A small, lone figure, clothed entirely in black, stood on the road out of Jastrey, looking back at the town she had called home for the last two seasons. Her black mask and hood hung loosely about her neck and her dark hair stirred in the light, night's breeze, moving a few stray strands fallen from her half-knot out of dark silver-grey ringed eyes.Three small, black rose pins glittered in her hair, mirroring the one she now bent to pick from near the wall where statues no longer stood keeping vigil over Jastrey. When she straightened, rose in hand, she looked back once more, almost as if reassuring herself that leaving was her best decision.
With the insane, undead Corpse Crafter her only possiblitiy of correctly anchoring herself a tie with the nether and her father possibly amassing a small army to march on the town should she still be there, she sealed her resolve. It was, indeed, time to go home. How long it would be before she faced Aleksei herself, she was unsure. Not that it mattered. He would quite easily hear of her arrival in the Shadelands the minute she stepped off of whatever span she found to take her there, she was sure- if he didn't hear she was on her way long before. Should anything happen here courtesy of her father, then it would be on Rasiri's head or the Nivarian, not her. Finally she turned her back, drawing up hood and mask, and began walking down the road and into the night. A trail of black petals floated to the ground in her wake and anyone out for a late night stroll in the wood near by may have heard a strange two-voiced conversation as she turned and left, first a shallow and cracked voice, the second would be recognizable as Katri's own. "Are you sure this is what you want? What is best for us?"
"Quite sure. I'm certain we are both quite missed. It's time to get down to business. Let's go home."
The young Uordeq slowed to a pause as words of the unknown male reached her ears. The fingertips of her free hand rested on the soft petals of the rose, but ceased in plucking them. A subtle smile spread acorss her face and she lowered her mask so it could be seen when she turned to face him, eyes glinting beneath her hood. "With nothing left to lose, what can I seek to gain but everything?"
She didn't even care to question his name. She was leaving and adventurers came and left Jastrey constantly. It would be a wonder if the man were still here when she returned, or if anyone she knew might be for that matter. Her journey could take years longer to complete than her own great estimations, hopefully less if there was luck on her side with the spans. She waited patiently a few moments to see if the man had anything else to say.
Delvin offered her a small nod of understanding before walking a bit closer too her, arms out to his sides to show he was unarmed. As he got within conversation distance he'd take to leaning casually against the nearest tree, "In my time I've found that everyone has something to lose, though they are sometimes blind to it". He watched her carefully, his gaze analytical. "What are your plans?" he'd ask, knowing full well that the Uordeq weren't so loose of tongue to divulge their plans to just anyone, let alone a random elf in the woods. He did however seem concerned, despite the cocky smirk he wore.
"Often when someone is blind to what they have to lose in the eyes of others, it is something that they never saw as theirs to lose to begin with." She replied quietly, calmly. "You pry deeply into the matters of those you have only heard whispers of, my good elf."
Katri stood, arms folded in a relaxed way, away from her weaponry, showing that she had no intention of attacking him either. The Uordeq studied him for a few moments in silence, not particularly curious why he had taken intrest in her. Nearly all of town had just met her father, and the rest had seemed to have heard about it. The subtle smile widened just the barest amount, "I seek to go out and regain everything lost to me. My name, my freedom, my honor, and the power I have sought since the beginning of it all. My direct plans, however, are mine alone to deal with. The less others know, the less Aleksei has the opportunity of finding out, and the greater chance I have in stepping ahead in the game."
Her words were simple and confident, if somewhat vague. She turned the partially plucked rose in her hands. Her fingers toyed with the petals as she awaited his reply. She was in no particularly great rush, so this small delay mattered little over all and who knew when she might meet another tolerable soul along the way. Then again, perhaps it was just reluctance to leave Jastrey- though she had steeled her resolve to leave, regardless.
Delvin flashed that warm yet sardonic grin, "Whispers are my business, Katri", The light of the moon refracted within his eyes, giving them an unearthly glow for but a second. "I may be new here but I seek to preserve this place for as long as I can" his words remained soft to the ear, nothing forceful or unkind. "I fear your leaving may invite some form of doom upon us, your father is angry and Jastrey is but an ant on his picnic table" he recalled using those words not too long ago actually, but a good analogy is a good analogy reguardless.
A soft sigh parted his lips as she uttered her reasons for leaving, a slight shake of his head being offered. "The only way to regain some of this....strength...is to take Aleksei's head yourself" he gave a playful grin, "which you may very well have the chance to do if he sees fit to march against us in the comming mestruns" He rolled his shoulders, "These are just the musings of an elf though, as you said, I'm new and know little of Uordeq politics" he rolled his shoulders into a slight shrug and pulled his cloak a bit tighter about himself to fend off the cool wind.
"Just be careful of your steps Katri, a name is nothing to die for, power is always fleeting, and good homes are hard to come by" his words were sincere, "I need not know of specifics, just tread lightly and keep the wind at your back, you will be missed by those who call you friend, I'm certain" and with that he'd fall into silence, his own thoughts drifted to his people and their unknown fate, and for a moment he thought himself a coward. His guilt was washed away by the cool breeze of the night, he once more inhaled the rich forest air.
"And that my good elf, is why I must go. I know enough of my own father and his politics to know my moves well. My chances of taking his head now are slim, even were he fool enough to march on Jastrey himself and alone." Katri answered without sneer, but instead, simply with fact. "My father would not march on Jastrey without my presence in it, if my advisor and I believe truely- and we believe thus from knowledge of him. Were he to, it would be because of Rasiri, formerly also of Clan Cassitran, or perhaps- though less likely- Mistress Akon Nivarian."
"Names and power are what my kind have to live for. Without either, one is nothing more than a slave within households or the mines. Good homes for us, are places and times you can sleep at night and know when and how an attack is coming so that you may sleep peacefully or drive a poisoned blade through the heart of the assassin who thought he could succeed. I come from a base and cruel people. It is that simple." Her words again sounded of nothing but fact and her smile was honest now, almost kind. "And those who call me friend have no call to worry. I have left knowing I go into capable hands- hands as trustworthy as my kind could expect to see. I go, knowing I will come back to this 'home' and those that would venture to call me friend. I am of no mind to fail."
He was pulled from his reverie by her words, taking them and rolling them around in his head for a moment before offering her a slight nod, "If you can promise your father won't crush the town in your absence then I suppose I've no need to try and persuade you to stay" he chuckled, "Though I doubt that this is our last meeting by far" he continued to watch her for a moment longer, "perhaps one day we will call one another friend"
As their words concluded he'd take to climbing the tree he had leaned against, scaling it with relative ease. Tip-toeing along the bows with arms outstretched to maintain balance. Once more the hoot of the owl would shatter the silence of the forest, peculiar little birdy. "Just be careful not to fail yourself, Katri, move in darkness as always" he shot her a smile from above before dissapearing into the night, resuming his tireless vigil of the town's perimeter.
"My father will be of little consequence. Jastrey has many capable hands should his madness prove worse than we had believed. As for failing myself, I could not, I have too much left undone in regaining what was lost to me and am far to stubborn to die before meeting those goals. Darkness is my home and the shadows protect me, staying within their hold, is purely natural." She grinned back at the elf, before beginning to turn and head back down the road once more, plucking petals every so often on her journey south.
As the elf and Uordeq parted ways, the pathway between the walls of the gates which surrounded Jastrey framed the tall, dark silouet of the slender framed Nivarian. The gentle breeze of the night tugged at her long, blackened and tattered robes, as one of the black, stray pettles from Katri's plucking brushed against her boot. The warlock watched as the pettles drifted across the roadway trailing the smaller Uordeq's path in her wake. With hands tucked behind her, clapsed and folded, the older Uordeq woman watched onwards as the last glimpses of the younger's form was engluffed in the shadow of the night. Her staunch and bland features showed no emotion as she watched the departure, her silent vigil as dull as the look upon her visage, save for the always underburning intensity of her red gaze.
Delvin wandered through the night, as had become his custom. Pointed ears were keen to the sounds of the forest, the distant hoot of an owl bringing a smile to his thin lips. For a moment he closed his brilliant blues and enjoyed the serenity that the night brought to the town. He breathed deeply of the night air, letting it fill him with a sense of freedom he'd not allowed himself to feel in several mestruns. Jastrey had quickly become his home, a sanctuary against all of the evil that had plagued his life for too long. So, he wandered the night as a vigil against those that would seek to disrupt the serenity he'd found and threaten those that he had come to call friend in the short amount of time he'd spent here.
It wasn't long before he'd come to the town's entrance, he paused for a moment as he gazed upon the place where Haven's statuesque form had once stood. His mind drifted to thoughts of the prime and the gates of judgement, and the glorious battle he'd been blessed to be a part of. He let the memory fade as he spotted Katri approaching, and into the shadows he would dissapear. Delvin's agile form was swiftly hidden from view behind one of the many trees that lined the path. He'd not had the chance to meet with the female Uordeq but her name was on the lips of every citizen of Jastrey and thus she was quite easy to identify.
He watched intently as she went through her motions, though he tilted his head to her words, "Daughter of Aleksei" his words were soft and carried by the breeze. "May I ask, what is it that you seek to gain?" his eyes remained on the Uordeq as he stepped from behind the tree, though those brilliant blues didn't seem to hold any condemnation towards the femme. Indeed, that playful know it all smirk sat carved across his features as per usual. He waited for her response with silent poise, only the hoot of that distant owl would cut through the still of the night.