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+---- Thread: To lead but never follow (/showthread.php?tid=6018)
To lead but never follow - Seren - 07-20-2021
The day had yet to die when the portal shimmered into existence and disgorged a frazzled looking young woman into the serene park that was Mourn. Onto a graveled path she had once walked in what seemed ages past the girl stepped anew, and immediately let the way back fall shut behind her. Night trailed in her wake as she impatiently began to stalk the well tended paths, past stone seats and unlit lanterns, in search of a friend. The gray light of the day, drizzly and chill, could do little to disguise the midnight aura, nor did the haze in the air do anything to soothe her fevered imagination.
[say]"Deimos?"[/say] she called, when the hasty search yielded no immediate results. Tension was rife within her voice, and it was a miracle that it did not break. Maybe he hadn't arrived yet. She had waited as long as she could endure after sending the response to his letter, but... perhaps she had misjudged how long it would take him to get here.
RE: To lead but never follow - Deimos - 07-20-2021
A flurry of paper and parchment, worries and concerns, and then time – flickering by on the outstretch of wings, on the telltale expanse of gilded plumage – where he felt safe and secure for a moment, winding and winding down along pathways he’d never seen before. The hues and colors were startling, especially when all he’d seen for months was white and black and brown; stone and marble countenances of cities shorn into mountains. The expanse wide and beckoning, and he might’ve been able to lose himself somewhere in all the finery, in all the decadence, had a thousand other things not weighed on his mind.
Invasions. Actions taken. Consequences rendered.
He could hear his name on the wind, and eventually he sauntered over pieces and pockets of starlight, recognizing Seren immediately, concealing a sigh yearning to be released. Instead, he drifted until there was nothing but the grass underneath his talons, and then shifted back to human form; stoic and tall but not at all proud. Resolute maybe, in the confines of his features, but for what he couldn’t be certain any longer. [say]“Seren,”[/say] was a rumble, off to her side, near a bench and unlit lanterns, indifferent to the gray hues wandering overhead. [say]"What do you want to know?"[/say]
RE: To lead but never follow - Seren - 07-20-2021
Not knowing to look for birds rather than a man, she started when the eagle came down to land near her, and startled again when it shimmered and shifted, turning into the General's increasingly familiar form. But while he might be stoic and solemn, used to these shifting tides of war, Seren was anything but. The girl ignored questions asked and begging for answer and impulsively dove in to hug the man instead, fiercely uncaring about personal distance until she was reassured that he was indeed there and alive and unharmed.
Physically, at least.
[say]"How about everything,"[/say] she suggested, by the time she stepped back. The ever present smile on her lips was thin and tense, not quite reaching her eyes - she kept scanning Deimos' face. [say]"Tell me what happened? I thought it would be over after the people accepted Ru and Noah."[/say] Naively, she had believed Halo to be at peace, and that the only issue would be the diplomatic tensions with Torchline. Now that notion seemed incredibly foolish to her.
RE: To lead but never follow - Deimos - 07-20-2021
The Sword stood, sighed, and didn’t expect the rush, the hug, encompassing and encircling him. Unleashing a feral snort, he permitted it, but remained rigid and composed, because anything else would mean flickering apart into edges and segments he didn’t want to see right now. When she stepped back, his eyes narrowed uncertainly, looking, glancing out over rises of blooms and flowers; brows furrowing, pinching together in their customary wake. [say]“We thought so too.”[/say] Stupidly, naively, when he should’ve known better. But how did one prepare for an onslaught they didn’t see coming? The Basin had never been invaded; but the Edge had been – and even then, there hadn’t been much in the way of demolition and defenses. Never quite enough time.
His piercing stare eventually rounded back over to her. [say]“As far as I know, the people still there are safe. Aino, Sah – though he informed me he will be heading to Torchline, to let the leaders know what happened.”[/say] To alleviate some worries she might be feeling – if prior senses and conversations still held any meaning.
Another sigh coiled through his chest, because it meant something else didn’t shatter. [say]“There was no time to assemble any preparations. Our presumptions about Morgan’s alliances became very clear.”[/say] So that he wouldn’t have to speak the entire time, because some of the measures hurt, his Air manifestations began to pluck at stray petals, so they formed a picture. The towering palace, with its sculpture of white, pristine, stupefying opulence in a city that must’ve abhorred it; leathery wings and massive beasts suddenly upon it. [say]“Morgan and several Ascended came in on a dragon.”[/say] Unaware of who embodied that particular shift, he couldn’t give any names for that dominion. [say]“Nate, Neron, and I suspect Wessex.”[/say] Strength in power and numbers, over a world that hadn’t yet to fully embody it.
The flowers moved at the twitch of his fingers, at the scourging of his mind. [say]“The dragon attacked the towers. Morgan gave some speech about how she did not want to hurt anyone,”[/say] but it hadn’t mattered. The hypocrisy was rampant. [say]“We tried to get the citizens to safety. Noah and Ru surrendered their titles before anything could become too -,”[/say] and he cut off there, jaw clenching, fingers curling back into his palms. [say]“And then we had to flee, so we were not imprisoned.”[/say] The only depiction he could show was the outline of the Fangs – fire, chakrams, the cutting edge of illusions. A trial and tribulation on its own.
RE: To lead but never follow - Seren - 07-21-2021
He was right to suspect worry on behalf of the young hunter and his companions. The mention of Sah and his journey eased a tension from the girl's demeanor she hadn't been fully aware of until it was gone. And even if it didn't mean he was safe just yet, at least he wasn't in Halo, doing reckless and brave things.
[say]"I'm glad he's alright,"[/say] she mumbled with a sigh - breathing easier, for just a moment.
Then Deimos sighed and Seren refocused her attention on him as he retold the events. The lack of detail in words was made up for in imagery, as petals were stolen and swept about to paint sceneries of chaos and destruction.
[say]"I see,"[/say] Seren sighed, when there seemed to be nothing more to add. Nothing vital, only personal struggles - not something she was keen on digging into just yet. [say]"It seems we were too lenient when we allowed Morgan to leave on her own terms. That will not be happening again."[/say] Scowling at her feet, Seren thought furiously about the situation. [say]"Where are you staying now? How are Noah, and Hotaru? Was anyone injured when you escaped?"[/say]
RE: To lead but never follow - Deimos - 07-21-2021
If the Sword wasn’t walking on a knife’s edge, he may have done more than just simply note Seren’s relief in Sah’s wellbeing (a joke, an arch of a brow, something to offset all the other multitudes), but his heart wasn’t in it. Too busy fighting over the platitudes of a surface of the unknown; cold and fractured, uncertain what feelings even clouded over his brow now. Disappointment? Confusion? None of it really made sense and he could only stand there amongst a field of flowers, utterly lost.
Leniency on the Glacier was something they could both agree on, and he broke his stoicism with a general nod. Their temperance and lack of violence hadn’t been granted or given in return; but he didn’t know where that left things either. Morgan returned to her reign, Neron likely at her side. What about everyone else?
As for where he was staying, none of that had really been puzzled out either. Spur of the moment reflections, rather than anything calculated. Unlike him, but given the circumstances, he hadn’t had much time to parse through any other particulars save for survival. [say]“The Wilds.”[/say] Here, there, and everywhere; sometimes shifted, a predator roosting in the trees, companions down below, some level of sanctity and safety he’d only ever experienced as a refugee. [say]“Noah was hurt, but Zuriel healed him. I have not seen Ru yet, though I suspect she is in the Greatwood.”[/say] Secure too, if she was under Remi’s care.
A pause, and then some thoughts for her. [say]"What does this mean for your task?"[/say]
RE: To lead but never follow - Seren - 07-21-2021
The man was more reticent than usual today, and while it was frustrating Seren was not about to blame him for it. She went over the options in her mind, and admitted that Deimos - and Noah too, perhaps, though to a lesser extent - did not have much to choose from. The Sword was still exiled from Torchline, unable to set foot in Stormbreak, unwelcome in the Grounds... and whether or not the Fae would accept him in the Greatwood was difficult to say.
[say]"You can't stay in the Wilds forever,"[/say] she remarked, a little absent minded as she ruled out other options. [say]"It seems you will need to gather up some allies and reclaim Halo, General."[/say] The fix was that easy, and that hard. But still... they had conquered a nation once. Who was to say they couldn't do it again?
As for her own task? Seren offered Deimos a smile, a little grim and plenty determined. [say]"I don't see that anything about it has changed. I'd need to talk to father about it, of course, but I never intended to ask Morgan's permission to run the expedition anyway. My conversation with Ru about it was a politeness - I'd like to see anyone attempting to stop it now."[/say] Even should anyone know about it, which she doubted, the task had never been dubbed safe and simple. [say]"Though I suppose we'll have to do something to diguise your presence, now. I'd rather not have soldiers snooping about, looking for rebels."[/say] Raising a brow in a teasing manner, it was a half-hearted attempt at best to bring some levity into the conversation.
Gods, but it was a hilarious situation, if you thought about it. Right back where they started, over a season ago.
RE: To lead but never follow - Deimos - 07-21-2021
He would have craved nothing more than to retreat back into himself - alone and tired and exhausted and scraping away at smoke and fumes. But the words kept him tied to the surface, to grounds as foreign as the rest of the world, with no time to retreat into bones, into grief, into ghosts. On sheer provocations, he wanted to challenge her first statement, nearly raising his jaw in some seditious little mannerism (maybe he could live out here forever, until the time came when they were all called to war); but keeping the tenacity behind his teeth, and all the other edges and fringes.
The following one widened his eyes though, and then followed suit on another sullen sigh, a feral snort. [say]“To what end? What prevents it from becoming a cycle?”[/say] Back and forth, forth and back, until they were all perished? Until too many had filled a prison? Until someone’s ideals made sense anymore? [say]“It is the people who suffer the most.”[/say] Constantly churning about in other peoples’ powers, their land assaulted and scoured upon? And who was left that would even bother with them? Some didn’t want anything to do with the upcoming debacles, burying their heads in the sands at the notions of neutrality; because it could only exist for so long. Some were busy building their own borders. And some pretended nothing was going to happen at all.
Her response to his inquiry did make him laugh though – a short hollow thing that didn’t linger very long. Something about it simmered amongst insurrection, and that was a far better alternative in his mind than anything else right now. [say]“Good.”[/say] At least that was one thing still contained. [say]“I can always cloak myself again,”[/say] a shrug, a simpler solution.
RE: To lead but never follow - Seren - 07-21-2021
A frown came over the young demigods face, and Seren looked displeased with Deimos' defeated tone.
[say]"To return Halo to the Old Gods, as was your mission from the start,"[/say] she replied, firm and almost disbelieving that he would have forgotten so soon. [say]"Do you really think that removing Morgan once is enough? If I recall correctly, my Mother charged you with the continued protection of Halo, General. You have not been relieved of that duty just because Morgan is back to wreak havoc."[/say] Of course the people would end up taking the brunt of the pain and suffering, but that was always going to be the case. It did not make her happy to force decisions on others - Seren hated it, in all honesty - but it was a decision that had already been made.
[say]"The people already made their choice when they accepted Noah and Hotaru as rulers. They only spoke up against the potential mistreatment of the Ascended and dangers of a war we all know is coming - not the allying with the Old Gods, against the Voice. If you are not going to take the region back by force, then what will you do? This was your task, Deimos. You are not allowed to just disappear into the Wilds and give it up."[/say] Even if he could. Even if he seemed rather inclined to do so, judging by the stubborn cast of his jaw and the flash of opposition in his eyes. Seren had no doubt that Safrin would have things to say about that as well. Unless the Sword intended to run from his goddess, as well?
Her quest seemed a rather small and petty thing compared to the fate of an entire region, and so Deimos talk of cloaks was met only with a curt nod. Folding her arms across the chest, Safrin's daughter kept gazing expectantly at her friend, waiting for answers.
RE: To lead but never follow - Deimos - 07-21-2021
With her frown came his narrowed gaze, the laughter completely gone, and a war of frustration crossed over his features. It was like having a second Safrin lording about, and he felt an incessant vexation pressing between his brows. He’d endured, he’d persisted, he’d prevailed so many god damned times, and for what? To be standing about in this field, arguing with a demigod about choices in force and havoc? To continue losing? To grind and break and scatter himself amongst citizens and people and try to keep them safe, when it hardly mattered? His vocals altered to something reticent and flat-lined, as if keeping his soul from peeling away at the layers of very careful control. [say]“It was not the taking of it. It was holding it.”[/say] Morgan had known exactly what she was doing when she catered to Wessex and the rest of the horde; and Halo didn’t have many others capable of challenging the Wraith head-on. The multitude of enemies and adversaries continued to build, fortifying in its own maelstroms and wakes; until ultimately the war would almost be welcome, instead of barraging the same damned thing every time.
His jaw clenched, and his eyes flickered elsewhere; on a stray branch, on a tree limb. [say]“I am not a machine, Seren.”[/say] And likely the first time he’d ever admitted it. [say]“I need time, just like anyone else.”[/say] To land back on his feet. To find another foothold to contort within. To unravel which and where and how to go about things after this disastrous plunge. To sort through the mess. [say]“We all do, to figure out the next steps.”[/say] If that sounded like giving in, maybe it was just the vexation pouring through, the scraping of claws against his ribs, the trace of darkness and illusions somewhere in the midst of his mind. [say]“You were not there, fleeing for your life. Or to avoid being captured.”[/say] And he wouldn’t want to put anyone through that again.
Better ways. Better days. He just didn’t see the path yet.
RE: To lead but never follow - Seren - 07-21-2021
Maybe it was harsh, but if she could think to say it, others surely would too, and with less understanding. Deimos drew in on himself and Seren could only watch it happen, like a hedgehog curling in on itself - spikes jutting out in defense of something tired and wounded.
Sympathy was there in her gaze, understanding - if only a fraction - of what kind of burdens he might be carrying at the moment.
[say]"I didn't say it had to be now,"[/say] Seren replied, calm and steady. [say]"But you made it sound as though you were not even entertaining the idea, and that is unacceptable. Of course you should take time, rest and recover - just don't take too long. Eight seasons will be gone in the blink of an eye, and when the call to arms come, Halo cannot be in the hands of the Voice."[/say] Even she could see that. Untrained and inexperienced as she was in battle logistics, it did not take a great strategist to recognize the difficulties of breaching Halo should the Ascended have made it into a fortress.
[say]"As for me not being there..."[/say] The girl bit her jaws together and closed her eyes, trying and failing to keep the hurt from reflecting on her face. It was there in the downturned cast of her mouth, and in the shadowed blue of her eyes as she sought Deimos' gaze. [say]"That's not fair. You say it like I wouldn't have been there in a heartbeat, if I knew you needed me. I helped put you all in that position - don't speak as though this has nothing to do with me."[/say] Even as a shadow figure, unmentioned and cloaked in silence, Seren felt the weight of responsibility for the pain and terror her friends had gone through. Noah had been injured. They had all become homeless.
And she had been sitting safe and unaware in Stormbreak all the while, never knowing.
RE: To lead but never follow - Deimos - 07-21-2021
For half a moment he wanted to chord off right into a mulish fixture; raise and jut out his jaw a little more, towering and colossal, massive and irritating, because he was cross and they were flailing around in the misunderstanding layers. He’d struck out because he was tired and mentally scarred and she’d apparently thought him derelict in his duty; because at some venture he wondered if it was going to be a constant monotony of brandishing his knives and watching everything still fall apart. [say]“You made it sound as though I should be heading straight there and waging another battle immediately.”[/say] His expression didn’t change; too guarded now, contorting into the framework of all his steel, all his resolve. [say]“We did not have the chance to gain any allies. Make defenses. Anything.”[/say] A snort stole through him. [say]“It is like we are starting all over again. So yes, I am frustrated.”[/say] And tired, and maimed, and marred in too many inward scars. But his formidable mind was already working, churning, though whether this was from irritation, fumes, or something else altogether, he couldn’t name or pinpoint. [say]“Halo is closed off during Deepfrost.”[/say] Unless they managed to do something about that in the meantime. But it might give them more opportunities.
He couldn’t badger and skewer in her calm and steady rationale, which was all the more infuriating, leaving him to seethe and stare outward, imagine some of the flowers nearby bursting into flame. This wasn’t what he’d come out here for.
The Sword’s features didn’t change when her hurt came into play, though there was some angling of another sigh barbed in his lungs. [say]“How would we have reached you?”[/say] A quickly spun letter, sent off with ravens, summoning Safrin’s daughter for aid? [say]“And what would have happened if you were hurt or captured? They were out for blood. Morgan had them attack her own home.”[/say] He didn’t deny her involvement in their ongoing strife; but having more and more citizens devastated and maimed wouldn’t have improved anything either.
RE: To lead but never follow - Seren - 07-23-2021
[say]"Well, yes, because you should"[/say], Seren agreed, more blunt than soothing. [say]"They caught you by surprise, and there's nothing that says the same tactic wouldn't work on Morgan. The difference is that you and Hotaru have made so many enemies that I don't know where you would find anyone willing to back you up. So really, you are worse than back to the beginning."[/say] She made a wide sweeping gesture, agitated with mounting frustration.
[say]"But as you say, you are not a machine. And you don't have allies. So rest. Do what you need to do. And let's hope that no one else will move before you are ready to. You would not want Stormbreak ruling over Halo, I promise you that. Morgan is infinitely better than the fanatics of the Order."[/say] But perhaps that was one of the few options that still remained. Not to Deimos, or Hotaru... but perhaps Noah. The one person in all of this with enough power to act and some goodwill still intact. If Stormbreak became the only option to keep Halo from the Voice...
Seren had not come here to argue either, but now that it was happening she didn't shy away from it. Consequences were mounting up over the heads of herself and her friends, and not for the first time did she rage against the idiocy of their past actions. Petty revenge seemed about to cost them an entire region, and Deimos kept talking like it was a matter of time to regain trust, honor and scarred reputations.
Another frustrated gesture painted arcs in the air at the question of communication, tense hands that ached with the need to do something and felt empty with her own powerlessness. [say]"I don't know! You're the one who can make anything - surely you could come up with something that would let people speak over vast distances.
"And if I had been hurt, or captured... I would have endured it, and expected you to do the most of the situation. I am more than a convenient warp gate - you could have used my situation to rally my father, my mother and every person who has ever whispered a prayer to the stars to your cause."[/say] That he looked at her and saw a person in need of protecting was simultaneously gratifying and immensely annoying. It was true that Seren couldn't achieve much on the battlefield... But that was not all a demigod, Safrin's daughter, was good for.
RE: To lead but never follow - Deimos - 07-23-2021
He shook his head, a clear line of frustration and vexation contorting over his features. [say]“And while we could take it again, we cannot hold it.”[/say] It would take time to manifest defenses. They would need stronger people willing and able to fight, rather than immediately give in, when faced with dragons, immortals, and depraved individuals seeking only blood. They would need people who were in it for Halo, willing to stay, and not just a spiraling show of power and might. But his piercing eyes landed on Seren again when she mentioned their pile of enemies - all because they’d stood for things. For consequences to actions. For insisting on their side in the upcoming upheavals. For having boundaries. [say]“There is nothing to stop the Ascended from doing the exact same thing.”[/say] The Sword might’ve been potent and powerful, but he was also only one person. This couldn’t be a one-man battle or army.
But in truth, she wasn’t wrong about the lack of allies; he knew it. He even understood it. Even if other lands were assembled with Halo, what would make them want to assist? What did Halo offer? A strong, enduring, independent people – surviving in mountains, in the harsh, unrelenting cold. Leaders and sovereigns had to tend to their own before they could venture anywhere near the isolated world; and even though he had enlisted his assistance time and time and time again into the broader scheme, it didn’t mean others would. He clenched his jaw and fixed his gaze on something else in the distance. [say]“And if the Order came, the Abandoned would not be welcome either.”[/say]
He was going to end up staring a long, long road ahead.
Her mention of items nearly had him rolling his eyes. [say]“I do have such an item. But it would have required you to already have a piece of it,”[/say] so therefore, a moot point in the past. The other notions, the other semblances, almost made him laugh, but it would’ve been hollowed and empty. [say]“Do you believe your parents would have allowed you to become a bargaining chip? They would have killed us for letting it happen.”[/say] Only then did the Sword break through his fortress walls and move, wandering over to one of the stone benches, sitting down on it, and glancing downward. [say]“I do not know many that would be interested in Halo’s plight.”[/say] And that’s where it seemed to start and end simultaneously.