The Fallen Still Serve - Part Two

Posted on Wed Mar 18th, 2020 @ 3:56am by Captain T'Nae "Wolfheart" Duval & Commander Ethan "Hardcase" Duval & Lei "The Thunder King" Shen

Mission: Mission 98: Building Our New Home
Location: Deneva - Highland Mountains
Timeline: 0930Hrs - June 18th, 2392

T'Nae watched as Duval stepped off of the mat before he picked his socks and his boots, before donning both quickly. "Follow me, T'Nae." he addressed the Vulcan woman who wanted time with him. T'Nae moved after him almost not making a sound of any kind as the two left the massive dojo where several dozen people were training and went through a series of hallways and corridors before they reached his private apartment. "Come on in. You have to be roasting in that jacket."

T'Nae gently slipped her jacket off in silence. "I appreciate-" was as far as she got before Duval abruptly turned and faced her. "What are you doing here?"

"My daughter and sister-in-law spoke of you, they both encouraged me to meet you." the Vulcan female stood before him, her hands clasped behind her back. "Jeffery encouraged me to meet with you as well. He wanted to help you settle into this new reality with your family being able to help with whatever issues you had."

"Nice of them," Duval answered quietly. "In my former reality, I had only my parents and the-" he suddenly paused as he clearly was fighting with himself and it was because of her.

"The monster who wore my face and name." T'Nae finished for him. "Heather Duval spoke to me at length on the subject." she supplied the answer. "T'Kera did as well. She, in particular, did not like the fact that you despised me for what my pitiful imitation did to you."

"Let me get my jacket. I can't have this conversation here." Duval stepped forward, grasping his jacket as he did so. T'Nae took careful care to not touch him while he did so.

Duval regarded her. "Grab your coat... Let's go." and with that, the two were off again and within a short space of time, the two were outside the monastery after Duval left a note with the front desk that was to inform Lei Shen of where Duval and T'Nae had gone. "I'm going to go for a walk with T'Nae so she and I can discuss matters. I should be back soon. No idea on how long this will take. Duval."

"Send that to Master Shen, please John." Duval addressed the two men at the gate.

"Willdo Ethan. The weather forecast says we might be getting a storm later so don't go too far kay?"

"Right. Thanks for the reminder." Duval answered as he turned to T'Nae. "You set?"

"Yes." T'Nae responded.

"Let's go then." and with that, Duval led the way out the door and out onto the small plateau that was in front of the front of the monastery. He turned right and went around to the well-traveled trail which led out into the mountains. T'Nae followed in silence.

"You didn't bring anyone with you. Did you?" Duval inquired of her.

"No." the Vulcan female responded. "I have no need to engage in subterfuge." she calmly answered his statement with her own.

"Fine. So I won't be ambushed by any of your other family members." Duval explained. "So what makes you different than the T'Nae that I knew." he inquired of her.

T'Nae thought how best to formulate a response when she noticed the large air mass, heavy with moisture at the other end of the valley, it was slowly advancing on their location. "The simple answer is. I am not her." she regarded him as he spun to face her. "Hear me out before you deny the obvious," T'Nae responded. "I could not do what she has done to you," she explained. "I am not able to repress my emotions like the average Vulcan, I am outcasted for it. Your brother.. for lack of a better word... Has given me the family I have always wanted. I have five children with Jeffery. Two of them are infants. I have an additional two children who are not my own and a grandson with the eldest. Ryuujin is the boy's name." T'Nae explained.

"Your right. You are nothing like the T'Nae I once knew." Duval responded quietly. "You are different. You smile.." he paused. "In tune with your emotions?"

"I am. Yes." T'Nae answered evenly. "I can't repress them and even if I could. I find I enjoy them too much to want to repress them. I can also enjoy a steak with a side of fries-" when she was interrupted by the laughter from Duval.

Duval couldn't help himself quite literally as he realized that this was in fact not his T'Nae and he was holding onto a grudge that was not logical. "Ah. I'm. I'm sorry. Just that picturing a Vulcan eating a steak is just hilarious.."

T'Nae eyed him. "How so?"

"Just that they could never stomach it," Duval answered. "I've only ever seen a Vulcan eat vegetables and nothing else."

The Vulcan female regarded him as a smile appeared on her lips. "Well, there is nothing wrong with a set of two pork chops, marinated in barbecue sauce and cooked properly."

Duval looked at her. "I have to admit. I am impressed."

T'Nae turned her head as she regarded the massive storm that was coming slowly across the valley, its advance was unstoppable as Duval sighed. "It's a winter-storm and... It should be here shortly."

T'Nae sighed softly as she heard a soft beeping sound. "Whats that?"

Duval produced an old style communicator that was a design over a hundred years old. "Duval here. Go ahead."

"Ethan. We have a severe storm warning. It'll get here in about ten minutes. Recommend you both come inside quick."

"Copy. We're on our way." Duval answered before he put away the communicator. "Come-" he started but then he stopped as he realized that T'Nae wasn't beside him, she had begun slowly walking towards the mountain. Ethan went after her. "T'Nae. As much as I'd like to not bring you with me. I can't simply leave you here."

Duval grasped her by the hand, she turned her head as she shifted her attention from the storm to him. "Yes. Right," she said quietly.

Duval nodded before he indicated the front door. "Come on.," he commented as the wind around them began to pick up, it started to get louder and louder as Duval and T'Nae rushed back towards the entrance, as the snowflakes of winter began to swirl around them. "Come on T'Nae."

The Vulcan woman moved after the human male ahead of her as they fought to get back to the front door, the doors opened before them as Duval pushed T'Nae ahead of him and everything seemed to almost come to a stop when the main entrance closed behind them. "You okay?"

T'Nae nodded her head. "I'm cold." she paused. "But otherwise I'm unharmed," she added in a quiet tone of voice. "Does this happen often?"

"It does," Duval answered. "Roughly about once a week in fact," he added.

The Vulcan woman lowered the hood of her jacket. "If you had known that storm was coming. Would you have gone outside?" she inquired in a calm tone.

"No," Duval answered. "I'm not that insane."

"I understand." T'Nae paused. "We still have much to discuss."

"Agreed." Duval paused. "Let's go to the food hall. We can have a meal."

"Lead the way." the Vulcan smiled as she followed him to his destination.