Cease Fire
Draza had heard about such places, the towns on the edge, that were split between loyalties and lives. It was likely a town that had been pressured in more than a few ways to join either side. It was times like this that she was glad her hometown was further away from the border, else these troubles would have hit her family. Yet, her heart still went out to the people of the region in their entirety.
It was almost providence, if a little bothersome for crisscrossing some mountains, that she would be returning to her native lands, to help solve a dispute between two parties, both of which she had been privy to the life and times of. She’d worked with the Templars for some years when she was far younger, and spent the last eight or so years with the Republic. Both sides have good intentions, as far as she was concerned, and both wanted what was best for the people. They just didn’t agree on what it was.
“Name's Renaldo Ysattara,” spoke the slightly strange man, his posture a bit rigid, “I'll be your Cleric, but not your babysitter, for the duration of this mission.” Draza did a very admirable job of not giggling at what he said, but leaned over Gahrul’s shoulder to give a comforting smile towards the guards, and a coy little wave. Their companion and charge was doing his duty well, and got them through.
As the group walked in through the gates, she waved from atop Gahrul’s shoulders with a chipper smile. With each of Gahrul’s steps, she’d have to adjust her balance. He wasn’t the smoothest walker, but she couldn’t complain, he was a great guy. It was weird, though, she knew in her head that this is probably not the best out of the missions possible for Gahrul to be on. This was a peace mission, and Gahrul was a smasher! Given the state of the town, though… it’s likely they’d need someone to smash things for them anyway.
At the steps of the church, she began to shimmy on down, making sure her checkered outfit didn’t ride up on her as she finally plopped on the ground and began to get any dust off herself. Turning to Gahrul, when before she could say but a word to her friend and guardian, the cleric spoke up instead. “It would not be wise for us to delay negotiations much longer. May I recommend that one of us assists and protects Sisera within the church, right now? The Sisera MUST remain safeguarded at all costs!” He spoke out to the others, herself included. “It would not be in our favor to miss out on the crucial preliminary stages of this cease fire... I shall attempt to gather intel. Anyone interested in such a course of action should head into this run-down town with me, but tread lightly. Who among us shall is most suited to protect the Queen's brother?”
Well, he wasn’t wrong. With a bit of a grin, she knew exactly who would be the best at keeping the man safe. Gahrul had a knack for detecting and then destroying trouble. She turned up to her confidant and spoke, “Gahrul, we’re going to have split up. I know, I know,” she patted his leg, “Not your favourite thing, but it will be okay. I’ll stay in your line of sight, and stay safe. What we need, though, is for you to keep our friend here safe too,” with a smile, she hugged his leg, “I’ll be back before you know it. The ogre frowned and opened his mouth to say something but merely closed it again, grinding his teeth against each other. Gahrul didn't like this place. There was tension and anxiety in the air. His senses were tingling. Slowly, his brain reasoned that was probably why Draza asked him to guard the old man. He did look awfully frail, Gahrul thought, scratching his chin. He nodded in agreement.
With Gahrul in the know about the plan, Draza turned towards the other companions, letting her large protector do as he may for the good of the mission. She spoke up with a clear voice, "Okay, so, this place looks a bit... disheveled." She made a bit of a sweeping gesture with her arms towards the apparent overcrowding of persons, makeshift homes on the sides of the street, and then some, "People here have been having a rough time, and those guards back at front were more than a little skittish, poor guys." She let out a small sigh, "So, the priestly man is right, we need to get information about what's going on here. Stuff that wasn't covered in those bor-- er, well thought out mission briefings. I suggest we talk to some of the kids. No one is more candid than a child!" She swung her pack around to her front and pulled out a toy, "Plus, I've got gifts."
"Yes, that is a good idea," said Alvaharyis. "In fact, I think we should split up further. Lotharr, go with Renaldo, I think you two will work well together. I'll go with Draza. Gahrul..." Alhvaharyis looked at the ogre. Gahrul shrugged and looked around, scratching his head. He saw nothing that particularly interested him and turned his deepset eyes back to Draza. He didn't like being split up from the sprite, but that was the plan and he had agreed to it.
"Yes, guard Sisera," the ogre said, his voice deep and rumbling, like rocks grating against each other. He nodded and wandered over to his new charge, looking down at the old man, who returned the ogre's gaze with a warm smile. "Protect you," Gahrul said.
"Danke, Gahrul. We should be quick about this, Sisera doesn't want us dawdling for too long." Alhvaharyis looked at the sprite. "Lead the way."
Walking through the town, the duo notices a few things. First off, Draza manages to find a small group of refugees in a area of tents, poorly erected shacks and so forth. A few small children can be seen playing with toys that appear either of very poorly make or outright salvaged. The parents seem particularly nervous, keeping an eye upon them and yelling if they go too far from them. Alhvaharyis, however, will spy atop the church a small group of Templar and Republic guard keeping an eye out from the ballistrad with bows in hand. Some of them even appear to be talking amongst each other, though one seems particularly wary, searching out over the rest of the rooftops.
Alhvaharyis grabbed Draza's arm and moved his head in the direction of the group he had spied, looking up. Draza is very much so unable to keep moving at the grabbed arm, given the obvious reasons, and turns to Alhvaharyis and gives him a look, "What's up?"
"The church," Alhvaharyis muttered, straightening up and brushing his sleeves. "Look up at the balustrade. Carefully. Do you see the soldiers?"
Draza, ever the master of subtlety, turns up towards the soldiers a bit confused, "Those ones?" Unfortunately, she gestured to them... and they were indeed not the right ones at all. "What about them?"
Alhvaharyis frowned. "The ones atop the church I mean. The one where we're going to be negotiating a peace in very soon. The one where we have potential enemies inside. There are a bunch of guards with bows trained at the exits. I don't like it. They could be guarding gainst potential enemies, but I still don't like it."
In the past, Draza could stifle a laugh at some of the things, but this time a giggle made it through, "You, what? Oh come now Alhvy, Gahrul would have them smashed in an..." she stopped and thought, "Well a very short amount of time if they were up to no good. Gahrul strong, he will not cry like little girl in face of trouble." She spoke with a bit of a silly accent marking her poor grammar as well. "Don't worry about it."
Alhvaharyis flared red to his ears. "Gott verdammt, Draza," he hissed. "He may be strong, but his skin is not bolt-proof. Okey dann. Let's keep moving."
Draza nodded in return, her cheeky little smile coming back. She made a little gesture to get her arm back to herself and a wave back to Gahrul to let him know she was fine from the contact, "Yes, let's." Gahrul waved back, his attention now split between Sisera and the sprite until she disappeared out of sight. With that, Draza began to take confident strides towards the apparent refugee camp within the city, stopping at the entrance to the gathering with a little skip and hop. Alhvaharyis trailed behind, still somewhat fuming.
As the sprite approaches, a pair of children bickering over a ragged stuffed animal stop and stare with wide eyes. "Mama, Mama, schau! Eine Fee! Können wir mit ihm spielen?!" The apparent mother looks up, and upon spying Alhvaharyis, quickly rushes to her kids, "Nein, Sie sollten sich nicht die Mühe einen Priester." She mutters a few last words, sending them back to the camp before straightening up and looking at the sprite cautiously, "What do you want?"
Draza bowed respectfully towards the woman, "Es tut mir leid, gnädige Frau. Ich meine nicht irgendwelche Schwierigkeiten noch Schaden. Ich habe Geschenke, Spielwaren in der Tat, für die Kinder. Es bricht mir das Herz, die Kinder im Streit um Spielzeuge zu sehen." As she spoke, she took her pack and began to remove a few toys. They were little stuffed animals, in good condition. Muttering to himself, Alhvaharyis slunk to the side, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Retaining her respectful demeanour, Draza offered the toys to the woman, and said, "Ich würde es vorziehen, um sie selbst zu liefern. Wenn ich nicht, sie sind dir zu geben, wie Sie es wünschen." She paused, and with a breath, added, "Ich möchte auch, um mit ihnen zu sprechen. Ich werde Sie nicht anlügen und führen Sie fühlen sich betrogen. Ich habe hier für die ich gearbeitet habe und Reisen gewesen. Ich möchte wissen, warum es so viele Leute hier, und warum sie so Angst haben. Ich fühle mich ein Kind wird mir ehrlich gesagt mehr als die meisten sagen. Ich möchte helfen, gnädige Frau. Bitte lassen Sie mich. Wenn Sie irgendetwas mit mir als auch teilen können, haben Sie meine ewige Dankbarkeit."
She looks terrified for a moment, pushing the toys away and barring the way to the children, "Nein, nur meine Kinder in Ruhe lassen, nehmen sie nicht weg und sie in goblins, Fee! Sie sind unschuldig, sie hat nie etwas falsch. Werde ich mit dir reden, nur halten Sie Ihre Fee Charme für sich." Her eyes dart back before she tries to straighten herself out and reorient her thoughts.
Lurking by the fence, Alhvaharyis rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead. There are few words that could describe the level of hurt apparent on Draza's face. Doing her best to keep a stiff upper lip, she reminded herself that this woman had been through a lot, and that it wasn't her fault that she was afraid. Alhvaharyis, picking Draza's thoughts up, did his best to communicate the magnitude of his discontent to her. Draza gave a pitiful look to Alhvaharyis, and a small shrug, before turning to the woman again. The lady might have thought she was a monster, but that doesn't mean she had to act like she is one. She would do little to bother this woman after this, and she would not press too hard on her. She had been through enough, obviously.
"Es ist dieser Krieg ..." She nervously looks in Alhvaharyis' direction, distrust in her eyes at his uniform, "Das Papsttum und die verdammten Templer. Wir laufen, um das Schlimmste des Krieges zu entkommen, sie nicht für uns interessieren. Nicht wie die Republik funktioniert," she spits the names of the Papacy and Templar Order venomously, it was quite clear there was bad experiences there. "Die Republik, vielleicht können sie die Templer zu ändern, aber bisher diese Soldaten sind nichts als Pech, bringen Tod und Zerstörung überall sie gehen. Je früher sie weg sind, und Ihr kleines "Friedenspartei" zu, desto besser. Gerade lassen Sie die Kinder raus."
She takes a few steps back, obvious that she wanted to be done now. However, she trips over one of the children, who runs forward giddily to the sprite and her toys. "Haben Sie wirklich bringen diese für uns?"
Draza slowly shook her head, "Es tut mir leid, aber ich kann dir nichts geben. Ich möchte nicht zu Schwierigkeiten für Ihre Mutter führen. Sie liebt dich sehr, und will, was das Beste für Sie. Ich kann das respektieren, und wird nicht gegen ihren Willen zu gehen." She began to put the toys back into her pack, and let out but a whisper for the child to hear but not the mother, "Aber mein Paket ist für mit Löchern bekannt, wenn etwas herausfallen und auf dem Boden gelassen werden, würde ich nichts dagegen, wenn es geschafft ein Kind oder zwei sehr glücklich."
She shrugged, and closed the pack around the toys, stepping away from the child.
Alhvaharyis stepped out from behind the fence and motioned to Draza.
"We should go," he said, quietly. "There is nothing more we can do here."
The child seems about to pout, taking a few steps back before beaming ear to ear. Probably for the best that he backed away from the sprite, as the mother was beginning to go into a fit... As he gets ready to go back, he gives an absolutely baffled look to Alhvaharyis, "Sie sehen nicht aus wie die anderen Männer, die in die Stadt kam ... Ich weiß nicht, warum Mama ist so Angst."
Alhvaharyis looked at the child for a moment. His eyes looked far off. Then he said, gently, "Angst ist mächtig, Kleiner. Es wohnt tief in den Herzen der Menschen. Wenn du erwachsen bist, ich hoffe, Sie werden nicht von ihr geplagt werden." Then he turned away.
With that, the child runs off to talk to his sister, obviously conspiring to watch the sprite as she left and be on the lookout for lost toys
Draza, turned to Alhvaharyis and began to make her way back to the church. As she did, she made sure as soon as she was out of sight, she began to mess with her pack again, choosing a toy not displayed to the mother, and with a smile up to her companion, she gave it a little toss into an alley. "Oops."
