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| 6 Fourth Age: Dark Intimations; [ Closed - Ayla ] | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 15 Sep 2008, 07:20 PM (725 Views) | |
| Deleted User | 15 Sep 2008, 07:20 PM Post #1 |
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The air smelled disgusting down here by the sea. Aydin much preferred being up on the cliff top where the stink of fish was not quite so prevalent. His black boots were lost in the white sand as he struggled back down the road leading up the jagged buttress where the Corsairs had made their home. Enduring the reek of dead fish had been worth his time, however. His old friend, a man he had met in Mordor, knew a scrap of information and had been more than willing to tell Aydin. Now, as the War Lord began his long journey up the twisting path back to the city, he thought again about what his men had reported seeing. A man of Gondor travelling across the River Harnen in the company of Uruk-hai and Imperial Guards. Aydin had not believed it could be true. The heat haze must have clouded their vision. The man was a Corsair, surely, for no Gondorian would align themselves with beasts of Mordor. Aydin had been right and wrong. He made his way into the city proper, past all the opalescence these tasteless pirates surrounded themselves with and blatant crime running rampant around their so-called sentries, and into the relatively clean inn where a War Lord and his family could find reasonable lodging. Aydin pounced up the stairs, now eager to see Ayla and report what he’d been told. “Sister,” he said, knocking on her door. “I am back from visiting the havens.” |
| Deleted User | 15 Sep 2008, 11:16 PM Post #2 |
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The night had gone by smoothly and oddly quiet considering where and the quality of company that lingered outside her windows in the streets. Or maybe Ayla had just adjusted to the chaos that buzzed consistently as a humming birds wings from the street level below. Either way it hadn't mattered, she had made it to the inn safely with Aydin, clad in tough but light weight leathers and a cowl that had kept her features and hair neatly tucked out of sight during their journey that day. Now, sitting exposed and unburdened from the absence of the cowl, Ayla sat with her nose stuck in a book. Completely mesmerized by the words scribbled along the tawny leaflets of paper and utterly consumed by what they taught. Inside her head it was as if she could hear the author's voice and envision just exactly what he spoke on. The literature was based off of surrounding geography and history of Arda and its many great continents. Umbar was the current field of study which she thought was more than appropriate and more than a little fascinating. So much so that when the double knock from the outside of her door came it caused Ayla to jolt in her sit and smack the book harshly closed. Shocked more than frightened, she rolled her eyes at herself and rose up with an easy grace and made her way to the entry of her room. It took her a moment to unhinge the lock and pry the heavy wooden slab open to reveal her brother but when she did it was only with a smile, a warm welcome and a cautious glimpse to either side of him simply out of instinct. It was to him that Ayla let the direction of their conversation fall to. Doing what Ayla did best instead, by holding to her silence as she ushered him in to sit and drink in comfort. |
| Deleted User | 16 Sep 2008, 01:36 PM Post #3 |
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A pleased smile passed over Aydin’s face after the door closed behind him. He had gotten somewhere with his search for information when he hadn’t expected any headway at all. Despite being in this horrible country, it was a good day. “My friend had a few interesting items to share,” he began, taking a seat at the small jewel-encrusted table. “He does not know of this man we saw in Harad, but there are rumors of another. Rumors that have not reached Harad yet.” There was a charge in the air as he continued and an uncharacteristic eagerness in his manner. “They say a Lieutenant of Barad-dur survived and he is gathering allies.” Why this would excite him, he was not entirely sure. His father and brother had died in service to Sauron, and his Emperor swore fealty to a foreign nation and nearly destroyed their country for it. All the same, he felt some part of himself shudder in dark delight. “He was the same man we saw. It must have been him! We must leave Umbar at once and go search for him before he reaches the Emperor. Think of what the House of Maati could become again with him on our side.” Aydin jumped up from his seat, as if he was ready to pack Ayla’s belongings and begin the trek home at once. |
| Deleted User | 16 Sep 2008, 05:03 PM Post #4 |
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While Aydin told his news, Ayla simply sat and listened with detailed attention on the edge of a chaise. Every word that fell from Aydin's mouth was soaked up and dissected inside of her head for what they would mean for the people. It was difficult to believe that a Lieutenant of the Barad-dur survived, but not impossible. They were slippery as snakes and knew well how to hide amongst the tall grass, in places out of sight and out of mind. As her brother quickly rose to his feet, Ayla seemed to settle deeper into hers. Ayla would never stand against Aydin, they were family and he had her eternal loyalty but it was evident she did not share his enthusiasm. Six years had passed in a blink and it seemed would come to an end sooner than she had hoped. Though she did eventually stand, it was lackluster and slow. "Alright, Brother." she says nodding her head in surrender. "Although, as I see it, the House of Maati is already strong, resilient and loyal. I wonder what more you would make of it than that?" As she speaks, Ayla makes her way towards him and gently finds his hand inside of her own. Staring down at the difference of them, the size and the condition, the strength that he greatly seems to have over hers. Then with the same hand she raises it into the air between them and kisses each of his knuckles out of simple love and worship. She has always adored Aydin, shadowed him and from her youth had so much wanted his approval. "Dear brother, I only desire to see you do right by our people and for the right reasons." |
| Deleted User | 17 Sep 2008, 02:01 PM Post #5 |
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Although her words were gentle and supportive, Aydin felt like they were a white hot dagger plunged into his heart. Our people. The buildings and faces of Ateker danced in front of his eyes, like puppets on a string that taunted his ambitions. How would the House of Maati ever regain its place in Harad when he had sworn to protect and defend an impoverished and unimportant village like Ateker? He felt the elation drain from his body, replaced by the familiar and perpetual disappointment that followed him everywhere and turned his face to stony indifference. “We are not strong Ayla. We are banished. I would have us in the capital again, and me five heartbeats from the throne. My rightful place is by the Emperor’s side and yours is in his court, dazzling the courtiers with your noble blood and sharper mind.” Aydin had often dreamed about how it might be. It would be such an easy thing to have the royal family disposed of. It had happened before and many times. A caravan wondering off the road in the desert was common and discrete. Then he would have his revenge. But as long as he had Ayla with him reminding him of oaths he had sworn, it could not happen. “At any rate,” he sighed, “I believe the rumors. I’ve felt the darkness awake, and I’ve been reminded of … things that happened in battle. If you had felt what I have, Ayla, you would know for certain too.” |
| Deleted User | 19 Sep 2008, 04:57 PM Post #6 |
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Pulling back from him, Ayla moves into the belly of the bedroom where the small travel bag of leather lies open, but empty, on the center of her bed. Her movements are unhurried, each step taken with a kind of wise caution. As if every day in life she considered the fate of which direction she walked toward and did not hasten into it without thinking on it first. The same would be said of her thoughts in that moment, choosing to remain silent until the words found her. Half-way to packed completely she pauses and looks at her brother from a stare that sails across her shoulder. "I believe them too. I don't defy that truth." The cowl that had been discarded onto the bed was neatly collected and she used her fingers to gathered her hair up hair and gracefully allow the length of excess fabric and hood wrap around her shoulders. Clipped with a brooch and secured, she left the hood down and walked back over to Aydin. "Answer me this one thing, should you receive what you desire from aligning with this Lieutenant of Barad-dur. The house of Maati re-instated. And find his eyes may be set on bigger targets, such as Gondor and its King. Would you war against Aragorn? The man who spared you your life.." What she speaks, is all based on assumption, is all based on fear. When the armies last marched they all marched on Rohan, on Gondor and all of middle-earth. And deep inside of Ayla's gut, she does not suspect that Gondor will get by untouched by the end of this. That her brother will not escape deaths grasp so easily, either by war itself or the King's sword. |
| Deleted User | 22 Sep 2008, 01:21 PM Post #7 |
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Aydin’s face flashed from dejected to hard to conflicted in a matter of seconds. Would he go to war against Gondor again? Could he when his honor as a warrior and a man forced him to admit owing a debt to the Gondorian King? He was quiet for many minutes. “A King is many things, among them, a man. I would not cease punishing my men for falling asleep on watch because they once spotted an enemy.” A twinge of doubt gnawed at his conscious, but it was easily flung aside. The darkness stirring in his mind saw to that. It showed him a memory of men of Ateker lying broken and bloody on the Pelennor while a surge of abominations—ghosts of traitors—overwhelmed those who remained standing. It reminded him how very nearly one of those spectral weapons, which he had no hope of blocking, almost parted his own head from his body. “King Elessar is noble, yes, but he pardoned us as a politician as well. Executing three generations of Haradrim was hardly prudent, when our fields and shops would have stopped functioning without us, and a nation of women and children starved to death.” The words were laced with bitterness. Although Aydin did believe his point was valid and true, it sounded somehow wrong to take such a cynical view of his own pardon. “At any rate, it will not come to that. This Lieutenant cannot have many followers if word of him has not yet reached Harad.” |
| Deleted User | 25 Sep 2008, 03:52 AM Post #8 |
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The Wisdom of Ateker was a woman of many things. A resource of knowledge and lessons the top amongst them and Ayla for a time now had strived to be exactly what she thought Ateker needed on a daily basis. Sometimes her successes were flawless but they in truth, never measured up to when she failed and how she recovered gracefully from those failings with a new lesson and a bit more wisdom. Ayla thought her brother very similar in fashion. He was always wise with his words, bold with his actions and, yes, even at his failings he gained new footing quickly and with strength. Looking at Aydin now, the sandy flecked gold stare of her eyes and their sleek shape, focused on her brothers features and found herself believing him. It might've gone against her intuition but her trust and love spoke stronger from her heart than it had from the uncertain flutters of her belly. "Truly, then let us not tarry any longer. Each moment we waste is one where this Lieutenant grows farther from us and closer to the Empire." |
| Deleted User | 25 Sep 2008, 04:52 PM Post #9 |
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Aydin stepped up from his place and crossed to the door. He could hardly believe his sister had agreed with him on this, and he was not going to waste her blessing by asking questions that might make her reconsider her stand. “Then we will be gone within the hour,” he stated. “We have not lost too much of today.” Even as he left the room, he was calculating in his mind how quickly they could return to Ateker. From there, he would gather as many of his warriors as he could and make a search for this Lieutenant of Barad-dur. The journey and mustering would take a month, perhaps. A fire lit in the War Lord. Four weeks from glory. |
| Deleted User | 29 Sep 2008, 03:55 AM Post #10 |
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An hour. Ayla wondered, as Aydin departed her room, how long it took for the roads of destiny to divide and their choices to become the fate of an entire people and he'd given her an answer. One hour was all it would take for it to be so. For the Warlord of Ateker and it's Wisdom to start on a journey that even she didn't know where it would lead. Ayla struggled to accept this uncertain destiny as her own. Not one for being out of a control in any situation, the sister of Aydin suddenly felt she had fewer and fewer options available to her and settled with the one choice that was the only thing that put her troubled mind at ease. She put her faith in Aydin and would go with him at his side for every step of this journey he would take. Her brother would not be alone. ~*~ An hour later Ayla had not only packed but replenished what provisions she could for the trek, filled the hyde skin canteens with water and had made her way back to the door of Aydin's room a few minutes before she was supposed to. Her body was once again clad in dark, earthen leathers and soft cloth. Light and breezy materials that allowed her body to move and breath with little restriction. Her features tucked neatly behind the lip of her cowl as she knocked on Aydin's door three times and then waited. Outside Ayla could feel the eyes of shadowy lurkers and the tension in the air around her. This place was filled with corrupt souls and dark deeds. It breathed out toxicity and whatever goodness might have foolishly strayed into its territory. Her only comfort from it all was her brothers watchful gaze and the cool caress of metal formed into a dagger at her side and the coiled snake-like whip harnessed at her hip. "Brother? I've finished preparing for our journey." - she spoke through the door. |
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