05-07-06

Characters involved: Keiran & Zoe_Lang.

RW Abbey: Library

After all that activity in the Great Hall, Keiran has retreated back to his regular habitat, the Abbey Library. As usual since the Long Patrol arrived (with a healthy supply of Salamandastron knowledge!), the librarian is hunkered over two books side by side, copying them carefully, word for word, for the Abbey Library.

Having finally concluded the task which pulled her away before, the Colonel finds her way to the quietest location in any locality, the library, a fact no less true here than it is at the mountain. Once she steps within the room and has a moment to soak up the warm sun, she lets out a calming sigh. "... Ah." She looks around and, not surprisingly, spots Keiran. Hm. She crosses over to him.

Keiran seems to be finishing up a sentence as he looks up, as he starts speaking before he sees who's entered. "C'n I 'elp... You? Ah, 'ello Colonel. M'apologies f'all th'interruptions b'fore. Y'wanted t'speak with me?" He slips a bookmark in either book, and closes them, folding his paws over one another on the table.

Zoe_Lang is watching Keiran rather closely. Extremely so, really. But after a moment she forces herself to focus with a rough shake of her head, going to take a seat opposite the buck. She smiles ruefully and touches a fingertip to her forehead with a small shake of her head. "Excuse me. Aye. I did. Yer.... brothah? Darklett? When's the last time you heard word from 'im?"

"...Well, jus' got this letter from 'im t'day. Delivered by a 'are in th'Patrol, Quinten." Keiran reaches into his pocket and produces the rolled up parchment. "I, uh. Know wha' 'appened, though. I was tol'." He shrugs, replacing the parchment into his pocket. "I don' und'stand /why,/ though," he adds, looking to the Colonel with a remarkably relaxed face. "Care t'ave a seat?"

Zoe_Lang has to make an effort not to smile wryly. Quinten certainly does go in quickly for the kill. She runs her fingers through her headfur, thoughtfully, and sits back in her seat. "I'm sorry you had t' hear it from a lettah. I'd hoped t' speak with you about it before you heard othahwise."

Keiran shakes his head briefly. "Actually 'eard from a doe named Flaxpaw, not th'letter. Th'letter w's written b'fore 'e was r'moved from th'patrol..." Keiran lifts himself up on his arms, and scoots backward in the chair, sitting more upright. "B'tween us, I do wish y'woulda tol' me an' not them. M'sure th'mean well, b't I fin' m'self knowin' very li'l more 'bout th'subject than I did b'fore I knew anythin'."

Zoe_Lang does smile, this time. "Well, young folks're always jumpin' to let folks know what they think they know..." She shakes her head, resting her paws together in her lap. "What d'you know about your brothah's past, lad?"

Keiran sighs, rubbing at his forehead back to the back of his head, scratching at one of his ears. "...No' much. I mean, I know where 'e was born, an' I know our fam'ly left 'im when 'e was... I think three, four seasons ol'. Aft' tha', I on'y met 'im c'mpletely b'acciden' when 'e was 'ere at th'abbey. S'really all I know."

"Yer family left 'im?" The Colonel's eyebrows go up, surprised and a little puzzled by this bit of information. "How did you come t' grow up without him? I feel..." She laughs, shortly. "I feel strangely /bad/ that I don't already know this, I'll admit."

"I guess I sh'd explain. Y'see, m'dad was a li'l..." Keiran bites his lip, then shakes his head, starting the sentence over. "Our dad wasn' all there. 'e an' Dark got inta li'l fights all th'time, an' sometimes big ones. Dark'd always smart off t'him, an' d'pendin' on wha' kinda day 't was, dad'd do anythin' from jus' yell at 'im an' 'it 'im a few times, all th'way up t'doin' tha', an' then lockin' him up f'a day 'r so. One day, dad took 'im off 'nta th'woods. I r'member 't clearly, 'e said it was so we wouldn' 'ave t'watch what 'e was doin' t'Dark." He stops here, looking up to the Colonel. "Er, well. 'e came back, but without Darklett. Runnin'. Out o'breath. Said vermin ambushed 'em when they went off, an' Dark got killed. Brought this back with 'im," he reaches under his habit and pulls out a necklace, the only charm a flat, smooth rock with a "D" etched into it.

Zoe_Lang considers the buck's words in careful silence. Family issues can be dangerous ground, which ought always be traversed with care. She proceeds with a simple question. "An' when he told you that? Did you believe 'im?"

Keiran nods immediately. "Yeh, I did. Wha' else was I s'posed t'believe? None o'us ever thought dad'd go tha' far. When 'e brought back th'necklace... I made 't f'him, y'see, an' I was 'is only friend. If 'e didn' 'ave this 'round 'is neck, I could only assume 'e was dead-- 'e guarded this thin' like 't was 'is only belongin'."

"Did Darklett evah tell you what actually happened tha' day?" Given the way she asks it, it's obvious Zoe hasn't heard the answer to her question from Darklett prior to this, and is actually asking.

Keiran shakes his head. "No... Well, I a'ready knew. Aft'r we fled our 'ouse, we w'on th'move pretty much all th'time t'fin' a new place t'live. Dad... 'e caught some sort o'sickness, an' died. Confessed t'what 'e did on 'is deathbed." The buck lets out a sigh, reaching up to scratch his ear again.

Zoe_Lang dips her head in a small but seemingly satisfied nod. "Hm." She leans back a fraction more, paws folding together on the flat of her stomach. "I want you t' know - Darklett was a fine majah. He served the Patrol just as he ought to've, nevah had any real troubles save fer his earliest days. I nevah doubted his loyalty t'us. I just want you t' know that."

"...Tha's good t'know." Keiran nods, taking a big breath and letting it out. A thumb lifts and drops on the tabletop, making rhythmic knocking sounds. "But 'f 'e was such a great major, then why's 'e gone? Nobeast 'as tol' me why... Only tha' 'e was 'xemplary in e'ery way."

"Because," Zoe replies as calmly as she can, "he admitted t' the murdah of several of Halyard's residents, the very day before he came t' us at the mountain 'n' joined the patrol." She cuts off a sigh before it can betray her weariness but does bend her head, rubbing gently at one of her temples.

Keiran's ears slowly turn back to his head. The hare is silenced by the news, his mouth opening slightly, brows creasing upwards. "...D...Dark?" Keiran raises one paw to cover his mouth, balling it up into a fist and resting his elbow on the table, wide eyes looking back towards Zoe.

"If it comforts you, most - almost all - of those who would bring him to bear for his task are dead or gone. Only a handful of Halyard's residents from that time remain. At the time of my leavin', he was still a free creature." Through all this, Zoe does not look up. And this time, her sigh is not silence. "I wouldn't have thought it of him, eithah. But he was... young. And easily led t' loyalty, is Darklett. Mayhaps I undahstand that a bit bettah, now." She shakes her head. "He was takin' by vermin, mayhaps not long aftah that day you told me of. And, at least at first, he was forced t' do things that he othahwise would not have done. But in the end, he claims t' have acted of his own free will. He named himself murderah, not I him."

Keiran's paw goes to his forehead now, and he just rests his head against it now, shaking it back and forth in what looks like disbelief. "Tha's not what 'e tol' me. Tha's not what 'e tol' me 'appened... Why'd 'e lie t'me? 'e'd know I wouldn' turn 'im in. 'e's blood!" The paw not holding his head slams on the table, making the sound resound through the quiet library. And after, as if realizing what he'd just done, he looks up and around the library and to the Colonel, before resting both paws on the table, leaning heavily into it. "Sorry. S'a little 'ard f'me t'take."

Zoe_Lang's ears twitch back at the loud sound and her fingers still against her temple. She glances up briefly, nods, shakes her head, and finally looks back down. "I undahstand. And... you said it yerself; you were his only friend. And 'is only family. T' have yer disappointment, even if you didn't turn 'im in, mayhaps the thought was too much."

Keiran sighs, holding it out for a long time, before finally breathing in again, lifting his eyes to the Colonel. "I 'ope y'don' min' me sayin', but y'almos' look as worried as I f'Darklett," the buck observes through a paw held in front of his mouth, which only slightly muffles him.

"... I watched him grow. The growin' that counts, anyway." The Colonel sighs, wistfully, and starts the rubbing to her temple once more. "He was sullen, weak-spirited, little, and petty when I met him. He /became/ a good, kind, and honorable creature, long before he became an officah." She lifts the paw from her brow and waves it, absently. "I nevah had a son. But I've fought with Darklett, more'n once, 'n' he's saved my life, what part of it's worth savin', more times than I could recount. He's not my son, but he's family."

Watching the Colonel over his knuckles, Keiran bites the inside of his cheek, listening to her intently. He nods once she's done, and folds his arms on the table, staring at them for a second or two, before he responds. "Und'standable, then, why y'feel th'way y'do. M'sorry, f'what s'worth, 'bout Dark, an' m'glad y'were there t'look aft' him... S'he doin' a'right?"

Zoe_Lang smiles briefly and shakes her head, waving Keiran's words away with that gesture. "/You/ sorry? Yer his brothah. /I'm/ sorry..." She looks up, then, considering how to answer the question. "I think he's hurtin'. The whole mountain's a-buzz with talk, 'n' I'm sure there's very few he considahs deah t'him that don't know at least some of what he's done. I don't know how they've all received 'im, but I'm sure it's not all been pleasant."

Keiran blinks a few times, slow closing and opening of his eyelids as he takes in the Colonel's reply. "...I see. S'there any way I c'n get a letter t'him? I think I sh'd a' leas' tell 'im I think s'alrigh'. I don't want 'im down f'too lon'. 'e makes me worry when 'e's sad, now. With wha' 'appened las' time 'e was 'ere, I don' want 'im doin' anythin' dangerous." He's, of course, referring to the explosive episode where he almost killed a couple creatures.

"I'll delivah the lettah myself, if you'll trust it with me. We'll be leavin' for the mountain in a few days, so s'long as you have the lettah t'me before we go, it'll get to him." She doesn't go into what happened last time.

Keiran nods. "I'll make sure t'get writin' as soon 's I can... Think I'll do 't now." The hare leans back in his chair, looking around his towers of books and reaching down to the side of his chair, coming up with a few evenly cut rectangles of parchment. "Thanks. 'e's gotta write back this time, too," he comments. "Thankya, Colonel. Wish I c'd come back an' see 'im m'self, but this'll do."

Zoe_Lang inclines her head. "I'll let him know he's t' write back." And then, with a grunt and a sharp, popping report from her knees, she stands. "Well, it's time for me t' be off. Have a good evenin', lad," she offers as she begins to turn, taking a step toward the door.

"Evenin', Colonel." Keiran sighs, scratching once again at his ears, and wondering where to start on his letter. "Dark, Dark, Dark... Wha've y'gotten y'self inta?"