(2024-03-09) Metaphorical Fel

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Author:	Alli
Summary:	Aszera and Therald end up on the same camp guard shift. Therald typically performs his duties in solemn silence, and Aze prefers good company and conversation.
Rating:	M for Mature 17+

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grief, language, discussion of fel corruption, mention of death knights

Therald stands guard, right at the entrance of the Crusader's Pinnacle. His gaze quickly and efficiently moves in each direction, making sure that no attacks are coming, from the ground or the air. He barely acknowledges the colleague at his side, even when he joins said colleague on his shift - simply nodding at them.

His shield to his side, his hand on the handle of his sword, he guards the camp. Focused.

His colleague seems to be familiar with the typical Therald Oakley single-minded focus, and doesn't attempt to strike up any conversation. It's only midway through Therald's shift, when it's time for the other guard to swap out, that this situation changes.

There's a few low words traded as the two exchange places and a brief laugh from the incoming woman, and then she settles in to stand on the other side of the path from Therald with a faint sigh.

"Not the most exciting task, is it?" Aze asks, tilting her head towards Therald. "I guess we can always hope we're lucky and a frostwyrm attacks or something."

Therald briefly glances at Aszera, making sure she's talking to him. When he realizes she is, he double takes a look at her, his face blank. "I'd rather not have anyone get hurt."

Aze doesn't have an obvious reaction to his double-take - maybe she's used to it. A few moments later, she reaches up as if to smooth the blindfold at her temple.

"I'm not saying I want anyone to get hurt, I'm just saying…" Aze shifts a little, from foot to foot. "It'd break up the monotony, wouldn't it? And you wouldn't be here if you couldn't handle a little excitement."

"I'm just a guard," Therald answers, shaking his head slowly. "For me, a day without incident is a day I worked well." He resumes looking around vigilantly. Clearly not the excitement type of guy.

Aze hums thoughtfully. If she's even able to look around, there's no sign of it. "That's one way to look at it, I guess. Not my way, but one way. If we're aiming for boring, then, how about some conversation? Why'd you join up with the Argent Crusade?"

Therald's eyes widen ever-so-slightly. Oh no. Conversation. He breathes in slowly. "I wanted to help. I didn't care about… political conflicts. There are much more pressing threats to handle - that's why I joined the Argent Dawn." He stays silent for a little longer, but realizing he might sound rude, he continues. "And you?"

"Yeah, politics is not really my thing either. It's too easy to get turned about, and it gets in the way of having fun… and you're right, we have more important things to focus on," Aze nods, taking no note of his discomfort. Or maybe she does, and figures it'll sort itself out. "I just needed somewhere to be, people to trust, people who could point me in the right direction. And, you know, people who aren't going to like… try to kill me just for existing. That, too. Politics, right?"

Therald nods. "… Politics," he pauses. "The Argent Crusade is good at finding where we're needed." He takes another quick glance at her. "Kill you, because you're…" Worried to assume anything, he ends his sentence there, waiting for her to fill-in the blanks.

"Ex-Illidari, yeah," Aze says easily. "Current Argent Crusade. And that was kind of a condition of it, you know, that I'd be open and honest with my brothers and sisters in the Light. Which, you seem pretty brothery, so… if you're worried, don't be. The higher-ups know about me, and they're okay with it. I mean, for some definitions of okay."

Therald remains impassive. "I'm not worried." His gaze moves away from his work, and towards the ground - you never know when the undead will launch an attack from beneath your feet, anyway. "The Burning Legion is part of what I fight against. But I'm not saying no to anyone who wishes to help."

Aze is quiet for a moment after that, and then shakes her head. "No, see… I'm not Legion. I'm against them, too. It's just a matter of what weapons you're willing to use. Which this weapon was a mistake, just one I can't take back. You could slaughter the Burning Legion and still leave me alone. Or better, I'd f- I'd help you do it."

"I apologize." Therald answers, his brows furrowing sadly, very slightly. "I didn't mean to say you were Legion. I meant… The Fel." He clears his throat. "I'm not good with words."

"Bad experiences with the fel, then, huh?" Aze says sympathetically. "Not uncommon, these days. I guess you could say I've had, too. Continue to have. What was it, Hyjal?"

"Not Hyjal," Therald answers, shaking his head. "That disaster hit… Closer to home," he adds. He glances again at Aze. "You said that weapon choice was a mistake, now this. You don't seem to like this power."

"Well, no, I like power. You can do a lot of things with power, good or bad," Aze says, and then adds, "But maybe I had enough of that before. And what I don't like is the cost. So what was it, then? Stray demons, warlocks?"

"The cost?" Therald asks. He takes a deep breath, still looking around for any sign of danger. "… Both."

"Warlocks and stray demons?" Aze raises her eyebrows. "Wow, sounds like you know the costs as well as I do, then. Maybe better."

Therald's gaze moves towards the ground as he pauses to think once more. "Yeah. Maybe." He grows silent once more, this time maybe not as focused on his work as he previously was. The man barely contains a shaky breath.

"Are you okay?" Aze asks, her brow furrowing. "You don't really seem okay. I can cover if you need to… rest or something like that."

Therald clears his throat. He shakes his head, then himself little slaps on his cheeks from under his helmet. "Just cold. That's all. Thank you." He instantly goes back to focusing on his job, scanning the landscape in front of him for any signs of threat.

"Sure," Aze says, and settles into silence herself, drumming her fingers impatiently against the side of her leg. The silence doesn't last very long. "Happier topic then. What are you looking forward to, after we win here? What you'll do when you get home again?"

Therald enjoys this moment of silence while it lasts, feeling his body tension leave him. When she asks another question, though, he frowns in confusion. "I… Don't know," he says, not having thought about anything that far ahead. "Train? Go back to the Plaguelands? Go somewhere there'll be a camp to guard."

"That's what you're looking forward to?" Aze says, with a bit of a grimace. "Looking forward to being a guard in the Plaguelands, really? Is it a vengeance thing? My sister died there, so I could get that, but there's got to be something happier you have ahead of you. Maybe family. Lovers. Friends. An… I don't know… a particular food, even."

Therald doesn't answer right away. His gaze stops on the horizon - on those frozen mountains, hiding countless terrors. He stays silent, observing them. "I… Don't deserve all those things. Even the nice food."

Aze mutters something in an annoyed undertone that might be paladins.

"Really, don't you? Somebody who looks forward to nothing but… guarding more people in horrible Scourge-infested places? I don't buy it." Aze smiles at Therald. "I'm way more selfish than that, and I think I deserve everything. Dare I ask what caused this extreme level of selflessness?"

Therald takes a deep breath that he lets out in a sigh. He looks at her again, considering what to answer. He puts a tighten his grip around the handle of his shield.

"The reason I'm… here is because I stole a Soulstone from a warlock. A warlock who destroyed my village, and everyone I loved," he sniffles once - because of the cold, probably. "And since that magic is the reason I'm still here… I'm not really alive either." He looks at Aze again. "Not saying that to… attack you."

"Oh, no offense taken. Besides, I killed that f… the demon. The one I… you know what, that's not really the point right now." Aze's brow furrows, and she turns directly to Therald, her attention fixed on him. "I don't think it leaves a residue? A soulstone, that is. I don't see anything on you, and I would. So whatever happened back then, you seem just as alive now as you were before the soulstone encounter." She pauses. "Unless you mean that in a metaphorical sense. In which case, I'm afraid nobody can detect metaphorical fel."

Therald looks at her, curious. "The one you…?"

He startles at her sudden turn to look at him. He listens, frowning in confusion ."You… are you sure? That was dark magic that brought me back, not… the light or spirits. That has to mean something right?" He shakes his head. "Even if only in a metaphorical sense."

"I'm sure," Aze says, and she sounds certain. "Seriously, I was designed to detect demons and the fel, and there's nothing of it on you. I don't envy you getting brought back that way, but however much the fel touched you, it's gone now." She frowns. "Why does it have to mean something? I bet it sucked, but you are alive. You're breathing, your heart's beating… just like mine. You could always spite that fucking warlock by living well, if you wanted. I bet the Light would like that, too."

"I…" Therald stops his sentence immediately. "I lost everything, that day." He shakes his head slowly, his eyes watering. "How can life continue… just like that, after losing it all?" He asks Aze just as much as he does himself.

Aze crosses her arms over her torso, and shrugs. "I'm probably not a good person to answer that. I just sort of set myself on a cause I thought I could trust. Kept moving, tried not to think, just act. It didn't really go like I imagined it would. Then I found out I could lose more. And still, even after that… life continued." Aze shakes her head. "You could ask somebody wiser than me. You ever talked to Brother Black, or Confessor Greennote, or Sister Byrne?"

Therald runs his hand through his hair, before rubbing his eyes vigorously. "That's what I've been doing. Try not to think, act for a good cause, never stop because if I stop I have to think…" His voice breaks slightly as he continues. "But it was… all… just metaphorical? Are you really sure?"

"Sure as sure, yeah, all metaphorical, no actual," Aze raises one hand to rub at her blindfold. "And the problem with not stopping to think is that eventually something'll stop you whether you like it or not. And then everything's still there, and it just… it just sucks. And it doesn't suck less for waiting, I can promise you that."

Therald doesn't answer. Not immediately, at least. He stays silent, pulling on the sleeve underneath his armor to wipe away his tears. He begins to look around once more, going back to his job. "I cut ties with my son because he became a warlock like his mother. Because I hated what her magic did to us. To me…" His breathing slows down. "Even after twenty years, it does suck, yeah."

"Ah," Aze winces sympathetically. "That kind of a warlock and stray demon. And the kid following her." Aze falls silent herself for a little while, before she finally adds, in a lower voice, "My sister… turned into something I hated. The exact kind of thing that destroyed my homeland and almost everyone that I loved. I thought I would hate her, too, but… it turns out I can't. For me, when it comes down to it, I still love her. And anyway, it wasn't them specifically who took anything from me. The Ebon Blade, they never fought Quel'thalas, even if they were Scourge for a while."

Aze shivers a little, tightening her arms. "But that's a thing each person has to decide for themselves, I guess. And no one would judge you for it, or if they do they have no fucking right to. You want to cut ties, you do it. Make new ties with other people. That's how you continue."

Therald listens to Aze, taking in every word. "I don't hate Sandy - my son - either, I'm just… I don't want to see the downfall he'll inevitably go through on that path…" He takes a deep breath. "Are you worried, about your sister?"

"That she'll fall?" Aze asks, then nods. "Yeah, sometimes. But it'd be worse if I weren't there, I think, being alive and reminding her who she is."

Therald lowers his gaze, looking at the ground. Then, he closes his eyes for a moment, his chest rising as the air fills his lungs. "Thank you…" He opens his eyes, releasing his breath. Looking at her, he asks, "You said you liked your power, but not its price, and that I knew the price as well as you do. What… was that price?"

"Ah, well," Aze shrugs, a little uncomfortably now. "You know, the fel corruption. My soul, eventually? I hope not. I figured, your problems with the stray warlock… didn't realize when I said that, that it was somebody close to you. Anyway, there's not anything I can undo, so I'm just trying to make the best of things."

Therald nods sadly. "Yeah… We were looking into Fel corruption, with my friend," he shakes his head. "You can never get rid of it, but… you can move on from it."

"Sure," Aze says, rubbing one hand along her arm, but she sounds a little less than sure. "Yeah, a warlock can always walk away from it, right?"

"That means… you can't? Not at all?" Therald asks, looking sadly at the sky so he can pretend he's still working diligently.

"Can't walk away from myself," Aze says, with a bit of forced cheer. "Anywhere I move on to, I'll be right there with me. But whatever, I make a good cautionary tale, and that's something, right?"

"Warlocks can't do that either, but they can walk away from using that power… But the corruption is within them." Therald shakes his head slightly. "Isn't it the same for you?"

"It's less something I use than something I am," Aze says slowly. "But don't worry. I'm safe. The paladins and the priests keep a close eye on me."

Therald sighs through his nose, which sends a cloud of mist into his beard. "I'm not worried about you." He shrugs with one shoulder. "More worried… for you. We're allies."

Aze exhales in a short huh sound. "I appreciate that, honestly. I guess that's what allies do, then, worry for each other. And if I ever do see any sign of fel on you, I'll tell you right away, my word on it."

Therald chuckles sadly. "Thanks, I appreciate it." He sighs again, seeing a Dwarven colleague come to take his shift. He nods to the dwarf, then to Aze. "My time's up. Thanks for the talk. And… Hopefully, you get the frostwyrm you're expecting."

The dwarf raises an eyebrow.

"I will live in hope," Aze says solemnly, with a little wave of farewell. "Next time we run into each other, have something you're looking forward to, alright?"

Therald looks at the ground, taking a deep breath in. "I'll try." He nods at her again, then at the dwarf, and begins to leave.

The new guard turns to Aze, raising both of his eyebrows. "Ye managed to get a word o' Little Therry, lass?"

"Little Therry?" Aze raises one long eyebrow. "Is it that uncommon? Friendly guy, I thought."

"Yeah," the dwarf bellies laughs. "Th' lad is a wee bit short, for a human lad." He waves dismissively. "It's all in good fun we call him that." He chuckles some more, in a very greatfather winter way. He probably plays that mythological figure in some place or another, during the festivities. "If anythin's shorter than Little Therry himself, it's the length o' his sentences, most o' the time."

Aze shrugs, an amused smile on her face. "Maybe he just needed someone to listen."