[ Now there's a laugh with a story behind it, if she's ever heard one. Another person might have chosen to do the tactful thing and let it go unremarked, but tact is a resource Moenbryda has never had terribly much use for, which means that once she's quaffed a good portion of her mug and set it back down on the bar. ]
No one's 'just' anything. [ Silver eyes sweep Ardbert up and down, assessingly. ]
If you'd rather not go into the details, or the memory's unpleasant, that's your business. But I took you for another adventurer. You certainly dress the part.
[ Having just met this woman, Ardbert hadn't known whether she would pick up on the meaning between his words, and if she did, whether she'd comment on it. Turns that out she's the direct type, which isn't all so surprising given her general demeanor.
As much as it won't do any good or change much of anything to rehash all this, Ardbert is still taken enough with the simple fact that he can converse with someone that he'll indulge her. Especially since she has a link to the Scions he knows.
Following her gesture, he glances down at his axe and nods. ] Aye, suppose you're right. Oftentimes I've thought it would have been best if I'd remained just that — an adventurer and nothing more.
[ It had started out so simple, so innocent, yet before he knew it, he'd become something larger than himself. Ardbert meets Moenbryda's gaze again and lets out a full-body sigh. ]
I'll say this. Being a 'hero of the realm' is a tad overrated.
[ That earns him a bright peal of laughter and a wry smile, Moenbryda tipping her head to one side so her hair spills against one shoulder. ]
Oh, I'm well aware. I've never been much of one for heroics, myself.
[ She toys with the mug in her hands, studying his expression. ]
But from what I gather, it's not always in your hands, is it? Perhaps you could have walked away someone who needed your aid, or turned a blind eye to some injustice, but what sort of person would that have made you? Not one that would have liked his own company much, I imagine. [ She raises a hand, beckoning to the bartender for a refill of her drink. ]
You may choose what you do, but not what others call you.
[ Not one for heroics? The look that Ardbert fixes Moenbryda with when she says as much is nothing less than skeptical. One doesn't get close with the Scions without having at least a few heroic tendencies, he would guess.
As she continues on, however, his expression smooths into something more thoughtful. He takes a slow sip of his drink. She makes a good point, and this is a conversation which Ardbert's had with himself more times than he would care to count. For all that he might be full of regret, is there anything he could go back and do differently?
Not bury his axe into Mitron's chest, mayhap. ]
You're not wrong. Before we knew it, the whole star was calling us heroes. Warriors of Light. Aye, just like the one I'm sure you had the pleasure of meeting.
[ Unless she'd lost her life before the Scions and the Warrior of Light had come together. ]
[ The corner of Moenbryda's mouth lifts again, her head cocking slightly. ]
Just the one that I've met. [ She affirms. ] From what I'm given to understand, it's not the most common of titles, so unless where you come from is that different, you must have done something to earn it.
[ While she hadn't zeroed in on that little detail about being from another star the first time, she does now, giving him an appraising look as drums her fingers on the tabletop. ]
Though unless things have very much changed from what I remember, we're a very long way from managing trips between stars, brief or otherwise. How is it that you came to meet the Scions, exactly?
[ Though with heroes, really, anything might be possible. ]
[ There's little chance of Moenbryda getting Ardbert to brag about any of his accomplishments from back when he'd carried that title, and he offers her little more than a shrug in response. She'll have to draw her own conclusions. Ardbert wouldn't even say that he could be lumped in with the Warrior she knows, who's on a whole other level compared to him. He's aware that he'd earn protest from the hero themselves, were he ever to voice that sentiment.
Not that it matters much now. He's already gone, on this train to make his way to a place from whence he'll likely never return. For good, this time.
Which brings him to Moenbryda's question. He smiles wryly, ducking his head for a moment before taking another long draw from his drink. Then, he stares at the glass rather than her, his fingers tracing over the condensation. ]
It's more common than you would expect, these days. Inter-dimensional travel, that is. I did it the hard way, by making a bad deal with an Ascian.
[ It's not a time or set of circumstances he's ever eager to recall, but he also isn't going to lie to her. All he can do these days is own up to his mistakes. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
No one's 'just' anything. [ Silver eyes sweep Ardbert up and down, assessingly. ]
If you'd rather not go into the details, or the memory's unpleasant, that's your business. But I took you for another adventurer. You certainly dress the part.
[ She waves a hand at his axe. ]
no subject
As much as it won't do any good or change much of anything to rehash all this, Ardbert is still taken enough with the simple fact that he can converse with someone that he'll indulge her. Especially since she has a link to the Scions he knows.
Following her gesture, he glances down at his axe and nods. ] Aye, suppose you're right. Oftentimes I've thought it would have been best if I'd remained just that — an adventurer and nothing more.
[ It had started out so simple, so innocent, yet before he knew it, he'd become something larger than himself. Ardbert meets Moenbryda's gaze again and lets out a full-body sigh. ]
I'll say this. Being a 'hero of the realm' is a tad overrated.
no subject
Oh, I'm well aware. I've never been much of one for heroics, myself.
[ She toys with the mug in her hands, studying his expression. ]
But from what I gather, it's not always in your hands, is it? Perhaps you could have walked away someone who needed your aid, or turned a blind eye to some injustice, but what sort of person would that have made you? Not one that would have liked his own company much, I imagine. [ She raises a hand, beckoning to the bartender for a refill of her drink. ]
You may choose what you do, but not what others call you.
no subject
As she continues on, however, his expression smooths into something more thoughtful. He takes a slow sip of his drink. She makes a good point, and this is a conversation which Ardbert's had with himself more times than he would care to count. For all that he might be full of regret, is there anything he could go back and do differently?
Not bury his axe into Mitron's chest, mayhap. ]
You're not wrong. Before we knew it, the whole star was calling us heroes. Warriors of Light. Aye, just like the one I'm sure you had the pleasure of meeting.
[ Unless she'd lost her life before the Scions and the Warrior of Light had come together. ]
no subject
Just the one that I've met. [ She affirms. ] From what I'm given to understand, it's not the most common of titles, so unless where you come from is that different, you must have done something to earn it.
[ While she hadn't zeroed in on that little detail about being from another star the first time, she does now, giving him an appraising look as drums her fingers on the tabletop. ]
Though unless things have very much changed from what I remember, we're a very long way from managing trips between stars, brief or otherwise. How is it that you came to meet the Scions, exactly?
[ Though with heroes, really, anything might be possible. ]
no subject
Not that it matters much now. He's already gone, on this train to make his way to a place from whence he'll likely never return. For good, this time.
Which brings him to Moenbryda's question. He smiles wryly, ducking his head for a moment before taking another long draw from his drink. Then, he stares at the glass rather than her, his fingers tracing over the condensation. ]
It's more common than you would expect, these days. Inter-dimensional travel, that is. I did it the hard way, by making a bad deal with an Ascian.
[ It's not a time or set of circumstances he's ever eager to recall, but he also isn't going to lie to her. All he can do these days is own up to his mistakes. ]