...who let him even use the network, honestly

[deconsecrate]

[ Travelers, remember when you were recently informed about a terrifyingly organized group of dragons? And how this information was imparted in a manner grave, suitably solemn and noble and stuff?

...this probably won't be anything like that, just as a precaution. ]

Not to interrupt anyone's plans for the evening, but--

[ Hawke does not have any of them fancy image-sharing skills, so you're all just going to have to take his word on this. ]

I probably should let someone know there's herd of dragons on the move here, making a terrible mess of the tournament-grounds between Rivergard & Westgard. Bit bigger than the last ones, although not as many! Thank the Maker for small favors.

Does anyone know what you call a venery of dragons, by the way? I've always wondered*.

*[ no he hasn't ]

Comments

[deconsecrate]

It's not me, if that's what you're wondering.

...at least I don't think it is. [ He's made so many things angry ...things, people, ancient constructs of evil ...shit, it probably is him. ]

[gangstering]

I wasn't before. But now that you've brought it up I sort of am.

[Very defensive for someone who it isn't!]

But I don't thin one person could piss off an entire herd of dragons. Maybe. ...actually I didn't know dragons herded.

[deconsecrate]

[ Hawke is a person who seems on the verge of interrupting into giggles about how unbelievably fucking clever he is at virtually all times, so a] yes, he totally has made many people and things angry, but b] oh well, he supposes it could be worse. He could be out of cake!*

...meanwhile, he drags on an aspect of thoughtfulness at least 70% sincere.

Sure he could, if he really tried! Wave around a big sword, get shouty enough...a person could piss off anybody, that way. [ --right, right. Serious problem. Address it seriously. ] Anyway. It's not unheard of where I'm from, at least until the young ones can defend themselves.

[* there is no actual cake involved ]

[gangstering]

[Well, Kuzuryuu will have to take his word about some of this dragon stuff anyway, since he has zero experience to speak from. No dragon encounters before, despite the fact that dragons are sort of his family's symbol. Of sorts.]

I guess that's true. I know some people annoying enough.

[He means this about his classmates, fondly at least.]

Huh. Well. Where I come from, dragons only exist in storybooks. And movies.

[deconsecrate]

[ Hawke advises staying that way, to be honest. But meanwhile: ]

Er. A what?

[ The 'what' is drawn out, exaggerated, so as to display the extent of Hawke's (...mostly counterfeit) bafflement. But really, what's a movie?

[gangstering]

[Oh. Right. This is where Kuzuryuu realizes not all investigators are from modern times or the same world or seriously where did his life get so confusing and surreal.]

Movies. Umm. Like a play? But recorded so people can watch it whenever. I don't know how to explain it really well. You don't have those where you're from? Are you from a place like this?

[deconsecrate]

What's a place 'like this'? A place with magic? Dragons? Obsessive adherence to color scheme?

[ It's faintly rhetorical; for Hawke Dolorosa just seems ...normal. Except for the mages and how they just walk around like normal people. ...well, normal people awfully excited about the rainbow. ]

[gangstering]

...yes.

[Helpful answer, right? Kuzuryuu will take a moment to realize that what he considers absurd may very well be normal to other people.]

The magic and the dragons mostly. Not something that we have in my world. At all.

[deconsecrate]

I can think of a lot of people from mine who'd like to move there.

[ Dryyyyy as dust. Of course everyone wants to be rid of dragons. The magic thing is. Slightly more complicated. ]

[gangstering]

Yeah well, usually it's pretty okay place, where I'm from. That bastard bear aside.

[Long story that one.] ...actually compared to him I'd rather have the dragons.

[deconsecrate]

That sounds like a story worth hearing.

[ Look, he's waiting for help with these things, he has time to kill. ]

[gangstering]

Not the greatest story. My classmates and I were abducted by some psychopath using an animatronic bear and told if we ever wanted to leave or survive, we had to kill each other.

[You know, normal high school stuff.]

[deconsecrate]

[ ...Right, Hawke can grasp what 'animatronic' must mainly mean from context clues. Which makes the rest of that make approximately no sense, but hey! He's heard weirder. Maybe they can bond. About fucking weirdness. ]

Mm. You're still here.

[ Canny observation, that. ]

[gangstering]

[Weirdness is a great bonding point. Kuzuryuu's at the point where he needs a support group for it or something. "Hi my name is Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko and I swear my life used to make sense."]

I... yeah. I'm still here.

[A frown, and he has to fight from lifting a hand to the eyepatch over one eye.] Because someone sacrificed a lot for my sake. It's... not really something I deserve. But I'm trying to become the sort of person who does.

[deconsecrate]

[ ...that's interesting. And a little more relevant than Hawke would like.

On the other hand, he used to think there was a time when his life made sense too. Now he's more or less accepted that was basically the 8th of Never. ]

Funny how it's always the sacrificee saying that. Not the one doing the sacrificing.

[ You'd think that would be up to them, says his ...psychic tone. Not hostile, just ruefully self-aware. So: weirdness bonding indeed! ]

[gangstering]

That's because the one doing the sacrificing is usual some noble idiot who thinks...

[The vehemence does fade from his voice about now, and he sighs quietly, shaking his head.] In my case, well. It's a long story. But she never gave herself enough credit. And I never managed to find the right words.

[So you know, full of regret and atonement and eyepatches.]

ugh this thread got totally lost FOR WHICH I APOLOGIZE it's really interesting

[deconsecrate]

[ Hawke ...kind of knows that feeling actually. Without the eyepatches. ]

The noble idiot thinks the sacrifice they're making is worth it, in my experience.

[ Is he the noble idiot? Has he just known and loved a few? It's hard to say from this angle; most truthfully the answer is that he can't tell one from the other anymore. ]

You might get your chance here, you know. What'll you say if you do?

[ It's an astonishingly moment of heartfelt not-nonsense! Seize it and beat it to death--or. Um. Use it to talk, if that's what you're into. ]

<3 no worries!

[gangstering]

Yeah. They think that...

[He's sure Peko thought that, but she thought a lot of things that weren't entirely true -- that she was just a tool for his use, that she owed his family that much that she wasn't her own person.

Though hold the phone for just a moment.]

What do you mean I might get my chance here?

ty ty <3

[deconsecrate]

Our hosts don't seem to care much for the rules of possibility, I've noticed.

[ The probability of, say, duplicates ...or dead people ...or two Hijikatas...at least one of these concerns Hawke. ]

[gangstering]

Rules of possibility... That isn't. It's not just an off chance they'll choose someone I know. I have a classmate here. It's just... Peko is dead.

[Dead and gone, as far as he knows. Surely that puts her beyond their reach... doesn't it?]

[deconsecrate]

I don't think you'd be the first to have that particular impression shattered.

[ He sounds neutral enough, but ...he's been paying attention, and that idea alternately thrills and terrifies. What would he say, exactly, if the same thing happened to him? 'Sorry I failed you, but don't worry, Mother made sure to instill plenty of guilt'?

....possibly. Possibly he'd say exactly that. Oh. ]

[gangstering]

...they can bring the dead to this place?

[Is that what he's getting at? Even Kuzuryuu's mental voice almost trembles to put it to words. If Peko were here, alive again, if he could tell her the things he'd been too scared and stupid to say before.

It's an overwhelming thought, one that has his heart seizing to a stop painfully in his chest before it trips over itself to start beating once more.]

Can that really happen?