Private Tales Something Amiss

[Kaska]

It was quickly realized as a lost cause, Kaska stopping her splashing to forlornly watch the last piece slip into the night.

She blinked up at Saul, taking in his words and staring at him for a moment. She bursted out laughing, gut-deep laughter as a grin split across her features and softened them. She rested her face in her hand, her laughter not relenting even as she looked up at him and attempted to hide it behind her fingers.

"I'm sorry but they're never going to believe that," she told him, mirth in her voice.

 

[Saul Talith]

"You said yourself Templar are idiots." He reasoned with her, of course knowing that she was entirely correct.

His men, and the women among them, would know exactly what had happened. There was a change of clothes in his things of course, he wasn't fool enough to go on a trip like this with only one set, but in order to reach it he would have to walk nude through the entire camp.

Not that he was unwilling but...well there was no way to avoid a particular conversation if he did that.

"Do you have any better suggestions?" He inquired with a smile. "Because I don't."

The Faerie thing was brilliant in it's own way really.

 

[Kaska]

Another round of laughter occurred before she reigned herself in. She looked appreciatively up at him, biting her lip and raising a brow.

"And let you claim the fae stabbed you too? No, that's mine fair and square. C'mon." She offered him a steady hand to climb his way in.

"We'll figure it out, let's just focus on that wound first."

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul didn't take the hand, instead he simply took a few steps off the small cliff and allowed himself to splash into the water.

"I'm not too concerned." The Commander said as he ducked down beneath the surface of the river and allowed the water to soak into his hair. A hand came up, tugging at the long black locks for a moment before he pulled himself up once more.

His wound stung slightly as the cool water touched it, but in an odd sort of way it felt good.

Some of the blood was already washing away, and the dirt went with it.

 

[Kaska]

When he came up she was already under herself, soaking her hair and letting the cold lick at her throat. The pain was starting to set in, the strangely enough it wasn't unpleasant. Every sudden throb was a reminder-- a burst of satisfaction.

The cold drove the blush from her cheeks as well, the woman reemerging cool and collected. She tended to her hair for a long moment, seeming indifferent of him before her, before she commented, "You are the most relaxed commander I've ever met."

 

[Saul Talith]

"I'm surrounded by people who keep me level." Ana, Owin, Myrelle, all of them really.

If Saul suddenly tried to take everything seriously and stomp around as an actual commander they would all very quickly thwap him on the back of the head and tell him what was what.

That of course didn't apply to when a situation was serious, Saul was as stern as any Commander in those times, but when there was time to relax? Trying to order everyone around and ruin an effective good time was a good way to end up being tide to the nearest flagpole.

"There's a time for fun and a time for action." He told her. "Tomorrow you'll see a different side."

 

[Kaska]

That was a foreign concept to her, one that had her pausing and eyeing him to see if he was pulling her leg.

It was abruptly clear he wasn't, only sincerity in his gaze.

"Huh."

She began to quickly braid her hair back, eager for it be out of her way so she could soak right and proper. "S'funny. I thought- .... I thought Templar were suppose to be serious and Rangers..." clearly, she was having an overwhelmingly different experience. One whose contrast was being noticed by her now.

 

[Saul Talith]

He shrugged. "Some are."

There was no denying it really. Arrawaith, the other Commanders and even the Lord Captain were far more serious than him, but he was hardly and outlier. There were plenty in the Templar who shared his demeanor, though most did tend to be on the younger side. A fact that was probably not a coincidence.

"Alliria grants us a lot of leeway." He told her. "Other Chapters aren't quite so...liberal."

He frowned. "The Templar in Vel Anir are a bit more stern, as are those in the Blightlands."

There was little time for fooling around there.

 

[Kaska]

"Hm," was all she said, sinking down to her chin and floating there. She mused about what his upbringing must have been like. Not at all different from hers, actually. Trained from the start, whatever age his recruit was. No parental figures, only teachers and stern expectations. A whole life laid out for him to follow. And he liked it.

What made them different, she wondered. Like with Lia, she couldn't help but to feel like she was the broken one in this equation. And she was jealous over it.

She blew bubbles in the water.

 

[Saul Talith]

He watched her for a few moments, observing quietly. Briefly he wondered if she'd ever considered abandoning the Rangers and joining the Templar. There were stories of the opposite happening, more than a few leaving the Broken Sword in order to join their more...hallowed cousins.

Saul wasn't sure if it ever actually happened, but he was sure that more than a few had considered it over the years. He frowned briefly, then remembered something suddenly. "The wound."

He gestured to his side.

The thing was clean now, all remnants of blood and dirt gone, but if they didn't seal it back up soon he would very likely end up just getting it dirty once more.

"Need to close it." Did she still have that kit?

 

[Kaska]

She spit water at him. "In my pants pocket," she told him, not getting out of the water yet. While it would prove to be pointless, she was starting to wish she had a god to pray to to fix her throat.

There would be no hiding it. Only owning it.

Maybe fae have big human size hands too?

She snorted, giving up and standing fully. "You got your back clean at least?" She had seen blood there as well.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul put a hand up, though most of the water ended up splashing on his face anyway. His head shook, and he slapped the water to send a surge of water at her.

"It's all gone." The Commander retorted, half turning to show her his back.

The Current had taken care of most of the washing. The only problem was of course whatever had gotten deep into the wound. He doubted there was much of anything, but after Kaska sealed it he would grab some liquor that he knew someone on the ship had brought with them.

Best not to get an infection.

"Come on." Saul told as he climbed onto shore. "Fix your mess."

 

[Kaska]

She snorted but dutifully followed after, cold goosebumps covering her skin as she came to stand nude besides him on the shore.

"Here," she offered, giving him the tunic to dry off on. Presumably, she had another set of her own. She ruffled through the pants and pulled out the small med kit. She gestured for him to sit on the rocky shore, warming warm into her hands before she popped it open and studied him closely in the moon light.

"Gonna have to do these deeper this time," she commented, striving to keep her gaze level on his side.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Just don't rip them out again." Saul grunted as he stepped over to the rock and sat himself down, using the tunic to towel off a little bit of his torso.

Glancing down he could see that the wound was still bleeding, though it was slower than it had been before. He frowned, tearing his eyes away from the cut and wondering why he hadn't just worn his damned armor.

Ego, probably.

Though the fact that he hadn't even bothered to use a sword likely meant it was something more. The idea of showing a Ranger just how outclassed she was? Machismo? A mix of everything? He shook his head. Idiot.

Saul thought to himself with a shake of his head.

 

[Kaska]

She smiled a little, kneeling before him and balancing the kit on his knee. "Don't give me a reason to and I won't."

She took out a finger sized valve of something dark and carefully poured it on the wound, causing a wild burning sensation. The smell of alcohol drifted up to him, letting him know that she had at least sanitized the inside of the would before sealing him up.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul let out a hiss of pain. "Warn me next time!"

The Commander grumbled, fingers tightening on his knees as he tried to suppress the pain that flared in his side.

He was used to pain in a way, his entire body was covered in scars from wounds worse than this one, but just because he was used to it didn't meant that it didn't...hurt. Pain was pain. Sure it could be tolerated, but it was still there, and each time it was a new sensation all it's own.

It helped to prepare.

 

[Kaska]

She caught the kit before it could fall. "Alright, alright. Breathe, I will. .....whimp," she could be heard teasing under her breath, her tunic used to pat the area dry.

She deftly pulled out an already threaded needle, unwrapping it from its sanitized package. She came prepared, clearly. "Are you reeeeady?" She asked slowly, mocking gently as she pinched the wound closed. "Gonna be a wittle pinch." And before he could respond, the first stitch was deftly sown through.

 

[Saul Talith]

He only grunted this time, mostly because he could at least brace himself. Fingers tightened on his knees, eyes closed for a moment, and then the needle sunk back into his skin.

She hadn't been kidding when she'd said ti would go deeper this time. He could feel the metal practically hit bone as she manually began to knit the wound back together. The Commander took in a breath as Kaska did her work, slowly filling his lungs to steady and calm himself.

Eventually he felt the last stitch, delicate fingers tying a quick knot.

"Not half bad." Saul said as he looked down at the stitches. There were more than double the number he had before, a point that he wasn't going to throw in her face.

 

[Kaska]

She glanced around, realizing they were... well... nude and therefore... unarmed. She frowned at the long thread, still attached to the needle. She lean in, her lips a hairs breath from his abs as she gingerly bit the thread at the knot. She sat straight, her lips pulled back and she plied the thread from her mouth and tossed it to the ground.

"It'll serve you well enough. Even better if you let me try that rune on you, they've never failed me before."

 

[Saul Talith]

He smiled down at her for a second, though what he said was at cross purposes with his thoughts. "No thanks."

The magic undoubtedly would have helped, but Saul neither wanted nor needed it. The wound would heal on it's own in a good amount of time, and even if it broke open during the fighting tomorrow it certainly wouldn't kill him.

Rune Magic was old, ancient, but it was still magic he didn't quite understand. Sure, what he and the others practiced could be argued to be magic itself, but it Saul's mind...that wasn't exactly true.

"It'll heal." He told her. "That's good enough."

 

[Kaska]

She sighed at him. "Suit yourself." It wasn't as if the rune would prevent word from getting out, which was her first worry before this all. No, that line had been a bit crossed, hadn't it.

She sat back on her heels, packing up the kit and tucking it away. She shivered briefly, her lips set in a slight puckering frown as she looked back up to him. "So where's your pack? I'll go get it for you." A risky offer, but made all the same.

 

[Saul Talith]

He chuckled slightly. "If you think Leane will let you go anywhere near my things you're sorely mistaken."

A hand reached up and ran through his hair.

"She'd break both your arms and not apologize after I ran in and told her the truth." She was a fierce woman, not one to cross and particularly protective of her friends. Sometimes she could almost be as bad as Ana when it came to that sort of thing. "I'll go."

He said with a wave. "I'd rather be embarrassed than cause some sort of trouble."

Saul paused a moment, considering. "I'll just say you stole my clothes while I was bathing. Your father won't hear of...well."

Better than the truth filtering back he supposed.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska's lip's pulled back and forehead crinkled in an abrupt wave of distress. The very mention of her father had her groaning and smacking her face into her hands, dread fulling her.

"Maybe I'll just get lucky and die to the Liche's hand instead," she practically whined, the crippling dread she felt at the idea of returning home now only intensifying.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Don't worry about it." He said as he slowly rose from the rock, his fingers flexing slightly as he got rid of that odd tingling feeling in his side.

"The man isn't unreasonable." Saul told her. "Just an asshole."

It was important to remember that. There was a job still to be done, and as long as they did that no one could criticize them. Any reasonable person could see that. "Ranger's are good for plenty of things. Fighting and killing Liches? Not so much."

That wasn't an insult, just fact.

Off hand he'd already known more than both Kaska and her superior whom had apparently spent a week researching the thing. It was a testament to the fact that Saul had spent his life fighting the underworld of Arethil.

 

[Kaska]

"Really? Cause for me it's like the opposite," she grumbled, standing with him. She refrained from saying further. Already she had given him more of her life than even Lia had. A strange concept to her. But perhaps it was fleeting aspect of their time together that made it easy for her. Without effort, he understood her life and the people in it, making it easy to give him things that not many could comprehend. And come tomorrow he'd either be dead or set back home, and the likelyhood of ever seeing him again ...

Slim to none. Rangers didn't fight liches. He was right. "Lessgo. I'll at least watch in the trees." She needed to witness this, her thoughts already set on the two other ranger's on board. Please be asleep?