Young Writers Society

He took her hand, shaking firmly. “And you, Thana,” he said with a small, carefully maintained grin. “I understand you’ve known Tasha a long time.”

Tasha chuckled, shaking her head. "It's nothing, Mr. Damascus. The pleasure is all mine."

Thana smiled and nodded. "Aye, we knew Tasha when she was still a thievin' pup, 'fore she could even talk Common properly."

"Back when she was a lowly trainee like all the rest of us," Evron added.

"So, where you from, Mr. Hawke?" Thana inquired innocently.

James’s grin grew for a second. He’d been preparing himself to answer questions of such nature, and anticipated them to dig deeper once surface level things were answered.

“I’m from the world of Nye. It’s a little different from your home, but they do share a few things in common. Nye has magic, but of of a different nature, as well as werewolves, though their history with humans is far different from yours. It’s a place home to struggle - finally on the road to recovery after a string of natural tradgedies afflicting our world. Now, with that preface, in brief, I do not currently have a true home. I hail from what we call the Moonlight Kingdom, where I used to serve under the king until my reputation was defamed and I betrayed the king’s corrupt cause. For the sake of transparency, I won’t mince words. I’m a wanted man in my homeworld, but for noble reasons, if I’m permitted to assure you of my character.”

Thana's golden gaze regarded him carefully for several moments as she processed this information and made up her mind about it. As she mulled it over, Evron hopped in where she'd left off. Tasha gave James an apologetic glance and squeezed his hand in a sign of thanks.

"What was the king doin', if you don't mind me askin'?" Evron inquired.

James squeezed her hand back. “His ultimate endeavor was to unite all four kingdoms in a quiet, backhanded manner. But the scheme I stumbled upon specifically regarded the testing of magic on children - against their will, and for the sole purpose of making soldiers out of them, if the tests were to succeed. I poorly attempted to foil the plans, and I fear what I did only delayed the inevitable, but I do not regret my actions. I only regret what followed - a life spent in hiding, amongst other things.”

The expression on Thana's face remained largely suspicious and unreadable. Evron, however, dipped his head, seeming satisfied with that answer. The fact that James was a fighter and flew by the seat of his pants went without saying. No one went on the run like that without close run-ins and combat. It wasn't quite that that Thana cared about, however; rather, it was more about how he went about it. There were many kinds of warriors, and though sometimes the end was noble, the means were anything but ethical.

"How far will you go for it?" she asked, watching him carefully to gauge his reaction.

"Thana, leave him alone," Tasha finally interjected. "He-"

The Plainsman only raised a hand for silence. "Tasha Hunter, quit your yapping and put a muzzle on it," she grunted.

"Eyas," Tasha growled.

"Cur," Thana retorted.

"Haggard."

"Mutt."

"Ke-"

"Both of you, shut it, by the stars," Evron interjected. "Two questions, she'll play nice. You know that this is pointless and you're just chasing your tail, Guard Dog."

Tasha frowned but whether she liked it or not, he was right; arguing with Thana was like debating with a wall.

"So," Thana turned her attention back to James. "How far will you go for it?"

James blinked. He had not expected a question so forward, but he wasn’t entirely sure what provoked it. He didn’t know Thana well enough to know her motives, or discern what she meant by it. He knew it was a question of morals, but he didn’t want to assume much without clarification. Whatever remained of a smile on his face disappeared and he looked at Thana intently. He wanted to answer as best he could, but with Tasha beside him, and his brothers listening, he found himself unsure.

“If you mean to ask how far I will go for my freedom, I do not seek it in any manner. But if I hear you correctly, and you mean... justice, for my kingdom, and the people within it, and freedom from the greedy rule of it’s current king, then I don’t know what to tell you. I... I’m at a loss for how to do so. I would never go so far as to take his life. Were it possible to manipulate my way back into his good graces, I might attempt to do so, but it’s not. All I-all I’m trying to do is-is stay alive, and keep as many people as possible out of the way of the storm that follows me.”

Taber watched from the sidelines, nursing a glass of punch in a hand. He didn't know how to get involved in the conversation. Everyone else seemed to know the new couple personally, whereas he had little or no recollection of either of them. And that was before the conversation drifted into serious and sad topics. Also, he didn't like the punch. It smelled funny - sweet, but with something like alcohol behind it. He didn't trust it enough to drink it.

"That's a weird question," he whispered to Damascus. "Does Thana not like him or something?"

Damascus took in the conversation that was taking place, and frowned slightly at Taber's question. He didn't want to assume intentions, but he had a slight premonition that Thana was just evaluating James.

"No, I don't think that's it. She probably just wants the best for Tasha and is making sure James has good character." He whispered back to Taber.

"Which he does." He added gently, turning to refill his punch. Now that he had started drinking, he realized just how thirsty he'd been.

"Huh," Taber said. He focused on James for a few seconds, then looked back at Damascus. "He looks like a good person, but I guess appearances are deceiving? Or something? I dunno, Eremia would probably be able to say it better, it's just kinda like how people lie without actually saying anything."

Thana cocked her head to the side slightly. Her gaze was hawklike in intensity, almost penetrating. Then, ever so slowly, she raised a hand and rested it on the side of his face.

"Al, nak'har," she murmured, so quietly it was almost imperceptible. "Gaal ekh gryphon." There was some luminescence under her mask as she triggered the incant but its source was impossible to make out through the leather.

After a moment, she nodded, stepping away. She crossed her left fist over her chest in the Hunters' salute and dipped her head. "If the Guard Dog will call you pack, then so will we, James Hawke."

James had passed the evalution with genuineness and grace, as of course we knew he would. I was not yet sure how I would attempt to commend him upon his success without embarrassing him, but I could think upon it further after I took the opportunity to properly greet Tasha.

"I'm delighted, absolutely delighted to meet you, Miss Hunter. I am Boris Dietrich, another one of James' honourary brothers. He has quite the collection of them, ask him sometime. Most of them present, too!" I indicated in Engel's direction.

I took her hand, and shook it merrily.
"Oh, we have so much to talk about. When you have the time, of course. But for now, I second Damascus, and thank you."

James didn’t know what Thana was doing, or understand what language she was speaking, but he remained still and observed until she addressed him in words he could understand. He kept himself from flinching away from her hand on his face, though it was his first instinct to do so. As she stepped away, he gratefully bowed his head.

“Thank you, Thana.”

"The pleasure's mine," she said, shaking his hand and dipping her head and glancing to Engel as Boris gestured to him.

Once pleasantries had been exchanged with the vampire she shifted her attention to Auryon. Something about her put the Hunter off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it, so she extended her hand to her.

Auryon took it and shook her hand, and the moment the two made physical contact, her eyes luminesced brightly. Tasha's eyes widened and backed off.

"Who are you?!"

"The Viper, at your service, Guard Dog," she said, her tone making it unclear if it was Auryon or Apophis speaking.

Thana looked up as the interaction occurred and the look on her face went from puzzled to pale as a ghost in the course of mere moments. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, her hand falling towards her dagger.

Engel stepped between Auryon and the Hunters, gaze metallic through his mask. "Enough! She is my comrade and if you want to pick a fight with her, you pick a fight with me."

Both the Evron's and Thana's gaze turned to Tasha, though it was clear the ranger wanted to fight by her posture and expression. "Her soul is darker than Cornyx's," she growled. "Sh-"

"Stand down, we can't afford a fight here," Tasha said, though she looked as perturbed at Thana's words as Thana did at Viper's soul.

As they spoke, Auryon herself softly dismissed herself from the group and slipped through the dancers to a quieter spot across the room in the shadows.

Taber watched the confrontation and Auryon's disappearance.

"Oh no!" he whispered to Damascus (there was probably a shorter version of his name but Taber thought it would be impolite to try and come up with one). "Should we go get her? Is everything fine?"