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RESPITE GUARD BARRACKS PRISON - LATE AFTERNOON
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Aerdrid paces a bit in his cell, the continued lack of much of anything to keep him active making him rather antsy as of late. He sighs quietly to himself, the days having lost meaning in his underground cell by now. Thankfully, he's able to tell when the sun is up or not by way of seeing the light sources whenever guards change, so he's been able to keep his sleep cycle decent enough, thus far.
Usid is led through the Barracks by two of the guards in charge of watching this prisoner. Arrangements have already been made, and this is simply a matter of confirming it to his satisfaction. He is not dressed in his usual (and well-used by this point) armor, the bones broken and weakened. Instead, he has opted for a rather new looking leather piece, with some light cloth that covers where his feathers do not poke out. It does make him seem more... 'civilized', is perhaps how the people of Respite would put it. It has given Usid slightly more weight in his talks and negotiations and dealings with the leaders of this town. One of the guards opens the door to the prison, and Usid enters, approaching the cell in question. "Hmph. Aerdrid, yes?"
Aerdrid hears the door to the block opening up, but he's started to just not pay attention to the noise unless specifically addressed. When addressed, though, he generally favors the one talking with a sour look, which he does when he hears Usid's voice. Once he turns, however, he blinks in surprise when his gaze shifts down to look at the the shorter Saur. "...Yes. Usid? You... look different than I remember."
Usid lets out a long breath through his nostrils, thinking. "When was last time Aerdrid saw Usid, hm? In the cave to the North?" He shakes his head. "Much has changed. Much. We should discuss it... and then I am here to release you... for whatever fate you choose to follow... with conditions, of course."
Aerdrid hums as he furrows his brow a bit, his arms crossing one over the other as he examines Usid's gear a bit more closely. "Around then, yes. Much has changed, from what some of these... guards..." His voice practically drips with sarcasm at that, "...have been talking about while I've been in here. What conditions are these you speak of?"
Usid nods. His voice sounds heavier then it likely did then, the violent snarling threats he exchanged with Nyzai now replaced by weight and responsibility he did not wish for, and a deep sorrow for what he's seen, what he's done, what his people have lost. "The war is over. No seeking retibution. No taking lives. You will be free to depart, or to stay as you wish. Some of your clan yet remains... almost all went with Dyvrisse after..." He waits a moment, watching Aerdrid carefully. "Do you know? They say... they say it let out a great roar when it flew over the Walled city."
Aerdrid sighs quietly as he shakes his head. "I heard something... some days back. The guards spent the better part of an entire day well away from the cells, and no one dared speak of what it was when the cell guards returned later." He slowly unfolds his arms, "The war is over. So with you here, and the guards not putting a sword to your neck... what Sister Louma said before is true, then? The Saurs... have lost?"
Usid glances away from Aerdrid to stare out at nothing. "Yes. We have lost... we have lost everything. The Prominence is gone. ...Nyzai and Zayzzes are gone. Dyvrisse seeks a new home with those who wish for isolation. Those within the Walled City seek peace, and for our kin who trust them... I am doing what I can to ensure they shall have it."
Aerdrid closes his eyes as he hears Usid confirming what Louma said of Nyzai. After a moment of silence, though, he shifts and looks at Usid again. "The Whisperer... what of him? Was he slain in battle at the Prominence when the guards took it?" He pauses, shifting a little uncomfortably, "...And when you say the Prominence is gone... how could we hope for peace if it was razed? We would be no better than prisoners anyway!"
Usid lowers his eyes to the ground. "You misunderstand, Aerdrid. It was not Respite who razed the city. The Whisperer was slain, yes. He betrayed us. Perhaps he never truly heard Yzzayt at all... I do not know. Zayzzes spoke words long ago that seemed blasphemy. Dyvrisse agreed, but kept her voice silent. I only saw it too late." He lifts his head to stare into Aerdrid's eyes. "It was not these people who razed the Prominence. It was Yzzayt himself, waking not to deliver us to glory, but to punish us, or forsake us... or... or..." His voice harshens into a strained whisper before it trails off at the end.
Aerdrid feels a chill roll over his head and shoulders as he listens to Usid that has nothing to do with the underground cell. "Yzzayt... he awoke? He... destroyed...? I... wh-what...? What words did Zayzzes say before?" He's clearly shocked at the moment, so many details being confirmed in a row unsettling him far more than Louma's statements from earlier, "So... the Prominence is.... when you say 'gone'...?"
Usid: "Broken apart... nothing but a crater remains..." He shakes his head, then shifts the conversation back to the other question. "Before the war began, when first Usid was made one of the Chosen, alongside the others, Zayzzes spoke of his distrust to us... he spoke his doubts aloud, and Nyzai called him blasphemer. Dyvrisse held her tongue. Usid did not care, then. Zayzzes dismissed his feeling, and swore to serve the Whisperer, as we all did..."
Aerdrid seems to deflate a bit upon hearing of the fate of the Prominence, and he shuffles over to one of the side walls of his cell and leans against it before his legs give out. "And... it is because of the Whisperer that... we are all scattered to the winds." He sighs again and shakes his head sadly, "I was not aware of anything spoken between the Chosen. But now... now I wish Nyzai was... not so arrogant."
Usid hums, quietly nodding. "Nyzai... Usid hated her. Respected her too. Nyzai was powerful. Too clever for her own good. Too arrogant, yes. But... Usid regrets her fate."
Aerdrid thumps a fist gently against the wall a couple of times, just as a way to do... something to occupy his mind for a moment, so he doesn't lose it. "She was a combatant to be respected, but it was always victory or death for her... and for us." He tilts his head curiously, "Did you hear about how I was captured?"
Usid nods, "Captured during the pursuit of Sister Louma after her escape, yes? Usid had not heard details of the combat."
Aerdrid nods. "The long and short of it... We lost several of our clan there in the forest's edge, and I would have joined them if the guard attacking me did not decide to strangle me instead." He lifts a hand to his neck, where there's still a faint mark from the bowstring, "I have been in here since."
Usid smiles faintly, "No shame in defeat, Aerdrid. Usid is learning this... slowly. To my clan, defeat in hunt means death. It is why strive to be stronger, to rise above. Now... we must learn new ways. Become stronger still, yes. But different strength. Better strength, Usid hopes." He sighs. "Usid knows these words not easy to hear, or to accept. Usid has been saying them a great deal of late, and still they feel... hard. Hard to say, and harder to accept. I am no God. I cannot understand why Yzzayt did what he did... but I choose to believe Yzzayt has given us defeat... the greatest defeat the Saur have ever known... such that we may learn from it. We must move forward now... without Yzzayt's guidance."
Aerdrid hums and nods in response. "Defeat is still preferable to a pointless death. I have not heard what happened to Nyzai and the others in detail, but I know they all died on the ground, surrounded and refusing to back down." He shakes his head sadly, "There is a difference between lives spent and lives wasted... and that last stand was a waste... But, as you say, Usid... maybe there is a reason for all of this."
Usid nods slowly. "Nyzai's death was pointless, bitter. Now that Usid has spent time with the warriors of Respite... they would have spared her. They would have spared all of them. Some of them are full of fury, and rage. Others with fear, or vengeance. Dyvrisse sees them as treacherous. Fears they are no better than Xeilzrous. They caused unneccessary deaths to free their own from Yzzayt's Abyss."
Aerdrid eyes Usid curiously from behind the bars separating the two from one another. "What do you think of them yourself, Usid? Dyvrisse has always been a difficult one to understand, and Nyzai's judgement was as clouded as the sky on a stormy day, as strong a fighter as she was." He pauses and casts a glance towards the door, "I have little care for these... people of Respite, at least until I hear and see more for myself."
Usid sighs, considering. "Usid finds them... strange. They are strong, and loyal to their own, but as diverse as our own clans are from one another. The ones in the Walled City are different from the warriors we encountered." He pauses, voice lowering, "They are in celebration now. It is somewhat disquieting, but they do not know what we have suffered to bring about their victory. Our people are refuges here, and while they do not shun them, they are uncertain of us. Cautious. Afraid... but still open to giving us aid."
Aerdrid blinks and frowns a little. "They are... celebrating? Hmph... I suppose I cannot blame them, as I feel we would have done similar, had we won." He sighs again and lowers his head a bit, tucking his beak against his chest in thought, "I suppose to them, we are all one and the same. Only some of us are the cause of their suffering, but their distrust is applied to all."
Usid nods. "Yes... I imagine so. The warriors know, the fighters who faced us. Those who helped our kind flee the destruction of the Prominence. The people within the town only know 'the enemy'. This is the divide that split our people. Those who hope to win their trust, and find a way to start anew... and those who distrust them still. Usid cannot blame those who would not come but Usid was already committed to treason even before the end. Xeilzrus would have destroyed my clan, in time. Usid wished to survive. But now..." He sighs again. "Usid seeking his purpose. What can he do to make everyone stronger. Us. Them. Everyone. What is best for Respite? What is best for the Saur? Usid think... it is the same question now."
Aerdrid nods quietly at the thought. "The same question... though the faces asking the question have changed a little, perhaps. Every clan wants what is best for their own, and Respite is no different, it would seem. Their 'clan' is just... diverse." He pauses, then nods again, mostly to himself, "...Then I agree to the conditions. I will not cause trouble to Respite, not that I would be blind enough to attempt such a thing alone, anyway. I would like to get out of this prison, now."
Usid nods, and steps away from the cell towards the guards by the door. He exchanges a quick word, and a moment later returns alongside the jailer, who, with a bit of caution, unlocks the door to Aerdrid's cell. Usid nods. "You are welcome to join our encampment, west of the city, Aerdrid. Else... I can point you in the direction Dyvrisse left towards, if you wish to seek her out instead. It is your choice."
Aerdrid eyes the guard with a bit of dislike, but none of the open contempt he'd shown before as he steps out of the cell to join Usid. Free he might be, but he's not about to do anything that would get him thrown right back into the cell he's vacating. After a few moments, he nods at the smaller Saur. "I will... think about it. Part of me is still in disbelief about what happened to the Prominence... our home. I will probably want to fly out to see it for myself, and then maybe talk to Dyvrisse to hear more of this... sorry tale. I will... most likely return here, though."
Usid turns to walk out, motioning Aerdrid to follow him out of the cell and through the barracks. "Usid shall wish you good winds on your journey, and... hope you can find some meaning in it." He pauses, glancing back with a toothy smirk, "Usid shall also warn you to be careful. Sister Louma is strong, and does well not to show open ill will against those who imprisoned her. But I recommend not surprising her. Usid suspects she will not hold back. If given reason."
Aerdrid follows after Usid as he leaves the cells, feeling quite glad indeed to be heading back out to the open air. "I am... not sure if I will find meaning in it so much as a sense of finality. Closure. But your wishes are still most appreciated, Usid..." He pauses, then sighs at the mention of Louma, "Sister Louma actually came by the cells a little while ago to tell me of some of the news, so she at least is willing to speak to me without open hostility. I will keep in mind to not surprise her, though, accidentally or otherwise."
Usid chuckles to himself. "This is good. Usid believes Sister Louma is a much better ally than enemy." He pushes open the door towards the outer courtyard of the barracks, the final step to Aerdrid's freedom. "Sister Xochi spoke to Usid a great deal as well, another of our kin who lived amongst those of Respite. She is still amongst our people, offering aid and comfort where she can, and may give some insight that Usid cannot."
Aerdrid follows Usid out into the courtyard and takes a deep breath. Marred the air might be with the smell of freshly-lit torches and the tang of whatever the guards use for armor maintenance, it's probably some of the sweetest air he's smelled in a while, locked up as he's been down in the cells. Once he's done savoring the moment, though, he tilts his head and looks over at Usid, "Sister Xochi? There is another child of Yzzayt here in Respite?"
Usid nods, "A winged serpent, similar to Sister Louma. She came as speaker for Respite, seeking peace with our people." He pauses, shifting slightly uncomfortably, his voice lowering. "She is... strange. Another time... born within the Prominence... she may have..." He shakes his head in the end. "She is... wise. Even Usid recognizes this."
Aerdrid catches Usid's meaning when he pauses and shakes his head, causing him to nod in understanding. "I see... Then... I should see about speaking with Sister Xochi, then. If she is still around the encampment outside of the walls, then I can speak to her... and the others, too, before I fly west."
Usid grins, eyeing Aerdrid's wings. "Usid would walk with you to the camp, but suspects you shall go on ahead?"
Aerdrid shakes his head. "Flying can wait for now, if you wish to talk more, Usid. For securing my release from that cell, I will not let any impatience of mine get in the way of our talk."
Usid shrugs, "This has been good talk. Usid finds himself in strange position now, and is doing his best to be the leader our clans need. Usid will do his best to answer any other questions you have."
Aerdrid shakes his head again and offers a bit of a smile. "I have no questions that cannot wait until later. If you wish, though, I will still be around the encampment for a little while before I fly out to the west. I will find you to let you know when I decide to go."
Usid dips his head, "Usid will aid you however I can, Aerdrid. Seek me out, if you need."
Aerdrid dips his head respectfully. "And to you the same, Usid, if I can help." He sighs and angles his head skyward, "But... if nothing else, the sky calls now that it is so close at hand."
Usid shakes his head with a smirk, "You fliers and your 'calls'. Yes, yes, fly now. ...Good luck, Aerdrid. Usid shall be seeing you."
Aerdrid gives Usid a respectful salute, one usually shown to a superior and (in Aerdrid's case) almost exclusively used when taking orders from Nyzai before his imprisonment. "I shall see you again before long, Usid." He finishes his salute, braces, then propels himself high up into the air.
Usid watches Aerdrid go a moment, then sighs, making his way back out of town and towards the encampment, tired, but still determined that this is the right path for his people.