Malia watched Eris’ movements, the fingers touching an old scar, her eyes and thoughts wandering, to find out what she thought. From the length of the unfolding silence she could tell that the redhead seriously considered her suggestion. She believed everything Malia said and considered aiding Malia in her quest a real possibility. That was going better than the Nuit had anticipated. She had found what really mattered to Eris and tied her proposal to that.
Life and death and a purpose in life. Malia could understand all those reasons. Therefore she understood how Eris worked and could anticipate her actions to a certain degree. Not control, but anticipation was enough.
Nodding to Eris’ next statement, Malia found herself getting a bit nervous. Pulsers usually didn’t take that long to make a decision, did they? She couldn’t be sure, but she had witnessed them long enough to know that they perceived time differently than she did. If they were lucky, they got eighty years – they easily considered five minutes of pondering over a situation wasted time. What would this one do? Was she of the slow, undecided kind?
Still, Malia forced herself to relax and wait. Her thoughts drifted off, once more thought about possibilities to find and eliminate Kahnikivas. The first steps had to include gathering information about his location, strengths and weaknesses. He probably possessed powers granted by Rhysol Himself.
Yes, I’m willing. Now it was Malia’s turn to hold back a laugh. It would most likely have come out as some high-pitched, over-the-top expression, anyway, and she didn’t want to scare the pulser away, after that conversation. One never knew. Nevertheless, she nodded, almost bowing her head in respect to the woman who agreed to risk her life for a stranger. No, not for a stranger, Malia corrected herself. For life and justice, whatever that meant to Eris.
Now, she had to fill her newfound companion in with the last, most important details. But Eris had already agreed and couldn’t withdraw now. That was a significant point to Malia who believed that promises and oaths were the only things one could rely on – and even those were only valid if one knew the person swearing them well enough. First of all, however, she said: “I truly appreciate your will to be my companion during this. You might think it is something that can be done in one or two nights, but I believe it will be very difficult. We are searching for a Nuit named Kahnikivas. I only know that he was in Karjin about three centuries ago, that he is, without any doubt, a creature of Rhysol and that”, there she paused briefly, “he might be looking for me. That is also why I usually assume fake identities and names.” That would actually attract Eris’ attention on a more personal level, Malia assumed, and continued: “I take it you have not heard of him before, so I will tell you now that my real name is Malia and assume that you are strong enough to keep your mouth shut about that.” Oh, she was being unnecessarily rough, but she needed to make that clear.
It would probably give Eris more ideas, but Malia neither elaborated nor sounded like she’d like to.
“When will you be back in Syliras?” she eventually asked. Once again her mind drifted off to the more practical decisions of her journey. It was not impossible to meet somewhere else, but she hoped that Eris would come back sooner or later so they could start from Syliras. It was as good a city as any, save for its close proximity to Karjin. Karjin was important.
