RP:A Lakeside Reunion

From HollowWiki

Lake Frysta

Svilfon had returned to Frostmaw only a few days ago and had not even yet seen the frozen land's queen; usually, she is the first to see him when he comes back from his journeys, whether they are forced or merely his wanderings. But there was something he had to do, a last trace of the poachers killed by him he knew hadn't yet be removed from Frostmaw... the dwarf, sitting beneath the lake, headless and covered in jewels. Svilfon isn't looking forward to it - few know this, but wizards don't really float too well - too many things they keep hidden within the depths of their robes to find swimming easy. Nevertheless, he wanted to finish what he had started. His teleportation magic isn't quite right... within the conflagerattion which destroyed the Empath Wyrm, he teleported at the last, once he knew the beast was devoured by his fire... but it took the last of his strength and was the actions of a desperate man... he went far, and since has been loathe to try to teleport again. Something within him warns against the magic and he always listens well to his instincts. So instead of appearing in a cloud of smoke, he merely walks through the snow towards the lake, stopping only when he stands upon the edge between snow and ice. There he pauses and draws in a slow breath.


Hildegarde seemed to have timed her visit to the lake rather well, as the familiar wizard wanders into view just as she does and she cannot help but smile some, even if it was a rather weak smile. Her love of life, her kindness, all of these good and true aspects of her had been diminished greatly since the encounter with the Empath Wyrm and Elenor; those silvery runes still carved deep into her hands, refusing to heal until the knight had healed mentally and emotionally. The Silver offered Svilfon a nod, "Wizard," she hailed him, brows furrowing some as she glances around, "what brings you out here?" Perhaps the woman who lurked in the waters had spoken to him, too. The knight was certain that Svilfon would probably know something about that, though, what with him being a wizard and all! Those sorts always knew these things, they knew all kinds of weird and whimsical things, things other people could barely comprehend. Gloved fingers curl around the shaft of Winterheart, the new halberd she bore, as she waited for Svilfon to reply to her.


Svilfon turns slowly as Hildegarde speaks her greeting. He responds with a tip of his hat and a small, easy smile. Through the gesture, the knight may have noticed the runes on his own hands... resting there as unhealed wounds, yet apparently not bothering the vampire. They were a reminder to him of what was given and what was lost, and the price darkness demands for aiding in power... he needs such reminders, 'less the path he walks upon lead him to some forsaken damnation. He knows this... he cherishes the pain. To her question, he replies casually, "Why, lady Knight of Frostmaw, I come here to clean the stain of our victories from the land..." His look turns a shade crooked, then. "A stain some of us wear easier than others, it would seem." He tips his hat, before his voice once more sounds across the frozen lake. "And yourself, Hildegarde knight? What brings you to this lake? I hope not battle, least of all with me." A final grin is flashed to the dragon, filled with the wizard's typical joviality... something which was missing from him for a long time.


Hildegarde noticed the wounds on Svilfon's hands and felt an odd sort of relief, glad that it was not only her wounds that did not heal, but that all of them had refused to heal as of yet. It made her feel somewhat relieved, but concerned that she may never know how to heal them. She was not vain, she simply did not wish to feel this pain when she held her halberd and fought. "Would you like some assistance, good wizard?" she offered politely to him, glad to see that he seemed to be in brighter spirits. "What makes you think that, my friend?" she asked him, somewhat quietly, curious as to why he made the remark. But alas, she smiled some and shrugged her shoulder, "My feet yearned to move and so they did," it was better than saying she could no longer sleep without screaming and seeing vicious nightmares of their escapade into the den; how the faces of dead men waited for her every time she blinked and how Calhoun's scream echoed every time the wind billowed around her.


Svilfon shakes his head towards her first question. "Thank you, but no, lady knight. I left him here and it must be me who removes him." He doesn't explain exactly why it must be him, but there is a finality in his words that would be clear to the knight. Svilfon moves half a pace forward, as if he's going to go get the body right now, before with a shrug to nothing in particular he turns his back on the lake, moves back from its edge a bit, before sitting down on a small naturally forming mound of snow. "I will never understand how you people do it all the time," he says while rubbing his legs. Clearly, the teleporting wizard isn't used to walking everywhere. But the words were spoken quietly, before in more regular tones he replies again to the dragon before him. "What makes me think that? Our last battle, perhaps. I said before we sought the poachers you and I would discuss it." If he's at all uncomfortable about it, he doesn't show it - he could well be simply commenting on the weather with how casual his voice sounds. "Plus, your hand resting upon your new weapon..." He eyes the halberd for a moment, before his pale gaze once more would rest upon the dragon's own. "Battle again we more than likely will; the fate of Frostmaw's citizens dictates that much, at least. But not in anger, lady dragon. Never again in anger."


Hildegarde understood the concept of being the only one to complete a task, whether it was assigned to them or not, so she gave him a curt nod and brief, "yes, sir," as if to proclaim she would not interfere with his task whatsoever. But at the comment of walking, she smiled some, even feeling the start of a little chuckle in her throat, "Practice, my friend. After enough walking, you begin to stop noticing the ache in your legs and the burn it makes." Indeed, walking in a suit of plate and mail made the task of walking everywhere a bit more of a trial, but if the knight was weary, she made no show of it. "Indeed, you said that," she confirmed with a near bashful nod, wondering what the wizard might have to say to her. She was somewhat frightened, in truth. She felt they had fought well, fought as he had wanted her to, and yet when the reunited he seemed convinced she was full of rage and dark thoughts towards him, at least in her eyes that was how it appeared. "My halberd is a gift," she muttered, seemingly not entirely grateful to have it, "for services rendered," she looked to the lake, wondering if that woman in there could see or hear her at this very moment. "Anger, my friend? I must ask for your pardon," she said with a diffusing smile, "but you confuse me, sir. Might you explain it in full to me?"


Svilfon followed the knight's brief gaze out to the lake and the smallest of frowns forms upon his face. Her look was not entirely comfortable, and the wizard dislikes mysteries unless they are his own. But he doesn't comment on it. Instead, he looks once more at the knight as his face splits into another crooked grin, flashing his gaps and fangs in equal measure. "I fear I must practice it for a while yet... though, if I could find that bloody goat he could fly me around... always vanishing when I need him." The wizard shakes his head at his mount, who's been gone since the battle with the poachers. Probably looking for some grass to much somewhere... or chasing around Percy. But putting such thoughts from his mind, the wizard speaks again. "A fine gift. It seems a mighty weapon... better than the last, at least." He nods rather forcefully at that. He knew the properties of Whim. "And anger... yes. I wore it like a cloak for a long time since Emiur died... I wore it and it wore me... it became me... our battle..." He shrugs. "It was a fine fight. Yet..." He shrugs once more, "Perhaps at the end when I gained the edge... I could have been less..." He struggles for a moment for the right words, "I could have shown more respect, I suppose. A fight between friends should not end with one shackling the other and rudely introducing them to the statues." He doesn't go as far as apologising, but he hopes at least this is some explanation for what he did. "I was not entirely myself."


Hildegarde was not sure it would be the best place to explain her thoughts on the lake, either. Perhaps out of earshot of whatever lurked in there would be the best place to discuss it, for it would not be wise to invoke the wrath of the unknown! She smiled and nodded, "If you rely on that goat, my friend, your legs will grow weaker and weaker! Perhaps we ought to go walking some time, strengthen your legs some." Her eyes drifted over Winterheart and nodded in agreement, "Indeed, my friend, it is a good weapon. Stalwart and strong, with properties I have not yet tried, but I am sure it will serve me and the realm well." At the mention of the shackle, her cheeks reddened some and she looked down to her scarred wrist before looking up to the wizard again, but in doing so, her carefully placed hair fell from its place and revealed fresh burns on her face: mottled skin, left angry and red, curling up her jaw and cheek. "The heat of battle - the battle and blood lust - can make many a man do things they would rather not have done. It makes us… It makes us more angry, my friend, but you must know it was not your fault. I am only sad that I allowed myself to freeze up like that," she said with a little smile.


Svilfon snorts at the dragon, "I am a wizard! I should not be walking!" He grins, then; the look twisted with a sort of self-mockery. "I would like that, though. Perhaps even now, if you like? It seems you are not entirely comfortable with the lake." Perceptive, is the vampire, though the source of her discomfort isn't known to him, nor would he ask of it. She would speak of her problem or she wouldn't. Such a decision is her own to make. It seems the wizard is about to carry on speaking when he notices, after her gaze lowers and lifts, the wounds on her head. Very quickly he stands and walks the gap between them, almost as if such a space never existed. He is there, before her, two runed hands lifted to rest on either side of her head while his gaze takes in the wounds. "What happened?" He isn't entirely concerned for her well-being. He has seen her in action now against more opponents than just himself and he is confident in her prowess. Yet still... he is curious who would leave such a wound on the knight's head, even as he lets his hands drop to his sides. He remains rather close to the dragon, though; pale eyes watching her own, alighted with a hint of concern and the merest echo of something else which fades almost before it was ever there.


Hildegarde could believe Svilfon when he claimed it was necessary to be quick when fighting the Queen, she understood the Queen to be quick of wit and quicker still with a weapon or spell. She was not a woman the knight wanted to find herself in trouble with, that was certain! She smiled some at Svilfon's comment, yet she followed him obediently, a silent glance thrown towards the lake as they moved away from it. "I do not know, m'lord, but after the den… after we parted ways, I found myself at the lake, ready to face my End when I felt someone reach me, but they were not of flesh like you or I," she shook her head some, brows furrowing with some confusion. "She… She knew of me. She entrusted this task to me and I went off to do it, once I had mended enough," she said with a slight raise of her brows. "Yes, she gave me the weapon. I am not sure what to think of it, my friend. I can feel the ice in it, but I like not the words that accompanied it when it was given to me. As for the creature… I slew something of its like in Kelay a while ago," indeed, she had saved the town yet her deeds went unheard, which was much to her preference! "I burned the corpse, for I do not know what powers that thing held. But I have a few of its teeth," she said with a nod, "one is gifted to the Queen and the other are still with me."


Svilfon remains silent after the dragon finishes speaking. He thinks through well the words she said; though rash and often reckless, the wizard is never in a hurry when mysteries are afoot, even less so when they involve the land he loves so dearly. "Perhaps it wasn't mere coincidence that stopped me jumping into the frozen lake this day..." He grows silent again, thinking through that which he knows, before once more his voice sounds quietly, "Ready to face your End..." There was much she said, and much he would think over, but those words more than any other sit still within his mind... so much so he even stops walking. A frown forms on his lips even as he lifts a hand up to rub over his face, before he speaks again in a voice which sounds tired and strained. "Lady dragon, Knight of Frostmaw, Hildegarde Silver... much was done to protect this land. Our battles... some were dark, some stained us more than the blood on the land... your brother... the child..." He shakes his head, "You must understand here and now that such things were beyond our control. You could have killed your idiot brother for his crimes, and still felt pride when you see yourself. You could have cut the head off Elanor yourself, and still walked with your head held high. Regret will lead you only to misery... to anger and hatred, of yourself and all others. Let it go. We did what we could, we did what we must; such was our fate and their own; a path started by them, merely stopped by us. We had little choice, and such things should not bring shame." He stops then, almost surprised he spoke so much, before he carries on in a more casual voice. "You are indeed formidable, lady knight." He grins at that, though its quick and fleeting. "Perhaps I too will meet this woman in the lake... I would have many questions for her..." He glances at the weapon, "I sense nothing malevolent about it, but then..." He shrugs, "My magic is not what it was... it must still heal, as we all do. I would suggest you be wary of any gifts." He ends his speech with a hat-tip.


Hildegarde nodded her head in agreement, "Perhaps. Frostmaw is, indeed, a land full of dangers as we both well know and I would hate to think there is a danger that evades our detection; one that would use us for purposes we cannot..." she stopped, realising how much it all sounded like the events leading and occurring in the den. She shook her head, before listening to him speak, "It haunts me," she confessed quietly and with some difficulty. "I cannot rid myself of these dark thoughts, these memories, everything plagues me. I cannot abide my own reflection," she said in a whisper. The knight was not one to confess these things, even though she was an honest sort of girl. She merely did not wish her burdens to be someone else's, yet it was hard not to confess such to so good a friend as Svilfon! "Elenor, Calhoun… all of them, Svilfon, all of them, I cannot close my eyes without seeing their faces waiting for me there. I cannot help but think: did Whim make me so cruel or was it only letting me act upon already existing desires? I am no scholar nor do I possess a masterful mind, but these thoughts will not leave me be. Every day they are there and every night," she said with a shake of her head, as if to cast it aside. "We shall see what comes from this weapon. I suppose it saves me from purchasing a new weapon at least!" she tried to jest lightly, but it was somewhat strained.


Svilfon shakes his head just briefly, before he speaks in a voice drowning in certainity. "You do not see it, lady knight, do you? These doubts, these questions... this shame... that is what separates you from those who walk in darkness... those who commit true evil... those who deserve death. There are men who proclaim themselves Holy, yet have no doubts of their actions... they are the most dangerous of all, for evil grows within their hearts unchecked. Cherish your doubts, your worries... for the day you no longer doubt that which you do... that is the day you can truly become evil." He nods at that and smiles again. "There is cruelty within you. There is a seed of cruelty within me, within Satoshi, Kasyr, Kirien... everyone. It's whether or not you feed it that determines if it will grow into something so large it consumes you, or whether it remains there as just a seed upon a barren ground, unable to live without any sort of food. Whim fed that seed, you did not. You are free from it if you wish to be so." For a moment he remains still, before he begins to walk again, his pace slow and casual as if he has not a care in the world. "I know many people in this land, Hildegarde knight. From kings to peasants, noble men to twisted, evil drow. You are amongst the most honourable I have met; you question yourself at every turn and seek nothing but a nobility within yourself. Of all people you should not doubt yourself, yet of all people your doubts should be the most cherished... they are what make you who you are. So accept them, understand them... just be not shamed by them. They are your lifeline, even if they don't feel that way."


Hildegarde had been told by Satoshi to never doubt herself or her choices again and now she was being told that her doubts may well be what keep her actions in check. It was a confusing world to be in, a confusing time for the knight and all she could do was attempt to keep up with it all, rather than attempt to stay as she was. "But these people…" she started, almost with a sweet and innocent tone, "they are so convicted in their actions that they question nothing. It is an unfaltering belief; an unwavering ideology in them and I think we all have that. I have my Oath, which could just have easily been dark and cruel, rather than one of servitude and kindness." She shook her head and added, "Whim was a darkness in me," she said gently, "but one I may well have overcame if I had tried harder, perhaps. But that is an 'if' and we shall never know, which is probably for the better." The knight wandered along with Svilfon, maintaining a relaxed pace before stopping to scoop up a little snow to rub into her burned face, soothing the itch and pain it caused her. The cold always had a way of making her feel better. "I often wonder, will my honour lead me to a higher ground or will it leave me with more knives than I can count in my back?" Dami, Kirien and others had suggested her honour would get her killed in this world, there seemed to be no place for it. "Svilfon, I… I do not know how you became so wise," she said with a little grin and friendly pat to his shoulder, "but I am comfortable in confessing to you that I have no desire to kill anyone. I simply know it is a burden I have and a duty to carry out when I must and that comforts me some, knowing it is my duty and not my own yearning to kill or harm."


Svilfon would not be surprised to learn his advice was contradictory to Satoshi's; she is ice as he is fire, it is their fate to be so. He listens in silence to her words, before nodding his head slightly. "Perhaps you are right. I rarely question that which I do, but that is part of being a wizard. We walk paths others do not understand, for reasons even we don't understand." He shrugs, "A knight is different altogether... though, I must say, if anyone could defeat the darkness within Whim, it would have been you." He falls silent again for a moment, before carrying on. "I am not one to give empty compliments, and it is very rare I do not speak what's on my mind. As such, I will tell you this, and you can believe it: The more knives you have poised to stab you, the better. For those who wish you destroyed see you as a mirror... and they like not how dirty they are when they see themselves reflected from your actions. Were I you, I'd not be worrying about them!" He grins at that. "You are part of our family now... if a thousand men stood ready to slay you, Satoshi and I would be at your side. Even if death was certain... we would fight, and probably win." He flashes a crooked smile. "As for me... I am not wise. A wise wizard would spend his days reading in a tower. I just understand the world, lady knight. Or at least... I think I do." He grows silent again, before adding almost as an afterthought. "I have no desire to kill people either... yet, like you, I understand sometimes it is inevitable. If they come to us, death is their reward." He shrugs, "They should have known better than to question a Silver Knight and the Wizard-Knight of Frostmaw!"


Hildegarde had been called fire and ice by that woman in the water, a mixture of the two even though she did not truly comprehend her meaning, more so because she was afraid of what it might mean or that it would change her as a person. "Indeed, we walk different paths, yet we both cross paths more often than not and share burdens on the road," she said with a little smile and nod of her head. "I have no need to fear when I have Frostmaw at my side, I know this, my friend. Yet I am not afraid of meeting my End in the name of Frostmaw, Queen and friends, such as yourself," she confessed almost cheerily. She grinned some, "We make quite the duo!"


Svilfon laughs with genuine good humour at the knight, the sound rich and unforced. "That we do, lady knight... that we do!" He grins for a long moment after, before speaking again. "Worry not about meeting your End. I fear it is the one for whom you swore your sword to who brings such thoughts to mind. You may die today, you may die tomorrow... but at least we'll know that when such a time comes to us, we'll be bringing a lot of company for the swan's path!" He nods at that, an oblique compliment to her battle prowess, and one he knows is altogether accurate. "We are Frostmaw, lady knight. We are Frostmaw." He nods, as if that explains it all.


Hildegarde smiled and nodded along, "I do not fear my End, my friend. It will happen when it happens, either in a glorious battle or in the comfort of my bed. Either way, it will eventually happen!" She gave a shrug of her shoulder but smiled nonetheless, "We are Frostmaw," she repeated in agreement, "and gods help any who try to destroy us."


Svilfon grins at the knight. "I fear the Gods will be running along with the rest of them when we all get going." He tips his hat at that, before shifting his gaze to where the entrance to his home is. "I think, lady knight, it's time I payed a visit to the library.. and Alahir.. and the queen. Think well over the words I spoke, and we'll see each other soon for another of these walks." He grins at that, "Unless I find my goat! Then we can fly somewhere... perhaps to Xalious, as I've a hankering to go there also. But that will be for another day. Fare yourself well, lady dragon." He tips his hat once more. "And I will think over this woman in the lake... perhaps I will meet her, even."


Hildegarde said to you, "Indeed, my friend," she smiled again, "you will give Alahir my best won't you? Kenway has been asking after him. Should you find anything on the woman, I'd be pleased if you kept me informed. Take care, my friend!"


Svilfon said to Hildegarde, "Those two need to spend more time together... perhaps when next we walk they can come too. I am sure Alahir would like that. He is fond of you, and his sibling."


Hildegarde said to Svilfon, "I am certain Kenway would like that."


Svilfon tips his hat once more to the knight, before turning on his heel and heading towards his home with much to think over.