Tending the Flock

[Kender Bard]

Mikhail was visiting Ridli before he went forth. He wanted to check on the people and assuage their fears or at least help to soothe them, but before he could do tha, he needed some help himself. Some priest.

"Do you think the bandits are all gone or dead?" he asked the older man.

[hisdivineshadow]

Ridli nodded solemnly. The biggest sign of how much the recent experience had shaken him was the absence of his usual smile. He poured two cups of tea and offered one to Mikhail. "Yes, I imagine we've seen the last of them. The . . . mercenaries . . . promised to do a thorough search of the area, just in case." The elder priest couldn't hide his distaste for those who would kill for money, but neither could he deny that they had rescued the village.

In the end, some lives must always be sacrificed for the sake of others, he reasoned as he sipped at his own cup. But to do so callously is to invite disaster upon your own head. I suppose the bandits reaped what they had sown. Our benefactors would be wise to take care, lest they suffer a similar fate.

[Kender Bard]

Mikhail watched Ridli carefully and then sipped his own drink. "You're thinking very hard about something, Ridli," he murmured. "Do you care to talk about it or should I take my leave? I want to help those who have lost loved ones somehow in all this."

[hisdivineshadow]

"Oh, no need to fret over me," Ridli answered kindly. "I was just pondering everything this village has gained, and lost, over the past few years." He gave Mikhail a searching look. "What of yourself?"

[Kender Bard]

Mikhail scratched his cheek idly. "I'm not sure," he admits. "I gained much when I came here and lost little personally when the bandits came. And yet, I'm filled with sorrow for everyone else that I might as well have. Not to mention I can feel the anger and sadness near the edge of the Veil about this place as well."

[hisdivineshadow]

"Even where there is little bloodshed, there can still be great pain. And the enlightened man feels the pain of others as if it were his own." Ridli sipped at his tea, then nodded to his companion. "Comforting others is often the best way to find peace for oneself." He tilted his head slightly in the direction of his door, and the village beyond. "But only if you feel up to the task."

[Kender Bard]

"I'd go even if I didn't," Mikhail admitted. "It's my duty and if nothing else I don't want it to ever be said I shirked my duty."

Mikhail sighed and ran a hand over his head, murmuring, "There's one more thing though Ridli. I wasn't going to mention it, but so long as we're talking..." He peeked through his fingers and said, "When the bandits were here I kept having reoccurring dreams."

[hisdivineshadow]

Ridli frowned deeply, setting his cup down and leaning forward a bit. "Is that so? What sort of dreams?"

[Kender Bard]

Mikhail pinched the bridge of his nose and then folded his hands and thought about it a moment. "A lot of fire," he admitted. "Houses, burning. Screaming. People running around with well armed men cutting them down. And, the strangest part... I felt incredibly guilty."

[hisdivineshadow]

Ridli shifted, sitting back in a chair and putting a hand to his chin. "Interesting. I take it this isn't some situation you recall finding yourself in previously? Or anyplace familiar to you?" He didn't want to pry, but he was curious about Mikhail's past, something the man had been rather tight-lipped about so far.

[Kender Bard]

Mikhail's eyes looked haunted. "Sort of," he said very quietly. "I mean, a man with a sword is the same, but the fire isn't."

[hisdivineshadow]

The pain in Mikhail's voice tugged at Ridli's heartstrings, but he resisted the urge to try and comfort the man as he would one of his younger charges. Instead he just kept his voice gentle and even, asking, "Do you know who this man is?"

[Kender Bard]

Mikhail ran a hand over his eyes and swallowed hard as he resisted the urge to break down over the issue. "In my dreams, I couldn't really see him well for all the smoke and confusion. I have no idea if he bears the resemblance of the man who killed my f-family."

[hisdivineshadow]

Ridli pondered this in silence for a while, then asked gently, "Would you like to tell me about them? Your family, I mean."

[Kender Bard]

Mikahil nodded and clapsed his hands, as though in prayer, and rested his forehead against them. "My wife... She was so beautiful. She still is. I wish you could see them..." He whispered softly. "Tall and willowy, but strong. Like a runner. Big brown eyes and hair that fell to her hips. And our daughter was shaping up to be just like her, young though she was. She came up to my waist and she was the splitting image of her mother except she had my eyes and my smile. She was a bit more quiet than most children, but so sweet."

He shut his eyes tighter and a shiver ran through him. "Why would anyone kill them?"