Quest The Return

[Addis Vrummal]

Addis listened, pondering on the bracelet and fortress. If the attempt had been made on the road rather than at the fort, he wondered about how many people were under the traitorous major.

"You might think on who was with you then and make a list. Never know who will show up again. Can you confirm it is safe in the fortress?" Addis asked Lia as he watched Kaska.

"Did you report to any other commanders about the bracelet? Or the attack?"

 

[Kaska]

"Maybe," she challenged. "But if he gets desperate, he's the only one there now. And the lich is killed. Whose to say what else he's been doing to keep the other Major's occupied. What lives he's putting at risk. He didn't intend for us to survive, don't you see that? We've backed him into a corner, we expect to understand anything he'll do now."

 

[Lia]

"Except if we go back he can order us to do whatever he wants and all we have is wild accusations with no evidence." Her voice was flat, even. "He'll have us arrested."

They couldn't go back.

It simply wasn't an option at this point. Perhaps Addis might be able to, but too many had seen him with them now and the Major would likely suspect the Elf as well. "I will contact someone I trust to check if the bracelet is still in the Vault...or if the guards are even still there."

Going back themselves simply wasn't something they could do, not until they had evidence and not until they actually had a plan on what to do.

"We need help." From Loyal Rangers, not ones under his command.

 

[Addis Vrummal]

"Then all that can be done is waiting for word back from the other rangers. And plan for how to deal with what is before us." Addis stated, still looking at the door.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska took a fierce breath in and out.

"Sitting ducks. That's what you propose we be."

She hated it. She hated every fiber of it. Despite the reason she saw in their words, she wanted to reject it all and do this her way. ...but she couldn't. She needed Lia behind her on this, whatever it was. This was too big to go into alone. She got that.

"Anything could happen between now and then," she leveled at them both, not entirely able to let go of the door handle just yet.

 

[Lia]

"If we go back, we will be thrown into the nearest cell." Lia said, a bit of anger slipping into her tone.

If not a cell then they would be sent away, which of course they would refuse, at which point they would be thrown into a cell. They had no evidence, no authority. They needed allies, they needed friends. She frowned for a brief moment, fingers grabbing the table and scratching it slightly.

"We ca-" She scowled. "We can't just run into this."

It was too dangerous. Far too dangerous.

Not with how things were. "There's Rangers I trust, ones I know that would never betray me. You two must have the same."

Even if it was only a dozen of them. It was still better than three.

 

[Addis Vrummal]

Addis watched the two of them go back and forth, his own thoughts aligned to Lia's thinking. A cell would likely be where they were officially put, and stay there so long as whoever was behind this could keep them there.

"A handful at best, with what you have explained. I'll write to them, see if they won't tag along. What should be said? Need help with a sensitive matter?" he raised a hand before anyone jumped, realizing he had put a bit too much sarcasm into his tone.

"Honestly, how are we asking for help? Keeping a cork on it, or being truthful with these people?" The concern in his voice riding the last few words.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska's lips slowly pinched. She had no such Rangers she could reach out to. No one. Not one. The only person she had form any sort of lasting bond with was sitting right in front of her. The reminder of it stung.

She released the door knob, turning to face them full and cross her arms.

"You involve any of them and they are as good as screwed too. No. We need protection," she gritted, hating the words as they slid out. "From a Major."

 

[Lia]

Kaska was right of course, but they still needed allies.

Half turning to the elf she spoke quietly, though her words sounded more solemn than anything else. She had idolized the rangers for so long that the fact this was happening truly hurt her. It was a spike to the heart. "Get in touch with who you can, quietly. Only those you absolutely trust and ask them to meet you here. No details."

Not yet.

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Kaska." Lia looked up at her friend. "What do you have in mind?"

The Lieutenant was almost entirely sure she already knew, but now more than ever they needed clarirty.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska took a heavy breath in and let it out slowly. "Officially, we've done nothing wrong. But we're lose ends to an event that clearly did not go as planned. Whoever it is, they are powerful and we can't expect them to operate by the books. It's not a prison we should fear, it's a suicide mission, or a quiet death somewhere far away. We have to get things back into order. We have to put ourselves under control of a different major's hand." She pinched the bridge of her nose, pained.

"We need to return to my father. He'll listen, at least to you two. We spin a story. I got an urgent letter from my father and we left before we could confirm with the Major, or-- Something. Anything to explain away our actions as anything other than us knowing the truth. Whoever we're going up against, they won't risk exposure over a few people that may or may not suspect something is off."

"We need to cover our asses. And have cover for your friends too. Then we can think about the next step."

 

[Addis Vrummal]

Addis had nodded to Lia about no details. Could not very well tell people you suspected a major to be involved with a lich and its master without likely receiving some kind of look. It sounded even a bit strange to him, if not for having caught a taste of all this while the two had been away. Having almost begun to pull away to write, Addis paused and gave his attention to Kaska.

She made a good point about being loose ends.with the person already perhaps planning to send them off somewhere to perish. Then the mention of her father came once again. He looked to Lia for this one.

"Whoever we are up against is good at manipulating people. I don't disagree that we need to get out from under this major, but I worry might be said behind closed doors to discredit us." Addis pondered aloud, she was certainly not wrong. But there were so many angles to all of this, and it was hard to decipher the best path.

 

[Lia]

She drummed her fingers on the table.

Both of them made good points, and neither were at odds with one another. Unfortunately there was no way to address what Addis had said. They couldn't sneak behind closed doors and change what was said about them, nor could they really control it without walking into a trap.

"Your father is in Alliria?" She looked at Kaska.

Right now they were hundred of miles away from Ranger Headquarters back in the Merchant city. Ared'hol was on the other side of the Reach. There would undoubtedly be pidgeons sent, but a message scribbled on a piece of paper was never as convincing as an argument made in person.

"It would be risky but..." She frowned. "We could head there."

 

[Kaska]

"And rumors blister if left unchecked," she countered softly, not arguing with either of them anymore so much as trying to get them on the same page.

"We can't do damage control in hiding. Whatever we need to do, we'll need our names untarnished and our orders under a new Major to achieve it. I'm sure of it. This is the first step to playing this game-- Enter the field, don't run away. Or you give them all the control."

Lia had had no experience with politics, nor any care to concern herself over them. Kaska now had a biting worry over that. Such ignorance could get Lia in deep problems now. She wondered if the woman truly comprehended what she had just entered, or if she thought this was all a simple issue that rational action could fix. Like killing a liche.

"My father, then," she agreed softly.

"...No letter, it won't make a difference once other's pigeons reach him. Best we just show up and you two do the talking." She swallowed hard, leaving the door to go back to the cooking pot.

 

[Addis Vrummal]

"It sounds like your father is the best option so far to me." Addis gave a nod to Kaska before adding more. "Should be easy enough to get their. Dodge other patrols and ride hard for a while."

 

[Lia]

She rubbed her face.

Lia knew the Reach better than most other Rangers, better even than most of the older ones. There were paths they could take, hidden roads and smaller trails that next to no one knew about...but it would take time. A month of travel was still a whole month of travel.

The sayve would have been faster, they could be back in Alliria inside of two weeks...but then they would have to skirt around Ared'hol and hope to god that the Major hadn't sent anyone to watch the boats there. She frowned for a second, lips pursing. "Alright."

Lia agreed quietly.

"We ride." They had no other choice.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska didn't think they had to be that careful. It wasn't as if there was a manhunt out for them.Hell, she wasn't even sure the major really grasped just how much they had rebelled against him yet. At any rate, she wasn't going to reign them in. She appreciated their paranoia. At least where it saved their lives.

"Write your letters first," she concluded, grumbling. "Have them meet us somewhere on the outskirts of Alliria. Best we have a contingency in place in case..."

She bit her tongue.

 

[Addis Vrummal]

Addis listened intently, a plan coming together that made everyone at least content with moving forward. When Kaska grumbled, he didn't know what to expect for the tail end of her sentence, but the lack of words made it that much more ominous.

He chewed on his lip for a minute as he thought about the letters they were about to write.

"Should we tell those riding this way to fabricate their own excuses if questioned?" The question had popped into his head after Lia had told them they would ride. It might have been a strange thing to some for a variety of rangers to be coming into Alliria so suddenly.

He wanted to ensure they were at least on the same page in case of a change in plans later on. Or worse, that one coming in didn't tip off someone watching for their plan.

 

[Lia]

"Unrest in the east." She told Addis.

It wasn't exactly a lie, in fact it was probably the best excuse for something like this. There had been rumors lately. Blight Orcs gathering east of the Spine, talk of some of them heading into the Reach. It was unlikely...but rumors like that were enough to make most nervous.

"It will be enough for most." Luckily most Rangers had some semblance of autonomy. As long as they were tending to the Reach they weren't questioned most of the time. "As long as they move quietly and quickly no one will notice."

Lia spoke as she scribbled out her own messages. "Stick to the forests."

It would be safer for them to move that way.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska ignored them now, her thoughts quickly turning dark and consuming.

She stirred the stew, now realizing it would be a waste. They couldn't take this with them, and it was meant to last them a solid portion of time. She frowned down at the pot, then left it and quietly began to rummage through the pantry for mason jars, which she found. Taking them back, she wordlessly carried them out to the well and began to wash them.

 

[Addis Vrummal]

Addis began writing his letters, now that he had all the information he needed. He worded it just as advised, and hoped it would reach those intended. He looked up to see Kaska gone, but his ears twitched a moment as he swore he heard something in the courtyard. He stood and peeked back and forth through the arrow slit window into the area below, confirming it was Kaska. He went back to his letters quickly.

 

[Lia]

Lia wrote her letters, though they were short.

None of them were anything more than a quick word or two about where they had to go and what they would have to do. There was no part about the turmoil that was ongoing within the Rangers or what she suspected was happening.

That would have been foolish.

No, instead she simply asked them all for a personal favor, reminded them of why she had earned their loyalty, and then added a point or two about how this was dangerous and utterly voluntary.

She had no qualms about asking any of them to do this. It was for the good of the Rangers, for the good of the Reach. There was no doubt all of them would come. After she finished her writings Lia pulled herself up, calling out to the other two. "We'll leave at dawn tomorrow."

It was time.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska grunted an acknowledgement, lining up the mason jars and leaving the stew to ... stew. Instead she grabbed a piece of bread from the supplies and broke it while it was still fresh, standing up to hand the others an equal share to tide them over.

"One of these days we'll have a normal go at things," she half grumbled, sitting down with them.

"Our supplies won't tide us over, we'll have to resort to traps.I'll make them tonight."

 

[Addis Vrummal]

Addis write enough to get the help here, handing the letters off to Lia. With Kaska mentioning having to trap, his interest now fell to what she had in mind.

"Mind if I help with them? I haven't made any for a while, probably ought to brush up on that." Addis admitted with a slight grimace as life in the ranger compound had made the elf a bit lazy in that department.

 

[Lia]

"We can also hunt during the day." She commented quietly, glancing at the two other Rangers whom she already knew were better at the bow than her.

It was an unfortunate fact that she'd spent much of her time training with the sword. The only real ranged weapon she knew how to use was the crossbow, and she'd left that behind in Ared'hol. Much to her great shame.

Not that she would mention it to either of them.

"Either way, we'll have to move quickly." She considered for a moment. "And avoid any Ranger stations along the way."

 

[Kaska]

"We can," Kaska acknowledged. "But hunting will slow us down. Better we use it as a last resort and let the traps do the work for us."

She nodded at Addis, a silent acquiesce to his offer of help. "If we travel fast, we could make it just short of two weeks." As they had once originally planned. Before. Well. Ahem.

They don't talk about that anymore.

But there was little point in just planing it out, more of a point to actually get to doing it. So she stood pushing her bread away for later and gesturing to Addis. "Traps, then?"