Fable - Ask Start Again

[Tobias Pirian]

Tobias adjusted his glasses, unfazed.
"Frequent nightmares, insomnia, migraines, bouts of dissociation, uncharacteristic fits of anger..." the noble made a rolling gesture with his hand before recounting a summary all that Evangeline had shared with him in her own investigation. "All symptoms that Lieutenant Cambridge reportedly shared, just prior to Sable coming under her command. That is, until they miraculously dissipated while Sable was in Zettal. An event which she was not present for."

That was the great mystery, wasn't it? Certainly not ordinary for an apparent medical condition to just vanish. Especially not one that seemed to have somehow hopped between hosts, or at least been carried by one and caught by the other.

"Psychiatric evaluations since Sable's incarceration have shown a similar dissipation of the aforementioned symptoms. In fact, Sable now seems to be a perfectly healthy, well adjusted young man, sans a general air of melancholy."

 

[Samantha Black]

A trained medic or doctor she was not, though Sam supposed if she wanted a further evaluation beyond the Proctor Healer, she could request assessment by Doctor Sirl. Her brow furrowed in though for a moment as she made a mental note to make that letter fly regardless of today's outcome. The Lady Sirl was a reliable sort and if anyone else could shed further light on Sable's ailments, or know someone who could. it might be her.

"Has he had any visits from familiar faces since his imprisonment?"

 

[Tobias Pirian]

Tobias breathed a sigh.
"Only Miss D'Amour," Tobias answered, a slight tinge of concern washing over his mien as the topic was brought up. "There are...shockingly few graduates left from your class year, Lieutenant. You; your subordinate, Sergeant Davi; Miss Beatrix of House Umbra; my niece, of course, and a few more...the majority of the others have either gone rogue, chosen exile, or perished, I'm afraid."

Indeed, it had been an encounter with a rogue from their very class that had triggered Sable's fury in Zettal.

 

[Samantha Black]

She didn't need him to recount the low numbers of her class. Sam was well aware of what had happened to a number of her fellow Initiates and, frankly, she didn't particularly care. Those she had wanted to maintain contact with, she did. The others? So far as she'd been concerned, if they'd never met again in her lifetime she wouldn't be upset about it.

It wasn't anything personal, she just rather leave her life at the Academy exactly where it belonged: in the past.

"And what support has he received during his imprisonment?" she moved purposefully past the conversation regarding her classmates, finding no need to discuss any of them.

 

[Tobias Pirian]

No frills whatsoever on this one, just as before.
"Regular psychiatric visits, at least since the investigations began. Sable is not particularly inclined to speak of he doesn't feel required to, from what I understand, but he is generally cooperative."

 

[Samantha Black]

"And are they recommending he maintain regular psychiatric visits should I elect to take him back to Vel Castere?"

This certainly was a long ride. How big was this place?

 

[Tobias Pirian]

A tap came from the carriage's driver and Tobias glanced out the carriage's window. The section of the fortress that was the prison was in eye-shot now.

"As I mentioned before, his evaluations have turned up perfectly normal. He is depressed, not disturbed; something a bit of work and accomplishment can easily resolve, I should think. The most conservative recommendation was that he receive a standard Guard mental health evaluation once a quarter rather than annually."

The carriage came to a slow halt and Tobias began to move to exit the vehicle.
"We've arrived. You're more than welcome to confirm his current state for yourself, Lieutenant. Shall we?"

 

[Samantha Black]

She wasn't sure if confirmation was really what she was here for. Sam was no more qualified to verify one person's mental state than a farmer in the field was - she'd leave that to the professionals. If they deemed Sable sound of mind in their books, she'd just have to trust in their expertise on the matter and make up her own damn mind about whether or not he was worth the liability.

The Lieutenant followed her host out of the carriage without another word and gave herself a moment to take in the view before and around her. Most prisons looked the same and she'd seen plenty of them over the duration of her Initiate career, but this one at least appeared well kept and managed. Most places she'd been to (and in as a prisoner) were dark, dingey, and woefully unmaintained.

"Is he expecting me?" Sam asked after Tobias as she followed him inside.

She wasn't sure what would be worse: him being surprised by her arrival or dealing with the unknown of what opinion remained of her after their last encounter at the Academy over Zael.

 

[Tobias Pirian]

Tobias walked at an even pace from the carriage to the front entrance of the prison, the Stormguard from before hopping down as well to follow his lord and Samantha into the building.
"In a manner of speaking. He was informed you would be coming when your correspondence arrived. His exact response was, I believe, 'I don't know anyone by that name.'"

Vel Salvus prison was indeed well maintained. While it was rather drab, the interior was kept clean and well staffed. Even in matters of detention, House Pirian preferred to keep things fairly pristine and humane. Leaving such a facility and its denizens to languish in decay simply would not do.

Lord Pirian was guided inside by one of the guards at the door, and a quick exchange with the receptionist saw to it that another prison guard would show the trio to their ultimate destination.

Sable's cell was like any of the others the group passed along the way: stone, windowless, with steel bars and a heavy iron door sealing its inhabitant within. Said inhabitant sat slumped on a cot in the back corner of the room, head down and silent. A metal collar--one of which Samantha might've been familiar--was clamped around the young man's neck, faint runes dully glowing in the dim light of the cell.

Tobias cleared his throat, the prison guard and Stormguard standing ready in case anything happened to go wrong.
"Ser Pembroke--Sable. You have a visitor. The one that was previously mentioned, Lieutenant Samantha Black?"

There was no visible response from Sable, though it was obvious he was breathing. Tobias glanced to Samantha and held his hand out in a gesture, as if to say "the floor is yours."

 

[Samantha Black]

Hadn't been sure what to expect of the Dreadlord she'd once known. The last state of him she'd seen had been quite the sorry thing - directly following their graduation and all the chaos that had ensued. She'd still gone by the name Ralene then and she'd been swimming between the tides of exhaustion, fury, confusion, and concern that flooded her life in that one single day.

Lieutenant Black's boots deftly echoed in a quiet but steady gait as she made her way to the front of his cell and peered in. Pirian introduced her and she caught his gesture within her peripheral vision, but she didn't break her gaze from the man within the cell. That wasn't Sable. That was someone she didn't know that went by a familiar name. She could smell it - the change that had taken over him just as it had for every other one of her fellow Initiates she'd managed to meet again. Even if it hadn't been that long - over a year now, maybe two? - the change of their lives had sent them all spinning, reeling, to evolve in new and different ways that none of them were really prepared for.

Sam stared in silence for a good long while. Giving herself time to really take it all in and allow herself - nay, will herself to feel ... something. Anything.

All she could dredge up in that moment was pity. A sentiment she would have spat at coming from anyone else. Even still. With a slow and deep breath, Sam lowered herself to stoop down on the balls of her feet, elbows lightly resting on her thighs, and gave herself a slightly better view of the eyes belonging to Sable Pembroke.

"Sable," she spoke finally, a voice quite unchanged from the one he knew belonging to Ralene Banick, if but a bit deeper and rougher from her time away, "look at me."

An echo of the words she'd spoken to him in the infirmary that day following graduation, right when Sable seemed to be losing himself. She hadn't recognized those signs then, but she would be more vigilant now. If he looked at her, he'd find her gaze of steely blue staring back at him through the bars, steady and calm as the ocean on a quiet day.

"Are you with me?"

 

[Sable Pembroke]

Signs of life. Sable stirred, lifting his head to look from behind loose locks of unkempt hair. That voice. He knew that voice. He knew those words. Sable's eyes met Samantha's.
"Ralene...?"

He stared at her, confused, searching his memory for an answer. "Lieutenant Samantha Black." That was what Lord Pirian had called her, twice now. Was someone trying to mess with him? Was this some kind of cruel joke?

"What's going on? Why are you here?"

His gaze shifted to Tobias. The Pirian lord seemed unfazed.

"Calm down, lad. The Lieutenant is here to check on you. Don't think of it as any different from one of your evaluations."

Sable looked back to Ralene. Samantha. Whoever this was. He shifted forward in his cot until his legs hung over the side and his feet touched the floor. The fire in his eyes was long gone. No more was the energetic Sable that Ralene once knew. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, his shoulders hunched forward as if to carry the burden of the guilt he felt on his very back. Yet still, he answered.

"...I'm with you."

Signs of life.

 

[Samantha Black]

So he did not know about her new identity. Unsurprising - the only people that knew were the ones that needed to, and up until this point Sable had no reason to know. Sam had no idea what had happened to him after graduation that had gotten him here aside from the reports given to her, but if she were to approach this in the same respect she'd approached the inclusion of Davi or Elias into the Knights, she'd eventually need him to open up to her.

They weren't friends, but they also weren't enemies either. For years they'd been just two ships passing in the night, occasionally squaring off at the behest of their superiors back in the Academy. She begrudged him nothing.

A silent nod was his reply and Samantha Black slowly rose to her full height again, her eyes never leaving his own. It was always interesting to see how the others had changed since they last interacted, and for the most part everyone had changed for the better. Sable looked like hell - curious how it was the one of honor who was now the worst off of them all if one did not take into account what had become of those that had left into exile.

"You're in a boat," Sam began, hands coming to clasp lightly at her back in usual militant stance, "with a child, its parent, and an elder. The boat begins to sink and you are the only one who can swim. You can only save one of them, if you try to save more you will all assuredly drown."

"Who do you save?"

 

[Sable Pembroke]

She was...testing him? Right. Lord Pirian had just said it was an evaluation. Sable's eyes followed Ralene upwards as she stood, and he breathed and thought for a moment. His head felt more clear now than it had in months.

He'd heard this sort of hypothetical before, back at the Academy. He knew what the "correct" answer was, but he never much cared for it. He was never quite that pragmatic.

"The elder has presumably lived a long life and is the least likely to survive even with help," he began after his pause. "The parent would be the most practical. An able bodied adult doesn't need to be taken care of once brought ashore, and can always have another child. But..."

Flashes of Isabelle's face played in his mind and he shook them away. Acceptance was a long and weary road, but it was one worth walking. Her shade had helped him back in Zettal. That had to mean something.
"I hate that answer. A parent would never let their child drown when they have the chance to save them. I wouldn't disrespect that wish. I would save the child."

There were several other reasons he could have given as well, but conviction felt more apt than practicality.

 

[Samantha Black]

The Lieutenant's expression remained unchanged at the answer.

"Same question, only your superior officer orders you to save the parent and leave the elder and child. What do you do?"

 

[Sable Pembroke]

Sable's brow furrowed.

"If the officer is there to give orders, the officer can save the parent. I'm done killing children because my 'superiors' ordered me to."

 

[Samantha Black]

Again she remained impassive. A moment of silent consideration followed before she looked to Tobias, "I've heard enough. You'll have my decision tomorrow."

Without anything further, Sam turned and exited the cell block from the same way she arrived to it.

 

[Sable Pembroke]

That was it? Gone already? Was that really all she needed to know? All she wanted to know? That couldn't be right, not after all this time. Maybe she'd made her mind up about Sable long before she got here. There was just something that was nagging at him now, like the name of a book on the tip of his tongue.

"Are you with me?"
​

Sable flinched, and a memory flooded back into his brain.

"I did what I had to survive. We all did."
​

That was it. The last time they'd spoken. The last time they'd met. If she was about to consign Sable to the remainder of his days in this cell...so be it. He'd earned it. But if this was also the last time he'd see her, then there was something that needed to be said.
"Ralene, wait!"

 

[Samantha Black]

"That's not my name anymore, Sable," echoed the Lieutenant's response without any falter of stride or looking back. She made it to the cell block exit, paused for the posted Guards to open the door, and quietly took her leave.

There were two things in life she'd learned from Captain Holstag that had really, really stuck with her through the years.

One: never make big decisions on an empty stomach.
Two: if you don't need a ride to get where you're going, walk.

A great deal of decision making and thinking was done while walking or eating. Sometimes while doing both. The old addage of "sleep on it" never really applied to her, since Sam had the penchant for being able to sleep anywhere, at any time, whenever given the opportunity to do so with nothing else pressing on her priorities. Sleep did not hold nearly so much value as food. All through their years at the Academy a good meal had been hard won and very rare - the definition of good was entirely dependent on one's definition of not good.

Sam had eaten boot leather before to survive, so most anything purposefully grown or made to be edible was good by her standards. Luckily she was a long walk away from a good, home-cooked meal at whatever tavern inn she found first in Vel Salvus.

 

[Tobias Pirian]

Tobias watched the brief exchange between Samantha and Sable with intrigue, and when it ended abruptly, he watched as Sable slumped back into the corner of his cell. The Pirian lord let out a quiet hum of curiosity, even the guards looking slightly confused at the way the exchange had turned out.

"Very well," Tobias spoke at last. "On the morrow, then. We shall be back."

With that, the noble and his guard made their retreat as well, to reconvene later.

Fortunately enough for Sam, she was in a Pirian-held land; food was aplenty and delectable, the inn providing her with perhaps the best hot meal she may have had in a long while.

---

Night came and went, dawn breaking over the cold, stone hold of Vel Salvus. Mountain songbirds flitted over houses and through the streets, treating listeners to their pleasant little cacophony.

Samantha hadn't given the location of her lodging to anyone, but tracking her down hadn't been terribly difficult. An envoy had located her before too long, delivering a polite request of a time for meeting once more. Once all was settled, Tobias would be waiting for her back at the prison. As, assuredly, would Sable.

 

[Samantha Black]

A letter flew to Vel Castere that evening.

In the morning, Sam arrived back to the prison without any fanfare aside from the envoy. Her demeanor: quiet and business-like as she found herself in the company of Tobias Pirian once again.

"Lord Tobias," she greeted him shortly, forgoing any sort of morning banter that nobles likely exchanged at such an hour. It was quite early and she meant to take her leave with as few delays as possible. It was a long journey back home and there was a lot to do in order to prepare for their arrival.

"I will accept Pembroke into my care with some conditions. The first being that he is issued a new wardrobe for the journey back. His current personal possessions are to remain here. We will fit him for new armor and weapons in Castere. Second, he will undergo a six month probationary period where he will be trained and assessed for the Knights. Should he pass the trials, he may reclaim his possessions from you at that time. Should he fail, he will be returned here and back into your care."

"Third," Sam took a breath but her gaze did not waver from Tobias, "should he at any point suffer another break down while under my care, he will be taken under the jurisdiction of the Western Army and contained there for any potential crimes committed. That is non-negotiable by command of General Blackforge."

 

[Tobias Pirian]

Lord Pirian regarded Samantha as she approached and listened patiently and carefully as she laid out her terms. He continued to eye her studiously for a moment, then nodded his head once in agreement.
"Then it shall be so," he replied plainly, apparently satisfied. For a moment he shifted his gaze to an attendant and made a gesture as if scribbling in the air. The attendant scurried off, presumably to fetch parchment and a pen. "If you don't yet have this contract laid out in ink I shall have it written up for your review immediately, just as you've worded it. I'll also have my attendants acquire some climate-appropriate clothing for him."

Tobias looked to a nearby guard next.
"Prepare young Ser Pembroke to be released into Lieutenant Black's custody with due haste, if you would. I'm quite certain we've taken up enough of her valuable time as is."

And finally the Pirian noble looked back to Samantha. A rare smile bridged his lips.
"You have my sincerest thanks for making this journey, Lieutenant. I wish both you and Sable all the best in Vel Castere."

 

[Sable Pembroke]

It took no more than half an hour for all the paperwork to be properly drafted, signed, and filed. Before Sable could question what was happening he'd been given a slapdash "bath" (cold water hastily poured over him, soap applied, more water, then quickly toweled off), and fresh clothes of fairly nice make were delivered to him. The guards instructed him to put some of them on, and much to his surprise they were sized appropriately for his relative immensity.

Before the end of that half-hour span Sable stood before Samantha, free of shackles or bindings, freshly clothed, though still rather shaggy. Lord Pirian approached from behind and patted him on the back.

"You are henceforth under the command of Lieutenant Black, Dreadlord Pembroke, and are granted a conditional pardon on behalf of House Pirian. See to it that you do not disappoint us, my boy," Tobias told him and gave him a handshake. "Safe travels, the both of you. May you find the balance of Lady Isolde."

Sable blinked at the information being fed to him, brushing off the old Pirian expression.
"Um...thank you, my Lord," he replied hesitantly.

"Offer your thanks to Lieutenant Black, and perhaps Miss D'Amour and Kristen. All I did was write a few letters and sign a few papers. Until we meet again, my boy. Let it be under better circumstances, yes?"

With that, Tobias was off, and it was just Sable and Samantha. He looked down to his apparent new commanding officer pensively.
"...I'll admit: I wasn't expecting you to go along with all this, Ra--" he cut himself off. That wasn't her name anymore, she'd said. "Er...Samantha, was it?"

 

[Samantha Black]

There weren't too many former Initiates that out-bulked Sam, but Sable had always been one of them. Took her a moment to adjust to the fuzzy memory of the Initiate she once knew and last saw just after their graduation. He'd been in a sorry state then and Sam wasn't convinced he was in any better of a state now. The Lieutenant blinked up at him unsmiling but not necessarily unfriendly, brow knitting inward just slightly.

"That's because you don't know me," she stated flatly, "but yes, you can call me Sam when you're off-duty. Ma'am, Sir, or Lieutenant when you're not."

A short look-over told her that he'd been well-equipped for the journey home. As requested, he had no armor or weapons to speak of, but Sam knew he didn't need them. Not really. None of them did.

"Let's get moving. It's a ten day ride back to Vel Castere. You can ask any questions on the way."

 

[Sable Pembroke]

"'Sam'...simple enough," he echoed, keeping pace behind her. She was eager to go, and Sable would not be caught dead being a burden to her now.

Her requested decorum was easy enough to recall, and the change in name probably wouldn't be too difficult to manage. They really hadn't gone on many missions together back in the Academy. The closest thing they'd ever done to a bonding exercise was the several months they spent in the rain during the Siege of Wissburg. No one was enjoying themselves at the Siege of Wissburg. After that came the Bloody Graduation, and then...

"I...wanted to say, yesterday. About back then. In the infirmary, after the graduation. I've had a lot of time to think about my mistakes and..." the look on Ral's--Sam's face was not one that he thought he'd ever forget. Maybe if Sable had said what he should have in that moment things wouldn't have all gone so wrong. "Zael was wrong. About you, about everything. I couldn't see it back then, and it should have been just as obvious as it is now."

Zael, the rogue terrorist. Samantha, the Anirian Knight. Like night and day.
"I mistook your pragmatism for heartlessness, because I was blinded by my own deluded, naïve obsession with 'honor.' For that, I'm sorry."

He felt like a fool as the words tumbled clumsily out of his mouth, but it would have ate at him if he didn't say it. Sam, he imagined, wasn't likely one to derive any sentimental value out of anything he was saying...but then again, she was right. Sable didn't know her. He straightened his back and gave her the tightest salute he could muster.
"All that to say, I hope to come to know you serving under you, ma'am. I won't let you down."

 

[Samantha Black]

There was much that could be said on the subject of their Graduation, what happened, the people involved, those that had died, those that had survived, and what became of them all afterward. Herself, Davi, Sable, Zael, Everleigh, Edric, Noel ... the list went on. It was too long and the years far too many between them to hold grudges for everything. Sam never liked to hold grudges - it took far too much effort to be mad about something you couldn't change - but Zael had well and truly chipped her shoulder that day.

And perhaps only after hearing the news about his defection, his crimes, and the many innocent lives he'd taken had only made that chip more pronounced. There were plenty of things that Sam couldn't abide by and hypocrisy was one of them. She kept walking while Sable kept talking, allowing that entire scene from the woods, carrying Zael's bleeding and limp form back to the infirmary, plying him away from that retched nurse, watching him spit undue hatred from his eyes at her... all of it replayed before her mind's eye.

In all that, Sable was but an afterthought. That he'd not spoken up or moved to confront Zael had never truly registered in her mind. It paled in comparison to the thankless virulence from the firebrand.

No, if she remembered anything of Sable it was the look on his face when she read him the riot act of reality at Wissburg. That they couldn't wait for honor to save the day because honor meant more lives lost in the end. Cutting out cancer wasn't meant to be an honorable act, but a lifesaving one, and sometimes you had to make scars to get it done.

Sam's footsteps gave pause as she heard his own come to a halt behind her and for a moment she glanced back to see his salute. Funny, she still wasn't used to being saluted by her classmates, but there it was.

"Honor has its place," she replied, "in the moments between doing the right thing and doing what you can. Honor is welcome, but leave the past in the past, Pembroke." Her boots pressed on again, "At ease, Soldier."

It was about the closest thing to a thanks, apology accepted, as he would get out of her.

Eager to be on their way, Sam wasted no time in getting to the stables and astride their horses for the long journey home - a notion that was still quite as new to her as being saluted by fellow classmates. Home had for so long been a word that lacked meaning, and now it was a word that she gave to Vel Castere and the family of Knights waiting there for her. Relief to be moving in that direction was ever a pleasant thing.

"You'll begin with a six month probation period where you will receive training from myself and a few others. If you pass this period, you will then become an official Anirian Knight and member of my Squadron."