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Rishi	The town of Laughingwater is a small trade hub established around a miraculous First Age Fountain that always runs clean and clear....until recently. Some areas of the fountain are now running dark and muddy, and some people are getting sick. Fortunately, as a Lookshy protectorate, they were able to request help. Additionally an Exigent healer from Great Forks was close enough to hear about it and decided to help.
Amilar Ereyo	After dismantling most of the marble fountain with minimum tools - sometimes using her bare hands to pry apart stones like it was nothing - the sorcerer-engineer sent by Gens Amilar to answer this crisis has disappeared into the bowls of the First Age structure beneath, where the malfunctioning water purification device sings a slow, discordant tune. A score of mortal engineers and other workers was brought in to assist her. They had already worked for many hours, seemingly untiring. But eventually, there comes a moment when Ereyo emerges from the complex innards of the device, covered in sweat and dust, and realizes that her bodily needs can be no longer ignored. So she crawls out of the hole in the ground, with the sun already low in the sky. One of the guards, who are stationed here to prevent anyone from stumbling into the construction site, hands her a skin of water and something to eat. While she wolfs the food down, the Air Aspect observes her surroundings, perhaps for the first time since she had immersed herself in her work.
Black Pearl	Lookshy protectorate it may be, but Rishi had come, and so Pearl has come to, taking a break from her duties in Great Forks. The hustle and bustle looks organized at least, and Pearl waits to see the air-caste. And when she does, she starts to walk over to the Lookshyan. "Hello. It looks like things are being done very effectively here! You have good foremen and administrators and you direct them well."
Rishi	Meanwhile, A melodious voice from outside the cordon around the work site asks "Oh most great warrior, how is the work upon the foutain doing the coming?" in a very distinct Flametongue accent. It seems like Rishi has stayed back while Pearly has gone in to talk to Ereyo.
Amilar Ereyo	A thick layer of ages-old white dust hides Ereyo's familiar face. Her uniform didn't fare much batter. With how she looks, she might have been crawling through the innards of a giant crayon elemental. Someone is trying to press a wet towel into her hands, but Ereyo waves them aside and rises, slowly, still clutching a half-eaten dumpling in one hand. The Air Dragon's cheeks flush, and panic fills her eyes. She clearly doesn't respond well to unexpected complications of the... interpersonal kind. When she finally has drawn herself up into a standing position, stiffly nodding towards Pearl and Rishi, she finds her voice and addresses the other Dragon-Blooded first, since she's standing closer and spoke to her first. "I... Yes, of course I do. They all have been trained well. What..." She falters, tries to calm herself with a few deep breaths. Briefly, her gaze jumps towards Rishi. "...what are you... Are you here to help?"
Black Pearl	"Yes, we are. TO make sure that things are...repaired properly. Tht the water is clean and the people are healthy. And, well..." The water-caste smiles, "afterwards, to see what happens. But that can be spoken of later, yes?"
Rishi	Rishi approaches, looking hesitant, but puts an arm around Pearly. "There was being a most serious outbreak of the water disease here, so I have been most busy doing the curing of the people and Pearly has been helping clean the water. I am being most sorry, if I had known that you were going to be doing the fixing here, I would not have done the approaching." Rishi sighs. "But, yes, we are being the here now. Is there anything else we can be doing the helping with? Or the speaking about, later?"
Amilar Ereyo	Ereyo's aides look somewhat confused, but the Dragon-Blooded finally manages to get a grip on herself. Although the look she gives both Pearl and Rishi isn't exactly a happy one, she nods, then answers in a crisp, stone-cold voice, now all business. "...well, good. Yes, there is much to be done still. We have enough hands down there already. More will just make it more difficult for everyone involved." Her eyes loose focus for a bit while she frowns, thinking hard. "One of you could help with keeping the workers fed and hydrated." Another, longer pause, before she turns, somewhat reluctantly, towards Rishi. "We... I could use another pair of eyes with a knack for complex sorcery down there."
Black Pearl	"I have actually run a fortress's logistics much larger than this. If you let them know I am coming, then I can make sure that everyone has good food, water, and shelter."
Rishi	Rishi nods, bowing her head. "Of course, whatever you are needing, o'Great and wise Dragon. I am most glad to be doing the assisting of you."
Amilar Ereyo	Ereyo closes her eyes, sighs softly - hopefully so that nobody else, especially the mortals, notices how stressfull the appearance of these "complete strangers" is for her. She turns toward the waiting aides, issues a few commands, introduces a few of them to Black Pearl for handling logistics, all while trying to finish the dumpling in between. Once that is done, she turns towards Rishi, instructing her to climb down the makeshift ladder into the underground with her.
Amilar Ereyo	Ereyo doesn't have her daiklave on her person, and to Rishi, the reason for that soon becomes clear: There's simply not enough space in the bowels of the ancient purifier. While the engineering part doesn't give her much trouble, the multi-layered enchantments are a different beast. A second pair of eyes with experience in sorcerous workings goes a long way, and after sniffing out Essence and trying to decipher corroded runes in abysmal lighting conditions, the two of them are starting to make sense of what caused the water to go bad - part of the working has begun to unravel after so many thousands of years, probably due to slowly drifting geomancy. While the Lookshyan seems willing to work together with Rishi for the greater good, she appears tense around her and only speaks when necessary. Meanwhile, Pearl manages to put her skills to good use, helping set up a temporary camp for the workers. The Seventh Legion has sent a supply train with cooks along, and they know how to efficiently set up a public kitchen. It's mostly a matter of handling all the terrified, tired townsfolk, pointing helpers to where they are needed, and offering directions to the vulnerable and sick in need of aid. It's already way past midnight when the two sorcerers finally emerge from the tunnel again. Ereyo is beyond tired at this point, but she flashes a thumbs-up at the waiting people, which is met with loud cheers and immensely relieved laughter. Not much later, after all three Exalts had a chance to clean themselves, they meet in one of the nearby buildings, a smithy, now empty after everyone working there has fallen ill. Now that they don't need to play pretend any longer, Ereyo gives both Rishi and Pearl an accusing look, crossing her arms. "Now... Tell me the truth: Was this really a coincidence, or were you following me?"
Black Pearl	"To tell the truth, I was not following you at all," Black Pearl says. "I was following her," she says, nodding to Rishi. "That you are here is not something I at least knew, or sought out." She grins slightly, "After all, I do not have any sources in Legion HQ to feed me information."
Rishi	"There was being a merchant who was doing the arriving at the Great Forks with the water disease. I did the helping of them and did the tracking back of the infection to this place. I had not the knowing that you would be doing the fixing of this place until I did the seeing of you. And I am being most sorry for doing the interfereing." Rishi hugs Pearly. "And I am being most thankful that you did the coming, Pearly." "It is looking like the waters will be most clear soon and the people should be well again. I wish to be doing the staying for another day or so, to be doing the making sure, but I will be doing the leaving of you alone, if you are wishing."
Amilar Ereyo	After hearing them both out, Ereyo kneads her brow for a bit, then grunts in frustation. She appears to be in dire need of sleep, almost on the verge of collapsing, but with Pearl and Rishi being here, rest seems to be the last thing on her mind now. When she looks at them both again, her shoulders slump downward, and her voice sounds raw and tired. "I... was hoping I could get away for a while. From Great Forks. From the deception and the lies. From you." Her eyes turn a dull, dark grey. "How long have you known?", she asks the Water Aspect. "About her." Pointing to the Lunar.
Black Pearl	"It has been a while. Perhaps a year after I came to the city?" Pearl ponders a moment. "A better question to ask would be, 'Why do I, a Dynast, trust her instead of the Wyld Hunt'. Or do you care? Do you care only about what someone is, or what they have done?"
Rishi	"...No, it is being fair for Ereyo to be most angry and to be most concerned about me. I am having much of the power and many who are being like me are not doing the good things with it. Including the bad things to herself." "But... that is also being the same for both of you. Those of us who are having the power are not always doing the using of it well." "I can only be doing the apologizing once the more and saying that I will do the staying back, unless you are wishing to be doing the meeting of me once the again."
Amilar Ereyo	Ereyo paces a few times back and forth in front of them. "I... I don't know what to believe anymore. Or whom to believe." She grimaces. "My eldest brother, he is a sohei - I know him well. A good person. Fire Aspect. He is very passionate about... pretty much everything. Including his beliefs. He believes into helping people, and for him, that includes preserving the Perfected Hierarchy." A tired glance toward Rishi. "Yes, you helped me heal. If I wanted to turn a desperate, hurting soldier like me away from her people, causing her to question everything - I would have done the same." After a short, bitter laugh, she turns to look at Pearl. "Swaying the enemy to your side is a common enough strategy. Not every kind of warfare results in killing."
Black Pearl	"This is true. And the most comlete victory in war is to turn your enemy to your friend," Pearl says. "But I could not have trusted her, had I not already been betrayed. I could not have found happiness had my House not driven me to endless despair. I could not have learned to give truly of myself to others, had I not already had the House demand everything I had, I did, I was, to /their/ goals. Leaving me only a shell filled with duty and nothing else. Less than an automoton they wished me," Pearl says. "Alone. With nothing supposed to matter to me except what those of higher station wanted. A life of self-abegnation, where your only value is what worth others find in you. Perhaps it is a mistake, but /that/, and /worse/ is what Rishi rescued me from."
Rishi	"I was being chosen, because I was having to do the choosing between living at home and being myself, and I chose to be who I am being. But, I did the giving up of things in the choosing of this. I well know the pain of lonliness." Rishi headtilts, considering. "I ask nothing from you. I do not need you to leave your people. If you never wish to see me again, I understand." Rishi pulls Pearly into an embrace. "If I am ever doing the meeting with Pearly's House, I am going to be giving them the most severe talking to." Rishi sighs. ".....this thing between us... it is all being about causing the pain to the others, about hurting the people, because you have been hurt. I do not wish to be doing that. Ever. And I am being most sorry that I had to be doing that to you, Ereyo, in order to be doing the saving of your life."
Amilar Ereyo	Despite herself, Ereyo does not yell, does not lash out, does not rage at them. She listens. And although what she's hearing doesn't soften her frown, or chase away the hurt and betrayal in the Air Aspect's eyes... she doesn't try denying their love for each other either. In fact, when Black Pearl recounts how her own House treated her, Ereyo's lips twitch a bit, and she shakes her head in mute compassion. To Rishi's words, she simply reacts with a deep sigh. "I... believe you, I think. Both of you. But I'm not sure if that's what I want. There are so many, many aspects about this long war between Lunars and Dragon-Blooded that I don't understand, and it's keeping me awake at night..." Slowly, she turns away from the pair, blinking rapidly to squash the tears forming in her eyes. Her hair whips in an erratic pattern of miniature gales. "I should get some sleep. You, too. Maybe... maybe we should have a talk. Sometime soon. I'll send a messenger when I'm ready."
Rishi	Rishi nods. "I await your request with hope. Thank you."