Whispers of Danger
It comes on so gradually that by the time Whisper realizes what it is, it's too late.
Granted, she's distracted. The reconstruction of the Guild still requires constant attention, and after that there's Bowerstone to attend to. Alan and the Guildmaster rely on her for an awful lot of things. Alan's arrival certainly makes things easier, but not enough for her to notice what's happening. Then too, Whisper's never really been the introspective sort, she doesn't spend a whole lot of time examining things unless they're on the battlefield.
And it's so slow. So quiet. The warning signs are all around her, but they're so innocuous she doesn't notice them.
Days after Alan's return, he's elected as the new Guild head. Not a surprise to anyone, really, except himself. "I don't feel like a head, Whisper." He tells her as she helps him arrange things in his new quarters. "I feel like an overpowered bear that fixes problems by charging at them."
She can't stop smiling at his odd shyness. "If that's what you're doing, it's been working pretty well. You've fixed every problem we've had so far, Farmboy."
"Heh." He grins at the use of his old nickname. "Sure, but we haven't really had any bad problems yet. Anything we get I can more or less send you or Briar after. When I need to send out squads, I'm going to have to really lead people. How'm I supposed to do that?"
The doubt is ridiculous, as Whisper well knows. Everybody in the Guild is dedicated to Alan already. But the Alan she saw at the dock is still in her mind, so she says: "You could always turn it down."
"No." He smiles and looks away. "They chose me. Even if I'm not certain, they are. They trust me to lead, and the least I can do is to make that trust justified. I owe it to them. After all," he looks back at her and grins, "…we all have to do what we can, huh? Just because I don't feel like it is no reason to stop, is it?"
She feels a proud glow go through her. "No, Alan, it's not."
He nods and surveys the room. "If they trust me to lead, Whisper, I'm going to show them they're right."
And he does. In the next few weeks, Alan's mere presence draws the Guild back together. The people are filled with hope and the bandits with terror at the news of his return. Even as crime drops, quests come pouring in, many asking for Alan personally. Heroes come flocking back, eager to fight alongside the legendary Pilgrim. With apparent ease he organizes and disciplines them, assigning certain ones to deal with the new flood of quest while assigning others to help in the reconstruction of the Guild. A natural leader, he inspires the Guild with a fire of hope.
"We are the Guild of Heroes." He tells the assembled heroes in the newly repaired Chamber of Fate. "The greatest force in all of Albion, a force that can be used either to destroy or protect. The path is yours to choose, but the code of the Quest is not. When you take on a quest, you take on a trust that you will do your utmost to complete that quest or perish in the attempt. You promise to abide by the terms of the quest. Because that is what a hero DOES. A hero does his utmost to fulfill the tasks required of him."
The heroes applaud wildly, and even though Whisper heard this whole speech last night while she was helping him practice, she can't help but feel moved too. Alan can talk all he likes about his doubts: the fact remains that he's a born leader.
He's also a surprisingly diplomatic one. A week or so after all the heroes have returned to all their proper posts, he's traveling about the countryside at record speed, speaking with the Knothole Glade chief, with the Bowerstone Mayor, with all the village heads. It helps that he has their complete respect to begin with, but it's still nothing short of wonderful the way he brings them together and diffuses the threatening breakup of Albion. He even manages to bring Hook Coast into the alliance, something no one has done before. (But then, Hook Coast hasn't been open for ages.)
"It's not really much." He tells her later that night as they're looking through the library for information on dragons. "Just an agreement to allow trade between all villages and not make war on each other, which they were pretty much doing anyway. Still, I suppose it's important."
"You're in charge, though, aren't you?" She asks, somewhat pointedly. "They agreed to follow your lead on things, didn't they?"
"Yee—aa—aah." He frowns. "But only in cases of emergency or disputes between villages. Nothing else." He flips through a book, sighs, and puts it back on the shelf. "I'm not even sure if that's a good idea."
She smiles and shakes her head. How does Alan not see what he is? The villages would follow the slightest whim of a legend like him. If he wanted to he could be a king, the first in who-knows-how long. Once again it amazes her how little he seems to care for fame or power.
There does seem to be one thing he cares about, though, and it nearly leads to a fight between him and the Guildmaster. The day a bandit shows up at the Guild asking for someone to help them attack a merchant caravan, Alan slices his head off. It happens so fast, one moment the man is there and the next his headless corpse is tumbling to the floor. Quick, easy painless.
"We're not taking those kinds of quests anymore." He tells them flatly when she, Guildmaster, and Briar confront him about it. "If heroes want to go and be mercenary scum, that's their affair, but we will NOT endorse it."
"Pilgrim, it is not to the Guild to dictate the kind of man that a hero chooses to be!" Guildmaster says. "We offer students a choice. They may choose the darkness or they may choose the light. It is an important freedom that every student deserves."
"It is a freedom that they have whether we give it to them or not." Alan shrugs. "This isn't the only place you can find quests, you know. There are plenty of other places bandits can hire heroes from. But the Guild will not be one of them. I do not approve of such quests and I will not allow them to be posted here."
"Pilgrim, you DO know there was a rebellion in the Guild about this kind of thing just a few decades ago, right?" Briar eyes him worriedly.
"Yeah." Alan nods. "If it gets to be a problem, I'll deal with it. If enough heroes want to go off and slaughter children, I'll step down and that'll be the end of it. But as long as I'm head of the Guild, that's the way things are." He glances over at the Guildmaster. "Is that acceptable?"
Nobody wants to say it, but everyone knows why he asks Guildmaster. He and Maze were the ringleaders of the rebellion forty years ago. Both of them fought hard for a freedom neither needed, the same freedom that Alan is now taking away.
It thrills Whisper with fear that Alan is taking on the Guild like this, but it thrills her with admiration also. The quests have always been a sticking point with him, she knows.
"Is that acceptable to you, sir?" Alan asks again.
Guildmaster sighs. "It is close enough, sir."
The next few days are tense as news spreads around the Guild and the country. Whisper gets anxious and tells Alan to be careful, but he shakes it off. She supposes she shouldn't worry… he's the strongest hero in the land. And most of the heroes don't care much one way or another, really. Those that do, like Alan says, find other means of taking quests. After a while, everything blows over and things return to normal.
Or at least it seems like it. She should have seen the danger signs, really, but by this time they're almost a part of 'normal' life around the Guild. Those strange chills that run down her back at unexpected intervals, the ominous dreams that occur more and more frequently, the inexplicable nervousness she keeps feeling… they've become almost normal. She doesn't ascribe any importance to them. They're just her being silly.
So when it finally hits her what's going on, it's far too late to do anything about it.
It's late at night, and she's the only person left in the Map room. Most of the Heroes are asleep, and even Guildmaster's turned in for the night. But she feels oddly restless, and knows she won't be able to get to sleep.
So it turns out she's there when the front door creaks open and Alan comes in, with a small boy at his hip. He hasn't seen her yet, and apparently is trying to be quiet (though that's not really possible with the armor he's wearing). He looks weary, Whisper notes, and curiously… angry. The boy, for his part, seems to be absolutely bewildered. He's staring about him in a daze, as if not certain of what he's seeing. His clothes are ragged and dirty, he's wearing no shoes, and his hair is… singed?
As Alan turns to hush the boy, Whisper comes out from behind the pillar. "What have you been up to this time, Farmboy?" She asks him.
He swings around at the sound of her voice. "Ah, Whisper." He smiles, a trifle shakily. "Good to see you. I just got back from… from…" He passes a hand over his face and for the first time she realizes how pale he is. "This is a new student." He says suddenly, indicating the boy. "He'll be joining our training sessions. Put him upstairs, with… with… the one girl. River."
"River?" Whisper glances over the boy. Scrawny, and apparently in shock. Not exactly hero material, but Alan usually knows what he's doing. "If you say so. This way, child." She offers her hand to the boy, who shrinks away.
"Follow her, Matt." Alan nods to the boy. The boy glances up at him uncertainly before following her up the stairs.
It only takes a few moments to install him in his new quarters, as he's clearly exhausted and falls into bed right away. River doesn't wake up during the whole ordeal, she's quite the sound sleeper. But there's something odd about the whole thing, especially about Alan, so Whisper goes to see him.
She finds him in Maze's old quarters with his upper armor removed and an enormous gash running across his back. He's got a piece of twine and a needle and is apparently trying to use the mirror so he can examine the cut.
"What do you think you're doing?" Whisper grabs the twine from his hands. "You think you're going to sew that up yourself?"
"I can do it." He glares at her. "I've done it enough times on the trail."
"I can see that." She eyes the hundreds of scars crisscrossing his back, many of them horribly scabbed over. The signs of Alan's atrocious surgery is quite evident. "But you're not on the trail now, and you're not going to do it THAT way. Now. Turn around and I'll get some things ready."
He grumbles and turns, while she warms up a bowl of water and picks some bandages out of a nearby desk drawer. These are Alan's additions—Maze used magic shielding too often to receive damage. "In the first place, you don't use twine for these sorts of things, you use catgut." She admonishes him. "And you need to clean the wound, or else it may get infected. Magic potions don't fix everything, you know."
"Obviously." He grimaces. "This is one of them."
She snorts and dips a rag into the warm water, wringing it out and then using it to sponge away the dirt, sweat, and blood around the cut. Distantly, it occurs to her that this situation could be mildly embarrassing—A shirtless Alan leaning over the headrest of his chair, wincing as she sponges away at his bare back with a rag. But in the Guild, medical care like this is far too common to spend many blushes over. Whisper has done this many times, for many heroes. Just not Alan.
"Where's this one from?" She asks after several minutes of silent sponging.
He grunts. "Don't know his name. Big bandit, big axe. Came at me from my blind spot while I was fighting the others. Hurt like anything, had to use Force Push just to get them off me for a second."
"You're getting better at Will." She wrings the rag clean and picks up the needle, threaded with catgut. "Where was this? On the way back?"
A slight pause. "No. It was…" He hisses sharply as he feels the prick. "… Barrow Fields."
"Barrow Fields?" Frowning, Whisper draws back for a moment. "That's a trader settlement, why would you be fighting…" Suddenly realization sweeps in on her. "…oh no."
"I got there too late to stop it." He says, his voice weary. "The whole place was in flames by the time I arrived, and the traders and guards were all dead. Just the bandits, standing around and laughing and dealing out the beer they had found." His face contorts in a snarl. "And Avatar, arguing with the leader about his cut of the loot."
"Avatar?" The Will user had been early tagged by her and Briar as a problematic one, and had been the most vocal in opposition to Alan's new policy, but Whisper would never have thought he'd be capable of massacre. "He was helping them?"
Alan doesn't answer, and Whisper decides not to ask any more questions. The bloodstains on his sword speak for themselves. After she's done here, she'll have to make a notation in the hero roll about Avatar's death and talk to Guildmaster about what to tell his family. Avatar was an incredibly powerful sorcerer, just last year he had been proclaimed Arena champion. Alan's lucky to have come out of this with only a big gash. As she bends again to her stitching, she notices her fingers are trembling. She closes her eyes and takes a few breaths to calm herself.
The two remain in silence for a moment, except for the occasional hiss and wince from Alan as Whisper stitches the wound shut. "That boy was the only survivor." He says finally. "Hid under a few sacks of wheat… didn't come out even after they caught fire. Finally passed out. Found him while I was putting out the fire."
Whisper doesn't say anything for a moment. Then: "Is he going to stay here, Alan? Life at the Guild isn't easy. He may not be cut out for it."
"He'll do fine." From his voice, she can tell he's smiling. "Funny thing, actually. You remember that one quest where I had to rescue the kid from the Hobbes? Same kid."
"You're kidding." Whisper draws back a moment and looks at him.
"No." Alan turns his head and grins at her. "Turns out he ran from his grandma and took up work helping the traders there. Lived there ever since, until…" His face darkens and he turns away. "He'll do fine, Whisper. He's a survivor."
Whisper nods her head, but makes a private note to check up on the boy from time to time. Again there's a short silence. "There." She says, tying off the last knot on the stitches. "Now just wrap a few bandages around that, and it should heal up fine."
She stands up and prepares to leave, but Alan's hand shoots out and stops her. "Whisper… thanks." He smiles at her bewildered face. "Thanks for taking care of me. And for… everything, really. You've been a real help this past month or so, just by being around the Guild. I'm not sure if I could have gotten through without you."
She stares at him.
"Well… y'know." He shrugs. "If it wasn't for you, I'd still be sitting on a dock in Oakvale, without any real idea of what to do with myself. But even just in work around the Guild, you've been a big help with getting people to do things, keeping them in line, and just letting me know about all sorts of little details around the Guild." Smiling again, he gently let go of her shoulder, allowing his fingers to linger just a moment on her skin. "So thanks."
Whisper's head is whirling. It's true, she knows that, the things he's saying are all true and logical. She knows, indeed, has known for some time, that her work around the Guild is a key element to Alan's success. Without her, it probably would have been much more difficult for Alan to gain such complete control. It's all true, and there's nothing strange about Alan recognizing it.
But for some reason it feels strange. For some reason these few words from him set her heart racing, her mind whirling, and her every nerve flaming with strange sensations.
With difficulty she swallows. "Make sure you rest." She says. "The wound'll rip open otherwise."
And then she runs. She has to, she can't stay another moment in that room with Alan, not with all those feelings rushing through her. She runs, and she doesn't stop running until she's safe in her room on the other side of the Guild. Only then does she stop, and only then, then, that she realizes the disaster that's been looming over her this whole time.
She loves him. Avo help her, she loves him, and she can't tell if she always has or whether it's come on so slowly that she just hasn't noticed till now, but she loves him. She's been trying to tell herself that she came back to Albion to return a favor, that she stayed on because the Guild needed her. But that's not true, and now she knows it.
No, she came back because she loved him, she stayed because she loved him, and her staying here so long has only made it worse.
And that's a disaster. Because Whisper can't… she can't… be involved like this. Least of all with the head of the entire Guild. She can't be involved, because she can't stay. Albion isn't her home, she knows. So she can't stay in Albion, not even if she is hopelessly in love with the greatest hero since Nostro. And Alan can't leave Albion, simply because he IS the greatest hero since Nostro. Albion needs him, and if he were to leave it would fall apart.
Whisper can't stay. Alan can't leave. And yet she cannot survive apart from him.
But no. That is false, and Whisper knows it is false. She can survive without him, she must be able to survive. She has done so before, she can do so again. It will be hard, it will be cruel, it will tear her soul apart to leave him, but she will learn to live with the pain. Perhaps she may even forget. Certainly, out in the wild, there will be many places to lose—or find—herself.
The longer she stays here, however, the more difficult it will be to leave.
Quickly Whisper gathers her things from her room. They are not many—Whisper travels as much as any of the heroes, and all her belongings can fit into one knapsack. She packs in an extra health potion and some provisions she keeps stashed around the house. Then she shoulders her pack, grabs her spear, and makes for the door.
On the road outside of the Guild, she looks back. In the gathering darkness, she can just see the light from Alan's room.
A soft tear makes its way down her cheek.
to be continued...
A/N: Review! Send reviews unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Review not and ye shall not be reviewed, for in the manner in which ye review shall again be reviewed unto you! Review unto others as you would have others review unto you!
See? Reviewing is really a good thing to do. Honest.
So. This is probably not the disaster most of you were anticipating, but at the same time, you had to know this was going to pop up at some point in this story. It's practically required that the two main characters fall in love. At the same time, Whisper strikes me as the person who wouldn't take this sitting down. Even with the rationalization offered here, I feel like she'd run just because she wouldn't know how to deal with it.
A few explanations here. I thought it kinda interesting to speculate about what day-to-day life would be like around the Guild. What would Alan be doing as leader of the Guild, how exactly would he lead? In the game, you're always just a big thug who hits stuff (or a wizard who blows stuff up, or...). What kinda inspiring figure would he have to be? I tried to give a sense of Alan coming into his own here.
Another thing. It always struck me as wierd that the Heroes Guild took evil quests. Some of them I can understand--how do you know who is right and who is wrong?--but a mission like Barrow Fields? Slaughter everybody? Who was the idiot who let them post that up? And then I find out Guildmaster was one of the ones behind a REVOLT to ALLOW them to do that sort of thing? My estimation of Guildmaster dipped about 40+ points when I heard that.
Anyway. Next Chapter: Too little, too late.