Colin's posts

Ash looked at it again, and while he understood the words, he was still confused.

"The one who...?" he muttered, before looking at her.

And the scars.

"Ayla..." he said.

"Who... who did that to you?" he asked her.

"Who rendered you... unable to speak?" he asked further.

He could think of so many people that would do it if asked... but the question was... who would have been capable of doing it, that would have even done it in the first place? Who fit both those criteria?

Ash read what she said, and his jaw dropped.

"Ah... I..." he stammered.

"That cunt." he growled.

"I can't believe she would do that." he said.

"I... wait..." he muttered.

"Azari allowed her to do that!?" he exclaimed.

"To his own sister!?"

"...ah... huh?" Ash muttered.

"Ayla." he said.

"Uh... hey." he then said, waving back.

"Normally you have a lot to say. Especially to ME." he told her.

"What's with the silence?" he asked.

"Seriously. The silent treatment really isn't your shtick."

Ash was confused, but shrugged.

"All right." he said.

He then entered, and faltered for a moment when he saw the elf.

"A-Ayla!?" he exclaimed.

"What are you doing here!?" he asked her, clearly on edge... before noticing something, and pausing.

"Wait..." he muttered.

"What ARE you doing here?" he repeated, this time more inquisitive, and less accusational.

Ash just shrugged.

"Not really." he said.

"From all he's said to me, I've figured that... I dunno, MAYBE there's some tie-in with... Vanessa or something." he muttered.

"But that's highly unlikely." he continued.

"Not impossible, but... very unlikely." he went on.

"Besides, I don't even know who it would be." he then admitted.

"I mean, there's me, Lindsay, I know Ashleigh, Hazel..." he listed off.

"I don't know who else there would be that I would meet here under such circumstances." he shrugged.

"So... no real solid clue."

Ash just chuckled a little.

"Yep." he said.

"I'm curious to find out who it is." he told her as they walked.

"Lindsay's dropped some hints, but... I'm never been any good at decoding his cryptic speak." he admitted.

"Though, I DID bring food." he assured her.

And Angela could tell. The mini-cooler he had with him was emanating a wonderful aroma... almost mouth-watering.

"Been a while since I was here, last." he then commented, before pausing.

"Oh yeah, I remember running into an agent from here when I was hunting down a Plague-Strix. He seemed like he was injured pretty badly. He all right?" he asked, figuring the head medic here would know.

They made their way back home, and Eke was put to bed.

Afterwards, Ryker made his way down to where the girls were, and sighed.

"Seems I'll be away for a bit." he told them.

"Travelling with Eke." he continued.

"I think this is something he needs." he went on.

"And I think it'll do me good as well."

Lindsay could see that she was a bit uneasy, and thought for a moment.

"Hey..." he said.

"I promise I'm not under her influence any longer." he told her.

"What about my brother?" he asked.

"Would you like to see him again?" he asked further.

"Just... to see how he's been doing since he escaped." he went on.

"Maybe help you see that you have nothing to fear from me... or us."

Lindsay accepted the tablet and read... and as he did so, she saw the colour drain from his face, and genuine horror wash over him.

"Oh my God..." he said.

"That's... this is..." he stammered, looking at her.

"Ayla, this is horrible." he managed to say.

"This is beyond bad news." he went on.

"And to think it was your own brother that did this to you..." he then said.

"Though... I suppose the fact that he IS your brother saved you..." he mumbled.

"Ayla, I'm... so sorry this happened to you." he told her, sincerity obvious in his tone.

Lindsay looked at it, and nodded.

"All right." he replied.

"That works." he said.

"....well, there's some obvious ones, but let's start with the MOST obvious one." he continued.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You and your brother always seemed to be in Vanessa's good graces... your brother moreso, but still." he commented. "But what happened?" he asked.

"The scenario that was described to me in which you were found is very indicative of Vanessa just... well... abandoning someone."

Lindsay merely nodded in response.

"Thank you." he replied.

With that, Angela left, and Lindsay sat down across from Ayla.

"Do you have a pen and paper handy?" he asked.

"Because I have questions for you." he told her.

"If you don't, I have a pad and a pen you can use." he offered her.

His voice was still shocked, but she could hear trust in it... as well as a gentle kindness that she hadn't heard in a very long time.

"Vanessa has tricky ways of getting her handiwork to fly under the radar, so to speak." Lindsay told her.

"It's not a statement on you, it's on Vanessa." he said.

"And her name?" he asked.

"Yes, I know it." he told her.

He then looked at the elf for a moment, before looking back towards Angela.

"It's Ayla." he said, before returning to looking at the elf.

"Ayla Aurae." he finished.

"We... we do." Lindsay replied.

"And... and I never thought I would ever see you again." he told the elf.

"Especially under such circumstances." he continued.

"Well, I can tell you right now, she's not talking because of some sort of mental or emotional trauma." he went on.

"...quite frankly, the real reason sickens me." he admitted.

"But everything Vanessa does has that effect on me."

Hal just nodded in response.

"Very well." he replied.

"Let me know how things go." he told them, before heading off.

Once he was gone, Lindsay opened the door, and began to step in.

"Hello, th-" he started to say, before freezing when he saw who was there.

"Oh... oh my goodness..." he commented, a hushed tone to his voice, and shock in his eyes.