Homeless, Mun's been looking at this Facility....

[oldstrangersvoice]

Listen, kid. Now I don't mind being here entirely. Nice fine mind you've got, you'll make your city's mancers... or whatever you've been calling them...proud. I'm touched I remind you of another old man you used to know, too.

But that don't mean I'm eager to be shipping off to that place you're so fond of. Give it a think through before you make any...rash decisions. You got two fine gentlemen and that young lady of yours already living in that place, ain't really room for a spare.

Not like I'd fit in, anyhow. That's a place for fighting men. My fighting days are long over.

Comments

Flipout x5 combo???

[lostwanderer]

*Things may be different for Wander, but some parts of his culture still ring true for him. Respect for old warriors is one of them.*

...even so...we are honored to be in your presence.

[oldstrangersvoice]

Don't waste your honor on an old man like me. [He chuckles]

People always act like your life ends when you're done your fighting days.

[he thinks on that for a spell]

Well. Mine didn't, anyway.

[lostwanderer]

I didn't mean to insinuate that it did.

...where I am from the old have an honorable place. They train the newer generations, and their wisdom is always sought in every major decision.

I wouldn't have been nearly as good with a bow if it hadn't been for my mentor.

[oldstrangersvoice]

Don't sound all that different from where I'm from. Though I'm not sure I ever have heard of any older breakers.

As for wisdom, though...suppose you're right. The old and the wise always did have a place in Caelondia.

Where are you from, son?

Thank you for being so vague, SotC. XD; Y U MAKE ME MAKE SHIT UP

[lostwanderer]

We call it Kampe Akendo. It's mostly grassland, but my village is bordered by a forest and a river. *...give him a minute. There's a lot of memories here. Not all of them pleasant.*

Making things up is a mark of a proper story

[oldstrangersvoice]

[he pauses, letting him think it through, and when it's obvious there's a break in the conversation he clears his throat]

Sounds like a pretty place. I'm a city man myself, born and bred, but I knew many as prefer the wilds.

Unless of course, you aren't remembering it too fondly.

Or Ueda's storytelling.

[lostwanderer]

...our shaman sacrificed the woman I love. For some... "omen" that she had a cursed fate.

[archditz]

What sort of place is it, if I may ask?

[oldstrangersvoice]

Not the kind as warrants a lot of telling, Im afraid.

A place floating out in all the nothing you ever did see, a city in the stars. Every week the poor folks trapped there get put through all manner of unkindness.

When they break loose, though... Well, that'll be a proper story.

[archditz]

[The tall man in the expensive suit is silent for a moment. His gaze is locked on this old soldier. And wordsmith, apparently.]

I see. You are correct; that is not the place for someone who has done his duties. [He blinks, which is only noticeable because this is the first time he's done this since the conversation began.]

Or anyone, now that I think of it.

[oldstrangersvoice]

No. It ain't.

But there's folks there anyhow. And if there's anything an old man like me can do for them, I suppose I will, won't I?

Here I go, doing all the talking. Old habits, huh. What about you, stranger?

[archditz]

[The last question catches him by surprise.]

I don't know. What about me? [There are many things About him. Plus, he's never made it a habit of talking about himself.]

[oldstrangersvoice]

[Rucks just laughs] Oh, don't take no offense now. Just a habit of mine, back where I'm from there ain't much to do but kick back and swap stories. Where you're from, what you do... Don't have to be nothing personal if you ain't one for sharing.

[masonry]

Seems like makin' rash decisions is all they do.

[ He's obviously not upset. ]

[oldstrangersvoice]

[He chuckles] Seems like there's some as might know more about that than others.

What about you, kid? Been keeping well?

[masonry]

Mm.

[ Kid makes a slight face at the question. He’d rather not talk about what's going on where he's currently stationed. At the very least, he hasn’t died there yet. That was always a plus. ]

Well enough. You? 'Sides from maybe goin' somewhere, I mean.

[oldstrangersvoice]

That kinda place, huh. [He bends back, free hand on his lower back. He sighs, looking for somewhere to sit]

let me find a place to rest my bones, we'll chat for a spell. [He sits, letting out a contented sigh]

Huh. Look at me, going to ask whether the forge is hot. We're a long way from home, kid.

[masonry]

[ Quietly: ] I miss it.

[ And in more ways than one. A lot may have happened, back home, but it still had the comfort of being familiar. Now he was stranded in a place he could have never even imagined existed, and definitely not in a good way. ]

[oldstrangersvoice]

So do I, kid. I miss the city more, of course, but... The Bastion was your proper home. You fought for it. You deserved it, more than any of us.

From the looks of things, I won't be stuck in this between place all too long, either. This boy's far too far of his "facility."

fancy word for just another rock in the sky.

good gracious some epic iconfail

[the_survivor]

[Range of emotions? Sure. Zulf's got a lot of feelins 'bout this old man, few of 'em good. But mostly he's so tired that he ain't gonna say what's in his heart there. Best to let it rest.]

... what sort of "facility" is this place your... ['mun' seems such an inelegant phrase] keeper is considering.

Re: good gracious some epic iconfail

[oldstrangersvoice]

[Rucks doesn't show any emotion, or...at least he tries not to. Try as he might, he's never been a man to hide his feelings well, and Zulf can see the tightening of his jaw, the hardening of his gaze, ever so slightly. His fighting days are surely over... but that doesn't mean the fighting man's died. In his voice, though, the only things audible are traces of regret, maybe a little wariness]

The sort of Facility where they call it that because "torture room" wouldn't be dancing round the subject enough for 'em.

[He snorts at the word "keeper"] Ahhhh, he's not so bad at heart, though. He's thinking up ways I might be able to help out round there. Might be able to set things a little straighter.

[the_survivor]

[Zulf sees that; trust him, the feeling's mutual.]

To set things a little straighter.

[The same way you meant to with the Bastion, old man? The same way you did with my people?

But not the time or place.]

I suppose I should count myself lucky. Mine's not thinking of that place. She's of the opinion that I don't need more hurt in my life, though that leaves me to wonder why she's considering taking me anywhere at all.

[oldstrangersvoice]

Ain't no gods or man who can shield folks from all the hurt waiting out there for them, Zulf. You know that much as I.

Way I figure it, I maybe did put my days of fighting behind me, but this place... it's a new slate. For me, at least. Come in and everybody's hurting...not much you can do but good.

Might give me a chance to... to make good. With my conscience. With myself. Mother help me, I might give the old gods another try, depending on how things go.

[His tone is...as apologetic as Zulf is likely ever to hear. Regret, laced with sorrow. He understands what he'd been a part of, but a man as stubborn as this? Zulf's not likely to ever hear a straight "I'm sorry."

He'd come up with a hundred fighting words and a thousand arguments before those words could even hope to pass through his lips. Some men are just built like that, it's a trait they shared.]

[the_survivor]

I suppose you're right, there. There's no shield strong enough, no shore far enough to flee to.

[Gods knows he tried.]

That... is a good way to think of it. A new start. A new place. And if you should call to the old gods, I think they'll be there to listen. They're stern, you know, but they accept all who ask their aid, regardless of creed or nation. Or what hurt they've done.

Gods know they've done some hurt themselves, truth told.

[And on that end, for one as scarred as this? It's as close to an "I understand, and accept" as one will ever hear.]

I do think it's a wise thing, to think of it as a new start. Regardless of circumstance. I'll take what I can get, and count my blessings. As the gods show... there are pleasures to be found bound beneath pain, and hopes to be found even in despair.

[It's hard to remember those lessons, sometimes.]

[oldstrangersvoice]

Yeah... Count those blessings. Sometimes there's more there than you think. [Reminds him of telling the kid to go and hit that switch.. He hadn't realized how much they'd had going out until Zia'd brought the possibility up of just...leaving.]

I know exactly what the gods are.

[there's the old Rucks surfacing again. You can just hear it in his tone. He's weary of those lazy old gods...and it'd take dire straights for him to turn back to 'em.]