Fate - First Reply The Fate of Us All

[Samantha Black]

The banter was a welcome reprieve from the seriousness and severity of the mission. Ral snickered, seeing no other visible bruises and made to place the lid back on the tin, nodding along to his plan with the tavern girl.

But then he had to go and threaten her with his ass. Ralene had seen that ass and was of the opinion that it was a nice ass indeed. She would not be resentful of seeing it again. A cool, smug expression filtered over her face as she leaned a hand onto the table and cocked her hips off to one side, "Oh yeah? Let's see it then. If you're lying I'll put one there myself."

 

[Edric]

Edric smirked for a moment, half standing up as his hands drew over his own rear. "Ah you know what, I think I was wrong."

He patted his left cheek.

"Must be these damned chairs." The Initiate shook his head. "I'll get us some cushions while you're out."

Edric shook his head and offered her a quick shrug. "You know how pains in the asses are."

 

[Samantha Black]

Ral's eyes continued to narrow in wry mirth, "Pity, if you'd actually had one there I could have kissed it all better."

Obviously kisses worked better than healing salve. Eyeing Ed smugly, Ral pressed the tin of salve flat against his chest and left it into his clutches. Adding a few extra logs of wood to the fire, she tidied up the food and tossed the last of the leavings to the bin. There was something exceptionally satisfying about having helped put the roof over their heads. It would be good to sleep without feeling like they were exposed to potential enemies.

"I loosened a floorboard over here just under the bed. If you get a chance tomorrow, move our hidden stash to there."

 

[Edric]

"I'll have one for you when you get back." Edric jested.

He was getting his ass kicked tomorrow anyway. Just had to make sure that he made it look real. If he suddenly went from half-way decent to an utter wreck it would send up warning flares. At least to someone like Donric. The delicate nature of all this was...grating on him.

Edric really hadn't been made for all this. "I'll get it done."

He said with a nod.

A long sigh escaped him as he made his way towards the bed, plopping himself down and leaning against the far wall.

"It's going to be a long day." He remarked quietly. "But at least we won't get rained on."

 

[Samantha Black]

She glanced up at the roof, a brow raising, "Well, you won't. I'll be camping out tomorrow night. Might have a tent if I'm lucky." Ral wasn't holding her breath on that one. The Watch didn't seem to be provided with an awful lot in Wissburg and she couldn't say if that was due to financial limitations or just that they gave most, if not all, to the Temple. No matter, a little rain wouldn't be on the list of her concerns.

Tossing her jacket onto the chair she'd recently vacated, she took a seat on the bed next to Ed and kicked off her boots, then turned and flopped back onto the pillow. For several long moments she stared at the ceiling above, "I think I can make you an amulet, to protect your mind I mean," she looked aside at him, "I'm just not sure how we can test it."

 

[Edric]

He frowned for a brief moment. "Take the canvas then, just in case."

It had shielded them well enough before they'd gotten a roof, the thing was meager but with a few sticks could be propped up well enough. There was no telling what, if anything, Ralene would actually be given on this journey.

Another piece of the fucking mystery.

"Better something than nothing." Edric said with a frown. "Guess the only way to find out is to have it when I need it."

Even if it didn't work entirely, Edric would rather have something that might work. "It would make sense if whatever this…control is has a link to the religion."

Beyond just those who were orchestrating it.

”The Prayers, the ceremony.” He shook his head. ”It’s all…off from what I remember. Not how my mother worshiped.”

He could still barely remember that time, but he knew enough to say this was…wrong. The worship of Anirius had never been so open, so loud and vehement. The god his mother had spoken of had been kind, good, and his worship equally so. ”I wish I could remember more.”

Edric grunted.

 

[Samantha Black]

"Mm," she'd forgotten about the canvas. It could be useful for more than one thing. She'd be sure to pack it on her horse tomorrow.

Ral looked to him as he continued thinking aloud about the strange element of mind control in the city. Adding some form of worship breaker to the pendant might do the trick and, at the very least, if it didn't work she'd know the magic's power wasn't funneled through the religion.

Casually kicking her legs up to lay across and overtop Ed's lap while he remained sitting across the bed, Ralene folded one hand under her head to prop it up while the other idly pulled remnants of roofing materials from her hair, "I'm surprised you remember what little you do. Can't remember my mother at all."

 

[Edric]

It wasn't an uncommon sentiment among those whom he'd talked to about it before. "I was taken later."

Most Dreadlords were taken at the age of five or six, sometimes even younger. Magic displayed by then, and that was all most Parents needed to call the Proctors. For Edric had been a different experience, mostly because of the form of his magic.

"I was eight." He told her. "My magic didn't kill anyone until then, and everyone around me just felt...tired all the time."

That constant pull, the drain on the lives around him that he'd been until the Proctors had told him how to staunch the flow. It was a conscious effort even now, not to tug at the flickers of life that ran all over Wissburg. He'd even learned to do it in his sleep.

 

[Samantha Black]

Wasn't something Ral thought about much at all, if ever. She'd been given up early in her fifth year, and even though her recent trip into the city to the Tea House had revealed she'd grown up alongside the noble Viraks ... she could not remember any of it. Just one more reason to forgo any sentiment toward the man who called himself her father.

But what a thing to own ... memories of a previous life. Sometimes she wondered what students like Chasmine did with them. Pine for them? Resent them? Shove them away to avoid the pain of nostalgia? Of course, Chas had come in far later than most, yet still earlier than Kristen. Ralene could not even fathom how Kristen managed this duality of life.

"Do you think of her very often?" she asked after Ed, voice ... not quite gentle, but quiet.

 

[Edric]

"No." Edric said quietly.

The fact of it was a double edged sword. He could remember his mother. He could remember the prayers, but he could also remember the day they had given him away. The pleasantry of the former was marred by the latter.

"Not until we got here." He said quietly. "Not until we saw those symbols."

Fingers curled into fists. "I didn't really..."

Edric trailed off. "It wasn't really something I wanted to think about."

 

[Samantha Black]

"I get it," Ralene replied lightly, glancing at him. She didn't particularly like to think about her own childhood ... rather, what she could remember of it. Living in the realm of what ifs had never served her for any purpose. She also couldn't offer him pity or apology. If thinking about his past, his mother, and her connection to Anirius would help them ... well, he'd just have to buck up and do it.

He could stop thinking about it when they were done. But for now, with nighttime's shadow having taken over, there was no need. Ralene slowly pushed herself to sit up and leaned toward him unsmiling, "I can give you other things to think about."

 

[Edric]

Edric glanced over at Ralene for a brief moment. For a few moments he didn't answer her. Didn't say anything in fact. Lost in those very thoughts that she offered an escape from.

The past was the past.

He would have liked to leave it behind. He would have liked to simply ignore it and just walk away, but Edric knew that he couldn't. Not just because of the situation they were in. Not because of Wissburg or anything else they'd stumbled upon.

But because of who he was. That feeling in the back of his skull, that curiosity. It wouldn't go away. Edric knew that to his core. He didn't like not knowing, didn't like feeling the fool.

Not anymore.

And yet. "Then do it."

Not every problem had to be solved right away. Especially not this one.

 

[Samantha Black]

From the shadow of her stony expression a grin bloomed, darkened by mischief and sharpened by a different sort of intrigue. Ral shifted, coiled her legs beneath her and moved to straddle his lap, looking down at Edric from a tilted expression.

"Remember that time behind the shed?" A few years ago - they'd been younger then and new to the experience of the pleasures of flesh. Not long after the Proctor's had taken the whole class out for their first foray into the world of carnal desire at the city brothel. They'd all gone through that learning phase, and some of them had learned faster than others. Ral tugged her shirt free from beneath the belt at her waist, hooked her fingers along the bottom hem and smoothly removed it over her head to let it drop on the floor.

Edric had his tattoos from the far east. Ralene had her own: a large collection of runic alchemy scarred and inked into her skin that span the spread of her body accompanied by various scars gained over the years. Each symbol, each circle formula dispensed the many facets of her magical prowess that put her a cut above the rest in their class. Of course, she'd not discovered a way to do anything quite like what Ed could do and that was just fine by her.

Ral planted a hand on the wall just over his left shoulder and leaned in, "I think we can both do better than that, now." She didn't wait for any kind of response before pressing into a kiss. If he didn't want the distraction of her attention, well ... he knew how to say no.

 

[Edric]

Edric's fingers laced over Ralene's hips as she drew herself fully into his lap. Eyes flickered over her form as she discarded her shirt onto the floor.

There were more runes now than there had been last time. He remembered that day behind the shed well. It had been one of the few times that he had let himself be vulnerable, one of the few times that he had let another of the students get close.

Killing him was hard, near an impossibility if some of the Proctors were to be believed. Yet in such an embrace it was easy to slip a knife across the throat. Pierce a blade between a pair of ribs. Such encounters were rare, not just because of the Proctor's watchful eyes, but because of the chance that presented itself within the embrace of it.

"Oh." He said as Ralene sat presented before him.

His gaze lingered on her form, eyes drawing up and down her figure in utter appreciation. Already thoughts of the past disappeared, whisked away as that primal urge began to take take him. "Yes I think we ca-"

The words died on his tongue as Ralene seized it. Fingers digging into her hips to draw her against himself in answer. Pushing her down in a long grind as the night swept them away.

 

[Samantha Black]

It did, indeed, rain that night just as Gilheed had said. The pair of them stayed dry and warm within the refurbished smithy. Ralene slept like the dead and for once didn't hog the blanket. She awoke as she always did: before the sun, and disentangled herself from Edric to quietly dress and pack her rations by candlelight. By the time the sky began to brighten she was out back prepping her horse and small cart, and stashing away a few smaller weapons in a supply crate with her other travel necessities - just in case.

Samantha Black bid her husband goodbye out front of their smithy home when the Guard retinue for the caravan came round the bend from the barracks. Handing over her note from Gilheed to the attending Captain - a man called Brimold - she fell in line behind the first group of mounted cavalry, just at the front of the other empty supply wagons. Brimold assigned a Guard a bit older than herself and Edric as her Ward for the journey, and they were off just as the sun peaked over the eastern gate.

 

[Edric]

Edric lay in bed a little longer after Ralene said her goodbyes.

It was rare that Initiates were offered the opportunity to sleep in, and although he didn't quite sleep; he did rest. His mind was awash with nothing at all, and somehow in this broken and torn city he managed to keep his thoughts calm.

Perhaps as a result of the night before.

By the time Edric did finally pull himself up from bed it was well past dawn.

A quick wash of his face, some newly collected clothing, and a swig taken from a nearby flask Edric made his way into Wissburg. He knew exactly where he was going; the training fields. The plan he worked out with Ralene was still firmly in his head.

An hour after he had awoken Edric was already dueling Donric. His blade moved quickly, matching the old soldier beat for beat. The bout lasted longer than most would have thought. Edric scored a few hits, but Donric scored more.

It lasted seconds, minutes, maybe hours. It was always hard to tell in the midst of things.

All he knew was that final strike to his ribs. When he heard the crunch of bone and felt the flare of pain race through his abdomen. He collapsed onto the ground, cringing in pain and letting out a yelp of agony as he fell.

"Ya little shit!"​

Donric called.

"Should have gone down two minutes ago!"​

The man sounded harsh, disappointed almost, but Edric could practically see the joy in his eyes. Briefly he forgot about why he had done this. Why he had lost on purpose. All he saw was the pride within the old Soldiers eyes.

An emotion he crushed, remembering his place. "I thought I had you."

He grunted, not having to act much to avoid the pain.

"Thought wrong, didn't ya lad?"​

Edric grimaced, tipping his head in a forced nod.

"Well, nothin' to do for that now. Go get yourself cleaned up and bandaged. Yer gonna be hurtin' for a few days at least."​

 

[Samantha Black]

Several days later...

Ralene's jaunt out into the wild yonder had been short but fruitful. In a small village to the north she'd managed to pay a child to distract the Rook Master in order to get her missive sent off to Vel Anir. When the old man finally returned with the child's ear in one hand and his stolen quill in the other, she gave him a mock letter to send in the opposite direction.

Aside from being a few coins lighter, she returned to Wissburg with a healthy supply of smithing tools and materials, courtesy of several villages the caravan had stopped at along the way. They'd returned with more people, and Ralene saw first hand that the illness was not a lie, but something very truthfully ravaging the countryside settlements. The Priests inspected her upon arrival at the gates, gave her a tonic to down, and waved her through. When she got back to the smithy with her horse and small cart full of supplies it was already well deep into the twilight hours.

She filled Ed in while she unhitched the horse and fed it, saving the more clandestine details for when they got back inside. The fact remained that the guard weren't just keeping tabs on the illness, they were recruiting. Using the fear of the illness to gather healthy folk, forcing them from their homes under the guise of offering them sanctuary in Wissburg from both the ill and the overbearing chains of Vel Anir, and burning the villages to the ground to keep the sickness from spreading. But it wasn't just that they were collecting the healthy and fit - anyone and everyone that wasn't sick, or strong enough to overcome it, were gathered. Old, young, injured, retired.

It didn't make any sense. Why collect these people who could offer nothing for the guard?

Two days past her return, she was so busy with projects in the smithy that she worked from sun up to sun down. The second day she spent at the stables, reshoeing the Guard's horses. Ralene had taken time while forming the shoes in the smithy to put a small runic sigil on the inside of each and every one. As a last ditch effort, if they needed to make a quick getaway, she could use it to completely debilitate any horse wearing them. Nothing else - she'd keep their horses good and ready to make a run for it and the Guard wouldn't be able to give chase. Couldn't always rely on Edric to ensure everyone was dead.

Wouldn't look good if he accidentally killed the person they'd been sent to retrieve, after all.

After getting kicked and bitten by a particularly rank mare, Ralene called it a day as she looked out through the barnyard doors and watched the sun set over the western wall.

"Have you finished with the shoes?" the Stablemaster walked over to her and handed her a flagon of water. Ralene downed it in a few gulps and gave him a tired nod.

"Good," he replied, giving her a heavy clap on the shoulder and blinking when she barely budged, "oh, yer a stout woman ain't ya? That's good, they got some heavy lifting for ye at the barracks first thing in the morn. Captain Gilheed will meet you at the lower gate."

The barracks. A place she hadn't been into yet and, so far as she knew, neither had Edric.

 

[Edric]

Edric spent Ralene's time away doing exactly what he had told her he would do; focus on the mission.

By the time he returned he was almost entirely sure that the waitress at the Tavern was in fact Elspeth Sirl. He had spent a day watching her, and then on subsequent nights, ever since Ral had returned, followed her during the night.

Doing so had been easy enough, cloaking himself within the shadows and moving faster through small drags of what little life remained in this sad little village. It was on the third night that he had found what he was looking for. A pebble of proof. He'd watched the girl through the window, a sliver of silk in her hands, the red and green sigil of house Sirl stitched upon it's end.

On the day after, Edric returned to the training yard. Still faking his own skill, still improving day by day but always taking care not to do so too quickly.

"Well, Lad. Seems they will be taken ye away from me after all. Gilheed notified me, you're to meet him at the Barracks tomorrow."​

Edric frowned, rubbing another of the bruises. "Ah, well...I suppose that's good for me, eh?"

He said with a slight smile, though Donric didn't respond in kind. Instead he pulled himself up close besides Edric.

"Listen lad, I like ye. You got a good head on your shoulders, and..."​

There was a slight...something in the man's eyes.

"Just watch your back. Look out for that lass of yours, eh?"​

Edric frowned for a moment, looking at the old soldier and considering. Then slowly he nodded his head, as if in understanding.

 

[Samantha Black]

"They want me for some big project over in the barracks tomorrow morning," Ral greeted Edric with a heavy sigh when he met her in the paddock. Working through the straps and buckles to unhitch the horse from her cart, she pulled the last of the harness free and slung the pieces over her shoulder, "said they had some heavy lifting for me to do."

She had a thoughtful look on her face mingling with the fatigue of the day and the faint trace of pain from her smarting hip where she'd been kicked.

"Can't think of anything they'd need me for that requires heavy lifting other than... cell block doors."

 

[Edric]

Edric's hackles almost immediately rose when Ralene spoke of what she was supposed to do tomorrow.

Lips thinned, and he nodded his head. "I'm supposed to go there too."

He told his partner with a frown.

There were few reasons that both of them would be needed in the same place. Especially when they were told two different reasons. In his head he was already preparing for the worst. Perhaps they had been found out, perhaps those in charge thought them vulnerable.

"Donric seems to think they intend to take me away from the Militia." He commented. "But..."

A shrug rolled over his shoulders. "Seems a bit convenient, no?"

 

[Samantha Black]

Dark rimmed eyes narrowed at the news - a suspicious coincidence indeed. But perhaps a coincidence only? It behooved them to take care that they were ready for the worst.

"You did say that you didn't think the Guard was the real strength of Wissburg. Maybe they mean to recruit you for their true crusade." Her brows furrowed as she thought about this. If that was the case, then it was happening ahead of schedule. She figured they'd be here a week at the very least before someone picked up on Ed's capability. "I need to make your amulet tonight."

Ral set the cart harness off the the side and moved to grab the cart's lead shaft to wheel it back to the smithy workshop where she could get to work.

 

[Edric]

Edric pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's one thing after another with this fucking place."

He remarked coldly, slowly pulling himself after Ralene.

It seemed that every time they uncovered something in Wissburg there was an entire pit still waiting for them. So many questions still remained, so many answers were still lost to some far out ether. The more time passed, the more frustrating it became.

"Not that I don't think this isn't working.." He said as he stepped after Ral. "But I think after tomorrow it might be time to do something more..."

Edric paused for a moment, then finished. "Drastic."

He was growing tired of this place.

 

[Samantha Black]

Ralene set the cart aside as she stepped into the workshop and immediately made for the forge. Raking out the old charcoal, she set fresh wood and coals inside, then sparked up a fire. She was listening to him as he spoke while going through the motions of a skill well-learned and practiced. Using the act of actions that had become second nature to help churn her thoughts.

An iron poker in her hand, she stoked the fire and worked the bellows to encourage the flames. Whatever she made for him would need to be done quickly, but also with a great amount of intent and care. She had the right materials now, and she'd sketched out her ideas for the piece - now it was time to pull them all together.

Her eyes shifted over to where he stood and watched him for several moments as the forge's heat continued to climb, "We need to be certain," she began, "that it's really her before we make any drastic moves."

Otherwise their entire mission was a complete failure. Edric had shared the evidence seen of the scarf and the Sirl sigil, but they needed to hear it from the girl's mouth.

"And then we need to plan."

 

[Edric]

Edric slowly nodded, frowning.

He wasn’t entirely sure how they could get more proof. As far as he was concerned there was only one way to be sure, and that was to hear it from the girl herself. Slowly a hand ran through his fair, fingers threading through locks as he squatted down just outside the forge. ”I think it’s time we have a chat with her.”

The Initiate said plainly.

”We can break into her room tonight.” Whatever was going to happen at the Barracks tomorrow, they needed to make sure they at least knew this girl was Elspeth Sirl. It would be one part of their mission at least…not complete, but a step closer.

Once they had her in hand they could make a plan for tomorrow, though that in it of itself would be difficult since they had no fucking idea what was coming. He grunted in frustration, but continued. ”If we know it’s her, we can at least stash her away somewhere and if things go to shit…”

He trailed off, shrugging.

 

[Samantha Black]

Ralene narrowed her eyes at Edric's idea and gave him a wayward look of incredulity, "Or we could, you know, knock quietly on her door and ask to come in. If she was kidnapped, and even if she wasn't, breaking and entering her only sanctuary in this shithole isn't going to win us any trust from her."

But Edric wasn't about trust, he was about results. She respected that in almost every aspect except the part where it might just blow their cover. What if the girl was here for ulterior motives? What if she was here willingly? What if she was a spy or a sleeper agent of the Church? Outing themselves in one fell swoop could end badly for them both. Tact could make or break the initiative.

She did agree that they needed to solidify the truth of the matter and the sooner they could manage to do it, the better. Ral gave him a nod at his last words and looked thoughtful for a moment, "We need a thumb on her pulse for this. Why don't you head over to the tavern to get some fresh bread and cheese for tonight. See if she's around - if you find her, ask her if I can come see her tonight. Tell her-" a blink, a thought, Ralene gave Edric a look up and down and smirked, "tell her I'm with child and that I'm worried. That I could really use another girl to speak to. A friend. Then she'll expect us and not for anything suspicious."