[For someone so blind, Chiron does not have much trouble getting around the areas where nature is prevalent. There is no need to fear the wildlife when this is what his body remembers -- the feel of grass beneath his hooves, the whistle of wind, the chatter of animals. It's why he stays to the forest and the river for the most part, when he is not keeping an ear open for trouble.
Though there is a promise only partly-fulfilled, and that is why eventually Chiron will seek out Claude's company when he should be minding himself, quiver filled with arrows -- more than usual, in fact, as three of the set do not match in terms of make or wood.
Someone else crafted them besides the centaur.]
Claude. If you have a moment.
[His eyes are closed as he speaks, head tilted only slightly, listening.]
(The beginning of the week had been unfortunate. How dare the Realm take away his ability to speak! Well, that's what he gets for running his mouth all weekend. Now with his words back, he's more than glad to catch up on all of the conversations he'd struggled with earlier in the week-)
Hey, Teach. (Ah, yes, he recognizes those arrows right away, the ones with the black feathers he'd set aside just for Raven.) For you? I think I can spare a few.
[A gesture at what he has in his quiver, though he is certain Claude has already seen them. Regardless, there is a distinct lack of him actually taking the arrows out]
Though before I offer them to you, a few questions... I cannot in good conscience return weapons to someone who was under suspicion this past trial.
(And while he sees the arrows, he doesn't approach to take them just yet, )
... Right.
(Maybe Chiron can imagine the practiced smile the kind that doesn't really express what's on his mind but still presents itself as confident and unbothered.)
None of it was me. We know I didn't kill Laine. As for Raven... there's really just my word. (And so he says it,) I didn't kill him.
I won't blame you if you decide not to give them to me, Teach. Even without the suspicion, it's not exactly wise to give weapons to anyone here you don't really know.
Indeed. In the name of fairness, I should not have offered anything to the group, bows or otherwise.
[But he did, and nothing in Chiron's tone suggests he feels guilt for his actions. Rather he will stand there and consider Claude for a moment, eyes still shut, though his brows will knit gently.]
Fortune favors the bold. Had you not made accusations, it's possible we would not have made progress in the trial.
[Even if Claude was incorrect, it was a name crossed off the list]
That is not why I haven't handed the arrows back to you. Instead I would hear what you have forgotten, if you remember any of the details. Who is it that stands before me: the Claude whom I have considered a student, or a stranger in my sightless eyes.
I wasn't the only one thinking it. The sooner it was said, the sooner she could explain herself and we could work to prove or disprove her innocence. I'm sorry for the stress I put her through and I think if it had all gone wrong... I would be even more sorry. But I would do it again. Differently... but certainly again.
(Words that aren't spoken lightly. Each word, heavy and solemn because he understands the meaning of it all. He'd made his decision that day and he'd considered the consequences.
Someone innocent could have died. He would lose trust from others. Regardless, he would show a part of him that he'd kept hidden from people here.
A calculating tactician, one willing to make sacrifices and do whatever it takes to accomplish a goal he's kept to himself.)
... You aren't the only one using another name here. "Claude" is a dashing name in Fodlan. New mothers can't pass it up. It's even a popular choice for fake names. And if a stranger were to come bearing that name acting like he belonged, no one would ever doubt he was one of them.
That's what I forgot but I was able to remember it. I didn't kill Raven but after the trial and everything... I remembered my name. That doesn't make me a different person. And it doesn't change how I was before. I just have a name for that other part of me, now.
I am "Claude" and "Khalid." Heir to House Riegan and the prince of a faraway land. Someone who charges ahead but also runsaway. I'm a soldier and a tactician. A noble and schemer. A protector and a killer. A student with much to learn but someone who has already learned heavy lessons.
So the answer to your question... is both. I'm both the person you think I am and someone no one will ever know.
(It's a good thing Chiron is blind, Claude thinks. Because he doesn't have to see the way Claude's smile disappears, how the light in his eyes seems to go out, and all that's left is a darkness that had been hidden behind who knows how many masks and layers.)
[And for a moment... that is all he says. Chiron has never been moved easily into emotions, and that hasn't changed now, either. He allowed "Claude" his chance to speak, and now the centaur stands quiet to digest it all.]
How harsh life has been to you.
[Musing, and not exactly with a note of sympathy. It's only a comment of truth as Chiron sees it - you do not become all of these things without being forged by the fires, as it were. Another stretch of silence, and then he rouses himself back to life, shoulders straightening]
Very well. Whatever name you decide suits you at the moment, you are familiar enough to me, and my ears did not perceive any lies.
[...]
Son of House Riegan, you were close to Raven, then?
(No, there weren't any lies. Not this time around as he just... waits. Like a student called up to a teacher, confessing to the trouble he's been at for who knows how long. And now, he stands, not nearly as proud as he's been before.
He's really let Chiron down, hasn't he? And it's this awareness that causes him to shift some, one hand reaching for his arm and just... tugging at his own sleeve.)
I didn't lie.
(Not this time.)
... I was. Like attracts like and all that. As I said before, we even spoke the day before he died.
[Naturally it is up to Claude -- Riegan -- if he wants to divulge the information, but Chiron will still ask all the same, not quite realizing his tone has caused any distress in the other.
Sometimes he is very much a teacher addressing a student and little else]
[... Chiron cannot see Claude, but his eyes still... soften slightly, as if there is some part of his words that have reached a more private core of the centaur]
Yes, I did see him briefly, and there was much unrecognizable to him.
[... Voice more accommodating, and he nods briefly]
I do not think you were wrong to tell him to value himself. No matter his fate, I hope those are words he took to heart.
[The arrows belonged to him since the beginning, but Chiron kept them hostage for his own whims. It's hardly heroic or worthy of praise, and Chiron decides not to excuse the conduct, even if he had his reasons]
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W3 || Wednesday
Though there is a promise only partly-fulfilled, and that is why eventually Chiron will seek out Claude's company when he should be minding himself, quiver filled with arrows -- more than usual, in fact, as three of the set do not match in terms of make or wood.
Someone else crafted them besides the centaur.]
Claude. If you have a moment.
[His eyes are closed as he speaks, head tilted only slightly, listening.]
no subject
Hey, Teach. (Ah, yes, he recognizes those arrows right away, the ones with the black feathers he'd set aside just for Raven.) For you? I think I can spare a few.
(He can always spare some time for Chiron.)
no subject
[A gesture at what he has in his quiver, though he is certain Claude has already seen them. Regardless, there is a distinct lack of him actually taking the arrows out]
Though before I offer them to you, a few questions... I cannot in good conscience return weapons to someone who was under suspicion this past trial.
no subject
... Right.
(Maybe Chiron can imagine the practiced smile the kind that doesn't really express what's on his mind but still presents itself as confident and unbothered.)
None of it was me. We know I didn't kill Laine. As for Raven... there's really just my word. (And so he says it,) I didn't kill him.
I won't blame you if you decide not to give them to me, Teach. Even without the suspicion, it's not exactly wise to give weapons to anyone here you don't really know.
no subject
[But he did, and nothing in Chiron's tone suggests he feels guilt for his actions. Rather he will stand there and consider Claude for a moment, eyes still shut, though his brows will knit gently.]
Fortune favors the bold. Had you not made accusations, it's possible we would not have made progress in the trial.
[Even if Claude was incorrect, it was a name crossed off the list]
That is not why I haven't handed the arrows back to you. Instead I would hear what you have forgotten, if you remember any of the details. Who is it that stands before me: the Claude whom I have considered a student, or a stranger in my sightless eyes.
no subject
(Words that aren't spoken lightly. Each word, heavy and solemn because he understands the meaning of it all. He'd made his decision that day and he'd considered the consequences.
Someone innocent could have died.
He would lose trust from others.
Regardless, he would show a part of him that he'd kept hidden from people here.
A calculating tactician, one willing to make sacrifices and do whatever it takes to accomplish a goal he's kept to himself.)
... You aren't the only one using another name here. "Claude" is a dashing name in Fodlan. New mothers can't pass it up. It's even a popular choice for fake names. And if a stranger were to come bearing that name acting like he belonged, no one would ever doubt he was one of them.
That's what I forgot but I was able to remember it. I didn't kill Raven but after the trial and everything... I remembered my name. That doesn't make me a different person. And it doesn't change how I was before. I just have a name for that other part of me, now.
I am "Claude" and "Khalid." Heir to House Riegan and the prince of a faraway land. Someone who charges ahead but also runsaway. I'm a soldier and a tactician. A noble and schemer. A protector and a killer. A student with much to learn but someone who has already learned heavy lessons.
So the answer to your question... is both. I'm both the person you think I am and someone no one will ever know.
(It's a good thing Chiron is blind, Claude thinks. Because he doesn't have to see the way Claude's smile disappears, how the light in his eyes seems to go out, and all that's left is a darkness that had been hidden behind who knows how many masks and layers.)
no subject
[And for a moment... that is all he says. Chiron has never been moved easily into emotions, and that hasn't changed now, either. He allowed "Claude" his chance to speak, and now the centaur stands quiet to digest it all.]
How harsh life has been to you.
[Musing, and not exactly with a note of sympathy. It's only a comment of truth as Chiron sees it - you do not become all of these things without being forged by the fires, as it were. Another stretch of silence, and then he rouses himself back to life, shoulders straightening]
Very well. Whatever name you decide suits you at the moment, you are familiar enough to me, and my ears did not perceive any lies.
[...]
Son of House Riegan, you were close to Raven, then?
no subject
He's really let Chiron down, hasn't he? And it's this awareness that causes him to shift some, one hand reaching for his arm and just... tugging at his own sleeve.)
I didn't lie.
(Not this time.)
... I was. Like attracts like and all that. As I said before, we even spoke the day before he died.
no subject
[Naturally it is up to Claude -- Riegan -- if he wants to divulge the information, but Chiron will still ask all the same, not quite realizing his tone has caused any distress in the other.
Sometimes he is very much a teacher addressing a student and little else]
no subject
(Of course, there was more but that's the part that stands out to him the most now.)
Did you see him after he changed? His eyes... were like a dead man walking. There wasn't any will. I wanted him to value his life.
(Some good that did, given where they are now.)
no subject
Yes, I did see him briefly, and there was much unrecognizable to him.
[... Voice more accommodating, and he nods briefly]
I do not think you were wrong to tell him to value himself. No matter his fate, I hope those are words he took to heart.
no subject
Quietly,)
I hope so, too.
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As I mentioned, you could very well make them again yourself, but if they have sentimental value... I have no right to keep them from you.
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He's relieved and he reaches out for the arrows. Carefully, as if they were made of glass and could break at any moment, he takes them, r)
Thank you, Teach... Chiron.
(He holds them delicately,)
I owe you for this.
no subject
[The arrows belonged to him since the beginning, but Chiron kept them hostage for his own whims. It's hardly heroic or worthy of praise, and Chiron decides not to excuse the conduct, even if he had his reasons]