measured_words | Shadows 5.1

Yeah, I do think this should come first, and then the scene with Lorella and Tavik, and then Valentine and Hadyn. And then the last bit, which should be complete fairly soon! This is kind of long, relative to other sections, but once again I was working from a log (ugh). If I'm lucky, this one will flow a bit better :)

Shadows 5.1

Teah lurked in the basement of the Loyalist enclave, staring through the darkness. She was bored. Two days after the official announcement that the Loyalists were moving to a new home had come the announcement from the Daimyo of Shinkyo that the northerners were formally banished, and given two weeks to clear out completely. Hadyn was consequently extremely busy assisting with the lab, setting up wards in the new keep, and transporting people and goods over the long distance with his magic. Though she accompanied him whenever he teleported, it was otherwise best for her to simply stay out of the way of the numerous bustling bipeds swarming in the upper rooms.

She was a little sad to leave the den she had made here, and there was little sense in establishing herself at the keep – named Fort Cedric after Exia’s dead king. In less than a week, she would go south with her master, and who knew for how long? Hadyn had consented to transport the little pride she’d accumulated, though she doubted he would admit it to anyone. That was fine – she wasn’t sure she’d be quite willing to own up to them in public either. But they would stake out a place for themselves, and when she returned, she could use that to carve out her new domain.

A sound in the hallway caught her attention. More humans had ventured down here in the last week, it seemed, than had in the entire period of the Loyalist occupation of the compound. Teah closed her eyes and sniffed, catching a familiar scent. She prowled to the doorway, turning her head to see Lendrick coming down the hallway towards her. He blinked, clearly startled to see her, and smiled warily.

“Hello Teah.” He glanced past her, probably checking to see if Hadyn were present, as though she never left his side. Presumptuous fool. “Got a minute?”

She wondered exactly how he expected her to respond. Her mind was very advanced – she thought more often in common or in Hadyn’s tongue than in the clumsy language of beasts – but she lacked the ability to communicate complex concepts. Her tail swishing in mild annoyance, she sat.

“Don't be alarmed by this... I'm going to cast a telepathic bond on you. If you don't want it, you can end it whenever.”

She sometimes forgot that he was a wizard as well as a priest. But why would she be alarmed? He paused a moment before casting, but once she felt the bond established, she reacted immediately.

~I share this spell with Hadyn already~

~Mine won't be permanent, don't worry.~

~I know.~ Permanency was another spell entirely, and a costly one at that. Clearly Lendrick had never had a familiar of his own. ~What Hadyn knows about such things, I also know.~

~Sorry... This is a bit, well, awkward. I've known you for two years now and I can only guess at what you're really like.~

It wasn’t quite true. She remembered Lendrick from when she’d been a kitten, but he and Hadyn had parted ways in Trylith over a year ago. She’d grown, and changed, a lot since then. ~You have not known me for so long. You were not with us for some time.~

~This is true. Walk with me for a bit?~

She stood and followed him further into the basement, past rooms full of abandoned decaying furniture left by whoever had occupied this place last. Lendrick seemed to know where he was heading, and stopped at a dusty shelf inside an otherwise empty room. There were somewhat fresher smells here than elsewhere, including a lingering trace of the Half-Elf. He began sorting through various bottles and papers left on his previous trip months earlier, and she wondered what he wanted with her. Eventually, he broke the silence.

~So, what do you think about all this? The Sages, I mean.~

Hadyn, then. She considered whether or not she should tell her master what she was doing, and where she was, but decided to wait. She’d never considered Lendrick very useful, and was somehow dubious that this conversation would prove any different.
~They are dangerous,~ she answered simply.

~Were you present when Hadyn spoke to them?~

~Yes.~ As though he would embark on anything so dangerous without her to back him up.

~Do you think they might help him out?~

~They will help themselves.~

~And presumably Hadyn, too, if he can force their interests to coincide with his.~

~Hadyn does not accept help easily.~ How long had this man known her master, and still did not understand some of the most basic elements of his nature? ~His people place great value on self-sufficiency… You have seen this.~ Or at least, if he had been paying attention, he would have surely noticed.

~Well, self-sufficiency is a valuable thing, certainly. But there's also wisdom in seeing when it's not enough.~
~His wisdom is clouded.~ It was a sour though, but true. His mind was clouded, more lately than ever.

Lendrick nodded, sniffing at one of the bottles and then discarding it casually over his shoulder. ~ By what, in your estimation?~ A burning astringent scent bloomed from the resulting puddle, and Teah backed away, annoyed at his clumsiness and frustrated at the situation. She growled, and the half-elf glanced back with an apologetic look. ~Sorry, you can probably smell that from across the room. I was hoping it would be cool enough down here that it wouldn't go bad.~

She chose to ignore his thoughtlessness for the moment, returning to the more important topic. ~Hady's mind is troubled. He makes his teas to quiet it. Sometimes they work, sometimes they do not, so he makes them stronger.~

~Which can't help his judgment.~ Lendrick continues to check his potions, discarding them more carefully.

~No.~

~Do you suppose this is a result of his condition or his usual paranoia?~

~Are they different?~

~Since he's been getting worse, one might assume that they are.~

~I do not understand your meaning.~ Hadyn was paranoid by nature, though it had been worsening of late, she wasn’t sure that she could see any correlation between a worsening of his ‘condition’, as others referred to it. She hadn’t noticed any signs that the demon was becoming stronger, and wondered what made Lendrick think so.

~Well, I see Hadyn as kind of a paranoid person.~

Of course. He was paranoid, but that was a reaction. ~Fear is what drives him.~

~I can't imagine what that must be like.~

~No.~ Despite the mental and empathic links she shared with her master, his mind was alien to her. She rarely understood why he reacted how he did, though she knew him well enough to know what he would think. Lendrick lacked even that insight.

He sighed, wiping the dust off the label of another bottle. ~How much influence do you have over him?~

~He is calmer when I am there. He lets me do what I wish.~

~That wasn't really what I meant.~

~I do not make him do things.~ Hadyn was too wary of any who tried to control him. Besides which, she had no answers to his problems.

~And I wouldn't ask you to.~ Lendrick glanced back at her again, considering. ~But given that his wisdom is clouded, will he listen to yours?~

What wisdom did he think she had to offer? ~If he listened to my wisdom, that woman would be dead.~

~Which one? The sage?~

~Yes.~

He seemed a little incredulous. ~With utmost respect, Teah, if he listened to your wisdom on that, the two of you would be dead.~

~Perhaps.~

~And this doesn't concern you?~

~It did not come to pass.~ She didn’t dwell on the past very often – there was little benefit in it. ~I am a huntress. I hunt. I do not give counsel.

~I realize it's not my place to say this, and I'm only saying it because I'm Hadyn's friend... You might consider occasionally giving counsel. If his mind his clouded, he could use some guidance, and he doesn't trust mine.~

~He trusts you.~ It was strange to her – he seemed no more or less trustworthy than any of his other companions. Perhaps less so in some matters, and yet Hadyn trusted this Half-Elf implicitly.

~Had me fooled.~ Lendrick shook his head as he paced another bottle into his small collection of potions worth keeping.

~He believes that you are sincere. That is more than he believes of most.~

~But not necessarily qualified to give him advice.~ He grinned.

~No.~ Hadyn didn’t believe anyone understood him well enough to give advice. He kept most people at such a distance that it was generally true.

~That's the other part of trust.~

Teah pondered. She wasn’t sure if she agreed with that assessment, but decided it wasn’t relevant. Hadyn trusted Lendrick, but if he didn’t want to believe that, it was neither hers nor her master’s problem. ~Then he trusts no one.~ The Half-Elf merely nodded in response, and she continued. ~I am worried more for his mind than of these sages.~

He nodded again, seating himself on the dusty floor to look over his collection. ~Me too.~

Perhaps he wasn’t so unobservant after all. She was wary of sharing more details, but she worried. There was no one else that Hadyn trusted with his problems, however, and so she had no one else with whom to share her concerns. ~You have not seen the worst of things,~ she finally admitted. ~His thoughts descend into chaos and I can do noting for him. He withdraws for hours from the world, even from me.

~Any idea what triggers it?~

~Fear.~ What else? Though what caused the fear attacks was variable, he immediately became antsy whenever his carefully cultivated privacy was threatened .

~Ya know... I can brew some potions for him that might alleviate that to some extent.~

~He has his own potions.~ Teah was sick of potions, of seeing him close off more and more of his mind. He didn’t always see how much they affected him, and was too desperate to give them up regardless. ~His teas, and other things from a Southern priest.~

~He wouldn't be able to make these.~

~What do you speak of?~ She was wary, but Lendrick was a priest himself. The potions that Hadyn had received from Nhabu and Ishitaka had been quite useful, unlike many of the ones he concocted for himself.

~There's a spell I know. It calms people, makes them unafraid. It doesn't last very long, but it might be enough to allow him to clear his mind before he falls into one of these states.~

~Yes!~ It sounded promising – she was surprised at her own excitement. Real potions, spells stored in liquid form, would not have the same aftereffects of herbal preparations.

~I'll make as many as would be reasonable for him to carry. He'll have to use them sparingly, but he can call on me for more if he runs out.~

Her tail swished. As long as Hadyn didn’t believe that she had solicited this assistance, he might even accept it. ~Do not tell him I told you of this.~

~Well, I know he gets scared anyway. Not to this extent, but it's enough of an excuse.~

~Yes.~ It might be good enough, in any case. She hoped so, but it was hard to gauge. He might wonder, but might also consider it simply an insightful gesture on the behalf of his friend. ~You have seen how he fears this...~ It would all depend on the presentation.

~I'm just glad to be able to offer him some kind of material help.~ Lendrick packed the few bottles worth keeping into a large pouch and nodded once in affirmation. “If he ever needs me, he can call.” He spoke out loud, addressing himself as much as Teah. “I'd die for him. I would…. And that's what would happen, no doubt, if I went up against a Sage. But I'd do it. With no regrets.”

Teah wondered about that. Certainly Abe was dangerous, with her knowledge of demons, but it was her impression that many of the members were scholars of more innocuous topics. It was still unlikely that they would let the death of one of their own go unavenged.

~He would not want that.~ Hadyn had too few friends to let them die easily, but he would certainly find the sentiment comforting.

“That doesn't matter.” He shouldered his sack. “Anyway, if you can, try to guide him a bit. He needs it, at least until he can think clearly again. I know these sages are dangerous but I think they may be his best hope.”

~Perhaps you are right.~ Hadyn himself considered that he may be able to get something from them. At least sometimes, he did. Other times he was les rational about his situation.

“If I didn't think that, I'd tell him to run.”

~I think he believes it as well, in his own way, or he would run.~

“She may have said she could find him anywhere, but she doesn't know Hadyn.” As someone who had been a friend, and also tried to track him for some time, Lendrick had a high opinion of her master’s ability to disappear when he wanted. “And it may be a bluff even then.”

~They would find him on Keth. It is her jade trinket that prevents the wound she gave him from spreading.” They would track him through it – or so he thought. Teah was willing to believe him, though his magic protected his other items from scrying. She didn’t need to mention the alternatives either – Hadyn had done so in his own conversation with the Half-Elf.

“A sufficiently powerful priest could reverse it, I suspect.” Lendrick shrugged and readjusted his burden. “The trouble would be finding one, especially one who would be willing to help Hadyn with his condition. I'm nowhere near strong enough…”

~Teah.~ A second voice intruded into her mind – her master calling. ~Kyla just returned from the fort – Volaris needs me there. Meet me in the transport room.~

“…But if it becomes necessary to pursue that avenue, we can find someone to do it.”

~Of course,~ to Hadyn, and to Lendrick, ~he is looking for me.~

He nodded. “Go. And best of luck.”

She turned to leave, but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Also... It's nice to meet you, finally. I regret not speaking with you before.”

~We will speak again.~ She had no doubts, but was impatient to be off to join her master and for a chance to explore the new fort. She slunk past Lendrick into the dusty hall as he wished her goodnight.