Dungeons and Dalliances

The weekend arrived quicker than expected, and with it, the upcoming delve with Elida's team—an event Natalie was both wary and apprehensive of, yet also admittedly interested in.

While Natalie certainly didn't like Elida, to be generous in the description of her feelings, that didn't mean she wasn't intrigued by the top performer of their year, since Natalie was a delver and warrior at heart, and that woman excelled in both fields.

Vanetta too had caught her attention. There was no denying the short, scar-faced woman was a person of immense talent and equal intrigue, considering her unknown background. A place on Elida's team, temporary or not, would give Natalie insight into both of them that she might not ever get otherwise.

It was just a shame she had to suffer Elida's presence to get that insight.

While apprehensive and equally dreading the event as much as she was interested in it, Natalie wasn't scared of heading into the dungeon with Elida. The Parda-Halts were snakes; everyone knew that. A dagger in the back wouldn't be out of character. They had literally tried such a tactic on the ruling family of Valhaur, the Beaumons, a few generations back—and high treason was a more dastardly crime than arranging an 'accident' in the dungeon.

But Natalie wasn't a blood enemy of Elida's, merely allied with Liz, and just a teammate at that. Even if their relationship had been more significant, Natalie seriously doubted—as Liz did, since they'd of course discussed the topic—that Elida would try anything. Beaumon and Parda-Halt relations were already tense, and unless Elida intended to kick off a war between major houses, she would keep Liz's teammate safe, because no matter how solid her excuses should something happen to Natalie by 'accident,' no one would believe her; the Parda-Halts had unfortunately ruined any such benefit of the doubt with past exploits—and even with their current reputations. Possibly, Elida would be more concerned over Natalie's safety than if she had been some random delver, as to not raise tensions further.

Though all of that did assume Elida didn't want a bloody war between the two houses. It wasn't a zero chance of that, Natalie supposed, but it was unlikely enough—and using Natalie as a pawn toward that goal would be a strange enough approach—that she felt in no real danger.

To play it safe, she would hold off on confirming her denial of Elida's invitation onto the team until after the trial had ended. Maybe that was smart anyway: this was a weekend delve, and they might be fighting for their lives for days to come, so while calling the red-haired bitch a bitch would be satisfying, playing nice was better for team cohesion—which meant better for team safety. And while Natalie might have disappointed herself and her team with her lack of professionalism when it came to Alaina, she did, at least, treat the life-and-death danger of the dungeon with far more severity. She couldn't keep her dick in her skirt, but she would absolutely protect those she'd sworn she would: and even if she despised Elida and her team, Natalie intended to uphold her role of tank with as much solemness as she would in her own party.

Like with any planned weekend delve, they started the expedition on the final day of Tenet classes for the week as to eke out a bit more time in the dungeon before they needed to return. Elida's team was no less optimizing than Natalie's, and maybe they were even more so.

After getting dressed and collecting the monster cores with the items she would need—and a few empty ones to store what she found—she met Elida and the three other women that would be making up her temporary team. She spared a brief moment of amusement that even during her excursion onto another party, it would still be on a team of five women. Elida had lost the two men previously joining her: the fighter and the tank, replaced by Vanetta and Natalie herself, respectively. Though presumably Otto would be returning, since she didn't intend to stay.

As she walked over to their designated meeting spot, she admired each of them, and their gear, in turn.

Elida spotted her coming almost immediately, green eyes locking to her from a distance. A dark leather vest, worn but sturdy, protected her torso, while a pair of lighter leather pants hugged her legs. Her left arm was adorned by a bracer made of dark-blue hardened hide. On her right arm, she wore a strange pale glove that extended halfway up her forearm. The ensemble was expectedly discordant and not-so-fashionable, since dungeon gear rarely made a habit of dropping matching outfits. Natalie's own armor was only coherent because it was commissioned by a smith using the erotite deposit she'd found.

Elida's daggers were nowhere to be seen, though that was to be expected: she kept them in a monster core, since openly carrying weapons through the common streets of Aradon was, while not illegal, frowned upon when done by powerful delvers. Not something everyone cared about, but as Tenet students, image mattered. Natalie for her part was happy not to lug around her enormous hammer as a matter of practicality.

Vanetta was clad in predominantly black. Her gear was lighter weight: a black cloth shirt, dark gray breeches, and brown boots. She wore a cloak with the hood already pulled up, and her expression was reserved, as it tended to be. Natalie couldn't read much on her face. She had also spotted Natalie coming early—it was probably in a rogue's nature to be aware of their surroundings. As all delvers should be, but rogues more so. They were lightly armored and often relied on positioning and awareness of their opponents to accomplish anything.

The other two of Elida's party hadn't changed. She knew their names after this many weeks at Tenet. Clementine, the team's healer, was dressed in heavy white robes that obscured any other gear she might be wearing, besides the brown belt around her waist which hugged the thick cloth in. She had long brown hair and green eyes so dark Natalie had thought they were black from a distance. She had a friendly resting expression, though for obvious reasons, Natalie didn't particularly like the woman. She was one of Elida's cohort—enough said, that.

Faye was the team's mage, and her hair was the most striking part of her: bright orange, and worn short. Natalie was fairly sure it was dyed, as was a common trend in Aradon, or at least common enough it was never worth a pause no matter how bright or strange the color. She had brown eyes, was tall and thin, and was fairly aloof in demeanor, though not in the manner of Ana, but an unfriendly sort, as if she was making it clear before a conversation began that she would rather it didn't. Maybe that uncharitable read was more thanks to the fact she'd been robbed by her—under Elida's leadership, but through Faye's explicit help nonetheless—upon their first meeting.

Taking a breath, Natalie finished the walk over, inserting herself into the party she would be delving with the next few days.