After Forgiveness

"After Forgiveness" is an Extended Universe thread written on [IRL DATE].
== Summary ==
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== Full Text ==
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: “I’m sorry my King…”
Stonegit’s footsteps crunched in the show as he ran rapidly across the fields on the outskirts of the rebellions new fortress.
“I need a little time off…I won’t be long…”
His breath clouded in his face and he trotted to a stop. He had often looked across this field and saw her from afar. But he had always been to hesitant to go to her. The image of her shoving her claws into Haddock’s back still to fresh and painful. But in his quiet retirement at Haddock side, the news had reached him, and his heart broke for the being that at one point had been his only friend. 
“Please be here…” Stonegit whispered to himself and swallowed thickly. He raised his voice ever so slightly. “W-Woodchuck?”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: The field was silent, save for the soft gusts of snowy wind and the distant call of a few lonely birds. In the distance, however, through the line of trees that bordered the white fields, a soft red glow was just visible in the onset of dusk, too dark and too steady to be firelight. It was stationary for now, and there seemed to be no voice accompanying it.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: The glow was fuzzy in Stonegit’s blurred vision, but he knew that color. He closed his eyes as he began to walk towards it.
He remembered fearing the Warden and trying to kill her. He remembered discovering that he was possessed. He remembered them becoming friends. He remembered when she had left him blindness and in blood to torment Haddock instead. He remembered wanting to forgive her. He remembered her hurting Haddock again…
“But what I remember the most…” Stonegit whispered to himself. “Is you being there for me. And now…I want to be there for you.” He let his voice get louder. “Woodchuck!”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: As he approached, a figure became visible through the trees–a very familiar silhouette. She was on her knees in the snow, in a resting position, facing away from Stonegit. She didn’t even twitch as he approached.
Her body was finally beginning to show signs of wear. A few delicate cracks spiderwebbed across her porcelain arms and face; there were a few rough knots of scar tissue in the muscles of her abdomen as well. Her eyes were closed. Her vessel seemed…empty. Underneath one of her legs, the snow was stained a dark scarlet, which seemed to have leaked from a deep slash across her thigh, the bleeding of which had only recently stopped.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Exhaling slowly, Stonegit came to a stop behind her. He leaned over to set out his ax, and then carefully stepped to her side, and sat in the snow next to her. He rested his arms on his knees and starred straight ahead as if to think of what to say. Eventually he turned his head to look at her.
He studied her injuries, saw how she looked, and then decided to take a gamble. Knowing Haddock would probably lecture him to death if he ever found out. Stonegit held out his hand, the same marred, beaten hand that once held their contract sigil. “Hey Woodchuck…” He said. “Do you want to come here?”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: The Warden remained frozen in place, the only moving part of her being her astral hair, floating back and forth in an unfamiliar, invisible breeze.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit remained in place as well…before he finally spoke a few quiet words.
“I know how you feel…I’m sorry…”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: Silence.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit’s hand stayed out. There was nothing more he could say. But there was something else he could do. NEEDED to do. But it all depended on her.
“Come inside.” He said said. “You need to know this.”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: In the distance, the faint sound of crunching footsteps began to approach. They sounded labored in the deep snow, the sound of someone struggling through the forest with slow difficulty. The bushes shook, sending powder floating to the ground, and the dim shape of a woman wrapped in trapper’s furs pushed through the undergrowth into the Warden’s light. She was carrying a bundle of long somethings, possibly weapons, wrapped in leather. Her eyes roamed over the demon and found Stonegit, sitting with his hand extended to the body, and her eyes widened with absolute, utter, heartbreaking shock.
“S…Stonegit?” she whispered, voice trembling.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit’s head snapped up as he starred at the women. He glanced back at what he had thought was Nala, and then back at her. He vaguely recalled the Warden’s use of synthetic bodies as vessels. But he knew her voice, and he stood to his feet. He paced forward, his hand stretched out. “Take my hand.” He said.
He couldn’t trust himself with words this time. Words had caused him to nearly destroy his relationship with his king, his comrades, and his own self. Words were no longer things that Stonegit was interested in. He had to show her what was in his heart. 
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: The woman’s face slowly screwed up in a heart-wrenching sob. She dropped the bundle at her feet and tripped over it running to Stonegit, tripping to her hands and knees in the snow. But as her body fell to the ground, something exploded out of her, a flash of intense scarlets and violets and blacks, and the Warden’s full spiritual form left her temporary vessel and closed the distance between her and Stonegit. Not only did she take his hand, she crashed into him at full astral speed, her ghostly arms intersecting his, her forehead pressed into his, and she fell to her knees, mirroring her empty vessel behind him, and clutched at him, hiding her face in his shoulder, and flooding back into his mind and body. Her transparent hand fumbled for his and grasped it tightly, and the lines of the old contract, mangled by scars and ruined by time, just barely glowed between them with a faint red light.
There were no words, just a pure, unadulterated rush of raw emotion–heartbreak, joy, melancholy, rage, and love.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit wrapped his arms around himself and dropped to his knees as if to hug her, and everything on his heart poured out.
And the Warden felt love. 
She felt the love that only pain and past hardship could bring. She felt forgiveness that surpassed even that which had given her only days after the fight against Orskaf Donz. She felt the wrench of loneliness, not in general, but for /her/, loneliness for her. His friend, which he had missed but been too hurt to interact with more than a few moments over the past year (or two I forget). She felt his grief and guilt of finding out later that she had lost someone, and had not been there. The sorrow of not having come to truly make amends sooner. And the joy, the joy of having her here.
Stonegit opened his mouth, his jaw shaking once as the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them.
“I love you…” 
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: Nala wailed.
The centuries-old demon of wrath clutched at his small, scarred human frame and sobbed like a child, her essence shifting from dark red to the deepest shades of cobalt. The trees around them were ruffled by the waves of her emotions, and her cries echoed across the empty fields. A gentle snowfall began to drift around them, and from the Warden’s unmoving physical body, smoldering black tears began to fall down her mask once more, dripping off her chin and landing in the snow to steam softly. Had she been using it to embrace Stonegit instead of her astral form, he would have been crushed beyond recognition with the force of her grasp. Instead, she just soaked in the intimacy, letting all of her bottled-up grief and rage of the last few months roll off her shoulders with every cry. As she felt his love radiate from him, the center of her chest warmed to a dull red-orange, and it slowly spread throughout her body, shedding a soft glow around them, calming her.
She took both his hands, and, using those old channels that she used to only harm and control with, she guided them to her face and pressed them to the blank slate where her mouth would have been, closing her eyes briefly. I love you, dark-eyes.
Opening her eyes to meet his gaze, they curved in a pained smile, reaching up to cup one of his cheeks with her long hand. Look at you. You’ve gotten so…so old.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: A warm smile touched Stonegit’s face, and he allowed himself to relax in the moment of comfort. A place where the past still hurt, but it was all okay because there was someone there for you.
He did look older. The young years of when he had been a brash seventeen year old had been replaced with the more developed features and muscle fill out of a man in his twenties (ooc: let me know if I got my years off and I’ll edit). But what really made him look different was his face, and the soul the Warden could see. He was quiet now, less angry. Still insecure, yet peaceful. He had grown under the hard lessons life had thrust upon him.
“I…” Stonegit began shakily. “I should have come out here along time ago.” He swallowed once, and shook his head. “I don’t want to go that long without being with you, really being with you, again. I’m so sorry about Greg…”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: She took a big breath and held him close again. Nor I you, little one. But you needed space to heal. I… She paused thoughtfully. I suppose I needed the same, in a way. I am sorry if you were searching for me, I was…occupied with another task, for a long time.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: “No it’s okay…I’ve been out of touch.” Stonegit sat in silence and heaved a deep sigh. “I’m uh…I’m really glad to be back here…where do you live these days?”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: She shrugged. Anywhere…and nowhere. Now that there is little of the dungeon left to guard, Hel’s enlistment has little affect on me. I watch over the rebels now. Her fists clenched tighter around his hands and she dropped her hidden gaze to the ground, her mood darkening again. I try to. Sometimes…I fail.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: “We all fail sometimes. Most of the time…when we fail, we fail at the things we wish to succeed the most in.” Stonegit set his jaw resolutely. “Well…you have a home now.” He turned back towards the town. “One where you can stay, for however long you wish.”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: I wish I could, she said with melancholy, looking over her shoulder at her human vessel, who was shivering in the snow. Nala looked vaguely guilty. I must bring back my…friend…to where she belongs, since our work is finished, and then I will return to the Wildersouth to protect Liam and Kendra. They are still but young children, and I will have no more early deaths caused by Central on my hands, not if I can help it.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit nodded. “Of course. I figured you would still have duties you were bound to. Gods know I do.” He hugged himself again and, by extension, her. “But I was talking about here. With me. And in my home with Blunt. I know I could never take you into the King’s quarters. But I am not always there. So…” He clenched his fists. “Whenever you want, you can be in my home. It’s yours and…and whenever you are back, and I am not with Haddock.” He place a hand over his heart. “You can be here.”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: She smiled softly and stroked a hand over his head, the glint of her black eyes showing through the tangled mess covering her face. The mark between them that seemed so similar to Stonegit’s blindness. Of course. I will always keep it in mind. Her smile widened into a crooked smirk. How is that Blunt of yours, anyhow? Staying out of trouble, I incorrectly hope?
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: “Ah…” Stonegit rubbed the back of his head. “He and I uh…we’re working though stuff. But we’e sticking to it…” The guard then thought of his complicated relationship with Haddock, Nala, and practically everyone else he knew in the rebellion. “Which I suppose is pretty normal for me.” 
He began to walk with no specific destination in mind. He just wanted to enjoy the feeling of his friends company again. “He hasn’t changed a bit, and the idea of me coming home at night with you possessing me would give him way to many bad ideas.” He smiled. “But that doesn’t matter. My home is your home now too for whenever you want it. And I’ve been working with a lot of the guards, so I can have a trust worthy team of replacements when I take some time off…which I will be doing, at least once a week, for you Woodchuck.”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: As he paced away, she dissolved into a cloud of red essence to catch up with him and re-formed at his side, her twin tails swaying as she strolled next to him. He barely reached her shoulder in height. Behind them, the woman got to her feet, shaking her head, and she and the Warden simply nodded at each other, as she began to unroll her bundle and set up a small fire in front of the Warden’s body. Possession of any kind has never sat well with any of the rebels since the end of Ragnarok. I would never want to cause trouble for you, with your husband or with your King. She looked away again, eyes hidden. I fear I may not be near as often as we may like; it is simply the nature of protecting so many places at once. Her voice was wistful and tender, and it strengthened into determination. But I will see you as often as I can, now that…now that things are better.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: “I know…we each have our job. But neither are we far away from one another. Eventually I’ll end up out here again and you’ll, hopefully drop by my house. No one else need know. And even if they did, it’s far from a breach of security given your Hel appointed position.” Stonegit looked up at her, and his heart felt warm. “I never hated you…” He suddenly said. “Not after the duel, or the war, or any moment after that. I just couldn’t. Yes…things are better.” His eyes lifted up to look at the sky above them. “Cause we’re here…and all of that…is finally in the past.”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: Hah…I see. A soft bout of suddenly-bitter laughter drifted from the demon. The past is so…far away for mortals, isn’t it? It is your past, but for me, it all may as well have happened yesterday. Her hand lifted and tightened around her own upper arm, claws digging into thick fur. It is finally settling in for me, after Greg…the knowledge that everything I have now will be gone tomorrow. The question of…any of this being worth it, in the end.
She stopped and looked over at Stonegit, almost pleadingly. Is it, dark-eyes?
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit was quiet, and then looked at her very pointedly in the eyes. “Human life is fleeting. But a soul is immortal. So when I die…I’ll eventually come back.” He reached out to her. “It is all worth it. What you do impacts eternal souls, you…you absolutely changed my life and I…and I can’t thank you enough.”
His face set resolutely. “When I come back, no matter who I am, I will be carrying the memories of this life, whether I realize it or not. And when that happens I…will…find you.” He gave a smirk. “Or more likely you’ll find me and that will be a very…very interesting conversation.”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: She looked at him with something approaching shock and wonder, and her face tilted so that one of her eyes was visible. It was shining with emotion, despite being as black as Hel.
Is that true? she said urgently. For…for anyone in Hel?
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: “Honestly, I didn’t keep up with the details of Hel’s works. And even if I did, she left a lot of it for us to figure out.” Stonegit confessed. “As loyal as I am to her…” He huffed a small laugh. “Now that is…I’d ask Tornpike about it. He has a small temple and has been a minister to the rebellion ever since the first battle. But…” 
At his next thought Stonegit became very thoughtful. “Near as I can tell…Hel meant for this system to apply to everyone.” He shook his head. “But details aside. Yes, it is true Woodchuck…it was the very thing the war was fought for…I’ll be around. No matter how old you get.”
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: Stonegit was overtaken by another smothering hug, both mental and somewhat-physical, as the Warden exhaled in a half-sob and embraced him again, tails swaying excitedly from side to side.
Why didn’t she tell me!? she suddenly spat, looking very put out and disappointed as she leaned back from Stonegit. This could have made me…maybe I would not have… She snorted and shook her head. Whatever. Decisions have been made, and cannot be reversed now. But she looked as though a massive burden had been unrolled from her shoulders.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit held tightly to her. “She always did seemingly keep all the important bits of info to herself. But looking back, I tend to realize that we, one, never never seem to ask about it. And two, somehow…we always seem to find things out right when we are meant to…and everything works out in it’s own way.” He shrugged. “Who knows…maybe without these tragedies…we wouldn’t be here. Maybe we would have lost ourselves and one another in some way. I cant really say, but what I can say, is that no matter what was supposed to be, I am happy we…” Stonegit trailed off, so many words…He felt as though the greater meaning of his feelings were being lost to them. So he, once again, simply relaxed into the presence and arms of his friend, and allowed himself to just feel, and let her feel in turn.
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden: I know.
 She let their emotions flow between them freely and simply looked at him, remembering the hotheaded, stubborn, youthful, broken bodyguard she had originally grown a liking to. His old scars, along with many new ones, were faded but still present, a standing testament to the hard times he had been through with and without her. 
Blinking, Nala looked back at the meager fire behind them, and then back at Stonegit. Perhaps I could ask a favor of you, little one? My friend and I have been busy for…months, as of the present. She struggled to name a specific amount of time. She is quite exhausted. Would you house her tonight, before we return to where she belongs?
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: “If she can tolerate loose lipped oaf for the duration of her visit.” Stonegit huffed. “Of course she can stay.”
Category:Events
Category:EU
Category:Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss
Category:The Warden