Completed Templar: Why did it have to be vampire rats?

[Saul Talith]

There was nothing really more to say on the subject, not yet anyway.

Saul was not the type to plan assassinations or killings, he was not going to sit here and scheme about a Templar Massacre. He couldn't. He would be reactive in this as he always was. If the other two moved on him then he would move back, it was that simple. That easy.

Though of course, it wasn't easy at all. If they decided to move his actions would have to be swift, the others would have to move with him and there was no telling what the other two thirds of Templar in the city would do.

The feeling gave him a pit in his stomach.

"If I succeed we'll likely leave here." He commented quietly.

Alliria had been the home of Broken Sword for as long as anyone could remember, but the Templar had never been on particularly...good terms with the city. In fact it was more accurate to say that the Merchant Council outright despised them. They were a foreign military entity, something no government liked.

 

[Anastasia]

Anastasia let it drop, sensing his reluctance to think it through further, while she wanted every detail scoped out.

She let out a shaky breath, her body buzzing with adrenaline from the reveal. "I'll miss the place," she told him, an ache biting in her chest. That was an understatement. They both cherished their home here. It would be a sacrifice for all to start over. It seemed like no matter what, change was coming. And it was going to force them out.

Her hand stilled in his, griping a little tighter.

"I'm not like you. I can't envision futures. I don't want to see past this moment. I don't want him to die," she confessed. "And I know you don't either." She turned her head into his shoulder, closing her eyes at the pain of the thought.

She sat up a little straighter, slowly accepting it all. "Perhaps I will go into the city tonight. See if I can't find an architect. If things go to plan, maybe he can review Herath once you have completed the summit."

 

[Saul Talith]

"If it's in any state to review." None of them had seen the great Fortress before, not outside of the pictures in the Archives anyway.

It had always been something of a dream of his though, occupy the great Fortress and bring life into it once more. There was something...appealing about that. More than just this simple manner house in the Outer-City, more than just being stuck in Alliria. He wanted it.

"But." He said with a smile. "That would be nice."

His fingers tightened for a moment. "At the very least we'll get to see it."

Saul sound half excited at the prospect. Herath almost as large as Alliria itself, enough to hold an entire Legion of Templars and then some. In ages past it had been a bastion against Evil, not little more than a crumbling ruin. In an odd sort of way, it was a representation of the Templar themselves.

 

[Anastasia]

She smiled tightly back, nodding. That settled it. Tonight she would go into town and hire one for him. It wouldn't take much to pay a few coins for silence and write him off as a general helping hand to all the knights and their horses.

She smiled a little more at the childlike wonder that hit his voice whenever he spoke of Herath. As much as she didn't subscribe to such dream-like thinking, she never wanted to crush his quirk of it either.

"I bet its still standing," she found herself adding, subtly trying to lift the man's spirits. "I bet there's still stain glass windows and white marble pillars. I bet you could make a meeting room amongst it." She nudged him. "There's not nothing you haven't done once I've watched you set your mind to it."

 

[Saul Talith]

"Maybe." Saul wasn't entirely sure about that. He knew that at least some part of the Fortress was still up, mostly because he'd sent a scout to check it out.

When he'd chosen Herath as a meeting place he had done so consciously. It was a symbol of what the Templar once were, of what they could be again if the cards were correctly played. That was why he wanted it so badly, why he needed everyone to meet up there.

It would put them in the right spirit.

"I suppose we'll see." The other Chapters were so different by now that they might as well have been other Orders. "As long as I have all of you by my side I can't fail."

Unless they were all killed, but he doubted that would happen.

Or rather, he hoped it wouldn't.

 

[Anastasia]

Anastasia frowned at the lingering uncertainty in his voice, finding it unsettling. It wasn't like him, but she supposed ... this also wasn't a normal moment for the man either. She glanced up, studying his face.

"Hey," she murmured, trying to call his attention from his thoughts and down to this moment. Once he looked at her, she smiled sadly. "We're right here. Always, alright? One moment at a time, you can't tackle the world in a day," she nudged his side in a gentle chastising, then gestured to the pond.

"Let's just enjoy home, it's been a while." She used his words against him.

 

[Saul Talith]

A part of him didn't even know how to 'enjoy' home anymore.

A part of that was due to the paranoia he felt here. The slight thought that someone was going to make their move before the Old Man passed. In his logical mind he knew that they would not, could not, but the fear was firmly there. It was not something he could just push away or get rid of in an instant, as much as he would have liked to.

Still, he tried. "What, find a closet and play seven minutes in Thiria?"

It was a child's kissing game of course, named after the legendary city where supposedly everyone lived a lavish life of luxury. Most of the Templar their age had played it, hell he would guess most kids had at one point or another.

It was all in good fun.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana blushed, heat filling her cheeks at the reminder of their games. "As if you even need seven minutes," she teased, nudging him again.

She tried to bite back her smile, more modest as an adult than she was in her teens. "You could always come with me to the city tonight. Could find a tavern, wing man you girl," she offered, glancing at him once before blushing and looking forward.

"It's been a long moment since we've had a free night. No one would blame us. It could be fun." She stated, glancing up again, this time mischievously.

 

[Saul Talith]

He smiled slightly, glancing at her. "Not that easy for me anymore."

Saul spoke truth.

Unfortunately for him he now had a reputation within the city, a small one, but it was still there. He was Saul Talith, Commander of the Broken Sword and one of the Templar who had a knack for fighting with the Rangers and pushing around the City Guard whenever he could.

Quite a lot of folk didn't like him here.

"But." She was right. They needed time to relax, time to have a free night. "I'm willing to risk it."

 

[Anastasia]

She grinned, reaching up and twisting his mustache into shape for him. "Good." She patted his chest and pulled apart, stretching. "Go get yourself prettied up. No armor this time! I'm telling you, that's what gave you away last time. You shouldn't- Nah-uh!" She held up a finger, silencing any protest.

"Leathers at most. And wash your pits." She grinned wider, excited. "Cause you smell." She patted his cheek in an patronizing, affectionate manner, despite looking a few years younger than him. Truth was, they didn't know her age. She hadn't even had a name when she joined up. That didn't stop her from acting like his superior though, the woman prone to mothering those she cared most about.

She offered him a hand up. "Meet up at dusk?" She would rent a room and find her architect the next morning then. There were also a few personal things she would buy when she found the chance.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Dusk is fine." He needed a bath anyway.

Still, the only clothing that he had was branded with the emblem of the Broken Sword Templar. It was not entirely his own decision to have it that way of course, mostly coming about as a fact of his situation.

The only life he'd ever known had been in the Templar. His clothing came from there, his food, everything in fact.

"I'll meet you at the gates." Saul told her. "Don't tell the others. We'll be likely to start a riot if we all go out."

A fact that had nearly been proven more than once.

 

[Anastasia]

She did their childhood salute and left him there, a few tricks up her sleeves for when she saw him next.

Which was promptly at dusk, the woman's hair washed and left down for once, framing her face in waves. She wore a cloak, masking her frame, and a pack was strung up over one arm. She held her horse steady besides her, grinning at him as he approached her.

"For you," she chirped at him, tossing the bag his way. On top of the pile was green cotton tunic, new and good for belting in the current Arillia's fashion. It would also cover the brands that marked him for what he was. It was no secret that she hated the nights out being ruined. Mostly because she always offered them to bolster someone's spirits. Being harassed was not bolstering.

She slipped off her Templar cloak, revealing a similar unmarked tunic. It was shapeless and could have fit any of their bodies, but then again that was the point.

Of course she had gone out of her way to secure these for them. Gestures and efforts like this were very Ana.

She waited for him to pull it out of the bag for a closer look, shoving her cloak in the open space. "Well go on, try it on. Belting should do the trick."

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul showed no modesty as he pulled off the Templar Tunic, well muscled flesh flexing as he threw the cloth at Ana. If she didn't catch it in time she'd find it covering her face.

The tunic that she had given him was plain enough that nobody would see it for anything other than what it was, though his more distinctive features were obviously still showing. He had pulled his hair back into a tight ponytail, but his mustache was still there and hard eyes were something he could not change.

Anyone that he'd run into before would doubtlessly recognize him. "Good enough."

He commented, glancing down at himself.

Adjusting the sword on his hip he glanced around, wondering if other Templar did this sort of thing in other cities around the world.

 

[Anastasia]

Anastasia smiled, pleased. She didn't want to change who they were. She just wanted to give them a fair chance.

The only real thing she missed about her old life was her ability to move unrecognized throughout the crowds. The Templars had not only given her a name, but a reputation that- ugh. That was the only part she did not like.

"Good enough," she reiterated. She packed up his tunic and tossed the bag back over her back, saddling up with ease. "Hiya!" She set them off, the city an easy ride away.

 

[Saul Talith]

The Inner-city was close, the compound being located in the outskirts of the Outer-City near Alliria's main wall. The ride was quick enough, though people balked and yelled at them as they attempted to trudge through the muk that had gathered within the streets over the last few rainy days.

They were peasants of course, the folk that lived in the outer-city because they could only just barely survive enough to make it out of the slums. Saul had nothing against them, in fact had it not been for the Templar he might have dreamed of being one of them. Still, they were an angry lot.

"Careful!" He called out to Ana.

"The guards at the gate." He reminded her as they neared the passage to the Inner-City of Alliria. "They'll want to speak to us."

They always wanted to speak to everyone, make sure to keep 'undesirables' out.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana acknowledged him with a grim nod, expecting to be recognized there, at the very least.

She slowed her horse, though she yearned to burst past the guards and not have to deal with them at all. Still, she brought herself to a respectful trot up to the gates, shrugging her shoulders to adjust her bag and break her squared posture.

"Lieutenant," she acknowledged politely, recognizing the man there.

He shoved off the wall with a huff, his face growing red at the sight of them. "Oi. No. Not again, you folk get out of here."

She grimaced, looking down at her intentionally informal wear. "I'm just here to visit a friend and stay the night. Surely you can't turn me away for that."

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul deliberately stayed quiet.

Though much of the city watch most certainly didn't know him, most of their officers did. He'd run into all of them at one point or another, fighting about who was going to kill a monster or what had done which murder.

It was safe to say that the Allirian City Guard was a massive pain in the ass for Saul, and more than once there had been brawls or challenges of duels. He'd turned them down of course, knowing that killing one of them would just make things that much worse. Even if it was lawful.

So he sat quietly on his horse, expression as blank as he could make it.

As far as they were concerned he was simply Ana's lover, perhaps joining her and her friend. Easy enough to believe really.

 

[Anastasia]

The man huffed at her. "Very well. But if I hear about you getting involved in anymore tuffles-"

"Never, sir." She smiled warmly. "Can't stand them."

He eyed her for a moment long and waved them in, barely glancing at Saul.

Her shoulders slumped in relief, a glance tossed back at Saul before she kicked up her horse and rode through the winding streets. She took them deep, going left, right, right, left. It was almost as if she was trying to get them lost. At the very least, she was trying to get them somewhere new. A good thirty minutes later, she pulled up on the warm bustle of a tavern stacked between two closed stores.

"This looks nice," she commented, tucking her hair between her ear and jumping down. Random lights were lit up on the floors above it, suggesting an inn on the floors there. Perfect. Across the street she saw a stable and gestured to it, leading her horse over and fetching out two small coins out of her meager purse for the boy that greeted them.

She stretched and turned back towards the inn, excitement lighting up her eyes. It had been many months since she had had an outing like this. She took Saul's arm and led him in.

 

[Saul Talith]

The common room was about as busy as he'd expected it to be, actually busier.

Dozens of people sat inside, most of them herded to one table or another. A few of them were standing, watching game of dice or what appeared to be poker. Saul watched them for just a few seconds, then felt another tug on his arm as Ana lead him over towards the bar.

Before they made it there the Commander spotted a group of men and women in the corner. They wore the tight leather armor of the Rangers, green cloaks marking them out of the crowd. He frowned for just a brief second but decided to ignore them, turning his attention towards the barkeep.

"Two whiskys." He called out to the man, pulling coins from his pocket.

Templar were not paid, but most of them found a way to make a bit of coin here and there. Sometimes they were even simply given it by a kind person they had helped.

 

[Anastasia]

"And a room too please," Ana pulled out the large coins from her purse and winked at Saul, placing them in the pile.

The bar keep grunted and scooped up the pile, first serving the whisky before going to call the headmistress to fetch the assignment and the key.

Anastasia tucked away her purse, only a few coins remaining, and accepted the glass with a pleased expression. "Don't you go getting in a tiff with them," she murmured over the lip, holding the contents to her nose for an appreciative moment before sipping.

She cleared her throat through the burn and looked over at him. "It's going to be a stress free night, remember?" Yet the night outs rarely ever were, despite her greatest, hopeful efforts.

"Any girls catch you yet?" She asked, trying to keep him on track. Or rather.. off his usual track.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul looked around the common room for a few seconds, lips thinning as he observed the crowd. His fingers grasped the small glass of whisky, his eyes falling on the brackish liquid as if he doubted it was actually what the barkeep had claimed. After a few seconds he tipped the glass to his lips and sank the drink.

"Only one." The Commander said with a smile, looking down at her.

They both knew that he had never really been one for Common Room trollops. Simply wasn't his style nor his place. His enjoyment had always come from a job well done, from doing what he was supposed to do, and from those around him.

Some in particular.

As much as Ana might try a common room simply wasn't his idea of fun. He could indulge her though, and he would try his best to do so.

 

[Anastasia]

Heat rushed to Ana's cheeks, understanding that comment in an instant. She held back a smile, it creeping into her cheeks, and looked down to her drink. She swirled it. She drank it. She looked back up, amused but willing to be the object of his attention.

Rendezvous within their group were not unheard of. It felt fairly natural to find comfort in each other when living so closed off and differently from the rest of the world. Especially as budding teens.

Still, as they grew into their positions their dedication to the work curbed the most frequent occurrences of it. Except for nights like this, when she dared to assume he was looking at her again.

She wasn't going to let him get off that easily though. There was some enjoyment to be found in watching him flounder with others. "Oh?" She asked, quirking a brow and grinning a little. "Which one, point her out, still can't figure out your type yet."

 

[Saul Talith]

She was of course playing coy, the heat in her cheeks was more than obvious as a tell.

The truth was though that neither of them had ever had much of a life outside of the Templar. They'd been given the choice of course, but both of them had rejected. The entire 'class' of their age had rejected it in fact. That was what partially made them all so close.

It had it's ups and downs, tempers could flare, and they could fight like siblings, but the bond was a plus that no one could really argue with. "Well."

His fingers stretched out and brushed across her cheek for just a moment.

"I think she might have left." He lied, a smile on his face. "She was wearing armor, carrying a sword, haven't seen her in here before though."

 

[Anastasia]

Her breath caught when he brushed her cheeks, an horrifically open book when it came to her emotions. She forced it off with a laugh, scooting her stool closer to him. "So you like them armored, eh? All those ... sexy metal curves," she teased, glancing around before shifting her attention back to him.

"Ya, no. None of that here. Unless you're talking about that Ranger..."

Her hand slipped to his knee, using it to hold her up as she leaned closer to him and purposely turned her head so he would follow his gaze to one curvaceous leathered girl in a green cloak. She glanced back to him, an eyebrow raised. "Hm?"

 

[Saul Talith]

"Gross." Saul said with a smile.

Most Templar didn't like Rangers.

Through the centuries there had been many clashes with them over territory and duties within the Reaches. Neither organization had any backing from the city, and neither had any laws to follow or regulate them. Of course that lead to conflict, and more than once said conflict had lead to blows.

It didn't help that during the third schism the Ranger's had taken the opportunity to tear down half a dozen Templar Fortresses, though...truthfully the reality of that situation was far different than many understood. The Templar War they called it, though for most of his Order it was simply the third schism.

For his own part Saul didn't mind the Rangers too much. Some of them were decent folk, others were complete and utter pricks. Kind of like most people. "Probably smells like moss."