"Let's go for a walk." Shade said. "It's not good for you staying cooped up in here all the time."

Raven scowled in protested, but didn't say anything. He had come to learn that if Shade thought it in his best interest to do something, whatever he might say would do little more than delay the inevitable. He knew she was right as well. He just found everything to be more managable in the controlled interior of the barracks.

"The lawn out back, inside the barrack walls. How about that?" She continued with a smile. It didn't sound so bad, so he fell into step beside her as they made their way down to the back door. He paused for half a heartbeat before throwing on a smile and walking out into the sunshine. They strolled quietly beside the flowers and over the wide grassy area between the structure and the high stone wall. Raven, his left arm resting in the sling of fabric over the obi that secured his yukata snuggly around his waist, watched her hands as her fingers gently brushed vibrant petals and skimmed along leafy green. After awhile Shade paused under a tree and sat down. While he had not said anything the brightness of the Sarpan sun would often trigger unpleasant memories and always gave him a headache. He was glad that she had decided to rest beneath it's branches.

"Shade?" He asked after a moment. There was so much he wanted to know about her, but he decided to start off with something safe, something easy. "What is your favorite colour?"

"White." She said, turning her head to look at him as they sat sharing the trunk of the tree, the thickness of a single hair separating them. "Nnno, light purple..." She corrected. "...Umm, no...White. It's white."

"White and light purple is a perfectly reasonable answer . You are allowed to have more than just one." Raven said meaning to reassure her. He tilted his head over, resting it on the top of her shoulder. Though he sat close enough to feel her body heat against the side of his arm, there had been a space, small as it was between them. He liked being in physical contact with her and attempting to validate her indecision seemed as good a reason as any to touch her.

"Allowed!?" She huffed, pushing his head off of her with enough force to cause him to place his far hand on the ground to keep from being unexpectantly toppled over.

Something safe. Something easy. This wasn't getting off to a great start, Raven thought, scooting a bit further away as he righted himself. The hands width between them now kept him from feeling the warmth of her body and though he could have easily reached out and touched her, the yawning chasm of his insecurities began to open up slowly separating them even more. He drew his knees up to his chest, resting his chin between them, both arms back through the sleeves of his yukata with his hands crossed loosely in front of his ankles.

"Does it snow where you are from?" He asked after a while.

"It snows a little in the Winter. Nothing like what you're used to, but it snows sometimes." She said.

"Do you like when it snows?" He inquired, turning his head to look at her. Eager to learn more about her.

"Well?..." She said. Pausing a moment before laughing. Her hand coming up to her face, two of her fingers resting on her lips. Raven often watched her hands, but now he found he could not take his eyes away from where they lay.

"What?" He asked, cocking his head to the side causing his bangs to shift exposing both his eyes, puzzled by her response. "Why do you laugh?"

"Well, it's funny when it snows." She said merrily. The laughter that remained causing it to almost sound as if she were singing the words and causing Raven's breath to catch in his throat. "You know. Everyone walking about with red cheeks and noses, slipping and sliding on icy patches covered up by the snow..." Raven extended one of his legs and flexed his clawed toes. "Well, some of us slip and slide." She said laughing even more brightly and Raven smiled. An actual smile that anyone would be able to see. He had hoped she would laugh when he thought to wiggle his toes and when she did, his heart leapt. Her laughter was intoxicating and he was thirsty to hear more of it.

"Winter is quite a busy time of year for me though..." She remarked. Her smile replaced by a tiny pout.

"Busy?" He prompted after a while when she didn't elaborate.

"Yes." She said as if that answered his question. "As a tailor, a great number of people come to me when it starts to get chilly looking for me to make them warm clothes. An even greater number wait until there is a sudden drop in temperature or when it starts to snows." She said with a touch of exasperation. Raven found it adorable. Then again, there wasn't anything about her he did not find pleasant in one way or another. Even when she was being bossy, his annoyance was as fleeting as a snowflake on skin.

"Would you have time to make me something warm to wear?" He asked not wanting to impose on her, but wanting very much to have something she had made.

"You?" She asked incredulously.

"Oh..." He said nonchalantly. Donning the mask he had learned to wear a long ago. "Not to worry. I have insulated armor and more warm clothes stored away than I could ever wear."

"No, no...that's not what I meant." Shade said as she saw the light go out of his eyes that his forced smile could not relight. "I didn't think you got cold."

"Asmodians are not immune to the cold. We may have a higher tolerance for it, but I assure you if one sits motionless in the snow or stretched out flat upon coverless stone on a windy peak long enough, they feel the cold." Raven said flatly, turning his face from her to rest his forehead on his knees so as to block out the light that filtered through the leaves.

"Oh dear, that sounds just miserable. I had no idea. You poor thing, of course I'll make you something warm to wear. What would you like?" She asked.

"Not to worry." He said softly. "It does take a very long time and I have been trained to ignore it." He added, the distress in her voice bothering him. He wanted her voice to sing once again not be pinched with concern.

"Raven..." She intoned in a voice he often heard from Kistig.

"How is it you became a Tailor?" He interrupted in a subtle attempt to change the subject. Keeping the question close enough to that which he sought to lead her away from as not to be entirely transparent.

"Ah, well I didn't set out to be a Tailor initially. I guess it started more as a way to pass the time and make some nice clothes and dresses for my daughter and me." Shade said wistfully.

Daughter. The word took him completely by surprise at first. Wife, mother, of course she would be. A woman as fine and caring as she, was surely to have been married long ago, by what Raven considered to be a very, very lucky man. This revelation did, however, change everything. Shade was a married woman and while he would still walk through fire for her, his aspirations of being more than just her friend were shuttered right then and there.

He raised his head, resting an elbow on his knee to pinch the bridge of his nose. His lips exposing his teeth in a slight grimace as he exhaled . The dull ache that had been behind his eyes since he sat down had grown to a pulsing throb.

"Raven?" Shade asked.

"You have a daughter?" He asked, his voice just barely louder than the breeze that rustled through the leaves above them.

"Raven." She said again. "Talk to me, Dear."

"Headache." He whispered, releasing the bridge of his nose and spreading his palm to apply pressure on his temples while blocking out the light. "...just a headache."

"Raven? Look at me." She pressed. Her voice sounding dubious. She reached a hand out toward him. His palm covering his eyes, the Sin still managed to deftly stay her approach. The fleshy pad of his index finger coming to rest on the tip of hers. The rest of his fingers sweeping under her palm with a graceful twist of his wrist as he gently brushed her hand away.

"Your daughter, what did you and your husband name her?" He asked. Raven did not think Shade had been a single mother. She didn't seem the type. War widow, perhaps, but I was certain she would have at least been married before giving birth to a child. He formed the question in such a way as to answer both the one he asked and the one he didn't.

Raven had just about had enough of the throbbing he cared to endure and he knew that Shade was not going to let up until she was absolutely sure it was just a regular old run of the mill headache he was suffering from and maybe not even then. Thus, he fished one of Kistigs potions out of his cube. It hadn't taken Raven long to discover that the flighty Alchemist's concoction had more to offer him than a peaceful night's sleep. Normally, the Sin would have just gone to a tavern and had a drink or six if he was feeling keyed up. After his encounter with the three Elyos on the street, however, this was no longer an option. However, if an entire vial knocked him senseless almost instantly, he figured a fourth of one or less would be equivalent to a serious foray on his favorite watering hole. After a bit of careful experimentation Raven found he could achieve whatever effect he desired with a relatively high degree of accuracy.

"...Lilian..." Shade answered, blinking at him. She would have said more, but it was at that moment that Raven produced a small glass vial. She watched as he tilted it to and fro a few times before leaning his head back and allowing a drop of shimmering liquid to fall off the stopper he had removed and land on his tongue. She cocked her head to the side as he repeated the procedure. Seemingly satisfied with the results of this second drop, the vial disappeared back where it had come from.

"Lilian." He repeated. "Lovely name. Does it have any special meaning?"

"Lily. It means lily." Shade said before inquiring after what he had just done. "Raven? What was that?"

"Relief..." He sighed contently. His chin once again resting in the gap between his knees.

"Relief... for your headache?" She inquired, observing him closely.

"Yup." He replied without a hint of self-consciousness.

"Does Merrill know about this?" She questioned, though she was fairly sure that the Cleric would have prescribed something to alleviate headaches if he had known about them.

"What? That the light here sometimes gives me headaches?" He replied, going on the answer the apparently rhetorical questions. "It's in my medical records, so I'm sure he's aware of it."

"That's not what I meant, Raven." She retorted, not at all pleased with the idea of the physically and emotionally traumatized young male self-medicating. "That wasn't a vial from the clinic's dispensary."

"You'd be correct." He answered directly, but did not elaborate. His tone unreadable.

"Well?" She pressed, eyeing him closely.

"Well what? Where'd the vial come from?" The Sin began rhetorically again. "Kistig made them for me."

"Kistig." Shade repeated. The difference in Raven's usual manner of speech not lost on her; his use of these rhetorical questions, but most apparent was his use of contractions. She couldn't recall this Asmodian shortening his words. She knew him to speak quite formally. "...and you'd trust a potion from this Kistig over having your Cleric prescribe you something for these headaches?"

"This Kistig?... Yes, yes I would. -This- Kistig has held my life in his hands more times than any other. I daresay I can safely trust anything -this- Kistig makes for me over what a handful of random alchemists mass produce for the 'clerics' at the clinic." Raven bristled in defense of the only person in all of Asmodea that could even remotely be considered a friend of the Scout. His voice was soft, but his tone was hard and acidic. He had an entire bottle of pain pills prescribed by the clinic that he refused to take due to how sluggish and clumsy they made him. He'd been using Kistig's potion to relieve more than just his headaches and found it capable of doing so without retarding his reflexes. He rose from where he had been seated and started to walk away, pausing for a moment to look down at her. His expression stony. "You would do well to mind your tongue, White Wing...You forget, I trusted him with your life too."

"Raven, I..." Shade started to say.

"Fly off and tell Merrill if it pleases you. Go have him prescribe me another little pill I have no intention of taking." He interrupted with a dismissive wave of his hand as he strode across the lawn and into the barracks leaving her beneath the tree.

Raven's Story part 24

August 1, 2015 at 9:11 PM

Written while listening to:

watch?v=GDFNKZdwGjU

(Note: This part is Not based on a RP like the other parts.)

Merrill had asked Raven to meet him at the clinic. The cleric had been coming down to the barracks to take care of him, but in order to gauge the progress Raven had made as far as strength and range of motion there was equipment Merrill would need to use and that equipment was at the clinic. Raven was halfway through the tests when a nurse entered the physical therapy room. Gaynor wanted to see Raven in her office.

Raven knew something was amiss before he even went inside the room. Two Archons in full gear stood on either side of the door. Four more waited inside. Having already centered himself to be able to perform Merrill's tests a bit better than he probably would have been able to otherwise, the Sin showed no outward reaction to the presence of so many heavily armed and fully geared Archons.

"Have a seat." Gaynor said coolly . "There are a few things we need to discuss."

Whether he was seated or standing mattered little to the Sin's ability to react with the appropriate speed a situation might require of him. Thus, he sat in the chair the Head Cleric of the clinic indicated. Casting an idle look about the room he noted that one of the Archons was a mage. Raven was fairly sure that whatever was about to be happen, the fact that a mage was present did not bode well. There were plenty of ways he knew for dealing with magik users, however, and in preparation, he ever so slowly began plucking tiny strands of aether together. Not enough to be noticed, but enough to twist should he find he needed to. The clinic might be a safe place to be and these Archons were Asmodians in service to The Shedim Lords, but Raven could count on one hand the number of people he ever completely let his guard down around and still have four fingers left over.

"Soldier," The towering Gladiator Archon intoned in a deep rich baritone that Raven found hauntingly familiar. " It is with Honor and Regret that I deliver these papers and this pronouncement..."

Raven gripped the arms of the chair he was seated in. He had heard these words before. He knew what they meant and what was to happen next. From where he had been standing behind the young Sin's chair, Merril clamped a firm hand on Raven's shoulder both to offer support and to ground the lad.

"Your meritorious service notwithstanding it has been deemed that you have given more in your service to The Shedim Lords than is reasonable to ask of one soldier. Thus, the Lord's release you from your duty to The Empire. You are hearby granted an Honorable Compassionate Discharge from military service. You are to be afforded all the benefits and respect given to veterans upon their normal retirements which include a monthly pension and access to medical care under any Priest in service to the Empire." The Gladiator announced, extending the stunned Assassin a scroll. Merrill reached around and accepted the rolled up papers on Raven's behalf. The Glad laid a gauntleted hand on the far shoulder of young Asmodian who sat blinking in the chair before him, leaning in close and covering Raven from view with his own body. "There's no shame in this, Raven. Azphel knows you and your family have paid more than any should ever be made to in their service to Pandae. Put all of this behind you, son. Rebuild and make the name of your House great again..."

It was then that Raven recognized the voice. It was his first Precept from basic training. Though everyone else in the room knew Raven by a false surname This male knew exactly who he was. Breathing heavier, the Sin grasp onto the plate shrouded arm that held him in a distant embrace.

"When ever you're ready, boy. Take your time." His old trainer said softly as he remained where he stood, bent over appearing to be passing on private information or additional instructions, but in actuality he was using his broad mail-covered back to hide Raven from the view of the others in the room allowing him to collect himself in what small measure of privacy the Glad could afford him. After a moment, the Sin released his grip and dropped his hand back to the armrest of the chair.

"Do as she tells you! Understood? Be strong!" The old Asmodian whispered in a commanding tone he knew would resonate with his old student. He had heard some talk about an incident that the lad had been involved in here. It was part of the reason a full squad of Archons had been dispatched to deliver a simple discharge from service and why Kvasir had personally tasked him with this delivery. Neither of them wanted the boy to do anything stupid as they knew that the escorting soldiers had been given orders authorizing the use of deadly force if they deemed it necessary. The Glad gave Raven's shoulder a final squeeze, before straightening up and returning to where he had been originally standing when Raven had entered the room.

"Yes,well... as you are no longer a member of the military, I am to ask that you surrender all weapons you may have on your person and your cube as they are property of Fenris' Fang. I understand that the daggers you were wearing when you arrived are in a locker. You need not go to retrieve them. The Archons will secure those items. " Gaynor said with a hint of frost in her tone from behind her desk.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Raven replied with practiced crispness. He stood and systematically began to divest himself of the numerous knives, throwing stars and caltrops he carried with the alacrity of a seasoned soldier during a turn-out drill. The Head Cleric's eyebrow raising at the collection of variously sized blades/weapons neatly laid out on the desk before her. The Glad standing beside her clearing his throat with his approval of both the professionalism with which the Sin performed the task and the small arsenal his old protege had concealed on his person.

Raven removed his cube and placed it alongside the knives with only the briefest of hesitation. Kistig's potions that kept his nightmares at bay, allowing him to sleep, rested safe in a box wrapped in sylphen wings inside his cube. Apparently the hesitation was longer than he had thought or perhaps it was just part of what came next.

"Any personal items inside the cube will be returned to you after the contents have been reviewed." Gaynor said. "This is true also for the contents of your locker in the barracks. Accommodations can be made for any medication that you may have stored there. The Archons will escort you there to retrieve them. You will, however, need to make other sleeping arrangements as it is impermissible for civilians to be housed inside a sensitive military instillation."

"That won't be necessary, ma'am." Merrill interjected after only partially stifling a laugh at her referring to the all but deserted building as a 'sensitive military instillation'. " I can provide Master Silversong with replacement perscriptions until such time as his property is returned to him." While he would not normally intrude on the Head Cleric's dealings, he was annoyed by the less than charitable treatment his patient was receiving from her. Choosing to refer to the young male with the honorific of Master in an attempt to offer Raven at least some small measure of the respect he deserved.

Merrill could not at first understand why Gaynor was behaving the way she was until he remembered what had transpired in the tavern recently. He was sure then that Aremisina had a hand in the cold and needlessly insensitive way Gaynor was treating the young male. Gaynor and Sina were known to be more than just business associates, the Elyos Spirit Master providing specially crafted medicines for the Head Cleric. He should have known she would run straight to Gaynor after not only having what she would most assuredly have considered her irresistible advancements denied, but Raven adding the further insult of roughly bending her over the table in the pub and pinning her face down to it beneath his claws.

"Very well, Merrill. The problem at hand is that -master- Silversong doesn't seem to exist. There is no record of his birth, ascension...or his ever having served The Empire. The meritorious discharge you hold was issued postumously to an Archon that is listed as having fallen in the attack of Morheim by Lepharist rebels." Gaynor sniffed as she slid the black folder embossed with the emblem of The Fenris Fang off to the side. The name on the folder having been struck through and completely obscured by a thick black line.

"No record? What do you mean there's no record? You can't redact a person!" Merrill growled hotly as his eyes fell upon Raven's file.

"The Archons are here to escort this young Deava from the premises should he prove unruly. That order can be extended to include you as well Merrill..." The Head Cleric warned before returning to adressing Raven. "Young man, the travel ban placed upon you when you arrived has not yet been rescinded. You are, however, free to leave Sarpan...under escort." Gaynor continued. "Do you understand and comply?"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Raven responded in a manner most becoming of his former status. He stood at attention, eyes straight ahead, completely unfazed by her words or the way they had been delivered. His old Drill Sergeant had instructed him to obey her commands. Though she was not a member of the military, she was a Cleric and this would have afforded her respectful treatment even if he had not been under orders.

"I see nothing further to discuss..." She concluded with an air of disdain and a limp wristed dismissive flicking of her fingers that every Archon in the room seemed to take offense to. The two in the back shifting their weight ever so slightly. The mage, while not turning his head, cast a reproachful look in her direction and the Glad visibly bristling. Raven, however, accepted her dismissal stoically. He clicked his heels and turned with practiced precision leaving the room with silent decorum.