[ Vax has watched them. It's all he can do from his perch behind the veil dropped between the Raven Queen's domain and the world he had departed. There is never any moment where is hasn't been aware of his family, living and breathing just beyond his reach.
When he is dispatched to collect each of them in turn, it is both a joyful reunion and guilty affair. Vax can never truly rejoice in guiding one of his family onwards. He is splitting their party further. Knowing this is the natural order of things doesn't take the sting out of each death. It shouldn't be so difficult after all these years, but it still weighs on Vax. Even his Lady's favor doesn't alleviate it for him when he returns to her, places his head in her lap and hears the soft purr of acknowledgement of a job well done.
The sounds of his friends, living and dead, herald the short flight to Pike's side. She has aged. Vax wants to put his fingers into her white hair, and lift her into his arms. He hates to find her alone; Scanlan shouldn't have to find her after Vax has stolen her away from this plane. ]
Hey, Pickle.
[ In one graceful movement, he crumples to the ground beside her. ]
I've really missed you.
[ He tells them all this. He's been telling them one way another, whether it's from the harsh caw from a raven's beak or the appearance of feathers somewhere they shouldn't be. He misses them. Even this most solemn moment can't be divorced from the near crippling pleasure of being in the presence of family one again. ]
[ It's comforting to know that he looks the same as always. She should find it unsettling — it's been centuries, yet this is the same face that said goodbye to her in front of Silver Talon's Reach. But that he's been well, that his life in service of his Lady was just as peaceful as her's ( and theirs, as a family ), is ... good to know.
It goes without saying that she worried about him. Still worries about him, even when he's here in front of her. She's lived most of her life worrying about her little family — some more than others at certain points, or all of them together at the same time. It's natural, then, that the concern extends to those that aren't with them anymore; she hopes that they are well, that they are happy, that they're not too sad about leaving first. She prays that the planes they inhabit are kind to them, that they don't resent the separation across planes too much.
( Naturally, she thinks about Grog the most. She can only hope that he's happy where ever he is, pursuing his dreams in the single-minded way he does. She misses him terribly. Sometimes, selfishly, she contemplates asking Sarenrae about him.
She never does it. Grog wouldn't want her to, that much she knows. )
Now things will change, she imagines. There's no point in asking why Vax is here, because both of them knew from the moment she opened her eyes. She'll worry about Scanlan, about Keyleth, because they're the last two and — for a moment, she wishes she didn't have to leave. But that is not the natural order of things, and her entire being responds to her calling more than anything else. ]
Hi. [ She smiles. A small thing that grows so much that laughter eventually bubbles out of her lips, unabashedly joyful. It hurts less to sit up, to stand up, to reach immediately for Vax's arm and hold on to it. ] I missed you, too.
[ Pike reaches to fix a stray hair on his face, leans back to study him a little closer. She wants to ask so much. ] Did she treat you well?
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hey, what the fuck
When he is dispatched to collect each of them in turn, it is both a joyful reunion and guilty affair. Vax can never truly rejoice in guiding one of his family onwards. He is splitting their party further. Knowing this is the natural order of things doesn't take the sting out of each death. It shouldn't be so difficult after all these years, but it still weighs on Vax. Even his Lady's favor doesn't alleviate it for him when he returns to her, places his head in her lap and hears the soft purr of acknowledgement of a job well done.
The sounds of his friends, living and dead, herald the short flight to Pike's side. She has aged. Vax wants to put his fingers into her white hair, and lift her into his arms. He hates to find her alone; Scanlan shouldn't have to find her after Vax has stolen her away from this plane. ]
Hey, Pickle.
[ In one graceful movement, he crumples to the ground beside her. ]
I've really missed you.
[ He tells them all this. He's been telling them one way another, whether it's from the harsh caw from a raven's beak or the appearance of feathers somewhere they shouldn't be. He misses them. Even this most solemn moment can't be divorced from the near crippling pleasure of being in the presence of family one again. ]
love you
It goes without saying that she worried about him. Still worries about him, even when he's here in front of her. She's lived most of her life worrying about her little family — some more than others at certain points, or all of them together at the same time. It's natural, then, that the concern extends to those that aren't with them anymore; she hopes that they are well, that they are happy, that they're not too sad about leaving first. She prays that the planes they inhabit are kind to them, that they don't resent the separation across planes too much.
( Naturally, she thinks about Grog the most. She can only hope that he's happy where ever he is, pursuing his dreams in the single-minded way he does. She misses him terribly. Sometimes, selfishly, she contemplates asking Sarenrae about him.
She never does it. Grog wouldn't want her to, that much she knows. )
Now things will change, she imagines. There's no point in asking why Vax is here, because both of them knew from the moment she opened her eyes. She'll worry about Scanlan, about Keyleth, because they're the last two and — for a moment, she wishes she didn't have to leave. But that is not the natural order of things, and her entire being responds to her calling more than anything else. ]
Hi. [ She smiles. A small thing that grows so much that laughter eventually bubbles out of her lips, unabashedly joyful. It hurts less to sit up, to stand up, to reach immediately for Vax's arm and hold on to it. ] I missed you, too.
[ Pike reaches to fix a stray hair on his face, leans back to study him a little closer. She wants to ask so much. ] Did she treat you well?