RP:Passing Through Purgatory

Summary: Revan finally confronts his murderer.

Village Path/Lake Frysta

Hildegarde had been welcomed into the home of Kyl’oriel on the basis that she was a good friend of both Josleen and the wizard Svilfon. Kyl’oriel was a mage of repute and his magically warded home would no doubt serve as a good – but brief – safe haven for the recovering knight. In her ragtag armour that echoed her first steps into knighthood, the woman had left the house to wander the grounds outside it. She would not stray far, as she wouldn’t want to worry her kind and generous host nor her friends and companions. Finding a bench, the knight sat down slowly and with a hiss of pain. Her entire body ached. Hildegarde’s muscles had wasted in her state of death. She was thinner and less brawny than before, visibly weaker than she has ever been and for those who knew her it must have been quite a startling image. The Silver sighed from her seat on the bench, leaning forward to remove the banded shield from her back and rest it against her leg. With her friends unable to recover her armour and weapons from the fort, she was left only with a sword and shield gifted by the locals.

Revan :: The beautiful sun filled landscape of the Xalious village is replaced by the familiar view of Lake Frysta in the blink of an eye. The completely frozen body of water holds host to a number of fallen human and giant corpses that spill fresh crimson blood across the cracking surface as a single figure stands in the center of it all dressed in a simple set of black robes. The hooded figure stares to Hildegarde as she is seated on the bench with a set of brightly glowing, unblinking blue eyes that instill a sense of dread into anyone who dares to look into them. Suddenly by her side, a beautiful white-necked Raven has appeared on the back of the bench seat and eagerly crawls up her back until it rests on her right shoulder where it releases a cry towards the figure out on the lake activating an approach. The robed man begins taking slow strides towards the freshly resurrected knight, the world behind him crumbling into a dark void with each step, pieces of the world floating off into the air as the ice cracks and the ground beneath them begins to rumble, thunderous claps of sound accompanying the destruction of the earth.

Hildegarde is weak enough and weary enough that the sudden change of scenery is not a massive change to Hildegarde’s weary gaze. Her eye casts around the area, spying those fallen bodies with a hitched breath. No, this could not be so. Had this happened in her time… her time ‘away’? Who had let this happen? No, no one had let this happen but herself and her own foolishness in letting herself be killed. But now there’s a hooded figure amongst the dead. Was it the Savage Queen back to haunt her again? The knight flinched slightly with the weight of the bid upon her back and suddenly on her shoulder, cawing loudly. With care and gentleness, the knight lifts her hand to gently stroke her knuckle across the feathered chest of the raven before she shakily rose up off the bench. With every step that the man takes, the knight witnesses destruction and finally raises her hand, “No! Stop!” she yelled out at him, taking quick and imbalanced steps towards him; stumbling once and nearly falling only to right herself weakly. “Please, sir, come no further. You… I will come to you, to spare this land. Please. Step no further.”

Revan halts in his footsteps at the order of Hildegarde, the plea being surprisingly accepted as the robed man slowly lowers himself down onto his knees resembling a waiting monk as those glowing eyes of his refuse to break away from Hildegarde's own, a heavy and grave voice echoing out from beneath the hood that the knight would not only hear but -feel- pounding against her body upon it's arrival, "Approach."

Hildegarde found herself a little bit out of breath from the movement, but she did not relent in approaching Revan swiftly. She was afraid that if she did not approach quickly, he would step forth again and cause more destruction. His gaze is intense, but she will not let it cow her. “Might I kneel with you…?” she asked. If the monk like figure did not mind, the knight would slowly take a knee. If Revan did, however, object the knight would remain standing.

Revan examines the wounded warrior before him and provides a slight nod of the head to accept her request watching with a emotionless gaze as she painfully lowers herself down to his level. The sight of the duo looking to be quite the wonder with the land behind Hildegarde a wonderful spectacle of white snow, ice and peace while the opposite is found just over Revan's shoulder as the void continues to swirl and consume debris from the destruction. A long pause is held between the two before the same voice echoes out from beneath the hood, "When they told me you were dead, I didn't believe them."

Hildegarde smiled briefly and wryly at that comment, “I have heard people say the same. But… It was true. I was dead,” her smile has faded away and a sadness within her is made evident. “I thought for a long time that… that death would be an escape. That it would be a relief. But it is not. I… I can protect no one from the grave. Death is a despicable thing,” she said softly, “and frightful.”

Revan doesn't display his emotions though anger and frustration would describe them perfectly if Lady Silver could see them, the mention of death being an escape was something the man knew all too well as well as it's damned betrayal though it is the comment of protecting people from beyond the grave that irritates the apparent destroyer gritted teeth behind his mask allowing him to calm down before he continues, "I know about fearing death all too well, Hildegarde of Frostmaw... But you? What could you possibly have to fear from passing through to the other side? Clearly you were denied your afterlife but what does that mean for you? You get to return to your life as it were before, to all of this." His hand motions to the semi-destroyed lake. "I've heard of the trouble brewing since your fall, the giants rising up to claim what is rightfully theirs... there will be a war, something this land is used too... something you are used too, so I ask again, what do you have to fear? What risk do you take in returning to the life you love?"

Hildegarde shook her head slightly, “I, er… I am not sure how to explain but please bear with me as I try,” she said gently. “It is… well, it is my spiritual belief that all I have done… all the people who I have Ended, be it for justice, self-defense or whatever reason, I must carry their souls with me until I also die and can finally take them to their final resting place. Whether or not that is real, I cannot say. But it is my belief that this is the responsibility of every warrior: to not only carry that death with them in deed, but in heart and soul. I… I have much blood on my hands, I carry many souls with me. I fear that going to the other side… That carrying those souls will not make them happy, that they will find no rest. I care not for myself. But… They need rest. They have committed evil in life, but they can find peace in death,” she reasoned, hoping the stranger might grasp her explanation of her religious beliefs. As he asks his questions, the knight bobs her head in acknowledgement. “I fear war. War is not a thing anyone should be accustomed to. Nobody should have to be accustomed to war, sir,” she said softly, near regretfully. “But in returning to this life… I risk my friends and those I love. I risk the people who I love and the people who would stand by me. I would rather no blood be ever spilled in my name. That none would take a strike on my behalf. I must sound bizarre trying to reason all of this and I am sure I am not reasoning it very well to you, sir, but… I love the people. I would risk my life, my heart, my soul, my everything to see them safe.”

Revan finally shows a touch of humanity as a smile stretches across his complexion at the explanation of Hildegarde's beliefs, a throaty scratched laugh filling the space between them as those eyes of his shift between hers searching for something before he asks in a very seldom tone, "And what of the souls you drop along the way?"

Hildegarde shook her head at his use of the word ‘drop’. “I would not say dropped. I would say… stolen or escaped. Some souls are wilful,” she said with a little smile. “I… I knew some people who were very wilful in life. I would not be surprised to see their soul roam the lands again, either as some… some spectre or the machinations of a necromancer. Hakkon, for example, was strong in life. Strong soul. A cruel soul at that. A necromancer revived him.” And Hildegarde had ended his reign of terror once again.

Revan allows a long pause between the two as his searches deep within himself on how to respond to the woman's beliefs, the void behind him rumbling every few seconds as it sucks up another part of the earth in it's never ending vacuum. Memories of his first encounter with Gevurah flooding back at the mention of a necromancer, the thought of his free will being taken from him to be ordered by some master maddening to even his old rotten brain but now was not the time for anger. "You say death is a despicable thing, yet you still grant it so freely to those you deem worthy. When put on the spot it's rare for you to show mercy to those who need it most..." Another pause as he finally blinks and shakes his head lightly, "I mourned your death, Hildegarde. When I first found out I regretted not finding you first so I could do the deed myself. I thought that I wanted nothing more than to pull your throat from your neck and feed it to the wolves. I wanted to see you suffer as I had, to watch you beg for mercy only to be granted none... But the longer I waited the more time I felt remorse and sorrow for losing you." Reaching up the heavy hood is removed to reveal a familiar looking face with a head of shaggy blue hair. "I believe you thought you were right in ending my life." Those glowing blue eyes long replaced by a soft caramel hue, "I needed mercy and you showed me none... Why do I feel compelled to show the same to you?"

Hildegarde ’s eye did not move from Revan’s face. As much as the scene of destruction pained her, this man needed her attention more. “I End those who will not stop in their path,” she answered. “I always try to give a second chance. I ask that they put aside their ill intention and that we work out a compromise. But if they do not, if they insist on walking an evil path… I cannot allow them to harm the innocent of the realm.” As Revan details how much he wanted to hurt her, to kill her and see her suffer, she only nodded slightly as if thinking ‘it is what I deserve’ but didn’t voice as much. Yet with the hood pulled back and that familiar face and familiar shaggy blue hair revealed to her, she gasps ever so slightly. “Oh… Tyler,” she whispered softly. “I cried, you know,” she said softly, “and I know that would not excuse my deeds, but your death was not… it was not an easy thing to do. My head and my heart were very much at war with each other that day!” she smiled slightly, always having relied on a little injection of humour to ease these moments. “I…” her hand hesitates for a moment in its reaching out for him. She is afraid he would reject her touch. “Tyler. I am sorry for causing you hurt. I… I did not wish to hurt you, but you swore to me… you *swore* to me that you would go on to cause great hurt and pain to the lives of innocents. I will… I will do anything I can to protect those innocents. You know that. I would strip away my dignity, my strength, my life, all and more to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

Revan can feel the shift in his stomach, it feels as if he grows ill from the sentiments of Hildegarde. But someone was showing him care, a form of affection which he had not felt in a long, long time. As her hand reached out he would counter it with his own, taking it into a light hold. His expression maintains a look of pain as she discusses her displeasure at having to end his life though his head shakes lightly as she speaks of his last words during his final moments, "A foolish human says foolish things... They don't always know what they mean." His eyes finally find their way back to hers and he speaks in a firm tone, "I'm afraid that your concern of the present has made you blind to the future, Hildegarde. Do you ever stop to wonder what repercussions your choices will have down the line?" The man's appearance of the youthful human slowly fade to that of Revan a man of the undead. His cold and slimey hand still holds Hildegarde's as she takes in his appearance complete with maggots feasting upon what remains of his flesh and a gaping hole in his throat. As he breathes, or tries to, maggots, blood and bile fall down his neck line to spill onto the ice between them. His voice no longer heard by Hildegarde's ears but in her mind via one way telepathy, "While I do not hunt the innocent, I am not in charge of my own path any longer. I could have changed then but now I have no choice. My destiny is no longer my own. You aren't like the others, I can't fool you or cause you to follow a path that you haven't already set yourself upon and I don't have to test you to see your true colors..." Moving his free hand from beneath his robe sleeve, he reveals a single white rose gripped tightly in his clutches, holding it out to Hildegarde as a gift, "I want to make up for what I did in my past life. I want to help you with your trials, I want to make sure that no matter what hell you face during the day you can always find peace of mind during the night... Take the rose and whenever you need to escape reality, just for a while, pluck a petal." The raven on her shoulder cries out again as the world around them shivers violently in distortion as the void begins to consume the land again hinting at Revan's lose of control over the illusion. "I only ask for one thing in return, Lady Silver. When the time comes... Do not show me mercy."

Hildegarde ’s sole eye looks a little misty, as if she might even cry as Tyler takes her hand in his. “Not many people ever truly know the meaning of what they say,” she said softly. “I try to think of the future… but it is, admittedly, difficult when someone is threatening to kill people and you must act now.” Yet as his youthful appearance fades away to reveal Revan the undead, the knight does not retreat. Instead, she gives his hand a gentle squeeze and continues to look upon his horrendous face. Her free hand accepts the white rose in silence, listening to his words. ‘Do not show me mercy’. Chilly words. But a promise he wanted. “I promise,” she said gently, as she held the rose close to her chest and kept her eye upon his face rather than the distorting land around them which would no doubt be terrifying to look upon.

Revan gave 1 white rose to Hildegarde.

Revan seems satisfied when Hildegarde takes the rose from his hand and he then slowly picks himself up and waves his fingers to the raven causing the bird to take flight back to the very out of place bench before bending down to help the much weaker Hildegarde to her feet, pulling her right arm over his shoulder and wrapping his left around her waist he starts leading her to the bench as the world around them begins to crack and crumble. "Before I go... I want to make a deal with you... Seeing how your hands are full, I will not bring my work to Frostmaw under the condition that you deny ever encountering me or having any knowledge of that rose. May we stand in agreement or will I have to go help the one with the bloody beard?"

Hildegarde groaned as Revan helped her up to her feet and pulled her arm up over his shoulder. It was agony to move, but the fresh air and the little stretch of her legs had felt quite liberating. The knight chortles at his deal and his own gurgling laugh, “This has been a maddening dream… I promise, I won’t share any details. Though I suppose I might go sleep for a time. I am exhausted.”

Revan smiles a bit as his skin begins to transform back to that of Tyler just as he sets Hildegarde down on the bench carefully, those caramel colored eyes of his taking her in one final time as the Raven leaps over to his shoulder. "It was good seeing you again, Hilde. Do me a favor, try not to die again before me." A smirk signals the final collapse of the words that is accompanied by the deafening boom of thunder and a feeling of claustrophobia as the void closes in until Hildegarde would find herself seated on the bench in Xalious, unharmed from the entire experience with neither Revan, Tyler or the raven anywhere in sight all that was left from the entire ordeal was that single, white rose.