Expedition The Urk Expedition: The Judgement of a Fox.

[Talinn Ryalor]

Well, she at least did not stab me in the chest, which, I think, is an improvement over what would have happened had we both continued to live after the Winter War. Although whether or not that is because she knows it will not hurt me here, or if she is open to reconciliation, remains to be seen.

Adjusting his hat to buy some time to think, he sighed and raised a rub his forehead before replying, smiling back softly at his former colleague and the famed Minister of War. Ironically, he had initially wanted to befriend her, much like his brother had, in life to strike down Emperor Ullyanov in revenge for both of their losses, her husband and his brother, to the wildcat, but circumstances and differing plans had led them down a more...adversarial...path. Back then, he had wanted a more direct route to the throne, or, perhaps more accurately, Alexei had and did until his death. This had clashed with Sken’s loyalty to the Imperium-perhaps she might have been open to finally ending Vlad's life and installing a new ruler, but she would have never let him take power. And, now, the situation...well…she probably found it hilarious, given how she had asked her questions, and the knowledge that was behind them.

“Age takes a toll on us still in the world, and, perhaps, especially badly for those who stay in positions of power, though I have done my best to slow it down. As for where it has led me...well…I still live, as does most of my family, and I still hold a ministry and have acquired an Imperial noble title, as I am sure you have seen, which, given the Imperium’s tendency for consuming beasts in our positions over the years, is about the best that could be expected.”

He paused at the next question, a more pensive look crossing his face.

“I never got the chance to decide what I wanted, the curse of being born who I was. Perhaps if that bastard Ullyanov had not taken from me...from us...what he did, I could have been the second son, free to pursue what I wished, free to be a…” he almost said better beast, but could not force himself to utter the true and damning words, and looked away from her as he could not stand her signature piercing gaze to say the next two words “...different beast.”

He paused, returning his gaze to meet hers once again, this time not shying away from her eyes.

“But what is, is, and there is no point speculating what could have been. What I thought the best for my family’s interest is in motion, although my uncle and I...had a...disagreement about the method I chose. He wanted a more direct approach that would have cost more Ryalor and Imperium blood in exchange for doing things the honorable way. I picked a different, more indirect option, ‘abominable’ as he so nicely put it, but it saved lives, both for my own family, and for the Imperium. The cost for me, personally, was...” he pointed down at his leg, a parting gift from Alexei which, while healed in the afterlife, hurt most of the time, and, if he survived this encounter, would be lucky if it even worked ever again, “...high, and, I am not loved, either by my own family or the public at large. But the choice I made, saved both my family, and the Imperium, from the brink. As for what I want...to live long enough to see that decision stand the test of time, and to get my family’s forgiveness for what I had to do. If I make it out of here, I suspect I will not see a day’s rest until my death to try to achieve both.”

He paused, feeling like a load at had been taken off his chest. He rarely had the chance to be frank and honest with someone about his feelings these days, given the...situation...with Dusk, in which he had so wronged her, but, perhaps when he returned, they could begin the hard work of reconciling. They had corresponded, haltingly, through letters from the Misertrosse Gulls, and his agents had affirmed she had not done anything with the Colonel, which was a promising sign, but, much, much work would have to be done to repair their marriage.

“As for the Empress...Amélie…and my experience. She…” He paused once more, this time for quite a while, before he continued “...is a force of nature.”

He glanced aside once more out of embarrassment, once again unable to match his colleague’s gaze.

“In more ways then one. You would have liked her had you met her, I think, and perhaps you did when she was a kit, though her father never rose beyond captain in your tenure in War. Not weak like Markan, not as self-serving as Ullyanov. Few beasts could have brought the Imperium back under control with what it went through, even if I had taken the more direct path under the best of circumstances I might not, indeed, probably could not, have managed it. She has a mind for war, logistics, economics, politics, scheming, law, and other things and the legitimacy in a way that I could have never had. In the end, only a beast of the Imperium can rule it, which is one reason, among others, as I am sure you have seen, I bent the knee. In addition, if, if what we have planned succeeds, neither the Imperium nor my family will ever the lows they did again.”

 

[Orina Emberkin]

Sken's gaze remained impassive as Talinn spoke. Even once he finished, she said nothing for some time, simply staring at him with her head cocked just slightly to the side. The breeze sent fluffy seeds blowing through the glade. Sken looked up at them. "Ah yes, that does make sense."

She reached out and caught one, then another. Each seed rapidly grew--not into a plant, but a large, glass mug partially filled with an amber liquid, one held in each paw. The stone behind her melted, and a table and pair of chairs formed from the smooth, black material. Sken turned and set the mugs down on the table, then took a seat. She opened her paw to the setting on the other side of the table.

"You seem like you could take a load off." Sniffing the contents of her mug, she nodded. "Aye, I suppose it's rum for us, then. After all that," she gestured vaguely to the fox, "I wouldn't fault you a drink or several."

Downing half her drink in one go, Sken sighed and looked up at the sky. "Dying gives a beast some perspective, Talinn. I knew what I was marching into, of course, that was the entire point of the thing, but actually dying, you can't really prepare for that." She rolled her eyes, chuckling, and looked back at the fox. "Had I not died that day, you may have found out what it was like by my sword, given your actions in the War. But, as the Fates would have it, I died, you lived, and here we are, drinking rum together in the Dark Forest, and you've come to understand fully just what it means to live for country rather than self. How does it feel, to have finally gotten there, Talinn?"

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

The tension in Talinn’s body melted away for the most part when Sken invited him to sit down for a drink. Reconciliation it was then, and, honestly, he had hoped for it. He and the former Minister of War had not seen eye to eye on many things, but fundamentally, she had never truly wronged him, not in the way Vlad, Anithias, or even Alexei had. Taking the seat, Talinn took the mug, and took a long, deep draw of the mug, something that he needed after all he had been through and would likely continue to go through in his time here. He looked pensively at Sken as she talked about dying, and the war in which she had given her life away. Leaning back, sipping his rum, he replied, wanting to explain to his former colleague that his actions in the her last battle had not been entirely selfish in nature.

“Regarding my actions during the Winter War...someone had to live, if the gambit failed, to organize the resistance. Misanthropy’s forces were, and are, better suited to less conventional tactics, and if we all had died, the Imperium would have been without any experienced beasts in command. Your sacrifice was not for naught, though, it bought us time and cost them dearly, and, in the end, through a combination of irregular warfare and their inability to procure local supplies to supplement what they could ship in, they were forced to sue for something of a white peace-no territory of ours was lost, even Valles Mensa, and all they got were gilders. Gilders that would, eventually, become worthless, but that was beyond my tenure. Events occurred that for the safety of my family saw a necessary retreat to Eastisle.”

His visage darkened at the thought of Anithias, before returning to normal.

“Now, though the modern Harbor has defenses that will make such an assault impossible or too costly to achieve ever again, and, you will be amused to hear, one of the two main fortresses that protect it is named after you. You even have a statue.”

He paused to consider her question of what it felt like to serve the Imperium, this time, mostly, for selfless reasons.

“As regards to your question of service, it is a tireless, and thankless. You have power, but if you wield it, beasts hate you, if you wield it but carefully, beasts still hate you, but just a bit less, if you do not, beasts hate you just as much as if you were a tyrant. You try to steer the ship as best you can, and sometimes it is smooth sailing, sometimes you hit the rocks, and for the most part, you are all alone with it. You try to find what pleasures you can in the meantime.”

He sighed, shaking his head.

“I think I made the correct choice, in the end, even if it cost me dearly. The Imperium has had over a decade of peace and reconstruction, the longest in recent memory. I could not have managed that.”

He paused, uncertain if he should even bring it up, but decided she had a right to know.

“Many beasts have been returning from abroad in light of the Empress’s peace. Even your son, Caden.”

 

[Orina Emberkin]

"It really is too bad I'm dead," Sken mused. "This iteration of you I could get along with. I would have done things differently, but it seems the Imperium made it in the end, for now, in the paws of a vixen who was barely more than a kit when you and I were at odds with each other. To think some Guard captain's daughter is now on the throne. That has to sting you, at least a little." She grinned and downed the last of her rum. The mug immediately refilled.

The jill leaned back in her chair, one arm flung over the back of it in a relaxed posture. She rubbed at her jaw in thought. "Caden, though. He's probably older than I was when I died. Better for him that he didn't have me for a mother for too long. Carving his own path was better, if a bit rough for a while there." She opened her paw to Talinn. "I take it enough time has passed that the Ryalors aren't out looking for Vaelora's assassin. Do I have you to thank for that development?"

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn snorted as he took another shot of the rum, downing it in one gulp, before shaking his head, refilling the glass, and replying to her first question, nursing the drink as he did so.

“It used to irritate me, but not any more. After all, how did our families achieve turn their blood from red to blue? Was it because they were smarter, stronger, spiritual enough to win the Kitsune’s favor or all three? No, they got it by being hard bastards or bitches who killed the right people at the right time. Kill a few dozen of them, welcome to the geneterie, as our ancestors would have put it. Kill a few hundred? You’re a lord. A few thousand, you’re a king. Tens of thousands, you’re an Emperor...or, in this case, Empress. In the end, I did not have it in me to throw away that many lives for my ambition. Of course, I will never get credit for the lives I saved, only for those I took. Traitor, I was called recently by that Colonel Jere, and am still called by others, for not backing Brudenell to the end when his excesses and banal brutality by the stroke of his pen cost the Imperium so dearly! Ha!”

He took another, long sip of the rum, before he continued and answered her question about her son. He nodded.

“Alexei wanted his head up until his death, in the old Fyadoran manner, both because of the pain of losing his granddaughter and because he could have become a future threat to us. But I made sure those orders were never carried out, and when he died and took my place as the head of the family, formally rescinded them. Blaming a kit for the sins of their parents…” He stared deeply into the drink before him before continuing “...ruined so many lives, including mine. Everybeast’s sins are their own.”

He took another sip of the drink.

“Vaelora, Armina as you knew her, too, I know, deep down would have never sanctioned it. She…” his voice choked up a bit, and he turned his head away from his former colleague so she could not see the droplets he was fighting so hard to hold back “...was a good beast in the end. A kind one. Better than me.”

He took some time to comport himself, wiping his eyes on his sleeves, before he was able to turn back to face her.

“The real perpetrator behind it all was given the ‘justice’ he himself sought in the end. Caden has nothing to fear from us, although, Daniil, the oldest, he…”

Talinn sighed, rubbing a paw against his forehead.

“...never recovered from her death, not really, despite our efforts. I worry what will happen if he finds out the truth. He knows it was an albino male marten kit, but we were able to conceal the name from him. That being said, he should still be in Westisle, and Caden, if he returns, would likely return to Bully Harbor. If that is the case, we should be able to maintain the proper distance to prevent anything disastrous.”

Talinn sat back and shook his head, disagreeing with an early point that she had made.

“I think you would have been a good mother, Sken, or, at least better than many beasts, and I think a son is usually closer to his mother than his father. Alwyn and Dusk have a relationship I will never have."

 

[Orina Emberkin]

"Then perhaps you don't know me as well as you think you do," Sken said. "I lived for country over all, Talinn. There was a brief time that I thought perhaps I could leave, a couple years in which I sailed away, but the pull of the Imperium always had me, and I came back to die protecting her."

She leaned her elbows on the table, gazing hard at Talinn. "Caden deserved far better than he got--a father who was a traitor to the throne, and a mother who had given her heart and soul to a country that chews up and spits out its leaders. I don't regret who I was in life and death, and I would not change what happened. If Caden is back, though, I would ask a favor of you, if you are willing: ensure he does not follow my path. Show him the pitfalls of the kind of life you and I have led, and advise him to keep far, far from the beasts and circumstances that could draw him into the meat grinder that is Imperial politics." Sken took a breath, considering her next words as her expression softened.

"And perhaps, if he is willing, be his friend. He is the last of my family line, and I am unsure what his standing would be with the Freemonts. He will be in need of someone with a sound head on their shoulders who knows the new Imperium to help him navigate and adjust. I trust you to help him." She made a pensive noise in her throat and shrugged. "You and I couldn't be friends in life, but perhaps you can make up for lost time with my son."

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn merely nodded at Sken’s assertion she would not have been a good mother had she lived, although he disagreed, and by the very nature of her request, he could tell that he was right. She still cared and worried about him, even now. Perhaps if her tenure had overseen a period of peace, and had Freemont succeeded in taking the throne...but that was too hypothetical. Only the Kitsune knew if things could have been different, if there were other worlds like the scholar suggested, and he doubt She would give up that information. He mused over what she asked him to do, then sighed.

“My condition after I leave here may not be...ideal. Let us just say that while you, Senderjay, and Malikus paid the Imperium’s price back then, I simply managed to defer it at great cost. If I am brought back, with the injuries I have sustained, I fear-”

He shook his head, trying not to think about it.

“I will try to shield him and guide him as best as I can in your honor. As far as the last report I have received, he has not entangled himself in anything, and the truth about what he did as a kit has been snuffed out as much as I and Dusk have been able to do and by the passage of time. Maybe I can guide him towards something harmless in Innovation where I have more direct control, but if he goes to War or gets mixed up with the Freemonts, my ability to intervene becomes more...limited…”

He finished off his rum, then gave her a nod.

“You can help him, if you wish, if there is something…” He glanced up nervously at the starry sky for a moment “...you can say, in a very indirect way, for his ears only…”. He braced himself for the thunderclap, but it did not seem to come. It seems that he had finally figured out the rules regarding prophecies.

 

[Orina Emberkin]

"Thank you, Talinn, truly." Sken displayed a rare moment of vulnerability as she let out a shaky breath, as though she had been holding it while she waited for Talinn's answer. "Knowing him, though, you'll have your paws full keeping him from trouble."

She considered his offer, drumming her claws on the stone surface of the table. "Just remember, beneath the performance lies danger." Sken raised a claw. "And I have something else for you to use at your discretion."

From the depths of her coat, she pulled forth a simple steel flask. She slid it across the table to the fox. "Clear Kohler's. Took it with me when I died. Not doing much good to me now. You might have use of it in the coming days. Consider it a life to be used when it's needed. Just be sure to drink it before you go back."

A brisk wind picked up through the clearing, smelling of the sea as gulls called somewhere in the distance. Sken slowly rose from the table. "Unless there's anything else, I think the Forest calls you forward once more. And I should be getting back to my ship."

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn felt a pang of regret at the seeing the genuine vulnerability of Sken, wishing that things had ended differently between them, and simply nodded. Maybe he could guide the younger Freemont and direct him towards a better destiny than what his mother’s had ultimately been. He noted the prophecy, again indecipherable to him, but likely not to Caden, when the moment came. And then stood shocked as she slid him the flask. What did she mean by a “life to be used” exactly? He was about to ask what that meant, but as he opened his mouth to ask, the signature large BOOM of a thunderclap signaling the Kitsune's displeasure roared above them, and he closed his mouth. Giving her a traditional Fyadoran deep bow of respect, he instead bid her farewell.

“And so it seems to be the case. Thank you, Sken.”

With that, Talinn returned to the golden path, feeling over the flask, and deciding that he needed a drink, and that it was best used as soon as possible if the “life” could guarantee his return to the real world, he unpopped it and drank it to the last drop.

Kitsune, Sken is still a tougher drinker than me even in death, what a punch!

Returning the flask to his belt, its contents finished yet him unwilling to give up his memento of the late Minister before he had to, he continued on his journey, deep in thought once more on the nature of this place, what the prophecies meant, and what it was all supposed to teach him. So consumed was he by these thoughts that once more he did not pay attention to where he was going, this time to an even older, but better illuminated and peaceful area of the forest, with a soft gentle breeze swirling around him and the smell of the sea reaching his nose.

“Little brother…” A soft voice called out, and Talinn froze in his tracks. He looked up, seeing a young, handsome todd, much like him except a fair bit taller, on a beautiful wooden ketch with a gangplank leading down to the shore. Falun. Immediately, he took off in a sprint that defied his years, dashing across the stand and up the gangplank. Reaching his brother, he paused for a moment, and then threw his paws around him in a hug, his tail wagging happily as he did so. Open tears began to flow down his eyes as he hugged his older brother, one of the few beasts he truly loved in his life, and sobbed, even more so when his brother returned the hug, and began to pet him on the head softly as if he were a kit. The two of them stayed like that for some time, until Talinn’s tears began to dry and his sobs began to die down. As the two of them separated, they looked at each other, blue eyes meeting blue.

“You look far younger than I thought you would be? You been doing exercises up here?” Talinn asked jokingly.

“And you seem to have become much older, the stresses of being the head of the family now, I presume?” Falun laughed, shaking his head, before continuing. “Here, you can take on any age you would like, but I thought you would be most comfortable as you remembered me.”

Talinn nodded, cracking up a bit and smiling “Aye, you look exactly like the day you left Eastisle for the Imperium."

Falun nodded, inviting him to sit down next to him on one of the benches, as they stared out across the starlit ocean before them, and Talinn leaned against his brother, just watching the serene and peaceful waves. After some time, the Minister of Innovation spoke.

“Not exactly the place I expected you to...I do not know the rules exactly...but it looks like you get to choose where you reside, to a degree?” He asked, looking up at his brother questioningly.

Falun nodded.

“Yes, in the Dark Forest at least, in the other two places, not so much...you will find out, I suspect, if the Kitsune intends for you to journey there.”

Talinn gulped, but continued to look up, indicating he was ready to hear more. Falun put a paw on his head, scritching his brother’s head and ears comfortingly for a moment before he continued.

“This...would have been, in our world, what Tanya and I were planning in the end before…” he shook his head a the thought of his death. “We were hoping to run away to some island or another, raise Aille and Valdrisk properly, not have to deal with the politics of the Imperium or Alexei’s demands that we restore the House at all costs. Unlike us, they were good, pure kits, who should have been free to pick their own destiny rather than one chosen for them.”

“Unlike us? Brother, you were an honorable and good beast through and through, until that bastard Ullyanov sent his agents to cut you down.” Talinn began, anger beginning to rise inside of him. “If I ever get a hold of him, I-”

Falun scritched his ears once more, this time harder, shaking his head as he did so.

“No, little brother…” he replied, sighing. “...I was not so good as you have pictured me, unfortunately. With the way things in the Imperium were developing, and Alexei’s demands, I had to get money, and had to get it faster than normal. There are only three ways you can do that, be early, be smart, or cheat. I was not early, and while I like to think I was not dumb, my skillset nor Tanya’s were ever inclined towards saving gilders. That left one option.”

Talinn looked up at his brother, stunned by the revelation, and unsure of what to say.

“The Furotazzis. Dear uncle and I turned a blind eye to their activities, even assisted them in some cases, in exchange for money, support, and other services. Vito…” he sighed, glancing over to the oceans. “...was the best of many bad options we had at the time. He tried to keep his word, even if not much was above him. We sacrificed our personal honor in the name of family, a tradition for us Ryalors, nay?”

Talinn, although feeling like a cart had hit his chest as his image of his brother shattered, merely nodded. It was true. All semblance of honor he might have had or acquired had been thrown away in a similar manner.

“Tanya and the kits...how are they Talinn? The Kitsune…” He sighed “She only lets us see what she lets us see, and despite my wishes, I have not been able to see her or the kits for reasons only She knows. Were you able to find her and them, and if so, is she doing okay?”

Talinn, at the mention of Tox and how she was, felt a terrible guilt run through him, and bile began to rise up his throat. Breaking from his brother, he ran to the head of the ship and vomited, multiple times, then heaved for a while, before he felt the comforting paw of his brother on his shoulder. After some time, he spoke, although he could not face his brother.

“They are…” he began, voice cracking as he did so. “...well, as far as I can tell, but I...I failed both you and her brother. By the time I arrived in the Imperium, reports were that she was dead, and, by the time I learned that was no longer true and tried to find and reconcile with her, I...I did not stand up to Alexei enough, not enough for her to return, and, in the name of his ambitions, my reputation…” His eyes teared up. “She does not trust me, Falun, and you know, she is maybe right not to do so. She has kept your kits from me. I also...Armina…”


He began to sob again, and this time, his brother gave him a fierce hug, until he could speak again. “We found out Armina, who Tox loved like a daughter, was actually Alexei’s granddaughter, and, we brought her into the fold, thinking we could treat her issues, protect her. And we did, for a time. But...I…” he sobbed even harder, tears falling unto the deck like a waterfall “...I was outplayed. Outplayed by Anithias, who...had become some kind of demon. He had her killed, butchered not far from her kits, and…” Talinn whispered “...I…I could not tell Tanya the truth. I could not do it her, Falun, I could not break her heart, not after what I had already failed to do for her. So, I lied, and, she thinks she is alive. She thinks her sweet girl is still alive!”

“Talinn-” Falun began, but Talinn began shaking even more as he continued to sob even more violently.

“What’s worse, I...I married her sister, Dusk-huh, ironic, right, from what I have heard? But she was the only thing I ever got to pick in my life, and, we worked well together. I loved...no, I love her. But when the time came when I had to make a decision between her and the ambitions of the family...I chose the family. I betrayed her, my wife. And every day for the past decade, she has been humiliated, because of me, and Tanya probably will hate me for that, when she discovers how and why I did that.”

His sobs died down now, and he sniffled, as his brother began to rock him, gently.

“That is all I have been, brother, a failure. It should have been you, not me, taking the reigns. I am just the second son, the lesser son. If I had gone first, not you, back then, I could have been the one who died, you could have been with Tanya, stood up to Alexei far sooner, found some way for our House to regain its honor and position, far better than I could...that is all I am, a failure, and no wonder both she, Dusk, and my kits are disgusted by and stay away from me. I deserve it, and, you know, I get the feeling if I am not meant to come back, I deserve ‘Gates for what I have done too.”

“Talinn!” Falun barked, though in an authoritative way laced with kindness. “Talinn,” he repeated again, much more softly “...little brother.”

He hugged his brother as they both sank to the floor, and was quiet for a moment, pulling back a little, he looked at him with kind eyes, seeing not the powerful and bitter old todd Talinn had become, but the young kit who had always looked up to him.

“You have been through a lot, haven’t you?”

Talinn nodded.

Falun scritched him again on the head once more, and after some time, he spoke.

“Tanya….Tox...she is not so cold-hearted as you might think. When I knew her, she was prickly on the outside, but, beneath everything, she is a good and kind beast, and I do not think that core part of her has changed. I am not saying it will be easy, and she may…” he chuckled a little, thinking back to his wife’s nature “...make it a little tough for you, but, if you are truthful with her, and try to genuinely reconcile, I think she will be open to it, and, in time, you may be able to meet my kits.”

Talinn simply nodded, feeling tired, and, for a time, fell asleep in his brother’s lap. After a bit, he woke up, and found his brother still there, watching over him.

“I don’t...there is one more thing…” Talinn started, remembering the original question “...she got remarried, to this Jeshal the Ironclaw, even had kits with him. I am unsure if you knew him...or...I am sorry to bring it up.”

Falun shook his head dismissively, then replied.

“Do not worry on account of my sake, brother. I came to terms with the idea that Tanya would remarry one day in the future, and, up here, once you have gone through necessary things, any jealousy that you might feel in such a situation…well, you feel at peace. I am even glad that Aille and Valdrisk have siblings they can turn to. I mostly just wanted to see if she was all right. Tell me, though, is this Jeshal the Ironclaw a good beast?”

Talinn froze for a moment, thinking back on all the reports he had access to, and a very mixed expression came across his face.

“He…” Talinn’s face twisted again, unable to actually say that Jeshal, from what the reports said, was a generally good beast, though he had not yet met him “...in the end, he looked out for Tanya for decades, protected her and the kits while I was unable to, and, Tanya seems happy with him. In that sense, yes.”

Falun glanced at him quizzically, then laughed and nodded.

“I suppose, one day, when Tanya arrives here, we can catch up, and I am sure that we will have a lot to talk about.”

The two remained silent for a moment, just gazing out over the moon over the ocean.

“Little brother…” Falun began “...be kinder to yourself. The burden placed on us, because of our blood, was and is heavier than most beasts could bear. The fact that you even made it to such an age...you are a strong beast, and all of us make mistakes. Here, all that matters at the end of the day, is if you tried your genuine best as well as your heart and mind knew, and have remorse if you were not able to do so. When you go back...try to fix what you have broken, and, try to find your pleasures where you can. Your wife, your kits, protect them, but also, spend time with them. You only get so many hours, after all.”

Talinn nodded, feeling like a great weight had been taken off his chest, and then looked at his brother once more, feeling that the time to continue talking to him was running out.

“Some of the others...they...have given me messages. Prophecies, I think. Is there anything you want to say to Tanya? To your kits?”

“That I love them, and that I await them when it is their time is all that I have. But for you, brother…”

He nuzzled his face against Talinn’s forehead as he held him tight.

“I grant you a life, to use for your family. Use it to reforge what has been shattered, and to your own design, not what Alexei dreamed it should be."

Talinn once again began to sob at his brother’s kindness, holding on to him for a while, before he once more felt the urge to go, this time, much stronger. Wiping away his tears, he nodded as the two of them separated once more.

“I will, brother, thank you. It will be difficult, but…” he froze on the words, finding it hard to believe in himself. Instead, Falun smiled at him, and then finished the sentence “I know that I can do do it. And I believe you can, Talinn.”

He lifted his younger brother to his feet, and gave him a deep bow of respect, which shocked Talinn, before the Duke returned the favor.

“Thank you, brother.”

Falun smiled at him, then nodded back towards the path.

“You have one more visitor to meet, and only a little bit of time left in the Forest. Keep in mind what I have told you, brother, and you should be able to see me again one day.”

Given his brother a final nod, Talinn walked down the gangplank, then walked backwards, keeping his brother in sight until the last possible moment. He was glad his brother made it here, and was filled with hope at his words and appreciative of his gift, even if he did not know, like with Sken, what the granting of a life meant at the moment.

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

The path through the Forest led him to a small cottage surrounded by blooming flower gardens. Most were immaculate, though a few here and there looked as if they had been dug through by some sort of pest. Out in front of the cottage, a small wicker table and chairs had been set up, each painted white. Sat at the table, a tea set before her, her fur an immaculate white that swept down over her shoulders and contrasted sharply with the emerald green dress she wore, was...

"Hello cousin," Vaelora greeted him, a coy smile upon her lips. "I was wondering if I'd ever see you here. There was part of me that thought you might not make it." She gestured to the free chair, inquiring, "Would you like to sit? Hey," she suddenly barked, glaring at one of the gardens. "Stop that!"

She yanked sharply with her footpaw, from which ran a taut silver chain. Something with dark fur - no, black headfur and gray fur matted and caked by dark soil - tumbled out of the garden from where it had been digging in a flower bed. The feral vixen's green eyes turned upon Talinn, and Vaelora sternly rebuked, "No. Go lay down!" She pointed, and Armina Rogue, more animal than sentient beast, slunk off to lurk amidst the bushes. Vaelora sighed, turning her gaze to Talinn apologetically. "Apparently this was the Forest's compromise," she noted, gesturing to the chain. "I get to be here, but I'm stuck with her forever, unable to escape the creature that I was. There's some poetic irony in that, I'd say."

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn, upon seeing Vaelora, visibly smiled, and, tail wagging much like seeing his brother, began to hurry over to his beloved cousin, but froze upon seeing the...creature...that suddenly tumbled out of the flowerbed. He stared at it, horrified that it would even be allowed in this place-he remembered it all too well those many years ago. Before they had managed to...for...lack of a better word, at great cost, exorcise it from Vaelora. He had thought they had banished the damn thing forever, sliced the connection, but, no, here it was. He frowned, and shook his head as he moved to sit down at the table next to his cousin.


“I suppose it is the ‘debt’ that the Kitsune said must be paid…” Talinn said standing at the table “...although perhaps she was a part of you, too, deep down in the end, no matter how much we tried to sever the connection. Yet, it seems you are the one still in control, as we taught you. I was...no, I am proud of you for that, and so many other things.”

Making his way around the table, he hugged his departed cousin tightly, tears running down his face as he did so. They had started off roughly, but he had genuinely come to love the beast she had become, and, still carried the guilt of being unable to protect her, thrown off by Anithias’s murder of Weylin to where he was too focused on revenge to protect her properly. After some time, he pulled away from her, tears still in his eyes.

“I am here, it seems, only temporarily, but I am so glad you made it here, even with the restrictions. You never deserved ‘Gates, no matter what that bastard Anithias said.”

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

Vaelora laughed lightly as Talinn embraced her, subsiding to a slightly mournful chuckle at the mention of Anithias. "Well, the joke is on him then, or so it seems. He's been down there for a while now. Julia visits him occasionally, where the Kitsune permits," she explained. "She's up here as well." She hesitated before adding, "She considered coming to see you too, but... Well, she wanted me to give you a message. She forgives you for her own death; she understands you were reeling from grief, and lashing out in pain. She hasn't forgiven you yet for what happened to her kits because of it, though," she clarified.

She busied herself pouring tea for Talinn, adding, "I see you've been busy redeeming my name. I appreciate it, really, and I'm flattered, Talinn, but... a clock? Really?"

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn took the cup of tea, reveling in its unnatural sweetness before replying. He smirked a little at first-so there was justice, if Anithias was stuck down in ‘Gates. Good, may he be damned for what he did out of his pride. That smile faded as he remembered the Kitsune’s words about debts needing to be repaid and the suggestions that he amend his life from his visitors in the afterlife. His face turning more solemn, he nodded.

“I was wrong for what I did to Julia, if you can tell her that. The way Weylin was...dealt with...by Anithias...I…” He looked down at the cup of tea for a while before continuing, staring into the dark brown liquid “...became...unmoored...it is one thing to play the game of politics, but another to do that, in such a way…”. He took another sip of the tea, before a rueful expression crossed his face. “I am sure the proper thing for me to have done would have been to take his kits and raise them alongside your own, turn them to our side and bind them to us, but, I could not see that trademark golden fur. I just could not. So a few thousand gilders to Vito, and a pull on his heartstrings…”

He shook his head.

“They might not have ended up the way that Julia wanted, but they are in health, and doing far better than most beasts if my contacts are to be believed, though perhaps Falun would have benefited from a less...unorthodox…parental figure. Vito was strong enough to keep them alive and in health through the troubles, though, and I believe in the end came to love both of them. He would not have given them his name had he not.”

Perking up at the mention of the clocktower, he looked sheepish for a moment, averting his eyes.

“I thought it was the best way at the time, so that whenever a beast looked up to tell the time, they would remember you and what you stood for, from wherever they were in the city, no matter the time of day. But I confess I may have gone a little...overboard...in some aspects...and the informal nickname that is going around is ‘Big Val’….”

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

Vaelora picked the exact wrong moment to take a sip of her tea. Her eyes widened as she choked on the tea and fell to coughing for a moment, hot tea dripping from her nostrils. "Big Val?!" she asked, incredulous, as soon as she could speak. "Big Val?! Do you know how many generations coming through the Forest I'll have to deal with who will only know me as Big Val? Honestly, I was fine with all the rest of it - the statues, the propaganda posters, the books, the plays, the silver vaelorii coin, the Vaelora Ryalor Memorial Orphanage, the Vaelora Ryalor Scholarship for Promising Young Femmes, the Vaelora Ryalor Lookalike Drag Competition-"

"The what?"

"-but Big Val? That's going to be the piece of my legacy that survives the ages? I mean, even Dusk had the grace to name -"

There was a rumble of thunder from overhead, a roll not unlike laughter, but with just a hint of warning tucked in. Vaelora promptly shut her mouth, put her paws flat on the the table, and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "I'm not really mad about the nickname," she allowed. "It's an indignity, but I'm dead; I can withstand a few indignities. As for what you did to Falun and Marianna... I'll give Julia your explanation, and an apology too, if you're capable of offering one." She met Talinn's eyes as she added, "Really though, Talinn, what you did to her family was unjustified, regardless of what happened to me, regardless of what you think happened to-"

There was another rumble of thunder again, this time laced through with warning. Vaelora sighed, her tone a touch irritated. "The Great Kitsune really wants us to be careful about what we share with living visitors to our realm," she stated. "We have to couch everything cryptically, in a way that the visitor's mind could plausibly have surmised for itself." She took another deep breath before refocusing. "I don't have much longer with you," she admitted, "so let me get out what I need to say. Thank you for taking care of my kits. I know that being parents wasn't something that came naturally to you and Dusk, so I appreciate the effort you made with them. Please," she requested, "if you get the chance, remind them that their mother loves them so much, and she's so proud of the adults they've grown up to be.

"As for something to help you for the future..." She looked at Talinn carefully before stating, "There are five, not four. If you want to get free of her, don't let her find out. Also..." She took a small cookie from the tea tray and set it before him. It was beautifully decorated with frosting petals like a white rose. "A gift," she stated. "Use it to save the lives of my kits - or yours," she allowed. "I'd like for them to survive. Just... use it to be selfless for a change, Talinn."

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn sheepishly accepted the rebuke about the name of the clocktower with a wince, in truth, he had never been a common beast, so he had thought that they would refer to it by its proper name, or something like the “Val Tower”, not “Big Val”. He could see how that could be...problematic...and it was far too late to stop the construction now. Far too many gilders and too much expertise had gone into it. It would, indeed, have to be her most enduring legacy. Another one of his misshaps.

Thankfully, Vaelora seemed to be okay with it, although Talinn was intrigued by the crack of thunder and the mention of Dusk. What had Dusk named, and why had the Kitsune so abruptly censored it? And again when she tried to mention something about Julia’s family, although he was entirely in agreement with her that he had gone too far in his quest for revenge. He did not have long to linger on either thought, however, as he focused on Vaelora’s words, getting the feeling that he did not have much longer with her as well.

He stared at the cookie, then back at her, then took it, washing it down with some of her tea, not wanting to risk losing so precious a gift, much like Sken’s. Then, he stood, and offered the full, formally apologetic Fyadoran bow to her, speaking as he did so “Tell Julia that this is meant for her. I do sincerely regret and apologize for what I did to her and her kits...and...if there is a way I can still help them...I will try.”

Standing up, and putting his paw on Vaelora’s shoulder, he spoke.

“I will take your words of the future into consideration, though I suspect I will only know when the time comes, but I will continue to watch over your kits, and will tell them that their mother still loves them and is proud of them. For my own kits...I will try to fix what Dusk and I have broken. You know who also told me that and who you could visit here, if you have not? My brother….Falun…”

He tensed up waiting for the clap of thunder, but none came. Apparently, it was fine to tell other beasts in the afterlife where others were.

As rain began to pour down on the little cottage, he knew it was time to go, but he could not resist giving his beloved cousin one last, full hug, tears running down his eyes, before he withdrew and wiped them. He gave her a firm nod.

“I will try to be better, for you, and for my family.”

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

Vaelora smiled and embraced her cousin, patting his back as she did so. "I'll visit," she promised. "I think we'll have a lot to discuss. I don't know if he'll believe what became of that bratty little teenager from Summerdock."

There was the sound of something scratching at the cottage door, and Vaelora pulled away from Talinn with a sigh, looking in annoyance as the creature that was once Armina signaled to be let inside. "You wanted to be let out just half an hour ago," she rebuked. She glanced toward Talinn apologetically. "I'm sorry, cousin. I need to take care of her. Take care on your journey - and don't come back too soon," she added. Then she strode to her cottage door and, with a small smile back at him over her shoulder, she slipped inside.