Private Tales Those Fallen

[Anastasia]

There some relief to be found by that time frame. Still some room to breath and relax. This life would not be gone so soon, just yet.

"I want to do a mission," she announced abruptly, half startling herself despite the legitimacy of feelings that followed her words. Her chin raised, meeting their gaze strongly to show she was very serious about this request.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul blinked in surprise. "Uhh."

He wasn't entirely sure what to do, but both Edwin and Valerie looked at him expectantly. After a moment he glanced between the two of them then looked at Ana.

"What mission?" Saul was of course not against it, not at all. Though he loved Ana, he also knew that he couldn't treat her like a porcelain doll that just sat on a shelf and looked pretty. That wouldn't be right or fair. The Templar knew better than to do something like that.

Still, he had no idea what mission she spoke of.

 

[Anastasia]

"I... do not know," she admitted, having not planned this at all. "...Any mission. I'm sure we've had inquiries lately that we could not spare someone to respond to. Spare me," she resolved, nodding at him.

"We have time. There's no point in me just sitting here. I want to do something, I want to help. ...Please," she implored, her voice soft but the drive clear in her eyes.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul glanced down at the table for a moment, looking at the various papers and letters then slowly frowned. Eventually though he nodded. "Alright."

What was he going to do? Not agree?

It would have been both wrong and hypocritical, venturing into territory that he did not want to delve in. Better to say yes, better to be reasonable. As much as it hurt him to do it.

"But you're not going alone." He caught the flicker of a smirk on Valerie's face. "Look through the requests, find one that seems plausible, then grab at least two others to go with you."

He frowned. "Orin,maybe."

The man had been bugging him to go somewhere.

 

[Anastasia]

Anastasia nodded without resistance, letting out a breath of tension as she flopped back into her seat. She fell silent then again, leaving them to stumble back into their discussion on plans and politics as she picked at her sandwich spaced out.

Eventually their meeting came to an end and Valerie stood first, dismissing herself. "I'll get you those requests," she told Ana softly, squeezing her shoulder as she dismissed herself from the anti chamber.

Ana managed a grateful smile, wordlessly watching Edwin give Saul a rough goodbye as she slowly stood herself.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul remained seated, as Edwin took a short bow. "I wish you wouldn't do that."

The Lord Captain commented quietly, though Edwin only grinned, turned, and then left.

For a moment Saul and Ana were left in silence, then he looked up at her with a slight suspicious look. After a moment though it faded, and instead a smile touched his lips. If she felt that she needed to go on a mission...then he would not stand in her way.

As much as he hated the thought of her being gone.

"You'll be careful?" He asked her quietly.

 

[Anastasia]

"Of course," she said, almost as if the suggestion that she wouldn't was an insult. She fell painfully silent for a moment, picking at the wood grain of the chair with her finger nail.

"I can't just sit here being useless," she finally explained, her voice a whisper. "I need to... do my work. I need to be a Templar. You understand.... right?"

 

[Saul Talith]

"I know." He said with an audible sigh. It was why he had agreed to do it in the first place, why he knew that even if he'd said no she would have gone anyway.

After a moment he smiled at her.

"I worry as you do." He told her. "It's normal."

The Lord Captain leaned forward slightly. "We've had plenty of requests, more than before."

That concerned him really. He'd still been sending people on missions, but most of his focus had been on rebuilding the Order. Hence why he was focused on Herath, why he'd pushed up recruitment. It was important. They had to fight whatever this rising darkness was.

 

[Anastasia]

"Then it's good that I do this," she insisted, unable to help the way she leaned back into him in turn. He was like a gravity field to her lately. It was ridiculous.

"With our numbers lost, you guys off the field-- it's good that I go." A reassurance to them both. She nodded again, feeling good about this. She stepped around the chair, moving a hairsbreadth closer to him. "I'll be back before the transition to the keep, I promise."

 

[Saul Talith]

He nodded. "Alright."

She was right. He knew that she was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it. His fingers tightened for a brief moment but then he simply allowed himself to relax.

Time away from her would hurt, but they were Templar.

"Valerie will get you the requests." He told her. "Have fun going through that stack of papers."

He'd always done that as a Commander. It had never been easy telling the serious threats from a farmer getting spooked by a scarecrow.

 

[Anastasia]

She crinkled her face, put off by the idea at once.

"Right..." Ugh. "No chance you'll-" She gestured vaguely, letting go off the suggestion before he could even answer. Course not. "Never mind. Are you good here? Should I send someone up to clean?"

 

[Saul Talith]

He smiled, pulling her closer. "I can help you decide if you give me some narrowed down choices."

It was the best he could offer.

Saul of course knew what she had been about to ask, but there was no way that he could ever leave the Compound now. Not for just a single mission. It rankled him more than he could admit. Saul had always been a hands on Commander, had always done everything he could outside, but right now his place was here.

As much as it wound him up. "Maybe you can.."

He frowned.

"Look through them up here?" Nothing said they'd have to be apart.

 

[Anastasia]

Her hands went for his arms in return, not resisting the distance he closed between them, but not closing it any further herself.

She considered his offer for a moment, then nodded softly. She saw no reason they couldn't work together in the same room. Often she found she needed to reminded herself that they did such things before all of this and there was no harm in doing it now. She offered him a small smile in return, closing the distance a little more.

"Thank you," she murmured reverently. Excitement was beginning to build in her gut, anticipation shining in her eyes for the first time in what was proving to be months.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul nuzzled her neck gently. "Of course."

That was all there was to say.

For him, this was more difficult than he'd thought it would be. Allowing her to go on a mission would mean letting her go into danger. It was nothing new of course, Ana had been in dangerous situations before and she would continue to be in them. That was what being a Templar meant.

It didn't make it any easier though.

He wondered if it would change at all in the future,or if with the rising Darkness in the worldit would only get worse. A part of him knew it was the latter.

 

[Anastasia]

It had taken a whole day of painstaking reading and shuffling through files, a task Ana never truly excelled at despite their childhood mentors' best efforts. But finally, she found a request that both seemed worthy of responding to and intrigued her. She knocked lightly on Saul's door, the night's chill brisk in the air around her. A candle in one hand, the parchment in the other, she very nearly let herself in.

Nearly.

She remembered herself and knocked again.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Come in." Saul Called without much thought or even bothering to get up from his desk.

There wasn't really much time for him to get up and check every visitor that came to him. It was silly to think, but Valerie had even suggested getting him an assistant to help with that sort of thing.

Silly.

When he looked up he found Ana standing in the doorway, and almost as soon as he saw her the Lord Captain's eyes and face lit up slightly. He looked tired, more so than he had in the morning. Perhaps the events of the day laying in upon him.

"Did you find your mission?" He asked with a smile.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana nodded, a slight smile to the edge of her lips as she let herself in and brought herself to his desk. She wordlessly handed him the request, giving him a moment to scan before summarizing.

A noble lady to the east request aid. There is apparently rouge cult members trying to take hold of the wealthy class there. She claims to know their names and faces, it is only a matter of dispatching them. A task fit for antimagic."

 

[Saul Talith]

He frowned for a moment. A cult? That could get dicey. Dealing with fanatics was often not exactly a simple thing, especially considering the zealoutry that could be involved.

"You'll nee more than three." Saul said quietly.

He wasn't quite sure if he was saying that because he genuinely believed it, or if it was because this was Ana he was talking to. Either way he had said it.

"A cult could be..." He sighed as he looked up at her. "Trouble."

The Lord Captain looked down at the Paper. "What City was this sent from?"

 

[Anastasia]

Ana frowned. "Rogue." She insisted. "There is only a few, nothing only two of us could handle properly." Still, what small frustration she felt was well concealed.

"Liahn, a weeks ride, not too far. I could leave tomorrow and be back in time with weeks to spare if done right."

 

[Saul Talith]

"Five." Saul quickly countered.

They could spare five. Especially if Ana and them would return in time for Herath. Five wasn't too many to travel with and there would at least be enough to make sure no Cultists got the drop on them.

"That way there's enough of you in case something happens." He frowned glancing at the letter one more time. "Especially if these cultists are nobles."

They'd have guards and the like, best to go with more rather than less.

 

[Anastasia]

Her frown deepened, some of the excitement leaving her frame.

"A group that size will attract attention," she rationalized, stiff as she went about challenging him. "One wiff of us and they will disperse. We'll lose our initiative, nothing will be achieved. Three."

 

[Saul Talith]

He grumbled for a moment, fingers tightening unconsciously until he let out a loud sigh and then finally decided to nod his head in ascent. "Fine."

Three would have to do.

Saul didn't really like the idea of Ana running after a whole cult on her own, but he supposed that short of scouring the whole thing with fire...three and a bit of stealth would have to do.

"Take Owin." He said quietly. "He'll help in more...slippery situations."

It was more of a suggestion than a command.

 

[Anastasia]

She nodded, the tension leaving her body in a woosh. "And Leona? Anyone can see the twitch building in her a mile away." Leona was very much like Ana, even more so truthfully-- more effective on the field than in politics. Both had been kept from hands on tasks for quiet some time now. Months, even.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Alright." He frowned for a moment still though, apparently thinking of things that would help her in the mission. "Remember to be...diplomatic."

Saul flashed her a small smile. "Nobles aren't always as reasonable as us."

He very much doubted that Ana would end up fighting with anyone that she wasn't supposed to...but it would be best just to throw out a reminder or two. After all, it wasn't like they were well liked everywhere just yet. Many people still outright hated the Templar, and missions like these did well to put them in a better light.

At least he hoped so.

 

[Anastasia]

She smiled a little at him, the comment almost amusing to her. Spare Valerie, Ana was always the best one to send off to talk to people. Although perhaps not lately, she noted belatedly, the smile faltering.

"...I will do my best," she vowed, seeing this opportunity as a chance for more than just stretching her legs.

"Thank you," she practically whispered, the excitement taking root inside her again. It felt good to have a task. To have mission. To know that she was going to get out there and do good things. It was exactly what she needed right now. The soft way in which she looked at him expressed that.