Nill gives Storm a nod in acknowledgment.
“I will be calling him Zuigrii. Do not have the worrying.”
As she looks around, her posture tightens, shoulders drawing in just slightly. Though her face remains perfectly neutral, her wings twitch in small, restless flicks at each sound coming from somewhere in the guild.
“It is having the loud here…” she adds quietly, retreating a small step behind Storm.
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“You did the speaking of a friendly Faerie. If that is being the truth, I would be liking to do the meeting of her.”
Nill shifts her weight, wings giving a small, uneasy twitch.
“I am not having the meeting of many friendly Faeries,” she admits. “So it would be having the nice.”
Her gaze drifts back to the vardo.
“I would also be liking to be meeting Vesta, but I am having nothing yet for the trading of the past. Another time.”
She straightens and gives a small, decisive nod.
“And then we can be going back to the Kog’Thrak.”
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Vesta’s vardo sits in Umbris’ garden like a jewel amidst its dark surroundings. It’s elaborately painted in purples, blues, and golds, and its curves are traced with delicate celestial motifs. Glass lanterns hang from the eaves and corners, while bells threaded along the filigree jingle with the slightest movement.
Usually, the windows and doors are flung wide, the scent of vanilla and incense drifting into the city. Today, however, it’s silent. Its doors are shut tight, windows sealed. The lanterns hang still and unlit. No scent drifts from inside. It sits as though it's been abandoned for weeks.
As Storm and Nill approach, the pixie studies it with careful interest, tilting her head before glancing at the draconian.
“You are being sure of this place being the right?”
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“It is being fine. They are being gone now for time that is long...” Her wings draw in close against her back, folding tight without her seeming to notice the motion at all. “I was doing the waiting until I could be doing the escaping. Better if you are being invisible.” She shrugs. “Faeries have the liking for ones who are doing the screaming and fighting most."
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“I will not be minding having the meeting of Vesta.”
Nill goes quiet for a long while as they walk, gaze unfocused. At last, she shakes her head. “Dislike is having too much of the complication.” She lifts a hand, turning it slightly, as if weighing the idea. “People are not having the good or the bad. Faeries, humans, undead... what they are being is not having the matter. It is being what the heart is saying louder that they will do the following of.” She taps two fingers lightly against her chest and gives a small shrug. “And sometimes, the heart is not having the mattering at all. The living is being the louder song. How can I be doing the dislike when I must be having the living first?”
She slows, then stops, staring down at her hands.
“There are being those that I should be having the wanting for suffering of…” Her fingers curl slightly, then relax. “But someone did the telling of me that the living is having more important. So I will be doing the living.” She nods once, then starts walking again.
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Nill shakes her head again, the motion small and certain.
“I am not having the family. There is no one that would be doing the looking for me.”
She pauses, considering, then lifts her gaze.
“If Storm is wishing me to do the helping with the famine, then I will be doing the helping.” She taps her chin thoughtfully. “I cannot do the making of food. But I have the sneaking. And the stealing.” A beat. “I can be doing the making of traps, and the hitting of things with stick. I am liking the hitting with stick greatly.”
Her wings give a light, restless flutter.
“This Vesta…” She tilts her head. “Can she do the seeing of things that already did the happening?”
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Nill considers the question in silence, her steps slowing for a moment. Then she gives a small shake of her head.
“No. There is having nothing for me in the Sidhe.” Her gaze drops to the ground as they walk. “But I am not having the knowing of what I am to be doing here.”
Her wings give a faint, uncertain twitch.
“First, I am needing to do the paying back of you. It is having the start.”
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Nill looks down at her hands for a long moment, as if confirming she’s still there. Then, slowly, she reaches up to her neck. Her fingers trace the skin where the collar once rested, careful and tentative, testing the space it left behind. She lifts her gaze to Storm.
“I am feeling the fine.” For just a heartbeat, something bright flickers in her eyes, though her expression remains unchanged. “It is not having the burning of me anymore. Relieved.”
She offers Storm a small bow.
“I am thanking you greatly.” Then she faces the woman and bows again, just as carefully. “The thanks are with you also.”
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When the ritual finally ends, the tension in Nill’s shoulders eases, and her wings settle instead of twitching. She lifts a hand to her chin, thinking, her face still carefully neutral. After a few quiet moments, she nods once, decisively.
“We can be doing the removing of it.” She gives the collar a small tug. “I will be having the relief with the getting of it off.”
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Nill gives Storm a nod and pulls her hood back, then unwinds the scarves and sets the whole bundle carefully aside. Beneath them, she wears a plain black shirt, leaving the metal collar fully exposed. The skin around her neck is raw and discolored, and older scars trace faint lines along her collarbone and across her back where the fabric shifts.
Her small wings flutter once, betraying her nerves, before she steps up to the table as instructed. She stands rigidly straight, fingers twisting together in front of her. Her gaze flicks over the objects laid out there, studying each in turn, before lifting to the woman.
“I have the ready."
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“Magic is being… uneasy. And I am not being used to having the touching of me, or near of me…” Nill tugs lightly at the collar, her fingers lingering on the fabric. “But if it will be helping with the getting of collar off, I will be having the ease.”
She turns to Storm, her expression blank as ever, though her voice drops quieter.
“If I am having the dying, I do not have the knowing of how I will be paying back the kindness of you."
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Nill nods, quietly taking in the information.
“Hmm. I have the understanding.”
Her gaze looks ahead at Volaire, expression still neutral.
“This place is having the interest of me. It is being different from Gèmtìs-Et. People are being different.” She turns her head back to Storm. “You had the saying that Pixies that are others had the dying from the collar. You also had the saying that Pixies are not having the treating of badly here, so I am having the confusion.”
She tilts her head.
“Can you be doing the explaining?"
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“Oh… I am giving you the apologies, then.” Nill dips her head. “I was not meaning to be bringing up the feelings of bad...”
She keeps following as she thinks over Storm’s words, her gaze drifting ahead while her thoughts turn. “This famine you are doing the speaking of… that is being the lacking of the food? Odd that it is doing the sleeping of people.” She taps her chin. “How are they doing the fixing of it? Why are they having the dislike of each other? Is the hunger not being the same?” She hesitates before adding, “Please be forgiving me if the asking of questions is too many.”
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“You are having more people for me to do the meeting?” Nill glances ahead, then back to Storm. “Please be forgiving me if I cannot do the remembering of names.” For several moments, she watches the trees in silence, taking in the unfamiliar landscape before speaking again.
“I am having the happiness that I did the meeting of you, Storm. You are reminding me of someone.” She nods approvingly. “Fortunate.”
For a few steps, she is quiet, then she tilts her head, curiosity surfacing again.
“You have been doing the speaking of the partner that is yours, but have not done the introducing. When will I be doing the meeting of her?”
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Nill follows behind, wings fluttering just enough to lift her and match Storm’s stride every few steps.
“I have not had the possessing of it very long... Some moons?” She reaches up to tug at the collar around her neck. “Most that are being like me had the capturing many, many moons ago, but I was doing the avoiding of it for time. Gèmtìs-Et is city of large, and I am being good at the sneaking."
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