(2023-10-15) Trust Will Come With Time

Details

Author:	Alli
Summary:	Vond and Etone catch up with the other Sunstrike, Aszera, to ask about her experience with death knights, among other things. ~6700 words.
Rating:	M for Mature 17+

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discussion of death knights and permanent harm due to poor decisions, mentions of alcohol and violence, brief vague innuendo

It is another gloomy day in Zul'drak, and while the Argent Stand is still subject to assault by roaming packs of mindless Scourge, the square is quite well fortified. Remarkably, the intensity and frequency of the need to raise the alarm seems to be diminishing over time.

The Argents have been able to withdraw from the Altar of Sseratus. Opportunistic spirit binders from the upper tiers who had come to claim fields abandoned by their workers have similarly been discouraged from their summonings. The nerubians who had spilled forth from Kolramas have been thinned and dispersed, and though some Argents caught in the Drak'sotra battle had been lost or turned, others had been recovered safely. Many small points of relief were adding up, while at higher elevations, the remaining Drakkari were occupied with a terrible destructive war with their own wild gods.

Things were finally beginning to point toward a less beseiged standing for the remaining Argents, and some were even beginning to become restless for a next move - a sentiment that flowed through the primary encampment increasingly by the day. A few at a time had been able to begin to be cycled out for psychological reprieve, and others diverted to meetings with Ebon Blade allies.

In such a state of things, Etone and Vond had arrived at the stand after making some rounds in the region, conferring with some outpost captains for whether the Confessor's services would be in immediate need. Vond frankly looks baffled at the relative calmness of the area as they ride in from the west.

Aszera Sunstrike is at the edge of the camp, sitting against a broken Drakkari pillar and apparently finishing up some weapon maintenance. She looks a little more at ease now than she did in the early days, whether that's from more familiarity with her comrades or less frequent Scourge attacks is anyone's guess. She does not look toward the Confessor and the paladin as they ride in, but she seems to take note, sliding a blade into its sheath and rising to stand.

Then she turns towards them and raises a hand in welcome.

Etone offers an audible "Oh!" as Aszera motions in welcome, he turns to Vond and murmurs, "She's the other Sunstrike, yeah?" in a volume only Vond could hear.

The redhead offers a friendly greeting in the same fashion: a raised hand. "Light bless, sister." He seems to be more cordial than last time they met.

Vond catches sight of Aszera as well after finding his footing out of the saddle of a perfectly ordinary looking horse. He gives pause, blinking over at her blankly as if he was weighing something in mind - an audible pause between the sound of his boots landing and his voice.

"Sunstrike, hey." The tone is a little awkward, a little how's-the-weather. "Things've been turning around a bit out here, huh?"

Aszera walks over to meet them, and says, "Yeah, think we're finally cleaning things up? I've been mostly helping around on this terrace, but I heard there's been a push all the way back toward Gundrak. Next stop - Icecrown. Maybe."

"Mmmn, maybe." The redhead casts the quickest of side glances toward his partner before pulling his scarf down from about his face. "If we don't run into anything else unexpected. I feel a lot of the younger ones are getting impatient. Have you been keeping well yourself? No troubles or sass?"

Vond sounds a little less forcibly casual, instead a note of somber consideration creeping in, preceded by a sigh as he glances toward the northern great stair beyond the Stand. "Gundrak. That's it, then, I gather, if the word I've seen is anything to go by. They stopped firing on us to turn on the rest of their gods."

He lapses into a pensive pause for a spell before seemingly returning to the present, echoing Etone. "If anyone's given you any guff we'd care to know for sure, but last I saw you were keeping well occupied. Has the grand crusade turned out anything like you expected? Scurryin' about watching overhead for gargoyles and all?"

Aze tries her best to look innocent - Who, me? Impatient? - but the blindfold and inability to widen her eyes probably ruins the impression.

"No, not really," Aze says with a shrug. "Nothing that rises above general mistrust - no one's raised a blade at me. And I've been keeping as busy as I can. I think I'm suited to the work. Everything good where you've come from?"

Etone visibly looks relieved, if it's one thing he'll not stand for it's harassment of - well anyone besides undead. "Glad to hear it, it's not often there's trouble with these folk, but glad to hear regardless." He snorts a short laugh before offering a shrug, "The trust, well it'll come with time."

Vond starts toward a bit of a smile at Aze's assessment of herself as suited for the work - he had caught a little of her readiness to join in to support an allied mission on quick notice - but it falters at her question. "The good news is that our messenger Brendol Westwind was recovered, if you'd heard anything about that incident. We were off investigating about a month past, and, uh. We actually worked with your sister on the task.”

"She tells us you're aware of all the, mn." he tilts his head vaguely. "Of her current status. Light, has it been that long already?" He eyes Etone with a hint of befuddlement. Maybe they really had been keeping busy enough to make the time seem short.

Aze nods at Etone's assertion, and then turns towards Vond as he speaks. When he mentions her sister, her frame tenses, but she nods.

"Her current status," Aze repeats a little dryly. "If you mean that my sister's a walking corpse, then yeah. She didn't hurt you or anything, did she?"

Etone snorts another laugh, "So you're not on talking terms then?"

Vond knits his brow slightly, sounding slightly eased, as if he found Aze's concerns sensible, while at the same time contradicting them. "No, actually, far from it. I assure you that I share ongoing concerns with havin' 'em about, the grave dodgers, but Syarra was nothin' but serious and deliberate about the entire operation. She and the other Blade she was with applied themselves in a combat engagement with us 'n Cobalt, and even took out an enemy death knight. They appear to actually want to tear up Icecrown. Hmn… I dunno what to think about her husband, though."

"Oh, no, we are," Aze answers Etone first. "She's very stubborn, and she wanted… well. It's been a long path. Kit's said she'll use us a positive example of reunion." Aze then adds to Vond, "It's good to hear she worked out with you all… saving a messenger, you said? I know she wants to work more with the living, but there's stuff she doesn't really understand anymore. And Roper? Yeah, he's… unique. You should've heard their wedding vows."

"He's rather… Lippy." Etone offers with a slight look of distaste. "Your sister was rather decent to work with, though Roper…" He twists his head back and forth trying to decide. "I'm not… Hmmnf, he seems goal orientated… But I'd not turn my back on 'im in an unlit alley."

The paladin gives a bit of a discomfited shift, expression souring slightly at some memory or another. "Was a bloody spy. Probably still is. You heard all that uncanny shite he knew to get me off my balance," he murmurs, seemingly to Etone, apparently unconvinced by Roper's recounting of events. "'S fair disconcertin' the more I think on it, now that we're trying to trust 'em with increased contact."

Vond studies Aze momentarily. "The concerted work is likely to continue. If you know anything we ought to be aware of for cautionary purposes, aside from the obvious."

"He's not so bad - he made my blades." Aze hesitates, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Reluctantly, she says, "I give them a hard time, but… they've proven trustworthy to me. Both of them. I could explain more, if you want, but… should we go somewhere to sit?"

Etone offers a sharp nod, "If you've time? I'd be all for a chat." He peers about the terrace and hums, "Do you have a tent set up or a place in mind?"

"I've got a tent, if that's comfortable enough?" Aze tilts her head in the direction of the inner camp, with its canvas and campfires. "Might be a little cozy, it's not a command center. But I think three can fit?"

Vond blinks in mild surprise. "You sound like you know them fairly well? I mean, that's rather to be expected in the case of your sister." He begins heading off toward where she'd indicated. "If it's too much getting in the way of your space I'm sure there're benches about." Somewhere. Probably in constant circulation here and there.

"Well, I know two people can fit for sleeping anyway, but I haven't tried three yet," Aze says, with no indication she's said anything scandalous. "I haven't brought all that much with me, so we should be able to sit."

"Should afford us some privacy as well - let's then?" No indication of scandal implied or taken. "Sitting three should fit then mmn?!"

Vond throws a vaguely amused glance toward Etone at Aze's comment, and gives a bit of a shrug - what are you going to do? He holds the flap of the indicated tent. "You two fit yourselves. I wouldn't count on privacy hereabouts regardless."

The indicated tent is relatively small, but indeed three people can fit in sitting around the edges. She indeed doesn't have very many belongings, a rolled-up bedroll, and a larger, soft-looking bag that probably contains clothing and other necessities. It is so spartan, in fact, that one might guess she's become accustomed to traveling only with what she can carry.

Aze moves into the back of the tent and sits back on her heels, motioning the other two to join her.

"A little privacy, I hope," Aze says, glancing at the fabric of the tent. "But comfort, too. And a little bit of warmth? I wouldn't want to talk your ears off standing where we might get a Scourge wave at any moment."

Etone quickly follows her in, sold on any prospect of warmth, parking himself down toward the back he motions for Vond to follow. "Pardon the intrusion, and thanking you for the hospitality. " His words are genuine enough, maybe he does have some manners.

The paladin follows in once the smaller figures seem settled. "Well, maybe a little, but you just never know who might be milling about among a patch of thin tents." Vond sounds mildly amused and perhaps like he is speaking from experience as he crouches into the space. He also might be coming across as somewhat more at ease around Aze than initially.

"But for talking our ears off, does that mean you've a mite to speak? For yourself or for the allies in question. I'd be interested to learn a little more, given the prospect of ongoing cooperation."

"Yeah, sure, if there's anything I can tell you to help. I've known them both for months now, after all. Yara and I started off a little rocky, but I meet up with her every week now. We've been doing that since before Northrend. As for why I know they're trustworthy…" Aze hesitates, considering the two of them, and says with a touch of reluctance, "I may have… sort of… thrown myself at their mercy by more or less by accident, and it worked out alright."

Etone perks an eyebrow, "Months?" The second eyebrow jumps at her further statement, "Okaaay, more or less..? Now I'm curious all over again."

"Every week?" Vond repeats, somewhat mystified. "And here we are, tryin' to manifest and keep an open dialogue. Had I known, I surely would have asked you to accompany us in addressing them. You were with them in some kinda straits, then, and they proved themselves revenants of their word?" He raises his eyebrows. "It would comport with their showing on the field. It was only later the fellow tried pulling some kind of headgames."

"He likes the headgames, I think," Aze says with a shrug. "It feels sort of like sparring? You can always strike back, if you can figure out how. I don't think he'd get angry or anything. Probably the opposite. So yeah, where should I start? With the whole trust incident? The very beginning?"

"Whichever you're more comfortable with?" Etone hums.

Vond seems to seriously consider Aze's instinct of the matter, tipping his head up with a light 'huh.' "I'll keep that in mind, though I was rather caught off guard certainly before. And for sure, I'm keen to know how you got the clear sense you were safe around 'em. Where would it be the most natural to start? We only know 'em through this past battle, and very briefly passing Syarra at Quel'danas. We, uh." He glances to Etone. "Didn't fully put together that chance meeting, with encountering another Sunstrike, somewhat surprised as we were with your own situation."

"Quel'danas? Huh, I didn't realize you'd met, or I would've said something. Though I guess I'm glad to hear I didn't remind you of a death knight," Aze leans towards them a little with a brief chuckle. Then she settles her hands on her lap and lets the levity fade. "I was still mostly in Outland back then. So… trust. It was after I'd defected, after the Black Temple fell, and after the Sunwell. I wasn't really sure of my place, so I was trying to keep a low profile. I'm not really good at doing that in a… continuous way." She gestures with one hand you know how it is. "Then Syarra told me she was going to Northrend, and I thought I'd just follow by portal. I didn't like the idea of being stuck in a zeppelin with people who might turn on me while we're flying over an ocean, you know?"

Vond side-eyes Etone with his flamboyant look and general loud bearing. He probably does know how difficult it is to keep a low profile. "Right, I can't entirely guess at all the obstacles you might've found, but I'm… glad you were able to get away from what the others were following through with, what little I know of it. So you arrived here after some of the ley line repair, then."

Etone nods knowingly. "Mmn, 's not especially a warm and fuzzy kind of feeling. Defecting from an organization such as that isn't without it's perils - ou- your kin surely must have understood at least?"

Vond glances back and forth again between the other two at Etone's comment, eyebrows perking, as if he was slow on the uptake of putting together this potential point of commonality.

Aze shifts her shoulders. "It seems so? Nobody's tried to kill me or anything like that, but I wasn't sure. I guess I've always figured… if there's a question you might not like the answer to, it's better to just not ask it. Anyway, there were a lot of cracks to hide in, among the sin'dorei, and I found that most people won't press if you claim a tragic war injury." There's something a little guarded in her expression as she adds, "I was pretty sure the other side wouldn't look for me, and now they're gone. But back to the story… ley lines, I didn't quite wait for them. I made it back to Silvermoon before all the trouble started, and then… I ran into an old acquaintance in the Magisters."

Etone offers an off hand comment, "Lucky for you." as he leans forward invested in the story.

Vond gives the priest a mild questioning look. If a curiosity about the other demon hunters arises, he doesn't press it. "Before the trouble?" There have been so many troubles.

"The ley line stuff, specifically," Aze clarifies. Indeed, a world of troubles. Aze traces a finger in a kind of zigzag pattern up her forearm, covered as it is now in leather armor. "Anyway this mage, she wasn't most people. And she happened to see the… well, let's say the bars of the prison. She suggested, rather forcefully, that I be a test subject. I suggested, rather forcefully, for her to fuck off and leave me alone. The portals weren't ready yet, and anyway I wanted to disappear." She takes a breath. "So I stowed away on a zeppelin."

"Oh good, with the potential folk wanting to off you, mmn?" Etone stares at Vond stupidly, what?

The paladin seems to take a moment to link the meaning of the gesture with the turn of phrase, the light turning on visibly in his expression when it clicks. "So at least someone in Silvermoon presumably knows of your predicament. I hope you didn't find this magister, mn, the sort that might potentially take their interest strongly enough to pursue you further?" He sounds hopeful that this might not be a trailing end of potential trouble.

"Oh, she definitely is, but I'm not alone anymore," Aze gives a brief nervous laugh. "She thinks she should get whatever she wants. Her little sister…" a flicker of pain passes over Aze's expression. "That's a different story. Staying focused. The zeppelin, yeah. I figured if I wasn't on the passenger list and I didn't get caught, it was a perfect getaway. And it did work - except I was pretty starved and exhausted by the time I got to the tundra."

"Light preserve, you had nothing to eat or drink that entire time? Please tell me you packed something at least?" That seems to be the only scandalizing part in the story so far for Etone.

"I… stole a snack or two, here and there?" Aze says vaguely. "Honestly, after the first few days the memories are kind of a blur."

"It's certainly a credit to your ability to find a good hiding spot," Vond muses while frowning thoughtfully. "If you do expect anyone coming 'round to pester you be sure to let us or the others 'round here know. How'd you get on once you landed?"

"I take it the trip was uneventful besides wanting for food and water…?"

"Yeah, pretty much. No one chucked me in the water." Aze nods. "And once I landed, I thought I'd just go off somewhere and figure out how to get by. But… Syarra was waiting for me. Turns out she'd been going by the zeppelin stand every day, in hopes I'd turn up."

Etone offers a quiet huff as he chews the corner of his lip in thought, "She seems to care for you quite a bit?"

"That's… a rather greater show of sentimentality than I might've expected. She didn't seem the sort, on top of the obvious, but what do I know." Vond blinks a bit. "Unless she wanted something from you."

Etone offers a quiet hum in questioning agreement with Vond.

"Yeah, two perspectives, right?" Aze runs one hand through her hair, a nervous gesture. "My sister loved me. My sister's walking corpse, I don't know. I've got some ideas on that, but… what I know for sure is her actions. She and Roper were living in an abandoned yurt in a Tuskarr village that fell to the kvaldir. She carried me back there and they… took care of me. Even though they both knew I wouldn't be missed."

Etone interjects softly, "Mmn, I think you're mistaken there." He points to Aze and offers a lopsided smile,

"D'you think they really might retain that sense of affection for those they knew in life?" Vond sounds uncertain, perhaps slightly troubled. "Even perhaps goin' through the motions of a memory. Regardless, it's… a bit of an additional look at the two of them. If they would help someone in the isolated wilds…"

He gives his head a light shake. "Maybe they really are the right ones to move this project forward."

Aze smiles faintly in return to Etone, and then answers Vond. "Maybe? Maybe they want to, if they don't. She was insistent on that from the beginning, 'I just want my sister back'. Whether it's because she feels the same, or remembers the feeling, or just wants the ties she thinks are hers…" Aze shakes her head. "But Roper I never knew in life, just after he was with her, so there's no lingering affection there. But he didn't attack me when I was in pain, made me weapons, bought me clothes…"

Etone offers an arched eyebrow and hums, "Just because they are undead doesn't mean they can't feel emotion - I mean look at the Forsaken. Maybe I've missed the plot there…"

That wasn't something expected out of the redhead's mouth.

The human gives further pause, frowning pensively. "P'raps he is going off Syarra's regard. Alternatively, he's a bloody spy and is just workin' you for an advantage, any advantage. Intriguin' as it might be to suppose they are all looking for a genuine connection other than as campaign allies - as seductive as that possibility might be be especially to those that knew 'em prior - I've got to wonder what we stand to gain by encouraging that. Imagine a future where Icecrown is emptied of its ruler. Where the Damned threaten us no longer."

He does not sound entirely like he can actually imagine it, and eyes Etone at that. "Regardless of what they might feel, we know behind it all is a need to harm and torment. What if they've been brought back into the graces of living kin, and run out of other targets to brutalize?" He makes a face. "That is the difference I am seeing."

"I think… she does feel things," Aze says slowly. "Maybe it's an act on Roper's side, but she's not a spy. Why would she marry Roper, if she had no feelings? And it's easier to get her angry now - she was more patient before. Once, she said something about how difficult it was to feel happiness. That sounded real." Aze rocks back a little, and adds carefully, "I know she has to hurt people, but I don't think she would turn on me. I thought she would, at first, but… well, I've tested her a lot, along the way."

Vond's look turns sympathetic at Azsera's assessment, then he narrows his eyes. "Tested her," he repeats, almost disbelieving at the audacity. "As in, tryin' to taunt out a reaction from their darker instincts. I knew you were a bold one from the history, Sunstrike, but that's…" a particular lack of self preservation? "…gutsy."

"Trying to see if it's real… the emotions…?" Etone asks.

Aze gestures at Vond, and then Etone. Yes, that. "She likes to be so calm and composed, so I push her off-kilter sometimes, see if I can get her to react more naturally. And the rest…" Aze looks a touch apologetic. "She likes to pretend I'm safe with her, and I need to know how far that goes. The first time she sought me out, I uh… felt the need to make a point about that. She broke my arm, but left before anything else could happen."

Etone looks scandalized, "She broke your arm?! Light preserve - that's terrible, yet you still sought eachother out afterward?" He turns to Vond as if looking for some kind of reassurance that, this was in fact, what siblings do.

Vond offers no such reassurance, just an alarmed owlish blink through his goggles back at Etone. "I'd call that a little more than off-kilter," he insists, and sounds more indignant and protective than might be expected given their initial hesitancy about her.

"See, that's exactly the reaction I was trying to get at the time," Aze gives a flash of a rueful smile. "So I guess that means I should explain it better. For… various reasons, I didn't believe she was my sister at first. I was warned she knew where I lived and she was going to seek me out. So I just sort of settled in and fortified with wine. Then she was there and trying to convince me she was still Yara, and saying things like she would always be safe to me. It sounded fake, and I was upset, so I forced a demonstration by… well, by stabbing her. Everything after that was her lashing out and then trying to get out of the situation. I sort of thought that would be the end of it, that she'd stop trying, but… like I said, she's stubborn."

Etone chokes on his breath as Aze further elaborates. He quickly recovers once he remembers she was facing her sister as an undead - frankly he'd probably try and finish it.
"O-oh?" Is all he manages while recovering.

There is also a silence from Vond as he seems to make an effort to absorb all of this. "It was only a provocation?" he finally clarifies to himself with a hint confusion, perhaps giving voice to the inclination the priest left unspoken. Once past the startlement that this is the sister she has been speaking of in exculpatory terms, stabbing the undead does seem reasonable. "And after all this you two, uh, are getting along…" Another side-eye.

"She and I… we… I admit it wasn't the best start," Aze says, curling her arms protectively around her torso. "That was late last fall. And if I'd had anything to do with it, that would've been the end. Not that… I probably wouldn't have tried to kill a death knight while drunk alone in my apartment. I do have some sense of self-preservation. Sometimes. But I wouldn't have seen her again. She just doesn't let things go. And it worked out, eventually. Once we saw more of each other."

The glance Vond gives Etone this time is eminently suspicious - it is clear he finds something fishy about Syarra's persistence on this matter, though perhaps uncertain on where exactly the hitch lies. "Well…" he begins a touch hesitantly, "if your relationship with her is improved, and she is genuine on it, that's p'raps another favorable point to how things are proceeding with the Blades. I don't suppose there's anything you're aware of you'd have us know to that end, is there? On the point of training our people with 'em, keepin' the association peaceful-like. They seem to fancy 'emselves our best point of contact and self-appointed sifters of the other ones."

"Maybe so," Aze says, turning her face down for a moment. "If you want me to be there, to help, I can be. Like I said, I lived with them for like a week or so, I can handle being around them." Turning back toward Vond and Etone, she adds, "As for the rest? I think they're sincere about that, getting along with the living. They want a place in the world, and I think they're afraid some of the others might mess it up. I can't fault them that."

Etone rolls his chin over his knuckles in thought before finally offering, "Maybe … Would you? It might be easier with someone more familiar with how they ((read Roper)) operate. I'm not keen on the idea of having easily spooked Light users face off on friendly terms with powerful undead. It's more than likely going to cause more friction than boon." He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs loudly. "It does none of us any good to see either side go full out on first lesson mmn…" He seems to be speaking from some kind of personal experience.

Vond blinks at Etone. "You really think they'd give us trouble on the matter after all that? You were the one who raised the thought of making more contact, after all. It's not like it's something I relish the idea of, but isn't it better this way than in the path of a Scourge deathcharger?" He lifts his hands in emphasis, a bit animated on the point. "What if it's something we'd be able to drill instead of dreading the chance of? The certainty of? Wouldn't it make me - us - more fit for purpose?"

He seems to take a moment to catch himself and slow down a faster pace of breathing. "Azsera, I'm sure having you there would be to others' benefit as well, especially if you're comfortable with some light sparring with 'em. Do some demonstration, ease folks into it who were roughed up when they were enthralled."

"Sure, I'd be happy to help," Aze smiles. "I've sparred with Roper before, and that went fine. It was pretty fun, actually. There's this element of strategy when you're trying to figure out the bounds of what another person can do and they're trying to figure you out… it's like a muscle I hadn't had a chance to stretch in a while." Aze pauses. "I can see how that might be rough for people who faced these particular ones under less friendly circumstances, like at Light's Hope. Do you really think they'd break?"

Vond seems to give the question a personal amount of consideration, a faint grimace emerging from a sternly pensive look. "If so, it would be better to find out now than in Icecrown," he insists, "but not if it can be helped, if there is any potential for allaying that through training. Who can we spare after Drak'sotra, after everything here?"

Etone simply stares at Vond with a tight lipped frown. "I'd certainly hope not, however…" He sighs loudly, "I do recall the two of them going at it a bit hard. Mnf!" He offers a short laugh in reply.

"I should… probably not go all out either," Aze mutters, tilting her head into one hand. "That might not help."

Vond calms a bit to regard Aze with a reserved curiosity. "Oh? What would you expect to happen should you do so?"

"Well, I want people to see I'm one of us," Aze says. "Like when I went on that mission with that Silver Covenant group. I'm still good, even without using anything… obviously demonic. That's why I was chosen for the whole… demon thing… in the first place. Just means I have to keep Roper from goading me on."

Etone groans, "Yes, that's what I'm hinting at. He has a knack for goading people on. I'm hoping you'd be able to help me reel that in…?"

The paladin gives a slightly hard blink at Aze's statement. "I - yes, I appreciated your willingness and capacity for such a task, but. Are you saying that the thing you have control of, that resides in you, you could give vent to its properties if you so chose?" He leans aside from Etone then and gives him a very pointed additional blink, as if shocked that he seemed to have known about this.

Etone offers a lightly put off /haah/ at Vond, one corner of his lip curled up with a hint of his teeth showing before shaking his head and harshly blinks his eyes.

"Mmn, yes, I am a bit curious on how that whole thing worked out." He vaguely waves his hand in Aze's direction, in the most polite fashion he seems to be capable of.

"As for the goading, I can try," Aze shrugs at Etone. "I can take it, and I'll… try not to get carried away. If I forget, you can always tell me to back off, and I will." Then she takes another breath and says, "As for the rest of it… yes. That was sort of the point, wasn't it? Unless you're going to be like Sil and tell me there isn't a point."

Etone offers a confused shrug. "I've seen warlocks convinced they could control their 'pets' and be run through just the same."

"I'm not saying it couldn't happen," Aze says with a touch of weariness. "I've seen it happen, a number of times. I dream about it, sometimes. But I'm as careful as I can be. And if I don't use the power I get from it, then it's all for nothing, isn't it?"

Etone quietly considers this.

Vond braces his palms together before his face and tilts his mouth against them with downward stare of recentering focus. For whatever reason, he clearly did not fully consider what kind of capabilities Aze might be hinting at. Perhaps events of Outland really had been mostly stuff of distant hearsay.

"No, of course it wouldn't be for nothing," he speaks up after a moment. "The fact that you're here with us fighting as you are means it wasn't for nothing, that you resolved to get free of it as far as you were able, yeah? Am I under a misimpression to believe you thought of it as a mistake? I took you for fortunate to have gotten out with your life, and principled for wanting to pledge it to this cause."

Aze straightens in alarm. "I… no… yes… of course it was a mistake. No, you're not wrong. That was clear from the moment I…" she raises a nervous hand again to her blindfold. "But I can't undo anything. It's all just part of what I am now. Some of it, I don't know how to not use… I can't close my eyes."

Vond nods slowly, his voice is fairly calm, not accusatory, but possibly out of his depth. "Right, okay, that's - that's how you see, through its help." He furrows his brow with a faint quizzical note in his tone, as if reaching tentatively for whether he might be on the right track.

"I suppose this is something we'll have to figure out how best to navigate as we go, along with everything else we've got coming up." He rubs at his temple faintly. "I mean, beg your pardon if this is uncomfortable, 's really not my aim to needle or castigate. Just, y'know, real unfamiliar territory, here. I can't say I fully grasp what kind of magics you're dealing with or the dangers therein. Only what I know of demons and hexes, which are admittedly not generally foremost among Argent concerns and experience."

"No, it's fine if it's uncomfortable. I promised you both that I wouldn't hide anything, not from my brothers and sisters in the Light," Aze says, with an anxious edge to her voice. "But I haven't given you any reason to regret giving me a chance, have I?"

Etone offers a loud, dismissive, huff as he chides Aze with a wagging finger. "Now now, none of that! I've said nothing of the sort to indicate I've any sort of regret, in fact you've been nothing but helpful. If I were displeased with the outcome, you'd know."

Reaching out to pat a hand across on her shoulder, the redhead smiles brightly, "In fact, I'm sorry if we've given you that impression at all."
Sometimes, in short bursts, it's easy to see how he can be a confessor - other times it's downright a mystery.

Vond starts as if to reach out for Aze's forearm, but pauses in uncertainty. Etone had broached the reassuring pat attempt already. "Hey, he's right - not at all, not at all. Like I said, I've personally seen you be willing and able to lend yourself to this fight. Look, I've had time to give it some further thought, and I know it's not really the same thing, but you've seen the freewilled dead who're a part of all this, right? Not the Blades, just ordinary victims of plague and war who by turn of circumstance find themselves in this state, separated from the Light's warmth." A touch of sentiment, solemn and sincere, surfaces in his tone.

"They can't even enjoy that, themselves, nor many of the regular benefits of life. Those've us who're sensitive to it can still tell something is wrong when they are near. Others are disquieted by their countenances, and we all know that in a just world there would be none who suffer the indignity of such a condition.

"And yet, they are here with us for the sole purpose of doing the Light's work, and for carving out a future for the living. Is that not exemplary? Does that not make them among the most truehearted among us?" Vond raises his eyebrows slightly, regarding Aze with a pointed look than she may or may not be able to detect.

Aze seems comforted by the pat, and the words. Some of the tension runs out of her shoulders and her tone as she adds, "I wouldn't say I'm much like the undead. Whatever the state of my soul, I'm still living. But… I take your meaning." She gives another quick flash of a smile and says, "So, maybe if I start looking a little too… fel… or demonic… or anything, you'll just let me know and I'll knock it off? And I'll do my best to keep the death knights that I know from going off the rails with anything. I think I can do that."

Etone leans back and mumbles to himself in thought, "It might be worthwhile to see what you've got - some folks aren't sure what to make of anything of demonic as well -" He blinks up from his thoughts and offers a sheepish shrug. "A future project perhaps."

"I… um," Aze traces one hand along her arm in a zig-zag pattern. "Like I said, I promised honesty. Maybe we could spar sometime like we used to in Shadowmoon."

"Right, definitely not the… same thing. Just, yeah, something to keep in mind if folk seem put off at first. And possibly even someone to think of speaking to on a point of commonality." Vond palms behind his head, looking down in thought for a moment. "Every one of 'em that wears our insignia has earned their regard tenfold. I—"

He gives pause, staring at Etone, perplexed. He definitely looks like he wants to argue, but merely goes through a few conflicting expressions and hurriedly adds, "For now, probably best to keep on as it's been, focusing on keeping it all in check and all. You've been perfectly valuable as a fighter all this time." He clears his throat a bit. "Was there anything further we could do for you before giving you some peace, Sunstrike? You'd be a welcome sight at the next gathering with the Blades."

"Then I'll be there," Aze nods. "And if you've got any more questions - about them or me or whatever - I'll be here. And willing to answer. I'm serious about this, about being helpful, about… being a good ally. And I will stay in control. I've lasted this long."

Etone offers softly, "Please don't forget, you've only to ask and support is readily available for you 's well, should you need or want it sister." He's genuine with his offer and it's quite implied that he'd be the one offering a hand in need if she needed.

Vond relaxes back a bit after he peels himself away from staring disapprovingly at Etone. "You've given no indication of anything other than holding to your word, and I believe in your promise. You have our word in turn to be straight with you if we observe anything troubling, as you've asked.

"As far as I'm concerned your resolve to serve with us in spite of it all speaks highly for you, and though you're in a rare situation, it's showin' that there's coming back from where you've been." It seems he has reconsidered some of his early hesitance at this point. Reaching back, he swipes back the tentflap and begins scooting out in the effort to not catch anything in his armor, then offers Etone a hand up after finding his feet.

"I am with the Confessor on this, of course. We will be about."

"I'll probably take you up on that," Aze says, not rising from her seat, but with every indication of watching them depart. "Someday."

Etone is quick to follow Vond's exit and offers another curt nod as he takes the hand offered. "Mmnf, that we will, and thank you for taking this time today, I'm grateful for the conversation and company."

Aze smiles. "Anytime."