Thoughts of a Rogue

[DoS Archive]

Date: 9/21/97 8:14 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: EllisaMrgn

She had wandered back to the Annex to retrieve an item left. No, not left, discarded with a terrible fury. She entered the empty hall and paused, her face tilting up toward the rafters where the dagger was thrown. It was still embedded deep within the wood beam; her task was not an easy one.

Her mind turned over the conversation with her friend; though friend did not quite seem to fit the man and her thoughts toward him. It seemed an irony to her that a man that was not her lover should illict more feelings than the one or ones that were.

She was growing ever more tired with the politics in the arena, tired of the hassles she received when she volunteered her time, tired of the men that perceived her as an object to be taken. Make no mistake, she had no complusions against denying herself a man as a lover if she desired; however, here in the arena that perception of her had been highly exaggerated and it boiled at the edges of her rage.

As her thoughts wandered she dragged out a ladder from the back, setting it up beneath the dagger above. Climbing toward it, intent upon it's retrieval, she did not notice the one man that had entered silently and watched her.

How was it that this man that had never attempted to pressure her to a quick end in bed had captured her attentions so well? It was not that she could not have him, forsooth she had never tried. Words spoken earlier rang through her thoughts as she tugged on the weapon.

"I do not want you as a lover, my lovers mean nothing to me." The words were hers though the thought of speaking them brought a shiver to her spine.

"Thank you Ellisa, for being a friend."

"Do not thank me...I would have taken more given time. I just did not realize that I did not have that luxury.", she had glanced at him and nearly laughed at the irony of her situation. It was not she that would not be around and that caused her to nearly swing another punch at him; she was furious.

"So I suppose asking you to marry me is out of the question eh?", she had teased..hadn't she?

She tugged violently at the dagger, it seemed unwilling to give up it's hold upon the wooden beam.

"Careful lass,even dying men have their last wishes fulfilled.", his hand rose to her cheek and she moved to capture it with her own.

"It is you that should be careful ... usually I do not ask.. I take."

"Gads lass, what have I done to make you hesitate for? I have done all I know to do to let it be known I wished to be a prisoner. "

Thinking back upon the conversation, she had sounded much more serious than she intended, "All I could have taken was your body.... I wanted more... as I said before, I am selfish."

"There was more Ellisa,there was much more. But the past is the past."

She gave the dagger one last vicious pull and it came free; overbalanced and with momentum needing to be released she fell. Wincing loudly as she hit the floor, trying to roll to divert a bit of the impact pressure. After a moment, she propped herself up into a seated position, tucking her knees up, she wrapped her arms around her legs. She would be bruised badly tommorrow, she could feel the pain distantly.

How could she come to grips with this? Losing a friend by his own actions, one that she was realizing she wanted, perhaps needed, as more than just a friend. As she gripped the hilt of the dagger tightly, she could feel her soul taking one more step away from the port of Rhydin, away from the pain she had encountered here, far too bittersweet.

(Authors' note: This is not a "post" tacked up on the boards. It is a little story and there is only one person that witnessed the scene. Thank you. ~Ellisa's player)

[DoS Archive]

Date: 9/23/97 8:25 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: ThomStray

He stood watching his Captain silently, not wanting to disturb her obvious solitude. He watched the play of emotions that crossed her features and knew she was dealing with something difficult for her. He wrung his hat in his hands as he fought the urge to go and assist her with the retrieval of the dagger. He was her first mate and it should have been he that was tugging futilely at the buried blade.
It was more than that, he knew; she had taken him in off the streets, after he had attempted to lift her purse(a deadly mistake he had found out for others.). She was always there for him, no matter what he had done, she was always there to bail him out, or set him straight. It was only fitting that he was there to help her then. It wasn't 20 seconds from the time she hit the ground that he was at her side; she had already sat up and was gripping the weapon with an intensity that he had seen in
her eyes before and it caused him to worry.
"Captain, ah was in the neighborhood and thought maybe you would no mind giving me some company fer my walk 'ome.", careful..careful, if she thought he was suggesting she could not make it alone she would refuse out of stubborn pride.
She smirked at him. She knew, of course, and the fact that she extended her hand for him to help her up told volumes of the true pain she had to have been in. In silence, he wrapped his arm around her waist, pausing as she winced softly; then walked her home. The entire trip done in silence, for he knew her pride would bear no words. The weight of the silence bore down upon him heavily, for he sensed a storm brewing with no cover in sight.