TL;DR: Commander contemplates the Scrying Pool and its uses in viewing her past.
“Commander, you alright?” Braham asks.
Tiffany Commander is staring into the Scrying Pool thoughtfully, but she isn’t in a vision. She sighs. “Yeah, I’m fine, Braham. Thanks for asking,” she adds, with a small smile.
“You seem…” Braham trails off for a moment.
“I’m thinking,” Commander replies simply. “So much has happened recently.”
“What did you see in the last vision?”
“Almorra’s death. It… I…” Commander sighs. “I knew it before, but it’s so much more real now. Bangar has to be stopped. Before he does something he’ll regret… and before he corrupts Ryland further.”
“I’m not sure about him, Commander,” Braham tells her.
Commander shakes her head. “I know. I don’t call him an ally, either. But he’s young, and I think his heart is still pure. But if Crecia tries to defend Bangar again, I might have a fit.”
“Bangar tried to kill you,” Braham reminds her. “Even she can’t stay on his side after that.”
“Yeah,” Commander agrees, and falls silent.
The two of them stare at the pool for a long time, before Braham leaves, and the Commander is left alone again.
See visions of the past… with a memento.
Commander does not know if this is a good idea. She’d only recently come out of the years-long funk that Trahearne’s death had started, but she is wiser for it. She knows it might be good for her to see him again, even in a memory. But how will it work, going into my own memory?
Commander does not lack a memento. She carries two on her at any given time - both of her weapons. Caladbolg, of course, and the Pact bow that Trahearne had given her after Zhaitan’s defeat. Her Pact rank pin might work, as well.
But again - is going into a memory of Trahearne… wise? She has by no means forgotten him, but leaving painful memories alone and living for the future, not the past… Trahearne would prefer her to focus on Bangar and Jormag. On mentoring Braham and Taimi.
It would be like a chance to say goodbye, at long last. Finally put this pain to rest. The vision with Caladbolg - so many years ago, now - hadn’t been timely. Commander had been angry, frustrated, resentful - at everything and everybody. She hadn’t been ready to say goodbye.
But now… now she is more than ready. But do I need to? The real transition was when she stopped fighting for the past - for Trahearne’s memory, for his legacy of someday we will kill the last of them, just because HE said it - and started truly fighting for the future, for only then will Tyria be safe. She fights now for Braham, and Taimi, and Rytlock and Crecia - for Jhavi and the Vigil, now leaderless - for Eveanin, still so young, for Canach, who needs to lighten up a little… she fights for the future. Instead of pursuing a desperate revenge fueled by hate and fear and loss, that barely made any sense because Mordremoth was already dead.
Do I need to say goodbye?
Commander doesn’t know. She wants to - oh, she wants to, longs to speak to him one last time, even in memory when he can’t reply, can’t ever know it. But as Commander looks into the pool, wondering if - if she did go in - would she ever come out again? Aurene might drag her out, but then she’d be just as much a mess as she was before, unable to lead in this troubling time.
Or maybe, she would come out again. But she’d go back, again and again. She’d be addicted to it, need it like medicine. Need to hear Trahearne’s words of hope again.
I… I might not be strong enough for that.
Commander grimaces, twining her hand through the fur on Beorn’s back. She’d only just recently become able to admit weakness to herself, instead of bottling it up and trying to ignore it, trying to pretend she was perfect and a strong Commander. But she’d learned - or maybe Aurene had taught her, or Taimi, shown her that pretending just makes it worse in the end. Good thing, too, or my recent injury would have stolen all my self-confidence and left me with shame in front of my allies. No… my friends.
Maybe she can be Trahearne to her friends. She can be hope and a future to them, and maybe teach them to move on if she dies, instead of getting caught in the mire of grief like she was.
Commander stands up, slowly. Maybe some other time. Later. When things calm down a little. She turns and walks away from the Scrying Pool, Beorn at her side, Caladbolg on her back, and her friends awaiting her direction. I’ve come so far.
Besides… maybe normal memory is better, anyway. She can travel to the places her memories actually happened, explore old places anew at her own pace. Normal memory is hers, after all, and she treasures it.
“Hey, uh, Commander?” Rytlock says as she passes him.
“Yeah?”
“I, uh… I know you were close to Almorra. It… couldn’t’ve been easy, seeing her die.”
“It wasn’t. But I’ll be fine. Thanks, Rytlock.”
“No problem, Commander. You know we’re here if you need it.”
“Getting all soft and emotional, Rytlock?” Commander teases.
“No! It’s just that… well, Logan would skin me if I didn’t look after his Hero of Shaemoor.”
“Nice to know you still care,” Commander grins. Well. It’s not Logan’s fault he’s not as awesome as Trahearne… but he still tries. He’s still a friend.
“Commander, there you are!” Eveanin calls, hurrying over. “I haven’t seen you since you came back wounded from that fight with Bangar! Are you okay? You look too cheerful. Is something wrong? Are you hiding something?”
Commander frowns. “Where did you learn to read me so well?”
“Experience. I’ve been your student for eight years, Commander, and you’ve eluded me enough times. I’ve got you now.”
“Ah, well, I truly am sorry, then. I’ve just changed again. But look on the bright side; Bangar murdered Almorra, so now we get to go kill him.”
“Deep in shimmering waters, time unravels like a tapestry. In ancient times, powerful relics known as scrying pools were used to glimpse beyond the clouded present and into the future. This practice was known as augury, and only the sharpest minds and most focused souls were capable of seeing through the effervescent waters. No mortal has practiced augury in millennia, and like many ancient artifacts, scrying pools have all but vanished from existence. If you seek knowledge of the future, you must travel to the edges of the world, following whispers on the wind, to where one of the last surviving few might be.”
Read the tale of The Wanderer in “Wander On” on FateForetold.com
From the first moment my Commander got into Eye of the North, I wished to paint the chamber with Aurene and the Scrying pool... so here it is. And this is probably the exact moment when Kylien is watching Braham’s master plan in action O-O
This sparkly, shiny mess of dragon crystals is sponsored by ArenaNet <3
