Tuesday, October 13, 2009

New Soldier of the Legion

"Congratulations, Legionnaire Seona!"

A large gathering of local citizens cheered and shouted for the lady dwarf, blushing slightly as she stood on a chair in the local tavern. She smiled and thanked them all, telling them that drinks were on her, which got another, even more enthusiastic cheer from those gathered. Below her, a young human priest looked on, smiling and cheering with all the rest. Once the congratulations died down a bit, she hopped off the chair, her armor clanging a bit as she hit the floor, the priest wincing a bit at the noise, but patting her on the back enthusiastically.

"Fandren, pass me that ale, would you?" she asked, sitting down on her chair next to the young priest. He smiled and complied, pushing his dark hair back from his eyes, watching his friend take a long drink from the tankard.

"Congratulations, sister. I never thought I'd see the day that you become a soldier." He said, laughing a bit. Seona laughed too, the blush on her face compounded by the ale, but her eyes sparkled clear in the lamplight.

"Ah, I never expected this either, Fan. I'm glad you could take a night off from your duties to celebrate with me."

Fandren smiled, lifting his glass to her and downing it in one gulp. "Of course, sister! When a former priestess turned Paladin enlists in some private army, you have to come join in the fun. Plus, when do I get this much free beer?"

They laughed together, enjoying each other's company and the company of the various Stormwind citizens that knew them both from the Cathedral of the Light. Fandren, young as he was, had only one more drink before he was starting to reel a bit and Seona decided to call it quits. After another round of loud congrats and cheers, and Seona squaring the tab away with the bartender who eagerly thanked her, the two slipped out and walked back to Cathedral Square, Seona leading her black riding horse and Fandren attracting neighborhood strays with leftover bread and cheese from the tavern.

The streets were relatively quiet this late, the working men and women of the city at home asleep and the die-hard tavern-goers still drinking at their favorite establishments. The two made a strange pair, but there were few if any to see them: the short, stocky, armored, lady dwarf and the tall, thin, young, dark-haired priest, both walking a little crooked and laughing together.

Fandren stopped when they reached the canals and looked out over the water. "I suppose this means I'll get to see even less of you than I do now, doesn't it? Now that you're well and truly a soldier." The laughter was slowly fading from his voice and Seona turned to look up at him.

"I suppose... I suppose that's true, Fan," she sighed. "My duties to the Kingship will have to take precedence and we're stationed almost exclusively in Northrend or on the various fronts. I'll have less and less time to spend here in the city."

Fandren sighed, too, turning to the short paladin. "I miss you, you know? The other priests don't understand me they way you do." Seona nodded, and he continued, "I'm doing more and more with the Redridge militia when I'm not in the city. I actually spend as little time here as I must, these days." Seona glanced sidelong at him, but remained silent, listening to her young friend. "Brother Ben and I simply don't get along anymore. We butt heads every time we meet, it seems, over differing philosophies. We don't hate each other, of course, but we aren't friends."

Seona shook her head. "Fan, Brother Ben is just... well, he's-" "An idealist," Fandren interrupted, a sour look on his face. "He's an idealist in a world that needs more realists. He wants me to be this pure bastion of the Light and I'm just not. I've been studying Shadow magics, Seona, and I'm right. I know I'm doing the right thing, nothing you or Brother Benjamin will do can change that in me."

Seona looked up to her friend. "Fandren, look at me." He hesitated, but finally turned and looked down into his friend's face. "Fandren, you are my closest friend. You are like a brother and, sometimes, like a son. And I don't mean 'brother' as in the fact that we're both of the cloth, I mean family." He glanced away, but Seona kept his attention. "I'm not ashamed of you or what you study or what you do. I've done..." She paused for a moment, looking, briefly, to the north.

"I've done some pretty terrible things in Northrend. Things that had to be done because no one else was there to do them. Things that would make Brother Benjamin no doubt call for my excommunication from the Church. Things that might even make you look at me sideways." Fandren started to protest, but Seona silenced him. "No, Fandren. I don't blame you for looking for other ways to walk your path. Shadow magics were something I couldn't stomach, not because they're evil, which I don't think is true at all, but because they weren't for me. I decided to completely start over, learn a whole new set of rules. That's not for everyone. Obviously you're doing okay. Obviously the Light hasn't forsaken you. Brother Benjamin would do well to take that into consideration the next time he sees you."

She turned back to the canal, watching the moonlight reflecting on the water, her stallion shifting lazily and sniffing her hair. Fandren was silent beside her. The two stood together, quietly, for some time before Seona sighed again. Fandren glanced down and laughed.

"We're such an odd pair, Seona. Me the Shadow priest in training, and you the priestess who turned in her robes for some armor and a hammer." He sighed as well, and turned toward the bridge. "Come on, then, sister Seona. There's a warm bed waiting for us at the Cathedral and a good night's rest. You need to wake in the morning to prepare to return to the fronts in order to become a great soldier of the Kingship's Legion!"

He cheered then, and ran over the bridge towards the square, Seona hot on his heels, dragging her tired horse and shushing him while they passed sleepy-eyed city guards. "Seona the Paladin! Seona of the Kingship! Seona the Legionnaire!"

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