021 It Cannot Be Done Alone
Because I finally sat down and fixed up this scene and finished the previous scene...here we have two Tevin in one night! This one was originally posted for the contest earlier on, though...but it's updated/edited and has more on the end!
Prompt: 021 It Cannot Be Done Alone
Universe: Tevin tevin_rasku
Genre(s): General
Rating: PG
Warnings: Blatant, flaming prejudice?
Word Count: 875
Dario exited the healer’s tent and let the flap fall with a dull slap. He paused and breathed out the scent of death and drugs, taking in the crisp night air. The silence and stillness of his surroundings was refreshing; his eyelids closed and it was then that he felt a faint presence. Dario spun to face it, his hand falling to his hip instinctively, finding his sword missing. He had left it in his tent.
The white hair and stoic expression that met his eyes alternately calmed him and made him anxious. “Tevin,” Dario pasted on a smile, raising his hand to his hair in a nervous gesture. “I didn’t know you were there.”
“I did not mean to startle you.” Tevin gestured to the east. “May we speak?”
“What about?” Dario moved towards Tevin, pushing back the weariness that lingered on the edge of his consciousness.
“Plans for the future.” As Dario reached him they continued to the eastern half of the camp. “We will need to move quickly and join forces.” Tevin never spared the tents they walked by a glance.
“Join? What?” Dario stopped walking and quirked his eyebrow. “You can’t honestly say you want us to join with the Bartu. No,” Dario recognized Tevin’s blank expression for what it was. “But that’s insane! We can’t possibly-”
“We can.” Tevin cut him off, turning to face Dario more fully. “Our numbers are dwindling, morale is fading. Unless all of the groups join forces there is no hope for success. The Guild will crush the rebellion as it fights within itself. We must unite.”
The fallen prince breathed out slowly, enunciating each word carefully. “There are simply things that we cannot do. Joining with the Bartu is one of those. Come on, Tevin, be reasonable.” Dario tried to keep himself calm, but knew that Tevin could see through it with no effort at all.
“I am being reasonable.”
“You, well, you haven’t been here that long, Tevin. We have a long history with the Bartu. If you were to know what has happened in the past then you-”
“There comes a time for change. If the rebellion is to survive, you must join with not only the Bartu, but with all of the rebellion.” Tevin’s tone stayed as calm as it always was, his stance purposefully neutral.
Dario exhaled and rubbed at his hair. “Your ideals are admirable, Tevin, but-”
“Will you subject your men to death? There is no other option.”
“Surely there is-”
“No.” Tevin’s tone darkened. “There is no other option. Surely you can see the logic in joining forces.”
“I do, I do, but it’s the Bartu, Tevin. There’s just no way to deal with those people.”
Tevin’s expression bordered on exasperated. “You cannot put away your differences even if it guarantees your survival?”
Dario scoffed. “Differences? There is much more to it than that.”
“You have a common goal,” Tevin said. “That should be enough motivation.”
“We’ll talk more later,” Dario shook his head and turned around. “You’ll see sense then.”
“Perhaps you will see beyond your pasts.” Tevin looked into the night sky. “Until then.”
“Until then,” Dario murmured and listened to Tevin take his first few steps towards the area that Teoti slept. The sound died out after a few moments and Dario grit his teeth.
His strategist, the one man he thought was nothing but reasonable was being so impossible. How could he suggest that they ally themselves with the Bartu? The people were barbarians and everything he’d seen of them agreed with the conclusion his late father had said.
The Bartu are not worth anything more than slave labor.
Dario scoffed to himself. Tugar had been a beautiful, glorious country and the use - or even the thought of slaves - had been deemed abominable for almost a hundred years. To compare an entire people to that status meant that they were worthless, stupid, and should never mingle with the remnant that followed him.
Movement in the lower camp caught Dario’s eye and he watched one of the healers slowly make his way to his sleeping quarters. How long had his shift lasted? Ten hours? Twelve? Healers had always been hard to come by and yet…
His father, the seventeenth noble king of Tugar, had never fallen to this.
Deep, slow breaths did little to calm the irritation pricking his limbs and conscience. Dario gazed down at his rebellion, his pride and joy, and saw it for what it was: A ramshackle group of refugees making small strikes before fleeing time and time again.
At this rate, they would never accomplish any of his goals. They didn’t have the supplies, the training, or the numbers. There simply were too many of them and not enough of his own.
Perhaps Tevin had a point. As much as Dario shuddered at the idea, perhaps there was some merit to calling on the Bartu. He swallowed hard, sank into a crouch on the rough grass and sighed.
Even if he could get his people to agree to work with the Bartu another problem was still ahead of them. What would possibly convince the Bartu to help them?
They were doomed. So very, very doomed.
Prompt: 021 It Cannot Be Done Alone
Universe: Tevin tevin_rasku
Genre(s): General
Rating: PG
Warnings: Blatant, flaming prejudice?
Word Count: 875
Dario exited the healer’s tent and let the flap fall with a dull slap. He paused and breathed out the scent of death and drugs, taking in the crisp night air. The silence and stillness of his surroundings was refreshing; his eyelids closed and it was then that he felt a faint presence. Dario spun to face it, his hand falling to his hip instinctively, finding his sword missing. He had left it in his tent.
The white hair and stoic expression that met his eyes alternately calmed him and made him anxious. “Tevin,” Dario pasted on a smile, raising his hand to his hair in a nervous gesture. “I didn’t know you were there.”
“I did not mean to startle you.” Tevin gestured to the east. “May we speak?”
“What about?” Dario moved towards Tevin, pushing back the weariness that lingered on the edge of his consciousness.
“Plans for the future.” As Dario reached him they continued to the eastern half of the camp. “We will need to move quickly and join forces.” Tevin never spared the tents they walked by a glance.
“Join? What?” Dario stopped walking and quirked his eyebrow. “You can’t honestly say you want us to join with the Bartu. No,” Dario recognized Tevin’s blank expression for what it was. “But that’s insane! We can’t possibly-”
“We can.” Tevin cut him off, turning to face Dario more fully. “Our numbers are dwindling, morale is fading. Unless all of the groups join forces there is no hope for success. The Guild will crush the rebellion as it fights within itself. We must unite.”
The fallen prince breathed out slowly, enunciating each word carefully. “There are simply things that we cannot do. Joining with the Bartu is one of those. Come on, Tevin, be reasonable.” Dario tried to keep himself calm, but knew that Tevin could see through it with no effort at all.
“I am being reasonable.”
“You, well, you haven’t been here that long, Tevin. We have a long history with the Bartu. If you were to know what has happened in the past then you-”
“There comes a time for change. If the rebellion is to survive, you must join with not only the Bartu, but with all of the rebellion.” Tevin’s tone stayed as calm as it always was, his stance purposefully neutral.
Dario exhaled and rubbed at his hair. “Your ideals are admirable, Tevin, but-”
“Will you subject your men to death? There is no other option.”
“Surely there is-”
“No.” Tevin’s tone darkened. “There is no other option. Surely you can see the logic in joining forces.”
“I do, I do, but it’s the Bartu, Tevin. There’s just no way to deal with those people.”
Tevin’s expression bordered on exasperated. “You cannot put away your differences even if it guarantees your survival?”
Dario scoffed. “Differences? There is much more to it than that.”
“You have a common goal,” Tevin said. “That should be enough motivation.”
“We’ll talk more later,” Dario shook his head and turned around. “You’ll see sense then.”
“Perhaps you will see beyond your pasts.” Tevin looked into the night sky. “Until then.”
“Until then,” Dario murmured and listened to Tevin take his first few steps towards the area that Teoti slept. The sound died out after a few moments and Dario grit his teeth.
His strategist, the one man he thought was nothing but reasonable was being so impossible. How could he suggest that they ally themselves with the Bartu? The people were barbarians and everything he’d seen of them agreed with the conclusion his late father had said.
The Bartu are not worth anything more than slave labor.
Dario scoffed to himself. Tugar had been a beautiful, glorious country and the use - or even the thought of slaves - had been deemed abominable for almost a hundred years. To compare an entire people to that status meant that they were worthless, stupid, and should never mingle with the remnant that followed him.
Movement in the lower camp caught Dario’s eye and he watched one of the healers slowly make his way to his sleeping quarters. How long had his shift lasted? Ten hours? Twelve? Healers had always been hard to come by and yet…
His father, the seventeenth noble king of Tugar, had never fallen to this.
Deep, slow breaths did little to calm the irritation pricking his limbs and conscience. Dario gazed down at his rebellion, his pride and joy, and saw it for what it was: A ramshackle group of refugees making small strikes before fleeing time and time again.
At this rate, they would never accomplish any of his goals. They didn’t have the supplies, the training, or the numbers. There simply were too many of them and not enough of his own.
Perhaps Tevin had a point. As much as Dario shuddered at the idea, perhaps there was some merit to calling on the Bartu. He swallowed hard, sank into a crouch on the rough grass and sighed.
Even if he could get his people to agree to work with the Bartu another problem was still ahead of them. What would possibly convince the Bartu to help them?
They were doomed. So very, very doomed.