Post by Kypriotha on Jan 19, 2015 20:43:21 GMT 10
Title: Shattered Illusions
Rating: PG
Prompt: #106 - Aftermath
Summary: Kel has trouble reconciling herself with the end of her long search for the Nothing Man
Notes: I originally wanted Neal to be the one to approach Kel, but then realised he would be too exhausted from healing everyone to form a coherent sentence.
***
Dom found her sitting at the edge of the village, staring at the keep. Everyone was almost ready to move out, so Dom thought he’d better track down the Lady Knight to discuss final plans. After all, they were leaving with a lot more people than they arrived with, even if they’d already sent much of their original force home. Even then, Dom didn’t like the idea of crossing enemy territory with a large group of children and inexperienced villagers, especially not in the exhausted state everyone was in. But he liked the look on Kel’s face even less.
He didn’t say anything though. He just settled himself next to her, grimacing slightly as he forced his long legs to adopt the same cross-legged position as Kel, and waited. The silence was only broken by the distant sounds of their troops readying the horses and Kel’s sparrows flitting in and out of the grass. Finally Kel sighed.
“It’s so strange…I’ve waited so long for this day, so long to solve the puzzle of the Chamber and find Blayce and now I have…I can’t quite believe it’s over.”
“You always knew you were going to kill him, though, didn’t you?” Dom asked.
Kel shook her head. “It’s not that. I mean, yes, I knew I would kill him. I had to kill him. I just thought…it would be different. That he would be different. That I would feel different. Instead, I feel like I just had the most disappointing fight of my life.”
“You did a lot of good here,” Dom said quietly. “You saved the children. And not just our children, all the future children he would have taken as well. You may even have turned the tide in the war. You don’t have to feel different or special, but you do need to remember what you achieved.”
Kel kept her eyes trained on the courtyard of the keep, where the smoke of the Tortallan funeral pyres was still visible. Dom put his hand on her arm and slowly nudged her until she turned her head to face him.
“We won’t forget them. No one will.” He kept his eyes locked with hers until she nodded, then he stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and let him help her up, wincing slightly from her wounds.
He slung a friendly arm around her shoulders and steered her back towards the village. “Everyone’s pretty much ready to go. We better get back before Neal starts to worry – or worse, tries to give orders. He gets tense when he’s exhausted and we don’t want him scaring any of the villages off before we’ve even started.”
Rating: PG
Prompt: #106 - Aftermath
Summary: Kel has trouble reconciling herself with the end of her long search for the Nothing Man
Notes: I originally wanted Neal to be the one to approach Kel, but then realised he would be too exhausted from healing everyone to form a coherent sentence.
***
Dom found her sitting at the edge of the village, staring at the keep. Everyone was almost ready to move out, so Dom thought he’d better track down the Lady Knight to discuss final plans. After all, they were leaving with a lot more people than they arrived with, even if they’d already sent much of their original force home. Even then, Dom didn’t like the idea of crossing enemy territory with a large group of children and inexperienced villagers, especially not in the exhausted state everyone was in. But he liked the look on Kel’s face even less.
He didn’t say anything though. He just settled himself next to her, grimacing slightly as he forced his long legs to adopt the same cross-legged position as Kel, and waited. The silence was only broken by the distant sounds of their troops readying the horses and Kel’s sparrows flitting in and out of the grass. Finally Kel sighed.
“It’s so strange…I’ve waited so long for this day, so long to solve the puzzle of the Chamber and find Blayce and now I have…I can’t quite believe it’s over.”
“You always knew you were going to kill him, though, didn’t you?” Dom asked.
Kel shook her head. “It’s not that. I mean, yes, I knew I would kill him. I had to kill him. I just thought…it would be different. That he would be different. That I would feel different. Instead, I feel like I just had the most disappointing fight of my life.”
“You did a lot of good here,” Dom said quietly. “You saved the children. And not just our children, all the future children he would have taken as well. You may even have turned the tide in the war. You don’t have to feel different or special, but you do need to remember what you achieved.”
Kel kept her eyes trained on the courtyard of the keep, where the smoke of the Tortallan funeral pyres was still visible. Dom put his hand on her arm and slowly nudged her until she turned her head to face him.
“We won’t forget them. No one will.” He kept his eyes locked with hers until she nodded, then he stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and let him help her up, wincing slightly from her wounds.
He slung a friendly arm around her shoulders and steered her back towards the village. “Everyone’s pretty much ready to go. We better get back before Neal starts to worry – or worse, tries to give orders. He gets tense when he’s exhausted and we don’t want him scaring any of the villages off before we’ve even started.”
Maybe once we'd have seen it during Smackdown!