Of Mitrovich & 'Friends'

[lostdreamer]

Each footfall felt like a hammer blow going through his legs, his breath short and ragged. Black bags hung heavy under his brown eyes and his tan boots were caked with miles of dust and dirt. The bright silk shirt clung to his back in shredded ribbons, its former majesty long lost on thorns and overhanging branches. There was a sheen of blood on his skin, glowing like sweat on a summer’s afternoon. A man renowned for being tireless and graceful, there were few people on earth who would recognise him now as exhaustion had eaten into his arms, legs and head. He was a long way away, but he knew where he was going, he knew why, and he knew he had to continue.
The thought that he may fail did not enter the mind of Panuel Mitrovich.

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Silence hung in the air for just a moment, sharp and clear. The sun was to the back of the new arrivals, casting their faces into heavy shadow as they climbed from their mounts. It was what was not said at that moment that should be remembered. Jehan returned with a fey wife and his lopsided smile. But there was someone who had left that same morning as him, and was not there. For just the few moments, nobody said ‘hello’, nobody said ‘welcome back’. And everyone knew why.

Oransay stopped fighting at her trace and just stood there staring.
Jehan turned to look at the group gathered around the camp. His hand had rested in Talia’s for longer than had been necessary to help her from that night-black horse.
“Are you all alright?” He asked.

 

[Sienna_Rose]

Yelena, distracted by Oransay's fussing, doesn't notice for a moment just *who* has arrived. When she turns her full attention to the pair, her eyes light up at seeing her father alive and well. A grin spreads across her features as she sees who is with him.
"Talia! You're alive!" She rushes to the woman and throws her arms around her.

Talon regards the pair evenly, her eyes move from them to Katya when Talia is introduced and greeted so enthusiastically by Yelena. . o O (Poor kid. Hope she wasn't too attached.)
Her eyes scan the area, noting the lack of a certain presence. She waits for the reunion to be over before speaking, though.

 

[MistyThorin]

Katya could feel the color draining from her face as Jehan lifted the woman down from her horse. . o O ( But... but he said... he said... he must have believed it... but... )) She bites her lip to keep from shrieking a denial. What good would it do?

She clings to the pommel of Pavel's saddle, standing stiffly as she gazes at the little family reunion taking place before her. Then she realizes someone is still missing. It takes her a moment to find her voice, but when she does, her words are straight to the point. "Where is Panuel?"

 

[Sienna_Rose]

Talon moves toward Katya, noting her expression, then looks back toward Jehan as Katya voices the question that was on her mind as well.

Yelena looks around, not having noted Panuel's absence until it was mentioned. She looks back to Jehan, "Papa?"

 

[lostdreamer]

His eyes rested on Katya as he turned back towards the camp, and he felt his heart jerk as he saw her face. Jehan was a liar and a cheat who had practiced both until they were perfect. A night he had spent in her arms, warm and comfortable in that bed came rushing back to him then and he wanted to tell her how glad he was to see her, to hear her again. He had missed her confidence in him, her cheerfulness. But then she spoke. And she asked such an awful question. Jehan looked away from Katya.

Talia holds Yelena close, a precious treasure too long lost.
“How are you youngling? They fed you properly I hope?” Talia’s voice was almost entrancing, akin to the sound of fete carried upon the wind. She could not chastise Yelena for being away from the caravan.

Jehan couldn’t look at any of them now, his eyes rested on a spot somewhere around his toecaps.

“And who is this?” Talia said to the girl who may as well have been her own daughter, as she pointed to the tall warrior woman with the massive sword on her back.

Jehan tried to keep his voice calm and level but still it wavered ever so slightly.
“I don’t know.”
He managed to lift his gaze as far a the fire, but still couldn’t summon the courage to look at anyone.

 

[MistyThorin]

(( edited to remove a duplicate post ))

 

[MistyThorin]

Katya bites her lip again, this time in worry. The two men had left together after all.

She pulls off her haversack, removing a mirror that seemed far too large to have been inside the pack. She pauses for a moment to keep her voice from betraying her emotions, then asks, "Do you have anything of his? No matter how small... I don't have that... intimate of an acquaintance with him, so a possession of his will aid my scrying." She tried, but couldn't control her eyes, couldn't keep herself from flicking a glance at Jehan as she spoke.

. o O ( Yelena even said Talia'd been gone for three years... and yet... he doesn't seem awkward enough to be just getting reacquainted. So who is the fool here? )

 

[Sienna_Rose]

Yelena turns her attention back to Talia when she speaks, "I'm well. Yes, I've been eating enough. Oh, that's Talon, and that's Katya." She gestures to each woman as she introduces them.

Talon inclines her head when she's introduced, then turns her golden eyes to Jehan. "Where is he supposed to be? What was his task?"

Yelena furrows her brow at Katya's request for something of Panuel's. "He rode Ilanya for a while. Will the saddle help?"

 

[MistyThorin]

Katya looks to Yelena. "I can try with the saddle, I suppose. But a personal item would be better... a spare shirt of his, perhaps, or something like that. A lock of hair would be great, if that's a sort of souvenier you might give to one another."

 

[lostdreamer]

Jehan sighed, catching his breath as he began his reply.
“Why should I have anything that’s his? I am hardly his master, nor keeper. It will likely not help you much anyhow, for many a reason we don’t tend to get attached to material possessions. You can try I guess, but Talia did. Talia failed. We got separated in the Ashen Lands. I don’t generally give the Cat tasks, he takes them upon himself. He is not half so foolish as he pretends.” He raised his gaze again, began to look around his friends gathered here.

“Or he was not. Let me explain, in short at least. I left for two reasons. One, to draw Deanna off. I didn’t like how things were going and wanted to move the main target – me – away from the all of you.” His eyes rest on Yelena and Katya for a moment as he pauses. “The second was to try and do something active, force her off balance and onto the defensive. We were playing her game, and it could never end well. I used a lay line to get into the faerie lands and headed to the Rose Court as I hoped be able to persuade them that Deanna was as much of a threat to them as to us, and take action accordingly. Talia was present on my arrival at the Court, hardly surprising as she has as much, possibly more, right to be there as me. She helped me persuade them. Command of a legion was given to Talia, and they helped us get into the Ashen Lands. With Deanna on this earth, there was little control at her keep, and we were able to take it with the help of the Court warriors.” Another pause, his eyes drop again.
“It was during that battle I lost track of the Cat. Our front line broke at one point and by the time it had reformed I could see no sign of him.” His gaze turned to Talia.
“Have I missed anything?”

Talia shrugs. “I think you got most of it. Skipped a few points here and there perhaps, but that keeps it short. One thing I would like to know?”

He nods at her. “What?”

“Who is she?” Talia pointed at Katya. She had noticed the way Katya watched her husband, and the way he occasionally glanced at her.

“Her name is Katya, a minstrel born of a couple of merchants. Beyond that, I don’t see how it is any of your business. Not no more.”