worth so much more (after I'm a goner) | D&D, Tristan Farmiir

[thecrazyalaskan]

Title: worth so much more (after I'm a goner)
Author: TheCrazyAlaskan
Fandom / Setting: Dungeons & Dragons (5e)
Characters / Pairings: Tristan Farmiir, Akira Open
Word Count: 682
Warnings / Notes: Written for Round XIII of Hurt / Comfort Bingo: Haunted
Summary: Akira asks Tristan why he's not leading an army or serving as an advisor.

Understand—this is a D&D story, but this character is 100% a Sentinel Prime reskin and I am still unapologetically Sentinel Prime's biggest fucking fan. I love that traumatized fucker so much. My DM even commented This is a really good backstory when I pitched "Tristan." Thanks, Courtney, I retooled it from my favorite TFA character. :P

I'm leaning into the Tristan and Isolde parallels with my whole chest and both titties because I will die on this ship's hill.

From the first night following their falling in together, Tristan and Akira had refrained from making much in the way of small talk. They functioned perfectly well as travel companions, and neither were inclined to it…

Tristan watched as Akira moved through a series of martial arts moves, seemingly shadow boxing with himself. After a moment, he broke the carefully curated silence. "Can I ask a question and not offend you?"

Akira looked up, pausing only briefly before continuing his forms. "Shoot."

Tristan poked at the campfire, sending a small spray of embers skyward as a log shifted. "What made you decide to become a brother of Bes?"

Akira grinned at him. "It was that or prison."

Tristan nodded in understanding. He had to give him credit for his honesty, at least. "Got it."

Seemingly content with his practice, Akira sat on a low stone next to him and began undoing the long cloth wraps bracing his hands. "Turnabout being fair play and all…?"

"I don't follow." Tristan shook his head, waiting for clarification.

"You're a talented fighter and a consummate diplomat," Akira went on. One wrap was undone, and he started on the other. "Why are you not leading an army or serving as an advisor to some lord somewhere?"

Ahh. Tristan averted his gaze as he spoke. "I made a promise."

"Yeah, so who's your god or whatever?" Akira prompted.

He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, regretting initiating conversation. "She's not a god…"

Akira's eyes were the color of terra cotta, and now they were fixed on Tristan with undisguised interest. "There's a girl?"

"There… was a girl," Tristan admitted. "We were enlisted together."

"What was her name?" His wraps fully undone, Akira drew his legs up to sit comfortably and curled his tail into his lap, chin on his fist as he listened.

Tristan swallowed hard, bracing himself. "Isolde." There was reverence in his voice when he breathed the name, making it a little easier to continue speaking. "We, uhh… we were fucking around the way cadets do—Isolde and I, and a friend of ours…"

His eyes closed, and as much as he tried not to, the scenes started to play out in front of him. "We went off the patrol path and found an abandoned cult stronghold. We… I thought we could go in, explore, bring back artifacts and treasure.

Akira shifted his position on his seat. "I get the sense you didn't find artifacts and treasure."

Tristan chuckled without humor. If only it had been so easy… "Oh no, we did. We also found out that the stronghold was not abandoned. They attacked, and Isolde told us to… To go on, she would fight them off—"

When he afforded Akira a sidelong glance, he could see that the tiefling's teasing demeanor had faded into sobriety. "She didn't fight them off."

His throat tightened with unwept tears. "They never even recovered her body. She…" His fingers curled into a loose fist. "She was lost—completely."

Akira nodded slowly. "May her memory be a blessing."

He lifted a hand to gesture vaguely—neither accepting nor dismissing the condolences. "She sacrificed everything to protect us—to protect me. Gods know she didn't have to—she was going to command armies and I was…" A second dry chuckle, this one tinged with pain. "A complete screw up who would have washed out of the academy long before that day."

Akira turned the words over in his mind before speaking "You'll indulge me some brutal honesty?"

Tristan gestured vaguely once more, this time in wordless permission. "I've seen the way you honor rules and law," Akira pointed out. "I can't picture you as a 'screw up.'"

"Why do you think I'm like this now?" Tristan gestured to himself. "I… I can't live with the guilt, knowing she died to save my sorry ass." His gaze turned to the stars—if only to have somewhere to look that wasn't the sympathetic look on his monk companion's face. "My oath is to Isolde—that one day, I can achieve the glory that she was meant for."

Comments

[peaceinthedarkness]

When I saw "Tristan", I had to read since my son has that moniker—also from the Tristan and Isolde legend. I'm also a D&D/AD&D player for some 40+ years :) We've been playing Edition 5 as well.
Are these your characters? I assumed so based upon your notes.

I enjoyed the story and the way you revealed bits and pieces naturally as they conversed.

[thecrazyalaskan]

In the course of writing and playing, I've grown really fond of the name. One of the guys in my group has been playing D&D since the very beginning-- it's really neat having the knowledge from players like you and him!
Both of them are my characters. Akira is my first monk and I love him, and Tristan is my favorite of my paladins.

Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[peaceinthedarkness]

LOL. My Tristan would never play a paladin. He always chooses the chaotic good/chaotic neutral swords flying at the first sign of an encounter kinda guy. In fact, Guy is his most recent character.
Such an enjoyable game.
I just might give thought into immortalizing some of our adventures into the fanfic genre. Thanks for the inspiration :)