Kat shook her head to clear her mind. No sense dwelling on questions that couldn't be answered just yet. Instead, it would be better to focus on the other new arrivals. It was a little hard to pick out which team was which from this distance, but Kat was 90% sure she'd nailed it down.
The first team was made up of a mix of elves and fae, with two more fae attending and three elves. The leading elf looked so much like the picture of an elven princess, especially at first glance. She had long golden locks with flowers woven into her hair, and a full crown of them sitting atop her head. Which is appropriate, as Kat would later learn her name was Marigold.
Marigold wore a long, flowing dress with more flowers sewn into the garment, a woman after Kat's heart. Except. If one was to look closely, it seemed like the flowers on Marigold's dress were real and potentially still alive. Kat wasn't sure what to make of that part, so she continued to examine Marigold's attire. Marigold wore no shoes, which seemed a bit weird, but not at odds with her 'elven princess' vibe. Perhaps Kat should ask if she was actually royalty? Then again…
The one thing at odd with the peaceful expression on her face, and the flowers everywhere was the massive axe that hung across her back. It was nearly as tall as she was, the leather was stained dark with splotches of what Kat really hoped wasn't blood. The axe head was a brutal thing, not one clean edge but a series of sharp slightly offset teeth designed to rip into the opponent and make them bleed with a proper hook at the base of the handle for catching on things and keeping them there.
And she was happily skipping along at the front of her group. As Kat watched, flowers seemed to bloom on the dead wood that made up the pier, though they died just as quickly. It seemed that her long dress was hiding that particular skill for the most part… but Kat didn't know what to make of Marigold. Or her name, so internally she was 'Axe princess'.
The next elf was just as confusing, though for a different reason. Their name was Vanya which didn't clear things up at all, and Kat couldn't figure out if they were a man or a woman. They had long flowing hair, a thin frame, and a soft face. They even had a leather corset that seemed to be pushing their chest forward… which might make Vanya's breast look better if they had any. Vanya's breasts weren't small. They didn't exist. Vanya had trained, well, and there was a faint outline of muscles but calling them breasts? No way.
Which would be fine, except they had a leather skirt that covered down to the knees and tall boots that left only a small amount of skin showing. What was worse, when Kat heard them laughing later on, they had a deep, bass voice even if they avoided talking most of the time that clashed with Vanya's mostly feminine mannerisms. Kat decided to give them the title of 'they' like Thyme, even if it was possible they identified with one gender or another, it was just too hard to tell, and awkward to ask about.
At least Vanya's weapon was easy to identify. A nice elven longbow without a quiver and a short dagger strapped to Vanya's leg. The quiver was likely substituted by Vanya's magic or an enchantment on the bow itself.
The third elf was the first elf Kat had seen that wasn't simply 'beautiful' or 'handsome' but that was largely due to the burn scar covering their entire face, as well as their neck. Kat wasn't sure how far it extended because they were covered with a cloak from head to toe. They did seem to have hair, so it implied that the top of the head wasn't burnt off. Their weapon of choice seemed to be two sets of knuckledusters. One for less lethal, and one for more. One of the knuckledusters had relatively large spikes on the end, so Kat could guess which option that was.
Their name was Burnice, and Kat really hoped it was just how the translation shook out and much less offensive in their native tongue. Otherwise… it would be an unfortunate coincidence. *I wonder why they haven't got that healed? I mean… it's obviously an old wound but considering high level healing can regrow limbs… healing that should be possible right?*
Lily didn't add a comment of her own, not sure of the answer herself so Kat turned to the next person in the line. They had black hair, which was surprisingly normal for fae. Their name, Midnight, wasn't much of a surprise either. Midnight was the most clearly male of the team but only because he had an impressive beard that hung down to his neckline. It was well kept, and there was a single flower right in the centre of it. He had a rather stern look on his face… but his face overall was rounded and looked a bit soft. So it was hard to take seriously.
Instead of a staff, he had a small wand. Kat wondered why that was, and if it had any significance, seeing as many magic casters didn't use focuses, and the staffs were common amongst spellcasters more for their lack of metal then as a casting focus. So Kat was curious over the difference.
The final member of their group was the only one that seemed to have real armour. Sure Vanya had leathers protecter them, but that seemed to be more for style then for substance. They had purple hair, and were named Mauve, though their hair was a bit of a darker purple then was appropriate for the name to match. Mauve had heavily padded leather armour that gave a good amount of protection without limiting her movement too much. Her purple hair was pulled back in a bun, with pink flowers making up the band that held it in place.
Mauve also used an axe as her main weapon, but where Marigold's was a massive, overbearing and ominous thing, Mauve's was a small single hand axe that allowed for her to use a buckler in her off-hand. The buckler seemed to be strapped to her arm, and the axe was currently safe in her sheath, leaving both hands free.
*I don't know how to feel about Marigold's look. She seems so sweet and attuned with nature at first glance and then you notice the giant fucking axe that looks like it's designed to cause as much pain as possible while taking down the target. I mean… surely that's not an efficient use of metal. It would almost be better if they just made the edge serrated! Plus… I'm a bit scared to confirm the substance that I really hope isn't blood that seeped into the leather on the handle.*
[Yeah… I wonder if this is real life gap moe? Then again, I don't find this sight cute at all, and it's not like this is a 'little girl with big sword' moment because sure, the axe might be a bit oversized, but elf in question isn't exactly short.]
What is gap moe?
[Look… I'm sorry but it's just sort of something you know when you see? Moe is like… a cute thing but even that isn't entirely correct. It's a Japanese thing that doesn't translate all that well into English. Look, don't worry too much, it isn't important.]
*Right… well… what about the one with all the burns? Why wasn't something like that healed?*
[Nixilei might know? My best guess is that it was left too long and it would cost a lot to heal now? My second guess would be that because you'd need to actually peel off the skin and then heal fresh skin afterwards fixing it might be considered too dangerous? Like perhaps for some reason you have to do it all at once? You'd need to skin at all of her face, and perhaps more of her body… and god isn't that a thing to think about.]
*Well, I suppose my next question is can you tell if that one walking behind the Axe Princess over there is a girl or not?*
[Maybe they're neither? They could very well be intersex, or genderfluid.]
*And I'm not discounting that Lily but it would be super awkward to just… walk up to them and ask, and there choice of clothing isn't making it easier. I mean… why even wear a corset like that if you don't have breasts to make more prominent? There's just massive holes in the top of the outfit now!*
[Hey, some people wear insanity well. Just look at Thyme.]
*They are no Thyme.*
[True, but it doesn't look that bad. I kinda like it… except for the corset. That does feel a bit out of place, but only a bit.]
*Agree to disagree.*
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