Snippet #1481552

Mikana had retained the eye contact with Caine, perhaps feeling the same way he did. It was a stare that was familiar for Caine, as if he had stared into this woman's eyes before, but he couldn't be sure where... As time progressed in the camp, he could only summon a vague familiarity with the face, almost as if it was hidden behind a haze of some sort. Almost within grasp but not at the same time... Annoying really.

He scratched his neck as Mikana took Caine up on his subtle offer of a seat. The mere fact of the offer was something new for the normally stoic berskerker. It showed the creases and cracks in Caine's rock solid persona. Something about this woman set Caine off-balance, almost with a kind of kindred spirit. She seemed to have gone through a lot, as her scarred throat testified. Her voice was taken from her, no doubt a beautiful voice of elves. Caine felt a pang og guilt... Why was he comparing himself to her? She had lost her ability to speak and no telling what else, and here he was perfectly strong and healthy. He shook his head.

Mikana merely continued to gaze at the berserker, finally tilting her head in a questioning manner. Caine met her eyes, those familiar eyes, once more before breaking the contact and staring forward. "This war... This God forsaken war has taken a lot from us all hasn't it?" He asked. Mikana nodded in agreement, rubbing her throat for the evidence. "I wish it was all over... Hell, I wish it would have never happened. It just sucked us all in, tore lives apart, and turned everything we knew upside down," He said, a flare of anger in his voice. Mikana shifted away from the berserker's anger, a notion that glance from Caine saw. "I'm sorry... I get worked up over these issues." Clearly...

However, it was strange. Caine was talking to this womanly more openly than anyone else in the camp. More then Wrath, more than Sid, and even more than Talae. "It helps when you are fighting for your life in the thicket of things. To block out pain with rage, to remove fatigue with fury. Letting your own anger guide your hands. To forget everything except why you fight... Not so much for actually living your life," Caine said, staring at the dirt floor while Mikana nodded, understanding what Caine meant. "I wasn't always like this, you know. I wasn't always a barbarian," A meaningful echo... From somewhere in Caine's recent past,"... I was better man. A happier man. Without a care in the world. I didn't join this Legion out of some perverse sense of pride. Not to take the lives of others arbitrary. I joined it because I had a question... And this seemed like the only answer." He stated, finally meeting the elf's eyes again.

Mikana raised an eyebrow, as if asking what this question was. "The question? It was... 'What do I do now?'. I had lost everything, everything I had ever owned or loved, in a flash." he snapped. Mikana tilted her head in wonder. Caine averted his gaze again. He could only look her in the eyes for moments at a time before the vague remembrance and guilt began to eat away at him. Here he was, telling her all of his problems, while she couldn't even voice one of hers... It seemed selfish. But Caine kept talking. Something about her urged him to spill his guts. Perhaps it was the silence she held, the promise that she would never judge or speak down to him because of it...

A few silent moments passed, Caine digging into the ground with his eyes. Then, he finally he began to speak again. "I've began to have dreams again... Pleasant dreams, of a time before all of this blood, all of this hate, of this damned war. A time when I-I had a home and not 'Some Legionary camp'." Caine said, a minuet shake in his voice. No doubt without her voice, Mikana could hear this shake clear as day, and she placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "A happier time, in my small farmstead at the boarder between Jurial and Umbridge," And here it came... The deluge that the Berserker had pent up for years, tearing at him, eating at his soul. He never spoke of this to anyone ever before, but the Elf's silence and innocent nature urged him, begged him... He had to let it out.

Caine's Farmstead

It was a pleasant day, early morning, the birds were chattering happily in the trees beside a small cottage. The field next to the cottage was full of blossoming flowers, a good sign of the following yield. Corn stalks were popping up in rows, watermelon vines streaked across one corner, and numerous other crops had set their roots in the fertile land. Small fingers of weeds were just beginning to weave between the crop stalks. A small flower bed was situated near the cottage, the home of numerous colors of daisies, lilies, roses, and other flowers. It was an idyllic setting, far from the blood and war of the present.

Inside the small cottage, in a bed, there were two humans, happily lost in each others company. The raven haired beauty Liera, had her head laid upon Caine's unscarred barreled chest. Both had smiles that reached from ear to ear. It looked as if neither would move... But the days duties called. Caine stirred first and left the bed, putting on his breeches and tunic. Liera stayed in the bed and watched as Caine dressed, a hint of sadness in her eyes, "Do you have to?" She pleaded. "Of course. Otherwise the weeds will swallow the crops... Then we'd have nothing to eat... Unless you have a secret stash in those eyes of yours" He said playfully, finding the hoe in the closet. Liera smiled and laid head back down on the pillow. "Fine, go have fun with your plants... But if you leave that thing out in the open again, you won't have to worry about eating..." She threatened playfully.


North Ridge: Caine's Tent

"I-I was out in the far end of the field," Caine stuttered, "I didn't hear... Them coming until it was too late." Caine said, the shake in his voice fully fleshed out. He was also rocking back and forth slightly. He never spoke of this to anyone before, he hadn't even considered it. However with Mikana, it all came flooding out. "I turned and the Children were on the horizion. I don't know how many.. They were just... There. They... They beat me back to the cottage. When I got close enough. It... It was..." Caine's voice strained and twisted. It sounded dangerously close to breaking... Mikana wrapped her arm around Caine's shoulder. "On fire. The Children must of lit it... I heard... Dammit! I heard her screaming!" Caine said in a flurry of mournful anger.

"I snapped. Broke in half. A beast erupted inside me. I lost everything in that one moment. My home, my Liera... My self. I think I took a swing at the nearest one with the hoe. Planted the blade in the bastard's chest and shattered the haft. I picked up the weapon it dropped... and after that I blacked out in a bloody rage." He said, tears rolling down his face. "I think I killed a few of them... When I came to, I was on the ground bleeding from several places and covered in blood from several races." Caine said, clutching at his chin, as if he himself couldn't believe he was telling the elf this.

"A legion stood over me... No doubt wondering how I survived. They had been following that particular sect of Children... I think they saved my life..." Caine said, wincing... " Course, I took swing at one of them. Got settled down hard and it was explained to me what happened... Didn't listen of course. I was broke... Physically and emotionally. Then... One of them offered me a spot.. The only word I heard was 'Revenge'. Took it up in a heart beat." Caine said, shuddering and shaking from reliving the experience. He stared again into Mikana's eyes, his own filled with tears. "Remember when I told you I had a question? The answer was revenge... Was. I-I just don't know anymore. I suppose survival.. So this doesn't happen to anyone else? Hell I don't know... I just miss her so damn much..." He said, returning his gaze down to the ground, a tear falling into the dirt and disappearing.

They both were deadly silent for minutes. Mikana's arm over Caine's shoulders. The elf seemed to have been deeply touched by the man's story. Something that Caine appreciated completely. Then, the elf hopped off of the cot and took Caine's hand and began to drag the man. Caine quickly wiped his face, erasing all evidence that he had let tears fall before allowing the elf to drag him off.

Caine felt... Relieved. He felt a large burden fall from his chest. He felt... Happier. As Mikana dragged Caine (A strange sight, the smaller elf dragging the huge man across the camp) as she did, Caine wore a smile. A genuine smile, not sardonic, or ironic, but genuine...

---

Lily still sat in the mess tent as other slowly trickled in. She was slowly getting over the sight of Gilleas, and the fact that others were beginning to talk was helping her take her mind off of what she had seen. The two Dark Elf sisters, Talae and Faera were sitting together with a deep human. Sarish sat with another Lamia with rather... Noticeable assets. Seems everyone had someone else to talk to her... Everyone but her. She winced a bit at the thought... She didn't see many more elves in the Blackguard, and the only one she knew of was Mikana, the mute elf...

Of course, by the time this though bounded through her head, Mikana burst through the tent-flap with the scarred man, now identified as Caine, with a smile on his face. An extremely rare sight... She was positive she had never seen the man smile before. She stood up. This wasn't the place for her. These people in here all had another with them. Caine and Mikana, Talae, Faera, and Beelzes, Sarish and Iriana. She didn't have anyone like that in the tent... So she left. As she walked to the grounds, she finally noticed it was raining...

So she put up her hood so as to keep the rain out of her face. As she neared the training ground, she caught a familiar sight. The Orc Thanaros, who Lily had dubbed 'Ros for the man's nickname. She raised a hand in greeting and called, "Hey! 'Ros!" in a freindly tone. She neared him and noticed that he was practicing... Something. He seemed to be in a focused trance, with a practice dummy in front of him. She kept her distance and watched, curiously. She had heard rumors of Thanaros's battlemind but Lily had never witnessed it.

Then, all of the sudden, the Orc began to assault the dummy. He used speed that was unknown to even the elven Lily, striking the Dummy in many places, coming close to almost obliterating it... Then he switched it up, and began to attack another dummy. The Orc's face was focused and showed no hint of weakness nor distraction... At least, until Lily called.

"Hey! 'Ros! That's amazing!" She called... This seemed to have broke the orc's trance for a moment, as he turned to glance at the elf... At which point the dummy's wooden arm came around and popped him in the back of the head. Lily gasped and ran for the orc, and began to help him hold the back of his head. "Oh my, oh my! I' am so sorry! I-I didn't know! I'm sorry!" She said, clearly distressed. The orc just glanced at her and managed a small laugh...