Gallyndra -Chapter six: Struggling to survive

(Speech in italic is spoken by Tarlon)

Basking in the warm light of the sun Gallyndra stood on the training grounds on Farstrider square. The proud Sin'dorei woman stood fiercely with her back straight and her chin lifted with pride while she observed the group of Initiates that where practicing.
Her observant gaze went from one to another, watching them aim their swords at their appointed trainingdummies. Her expression stern and not showing any sign of approval nor emotion. The sunlight shone on her perfectly polished armor, its red and black colours bright in the light, her tabard in perfect condition and well kept.
With a swift and barely noticeable gentle movement she locks her arms behind her back, taking a hold of her own wrist and starts walking around to watch her appointed trainees more closely.
Gallyndra nods quickly at the young male who successfully slammed his shield into the arm of a dummy. Taking slow and elegant steps she moves on to the next one, arching an eyebrow briefly and shaking her head with a soft sigh.
"If you don't take a proper hold of your blade you won't be able to put enough balance into your swings. Put your hands further apart"

The young woman nearly jumped when she heard the Champion address her, correcting her with a harsh tone in her voice
"Y... yes Champion Duskblade" was all she managed to utter with a voice that barely grew louder then a whisper. With a mere nod Gallyndra turned around on her heels. Even if looking well trained and having the clear built of a battle-hardened Blood Knight she still managed to keep her steps lithe and elegant, a rather clear sign of her noble heritage.

Glancing back at the group a final time she raises her hand at them without facing them fully.
"That's enough for today, all of you are dismissed." Not bothering to have further conversation with them she strolls off towards her own quarters. As she removes her own armor to change into less formal clothing she peers around the room.

The woman’s face instantly softens as she curls her full red lips into a warm and loving smile when her gaze lingers upon the small pile of clothing on one of the chairs. She could feel her heart swell with delight and love and closes her eyes. Vivid images of her husband invading her mind, filling her with the intense feelings she has developed for him.
Finally he had returned from the cold North, no longer she had to face the life in the city on her own without his support.
Parting her lips she sighs softly and drops down onto the bed, her eyes still closed as she recalls the lonely days. She had forgotten how life had been without Suiauthon, how much she needed him to keep going. Her beacon of light, her hope and love ... she needed him as much as she needed the air to breathe.
She had wandered the streets of Silvermoon with a heavy heart.
She had been forced to fall back into her old shell of protection, hiding her emotions and sorrow from the outside world. Carefully trying to ignore the pain and agony of her past, but to no avail. Without her dearest husband she couldn't fight it ...
The memories where everywhere she went and no matter how hard she tried, there was no escape.
With a hand resting on the silken sheets of her bed, her fingers tracing absentminded cirlcles onto the fabric, Gallyndra was once more drawn back to happenings that have scarred her soul beyond repair. Scars that only her true love could soothe, only he could make her forget....


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Tarlon had returned to Quel'Thalas, the young Blood Knight felt broken as she walked down the road to Eversong. Once again in her life she was being tormented by the man she always had seen as her brother. In the short period that he had come back in her life he had already punished her to prove his claim of the past had not been forgotten. Her recent injuries and the new fresh aching wounds of her soul where prove of his torture. She was desperate, broken .. just a mere shadow of who she used to be ever since she had climbed up in the ranks of The Order. A proud and strong Champion now nothing more than a broken woman.

Her path lead her towards the small hills in Eversong where she used to come in the past, her gaze wandering around to take in the scenery of their beautiful woods. The sea spread out in front of her while the sun was setting, causing a soft glow to shimmer on the surface of the water.
Normally the serene beauty of the landscape would cause a small smile on her lips, but not today. Not after the few devastating days that she had loved through once more.
Before she could close her eyes and slide into the soft grass she heard a cough behind her, approaching footsteps and she froze. One hand lifted to rest against her injured shoulder when she turned around. With a low yet bitter and angered tone she spoke to the last man she'd like to have near. Her frame tensed up when she fought the tears of her sorrow.

" Do you have some tracking device on me?"

" It's called eyes, you should get a pair seeing as you walked past me in the city"
was his casual answer

" I had more important matters on my mind then seeing who loiters in the city -brother- "
Looking over her shoulder she muttered to herself "perfect another cliff". Perfectly recalling the last time he had her hanging down the cliffs in Northrend.

" Then ponder them, cheapshot, instead of muttering nonsense, just because you happened to be blind."

Gallyndra allowed a soft sigh to escape her lips " What do you want Tarlon, I'm hardly in the mood for your little games "

Tarlon thrusts his hand upwards, to grab Gallyndra's chin, as his expression turned grim and his eyes narrow spitefully towards her.
Gallyndra herself keeps her arms to her sides, clenching her fists as she inhales deeply between her gritted teeth, staring right back at Tarlon while her frame freezes.
She could feel the raging of her fear in her veins, her tensed muscles aching while she stands motionless when he raises her chin to, his eyes piercing into hers.

" Watch your tone with me, girl. If you don't want that shoulder to be a prologue. Is that understood?"

She couldn't speak, allowing fear to paralyze her. Struggling to keep her gaze neutral, her expression cold. Yet again he speaks through his gritted teeth, which are faintly screeching under the pressure, losing his patience.

" Is that understood"

Her voice betrayed her, while she wanted to speak in a firm and strong tone all she musters is a low whisper, allowing Tarlon to notice that she felt defeated by him.
'You think I care about my shoulder after all you already did, and also made me distance myself from the first person I started to love after all these years?"

The smirk that appeared on his face sickened her when he finally let go of her, losing the tight grip on her chin. She sighed in relief.

"Oh. Glitterboy is gone? Good for him. And for you. At last. A correct decision."

"As long as you do not lift your claim of me, I can't be with anyone freely ... isn't that what you wanted to achieve brother?"

Her brother laughed, a mocking and deafening laugh while she stared down at her feet, she just couldn't bring herself to look at him. Reveal her expression.

"Achieve? No, sister. That is nothing to achieve. That is a fact."

"Remember that old lullaby, Mother used to sing when we were kids, Gallyndra?"

Slowly the woman lifts her head, peering at him with a nod when he starts to chant the mentioned lullaby. She shudders and cringes at the twisted meaning of his words, carefully chosen. Pressing her lips against each other she fights the urge to respond in utter disgust.

"Sun and Glory, march ahead. Praise our brethren, praise the dead. Both of you will walk in life, bonds that don't break with no knife."

The man smiled and sat down into the soil, for a moment she could see who he once was for her, her handsome brother whom she loved. Only for a moment she remember those feeling untill he patted the spot next to him, beckoning her to join him. She couldn't help but shudder and reluctantly sit next to him. What else could she do? Hadn't she tried everything to get away from him? His hand moved to gently caress her cheek, her stomach felt as if she'd get sick of the feeling of his fingers touching her.

"You never even once asked anything about those six years..." He didn't look at her, his chin lifted while he kept staring ahead

"I was more concerned about .... other things, considering I .....was hopi...... told you where dead"

While closing his eyes he merely continued. Gallyndra peered at him from underneath her eyelashes, her expression saddening while she once again thinks of their past lives, before things went the wrong way.

"After the first wars, I met someone. He was with the expedition. A spiritualist warrior. A monk."

"He taught me a lot of things. He taught me how to fight without weapons. How to defend without armour. But more importantly......he taught me how to survive away from everyone.....Away from you."

"For six long years, I yearned the day of my return....And how did you welcome me, my angel?"

Sighing at her he glances towards the woman sitting next to him for a split second. Her knees tugged up while she has her arms wrapped around it, her nails clawing at her own tabard.
Despite her normal strong facade she can't do anything but stutter, her brother the person who has caused her the most suffering.
"After all that happened .... I couldn't .. can't see you in the same way I did .. -before-"

She fights her tears, frustrated that she cannot make him see while he snaps his head to the side and glares at her.
"You brought that. With your actions. Day after day, week after week, I was wronged. Betrayed..."

Grunting in frustration he grits his teeth, his anger sends shivers down Gallyndra's spine.
"What the fuck did you want me to do, Gallyndra? Hold the lantern while you fuck the stableboy? So he can advertise how you were moaning, to his friends, and chuckling like ... like..."

Losing her calm Gallyndra lets her own voice slip into a higher pitched and slightly hysteric tone when she answers him, her desperation shown on her face.

"It .... Tarlon ..... not like that .... it was nothing like that. Nor did you have the right to ..... punish me is such shamefull and painfull ways"

When he replies his stare is cold, she has learned to fear that look in his eyes and cringes, nearly crumbling infront of him.
"After all you've done, you are in no position to dictate anything.-sister-."

"It was only wrong .... in your eyes"

Hesitantly she looks up at him, only to meet his blazing eyes piercing right into hers

"Tell me, "sister"."
"Go back to those days. To that... "love" of yours. That... "right" love."
"And imagine one night entering those stables. To find that crackhead. Playing "cowboy" with another of the stableboys."
"Would you also not consider it "wrong"?"
"Would you smile and nod and tell him "ah well, you are in love, I'll just pick up my stuff and leave?"
"No. You would not. You'd hurt like hell. Like thousands of glass pieces swimming through your veins."

Hopelessly Gallyndra opens her mouth to interrupt, he -had- to see sense ... how could he be so blind for his faults, for his mistakes and twisted vision on this all?

"That's .... you can't compare that. If he would have done such, yes I would have felt betrayed ... but you and I .. Tarlon I only saw you as my brother, we didn't have ....."

But her words fell to deaf ears again ... as they always have done, only to fuel the raging fire that seemed to burn within Tarlon.

"ONLY BECAUSE OF THAT STUPID PAPER."

Instinctively she tries to lean away from him, wanting to protect herself would he snap and lash out at her to hurt. But he reacts quickly and grabs her wrist, making sure that she won't move away. She holds her breath her entire frame quivering as she feels the anxiety grow inside her chest, causing her to barely be able to breathe. But she was stubborn; she had to end this before she'd break completely.

" When ... how where you, can you forget about who we are, even if not by blood when we were raised such. Tarlon ... I never understood, with so many women at your feet ... why me? Your sister"

He sighed once more but smiled when he hesitatingly rests her hand upon his which he cups with his free hand in return. Their conversation continuing in a low and nearly whispered tone.

"Don't say that again...We do not have the same blood."
"You do belong in the house... but not as a relative"

"It's how we were raised, how they wanted us to be ...."

"You are thinking about it the wrong way, Gallyndra... They did not do it with a masterplan in mind. You were left alone in this world. You'd be starving in the streets. They took you in to protect you. To provide for you. To save you."

"They took me in as their daughter"

"Yes. And I was told to protect you from the world, like I would protect my sister. That doesn't -make- you my sister. We don't have the same blood. It's alright... Things.. can happen."
"You and I....We are as related as brother and sister, as to anyone else."
"In fact. Even closer, in a way. You are more than a friend, more than a partner."
"Cherish that...Don't let it be chains on your ankles instead...."

Gallyndra listens to him, feeling paralyzed as she hears him say the words that only proof his sick and obsessive fascination for her.

"Look...What if my parents never adopted you?"
"What if they took in a pet? And they loved it as a child."
"Would that make the -PET- my sister?"
"Just say a yes or no."

With sudden fury Gallyndra glares up at Tarlon, raising her voice as she attempts to pull her hand free once more
"No .... it's not even humanoid, how can you even compare me to a mere animal, I'm a person with feelings ..... what the fel is wrong with you!"

Forcefully Tarlon tightens the grip on her wrist, tugging her back without releasing her. Causing her shoulder to sting in a sudden reminder of her recently inflicted wounds.

"Oh shut up and listen instead of throwing fits of pride and arrogance. I am not comparing you or calling you a dog or anything."
"I'm just trying to show you why "raising as their child" doesn't mean anything more than that."
"They raised you as their child."
"That does not make you my sister."
"Do you see what I mean, Gallyndra"

Frustrated and broken she shakes her head, speaking in a low tone to herself 'I will never see it". Silent enough for him not to hear her words. Speaking slightly louder when she continues.

"Tarlon .... what -is- it you want from me from now on?"

In a gentle gesture he lifts her hand, brushing his lips across her palm to kiss her fingertips.

"...what's rightfully mine. You."

"Tarlon, even if I would not be a Duskblade, just a woman you met on the street. You can't force someone to love you, punish them if they chose another life then what you had planned for your own "

"The only reason you denied that, was that folly belief of yours. We are siblings!!!!"
" When in fact, we are not, and nothing can obstruct it."
"Now..."

Before turning away from her he raises his finger, pressing it against Gallyndra's lips to prevent her from answering, smiling at her.

"I will go, now. I want you to sit here, in the quiet, and think about what we talked. Think about it and give it an honest try to understand you are wrong. It will all be so much better, once you understand, you will see."

After that he left her alone, her tears streaming down her face as she allowed herself to finally give in to them. She was desperate, desired to be released from her "brother" but all her attempts have failed.. how much longer would she have to endure this...

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Nice transcription It's been a while since that session..

Well I found it in my files on my computer, apparently I saved that session that day for later use just like this ^_^.

Ah I guess one or two more chapters and I can call this story finished up untill "now".