Corporal's Quarters, 2nd of Melora (military only)

[Keeva Kaldres]

Timestamp: Dianara, 2nd brightening of the 1st cycle of Melora, Winter of Era X in the Age of Darkening

Early brightening, and Keeva was most definitely not in a congenial mood. Darkening had not deigned to bless her with one wink of recuperating, replenishing sleep, and, as such, her outward appearance followed accord and corresponded perfectly with the surplus amount of negative emotions running ribbons about her weary form. Fighting a constant, ceaseless battle just to keep the fatigues lids of her eyes from drooping downwards, and elaborate, gratifying yawn would clearly portray the Sergeant's exhausted state to any others within the proximity of the room.

Rising drowsily from her seated position on her bed, the soldier began to pace languidly about the room, stretching the tired limbs and muscles of her small, lithe frame as she did so. It was one thing to look and feel like a complete and utter mess, but the Sergeant was loathe to carry out her business and duties of the brightening with her arms and legs feeling akin to lumps of lead.

Business? Ceasing in her aimless strides, the Sergeant slumped down onto the unfeeling surface of her bed once more. Of course, that was the real reason behind her being up and about so early. This brightening she had designated to planning and plotting for a proposed attack on Jada Leska of the Fallen Council. The previous darkening's events had, after all, been a complete shambles, and the group had barely succeeded in conjuring up anything solid in the way of a strategy. Yarrow's subsequent rage and ire at the circumstances had seen Keeva organising this meeting, which she could only hope would be conducted and carried out in a much more efficient way than the previous one had.

Turning her dreary gaze towards the wooden structure of the quarter's door, doleful eyes severely doubted the number of soldiers that would make their presence known on this potentially eventful brightening, especially after the relative insanity the darkening had callously wrought. Still, the threat of the Fallen Council could not easily be dispelled without the aid of a valid plan; one that she could not come up with on her own.

[Kellos Vastak]

Kellos had jolted up early that morning, strapped on his armor and weapons, and nothing short of ran to Segeant Lasant and Woodruff's quarters, having just enough time to grab a loaf at the mess hall. Ripping of a chunk as he ran, he knew he would be early byy just a few minutes, but he was sick of wasting time. As a newly appointed Corporal, Kellos felt it necessary to be early to most everything, and to seize greater responsibility in his actions.

His metal boots' footfall could be heard quite audibly from a distance, and if noone knew him better, they would have thought him running toward a battle. This was far from the case though, and the footsteps came to a heavy halt before the door of the Sergeants' quarters.

It was then that perhaps the first threads of fatigue curled their way about him. He had slept very well, and was fully energized, but had only waken up no more than 15 minutes ago, and in consequence was still tired and his body still longing for sleep. He quickly dismissed the feeling though, as sleep was far from the most important thing on his list.

As he swallowed the last hunk of bread he had pulled from the loaf, he ripped off another with his teeth. He would wait out a few minutes until they where supposed to show up, and then knock on the door.

The minutes passed briefly, the loaf in his hand gradually growing smaller as it was devoured. Then, without warning, Kellos raised an armored fist and slammed it into the door, resulting in a loud bang emanating throughout the hall and no doubt through the room. He did this not out of anger, or rudeness, or even for no reason at all. He did it to make sure that everyone inside was awake and ready to begin, the last things they needed was for mounted foul tempers like last night!

“Corporal Kellos reporting for duty.” Kellos called clearly. His tone was easily perceived as dead serious, and for him it was in good reason. They had wasted far to much time last night, they couldn’t afford to do so again.

[Vincent Stefan]

Vincent was never one to rush to any place, so he set out from his quarters much earlier then was really needed. It was funny really Vincent was not even hungry. He had been forced to eat kibble that he had received from his Dorin roommate last night. Since the mess hall was already shut down by the time the group had dispersed. The thought of the vile food still made him sick to his stomach.

As Vincent walked he did however feed Shadow who was perched on his shoulder. The bird ate the seeds Vincent offered him rather quickly never really showing any signs of taste any of them. It was around the time that Shadow finished eating his seeds that Vincent arrived at Keeva and Yarrow’s quarters.

It seamed that even Vincent was not fast enough to arrive before Kellos who was already banging on the rooms door. Vincent walked over and said a greeting to Kellos then took a spot against the wall where he waited for someone to answer Kellos’s banging.

[Keeva Kaldres]

"Alright, alright. I'm coming." Muttered the black-haired woman as she glared sordidly at the shaking surface of the supposedly sturdy wooden door. Did they have to knock so loud? It wasn't as if she was having enough trouble fully reaching the world of wakening already. Clenching the fingers of her right hand into a tight fist, the girl shook her hand irately in the direction of the portal, although, of course, this negative gesture would be safely guarded from the eyes of the two men stood outside.

Hearing Kellos' voice, Keeva begrudgingly forced herself back onto her feet, trudging towards the door with a heavy heart. Planning a strategy was something that had to be done however, no matter what her personal thoughts and feelings about the Fallen Council might have been.

Placing one hand gingerly about the door's handle, the girl tugged gently at the device as she swung the door open, revealing her comrades Kellos, and Vincent, both seemingly well rested from the day before. Or, at least, much more rested than she was, although that was not really any mean feat in itself.

"Serale. Please, come in, make yourselves comfortable."

Stepping aside, Keeva bid for her fellow soldiers to enter and do just that. She had no want or wish to mention the events of last night, circumstances that she would really rather forget.

"You're the first ones here, and you're both early, so you get the pick of the room to seat yourselves."

There were, sadly, only two desks, and, subsequently, naught but two chairs in the little room. It was a regrettable thing, but the Sergeant felt that any latecomers to the gathering would ned up having to brave the hard task of having to sit on the floor. Studying the floorboards momentarily as this thought filtered through her mind, the woman moved back to perch herself on the edge of her bed, her eyes flicking back to the wooden form of her room's door once more.

[Kellos Vastak]

Kellos nodded politely and respectfully, making clear that his intentions were none but for the best. He had not wished to make anyone aggravated, and certainly did not want to infuriate Sergeant Yarrow again, but they needed to work. To him, once he knew of a threat to Abestat, he worked on borrowed time, and had to remove it in as quickly as possible.

"Serale. Please, come in, make yourselves comfortable."


Kellos bobbed his head again, and politely stepped past Keeva into the room, which was very comfortably vacant at the moment, so he decided to take advantage of this piece of peace for as long as they had it.

"You're the first ones here, and you're both early, so you get the pick of the room to seat yourselves."

"Ah, I see... My thanks, Sergeant Lasant." Said Kellos as he perched himself upon one of the chairs in the room, pulling off another piece of the half devoured collosus of the carbohydrate world. He looked at Keeva, and couldn't help but notice her exhausted frame, which no doubt ment she had not had any breakfast.

He also couldn't help but note that Yarrow was not to be seen, and he realized with a sense of dread that probably meant she was still asleep. He only prayed that she would not wake up with the temperment of an ogre like last night.

Looking up to Keeva, he stretch out his arm in her direction, brandishing his tasty weapon.

"Sergeant, would you like some bread?"

[Vincent Stefan]

Vincent followed in behind Kellos. However when Kellos offered Keeva some bread he had to run out of the room for a second, in fear that the contents of his stomach were going to vacate him. Finally After a large amount of breathing Vincent was able to regain himself, and so walked into the room, apologizing for his sudden running off as he moved. Man was he embarrassed now.

Vincent located a nice place by the wall were he could stand, so he moved over to it. He would have liked sit for this, but unlike all around him he was not a ranking officer here and did not deserve to sit.

As Vincent looked about the room, he noticed with a slight start that Shadow was no longer on his shoulder. The bird had moved to one of the desks, probably when Vincent ran out in fear of sickness.

Wasting no time Vincent Placed his hand up on a right angle and slowly began a flapping motion. Instantly the bird picked up the movement and flew back to its master’s shoulder.

With everything in order now Vincent waited for the others to arrive.

[Agaenos Phidion]

The resemblence of dread, he wore,
Anxiety-pierced, forevermore?

Not a single taste of sleep. Not one trickle, seep or ooze, be it bitter or sweet, enchanting or lamenting.

Dawn. The glorious commencement of this Dianara had not bought new counsel upon this Corporal's mind, and neither did it bring new hope or better disposition upon the anxiety-stricken officer. Through the lonely Darkening he had sat, his mind uneased, futilely attempting to conjure up some stratagems or tactics of brilliance. Alas - the Darkening had cursed him - none even flocked reluctantly to him. Keeva was correct - "six heads are better than three" - or, rather, in this case, six heads are better than one. All through the night he laid, staring up blankly onto the ceiling, then he would rise, his mentality affecting his physical tolerance of tranquility, pacing about in vain, before returning to his bed and repeating the same process, to and fro, again and again.

Sleep had been unable to seige the indomitable battlements of his troubled thoughts, and thus, none had beckoned him even when the three Suns rose. Every minute, this... Council of the Fallen could be preying upon the innocent! And what of their mysterious reputation, if they had one at all? What of their powers, be it diminutive or gargantuan, enchanting (which he thought most certainly not) or dreadful (of that, he certainly agreed to)? Too many questions were voiced within Agaenos. He did not sleep. He could not sleep. His legs had found himself outside of Room 101A before dawn.

"This Brightening should hopefully hold better mood for us. Aslan bless us... or any Aetherians... or Plenetars..." The thought echoed the mood of the despondant man.

Opening the door, glaring sordidly at his own bed - a thing that he rarely did - he entered, picked the same piece of parchment, quill and bottle of ink, and left without so much as a sigh.

By the time reality had snapped back to him once again, Kellos and Vincent had already trudged towards the two Sergeants' quarters. Turning his head in a heavy manner, his own footsteps resonated profoundly in the hallway - not because of weapons or armour, of which he wore none - but because, glum as he was, he did not care.

The door was open.

Tapping light twice upon the wooden frame, his bloodshot, jovialness-deprived eyes glanced to Keeva, he mouthed his words, not wanting to trigger off another impending fury that was worse than the Elementalist spell of Star Fire.

"Is Sergeant Yarrow... still asleep?"

He was still outside of the quarters proper, for no chance he would dare - and, besides, he was in no mood right now.

[Keeva Kaldres]

An elongated, mournful sigh left the Sergeant's lips as Kellos made his offer to her. She must have looked a heck of a lot worse than she felt if her fellow soldiers were beginning to proffer their own morsels of food to her. Then again, she had not eaten much since last brightening; had been too engrossed and enrapt in thoughts of the ever-present threat the Council posed to think much about her own well-being. She figured that even the slightest bit of nourishment would do her the world of good, and so, sagely, the girl nodded towards her elven companion, a weak smile breaking the otherwise weary and rueful frame of her wan face.

"Thankyou, Corporal."

Reaching out with immense gratefulness, the young Sergeant tore off a piece of the proffered bread thankfully, the smile on her face broadening somewhat as she brought the piece towards herself, and proceeded to nibble on it slowly, her mind working to restrain her from losing her pride and stuffing the chunk in its entirety straight into the maw of her mouth.

Resuming her previous state of silence, the woman allowed her sombre gaze to fall once more on the vacant doorway to her room, her thoughts, almost instinctively, beginning to drift to notions of no real importance, trivial things that were completely irrelevant and only worked to provide welcome distraction from what was meant to take place on this morning. Her line of vision, drooping somewhat, even as the lids of her began to lose in their own conviction and fervour, fixed itself on the wooden floorboards of the room, suddenly choosing to take a dedicated interest in the thin, almost indiscernible layer of dust gathered there. Agaenos arrival, such as it was, did not rouse the girl's attention until two light taps on the rigid doorframe penetrated her sense of hearing.

Looking up once more, the solemn grey orbs of her eyes rested on the Corporal. He looked just as weary and fatigued as she felt, and, strangely enough, that fact worked to comfort her. She did not, after all, wish to be the only one in the assembly suffering due to a severe lack of sleep.

In response to his question, the girl merely bobbed her head once in affirmation, before gesturing with one hand for him to enter, and seat himself somewhere within the questionable haven of the quarters. They would not be able to begin their little meeting without the conscious presence of the other Sergeant, after all.

[Agaenos Phidion]

At least... he was not alone.

As his crimson-riddled eyes glanced, helplessly ruefully, towards Keeva, he saw a similar reflection within her - the same anxiety and fatigue that he bore, the very strain of them almost thinning his soul. The deepest halls of his conscience hoped that the young Sergeant did not bear a troubled mine of his own magnitude, lest everyone should break down - again - in the meeting. This Dianara must, at whatever costs, turn out to be fruitful.

Smiling very slightly as Keeva bobbed her head in reply to his question, the brown orbs of his eyes fell down, not from tiredness, but from the overwhelming weight he allowed himself to bear upon his whirling mentality. Taking a reluctant first step into the room with his right foot, he slowly paced, deliberately being quiet, as he nodded grave greetings to both Vincent and Kellos. Stretching out the bleak sheet of parchment, its landscape spoiled by dark, azure marks of his imperfect handscript, he set his quill atop it randomly upon one of the tables, and placing the small pot of ink beside it. Still, no sleep beckoned him. Good.

Standing with his back against one wall, the worn, grave features of his head bowed down, and his eyes transfixed upon the questionable state of the floor, his mind no longer attatched within this reality, and drifted off away to last Darkening's absurd events...

His conscience temporarily kept watch within reality for Agaenos.

[Yarrow]

Yarrow had gotten up early. She didn't want the same events to repeat itself. She had taken Bloom for a walk. The walk had cleared her head a little and that had made her nervous a little less jumpy. She was still on the gate...considering if her actions had been wrong or right, but it didn't matter anymore. I am only a number after all... She thought to herself as she entered her room. She put on a fixed smile. Three had dared to come back.

Serale. She said to them all, coming in to her room. She had decided that it was a good idea to let Bloom stay outside until the meeting was over. She knew there wasn't enough room. From what they had seen...Stars...I must forget that or I might get angry again. I think I have been in this business too long. Perhaps I am losing my cool. Perhaps I am losing Yarrow. Yes...that must be my reasons for...no...don't think about that. She made her way to her bed before taking a seat.

[Agaenos Phidion]

Footsteps. They were much lighter then the heavy-hearted Corporal's. Lighter footsteps emanated from the corridor outside of the quarters. His mind still swam within the depths of his past; though, through the vigilence of his conscience, he mind surfaced back to reality, as the brown orbs of his eyes slowly traced upwards, rising in a gallant, deliberate slow and forced pace, staring upon the five-foot seven-inch figure in the doorway, his weighted mentality too burdened to even conjure up any remote emotions of either joy or fear.

Thankfully, his friend and senior was in a much better mood this Brightening. The smile that laid fixed upon her face was clearly visible to everyone within the quarters.

A slow, forced smile stretched across Agaenos' face as he looked up. He could not help the despondent smile upon him. He had not slept, the anxiety within him raged rampantly within his moaning mentality, and his disposition had still not improved one bit... Well, maybe that was fallacy - his disposition did improve by the slightest margin as he saw the smile and normal "Serale" of Yarrow.

Straining to keep his smile as joyful as he could (which he did not really succeed), a small, parched greeting came out of his lips.

"Serale, good brightening, Yarrow."

Obviously he had left out "Staff Sergeant", as this man had very little military etiquette.

Even as he stood and completed his small, downcasted greeting, a cough tickled him, and surged out, suddenly, without warning, out of the dry and coarse throat of the Corporal. Coughing twice, he quickly covered his mouth, and strained his hardest to keep in any more that dared to ail him. He did not want to present himself as a man sick with worry...

[Yarrow]

Don't die on us man! Yarrow said to Agaenos from where she was sitting. She glanced at the others in the room. No one seemed to have gotten as good asleep as she had. After her normal strange dreams, she had slept rather well.

She thought back to those dreams and shook her head. None of them made much sense to her. Past events mixed up inside her head as she dreamed so it seemed like two events were actually one.

For example one such dream had put together two different memories creating one miserable dream. Mother was screaming like always...what she was yelling about, Yarrow could not remember. Then the second event came into play. It was her old memory of the beggar coming to the door at dinner and her mother yelling at him to go away.

[Agaenos Phidion]

His face burning in a crimson colour, he strained his hardest to keep in any and all coughts from escaping his dry throat. Two particular strong ones had escaped through the barrier he erected, but other than that, no more had sounded from the throat of Agaenos. From the convulsions of his stomach and lungs, though, he felt nauseatic momentarily, his face remaining crimson and his eyes shimmering slightly. Thankfully, it all passed away soon.

"Don't die on us man!" Said Yarrow, back to her helpful self which he knew and met last Brightening, straight after the party.

Smiling profusely, half of that anxiety and concern upon his face vanishing, he managed to conjure a wide smile upon his face, and turned momentarily to the young woman whom he befriended just last Darkening.

"Thank you - I won't die, just yet." A tiny grin stretched across his face as his croaky voice sounded from his parch, coarse throat. Indeed, he had not taken a morsel since last Darkening, being stricken with worry about the grim future of this once-glorious city.

Glancing about, the man in his despondent state started to note the intracate feature of Keeva's dragon statue upon her desk, for once, staring from afar to admire its beauty...

[Yarrow]

That's a mercy anyhow! She told him before turning to Keeva. Not everyone was here yet, but she wondered how much had been told. She at least remembered that for last Brighting. Not many here knew what was going on. All they knew was that they were going up against some Druids. Keeva and herself were probably the only two who actually knew the whole story.

So...what did I miss at this eventful party? She asked her friend and room mate. This was probably the longest friendship she had ever had with anyone. She didn't want anything to come between then because Keeva was almost like her sister. No man or fight...could come between them...she only hoped.

[Vincent Stefan]

Vincent listened to the conversation that Yarrow and Agaenos had but he found that he could not say anything. The events of the night before were too resent and Vincent found that he was almost afraid to say anything to Yarrow. This feeling was more or less because Yarrow was his commanding officer and even more to the point she outranked him. It was as he was having that thought that Vincent realized everyone in the room out ranked him. This gave way to a feeling of being out of place, but soon it past.

So Vincent just continued to stand in the corner deciding that staying quiet was the best type of action. Shadow on the other hand was not so inclined. The bird began to thump his feat against Vincent’s shoulder this action produced a slightly thumping sound to be produced. As the rhythm continued Vincent began to wonder why it was that whenever he did one thing, the raven always did the apposite.