Hour Six (Eve & Sabyne)

[Underleaf]

Sabyne Kuznetsov

---

Had a dagger been in her hand, she would have stabbed him when he shook her awake. Her eyes were wide with adrenaline, her hair matted with sweat against her brow. She saw the look of concern in his gaze, but he didn't say anything beyond "Don't kill each other."

Sabyne frowned at him and rolled to sit up. She stretched in a seated position as her eyes tried to acclimate to the dark. Being at a disadvantage was not her preference, however, having the magical light or a fire would have advertised their position for the night. There were too many dangers waiting for them beyond these walls, they did not need to invite any in with them.

Her chainmail rattled in the darkness while the paladin determined which was its front and which was its back. Dressing in the inky darkness was not something she had ever done before. Muttering to herself after a wrong attempt, Sabyne finally quieted down, then claimed both warhammer and longsword as she stood to join the deceiver.

She slid her feet along the floor to ensure she did not step on any of the others as they slept. Eventually, Sabyne made her way to the far wall where the front door was. Her ears were her only chance of being helpful, positioning herself near the door where she may hear someone attempt to enter, was her best hope of being helpful during this watch. But she had no idea where Eve was. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, certain there was an arrow aimed at her. The female Kuznetsov's only hope was that she would hear the bowstring in time to move.

[Gralhruk]

Evedriel Bregeneth

---

Eve took her reverie while Liam stood the first half of the watch, and her mind drifted back over the decades of her life. This night, she recalled the early days of her training, a time she now considered the best period of her life. It had been all of the things she imagined it would be, learning the art of the hunt and weapons and nature. Many a time it had seemed to her that she could spend an eternity beneath those ancient boughs, pitting her prowess against nature itself in a timeless reenactment of all the days that had been and that would come.

Liam it was that roused her when his shift was done, that she might lend her eyes and ears to the other folk in this never-ending dark. And yet the darkness felt welcoming, a refuge from the reality of her situation - traitor to that which she once held dear, deceiver of those whom she would befriend. Mercifully, Liam rambled only a little before seeking his own rest from their little group. Shayne was already up and she took a position as far from him as might be, seated near a window where she could peer out without being seen, making some comment on spreading out to give them the best chance to notice something amiss.

She pondered her reverie, now and again passing her eyes about the cabin, avoiding Shayne's piercing gaze where possible, keeping her own gray eyes stony when it wasn't. He didn't understand, but if she would explain then he might. It wasn't in her, not after Sabyne's reaction, to test her brother's capacity to fathom her own half-considered reasons. He took the hint, left her be, and she remained still, relaxed but ready, making no sound to indicate her presence.

If only she could have stayed in the woods, naive, perhaps she would have been better off. Almost before she realized it, Shayne's watch was up and he moved to wake his sister, and she reflected upon the shortness of their lives, the length of her own. It had taken her years to distance herself from the person she had been back in that elven forest, to learn that nothing was so simple, not in a world that was far more gray than black or white. She felt a cold rage in her belly as Sabyne rose, noisy and clumsy to Eve's ears, and almost blind based on the way she moved. What right did the human have to judge her so?

She watched Sabyne shuffle her way forward, seat herself near the door - to prevent anything from entering, or perhaps from leaving. As luck would have it, not far from where Eve herself was seated. Sabyne was a tall, strong woman, made larger by the mass of her armor and the heavy weapons she carried, a formidable barrier and foe both - especially, one might think, if you were a slight elvish woman, with nary a bit of steel about your person. Eve had learned early that to be hunter you had to accept that your foe would often be stronger and swifter, for wild creatures honed their skills daily, in a life and death struggle to simply survive. Strength and speed could be mitigated by strategy, and the first step was divorcing oneself from the notion that might alone was the pivotal factor. A thing as simple as darkness could easily tip the scale in the other direction.

"The night has been quiet," she said softly, doubtless closer than the other guessed, to observe her reaction.

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Gralhruk (see edit history)

[Underleaf]

Sabyne Kuznetsov

---

The toe of her foot tapped the door, the wood rattled in the iron hinges. Sabyne turned in the darkness, positioning her back against the solid panel. Her eyes were wide, trying to see any sort of detail in the shadows that surrounded her, but it was futile. She could hear her own breathing, her own heartbeat, but nothing else. For a moment she wondered if Eve had fallen to sleep...or trance...or whatever elves call rest.

"Bloody damned gods!" The paladin whisper-yelled as she flinched away from the voice that was impossibly close to her ear. Her pulse raced as adrenaline surged through her system. Both hands gripped weapons, fighting the urge to swing out at the voice. She let a swift breath out to compose herself.

"Are you trying to get stabbed?" Sabyne raised her longsword, arm stiff with an uncertainty of where the enemy stood.

[Gralhruk]

Evedriel Bregeneth

---

The warrior's bearing told her all she needed know about Sabyne's attitude and so her condemning words came as no surprise. It was the same as before: the woman saw only what she wanted to see. Anger flared in Eve, for this was in part what she had fought so vehemently to combat - the prejudice of humans against her people, the unthinking will to solve every problem with violence.

She shrugged at Sabyne's question, though the human could not see it. Maybe even that slight biological difference was merely a simplification that personified the friction between their races. Maybe she had been wrong, and they were indeed more different than they were the same. Eve didn't like where that chain went, nor what it meant about the path she'd chosen.

"I have been on watch. There is no danger else I would have signaled."

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Gralhruk (see edit history)

[Underleaf]

Sabyne Kuznetsov

---

She stood as still as she could, certain a dagger or an arrow was trained on her. Sabyne lowered her sword, though the tension in her grip did not ease. She did set her warhammer down, realizing if she did need to battle, it would be pointless to carry both. "I am certain I can trust you to protect yourself."

Breath was hard to come by. Without knowing where Eve was, she wasn't certain where she needed to focus, what side of her was safe, or which was under threat. Keeping the elf talking would offer some method of determining location, so as much as she preferred to not engage with her, Sabyne found herself forced to speak in order to protect herself.

She tried to create saliva in her mouth and swallow, wetting her throat from the dryness fear had caused. Her lips parted and closed multiple times in efforts to find words that would not cause an instant argument. "I should have stood watch with Liam." Finally, with no options apparent to her, she stated what they both were likely thinking.

[Gralhruk]

Evedriel Bregeneth

---

Eve was not sure what she had expected from this inevitable conversation - somewhere in her imaginings, it had been different. On both sides. There had been a willingness to accept responsibility, an acknowledgement of differing points of view, an empathy towards the goals one strove to achieve. It had not been this, this continued suspicion and anger.

Imagination was just that - it held little in the way of emotion, capturing what might be only, not what actually was. There had been no anger in her heart when she thought of what it might be, but there was anger now. Anger that they seemed so similar and yet could not find a way to communicate rationally.

"Avoidance? I had not expected such a tactic from you. The only thing you have to fear from me, Sabyne, is what you bring yourself."

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Gralhruk (see edit history)

[Underleaf]

Sabyne Kuznetsov

---

Sabyne remained still, hilt still gripped within her grasp, but the elf's words caused her to blink and brow her furrow. "How...how can you expect anything from me? No one knows me well enough to expect anything from me." Her head turned, eyes peering into the darkness toward where she knew Shayne lay. The response was more honest than she had intended.

Muscles in her jaw tensed, realizing she may have left an opening of weakness exposed. Parry, deflect, and turn the disadvantage into opportunity. "Nor do I have any expectation of you, since you chose to lie to us all. I would say avoidance is more your tactic than mine." Her breath in and out was slow, hoping to calm the pounding in her heart so she may hear any movement beside her.

[Gralhruk]

Evedriel Bregeneth

---

In the darkness, Eve might have smiled if her thoughts were not so bitter. She was intimately familiar with this kind of game, had played it for real, with her life on the line, for years. Bait and switch, redirect attention away from that thing which you want to hide, let others jump at what you showed them.

Sabyne played the game well enough, but she was here also at a disadvantage. Long years the elves lived, and this particular elf had spent years studying humans, learning their habits, their ways, their thinking. She ignored the jibe.

"Don't we all expect something of one another? And when those expectations are not met there is discontent. This is why you refuse to let there be peace with your brother."

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Gralhruk (see edit history)

[Underleaf]

Sabyne Kuznetsov

---

"It's not me who". Sabyne cut off her sentence, realizing a moment too late what Eve had done. She closed her eyes, chiding herself for falling so easily to the spy's gambit. "But you are right, we all carry expectations. It was foolish of me to say I don't have any of you and, of course, you must have had some of me."

The paladin turned her head to face where she thought she heard breathing, where she believed the elf's voice had come from. "You expected me to appreciate a fellow female capable in battle, a Klavekian comrade. You expected me, a woman who clearly has trouble making friends, to hold tight and defend one who appeared to truly appreciate me. Turn a blind eye to the signs that you were not who you appeared to be." Sabyne frowned, knowing the words she spoke were not false. "You expected me to be an ignorant and naive idiot. But you misstepped."

She shook her head, strands of tangled red hair batting her cheeks. "You are angry at me for how I hate you, as though my hatred proves something to you. But how can it? Had you had an expectation for how I would react when your truth was uncovered or were you so full of hubris that you couldn't imagine ME figuring it out? How would you react, if you found out someone you thought you could trust had been lying to you about who they were?"

[Gralhruk]

Evedriel Bregeneth

---

Hate

Since they were dealing in truth, Eve might as well admit to herself that this was indeed the reason she had avoided this very confrontation for so long. It had been clear to her from very early on that there was no room in Sabyne to see things from any point of view other than her own, at least not without great effort over an extended period of time. Her relationship with Shayne, the one person she was closest to, was as far as one need look for evidence.

Eve was searching for acceptance, and given her past along with what she knew of the prejudice of humans, it had seemed the wiser course to prove herself first. Then, when she had gained some modicum of trust and respect, perhaps her heritage would not weigh so heavily against her. Obviously, this was not a tactic that Sabyne could tolerate.

"I said it earlier and I will say it again: you bend the truth into what you want to see. You are looking for an excuse to hate me, and so you fix upon my appearance. Appearances deceive, actions do not."

Her gray elvish eyes bored into Sabyne's, though the human could not see them, and she weighed the other woman's words and found them overwhelmingly wrong but in one thing she was very much correct. Eve was angry, and she was angry at Sabyne for hating her though not for any of the reasons the fiery Klavekian had listed.

"Admit that this is formality only. You made up your mind, and your pride will not let you change it no matter my reasons or my actions."

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Gralhruk (see edit history)

[Underleaf]

Sabyne Kuznetsov

---

A puff of nasal air left Sabyne as she stifled a chuckle. "Your hypocrisy is astounding, Eve." The human woman stopped trying to spot the elf in the shadows. It was as futile as attempting to converse with her. "Appearances deceive, actions do not. Eve...you do realize your action was to deceive WITH your appearance." She shook her head, unable to understand the ranger's thought process.

"You want to villanize me by saying I am not being honest. That I decided to hate you, specifically, because you are an elf." The paladin took a deep breath. "But you are simply twisting what you have brought upon yourself to suit your own story. This, however, is the truth. I despise elves. I have very clearly, very openly, despised Liam since he joined the party. I do not hate him, but I do not trust him. His actions proved he steals from places of worship, aligning with what I have known of elves. His words are pompous and self-important, again confirming what I know of your kind. If he were to die in combat, I would not shed a tear. But again, I do not hate him and I do not plan to run him through with my sword. He has never once implied he was anything besides what he is. And I respect that."

She sighed. Shayne's words echoed in her mind, asking her not to kill Eve while he slept. The drums began to beat in the distance of her mind, but she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push them away, not wanting battle to be found in their place of rest. "I've done nothing but be who I am and I will not apologize for that. If you intend to continue traveling with us, I encourage you to explain who you truly are and understand that trust is earned."

[Gralhruk]

Evedriel Bregeneth

---

In the dark, the elf shook her head in resignation. This was futile, and in many respects it was like arguing with a child - truly, she felt the gap in their ages distinctly. She'd been fighting since before Sabyne was even alive, and in those years she'd seen enough blind stupidity to know it wasn't a thing easily dispersed. There was hope, maybe, in the future but not now.

"Confirmed what you knew - not what you suspected, but what you knew. You can nitpick all you like, but in the end I've done nothing but help you and you have done nothing but hunt for confirmation of what you already believe."

There could be no reasoning without a willingness to listen, and it was clear that Sabyne was not interested in listening. She wanted only proof that the principles she clung to so dearly were right, as if by following a doctrine writ in black and white one could sidestep the responsibility of choosing between shades of gray.

"I was once as certain as you, that I knew so much about things I had so little interaction with. There is a proverb - not attributed to the Elves or the Klavek, I am sure - Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions."

There had been a kinship between them and it was gone now, like so many other things in her life that she had cherished. It was a bitter pill, that she was cast out from her own people for trying to change the dogma, that she would never be accepted by a people for whom she had given up so much. Bitter, but it had been her choices that led her here, and this didn't change what she had learned, didn't change the resolve she had to make things better.

"I did what I did so that this group might know what is in my heart, so they might judge it without the notions of what an elf is or isn't. I will not apologize, nor will I try to sway your belief. Choose as you will, whether I am friend or foe - it will not change who I am or what I will do."

 

[Underleaf]

Sabyne Kuznetsov

---

Fingers reached for the bridge of her nose, pinching in frustration. "You won't apologize for your deception, and I won't apologize for my beliefs." The drums echoed in the distance of her mind, drawing closer, louder. Sabyne squeezed her eyes closed, as though it might stop the oncoming drum corp. "Time will tell, Eve." She spoke through gritted teeth. "Time will answer all the questions that linger. Too many questions that linger."

The paladin took a deep breath, the battle within her still growing. Two tears escaped her closed eyes. They trailed down her cheek, glowing with divine magic. They pulsed opposing patterns, one consistent and rhythmic, the other chaotic and passionate. Sabyne wiped the drops from her skin, unaware of their light, then opened her eyes to stare into the darkness once more.

"This path we are on, this mission to save the villagers...there are too many dangers, too many battles to fight." She took a deep breath again. "There is strength in numbers, and while I question your motives I do not question your skill. For the group to survive this, I believe we are both needed."

Her mind began to settle, her pulse steadying. "I would hope that is something we can agree on."

[Gralhruk]

Evedriel Bregeneth

---

She bit back an acid response at Sabyne's first comment, irritated that the hard-headed woman refused to be moved from seeing the necessity of her disguise as anything but a personal betrayal. Eve had learned to listen in the years since she'd been young, and though her elven brethren would no doubt still consider her rash and angry, she knew that holding her tongue would give her more information than speaking her mind. There was something in Sabyne's posture, in her voice, that felt incongruent with the anger, the substance of this whole argument.

And as that thought passed through her mind, she felt her own ire dissipate into the chill air. Her eyes narrowed, and she saw the Paladin not as the bastion of strength and determination that she had been but rather as one in pain. There was something eating at her, as Eve had guessed during their initial confrontation over her heritage. So intently was she watching that she flinched as the iridescent tears were squeezed from Sabyne's tightly shut eyes. Without knowing anything else, it was clear that the patterns within those tears were opposites, but it was the darker one, the chaotic one, that drew her in and made her skin crawl anew.

There was something sinuously familiar and simultaneously horrible about that chaotic line, something that reached memories buried somewhere in her subconscious, memories that she could not reach with her waking mind. She barely heard the rest of the Paladin's words as she wracked her brain for some answers. In the sudden quiet, she realized Sabyne was no longer speaking and Eve shifted, making enough of a sound that the other would know she was still there while she processed what the other had said.

"In this we are indeed agreed. Whatever else may come, time - as you say - will tell."