The Quest is BACK ON! DisreputableCharles and Hikaruchan

"Soren, can I speak to you outside for a moment?" Miyoko stood up, waiting for the Immortal to do the same. With a sigh, he rose and followed her out the door, leaving Shane and Riker to their own devices.
As the soon as she was sure there could be no eavesdropping, she spoke, "We need to find out what they saw." There was a stern tone to her words as if she was declaring an order.
Soren raised a brow, "What they saw? Why do you think, the visions are connected?"
She paced, an obvious aura of frustration around her, "Of course it is! Those two and their emotions...I kept saying that we had until when they had the slightest inclination about each other, and they now do. He, whoever he is, knows that they are vulnerable, completely vulnerable, from the moment Shane kissed him. That's how he got to Riker, he used Shane, and no doubt he can do it to him again, with utter ease. So that leaves the question what in the name of the gods did He show them? Obviously it has to do with her and then Mirelle contacting me."
She paused, a sort of lost look in her eye, "Soren, I don't think that Sacrifice is for you to make this time."


Riker placed the blood-ridden bandage to the side as the uneasy silence settled. She stayed quiet in the corner, her arms crossed, looking anywhere but at him.
He bit his lip, "Is now a bad time?" Shane looked up at him, though her silver hair still shrouded half of her face.





(After Shane talks, wanna make Lydia come in and interrupt them?)
 
"Miyoko, I know," said Soren with a sigh, closing his eyes briefly. "Shane has a stronger magical resistance...but Riker is often weak. He has put himself in a dangerous place, but..." He looked away a moment, then looked Miyoko in the eye. "One could argue that we were all doomed the moment I was chosen for this journey. And true, it may not be my Sacrifice that was spoken of...but in any case, it can mean nothing good."


Looking up, Shane felt her heart beat faster. Gods, was this to happen now? She let out a shaky sigh and said,
"What do you expec---?!" She nearly jumped as the door opened with a loud creak.​
 
Lydia strode in, causing a Riker a twinge of annoyance. Honestly, could there have been a worse time for the healer to return? Riker let out a sigh, knowing it would be sometime before he would be able to confront Shane again, or even talk to her alone.
The healer began to examine the would, a frown forming on her face.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked.
The scarlett-haired women shook her head, "It's not infected but-" She cast a dark look in Shane's direction.
"The wound does seem to be made by an Elven blade."

"So we're back where we started, with more questions and prophecies than fact?" Miyoko gave him a look of exasperation, weary from all the possibilities floating around in her mind. She wouldn't mind having a vision right now, then at least there would be something that was certain.
She took a seat on the windowsill, "That is just excellent..."
 
"The process is difficult, I know," Soren said, his voice gaining once again its characteristic air of calm, "but this is an obstacle that was purposefully set before us. I fear I may have doomed you all...but dwelling on that fact does not change the problem to be dealt with. For now, things," he said with a jerk of the head towards the room, "must develop on their own. The more we try to interfere, the worse things will become."


Shane raised her eyebrows, giving Lydia a dangerous look, then rolled her eyes and made a noise of disgust, muttering,
"Wouldn't know an Elven blade from a Dwarvish pick axe..." The Elf shook her head and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, then noticing the look she was receiving from the Healer said in a low voice, "What position are you in to make that sort of assumption?"​
 
She scoffed, "We're not that far from Da'Tak, it's not my first time seeing a wound like this."
There was a stagnant air as Shane and Lydia seemed to hold each other in a death glare. He let out a deliberate cough, drawing the attention back and away from whatever tension seemed to exist between the two women.
"It wasn't Shane, she wouldn't." Riker tried to give the elf slight smile to lighten her apprehensive expression, "Well, not unless I was being a deliberate ass."

Miyoko rested her chin in her hands, knowing that the immortal was fully right. With a sigh, she stood up.
"Well then, we might as well go and see how those two are doing."

 
With a shrug, Soren complied,
"I suppose." He released a sigh and shifted his weight from the wall, straightening up and stretching his arms over his head. No doubt, Miyoko was perceptive and gifted, but she still had no conception of the events to come. In Soren's mind he faced an inner battle over whether or not to tell her, though in the end he resolved not to do so, not because of his own fear of the consequences but because it would most likely turn out for the better if she were to figure it out herself.


"No matter," said Shane vaguely, her eyes wandering upward as she let out a quiet sigh of exasperation. "Just do whatever it is Humans can. We're on a bit of a time constraint." Patronizing sarcasm echoed in Shane's voice upon the utterance of her last words.​
 
Lydia grimaced and made no retort, and returned to tend to his would. As she reached for a new linen bandage, she spoke in a hushed whisper, "She does realize that you're human as well, right? Shows hows much she thinks of you."
Shane looked up, an expression that almost made Riker jump.

Soren's silence didn't do anything to ease her frustration. She still couldn't get her mind off it.
What exactly am I missing?
Miyoko placed her hand on the door knob.
 
Shane looked up, casting a glare as icy as the vivid blue of her eyes. How ignorant, to assume that even a whisper would go undetected by the ears of an Elf. This Healer knew nothing, not of them nor hardly of her own supposed trade.
"If I were you," she said dangerously, her eyes then darting to Riker, "I would reserve vapid judgement on matters of which you possess no knowledge." Shane's gaze intensified with a meaning somehow both clear and enigmatic, then silently left the room.


As the Aquarian opened the door, both she and the Immortal witnessed Shane's departure from the room, at which point her anger was almost tangible. With raised eyebrows Soren watched her go, then turned back to Miyoko and ventured into the room, giving their injured companion a look as if to say, What was that​ all about?​
 
Just perfect.
Of course, he hadn't even been conscious for more than an hour and already Shane was back to being full of anguish. His chances of being able to talk to her once again had been split in half, thanks to Lydia. Though, he couldn't technically blame her after all, since she was just like the rest of his kind. Biased and naive.
Still, the way she had spoken towards Shane...and if he were to speak up against it, Shane was bound to lecture him on how she didn't need his protection, how he was an idiot, impulsive and arrogant, just like at the inn. And look how well that turned out.

The exasperated look on Riker's face was enough to show how much had occurred during the few minutes she and Soren had been discussing. Lydia as well appeared annoyed and then the look of anger upon the elf as she barged out the door... A sigh, nothing was going to be easy on this quest.
She took a seat, "So I presume there was a bit of a disagreement?" She looked to Riker, ignoring the human girl completely.

 
"Never a dull moment, eh...?" Soren let out a quiet sigh of exasperation and crossed his arms, looking at Riker with something between sympathy and you're-kind-of-an-idiot. Still, the Immortal supposed that it had probably not been all the boy's fault; the mutual irritation between Healer and Elf was unmistakable, but Riker's weak spirit certainly wasn't helping.


Paying no heed to her other two comrades, Shane exited the place swiftly and silently. Everything had been a blur for the past five days; why could nothing be simple? She was irritated and a bit confused, which only further provoked her irritation, as she fancied herself an intelligent being and did not enjoy feeling ignorant.​
 
Three days had past and still, Riker had yet to speak with Shane. It didn't help the matter that Lydia seemed to always be around, making the Elven girl quite, well, pissed off. Needless to say, he missed her. Missed being able to share a glance without Shane running off to avoid him. It had been over a week since the time at the inn and yet they still hadn't shared more than a couple of phrases.
The reason they had stayed at Lydia's was because of the hindrance of his wound, and he cursed for it. The sooner they left, it seemed, would be for the better. And then there was Miyoko and Soren, who with just a look made him feel like he was weak and naive.
There was a knock at the door, "Riker, can you come her for a moment." The voice was high and near sing song, and by now, recognizable. He rose from the bed and opened the door.
"What is going on?"
Lydia flashed a smile at him, "Can you come with me to the dining hall for a moment?"


The drop stayed sustained in the air over the puddle, Miyoko sat with a transfixed gaze as she focused in on it. Being stuck here was so uneventful. She saw the reflection of the immortal as he sat down behind her.
"Hello, Soren."

 
"So," Soren said, a tired and vaguely bemused voice, "what now?" He leaned back on his hands, stretching out from what seemingly was only mental endurance and wait. "The Healer insists that we keep him here longer, though that may be according to her personal intentions...our next best chance for an unbiased diagnosis is too perturbed to even glance at the patient...and you and I are left waiting." Soren stared up at the sky, letting out a low whistle. "How strangely this journey has evolved."


There was nothing to make Shane less on edge, no sign of nature from which to draw comfort and no one who she trusted enough to confide in. After all, nothing could be openly expressed that she herself was unsure of. She had taken to wandering about the outpost, then coming to know it so well that even that did not adequately occupy her time.
On once such walk she found herself nearing the dining hall that branched off from their temporary dwelling. Nothing had ceased her restlessness yet, and so the Elf resolved to explore within the building.​
 
She layed back on the grass, her eyes gazing somewhere distant as she spoke.
"Lydia's a bit...mundane for my tastes as well. By now I would be satisfied if Shane decided to take out her pent up anger on her. At least then it wouldn't be so boring."
"Well then. Someone's not too fond of her."
Miyoko tilted her head up at him, her gaze suddenly having focus. "I don't enjoy having others butt in where they are most certainly not wanted. Lydia is making an already difficult situation much worse. Have you seen Shane and Riker? They can hardly stand being in the same building together. So no, I'm especially pleased with the nuisance."

"No, I think it's honorable. And sweet. I mean, Riker, you chose to sacrifice your happiness so you could protect her. What's so bad about that?"
Lydia had been asking him questions about his old village, a place, by now, that his memory was slightly hazed over. And with all that had happened since he was that arrogant young blacksmith, especially what with Shane, he found that it had lost his interest.
The Healer had been particuraly interested in Alyss, the girl he had left behind, and that was what they had been discussing as he assisted her in moving supplies.
"Nothing, I suppose. And besides, I haven't thought about there in a while."
He placed the crate of viles on the table and there was the soft tinkering of glass hitting glass. Lydia looked back at him.
"So you don't miss her then? This girl?"
He swallowed, "I've...met someone else."
Someone he hadn't even spoken to in almost a fortnight. Gods, he was an idiot.
 
"Well," Soren remarked, now laying on his back and supporting his head on his arms, "I can't argue with that." He let out a sigh and stared up at the sky, which was beginning to cloud into a mass of grey. "Still, I'm beginning to wonder if we should have just let Shane help him...though it would've been a problem for her to treat him once he regained consciousness." With a vague shrug, the Immortal added, "Though as a positive, it would've forced them to talk."


Suddenly rethinking her route, Shane turned away from the hall's entrance and strode along the side of the building, which was lined with high windows not dissimilar to that of a church. She made the mistake of glancing inside for the briefest of moments, and upon seeing who stood their she moved swiftly past, a flash of silver against the darkening horizon.​
 
Lydia shrugged, "Ah. Well it's to be expected with all the traveling you must have done and all the people you've met."
Riker nodded, not in the slightest paying attention to anything by the flash of bright silver hair. He didn't breathe nor did his heart continue to beat until he lost sight of her.
How was it that something so entrancing, so beautiful, yet so stoic, could be so apprehensive?
What seemed like eons after, his heart begrudgingly began it's normal rhythmic pace.
"Riker?" he turned, remembering he was not alone here, "I said, 'Can you help me move this cot?"
He forced a laugh, and combed his hand through his hair. " 'Course. Sorry, I must seem like an ass at the moment."
She shook her head, her cheeks turning rosy, "No, Riker, you're very kind." Folding her hands behind her back, Lydia began taking a step towards him.She began to wrap her arms around his neck, though he imminently shifted out of the way.
"Lydia, I-I'm flattered, but I'm not interested. i'm sorry, but I am really not."
She did not halt her advance, "Oh, come on, Riker, you should know better. All that talk about meeting someone else, you think I wouldn't notic-"
"He said he wasn't interested."
Shane stood underneath the archway, her arms crossed and brows knit. He had never been more relieved.






 
"Or," said Shane, grip tightening on the hilt of her sword, "are you so intent on your forcing yourself into the lives of strangers?" Her gaze darting to Riker, eyes almost flashing, so dangerous was the look within them, and then turned on her heel to walk away.
Though on the surface she appeared to have a cool sort of restraint, there existed in Shane's mind a burning desire to hit something. Hard. And so, as she distanced herself from the building, she walked by a stone arc and drove her fist into it. However, this only caused her anger to subside briefly, though the stone cracked and blood dripped from her hand.​
 
Paying no attention to Lydia, he gently moved her aside so he could run after her, he was not going to stand by, not this time.
"Shane!" She did not turn around, but pretended he was nonexistent instead.
"Shane, why can't you just listen to me?"
"I don't want to talk about this!" she sniped back at him, though he continued to follow her outside nonetheless. It was the start of the dark, the moon was rising, though it's light barely shone through the billows of clouds as he walked. He gripped her hand.
"Why do you have to be so...so damned stubborn!"

"Yes, well there;s not much we can do about it now is there?"
Miyoko turned, "Soren, did you hear that?"
 
Narrowing her eyes, Shane wrenched her hand away from him, wiping the blood off on her tunic.
"Oh, and I suppose you prefer your company more easily compliant?" She retorted with a jerk of the head towards the building they had just left. "Go away." Letting out a huff of frustration, she whipped around and continued to walk away, not stopping to see if he would follow.​
 
He stood still for a moment, slightly flabbergasted at her retort, "Where did that come from?"
She turned slightly to give a furious glare, allowing Riker to spot the streak of crimson blood across her tunic. His eyes widened with a rush of fear.
Admittedly, the fact that the vision he had had not so long ago still echoed in his mind did nothing to qualm his worries.
This time he took her hand gently, seeing the places where the skin broke and the blood still flowed, "What the hell happened?"
 
Again Shane pulled away from him, turning so that he could not see her face. What, he thought that a moment of concern changed anything? Though in truth, it didn't hurt as much as what she had just seen. Her response then was curt, brief, and delivered with a nonchalant tone.
"Punched a rock."​
 
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