Hunting Wilders Part 2

[Leander Varned]

The buildings in the area where Leander and Cirus were walking looked as if they might fall down if they hadn't been packed together so closely. The streets had become more crowded and the people all appeared to be in a hurry to get somewhere else. Leander suspected that he would get nowhere attempting to talk to any of the passersby, and was just beginning to mentally review his other options when Cirus spoke to him. Without stopping, the Asha'man said, "I haven't learned much from the people I've talked to so far. I'm not going to tell you that you can't try, but I think our chances of finding this young man will be better if we check some of the side streets. That is what I am going to do. You are free to either help me or try something else to search for him. Just try to stay where we can see each other, if you can." Leander didn't think that would be entirely possible with the narrow alleyways he'd be looking into, but didn't want the Dedicated to get too far from him.

Leaving Cirus to make his own decision, Leander turned and headed down the first side street he found. He didn't expect to learn anything quickly, and in that, the Asha'man was not disappointed. These smaller streets were dusty and in even worse condition than the main roads, and the first few he tried contained nothing of interest. The alleyways, hardly wide enough for more than one person at a time, proved more promising. Leander didn't even try to walk through most of those, but in many of them, he saw piles of what appeared to be rags and discarded food that seemed as if they might be places where people slept. It saddened him to think of anyone living in such squalor, and he had to remind himself of just what his mission here was. Find the channeler...he, at least, won't have to live like this any longer.

Eventually, Leander came upon another narrow street that was almost entirely shadowed by the buildings above it. It was emptier than some of the others he'd seen, and although those who lived in these streets seemed to gather in groups to sleep, there was only one small pile of torn and ruined clothing here. What drew Leander's eye about this place was the loaf of bread sitting on top of it, just like the ones he'd seen earlier. Whoever had left it here, he guessed, would likely not wander too far from it. That person might or might not be who they were looking for, but it was the most promising sign Leander had seen so far. He moved towards the entrance to the street and poked his head out, looking around for Cirus.

[Cirus]

Cirus had always heard stories about what it was like near the wall. The merchants that he’d tried to beg from telling him he was lucky not to be near there. Those few brothers he’d spoken to who had grown up in its shadow said it wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be, but all were glad when they had a chance to get away from it. Many spoke of buildings leaning against one another that were one good shake from falling apart. The few happy memories that he’d heard of the district by the wall were of family, or of birthdays. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing the wall for himself, but he steeled his nerve. There was a man who needed them, and he couldn’t afford to lose his nerve now. Absentmindedly he reached up to the pin that should have been on his throat, it wasn’t there. He had left his coat with his horse, no matter. He would press on, he had to press on.

He listened as Captain Varned spoke, and had to admit that his chances here were far less than they had been in the markets. There he at least had someone he could trust, here he had no one. There was no friendly face he could turn to for advice, no old friends or people he could talk to who would help him out this time. He cursed his ignorance and listened to the captains’ words carefully. He was free to speak to people, but he didn’t know who he could reach out to. None of these people would care about a foreigner inquiring after a child in the region, and some might even alert the guard. While he was certain that some had been alerted to the presence of Asha’man within the city he doubted that everyone on the street would know of their mission. Was it a distraction they could afford? Answering questions to a guard? He wasn’t sure, so it was better to err on the side of caution.

Instead of walking off to question strangers, Cirus tried instead to think through how he would react in this situation. He tried to think back to the scared little boy he’d been all those years ago. Thinking back to what seemed another lifetime was hard, and he couldn’t get himself to focus. He kept seeing flashes of his mother’s face and being wrenched back to the present. When he could get past that he kept imagining the cold and dark places he’d hid. Safe places, places where people wouldn’t bother him. In the wall cold and dark might also spell a safe place, but numbers had to count for something as well. Would the young man have a place to stay? Would he be on his own? And if he was on his own where would he go? A street corner? Or an alley that had lots of exits?

He couldn’t come to a conclusion, it had been too long since he’d had to live off his own wits like that. He was out of his element here, he’d trained himself to fight, not track. He hadn’t developed any old contacts as some had encouraged him to do in reaching out. There had never seemed a point since his mother wanted nothing to do with him and he thought he’d burned all his bridges. Cirus decided to just start moving through alleys, and was about to do so when he saw Captain Varned coming out of an alley. He moved toward the captain, figuring that it was best if he checked in before he started wandering aimlessly.

"Did you find anything si-... Leander?"

[Leander Varned]

Leander had just stepped out of the alley he'd been looking at when he saw Cirus coming towards him. He waited for the Dedicated to reach him and when he did, turned his head to catch the younger man's words. Once he'd heard the question, the Asha'man looked at Cirus and answered, "I can't be sure yet, but someone's been sleeping here, with no sign of anyone else sharing the space." he said, pointing in the direction he'd just come from. "It looks to me like the sort of place our wilder might stay if he were trying to avoid people, and that loaf of bread is the same type that was being sold at the market this morning. Whoever stays here may or may not be who we're looking for, but it shouldn't be hard to find out."

He took a few steps away from the alley to a spot where he could see most of the street it branched off from. "I'm going to stay here, and I want you to go to the other side of the alley and watch who's coming." His eyes were still on Cirus, hoping he would have enough sense not to object to such a potentially boring task. "I'll do the same here. I don't think it will be long; from what I've seen of this area, he probably wouldn't have left food here unless he was planning to return quickly." The Asha'man paced a few more steps and studied the street, not wanting the unwanted attention he could draw by staying in one spot, clearly waiting for something. With one last look towards Cirus, he added," If you do see anyone that fits the description of the wilder, come get me." Trusting the Dedicated to do as he'd been told, Leander headed slowly down the street, looking at as many people passing as he could.

[Cirus]

Cirus looked at the space the captain mentioned. It was all too familiar to him, a safe space away from people who might put a knife in your back or turn you over to the guards for a few coins and a warm meal. Even looking at it made his joints start to ache with the memory of waking up in the cold. He looked away as the captain laid out his plan, it was sound enough. They would wait for whoever came back to the sleeping spot and try to talk to them then. The captain would watch one area while Cirus would watch another. It was simple, that simplicity would serve well in keeping them from messing it up.

“Yes, I’ll let you know if I see anything.”

Cirus nodded and moved to the other side, trying to remember how he would look inconspicuous. It had been a few years since he’d had to look around and watch for something without looking like he was watching for something. As he sat he looked out over the region, there weren’t many shops to hang around by, and he didn’t have anyone in the area he could start a chat with. He would stick out like a sore thumb just standing in a corner looking around. He started pacing impatiently, at the very least he could say he was waiting for a friend who was late. It wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny, but it didn’t need to. None around here would bother with a stranger just waiting in their area, most didn’t want anything to do with anyone.

[Leander Varned]

Leander walked along the street with his head down, blending in with the crowd as much as he could. Despite looking down, the Asha'man was highly aware of his surroundings, observing the people around him and remaining alert for even the smallest suggestion of threatening force that might indicate that the wilder was nearby and channeling. He lost track of the number of times he walked up and down the main street and the narrower ones crossing it, making sure not to appear overly interested in the alley they were watching. Hurrying through the streets and looking at people passing by, Leander saw several young men who could have fit what they'd learned about the wilder, but each of them left the area without going anywhere near the alley.

He shook his head and continued to survey the crowd, all too aware that what little description they had to go on was vague and could likely apply to many men, both Andorans and those from other countries. As he walked by the alley again, Leander turned his head to look into it. Nothing appeared to have changed, so he continued on his way. He walked the length of the street once more, this time turning into one of the side streets that would connect to the one where Cirus searched.

May as well go check with him and see if he's noticed anyone. This street wasn't much different than the one he'd come from. He did notice a couple of black haired men in the crowd, one of whom left the crowd around him and headed towards the narrow alleyway. Leander would have liked to walk faster and follow closely behind the man, but years of experience made him slow down instead. If he moved slowly while keeping his eyes on the man, Leander knew he would be able to follow where he was going while remaining unnoticed.

While he kept most of his attention on following the black haired man, Leander also searched the street for Cirus. If the Dedicated had noticed what he had, the Asha'man expected that he would be moving in the same direction. He was still following the black haired man, keeping an eye out for Cirus, when he saw the man he was watching turn into the alleyway. The Asha'man wove through the crowd to reach the side of the street, close to the alleyway but still out of sight of the entrance. He had intended to look for Cirus, who shouldn't have been difficult to locate, but instead was struck by the unmistakable sense of danger that indicated a man channeling the One Power. He began walking again, keeping pace with the crowd around, and hoped that Cirus had been attentive enough to catch up to him. If he had not, then Leander would just have to deal with him later; Cirus could take care of himself, but the same could not be said of the wilder.

[Cirus]

Cirus kept scanning around the crowd, looking for any sign of the man they were after. He saw none, and some eyes were starting to watch him. Being inconspicuous was quickly not becoming an option as the guards that were patrolling by were starting to eye them. He had assumed that the Captain and a local Fire Legion member would have given a sign to the guards of who they were. Even so there was no certainty that the information would be passed down to those who were walking around the streets. He felt an uncertainty crawling through his skin as he stood there, without his black coat or sword pin on his collar.

He shook his head as he looked around for what seemed the thousandth time. There were still mostly the same people, some were new and they were walking down the street without looking at anyone. The rest were the hawkers and people who were running their own shops, occasional merchants and a guard patrol. No one that would have matched the description of the lad they were looking for, and certainly no one who looked half starved.

He was about to try for another street when his eye caught the captain making his way down. Apparently he had about as much luck as Cirus did, then something in the man's demeanor shifted. His walk seemed to slow as his direction changed. Cirus looked again, this time following the captain's path forward. He saw someone moving away towards the alley, dark of hair. It wasn’t much but the man was moving in the general direction of the alley. Cirus moved to follow the captain, at a brisk pace. Not enough to look like he was rushing, just moving from point A to point B. As he moved he felt it, the feeling of power that came from someone drawing upon the One Power.

“Damned fool.”

Cirus cursed under his breath, trying to remain calm and think. His instinct was to run after the man before he hurt himself or someone else. Yet he also knew what it was like to be chased through the streets by someone, even if they meant well. He kept himself calm and moved to another part of the alley, one that led to a way out. That way if the captain couldn’t find him then Cirus could hopefully catch him trying to get away.

[Leander Varned]

With his eyes on the wilder, Cirus was not Leander's primary concern. That did not mean, however, that he abandoned all of his attempts to locate the Dedicated, and he was relieved when he looked over his shoulder to see the taller man following behind him. When he came to the alleyway, Leander turned and walked into it, giving Cirus a nod of approval as he moved to stand by one of the exits. He could still sense that vague threatening feeling of another man channeling, and as he went further into the alley, the Asha'man was able to identify its source.

The young man they'd been following sat on the pile of rags Leander had seen earlier, shoving bread into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten all day. Surrounding him were threads of Fire and Air, which Leander recognized as a simple weave of Folded Light that would hide the channeler from the sight of most of those who might pass by. Instead of approaching him immediately, Leander stopped while he was still far enough away to avoid the young man's notice. If Cirus attempted to go talk to him, Leander would stop the Dedicated before he could get close. With both of their eyes on the man, there was no reason not to let him finish his food.

Once he put the bread down, Leander did start moving towards him. The Asha'man walked slowly, keeping his open hands where the channeler would easily be able to see them. He had no desire to scare the young man, and had found it was best to appear as unthreatening as he could. As he drew closer, he saw that the man had laid down on his bed of rags. His open eyes looked into the alleyway, and the weave he was holding remained in its place.

As he passed by, Leander turned his head to look at the younger man, then changed his direction to walk slowly towards him. He gave the man a faint smile to show he meant no harm, but the channeler still flinched, sitting up quickly before climbing to his feet. For a moment, he stood still, staring at Leander.

"You...you can see me!," he exclaimed.

Leander barely caught a glimpse of the man's wide, frightened brown eyes, and had no time to respond before the channeler let go of saidin and took off running down the length of the alley. The Asha'man hurried after him, but didn't run. He could have, might even have been able to catch him, but being chased would only scare the young man more. That wasn't something Leander was willing to do yet, so instead he walked fast, keeping his eyes on the man, who was heading straight towards the place where Cirus waited.

[Cirus]

Cirus walked to the end of the alley and looked around. It wasn’t hard to see what had changed, where there once had only been a pile of rags now sat a poor lad eating bread like he hadn’t eaten in a week. Light only knows when the man had his last meal, Cirus had to wonder how he must have looked to Ishara, Elaira and Gareth when they had cornered him. Scared, cornered, broken…. This boy looked much the same. He was terrified and in his one safe space, and now they were about to ruin even that for him.

Something inside Cirus broke, they had been chasing this poor boy around and were about to taint the one safe space he had. His pile of rags had been his place to eat, his place to sleep, a quiet place where he could let his guard down. Cirus felt sick to his stomach and just wanted to walk away from this whole thing. He didn’t want the boy to die, he wanted to help him, but not like this. Not by cornering him in the one safe space the boy had. Cirus tried to think, he wanted to scream at the lad to run to Miss Caroline. He wanted to sit beside the lad and just weep. He wanted to run back to the tower and throw himself into the forge to forget this ever happened. All of these things roiled within him, all of it brought him back to being the scared little boy who was doing his best to survive on the streets.

As the boy looked up and saw the captain, Cirus recognized the fear in his voice all to well. It was the kind of fear that woud drive the boy to run and do something reckless and stupid. How many times had he been ready to pull steel on someone who had discovered who he was, how many times had he felt like he would kill in order to keep himself from being sent away from the tiny bit of safety that he had in Caemlyn.

And what would have happened if he had? The thought came unbidden, but what if he’d drawn steel on Gareth, or hurt Ishara or Elaira…. What if they had simply let him be and he’d died in agony because he was unable to control his power? The thoughts sent a chill down his spine, not of death, but of hurting his friends. This boy likely had people that he cared about in the city, even if they couldn’t help him now there had to be people he cared about. As the boy ran toward him Cirus didn’t hesitate in his action. He reached out and embraced him. In the back of his mind he felt words rush forth, twin voices that were forever bound with a third in bringing him safely away from the damnation he’d lived in. A calm but caring voice that he considered the closest thing he had to family flowed from him.

“In the name of the light, may you forgive us our rash behavior”

Cirus felt tears forming in his eyes, he hoped his voice had reflected his pain. He was cast back to his own past as he felt the boy against him. Within his head, he heard a voice that he couldn’t pin, but he knew it had spoken comfort all those years ago. He felt the words come out of his own lips, but it wasn’t he who was speaking them. The words from Gareth flowed forth now unabated as he felt as if his oldest and first true friend was right there beside him.

"I know it's frightening, but please, trust us. We'll get you somewhere safe."

He recognized Elaira’s as the voice speaking in the back of his head clearly now. You're not alone at all. He remembered the comfort those words alone had brought, how they’d brought him back from the brink. At this point Cirus felt the tears rolling down his cheeks. He couldn’t do this, if this didn’t work he wouldn’t make it. He hoped that if the boy ran he had the presence of mind to grab Cirus coin purse at least. If not he could leave it here behind an invisibility weave. If nothing else the boy would knock it at some point.

“I promise… You're not alone at all.”

[Leander Varned]

Leander, still walking slowly down the alley, froze when he saw Cirus pull the young man into his arms. Not wanting to startle either of them, he stayed quiet and watched the pair, not sure at first if the channeler would tolerate it or fight to get away. Cirus's lips moved, and whatever he said must have reassured the dark haired man, who appeared to have relaxed, leaning against the Dedicated and making no effort to escape him. Leander could see that Cirus kept talking, though he couldn't hear the words, and for a short time, the Asha'man felt that he was handling the channeler just fine on his own. As a result, he chose not to disrupt them until he noticed the shine of tears on Cirus's cheeks.

That concerned him, and Leander moved forward slowly. Did I ask too much of him? He had asked the Dedicated to work with him here largely because the younger man had come to the Tower from these streets, and Leander now had the sinking feeling that he'd made a terrible error in his judgment. As he approached the two men, the channeler shrank away from him, wrapping his arms around Cirus and huddling against his chest. Leander moved towards them as slowly as he could, choosing to stand slightly behind Cirus, but still within sight of the dark haired man. The Asha'man reached out and laid a hand on the Dedicated's shoulder, then looked at the channeler, who was trembling.

"W-who are you?" the young man asked, staring up at Leander. "What do you want?"

"We're not going to hurt you," Leander said, feeling that that needed to be said before anything else. It seemed to help, as the man stopped shivering.

Quietly, he continued, "I'm Leander, and this is Cirus. We just want to help."

The young man's brown eyes narrowed. "Why?" he asked, the suspicion in his voice making it clear that he wasn't accustomed to being offered help by anyone.

Leander looked into the man's eyes. As gently as he could, he said, "Because we're just like you. That's how I knew you were hiding earlier."

That got him a confused frown. "Really?" the channeler said doubtfully.

Leander smiled down at the younger man. "I can show you, if you want," he suggested, and when the dark haired man nodded, the Asha'man reached for saidin and held out his free hand. Weaves of Fire and Air wrapped around it until the hand disappeared from sight and the man looked up with his mouth open.

He blinked and shook his head. "How?" he asked.

"We can teach you, if you'll come with us," Leander said as he let go of the weave and saidin. "Much more than hiding from sight, and you'd be safe...you don't have to live like this anymore." His voice dropped to a whisper as he thought uncomfortably of how many other young people might haunt these streets, men and women who could not channel and would not draw the attention of either Tower. Didn't they deserve the same? There was nothing he could do about that now, however, so the Asha'man focused on the one he could help.

The young man looked up at Cirus, down the alley, then back at Leander. "I'll go with you," he mumbled.

[Cirus]

Cirus felt the other man huddle closer as Leander approached, he let his own guard drop into a relaxed stance. The Captain didn’t seem angry, and certainly wasn’t doing anything that should make Cirus worry. As he felt the captain's hand on his shoulder he let the other man go completely. He took a deep breath to calm himself, this had been harder than he realized. He didn’t know if he could do this again, his heart was already breaking, thinking of how much this poor young man had suffered already. He was relieved to hear the man say he would go with them, letting out a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding.

He moved to the edge of the alley, trying to keep a hold of himself as he marched forward. He still had the memories of his own rescue from the streets and being taken to the Black Tower. Those mixed feelings of fear and relief and terror Those early days had been rough, but they had given purpose. He didn’t want to break here in front of the captain or the lad, he couldn’t. As he made it to the alley he managed to center himself once again in the flame and the void. His emotion poured into that, ignoring the siren song of Saidin to focus only on the flame. It helped to center him, he was able to regain his composure.

He took a deep breath, turning back toward the captain and the poor lad. He spoke with a voice that was detached, not cold but certainly did not feel was his own.

“I’m ready to return when you are sir.”

[Leander Varned]

Leander looked at Cirus and nodded. "Let's go, then," he said, and he led the way out of the alley. He didn't think he was moving fast, but as he retraced the path he and Cirus had taken back to where they'd left their horses, the Asha'man looked behind him to see that the black-haired man was moving slowly, studying the buildings around them as if he was rethinking his decision. Leander stopped walking to give the man time to catch up, and once he had, began to walk beside him.

The young man gave him a startled glance, and Leander stepped away to allow him a little more space. Breaking the silence that had existed since the three of them had left the alley, he said, "You know our names, but we still don't know yours," he observed calmly. "It's Torim," the channeler muttered. The silence between them returned for a short time before Torim spoke to him again. "Where are you taking me?" he asked, his shaky voice suggesting that he'd only just gathered the courage to voice a question.

"We're going to the Black Tower, in Caralain," Leander told him, and when that brought the young man to ask further questions, the Asha'man spent the rest of the walk providing Torim with the answers and as much reassurance as he could. While he did check on Cirus, the Dedicated appeared to be in a better state than he had in the alleyway. Leander still felt he owed Cirus an apology, but determined that it could wait until they returned home.

Once they reached the horses, Leander put his coat back on and took his horse by the reins, leading them to a place outside the city from which he could safely travel. To Torim, he said, "I'm going to make something called a Gateway, which will appear to be a sort of hole in the air with silver outlining it. When it opens, I'm going to ask you to walk through it. It may seem frightening, but it won't hurt you."

As he spoke, he seized saidin and channeled, opening a gateway back to the Black Tower. While most of his attention was on his weaving, he made time to watch Torim as the weave rotated and opened. The black-haired man was staring at it as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Leander turned his attention towards Cirus. "Cirus, would you mind going through first, please?" he asked, knowing the Dedicated would have no trouble with his request. "And wait for us on the other side."