as she fiddled with the edge of her visor. “... Nice to finally meet you. Nice job in dealing with Iolar. He’s not always the easiest of people.”
“I’ve dealt with worse.” Ishani chuckled, shaking her head and stepping up to shake her hand. Eva’s smirk grew a bit, giving a good squeeze to Ishani’s hand.
“Oh, I like you already.” Eva grinned, stretching as she stood, looking toward Eloi for a moment. She seemed to hesitate, looking back to Ishani before gesturing with her head toward the door. “Hey, Eloi, I’ll be back, alright?”
Ishani quirked a brow at her, before shrugging, following her out.
Once outside the room, Eva closed the door and walked a few paces away from the room. “... I’m guessing you came by to meet the boy wonder, hm?” Eva’s voice was quiet, looking up at Ishani.
“You guessed it. And to see the-... glorious new ‘haven’.” Ishani gave a brief knock to a hole in the wall that looked like someone had punched it in years ago. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been in with him for the past-.” Eva stretched, her back audibly cracking. “... Six hours. Jace and Iolar are busy, but Eloi pulled a disappearing act on us once. We want to make sure he doesn’t do it again.”
Ishani tilted her head. “... You need a break.”
“I need a coffee with a shot of whiskey in it and a warm meal.” Eva yawned, rubbing her temple.
“And a nap.” Ishani chuckled, shaking her head before patting Eva on the shoulder. The brunette jumped a little, but looked to her, rather surprised. “I’ll keep an eye on him. Maybe he’ll be interested in some of what I do.” She gave a wink.
Eva watched her closely for a moment, before relaxing. “... You’re not half bad, are you?” Eva chuckled. “... Alright, thank you. Ah- you got a phone?” Ishani nodded, quirking a brow as she pulled it out. “Let me give you my number, just in case.”
The brunette put her number in Ishani’s phone, before turning and starting down the hallway. “He’s pretty quiet and skittish, so take it slow.” She smiled over her shoulder, before trotting downstairs.
Ishani watched, before shaking her head, tying her hair back in a bun as she slipped back into the room.
Eloi was curled up at the head of the bed, his arms wrapped around his legs. Ishani offered a smile, before moving to sit where Eva had been sitting. She slipped her pack off her shoulder, leaning down to pull out a couple of tomes and trinkets. She laid them out on the table, relaxing.
“Hey, Eloi, I’m Ishani. I’m another Rift Walker, like Iolar. I’ll just be over here.” She opened one of the books, flipping through the pages. “I do a lot of research and there’s not many quiet nooks to do that, so if you don’t mind, I can just do it here. I won’t be too distracting, promise.”
The boy didn’t respond.
Ishani didn’t push, opening the other book and starting to jot things down between the two, occasionally studying one of the artifacts. She didn’t know how long she sat there, studying, as she listened to Iolar and Jace work distantly in Eloi’s room.
At some point, Eloi shifted off the bed. She glanced briefly to him, but he slowly, cautiously moved toward her table. Ishani made a little more noise, scratching the paper with her pen a little. Eloi found another box on the other side of the table with his hands, nervously lowering himself to sit.
Ishani pulled another artifact out of her pack, a fractured tablet of sorts, and laid it gently in front of him. He jumped a little, blindly looking toward her, before slowly relaxing.
Eloi rose one hand, ghosting it over the edges of the broken tablet, before letting his fingertips trace over the faded markings. He seemed to study it, silently.
Smiling, Ishani returned to jotting down notes. Well... this seemed to be progress. Even if the boy still wasn’t talking to her. He was broken in many ways, seeming like an injured animal. Like a cat, in some ways. He approached when Ishani chose not to push him or- even talk to him.
There was still hope for the boy. Especially with the support group he was forming. Or-... rather, the group forming around him.
