Talk Among Yourself (Solo RP)

[Quibby]

Looking out his window, Mehrin tried to find some calm in the forest beyond. There was a fresh breeze that was moving the trees in waves, almost like watching the sea. Tranquil. Serene. "It's not going to work, Mehrin." He sighed, then turned his back on the pastoral scene and faced inward again.

In his time living in the Warder barracks, he had made very few changes. His flamberge and armor now hung from oaken racks near the door. The furniture was new, as well. A table, thicker than usual, sat against the wall with two chairs pressed up beneath it. The bed was a solid piece of work, the headboard made of thick oak and rounded posts at the corners. The two chairs by the fireplace were his favorite touch. Both were tall things, upholstered in rich, dark leather and set so that they angled towards the fire while allowing their occupants to converse face-to-face.

The second chair was rarely used by another person.

Of course, that depended on one's definition of 'person'.

"Sit down."

A slowly swirling darkness sat in one of the chairs, its center forming into a man-like shape. There was an impression of a face there, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, but no detail. There rarely was. It managed to convey expression, though, and it was currently glaring at him. "Sit. Down." Halfway seated, Mehrin suddenly found himself wondering whether he had made the choice to sit, or if the Deathwatch had made the choice for him.

He sat anyway, but only when he was sure that he was the one doing the sitting. "We're not going to talk about this."

"Why not? What the hell are we doing here if you're not going to act on any information you get?" the Deathwatch shouted angrily. "They found him. They found Aldar, and all you can do is sit here like some bloody coward. They killed Renalie! He's the bastard that told them where to go!" The shadow face sneered at him. "You know where he is, but you're content to let it lie. Are you really going to let this go?"

Rubbing his eyes with one hand, Mehrin sighed, then said, "It's not that simple."

"Really? What's so bloody complicated about it? Go in, grab him, string him up by his fruits and start cutting until he gives you a name." It settled back in its empty chair, crossing its arms over its chest and fixing Mehrin with a level gaze. "You haven't forgotten how to do that, have you?"

"Look," Mehrin growled, standing suddenly and pacing behind his chair. "I don't have any support. It takes time to get there without one of those bloody gateways, and it's pretty damn certain that they'll want to know what we're doing there." His pacing took him to the small bookshelf he kept in the room, which held the few books he owned and the fewer souvenirs he had kept from his past. Running his fingers across the spines of the books, they lingered for a moment on a manual of knife fighting techniques. There wasn't a single word inside the covers, only a knife. It had seemed appropriate, and it was far from the only weapon he had hidden throughout the room.

"I don't have an Aes Sedai to help me, either. A lone gaidin going out into the world for reasons he can't tie to an assignment?" It was his turn to level a gaze against the form. "How would you go about it? Hm?"

The form faded, leaving a completely undisturbed chair. The Deathwatch liked to sulk on-

A sharp pain flashed from Mehrin's cheek. It took him a moment to realize that the Deathwatch had slapped him. "Do something about it. Otherwise I may get... restless." He felt himself forced forward, dragged back to the window, his head wrenched painfully towards the Yard. "Listen to them! Hear the grunts of the trainees, the rattle of sword on sword." Mehrin couldn't see it, but he knew that the shadow-thing was pressed cheek to cheek with him. "Imagine that sound replaced with screams. Imagine the bodies of every untrained child in the flaming Yard piled up." The thing shoved him roughly, bouncing his head against the sharp corner by the window. "Do something, or I will force your hand. You kill him... or I kill them."

Gasping deep breaths, it took Mehrin a moment to realize that he was on his hands and knees. Calm always enraged the Deathwatch, and this was not the first time that such an... exchange had taken place. The Deathwatch had made threats like that before. Pushing himself back onto his feet, Mehrin drew a large, rolled-up map out of the round bin next to the bookshelf. Laying it out on the table, he found some paper and begin making notes.

The Deathwatch had made threats like that before.

The Deathwatch had carried out threats like that before...