Downtrodden (Guest Mod, Aidara)

[Leila]

Timestamp: Spring 24, 513 AV That night, Aidara had found much trouble sleeping. She would sweat, then freeze, feel watched, then totally alone. She was plagued by spurts of nightmares and periods of total restlessness. Natalie and Sira were both fine and well, sleeping as they normally would. There was a timid knock upon the door to Aidara, Sira, and Natalie's home, a light double rap at first. Then with a more bold, louder, triple tap. There was no immediate answer, so the knocker sighed rather loudly. The knocker tried the door, gently, finding it unlocked, slowly pushed it inward. "Hello? Endal Aidara? I come from the Valintar on urgent business, I have a scroll for you." "Endal Aidara, Five of our own Endals were killed in the field yesterday, and we had reason to suspect by another Endal. This was confirmed this morning as five more were killed as they slept, as were their eagles. There were witnesses, whom we are interrogating now, but all of them are saying the same thing, without having met with each other. The murders were performed by your sister Sairque. We have several teams searching the skies for her, as well as others searching here in the mountain. We are trying to take her alive, but we cannot guarantee it. I suspect that she is still here in the mountain, and the Dek that is delivering this message is representing me, and will assist you in any way you need during this troubling time. He's quite intelligent, and has served as one of my personal Dek for many years. I cannot spare anyone else, including Sira, I'm sorry, but you and this Dek will have to go at it yourselves. I wish you the best of luck Endal, and I cannot imagine the situation you are in. Valintar, Kaden Avin" The Dek that had handed her the scroll was of no significant ugliness nor beauty, and wore cleaner than normal Dek attire. He stood unassuming, neither afraid nor defiant before her, one healthy arm holding the scroll, and one short, shriveled arm that had earned him his position in life. He waited on her, for he was now hers to command.

[Aidara]

The nightmares that had been plaguing her for quite some time had decided, for whatever reason, to give Addy a break this night. Had such an incident occurred while conscious, the young woman would have found herself immediately suspicious, her skin crawling with unease. As it were, the fiery redhead reclined on some distant sandy beach, covered in some kind of oil as she bared her less-than-tan skin to Syna’s less-than-gentle kiss. Addy knew it was a dream because the sand didn’t bother her; dirty, clingy stuff, sand. Once it was on you, it never quite left. Gods forbid you happened to bring some home; That was a whole different type of nightmare.

Prostrate and completely naked, the little healer marveled in the warmth that oozed over her body, through every pore and easing the tension from even the most knotted muscles. It was a dreamy way to spend the day, to be sure. The gentle trickle of sweat as it cut paths over her skin was a delightful feeling at first. But then the trickle became a stream and Addy sat bolt upright with a gasp; Syna’s gentle kiss turned into a vicious stabbing, little blazing hot needles driven into her skin all over her body.

“Too hot! TOO HOT!” Though there was no one else around, Addy screamed and flapped her hands around her face, as if the paltry breeze it created would do anything to sooth her crackling skin. An attempt to rise from the chair floored the redhead from the pain as skin brushed against skin, igniting yet more heat. “I’m not supposed to burn!” It was true. Ivak had seen to that.

As quickly as the heat came, it went, the little woman’s skin burning from something completely different between one tick and the next: a bone chilling cold. Where the sweat had dripped there now lay a framework of frozen lines, the tips of her fingers and toes turning an unhealthy dark blue. Shuddering and with her teeth clattering so hard that she couldn’t form words, Addy threw herself into the sand in pure desperation. Something had to make this all stop.

Imaginary or real, the pain semi-roused Addy from her slumber, bringing her back to the waking world enough to send her tossing and turning, flinging furs and pillows from the bed as she failed. In her half-woken state, the paranoia set in. Someone. Was. There.

It was the knock at the door that completely woke the little woman, who sat bolt upright with an ear-piercing scream. Sira only stirred slightly, unphased by her raucous bed partner, while Natalie failed to appear in the doorway to her parents room; still sound asleep, most likely.

Naked as the day she was born, Addy scrambled from her bed at the sound of the knock. Louder and more insistent this time, it must have been important at this time of night… or, it better be important. More than once Sira’s suitors had come banging around, hoping to win her affections by being spontaneous and ruining their sleep. Most of them met the wrong side of the healer, who scared them all of in a fit of fiery glory.

Groggy, grumpy, and now convinced that the opened door would reveal some pretty face ready to schmooze his way into her bed, Addy flung open the door with her face already set into a glare, a loud and obnoxious “WHAT!?” punching whomever was unfortunate enough to be standing on the other side of the door in the face.

The Dek, surprisingly, didn’t even flinch when he handed over the scroll. Green eyes wandered up and down the other Inarta’s frame, taking stock of what stood before her before she relieved him of his message. In an extreme state of undress, her hair sticking up in all different directions and a flush coating her face, neck and upper chest, Addy unrolled and read the Valintar’s words without dismissing the envoy or moving from the doorway.

As her eyes skimmed along the parchment, the flush quickly cooled into a sickened pallor, her face devoid of both color and expression. “Do you know what this says? Is this for real?” Almost an inaudible whisper, the words nonetheless found their way to the Dek’s ears, Addy’s tone one of complete and utter disbelief. But Kaden’s signature was there, and it was one she was familiar with. It wasn’t a forgery. Yet, the question needed to be asked. Duty was duty, but…

Sairque. It couldn’t be! “I uh… right now? We’re to go right now?” Not waiting for the Dek to respond, Addy pushed the opened message into his hands. “Read it if you haven’t and if you can.” Her voice was clipped and lifeless as she stepped away from the door and back towards where the master bedroom lay. Why would they send a Dek to accompany her? Surely there were handfuls of more capable Avora within the city…

Clothes were grabbed at random and bundled under her arm, not even taking the tick or two to put some pants on. Addy found her hardly used bow, blew the dust from it’s length and grabbed up the pack she kept stashed behind the door; it held the essentials for times like this when she couldn’t spare a thought for properly packing a bag: furs, dried meats and fruits, toiletries, a cooking pot, some flint and steel. Her quiver was tied to the outside of the pack, all of which went up and over her bare shoulder as she marched back to the front door.

“If you can’t assure me this is for real, we’re going to go see the Valintar. Lead on.” The Dek was given a frosty glare and was forced to step backwards to avoid being knocked over by the tiny, naked woman as she hustled out the front door and slammed it shut. All without waking her family.

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[Leila]

At the woman's beautiful nudity, the Dek showed no sign of lust or desire. His face maintained an impassive pallor, a flat line somewhere between the brightest of smiles and the deepest of frowns. "Yes, Endal Aidara, quite real. I've been with Valintar Avin through this entire ordeal." His speech held a hint of authority, for while he was Dek, he knew he was the highest amongst his kind. But he would never assume to use that authority above his caste, and certainly not on an emotionally charged Endal. "We are to leave immediately. Endal Sairque is your sister, Valintar Avin suspects the insight from your relationship with her would help you to track her, find her, and bring her in alive. I've already read the scroll, as per Valintar Avin's request." He spoke in a much more learned fashion than most Dek, an unsettling fact, but one to be expected of one in his position. The Dek could be seen studying the Healer's eyes, not with a curiosity, but with genuine concern. He watched patiently as the naked woman grabbed her things, stepping back as she charged through. "I can assure you this is real, but if you'd like to speak to Valintar Avin, he will accept it. Would you like me to carry your pack while we travel so you can dress?" Carrying the pack, or not, the Dek traveled ahead of the Healer, winding through the mountain. They would see several Dek rushing about, carrying urgent scrolls, to and from their destination. Aidara's Dek would question each in turn a single time, "Has Endal Sairque been found?" And each time, the Dek would shake their head, all of them looking exhausted from working the entire night. Eventually they would make it to the Valintar's office, which was empty as they arrived. "One moment Endal Aidara." The Dek disappeared into a back room, and Aidara would hear chatter, "Wait outside Liyand, I wish to speak with Aidara alone. You can take any messages that arrive in my stead." Aidara knew that voice, knew it to belong to the Valintar. She watched the man with the shriveled arm leave the office, and shortly after he was gone, Kaden Avin entered. The easy going, comforting smile that typically adorned the Valintar's face was quite absent. He held a flat, grim line of his mouth that looked quite familiar to the Healer. Like master, like servant. He sat down in his chair, looking as if he'd aged years in a single night, "I hate to bring you in like this Aidara, I really do. I suspect you will want more information from me? Anything you ask, I shall answer if I can. This is a most troubling time, a most troubling time indeed."

[Aidara]

“So basically I’m supposed to turn against my sister, on the chance that this even is her, and bring her in for her demise?” Paraphrasing the Dek’s emotionless rundown of her task, Addy’s own tone was sharp with derision. “Sairque has been dead for seasons. Half the city probably doesn’t even remember what she looks like and now she’s the culprit? Sometimes I…” But the Dek had neatly severed Addy’s attention, throwing her train of thought far off course and putting an end to the tirade she was about to embark upon by chastely asking her to put on some clothes.

“No thanks.” It was childish, to be sure, but rather than hand over her pack, the little redhead shoved the bundle of clothes into the mans arms instead. “The Valintar woke me up. I’m allowed to prance around in my nightwear should I so choose. He called me, after all. I would still be sleeping, if I had the choice.” More than a little bothered by the prim and proper way this Dek spoke to her, Addy lengthened her stride and tried to take charge of at least some aspect of this whole ordeal; if she couldn’t rattle him, then she would just simply leave him in the dust.

However, short legs are not really made for out-striding anyone and Addy soon found herself scurrying to keep up, the grim set of her lips and the flush that cascaded from her cheeks down her neck and into her chest the only indication of how completely defacing this was. If anyone saw her... “So what made you a Dek anyway? You don’t seem sick or retarded or gimpy. What gives? Did you rape an Endal? An Avora? A Yasi?!” Pretending that the silence was conformation, Addy spat off to the side and growled, "Disgusting." But every prod and poke remained stoutly ignored, the Dek saying naught a word to the Endal Healer until they reached the doors of the Valintars office, where he instructed her to wait.

Petulance, and now pure anger, tempted Addy to storm about, ignore orders, and crash into Kaden’s office. Some shred of dignity remained, however, and the little woman managed to restrain herself to tapping her foot impatiently, her arms crossed tightly over her exposed chest while gooseflesh chased itself up and down her body.

Knowing the Dek’s dismissal to be her que, Addy couldn’t help but smirk at him as they passed in the doorway, a rather exaggerated swish of her hips knocking Liyand off balance and bouncing him lightly off the doorframe; the man’s heels had barley cleared the threshold before Addy had the door slammed shut behind him.

The Valintar must have been warned of the young woman’s temper, because when Addy whirled, her expression boiling like the volcano they lived on, Kaden met her fire and passion with a warm and disarming smile. Perched as precariously as she was on the peak of all these emotions, the simple kindness of the smile and the gesture for her to sit was enough to send Addy tumbling straight back down to the bottom level.

Confusion and denial quickly flooded her features, cooling the molten temper to a simmer, Addy left the Valintars words strung out between them as she chose her words carefully; much more carefully than she had planned on only ticks before. “I… don’t believe that it is Sairque, sir. She’s dead. She died in the Djed storm. Ivak…” Idle fingers sprang to life at the name, moving to gently stroke the bracelet of fire that the God had left as his brand upon her skin, “He said she was alive and well but… I can’t feel her sir. She’s not here. If it was her, I would have known. I would have FELT her!”

And there it was, the painful truth. Doubt had plagued the young woman since the storm, dogging her every step as she fought with the reality that, despite aforementioned assurances, Sairque was no longer alive. If she had been, wouldn’t she have attempted to find her sister again? Wouldn’t she have returned to the city she so loved? It was deep down, in a place where even Addy refused to delve, but it was there. The fear that yes, Sairque had survived, but had made no attempt to reunite with her twin.

That was a possibility that the young woman could just not face, and that was the root of the anger that she had so readily spewed.

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[Leila]

Surprisingly, the Valintar's expression didn't change one bit as he heard Aidara's exclamations. He looked at her with that same expressionless look that the Dek wore, a constant remind of him, "So you've heard nothing from him? Felt nothing from her?" He ran his hand through his hair, and sighed. "I feared as much. Then we can pray it is not her, maybe the witnesses are wrong, maybe it is just one who reminds us all of her. I don't know, but you were really my last resort on this. Our best trackers found nothing, the Endals have spotted no one leaving the mountain. Whoever did it has vanished. I'm going to have to call this manhunt off, and bring everyone back in. Winter was too good to us, we have many more mouths to feed than normal for this time of year. I cannot keep our hunters busy for long. Please, return to your home, I apologize for bringing you in on all of this, and for waking you at this hour. I had really hoped there was something you could do, could add to this dreadful situation." He pulled out a scroll, and began scribbling upon it, rolled it up and sealed it. "Tayrn, come in here please." The Dek with the withered arm that had escorted Aidara here, re-entered the room promptly and stood at attention. "Please escort Aidara here back to her chambers, then deliver this message to Avora Vinich, and have him make several copies to be sent to the names mentioned within. We are going to be having many of the Chiet and Yasi temporarily being added to the guard until I feel this assailant is no longer a threat. Aidara, sleep well, I may need you yet." Tayrn took the message, turned to leave, then stopped. He looked over at Aidara, looked as if her were going to say something to her, then held his tongue. But her eyes didn't miss that look in his, one that held mixed feelings. One of longing, and another of disgust, though which was more prevalent was unknown. Tayrn, message in his weaker hand, opened the door with his good one, "Are you ready Endal Aidara?" No matter what Aidara would say to Tayrn, it would fall on deaf ears until they were a good clip away from the Valintar's office. Then with a sudden turn of a boot, Tayrn's face would be inches from hers, absolute disgust and hatred in his eyes. "You Endals think you're gods among us Inarta, that you are the most useful of all things. And yet here you are, unable to help, unable to do anything more than complain about how inconvenienced you were. Where were you when your brothers and sisters in flight were cut down? And you belittle me? I would be ashamed to be like you. I may be crippled, but at least I'm not useless. Strike me down, kill me if you'd like, but my words will forever ring true. After all, I'm just a lowly Dek, and you're the mighty Endal Aidara." As he finished his rant, he just glared daggers into her, intimidation oozing from every bit of his persona. He needed to raise no hand, make no threat, this man clearly was no ordinary Dek. Just on the way he carried himself, his temperament, he probably would've been an Endal alongside the Healer, possibly one of the best. Then the pair heard footsteps from behind the man, and he turned, letting Aidara see past him. For a brief few ticks, they both saw hair, hips, and a stride that they both knew, just as the disappeared around a corner. Gods and fate be damned, they were certain that they'd seen Sairque.

[Aidara]

Guilt drowned out the brief flash of relief that had washed over the Endal healer as she listened to the Valintar’s words. The whole situation had made her uneasy, shaking her right down to her core. “I’m not saying there isn’t anything I can do. I’m simply saying that I don’t think it’s Sairque.” Was part of her in simple denial that her twin would disappear without a trace, only to come back and wreck havoc upon their beloved city? “Perhaps the distance has severed our bond, our link…” Though she tried to speak with conviction, Addy let the sentence die and replaced the words with a shrug. “I just don’t know.”

The Valintar spared her barely a look when she finished speaking, lost in his own thoughts and problems; try as she might, Addy wasn’t able to read anything on his face. It was closed and sealed from her, the lines of his mouth nor the look in his eye belaying nothing. When he spoke next, it startled her, a flush creeping up into her cheeks when she realized that she had been staring hard at the most powerful man in Wind Reach; leering, even. “Yes sir.” Was all she managed, meek in her embarrassment as he practically ordered her back to bed like a child.

Leaving Tayrn’s questions unanswered, Addy stepped ahead of the man and attempted to lead the way once more. Stoutly ignoring the Dek that was stuck escorting her, Addy nonetheless felt his eyes on her as they walked. It was hard not to return the glance, to peek out of the corner of her eye, but the little woman really wanted nothing to do with the man. He was privy to the most important event in the city and it potentially directly involved her. It was much too personal and Addy didn’t like it.

It wasn’t until about half way that he turned on her, blocking her path with the bulk of his body and his gimped arm. Snorting in irritation, Addy attempted to step around him, spitting venom as she did so. “Don’t try anything, you wouldn’t be able to handle me…” But his words drew her up short, matching her passion with their fire. The first bit startled her into silence, her mouth dropping open in shock as her gaze flickered up to his face. The second sparked the anger that had been laying just below the surface, accusations of her usefulness fanning the flames.

“Who the petch do you think you are?” It was a loaded question, the anger choosing the words while her head connected all the suspicions she had earlier; the strange way he carried himself, the proper way he spoke. Who are you? That was the real question Addy had wanted to ask, for beneath the shouted retort, shame boiled slow and hot. His words struck a chord and Addy knew he was right. She had lost a bit of her compassion, even if it had been slowly and over time. It still happened.

But she would be damned if she was going to be shamed for it. Nobody was perfect. “How was I supposed to know that this was happening? My mount didn’t alert me- she would have heard the calls of the other Eagles. Nobody came knocking at my door until you. How dare you accuse me of not caring about my city when you don’t even know the half of it.” Trying once more to step around the Dek and continue on her way home, Addy jabbed a small finger up at his chest. “Where were you? You accuse me of not being there, but I don’t think you were either. You have no idea what I do for this city, what I have given up. You don’t even know me. How dare you.”

Spinning on her heel, Addy began to storm away down the corridor; if she couldn’t get around him, she would just take another route back to her aeries. Fuming and with her fists balled at her sides, Addy kept her back straight and her chin up as she marched away from Tayrn. That is, until that familiar hair swished around the corner. “No petching way. It can’t be.” It couldn’t be.

“It cant be!” Forgetting that she was offended and angered, Addy spun around with wild green eyes capturing Tayrn’s, her finger pointing off at the far corner. “Did you see that? Am I just going crazy?” The shock on the Dek’s face only confirmed Addy’s suspicions and she whirled back around and raced to the end of the corridor, skidding as she took the turn too fast. “It can’t be her. I would have known!” Doubt crept in and Addy found herself unsure of anything that she had said. There wasn’t much to be done now with the emotions that spilled in from every direction except to take action.

So Addy took off at a full run down the corridor, leaving Tayrn behind without even a shouted, “keep up!”

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