Completed The Homecoming

She was quiet for a moment, thinking over his words. Despite the advice he imparted with her, Kaira still felt as if her future was with the Vanguard. It was not for her grandfather, but a memory that was close to her reminding her of her father. The day he brought her a thick rope and told her it was a sword.

"This is a sword, Kaira." He would say. "Remind yourself of this: I am a sword. If I am not a sword, than what am I?"
And even from the age of a young girl to a young lady, her answer was always: "I am a Yehven!"

"I am glad to be a Guardian, even if not every Somner believes in me still. You spoke of evil outside these walls, Villam, but I think you forget the evil that takes root in the heart of the home. I have seen the ugly side of Valenntenia. I believe that I was kept here to aide these people in healing..." She knew he did aim his comments about confinement to this city towards her, but Kaira knew he was still right. Kaira was guilty of this naivete, to believe in the people that worshiped her and the other Guardians... but ignored those that disbelieved their right to power.

"Last autumn... do you recall the riots in Old Town?" The scars were still there if one knew where to look. "It was the only time I think I ever felt so... useless with the Faith Stone." She had no sway, no real pull in helping the anger dissipate. The Vanguard dragged her away before she could see how terrifyingly the riots came to an end. Perhaps it was naive of her to think she was lucky to say here in these city walls, because nothing else could scare her more than her own people turning against the ways of the Ancients.

Villam Regis
 
Of course, he remembered the riots.

How could one forget something so bitter? Civil unrest was rare amongst the Descendents, but one could not be an organized people and completely avoid the trials of the malcontent. Still, there had been much debate among their leadership over how to handle such displays. The question lingered over all of their heads like a guillotine: Was using the power of the Runes to quell the discontented an affront to their teachings? Morally, could they afford to travel that road?

Villam knew the answer they'd found.

"Their faith was placed in other causes, in beliefs other than our duty as Descendants. It's true, that darkness resides in the heart of all men and women, in some capacity." Villam took a long drink of his tea, closing his eyes in thought. "You cannot heal them with that stone, just as I cannot twist their passion with mine. Our tools are powerful, but they cannot subvert free will." There was one stone capable of such trickery, but it rested with his Father in the Tower, its use forbidden by any hands.

Leaning forward, Villam reached into one of his pockets, grasping for something. "My mother came from Thanasis, the Land of Dragons. Did you know that?" He asked her, as he retrieved a small folded square of parchment, placing it on the table and unfolding it to reveal childish drawings of long, serpentine beasts besides much more artistic renditions. "There, they do not worship our Ancients. They see Dragons as the Gods and Rulers of the world. Yet even so, my mother came here to live in Valenntenia, and respected our beliefs and tenants."

Bridging his hands, Regis stared down into his empty cup.

"If any question our cause, and seek to disrupt our way of life because they see things differently than us, there is nothing that stops them from leaving and seeking a more suitable home."

Kaira Yevhen
 
Villam spoke of truths she knew deep down, but the Ancients that spoke to her, that gave her purpose as their eyes and ears... she felt as if she were trusted enough to do something.

But the Vanguard had allowed Kaira to come out from those riots with her life.

"It can be difficult sometimes, dealing with the influence of these Stones." It certainly weighed on her, and Kaira could feel the same with the other Guardians. It was in their eyes mostly, that weary smile that could not quite reach their eyes.

"Do you miss her? Your mother?" Surely he did as that drawing was kept on his person. The image of the late wife of the Absalon came to mind, a face fresh from this morning's prayer. Of course, she had no memory of the woman, only able to tell who she was as Villam inherited several features. The turning of conversation was needed, as Kaira did not want to dwell on responsibilites and burden with Villam, even if he had a few years ahead of her in experience with the Stone.

"Forgive me, I am prying again... but... it is the strangest thing. I think I see her image sometimes when I am in deep prayer." Kaira would admit this to only a small number of people, the Absalon being the first, and perhaps this information was not meant for Villam, but the Faith Guardian felt as if she could trust him with this insight. "You have the same pretty eyes." Pause. "Pretty, as you inherited it from her... she's the pre--" Kaira scowled at herself, silencing her stumbling of words by drinking her tea.

Villam Regis
 
The stoicism Villam was known for softened into something vulnerable, something sorrowful at the mention of his mother. It was a rather obvious question, he would think, but Kaira couldn't possibly know the depths of Villam's feelings towards that loss that had been inflicted upon him. It had changed him, made him into who he was, in some ways.

"Every day..." Villam muttered, having finished his drink and now staring into an empty cup. "Of course I miss her. I..." The Guardian shook his head, searching for words that wouldn't quite come to him. There were no words to describe what she'd meant to him. How he ached every day without her. It was a wound that time refused to heal.

Kaira tried to offer him some measure of comfort, sharing her visions of his mother in her prayer. The admission caused him to wince with the conflicting emotions that brought about. How did he feel about knowing Kaira could still lay eyes on his mother? Was it anger? Sadness, perhaps?

No. It was jealousy.

Yevhen's clumsy attempt at comfort that stumbled into accidental flirtation took the edge off, if only slightly. Villam slid his cup back onto the serving tray and finally looked back up to meet her gaze. "Kaira." He spoke slowly. "You are the Daughter of Valennetnia. The will of her people." She would have heard it all before, of course. Even so...

"I want you to stand by me. I need somebody I can trust moving forward, somebody that I can rely on. With these times of turmoil, Faith is something I need all of that I can gather."

Kaira Yevhen
 
Last edited:
  • Gasp
Reactions: Kaira Yehven
There was a shift inside him, made apparent in his eyes as he held her own after she set down her cup. Kaira unintentionally froze. How many times had she heard that? It felt different coming from Villam, from another Guardian. She felt as if his word were truer, held more substance than those of the rest of the Children of Valenntenia.

He spoke to her as if she more than just a pillar of faith, that she was after all a Guardian.

Kaira let loose the breath she had been keeping in, dropping her gaze to her hands that held onto the cup of tea. "Of course. I would do anything for the Guardians we serve with." Her Stone was not with her, but she swore she felt it's presence warming at her chest, almost searing her skin. She shifted, taking one last sip of her cup and too setting it back onto the tray. "Passion and Faith are so similar, I do think it is best that we stick together whatever may come. We are almost two sides that balance each other, are we not?" She smiled now, meeting his gaze and lifting the corner of her lips slightly wider.

"You have my word, Villam Regis." Kaira could not ignore the sense of purpose she felt, that finally she was more than the Guardian that had strong connections to the Ancients. She was always destined to be more than this gift, to become something beyond this singular city. "I feel like we should shake on this. Solidify this like a pact."

Faith held her hand out to Passion, her grin and excitement bringing her to life and those in the tea shop felt suddenly warmed as the influence of Faith needed no Stone to spread it's power.

Villam Regis
 
For perhaps the first time in Kaira's presence, Villam laughed. It wasn't boisterous, but an open chuckle was far more than the small smiles she'd drawn from him thus far. Perhaps in her eyes, this was a somewhat ordinary affair. It held a much deeper meaning to Villam, however. Whether or not she realized it, the young Regis was asking for her to be somebody he could trust. It didn't take much asking around to learn that there were few, if any, that Villam held trust in.

But she was right; Faith and Passion had always been intertwined in their culture. It was recorded well, the holders of the two parallel stones often ended up close friends, lovers, rivals... it varied, but the connection was ever-present. Given the option, and with what he'd learned about her during their conversation today, Villam had decided he wanted their connection to be a positive one.

Leaning forward, Villam reached out and took her hand. He did not shake it, but held it in place as he spoke. "Thank you, Kaira. Whatever becomes of us, whatever becomes of Valenntenia, I will not have made the mistake of facing it alone." His grip on her hand loosened, and he gave it a brief shake before lowering it back to the table and leaning back in his chair with a sigh. There was something else, something he wished to say without knowing quite how to phrase it.

"There is a difference... between faith in an ideal and faith in a person." He decided upon. "There... are some things about Valenntenia, some ideals we hold regarding our people and the Stones that I do not hold an overwhelming amount of faith in." He tried to dance around the topic of his disillusion without bringing it to the forefront, before nodding towards her with a small smirk. "But even without your stone, I find myself having faith in you."

Kaira Yevhen
 
  • Wonder
Reactions: Kaira Yehven
Villam Regis said:
"But even without your stone, I find myself having faith in you."
Click to expand...

Her grin grew slowly until it stretched from ear to ear. She had heard similar views before, and they used to make her feel uneasy but since working with the people that helped raise her, Kaira began to understand what others meant. It was no criticism on her part, but it meant the most to her to hear Villam say such a thing.

"Who would have thought Villam Regis would inspire with his words!" She stifled a snicker before assembling their finished teas in a way that made it easier for their server to clear. "But you saying that means much to me. I don't have many that I can count on as a friend... even if serving as a Guardian with the others brings me a kinship... I am glad to have met with you today." There was only a few years apart between them, but each of them had gone through tragedy and finding themselves along the way.

"I must return home now. I have some nights of sleep I must catch up on..." Without her Stone, perhaps she would finally experience a deep slumber.

Kaira stood up and adjusted her colourful scarf around her face. No doubt the streets would be filled once again, and many would soon recognise her despite her attempt at cloaking her features. "If you hurry, they may not notice you slipping away." She jested, fishing around her person for a pouch of coins to pay for the tea, then turning sheepish once the tea shop owner waved the two Guardians off.

Perhaps it was worth venturing out from her comforts and meet with the other Guardians, to reacquaint herself with them and strengthen that connection.

It was a thought that would occupy her for a short distance towards her home before her name was spread like wildfire and masses of citizens were blessing her and trying to glimpse the Guardian that likely had so much time interacting with the public.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom