[Storm's Edge] A Long Overdue Discussion

[Seira Shiryu]

1st Vhalar, 720


Seira glanced around the room while she waited for her twin sister to get ready to face the trial. The room itself was a constant reminder of how their circumstances had changed since she and Seri had been removed from the ranks of the Knights. There was nothing wrong with the room itself. It wasn't any smaller than the rooms that they had had as initiates. But where they had each had their own rooms in the barracks, the two of them had to share the room they had been given in the civilian sector.

It wasn't that Seira minded sharing a room with her sister. They had shared a room for most of their lives. And even after they had come to live with their mother, they had still had sleepovers in one of their rooms for special occasions or if one of them needed comfort. The problem was the size of the room. A room that could house one person comfortably but was on the small side made a tight squeeze when it had to accommodate two teenagers...even if the teenagers in question were scrawny little things. And they had finally started to grow a bit, so they hoped that they wouldn't be quite so scrawny for to much longer.

"Are you ready to go?" Seri asked.

Seira nodded, and stood up.

"Do you think that we'll be able to talk to Mom totrial?" Seira asked, her voice filled with a hope that she didn't truly feel.

It had been more than a full season since they had been removed from the ranks of the Knights, and not once had they been allowed to speak to their mother since then. Seira knew that they were in the middle of a siege. And she certainly didn't think that her own needs were more important than the defense of Rharne and this outpost. But it was hard to believe that in all of this time there hadn't been a few bits somewhere where they could have spoken to their mother and explained why they had left the Knights. Seira was also worried that their leaving had looked bad in the eyes of the Knights, and that their mother might have been shamed by what was clearly a lack of...something...in them. If nothing else, quitting after such a short period of time when joining the Knights had been important to them for so long had to make them look flighty and undependable. Seira and her sister simply wanted a chance to explain what had really happened.

Seri snorted.

"We haven't been allowed to see her since we were kicked out of the Knights. Why would we be allowed to see her now? Our mother is "too busy" to be bothered with the likes of us." she said bitterly.

She hesitated for a trill, realizing what that sounded like.

"And before you say anything, I know that it isn't Mom's fault. I bet that the people who keep promising that they'll give Mom our messages when she's not busy haven't ever actually told her that we've been looking for her."

Seira nodded. They'd never be able to prove it, but she believed the same thing that her sister did. It was the only explanation for why it had been so long since they had even seen their mother when they were all living in the same outpost.

"We still have to keep trying though."

"Yeah...for all the good it will do."

The two girls shut the door behind them firmly as they left their room. They made their way to their mother's office in silence, having memorized the way there long ago. The man at the desk sighed when he saw them coming, and Seira took that as a bad sign. It didn't stop her from asking if they could see their mother though. The man hesitated for a trill, and Seira wondered if they might actually get to see their mother totrial. But then the man's eyes narrowed and he stiffened as he looked at them, and her brief hopes were dashed. She had seen that expression a thousand times now. It said that she wasn't worth their Commander's time, and that she had a lot of nerve even asking if she could talk to her own mother.

"Commander Shiryu is in a meeting right now. If you want to leave a message with me, I'll be certain that she gets it when the meeting ends." he said in an annoyed tone of voice.

Seira wanted to call him on it. Something about his expression, or possibly his tone made her think that her mother wasn't in a meeting at all. But...she didn't have any proof. And she was a civilian now. If she had had very limited authority as a Knight Initiate, she had even less now that she was a civilian...and Seira knew that. It would do no good for her to make a scene, and it might even get them kicked out of the outpost, so she refrained from doing so.

"Just that Seira and Seri Shiryu would like to speak with her when she has the time. It isn't urgent."

The man nodded.

"I'll be certain to give her your message."

Seri snorted, but said nothing. They had expected this exact response, after all. Seira simply nodded. She thanked the man politely, and started to walk away.

[Vivian Shiryu]

Before the twins could leave the room, the door to the hallway opened and Faris Wright walked in. Faris had been Vivian's assistant ever since the attack on the plaza, and had been around Vivian's house a fair bit during that time. Usually the inquisitor, who's specialty was undercover work on the docks, was dressed like a sailor, or dock worker, or any such thing. This time, Faris was actually dressed like a knight, cleaned up and in uniform. When she entered, she paused and looked at the kids in surprise. She knew them from her visits to Vivian's house, and she cocked her head to the side. "Seira, Seri? When did you two get back to Storm's Edge?" she asked. Then she took in the expressions that question got from the two girls and Faris's own expression hardened. "I see. Which means...you two stay with me." she said, shutting the door behind her and walking up to the desk.

"Appellant Faris Wright reporting to see Agent Shiryu, at her command. And you'd be smart to let her know her kids are here as well." Faris said, her tone profoundly formal. The man looked Faris and the kids over and let out a cold huff. "The base commander is in a meeting. I already told those two I'll give her a message when she gets out of her meeting and I'll do the same for you, Appellant." he said, picking up his papers with an air of dismissal. Faris, for her part, gave the man a cold look. "Very well, Private. If she's in a meeting, we'll be more than happy to wait here for her." she said, her tone frosty. When the man looked up and started to speak, Faris cut him off. "But I doubt Agent Shiryu is in a meeting right now, because the meeting she's supposed to be having right now is with me. Now, as I said, go tell her we're here." she said, her tone bordering on an order.

The man got up, his face red and angry, but before he could say anything, the door to Vivian's office opened and she stepped out, stopping at the scene in front of her. "Ah, Faris, there you are, I was wondering when..." she paused and looked at her kids. "Seira, Seri? I was told you'd been sent back to Rharne, when did..." she paused at a look from Faris, and then her face hardened and she looked at the Private who had been manning her front desk. "How many times did they ask to see me?" she asked, her tone cold.

The man paled, then started to speak, but Vivian held up her hand. "No, let me guess. Almost every day, right? And you've been deciding that "I'm too busy.", right?" she said, her tone deceptively calm. The man nodded and Vivian gave him a look that set him trembling. "So let's count the ways of how stupid this was, yes? First, those are my children you've been stonewalling, for which I would normally issue a challenge if I didn't outclass you enough that I'd be liable to kill you on accident." she snapped, causing the man to turn very pale. "Second, it is not for a Private playing desk jockey because he's not fit for combat to decide who a superior officer does and doesn't have the time to see personally. Third, not passing along messages you are given is flagrant dereliction of duty. Fourth, you tried to keep my children from seeing their mother." she said, her tone growing angried with every sentence.

Then she turned to Faris. "Appellant Wright, I know we were meant to meet today, but I'm afraid I have some pressing matters. However, I do have an assignment for you, and you are welcome to join us after it's finished." she said, taking a notebook from her pocket and writing something down and signing it before tearing the page out and folding it. "However, for now, I need to escort the Private to his room, where he will pack his bags and place them and himself on the next transport back to Rharne, where he will be undergoing remedial combat training and disciplinary action." she said, handing the note to Faris.

Faris nodded, gestured to the man. "Come on, idiot. Before you get yourself court marshalled or punched." she said, her tone firm. The man, now outright shaking, stepped around the desk to follow Faris out. "Seira, Seri, it was good to see you both again. I'll be back to catch up once I'm done taking out the trash, yeah?" she said, grinning at the kids as she led the Private out of the room.

Vivian sighed and shook her head, before looking at her kids. "I am so sorry, to both of you. I was told you had already been sent back to Rharne, I didn't even know you were still here or I'd have tracked you down myself a long time ago." she said, hugging both her children. "Come on in, Faris was my only meeting this morning and she'll be happy to see you both too." she said, opening her office door and ushering the two children in. "So are you still sleeping in the barracks? Or did they make you move out? Doesn't matter, really, I've got the commanders quarters now. It's a suite, since it's designed to house a family, so you'll be moving in with me." she said, her tone calm.

[Seira Shiryu]

A voice called out to them as they moved towards the door. Seira stopped. The voice sounded familiar, so she turned to see who had spoken, and saw Faris Wright, a woman who had been to their house several times in the past. Seri stopped when she saw that her sister had, and frowned at Seira in confusion. Seira gestured towards Faris, and Seri's eyes widened.

It wasn't that Seira was surprised to see Faris there. She was her mother's assistant, after all. No, it was the woman's words that confused Seira. Seira glanced at her twin for a trill before turning back to Faris.

"We never left." she said simply.

The man at the desk frowned at her familiarity with Faris, so Seira quickly added a polite "ma'am," not wanting to cause any trouble.

Faris told the twins to stay with her, so they did exactly that. They listened with more than a little awe as Faris spoke with the man at the desk. She sounded completely formal...but at the same time it was obvious that Faris was not happy with the man. Seira wanted to learn how to talk to people like that...not that she really thought that she would ever be in a position to be able to. That would require having rank over someone, and it seemed unlikely that Seira ever would.

Then their mother came out of her office. When she seemed surprised to see them, and started to ask when they had gotten back to Storm's Edge, it confirmed what the twins had already been certain of; that no one had ever bothered to tell their mother that they wanted to speak with her. No...it was worse than that. Someone had outright lied to her and told her that they were no longer at the base. Seira couldn't help but hope that whoever had lied to their mother got in trouble for it.

Their mother asked the man how many times they had asked to see her, but she answered her own question, and she proceeded to dress the man down. Seira felt a wave of satisfaction at that. Normally, she didn't like to see others suffering, but in her eyes, the man had asked for it. Their mother gave Faris a mission, and the twins smiled weakly when Faris grinned at them as she led the man out of the room.

Their mother hugged them as she explained that she had thought that they had been sent back to Rharne. Seira and Seri hugged their mother back, taking reassurance from her words. Once they were in her office, they answered her questions.

"They did move us into the civilian section." Seira began.

"The room they gave us was...well..." Seri started to say before she hesitated uncertainly.

"It isn't a bad room, really. It isn't any smaller than the ones we had in the barracks. But...it's just that...we have to share the one they gave us now. And while it's enough to accommodate one person, it's a tight fit for two." Seira said at last.

"Thanks for letting us stay with you." she added with sincere gratitude.

Seira hesitated before continuing.

"I'm not sure what you've been told about...well...everything. But I'm assuming that you know that we're not initiates for the Knights anymore?"

Seira couldn't help but wonder exactly what their mother had been told. If the man at the desk had lied to their mother about them still being at the outpost, what might he...or someone else...have said about why they weren't initiates anymore?

"We wanted to explain why we quit. Seri and I don't normally start to do something and then give up on it quickly like this. It's just that..."

Seira fell silent, trying to gather her whirling thoughts.

"We were told that even as a support Knight, we would be expected to be a fighter first, and support second." Seri jumped in when she saw that Seira was struggling.

Seira nodded.

"And we're not...we can't...we can't do that." Seira said softly.

"We were prepared to fight if there was no other choice. Like if we had to defend a patient that couldn't be moved when the infirmary was attacked, or something. But even that would be a case of fighting to hold off the enemy until real help could arrive. And only once we had learned how to fight in the first place. We're not prepared to be sent out looking for pumpernickle flame creatures to fight, though, and it sounded like we would be expected to do just that. Or to stand as part of the first line of defense if the outpost is attacked, and that...we can't do that either."

"We'd be dead if we tried." Seri added simply.

"We're learning what we can, but unless the enemy is willing to wait several bits for us to draw our bows and ready an arrow to shoot at them, we'd be dead before we even fired an arrow, and there's be a hole in the line of defense." her tone indicated that she knew how unlikely it was that an enemy would wait for them to be ready to face their attack.

"Even if they did wait, it's unlikely that we'd actually hit anything we aimed at..."

Seira nodded again.

"We wanted to help the Knights. That's why we joined with the intention of becoming Support Knights. And everything we read when we researched the different branches suggested that the Support Knights are noncombatants. We still do want to help where we can. Seri and I have been working in the infirmary. We're learning as quickly as we can, and an unskilled pair of hands can be of a lot more use there than they can in a combat situation."

Seira hesitated.

"Before Ranger Vega was arrested, she had a really good idea. She spoke of a group of support that was separate from the Knights. One that had its own ranks and responsibilities...and were absolutely noncombatants. Do you think something like that might be possible, mom? If it was, Seri and I would love to join something like that. We could help by joining the Order of Adunih...but we want to do more than just heal. And if a...a support group like the one Ranger Vega suggested existed, we'd be able to. A group like that could do more than just help the Knights. They could help the Priestesses and the Order of Adunih too. They could even help the city directly as needed."

"If a group like that existed, I think a lot more people would be willing to join it than who want to join the Support Branch of the Knights. Seira and I knew several kids at school who liked the idea of helping the people who defend our city in some way, but were turned off by the thought that they might be in a situation where they would be forced to fight." Seri added.

Seira hesitated again.

"Did you get in trouble because we quit the way we did?" she asked anxiously.

"If what we did affected you in any way, we're really sorry, mom. I never would have thought that you might get in trouble for something we did before, but after everything that happened with Ranger Vega getting arrested the way she did...well...we were worried."

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian huffed when the kids said they had been moved into one of the civilian rooms. "Those rooms are meant for one person each, and not even really permanent habitation. Most civilians don't actually live here, even before the siege." she said, shaking her head. "And of course you can stay with me, your my daughters after all." she said, giving them a warm smile. As they started talking about why they left the knights, there was a low pitched rumble from the corner of Vivian's office as Raio stood from where he had been curled up.

The big Zephyrus stretched, then walked over and curled up between Seira and Seriel, giving off a purring sound that could be mistaken for a passing thunderstorm. When the kids were done, Vivian sighed. "I got the report of Vega's trial. She's actually been back, in and out of the fort for a while now on assignment. I have to give her etiquette lessons, but that's it. I actually wrote a letter to you both to tell you, but it won't exactly have gotten to you if you've been here the whole time." she said, shaking her head.

"But my standing orders, and since I was acting base commander at the time, my orders overrode anything he may have said, was that none of you initiates were to ever be anywhere near the walls. Asking a bunch of novices to fight monsters is stupid as well as contemptable." she said, her tone a low growl. She and the quartermaster, who had been returned to her command following the court martial, still didn't precisely get along, but he followed orders and as it turned out, he was actually pretty decent at administrative work.

"As for Vega's suggestion, her and I are tasked with coming up with a possible restructure of the knights to help address her main points. It will take some time, but there might a separated out support division. Something even more clearly distinct from the combat divisions of the knights. It will take time before that's done, however, and in the meantime, you can still study medicine and such here if you wish." she said, her tone calm.

When they asked if she got in trouble because they quit, she shook her head. "Nah. Initiates always have the option to resign if they find they aren't comfortable with the duties they're required to do. You simply exercised that option, rightfully so given the nonsense that was coming out of the quartermaster at the time. Some people may take offense to that, but they're stupid and need to get over themselves." she said, shrugging slightly. "Vega got in trouble because she punched a senior officer without issuing a proper challenge first, which we can't really let people get off with scot free. Given the circumstances, though, the commanders decided she was in the moral right, if not the legal right, so they gave her a light smack on the wrist." she said, grinning.