steady as she goes [o]

[ibarra]

Ibarra's arms slipped loosely from her waist but his hand was not as compliant and held her pigtail tighter when it tried leaving. Whether it was a subconscious reaction or not, Ibarra did eventually let go and the two of them were back to staring at each other, not knowing what was going on, who the other person was supposed to be, and which of them was the guilty party in this sudden twist of events. That was until she spoke up.

Inessa... A princess... The third princess of the royal family, shopping...? It registered in Ibarra quickly and he answered without hesitation. "I'm not going to tell you who I am." Very blandly and blunt. Impressively, in his usual emotionless manner that Ibarra spoke in, there was a distinct tone of stubbornness in it but the coldness that accompanied came down like an icicle. "Who would believe a liar like you?"

They didn't have the leisure to settle a confrontation here. Ibarra made a reach for Inessa's hand to take her down the alley again. It was one of the least sudden, invasive movements Ibarra had done so far, like he was expecting Inessa to take his hand halfway through. And then...

“My name is Ibarra.”

And he wasn't going to tell her who he was.

Inessa

[Inessa]

...Excuse me?

You didn't just up and decide not to tell a princess who you were! Okay, yes, we had been OVER the fact that Inessa was a horrible excuse for a princess and a failure in every respect, but this man wasn't supposed to think that too! God, she barely even knew the person. She narrowed her eyes at him, angrily - but she barely had time to even stamp her foot and look intimidating before he verbally smacked her. Who would believe a liar like you?

Who... who would...?

Who... would...

Her FAMILY would! Everyone she met would! Inessa had been lying for YEARS! YEARS! How DARE he! How- how... how?! Why was he able to see right through her? He was just assuming! He was wrong, too! She wasn't a liar - it wasn't her fault that she lied. If people let her say the truth, then she would! But she never could! If she told him the truth, he'd probably just call her a disgusting person on top of being a liar -- and all of Inessa wanted to reject it, all of Inessa wanted to fight against him about it, because she knew...

it was true.

And she hated it.

He took her hand again, and began moving - and suddenly, he blessed her with his name. Ibarra.

...

...I fucking knew it, she snapped - too angry to censor herself. Aren't you the guard that disappeared?? You're no better than I am! You're supposed to be at the castle, not in the middle of nowhere in Altea! At this point, Inessa didn't even want answers - she was just blowing off steam, lecturing the man. If he wasn't going to give her answers, he could deal with being a verbal punching bag. I can't believe you. What is wrong with you? Where do you get off being so- so rude? I told you the truth! Her anger was dying down, now, settling into an unhappy, sullen air. She was offended. Because he was right. He treated her like she was nothing, and that was true - she was nothing. It was the worst... feeling.

It was one thing to tell yourself that you're nothing. Another entirely when everyone else confirmed it.

Inessa sniffled a bit, quietly, trying to hide the tears welling up in her eyes, even as they continued moving. She really shouldn't have stuck around looking at capes - if she left earlier, maybe she could have avoided this strange encounter and all of the soldiers entirely.

text

IT'S BEEN THIRTEEN SECONDS SINCE YOU ALL LAST SAID,
i've become the apparition you've predicted for my death

ibarra

[ibarra]

Ibarra cut through another alley and dodged the street ahead where shadows of marching soldiers appeared by just moments after they'd passed. Ibarra was focused on navigating through the little maze they could squeeze through while his back listened indifferently to Inessa's pouring emotions. He was not deaf, but he might as well be.

They went through several alleys much less quieter since than the previous. But if they were managing to evade the army's notice while Inessa was ranting without reservation, then it was safe to assume that they had reached an area the army hadn't covered. Once they'd stopped under the window of a house, Ibarra's other hand clutched over his chest. The motion had gone unexplained. He turned around to face Inessa, still looking as blank and cold as she'd always seen. He opened his mouth, "Don't get so upset. You should be more concerned about your life than covering up for your lies" but Ibarra felt a tug in his mind and stopped before he could say anything. He closed his mouth and his eyes wandered to the side.

She seemed to be familiar with him for some reason but as Ibarra said, he was not interested in telling her anything about himself. Why was she mad about it? She already knew. Ibarra didn't lie to her about it as she had. A princess? Who would believe that? Why was she bringing these nonsensical things up of all times? Did his name offend her that much?

He was confused. Did he say something...Oh. Was this another one of that? He checked Inessa's face. Crease on her brows, tears on her eyes, frown on her lips. It was that ugly sight again. Orange, orange everywhere.

Ibarra released her hand with strange caution and looked directly into her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Dressed with the same non-apologetic stare, with the same flat recitation, it might take only the sharpest to notice the slightest pauses in his syllables, the only indicative sign of Ibarra's fearing hesitation.

Inessa

[Inessa]

Once the tears began, they were hard to hide. Inessa tried - she honestly did, but she couldn't stop herself from making soft little hics! and sobs nonetheless - crying was hardly a graceful action, after all. At least they stopped moving by now, but it was too late for Inessa to really collect herself, or do much more than drop her gaze and feebly rub at her eyes. And then... the man let go of her hand. That was enough for Inessa to raise her gaze to his once more, sniffling - a clear question, though something in her eyes also said 'I don't even expect an answer'.

...He was sorry?

He didn't mean to?

Ibarra said it like he said everything else, and Inessa blinked slowly, deciding to avoid his red-eyed gaze and stare at the ground instead. ...He didn't mean to what. Upset her? Call her a liar? Act like she was the trash that she definitely, one-hundred-percent was? Or was he just sorry because he saw her cry? Was he just willing up some false attempt to comfort her, because he didn't want to deal with the guilt of making a princess cry? Was that what fueled the words?

Inessa wanted nothing to do with platitudes like that.

She opened her mouth - and then paused, hesitated. What could she say? 'It's okay'? It wasn't okay. It hadn't been okay as long as Inessa could remember it. Nothing ever was - 'okay' was just a lie that she told others. Since this man just seemed to know, no matter how much Inessa struggled against it, it seemed useless to lie to him.

He'd just call her a liar again.

She sniffled, tried to collect herself, rubbing at her eyes as she glanced at their surroundings. It was near a house, underneath a window... this place, Inessa didn't recognize. Where are you taking me...? She asked, instead, quietly. She... wanted to go where she had some semblance of comfort. These soldiers, this man, all of this - what Inessa wanted was Firynmara again. But Firynmara was long gone, out and about preaching to others. There was no comfort to be found at home, in Gra, and here...

Inessa let out a shuddering sigh, and then sullenly asked - What do you want with me?

Why did she even bother with questions at this point, really?

text

IT'S BEEN THIRTEEN SECONDS SINCE YOU ALL LAST SAID,
i've become the apparition you've predicted for my death

ibarra

[ibarra]

Ibarra stared at the many unheard questions buzzing in Inessa's head. He heard one voice and it wasn't hers.

“I guess people are too complex even for the annoyingly smart bunch like you, huh? Ibarra?” Her haughty grin and hunched, proud and elated shoulders formed mists in his eyes before they vanished like a ghost and left a nostalgic ringing in his ears.

Ibarra's hand twitched, torn between the instinct to wipe Inessa's tears and the rare urgency at the back of his head telling him to refrain from doing whatever he usually did. It was not in Ibarra's fashion to debate with himself. Answers to him came simply and automatically, his own desires spelled out. But he had learned from a young age from observing others that this was not a usual occurrence to many. They struggled more often than he did, had battles raging inside their minds that extended to complicated wars in one lifespan. Not being able to help made his heart sink. Being the instigator made him sick.

▼

When Ibarra didn't get a satisfactory response that assured him his apology had been received, he had almost given up hope. Maybe if he got her that cape in the market she would be more cheerful. Inessa's sigh filled the gap of silence Ibarra left her in again. He didn't want to make it worse...and frankly, he wasn't sure what Inessa meant again. Where was he taking her? Wasn't it obvious? Ibarra's eyes lit up as her second question finally gave him something useful to work with. He might have gotten a bit too excited and grabbed her wrist suddenly.

“Would you do anything I ask of you? You're quite a difficult woman to wrench answers from. So pick between these two words: yes or no.” Ibarra unconsciously pulled her so that their eyes would level with each other. “Choose carefully. Your response might be,” —he searched for the most accurate word that would describe his mental chain of puzzlement— “...unfavourable for me.”

Inessa

[Inessa]

So she was the difficult one to wrench answers from? Inessa looked up at Ibarra again with a confused and slightly frustrated glare, even through a thoroughly non-intimidating sniffle. Her response might be... unfavorable? For him? Inessa was sure that this man was... challenged, somehow. He didn't understand other people. You couldn't ask someone 'will you do anything I ask of you' without giving an example of what he wanted her to do. But with the options of yes, or no, what could she choose? What should she choose? She meant 'yes', she might do something, especially considering that she had no idea where she was at the moment and there were so many soldiers hanging around, and because this man constantly acted like he had an idea of what was going on. But she didn't mean 'yes', as in I'll do anything you ask of me, including stupid things.

She opened her mouth, and then closed it, and after a pregnant pause, she said, Yes, ... but not everything. - three words was a simple enough caveat for him, right? It wasn't going to get lost in the void that he had for a brain, right? Hopefully not, because Inessa was getting tired of trying to explain herself to a void. She sniffed again, simply letting Ibarra hold onto her wrist, and rubbed at her eyes. At least she was more able to collect herself, now.

What do you want? the princess decided to repeat, even though it might very well just be a waste of her breath. She couldn't give up hope that things would start making sense eventually.

text

IT'S BEEN THIRTEEN SECONDS SINCE YOU ALL LAST SAID,
i've become the apparition you've predicted for my death

ibarra

[ibarra]

Inessa's receding emotions were evident to Ibarra as well. He nodded to this as if to approve her behaviour, to commend her for becoming more collected, though he had been – unknowingly – the cause of her agitation from the very beginning. His clutch around her wrist loosened with her reclaimed calmness, bright colours vanishing away from his head. Now he could think without distraction.

“First, cease your crying,” he said bluntly. Although Inessa was clearly on the process of doing just that, Ibarra still had the urge to point it out. He would cut off any protest she might make as he continued, “Second, I want what you want. You said you value your life. So do I. That is something we have in common.”

Ibarra looked around. A loud conversation too fast and far away from them rang from another street or in the second story of a house somewhere. It was otherwise quiet in the neighbourhood, but just hearing people casually going on in their lives, ignorant of the army that had marched on the streets on the hunt of two people was enough of a temporary comfort. In their situation, they could somehow breathe a bit more in this blanket of normalcy.

Except Ibarra never quite found their situation outstanding in any way. His look of pefect calmness, his unexplained actions as if he knew for certain what to do was product of his lack of urgency. He cared of his life, but fear and anxiety never seemed to quite pulse in his nerves. On the inside and on the outside, Ibarra had been unfazed.

▼

It was only when Inessa became upset, when Inessa became angry that something stirred in him. Other than that, he could have just yawned at this entire ordeal – if that aloof face of his was capable of making such a human reflex.

Inessa might never know this. To her, Ibarra might stay in her memory as a mentally-challenged man who had randomly terrorized her peaceful day to herself. But maybe one of her prayers would be answered. Ibarra was not yet done talking. He was going to tell her straight-out what they were going to do.

“We will be surrendering to the Grimleal Army.”

Inessa (whew. sorry for my posts lately. writing ibarra doesn't get any less challenging the longer I roll.)

[Inessa]

'Cease your crying'. God, Ibarra sounded like Inessa's dad. She opened her mouth - but then was instantly cut off by his next words, and she just fell silent. Cease your crying. Stop tripping over everything. Be a princess. Be a princess, be a princess. Well, Inessa wasn't being much of a princess, and her dad was fucking dead. He must be disappointed right about now. She sniffed, rubbed at her eyes, frowned, but otherwise simply listened to Ibarra, not even having the energy to shoot him an incredulous glare when he said another ridiculous thing. He valued her life? Why? They just met. All he had done was pull her places, call her a liar, and make her cry - and then tell her to shut up and stop being such a fucking big baby about it. (That wasn't what he said.)

All around them, things appeared to be returning to normalcy. The quiet was interrupted by people speaking, far too loudly. Ibarra seemed unflappable as always, and Inessa simply focused on quieting her sniffles and not thinking too much about how much of a disappointment she was - lest she just keep on crying. It must be so inconvenient for Ibarra to see her cry. It was such an issue for him, ignoring the fact that he was the reason. Ignoring the fact that it was more inconvenient for her to be upset enough to cry than it was for him to watch her. Inessa didn't have the energy to argue, though. She just sniffed, rubbed at her face, and then Ibarra spoke up once more.

We will be surrendering to the Grimleal army. ...Wait, what? ...Why? She asked, instantly. But then, as she thought about it, that wasn't so bad of an idea. She could ditch this guy and explain to the Grimleal that yes, she was - what was her position called, again? The Wheel of Fortune? Take her to the High Priestess if you want, but that's all that's going to happen. The Grimleal would be a more welcome ally than Ibarra, probably. Why was she even so scared of the army - oh, right, maybe because there was a sniper... but then again, was that really a part of the Grimleal army, or...

Oh, Inessa didn't know. Either way, she would go to the Grimleal army. With a final sniff, she offered Ibarra her hand - quietly giving him permission to drag her this way and that again.

text

IT'S BEEN THIRTEEN SECONDS SINCE YOU ALL LAST SAID,
i've become the apparition you've predicted for my death

ibarra

[ibarra]

The stare Ibarra gave was the equivalent of a raised eyebrow. Inessa really had a lot of questions. She was just like that guy Ibarra had ended up with after they were separated from the company. He wouldn't stop asking where they were going and why. Rest in peace.

▼

“Why? There's no escaping them. If we surrender, maybe they won't kill you. If we resist and run around, they'll kill you on sight.” Ibarra looked at Inessa's tired and resigned face. Even he could tell that she had not quite wrapped her mind on the situation. It wasn't that complicated. With the sight of Inessa's tears still fresh, he kept another thought to himself. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the limit of Ibarra's memory.

Ibarra gave Inessa's hand a look, the same look he'd given her with her silly question.

“...You wish for me to take you and lead you by the hand? What are you, some kind of princess?” Ibarra made a show of rejecting her by flipping his back to her and crossing his arms. Apparently, he only took people by their hand and dragged them around when it was without consent.

“Stand up on your own, Inessa.”

Inessa

[Inessa]

Ibarra had a lot of different ways to stare at people. This stare made Inessa feel small, ridiculous. Like she should just go bury herself in a hole somewhere. Obviously. So it was that sort of thing - but Ibarra didn't know that everything probably would be fine if they just turned themselves in. Probably. Inessa still wasn't sure what to make of that sniper. ...You wish for me to take you and lead you by the hand? What are you, some kind of princess? The man said, and turned his back on her within the next instant. But I - She began, but then she simply sighed. ...sorry. She mumbled, finally, pulling her hand back. There was no reasoning with him. He'd just call her a liar again for ever mentioning that she was a princess - and, with the way that she acted, who could blame him? Who could really, really blame him?

Stand up on your own, Inessa. ...She was standing. She was still standing. At no point did she stop standing, actually. He probably meant something else. Something like Inessa was weak willed and wimpy and should just go bury herself! Something along the lines of what her father would say. It was all Inessa could do to stifle another sigh, holding her arms in a vague, unconscious attempt to comfort herself. She couldn't cry again, not after the man told her so bluntly not to, but it was really all she wanted to do.

Okay, she agreed to nothing in particular, or at least, nothing that really made any sense, and walked on her own, moving past Ibarra. She considered admitting that she didn't know where they were supposed to be going, but at this rate, it'd just cause the man to lecture her again. Stand on your own, etc. So, Inessa simply walked in the direction that Ibarra turned towards, moving around him and continuing. If he had an issue with that, she figured he'd say something.



text

IT'S BEEN THIRTEEN SECONDS SINCE YOU ALL LAST SAID,
i've become the apparition you've predicted for my death

ibarra

[ibarra]

At the corner of his vision, Inessa appeared from behind and proceeded to walk further away until she was directly in his line of sight. Ibarra's feet followed after her and did not do much more of leading than accompanying. He didn't say anything either. Wherever they were going, if they were going to surrender then they could just wait until they ran into the army.

They must have escaped really well because minutes have passed since they reached the streets and made themselves vulnerable but not a single soldier had been present.

▼

The sky itself seemed quite vacant and peaceful. There didn't seem to be a single bird, much less a scouting wyvern, present. Clouds lethargically rolled through in thick puffs of hazes like white, artistic swirls that made up a blue canvas.

Ibarra was looking left and right. There was nothing to behold besides the closed doors of houses, some quiet, some stirring with mundane, incoherent noises. He was wondering whether there was some place where they could eat.

“Are you hungry?”

He was suddenly craving for tangerine bread.

Inessa

[Inessa]

Apparently she did something right for once, because for whatever reason, Ibarra didn't give her more backsass. Inessa wasn't sure if she should be thinking about this as a blessing or just being confused over what made the man want to talk and what didn't, but for now, she figured she could enjoy the silence between them. Still was better than being called a liar or the like. Even through the silence between them, there was silence in the streets. It was actually a bit eerie considering what just happened - half of Inessa wanted to pull out the book that she kept with her, and the other half actually just wanted to turn around and go back the way she came and start the long travel back to home, because she was tired of this shit and the coast appeared to be clear anyway.

What reason did she have to not do that, really? The main reason was the issue of the man following her about, currently, but maybe there was some way to distract him. Like, 'look, there, in the sky, a pony!' and running. (As if that would work. Inessa prided herself on her wishful thinking, but even she knew something as stupid as that could never, ever, in a million years, work on someone as intimidating as this man.)

So what else did she have as a distraction to work with? Inessa considered it even as her hand fumbled to where she kept her book, and she even halfway pulled it out when Ibarra spoke up. Hungry? ...No, actually. Something about being terrified for your life and then being told off and crying like a baby and then walking with the man that made her cry while trying to ignore that she just did made her lose her appetite. ...Not really, she mumbled in response, but then a lightbulb went off. This could be her chance to ditch him and go home! Really! Surrendering to the Grimleal or going home - either way, she was sure she was starting to feel like she could do it without him. If you're hungry, though, I could buy something for you. she offered, stopping and looking at her red-haired company. She was a princess, after all. 'Short on funds' was an alien concept to her.

Besides, if the local 'steamed lizard' dish distracted him, who was she to complain about the price?

text

IT'S BEEN THIRTEEN SECONDS SINCE YOU ALL LAST SAID,
i've become the apparition you've predicted for my death

ibarra

[ibarra]

“Hmm.” Ibarra stared ahead. Three yards from them, on a shaded wall continuing to an alley on their right, was a window partially pushed open. The petals of a yellow bougainvillea could be seen through the space, but that wasn't what Ibarra really saw. Between the flap of the open window and a sill was a small brown butterfly that had gotten stuck. It was no longer moving, so it looked like a smudge of dirt or a discoloration of wood, nothing unusual.

“Life is like a long song. It's easy to get tired of it. Whose tune do you dance for? Sometimes, it takes a mirror to understand.” Ibarra wasn't expecting a reply, because he continued after a pause like nothing philosophical just breezed in, “Orange bread.” He paused again. “I hate orange...”

Obviously not cognizant with Inessa's glorious new plan, he added, “You should eat. This could be your last chance.” The last chance to eat in Altea! Though he wouldn't be surprised if she wouldn't let being a fugitive get between her and her favourite snack. Ibarra had sneaked into Gra a couple of times where he the imperial army was swarming and on a look-out for the missing Royal Guard for that very important reason.

Inessa