|
|
Post by Kiera on Aug 7, 2007 22:25:26 GMT
Kiera frowned at the bird before glancing down at Arthas, she could feel her heart sink as the thought that perhaps Arthas had been less than honest pushed its way into her mind.
"I.........." she opened her mouth to speak but slowly closed it again never taking her eyes of her friend
"I dont believe you!" she looked up speaking sharply,
"Arthas would have told me these things if they were true!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Gabriel on Aug 7, 2007 23:19:31 GMT
Gabriel began to grow exasperated, but he didn't stop pressing. So what if she cried out? Now he had liscence to terrorize them both. "Would he?" he said to Kiera, "Or would he hide something so shameful, or even sugar-coat it?" He leapt off of the branch, glided to the middle of the road, and began to quickly revert back to human form behind Arthas. He ran a hand through his wiry hair before speaking.
"Greetings Arthas. I suspect you've met the lady in the branches?" He tutted disapprovingly. "For shame, mister Orion, the things you've been hiding from her. I had to take it on myself to educate her on the truth." He reared his head back and laughed triumphantly.
He turned to where Kiera was hidden. "Go on, Ma'am. Ask him yourself if I speak the truth."
|
|
|
|
Post by Arthas Orion on Aug 7, 2007 23:26:21 GMT
Arthas tensed as he heard Kiera's voice cut through the still forest air. Temporarily forgetting the potential danger of the sphinx in front of him, he whirled around. "Kiera? Is that..."
Gabriel landed in front of him, and Arthas recognized him instantly. He looked thinner, more disheveled than before, but the face was unmistakable.
"For shame... the things you've been hiding... had to take it upon myself to educate her..."
"Gabriel!" Arthas put his hand on his sword. "I thought you'd stayed in Lia! What did you tell her?"
He looked desperately in the general direction Gabriel's gaze faced. "Kiera?!? What did he tell you?!? Kiera?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Kiera on Aug 8, 2007 21:57:35 GMT
Kiera frowned as the creature droipped from the trees now in human form and Arthas called upon her. sliding from the branch she dropped landing in a crouch before standing elegantly. the other creature that had drawn arthas's attention in the first place temporarily forgotten.
" he said.............I..............I told him i didnt believe him.............He said you lied to me or that you are hiding things............Arthas, who is he and whats going on? He said something about revenge and a young woman getting mauled!" she looked at Arthas her eyes almost pleading with him to tell her that the man was lying that she knew what she needed to know but despite what her eyes would tell him he would know she would want the truth that it would be better for them both in the long run.
|
|
|
|
Post by Gabriel on Aug 8, 2007 23:28:57 GMT
"You should be thanking me, the both of you." Gabriel looked to Kiera. "I revealed to you that this man is not what he seems..." And then he looked to Arthas, "...and I told her the truth, which is something you don't seem to have the heart to do."
He turned and let his gaze run over Kiera appraisingly, smiling a malicious, canine-filled grin. "She's quite the lovely lady, Arthas." he remarked. "She doesn't comapare to my Julia though. Do you intend to use her like you used that other young lady. Galena, her name was?"
He looked back to Arthas, thouroughly enjoying the warrior's reaction. "Well now... I think I'll just excuse myself. Consider this a deposit on my revenge." His arms began to sprout feathers and turn into wings. "I'll be back to collect the rest."
He took off with a powerful flap, said "Sleep lightly until then, Arthas," and flew over the trees and away with a sinister laugh.
|
|
|
|
Post by Arthas Orion on Aug 8, 2007 23:39:59 GMT
Arthas bristled, and as Gabriel took off he ran after him. His sword was drawn, a pointless motion; by the time he was there the winged man was already well out of striking distance. Having nothing else, Arthas yelled after him. "You've signed your own death warrant, Gabriel! I'll kill you! Kill..."
He stopped abruptly as his rage subsided and the reality of the situation took its place in his mind. He sheathed the sword and turned to face Kiera. He looked her in the eye, and knew exactly what was going through her mind, how she wished Gabriel was nothing more than a slandering maniac. Suddenly Arthas understood what Gabriel had meant by the "deposit" on his revenge.
"Kiera..." he began, "I'm not sure... all that he told you... Some of.... some of it may be delusion, but... I..." He kept his gaze on hers for as long as he could, but seeing the desperate hope reflected in them stopped him cold. He was forced eventually to avert his eyes and look shamefully to the ground like a child. "Please... please try to understand... I..."
|
|
|
|
Post by Kiera on Aug 9, 2007 9:25:38 GMT
Kiera watched hima s he took after Gabriel, closing her eyes for a second she opened them again the hope still glimmering as she watched him return to her, that hope faded fast and was soon replaced by an unwavering mask as her eyes turned emotionless.
"It was true...........what he said at least some of it?" she asked she might of been able to mask her emotions from her eyes but her voice wavered as she spoke belying the cool calmness she was pretending. She watched the man staring at the ground in front of her and she felt her heart twist hardening towards him, Sha had fallen for one murderer who had lied to her and led her to believe he was something he wasnt she wasnt prepared to hurt herself that way again.
|
|
|
|
Post by Arthas Orion on Aug 9, 2007 12:42:04 GMT
"Probably," Arthas sighed, still unable to meet her gaze, "That man may have lost what's left of his sanity, but I'm quite sure he didn't tell you I was a fire breathing dragon or...
"Right then, I guess it would have come out eventually. Kiera, I spent fifteen years chasing after the most dangerous man I had ever had the misfortune to meet out of Chepi. I suppose it would look like revenge to most, and indeed revenge was a good part of it, but not all...
"I won't deny that I haven't silenced those that stood in my way where it was necessary, and I won't deny that innocents did get caught in the cross-fire. Yes, I did convince people to help me bring him to justice, and yes, a good number of them ended up paying for their loyalty.
"But don't you see?" He looked up to Kiera hopefully. "It was all worth it in the end. He's been brought to justice, those he's killed have been avenged. It was all..." He trailed off then, looking desperately into those blank eyes.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kiera on Aug 9, 2007 21:33:46 GMT
"But don't you see?" "It was all worth it in the end. He's been brought to justice, those he's killed have been avenged. It was all..." Kiera closed her eyes avoiding looking at him as his words thundered through her head and squeezed her heart she thought to all thiose years ago to the time when Chepi had been at war with the demons the time when tullaris had said very similar things to her and she had accepted them as fact the innocent lifes that had been and would be lost in their fight for peace would be a necessary evil a mere coinsequence compared to the victory of having peace in Chepi once again. She opened her eyes again
"Was it really worth it? Yous ay it was worth it to see him brought to justice?" she shhok her ehad no longer sure if she was questioning Arthas or herself. a sudden image of her daughter appeared in front of her and she stumbled involuntarily before raising tear filled eyes to her friend
"So many people lost their lives! Both here with my fight and there with yours. We both have stood and sai that the lives lost were worth it but I bet their families dont think like that!" she shook her head
"You werent honest with me Arthas, I thought I could trust you but now I find you hide much the same secrets as .................as he did!" her referral to Tullaris was breif but she knew she would not have to name names for him to know who it was she talked about!
|
|
|
|
Post by Arthas Orion on Aug 10, 2007 13:49:09 GMT
Arthas bristled. All traces of desperate hope vanished from him, replaced almost instantly with rising anger. "Don't... you... ever... put me on the same pedestal as that murderous turncoat! He blantantly hid his atrocities; maybe I just felt as though they didn't need mentioning. And how was I supposed to chisel it in anyway? 'Hi Kiera, so nice to see you after so long. By the way, I killed people?'
"And another thing: What do you know about whether it was worth it? What could you possibly know about it; you certainly weren't there. You tend to the funeral pyres of half a city and then ask me whether I thought..." He trailed off then, keeping his gaze locked, gluping slightly and reflexively flexing his hand in and out of a fist.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kiera on Aug 10, 2007 23:06:57 GMT
Kiera fought her own angry retort back,
"Im sorry Arthas, I didnt mean to compare you with Tullaris, I am sure you had your reasons!" she shook her head her eyes meeting his sadly.
"Funeral pyres huh? Well at least your people had funerals mine just rotted where they fell!" she shook her head she was grateful to Arthas for all the support he had given her over the years but she was battling with her own guilt and demons she didnt want to be embroiled in anyones elses.
"I just wish you had been honest with me havent you learned by now that being around me is trouble enbough wiothout keeping secrets that people will take great pleasure in revealing to hurt you or hurt me?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Arthas Orion on Aug 13, 2007 12:56:55 GMT
The remark Kiera made about people "rotting where they fell" gave Arthas pause. He sighed and made an effort to keep his temper under control. "My apologies, Kiera." He bowed. "I forget myself, speaking to you like this. You are right, of course. Had I known Gabriel was still following me, I'd have told you myself so the truth wouldn't be twisted in his favor."
He shrugged, as though it were a minor annoyance. "But I didn't, and now you find out under the worst conditions. So, I suppose you deserve both an explanation and an apology." He brought his arm across his stomach and bowed. "That is, if Your Majesty will still have me."
|
|
|
|
Post by Kiera on Aug 13, 2007 21:43:22 GMT
kiera listened to what he was saying knowing that no matter what he had proved himself to great a friend for her to turn her back on him now.
"Arthas, you are a great and loyal friend and if I were to turn my back on you now surely that would make me nothing more than a hypocrite! I have hurt mayn people and many died because of my actions, I will always have the time to listen to you and I will always want you by my side!" she smiled gently at him and held out her hand she touched his arm.
|
|
|
|
Post by Arthas Orion on Aug 15, 2007 12:37:15 GMT
Arthas sighed in relief, closing his hand over hers. "Thank you Kiera. I... I couldn't possibly imagine losing you to my past like this. I..."
He paused. There's that feeling of being watched again. Could that mean Gabriel is still here? "Kiera, I'm not sure, but I think we're still in danger." Very reluctantly, he took Kiera's hand off his arm and let go. "It's probably just paranoia rearing its ugly head, but..."
|
|
|
|
Post by Kiera on Aug 17, 2007 22:17:59 GMT
Kiera raised an eyebrow at his words but nodded.
"Perhaps we should leave here and move to where we shall be out on more open ground and closer to back up if it is required?"
|
|
