Silent Treason [open!]

[Anonymous]

[ooc| Here it is, Sunshine, sorry it's so short for such a long wait. Do you mind if I leave this open for anyone else to join?]

The rhythmic, foreboding rhythm of boots echoed through the square. They marched in perfect precision, their rows and columns flawlessly straight, expressions blank as marble and eyes fixed unwaveringly ahead. Rhett flattened himself against the wall beneath the shade of an arch to watch them pass. It was only a small platoon, maybe thirty soldiers, and who knew what they were doing marching through the city in mid-afternoon, but any number of soldiers was enough to make Rhett nervous.

When they had passed, the young man peeled himself off the wall and emerged tentatively into the sunlight again. He stared after their retreating backs silently, but with a quiet hatred for the military, for the government, for everything they stood for. Others might hate the royal family for their lack of aid for poverty or disease, or praise them for their intolerance of magic, but Rhett hated them for that exact reason. It was all too easily to envision the massacre of his entire family for something his sisters had simply been born with.

But no one would ever suspect Rhett of such treasonous thoughts. Even now, moving and sliding through the crowd of the marketplace, no one paid attention to him; he was nearly invisible, his shoulders and spine slouched to minimise his height, his eyes directed meekly at the ground and avoiding contact with anyone else. People didn’t think the young, awkward Garou was a threat to anyone, and because he spoke so little (and chose his words so carefully when he did), he never let on how much of a traitor he was to his country.

His thoughts were still on the soldiers as Rhett lingered at a stall to purchase some pretty new ribbons for his sisters. He was often careful to bring them something nice when he went out to market, because they so rarely left the house these days; they loved the small, thoughtful gifts he brought them from the Reajh market. The knowledge that the military was responsible for his sisters’ isolation redoubled his hatred, making him avert his eyes so no one would see the rage glittering there.

[Anonymous]

[It's a fine post! And no, I don't mind at all =)]

It wasn’t every day that Sergeant Terry was given an afternoon to relax. Most days were spent yelling at trainees or overseeing the arrest of a certain mage or organizing platoons and marching them through the cities. Her days, and sometimes nights, were always filled with some sort of activity, but this afternoon was time to relax. The word was foreign to her, but she promised herself to familiarize herself with the definition.

With her uniform still on she was recognized by many of the shop keepers and general public in the marketplace. The front was unbuttoned to reveal the breeches on her legs and the white tunic beneath, but the outfit was unmistakable. Like always her brown hair was pulled away from her face, not to show off the pretty features, but to keep the stubborn hair from irritating her. She didn’t own many feminine things, but she would occasionally tie her hair back with a nice ribbon rather than a string of leather. Her unmistakable green eyes caught sight of the ribbon vendor and she made her way over, her leather boots thudding gently on the cobblestone.

“’lo there Sergeant Terry. Lookin’ for some ribbons?� The lady behind the stall asked after looking quickly to the man at the stall as well. Lysianna let her eyes flicker over to the man a moment, before her attention turned to the woman running the stall.

“Yes’m.� Was her simple reply as her calloused fingers played with one of the blue ribbons.

“Did’ja get the day off?� The woman continued to try to attempt conversation with the Sergeant, so all Lysianna could do was entertain the woman by responding.

“Just the afternoon. We had a fairly messy arrest this morning with a mage so they saw fit for me to get the rest of the day to relax.� She explained, fishing a few coins from a pouch along her belt out. “I’ll be taking the blue and green ribbon.� The Sergeant finally decided, dropping the coins onto the top of the stall, taking the ribbons that she had purchased.

[Anonymous]

[ooc| Ughh. I'm really sorry. I was on vacation with my family, which means they can grab me to do things without warning, and then yesterday was coming home day woo! which means being on a plane for six hours. SO I'M BACK. TO ROLEPLAY. YES.]

Rhett fingered through the neat curls of ribbon, crisply cut ends flapping in the breeze as they dangled from their spools. They were organised by size and by colour, decreasing in width from thickest to narrowest within their particular colour range. There was so much variety--oange, gold, indigo blue; edged with different colours, or striped, or laced delicately with thread. Yet there was no disarray among them. He appreciated, as he did anywhere, the cleanliness and order of the delicate ribbons in their coils.

As someone moved toward the stall beside him, the young man automatically shifted away but did not look up at the newcomer--until he heard them addresed by the stallkeeper as "Sergeant." His whole body tensed, and he twitched visibly; he could only hope that neither of them noticed his reaction. It would seem that not all of the military had left the square, after all.

A faint sheen of sweat beaded on the back of his neck as the sergeant mentioned the morning's arrest. Would she be able to tell? Did they have some way of seeing inside his head, could they see the defilement of his sisters on him somehow? Rhett shied further from the woman, until he was at the very corner of the stall, with as much distance between them as he could put without running away altogether. Time to make his purchase and leave.

"I-I'll t-t-take t-two f-f-f-feet o-of the wh-wh-white and b-b-b-b-blue." Rhett managed to choke out his whole purchase, but he was so nervous that his stutter became painfully violent, and he had to clench his chattering teeth together as he fumbled for his coin purse.

[Anonymous]

OOC: Not a problem! I have been busy the past few days myself. But! I'm back too, with a post! =D

“Aye, didja now?� The woman behind the stall asked about the arrest as she scooped the Sergeant’s change into her hand and reached over to hand Lysianna the coins. She held the hand not holding the ribbons out the woman, the money jingling as it fell into her hand. She let the coins fall into the purse at her waist, looking over to the man that was purchasing some ribbons as well. She eyed him a moment, bright green eyes flickering down his form and then back up to his face.

Needless to say she had noticed how he had choked his purchase out, not concealing the stutters very well. She looked over her shoulder and around the stall to try and find a reason for the man’s unease, and the looked down at her unbuttoned uniform. Her eyes narrowed as she shoved the ribbons into the pocket of her breeches, lifting a hand to press her index and middle finger to her forehead and pulled it away.

“Thank you for your help today.� Lysianna said with a sort of side smile towards the woman. She received a wave, but the shopkeeper was already cutting a foot of each requested ribbon from the spools.

“Ye keep an eye out for them mages Sergeant Terry.� The woman advised her, and Lysianna gave a laugh in response, taking a step away from the stall, almost reluctant to go and leave this uneasy man there. She was trying to formulate all of the possible reasons this man had suddenly become so nervous. Her mind replayed what had just happened and her eyebrows drew together. Only after she had been addressed as Sergeant did the man seem to lose his cool.

“Will do ma’am.� Lysianna let her bright green eyes flicker up to the shop keeper before her hands were shoved into the pockets of her breeches and she stepped behind the man. Her footsteps stopped and her eyes lifted to stare at the back of his neck. She let her gaze linger there, before her booted feet began to slowly walk past him to the stall directly beside the ribbon stall.