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Snippet #1967412

located in The Desert, a part of Shadows of The Forgotten, one of the many universes on RPG.

The Desert

The ruins of Brightvale, home of the Crimson Shadows

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Dastan Character Portrait: Indrani Nayar Character Portrait: Jake Turner
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[Desert – Early morning]

“Why are you meeting him?”

Dastan lost the little balance the alcohol hadn’t taken, when two hands forcefully pushed him forward. He simply groaned in anger with his face down in the sand before pushing himself up and continuing to stumble his way across the encampment. Ever since the morning after the Wolves attacked the camp Dastan had been straight up ignoring Indrani as if she was a ghost and even now, it was no different; he continued to walk as if she wasn’t there.
“You’re being a baby!” Indrani shouted, following after him. “DASTAN!” She finally lost her patience right then and there; it was one thing if he didn’t want to talk to her because he was angry, but this concerned her as well, and she wasn’t going to let it go. She stood for a moment, fists clenched at her sides; hesitating to anger him further. Eventually she decided that the silence had to end, for better or for worse. She ran after him at full speed, and jumped at him, clinging to his neck and knocking them both to the ground. “You asshole! Talk to me! I have the right to know!” She shouted, rolling off of him and sitting up in the sand. “I know you won’t forgive me, fine! You haven’t removed me from my position as commander though, so I have the right to know why you are meeting with the Alpha in our territory!”

“Why do you figure, genius? I want to discuss a truce.” Dastan muttered, pushing himself up again and stumbling forward as he continued to walk. “I trust you will not be here when he arrives.”
“Do you?” She asked, jumping to her feet and starting to walk after him.
“What?” He mumbled.
“Do you trust me?”
Dastan stopped walking and heaved a sigh. “Don’t push it, Indrani.”
“You could have ordered me to leave. You still can.” She stated. “I’ve told them what I’ve done.”
“They forgave you, I haven’t. Not yet.”
“You aren’t sure Sean is really responsible. I know you wouldn’t meet him otherwise. Are you afraid I might forgive him if you tell me the truth?” She asked him, placing one hand gently on his shoulder.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s responsible. It doesn’t change the fact that you weren’t here.” He argued.
“I know that. You didn’t answer my question, Dastan; are you afraid I’ll forgive him?”
Dastan simply shook his head. “Your personal life is none of my business, Commander.”
“Don’t do that!” She pushed him.
“What do you want me to say?” Dastan asked, turning to face her. “That I am afraid I’ll lose you? It’s too late for that! It’s way too late!”
“I want you to understand
 I’m not going anywhere. I’m not letting you push me out of your life. I don’t know what is going on with you lately, but I’m not going to let you go through it alone.”
Dastan sighed softly and turned to walk away. “There’s nothing you can do for me.” He answered coldly.

-----------------------

[Desert, close to noon]

Jake opened his eyes and groaned wondering how the hell he managed to remain mounted in his sleep. Shadow was trotting calmly and slowly into the desert sands as Jake pushed himself to sit upright on the saddle, his back aching from the unusual sleeping position. Shadow whinnied and snorted as if to acknowledge that his rider had awoken and Jake gently patted the horse’s neck in greeting. “Good morning to you too, buddy.” He stated sleepily.

It had taken Jake longer than he would like to reach the desert. First of all, he had to make nice with his horse; Shadow wasn’t happy at all to be left behind for a month. The only reason the horse hadn’t been sold yet, was because he was too angry and no one wanted to take him. The result of this was that Jake had to walk great part of the way, because Shadow would refuse to let him mount. It took him a day later than expected to get there, but on the bright side
 The trip was surprisingly quiet and uneventful, despite the fact he had decided to cross the forest; it was strangely quiet, but he didn’t make much of it until he reached the desert and was immediately surrounded by six mercenaries pointing their weapons at him.
“State your business.” One of them ordered.
“I’m here to visit a couple of friends
 What’s
 what’s with all the tension? Where’s Jackson?”
The Crimson who had spoken turned to another and whispered, probably asking him to call Jackson, before turning back to Jake. “You know Jackson?”
“I came here with the former wolves, three years ago. A couple of years ago I left. Are they not here anymore?” Jake asked, honestly confused.
The Crimson simply exchanged looks as if not sure what to say to this stranger; he seemed to know the assassins, but they weren’t sure. It was at that moment that a familiar voice greeted. “Well, hello there handsome! Thought I’d never see you again! And look what you carried home with you!”
Jake raised his eyebrow for a moment as the mercenary leader approached him in such a peculiar manner, but then he realized he was speaking to the horse, and snorted a laugh. “I take it she was very pissed, huh?”
Dastan shook his head and waved his men away. “Pissed doesn’t begin to describe it. Is that why you brought Shadow? Is he a Peace offering?”
“I retrieved Shadow they day after I left. I thought that she’d like that
” He said, dismounting and leading the horse along as he walked after Dastan. “What is going on around here? Felt like I was entering the forest. Come to think of it
 It was unusually quiet there today.”
“We’ve been at war with the Wolves lately; been a month since they launched an attack on us. I was not present at the time, neither was Indrani, Crys, or Evin
 Allison and Jackson had to hold everyone together and
 Had I not been as close as the healers’ camp, well
 They could have slaughtered everyone.” Dastan explained, casually, as he led Jake to where the assassins were camped. “Crys isn’t here.” He stated; a serious tone in his voice as they stopped by the group of tents and the nearby assassins began to whisper amongst themselves as they recognized Jake. “She left about a week ago, Ali went with her
 She mentioned going to see a friend
 Didn’t say when she’d be back.”
“What about Evin?” Jake asked, trying to hide his relief at the fact Crys wasn’t there. He wanted to see her, yes, but he couldn’t deny he was nervous about it.
“No one has seen him in over a month. People were wondering out loud if he got himself killed or took off for good, but Crys wasn’t worried about it. She said he’ll turn up eventually.” Dastan replied. “So
 What brings you back? Something must have happened for you to turn up like this.”
“I came to see Crys.” Jake stated. “Not that it’s your business.”
“It is my business. This is my camp, and Crys is my friend. Besides you didn’t seem to show any interest in seeing her in the past two years. So, why now?”
“None of your business.” Jake muttered. “It’s none of your business.”
“You had a sister once, no?” Dastan asked casually.
“Yes. Not that it’s relevant.” Jake replied, leaning against Shadow and giving Dastan an agered look.
“Well, Crys is like a little sister to me. So, if you’ve had a sister, I’m assuming you will understand my urge to break all of your bones for what you did to her. Now, know that I control myself, because I know she still cares for you, but if you do it a second time
 I will hunt you down just for that.” Dastan replied, opening a friendly smile and adding: “Have a nice day.”
Jake shook his head and sighed, but didn’t bother trying to explain anything to the man, he didn’t owe him anything.

“Sorry, I’m afraid I got him angry before you got here.” A voice sounded behind him. “Not that I disagree with him though. You were quite an asshole, and everyone talked about it for months. Which, coming to think of it, only got Crys far more pissed at you
 Sorry.”
“That’s nice Indrani. Very nice.” He chuckled. “Thank you.”
“Do you want to let Shadow run around with the other horses a bit, or are you already leaving?” She asked, walking around him so that they were face to face.
“I suppose we both need a rest, so
 I’m leaving in a couple of hours.” Jake replied. “I suppose if I let him run loose, worst case scenario he won’t want to leave with me.”
“I don’t think you should worry much, he’s obviously fond of you.” She said with a little nod, beginning to walk Jake away from the camp to where the other horses were.
“It’s really not that obvious to me.” Jake chuckled. “So
 Sean?”
“What?” Indrani asked, her eyes narrowing a bit.
“That is what you and Dastan have been fighting about, yes? You said you made him angry, and I don’t see any other reason why he would be angry at you.”
She sighed. “Well, yes.”
“I warned you about him, didn’t I?” Jake said shaking his head. “What happened?”
“The night the Wolves attacked, I wasn’t here because Sean needed help. He says he didn’t order the attack, and
 I don’t know if I believe him or not. He was with me while it happened, but
 He could have given the order at any time before leaving the camp. Dastan is going to discuss a truce, but I don’t know what he believes is the truth. We don’t about it, we can’t talk about it
 He is still so angry at me.”
“Huh
 Well, I don’t know what to say. It’s very like Sean to make sure everyone is away before attacking
 Especially Crys and Dastan
 I don’t put it past him. What did Crys have to say?”
“Just about the same thing you just did. I just
 I don’t know
 Something doesn’t seem right about the whole thing
” She said with a shrug, helping Jake remove Shadow’s saddle and headgear. “See? He’s a good boy.” She stated, stroking the horse’s neck. “There you go, sweetie.” She smiled at the horse. “Sean is not a bad man, Jake.”
“Yes, he is.” Jake replied, lovingly running his fingers through the Shadow’s mane and patting his bare back as if encouraging him to wander off. “He could be a good man, but he isn’t. See, you shouldn’t see people for what they could be; you have to see them for what they are. So, yes
 Sean is a bad man. You need to accept the fact that, despite who he was and could have been, this is who he is now.”
“Really?” Indrani asked, leaning against a boulder casually. “Do you have no faith in people at all?”
“Some people can change, and some are just hopeless, I learned that the hard way.”
“What about you, then? Can you change?”
Jake chuckled softly. “I’m
 Trying
 At the moment
” He shrugged slightly. “I’d like to say I can change, or that I have changed, but
 I honestly can’t know that for sure.” He dug the tip of his boot into the sand and smiled softly. “Bastian Rivers used to say that people act in patterns, and those patterns never truly change; he believed every person is doomed to repeat the same behaviors over and over. When it seems like we’ve changed, in reality that is just a different manifestation of the same behavioral patterns, causing the illusion of change.”
“Sebastian Rivers was a strange, strange, man.” Indrani giggled.
“Have you met him?” Jake asked. “You are right, but have you?”
“Once, while we were stationed in the forest, he came by looking for Crys
 Apparently she was in trouble. Was after a party, I think.”
“Ah
 I remember that
” Jake snickered. “Too bad I missed that party.”
“So you don’t think people truly change?” Indrani asked, going back to the subject they unconsciously wandered into.
“No, I don’t. If we could truly change, what would make us who we are? If we could change things so deeply rooted within our personalities
 How would we ever know ourselves, or one another, in any level? These patterns are what make us recognizable as individuals, and not all of them are bad.”
“Alright, you’ve known me a while
 What are my patterns?”
Jake chuckled. “I don’t want to do that
”
“Come on, you think I’ll be offended? Tell me.”
“You have the constant need to prove your worth. Not even to others, but to yourself, because you never believe you are capable, or strong, enough. And you are terrified of failing the people you care about. Since you are constantly trying to prove your worth, you also have problems with asking for help, which leads to acting behind people’s backs, believing that if you show them weakness you’ll let them down. That makes them feel like you don’t trust them, when in reality you just don’t trust yourself enough. You and Sean bonded over this feeling of not being worthy, I assume. That’s a side of him I’ve come to know pretty well in the past.” Jake said all of that in one breath, his eyes fixed on Shadow as he happily trotted alongside Mirage; it was the happiest he’d seen him in a long while and he considered just leaving him there, even for a bit. He sure did deserve to run free with other horses after being left with strangers for a month. After realizing Indrani had gone silent for a bit he snickered, glancing at her with the corner of his eyes. “I’m sorry
 Was that too honest?”
“What about you, Jake? What is your pattern?” She asked, ignoring his question.
“I thought that was obvious.” He stated, turning to face her. “I give up on things I care about, because then I don’t risk losing them. I haven’t known this all along, but
 Even now that I know it, it doesn’t stop me from constantly doing it. All I need is to find an excuse, and it doesn’t matter that I know this either, because when the situation presents itself
 It won’t seem like that’s what I’m doing. It’ll seem like the right thing to do. My brain will trick me into it.” Jake stated with a little shrug. “That’s why we are so doomed to repeating the same mistakes over and over
 We don’t realize we’re doing it, it’s just
 A part of who we are. As a race, that’s what we have been doing since the beginning of times.”
“So you are saying there’s no way you will ever make things work with Crys. I mean, if that’s the truth
 Then you’ll just eventually leave her again, because you can’t help it.”
Jake shook his head, a sigh escaping him. “Probably, but I’m hoping not. That’s the thing with these habits
 We don’t notice them, but others do
 So we’re doomed to make the same mistakes over and over
 Unless there’s someone there to stop us
”
“And, as a race, who is going to stop us? The Gods?”
Jake looked up at the sky for brief moment, a smirk crossing his features as he replied. “As a race
 That’s where we are truly doomed. Because humanity, as a race, will never truly change.”

Indrani was going to say something else, but was interrupted when one of the assassins came running towards the two of them; Jake only the man by name, but the man seemed to know who he was well enough. “Jake
 We just heard some unsettling news
 About your aunt.”
Jake’s frowned slightly as he looked at the man. “Is Lena back?”
“She came back about a month ago, did you not see her?” The assassin asked him.
“I
 I’ve been out of circulation this past month
 In the dungeons of Blackpond
 What about Lena?”
“Jake
 Word from our contacts is
 The White Rose
 She died this past night.”

It was in a lightning fast move that Jake grabbed the man by the front of his shirt with shivering hands as he growled. “That’s not true.”
“The White Shadows say it is.” The man whispered softly, not seeming to mind Jake’s gesture right then; it was visible that he was in pain. “I’m sorry.”
“No
 No
 No
” Jake mumbled, pushing the assassin back and turning to walk in the direction of the plains without another word. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be true
 He had walked good distance by himself when he felt something very strong push into his back and he stumbled forward before turning around in anger to see that Shadow had followed him. The horse had been properly saddled, and pinned to the saddle was a little note from Indrani that read: ’You’re doing it again.’

Jake snorted out in annoyance staring at the horse; his face still showing clear anger for a few moments before he forced a deep breath and his eyes softened only slightly. “You stubborn beast
” He stated, playfully patting the horse’s neck as he mounted. “I would have come back for you.”