Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-19164168-20181011112613/@comment-7262318-20181030155152

"And I say, no," Goriyn said, pulling his dagger out once again. "I'm going to make this really slow for you. "

Knightmare yelped and tried to roll out of his chair, trying to scramble away from Goriyn. "No! Please!.... I'm sorry!"

"I'm not. You'll burn when you get to Oblivion," Goriyn growled. He grabbed the young Breton by his leg and pulled him back towards him. The once oh-so fearsome Knightmare was now blubbering on the floor. Goriyn first drove the dagger into the man's shoulders and he screamed in pain. "I can... pull out a memory for you to! I can help!" He pleaded.

Baros looked away. Xavier shook his head and closed his eyes and waited for Goriyn to finish.

"I don't need your goddamn help!" Goriyn said, yanking the dagger and putting it in his other shoulder. "What I need for you to do, is cry!" He through the dagger into his thigh. "So cry!"

Knightmare did that, trying desperately to pull himself away. "Someone help!" He cried. "Please!"

Goriyn put his hands on both sides of the Breton's face and placed his thumbs over his eyes. "Stop squirming, you'll go easier!" Goriyn laughed.

Just before Goriyn could finish him though, Knightmare cast one last spell to try and get Goriyn off of him. An image appeared behind Goriyn, for the group to see. It was the Khajiit that they had seen in the church, leaning on some sort of railing. She was still wearing the clothes of a noblewomen. She was looking out across the horizon, so she was presumably on a balcony, but they did not know. For the full image was not there.

"You cannot keep doing this..." She said. Goriyn stopped his assault for a moment and his ears perked up at the sound of that voice. He looked over his shoulder to see what he had conjured up...

---

"You cannot keep doing this," Ahdani sighed, shaking her head as she heard the door open behind her.

"Has the news already reached here?" Goriyn frowned, entering this dream-like picture from behind. "And here I was thinking the Empire would actually keep it under wraps."

"Yes, burning down an entire stretch of houses of Solitude to kill one murderer, that news will spread quickly..." Ahdani hissed. "Especially when it's know that agents of the Empire are the ones to blame."

"That murderer was responsible for the complete genocide of a Morrowind town," Goriyn said. "You make it sound like we're out here hunting some random mugger. This was a monster I was hunting, Ahdani! He was about to get away, so yeah, I torched him alive. They can grow another tree."

"That's not the point, Goriyn!" She shot back. "You're supposed to-"

"Oh please, don't give me that 'You need to play by the rules' speech," He sighed, leaning up against the railing. "We've been playing by the rules, and you know what happened? Each time, that rat bastard kept getting away. Every time we'd corner him, he'd slip through our grasp, and he'd be right back to killing and killing. I got results. One wicked soul off the streets. Problem solved!"

"And you somehow made the Empire look like the bad guys in this whole debacle. So problem not solved," Ahdani said. "This One is trying to rally all the Khajiits she can to the cause, and this is not helping."

"So now it's all about you?" Goriyn snarled. "Would you have preferred I let him get away again?"

"Innocent people were hurt, Goriyn!""

"And they would be dead if I didn't stop that man!" Goriyn shouted.

"What if you had died?!" She screamed back. "Did you think about that? What is one of your comrades had died! Ri'Kraz, Dalacon, do you consider the life around you before you make your call?"

"I do, actually!" Goriyn said. "It's the rest of this damned Empire that doesn't care!"

They were silent for a moment, before Goriyn put his head down and sighed. "I... I did what I had to do, Ahdani... You know, I've been reprimanded by these council members and noble members all week over it, but why do they talk? They're all just as corrupt. Secret businesses, nepotism, paid assassins.... this whole place is a mess, Ahdani."

"And do you know what you do by taking this 'Any means necessary' approach?" Ahdani asked. "You only add more wood to the fire, Goriyn..."

She sighed and moved next to him, putting her head on his shoulder. "You mean well, Goriyn. This One knows this, that is why she loves you. You see more than most.... but you see the shambles and the dirt that this world is in, but the battle against it will not be won by 'any means necessary'...."

"People like us, Goriyn. People who would incite the change and push for the sunlit tomorrow.... They need to be better," She explained. "We need to be the example. What good is it if you clean the streets up if you are no cleaner?"

"I'm not like them.... I'm killing off corruption and burning down whatever evil exists. I'm doing that, Me, Hafnir, Ri'Kraz, Dal... we're doing that."

"But when you do it so violently and so desperately, what does it matter?" Ahdani asked.

"What does it matter when you do it by the rules and the world continues to rot,"

"Change is slow, Goriyn.... The Empire was not built in a day... it did not fall apart in a day," She explained. "It may be slow, and you will be confronted with moments where you feel ready to give up. This One has been there.... but she persists and marches forward."

She cupped his face in her hand. "You need to persist, too. Don't abandon everything that made you a Red Knight simply because you let one get away...."

"It's more than one," Goriyn sighed. "It's too many..."

"Goriyn," Ahdani said sternly. "It's not enough to justify sinking to their level..."

She kissed his nose. "You are a good mer, and you need to prove that to the others... I don't want you to become what you're trying to destroy. You're too precious to me, and the Empire, to fall into that pit."

He looked down and a small smile formed across his face. Goriyn smiled a lot, this was true, but this was not the smile of malicious intent that he usually wore. It was warm, gentle. Happy...

"Okay... I'll... I'll try. I'll keep to the rulebook," Goriyn nodded.

"Do you promise?" Ahdani asked.

"I promise," Goriyn said.

"Good!" She grinned. "Now, let's go inside. It is too late to be out here," She said. The two began to walk hand in hand, arm in arm, back inside.

The memory then began to fade away....

Goriyn sat on the ground now, his face resting on his hands. His face was unreadable. He was not frowning, nor was he smiling. He was not crying, nor was he joyous. He just let his eyes linger there, staring at where the two ghostly images had just conversed.

Knightmare, had retreated towards the troll and his officers. HE figured if he snapped again, he would need all the protection he could get.

After a moment of silence, Goriyn rose to his feet and looked at the group, his face still unreadable. "HE's yours, Krozum," Goriyn finally said. "Get me some men, and let's go find the prisoner,"