This Silence kills...[Closed]

[Tobias Stalt]

"Sky's finally blue again," a gray haired codger muttered with a wistful smile as he hobbled along the worn path. Sunlight filtered through the trees and birdsong muffled their footsteps as Tobias and the village Elder conversed. "It's good of you to come and offer aid to us. I only wish we could pay you more."

The mercenary watched the dirt ahead of him, a sadness haunting his features. "Don't think anything of it," Tobias assured the man. "I'm happy to do anything I can to help."

The Elder's slate gray eyes peered into the depths of the younger man. He frowned. "Burdens of the spirit are much heavier than ones intended for flesh," he counseled softly.

His eyes slipped shut, and Tobias managed a bright smile. "Look at all of this," he gestured toward the village around them. Framework for new homes appeared daily to replace the ashen corpses of their predecessors. Where the soil had gone barren, new life sprang forth. The creek that ran through the east side flowed pristine and without contamination. "Five years," Tobias nodded slowly. "Five years and a unified effort. Truly, mankind has potential to be good."

"And yet," the Elder surmised, "you're aware of a darker side."

"The people of this village left for their health and safety," Tobias explained. "Everything in their family for generations, cast aside at a pin drop to preserve their own lives. The nature of our species, Elder, is to survive." He stooped low and scraped up a handful of dirt and soot. It sifted through his fingers. "Our reality is that we are finite. Our lives end. We fear it because there is no way to understand what comes after."

Tobias displayed the appendage for the other man. Black and brown stains clung to his fingers. "For that reason, we do not fear to get our hands dirty."

"I return every day to watch over the town I swore to protect," the Elder sighed, "and I fell into despair when I realized I could do nothing against the Cataclysm. But I had hope, Tobias," he reached up and wiped the residue from the mercenary's hand. "And I had help."

The older man gestured ahead on the path to where a lone figure stood watching. "That is why I brought you here," he revealed at last. "Kindness melts the ice around our hearts. This man, too, is lost."

Tobias looked up the path and saw Elthas, his elongated ears a betrayal of his race. Raiaeran elves generally wore regal garb or gave off a mystical presence, and the man lacked the darker hued flesh of an Alerian. Tobias once knew plenty of both.

"It is as you said," the Elder closed his eyes slowly. "It is the nature of mankind to survive. But how can you do that if you've lost your way, or given up on your soul?" He placed a hand on the mercenary's shoulder.

"Find your way, Tobias," he commanded. "And help those around you to do the same."

Tobias reached out and tapped the Elder on his shoulder appreciatively, then turned to the Elf. "A fine day, isn't it?" he raised his voice to span the distance between them even as he closed it.