|
After a brief text conversation outside the Freehold hollow's Ironside entrance, Sturm tucks her phone into her back pocket, and stalks inside for what feels like the dozenth time in the past few days. She's been home for maybe a collective total of maybe an hour since the previous (very early) morning - once to take a shower, and once to make sure a message made it to at least one person in DA about guard duty - and she looks like complete shit because of it.
She shoves her fists into the pockets of her coat, scowling off into the distance as she looks for Sigrun...
Sigrun comes galloping in off the trod quite literally, Frygg straining at the bit as Sigrun stands in the saddle, bent over her horse as her legs and knees absorb the majority of the shock such intense riding generates. She doesn't have long to slow her course, and horse and rider both wind up skidding across the cobble stones several yards before they're able to enter a canter and wheel about. Sigrun springs from the saddle and begins working to unfasten her shield from the side of her mount, "What the fuck is going on?"
If the Jotunn is startled by seeing an armed and armored valkyrie ride towards her on horseback, it doesn't show on her face. She makes a pbbbt noise with her mouth as she exhales, closing some of the distance between herself and Sigrun. She adopts her typical frown, and it likely becomes much more obvious that she hasn't slept since the previous night now that she's visible up close. "You've heard all the shit from Peter and Ari I assume?" Her voice is a grumble, and her hands remain in her pockets. "How much did Mearc explain to you beyond that there was a VIP that needed guarding?"
"Mearc very sensibly told me the bare minimum. I left my new shield behind, given the givens." She pulls her old Freyja's trefoil shield from the back of the horse, hefting it up into her left hand and turning to face Sturm. "Robin, I take it, tried to put the hit on someone? It's all a bit of a mess. Anyway. I need to get to the safe house. My kind choose the slain. And the victors. I'm making this bitch my own personal footrest." She spits at the dirt, having made that vow.
Sturm's eyebrows go up at Sigrun's wording there, and she opens her mouth to say something - but closes it, thankfully, when she's rescued by the return of her filter.
"Yeah, that's probably for the best - leaving your shield behind, that is-" She is interrupted by a hefty yawn - and she attempts to power through once or twice to no success - before continuing. "As I understand it, Robin personally attacked Lux in their sleep. With an iron knife." Beat. "The reason she did this is because Marjorie and Lumi tasked Me, Lux, and Asbolus with investigating Robin's connections to a series of projects - which we discovered were part of a Bridge Burner plot to prevent everyone in Philly from being able to dream."
Sturm starts walking off towards one of the cottages - best not to discuss too much of this out in the open. Even here. "She failed, though. Lux and their boyfriend Jack were able to Light Shy to safety, but Robin's gone into the wind - and she's a Helldiver - so that makes guarding VIPs and finding her more complicated than it otherwise might be."
"Is someone watching the other crowns?" Sigrun asks as she falls into step alongside Sturm, loosening her blade in its sheathe for easier access should it become needed. "Frygg, stables." The horse whinneys and heads that way voluntarily. Good girl. Sigrun's taking three strides for every two of Sturm's, but that's legs for you. "I'm going to end this bitch. I'm going to put a sword through her fucking throat and make sure she dies with that dagger in her fucking hands." Her scowl is sharp and profound. Sturm's seen it before, unfortunately.
"Yeah, same. Lux and I were running point on the investigation, and we figured out most of the details, but I think we tipped our hand when Lux went to interrogate Robin in person." Beat. "Which is not what I would've advised, but... I think they probably felt like they had something to prove." She opens the door to a nearby cottage, entering it first and sweeping the room. "I've been itching for the excuse to beat the fuck out of whatever fucking scumbag bureaucrat was responsible since we started the investigation - but now that Robin's turned traitor and hurt Lux, I'm looking forward to it."
Satisfied that the room is clear - and that it's at least reasonably safe to talk about shit - she takes up a position in the corner with her back to the wall. "... and about that. You're watching Marjorie. I don't know who is in charge of watching the other crowns. The only person Robin attacked was Lux - though we're worried she might go after a couple other people that're currently working to stop her plans. Marjorie, uhh." Beat. "Well, I'm going to tell you this part but it doesn't leave this room. Okay?"
"On my honor," Sigrun answers, taking up a position against the opposite wall, facing Sturm. A promise which ought to be enough for anyone that's known her long. She hooks her thumb into her weapon belt, rests her boot back against the wall, and relaxes for the time being while the details get filled in.
"Marjorie was Oathed to Robin - no, we don't think she played ball willingly - but she definitely knew Robin was up to something." Sturm's mouth twists into a frown. "I yelled at her about-" There's a grumble, and she waves her hand - dismissing her own words as if wiping a chalkboard clean and starting over. "There's a plot to do great harm to a lot of people Marjorie is supposed to be protecting - that she was partially complicit in - and Lux got stabbed in the chest with an iron knife over it." Beat. "... and since she's a Fairest, the Winter crown is currently in a clarity coma."
"Fucking níðingr!" When Sigrun starts cursing you out in old Norse, you know you fucked up. Her mantle is raging at the moment, filling the room with the high, beating heat of a wasted battlefield and the distant cries of the circling ravens. "Lux is-- they're not a combatant." Anger is destructive. Wrath is focused. And she's trying her level best to remain focused. "Fucking coward. Fucking outlaw! I'm going to kill her, I'm going to fucking kill her."
Sturm waits patiently - and silently - when Sigrun begins to shout and sling archaic curses. The Summer heat clashes with Sturm's own mantle - and a thin fog begins to rise off her icy skin as her mien melts in the heat, and then crystallizes in the air just above it's surface. Only when there's an appropriate moment to interject does she speak. "I know," she echoes the sentiment. "Robin's a fuckin' rat - and she's going to die for it." Beat. "I already started looking into where she might be," because of course the prospective Sun Banisher's first move was to locate and neutralize. "If you'd like to help me find the Oathbreaker instead, we can find someone else to take your guard shift."
Sigrun's face turns beat red for a moment there, her light turning a bright, violent pink. She squints her eyes shut and bears down on what was probably about to be a rather profound scream. After some silent counting, her eyes reopen and she spends a moment or two rubbing at her face. "My first duty is to my family. They are safe. My second duty is to my community. I will protect the Queen. I will work on arming and armoring our people. My last duty is to myself. I will put such a hex on this bitch. She will die. And she will rot. It doesn't matter who holds the sword at the end. I just want her dead."
"Teagan and June are both in the rotation to guard Marjorie just like you, and I'll basically be on call to reinforce any position that Robin - or any of her fucking Bridge Burner lackeys - decide to hit." There's a sigh, and she drops her Very Tired, But Trying To Be Professional tone. "So you've got me to help you watch our family's backs - and since I'm currently responsible for organizing this entire fucking ordeal, you can let me know if you need anything, and you'll have it as soon as possible." Beat. "... and when I'm not doing either of those things, I will be working to clean up this mess, so. If your hex doesn't do her in, something will - and I will not be kind to Robin Kovacs when I find her."
"The Norns have never failed to hear my petitions before. They wouldn't dare refuse to curse a níðing. No, they will cut whatever threads I ask them to cut, and weave a noose for her throat. If they are good and kind to me, they will send her to me alive. And if they wish to be fickle, so be it. Let another boast of it." Sigrun shoulders away from the wall and stomps her boot back onto the cabin floor. "Now. Please take me to the Queen. I have work to do." Sigrun steps forward and lifts her hand, settling it gauntlet and all on Sturm's shoulder. "But you need to remember, Sturm. You're my family now. Blood and bone, you're as much a daughter of light as I am. My life for yours now."
"It means a lot to hear you say that," there's a tremendous sigh from Sturm when Sigrun places her hand on her shoulder - though the valkyrie can probably still feel all the tension she's carrying in her dense muscles. "I've got my truck out front, and I'll get into contact with Mearcstapa on the way - but I'm about to fucking fall over, so before we go I could really use a hug." Clarity damage + Very tired = No Filter. There's a pause, and she blinks at having said that aloud.
Sigrun is already right there, so there's no real need to step much closer to Sturm. But at the request, and as she becomes aware of the burdens wearing on Sturm, Sigrun's anger gives way to obvious concern. She carefully stoops down to set her shield onto the ground, face down at her feet. Then she gently takes Sturm's face between her hands and rubs her thumbs over the giantess's cheeks. "You are my family. And you are my friend. Freyja will bless you with victory. You are stronger than you know, in ways you have yet to discover. We will drink to our victory when this is over. Together, in peace, in our hall." And then Sigrun goes up on her tiptoes and wraps her arms around Sturm's neck, hugging her tightly. She squints her eyes shut, and it's as though all the cares in Sturm's world are whisked away. Carried off along with the fading sounds of Freyja's ravens as Sigrun's mantle quiets, too. "I love you."
Sturm just... sorta melts into the touch. She didn't realize exactly how hard it was getting to hold her own head up until she suddenly didn't have to. Shoulders slump as she leans into the hug, letting the Valkyrie help shoulder some of her weight - a moment's respite from needing to keep herself up right by her own volition - and then she wraps her arms around Sigrun, hugging her tightly to her chest. She maneuvers her chin onto Sigrun's shoulder, careful to ensure that her horns don't hit anything soft or important, and then - content that she's safe to close her eyes for longer than to blink - takes the moment to rest.
"I love you too," Sturm's voice is muffled on account of her face being planted in shoulder - and there's a small laugh. "... but if you go and die on my behalf, I will be so fucking mad - and then they'll make me join Summer because of it." Oh, hey. Jokes! She's back! "So please don't, I just found you again."
"None of us know the hour of our ending. Mine will be an end that makes you proud. My death will not be purchased cheaply, and you will have to dig through corpses of my making to find my own. And all of my many wounds will be to the front. And my eyes will be open. That is all I can promise you." Sigrun squeezes all the more tightly for several moments before turning her head to press a noisy kiss to Sturm's cheek. "But then I will be with Freyja, and I will be waiting at her table for all of you. We will be together again."
"But I never plan for my death. I just accept it as inevitable. And do what good I can with my life in its season. That is living. That is the best way to live. With clear eyes." She slowly begins to back out of the hug, just so she can lift Sturm's head again and give it a few not entirely gentle pats. As much to clear her head and wake her up as to demonstrate care. "But now, my Jotunn. We have a war to win. Let us to it."
|