#corbeau be casually flaunting that she has ppl make wishes for her like nbd

[deathdanse]

Eyes widen when Homura confirms what Corbeau was attempting to convey. She should be more surprised, she supposed, but given everything she knows about magical girls and the potential wishes could hold-- The idea of time travel was certainly in the realm of possibility. Especially now that this girl has presented it as such.

"I.. I see." Corbeau sits back a little, processing this information. As shocking as it was to hear, she couldn't even begin to fathom how Homura was feeling. "You poor thing, I'm sorry this happened to you. I do not envy your situation."

Mentioning her benefactor did make Corbeau hesitate. Were Homura just a foot soldier or a peasant, she'd have no problem telling her this information. But Homura wasn't either of those things, would telling her potentially ruin things? If not for how the war's outcome would be.. then perhaps for the flow of time?

Corbeau takes her own cup and observes her reflection for a moment while she weighed her options, eventually settling for keeping things vague.

"My benefactor is.. a sponsor of sorts for the English. She has a vetted interest in how this war ends, she sent me and my sisters to turn the tide of the war for the English-- she's the one that turned us into Magical Girls." Corbeau motions to Fleche with her cup. "..And yes, that includes Fleche over there, and any other magical girl with a dazed look you'll find around here. I apologize if some of the soldiers seemed upset by this.. they find them a little... creepy, and assumed you were like them. If you want to avoid conversing with them, you're free to play along with Fleche-- but I won't force you too. They should accept you without suspicion of your origins as is."

Another drink from her cup, a larger mouthful than before. She didn't blame Homura for being hesitant about the surroundings and being offered refreshments from a complete stranger-- hell, she'd probably be the same were the roles reversed. Hopefully, showing how eager Corbeau was to drink from her cup would ease the younger girl's nerves.

"Yes, she's like us... the holy girl." Corbeau's voice trails into a growl as the words leave her mouth. "Apparently she and her friends became magical girls from a little white beast-- nothing I've ever seen before.. like something a witch would conjure for a familiar... Qube, I think they called it."

Headshake, getting off topic here.

"She's with the French, along with some other magical girls. She intends to have the Dauphin on the throne and end the war. I've heard that she has a guardian angel guiding her, she was able to tell who the prince Dauphin was without knowing what he looked like. Bunch of boring rumors to intimidate, surely."

She taps the sides of her cup as she takes a moment to think. Corbeau was a ruthless warrior and lived for the thrill of battle, but she wasn't completely heartless. Homura needed to go back to her own time, she'd have no interest in fighting alongside them-- and there was no telling what her benefactor or her sisters would do once they got their hooks into her.

"..If you'll have me, I'd be happy to assist you with your predicament." She pipes up after a moment of silence. "My sisters are currently raiding French holdouts, but they should be finished within the next few days-- if I send a message they'll be here straightaway. You could come with us and meet our benefactor-- we'll have someone make a wish on your behalf to send you back to where you should be in time. I may not understand time travel or the details that brought you here, but I don't think it's anything a wish couldn't fix."

If it was a wish that brought Homura and Corbeau together, then it's a wish to send Homura back home.

She noticed that they weren't fully alone within the tent. The sight of the expressionless woman reminded her of what the victims from witches looked like whenever they were given kisses. She looks at the young woman, but she doesn't make the habit of staring. Not that the said woman would notice, but the magical girl with the commanding presence might notice. Homura wanted to address what is afflicting the young woman, but she didn't speak up fast enough when an order is given to... Fleche.

The expressionless woman stirred to life to bring them water. Watching the scene play out with a wary silence only reminds her of how a witch commanding her familiars. How she pointed her familiars to attack long after she realized she was the witch. Did this cloaked woman have some kind of magic to command regular people in the similiar fashion as witches? Her wish would have to be tied to control. It could be possible, she figured. The armored soldiers looked up at her, though some of them looked old enough to be fathers.

❝  No, I'm not from around here in the slightest. ❞  Homura answers the shocked question with total ease, cutting straight to the chase. She finally allows herself to sit down in the chair to finally make her legs stop screaming. It wasn't a comfortable seat, but she knew she had no right to complain. She had been too determined to not lose track of the salamander in that forest to even give herself any rest. She didn't know what would happen if she lost it within the thicket of the forest, especially since it was carrying her familiar diamond-shaped gemstone.

She couldn't risk losing even more.

She already lost her grasp on time, that's for certain.

Homura's expression has darkened once she learned that she has stumbled back in the Late Middle Ages. She is a seasoned traveler through time with her shield, but... But this is far too new. It would be exciting, maybe thrilling, if she knew how to get back to everything she has left behind. She has years worth of timelines under her experience, but nothing could prepare her for this unsettling news.

She does not offer much words to help the baffled stranger since she is too busy simmering with this information. She merely watches Corbeau fumble with her natural confusion until she looks down at the cup of water. What confused Homura is the little side comment about other countries. Did Corbeau expect countries to know about magic? Or rather this different form of travel? Homura never thought to ask Kyubey about how his kind has affected history with their contracts, but now she is choosing to regret not learning about the historical side of things.

❝  Oh, right. I suppose it's a different kind of lost, yes. But I'm still lost, however. I'm glad that I could get out of that forest at least. I guess you can say that I have traveled through time itself, but it feels a lot more like traveling a ship. ❞  Homura is downplaying her situation, but she's merely doing such a thing to calm herself down. She knew the term of time travel didn't exist, so she is trying to not overwhelm this stranger even further.

❝  I would hate to ask more questions, but I feel like I have a right to know since I'm not from this time nor country. Who is this benefactor that you mentioned before? You mentioned them to your soldiers. They changed their mood towards my presence when you came up with that little cover story. ❞  Homura inquired, unable to help herself. She certainly didn't want to go back outside since some of them, the more older men, didn't look totally convinced.

She can handle them, but her tired body disliked the thought of fighting.

❝  Thank you for giving me more information on the surroundings, but... I fear I have more questions, as you can imagine. You sounded pretty serious about killing me when you thought I was close to someone called the Holy Girl. I assume you must be talking about more of our kind, but I could be wrong. I would like to know who you are talking about, especially if they are threats. Is there any reason why I should personally avoid them? ❞

Homura isn't sure if they were even remotely close to each other between this mysterious girl and her friends, but Homura still wanted to cover herself nonetheless. She hasn't touched her water yet. She observed Corbeau drink from her cup without a care. It seemed safe to drink, especially since they were poured from the same pitcher. But she is still hesitant to drink from hers. Homura allowed herself a tiny sip from the water, but she only does it to test the grounds.

The commander-like woman didn't look like the sneaky type to jump to slipping anything into the drinking water. No, she sounded like someone who would use her soldiers to subdue a possible threat. She might even possibly take pleasure in handle the threat herself, given the way she held herself together. The fact that she is leading a group of seasoned soldiers by herself spoke for itself, after all. She could only wonder what it was like to live in this already difficult time. What would she have done for weapons if she found herself born in this time era with only a useless shield?

She didn't want to imagine such a life.

Homura took a gamble with the water, but mostly because she couldn't deny that she is thirsty. Repeating the same month always took some strain out of her, but she had the luxury of recovering just fine since she always woke up in her hospital bed. Her throat and her pounding head long for her to gulp the whole cup of water, but Homura will wait. She continued to hold her cup even though she took her measly sip, finding some comfort in holding something in her hands. She will only drink more once she can confirm that she wasn't feeling anything strange. Call her overly cautious all you want, but it's how she got this far in life.