Unlikely Meetings [r]

[Sonya]

Valeria

Ylisstol, huh? After first running away, Sonya didn't think she'd ever be back here. But, thanks to a rather unpleasant meeting, here she was. And now that that meeting was mercifully over with, she had a chance to wander the streets.

Her first instinct wasn't actually to go back home, but now that she thought about it, she was curious what happened. She had meant to try and find out what happened to her brother and sister after meeting her mother, but given how disastrously that had gone, she never was able to get around to it. Now that she did have that chance, she found herself tracing back along faint memories to find the place she once, long ago, called home.

And it was gone.

The house was still there. What was left of it, at least. A burnt out shell of a house still stood on the property, overgrown with weeds sticking through scorched cobblestone. There was no sign that anyone had lived there in years, much less her family. Maybe something was still inside, though. With that in mind, Sonya cautiously through the doorway, uncaring for how it might look to anyone who might see her while passing by.

[Valeria]

Valeria just so happened to be on patrol at this time, filling in for a guard who had been injured in a battle with some bandits. Nothing life-threatening, thankfully, but it was serious enough that they would take a while to recover. Since she didn't anything to do, she was more than happy to take his place, even though she outranked him. That's just the kind of person Valeria was. She didn't like sitting around doing nothing, so she often jumped at the chance to do something like this. Now if she could do something about the people who kept insisting on giving her paperwork.

Apparently, she wasn't clear enough when she told them that she couldn't read, and that giving her paperwork of any kind was a bad idea. Usually, she just pushed it off onto Liam, but she felt a little bad about it. Especially since he was...less than thrilled at the idea. Though, to Valeria's defense, it wasn't as though she wasn't trying to learn. However, with everything else she had going on, she barely had any time to find anyone capable of teaching her. She knew a few words, but it was no where near enough to take on the kind of paperwork being presented to her. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to push it onto Liam for now.

But enough about that. As she walked by a house that had burned down a while ago, she noticed someone who looked as though they were about to go inside. She couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why anyone would want to, so, needless to say, her interest was piqued. Just as she was about to go inside, Valeria spoke up "I don't know what it is you think you're doing, but if you're looking to loot that house, you're a good several years too late. The owners salvaged what they could, and and scavengers have long since cleaned out what little was leftover." The tone in her voice was a bit suspicious, though, in all honesty, it would be hard for her not to be. Yet, she wasn't accusing her of anything just yet. She just wanted to know exactly what she was up to.

[Sonya]

"Eh?" Sonya stopped at the threshold, hearing a voice behind her. It wasn't going to stop her from going in, she told herself. Who cared if they thought she was looting? It wasn't like anyone was going to miss anything she took. Anything she took would be hers or something left behind by her family anyway. No, it was what came next that stopped her. 'The owners salvaged what they could'. So they had moved on. There was hope that they were still around, somewhere.

Sonya turned, spotting a beautiful woman in guard armor. While this would normally concern her, anyone with a memory shorter than twelve years shouldn't recognize her this far south or east. As long as she didn't make any bad moved that would give away her sordid history, she'd be fine. And that, at least, was easy. Not admiring the guardswoman's looks would be a bit harder. "Oh...I'm not a looter or anything. I just...used to live here. A long time ago," Sonya said.

"You said the owners salvaged what they could...do you know where they went?"

[Valeria]

 Valeria blinked as the woman explained herself, which, admittedly, seemed fairly reasonable. Granted, Sonya could have been bullshitting about this being her old home, but she didn't notice anything that would indicate that she was lying. After years of being the captain of the guard, she learned to look for any sort of signs when it came to this sort of thing, regardless of how subtle they were. And besides all of that, not even the dumbest of bandits she'd met before would try to make such an unbelievable lie, especially since there was literally nothing to gain from it, As such, Valeria was inclined to believe the woman, despite how far fetched her claim seemed to be.

"I see. Now that I think about it, I do recall Kyra occasionally mentioning she had an older sister...so I take it that's you." Letting out a soft sigh, she hesitated a moment before she went on to answer Sonya's question. "Anyway...sorry to say, but I'm afraid I don't know where they are. They left Ylisstol not long after the fire, but they never said where they were going. I was pretty busy at the time, so I didn't learn about it until after they left. Apparently, Kyra was injured pretty badly in the fire. Nothing life-threatening, but still rather serious. Beyond that, I haven't got a clue where they are or what they've been up to these past few years." Letting out a sigh, she scratched the back of her head

"Anyway...there's barely anything left, but feel free to look around if you want. I'll keep the rest of the guards off your back until you're done, just...try not to take too long, okay? And be careful. The walls and supports were weakened by the fire...they're probably fine for now, but they may give out if you go poking around too much." Despite somewhat aloof demeanor, there was a very slight hint of redness in her cheeks. Indeed, this girl was quite attractive. By no means did it have any affect on her decision. She would have done the same for anyone. But it was still a thing. Admittedly, she did feel for her a little, coming home only to find your home is gone and having no idea where to find them. She could only imagine what that must feel like, so she felt a little compelled to help her out.

[Sonya]

Sonya's eyes widened. Not at the news that her family had left town. That was unfortunate, but not unsurprising. Not at the news that there had been injuries in the fire, either. Sonya had hoped that Kyra, at least, would have gotten out unscathed. But bad things happening to her and her siblings were only natural by this point. No, the way the guardswoman spoke, it sounded like she knew Kyra personally. "You knew Kyra?!" she exclaimed, surprised. The Kyra she remembered had kept to herself for most of her life, internalizing just about everything. She had only been twelve the last time Sonya had heard from her, though. That was a long time for things to change. Sonya herself was much the same back then, after all. Maybe Kyra had somehow managed to escape the pitfalls of her own life by staying behind, and was now an upstanding citizen, despite any severe injuries.

Sonya could only hope. Or ask. "How is she now? Or...last you saw her, at least. And what sort of injuries? Did anyone ever find Nemo? Is he still alive? Is..." She caught herself amidst the flood of questions that suddenly came out. "Sorry," she said, turning back towards the house. She took cautious steps inside, immediately recoiling at the smell of soot and ash. Everything looked black and ruined inside. She already wasn't hopeful about finding anything left over, but now it was starting to look like anything that was left would be unrecognizable anyway.

[Valeria]

When bombarded with the multiple questions, Valeria couldn't help but blink. Of course, Sonya seemed to quickly realize how inconvenient this was for her, and proceeded to stop and apologize to her. Either way. Valeria figured the least she could do was answer the questions she had already asked as best she could, to show that there were no hard feelings "Yes...I suppose you could say we were...together, though it wasn't for very long. My job got in the way, and we ended up breaking up after only a month or so. Come to think of it, I don't think your parents were very keen on their daughter dating another girl, so they may have had a hand in that as well..."

Pausing for a moment to recall if she had ever heard anything about Nemo, she shook her head "As Nemo, I'm afraid they never did find or hear from him. If he is alive, no one has any idea where he is. As for Kyra's injuries, like I said, I only heard about the fire and them leaving until after they were gone. We...weren't really talking at the time, so I can't really say how she was before the fire. I know a few of her friends, so I might be able to ask around later and see if I can find anyone who knows more about it, but that's about all I can do...sorry I couldn't be more help." She watched as Sonya took a step inside, and quietly followed.

Indeed, if there was anything of value left in this place, it was long gone, or, at the very least, damaged beyond recognition. It was a shame, too, since she recalled it being a fairly nice house. "Officials in the city keep saying they're going to tear down what's left of this place and have a new house built. I don't know what the holdup is, but they're sure taking their sweet time with it. Guess there are more important things to worry about than some charred, burnt-out dump..." Quickly realizing how insensitive that might have sounded, Valeria was quick to add onto that last part "Er...no offense intended...." Yeah...real smooth, Valeria.

[Sonya]

Oh. Oh my. That wasn't the answer Sonya had been expecting at all. "Really?" Sonya asked, surprised but impressed. "Didn't know you had it in you, Sis." She turned back to the guardswoman and looked her over again, smiling and nodding approvingly. "She's got good taste though," Sonya added with a wink. Then, she turned back into the house, listening as the woman explained why it had lasted only a month. "Our parents weren't very keen on her existing. They felt the same for me, for that matter. I'm not saying they couldn't have had a hand in it, but if I know my parents, they'd be more upset that she was happy than that she was with another woman." She sighed heavily, poking though what soot-covered remains she could get to.

Meanwhile, the woman mentioned that she didn't know what kind of state Kyra was in, or what had happened with Nemo. That...was to be expected, unfortunately. Nemo hadn't even been ten when he disappeared. The chance of him still being alive was incredibly slim. As for Kyra, Sonya could at least hope from the fact that she apparently had friends and had dated an attractive guardswoman that she was doing well. Or, had been before the fire, at least. Afterwards, who even knew.

After a couple minutes of searching, Sonya happened upon the remains of an old bronze frame at the end of a hallway. From what was left of the pattern on the metal, it was probably the one that had always hung over the fireplace. The frame itself was an heirloom, although the painting inside had been one commissioned of their immediate family. Nothing remained of it though, not even identifiable ashes. And the frame itself was warped, looking like it had melted in places, and notably left behind. "Figures," Sonya said, dropping the frame again. She heard the guardswoman explain that someone was supposed to tear the place down and rebuild on it, eventually, but there were greater priorities at the moment. "No offense taken," Sonya said, although her tone was still a bit bitter. "I can't imagine what would be more important. It's not like the line of the Exalt's dead, those walking corpse things are back, bandits are everywhere, and half the country wants to break away. Not at all..."

She shook hr head. "Sorry, that wasn't aimed at you. I'm done here, let's get out before this burnt-out dump does collapse."

[Valeria]

Valeria couldn't help but blush lightly at the compliment, though her expression didn't really change. However, it soured as Sonya went on to explain about her family, and how their parents basically hated them. That...explained a lot, actually. They seemed to put on an act for her while she was around, possibly due to her being the captain of the guard. But something always seemed off, and she could see why now. Regardless, she really hated not being able to be any more help to the woman, though she still had every intention of following up on her promise to look into the fire incident. It was the least she could do.

When she listened to Sonya's rather bitter comments regarding the kingdom, to which she let out a sigh "It's fine...I know where you're coming from. Even now, it feels like there's only so much I'm capable of, in spite of the authority. At this point, all I can do is make sure bandits and Risen don't make things even more screwed up than they already are." She let out another sigh, as she watched Sonya go through what was left of her home, and nodded when she indicated that she was ready to leave. Once out, she looked around quietly. There didn't seem to be any other guards around, which meant she wouldn't have to explain why she was allowing a women to trespass on condemned property. Good.

"Anyway...I wish I could do more, but as I said, I can try to find out more from those who were actually there. If that doesn't work, the reports might still be in the archives...but that'll be a little hard for me without some help. Either way, I should be able to either find something out and tell you about it, or I could pull some strings and get you a copy of the full report. Maybe even both if I play my cards right. The nature of Kyra's injury should be detailed in them...at least, I'm pretty sure things like that are usually included. Either way, I should have something for you by the end of the week, if you're okay with waiting for a few days."

Part of that might seem a bit odd if anyone was paying attention. After all, she was the captain of the guard. She should have no problem knowing what kind of information was contained in the many reports that get brought in, or gaining access to them period. Unfortunately, she wasn't being quite as subtle about that particular subject as she thought she was. Needless to say, the reason she didn't know was because she couldn't read. And since it's extremely rare that she ever has to revisit older incidents, there's never been an occasion where she's needed to go through the archives herself. Usually, she just has someone else do it, then give her a brief summary.

All in all, her illiteracy, despite making somethings a little harder for her and some others, has surprisingly not been much of an issue in this job. At least, not enough of one that she hasn't been able to work around it in any way. It did provide some bumps in the road, but they were few and far between, and easily avoided. Of course, she still had every intention of learning. But that's beside the point. With a nod, Valeria speaks once more "Until then, feel free to let me know if there's anything else you need. I'll be happy to help out in any way I can."

[Sonya]

Bandits and Risen, huh? Well, Sonya would definitely have to be careful what she said around this woman. She didn't want to let out that she was one of the people trying to screw things up more, if she could help it. True, she wasn't happy with her current arrangements, but she doubted that just anyone would understand the situation she was in. Least of all a guard. Maybe if they met again in the future and came to know and trust each other more, Sonya could open up a little about her true nature. But for now, they would become enemies the moment that got out. For the time being, she would have to keep quiet about it.

Once she'd gotten outside again, Sonya took a deep breath and let out a contented sigh. Ahh, fresh air. If she ever needed an indication that she was better off never going home, she'd found it. 'Home' was a burnt out wreck with a horrible smell that could collapse at any time. Good to know. She tilted her head to one side as the guardswoman explained that she could get her hands on the report. That was...very nice of her, but could a guardswoman just do that? Unless she was in some high up position, there was no way something like that should be possible. Sonya, admittedly, did not know much about how the Ylissean military or guard worked, but she was talking about giving Sonya a copy. "You make it sound like that would be so easy. Either you're pretty high up in the guard, or you're giving me false promises to try to reassure me. Either way...thanks for the sentiment, I guess. If you're serious, I should have the gold to stay in town and wait until then."

Once she'd reached the street again, Sonya turned back towards her old house, staring as though trying to look straight through it. "I'm not sure what else can be done, though," she said, her voice taking on an uncharacteristically somber tone. "There really is nothing left here. Nothing but memories..." She looked back towards the guardswoman and spoke again in her normal, brighter tone. "That said, I guess I wouldn't mind talking a bit more once you're off-duty. Even if it was just for a short time, I'd like to know more about how you knew Sis and what she was like then."

[Valeria]

Valeria blinked at the comment regarding her promise to look into the issue, and it was in that moment that she realized that she never actually introduced herself to the other woman. Ugh. It wasn't like her to be so forgetful. "Oh, right. I guess I forgot to mention. Name's Valeria Saren, and I'm the grand captain of the Ylissean guard. So, like I said, it shouldn't be too hard for me to access the archives. Might have to come up with an excuse, but that shouldn't be an issue, since there's nothing about the incident that should do any damage. Just...if I do get you a copy, don't go parading around with it."

Letting out a sigh, she didn't quite know what to say. Once again, she could only imagine what it must be like to be gone for so long, only to find that literally everything you once had was gone. The best she could do was what she already promised her...and maybe one more thing. "If you're looking for somewhere to stay, there's a fairly nice inn down that way." She motioned down the street. "The owners are good friends of mine, so tell then "Val sent you", and they'll give you a good deal. They'll ask a question, first, though. The answer is "rat flail". It's...kind of an inside joke."

Either way, with that out of the way, she nodded softly as Sonya mentioned wanting to meet with her to talk about Kyra. "Yeah...I'm fine with that." She then looked around a bit, before nodding "Anyway...I hate to cut this short, but I really should get back to my patrol. Otherwise, the other guards will start to wonder if something's happened to me. Wouldn't be the first time."

[Sonya]

OH...well then, that would explain rather a lot. Sure, the captain of the guard would be able to have access to that. And...Kyra was with the captain of the guard, then? How did that happen? Sonya figured the two of them for people who would always be in trouble, somehow or other. Maybe her sister really was the good kid. Now Sonya was even more curious, so it was a good thing Valeria agreed to meet up later. "Well, nice to meet you, Valeria," Sonya said, using no formalities whatsoever and not caring in the slightest. "You probably already know this, but my name's Sonya. And don't worry, I don't go showing anything off to just anyone." She winked.

With that settled, Valeria followed up Sonya's assurance that she could stay in town with an offer of a deal on an inn, and an agreement to meet up later. But that was all the time she had. "No problem. Thanks for the help, and since you're offering me a place to stay, I guess I'll see you there later," Sonya said, waving back at Valeria as they parted ways. Once she was out of earshot, Sonya repeated "'Rat flail'..." raising an eyebrow. Inside joke or not, how the heck did that one come about?

Well...whatever. If it got her a room for a good deal, she wouldn't look too deeply into it. So she continued down the street in the direction Valeria had indicated, and sure enough soon came on an inn that stood out as being quite nice for the area. Not that the rest of the street was run-down or anything, certain burnt-out buildings aside.

-----

As vaguely cryptic as Valeria's words had been, they'd worked, and Sonya had herself a place to stay for a good deal. Even so, a few hours later, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of inside joke led to a question and answer like that. She'd probably forget again by the time she saw Valeria again, though. Now that she was settled in and had a plan of action (of sorts) in place for where to go from here, she was relaxing at the bar downstairs, drink in hand. Her third drink, actually. The rest of the bar had its usual merry atmosphere for the time of evening, but Sonya hadn't been in the mood to join in this time. The encounter from the afternoon was still fresh on her mind.

It wasn't like her to worry about her family. Certainly not her parents, but she'd stopped worrying after Kyra as well, finally accepting that her sister could take care of herself. Seeing the burnt out remains of her old home and hearing how much she'd changed, however, had hammered home to Sonya just how long she'd been gone.

[Valeria]

All in all, it surprisingly ended up not being too hard for Valeria to keep her promise. It wasn't without some difficulty, but, for the most part, it went a bit smoother than expected. There was one person who couldn't help but question why she was looking into such an old incident, but all Valeria had to do was say she just wanted to check up on something (which wasn't technically a lie) and that was apparently enough for them. Overall, a pleasant surprise. That said, when she learned what exactly had happened...well, that wasn't so pleasant. Though, to be honest, she wasn't really expecting there to be any good news.

She also asked around with people she knew were friends of, though, while they were willing to share what they knew, they didn't have much to tell her. For the most part, everything said the same time; she was friendly, but a bit reclusive and didn't talk about herself a lot. She was also apparently under a lot of stress, though none of them seemed to know why. One of them mentioned that she seemed to miss Valeria a lot, which was a bit of a punch to the gut. But, none of them seemed to know much about the incident, or where the family went after the fact. Valeria let out a sigh. There was little to go on, but it was better than nothing.

Either way, she made her way to the place where Sonya had been staying. After offering her friend behind the counter a wave, she looked around until she spotted Sonya. This time around, she was dressed casually, and she was already hearing jokes about a bandit attack from the various patrons. Rolling her eyes, she ignored them and approached Sonya. "Hey...hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

[Sonya]

Fortunately, it wasn't too much longer before Valeria showed up. She almost seemed like a different person to Sonya as she walked in, dressed casually to the extreme and looking a lot rougher than her first impression had given off. Heck, some of the other patrons were making jokes about a bandit attack, something that Sonya opted to be completely silent about. She was not about to accidentally give away that, for the moment, she was a real bandit. No way. Certainly not with the captain of the guard present.

She gave Valeria a smile and a wave as she approached, then gestured for her to take a seat. "No, not at all. I haven't had enough to drink to be 'waiting too long' yet," she said, with a fairly lighthearted tone despite her current heavy mood. "Nice outfit, by the way. Real eye-catching," she added, with a teasing wink.

[Valeria]

Valeria let out a sigh as the jokes finally died down. Taking a seat across from her, she blushed from the compliment, despite being noticeably annoyed by (if not resigned to) the jokes "Thanks...though, to be honest, I've been planning on getting some more...normal clothes. I just...well, shopping isn't exactly my strong suit." Yeah. She was kinda awkward with a lot of things that didn't involve embedding her axe into someone trying to kill her or others. There were times when she actually had the urge to take the very path that people joked about because of what that captain did to her father. But enough about that. She was here for Sonya.

Letting out another sigh, she decided to get straight to business. She started off by telling her what Kyra's friends told her, though, out of embarrassment, she left out the part where she heard that she missed her. That kinda made her feel like a bit of an asshole, especially since her being so focused on her duty was part of why they ended up breaking up. She swore to herself that, should she end up in such a relationship again, she wouldn't let her position get in the way again, but she hasn't really had the chance to meet anyone else. Even if she had, she was far too awkward to make the first move. In fact, Kyra ended up being the one to make the first move, to the surprise of many, Valeria included.

Either way, she wasn't finished. Producing a small book, she handed it to Sonya. "Anyway, here's the incident report, and in it is the details of her injuries. I...well...I can't read, so I don't know what it says. But I had someone give me the gist of it...and...well...it's not exactly pleasant. Either way, you're free to keep that. All I ask is you either keep it hidden or destroy it once you're finished. Technically, this isn't against the law, but it would seem pretty suspicious that you have access such information despite having not lived here for so long, and there are a lot of people who would frown heavily on my doing this for you. Either way, I'll leave it up to you."

[Sonya]

"Normal clothes, huh? Are you saying that I may get to see you in a dress one day?" Sonya teased, giggling. "I could help you out a bit before you leave town if you like. I don't have a noblewoman's fashion sense..." she muttered something indecipherable under her breath before continuing in a normal tone, "But I bet I could find you something that looks good on you."

With that bit of lightheartedness out of the way, the heavy mood returned as Valeria settled right into the heart of why they'd met up. Kyra had been under a lot of stress apparently and, if her parents were the same as they always had been, Sonya could immediately understand why. Being forced to break up with someone because of that person's work probably hadn't helped matters, either. That she was apparently still closed off when it came to personal or family issues, despite being outwardly friendly, further reinforced that idea. By now, Sonya was starting to wonder if she'd be able to hold herself back from strangling her parents if they ever met again. Murder was all too easy for her now, no matter how much she wanted to put her life as an assassin and psychopath behind her.

Still, Sonya stayed silent until Valeria handed her the incident report. Sonya skimmed through it, her eyes widening as she reached descriptions of injuries sustained. Her father had suffered severe burns all over his body, while his mother had only been badly burned around the arms. Meanwhile, Kyra, it seemed, had suffered only minor burns. But, she had also been rendered blind during or after the fire. Cause unknown. "She was blinded..." Sonya said darkly, almost to herself. She closed the booklet and set it face-down in front of her. "I see...I'll burn it when I get the chance. Thanks for this, though."