04||THE PSYCHOANALYTICS OF A GOAT

The rising tides cobbed against the hull of the boat as it sliced through the waves, the two day journey to West-Ravka as calm as it could be. Anya remember the bubbly feeling that burned in her chest when she saw part of her home country's coast on the horizon so much even that she ran to the tip of the boat, leaning over the railing. "LAND HO!" The raven-haired had yelled, slightly surprising the rest of the crows with her small energetic outburst. The sea was no longer calling to her, eyes transfixed on the harbor as they shimmered, one step closer to getting what she wants.

"Anya? Are you okay?" Inej snapped her fingers infront of the Oryalen woman, waking her up from her wandering daze with a worried look. "Well to be honest, it's weird to be back. Especially when everyone thinks you're dead. But thanks, I'm okay." The young grisha woman replied with a small smile underneath her half-veil. The five of them sat in a cramped carriage, Kaz and Inej on one side while the inferni was squashed between Arkan and Jesper. 'Note to self: convince the hat man to get a bigger carriage next time.'

"So." The young barrel boss started. "We need to get into the little palace where Alina Starkov will be kept." The Suli woman looked at him with a side eye. "The sun summoner." Dirtyhands rolled his eyes at her words. "Alleged. Arkan, you said you had an informant?" The man nodded eagerly before his mouth started running. "Yes, she's a heartrender by the name of Nina Zenik. She's with second army but also a radical, wants grisha to have a choice whether they serve the crown or not." The bastard of the barrel's eyebrow quirked up, eyeing Anya across from him as if he wanted to let her know that he understood the two grisha opinions aligned with each other.

"What do you know about her?" He questioned. "Worked with her sometimes. Nina's definitely a talented heartrender. Healers and heartrenders always start with the same courses at the little palace because the Corporalki are all about the body, which is why they're highly appreciated by the second army." The raven-haired noted as she listed the things of in her reply.

"Are you sure we can trust her? Very few would betray their general, and fewer still would help foreigners kidnap their most prized possession." Kaz replied, the disdain palpable in his voice. "If they knew who the black general really was, they all would betray him. And Alina's a person, not an object." The Oryalen woman bit. "Be that as it may, we still have a job to do so it's best to put your issues with the general aside until after we have Starkov. Understand?" The young barrel boss hissed back. 'This motherfucker.' The young grisha woman thought to herself as she fought the urge to suckerpunch his teeth out of his jaw.

Lulled out of her train of thought, the carriage slipped to a halt as it hit the curb infront of the inn. As they quickly filled out of the small space, the bastard of the barrel felt relief wash over him to be outside of the cramped space, not breaking a sweat. "How do we plan on getting into her room exactly?" Jesper wondered skeptically as he narrowed his eyes. "We act like we belong here. Or bribe the person at the front." The Wraith replied calmly as the group walked through the doors.

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Harsh wind blew through the window as the five made their way into the room. It was open wide, scattering all sort of belonging over the floor and a glass was shattered on the ground. The inferni crouched down, hand stroking scuff marks on the floor near the door. "They were with four. Probably ambushed her. But knowing Nina she should've been able to stop them. Something isn'tright here." Anya remarked as she stood back up, wandering to investigate the other side of the room. Arkan's hand shook as he closed the messy suit case on the bed. "I don't understand, she-" his voice silenced as he looked back down on the bed.

The raven-haired whipped around to look at the man, his hand holding up a silver insignia of a wolf's head. A dark, crawling feeling overcame her as the room seemed to close in around her, the air pulling itself out of her lungs "Drüskelle...." The tense in the room had suddenly grown thick, almost able to be cut with a knife. Inej's eyes locked in on the Oryalen woman's face, seeing the expression in her own as she looked back. The young grisha woman shook her head, as if the Suli woman's concerned gaze had grounded her back in reality. "They had a clear line of attack." The wraith uttered, breaking the silence as she looked out the window. "Go see if there aren't any surprises left." Dirtyhands noted.

The four of them stood outside, wind billowing softly over the clearing in front of the inn. "There's no one there anymore." Inej said as she jumped down from the roof. "5 against 1, I'd hardly call that a fair fight." The sharpshooter remarked, knitting his eyebrows together. "It's not like they care you know. We're just...a blight to them. Not what Djel intended with our world." The inferni replied, her face stoney as her nails dug into the skin of her palms.

"Seeing as we lost our way into the little palace, this seems like a reasonable juncture to abandon the sunsummoner plan." The conductor started. The bastard of the barrel wheeled around on his heels, his eyes seemingly ablaze as he kept his cool. "Abandon?" He hissed. "We're in this now. An I know what a million kruge means to me. What does it mean to you?" Kaz asked tensely as he directed his piercing gaze at Anya and the wraith. "A chance at revenge." The raven-haired replied coldly, her nose flaring as her motivation almost bubbled to the surface like a wild fire.

"Freedom." The Suli woman answered, wringing her hands together in slight discomfort. "Fun!" The Zemeni man joked, tipping his hat before he directed his gaze at the older man. "At least for a few months." Arkan adjusted his glasses, seemingly pondering over his choice of words before speaking. "Retirement." He replied with relief. "You see, all the more reason that we press on. Once you get us across the fold, I'll figure out the rest on the other side." The young barrel boss finished.

"Okay then." The conductor started. "I'll need 20 pounds of alabaster coal, Majdaloun jurda but not from Kerch, it's too weak, and..." he halted in his words, eyes subtly scanning Jesper up and down. "...a goat." He lowered his voice to a whisper, carefully looking around before he spoke again. "There's a wreckage of a skiff northeast, we'll meet there at midnight." The tasks were quickly divided, the group splitting up with the Oryalen woman and the Suli woman going after the jurda, Dirtyhands for the Goat and the sharpshooter for the coal but not before getting a stern remark from his boss to not spend the money on any gambling of the sorts.

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The white marble wall stretched high and wide, the frigid looking statues on top looking down on the people that passed the memorial, etched with the names of those who had fallen victim to the war or the shadow fold. Two figures however, stood at the foot, seemingly defying the will of the statues. The young grisha woman crossed her thumb and index finger before planting a kiss on them, raising it in the air as she scanned the names on the wall. "Why did you do that?" The Ghafa woman wondered curiously. "Even though I'm not that religious anymore or now that my allegiance has changed, I feel like I owe my respects to those who died." The inferni replied, a sad smile on her face.

"Why are you here?" Inej bit her lip, not knowing what to say as she weighed the possible replies. "I...lost my parents a long time ago." Her gaze was intently fixed on the names as her eyes wandered over them. "My mother. She's Suli." Anya stated, not daring to look at the other woman after uncovering this revelation. The wraith's breath caught in her throat at her words. The woman that was standing before her, her companion on this journey, a literal saint, had Suli heritage just like her.

"The heart is an arrow." She whispered in slight shock, her own hand searching for hers before squeezing it. "It demands aim to land true." The raven-haired said, her voice almost undetectable. "I just hoped that if I saw their names, I could let them go." The Oryalen woman turned her head, raising a skeptical brow. "It's a treacherous thing. Hope has killed more of my friends then the war, drüskelle and the fold combined." She stated.

The air was tense and grew even more as the bastard of the barrel rounded the corner until the young grisha woman's eyes landed on the small, fuzzy creatures that he had bundled up under his arm. "Oh. My. God." She pitched, bowing through her knees as she scratched the goat's head. "He's so cute! Well aren't you a cutie?" She cooed. Inej laughed loudly at her reaction and even the tiniest hint of a smirk could be detected on Kaz's face. Clearing her throat, the inferni stepped back and dusted of her coat. "You'll have to excuse me."

The young barrel boss regarded the two, the mood quickly changing. "I thought that when I said no detours, it was just for Jesper, not you two as well." The wraith and Anya turned their heads, eyes locking for a split second before any of them said something. "I was looking for my parents name." The Suli woman said simply. Dirtyhands raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. "You're parents are Suli. They go around the fold."

She nodded at his words but held onto a necklace, a simple stitching of Sankta Lizabeta. "Still, I just hoped that maybe I could just put this behind me." The trio had almost walked off before the bastard of the barrel turned to the Ghafa woman. "Hope is a dangerous thing. It clouds your judgment." He started. "Pray, scream, do whatever you have to do to push this out of your mind and move on." He hissed. The sun started to glimmer at the horizon, indicating that it wouldn't be long until midnight was upon them. "We'd better go or we'll be late."

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It was dark, a seemingly starless night above the four as they made their ways through the sandy dunes, headed for the edge of the fold before stopping abruptly infront of a sign. "Landmines?" The raven-haired noticed. "We'll follow the path you carve." Kaz declared, storm blue eyes suspiciously looking at the sign. "I just put it up there to ward people off. You can never be to careful." Arkan noted as he simply started walking.

Once they had crossed the space, the older man began pulling a rope, a modified train wagon emerging from the smoke. "It's one thing hearing about it but actually being here does something to you." Inej remarked, eyeing the unsea. The Oryalen woman squinted her eyes, feeling as if it was calling to her, reaching out a hand as a tendril snaked around her fingers. "So we have the jurda and the goat now we just need the coa-" The conductors sentence was cut off before gunshots rang through the air.

"Wait for me!" Jesper shouted. "Put the lights out! Jesper, hurry!" Arkan shouted. "BUT THE LANDMINES!" The sharpshooter whined. The young grisha woman rolled her eyes before cupping her mouth. "JUST BLOODY RUN!" She shouted before he came staggering towards them, almost falling on his knees before they stepped inside the wagon. "Sit down, don't shift your weight." A loud boom resonated in the air, making the troupe look outside the window. "Fake landmines my ass." The inferni grumbled. "Do you have the coal?" Kaz asked, looking at the Zemeni man intently as if he already knew the true answer. "I lost all of the money but I managed to get use 20 pounds of alabaster coal!" He chimed before tossing the bag to the older man.

"This is 16 pounds!"

"-16 pounds of alabaster coal!"

"Can you do it with 16?" The young barrel boss demanded. "It's never been done before." The conductor said anxiously as he rolled up his sleeves and started tossing, revealing the many scars on his wrists, as the train started moving. "You crossed that many times?" The wraith asked, half repulsed. "It's what they do." Anya said, rolling her own sleeves as far as she could up her arms, revealing the erray of times she had crossed herself, going even beyond the visible area of the skin on her arm. "The first time I crossed, they had to hold me down as they carved into my arm. The other times, you slowly get used to it." She continued as she rolled her sleeves back down.

"It- it can't be that bad can it?" The Zemeni man wondered carefully, as if he was afraid that the truth would grab him by the throat and finish him off. "No it's not. But the volcra are. The first time one got to me, it embedded its talons in my shoulder and hoisted me in the air." The raven-haired countered as she slightly pulled down her shirt at her shoulder, revealing part of a large, darker scar. "What did you do?" The Suli woman inquired curiously. "I stuck my hands in its chest and boiled it from the inside out naturally." The Oryalen woman stated as she closed her eyes and leaned against the wall, spurring on the raging fire with a fury of hand movements.

A loud ding rang through the air, gathering everyone's attention. "I've a erected a system of markers, poles, along the way to count how far we are." Arkan explained. "How did you know where to put them?" The older man fixed his glasses as he peered down on his watch. "Physics, engineering and devine intervention or what you might call luck. The fold is swarmed with volcra after all and the tracks aren't complete."

Jesper sputtered out protests of worry before the conductor raised his hands to calm him down. "There are slats that will come into place under the wheels once we get there so no need to worry." He replied, pulling down a lever that triggered a number of mechanical sounds along with the withering screams and calls of volcra. "Ah fuck." The young grisha woman cursed. "Well now we are in trouble!" Arkan complained. "How do you fight them off?" Kaz order. "Well, when I actually have 20 pounds of the coal I outrun them." He answered, shooting the sharpshooter a glare.

A heavy thud filled their ears before black blood streamed down a gap in the ceiling. "We need to get it off else the others are gonna stand on it! We'll never make it with this extra weight!" The young barrel boss yelled. "This is how we die?" Jesper wailed. Anya stood up suddenly. "I have a plan." Before anyone could even blink, the raven-haired snapped her fingers, fire from the hearth mixing with the ones that emerged around her hands as she took deep breaths.

Carefully bowing the white hot flames to her will, they closely snaked around her hands almost touching her skin. "It's a technique I perfected in prison. Now, I need a lift into the air." She stated, looking Arkan in the eye, who looked back at her confused. "No way. You will not damagethe car. We're already 20 seconds late that means we stop inside the fold...and and." He insisted. "GIVE HER A LIFT!" Dirtyhands bellowed, making the conductor latch his hands together.

"Grab the goat." Inej shouted at the worrying Zemeni man as she continued praying. "I AM NOT THROWING OUT THE GOAT!" Arkan turned to the sharpshooter, face red. "GRAB THE DAMN GOAT! It's not bait, it's for you. I need you to calm down. Hug the goat. Shut the hell up!" He shouted. The young grisha woman was launched in the air, the scorching flames around her hands so hot that they started digging through the metal of the roof, ripping it open from the inside out.

Darkness enveloped her as she climbed on the roof, hunched down as she looked around. It felt eerily familiar, being back, as well as calm and silent, almost too much of it all. Unwrapping the flames, the inferni blasted the volcra corpse of the spike, sending it flying back by meters. Unholy screeching resonated through the air again, like an ominous omen for death. "More of them are coming!" She shouted, flapping wings echoing in her ears. Anya closed her eyes, drowning out the thruming sound of the train, their screams, until it all faded away.

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Harsh cold bit at the raven-haired's finger tips, her body huddled in the corner of her cell. The icy walls seemed to close in around her, the scabs of all the scars itching as they were starting to fall off. 'No one will come for me.' The Oryalen woman thought once more, hands rubbing over her arms in an attempt to stay warm, breath painted visible in the air. Her fingertips snapped together, little sparks flying into the air but sputtering out.

The young grisha woman remembered the words from Botkin in the little palace when she had just arrived there, a small and frightened young girl, unable to suppress or control the great power that had been bestowed upon her shoulder, almost like a burden. "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest of change." She felt warmer, like a flame was brewing inside her chest. The inferni snapped her fingers once more, sparks flying off at her fingertips as the flames grew. They wrapped themselves around her hands, spreading the heat and fanning the flame inside her, like an unstoppable force.

She was bursting at the seams, scorching the walls of her cell until they were boiling, as she put her hands on the bars that had kept her captive inside for so long. What once seemed so strong, unmoving and unbreakable to her was now bending like a twig before even melting under her touch. No longer would they keep her here on the white island. Alarmed screams of drüskelle filled the air, her ears, the yellow protocol sounding loudly in the background.

Those that cowered away from Anya thought she was a demjin that crawled out of the deepest pits of hell. Others charged at her, thinking they even had a sliver of a chance at stopping the raven-haired. They were fools, all fools, for she was something far worse. She was a scorned woman, set on a path of revenge. Botkin she would spare. But they others from the little palace? Even those select few she considered her friends? They never came for her. But she would soon be coming for them and that was a dark promise she planned on keeping.

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A small flock of volcra dove for the Oryalen woman, talons out and teeth razor sharp. In an instant, she flashed her eyes open, a sea of flames bursting from her hands with just a snap. Numerous volcra corpses dropped to the ground, garbled screeching noises coming from the one that weren't miraculously torched.

The wraith look at the young grisha woman through the gap, gasping at the array of fire and flames that shimmered like stars. The Suli woman understood why someone would be confused by the fact that she wasn't actually the one destined to tear down the fold. Or maybe she will be? It made Inej question everything. Kaz had heard stories about exceptionally powerful grisha. He thought it was just that, another bed time story to lull children to sleep with lies. But maybe there was some truth to them after all, about the extent of Anya's powers. But how far did that go?

The flames that danced at the raven-haired's fingertips, that seemed to follow her every command, painted the sky red and orange like a beacon in the darkness. More volcra swarmed around the fast paced train, pierced by a blazing inferno rather then getting the person on top or those that were inside

And then just like that, it was dead silent. No volcra came, no flame was shot off, no sound was made. The Oryalen woman crouched down, slipping through the gap and dropping down with a thud as she stuck the landing. "So that's that." The young grisha woman simply stated as she clapped her hands together as if she was dusting them off, sitting back down on her seat. Jesper eyed her, half in shock as he tried to keep his mouth closed. "What the hell was that?" He almost shouted.

The inferni opened her mouth, ready to answer him if it wasn't for the bellowing screames of nearing volcra. "AGAIN? THESE MOTHERFUCKERS." Anya yelled from her seat, almost standing back up if it wasn't for the sharpshooters lanky presence swaying to the middle of the car, the goat hoisted under his arm and one of his revolvers shining in the other. His eyes seemed in a trance as he took a deep breath.

The raven-haired could feel that something wasn't right, looking like the adrenaline that was ragging through his veins in this situation was a drug that he need to survive. As if he wanted to suppress the truth about something. The Oryalen woman could hear the clicking sound of the hitting the bullet before it ragged out, flying between the slits on the wall and exterminating the horrid creatures. The Zemeni man spun around like he was on a dance floor, revolver whirling in his hands as he shot bullet after bullet.

Long talons curled around the gap in the ceiling, the grotesque grimace of the beast presenting itself, and Arkan let out a high pitched scream before Jesper shot another bullet straight through its head. He plopped down, exhausted but smiling. Suddenly light streamed in from the gap, almost blinding the quarter. No more screams, no more darkness. They had finally reached the other side of the fold but Anya didn't know if that was such a good idea after all.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
And you know by now,
MORE MEMES!

Finally another chapter!
Had a bit of a tough time
so I didn't ipdate for like
a month or something haha.
Also, I'm staring college
next year so that's that.
Also it's 1 am. My mom
wants the family to eat
more healthy. I don't want
that. You know what
I want? Doritos.
Have a nice day!