Rainblade-Ryalors Private East Tookumberry The Poison Fox and the Singed Rose

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina Rose's eyes practically turned wide as saucers. "Bully Hahbah? The big city 'erself?" She'd heard tales of the place since she was a little kit bounced on the knees of the adoring patrons of her father's tavern, regaled with tales of distant lands. For all that various places were spoken of, Bully Harbor held a special magic, a blend of wonder and danger in equal measure. It was a place that turned paupers into emperors, and sometimes vice versa. You rose gloriously there, while those who flew too high inevitably burned up in the sun.

Mina Rose hesitated before giving her answer. She should just say yes; there was nothing left for her here, after all. Her parents and lover's bones were both long out on the tide, her home burnt to ash; she didn't even have any clothes left to call her own. For all of that, though, this island had been all she'd ever known. For the first time, standing on that beach, 'everywhere else' seemed mighty big. "Alrigh'," she allowed at last. "I'll go wiv' ya, Auntie Tanya." She tried the appellation experimentally on the tongue. It didn't quite feel right yet, but that might come with practice. She glance down the beach to where a vessel was coming in to the village docks, far larger than the normal boats that ran island to island here. "Reckon 'at's yer schooner down there, ain' it?" she speculated. She gave a small shrug before starting to amble in that direction. "Well, at leas' I'm all packed," she quipped. She glanced at Tanya as she added, "Maybe ye can tell me abou' 'ese cousins ye mentioned, an' my new uncle. I gotta awful lotta names an' faces t' learn now, don' I?"

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

It felt like a lifetime since she’d seen such wonder at the name of the Harbour, and yet she had seen it in Kinza only a pawful of seasons past. She could not fault the legend: even in decades past the reputation of the city itself had drawn even her fascination as a youngster. How she had come to hear of it was all but lost to fogged memory now yet lodged indelibly in her mind had been that first week. The sheer scale and spectacle of the Harbour and its gilded edge of violence had been almost hypnotic; a heady combination of fright and thrill, where opportunities seemed endless if one could make it to the end of the week. It would prove a true test of how the place had come along since her youth to hear feedback from Mina Rose’s own experience. Her guilders were on far less than she’d have hoped for.

An empathic nod followed the vixen’s wry observation on her light travels, electing for now not to overwhelm her with promises of a Trenches apartment and anything she might need. There was a time and a place for generosity and all potential at this stage for it to seem suspect. Padding alongside her niece, Tanya nodded. “Aye, that I can do – and that you do. ‘Tis a big family by all accounts, so we’ll take it slow, but for now we’ll focus on me good self. I do that best, y’see.” A lazy wink and she continued. “So I’m Tanya though you can call me Tox. Your uncle, my husband, is Jeshal the Ironclaw. Now he was Minister’ve Commerce back in the day,” by my appointment, how that bit me in the tail, “so if you ever have any money worries you go see him, he’ll see you right. I have four children, though two were with my first husband and they’re off ‘Gates knows where on their own adventures. My other two are the cousins you’ll be meeting, Kinza and Lorcan.”

She cast her eye over Mina Rose again, quiet for a beat. “You two don’t look all that dissimilar. Kinza’s a bright girl, got talent as a seamstress an’ some street smarts between her ears. Think the pair’ve you would get along well – an’ probably up to some trouble, eh? Lorcan…” There came another pause as Tanya sought a word before it seemed to elude her. “…He’s still workin’ out who he is, though he means well. The pair grew up in a place rural like this, so you’ll be in like company for getting used to life in old Bully. Truth be told…” She dropped her voice a touch, as though conspiratorial, “I barely know me rudder from me mizzen in that place, so much is different from when I was your age. Think there’s a fair few of us findin’ our paws, and no shame in it.”

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina Rose's eyes widened more and more as her family was slowly revealed to herself. The name 'Tox Rainblade' had been legendary enough for even the somewhat historically-clueless vixen to have heard it spoken; she hadn't realized that was the admiral that her father had named the inn for, though. Further revelations only overwhelmed her even more. I've got two ministers in my family. 'Gates, and my most notable accomplishment is inventing a new drinking game. Her cousins' descriptions she absorbed with a keen interest; she could certainly see how Kinza might make for interesting company, and Lorcan sounded like the sort of lovable goof she'd always wished she'd had as a big brother. For the first time in her life, her anticipation and hope was growing to have actual peers her own age. Sure, she'd been to a few sleepovers in her younger days, but those had fallen off as her life became more and more tied up in the inn, and theirs absorbed with marriage, kits, and domesticity. Maybe Kinza and I can paint our claws and talk about todds we like, she thought whimsically.

The vixen nodded smartly at her aunt's observation, straightening up a little bit as the eagerness infected her steps and the swish of her tail. "I can 'ardly wait ta see it fer meself!" she remarked, a smile breaking her face for the first time in weeks. She even gave a small pirouette on the sand as the walked, wobbling through a move she'd only ever heard described to her and had attempted in the privacy of her own small bedroom, and recovered a bit awkwardly to fall back into a normal step. "I reckon I'll prob'ly 'ave ta get a job 'ere, won' I? 'Ey gotta 'ave taverns in Bully, righ'? I imagine 'tis big enough 'ey probably 'ave three e'en!" The enthusiasm in her voice was infectious as her green eyes lit up with the thought of such a grand locale.

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

The youngster’s enthusiasm proved infectious. As many misgivings as Tanya might possess about every possible outcome for this vixen, it was difficult to let herself fall victim to the threat of the future after seeing her smile. In this moment she was vibrant and full of potential, a world away from the grief and desolation which seemed to weigh so heavily upon her here on the Keys. Whatever was coming for her she’d be alright: she was a Rainblade, protected by Rainblades. Dusk would see her daughter right.

“Oh, there’s a couple places,” Tox chuckled. The sheer scale of the sprawling Harbour was likely to beyond Mina Rose’s imagination and the older fox was keen to see how her niece would handle the revelation when they arrived. “I dare say you’ll find your paws in one if that suits your fancy for work. Tell me, though: I know ownin’ a tavern of your own’s likely been all that’s been offered here, but your interests ever wandered anywhere else? Other hobbies or jobs you ever fancied trying your paw at?” It was as much a gauge of personality as it was an indulgence: if Mina Rose wanted to follow a particular career, the least Tanya felt she could do to make the move smoother was to see if there were means of making it happen.

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina's enthusiastic expression turned to pondering as she considered that the world of possibilities might be greater than she initially thought. "Huh. Well, I allus wan'd ta try my paw at bein' a sum-lee-ay," she admitted, the mispronounced version of sommelier almost painful on the ears. "I've a good nose, I think, bu' Pa ne'er let me drink aroun' the guests. He allus thought I'd wind up doin' somethin' indecent wiv' em. Oh," she added, "an' I can play Alkamarian guitar, ya know, pawfinger pickin'. I ain' much good yet, bu' it's fun fer me." Her expression briefly turned mournful again, corners of her eyes drooping, as her memory turned back to the inn. "'At's burned up now too. It wasn' much, just a cast-off from one a' Cap'n Gilbert's crew, but it was mine." She gave a small shrug as she looked toward Tanya, smiling at her aunt with a youthful energy. "I guess I'll 'ave ta save up an' get one a' my own."

Mina hesitated before asking, "So, is our family rich? Like, ya said m' uncle, yer todd, was minister a' money or summat. Nah 'at I'm diggin' fer coin or none," she hastened to clarify, putting up her paws to distance herself from the notion. "I ain' 'at sorta vixen. I wanna earn me own way. 'Tis good t' know 'oo I can go to in a pinch is all. I ain' ne'er been out on m' own b'fore, an' I reckon I'll bungle it a few times 'fore I get it righ'."

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

Tanya merely nodded in understanding as her niece explained her interests. That she butchered the pronunciation of sommelier felt an echo of her first seasons in the city. Alright, that might have been unfair on Mina Rose: she hadn’t even known what a sommelier was. Music was an interest and she also noted that. Tempting though it would be to see about gifting her one at the end of the year, she rather suspected the vixen might prefer the satisfaction of earning it heself.

Her work ethic was commendable, and Tanya was pleased to hear Mina Rose keen to pay her way, even if the older vixen would have happily indulged anything her niece could have wanted. Perhaps it was maternal instinct; perhaps it was guilt for those she had failed. Still, it was a good sign: if she was happy to work for what she wanted she would owe less to others. All the better for her future.

“Bunglin’s the best way to learn: you’ll have beasts happy to keep an eye out for you. With money…” Nose wrinkled reflectively. “It’s a mite complicated, there. Your other aunt, now, she’s got ‘er paws in a few purses: her side’s more familiar with the Harbour these days. Matter of fact she’s arrangin’ to get you an apartment settled so you at least have somewhere to stay before you start working. Don’t worry: if you feel you want to pay back rent you can, but the least we can do if we’re bringing you to Bully is make sure you have a bed. As for uncle Jesh, between you an’ me,” Tanya’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, “I think anybeast workin’ with money is wise in investment. We’ve lived rural for some time and money hasn’t been much concern, but something tells me he’ll dig up some funds from the old days.”