“I oughta buy you a back brace for how much you carried us through that, sugar.” Bea comments with a light laugh when they returned with the goblin. “Mm, but I got better ways to show my appreciation. Come now~” She pulls Cora with her to her quarters for another week. 

Cora's face brightened up immediately but before she could even respond, she was pulled into Bea's room and the door was closed.

Cora opened the door to Bea's room and panted, sweaty. God damn that woman had some stamina to rival her own, that's for sure.

Just a quick breather. Just a few seconds.

Cora walked to the top of the deck, stretched and took in a huge breath of fresh air as the ship continued to cruise to it's next destination. She felt the cold breeze against her skin and it helped dry her off. Everything about her smelled like Bea. Her clothes, her hair, her skin.

She also noticed she was hungry from all of that exercise, sexual or otherwise. She was contemplating getting something for both of them to eat, and for some reason was in an amazing mood. She walked back into their room, and playfully bit Bea on the throat. "Hey, i'm starving, want something to eat?"

"Fox?" she said, knocking on their doors, "Paraplegic? Weird girl with the accent? I'm going to the kitchen, you want something?"

Athela rolls out. "Sure, why not?" she says cheerfully. "I'll tag along."

"So." Cora says as she walks with Athela towards the kitchen, wanting to start some conversation. "You're a half orc, and the other gal is a fox. And you two are sisters? Are you sure?"

"Completely sure," Athela says with a smile. "We were both in Cyre on the Day of Mourning," she explains, not realizing Cora likely has no idea what she's talking about. "It changed us both." She gestures briefly at her wheelchair. "Still...at least we survived," she adds softly, some sadness tinging her voice.

"I have no idea what that means." she said, plainly.

"Oh!" Athela laughs for a moment, then thinks briefly. "Uh, okay. How do I start...you know what, I'll start from the beginning. For the last century, the entire continent has been embroiled in a war - The Last War, it's been called, because people have thought nothing could be that bad again. It was over a throne. A hundred years ago, the entire continent was made up of one country called Galifar. When the last king of Galifar died, his eldest daughter Mishann should have inherited, that's how the law worked. But then his other four children, starting with his daughter Wroann, tried to take the throne for their own. It led to a long, very bloody war, and each sibling declared their province of Galifar a country. At the end of it, the country of Cyre was destroyed in an event called the Mourning. There's this...white mist. It filled the whole of Cyre, and killed a lot of people. Changed even more." She smiles sadly. "I used to be human, and able to use my legs. After the Mourning, I can't. Now the mists fill Cyre, and everyone just calls it the Mournland. The people who used to live in Cyre are called Mourners. Because nobody knows how or why the Mourning happened, it ended the War, because people were afraid it might happen to them. So now there are a bunch of separate nations where there used to be Galifar. And a lot of broken families from Cyre."

"That white mist sounds like a biological weapon of some sort. But..it changed you." Cora mentioned. "Could magic healing not..fix your walking problem?"

Athela shakes her head. "Not that I know of. Willow and I haven't really been able to stop by a Jorasco healing house or anything, but the herbalists and healers we've talked to don't seem to know what to do. The Mourning is a complete mystery, totally unpredictable. I've heard stories of living spells inside the Mournland, of Cyrans trapped in endless time loops. Men and women of living stone, as if they were subjected to a medusa's gaze, but not allowed to die." She shakes her head, her eyes sad. "Death is the preferable fate for those still trapped in the Mournland."

Cora looks at you for a moment, and slowly nods her head, agreeing - as if she understood such fates, or perhaps, at one point, also yearned for death. She opened the door to the kitchen, and the fox girl was there. It startled her.

"GHAA!" Cora twitched.

Athela giggles, her sadness melting away. "Hey, Willow."

Willow perks up, a slight pile of cooked dino on a plate. Her tail is still and her ears up, seemingly surprised by the sudden intrusion. "Hello Cora. Athela. Care to join me for some dino steak and tea?" Her body relaxes and she smiles, gesturing to the food and a tea kettle on whatever their means of a stove is. 

"Uh, dino, huh." Cora's face wrinkles a bit. "No, i'm good, was kinda hoping for some eggs and pork, or something." She starts rummaging around the kitchen. "Alright, lets see, lets see. No. No. What the **** is this? Nope. Mmm. Maybe. No.." Cora continued to look around for something to eat.

Willow nods in understanding in shrugs with a smile. "Personally it tastes like chicken. But I could help you find eggs and such if you want " She moves over to the freezer box (whatever we use to keep things relatively cold) to see if she can locate the eggs and uncooked pork. She even sniffs around to see if she can find any that way. 

Athela laughs and rolls herself over to the table rather than helping in the search, where she'll roll over everyone's feet. "Try that box," she suggests, pouring three cups of tea. "So Cora, where are you from, that you don't know about the Last War or the Mourning?"

"Oh, yeah, that would be great." She told Willow. "Thanks." She then turned to Athela after dodging lightly the wheels of her chair. She sat down and sighed. "I come from a world called Toril. At least, that's what it was called in the past. I made a lot of bad moves in my life, lots of bad deals. One of them extended my life way too long and I was a pawn, and a tool, for longer than I can remember. I was alive to see things change and evolve in ways you wouldn't believe. Then the bill came around, and I didn't pay up, so I was killed."

She was lost in thought for a few more moments, but wrapped up by saying, "I prefer this life now. I dont know why, or how, but i've been given another chance."

Willow searches around the kitchen area for a few seconds, moving quickly and finding the things Cora was looking for. Noticing Cora reminiscing in her own way, she begins to cook the eggs and pork for her, quietly listening and seasoning the food as she has done countless times for her and her sister. She also sneaks a few fresh-ish vegetables into the omelets for both Cora and Athela. By the time Cora is done telling her story, Willow is finishing up cooking the breakfast for her and Athela and nonchalantly slides the food in front of the two of them, plopping down in a seat across from them.

"Better make the best of this new chance of yours and use your powers to do as much good as you can. Whatever force brought you here probably doesn't want you to make the same mistakes as you have in your past." She offers Cora a smile before shoving some dino breakfast steak into her mouth.

"Yeah, maybe." Cora bobs her eyebrows in agreement. "I guess we'll see." Still thinking about her past, she forks some food into her mouth absentmindedly, and then, for some reason, grimaces. She looks down at the food Willow made for a long moment, and finally looks up and says. "Huh. The fox can cook. This is pretty good."

Willow nods and smiles. "Yes. I can. Thank you. I typically make most of the meals around the house. Although our ingredients are a little... Fresher. This will do for now though. I'm glad you enjoy it." She then nudges Athela's plate towards her with a slightly commanding look. "Here. You too. Eat." She then shoves some more dino food in her mouth and thinks for a moment.

Once she's swallowed her food, she takes a sip of tea before looking to Cora. "So... You and Bea? I can assume things are going well between you two then?" Her ear twitches as she smiles with a playfully raised eyebrow.