Private Tales Those Fallen

[Saul Talith]

Fingers tightened for half a second, expecting some sort of fight before he turned around and spotted Leane walking towards him. She had no blood on her, but the Templar symbol etched onto her shield made it more than clear who she served.

If his own armor didn't already identify him to everyone on the docks. "Only to the center of the Harbor."

Saul said as he shrugged off her hand, more than capable of walking and moving on his own. There were a few cuts, some scrapes, but he wasn't some sort of invalid. Not yet anyway. There was still much to do, and he wasn't going to abandon Alliria because of just one day.

"Let Arrawaith come to me there." Saul said as he stalked forward.

They needed a reprieve, a second to catch their breath.

Then he would take what was theirs.

 

[Anastasia]

Leane nodded, stepping back at once to give him space. "Sir," she acknowledged, rarely one to speak to like they were children again.

They boarded the boat to find it bustling with new life, everyone emerging to prepare for either further issues or to simply follow orders and set sail, most faces casting to Saul for his order to move to the middle of the harbor. Actions were done efficiently, the Templar not one to stop and grieve the the losses events had made them endure. Emotions were just distractions, anyway. What mattered was their duty.

Ana was not in sight on the deck, already taken below to be laid out and recuperate properly.

Edwin stepped up to Saul's side as the ship slipped away from the land, blood from their battles slowly drying in a speckled pattern across his face. He watched the water move by, face pinched.

"...He'll come for us again."

 

[Saul Talith]

"I know." Saul said simply.

It was a fact that they would have to deal with now, something that they could not deny. His fingers tightened, and finally he allowed his blade to slip back into place in it's scabbard. A part of it wanted to keep it free, but he knew what that would look like to the others.

He was not a warmonger. He was just doing what he had to.

"He has no ships." Unless he'd kept them hidden, which The Commander doubted. "We'll be safe in the Harbor at least."

His fingers tightened. "Safe enough to strike back."

Saul had never expected Arrawaith to strike out in the way he had, so directly and with force. His game was a more subtle one, assassination, poison in the night. This...this felt as though he were missing something. He didn't like it.

"I'm going to go see Ana." Saul said quietly as he headed below deck.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana was laid out on the ground, Valerie cloakless besides her, the cloth tucked under her head. The woman skin had slipped to an ashen gray, a sheen of sweat soaking through her leathers as Valerie attempted to combat the onset of shock with a cold clothe on her head.

Ana's groans stopped short of the approaching footfalls, her eyes flickering wide open, searching out-- yes. Saul. She shivered in a wave of relief, reaching out a hand for him. "Thank god, that was stupid of you," she chastised.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul grasped her hand, squatting down besides her. His armor made a quiet clatter as he did so, shifting over his weight in an almost comfortable fashion.

"I won, didn't I?' He left out the fact that he probably would have been killed by Alice had Leane not shown up, but Ana didn't need to know that particular piece of information. Better to just keep it quiet, no need to panic her...or pat down his ego.

The ship shifted slightly as they moved further from the docks, crawling towards the center of the harbor.

They would join a dozen other ships there, most of them trade vessels from all over the world. There were even a few Anirian War Galleys, likely occupied by visiting dignitaries.

"We're safe for now." He told her. "Everyone made it."

There was no official count yet, but the ship was practically bursting with Templar, he was confident they had everyone.

 

[Anastasia]

She shivered, closing her eyes with a soft exhale. "Doesn't make it okay," she murmured, truly able to relax now with that report in.

"I'm sorry, Saul, I should of seen that coming..." She had paid too much attention to himself, she had forgotten her own surroundings. Like Saul, she had underestimated Arrawaith. While she had been braced for a moment against Saul's life itself, she hadn't been prepared for them to be looking for his companions in the crowds. It was clear now the kill order had always been given. And she was the fool that had run right into it.

What was that about?

Very not Ana.

She didn't look well, a fever breaking across her skin.

 

[Saul Talith]

His finger brushed over her cheek. "I didn't see it coming either."

That was the simple truth.

Saul had never expected Arrawaith to strike out like that. It was completely and utterly out of character for the man. He had thought perhaps an assassination attempt, getting him to come back somewhere else...something, but this? This had been completely and utterly out of character.

"It doesn't make sense Ana." He told her quietly. "Don't blame yourself."

Lips thinned for a moment. "He...he had to have some reason for this, it's just not his style. Nobody could have seen this coming."

There was something hidden, something neither of them could see yet.

 

[Anastasia]

Valerie watched on, solemn and composed. "He's made another allegiance," she stated simply. "One even I didn't see." And that was saying something, the woman the most adept at creeping into the folds of Templar politics and getting her skirts wet.

Ana arched against the floor groaning as she began to slip into fevered delusion. Valerie quickly suushed her, wiping the damp cloth across her skin. "She'll be okay," she told him, knowing the weight he was carrying on his shoulders. She reached out, taking his hand now and squeezing it in a rare sign of affection.

"I will go fetch a doctor. She will wake tomorrow and we will figure the rest of this out," she told him, her voice firm and confident. Her faith in him was unwavering-- a reminder on the mentality he needed to keep for himself.

Strength.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul hesitated for a moment, nodding. "Get Livia."

Though the Templar were not officially 'doctors', Livia was just about as close as they had ever gotten. She was a better apothecary than most of those who claimed to be in Alliria. The woman had not come up in their little group, but was instead almost twenty years their senior.

She'd been one of the few older Templar to support Saul almost unconditionally, believing in his goal to reunite the Order and bring them all together. An idealist to her core.

"I'll stay here." He told Valerie. "Think about what Arrawaith could have done."

Who was his partner?

It didn't make any sense, striking out in the market, attacking out in the open like that with so little regard for everyone around them. Unless of course...no, couldn't be.

 

[Anastasia]

Valerie stood up, her chain mail falling like liquid to her thighs. "It will come to you." It always did.

She placed the damp washcloth in his hand. "Keep her cool." And with no further word, she left. And it would become a long night, but by morning Ana's fever broke, the all clear given as she drifted into a calmer, healing sleep.

By noon the Templars had found enough ways to make the ship a better suited home, many tasks and chores being done as a routine was slowly to be established. One or two more members trickled in, a rowboat sneakily taken in to rejoin their crew.

It was around then that Ana woke, her skin damp but full of a flush of color as she jolted up and reached for her dagger.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul gently caught her hand before she could reach...well nothing at all. They had taken her weapons and stripped off most of her clothes, a precaution in order to make sure she didn't over heat.

"Shh." He told her quietly. "You're safe."

Livia had done as much as she could, properly treating the wound and putting a salve on the burn to treat that as well. There would be a scar because of what he had done, but that wasn't something they weren't used to.

Scars to Templar were like scales to fish.

"We're in the harbor, everyone is here." One hundred and twelve Templars, all loyal to him, all aboard this one ship.

 

[Anastasia]

His words took a long moment to register, her eyes wide and body tense. Clarity slowly slipped into her expression, her hand relaxing under his.

She fell back with a wordless groan, shuddering against the ache and release of emotions. "Thank Gods," she whispered, a common phrase for her. If anyone in their group conscripted to the old religion of the Templars, to some degree, it would be her.

She relaxed for a moment before kicking up another fuss. "What are you doing here? You have people to lead, you need to go to them," she protested, trying to pull her hand away.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul held on to her hand, his grip not quite clutching but close to it. There was a hint of concern to his features still, but he knew thay she was at least out of the woods when it came to danger.

"Not much to lead right now." He commented quietly.

They had a hundred and Twelve Templar aboard the ship. All of them could fight in their own way and all of them were loyal soldiers. He just had to know how to use them. It was what he'd been thinking about while sittimg here, what he'd been planning out. Arrawaith had surprised him, had done something none of them had expected.

Saul needed to do the same.

"We're in the harbor right now." He explained. "Four Anirian Galleons and two sloops from Elbion are hiding us."

Not on purpose of course, but they were.

 

[Anastasia]

She laid there for a moment, still dazed and easily confused. "Is this- is this a good thing?" She managed, relenting in her protests a pause.

Her thoughts remained slippery and hard to maintain. Seed of poppy, she was sure, for the pain in her body remained a dull ache. Livia had given her that much.

Her grip slowly tightened on his hand, and while she remained unwilling to admit it, she was greatly soothed by his company. He eyes drifted closed for a moment, though her breath promised she was still present, her head swimming.

 

[Saul Talith]

For a moment Saul paused. The question didn't really have a straight answer. None of the ships around them would hurt or betray them of course, they didn't even know who they were. Though, he felt if the Anirian's knew they would likely support him.

If only because Saul was close with the head of Vel Anir's Templar Chapter.

The woman was like death walking, but she liked him. One of the few who had not attended the meeting but still ascented her support to his venture. Something he was rather glad for given Vel Anir's more...military mindset. Fighting them would have been difficult. "We're safe."

He told Ana finally.

"We have a moment to breath and plan." Something he had desperately neeeded. "I think Arrawaith made a deal. Perhaps with the City Watch or one of the Council Members...but either way despite the calamity earlier no one is looking for Templar."

An extremely telling fact.

 

[Anastasia]

She exhaled, long and pained. "We're pariahs..."

When she opened her eyes again, they were shining with withheld grief. "I think it's time we gave up the city, Saul," she told him, no small amount of pain her voice. "Gather our strength. Form political ties. If this is the game he wants to play, we have to match it."

 

[Saul Talith]

"I'm not leaving Alliria." His voice wasn't cold, but it was firm. There was an edge to it, something drawn from personal pain. A memory thay still tickled at the very back of his mind.

Fleeing Vel Anir.

He had been just a child then, too young to really understand what was happening or where he was going. It had taken him well into adulthood to really remember it all, to see what had happened and why they had been forced to leave. Sometimes he still wondered what would have neen different had he stayed, who he would be.

He wouldn't wonder a second time.

"I'm not leaving again." He said firmly once more. "I'll be damned if i let someone drive me from our home."

They hadn't lost yet, and he wouldn't give up.

 

[Anastasia]

She pleaded her thoughts now, too drugged up to have the filter to stop them. "We have allies now, we should use them. We've lost it all, Saul don't turn us into sitting ducks.We can come back and take it when we've strengthened ourselves, don't be foolish, we're outnumbered!"

She regretted the words as soon as they happened, her tension leaving her body with a swoosh and a groan.

 

[Saul Talith]

His fingers tightened. "If we leave he'll dig in."

Saul knew where her anger came from, why she felt this way, why she wanted to leave. It was something he felt too, but he simply couldnt go along with those feelings. Not now. Not when he knew the consequence of it.

"Arrawaith does not want to be a Templar Ana." He sighed. "He wants to be a Noble."

Fingers tightened again. "He'll turn our home into his little manor, use those who follow him as a personal guard, and sell off anything he can in the vaults."

A hand ran through his hair.

"I cant let that happen." His voice was firm, but quiet. "I cant let him destroy us."

 

[Anastasia]

She closed her eyes, letting out a slightly distressed cry as she did so. She had no words, her thoughts felt so distant from her, so discombobulated. She was floating, aware of how unlike herself she felt in that moment but unable to do more than make a noise of frustration.

"I hate you sometimes," she protested, her hand tightening around his regardless. "Why can't you just- not care." There was an expression of care in there somewhere.

 

[Saul Talith]

He smiled for a second. "If I didn't, you wouldn't follow me."

That was how he saw it anyway. If he were less of a man, if he did not care, if he was not who he was...none of them would follow him into this fight, none of them would do as he asked.

It was what set him apart from Arrawaith, from many other Templar Commanders.

He cared.

"I need to do this, Ana." He paused for a few seconds. "Not just for myself, but for all of us. For our home...for that stupid little pond you love so much."

A breath filled him. "But I can't do it without you."

 

[Anastasia]

She shook her head back and forth, a dreaded tear slipping down her face. There were many times she wished she was made of harder stuff. That she could be like the others, stoic and strong an unaffected by their lives. Her soft composure was what endeared her to the others, drawn in by the warmth that most Templars lost during training. To her, its was a sign of weakness.

She opened her eyes, more tears falling, genuine fear ruling her. "I can't lose you," was all she managed to say, the rest of her words crumbling before they could be spoken.

That was where this all steamed from. Her uncertainty, her challenging the cause. It wasn't because she didn't believe in it. It wasn't because didn't support it. Just just couldn't bare the thought of him dying. And the desire to prevent that, most shamefully overrode everything else.

That shame heated up her face, Ana unable to make eye contact with him at the confession that spoke more to a declaration of love than she'd ever managed with him before.

 

[Saul Talith]

His fingers laced into her own.

"You won't." There was nothing else to really say about that, nothing that he could say. Death was not something either of them could avoid forever, but...Saul knew that if he did not do this he would be lost in every other way.

The Templar were his life.

Ana, the rest of them, they were his family. He would not allow that family to be broken and thrown out of their home, he would not become a hollow shell of what he had once been. He would take their home back, and he would do it without losing a single one of them.

A plan had formed in his mind.

He knew what he had to do.

His fingers slowly squeezed hers. Saul knew from the beginning that this would not be easy, knew from the start that they would fight against the tide. He'd been ready for it. "I-We can do this. We can take back our home."

There was a steadiness to his voice, a firm calm.

 

[Anastasia]

She wordlessly pressed her face into his hand, closing her eyes and grieving silently for the first time over Lord Captain's death. There was nothing more to be said, they all had their pain. They were all feeling this strain. All that was left to do was regather and act. And she'd follow him. To the ends of the world, she'd follow him because he was the kind of man that deserved to be followed. Because he cared about all the right things.

Damn him for it.

There was nothing more she could ask of him to say to her, she just took his company and laid there with a spinning head and aching gut. Time was the solution to everything.

 

[Saul Talith]

Eventually Valerie dipped below deck carrying a small bowl of food, and another that had quite a bit more to eat in it. One was for Ana of course and the other him.

"Three days." Saul said quietly to the other woman.

She perked an eyebrow in response, almost as if she were somewhat surprised by the amount of time that he had given. She likely expected him to act much faster than that.

"We need to wait here for three days." If they could stay concealed for that long. "Arrawaith will grow desperate looking for us, and that's when we strike."

As fast as they could.