Liana Stealth: 21

Inspired: 16

Today is a far less stressful day, with Taran quite easily able to spot patrols and avoid them. Both Caelius and Akuma notice that Liana seems to be relaxing ever so slightly, to the point that she no longer constantly looks like a scared bunny.

However, when you all camp under ledge, she still sits apart from you at the edge of the fire, occasionally giving uncomfortable glances at the darkness beyond the firelight.

Taran approaches the scared woman, "I-It's b-b-been t-t-two d-d-days, th-the o-oils' sh-should b-be w-w-wearing off, s-so I-I sh-should ch-check y-y-your b-bandage, s-s-see if i-it n-needs re-rewrapped or n-not." He explains, holding up his medical kit.

Liana twists to look at him. "Oh...okay." She lifts her arm to give Taran easy access to the bandage.

Taran pulls up her shirt, fingers quickly untying the bandage and peeling it off the wound, checking for any signs of infection or if he needs to re-wrap it.

The wound has healed remarkably well. There's no sign of infection, and it is, surprisingly, nearly completely healed over.

(OOC: Taran would know that the wound is healing unusually fast)

Vishal's head suddenly pops up, a sudden crazy idea popping into his head after days of agony over how does he know this girl. Not wanting to cause a panic if he's correct he quickly sends a telepathic message to her, 

Spoiler's For Books:

Taran freezes slightly as he examines the wound, his mind racing at the implications.

But in the end.... "Y-Your w-w-wound is h-h-healing f-faster th-than normal," he says, rolling the dirty bandage up for washing, "My only c-conclusion is th-that y-you have s-s-some sort of s-s-secret p-powers. W-Well, s-s-secret fr-from us." He thinks about his sword, mentally preparing to grab it if needed, "B-But... I-I w-w-won't ask. B-Because it w-w-was a-always p-possible y-you w-were s-sent to k-kill us, an-and w-w-were h-hiding p-powers. Y-You m-might al-also b-be h-hiding th-them b-b-because y-you a-are in-innocent. A-And y-y-ou'd n-not an-answer th-the s-s-same e-either w-way."

Taran looks up, making eye contact, "S-So n-now I kn-know, an-and y-you kn-know I kn-know... An-and y-you'll e-either tr-try to k-kill us o-or y-y-you w-w-won't...B-But I-I'll b-b-be w-w-watching."

Liana simultaneously starts, takes in a sharp breath, and looks briefly down at her wound with some surprise before her eyes flick very briefly towards Vishal. She finishes the sequence by meeting Taran's eyes. "I...didn't know," she says quietly. "That I'd heal faster like this." She lifts her head slightly, a bare hint of confidence entering her bearing. "If I wanted to kill you, all I had to do was make some noise over the last few days when an Inspired patrol went by. I just want to go live my own life."

Vishal:

"M-maybe," Taran says, placing the bundled bandage in his bag, "B-but... y-y-you a-aren't w-willing t-t-to tell us a-a-about y-yourself, th-though y-you d-d-didn't kn-know about th-this. Th-That m-makes it h-harder t-t-to tr-trust you, b-b-because w-w-we d-d-don't kn-know w-what you are h-hiding."

"U-Unless y-you w-w-would b-be w-w-willing to b-b-be open w-w-with us?"

Vishal starts to put two and two together before he sends to her again, 

Vishal:

Liana slumps, sounding defeated. "Fine. I'm Siepha. I'm the dragon you all fought. After the fight, I asked Nirdaya some questions in my dreams, and when I woke up I was surrounded by soldiers. I was trying to get away, and I needed to be...smaller, and I finally managed to shapechange...but now I'm stuck like this, and I can't change back, or don't know how, or maybe I'm just not strong enough." She pulls her knees to her chest, her voice turning bitter. "So if you're going to finish me off, now's your big chance."

Caelius smiles and signs,

Taran feels a buzzing in his head, as the words process. His eyes go huge, tears welling up as the emotions surge through him.

He falls to his knees, voice choked, "W-W-W-W-We d-d-didn't f-f-fail you.... I-I'd pr-pr-prayed t-t-to th-the L-Lady y-y-you w-w-were s-s-safe, th-that y-y-you w-w-wouldn't b-b-become th-their s-s-slave, an-and... y-y-you're here.... h-here." Taran looks up at Siepha, eyes bright and smiling huge, "I-I-I'm s-s-so r-r-relieved..."

Akuma studies Liana with an amused and interested smile for a moment before tilting her head. "Interesting... You were able to come up with a cover up story pretty fast." After a slight pause, Akuma leans back slightly again. "I can't speak for everyone, but I personally don't feel like killing you. But if you don't mind me asking, what did you and Nirdaya talk about?"

Kaori nods towards Liana, closing her fist and holding it to her chest.

"We won't kill you ... Everyone can be ... redeemed. We will keep you ... Safe until ... you choose to go."

She lowers her hand, bowing her head.

"Know that ... we are not ... your enemy. It hurt to ... harm you ... and ... it hurt to ... leave you."

“Like I said. Nobody is going to kill you.” Vishal says with a half smile, “I’m just happy we don’t have to keep it a secret now. Our mission, in its simplest form, was to make sure you were working for the Inspired and try and stop you if you were. Preferably we’d rather you were back with the Storm Guardians or willing to work with us but obviously that didn’t seem like it was going to happen in the moment. And right now you still don’t seem eager to go back.” Vishal then chuckles, “This mission has certainly turned out to be weirder than I thought. Regardless, nobody here is going to kill you. We never really wanted to if we didn’t have to.”

Luiri merely shrugs. "Wasn't part of their mission. But you mean us no harm, we mean you no harm."

Siepha looks surprised at everyone's replies. "You all...are very different than I thought," she says softly before giving Caelius a ghost of a smile. "No. My favorite food's not pomow salad. It was just the first Riedran food I could think of." She glances at Akuma. "I asked him about what you had all said. The war, and what he really wanted me to do. He promised to explain it in person soon. Then...well, you know the rest." She shrugs and looks down. "I'm not going to be very helpful in battle. I've heard some Storm Guardians can carry powers over into their other forms, but...well, the healing was the first I knew of anything useful I could do." She sighs.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Vishal says with a smile, “And there’s always something you can do in that form though, we’re hoping to not get in a fight if we can help it.” He then thinks for a moment before saying, “I need to inform our Trailblazer of this change. But you don’t want to return to the Storm Guardians though...something else will have to be worked out.”

Taran swipes at his eyes, realizing the Dragon had a problem. And, he was meant to help solve problems, wasn't he? 

"I-If y-y-you are f-feeling v-vulnerable, o-or h-helpless, I-I c-could tr-try tr-training y-you. I-I kn-know i-it w-would b-be p-pale an-and w-weak b-before th-the aw-awesome m-might y-you a-are u-used t-to, b-b-but, i-it m-may h-h-help t-to kn-know y-you c-can d-do s-s-something e-even wh-while i-in a l-lesser f-form."

Taran unbuckles his sword, setting it between them, then gently and carefully takes his crossbow, hesitantly setting it next to the blade. "I c-could... I c-could g-give y-you wh-whichever w-weapon y-you p-prefer..."

Siepha starts. "I wouldn't want to take your weapons," she says quietly. "Even if you trained me, I wouldn't be good enough with whatever it was to be useful, not with so little training. Even I know that much." She snorts softly. "I'll just do my best to stay out of the way. And try to change back, or at least figure out how to summon some lightning."