Fighting ghosts (Fate of Marek TP/RWA under siege log)

BlisaMarshmellow · 2018-10-06 02:36:26 PM

SCENE: Redwall Abbey Infirmary

CHARACTERS:
Mice: Emyuil, male. Angela, female.

LOG:
The Abbey has been under siege for far too long, and it is starting to grind on the nerves of even the most seasoned creatures. Angela is busily making soup that smells worth fighting off rabid badgers for. It's one of her ways of destressing. The sun is shining brightly outside, making the Autumn day seem more cheery than it really is. Nissaya is conspicuously absent, having been sent off to find the old Healer's grandchildren. DoraRose has just left, so now the elderly mouse is waiting for her grandson. Waiting. Patiently.

Right on schedule, Emyuil pops into the room. "Ye wanted to see me?" His voice is casual enough, but his posture betrays the tension thrumming within the mouse's core. He needs to be doing something, anything, rather than idling.

Looking up at her grandson, Angela smiles and gestures to a nearby seat. "'Ave a seat, son, and share some soup with an old mouse." She dishes them both up some soup, then slowly sits on a stool opposite the one she told him to sit on. "I wanted to talk a little. What with a vermin worse than Marek at our doorstep, I figured 'twould be better now than later, seeing as how later might never come." Not waiting for a response, the Healer sips her soup and adds, "Y'know, y'remind me very much o' your grandfather, David Mightyone. Crazy old coot, best Warrior Tuscani could ask for. Saw more battle an' sorrow than yer father did.....may'ap that's why Farrer was so calm an' gentle, while you and 'Rose and David are beasts to be feared...."

Emyuil sits down, listening closely as he quietly sips his soup. He doesn't say anything just yet, but nods appreciatively at the comparison between himself and his grandfather.

Angela picks up the big spoon and stirs the soup that's in the pot, her eyes having a faraway look in them. "'Rose's daughter is so much like yer mum and my 'usband....'e died shortly afore 'Rose was born, y'know. Oh, 'e would've loved you kids. 'E didn't let all the death we tried to fight embitter 'im, like I did." She sighs, sorrow etched into her weathered face. "I saw so much death, Emyuil, most of it I couldn't stop, even though I tried. Do you....no, maybe you don't. I'm 'aunted night an' day by the beasts I couldn't save, I 'aven't been able to save in my life as a 'Ealer." She glances at him and forces a smile. "My 'usband," she can't seem to say his name, "'e wasn't like that. 'Is 'eart was wide enough to 'andle the loss an' still 'ave nothin' but grace an' love. You an' 'Rose seem to 'ave that, too, and so does your Lily."

Emyuil nods slowly. "I...think I understand. I sometimes see the vermin I've fought. Granted, it was something that in all likelihood had to be done. But sometimes I wonder if I would've stopped there. If I would've ended up becoming what I fought. But still...it doesn't matter anymore, does it? Because I've been found. I have a home, I have you, and 'rose, and Lily, and that's what I fight for. Not revenge, not anymore. I do my best to be worthy of my family's love. That's why...that's why I can still find wonder and light in the world, in the middle of the dark."

Angela smiles, but it doesn't seem to reach her eyes, to be real. She reaches forward and goes to squeeze his paw. "Aye, you've grown past yer sorrows. Both o' you 'ave. I..." she looks back at the soup. "I'm not sure I can, old as I am. I couldn't even save yer grandfather....m' 'usband. Wasting disease, 'e 'ad. 'Nother 'Ealer told me 'twas a consuming tumor." She shakes her head. "I wish I 'ad pushed through.....'adn't left. May'ap I could've saved yer sister. I never even got to meet 'er." She looks at him again, a tear trickling down her wrinkled cheek. "I'm so sorry, son. I wish I could make it right, but...I..." she can't go on. It's a bit amazing that she was even able to get this far, seeing as how this is the most vulnerable she's been in.......since before she came to Redwall, actually.

Emyuil returns the paw squeeze, and reaches out his other paw to firmly grasp his grandmother's shoulder. "It...it's the past. There's nothing we can do now. And no...you can't make it right. But I forgive you. And..." he trails off for a moment, choosing his words carefully, with almost surgical precision, wielding his mind and voice like he wields his blade--utterly turned to the destruction of his enemies. In this case...the enemy is the sorrow his grandmother feels. "I forgive you," he repeats, stronger now. "And you know how you can make it right? You can't undo what happened already...nobeast can. What you *can* do is be here for us going forward. And move on from past choices. The future is bright. Once we kill Ormaz, we'll know peace again. And I think I'm learning to understand why beasts desire it...I want you to be here with us, to see that bright future, to enjoy it. Because the best thing you can do now, is forgive yourself as I forgive you."

Angela looks at her grandson, another tear trickling down her cheek as his words touch a deep wound in her heart. Bowing her head, she goes to move his paw to her forehead, then she sets her bowl of soup on the fire's hearth and begins to weep....which she hasn't done for far too many seasons.

Emyuil pauses, considering his actions. Then, he sets his soup aside as well. "Not every battle is fought with a blade," he murmurs, half to himself, before embracing the old mouse, bowing his head slightly as well. If allowed, he'll hold her for as long as she needs him, saying nothing, but letting love and forgiveness radiate through his actions. He will fight this beast of sorrow within Angela's mind, until it is powerless to hurt her. And he will fight the ghosts of both their pasts, until...only ashes remain.

~*END*~

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#1 2018-10-06 02:36:26 PM

Fighting ghosts (Fate of Marek TP/RWA under siege log)

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