forum I summon thee @Young-Dusty

Started May 08, 2019 by @amber_is_in_a_loop

tune

Rick looked delighted. "Well, gosh! All that, really? You must get a lot of traders passin' through here, to have such a variety! I'll take some bread and butter, if that's all right."

(I… I really like Rick? Like I want to hug him. He's the sweetest mercenary)
Charlotte nodded, grabbing the necessary from the pantry. "You caught me at a good time. I got back from town 2 and a half weeks ago," she explained, throwing a slice of buttered bread into a pan.
She pulled out a thin ceramic plate and placed it in front of Rick with a glass of water. "There you go."

(awwww thanks! XDD He really is a plain good dude lol)
"Thank-you," he said. "I see, so there's a town nearby? It doesn't happen to have a post office or somethin', does it? Somebody gave me a letter not too long ago, and I've been tryin' to figure out how to deliver it. They said the recipient lived somewhere out here."

Charlotte arched an eyebrow, taking a seat across from Rick. "The town's a good two days away, which is why I stock up when I go."
She paused, mulling over the rest of Rick's sentence. "I'm the only one here for a good 30 miles, you know."

He tilted his head. "Hm…that so?" Turning, he pulled his backpack closer and rummaged through it, pulling out a book wrapped in leather and tied shut with a string. He set it on the table and opened it up, pulling out a letter. "I admit I can't read the address on this thing, handwriting's pretty cramped. Why don't you take a look, maybe you know the person it's for–or the person it's from, I guess, that name's there too." He slid the letter across the table to her.

(oof stupid question sorry)
Charlotte cautiously picked it up and read over the address. "That's me, alright."
There was something strangely familiar about the handwriting; she looked over at the name.
Silence. Then, coldly. "What did he say?" she demanded, staring at the letter in her hand.

(Oh no it's okay! I didn't make it very clear X'D)
Rick blinked. "Uh…you mean the guy who gave it to me? Well, not much…..just that it was important. Maybe it ain't my place to say, but he seemed like kind of a shady feller. I hope I haven't been the bearer of bad news without realizing it….?"

Charlotte exhaled sharply. "That all depends on him."
Only then did she realize her hands were shaking. She stood and turned her back to Rick, letter in hand. She needed to open our, but was just as equally terrified of knowing what he wanted.
They hadn't talked in over 3 years.

Rick watched her with concern for a minute, then busied himself putting away his book and rearranging the things in his backpack. He didn't want to seem nosy about the letter, whatever it contained.

Charlotte slowly, carefully opened the letter, and read through the familiar yet hated scrawl.
As she read, a cold fear rose up and washed over her, chilling her to the bone more effectively than the rain every could. Only when she'd been holding the finished message for a solid minute did she register what was happening. Her eyes had welled up, she felt it, but she pushed it away and furiously rubbed the humidity in her eyes away.
Crumpling the letter and shoving it into her pocket, she whirled on Rick.
"Face me," she hissed, praying her eyes would dry.

He straightened up quickly, all at once a bit wary himself. "Ma'am?"

"Do you know Axel?" she asked slowly, clearly. Her eyes weren't drying– if anything the tears were persisting. "Do you?" Her voice came out breathy and weak and she hated it.

He saw how upset she was and held up his hands in an attempt to calm her. "I do not know the man personally," he replied cautiously. "He did me a little favor a few weeks ago so I did him a favor in return. I had no idea what was in the letter, and I still don't. I guess it….wasn't anything pleasant." He winced, not sure if he was being tactful or if he was making things worse.

Charlotte's hands dropped to her side. "No. Not pleasant."
She shook her head and, bending over, viciously rubbed her face.
She straightened up with a darkly resolute expression. "What did he do for you?"

"Nothin' much, just gave me a place to stay and work to do for a couple days. Helped me restock on supplies, stuff like that." He shrugged, still a bit nervous. "Is there something I should know about this guy? You seem awfully upset…."

She let out a bitter laugh, taking the letter back out and waving it in Rick's face. "He has my kids," she spat. "We left one peaceful terms and now this!"
Shaking with fear and rage she sank into a chair, breathing unsteadily.

At that, Rick's expression became much more serious. "He what?" He caught himself and hesitated, wondering if he should really get involved, then decided he might as well since he'd been the one to deliver the letter. "Ma'am, I know it's none of my business, but I do not like the sound of that. If you want me to, I'd be more than willing to help you, however I can. What exactly is all this about?"

Charlotte shook harder, hiding her head in her hands. Don't lose it just yet. Think rationally.
She leaned back in her chair, face taut in an effort to seem collected. "He blames me," she managed. "Almost more than he blames himself."

Rick was still confused, but could easily see how upset she was. "Blames you for what?" he asked gently.

She looked up at him blankly. "Sit." She nodded to the chair beside her own.
"First of all, know these aren't our biological children. But they might as well be."

(ahhh yes, so exciting! See you tomorrow!! XD)
Rick nodded, sitting down as she'd asked him to. "Okay. And this Axel guy….I take it you're not, uh, in any kinda relationship with him."

Charlotte placed a harrowed glare on Rick. "Never imply that again," she commanded

Rick ducked his head meekly. "Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am. Do carry on, I'll stop interruptin'."

"Right. We were both highly ranked in the army. During the war. So much so that they chose us for a project, one that didn't finish before the war ended," she started, her voice slowly gaining in stability. "We were both assigned two toddlers, one boy and one girl. Our job was to raise them to, simply put, be stronger fighters than the animals that… people used, so the government would stop torturing those creatures."
She paused to breathe and glanced up at Rick. She was really going to tell him everything, as much as it terrified her. Someone needed to know and Rick had, for some reason, seemed to Axel like a trustworthy person.
"Are you following?"

Rick nodded. "I follow you. Sounds to me like an idea that works well in theory, but not at all in practice, is that right?"

Charlotte considered him. Maybe not as dumb as he looks. "Indeed. Axel's girl, Jessie, broke under the pressure following an exercise she'd done with my boy, Will. Axel… well, he blamed me with the argument that I'd let Will lose control, but equally blames himself for coming up with the idea for said exercise. The guilt was too much for him, and he ran off. His boy Tomas had been doing better than the others and was released early," she finished grimly. The retelling was stirring up old wounds, but she silently battled through the memories. Truth be told, she hadn't stopped since the end of the war.

Rick listened with a furrowed brow. The whole situation sounded terrible to him, and it saddened him to think of anyone–let alone children–having to go through something like that. "I'm real sorry to hear that, Miss Charlotte. And your kids….what happened to them after that?"