Sylyra watches Carl with clear and unabashed amazement as he "sings" his ballad. As soon as he finishes, Sylyra stops, puts his bird cage on the ground, and begins clapping loudly, nodding and grinning. "That was absolutely the most horrendous performance I have ever heard," he says joyfully. "If there was an award for the worst, most offensive singing, you would — without a doubt — win. You would receive every vote from every judge. They would rename the award after you. They would probably retire the award after that one song, knowing that no future performance could possibly come close to being as horrible, as offensive to the ear, as dishonoring to all the musicians in Faerûn, nay, in all of Toril!" Still smiling, Sylyra slaps Carl on the shoulder. "It was fantastic!" He picks up the cage and begins walking again. He angles his staff outward and smacks the dwarf on the butt with it. "Tell me more about dwarven women," he comments. "How many have pleased good old Carl?"
Hex was never one to perform so she lingers behind instead and just happily watches as the others do. She chuckles at the absurdities of Carl's songs and is incredibly impressed as Auriel and Sylyra perform together. It was nice to see everyone getting along after going through a bit of a rough patch.
Carl takes the continued criticism of Sylyra and suddenly shuts his mouth, walking on in silence. Horrible performance.. hrrrmph. It sounded better to me than him on that viol. Dagnabit…. He kicks a small rock that goes flying on the path in front of him. The dwarf stews as they walk, his head down.
Auriel tried hard not to wince at Carl's singing and also to contain a fit of laughter at Sylyra's retort. While he wouldn't have put it that way, there was no denying the performance had been pretty awful. "Oookay, Auriel, encourage Carl to have more confidence to your heart's content, but by the nine hells, do not ever encourage him to sing again" , he said to himself.
The paladin felt a bit bad seeing Carl down and thought of cheering him up, but chose to let the dwarf cool off on his own and focus on the party and their surroundings instead. With their ups and downs, it was good just to be there, walking with them all towards their next objective. He smiled slightly thinking about this and turned to pay attention to the road. They were still near Phlan, so he didn't really think there would be any inmediate danger. But it never hurt to stay alert anyway. Especially after all that singing!
Carl is clearly downcast, so Sylyra smacks him on the butt again with his staff. "Come now, Frog Bait. There's no reason to sulk. We all hope to be remembered in some way after we're gone. How exciting that you now know how you'll be remembered! Now, quit kicking rocks and spill the beans. Tell us about the dwarven women in your past."
Carl feels the quarterstaff hit him in the buttocks, his head looks up and a whisper escapes his mouth… “No…”. His eyes go dark black, a very different look crosses his face. His teeth are gritted, pure anger evident on his face. The peacemaker, the one who stood in the ring separating Auriel and Sylyra, flies into a rage. He is tired of the constant bullying….
In the blink of an eye, Carl turns into a silvery mist, instantly teleporting behind Sylyra who keeps abusing him. The instant he teleports behind Sylyra, he presses forward with his legs and tackles Sylyra, driving him into the ground. “Shut your damn mouth you pain in the ass, or I swear that I will end you….” Breathing hard he shoves his face into the dirt.
The shouting shakes the paladin from his thoughts, who turns to look at what's happening and rushes to intercede.
- Carl! What the hell!? - he exclaims.
Regardless of what happens, Auriel will try to push Carl away and stand between dwarf and elf. As he does this, his gentle autum from transitions to summer, and he faces Carl first to address him rather bluntly:
- Is this how you react to mockery? With violence? What are you, Carl, twelve? Are we suddenly kids in school? Stop and think, godsdamnit. Imagine you actually hurt Sylyra, or that he hurt you. Imagine we had to use healing magic to recover from that, and that that used spell meant the difference for one of us living or dying later - he pauses for a moment and then continues - If you are not happy with how Sylyra is treating you, use that big mouth of yours to express yourself. Stand your ground when you feel it necessary, but do not turn to violence. Specially not against one of us.
He then turns to Sylyra:
- And you, when I told you should consider how you treat other people, I didn't mean only me. Do consider Carl's feelings when you address him, for f***'s sake. But - turning again to Carl - it is not my place to express feelings that are not my own, specially when it is clear you need to learn to handle them and let them out in a non aggresive way. So think what you want to express, and then say it.
The paladin stands there in the middle looking positively angry, one hand raised towards Sylyra, the other towards Carl. He adds:
- Now, I strongly suggest you two calm down and solve this the right way. Or, if you don't find the strength in yourselves to do this at the present moment, then do step away and try again later.
The paladin will stand in the middle until he considers they have both calmed down.
Hex frowns a bit as Sylyra makes fun of Carl's singing, though it eases when it's obvious he is just joking by the end, as harsh as it was. She looks to the dwarf to gauge his reaction when Sylyra suddenly smacks him with his staff.
Before she can do anything, Carl has disappeared only to reappear behind the druid and tackle him into the ground. She aids Auriel in breaking up the fight, pulling Carl away and trying to hold him back, all the while glaring up at Sylyra. "Auriel's right, Sylyra. What in the hells were you thinking? What happened to treating people with respect?"
Uragum shakes his head disappointingly. He reaches down and hoists up Sylyra and holds him aloft for a moment to whisper, "A step too far Sylyra. Remember, your name might have meant something in Waterdeep and you could get away with barbs like that but out in the wider world Carl's response is more typical." He sets Sylyra back on his feet and starts dusting him off.
Returning to Carl he shakes his head. "Now, where I'm raised, physical aggression is often used to solve disputes but even we have rules." He looks back to Sylyra and then to Carl. "If you feel insulted and want to defend your honor, challenge him. There is no honor in cheap shot. Not physically and not verbally either."
Uragum then just leaves them and starts walking away. Over his shoulder he calls out, "I still have those gloves, either ya use them or you sort your shi* out. Either way, we still got a job to do."
Carl's maneuver takes Sylyra completely by surprise. Before he even knows what's going on, the dwarf has taken him, face-first, to the road. Morisúrë's cage hits the ground with a loud clang. The raven croaks loudly, fluttering her wings against the cage as it begins rolling further down the rough road. The druid is stunned! What is going on? Suddenly, everyone is yelling at him. He looks up at them all as they one after another berate him for ... for what? For messing around? For having a good attitude? FOR DOING HIS BEST?! FOR BEING A FRIEND?!
Sylyra gets to his feet and glares at them all. His mind is a blur of rage and pain and hurt. His olive skin is tinged with red. His eyes are wet. He doesn't even know how to respond to this. Finally, he turns, retrieves his bird's cage, and begins walking back toward Phlan, taking a wide birth around them all as he passes in silence.
Auriel, still holding back a raging Carl along with Hex, watches as Uragum helps Sylyra back on his feet and for a moment there he thinks that part of the situation is under control. The wizard must have thought the same, as he has begun walking back towards Kabel's Hill. But suddenly, a visibly hurt Sylyra turns around to storm off towards Phlan for the second time that day.
- Sylyra! That is not the way to fix this! Sylyr...! - No way, the wood elf is not listening. Silently hoping that the goliath ends up returning, he turns to address Hex - Can you hold back Carl? Let me try with Sylyra.
The paladin stands up and begins to walk towards the druid, but as the latter has already taken some distance he stops, curses, then summons a mist similar to the one Carl has used a moment ago. With a very different intention, though. Appearing next to Sylyra, Auriel doesn't initally try to stop him but walks along with him while saying:
- You won't achieve anything storming off. Don't you see you don't belong alone in Phlan but here with us facing what has happened? I did say you need to consider other people's feelings, but I also said that we would make it work together. Remember?
After saying that, and wishing the druid has taken in his words, Auriel does move to stand in front of Sylyra. He'll place a hand on his cheek and try that the druid focuses his eyes on him:
- Will you please stop walking so we can talk about this? - A glint of golden light jumps from the eladrin's hand to the wood elf's cheek, removing any bruise he might have. (OOC: 1HP lay on hands just because it might feel nice.)
OOC: I had decided that if someone physically tried to stop Sylyra, it would backfire and send him bolting — that if anything was going to work, it would be talking. I'm still not sure where this is going to lead. Just know that I'm not going anywhere.
Sylyra slows and stops. He stares toward Phlan for several moments, his face full of the same rage and hurt Auriel had seen before. "I just ... I just don't know," he finally says, his voice low and thick. He looks down. "Why is it so hard now?" he almost whispers. He looks up again, but still down the road and not at the elf beside him. "I don't understand what has changed," he says, sounding angry again. "I don't understand why everyone is so angry now."
Hex nods towards Auriel and holds Carl in place, attempting to calm him. "Carl, I know what Sylyra said and did was rude but you know him. He was probably trying to be friendly in his own weird way and didn't have any ill intentions. Please, calm down. At least enough to talk rather than fight."
(OOC: @ddp, you could have asked me how to send a rocket to the moon and that would have been easier to answer! Lol. I hope this makes sense)
Auriel is glad to see the druid stop walking. That was the reaction he was hoping for, but the questions that came afterwards that were not that easy to answer. So, thoughtful as he is for a moment, he runs a hand through his Summer form golden hair while thinking about what to say.
- I'm afraid, Sylyra, that the rules of the game changed the day we all met at the marsh. Or better said, when we decided to stick together after that. You were fine with Uragum and Hex but then Carl and I appeared and I guess we put your world a little upside down - he smiles at this - Variations such as these sometimes require adaptation, and adapting isn't always easy. If it hadn't been Carl and me, it would have been someone else crashing into your world. And perhaps, for that people, you wouldn't have wanted to try to do better, as you said this morning you would. Or perhaps you would have, too. - He stops for a moment, thinking how to continue. This time, he decides to ask a question. -I think the important thing here is: do you feel your current path, the version of yourself it leads to, is one you agree with? If you find that the answer is "yes", then you only need to keep walking. It might get hard at times, but I believe you will be strengthened by it at the end.
Having said all that, Auriel turns his head to look towards the others.
- Carl will also need to change quite a few of his ways. Don't think that the fault of what has just happened lies with one person.
He looks at Sylyra again, unsure if what he's said has answered the druid. If it has helped or not. So he just adds:
- Do you ... need a moment on your own? I can go back with the others if you want to be alone for a while.
Carl’s stare is glassy for a moment, he turns and sits on the ground, his eyes are black, he hears a roaring in his head, doesn’t seem to look up or comprehend the words from Auriel. After a few moments he comes to and his eyes clear, he’s breathing heavy. He doesn’t seem to focus on the gloves or what is being said. Finally the roaring stops and he stands. He starts to hear the others as the ringing stops, he is able to focus on their eyes and he looks down at his hands, the dirt on his hands and traveling clothes. What is the matter with you? Why did that happen? Why can’t I remember?, he thinks to himself. He turns to Uragum and Hex, taking deep breaths and he sees Auriel off talking with Sylyra. “What…. What just happened? Damned Sylyra, teasing me, whacking me, that’s all I remember, then … everything went red. Can you tell me what happened?” Carl looks to the two of them, a concerned look on his face. He is still tense, clenching and unclenching his fists, but he looks puzzled as well.
Sylyra wants to run. He wants to escape the hurt. He wants to surround himself with shallow pleasures. He wants to live in a world where it doesn't matter what he says or what is said to him. He wants it to be easy again. He could sell the adventuring items he's collected and buy passage. Wasn't that his intent from the beginning? Make enough money or swindle enough treasure to fund his own way back to the Coast? Maybe he could convince Olisara Lightsong to send him on a Harpers task in that direction — get her to fund his travels. But what then? Head toward Waterdeep? What good would that do? He doubts his parents would welcome him home if he just showed up at their door. There he'd be, back in Waterdeep, but just as bad off as he is now. He might could find someone who'd let him stay with them, but it wouldn't be the same. At least in Phlan, where his name doesn't mean anything, no one looks down on him for not having much gold.
The fact that Auriel is leaving the decision up to Sylyra is both comforting and painful. Sylyra doesn't know what he wants. The image of the way they all looked at him returns to his memory like a knife. Is this what it feels like to care about someone and then have them turn their back? How horrible! It was bad enough when Ola and the others left, but this is even worse. First his parents, and now Hex and Uragum ... and even Auriel and Carl. Not caring made things so much more simple. The problem is getting close. That needs to be avoided.
After a pregnant pause, Sylyra turns toward Auriel. The druid closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, then looks at the eladrin. His face is an impassive, blank canvas. "That won't be necessary," he replies to the paladin's question. Sylyra turns and walks back to the others. "I'll keep my words and my staff to myself," he says, looking in turn at Hex and Carl. Before either of them can reply, he walks to the side of the road, places Morisúrë's cage on the ground, whispers something to her, then opens the cage door. The raven jumps through the door, croaks once, then takes off, flying away. Sylyra straightens, leaving the cage, and begins walking after Uragum.
Hex looks at Carl confused for a moment and suddenly realises what happened. She crouches next to him and places a hand on his shoulder. "Oh Carl... you attacked Sylyra after he hit you with his staff. It's alright though. You weren't in control of yourself. It isn't your fault."
She stands up and puts a hand out to help him back out. She looks back to Sylyra and Auriel and just manages to hear the last of their conversation. Her heart aches at the druid's words, even more so as he lets Morisúrë go and leaves the cage behind. She goes over to pick up the cage, hooking it to her bag, before returning to the party. She doesn't say anything to Sylyra, just giving him a gentle squeeze on his shoulder, as she wants to give him some time and space to clear his thoughts. She keeps close, however, hoping to convey that she still cares for him despite it all.
Hex looks at Carl confused for a moment and suddenly realises what happened. She crouches next to him and places a hand on his shoulder. "Oh Carl... you attacked Sylyra after he hit you with his staff. It's alright though. You weren't in control of yourself. It isn't your fault."
She stands up and puts a hand out to help him back out. She looks back to Sylyra and Auriel and just manages to hear the last of their conversation. Her heart aches at the druid's words, even more so as he lets Morisúrë go and leaves the cage behind. She goes over to pick up the cage, hooking it to her bag, before returning to the party. She doesn't say anything to Sylyra, just giving him a gentle squeeze on his shoulder, as she wants to give him some time and space to clear his thoughts. She keeps close, however, hoping to convey that she still cares for him despite it all.
The instant Hex's hand lands on Sylyra's shoulder to give him a gentle squeeze, the elf steps to the side, removing his shoulder from her grasp. He does not look at her or speak; he simply moves away a foot or so and continues to walk.
Carl sees the others start walking and he doesn’t say a word, he starts walking, looking down at his feet mainly, squeezing his hands open and closed, over and over again. After a while, he fingers the handle of his battle axe, looking to the edge of the road and the sky from time to time, but he walks onward in silence.
The eladrin, with the best of intentions, had offered the wood elf a moment on his own only to find out that it would be he himself the one who was going to need it.
The moment Sylyra turned to look at him, Auriel felt like a kid who had been tasked to answer a particularly difficult exam question only to fail catastrophically, despite trying his best to do the opposite. Everything turned to some kind of slow motion scene after that: the druid turned to walk towards the others, Auriel muttered "Sylyra, wait..." while extending a hand to touch his arm but, quick as the druid was, the paladin ended up touching nothing. He touched the air between them. Perhaps that was how it had been from the very beginning: Auriel thought there had been something there, but there really was nothing. Only air.
The hand he had extended fell limply to his side, and he watched Sylyra as he freed Morisúrë and the bird began to fly away, putting more and more distance with every second that passed. The more distance the bird took, the more his heart shrank. He also felt cold, and when the eladrin looked at the metal rings covering his wrists and forearms he was shocked to find a thin layer of ice upon them. "No ... not again ...", he thought as he began rubbing with his hands, trying to remove the ice. It wasn't too much yet, he could surely remove it completely and prevent anymore from appearing and covering all the armor! "Breathe in, breathe out, Auriel, you can do this". Because ... nothing was entirely broken yet, was it? They could fix this. They could watch over Carl, react quicker if the dwarf ever tried to attack anyone again, help him handle whatever had caused this. And the Sylyra from moments before would come back if given time, right? They would all be able to talk about this, wouldn't they? The eladrin stayed there for a couple of minutes rubbing, breathing and thinking about all this. Everyone had started walking towards Kabel's Hill and only he was left behind. No issue, he could run and reach them. He only needed a moment, a little more time to regain his senses, to be calm again. To contain the season that could only bring bad memories. He closed his eyes while he did this...
... when he opened them again the cold was gone. The ice was gone. And so was Summer. But also Autumn. Spring, the season of joy, was of course nowhere to be seen, and seeing how things had developed it would take time to reappear. If it ever did. Seasonless eladrin elves were not that uncommon, Auriel had met some of them. He simply had never experienced it before. He sighed deeply and took a strand of his hair to see how it looked: black. Same as the tattoos that covered face and went down his arms up to his hands. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. But there was nothing he could do about it for now, nothing but keep walking. Autumn would come again, at some point. And everything would be fixed. He had to believe that.
The paladin rushed to keep closer to the party but even so stayed a little aways, closing the march.
So black hair, black tattoos and grey eyes for his "seasonless" appearance.
Sylyra watches Carl with clear and unabashed amazement as he "sings" his ballad. As soon as he finishes, Sylyra stops, puts his bird cage on the ground, and begins clapping loudly, nodding and grinning. "That was absolutely the most horrendous performance I have ever heard," he says joyfully. "If there was an award for the worst, most offensive singing, you would — without a doubt — win. You would receive every vote from every judge. They would rename the award after you. They would probably retire the award after that one song, knowing that no future performance could possibly come close to being as horrible, as offensive to the ear, as dishonoring to all the musicians in Faerûn, nay, in all of Toril!" Still smiling, Sylyra slaps Carl on the shoulder. "It was fantastic!" He picks up the cage and begins walking again. He angles his staff outward and smacks the dwarf on the butt with it. "Tell me more about dwarven women," he comments. "How many have pleased good old Carl?"
Hex was never one to perform so she lingers behind instead and just happily watches as the others do. She chuckles at the absurdities of Carl's songs and is incredibly impressed as Auriel and Sylyra perform together. It was nice to see everyone getting along after going through a bit of a rough patch.
Carl takes the continued criticism of Sylyra and suddenly shuts his mouth, walking on in silence. Horrible performance.. hrrrmph. It sounded better to me than him on that viol. Dagnabit…. He kicks a small rock that goes flying on the path in front of him. The dwarf stews as they walk, his head down.
Down, down, down by the river ♫
Nessa | Alana | Ashur | Saxa | Saoirse | Auriel | Leeta
Carl is clearly downcast, so Sylyra smacks him on the butt again with his staff. "Come now, Frog Bait. There's no reason to sulk. We all hope to be remembered in some way after we're gone. How exciting that you now know how you'll be remembered! Now, quit kicking rocks and spill the beans. Tell us about the dwarven women in your past."
Carl feels the quarterstaff hit him in the buttocks, his head looks up and a whisper escapes his mouth… “No…”. His eyes go dark black, a very different look crosses his face. His teeth are gritted, pure anger evident on his face. The peacemaker, the one who stood in the ring separating Auriel and Sylyra, flies into a rage. He is tired of the constant bullying….
In the blink of an eye, Carl turns into a silvery mist, instantly teleporting behind Sylyra who keeps abusing him. The instant he teleports behind Sylyra, he presses forward with his legs and tackles Sylyra, driving him into the ground. “Shut your damn mouth you pain in the ass, or I swear that I will end you….” Breathing hard he shoves his face into the dirt.
Athletics : 12
The shouting shakes the paladin from his thoughts, who turns to look at what's happening and rushes to intercede.
- Carl! What the hell!? - he exclaims.
Regardless of what happens, Auriel will try to push Carl away and stand between dwarf and elf. As he does this, his gentle autum from transitions to summer, and he faces Carl first to address him rather bluntly:
- Is this how you react to mockery? With violence? What are you, Carl, twelve? Are we suddenly kids in school? Stop and think, godsdamnit. Imagine you actually hurt Sylyra, or that he hurt you. Imagine we had to use healing magic to recover from that, and that that used spell meant the difference for one of us living or dying later - he pauses for a moment and then continues - If you are not happy with how Sylyra is treating you, use that big mouth of yours to express yourself. Stand your ground when you feel it necessary, but do not turn to violence. Specially not against one of us.
He then turns to Sylyra:
- And you, when I told you should consider how you treat other people, I didn't mean only me. Do consider Carl's feelings when you address him, for f***'s sake. But - turning again to Carl - it is not my place to express feelings that are not my own, specially when it is clear you need to learn to handle them and let them out in a non aggresive way. So think what you want to express, and then say it.
The paladin stands there in the middle looking positively angry, one hand raised towards Sylyra, the other towards Carl. He adds:
- Now, I strongly suggest you two calm down and solve this the right way. Or, if you don't find the strength in yourselves to do this at the present moment, then do step away and try again later.
The paladin will stand in the middle until he considers they have both calmed down.
Down, down, down by the river ♫
Nessa | Alana | Ashur | Saxa | Saoirse | Auriel | Leeta
Hex frowns a bit as Sylyra makes fun of Carl's singing, though it eases when it's obvious he is just joking by the end, as harsh as it was. She looks to the dwarf to gauge his reaction when Sylyra suddenly smacks him with his staff.
Before she can do anything, Carl has disappeared only to reappear behind the druid and tackle him into the ground. She aids Auriel in breaking up the fight, pulling Carl away and trying to hold him back, all the while glaring up at Sylyra. "Auriel's right, Sylyra. What in the hells were you thinking? What happened to treating people with respect?"
Uragum shakes his head disappointingly. He reaches down and hoists up Sylyra and holds him aloft for a moment to whisper, "A step too far Sylyra. Remember, your name might have meant something in Waterdeep and you could get away with barbs like that but out in the wider world Carl's response is more typical." He sets Sylyra back on his feet and starts dusting him off.
Returning to Carl he shakes his head. "Now, where I'm raised, physical aggression is often used to solve disputes but even we have rules." He looks back to Sylyra and then to Carl. "If you feel insulted and want to defend your honor, challenge him. There is no honor in cheap shot. Not physically and not verbally either."
Uragum then just leaves them and starts walking away. Over his shoulder he calls out, "I still have those gloves, either ya use them or you sort your shi* out. Either way, we still got a job to do."
Carl's maneuver takes Sylyra completely by surprise. Before he even knows what's going on, the dwarf has taken him, face-first, to the road. Morisúrë's cage hits the ground with a loud clang. The raven croaks loudly, fluttering her wings against the cage as it begins rolling further down the rough road. The druid is stunned! What is going on? Suddenly, everyone is yelling at him. He looks up at them all as they one after another berate him for ... for what? For messing around? For having a good attitude? FOR DOING HIS BEST?! FOR BEING A FRIEND?!
Sylyra gets to his feet and glares at them all. His mind is a blur of rage and pain and hurt. His olive skin is tinged with red. His eyes are wet. He doesn't even know how to respond to this. Finally, he turns, retrieves his bird's cage, and begins walking back toward Phlan, taking a wide birth around them all as he passes in silence.
Auriel, still holding back a raging Carl along with Hex, watches as Uragum helps Sylyra back on his feet and for a moment there he thinks that part of the situation is under control. The wizard must have thought the same, as he has begun walking back towards Kabel's Hill. But suddenly, a visibly hurt Sylyra turns around to storm off towards Phlan for the second time that day.
- Sylyra! That is not the way to fix this! Sylyr...! - No way, the wood elf is not listening. Silently hoping that the goliath ends up returning, he turns to address Hex - Can you hold back Carl? Let me try with Sylyra.
The paladin stands up and begins to walk towards the druid, but as the latter has already taken some distance he stops, curses, then summons a mist similar to the one Carl has used a moment ago. With a very different intention, though. Appearing next to Sylyra, Auriel doesn't initally try to stop him but walks along with him while saying:
- You won't achieve anything storming off. Don't you see you don't belong alone in Phlan but here with us facing what has happened? I did say you need to consider other people's feelings, but I also said that we would make it work together. Remember?
After saying that, and wishing the druid has taken in his words, Auriel does move to stand in front of Sylyra. He'll place a hand on his cheek and try that the druid focuses his eyes on him:
- Will you please stop walking so we can talk about this? - A glint of golden light jumps from the eladrin's hand to the wood elf's cheek, removing any bruise he might have. (OOC: 1HP lay on hands just because it might feel nice.)
Down, down, down by the river ♫
Nessa | Alana | Ashur | Saxa | Saoirse | Auriel | Leeta
OOC: I had decided that if someone physically tried to stop Sylyra, it would backfire and send him bolting — that if anything was going to work, it would be talking. I'm still not sure where this is going to lead. Just know that I'm not going anywhere.
Sylyra slows and stops. He stares toward Phlan for several moments, his face full of the same rage and hurt Auriel had seen before. "I just ... I just don't know," he finally says, his voice low and thick. He looks down. "Why is it so hard now?" he almost whispers. He looks up again, but still down the road and not at the elf beside him. "I don't understand what has changed," he says, sounding angry again. "I don't understand why everyone is so angry now."
Hex nods towards Auriel and holds Carl in place, attempting to calm him. "Carl, I know what Sylyra said and did was rude but you know him. He was probably trying to be friendly in his own weird way and didn't have any ill intentions. Please, calm down. At least enough to talk rather than fight."
(OOC: @ddp, you could have asked me how to send a rocket to the moon and that would have been easier to answer! Lol. I hope this makes sense)
Auriel is glad to see the druid stop walking. That was the reaction he was hoping for, but the questions that came afterwards that were not that easy to answer. So, thoughtful as he is for a moment, he runs a hand through his Summer form golden hair while thinking about what to say.
- I'm afraid, Sylyra, that the rules of the game changed the day we all met at the marsh. Or better said, when we decided to stick together after that. You were fine with Uragum and Hex but then Carl and I appeared and I guess we put your world a little upside down - he smiles at this - Variations such as these sometimes require adaptation, and adapting isn't always easy. If it hadn't been Carl and me, it would have been someone else crashing into your world. And perhaps, for that people, you wouldn't have wanted to try to do better, as you said this morning you would. Or perhaps you would have, too. - He stops for a moment, thinking how to continue. This time, he decides to ask a question. - I think the important thing here is: do you feel your current path, the version of yourself it leads to, is one you agree with? If you find that the answer is "yes", then you only need to keep walking. It might get hard at times, but I believe you will be strengthened by it at the end.
Having said all that, Auriel turns his head to look towards the others.
- Carl will also need to change quite a few of his ways. Don't think that the fault of what has just happened lies with one person.
He looks at Sylyra again, unsure if what he's said has answered the druid. If it has helped or not. So he just adds:
- Do you ... need a moment on your own? I can go back with the others if you want to be alone for a while.
Down, down, down by the river ♫
Nessa | Alana | Ashur | Saxa | Saoirse | Auriel | Leeta
Carl’s stare is glassy for a moment, he turns and sits on the ground, his eyes are black, he hears a roaring in his head, doesn’t seem to look up or comprehend the words from Auriel. After a few moments he comes to and his eyes clear, he’s breathing heavy. He doesn’t seem to focus on the gloves or what is being said. Finally the roaring stops and he stands. He starts to hear the others as the ringing stops, he is able to focus on their eyes and he looks down at his hands, the dirt on his hands and traveling clothes. What is the matter with you? Why did that happen? Why can’t I remember?, he thinks to himself. He turns to Uragum and Hex, taking deep breaths and he sees Auriel off talking with Sylyra. “What…. What just happened? Damned Sylyra, teasing me, whacking me, that’s all I remember, then … everything went red. Can you tell me what happened?” Carl looks to the two of them, a concerned look on his face. He is still tense, clenching and unclenching his fists, but he looks puzzled as well.
Sylyra wants to run. He wants to escape the hurt. He wants to surround himself with shallow pleasures. He wants to live in a world where it doesn't matter what he says or what is said to him. He wants it to be easy again. He could sell the adventuring items he's collected and buy passage. Wasn't that his intent from the beginning? Make enough money or swindle enough treasure to fund his own way back to the Coast? Maybe he could convince Olisara Lightsong to send him on a Harpers task in that direction — get her to fund his travels. But what then? Head toward Waterdeep? What good would that do? He doubts his parents would welcome him home if he just showed up at their door. There he'd be, back in Waterdeep, but just as bad off as he is now. He might could find someone who'd let him stay with them, but it wouldn't be the same. At least in Phlan, where his name doesn't mean anything, no one looks down on him for not having much gold.
The fact that Auriel is leaving the decision up to Sylyra is both comforting and painful. Sylyra doesn't know what he wants. The image of the way they all looked at him returns to his memory like a knife. Is this what it feels like to care about someone and then have them turn their back? How horrible! It was bad enough when Ola and the others left, but this is even worse. First his parents, and now Hex and Uragum ... and even Auriel and Carl. Not caring made things so much more simple. The problem is getting close. That needs to be avoided.
After a pregnant pause, Sylyra turns toward Auriel. The druid closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, then looks at the eladrin. His face is an impassive, blank canvas. "That won't be necessary," he replies to the paladin's question. Sylyra turns and walks back to the others. "I'll keep my words and my staff to myself," he says, looking in turn at Hex and Carl. Before either of them can reply, he walks to the side of the road, places Morisúrë's cage on the ground, whispers something to her, then opens the cage door. The raven jumps through the door, croaks once, then takes off, flying away. Sylyra straightens, leaving the cage, and begins walking after Uragum.
Hex looks at Carl confused for a moment and suddenly realises what happened. She crouches next to him and places a hand on his shoulder. "Oh Carl... you attacked Sylyra after he hit you with his staff. It's alright though. You weren't in control of yourself. It isn't your fault."
She stands up and puts a hand out to help him back out. She looks back to Sylyra and Auriel and just manages to hear the last of their conversation. Her heart aches at the druid's words, even more so as he lets Morisúrë go and leaves the cage behind. She goes over to pick up the cage, hooking it to her bag, before returning to the party. She doesn't say anything to Sylyra, just giving him a gentle squeeze on his shoulder, as she wants to give him some time and space to clear his thoughts. She keeps close, however, hoping to convey that she still cares for him despite it all.
The instant Hex's hand lands on Sylyra's shoulder to give him a gentle squeeze, the elf steps to the side, removing his shoulder from her grasp. He does not look at her or speak; he simply moves away a foot or so and continues to walk.
Carl sees the others start walking and he doesn’t say a word, he starts walking, looking down at his feet mainly, squeezing his hands open and closed, over and over again. After a while, he fingers the handle of his battle axe, looking to the edge of the road and the sky from time to time, but he walks onward in silence.
The eladrin, with the best of intentions, had offered the wood elf a moment on his own only to find out that it would be he himself the one who was going to need it.
The moment Sylyra turned to look at him, Auriel felt like a kid who had been tasked to answer a particularly difficult exam question only to fail catastrophically, despite trying his best to do the opposite. Everything turned to some kind of slow motion scene after that: the druid turned to walk towards the others, Auriel muttered "Sylyra, wait..." while extending a hand to touch his arm but, quick as the druid was, the paladin ended up touching nothing. He touched the air between them. Perhaps that was how it had been from the very beginning: Auriel thought there had been something there, but there really was nothing. Only air.
The hand he had extended fell limply to his side, and he watched Sylyra as he freed Morisúrë and the bird began to fly away, putting more and more distance with every second that passed. The more distance the bird took, the more his heart shrank. He also felt cold, and when the eladrin looked at the metal rings covering his wrists and forearms he was shocked to find a thin layer of ice upon them. "No ... not again ...", he thought as he began rubbing with his hands, trying to remove the ice. It wasn't too much yet, he could surely remove it completely and prevent anymore from appearing and covering all the armor! "Breathe in, breathe out, Auriel, you can do this". Because ... nothing was entirely broken yet, was it? They could fix this. They could watch over Carl, react quicker if the dwarf ever tried to attack anyone again, help him handle whatever had caused this. And the Sylyra from moments before would come back if given time, right? They would all be able to talk about this, wouldn't they? The eladrin stayed there for a couple of minutes rubbing, breathing and thinking about all this. Everyone had started walking towards Kabel's Hill and only he was left behind. No issue, he could run and reach them. He only needed a moment, a little more time to regain his senses, to be calm again. To contain the season that could only bring bad memories. He closed his eyes while he did this...
... when he opened them again the cold was gone. The ice was gone. And so was Summer. But also Autumn. Spring, the season of joy, was of course nowhere to be seen, and seeing how things had developed it would take time to reappear. If it ever did. Seasonless eladrin elves were not that uncommon, Auriel had met some of them. He simply had never experienced it before. He sighed deeply and took a strand of his hair to see how it looked: black. Same as the tattoos that covered face and went down his arms up to his hands. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. But there was nothing he could do about it for now, nothing but keep walking. Autumn would come again, at some point. And everything would be fixed. He had to believe that.
The paladin rushed to keep closer to the party but even so stayed a little aways, closing the march.
So black hair, black tattoos and grey eyes for his "seasonless" appearance.
Down, down, down by the river ♫
Nessa | Alana | Ashur | Saxa | Saoirse | Auriel | Leeta