(2023-12-18) An Abundant Source of Fuel

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Author:	Vond
Summary:	The day after the Scarlet Ambush and incident at Camp Granite Springs, Etone tries to inspire Vond while he is still shaken from the experience. Once they have gotten being dueling drama queens out of their system, Anna Byrne later joins them with her own offer of advice and a number of specific proposals - perhaps with her own agendas.
Rating:	M for Mature 17+

(Occurs starting the day after Variable Insight)

It was the morning after Etone had seen Vond to safety, making use of a newly built cabin in Light's Refuge. In time it was to contain the Confessor's office, but right now it was simply a residence to lay their heads, surrounded with the regular night noises of healthy forest in the relative safety of the expanding outpost.

Vond had known breathing exercises, yes, instilled in him in various forms and reasonings since he was an acolyte, and through to his field training and mentorship in the Plaguelands. They helped, much as they kept him even in combat situations, but there was only so much they could do, and his sleep had proven sparse and troubled. If not for a priest actively massaging his psyche into greater structure and calmness, it's not likely he'd have rested much at all.

He is hungrily searching cabinets for something to break his fast, wondering if the cabin is stocked at all.

The redhead offers a quiet groan as he tiredly massages the skin above the sinus area, half eyeing the rummaging paladin. Its unlikely he's gotten much sleep, if any, himself.

"Should be something to eat in there… Somewhere." Etone adds as an afterthought.

He watches Vond closely, would he be prone to relapse? If he nodded off would the blond be gone again? The thoughts almost overwhelming as he blinks hard several times in an attempt to focus.

"Need a hand at all, mmn?" He starts to get up from the chair he'd been seated in all evening but seems to wait a moment for the responce.

Vond surfaces with what looks like a tin of some kind of sorry hard biscuits with a huff. It isn't like they were expecting to occupy this cabin quite so soon. "You said there was a mess here somewhere, yeah? Might haveta go pester for somethin'…" Might have to wait for the breakfast bell, when the outpost staff and other Crusaders get fed en masse.

He shakes the tin a little and turns back, catching sight of Etone sitting there so exhaustedly, and the focused hungry look on his face cracks with worry and remorse. He draws near, his movements still a bit quick and energized with a layer of dark-circled lack of rest simply layered on top of the buzz rather than subduing it. He catches hold of the other's sleeve as he stands. "You gotta rest, Etty. I'll stay with you. Or I can try to find more help. There're priests here, yeah? Someone you trust?"

Etone knits his eyebrows and shakes his head, "No… No, I'm fine. Mmn, what time is it anyway…" He fusses in his pocket to pull out a small time piece and hums thoughtfully. "If we head over to the mess hall I'm sure they'll have something just about ready, perhaps we could beat the bell." He offers up a tired smile as he plucks Vond's hand from his sleave and deposits it into his own with a soft squeeze.

The thought of Vond going to find more help alone was so absurd that he sucks a short laugh back. Etone covers both of their hands with his other hand and sways the paladin's arm gently. "Hmm, others I trust hm? I suppose there are a few we could call on - though, perhaps, someone you're already familiar with - I wonder if she's arrived yet."

His expression conflicted as his gaze trails from the paladin to the door. "Are you - nnm, let's grab ourselves some hot food before we make any solid plans mmn?" Now that he's got Vond in his sights it's going to be a feat to let him go off alone. "A short walk, some hot food in our bellies, and the fresh air could do us nicely for a bit." Again he sways the paladin's hand in his looking a bit expectantly.

Vond nods his assent even though he cannot fully suppress that look of worry toward Etone, and perhaps a touch of general discomfiture, which is probably reasonably connected to the events of the previous night. "Ah, sure, yeah, I'm famished, you look beat too." He doesn't bother starting up the string of handwringing apologies again, having muttered them again and again since they'd arrived, clearly taking the whole affair as a matter of fault.

They accompany one another to the cookhouse to take a meal, some porridge and eggs prepared in great quantities to feed most of Light's Refuge in shifts. Vond seems especially nervous around the crowd, however, even though some of the Crusaders recognize him and try to make some genial welcomes and conversation. Soon they are out in fresh air again, and Vond is pacing a bit restlessly. "So, mn, that's like, your place?" He nods back up the trail in the direction of the cabin. "I didn't… guess I didn't realize how far along everything was, here. It's… it's nice," he admits, struggling to relax and take better stock of the wooded surroundings.

While the meal helped refuel his depleted stores, the redhead lags a bit as they walk. "Mmn, my office. Our place is still a bit off, so we'll use it for now."

He stops walking to take in the scenery a bit and reaches out to grab Vond's hand.

His voice quiet, as if it were any louder the calm might shatter, "Can't you see it..? How the Light covers the land - despite the biting cold and darkness so close? Look Vondy, it's almost blinding with life - This is a gift from the Light itself. It's for you Vondy…"

Sucking in a staggered breath, Etone murmurs, "How can you be so blind to something so obvious?" His voice a bit clearer now, "If only you could see what I see, the Light loves you, I love you. That is the truth, all else… Invasive thoughts." He pauses and squeezes the other's hand tightly, not wanting him to slip away. "I promise you that."

Vond blinks up a bit at Etone's first clarification. There can be a difference between our place and the office? And it's not all stuffed in a tent? He looks baffled, then at the hand taking his, hitches a breath and stops short from his restless shifting.

He gives the priest a wide-eyed, slightly harrowed look, struck through with an ache. "Is that why this is happening to me? Not enough counting my fucking blessings?" There is a snarl of helpless indignation in the sudden tense courseness of his tone - of course it wasn't, not entirely, but was the constitutional problem feeding off his frame of mind as much as generating it? From what Etone had been able to glean from his initial look, almost certainly.

He catches himself before he further follows the burst of anger, possibly as much at his whole predicament than anything, and turns away fom the other when a hint of shame crawls into its place. He reaches out for the trunk of the nearest tall, living pine, runs his hands slowly down the rough bark, then reaches into the mosses sprouting up among the roots, touch gentle, as if loathe to break a single strand. He stares at a patch of healthy green lichen lining the trunk near his eye level as if it might contain the antidote to the whole of the mortal condition.

"This will all be gone if we fail," he insists, leaning further into the tree as if it might catch him from a slippery incline. It is perhaps the first time he has directly voiced the fear that was the converse of the more typical words he had among the rest. Earnest attempts at solace, goading, inspiration to varying degrees of success.

"Am I not enough?" The redhead offers quietly before continuing in a louder, more assertive tone. "Then we won't fail. It's not an option." He lightly pounds on his own chest with a closed fist and huffs, "I might fall, you might fall, but we will never fail. The Light will prevail. It will. Not. Fail."

His conviction and unwavering devotion to the Light is palpable in its straightforward insistance… "We've come this far, haven't we? We've touched hell's face and been anointed in the Light's grace. We are here for a reason Vond - why can I see it so clearly - how can I convey the vision I've received with you - how can I impress upon you this truth?"

As he preaches, the ambient light around the redhead seems to sparkle and dance on the idle wind floating about them. One could easily be caught up in his way of thinking without much effort.

Vond swallows while flattening against the tree, pressing his face to the bark as if he were listening for something, until it agreeably leaves a trail of barkish indentations in his cheek. For the all the uncomplicated directness of the Confessor's words, there was that steady confidence and unshakeable faith that was always there. It was there in the face of demons in their terrible might and teaming many. It was there on the night before sailing, when sentiments were laid bare. It was there before the tide of death and hunger, and it was there at the pyres when they were lit and when they had to be moved on from.

"That's a question I'd love to know the answer to," Vond admits when he finally peels away enough to look back, and in the look there is an earnest longing. "Why is it that I've been to a place where the Light ran me through and slew every doubt it found, sincerely, and yet - and yet." He stands, a little dirtier for his efforts to get closer to the foliage, and reaches out for Etone's sleeve like an anchor. "How is it after all that I could think it had left us? I couldn't feel it anywhere… I thought we'd - "

He shakes his head like he were trying to clear out memories of a bad dream. There was something a little unreal about being in the living daylight, all warm sun and shady trees, wind shaking the green needles in their millions, with this slight creature claiming its earthly grandeur like a prism meant to scatter the Light drawn to his own radiant inner fire.

Vond's knits his brow as if struggling to process it all. "I - yeah, I know that, if we fall in the Light's service, that's hardly a failure," he confirms, looking somewhat confused as to why he has to convince himself of this obvious conclusion. "I guess I been… caught up in thinking about the Scourge pushin' this way."

Etone offers a loud sigh, "Vondy… I'm so tired… Sit with me?" His arms outstretched toward the other in a beckoning motion. "I've some ideas for ways to keep you grounded, but I'd like to talk with you about them first..?"

The redhead softly hums a calming hymn as he waits for Vond to join him. "Tell me honestly, are you at peace with me?" He pauses and attempts to clarify, "When we're together does the darkness creep up on you, or is it manageable…?"

"…just pushin' this way while we aren't in the right place and can't do anything about it and just rollin' over this place like - what? Ideas?" Vond shakes out of his trail of ruminations again, still holding onto the other's sleeve, and responds to the beckon by following through to move forward and hold fast to Etone with both arms. He draws them down to the roots he'd just risen from, either trusting the distance from the cookhouse for privacy or unconcerned, for the moment, of the possibility of fueling any rumors.

"You've seen," he murmurs. "I'm usually fine. Got a little unsorted after the Voldrune affair but carried m'self well 'til we were away from it, didn't I? This was different. I don't know." Vond draws a hand up to squeeze at his temples. "I could tell something was strange just before, before I met up with you after the meeting. I was trying to speak thoughtfully but words were just fallin' outta me like water, like they were backed up somewhere and I was just a vessel listening to them go on and on without me, not even sure if they were making good sense. Then that other shite happened - p'raps it was like all the death flowing through instead of words."

Vond shakes his head. "I'm not sure if that makes any sense. All the death we've been soaking in. It's welling up from somewhere until it's choking. Even you looked like death." His eyes flick up, both worried and apologetic. "Until that happened, yes, you've always been a source of inspiration and comfort."

Etone offers a quiet sound as he folds into the other's embrace. "Nnmf, did I do something wrong? Did I cause this?" he idly mumbles while resting his head on Vond's chest. "I need to think how to keep your mind off of death and decay, how to have you cling to the life and beauty still around us - what we're fighting for."

His eyelids flick shut briefly as he sucks in a long sigh. "I know you want to be on the front lines in Icecrown, and I'm sure of it we'll be there in time. But not as you are right now, I want to build you back up so you can punch that darkness square in the face an' say 'Oi fuck off arready!' - er…" He snorts a short laugh. "Or somethin' like that."

"I don't think you should work with deathknights…" His tone rather protective sounding. "Mnf, not for now anyway…"

"Tell me something, my love and light…" He starts to trail off before finally offering, "After all this is over… are you still with me?"

"I mean, would you humor me a while and imagine our future?" He shifts to stare into Vond's hazel eyes with a determined expression. "What would that look like to you..?"

Vond looks troubled at the initial line of thought. "What? Why would you think you caused this? No, look. I've had some kind of something hanging over me since… since we first had the Scourge, arright? You've been - listen, you've been brilliant, luv." He gives the priest a minor jostle, still drawing him close. "Do I need to go over it all again, how much I believe in what you do?"

He seems to hesitate, however, leaning back to peer at Etone questioningly. "I don't… of course I'm with you. Haven't we been a good team? Haven't we done good work? How many of our own d'you imagine are still kickin' about on account of you?" Vond seems to perk up a bit, then, tone emphatic, "It would look like us both getting to the citadel itself and giving everything we've got to see the tip of this spear straight into this germ of calamity's rotten heart. That's the future I am looking toward, soon as this - this odd turn…!"

Not only has Vond gotten a bit worked up, lifting Etone slightly with both fists bunched into his robes and stole, but he seems to have missed entirely what the Confessor was getting at.

Etone lets loose a rather pitiful whine as he's tossed about. "That's not what I meant and somewhere in that skull of yours you know it!"

"Would you have a life with me after that? What would that look like to you? A bed, a proper home? Haaah, I have every confidence that we'll get there and act as the Light's final word. Believe me, I feel it in my very being!"

"Oh Vondy… I can see it so clearly…" He reaches up and draws his fingertips down the paladin’s cheek softly, as if trying to impart his vision onto the other. "So full of life - seeing the young ones grow into their own, teasing as I trim your hair when grey sets in… I want to share that with you, a small guiding light in the pitch."

Vond's arms begin to lower, his hands unclench, as the intent tension in his face gives way to a look of bafflement and a distinct redness. "What d'you - oh, come off it," he sputters a bit, pulling Etone in against him again even as he protests, flustered. "I don't know if I can bear the notion. None of us are going to grow old unless - unless…"

He scans the mossy forest floor with searching eyes for a moment, as if trying to hold onto the image, then palms Etone's cheek in turn, expression taking on a fervent cast once more. "You called yourself a candle burning at both ends, and I can see it. Is that a thing that lasts, Etty? Or is it a thing that gives of itself to set the fire that will carry much farther?" Vond's stare is demanding, now. "Part the pitch for me to that end and I will follow. Let anything further be a treasured blessing, for however long we may hold it."

The redhead's expression clouds over briefly. Is that a thing that lasts? Of course it doesn't. Loathe to look away from the paladin, Etone quietly contemplates his answer, finally offering, "I need you to be free from your obsession with death before I can give you that fragile flame…"

His hands drag Vond's up to press against his throat, "If my death sparks the fire of victory, then so be it." His vision clear as he stares back into the other's eyes. "But I'd much rather see the end of it together - choose, my love, choose the Light and the life it brings and I will feverishly burn the pitch, consume it like it were my very fuel."

The redhead's pulse quick under the other's fingertips. "I want to see the look on that thing's blighted face when your blade of Light runs it through. Call on the Light and it will answer you, Vondy. You've got to regain your constitution, I can't lose you again to it."

"Obsessed - you think I'm obsessed with death?" Vond's expression rapidly fluctuates from confused to indignant at the suggestion, half his personal libram entries notwithstanding. "I'm not obsessed with death, we're just bloody marinatin' in it!" He catches himself starting to get worked up again and casts a look around rapidly at the surrounding forest floor, pulsing with the slow-crawling rhythms of life unsullied by blight and bathed in filtered light of early day - shoulders heaving as he gets a handle on his breath and train of thought, mostly. Perhaps he is finally starting to get the picture. If he was to truly face death's domain, he would have to leave it behind, at least for a time.

He palms both sides of Etone's neck, the living heartbeat in his hands, and bows his head in concession, tipping his forehead to the other's cheek. "Don't leave me behind," is his only insistance. "I can still fight. If anyone can keep my head on it's you, right? Just tell me what I've got to do."

"Who said anything about going with out you? I need you with me, but what you need right now is rest. I'm telling you what you need to do, but you keep fighting me on it. Rest and recover your stamina, then we'll march on again. Do some good for your fellow crusaders, boost them up again as well as yourself. Clear your head of all the horrors and see the miracles in front of you - mmn?!"

He shakes the blond's shoulders gently and offers in a soft teasing tone, "Do stop courting it, I'll get jealous."
It's meant to lighten the mood, but Vond could probably tell Etone might actually get jealous of a concept so heavily romanticized.
"I've sent for your mentor, I hope to speak with her soon. - I - can I trust myself to sleep and wake up to see you're still there?"

Vond forms a wince, at that. "Has she really got to know?" he asks, already knowing the answer. "An' you tell me. Have you given it all a proper rummage about?" He taps the side of his head, perhaps unclear of how much Etone has gleaned of his state of things. "Hm? Need me to wear a bell?"

"I don't know yet, do I?" Etone offers in an exasperated tone. "That'd be rather annoying though, after an hour of you fussing about trying to keep busy."

Vond lowers his eyes for a moment, considering and growing less facetious. "I don't want anything to go awry any more than you do, so if you need to meddle with anything for peace of mind just do it." He gives another moment's pause. "When do you expect Byrne?"

"When I have more energy myself, I'll… see what I can come up with. And hopefully soon, I need advice and I'm sure she'll have plenty of it to give…" He doesn't sound too enthusiastic about her joining them either.

☼☼☼

But join them she does. Several days later, a curt rapping of a mailed fist against the door of the cabin that is serving as the Confessor's office is the expected announcement that Anna Byrne has been punctual, as usual.

Etone offers a soft hum before rolling to his feet from his seat next to Vond. "Mn, that'll be Byrne."

Running his hands in his hair, Etone fixes his posture while giving the seated paladin a reassuring look, "We'll figure this out." he pulls the door open to greet the person standing on the other side with a tired smile.

"Thank you for coming, Byrne."

Vond starts up from the chair slightly. "Should I, uh, let you two talk a spell?" He still has some leaves stuck to the back of his shirt from an earlier walk - vacillating as he was between appreciation of the healthy nature around them and restlessness.

Anna is standing there in travel armor that is only slightly lighter than her full equipment, a hand on her chained libram and her sharp blue eyes scanning into the cracked door as soon as it is cracked. They seem to scour the front room quickly, desk and table, chairs and cupboards - a partition to some other area - and Satterly there looking more sheepish than she would approve of.

The glance settles back on Etone. "Greetings, Confessor," she speaks with her ordinary confident directness. "Brother Vond. Am I to understand there has been some matter of concern?"

Gesturing in welcome, the redhead steps out of the way and offers her better entry to the cabin.
"Mmn, there's been an incident - well…" He pauses and casts a side eye toward Vond before continuing, "-No, sit where I can keep an eye on you."
He's not quite at the roam free my dear paladin stage yet.

"He ran off, long and short of it, thought the plague had taken us all for dead- you've experience with anything like this in the past? I'm at a loss… There are certain things I'd like to discuss, please, make yourself comfortable."

Vond drops back to his seat with a rueful pinch at the bridge of his nose as Etone simply comes out with the summary of it.

Anna, meanwhile, slightly narrows her eyes and steps into the door. "Up, sit up," she insists of Vond's posture, simply, with neither great force nor the hint of suggestion. "Carry yourself as the Light's vessel." She seems too serious to treat this as a relaxed social call, and presents the admonition like reminder, a simple call to do the small things to keep imposing composure.

Seating herself, she regards Etone, takes a thoughtful pause, and changes the subject: "It's impressive how far this place has come in these past months. It appears quite adequate to give some respite, considering how harsh things have been for most everyone." Another slight pause. "You were involved in convincing the harried old smokehouse keeper with parting with this land, weren't you?"

Etone flicks a glance back at Vond before he offers Anna a cup of tea and sits across from her. "I was, he didn't protest much from what I offered. It was a fair trade."

There's a soft tap of his foot while he speaks.

Vond does not put much argument up to quickly arranging himself straighter, possibly on habit of answering to Anna in the past.

She keeps a cool, level eye on Etone. "You have a reputation for being convincing, Confessor, and a certain pattern of getting your way, wouldn't you say?" Her tone is more observational than confrontational.

She places her palms on the table, finally glancing down while reaching for some recollection. "My experience. Hm. I still remember how first touching the Light turned you into a gibbering mess, Brother Vond, and also how it often seemed there was something your squad wasn't telling me entirely."

Etone rolls his eyes, "I have no idea what you're implying."
He taps his fingertips on the table in annoyance.

Leaning forward he hums as she changes topic, "Touching the Light set him off hmn? - Look I'm not interested in shaming him, I'm interested in getting to the bottom of this and pressing the charge - "
He clears his throat, the last part probably offered up for Vond's sake.

"I'm not here to levy shame. I don't usually find it productive." Anna leans forward at the sitting table, again studying both men in turn. "I am here in the interest of finding out what has gone wrong, when for a while things were going so well - and if it can be turned about again, and regardless, what are the best steps to take for the Crusade's sake."

She eyes Etone evenly. "Neither am I hear to pry on personal matters, but you may understand that I could have reservations on the impartiality of what I might hear secondhand." The glance flicks to Vond. "I suspected something might have veered a bit off plan when I didn't see either of you return to the Stand after your Cobalt meeting, then got a notice of a few more infirmary shifts than I normally expect. Tell me the details as plainly as you might, with the understanding that the quality of suggestion I can offer is limited by your accuracy."

Time stretches as Vond recounts particulars of the recent incident with his usual meandering, worried, but fairly honest telling, stifled a bit by memory and the fresh fright of it, with Etone's input as well. The stress of Zul'drak and Voldrune and the Ebon Blade. The odd meeting that seemed both distant and flooded with words. The Scarlet Ambush, and subsequent confusion, how real it seemed, and finally, his apparent stabilization. Anna takes it all in with her characteristic reserved composure.

"You said you were at a loss," she finally comments to Etone, a vague curious tilt to her head. "Surely in your profession - in our calling, besides - you are no stranger to seeing a man coming apart. Caused it, perhaps, in your former life."

The redhead offers a low throaty growl at the mention of his previous life.
"Yesss… But that - I'd rather not be accused of having him be with me out of hypnotic suggestion."
He sputters briefly as he side eyes Vond again, "I could overwrite his thoughts completely if I wanted to - but I don't. As much as I'm fond of 'getting my way' I've never bent someone's mind for my own gratification. -I know the rumors, and the most I've done on him is mind soothe to keep him calm."

He pinches the bridge of his nose and harshly massages the flesh. "I'm at a loss, I don't want to lose him. I adore him. I built this for him." He gestures wide and barks as if the subject of his passionate chatter were not in the room. "With all we've seen, I thought this could keep us going - some place with some semblance of safety to recover from the constant onslaught."

His tone a bit more apologetic sounding as he leans back, "I could, and can, handle the mental fatigue - but I've pushed him too hard, haven't I?"

Vond leans aside sharply and gives Etone a wide-eyed look of alarm at his statement about overwriting his thoughts. Had he not considered this? Or simply not allowed the notion to be formed so pointedly?

"I don't think that's necessarily the case, no more than any of us have been pushed," Anna answers, her tone cautious, "and I didn't suspect you to have compelled him. Rather, I was pleased with the healing and steady occupation you provided. I would dare to say he has done you some good too, hm? Keeping you on task?" It's beginning to become more apparent where her impression of Etone getting his own way may have come from - the freedom he seemed to exercize in setting his own agenda, starting large projects that required diverse labor and expertise… there may be something about it that is sparking suspicions in the straightlaced paladin.

Vond's look goes quizzical as the two speak back and forth about him some more, giving a minor clear of his throat, eyes turning up toward the ceiling. "Ahrm, well. If I might have any say in this, I think we've done brilliant work so far and look, aren't I here and sensible enough presently?" It's a rather more dismissive tone than when he was baring raw emotions to Etone a few days prior. "Isn't alla this a little excessive over what's already well in hand?"

Anna frowns mildly at Vond in turn, though seemingly not at his words as much as a spot of thinking, and she addresses him more directly, now. "I am thinking back to when you were at your best, Vond. When you settled into your handle of the Light and found your stride. Once I could actually get you going, nothing short of the tide of Arthas' closest death knights could tear you down. Once you were in the thick of it, you would believe.

"That was when you were working in a small team, with more responsibilities and perspectives, and later on, leadership. Honestly, I could count on you to help get the most out of some of our, mn, unconventional cases." Oddballs. "I wouldn't have guessed we'd have a Bronzebeard and a Frostmane coming to good terms so fast and firm. Or the undead librarian…" Anna considers thoughtfully while Vond fidgets a bit self-consciously.

Etone taps his fingertips on the table top, once again regarding Anna with an inpatient look as she calmly addresses the paladin.

"I see it too, Byrne," he rolls his wrist with a flick almost dismissively, "but he refuses to believe a word I say - like I'm blowing smoke up his arse, its quite trying at the best of times…"

He turns to give Vond a rather pointed stare.

"You know I'd be more convinced of all the acclaim if any of them were still here with us, hm?" Vond adds while beginning to look restless.

Now Anna is giving him a rather pointed stare, as well.

"Grow up," she returns sharply, then eases a moment after with a sigh, driving fingertips of her underglove against her temple. "I swear for as much as hardship steels men in ways, it stunts you in others. Wouldn't it be restful if we could all blame ourselves for turns of fate, and so declare ourselves unqualified to face them further?

"You've been indulging him to mouth off," she concludes, accurately, while eyeing Etone again. "Listen well. I've brought with me two trainees. They will be working on some tasks here in addition to being prepared for Icecrown. My proposal to you, Confessor, is that you tend to Brother Vond's mind, and lend him to me for serving as an additional hand for that purpose when you find the time is right.

"If I see enough timely progress from all in question, I would like you both to join with me for some preliminary combat missions. I understand that your own duties vary widely, and that if he continues as your aide, you will be required to go where the need is greatest."

Anna turns her gaze back to Vond. "But if full recuperation is indeed possible, I would like to build on this little flexible team of two. We have spent a full season on the back foot, defending every scrap of Zul'drak we could hold. That will change. Instead of attaching you to wherever is getting intense, we could expand on your strengths as a strong healer and a stubborn thorn in my side who refuses to die, and have another good squadron sized unit able to perform offensively." It might be what passes for an affectionate comment, here.

"With my guidance and oversight, of course," is her parting challenge. "I want to increase what is asked of you, to more of our people, gradually. It seems like the net of responsibility holds you up."

One could easily see the gears of offence turning in Etone's mind as he offers an audible cluck of his tongue. Though, that seems to be the full extent of his protesting.

"Mmnf, fine, I planned on tending to him regardless, obviously. Though, I will admit I may be somewhat bias… Having a second set of eyes certainly would fix where I might gloss over…" He hums in thought, not appearing to argue the idea. "I'm not interested in leading a large group, it's going to be on him, then isn't it?"

He shoots Vond a questioning look, making sure the other was on board. "I think he'd quite like to be on the offensive again - if we can manage this."

"Not that large. I was thinking fairly small and contained, nimble, and capable of doing what you've already been doing, only moreso. That is, attaching where needed, or being more mobile for specialized objectives." Anna palms the table, considering. "Between five and eight, likely. And no, I'm not going to put you in command so stop fretting about it." She eyes Vond who is, indeed, starting to look fretful. The tone is clear enough on what a terrible idea this is that the fretting look turns mildly affronted.

"This plan is provisional," she clarifies. "It will depend on how much progress you both have in bouncing back from this and getting ready. It's part of your Confessorial duties and all, Greennote, so I expect you to be able to gauge how best to proceed and be realistic about outcomes." Her look here is one of a clear risk, an extension of trust in the hope of having her expectations met forthrightly. She has shown herself very aware of Etone's potential bias, and possible suspicion of his willingness to act in self interest, but here is a sign of an olive branch extended. "In turn I will aid you in finding appropriate duties, Vond, regardless of where this turn ends up, but what I have raised with you is where my hopes lie. Strong backs will be of great use, regardless, but what I would like to retain is a paladin."

"Yes'm," Vond answers with a hint of well drilled familiarity, leaning forward slightly with a hint of that inclination to square up in readiness, despite how clearly he has proved not ready, presently. "You are right, sister, I am liking the way you think, yeah?" he glances aside to Etone, seemingly gauging his posture on his stated opinion, even as the priest studies him in turn. "I - look, I am not going to lie, few nights ago was proper fucked. But if you think I can help with the trainees any I do not want to just be sitting around and stewin' on it for longer than I haveta."

Anna nods. "Glad to hear it. I will await word from you, Confessor, on when you find Satterly sufficiently rested and safe to go beyond your immediate watch. We will keep you both connected, and as many of your talents in service as we may." She stands, offers a short bow, and takes herself out the door after some curt parting formalities.

Vond settles back, and lets out a low whistle when the door has shut and the sound of mailed boots have carried farther out then faded. "That went better than I thought it would," he says, expression a little befuddled. "Why would she want to work with us specifically if I've run into the kinda trouble she always imagined I would, and she seems kinda leery of ya?" He blinks aside to Etone. "And d'you really imagine I'm gonna come out of this in proper shape for it?"

Etone turns on Vond with a serious expression on his face, "You and I gotta get your shit together, I'll be your guiding light, but you need to believe in my reality over anything."

There is a slight mischievous spark in his eyes as he leans in, deadly serious, "You know, she may have a point, I really should do something with that mouth of yours…"

He stares at Vond with narrowed eyes for all of a second before his hardened facade cracks, a cheeky laugh the has him quickly gasping for air spills from his mouth. Unable to keep up, the redhead settles down beside Vond and meekly apologizes, "Nnnngf, eheh, s-sorry I can't- mmnf, I've been holding that back the whole time, like, I'll tell you what he can't keep his mouth off — hahah!!"

Clearing his throat, Etone continues, "I joke about it precisely because I know you will. She'd have told you straight if you were beyond it all. As for her and I…?"
He offers a petulant snort while plucking a bit of plant debris off the paladin, "She thinks I'm lazy-" He flicks the leaf to the ground, "- or something like that. Probably."
He reaches up to palm the other's cheek and hums softly, "How are you feeling about all this?"

Vond gives the priest a light playful shove of his shoulder as he rather instantly kills the serious and planning-oriented atmosphere that Anna had enforced on the room with her very presence, then settles when Etone clasps his cheek, giving a huff. "Come off it! I can't believe you. Incorrigible. But…"

He turns his eyes up with the befuddled look settling in deeper. "I am feeling kinda hopeful, I think? She's got high standards, Etty. She's not gonna give me a pass for hope's sake. I mean, if you want a second opinion on if I'm fit for any of that mess I think you've got it. And I got to have something to work toward, right? Now that the shock of it's not so fresh."

"Nmn, so do I you know." He offers matter of factly. "You need to believe we in us. You should carry yourself with more uhh, what's the word I'm looking for here…" He rolls his wrist trying to eke out his thoughts. "Confidence." Is what he settles on.

"What do you want to do now?" He pauses then clarifies, "Precisely right at this moment?"

Vond huffs, giving a sidelong glance. "You know better than to ask that, idle as I've been." The look softens. "But apart from the obvious, perhaps an invocation before it gets too late." He had a way of being eased by going through rites with the two of them. Especially since shaken by the experience of believing the Light had gone out of his reach.

☼☼☼

As further days pressed on, Etone had finally, reluctantly given his approval for Vond to leave his immediate sight, as long as on specific tasks or in the company of specific people. Anna had found him, and they speak on a walk to meet the trainees for exercises.

"What's the matter then between you and the Confessor, then?" Vond finally asks after they had been on for a spell in silence as he'd worked up to it. "You've got to know there's more to this place than he likes to bring attention to, right? There are preparations for -"

"I think he would keep you to himself if he could," Anna answers simply. "'I built this for him,' he says. It's both only part of the story and a poor way to keep with everyone, makes your role look like special treatment. Things have been going well so far with having Greennote's tactical input on moving among other units, and we all want to keep that going smoothly, don't we?"

" - for a fully functioning infirmary, not just triage tents here and there. For who needs to get sent off the front, ahead of us, we'll have somewhere to send 'em, right? He is the one making sure it is going to be ready an' in order and… you know, at the same time, having all these other matters going on so everyone's not just focusing on 'we expect all these Icecrown casualties.' Really, Anna, he may strike you as blunt but he thinks of things you may not realize," Vond carries on, a little defensively.

"If we're going to entertain a Confessor who tends to get what he wants, one way or another," she continues, as well, "I want to ensure that we have others more closely involved, as well. The net of responsibility. Other eyes and minds and concerns. Besides," Anna adds as she throws a pointed glance across. "I could find good applications for someone who is uncannily convincing."

Vond held his words for a moment, merely mulling over the senior paladin's implication that she might be considering Etone's character in a sense that could be more shrewd than judgmental.

"Do you know why I am always advising you to watch how you carry yourself, Vond?" Anna questions, her eyes forward while taking the earthy path at a quick level pace in her usual easy confidence.

"Mn. Discipline, presentability, all that good shite, aye? Gotta keep order. Gotta keep a certain face forward for everyone we're trying to get to the same goal." Vond shrugs.

Anna hums. "That's part of it, yes. The other part is that you have a way of looking terrified when doing something perfectly ordinary."

"P'raps I am at times," Vond admits. "Guess I let slip how I'm watchin' it when we're not in the thick of it. We all get scared."

"I know you do - we all do," Anna answers quickly, fixing Vond with a boring stare that flicks off the side of the path to the neighboring wooded field, where in the spaces between the tall pines, great big dusty forest moths bumbled above the needle-litter and mosses, and some of the children between lessons continued to conspire on how to catch or harass them, watched over by one of the paladin trainees and one of the schoolteachers.

"But so do they," Anna insists, and as they pass Vond finds himself walking more direct and uprightly.