Recap Post up to Point~
The world had shown its unsightly light over the dreams of a man, a horrific maze of tombs, and the soft whisper daunting female voice that relentlessly coaxed the boy onward. Mist filled the underbrush with a cloak of mystery and the whistling wind only made it that much more surreal, as it bit at the nape of the boys neck. He could still see the raven haired beauty, even now, and he could still hear her song as he had before, but not as demanding as it once had been. These things might have been disturbing, and to some depth; they were, but the true horror of his sleeping lies held more personal sacrifices upon an easily bared cross. The scornful voice of his commander hit him like a stone upon his cheek, and the shrill tormented screech of the little girl so closely kept by Corben, The false memories of those that had died on the night of the shadow Weaver. Those memories, however manifestent they might have been still haunted him like a plague not soon begone from him.
However at the end of every dark and dreary dungeon, somewhere along the way; there is a light that marks the proclaimed "end" of the tunnel. The sad reality of this, is that the light is merely the second lap. and the "end" is nothing more than a dead end. On this particular journey however, the end was marked in sunlight brilliantly glistening through the window of the young boys home.
Arias woke with a bit of stir, but quickly suited himself and calmed down. His feet bare and ill treated draped at the bottom of his bed, and he sat there shirtless. it had not been terribly long since most things had fallen from graces he had known to love, but now adays he found himself more so lost than he ever had been. it was as though he had been given a large sum of coin, and then right as he had made a selection to buy, it had been yanked from him. It hardly suited the wounds he thought of with that family but it was also still damn early morning and his b\mind had not settled in quite yet. Arias pushed himself from his bed however, allowing himself that time he needed to wash up, and take general care of his body, get dressed, and all of those things, he found himself staring into a reflection in a mirror.
Arias had grown a bit, though it was more so an observation poked at by the local towns wives and such, who still hadn't lost all of their faith in the young boy. His hair was a crisp blonde, and it had grown quite a bit longer, even a braid had been weaved in the mess of it all. He still held brilliant silvery blue colored eyes, although his eyebrows were much more defined, than they had been before. He had facial hair now as well, all symbols to show that he was growing, although he didn't dare to mention most of his changes had been a result of depression. He didn't spend a lot of time washing however, and was soon pulling on his day clothes, and enough weight to at least allow him a bit of struggle in his everyday works. He would deal with those struggles as a masochist, as his own brand of self mutilation and punishment.
Soon enough Arias was on his way out the door, his metal strapped on, though not as heavily as he might have liked. He really hadn't dawned that armor sense he had gotten it redone, and when the Fateguard disbanded. His sword was strapped firmly to his hilt, although it wasn't the most precious weapon he once had cherished, the one time he had used it, and the weapon had become lost to him, yet another failure to mark under that belt he wore. The air was clean as it ever was, which didn't say all that much, but there was more to the day this time, and as Arias looked through his mail an envelope hidden in Arias very own secret compartment to his box held his attention, and although the news was unexpected, and well worded quite deathly, he couldn't help but smile as he folded the letter up, shredded it, and tossed it to the wind. Arias always had wondered if things were as they seemed, and deep down he'd always been expecting this very letter to come, more so in the beginning than now, but it was welcomed that was a fact. What it entailed, it took hardly a fool to guess; the time had come for them to stand up. Arias would return to his new found family and continue where he left off. No, Not there, not this time. No This time he would go further even, and he knew just how he had to do it. So with a bit of jump in his step Arias moved off towards Corbens meeting place, but he would be arriving far earlier than it had been stated to, something had to be confirmed for the boy.
Apprentice~
Gothenheim, really had not changed too much since everything had happened, although the recent makeshift addition of these "legionnaires" was laughable, in concept. Arias was hurrying as fast as he could to race to where he knew he could find Corben, although his doubts had kicked in fully now, and with every step he felt his breath slipping further and further from his body; and fear struck in like a nail. His mind was all sorts of strange at the moment though; so it didn't truly pick at him, that he found himself also thinking of Alyss in this moment. It wasn't odd right? She was a true member of the Fateguard, one that had been there for a long time too, and she was beyond beautiful, a truly exotic snow haired beauty. He knew most of his thoughts revolved around fantasies that she might even look at him, but if that's how it had to be then so be it.
Arias was only a few steps from the door, from the destination when he stopped thinking about all of it, and his mind found it important to focus on the task at hand. And Arias then let himself in though subtly knocking at first, he couldn't risk rejection at this point, not with his hope outdrawn as they were. The idea of sitting with all of them again just was too much to allow for any probability of failure in this situation. Soon enough he found Corben working as he often did, but he didn't approach, as he didn't mean to impose entirely. Enough of it had been done already, and so he called out to the Marshall.
"Corben."
He would get an answer. but the childish mantra that wooed him was no longer concealable as he Made his request and left it with the Marshall, a conversation that would remain between them until it was fit to say otherwise.
Time passed and with it, when hope had begun to fade even slightly, the others, and OTHERS showed up. One by one, they made themselves a place as Corben stood their in absolute silence, he seemed to be holding something but Arias left his observations to remain vague for the moment. The the Marshall spoke, and the room fell silent, his eyes moved once around everyone, but as his hand continued to toy with the object he held, his voice finally rung out, and in it, the truth of their leader confirmed. The final points of his words, or to his first sermon struck harder than any with Arias however, as the Marshall in his own way thanked Arias for helping to save the Marshalls daughter. A beautiful chess set had been crafted, something that would have obviously taken a lot of meticulous work and skill, he was beyond appreciative, but looking at everyone else, he hardly felt it to be the right to to show the full extent of his gratitude for the gift, and so he made no move; save a nod of his head in respect to Corben's words, he would say more when the time of words was less narrow as this.
One by one the Marshall made each and every point he possibly could, using the pieces to to brilliantly represent each faction that still had a hand in this ongoing game of chess they all found themselves in. The words however, were inspirational, strong, and powerful. However the greatest point to them, was not that they held so much power, but for the fact that power mostly coincided with the fact that each and every word the Marshall spoke; had been true. That was rare among politicians, and even more so in speeches used to boost morale, but Corben did not promise us happy lives, rather, the life of a scorned being, one that would suffer more than they would gain, the definition that came with wearing the mantle, of one known as Fateguard. Arias would be one of many that wore that Mantle with pride and bore the sins that leaned upon its sigil.
Others shared that very sentiment, as they rose up and each of them said their dues about the situation. The thought of weapons did stir a bit of havoc among them. but that was to be expected. When they had lost their place in the city, they all had also lost their ability to face the darkness that crept in the night. Arias still had a decent sword, but it would not be enough to sate him in battle if it came to it. The stir of everything growing ever louder was then interrupted by a knock, and to everyone's great surprise as Corben answered the door, they found the ex member Tahan, now as a Legionnaire in this great city. it certainly did not look the best, that each of them were here gathered around like some form of cult. The hulking armor however, only required teh simple blacksmith work of Corben, and so most of them became calm quickly. Corben did not, and after whiling the intruder a bit he turned to the head of the group and left his message loud and clear, to those willing to listen, then they were off.
Re-initiation~
Derek was the one that took lead of the operation, he noticed quickly that Derek was good for that at times. he was hot headed in moments but his way of thinking always included the greater good of his allies, just Like corben. Arias was different, as in each and every thing he had learned or tried, he'd found a horrible truth about dire situations, but he chose not to think about that now, this was not a game of chess, and as they followed far enough behind, he seen Derek raise his hand, and the message was made loud and clear for him. he was not the best with sneaking, but stepping into an alley and waiting for the order would prove easy enough,a nd so he did just that. Although, this was Arias, and so it was almost expected that as he wait, he would search for each and every out, all possible vantage points and had devised at least 12 possible outcomes and result plans for this very situation, that much though corrupt in lack of innocence, had not changed with young Arias, and honestly the fact that he was here, in this situation right now despite eminent danger, could not have made him happier. he would wait for his orders, at least for now, and see what happened with The Marshall and the Legionnaire.
"I am a Farborn, child of the Pilgrims,
"Tahan..." As ever, this bone-armoured automaton was a world away from that tattooed boy they had taken in. Even the eyes were unknowable behind that hooded visor. Corben was struck now by the memory of that first night when Tahan arrived and slew the Darraskun Dragon. The ruin of the FateGuard had issued from that very moment. It was as if Tahan was an omen, the bone-wreathed symbol of what was coming to replace the Night Watch.
