Ani & Anna - Prologue (Side Thread) - Jy 31st MT

[Ashari]

Anistis noticed, as Anna spoke, that he'd stopped sorting the arrows as soon as he'd oppened his mouth, and presently went back to doing so. It seemed like he should admire their craftsmanship, although the acolyte knew nothing of making arrows.

"Well, Mikail's potion-making seems really complex," Ani continued. He found Mikail's strange art fascinating, but was almost totally ignorant of it- mostly because he'd never taken the time to ask, he supposed. "I'd imagine an assistant would do him a whole lot of good. I'm sure he's glad to have you." The smile on his face dissolved for a flicker into a frustrated grimace as he noticed he'd accidentally mixed some arrows from one pile into the other while he wasn't paying attention. He took a moment to put them back into place.

"How'd you come by the job, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Oh yes, it is quite complex.. or, I imagine it to be, I haven't really seen him do much potion making yet," Anna said while continuing with her work. She was cautious with the potion, using just the amount that Mikail had instructed. Anna had a steady hand - unusual for a girl of her young age. "I hope he is," she continued. "I'll do anything to make sure he is." There was a desperation on her tone that suggested this wasn't something she was just saying, but rather, something that was absolute truth.

"Mister Matiel got me the job," she said with a smile. Not many people smiled when saying Matiel's name, but she considered him to be her savior. "He knows my old boss, and he saw me, and I guess he liked me," she shrugged. "Not in the way that men usually like me, though... I, er.." embarassment painted her cheeks pink. He was a man of the cloth, she doubted he wanted to hear much more about that subject. Annabelle didn't want to be condemned in his soft, compassionate green eyes. The young girl licked her lips and gave a smile. "I'm not yet used to not being looked at that way. You're all different. You and all your friends."

She sifted the powder over the fabric, and added another cloth to the bag. "And you? What made you join this expedition?"

[Anistis]

Anistis was glad to hear that Matiel had helped Anna out in this way. For all of the scholar's talk of profit over altruism, Ani was confident that he had far more concern for others than he let on.

"He knows my old boss, and he saw me, and I guess he liked me," she shrugged. "Not in the way that men usually like me, though... I, er.."

Here, Ani's smile was softened by a hint of sadness; he had been sheltered from most people of the sort Anna was referring to, but the acolyte wasn't so naive that lechery was a foreign concept to him. While he likely hadn't an inkling of the extent of Anna's previous hardships, Anistis thought he could hear the pain behind her words, and in that moment wanted nothing more than to ease it. He was more than willing to listen if she had anything she wanted to discuss, but felt that he shouldn't push her to do so.

When she said that the members of the caravan were different, the entirity of Ani's boyish face radiated warmth, and he offered Anna an enthusiastic nod.

"I don't know about me," he said, embarrassed by the implication that he was special in any way, "but Haikan's definitely put a good crew together," he continued, indicating the other Terra West traders milling about with a sweeping gaze. "Please- don't worry. I promise you, you're among friends!"

There was a brief pause when she asked for his reasons for joining the caravan. He hated having to withhold information; as if three months of making vague insinuations hadn't been enough, Lazos had expressly forbidden him from giving anyone the foggiest idea that his mission was of the monumental significance that it was. He opted, though, for the fullest account he could muster that would still be within the bounds set by the bishop.

"Well, I met Haikan, Matiel, and Mikail three months ago, and they took me on right away. They thought I'd be an experienced Healer, I guess," he told her, chuckling a little at his own expense. His lack of experience in any useful area was especially lamentable to him when he thought of himself as a member of this expedition, but he tried to ignore the subtle voice inside himself that told him he wasn't worth anything to the caravan. "It worked out really well, too," he continued, "because the Lady Debrona- she's from King's Court- and the Church need me to look for some old documents for them in other parts of the country, so this is an easy way for me to do that, too. It's also really exciting; I was born and raised in King's Court, and I've never left. I can't wait to see more of the kingdom!

"How about you?" he asked. "Have you been to Brie, or Pax Balthasar, or any of these places we're going?"

[Ashari]

Anna wasn't entirely sure about what Anistis meant by saying he wasn't unlike the other men who thought her to be just a hole to fill. Maybe it's his way of saying he thinks I'm pretty... she reassured herself, though she had heard from prostitutes that their most common customers were priests, something that spelled to Anna that making it so that they couldn't be wed was a rather silly thing, since most of them were just seeking it out in other avenues. Was Anistis, perhaps, propositioning her? Only time would tell, but atleast he was an attractive young man, quite unlike Cedric in that respect. Plus he seemed decent. Though, her first priority would continue to be to make sure that Mikail's needs were met, whatever it was that they would be, for that was her job.

"I've never left King's Court, either," she answered. "I'm very excited, really... really excited to get away from here." Anistis had righty picked up on the sadness that was hinted at her former life, though there was a lightness and exuberance toward the newness of this adventure which easily overwhelmed the past darkness. "Were these religious documents stolen or something? It sounds like you have an important mission. I've never been very religious," she caught the error in saying this. "I love Dominicus, though! I do, but my mama died young and my father was never one for religion, so, I guess I was never really taught," she shrugged. "Are your parents very happy that you're an acolyte?"

[Anistis]

If Anistis knew even a part of how Anna had misinterpreted his self-deprecating remark, he would have reached a new height of embarassment and tripped all over himself apologizing. As it was, he would never think of such a thing himself, and thus had no idea what was running through Anna's head.

At the mention of leaving King's Court, Anistis sensed a desperate desire to be away from the city, which he supposed was understandable, if her past circumstances were as serious as they seemed. Even he found it a little suffocating at times, if he was honest with himself.

At the risk of sounding presumptuous of her past, he decided to take a leap. "Don't worry. You're safe with us, and things will get better now, you'll see. You'll only be treated with respect and dignity here.

"No, they weren't stolen," he continued when Anna moved on to the topic of the Codex. "Just separated over time; they need to be gathered back together for study, is all."

Ani was surprised at how much it stung him when Anna felt the need to correct herself and somehow prove her Dominican zeal to him. He may not have been as cognizant of the fact as most, but it was becoming more and more apparent to him that this was the kind of world he lived in- a place where faith, love, and devotion weren't beautiful things that welled up from the heart, but required lipservice forced upon the people. It was tragic, and, as far as Anistis was concerned, only served to drive a wedge between Dominicus and His people.

"Hey, don't worry. I know I'm an acolyte, but that doesn't mean you're going to anger me by not being 'devoted enough.'" Sadly, he knew there were members of the clergy that were very much like that. Even more sadly, the first example that sprang to mind was Tyrone. "Good parents love their children, even if those children don't always go around talking about how much love they have for their parents. I think the love of Dominicus is unconditional, even when we do bad things. I mean, it has to be, right? A god isn't God without perfect love, is He?

"My father kind of wanted me to be a potter like him, I suppose, but I really felt that I was being called toward ministry. Mom and Dad gave me their blessing, though. They told me to be careful and remember what they taught me- that serving others is the highest virtue. When I told them that that was why I wanted to work for the Church, they were satisfied." Before the end of Chyril, Anistis hadn't fully understood why his parents had cautioned him to hold fast to his principles. How could service to the One be different than service to all? He understood, now, though, that not everyone in the Church felt as he did.

Trying to turn away from these increasingly darker thoughts, Anistis took a look at the arrows he was sorting. "You know, this was a really good idea on Mikail's part. I hope we don't run into a situation where we'll need them, but if it comes to it, this is a good way to avoid bloodshed."

[Ashari]

Anistis' assumption and leap was well justified. Anna smiled - a young bashful sort of smile that a girl of her age was prone to, particularly when they weren't sure what to say. It was an unusual thing for Annabelle - she never had much of a hard time talking, but this young man and his happiness and faith inspired unknown feelings.

As to the Codex, she nodded, already finding it to be much more dull than where her initial romantic thougts had taken her. It would've been mich more exciting if they were stolen, she thought, but either way, it seemed like an important job for the church. Thus, his next words caught her by surprise as well.

"Perfect love.. yes," she nodded. "I guess I never really thought about it that way." Here, for the first time, Anna paused in her work, regarding Anistis with her pale blue eyes. "That's a very beautiful thought, Mister Anistis," she said with a smile.

He continued onto the topic of his parents, and father, and Anna nodded politely. It was an understandable thing, but even then, his parents had loved him enough to allow him to join the clergy. She envied him that, and returned to her work as he spoke, as it was easier to focus on that than comparing her childhood to his. "I should've liked to have had your parents," she said soberly.

Working on Mikail's project, she agreed. "Yes, it is. I hope it does save lives, though.. if they're trying to attack us I'm not sure why we'd want to save them, but I suppose it's better this way."

[Anistis]

It appeared that Ani had made the right choice in not specifically using Anna's father in his little parable about the love of the One. It saddened him that her parents hadn't been there to support her, but then, he knew that he was, in some ways, unusually lucky in that regard. Most of those he knew in King's Court came from difficult backgrounds, usually involving dead or estranged parents.

"Yes, it is. I hope it does save lives, though.. if they're trying to attack us I'm not sure why we'd want to save them, but I suppose it's better this way."

The acolyte's smile faltered at this. The answer to Anna's query seemed obvious to him, but he attempted to keep that out of his voice as he answered her. "The short answer is simply mercy, but if that's too simple, consider this: there are many reasons why others might attack us. They might mistakenly think we mean them harm; they may be poor and starving and think the only way to get food from us is to steal it; or they might just have been led down the wrong path, convinced that this is what they have to do in order to survive." He knew from past volunteer work that this was the case with many denizens of the Poor Quarter. Anistis locked eyes with Anna, wishing to emphasize his point.

"Why end a life when you can save it instead?"

[Mikail]

Mikail put his book aside again and then dropped his head down between the two that were talking. "I just thought of something, Anna." He hesitated, making sure his words were sound.

"Perhaps it would be better if we soaked the bolts and then removed the cloths. If we dipped them like candies the poison would drip off, but I'm starting to imagine that a bolt is much more sensitive to imbalance than an arrow, and because it's in a contraption it's not as easy to adjust the shot accordingly. I think it would be best to do it this way, but if we do, we have to bundle them together so the air doesn't dry them out and pull the poison away. Metal isn't absorbent, but if the solution dries slowly it'll keep a film if I'm not mistaken."

He turned to Anistis for a quick second after their religious discussion, but decided against saying anything. He thought Dominicus was an asshole, but he wouldn't dare say anything to discourage the young acolyte from his noble cause. I don't think a god capable of 'perfect love' would have slaughtered so many of my innocent people... Sadly, I think the wicked bastards that fill the church are right about what Dominicus wants. Then again, maybe if Ani's words become popular the church will follow him. Perhaps the parent can learn from the child... If only...

[Ashari]

"Hmmm, yeah, ok. That's probably a good idea. Wait... what if, no, that might be a silly idea," Anna blushed at Mikail, not wanting to embarass herself in any way in front of her new employer. However, interest in the subject won over as she wanted to atleast present her idea even if it was a crummy one. "What if you add something else to it? You know.. to make it sticky? Then it wouldn't dry out so fast and it would stay on the arrow, like syrup - except, not the pancake kind." She bit her bottom lip tenderly.

To Anistis, the young woman nodded. "Yeah... Mercy. Yes, that is very important. Matiel was very merciful to me. He saved me like Dominicus," she said. One could call her misguided at the least to make such a comparison. Others would accuse her of Blasphemy. "Sometimes people don't have a choice about their life, and the things they do," she said, realizing how true Anistis' statements were. "So, then.. Dominicus, he'd love me even if I had to do bad things because someone told me I had to?" She asked, a rush of her past sins flashing across her mind's eye.

[Anistis]

Tyrone, of course, would have vehemently disagreed with what Anistis was about to say, and the acolyte was aware of this fact. But Tyrone put limits on the compassion of an infinite God. The Purificatio monk was wrong. He had to be.

"Yes," he told her with confidence. "He understands us and our situations better than we ourselves do. What you should understand, though, is that sometimes, people are made to think that they have no choice. Sometimes we need help to find a way out of those predicaments, but there is always a choice. Sometimes it's not easy, but with help, we can find a way to make the right one."

He looked at Anna with empathetic eyes, a feeling of pain and sorrow welling up in his chest. The first instinct was to place a hand on her shoulder, perhaps even to embrace her, tell her that he and the others would do their best to make sure she was never forced to do anything she'd be ashamed of ever again- but he thought better of that, thinking that she may get the wrong idea if he touched her, given what she'd alluded to earlier.

"Anna, there is no unforgivable sin," he said instead. "Not a one. And nothing that anyone does or says can ever devalue a person. Life is the holiest thing that exists, and there is nothing that can make it any less." He paused for a moment, knowing that there were many in the Church, people in authority, who would disagree, using the One to justify their wars and state-sanctioned murders like the one taking place this morningtide in the city he was leaving behind.

It didn't matter. They were wrong. They had to be.

"Don't let anyone tell you any different," he told Anna, not caring at all in that moment whether or not any of his superiors would approve.

[Ashari]

"There is not always a choice," Anna said soberly, concentrating on Anistis and his argument for the faith of Dominicus. "Have you ever been a slave, sir?" She asked, the weight of the statement plain in her eyes.

"Been... been made to do things - things you know are wrong. I'm damned. I've been with a man," she said quietly with a sigh. "Before handfasting, and my priest told me-" her voice caught in her throat. "He said there was no forgiveness for this, because I should've said no, but I did. You say no at first to these things... these things you're not supposed to do, but eventually you stop saying no. After a while, you just stay quiet." Anna frowned and licked her small lips. She was so very small, so thin, so young and fragile. "And then, after a while longer, you accept it - and then it's just you're life," her pale eyes scanned the fascade of a nearby building, as if uncomfortable with meeting the acolyte's gaze. "It's your life and you have to live it, so you do, and the things stop seeming so wrong when it's the difference between living or not."

Compared to Anistis she was this little creature, one that could easily be folded up and carreid away to a better life, the life she saw here in the Caravan. "Not everyone has a choice is all I mean," she said with a sigh. "It's easy for you with parents who love you and enough money to make your choices, but not everybody has that. So that's that." She was attempting to stifle the conversation, to shut down that part of herself that she'd briefly opened up that made her appear broken or damaged, or worse still, weak.

[Anistis]

Anistis was shocked. It was a little more difficult for him than it may have been to the average person to pick up on what Anna was aluding to, but the pain in her voice made it apparent enough. Whoever did this to her will have to be brought to justice. He might do the same to even more people, and I cannot, will not let this pass. That wasn't the issue at hand right now, though. Anna needed to be comforted. Justice would come later, and asking her who hurt her wouldn't do much in the way of solace.

Damned?! How could this priest have told her something like that? Anistis didn't understand the psychological damage and guilt that often went with rape- how could he? He did understand, however, what a priest being so wantonly irresponsible with the duty of confession could do to a person.

Anna's mention of Ani's kind parents and generally well-adjusted background stung. He'd definitely said the wrong thing; he had to make sure that Anna knew that he didn't look down on her.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I didn't mean... What that priest told you was wrong, Anna. Not only is such a thing not unforgiveable- it isn't even a sin. You didn't sin; you've been sinned against."

He thought back to his childhood, drew upon an example from it, knowing it wasn't anywhere near the same thing, but hoping that it would be illustrative of the point he was trying to make: "If a small child is caught in an alleyway on his way home by a group of older kids and they beat him up, holding him at knifepoint, is he at fault if he doesn't fight back? Of course not. Coersion is the fault of the one who coerces, not the one who is coerced.

"Whoever withheld forgiveness from you should be ashamed of himself. I apologize on behalf of the entire Church. You have nothing to feel guilty for." As he spoke, he didn't break eye contact once, and his eyes began to water. He wasn't sure what else to say, but he hoped that he could give Anna the keys to the prison of her guilt.

[Mikail]

When Anna mentioned using syrup, his eyes lit up. "Anna, you're a genius..." Mikail looked down. Whenever he was thinking hard about something his eye contact was very minimal. He was speaking in purely business terms, because he didn't feel he had the right to get involved with talk of God. His beliefs were too complicated to bother this young girl with.

"I tried to make an astringent once, and the end result was a sticky adhesive material that had no affect when applied to the skin. I threw it all away because I thought it was useless and since made an effective one, but I still remember how to make it! When I mix that in, I can make the solution stay on the bolts without having to leave them in a dark airless chamber, which is hard to do, and I feared would compromise enough of the chemical to reduce the efficacy of the poison... Perhaps efficacy isn't the right word... Concentration- that's what I meant. Concentration. This way I can guarantee that it will work well and instantly because the solution will stay on the bolt without the risk of being absorbed by the fabric..."

He walked away a few paces and began thinking, walking around the cart. He pretended not to hear any of their talk; he had no right to know any of that. When hearing of her innocence and tragedy, he abandoned any thoughts of returning to the conversation. Any emergence right now would make her feel more vulnerable and ashamed than Mikail could bear. I must leave this... I must be a good teacher... She deserves to know... peace of mind...

With that, he advanced as quietly as possible to the front of the caravan so as to leave the impression that he'd been gone for some time (since he'd stepped out of view). He made a little vow to make her stay in this caravan hopefully as good as possible. Then, he did the unthinkable. He prayed very quietly so no one could hear.

"Dominicus... I'm not fond of most of your followers, and I don't know if their claims hold the truth of you or not. You're probably not fond of me or of any of us in this group. I know one thing though. You have a follower that wants to bring good, peace, and love to this world, and he's using your name to do it. If you really want glory and power in this universe, you'd do well to invest it in this young boy. The church is unstable now, and if a civil war is to be avoided, you'd better place all your bets on Anistis." He looked up at the sky and smiled, wondering if his words could be heard. This one's going in the journal.

That being said, he moved to the front of the caravan and began leafing through Jezera's saddlebag. After pulling out two bags, he smiled and ventured into his cart, where he then worked for the next mark. When he was finished, he would inform all of the soldiers to claim their bolts from the barrel, where they were divided by design and craft.

[Ashari]

"Well, thanks, Mister Mikail!" She said with enthusiasm. "I'm glad to have helped. If you need anything else, do tell me. I'm happy to help come up with more ideas - though.. it's just the ideas, you're the one with the actual knowledge," she said dotingly. Annabelle watched him as he paced away to work out the problem of his arrows in his head but returned to the church-related discussion with Anistis as soon as he'd departed their company.

-=-=-=

"Sinned against?" She asked. Anna listened as he spoke about coersion being the fault of the one who does it, and not the one who is being coerced, and it all made a good deal of sense, but it went very directly against what she'd been told by a priest and this young man was just an acolyte. Was there a chance he didn't know what he was talking about? Anna, though not an extremely devout follower of Dominicus, had given herself up for lost, and had entered a world of sin where Adam Zwolle ruled supreme and Cedric was his lackey who used that power for whatever he wanted - his favorite wanting being skinny young girls like herself.

There was a passion in Anistis' tone, though, that she couldn't ignore. One that begged for her to know that what he was saying was true. This was all the more noticed when she met his eyes again for the first time and saw them slick with unshed tears. "Would you.. I mean," she faultered and licked her small pink lips. "Could you forgive me, for Dominicus I mean.. could you take my confession and absolve me? Please, I know you know who I am and that sort of goes against it, but.. please?"

[Anistis]

The request Anna made was unorthodox, as Anistis was a mere acolyte and Confession was the province of the fully ordained. It wasn't in his authority to offer absolution of sins. But, then, did the priest really do the absolving anyway? Despite the fact that at the end of each confession he had made, he had heard the words "I absolve you of your sins," it had always been followed by "in the name of the Avatar and of Dominicus." Really, could true absolution come from anyone other than those you've wronged and Dominicus Himself? Perhaps some would see this line of thought as a challenge to the sanctity of the ordained office, but that's not what the acolyte meant by it. The job of the priest as Confessor was to proclaim the unlimited mercy of the One and to guide the parishoner back towards His path. The priests were best fit for this because they were trained to do so. Was Anistis up to such a task?

Looking at Anna, he knew that he had to try, regarless of regulation.

He blinked a few times, ridding his eyes of wet gleam they'd had. "The anonymity is normally there to protect the one confessing; it keeps the priest, in his human frailty, from attaching people to their sins. Once Confession is administered and one prays for forgivness, the person's sins can't be held against her anymore. The anonymity is to keep priests from violating that- although I promise you, I would never hold past deeds against you or anyone else; if Dominicus forgives, who are we to keep a tally of wrongs? But no, the anonymity rule exists for a good reason, like all good rules. When they don't..."

They should be discareded, he'd been about to say. He felt a stab of guilt at this- it isn't what he'd been taught at the Basilica. Obedience to the laws of the Church and to Church superiors was one of, if not the most important task of an acolyte. As he'd been taught, it was what kept the One Church one. If they'd stuck by that in World's Mouth, the Church wouldn't be broken right now.

Nevertheless, for the sake of this new friend, Anistis was about to discard the rules. He felt that it was far more to the good to do this thing than to again- like the coldhearted priest Anna had described- deny this girl the compassion that she needed.

"I should state before we begin that I'm just an acolyte, and if you'd like, when we return to King's Court-" There was another thought; would Anna have any desire to return to that city, the place where she'd spent yahren in misery? If she did, he and the others would protect her. Whether she did or not, they would find those that hurt her and put an end to their crimes. "When we return, I could arrange for you to speak with a priest that I know will behave as is befitting of the office and treat you with the respect you deserve," he said, here thinking of Father Marcus.

"I'll hear your confession, though, if you're comfortable confessing to me," he said, his smile welcoming. "Don't be afraid; like I said, what you thought was sin is, I promise you, not- though if you need to talk about it, I'll listen. Furthermore, whatever sins we all commit, there are none that are unforgivable."

Here, he averted his eyes, trying to stay aware through his peripheral vision of moments when Anna sought eye contact and obliging, but not wanting to intimidate her with a deadlock gaze.

"You can start whenever you're ready, Anna."

[Ashari]

"It's ok, I know you're just an acolyte... but I know you can speak to Dominicus more easily than I can," she said and set down the tools which she'd been using to give her attention fully to Anistis.

Taking a deep and stuttering breath, Anna focused on Ani and smiled then looked down at her hands. "Forgive me, for I have sinned..." she began, and waited for him to interject with the necessary tell me your sins, as was required by the confessor. She licked her small pink lips.

"I have laid with a man before marriage on... numerous occasions," she took a breath. "I've sold my body for money to please a man, to please men," she said. Her voice was getting more and more quiet as she spoke about her past sins. "Since my last confession I have lied - about my age, about being a virgin and to Cedric about.. well... about just about anything and everything, I guess." Anna tried to catch Anistis' eyes. "I'm not sorry about lying to him... I suppose that doesn't make it a very good confession." She frowned. He'd been horrific to her in many regards. "No, I am. I'm sorry that I thought that was the only thing I could do, which was weak of me," she continued, quickly, not letting him get a word in edgewise.

"I stole some bread the day before yesterday in the market as well. Mister Anistis, I'm not sure I remember all my sins since I confessed last," she frowned and bit her bottom lip tenderly.

[Anistis]

The acolyte prodvided her with the proper phrase, the inflection of his voice making "Tell me your sins" an entreaty for Anna to give a knapsack full of granite she'd been shouldering to him, rather than, as he'd heard some priests utter it, a rough command for the confessee to wallow in shame and receive punishment.

Anna seemed to rush through her confession, desparate to get it all out. Anistis listened with patience, meeting the girl's gaze with one that held no judgment and an abundance of compassion. As she spoke, the acolyte was painfully aware of how little he really knew of the world.

"Anna," he began. It had initially been his intention to keep up the pretense of anonymity for the purpose of tradition, but when Anna used his name, he felt that the confession should continue in the more personal fashion in which they'd been conversing earlier.

"I think that, perhaps, I was wrong." He barely paused before the next sentence, wanting to make sure that Anna wouldn't think, even for a flicker, that he meant that he'd been wrong about her sins being less than sinful and easily forgiven by Dominicus. "Maybe we do always have choices, but outside forces can make them difficult ones. Sometimes, perhaps, the choice is between two things that are, in technical terms, sinful. In these cases, one, perhaps, is less so than the other."

Does that render it virtuous? As blasphemous as the thought seemed, perhaps it was so. But it would be best not to pontificate too much, not only because he had no authority to do so, but because Anna needed consolation, not the theological musings of a man who at least two members of the Church clearly (although not so clearly to Anistis) considered him at least somewhat dangerous.

"I wasn't there and I don't know all of the details-" He said this to let Anna know that she could tell him more if she wanted, but that she was in no way obligated to do so. "-but I assume you took the bread that you mentioned because you had nothing to eat and no way to get food. Likely, the vendor in the marketplace had plenty of bread, and was not nearly as greatly hurt by the loss as you would have been by being unable to eat. The same is true of-" his face flushed a little here; Anistis knew what prostitution was, but it was somewhat of a foreign concept to him, and certainly an embarassing one, if only because it had to do with the great physical mystery that he'd never known and, as a priest, never would. "-Of the other things you've had to do to survive. You've been forced into the situations you're in, repeatedly forced until, as you've said, you've been forced to accept these things. You haven't been weak. On the contrary, for all this time, you've had the strength to persist through the hardships you've faced."

Anistis regarded Anna with a smile that mingled the deepest sadness with joy in the knowledge that she would not have to live the way she had anymore. He paused, waiting to see if she had anything else to say before he continued on with the formalities of absolution.

[Ashari]

"Yes, that is true. I stole it because it was the thing to do.. because I was hungry," she nodded. Anna felt bad about it. Many people in King's Court were starving, and she hadn't worked enough to earn food. That bread had been the difference between life and death for the skinny little waif.

"I think that's them all, I'm very sorry, I want Dominicus' forgiveness," she said and closed her mouth, lacing her thin fingers together on her lap and watching Anistis to see what he'd say and how he'd say it. For the first time in her young life she did truly yearn for absolution. Ani had inspired her toward it.

[Anistis]

Anistis smiled; perhaps these acts were not sinful in the fullest sense, but the confession, it seemed, would give Anna peace of mind. It could represent a break with the past and the opening of a brighter, happier chapter in her life.

He opened his Book of the One to Purificatium. "The Book Purificatium tells us in its ninth chapter that 'The sins can always be atoned for; but they are transgressions still in His eyes. Only prayer can save the soul- for without prayer, no man can stand in good faith.'" This verse emphasized for Anistis, in addition to the infinite capacity of Dominicus to forgive sins, the importance of praying for others. "Your repentance is the only prerequisite for receiving the One's forgiveness. Let us pray," he said, bowing his head.

"Dominicus, all-compassionate and all-merfiful God, You have created all that is upon the face of Tazlure- and all that You make is good, and You hate nothing that You have made. At times, we go astray by using the gifts you give us for our own sinful ends; at other times, we are stuck and are coerced into transgressing against Your laws. But You have made us, and You love us, so that when we come to You in a spirit of repentence, You will never turn us away. Your daughter Anna is here before You today, asking for that forgiveness. We ask that, in Your mercy and love, you grant it to her."

Anistis left his head bowed for a few flickers, just in case there was anything that Anna would like to add. He then lifted and opened his eyes, smiling at Anna.

"Anna, I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Avatar and of Dominicus." That bit about the Avatar seemed silly to Ani, seeing as there wasn't one right now, but that's the way it went. He smiled at Anna, hoping that the pronouncement of absolution would help her find peace.

[Matiel Escariot]

He'd been listening for the entire time.

Finding her beforehand wasn't such a chore to do. Standing on top of a wagon gave his eyes enough leverage to find them himself. He had planned to wait for Mathias to bring her to him, but it seems the duties he imposed on that assistant would take some time.

He managed to jump from one wagon to the other though, with relative difficulty and imagination. The gap between every one was discouraging enough, but he didn't feel like having to climb down again just to meet them. Thankfully, it was merely the third wagon away that he needed to reach. Jumping two gaps with a light load seemed daunting at first to a man with basic athletic training, but he was fortunate enough not to slip and crack his skull on the cold hard ground below. On reaching them, he was planning on immediately jumping in to call out his need for Anna's services, but the sudden turn of their conversation stopped him.

It made him just stand there, near the edge of the wagon, with his bags dangling on one shoulder. He was looking down on them, unable to cut their thoughts and words. He didn't want to. There was so much of both of them which he did not know, he did not want to know, but it seemed the knowledge was impressed on him nonetheless.

So he lied with his back to the carriage's roof and listened, silent, wondering, and in the end...

He whispered it.

"Anistis, thank you."

[Ashari]

Matiel, from his high vantage point, had caught bits and pieces of the conversation but some of the subtleties of their talk were lost as whispers on the wind. Anna, in her most vulnerable moments didn't allow for her volume to rise. Thus, he got the general impression but missed many of the details. If he wanted to hear then he'd have to get closer. Otherwise, he could be filled with the peace that Anistis offered to the young woman, and be comfortable in the fact that he'd helped stich her sweet soul.

Bowing her head, the young Anna joined in the acolyte's prayer. "Thank you, Dominicus," she added on the end, but went no further with the prayer. She felt as though the green eyed young man had provided enough for the prayer.

Anna listened as Anistis absolved her of her sins. Quite suddenly, and without real understanding of why, the young girl began to cry. Her big blue eyes first welled with tears and then they cascaded down her pale cheeks. "I'm sorry.. I.. I don't know why I'm crying," she quickly wiped at her face but the streams didn't stop. She blinked her wet lashes and they clung together in dynamic triangles that pronounced her emotional reaction to being forgiven. Coughing slightly she gave a smile and when she took her next breath it was as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Th-" she swallowed. "Thank you, Ani." She said and wiped away the last of the tears with a relief-filled sigh and then looked around them, her bright eyes fixing on different things with a new vision. "I should probably go find Mikail and see if he needs any help..." she figured with a nod. "I'll see you in the wagon."

OOC: Last post & fin?

[Matiel Escariot]

OOC: I was just dropping in to applaud this.

[Anistis]

OOC: Yeah, I think we're all done here, Ash. Great thread; thanks a lot! Oh, and thanks, Matiel!