A Most Delightful Gift [Attn: Elia Darrow Sedai]

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A Most Delightful Gift [Attn: Elia Darrow Sedai]

Post by Bella » August 8th, 2017, 3:54 am

[subtitle]The Narrative[/subtitle]

The hour was remarkably late as the dark figure stalked down the corridor in a most cliched fashion. Really, didn't anyone ever explain to this guy how not to look like you're up to no good?

Anyways... Mr. Cliche stalked down one of the Ajah Halls. The one in question was that of the Indigo. In his arms, he held something wrapped in black cloth. (Again, nothing suspicious there.) However, it is said that as much as fortune favors the bold, luck favors fools, so this poor sod got very lucky and found that there were even less people in the halls at that hour than lit sconces, of which there were few.

Reaching the door he wanted, he looked to either side and then knelt down. He pulled three objects free and set one in front of the door, just as quiet as can be, then the other on top. Holding them in place like that, he removed the third and put them all together...

He took the cloth with him and left the items there, just like that.

Luck continued to be a passenger on this trip as he made his way out of the Indigo halls and into the halls of yet a different Ajah. Here, he walked until he found another shadowy figure where they were to meet in the latter's personal chambers. This man, however, was far more talented. This figure just sat and waited until Mr. Cliche came up to him and bowed his head.

"Is it done?" the second man asked simply.

"Yes, just as you said," Mr. Cliche replied.

"Good."

In a moment, he rose and drove his dagger into Cliche's chest. It punctured a lung, preventing a scream. The murderer knew everything was clear, but worked quickly none the less. He surrounded the quickly-turning-to-corpse Mr. Cliche in a ball of Air, to catch the mess as he used Fire to immolate him into black ash.

Then he sent the ball of Air to an already open window, and let the wind take care of the ash.
* * * In the morning, Elia Darrow would wake. Either she would open her door and find it, or someone passing would alert her. Either way, she would receive her gift. A doll. Well, two. Two little child-like dolls. One on top of the other, with a human bone honed to a blade stabbed through the chest of each...pinning them to the floor.

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Re: A Most Delightful Gift [Attn: Elia Darrow Sedai]

Post by Craig » August 9th, 2017, 12:33 pm

Elia Darrow
In the morning, Elia Darrow awoke. Well, not quite morning; there was barely any light coming through the curtains in her bedchamber. She rolled onto her side and extended an arm out. She felt the sheet beside her, cool to the touch compared to the warmth found under the covers. Opening an eye, Elia confirmed that there was no-one else in the room with her, then lazily closed her eye again.

Some time passed – how much Elia didn't know – but then she was awake again. There was a slowly building wail filling the air, joined a second later by its twin. She moved at once, taking half of the bedding with her as her legs swung over the side of the bed. Just leaving the sheets to trail over the floor, Elia moved over to the twin cots only a few feet away. In each was a tiny squirming form, limbs stretching out experimentally, a call of hunger crying out.

"Which one of you started this?" she asked. She glanced between her two babes. Corinthea was on her back, eyes closed as she wailed up towards the ceiling. Tomas was also crying out, but his eyes were open, and he was looking at his sister. "Hello Mister Copycat," Elia smirked as she reached into Corinthea's crib to pull her out. "You'll have to wait your turn. Ladies first."

It wasn't long before they were both fed and put back to their beds.

Elia pottered around her apartment barefoot, letting the cold tiles scour away any vestiges of hope that she'd be getting to sleep again. Diffuse light filtered in through the windows. Elia gravitated towards them, pulling one curtain back to take a look out over Hama Valon and Lake Somal at dawn. Everything was still.

Plodding back from the window, Elia went to her door. If she could catch a servant, she could get breakfast early. Opening the door, all thoughts of breakfast vanished.

Elia knelt down slowly. A chill that had nothing to do with the floor tiles shot through her as she examined the dagger thrust into the ground outside her door. She had been expecting something of the sort, but this did not soften her shock now it had occurred. There's always opportunists to deal with. Tentatively she touched the hilt of the blade. When nothing happened, she took full grip of the hilt and yanked it free. The plush dolls came with it, stuck on the dagger.

Elia rose back to her feet and closed the door.

She pulled the two dolls off, letting them scatter at her feet. It was the dagger she was interested in. After the second doll was free, Elia was able to see it was all of a piece, and made of... "Peace." She softly threw the dagger away, watching it scatter into the centre of the room. A bone dagger? Light... That was a particularly haunting flourish of the sinister.

Elia sank back against the door until her butt hit the floor. She reached for one doll and placed it on her knees to examine. There was no questionings who the dolls were. Elia placed the doll down on the floor as gently as she would her own child.

Thudthudthud.

The Shienaran shrieked, scampering into the room on all fours as the door shook on its hinges. She reached out for the knife, taking grip of it in her good arm, then spun to face the door.

"Elia?" a man called from the corridor. She reached out for the One Power in a panic, but the light of saidar eluded her. The door shook again to more knocking. "Elia?"

"I'm armed!" she yelled as she got to her feet. She gripped onto the bone dagger underhanded and prepared to lunge bodily at her would-be assailant.

The door handle twisted. Elia charged.

A grubby, bruised hand gripped hold of the side of the door and pushed it open. Elia lunged before the door was completely open, because she never had a chance to see who her assassin was. The man took a vice-like grip of her wrist because she could plunge it into his heart. His other arm wrapped around her waist as she was lifted from her feet. Her free arm – the blackened, withered husk – punched against the man's tattooed wrist. Elia ignored the pain, hitting him twice on the heron marked on his arm.

"Elia!" This time she didn't react with violence. She looked up, staring into confused blue eyes. Beautiful blue eyes. A moment later and she was making out the familiar features of his face. Not an assassin. Elia sagged in relief in Dax's hold.

"I'm sorry Dax, I thought you were..." Elia let the words die on her tongue. She'd had a shock, but that wasn't an excuse to go blurting out everything. He carried her to the chaise longue, placing her down on it like a rag doll. She numbly let the dagger go when Dax took it from her grip, forcing herself from seizing control of the situation. There would be time later to wipe his mind of what just happened if it was required.

"You thought I was what?" Dax demanded. Maybe demanded. His face was grim, but she hadn't really heard his voice.

Elia didn't respond, not verbally. The Tairen followed her gaze towards the dolls near the closed door – when had Dax closed the door? Making a careful check that she wasn't about to go into a frenzy, Dax crossed over to the dolls and took them into his hands.

"I just found them outside. The dagger was through both of them, impaled into the ground." Elia laid her head back and stared at the ceiling. It's happening again.
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Re: A Most Delightful Gift [Attn: Elia Darrow Sedai]

Post by Sunny » September 1st, 2017, 1:57 am

Dax Gaidin
Dax’s body ached pleasantly; training that morning had gone well. A quick stop at the Kitchens after for strong tea and a biscuit had led to the Mistress of Kitchens handing him a cloth-wrapped bundle. “For the wee ones and your lady,” she said, patting the parcel affectionately. The Gaidin wanted to object to that -Elia was not his lady...was she?- but the motherly woman had  actually ruffled his hair and pushed him out before he could find the necessary words.

Thus, feeling a little like a wet cat with its fur brushed backward, Dax strolled along the many corridors back to the place that had somehow, against all unbelievable odds, become something akin to home. Elia’s chambers. Home?

Somehow it didn’t surprise him when he tried to open the door and found himself pushing against greater force than the thick wood normally offered. It only figured that he would accept his new circumstance only to have the Pattern yank the rug out from beneath his feet. That seemed to be-

Dagger.

Instinct kicked in and the Blademaster dropped his burden, the Ko’di wrapping around him in half a breath as his fingers twisted free of the door and pulled the Aes Sedai’s arm in the air. Twist, yank, lift- his lover hung in the air before him, still fighting in his grip like a feral beast. “Elia!”

She fell still, staring at him with eyes wider than he had ever seen them. She had gold flecks around the outer edges of her irises, his mind noted inanely. Still the most beautiful flaming woman he had ever had the good luck to lay eyes, let alone hands, on. For a moment he simply watched her. Until his mind reminded him of an important fact: she just tried to kill you.

In the exchange that followed, Dax felt as if his thoughts simply could not catch up with reality. He closed the door with numb fingers, never taking his eyes off the Indigo. She tried to kill me!

That thought shriveled and fell to the side unheeded when he saw the tiny figures on the ground. He made a guttural noise and fell to one knee next to them, scooping them into his hands. Dolls, just dolls, and yet no mistaking who they were supposed to be. Pinned together with what looked to be a bone. "I just found them outside. The dagger was through both of them, impaled into the ground."

The Tairen barely heard her. He had already pushed himself to his feet and strode to the nursery. His heart pulsed in his ears many times louder than it should have and it felt as if the air itself was reaching out to grasp at him. Somehow he pushed the door open to look inside. The twins lay in peace within, Tomas with his fist shoved into his mouth, Corinthea with her arms over her head as if surprised. Both were sound asleep.

Releasing a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, Dax pulled the door shut and turned back to Elia. A moment later and he had wrapped his arms around the Shienaran woman, cradling her against his chest protectively, fingers stroking through her hair as he made soft sounds of comfort. “I’m here,” he murmured. “Light, I’m here and you’re all safe. Shhh, love.”

Inevitably, the dolls drew his attention again. The knife-shaped bone that pierced them reminded him of something, only he couldn’t entirely place what. No mercenary company he knew of used such messaging. If anything, it looks like… he froze as he thought of the other force likely to use a bone in such a way. Why would the Shadow threaten Elia? She tried to kill me!

The thoughts that came to mind were far from comforting; the Tairen’s grip tightened ever so slightly while he considered what to do next. In truth, there was really only one path for him to take. There had been only one since the moment Dax accepted that the twins were his, no matter how much he tried to pretend otherwise.

“What can I do, love?” He murmured into Elia’s ear, his fingers resuming their light caress, his mind already shifting to the pressing concern of how to keep his family alive through the storm to come.
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False alarm- there's still a song for me; I'm just about around to sing it
There's still a chance for me...and I'm still here singing.

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Re: A Most Delightful Gift [Attn: Elia Darrow Sedai]

Post by Craig » September 4th, 2017, 8:44 pm

Elia
Strong, comforting arms encircled her and Elia let herself be held. She sank against Dax's chest, comforted with the certainty that he wouldn't let her down. Somehow the Pattern had spun out a gift for her, and he was her blue-eyed saviour.

"What can I do, love?"

That question cut through the comfort Dax otherwise provided. Elia knew that wasn't just a light-hearted question of a lover's concern. Hugs and kisses wasn't what he was offering, although he would also provide those with abandon. He was asking what he could do. She pulled back, staring at his face with interest. Sometimes she momentarily forgot who he was, but at times like these she saw the real man underneath. Elia pictured his tattoos in her mind's eye, the herons that branded him a proficient killer. Looking at him, she could see that man buried beneath the surface of his beautiful blue eyes.

Or was it just an innocent question?

Just looking at the surface, she saw Dax. The Tairen was her lover and the father of her children; loving and kind and gentle. Not the killer. And what did she need, the lover or the killer? What did she want?

"What are you offering?" she asked.
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Elan wrote:Of course, the problems with observing a chain of command arise when the one in command decides to do something unspeakably idiotic, like taking off on his own for no discernible reason in the middle of enemy territory.

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Re: A Most Delightful Gift [Attn: Elia Darrow Sedai]

Post by Sunny » September 4th, 2017, 11:13 pm

Remember that time Dax broke a man's neck for hurting his girlfriend?
“What are you offering?”

Dax tilted his head a little to the side, one hand disentangling itself from fiery strands of hair to trace a finger along Elia’s jawline, his other arm still holding her firmly against him. Green eyes stayed on his as if tied by the One Power, lamp light glinting in their depths. Abruptly he found himself wondering what would happen if his response did not satisfy her. She might be his lover, but she was Aes Sedai first and foremost.

How did it come to this? His mind attempted to traverse the many choices that had led him to this moment, but he pushed the distraction away before it could take hold. Nothing mattered but the present, and in the present a frightened woman who had somehow angered the Shadow was weighing him with her eyes.

Dangerous grounds, brother.

Yes, but not for the reasons Jem thought.

“Protection," Dax said. "I’ve delivered a few such threats myself in my time. Acted on them, too.” He gave her a wolfish smile that held no humor. “Whoever’s out there, they want you to know they’re there. They want you to be afraid...and they won’t stop at idle threats.”

His thumb brushed her lips. “I could make a guess or two about who sent that message,” he said quietly. “I could- but I won’t. I never will, because I don’t bloody care. If they hurt you or the littles, I will rip them to pieces with my bare hands and feed them to your brother’s dogs."
OOC: In case it isn't clear, despite the fact that she tried to kill him, the idea that SHE might be a Darkfriend hasn't actually crossed his mind yet. :P So that whole "I don't care" bit is...uh...weighted? :lol:
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False alarm- there's still a song for me; I'm just about around to sing it
There's still a chance for me...and I'm still here singing.

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Re: A Most Delightful Gift [Attn: Elia Darrow Sedai]

Post by Craig » September 7th, 2017, 4:21 pm

Elia
"The dogs aren't worth much," Elia murmured. A pack of trained warhounds wouldn't do much good against what was coming, but Snowflake in particular wouldn't have made for a suitable guard. If she wasn't already being held by Dax, Elia would have taken cuddles from Snowflake as a backup source of comfort.

Elia looked up at Dax with a worried frown. "Thank you." Her thin lips spread into a smile. What did I do to deserve you? Thin smiles did little to deter the wheels that she had set in motion by asking what Dax would do for her. The killer had slid out from underneath her lover's skin.

She turned away from him, looking across to the other side of the room. She had to be careful in what she said, and thoughtful about what she believed. If not for the scenario they found themselves in, Elia may have found it amusing that now, after all this time, she finally was finding her voice being suppressed by the Oaths.

"I don't know who precisely," she said, addressing the far-off wall. She leaned back against Dax, taking comfort in his touch. "I can guess. Three people come to mind, but only one..." She grimaced. "I don't know who they are, not even if we're talking about a man or a woman. But the person who orchestrated the horrors in Vaidulo. That would be my first guess."
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Elan wrote:Of course, the problems with observing a chain of command arise when the one in command decides to do something unspeakably idiotic, like taking off on his own for no discernible reason in the middle of enemy territory.

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Re: A Most Delightful Gift [Attn: Elia Darrow Sedai]

Post by Sunny » September 8th, 2017, 5:18 pm

Dax
Be wary.

Dax blinked as the thought interrupted his contemplation of Elia’s smile. Jem had been silent all morning, nearly non-present for days, in fact. Dax had begun to relax in his absence. Now he felt a chill creep up his spine. Be wary, Jem repeated again.

Of what? It was less an inquiry than an exploration, a consideration of the warning given to him by a part of his mind that seemed to enjoy destroying and protecting him in equal parts. He received no answer.

His unease did not lessen, however. If anything it heightened as Elia turned away, unfamiliar anxiety rising bitter in the back of his throat. What do you know, love? She leaned against him and he pressed his lips against the creamy skin below her ear. “...the horrors in Vaidulo. That would be my first guess.”

“The evil in that village wants you specifically?” That was a stupid question. It had tried to eat her alive, perhaps literally, and been denied. If he had learned anything of the Shadow it was that it did not give up on its prey.

The Shienaran twisted back to look at him. “It seems the most likely explanation.”

She is lying. That was impossible; her ageless face told him that much, and yet he could not shake his instinctive response. First guess. It seemed the most likely. Her words circled in his head and he buried his face in her neck to hide his confusion. Elia had said straight out that she didn’t know who was behind Vaidulo, so that much was true, but…why twist words about the rest?

The Tairen’s chest hurt, he realized vaguely. Beyond fear for his family and burning outrage that anyone would stoop to using infants as pawns, lay a gray misery so deep he dared not look too closely lest it drag him in for good.

“You’re right,” he said finally. “The dogs aren’t worth much against Darkfriends who can channel. I don’t know that much is...but burn me, Thea and Tom are babies.” He inhaled, recognizing and accepting that Elia smelled the same as ever. There was comfort to be found there, if he let himself. “This enemy can channel, can’t it?”

Ask her, brother.

No.

He had learned the hard way that sometimes it was better not to know.
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False alarm- there's still a song for me; I'm just about around to sing it
There's still a chance for me...and I'm still here singing.

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Re: A Most Delightful Gift [Attn: Elia Darrow Sedai]

Post by Craig » September 11th, 2017, 2:33 pm

Elia
"Yes," she said quietly. She never been a strong channeller as much as that rankled her nerves, but her expertise in specific areas generally over shone that fact. Just not today. No amount of ter'angreal was going to keep the First Blade's hands off of her, not if they were really determined. Not even knowing whether it was saidar or saidin that she faced made the already bad situation worse.

It helped that Dax sounded as equally concerned. She didn't know why he wouldn't be, after all, Tomas and Corinthea were his children too. It took her a moment to realise why it was a comfort, which made her smile.

"You can't fight them," she stated, "I don't think," she amended. She drew in a deep breath. "I mean, you were there too. What happened to me, what happened to Nathaniel. I don't know how we can deal with that."

She broke away from Dax's touch, rising up to her feet and making her way towards the nursery. Dax's fingers followed her, reluctant to let her go. She smiled again as her spirits rose up. Even if the Pattern had dealt her Vaidulo, it had also dealt her Dax. Elia walked through into the nursery, standing between their two cribs. Her spirits rose higher even as her skin went cold. It's my duty to protect them. More than duty - it was her purpose. But how do I do that now? What can I do to be free from this?
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Elan wrote:Of course, the problems with observing a chain of command arise when the one in command decides to do something unspeakably idiotic, like taking off on his own for no discernible reason in the middle of enemy territory.

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