Sabine arrives in Rharne & comes face-to-face with Vincent. [Vincent D'Ordyn]
43rd of Vhalar 716
Seated on the shores of Lake Lovalus, Rharne serves as the home of the Lighting Knights, the Thunder Priestesses, and the Merchant's guild. This beautiful trade city is filled with a happy and contented people who rarely need an excuse to party.
Timestamp: 43rd of Vhalar, 716 - 15th Break Location: The Docks
Rharne.
Memories of her homeland came rushing back as Sabine stepped onto the Docks and stared up at the mountainous city that rose before her. Though it seemed like a lifetime had passed since she’d last been in Rharne, the city was as familiar now as it had ever been. The wooden planks and cobblestone streets might have seemed more worn than she remembered and some of the signs were in dire need of a fresh coat of paint, but there was no doubting where she was.
She was home.
A man’s voice broke her nostalgia and pulled her back to the present. “I’ll ask again: are you sure you don’t want to stay with me while you’re here?”
Sabine smiled ruefully and hiked her bag higher on her shoulder. “I’m sure, Garrett. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer. I do. But you’ve already been so helpful and, honestly, everything I thought I came here for has changed. I just need a little time to myself to figure it all out.”
His expression grew noticeably unhappier, though Sabine caught only his nod of agreement before shifting her gaze to survey their surroundings. The Docks were as busy as she remembered, with locals and visitors mingling and shouting and lugging their possessions every which way. Overhead, gulls cried out in their own bid to be heard and cast fleeting shadows on the water as they circled the lake.
Other new arrivals pushed past and knocked into Sabine’s bag, reminding her that there were better places to stand than in the middle of a crowd.
She took a step forward and felt the ground shift beneath her feet. Vincent’s sheathed shortswords clattered to the ground as Sabine threw out her hands in a desperate attempt to keep from falling on her face.
“Whoa!” Garrett grabbed her arm to steady her and keep her upright. “Easy does it.” His earlier displeasure faded as laughter danced in his eyes. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a pair of sea legs. Just means you’re unused to being on land. Thirty trials at sea will sometimes do that to ya.”
Sabine groaned. “Brilliant. I get to look like a lunatic while you’re perfectly fine.”
He grinned. “It’ll wear off soon. Hold my arm if you need and go slow.”
“Thaaanks.”
She knelt down to collect Vincent’s swords and tried to ignore the unexpected lump that rose in her throat. Garrett had pestered her a million times to get rid of the swords – selling them to a member of the crew or throwing them overboard as some sort of cathartic release were his most frequent suggestions – but she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of them.
Not now.
Not yet.
Last edited by Sabine on Tue Dec 27, 2016 7:07 pm, edited 7 times in total. word count: 481
For the 5th day in a row Vincent found himself at the docks, watching ships come in. Sabine's vessel was due in any day, and he was set on being there when she reached the city. He had taken up a seat at on of the food stands that catered to the sailors and dock hands, and simply watched.
A few breaks had passed and Vincent was just about to call it a day when a ship came sailing into sight. At first it was still to far away to be sure, but the size and color were similar to the one he had boarded earlier in the season. As it drew closer Vincent became more and more sure of it. That was the ship that he had left Sabine on, and at that thought Vincent's stomach did a flip before diving into his toes.
Slowly the ship made its way into port and eventually people began to disembark. Vincent was there as people began to walk off the ship and on to the docks, and as dock hands moved to help unload the cargo from the ship. At first he didn't see Sabine anywhere, and then something drew his attention. The sound of something metal being dropped. The noise drew his attention, but he didn't think much about it, until he saw her. Sabine kneeling down to pick up his swords. At the sight of her safe and on the dock, Vincent released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Slowly Vincent made his way over to her, not caring much if people bumped into the arm he still had slung to his chest.
Eventually he was only a few feet from her and couldn't think of anything to say other than, "Sabine."
She gathered the weapons in her shaking arms and continued to stare at the ground as shock overwhelmed her. The beat of her heart grew louder and louder, and blood pounded in her ears.
He was alive.
Vincent was alive.
The realization nearly collapsed the walls she’d built around her heart in his absence. Vincent was alive. Vincent had fought in the Immortals War for Ethelynda and, against all odds, had come back to her in one piece.
Or rather, had come back to Rharne in one piece.
Sabine took a breath and willed herself not to care, to maintain the same indifferent disposition she had adopted out of necessity during the last few trials. She nearly managed it, too - until she stood and, finally, met his eyes.
All hope of remaining apathetic immediately dissolved when she saw his face. Emotions washed across her features: relief that he had survived, concern for his injury, grief for his betrayal, and, finally, fury.
She tossed his swords towards him and watched them clatter at his feet.
“'Sabine'?” Her eyes flashed with anger, though her voice remained dangerously low as she carefully enunciated each syllable of every word. It was the warning before the flood, the calm before the storm. “You lock me in that cabin, abandon me on that ship, and all you can think to say to me is ‘Sabine’?”
She curled her fingers into tight balls and stepped forward with the full intention of brushing right past Vincent and making her way into the city.
Except, once more, she stumbled.
“Fuck.”
Garrett again grabbed hold of Sabine’s arm to keep her upright. “I told you to go slowly,” he said.
“I don’t need your help,” she growled and wrenched her arm away.
Garrett broke his half-hearted attempt to ignore Vincent's presence in order to shoot the man a glare, as if to say, ‘thanks a lot, bud – this right here? This mood? It’s all your doing.’
He knew she would be mad, but hadn't expected just how mad. He could do little more than stand and stare at Sabine as she berated him for his betrayal back on the ship. She tossed his swords at his feet, and Vincent flinched as they hit the ground again. As she went to push passed him, she stumbled, and though Vincent tried to reach out to her with his left arm, but the sling and the damage to the arm made it impossible.
Instead another man caught her and Vincent finally took noticed of him. He looked strangely familiar, though Vincent couldn't place him, but the look the man gave him suggested he knew who Vincent was. With a quick glance at the man, Vincent knelt and attempted to scoop up his swords with one hand before turning to run after Sabine.
While her steps became more controlled as her legs adjusted to land, Sabine’s frustrations grew unbridled. The relief she’d felt for Vincent’s survival and the concern she’d had for his injury had gone up in smoke. Instead, she continued to kindle the flame of anger that had ignited the moment she’d seen his face.
Betrayal aside, the part that maddened her most was that all he could do was stare and say her name - as if repeating her name was the key to gaining her forgiveness. Not an apology, not an explanation, just her name and an expression so familiar that it made her chest tighten and her stomach twist into knots.
Bastard.
When he chased after her and called her name once more, she stopped in her tracks and spun around to face him.
“Don’t you dare ask me to wait.” Her eyes were daggers and her words were fire. “I’ve already waited, Vincent - waited for you to change your mind, to unlock that cabin, to come back for me. I waited twenty-eight trials on that goddamn ship.
“I’m done waiting for you.”
Her voice broke as she turned her back on him and began to walk away. “Just leave me the hell alone.”
If Vincent chose to continue after her, Garrett would step in front of him to block his way. “You deaf, mate? She said to leave her alone. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
On any other trial, Vincent might have been well-matched to take up the blonde sailor’s challenge. They were of similar height and build, though Garrett was perhaps a few inches shorter, and Vincent had the added bonus of arcs of military experience.
But on this particular trial, Garrett was at an advantage - and he knew it. He smirked and stared pointedly at Vincent’s sling, daring him to disagree.
As Sabine snapped at him, and demanded that he leave her alone, Vincent pulled up short. Just as he was about to make another attempt to reach her the same guy who had kept her from falling only moments before, cutting off Vincent approach.
Matching the man's glare Vincent watched as Sabine continued to walk away, but knew that he was in no condition to fight today. Grinding his teeth, Vincent's fist clenched and he, for the first time in a long time wished to be selfish, but controlled his anger and waited until Sabine was out of sight, and the man left him on the docks.
When he finally left Vincent deflated and felt his legs almost give out from under him. He had left Sabine on the boat so as not to loose her, but it seems that that had happened anyways. Feeling defeated, Vincent left the docks. Checking the swords in at one of the dock stations and had them bonded, but even the familiarity of the swords on his hips couldn't stifle the sense of loss that sat on his chest like a lead weight.
She knew that if she dared look back at Vincent, she would break. If she looked back, the tears she had somehow managed to keep at bay would spill over and she would fall to pieces in the middle of the Docks. Her bag would drop, her legs would give out, and the desperate loneliness she’d felt for the last twenty-eight trials would overwhelm her.
So she kept walking, fists clenched and heart pounding.
She hated that he could break her with a single word, a single expression. It wasn’t fair. He had betrayed her. He was the one who had torn apart their friendship by forcing decisions on her that weren't his to make. She’d left Rynmere - her family - for him, and he’d repaid her by breaking the trust she had continued to give him again and again.
And yet, somehow, as she left him behind with his swords and his sorrow, she felt like she was the betrayer.
It wasn’t fair.
“Hey, slow down!”
Sabine wiped roughly at her eyes with the back of her hand but didn’t slow her pace as Garrett came jogging up behind her.
“Sabine, hey.” He slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “Forget about him, okay? He’s not worth it.”
She stayed quiet.
“On the ship, you said you were done with him. That still true?”
She nodded.
“Well, Rharne’s a big city. If you don’t seek him out, there’s no way you’ll cross paths. Just forget that he was even here.”
Sabine nodded again and finally raised her eyes to meet his. “Can I sleep at your place tonight?”
He grinned. “Tonight and every night after, if you like.”
She smiled faintly. “Just tonight. I can't- I... I don’t feel like being alone.” Not again.
Intimidation: Easier to be intimidating when you aren't stumbling.
Intimidation: The technique of a really good telling off.
Psychology: We hold on to what helps us remember.
Psychology: Love and hate are very close to each other in terms of emotional response.
Seafaring: Sealegs on land are as tricky as landlegs on sea.
Location: Rharne
Location: Rharne Docks
Garrett: Protective... or controlling?
Garrett: Happy for you to come home with him.
Vincent: Alive
Vincent: Injured
Vincent: Didn't apologise
Detection: Spotting details of ships.
Investigation: Identifying ships from details.
Location: Rharne
Location: Rharne Docks
Sabine: Kept your swords
Sabine: Doesn't appear entirely pleased to see you.
Sabine: Done waiting.
Sabine: There's a bloke with her.
Loot:
NA
Fame:
NA
Devotion:
NA
Magic:
These points may NOT be used for arcana
Overview:
General comments. Another beautiful thread from you two! It's heartbreaking and I so hope that they make it all ok between them. I love how you write them, how wonderfully they work together even when they're so cross or so hurt. Poignant, beautiful writing. Story Vincent, I've docked 1 point of story because you wrote less than 1,500 words all in. However, that said, the words that you both wrote were just beautiful. It was a really lovely story and I am so rooting for these guys. Structure Beautiful, no issues. Love your writing.
Please do PM me if you think I've missed anything or you have any questions!
