allthenotes | Day 20

Something feels bad to me as well. I'm not sure what it is yet.

Aye. There's a darkness in this place. Seems like there's always been one.

I'm curious to learn more, but I don't want to do the wrong thing and make it worse. I don't mess around with darkness.

Talking to the wrong person, then. Shinobi need the darkness. We get by sticking to shadows and stealth. Dark and light--takes equal amounts. But aye, there's some darknesses even we refuse to touch.

It's just...in my world, the Dark can be very dangerous. Beings often try to harness it with good intentions, but it twists and consumes them. I tasted it once...and didn't like what it did to me.

I suppose may not be the same for you, though...your world may be very different from mine.

Balance is what's important. Dark and Light both have their disadvantages. Should've met the Archbishop I had to kill. Tried to purge an entire race because of a blood feud that his own people started and then covered up a thousand or more years ago.

[That reminds Luke of the whole 'balance to the Force' thing...he still couldn't say for sure if his father had accomplished it or not. In his mind, the battle would never truly end. The darkness would always be there, as would the light.]

I've heard that said, yes. I'm not sure if I can agree, though.

That sounds terrible.

I've fought in my time, but only when it was necessary. I killed only when I had to...and sometimes I still wish it could have been ended with fewer lives lost.

An army? That seems disturbing.

Are you all right?

While it's the worst vision I've had, it doesn't compare to the beatings I've taken from a fair few Primals and Garleans. I'll be fine.

That doesn't sound pleasant in the least.

But while I'm glad you're all right, please take care of yourself.

Wait at the main gate.

Aye, I can do that. I'll wait for you there.

[ And so Fraethota shall. Stabbers at her sides, just in case. Can't be too careful. ]

There was no-one within sight of the gate at first. But after a minute or two of Fraethota's arrival, three figures stepped out from behind the ruins in the distance and began to stride in her direction. The two on the flanks appeared to be mere guards or lookouts; the centre figure had their gaze fixed on the main gate. On her.

They stopped in the middle of a relatively open area and beckoned her forward. It was an exposed spot but it meant that they could see anyone trying to eavesdrop.

Assuming the eavesdropper was human or had a tangible body, that is.

She looks around, making sure that it's only them, that she can't see anything else, and then approach. Given that he seems to be waiting, she'll approach.

"You the one what asked after me?"

Edited 2017-07-09 22:34 (UTC)

(ooc: I don't remember if it's day or night since you didn't date the entry so that might affect how well Thorn can be spotted in the air.)

She might spot a wheeling silhouette above. A bird, perhaps - except no bird had a long, thin tail or four legs. The silhouette lazily circled the small group, keeping a watchful eye on proceedings.

"Yes. You said you saw a vision?" Murtagh folded his arms across his chest, staring at the woman with very little expression.

"Aye."

She does take note of the dragon--she's seen enough dragonets by now--and is cautious. She'll keep her eyes on it the entire time.

"I 'ave 'em. Almost never when I want 'em. An' f it's of the future instead of the past, it's somethin' I'm meant t' try an' avoid."

Murtagh isn't inclined to let prophecies and such decide his fate but he would be a fool to brush off a sincere warning. He inclines his head. "What did you see?"

"'Twas bloody an' awful. The castle, the town--all in ruin. Five babes gathered in a circle, sleepin'. Blood on th' wall. An army, scattered an' torn to shreds. Could barely recognize a few of 'em as anythin'. A dragon with its 'eart ripped from its chest, an' a broken blue sword. Nothin' but death an' despair an' destruction. Points of light, like stars in the sky in a circle. Then, from all that, a new beginnin'."

She shakes her head. She needs to relay the information, but it was still horrifying. She's still a bit pale and shaken from the vision earlier, as hard as that is to tell with how dark her skin is.

"...I don't get visions like that unless it's a warnin' of what will come if we're not careful. Dunno what the 'ells is gonna cause this one, though."

Murtagh fingered the sword at his side. There were too many familiar details to dismiss the warning out of hand, but at the same time, what if it was a false portent sent to dissuade him from trying? He knew this tall woman as one who had helped himself and Alayne fend off Leitner's men, yet that didn't mean well-intentioned people could not be deceived.

"What did the sword look like?" he asked quietly. "The children? The dragon?"

Syhr closes her eyes, drawing on the memories of her vision for the details.

"The blade was curved an' blue as the sea. The 'ilt was white an' ornate, think it was ivory. Good sword, were it not in pieces. Steel was folded over an' over, and the edge would've been mighty sharp. I've seen the dragon before--'elped 'em escape. Died that day, but it wasn't so bad. Just 'ope they're doin' better. The children... Five of 'em. Two of 'em have fair hair, but the rest are all dark-haired. All dressed in white, laid out on a bed o' red silk. ...Afraid anythin' other than that I can't 'elp with."

She shakes her head. Infants look too alike for her to be able to grab discerning features. But the sword--she knows weapons. She's a pirate.

"Sorry if it's not enough. If y' need me to prove my ability--'s called the Echo--then I'd need to 'ave it catch somethin'."

Without a word, Murtagh drew his sword from its scabbard and presented it horizontally, hand gripping the very ivory hilt she had seen in her vision. His voice is tight.

"This sword, yes?"

It was a perfect match. Its former owner had died violently and Murtagh had in fact spoken to its former owner. Well, its former owner's head.

She nods.

"Aye, that's the very sword. I'd recognize it anywhere."

...Which means she's got a pretty good idea what the vision is getting at. He's be dead. Which she doesn't like at all, Murtagh seems like a decent person.

Wordlessly, Murtagh sheathed the blade with a quiet rasp of steel and a snick. So, he would be dead if he continued this path - or so they would have him believe. Suspicion at the far-too-convenient timing of her vision made him loathe to accept it immediately.

Alayne wasn't the only one who wished to see the young boy happy.

"...I don't doubt you saw what you did," he began slowly. "However, I can't accept that it's an inevitable result. Especially not the timing with which it comes. How can I know that your visions haven't been touched by Sorrow?"

"It'd be the first to force the Echo an' t' pass through the Blessin' of Light unharmed. The Echo's either convenient as all hells, or not at all. 'S a gift I never asked for. But I have never--never--received a look at th' future that weren't a warnin' of what wast to come if someone weren't careful. One time I 'ad a vision where we didn't use a magitek field generator an' ended up eaten by a giant flyin' whale."

...She's not sure what she could do to prove it to him. She'll shrug, though, remaining casual easily. Maybe she could turn him to Thancred, maybe not. But the Echo isn't something you can force.

"Y' can believe it or not, but I 'ave to ask ye: are ye willin' to wager not just your life, but the life of everyone in the vision, of everyone 'ere, that ye won't be chargin' 'ead-first into the bloody end of everythin'?"

A lot of the terminology passed right over him. Murtagh shook his head, not dismissing her assertion, but rather, dismissing his own attempts to make sense of it all.

"I don't believe in charging recklessly into anything," he said flatly. "That's a warning better delivered to Alayne - which I will convey to her." A short pause. "The presence of those children worry me. Perhaps that will be enough..."

I have a feeling I know what caused that. I'd like to know what's probably going to come if people aren't smart enough to leave well enough alone. I'll wait in town, near the burned out houses.

[With the garden being strange, town is a little safer out of the available options. The ruins might be safer still, but Sync doesn't want to go out there if he doesn't have to]

Aye, I'll see you there.

[ Syhr is swift in moving to meet him, daggers at her sides (though really, some might just consider them swords if not for how huge they are compared to most others not her). She'll wait for him, but she's also keeping an eye out. Hopefully this isn't a trap--who knows who's watching the journals. ]

[He's not too hard to find, with the way he stands out from the burned out buildings. Sync is quick to head there, knowing exactly who he's going to find, calling out when he spots her]

Hey.

Hope I didn't keep y' waiting.

[ She'll be glad to share the information, at least. Maybe get it off her mind some. ]

Not too long, and I'd wait longer to find out what's possibly going to happen if a certain idiot decides to try and do something really stupid.

[He doesn't even bother trying to hide the disdain he feels for this fact]

Straight t' business, then? All right.

[ She'll cross her arms over her chest, looking down at the ground as she thinks over the vision again. That horrific sight. ]

...Five babes, gathered in a circle. All asleep, an' there's what's likely blood on the wall. An army what never stood 'alf a chance from 'ow it's lyin' there, an' a broken blue sword--not that I know why that's significant. A dragon, 'eart torn out of its chest--you know 'ow 'ard it is to do that to a dragon? Just... Death, ash, despair. Ruins. This entire place--ruin. A circle of lights, almost like stars in the sky but not. An end, but also a beginnin'? 'Ard to tell with this place. ...Didn't like it one bit, though.

[Sync listens, not flinching from the description or the mental images they give. He's dealt with things as nasty, and he's not going to let this affect him. The dragon makes him frown, and the sword makes him frown more. Wasn't Murtagh's sword blue? But it's explanation enough. Everything would be destroyed, even the army outside the walls]

Figures...nothing would be safe from the Sorrow's rage...

[He rests a hand on his hip, the other clenching a little. Only the children had survived, but why? He doesn't know]

It's the result of a threat made by it, I'm assuming...it wants a certain person kept in the town, or else it will destroy everything. One idiotic fool wants to try and take that person out by trying to side-step the specific wording on its threat. Tch...

...Don't think I know what this Sorrow thing is specifically, but it sounds as bad as some o' the nasties I've faced. Things like tha' rarely, if ever, don't allow for loopholes. Follow the spirit of it, not th' word.

[ Specific wording doesn't matter to things that are dangerous and want to destroy you. ]

I 'ope they're not daft enough to go throug wit' it once they know this. T'ain't an "if" should they take this person, it's a "when."

Sorrow, or the Vernacht, is a powerful creature that's sealed under the castle. It's from the castle's world, but it's about as powerful as anything else in this world, from what I've heard. The Lord of the castle thinks he can use its power, so he weakens the seal on it, letting it corrupt people and creatures. But I suspect it's more using him than he's using it.

[It's a very short version of what the Sorrow is, but it explains enough]

And I hope they aren't, too...they're endangering people they have no right to.

[Sync glances down, feeling strange at that thought. Almost afraid. Why would he be afraid? But he can't afford to listen to that feeling anyway]

...We'll just 'ave to wait an' see.

Are you still in the town?

Aye. Want to hear, then?

If there's danger ahead, I want to be prepared for it.

I stick out--a giant of a woman. When I'm not trying to hide, that is.

I will come find you. It was the last thing that appeared in the moderately eloquent hand before Walter set out. He'd finished up work. But... to bring Rowan, or not to bring Rowan?

In the end, he decided to bring the small boy, the head of copper-coloured hair a stark contrast to the earth-toned, simple garb the dark-haired older boy wore. Five feet and nine inches in height, or fulms and ilms respectively, the youth was not entirely short himself. Yet he had spied such a large woman before, back when the dragon had escaped Sorrow's puppets, so he had a hunch as to whom he should be looking for. And it was her that he searched for amidst the townsfolk.

Once he spotted her, he wasted no time in approaching, though he did not come right up to her as some might; for him, the right to close proximity came from intimacy or necessity.

"...Are you the one that sent out the notice?" Though his face was still soft, his voice was deep; a young man in the transformative stage of adolescence. Yet he did not look at her as such a boy might, keen eyes regarding her watchfully.

He had never spoken to her before.

"Aye."

She'll keep her arms crossed over her chest, leaning against something solid. She's tired--she's not going to be sleeping well just yet. She will eye the kid, then look up at Walter.

"...Y'sure ye want the babe t' 'ear?"

"If you're uncomfortable sharing details, I can cover his ears." Walter turned his head to face the little boy, nose to nose. "Some adults get all nervous about saying scary things in front of kids, you see. They might give you nightmares."

Day 20

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action

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Fixed the dating thing--

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Switching to prose!

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