It’s set after the story I posted last quiz, but it can also be read on it’s own. Enjoy! 
Late Night Discussions
It was very late, darkness had fallen over Amn several hours before and the small camp set up by the adventuring party of Emma Silverblade was silent apart from the crackling of the dying campfire and the occasional grunt from Minsc. The occupants had fallen asleep long before, all except two. Kivan was supposed to be on guard duty, though he wasn’t keeping watch so much as staring into the glowing embers of the fire, and Emma, who was lying a short distance away, still wide awake. Try as she might, she hadn’t been able to sleep and so she lay there occasionally scratching her wolf companion behind the ears and studying Kivan.
His face looked pale in the dim light and he seemed troubled, he held his bow in his hands and was running his fingers up and down the string, something he often did when he was deep in thought. It had only been a few days since he had turned up in the Copper Coronet, after leaving her and the others in Baldur’s Gate after Sarevok’s defeat and she could still hardly believe he was back. Since the night he had returned, the party had been travelling to the Windspear Hills and the two of them hadn’t had many opportunities to talk without at least one of the others being around. But it appeared that now would be a good opportunity.
Quietly she approached him, but he was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice even when she sat down beside him. Sol-leks followed her over and lay down at her feet.
“Are you all right?” She asked, keeping her voice low so as not to wake the others. Kivan’s bow slipped from his fingers and he turned his head to her, briefly startled.
“I didn’t hear you,” he looked apologetic. “I was lost in my thoughts for a moment there. Sorry.”
“Daydreaming on guard duty, what are things coming to?” Emma teased, then her expression turned serious. “It’s fine,” she told him. “I was awake anyway and Sol-leks always sleeps with one ear open. What were you thinking about anyway?”
“What happened to you when you were caught by Irenicus,” Kivan admitted, somewhat reluctantly. “Hearing about it…it’s brought back some rather unpleasant memories. Foolish really, you and others were the ones who suffered and I wasn’t even there and yet…”
“It isn’t foolish to feel like that,” she interrupted. “But this is why I’m so glad that you did leave us when you did. If you feel bad now, Kivan, imagine how much worse it would have been if you had actually been there yourself.”
“I suppose you are right,” he agreed. “I just keep thinking about it, Khalid and Dynaheir dead, you and Imoen being tortured and me…me not being there, not realising that you needed me. And then I remember what Tazok did to Deheriana, how he forced me to watch and I couldn’t do anything to help her either.” He reached out and touched her face, gently tracing his finger across the recently healed knife cut on the side of her head. “He hurt you, just like that filthy ogre hurt her.”
“Don’t upset yourself,” At the sound of her voice, he quickly pulled his hand away. “It’s in the past now, all of it. Me, I can’t afford to get upset about everything. I have to keep focused on my goal, to rescue Imoen. I really hope she’s all right.”
“She’ll be fine,” Kivan said at once. “Imoen, she’s tough, she’ll get through. You both will.”
“I really hope you’re right.” Both of them fell silent for a moment, not looking at each other. Emma was the first to speak again.
“I’m really glad that you came back, you know,” she admitted, a little hesitantly. “Before you came, I thought about you a lot, how much I could use your help and your support. When we first met, I had no idea that we’d end up going through so much together.”
“You were trying to get to the Friendly Arm Inn to meet with Khalid and Jaheira,” Kivan nodded, remembering that day as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. “Only you went off track and ended up by High Hedge…”
“It was a good thing we did, otherwise we would probably never have met you. Sometimes I wonder whether Imoen and I would have even made it to the inn if you hadn’t been there. Especially with the bounty hunter attack and all. That was scary, finding out that someone wanted me dead and not knowing why.”
“I can imagine.”
“You were pretty frightening too at first,” the half-elf continued after a moment. “When you first started travelling with us, I wondered if I was doing the right thing. You were a strange man, Imoen and I were only young and not used to the ways of the world, you could have been a mass murderer for all we knew. But after you comforted me after that bounty hunter attack and told me about Deheriana, that was when I realised that maybe I could trust you. Now I’m glad I gave you a chance.”
“So am I,” Kivan smiled at her, though there was a hidden sadness behind his eyes. “You were good for me too. Do you remember…that night you were upset about Gorion and I told you about what happened with Tazok and Deheriana? That was the first time I’d ever been able to talk to anyone about it and it really helped. You showed me that it is possible to move on after losing someone you love.”
“Does that mean you’ll be taking back what you said that night about never falling in love again?” She teased. The elf fell silent, considering the question carefully.
“Perhaps,” he said finally. “If the right woman was to come along, I might be…persuaded to give my heart to her. It probably wouldn’t be easy at first though, I think I’d be…terrified of losing them like I lost Deheriana.”
“There are plenty of women out there who would be only too willing to accept that as part of you. You were always popular with the females in my party.”
“Was I?” Kivan seemed genuinely surprised to hear that. “I can’t say I ever took much notice…”
“Imoen always liked you,” Emma smiled, a little sadly. Thinking about Imoen, knowing that she was so far away; was still hard. “She had a bit of a crush on you, I think.” Though she always said that you and I would make a good couple, she silently added. If things had happened differently, perhaps we would. It was times like this that she really wished Imoen was around to talk to, to help her get her feelings in order. “Then there was Branwen, do you remember her?”
“How could I ever forget her?” Kivan said at once. “She would never leave me alone. She was always trying to get me to talk to her and she used to walk behind me, really closely, practically breathing down my neck. And she would not take no for an answer, it got so annoying in the end.”
“She was very annoying,” the half-elf agreed. “Never stopped complaining about everything, I think she got on my nerves even more than Jaheira did. That’s why I told her to go in the end, I needed companions I liked and trusted and I didn’t like or trust her.”
“Is that why you told Coran to go too?” Kivan asked. “I knew that he was trouble right from the start. Slimy, womanising bastard!”
“You never liked him much,” Emma smiled again, faintly. “I remember you used to argue with him. And I also remember that you warned me against getting involved with him, said you didn’t want to see me get hurt. I thought you were just being foolish then, but you were right about him all along. He kissed me, you know.”
“Really?” Kivan raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know that. When did it happen?”
“On our way to Ulgoth’s Beard,” she winced at the memory. “It was horrible, wet and slimy and just…disgusting. I guess I had a lucky escape really. I mean, flirting with my own sister to try and make me jealous, can you believe it? And when I learnt that he had run out on his child…I knew then that he was the most despicable man I had ever met.”
“Unfortunately there are many men like him out there, Emma,” her friend shrugged, keeping his eyes fixed on the dying campfire. “Some of them give decent men a bad name. But the ones you are travelling with now, they don’t seem bad.”
“Anomen and Kelsey,” Emma nodded, glancing over her shoulder at the two sleeping figures. “They aren’t bad, no. Anomen can be rather arrogant and they are both a little childish at times, as you’ve probably noticed, but there are certainly worse men out there.”
“And they are both fighting for your affections. Question is, which one will be the lucky man?”
“Two of my friends have just died,” the half-elf petted Sol-leks and the wolf licked her hand. “My sister has been kidnapped and romance is the last thing on my mind right now. Although it is very flattering to have two men fighting over me. We’ll see how things go.”
He smiled at her, though his eyes were sad. Emma smiled back at him, remembering all of the good times they had shared. He had always made her feel safe, even when they were fighting ogres, undead or giant spiders in Cloakwood Forest. He had helped her rescue Sol-leks from the ruins of the old Ulcaster school too.
Then there were the other memories of course, the ones that she was certain he remembered too but neither of them dared to mention. His arms around her, holding her, supporting her, his breath warm against her cheek, as they had sailed away from Werewolf Island. The morning he had kissed the back of her neck very gently while he had been brushing her hair. And that night…no, they were definitely memories left unspoken of.
“We really did have some good times, didn’t we?” Hesitantly, though encouraged by his arm around her, Emma rested her head against his shoulder. At first he seemed a little tense, though he made no effort to push her away, but as she continued talking, he began to relax. “Even though things were all new to me, strange and scary, not to mention hard, there were still good times. You, me, Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc, Dynaheir…I wish we could all be together again in Baldur’s Gate, travelling the Sword Coast, instead of like we are now. Two dead, one missing…”
“We’ll find Imoen,” Kivan quickly cut her off, as he idly scratched Sol-leks behind the ears. “No matter what it takes or how much it costs, we will get her back somehow. Things can never be like they were before, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t ever be good again.”
“I hope you’re right,” She closed her eyes, feeling truly safe for the first time since escaping from Irenicus. “At least I have someone I can rely on now. Your friendship always saw me through the hard times, you know. Perhaps it will again.”
Her fellow ranger didn’t reply, didn’t look at her, but his hand once again found hers. Sol-leks rested his head on her knee and closed his eyes. And as the night wore on, they stayed like that…just the two rangers and their wolf companion together.
